Bernadette Bearclaw
 Bernadette Bearclaw
| |
 "Ye gotta feel them waters first before ye take a dive, aye?" | |
| Gender | Female |
| Race | Hyur |
| Clan | Highlander |
| Citizenship | Limsa Lominsa |
| Age | 37 |
| Nicknames | Bernie |
| Occupation | Helmsman |
| Guardian Deity | Llymlaen, the Navigator |
| Marital Status | Single |
- Time Zone: CET - Poland
- Nationality: Canadian-Polish
- Server: Omega
- FC: New Light
- Lodestone: Bernadette Bearclaw
- Additional Characters: Shin Nelhah, Rinako Ura, Black Forest, Rorosa Rosa, Odette Veaureaux, Zetoh'a Velshado, Meriell Bell, Berold Bearclaw
General
Bernadette Bearclaw, nicknamed Bernie, is an ex-pirate captain turned helmsman, and leader, for New Light where she assists fellow misfits and outsiders in adapting into a normal life in Eorzea.
She comes from Limsa Lominsa where she followed the tradition of serving on a ship like many people hailing from there. Thus, when speaking she has a very hard Lominsan dialect and pronunciation. Her presence on the vessels started early and she quickly earned herself a great reputation of being a very good sharp shooter as well as natural leader.
Self-made pirate/sky-pirate captain with a spunky attitude, who eventually retired from piracy due to sustaining an injury to her right eye (under completely mysterious circumstances), deeming the life to be taking a toll on her body after all the years of servitude. Seeking to still remain serving on ships but under calmer settings, she found employment as a helmsman for a private company. While it did kill the thrill for her, she still managed to find it here and there. Duel nights or even getting into bigger troubles became a penchant for her.
Bernadette is a very proud, stoic and strong woman, living up to the Highlander ideal. She does not let anyone get in her way and she does things her way whether people like it or not. Not without a mischievous side however, she does like a good engaging exchange as well as teasing and poking fun at others. It takes a lot to insult her and she enjoys finding people able to attack her back with their wit. Good fun accompanied with a great ale is one of her favourite pass-times.
Personality
The quality which makes Bernadette stand out the most is her boundless confidence in herself.
Cocky, overly confident and a snarky attitude can be sensed from a distance from this Highlander as she walks into a room. However, this does not mean that she comes off as rude or insulting. Bernadette can easily make out peoples' characters and depending on that she would adjust her levels. Ideally though, she'd rather just tease people to her heart's content as well as poke fun at them wherever possible. The intentions are never malicious but to some they may definitely appears so. A confident person possessing a quiet certainty. She is generally optimistic, self-reliant, resilient, and comfortable in her environment. She will never stand in one spot and break down, instead, always seeking to push forward and break the walls. A woman of action, never one to give empty promises to anyone.
During her years as a captain upon her ship, she had demonstrated great leadership skills as well as empathy towards her crew, proving that despite her harsh and demanding nature, she still is humane and seeks to keep those around her happy and pleased. Most of the time she will not show this side of herself to anyone, and even while she might present kindness, she prefers to have people not see it. Her image is most important to her and she wants people to see her as a strong pillar which never shatters or shows weakness. Her confidence also shows clearly in her playful and flirtatious ticks. While the flirting is not common, when she does get in the mood, it is like a bear setting its eyes on its prey. When she puts her mind to it, nothing can stand in her way and she always gets what she wants, no matter the means to get to the destination.
Despite her strong personality and self-assurance, she does have her weak points. The main one being her short fuse. Very few people know how to get under her skin and she would prefer it to stay that way. But for those select few, she absolutely cannot stand it. It sends her into a rage and she begins to spurt profanities for everyone to hear, including threats and physical retaliation. She will not hold back any punches and has no remorse on handing someone a good knuckle-sandwich, even if the consequences may be big. She does not take insults lightly, the ones directed at her or her loved ones. She will defend those she cares about to her dying breath. Another one of her downsides is the inability to show vulnerability. It makes her come off as rude and unappreciative as well as not delicate. She easily becomes flustered when her weak points get exposed and at such moments she either becomes violent or speechless and walks away.
Appearance
At first glance, the attribute which stands out the most on this Highlander is the eye-patch over her right eye. She never takes off the eye-patch, unless washing her face or going to sleep, naturally making certain there is no one around to witness this. While none see her right eye, a clear sharp scar can be seeing under the eye-patch, going from her forehead and ending below her right eye, implying the reason for the obstruction. A vibrant emerald left eye can be seen, assuming her right is the same but hidden.
She has long rich chestnut brown hair adorning her head, reaching the middle of her back but she tends to keep them tied up in a neat braid or a ponytail with two curls at the sides. She finds keeping the hairs lose is most impractical and makes certain to keep the hairs out of her face.
Bernadette is a very tall Highlander with a well-toned body, but not the bulkiest to exist. Living her life on the edge, she does have multiple cuts, scars and burns but none of the wounds would appear overly large or live threatening. More alike to a child who climbed too many trees and fell down. She has sun-kissed skin due to long exposures to the sun as well as times spent at waterfronts. She is not one to care of looks nor necessarily look after herself, thus, pays little attention to her skin or clothes. Her favourites tend to be deep reds and browns, sometimes will small golden or silver accents. Casual shirts or t-shirts, including coats, but for legs she will always wear trousers. She absolutely despises feminine attire and would rather die than wear any. The only 'hint' of anything feminine would be a pair of golden earrings which she always wears. Calf high boots and at times gloves on, she is definitely the type to put practicality over looks forward.
Occupation
Bernadette worked ever since childhood upon ships, having many different positions on the vessels she served on, until eventually working her way up to the rank of captain.
She started off cleaning decks, but her prowess with a gun as well as her sharp wit made her stand out, even among the men. She quickly became a favourite of many and even the captain of the ship she served upon at the time who fancied her. It was a legal trading ship but after it got captured by pirates, they killed many of the crew but she was among those who were spared. She was then taught to steal, rob, gamble, as well as she got to polish her skills with a gun even further as well as sword-fighting. She absolutely did not mind the switch as it was much more thrilling than a dull life of trading. The Highlander grew into a strong and influential woman upon the ship as she was on it since childhood and knew everyone and everything. It was then that she decided to take the reigns, sick and tired of the captain and wanting the power for herself. She challenged the man to a duel which she won before throwing him into the waters for Leviathan itself to take care of the man. Despite her harsh methods, she was a caring leader and took much better care of her crew than he ever did; not a single revolt or complaint was ever heard.
Routine started to set in and hungry for thrills, she started to seek them out actively. That was when she caught wind of stories regarding sky-ships and sky-pirates. She immediately began to research the abilities and jumped on the idea, regardless if the switch would be worthwhile financially or not. Her crew, dedicated to her, also followed her. Having multiple contacts, she exchanged her ship for a sky-ship and Bernadette enjoyed a few long years terrorizing the skies. This all came to a halt when one day she suffered a serious injury to her head, almost killing her but instead she lost her eyesight in her right eye. It infuriated her but her crew pleaded her to take it easy and just retire. Still young and unwilling to let go, she decided to serve for one more year and then she finally retired, handing down all her assets to her second in command.
Quitting the life of a pirate was hard and she found herself seeking happiness at the bottom of a bottle until she heard of a mercantile company seeking employees. She decided to pay it a visit and offered her services as a helmsman at a company. While it wasn't a dream come true, it was a way for her to remain serving on a sky-ship while not risking her health. She quickly got a promotion to oversee all vessels within the company, making sure that all shipments were on time and secure as an alliance was formed with Garlond Ironworks as well as the Skysteel Manufactory through a very skilled engineer they met Ferroux Quilmont. However, as fate would have it, due to some internal affairs, she was made leader of the company and with no prior experience in leading such an establishment, she turned to Kathir Ragewid for guidance. With him as her right-hand man, they completely transformed the merchant business into one focused on assisting people overall; misfits, travelers and foreigners as well as those who cannot be placed in a single box; much like them.
Recently things took an interesting turn as an Ishgardian man named Tyrdin Selmer, through a deal, requested that she assisted him with clearing out issues regarding Voidsent. While she barely ever had any encounter with them, she gladly took up the deal, content to get something to spice up her dull life.
Combat
Spending many years serving upon a pirate vessel, Bernadette quickly learned all the tricks of the trade which also included combat. Her weapon of choice is definitely any type of firearms and also a sword.
Fencing came early on into her life and while she is good at it, it is not her strongest point. She can hold her own in hand to hand combat and thanks to her strong physique, she is a formidable opponent. A classic longsword is her blade of preference. Using her assets as a Highlander, she can pack up a punch and knock out enemies cold when required. She is not scared of getting physical and has gotten into many brawls over the years, not one to hold back any kicks or punches or even playing dirty. Despite her bigger frame, she is very nimble and able to navigate the worst of areas; from climbing trees to jumping fences or even sneaking up on people.
However, her strongest suit are firearms, particularly guns and all types of revolvers. She loves collecting them and upgrading her arsenal and will never pass up the opportunity to acquire a new asset to her collection. She is quick to make out any gun and figure out how it works as well as its assets and downsides. Single-action guns are her norm however thanks to a friend she recently acquired her first double-action revolver. She fell in love with the weapon and it became an instant favourite. In combat, almost none can compare to her speed and accuracy with a gun, able to shoot off an apple from yards away. The lack of vision in one eye, while it may seem like a setback, is actually an asset to her. She can quickly take aim at enemies without needing to focus her vision as much as others. Her accuracy is almost legendary and she takes great pride in her prowess with a gun.
Tendencies
Likes
- Good ale / Getting drunk
- An engaging and quick exchange
- Teasing and poking fun at others
- Flirting jokingly
- Fist fights / duels
Dislikes
- Fancy people
- Assholes
- Unjustified violence
- Smarty-pants
- Animals, particularly monkeys
- Stupid and annoying people
Hobbies
- Practicing her shooting skills
- Fencing / Dueling
- Sailing
- Getting into trouble
Skills
- Sharp shooter
- Very good sense of direction
- Quick thinker and silver-tongued
- Very talented violin player
- ■ "Her ego is through the roof"
- ■ "Funny how she is such a stereotypical pirate but has no parrot, or any other pet for that matter"
- ■ "Did you hear how she lost her vision in her eye? Each time it is a different story!"
