Flexx Gideon's page

About Flexx Gideon

Character Sheet
Flexx Gideon was born on Mediogalti Island, in the little town of Cuttle with the name Xander Whalebone. Mediogalti Island is an island just northeast of the ever-present oceanic hurricane called the Eye of Abendego. Cuttle was outside of the main city. It was a little whaler village, and that was what his family did. They spent much of their lives out on the boat, hunting for whales to harvest their bones, meat, and most importantly, their oil. One whale can produce almost 8,000 gallons of oil, which was typically worth enough money for one whale to last a family the whole year. Flexx’s family was the best in the ocean when it came to whaling. They used small boats, but were dangerously effective with them.

Flexx was raised in a small family. He had two parents and an older brother. Flexx was a natural at whaling from the first time he set sail. His family and those his family employed sailed in fleets. Each member of the family would command a ship, and each ship commander would take turns as the fleet commander. The fleet commander would take charge of the hunt, directing the rest of the ships and telling them what formations to be in, and when and where to place the javelins and ropes. On his 20th birthday, Flexx was commanding just his 3rd voyage and was already building a handsome reputation as an effective captain. It was his elder brother Zebah, however, that was the best sailor in the family.

Zebah once led the most famous whale hunt in the history of Golarion. The fleet went on a voyage in search of a stranded right whale, and the search led them dangerously close into the tumultuous Eye of Abendego. They found the whale, and gave chase. Before long, it looked as though the whale would not put up much of a fight. Four ships versus one whale was a typical day job for this family. Except there was not one whale. As the fleet gave chase to the whale, it turned on the ships, forcing them to flea momentarily. As they retreated, the ship in back that was captained by Flexx’s father was greeted with the underbelly of a large second whale. The whale’s fin dropped down onto the stern of the boat, crushing her, and sending her sailors into the drink. Flexx was devastated. He thought his father had drowned along with the rest of his crew, men and women Flexx considered friends. He was stunned, he had no idea what to do, never before had he encountered two aggressive whales at once. Then his brother took control. Flexx watched beside his mother’s ship as Zebah nimbly skirted around the second whale unnoticed. As the two beasts were just deciding to leave, Zebah darted into the wreckage, and had his crew extend long ropes into the water for the surfing crew to grab onto. His father was among them. Now with many of the crew members safely aboard Zebah’s ship, Flexx thought that the obvious strategy next would be to retreat. Zebah had other ideas. He called to Flexx and had him sail to the left side of the pair of whales, and directed the horn blower to signal to his mother to sail in between them as he sailed on the right between the second whale and the raging Eye. When the ships were in position, he once again blew out signals to the rest of the fleet. Flexx was first. He and his ship sailed half-mast to let the first whale gain on them. As the tail was just past the ship, his crew shot harpoons at the softer flesh on the caudal fin. The harpoons pierced the whale’s massive tail, and opened up so they could not go back out without taking more flesh with them. The harpoons were attached to ropes that were tied to metal bearings on the ship that went all the way down to the keel for maximum stability. When about fifteen or so harpoons were locked in, Flexx ordered the crew to drop the sails and begin to row backward. This was the whale that the fleet had been chasing all day, and since the sun was already setting, the beast was tiring. Flexx had done this a thousand times, but usually it was not just him. He always had his father’s ship beside him, with the strongest rowers and the most oars. There was no telling what would happen now. Fortune was on their side, the whale began to slow, and was clearly becoming faint. Next was the tricky part. The tail had stopped thrashing, so the spell casting members of the crew zip lined down the ropes onto the tail. At first, they froze the areas where the tail was perforated to numb it. Then they covered the wounds with a powerful anesthetic made from clam oil and a touch of blowfish poison, since the tail would be used for fish bait anyway. After the wounds were treated, the spell casters heated the harpoons, warming the whale and tranquilizing it momentarily. Flexx’s job was done for now, he looked across the starboard side to watch what his mother and brother would do next. Zebah blew more instructions out to his mother, who acted accordingly. The orders from her eldest seemed foolhardy and cocky, but the number one rule in the Whalesbone family was that you do not disobey the commander. She ordered her crew members to enter a full on assault. Throwing hot javelins and harpoons into the whale’s side to tear up the whale’s thick epidermis as much as possible. The whale began to retreat, as Zebah expected, since the element of surprise was no longer on its side. Flexx’s mother began to worry that the whale was turning around to retreat, but the fleet commander had already thought of everything. He cut the whale off with his own ship, throwing hot javelins into the water to cause a roiling boil in the water. This disoriented the agonized whale, so it steered away and went further right rather than turning the full 180 degrees. This brought the whale in the Eye of Abendego. Even the outskirts of the powerful storm can destroy great ships, and even whales could not last for long. It appeared as though the whale could hide in the tempest for just long enough to avoid Zebah’s wrath, but Zebah followed it. No sailor had ever done what he did. He sailed into the force of the raging hurricane, and fought the whale one on one. He drove the whale straight into the storm, and launched harpoons into its side to tether the beast to the ship. Suddenly, a harsh wind caught the ship, and that was when Zebah’s genius was realized. The wind caused a powerful undertow, carrying the massive whale in the opposite direction of the wind. Zebah raised the lowest sails, and let the whale drag him. The sails pulling one way and the whale pulling the other was the only thing keeping the entire ship from capsizing. Flexx was amazed, but Zebah was still giving orders. Just incase horns cannot be heard, there were emergency flares on deck for instruction. Flexx read the morse code, and executed his brother’s wishes. He was already waiting beside his tranquil whale, and now decided to awaken the beast. Flexx’s crew launched hot spears into its side, and sent it into a bewildered frenzy. The whale began to thrash, and then swam away from Flexx at full speed. Its course was directed by Flexx’s mother on the other ship, again using hot spears to disorient the whale. The whale charged on past Flexx’s mother, and charged right into the second whale that was being carried out of the storm.

The impact was enormous. There has never been a sound like a charging underwater behemoth colliding with another of its kind at such high speeds. The whales immediately sank, barely living. Zebah, now on the horn, commanded the fleet to circle the two whales. They began throwing more hot javelins into the water, or anything that they could find to heat up and throw into the water. Humpback whales have a method of hunting, where they blow bubbles around schools of fish to disorient them and form a manageable ball. This is what the fleet was doing. The javelins kept the whales contained underwater, already injured and severely disoriented from the collision. When the fleet was entirely out of things to throw into the water, there was incredibly tense silence. After a few eternal seconds, two corpses floated up to the surface.

It was said that the Whalesbone family was crazy for hunting with such small ships, and it was said that Zebah was crazy for sailing into a storm to kill two whales in one hunt, but crazy seemed have a way of translating into spectacular in this family. It was hard enough to kill one whale with no storm and four small ships. Zebah killed two in a raging hurricane with three ships and saved his father and dozens of others from the depths of the ocean. That was the legacy he should have been remembered for.
The two whales should have made the family the richest on the island, but the larger the kill, the larger the cut for the Red Mantis. The ultra secretive group of assassins owned the island, and there was never any telling who might be a member. They rarely came to Cuttle, but when they did, they generally demanded payment in the form of whale oil and meat. Flexx’s family was proud of its accomplishment, so the cut was especially bitter when the Red Mantis caught wind of it. The night after they returned, the tales of Zebah’s great accomplishments were overshadowed by the complaining of the unfair cut that the Red Mantis took. The influence of pride and alcohol guiding Flexx’s parents’ tongues to spout vicious remarks about the assassins. They thought they were among friends, but you never know who may be in the fold.

The next morning, Flexx and his brother awoke to find themselves lying in a pool of blood. Their parents had been stabbed in the night, with clear evidence of the saw-toothed swords that were used by the Mantis group. Flexx was dumbfounded. He couldn’t move. He sat in silence, until he heard a choking sound come from his mother. He feebly crawled over to her, leaning in close, too shocked to cry. His mother whispered to him, ”I…I love you baby. Don-…Don’t let your brother change who you are…” She looked at Zebah, ”You-…You take care of him now… be strong for me…” All Flexx could do was look at her, staring with his mouth open, and all Zebah did was just stare at the ground and shake.
Don’t let your brother change who you are…” Flexx knew what that meant of course. His brother had a way of bringing out the worst in him. He was always convincing Flexx to do something he knew was wrong, and Flexx’s mother would always see through it. As she drew her last breath, the two brothers sat in silence for almost a day. Nine hours after watching their mother die, an enraged scream erupted out of the mouth of Zebah. Flexx was caught off guard, he jerked around and looked at his brother.
”This was Ifrael, I know it!” Flexx and his brother had always joked that the old man was part of the Red Mantis assassins, but Flexx never thought Zebah could be serious. He was, he walked outside, and grabbed a harpoon from one of the ships, and began toward the old man’s home. He beckoned for Flexx to accompany him, telling him to avenge his parents’ murder. The last words of his mother appeared in his thoughts, he knew he should tell his brother not to act rashly. However he felt he owed Zebah something now. After saving their father’s life, it felt to Flexx, like he owed Zebah the aid in avenging it, even if the basis on the culprit was a childhood theory.

Zebah barged into Ifrael’s tent, yelling about his parents, and before the old man could make a move Zebah grabbed him by the throat and threw him onto the ground. Flexx was holding the knife, and his brother had the old man pinned. Zebah was yelling at Flexx to finish it, and before he could think, he did. He hid the knife inside of the old man’s belly, not knowing if he was guilty or innocent, and ran. He bolted out of the tent, his brother on his heels. The two brothers jetted out to the edge of the island, with no idea where to run. Flexx had no plan, he was utterly lost. Zebah, however, remained much more levelheaded. He ran to the docks, and found the fastest vessel around, a vessel that just so happened to bear a Red Mantis insignia. The two boys jumped onto the boat, and sprang into action. Within seconds they got the ship out on the water and sailed as far away from the island as possible. The two sailed north west around the island, and then sailed south after they were away from the shore. Orphaned and wanted by the deadliest group of assassins in the world.

When they awoke at daybreak, they saw land bustling with life. They had arrived at The Shackles, the pirate capital of the world. Flexx was afraid, pirates were merciless marauders and thieves. Zebah convinced him otherwise, saying that sailing was the only thing they were good at. Flexx, of course, believed him. They decided on a whim to be pirates. Upon reaching the dock, the brothers immediately covered the insignia in pitch, just in case any one recognized it. After that it was all about how to get started in their new life.

Turns out, their knack for sailing, teamwork, and planning were far better than even they ad thought. Going forward two years in time, Zebah was captain of the third largest clan in The Shackles, and Flexx was his right hand. The crew was strong, but not all was well. Flexx began to grow weary of Zebah’s ruthless tactics. Every time an innocent was slaughtered, or a pauper was robbed the shirt off his back, Flexx though of his mother’s dying words. He knew he could not honor both the wishes of his mother and his elder brother.

Flexx sensed that Zebah and he would collide on one mission that would cause irreparable damage between the two eventually, so he put a contingency plan in order. All it took was for Flexx to “reward” his brother with extra rum and mead enough to send him into enough drunken rages to lose respect from his crew. Flexx also inflated his brother’s ego, making him pompous and nearly impossible to work with. Now Flexx had the support he needed for a rainy day. Flexx was also beginning to develop a crew of his own. As the army of pirates grew larger, his brother allowed Flexx to keep the ships he recruited under his sole command.

One day, inevitably, Flexx’s plan was needed. The day was peaceful and normal to begin with, but then a messenger of the army, which was now being called the Triakósias, informed his captain of a strange fleet seen north of The Shackles. It was a Red Mantis fleet. Though every one of his advisors heavily opposed engaging in a naval battle with such dangerous opponents, Zebah could not be consoled. Flexx wanted to agree with them, but he could not. His brother was now hellbent on destroying the assassins that killed his parents, and Flexx was the only person in 300 ships that agreed with him. He thought of his mother, and the warning she gave him, but he didn’t care. His brother had his ways of making Flexx forget about everything, his morals, his mother, his friends, and focusing on helping him.

The army of pirates wasted no time embarking north, headed in to wage war against a mighty force. The element of surprise was on their side, however, so the fight would not be on the Mantis’ terms for once. As Zebah approached, he saw the fleet through his looking glass, there were about 35 ships, well stocked and hulled, sailing in tight formation eastward. Behind them, Zebah could see a small village. He asked the messenger, who told him it was a simple fishing village that housed the Red Mantis on occasion. It was one of the few places that allowed Mantises to walk about in their full garb. After hearing this, Zebah remained chillingly silent.

By the time the Triakósias caught up with the Red Mantis fleet, they were in a familiar spot. Two years before, they had killed two whales simultaneously in this same area. The Eye of Abendego raged once again beside them. Zebah’s army sailed up next to the fleet, and with the single crack of a cannon, chaos ensued. Zebah’s instincts were right, the Red Mantis fleet was completely caught off guard, and thus was completely defenseless to an onslaught. The group of assassins were defeated by the army of three hundred marauders, and sank to the bottom of the ocean with not a soul left alive. Flexx was satisfied with what they had done, but Zebah wanted more. He turned around to sail towards the safe house village he was just told about. Now Flexx began to protest, because many of them in the village were innocent and young. Zebah snarled, asking Flexx if he really wanted to waste the chance to kill these monsters.