I have two pirate characters - Sword Angel (Andrea Costa, having as model Alain Delon young) and Sol Picador (Rodrigo Solano Valera, having as model Eduardo Palomo in "Corazon Salvaje"). (Sorry about the formatting colour for Sol's headers, I am too IT-illiterated to change it.)
Name: Rodrigo Solano Valera
Aliases: Solano (Sol) Galvez- the name he says since he chose the sea life. Nickname – Sol Picador – Piercing Sun
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Rank: Pirate Captain
Current Location: aboard the “Caribbean Siren”
Character PB: Eduardo Palomo
General appearance:
He is of medium height, athletic, with graceful moves and fine traits. His hair is dark, slightly waved, long up to the shoulders, rarely tied. His eyes are dark brown, and the skin complexion, tanned by so many years at sea, is of a copperish shade. He wears a silver earring, having a sun charm on it. He has various scars from battles.
Clothing:
On the ship he wears canvas trousers and a cheap breezy shirt, usually half unbuttoned, occasionally paired up with a vest. If work is hard and the heat horrible, he might be shirtless as well. A neckerchief and a wide belt, and boots hiding a navaja. His shirts and trousers are often off-white, as it is customary in his native Veracruz area, but sometimes he has others in any colour he can get. He usually has two changes of working clothes and some nicer ones, for when in ports with a spying mission.
Personality:
Sol is optimistic, spontaneous, intrepid, jovial and makes light of things most of the time, especially in odd situations where one would expect prudence, but he is a man of hot temper and extremes. When not smiling kindly or ironically, he is boiling with anger. His heated temper keeps him from doing any emotion halfway and this leads sometimes to fierce arguments and fights.
He strives to win against any obstacles life may get in his way and succeed – especially to prove to himself and anybody else that the illegitimate son of a nobleman can get through his own forces what his legitimate siblings obtained through their birth - and this includes acquiring knowledge and wealth equally. He is daring and determined, liking less taken paths in all fields, A mystery is only intriguing for him, and he secretly dreams of discovering something to leave his name to – be it an island or any other place. He is loyal to friends and ideals, not willing to sacrifice his life in vain, but standing up for his beliefs, and would die for them if the case might be.
He treats all women with respect. He likes their attention, but he is currently too occupied finding glory and wealth to worry about settling down, and he considers himself immune to love since the death of his fiancée, nine years ago.
Likes:
+ the sea – it has made his life not only bearable, but nice and free.
+ victory - there is nothing quite like winning, especially if since birth some people told you there is no chance for you to win
+sunrise – it always reminds him that each day is a new beginning, a new opportunity of success.
+ learning new things. He is open minded and has a good memory.
+ partying – this involves liquor, dance, women… or tavern brawls if somebody offends him
+ strong women –it is nice to feel chivalrous and protecting sometimes... but it is even nicer to know that the woman by your side is not needy and frail, but reliable, a wild flower, not a greenhouse one
+ attention and being admired for his skills – especially when men or women are around him, asking him to play their favourite songs.
Dislikes:
- cowards and traitors, because they put stupidly one’s life in danger
- losing – be it a battle or a game of cards
– being cheated
- nobility with the associated vanity and prejudice. If there is in this world a “blue blood” not making case of his/ her origins and treating everybody well, at the same level, than no grudges
- law enforcement, obviously, because they hunt pirates… and all kind of rebels
- strong ones oppressing the weaker
- long range fights and getting shot – because there is no honour in killing from a safe distance, and getting a bullet in one’s flesh is painful indeed.
Strengths:
+ good sailor, also skilled at drawing maps and navigation
+ he can read and write with nice penmanship. He writes correctly in Spanish and with mistakes in English, but he had the ambition to learn to read and write in English when he sought the position of a master's mate on "Merciless", as he couldn't obtain and keep it otherwise.
+ he has a quick wit and a thirst for knowledge
+ playing guitar (the four-stringed requinto jarocho from his area, also called guitarra de son sometimes) and singing get him popular in any tavern or brothel, but it is also useful in the free time aboard, to avoid boredom not only for him, but for his mates.
Weaknesses:
- women – be they seducingly beautiful ones to be wooed or ladies in distress (of any age or social status) who need help he could provide
- not really wanting to kill people if there is any solution to avoid it. He can do it if really needed, but will try every way around it before doing so
- overpowering ambition and desire to win
- a strange sense of honour
- letting his hot temper and emotions get the best of him sometimes, which gets him into trouble
- recklessness
- not holding well his liquor, and sometimes he knows when to stop drinking, other times he doesn’t
Birth place: Veracruz, Viceroyalty of New Spain
Family:
Father – Rodrigo Manuel de Sandoval y Galvez, viscount
Mother – Marisol Valera de Goyri, servant (deceased)
Stepfather – Juan Diego Goyri, peon
Twin brother – Jose Manuel Valera (Josema), foreman on Sandoval’s encomienda
Younger sister – Juana Maria Goyri de Perez, two years younger, married to a baker, living in Veracruz
Younger brothers – Diego and Juan Antonio (Juanto) Goyri (twins), five years younger, craftsmen, Juanto living in Veracruz, Diego on the encomienda
The viscount’s legitimate offspring don’t count here, as they have never seen him as more than a rebellious and ungrateful servant who ran away
History:
The illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a sixteen years old servant, Rodrigo has been raised in his father’s house in Veracruz, as well as his twin brother Josema. As they were looking exactly like their father, and they were the first sons he knew about, he liked them enough to give them a good education for their birth status – they attended a few years of school with a priest, together with other boys from Veracruz, even if their colleagues were petty merchants’ children. Being teased as illegitimate by the other children, the Valera twins learnt quickly to fight and to defend themselves… and while hating their natural father for the shame they were bearing, to try to take advantage of anything he could offer. And they were both clever, quick to learn, studious and eager to win… in a world where the name and social position counted more than anything else. But their personalities were different, Rodrigo being the rebellious, hot-tempered one, while Josema was calmer, slier and more calculated.
Marisol married one of the peones who was sent to the city house to help in the yard and in the garden. One couldn’t be sure if Juana Maria was really his daughter or the master’s, as she was born seven months and a half later… but she bore the husband’s name and looked more like Marisol, so at least she couldn’t be labeled as the viscount’s daughter, as Rodrigo and Josema were known, having inherited more from their father’s Navarro face traits, and only the skin colour from their mother’s mestizo family.
Surprisingly, Juan Diego Goyri was a rather good stepfather, even if he was a little strict. Later, when he had his own children – also twins – it was shown that he actually made no difference among all his wife’s children. When he was drunk, he treated them equally bad; otherwise, equally well or with indifference, it depended on his moods… and when one of them was up to a mischief, Juan Diego took care not to punish an innocent. All the boys had learnt from him how to play the local guitar.
School, where they excelled, to everybody’s pride, hadn’t lasted much, however, and at twelve their stepfather wanted them to learn a trade, even if the priest had wanted at least one of them to follow a clerical path. But none of the twins had such a vocation, despite their thirst for learning and the nice penmanship which had attracted several times the priest’s praises and the classmates’ envy. Juan Diego Goyri asked them whose apprentices they would like to be, and while Josema answered he wanted to be a little merchant’s, Rodrigo said the blacksmith’s. The Veracruz blacksmith taught him not only how to make blades, but also how to use them. However, when he died an untimely death and another one took his shop, the nearly 16 years old Rodrigo did not find this job bearable anymore under a mean master. He took an opportunity to ask his natural father if he could be of better use to him with his knowledge… and so both Rodrigo and Josema were sent to the encomienda and given into the foreman’s care to find them suitable jobs. The foreman liked more Josema, and kept him around, as his own trusted man, while Rodrigo was given various tasks.
He fell in love with a girl who was helping in the kitchen, Benita, but immediately after he won her grandfather's blessing to get engaged, he found her struggling in the arms of the local constable, who was known in all the region as having the eye for young peasant girls. He fought the rapist and killed him with his navaja. After realising his deed, he had no other choice than to run away… and where else could he not be found by the guards, than on a ship? He went to Río Banderas, a little bay southern from Veracruz, where he knew that small ships used to anchor, and looked for one who was ready to leave. It proved to be “Volante”, a smugglers’ ship which made good deals with the British colonies up in the North… so while he learnt the ropes to become a sailor, he felt useful to the future business to learn English as well.
His drawing skills were put to good use with drawing maps, and he was fascinated by navigation. The quartermaster also liked him because of his nice writing and quick calculations, so Rodrigo – or actually Solano, how he gave the name when embarking - found himself helping with the logs too.
Three years later, the ship was attacked by the British Navy South from Charleston, caught with unexplainable merchandise… and at 21, he got acquainted with the British jail. The cells were common… and so he befriended a clever and bold Jamaican pirate, Frank Norman, who was by his side... And when the pirate had a plan to evade, he took Sol with him – a little from friendship, half from fear not being betrayed and a little because he needed the help of somebody who could fight by his side…
This is how Sol found himself aboard the pirate ship “Merciless”, together with his friend from jail… and when most of the crew jumped ship, following a violent encounter with the “Caribbean Siren”, he was among them. The perspectives of both gaining good gold and getting revenge on the British Navy for the year of jail and on the snobby noblemen as well motivated him strongly. Soon his navigation skills got appreciated and he found himself the master’s mate.
Battles at sea are always requesting their toll, therefore Sol found himself chosen as first mate when the position became available, then, a few months ago, when the captain got lost in a storm, he was elected captain of the “Caribbean Siren”. He likes life at sea more than piracy itself... but if this kind of life is an opportunity to win what was denied to him by his birth... why not?
Weapon Skills:
He is very good with any blades. The nickname “Sol Picador” (Piercing Sun) comes both from his high ability with blades and his name Solano. He is rather a traditionalist in his own way, prefering his navaja to a dagger, and the smugglers on “Volante” taught him to fight with it baratero style, like in Andalucia. His machete – which is similar to the cutlass – is always handy and put to good use, but his much prized Toledo sword, obtained from a dead Spanish officer three years ago, is more often kept in the trunk. It has been used only for the ship boarding combats.
Theme song: Tierra Santa - La cancion del pirata
Name: Andrea Costa
Aliases: Ange au Sabre / Sword Angel (and crewmates call him Angel)
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Rank: Pirate, Master’s Mate
Current Location: aboard the “Caribbean Siren”
Character PB: Alain Delon
General appearance:
He is of medium height, strong but not excessively muscular, graceful, with fine traits, of a strange beauty, inherited from his mother. His eyes are an unusual shade of green, like the warm seas, the only thing he has in common with his sister. His hair is dark, slightly waved. His complexion, initially rather fair, like his sister’s, got tanned by sun so many years at sea.
Clothing:
Usually sailor’s clothes, loose fitting cotton trousers and a white or blue shirt, with a scarf around the neck. When in ports with a spying mission, he may wear more elegant clothes, adapted to fit to the environment.
Personality:
He is ambitious and perfectionist, but not as competitive as his sister, because he hadn’t needed to – he was the eldest and the one educated from early childhood to be the future captain of “Colomba”, while she was the younger one, always wanted to be as good as him… or even better!
Loyal and reliable, he would never break a promise by his own will. He has an original moral code, but the good teachings of his family didn't get lost when he became a corsair, then a pirate – they got just a little bit adapted to the new reality of his life. Andrea is usually good-tempered and calm, even if not always as patient as needed, but he flares in certain circumstances.
He fights bravely, but he doesn’t really enjoy being a pirate. He does what he has to do in order to be close to the one he loves… and to obtain the money needed to fulfill his dreams.
He treats all women respectfully, as he was taught in family. Although his beauty attracted women of al kinds in the ports where he has roamed, he is not a womanizer or a seducer. He is honestly being himself, not trying to impress women and not really aware of his charm, but his tender and romantic nature make him even more irresistible. When he wasn’t in love, he couldn’t resist to the pretty women’s advances – could really any unattached man? While in love, he has eyes only for his beloved…
Strengths:
Sailing and foreign languages seem to be family talents. He is a very skilled sailor, having been a master’s mate on "Marie Gallante", before it was lost at sea, since he was 18. Besides Greek and Venetian, spoken, read and written, he speaks well (reads and writes) French too, understanding Provensal, Spanish and English rather well, but these latter languages he speaks with difficulty. He plays mandolin (not virtuoso but acceptably) and sings. Moderation is one of his strengths. He drinks a glass or two, plays a game of cards or two, but nobody has seen him drunk or gambling his savings. (Well, if he really got drunk a few times in his life… it was an experience to take into account and never repeat.)
Weaknesses:
If a Genovese or other enemy takes on him for being Venetian, he can’t abstain fighting back, irrespective how many they are, how bad the fight may end or if there are any other consequences.
He’d also do anything for his beloved, and if he learns that his sister is alive, he would do anything for her too.
Birth place: Born at sea, somewhere in the Adriatic Sea, between Venice and Ragusa - now Dubrovnik - on the little merchant ship “Colomba”, bearing the flag of Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia
Family:
Father – Sterio Costa, born in a village in Greece (which is part of Ottoman Empire), deceased at sea
Mother – Maria Pasqualigo (married Costa), born in Kefalonia (a Greek island under Venetian domination), deceased at sea
Uncle – Ianni Costa, deceased at sea
Sister – Marina Costa, one year and a half younger, lost at sea
History:
His family, together with his father’s sworn brother, Diamandi, and his wife and child, owned the little merchant ship “Colomba”, carrying goods from the Greek islands and mainland to Venice and Mediterranean ports. There was no other crew aboard, so the three men and two women had to cover everything to be done and to teach the children. The children had an unusual education, as their life was basically at sea and the ports were to be visited only. So they are bilingual in Greek and Venetian, they have learned almost everything their parents know - and this includes not only changing sails, washing up and steering the ship, but also reading maps, establishing the good road, the ship’s speed, etc. As the family chose life on sea in order to flee the Turkish power in their region, and they were often smuggling guns and ammunition for the rebels who are fighting Turks, the children grew with stories about the cruelty of invaders and fighting for liberty.
When the ship sunk in a storm in the Mediterranean, he was fished by a ship bound to Marseille, which did not really need his services, so the captain left him in Marseille, with a few coins for the work he had done aboard in the meanwhile. Andrea spoke no French at all and he was alone in a big port, looking for work. He soon discovered that nearly half of the people were speaking, however, with different degrees of proficiency, one of the Italian dialects, that a Venetian could understand more or less – Piemontese or Genovese. But when asking for work in his mother tongue, it was as predictable to receive an answer in Genovese: “We don’t have anything for a dirty Venetian pig!”, given the multisecular rivalry between the two maritime republics. And his reaction was as logical… only that he was outnumbered and beaten to nearly death.
His good luck was that a beautiful young woman was passing by in her carriage and took pity of the suffering boy left in a corner, bathed in blood. She took him and nursed his wounds, her first impulse being of Christian pity. Well, she had plenty of sins to be forgiven, and if saving a life could count… Mireille was a demi-mondaine, which meant a little more than a high class prostitute: she had a house, nice things and a carriage – and a protector paying for all these. When Andrea woke up, after four days of fighting death, and saw her near the bed, he thought he was with the angels in heaven. And if it was normal for him to fall in love with the one who had saved him, nobody expected Mireille to take a fancy in the nearly sixteen years old boy, when she was 20 and she could have any man in Marseille she wanted.
At the beginning, she thought him shy like most boys his age, but a little later she realised that it was more than shyness, all the beauty of an innocent soul, and she was the most appropriate woman to awake in him love and passion. ...Indeed, their passion could have set in fire the whole city, but it couldn’t last, it was bad for her business. Two or three weeks Mireille did not open the door of her house. Her protector was worried and he might have been dangerous for both of them if he learned about Andrea, so the beautiful young boy had to go, following his own destiny, which, clearly for both of them, was one of the sea. Therefore, she introduced Andrea to captain Allegre, the well known corsaire, who had armed a brigantine and was chasing the eternal enemies of France, the British…
On “Marie Gallante” Andrea further perfected his sailing skills, while learning to fight well with any weapon, but the sword was his first choice, which gave him the nickname Ange au Sabre. He learnt French and Provensal well, and for his business understanding English and Spanish had proved also useful.
Since two years ago the British allied with the French against the Spanish, the privateers’ enemies changed… Accordingly, “Marie Gallante” arrived in the Caribbean, to hunt for the Spanish gold. One fateful day, the ship got into a storm immediately after having met a Spanish man-of-war… so the tempest completed what the Spanish cannons had started.
He was washed out on the shore of Tortuga, where a pirate lass helped him. He fell in love with her, and this was his only reason for joining the crew of the “Caribbean Siren”, otherwise he wouldn’t have ever become a pirate. But once aboard, he made some friends too, and he had accepted that this was what his destiny wanted for him.
Weapon Skills:
He is good at fighting with any weapon, but he prefers sword - and French fencing school is one of the best - which made the corsairs on "Marie Gallante" give him the nickname of Ange au Sabre. His family's training with Greek flying knives was further applied on throwing daggers, he is extremely good with them as well. Pistol is good... and the corsairs use also a sort of whip as a useful weapon...
Theme song: “La chute de l’Ange” – Dark Sanctuary
