Zaryel Ranzenagin [open for use!]

[Quinn]

Name: ‘Captain’ Zaryel Ranzenagin
Age: 26
Race: Human
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 154lbs

Physical Description: Zaryel is a lean, averagely handsome man of medium height, with a deep tan, sun-bleached hair and a devilish grin that has, over the years, served as his most useful tool – it works at least as well as good looks for getting young ladies and gentlemen into bed and better than a Jolly Rodger striking fear into the hearts of his enemies. He has bright hazel eyes, set off perfectly by the gold of his teeth. His body is one built for action, and he has a number of scars which prove it.

He typically wears britches tucked into bucket boots, a sword belt with rapier and dagger, a shirt with billowing sleeves and a lightly armoured leather jerkin, although he possesses much sturdier ones for when the need arises. He is also never seen without an assortment of gaudy and exotic jewellery, including a single gold hoop earring, and a deep red strip of cloth tied around his forehead, but leaving his hair loose – this hides a brand he received in a rather stern port that ruled that captured criminals who already bore a brand on the wrist would receive one on the forehead. Even in a landlocked place like Thar Shaddin, scorched-white flesh in the shape of a ‘P’ doesn’t exactly lend an air of respectability.

Posessions: Zaryel is not incredibly well-off at the moment, for reasons detailed below. He possesses;
A small amount of cash
A rapier with spatulate point and a cutlass (only the former generally carried with him)
A parrying dagger
Exotic jewellery
A number of original playscripts

Powers or Strengths: Zaryel is a charismatic, likable crook, and was able, at one point, to command a crew of people stronger and more experienced than him simply by smiling and looking authoritative.
He is a very able seaman, with a wealth of generalised knowledge about boats and the sea. He has a great sense of direction and is able to find his way by the stars or the sun. He is very worldly, having travelled a lot.
His swordsmanship is perhaps a little on the showy side and it can be said that he relies on bravado as much as skill, but he is extremely competent nevertheless.

Weaknesses: Zaryel is impulsive, easily led, and at the last count petty. He is quite quickly distracted from the task at hand, especially by money or pretty things.
His rather flamboyant demeanour can interfere with any attempt to come across as commanding or intimidating. He is also not hugely knowledgeable about Thar Shaddin, being a relatively recent arrival, and having spent most of the time since he arrived drunk and in the dreamworld of the theatre. Being a drunkard is also a weakness; it means he is out of order most nights and hung over most mornings.

History: Zaryel comes from just about anywhere but where he is at the moment. His father is as far as he knows lost at sea, and his mother disappeared after predicting her own death and he never saw her again. He was born in a hammock onboard his father’s privateer vessel and barely saw land for most of his young life.

He once commanded a pirate ship called the Andrea Norris, his crew consisting in part of stronger, bigger, more experienced men who had served under his father. This all fell apart when he fell in love with Malthea Callayan, a beautiful witch who was as stormy as the sea, and attracted gulls in much the same way. It was something of a shock both to him and to his crew, who, to be honest, would never in their lives have imagined him falling for a girl. She found it amusing to mess him around by setting him ‘tasks’ – daring displays of piracy for which he received both his brands. Eventually his crew were fed up with his antics, got him drunk on in a bar on the Mediterranean coast and he woke up on a coachload of potatoes bound inland. Bemused, heartbroken and hung over in a small market town, he met a lady called Columbina who was running the old diamond-ring-for-a-ticket-home trick. He had to admit she had the best quality replica diamonds he had ever seen. The two struck it off and when she was forced to skip town, he went with her. She took him to Marn where he has remained ever since; a drunkard, a theatre aficionado, and crook-for-hire.

Columbina, meanwhile, was prancing around in a wig and calling herself Zanni Artix. The current state of affairs with Zaryel and Whoever-she-is is that he knows, and she knows that he knows, and he knows that she knows that he knows, and she knows etc, but they don’t talk about it. Zaryel is content to call his friend whatever she happens to be calling herself at the time.

Meanwhile he drinks to forget Malthea, watches theatre to forget Malthea, watches theatre while drunk to forget that there was anything to forget, and drinks to forget the theatre.