The Freebooter Arrrrrives
Name: Marigold the Freebooter
Real Name: Marius Domanhyde
Sex: Male
Age: 33
Race: Human
Occupation: Pirate Captain
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Brown
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 190 lbs.
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Appearance
Marigold is above average height without being truly tall (at least, by Althanas standards). He has the slender frame of a swimmer who had one too many ales for a few too many years, resulting in a noticeable belly. He is however athletic and limber and ready to rumble at a moment’s notice.
His brown hair is shaped into a long dreadhawk which is usually either thick with salt from the ocean spray or else quite clean indeed. He has a fairly short beard and mustache, by piratey standards. He has a number of scars and tattoos across his body, each with its own story and meaning. He typically wears colorful sifan finery and a sword belt (or even two) and sometimes a sash for holding spare weapons.
Personality
Marigold is a blaggard and a rogue, a cad and a scoundrel, a careless stoic… or to be more concise, he’s a pirate. Despite this, he lives by an odd (and often changing) moral code. For example, he’ll only fight dirty if he feels overmatched, he won’t knowingly harm children if he can avoid it, and he finds rape to be a foul activity. In fact, an unwritten rule on the Deadman’s Trove is “don’t let the cap’n catch ye’ rapin’â€. Marigold does however kidnap women, hold them hostage on his ship, and attempt to win their affections over time, and he sees nothing wrong with this.
In most things however, Marigold is unpredictable. If he came across a man bleeding to death, he might provide assistance, he might go on his merry way, and he might stab the man an extra couple times just to watch the blood flow; it would depend on his mood, and the behavior of the bleeding man.
History
Born and raised on the xenophobic island of Lornius, Marigold’s life has had more ups and downs than the Raiearan stock market. Born to an honorable name and an honorable family, for the first ten years of his life he lived in luxury on the floating city. However, his father - an influential politician - was caught controlling a smuggling operation that funneled business to a band of pirates, and was locked away in prison.
Relegated to a hovel of a home where he lived out his teenage years with his mother, older sister, and younger brother, Marigold had little to stop him from turning to a life of crime. He learned to fight in the slums, but never saw the appeal of small-time gains such as pickpocketing and robbery.
At age 16 Marigold witnessed his mother’s murder at the hands of a team of brigands that entered their home while fleeing the law. While keeping his siblings safe in the next room, Marigold could do nothing but watch through a gap in the wall.
His brother died at the hands of the local law enforcement a couple of years later after committing petty theft. Shortly after that, his sister joined a nunnery on the floating city and Marigold left Lornius, swearing that if he ever returned it would be on his terms. He abandoned both his family name and his given name, honoring his mother instead by calling himself after her favorite flower.
Skills
Singing: Marigold has a fine baritone and spends much of his spare time singing. He knows a vast array of different songs and often makes up his own.
Stringed Instruments: Marigold is a decent hand at playing the lute, as well as a number of other similar stringed instruments.
Seamanship: Marigold can manage most tasks related to ships, sailing, docks, and so forth. He is an experienced sailor and moves comfortably across the deck despite rolling waves at sea.
Captainy things: Marigold is an experienced leader and capable of managing people well and inspiring bravery and fealty in his followers.
Improvisation: The Freebooter is excellent at thinking on his feet, to the extent that he is able to make up songs as he sings them.
Dancing: Whether it is a jig, a hornpipe, or the tango, Marigold is surprisingly spry and light on his feet. He is familiar with many forms of dance and blends them all into his own unique style.
Climbing: Having been a lookout through most of his early pirating career, Marigold is excellent at climbing ships, trees, rocks, and just about anything else that can be climbed.
Catch wrestling: The crew of the Deadman's Trove practice their combat skills regularly, and amongst the sports they use to do so is catch wrestling. Marigold is an expert of positional dominance and knows a shocking array of lock holds and throws as well as counters.
Seafarer's Kickboxing: Similar to the Earth martial art Savate, this is a form of fighting designed by pirates for combat on the high seas. Since they are often holding weapons or clinging to ropes for balance, this style of fighting incorporates a multitude of different kicking and kneeing techniques, as well as limited punches and elbows.
Light Blades: Marigold is an expert with smallswords, cutlasses, and all manner of daggers, knives, and small axes. He can fight with near ambidexterity using one hand or two, and throws weapons with fluid ease.
Firearms: The pirate is comfortable using most single-shot, frontloading firearms, including but not limited to flintlocks, wheellocks, muskets, and others.
Careful Breathing: Marigold controls his breath well enough that he is able to sing while performing other physical activities, such as dancing or climbing or fighting. He can also hold his breath as long as the average pearl diver.
Judge of Character: Marigold is good at quickly assessing people both as individuals and groups. This is crucial for survival in the criminal circles he frequents and often keeps him and his crew out of nasty fights.
Abilities
Loot sniffer: Marigold can literally smell metals and gemstones. The aroma of metals and stones are distinct strong enough for him to identify them from fifty yards away. This is useful for finding treasure, but also for determining the tier of an enemy's weapon before it is drawn.
Song/Dance Magic: One of the first female pirates to join Marigold’s crew (and become his sometimes lover) was a Raiaeran elf who knew some rudimentary song magic. When she taught the basics to Marigold he took to it naturally, finding the effects were particularly enhanced when he sang and danced simultaneously. When Marigold sings, his allies who can hear him get a 10% endurance buff and his enemies get a 10% endurance debuff. If he sings AND dances, the effects rise to 15% for those who can both hear and see him.
Endurance: Marigold’s endurance is approximately 3x that of a normal human.
Inventory
-a broken steel wheellock pistol with no powder or ammunition
-a steel smallsword
-6 iron daggers of varying shapes and sizes
-various sifan and silken finery
-a platinum-plated flask (smells delicious, rarely empty, and would never be sold due to sentimental value)
