Surgeon Bloody Christian Read

Bloody Christian Read
Surgeon
Vampire

Carousin': 4
Plunderin': 1
Swashbucklin': 3
Wenchin': 4

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!

. . . all right, that's enough. Whew! If you can keep that up, no one will be the wiser.

Your name is Bloody Christian Read, and you are a vampire. Once mortal like everyone else, you were found and changed by one much like you into the predator of predators, feeding on the blood of the living to survive. You are cautious to reveal too much in order to avoid the misunderstandings it could cause; due to human intervention you may be one of the last of your kind.

You are not quite sure how you became what you are today. You were a surgeon by trade and, as such, dealt with blood on a daily basis. It could be that you were somehow transformed by something in the blood you encountered. Or it could have been that woman you met. She said she had fallen prey to some dread disease and needed your help. She became your lover for a time until, one morning, she was simply gone. You pined for her, but soon after you realized there was something else you longed for even more, something you needed to survive.

You continued your trade as a surgeon, moving from city to city when you thought they might notice how eternally young you stayed. You have lived for a century or two in this fashion. Thankfully, there are certain advantages to human misunderstanding, namely old wives' tales. While vampires are somewhat weakened during the day, sunlight does not kill them. Doubly thankfully, your role puts you in direct contact with a great deal of blood, making your life far easier. Anyone you couldn't heal you would slip a bit of your blood, healing them without changing them. After a mortal lifetime or two you decided to join a pirate ship by arranging to be in the right place and the right time and being effectively "drafted" as most ship's surgeons are. You're a somewhat recent addition to the Jolly Rancher.

The longer lifespan has also given you a chance to loosen up. To be honest, you were a bit of a ponce when you were mortal. Always pining after one girl or another, a complete teetotaler, and so on. Now you carouse with the best of them and . . . all right, well, you're still a bit of the romantic sort, but at least you've learned a bit about how to deal with the ladies. And there are certainly some attractive ones here! There's Siofra, who's absolutely stunning. And there's Grace, a sweet woman who seems to have kept an admirable sense of good about the world. Finally, there's Lady Marlowe: exotic, stunning and very well-to-do, she may even be out of your league. But really, most of the ladies on the ship are unique flowers in their own right. And if none of them seem interested, well . . . there are always the men . . .

But on to more important matters. Drinking! You miss drinking. You technically can drink alcohol, but it doesn't quite have the same effect as feeding a little off of someone who's had something to drink. Optimally, you would find someone who likes fine spirits, have a drink or two from them and then have a little bit of fun. You wouldn't mind inviting others, so long as you could feed secretly when it came to it. It is a party, after all!

Ah well, maybe you'll have more luck with 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 source of great magical power. If this were the case, using it in the proper ritual could bring back one of your progenitors to repopulate your kind. No longer would you live in fear of humans destroying you slowly, one by one. The crew's navigations have led you here, to this cove. It may simply be a matter of searching. If it does turn out to be source of great magical energy, you hope to keep it for yourself. And if that means you need to reveal yourself as a vampire, you'll do it, though you realize you could be giving away your true nature to humans.

But tonight is a night of carousing, a hard-earned reward for your work. As is the Captain's right, he has chosen to spend the night enjoying himself rather than keeping the crew in order, handing over that task to his First Mate, Nathaniel Teach. This doesn't mean that he won't make the final decisions on any important matters, of course, especially about the Blood Jewel. For now, however, we eat, we drink and make merry! Three cheers for the Jolly Rancher and her crew!

Who You Know

• Sam Bellamy - Quiet and thoughtful.
• Edward Blackfellow, Second Mate - A man who's been a leader. He cares too much about the wrong things.
• Calico - The ship's (supposedly talking) cat. The captain found her soon after his encounter with the Sky Devil.
• Grace Duguay, Helmsman - Cheerful and friendly. Attractive in an innocent sort of way.
• Flintlock Jack, Master Gunner - An intense man who seems to care about honor. He needs to loosen up.
• 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. Attractive in a complex sort of way.
• Thomas Kidd, Cook - A great cook, and a warm and chatty guy.
• Siofra O'Malley, Cooper - A freespirited, personable woman. Attractive in a stunning sort of way.
• Lady Charlotte Marlow - A well-to-woman who's taken to piracy. Attractive in a refined sort of way. She may be out of your league.
• Tully Morgan, Lookout - A woman who knows herself. Attractive in an unattainable sort of way.
• "Red" Ned Morris, Captain - A charismatic, able captain.
• Mary Rackham, Carpenter - A bit of an unknown. Attractive in a mysterious sort of way.
• Nathaniel Teach, First Mate - A smart, learned man.

Abilities

• Flight - You are capable of flight. It appears more like levitation than bird flight. While you cannot travel exceptionally great distances from the ship, you are capable of short-range travel (and potentially, of scaring the daylights out of someone when you start to fly).
• Persuasive - After spending five minutes talking to a character, you may make a suggestion to them. Provided it does not go against their nature or goals, they will likely follow through with it as though they thought it a good idea. You may use this ability three times per game, and will not spend the ability if it does not succeed.
• Subtle Feeding - If you spend five minutes tending to someone's wounds, you may feed from their leftover blood without them noticing.

Items

• Wooden Sphere - A well-carved wooden sphere a little bigger than a fist.