OK. [MENTION=61026]tuxgeo[/MENTION] if you are really interested in joining the game, let's see if we can pin some things down about your character.
There seem to be 2 different stories you're contemplating?
1. A sailor who was aboard
La Gloriosa at one point (or otherwise connected to it), possibly wrongly accused of being in league with Baron de Pointis during raid on Cartagena. Seeks
La Gloriosa to clear his name of false allegation (and possibly to get justice against de Pointis?). Very clear backstory/arc, very poignant and unique from other PCs, I like it a lot.
2. A former crew member of
The Coral Curse who sought out
La Gloriosa before...presumably for gold & glory? Unclear. That venture failed disastrously, however, and now he's seeking
La Gloriosa again to redeem his reputation. Fits in well with the current story, very much an unlucky / black spot / "worst pirate ever" vibe, I like it.
Either works. Which of these two appeals to you more? Go with that. That should help pin down a lot about your PC and your connection to other PCs.
It looks as though the ship duty of First Mate might be appropriate: not too highly ranked, still learning some of the complexities of operating a ship without being a total newbie at it.
For the record, if you're thinking #2 Van Djik mentioned his old mate "Beck"...could be a nickname...could be an English given name. Could by an NPC or your PC.
A large ship may have several mates serving aboard it, hence the designation “first mate.” The first mate acts as apprentice to the sailing master and boatswain. Their responsibilities include the fitting out of the vessel, examining whether it is sufficiently provided with ropes, pulleys, sails, and all other rigging necessary for the voyage, hoisting the anchor, and at port seeing to the care of the sails, yards, mooring, anchor, and cables of the ship.
Proficiency in watercraft is recommended.
As for connections to other PCs in the party are concerned, I think I would need to get buy-in from the respective players of the other PCs in order to establish any such connections. Here are the ideas I have along those lines right now:
Which story (see above) you go with will definitely influence this, but here are my thoughts...
A connection to Old Zef would be easy if they have a mutual friend, or if they both served under Blackheart. (Hmm. Blackheart was Spanish. That might be difficult to arrange if my guy is English -- which he doesn't need to be.)
-- or maybe Blackheart sank enough English ships, and mercifully saved (or took as galley slaves) enough floating survivors of those sinkings that this guy met Old Zef then. I'm open to suggestions.
-- or maybe Blackheart didn't always sink the ships immediately: maybe he first incapacitated them and boarded them, taking the crew as prisoners or replacement crew, and looted the ships before sinking them. . . .
With #1, the Zeeland Bellows (artifact made by Old Zef's father) were purportedly aboard
La Gloriosa when it vanished, so your character could have been involved after being falsely accused...maybe sabotaging them during his getaway (though not before recognizing the dwarven family name of Old Zef's family upon it – not sure what that would be [MENTION=2820]Fenris[/MENTION] ). Or some variation of that theme.
With #2, going the "also served under Blackheart" route like you describe makes sense. In that case, I think you'd want to come up with a reason why he has been estranged from Old Zef and Katerina.
A connection to Katarina would be harder due to her having grown up to adulthood so recently: my guy would have had to be very close to her family, or her childhood, to have known her except by reputation. (However, a connection to Old Zef might substitute for that.)
With #1, being a Spaniard or a Frenchman allied with the Spanish, he would have heard of the dread pirate Blackheart striking against the Spanish Main. Maybe after fleeing his false accusal, he ends up trying to find Blackheart, discovers the old pirate is dead (allegedly) but has a daughter seeking to rally a crew. Could make for an interesting first meeting!
With #2, what you describe makes sense, though he would have known her as a kid definitely as Katerina sailed with her father.
Since Etienne is new to the area, I don't see much there: he's just arrived in the Caribbean (?), so we would have to work something out. Or -- check that. Etienne has Contacts among the natives. Is my guy a native, or a half-breed living among them? (I think this may depend on whether other connections can be defined.)
[MENTION=6787234]peterka99[/MENTION] is playing Etienne as a "fish out of water" type character, so don't worry about any connection there unless it comes naturally.
A connection to Blaise? Maybe this guy got rather intensely interviewed by Blaise about having crewed on a ship that ran slaves, before this guy gave that work up as a bad job? (Maybe the reason he gave up crewing for such voyages?)
With #1, you could have witnessed or had contact with one of the "soul gems" (is that what you were calling it [MENTION=20005]Matthan[/MENTION] ? there were supposed to be two of them?) that Blaise contacted; this gem would have been loaded onto
La Gloriosa before it fled the raid on Cartagena. That could be a very interesting and possibly conflicted bond between your PCs...if it fit what [MENTION=20005]Matthan[/MENTION] and you have in mind for your characters.
With #2, well, having served aboard
The Coral Curse means you were tied to the whole incident with Van Djik's rescuing/taking of the slaves and leaving other slaves to drown. It was a very tense controversial moment on the ship that likely split the opinions of many of the crew. So even if you and Blaise don't know each other yet, that could make for an interesting conversation with a lot of pathos when you do meet...could easily see your PCs developing a close bond because or it...or even becoming allied rivals/foils if their views were divergent.
A connection to Nia? I would need a lot of help on that one, since she's apparently arrived in the Antilles very recently, so their paths might not have crossed before. (I doubt this character is "The White Whale.") Or else my guy needs some connection to Voodoo or Loa or Druidry, so they have something in common? (Not the Druidic language, unless it can come from the "extra language" available from the setting.) (?)
Well...if you're going with a Spanish PC (#1 or #2)...there's a HUGE potential for linking up with Nia's background... quoting the relevant section...I think [MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION] intended this as an open plot hook rather than implying that, for example, Blackbeard was the "spanish captain" in question?
[SECTION]Nia was the youngest daughter of the chieftain of a small island village in the Carribean. She both idolized her older sister, Inka, who was apprenticed to the village 'witch,' a woman of significant powers and skilled in the calling of voodoo loa spirits. Nia was still quite young when Inka ran off with
some Spanish pirate, abandoning her people in the process. Nia had to grow up in a hurry to fill her shoes, and though it was a struggle she rose to the challenge. To add insult to injury, not so very long afterward that
Spanish captain brought Inka back...for burial. Her father the chief, consumed by wrath, demanded that Gertie, the village witch,
curse that captain. It was done, and despite them forbidding her, Nia found a place to watch in secret. It was terrifying, but it felt right. It was justice. It was like Gertie always said, that which you do comes back to you. Actions and consequences. It was the way of things, and it was right.[/SECTION]
Alternately, you could go for a less tangible more supernatural connection via the Loas...Nia isn't a "druid" in the European sense of the word, and the "Druidic" language in this case we've treated more as a speaking in tongues that the Loa understand. That was a genius idea from [MENTION=4936]Shayuri[/MENTION] that really evoked the ecstatic nature of Voodoo religion, with possession by Loas being a significant part of that spiritual path. So IF it fit your Sorcerer PC to be calling upon Loas (or even dark spirits called djab), then there's a potential for connection...it would need to be fleshed out.
