Appearance;Race : Human
Hair : Raven Black with hints of Brown.
Eyes : Deep Brown.
Age : .. Nearing Fourty.
Height: 6'1
Place of Birth: Britain
Persona;Van is a tallish man, with an athletic build and a sunkissed tanned brown skin colour to him. His long black hair is styled into his trademark dreadlocks which hang halfway down his back, giving him the general look of your average "Cultured Pirate", combined with the artistically styled goatee braided in a short thin strand, held with a green bead. His bodly is finely sculptured thanks to his recent change of career from the only regular the Swaggers had, to a fine guard in the Duchy. His body is a living tapestry of tattoos and scars, all of which add up to hundreds of stories. True or not, who knows?
His dress sense is flamboyant, if it had colour. He tends to keep to natural shades, browns, greens.. browns. He's rarely seen without his trusted tricorn hat, which is forever having him labelled as "Pirate" to his upmost frustration!
He loves to play the clown, making people laugh and generally help with people have a good time while in his presense. He acts the fool a lot, but in that thick skull of his, is a rather intellectual mind, which he tends to use from time to time.
His hobbies and interests include being racist, sexist, fascist, anarchist.. other 'ists.. drinking.. stuff.
Background;Mothered by Mary Cocidius, and Van Cocidius senior, Van was the eldest of three children. He also has a brother called Dwayne, and a sister named Aurora. All of which lived in the City of Britain. Being the eldest, Van used to go to sea with his father, who was a fisherman from a very early age, thus bloomed his love for the sea. At the tender age of six though, Van's life was turned upside down. After a regular fishing trip with his father and the rest of the crew, they found themselves being boarded by Pirates. The whole of the fishing crew were slaughtered, along with Van's father. Van himself was taken onboard the much larger vessel, "The Twilight Wind", Captained by Bruce Wilkinson.
Van worked on the ship along with the rest of the crew, mostly cleaning the deck and helping in the kitchen. He grew up on that ship, and Captain Bruce eventually took a liking to Van and took him under his wing, teaching him the ins and outs of Piracy and running a ship. But after a wiked storm blew "The Twilight Wind" through the dark night, he found himself in a wooden hut, laying in a bed.. to his surprise.
Van had awoken to find himself on the island of Galilee, a far off island to the South-East of Britannia. It was there that he learnt of his heritage, of his family, and of his fathers secretive past. Van's father was born on Galilee, and it was his sister, Van's Aunt, who looked after the young Cocidius.
(Not confused yet.. ?). Living with his Aunt, and his two cousins "Robert" and "Maria", Van enjoyed the best years of his childhood on Galilee, but the dream of Piracy was still at the forefront of his ambitions.
At the age of sixteen, Van got a job lifting goods on and off the GTC (Galilean Trading Company) ships where he made good friends with a few of the sailors. Van urged them everytime they set sail to take him with them, but they were reluctant and always left off without him. The frustration drove Van to breaking point, and one day, he stole a ship. He knew the basics of sailing a ship, but no man could really do it well enough on his own, but with no crew he slowly managed to sail into unknown.
Returning to Britannia, Van eventually managed to get himself to Trinsic, where he met a man named "Wesley". The two of them got on really well, and Wesley invited Van to join his crew. Van accepted. The two of them together founded "The Indomitable", and the legacy of Van Cocidius began.
The two of them ran drug runs in and out of Trinsic to Vesper, aswell as petty muggings and brutal sea battles against the fierce "Brigands of the Fort". Their greatest accomplishment was easily breaking into the Duke of Trinsic's home and stealing millions of golds worth of items. Things were going amazingly great for the duo, but things couldn't stay this good forever. After one drunkern night, Wesley took the Indomitable out for a quick sail, and crashed it into the rocks just off the docks of Trinsic. Shipless - The Indomitable crew disbanded, and Wesley dissapeared shortly after.
Van found work as a mercernary against the Ophidian war in Vesper. Though his skills as a fighter were poor, he gained valuable experience from the fellow "bastards" of Vesper, and most importantly made himself some key contacts. Van had in no time come to like the Vesperian way of life, and money drove him. Eventually, after the war, he left Vesper for a job amongst the Collegium, and he was given an admiral job as the "Administrator", second to only the Maestro. The pay was brilliant, and the power he had was even more thrilling. Now in his mid-twenties, Van knew that power was all he would ever want in life.
After the Collegium's first disbandment, Van returned to Vesper and with the money he had made, he bought himself a ship and named it "The Indomitable, Mark II", offering his services again to the Swaggers Inn as a trader. He enjoyed the easy life at the Swaggers, and soon it wasn't power that drove him.. but the seduction of women, and the sweet nectar of rum. Amazingly, he still ended up the Harbor Master of Vesper, and Trade Manager of the Swaggers, before he ran for Baron of Vesper - which he won in a landslide election against local noble, Elliot Heath. Also during the election period, he met his now wife Madeline Warmbow.
Van ran the City of Vesper well. He managed to win a war of Skara Brae, fend the Yewish away from "West Vesper", brought peace between Vesper and Cove, and reignited the Sosarian Olympics. At the end of his term, he returned to the Swaggers and resumed his job. But he decided the Swaggers wasn't enough for him, he had enjoyed the power being Baron gave him, and he ran again at the next elections, winning in yet another landslide. His second reign was just as successful. He shaped the City of Vesper to what it is today, a vibrant role in the liberating force. Reforming the Republic council, bringing Cove in as allies, changing the title Baron to Chancellor. What Vesper is now, was all Van's doing.
After a civil conflict damaged his reputation in Vesper, he decided to move to Trinsic, where his wife and children were situated. In Trinsic, he applied for citizen ship, and got a job as a guard in the Duchy. The intense training of being a member of a guardforce quickly put Van into great shape, regardless of being well into his thirties now. In no time at all though, that thirst for power was surging through him, and he made the suggestion that he be given the absent role of Mayor.
Now Mayor, he ressurected the Trinsician Council, and helped get the City back onto it's legs. He was a strong peice in the movement of Trinsic's "Peacekeeping" force that moved into Minoc, though was openly angry that the Duke had found himself taking all the praise. He also hosted the "Trinsic Moot", a mass event where every City in Britannia was invited for a fun week in the golden walls, filled with events. Sadly, during that week his respect for Trinsic was damaged, and he resigned not long after.. Moving to Cove.
Interesting Reading & A List Of My Ego-Boosting Events!http://www.f4g.net/town-crier/11493-trinsic-moot.htmlhttp://www.f4g.net/town-crier/9729-vans-ilshenar-expedition.htmlhttp://www.f4g.net/duchy-trinsic-public/9134-vans-journal.htmlhttp://www.f4g.net/town-crier/7022-olympic-news.htmlhttp://www.f4g.net/vesper-trading-company/3746-captains-log.html
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