-Father was Irish, mother was English. He barely remembers them, and he has more memories of his father, because the second Gore could stand on his own two feet he was sailing with his dad. He's pretty sure his dad said he was born on a boat. From what he remembers, his dad was strict but well-meaning, but.. all of his more aggressive attempts to get his son out of his shell only drove him further into it. He thinks he liked his dad though. all he can really recall of the guy is a silhouette and the stress of trying to impress him. His mom is an even more vague memory. he can't remember the town they lived in or most of her features, just that she had his dark hair and sad eyes. he can remember the front of their house better than he can remember her. he has a positive impression of her remaining though, so she must have been good to him. As a side note, he's pretty sure he got the green eyes from his dad, but he got a darker skin tone from his momma.

-when he was 12, his family's ship, the Myrtle, was attacked by a pirate crew. That was maybe the last time he saw his dad. Can't remember what happened to him, if he had gone down with the boat or was taken on board the invaders' ship with him or something else. he just remembers being scared and wondering when he'll be allowed to go back home and hoping the pirates know what village he's talking about, because he sure can't remember the name of it.

-he knows that, if his dad had been on the boat at the start, he wasn't after the first month or so. Gore spent his next three years being the powder monkey for that boat and getting used to being treated like he was invisible and as replaceable as a piece of the canons he had to work with. That's probably why he's so reserved now. He HATES canon work now, he'll do it, but he'll have a pissed-off look on his face the whole time.

-then The White Tide stepped in, and Gore was whisked to a much better crew and was actually noticed by the people on it. it was tough love of course because they're pirates, but he was still trained in how to do actual skills and discovered his love for rigging and tying and actual sailing in general. Obviously, he had some background before, but on his dad's ship, he had been more of an errand boy than a real sailor. Developed his love for stars when he was taught how to follow them and what their names were.

-he's been on boats so long that going on land feels wrong to him. sometimes when they pass by ports he idly scans the shore looking for any village or town that looks familiar, searching for the front of a little house he has shaky memories of.. but he's not sure if he'd want to leave and go back to his mother now even if he found her. he's kind of forgotten who she was. his family and the people who raised him have been a bunch of grouchy old sailors and he has no idea what land life is like or how you get a real job or... bleeehhhh he'd rather just go from ship to ship until he goes down with one.