Nathaniel Holt

!nathaniel-holt.jpg

Holt at an Egyptian harbour, September 1814 — plain travelling coat, his brass sextant in hand. Original art; public-facing likeness.

Characteristics

Point assignment method (460 total). Age 29 (20-39 bracket: 1 EDU improvement check, rolled successfully, +5 to EDU).

Derived

Reputation

Combat

Status

• [ ] Temporary Insanity
• [ ] Indefinite Insanity
• [ ] Major Wound
• [ ] Unconscious
• [ ] Dying

Personal Description: Medium height, lean and weathered in the way sailors are — the skin around his eyes is lined from years of squinting into glare. Dark brown hair, cut short, salted early at the temples. Clean-shaven. His hands are hard with rope calluses. He wears civilian clothes aboard (a plain dark coat, good boots, no lace) but carries himself like a man accustomed to a quarterdeck. Stands with his weight forward, balanced, the stance of someone who learned to walk on a moving surface. His face rests at neutral, not unfriendly, just waiting. When he speaks it is plainly and without hurry.

Traits: Direct. He says what he means and assumes others do the same, which occasionally makes him obtuse in social situations that run on subtext. Patient with physical hardship, impatient with disorder. Does his own maintenance — cleans his own pistol, mends his own coat, coils his own lines. Not because he must, but because idle hands make him restless. Underneath the steadiness is a man who keeps moving because stillness is where the thinking happens.

Ideology & Beliefs: Duty. King and country, the Navy, the chain of command. He believes in competence, preparation, and the idea that a good officer keeps his people alive. He is not religious in any meaningful way — he has seen too much sea to believe in a benevolent God — but he respects the ritual of it. He believes the world is fundamentally knowable if you pay enough attention.

Significant People:

• His brother, William Holt (dead). Lieutenant on HMS Colossus at Trafalgar. Killed by a splinter through the chest. Nathaniel was 20, serving on HMS Orion in the same engagement. He saw the Colossus take fire but did not know William was dead until three days later.
• Captain James Marsh (retired). Holt’s first captain, aboard HMS Seahorse. Taught him everything a midshipman needed to know and most of what an officer needed to forget.

Meaningful Locations:

• The quarterdeck of HMS Dryad, his last posting. A frigate, 36 guns, two years in the Channel. He loved that ship.
• Portsmouth harbour. Where everything starts and ends.

Treasured Possessions:

• William’s pocket watch. Returned with his effects. It stopped at 2:14, which was not the time William died, but Nathaniel has never had it repaired.
• A sextant, brass, well-used. His own, not Navy issue. The one piece of equipment he trusts absolutely.

Occupation: Naval Officer Formula: EDU × 2 + DEX × 2 = 120 + 140 = 260 occupation points Personal Interest: INT × 2 = 130 points

Occupation points spent: 25 + 35 + 30 + 45 + 39 + 25 + 30 + 16 + 15 = 260 ✓ Personal interest spent: 20 + 39 + 12 + 20 + 15 + 24 = 130 ✓

None at character creation. Old scars from splinters and rigging burns on both hands and forearms.

None at character creation.

None. Cthulhu Mythos 0%. Holt has seen nothing stranger than St. Elmo’s fire and a waterspout off Ushant.

None prior to boarding La Speranza.

Current as of Chapter 4, Session 4 (table-assistant notes; the session’s formal wrap-up has not yet been written, so some detail below is provisional).

Holt is with the party at the Auberge du Muski in Cairo, having crossed via Alexandria, Rosetta, and the Nile, as of mid-September 1814. His crew standing survived a real crack: during the becalming’s climax (Session 3), the sight of The Drowned climbing the hull froze him, and he dropped his loaded pistol, which discharged on the deck. He recovered enough to steer two drunk companions home through Alexandria’s streets and cover for Freddy’s ravings to Lucas Pyke with a “bad mushrooms” story. Earlier in the voyage he earned genuine respect from the crew — joined Petar’s dawn rigging inspection and out-spotted the bosun, piloted the brig through the Strait of Otranto’s contrary winds, and chose to eat and bunk with the crew rather than the party despite outranking everyone aboard but Zanier.

In Cairo, Holt mortgaged a quarter’s advance of his Navy half-pay (via his agent, against Bank of England terms) to stay financially committed to the expedition — a deliberate character choice, not a plot necessity. He victualled the onward river leg like a ship’s officer and gave the boat crew twenty packs of snuff as a captain-to-captain gift, establishing himself as a crew-goodwill asset for the Nile leg ahead (a standing bonus die on social rolls with that crew). 18 packs remain.

He has no connection to the Choir, the Order, or the Calcutta investigation — that remains true. Per his design, Phil hands him off to Havildar Pratap Singh on arrival in Calcutta; Holt’s own exit (to Bombay, or an earlier port) has not yet been played.

To be populated at the table. Holt is crew (assigned as ship’s doctor, though he is not one), not part of the party’s mission. He may be drawn in by events during the voyage.

{Player-facing notes. Protected — skills never modify.}