The
Ballad Of Long Ben
In
'94 we took the Charles and set Gibson ashore
And
set a course for southern seas, to sail for evermore
Round
the Cape in a hurricane with the devil on our beam
And
clear to Newgate London Town you could have heard us scream:
Here's
to gentlemen at sea tonight, and a toast to all free men
And
when the devil comes to take us home, we'll drink
To
old Long Ben!
Now
off the coast of Hindoostan we spied a musselman
She'd
60 guns and musket men, but still away she ran
"Ho!",
cried Ben and ran the grinning skull atop the mast
"I'll
wager half my share me lads, there's not a ship this fast!"
Here's
to gentlemen at sea tonight and a toast to all free men
And
when the devil comes to take us home, he'll drink
With
old Long Ben!
We
ran her down off Malabar as she lay becalmed
And
there beneath the burning sun stood Al Ibrahim Khan
He
twirled his 'stache and raised his sword and gave a might roar
Then
cowered like a dog below and hid amongst his whores
Here's
to...
We
turned the Fancy from the wind and ran out 40 guns
And
soon the sky was filled with smoke that hid us from the sun
Then
up and down the ship we fought, until the decks ran red
And
when the fight was done we drank and this is what we said:
Here's
to...
For
thirteen days aboard the Ganj, we made a merry sport
A
thousand pounds of Mughal gold, and whisky, rum and port
Some
men we shot and some we walked and some of them did hang
And
while we made free with the girls, well this is what we sang:
Here's
to...
Henry
Every, also Evory or Avery, (baptised 23 August 1659 – after 1696),
sometimes erroneously given as John Avery,[a] was an English pirate
who operated in the Atlantic and Indian oceans in the mid-1690s. He
probably used several aliases throughout his career, including
Benjamin Bridgeman, and was known as Long Ben to his crewmen and
associates.
Dubbed
"The Arch Pirate" and "The King of Pirates" by
contemporaries, Every was the most notorious pirate of his time; he
earned his infamy by becoming one of the few major pirate captains to
retire with his loot without being arrested or killed in battle, and
also for being the perpetrator of what has been called the most
profitable pirate raid in history. Although Every's career as a
pirate lasted only two years, his exploits captured the public's
imagination, inspired others to take up piracy, and spawned numerous
works of literature.
Every
was baptised at Newton Ferrers in Devon in England's West Country,
likely a member of the local Every family; little else is known about
his early life. He served in the Royal Navy from 1689 to 1690, likely
participating in several battles of the Nine Years' War (1688–1697).
Following his discharge from the navy, Every began slave trading
along Africa's Slave Coast. In 1693, he was again employed as a
mariner, this time as first mate aboard the warship Charles II, which
had been commissioned by England's ally, Charles II of Spain (the
ship's namesake), to prey on French vessels in the West Indies. After
leaving London in August 1693, the Charles II anchored in the
northern Spanish harbor of Corunna, where other vessels were
assembling for the expedition. The crew grew discontent as Madrid
failed to deliver a letter of marque and the Charles II's owners
failed to pay their wages. On the evening of 7 May 1694, the restless
sailors mutinied. With the Charles II renamed the Fancy and Every
elected as the new captain, the Fancy sailed south en route to the
Indian Ocean, soon plundering five ships off the West African coast.
In
early 1695 the Fancy had reached the Comoros Islands, where Every's
crew raided a French vessel and narrowly escaped capture by three
East Indiamen. The Fancy then sailed north to the Arabian Sea, where
a 25-ship convoy of Grand Mughal vessels was making the annual
pilgrimage to Mecca, including the treasure-laden flagship
Ganj-i-sawai and its escort, the Fateh Muhammed. Joining forces with
several pirate vessels, Every found himself in command of a small
pirate squadron, including a sloop captained by English pirate Thomas
Tew. As the pirates gave chase, the smaller vessels in the squadron
gradually fell behind, and at some point Tew was killed in an
engagement with a Mughal ship. Every had more success, however,
capturing the Fateh Muhammed and later overtaking the Ganj-i-sawai,
snapping its mainmast in a cannonball volley. Following several hours
of ferocious hand-to-hand combat on deck, the pirates emerged
victorious. Although many pirates were reportedly killed, the payoff
was astonishing: Every had captured up to £600,000 in precious
metals and jewels, making him the richest pirate in the world. After
this raid, Every and his crew tortured and killed a great number of
the passengers and raped women of all ages. Some women stabbed
themselves with daggers or jumped overboard, committing suicide to
escape this fate.
The
plunder of Ganj-i-sawai caused considerable damage to England's
fragile relations with the Mughals. In response to Every's attack, a
combined bounty of £1,000—an immense sum by the standards of the
time—was offered for his capture by the Privy Council and the East
India Company, leading to the first worldwide manhunt in recorded
history. Every and his crew fled to the Bahamas, briefly sheltering
in New Providence, a known pirate haven. After adopting aliases, the
crew broke company, most choosing to sail home to the British Isles
and the rest remaining in the British West Indies or taking to the
North American colonies. Twenty-four of the pirates were eventually
captured, and six were tried, convicted, and hanged in London in
November 1696. Yet Every eluded capture, vanishing from all records
in 1696; his whereabouts and activities after this period are
unknown. Unconfirmed accounts state he may have changed his name and
retired, quietly living out the rest of his life in either Britain or
an unidentified tropical island, dying sometime after 1696. Many
still believe that Every's treasure is still out there.
They
are wrong…..
Every
and his immense fortune were engulfed by a mysterious fog-bank deep
in the heart of the Caribbean, transporting him and the remnants of
his crew to Caribdus. Like a poverbial duck to water, Every
continues to be a scourge to merchant ships and traders, fast gaining
a reputation that threatens to rival Blackbeard. Eventually the two pirate Lords will meet, and a parley will be struck or war declared, either eventuality will have dire consequences for the seafarers of Caribdus.
Attributes:
Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d8, Strength d8, Vigor d8
Skills:
Boating d10, Climbing d8, Fighting d10, Intimidation d10, Notice d8,
Shooting d8, Stealth d8, Streetwise d10, Taunt d8, Swimming d6
Charisma:
–4; Pace: 6; Parry: 9; Toughness: 6
Hindrances:
Bloodthirsty, Greedy
Edges:
Block, Command, Hard to Kill, Hold the line! Improved Block, Level
headed, Quick, Really Dirty Fighter
Booty:
King's Ransom.
Gear:
Knife (Str+d4), Cutlass (Str+d6), pistol (Range 5/10/20, Damage
2d6+1).
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