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Gilbert Nathanael Fletcher was born in 1593, and from almost birth, his heart and soul were the sea. His father was a shipbuilder in Southampton, and Gilbert grew up at his side, learning everything there was to know about sailing and shipbuilding. All he ever wanted to do, from the time he knew enough to choose, was be a sailor. So he learned, and quickly, everything he could take in. He worked as a young man alongside his father, building ships, but his heart was always longing to be on the open sea.

When he was seventeen years old, his his father introduced him to a sailor he'd known for some time as they worked into the late hours of the night to finish work on a ship that was due to be completed. Thomas Carter was the sailor's name, and from the moment they met, Gilbert was absolutely fascinated by him, and everything about him. He was highly intelligent, seemed to know everything about sailing, and despite every ounce of his energy being poured into trying his best not to feel this way, he was attracted to him, too. Sexuality was something that was hardly discussed openly in those days, but at night, alone in his bed, Thomas was all Gil could think about.

One night, on a short voyage with passengers on board, after nearly a year of working together, Thomas found Gil alone below deck, and they ended up in a secluded corner engaged in a passionate tryst that sent Gil's mind reeling. He'd never done anything of a remotely sexual nature with a man, but while it was painful, and he had to deal with a sore bum for days after the fact, it was also one of the most amazing things he'd ever experienced. He wasn't a virgin by any stretch, his father having paid for him to share a night with one of the town whores when he was only sixteen, but it was far better than being with a woman had been for him, and he was undeniably hooked.

For the better part of a decade, Gil sailed everywhere that Thomas went, learning from him how to do everything on a ship. But curiously, Thomas always worked the nights on the ships, sleeping the days away. And in the midst of everything that he was learning about sailing, he was also falling more and more in love with Thomas, loving the moments they could steal away together in hidden places on board the various and sundry ships and make love. He was absolutely homosexual, but in that day and age, those things were not spoken of, and every time he came home from a voyage, Gil's parents tried to sway him into marrying some local girl and starting a family of his own. But there were only two things he could say he was in love with -- the sea and Thomas -- and so he put them off, year after year.

In 1620, rumors were flying of a group of pilgrims seeking religious freedom in the New World, and when the ship they were planning to use, the Mayflower, docked in Southampton, Gil and Thomas were some of the first sailors on board. And it was on this trip that Gil would learn a secret that his lover had been keeping from him since they met. One night, tucked away together in a corner below deck, Thomas admitted to Gil that he was Kindred -- something not entirely human, but he could live forever. And if he and Gil were separated in the New World, he would want to have a chance to find him again. After he understood that this was the truth -- when Thomas showed him how he fed from him without erasing his memories of it -- Gil accepted the Embrace.

Upon their arrival in the New World it became difficult for them to conceal what they were, as everyone expected them to arise early in the morning to work with the rest of the men. But that was impossible for them, the sunlight being a danger to them. So they did the best they could, but eventually, Thomas would be arrested and the plan was to send him back to England. When he departed, he assured Gilbert that he would come back for him, and no sooner was he gone than a panic began to set in, Gilbert slowly losing his control. With no one there to settle him and keep him aware of his own power, he ended up going into full frenzies more than once, and even killed one or two of the people who'd traveled with them, which fortunately, ended up being chalked up to the illnesses the pilgrims were facing, or to wild animals.

Eventually, Gilbert would leave the settlers with whom he'd come, and find himself living among the Native Americans of the area, some of whom were Kindred as well, of the nature-focused Gangrel Clan. And while they could not directly guide him in his Clan's ways, they were able to at least help him to find his feet as Kindred.

The years passed, and Thomas never returned to Gil's side. It was no simple thing to move on from his first love, but after many years living with the native people, in a culture where homosexuality was accepted, Gil took another lover. This one would die in battle, but it would come to be something that Gil understood. He was immortal, but most of the people he cared about were not. In the midst of all of this, white settlers were moving into the area, and Gil was grateful to meet people from his own Clan among the traders who came to do business with the natives. It was only after their arrival that he finally began to find his feet not only as Kindred, but as Toreador in his own right.

As time moved forward, Gil found himself moving to New York, living near the coast of Fire Island, a place that soothed him with the presence of the ocean. He never forgot that the sea was truly his first love, and eventually, with the coming of the twentieth century, he would open up a huge, gay friendly resort, adding onto it as he went forward. Today, the resort, with the attached Red Eye Flights nightclub do quite well, attracting many of the well-to-do fans of the Fire Island gay scene. Most of the daytime business is handled by Gil's 2IC, while he keeps the nights alive... as it were. He has a contract with Ben Knight, the Kindred Prince of New York, whose Knightshead Liquor is the only liquor served in the bar, and often hosts performances by Spencer Hawthorne and Alistair Lamont, Kindred musicians and performers who always draw huge crowds. In the meantime, he keeps company with both the mortals and the Kindred who frequent his establishment, and pours his time into building the business and bringing more and more beautiful people to Fire Island.