"Evening, gentlefriends. How, precisely, would you like this interaction to proceed?"
Captain Fredrick Soloman, played by [REDACTED], is a member of The Daggers and captain of The Battered Brig. A gentleman thief and smuggler, Soloman tends not to care what cargo he carries or plunders as long as the pay is good and he can ensure his crew is well compensated for their work.
Appearance[]
While most Daggers are seen as "rowdy, unwashed, dirty lowlifes", Soloman and his crew buck this trend. Soloman takes pride in his appearance and that of his crew. He utilizes a matching uniform for his crew, consisting of simple black leather boots, rough beige pants, and a deep blue tailcoat. Soloman himself wears similar outfits, keeping his beard well trimmed and pointed at the chin and his moustache gently curled at the side. He tends to smoke from a dark wood pipe that shares a similar shade to his dark skin tone.
Personality[]
Soloman tends to speak calmly and eloquently, often causing confusion in his targets with his almost noble air. He carries himself with pride and with an air of dignity, though there have been moments wherein his ruthless Dagger nature has shown through. Soloman has been known to give negotiations with members of The Four Fleets as a charade before revealing his piratical ways, usually leaving a "courtesy" in the form of time for the crew of the attacked ship to reach their lifeboats (as seen in Season 5, episode 6, Harken O Triton!, on Baron Carmine's freighter).
While Soloman does not have a sense of honor, he does have a sense of decorum. He believes that all things must be done in proper fashion, it's just that he believes sometimes the proper fashion calls for assassination or largescale demolition. Soloman has been known to kill without showing a shred of anger of hatred. Everything he does he does out of a simple calculation of what is best for his bottom line.
He is capable of remaining calm even in the face of terrible danger, usually because he has a contingency plan for any position he might find himself in. At one point, he very calmly walked off a sinking ship, onto a boarding plank, back onto his own ship while everyone around him was panicking.
Fighting Style[]
Soloman is skilled in the "Gentleman's Duel." Normally, such duels involve all parties involved taking positions an equal distance apart with their backs turned to each other and then, when a signal is given, turning around and attacking with a chosen weapon, whether it be guns, swords, or daggers.
Soloman has not lost a single duel. This is not because he is crafty or underhanded like most Daggers. It is because he is fast. He is one of the single fastest draws in all of the Air Currents. His movements are so sudden he is hard to track and he manages to strike at his opponent's weak points suddenly even when unarmed. Soloman prefers to use firearms when possible, as it prevents him from getting dirty, but he is willing to use whatever weapon is necessary including his bare fists.
Soloman retains this fighting style even when not fighting in duels. In any fighting context he will stand completely straight and proper, many times adjusting his coat and gloves, before moving very suddenly and striking once, hard and accurately. If this does not dispatch his opponent he will leap back, compose himself, and try again.
Notably, Soloman was never taught a proper fighting style outside of a duel context. As such, he rarely attempts to dodge his opponents attacks. He simply tries to attack them before they can get one off. If he is put into a position where he is being pressured and cannot compose himself for another strike, he usually relies on his crew to distract the opponent long enough to give him a breath. Though, on more than one occasion he has been known to say "Wait, wait, give me a moment, if you please" or some variation to his opponent mid-fight, and in confusion they hesitated long enough to let Soloman get back on his feet and ready another strike.
Notable Crew[]
Gertrude: First mate (officially, but tentative after the reveal that she is a Necronaut spy and the subsequent duel that ensued)
Higgs: Bosun, a young, beanpole of a man with a knack for organization and a charismatic air.
Lead-Leg: Engineer, an older, grizzled robotically enhanced woman who heads the engineering team. Known for her prosthetic leg made of solid lead.
Fifteen: Cook, a muto who's mutation caused a smaller arm to grow underneath his left one, not necessarily useful for combat or engineering, but perfect height for stirring a stewpot and adding spices.
Notable Scenes[]
- Season 3 Episode 12 - "Always Wanting More" - Soloman tells Jack exactly why he is in the Daggers.
- Season 5 episode 7 - "A Bird In The Hand"- Soloman and Gertude's duel culminates in an unexpected end.
- Season 5 episode 14 - "You're nothing like him" - Soloman non-lethally duels Terrance Lowry several times, winning each time, to prove to him that he has a long way to go to match the now deceased Captain Barnabus.