Cooper Siofra O'Malley

Siofra O'Malley / Miriel
Cooper
Faerie

Carousin': 4
Plunderin': 2
Swashbucklin': 2
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 Miriel, and you are a faerie. Your people have wandered the paths between Earth and the realm of the Fae for millenia, beginning back in the days before the world became so bound by science and the need for cold, hard truth. In those times your people were known by various names: the Tuatha Dé Danann, the Fair Folk, the Shining Host, the Good Neighbors, the Gentry, the Lords and Ladies, and so on. Many of the names implying nobility stemmed from the sense of awe and wonderment your kind instilled in others, and for good reason. You supped on ambrosia, robed yourselves in dewdrops and flowerbuds, and made emperors as children simply by the sound of your voice. You were more than beautiful. You were beauty personified.

Sadly, those days are at a close. As time has passed, humankind has strayed from their understanding of your world, even if they understood it only from a distance. Their limited understanding and need to know things has drawn them away from their tender centuries into the Age of Technology, and that has caused your people to suffer. At first your people thought it was simply their connection to Earth that was wounded, but as fewer and fewer people left themselves open to belief the wound grew and began to infect your lands. Paths fell one by one, first larger and then smaller, until only a few stray roads between the realms remain. Your people, which were once immortal, began to fall ill. They began to die.

Your name is Miriel, and you are likely one of the last of your kind. The few who may remain would be younger and more resilient, and you are no exception. Curiosity brought you to Earth despite the danger. You enjoy what human interaction has to offer, such as music, dance, craft, and personal contact. You thrive on this, and have been able to sustain yourself in it.

Originally, you joined the crew of the Sky Devil as a Cooper under the proud leadership of Calico Anne Bowman, the fiercest pirate queen to sail the Seven Seas. The Jolly Rancher is more famous than the Sky Devil, true, in part because their crew is larger and they can pull off more elaborate plundering. And 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.

Even so, you had an unfortunate run-in with them. You were on the hunt for the King's Coffer, the single biggest chest of gold and gems in the East Caribbean, but it seems that the Jolly Rancher was interested as well. Once the Rancher noticed you ahead of them they gave chase. They made full sail and caught up to you, beginning 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. The crew was caught off guard, though you might have done better had you not been distracted by the parley. The battle was long and fraught, ending with a powerful shot off the poop deck followed by one to the mizzen that knocked the Captain and most of the crew into the deep. You hit the ocean, struggling towards lifeboats and pieces of wreckage as the Jolly Rancher came around, offering quarter for you and the few remaining crew members who lived.

Calico Anne was the worst off, unconscious and lungs full of water by the time she was dragged on the ship. The crew circled around her, watching and waiting. Right around then you noticed Tully, another crew member from the Sky Devil. At least someone made it out.

You were relieved to hear from the ship's surgeon that she would live. Just then, Captain Morris reached for her and she leapt to her feet, grabbing a sword from one of the crew and threatening him if he came near her or the amulet around her neck again. Before the crew could act Morris waved them off with an entertaining smile, giving her a chance to feint and bolt into the ship.

Unsure what was exactly so important about this amulet but not one to like feeling cornered, you secretly rooted for her, even as Morris followed her into the ship. It didn't take him long to return, stating he had the matter under control. You had enough gumption to ask what had happened to her, but he didn't give you much details and you weren't in a position to argue.

A day or two later, you ran into Calico, the ship's cat. She was a little friendlier to you than the rest of the crew, and there was something about her that reminded you of your old cat on the Sky Devil. Eventually, Calico caught you alone and started to speak, explaining that she was your old captain and was stuck in this form because Captain Morris had taken her amulet by force. Blimey! It's not like he was taking the King's Coffer from you. That's her rightful property!

So you, Tully and Calico concocted a plan. You made an identical copy of the amulet and passed it to Tully, who swapped it with the original amulet. She gave the original back to you as Calico asked, planning to get it from you early next morning.

In celebration, you decided to stop by the barrels for some rum when you ran into Flintlock Jack, the Master Gunner. Distracted from your plan to go up to the deck by new company, he asked if he might join you in a mug. You sat and talked for a while, getting more and more intoxicated, when you slowly came to the realization that he was fairly attractive in an athletic sort of way and that you were pretty sure he was hitting on you. It had been a while since you let loose and really enjoyed yourself, so you snuck off to the stowed lifeboats and had a little revelry of your own.

By morning, he was gone, which wouldn't have been so much of a big deal if it wasn't for the fact that so was the amulet! Blast! You searched the lifeboat for it with no luck. Someone took it, either he or someone else who happened upon one or the both of you. You retraced your steps in the hopes of finding it and, while it didn't help, you also left a barrel open last night where you'd stowed some feywine and it was gone too. This just isn't your day.

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 an origin point for great magical power. If this were the case, using it in the proper ritual could imbue your dying realm with enough energy to rekindle it again. You could return the world of Faerie to the splendor it was known for before the age of technology. 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 faerie, 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.
• Calico - The ship's cat. Also your old captain, and your friend.
• 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. She is very different from you, but that is interesting as well.
• Thomas Kidd, Cook - A great cook, and a warm and chatty guy.
• Lady Charlotte Marlow - A well-to-woman who's taken to piracy.
• Tully Morgan, Lookout - A woman who knows herself, and your closest friend from the Sky Devil
• "Red" Ned Morris, Captain - A charismatic, able captain.
• Mary Rackham, Carpenter - A bit of an unknown.
• Bloody Christian Read, Surgeon - As good a doctor as a carouser. He is also rather attractive . . .
• Nathaniel Teach, First Mate - A smart, learned man. The poor thing occasionally looks a bit like a lost puppy.

Abilities

• Artisan - You are a skilled craftsman, able to make most anything decorative if given sufficient time.
• Enchanting - Twice during the game, you may persuade any characters interested in females to pass the Blood Jewel to you if they otherwise appear on the fence about it.
• Switcheroo - Once per game, you may swap the Blood Jewel with an object of similar size and weight so long as the person who receives the Blood Jewel is neither yourself nor any of your allies. The person receiving the Blood Jewel must be holding the similar object at the time. To simulate this, spend at least five seconds within arm's reach of the one holding the Blood Jewel at the time of the swap and then alert a GM, who will make the switch.