Leaving Port: A Fantasy Pirate Roleplay

[Ru'Thor]

OOC: Arrr! In case ye be wonderin', this be fantasy on accounta two things. Arr, one: the places ain't be in existence! Arr, two: ye can use magic, if ye be wishin' too. Anybody can be joinin', it don't matter who ye be... but be warned: I be usin' this here pirates lingo on ye. ARRRRR! (Okay, I be leavin' the 'arr's' alone fer t' most part.)

IC:

A whole month.

They'd been in this port a whole month.

The little seaside town of Kilika had been occupied- and generally terrorized- by the pirates of Jaru Doukai's crew for the past month. People had been killed. Crops had been burned. Ships had been looted.

And what was that crew doing now? Loading as much wine and ale from the local tavern onto the ship as possible before they left within the hour.

Most of the crew, anyway.

Sebastian Dreydan was still on the ship, sitting with one leg dangling over the side and swinging back and forth in an overall bad mood. He was glad that they would be leaving port soon- he preferred the water to land, anyway- but he wasn't looking forward to sailing with a bunch of pirates that were blind drunk.

Sebastian had a name to live up to. He was a marksman for the Avenger, the ship he had come to call home. He was the best of the best, one of the most feared pirates this side of Astoria*: yet he was only sixteen.

The markskid, that was what his crewmates called him. It ticked him off at first, but he had slowly gotten used to it, and answering to it now was as natural as answering to his own name- but that didn't mean he liked it.

A soft breeze blew across the docks. Silence reigned: the townspeople remained silent while the pirates were present, hiding in their houses, waiting for the time to come when they could repair the damage done. The rest of the Avenger’s crew was on the other side of town. In a way, Sebastian was glad. It was good to have some quiet time alone, to think.

The wind pushed his black bangs across his face, and he closed his eyes, leaning back against the mast as the sails flapped- fwhoop, fwhoop- in the breeze. Yawning widely, the young pirate stood, walked precariously along the side of the ship before he reached the platform that led to the dock. He walked down it, his bare feet scorched as they touched the sunwarmed sand.

Captain Doukai was worried. Sebastian had been around long enough to tell that. The size of the crew had shrunk considerably: only fifteen men remained. It was a hard task to run the ship with that number- Sebastian was pressured to keep an eye on all sides of the ship at all time. Sometimes he wished for an extra pair of eyes.

It was well-known that the Avenger was looking for crew. The King's navy was doing all they could to keep potential pirates from signing on, but Doukai had a way of getting news where he wanted it to go. The man was still betting that they would have at least one person join them by the time they left port. Few others of the crew agreed: there were hardly two hours left before they set sail. Who could possibly show up in that time?

Sebastian shared their doubts as he sat broodingly on the edge of the dock, his toes skimming the water. Until they left, all he had to do was keep an eye on the ship. All he had to do was look like- well- Sebastian Dreydan, the best marksman on the seas.

*Astoria: One of the largest continents in this world, called Ethria. It is surrounded by seas: the North Sea to the North (duh), the Lyrian Sea to the East and South (which is where the Avenger is), and the Thyme Sea to the West.

[Shira]

He paused, wiping the blood off his lip, trying to catch his breath. Guards had been trying to bring him to the jail on pickpocketing when he escaped from them, but in the scuffle they had busted his lip. Oh well. If he got on this ship he wouldn't have to worry about stupid guards and jail bonds.

Slip, for that was his nickname, ran his fingers through his bleach blonde hair, mentally swearing at all of his bad luck lately. First the black dye had washed out of his hair, then he had gotten caught, and now he had to get on a ship before they found him again. At least Avenger needed crew desperately, and no one was stupid enough to go to seas without a decent water-mage. Now he looked like an inexperienced too-young-to-be-a-pirate land-walker, with blonde hair and clear blue eyes, the color of his element, but that was to be expected.

Slip quickly grabbed his pack from a safe house, and made his way to the docks, ducking his head into the water on the way. The water soaked into the old sleeveless tunic that he wore, showing off of a tattoo that he had on his left arm. The tattoo had a five-pointed star, with water marks behind and around it, saying that he had worked on, and survived, Captain Grey's infamous Hooligan ship. Only those competent enough to get the tattoo actually got it; anyone caught forging it automatically died on the spot.

He went into his bag and found a brown cloth that matched his skin, and tied it over his tattoo before he spotted Sebastian.

"Hear'ja lookin' fer some crew. Need yerself a water mage?"

[Ru'Thor]

Sebastian looked up from the water and brought his mind back from wherever it had been, getting to his feet as though embarrassed that he had been caught daydreaming. He took that little mishap into stride, eyes narrowing at Slip. "Tha' all 'pends," he said evenly. "Who be you?"

Vaguely, he wondered if the crew would be back soon. He didn't like handling things like this, that was what the captain did. He glanced over the stranger's shoulder, seeing no sign of Doukai and the others.

[Shira]

"Name be Slip Slip. Been workin' on ships since I was six, and even work'd on Hooligan for a coupla years." He said, taking off the brown band on his arm for a moment to prove it.

Retard was day dreamin'! he mentally grinned. This would be an easy ship to watch over if the crew was drunk and the man on watch had daydreamed off.

[Ru'Thor]

Sebastian kept the scowl from his face, eyes glancing over the tattoo without showing any of his inward emotion. The Hooligan, huh? The captain would be impressed, and so would most of the crew... and the young marksman wasn't going to be among that number.

He pushed back old memories that threatened to resurface and said, "T'ain't up t' me. Ye'll hafta wait fer th' cap'n." And that wait probably wouldn't be too long. Over Slip's shoulder he could see the crew returning, laden with barrels of rum. Sebastian scoffed. There went any chance of getting any sleep tonight.

[Shira]

Slip looked over his shoulder, and shrugged. "Al'right." He was used to waiting for crewmates to sober up, if they did at all. That what made working on the Hooligan so dangerous; it wasn't just the bad waters that they traveled on, it was the fact that the captian was usually drunker than you could ever believe, and when he drank, he stayed awake. And then Slip would have to stay awake, not only for that, but the fact that he had the job of trying to calm the bad waters long enough for them to pass through the storms, getting only two hours per forty hours awake.

[Mac]

((Mind if I join? I never turn down the chance to take a trip on the open sea! ^-^))

[Mac]

She watched the Avenger with hard eyes as her fingers deftly worked a mass of dark hair into a clean braid as she had done every other third morning. Except today was different, the wind had changed its course and it was carrying Nallie, a surviving descendant of the condemned House of Eritrean, with it.

Securing her dark hair at the base of her neck, Nallie covered her head with the same ragged piece of cloth she had used for the past five years in her disguise as an old, deranged and decrepit woman. She had not shown her strong-featured face to anyone since the day soldier’s came to take Lord Ferlan Eritrean. Nallie had been only five when her mother fled with her, her twin sister, and her older brother, but the haunting memory of separation during a storm had driven the teenager to travel incognito around Astoria. This pirate ship, the Avenger would bring her a step closer to avenging her family’s deaths.
~~~
Bent over a long staff the rag covered figured hobbled towards the ship. The staff bore intricate details depicting an ancient legend of how humans came to rule the earth and topped off with a dragon curled around itself. Nallie had always treasured the family heirloom even though it would have gone to her brother who favored the spear. It had only been luck that she had taken the staff to gather herbs; for when she came back to the cave, everything was ransacked and destroyed with no trace of her family.

She stopped a few lengths away from the two boys sitting to take a sip from her hip flask and make sure everything was secure and covered except her dirt covered eyes. Nallie had come to learn that her stone cold eyes she inherited from her father could be used to bargain the king out of his castle. Of course, this was just the expression used by a loving mother, but Nallie had negotiated many a controversies in her favor.

“You lads be doin’ anythang these days except a chatterin!” The dialect and voice of her character she had developed over the years came almost naturally. She no longer had to spend precious minutes translating what she wanted to saw into the old woman’s speech. “If ai had a coin for ever-ree ragamuffin that ‘as shown up an’ called meh grann- oi, ai . . .” she trailed her ranting off as she turned to watch the pirate crew returning with rum. A shiver ran down her spine as she reminded herself how bad she wanted to get away from Astoria.

“Whose be th’Avenger’s cap’n?” She questioned towards the oncoming crew and the boys as she swung her head like a raging bull between each group.

[Ru'Thor]

OOC: I'm so sorry that this took so long! My dad got taken to the hospital, so I had to help him out, and I didn't really have time to write a good post...

IC
Sebastian scowled. "He be none o'er th'n Jaru Doukai 'imself," he bragged, drawing himself up to his full size (not big). "What be it that ye want with 'im? Docks hereabouts ain't safe fer a lady like yerself." He put great emphasis on that word, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

Gods damn it, couldn't the crew move any faster than that? It wasn't his job to deal with people, that was the captain and the first mate.

OOC: Urgh. Short, but there.

[Shira]

Slip-slip just stood there, waiting for the captain to hurry up. He wasn't going to get into this fight about where a women's place stood-- he just wanted to get out of here, and quick, and maybe get the chance to doze off on the ship before they reached the rougher waters.

((Grr....Short. Sorry))

[Mac]

OOC;// Hope your dad is doing better!

IC;//
She chuckled softly. “A lady like meself, m'lord,” she rolled forward her hand in a mocking gesture, “Is very cap'ble to supply sometin in return fer passage on th'Avenger.”

It was good that the Avenger had been in port for a good time, giving Nallie enough time gather the information she needed.

“Jaru Doukai, eh? So ews must be tha' markskid?” She fixed a questionable look. He was not much younger than herself, but he had received high regards from lumbering crew men. You are not on the boat yet, Nallie, she warned herself. The pirate will probably be the superstitious kind and not want a woman on board. Though if that was the case the creative lady could always just threaten to curse the crew and ship. She had learned from the best at cursing men.

[Ru'Thor]

OOC: He just got his staples out. I think he's gonna be okay.

IC Sebastian scowled. "Aye," he muttered, "but you got no right t'call me that. I ain't got the authority t'let neither o' you on th' ship. Ye'll have ta-"

"Who be these folk, Sebastian?" The captain's booming voice followed him onto the dock, his boots clunking on the wood. His men paused behind him with their loot in hand, and the pirate's scarred face twisted. "Don' jus' stand thar! Load it up!"

There was a shout of "Aye!" and the men shuffled past the four, swarming onto the ship. The captain returned his attention to Sebastian and the other two. "Who be you?" he demanded of both of them, eyes shifting from one to the other. "What be ye wantin' with my ship, hm?"

[Mac]

"Captain Jaru Doukai, Aie have ah proposition fer thee." Nallie almost choked on the last words realizing that she was unconsciously changing her accent.

"Ahem, Aie promiss ter keep tha rest o' yer crew from sickness for passage on yer ship." Hobbling closer to him she pulled his ear down to her level and spoke boldly, "I know you've a been losin' yer crew, and if ya wanna make it out of here harbour ya might consider my gracious offer." Chuckling she patted his cheek like a son and hobbled towards the alley from which she came. "Aie jist need ter grab me 'erbs, poultices, and paraphernalia. I'll be back before ya set sail!"

[Mac]

She had preformed well, and Nallie knew Izalya would be proud. But inside she was nervous and insecure. What if he wouldn't take her ploy? Hobbling as fast as she could doubled over the just-turned-woman reached the shadows of her alley way and immediately stretched her back. How can I keep this mask on for more than a few days? She wondered silently to herself as she popped the sore joints of her spine. Massaging her neck she shouldered her already packed bag; she had condensed to one by selling off her belongings from home in exchange for gold. Once she got away from Astoria she would discard this costume and make a living as an herbalist, as her true self.

[Ru'Thor]

Doukai blinked. It seemed that he had just been deprived of voicing his opinion. "Good thing she ain't a proper lady," he muttered, "er I'd have a crew o' women-crazy dogs."

Sebastian snorted, and Doukai shot him a glare. "Just a'cause you ain't got no interest in females don't mean ye won't 'ventually, see?" he said, before looking at Slip-Slip. "And I suppose you be wantin' on my ship s'well?" he asked, glancing him up and down.

[Shira]

"Yesh. Name's Slip-slip, the water mage," he said, with a small little bow, more for respect than submission. "Work'd on the Hooligan for a seasun, then work'd on land for a'while. Ready to go back in water, though." Slip said, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, ready to leave.

He had definatly been away from water way too long. Even if he had to tie himself to the hull of a ship so he could go back into the water, he would.

[Ru'Thor]

"Fine."

Sebastian's head jerked around to the captain. "Ye can't be serious!"

Doukai didn't seem angry. Quite the contrary. He laughed. "Can be, lad. If ye recall, Pan got th' chop las' time we made port. Wha's y' got 'gainst someun t' take 'is place?"

Sebastian scowled and turned away, but the captain called him back. "Find Kar," he said, "an' send 'im back 'ere t'wait fer th' lady. Show th' water mage where 'e c'n put 'is bag, 'n set 'im t'work."

"But-"

"Be ye complainin' 'bout the showin', or the Kar?"

"Both."

Doukai huffed. "First of all, ye can't hold a grudge on a ship this size. Jus' don' work. Secondly, not e'en you's above a beatin', so get movin'."

Sebastian started to say, "Well he's the one who-", but cut himself off, settling to glare at Doukai and whirl around, walking towards the ship without looking to see if Slip-Slip would follow.

[Shira]

Slip-slip followed Sebastian towards the ship, knowing it would be pointless to try and ask questions this early in an introduction. He had seen people kicked off of ships for less than asking questions, and if he was caught again, the guards would make sure he wouldn't be able to move, let alone escape again.

"'Nythin' in part'c'lar I need ta know 'bout how she works?" Slip-Slip asked, picking up his speed so that he was directly behind and to the left of Sebastian.

((*sheepish* Sorry if my pirate's a little off. Never really done pirate before.))

[Ru'Thor]

((Sorrysorrysorry for the wait! Feel free to hit me with a spork, shovel, anchor...))

Sebastian stepped over the break between the ramp and the deck, not sparing the water mage a glance. "No," he said shortly, lifting his hand in greeting to a pair of unshaven men that were giving the sails a check-over. "She's as normal as they come." But still the best, he added to himself. Best damn ship on the seas. My Avenger.

He reached the cabins and took to the stairs, thumping down them two at a time towards the bunks. "I think there be an open bed 'er two," he said over his should, rounding the corner and entering the room. "Help yerself, 'less yer worried 'bout ghosts."

And he stopped about two steps inside the door, his eyes locked with a tall, burly pirate that was leaning casually against the wall, talking with another pair. The large man looked up as he entered, and his lips twisted into a sneer.

"Well if it ain't the littlest marksman!" he cried, as though overjoyed to see Sebastian. "Cap'n lettin' you come down here all by yerself now? Oh, wait." His taunts changed as he caught sight of Slip-Slip. "Naw, ye've still got to have yerself an escort! What a-"

"Shut up, Kar. The cap'n wants ye."

The pirate, presumably Kar, scowled. "Right, then. Don't get lost comin' back up t' the deck, markskid." Chuckling as though he'd just said the funniest thing in the world, Kar left, shoving past Slip-slip. His two friends followed.

"Bastard," Sebastian muttered under his breath.

[Mac]

All to be heard was the dull trodding of a limp and the sharper thudding of her staff. She had carefully arranged three low slung bags bulging with what looked to be a long life’s work of herbs and a few personal items. But to be precise the ‘old woman’ only had a single bag full worth of herbs and the rest was paraphenilia objects she thought might come in handy at a time. Each bag could have easily hidden five pints and a growing piglet comfortably- two piglets if they had been prepared for food. Though it is the cloth of the bags that she holds most dear; each is woven of a tough wool dyed and woven to tell how magic came into the world. One bag woven with grays and greens depicted men suffering under manual labor, starvation, and disease looking to the earth for miralces. The second part of the tale is sown with grays, blues, and a fiery comet raining to the earth; on the last bag the world is alight with swirling magic that circles around the comet and men. The color that faded and the weaves were worn but the lady did her best to preserve the past.

Peering above the ragged cloth covering her face, the ‘old’ woman eyed the ship once more before climbing carefully up the gangplank. It is easy for a youthful girl to pretend she is a misshapen woman, but this act gathered sympathy in her heart for the real elderly who are scorned and mistreated because of what they cannot do.

"Jaru Doukai!" She coughed across the ship deck, "Where ew be!"