Ryder Ligaw

Ryder Ligaw (pronounced *"lee-gow"*) is a member of The Coyotes. Hailing from a pirate family, Ryder is known for his excellent dueling skills.

## Ryder Ligaw

### Relatives

* Claudia Ligaw (mother)
* Edward Ligaw (father)
* Jacqueline "Jackie" Bellamy (cousin)
* Victoria Bellamy (aunt)

### Affiliation

* The Coyotes
* Dusk
* The Ligaw Family
* The Saguaros (formerly)

## Description

Ryder is a tall, well-built half-orc, with a greenish skin tone. long black hair, a slightly crooked smile, and blue eyes. He has mostly angular features, and thankfully avoids the stereotype of pirates having bad teeth.

His typically outfit is a white shirt, long decorated coat, dark colored pants, shiny black mid-thigh boots, and a tricorn hat. His primary weapons of choice are a sterling silver rapier and various revolvers/pistols.

## Biography

### Growing Up in Laveer

Ryder was born in the city of Laveer to Edward and Claudia Ligaw, two legendary and powerful pirates. The two had become quite successful and were ready to start a family. However, tragedy would soon strike, when Claudia’s sister Victoria was captured by the Sobrian government and shipped off to Bordun for her crimes. Edward and Claudia took in Victoria’s young daughter Jacqueline ("Jackie") and raised her alongside Ryder. The two of them had an unconventional childhood, to say the least. By age four, they were being gifted their first daggers. At age seven, they began training on ships, and by age twelve, they were accompanying Claudia and Edward on smaller raids. During the day, they would learn the pirate code with Edward, and at night, they were read the fairy tales of the Gods by Claudia. During this time, Ryder became friends with another youngster, Anne Scarlet, the daughter of a disgraced former Sobrian government official. Ryder and Anne quickly developed a partnership and spent the days exploring various docks and ports that they happened to be staying in. As the two grew up, they began to yearn for a chance to explore on their own. They, alongside Jackie, began to devise plans to acquire their own ship and crew.

### Meeting Ben

Sometime after Jackie began her gunsmith apprenticeship, Ryder met Benjamin "Ben" Prysm, a charming con artist and thief. The two began a whirlwind romance, feeding each other wild and grand fantasies of leading their own fearsome pirate crew. However, Ben would also subtly chip away at Ryder's self-confidence and undermine his friendships with Anne and Jackie. It wasn’t just Ben. Ryder had heard tales of the world from all the people he encountered while growing up. He wanted to see mountains, valleys, and faraway islands. His parents, who were justifiably worried about their only child, tried to placate him by giving him more important responsibilities on their growing collection of ships, but it didn't seem to work. Ben and Ryder created their first ragtag crew and started going on reckless and irresponsible raids. The two young men quickly found themselves enemies of a dangerous pirate known as The Widow.

Their relationship quickly turned sour. Soon, small arguments led to days of them not talking to each other. Ben’s reputation became more ruthless, often making ridiculous requests in exchange for his services. Meanwhile, Ryder decides to rob a high-class gala in Parachant. However, his mark, Lady Garcelle Lockhart, manages to catch on, and defeat him. But, in a twist move, instead of turning him in, Lady Garcelle, seeing the potential in him, decides to teach him about proper society and greater Sobrian culture(s) in exchange for safety.

### Island Incident

With Lady Garcelle’s help, Ryder began showing small signs of maturing, while growing distant with Ben. One day, the crew was tipped off about a stash of treasure hidden on a small island. It was meant to be simple enough, and when they landed, the crew split up with Ben and Ryder leading separate groups. Unbeknownst to Ryder, Ben had schemed to leave Ryder behind while making off with the treasure. He planted the idea of a marriage proposal in Ryder’s ear to get him distracted. Then, he sent the fastest crew members with Ryder, arming them with a sleeping potion. His plan worked, and the crew took the treasure while Ryder was incapacitated. He woke up to see the ship sailing off without him. Ryder spent over a week on the island, forced to survive on only the natural resources around him.

Meanwhile, Anne and Jackie who had grown suspicious of Ben, tried to shake him down for answers. When that failed, they enlisted Claudia and Edward's help. Ben, realizing he was in over his head, and fearing the wrath of two of Laveer's strongest pirates, gave away Ryder's location and promptly went into hiding for many days. Upon his rescue, Ryder took some time to himself, overcome with embarrassment. Efforts by Anne and Jackie to directly challenge Ben failed as he had amassed a small following during his time in Laveer.

### Leaving Home

The Ligaw family began to find ways to subtly take down Ben; taking the jobs his crew was after, sabotaging ships he was on, etc. The incident didn’t quite ruin Ryder’s parents’ trust in him, but they certainly became more worried about him. Ryder became more determined to prove himself. When he failed to gain leadership command under his parents, or even get his own ship, he sought the advice of his friends. Inspired by Lady Garcelle, Jackie and Anne, Ryder made the decision to leave the Pirate Republic and seek out other parts of Sobrus. It took a lot of convincing, but his parents soon agreed to finally let him go. He avoided any contact with Ben, who had deluded himself into believing he had done nothing wrong and was simply teaching Ryder "the harsh realities of pirate life".

### Arriving in Bittercreek

First traveling to Mare'kai with Anne, Ryder, feeling directionless, decided to travel to the main continent after working various odd jobs on cargo and freight ships. Saying goodbye to his friend for now, Ryder traveled onward to BlackCrow. Excited by all the new sights, Ryder, on a whim, decided to hop on the train heading north. The next few weeks were a blur, as he drifted from place to place, eventually finding himself in the small town of Bittercreek, where shortly after his arrival, he recieved a letter asking for aid.

## Personality

Ryder tends have a friendly nature about him, and highly values loyalty among friends and allies. However, when pushed too far, he can get quite aggressive. He has also been known to sometimes leap into action before considering all the options. His personal freedom is very important, and those who threaten it may find themselves on his bad side.

Growing up in a morally ambiguous environment, Ryder sometimes has a skewed sense of right and wrong. As he has grown and dealt with various circumstances thrown his way, he has learned more about tactful negotiations and looking at the bigger picture.

## Relationships

### Edward & Claudia Ligaw

While Ryder loves his parents deeply, they are often a little controlling over him. They raised him the best way they knew how, but often use unconventional and somewhat dangerous methods. While they were proud of Ryder's skills, they never quite trusted him with full command over any of their ships. While reluctant to let him go, they supported Ryder on his decision to leave and explore.

### Veda Jesterka

Ryder admires Veda's methods of attack and planning, as well as her robust drinking habits. He is sometimes frightened of her ferocity but shares her distaste for authority (particularly the Sobrian Empire). He has also picked up on the subtle attraction between Veda and Johnny, which he finds quite amusing and charming. As time has gone on, Ryder has started to see Veda as a smart and capable leader.

### Ogden

Ogden at first was a little confusing to Ryder. His physically threatening appearance and battle prowess didn't seem to match with the pacifist views he spoke about. As he spent time with Ogden, Ryder began to understand him more, especially when it came to dealing with Sobrian soldiers and Hands of Dusk cultists. While Ryder may not agree with Ogden on all things, he admires Ogden greatly. He also agreed with Ogden about not killing all the Hands of Dusk cultists and trying to convince them to flee Taurus instead.

### Johnny O'Collier

Ryder was not initially that close to Johnny, due to the ranger's prejudices toward half-orcs. As Johnny has learned and grown, Ryder has become more open to a friendship with him. Ryder disagrees with a lot of Johnny's views on the military as well as religion but can understand where Johnny is coming from. Ryder often finds it amusing when Johnny gets into absurd situations (ex. the horn growing potion). There have also been times where Ryder has leaned on Johnny for support, such as when the Coyotes were forced to take a leap of faith in Dusk's domain, and Johnny helped Ryder with his fear.

### Jugemu

Ryder enjoys Jugemu a lot, though he sometimes thinking he can get a bit overzealous when it comes to fighting. The two have often been together on the Coyotes' various missions/errands and have bonded a lot. Ryder showed great concern when enemeies from Jugemu's past showed up in Taurus seeking revenge, but he didn't push for details when Jugemu was distressed. He defended Jugemu in the Kinu Clash battles and showed deep concern when he was almost killed.

### Dusk

Growing up, Ryder learned about the gods as if they were mythical, long-dead beings of folklore and fairytales. He is not a religious person, and while meeting Dusk has certainly shocked him, he is distrustful of the god, and isn't sure of how committed he is to retrieving the Shards of Dusk.

### Jackie Bellamy

Ryder is very close to his cousin and the two will often confide in each other. Ryder knows how to handle Jackie when she gets moody or snappy. When Jackie was offered a gunsmith apprenticeship, Ryder encouraged her to take it, knowing how much it means to her.

### Anne Scarlet

Anne is Ryder's closet childhood friend. The two trained and learned together for almost their entire lives. Ryder supported Anne when she wished to learn more about her parentage, and she supported him through his rough patch with Ben. Anne was also the one to accompany Ryder to Mare'kai.

### Ben Prysm

Ryder and Ben had a whirlwind romance. Ben was quite the charmer, and quickly swept Ryder off his feet. However, the relationship was not meant to last, as the two quickly grew disillusioned with each other, and Ben became more arrogant. This eventually let to Ben leaving Ryder standing on a deserted island.

### The Widow

When Ryder and Ben were running their own pirate crew, they became enemies of The Widow after stealing valuables from her. She holds a grudge against the two of them.

### Lady Garcelle

Garcelle is responsible for teaching Ryder about Sobrian culture and societal customs. The two have a close bond despite the differences in their ages and backgrounds.

## Trivia

* Ligaw means "wild" in Tagalog.
* The second tallest of the Coyotes.
* Ryder's Arby's order is the Classic Beef n' Cheddar with extra Curly Fries