OOC [18+] The Republic of Free Men

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    EpicVakarian

    Calibration-Master General
    "In an honest service there is thin commons, low wages, and hard labour; in this, plenty and satiety, pleasure and ease, liberty and power. And who would not balance creditor on this side, when all the hazard that is run for it, at worst, is only a sour look or two at choking. No, a merry life and a short one, that shall be my motto."
    Captain Bartholomew 'Black Bart' Roberts

    If you haven't guessed from the name and the quote, this is a pirate RP. Set in post-dragon-crisis Tamriel, 4E 254, where flintlock weapons have quickly become fairly commonplace, members will play notorious pirate captains, in charge of their own ships; ranging from small, speedy, agile schooners to colossal, indomitable galleons. Each of these captains will be part of the governing 'council' of the Republic of Free Men, established 4E 252, where men and women can live as free as the gods intended, unburdened by laws and monarchic government. The Republic has its fair share of enemies; the Imperial and Aldmeri Navies among them. Needless to say, the Republic is hanging on by a thread, just barely treading the line between raiding enough to survive and raiding so much that the governments notice and send their fleets to wipe the pirates off the map.

    Your job, as one of the most feared, successful and intimidating pirates of Tamriel, is to find that balance, to maintain the freedom for anyone who wants it.

    Now, to business; unfortunately, we're not recruiting at this time. We already have a full cast, but will update this post with any vacancies if and when they pop up. Feel free to post a CC anyway for later consideration; it will certainly help you along and give you an advantage in who is picked to fill the spot.

    Current Cast
    EpicVakarian as Alexia 'Alex' Attwater
    Melee as Avis Rivers
    Blitzz as Jayden 'Prince' Rhaean
    Shadowkitty as Lu'ah / Lu the Blue
    Wolfbane as Remi 'Wolf' Proteus
    Simus as Charlotte 'Braids' Francois
    Fellowknight as Barnan 'The Specter' Frand

    CC Templates
    CHARACTER

    Basic
    Name:

    Race:

    Age:

    Gender:

    Birth Date:

    Birth Place:

    Height:

    Weight:

    Build:

    Laterality:

    Sexuality:

    Marital status:

    Affiliations:

    Afflictions:

    Religion:

    Habits:

    Hobbies:

    Positive Traits:

    Negative Traits:

    Likes:

    Dislikes:

    Fears:

    Gear:
    Appearance
    [insert picture here if necessary]

    Hair Length:

    Hair Colour:

    Facial Hair:

    Eye Colour:

    Skin Colour:

    Scars:

    Clothes:
    History
    Childhood:

    Early Teens:

    Late Teens:

    Adulthood:


    SHIP
    Ship Archetype:
    Ship Name:

    Ship Colours:

    Flag: (image preferred but not necessary)

    Specifications (based on the archetype list):

    Any additional modifications: (additional weapons/armour, removal of weapons/arnour etc)

    Crew make-up: (general personality of the crew, age range, any important crew members)

    SHIP ARCHETYPES
    -- Schooner --
    Length (bow to stern): 100-150ft

    Depth (deck to keel): 8-10ft

    Beam (max. width at waterline): 15-30ft

    Number of decks: 2 (main deck, crew deck)

    Number of masts: 2

    Main mast height: 35-50ft

    Foremast height: 30-40ft

    Approximate weight: 200-250 tons

    Maximum speed: 25 knots / 29mph / 46kph

    Armaments: 10-18 broadside cannons, 2 swivel guns


    --Brig--
    Length (bow to stern): 130-230ft

    Depth (deck to keel): 20-40ft

    Beam (max. width at waterline): 25-40ft

    Number of decks: 3 (main deck, gundeck, crew deck)

    Number of masts: 2

    Main mast height: 120-140ft

    Foremast height: 100-150ft

    Approximate weight: 500-600 tons

    Maximum speed: 20 knots / 23mph / 37kph

    Armaments: 25-50 broadside cannons, 2 or 4 swivel guns, 2 or 4 chase cannons, iron-plated ram (unless the player decides not to include a ram)


    --Frigate--
    Length (bow to stern): 200-300ft

    Depth (deck to keel): 30-60ft

    Beam (max. width at waterline): 35-45ft

    Number of decks: 4 (main deck, 2 gundecks, crew deck)

    Number of masts: 3

    Main mast height: 150-170ft

    Foremast height: 120-150ft

    Mizzen (rear) mast height: 100-130ft

    Approximate weight: 650-750 tons

    Maximum speed: 15 knots / 17mph / 28kph

    Armaments: 30-60 broadside cannons, 4 swivel guns, 4 or 6 chase cannons, 4 aft (rear) cannons


    --Galleon--
    Length (bow to stern): 250-400ft

    Depth (deck to keel): 100-150ft

    Beam (max. width at waterline): 50-75ft

    Number of decks: 5 (main deck, 3 gundecks, crew deck)

    Number of masts: 3

    Main mast height: 300-450ft

    Foremast height: 250-400ft

    Mizzen (rear) mast height: 250-350ft

    Approximate weight: 1300-2000 tons

    Maximum speed: 10 knots / 11mph / 18kph

    Armaments: 90-110 broadside cannons, 4 swivel guns, 6 chase cannons, 4 aft (rear) cannons, 2 mortars



    ----------------------------------


    Shot types

    • Round shot: solid spherical cast-iron shot, standard shot used in combat.
    • Chain shot: two iron balls joined together with a chain. Typically used against rigging or masts.
    • Grapeshot: stacks of smaller round shot wrapped in canvas. When fired, each shot scatters. Typically used against enemy officers or boarding parties.
    • Canister shot: tin cans filled with musket balls. Cans broke open upon firing to release a shotgun-like effect of musket balls, for use against enemy personnel.
    • Exploding shell: a thin iron shell filled with explosive materials. Ideally only fired by mortars. Light the fuse and fire; does a lot of damage to both personnel and ship structure. Very difficult to come across, and only used in last resort circumstances due to the high price of the explosives.
     
    Last edited:

    EpicVakarian

    Calibration-Master General
    CHARACTER
    Basic
    Name: Alexia "Alex" Attwater

    Race: Nord

    Age: 26

    Gender: Female

    Dialogue Colour: Light blue

    Birth Date: 23rd Frostfall

    Birth Place: Dawnstar

    Height: 5'10

    Weight: 140lbs

    Build: Tall and thin, with fairly muscled arms and long legs.

    Laterality: Right-handed

    Sexuality: Heterosexual

    Marital status: Single

    Affiliations: Republic of Free Men (our pirate republic on Stros M'Kai)

    Afflictions: None

    Religion: Atheist

    Habits: Playing with hair occasionally

    Hobbies: Pillaging, looting and sailing

    Positive Traits: Honest, fair, efficient, can be friendly

    Negative Traits: Can seem harsh or brutal, fairly impatient and unafraid to use intimidation as a technique

    Likes: Sailing, fighting, shooting

    Dislikes: Empire, Aldmeri Dominion, laws

    Fears: Prison, never setting foot off land again

    Gear: Two steel cutlasses, holstered on either side of her waist. One steel dagger, holstered above the cutlass on her left hip. Two flintlock pistols, holstered above the cutlass on her right hip.

    Appearance
    barbara_by_leejun35-d5b6ucr.jpg

    Credit to leejun35.deviantart.com​
    Hair Length: Shoulder-length at front, a little longer at the back

    Hair Colour: Dirty blonde-brown

    Facial Hair: N/A

    Eye Colour: Left eye pale blue, right eye pale green

    Skin Colour: Pale, slowly getting more tanned as she spends time around Stros M'Kai

    Scars: Pale, short white line tracing her left cheekbone

    Clothes:
    hazardous_docks_by_haryarti-d86m32q.jpg

    Credit to haryarti.deviantart.com​

    History
    Childhood: Alex was born in Dawnstar to two Nord parents. Her mother died in childbirth, and she was raised by her father for a few years. He was a sailor on a trade vessel working out of the local dock, and often had to leave her with a family friend for weeks on end when he was on a job. She bonded with both her father and the family friend, until her father remarried, when Alex was around 7. From that moment onwards, she was left with her stepmother when her father went out on a job. She didn't enjoy it.​
    Her stepmother was rude, impatient and abusive. She expected Alex to do jobs about the house while she herself laid back and did nothing. When Alex refused to do a job, she would be beaten by her stepmother, and when she told her father, he wouldn't believe her. Until one day, when he returned home earlier than he'd been expected, and saw one such incident of his wife beating his daughter. He made it clear to his wife that he'd never hurt Alex again, but forgave her for doing so. From then on, Alex came with him on his trade routes. The captain and crew took her on as though she was part of the crew, and she loved it, never wanting to leave for dry land.

    Early Teens: Her life continued as a member of the trade sloop's crew, growing up quickly as she entered puberty. She became as tall as most of the crew members, with the exception of the fellow Nords. She was as skilled a sailor as her father, at less than half his age, and kept learning and gaining experience until she could have replaced the captain.

    Late Teens: Around the age of 17, the trade sloop was attacked by pirates. The crew, not being a particularly combat-ready group of men, were massacred, the captain and her father included. Alex was taken hostage, as the pirates assumed she was just a wench and not a skilled sailor. While grief-stricken at the loss of her father, she vowed to escape, in her father's name. She gained the trust of the ship's captain and crew, who seemed particularly inept at keeping prisoners; they took her on as a crew member and taught her the art of combat. She wasn't a particularly patient person, but in this case, she let her revenge wait years.

    Adulthood: Finally, after four uneventful years of learning to fight, she staged a mutiny aboard the ship, recruiting the crew to her side to replace the captain. The captain himself tried to use his emotional attachment to Alex to get out of the predicament, but he hadn't counted on her cold-hearted remembrance of her father. She killed him and threw his body overboard, taking the ship for her own. She sailed it to the nearest port; that of Stros M'Kai, a notoriously rowdy port town. Just before docking, she massacred the remaining crew, not forgetting that they'd killed her father. Then, she docked the ship herself, giving herself a cut to the cheek and a few smaller cuts across her arms to give the impression that she was the sole survivor of an attack.
    She stayed in Stros M'Kai for a few months, making herself known. She had no wish to return to her old life in Dawnstar; without her father, there was nothing left in that life for her. By her logic, she needed a life as a ship's captain; that was the only way she'd be happy with her life. She didn't want a long, healthy life; she wanted a fun life. Something that could make up for the horrific previous years. She didn't care if she lived or died while doing so, but she decided upon the life of a pirate captain. Her new ship, the brig she'd stolen from the previous owners, would serve her purpose well, so she spent her time in Stros M'Kai recruiting her own crew. It took a lot of effort, as most men simply scoffed at a woman offering them a place in their crew; after all, how could a woman be a ship's captain? Yet, she proved her worth, and managed to recruit a fairly large crew under the promise of riches and infamy. She named her brig the Peregrine, after a falcon she'd spent years fascinated by before she left dry land. Alex raided the Peregrine's hold for the loot that was left over from the previous pirates, sold it and used the several thousand septims to make modifications to her gear and her already beloved ship, making it, and her, a force to be reckoned with in the Abecean Sea.


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    SHIP
    Ship Archetype: Brig

    Ship Name: Peregrine

    Ship Colours: Pitch black and deep red horizontal stripes, corresponding to each deck

    Flag:
    61d5XB6ezrL._UX385_.jpg

    Specifications
    Length: 200ft

    Depth: 35ft

    Beam: 30ft

    Main mast height: 140ft

    Foremast height: 120ft

    Weight: 540 tons

    Max speed: 20 knots / 23mph / 37kph

    Armaments: 42 broadside cannons (21 per side), 2 swivel guns, 4 chase cannons, iron-plated ram

    Any additional modifications: Inch-thick steel-plate armour over the entire hull, adding 30 tons to the weight of the ship, for a total of 570 tons.

    Crew make-up: Rowdy yet respectful. Bear a deep respect for their captain, and feel uncomfortable working under anyone besides Captain Attwater. Generally between 20 and 40 years old. Quartermaster is a tall, bulky Redguard man called Raccan, a 35-year-old man with great combat experience and ten years service in the Imperial Navy. Has been the Peregrine's quartermaster since the Captain began recruiting in Stros M'Kai 5 years ago.
     

    Wolfbane

    Why change the past when you can own this day?
    CHARACTER
    emun_got.jpg



    Name: Remi "Wolf" Proteus

    Race: Imperial

    Age:24

    Gender: Male

    Birthplace: Imperial City

    Birthdate: 23rd of Last seed

    Height:6'3

    Weight:200

    Dialogue color: Red

    Build: Tall and muscular.

    Laterality: Right handed

    Sexuality: Plenty and often (Heterosexual)

    Martial status: Current lover of Lu'ah

    Affiliations:Lu'ah and his crew

    Afflictions: Often can't sleep at night

    Religion: He believes in steel and the sea

    Habits: He plays with a coin or his flintlock when pondering

    Hobbies: Writing, shooting,sex, and practicing his sword skills and throwing technique

    Positive traits: He would die for his crew, understanding, can be friendly,

    Negative traits: Can be overly harsh, own sense of justice, merciless when he feels he's been betrayed

    Likes: Writing, raiding, sex, his quartermaster,fighting, and gold

    Dislikes: blind plundering, close spaces, anyone who wishes to chain them,fools, and anyone he deems scum

    Gear: Two flintlocks at his back holstered in a X formation along with a straight cutlass and a steel dagger in the gauntlet of his left arm. The gauntlet he uses to block incoming attacks. He also has a long black overcoat

    3-Pirate-cloak.png
    Just the overcoat and it will have the blue wolf on the back. He also wears a linen shirt with leather plates to protect his vital areas while still being agile. For pants he wears cotton pants with leather boots

    Casual:
    27.png
    obviously clean. Everything seen here except the fracking hidden blade :p

    APPEARANCE:

    Hair color:Brown

    Hair length:Medium

    Eye color:Brown

    Skin color:White

    Scars: One from the right corner of his lip down to his chin, a couple across his back from one hardy night, a medium one from when a rope snapped and slashed his arm open, and minor ones on his chest from swords

    HISTORY:

    Childhood: His father was a ship captain and his mother was a seamstress; he learned what it was like to work hard and do with what you must. Every night his father would tell him tales of the great sea and the bounties the pirates would find. While we was only a honest captain, he has heard true tales from drunken pirates in a waterfront tavern. Remi would have dreams of not being a sailor, oh no, but of being a pirate! Dreams of treasure, great adventure and even romance filled the little imperial's head. His mother of course kept him rooted on dirt for the time being. At least until he became a young man.

    Early teens: As a young man, he would venture off with his father to learn the ropes, of sailing, navigating, and what it was like to captain a ship. The crew of his father's ship would teach him what they do on the ship, how do it, and general ways to make life on a ship easier. Remi enjoyed their voyages on the sea, but always loved coming home.

    Late teens: By this time he was now his father's quartermaster. He ran check of the stocks, looked after the men, made sure everything was tip top. It became harder, but no less enjoyable. For him, at least. His father however, was growing tired of the sea life. He had loyal men and their respects. He knew that they would respect his son and do whatever he bids them. A year later, he retired and passed the ship onto his son. Everything was fine, until an unsatisfied employer tracked down his father and wanted to have "a chat". After he docked after a long run at sea, he received a letter from his father informing that if he ever got it, that he was killed by a former employer. With nothing more to go on than a simple black circle on the ship's masses, he went back to his mother and asked what happened with this employer. His mother knew all too well of these people. After all a man confides in his wife. All she wanted to tell was that these people were pirates, and wanted his father dead for not only refusing them, but letting the navy know of their whereabouts. He spent only a week on dry land at his home before venturing out to sea, and renaming the ship "The lonely Wolf" Like a lone predator, he hunted his prey for years, but with patience and the skills he picked up from his father and the crew.

    Adulthood: Remi refused to stop his search; some of the old men left, and new younger ones replaced them. He was know seeking what he dreamed of; not a sailor's life, but one filled with spoils. One could call him a pirate, but he was no pirate like the bastards who killed his father. Sometimes fire needs to be fought with fire. This was the case for him. Although he did enjoy it without that cause.

    As he was about to give up, he noticed sounds of distant cannon fire. Wanting to capitalize on any mayhem, he set forth to the aftermath of a vicious battle; but what he saw flapping in the wind, made him grip the wheel to where he could hear the wood stressing. There it was; as if some black mark for death. The insignia he had after. Ignoring the refusals of his crew he pressed forward to fight the ship that had haunted them for oh so many years. He charged in, ramming the ship recklessly. It had now come down to sheer foot combat. He ran as fast as he could and hopped onto the other deck, along with his crew. The battle couldn't have been more bloody. By the end all he could see was red; red on the deck, red on his blade, and now the neck of the captain to his sword. Remi wanted to no words, only why; "He was an honorable man" With only that, The lonely wolf killed his prey, then picked at the bones and the spoils. With all plundered, they were finished. As they were getting out of the wreckage, he spotted a woman adrift. Something made him send a life boat down to fetch her and up to the deck. Once she was able to walk, he asked her to join him and they have been sailing since. The ship was later renamed "The Blue Wolf"



    CHARACTER

    LuahBanner.png


    Basic

    Name:Lu’ah (To those who know her personally) to everyone else Lu the Blue

    Race: Redguard
    *
    Age:20

    Gender:Female

    Birth Date: 20th Last Seed

    Birth Place: Rihad, Hammerfell

    Height: 5ft 11in

    Weight: 129.5 pounds

    Dialogue color: Blue

    Build: Athletic and curvaceous

    Laterality: Right handed

    Sexuality: Loves men and sometimes women

    Marital status: current lover of Remi

    Affiliations: Pirates of the Abeccan, The Blue Wolf

    Afflictions:None

    Religion: doesn’t really have any although she believes in spirits of the sea

    Habits: twists the bangles on her arms when bored or agitated.

    Hobbies: Plundering, drinking, fighting, sex,

    Positive Traits:A fierce loyal friend to those she trusts, excellent at navigating by the stars, excellent night vision

    Negative Traits: very quick to temper, impatient, merciless, insensitive

    Likes: men, money, jewels, gold, the sea, storms, swimming, being clean(bathing)

    Dislikes: unbountiful plundering, children, smelly men, being dirty, no mead

    Fears: thinks she has no fears but: being alone, commitment (yes, one contradicts the other) that’s just Lu’ah..

    Gear: duel-wields scimitars, various daggers she has on her person, two in particular, one down her boot and a thin push-blade down between her breasts.

    Appearance:

    smaller.jpg



    Hair Length: Below shoulders, wavy/curly, some of it in dreads, with beads, shells for decoration.

    Hair Colour: Black and shiny

    Facial Hair: none, eyebrows neatly sculptured and very expressive when she talks.

    Eye Colour: Brilliant blue, hence her name.

    Skin Colour: dark, like ebony

    Scars: six significant ones- three two-inch raised slashes following her ribs on either side. (An initiation of her former life with the PoA)

    Clothes: As above for battle (minus the mage vials on the belt, replace them with two scimitars)

    Casual:
    e90922d3b001875cfae6a826192b2e85.jpg
    but with many bangles and a couple of necklaces.

    History

    Childhood: An orphan of Hammerfell, Lu’ah was raised by an old spice merchant who taught her to trade, or wheel and deal as he put it. She was a wild child and would often return home with a bloodied lip, fighting with the other street rats of Rihad.

    Early Teens: When Lu’ah was a teenager, the old merchant died and left her the shop, however many had their eyes on the wealthy business and soon Lu’ah was forced to flee with only the clothes on her back. She left Rihad aboard a ship bound for the Summerset Isles. Little did she know the vessel was a pirate ship. She was accepted as a cabin boy/girl.

    Late Teens: As Lu’ah came of age she became the sexual partner of the current ship’s captain and so was allowed certain liberties on board the ship. She was taught to fight with scimitars and was soon quite proficient. She was allowed to join raiding parties and was very quickly regarded as a very valuable asset to the crew.

    Adulthood: Conflicts aboard the ship became very volatile when the captain was killed during a particularly savage raid. Lu’ah was thought amongst half of the crew to be the successor but she was beaten by a rival. He had her banished off the ship and beheaded some of her more vocal supporters. Lu’ah was set adrift in the Abeccan sea with one bottle of mead . She was close to death when she was “rescued” by a passing ship, a brig called “The Lonely Wolf”. The captain, Remi Proteus, was instantly enraptured by Lu’ah and asked her to join him and his crew. The ship was renamed “The Blue Wolf” and ever since then they have sailed the seas together.




    TheBlueWolfBanner.jpg


    Ship Archetype:Brig, like the one below but with black sails,and black accents.

    brig30.jpg


    Ship Name:The Blue Wolf

    Ship Colours:Black and Blue

    Flag: Blue wolf on a black background


    TheBlueWolf2.jpg



    Specifications (based on the archetype list): The Blue Wolf is painted a deep blue colour with black accents (Rails, trimmings ect) Her sails are black, Her square mainsail is a little patchy, but still fares well in rough seas. She has three main decks, the main deck, crew deck and gundeck, and also has a quarter deck which houses the captain’s quarters . She is light , fast and maneuverable, and her shallow belly allows for her to slip into shallower waters, either awaiting her prey or evading authorities. She houses 55 crew members.

    Any additional modifications: As mentioned above The Blue Wolf has a Quarter deck. Only the Captain and the Quartermaster are allowed inside this cabin (as well as one scullery boy). Above the quarterdeck is the wheel

    Crew make-up:

    Captain: Remi Proteus. As well as ship’s captain Remi shares the navigation duties with his Quartermaster.

    Quartermaster: Lu the Blue. Lover of Remi . Protects the crew by maintaining order, settling quarrels , distributing food and other essentials. Navigator, especially at night.

    Boatswain: Fixes-many-things (Argonian) supervises the maintenance of the ship and its supplies. Inspects the ship and its rigging each morning and reports to the Quartermaster

    Carpenter:Benloth (nord): Highly skilled, he is also the ships smithy.

    Master Gunner: Natch, (Redguard): looks after the maintenance of the guns and supervises crew during battle.

    Mate: Adverius (Imperial) apprentice to Boatswain, Carpenter and Master Gunner

    Sailors


    SHIP SPECIFICATIONS:

    --Brig--
    Length (bow to stern): 165ft (50m)

    Depth (deck to keel): 30ft (from top of quarterdeck which is why it seems a lot, but she has a very shallow hull)

    Beam (max. width at waterline): 28ft (8.9m)

    Number of decks: 3: Main deck (houses the guns and the Captain’s cabin.) Above the Captain’s cabin is the quarter deck (It can be accessed from two stair cases, one on either side of the ship, in the middle is the door to the Captain’s cabin). Below the main deck is the crew’s quarters and below them is the hold.

    Number of masts: 2, Main mast and foremast and jimboom on the bow.

    Main mast height: 120ft

    Foremast height: 100ft

    Approximate weight: 350 tons

    Maximum speed: 25 knots / 28mph / 46.3kph (Unusually fast due to her being a lightweight)

    Armaments: 2 x 12-pounder guns (Both of these are on the quarter deck and can swivel to point in any direction), 16 x 24-pounder carronades, 14 x 32-pounder carronades. She has no ram to make her quick, fast, and deadly



    Crew: Respect their Captain and Quartermaster with the utmost respect. Betrayals are handled severely and harshly. There is still some of his father's men in the ranks. Remi knows that their ship is functioning because of his crew as a whole, not just one person. The thought of serving under someone else makes his men and women want to end themselves right there. If one or more members have a complaint or an idea, they are heeded and utilized if the idea is sound.
     
    Last edited:

    Simus

    An Excellent Site Member
    CHARACTER

    Basic

    Name: Charlotte "Braids" Francois

    Race: Breton

    Age: 24

    Gender: Female

    Dialogue colour: purple

    Birth Date: 19th of Rain's Hand

    Birth Place: Bruma, Cyrodiil

    Height: 5 ft, 2 in

    Weight: 110 lbs

    Build: Small and thin. Not physically intimidating by any means but very limber and incredibly fast reflexes.

    Laterality: Right handed

    Sexuality: Heterosexual

    Marital status: Single

    Affiliations: Herself

    Afflictions: None

    Religion: Agnostic

    Habits: Fiddles with anything in her hands, chews on pencils when bored or in deep thought.

    Hobbies: Reading, writing, practicing magic, brewing potions, brewing beer, taking machines apart.

    Positive Traits: Calm under pressure, accepting of others, honest, extremely intelligent, an excellent problem-solver, dispassionate, careful, tenacious, an excellent planner

    Negative Traits: Has difficulty with snap decisions, poor ability to improvise, easily flustered when plans go wrong, hesitant to act, afraid to take risks, little stomach for violence.

    Who calls her what: Almost everyone calls her Braids. Only people she considers family, very close friends she trusts completely, get to call her Charlotte and she really doesn't like it when such people do so in public.

    Likes: Beer, magic, reading, money, being warm, curling up in bed, wrapping herself in blankets, sleep, shooting, boiled crab legs and lobster, fried fish and chips, bathing, a project.

    Dislikes: Impatience, reckless decisions, not having a plan, people she deems greedy, killing, the heat, loud men, smelly men, drunk men, fools.

    Fears: Her past, sharks, being alone, drowning, where she might go after death.

    Gear: Four flintlock pistols and a silver mage staff. The pistols are each enchanted with soul trap and the musket balls they fire are enchanted with either fire or shock magic. In addition to damage the ball itself does, fire shots are essentially a small, red hot cannonball that causes extreme pain and burns around the wound. It can also be used to start fires by hitting flammable or combustible material, such as wood and powder. Lightning shot can stop targets cold by making their body seize up. A shot to the heart or the head is instantly lethal as the shock magic instantly cooks these organs. If the target is standing in water, the charge will spread through the water and shock anyone else standing in it. Braids can enchant up to 100 musket balls with one full grand soul gem.

    Her mage staff channels frost magic and blasts targets with a torrent of ice and snow. Depending on the range and how hard Braids can concentrate the frost can slow grown men to a crawl, freeze their hair and severely disorient them at one extreme or cause swords, pistols and even bones to freeze, crack and with enough force, shatter. The staff is also a capable melee weapon, able to withstand rapier and cutlass blows and large enough to wield as a two handed weapon. Braids can either swing the staff as a blunt weapon, punch and jab with it at with the casting end or use the other, sharpened end like a spear. Either way, the staff will beat, bruise, crack open or impale the target.

    Braids backs up her weapons and martial skills with her own magic. She's a gifted enchantress but is best know as a conjurer. She can summon atronachs and elementals with such skill that she makes it look effortless. Giving the impression that she can make spectacular machines and monsters appear out of thin air, then banished on a whim. She can control up to four flame, frost or storm or iron atronachs (basically small golems of rock or steel.) at a time. Or one massive creature, such as a dwemer centurion or a giant, at a time. She must be careful when she does this however as controlling so many summons requires constant concentration. If her concentration is broken, when someone's shooting at her for instance or knocks her down, the summons dissipate. She can see through the eyes of one of her four summons to get around this but she is vulnerable while doing so, necessitating a safe, quiet spot to do her work.

    Braids only uses such grand magic when a situation is too dangerous for her or her crew, or she needs a lot of expendable cannon fodder. More often she only uses two summons, usually ice or iron atronachs for tanking. This is a much more manageable load for her and she can maintain these two summons indefinitely. In addition to the atronachs listed above, braids can summon the following creatures:

    A wolf familiar
    A crow familiar
    A small dwemer spider (up to 2 for each "summon slot")
    A squid familiar
    A shark familiar (takes up two "summon slots")
    A swarm of bees. (up to 20 bees per "summon slot") She summons them in a stream like a concentration destruction spell. She can have up to 40 active bees at one time but can keep channeling the spell to replace lost bees and keep a constant stream going. If she goes over her limit, the first bees summoned will die and be replaced with fresh ones. She can designate targets for the bees with a mere thought but the bees will go wild if she loses concentration. The swarm is very vulnerable to fire and will disperse with smoke. A bee has a lifespan of 30 seconds and then fades away.

    (note that I reserve the right to add to this list as the RP goes on. If anything I add sounds OP to anyone, please tell me. We will fix or eliminate it.)

    Braids can also use basic destruction, healing and alteration spells. She can also use flesh and ward spells to protect herself. One or the other can stop a sword blow. Both used together can stop a bullet but breaks both spells.

    Appearance

    th


    Hair Length: Neck length in the back, long chest length braids in the front.

    Hair Colour: Brown

    Facial Hair: None

    Eye Colour: Blue as the sea.

    Skin Colour: Pale

    Scars: None

    Clothes:
    th


    Everything but the boots is what she's wearing. The hat is unadorned. As in, just plan black.

    th


    Braids' boots. They're as tall as the boots in her clothing picture. They fit cleanly over her pants. As in she doesn't have to roll them up and they stay at her ankles. Apologies for the massive image I'm literally doing a google search for these thing and copy/pasting them to this post. Uncreative, I know, but fast and efficient.

    th


    Braids' mage staff. the smaller end has been fitted with a pike head.

    History

    Childhood: Charlotte Francois, or Braids as her friends and family called her due to the iconic way she wore her hair, was born into royalty as the daughter of the Count and Countess of Bruma. She was a shy and introverted child that would rather read than play with the other children but showed a talent for magic. Her parents were fearful of this gift and were worried it would get them the wrong kind of attention from the city so they quietly sent Braids to the College of Winterhold in Skyrim to be taught magic in a safe, far away place. She was 5 years old. Her parents then pronounced she was dead and put the date on her tombstone as the same day she arrived at the College. She never saw them again.

    Obviously Braids was very distressed about being sent away but as her magic developed it didn't matter so much. The College was the perfect environment for her and she excelled in places many full mages had trouble with. She was so talented, particularly with conjuration magic, that she was considered a magical genius. She was summoning atronachs by the age of 10 and read anything and everything she could get her hands on to learn how to summon more. Everything the little girl could read she did, reading every book in the college by 12. And the more she learned the more she wanted to learn. It would take her to heights never before seen in a mage so young but soon her reach exceeded her grasp.

    Early Teens: Braids had always had an intellectual interest in religion and the Divines and was taught enough dogma growing up that she was pretty sure they existed. However, she was never quite sure. She always had a few more questions that Skyrim's priests were willing to tolerate and when she was old enough to be told the truth about her parents, that she was dead to them and not just sent away to learn, any concept of loving, merciful gods was shattered. After all, if her own parents saw fit to abandon her, why would some mysterious, absent gods be any different. Braids was spiritual enough to still believe in something divine and she desperately hoped she was wrong, but she needed proof. The question of the gods drove her to obsession, completely hellbent on finding the right formula or experiment that would definitively prove the existence or nonexistence of the divines.

    Late Teens: By the time she was 16, Braids had finally found what she felt was the perfect test. She would use her considerable talent to open a portal to Aetherius itself and be the first mortal to meet Julianos, the god of wisdom and magic. Surely she figured, if Julianos existed and she made contact than he would be irrefutable proof of the Divines and could also show her the others. Talos, Arkay, Akatosh, all of them could be hers to know if only she could reach the God of Wisdom. She presented her proposal and objectives in a paper convincing enough to grab the attention of the Synod, the mages of Cyrodiil and the successors to the old Mages Guild. Elements of both the Synod and the Church of the Divines supported her theory and despite her youth were willing to fund her research. She was sent to the Imperial City to the Arcane University and for two years she worked. She was the head of a team of 10 different people and managed them with incredible skill. The culmination was a portal in the middle of the university that, when activated, would open a gateway to Aetherius. The moment of activation was the most tense and most exciting moment of Braids' life but the next few minutes would haunt her forever. Something went horribly wrong and instead of opening a portal to Aetherius, Braids had opened an Oblivion Gate. Daedra poured out, slaughtering her team and over twenty others. It took 50 battlemages to close the gate and by the end of it Braids was all who survived. Despite being a teenager she was charged with upsetting the word's balance and sentenced to death by the Empire. The news spread like wildfire and the city wanted to burn Braids as a witch. The battlemages, used to seeing the worst of magic and blaming the girl for the deaths of their comrades, did nothing to protect Braids. She was both traumatized and horrified at what she had done and constantly pleaded that it was an accident. That she never meant for any of it to happen. That she had done everything she could to fix things. None of it mattered. Demons had been set loose and people had died. The Vigil of Stendarr got involved and Braids would be burned at the stake as an example of what not to do. But all was not lost.

    What no one knew about this experiment was that Braids was constantly supervised, pushed and egged on by the senior mages. She was young and naive enough to believe that they really believed in her when in fact they were using her as an expendable asset. A tool to be thrown away if things went right and a convenient scapegoat if things went wrong. Some of the mages knew that and were able to get it out to the public. This create a huge scandal in the Synod and provided Braids' allies the necessary political smokescreen to get her out of the city and somewhere safe. She was smuggled out in the dead of night, gotten on a swift galley in the waterfront and by morning she was down the Niben and in the open sea. The ship escaped tho the independent island of Stros M'Kai and the crew thought they were safe but in the dead of night, with a full moon and bright stars, the ship was ambushed and attacked by pirates. The crew desperately tried to hold them off but the pirates had more men, better weapons and a bigger ship. They killed everyone, took everything of value and burned the ship. Of the 40 souls on board only Braids survived. She lay in the sea, clinging to a piece of driftwood from her burning ship, and prayed to the gods for a miracle. She found herself on a beach the next morning, exhausted and waterlogged but alive. It was enough to praise the gods for her mercy and restore her faith but she was lost and alone. Another pirate ship, a rival to the ship that attacked her, found her on the beach and took her in. The ship was named the Crimson Sabre and its captain, overcome with pity for the poor sea-lost girl, offered her a chance to join his crew. He told her that the ship that had attacked her was called the Red Wave and that her crew were a bloodthirsty bunch that killed without mercy. The Crimson Sabre's crew were part of a loose coalition of pirates who wanted to make Stros M'Kai a safe haven for folks who weren't welcome in "civilized" lands and crews like the Red Wave disrupted that safety. The Captain offered Braids both safety and a chance for vengeance if she joined his crew. She immediately accepted.

    Adulthood: For six years Braids served aboard the Crimson Sabre and found a life she never knew existed and fit right into. As a mage, she was a valuable member of the crew and quickly found her place as the ship's doctor. As a conjurer she found that her summons could save lives and her magic could do things that muskets and swords never could. As a pirate crew the Crimson Sabre's men were relatively well behaved. They didn't slaughter innocents, they didn't shake anyone down and they were quick to respond to any crews who were causing trouble for the citizens of Stros M'Kai. They were more like mercenaries than pirates. Taking jobs to move cargo, find salvage or provide escorts while aggressively keeping away outside powers. Any Imperial or Dominion ship was fair game and Braids was just fine with this. The Empire still considered her a criminal and she never liked the Dominion. She never felt any guilt about stealing from or even killing civilians of either power because she reasoned that the only reason they had to be in Stros M'Kai waters was to exploit something that wasn't theirs or make trouble for the people who lived here. It turned out she was always right so she was never disappointed. She herself didn't enjoy killing but was willing to do so if it was justified.

    Throughout her adventures on the Crimson Sabre Braids constantly searched for the Red Wave so she could have her promised vengeance. Two years ago she finally found her and the two ships were locked in a fight to the death. The two ships collided together and a bloody melee ensued. The Red Wave was a larger ship and had more men but the Crimson Sabre's men were better armed and trained. A situation was created where neither ship could break free of the other and neither crew could gain an advantage so the captains agreed to a compromise. They engage each other in a duel to the death and the victor would take both ships and their remaining crews. Both captains ended up killing each other and the crews were ready to slaughter each other but Braids was able to bring quiet order. She was feared and respected among both crews and her reputation as a summoner and witch was infamous. She softly announced that she would take command and dared any man to challenge her. Not a single one did so. They had all been cowed by this small, unintimidating woman and they all hailed her as the new captain. The two crews were now one and to establish lasting unity Braids felt their ships should be as well. One they got back to port Braids ordered both ships pried apart, looted of all valuables and disassembled. She sold the loot for several thousand septims and used the money and resources from the two ships to make a new one. A small, fast schooner she named the Nightwish, in homage to the ship and crew that had saved her life and answered her prayers on that night so very long ago. The ship was completed in three weeks and now Braids captains it in the same manner the Crimson Sabre's captain did. Preserve the freedom of Stros M'Kai and do nothing to jeopardize it. Make it a better place any way you can.

    SHIP

    Ship Archetype: Schooner

    Ship Name: The Nightwish

    Ship Colours: Dark blue with gray horizontal stripes that correspond to each deck. The stripes have been painted to look like gray clouds and several dozen white starry dots on the hull make it look like a moving mural of the night sky.

    Flag:
    th


    Obviously this isn't exact since this is a photograph. This image is painted on a plain black flag.

    Specifications:

    Length (bow to stern): 130ft

    Depth (deck to keel): 10ft

    Beam (max. width at waterline): 28ft

    Number of decks: 2 (main deck, crew deck)

    Number of masts: 2

    Main mast height: 45ft

    Foremast height: 35ft

    Approximate weight: 240 tons

    Maximum speed: 40 mph due to a shallow hull, small size, big sails and a hill painstakingly enchanted to cut its weight by a quarter. This has given room for additional planks to reinforce the hull.

    Armaments: 18 broadside cannons, 2 swivel guns

    Any additional modifications: 6 additional swivel guns on the sides and one large chase cannon at the bow of the ship, adding a total of 4 tons of weight to the ship (244 tons total). The chase cannon was designed by Braids herself and fires magically contained rounds of molten metal. The metal travels down a rifled barrel, is shot out in a long stream and is "programmed" to shape into a bullet at the receiving end. It impacts a ship's hull with enough force to penetrate any hull and then breaks apart in a devastating splash of molten slag. The slag burns through almost anything it touches and will burn through the hulls of most ships. Even a single shot from this massive gun is enough to cripple a galleon. The biggest drawback is that the gun is completely reliant on Braids herself. She creates its ammo by conjuring molten metal, seals it in a "magica bubble" and loads it into the gun. The she enacts a short ritual and a generous burst of fire magic to fire the gun. The round does its devastating work after that but it's completely dependent on her.

    Crew make-up: Completely loyal to Braids thanks to years of proving herself as both a friend and enemy and now as a good captain. As many of her men are ignorant of magic they look at her powers with amazement, awe and more than a little fear and she's willing to exploit that. She never treats her crew as pawns or chess pieces though, despite the temptation to do so. They're her crew. She can't do anything without them and they look to her for guidance. They're more than a resource or an investment. They're her family. Most range from 18-40 with a few older or a few younger. All races are fairly well represented and Braids has no bias against any race, sex or religion. Anyone who can pull their weight and contribute in a useful way is welcome. Everyone calls her Braids in public or on deck but a few trusted crew members have the privilege of calling her Charlotte.
     
    Last edited:

    Blitzz

    A Friendly Brit
    Trust simus to come up with a magic hull melting chase cannon that ruins every ship, then stick it on a schooner :') badass, bro, glad I'm on the right end of that thing
     

    EpicVakarian

    Calibration-Master General
    All three of those CCs are great :D One thing I would ask though, Wolf/kitty, is that you give exact specifications to the Blue Wolf. At the moment, your specifications are pretty much just the archetype without giving specific values for each aspect.
    Otherwise, both your characters are great, and Simus; I like Braids, and well done on balancing out the railgun :p
     

    Simus

    An Excellent Site Member
    Lol thanks Blitzz.

    WHAT!? IT MOST CERTAINLY IS NOT A THANIX CANNON IT'S NOTHING LIKE THE GUN YOU MOUNT ON THE NORMANDY SR-2 THAT COSTS TWO PENS AND A PAPER CLIP AND GUTS A COLLECTOR BATTLESHIP LIKE A FISH IT'S A MAGIC MOLTEN METAL JIZZ CANNON NOT A HYDRODYNAMIC RAILGUN IT'S TOTALLY DIFFERENT!
     

    EpicVakarian

    Calibration-Master General
    Also, Simus, would you be so kind as to select a different dialogue colour? We've already got my light blue and Kitty's bright blue, I get the feeling adding a third shade of blue might get very confusing at times. Maybe a light green?
     

    EpicVakarian

    Calibration-Master General
    That'll do nicely :D The cast list is getting quickly filled up with characters... I liek.
     

    Simus

    An Excellent Site Member
    Hey, look guys. It's that guy with the OTHER pirate RP! *incites fake kaughter*

    I kid of course ;) Good to see you Orien, as always.
     

    EpicVakarian

    Calibration-Master General
    You'd be welcome, Orien, but we don't have enough space for Writes and Sifu, who said they'd be interested in your own RP. Like I said, don't be so quick to give up on it; yours is actually quite different to mine. Yours is a kingdoms RP, where a player's kingdom is his ship, and his king is his captain. Mine is just a normal plot-based RP, all of us will be together quite a lot. An RP with three people is still an RP, keep rolling with it. But yeah, like I said, if you eventually decide to leave it, you'll be welcome.
     

    EpicVakarian

    Calibration-Master General
    Also, your first post here, was that sad face because you're not on the cast list? Because if it was, you're not on it because I wasn't sure if you were getting involved :p The maximum is 8 spots, 7 are filled because Skies backed out, and that one spot is saved for you if you want it, or to anyone else if you don't.
     

    Blitzz

    A Friendly Brit
    I'm impressed Epic, you drop out of the game for so long and still come back with an RP that gets enough interest for a waiting list :D
     

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