Alara Bonbrook

= Alara Bonbrook =
A Half-Elven Pirate who sailed under the Patched Flag. Captain of the Dancing Lady, and notable for hosting Nectarine Fairburne and Thistle Halcyon among her crew following their flight from Aleverd.
== History ==
=== Childhood ===
Alara Bonbrook was born to Iphya Amandris, a Wood Elf, by James Bonbrook, a Human. Alara was disowned by her mother as a toddler, and raised by her father till she was 10. James Bonbrook did his best to raise Alara, but grief over his separation from Iphya led him to the bottle. Falling first to drinking and then into debt, he indentured himself to the East Wind Trading House to avoid the debtor's gaols, leaving Alara alone in Giltham as a child. Alara was placed in an orphanage, in which she suffered neglect and abuse till she fled to the streets. Turning to thievery to survive, she was eventually arrested and tried at age 14. Given the choice of prison or indentured servitude, Alara chose two years of indenture with the EWTH in hope she might meet with her father once more. Unfortunately, Alara never saw her father again. He died of overwork at a mine when she was 15. The letter informing her of his death didn’t reach her until over a year later.
=== Life at Sea ===
Alara was sent to serve aboard a number of EWTH merchantmen, completing multiple voyages between Aleverd and the Windward Isles and learning a great deal of seamanship as a result. But during the years of her service, she developed a loathing for the Company, in particular for its treatment of indentured laborers and its practice of slavery. After a total of five years of indenture, she left the EWTH and enlisted in the King's Navy at Spearesmouth, joining the Fleet of the White on the Windward Station.
Until this point, Alara had idealized the King’s Navy as a paragon of efficiency, discipline and valor as compared to the Merchant Fleet of the EWTH. Serving with the Fleet of the White, however, quickly disabused her of this notion. During her service, Alara became aware of how deep the EWTH’s claws dug into the Navy; the Company was able to influence orders, fleet dispersion and the Admiralty itself in order to protect and advance its interests. And, worst of all, she saw how corruption, nepotism and outright apathy resulted in dangerously incompetent men being placed in positions of power over others.
=== Mutiny ===
After serving for five years and advancing to the rank of Lieutenant, Alara was assigned to the Dancing Lady as 2nd Lieutenant under the infamous Captain Derdish. Franklin Derdish was a tyrant of the worst kind, enforcing his authority over the crew with the cat and little else. Flogging was a near-daily occurrence aboard the Dancing Lady, and punishments of a dozen lashes or more for minor offences were common. The Lady became a shot-rolling ship little more than three months out of harbor, and the punishments seemed only to grow worse over time. Alara, (now promoted to acting 1st Lieutenant after the previous first's suspicious disappearance during a night watch) had already gained a reputation among the crew for fairness, and even leniency where she could get away with it. One morning, a month out from Brannocksburg, Captain Derdish ordered the keel-hauling of a seaman for drunkenness. Alara attempted to dissuade the captain from carrying out so harsh a punishment, leading to a heated argument upon the quarterdeck. Derdish ordered Alara confined to quarters, and vowed to break her for her impudence once in port. The punishment was carried out, and the sailor in question was drowned during the keel-hauling.
That night, a delegation of the crew approached Alara and made plain their intentions to mutiny. The next morning, almost six years to the day that she had served with the King’s Navy, Lieutenant Alara Bonbrook unlocked the armsroom, handed out pikes, cutlasses and pistols, and took the Dancing Lady from Captain Derdish as a mutineer.
Derdish and his inner circle were hung, and Alara Bonbrook was chosen almost unanimously as the new captain for her seamanship, her charisma, and her coolness under fire. Since that day they have sailed under the Patched Flag, and Alara, now in her early 30’s, has gained a reputation as both one of the most successful pirates in the Windward Isles, as well as one of the most fair and merciful.
== Personality ==
Captain Bonbrook has a borderline obsessive hatred of any person or organization that deals in flesh, be they slavers, pimps, or the EWTH with their “flexible indenture” practices. When taking a ship, she will often stage mock trials for the captain and commissioned officers; if found ‘guilty’ of assisting in slavery or indenture, the offenders will face punishment up to and including flogging or hanging. Contrariwise, she is universally merciful to crew and passengers of captured ships, offering a place among her crew to all takers, and promising safe passage to those that refuse.
Alara is a charismatic and savvy leader, taking pains to keep her thumb on the pulse of her crew, and treating even the lowest hands aboard with respect (provided they follow orders). Her ship, though still run day-to-day with a strict Naval hierarchy and discipline, is almost democratic: each hand is treated as something of a ‘junior partner’, with a say in their ventures and a share in any profits. Alara herself will hear out any grievances or misgivings among the crew, and before departing on some stated goal, she will always inform the men of her aims and win their approval. In port, Alara will even frequently join the men to drink, revel, and fight, believing it’s part of her duty as a captain to help her crew kick up a dust ashore.
Category:Characters