User:PirateCaptainOldOneEye/PirateCaptainWhitebeard

THE LEGEND OF CAPTAIN PIRATE WHITEBEARD

The Legend of Pirate Captain Whitebeard, also known as Pirate Lord Whitebeard, first started during the Age of Discovery. He has existed in popular pirate mythology for centuries but there are no legitimate accounts of his existence on the historical record. His legend seems to have peaked during The Age of Pirates and has been declining since.

APPEARANCE

He is commonly depicted as a shorter man, standing just over five feet tall but with an abnormally broad frame supporting a large bulging stomach, no neck to speak of and massive arms from hundred of years of working ship decks. He is most famously characterized by a long white beard that stretched to his mid stomach and a patch over his right eye. Many stories show him with his magical red sleeping cap that he acquired in one of his adventures which allows him to not sleep. Pirates often tell stories of Whitebeard during the Winter Solstice and often merge popular imagery of Santa Clause with the myth of Whitebeard but all research would indicate the two have very little in common.

ORIGINS

The Legend of Whiteboard is shrouded in controversy. There is absolutely no historical evidence to suggest Whiteboard was a real person though the stories and mythology surrounding the legend have been very popular amongst the Pirate communities for hundreds of years.

It is rumored that before he became The Pirate Whitebeard, he was part of the Spanish explorer Ponce De Leon's quest for the Fountain of Youth in the New World (what would become Florida in The United States) in 1513 AD. Ponce De Leon is often ridiculed by the historical record for his pursuit and subsequent failure to find the Fountain of Youth but the Pirates have a different story.

This story has is that while searching for the Fountain of Youth Whitebeard was separated from his ship’s crew. He wandered for days until some local Indians of the Timucua tribe found him dehydrated and starving. They brought him back to health and incorporated him into their culture. It was during his time with the Timucua that he befriended his life long friend and eventual first mate Doh Purl.

Whitebeard never again saw his crew from the Old World. After many years with the tribe, they trusted Whitebeard enough to tell him the location of the real Fountain of Youth. There are dozens of legends about how he found the Fountain of Youth and they all differ in the accounting but the consistent message is that he and Doh Purl were able to find the fountain and drink from it, freezing their physical form at the age they drank it, possibly late fifties, but permanently reversing their biological age to their young twenties.

After drinking from the fountain, the two returned to the Timucua and lived peacefully with them for many more decades until the conflict with the Colonies. In a protracted war with the Old World settlers, the Timucua were destroyed and only Whitebeard and Doh Purl survived. They were captured and imprisoned for several years at the port of St Augustine until they were able to escape. Afterwards, poor and disgruntled, it did not take long for the two to take to pirating.

THE AGE OF PIRATES

Whitebeard came to prominence for his adventures with Doh Purl during the Age of Pirates. Doh Purl became his first mate and the two ran pirate runs from what would become State of Maine deep into the Carribbean, though most of their time was spent in the Caribbean exacting revenge on Spanish merchant ships for abandoning him in the jungles, the desolation of the Timucua and their subsequent incarceration.

it was during this time that Whitebeard had his most notorious adventures, including how he lost his eye in his first battle with The Pirate Purplebeard, how he acquired his magical sleeping cap and the story of his ship ‘Neptune’s Sleigh’. There are hundreds of stories associated with Whitebeard during this time, for more detailed descriptions, a reader can read the book ‘Age of Pirates’ by the pirate scholar Pirate Captain Old One Eye.

DEATH AND ‘THE BATTLE OF BEARDS’

However, It is notable that during his adventures Whitebeard consistently came at odds with the nefarious Pirate Purplebeard. The two often had territorial issues along the High Seas and Purplebeard long desired to know where Whitebeard found the Fountain of Youth. Legend says that Whitebeard's 'death', or more accurately his 'imprisonment' ended the Age of Pirates. Amongst the Pirate community, to this day, the Battle of Beards remains a popular sea shanty.

As it is told, Purplebeard had been in pursuit of Whitebard along the Atlantic seaboard, somewhere between Florida and Georgia. After weeks of cat and mouse on the high seas the two maneuvered into a pitched battle and Purplebeard was able to severely damage the port side of Neptune’s Sleigh. With his ship sinking, Whitebeard ordered his men to evacuate and make for shore. Including Doh Purl who most agree is the source of these legends.

Whitebeard himself, knowing he had been defeated stayed on board wanting to sink with his beloved ship. Purplebeard boarded the ship and the two dueled with their scimitars. What Whitebeard did not know was Purplebeard’s Dark Witch, Red Ruth, had created a magical gem that when touched with the blood of a person could imprison that person's soul in the gem forever. Purplebeard had the gem placed on his scimitar and during The Battle of the Beards he slashed at Whitebeard's stomach spilling blood all over the gem. Legend says within moments the crew heard Whitebeard's screams and then his body lay lifeless on the deck. Purplebeard and Red Ruth had killed, or imprisoned, the immortal Whitebeard.

RECENT EVENTS

Long believed a legend amongst the Pirate community is wasn't until recently that a young Pirate named Pirate Patty had begun to research the legend of Pirate Whitebeard. Her and her crew's research eventually led them to an island called Block Island where it is rumored she found the treasure of Purplebeard. Unfortunately, upon removing the treasure they had triggered a trap Red Ruth placed on the burial ground that awoke their undead ghosts.

While being pursued by the ghosts, Pirate Patty and her crew had to ditch some of Purplebeard’s treasure to safely escaped. They were able to bury it along the coast of block island and she later asked several friends to collect it for her and bring it back to the mainland. The last known location of Pirate Patty was south of Block Island and along the north coast of Long Island. Recent accounts from Pirates in this area tell of a desperate search for her friends who had collected Purpldbeard’s treasure.