Introduction
Terence Vulmea, aka Black Vulmea, who was born a 17th-century Irish peasant, and carried his vendetta with the English oppressors of his country to the waters of the Caribbean. He is one of Robert E. Howard’s lesser known characters; more of his exploits were later added by David C. Smith. Robert E. Howard only wrote two tales about Vulmea. The story ‘Black Vulmea’s Vengeance‘ first appeared in the magazine Golden Fleece in 1938.
The second story Howard wrote called ‘Swords of the Red Brotherhood‘ is actually a re-written Conan tale, namely ‘The Black Stranger‘. “Swords of the Red Brotherhood” appears to take place before “Black Vulmea’s Vengeance.” It’s essentially the same story as the Conan yarn “The Black Stranger”, recycled with a different protagonist.
In both stories, a tainted noble with a relentless enemy has fled to a distant, savage coast and hidden there, until a three-cornered fight between three different pirate captains over a fabulous treasure brings the story to a bloody conclusion, after the usual shifting alliances and double-crosses. Vulmea cheerfully takes his own full part in the double-crosses, coming out the winner in the end, with a pirate ship and a pirate crew to follow him, about to return to the Spanish Main.
