Rapscallion/Buccaneer level 7

Level 7 description - Eel is a self trained sniper and assassin.

Distinctive flaws- Won't shut up about Atlantis
Physical trademark- Squiggly eel arms
Idiosyncrasies- Speaks to people who aren't there.
Unfortunate incidents- The Spanish hold his wife captive. Eel has given her up for dead, but her ghost haunts him.

Level 3-6 description
Eel Lec'Trufyd formerly known as Crisp Rat the rapscallion mutant. Cult leader of the The Wretched. Pilgrim of The Church of the Forsaken Seafarer
He has witnessed the The Slipstream of the Dead and sworn allegiance to The Sunken One after being born again as a mutant.
Now, he works to sacrifice Imperials deserving of death and trade their souls for people he wants back from the Beyond.

Sunken One's Mark- Tattoo of a Clawed hand. Allows the Sunken one to contact you but you can't communicate anything back.
also allows for short-range voice communication with other bearers of the Mark.

His new master has forbidden him the knowledge that he seeks, so he quests for answers about how to reverse the apocalypse and save the world. This is a fool's errand, but he will try nonetheless.

Sentient creatures like Meatsack (Undead Whale) and the Kraken are lost souls just like us, and their lives should be respected.
Titans like the kraken are the allies we will need to face cosmic-level threats.

(before his trip to the Underworld)
Cris is haunted by his past, and wishes to let go of his vendetta against the Spanish for what they did to his family
(they were hostages of the Spanish but he has written them off as dead; perhaps he will have visions of them in the astral plane.)
After summoning the Kraken for the wrong reasons, and with the blood of hundreds, perhaps thousands on his hands, he seeks a fresh start in the embrace of the cold deep.
Should he be judged by the Sunken one or other Powers That Be, hopefully this baptism at sea will wash him clean of his past mistakes.

Special: Electric eel mutant Blessing from Sunken One. (+1 to AGL, electric skin d6)
Level 1: Sneaky bastard Test AGL to automatically crit with a sneak attack
level 2: Burglar Pickpocket, disarm an enemy, or disable a trap: -4 to DR
Level 3: Rope Monkey If you attack after swinging, jumping, or making an acrobatic maneuver, test Agility DR10 to automatically hit and deal +2 damage.
Level 4: Grog Brewer Each day you can brew d4 servings of potent grog. You can soak melee weapons in it to use as a poison Grog in a wound: Test Toughness DR14 or -d6 HP
Level 5: Sneaky Bastard II -2 DR to sneak attacks
Level 6: Backstabber: -2 DR and +d2 damage
Level 7 Focused Aim (buccaneer): Attacks against enemies you have already shot at during this combat are -4 DR to hit.

Base DR to sneak attack: 12-4= 8

More unfortunate incidents
Wanted by the French for a conspiracy to kill Gov Torres in Summer '15
Feels responsible for his crew's betrayal of merfolk; made a dark bargain with the Sunken one in Fall '15
Wanted by the Spanish for failed assassination of the Count in Winter '16
Sole survivor of the ill-fated Meatsack (Undead Whale) in the battle of Nassau Fall '16
Spent the past six months living as a "ghost" in the church, killing trespassers and living off scraps.

World event from Eel's perspective-
Prelude
We are called to a pirate council.
Our new leader Anne and the Brethren seems blind to the inevitable war to come.
They are only concerned with treasure splits and profits, but useful for our Church's purposes.
Our deacon Tempus speaks on behalf of the church saying that we must summon the Great old ones to save us.
Though I haven't seen an old one myself, if they are anything like the Kraken they will be a sight to behold.
Red Mary threatens her fellow pirates before storming off. I'm sensing friction between Republic & Brethren...
We discuss the threat of the Scourge and Abyss, and the rising of Atlantis. Some confusion around why we have undead in our ranks.
I clarify that the Atlantean royals are our new allies, but they too fight the Scourge. Many of their number have sworn their souls to the Abyss.
Someone suggests sailing to the Abyss -- "One does not simply sail into the Abyss..."
Anne accuses her political enemies of trying to fill the Abyss with sand. A clear misdirection, but I admire her guile.
Before coming up with a consensus, we are interrupted by warning bells- "sails in the harbor! We're under attack!"

Act 1
My dream to assemble a pirate fleet comes to fruition, but we are too late to stop the Imperial invasion!
Our forces rush towards our ships. This will be our largest united fleet yet- larger than Atlantis!
Tempus & Eel lead a crew of Wretched to the Meatsack, an undead whale-ship.
They hastily embark into the whale's mouth.
"Do we have the Atlantean torpedoes ready?!"
"Sir, they are untested. We don't know if it will fire from out of Meatsack's..."
"Have faith in Anne's plan, and load the squid torpedo into the sphincter!"

Act 2- on the Meatsack
From the light of a will o wisp lantern hanging in a cramped space, Eel writes down calculations on a quill and parchment.
Touching his palm to the Whale's flesh, his tattoo lights up next to a matching one on Meatsack's inner hide.
Eel briefly feels this creature's constant torment. The creature seeks death. Does Eel, too? "Hang in there old buddy." Eel has a surprising empathy for this beast.
"Our enemy approach from the south and east. Where are our Atlantean cannons she installed?"
"Anne put them by the reefs to the west, to protect our flank, but now they will be useless in a head on assault."
Peering out of a spyglass that's been repurposed as a 'periscope' - "I can't see a damn thing in this murk!"
"Based on my calculations, we should be make contact in three to five minutes. Stay frosty!"
(report from the Sea witch: a cohort with matching Tattoo) "We have made contact! the fort is taking fire from the Rising Ghost, and the Bloody Wake is first to engage the Spaniards to the south."
Rubbing his crab hand tattoo, Eel has a brief vision of the face of Count D'Artagnan. Had he made a deal with our Master, despite our best efforts?
"Damn, we're still at least two minutes out. Do we have visibility?"
"Can't see any- wait, what's that?! Another submersible bearing mark 300... are they Wretched?!"
(Sea witch): "Kraken spotted! It's going after the Saber!"
"It's attacking one of our ships... how could this be? Our prayers have been in vain!"
Some of the sailors cry out in despair while others drop to their knees in prayer.
"Bless the coming and going of Him. May His passage cleanse the world. May He keep the world for His people..."

Act 3-
The Meatsack listed to the side as a cannon ball sliced through it, wounding two crewmates.
"We're taking fire! the fools are targeting us instead of the fleet!"
A crewmate cried out in pain as his guts spilled out in this festering space. If the gut wound didn't kill him, the infection probably would...

Eel regained focus. "We should be making contact with the San Salvador any moment! Spotter?!"
Through a smudged glass, a massive shape emerges from the muck, lit up with flashes of cannon fire. "I can see her, dead ahead! She looks like she's under fire!"
"Good, ahead to ramming speed! Ready the Atlantean torpedo!"
Volidia, the knight of Atlantis, loaded himself and his trident into the cramped coffin-shaped box, stuffed into an undead squid. (merfolk sign) "It is a good day to die!"
"Sir, I'm not even sure if this thing will launch, we've never tested it!"
"No time like the present!"
The merfolk sorcerer 'pilot,' was doing her best to force this unwilling creature into the fire. Meatsack let out a pathetic moan.
(merfolk) "Faster, you damnable beast! In the name of the Deep!"
Then, the spotter spoke up again: "Abort! The Salvador is about to blow--"
From about 100 fathoms ahead of us, the ship cleaved in half with a massive black powder explosion that was felt but not seen by our crew.
"Hard to port! Hard to port!"

The Meatsack narrowly avoided friendly fire, diving about 50 fathoms underwater and wheeling about towards the Spanish fleet to the North.
Eel took the spyglass from the spotter, and channeled the powers of the Deep to summon the Drowned. It was difficult at this distance to focus his energies.
"If I can't kill these bastards with my own hand, this will have to suffice! Kill any Imperial survivors!"
Sea Witch: "We've taken control of the Kraken with magic, but the unknown ship of the deep is flying the flag of the Wretched! Is it one of ours?!"
"I have no idea," Eel replied. Could this be The Master's doing? Does he know of our plot to betray him?
From the Sea Witch: "The Bloody Wake has been destroyed by the Spanish!"
"More martyrs for our holy cause," Eel mused. "There will be many more before our crusade against the Imperials is over."
Sea Witch: "Blackbeard has returned with a fleet of Scourge! approaching through the reefs from the Northeast!"
"Move to intercept them, and keep an eye out for contact!"
"Sir, the torpedo is jammed! We had to abort and now it's stuck halfway..."
"Damn the torpedos! Prepare for everyone to disembark from the mouth at my command..."

Act 4-
"The Gull is scuttled! It's being boarded by the Revenge!"
In that moment, Eel remembered his journey on the Carrion Gull, and wished he was there instead of here: breathing sea air instead of this stench; protecting his friend Zeke. (unknown to him, Zeke is fighting for his life against the Drowned that Eel summoned)
Then someone asked, "Distance?"
Guts had covered his parchment again, and it was mostly ruined. Squinting in the green, ethereal wisp light, he hastily scribbled numbers and calculations.
"Based on our reports, we could be anywhere between 50 and 200 fathoms from the target, if it's still at the same bearing as before. Still no vision!"
The pilot spoke up: "We can see it, dead ahead! Full ahead, captain?"
Tempus: "Aye, full ahead pilot! Put your earplugs in, it's time for a sermon!" He readied a page of the necronomicon while the crew filled their ears with wax.
The sound of impacts from outside: (in merfolk battle language) "That wasn't a ship, it was something smaller!"
The pilot wailed in agony as her link to the beast was severed. Her body moved as though getting stabbed with dozens of blades, and then she was still, dead.
(battle language) "Someone else take control! Need to get her back moving! We're sitting ducks on the surface!"
Buckling from its master's control, the whale struggled furiously to shake off its skeleton boarders, jetting forward into a barrel roll.
The whole crew was scrambled and their wisp-light extinguished, before the vessel ran headfirst into a reef.
As the sailors picked themselves out of the creature's remains, the Rising Ghost loomed out of the fog.
Act 5-
No time to mourn this poor beast. Signing silently in merfolk, Eel began to guide the crew towards hiding places within the reef- being part Eel himself, this is "home turf."
As the rest of us hid in the shallows, Deacon Tempus stood proud and tall and belted in his loudest voice. His intent to kill as many Spanish without regard for his own safety was answered, as dozens of Spanish sailors stories above us dropped dead.
Our earplugs, which had worked for us in the past, couldn't withstand our Deacon's most powerful salvo yet. Our crew clapped their hands to ears in agony.
(Spr test success) Eel's plan to expose himself to daily stanzas from these pages seems to have paid off. Perhaps, just like any other poison, a body can develop immunity over time?
In answer, the French mobilized under orders from their count. Was he similarly resistant to these words? Eel wondered.
"All guns on that man! Fire at will!"
Our deacon fell as dozens of bullets pierced his body before he fell to the water. No one could have survived that many shots. Eel swam to retrieve his body, dodging bullets underwater. The Necronomicon pages must be recovered. Many spies died to bring us this information...
Looking back to his crew, he saw their broken corpses floating in the water. The broken body of his squid-torpedo invention had finally dislodged from the whale, but it was just as dead as the rest.
They know what they signed up for. We traded up... He reassured himself as he tore off his sleeves and began to zoom through the water with eel-arms.
He could see the Rising Ghost's massive hull leaving port. At least we got them to retreat...

Bill's "fanfic" Epilogue- about a day later
Eel had gone "dark," jumping from hiding-place to hiding-place and silently killing anyone before being detected.
Just like the Necronomicon pages, there were relics and other items of value at the Church that needed protection, so despite the risks, he returned to town.
He found inner and outer walls to be invaded with Scourge, and had to lay low on the first day without making it back to the Church.
On the next day, the undead had mostly cleared out, leaving corpses and a ghost town in their wake. It happened as I feared. So many dead. We were too late!
Stalking through the shadows and through hidden ways, he made his way into the basement of the Church. The drowning pool where he had been born again dripped in an otherwise silent room.
It appeared as though it had been cleared of valuables and then abandoned. There was no sign of the relics he had brought here- hopefully they were in friendly hands?
There's no guarantee the enemy won't take this place over now, he thought to himself. I need to destroy anything they could use against me!
He mixed a bucket of bleach, and prepared to scrub out his mural of the assembled images from the Necronomicon pages- the "bigger picture" he was building.
A ghostly-pale hand stopped his, and Eel looked up into the eyes of his long lost wife, captured by the Spanish, who he had given up for dead.
Dozens of questions rushed to his mind but one too form first- Had she been brought back by the Sunken one?
As they looked at each other, Eel could see the empathy and understanding in her eyes, and she could see the pain and guilt in his.
For a moment, she seemed shocked by how strange his face and hands looked. She could tell he had become a different person in the past two years.
"Hang in there, Sjaak," she said, and he broke down crying in her lap.

Post battle:
I would have sailed with the Wretched if I had known that was an option. Going to have to follow up on that since they attacked us and not the imperials... whose orders were they following? Hopefully not my Master's...

Barlow: your master is against us pirates
Barnacle bill: "Sunken one works in mysterious ways. He's given us the blessings we need to kill Imperials.
Without kraken controlling magic, we would have had a much harder time.
I'm not sure who those other wretched were or what their intentions are- they are probably a rival splinter cell.
If we both work for the same cult, neither cell is aware of the other's existence
The wretched are like arms of an octopus-they work independently of each other"