Name: Rory Maddox
Age: 24
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 165lbs
Occupation: Navigator

Tanned skin, sun-bleached hair, lean muscle, a tattoo and a scar or two - Rory's practically a picture of your stereotypical sailor, and blends in well enough in most ports. Perhaps the outstanding part would be the obvious pride he takes in his appearance - he keeps his face clean and the scant hair on his face neatly groomed; his boots are polished and his clothes carefully fixed of any holes. And particular care is taken with his coat - his protection against the wind and rain. It has no particularly special properties, but it is precious to him nonetheless.

Rory has always been the quiet sort. Not that he's afraid to speak, no, but he has learned the value in holding one's tongue and choosing instead to listen. He greatly prefers to focus on his work, be it assisting in the day-to-day maintenance of a ship, navigation, or working in his journal. These things are simple, they are routine, and they ground him, bring him peace. They quell the storm inside. The one he isn't at peace with yet.

Rory's relationship with magic is... complicated. But it isn't as simple as denouncing it - it is a part of him, of who he is, and he denied that for too long. Half of this struggle comes with admitting it - the other half of it comes with recognising that other witches, witches who practice blood magic and necromancy and other taboos - are not quite so awful as he has always believed. But now he'll be working closely with witches of all stripes - and he may not always have a choice about who.

Rory was born in Ireland, but if you were to ask him to remember it, he would tell you he does not. Mainly due to the fact that, following his birth, Ireland erupted into its most destructive war known to history. On one side, the Irish Confederacy, attempting to win back power for its people; on the other, first the Kingdom of Ireland under the rule of King Charles of England, and then later, in a brutal campaign, Oliver Cromwell himself. The Confederacy failed, and Ireland was absorbed into the Commonwealth.

Rory's father, one of the few Irish landowners at the time, was staunchly determined to maintain his neutrality all throughout - believing that the rebels would fail, and that there was no point in fighting lost battles. His mother, however, did the best to support them in secret - first in minor ways, and later on, using magic - her trips disguised as taking Rory to visit her sisters and cousins. She also used these trips to teach him basic spells - passing on as much of her knowledge as she could onto a young child. The ruse didn't last.

Having discovered his wife's rebel allegiance, and with the war turning for the worse, Rory's father cast her out, before fleeing to England with his son. If Rory's mother survived the war, she never sought them out. Rory himself was subjected to harsh treatment for going along with the scheme - despite having been a child and not knowing better - so he suppressed the knowledge and the memories, and left his childhood behind.

Being an Irish expatriate in England wasn't an easy life, either - despite trying his hardest to blend in, to assimilate, Rory was always an outcast, even after his father remarried. Never quite fitting in with other children, and distrusted by adults, no matter their views on the war. Any perceived misbehaviours were punished more harshly, and so he was always trying so much harder to fade away, to be the model child, teenager, more. So when his father secured him a commission as a midshipman aboard a Navy ship, he took the chance and gladly.

And, well, now he can admit his mistake. Life in the Royal Navy was awful - and he wasn't even one of the Able Hands. He hadn't escaped harsh punishments, and the conditions were much worse. Granted, he was taught his letters, and navigation and tactics, all things he wouldn't learn otherwise. He was able to be Midshipman Maddox, Irish heritage and all. And he finally - finally - made a friend. Maybe that's what made it worth it.

Maybe Sebastian made it all worth it.

Sebastian was Rory's first, actual first friend.

• Due to a run in with pirates/a storm/another navy, Rory was forced to (didn't know how else to) save his life with magic.
• His friend turned on him, so he had to flee and is now both a deserter and a witch. And only a few will so willingly take on either.
• Brings him to now?

As a somewhat experienced sailor from the Navy, Rory won't have to work to find his sea legs - he's an old hand at tying a knot, can climb rigging with the best of them, and is more than

He has also been taught his letters, to read and write them, and practices them by writing in his journal - though

- He can use a pistol or rifle with some degree of accuracy, but due to his particular brand of magic, he cannot carry them if he intends to cast any spells.
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Magic Type: Tempestarius (storm magic)

Basic Effects: Command over wind, rain, thunder, lightning. Keep away from gunpowder (sparks) - alternatively, direct him towards it. Casting it is almost like dancing?

- Can conjure enough wind to fill a sail (extra speed on the ship)? Small rain clouds for fresh water? Or would these be an Advanced spell?

Advanced Spells:

Stormcaller - does as intended. Calls a storm, with all the wind and thunder and danger to ships that it entails. Requires a lot of focus.
Wind Step effectively a 'double jump' because why not.
Witchbolt - lightning attack?

Fine Coat
Cutlass
Compass?
A journal, filled with sketches and with old entries from his old life.