AlsaceAndLorraine/Zeleny
Contents
Background
Zeleny was born in a tiny village clinging to the cliffs on the western edge edge of Wavecrest. He was a fisherman, like his father, and he made a good enough living that, at the age of sixteen, he was considering marriage. She was beautiful, the young woman he wanted to marry, with a mischievous smile. She who wore a red ribbon in her hair. She was shy, as shy as he was himself, in spite of the mischief, and they had just begun to circle delicately around the issue of matrimony when the raiders came. Their village was poor, so small it didn't even have a name; but the raiders weren't looking for coin, or even food or fresh water. Their vessel - the Gallant Smile - had recently outraced a pirate ship by working its oars 24 hours straight for days. Many of the galley slaves had died in consequence, and their captain, a efficient man, had decided restocking the galley at some remote hamlet was to be preferred to losing all his profits buying slaves at auction. His sailors were no warriors, but then, they didn't need to be. When Zeleny turned down the path leading to his betrothed-to-be's house, he saw her screaming. A huge, meaty sailor had her long hair wraped around his fist. She tried to run to her fisherboy, but the sailor yanked her back, laughing, and cut her throat open with no more ceremony than a man slicing meat. Her killer kept the red ribbon, wore it around his wrist as a trophy of beauty slain. Zeleny young and strong, and so he was chained and shoved into darkness.
He was a slave on that miserable galley ship for seven years.
In the beginning, as he first became accustomed to the life aboard- rowing, sleeping chained to the oar, brief moments of exercise in the open air, and then more interminable rowing- he went a little bit mad. He laughed at the sailors, delighting at provoking them, or would refuse food for days, until they forced it down his throat. He was named 'difficult', and it was the custom on that ship to lash difficult slaves on the face with the whip, to scar them. Even those buried in darkness can be vain. Generally, the sailors were no harder, or more brutal, than they had to be, which was hard and brutal enough. They all hated Zeleny. They saw something buried in his eyes. Not hate- that they were accustomed to- but contempt. They made him their special victim, until the contours of his face were so altered, his mother, if she had survived the raid, would not have recognized him. Gradually, Zeleny became sane again. He did not so much recover as remake himself, into some form that could survive imprisonment and remain a whole man.
One day something changed. An opportunity came, and Zeleny, who had, after all, been waiting for seven years, did not miss it. Sharkjaw, the man who had killed the girl Zeleny had loved, was for a moment distracted, as, from malice or indifferent stupidity, he began to whip a slave to death. And that was all it took.
Afterwards, Zeleny's fellow-slaves reported that there was no shouting. No screaming, no cries of hatred or defiance. Only a few quiet words, which somehow each man heard. "No. This will continue no longer. I will not allow it." And Zeleny took his galley chains and wrapped them around Sharkjaw's throat, and choked the brutal bastard to death. Even then, there was no joy in him; only a certain ruthless efficiency. He took a tattered and faded red ribbon from the man's wrist, and then set about freeing the other slaves. But it was only when he turned to address them that he Exalted. He remembers the moment as if someone had drawn a warm cloak over his shoulders; remembers a hearing a voice, a voice that was not male or female, old or young, but which shone. It told him to lead. It told him fight. And it told him burn. There were some fifty slaves that been locked away in darkness, but as many sailors on board ship, most of whom were armed. When he asked the slaves to fight, to fight and win their freedom, he did not ask only for today. He asked them for battles to come on other days, other ships, other continents. He asked them to fight as long as there were monsters worth battling. And not one refused, in spite of the danger, in spite of the Anathema's cloak of light, in spite of the fact that knew it would mean their lives. Because he made them believe in the future of a better world.
Zeleny and his crew won easily. When at last the remaining sailors- including the ship's captain, that most efficient man- surrendered, Zeleny surprised his comrades. When the men who had slain his village begged for mercy, he gave it. He set them down in the smallboat, with enough food and water to reach safe harbor. Zeleny has a goal. He will not let petty vengeances distract him from a greater duty. The sailors will talk, and when they do, they will speak of freedom.
Luckily , Zeleny's freedmen include several experienced sailors, and one former officer. This last individual is a gruff, burly individual with a humorous glint in his eye. His name is Salas Toad, and he is Zeleny's right hand man.
The Brilliance - formerly the Gallant Smile - has become a pirate, though of a curious kind. Zeleny has raided two ships since he won his freedom, Guild slave-carriers. He spared those he could, slew the rest without compunction, and broke the chains of the slaves. He sent them back to their homes in the ships that had caged them.
Zeleny wields words like a bludgeon, smashing argument and shattering lies. It is a rare individual that can deny the force of his arguments or the passion with which he speaks. He won his third battle by the sailors on the other side to surrender, shining like the sun. They did, without a blow exchanged.
He understands compassion, and even mercy, but he is only beginning to remember kindness.
Appearance
Zeleny was a handsome man, once, but the lash of the whip left its mark. His face a twisting map of scar. The effect is not monstrous, but is rather unsettling, especially when contrasted with the delicacy of his features. He is lean, tall and muscular- coiled power waiting to spring into action. His skin is dark golden tan, and his hair, which he wears short, is teal. His eyes are gray, like a stormy sea. He usually goes about clad only in rough cotton pantaloons. He wears a red ribbon around his wrist. Zeleny wields a pair of black iron khatars. Typically he carries them on his waist. They are stained a rusty brown color- Zeleny's approach to proper care of weaponry can only be described as casual. He also wears a looted buff jacket when he anticipates trouble.
The Crew of the Brilliance
Old Hands
Salas Toad : A seaman formerly from Coral, Toad has worked as a sailor and an officer for going on twenty-five years, before he was shanghaied and shoved into chains. He's a tall, burly man, and his voice is roughened from when some pirate swung an axe at his throat ten years before, leaving an ugly scar across his throat. He is gruff, can be belligerent, and is a nasty hand in a bar fight. He is Zeleny's first officer, and his bellowing at crewmen an inch away from their ears is a common sight aboard ship. He is greatly admired, and the sailors are wildly proud of him.
Monk: It has been a long time since Monk has been called anything else. He was an Immaculate missionary once, but made a poor choice of the vessel meant to bring him to his erring flock, and was thrown into slavery by a pirate unimpressed by the monk's holy purpose. As the only member of Zeleny's crew (including Zeleny) who can do more than read charts, Monk is thus in charge of intelligence gathering, such as it is; Zeleny seizes paperwork from any ship he can, and these scraps are dumped onto Monk's desk. He is serious and solemn, and thus gets along well with his captain.
Dell: The cheeky cabinboy. He is fine-featured and very young, but is as tough as any other crewmember. He loves the sea, and feels he really lucked out on a ship and crew; Dell is the only member of the crew who has never been a slave. He has short, curly red hair.
Deerhorn: The individual Pyhrra punches in the stomach to prove her badassitude. A bit of a class clown, it seems, though sadly, we never found out for sure. He died in the assault of the pirate ship the Burning Rain against the Starlit Waters, along with five others.
Temmak Temmak, a scrawny, middle-aged man, is a fisherman. He was unlucky enough to be enslaved, and then freed by Zeleny. He has a wife and two daughters on a small island near Wavecrest, but when Zeleny asked him, gold and shining, to continue a crusade, he could not refuse. He is quiet and unassuming, and has little skill with weapons or sails. He has been lucky so far in battle, but that may not last. Adding in moral ambiguity one everyman at a time!
The New Guys
Fifteen captured pirates have joined the Brilliance, and, surprisingly, were welcomed by the rest of the crew.
Sarotay Sarotay is a quiet man, reserved and contemplative. Wards hang from his belt, jangle along the top of his boots. He is extremely paranoid, and claims the ghost of a murdered woman haunts him. The only thing that keeps the ghost away, he claims, is the sound of the bone flute he crafted from her bones. He generally requests night watches, and plays haunting melodies to float across the sea
Wicked Mieklan Mieklan is probably the most skilled with weapons among Zeleny's new crew; he accounted for no less than two of the Brilliance's losses in the battle . He is arrogant, and a bully from his youth. Piracy came naturally to him, as he revelled in the opportunity to show others just how inferior they were in a shower of blood and guts. He was raised by his elder sister, who loved him, but he abandoned her to take up his life of murder. .As he heard Zeleny's words, he felt something he had not felt in a long time. If ever. Shame. A sense of burning regret, of talents misused and wasted. He wonders what his sister would think of him now. And for the first time, as he integrates with Zeleny's former slave crew, he has the opportunity to see other's grief for those he slaughters. He has long, tangled black hair, wears tattered red silk clothing, and wields a cutlass in either hand.
Bones In many ways the archetypical pirate, Bones is a wiry man with a a hearty laugh and a mouth full of rottting teeth. He followed a path of petty thievery to piracy, and was not so much vile as venal. He fights with an axe that seems much to big for his slight frame. He has become a True Believer, but is still much inclined to pranks.
Grim Bones claims Grim is his brother, though there is absolutely no resemblance between them. Grim is a tall, very muscled man with a knotted beard. He tends to hang out with Bones, but never participates in latter's pranks. He has absolutely no sense of humor. None. He doesn't understand jokes, and he doesn't understand amusement. Making him, unfortunately, the perfect straightman.
Niehan The former second officer aboard the Burning Rain, Niehan is a cold, seemingly emotionless man. It was his duty aboard the Rain to be the sensible one; to generate plans; to settle squabbles over loot. He is a skilled seamen and navigator, and in spite of the regret he now feels for the evil causes he has served, he still feels he deserves a leadership position. He is the unofficial leader among the former pirate crew- his coldness in rage quite impresses them - and he may occasionally butt heads with Salas Toad. He is of medium height, with empty gray eyes and a shaved head.
Character Sheet
Name: Zeleny
Caste: Zenith
Anima: A violent storm with flashes of golden lightning.
Nature: Visionary
Concept: Emancipator
XP Left/Total: 19/69
Attributes
- Strength: ☻☻☻☻o Charisma: ☻☻☻☻☻ Perception: ☻☻ooo
- Dexterity: ☻☻☻☻o Manipulation: ☻☻ooo Intelligence: ☻☻☻oo
- Stamina: ☻☻☻oo Appearance: ☻☻ooo Wits: ☻☻ooo
Abilities (Favored/Caste Abilties are named in bold)
- Archery: ooooo Endurance: ☻☻☻oo Craft: ooooo
- Brawl: ☻☻☻☻o Performance: ☻☻☻☻☻ Investigation: ☻☻ooo
- Martial Arts: ooooo Presence: ☻☻☻☻o Lore: ooooo
- Melee: ooooo Resistance: ☻oooo Medicine: ooooo
- Thrown: ooooo Survival: ☻oooo Occult: ooooo
- Athletics: ☻☻☻oo Bureaucracy: ooooo Brawl:Punch Daggers ☻☻
- Awareness: ☻☻ooo Linguistics: ooooo Performance:Oratory ☻
- Dodge: ☻☻☻☻o Ride: ooooo Presence:Persuasion ☻
- Larceny: ooooo Sail: ☻☻☻☻o
- Stealth: ooooo Socialize: ☻oooo
Backgrounds
Followers ☻☻☻☻o
Influence ☻☻ooo
Resources ☻☻ooo
Virtues
- Compassion: ☻☻ooo Conviction: ☻☻☻oo
- Temperance: ☻☻ooo Valor: ☻☻☻oo
Virtue Flaw: Heart of Flint
Willpower: ☻☻☻☻☻☻oooo
Essence: ☻☻☻oo
Essence Pool: 15 Personal / 37 Peripheral
Health
- □ -0
- □□□ -1
- □□ -2
- □□ -2
- □ -4
- □ Incap
Charms
- Brawl
- Ferocious Jab
- Thunderclap Rush
- Streaking Comet Fist
- Dodge
- Reed in the Wind
- Shadow Over Water
- Endurance
- Ox-Body Technique (1x-1, 2x -2)
- Investigation
- Ten Magistrate Eyes
- Judge's Ear Technique
- Performance
- Respect Commanding Attitude
- Masterful Performance Exercise
- Presence
- Harmonious Presence Meditation
- Listener-Swaying Argument
- Sail
- Salty Dog Method
Combos
- Golden Meteor Strike
- Ferocious Jab
- Thunderclap Rush
- Streaking Comet Fist
- Reed in the Wind
- Shadow Over Water
- Effect: Run full sprinting distance and make one attack; can add extra dice at 1 dice per mote; extra successes on the attack roll are doubled for the purposes of determining damage. May also dodge reflexively at a cost of 2 motes, and add dice to dodge at a cost of 2 dice per mote.
Weapons
Speed Accuracy Damage Defense Rate
Khatars : 6 10 6L 13 4
Kick : 3 9 7B 5 3
Punch : 6 9 4B 11 5
Equipment
- Black Iron Khatars
- Buff Jacket
- Inspiration of Men
Merits
- Property (The Brilliance, 1pt)
Flaws
- Known Anathema (1pt)
Inspiration
Zeleny is a character I've wanted to play for a while. He is the most forward-momentum, Fear Me World Solar I've ever had the chance to play, he has an awesome name. So I'm a bit gleeful, and perhaps mayhem prone at the moment. And I'm going to pointlessly tell you where he came from! He was inspired mostly by Spartacus. Rebel slave triggering a revolution that threatens to change the world forever...okay, it didn't work out for Spartacus (I can only assume because planet Earth doesn't let you stunt away the laws of physics), but the icon still holds a lot of power for me. As I was figuring out how to shoehorn him into the West (he was originally a mine slave who never saw the sun until the day of his Exaltation) I realized there was a whole new vein of pulp history for me to exploit. Captain Blood! The Seahawk! All those movies in which Errol Flynn is tossed into a Spanish galley and leads a bloody rebellion. And the Amistad -true story of desperation and bravery- peeks its head out too.
Other Comments
Ah hah, it's done. Thanks for the help, Nanaki and willow! - AlsaceAndLorrraine
Awesome character. Maybe someday I'll make a Twilight Caste lawyer modeled after John Quincy Adams =) -MeiRen
You know, I had finally gotten the time to try formatting the character, only to discover that you'd already done it. And I must say you've done a very good job, I'm very impressed! - Nanaki
