|
Post by Benjamin "Caid" Kincaid on Jan 19, 2018 23:29:12 GMT
"Benji's the kind'o man who could watch the sky fall. While every'ne else is screamin' and hollerin' he'd be the one tryin' to hold it up 'nd look bored outta his gourd while he did it." ~ Quote attributed to a crewmen under Kincaid.
Name: The Honourable Benjamin Oswyn, Son of Viscount Thurgood Oswyn Alias: Benjamin "Caid" Kincaid Age: Twenty-eight Occupation: Privateer
Appearance: Caid cuts a rather imposing figure above the rest of his crew. Standing a head taller than most men at nearly 6'6'' he's easy to pick out on the deck of whatever deck he happens to be working. His broad body is marred by his time at sea, scars of all sort littering his sunkissed flesh. The most notable of these scars run down his left eye. A plethora of other blemishes remains hidden beneath his clothing. Testaments to the abuse he received as a child from the crew he served. Once he joined his tormentors in brotherhood he saw fit to mark himself with an assortment of tattoos. His admiration for simplicity is displayed plainly by the geometric shapes that he engraved into his skin.
Personality:
Caid's expression seldom changes from the dour look worn upon his face. His sea green eyes moving about his surroundings in a deliberate manner. In many ways, the man can be described as jaded. His tenure as the ship's cabin boy saw him learn to detach himself from his emotions and the situation at hand. This presents itself as an eerie calm that causes the man to be callous. He rarely speaks without good reason and when he does he offers up only a quick command or short quip. That's not to say that Caid is without emotion. He feels sorrow, anger, joy, fear, and everything inbetween they just tend to be muted. Whether this is done conciously or a subconcious defense mechanism created due to the harsh treatment he experienced as a child is a matter of debate. The only time the man can be heard speaking anything more is after a particular heavy night of drinking. Whatever walls and restraints the man built up in his youth are demolished by a liberal helping of ale. While inebriated Caid's expression softens and he can be heard joking and laughing with the rest of his crew.
The few friends that Caid has made among the crew are able to coax the man out of his shell with out the aid of liquor.
Whenever Caid finds himself with freetime, a rarity, he usually spends it reading or putting down thoughts in a set of logs that he's kept since he was a child. His literacy, articulation, and ability to perform mathematics has often been a matter of discussion for the crew. Caid has never revealed his true name to those he serves with, including his commanding officers. Whenever asked about his education and what he did before serving aboard the fleet he simply shrugs and says, "Someone taught me." When pushed further those asking are met with silence and a stony gaze. Caid is unsure of himself in regards to his past finding it and his present to be wilidly contradicting. He thinks it best to simply allow his past to stay buried less it brings up painful memories and feelings.
Caid bears a deep-seated loathing directed towards himself that he fails to acknowledge. He feels that he's failed his father and the Oswyn name by assuming the persona of Caid. He simultaneously abhors the criminal acts he's performed and rationalizes them as trying to survive. He detests that he never sought to aid his Admiral while she suffered at the hands of the man who murdered his father. He loathes the fact that he never raised his hand against the former Captain for the sake of avenging the late Viscount. This hatred is the predominant driving force for his joining the Rumbraves as he hopes to seek some kind of redemption as a privateer. It also is the cause of his near unwavering loyalty to Rooney.
Background: Benjamin Kincaid, formerly Benjamin Oswyn, was the eldest child of Viscount Thurgood Oswyn and his wife Vanessa lowly nobles of Luska. Viscount Oswyn had proven himself a more than capable captain and merchant in his youth and while not particularly ambitious had made a name for himself in the Free Cities. Coming from nothing he sought to provide for his family, showering his wife with gifts, granting his children the best education that money could buy and by building a home for them to call their own. He was an easy man to admire and Benjamin was swept up in the charm and nobility of his father. From the time he could walk he wanted nothing more than to be like him. The Viscount was happy to oblige, his wife, however, wished for her son to focus more on mercantilism than sailing. For many of his formative years, he was placed under the tutelage of various scholars. While home with his mother and sisters he was educated in a variety of subjects his studies encompassing economics, geography, rhetoric, and mathematics. While he was by no means a prodigy he was a diligent student. While with his father he found a different sort of a teacher. Several to be precise. Benjamin found himself drawn to the mates of his father's flagship, The Lindessa. It was under them he learned to operate the rigging of a large ship, how to read charts, navigate, make repairs to the ship at sea. Benjamin reveled in the work of sailing finding it much more freeing than sitting behind a desk.
He wished that sailing could be his life.
It was a wish he would grow to regret.
Benjamin was twelve years old when his father took him on an extended voyage. They were to be at sea for nearly eight months the longest Benjamin had been away from home. It was a nervewracking prospect but also astonishingly exciting. They had been out to sea for two months when they spotted the ship behind them bearing no flag. Benjamin's father was visibly perturbed by this but told his son that they were nothing more than merchants. For three days the ship followed them and each day his father grew more distressed. It was on the night of the third day that Benjamin was awoken when The Lindessa was violently struck. He jumped from the cot he was given in his father's room and ran to see what the commotion was. He stood frozen as the pirates descended from their quarterdeck onto his ship. The cacophony of combat overwhelmed him and he gapped. He was spared the brunt of the ordeal as one of the pirates noticed him and proceeded to push him back into the castle before barring the door. While he was spared the sight he listened as the members of The Lindessa fought and died at the hands of the scoundrels. It felt like hours before the door to the aftcastle was opened but it been scant minutes. He was greeted by the sight of the Captain.
When asked his name Benjamin quickly lied, "Benjamin Kincaid,". He knew what would happen if they found out his peerage. In that moment the death of Benjamin Oswyn began and a new creature assumed his form.
For the next few years, Benjamin Oswyn began the slow transformation to Benjamin Kincaid or simply Caid to his crew. His life aboard the pirate's vessel was a hellish existence. He was given the mocking title of Cabin Boy and forced to perform any tasked deemed too demeaning for regular crew members. When Caid failed to perform to expectations he was beaten, if he did not finish the task quickly enough he was beaten, if he finished the task properly and quickly chances were good that he was beaten. The Captain often stating that it was "good for his moral development." For years Caid suffered this treatment. In that time something in him broke. Whatever intangible string that kept his emotions bound to him seemed to stretch and stretch until finally, it snapped. He had compartmentalized all of his feelings and bottled them for so long it was as if he'd simply forgotten where he'd hid them.
He was fifteen when the beatings stopped. Fifteen when their ship was boarded by a group of privateers set on taking their illgotten gain. Caid had grown large in that time, standing the same height as the tallest members of the crew, and he had grown strong. When the privateers descended upon them he acted on sheer instinct, taking up a heavy sword and charging into the fray. Repelling the boarding party was the only way to survive and Caid entered the fray his face a mask of only mild aggitation. Lessons of swordplay came back to him as he fought and felled two men before the party was repelled. While the other men chased after their former attackers Caid simply stood on the deck of the ship watching. The Captain approached him at that time. He was astounded and pleased with Caid's resolve and when the crew returned they were informed that the Caid was the Cabin Boy no longer, but an Able Bodied Sailor like the rest of them. This was the first time in years Caid felt anything similar to joy. The years that followed saw the complete death of Benjamin Oswyn and beginning of Caid's adolescence. Caid would go on to perform more inhuman and cruel acts than he truly cares to recall.
The morals and virtues he'd been taught in his youth were thrown out as Caid began to work alongside the crew. He found himself drawn to the quartermaster of the ship and eventually became a mate under him. His diligence on deck, ferocity while boarding and quick-wit had made him a favorite of the second in command. When their original boatswain was found dead in his hammock Caid, at the age of twenty-two, was promoted to the position. He took to the position with aplomb. The men beneath him soon learned that the scrawny cabin boy of years past was a harsh taskmaster. He expected only the finest from the men beneath him. Those that didn't act accordingly oft found themselves drawing the ire of the large bo'sun. In return, Caid would give him men everything he could. He was never once thought of as being unfair, a hardass maybe, but never unfair. His work as the Third Mate made him something of a figure of respect among the crew. Four years came and went, life fell into a pattern. The attack on Rjillund village was no different. Just another day in Caid's life.
The attack was no more vicious than any other he'd lent a hand to. He'd killed his fair share of men, stolen all he could carry, and when there were no more riches set the village to the torch. When he returned to the ship the crew went about displaying their ill gotten gains. No one was more proud of their haul than the Captain who paraded a fiery haired woman before them. A pang of regret shot through Caid's heart as he noted that the woman was about the same age as his sister. He did nothing though, simply accepted her as the Captain's prize. As time crawled forward Caid would occasionally look toward the woman, his solemn contenance marked with the smallest hint of sorrow. Each time he looked he thought, "she'll surely die today, Artis, please let her die today."
She didn't.
She survived, much like he had done when he'd been dragged aboard. For two years he watched from a far as she persevered. For two years he prayed for her until she took things into her own hands. The crew was gathered to watch the Captain take his prize, a disgusting celebration of her capture. Caid watched outwardly complacent with the act. When he saw the bright trail of blood and the Captain fall he froze. He watched as the woman murdered the Captain, robbing Caid of a revenge he had forgotten that he'd wanted. The men around him fell to their knees and when he was finally able to process what had happened he looked about and found that he was one of the few left standing. He looked to the bloodstained figure before being the last to bend knee. It was the end to another chapter of his life.
Caid found himself elevated to the role of First Mate, acting as the Admiral's right hand and bodyguard. The role suited him as well as the Rumbraves, as they were now called, new direction. He found the role of privateer more palatable and has become to come out of the shell that he erected around himself.
Skills: Caid is a competent sailor in every regard, a regular jack of all trades among his crew. He can perform each and every task "well-enough" but finds his true calling in positions of leadership. Before taking on the role of the Admiral's Bodyguard he often accompanied the quartermaster as his second when boarding enemy vessels. His calm and composed manner makes him an ideal commander of small detachments though his aversion to attention makes him less effective while commanding anything larger than a couple dozen of men. An oddity among his crew, Caid is one of the few men who is literate and can perform complex mathematics. Due to his large size, Caid possesses bullish strength and endurance. Despite only a brief stint learning combat from his father Caid has proven to be more than a challenge to trained warriors. His strength and unsavory methods place him on even footing with most fighters.
Defiencies: Many of the things that Caid learned as a child have not carried over into his adult life. Most notably is his ability to ride a horse. He'd never been fond of the animals and often found himself growing naseaus while riding atop them. Since becoming a man he chooses to avoid them almost entirely. He has enough composure to remain seated at a steady trot or gallop at the very least. Due to his size Caid is not the quickest of individuals and finds himself outpaced by most others in booth speed and reflexes. Caid's gruff nature and imposing size tends to unnerve individuals making it difficult for him to interact with them. While this unsettling nature helps with his postion as bodyguard it does not aid in making alliances or forging friendships.
|
|