Pirates!

Some writers were born to write pirates. Here’s ND Stevenson describing his pirate gang in the MG Novel Scarlet Morning:  

They were a funny-looking bunch, their skin scrawled with tattoos and pocked with sunspots, some with fewer limbs than might be expected and a few with too many; there was also a large white bear sitting passively among them like just another crew member. The bear was wearing an ascot.