Name:
Gender:
Age:
Species:
Height:
Weight:
Appearance:
Devil Fruit(if any):
Weapons:
Skills:

Background:

Name: Kailani
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Species: Human
Height: 5’4’’
Weight: 123 lbs
Devil Fruit: None



Weapons
Bone-tooth Dagger: This little dagger has a silver of metal running along the edge of bone and dotting the point to give it that extra bite.

Carving Knife: A short blade of metal set into a bleached-bone handle.

Skills

• (Are You Really an) Expert Shipwright: Having been afforded the opportunity to pick apart and examine nearly all but the largest of ships sailing the seas, Kailani not only has years of experience with them, but a seemingly innate understanding. The former has afforded her hands-on know-how, the latter an almost ravenous absorption of knowledge she couldn’t find on the island. Well, except for one thing. Although she tore through whatever teachings she could find off the possessions of dead sailors, Kailani is largely self-taught. As such, when discussing ships she has her own terminology, which often makes it seem as though she has no idea what she’s talking about. Who calls the Fin a ‘rudder’? What a stupid name.
• Constructive Hands: Living on an island that was completely self-sufficient, everyone had to pull their weight - even the daughter of the Chieftain. Kailani is quite adept at either jury-rigging parts or outright crafting them herself, and not just when it comes to ships! She can have an operable shelter up within minutes if the necessary supplies are within reach, and can whittle a replacement part just as quick.
• Iron Can(nibal) Stomach: Although Kailani’s tribe never killed anyone who came to the island, they never had to - Ka Li’Ai never left a survivor. It was often seen as a gift of flesh when a body or entire crew would wash ashore, breaking up the monotony of their island staples. Though respect was paid to the body by always burning the heart, the rest of it was fair game. As Chieftain’s daughter, she’s had her fair share of delicacies. As such not only can she stomach actual odd meals, but Kailani is also quite adept at seeing bodies in a detached way and is never made queasy by death.

Background

The island of Pekelo. Lonesome, except for the closely knit tribe that webbed out over the land. Secluded, except for the crash of broken ships and bodies against the shores. Quiet, except for the rolling thunder that ruled the skies without end.

The crescent island of Pekelo made its home in West Blue, but remained a stranger to its neighbours for generations. Nestled in the eye of the Ka Li’Ai, a storm that raged without end, nothing left the island and nothing arrived - in one piece, anyway. While the island and its inhabitants were self-sufficient, they were also ignorant of the outside, except for the information obtained by those who cared to scrape out of the broken hulls of ships unlucky enough to get too close to the Ka Li’Ai, cracked open on the shores. Of course, most Pekelians were far more interested in the feast of flesh offered to them by the great storm, breaking up the monotony of their staples. It made no difference to them after all, no one survived the storm.

Yet there were always oddities.

Most of those who lived on Pekelo accepted this was their place in life, none could fight against Ka Li’Ai. Kailani, daughter of the village chief, didn’t. From a young age she took delight in exploring the rotting carcasses of the great wooden and metal ships, seeing how everything was put together, and her mind seemed to have an innate understanding in grasping how everything worked. Whenever a new vessel washed ashore, a splintered coffin for the crew contained within, Kailani was always eager to begin stripping the inside of anything useful, dragging her best friend Mella along while the other tribe members were more interested in retrieving any corpses that weren’t too water logged.

At first, it was amusing watching them being so interested. It was always believed that she would grow out of it, like many children curious of the great man-made beasts. Yet as she grew older Kailani’s interest never faltered. Her obsession became manic. Mella had never held the same desire to tinker with the ships, her sharp eyes instead picking up any information about that outside world, and musign adventure must lay out there. In time the two girls began to try to repair the more intact ships. That’s when it was no longer a joke, no longer an adorable little quirk. It didn’t stop them.

The first few attempts to get the ships into working order varied in success. Sometimes her parents found out what she was doing and set the nearly repaired vessel ablaze, sometimes it was trial and error rebuilding it - the very first one Kailani pushed back into the water, she didn’t think to anchor it and the thing drifted right back into the storm. Oops.

It came to a head when finally, finally Kailani had a ship she was willing to brave the storm with. Mella was all too eager to join her, trusting her friend’s ‘expertise’ with the ship and the thought of the unknown thrilling. There were so many ships that had broken upon Ka Li’Ai, but this, this was the one.

It wasn’t.

Flashes of thunder, rocking waves, the crack of wood.

Crimson mixing in the water.

Mella’s screaming, cut off as her head disappeared beneath the waves.

The grain of wood beneath Kailani’s fingers, clutching to this single life line as long as she could.

It all came back in flashes, dreams and nightmares. The last intact memory Kailani had before waking up was Mella grinning to her as they pushed the boat off the shores. Then the roof of her bedroom, the particular stink of the island’s disinfectant, her father’s angry, sad eyes watching her, and her mother’s voice yelling. A pain that burned across her torso.

Kailani bore the mark of her failure, wicked scars that tore across her front from shoulder to hip. The healer had suggested she had hit one of the sharp reefs surrounding the island as she was pulled back to shore. Mella didn’t even have that - Mella didn’t have anything.

Mella was swallowed whole by the storm, and never returned..

As soon as she could move again Kailani returned to her ships - or what was left after her mother set them ablaze in a fury - to try and to figure out how to make them better, stronger. Perhaps it was this unfaltering attitude that made it seem she didn’t care about her best friend’s death, which made Mella’s family incensed. Even the strongest cries for justice went unheard however - the Chieftain’s word was law, and though Kailani suffered punishment for her actions it wasn’t nearly as harsh had her and Mella’s fates been reversed. Unrest grew, which was why the Chieftain suggested the Tournament.

In the past, when a Chieftain’s child couldn’t pick or outright refused a suitable partner, it was decided via a tournament of skill and strength. Simple and to the point: a fight. The only rule was to not cripple or kill the other competitors. Otherwise, it was a free for all of strength, of wits, of cunning.

With her impending bond to another fast approaching, Kailani could only put her nose to the grindstone for one last chance, one last attempt at leaving the island. Repairing another ship didn’t work, and only shards remained of the great beasts, leaving her one option. She would build her own.

She owed it to her friend to see what was out there, after all.

Name: Calico Sushi
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Species: Mink - Red Panda
Height:2'11
Weight: 28 lbs
Appearance:

Devil Fruit(if any): None
Weapons: A real chef doesn't need weapons, but Calico uses spices as his weapons. Particularly hot spices are his specialty.
- Hot Spice Gas: regarded as the hottest spice ever discovered on land or sea, this spice can bring a full grown man to tears. Vomiting can happen in those with a weak stomach. Utilized as a gas using a grenade delivery system.
- Itch Spice: A sprinkling of the Itch spice can make the human body break out into painful hives. Those with this affliction will be left in severe pain as a result, and there is no hope for them. Leave them. They are dead and going to spice hell.
- Ignite Spice: A uniquely volatile spice that reacts incredibly poorly to electrical charges. As a result, an electrical charge can be channeled through the spices and ignited in much the same way one would set a bomb. The difference is this spice is easier to get a hold of than gunpowder on certain islands.

Skills:
- Electro
- Refined Master Chef: As a red panda, Calico is uniquely qualified in such ranges as sense of smell, and other such things. In fact, his palette of taste is well refined and he is a master chef. Helpfully enabled by his omnivore nature, he cooks every single meal on the ship. There is one catch though, he is notoriously picky about what he cooks with. As a result any crew that employs him often finds themselves struggling less with eating regularly, and more with making sure the red panda has all the spices he requires. He does almost all the shopping for food as a result.
- Small Size: Being small has its advantages. Like being able to get into small spots, or even hiding. Lots of hiding. In fact, that brings up the next important trait...
- Speedy Red Panda: A red panda can climb, run, and get anywhere if you're not careful. That is also true of Calico, who usually spends his time darting from hiding place, to hiding place. Most humans cannot match him in speed since he has four legs to help with that little issue.

Background:
Where does one begin when talking about Calico? Well, he's a Mink for starters. Nobody really knows the hows or whys, but the Mink tribe managed to make headway into the East Blue, where they settled on an island split from their old home and culture. This island was called Animal Island, because people have no imagination. Animal Island is a unique land that claims a unique spot in the East Blue as the island that touched heaven. In the very center is a large pillar, but nobody has ever been there, since it was guarded by the fearsome boar tribe. All other tribes and animals learned to live in fear of the boars and their claim to the area around the tower. The tower itself stood as a symbol, endless and vast where no living creature has ever seen the top.

But, from time to time paper falls from the heavens. Nobody knows who drops them, but to the animals they where a sign of a greater power. The boars of course took claim to all the papers, which became holy artifacts among them and revered from a distance by the other inhabitants. But, there was one inquisitive Red Panda without a name who wanted to see the holy relics up close. He was an orphan, with no family to watch over him, and still just a cub. The cub would hide in trees, staring out at the tower in interest, but never approaching. Until one long night, a piece of paper fell from the heights, and before it touched the ground the cub snatched it out of the air.

The sacred text he read changed his life. For on it, was a name in glorious bold text. That name... Calico Sushi. Below was a series of ingredients, and instructions. Now, the panda didn't know how to really read well, but he knew enough from travelers who visited the island that this was important. Instead of surrendering the paper to the boars, instead the newly named Calico took his paper, and gathered the ingredients. Fish, seaweed, rice from a trader. Special herbs where gathered from around the island, and finally... The red panda made sushi. He didn't really understand it, not at first. But when he tasted it, the flavor leapt onto his tongue. He couldn't keep this to himself, and began to visit the other animals of the island, sharing his new discovery of sushi.

The boars naturally caught wind, and demanded to know where Calico learned this new trick. At first, he refused, until they raided his little home in a tree. There, they found his paper, and took it. Without his paper, Calico could no longer remember the recipe, and instead was left to watch from a distance as the boars hid it with all the others. The red panda would never see his recipe again, until he had a brilliant idea. What if all papers that fell from the tower where the same? Other treats he could make? Calico went in the middle of the night, climbing along the outside of the tower and the vines that spread along it like a web. He climbed for what he guessed was days, until another paper fell down to him. Snatching it out of the sky, he continued to climb, until another. His stomach growled, starved of food, and his body ached in pain. But curiosity drove him higher and higher. At night, to ease his hunger he would turn to each new recipe. He would read, and dream of a feast of stunning new foods. Then in the morning he began to climb again. Days turned into weeks, and then, finally his body gave up. He fell from the high tower, only to awaken to the smell of food.

The first thing he discovered, was Calico Sushi. Yummy, delicious sushi that he shoveled into his mouth. Until a hand slapped against him from behind and he spat it out. There, an old man with shaky hands sat next to the red panda, and he gestured to the food. "You are starving, but do not shovel it down like a beast. Taste it slowly. Appreciate the labor and hard work I put into the meals before you." Finally, and only then did Calico see the rest of the spread. Tuna steamed to perfection. Broccoli simmered and dipped in a blend of herbs. Chicken dipped in a honey sauce with onions sprinkled on top. But, Calico ate slowly, making sure to savor every bite. While he ate, the old man talked.

His name was Captain Cook. Long ago, at least a century ago according to him, he came to this island of animals. There he discovered herbs he'd never imagined before in his life. But, he needed a place to live, and the idea struck him to make a tower. A tower to store himself and the culinary meals he would construct. Day by day, he would collect the herbs of the island, and then lay a brick for his tower to store it all. He continued and continued, and until he knew it the tower was well above the clouds. A single window was his connection to the outside world, and the food he had collected for his cooking blocked the exit. He toiled endlessly, making new recipes, and sometimes the breeze would catch a paper and send it fluttering out the window. In time, he believed he'd be alone forever, and would never share his discoveries. Until... He looked out the window, held a hand out to block the sun from his gaze... And he caught a falling creature. Saving Calico's life by mere happenstance, he discovered the panda had been collecting his fallen papers. Amused and curious, he decided to make the cub his apprentice.

Four years passed as Captain Cook taught the panda. Their daily grind became that of food, and talks about their lives. Calico quickly ran out of things to say, but Captain Cook never ceased. For in his youth, he had been a pirate. "I sailed all the seas! North, South, East and West! And do you know what I discovered? Everybody has a traditional recipe. Indeed! My mother and father cooked the greatest gumbo! But in the west I discovered a recipe for shrimp that would blow your socks off! In the South a man introduced me to a method of barbecue that he made me swear to take to my grave." Naturally he told this story while teaching Calico that very recipe. "In fact, one day I'll teach you my ultimate recipe! But... It's not done. You see, there is one place I have never been. The Grand Line. It is said there that all seas will meet, and I will be able to combine all my culinary knowledge into one dish. For now, all my recipes are separate. You can tell the south from the east, can't you?"

Alas, Captain Cook never visited the Grand Line. One day, he became sick, and his hands could no longer hold a knife. Calico knew that the old man would not survive, and one night, he began the difficult task of finding the exist to the tower. Days and weeks, but he never stopped. Till the whole system seemed ready to collapse on top of him. Until finally, the exit was in reach. Taking Captain Cook by the hand, Calico led him out to the world, planning to take a ship to the Grand Line. They met the boars instead.

"How dare you trespass! This sacred tower has been tainted by your touch!" Calico protested, revealing who the old man was. He held up the recipes as proof, but none listened. The boars desired the sacred text for themselves, demanding the cub surrender them and then face execution. Calico refused, and the boars attacked. And old man and a panda cannot defeat boars, and with his body... Captain Cook protected a terrified Calico. His body took each tusk, skewered and ripped apart. But as he covered the panda, he coo'd softly. "There there... Don't cry. Don't cry." Until finally, only the panda remained, staring into those empty eyes for hours until the boars left. Taking the sacred text with them.

Calico carried the body of his mentor back up the tower, and laid him in bed. There, he sat weeping by his side for hours, pleading for the man to return to life. But nothing came of it. Nothing ever comes from tears. Finally, pulling himself away, Calico resigned himself to a life in the tower, never to leave... Until he went to the kitchen. There, sitting on a piece of paper was a final note from Captain Cook.

'Dear Calico. Thank you. Thank you for giving me the chance to leave this island and fulfill my wish. I don't know if I will ever succeed, or if the Grand Line really holds the secret. But, you have given me the chance to give it a go. I leave with you, all the food you will ever need, and all the recipes I have created in my life time. You have a future on this island, but off it? I don't know. You could be happy here forever. Or, outside, you could be the greatest chef to ever live. You are my finest recipe. Honed from years of small kindnesses, and my many hopes and dreams. You can simmer forever, but one day you will boil over the small confines of this island. This island is too small for someone like you. I leave you with a little food for thought, with my final recipe on this island."

That was the tastiest broth in Calico's life. That soup he made that night gave him hope, and cooled his heart. As he stirred fruits and vegetables into that broth, he had an idea. A slow burning idea that gave him a taste of something new. Freedom. The next day, Calico made the plan to take back the stolen recipes, and then flee on a trip to the Grand Line to achieve Captain Cook's dream. The boars where the only thing to stand in his way. Using his knowledge of spices, he mixed up the finest of ingredients. Making bombs, he blew the boars away, leaving the boars terrified and split up. The island no longer feared them, and Calico... He had a new dream. Taking his recipes, Calico took the very next trading ship, and was gone. He just managed to somehow end up in the West Blue along the way.

Name: Mushuro Takeuchi

Gender: Male

Age: 17

Species: Human

Height: 5'7

Weight: 135

Appearance: Mushuro's appearance is deliberately odd and designed to stand out as a rebellion against his being trained and raised to be an inconspicuous assassin. To that end, he's decided to wear a massive panda hoodie and matching panda leggings complete with paws along with a bright white jacket and white gloves. He still wears a traditional ninja mask over the lower part of his face, but in order to eliminate all possibility of stealth he wears a bell attached to a collar around his neck so it rings when he moves. What can be seen of his actual appearance are his dark brown eyes, olive skin and black hair that's usually mussy from wearing his panda hoodie.

Devil Fruit(if any): None

Weapons: Two black bladed ninjato with white-wrapped handles that he uses either together or individually.

Skills: Mushuro has been trained by his family of ninjas non-stop starting from when he was around five years old. He discovered a passion for swordplay and the physical training aspect of the ninja arts, though he did his best to neglect his stealth training and assassination techniques. He still has some ability with sneaking, but prefers to ignore it in honor of a fair and honorable fight, honing his body and skill with a sword to absurd extremes as much as he can, though he did learn some skill at unarmed combat as well. Thanks to his family forcing him into more and more extreme 'Punishment Games' he also has superhuman durability and pain tolerance and an immunity to most if not all poisons.

Due to his relatively isolated life he lacks most non-fighting life skills. In spite of that, he's actually insightful in terms of raw intelligence and the ability to make decent inferences out of things he learns and has fairly decent knowledge of the world and its customs and the ability to adapt on the fly to new environments, a key skill for any assassin.

Mushuro also has one unusual quirk to his biology. If he eats more than a small amount of meat at a time, he flies into a berserker rage. In this state his strength and speed increase far past their already superhuman levels but he attacks in a blind rage unable to tell friend from foe. Once this boost of energy and power wears off however, Mushuro becomes incredibly tired and lethargic. This 'allergy' of sorts usually means he refrains from eating meat, though fish is oddly fine.

Background:
Mushuro was raised and trained on his family's small, isolated compound on Fuuma Island as the youngest member of the little known but highly skilled and respected Takeuchi clan of ninja. From the time he first began his training, Mushuro was obsessed with the art of the sword and wanted to prove his skill through honorable duels. His family considered such an attitude to be aberrant and shameful for a ninja and worked to figuratively and literally beat him out of it with increasingly sadistic 'punishment games'. He was able to endure all of the tortures his family invented for him, but never gave up on his dreams.

Everything changed for him one day when he was chained to the rocks sticking up near the shore of Fuuma Island. A crew of pirates saw him chained there with the rising waves crashing into him higher and higher, and broke his chains to set him free. They inspired him with tales of freedom and the life of adventure and honest battle that pirates were obligated to live. He was immediately filled with adoration for the pirate way of life and easily convinced to join their crew and sail away from Fuuma Island and his family with not a single word to them.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before he found out their real purpose for sailing so close to Fuuma Island and then 'rescuing' him. The crew were actually slavers operating as part of the nefarious Blackswell Pirates. They had heard of the skilled ninjas of Fuuma Island and were looking to hire them in order to help enslave innocents. Getting a ninja for free was just a happy coincidence to them, one they intended to put to good use. However, once Mushuro found out their true intentions and the sort of work they intended to have him do, he was outraged. He beat up the whole crew and threw all of them overboard, damaging a good portion of the ship itself in his anger. Unfortunately he didn't know how to sail the ship without others onboard to do it for him, and was left drifting on a damaged ghost ship hoping the wind and tides would get him to land safely.

Name: Deckard Jackson

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Species: Human

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 190 lbs

Appearance:


Devil Fruit(if any): None

Weapons:
-Twin pistols: Deckard has a pair of customized six-shooters, built by himself with the help of his mentor. They are designed to be faster, more accurate, and have a longer range than the standard flintlock pistol one is likely to find with most pirates. They use Deckard's custom ammunition a cartridge style shot containing everything needed to fire without loading the barrel with black powder, wadding, shot, etc.
-The Messenger: Deckard's newest invention, still in a state of flux. A long ranged rifle with a magnifying lens, designed to shoot over distances unheard of for a flintlock rifle. It carries only a single shot, but has immense power behind it, and can be reloaded quickly due to the same cartridge style shots the pistols use. (Though these cartridges are of a higher caliber.)

Skills:
-Negotiation: Deckard is well versed in the schools of charm and charisma, having been taught from a young age that honey catches more flies than oil. Though he prefers to be transparent and not waste time, he does see the benefit of the occasional honeyed word to grease the wheels.
-Smithing: Due to his apprenticeship at the cities best blacksmith, Deckard has a basic understanding of forges and the tools used within
-Tinkering: Thanks to his fascination with moving parts and cause-and-effect, Deckard has taught himself how to tinker with gears and smaller tools.
-Photographic mind: Due to years of tinkering and taking things apart, Deckard has trained himself to memorize any device he is able to take apart. One he has his hands on a device, he is able to deconstruct it and rebuild it to the exact specifications as before, as well as improve on inferior designs if any exist.
-Shooting: Deckard has trained with firearms for years, and has begun using his own inventions on the ranges with great success.

Background: Hailing from the elite Jackson family of Westpike Island, Deckard grew up in what many would consider the lap of luxury. The only son to the island's Guildmaster, Elder Jackson, Deckard was expected from a young age to take over his fathers work in running the day-to-day business of the city. Through an endless monotony of classes and lectures, Deckard took solace in the few free moments he had a child, indulging in stories of adventurers and swashbuckling heroes. He took a particular liking to those heroes who carried guns and commanded battles from range, and by the time he was old enough to begin training in self-defense, he had decided to train as a Gunslinger. For a time, the routine worked well for the boy. Classes and study, lectures and lessons from his father, and training with experienced fighters and soldiers. Deckard taught himself how to take apart and rebuild each gun that was brought to him, well enough that he could do it in his sleep.

Once he was old enough, Deckard's father brought him to be apprenticed in the city, to learn a trade and learn firsthand how a business is run. Due to his interest in tinkering, the Elder Jackson apprenticed his son to Aiden, the cities Master Blacksmith. The pair hit it off immediately, with Deckard eager to learn how the forge worked and the process of creating tools and materials. Aiden and Deckard found even more of a like soul in each other when they discovered their shared interests in guns, with Aiden showing the young Jackson his own designs and ideas for improvements on the flintlock design. Over the next several years, Deckard spent more and more time at Aiden's forge as the pair worked on honing and refining the designs into something workable. Guildmaster Jackson however, was less than pleased with this development, as he felt his son was straying too far from the concept of learning how to govern the city, and finding himself entrenched in minutia. Ignoring his fathers demands, Deckard pressed on, eventually creating the first prototype of his pistols.

Then, tragedy struck. Aiden's forge was burned to the ground one night, leaving nothing behind but a smoking crater and evidence of several explosions and fast-burning fires. What few witnesses there were claimed they had seen Aiden experimenting with the black powder he kept around, and that the man must have left it too close to the forge. This explanation didn't sit right with Deckard, however. He had known Aiden for years, worked closely with the man. Though he did keep black power in the shop, Aiden knew not to let it near the forge itself. The both of them had witnessed firsthand how volatile the powder was. Deckard believed that there was no way Aiden could have been so stupid as to simply leave black powder where it could ignite. There was something deeper at play here. That thought began to consume Deckard, drive him even further into his work. Someone was trying to stop the work he and Aiden were doing, and that meant Deckard had to finish it, no matter how loudly his father yelled at him to let it go. Eventually however, the tensions came to a head, and Guildmaster Jackson told his son that he could have either his birthright, or his work.

Deckard packed up and left that night. He had saved enough from his time with Aiden to rent out a small room in a busy part of town, and there we could continue to tinker in peace, constantly improving and perfecting his designs, and piecing together a theory of who might have killed his friend...