Sebastian Sewell

OOC Info
Username/Nickname: Marashar
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Character Info
Canon/Original: Original
First Name(s): Sebastian
Surname: Sewell
Nicknames: Sew
Age: 25
Sex: male
Place of Birth: Portsmouth
Occupation: Lieutenant of Marines

Family:

• His father, the Reverend Herbert Sewell, is a learned parson and tutor who doesn't understand or support his son's choice of career, or more precisely the whole character of his son. Father and son are estranged.
  
• Sew's mother Annabell died while he was still an infant.
  
• One uncle, Herbert Sewell, a successful publisher for music and poetry. Sew occasionally corresponds with him.

Description:

• Sew is very tall and rather powerfully build. It is easy to see his Viking ancestors. His years at sea have given his skin a tanned appearance and bleached his hair to a pale blonde which contrasts sharply with his blue eyes. He keeps it long and on formal occasions dresses it like a wig.
  
• He is quite handsome in his way, but has already acquired several small scars in his face and several larger ones on his body.
  
• He has a deep voice and usually speaks slowly and with a clear diction, but not too loud. This can change in battle, however; he is known to have cowed frightened enemies simply by roaring at them.
  
• In spite of his size, he can move silently and gracefully like a cat. He can sneak up on you and just stand there until you turn around and notice him. This trait makes most seamen weary of him.
  
• He is an extremely taciturn man and his features usually show little emotion.
  
• He usually keeps his uniform neat and clean, but he wears his hat only on special occasions.
  
• As bellow decks the only comfortable position for him is sitting (even his hammock is rather short for him), he is usually found either in the gun-room or on deck.
  
• When not on duty, he is often seen with a beautiful Sévres pipe.

Strengths and Weaknesses:

• He prides himself in the efficiency of his marines. He will go to great length to ensure that they are given a leading position in any fight and will see to it that their part is acknowledged. He will acknowledge the fighting abilities of individual sailors, but on the whole he believes that sailors had better stick to their ship and to their cannon, but leave any closer contact with the enemy to the marines.
  
• If asked for his opinion, he will give it, but otherwise keep out of anything he deems not his business.
  
• To a good captain he will be loyal to the death, but if he feels that he or his marines aren't valued enough, he is likely to become recalcitrant. He does place his duty above any personal feelings, though, and will continue to do his job under any circumstances. He tries to make the goal of any given mission always the deciding factor for his actions.
  
• He's a born fighter and extremely dangerous in any close combat, combining great strength and stamina with remarkable skill and dexterity. He can also command a gun crew to some effect or man a gun himself. He is only average with smaller firearms, including muskets.
  
• He loves a good fight. In the heat of combat all his usual reservations go overboard and he will join in enthusiastically. He sometimes forgets that he is an officer and joins the thickest brawl.
  
• He has little patience with sick people. It is not that he is unfeeling; having a very robust constitution himself, he simply doesn't see why some people don't mend as quickly as he does or fall ill in the first place.
  
• He expects his captain and to a lesser extend other officers to tell him off if he had done something wrong and to indicate clearly if he could do something better. He does not like to guess what people might think, and he doesn't mind a deserved reprimand. He will very much resent an unjust one, but how he reacts to it will differ according to the situation, his respect for the officer involved and the reason why he was found to be at fault.
  
• He also expects every seaman and marine to tell him directly if he misses something, has misunderstood something or generally is about to do something he shouldn't. He respects every man who stands up to him, knowing full well that his size is somewhat intimidating. However, he will see to it that every protest is made in proper form and only once, and then he will expect that his decision is accepted, whether he changed his initial order or not.
  
• Although he isn't particularly afraid to drown, be blown to pieces or stabbed death, he has a secret fear that the ship might burn to the waterline. He will regularly check all open fires on the ship and woe any gunner who is careless with his slow-matches.
  
• He is a quite able seaman and likes to join in their drills if bored or lend a hand if required to keep in practice. He would never be a proper sea-officer, however, as he literally gets lost at sea. Although he understands the principals of navigations well enough, he can't for the life of him in practice plot a reliable course. He has also no experience in commanding a ship bigger than a rowboat.
  
• He is an avid and skilled swimmer. He has no patience with the usual sailors' superstition about learning to swim.
  
• He doesn't mind roughing it, but likes to have a few creature comforts, especially a quiet pipe in the evening. If he doesn't get them, he tends to get grumpy.
  
• His greatest weakness are women, children and strays. He simply cannot believe that they might be not quite as helpless as they appear and is bound to offer them any assistance he can provide. This has already cost him much money, several watches and more than one broken rib, but he still can't stop himself from helping them.
  
• Bookish people and doctors he tends to mistrust, thinking them dreamers and hiding behind grand words. He actually likes poetry, though. He will buy and read newly published books of poetry, but only if no-one watches, and he keeps them hidden in his sea-chest. He isn't really ashamed of his liking, but to admit that he had a poetic streak after all would be like giving in to his father, which he is not prepared to do.

Background:
Sew always was the odd man out in his rather learned family. Not only did he grow to proportions his father never dreamed of, he also showed not the slightest interest in any academical subject. His father never realized that he simply pressed to hard and did not take the natural inclinations of a boy into consideration. He also failed to see that his son often was teased because of his own mildness, which was regularly abused by his pupils. Sew sometimes felt it necessary to defend his father with his fists. He soon learned, though, that he'd better not tell his father about any such occurrence, as the Reverend usually blamed him for reverting to violence. However, he came home often enough with the marks of a fight.

As soon as possible Sew was sent to a good Grammar School and was told to prepare for university. Shortly after he was entered in Cambridge, however, the death of an aunt left him with a modest competence. As all previous attempts to explain to his father that he didn't want to become a clergyman or lawyer had been completely fruitless, he now simply told his father that he would join the marines and did so immediately. Since then he hasn't spoken with his father, only exchanged some increasingly harsh letters.

He has chosen the marines because he couldn't afford a prestigious commission and didn't want to be just one anonymous ensign in a line regiment. In his new occupation he likes especially the close-knit community on a ship and that he has a clearly defined, important duty. He also likes the sense of freedom on the sea and the different ports he sees.

Anything Else:

Writing Sample/Past Roleplay:
A pipe was a very nice thing, especially on a nice quiet night on the quarterdeck. Sew let the last ring of smoke drift to the stars, then methodically quenched the embers and wrapped the head in leather. Putting the long-stemmed pipe back into its case, he stretched his back and decided that a last round through the ship was in order before he retired. First he would place his pipe back in his sea-chest, though.

Having done that, he quietly slipped up the companionway again to the Marine guarding the glass and bell. The man was obviously startled by his sudden appearance, but not unduly alarmed. Sew's habit of night-time rounds was well known by his men, and as long as he did not want anything special or caught someone on a clear dereliction of duty, he didn't want to disturb what one was doing. He had also soon broken his marines of the habit to spring to attention whenever he came near at night, unless it was on a formal round. The Marine had once heard one of the naval ensigns ask why, and Sewell had answered curtly: "We are here to guard the ship. I'm no threat to it. He should not shift his attention away from his duty just because I'm accidentally nearby."

The young Marine had a clear conscience, so he simply continued his duty, watching the deck below him. The considerably larger lieutenant came to a halt beside him, surveying the deck, too. He had gone totally quiet again, and after a minute the Marine was close to turning and checking whether Sewell was still there. But just then the other man moved, nodding approvingly to the young man, and continued to the railing.

As he passed the lieutenant of the watch, he uttered in his deep voice a polite "Sir!". The naval lieutenant cheerfully acknowledged the greeting, but didn't try to make the usual small talk. He knew full well that Sewell had probably just said all that he wanted to say on his round.

Code Phrase: Smoke and Oakum

Accepted!