[saltwashd]

𝖘𝖆𝖑𝖙𝖜𝖆𝖘𝖍𝖉 -- mumu for avastrp, written by penny.

patrick 'paddy' kelleher ( aidan turner ) ; he/him, 35, server at the devil's cask.

intro, threads, board.

dr. salim 'sal' mercer ( raza jaffrey ) ; he/him, 47, physician at sawbone.

intro, threads, board.

[saltwashd]

the devil's cask was, of course, hardly the ideal establishment for catching up on neglected reading, but perhaps that was the point. salim was, on occasion, open to being distracted. the debate around the 'new' practice of inoculation was not the typically intellectually challenging reading material he chose, but it was at least entertaining to watch western medical institutions discover something that others had been using for centuries. he could, he supposed, at least applaud the effort to quantify and formalise. the raucous of the tavern which had previously died down reared its head again and the physician took the opportunity to bring his black tea to his lips and take a scan of the room. "remarkable," commented lightly after a moment. "to see so many poor decisions taken at any one time by a singular person." gaze lazily followed the outbreak of a fight between two customers. "if i were the betting sort, i would put my money on the little one winning the day," returned his attention to his publication, speaking just loud enough for the nearest person to hear. "what do you think?"

[starrycyed]

open starter (3/4) location: the shambles

fiadh hummed lightly under her breath as she worked, practically mesmerized by the movement of the needle pushing its way through the fabric and then out the other side. it was a fine day, somewhat cooler - well, less stifling - than usual, and the current bustling population of the markets seemed to reflect the temperate weather. maeve was playing close by, and fiadh could not help but smile at the way her daughter's dolls spoke to one another through her own tiny voice. the toys were simple and practically threadbare by this point, but the little girl's imagination would be more grand than even the most expensive playthings - or so fiadh had always tried to justify to herself. a shadow cast itself upon her stall, and when it remained for longer than a few seconds fiadh set her work down. she rose from her stool and helped herself to a stretch and a comedically exaggerated groan. "ah, you'll hafta forgive me," she intoned, flashing a smile at the newcomer. "been sittin' still too long, haven't i? how can i be of assistance?"

[saltwashd]

despite it being her stall, to say paddy was there for fiadh alone would be a barefaced lie. undeniably, she had wormed her way ( a notoriously easy thing to do ) into his heart and now had firm ownership of a portion... but that was nothing in comparison to the piece maeve had her little hand wrapped around. she might as well have been his. as such, she was his first stop in their corner of the shambles. he dropped into a squat, both hands balled into a fist and held out for her to choose. decision made and celebrated, he handed over her prize ; a small section of fine, deep green ribbon. "maith an cailín," a playful ruffle of her hair was followed by a quick kiss to the top of her head before he straightened to direct his attention to fiadh. "some wee girl you have there, fiadh," nearing the stall, paddy placed both elbows upon it and his chin in his linked hands. a laugh escaped at her exaggeration, head angling to hear her better. "well now, that's a problem easily solved. i could chase ye 'round the island, if you like." he too straightened, only to crumple back into a casual lean. "no assistance needed. 'm just after the delightful company of my two favourite savvy sellers."

[sirenstitches]

o p e n ; 0 / 4 location ; the shambles

she hums to herself as she peruses the stalls, not really looking for anything in particular. she has something else in mind. or well... she was looking for someone else. who? she hasn't decided yet. she likes to do this on occasion, just looking for someone to... bother is how others like to put it. she likes to think of it as a little advertising! eyes finally stop on a back, and smile spreads across her lips. she found who she would approach for today. she heads towards the person, and reaches out to tap their shoulder. "would you perhaps like a partner to look through the stalls with?" tala asks, looking up at the person.

[saltwashd]

wandering the stalls of the shambles was a pastime in its own right, or so he vehemently believed. someone with less of an inclination towards collecting miscellaneous objects might disagree with the statement, but as it stood, paddy would place it into his absolute top rankings of things to do when not pestering pirates into telling a wild tale under the guise of serving them at the tavern. "jesus," he nearly jumps out of his skin, enraptured by a display of shiny things but recovering quickly. paddy turns, a bright smile already in place. "ah, well," the vowel is dragged out, "i couldn't say no to a lady now, could i?" he'd never say no to the offer of company full stop, really. "i hope you don't mind a purposeless sort of amble around... unless you're here for something in particular, that is."

[divineandmajesticinone]

THE SERPENT QUEEN (2022-) | 1.05 "The First Regency"

[vavaharrison]

2.03

[saltwashd]

[ raza jaffrey, cis man, forty-seven, he/him ] is that tortuga’s very own SALIM MERCER? the PHYSICIAN at SAWBONE has been around the island for EIGHT YEARS, and they remind us of THE QUIET SCRATCH OF A QUILL GONE MIDNIGHT, A WELL-WORN LEATHER SATCHEL NEVER LET OUT OF HIS SIGHT & MEASURED FOOTSTEPS ACROSS CREAKING WOODEN FLOORS. people say they’re METICULOUS & CALM but we’ve heard they can be BLUNT & RESERVED. rumour would have it that they have a POSITIVE view on pirates, but one thing’s for sure—they’d better get used to them.

full name: salim mercer. nickname(s): sal. title(s): doctor. zodiac: aquarius. sexual orientation: biromantic + bisexual. date of birth: twenty-eighth of january. birthplace: agra, india. current residence: private residence, island of tortuga. occupation: physician at sawbone. personality: independent, humanitarian, patient, irritable, perfectionistic, cynical. languages spoken: ( native ) hindustani, english, persian. ( fluent ) arabic. ( conversational ) french, spanish. ( academic ) latin.

born in agra to an english/irish father and an indian muslim mother, salim was raised in a deeply loving household that embraced both sides of his heritage.

he developed an early fascination with medicine, influenced by his father's role as a physician and his mother's in depth knowledge of traditional remedies.

with the aim of becoming a physician in mind, salim was sent to england to study as a youth. there, he completed his medical training and excelled academically. from the very beginning, he melded the modern european practices taught with the invaluable knowledge his mother had given him. as a qualified physician, he worked in london for several years but soon grew bored of treating the same patients and ailments all the time.

he chose adventure, signing on as a ship's surgeon aboard a merchant vessel. he was an in-demand option: university-trained and continually trained by the illnesses and injuries sustained aboard a ship. he treated sailors, dockworkers, passengers and local communities alike in port.

seeking another development, salim accepted a berth offered by a pirate captain. he was never interested in plunder, but someone with his skills is valued anywhere and, well, it was another adventure to be had. after successful decades at sea, land was becoming an ever-increasingly tempting prospect.

eight years ago, he gave in. by the time he decided to make it home, salim was deeply familiar with tortuga and that made it the perfect choice. tortuga's answer to medicine, sawbone, was a similarly perfect fit ; no day is the same, there are enough people milling about and new faces coming and going to keep it interesting and him on his toes.

headcanons.

not so much in possession of a resting bitch face as he is a... resting judging you face. he will claim not to be, to be civil, but it's clear as day and he has never considered attempting to appear otherwise. sal will, however, claim his practice is free of judgement. unless you did something stupid, at which point perhaps the injury is justified. if you come to him with an oar up your arse which you claim to have 'fallen on', the entire island will know soon enough.

that said, his medical practice actually is completely inclusive. he will treat anyone who comes through the door or calls for his services regardless of profession, allegiance, creed etc. payment is necessary and taken upfront out of the same necessity, but salim will take individual circumstances into account, and just remind any potential wrong-doers that he doesn't just have the ability to cure, he is deeply proficient in producing harm, too.

said he wasn't particularly interested in plundering or causing harm aboard a pirate ship, but... well, when the opportunity presents itself and you've a thirst for knowledge... let's just say plentiful experiments took place on unsuspecting captives. some, at least, have had some medicinal good come from them.

comes across a little more blunt and aloof than he actually is. anyone who has really got to know him will testify beneath the slightly harder surface is a man of pure mush. though there's very little to it and no real reason to be so, he is fairly guarded about himself/his personal life. real closeness is limited to a fair few.

he is highly compassionate and humanitarian, just begrudges showing it. helping people and improving their lives' and wellbeing was always his primary motivation for medicine ; it was never just the academic interest and challenge.

on that note, bloody loves a challenge. new procedure? sign him up. if it goes wrong, however, he will hate life and himself for a good while afterwards. this really goes for sort of anything... not going quite to plan in his work, which salim himself will admit is daft ( medicine is an art not a science, blah blah blah ) but he can't help it.

was raised with both islam and the catholic faith, though his own private practice is much more deeply influenced by the latter. he would consider himself muslim and practices in his own way. he finds time to pray everyday and does so particularly before dangerous/more difficult procedures or treatments -- not because he thinks it will affect anything necessarily, but in acknowledgement that beyond a certain point, things are out of his hands. he does, however, make sure that those are not the only prayers he says in a day.

[nixscriptum]

[shesnake]

Raza Jaffrey in The Serpent Queen (2022)

[saltwashd]

[ aidan turner, cis man, thirty-five, he/him ] is that tortuga’s very own PATRICK KELLEHER ? the SERVER at THE DEVIL’S CASK has been around the island for SIX YEARS, and they remind us of LANTERN-LIGHT DANCING ACROSS AMBER RUM, WINDSWEPT DARK CURLS &  RESISTANCE TO THE ENDLESS PULL OF THE TIDE. people say they’re STEADFAST & OBSERVANT but we’ve heard they can be RESTLESS & OBSTINATE too. rumour would have it that they have a NEUTRAL view on pirates, but one thing’s for sure—they’d better get used to them. 

full name: patrick odhrán kelleher. nickname(s): paddy. zodiac: gemini. sexual orientation: panromantic + pansexual. date of birth: nineteenth of june. birthplace: cork city, co. cork, ireland. current residence: the slats, island of tortuga. occupation: server at the devil's cask. personality: curious, witty, playful, competitive, impulsive, impatient. languages spoken: english, gaeilge, some spanish and french.

born and raised in a coastal town in cork, proximity to the sea was a simple fact of life. patrick grew up around fishing boats and merchant vessels, keen to learn the skills involved from a young age.

to help support his family and start to build a life for himself on the sea, he joined a merchant vessel at the age of twelve as a cabin boy, thanks to a family friend's connections. the work was hard and menial, the conditions worse than anything patrick's wild imagination could ever have conjured, but to him it was worth it. it was just the beginning -- a stepping stone.

his rise to ordinary seaman occurred quite quickly. he'd already gained many of the skills over the course of his childhood, he was strong, quick and knew what needed to be done before someone could shout the order. he was lucky, too, that his da had made him learn to read and write in english.

he spent the rest of his career on an upward progression, changing vessels and companies where he saw fit, exploring england, the rest of ireland, various european countries and caribbean islands. with a knack for navigation, patrick would end up spending most of his career as a second mate aboard 300-ton transatlantic merchantmen, though he bounced around roles occasionally too.

( tw ; head injury ) during a violent storm in the caribbean sea, he fell while working aloft and suffered a head injury. it left him with significant hearing loss in his left ear, tinnitus, and intermittent vertigo and balance problems. after over fifteen years at sea, patrick was not keen to let a hit to the head end his career. ( tw end )

spent his entire recovery period in tortuga, taking work as a sever at the devil's cask to earn some money while he continued to recover. the idea was that it would be temporary, of course. gradually, he came to accept that sailing wasn't really a viable option anymore. he'd also grown to love the island, the tavern, and all the quirky characters he served, but he was loathe to admit that at first.

has been a server at the devil's cask for around six years now and absolutely bloody loves it. part of him itches for more to do, and always to return to the sea, but so far he's managed to keep himself satisfied with the constant flow of different people around tortuga.

headcanons.

cannot for the life of him sit still, mostly he busies himself with whatever task or odd job needs doing around the tavern ( and there usually is something ) but if not he's fidgeting with whatever is nearby. coins, string, rope, you name it, he's playing with it.

also fluent in yappanese. admittedly he's better at reigning that in than the physical need to be doing something at all times, because he recognises some people would probably smack him into next week if he talked too much to/around them ( though he might push his luck for the craic ). still, if it's utterly pointless conversation you're after, paddy is definitely your man. he's also a better listener than you might first assume, a skill honed over the past six years in the tavern.

he will be biting his tongue and probably failing to prevent himself from asking if anyone mentions anything in passing that he doesn't know about because he absolutely loves to learn. also just... finds people fascinating and wants to know more.

plays the fiddle and the tin whistle and needs absolutely no cajoling to play either of them for any audience. if someone is telling a sad story ( but not too sad, he's not insensitive ) within earshot they might hear sorrowful music arise.

friend to all creatures and children. really anyone who gives him the time of day is locked in immediately. often brings stray dogs, cats, injured birds etc home because they need some love.

a collector of many trinkets ! has keepsakes from practically everywhere he's ever been, coins, shells, sea glass, feathers, a single domino piece, a tiny wooden saint brendan the navigator from his da. also picks up anything shiny or that catches his attention. he's sort of a sentimental magpie. if he really likes you, you might get a random odd little gift one day.

need help with something? paddy is your guy. he won't even hear what you're asking and he'll agree to it.

neutral view on pirates but it really skews sort of positive, he just doesn't really... care. he's had plenty interaction with privateers, pirates, merchant captains, all manner of seafaring people on and off the sea itself. there were some absolute prick merchant captains and some plainly bloody lovely pirates. the sea doesn't give a shit what flag you sail under, why should he? so long as you pay for your drink. otherwise he might have to poor a tankard of the coldest water he can find down your back.

[toastpotent-deactivated20250619]

Do you think

on the occasion. i don’t like to overdo it

[dearemma]

(｡♥‿♥｡)

[dearemma]