Name: Gerolf Flannel
Epithet and other Names or Aliases: None
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Crew Position: Cook

Appearance: Average in height, but a bit broad, Gerolf works to be quite fit for his age. His medium length platinum blonde hair is pulled back, hanging behind his shoulders down to the edge of his neck, two locks braided. His eyes are eternally covered by a pair of sunglasses, be it rain or darkness, the exact color remaining a mystery to everyone. He keeps himself well shaven to appear a bit younger, but he has a few wrinkles here or there. There’s also a scar on his forehead. He wears a blue coat with a pointed collar over a black shirt, with black gloves and brown pants. Around his belt loop is his kitchen knife, which he never uses in a fight. In the kitchen, he ditches his coat and gloves for an apron. He has a few burn scars on his hands.

Personality: With a heart full of adventure lust, Gerolf acts much younger than he looks. He tries to find enjoyment in the little things, typically smiling jovially. He’ll try anything once. He is a bit hasty, as if life were on a timer. Well, it is, as is everyone’s, but he seems to take it a bit seriously. He can come off as a tough guy, but he has fears like anyone: heights, spiders, snakes, bees, windmills... Despite his occasionally cowardice and recklessness, he has an eye for fine food and drink, along with the ingredients for them. He can also appreciate good craftsmanship in anything. He tends to be touchy, using all of his senses, though he has the decency to be a bit less so regarding people, as touching or sniffing them tends to be rude.

Backstory: Hailing from a chilly island near the South Pole called Cartawa, Gerolf lived a quiet life. He always helped around the house, his father being a glassblower and his mother working at a restaurant. He found a particular love of cooking, and upon mastering the basics, began to challenge what he’d learned, trying new things. Many times, he’d failed: the basics were the basics for a reason. But he never gave up, eventually mastering his unusual cooking style. However, a few failures her or there made him desire to broaden his horizons, and he began studying chemistry. There, he found another world of mixtures and combinations, for the purpose of practicality rather than taste.

As he grew, he learned from his father’s trade as well, though he had another apprentice. The ability to blow his own glass allowed him to make lengths in his chemistry, as glass was perfect: resistant to most liquids and impermeable, if brittle. But the ability to make his own apparatuses allowed him to do more. He spent years developing his cooking and chemistry, being careful not to mix the two (he had to buy a new stove once. He doesn’t like to talk about why). He got married to a local village girl named Jaqueline, found his own place, and lived peacefully. His friends moved on, going on adventures or joining the Marines, leaving Cartawa behind. Things were quiet: he lived day to day, making a living off his potions, glass, or food. His wife tended the house, unable to bear children, as they discovered. After that period of depression, they simply decided to live and be happy.

But tragedy doesn’t need out outside hand. Jaqueline Flannel passed away, suddenly but surely. Gerolf thought it was just a normal, typical cold, but awoke to find her no longer breathing. After the funeral, he remembered that life was short. He thought about his own: he was content, living well. But what of it? What was he? He was a bit notable among the populace for his eccentricity, sure, but was that all he was going to be for the rest of his life? An oddity to be remembered fondly after death? Men much younger than him had made endless waves in the rest of the world, and he was just going to die, be remembered for a few years, than be nothing but a name on a tombstone next to his wife. He couldn’t bear that thought, the cold truth, his fragile humanity. Even if he lived to a ripe old age, he was already roughly at the middle point in his life span. To him, whose worst injury had been a few burns, it was like having one of his feet in the grave already.

Taking his things in a bag, he took his leave of Cartawa. With the death of Roger, his course was plotted for him: he’d become a pirate! At the next island, he bought a parrot, a bicorn, and a hook for his hand. The parrot flew away, the hook fell into the ocean, and he lost the bicorn, but it didn’t hinder him. It was probably for the best anyway. He figured that he’d hire his services out to a pirate crew instead: being a captain was not his style. On the sea, the services of a cook were highly desired, especially a good one. Gerolf found a bit of trouble at first, until he learned that it was best to neither show nor tell when it came to his dishes. He moved from crew to crew, getting in some scrapes, adapting his chemistry to combat. Eventually, he made his way to the Grand Line, where countless adventures awaited him. As he traveled, he realized he wanted to go to every island: each one was so unique and interesting! He was also able to expand his knowledge with the plants of the Grand Line, making more daring cooking and more potent potions.

However, more recently, he ran into a scrape of trouble on Meldion Island, in the Capital city of Malodi. After having had a falling out with his old crew (and making a note to ask his later crews if they had allergies tor aversions too Ripjaw Boar blood). To find a new one, he set up a stall and started cooking, earning customers, chatting it up with any pirates that happened by. Unfortunately for him the Emperor himself happened to be strolling by in his entourage, caught whiff of something good, and ordered something to go. As it turned out, the ones who examined the paranoid man’s food believed Sea King liver extract to be poisonous, and Gerolf was ordered to be imprisoned for attempting to assassinate the ruler of Meldion. He tried to escape, but failed, and incurred more charges for attempting escape, property damage, and interrupting traffic. However, he is not the only prisoner of Capital Malodi...

Ambition: Gerolf wishes to discover and brew the Elixir of Life, transcending mortality. He only wishes to die after he has seen all that life has to offer him, which would take much more than one lifetime. He’s heard rumors in his travels on the Grand Line, but rumors are only rumors.

Fighting Style: Gerolf is a chemist, able to brew a number of dangerous concoctions with the right herbs and apparatuses. His most method of fighting is throwing a number of glass bottles, each one containing one of his concoctions. He’s not particularly strong, but he can throw a sturdy punch, so he’s not completely useless without his potions, just mostly useless.

Notable Equipment: Gerolf keeps his potion making gear in his case, his kitchen knife in a sheath on his belt, and his battle ready potions in loops in his coat, to take when required. He has a number of different types.

Burst Potion – His standard potion. When this liquid encounters air, it combusts and expands rapidly, exploding. He achieves this by throwing the bottle, letting it shatter. The glass shards pushed by the force of the exploding potion can also be dangerous.

Stick Potion – This liquid, when dry, acts like an adhesive. It dries fairly quickly, usually a few seconds. It is pretty strong, taking a few seconds to break free depending on circumstance.

Slick Potion – The opposite of the Stick Potion, the liquid spreads around a surface, making it quite hard to find traction. It has an interesting reaction with the Stick Potion: they effectively nullify each other. If, say, Gerolf mistakenly got himself stuck in his Stick Potion, he could free himself with a Slick Potion if he could reach one.

Incendiary Potion – A mixture of oil and Burst Potion, when the glass of this one breaks, the Burst Potion lights the oil on fire, spreading it. It can be quite dangerous to both foe and user. It usually burns itself out unless it catches onto more fuel.

Smokescreen Potion – When this potion is burst, the liquids react with air, expanding into a cloud of smoke. Good for getaways, but not so much in windy situations.

Rebound Potion – One of Gerolf’s arsenal only brewable with Grand Line plants. After spreading some on a surface, it rejects foreign matter, almost bouncing it away. It reacts by force: running into it means bouncing away, but touching it lightly wouldn’t cause any problems. It does have its problems: it’s a bit unpredictable, the bounces and ricochets being impossible to judge, and there is a point where it begins to break down based on how much force it’s taken and how long it’s been in contact with air. It has several uses: gerolf can use it for mobility, covering a surface and jumping to higher places, or keeping himself from splattering after a fall. He can also use it to trip up pursuers or foes: suddenly being tossed into the air is quite disorienting. If he’s feeling particularly daring, he can coat himself in it, but turning oneself into a pinball is usually something one would regret later...

Cryo Potion – Another Grand Line result, this potion, upon contact with air, cools rapidly. It can be similar to the Stick Potion in usage, but it has the added effect of its cold, which cause more trouble for living things, and can make other object more brittle. Either way, it tends to melt depending on weather.

Beyond those, there is a whole subset of chemistry involving potions that affect the user, but Gerolf doesn’t dabble in them, as using both styles might result in catastrophic accidents, such as throwing a useless Strength Enhancement Potion, or drinking a deadly Incendiary Potion.

Devil Fruit: None.

Skills: Gerolf is a good cook, though his food might be unusual, as he occasionally slips in a weird ingredient, trying to experiment. He is also good at brewing potions, and might be able to make medicine with a doctor overseeing him. With the proper equipment, he can also blow glass, making his own bottles in specific shapes if desired, along with other things if he has the reason.