(Archive) Kell Arroway

> *"I've sailed far and wide. Seen things no man should see. The only issue is... I can't remember half the details. No matter how hard I try." -Kell on his travels before appearing in Fiends Reach.*
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## **History**

Kell was a sailor in his life before the Reach. Growing up in a port town with his mother, a seamstress, and his father, a shipbuilder. His childhood was about as average as could be, for the middle-class life. He played with other children, helped his parents around their small stone-built house, and got into the usual mischief.

Around the age of 11, Kell's father started taking him to the shipyards to learn his trade. Taking to the work, and the language to the dismay of his mother, rather quickly for his age. As the years went by and Kell's experience grew, so did his desire for adventure on the ships he helped build.

By age 15, Kell had already had two full sailing campaigns under his belt. Standing almost as tall as his father by this point in his life, he had the muscle to show for it. Before long, the call of Gozreh's seas became too much for him. He left his Mother and Father in their hometown, only to return once every odd number of years, but never forgetting to send letters for a birthday or holiday.

Kell's travels took him to many places over the years. Ports and harbors were common stops on the trade routes of the ships he worked, with the occasional off-the-books whale hunt. From these whale hunts came the magic. The bones of the whales serving as the medium for occult carvings to grant the crews favor with the god of the seas. This seemingly forbidden power intrigued Kell, and thus the marks of it slowly began to find their way onto his flesh. All to gain even a slight favor with the god of the seas.

## **Fiends Reach.**

Kell doesn't know how he arrived in the bizarre land. His most recent memory outside the Reach is disembarking from his retirement voyage after coming into port late at night, and starting to walk home. "It feels like I rounded a corner and was just... here." Is his go-to response when others ask him about how he arrived. He hears of beings periodically washing up out of the sea in this town, and that they're known as "Saltborn." He took on the moniker to avoid scrutiny of his arrival from others in the town, but also the fact that it reminds him of his trade.

Kell was a fairly average man when he arrived, only having a few spells, his tattooing equipment, and the clothes on his back for a considerable amount of time. Slowly he scavenged things that washed up on the beaches, and set up a ramshackle booth at the edge of the Fiends Reach marketplace, selling paintings and tattooing those who desired it and making a descent pay while doing so.

Approximately a month after his initial appearance in the city, Kell rounded that same proverbial corner again, vanishing. Kell spent 2 years in whatever world he got taken to, growing stronger in that time. He reappeared in Fiends Reach no more than 3 days after vanishing. This time falling through a rift and into the harbor, truly making him Saltborn.

## Financial Ventures

One of Kell's first major customers at his ramshackle booth was Gumption Taitanna. In exchange for a free tattoo, she would grant him real-estate in her city-to-be. The relationship between the two Saltborn would grow, resulting in Kell becoming the Head Judge for Gumption's city, Scholar's Redemption.

As time went by and his collection of gold grew, Kell caught word of a man named Redbeard. Redbeard put out a notice that anyone with a business plan could contact him, and he would grant them a startup fund. Kell capitalized on this notice. Putting together a business plan and a building schematic, Kell approached Redbeard and was granted the startup after a small help to a new chapel Redbeard was constructing.

After the construction was said and done, Kell founded Black Velvet Tattoo in Scholar's Redemption.

## **Appearance.**

Kell is a large man. Shaped by years of wind and sea exposure on the many vessels he served, his physique burly and strapping. Most often seen in heavy work boots, trousers with suspenders hanging from his belt, and a 3 button shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

Having a weathered complexion, his skin is tanned by the sun, and tempered by monsoon alike. His face framed by a strong clean-shaven jaw and well-kept short dark hair. In his green eyes can be seen the years behind them, the energy of his magic causing them to softly glow in near perfect black.

Under Kell's shirt can be seen a combination of fighting experience and the evidence of the occult source of his power, the former more often than not being used as the foundation for the latter. His Shoulders, chest and back littered with jagged scars and crude tattoos, the majority of them having been self inflicted to imbue his flesh with the strange magics of the deep seas.

## **Demeanor.**

Kind, genuine, and deliberate. These are some words that could describe Kell. Ready to help those he's able, and equally so to punish those who deserve it. Having spent his life on sailing ships, camaraderie comes easy. If his shipmates could be contacted, they would tell things like, *"Kell is one of the most genuine men I've ever met. Over dinner one night I heard him consoling another sailor who had received a letter that his mother had passed away, and then Kell sat down with him and drew him a portrait of his Ma. The guy told me it stopped him from throwing himself overboard that night."*

Kell doesn't stand for injustice, usually acting on his own accord in the presence of it. He's more likely to tackle a guard over-beating a theif than he is to chase after a hungry man stealing a loaf of bread. Generally passive until provoked, He detests violence in most cases. *"I've seen too many good men die from fights over trivial things,"* is what he responds with when questioned, usually to follow with, *"I like to think of myself as a good man. But the thing about good men, is demons run when one goes to war."*