Bruford the Revenant

Bruford the Revenant is a fiercely loyal man. putting his heart and soul into whichever cause he serves. Always driven by his curiosity and fate, Bruford's life has taken unexpected twists an turns, but his resolve has always prevailed, and he strives to be a leader the Isla may lean on in times of hardship.

Early Life
Born to weavers in Liverpool, Bruford's early life was relatively pleasant. He was an intellectual and charismatic, earning many friends and spending large amounts of time in libraries to learn about as many things as he could. His family had branches in many countries, from Hungary to Scotland, and from writing letters to cousins, he first discovered his talent for languages.

Serving the Crown
Bruford's curious and exploratory nature, combined with heartbreak at home, made him take the radical decision to run away from home, the memory of an interaction with a Royal Navy Captain driving him out to sea. He signed up in the navy and was stationed aboard a schooner in Kingston, where he quickly grew disillusioned by his work and the systemic evils that the navy helped maintain, such as slavery. He became fast friends with a man named Rollington Miles, a fellow Englishman with Danish ancestry who was incredibly charming and was rather popular among the crew, more so than the ill tempered captain. One night, with the assistance of his fellow mates, Bruford and Rollington successfully mutinied, killing the captain, with Bruford losing an eye in the fight. The victory was short lived however, and the men were captured by the British and sentenced to be hanged at Kingston a week after. The week passed slowly, dread having taken hold of Bruford, praying day and night for salvation. And salvation came. The day they were supposed to be hanged, pirates attacked Kingston, raiding storehouses and freeing captured pirates. Grateful to both the pirates and to god for delivering him from certain demise, he pledged his life to the cause of the pirates and to god, to live life as a free and faithful man of morality, reclaiming the ship he had mutinied on from the British and escaping Kingston.

A Pirate's Life
Bruford would serve as Quartermaster to Rollington for a fair while before Rollington and he parted ways, Rollington heading off to Denmark to learn about his ancestral home, while Bruford, now captain, committed his crew to liberating slaves and Redcoats who were willing to fight for a righteous cause, the cause of freedom. Bruford became a modestly successful pirate and was well respected by his crew. A fairly satisfactory life that was destined to fail. Bruford's ship was caught in a terrible storm that sank the ship and claimed the lives of all on board except for Bruford, who was ferried to the shores of Isla de Oro by a stray plank, where he was nursed to health and decided to serve.

Aboard the Ceph
Crewed by Luxor Jones, then Captain of The Sunken Cephalopod, he started as a humble sharpshooter before rose to the rank of Master at Arms. Generally friendly with all, he would plan a trip to Belize with the crew, retrieving an artifact. Eventually, he would meet his old friend, Rollington Miles, once his best friend, now merchant working from Denmark. Rollington, who had all the while despised and manipulated Bruford to use his skillset, would try to turn Bruford against the Isla. This plan would fail, as Miles was exposed by Raven Ivanof and then killed, an event that shook Bruford's faith in others. Another blow would soon occur when his Captain, Luxor Jones, would blind him. Enraged, he proceeded to beat his captain in a maddened frenzy, even after defeating him. The third and final blow to his faith came from the Angel Sarathiel, who he had sided with in the Battle on Mount Oro. The death of Cenwyn, one of his closest friends, would cause him to spiral out of control.

Lord of Pirates
His spiral out of control would be slowed down and stopped by his rise to the rank of Pirate Lord. Having dealt with betrayal from superiors he had trusted, he vowed to never let those following him face the same pains. He would prove to be quite an effective planner, planning a Raid on Maine, working on extending the tunnel system of Puerto Dorado and on renovating several parts of the town.

Appearance & Gear
Bruford has a crystal eye in his right eye socket that glows red when being used to see, with a pouch full of runes of sight, healing, branding and flame always at the ready. Armed with two rapiers, a rifle and two pistols, he prefers to be unarmored for mobility reasons and because "armor doesnay attract te ladies like me tunic does". A purple cloak signifies his lordship and a braided beard is often seen adorning his face.

Personality
Bruford is a calm and collected rationalist who deeply cares for those he works with. He often becomes too loyal to a cause and to people who have often betrayed him, leading to trust issues and former emotional instability. Bruford now tries to be what his leaders were not: transparent and reliable, always there as a guiding presence, as a comforting shoulder to cry on.

Abilities & Skills

 * Intellectually Gifted A bit of a prodigy, Bruford is capable of learning information and applying it incredibly fast, able to learn complex tasks and perform them at least a mediocrely competent level within days or weeks.
 * Multilingual Bruford can speak English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German and Hungarian.
 * Runesmith Bruford has a respectable understanding of runes and is able to reliably produce them.
 * Encryption Bruford can decrypt encrypted messages and is also able to design basic encryption ciphers.
 * Expert Marksman Bruford is exceptionally talented with ranged weapons like rifles.
 * Adept Navigator Bruford can read maps well and navigate over long distances fairly well.

Other Information

 * Bruford has been blinded twice, once by Luxor, his former Captain, and once by Pirate Hunters, who later killed him.
 * Bruford's nicknames include One Eye, the Sightless, the Seer, Raven Lord and most recently, the Revenant.
 * Bruford's full name is Bruford Akir Hector Abbe Lucien Bella Hugo Thiago Jago Robert Kenneth Holmer Eamon Fiona Jan Andor Smithson.
 * Bruford was responsible for planning the Raid on Maine and the refitting of the stolen Indiaman Sinclair's Folly into a floating fortress.
 * Bruford joined on 5th April 2021, let in, promoted to pirate and crewed by then Captain Luxor of the Ceph.
 * Bruford became Lord on 1st August 2021.
 * Bruford is captain of The Unsunken Plank, Mightiest Ship on the High Seas. (Its a plank.)