[b]Pepperm1nts[/b], that's fine; the OOC will be up sometime Thursday because it would give me time to finish the OOC and Character Sheets. In the mean time, keep developing that character and we'll soon see his debut 8).

[b]babbysama[/b], I like all three characters concepts, but I'm not sure if the antagonistic mercenary captain, pirate king or the intelligence officer would fit well since they seem more like villainous types capable of murdering the protagonists and becoming counter-productive to the main story. These tales do not need more prevalent main antagonists as there are plenty of them, but the mercenary captain and bankrupted merchant are promising as long as they are protagonists and help progress the story line. I could certainly see a mercenary captain and merchant inspired by real life privateers such as Jean Lafitte or a Robin Hood of the seas. 

Hell, you could even combine the all characters types into one single character; just don't base them entirely off of anime characters because no offense to anime, but uhm ... I find a lot of anime characters very wooden, cliche, and without depth. I mean, love watching animes as much as anyone, but from my past roleplays, I've seen writers included cheap, anime-esque characters and the amount of one liner god-moding seriously disrupted the story. That being said, I encourage you to do some research on various historical figures and to incorporate those themes you listed.

Also keep in mind that nefarious characters would likely be on their own when facing against [i]other[/i] nefarious foes and I can tell you for a fact that you don't want assassins on your character's ass or frequent betrayals at every turn. Carcassonne is volatile for a reason and moving alone as an antagonist will likely accelerate their own deaths very early into the story :lol.

With all this being said, keep throwing ideas my way!

[b]Edit:[/b] Ack! Didn't see your post, [b]Fern[/b]. All character ideas are perfectly acceptable, but I'm a little worried about the Amoral Assassin's motivations so send me a PM and we'll work on her 8).

[b]Edit 2:[/b] I encourage you all to collaborate with one another for inter-related character back stories and possible plot arcs!

[b]Edit 3:[/b] I'll be with limited internet access between now and late Wednesday, but keep sending PMs and posts and when I return, I'll try to answer everything with greater clarity ...