Gary Roberts was born to wealthy aristocrats in the city of Amn. Gary was sent to fine schools all his life, primary and secondary schools. In these schools Gary learned many things. He learned languages and arithmetic. He learned philosophy and reasoning skills. However he never tried very hard in any of his studies. The only focus he put forth real effort into was fencing. In fact Gary became an expert swashbuckler. He was leagues ahead of all his class mates.
Upon graduation Gary joined the Amn Navy. He was enlisted at the rank of Second Lieutenant and within two years had reached the rank of Captain. Within another year Captain Roberts had grown completely disenfranchised with the Amn Navy. He only very occasionally was allowed to destroy pirates, which he loved dearly. Most of his time was spent simply sailing around and filling out paper work. Noticing Captain Robert’s boredom his commanding officer, Admiral Nelson, asked Captain Roberts if he’d be interested in a special mission.
Admiral Nelson told Captain Roberts about a spy ship that would be comprised of Amn Navy-men and would be disguised as a pirate ship. Its mission was to go into Nelanther Isles, become known as a reputable pirate ship, and organize reconnaissance that would ultimately lead to an invasion of the Nelanther Isles. The ship was to be called “The Whaling Sea-Turtle” and Captain Roberts was to be one of the leading shipmates. Captaining the ship was a real hardened pirate named Bates Gillman who renamed all of the men on the ship. He dubbed Captain Roberts “Ensign Bob.” “You’re too clean cut and you fight too well, everyone will know you’re a trained Navyman, so I’ll call you Ensign Bob so people will think it’s just a joke. The closer you are to danger the farther you are from harm so to speak” and so Captain Gary Roberts became Ensign Bob.
The only stipulation was that after the mission all members aboard could never again act in a militaristic capacity, to do so would compromise the security of the Navy given the spies long term exposure to pirates as there was no doubt they’d have to partake in some unsavory pirate activities. The mission was largely a success, in the end many pirate ships were destroyed by the Amn Navy. After the long mission which lasted 5 years The Whaling Sea-Turtle was taken to the port of Sandpoint where the crew was to depart and disappear.
So now Captain Roberts, or Ensign Bob, or whoever he was had to decide what to do. He went into the Sandpoint pub and was drinking a bit when all of a sudden through the door walked a very very large creature. “Hmmm, I’ll bet he’s got something interesting going on” thought Ensign Bob.