Like many pirates his origins were obscure, but the few who claim to have known him as a young man say that piracy seemed like second nature to him.

He was already a capable sailor and a fearsome fighter, with a predacious instinct and a predilection for command. Still he seemed content to bide his time for a while, rising through the ranks and cementing his reputation. It wasn't long before he was made captain of his own ship.

And so established, he quickly turned his blade on the very ones who had mentored him.

While pirates are not known for their unwavering loyalties, the violence of his rise and his seeming special enmity for his fellow freebooters led to rumors that he was in fact a rogue privateer: a man caught in the mindset of some Old World theater of war who couldn't or wouldn't let go of the past.

The colonial powers certainly weren't quick to dispel such notions. As long as he was killing hostes humani generis it seemed worth keeping him in play, even if it meant losing a few merchant vessels along the way.

In truth they were as confused as anyone. Even his language didn't provide any clue to his origin. Survivors of his depredations testified that "the Captain" spoke English, Spanish, French and Dutch with equal fluency, and the name with which he christened his war galleon—the Sibylla—spoke of a man with a classical education. If he had served in any of their navies he would have surely been an officer. But there were no records of a man with his name or appearance in their rosters. His true species was a mystery.

And thus for 20 years he tormented the seas. Then just as abruptly as he rose, he became a ghost.

Those who will admit to having seen Captain Barefang are even fewer and farther between these days, but a picture is slowly emerging of a man less interested in enriching himself than establishing a strange sort of empire.

Perhaps his reign of terror was simply meant to unclutter the playing field, for rumors now spread of agreements and alliances made with admirals and pirate lords alike.

There are islands in the middle of the Atlantic that he wants for himself. They are for the most part barren and uninhabited, far from any established trade routes. They hold little strategic value for any nation. No treasures are known to be buried there. When charted on a map they seem to form a ring around an otherwise empty patch of ocean.

But Captain Barefang has let it be known that his wrath will be turned in full against any ships that attempt to land on them, or against any pirate who seeks to establish a base there.

Some think that the pain of his many injuries and the sheer amount of blood he has spilled have finally driven him mad.

Others believe he is playing a game whose end only he can see.

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Ref sheet of Victor by  Tanuklear