Scarce five feet tall and near twice that in circumference, Ellis (the only name he goes by) rather resembles a walking hogshead. In fact, those unlucky enough to encounter him in a brawl aver that it is like being flattened by a runaway barrel.
His black hair is wild and thick (and receding), growing down to his shoulders and into his full black beard to wreath his glowering face and bulbous nose. His voice is gruff and booming, his laugh a bellow and frequently mocking.
He wears the usual slops and a black leather vest that emphasizes his brawny arms. His fists are square and hard. His right arm sports large red tattoos from shoulder to wrist gotten in Mandalay many years agone.

Ellis went to sea after being beaten down by his half-brothers and disowned by his father because of a love that had bloomed between him and his half-sister. He signed aboard an English privateer that went to Asian waters to prey on enemy merchant shipping. He rose to the rank of Gunner’s mate.
He was transported to Caribdis after leading a boarding party from his sinking ship in the Bay of Bengal. The ship they had boarded was holed below the waterline and sank soon after arriving in the Flotsam Sea. Ellis led them from wreckage to raft to abandoned vessel, losing men to the denizens they fought until he alone survived to be rescued. He serves as Gunner now.

In close action, Ellis wears a much-scarred and -dented iron cap he calls “my skull bucket”. He leads boarding parties with a cutlass and a dagger in his belt, another in his boot, and with four pistols, all tied to his belt with ribbons. When defending his vessel from boarders, he also carries a large blunderbuss.

Ellis likes his ships like he likes his women, broad in the beam and sturdily built, more suitable for endurance than for speed.

He is known among his crew as a suspicious and vengeful man. Still, he has never left a crew-mate in the lurch.