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Message: <blockquote data-quote="billd91" data-source="post: 9811569" data-attributes="member: 3400">That may be true for Cook, but there are other tales of independent adventurers out there in the age of exploration and colonialism. I did a little looking around at possible sources for Kipling's The Man Who Would be King and there are a number of people who would fit the bill for truly being adventurers - and not sponsored by Royal Society or Admiralty funds. Most of them have military backgrounds, served overseas from their homes or in colonial empires (if empire born), and found opportunities to exploit local leadership or economic opportunities - carving out their lucrative little empires of influence and control (shades of name level fighters back in AD&D). But as far as common, broken backgrounds - there's not a lot more to go on. Many definitely come from families - enough to undermine the idea that adventurers have to come from homes that are broken or traumatic in some way (sorry [USER=6801776]@Mecheon[/USER]). I think a stronger idea than broken homes is the idea that someone from even a stable home may feel the drive to do something different from their origin and may even need to given the family's means and size. Cook was the son of a farm worker. He certainly wasn't going to inherit much from his old man, maybe a reasonably stable life though hardly comfortable. A reasonably adventurous lad has to find other work - and the merchant navy offered opportunities to do so...</blockquote>

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