Caitlyn Nacle
She/Her
40 years old
Typical
80 kg
Personality
Caitlyn grew up in a loving and supportive family, molding her into the caring person she is today. However, don’t make the mistake of thinking she is weak or a push-over due to her friendly demeanor. The hardy Nacles and her salty sailor extended family from The Bar-Nacle taught her how to stand up for herself and toughened her skin. Her patience can only hold for so long before it snaps into a raging sea and a thunder of profanity. This typically holds true for rowdy individuals that she doesn’t have the time for, though it can remain strong almost indefinitely when dealing with work, patients, and other similar situations. It should be noted though that although she may not snap, her smiling facade will slowly weather away if a particular person gets on her nerves.
On most occasions Caitlyn tolerates stressful situations very well. Her long journey through medical school and the medical practice itself helped iron out her tolerance levels. More importantly, growing up with a terminally ill family member forced her to give the appearance of calm strength for her sister’s sake. After the death of her sister, Caitlyn had started to have anxiety attacks whenever she became short of breath. A subconscious panic also grows whenever she hears someone struggling to breathe or the sound of congested lungs rattling.
For most of the people who have gotten to know Caitlyn well and had to describe her in three words, the majority would most likely say that she’s compassionate, driven, and smart. Digging a little deeper, however, those same positive traits also have their downsides. Although Caitlyn is incredibly smart, certain situations will cause her to think more with her heart than with her brain, choosing compassion over the logical solution. And because she is so driven, she often pushes herself to the edge, resulting in poor sleep, relying heavily on caffeine, and putting her own self-care on the back burner.
Appearance
Caitlyn stands at a tall 5’7”, surrounded by an air of confidence and a warm welcoming presence. Her form is lean and fit, seeming to take care of her physical health as best she can.
Over the years her tan skin has become slightly weathered from the sun and salty air that she grew up with. Across her body, various tattoos, mostly nautical-themed, can be seen artistically and respectfully inked on to her skin. Although she has aged gracefully, time is starting to etch its way onto her face, causing fine lines to form around the edges of her eyes and mouth when she smiles.
Vibrant amber eyes look at others in kindness, though if one were to get lost in her gaze, one might find a hidden depth of guilt and anguish. Occasionally her eyes are swept over by locks of wavy, long hair. Once dark brown, it had started to gray in her early thirties, and now that she’s nearly forty years old, her hair has taken a natural salt and pepper appearance.
Notable Skills
- First Aid / Healthcare: Caitlyn’s educational background and primary career have been in healthcare, working as a Doctor of Internal Medicine with a specialty in Pulmonology.
- Fast Learner / Reader & Good Memory: In her field of work and the years of education required for it, being a faster learner, reader, and having a good memory are valuable skills to have.
- Perceptive & Steady Hands: A couple of the necessary skills for being a good doctor.
- Interpersonal Skills: Both her medical career and tending to patrons at The Bar-Nacle require good communication, empathy, listening, and other related social skills.
- Fishing: As a Braddock Island native it’d be a blasphemy not to know at least the basics of fishing. She learned how to fish from her grandfather.
- Cooking / Bartending: Growing up in a family that owned a tavern and working as a bartender to get through college helped her hone these skills.
Background
Caitlyn Nacle was born on June 6th, 1960. She is a 5th generation New Yorker and grew up on Braddock Island, where her grandfather had originally lived as a fisherman before retiring from that line of work to open the seaside tavern called “The Bar-Nacle.” His son, Conor, eventually inherited the tavern, and The Bar-Nacle has continued to be a family-run business.
The Bar-Nacle was as much of a home as Caitlyn’s own family house was. Many of the salty sailors had “adopted” young Caitlyn (and the other Nacle children) as she ran amuck in the tavern while her parents worked in the kitchen or behind the counter. Caitlyn loved her extended family, learning the very important tricks of the trade - such as having a mouth as filthy as the underside of a dingy that would make your average grandma recoil in disgust and fear. Her parents didn’t mind this so much in the tavern, but they had to help teach her to hold her tongue while out in public.
Caitlyn was the middle child, having an older brother named Cillian and a younger sister named Cara. At a younger age, all of the children appeared interested in helping the family business, dreaming of running it one day. As they grew older, however, those dreams began to diverge. Although Cillian still had the passion for working at The Bar-Nacle, a certain diagnosis would have Caitlyn’s dreams sailing elsewhere.
Cara, the youngest of the Nacles, was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when Caitlyn was 16 years old. The symptoms started off mild, though once she was diagnosed, the Nacle family cursed themselves for not seeing the signs sooner. Over the next couple of years, the mild symptoms slowly progressed to become more severe. As much as Caitlyn cared for her home and the tavern, she loved her sister more. Her sister’s condition fueled her to want to become a doctor, thinking that in some way she could help save Cara.
So Caitlyn left her home and the salty extended family on Braddock Island to travel to the mainland of New York to attend college at New York University. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry, she continued her education to receive her Doctor of Medicine degree. Over those eight years Caitlyn worked as a bartender to fund her extremely pricey tuition. Scholarships can only help so much, but thankfully Cait was no rookie in the bar or kitchen. Her workplace skills and personable personality earned her enough tips to pave her way through her education journey. With the end of school in sight, she did another three years of residency where she received Internal Medicine training. Until finally she completed her last two years in a fellowship to specialize in Pulmonology. Her choice in that particular specialization was solely to help her sister’s progressively worsening lung condition.
Once she had finally finished her marathon worth of years in school and training, she remained in New York City where she worked as an Internist / Pulmonologist. Ideally she wanted a job over at a clinic in Braddock Island, but at the time there were no jobs in that area that were hiring. However, Caitlyn made sure to have time to make house visits to check up on her sister and help her the best she could.
Always looking out for her family, especially her sister, Caitlyn eventually adopted a puppy that received training to become a service dog for Cara. The dog, lovingly named Barney, was able to do helpful tasks such as alerting others of a medical emergency, detecting lung irritants in the air, fetching items, and so on. He also provided Cara with a constant source of friendship and comfort, like any good dog would.
After battling Cystic Fibrosis for many long years, Cara Nacle had finally succumbed to her condition. The Nacles mourned her loss, filled with terrible, gnawing grief. They did not wish to admit it, but there was also a guilty relief knowing that Cara no longer had to suffer. Sometime in 1997, devastated by the loss of her sister and an end to part of her life’s purpose, Caitlyn quit her job in New York City and moved back home. As much as she loved being a doctor, she needed time to grieve and wanted to be close to her family to support them during this hard time. While back on the Island, Caitlyn started working at The Bar-Nacle again to help her family as they tried to cope and heal.
After greeting the New Year of 2000, Caitlyn made a resolution to return to her medical career to work as a doctor. Although her heart still ached for her sister, she had to move on and find purpose once more. She decided to wait to go job hunting until after her brother and parents returned from their much-needed vacation to Florida in early March. During that time, Caitlyn would watch over the Bar-Nacle and Barney, keeping the “ship” afloat in the meantime. As she waited, an excited happiness grew in her heart, looking forward to this new chapter in her life.
