Finn Hamm (TLOPO)

**Finn Hamm** was a pirate known to operate in the Caribbean as well as Italy and the Ottoman Empire. Born as Adrian Repelli, he rose to become the infamous Pirate Lord of the Adriatic Sea under the auspices of the Brethren Court, operating a lucrative criminal empire whose activities reached as far as the Caribbean. He was known for his dangerous experiments with voodoo magicks as well as his uniquely violent and macabre tendencies, both of which he concealed under the guise of a bold and charismatic pirate captain. He eventually died at the hands of his nemesis Teller Lohand, though rumors persisted of his continued haunting of his home, the cursed island of Poveglia.

As a Pirate Lord of the Tenth Brethren Court, Hamm served as a particularly ruthless Keeper of the Code.

### Biography

#### Early Life

Little is known of his early life, only that he and his family resided in the Republic of Venice until it was besieged by a fleet of Barbary corsairs, leading to Repelli's abduction and subsequent impressment into the crew of the Turkish pirate Daroga, captain of the *Shadow Song*. He became a respectable pirate in his own right at Daroga's service, taking after the captain's obsession with violence and the dark arts. Repelli made fast friends with the kindred spirit and fellow conscriptee known as Patrona Halil, former Janissary turned gangster and secret conspirator against the Sultan. As two of Daroga's most effective henchmen, Adrian and Halil made an excellent team, wandering the streets of Constantinople and the farthest reaches of the Empire raiding merchant vessels and evading the zealous authorities. One treasure Repelli relieved from a merchant was a mysterious voodoo doll in the shape of a skeleton - a trinket he would cherish for the rest of his life.

Daroga's pirate crew were wildly successful for a time until the Turkish captain set his sights toward Venice, leading Repelli to begin planning a mutiny out of reluctance to participate in the second plundering of his own home. Adrian led a revolt alongside Halil against the ship's captain in the midst of the assault on Venice. Repelli, victorious, step foot within the city once more, greeting the folk whom he believed would greatly approve of his actions; instead, they were revolted by his presence and demanded he leave. Ashamed by his disowning from Venice, Adrian abandoned his birth name and took on the pseudonym Finn Hamm; the name was borrowed from a merchant ledger he chanced upon as he left the city.

With Kalil as his first mate, Hamm rallied the surviving members of the crew and established himself as the new captain of the *Shadow Song*. As opposed to the old regime, Finn rarely outright sank any ships, instead choosing to attack small vessels, enlist their crews, and add the captured boats to his burgeoning pirate armada; defeated captains would pledge their service to Hamm, plundering to their heart's content and paying annual tithes to him under the threat of "distribution of justice." Unfortunately, Finn had misjudged his friend Patrona, who at the height of their power sold the new captain out to the British who had recently begun a campaign to exterminate the Barbary pirates to facilitate trade with the Ottoman Empire.

Sent to the Caribbean, Finn became a valuable agent for the EITC, often smuggling British arms past the formidable French and Spanish blockades to aid the Royal Navy, whose supremacy was in doubt due to the rising pirate menace. Indeed, after gaining the trust of his handler Captain Ellison Shaw, he commandeered a Navy Kingfisher and set out to make a name for himself alongside several other infamous mutineers. Hamm's new flagship was to be called *The Tempest,* and in a curious stroke of mercy he spared Ellison, believing that serving as his loyal first mate for the rest of his life was a more fitting punishment for Finn's initial impressment than a simple execution. To keep Shaw loyal, Hamm used a forbidden curse which compelled the former EITC captain to faithfully serve his new master or risk an excruciating supernatural death. Finn fashioned a new flag for his crew which prominently featured an hourglass with wings, symbolizing the swift and inevitable demise coming for any who opposed him - the "Flying Death."

*TBC*

[1]Theme

### Personality

Even among his cohorts - some of the most fearsome and canny buccaneers in the Caribbean and beyond - Captain Finn Hamm was known for being particularly cruel and relentless in his pursuits, with his sordid reputation earning him the monikers "The Wretched" or "The Cruel" in certain seas. Nevertheless, he maintained an almost constant disposition of cordiality, affability, and patience, even to those whom he despised. A thespian at heart, Finn was keenly aware of the need to play to every possible audience so as to maintain his image and command respect, sympathy, or fear. At times he was exceedingly proper, such as when negotiating with ambassadors that held particularly unfavorable views towards pirates; among his fellows he was firm and composed to project confidence in the righteousness of his cause; around the more undesirable echelons of society he was known to be quite crass and quick with a quip.