Ducat Bucket

""You tried to make a fair trade, play by the rules, Duck. But you don't have to. The sacrifice you made today was very helpful. It was deserving of a reward."

''"I don't want to be rewarded for this.""

‧̍̊·̊‧̥°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥‧̥·̊‧̍̊ ❈ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ❈‧̍̊·̊‧̥°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥‧̥·̊‧̍̊..

Appearance
Ducat Bucket (pronounced bouquet) is a young adult tiefling with dark red skin. Those familiar with the history and culture of plane-touched beings would recognize Ducat as a branded tiefling, which may indicate recent extra-planar involvement in their bloodline. Two pairs of horns grow out of the top of their skull; the first pair is the same deep crimson as their skin, extending from their forehead to curve around and cover the base of the second pair. The second is longer, curving out and then back inward, ribbed with layers of growing bone and keratin; it is naturally decorated with a golden inlet on the base of the outward-facing side and a gradation to bright red near the tip, as if dipped in blood. Their hair is white and shaved to the base of their neck on the lower layer while the top layers remain long; the hair is lightly tended to and often pulled into a loose bun to fight the winds of the sea. Their tail is normally positioned in a slight curl, held parallel with their body and then dipping down towards their shoulders. The length has chitinous plates on the dorsal and posterior sides; their tail ends with a black bulbed scorpion's telson, aimed to a bright red tip.

Much of their clothes are secondhand and worn yet are well-kept patches of different fabric as they were repaired or expanded upon over the years. Recently, Ducat was gifted a handmade coat by Mirari Arossa, made of black velvet and golden brocade fabric, which they have worn less lately. After scoring heavy gold coin, they treated themself to the purchase of a Nature's Mantle, which takes on the coloration of the surrounding natural environment in with patterns resembling those of a cephalopod. They also purchased new clothing at EFAIN's insistence, opening the door for a new style.

They speak quietly and carry a big stick (quarterstaff) and a long ovular shield. After sustaining much injury overseas, Ducat has upgraded their armor to tougher hide. They also purchased a Stone of Reserve, which floats around their head when containing a spell.

Arc I - III
Ducat is quiet and reserved, but does not tend to be emotional. They are emotionally intelligent, but the competency of that skill extends further for individuals other than themself.

They believe all people are logical to themselves, at their core, and it only takes effort to understand what causes them to act the way they do. While this does not excuse evil, it "humanizes" it to them. All people are connected by this inner truth in that all have the capacity to be good or evil at any time and it takes continuous effort to remain on one side. Though recently, they have had trouble seeing the reason in ex-Captain Lavaud's actions against his own crew and child. On some occasions they coldly declare they would like to see him dead.

Like most, they do have a breaking point, but where that point may lie is unclear. Before coming to that point, Ducat has acted calm and logically-driven, with few exceptions.When asked about Love, Ducat is bashful and avoids talking about the question. When embarrassed, they stumble over words and cover part or all of their face with a hand.

As one would expect from a druid, Ducat sympathizes with creatures even when they are hostile, such as defending the Crowcadile that was attempting to consume their arm in Roundabout.

Arc IV -
Ducat still speaks quietly and gently, though they speak up more often and with more sting in their words, when the situation merits. They stand taller. They care less about the opinions of others, believing those opinions will never reflect Ducat's intended self. And their opinion of other people as a whole has also lessened as they have encountered more selfish individuals outside Summerwind.

In therapy, Ducat says they struggle with trust. They feel unable to trust that people think highly of them, resulting in a lack of faith in the tiefling. This spawns from the revelation that those Ducat trusted most: Aria, Dinh, and Vilmaris, all lied or obfuscated the truth from them for years. They corrupt the idea that they are the common denominator of their relationship problems and irrationally link unrelated events to form their dying self-worth: something must be wrong with them. As the cruelest neighbors in Summerwind used to whisper: Ducat is the cursed spawn of a trickster devil and they will never have the power to levy that burden.

Backstory
Ducat grew up in Summerwind with their family and still lived with their mother, Aria Bucket, until their first journey from home aboard the Mistral. In Fragile Tempers, Ducat told Mirari that they were named "Ducat" by the people of Summerwind, referring to their father's greed for gold that he allegedly stole from them all. They did not explain why they preferred a name begotten of an insult to something else.Though they are well-known to friends for having an even temperament, Ducat has relayed to Mirari a tale of their childhood where they accidentally used magic on their heart-throb. They claimed to have accidentally made a spark, while angry, that burned her long hair in such a way that it needed to be chopped off. After that episode, their mother taught them mindfulness techniques and meditations which they use to ground themself.

In their early adulthood, Summerwind was infected by a plague of the fungal variety, believed to be caused by Amanita fumigatus. They called it rattlegasp, on account of the most evident side effect of infection. Overwhelmed by the amount of patients and the lack of available cures, Ducat and Aria sought help from professionals in Green Harbor and happened upon Dr. Vilmaris Baymond, an expert in respiratory disease. He stayed past the end of containment for five more years, training Ducat in alchemy to better their practice - until he suddenly disappeared without a word.

Ducat left their home island for the first time, seeking him out without much of a plan - they admitted to Z that they boarded The Mistral only because it traveled to a variety of locations and they had no idea where to start, and that if they were invited to adventure longer with Z, they would want to be on a ship that followed much the same path. The only clues they had were old journals unused for years and two recent pieces of mail they stole from his desk.

During silly slumber parties and drunk shenanigans, it came to light that Ducat was in love with their mentor and continues to be, even now. Their idyllic dream given to them by the horn contained only the two of them living a domestic life in Cageport where Ducat had cured Summerwind of all traces of rattlegasp. They were unsatisfied with this ending, for some reason.

With a sense of greater urgency, they stayed on Vilmaris' trail. Mushrooms emerged from their blood and body during injury, which may have passed as normal for the druid's nature magic; recent developments where the tiefling passed out when in shallow water caused them to worry they had contracted some sort of mutation of the fungus they had been studying. For this reason, they believed finding him to be a great priority. Until they found his past work and answer to the mystery.

Orchid the EFAIN Companion
 dahlia; dignity, pomp — amaryllis; pride, accomplishment — hibiscus; delicate beauty 

For a time, EFAIN's inhumanity and proclamations of desire for money and power unsettled Ducat. They wondered if the flyers claiming he was meant to function as a communications automaton and diplomat were truthful, considering his ability to transform his arm into a cannon.

Emerging from the isolated experience of being shipmates, Ducat's impression of EFAIN shifted on its heel. There were the countless debates of EFAIN's humanity, for one, which they noted how the automaton refused to entertain the idea of having personhood, even when "given permission" by the organic people of the crew. In Eldershore, they observed boundless dismissal of EFAIN by those she talked to, who addressed questions to anyone but her. They have reframed EFAIN's flaw of selfishness as the consequence of being a person unable to admit, even to herself, that she does not deserve to be treated so thoughtlessly. They only hope she will find that she can have respect without crushing others like her beneath her.

Ducat also wonders how deep the EFAIN mystery may go, confused by the flash of human-like eyes in the robot's optics as he was revived from death… Unsure if even EFAIN knows the answers. Like all mysteries, this is one Ducat would like to find answers for.

In the Cageport Tower, Ducat was de-facto leader of the adventure and they entrusted EFAIN as their second - because he was also immune to the infectious mushroom spores. EFAIN acted a bit further in the role, also providing much of the moral support for Ducat. He told Ducat to let go of their anger for Vilmaris unless it was useful for them and used magic to calm them down before others would see them breaking down. Ducat had also trusted him beforehand enough to fuse with EFAIN and share their mental image of Vilmaris for a disguise.

Following the climb of the tower, Ducat visited EFAIN in her hotel room to thank her for performing their role there so well, and being by their side when they needed it. Ducat surprised the automaton by segueing into propositioning EFAIN, which she accepted. That seemed to be the zenith of their relationship as neither pursued a romance afterward until Mirari's beach gala, where EFAIN told Ducat they made her feel "real," and kissed them. Ducat then promised to never let the Tzik Corporation have EFAIN again and decided to call them Orchid henceforth, though Orchid didn't necessarily request either.

Ilphas Dalamin
They met him on the most stressful day of their life and the mysterious voice of the undead lich-king Vecna has instructed them to seek his help and provide him protection. Once Ducat informed him of Vecna's interference, Ilphas became slightly more open about sharing his secrets. They learned he had a twin brother who died and that they were both raised as cultists by their mother. Ilphas said he could teach them more, but warned Ducat that following his path would require them to do acts they morally disagreed with. Ducat declared they were capable of any act they wanted as well as having the ability to twist Vecna's needs to fit their morals if they had to - perhaps naively. And they promised to keep him safe.

Conversely, Ilphas provided Ducat the most comfort following the temporary death of their mother. While it was easy for him to visit often, having been given a room in their home to stay, he put forth effort to tend to their vitriolic emotions in the aftermath. Some nights when Ducat cried, and they gave permission, he would come to comfort them.

Itza "Z" Nošticov
 iris; royalty, wisdom, respect — daffodil; new beginnings — cornflower; good luck, wealth 

Ducat once bonded over knowledge and academics with Z, but knows now that she was masquerading as her dead twin. However, Itza is still a great match in terms of intellect and competence, which earns her a great deal of respect from the tiefling.

There was a brief moment following the mutiny of Captain Gore where Ducat began to distrust Z as a power-hungry and ruthless pirate. In a moment of vulnerability, however, Z told the crew more details about her life and twin; passionately defended Mirari against himself, in tears; and relinquished claim of the captain role to him, her least-favored crewmate. Hence, Ducat trusted her again, but knows Z has limits to the extent of her kindness. The trust has remained even in the light of the revelation that Itza was herself and not the deceased academic Ahtziri, because her reasoning was sound. Ducat feels sorry for being unable to resurrect Ahtziri for her, but after reassurance from the elf herself, they were able to let most of it go. They hoped that their relationship was close, but were disappointed when she confirmed she would run if the situation in Cageport became too dangerous after Ducat asked if the crew were willing to help them at risk of death. She had been the only one to admit it - making her either the least caring, or the most honest.

Itza left the crew to save Mireille from being hunted down by a secret order, trading places with her until she turned eighteen. She left all the members a gift: Ducat was given her old bo-staff and a copy of Ahtziri's codex notes. Though reason makes it clear it was a matter of time constraint, Ducat was the sole original member to not receive words from her (by mouth or letter). However this makes them feel deep down, they try and hold onto the things she told them on the worst day of their life and their inclusion in Ahtziri's funeral.

Mirari Arossa
 magnolia; love of nature — rosemary; memory, help with recollection — white camellia; friendly love, "my destiny is in your hands" 

After initially bonding over the beauty of nature, Mirari and Ducat became good friends on the Mistral. The two have talked to each other a few times about their pasts in private where Ducat has revealed some truths about themself they would consider uncomfortable, private, even secret. He expressed to them that they are one of his few friends and possibly one of his only friends. They may have felt the same.

Despite how right he may be, Ducat believes that Mirari has a temper he needs to learn to quell (though it is mostly Ahtziri who brings that rage out in him). He is misguided, but one who is genuinely kind, willing to change for better, and wants to do good. For these reasons, they weathered out his bad decisions as captain - for no one is perfect on the first try.

Ducat accepted Mirari's social blundering, finding it charming instead of offensive. In Damned If We Do, Mirari attempted to relate to Ducat, asking about their middle name "Oleander," unaware they inherited their middle name from their absent father. They did not tell him this to spare him embarrassment and because they knew he meant the best for them.

Their bond fractured after the Bloodcap ritual on the banks of Summerwind. Mirari was the hand that killed their mother, but all the crew were complicit, including Ducat themself. Mirari, however, ceased speaking to and avoided Ducat for the next three weeks of shore leave while the tiefling was at their most vulnerable and betrayed. Every day they needed a friend, he was not there.

Mireille "Bucket"
 edelweiss; courage, devotion — chamomile; energy in adversity — crocus; youthful gladness 

Mireille and Ducat have not spoken much in depth; it could be said that their relationship is cloaked in mystery since the girl (as she is not even an adult on this ship!) refuses to elaborate on where she was from, or her last name, and Ducat was vague about their "mushroom blood" and ability to transmogrify into creepy-crawlies.

Their greatest bond is thus Ducat's promise to teach her to swim, which they have progressed to bestowing her the ability to float - as lessons were cut short by a sudden development in their mushroomitis. With the power to swim and her whirling dervish fighting style, they believe she will be unstoppable. They would consider this a good thing, considering their shared belief in keeping the peace on the Mistral. Ducat trusts Mireille's moral compass the most out of anyone on the ship - but never her ability to have tact.

Oerflynashakkhanythril "Flynn" Bowman
Ducat and Flynn are casual friends boasting a relationship of around five years - as Ducat met him shortly after meeting Vilmaris. They were both instantly curious about one another: Ducat had never seen any merfolk and Flynn had encountered none-to-few tieflings.

They had similar polite and kind personalities, allowing them to open up easily. When Flynn heard Ducat was back in Summerwind, he quickly wrote them a letter to invite them to visit him, letting the tiefling know that there are some who notice when they are gone.

Flynn and Ducat worked together to restart EDWARD, allowing Ducat to request Nature move the AI's soul to her domain.

Due to their friendship, Ducat is pleased that Flynn is joining the  Mistral  crew, since the ship was in dire need of someone who understood how to repair it since Laithe left. There is also the possibility his presence gives them a much-wanted taste of home when the ship once more leaves the harbors of their island.

Doctor Vilmaris Baymond
Vilmaris — or "Doctor Baymond," as they insist on calling him still — is Ducat's oldest friend, medical mentor, and colleague. They have expressed a private romantic interest in him, somehow allowing a crush (on someone possibly a few centuries their senior) to pass over their normally sound and wise decision-making. They developed this crush some time during the pair's work on curing rattlegasp in Summerwind.

In Ducat's perfect dream, as dictated by Lavaud's magical horn, Vilmaris and Ducat appeared to be partners of some kind, though isolated from everyone else they loved. They did not seem content with this. When Ducat pushed against the life laid out for them by dreamy-Vilmaris, he became hostile, morphing halfway into a Crowcadile: he called them ignorant, unable to understand the scale of their goals, undeserving of the knowledge of why he left. The dream version of Vilmaris claimed, also, that they would never be anything more than a glorified lab assistant, born too low in a backwater town to reach the level of the truly educated. Ducat had none of this, and fought back against the accusations, claiming that they were both equal as peers, and that the real Vilmaris believed that, too.

Finally finding a lead toward Vilmaris' whereabouts, Ducat and the Mistral crew tracked him to Cageport. Not finding him there, or anyone save for their grandfather Đinh, they entered the tower of a hospital where he had treated people with rattlegasp. After they and EFAIN encountered an undead woman who moved by the mushrooms invading her body, Ducat broke down in front of the automaton. They admitted to being furious with Vilmaris, and, when pressed: that they didn't care about him anymore.

Captain Roland Gore
Ducat has tried to get to know the Captain on a more personal level, feeling it necessary after learning uncomfortably intimate information about him through their code-breaking exercises. Unfortunately, their equally introverted and awkward personalities create only misunderstandings between them.

In A Change of Tune, Ducat finally snapped at Gore, saying his lack of leadership and care for the whole crew was no longer tolerable. All the understanding they had been attempting to give him fizzled out as they threatened to, and nearly did, tell the entire crew his real, selfish reason for taking them on this adventure. After a terrible look from him, they realized they were losing control of their temper and began to quiet.

During the Mistral's Mutiny, Ducat attempted to thorn whip Gore and claimed it was to pull him off of Fry, who he was intent on murdering. When the half-elf was at death's door, they healed him as best they could with the extent of his injuries. As it stands, they do not like him, but respect him as a currently-living creature that should not be intentionally harmed.

When Anna Yoon took Gore (The Ladle), unconscious and still in bad condition, Ducat grew more upset. They respect him and did not wish him death and are not sure he will live without their care. They blame themself for leaving the room to speak with the rest of the crew and hope that he has been taken somewhere with adequate care.

Entertainment
Spotify Playlist

Pinterest Board

‧̍̊·̊‧̥°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥‧̥·̊‧̍̊ ❈ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ❈‧̍̊·̊‧̥°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥‧̥·̊‧̍̊