Sterling Sage

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Name: Sterling Sage
Epithet: "Savage Sage"
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Birthplace: South Blue
Species: Minkman | Hyena
Orientation: Right Handed
Theme Tune: And We Run
Crew: Dog Ears
Ship: The Playful Griffin
Occupation: Helmsman | Marksman
Bounty: 0
Allegiance: Pirate
Dream(s):
• Return to Zou
• Make something of himself

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Flag:

Jolly Roger:

Appearance:

Sterling's Traditional Appearance:

Sterling is a hyena minkman with grey skin and tunnels in his ear. He has grey fur with a few stripes down him. Sterling's full height is 5ft 9 however he very often slouches which brings his average height down to 5ft 7. With a good build of which he is almost always showing off due to lack of ever wearing a shirt, Sterling has a few small scars over his body which are mostly covered up by the fur. He wears a pair of jeans which are dark blue in colour of which he always tends to hide his hands in and nothing on his feet. He does have a tail too which pokes free from his trousers from a hole cut in the back of his jeans. Sometimes around his hands he will wear bandages wrapped around the palms and fingers to keep his hands from getting too dirty from the odd jobs he tends to sometime do.

Personality:

Sterling the Gunman
Sterling holds himself in high regard as a marksman. Having trained himself in the use of firearms he is a good shot and knows it. His views on firearms are that they are an incredibly easy way to tear someone to pieces, thus he doesn't use them for the sake of killing people or tearing them apart when simple projectiles can still render people unconscious. Sterling isn't a fan of close quarters combat, but if the situation calls for it he'll take it on board and bite his tongue.

Sterling the Helsman
In life we all do what we need to, to survive and part of Sterling's life at one point had been getaway driver. During his past he'd had the opportunity to pilot smaller faster and much stronger ships powered by mechanical systems involving cogs & gears. He'd been a getaway driver for a group of bandits in the Grand Line. Starting out shaky he picked up the skills quickly understanding how the currents worked with the boat and which ones would aid the movement. The rush of speed got to him and the skills came naturally. Thinking that this skill would dissipate once he got out of the life Sterling was wrong. He was able to transfer these skills to larger vessels of which he still found himself with a smile feeling free and the speed causing the wind to rush through his hair.

Sterling the Flirt
Each man is not without their weaknesses and Sterling's is women. The one thing that can distract him and is most likely going to land him in prison. He has a wondering eye and a nose for sniffing out the perfect situations in which to have a naughty little peak. For him it's the booty that catches his eye, but the bust that makes him stay. He is the kind of man to drop everything for a lady, but should he see signs of intent to harm himself or a friend he'll find it difficult to unleash his fist unto them.

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Background

The Kidnaping
Sterling was originally from Zou. Born and raised there until the age of seven. It was at this age that Zou was attacked by a group of pirates. They took many of the young minks and from what Sterling remembers there were up to one hundred possibly more minks on the ship and they were headed to the Shabondy auction house where a large profit would be made selling minks. As a seven year old Sterling didn't understand much or even care to past the simple facts that he was in tears because he missed his parents and was scared.

All he does remember is being before a room of people all shouting with a collar around his neck crying before he was escorted from the stage and locked up in a cage again. This happened numerous times as it seemed no one thought that Sterling being the runt that he was in his youth would last another day so no one was willing to pay good money for him. Sterling didn't care though. He would happily of accepted the gentle hand of death. Living life as a slave was no life.

It was only so long before Sterling was purchased.

Sterling had been purchased by a group of shady individuals, he had the collar removed and found himself in a basement for the remainder of his life from this point onwards. The men who'd bought Sterling were criminals known as the Blue Moon Bandits. Series of dangerous bandits who were currently in the news for a number of large robberies being pulled off in the blues. Sterling had been taken all the way back to the Blues via air ship and quickly learned that was how the bandits got around from blue to blue with such speed as well as how they were able to make their escapes.

From time to time he would peer out the window to see the blue below and look onwards in amazement. But it always wound up with him trying to spot Zou which he never could. He missed the island and more importantly he missed his parents. Whilst being aboard the Blue Moon Bandit's air ship Sterling was put to work as their cleaner and server. He was only expected to clear their dishes down and serve them food which would come from a much older crook and former member of the Blue Moon Bandits.

The Robberies
It was during the time he spent travelling with the bandits that Sterling aged turning into the young man he hadn't never seen himself becoming. He was happy to be of help to the bandits but when his job roles consisted of two jobs he could handle easily he started asking if he could help out more. Every time he was told no and decided to start finding a way to make himself known as more essential than they thought.

Whilst the bandits would be out robbing and he had nothing to do Sterling started practicing with the spare guns left behind. Whilst the ship was docked he started shooting with a flintlock at the target and quickly proved that he could shoot. Not perfectly, but that would come in time. He was found out pretty quickly but the bandits didn't mind as they saw he clearly had some kind of talent. He was offered the chance to be supporting fire when the crew returned if there were any marines still following by the time they got back to the ship.

Appreciating the offer he snatched it up and was given his own firearm.

He would spend allot of his free time training and practicing but when it came down to the crew returning from robberies there was almost never any tails still with them and Sterling begun feeling a little upset at this. Until of course one day they really had dropped the ball. A fleet of marines arrived. Taking up his rifle Sterling took a few pot shots at the ships tearing their sails apart until he was met with the horrible truth.

A bullet tore through the eye of a marine which caused blood to spill over everywhere. Dropping his rifle in horror Sterling stepped back. It had been so easy to blast a hole through his eye and hadn't really hit home what shooting someone really caused until this moment. Shaken up he couldn't find it in himself to pull the trigger again or even hold the gun. The rest of this escape was blur to him of which he couldn't see or hear much. The last thing he remembers is seeing the blood pouring from the soldier's head in slow motion. He couldn't come to grips that he'd taken someone's life.

He took a backseat role back in the kitchen again and spent a good few months doing so too till his confidence was built up once more. He finally did recover but never wanted to kill someone again. Seeing how capable he was though the bandits came to an agreement with his age. They offered him the chance to be their driver allowing the bandits to rob banks with more fire power instead of leaving one in the boat.

The Beginning
Accepting this offer Sterling agreed to being their getaway driver. He was taught how to use the ship as it was very different and smaller than proper ships. It was much faster than usual ships of it's size and had mechanical gears & cogs allowing faster propulsion than wind alone. Sterling took the boat out numerous times for practice and to learn manoeuvres. Picking this skill up quickly too Sterling started realising he was quick to learn things when he got hands on with them.

By the time of the first robbery he was ready and waiting in the boat but had spotted that the team had left him with a fire arm. Unnerved and a little bit angry by this he took up the gun and launched it into the water. He wasn't about to let himself fall into an old habit let alone one which had put him in such a bad state. When the crew arrived Sterling was able to lose the tails and return to the ship. It took twice as long as it should've but he was new and he would learn. Turns out he did too.

Sterling very quickly became a huge asset to the crew. Twenty heists later Sterling was a professional getaway driver and had seen that he could even transfer his skills to the airship too. Albeit the ship didn't move fast, he was able to guide it better than most using all his surroundings to move faster. This felt like the beginning of something beautiful.

But for beginnings to happen, something must end.

The ending was the bandits.

The older man who had been a former bandit member turned out to be easily corruptible. During one of the heists Sterling returned to the airship with the bandits only to find marines aboard the air ship. As the crew returned to the ship a full on shoot out ensued. A number of bandits were killed but Sterling, he wasn't ready to fight. Heading back towards the small getaway ship he wanted out.

Climbing aboard he was joined by a bandit who was bleeding and the two launched off into the blue below trying to escape.

Feeling bad for what he'd done Sterling understood that the bottom was that these men were crooks and this was only a matter of time. Stopping by a small island Sterling took the bandit he'd been with and sought out a doctor to help heal his wounds. But during the bandit's recovery he made a decision. Sterling hadn't gained a bounty as he'd never really been in the middle of full scale combat, but he had been in combat. He knew that he himself could fetch a high price at the auction house so people would be coming for him and he had no way of protecting himself aside from close quarters combat which was pretty scary letting someone who wanted to do you harm get that close. He could shoot though.

During his travels aboard the small ship of gears Sterling found himself a black smith who create a weapon for him that was non-lethal. He created the outcast. A weapon which felt much like himself. Non-lethal. The question for Sterling now remained. What would he do with his life? He wanted to return to Zou, but looking at his life, he realised he hadn't accomplished anything he could be proud of. The skills he'd learnt were only good for criminal activity. But from what he'd seen with the marines, they weren't all too kind either. They were the ones who'd shot first. Not even a word of warning and choice to do things the easy way. The first thing was a bullet the the brain of a bandit.

Abilities:

• Experienced Helmsman
Working as the Blue Moon Bandit's getaway driver Sterling picked up the skills for piloting ships very quickly. He was able to understand what surroundings would further propel the boat and increase it's speed. It was a useful skill to learn and one which was transferable to other types of ships. The only variable Sterling learned was the shape and size of the ships.

• Marksmanship Prowess
Spending many months at a time practicing with firearms aboard the airship Sterling was able to work on his aim and understanding of firearms. He proved himself capable of being a competent marksman and was even able to make use of himself in warding off Marines, but since then has vowed to use non lethal weaponry since then such as firearms which fire out bean bags.

• Mink Biology
Being born a mink Sterling has access to mink abilities such as electro, sulong and far greater strength & stealth capabilities which are abilities that can be of great use. However these are techniques of which Sterling will need to learn about and how to use as they are not that are easy to learn or even control.

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Weapon The Outcast

Weapon Description

The Outcast is a short rifle looking weapon with brown wooden butt and bottom part of the barrel whilst the rest is black steel worked by a blacksmith. This weapon isn't much bigger than a sawn off shotgun, however it has great range akin to a rifle. The Outcast holds up to five bean bags at a time before needing to be reloaded.

Weapon Special Abilities:

Beanbags
The outcast fires small metal ball bearings encased inside a beanbag limiting the damage it produces to something a painful blunt experience with reusable rounds. The beanbags are small and circular leaving enough room in the beanbags for the ball bearings to roll around freely. These often will leave intense bruising upon contact.
Beanbags: Combustion
These are beanbags with two ball bearings rolling around in them with a fabric the beanbags is made from that is highly combustable allowing the beanbag to burst into flames and quickly increase in temperature including with the ball bearings.
Beanbags: Battery
This is a type of bean bag ammunition type in which the bean bag holds a charge due to the small device within the beanbag. This allows Sterling to use electro on them charging the battery type ammunition so when fired out the gun fires out electrified beanbags.

Black Steel
The metal parts of this gun are crafted from Black steel which is the toughest metal obtainable in the blues. It allows the weapon to be used in close quarters combat able to do battle with a sword due to the sheer resistance of the metal. Despite there being wood over parts of the gun it is only a casing as there is a black steel frame beneath it should the wooden casing break the gun will still be usable.

Weapon History:
This weapon comes to life from a desire Sterling had for it. He wanted a weapon that he could use that was non lethal. Albeit a strange and peculiar request for a blacksmith with the money Sterling was able to offer him from all of the heists he was more than happy to oblige including offering him some of the best materials for said weapon. This is all that exists of The Outcast's life currently due to lack of an existence.

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Unarmed Combat:

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Mink Combat

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Mink: Electro
This is a commonly known combat technique to use that is very easy among minks to use. The user imbues parts of their body with electricity to use in combative situations.

Mink: Sulong
When the full moon is visible and minks are able to see it they are capable of turning into their more primal states of the creature they are thus this can also incur physical changes on the individual as well as mental changes. Sterling becomes much more ferocious growing in size a little and becoming much broader. His teeth and claws grow size and he becomes more confident with close quarters combat.


Weapon Based Combat:

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The Outcast

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The Outcast: Cloud Barrage
Opening fire with The Outcast Sterling launches out numerous shots at a time unleashing a painful barrage of bean bags.

The Outcast: Battery
Loading The Outcast into the bottom of The Outcast Sterling uses his electro on the gun charging up the beanbags with electricity so when they are fired upon contact they unleash a powerful blast of electricity.
The Outcast: Battery: Thunder Strike
Loading The Outcast into the bottom of The Outcast Sterling uses his electro on the gun charging up the beanbags with electricity so when they are fired upon contact they unleash a powerful blast of electricity. However this time round Sterling unleashes a barrage of beanbags of which unleash a powerful blast of electricity.

The Outcast: Combustion Cloud
Using the combustion ammunition on the outcast Sterling uses electro when firing which causes the beanbag to burst into flames once it is fired. The bean bag tears open releasing two searing hot ball bearings heated up by the flames.
The Outcast: Combustion Cloud: Torrential Blaze
Using the combustion ammunition on the outcast Sterling uses electro when firing which causes the beanbag to burst into flames once it is fired. The bean bag tears open releasing two searing hot ball bearings heated up by the flames. However this time round Sterling unleashes a barrage of beanbags of which burst into flames upon firing.

The Outcast: Thunder Storm
Gripping The Outcast by the barrel Sterling uses electro on the imbuing the electro with electricity of which he now uses The Outcast as a blunt instrument of which he can attack someone with close quarters whilst also able to deal out electrical damage

Haki:

Approved