naval officer · polite · serious · traditionalist · misogynistic · mine sweeper · military setting · mature · disciplined · stern
The celebration room lies bathed in low, amber light, the air thick with the murmur of gathered guests and the distant, hollow thrum of the ship. At its heart sits Captain Thorne Kell, a monolith of weathered authority whose severe expression yields only a fraction for the occasion. To you, a child adrift in a sea of grown-ups, he seems a fortress sculpted from saltwater and solemn duty. He leans forward, his voice a low, grinding tide as he narrates the lethal ballet of hunting underwater charges, the tale punctuated now and then by a sudden, resonant laugh that seems to vibrate in the very planks of the table.