All the world’s surrounded by the sea, and I’m it’s king.
Early Years
Theodore grew up as heir to one of the noble houses in Alleras. The Grimlows were among the most respected noble houses. They had a solid reputation of producing strong and capable individuals, fit for filling high ranking spots in any official location. Admirals, governors and generals were among the more frequent positions the Grimlows possessed. Each child born a Grimlow is fortunate enough to be taught many of the different disciplines. Economy, mathematics, chemistry, reading and writing as well as swordsmanship and gunmanship are all part of their tutoring. Theodore followed his parents’ wishes and studied all these disciplines the best he could. In fact, he was one of the few that excelled at almost all of them. Most people that knew him at the time called him a prodigy.
When he got closer to reaching adulthood his mind began to wander. He asked himself what he wanted from life and couldn’t find the answer—at least not in his direct surroundings. He felt he needed to leave, explore the world perhaps. And so, on his eighteenth birthday, he left his home to join the royal navy. His father insisted to recommend him to the king, but Theodore refused. He wanted to make it on his own. When meeting his recruiter he was tested, like any other newcomer, and was assigned Quartermaster of Captain Black on the La Victoria.
Royal Navy of Alleras
During his years sailing with the La Victoria Theodore learnt the sailor’s trade, and as with every other thing in his life thus far, excelled at it. He quickly became one of the most popular among his crewmates, only second to his captain.
Each day he addressed the crew to keep up morale and help out on the ship where he could. He got to explore much of the world this way as he stopped at different ports all over the world. Before he arrived back at the port he originally left from he knew the seas like the back of his hand.
On one such day, Theodore noticed something about the cargo in the ship. Something was different than normal, but he trusted his captain so decided not to look further into it.
Mutiny
After another couple of years sailing on the La Victoria, Theodore couldn’t contain his curiousity anymore and went to go check on their cargo, only to discover that all this time they had been shipping slaves. Theodore was furious. (For context, slavery was mostly abolished about two years prior to Theodore joining the Royal Navy and his family was one of abolishment’s main supporters).
With a single display and speech Theodore had converted the entirety of La Victoria’s crew to his side. They broke into the captain’s quarters and questioned him. After some minor ‘convincing’ he confessed and ratted out some others involved in the slave trade. He ordered and participated in the keelhauling of Captain Black.
Knowing his former captain was close to the king, Theodore could already tell he would be court-martialled and either executed or exiled. Thus he confirmed his crew’s loyalty to him and decided to abandon his homeland and sail under the black flag.
Pirate
When word of his mutiny arrived at the capital, Theodore was publicly denounced and exiled. Should he return to Alleras soil, it would be on penalty of death.