Willie Garvin

Sailor, Adventurer and Opener-of-Doors
Agility: d8,  Smarts:  d4,  Spirit:  d8,  Strength:  d8,  Vigour:  d10
Skills:  Boating: d6, Climbing: d6, Fighting: d8, Guts: d6, Intimidation: d4, Investigation: d4, Lockpicking: d6, Notice: d4, Persuasion: d8, Stealth: d8, Streetwise: d4, Taunt: d4, Throwing: d10.Parry: 6, Toughness: 11, Pace: 6, Charisma: +2, Reason: 0, Status: 4, XP: 90
Edges: Attractive, Brawny, Down to Earth, Stout Hearted, Quick Draw, Acrobat, Marksman, Thief, Mighty Throw, Really Dirty Fighter, Combat Reflexes, First Strike, Construct.
Starting Hindrances: Curious, Disowned, Heroic, Loyal.
Hindrances Gained Through Play: Von Richter's Ring, Enemy (From Adventure Card)
Languages: English, Arabic.
Rippertech:
Bone Stiffening. Implants of Werewolf Bone, grants +1 Toughness.
: No Side Effects.
Retinal Graft. Werewolf Eyes Implanted. No longer suffers penalties for darkness. Whilst awake always counts as an active sentry against stealth rolls.
: No Side Effects.
:
==Character Routine==
=====During time spent in Southend:=====
Garvin is a late riser and is rarely seen round town before mid-morning, often attributed to his late nights and not always just drinking (in actual fact he's up early and training in the Ripper's private rooms)
He runs errands for the school in the morning, buying supplies, etc. He gets on well with any female staff at the shops bartering for slightly better than normal prices (but not enough to cause problems for the shops)
He spends lunchtime drinking in a workers pub local to the grounds, it's not seedy but definitely lower class. He's on good terms with the bar staff and most of the regulars.
In the afternoon he tends the grounds. He's considered a bit reckless and careless with his tools by most (in actual fact he just likes to muck about with his quickdraw skill and acrobatics and so takes risks, his wounds which he explains away as coming from minor gardening accidents come from his life as a Ripper)
Mon/Wed evenings he can be found at a fishermans pub. It's one of the quieter ones back from the docks edge more favoured by captains rather than the crew. Again he gets on well with the regulars and he likes to keep tabs on which ships they've seen passing through and what stories they have to tell.
Every other Friday he goes to the cockfights. He's doesn't stay for all the fights nor does he bet heavily but he's makes sure that he's a known face in those circles.
[If the other players are willing]
Most weekends are spent with the Reverend (and maybe Dr House) collecting 'insects' in the countryside. (in actual fact they're patrolling the area and laying groundwork for their frequent disappearences on long trips)
At least once a month he likes to take the boys under his care camping as part of the schools training in self reliance and competence (in actual fact he just does it as a laugh as he gets on well with the kids and likes to enthral them with tales of derring do in his travels. Garv has a great sense of adventure and likes to kindle it in others - especially those who were trapped in poor houses) If any of the towns kids wish to join the outings Garvin is more than happy to take them although this has lead to some of the stories circulating more widely than just the kids and so Garvin is getting a bit of a reputation in town as a thrill seeker or worse. Rigs is invited on these trips as are any other males who wish to join them.
With local people:
Garvin enjoys a bit of a reputation with the local women. He's always polite and friendly to them and tries to be good company. He's careful in his liasons to never get between a couple - he wont take anothers woman and he wont touch married women unless they already have a reputation for being 'open' in their marriage. Garvin has done his best that nobody loses status by being seen with him but any woman who is willing to accept that Garvin wont settle down finds him a willing and entheusiastic partner. He always leaves them happy. He NEVER tells tales or gossips about anybody local but he's got an ample supply of bawdy tales from his travels which he's quite happy to share.
He often hangs out with the boat/dock crew recruited by the Rippers. He likes to go sailing in his spare moments and enjoys fishing (with a line, not commercial fishing with a net). Any kid at the school who's interested has been taken out on the schools launch. Garvin prefers sail to steam and so might have friends among the local people who are willing to lend him their boat for a while. He always buys them a few beers or gives them part of the catch for any such arrangement.
Garvin is a willing and friendly handyman, if somewhat unskilled. If you ever need a spare set of hands to hold something or a heavy amount of stuff moved then Willie will help. He's not poor as everybody knows he gets well paid by the school but if anybody asks for help it's always physical labour thats offered rather than coin.
Garvin has a strong sense of righteousness and so will offer help in unfair fights or if people are being bullied. He prefers to resolve situations amicably and is a reasonable and charming chap so can often talk people round but when push comes to shove he's a competent brawler and his friendship with Rigs means that it's rare he gets challenged. It's fairly common knowledge that the thick coat he always wears is for protection and he carries a knife but few people have a clear idea of exactly how many he's got. Garvin tries to play it as more a guy with a 'past' than a guy with a 'reputation'.
He gets on well with the kids and often gives them more leyway than he should. The respectible ladies and the local priests probably try to keep him from having to much of an influence on the towns kids so he can't lead them astray but he's never let anybody under his care suffer true harm (although repeating some of Garv's stories has earnt more than one kid a thick ear from their parents). He's trained the school kids to keep an ear out for stories. He tells them off for gossiping or tattling but he rewards them for stories of what people are upto and especially for any horror / ghost stories they find. He's trying to put together a thorough, if very gulible, information network. All relevent information is passed onto the school staff to investigate and find out the truthfullness. How much the kids understand of whats going on doesn't seem to have occured to Garvin and might come back to bite him on the arse.
==Character History==
Willie Garvin was a foundling, dumped at an orphanage/workhouse shortly after birth. He never knew who his mother or father might have been. Growing up was a trial, for the staff as well as Willie since his unquenchable curiosity led him to getting the run of the place.
Shortly after his tenth birthday (as close as he could reckon it) he decided a life spent in needless toil stuck in one place was not for him and so he escaped to a tramp steamer that was leaving London heading to parts unknown (to Willie at least). Soon he learnt that the life of a cabin boy involved as much work, if not more, as he'd been forced to do at the foundling home but the open skies and exotic ports satisfied the desire that coiled in Willie's heart. He settled into the life of an itinerant sailor as if born to it. Quick to make friends with a new crew, loyal to whoever gave him his berth, stout in any bar brawl and with a girl or four in every port Willie truly learned the skills that would see him through the rest of his life. He sailed all over the world - Africa, the Orient, the Far East, Indonesia - there was no where Willie was afraid to explore. With his wandering life style and the intemperance of good weather and tides one skill Willie mastered was the art of leaving women. Not for him was the sobbing clinging farewell but rather a mutual happiness and understanding that it was always just a moment in time soon to pass into history. If he returned in the future then the women of his aquaintence were often willing to resume the relationship but if they had moved on, neither he nor they ever lamented the fact. Or so Willie thought until the fateful day he met Helena.
The trader on which Willie was then berthed was down on it's luck and looking for an easy mark. Not willing to complete another voyage with little to show for it they decided a mild act of piracy might be in order. Looking forward to a good fight and the money to spend afterwards Willie was one of the first aboard when they finally ran down a chinese Junk. It was once that vessel was captured that they realised it was a Tong slave trader. It was carrying a cargo of white slaves to the brothels in the Orient where they were prized for their rarity. First amoungst the slaves was Helena. A blond of such astounding beauty that she managed to anchor even Willie's roving eye. He thought that this was it, finally he had found his place in life and thus he set sail on one final voyage to gather the finest silks and the largest pearls with which to make his beloved the greatest wedding dress of all time. Alas on his return he found that Helena had been spotted by the head of an East India Trading Company and was destined to become the Lady Wicks.
For the only time in his life Willie ran away.
Leaving the Far East Willie sailed around the Cape of Good Hope one last time and from that point on he served on no vessel that went beyond the Mediterranean. For months Willie's world was grim and he sunk into violence in a way he had never done before. It was just a chance browse of the society papers of the London gazette that once again restored him for contained therein was an engraving of the Lord and Lady Wicks doing good works and upon the Lady's throat lay the very same necklace of pearls he had gathered for her. Finally he realised Helena had not spurned him but instead had moved on with her life taking the opportunities that lay before her. At last he deeply understood the values of the way he lived his life but he also knew in the centre of his heart that if Helena ever called for him no force on Earth would be able to hold him back.
Years past as Willie settled into life trading around the Mediterranean. He picked up enough Arabic that, although his grammar was coarse and of the gutter, he could deal in many places where traders rarely went. It was on one of the deals off the beaten track that the tramp steamer on which Willie was currently serving was attacked by an old three master of the type rarely seen anymore. The pirates boarded quickly but faced a tough battle against the rough and ready crew. Willie had a hard fight for the enemy used a style unlike any he'd seen in his wide travels but he prevaled and took his opponent down with a knife thrown point blank into the throat. Glancing around he saw the bowson and captain holding the poop deck with their pistols. The attackers seemed almost shocked by the existance of such weapons and refused to go towards them. Soon after the boarding ropes were cut and the steamer managed to evade it's pursuer. The bodies of those who died, attacker and crew alike were all committed to the deep. There Willie would have left it, just another thrilling tale with which to cheer a tavern and to impress the women were it not for what happened six months after. Willie had switched vessel to a coastal trader, captained by a stout Irishman who also had the rather common dislike of paying land taxes whilst spending his life at sea. They were just leaving another quiet cove when again an old three master sailed into view. Willie joined the crew to pile on all the spare canvas they had so as to run but still the mouth of the cove was narrow and it looked to be a close run thing. Crowding the windward rail the crew prepared to sever any boarding ropes before the vessels could be entangled. There Willie saw the crew of the attacking vessel clear as day and standing amoungst them was the self same man who had been committed to Davy Jone's locker so many months before.
Garvin's Log
It was shortly after recounting that tale down at the Seaman's Arm inn that Willie received an odd note suggesting a meeting at Speakers corner in Hyde park.