Description and Background
Description:
Background:
Ben, a hearty young man, sailor by opportunity, has been serving before-the-mast on the whaling brig Blighted Fortune. His sharp eye and ability has elevated him recently to the position of harpooner of which he has proudly seen success in the capture of a half a dozen beasts of the deep and the spoils that go along with this new rank. His ship is in port near Saltmarsh undergoing repairs for the next few months after an unpleasant entanglement with a pirate frigate that crippled the mainmast and nearly all of her rigging. Limping in on oars and the broken backs of the crew, she will not be sailing anytime soon….
Looking at Ben one notices the twisted fingers-like scar spreading out from his collar, reaching under his necklace of whale bone and teeth, to caress the right side of his face.
Ben wears the salty rags of a crewman (his worn boots cast aside long ago as an impediment to climbing quickly the rigging of his current home) with his rolled up blanket hung from his shoulder on a length of halyard remaining from the pirate attack. Rolled up snugly within is a belaying pin for the unexpected and a battered tin cup for everything else. A small knife and sheath fastened to the line about his waist rests easily next to a small worn pouch. Ben heads into town with less than a handful of coppers, but eager to fill the weeks ahead with something other than waiting…. |
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