In the Spirit of new pirates I am thinking of a new name.

[Rage]

I had thought about using Capt. Balaur but I am not captain material. I'm not a leader or a follower. I am more of lone wolf type. I then thought about Black Balaur for my pirate name.

Balaur is creature from Romanian folklore, similar to a Dragon with multiple heads (like a Hydra).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balaur

I have been using both Rage and Black Balaur in online games for years now. I plan to keep Rage as my forum name because most people call me that in mundane life.

Oh and if you are wondering why I would choose a Romanian name, my family has a Slavic back ground and I have relatives in Romania.

[Drake Starsong]

Not to shabby, but you sound feroscious...like you should have "the terrible" at the end of it

[Rage]

...lol... I will have to add that to my signature Rage the Terrible.. then you will see me in real life and say hey I thought you would be bigger.....

I like Rage the terrible, maybe I will have to rethink the Balaur thing.

[renren]

Black Rage?
Evil Eye Balaur?

[maelstrom0370]

A name? DEM! I gotta think of a NAME! oh and get a hat!  Oi Vey this pirate stuff is hard!!

[dragongirl]

A name? DEM! I gotta think of a NAME! oh and get a hat!  Oi Vey this pirate stuff is hard!!

Well, how else are the lassies going to know which pirate stole their hearts, virtues, and most of their valuables...

[Arsinoe Selene]

Totally of topic, but Rage, you look like my college Art History teacher. He was awesome.

I'm pretty sure you aren't him, he lives in the SF Bay Area, like me.

I like the sound of Balaur, go for it! As long as I am pronouncing it right in my head. Always awkward if I say a word in front of my parents like that...

[Rage]

Well I did live in Fremont for a while and I'm from San Diego but I have never been an Art History Professor....lol.... There is a chance he could be a relative of mine.

[Rage]

So I have come up with a new background for Rage.

I have been working on a new persona for my pirate character. The original idea sort of got lost with the forum change.  I remember it but I wasn't all that happy with it. So I am starting over. I am avoiding the "Jack Sparrow" type character because the way I do it seems to come out as well flamboyant. Oh boy are there pictures to prove that point. I guess being as Calico Jack is my favorite pirate it sort of fit but I am just not sure that its for me although it is kinda fun to be a bit over the top. The persona is being left open and this is the back ground and a story about how Rage got to where he is.

I dug into my families back ground and my back ground which is mostly Slavic and German (Same with Ladiedragon's which is cool). I decide to focus on the Slavic end. There is a history of Slavic pirates in the middle ages. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavic_piracy

I also dug into Slavic names and figured out how the nickname Rage was created.  I choose the name Vladimir Michalek. Which has nothing to do with the film director.
Vladimir was "introduced" to slavery I mean piracy when he was 14. He spent time in the Mediterranean working as a powder monkey on a privateer ship. Around the age of 16 (has has lost track of his age) he set himself free while they at port.
Vladimir spent the next three years traveling where ever the roads would take him. During this time he made money by becoming a lone Highway man. He was known for facing his victims alone. His speed and skill in combat and his manors. Vladimir never took the life of an innocent man and was always very cordial to the ladies. Vladimir never took more than he needed and always robbed the rich. The poor had enough problems, he always remembered where he came from and that was not the hallowed halls of the Rich.

Upon his journey he found himself in china and then Japan. In Japan he was captured during one of his highway man hold ups. He was sentenced to execution but was saved from this by a Samurai Master who saw a potential in him. Tadashi Mochizuki decided to train Vladimir as a solder to fight with the Samurai. During his training he was give the nickname: ?? which means Rage or fury in Japanese. After Rage's solder training Tadashi decided to train him as a Samurai. Rage had the strength power and speed but lacked the mental discipline to become a Samurai and was asked to level the dojo before his training was completed.

Now in his mid 20's and on his own he turned back to the life of a highway man. Rage devastated the area. No one could stand up to him after his training. Rage's fury took control of him and he lost manors he once had. He took the lives of many innocent people. For years he hunted what he claimed as his territory. During this time he met and married a young woman. She convinced him to leave Japan, to go back to the life of a Privateer before the Samurai found and killed him. Rage and his bride moved back to Tunis and he joined the crew of another Privateer ship. His skills and fury earned him a spot as Quartermaster. In the 9th year of his marriage and the 8th year as a Privateer he was devastated by the loss of his wife. He had been lucky enough to be home when she passed away but this again changed his life and his direction. He was no longer happy as the quartermaster.

About a year later his ship came upon three Junks. They were an unusual sight for the Mediterranean, The ship rage worked on was a large Galleon named Sir Joseph. The order was given to board the Junks. As the Sir Joseph maneuvered to board the junks they were surprised by cannon and firework being fired upon them. The Capitan gave the order to fire upon the Junks. The Sir Joseph's firepower was more than enough to get the crews of the Junk to surrender. The Sir Joseph sank on junk and heavily damaged another. The Capitan gave the order to burn the damaged Junk and asked Rage to Capitan the remaining Junk back to Tunis. Rage was thrilled, he was given a skeleton crew.  During the 4 day trip home the Sir Joseph and the Junk encountered a terrible storm. The ships were separated and the storm took the Sir Joseph, The junk was spared and the crew watched in horror as the sir Joseph sank. There were no survivors. Rage ordered his crew to search the waters. For three days they searched and found nothing.

At this point Rage was very unhappy he had lost his wife a year before and now his crew. The only friends had. In a moment of grief he decided he wanted to travel to the Caribbean. He convinced his small crew that the Junk which they named Rage's Fury was sea worthy enough to make the trip. The crew accepted and they hit port for supplies.

After resupplying the ship they headed out. This was not a easy trip they two crew members, had various problems with the Junk now called Rage's piece of Junk and worst of all they ran out of food and Rum. Just when things looked like they could get any worse they did. A large Galleon flying a Skull n Bones had found them. They be Pirates.

Rage told the crew not to fight; they would be sunk too quickly. He had a plan which they agreed too. As the Galleon maneuvered beside them and readied to board their Junk, Rage yelled now and the crew hoisted the sails. They had redesigned the sales to raise and lower faster than any ship they had seen before. The Junk instantly bolted forward as the winds caught her sails. Before the crew of the galleon could react she was gone. The galleon could never catch up to the Junk and the crew knew it. Rage know that was not the last time he would see that ship.

The crew had renewed faith in Rage after escaping the pirates. It took three more days to find a port in the Caribbean. At port they were approached by the Capitan of a Sloop called the Rage's Fury. This amused Rage because they had named the Junk the Rage's Fury. The Sloop's Capitan asked if Rage would trade ships with him. Rage agreed and got the Capitan to provide an ample supply of food and goods for the Sloop.

The crew loved the sloop and began refitting the sales as they had with the Junk. After being in port a couple days Rage had a late night meeting with his crew. He had another idea. With the Sloop they are faster than most ships and she carried 10 cannons. He suggested going into piracy. After some thought most of the crew agreed and the rest left, well supplied and on good terms. Rage didn't want them turning him in before he could even become a Pirate.

Rage's fury turned out to be a great raider, the redesign the crew had done made her the fast ship in the Caribbean. Her pray could not fight back as she flashed cannon's blazing. She and her crew took many ships in a short time. Rage and his crew became infamous very quickly. A price was put on Rage's head. The wanted poster read wanted alive while the crews read wanted dead or alive.

Rage knew they needed a place to hide out for a while. As they searched they came upon a sight that put a shiver down the spine of the entire crew. The Galleon they had escaped from now had their old Junk trapped, they were boarding her and the crew was being slaughtered. Rage knew this was his fault and so did the crew. He called out to drop the sails, they are going into combat. Every last man on the ship cried out "yes sir" in unison.

They attacked the Galleon with speed and precision. She was not ready for a sneak attack while she was raiding the other ship and soon their Capitan was hoisting a white flag. Rage and his small crew boarded the Galleon and headed straight for their Capitan. Rage was amazed to find that their Capitan was a woman. A beautiful blonde with striking blue eyes, Rage asked for her name and she told him that they call her Ladiedragon. He felt his heart race as he looked at her. She was no ordinary woman. She did raise a white flag but she had no intention of surrendering. After much bickering, arguing, & the slaughter of one of the Galleons crew members who dared to attack Rage the two Capitan's came to an understanding. The junk was released after Rage explained that was his old ship.

The crew of Rage's Fury helped to repair the damage inflicted on Ladiedragon's ship which she has yet to name. After a couple days of working together Ladiedragon and Rage found themselves falling in love, it was fate that these two should meet.

Ladiedragon and Rage talked about their future and how they could be together when they both were Capitan's of their own ships. Rage offered a solution, he would act as Quartermaster on the Galleon and he crew would sale the Sloop beside her. The Galleon is their Sword, strong and powerful, the Sloop their dagger. The sloop would act as a look out, first strike and would aid the larger ship in defense... not that that a ship equipped with 70 cannon's and 4 mini-swivel cannons need a shield.

The two ships were joined shortly by Rage's own Junk. The Capitan decided it safer to be a pirate with Ladiedragon and Rage crews working together then to risk being raided by them. Ladiedragon now had her own little armada and Rage started calling her Admiral Ladiedragon of the ship with no name. She found it amusing and annoying all in the same thought.

So Rage is a Slavic Pirate who was trained in Japan. He is different then other pirate in the way he dress and that he carries a Katana instead of a cutlass. I am still working on the persona part. I don't want to trap myself into something I don't like.

I am pulling this background. As many of you that read in the other thread already know my background and Blackjack Roberts closely matched and a "discussion" ensued between the two of us.

Blackjack and I have spoken outside of the Port of call forum and we have come to an understanding and an agreement (a parlay if you will).

Anyways I now understand more about what upset Blackjack and he what upset me. As I stated above I am pulling this background and I will be modifying it so that we don't overlap so much. I don't know if I will repost it, lessons learned and all. 

[Rage]

Nope, he a descended from them not originally one of them. 

[Obadiah Jib]

He could have been captured by the Turks.  They had a practice of capturing young men from Eastern Europe and making them a type of slave-soldier.  Maybe Rage a ship as a young slave when it was captured by the Knights of Malta and freed.  He could meet up with some Portuguese and often to the orient he would go.

[Rage]

Good ideas.