Lore:The Pyrates of Antaloor - Volume VII
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A General History of the Most Notorious Pyrates of Antaloor and Their Exploits
Captain Bartholomew Johnson, alias Red Bart.
Born in the small town of Amberline deep in the Southern Isles, Bartholomew Johnson began his life as a common sailor. Little is known of his past before he first ventured onto the high seas; not even his age at the time of doing so is certain, though one "Jonsson B., 20 yrs of age" is listed in one of the decklogs archived at Port Casimir - a place where Johnson could have gone to in order to enlist, considering its proximity to Amberline.
His first years were spent sailing and are not well-documented, either, but those accounts that do remain describe him as a diligent and reputable man, respected by his fellow crewmen. He sailed along two major trading routes onboard "The Glade" under Captain Dexter Mitchell, and it was in his sixth year of service that an event occurred that would change his life and create one of the most notorious pirates Antaloor has ever seen.
"The Glade" was captured and boarded by the fearsome "Swordfist Jack" McNeely, known as much for his cruelty and temper as the habit which he would always display upon boarding a ship: offering all crewmen a choice between joining his pirates and being marooned on a boat with nothing but a single-shot flintlock pistol to commit suicide with.
Many of the crewmen of "The Glade" refused to even entertain the thought of joining up with Swordfist Jack, and it was to the surprise of all that Bartholomew Johnson responded thusly when asked that same question:
"In an honest service there be thin commons, low wages, and hard labor. No, a merry life and a short one shall be my motto."
It is said that upon seeing Johnson accept Swordfist Jack's offer, many crewmen changed their minds and followed.
Johnson rose quickly through the ranks as a pirate, far quicker than he would have in the regular navy. His navigational skills and his swordsmanship won him the monikers of "Brisk Bart" and "The Cutlass." Already in his first year under Swordfist Jack did he become the first officer on Jack's flagship "The Viper's Tongue", and soon afterwards, the pirate gave Johnson "The Typhoon", one of the ships from his fleet of three to command. A year later, the two parted their ways, peacefully, when the Sagarean navy began actively hunting Swordfist Jack, and the pirate decided that with a single galleon, he would evade his pursuers better.
...
[The story of Captain Johnson should be continued here, but the book has been badly damaged by seawater and the remaining pages of the volume are missing. Perhaps the rest still exists, somewhere...]