He was born in 1512 PD, the son of Melisande Vellacott Long and her second husband. His father died when Travis was young, and he never grew close with his mother or his older half-brother, Gavin. (MA1) One of his high school teachers noted how his name (with the middle shortened to an initial) sounded somewhat like Travis Oolong, an Old Earth brand of tea. This earned him the nickname "Travis Tea", which soon started the tradition of calling him "a travesty" of all kinds. He joined the Royal Navy as a young adult, with the expressed goal of protecting the Star Kingdom.