Caspian (penguin)


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Caspian di Angelo (1502-1586) was a Ligurian sailor, explorer and a former keeper of the Amulet of Water. Hatched to a High Penguin mother and a Viking Penguin father, he was well-known in his time for being nothing short of fearless, sometimes a little reckless, venturing far out into dangerous waters and unexplored oceans. An expert sailor, he would sail the seas on his caravel, named the Embarkment and was even rumoured to have stumbled upon giant squids and other fabled creatures.

He was best known for his defeat of Draco the Dark, the rogue keeper of the Shadow Amulet who had started the Four Year Darkness, plaguing parts of the continent with violent weather and temporary lack of sunlight from 1528 to 1532. Sometimes called the "Bane of Pirates", Caspian would intercept raiders, pirates and privateers from assaulting defenseless or weakened ships, sparking a great hatred for him in the pirate community.

Early Years
Caspian was hatched in Vlorentia, Liguria in 1502, believed to have been around early May that year. Being half Viking Penguin and half High Penguin, Caspian was around average penguin height, though still somewhat taller and had a slightly larger beak. Caspian's maternal grandmother was a Pavender, while his maternal grandfather was a Grindylow, causing Caspian to inherit traits from both. He was granted his grandfather's water abilities from being a Grindylow and his grandmother's quicker ageing and bright aquamarine feathers from being a Pavender.

Caspian's family decided to move out of Liguria and to the mainland Antarctica as feudalism in the High Penguin Confederacy was coming to an end. Caspian grew up in the city of Mhic Lionnai, often being regarded as a very curious penguin, who often fantasized about travelling the oceans and discovering new islands. His parents would sometimes take Caspian to the beach, something that delighted him, and often had to stop him from swimming too far away from the beach or staying underwater for too long, the latter scenario of which Caspian seemed to have no problem with whatsoever.

Caspian became very much involved in his father's fishing business, getting to know sailing and the ways of the ocean quite well. Aside from his father's fishing business, Caspian took up several other jobs and tasks, helping other local fisherman repair or fix their boats and sometimes teach new or inexperienced sailors or aspiring seafarers.

In his spare time, he often took up sailing or swimming, getting to know the local rivers, oceans and coastal regions quite well. Caspian also took up cartography in his spare time, studying map making and coordinates. He also practiced his aqua-based abilities, spending prolonged amounts of time underwater learning how to create waves and move the currents around him.

Keeper of the Water Amulet
Caspian was discovered by the then-king of the High Penguin Confederacy, Finwë, who found him using his water-based abilities to create small whirlpools in the water. Intrigued, Finwë decided to learn more about Caspian, learning how knowledgeable he was with water and the ocean. Finwë then approached Caspian, asking him if he wanted to take the responsibility of keeping and protecting the Water Amulet, as there was no current keeper. After considering, Caspian accepted the amulet, and was later given the option go on a quest to distribute some other amulets to other new keepers.

After locating and distributing the amulets, Finwë gifted Caspian his own ship, a caravel, which Caspian decided to name the Embarkment. Using this ship, Caspian would often travel the Antarctic Ocean looking for work, often taking up trading jobs, delivering goods to other countries and regions, as well as "keeping the peace" as part of his job as an amulet keeper. It is believed that Caspian usually made these journeys alone, manipulating the power of the ocean to guide him. Occasionally Caspian would encounter pirates and raiders, to which he would normally bring out his amulet to ward them off. Aside from using his amulet, he would often use a dagger and a sword (rumoured to be forged of a rare, unusual metal).

His daring attitude and curiosity often led Caspian to pursue dangerous waters and find places most sailors wouldn't dare to go to. He would often explore stormy oceans and rocky reefs and islands in search of new lands. A few times, his recklessness nearly led him to sinking his ship, though he was saved only because of his amulet. Sometimes, he would anchor his ship in the middle of deep oceans and dive down to their depths, where it was believed he found never before seen creatures, including Giant Squids.

Defeating Draco the Dark
Eventually, in late 1528, Caspian caught word that the keeper of the Shadow Amulet, Draco, had betrayed the other keepers and become obsessed with its power. Caspian sailed the oceans to try and find Draco, using clues and eyewitnesses to try and follow him across the oceans. Draco, meanwhile, was said to have been running around the continent, disrupting villages and causing permanent dark, cold and stormy weather in some places, causing what would later be known as the "Four Year Darkness". Caspian and the other keepers eventually found him wandering what would later be called the 90-150 Ice Shelf after four years of searching in 1532, with Caspian using the Water Amulet to help guide them on his ship through the icebergs and the violent weather. There, after the keepers failed to try and convince Draco, they had a massive showdown.

All the other keepers, despite their best efforts, were beaten in the battle, leaving only the weakened Caspian to take Draco on his own. Using the power of the ocean and the strength Caspian still possessed, he broke apart huge chunks of ice and summoned a massive tidal wave. The equally tired and weakened Draco was overwhelmed by both the waves and the splitting ice shelf, and was seemingly crushed by the sheer mass of the waves and hidden under the ice. The keepers located the Shadow Amulet floating above the water and assuming Draco was defeated, returned home where they found Draco's curses had been lifted, thus ending the Four Year Darkness.

Later Life
Caspian continued his many voyages on the Embarkment, battling pirates building his reputation as a hero and even fighting on behalf of the Confederacy in some wars all while maintaining ownership of the Water Amulet. It was widely believed that in the later stages of his lifetime, Caspian even visited underwater nations including the Emperorlands several times before their devastation in the future. Around the age of 39, Caspian became severely wounded around the heel of his left foot in a battle, forcing him to withdraw from sailing and return home to heal. While he did eventually recover quickly thanks to his High Penguin heritage, the injured part of Caspian's foot was permanently damaged, meaning he couldn't walk without support from a stick or cane.

Forced to adapt to this change, Caspian instead became a captain in the Confederacy's navy, captaining large ships and working with crews to explore and win races against rival nations. Though it was hard, Caspian kept the Water Amulet with him and continued his job as a keeper, even as he was injured. When he wasn't a captain in the navy, he would work as a merchant, much like the small trading missions he did earlier in his life, traveling to overseas hubs and establishing healthy trading relations.

At age 52, Caspian retired from his life on the ocean, settling down in Ard Mhacha City and living a more simple, peaceful life. He returned the Water Amulet to Finwë, who went on to find another keeper. He spent the rest of his life in a small house near the coast fishing for fun and relaxing near the waves. 32 years later, in 1586, Caspian passed away peacefully at the age of 84, having rapidly aged in the later stages of his life.

Legacy
Caspian's life was document in the pages of countless history books, recounting the tales of his adventures and battles. He is looked up to by many, Wikipenguino45 included, as an example of a fearless hero and adventurer and influenced several expeditions and aspiring explorers. His findings and maps of dangerous and unexplored parts of the ocean often helped several cartographers with piecing together larger maps of the continent. Even though Caspian's private caravel, the Embarkment, had mysteriously disappeared and was never found, reconstructions of the ship had been created from its original blueprints, many of which were placed in museums.

Involvement
Towards the end of his teenage life, he worked at his father's fishing business and took up side jobs of fixing boats and teaching younger penguins how to sail.

Caspian was the keeper of the Water Amulet for a majority of his life as the position of keeper was vacant due to his predecessor retiring. He was very careful not to misuse it, and use it purely for the greater good. Caspian acted as defender of his home, travelling the oceans by sea in his caravel in search of new islands and people in need of help. Caspian would usually come to the aid of ships or fishing ports under attack by raiders or pirates whenever he could, often taking on entire crews at a time with his sword and dagger, while using his amulet to overwhelm large swarms of pirates. Every once in a while, he would accept small assignments and tasks from fishermen or sailors to chart and record dangerous or uncharted waters too dangerous for them to explore.

During the Four Year Darkness, Caspian helped the other amulet keepers search for Draco the Dark, travelling by sea and searching for clues or eyewitnesses. After tracking down and defeating the Shadow Amulet keeper, he continued his crusade of defending helpless fishing villages, brawling with pirates and discovering islands, becoming an increasingly well known hero in the maritime community while at the same time regularly meeting up with the other keepers at gatherings.

After partaking in several wars and battles and injuring his foot, Caspian took a back seat as a captain in the Confederacy's navy where he played a more strategic role than an attacking one. At this time, he was less prone to pick fights with pirates, abandoning his status as a wanderer/adventurer and worked with larger teams of crew members. As captain, Caspian primarily partook in the colonial race of which the Confederacy was involved in, searching for new islands to set up camp for future colonies. Caspian had very little involvement after he left the navy, living out the rest of his life peacefully.

Appearance
Caspian was a Batavi High Penguin, being of both High Penguin and Viking Penguin descent, making him around the same height of a rather tall Emperor Penguin. Several sources documenting Caspian's life state that he had a beak that was slightly larger than that of most penguins. Due to being part Pavender, something he inherited from his maternal grandmother, Caspian's feathers were a bright shade of aquamarine, a very uncommon feather colour for most penguins, even somewhat unusual for Pavenders.

Caspian had sandy yellowish-brown hair, which gradually transitioned into a colour similar to beige as he reached the very late years of his life. Throughout most of his sailing career and time as an amulet keeper, Caspian wore a vest-like tunic with a sash around his body, where he sometimes had a bag, compass, rolled up map or pouch attached to. Caspian had a special sword forged of an unknown material slung around his back, most of the time concealed in its scabbard. He wore a leather belt to which he normally had a sheathed dagger attached, as well as a star emblem located in the center of the belt. Caspian almost never went without donning his Water Amulet and usually concealing it under his vest. Caspian never wore shoes.

After wounding his left foot and joining the Confederacy's navy, Caspian normally sported a coat and waddled around while carrying and leaning on a wooden walking stick. At this point, he mostly discarded his sword and a majority of his original outfit, but kept his dagger close by just in case.

Personality
Despite being described as an optimistic and patient penguin who remained perfectly calm in almost all situations, he is also described as being an absolutely fearless penguin, widely considered to be both a good and bad thing. Caspian hardly ever saw the need to be afraid of scary creatures or hazardous scenarios, feeling as though anyone could live through anything as long as they tried hard enough. His fearlessness often led him to very dangerous places, where even then he willed himself to push the limit and go further. From a very young age Caspian always felt the need to help and protect others, however possible whenever he could. He was very friendly and selfless, helping those in need whenever possible, rescuing attacked sailors and merchants and putting the safety of others above most, if not all things. Caspian was also known to care greatly for marine life as well, usually visiting coral reefs and tending to trapped sea creatures. As a captain in the navy, Caspian took on a more wiser perspective, advising his shipmates and thinking long and hard to form the best strategies.

Abilities
Caspian was an adept swordsman, being skilled in wielding both a sword and a dagger, and he sometimes wielded them both simultaneously. Like all penguins, Caspian could swim quite well, and thanks to his water-based abilities that he inherited from his grandfather being a Grindylow, he could stay underwater for as long as he wanted to. Caspian was known to be very knowledgeable in the workings of the Water Amulet and when he combined its powers with his other inherited Grindylow powers, he could achieve great speeds while swimming underwater, and could perform a large number of feats including manipulating tides, creating whirlpools and by trying hard enough, influencing the weather to make it rain.

His fellow friends and close allies considered him a master of the seas and an expert sailor, as Caspian knew just about every part and segment of a ship, from its masts to its keel. Whenever he was on one of his many quests aboard the Embarkment, Caspian often did everything on his own, using the ocean for help if he needed. He also had experience in cartography and map making, creating his own maps from his journeys.

Weaknesses
Due to frequent use of the Water Amulet, Caspian would come out of his adventures incredibly tired, making him incredibly vulnerable to attack, and he often had to sleep entire nights through to regain his strength, usually seeking out nearby islands for shelter. Caspian's lack of fear sometimes made him reckless, and he barely managed to avoid sinking his ship only because of his amulet. Due to Antarctica being mostly desert, Caspian's water abilities weren't as effective on his journeys overland, as he often relied on water sources for greater strength, forcing him to rely heavily on his sword and dagger. Caspian rarely used shields, meaning he was mostly defenseless against ranged weapons or fast attacks. Anyone who used flame attacks or fire-based weapons also had an advantage against Caspian, as fire could often counter his water. Towards the later years of his life, Caspian used a walking stick to support his damaged left foot, and had great difficulty managing without it.

Trivia

 * Caspian was most likely left-handed.
 * Save for his name, he has no other connection to the state of Caspian in the United Provinces.
 * It was claimed he met Emperor Charles V Hochstadt of Castilla at some point.
 * Caspian was said to have had some suspicions about something controlling everything.
 * He once stumbled upon the islands of Lao while chasing pirates.