Maude Carter

Maude Carter, also known as the Ashen Hyena, is the ruthless Dread Captain of the Graveyard Galleon. Appointed by Davy Jones for her coldhearted pragmatism, she reigns over the crew with an iron fist, with only one goal in mind: to serve Jones by protecting Isla de Oro. Her nickname is derived from her ashen grey clothing and her cut-throat personality, although now she's a draugur, her skin has coincidentally turned grey as well.

Early history
Born as the daughter of a lady of the night in 1663, Maude Carter was taken in by Rachel Lindsey, the owner of an alehouse in Plymouth, England. She taught Maude all the tricks of the trade as a barmaid, showing her how to use her charisma and beauty to convince the patrons to do almost anything -- including paying generous tips.

As she grew older, Maude took to the role of a pawnbroker, giving sailors and pirates loans in return for their valuables, and she was damn good at what she did. However, while she loved Rachel, she wanted to see more of the world than just the town she grew up in. When she was seventeen, she said her friends goodbye, took on the disguise of a man, and joined a pirate ship to sail the seven seas.

Over the years, she climbed the ranks, eventually making it to first mate at age thirty-one. The captain of the ship she served on made some bad decisions, and over time, the crew began to mutter amongst themselves. Sensing an opportunity, Maude skillfully approached the right people and planted some ideas in their minds. It led to a mutiny that saw the captain to be left at a dock and Maude in his place.

Those years of being a captain were her glory years, and she led herself and her crew to countless bounties. Her fleet expanded from just one ship to a total of four small but swift vessels. The ships would work together in tandem to take down larger and more valuable targets, earning Maude the nickname 'the Ashen Hyena' for the pack tactics she used and the grey clothing she wore.

Another reason for her nickname is her pet hyena, which she'd somehow ended up with after an adventure in Africa. She has always been secretive about it, and all anyone knows is that she went into the savannah as normal yet came out with a bloody gash for a left eye and a hyena called Koda as a companion. Her eye was lost entirely, and she covered the empty socket with an eyepatch or a bandana.

As a captain, there were few jobs or treasures that Maude wouldn't go after. Hunting down bounties, capturing merchants, even occasionally following rumours and maps leading to supposed treasure. The steady supply of funds kept her fleet satisfied, even if she ruled them with an iron fist. While no one would call Maude a good person, her ruthless efficiency certainly made for excellent pay with fewer risks.

Despite the many stories about the 'hyena pack', the ships often went on their own way to chase their own goals and bounties. During one of those solo trips, Maude and her crew followed the rumours of magical treasure to an uninhabited island. While the rumours turned out to be true, the journey didn’t go as they expected.

It ended up being a trap laid by sea witches, and while Maude and her crew fought their way out, the captain had contracted a dangerous curse. She found a cutlass that magically bound itself to her, and whenever she killed using it, it devoured all her empathetic emotions. On top of that, it altered her appearance. Wisps of yellow mist started emitting from her, marking her as unnatural for all to see. Especially in the dark, it was noticeable, because the mist glows. Most of the mist emanated from her empty eye socket.

Terrified by the witchcraft, she tried to burn the cutlass, throw it away, and blow it up with a cannon, but no matter what she did, it returned to her side unharmed. As its effects began to wear down on her, she turned more and more cruel, losing her ability to care for others and how they felt.

Eventually, she no longer wanted to part from the blade on her own accord. That is when it changed, allowing itself to transform into a 3.50m-long (11’) bladed whip. The whip form is beyond lethal, and she rarely uses it for anything other than intimidation.

By the time she was forty-two, her reputation had caught up to her. The British were sick and tired of her fleet making the high seas unsafe and decided to neutralise the threat. In a gruesome battle in which the pirates fought valiantly, the entire hyena pack was destroyed or captured.

During that battle, Maude was torn apart by a cannonball and taken into the depths. There, she was welcomed by Davy Jones, who was beyond pleased to have such a fierce and cruel warrior amongst his ranks. Since her body was destroyed, he crafted her a new one, made from the strongest skeletons he could find.

Maude spent her time in the abyss waiting and training, trying to prove herself to the deity in any way she could. She wanted out, to continue fighting. Year after year, she was disappointed, no matter how hard she tried. She’d almost lost hope when the god summoned her to his throne room and appointed her as the next Dread Captain. She swore never to disappoint him like the previous captain had done and went to Isla de Oro.

Arrival in Puerto Dorado
The beginning of her work in Puerto Dorado was quite rocky, especially her relationship with other people. They were still grieving the death of her predecessor, Jane Azarok Barnaby, and the stark differences between her and them didn't go down well. Her results-focused way of working wasn't for everyone, especially the crew of the Graveyard Galleon, who dearly missed their beloved Barnaby. She put them to work immediately, much to most's chagrin.

Almost immediately, she made enemies as well, namely with Kaspiare Galiot of the Sunken Cephalopod. Having been trained that all dragons are either trained creatures of war like the Quacken or threats, Maude immediately went on the offensive when she saw the Siren dragon on the beach. A slew of issues and hostilities followed, which came to a head after Kaspiare devoured Stonks "Golden Hands" and Maude went over to show him exactly what happens to people that hurt her crew (they get gutted. That's what happens. He did get gutted).

At the last second, it was Jack Darkness who stepped in and held Maude back to ensure that Kaspiare could get help. The Dread Captain had been guarding the dying dragon to ensure he'd bleed out alone and die, but the Lord couldn't let that happen. Later, he spoke with Maude privately, as did Lord Luxor Jones and Captain Everett Seymour Brown, all of whom were less than impressed with the entire ordeal. It all came down to one thing: apologise to Kaspiare, and never let this happen again.

Due to her allegiance to Davy Jones and her many years of rigorous training and disciplining, she obeyed the Pirate Lords without question, and she followed their orders. As requested, she apologised to Kaspiare. Since then, she kept her distance from the Navigator, and he did the same. Neither of the two was keen to be in the other's vicinity after the entire ordeal.

The entire time since she arrived, people were trying to figure out what made her tick, carefully questioning her and observing her curse to find out how it worked. Amongst those people were especially Cenwyn and Stonks, who met multiple times to discuss what they noticed and how to best deal with their new Captain. They'd noticed her behaviour was irregular sometimes and that she seemed capable of empathy when her curse was weakened, something quite unusual for her.

Another person who grew oddly close to her over the months is Jack Darkness. He treated her with an amount of patience and kindness she'd never seen before, and it unnerved her. Similarly, her literal way of following orders to the letter without hesitation had a way of freaking him out, too. Over time, he convinced her to take prisoners instead of simply killing threats, as well as try to begin avoiding violence a little bit more.

When she found "Gunpowder" Bill to have been attacking, robbing, and killing innocent townsfolk, she went to Jack to ask permission to 'dispose' of the then-Captain. That is when he essentially told her killing was a no-go and imprisoning would always be preferred. That is why, when she came upon a serial killer later revealed to be called Styx, she took him in alive as well.

When Styx eventually managed to escape despite constant surveillance, Maude went to Jack to bring the word. Expecting to be punished harshly, she first invited him to a duel, in which she was defeated by the Lord. At the end of the fight, she told him what happened, yet instead of being met with scalding words like would have happened with Davy Jones, he simply told her that this could happen and to find him again. And so on the hunt she went.

In the meantime, she was also building up a relationship with Captain Everett. He was the oldest of the other Captains, the other three being teens, and the doctor felt oddly compelled to try to find the person underneath the warrior and protector. Everett regularly found excuses to meet with Maude, using her own logic against her to trick her into thinking it was for work reasons. Their talks were for "building trust" and "exchanging information", according to the spirit.

Over time, he is the one that managed to bring the most change to Maude. When the Nightwatch was changed by Davy Jones and a good part of the undead were altered into entirely new creatures, so was Carter. She was changed into a draugur. With it, she lost her ability to drink skelly juice, a stimulant she'd grown to depend on over the decades. With Everett's careful nudging, she eventually decided to fight her addiction and lay off the skelly juice entirely.

Music began to become more prominent in her life as well. It first came upon her in the tavern, when she heard a man called Vasilis play and was all but enchanted by his song. Maude has a love for music, but would never admit to it. She and Vasilis got talking, and the bard played for her more often, much to her wordless appreciation. He nudged her to stop taking skelly juice and instead rest properly as well, and consider forming meaningful friendships and persue interests outside of work. When she got caught in a deal with Everett where she had to play music for him, Vasilis encouraged it.

In exchange for more information about Fae, spirits, and how all that worked, Maude ended up in a deal with Everett where she had to play piano music for him. He insisted it had to be good music, so he mase her take lessons with him on the Sunken Cephalopod. The worst part was that she actually enjoyed it and couldn't find any good reasons not to do it. After all, Davy Jones allowed her to keep controlling three bodies at once despite being a draugur, so she could spare one after Watch hours to be with Everett for a little while. That happened more often than not recently regardless, ending up in deals that caused her to have braids and flowers in her hair.

Over the months, her personality slowly but surely shifted. No longer was she focused solely on work, on results, patrolling Isla de Oro twenty-four hours a day even if she only had to work for twelve. Killing on sight was no longer the policy, at least not on the island itself. No, the Nightwatch now took prisoners, and Maude carefully avoided causing fights and trouble. If she wasn't careful, she might even consider one or two people her friend at that point.

Appearance & Gear
Standing 1.65m (5'5) tall, Maude is a draugur dressed in all grey with a golden-yellow trim, from her knee-high boots to her ankle-length coat. Even her Captain's hat is ashen with yellow decorations. While she does wear trousers, she leaves her torso uncovered. Her skin is a necrotic grey-blueish hue as well, albeit more grey than blue. Her black hair is nowhere near as thick as it was when alive, but it reaches between her shoulder blades. Normally, she keeps it tied up in a quick but functional ponytail.

An eerie yellow glow emits from her left eye socket. The same glow radiates off of her blade-whip. When she is upset or the curse is particularly powerful, it'll surround her like a toxic aura, the glow bright. Conversely, when she or the curse is weakened, the glow will become dimmer and less mist will be emitted, revealing the scarred and empty socket behind.

Maude uses a very distinctive weapon: the whip-sword. The nasty bit of steel can either be a 75 cm (30") cutlass or a 350 cm (11'6") whip. It is a weapon made to maim as much as kill, offering its wielder a terrifying amount of range and control. After years of working with it, Maude uses the blade as an extension of her body.

When dealing with magic, she often has a bunch of lead-lined protective measures, such as a special set of gloves and extra soles to put in her boots. She has several protective charms made of various materials such as lead, black tourmaline, and hematite. One can never be too prepared.

Personality
To be able to keep wreaking havoc on the fleets and ships of the large nations, Maude has vowed undying loyalty to Davy Jones. She sets to whatever task he gives her with single-minded determination. Her methods are ruthlessly efficient, not caring for who or what gets damaged in the process so long as she gets the right results. They don't shy away from cruelty and violence.

This behaviour has garnered her few friends, both when she was alive and during the long years spent in Jones' Locker. She's fine with that, though. Few people can see eye to eye with her, and it frustrates her to no end when people don't understand that her way is the right way. Too many questions asked might just result in the person getting a lash of her whip.

Maude's personality is mostly due to her curse. Whenever she takes a life, the curse takes her empathy, compassion, and other such feelings related to caring for others. Over time, she's grown to rely on this and the thought of caring for others unnerves her. Whenever the curse's effects fade, she sets out to kill again, intent on keeping the status quo.

Being a Dread Captain, her only superiors are Davy Jones himself and the Pirate Lords. She obeys the six of them with near complete loyalty, almost never audibly questioning their orders or going against them. Fellow Captains or anyone ranked lower will be scrutinised quite closely.

In short, violence isn't the answer. Violence is the question, and the answer is a wholehearted yes. Efficiency and quick performance are key.

Abilities & Skills

 * Cursed Due to her curse, Maude is unable to feel empathy, even if she is capable of feeling the full range of emotions. This apathy allows her to be far more effective at killing and is encouraged by Davy Jones. When their curse is weakened somehow, they can kill with their bound weapon to restore it again.
 * Undead control Having spent years training in the abyss, Maude can control several skeletons at once and is almost never in only one place at a time. However, this also means she's rarely fully paying attention.
 * Servant of Jones Maude has a contract with Davy Jones. While it allows them to continue living as an undead skeleton, they are bound to Isla de Oro, forced to guard it for the rest of their immortal lives with no hope of an afterlife.
 * Warrior With decades of hard work, Carter has mastered control of both the cutlass and her bladed whip and is a formidable opponent in battle, always staying one step ahead. However, she tends to refuse to use ranged weapons in favour of her blades.



Other Information

 * Almost always, she'll be carrying a bottle with her own mixture of milk and skelly juice, essentially a form of energy drink but then for the undead. She uses the stimulant to be able to stay conscious across several bodies, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
 * Maude weighs 7.8 kilograms or 17lbs. Her clothing and weapons combined almost weigh more than she does.
 * She has an undead hyena called Koda that occasionally appears. For the most part, Koda wanders around the Galleon, serving as Maude’s extra eyes and ears.
 * Maude's pronouns are she/her and they/them.
 * As Vasilis has discovered, music is an eerily quick way to Maude's cursed heart. No one has played any for her in decades, and she finds that she greatly enjoys it and wants to listen to it more, even if she'll never admit it out loud.
 * While not weak to iron or tin, Maude is harmed by magic meant to cleanse or purify, and protection from evil can be used to ward her off, too. Cleansing or purifying magic can also weaken her curse, which is what happened after a particularly unfortunate incident in the tavern involving Cat, Maude, Stray, Cenwyn, and unusually potent clover smoke. It took her several weeks after the event to notice that her curse had been weakened to the point of allowing limited empathy, after which she immediately rectified it.
 * Maude is Jane's second main character, coming after the death of Jane Azarok Barnaby
 * Jane has written several stories for Puerto. The ones on the Wiki are: The Weaver Diaries, A Tale from the Past, Dance with the Devil, Taking Shelter, and In Irons.
 * Jane's pronouns are she/her and they/them.
 * Jane joined the server on November 14th, 2020.
 * Jane joined the server on November 14th, 2020.