Lord of Evil

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"Aye aye, captain." Garret muttered.
The words were genuine enough but there was a note of sarcasm, a certain irony reserved in the words themselves. He had his orders, now all he had to do was follow through, though, it wasn't like he liked those orders, or wanted to carry them out. But he would follow them, he was sure his paycheck was riding on it. Besides, as a crew member had just declared, their cannons were gone, and that was definitely not a good thing.

Garret decided not to waste any time. He made eye contact with one of his cooperators, Jack, before moving down the quarterdeck towards the door to the bowels of the Aquarius. He weaved through the chaotic deck, arriving shortly at the entrance of foreboding darkness that was his goal. He turned back for a moment, surveying the situation on deck. They were dealing with enemy boarders well enough, and the opposing ship's firepower could basically be ignored, but the goblins would be a tipping point. They emerged on the deck now, throwing a fresh layer of chaos to proceedings. Most importantly, their captain was outnumbered at the wheel, and that wouldn't do. He remembered her orders - to take every spare man and go deal with the situation below deck. But he couldn't leave the captain like that. Yes, the more men he went with the less casualties below there would be, but 1 captain was worth more than a handful of support crew. Yes, he had his orders, but showing off a bit wouldn't hurt.

Garret took aim and fired, pinning one of the half dozen or so goblins surrounding the captain in the head.
"Oy you lazy buggers, watch the captain!" He yelled at the crew around him. "The rest of you, get over here!"
Some of the sailors looked up and went to help, and most of the rest were tied up with the melee. Those that heard him and were available gathered by the entrance to the gun deck as goblins burst out from the gloom. Garret clicked his tongue and smashed the butt of his crossbow at the closest one, sending it hurtling towards its fellows. He dropped the crossbow and drew his dirk, sliding one of his throwing knifes out of his various pockets. He threw one at the goblins and it buried itself in one of their eyes as backup arrived and pushed back the goblin group.
"Shape up ya gits, we're going down and killing every last one of these grey pieces of shit before the day's out!" He commanded.
Garret wasn't exactly a talented leader, but he knew that the crew knew that this was important. Garret followed behind the rest as they descended the stairs into the rest of the ship. He had his orders, but he didn't exactly need to go first.

A Fate Not Your Own - (Open)

Garret

Name: Garret Kilroy

Age: 30

Height: 170, but hunches a lot so around 160 normally

Build: Somewhat lanky but with lean upper body muscles, focused around his back and arms.

Appearance: Brown scraggly hair (that could probably do with cutting) paired with beady, murky brown eyes gives Garret a distinct (and somewhat unappealing) appearance. His face is common for a commoner, meaning not much to look at, unremarkable in almost every sense of the word, save for the shadow of stubble shaven unevenely. Garret's overall countenance makes it difficult to enjoy looking at it, which is probably why he normally hides it under a roomy hood. But then, he never needed the looks to do his work.

Personality: An unscrupulous man by nature, Garret does whatever it takes to complete his objectives, which usually have something to do with money. He has an inbuilt distrust for anyone that isn't him, and for things he can't figure out or doesn't understand. He's not afraid to speak his misgivings either, but he knows when to shut his mouth when it matters. And while he doesn't have morals, he does have standards for what he does, because if he didn't he'd be no better than a common thug.

Background: Garret's early life is a subject he doesn't dwell on much. It was a different time under a different name, and he had no reason to go back. It was a fairly boring life, as much as living in a log cabin in the mountains could be. His father, a harsh and unemotional man, was a great archer and brought his son up to be the same. He didn't like the lessons much on account of not liking the man much, though, and Garret had always much closer to his free spirited mother than his taciturn father. So when she died, Garret didn't have any good reason to stick around. He went out into the wider world and never looked back. Once he arrived, however, he realised that he had no idea how to make anything of himself in society. A series of unfortunate events led him into the eager arms of a bandit group, intent on exploiting his archery skills. That particular group went the way all bandits go eventually, and Garret bounced around bandit groups for a while before splitting off to forge a new identity as a mercenary. He's done it all, from assassinations, sabotage, arson, finding lost cats, babysitting, you name it. He's certainly not the best at his job, but he'll do whatever it takes to put food on the table.

Bonus Skills: Archery, climb, survival

A Fate Not Your Own - (Open)

Alright, here we are. Tell me if anything's wrong with it.

Garret

Name: Garret Kilroy

Age: 30

Height: 170, but hunches a lot so around 160 normally

Build: Somewhat lanky but with lean upper body muscles, focused around his back and arms.

Appearance: Brown scraggly hair (that could probably do with cutting) paired with beady, murky brown eyes gives Garret a distinct (and somewhat unappealing) appearance. His face is common for a commoner, meaning not much to look at, unremarkable in almost every sense of the word, save for the shadow of stubble shaven unevenely. Garret's overall countenance makes it difficult to enjoy looking at it, which is probably why he normally hides it under a roomy hood. But then, he never needed the looks to do his work.

Personality: An unscrupulous man by nature, Garret does whatever it takes to complete his objectives, which usually have something to do with money. He has an inbuilt distrust for anyone that isn't him, and for things he can't figure out or doesn't understand. He's not afraid to speak his misgivings either, but he knows when to shut his mouth when it matters. And while he doesn't have morals, he does have standards for what he does, because if he didn't he'd be no better than a common thug.

Background: Garret's early life is a subject he doesn't dwell on much. It was a different time under a different name, and he had no reason to go back. It was a fairly boring life, as much as living in a log cabin in the mountains could be. His father, a harsh and unemotional man, was a great archer and brought his son up to be the same. He didn't like the lessons much on account of not liking the man much, though, and Garret had always much closer to his free spirited mother than his taciturn father. So when she died, Garret didn't have any good reason to stick around. He went out into the wider world and never looked back. Once he arrived, however, he realised that he had no idea how to make anything of himself in society. A series of unfortunate events led him into the eager arms of a bandit group, intent on exploiting his archery skills. That particular group went the way all bandits go eventually, and Garret bounced around bandit groups for a while before splitting off to forge a new identity as a mercenary. He's done it all, from assassinations, sabotage, arson, finding lost cats, babysitting, you name it. He's certainly not the best at his job, but he'll do whatever it takes to put food on the table.

Bonus Skills: Archery, climb, survival

A Fate Not Your Own - (Open)

What's the story set up going to be like? As in will we be chilling in a tavern, or something. I'm mostly asking because of minor character background details that I might need to change depending on the set up.

A fate not directly controlled by you. Simple!

Oh shit! Thought this was gonna die. Alright, word.

I'll try to make it fun for ya'll.

Should be enough skills and interactions to make things fun.

@ZayZe

Well, it's just me so far as far as I can see, but I'll look forward to it all the same. Hope we get more people, though.

A fate not directly controlled by you. Simple!

I'd be down for this if more people were on it, so I'll put in some tentative interest for now.

Wave Breakers - Fantasy Water World - Signups open

Aim, shoot, reload. There was a smooth flow to the motions Garret went through as he fired into the ranks of the rogue pirates. The battle seemed to have begun in earnest as a fresh tide of enemies emerged from the lower holds. Through the din he could've sworn he'd heard an enemy yell something about rats, but he couldn't be sure. What he could be sure he heard was the captain's orders, to defend the man that jumped towards the boat alone. Really, though, what was she expecting a guy like Garret with a crossbow to do? Then again, it wasn't that he couldn't do anything to help.

Garret finished reloading and took in what he could see from his vantage point. He hadn't moved much as his instincts had picked a good spot. He was somewhat close to the wheel, just a short flight of stairs below the captain's position. And thanks to the height difference of the Aquarius, it still provided a good view of the enemy ship. With the elevation the man he'd been asked to cover wouldn't have too much trouble before a certain point, but what happened afterwards would be anyone's guess. So Garret focused on the other ship; more specifically on the people running all over it. What captured his attention most was one of the brigands, armed with a crossbow and a clear line of sight to his charge. But from the corner of his eye, Garret saw a better target. He took aim and pulled the trigger. Moments later the brigand did too, but Garret's shot was perfect. The enemy bolt flew fast but a weighty form fell from above and intercepted the bolt. Another brigand from the enemy crew, with a straight shaft of wood sticking out of the bandit's chest. The man wasn't dead, or at least not yet. But he was out of the fight, and more importantly, he'd blocked at least one shot from the enemy crew. One shot in the right place could tear a well-crafted plan to shreds, so Garret counted it as a win in his book. It took careful observation and a wide field of view to make a difference in a battlefield, skills that Garret was proud of having. But these were skills that bothered him more and more as the battle wore on.

He reloaded his crossbow quickly and watched the battlefield once more. Garret was never good at long-term planning, so he relied on his experience and his gut for most things. And right now, his gut was telling him that something was missing. Things were going about average, all things considered, but there were definitely missing elements. The enemy captain, for one, although he couldn't fault them for not showing their face. Whatever the case, the word 'rats' he'd heard over the wind played over and over again in his mind. It was like a sea shanty he couldn't put out of his head, driving him so mad that he was almost glad when the screaming started.

It was quiet at first, but Garret knew that small things tended to be the most significant. He frowned and fired another bolt as the sounds rose in quantity and volume. A large chunk of the Aquarius's fighting specialists had gone over to the enemy ship, so they weren't in the most ideal position to fight off invaders at the moment. He could vaguely hear breaking glass down below - they'd likely come in from the sea and were wreaking havoc from the whatever holes they could enter from, whoever they were.

With all that being said, it wasn't really his problem right now. He still had to cover the boarding crew; if they divided their attention too much then their best combatants would be isolated and destroyed. He couldn't imagine that happening to someone of Izal's fame but the possibility was always there. Though the intrusion would definitely become his problem if left unchecked, he'd sooner jump into the ocean wearing full steel plate than jump in the deck alone, with no information on the threat at and. Well, maybe going in would be better than swimming in full plate, but that was besides the point.

Garret turned away from the chaotic battlefield to yell towards the captain, informing her of the situation.
"Seems we've got some rats down below, cap'n!" He yelled to the woman. "What are your orders?"
@Zelosse

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Garret watched impatiently as the fight approached. He held his breath as the ballista bolt sailed through the air, tearing through the enemy ship, destroying its wheel and starting the fight properly. Ballistae were fairly expensive, particularly taking into account the bolts used, so they should be used carefully. But Garret could see that the crew of the Aquarius had good aim, if nothing else. He supposed they could be relied upon, but now wasn't the time to worry about that. As soon as the first bolt flew, Garret took aim. He was as close to the railing as he wanted to be, enough to get a good shot. Normally he'd worry about getting shot himself but that didn't apply as much here, considering the height difference of the ships.

Garret took aim and pulled the trigger, pinning a swinging pirate in the chest.
"Stupid bastard." He muttered, reloading his crossbow.
Soon enough, hooks from below latched onto the railings around him and Izal jumped down with a portion of the crew to clean house on the smaller ship's deck. A hook latched close to his position, pulling taut just too late after Garret kicked it off. He took aim once again, surveying the situation. He was particularly looking to cover Izal and crew's position, as he knew that they were in one of the most dangerous situations. With that being said, there didn't seem to be too much danger. The ship was smaller than the Aquarius, meaning it had less people. It was also more of a transport vessel, while the Aquarius was a real mercenary vessel, so it had the upper hand in ship-to-ship combat. That being the case, there was something bothering Garret.

Garret fired once more. He would've been among the first on board in a scenario like this, but he felt something was off. For brigands, the enemy crew were awfully enthusiastic to engage the Aquarius's superior forces; he'd been hoping they'd just give up when the Aquarius arrived. Surely, even if the enemy won the engagement, it would be too costly for them to be sustainable. Perhaps it might've been the effect of the enemy captain. If they were anything like captains of stolen vessels Garret had been on, they solidified their rule with fear, so that could explain the crew's fervor. Or, they could be desperate. They were wanted men so there wouldn't be any escape if they surrendered, maybe they were trying their luck in an upfront fight. Either way, Garret was suspicious. He couldn't know what the enemy had up their sleeves, and that made wading into melee infinitely more dangerous. It seemed that the best course of action was to stay safe and provide fire support. Even if he wanted in on the fight, he wouldn't go now. At least, not without some meatshields to soak up the fire as they came in.

Wave Breakers - Fantasy Water World - Signups open

@Spriggs27 I edited garret's text color not to clash with Jack's. Just thought you'd like to know.

Wave Breakers - Fantasy Water World - Signups open

Garret stood silently on the deck, ready to go at any time. His hood was raised and his eyes glanced around, at the approaching boat and its inhabitants and at the deck just around him. It was a survival instinct, as you never knew what could happen in a pitched battle. Most on the ship were honorable enough, but there was certainly a fair amount of questionable people too. Would they try something on the Aquarius, under the watchful eye of the captain and Izal? Probably not, but it didn't hurt to be extra careful. Chain mail helped his defenses against the unexpected but he wasn't stupid enough to rely on it for everything. Prevention is the best defense, after all. What doesn't happen can't hurt him, that was Garret's (other) motto.

He readied his crossbow as the True Blue inched closer and closer. He wasn't a big fan of pitched combat, but he'd been paid to fight. He wouldn't fire the first shot and he probably wouldn't put himself in any real danger, but he'd fight nonetheless. Garret tracked the movement of the sailors on the True Blue, eyeing up his targets. He felt the wind on his face, measuring its force and direction.
"A little to the left..." He muttered under his breath. "Wave's coming up. Gonna have to adjust..."
He kept his finger on the trigger and waited for the ship to come closer. There was some part of him that didn't want to be there, but he knew of a universal truth in this watery world. Those who don't work don't eat! Of course, there was a method of getting a lot from a little effort; make others do the work for you. Needless to say, Garret was no stranger to that strategy, but he'd have to pull his weight here. He wouldn't put in any more work than he had to, but he'd do what he was paid to do.