Calico, Ship's Cat
Calico Anne Bowman / Calico / Feyglianth
Ship's Cat
Ailurodragon
Carousin': 3
Plunderin': 3
Swashbucklin': 4
Wenchin': 2
Contents |
Background
Raise a glass, me jolly lads, to the greatest crew what sailed the Seven Seas! Led by Captain "Red" Ned Morris, th' rouges and scallywags manning the Jolly Rancher are the finest, the fiercest, and the most shipshape crew in all of creation. Yer exploits are known th' world over, bringing the crew fame an' enough gold to keep you well for a bunch of scurvy seahands. And now you're nearly at th' end of your quest for the Blood Jewel, ye can feel it! Worth thousands of dubloons, ye think it would keep the crew for at least ten years. In celebration of yer continued good fortune, Capt'n Morris has declared tonight a revel, an' while work t' find the Jewel is welcome, this is a night for rum and tobacco. The Capt'n has left the plannin' to his First Mate Nathaniel Teach for the night. So here's t' the Jolly Rancher and her crew; any landlubber or bilge rat what doesn't give you quarter will end up prayin' they be given th' chance t' walk the plank rather than cross ye!
. . . and that is exactly what you would say if you were compelled to participate in this scurvy soiree. Not that you don't like a good revel, you do. One of the advantages of being stuck in your feline form, however, is that you don't have to take part in the foolhardy backpatting fueled by that man.
You are Feyglianth. You are an ailurodragon, having reached your maturity as a Great Wyrm after several hundred years. You have seen cultures rise and fall. You have watched piracy grow in popularity. And now, you are likely the last of your kind.
It would be hard to tell, though, given their rarity and tendency to be left at a fairly young age to fend for themselves. It's simple reptilian development, and spawns a certain independence that suits itself well to modern society. Loners get by just fine on their own, and more social creatures become leaders of their kind simply by example.
For your own part, you did not become a leader until close to your maturity. It took you time to rear yourself, and to learn how to use your amulet and master your changing forms; as an ailurodragon you can transform into a cat or a human being. You then spent some time observing human culture to learn how to blend in, first from afar and then as a cat.
Once you felt you had a sufficient grasp of their behavior you took on human form and began to interact with them. Such fascinating creatures they are! So interested in self-betterment for creatures with such a short life span. Some of them are so hopeful that, in the face of a world that is mystifying to them, they can rewrite their own perception of things to suit their needs. You found them entertaining enough that you eventually decided to live among them for at least a couple hundred years or so.
There are few careers that suit the draconic nature, and none that put you in a place of leadership until some time later. Gambler, assassin, jewel trader, mercenary . . . the closest thing to a position of power was when you were second in command of a powerful thieves' guild. That is, until you became a pirate queen.
You called yourself Calico Anne Bowman. You and your hands aboard the Sky Devil were known as the finest small crew in the Caribbean, and you yourself certainly the fiercest woman to sail the Seven Seas. While the Jolly Rancher may have been more infamous than the Sky Devil, part of that was the flash and dazzle of pillaging a large crew can pull off. You nearly matched the Jolly Rancher in notoriety, but you weren't about to take them on in a fair ship-on-ship fight. Larger crews than yours would have thought better of that.
More's the pity, as the Jolly Rancher seems to have decided to come after you. You were on the hunt for the King's Coffer, the single biggest chest of gold and gems in the East Caribbean. Your draconic sensibility was piqued by a hoard of this size, but it seems that the Jolly Rancher was returning to the hunt for loot rather than the curios and items of interest they had become known for. Once the Rancher noticed you ahead of them they gave chase. After making full sail and catching up to you, they began parley with the slew of daring invective pirate negotiations are known for.
Just then, your ship rocked with a series of shots fired by a French naval vessel that had been hidden behind a nearby reef. You admit that your crew was caught off guard, but had you not been distracted by their halfwitted slurs you might have not started at such a disadvantage. The battle was long and fraught, and just as you were considering using your changing amulet to transform -- you preferred to change as little in battle as possible to keep that ace up your sleeve, and besides, some of the newer members of your crew might not know your little secret -- a powerful shot off the poop deck knocked you into the deep. You remember the ocean, clearing your eyes to see, and then the crack of something hitting you over the head. Then . . . nothing.
You woke with boards at your back and strangers looming over you, coughing up water. As your eyes focused you realized you recognized one of them from the stories; it was Red Morris, which meant that more likely than not you were on the Jolly Rancher. He was reaching towards the loosened laces on on your shirt. Towards your amulet.
You immediately leapt to your feet, snatching a sword from an unwary mate and forcing the captain against the nearby wall of a cabin. The crew snapped to attention, coiled as though ready to strike. Hiding the fact that you were settling your spinning head, you explained to Captain Morris in no uncertain terms exactly what harm would come to him and his crew if he ever came near you or the amulet again. The crew lurched forward, but as the captain audaciously waved them off you feinted and ran the only available direction, into the ship.
The odds were stacked against you. It was one against many on unfamiliar territory, and while you thought you saw one or two of your old crew's compliment int he crowd you couldn't be sure they could be found in enough time to be helpful. You decided to buy time by transforming into a cat in the hopes that your small size and sense of smell would aid you in evading the crew until you came up with a better plan. Unfortunately, it didn't buy you enough. The captain found you before you could ferret out a good hiding place for the amulet, and after escaping you a few times and receiving several nasty bites and scratches he grabbed you by the scruff of the neck. You went limp, and it was all over.
Since then, you have lived on the Jolly Rancher as Calico, the ship's cat. The past three years have been more or less pleasant, though your dishonorable imprisonment here has soured the experience for you somewhat. The crew generally treats you well, feeds you, pets you, lets you hunt for sport (all right, mice, but still) and accepts your mischievous and occasionally spiteful behavior as the birthright of your species.
You quickly found two of your old crew members on the ship: Siofra and Tully. Once you found a private moment and informed them of your situation -- you have decided to reveal your ability to speak in cat form to most of the crew at one point or another but have not revealed your previous identity to anyone but Siofra and Tully -- they offered to help. They may be crew on the Rancher now, but they are still your buckos. Thank Neptune for that, because it's not like that lily-livered swab who calls himself captain will give it up. Every time you speak with him about it he asks about its nature and function. Hah, as though you will tell him that! This is not a bargaining table!
The past three years have also given you time to work up a healthy displeasure for Morris and a plan to get your amulet back. It's not as though your vexation isn't well deserved. He and his crew distracted you from battle, poached your plunder, abducted you and your remaining crew, seized your amulet and effectively hold you captive on his ship. And then he has the gall to act as though you owe him something? How dare he! Blimey, it's enough to make your blood boil.
A shame, too. For a base and sorry bastard, he's not hard on the eyes. In more agreeable circumstances, he's just the sort of man that would have shared your bed: intelligent, cunning, and with a strength of will undeniable in a human.
But yes, the plan. You were thinking on the plan. You know that Morris isn't dim enough to keep the amulet on his person. If he had, you would have stolen it long ago. No, he keeps it in his personal chest in his room. After careful arrangements you had Siofra make a near-identical copy (she is something of an artist) and Tully swap it with your amulet and give it to Siofra for safe keeping.
Sadly, safe keeping doesn't seem to have been as safe as you'd planned it. Seemingly overnight, she appears to have "lost" the amulet. Lost it?! She had it for less than twenty-four hours! You knew you should have met up with her sooner, or had Tully hold on to it rather than adding another step for safety's sake. Siofra isn't birdbrained, but she does tend to have her head in the clouds.
At least the success of the crew's recent campaigns has kept you well enough to let you weigh anchor for your own purposes from time to time. Their current quest is for the Blood Jewel. Worth thousands of dubloons to the proper buyer, the gold it would garner could secure the crew's future for a decade or put you up for life. But that's not your reason for wanting it. Rumor has it that the Blood Jewel is no jewel at all, but a dragon's egg. If this were the case, and if it were fertilized, having it hatch might be your only chance to have a child. Dragons are in rare supply, and finding another with which to procreate is no easy matter. Once you have your amulet and can transform again, having the option to preserve your race would be well worth it. The crew's navigations have led you here, to this cove. It may simply be a matter of searching. And if it does turn out to be a dragon's egg, you hope to keep it for yourself. And if that means turning into a dragon, you'll do it, though you don't tend to transform unless you're in private or you feel it necessary. You would need a sufficient show of force on anothers' part to feel it appropriate, something you perceived as roughly equivalent in power to yourself.
Of course, rearing a baby dragon won't be possible without being able to transform into a dragon yourself, and you won't be able to do that without your amulet. Recently, you were made aware that Edward Blackfellow was in possession of the amulet and was willing to bargain. If you were human you would just take it for yourself, but you don't want to risk revealing your allegiance with Siofra and Tully by having them drag him off in the middle of the night. Besides, he seems like the type that might find a way to wriggle out of it somehow.
But for now, we eat, we drink and we make merry! Three cheers for the Jolly Rancher and her crew . . . or something.
Who You Know
- Sam Bellamy - Quiet and thoughtful.
- Edward Blackfellow, Second Mate - A man who's been a leader. Something in him is as in an uproar as you, but who is it at? Not the captain.
- Grace Duguay, Helmsman - Cheerful and friendly.
- Flintlock Jack, Master Gunner - An intense man who seems to care about honor.
- Pele Giggs, Boatswain - A little odd, but good at his job.
- Stede Hawthorne, Quartermaster - A steady, reliable sort.
- Kate Highwater, Sailing Master - Charming but hard to read.
- Thomas Kidd, Cook - A great cook, and a warm and chatty guy.
- Siofra O'Malley, Cooper - A freespirited, personable woman. She was on your crew aboard the Sky Devil.
- Lady Charlotte Marlow - A well-to-woman who's taken to piracy.
- Tully Morgan, Lookout - A woman who knows herself. She was on your crew aboard the Sky Devil.
- "Red" Ned Morris, Captain - An infuriating man. If only he wasn't so attractive . . . your feelings about him are very mixed.
- Mary Rackham, Carpenter - A bit of an unknown.
- Bloody Christian Read, Surgeon - As good a doctor as a carouser.
- Nathaniel Teach, First Mate - A smart, learned man.
Abilities
- No Hands (Disability) - You have no hands. You may hold only one item and must hold it visibly. (This disability is only active in feline form.)
- Pinch - You may try to steal one item from another player. If in combat, you must win against the defender in Rock Paper Scissors to succeed. If out of combat, you must step behind the defender within one arm's length and hold your hand in the llama / Anubis symbol for a full count of five without them noticing. If you are looking for a particular item and they have it you may take it, otherwise you receive a random item. This ability may only be used three times per game, and only functions in cat and human forms.
- Transform: Cat - You can transform into a tabby cat.
- Transform: Human - You can transform into a human. You look like an attractive female pirate. (This ability may not be used without the Other Arcane Amulet.)
- Transform: Dragon - You can transform into a dragon. Your dragon form is large, and shaped like a traditional Western dragon. See a GM if you want to use any stereotypical draconic powers. This takes one turn during combat. (This ability may not be used without the Other Arcane Amulet.)