Janneke De Boer
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Janneke De Boer
53
17th Gifts, 8242
6'2"
Female
Human
Berserker
Fleet Admiral
Koben Navy
Likes
Booze, small and cute things, rowdy parties, potato, fancy pastries, the smell of the sea, a good chase
Dislikes
Medicine, green vegetables, bad omens, people who refuse to heed the omens, rulebook types, rich person snobbery
Personality
Loud | Crass | Affectionate | Superstitious | Easygoing | Irrational | Disrespectful
The first thing one would notice about Janneke is how proud she is of her low birth. She openly flaunts the culture of 'her people' in opposition to her current social status - expressing herself without restraint or tact, stubbornly following the traditions and superstitions she grew up with, and taking great delight in unfooting upper-crusters with docker slang and innuendo. She pays no mind to rank or birth - unless someone else makes a point of it, in which case she uses it as a yardstick to judge how obnoxiously to act up her peasantliness. She's no more discerning with things either - she has no appreciation for quality or minimalism; instead whatever space she occupies quickly becomes a hoarder's mess of cheap and gaudy trash. As long as something is novel in some way, she considers it worthy of The Stash.
Ham aside, Janneke is by nature easygoing, unserious and - as some would put it - unthinking. It would be unfair to say she doesn't think, but it's true that her thinking almost entirely happens subconsciously. She trusts her gut far more than boringly fiddly theories, and hates to be trapped by rigid plans. She'll often intentionally botch her part of a plan she considers daft or too strict and do things her way instead. After all, everyone would agree that her greatest strength is her ability to wing it gloriously when things go wrong, right? Having proven she can handle surprises time and time again gives her all the more confidence to keep a cool head in crises, and take challenges and setbacks easily in stride. When she needs to plan, she tends to focus more on the personality and feelings of opponents than fusty logic. On the one hand she can be surprisingly good at mind games; on the other she has a habit of favouring dicey, sometimes deranged-seeming tactics.
Her attitude to people is just as relaxed. She is open with affection and happily treats anyone as extended family - personal space not included. Things like morality and allegiances are all 'details' to her, thanks to growing up in an environment were such things were negotiable and came second to putting food on the table. She doesn't hold history against people - whether that's friend-turned-enemy, enemy-turned-friend or any other sort of baggage - and doesn't take it upon herself to judge a person's morals unless it directly impacts her. Aside from some personal pet peeves, she looks to like and forgive. Her circle of friends is very large and very varied - and includes a good few people who would be appalled to know she considers them friends.
History
The daughter of a dock worker and a washerwoman, Janneke spent her early years very poor. She started working on the docks with her father from an early age, counting and later hauling cargo. Her neighbourhood banded together to help each other out of necessity as they were all barely scraping by, so although it was a life of want and struggle, from her point of view she was always surrounded by beloved family.
When she was 15, she fell into a lightning romance with a dashing older Corsair and followed him into the crew. The seafarer life turned out to fit her perfectly and she really blossomed on the shipdeck. The more she grew and the closer she became with her other crewmates though, the more she realised how far her man was from what her starry-eyed younger self thought of him - petty, immature and truthfully a gutless blowhard. The end of their relationship was long and ugly - many spiteful words were exchanged, many dramatic fights were had, and in the end she cut him down in an emotionally charged duel. The crew split after that; some became her lifelong enemies, some disappeared from her life, and some stuck by her side to make a new corsairing crew together.
Her new crew - aboard the Ruby Renegade - became famous for an apparent habit of swashbuckling adventures over the next couple of decades. Stories flew around the Empire about their exploits - including the time she single-handedly wrestled a sea-serpent (naked), the time she wielded a cannon as a club, and the time she bit the anchor off an enemy ship and stabbed the hull with it (and how she now has diamond teeth to prove it). At their peak, the Ruby Renegade headlined for the Corsairs with Janneke as their captain. They would swagger around town like royalty - respected by the authorities, hailed as heroes by the locals, and regarded with fear and awe by rivals.
After a long stint at the top, the crew eventually came to a frankly inglorious end. Their big name and bigger ego bloated their ranks with opportunists and young hopefuls they couldn't train properly. Their lack of opponents made them complacent, lazy and self-destructive - looking inwards in search of conflict. While they sat on their laurels, an alliance of up-and-comers keen to make a name set sights on them - if they took down this big a fish, they would be famous! They found a few sell-outs on board and with their help, ambushed the Ruby Renegade at sea. Many of the newer members, more loyal to themselves than the crew, abandoned ship without much of a fight. The stories that emerged after the incident blamed the fall on storybook traitors, but the old crew knew it was their own failings that led them there.
The survivors of the Ruby Renegade disbanded. Janneke's parents took the opportunity to beg her to leave piracy. She too felt her pirate life had run its course so she agreed, but whatever new venture she tried, she found herself still yearning for the sea. She met with a few former crewmates who felt the same to commiserate over ales, and over the course of a very drunken night they decided to join the navy together - after all, they already had one foot in the door as former Corsairs. Janneke and her friends were handed good starting ranks because of their fame - but the navy wasn't as easy to acclimate to as she'd hoped. The endless hierarchies and stricter lifestyle rankled her, and she almost left for the culture shock. She stuck it out not knowing what else she'd want to do - just long enough to make some new friends who talked her into the idea of compromise. It took another year or so of testing boundaries, winning over superiors and frustrated ranting, but she eventually succeeded in making a reasonably happy life for herself in the navy.
Her entry to the upper ranks came suddenly, in the aftermath of the Corsairs' mutiny and decimation of Linhythe. Many naval leaders perished, were forced into retirement by injury or resigned in shame - among them, the then Fleet Admiral. In the navy's scramble to find replacements who people would rally under, they landed on Janneke as a controversial but compelling candidate. Her Corsair origins raised heated opposition, but she'd been in the navy for several years now and had fought whole-heartedly against the mutineers. Perhaps most importantly, she'd fought to protect the locals from harm and had done so in her typically flashy way - this time ripping the mast off a ship and plowing half the crew into the sea with one swing. She was still a much loved folk hero, and had proven very publicly that she was no less terrifying now than in her days of fame. They hurried her up the ranks to a backdrop of internal wrangling and hushed worry. Janneke herself was surprised, but took in easily in stride - after all she was no stranger to leadership. In fact the higher she was pushed, the more freedom she had to show why she was captain of the greatest Corsair crew of her time. Her charisma, heroics and complete inability to be scheming quickly won doubtfuls to her side, enough to rubber stamp her as Fleet Admiral and allow the stand-in - a sharp but infirm retiree - to retire again. She still has a core of detractors who are convinced she'll betray the Empire one day, but has so far shown no reason to believe them.
Current Story
The change in royal family has made no impact to her, other than having to remember new names. She would happily accept whoever is at the throne, so long as they're decent to her and don't impinge her freedom.
Additional Info
An only child but considers the neighbours of her generation her siblings, and their children her nieces and nephews. She visits them often to hand out gifts and play with the kids. They've all become much more financially secure with her support. The neighbourhood itself has gentrified a lot because of her fame, but she made sure any of the original residents who wanted to stay could stay.
A known danger to young people she befriends for trying to set them up with her infinite nieces/nephews.
Owns a menangerie of very tiny dogs who she loves very much. Her personal ship is named after the deceased menangerie papa - the SS Chip.
A Happy Berserker - he doesn't get angry in battle so much as really into it.
Relations
Henny Kerk
Former first mate of the Ruby Renegade, now old and retired. She considers him her first mentor as he's supported her since the first Corsair crew she joined. She still goes drinking with him at least once a week, and often uses him as a sounding board.
Fons & Frans De Boer
Her twin sons from her pirate days. They both followed her into piracy and died young, many years ago. She prefers to celebrate them rather than mourn them.
Andries De Boer
Her estranged next son, who ran away as a teen and was never seen again. She has no idea where he is, and has resolved to let him be; if he ever decides to seek her out again she will welcome him, but she won't force it.
Gertie Langbroek
Her last child, a daughter from a short fling. Janneke couldn't raise the girl herself for various reasons, so she had a close childless friend adopt her. She takes more of a doting aunt than mother role to Gertie, who has come to terms with it and is now doing well as a tailor in Linhythe. Janneke bemoans the girl's astronomically high standards as she's rejected every one of the 'strapping young things' Janneke has sent her way.
