Mariner Gale

### Aliases

Mar, Old Man Gale, Captain Gale, The Bloody Drunkard, "Embarrassment to all Vampirekind", the Vampire Pirate, the Boozy Buccaneer, Cap'n Blood 'n Rum, Pickled Privateer, Maudlin Marauder, Rum-Soaked Raider

### Weapons

Vampirism, poisoned sword and twin flintlock pistols

## Appearance:

Average in height and build, Mariner relies more on intelligence, improvising, agility, bluffing, bravado, and quick wit to protect himself, as opposed to physical strength. In his human days, before being Turned, he was already considered very handsome, though after his Turning he gained the striking beauty characteristic of all Vampires. He has piercing blue-grey eyes, straight dirty blond hair, and a scruffy beard with patches of grey hair intermixed. His formerly paler, smoother skin has been sunburned and tanned by the sun, leaving it darkly tanned and scarred and often blistered or sunburned, especially when Mariner’s been careless with protecting himself from the sun. Years of hard drinking and harder living have faded his vampiric good looks, leaving him looking middle-aged and a bit paunchy.

He has the typical fangs and bat wings of a Vampire, though his fangs are chipped and yellowed, and his wings are scarred and tattered. He prefers to keep his wings hidden away under his coat, and generally keep his vampiric traits hidden as much as he can.

### Clothes:

He usually wears formerly fine, fancy clothes that are tattered and worn after exposure to harsh sunlight and strong sea winds and sea battles. He usually wears a white shirt with long lace cuffs and a blue brocade suit with gold embroidery underneath a navy-blue coat with gold trimming and cuffs. He wears a big, round, dark hate which is decorated with blue ostrich feathers to protect himself from the sun. He also wears a black leather belt with a gold buckle around his waist and a matching baldric to hold his cutlass. On his feet, he usually wears brown leather boots with gold straps. All of his finery is faded and tattered and clearly in desperate need of repair, often with dark, mysterious stains.

He wears many silver, bejewelled rings around his fingers and wears small gold hoops in his ears. He almost always has a bottle of rum-soaked blood in his hand.

### Weapons:

His Vampire abilities, his quick wit, bluffing, bravado, empty glass rum bottles, a rapier-esque sword with a lethally-poisoned blade and an elegant pair of flintlock pistols with handles of polished walnut with gold livery, whatever is available.

## Personality:

Mariner is often drunk, surly, and harsh, but on the rare occasions he’s not as badly hungover, or, gods forbid, sober, he can be understanding. He does have the capacity to remain sober if the situation calls for it, but he almost never has a reason to be. He is often sarcastic and unfriendly, but underneath his layers of drunkenness and biting wit and mercurial madness, he cares deeply for the few who have won his trust. Being a vampire, he’s largely nocturnal and doesn’t sleep during the night, but even during the day finds it difficult to sleep without being plagued by nightmares, leaving him often sleep-deprived and prickly. The few times he does sleep, he is always clutching a pistol or a knife.

When Mariner is in withdrawal, he becomes violent, incoherent, and prone to hallucinations, screaming and shaking and scaring people half to death. Nevertheless, despite his severe drinking, Mariner does have some degree of control over it, though he rarely feels the need to rein his drinking in. He is also capable of functioning rather well while sober, being rather tactical and observant. When sober, his humour is dry, sarcastic, and biting. He can also be very cynical.

He is characterized by his slight drunken stagger and wild, flailing arm and hand gestures that often make him appear unfocused and sloppy, prompting his targets and enemies to make the fatal mistake of underestimating him. He’s actually a bit of a piratical genius, though it shows in unexpected and subtle ways. Mariner’s seemingly-perpetual drunkenness is often seen as the cause of his slurred speech. He can be extremely serious sometimes, though usually only in the most dire of circumstances.

Despite being a rather notorious pirate, Mariner is a decent, if self-serving man, who’s unusually altruistic for a pirate and will sometimes risk himself to save others. He is constantly in debt, a terrible flirt who somehow still manages to sweep ladies off their feet (though usually women of the paid kind), and though he is often underestimated for his drunkenness and sometimes cowardice, he can be a quite formidable opponent, though he prefers to avoid killing those who don’t wish him harm and generally prefers to talk himself out of fights or dangerous situations.

Many are convinced all the years of alcohol and sun have addled his brain, driving him mad. And truthfully, he is a bit mad.

### Flaws/Weaknesses:

Usual Vampire weaknesses, alcoholism/severe drinking problem, often suffers from debilitating seasickness despite many years sailing the high seas (worsened by his drinking problem), often dehydrated or horribly sunburned, either drunk out of his head or hungover, rarely sober. Usually suffering from sleep deprivation, as he can’t often sleep hanging upside down or in a coffin aboard his ship.

Perpetually drunk, cowardly, bitter, sarcastic, disoriented, self-serving, selfish, untrustworthy, dishonest, constantly in debt (for more than just money), overly blunt, capable of being cruel, commitment issues, cunning, belligerent, surly, unpredictable, sloppy, inconsiderate, spiteful, greedy, cynical, and firmly in a morally grey zone.

## Powers/Limitations:

Usual Vampire powers, and he has an incredibly high tolerance for blood with a high alcohol content before he gets tipsy or drunk. Sometimes, he can even manage a few swigs of straight alcohol.

## History:

His alcoholism is largely brought on by his unresolved trauma and PTSD regarding his past mistakes, as well as the traumatic loss of his loved ones. He is haunted by his past actions, and drinks to numb the pain and forget his memories. He fled from the Vampire Kingdom after committing an atrocity on behalf of the Court and decided that he could no longer continue on as he had, fleeing to his childhood home of the sea. He has been evading all attempts by other Vampires to kill him for decades, and at this point manages to be largely ignored, viewed more as an embarrassing annoyance.