"All I need is a few bags of coins by my side and the sea below. Life is simple enough when you stop thinking too hard about it."
Daniel 'Danny' Reed. Buccaneer, Bounty Hunter... Pirate. The cheerful captain of the Calypso, raider and scourge of the West Seas. Don't ever be dumb enough to trust his smile though, it's as fleeting as gold when the rage takes over and the monster comes out.
Daniel 'Danny' Reed
Appearance
Danny has a charming and smug look about him, enough to turn a few heads at least. Still with the bearings of a young man, he has a short brown hair along with a short beard that he likes to keep. He wears a pair of stylish earrings and always has a sharp smile on his face, although his most remarkable trait are his eyes when using his magic, a strong red emanating from them as it shows the evil presence inside. Danny's eyes change colours many times, mostly when the spirit resting inside him starts communicating or when using his magic.As for clothing, Danny can be seen at almost all times wearing a very fashioned long sleeved leather jacket, folding his sleeves at his elbows to display the pair of dark gloves that he wears along with a few lucky charms and rings. He also wears a beautiful necklace made of pure gold and ruby pearls, a gift from his adopted father before passing away. The rest of his attire is very casual and fitting to a man of the seas while maintaining the look of a feared and fearless captain. He keeps his guns on his waist as well as a pocket knife used in close situations, or simply to cut a few apples and oranges. It never beats staying healthy while on a long sea journey.
Skills and Abilities
Tainted Magic: After losing his way and wandering inside a lost, ancient tomb when still a kid, Danny found himself almost torn apart by evil spirits, only to be saved by a even worse and powerful one. The spirit forced his way inside Danny but was unable to fully control him, instead tainting his recently awakened magical talents with raw demonic energy. It also sparked a personality crisis deep within him, as Danny sees himself torn between a gentle heart and the violent madness now nested inside him, thanks to a violent life and the presence of this ancient spirit.Dual Shooter: The demonic power wasn't the only thing Danny found that night. The chaos ensued in that tomb also released two ancient relics, dated all the way back to the Age of Wonders and its lost marvels -- a pair of unique weapons that can shoot from afar without the use of arrows or blackpowder, but consuming the demonic essence mixed with Danny's magic. The spirit said they were twin pistols, forged by the dwarves with collaboration with humans and elves alongside forbidden magic, and the very dangerous use of demon blood. Records of similar weapons were sadly lost to time after their own reckless use of those inventions brought down ruin upon the advanced empire of that age, with relics such as those being the only memories of what transpired long ago.
Dirty Fighter: Danny was never trained in the use of his magics, having to learn the ways of street brawling and cheap tricks along with the use of his pistols to survive. He loves a good brawl, even more when he taunts and toys with his opponents, whether from distance with his guns or up close and personal, but he suffers greatly against more trained combatants, thus he always seeks to run or get some leverage against such heavy odds.
Personality
Danny is an all-around fun individual, always seen with a light humor, even in tough situations. But only those who have truly seen his worst side can attest to the terror that he transforms in when fury takes over. In such extreme cases, the spirit inside him finds it easy to slip in and take control, enhancing his rage to a point that one could barely recognize the smug yet noble-hearted sailor from before. And such is his biggest fear, one that he struggles with everyday, to try and reach neutral ground with the spirit, so that they can co-exist in peace. Some would say that it's a battle that will always happen, until eventually one overtakes the other.The Calypso
The Calypso, or simply The Cally, his home and most cherished treasure. A fully rigged beast of the seas, sturdy yet light enough to be easily manuevered in the most violent waves. With the help of his crew, Danny likes to keep 'his girl' clean, so that he won't pass as just another dirty pirate. With speed and power, the Cally can be a handful for any ship, a fact well known throughout the Black Bay. The crew are also incredibly loyal and hearty towards their captain, with Danny counting them as his only true friends in the world, and the small brotherhood has known that ship as a better part of a home for several years. As his closest friend and advisor, the Cally's quartermaster, Rhondon, a half-orc with a huge heart as well as a huge taste for battle and money, keeps everything well organized between trips, and even in their moments of frustration or in the midst of a dangerous battle, they all know that the people there, the ones giving their blood, sweat and tears, are the family they all needed.
As for weaponry, the Cally is equipped with a few braziers along the main deck, granting fire to the many bows and arrows used by the crew's best shooters, along with javelins for further lethality. Ballistaes are spread throughout the ship as well, being the main source of damage from a distance, with the arrows and javelins being used after closing the distance to render the opponent weak enough for a boarding. And the Cally's crew loves a boarding.
Mercy & Malice
These magical twin pistols were forged in secret by a group of human and elven sorcerers who enlisted the help of the dwarven weaponsmiths of old, during the Age of Wonders. Trying to use both magic and technology to their advantage, the cult decided to dabble in forbidden magic, using demon blood to power the dwarven machinery. The experiment was a near success. The weapons were finished and seemed to work, but the toll exacted on them was too heavy a price to pay. A demon weapon requires demon power to be wielded correctly, and thus the use of those guns ended up killing every soul in the secluded crypt it was forged in. Fearing the effects of such monstrosity if exploited by the rest of the world, the last living sorcerer used his dying breath to seal away the weapons in the crypt, but not before the effects of the guns attracted many hungry spirits to it. Ages passed and the guns were sealed away along with the demonic spirits bound to it, until Danny unlocked them.
Thanks to the spirit now inhabiting him, his own magic was tainted by their demonic forces, and wielding the guns was made possible, but not without cost. Still dwarven in design, the rustic pistols have a tube on top of them, used to charge the weapons from Danny's own magic until depleted and needing recharge, which consumes Danny's magic, making prolonged use very exhausting. The weapons fire at a similar pace to a trained archer, although their blasts of energy are powerful enough to pierce strong armors, easily tearing through flesh.
Biography & Lore
Since he was a small boy, Danny had a taste for the sea. Born in Alliria and living in a small but cozy home near the docks, he always sneaked from his duties to watch the comings and goings of the ships at the harbor. But that stopped when he discovered the magical powers flowing through his veins, which prompted his mother to keep a close watch on him. His father, though, was the opposite. A former military contractor who almost lost his leg in a excursion with mages, he developed a deep hatred for the magic that caused him to live a crippled life inside that house, and that hatred made him despise his own child, wanting him gone to live a cloistered life in whatever magic college would take him. Gentle hearted, Danny's mother embraced him and promised to never turn him away. That was the first of many broken promises through his life.One day, after returning to his home drunk and enraged, Danny's father gave them a last warning about sending him away, and with his mother adamant in denying it, he pressed on and tried to kill them both. That was the night when Danny's magic fully came out, killing his father in a anger burst. It was only an accident, but he would be lying if Danny said he didn't felt something right click deep inside him, a sense of joy after securing his life and his mother's and giving some of the pain back against someone who truly deserved it. And yet, the loving embrace was gone from the bright of his mom's eyes, as she now was the one casting him aside, out of fear for their lives if the guards caught them. Seeing no other way, Danny had to abandon everything, running from his home, his city, from everything. He ran through the woods, as fast as he could, fearing the consequences of his deed, even if he was still a child. He feared a life away from the sea, the ships and joy of freedom, locked away in a room full of books, reading and studying everyday to cast some party tricks and fireballs. He hated the idea of being a mage.
That hatred led his lost path towards a ancient tomb, almost taken by nature in the middle of the forest. He entered it, not knowing what manner of monsters hid amidst the dark. Sensing his latent and recently awaken magic, the spirits locked away there came back from their slumber, grasping at him and trying to take Danny's soul to feed their hunger, but before they could do it, another ancient force came forth and forced his way inside Danny, whose soul fought back and clashed against it. The spirit nestled himself deep inside Danny and his mind, mixing his own demonic force with the boy's magic and sealing them together for life. For the boy, however, only a few seconds of blurriness passed and he felt as normal as ever. And then a voice came out from the back of his head. It spoke to him about many things -- life, death... power. Power such as the one locked away in that crypt, one that was unlocked when Danny stumbled upon it. The spirit inside his head guided him towards a pair of ancient relics from the Age of Wonders, weapons of great strength and mystical origins, said to be crafted by the old dwarves with dabbling of forbidden demonic blood. And as many other elements from that age, this secret had been locked away and forgotten by time until it all crumbled to dust and ruins. But not now, as the pistols were retrieved even though Danny barely had the physical strength to raise one of them.
The young boy then continued to run, pathless and lost until he arrived at a place so familiar to him. The sea. He sneaked aboard a ship docked nearby and stood there for days until he was eventually discovered and brought in front of the crew as a thief. And even though the group of pirates wanted him thrown to the sharks, the captain took pity on him and decided to take him in. The years passed and the bond between developed yet stronger, with the pirate captain now calling Danny his own son, and the young man flourishing under his teachings and the life at sea. He followed in his footsteps, learning that his father wasn't as the other pirates of the old stories and that admiration prompted him to follow a life at sea as well. With his voyages, Danny acquired many friends, contacts and also enemies, he slowly learned the ropes and grew into a worthy sailor, eventually taking his father's business forward and becoming a full pledged pirate. He conquered his own vessel, a fine ship that he named the Calypso, the sea monster, and also gained the trust of his crew, and especially his greatest friend, the ship's quartermaster Rhondon. Side by side, they went on to sail and carve their own reputation through fire and steel.