Jack Rackham

2013-12-21T00:00:59Z

173.84.211.126: /* Return to piracy, capture and death */

{{Era|AC4}}
{{WP-REAL|Calico Jack}}
{{Spoilerhd}}
{{Quote|Aye. We'll use Rackham's ship. He ain't a capable captain.|[[Charles Vane]] on Jack's captaincy skills, 1718.|Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag}}
{{Character Infobox
|image = Jack Rackham.png
|birth = 27 December 1682<br>[[Cuba]]
|death = 18 November 1720 (aged 37)<br>[[Port Royal]], [[Kingston]], [[Jamaica]]
|affiliates = [[Nassau|Pirate Republic]]
|appear = ''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]''
|voice = [[O. T. Fagbenle]]
}}
'''Jack Rackham''' (1682 – 1720), more commonly known as '''Calico Jack''', was a [[Jamaica]]n-born [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Piracy|pirate]] who sailed [[Caribbean|West Indies]] from 1715 to 1720.

He was captain of the [[schooner]], ''[[Royal Phoenix]]''.

==History==
===Early years===
In 1682, Jack Rackham was born in [[Port Royal]], Jamaica, at the height of the town's debauched history. As such, Jack aged into a frequent drunk who was rarely serious about anything. It was during these early years that he developed an affinity for Indian and Asian prints, earning him his nickname.

Eventually, the call of piracy proved too strong for Rackham to ignore and he became associated with [[Charles Vane]], an English captain who had served as a privateer in the [[Royal Navy]] during the [[War of Spanish Succession]].

===Life as a pirate===
In 1715 both Charles Vane and Jack Rackham travelled to [[Nassau]] – home of the burgeoning Pirate Republic – to make their living. There they met several other pirates, including some of Vane's former privateering associates; [[Edward Kenway]], [[Edward Thatch]], and [[Benjamin Hornigold]].

A few years later, in 1718 – just after the passing of Edward Thatch – Jack became involved in a plot by Kenway and Vane to breach a British blockade of Nassau, set up after the [[Templars|Templar]], Governor [[Woodes Rogers]], had travelled to the city to reclaim it in the name of the [[Monarchy|Crown]]. Rogers had previously offered the pirate captains and their crews amnesty, if they would give up their pirating and return to Britain; an offer both Vane and Rackham refused.

===Mutiny===
Following their escape from Nassau, which came at the expense of Jack's ship, the ''Kingston'', the three pirate captains agreed to pursue Kenway's fabled [[Observatory]]. They would start by locating a ship of the [[Royal African Company]], which they hoped would lead them to the ''[[Princess]]'', a slave ship carrying [[Bartholomew Roberts]], the only man known able to locate the Observatory.

Eventually, they found and engaged the slave ship ''[[Royal African Pearl]]'', but [[Ranger|Vane's vessel]] was demasted in the battle and left adrift. Despite this, Kenway's ''[[Jackdaw]]'' was able to capture the warship, where they learned that the ''Princess'' sailed from Kingston every few months. At that moment, Rackham struck.

In alliance with the ''Ranger''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s crew, Jack mutinied against Vane, apprehending him alongside Kenway and the ''Jackdaw'''s Quartermaster, [[Adéwalé]]. Rackham remarked that he would sell Adéwalé in a local slave market, but that he could take no chances with Kenway or Vane, and so elected to strand them aboard the unseaworthy ''Ranger'' while he claimed the ''Jackdaw'' as his own.

Barely two months had passed before Rackham limped back to Nassau to accept the King's pardon. Upon his arrival he was detained by [[Mary Read|James Kidd]] and Adéwalé, the man he had recently tried to sell into slavery. Not long thereafter, the three travelled to Kenway's [[Great Inagua hideout|Manor]] on [[Inagua|Great Inagua]], where they returned control of the ship to the formerly marooned captain.

===Return to piracy, capture and death===
Despite his actions, Jack was able to continue his life in Nassau. By 1720, he had become involved with [[Anne Bonny]], a married woman who worked at a popular drinking establishment in the settlement. Before long, however, Anne's infidelity was discovered and Jack, unable to buy off Anne's spurned husband, elected to elope with her. Together with James Kidd, now openly acting as Mary Read, Anne and Jack left Nassau and returned to a career as pirates.

At first they did well, capturing a number of small fishing vessels, but within four months of leaving Nassau they were attacked by the Royal Navy. With Jack and his crew passed out from drink, there stood only Anne Bonny, Mary Read and a third man to fight off the Royal Navy. Soon enough, the three were overrun and the vessel captured. Rackham, Bonny and Read were taken to Port Royal, and sentenced to hang for the crime of piracy.

A few weeks after his sentencing, Jack was executed, and his body subsequently placed in a {{Wiki|gibbeting|gibbet}}. The following year he was visited by Edward Kenway who, having escaped his own imprisonment was in the process of assisting in the escape of Mary Read and Anne Bonny. Edward confessed that despite Jack's failings as both a sailor and a friend, it dismayed him to see him in that state.

==Gallery==
<gallery captionalign="center" position="center" spacing="small" widths="180">
Concept Art - Jack Rackham.jpg|Concept art of Jack Rackham
AC4-CaribbeanSea JackAndBenjamin.jpg|[[Benjamin Hornigold]], Edward Kenway and Jack Rackham
We Demand A Parlay 9.png|Rackham and Vane arguing with [[Benjamin Hornigold]]
Vainglorious Bastards 9.png|Rackham leading the mutiny against Vane
</gallery>

==Reference==
*''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rackham, Jack}}
{{AC4}}
[[Category:1682 births]]
[[Category:1720 deaths]]
[[Category:Individuals]]
[[Category:Cubans]]
[[Category:Pirates]]

Blood vial

2013-12-20T23:45:41Z

173.84.211.126:

{{Era|AC4|FC}}
{{Spoilerhd}}
[[File:ACI Blood vial.png|thumb|right|250px|A blood vial]]
'''Blood vials''' are small crystalline cubes, designed by the [[First Civilization]], to contain the blood of an individual, for the purpose of viewing said individual's actions, through the [[Observatory]].

Once a blood sample had been collected, it was placed inside the [[Crystal Skulls|Crystal Skull]] that powered the Observatory, which would then project what the donor was seeing and hearing in real time. Thousands of these vials were stored at the Observatory, containing the blood of a number of Precursors, but were materially worthless to anybody.

It was for these reason that the [[Templars]] under [[Laureano de Torres y Ayala]] sought the Observatory; so that they might make use of its abilities to spy on and blackmail numerous government officials. A few vials existed beyond the Observatory's walls, as one was needed, in conjunction with a sample of a [[Sages|Sage]]'s blood, to permit access.

==Reference==
*''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]''
[[Category:First Civilization technology]]

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Jack Rackham

Blood vial