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- Cloaked in folds of midnight waters
- Side by side, we sons and daughters
- We set forth for no king's orders
- But we'll sail together
- Hold fast! Tides are turning
- Flames roar, fires are burning
- We'll all be returning, if we sail together
- All on the waves shall know our story
- Sing of the battles fought ashore
- We all shall thrive on fame and glory
- When we sail together
- Words of warning have been spoken
- Ancient creatures have awoken
- Still, until our bond is broken
- We shall sail together
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— "We Shall Sail Together" from Sea of Thieves |
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A young mariner seeking to find his place in the seas of life. Though perhaps littered with quirks, when he gets knocked down, he gets back up again. You're never gonna keep him down. Dale's also a sea witch.
Personality
Dale is kind soul, though sometimes he may be a bit moody. He also has a tendency to be gullible. Though he is normally a quiet and calm man, he is prone to outbursts of emotion, large swells of both positive and negative emotions. Despite the stereotype of the introvert, he likes to party hard and work harder. He just tends to expel all his energy up front and then later needs to retreat for personal time. He also has issues with the concept of personal space. An outburst of gratitude, for instance, may be expressed with a big hug, even if he barely knows the target. Or he may snap at someone in frustration, even if doing so might be socially detrimental. The steady tides of the sea can be wrought with storms sometimes.
Background
Though his birth certificate listed his name as Richard Dale Kerr, Dale has never gone by Richard. First adopting the nickname Ricky, then adopting his middle name once Ricky sounded too childish, Dale also was adopted by his mother's now husband, Keith Overmeyer. So his legal name is Richard Dale Overmeyer. He has chosen to go by Dale Kerr ever since his step-father got him involved in activities that got him arrested and sent to prison.
Before that, Dale lived a typical life -- if you're on the outside looking in. Otherwise, Dale would be seen as the exceptional youth he is. See, Dale is a sea witch, descended from an ally of the Kerr family, back when the Kerr name was untarnished by their devolution into an overzealous and xenophobic Hunter family. (Reference: bg Zachrael Graham). His mother is a Kerr, who ran away from her father when one of his foster boys left her in the family way. She fled first to the man she would wed and, ultimately, to her mother's family, who were active practitioners of witchcraft. So, Dale was left with a father figure to teach him about the sea and ships and a family of sea witches to teach him about sea magic and the importance of keeping things under wraps.
Dale proved to have raw talent as both a mariner and as a sea witch. When he was old enough, he took to ships like a fly to shit. Before that, he displayed a very strong affinity to the magic of the sea, to the detriment of some other areas. Then his step-father got a little too greedy and vengeful and got Dale tangled up in an embezzlement and eventually larceny scheme. Dale's relatively short time in prison hardly left a mark on the resilient youth, though. He's already abandoned his step-father as dead weight and has struck out to the sea again, to find his currents and ride them.
SIGNATURE ABILITY
One With the Sea
Dale is so attuned with the sea that he can never truly succumb to being lost to the sea. Any such event will see him at minimum wash up on a nearby shore unharmed. No matter how implausible this outcome may seem.
SKILLS
Alchemy - Competent Level
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Brewing potions is one of a witch's signature abilities. By combining various reagents, herbs, and other ingredients according to mystic recipes and using magical practices, witches are able to produce magic in a bottle, salve, or other such preparations. A major strength of potions is allowing a complex effect to be prepared ahead of time, then rendered portable for quick enactment at the time of need. This means that one of the great strengths of a witch is being able to brew up magic in advance, removing any need for casting or incantations when they are put to use.
Athletics - Competent Level
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Dale is an athletically active man, and has led an active life. He is physically quite fit and healthy.
Fisticuffs - Competent Level
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Dale has had to learn how to defend himself from drunks and petty criminals who lack self-restraint. And give them a reason to leave him alone in the future. And sometimes entered an illicit ring fight when strapped for cash. He's become decent at barroom brawls, street fights, and underground matches, despite not really liking to.
Knot Magic - Expert Level
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Dale is far more skilled at this skill, which he calls "widdershins", than he is at alchemy. The mystical art of catching magic in knots is an ancient one and has long been associated with the sea witch. Using knots to metaphorically bind something as the physical binding is set are the most powerful. Weather this is binding someone's pain away or binding an enchantment onto something, these tend to be the easiest spells for him to implement. Spells that are dormant until the knot is untied to release the spell are also common.
Dale's affinity with the sea is strong. He has an almost instinctive ability to perform the duties of a ship's crewman, no matter which duties he must perform. And in his career, he's had a bit of experience to bolster this talent. Pilot and navigate the ship? Check. Maintain and repair the ship? Check.
Occultism - Competent Level
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The occult Craft includes herbalism, spellcraft, research, the preparation and performance of rituals, awareness of the supernatural world, and more. A practicing witch is competent and versed in all these things, understanding the properties of plants and their role in magic, knowing a variety of spells and how to use them, and certainly knows how to seek out information they don't already have. Whether based on their own knowledge or using a grimoire, they are able to recognize, analyze, and counter spells, and even come up with original spells or alter existing ones.
Dale is a natural-born singer, a skill not uncommon in his bloodline.
Dale was practically raised in the sea. He's about as mobile in the water as he is on land. Maybe more so.
ABILITIES
ADVANTAGES
Magic: Portent - Enhanced Level
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Sea witches are often the recipients of bad news, portents that point to tragedies and calamities of the sea. However, these clues can usually be used to prevent or at least help mitigate disaster.
Magic: Port Tongue - Enhanced Level
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Ports often collect people of disparate origins, and thus speakers of diverse languages. Sea witches are often able to understand and speak any language they encounter. Dale is able to utilize this sort of link to the collective unconscious to read, speak, and understand almost any language.
Magic: Sea Affinity - Supreme Level
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As a sea witch, magic associated with water, the sea, the moon, weather, healing, purification, subtle emotions, illusion, concealment, and divination are much easier for Dale to cast and he can cast them at much greater potency.
Magic: Sea Dweller - Enhanced Level
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As a sea witch, Dale has the ability breathe water, withstand the high pressures of the depths, see in complete darkness, and endure the frigid temperatures therein.
Magic: Siren Song - Enhanced Level
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Sea witches are often confused with Sirens or Nixies due the tendency for sea witches to cultivate a talent for song and the enchanting quality that develops. Dale's voice is soothing. And not just aesthetically so. There is an enchanting quality in his voice, such that if focused in a song, Dale can enthrall people and creatures so long as he keeps singing, entrancing them to do nothing but listen to him until his song ends. They then snap out of it, aware they were listening, but assuming they were just lost in the beauty.
Magic: Witchcraft - Enhanced Level
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Born with a talent for magic, a witch can accomplish quite a variety of effects through spellcraft. These range from conjuring, enchantment, transformation, warding, or illusion to the summoning or banishment of spirits or creatures, to a variety of other effects. For thematic, role-play, and plot purposes their abilities are nearly endless so long as they have the right spell available. For practical purposes, their castings all operate at the Enhanced level in most instances. With ritual preparation these may all be expanded, but any exceptional use would have to be approved by staff.
Much like the Power of Three, Calling the Quarters is a way for witches, especially those of elemental affinity, to combine their power. In this case it requires four witches or groups of four witches.
When Calling the Quarters, the witches are arranged in a circle, positioned according to their element; Air in the East, Fire in the South, Water in the West, and Earth in the North. Calling the Quarters has all the benefits and warnings of the Power of Three with the added bonus of balancing the Elements, allowing the witches to ignore their personal elemental deficiencies.
Witches are well known for the "Power of Three." That is, they are especially adept at combining their individual strengths in order to cast much more powerful, impactful magics. Some of the most powerful spells a witch can cast require a circle of others to cast, and a circle is usually formed out of triads of witches, each wielding the Power of Three. Power of Three spells can be done by any three witches, but they have to have the same focus on their goal and ideally be on the same page. Witches who are at odds with each other may even have the spell fail or go wrong. For even greater effect, various groups of three can assemble into larger circles of nine or twelve, and a circle of thirteen is particularly potent.
Dale has proven to be very resilient in the face of adversity. He has a deep tendency to come out of strife with few, if any, long-term woes. And quite often he's actually better off for having been through it.
WEAKNESSES
Dale is a convicted felon who has served his time. He was imprisoned for being an accomplice to felonious larceny. He served two years of his sentence but was released for good behavior. Since then he's found getting work to be difficult. It may also come up in other circumstances, a possible strike on his trustworthiness.
As a sea witch, magic associated with fire, the city, transmutation, war, destruction, banishment, passionate emotions, and the sun are much harder for Dale to cast and he is more likely to not only fail in their casting but also cause mystical mishaps in the process.
Dale connection to the sea is so strong, he'a not particularly fond of the land. He's fine pretty much anywhere on a ship or sea installations (like an oil rig). He's fine at a marina, or on the waterfront or coast. The less he can 'feel' the sea, the more he gets anxious. Can he see the water? Smell the salty air? Hear the waves? Feel the ocean breeze? He's probably fine. The less he can feel these things, the more he's affected by his land anxiety.
As a sea witch, Dale tends to have an unpredictable temperament, chaotic like the sea and the storms that dwell upon it. Usually he is calm, cool, easygoing. But sometimes something pushes a button and it's like a storm has been let loose. How this looks depends on the situation, but it tends to involve a lot of impulsive and sometimes reckless decisions.
Dale's emotional state is also susceptible to the weather and sea around him. If it's calm, he's more likely to remain calm as well. If there's a severe storm and the waves are roiling, he's more prone to emotional outbursts.
The local weather is also susceptible to unconscious manipulation by Dale's emotional state, but only in severe cases. A severe burst of anger may be punctuated by a crack of thunder or even a lightning bolt. If he's tragically depressed, rain is likely. If he's in extreme emotional turmoil, expect it to get very windy. If Dale is particularly content, that also tends to bleed out and keep the waters calm.
