<div class="floatleft">(http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/yy254/Jec94227/2012-10-30_00001.jpg)</div><strong>Name</strong>: Richard Dawson<br/><br/><strong>Age</strong>: 28<br/><br/><strong>Position</strong>: First Mate<br/>As First Mate, Richards whole purpose is to make sure that the captains orders are being followed. Generally this involves the more hands on tasks though it may be as simple as providing security during negotiations. He gets his orders from the captain, including their objective, and does his best to meet that objective.<br/><br/><strong>Background</strong>:Personality: Richard is a professional sort of man, always doing whatever task he is assigned to as quickly and efficiently as possible. He cares about the well being of those under him since without them, he doesn't really have a job to do, or the job becomes nearly impossible. Very little nonsense sort of guy, he will lead by example whenever things get tough.<br/>Background: Richard grew up on a rather large ranch in the outer rim area of the 'verse. Being a child of the so called Rancher Barons of the planet, he got as good an education as possible in the Rim, having a particular interest in military history. When he turned sixteen he joined the planetary militia. While this was more of a social gathering than a military one, they did train with their weapons and tactics for a weekend every month practicing war games against the militia companies from other districts of the planet. The whole event ended with a big barbecue and party. In fact, the only time in the seven years he was a part of the militia, he only saw combat once, when he was called out to investigate a wrecked ship. Turned out that it had been boarded by some pirates and the resulting firefight caused the ship to spin down to the planet. Somehow a trio of pirates survived, but were quickly killed by the squad of militia. It was still a scary moment for Richard, who had never seen a man die a violent death until that time.<br/><br/>When he was twenty three, his family ranch was sold. A string of thefts and bad weather left his family with only the leanest of the cattle. Taxes came due and despite his father practically begging for more time. There was enough left from the sale of the farm to set his parents up in town, but Richard and his brothers and sisters, the unmarried ones at least, simply began to drift away. Richard found work with a salvage crew for a time, but they lacked any permits whatsoever and narrowly avoided being tossed into prison. A short stint as a bodyguard put him in contact with Captain Early of the the Line and he was later hired on as the First Mate. Of course this took a bit of time to arrange and to prove he was fit for the job, but he's still here so he must be doing something right.<br/><br/><br/><br/><strong>Personality</strong>: Richard is very professional and straightforward in what he does, whether it is on a job or off. The only time he loosens up is when he is drunk, but that does not happen often. As for his thoughts on the Independence movement, he is rather ambivalent. On one hand he knows that for all of its faults, he has the Alliance to thank for keeping his little sister alive when the medicine she needed was brought in on a supply convoy, and that without any form of government the bandits would just get worse. On the other hand however, the Alliance caused his family to lose their ranch which left his father as close to a broken man as possible and still leave him a barely functioning shell.<br/><br/>With slavery he does not have such mixed feelings. He simply doesn't care much for their situation, and in his mind they must have done something to deserve it. As a rule he dislikes seeing others treated poorly, but that is the only real issue he has with slaves. if they are treated well then he sees no issue. On the ship though, he prefers if Elfie stays out of his quarters unless there is an emergency. This rule extends to most of the crew, with the owners of the ship being the obvious exception.<br/><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button"> player information</div><div class="spoiler_body"><strong>Scenes I’d like to see my character participate in:</strong><br/>I would like to see Richard involved in gunfights, narrow escapes, daring getaways and being part of a Big Damn Hero moment or two<br/><br/><strong>Are you familiar with the works of Shan’Yu?</strong><br/>I personally have issues with writing NC scenes, so on the off chance I am involved in one it will probably not be written very well. Of course Richard was raised to be a proper young gentleman and has a few ideas about propriety that haven't been discarded along with some of his older trappings. He can certainly be a bit rough while in bed with a willing woman, using a bit of biting or some firm tugs on her hair to help the mood, so to speak.<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button"> attributes and skills</div><div class="spoiler_body"><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Physical</strong></td><td><strong>Social</strong></td><td><strong>Mental</strong></td></tr><tr><td>Strength 3</td><td>Presence 3</td><td>Knowledge 2</td></tr><tr><td>Dexterity 3</td><td>Manipulation 2</td><td>Wits 3</td></tr><tr><td>Stamina 3</td><td>Composure 2</td><td>Perception 3</td></tr></tbody></table><br/>Melee <br/>Brawl: 2<br/>Gunslinger: 4 <br/>Rifles: 4<br/>Athletics: 2<br/>Riding: 3<br/>Etiquette: 3<br/>Repair: (Stuff like maintaining his weapons as well as his clothing and other small objects)1<br/>Intimidation: 2<br/>Empathy: 2<br/></div></div><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Personal Items</div><div class="spoiler_body">Richard has a small bunk on the ship where he keeps a small trunk containing two spare sets of clothing along with a "nice" outfit if it is ever necessary. The spares are exactly the same, denim pants with a loose cotton shirt. Along with that he has a duster that is getting dirtier every year and a broad brimmed cowboy hat.<br/><br/>As for the more violent items, he has a a lovely little knife with a six inch blade that he keeps around for close in work, a six shot revolver in good condition and a double barrel shotgun (one barrel atop the other, not side by side) for settling any arguments.<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Relationships with other characters</div><div class="spoiler_body"><strong>The Line</strong> (Ship)<br/>Richard can certainly appreciate the fact that a ship will continue to work when it needs to, but he doesn't seem to have that special sort of Love for the ship that the rest of the crew does. Of course he cares about the ship but it's mainly more that the ship is his current home and source of income, rather than for any sort of personal feelings.<br/><br/><strong>Braxton Early</strong>(Captain)<br/>Early is a good captain. He pays on time and is never too unreasonable about his orders. The only problem Richard has is with the way he treats Elfie. His reasons for that are based in his dislike of seeing anybody mistreated, though he could hardly care less that she is a slave.<br/><br/><strong>Lance Daniels</strong> (Engineer)<br/>Richard respects the man, especially considering that he is responsible for keeping The Line in one piece. Since he is also one of the owners of the ship, Richard probably has him to thank for the more or less steady pay he receives.<br/><br/><strong>Keridwyn "Keri" Jones</strong> (Pilot)<br/>Like the engineer, Richard definitely appreciates her ability to keep him alive in space. She also has the benefit of being very easy on the eyes and is also easy to get along with.<br/><br/><strong>Mya Richone</strong> (Ships’s surgeon)<br/>A good doctor is always a blessing, doubly so when they know exactly what they are doing. Mya is a bit of a confusion for Richard though, since she is obviously from a wealthy family yet she hasn't paid off her indenture yet. Still, she is very handy to have aboard since Richard has had more close calls than he'd care to admit. Being pretty is another benefit but he hasn't made an advance because he feels that it would be wrong, like taking advantage of a woman who has passed out.<br/><br/><strong>Girias "Cookie" Bomban</strong> (Grunt)<br/>Girias is a bit odd, but so long as he follows orders when the lead starts firing, Richard couldn't care less. The man is very capable in a fight and is somebody that Richard would like to have at his side in any conflict.<br/><br/><strong>Sue</strong> (Cook &amp; Grunt)<br/>Sue is a good man to have around the ship in Richards opinion. A good meal is hard to come by aboard anything but a luxury liner, so having a skilled cook aboard The Line is a bit of a blessing.<br/><br/><strong>Philemon "Phil" Adricus</strong> (Scoundrel)<br/>Richard can't help but have a low opinion of con men in general, and this has biased him against Phil for some time. Since learning that Phil is ex-military though, he has been a little less biased and more accepting of how he chooses to live his life.<br/><br/><strong>Elfi</strong> (Ship’s slave)<br/>If anything, Richard pities Elfie for what the Captain does to her, but she doesn't seem to mind. His only problem with her is if she ever tried to clean his bunk, though that is born of a desire to keep his personal life as private as possible. <br/><br/><strong>Serenity Sun Kwan</strong> (Companion)<br/>Richard is in awe of the Companion on the ship,since she seems to be all the refined class and society poured into the mold of a beautiful woman. Unless it has been strictly professional, he hasn't spoken to her much<br/><br/><strong>Isobel Smith[/]<br/>Since she seems to keep mostly to herself and hasn't caused any trouble, Richard hasn't really paid much attention to her. The fact that she doesn't seem like she could cause too much trouble probably factored into this as well.<br/></strong></div></div>