I was born with the sound of cannons and the smell of burning wood. My father was Captain William Drakke, a well-known pirate with a sense of humor, and to prove it he named me ÔMarÕ, a Spanish word for ÔseaÕ.When I turned twenty-two years old, the Captain (I preferred to call him Captain like everyone else, instead of Father or Dad) gave me my first pocket pistol that could be retrieved quickly and easily for a last-minute gut or face shot. He also gave me my own set of daggers and beautiful and lethal cutlasses.