Philip Bloodyhand

Philip 'Bloodyhand' (d. 654 C.E.) is a Hellenes corsair captain who appears in Scorpion Mountain, commanding a war galley named the Ishtfana. He earned the title, 'Bloodyhand', from the single red gauntlet he wore upon on his right palm. He and his crew aided the Tualaghi desert bandits in taking over the town of Tabork and used it as a base of action to launch sudden raids on passing trading ships. He was killed by a Atlatl dart to the chest thrown by Lydia after nearly shooting Hal.

History[]

At some point in time, Philip became a corsair and took control of a war galley named the Ishtfana, which was manned not only by twenty fighting men, many, if not all of whom were fellow Hellenes pirates, but also by forty rowing slaves, operating within the Constant Sea. Like many Hellenes corsairs, Philip and his crew were well known for their preference to bright, mismatched clothing. Philip's name would eventually become feared across the Arridan stretch of the Constant Sea, likely meaning he plagued Arridan towns for a lengthy amount of time and might have even came into conflict with Wakir Seley el'then, who was apparently well acquainted with the corsair's foul-temper. His eventually gained the nickname 'Bloodyhand', inspired by the blood-red gauntlet her wore over his right hand. Philip also developed excellent weapon skills, which he required as the captain of a crew of cutthroats. Though unconfirmed, Philip may have also plagued the coasts of south-east Iberion, south-west Toscana and southern Gallica, all of which also bordered the Constant Sea, which he terrorized. He also may have been an occasional visitor of Raguza, which lay on the Dan River that branched out from the Constant Sea, though this is also unconfirmed.
As a corsair captain, Philip always made sure that the fighting men beneath him were capable, but not outstanding, in their jobs in order to deplete chance that one of them might try to usurp him.
At some unknown point in time, Philip was told that a red bandanna was the sign of a feeble mind, which he disbelieved, being particularly fond of the scarlet bandanna that swathed his forehead.

Scorpion Mountain[]

Tabork, the coastal town that, with help, Philip and his crew seized control of for several months — Tabork, the coastal town that, with desert nomad help, Philip and his crew seized control of for several months

Philip eventually made an alliance with the Tualaghi leader, Iqbal and the two leaders combined their forces to take control of the coastal village of Tabork, with Iqbal's Tualaghi warriors storming the town's inland wall under the cover of night while Philip's corsairs launched their attack from the sea, which was unprotected by the heavy chain boom that the Tabork citizens had neglected to deploy across their harbour mouth. Upon seizing command of the town, Philip took up residence in a seemingly lavishly-appointed household presumably belonging to one of the town officials. With the capture of Tabork, Philip became ideally positioned to dash out and capture any trading vessel making its way past Tabork on the Ishtfana, eventually capturing over fifty ships and bringing in vast amounts of wealth that was split between the two fractions of the force. These attacks disrupted coastal sea traffic so much that the Al Shabah harbour became crowded with ships who's captains were unwilling to continue east until the situation was resolved, as the Assaranyan Channel, which lay nearby Tabork, formed the only safe passage from the Constant Sea to the Sea of Blood without risking the Lion's Teeth or the strong northern winds. Despite their alliance, there was no love lost between to two parties, with Philip considered Iqbal to be a cold-blooded, joyless desert lizard while Dhakwan and presumably many of Tualaghi viewed Philip and his corsairs as "overdressed fops" for their extravagant choices in clothing.
After the Heron was sighted, Philip sent the Ishtfana after them. Instead of going himself, however, Philip assigned command over the ship to his second-in-command, Kyrios, while he remained in Tabork, presumably viewing the capture of a single trader to be not worth his efforts. That very night, Philip seemingly indulged heavily in a vast consumption of alcohol before fallen into a drunken slumber on the pile of thick cushions that served as a bed for him.
The next day, Philip was awoken by one of his servants' discreet knocking and sprawled on his stomach and lying sideways as he was, grasps only thin air as he goes to rise from the soft mattress, causing the corsair to lost his balance and rolled off onto the floor, although, due to the beddings lack of legs, their was little height for him to fall from. Philip's infamous temper, however, flared as he rolled onto the tiled floorboards, then struggled to a sitting position, angrily shouted what was going on, only for a hand then flying to his pulsing forehead in a vain attempt to stem the sudden pain there caused by his foolish and heavy drinking. In response to his master's furious questionings, the underling who had awoken Philip then informs his employer that his vessel, the Ishtfana, had returned with a "prize", which Philip responds to with only a grunt as he rubbed his eyes, swallowing several times before shooting a scowl at his servant, seemingly instinctively telling the man to bring him wine before quickly realising that it was wine that had literally brought him low and amends his order for a jar of wine to one for a jug of lemon juice-infused water, which the servants scurries off to comply. Blearily looking around for his clothes, Philip, after several seconds, realizes that was still clad in his typical them, before scanning the room for his red bandana, cursing as he again failed to realized he already bore it. After realising his bandana's location, Philip, after straightened the bandana, heaved himself off the floor and moves to the open archway that led onto his second-floor terrace, overlooking the harbour with a wince resulting from the reflected sunlight before holding a hand in a shading gesture, watching as the Ishtfana enters the harbour before turning back into his quarters as his servant enters the room baring with his ordered drink. Seizing the jug and greedily gulping down its contents, the sharp taste of the lemon juice already lacing the water cut through the thickness that clogged Philip's mouth as he upended the jug and allow the liquid to spill round the sides of it and soak his shirt front. Taking a deep breath as he lowered the mug, Philip let loose a thundering belch, then dropped the jug onto the bed cushions as he strode purposeful to the door, ordering his servant to inform 'Lord Iqbal' of the Ishtfana's arrival, unaware that the Tualaghi chieftain had already been informed.

Shoving his curved sword's scabbard through the yellow sash round his waist and lumbering down the stairs, tugging on the single red gauntlet that he wore on his right hand as a reminder of his nickname, Philip had barely strode twenty paces before his face was running with the perspiration, his gasps coming in grunts of effort from walking in the heat, dull pain still thumping behind his eyes as he made his way onto the wharf, sighting his confederate waiting by the water’s edge, watching the galley make its way through the harbor entrance. Joining Iqbal, Philip states the seemingly obvious fact that his people had "seized" their intended victim, although Iqbal criticises the length of time the effort had taken, which Philip answers with a shrug while inwardly wondering why Kyrios had taken so long securing and bring back such an apparently small, slow trading vessel, agreeing in secrecy that Iqbal's comment of his first mate's lacking in the way of completely reliable or the most intelligent of men, yet comes to the conclusion that his first mate had kept the rowers at maximum speed for too long, exhausting them far too early in the chase so that their quarry had gained ground on them before eventually capturing the 'trader'. Despite this, Philip refused to listen to someone denigrate his ship or his crew lying down, truculently telling the Tualaghi leader that it was easy for Iqbal to criticise when he had no knowledge of the problems facing a sailor, a reprimand Iqbal dismisses.

As Iqbal orders Dhakwan to have his Khumsan take charge of unloading the "captured" ship's cargo, Philip remains of the wharf, peering in a wine-glazed squint at his rapidly approaching vessel, scannning the drab group standing around the steering platform, seeking out Kyrios’s distinctive and colourful figure without success. Frowning, Philip notes at the empty foredeck, clear of the fighting crew would normally be gathered there, drinking and celebrating a successful pursuit and becomes bothered by the group in the stern's lack of bright colours before, upon seeing the slim figure of a girl (Lydia), realising the truth, the ship he had sent out packed with Hellenes was now held by unknown enemy forces. Turning desperately, Philip catches sight of a harbour bowman guard standing nearby. Running up to the guard, Philip snatches his ally's horn bow from the Tualaghi's grasp before dragging several arrows out of the man’s back quiver, nocking one to the string and turning back to face the ships, all while shouting at the guard to sound the alarm, voice the realisation they were under attack. Letting lose the arrow, Philip nearly hits Hal Mikkelson and quickly nocks another arrow to fire, only for a dart shot by Lydia to hit him in the chest. Looking down in dumb bewilderment, Philip sees the long dart that had just transfixed him and wonder's at the lack of pain, only for waves of pain to come rolling in, sending him collapsing as his vision turns black and his soul fell into the void of death. It is unknown what became of Philip's body.

Personality and Traits[]

Philip, as a corsair, was greedy, unpleasant, ruthless and obviously willing to hurt and kill innocents if it helped his own ends. He also clearly only aided others to further his own ends and considered his ally, Iqbal, to be a mirthless, cold-blooded desert lizard, helping Iqbal and his Tualaghi to seize Tabork only because of the power and riches he could gain from it. He was rather feeble-minded and dull-witted, especially after drinking heavily, and clearly did not think of the consequences of seeing the bottle to much, which no doubt increased his famous foul-temper.

Despite this, he was still highly skilled in all using all ranges of weaponry and was capable of realizing the Ishtfana was in fact a trap after catching sight of Lydia, as well as cunning enough to place people who were not outstanding, but capable, in places of command of his crew to undermine the possibility of a mutiny. Like most Hellenes, he had a fondness of bright, gaudy clothing, as well as for fine food and drink. He also refused to allow someone to slander his ship or crew's abilities, despite mentally agreeing with Iqbal that his first mate, Kyrios, was not that capable in his job, believing that Kyrios had exhausted the ship's rowers in the first hours of the chase with The Heron, allowing the ship to gain distance before he realized the truth of the approaching Ishtfana's crew.

Physical Appearance[]

Philip was an tall, grotesquely-overweight man, although, apart from this, no description of his physical appearance was given, although he was at least shorter than Iqbal.

Like most Hellenes, Philip was particularly fond of bright clothing, dressing in the gaudy mixture that Hellenese corsairs were so fond of. This clothing included bright blue, wide bottomed trousers, which were held in place by a scarlet sash, a buttercup-yellow satin shirt that stretched across the corsair's large belly, and calf-high boots made of soft red Socorran leather, though the visual effect of the bright clothing was somewhat spoiled by the food and wine stains that were all too apparent upon them. He also wore a red bandanna that he was particularly fond of and a single red gauntlet that he wore on his right hand as a reminder of his nickname — 'Bloodyhand'. Philip was also often equipped with curved sword he often kept shoved through his sash.