Oswald Rubacava

OSWALD RUBACAVA

A Freebooter's Charms // The Blood of the Brother

BIOGRAPHY 

One half to a pair of identical twins, Holden and Oswald were sons of a single mother, Gaelia Rubacava—a young, business savvy elf settled in the cozy sea-side town of Coalfait Harbor. Born into her own misfortune, she dedicated her life to pursing comfort and stability not only for herself, but for the children she inevitably conceived. Having lived in Coalfait for years, Gaelia had long since begun running a bustling inn and tavern, winning the attention and good faith of her fellow townsfolk. This stability subsequently allowed the twins to start relatively comfortable and sheltered lives, never straying too far from each other or their loving mother's fretful gaze.

Their mother's life had been strenuous, however, extreme stress allowing her to catch near-fatally ill while the boys barely entered their teens. Despite such circumstances being so unforeseen, their mother continued to push herself until the weakness left her bedridden. Thankfully, Gaelia and her children were beloved enough among the townsfolk to earn their care and hospitality, ushering Holden and Oswald into education and workforce to prepare them for the inevitable.

While Oswald took to his mother's guidance with ease and enthusiasm, Holden had been more socially withdrawn and thus found mild difficulty. Thankfully, however, he not only had the sympathies of his neighbors, but the kindness of his brother to assist him at every turn. Despite this, no amount of comfort or kindness could still him or his brother of their grief as their mother passed upon their sixteenth Summer.

"I love you— Ye' know I love ya'...
Ye'll be good fer' me, right? I know ye'll be.
Yer' my boys."

Upon their mother's passing, the twins began splitting their once singular path. As Oswald attempted to maintain the framework of the life his mother wanted for them, Holden became withdrawn, distant, and negligent, appearing to toss aside everything his mother strove to build for him. As time went on, the pair grew father apart, with Oswald holding together the family business alongside trustworthy family friends while Holden began to develop severe and debilitating drinking and gambling habits. 

On the cusp of adulthood, Oswald became deeply infatuated with one Colette Brycea, an elven woman, who reciprocated his feelings—the pair quickly became engaged, to the delight of their friends. While Oswald and Colette began preparing to settle down together, Holden had long since accumulated enormous debts as a result of his reckless gambling. Holden, having nothing left to spend, resorted to pickpocketing and fraud to indulge in his habits after spending any money his brother lent him to survive and get back on his own two feet. 

Soon, however, the lending stopped, much to Holden's ire—Oswald was remorseful for his refusal to continue aiding his brother, but he knew all too well that Holden had no intention of quitting for the better. Blind to his brother's intentions, Holden became bitter—he perceived Oswald's act of faith in him as a ploy to hoard his moderate wealth with his fiancée. As this perception festered, Holden had no means of repaying his extensive debt, going to more dangerous lengths as to acquire the necessary funds—slowly, his methods escalated from petty theft, to outright regular outings resulting in assault and robbery.

Continuing down this path, with withdrawal, paranoia, and his growing resentment for Oswald in hand, his actions inevitably escalated beyond anything Holden could've foreseen. He only wanted money, just a little to get by—his pendant. Surely it alone would've been enough.

Realizing too late that Oswald and Colette's senselessly spilled blood was now on his hands, Holden became virtually catatonic when the blood from the slaughter washing away finally registered to him. With his mind so shaken, Holden was unable to deny or argue—when, somehow, his neighbors and the townsfolk mistook him for Oswald, priceless ruby pendant and all. Being virtually incapacitated with grief and guilt, he was very much unlike the Holden they had believed they knew—a man then predisposed to lurking and mingling with the wretches of society, truthfully unseen by them for years. As such, their perception of the immediate situation was that of revenge for unpaid debts—revenge meant to be enacted solely upon Holden, with Colette's death as a result of her witness.

Devastated by the death of his twin brother at his own hands and petrified at the mere thought of being locked away for the gruesome slayings, he simply resigned himself to what his sympathetic friends and neighbors initially thought—he was Oswald. Bearing his identical brother's name, the realization of Oswald's intentions hit him like a train, only adding to his remorse—his brother did not deserve his mistrust. He did not deserve his ire. He did not deserve to die. Avoiding immediate detainment until proper investigation could come underway, he slipped away unnoticed from the seaside town where he had come to grow and live twenty summers.

Donning his late brother's name as a mask, 'Oswald' became a drifter along the coast for a few years—he indulged in his affinity for seaside communities, as well as the company of sailors and freebooters. As such, he became involved in various short expeditions to keep himself afloat, never remaining with a single crew long enough for them to truly know him—until he came upon the crew of the S.S. Lucille.

More specifically, its captain, Kari "Little Lionhart" Hale.

The crew of the S.S. Lucille was certainly one of the stranger ones he had thought to accompany, but her captain was the strangest of all. His time upon the ship teetered upon the longest span he had spent on one, fueled by his curiosity in regards to the captain and her crew—a jovial and jolly bunch, capable of plundering and devastating ships in a matter of moments, something about the way they regarded their captain was off. Upon resigning himself to the possibility that his curiosity was misplaced and for naught, he made ready to prepare his leave when he unintentionally discovered Captain Hale was a vampire—or dhampir, at least. His discovery, however and unfortunately for him, worked in her favor—his knowledge of her true nature only gave him a foothold until she confessed to knowing him; a murderer, Holden Rubacava.

"You're only a free man 'til you're caught, Holden,
and believe me— you will get caught.
So, what do you say?
You won't get caught if you stick with me."

With no other choice in his mind, Oswald reluctantly took his place as Kari's right-hand man, assisting and taking over where necessary. Unaffected by her ability to manipulate him with her gaze, he regularly finds time to squabble with Kari—while he is reluctant to admit it directly, his demeanor and body language give away his disinclination towards being her partner-in-crime. In alignment with his status as Captain Hale's right-hand, Oswald lives relatively carefree beyond his contracted loyalty to Kari, drinking and making merry regularly amongst his crew. 

TRIVIA 

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