This rp is based off of Moby Dick and the sinking of the whaling ship Essex with a fantasy twist.
A world much like our own during the 1800s, same nations, same human race, same landmasses, same great need for whale oil. However this world is different, merfolk are real though they are uncommon and monsters lurk in the deep.
The rp will focus on the Yankee Whaler Jerobaom and the lives of her crew. You can join as any member of the crew (harpooner, a mate, carpenter, standard crewman, ecta) save the Captain, he’s an NPC played by me, your friendly neighborhood Irish Wolf.
The Fantasy twist
Merfolk: a race of humanoid beings with human intelligence. They look human for the most part with a strange blue/green tint to their skin and flaps of skin between all their digits. These people living in small, city-state like societies, around an island if they can help it, mostly in the southern seas and oceans. With a second eyelid, they can see underwater, much like crocodiles. No hair grows on their bodies, other then on top of their heads and eyebrows. Merfolk can hold their breath for twenty minutes and come up to breath like whales and dolphins. If they need to swim fast, they lock their legs together and their arms to their sides and swim like dolphins do. Merfolk can spend about half a day out of the water before they start getting sick, afterwards they must spend about a day in or around the water. They can have sexual intercourse with a human but a Merfolk that can create a child with a human partner is very (and I mean very very) rare. Half-breeds are basically humans with one gift from their Merfolk parent (like they only get the second eyelid or the webbed fingers and toes or can hold their breath for twenty minutes).
Selkie: a race of humanoid beings with human intelligence. They are similar to the Merfolk and Humans in the general shape of their bodies but are covered in short soft gray fur. They live in the colder northern waters. The “feet” of the Selkie was in truth flippers and they can swim very fast. They live in large colonies like seals and breath air. Like Merfolk, Selkie can have sexual intercourse with humans but unlike Merfolk, they cannot create children with humans.
Sea Serpent: large snakes with dragon like heads and scales. Most rarely grow larger then sixteen feet but some of the deep-water species can grow large enough for four of the retiles to threaten a sperm whale. Most are even tempered and can been seen around coastal villages and following ships. They eat scraps thrown into the water or hunt for fish and crustaceans. The large ones are uncommon and mostly seen as young serpents. The teeth and scales of the large deep-water ones are prized.
Kraken: a large octopus like monster that is able to break apart or pull ships down into the depths. They are rarely seen and few in number, living mostly at the bottom of deep water trenches with giant squid.
The Harpooner’s Guild
Though it’s not an official thing, all harpooners are in the guild. They have their own quarters in the bow of any whaling ship and keep to themselves at night. They as a rule do not have to do deck work but often do. They keep any secret they are told among themselves and will tell no one outside of the guild. Captains that stick their noses into Harpooner’s business often will lose all the ship’s harpooners at the next port and not be able to hire new ones. They also sometimes will take shipmate into their quarters if they can be trusted.
Women
Women aren’t allowed on ships as crew and any that do join must hid their true selves. Often they seek out the Harpooners on whaling ships for help. Most Harpooners don’t ask a price for their help (but some stare and grin)
Positions
Captain: Eliot Nettleton as played by Irish Wolf
First Mate:
Second Mate:
Third Mate: Seth Davis as played by ArtistGayle
Harpooner (Captain’s):
Harpooner (First Mate’s): Starbuck Roxbury as played by Irish Wolf
Harpooner (Second Mate’s): Fridtjof Nansen as played by Phedre
Harpooner (Third Mate’s): Joan "Jonathan" West Thomas as played by Jadeling Hawkins
Deckhand: Adeline Trace Marcus (Trace) as played by Aslin
Deckhand: Willoughby Jinks as played by daughterofdon
Character sheets
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Race:
Appearance:
Position:
Bio:
My Characters
Name: Starbuck Roxbury
Age: 28
Gender: male
Race: human
Appearance: a big man, standing about six feet tall, having a barrel like chest and large arms. His skin was once fair but as darkened somewhat from years at sea into a nice tan. His face is broad and good natured, with light blue eyes that seem to twinkle. His dirty blond hair is shoulder length and pulled back into a pony tail with a bushy pair of muttonchops on his checks. Tribal tattoos covering his arms, gifts from the natives of the South Seas. They had placed on his arms as a symbol of his becoming part of their family and proving his worth as a warrior/hunter. Dresses chiefly in black trousers, leather shoes and a white shirt.
Nationality: American
Position: First Mate’s Harpooner
Bio: David was born in Nantucket and raised on stories of mighty whales and other sea beasties from old salts. Following in his father’s footsteps, who had gone to sea at a young age, David started his journey to becoming a harpooner as a deckhand aboard a whaler, hauling cargo aboard ship and scrubbing the deck. During his first voyage, the one of the ship’s harpooners, a savage from Fiji, took an interest in the young lad and took him under his wing.
Name: Eliot Nettleton
Age: 49
Gender: male
Race: Human
Appearance: a gaunt man standing taller then most men at six and a half feet tall, his eyes seem sunken into his head and overshadowed by the sockets. Despite being a sailor, his skin is pale and his thinning raven black hair is pull back into a tight ponytail. The ponytail seems the pull the skin of his face tight across the bones. He has a bum left leg from a childhood trauma and drags his left foot when he walks. Eliot dresses in black trousers, thick-soled black shoes and a black coat. The coat is left open and whoever looks at him can see scars shinning on his pale hairless chest, running from right shoulder to left hip. If you can stare long enough, you could count his ribs on Eliot’s thin chest. When he paces on the quarterdeck, one can hear the heavy footsteps and the clamp of the thick-soled shoes.
Position: Captain
Bio: to be reviled. But his voyages are always very profitable for the crew and despite his creepy looks, sailor are willing to join his crew.
