Elias Daryn

Elias 'Daryn' of Stepstones is the sellsail captain of the 'Sea Specter,' an armed light dromond put to use for its crew's nefarious purposes. He is a skilled tactician and an acknowledgeable man of intrigue. Whatever the world has in store for him, he's bound to make a good story along the way.

Appearance and Character
A man with admirable height, Elias is one to be recognized in a crowd. He has his umber colored hair cut short, lengthy only through the top and back. His eye-catching appearance is only accented by his battle-wounds; a burn rests across the left side of his bearded face and a scar crosses the bridge of his nose. Elias bears caucasian features, although his tanned appearance from years in the sun often throws people to guess otherwise.

These injuries all result from his mischevious occupation. Said mischief is, too, is the core of his personality. Albeit cautiously restrained in his desires, he certainly shares the common lust for coin and glory. To be remembered as a powerful man who struck fear into the hearts of merchant and navy crewmen alike would be his greatest wish.

To be remembered is a core theme in itself. The name is what lives on once the body has rotted, and one with no surname is one whose memory will wash away with the first tide after death. As such, Elias chose 'Daryn,' a moniker fit for a man of renown. He's seen often that surnames have brought credibility, and in this, he's adapted his own to his needs.

Early Years (403 AC - 421 AC)
Elias was born among the muck and grime of a shanty town within the Stepstone isles, being born an illegitimate child of a passing crewman and a tavern wench. Almost immediately, he was discarded by his mother to the street as if he was an item of rubbish. It was only by one sympathetic soul in that sinful place that he lived. This new caretaker, a woman of old age, took the infant into her hovel to be raised to the best of her ability.

He was a mere boy when his adoptive mother passed from age. There was no sympathy for the skewed child, especially among the hardened people of the isles. He scrounged for food to survive, even resorting to pickpocketing to fill his needs. There were numerous other children in that coastal town, and most competed with the boy to suit their own needs. It wasn't rare for Elias to find himself in a tussle for a scrap of bread or a chewy filet. Life wasn't easy for the budding lad, but he certainly survived.

It was a near month after his fourteenth nameday that he nearly met his end. Elias had become emboldened with his stature among the street urchins and he saw it fit that he prove himself. This, unfortunately, saw Elias attempt to maneuver his way onto a sellsail's ship in an attempt to take some of their plunder. The expenditure obviously did not prove fruitful, for he was caught in the act by none other than the crew's captain himself. Elias was dragged out before the deck and beaten savagely, kicked and whipped and all sorts of that nature by the crew.

But the torments and endurance of a blistered childhood saw him persevere on through the beating. He sat in silence as he was kicked and shoved from all sides, not daring to ask for mercy even as his eyes began to swell. In a surprising turn of events, the foremost among the crew intervened and instead sentenced Elias to a different punishment; servitude. It wouldn't be too long afterward that he would be formally recognized as one of the crew. Thus, he had solidified his future into a different path altogether.

Young Adulthood (421 AC - 429 AC)
It was through trial and error that he had adapted himself to the ways of the sellsail. It took him a year alone to even gather a semblance of skill in of authority and swordsmanship, and even more to even learn how to properly work a ship. It, of course, helped that he was constantly tasked with working the ropes or on other times being shoved onto the deck in spars. Elias would, however, look at these times with nostalgia, as they were the events that molded him into the man he'd become later on.

The crew took on a variety of work, and Elias learned from every little bit of it. They conducted piracy, protected convoys, carried supplies; it was all dependent on what paid the most and what secured them a good livelihood. They slit throats and acted intimidating, and that was all there was to it.

Adulthood (429 AC - 439 AC)
This reign of 'prosperity' only could last for so long, however, and soon there was an internal division amongst themselves over the lucrative contracts offered to them all. As most arguments go for those that sell their blades for the coin, it soon fell to violence and the crew launched themselves at one another in heated bloodlust. Elias chose the failing side in this fiasco, and he and some others were forced to throw themselves overboard to escape the slaughter.

Only a fraction of those who escaped the fighting actually found their way to a nearby island. There were sharks in those bloodied waters, and they came swarming to the forlorn crewmen like fleas to a dog. It was such a terrifying experience that Elias is fearful of even the sight of the beasts. Regardless, they made it to a nearby island and from there they made their way to a cove town. They found their way to a tavern and drank in sorrow over their losses, only to find themselves beset by street urchins who fell upon the men for the coin purses much like the sharks did for their brethren's flesh. Elias was on the end of his rope, robbed by the very same that he used to be, and at a loss of everything that had made his life bearable. He stepped onto the end of a creaky wooden dock and looked to the grimy waters below, a tale of sadness on his face as he readied to launch himself in.

But something told him otherwise. Perhaps it was the fact that he had survived all of this time, that he had persevered through what the world had to offer him and he surely couldn't stop now. But for whatever reason it was, Elias turned about and rested for the night instead of sparing himself to a watery grave. The following morning, he gathered those remnants still about of his old crew and spoke with confidence. They had lost their ship indeed, but they could find another. They were the bloody best crew in the region, and it was themselves that made their fortune and not some old wooden hull and a pair of sails. The man that had been thrown out like rubbish as a babe now found himself tasking and pressing together a team, he found himself a leader.

From this event onward the crew worked their way to their previous stature. Elias, through a skillset he had cultivated in the years before, learned of a ship that could suit their needs. In lieu of this acknowledgement, the crew rushed the moored vessel after dark and narrowly escaped the harbor with others on the chase behind them. It was a bloody and unjust affair, but they all knew in their hearts that it was a cutthroat business in the world they lived. They roamed the seas for a time, performing work just as much as they had before. With Elias at their helm, they learned of the most lucrative contracts or bounties in the towns and cities they passed. It was many a time that their men had buttered up a loose-lipped merchant crewman and learned of their vessel's route for plunder.

The coin came in droves, and though it must be pressed that much was spent on alcohol and fat bottomed women, some coin was fortunately placed to their ship. They refitted it for their needs, arming it with an array of shielded sides, a ballista at the front of the deck, and an acknowledgeable battering ram. They had found a ship worthy of their trade, and Elias named it the 'Sea Specter.' A fitting name for the shenanigans that would ensue.

Repairs in Braavos (439 AC - Present)
It wasn't always sunshine and rainbows, however, and in one particular case, this was literal. A horrid storm came upon the ship and her crew as they were bordering the edge of the Shivering Sea, and the event had singlehandedly sent them limping on back to a nearby port for repairs. They found their way to be docked in Braavos, a city of whose language none of the men spoke. Elias could only gesture and offer a purse in an attempt to find repairs, but no success came in his endeavors. That is until he spoke to a charming young bravo at a seaside tavern. The lad, a man of twenty years and by the name of Lazro, spoke both languages and seemed to be in a prickly predicament. Elias knew potential at first sight, and invited the young man aboard in exchange for serving as an interpreter and later on as a crewman. It would be some six months later that they set sail again, and with them came another addition to the story.

Recent Events
Such will be added with developments in the story.

Family and Kin
He never knew his mother nor his father, and the closest thing that resembled a parent in his troubled upbringing died while he was still a boy. Even still, there are those amongst his crew that he considers brothers.

Companions and Notables
Daro of Dorne, 28: One of the foremost amongst Elias' crew, he is skilled in reconnaissance and navigation work. Often as a joke, Elias refers to the man as 'Mister Navigator.'

"Grandpap," 63: An elderly man that serves no actual purpose amongst the sellsails, but instead only sits about and fishes. If it wasn't for the humor the man imposed through his plentiful complaining about his 'lumbago,' or the reliable watchwork that the man gives at his late night fishing sessions; he would've been thrown overboard months ago.

Others will be added with the progression of the story.

Meta
Aptitude: Cloak and Dagger

Skills: Leadership (CHA), Naval Warfare (MAR), Warcraft (MAR), Rapier (COM), Espionage (INT), Subversion (INT), Ambuscade (STE).