Ocea Twalk
Novice Officer Ocea Twalk (a.k.a. “Socks”)
Ocea is a young navy officer, one who joined the force as to relieve a debt on her family. Wiser than many her age, Ocea generally prefers solitude as to learn more about the eldritch and magical. She understands the theory behind much, though the practice behind less, given her background as a librarian. Hailing from The Oasis Skerry in the Fortiania Trade Hub, Ocea grew up as the middle child of her two siblings—Farador and Yulisis Twalk. The Twalk family library served as her childhood home and school, it’s books her teachers and its patrons the ones who sparked her interest in the unknown. Her mother and father encouraged her to peruse a literary or scholarly profession, yet Ocea’s interest laid in the arcane alone. The Twalk family library had few books or scrolls on the matter, though, as such studies were against island's law. Ocea did, however, manage to scavenge a few select literary items on the subject, and studied them to the point of memorization. Yet such easy times would not last for Ocea, for the Twalk family library caught ablaze one night, along with many other buildings as the fire spread. On Tel 16th, 351 TA, parchment and wood burned all the same; books of knowledge, leisure and rare volumes of beings beyond all reduced to ash spread in the island’s tropical breeze. Why the Twalk family library burned, nobody but Ocea knows—and she herself will claim ignorance. Fortunately, nobody was killed, though Wenrey Twalk—Ocea’s mother—inhaled too much burning ink and still has difficulty breathing to this day. To make matters worse, the family was put into severe debt following the fire, as the blame could not be placed on another, and they were fined following the destruction of much of Fortania's literature. Knowing the owed sum to be too great to pay, Ocea offered to join the Black Iron Navy, as the government alleviates fines and dues for doing so. Farador objected, offering to join the navy himself, but when Ocea pointed out his more versatile skillset, he was forced to conclude that having Ocea enlist would be the more logical choice.
Within the Storm is a strange power, one which conjures the might and wonder of the ocean. Most don't seem to understand this power, even fearing it, condemning those who intend to utilize it. I am not special, I have no particular affinity for Deepspeaker Channeling, yet intend to try I do. And then to record the knowledge for others to use.-Ocea
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Ocea’s weight is distributed lower, mainly on her hips and upper legs. Her shoulders are narrow, and she’s fairly lean towards her upper torso and arms. While her background of a librarian provided her little in terms of physical demands, her duties as an Black Iron Navy officer forced her into greater physical condition.
Body Features
Ocea has one singular Sea Curse; something not uncommon given her practice of Deepspeaker Channelling. The physical manifestation of the curse is fairly mild, being just a patch of blue fish scales set on her upper right thigh. Spare being seen unclad or in only undergarments, it is none too difficult for her to conceal the scales, as her uniform and casual clothes will both cover the blight. She has never had to explain the curse to any—she was not born with it, nor did she obtain it from injury. It appeared on her when she failed at casting a spell on Tel 16th, 351 TA.
Facial Features
Much of Ocea's face is rounded, both its main shapely features and it's smaller details. Her jaw and cheekbones both curve gently, with her chin protruding slightly. Eyes of dark bronze stare wide and inquisitively, and her lips almost always pursed, yet bearing a slight smirk. Her usual expression gives off a certain contentment—or rather, it used to. In more recent days, Ocea's eyes no longer seem to open as wide, her mouth rarely forming any expression besides a frown.
Apparel & Accessories
As an officer in the Black Iron Navy, Ocea’s typical daily wear consists of the typical mid-grey uniform of a Black Iron Navy Officer—an overcoat buttoned to the collar. Underneath her outerwear, she wears a dress shirt which is messily tucked into her bleached white trousers. She also wears salmon-leather shoes of the Black Iron Navy, despite her disdain for the footwear. When off duty, she swaps her outfit out for her alternative from the Oasis Skerry.
Ocea's more standard outfit consists of a long linen overcoat, one which sinches at the waist via two buttons, creating an hourglass-like shape. The coat is thin and light, both in hue and of weight. Under the coat she wears a blue tunic which she almost always leaves unbuttoned to the collar, along with a pair of undyed slacks. For footwear, she typically wears tied socks combined with sandals.
Specialized Equipment
Ocea's weaponry all comes from the Black Iron Navy's stock. She frequently carries a sheathed Shalve blade, along with a flintlock pistol.
Mental characteristics
Sexuality
While one to fawn over exotic romances of fiction, Ocea's actual experience in courtship is limited. She never approached anyone in the Oasis Skerry, nor had any make attempts for her heart. In the navy, some did indeed hold desire for her, but she was too distracted by duty and long nights to peruse any such relationships.
As for gender preference, Ocea is fine with both men and women. She has a taste for more masculine-leaning individuals: ones who display resilience and strength compounded by wisdom. Physically, she holds a fondness for those taller than her, stronger than her, yet lean and acrobatic. She also finds appeal in a certain dorkiness compounding such traits, finding low confidence endearing. Possibly this spawns from her irritation with her brother, who possesses too much confidence.
Education
As an eternal bookworm, most of what Ocea knows in regards to practical skillsets come from literature. Her mathematics are up to par for her occupation as a navy officer, as are her reading and writing. She also holds basic knowledge of several useful skills, including first-aid, navigation, and wilderness survival. These skills in particular she brushed up on upon joining the Black Iron Navy, as they became more relevant to her life.
I was, as many say, “self taught”—my parents mostly just let me roam around in the family library for days on end, so I eventually learned a bit of everything. I do realize, of course, that book-smarts aren’t everything, but I’d say I at least qualify as more educated than most in Brimsey.-Ocea
Failures & Embarrassments
Ocea's military nickname, ”socks“ originates from her well-known habit of wearing socks constantly. Originally, some of her dormmates noted her habit over the course of her stay on the Grey Keep—the navy's base of operations. But the name only stuck on Ocktorg 4th, when her habit caused her to wear unbefitting attire into the Xernerme bathhouse, resulting in her slipping and falling hard onto the stone floor.
Mental Trauma
On Anwon 23rd, 352 Tempest Age, Ocea was onboard the Black Iron Navy Ship known as Shorerider as it was contacted by a fleeing sailor. The sailor, stating that he was from the Oasis Skerry, told the captain that an eldritch monstrosity was ravaging the city of Fortania. From the sailor's description, the captain judged the being to be Aberration-tier, and, seeing as the ship had two Titantopplers on board, elected to sail for the city in an attempt to slay the monster. Ocea, having reservations but being unable to voice them, went along with the rest of the crew on the captain's poor decision.
By noon, Shorerider had arrived at Fortania's port. The Titantopplers had been brought out, wielded by Jermiah Fau-wasenkin and Ivakina Jiehow, who stood ready on the ship's deck. Ocea, realizing that her flintlock pistol would prove to be a poor weapon against the eldritch horror, went down into the armory to grab a spare musket. It was then that the Monstrosity struck. Ocea, seeing but a brief glimpse of it, stayed down in Shorerider's lower decks, hiding from the abberation.
A third of Shorerider's crew had died, including Jermiah Fau-wasenkin. All while Ocea had hidden in the lower decks. She only witnessed the aftermath—a terror in and of itself—yet it was enough to scar her, leaving her sleepless to the current day, a month later.
“I don’t know how long I stayed there. Looking back, it was probably less than ten minutes, but at the time, it felt like I laid there for an entire day. The entire time, I was absolutely terrified, more so than I have ever been in my life. Finally, when the screaming stopped, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Marines rapidly carried wounded down.”-Ocea Twalk in her journal
Intellectual Characteristics
Though she rarely brings her talent up, Ocea can play a Lieer’pya well, preferring repeating, gentle tunes from days past. Unusually, she holds the instrument in the opposite direction that most do, with the strongstrings facing her, rather than the smallstrings. She does so as she primarily utilizes the smallstrings, preferring their shaper notes.
Along with her usage of the Lieer’pya, Ocea's vocalization is respectable. Her voice is steady, even when singing in fluxuating song or switching tones. Her range isn't particularly special—she can only do medium notes well, but she's consistent, and her tone is best described as “rich”. Not possessing incredible comfort nor unusual notes, but nonetheless flavorful to listen to.
If you ever tell her I said this, you will perish; but Ocea has a nice singing voice when she thinks nobody's around. When she knows someone is, it dies down to a croak. She sometimes sings while playing the Lieer'pya, and considers her usage of the instrument more skillful than her voice.
-Faradore Twalk
Morality & Philosophy
Valuing her understanding of reality first and foremost, Ocea thinks that knowledge, no matter how dangerous, should never be destroyed. Such an ideal is at odds in society of the inner islands, which value security over liberty. This is especially true of the Black Iron Navy, resulting Ocea hersself enforcing an opposite ideal to what she believes.
When you erase history and promote misunderstanding, you lessen humanity and worsen the lives of everyone. It does not matters your “reasoning”, knowledge is not to be destroyed or twisted.-Ocea
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Ocea's primary goal in understanding Ocean-kin Channeling is just that—understanding. She wishes to learn the mystical art, and to study it like a science. Once she can wield the magic, she plans to write and publish her findings for others to understand and use. Though interest in such arts is frequently believed to be madness or a sign of instability, Ocea tempers her goals with caution. Her fear of death and mutilation prove to be generally a bit stronger than her desire to understand magic. Given the nature of the now-corrupted Selkie art of Deepspeech, such is understandable.
I'm not stupid enough to think that I'll find a way out of the Storm through Deepspeaker Channeling. What I want is to learn to utilize it. Think to what we could accomplish!
-Ocea Twalk
Virtues & Personality perks
Ocea is undeniably intelligent—able to pick up skills quickly and able to become efficient in many in a short span of time. Once, when she was fourteen, she was introduced to the game of Wilm by her elder brother Farador. Within a month, she was consistently besting him, along with the rest of her family. The novice Officer also possess a notably good memory, and is keen on jotting down details when others wouldn’t think to do so. This does, however, sometimes lead to her pockets being filled with many pieces of scrap paper with barely legible notes.
“This one displays traits of unfortunate rarity—patience and an eagerness to understand prior to action. A scholar. I suspect she is in the navy for reasons besides the establishment of order, but she may be of use nevertheless.”
-Grand Admiral Austyx
Social
Social Aptitude
Put plainly: Ocea is an extrovert, albiet one who prefers the presence of small groups, rather than crowds. She suffers no significant shyness, and explains her thoughts quickly when allowed to input. And occasionally when not allowed input.
“I have confidence, my sister has discretion. I would frankly trade her for it even if the deal were upstream—that is to say, even if I had to put in remarkable effort to do so.”-Farador Twalk
Hobbies & Pets
As a librarian, it should be of little surprise that Ocea's primary hobby is reading. Most of the literature she consumes, however, is not high art. Rather, it is pulpy and comforting—nothing that provokes significant thought, nor much with political messaging. Many of such titles are romances. Tales of pretty jaunts between two sappy and sweet individuals with little plot besides the pair's relationship. Ocea would almost certainly die inside if one in the navy noticed this literary trend of hers.
Backstory outline:
Ocea was born on the Oasis Skerry as the middle child to three siblings
Her parents ran the Twalk family library. It originally belonged to her mother's bloodline.
Ocea's father was a news publisher prior, working in Port Brimsey
Ocea took a fascination with eldritch magic after having a scraped arm be healed at age 12
- A Selkie Deepspeaker healed the wound, after having accidentally caused it
- She began to search for information on the subject, and learned the basic concepts of Selkie magic by age 16
- A sea curse manifested on Ocea's right thigh; a collection of green fish scales
- The spell itself involved no fire, rather, Ocea knocked over a lit oil lamp when the spell went wrong
- Though her family survived, Ocea's mother suffered a lung injury from the fire and has trouble breathing for months
- Ocea enlists in the navy to reduce this debt, as joining it removes a certain amount from the enlistee's personal or family debts
- Faradore initially offers to join the navy first. Ocea admits to him alone the fire was her fault, and persuades him to let her take the fall
Up in her shared officer dorm in The Silent Keep, Ocea keeps a stash of select papers, books and reports on oceanic activity and studies of Deepspeech. Due to their prohibited legal status in Port Brimsey, such literature must be hidden for Ocea to remain both an officer and outside of prison. Her other literature, while not illegal by any means, would prove horrendously embarrassing for her if discovered.
Culture: Farath
The Twalk family consists primarily of historians, librarians, and scholarly researchers. They hold a stable, favorable reputation among most in the Fortania Trade hub. Ocea is generally viewed positively among her family. She possesses their valued traits—most notably intellect and curiosity.Religion: Atheist
Ocea, like most Farath, favors no religion. To her, the practice is outdated and rooted in unproven superstition. More than that, after studying the Metian and Zeri religions, along with the original churches in Faramine, she's come to the conclusion that religion is dangerous due to its influence in political affairs.
Alignment
Lawful Neutral
Current Location
Conditions
Date of Birth
Ocktorg 3rd, 330 TA
Year of Birth
330 TA
22 Years old
Birthplace
The Oasis Skerry, Fortania
Children
Sex
Female
Gender
Woman
Presentation
Feminine
Eyes
Earth Brown
Hair
Dark brown, quite curled
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Dark Copper
Height
5’6”
Weight
131 lbs
Quotes & Catchphrases
“Ohohoh—I’ve read about this! Here, allow me. I think I just- *crack* … maybe you should do it.” “The feet were never intended to be uncovered for long durations. Sleep is a long duration.” “After thorough research, I have concluded that I am, in fact, both stupid and tired.”
Aligned Organization
Comments