Nibs

Nibs, the Ship’s Boy from the Blood Isles

On the decks of the continent, they call him Nibs, a ship’s boy long past the age for it. He comes from the Blood Isles (a storm-beaten archipelago of bare rock, where fresh water is so scarce that children learn to drink from the throats of seabirds). From his people he keeps teeth filed to points, which sailors take for the mark of a savage. No captain has ever made him a seaman. Twenty years ago, a merchant ship pulled him from a drifting fishing boat, the only one aboard still alive. He has not seen another man of the Isles since. Every evening, he runs a pumice stone over his teeth to keep them sharp, then puts it back in his pouch.

Describe Him

He makes no sound on deck. When the ship rolls, he never reaches for a line. He smells of salt and tar, and of something sharper, like raw meat. When he speaks to you, he keeps his mouth almost closed, and the words come out in a hiss, with an accent no one aboard can place. He rarely looks you in the face. He looks at your hands, then at the sea, then at your hands again. When he finally smiles, the crew looks away.

Play Him

Speak little, through your teeth. Drop the polite words halfway through a sentence. Have him eat raw in front of the players: a fish gutted with one bite, without a thought. He can feel a squall coming an hour before the sky changes. He tells only someone who has treated him like a man, and never the first mate. Throughout the scene, remember that he is waiting for the day they put him ashore, and he has already found three hiding places in the hold.

What He Says (Rarely)

“Where I come from, you don’t throw water away. Not even when it’s red.”
“You say savage. On my island, the savage is the one who wastes.”
“My real name? You’d need teeth like mine to say it.” (smiling, for the first time)