Chimista, Captain. Captain Chimista was created by Pio Baroja (Eugenio Aviraneta, Silvestre Paradox, Martín Zalacaín) and appeared in four Spanish novels from 1911 to 1930, beginning with Las Inquietudes de Shanti Andía. Captain Chimista is a Basque pirate, sailor, and slave trader in the 19th century. In the Pacific, he is a brutal pirate. But in Havana, he is a Mason, alchemist, and founder of the “Society of Lightning.” Chimista leaves Havana and crosses the isthmus of Panama and sails up to San Francisco, where he loses his crew to the gold rush. He takes on another crew, sails south and west across the Pacific, returns to Lima, and eventually retires as an English baronet. Chimista’s loyal lieutenant is the fierce Basque fighter Embil.
So–Basque pirate and Mason and alchemist and founder of the “Society of Lightning.” Sign me up for this series!