Name: Voltos Obnarion Unglestrabben dai Gazébor, Captain of the good ship Almalexia, Privateer in the Service of His Majesty Erasmus of Altranor, Merchant, Poet, Adventurer, Philosopher

Race: Human

Position: Court favorite, naval mercenary in direct service to the King. Nominally a "vice-admiral" of Altranor, though he holds no formal command.

Appearance: Dark skinned, with a shaved head, a knotted goatee and bright green eyes. Of somewhat average height and build. Clothing ranges from the unremarkable to the extravagant, depending on the situation and his mood.

Personality: Flamboyant, vain, reckless, eccentric, mercurial. Some consider Captain Gazébor a genius, most consider him insane. King Erasmus found him useful and terribly interesting. Despite his extravagance and affectations, Gazébor is a sly operator whose audacity, wiles, charm and luck are his main assets. Curiosity and aversion to boredom are his driving motivations.

Backstory:

Captain Voltos dai Gazébor is the 37th son of Immoche the Silver, the late, great Grand Theoskrator of the Varyon Confederacy, a coastal empire in the jungles of Ghan, half a world away from the Fanged Isles.

Like many of the superfluous children of the upper castes, young Voltos was farmed out to the military, and spent his youth training to be a commander in the Theoskrator's Holy Armada. Bored by the military life, but a talented (if reckless) commander, Gazébor took a major part in several notable actions, distinguishing himself in the Battle of the Broken Coast against the mage-lords of Xos, and in the terrible Crimson War, which shook the Varyon Confederacy to its foundations and ended with the assassination of Gazébor's father in a coup.

Knowing the new regime would kill him when it had the chance, Gazébor fled with his command ship and crew to the distant port of New Gapos, where he was quickly engaged by local potentates and crime rings as a privateer and smuggler, and earned a prodigious amount of gold.

It is rumored that upon his father's death, Gazébor was in command of a large portion of the Holy Armada, and could have sailed back to Valen, capital of the Confederacy, and attempt to seize the throne for himself or his brother. Instead, he chose a life of freedom, crime and adventure. So began a legendary career.

Tales of Gazébor's exploits are innumerable, and given the good captain's incredible capacity for dissembling, probably mostly false. It's said he's raided the Dictator of Alseo's famed Treasure Hulks, burned the fleet of his father's murderer as it sat in harbor, outdrank a mudtroll on a bet, sold his soul to the death-god Uln in return for immortality, debated philosophy with the Archmagister of Xos, slain krakens, leviathans, sea serpents, world-crabs, and every other monster known to stalk the seas, traded with water-demons, seduced the Witch-Queen of the Uttermost North, and... well, depending on the port you find yourself in, you may hear any number of stories.

The nature of Gazébor's relationship with the late King is murky. It is known that the captain is a frequent visitor in the Court whenever his travels bring him to the Fanged Isles, and that Erasmus and his Majesty's closest servants have engaged the captain's services as a smuggler, privateer, and even unofficial emissary on many occasions. Additionally, it seems the King greatly enjoyed the company of the legendary pirate, and Gazébor was a frequent participant in royal binge-drinking sessions.

Notable Possessions & Abilities:

A cutlass and dagger pair of high quality, forged by the legendary swordsmiths of distant Ul-Razed, where Gazébor won them in a game of dice with the satrap of New Gapos.

The Almalexia, a custom galley that has sailed the length and breadth of the Fanged Isles- and well beyond it's sheltered seas and bays! The crew of the Lex is a colorful assortment of adventurers, sellswords, scum and villainy collected from ports across the world, and includes a variety of exotic races. Well armed, and with a good-sized hold, the Lex has served as everything from a merchant ship to pirate raider to a ship of the line in battle.

A pendant with a wooden carving of the Eye of Uln, the god of the underworld in many pantheons, though not widely known or worshiped on the Fanged Isles. Gazébor is a devotee of Uln.

A breastplate in the fashion of a Varyon Naval Commander.

A captain's hat with an enormous feather.

An inordinate number of knives, for throwing, stabbing, cutting ropes and throats, etc.

An inordinate number of flasks.

A pipe and packet of tarrac root. Tarrac root is a mild stimulant (and mild hallucinogen).

A trained raven, named Crusty, usually found perched on the Captain's shoulder or hat.

A small shipboard library. Gazébor is an avid reader and has even published some politico-philosophical treatises and poetry.