Name: Joseph 'Joey' Mercer
Race: Human
Age: Twenty-Seven.
Gender: Male.
Appearance: Joseph has a face of triangular structure, with softer features and a fair complexion. His hair is likely his most defining feature, golden in color and bizarrely well-kept for a sailor. While still tousled in places, his hair sits well in a middle-split. At the back of his hair and scarcely dotted around longer parts, it's easy to notice a few beads tied into improvised braids in his hair. Lastly His eyes are an unremarkable, dark blue.
At 5 feet, ten inches in height, Joseph isn't really of a remarkable height, and at 160 pounds, he isn't particularly heavy, either. Naturally slender, though bearing some build from his short life as a sailor, Joseph has the build of a gymnast or an athlete. He's not suited for much heavy lifting, but is an adept climber and runner. He bears no scars or tattoos, proof of a short sailing career. (
Cutsey chibi Joey art)
Clothing/Armor: Tawdry and perhaps a little showey, Joey either enjoys loose clothing, or is as brazen as he comes off. He sports a white, ruffled shirt with a neck that starts just below his chest, over which he dons a blue, low-fastened vest. He bears a flashy, but undoubtedly cheap necklace, and decorates his fingers equally well, with two rings for each hand. These are less often seen, however, as he usually wears a pair of fingerless leather gloves. Brown, cuffed boots cover his feet and a pair of unremarkable tan breeches cover his legs entirely. Around his waist he secures a sash with a buckled, offset leather belt and sheath.
Weapons: Joseph only carries a single weapon. A plain, light sabre sword. The blade is a dull steel though has a decent enough edge. It's a notably light weapon, with a long, thin, curved blade. It looks like it could cut well, but the dings and dents along the blade imply it's seen more use defensively. Joseph always wears this in the sheath at his hip.
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral.
Skills/Abilities:
Fleeting Swordsman: Though "Swordsman" is a generous way to put it. Joseph carries the blade but only has a handful of fights worth of experience. He tends to focus on defense, ever-concerned with his own safety.
Charisma: Joseph generally knows his way around people. He knows when to sweet-talk and he knows when to tell a good lie. Be it for his survival or simply to swindle a free drink or a handful of coin.
Deft Hands: Less a thief and more a conman or a swindler, Joseph is generally good with his hands. He can pick basic locks with the tools he keeps on hand in his vest, and can usually improvise slight-of-hands.
Magic: N/A
Backstory: Born far from the Isle to Harlous and Malle Mercer, Joseph always proved to be a foul and disobedient child from a young age. What was thought to just be a poor phase soon turned into a years-long struggled. Even as his brother, Alex, was born when Joseph was six, Joseph remained insubordinate and bratty. It was a normal enough childhood for two boys born to a lesser family, but Joseph's frequent bouts of disobedience lead to frequent disciplinings. This only spurred on his embitterment for his parents as he grew into a teenager.
As Joseph grew more and more able to venture out on his own, he spent less time by the day at home. The boy sought out company and cheap thrills at any street corner or dock. As years passed, time away from home grew, and Joseph began to experiment with ways to mooch what coin he could. More coin meant he could stay out longer. That first time he begged a meal off a tavern-going woman wasn't something he'd care to tell stories of, but it was the first budding attempt of what would be a lifelong chain of swindles. It was a thrill, and it payed. The boy was hooked.
As adulthood threatened to near at around age seventeen, Joseph's mind began to wander for lands unknown. The excitement from his home had long since ebbed. But to walk to the next town over on swindled coin? The man knew better. Necessity brought about a thought on an otherwise regular passing of the docks. Sailing, he thought. Pay for work, and an opportunity to travel as far as the seas went. The man always lusted for more. Gold, people, places. Soon, every ship that sailed into port found Joseph there to greet and nag for a position.
First attempts were, as always, not terribly successful. The man was barely eighteen. He lacked much build, a weapon, and a large among of sailing knowledge. It was only when that It was only when that fateful schooner docked into port that Joseph got his "Lucky" opportunity. Ratty and manned with only a skeleton crew, the ship's captain was notably desperate. Desperate enough to recruit Joseph, much to a soured feeling of accomplishment for the boy.
Years passed, at twenty, after a painfully long and turmoil-ridden shift on the unnamed, half-rotten schooner, an opportunity was presented. After a dealing with a second privateer ship, Joseph, along with the rest of the crew, were offered a place on the second ship. Larger and finer, though still barely manned, Joseph and a few others heartily agreed. It didn't occur to the man why such a ship was so poorly manned. Though it did not take long for that to become clear.
The first battle was hard, the second harder. Joseph hadn't seen a ship take cannon fire before. The ship before would surely sink from a single hit. But this ship? This ship was something hardier. War-bred, but with a crew that betrayed that image entirely. The Dread Corsair, she was called, and her crew was one of thugs and cutthroats. Coin kept Joseph's unease with the position silent for years to come.
At twenty-two, and after a particularly harsh defeat, the Dread Corsair only barely limped into bay at Waeldeshore. When a ship repairman was hired, the crew was ordered to scatter to the town to wait out the repairs. It was only after the first night in a tavern that Joseph met Piper Pim , the daughter to the hired boat builder. Their meeting was, like all of Joseph's, initially a little overwhelming. Though after his usual bout of flattery, the two began to connect more personally. A friendly chat turned into an enthused exchange, which turned into a jovial drunken bout at the Ugly Mug. Drunken escapades turned out to be the downfall of his career. Night after night they continued, even as words of an escalating war reached the pair's ears. The two were too young to worry about that, even as the reports grew worse. It was after a particularly hard night that Joseph rose from a drink-induced sleep and headed for the docks as he always did... Or always tried to. It had been a few days. The man only discovered an empty dock, and with a panicked flurry of questions to the nearest dock worker, found that the ship and its crew had fled the war-torn land. Luck, it seemed, had cursed him.
The next five years of Joseph's life were taken to with some difficulty. Gone was his sailing career, the man was reduced to tricks and odd jobs once more, and as the Silver Lilly Isle grew more and more war-torn, the chance of leaving grew slim. Thankfully, the man had a companion for most of his hardship. Piper, as it turned out, had a set of equally sticky fingers, and the two flourished as much as on-and-off thieves could over the years. Joseph even had enough to rent a room at the tavern for most nights.
Now, Joseph is twenty-seven. Waeldeshore proved an odd town to adapt to, but through old tricks and the help from a now close friend, the man carved out something of a living in the place. He had no home of his own, sure, but he had his life and his freedom still. At least, that's what he used to reassure himself.