☠ First Impressions⚔ VISUAL: He's tall - he clocks in at 6 ft exactly - and his hat makes him seem taller. No, he's not taking it off. No, don't touch it. Well, you could, I suppose, but the consequences are on you. Definitely looks a bit older than he is; he's heavily weathered and while he probably had freckles once upon a time...Well, they're obscured now. His clothing is a mishmash of the different decades of early 18th Century European fashion; some of it's continental, some of it's British. All of it was expensive at one point, though it's definitely seen better days. He also doesn't care about that, and it shows.
His nails are on the long side (it's bad luck, actually, to trim your nails at sea) and he paints them black and sharpens them. Charming, right? He wears a tiger fang from a hoop in his right ear, and it's just long enough to brush his shoulder, but tends to hide behind his hair. And speaking of that, he has a lot more of it, and it's a lot longer, than a first glance might imply. He keeps most of it braided and out of the way, though it hangs to about mid-shoulder blade loose. He also walks with a limp, though it's more pronounced at some points than others, depending on if he's tired, injured, and with the weather.
⚔ AURAL: His accent, with people from more modern canons, is going to sound distinctly piratey. There's a good reason for that, and it ties into the cheesy pirate movies of the 1950s. No one's 100% sure where it all started, but Hector's native accent - West Country, for the uninitiated, coming out of Bristol, Cornwall, and Devon - has become the defacto pirate accent. In truth, and especially in the 18th Century, it was a through and through stamp of where you came from, and that you were probably poor.
Accent aside, however, Hector possesses that unique combination of having a deeper, baritone voice, with a nasally edge; as though he's speaking through his nose. It's rough and gravelly, and that is definitely from all the years he's put in as a captain. Tall ships are amazingly noisy places - lots of clanking and creaking and wind and canvas snapping - so shouting is the most effective method to being heard; especially important when you're the person in charge. He has leather lungs, and he's not afraid to use them.
His vocal tics are simple to pick out, and tie into his native accent, as well, which has also been co-opted by Hollywood piracy. Mes instead of mys. Mispronouncing weren't as warn't. Words like elseways, hisself, aye for yes, the occasional nay for no (though he's been known to use the proper forms, as well). His word choosing is a mixed bag, and he's highly known for his loquaciousness when it suits him. He knows a lot of big words, and he knows how to use them properly.
⚔ OLFACTORY: If I had a nickle for every time - I swear to God, I'd be Scrooge McDuck. I could be funny here, but let's go with the what is probably the most honest answer:
Truth is, he probably smells absolutely nothing like you're thinking. He's acclimated to the Caribbean's heat and humidity, used to three layers of clothing day in and day out, and the truth is, with diets being what they were then/are for him, he's probably dehydrated as hell. Drinking pure water wouldn't exactly be advisable, where he's from, and the bulk of liquid in his diet is probably absolutely pure liquor. Sweating's not really a thing, at least not much, and not often.
Instead, he probably smells strongly of sea salt, leather, metal, gun oil, gunpowder, and sun-heated linen and cotton. Depending, of course, how recently he's been to port. If he has, throw some strong lye soap in that mix, as well, especially if both he and his clothes are clean. A hefty dose of wood smoke and damp wood, and you've got a good idea of what is what. Not his freshest, probably, no, but not everything else under the sun I've been asked. Human bodies are weird like that.
There's probably a hint of rum in there somewhere, too, being the drink of champions (and cheap, and easy to come by).
⚔ DEMEANOUR: It really depends, honestly. Was he asked if he was a pirate? If so, he probably comes off as brusque and abruptly rude, ending that conversation with a vicious quickness. No, he's never going to answer affimatively, even if he knows you're a pirate (if you are). Especially in that case.
Has Jack Sparrow pissed him off? He's probably going to be loud and cranky and like a bull with a red flag waved in front of him. Approach with caution.
Otherwise, if those two conditions have not been met, he'll come off as courteous, roughly polite, and (depending on the subject matter and the person he's talking to's willingness to part with information) attentive. There's usually an edge there, however, and more often than not a person will walk away from a conversation with him wondering if they've been told anything resembling the truth (they have, but he might have left a few details out). |
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