H A R L I A N N E H O O K
"You didn't expect a girl like meself could do such things, now did you? You can whine about it to Davy Jones like the rest, mate."
• N A M E
Captain Harlianne Jamie Hook
• S T O R Y
Peter Pan
• B I R T H P L A C E
The Seven Seas
• M A G I C
Harlianne is cursed, but possesses no magic of her own. The curse causes crocodiles nearby to become obsessed with the idea of eating her. Fun.
• A G E
Twenty Six Years
• R O M A N T I C I N T E R E S T S
Harlianne doesn't have any romantic interests. She doesn't see a reason to hunt for that booty when there's a far more profitable booty, often involving gold and adventure, to be found.
• A T T I R E
With a shock of ginger hair, Harlianne stands out in a crowd. She's shorter than most pirates, likely due to her imp heritage. Her pale face, by some miracle, is only nearly always sunburnt. Of course, she manages to cover it up with the same old hat she's been wearing since she was a little girl, a gift given to her by her adoptive father and former Captain. As often as she can, she wears the beaten brown coat pictured in the photo, partnered with various weapons. On Earth, it seems to attract a bit of attention, so she swaps in her coat and traditional pirate gear for a billowing white shirt, capris, and firm shoes. The hat, of course, is mandatory. And let's not forget the hook instead of a left hand. It's rather charming, really.
I N A L A N D F A R F A R A W A Y . . .
• H E R O ' S N A T U R E
Harlianne was raised to be a pirate, and so, she acts like a pirate. She looks out for her own self interest, twisting words and manipulating individuals if needed to get what she desires. The difference between good and evil doesn't bother her, as she follows her own moral compass in order to determine right from wrong. However, Harlianne doesn't wish ill on the world. She isn't out for the pain of others. She's merely doing whatever it takes to survive, using her resourcefulness to solve any problem that comes across her. At the end of the day, she'll make the choice that keeps her alive--but she won't needlessly maim or injure.
Of course, she's also got healthy curiosity and a sense of adventure! She constantly yearns for excitement and brand new sights, never content with just staying still. The sea calls to her, with the new wonders it brings each day, allowing her to move and to be free. Harlianne is a restless soul to the bitter end.
• R E N O W N S K I L L S
Harlianne's special talent is, without a doubt, survival. She has a natural inclination towards it, lending itself to her childhood aboard a pirate ship. Skilled with a cutlass and a pistol, Harlianne knows everything there is to know about smuggling and pillaging, having been taught how to do so since a young age. Of course, bluffing is one of her skills as well, as well as a tiny bit of sleight of hand.
• F A T A L F L A W
, Harlianne's weakness is her loyalty to her crew. She'd do anything for them. While she may be selfish, she won't do anything to jeopardize those underneath her command. It's part of her code, the Pirate's Code, that has been drilled into her since the very beginning. And lastly, it is indeed sometimes true that curiosity killed the cat. Harlianne continues to repeat that lesson time and time again, resulting in the loss of her hand and a curse by a rather irritated witch she robbed.
• O N C E U P O N A T I M E
To understand the story of Harlianne Hook, it is necessary to see how she came to be...The daughter of the sailors in the Royal Navy, Harlianne was orphaned. Her parents were sailing the Seven Seas on a long journey, giving birth to her along the way. They named her Harlianne James, after her mother's sister Harley and her father's sister Anne. When Harlianne was only three years old, catastrophe struck the ship. Boarded by pirates, her parents drew their last breaths in the ensuing conflict. The only child on board, Harlianne hid herself away inside of a barrel. The pirates looted all of the promising cargo, the barrel included, and abandoned the ship.
It was later, when they noticed someone had been stealing rations, that the pirates realized they had a stowaway. It was Harlianne, the daughter of Captain James and his wife. Rather than being cruel to her, the crew took a liking to the small child, seeing a pirate in the making. Too small to do more than grasp a hook, they endearingly nicknamed the child Harlianne Hook. The Captain of the ship adopted her, raising her to become a pirate.
She got her sea legs before she even walked on land, traveling the seven seas and seeing all of the wonderful sights and sounds. Her father and his crew taught her everything they knew, from fighting to aiming a pistol to steering a ship. They taught her how to determine a mark, how to navigate the seas, and how to use instruments such as a sexant. The sea and the Jolly Roger were her life, everything that she ever cared about. For the most part, Harlianne lived like a pirate, able to do whatever she wanted.
By the time Harlianne was thirteen years old, the young girl -- known as James Hook to those who would inquire, as sexism was still rampant in the Seven Seas -- had established a reputation for herself. Partially in order to keep this running joke going and to honor her birth parents, Harlianne shifted the surname James into her middle name, becoming Harlianne Jamie Hook. The running gag gave the crew of the Jolly Roger a fair deal of amusement. She went with the rest of the crew on their various jobs, helping to do whatever it was they were up to at the moment.
It was when Harlianne turned seventeen that her adoptive father was caught by the Royal Navy, after attempting to pull of a heist. He hanged in England, leaving the Jolly Roger to Harlianne. Taking control, she became known as Captain Hook. She ventured across the Seven Seas, doing her very best, and pulling off a number of heists. One of these, however, was rather unfortunate for the girl.
She had been stealing a bag of pixie dust from a witch, hoping to sell it for a pretty price at the nearest market. Rather than getting away scot free, the witch caught her. Amused by her name, the witch cut off Harlianne's left hand, replacing it with a hook. And in a sickening ritual, the witch cursed her. Whenever crocodiles were nearby her, they would pursue her relentlessly for the rest of her life.
It's hard not to develop a large fear of crocodiles like that.
However, that didn't stop Harlianne. She continued her voyages and her travels, getting rather good at spotting crocs and shooting them with her pistol. From time to time, she'd find herself in Neverland, plagued by a pesky brat named Peter Pan. Harlianne wasn't a villain, to be clear -- he merely just would get in her way, interrupting her pirate lifestyle.
Of course, among her travels on the Seven Seas, Harlianne inadvertently rescued a group of hostages. They had been attempting to flee Bellegarde and were taken prisoner. Harlianne just happened to be looting the boat they were on, allowing the hostages to go free. They wrote a song about her, about her heroics and kind attitude.
It still puzzles her.
• A N E W C H A P T E R
For some odd reason, Harlianne was among those privileged few who were able to travel to Earth. She suspects that the irritating chanty about her heroics has something to do with it. Fortunately, though, Mystvale does have some waters nearby, and Harlianne tends to head over them to sail as much as she can. Lake Washington is her favorite, of course.
However, she's also a bit self conscious, surrounded by knights and queens and, well, heroes. She doesn't see herself as being one of them, causing a bit of isolation. That and they seem to be rather irritated if she ever steals their property. The legends of the world were rather amusing as well, seemingly picking up on the long running gag that she was a man, and not, in fact a woman.
Oh well. At least she was free--free to find a way back to the Jolly Roger and to the Seven Seas, a place she truly called home.