Old Joe

He is old and his name is Joe. What else do you expect me to say?

Some say that Old Joe is the true ruler of Wesfair Island. Well, at least a part of it. His dominion lies in the slums and poor countryside, where people struggle to survive amidst ruins of once beautiful towns and villages burnt by constant invasions. Hardened by numerous raids and little different from raiders themselves, the extent to which they respect Old Joe is shown by the fact that a portion of all illegally taken tropheys somehow manages to make its way to Old Joe's coffins. In exchange, Old Joe always looks after his people - "his" being anyone on the island who pays their respect - and protects them from the law. That involves sending his own men to harass and intimidate the governor, as he is rumoured to have done several times before.
By all accounts, Old Joe looks like a gang leader of a massive scale. In any civilised place, he had been hanged by the neck already. However, with an island as vast and unpopulated as Wesfair Island, and people as desperate as they are here, the best a governor manages to do is to keep a balance of power. Old Joe's people may cross the boundary of legality, but there are unwritten rules that they would not cross and live to tell about it - Old Joe himself will see to that. This situation is an obvious annoyance to the Viceroy whose duty it is to see the Eirish law upheld, but neither changing the governor nor sending a military fleet have proven able to change it.

Personal history

Most people who had known Old Joe as a child have died long ago. The ones that are still alive - keep to themselves about his origins. He is often described as an embodiment of Hummish nature - big, strong in battle and short of temper. However, on an island with a history such as Wesfair Island such a guess is really nothing of note. At the same time, the extent of Old Joe's hold over the island can hardly be attributed simply to his strength or power of will. The men are willing to follow him to certain deaths with nothing to gain from it but Old Joe's approval, something you would more commonly see in a cult. Sometimes he is called "a spirit of Wesfair", probably caused by the man's near supernatural knowledge of the island's landmarks and anything that happens on its vast land.