The Harlock's of Mithlond

[Ithekro]

The Harlock Family originally came from what is called Austria in Europe in the 1400s of the Sixth Age. An older aristocratic family, one of its lesser sons decided to invest in the seas against the Ottoman Turks then surrounding Constantinople. Acting as a privateer under the Austrian flag, this Harlock struck at many Turkish vessels before being driven out to sea by force. His efforts afforded him great wealth at the expense of the Ottoman Empire and was seen as something of a rogue hero in Austria. This first Pirate Capitan Harlock passed his ship to his son when the old man could no longer sail.

His son, kept the title of Pirate Captain Harlock to maintain the illusion that he was the same pirate that had been hunting the Ottomans for the last three decades. He too was successful, partly due to the fear his father had sewn in the Ottomans after defeating two of their warships in battle. The son soon increased the Harlock reputation by storming a Turkish fort on the Black Sea and holding it for a day to loot the supplies and then leaving it to burn. He eventually purchased a new ship to replace his father's aging vessel.

This second Pirate Captain Harlock also would pass his ship and title to his son after nearly forty years. This son continued the legend. However by this point the war with the Turks began to subside. Harlock went in search of a nation that would hire his services. It was around this time that the New World was discovered. The Pirate Harlock took an interest in the stories of the New World and the rumors of endless gold, but also of an army of horsemen that was endless. This Harlock took a job with the French government to intercept Spanish vessels carrying gold back from the New World, but this job did not set well with the pirate. This Harlcok never actually went to the New World, but he instilled in his son the sense of wonder to go and find a life in that place.

The fourth Pirate Captain Harlock sold his remaining estates in Austria and sailed in a new vessel for the New World in 1534. He arrived and setup what sort of base he could in the islands of the Caribbean Sea. No longer was he working for the French Government like his father, Harlock began taking food stuffs to keep his men fed, and then offered his services to the new race of peoples that were at war with the Spaniards...the Rohirrim. Rohan was not entirely trusting of this European with an odd language, but by his returning of items taken by the Spaniard on the Gondorian Frontiers he proved his worth. The nation of Rohan purchased the services of this Captian Harlock in 1535 of the Sixth Age. This Harlock eventually married a Gondorian woman and produced the fifth Pirate Harlock...this one actually named in our history books as Imrahil Harlock.

Imrahil Harlock became a pirate for Rohan in 1564 after his father passed his newer locally built ship to him. Captain Imrahil Harlock spent much of the next thirty years fighting Spaniards on the Spanish Main between South American, Spain, and the Northern Colonies of New Spain and Florida. Taking many prizes, the Harlock name from the Old World transferred to the New World and the legend of the Pirate Harlock grew to something almost immortal in Europe. The Spanish placed a gigantic price on his head and many tried to collect it. But none ever caught Imrahil Harlock...except for his wife...Elawyn of Brithomber.

Imrahil and Elawyn's son Faramir did not take up the mantle of Pirate Captain like his fathers. Instead he became an officer in the army of Gondor and lead many daring raids into Spanish South America and into the rising Anahuac Empire to the North. Faramir died in battle in 1602 at the age of 36. His son Hama would take up the call of the sea in 1607.

Hama Harlock was the first Harlock seen near the Spanish Main since 1593 when his grandfather Imrahil stopped sailing. Thinking the legend had retired the Spaniards were not as fearful of the new Harlock...until he took one of their Ships of the Line from harbor on the night of March 23, 1609. Then the Spanish renewed the original bounty for the Pirate Captain Harlock. Using the captured ship of the line, Harlock cause great amounts of chaos and destruction to the Spanish shipping lanes and colonies. Hama Harlock was probably the most destructive of the Pirate Captains in the 1600s. He was finally caught late in life on September 15, 1653 at the age of 67. He was hung by Spanish forces after being shot twice. He was hung from his own ship's mast because of the captain's legendary ability to escape capture. By this point his son was already operating as a pirate on his own ship.

Hama's son Tom Harlock began sailing the Spanish Main as Captain Tom in 1631 and never actually went by the name Captian Harlock outside his crew's hearing or at home. The Spanish never placed the large price on his head as they focused all there attention on his father. Several attacks committed by Captain Ton were attributed to Captain Harlock, but that suited Tom just fine. He preferred to hit his targets at night and always as quietly as possible. The Thief Pirate Tom would be known to some until 1668 when he too retired, passing his ship to his son.

Tom's son, Tompson Harlock was that last true full Pirate Captain Harlock to operate in the Caribbean Sea. From 1668 - 1702, Captain Harlock continued to harass the Spanish Main. But towards the end of the 1600s the Spanish were in competition with the French and Norman nations. Harlock and Rohan would sometimes assist Norman ships against the Spanish, but not often. In 1703 the Pirate Captain decided his time was done. The Skull and Crossbones were lowered from his ship's mast and folded neatly. The Harlock family has married into several noble Gondorian Families by this time and pressure from the Anahuac Empire was growing. Tompson's son would carry the Harlock name into the Pacific Ocean.

Tompson's son Westerner was born late in Tompson's life and would not be of age until 1714. Westerner Harlock took to the Ocean of the Pacific as an officer in the Navy of Gondor under the flag of Rohan. They fought the Anahuac Empire on sea and on land for many years until the fall of Gondor. Harlock returned to the defeated Gondor to get his family, and his father's legacy...the old pirate's flag. Westerner Harlock escaped Gondor with as many people as he could, including part of his family. He then raised was he called "this flag of freedom" on the mast of his ship and sailed to attack and Anahuac Fleet with other former Gondorian ships. They actually won this battle and escaped to Rohan under the Skull and Crossbones. For this efforts, Aragorn (XIII) King of Rohan granted the Harlock family the land of Mithlond and the title Lord of Mithlond. This was 1726. Westerner Harlock continued to fight under his flag of freedom until 1746 when the last parts of New Beleriand and Gondor fell to the Anahuac and Spanish. Harlock's efforts allowed for many Gondorians to escape during those thirty years of war.

Westerner's son, Westerner, Junior, would join the Navy of the Mark in the year 1738. He would fight on his father's ship against the Anahuac for many years until his father retired in 1746. Taking up the title Captain Harlock and the ship of his father, this Harlock would plague the Anahuac and Spanish western coasts for many years. He was not quite as successful as his father, but the ports of old Gondor were closed to him.

Westerner, jr's son Theoden was born in 1750 and joined the Army of the Mark instead of the Navy in 1769. This Harlock was assigned to watch the increasing tensions in the east as the French and Norman Wars came to a head. Not seeing much actual combat during his lifetime, this is perhaps the least well known Harlock. He retired from military service in 1811 after having seen the breakup of Norman America.

Theoden's son Freawine took to the Army like his father. Freawine however took part in several small wars between the nations of Rohan borders as they were pressed westward ahead of the expanding former Norman colonies. Eventually redirecting many to the area known as the Haven of the People and "Indian Territory" Harlock spent much of his time away from Rohan. Freawine died in 1868 at the ago of 89.

Freawine's son Franklin was born in 1819 in Mithlond. Franklin joined the Navy of the Mark, much to the displeasure of his father. Franklin was heavily involved in the process of gaining Rohan steam technology for larger naval vessels including several steam frigates in the late 1840s. Franklin also commanded one of the long ranged warships of the Mark that would routinely visit Asia and the relatively new nation of New Switzerland. Franklin retired from the navy in 1877 after having lead forced of the Mark back to New Beleriand in 1870 under the old family standard...the flag of freedom.

Franklin's son Eldacar was born in 1844 in Mithlond. Like his father he joined the Navy of the Mark, which also upset his grandfather Freawine. Eldacar sailed with his father down to New Beleriand in 1870 under the flag of freedom. Both returned heroes. Eldacar however retired in 1875 due to an illness he picked up in New Beleriand. He lived until 1882 when he final died of consumption.

Eldacar's son Franklin Westerner Harlock was born in Mithlond a year before his father steamed to New Beleriand with his grandfather. His grandfather and father died within a year of each other, leaving 13 year old Franklin as Lord of Mithlond. From this time until he was 18 Franklin traveled on his families old private steam ship to see the world. He would later return and wonder the Great Plains...there he met a young man named Tochiro Oyama. They became good friends after surviving a bar brawl in an United Kingdom saloon on the frontier. Franklin W. Harlock would join the Navy as his father and grandfather has done, but not without leaving for a year to help his friend look for a lost sister. During their adventure Harlock and Tochiro finally found Tochiro's sister, Shizuku enslaved with several other Eastern Kingdom craftsman by a strange organization attempting to produce technologically advanced weapons. While Harlock was able to rescue Shizuku and some of the others, many were killed in a effort to cover this organization's roots. It was also here that Harlock and Tochiro encountered Sinunora, a mysterious woman with whom Tochiro would fall in love. Lord Harlock married Shizuku and they have a son, Phantom Harlock in 1895, this was also the year Harlock was given command of the Combat Cruiser Eldacar. Though not named after his father, Harlock has taken a liking to this ship. With his victories in the War for New Beleriand, Lord Harlock is next in line to get command of a battleship and a promotion to Captain. It is said as captain he is allowed to fly his family colors...so the "flag of Freedom" shall fly again on his next command.

Franklin W. Harlock's son Phantom Franklin Harlock was born in 1895 in Mithlond and stays with his mother when she isn't working on new naval design for Rohan.

[Ithekro]

"This Flag of Freedom...."

~ Westerner Harlock, 1726.

The Stylized form of the Skull and Crossbones of the Harlock family.

Original Art by Leiji Matsumoto