"Sea-Legs" Syd

## ***BACKSTORY***

Syd was born at sea, which is where the name “Sea-legs'' came from, on account of them understanding the sway of the sea before the stillness of the land. Their tale is a woeful one to begin with. They were born to an officer in the Royal Navy, a brute of a man who was quite vicious with their mother. Her mother was a tough woman, and taught them that same strength through the shanties she’d sing to them. It served them well one day, when their dad went at their mother for the last time, and they stepped up and slew the brute with his own pistol.

They fled then, stealing their father’s ship, but they were eventually caught and imprisoned. Over the next several years, they escaped and were caught again multiple times, and during one of these early prison sentences was when they first heard the rumours of a fabulous jewel, a glowing emerald, said to belong to a ship that had sunk in the sea long ago, and many times before that, called the *Sunken Cephalopod*. To reunite jewel and vessel was to have mastery of both, or so they said. Shortly thereafter, they escaped, and raided about with various pirates, gathering more and more clues about the enchanted emerald, and the ship to which it belonged. One such captain of theirs gave them the most vital information they had found up to that point, but was killed the next day during an island raid, and Syd was captured and imprisoned again, after sustaining a heavy slash to their left eye in a duel with a Royal Navy captain. No prison had as yet held them, however, and this one proved no different; they stole away, Kingsmen on their heels, and found their way to the Rudolph’s Vengeance while she was in port. Captain St. Nicholas, always one to harbor fugitives of the Crown, accepted them on board and sailed away in a daring and violent escape, and soon they came back to the Isle, where Syd began learning all the ways of piracy from their elders, and developing a mighty taste for mangoes as well.

There they stayed, working their way through the ranks and learning to navigate so that they could locate and zero in on her prize, until on one raid, they happened upon their prize quite by accident. It was fairly typical, and they were distributing their loot afterward when the green gem caught their eye. Cut quite exquisitely into the shape of a squid, the jewel tugged at their memories of the rumors and tales she had heard of the Cephalopod, and when they reached for it, it glowed at their touch. They needed no further proof that this was what they had been seeking; the most important piece in their search. At last they felt ready, and they petitioned the Council for leave to go in search of it. Knowing the legends themselves, they assented with delight, sending Starhawk to captain his own vessel, the Starhawk's Revenge, on the mission. Joey Deft-Hands, Trojan, Luxor Jones, and Eliza the Cat-Lass were recruited to serve as the rest of the crew.

They sailed to the coordinates, and Syd watched their jewel for any indication that they had found their mark. But nothing happened, though they sailed in circles at the coordinates for hours. Syd and Trojan put their heads together for a time trying to brainstorm a solution, but nothing presented itself. Dejected and exhausted, the crew lay to and came about, on a somber return trek to the Isle. Syd took the first night watch so they could ponder what had happened, and how their directions had been so wrong. So intent upon their ruminations were they, stroking the glowing emerald all the while, that they did not even notice when a great storm fell upon the ship until the deck was yawing to and fro with such violence that they could scarcely keep their balance. At last, their “sea-legs” failed them, and they were thrown to the deck with such violence that they went senseless.

Coming to under a clear night sky, with no sign of the violent storm to be seen, they rolled to regain their feet and beheld their gem, shining more brightly than ever in the darkness. As they got to their feet, they saw that the sea all about the ship glowed with the same color, and they hesitantly reached for the emerald and grasped it. They were yanked overboard, the gem coming alive of its own accord, and dragged them down into the depths, where they discovered the source of the sea’s luminescence; thousands, millions of tiny squid, all jetting and swirling about them, propelling them down as the jewel became heavier and heavier. And just when they were about to give up and release the damned thing…

They saw it.

The hull of a sunken ship. Beautiful and ornate. Perfectly preserved, despite the fact that it appeared to have been resting at the bottom of the sea for many years. Onward the bioluminescent creatures pressed, driving them right up to the figurehead of the vessel, a squid of a larger sort than the tiny ones about them, where they found a relief carved into its forehead, exactly matching the shape of the emerald. Pressing it into place with their last breath and last strength, the ship suddenly lurched free of the sea floor, groaning as it broke loose, then launching itself up toward the surface. Syd caught a trailing halyard and lashed themself to the nearest mast as the ship floated upward ever faster, until with a great crash, they emerged from the waves, to find their crew in a tizzy over their whereabouts, on board the ship they had come in just a few dozen yards away. Dividing the crew between them, Starhawk piloted the Revenge, and Syd themself took the helm of the Sunken Cephalopod, both returning to Isla de Oro.

Upon arrival, Starhawk revealed to Syd in the Council Chambers that the mission had been a test, one they had passed with flying colors. They were immediately granted the captaincy of the prize they had sought for so long, and set about filling their crew with able sailors from the Isle. A position on this legendary ship is still sorely coveted by the pirates of the Isle to this day.

## ***APPEARANCE AND GEAR***

* The scar across their left eye gives them a somewhat grizzled appearance, and they keep their black hair cropped quite short for the tactical advantage in brawls, conveying an initial air of danger and menace. The white streak lancing through their hair, earned when lightning struck them (possibly due to the absurd amount of gold they were carrying at the time), both heightens the mystery in their appearance, and acts as a somewhat disarming feature in counter to their alarming countenance.

* Syd bears an aversion to firearms, due to the trauma they sustained after executing their father. They prefer melee combat, and employ the cutlass to devastating effect. They are in the midst of learning to forge their own, hoping to devise a unique balance and tensile strength to make them an even more deadly opponent.

* They grew up with a cat named Frosty, who died when they were quite young. When they appealed to Davy Jones, the first time of many, for the spirit of their beloved pet, He granted this request, perhaps out of pity, or foreshadowing. Frosty’s ethereal ghost now follows them about, giving them comfort and companionship when they need it most.

## ***PERSONALITY AND ABILITIES***

* Syd was always a reserved, quiet individual, preferring to be unassuming rather than letting on about their true intelligence. They believe it is better to be underestimated than feared, and use this rather than brute strength or charm to escape sticky situations. Despite this, they are thoroughly respected by their crew due to their emphasis on mercy, compassion, and a love of the ideal of freedom over any other ‘virtue’ beloved of piracy. Just in case that isn’t enough for some, however, the jar of pinky fingers they put on display, taken from raid victims and pickled in their own recipe, are often enough to remind them of their subdued, but very real, potential for cruelty and retribution.

* As has been said, they are nearly incapable of being toppled on the deck of a ship. In addition to this, they are said to have the voice of a siren. Few have heard it, but those who have can attest to that almost literal quality to it. Some believe it to be entirely literal, in fact, theorizing that she must have some of the fabled sea vixens in her bloodline somewhere. They often employ it when they need to quell the spirits of their crew, or subdue their enemies. Sometimes, though, they just get drunk at the Tavern and break into song, often only after everyone is too sauced to remember hearing it the next day.

* Isla de Oro Wiki
* The Island
* The Town
* The Council of Bones
* The Fleet
* The Captains
* The Officers
* The Nightwatch
* NPCs
* The Library
* The Hall of Legends