Spanish Blood Runs Cold - March 24, 2011

[Batleth]

In his early days at sea, Thomas White mastered sailing and handled pistols and cutlass with great skill after several skirmishes with Pirates.

His keen sense of survival and resourcefulness earned his shipmates' trust, that is until a group of mutineers took over the ship!

Several of the mutineers thought they recognized Thomas as a scoundrel in the British fleet named James White. This is how Thomas learned of his twin brother's nasty reputation and his whereabouts in the Caribbean.

Through a go-between, Thomas posed as Captain Tomás Blanco looking for a British officer willing to scuttle a ship for profit. Still bitter about his twin brother stealing the family's meager assets, Tomás targeted his greedy twin.

On the arranged day, Tomás tipped off the authorities who intercepted the stolen vessel and took James away in chains. However, Tomás never received his bounty for turning his larcenous brother in.

Distraught and penniless, Tomás ended up in a tavern frequented by the Spaniard Garcia de Avaricia. It didn't take much coaxing for Tomás to join Garcia's cause and keep his newly changed moniker to Tomás Blanco.

Now, Tomás had much to prove ... and even more to plunder! Once he had heard his brother had cheated the gallows and taken up arms with the Frenchman Pierre le Porc - Tomás swore to finish the job that the British failed to do and finally settle scores with his brother!

During many of these ruthless battles with his twin, Tomás feels the presence of death, most notably the ghastly company of Jolly Roger. But somehow, Tomás always finds the strength to battle back.

Many whisper that though Tomás flies the colors of Garcia de Avaricia, he may have perished long ago in one of the clashes with his brother Jacques and now sails for Jolly Roger - recruiting for his minions... only time will tell ...