(If you wish to read the rather long backstory I've made up for this character, you can read the spoiler. The TL-DR version: this character is a female pirate captain whose biology can change to a marine fish-like form when coming in contact with water.)<br/><br/><div class="bbCodeSpoiler">
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<span>Spoiler: <span class="bbCodeSpoiler-button-title">Character Backstory - Captain 'Sea-Devil' Marlin</span></span>
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<div class="bbCodeBlock-content">Though mostly known as an adventurous human female pirate, Captain Marlin is actually a sentient marine creature, an Opahrian, that can assume human form. She has green eyes, brown hair and a penchant for adventure.<br/>
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Backstory of the Opahrians. The Opahrians were a species of intelligent, sentient beings with telepathic communication abilities that lived in the oceans. The species struggled to make any location their home and to expand their population, seeing that they were not tall or strong enough to scare off the larger predators in the ocean, while inevitably being confronted with them wherever they came to hunt the same fish as those predators. Nowhere was really safe, though they could temporarily stay and then flee to another area whenever larger predators began to show up. Their nomadic lifestyle finally shifted when they found an underwater cave to settle in near a coral reef, where the food was smaller but plentiful and there were no significant predators. The sedentary lifestyle offered new opportunities. The cave provided a wealth of minerals and metals which, combined with certain volcanic outlets deeper down, allowed for the development of tools and primitive technology over time. However, venturing too far away from the reef was still a death sentence, and their nomadic roots gave the Opahrians a certain itch to continue travelling and exploring. Thus they turned their focus on creating or acquiring tools with which they might be able to take down or shake off any larger predator of the oceans and thus spread out fearlessly from their new nest. They began to investigate the local fauna and flora for attributes that might be useful and could be harvested, experimented with, refined into something that could be used. One of the lines of research focused on the many means of camouflage the animals near the reef employed to hunt, or stave off hunters. It was believed that perhaps a serum could be made that would grant their own species similar or perhaps even more enhanced abilities. Another line of research focused on the differences in anatomy that allowed some species to move faster, or at different depths, or in climates with different amounts of oxygen. All kinds of survival strategies were considered. The overarching question: what made other beings the way they were, and could they change their own nature to rise above their challenges?<br/>
Though their environment provided for many basic resources, their attention ended up being drawn upwards - to the huge, powerful, fast ships of the humans crossing the seas, free from cares of deep sea predators. The humans clearly possessed a host of resources and technological knowledge and skills that they did not. Some ships were even equipped with loud, thundering weapons that could propel projectiles which packed a punch, even after slowing down significantly when entering the water. It became an important objective of theirs to make contact with the humans. As an extension of that, their research honed in on creating the first experimental versions of a serum that would allow them to breathe out of the water. Once progress was made and the first trials on animals being held above the water seemed promising, it seemed they were ready to attempt to make contact. The males and females of the species differed in their chosen method of approach, however - the former deciding to come right up to the ships and try to board them, the latter attempting to lure the humans over by producing musical notes from their mouths, just like they’d heard and seen the humans do among each other before. Neither approach turned out to be successful.<br/>
The humans thought the males were sea monsters coming to attack them, shooting and killing them in self-defense. The females, soon dubbed ‘mermaids’, were seen as evil temptresses trying to guide their ships into rocks and attempting to pull sailors under to drown them. As a result, many Opahrians died in their attempts to make contact.<br/>
The rest of the population was sadly beginning to experience side-effects from experimenting with the serums, many turning ill due to their bodies’ cells becoming unstable. Still, they were so driven to reach out and enhance themselves that they kept working on the formula and refining the serum hoping to also cure the side-effects. Then, disaster struck.<br/>
A subterranean shift caused a seaquake, which in turn caused much of the cave they were inhabiting to collapse, and for pockets of toxic gas that had been trapped at the sea bottom to be released and rapidly saturate the water - making the water lighter, and conversely everything in it much heavier. As those Opahrians who weren’t crushed by the cave’s collapse attempted to escape into the ocean, many succumbed to the toxins in the water and were pulled into the depths where they would suffocate due to the pressure. Only a few remained, whose only option now was to make for the surface by climbing up the reef as fast as they could in order to breathe in as little of the toxins in the water. All using the last of their refined serum to be able to survive up there, they began the arduous climb. But they were not alone to suffer the effects of the gases.<br/>
A passing pirate ship’s tail end was caught in the sudden ‘drop’ of the lighter water sucking it under, causing the whole structure to dip backwards dramatically, throwing a few crew members, the first mate and the captain off and under after they knocked into the railing. Most were already knocked unconscious by the violent impact and sank to their demise, while the pirate captain, Bluebeard, got a mouthful of the toxins and smacked into the reef below, causing serious cuts, the loss of his majestic hat and an open wound on his head. Struggling for his life and bewildered by the creatures crawling desperately up the reef alongside him, he too began to climb for the rocky dryland above, to safety.<br/>
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Backstory of Captain Marlin. She was young enough, and her particular body cells malleable enough, to finally bond with the serum and become able to survive as well above water as below water, though her physique would change dramatically to become humanoid rather than fish-like when it exited the water, and vice versa when she entered the water. The webbing on her feet shrinking, her gills closing up, fins and scales everywhere melding together into a porous, fleshy tan skin layer with tiny hairs. Slightly longer and thicker brown hairs grew out of her head. The transformation was frightening and disorienting the first time, but dry and heavy as she felt as she felt in this ‘air’ through which one could not swim, she could open her mouth and nose and breathe. Her fellow Opahrians were not so lucky. Their bodies fought the serum as well as the toxins they had breathed in, and they struggled to overcome their illness even while their bodies attempted to transform. And there was nothing Marlin could do for any of them.<br/>
In the midst of all who lay writhing, Bluebeard was coughing up water, bleeding heavily and feverish from the poison coursing through his body. He looked over at the strange, naked human girl who’d appeared on the rock out of nowhere, seemingly in shock at everything that was happening around her, and beckoned her closer. There wasn’t any time to question things. “Lass… I need you to pay attention. Something’s happened to me ship. The crew is in danger now, and I’m not gonna make it. Get to Blackholm, find Sam, tell ‘im the Dirty Rose was sailing near here and we ran into some kinda unnatural storm. He’ll arrange for rescue.”<br/>
None of his words meant anything to Marlin, but the urgency in his eyes told her enough. She tuned into his mind to speak to him, at which point the captain understood she wasn’t human. But in exchange for him willingly letting her in on all the knowledge, memories and experiences that were in his mind - which she might be able to use to help her navigate the topside world and get help for her people - she promised him she would look after his people as well, to the best of her ability. After a few moments of consideration, Bluebeard finally agreed to open up his mind and let her dive into its depths, to learn everything about his life, his ship, his crew, his world, his language, culture, skills... unto his dying breath. Wiping the blood from her nose after absorbing the abundance of information, she raspily spoke her first words - “I promise” - just as he passed; then gently closed his eyelids to cover his unmoving stare.<br/>
Then she got up, feeling his determination in her heartbeat, and covered up her nakedness with his shirt, then strapped his cutlass and pistol to her with his belt. Rather than wasting time seeking out someone in a city like he’d originally suggested, she decided to use his knowledge to save the crew immediately. After making her way over to the ship and its disarrayed crew, she quickly introduced herself as being sent to their aid by Bluebeard. and despite her strange, young, female appearance there was something uncannily familiar about her behaviour that managed to make them listen. She knew all of their names, she knew what orders to give, she knew what she was doing and it showed. And, as the belief among them developed that she’d personally been sent up from Davy Jones’ locker by their captain as some otherworldly incarnation of his lost daughter, they followed her orders as she led the ship clear of trouble. From that point on, the crew would grow to trust her and get to know her better, eventually voting her in to become their new captain - dubbed Sea-Devil for the circumstances under which they first met. She, in turn, would develop her own bond with each of them, some fleeting relationships, some instances of carnal fun, some everlasting friendships. Privately, she also worked to find ways for what remained of the Opahrians to gradually heal from the poison in their system, allow their bodies to accept the serum, and live in their own island community as fully transformed semi-humans, like her. They had finally found a safe habitat from where they could expand as a tribe, and once the gas had dissipated they could not hunt on land but also under the sea.<br/>
And of course, many adventures followed for Captain Sea-Devil, alternatively in competition and in alliance with various other pirates, in search of loot for stealing and in perpetual conflict with the law and the state. On top of that, even to a creature who’s lived in the ocean, the sea still holds many secrets. One of which, as has been discovered, is the occurrence of mysterious maelstroms that have the capacity to lead travellers-through to other worlds...<br/>
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Notes of interest.<br/>
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Scott, her trusty mechanic, made a number of custom modifications to the Dirty Rose and its rowboats. Particularly, he added measures to allow the vessels to seal up and submerge, and made reinforcements to the Rose’s hull and defense systems.<br/>
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Marlin and other Opahrians possess a much more flexible spine and bone structure than the average human, allowing more easily for gymnastic and acrobatic feats.<br/>
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Marlin was one of the first female pirate captains, and despite not being human, she inspired a number of human females to follow in her illustrious footsteps, earning her the title of “Pirate Queen”.<br/>
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Her mannerisms are a combination of her native personality, years of hanging out with pirates, and Bluebeard’s life history which she’s used to integrate into human society.</div>
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</div><br/>Away from the rest of the happenings in the house, the water in the pool suddenly began to swirl and bubble violently. A bright sheen emanated from below as a whirlpool began to appear out of nowhere. Then, a strange wood-and-metal pod-like vessel materialized from the base of the whirlpool, as if coming through from another dimension - and as soon as it had fully entered into this realm, the whirlpool dissipated again leaving the disturbed water in the pool splashing and spilling over the sides like a stormy sea. Meanwhile, the newly arrived vehicle slowly bubbled up to the surface and bobbed slightly on the waves. When the majority of the vessel was afloat and water was dripping down the sides, the top of the 'pod' suddenly split into two parts and slid away mechanically into the bottom half until only the bottom half was visible. Now the vessel looked like what it actually was: a rowboat. And its occupant grinned as she looked around, standing up easily in the still-wobbly boat as though she was used to nothing else. "My my, ol' Freddie," she muttered to herself. "Ev'ry time I lay eyes on this place, you've somehow managed to make it even prettier. Could've sworn I'd actually arrived in the Amazon by mistake. Ha ha!"<br/><br/>Marlin grabbed the rope under her seat and with a great big step, she set foot on the tiled edge of the pool to tie the boat down to the base of the nearest tree she could find. Not that the vessel could really go anywhere other than the pool, but at least it wouldn't be in the way too much for a pool party and it was basically force of habit at this point anyway. The captain took a moment to make sure her large and proud hat was on right, its decorative feather smoothed out, pretty and perky as ever. Deciding her overcoat was a bit much in the current climate, she took it off and threw it into the boat, letting her corseted leather vest and red blouse see the light of day... or well, evening. Her belt held up not only her brown pants but also Bluebeard's sheathed cutlass and his holstered pistol - bullets for it stashed in specially designed ammo pockets just under the belt. And of course, she was wearing her long, brown, sturdy leather strapped boots with golden buckles. Her long brown hair fluttered lightly behind her as she made her way over to the house, went up the steps and tapped the butt of her pistol up against the window frame to announce her arrival, along with raising her voice.<br/><br/>"Me hearty! The Sea-Devil has arrived!" she crowed to those gathered inside. Her piercing green eyes had already spotted some of the other guests inside - no need for the eagle-eye magnification goggle that hung just above her left peeper.<br/>"From Pirate Queen to Music Queen, let me partake in this treasure trove," she laughed before kicking open the door, shoving her gun back in its holster and setting course for the man himself, opening her arms for a grand hug.<br/>"Great to see you again!" She looked over the rest then with a grin. "And who are these landlubbers?"