Greetings! I am Don Alfredo Corleone di Venezia. Before you ask, my family is distantly related to that family of ill repute who live in Sicilia. Very distantly!

I am the fourth son of Don Giovanni, head of our household. The family, like many good citizens of Venezia, are merchants. I was raised around ships, and learned how to sail & navigate them at a young age. However, unlike my older brothers, I fell in with those who liked too much grog, cracking heads, and other vices unsuited for a scion of a mid-sized merchant house.

After one duel too many, my father sent me off on one of his traders, hoping to get me out of Venezia, so that I could no longer cause him scandal. After a few months of this, I grew bored, and while docked in France, I signed on with a French vessel heading to the Caribbean.

The French have given letters of Marque to certain captains in that region, legally allowing them to prey on Spanish galleons carrying gold taken from the heathens in the New World. Hoping to earn enough to buy my way back into my family's good graces, I decided that piracy was a quick way to do so.

I signed on with a man known as La Petite. He's not a dwarf, but is shorter than most men. However, you can see the violence behind his eyes. Short he may be, but he has the aura of a predator. As I can navigate a ship, he offered me 3 shares of booty from each vessel taken.

Some of my ship mates are interesting. There's Voss the dutch man, who likes to regale us with tall tales from his homeland. There's Cavanaugh, who claims to be Irish, but talks like a Scot. Then there is Katarina, the black cat. She (yes, a woman on a pirate vessel!) is a very talented individual. She is most likely my better with a blade (though it would be a close battle if we ever crossed swords), and she knows cartography, something I sadly never picked up. She is beautiful, but knowing how deadly she is, I'd never disrespect her by making sexual overtures. Dupree made the mistake of trying o force himself on her, and was flogged for almost costing the ship a sexton!

After 3 weeks or so at sea, we came upon a Spanish Galleon coming from the New World. She had been attacked earlier, so La Petite felt she was weak enough for us to attack (as we are on a sloop, our ship is much smaller, and has less crew). I guided us up to her, and Cavanaugh gave her a volley from our guns. We then grappled alongside her, and boarded.

We bested them shortly afterward, and learned they had the Plague with them! We took their gold and left them. As much as owning a galleon would have risen La Petite's status, one riddled with Plague would be too much of a risk.

I got my shares, and it was quite a bit of gold. The captain may be harsh, but he is a fair man, and true to his word.

A day or so later, we encountered a Caravel. It was no ordinary ship, but the one captained by a man named Darque. This man has a nasty reputation. He targets ships of all nations, even other pirates! He has never lost a fight, and his foes are never seen again. We knew we were in deep trouble when La Petite recognized his colors. The captain had escaped Darque twice before; Darque wanted Petite badly to make up for this tarnish to his reputation!

We went head on at her, so they couldn't use their guns on us. As they drew close, Darque offer us a chance to surrender. Cavanaugh fired a musket at him, but missed. As they drew closer, we saw men with nets on the foredeck, waiting to leap over to our ship. Katarina and I threw daggers at some of them, then ran to our foredeck, and leaped over to engage them. Cavanaugh had done so before us, but got caught up in a net, and had to break free.

Petite came over with us, aiming right for Darque. As Katarina and I took out most of the net men, Darque shot Petite in the shoulder, then grabbed him, throwing him into a mast. At this point, Darque again asked us to surrender. Nine of our crew threw their weapons down.

Katarina challenged Darque to a duel; he accepted, but mocked us for letting a woman challenge us. I was tempted to mock him in turn, but held my tongue. The man was supposedly unbeatable, and while Katarina and I are likely two of the best swordsmen on our side, I was worried she would lose.

My fears were unfounded, for Darque was overconfident. He tried to toy with her and disarm her, but her skill was far better than he anticipated. She evaded his disarm attempts, then cut him three times, the third across his throat. As they had agreed to terms before hand, Voss proclaimed Katarina the new captain, and Darque's men gave in.

Cavanaugh threw the dying Darque over the side, and we started to clean up. I took Petite back to his quarters, borrowing Darque's doctor to tend his wounds.

While I was helped La Petite, the others discovered many people imprisoned in the hold of Darque's ship. Katarina freed them, and declared there would be no more slavery on her ship. Cavanaugh and Voss found evidence of Witchcraft in Darque's quarters, which also lead to Cavanaugh killing Darque's Bosun when he tried to disobey him. The rest of Darque's crew fell in line after that.

When Petite recovered, I informed him of the events after he was wounded. I helped him to Katarina's ship, and the two made a pact. Petite would now serve the Black Cat, and start of something new and wondrous was born. I have high hopes for the future, though the things Cavanaugh told me he saw in Darque's quarters gives me pause. If Darque served the Devil, then the Devil will surely want his due from us for destroying his disciple. I have said my prayers, and can only hope that God will favor us for removing such filth from the world.

A new day is upon us. The whole of the New World will soon shudder in fear, for La Gatta Nerra will soon unfurl her claws across the Spanish Main!

STORMDANCE wrote on Nov 19^th, 2011 at 3:42am:


Many thanks Donna Katarina! Your benevolence equals your skill with a blade. Surely the whole of the Spanish Main will fall under your spell!