Pirates & the Strange

[MrEdwardNigma]

Irshia, the Caribbean, Dawn:
Silme shook his head as the new prisoners were led onto the galley. Only this afternoon had they dumped the corpses of two more men who died at the oars in the sea, and they were already being replaced by new unfortunate souls. The prisoners gathered on the front deck and their shackles were taken off one by one. Silme had seen all this before. In a matter of minutes they'd be in new, tighter and rustier shackles, tied to the very ship. Still, they always seemed to enjoy these few minutes of relative freedom.

The new prisoners were a colourful bunch. Nine of them, which was two more than they had room for on the ship. They were clearly expecting some to give out quickly. Silme saw one of the guards hand a pouch to the helmsman. They were placing bets. The first man in the row was a likely candidate. He looked skinny, not at all muscular, just past his youth and totally out of place on the ship. His blue-green suit seemed to suggest some distinction, but everyone was equal here. Except off course Silme, who had managed to find the only worse place in life than being a prisoner on a galley: being a black prisoner on a galley. It looked like he wasn't alone anymore though, as the second man shared his skin-colour. He had scars all over his body, something Silme associated with slavery.

The third man in the row was also not white. Instead he appeared to be from the Empire, which was exotic to say the least and very rare in the middle of the Caribbean. Normally the man's snotty appearance would have caused a great deal of bets to be placed on him, but the next two people in the row seemed much likelier candidates. Girls. Two of them. They were quite attractive too, which was all the worse at sea. If they were ugly and they would just have to deal with the heavy work at the oars, but now they'd have to deal with the male guards as well at night, and they'd all want their turn before they were completely broken. Beasts. But Silme had to admit the females aroused some feelings in him too. That wasn't so strange, since he hadn't seen a woman in three months now. Three long months. Slavery was definitely better than this. He was beginning to regret stabbing his owner with a kitchen knife.

Next to the more piratey of the two women was a man who seemed like the very epitome of pirateness. He had a pegleg, a hook, a whole set of earrings and a smile that revealed just about as many golden teeth as regular ones. Most of his face was covered in thick, red hair, but somewhere in there shone two bright green eyes that had clearly not given up on life yet. the eyes were currenly occupied staring at the not-so-piratey looking girl's chest. The other one was closer, but she was also wearing a large black trenchcoat that covered up most of her body.

Next to the pirate was a man who was in every possible way non-descript, except for his extremely clean black hair. Next to him was another black-haired man who's most notable feature was a series of three scars across his left eye. Neither of these men were very likely to have bets placed upon them as them both seemed quite able-bodied.

Last in line was a fairly thin man who's eyes were darting about the place rapidly. He had black hair with sideburns, prominent teeth and a lean build. his clothes were all black, except that one bit where there was a gash and red all over. Beneath the shoulder with the torn clothing Silme could distinguish bandages. He assumed the man hadn't been caught without a fight.

The nine were led off and each took their places at the oars. Silme was glad to have the piratey girl join him. It was a nice change from Old Bob, who sat at his left and incessantly talked about fish, which seemed his one and only passion. Bob had been very glad to get the seat nearest the side of the ship.

The Caribbean, open sea, Afternoon:
The drum in the background beat the incessant rhythm of the oars. The noon sun had beaten down hard on the prisoners, but luckily now it had wavered and they sailed through a refreshing foggy patch of the ocean.

The ship's structure was quite simple. At the back it had a higher bit on top of which stood the helmsman and the captain. Beneath this bit was a door that led belowdecks. Between the helm and the oars sat five guards and the drummer, who slowly pounced away at his drum. The oarsmen or prisoners were seated on a sunken part of the deck on benches, with three men manning each oar, the exception being in this case two oars which had four men manning them. No-one had died today, yet. The oarsmen on each bench were chained to each other by their feet and the chain was also fastened to the side of the ship. In between the oars of the two sides of the ship ran a path that was as high as the rest of the deck, which the guards would occasionally pass across to see if everyone was working properly. At the front of the ship stood two more guards, who seemed to be concerned mainly with their game of dice.

From back to front, this is the order in which the prisoners were seated (This, off course, without spending time on those prisoners who aren't player characters):

Front Row, Right:
From the middle to the side: Jennifer, Silme and Old Bob
From where they were seated they could hear the guards talking. They seemed quite worried and had forgotten about the bet they placed on the prisoners.
"These waters," one of them said, "is where it's supposed to roam"
"What is?" one of the younger soldiers asked.
"Well," said the oldest among them, polishing his cutlass, "No-one has ever actually seen it and come back alive. But this is the first sign"
"What is?" the soldier repeated, somewhat worried.
"The fog, son!" the older man said, raising his finger into the misty air.
"That's right," the man who began the story said, "They say it comes in the fog, and the, when you least expect it, it rises up from the depths and swallows your ship whole"
"But no-one's ever seen it" the younger man protested, "So how do they know?"
"Ah, but that's the thing" the oldest man continued, "They've seen ships heading out into the fog, and never making it to port"
The young man shivered.
"So what do they think it is?"
The old man shrugged, sick of the story, and silently continued to polish his cutlass.
"Some think it's a big fish" one of the others said, "some say it's a ghostship, and yet others say it's the fog itself that drives the crew mad. I myself, I think it's mermaids"
"Mermaids?" the young man asked in surprise.
"Oh, aye. I bet you've only heard them stories they tell the little kids by the fireside, but in truth they're angry vixen, luring sailors to sea and then devouring them"
"Actually, I thought they were a metaphor for the allure and danger of the sea" the young man said.
The other man shrugged. "Maybe, maybe"

Third Row, Right:
From the middle to the side: Desmond, Jonathan, wounded man
"Psssst" the wounded man they were chained to whispered, "I'm going to need your help at the next stop"
This was the first thing he'd said throughout the whole day. He'd spent all of his time up until then wriggling in his cuffs, leaving Desmond and Jonathan to do the actual rowing, only the guy appeared to be observant enough to row along whenever a guard came by and he was wounded in the shoulder, so he was expected to do somewhat less than others. They hadn't complained, since it wouldn't do much good anyways. Surprisingly though after an entire day of work he had managed to open his cuffs.
"At the next stop, I need you to cause a distraction. In return, I'll undo your cuffs so you have a chance to escape"
He smiled. He clearly loved to impress people with his escapist arts.
"They call me The Ghost back on shore. No jail could keep me locked up, so they sent me off here. I escaped twice on the way"
The Ghost crawled down and started working on Jonathan's shackles, assuming they'd help him. Jonathan heard a click as the pressure on his ankles stopped. One of the guards in the front was looking at them quite suspiciously.

Seventh Row, Left:
From the middle to the side: Patrick, Beard #1, Beard #2, Beard #3
Oh god, oh god, oh god, why did they have to place him here? They'd put Doctor Patrick Welshevic next to three thickly bearded men who lacked shirts and who spent their entire time singing. Merrily! Somehow the three freaks had reached an agreement and all sang sea shanties without stopping or taking breaks with no little deal of enthusiasm. This at first had seemed quite pleasant and fun, but the men had no rhythm whatsoever and just wouldn't stop. even if they could sing, it would get very dull after a while, but this was just plain torture. The only times they ever stopped singing was when one of them broke into tears after a particularly touching segment. Their lack of rythm also caused them to be extremely bad at manning the oars. They'd go faster than the beat or slower, but they'd never go as fast as the beat. They probably couldn't even hear the beat with all that singing. Patrick was exhausted from all the rowing in random, everchanging rythms and his ears hurt from the screaming men next to him.

They were probably slowing the ship down more than they were helping and it was visible that they'd been punished for this repeatedly by the countless bloody streaks on their backs, but today the guards didn't mind. One of them had specifically placed Patrick there and had come by to check up on him frequently before they hit the fog bank. Patrick suspected the man had bet againsts him and was waiting for him to drop dead from exhaustion and shanty overdose. The men were no good for conversation either, because after they'd introduced themselves as John, Pierre and Cornelis he hadn't gotten anything out of them but singing. Luckily Patrick could talk to Masik across the aisle if he yelled loud enough.

((Since you can see the row next to you, you're allowed to read Masik's part as well))

Seventh Row, Right:
From the middle to the side: Masik, soldier, large man, smuggler
Masik had it easy where he was sitting. First of all there were four of them, instead of the normal three, which spread the workload quite a bit, and second of all there was a very large man in their row who handled most of the rowing by himself. The guy was fat and bald and from what little conversation he made Masik had concluded he was stupid, but he sure was strong too. The man next to him was still wearing his Ernhart soldier's uniform, though tattered and filthy. He'd been one of the guards once, but after letting one of the prisoners escape in an act of mercy they'd throw him in with the oarsmen. He still had it easier than most though, on this row. The last man had been condemned to the prison galley for smuggling. What exactly had earned him the right to sit here was unclear. Either way, his stay on the ship was less unpleasant than he'd imagined. His healing skills had made the guards to want him to live just that little bit longer. The man on the other side of the aisle seemed to be having more trouble though, even though he too was on a row of four.

((Since you can see the row next to you, you're allowed to read Patrick's part as well))

Twelfth Row, Left:
From the middle to the side: Xan, Samantha, pirate
The man who had seemed so very piratey had indeed turned out to be a pirate. A captain even. They called him Scarlet Will on the sea, and to be fair they'd both heard of him, vaguely. He was quite chatty with Samantha and pretty much ignored Xan. His intentions were obvious of nature, but at least he distracted them somewhat of the rowing. He'd smiled as soon as the ship rolled into the fog.
"Ah, it has begun" Will said.
"See, my friends'll be here soon to pick up their captain. They wouldn't normally, no crew's that loyal, but we stumbled upon a treasure map of extra-ordinary value during our last expedition, and only I know where I hid it. If I hadn't got caught while shopping for provisions we'd be on our way there now... Listen, doll, I'm sure you wouldn't like to stay on this dusty old ship. What say you became my girl, and came with us?"
Will extended no such deal to Xan, and in fact seemed to have forgotten he existed.

((This first post is to establish your position on the ship and the general situation. I thought I'd let you all get to know each other (or the various NPCs). I placed you in pairs of two but don't expect to stay in this position long (well, unless you like being on a prison galley and will do nothing to escape...)
And here's the OOC (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5661568#post5661568), by the way. Please repost character sheets there)).

[Vespe Ratavo]

Huh. This isn't so bad, really. Just a lot of repetitive rowing. Gives you time, let's your mind wander. Jennifer took a look around. Not as good as being a dangerous, bloodthirsty pirate, though, she said, helpfully emphasizing that last bit for the guards. Not noticing any reaction from them, she sighed and turned to Slime. So what are you in for? Just for being black? Or did you actually do something? My name's Jennifer Noreen, mighty pirate. They caught us a while back. Of course, I managed to kill half of them before they took me down, again hoping the guards would get the message.

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan notices the guard eyeing them. His voice carries out, loud enough to be heard, in clear tones that belied his rugged nature. "What is it, pretty boy?" He asks at the guard, giving the wounded man a slight kick to know they were being watched. He hoped the man got the message. "See something you like?" He said to the guard, sneering. With a harsh, quiet laugh, he continues rowing.

John is wearing a tattered shirt and simple, cuffed trousers. He seems disgusted with the shirt, but the cold, relentless spray from the ocean doesn't bother him.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond sighes contentedly as he rows. "Ah, the spray of the sea, the motherly caress of shackles against my skin. This really takes me back. The only thing missing is whips!" He turns to Jonathon. "Isn't this a positively splendid afternoon?"

[MrEdwardNigma]

One of the four guards in front got up and walked up the aisle in between the rows of oarsmen. He stopped at the third row on the right, inspecting every row on the way there. He'd brought the whip. It was a somewhat short thing, several leathery strings tied together, all with knots in them.
"What was that, prisoner? You got something to say?"
"No, sir, he was talking to me. Only been out at sea for a day and already getting a bit lonely" the wounded man said from his seat.
The guard looked at him sternly, and then burst out laughing. He continued walking along the aisle, checking every row of prisoners carefully.

Meanwhile the guards at the front had their own laugh.
"The lass thinks she's a pirate!" the oldest among them said, slapping his hand to his knee. They all laughed.

[Raz_Fox]

Samantha

Samantha pondered the idea for only a moment, before glancing about to see if any guards were nearby. When there were none, she leaned in closer to Will. "Certainly. However, keep in mind that I am nobody's girl, William. If you're looking for an obedient wench, look again." She softens her voice slightly. "I'm Samantha Michaelson. Give me a blade and I'll beat any man that stands against you..."

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jennifer frowned, then grinned slightly. Oh. Right. I guess they didn't tell you. Didn't want to scare you, I suppose. Well, if you're not convinced, how about you let me out of these? Have a little fight to liven things up? Surely a big, tough guard like you couldn't lose to a girl, now could he?

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond speaks up. "Guard! Hey guard! When we get to the prison, can I have a bottle of polish? I want to keep my bars looking nice."

[MrEdwardNigma]

The guards stopped laughing.
"Look, wench, no-one gets out of their shackles, no matter what. Them's the rules. We ain't afraid of you lot. You've got nowhere to escape to anyways, we're at sea if you hadn't noticed, but the shackles stay on, no matter how much you'd like to take a breather"

One of the younger guards got up and walked over to Desmond, while the guard with the whip continued making his rounds.
"Look, prisoner, you need to learn two things," he said to Desmond, and looked at the other guards to see if they approved. He was clearly very new at this.
"First, if you talk to us or make any kind of trouble, you get the whip. Second, this, this right here, this is your prison. You aren't going anywhere. That is the second lesson. You're here to row our boat for us until your sentence is over"

Twelfth Row, Left:
Scarlet Will's mood seemed to have been spoiled.
"Look, girly, I've got thirty burly men on that ship of mine and each one of them has ten times the experience you do. I don't need any more crewmates. If you won't be my wench, then you can stay here on this boat and rot"
As he finished his speech the guard with the whip stopped at their row, spotting his angry expression.
"Are there any problems here, prisoners?"

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

Once the guard leaves, John glances at the dark-skinned man to his left, but doesn't answer the question. "Alright." John says, quietly, to the injured man. "We can't do this alone. Next time the guards turn away, switch with me, then do the chains on this guy." John says.

I believe there were no handcuffs or chains, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe I am a free man.

[An Enemy Spy]

"And what exactly is the sentence for a lost hat and a wet dress? Forty years?"

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jennifer was about to say something about the guard being a coward, but thought better of it. He was right. They were in the middle of the ocean, and even if she could take out all the guards, then what? She sighed, and returned to rowing, keeping herself entertained by pondering all the myriad ways she could murder the guard.

[Raz_Fox]

Samantha

Samantha slowly turns to the guard, grinning. "Why, thank you for your concern, sir! I'm afraid it's only a minor difference of opinion, but we're capable of discussing it courteously. Isn't that right, William?" Without turning to see Will's face, she continues looking at the guard with an angelic smile.

[MrEdwardNigma]

The guard at the third row was quite taken aback by Desmond's comment.
"Well, ehrm, I-"
He looked at the other guards and then seemed to decide what to do.
"I think we've got one here!" he yelled to them, and the guards at the front got up and walked onto the aisle. This they had to see. Meanwhile, the guard who was inspecting the twelfth row heard the younger guard yell as well and came over, clearly deciding that all was okay in the twelfth row.
"So, what have we got here?" he asked.
"Well," said the oldest of the guards, sheathing the cutlass he'd been polishing, "It seems we've got a troublemaker"
He looked at Desmond.
"We've been waiting since the harbour for one of you boys to speak up so we could set an example"

Silme on the front row sighed. It was true, they always set an example after picking up new convicts. He suspected some of the guards actually thought it was fun.

The younger guard smiled, confident now.
"The punishment for insolence, my dear friend, is the whip" he said, adressing Desmond. Then he stepped aside. All the guards stood back, going to the beginning of the aisle, except the guard with the whip. He swung, and the leathery strings lashed Desmond's back. It made a sickening sound. he swung again, and lashed again, and went on doing this. It seemed to take forever.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond grits his teeth against the the pain and begins to laugh maniacally. "Izzat all you got? I've met prostitutes who whip harder than this!"

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen grimaced at the sickening display, although Desmond's comment was slightly comforting, in a strange sort of way. She kept rowing, hoping they wouldn't take her earlier comment as insolence as well.

[Levyathyn]

John chuckles at the comment. "Come on, guys." He says to the guards. "Ease up on him. He's just antagonizing you so he won't have to row. Hell, I could use a break." John says, lughing again.

Is it foggy?

[Lykainon]

Masik tried to shut out the sound of the punishment. While he had some degree of compassion for the man being whipped, he had no intention of showing it. Had he been free an in possession of the right equipment, he would glady have antagonized the guards himself. But not even the most powerful bokor, and certainly not Masik himself, could use their powers while chained like this.

As he kept rowing, a task that felt more demeaning than being beaten, Masik swore to himself that if - no, when - he got free he would get his hands on hair from his captors and put enough curses on them to slay a city. And then - oh, yes... then - he would summon their spirits from the afterlife and force them into his service. A most fitting retribution, Masik thought.

[MrEdwardNigma]

((It is, in fact, quite foggy indeed. The visibility on the ship isn't that restricted though. At the most you wouldn't be able to see all the way to the back of the ship while standing on the front))

The guard stopped whipping Desmond and spit at him.
"And you," he said, waving his finger at Jonathan, "You're lucky I'm in a good mood, or you'd get the whip too"
With those words he joined the other guards in the front. He went into the door that led belowdecks for a moment and returned with a red rag, with which he started cleaning the whip. There were still some white spots on the rag, indicating that it hadn't always been red.

The captain pocketed his spyglass and walked over to the helmsman.
"There seems to be a ship approaching"

Twelfth Row, Left:
Will grinned broadly, showing his golden teeth.
"That'll be them..."

Anyone sitting on the right side of the ship, up to one seat away from the side:
A ship had appeared from the fog, and it seemed to be headed straight for the prison galley. Any experienced sailor could tell you though that the course that they were currently faring wouldn't have them ramming into the ship. The galley would have moved away by the time they got there. Still, the ship's presence was somewhat worrying. Some of the prisoners might have heard legends and tales of a mistbank in these waters that no ship ever exited from. No-one knows what happened to those ships while they were inside...

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond cralws back into his seat. "I actually have met a prostitute who whipped harder than him. I'm not going back to her, that's for sure."

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen raises an eyebrow. A ship? Approaching? The captain didn't seem to be familiar with it, so it's probably not Enhart...pirates? Her eyes light up with hope. Pleasebepiratespleasebepiratespleasebepirates she thinks.

[Levyathyn]

Already wary of the mist, as he had been for a few years, the sighting of a ship sends John into a quick, alert search for identification of the vessel. Seeing nothing indicitave, he waits till the guards are distracted and checks Desmond's chains. "You'll have to introduce us, sometime." He says to the man, with a slight smile on his face. He turns to ask the wounded man for assistance. Desmond's spirit had impressed John, and he wasn't going to leave him.

[Lord Magtok]

Shut up. Shut up, stop singing, please. Shut up...

He then turns towards Masik.

Hey, you! My name's Dr. Welshevic! Can you hear me over these idiots?! If you help me get these guys to shut up, I'll find a way to make it up to you later!

Oh god. Patrick was this close, this friggin' close, to strangling that awful shanty-singing trio. The only thing that stopped him were those damned chains, and the news of an approaching vessel. Like Jen, he too is now hoping for pirates, but for entirely different reasons. Pirates, he figures, are going to get wounded every now and then, lose a limb or an eye or something. As stupid and ugly as most people of that sort are, there's bound to be enough sense in them to realize the benefits in sparing the barber-surgeon and enlisting him for the cushy job of fixing up filthy sea-rats, instead of rowing the vessel like some commoner.

[Lykainon]

As Masik turned to face the doctor a somewhat cruel smile lingered at the side of his mouth. "If I could, I would. Regardless of your promises."

Masik paused for a moment and turned his eyes forward again. "Besides, what could you possibly do to 'make it up to me', bethes?"

-----
OOC: I'm making up Masik's native language as I go along. "Bethes" is basically a nasty version of foreigner (anyone not native to the islands). More politically correct natives call it the b-word. :smallwink:

[Lord Magtok]

The nature of the foreign word goes completely over the good doctor's head, and he shrugs.

Well, when the inevitable happens and they cut off your hand for being foreign, who else is going to know how to stitch it back on? Trust me, you don't want to go through life with a hook on your hand. I had a friend who got a hook for a hand once. He had an itch on the back of his neck one night, and that was the last I ever heard of him.

[Lykainon]

Still looking straight forward Masik responded. "If they do cut of my hand, I doubt they will let you saw it back on."

For a few moments Masik was silent, intending to ignore further conversation wih the doctor when something suddenly hit him. "Wait. There might be something after all. If you're a doctor, do you cut open the guards as well?"

[Lord Magtok]

Err...yes, I suppose so.

Quite honestly, the doc can't tell whether Masik's talking about skill with killing people with pointy objects, or whether he's trusted with medical issues here. Both questions would normally get an honest "No", but given the current situation, a little white lie can't hurt his chances.

[Lykainon]

Masik nodded slowly and smiled to himself. "Very well, doctor. You can 'help me out' by providing me with... how do say it... roushas... ah, samples of as many guards as possible. Blood, hair, feces. Anything will do. And we will not dicuss my reasons."

"Now, what did you say you wanted help with?" Masik asked, attempting a friendly smile.

[Lord Magtok]

The doctor simply points at the two professional Opera performers beside him, and continues to row, row, row the boat.

[Lykainon]

Masik studied the doctor's problem and an idea began to form. He had come to realize that in the Ernhartian culture it was often the poor and uneducated who believed in the arts he had been taught. This made little sense to him but never the less, it could be useful. The men in question didn't strike him neither rich nor highly educated. He leaned towards the doctor and spoke as quietly as he could.

"When I start talking and watching them, act afraid and tell them that you believe I am cursing them."

Masik leaned back to his own seat and for a moment he felt ashamed that he would partake this mockery of a bokor's powers. Quickly he justified it to himself that it could lead to the chance of using the arts for real. Then, he gazed towards the men, put on a stern, omnius expression and started chanting.

"Ghotha mara, tio d'abbha denon esh'iba. Ghotha mara, tio d'abbha denon esh'iba. Ghotha mara, tio d'abbha denon esh'iba." He mumbled, repeating the phrase over and over again.

----
OOC: Translated, the chant roughly means: "Mighty spirits, make these'men shut (the) hell'up".

[Raz_Fox]

Samantha

Looking at Will, Samantha wanted to wipe the smirk off of his face with a broadsword. Did he actually think that she'd bow the knee to him, a dirty bandit and thief? The filthy lecher was disgusting!

But then again, she needed to get off the ship. She couldn't avenge Father and rebuild her life stuck on a damn prison galley. What had he said about pride? Something about swallowing it...

She gritted her teeth and forced the words out. "Actually... yeah, I'll come with you. Treasure, freedom and fighting - could I refuse?" She gave him a sincere smirk, not finishing it like she wanted to: Touch me when I can reach a sword and you'll regret it!

[MrEdwardNigma]

The captain took out his spyglass again and gazed across the sea, to the right side of the ship. He walked down the stairs and started talking to the guards.

Front Row, Right:
"We've got a problem. They're sailing under the black flag" the captain said, a somewhat older but still handsome gentleman.
"Does that mean they're... they're... ?" the younger soldier stuttered.
"Pirates?" the eldest guard said, "That or they've forgotten to take their flag to the laundry for a seriously long time"
"What do you think they want with us?" another guard asked.
"They may not want anything. They should simply pass by behind us at the course they're steering, and many pirate ships wouldn't venture to attack anything under the Ernhart flag" the captain said.
"And then there's those that specifically look for ships under the Ernhart flag" the eldest guard said gruffly.
The captain nodded. "If they're some sort of misguided freedom fighters, there's not much we can do. We have nothing worth stealing on board, but that doesn't matter if they just want to slaughter us. If they change course we're going to have to take drastic measures. Just in case, prepare Betty"
One of the soldiers nodded.
"Yes, sir"
He ran off to the front of the ship.

Third Row, Right:
From the middle to the side: Desmond, wounded man, Jonathan
The Ghost quickly switched places with Jonathan. His hands set to work and surprisingly quickly there was another click, and a soft clang as Desmond's shackles fell off his feet. All three men were now unbound.

Seventh Row:
Masik's efforts didn't seem to do much. The three men couldn't even hear him over their singing, and simply glanced him a friendly smile after setting in on another chorus of "Blow the man Down". The oar slapped into Patrick's face as he'd been distracted and the boys seemed to have decided to row faster.

Twelfth Row, Left:
The pirate nodded.
"So I thought! Plundering the seven seas with me is a far better deal than wasting away the best years of your life on this ship. It'd be such a waste of a pretty lass too"
Will stroked Samantha's cheek.
"Now, they'll be here any minute, and when they're slaughtering the crew you just keep calm and stick close to me"

One of the soldiers from the back of the ship ran across the aisle to the front of the ship. The two soldiers that were playing dice there saw him and interrupted their game.

[Fireball.Man.Guy.]

Xan, who until now had kept silent, turned to the captain and asked, "Does your ship need a translator? Imperial ports won't have a price on your head and silk is a very valuable commodity.

[Dallas-Dakota]

(sorry, silly school and sleep demanding my time)
Hmm, what, sorry, I was in a bit of a daze.
As she asked the question his face turned a bit grim but with a smirk of satisfaction.
Black first, then stabbed my ´owner´. But I have had some years on the ocean myself....
He spits out the word owner with disgust.

[Vespe Ratavo]

Cool, Jen says, with genuine admiration in her voice, then leans in, whispering to Slime. Didja hear that? Pirates! Maybe they're here to get one of their own, and, you know, at worst, it means we're trading one ship for another. Probably a better one too.

[Lord Magtok]

Oww! What the-

Patrick, now really, really annoyed with the Three Terrible Tenors after that smack to the head, tries to nudge at one of them and point to Masik.

Stop singing, y'fool! He's one of 'em foreign devils, trying to put a curse on you!

Now, normally the good doctor would have the courtesy not to call anyone a "foreign devil", even if they, like Masik here, happened to fall under that descriptor perfectly, but he supposes it'll probably help scare the trio a bit more.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond begins to sing along with the men, purposefully trying to sound even louder and more tone deaf than they do.

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan watches the crew of the vessel, counting them. He switches with The Ghost again, and waits for one of the guards to walk near the row. "Alright, Mr. Ghost. Do you think you could sneak around and undo more of the chains? Because I've got one hell of a distraction planned."

[MrEdwardNigma]

They could all see the ship now. It had turned, and was manoeuvring to the right side of the ship, wanting to come side to side with it. It was, more than obviously, a pirate ship, the black flag hanging from their mast. The ship's sails were raggedy and mist lurked near it's hull. It wasn't in a very good state of repair, but still managed to be faster than the galley. It was gaining on them.

Twelfth Row, Left:
Scarlet Will gave Xan a nod, finally acknowledging him.
"Seems an interesting enough proposition. The Empire isn't really where we usually sail to, but that could change. Sure, you've got yourself a deal. Just keep your mouth shut to the guards for now. If they find out it's me they're looking for we all have a problem"

Seventeenth Row, Right:
From the middle to the side: nose, Carker, Leigh, who have all been there all along
You've all been here all along off course, and had been on the ship for a while. Enough to know a few bits and pieces about the guards at least. The oldest among them had been a buccaneer once, it was rumoured among the prisoners. The youngest was a new recruit, only having joined the ship in the harbour before last one. One of the prisoners on the ship was actually a guard who'd been imprisoned himself after mercifully letting one of the prisoners go. Sitting at the very last row, near the two soldiers playing dice offered you such information. The two playing dice were lazy bums and chose this station because it was furthest away from the captain. They spent most of their time gossiping about the rest of the crew and playing dice for shares of their wages.

Both of you had been able to see the ship approaching in the distance, but the third fellow, the one sitting nearest to the aisle, hadn't. he was relatively new, but they'd learnt one thing about him: don't mention his nose. It was a huge thing, like a long balloon hanging down his face and obstructing his speech, but if you mentioned it or even stared at it, "nose" got very angry. In fact, he was on the boat for murdering three men after they'd been laughing at his nose. Obviously, you never called him "nose" to his face. In fact, it was best not to talk to him at all, as it was hard to keep your eyes away from the huge thing on his face and he was prone to interpreting anything you said as a reference to his nose. This is why the ship hadn't been mentioned to him, yet.

All other manners of distraction such as sea shanty singing oarsmen ceased (and by that I mean that they suddenly seemed less important) as the captain walked up the aisle. He stopped when he reached the middle of the countless (well, okay, seventeen) rows of oarsmen.
"There is a ship approaching" he said, pointing to the right side of the ship.
"They are pirates, and most likely wish to sink our ship and kill us. Our load is of no interest for them, and they have no reason to think so, yet they are preparing to board. They are clearly the kind that enjoy face-to-face combat as we have spotted no cannons on their deck, but plenty of dried up blood on the side of the ship. If we wish to survive we need every helping hand we can get, and for that, I'm offering official pardon for all those that help us fight them back as soon as we reach shore!"
There were load yells among the prisoners. This had been unexpected. The captain, having finished his speech, gave the three soldiers on the front of the ship a nod. They uncovered a small cannon, and began to turn it around so it would face the pirate ship.

[An Enemy Spy]

"What is it? Cus I have a pretty good one myself."
OOC: Btw, what do the guards look like like? Are they like redcoats?

[Dallas-Dakota]

(And Vespe, it's Silme, not Slime:smallwink::smalltongue:)
Ok, we're asking to fight along side these bloody people, but once we're free and have gotten weapons, we turn on them, ok?

Turning to the captain he says.
I'l fight for you, but I need weapons, two scimitars to be precise.

[Lykainon]

Masik stopped his chanting, both because it didn't prove very effective and because the captain's word had caught his attention. Pardon? That was certainly a little unexpected. Would it be worth it? Fighting side by side with the people who captured him and had spent the last few months humiliating and degrading him? There was no time to search for the guidance of spririts, it was a decision he would have to make himself.

So, was it worth it?

As he thought Masik continued his rowing, feeling the great strain it put on his back and arms and the even greater humiliation of such lowly manual labor.

It was worth anything.

"Captain..." He said, his voice little more than a whisper at first. "I can help you fight them. Return my freedom and my help is yours."

[MrEdwardNigma]

((The soldiers would look something like this:
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/pirates/images/1/1b/Carruthers2.JPG
So, yes, redcoats. Except they'd have blue coats (not shown in picture) and they aren't carrying guns right now.))


I'l fight for you, but I need weapons, two scimitars to be precise.
"Scimitars? What, you think we just have those lying around? You can get a cutlass, one, because we're going to be short on weapons already as it is. You too, son"

He pulled out a keyring and tossed it at Masik to free himself. He then took another from the guards and gave it to Silme.

"You!" he said to a guard, "Run down belowdecks and get as many cutlasses and other weapons as you can find. Anything'll do!"

The captain took out his spyglass again and nervously peered across the waters at the ship.

[Lykainon]

Masik freed himself and started to rub his sore wrists as he tried to evaluate the situation. He was free for the moment but with those pirates on their way, he soon could be trapped in the afterlife.

He had never been much of a fighter. Every kid in his village knew how to hunt but Masik had never been especially interested in learning more than the basics. Neither had he trained with the warriors like most boys of the village, he had been choosen by the bokor instead. He was happy about that but at the moment, some warrior training certainly would have been useful.

Perhaps he could jump into the sea, escape from both ships? No, the would be suicide. Even if no one tried to stop him they were far from the nearest shore and Masik wasn't even sure in which direction that shore would be. He was a good swimmer, but not that good.

Time for flight or flight... he thought and then corrected himself. Except there's no where to escape.

Time for fight...

[Anitra]

Having been on the ship for a while, Leigh had long since learned to keep her head down, and do anything possible to avoid the notice of the guards. This meant that for the most part, she kept completely mute. In fact, she didn't even hold enough conversations to know her oarmate's name. Given the amount of shouting going on by the prisoners, however, she deemed it loud enough to lean over and whisper to Carker without the guards at the back overhearing.

"I have my doubts that they'll be keeping their end of the bargain, but I don't suppose we have much of a choice now, do we? I'll watch your back, if you return the favor." she offered. Raising her voice, she called to the dice playing guards at the back. "I don't suppose one of you gents could unshackle me? A little circulation to my feet might be nice if I'm to fight for you"

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond looked nervously at the pirate ship. If someone ended up fighting him, then he was pretty much hosed. Desmond had taken a fighting class once, but somehow lost a fight to a training dummy. His instructor called him the worst student he had ever had the misfortune of training. He didn't exectly relish the prospect of of fighting these well trained soldiers, even if he had a weapon, and he doubted that the pirates would be any easier. Finally he decided to just hang back and wait until one side was about to win, and pretend that he had been bravely fighting the whole time. Much better than getting skewered, that's for sure.

[Fireball.Man.Guy.]

" if we Volunteer we will be released and given weapons, and it will be that much easier to escape." With that, he calls to the guard "I can fight, if you give me a spear or even just a pole of some kind."

[Dallas-Dakota]

Silme unshackles himself and Jen.
We'l have to do with what we find then. Come, let's go below deck.
He starts towards the hatch and watches if Jen follows him.

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen stretches slightly as she gets out of the shackles. Finally! She follows Silme. You said you use two swords, right? You can have mine, if you like, I can fight without one. She mimes punching at the air. Once below deck, she stops punching and starts whispering again. Anyway, the way I see it we've got three options. We fight off the pirates and pray those guards keep their word, we fight off the guards and take our chances with the pirates, or we take on both crews and steal a ship. What do you think?

[MrEdwardNigma]

More than half of the prisoners seemed to want to join in, and keys were passing around. As Silme and Jen made it to the door belowdecks the guard came out, a bunch of cutlasses wrapped in cloth in his arms, and several rifles on his back. He tossed the cutlasses onto the deck where prisoners jumped the heap trying to get a weapon. The rifles were for the guards.

The cannon on the front of the ship fired, but missed. The pirates kept closing in.

((Anyone can free himself from their shackles now. Cutlasses are available but you may be too late to get to one if you react late or if you're coming from the back rows of oarsmen))

[Fireball.Man.Guy.]

Xan borrows a cutlass from another rower and hacks off two 18-inch pieces of oar handle for weapons,, and readies himself for combat.

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker, also on the ship the entire time nodded silently at Leigh's words. He doubted that captain had that sort of authority, he never heard something like that happening but what choice did he have? Those pirates would doubtless butcher all the prisoners, filthy, weak and wretched from being shackled to ores, he certainly would. He squeezed the ore violently at that thought, reminding him again that he is one of the these vermin, worked like cattle by those disgusting dogs. He looked down at the rusty shackles soiling his wrists with seething hatred.

I will be free! I'll fight alongside these scum for it if I have to, and then I'll take that bastard captain's eyes!

After the the guards get to Nose, Carker and Leigh, Carker stands awkwardly up and hobbles quickly over to the pile prisoners, desperately grasping for something to avoid going though this unarmed.

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen leaves the cutlasses to the rest of the prisoners. Let them have their swords, I don't need them, I've got my two weapons right here. She blinks. My fists, she mentally clarifies. And I suppose my feet too. So it's really more like four... Nonetheless, she casts a few nervous glances around the ship to see if the guards have carelessly left anything that could be used as a weapon lying around. You know, so those darn pirates can't use them. Yeah.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond takes a cutlass and stands in a pose that looks somewhat heroic behind everyone else

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan didn't trust the guards. But more than a few of the "former" prisoners seemed combat ready; Moreso than some of the guards. [/color="Navy"]I'll take my chances with the guards. For now.[/color] Hastily, he shoves aside the soldier who had rushed in to unlock his chains. Standing up, he heads towards the weapons and slides out a cutlass. After a brief, thoughtful pause, he grabs a second and stows it. "Are you coming, stranger?" He asks Desmond, still sitting there. He gives the cutlass an experimental twirl. A weapons he was used to; He planned to kill somebody with it.

[Lykainon]

Remaining in his seat by the oar, Masik observed the prisoners and guards alike arm themselves. He considered grabbing a... what was it called? Cutlass? himself but since he'd never used any other weapon than a spear, it seemed rather pointless. While not that good at dispersing violence with his fists, at least he knew how to handle them.

[Anitra]

Leigh waited impatiently as the keys made their way around to where she was seated. There seemed to be more prisoners than weapons to go around. Granted, she wasn't the best swordsman in the world, but anything was better than going unarmed. As soon as the keys made their way over, she quickly pushed her way to the front of the ship. The crowd of people made it difficult to see the diminishing pile of weapons, so she simply thrust an arm into the pile blindly, trying to grab the first weapon her hand contacted.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond yells to Jonothan. "That isn't me you idiot! I'm over here!"

[Lord Magtok]

To hell with fighting. Patrick reaches for a cutlass and freedom, but has absolutely no intention of getting killed by a pirate. He'll turn tail and run the hell away given a chance, and apparently forgets that on a prison boat, there aren't many places to run away to.

[Raz_Fox]

Samantha

A plan was forming in Sam's head. She grinned. "Play along, Will." When the keys came to her, she bolted upright and almost ran towards the tiny pile of weapons.

Somebody grabbed the last cutlass - Samantha grimaced, then grabbed one from the nearest prisoner. "Let somebody who actually knows how to use this thing handle it!"

She grinned viciously, flicking the cutlass up and catching it deftly. "Oh, this is going to be fun..."

[Levyathyn]

=( I got ninja'd, and then it wouldn't let me edit my post; It still won't, so I'll just run with it.

Johnathan, standing a couple of feet in front of Desmond, looks at him strangely. "What? Nevermind. Whatever your name is, I doubt the captain means to let us go. Especially since we're in the middle of the ocean and he still needs rowers. I aim to kill the guards. All of them. The pirates aren't here for treasure, so there has to be some reason behind this attack, and I'd rather not anger them, at present." John says this quietly, making sure there's no guards around. Forming a plan in his head, John looks around for The Ghost.

[An Enemy Spy]

"You do that. I'm just trying to survive."

[Levyathyn]

"So am I." John says as he waits for an opening to turn on the guards.

[MrEdwardNigma]

The guards had gathered with the captain, the drummer and the helmsman on the elevated part of the deck, where the helm was. Several guards had appeared from belowdecks as well and there were now all in all fifteen guards, plus other crew. Two of the guards had taken positions on the stairs to ward off any attacks. A lot of the prisoners had taken positions in front of them, believing it was smart to be backed by the artillery some of the guards wielded. There were only two guards left on deck, by the cannon at the front, which they were turning towards the pirate ship.

The ship was clearly visible now, gaining on the galley by the right side, especially now that everyone but three bearded gentlemen on the seventh row had stopped rowing. On the deck of the pirate ship were a large number of freebooters, most of them armed with much more vicious weapons then the cutlasses given to the prisoners, such as axes, longer and better blades, spiked cudgels and even guns. There were at least twenty of them on deck, which meant they were far outnumbered (there being 104 prisoners and 18 guards) but still them seemed quite confident. There was a blast from the cannon on the deck and a hole was torn into the pirate ship, just above water level. The guards started reloading as this didn't slow the pirates down in the least, but it was too late: the two ships crashed into each other, side by side, shaking both but only managing to throw a bunch of prisoners to the floor. There were loud cracks as the oars on the right side of the ship broke and splintered or tore through the bowels of the pirate ship.

"Ready, aim, fire!"
A first burst of artillery fire from the guards shot down several of the pirates as they made the jump between the two ships, sending them plummeting in the gap between. Some of them made a splash as they landed in the water but others never even made it down, being crushed between the ships with a sickening sound.
"Reload!" the captain yelled. Unfortunately reloading was a long process, and a whole bunch of the pirates boarded. It was established quite quickly that they were in every way superior in skill to most of the prisoners, as they had no problems fighting several of them at once. Prisoners were dying by the bunches.

Xan had found out that cutting one of the enormously thick oars was impossible with a cutlass and would take days, but by a matter of luck the two ships crashing had delivered him an end of oar just a bit longer than his arm. It was unfortunately too thick to hold with one hand though, and almost too heavy to wield.

Carker, Leigh and Nose were too late to get to the weapons in time. Nose, however, dove into combat unarmed with a roar when he saw a pirate laughing at his nose. The only other things lying around the boat were the whip, the drum with a set of drumsticks and the shackles new prisoners were brought in with.

Masik was grabbed by the arm before even considering to take a weapon. The former soldier, now prisoner, looked him in the eye.
"We'll need a healer when all this is through. Come with me, they'll let us on to the upper deck with the guards"

The Ghost (the wounded man) seemed to have disappeared in the confusion and was nowhere to be seen.

The large man seemed to be the most useful of the prisoners so far in a fight. He was holding his ground bare-fisted, though occasionally he did use one of the pirates as a weapon. A bunch of prisoners had gathered behind him, watching his back.

Scarlet Will (the very piratey gentleman) joined Samantha in a run for the weapons, but they were too late to get to any. Surprisingly, Will was tossed a gun and a cutlass by the pirates, which he immediately employed to shoot down one of the guards. Samantha grabbed a cutlass from one of the prisoners, who was subsequently stabbed by Will. It seemed clear what side of the fight they were on.

Silme was the only one of the prisoners to get hold of two cutlasses, mainly due to Jennifer giving him hers. She seemed content to fight with her fists instead. Either of them had yet to join the fray.

Patrick was the only one that seemed to have decided he absolutely didn't want to fight. He fled to the only place he could flee: belowdecks.

Belowdecks:
Patrick ran down the stairs and into a large room with hammocks for the crew. There were bottles of rum lying around, some extra guard uniforms, dice and cards, a pack of blankets for some reason, two kegs of gunpowder, a bunch of thick rope and a table with some cutlery on it and some pieces of bread. There was a hatch leading to the cargo hold and a locked door leading to the captain's room. It was very quiet and calm compared to the chaos above. There was something odd that Patrick couldn't quite put his finger on... as if he wasn't entirely alone.

[Dallas-Dakota]

He takes some of the cutlasses, and weighs them with his hands, checking for a proper weighing one. Not finding a good one, he looks around to see if he could quickly find the two scimitars and small knife that they had taken from him.
He ducks his head out and sees many people dieing.
He takes Jen's sword and the best cutlass he can find.
I don't like the odds of us fighting on the deck. I think our best option is just killing anybody who go's down. What do you think?

[Anitra]

Leigh cursed to herself for being too late to grab a cutlass. She needed something, anything to defend herself with. Spotting the pile of shackles from the earlier delivery of prisoners she picked one with about a two foot chain separating the cuffs. She was used to slinging weighted lines to shore in order to bring a ship into dock; but the chain was a fairly poor imitation, being somewhat clunky and much heavier than a rope.

Leigh stayed as far back as possible, stretching the chain between both hands in a defensive stance.

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker gritted his teeth in exasperation and grudgingly snatched one of the prison chains that he wore as he was herded onto this boat. Yet another indignity is put upon him, if he dies here he'll die like a slave with nothing but his chains to use as feeble protection. He wrapped one end of the bonds more securely around one hand and held it tight with the other. poorly equipped, Carker eased his way sideways behind the press of prisoners until he was nearby the stairs.

Although the pirates were the major concern at the moment, he was more worried about the soon to be rapid change in the balance of guards and prisoners. The captain might keep his promise if the prisoners sufficiently outweighed the guards. Carker stepped back to allow Masik and the one he recognized as a former guard through to the stairs. The two passing prisoners gave Carker a new idea, but first he wanted to deal with the two by the stairs. He hadn't used his trump card in an attempt to get free before now, he was afraid it might have been discovered by a ratting prisoner or a patrolling guard. If he wasn't killed outright he'd at least be blindfolded and forced to suffer even more discomfort, the chances of escaping a prison afterward would be nonexistent. He carefully concentrated his eyes on the two guards several feet away, his eyes looked out at them in a much harder way then before, appearing more real then the body and even the world surrounding them. Carker hissed to the guards to get their attention.

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan finds a nearby guard who looks important enough. With a grim face and a steady hand, he slices the cutlass out of the soldier's hand. With a snarl, he grabs the man's collar with his left hand and leans in, putting the blade on his throat. "Where...is...my...stuff? Answer, and you live. Quickly, now, I haven't got all day." He says, his dark eyes inches from the guard's terrifyied face.

What is the guard wearing? Overcoat, wise.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Jonathan runs up to the only guards left on a part of the deck he can actually get to: the ones by the cannon.
"Where...is...my...stuff? Answer, and you live. Quickly, now, I haven't got all day."
"What? Ehrm. In the harbour you got on. You were imprisoned in Irshia, right? Then your stuff's right-"
He didn't get much further than that. There was a spear sticking out of his chest. Three pirates were running in their direction, blades drawn.
"Oh, god" said the second guard, "help me turn the cannon!"

Carker tried to get the attention of the guards on the upper deck, but unfortunately they could hear him through the screams of battle. He couldn't really get closer either, since a whole bunch of prisoners defending the guards were in his way.

Leigh only just picked up the shackles when she was charged by a pirate who ran at her, axe swinging in the air.

((Since this is freeform, feel free to take some liberties in killing prisoners, pirates or even guards. Prisoners would generally be very easy to kill, except perhaps named NPCs such as Nose, the large man or Scarlet Will. Guards are generally somewhat harder but easy, but most of them have a terribly good position now, bottlenecking all attacks. Pirates would generally be hardest, but possible))

[Raz_Fox]

Samantha

Sam brought the hilt of her cutlass down on the back of a guard's head with a crack, kicking him aside before someone could slit his throat. Oh, yes! She had a sword now, and she danced through the panicking prisoners, disabling guards with a flick of the wrist and a slap to the face. Some pirates might have mocked her non-lethal style, but Father had told her once to never kill someone who wasn't doing his best to kill you.

She turned, trying to find a new threat, and saw a young woman about her age facing a pirate with naught but a pair of shackles. She lunged forward quickly, stepping between the two as quickly as she could, sword held in a defensive guard. "Belay that, mate! Get the guards - they've got the weapons!" She turned to the woman. "C'mon, lass! Now's the chance, and now's the hour! Let's get those bloody guards!"

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

Johnathan glances at the pirates and then back to the man. Deftly, he raises the cutlass, point first, and stabs the guard in the stomach. "Nah." He says before yanking the blade out. He unceremoniously lifts the downed guard's cutlass before turning to the pirates. "Well? Don't you have people to kill?" He asks, before heading forwards.

He spots two women and a pirate, though he realizes that they seem to be ironing out some alliance problem. One of them is defending herself with chains. Walking by them, he hands her the second cutlass. "Chin up." He says, before continuing to the front of the ship.

I have a coat on, and it's color is "turn". =)

[Fireball.Man.Guy.]

Xan, with a grunt, whirls around and smacks an officer in the back of the head with the stick, fracturing his skull and killing him instantly. From the body he takes the guard's saber, a much finer weapo than the cutlasses the other prisoners were bandying about, and leaps into the fray, impaling, decapitating and dismembering guards as he makes his way to Scarlet Will.

[Vespe Ratavo]

He takes some of the cutlasses, and weighs them with his hands, checking for a proper weighing one. Not finding a good one, he looks around to see if he could quickly find the two scimitars and small knife that they had taken from him.
He ducks his head out and sees many people dieing.
He takes Jen's sword and the best cutlass he can find.
I don't like the odds of us fighting on the deck. I think our best option is just killing anybody who go's down. What do you think?
Jen's eyes grow wide at the ensuing carnage on deck. Eep. She turns to Silme and nods. Yeah, let's go with that.

((I'm confused, we're belowdecks, right?))

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond is standing next to one of the guards who has a gun. When he is done reloading, Desmond whacks him over the head with his sword hilt. "Sorry old chum. Just looking out for number one." He picks up the gun and prepares to shoot anyone looking to attack him.

[Anitra]

Leigh's expression grew shocked as not one, but two of the prisoners stepped in to help her out. She had been under the impression that this battle would be every man for themselves. Grinning, she spun the chained shackles twice in a vertical circle to build momentum then released them at the attacking pirate. "Remind me to bruise up the next guy who says there's no honor among thieves, eh?" she commented, grabbing the cutlass that had been offered to her and turning to go back to back with Samantha. If the pirate she had thrown the chains at hadn't been taken down, she would just have to trust the other woman to finish the job. "You got a plan?" she asked Sam, stabbing towards the gun arm of the nearest guard, "If so, now's the time for me to hear it!

[Raz_Fox]

Samantha

Samantha blinked. "I'm not sure that was what I meant for you to do... anyway, stick with me and Scarlet Will - we're trying to get onboard the pirate ship. Will because he's the captain, me because... I just need to get off the ship, and that seems the best way to do so." She deftly deflected the swipes of another guardsman, flipping his sword out of his grasp and slamming her sword's hilt into his forehead. As he fell, out cold, Samantha grinned. "So, the plan is as follows: get onto the pirate ship, don't get killed. That sound good?"

[Anitra]

"Simple. Straightforward. I like this plan!" Leigh commented brightly, finishing her guard off with a lucky stroke to the neck. Perhaps Samantha was willing to spare the guards' lives, but having spent longer on the ship than her, Leigh wasn't feeling quite so charitable. Not to mention she didn't have the level of skill needed to deal a precise enough, nonfatal blow to merely knock the guards out.

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

John works his way near the front of the ship, where fighting is taking place. The flash of steel and the occasional boom of a pistol or rifle don't seem to bother him. He nears one guard, fighting a pirate, and raises the cutlass. He lightly tosses it up and grabs it like a knife, with the point going down. He raises it and stabs the guard through the neck. Using leverage, he pushes the man to the edge of the boat and kicks sharply, knocking him over the edge to tumble into the water below. He looks around for any trouble spots or anyone losing, pirate or prisoner.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond fires at a guard who is rushing him, and kills him. Another one attacks him, and having no time to reload, Desmond jumps into the sea.

[Vespe Ratavo]

While the battle rages above, Jen decides to take the opportunity to take a look around belowdecks, primarily interested in finding her stolen journal, but also interested in anything particularly shiny, deadly, or otherwise interesting-looking.

What I don't understand, she remarks off-hand, probably just thinking out loud, is why they'd take my journal. Maybe they wanted some light reading? She shrugs, and continues looking.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond swims around the ship until he finds an open window in the lower deck. He grabs onto the hull and climbs up into it. He falls dripping wet into the ship. Getting up he sees one of the womenJennifer

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jennifer stares at Desmond in horror, vaguely recognizing him as one of the prisoners. Um...there's a perfectly good explanation for why I'm down here. And I'll even tell you what it is if you give me a minute.

[An Enemy Spy]

"I don't care why you're down here. There is a very nasty fight going on on and I want to be on the winning side of it. So if anyone comes rushing down here, we join them. Understand?"

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen nods. Of course. She then continues to search.

[An Enemy Spy]

"So what are you looking for anyway?" Desmond says as he searches for things to barricade the door with.

[Vespe Ratavo]

Oh, you know, spare change, a weapon, my journal those damn guards stole.

[An Enemy Spy]

"Journal, eh? What kind of journal?"

[Vespe Ratavo]

Oh, you know, mostly just old memories, with a few interesting bits about my piratical career. I was planning to turn it into a book at some point. She says that last bit half-jokingly, while still rooting through all the assorted stuff, trying to find it.

[An Enemy Spy]

"Would it this one?"Desmond asks after picking up the book that laying open on the table.

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen takes a quizzical look at the book, then nods, slightly embarrassed at having missed it just lying there. Yes, yes it would be. She grabs it from him, stuffs it into an inside pocket of her coat, then buttons that pocket. Thanks.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Looking at the new arrival, Silme is curious.
Seeing as you haven't tried to kill us yet and we you, we might as well know eachother's names, mine is Silme. Pointing to Jen with his thumb he says And this is Jen.
Now to either barricade the hatch or to join or to kill anybody who comes downstairs? I don't mind killing anybody who comes downstairs, but joining might increase our chance of sailing somewhere else.

[MrEdwardNigma]

((Okay, there seem to have been some misunderstandings:
1) The only guard that was actually reachable on the deck was the one near the cannon on the front of the deck that was killed by Jonathan. None of the other guards are actually engaging in combat with the pirates, as they have taken up positions on the upper deck and are bottlenecking all attackers (forcing them to come up the stairs) while firing at them. To even get to the guards on the stairs you'd have to fight your way through a crowd of prisoners who saw this as the best way of defending themselves.
2) Your possessions are not on the ship. There is no reason for them to be whatsoever. It was, in fact, mentioned in the OOC that all your possessions besides your clothes were left on land.
3) Only Patrick went belowdecks so far, but anyone may yet follow as the door is open.
4) The guards do not have sabres. They have cutlasses, just like all the rest of you, though they may be slightly better maintained. All of them except the two defending the stairs also have a rifle.

I'm changing the word "guard" to "prisoner who's siding with the guards" in all of your posts, if that's okay, and I'm disregarding the bit about the journal. I'm sorry if it wasn't clear the guards were on the upper deck and could only be reached by gunfire or by breaching a wall of prisoners.))

The pirate attacking Leigh was quickly dispatched off after Samantha stopped his attack and Leigh tossed the shackles at him. Jonathan then tosses Leigh a cutlass.

Meanwhile Xan had cut his way to Scarlet Will with a cutlass he'd taken from one of the prisoners he'd killed.
"Oh, you're still alive, are you?" Will asked, cutting away at prisoners.
"Here," he said, tossing Xan his handgun, "Reload this for me"

Patrick looked around belowdecks for a while, when he was suddenly jumped from behind.
"What are you doing here, huh?" a voice said.
Patrick could feel the cold steel of a knife on his neck. It wasn't particularly sharp as it had been part of the cutlery on the ship, but it was enough to feel intimidated.

Jen and Silme ran off belowdecks, deciding the battle was getting too heated. Belowdecks was a large room with hammocks for the crew. There were bottles of rum lying around, some extra guard uniforms, dice and cards, a pack of blankets for some reason, two kegs of gunpowder, a bunch of thick rope and a table with some cutlery on it and some pieces of bread. There was a hatch leading to the cargo hold and a locked door leading to the captain's room. More importantly though, there was The Ghost (the wounded man) holding Patrick with a knife pressed to his throat.
"More of you! Don't move. I'm not trying to hurt anyone. I'm just looking to stay out of the battle"

There was a crash as a wet Desmond wurmed his way in through one of the windows in the hull and rolled into the area belowdecks. The Ghost sun Patrick around so he would be in between him and Desmond.
"I just said I wasn't trying to hurt anyone! Stay away!"

Jonathan saw the large man getting into trouble. A pirate had shown up who was just as large but muscular instead of fat and armed with an axe.

[Fireball.Man.Guy.]

" With what, sheer force of will? I don't have a ball or powder, and if I did, I don't know how! give it to another pirate who actually can do it." Xan replies, clubbing a prisoner over the head and burying his sword in another before he slips it back onto Scarlet Will's belt loop. When you do get it working again, might I advise focusing you're bullets on the guards with guns up their, rather than the prisoners down here?"

[MrEdwardNigma]

"Oh, and what do you think I've been doing? Though, in all fairness, I've only been able to fire a single shot since I can't reload and cut people down at the same time"
Will took the gun back. He had a bag of lead balls and a horn of gunpowder, but Xan had just admitted he didn't know how to reload, so Will looked around for someone else to do it for him.

((Could you please repost your character sheet in the OOC, Fireball.Man.Guy?))

[Dallas-Dakota]

As Silme go's below decks he stops, just of the stairs.
Calm down, we're just getting out of it as well.

[An Enemy Spy]

"Jen, help me barricade the door." Desmond says, as he moves a table in front of it.

[Dallas-Dakota]

I`l help.
Silme drops the two weapons into loops on his belt and moves to the door, as he flips over the table.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Silme and Desmond try to push the table up the stairs leading to the door, but this proves pretty much pointless. Even if they'd be able to get it up there, they had no way to keep it from simply falling down the stairs again.

((The stairs start immediately after the door, as the door leads belowdecks but is on the deck itself))

"You're prisoners, too, all three of you?"
The Ghost loosened his grip on the doctor slightly.

[Cpt. Soup]

((Would you look what happens when you give them a bit of leash?))

Carker had enough of this, he was being jolted around by this crowd of filth and the shear press was pulling him even farther away from the stairs. While this was happening he was in a position to observe that a number prisoners had turned on the others and he supposed were fighting along side the pirates. What did this mean!? Were they the reason why they attacked the bloody prison ship, rescuing crew? Maybe they got it into their heads that by siding with the pirates they might yet live? Things were getting bad for Carker, it was only a matter of time before he became victim of the pirate meat grinder closing in, those bastard guards wouldn't risk their position to save a few prisoners. He shook with hopeless rage at his situation until one of the prisoners backed into him and pressed his greasy hair against his face. Carker snapped, he wrapped the shackles around the offenders throat and squeezed violently until the wet gurgling stopped. Carker clawed a cutlass from the prisoners hand and shoved it through the back of the next prisoner in front of him. He twisted the thing around and tugged it out only to press it in again. Carker really needed space to think about what to do. He let go and grabbed that ones sword and hacked at the next prisoner's head with it.

[An Enemy Spy]

"Just leave it at the bottom of the stairs. We'll make a big pile there. That should hold them for a while."

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

Johnathan taps the large man on the shoulder. "Why are you siding with the guards?" He asks, motioning for the large pirate to stay back. "They're not going to set us free. They'll need us to row them somewhere." John says, warily watching both of the big men. He keeps his cutlass down, but his eyes are alert and his muscles are coiled like a spring, ready for anything.

[Dallas-Dakota]

I see. And yes, we're prisoners, now as I said, calm down.

Silme bunches up some of the hammocks and throws the on the table.
He then opens the door to the cargo hold a little bit and checks whats inside and if it could be usefull.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Deck:
The pirates were quite clearly winning. More than half of the prisoners were already dead, and most of them left standing were either gathered in front of the stairs to the guards or around the large man.

Carker tore his way through the prisoners as well, having put aside the ethical conflict for some action. He wasn't even sure who the prisoners he was killing fought for. Heck, they probably didn't even know themselves. Fact was, everything and everyone on that boat seemed to want him dead. He soon ran out of prisoners, and was faced with two pirates instead. They were circling around him, trying to get on both sides of him.
"You fight fierce, but you can't handle the both of us" one of them said.

Jonathan jumped in between the two large men.
"Why are you siding with the guards?"
"Dem don't wanna kill us" the big man said. The large pirate seemed to have lost his patience and whacked the large prisoner on the head with his axe. The large man fell down with a thump. Jonathan now found him in a crowd of prisoners, all looking up in fear at the huge pirate.

Belowdecks
Silme and Desmond threw a bunch of stuff on a pile in front of the stairs. The Ghost seemed to decide that the men (and woman) weren't after him, so he let go of Patrick.
"You block the door then, I'll go look around" he said, and went off to the captain's door, where he started fiddling around with the lock. Silme decided to do some looking around of his own and opened the hatch to the cargo hold. The cargo, as it turned out, was lumber. Other than loads of that, the cargo hold was pretty much empty.

[Lord Magtok]

Patrick breathes a sigh of relief, and after a nervous glance back at the guy who was menacing him with the cutlery, decides to quietly help along with barricading the door. He'll grab any large object that might look suitable for the job, and begin slowly dragging it up. Judging by his slow pace, he's definitely not the heavy manual labor sort of guy.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond realized with horror that if the pirates won, they might try to sink the ship while he and the others were still below deck. "Can you all swim?" he asks.

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker gave the two an odd look. As menacing as the two pirates before him were, it was something of a relief to stand by himself, this way he wouldn't feel so much like a pig in a slaughterhouse. He started back from the two, trying to keep them from flanking him. It struck him as he did so that these two were concentrating on him and him alone. This may be a new opportunity to make use of his gaze that was denied to him earlier by those prisoners.

*Super-Hypno-Gaze-Attack!!!*

His eyes slide over to the pirate that looked the more dangerous to Carker and attempted to draw him into them. Carker hoped the man would phase out and trip over a body or stop, something to distract the other.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Yes, I can. Hey, here's lumber! Maybe we can use some to block the door?

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen blinks. Never mind, I can't imagine why they'd take my journal. Frankly, the idea strikes me as silly and frivolous. So what's this book in my...never mind. Anyway, yes I can swim, that's a good idea, Silme, and let me help you with that. She moves to help Patrick drag the heavy object towards the make-shift barricade. She's not incredibly strong either, but she can definitely help.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond begins to look around for weapons. "Jen, is there anything we can use to fight down here?"

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen finishes dragging the big heavy thing to the barricade, and turns to Desmond. I don't think so, I saw some knives and stuff lying around, but they didn't look that sharp, and Silme said there's some lumber in the back, maybe you could use some as a club or something.

[An Enemy Spy]

"Do you know how to fight with a knife?"

[Vespe Ratavo]

Yes, I do. So we just join whoever comes down here?

[An Enemy Spy]

"Hopefully. But for all we know, the pirates will kill us!"

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen frowns. So the pirates will kill us, the guards will put us back in chains...what do you say we take a third option? She grins maliciously as she picks up a nearby knife.

[An Enemy Spy]

"I think I like the sound of that. Any ideas?"

[Vespe Ratavo]

Simple, really. We, meaning you, me, and anyone else who wants to join us, wait until the battle's over, take out whoever's left, then steal one of the ships. What do you say?

[An Enemy Spy]

"I have a better plan. How about we steal a ship while they're all still fighting?"

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen considers this for a moment, thoughtfully scratching her chin (thankfully, with the hand WITHOUT the knife), then nods. That is a better idea. How many pirates do you think stayed on their ship?

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

Johnathan gives a weary sigh as he looks down at the big man. He looks up at the huge pirate. "Well, that was stupid. Come on, then." He says, raising his cutlass to eye level, waiting for the man to make his move. He looked strong but slow, and John hoped this was the case.

[An Enemy Spy]

"Lets find out!" Desmond climbs on to the window and extends his hand to her.

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen grins again. Sounds like fun. She puts her knife into a pocket, then follows Desmond, taking his hand.

[Lord Magtok]

Aaugh! Don't leave me down here to die!

Patrick follows after, reluctantly. He's a barber-surgeon, damn it. His cuts should be saving lives (And styling hair), not ending them (The live, not the hair)! How the hell did he get in such an awful mess like this, anyways?

I'm sorry, Lord Flalequid, I did everything in my power, but I'm afraid Lady Flalequid is no longer with us anymore...

Oh right, that. Damn nobles should've told him it was just a cold...

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond crouches on the windowsil ready to jump into the water. He holds Jen firmly to keep her from jumping. "Before we go let me say this. If I end up getting captured, don't risk your life to save me. I don't want you getting hurt because of my stupid idea."

[Vespe Ratavo]

She nods. Same, don't try and be a big damn hero if I get caught. That being said, let's kill some pirates!

[An Enemy Spy]

Still holding on to Jen, Desmond jumps into the water.

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen follows, still holding onto Desmond, muttering coldcoldcold under her breath as she swims.

((Of course, I'm just guessing the water would be cold. It might not be. >.>))

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond is the faster swimmer (I'm assuming that since it specifically mention his swimming ability in my description.) So he keeps holds of Jen and swims with one arm while they both kick. When they get to the ship, he looks for a way up.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Silme, who was silenty tracking their conversation stands on the sill. I'm joining you, ditto for the heroics thing.
He grabs the rope, and throws it around his shoulder. He then jumps out of the ship, joining in on the swim towards the other ship. Jen's sword still in the loop on his belt.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Deck:
Carker's eyes focused on the taller and leaner looking of the two pirates. The man froze.
"Joe?" the other pirate said, "What are you doing, Joe? Joe?"
A sliver of drool dripped down from Joe's chin.

The large pirate raised his axe. Slowly. Jonathan grinned and struck. And struck again. His cutlass punctured the large man's abdomen twice. The man groaned, dropping his axe and crushing some poor prisoner under it. He was stabbed several more times by Jonathan, and then the rest joined in. The large pirate disappeared in a sea of mauling arms and legs. Jonathan overlooked the battlefield and realised the pirates had reached the guards on the stairs. The guards were no match for them in close combat, but the backing of the artillery behind them did help. It was impossible to determine who would win.

Belowdecks:
The Ghost withdrew in the captain's room as Patrick, Desmond, Jen and Silme jumped down into the ocean.

Ocean:
The water was icy cold. Everyone swam as fast as they could to the only place where they could enter the other ship: the breach in the hull made by the cannon. The only person who seemed to have trouble moving through the water was Jen, as her large coat was dragging her down. She was having trouble staying above the water.

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

Johnathan walks purposefully towards the nearest prisoner, one who looks as if he's siding with the guards. Johnathan taps him on the back of the head with the hilt of the cutlass and reaches his left arm around the stunned man's neck. He holds the sword to the man's neck and turns to hold him between Johnathan and the nearest rifle-armed guard. He walks towards the guard purposefully, holding the man tight.

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker

Carker stops his retreat and steps forward towards the shorter. He hacks at the pirates sword arm. Of course he has to take his eyes off the other to do a decent job of it, if the pirate isn't especially stupid he should come back to himself in a few moments as the nearby combat would break it without Carker's constant stare, a jolt of pain or a good shake would do the trick as well.

[Lykainon]

As he hid in the relative cover the shadow in a corner provided, Masik had a realization about fighting. It seemed as if the people involved, those who wanted to fight at least, were so focused on finding the next threat, the next opponent, that someone who didn't pose a threat was almost invisible to them.

He looked around, trying to evaluate the situation and noticed a few of the former prisoners in the water, apparently heading for the pirate ship. Were they going to attempt to take it over in the middle of combat? It would seem so. Normally, that plan would have been a little too suicidal for Masik's taste but at the moment... well, things couldn't really get much worse. Apart from death. That would make things worse.

After looking around to make sure that no one was paying attention to him, Masik, already on his knees to maximize the cover, made his way over to the two closest bodies as quickly as he could. There were two pirates, obviously dead, not far from him. He quickly grabbed some hair from each of them and then got up on his feet, ran to the boat's rail and dived into the water.

The water was freezing cold, much colder than it had ever been by the shore's of his island, but he could make it. At least as far as the pirate ship. While he was a fairly good swimmer it was made harder since he still held the hair tightly in his left hand.

Funny, though... he thought. I still seems like things can't get much worse...

But of course it would. It seemed as if the spirits really had it in for Masik as of late.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Silme swims up to the entrance, look if he can climb in.
Otherwise he'l try to help Jen stay a float while either Desmond or Patrick get in.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond keeps ahold of Jen to keep her from sinking. "Does anyone see a way up?"

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen points towards the breach in the hull, saying something that was probably meant to come out as right there, you idiot, but sounds more like glug glub glarb.

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

John smiles as he walks towards the guard. The panic stricken man fires, silencing the screams of the prisoner John holds captive. He hastily reloads as John approaches slowly, pouring in the powder and rushing. His sweaty hand slips and he drops a lead ball, which rolls immediately away and disappears. John's alligator smile never wavers, like the cutlass he holds pointed at the man. The guard manages to find another ball and stuff it in. He hastily pulls back the precussion cap and aims as John lets go and kicks the dead prisoner forward. The body knocks the rifle out of the guard's grasp and John grabs the barrel and pulls it free.

With a contented sigh, John finishes the pale, scared guard with a slash across the neck. The blood from the wound seeps out and dissipates into the sea as the man collapses, twitching. Johnathan slides the cutlass into his belt and sights down the rifle.

[Anitra]

Leigh fought to get over towards where Johnathan was standing with the rifle. The man seemed to prefer her alive over dead, given that he had helped her out by handing her a weapon, and he seemed to be having no problem cutting his way through the prisoners who were siding with the guards. Both were pluses in her mind; and right now, she needed all the allies she could get.

Leigh was by no means bad with a cutlass. However, she was by no means good either. While she was able to dispatch of three prisoners who had no clue what they were doing with a sword in their hands, her poor technique meant that she was expending far more energy than a skilled swordsman, and she was starting to get worn out by the time she neared him. She spotted a prisoner with a cutlass raised over his head, charging at Johnathan's back, and quickly intervened. Locking blades with the prisoner, she grit her teeth and shoved at the other man's sword.

"Watch your back, Frohfreund" she told Johnathan, using a Gavish word that loosely translated as "good friend" or "lucky friend". Usually the first translation was meant, and it was a term used when meeting potential buyer or seller to do trade with. Leigh's use, however, leaned towards the second, more obscure definition, as it had been a stroke of luck that the man seemed to be on her side.

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

Nodding, the grim man seemed nonplussed at the intervention, or at his possible death. "Noted." He said. He scanned the deck of the long, slaave ship. Looking for something. "Have you seen the captain?" He asked suddenly, his voice almost sadistically casual. "I've got a gift for him."

[Raz_Fox]

Samantha

Samantha follows the girl, who didn't look like she could use a sword very well. Sam had been that bad several years ago, but given time it looked like the maid had promise.

She protected the maid's back, slicing and hacking at those who might have taken advantage of the girl's sloppy style. As she realized where the maid was taking them, she grinned. Another ally?

"Yeah, watch your back. You never know when you're going to get it all over somebody's knife." She glanced suspiciously at the man. "Who's side are you on?"

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

John pauses, his search forgotten momentarily as he ponders the question. He answers honestly. "Right now? Mine." He says.

[MrEdwardNigma]

((Okay, for clarity's sake I've decided to upload a sort of drawing of the situation on the ship so people won't keep "walking up to guards with guns and killing them". I realise my description was lacking, but this poor quality drawing should illustrate the situation better:
This is the prison galley seen from the top, off course.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb65/MrEdwardNigma/svg2raster.jpg
Okay, the top of the drawing is supposed to be the higher part of the deck. As you can (hopefully) see there is only one way to access the top of the deck. This happens to be the stairs. On the stairs are two bright blue dots. These are two guards, armed with cutlasses only. They are there to keep the pirates and others at bay, while the dark blue dots, those would be the guards with guns, fire at them from a position unreachable by any other means than gunfire or fighting through the other guards first.

They are bottlenecking attacks, which means all their attackers are lining up on the stairs, impeding each other as they do so. The red dots show the pirates (though imagine there are a lot more of them) and the grey dots show the prisoners (though imagine a lot more of them as well) who are generally not sure who they're even fighting for.
All this to illustrate that you can't attack a guard with a gun without first finding a way to get to them. The guards aren't completely dimwitted: rifles are no use in close combat. Also, they have absolutely no qualms with shooting prisoners, should you decide to use them as meatshields. This is all a pretty elaborate way of explaining why exactly Jonathan hasn't killed a guard with a gun))

Deck:
Jonathan grabbed a prisoner as a meat shield and dragged him to the stairs, where he started to make his way past the pirates and other prisoners to the two guards. He was followed by Leigh and Samantha, who kept the pirates and prisoners from killing him as he moved among them. As soon as he reached the two guards, one of the two slashed through his meatshield, then making a swing at Jonathan's throat.

Carker cut down one of the two pirates. The men fell to the ground whimpering at the huge gash in his arm. It looked unlikely he'd ever be able to use it again, or even that he'd survive the blood loss. The other pirate snapped out of it and charged Carker, who could easily sidestep him.

Scarlet Will was nowhere to be seen. He seemed to have withdrawn from combat.

Ocean:
Masik jumped into the ocean, among the bobbing corpses of pirates, prisoners and a single guard. Somewhat further in the water Jen seemed to be sinking due to her coat. Desmond tried to keep her above the water, but doing that and moving her proved to be very hard indeed. All he could manage was keep her head above water. The waves were quite wild indeed.

Silme ignored them and crawled through the hole in the hull of the pirate ship.

Pirate Ship, belowdecks:
It was dark. Very dark indeed. Silme looked around but couldn't make out much more than filthy straw on the floor. There were only two sources of light: the hole in the hull and an opening in the ceiling that for some reason had bars in it. He thought he could hear sounds in the dark.

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen, realizing she wouldn't be able to make it with the coat, started trying to get it off. There's probably some horribly symbolic meaning to this...

((For the record, should we just decide how some things go (like the coat-pulling off) for ourselves? I'm used to the Free-Form Roleplaying board, where everything is always "attempts," but is it different here?))

[MrEdwardNigma]

((Simple things like pulling off a coat are automatic, and you can just presume swimming will go easy after that if it's specifically stated to be the problem. Some less simple things, like killing a prisoner or pirate, can just be played out as well, as long as you do it in a logical manner and occasionally lose too. I'd also like to ask to move this sort of discussion to the OOC thread, as that's what it's for))

Jen pulled off the coat, letting it sink to the depths. Without it she was quite capable of swimming by herself, and easily made it into the pirate ship's hull. Masik, Patrick and Desmond all followed now that there was no reason to stay outside. The atmosphere in the hull was oppressive, and things seemed to be moving around in the dark. Patrick was sure he'd spotted a shadow dart across the light spot beneath the opening in the ceiling.

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker

Carker hissed to himself as he turned to the other pirate. He skipped to one side of the man's rash charge. Carker had moved to the side of the pirates off hand as he made a savage cut at the back of his neck.

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

Fair enough. Just trying to keep the action moving.

Johnathan raised his cutlass and deflected the attack aside. Sparks flew from the metal swords as they clashed. John was fighting right next to a pirate who swung his citlass bombastically, almast cutting Johnathan himself. The man was taking up too much space on the stairwell, so Johnathan blocked the pirate's cutlass himself. The man looked over in astonishment as the guard stabbed him in the chest. Johnathan swiped and knocked the cutlass out of his hand and caught it, then brought both to bear against the guard in front of him. He wasn't flashy, or amazing with both weapons, but he managed to block and attack at the same time. The guard's cutlass slashed in, straight down, and Johnathan caught it on the blade of his left hand and swung up viciously with his right. The guard's weapon flew away, whirling in a lazy circle as it clattered uselessly to the deck and disappeared under the feet of the fighters on the deck. With a grin, John blocked an attack from the second guard before slashing the leg of the first. He easily dodged aside as the guard tumbled down the short stairs and into a handful of pirates who easily killed him. Alone with the last guard, Johnathan cautiously raised both weapons and began slowly walking up the stairwell.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Silme draws his sword and looks paranoidly around.

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen pulls out her knife, tucking any metaphorical meaning to her lost coat safely in the back of her mind for future consideration. She follows the others inside, glancing around the room.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond does not not draw his cutlass. He does not look forward to a close up fight. "So what, do we just storm up there and demand they turn over the ship?"

[MrEdwardNigma]

Deck
Jonathan took out one of the two guards blocking the path to the upper part of the deck. The pirates charged up the stairs with a cheer, right into a salvo of gunfire from above. Jonathan only just managed to duck behind the remaining guard, who was shot down by his own friends (though clearly not on purpose). Leigh, Samantha and the pirates were less lucky. A bullet tore through Leigh's left shoulder, while Samantha was hit in the knee. Several pirates were shot dead, but then the rest of them charged. They seemed to winning fast now that they had access to the upper deck.

Carker took out the second pirate as well, and soon found himself surrounded by five prisoners. All of them seemed to have decided to side with the pirates.

Pirate Ship, Belowdecks:
The dark was oppressive. The shadows seemed to warp and move, and none of the intruders felt very comfortable. Whatever made those whispers and sounds in the dark didn't seem willing to step out into the light. Similarly, none of them had yet dared to venture out into the darkness.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond walks straight into the shadows. Whatever those shadows are can't be that dangerous, or the pirates would have gotten rid of them.

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

John noticed that stray shots had injured the ladies. He was torn. He glanced up at the deck and back to the women quickly. A fleeting memory stirred in his mind. A beautiful woman, smiling. A shadowy figure, and blood. He remembers being afraid, being unable to move. Angrily, he leaps down and checks the two women. He glances around and spies a random pirate running on to some unimportant task. "Hey!" He yells out, command in his voice. "Help me out with this, or so help me God you'll be eating your tongue!" He says. His shirt, damp with seaspray and filled with tears and holes is ripped in two as he tears it off in strips. is bare chest, now exposed to the sea, is lean with sailing muscles but scarred and bruised. He checks for exit wounds, but he knows he's out of his depth. "Get me some alchohol." He tells the pirate. "And find me a doctor."

[Vespe Ratavo]

Um...I hadn't really thought it out this far. I thought you had a plan. Jen follows Desmond nervously.

[An Enemy Spy]

"Ha! A plan? We just boarded a ship full of bloodthirsty pirates! I was going to wing it."

[Vespe Ratavo]

Ah. Of course. Then again, I'm not sure if taking on the whole crew directly would be the best option. Maybe we could...hmm. Why would pirates attack a prison ship? Maybe they wanted to free someone? Maybe whoever they're freeing could vouch for us, and we could get dropped off somewhere...on the other hand, they might just kill us. She shrugs. Yeah, winging it sounds good.

[Anitra]

Leigh had been following Johnathan up the stairs, trusting the man to guard her back as she watched his, climbing up the steps backwards and keeping her cutlass between their group and the people below. She was caught completely off guard when one of the rounds from the volley of gunfire hit her in the shoulder. She gave an involuntary cry of pain as her mind registered that she had been hit and stumbled forward, dropping her weapon in order to catch the railing and prevent herself from falling down the stairs.

Not wishing to risk her neck by going downstairs to chase after the cutlass, Leigh placed her newly free right hand on her shoulder and tried to assess the damage. No hole on the front of the shoulder, which meant the bullet might still be in there. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she used her right hand to apply pressure to the back of her shoulder in an attempt to stop the bleeding. She heard Johnathan call for a doctor and gave a small, pained chuckle. "The alchohol, is that supposed to be the painkiller or the disinfectant?"

[Dallas-Dakota]

It don't matter no more now, we're here, and to them, that means we invaded their ship.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Deck
"A doctor? Out here in the middle of the ocean? Are you mad?" the pirate said to Jonathan.
At least the guards weren't firing at them anymore. They were too busy getting slaughtered by the pirates up close. Jonathan could see the captain jump off the ship, into the water below. The pirate tossed Jonathan a flask of rum and then ran upstairs to join the fight.

Pirate Ship, Belowdecks:
The shadows closed again around Jen and Desmond. They couldn't see the others anymore, nor they them. They were only vaguely aware of the only source of light, the opening in the ceiling up ahead with bars in it. It shed a small amount of sunrays on the creatures surrounding them. There were five of them that they could see, but the shadows might conceal many more. They all looked remotely human, but their faces were a diabolic mockery, twisted and warped. The most noticable feature were the fangs, two large teeth from their upper jaw hanging out of their mouths, jutting down all the way past their chins, like small straight tusks almost. Other than that the men walked slightly hunched, as if ready to jump Jen and Desmond at any time. The creatures weren't armed, but the splatters of guts and blood on their raggedy clothes showed that they'd killed before.
"Mine" one of them hissed, "Ours".

Patrick, Silme and Masik couldn't see their two friends anymore, only hear faint distant whispers in the dark. Reality seemed warped here somehow, down in the hull, less real, and the only solace was the hole in the hull by their backs. They were surprised to see the captain of the prison galley swimming out there all of the sudden, among the corpses.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Assuming the captain has one of the best weapons, Silme turns around, jumps from the breach. Impaling the captain from above with his sword. He then checks the captain for weapons, tries to take them and climbs aboard again.
Jen, where are you? I don't like this darkness...

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker warily watched the three that he could see at once and felt others behind him from rising hairs on his back. His stratagem of maiming anyone in his way seemed to him a poor solution to this new obstacle. e might meet with more success with some Diplomacy as the none prisoners were eager to be the first to attack. His throat felt horse from dehydration and the words alien, he hadn't made attempts to speak with anyone since his arrest, content to brood quietly to himself.

I.. am not enemy. We not fight each other. Less of us, less pirate listen to us. Less of them, more room on ship.

Carker didn't exactly have a poor grasp of the language, he's lived in the Caribbean most of his life and understands and can speak several different tongues. Many people Carker met tended to misinterpret a weak grasp of a language as stupidity, When someone thought you were stupid they were less wary and more trusting.

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

"Of course." Johnathan says, muttering under his breath about the reliability of slave runners to nab a good doctor when he needs one. He takes a breath and looks at the one woman's shoulder. "Alright, I do know, from personal experience, that you can't leave a bullet in. So..." He glances at the pirate ship and debates whether or not to carry her over there. "Here." He says to her, handing her the rum. "Take a sip. It'll help." He searches the deck for anyone, dead or alive, who has a knife on them. "Don't worry. I've lost too many women to the hands of fate. I'm not going to let that happen again." While he searches, he checks on the other woman, and realies he had better find out their names if he's going to help them.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond moves back to back with Jen to make sure that nothing comes from behind him (or her, for that matter) and draws his cutlass. "You want me? Fine, come get me! I ask only that you do not soil my nice shoes with your blood."

[Anitra]

Leigh downed a swig of the rum, her need to dull the pain winning out over the need to keep her reflexes perfectly sharp. Realizing that Johnathan was suggesting they find a way to remove the bullet now, she shook her head and stood up straighter in an attempt to convince him that she was going to be alright. "Keeping the bullet in for a few more minutes isn't going to cause much damage compared to what its already done, we'll deal with it later. Right now, let's focus on ensuring there'll be a later"

[An Enemy Spy]

"Jen, I want you to run back the way we came. I'll hold them off. Maybe they won't follow you when they're done eating me."

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen's eyes widened in terror, before narrowing in rage. A small psychological shift can make all the difference in the world, and hers was the simple thought that these were not men, but monsters. Not only monsters, but ones that wanted to kill her. Their choice. She grinned, and held up her knife. Not a chance. One for all, all for one, and all that.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Hearing the voices, and not one to pas up a fight.
Silme draws the sword/melee weapon he got from the captain, so now with two swords in hand he also go's into the darkness.
Hey, don't leave me out.

[Raz_Fox]

Samantha

Samantha was fending off one of the loyal prisoners when her leg screamed in pain and her vision blurred for a moment. She stumbled back, clutching at the wall and hissing between her teeth. She looked up to see her opponent swinging his cutlass at her - she barely knocked it aside, stopping her head from being split open.

She lunged forward, ignoring the screaming pain in her leg. One, two - the prisoner fell, chest cut open. Sam fell back against the wall, nearly losing her balance and falling completely.

A glance at her leg showed the injury to be gory, but a closer look showed that the bullet had glanced off the broken kneecap instead of lodging in the injury. Perhaps not the best thing, but certainly a silver lining.

She turned to the man. "Get me something to lean on and I'll be fine."

[MrEdwardNigma]

Deck:
Luckily for Carker he'd caused the prisoners to doubt long enough for the battle to end. All the guards appeared to be dead, and about fifteen pirates were left on board, some of them armed with the guards' rifles now. On the pirate ship Scarlet Will had climbed into the riggings.
"Listen to me!" he shouted, and most of the prisoners that were left alive turned around to listen, "I have lost part of my crew here in this battle, and I need fifteen capable men to join me! Line up, you scurvy bastards, and I might just not have you killed!"

As most of the prisoners got in a long line, Jonathan found himself a carving knife in the hands of a dead pirate and Samantha picked up a board that had been part of the decoration of the ship to use as a crutch. They and Leigh wondered whether to join the line of prisoners.
"Samantha, my girl, you don't have to join the rest of those boobs, you have a very special place on my crew already!" Scarlett Will yelled.

Pirate Ship, Belowdecks:
"Thank god, help me out of the water will you, prisoner? I thought those men were going to kill me for sure, but we might still have a chance if we- wait, what are you-? Aaaaargh!"
Silme's blade sank deep into the captain's neck. He jumps into the water and robs the dead man of what little weapons he had: a cutlass and a soaked handgun. Since he already has two cutlasses, he has no real use for the cutlass, but he pockets the handgun. Silme then crawls back on board and runs into the darkness to find his friends. Before he even sees them though, something jumps him from behind, landing on his back.
"Mine" a voice hisses.

Desmond and Jen moved back to back. All at once the five creatures decided to jump at them, hands thrust forward.

Patrick and Masik were left alone at the breach in the hull.

[An Enemy Spy]

"Sweet fancy Mary!" Desmond swings his cutlass haphazardly with no real finesse. One of the monsters recieves a nasty gash on it's shoulder and another loses a finger.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Urgh, Silme moans, surprised.
He tries to stab at the head of the creature with the cutlass in his right hand, assuming the head to be behind his own head.
With the cutlass in his left hand he tries to stab were the neck would be on a normal human.
Damnit, what are these things?

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker

Carker aimed a kick at the face of the dying pirate he took down earlier before following the other prisoners. Obviously at this point trying to fight the pirates would be suicide, best to obey for the time being. Certainly better then being left on this tub, that is if the pirates don't kill the unwanted ones. Carker looked down at the front of his coat and noticed how much blood had soaked into his cloths. Couldn't really be helped he supposed, those prisoners he cut into were more often then not pressed up against him. He felt his face and his hand came away sticky, he should make a show of neatening himself up for this captain, it wouldn't do to have himself seen as a savage. He held up his cutlass to use as a mirror but was disappointed to find that it was caked in blood. Rather then soiling his coat even more, he quickly drew his tongue along one side to clear the blade up a bit. Trying again he was annoyed when he still failed to catch his reflection in the old sword. He stuffed the sword through his belt stopped to stand with the others.

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

John decided to hang onto the bandages and knife. The second woman didn't look as bad; Hopefully, she'd be fine walking. The first was a little worse off. He heard the leer in the pirate Captain's voice, and saw that he was speaking to one of the injured women. He honeslty hoped the captain didn't get any ideas; Johnathan would hate to be killed mercilessly by a large crew of pirates after stabbing the man's face off. For now, he decided to play along. He offered help, when needed, to both of the women.

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen swings her knife wildly in a wide arc, hoping to hit one of the creatures where a normal human's neck would be, then flips it around in her hand and turns to stabbing randomly (but fiercely) at them.

[Anitra]

Leigh made her way over to the lineup like most of the other prisoners and did her best to stand tall without leaning on the railings or Johnathan for support. She wouldn't last if she had to stand against one of these pirates, let alone all of them, so her best bet was to convince this Scarlet Will that she would be a capable crewmember when she wasn't suffering from blood loss. She could only hope that, judging by the captain's reaction to Samantha, she could use what womanly charm she had to get herself on board.

[An Enemy Spy]

One of the monsters grabs Desmond by the legs and pulls him to the ground. He screams and begins stabbing randomly at it.

[Lord Magtok]

Patrick would quickly volunteer to help Johnathon if he was anywhere near the fellow. Unfortunately, he isn't, so instead he'll quietly move on after the others, whimpering slightly as he goes.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Deck:
All the prisoners had lined up now, and the pirates had taken strategic positions about the ship, should they try anything. Even the three bearded men who'd been singing and rowing throughout the fight had been put in the line up. Scarlet Will had returned to the prison galley and was now striding by the line up. He stopped as he reached the last man, turned, and stared him in the face.
"Are you willing to join my crew?"
"Y-yes" the man mumbled.
"What was that? I didn't hear you! Did you hear him, boys?"
"Yes!" the man said.
"Ah. Good. But I see your leg's injured. What have you got to offer my crew?"
"I'm...eh... I'm a-"
The man stopped talking. A little trickle of blood ran out of the corner of his mouth. Scarlet Will had stabbed clean through him with his sabre. He moved on to the next man and asked the same question, and would do so for every man on board.
Feel free to play out your reactions. Try to convince Will to keep you alive. Any attempts at killing him will fail, unless you've got something awfully spectacular cooked up I hadn't even thought of. The most likely reaction to any attempts to kill him will be a shot or a stab in the gut, likely followed by some more shots from his men. I'll act out Will's reaction to each of your posts in my own next post.

Pirate Ship, Belowdecks:
Silme's cutlass struck true, causing a spurt of the creature's blackish blood to pour over him, but only as the thing sank it's teeth into Silme's neck. It twitched, and then stopped moving. Dead as it may have been, it's large teeth did not move and remained in the large black man's throat.

Desmond and Jen fought off the attack as best they could, and while making quick work of some of them, they could not prevent them all from getting through. Desmond is dragged to the ground and loses his sabre to the creature pulling him, even as he stabs at it. He was pulled away, into the darkness. Soon he could see nothing, and hear nothing but his own breathing. The creature, and everything else, seemed to be gone. Only briefly though. There was the slightest sound from the ceiling, and as he looked up he saw the creature fall, fangs open and looking to draw blood.

Jen meanwhile has her arm twisted. The knife fell after being employed to merely wound them. The cutlery turned out to be too blunt to do much damage in real combat. Her second arm was snapped back as well with amazing strength, and this was all one creature's doing. The others had all either disappeared or died. Suddenly Patrick appeared from the dark, his mouth agape at the sight of the creature holding Jen.

((OOC: Pretty much everyone is in peril now. I'd like everyone to post by tomorrow, especially the people who haven't posted since my own last post, which was quite a while ago, I realise. People in the second category who fail to post will most likely be taken out of the game entirely. I'll send all of them a PM to make sure they know. Next post is tomorrow evening, think 7 PM London time))

[Dallas-Dakota]

****. damn bastard! Silme cries out as his neck is bitten.
He pulls out the teeth of the creature and the creature falls down on the deck, he got more thigns to worry about then what that was. He then lets it open, so if anything got into his blood. It can bleed out.
He then go's to Jen, his weapons still ready, seeing her held by another of those things, he stands still. Not wanting to hurt Jen.

[Anitra]

Leigh had been one of the last people to get in line, and as a consequence, she was one of the first to be "interviewed". After seeing the first man get stabbed, she realized she couldn't show any hesitation. When Scarlet Will reached her, she waited for him to ask his question and looked him straight in the eye, trying to ignore the pain in her shoulder for the time being. "I'll join you. I've been a bos'n for ten years now. I do a damn good job of it, and I'll do it for half of what you're paying your current one."

[Lykainon]

Still crouched next to the hole in the hull, Masik could hear voices coming from above. It didn't seem like they were fighting, not much at least, but it clearly wasn't peaceful voices.

He wished he would have had the time to summon the spirits of the dead guards whose hair he'd taken but whatever was going on up there, it would most likely spread downstairs before Masik could finish the rituals.

Cautiously and, most important, silently he made his way towards the upper deck. It had been years since he last hunted but his body remembered what do to do. Stay quiet. Stay hidden. See them before they see you.

Suddenly he sensed something. He didn't know what at first but then he felt a familiar tickling sensation under his skin. Spirits, or some other representatives of the supernatural, were about.

[Vespe Ratavo]

Aaargh! Jen screamed out as her arms were snapped back and Desmond was dragged away. Thisisbadthisisbadthisisveryverybad... Her eyes lit up at the sight of Patrick, and she grinned slightly. An idea began to form. All right, you got me, you damned beast, but the fun's over. You see this guy? He's my bodyguard. He's trained in every form of fighting there is, and in this room alone he could kill you 5,000 different ways with 2,000 different things, including your own body. So you'd better let me go, lest he turn his wrath upon you. Although she had never been a religious sort, she was definitely praying to any deities who would listen that the beast was smart enough to understand her bluff and dumb enough to not see through it.

((Sorry for switching tense...again...but I used to be used to present and now I'm more used to past, so...>.>))

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker stilled his restless feet and stiffened up as the captain worked his way towards him. Carker had considered trying to bend the captain with his eyes but quickly gave up the idea as to risky. If the captain abruptly became a slack jawed imbecile, those observing might connect it with him. Even if he escaped notice, when the captain came back to his senses, he may notice his composure in front of his crew. He then may take his anger out on the nearest person on hand to regain something of his position, that person may be Carker.

..And you? Are you willing to join my crew?

Carker looked through Scarlet Will as he spoke, he didn't want to risk meeting his eyes and upsetting the man's dignity. He responded loudly, not a shout but enough for the assembled to hear him clearly and, he hoped, for the captain not to demand he repeated himself.

Yes, I wish to join the crew.

Scarlet Will cocked his head to one side as if watching him in from this new angle would give him more insight into Carker. A smile played on his lips as he spoke.

One of my men says you killed two of my crew, why should I take you on or even let you live?

Carker dreaded this question, he doubted the pirates would have been blind to what he'd done. He thought of how to make himself appealing to the captain, he didn't think the man wanted intelligence from the prisoners, rather a quick restock of his depleted crew. If Carker stammered or showed cowardliness the captain would kill him right then, he wanted fodder for later battles and craven hands are of no use.

He shrugged stiffly and continued to concentrate on something that was directly behind Scarlet Will's head.

They try to kill me so I kill them.

Carker hoped his simple words were enough to satisfy the captain.

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

The captain steps up to Johnathan and examines him. His twin cutlasses still covered in blood, John makes for an imposing sight, but the captain of the pirate ship doesn't even notice. He looks closely at John's scars, especially the slash on his face, before speaking. "What about you? I saw you kill one of us myself." He says. Johnathan shrugs. "He was stupid." He responds. "Stupid and slow. I corrected his mistake." Johnathan says. He stands there, attentive but calm, tensed like a spring. If the captain tries to kill him, he's not going to lie back and take it.

[An Enemy Spy]

Before the monster can go for his neck, Desmond punches it in the face. The creature catches his fist in its mouth and starts gnawing on it. In horrible agony, but not so much that he is willing to die, Desmond gouges the monster in both eyes with his other hand. When the creature lets go, he tweists around it and grabbing its head in both hands, snaps its neck.
"Jen!" He yells, and waits for an answer.

[Fireball.Man.Guy.]

Sorry I've been out for so long, my wireless connection has been fritzing. It looks stable now, so there shouldn't be many problems in the future. I've even come up with a nifty explanation for my character's absence.

Xan walks up from belowdecks, having taken a short nap after he left the slave ship with Will. He walks to Will and says over his shoulder "I can coordinate a stop at the nearest Empire port with you navigator, he says, thickening his accent and sneering at the prisoners, hoping to incite a reaction because of his race.

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen glanced up at the sound of her name. Desmond! Help! She twisted her head to the monster holding her. And that makes two. I would really recommend letting go of me. Now.

[An Enemy Spy]

Hearing Jen's voice seemed to make the agony in Desmond's hand go away. Boarding the pirate ship had been his idea. Walking into the shadows had been his idea. If something happened to Jen, he would never forgive himself. Not after what had happened to Gwen. Desmond picked up his sword and charged forward towards Jen's voice.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Deck
"Are you willing to join my crew?"
"I'll join you. I've been a bos'n for ten years now. I do a damn good job of it, and I'll do it for half of what you're paying your current one."
Will smiled and slapped her on the ass.
"You're in. You might even get to stay on board if you're willing to work for half a share and pay your captain the occasional visit"
Will moved on to the next one in the row, Nose. The captain's face seemed to light up.
"You're a bit of a madman, aren't you? My men say you killed two of them by yourself and wounded some others, all with your bare hands"
There was blood dripping off of Nose's face, the pirates clearly hadn't been lying.
"They were staring, captain. At my nose"
A thick drop of blood hung from Nose's absurdly huge nose. The captain found himself looking at it, but soon diverted his stare as Nose growled.
"You're in. Keep your temper in check on my ship"
Next in line was the large man who had fought so valiantly for the guards.
"You're in" Will said, "I don't even need to hear what you have to say. We can use a man like you"
"Uh-huh"
The captain gave him a glare, and the big man shushed. He was quick at learning his place. Scarlet Will moved on to the smuggler, who had a sabre lodged in his hand and was whimpering. Will looked at him with loathing and unsheathed his blade.
"Wait!" the presumable smuggler said, "I've got a stash of goods left on a small island, a hide-out, there's some really good-"
He stopped talking, as the captain's blade had pierced his gut. The smuggler fell to the deck bleeding. He wasn't dead, but definitely dying. The fear in the next man's eyes alone and his stuttering was enough for the captain to cut him down as well. The next man was more promising. An Arabian, one that had handled himself well in combat.
"...And you? Are you willing to join my crew?"
"Yes, I wish to join the crew"
Scarlet Will cocked his head to one side as if watching him in from this new angle would give him more insight into Carker. A smile played on his lips as he spoke. The man was already in, but he wanted to see how he'd react to the next question.
"One of my men says you killed two of my crew, why should I take you on or even let you live?"
"They try to kill me so I kill them"
Good. Simple. Predictable, but not common all the same.
"You're in"
He moved past several others, of whom Old Bob, the three singing men with beards, a bald man, a nobleman and a beggar got to join, before reaching Jonathan.
"What about you? I saw you kill one of us myself"
"He was stupid" Jonathan responds, "Stupid and slow. I corrected his mistake"
The captain stared into his eyes, one hand on his bloodied sabre.
"You're arrogant. You think you know everything best, and you think you can take on the world"
The captain's arm swung rapidly, faster than Jonathan could anticipate, and his fist hit him straight in the nose. Jonathan could hear the bone snap as he fell to the deck. He was blinded by the blood, but he could feel the cold tip of the captain's sabre on his neck.
"That said, you're in. You're now part of my crew. Act like it"
The captain sheathed his blade again and was about to return to his ship when two men appeared from belowdecks. Xan and The Ghost, the wounded man. He raised his eyebrows. He remembered the eastern fellow from earlier, but he'd assumed he'd died in the battle.
"I can coordinate a stop at the nearest Empire port with your navigator" the easterner blurted out.
"We're in the centre of the Caribbean, far away from the Empire, and with no intention to go there any time soon. You're useless to me, unless you prove yourself in a fight such as the one you shyed away from with your buddy"
The wounded man blushed.
"I had other things to take care of. I am not a coward"
"So prove it!"
The captain tossed him his sabre, which the Ghost clumsily caught.
"Those two men at the back of the line I accepted into my crew without any questions, because I needed fifteen. Now there are two too many. Fight, the four of you, and the two that live get to join the crew of the Red Rooster"
The two other men already had weapons from the fight. They drew them. Assuming the two men who had run from the fight were no match for them, they seemed to have joined up. Only two needed to die.

Red Rooster
Scarlett Will returned to the deck of his beloved Red Rooster, with his men and his new crew, from where they could watch the fight on the prison galley, be shown their quarters by one of the original crew, or perhaps have a chat with some of the others on-board. The captain may have been watching the fight with his hand round Samantha's waist, but the steersman, the current boatswain and the carpenter were discussing plans over a map. They seemed to be deciding where the Red Rooster would be heading next. Meanwhile the bearded men were being shown the ropes by the Red Rooster's jolly deckswab and Old Bob, the nobleman and the Nose were being shown their quarters by the cook.

The Red Rooster was a ship propelled solely by sails, not by manpower like on the prison galley. It too had an upper deck like on the prison galley, but below it lay the captain's cabin, instead of just a flight of stairs. The stairs instead were accessible from a hatch in the middle of the deck, near the mast, leading to a large room with hammocks, where the crew were each assigned one that belonged to a now dead pirate. They may find some possessions there, such as some rum, dice, old clothes, some packs of cards, some saved up food and maybe a dagger or two. Those who chose their hammocks first would off course get the best stuff and the least lice. Below this room was a dining hall with two big tables, a passage to the kitchen and a huge grating in the middle of the floor from which ominous noises were rising. There seemed to be no way to get to the space beneath the grating besides opening it.

I've negated Xan's going to the Red Rooster before joining the crew because Will would simply never allow him to walk away from a fight like that. Also, the Red Rooster's current boatswain didn't die during the fight, so Leigh seems to have some competition.

Red Rooster, way down belowdecks
Silme tosses the creature, and as soon as it dies some of the darkness seems to dissipate, allowing him to find Jen struggling with one of the beasts. She was finding that diplomacy didn't really work on the things.
"Mine" the creature hissed, plunging it's teeth into her neck. She felt queasy, faint, and she fell. Jen landed faceforward into the floor, which helped her regain her consciousness but messed up her face somewhat. She seemed to have a gash in her forehead now, caused by the piece of cutlery she'd landed on with her face. Desmond appeared out of the dark too, having killed the creature harassing him. The darkness seemed very faint now, and the creature was surrounded by Silme, Patrick and Desmond. It hissed, and threw itself desperately at Patrick.

Meanwhile, somewhere in what little darkness was left, Masik had found his way to beneath the grating in the ceiling. One of the horrible creatures lay dead beneath it, and upstairs he heard voices. Pity there was no way whatsoever to go up. At least the presence of the supernatural seemed to be fading.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond rushes over to Jen and rolls her over. Please don't be dead. This is all my fault. He wipes some of the blood off her face. "Can you hear me?"

[Dallas-Dakota]

Standing next to patrick, his swords still out, he points his right blade forward and takes a step forward with his right foot, thus stabbing the creature with his momentum and the creatures own move, stopping at the handle.
Not waiting to pull it out as the creature fell down onto the floor, he rushes to Jen.
How is she? Jen?
He asks to Desmond, who got there first, then looking at Jen.

[Fireball.Man.Guy.]

Xan rubs his wrists, feeling the blood return after having been in chains. He closes his eyes for a moment as a familiar flash of images shows before them. A woman, a dragon, a king, and a fire. He looks up, his eyes taking on a sinister, killer's glint. everything seemed to slow down, and he felt a great strength build in his muscles. He coiled like a spring, and like an arrow he was upon Ghost, grabbing the wounded man's clumsily held cutlass and ramming it into his side. With a grip on the body, he kicked it into one of the other fighters, then leaped at the remaining one. Surprised by the young man's speed, the prisoner, could not adequately block Xan's downward slash, and his blade fell far enough for Xan to impale him and kick him over the rail. He walks over to the downed inmate. Helping him stand he says Sorry about that, such a ghastly business. No hard feelings, right?

[An Enemy Spy]

"She looks concious, but she isn't answering me. I think that blow to the head did some damage up there." He picks Jen up with both arms. "We shouldn't leave her here. There might be more of those things."

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

Johnathan stood and watched Will from behind the black spots he was seeing. "Arrogance presumes caring, good Captain. There's no world to me, not anymore. Just one man. Or rather, two now. Just hope I never find him, Captain. Because if and when he leaves this world, you'll be the only one left." John says with a calm smile.

[Anitra]

It took every ounce of self control that Leigh possessed to keep herself from reacting to Scarlet Will's slap. If she wanted to survive the day, she couldn't risk angering the man, however repulsive his personality was. Despite being let on to the crew, she didn't breath easy again until Johnathan also passed inspection; he seemed trustworthy enough, and Leigh was going to need all the allies she could get.

As soon as the crew started heading over to the Red Rooster, Leigh went straight over to Johnathan to see if he was okay. From what she could see, there was a lot of blood coming from his nose, but given that nose injuries tended to bleed a lot, she couldn't really tell how bad it was. "Come on, we need to find a doctor for the both of us, so let's get moving" she told him, "Also, we can't just keep on referring to each other via pronouns, I think it's time we exchanged names. I'm Leigh" she introduced herself with a small smile. Before walking off the prison galley, she snatched a cutlass and sheath from one of the corpses and thrust it through her belt. While she was glad to be off the prison galley, she wasn't so trusting of her new captain to want to go around his ship unarmed

[Vespe Ratavo]

Whurh? Yeah, I hear you...whuz...what's this... Jen ran a hand across her neck, staring at the blood. ...ugh...stupid...monster...thing...gonna burn this ship...thanks. She fell unconscious.

[An Enemy Spy]

"Do any of you have a gun? I can't swordfight and carry her around."

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker leaned on the railing as he watched the remaining prisoners fight for their worth on the other ship. It was rather engrossing, watching a desperate fight to the death as an observer. With some reluctance Carker pulled away to follow the cook, the Nose and another prisoner he didn't recognize.

He listened silently as the cook went through the crew quarters pointing out hammocks that he believed belonged to some of the ex-crew members. Carker tested one of free ones with a hand, it wasn't too filthy which was something of a luxury for Carker after the wretched time spent shackled to the bench alongside the other dregs. Carker was intent to remain until he made his claim on this hammock apparent to the other former prisoners. He hefted himself into the hammock and allowed the rocking motion calm himself enough to think clearing on what he should do next.

In all honesty Carkers moments spent on ships were few, aside from a bit of island hopping his interest in seafaring until now had been minimal. He did learn a few knots to pass the time on those trips and had a rough idea of how ship life worked but he doubted that would mean little to anything on a ship run by this Captain scarlet Will. He was aware he wasn't picked for sailing prowess but he wasn't about to lay about like dead weight. Sooner or later he'd be tossed overboard if he didn't make himself useful.

Carker pushed those thoughts aside, he needed to rest, he needed to wash he needed to learn how to sail a bloody ship! But first he really needed to see what the former owner of this hammock called his own. He swung himself back upright and crouched down to examine the deadman's belongings. What was his was now Carker's and his time with nothing but the bite of iron and clothes on his back to call his own, Carker was eager to claim his prize for surviving.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Yeah this wet handgun...
Silme hands it over but then Jen starts talking.
Good, no, Jen, stay awake!
He urges her, to late, feeling dizzy himself, he warily stands swinging a little bit, the blood still oozing out of his neck.
He then rips of his sleeve and tries to use it as a bandage.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond slings Jen over his shoulder and uses his other hand to hold the gun. Then he rushes up on deck, ready for a fight.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Silme tries to follow, but he's really dizzy and hurting from his neck, now regretting his decision to let it bleed out for the case there was poison in there.
He tries to follow Desmond but the stairs are to much trouble for him.
Wai...Wait up.....
Seeing the shapes fly updecks he sighs.
Nevermin-mind, I'l gua-d the stai-airs thenn....

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

John walks with the woman, 'Leigh'. She seemed to know her way around a ship. With a slight catch in his breath, he reaches up and presses both palms flat against his nose, straightening it. The slight grinding sound followed by a small wave of pain. "Johnathan." His hand strays to his neck, but he remembers too late that he won't find anything there. His bare chest, lightly scarred, remind shim that he needs to find some clothes. He looks around for anyone dead who happens to have a coat they won't be needing anymore.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Deck of the prison galley
Xan jumped at The Ghost, surprising the prisoners who were joining up. They ran at the two of them, determined to kill both. Xan pushed the sabre to The Ghost's side, but then there was something he didn't expect: a gunshot. The Ghost was grinning. Bleeding too, all over, but definitely grinning as well. Xan felt his side, where the bullet had passed straight through.
"Captain's cabin..." the eerie man proclaimed, "I never go into a fight unprepared"
Then he stopped talking and looked at the blade stuck through his chest. One of the other two prisoners had stabbed him.
"Bugger" he said, and sagged down.
The two men now only had one more to kill, another wounded charge. Xan looked down at the gunshot wound to the side of his gut. The bullet had tore straight through, but it was pretty bad. He felt faint. The men circled around him, each taking one side. One of them seemed to be handling his blade more skillful than the other, trained almost. He was handling the blade with a single hand, wiping his long black hair out of his eyes with the other. The other prisoner held his sword with two hands, and seemed to rely on brawn more than skill. He was the one that had pierced The Ghost's chest with one blow. He had red hair, much like Scarlett Will, and Will had been cheering for him. Unlike Will though, he wore it much like a lion's manes, mostly at the neck, and with big sideburns. It was a strange haircut, but only made him look fiercer.

Red Rooster, Deck
Scarlet Will had been cheering for the fighters, but now he stopped. He looked up at the sky.
"The fog is fading... That's bad... Morrison, Belvedere, head down belowdecks and check on the beasts!"
Two pirates got up and ran down the stairs.
Will turned towards Jonathan.
"You're part of the crew now. Make yourself useful and go with them. Don't get yourself killed down there, eh?"

Leigh found that the closest thing resembling a doctor on the ship had died during the battle.

Red Rooster, Crew's Quarters
Carker inspected his new bunk, the best one that was available. It seemed to have belonged to the former ship's "doctor", who had been as much of a neatfreak as was possible on a ship full of mine without any showers. He'd also left some interesting items. A dusty suit, though it was too small for Carker, a small set of knives, needle and thread, various bottles with strange liquids and a syringe. There was also a pile of bandages, but they had all been used before and were filthy.

Red Rooster, way down belowdecks
The creature tore into Patrick desperately, slashing open the man's frail neck and chest. Silme quickly stabbed the thing, but it was too late. Patrick was deader than dead. Both he and the monster fell to the floor, joining Jen, who was slightly less dead. Desmond picks her up and tries to find his way out, discovering only the grate in the ceiling. Silme follows, but succumbs to his wounds as soon as they reach the grating. Both he and Jen were unconscious, leaving Masik and Desmond alone under the grating. The darkness had faded belowdecks, showing them a very empty room indeed. And then it got even lighter, as the grating above opened.

Red Rooster, Dining Hall
Two pirates ran in (possibly followed by Jonathan). The cook and the people he was giving a tour seemed surprised. Belvedere and Morrison, the pirates, opened the grating, and looked down at the two men and their unconscious friends. And the dead monster that was lying there with them.
"It's not dark anymore..." Morrison said, a man with a large black moustache.
"They're dead. They're all dead" Belvedere said, a man with an orange bandana and a surprisingly deep voice, even with his build.
"And they're to blame" Morrison said, twirling his moustache. "What do we do with stowaways again, Belvedere?"
"They get the plank, Morrison"
Somehow the plank sounded even worse when Belvedere said it.
"Unless they prove themselves useful, Bel"
Belvedere shrugged.
"I always forget about that part"
"You there" Morrison said, pointing at Old Bob, "Go get the captain, he has to decide what we'll do with these gentlemen. He won't be glad our cloaking device was killed off by a bunch of miscreants though. I expect a tougher fate than death for these men. Maybe an own little personal hell in my room for the woman"
He twirled his moustache again. Pirates really weren't such likable creatures, it appeared.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond reflexively tightens his hold on Jen.

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

Johnathan follows the men. Warily, he looks down the hole and studies the dead beast. With a familiar dread, he understands their purpose even before the one called Morrison mentions it. He examines the people, recognizing a couple of them, and hopes the captain takes it easy on them. They look like they've already been through hell. A familiar one. "How are you, down there? I'm afraid we don't have any doctors on board." He looks around the room for something to lower down for them. Even if they're going to be punished, it'd be best to get them out first.

[Fireball.Man.Guy.]

That's a bit railroadish of you, don't you think. I mean, I attack the wrong character and you KILL me? Seriously, that's really out of whack.

Xan clutches his side in agony where the bullet had opened his intestines, spilling waste all throughout his abdomen and dooming a normal man to a quick death. However, Xan hadn't eaten in three days, and so had nearly nothing contained in his intestine. Furthermore, the breach was so minor that Xan's accelerated healing ability closed it before a major spillage.
Two months commission is in it for you if you kill the other.Xan manages to croak out before vomiting blood.

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker was absently examining one of the bottles, attempting to make sense of the crude label. Carker's grasp of western languages was somewhat base (Originally learned to decipher tavern menus, picking up other words here and there.) and soon gave up for the time being. He slotted the bottle back into its box and decided to find seawater to wash his sodden cloths. First of course he had to mark this area as his, he took up the thickest of the small knives he found and quickly scratched out several looped characters on a beam facing his hammock. If anyone disputed his claim even with his sign on it, he felt perfectly justified in pummeling the person. Replacing the knife Carker, headed up back onto the deck with hopes of finding a bucket. He became sidetracked though and ended up rejoining the pirates watching the fight on the other boat.

[Anitra]

Leigh nodded as Johnathan gave his name. Vaguely, she wondered what the guy had done to end up on the prison galley in the first place. He seemed nice enough, not like most of the rabble on Will's crew, if the looks they gave her and Samantha were any indication of character.

Leigh's good mood from getting off of the prison galley immediately evaporated upon discovering that the ship's closest thing to a doctor had just died. If she didn't get this bullet out of her shoulder, she had a slow, painful death from lead poisoning to look forward to. After pestering a few of the deckhands for information, she eventually found out where the old "doctor" had his hammock. Perhaps there was a chance at finding some basic supplies? All she needed was something to clean the wound, and some needle and thread to stitch it up.

Entering the room with all of the hammocks, Leigh blinked a couple of times to adjust her eyes to the relative darkness. Once her eyes adjusted, she noticed her old oarmate Carker claiming a bed by carving something into the post beside it. It wasn't until after he left that she realized that he had claimed the hammock belonging to the old doctor which she was looking for. For a moment, she was tempted to simply dig into the doctor's old things and take what she needed, despite them being claimed. However, her long experience at sea quickly dissuaded her from that line of thinking. Theft from a crewmate was considered such a cardinal sin aboard a ship that some crews would go as far as keelhauling to punish a thief. Perhaps if she was lucky, though, Carker might feel generous enough to share. At any rate, she needed somebody to help her out anyways, even if the wound weren't in a spot as awkward to reach as the back of her shoulder, she didn't have the pain tolerance necessary to stitch herself up after the bullet came out.

Before leaving the bunk area, she went to find herself the cleanest free bunk. She didn't need a dirty bunk adding to the chances of infection, after all. Using her cutlass, she carved her own name into the beam, following suit with Carker and many of the other pirates had above their bunks. She only carved her last name, Vang, into the bunk, feeling that it would be a bad idea to announce that this particular bunk belonged to a woman. After all, she would have an easier time keeping her claim on the bunk if people thought there was a chance that "Vang" was one of the tougher looking new crewmen.

Leaving the bunk area, she went back above deck and looked around for Carker. Spotting him, she made her way over to his side. "Hey, glad to see you made it out alive" she told him with a slight smile, "So, er.... I don't suppose you can help me out here, can you? You see, you got the bunk that belonged to the closest thing this crew had to a doctor, and I'm in need of some medical attention. There's a bullet stuck in my shoulder, and it needs to come out, and the wound needs to get stitched."

"Please help me out here. If you do, I'll... Well, I don't know what I can offer you in return, but I'll figure out something, I promise." she bargained, somewhat desperately. She didn't have a backup plan if this didn't work.

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker turned Leigh and listened while putting on the appearance that he was interested. He took a moment to finish thinking before answering. He really didn't care much at all, in fact he would be happy if this woman died, leaving one less person who witnessed his indignities. Of course this was the captain's woman now, or it seemed as such to Carker. She could crawl to the man and lay complaints about Carker, it may earn him a flogging at best. He was reluctant to miss the the end of the fight but it wouldn't do well for him to leave her wounded after he’d finished thinking. Carker smiled and nodded his head in agreement.

Yes.. that is bad looking… wound. I will help, you speak to captain and I bring what is needed. It should be done in clear air.

More importantly not alone and giving the appearance of intimacy, this was the captain’s woman.

His ship, he has say... But I help as much as can.

He started back toward the crew area and set his mind on the matter at hand, fixing Leigh, other worries like adapting to ship life and cleanliness can wait. He’d have to clean those bandages for a start.. seawater ought to do. He doubted he’d be sewing himself but he’d seen it done before, just a bit more delicate then mending clothing. He was almost happy that this menial task took his mind off bleak thoughts about the future.

[An Enemy Spy]

"I wouldn't touch her if I were you. She has Glosgaw's Disease." Desmond says, making up a disease on the fly.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Afternoon

Deck of the prison galley
Xan looked down at his wounds and wished he could somehow magically heal them.
"Two months commission is in it for you if you kill the other" Xan croaks deperately, knowing that he couldn't handle the two men in his current condition.
"You hear that, captain?" the man with the manes roared, "Two months of his wages if I-"
He was cut short. The second man had thrown his blade straight through the maned man's neck. He wiped his long dark hair out of his eyes as his former comrade dropped dead to the deck and then offered Xan a hand.
"Two months' commission, eh? I would have probably taken one"

Red Rooster, Deck
Scarlet Will seemed to be glad to see the fight was over, though he seemed less happy his favourite had died. What was his problem wasn't that the man was dead, but that he'd misjudged him. He should have been able to tell how the fight was going to go from the beginning. He was convinced the wounded man and the red-haired one would live, but now the two others were still standing. The captain shrugged. He had more important things to worry about now. He stroked Samantha across the back and left her standing alone at the side of the ship as he followed Old Bob belowdecks to check out what caused the calamity.

Red Rooster, Crew's Quarters
Carker helped out Leigh with her wounds. He wasn't exactly an expert at this, and it hurt a lot, but he did manage to get the bullet out. His sewing work wasn't very well done, as sewing flesh had been more difficult than he'd expected, but at least the wounds was more or less closed now, and bandaged with freshly washed bandages.

Red Rooster, Dining Hall
Jonathan helped haul up Desmond, who Belvedere knocked out as soon as he arrived upstairs with a well-aimed punch, Silme, Jen and Masik. Scarlet Will walked in just as the last conscious person, Masik, was being hauled up.
"Ah, the indigenous boy. I do believe I've heard rumours you're a doctor of sorts. I'd like you to set to work on my crew, both old crewmates and new ones. If anything happens to any of them, I'm going to hold you accountable. If their wounds so much as itch too much, you're getting the plank, kid"
He grinned.
"Welcome to my crew"

If it's okay with everyone, I'm going to skip ahead to the evening. You can state what you have done during the remains of the day in your next post, as well as what you're going to do now

The Caribbean, open sea, the Red Rooster, Evening:
The day had passed relatively quickly. What remained of it had given the new crewmembers a chance to explore the ship completely, except for the captain's cabin, off course. Most of the old crewmembers had spent their day on the deck, cleaning the blood off of the sides of the ship. The captain had said that was necessary now that they'd lost their method of cloaking. He'd said times at sea would be much harder now for the Red Rooster. They were wanted, after all, and now they could be seen. They'd set sail for Neptune's Comb, a ridge of high rockcolumns sticking out of the sea in a double row. The ridge proved dangerous waters, claiming all of the steersman and boatswain's attention, and the area was barren with nowhere to go ashore, but that also made it the perfect place to hide from the Ernhart navy.

Masik had been in the crew's quarters all day, patching up wounds as best as he could with what little materials he was given. Crew had passed through there all day, to fix all the gashes and cuts they got during the fight. The worst wounds that had been presented to Masik were Jen and Silme's bites, which seemed to be infected and getting a dark-bluish colour, and Xan's gunshot wound.

The carpenter had spent his time in the area the monsters used to live, before they were all killed off, trying to close the hole in the hull. For this he'd been using the lumber that was in the hull of the prison galley. Now that they weren't transporting those strange creatures anymore, the captain had thought it a good idea to use the cargo hold for, well, cargo. They'd filled it up with the lumber, without even bothering to toss out the corpses in there first. They'd do that later, Will had said, when they'd figured out what to do next.

The plan was to figure out what to do next at dinner. The cook had been slaving away in the kitchen all day, and had finally come up with a sort of muckish gruel, which was served to the entire crew that night. It was dark outside, the only sound the waves crashing into Neptune's Comb. Candles had been set up on the tables in the dining hall and everyone had been seated, with captain Will at the head of one of the tables. Will had spent his day in his cabin with either Samantha or Leigh, whichever was willing, and if neither he'd spent it alone, sulking.

The captain raised his cup, a tin goblet shaped like a monkey's head.
"Crew" he said, taking a moment to look at each and every member of his crew, "I know we usually eat and drink in shifts, but today we need to be here, altogether, new and old, to discuss the future of the Rooster. It is my ship, aye, I know, and I have final say in all it's going-ons, but a good captain knows to hear the word of his crew. Only the steersman and the bosun aren't here, for clear reasons"

"Today, crew, today your battle for your captain's freedom had some unforeseen consequences. A hole was blown in our ship, and holes we can fix, but through that hole four men snuck inside the Rooster's belly and killed what has kept us alive for so long. Our infernal crewmates, the men we so loved and held dear in life for their heroism and in death for their usefulness. Twice died, they are not coming back. We have lost our edge over the navy, and all we have to replace it are some new recruits, most of them wetter behind the ears than a mackerel"
The crew laughed, or at least the older part of it did.
"So now we know not what to do, we could-"
"Follow the map!" the carpenter yelled, who'd been able to take a break as he was almost done downstairs. Scarlet Will nodded.
"Yes. Yes, of course we should follow the map, but the question is how! We'll be checked by Ernhart navy frequently, and most of us are wanted men. Hell, all of our new crew is wanted!"
"Perhaps we should take down the flag?" Morrison suggested. There were shouts of disapproval and a couple of empty bottles and mugs were tossed at Morrison.
"No, no. He's right"
Some of the crew gasped.
"Not the flag, captain!"
"They haven't been able to see the flag up until now, what with all the fog, so maybe we should just tuck it away. Get a trading license. A ship is much less suspicious when it's transporting say, lumber, then when it's just sailing around aimlessly on the ocean. With some luck it could be enough to take us where we want to go, as long as we do so peacefully. No more naval battles, no more looting, not until we have what we want. How does that sound, crew? It would just be for a while"

[Raz_Fox]

Samantha

Samantha used her injured knee as an excuse to stay out of Scarlet Will's bed for the day, claiming that it was still painful and that any "strenuous activity" might damage it permanently.

Instead, she had spent the day trying to find a good sword. A good broadsword was probably out of the question, but her cutlass was a poor sword and she needed something better. A scimitar or saber of some sort, perhaps.


That night, as she sat next to Will daintily eating the disgusting muck they called food, she listened to Scarlet Will's idea with interest. "Not that anyone's going to listen to me, but I think that's brilliant. It gives us protection as well as the element of surprise. Well thought, sir!"

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond stands up. "I think we should sail to the nearest port and drink our asses off!" He sits down and smiles at Jen, who he is sitting next to.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Sitting carefully, the wound in his neck still pretty annoying, despite that Carker had treated it as best as he could, Silme looked around at all the shouting.
What were those things, anyway? he asks the captain.

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

At the captain's suggestion, Johnathan begins contemplating certain areas of the plan. The trader's license could be difficult, but it would make travel and seurity much easier. He decides to speak up. "I used to be a lawyer. I'm sure I was disbarred, but I could still help the proceedings concerning the license. If any of my old friends will still talk to me, I could probably get the fees waived, or at least oil the hinges, so to speak." He had salvaged a dirty, ragged coat from some dead man. It was slightly bloody and a little cut up, but it would do for now. John had used to the strips of cloth from his former shirt to bandage a few of his small cuts, though they were rough bndages at worse, and he refused to let a doctor see him. One of them, he suspected, was a practicioner of voodoo, but he wasn't about to volunteer anything that the man himself wasn't saying. He also decided to hang onto both cutlasses.

During the meal, Johnthan refuses almost all drink, as determined to keep his senses about him as ever.

[Cpt. Soup]

What Carker did in the afternoon

Carker was less the satisfied with his work on Leigh's wound. He considered the crude stitch job, deciding whever or not to take them out and try again. Carker decided to leave them as they were, the flesh around the wound might become ragged and allow the stitches to rip easier. Also there was Leigh to consider, the contortions her face went through reflected the painfulness of his work, why put her through it again at the risk of botching the job even worse? Carker went to take care of his own affairs after binding the wound up, he did do a satisfactory job of this at least.

Under the OOC assumption that Masik agreed with GM post. Carker provided Masik with his acquired meager collection of medical paraphernalia. he then left to the prison galley under the pretense that he was searching for medical supplies. He had carefully navigated his way through the maze of bodies and bustle of busy pirates to the lower level, there he unsurprisingly found no such suppies. Afterward he hunted for what he was really after, the ship's prisoner manifest. Carker lit one of the candles and burned all the papers he suspected of being the document before turning back to his salvage mission. Carker contented himself with gathering up several sheets to be stripped into bandages. In his time below deck Carker saw fit to rummage through the dead crews belongings for decent cloths to replace his own ragged attire, pocketing the odd keepsake nestled away among them. satisfied with two sets of the sailors' nicer land clothing that more or less fit him, Carker worked his way back on deck with them bundled in the sheets. As an afterthought Carker pressed his foot up against several of the soldier's boots until he found something near his size. He set the bundle down on a spot on the deck devoid of blood or vomit and set himself to removing the deadman's boots with a suspicious air of much experience in the sort of thing. He swung the somewhat bloodied boots over his shoulder and carried the bundle back to the crew quarters.

Carker busied himself in the hold cutting the sheets up into strips as makeshift bandages. he'd heard something of the demons that were held below and studied the wounds Masik treated of those prisoners that supposedly killed them. The bites disturbed Carker and he muttered wards against the unnatural evil. Carker found time to wash his face with seawater and change his clothing before the meal, although he couldn't see himself he felt he must have looked much better.

Carker at present

He ate the food easily enough, far better stuff then what little he had received on the galley. Carker kept his silence as he didn't particularly care where the ship went, preferably away from Ernhart territory though.

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen: Afternoon

After regaining consciousness, Jen spent most of the day confused. She had broken into their ship, killed...whatever those things were, and they were just taking her in as a crew member?

She had taken a few half-hearted looks around the ship, but wasn't much in the mood to explore (the infected wound on her neck might have had something to do with that). She made a mental note to get a weapon at some point; she had left the knife in the cargo hold. It wasn't very good, and even if it had been, she didn't want to have to answer to the carpenter.

Jen: Right now

Jen smiled back at Desmond. Not a bad idea. She quietly ate, not wanting to draw attention to herself. Well, any more attention. It was hard to be incognito when you were sitting next to someone like Desmond.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond begins to toss his slop into the air and catch it with his mouth. As this goes on, he tosses it higher and higher until one goes the wrong way and lands on a pirate across the table.

[Anitra]

Leigh: Afternoon
While Leigh was glad to finally have the bullet out of her shoulder, the process of getting it back out was at least three times as painful as it had been going into her shoulder in the first place. After the impromptu surgery was finished, she spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get a bit of rest in her hammock. She had lost quite a bit of blood, and she was rather exhausted. Her shoulder was still rather painful, and she wasn't quite able to fall asleep, though the rest did do her some good.

Leigh: Evening
Leigh remained somewhat silent throughout the dinner, doing her best to avoid conversation and focus on the task of eating. She listened with interest to the Captain's plan to acquire a trading license, secretly thinking that his plan wasn't such a good one. He simply didn't have the experience as a legit businessman needed to pull off the act convincingly. Leigh might be able to help with that, but she kept quiet, wanting to have as few conversations with the captain as possible.

[An Enemy Spy]

OOC: I'm gonna be in Mexico for a week. Please don't cry.

[Fireball.Man.Guy.]

Afternoon:

Xan spent most of his afternoon getting his gunshot wound patched up, and the rest of it getting set up in the hammocks with James, the man who had saved his life. He found much in common with the man, and they selected neighboring bunks.

Dinner:

Xan ate very little at dinner, due to his continued stomach pain, and mostly sat and talked with James. when the captain spoke he replied: "Sir, there's an Imperial Navy base, near Dobrescu island, that Imperials use as a first stop coming from the mainland. The Embassy there is used to giving out trading licenses to ships without as much information as elsewhere. It would be a good place to start, and we could start to trade and refit there. Plus, there isn't a price on our heads.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Silme tries to find the cleanest hammock near Jens(Assuming its one big unisex room...) and Desmonds.

[MrEdwardNigma]

((Samantha had found a sabre slightly larger than her cutlass and had kept it. Jen had found Samantha's old cutlass and been quite pleased to keep it as weapon))

Red Rooster, Dining Hall
"Sir, there's an Imperial Navy base, near Dobrescu island, that Imperials use as a first stop coming from the mainland. The Embassy there is used to giving out trading licenses to ships without as much information as elsewhere. It would be a good place to start, and we could start to trade and refit there. Plus, there isn't a price on our heads"
James laughs.
"No price on our heads? I don't know about you, but there was a reason I was on that prison galley"
He wipes the hair out of his face.
"Any Ernhart port might have posters with our faces on it as soon as it gets out we escaped. Also, as you might know had you ever been there, or at least studied geography as I have, it is indeed the first stop off the mainland, but hardly the first stop in the Caribbean. Technically there are about five ports on the dark continent that are regularly used and are a part of the Caribbean. That said, Xan has a point. If anywhere the embassy is laxer, it is on Isla Prima"
The captain nodded.
"Sounds good. I assume we would still need someone of noble blood to vouch for us though, they'd still need to check out the crew and ship and worst of all we'd still be commissioned to transport some goods for Ernhart. More so on Isla Prima than anywhere else even, I'd wager. Even with our friend the former lawyer greasing palms we might only be able to skip them looking into the crew, which we direly need to skip"
James nodded.
"Yeah, someone of noble blood..."
"At least some of you new recruits seem to have useful skills. A doctor, a lawyer and a geography, uhm, person. Do any others of you have skills I should know about?"
"What were those things, anyway?" Silme asked.
The captain looked at the large black man.
"Those weren't things. That was my crew. Until Bonafin Isle"
The crew gasped. This was a subject that was normally avoided in conversation, but if the captain was talking about it, it was okay. They were hanging at his lips to hear the rest of the story.
"See, there's a mansion on Bonafin Isle, in fact, that's all there is. In this mansion lives the son, are so it is rumoured, of a wealthy Prussian nobleman, all alone, because he was up to things his father didn't want known to the world. A nasty kid, but also spoiled and wealthy. We decided to pay a visit to the island. Give the rotten kid what he deserved. In the middle of the night we snuck into the bay, but we never got much further than the forest surrounding the mansion. We were attacked by a legion of shadows. The forest was alive with sound and the men got scared. I told them to move on, through the thicket, but then we were attacked by a flurry of the most dreadful fruitbats. Lecherous diseased creatures, biting my men and blowing our cover with their loud noises. We heard guards rushing down from the mansion and fled back to the ship. Over the next few days, some of my men... changed. They transformed into the monsters you saw belowdecks. But I couldn't throw them overboard. They were still part of my crew. We struck a deal, me and the devils. I'd deliver them food, and in turn they'd shelter my ship from the eye of Ernhart. The fog, you see, that was them. It gave us the edge we needed to plunder undisturbed for years, but now all that's over, and all we have left is this ship and my secret map"
The pirates cheered for the prospect of the map.
"Before we can go after that though, we need safe passage through the waters. At present it seems everyone agrees we should set sail for Isla Prima in the morning. Aye?"

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

Johnathan nods his assent. He ponders to himself the nature of Bonafin Isle. The story, on the whole, wasn't an uncommon one on the seas. Every pirate, trader, and boatswain had their dozen tales of fear and woe. But John had seen the creatures himself, not to mention his own such demons in the past. Curious.

[Anitra]

"If I might speak, Captain, I believe I could be of assistance acquiring a trading license" Leigh finally spoke up, "It's not just about greasing palms, but knowing which ones to grease that will get you what you want. I sailed a merchant vessel until recently, and as such, I have intimate knowledge of how the trading business really works. Between the lawyer and I, there'll be no problem convincing the right people that we are, at worst, a vessel that would rather pay bribes than taxes."

"Then again, while I stand the best shot of pulling off this act, anybody have a hard time doing it dressed in these rags." she bargained, "I'll need some clothes that are clean and in good condition; better quarters with less people around to help keep them in good condition would be an asset too. You have to admit, it's a very small price to pay to get a legit trading license, hassle free." She knew she was taking a risk, not knowing how the captain would react to her subtle demand for special treatment. However, she did not want to be sharing sleeping quarters with a group of men used to taking what they want. It was worth the risk if the bargaining ended with her getting a room with a lock.

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

Johnathan, lost in thought and memory, barely hears her words. He notices the mention of clothes, however, and looks down at his own dirty rags. "I agree. I doubt even the Devil would deal with me looking like this. Although, if we happen to see someone wearing what I need, I'm sure I'll be able to convice them to part ways with it." Johnathan suggests.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Red Rooster, Dining Hall
The captain nodded.
"Agreed on both counts. You'll get a special allowance for some threads once we make port. As for a seperate place to sleep, we have really only got the crew's quarters. I'll allow you to sleep in my room with me though, that'll keep your clothes clean, lass"

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker

Carker times his own affirmative to the captain with expected wave of support from his crew. If things looked bad he could always stay at port and hire himself out to a slightly less dangerous ship. The captain's explanation of his transformed crewmen made Carker uneasy, he had no intention of helping unload the timber when it came time for it.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Silme just quiety nodded.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Isla Prima, the Caribbean, Dawn:
The waves lazily beat into the ship's hull. Somewhere on the shore a bell rang, calling the religious to church. Seagulls flocked around the Red Rooster, looking for a bite to eat, but provisions had run out long ago. They'd been eating dry bread, harder than stone, for a few days now. There were cheers from the crew as the ship was tied down and the first feet were put ashore. They hadn't stopped anywhere along the way, all the way from Neptune's Comb to Isla Prima, in fear of encountering royal navy. There was an official waiting already, on the peer, eyeing the crew suspiciously. Some of them looked merely ragged, while others looked outright scary. The captain, on the other hand, had put on his finest set of clothes for the occasion. Despite his pegleg, hook, and the bunches of earring he wore, he looked like quite the gentleman. It was sort of a disturbing sight to any who knew the captain, like watching a cougar straighten up his back and talk posh all of the sudden. Morrison visibly shuddered. The captain greeted the official eagerly and took him into town, back to his office, or possibly to a bar. The plan was for the captain to keep him busy until the proper documents had been arranged. Jonathan and Leigh were in charge of this. They'd each been given a small allowance for bribes, clothes, and any other expenses. Finding the right officials probably wouldn't be such a big issue, but they'd still need someone of noble blood to vouch for their ship, and those weren't that easy to convince with bribes.

Silme and Jen strangely hadn't exited the crew's quarters yet. Sure, the prospect of land was enticing, but somehow they didn't feel like going out into the sun. The sun seemed to have been brighter for the past couple of days, hurting their eyes and giving them sunburn, of which the large black man suffered least, of course. To make things worse they'd been feeling... well, it could only be described as angry, bloodthirsty. The rest of the crew just drove them nuts. They smelled funny too. Only towards each other did they not have these feelings, could they relax. They were feeling strange, and wondered if they should head out into town regardless.

Carker, Desmond, Xan, Samantha and Masik had no particular task assigned to them, but were told not to wander too far, in case the ship had to leave soon. It seemed likely the Rooster would stay in port for at least a day or two though, so they'd have time to see to any matters they'd like arranged.

Xan had gotten to know James, the man who saved his life, better over the past few days. James seemed an intelligent young man, though with a touch of morbidity. He seemed to be quite learned and a very talented fencer. He told Xan that despite they were friends, he'd not hang around him on shore. He needed to arrange some private business.

Desmond had been getting on the bad side of most of the original pirates during the trip. Most of them didn't seem to like his careless, gruel-tossing habits. Especially Belvedere and Morrison had taken a dislike to the fellow, telling anyone who'd listen they'd teach him a lesson he'd never forget some day. Belvedere and Morrison seemed to have some private business in town that day and headed off to one of the shadier local bars, The Last Stop.

Samantha had been having to cope with the captain's advances during the whole trip. He'd allowed her to stay in his room, as well as Leigh (but not both) and whichever one took the offer he'd invite to his bed at night. The cabin didn't even have two beds.
((If the captain didn't get what he wanted from either of them, expect him to be quite angry and threatening to leave Samantha behind on Isla Prima))

Masik had been having an easy passage. The crew liked him for his services, and after the battle very little was expected of him. he didn't have to help out with the riggings and the deckswabbing like the others.

Carker had been one of those unlucky enough when drawing straws to have to head belowdecks and toss out the horrible creatures that used to live there. The carpenter had been there too, ready to close the hole in the hull completely as soon as the dead creatures were out, and Old Bob, who'd drawn the short straw too. Old Bob had been jabbering about fishes the whole time, saying he saw this and that fish through the hole, and that sharks probably wouldn't eat the corpses, since that was all just old wives' tales and sharks didn't really eat humans. Carker had had to do most of the work, the worst bit being dragging out Patrick's corpse. The man's face had contorted and his skin had changed hue. As he tossed Patrick out, Carker thought he felt the corpse twitch. He'd just shivered and tried to shrug off the image of the dead man's face.

The more respectable part of the crew (being the steersman, the boatswain, the presumable nobleman, the bald man and the three bearded men) headed for a more respectable bar, Fowl's Inn, while the rest of them headed to The Cross & Bones, a somewhat less respectable place. It was funny how after being stuck in the hull of the ship for days on end with nothing to do but drink rum and complain how they missed shore the crew would spend their time on land sitting in a bar and drinking rum.

The carpenter chose to spend his time on land by wandering around the port, looking for someone who'd wanted to buy a shipment of timber. He didn't seem to be a very successful salesman.

Places of interest on Isla Prima were the church, the wealthy neighbourhood, the busy harbour, the governor's home, the slave market, the bathhouse and the shopping district, which was stocked with all kinds of exotic boutiques, clothes stores both for sailors and for nobles, poultrysalesmen and grocers.

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

In the intervening days before the ship reached land, Johnathan learned about a very interesting card game called 'Tower of Skulls'. At first, everyone had jumped up to teach him the rules, but soon, he had a firm enough grasp of the game. Unfortunately, less and less people had wanted to play with him, presumably because he started winning. And didn't stop. When the fun had died down, he decided to leave the crew to their game. John spent as much time as possible alone, though he did question everyone who had been below deck with the beasts, and he kept a close eye on those who had been bitten.

Much of his time was spent finding a small piece of driftwood and carving knife. He proceeded to whittle the lumpy piece of wood into a small cross, which he hung from his neck with a bit of hemp salvaged from a natty rope he managed to find. Once finished, he generally keeps to himself and helps with small jobs around the ship.

When the ship lands, Johnathan counts his money again, his meager winnings and the allowance given to him for clothes, and heads straight for the shopping district. Once there, he looks for a gentleman's clothier.

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker

Carker was extremely pleased to be on solid ground again. Aside from the vile task of removing those vile things from the hold, he wasn't assigned to any particular jobs on board. He helped when he could, cleaning and performing other tasks of basic ship maintenance. I was still very new at this sea life and had no head for sailing or working the rigging. When he made time for himself, Carker spent it on little projects like cleaning and mending his original clothing, cannibalizing the too-small-suit he had found for patching. He also made attempts to polish and sharpen his sword,but there's only so much one can do with that ratty blade.

For going ashore Carker dressed in the best of his ill-gotten clothing. He left his sword onboard to be less conspicuous, instead he tucked the largest of the knives up his coat sleeve. Disembarking, Carker had little desire to spend his time wallowing in a drunken cesspit. Instead of that Carker joined The carpenter, as it was a good opportunity to explore the port while not alone. Carker might also meet with people who may direct him to another ship if need be.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond smiled as he chewed on the apple he had nicked from a local merchant. He wandered down an alleyway. Thank all the gods he was finally off that damned ship! Spotting a pile of hay, he dove into it. The next few days would simply be a matter of hiding out until the Rooster left. Desmond had no intention of living out his life at sea. His plan was perfect, save for one snag that he didn't see coming. He had tried to get Jen to come with him, but every time he tried to talk to her, she would snap at him. She was acting a bit off. He thought of what the captain had said about the monsters in the hold. What if Jen and that other fellow who Desmond didn't care about in the slightest were becoming monsters themselves? Desmond had been worried that Jen might die because of his hare brained scheme to take over the ship. Perhaps he had done worse than kill her. Desmond had thought that maybe keeping her alive would somehow make up for what happened to Gwen. Maybe he had simply added an even greater failure to horrible day. DEsmond sank deeper into the hay and tried to think about more cheery things, like what he was going to do when the ship finally left.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Silme tried to focus, he didn't want to go on the island.
He blamed it on the high-posh culture of the city, but maybe there were some better areas. But he didn't feel like going, not with the light.... Seeing Jen facing some troubles the same, or atleast it looked like that, with the face she had put on.
Jen, Jen! I don't think this is us, the way I'm and I'm pretty sure you are feeling. What could it be? Everthing was fine on the earlier ship but then we boarded.....damn....itmusta been those creatures. But why didn't the others get infected......
Jen, did you get bitten?
He asked, ranting slightly...

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen sat on her bunk, clutching her head. She felt...couldn't put a finger on it...strange. Tempting as the prospect of land, fresh air, and decent food had been, walking outside felt like walking into an oven. And Desmond was just so annoying, with his "come with me" this and "let's go" that. Of course, it's not like he's turning into a damn vampire...

Silme, on the other hand, was at least tolerable, and whatever it was that was afflicting Jen seemed to have gotten him as well. Jen, did you get bitten?
That must be it... Jen stumbled across the room, and cracked open the door. She recoiled and slammed the door as the light shone in, walked back to her bunk, and fell onto it. I hope it gets dark soon, I can't stand this ship anymore...

[Dallas-Dakota]

Damn...I thought I led it bleed out enough....Damn Jen, we have to try to focus....I'm not good with voodoo ...Gah! Silme says annoyed at the burst of light that landed in his side. all that, but we have to counter it.

[Anitra]

Leigh spent much of her time avoiding Scarlet Will, as the man both frightened and repulsed her. She took her watch time during the night in order to avoid syncing up her sleep schedule with the captain's. It was with great relief that the Rooster finally touched land, and she had a chance to get away from the crew as a whole. After gathering up the money she had been given to spend on clothing and bribes, she left the ship for the shopping district, starting her search in a different part than Johnathan. While she planned on getting clothes eventually, the clothes were only a small part of the disguise.

The first store Leigh stopped at was stocked with row upon row of spices, herbs and teas. While they were less expensive here than back in the empire, given their proximity to the places in which they grew, they still would eat up a good chunk of Leigh's money. After a few minutes of extensive haggling, she finally worked the price down to a quarter of her total funds for two tiny bags each of star anise, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and tea leaves; a selection chosen both for their strong smells and common growing regions.

Once the spices were purchased, she set off in search of a clothing store and quickly found Johnathan browsing the same general area. Quickening her pace slightly, she caught up with him and offered him half of the spices she had just procured. "Stash these with whatever clothes you end up buying. It'll make you smell like a spice merchant just out of the West Indies" she instructed, "Have you found any good clothiers within our budget yet?

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

He nods slowly at the spices. "Clever. We might be able to convince them that some of the less scrupulous types onboard are mercenaries, hired to protect us. I'll need a patch." He says, indicating his eye. He glances around at the thieves and brigands masquerading as honest merchants. He vaguley wonders if there are any honest merchants. He picks out one of the many buildings. "There. Looks as good as any. I'm sure they can be persuaded to give us a fair deal." He opens the door and steps into the establishment.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Isla Prima, the Caribbean:
The little bells on the door rang gently as Jonathan pushed open the door and he and Leigh were met by an old eastern looking fellow with large spectacles. It was strange to see one of them so far from the Empire, on the very other end of the Caribbean, in fact, but then again they remembered they had brought their very own eastern fellow with them on the Rooster. The man bowed deeply and introduced himself.
"My name is -ah- Sung Lau. How may I be -ah- of your service?"
Still bowing he tiptoed backwards into his store waving his hands at his merchandise. The main product the man seemed to be selling was silk, which was not a big surprise considering his origin. The dresses that were draped onto various dolls in the store though did not seem to be of eastern design but rather resemblant of the modern Prussian style, for those with knowledge of those affairs. There were some key differences though that told that this merchant sold his own styles of dresses, or perhaps poor attempts at an imitation of the Prussian style. The latter was unlikely though, as there was not much demand for them in a largely Ernhart dominated area. While the assortment Leigh could choose from seemed plentiful and stylish, the man seemed to have little in stock for Jonathan.

Jen and Silme had dozed off, or so they presumed, when suddenly heavy footsteps on the deck awoke them. With a loud creak the hatch leading to their quarters swung open and sent in a shaft of light, hurting their eyes. It must have been noon or something like it, because the light was unbearably strong. Luckily a shadow soon blocked the light as a man walked in and closed the hatch behind him. He was short, almost a dwarf, but seemed to be trying to hide this by wearing large boots which plodded as he walked, as they didn't fit well. His head was topped with curly hair, which seemed to be trying as hard as it could to make him seem larger, but the effect was that the hair seemed bigger than the man. He took a moment to let his eyes adjust to the poor lighting in belowdecks, but Silme and Jen's eyes had already adjusted, more than perfectly. Silme's hammock creaked as he shifted his weight towards the man. Somehow he felt drawn to him, but in an entirely different way then he'd been drawn to Jen, in a way that he'd been trying to forget with the crew around.
"What's that?" the man said, startling at the sound and drawing a small dagger. He drew it like an amateur, too fast and too careless, and managed to make a thin cut in his own leg. The blood slowly seeped out, gathering on top of the wound, smelling sweetly, like the most divine nectar. Silme and Jen realised, at the same time, what they wanted: they wanted to sink their teeth into this man.

Carker meanwhile was making friends with the carpenter. The carpenter, it turned out, had been on the Red Rooster for ages, even back when it was called The Daunty and it had a different captain. He knew every nook and cranny of that ship, and had built most of it. As they wandered around the harbour, he'd talk about the modifications he'd made for the ship. The first one to come up, for instance, was the huge grating in the middle of the dining hall. That didn't use to be there. In fact, that didn't use to be a dining hall. The grating was only installed after the unfortunate visit to Bonafin Isle. He also pointed out several ships in the harbour he knew, which turned out to be most of them. Ships of note were the The Seabreeze, which sailed like a bad whore on a drunken binge, the carpenter assured Carker, The Mercator, a wealthy gavish trader, The Pacifier I up to XII (but number eight wasn't there), all royal navy ships, The Lady, the governor of Isla Prima's personal ship, The Skulker, which the carpenter said predicted bad news, and finally The New Daunty.
"Curses..." the carpenter mumbled, "that's bad news right there. Way worse than the Skulker or any amount of royal navy"
He grabbed Carker by the shoulders.
"Listen, son, I've got to go warn Will, you find someone to sell that timber to quickly, because we'll need to clear our hull as soon as possible and make ready to leave"
He gave Carker a small nod and then ran off as fast as his bony legs could carry him.

Desmond woke up. It looked like he had dozed off in that hay. Something was licking his face. He startled and jumped back, out of the hay, and almost hit his head on the wall. He was in a stable, and the thing that had been licking him was a large, rather well-bred horse. It was a black stallion and it really shone. It was most likely Arabic even.
"Hey, who's there?" a voice said from outside. Outside Desmond could see a great view of the city, separated from him by a huge old fashioned cast-iron fence. Nothing else showed through the door but the fence and an apple tree, but Desmond could hear the footsteps approaching. His only way out that wasn't straight into the arms of whoever was out there seemed to be up to a small hole in the roof, reachable by some badly stacked barrels. Well, there was a hayfork lying around too, should he simply decide to attack the intruder...

The Captain had hit Samantha in the face, quite hard, giving her a black eye, and had then left her behind on Isla Prima. The Rooster was still in town, but she was banned from it. Captain's orders. Having nowhere else to turn, Samantha had gone to the church. Everyone of consequence on Isla Prima had been at the church, even the governor. The preacher had given a quite inspiring sermon about new chances and a fresh starts, directed at those first arriving in the Caribbean, but also quite applicable to her situation, freed from her chains and out far away from the furthest she'd ever been. She felt refreshed by the speech and revelled in her freedom, but also longed back for Irshia where she'd been raised and missed her family. She wondered what to do next.

Masik was quite sure this was the drunkest he'd ever been. Each and every single member of the crew had promised him one or several drinks for mending their wounds while on board of the Rooster, and now they'd made good on their promises. Sure, the Cross & Bones wasn't exactly a fancy bar, but after the twentieth beer one tended to forget about hygiene and things like good service anyways. In fact, after the twentieth beer, one felt the urge to go into a back alley and have one's hair held back by a friend. For lack of both long hair and real friends though, Masik snuck off alone and puked his guts out. Suddenly though, as he was finishing up, there was a whole lot of noise inside. Shouting, bottles breaking, and the sound of flesh pounding on flesh, but on mere air more often. There was a bar brawl going on.

Xan had sat and stared into his only mug of beer for nearly four hours now. He hadn't got any money, so he hadn't been able to pay for more, while that damn voodoo doctor was getting bought drinks by everyone. What was even worse was that what was pretty much his only friend on the crew had gone off without him. Quite explicitly without him, in fact. He'd been studying the bar, and it's customers, ever since staring at his fellow crew members had stopped being interesting (which was after about five minutes, honestly. He'd seen these men drink for hours on end on the Rooster before, there was no point in staring at them here as well). The most interesting bunch of customers was a group that had just come in. They looked like... troublemakers. Yes, if there was any way to describe them, it was "trouble". They were dressed all in black, most of them, which you only ever did if you wanted to stick out really. They looked like a rough bunch. Exactly the sort you'd expect from a pirate crew. Exactly the sort he'd been drinking with for four hours straight.
"Hey", said one of the crewmembers, "isn't that Johnny from The Skulker? Ain't those them boys that start massive trouble in any harbour they're in?"
They probably were. They looked like it. Better not give them a reason.
"Hey! That bloke is staring at my nose! They're laughing! Those bastards! Raaaaaargh!"
Nose predictably jumped up, toppling the table and all the beers on it, and charged the Skulker's crew. Before you could say "another drink please", a bar brawl had started.

[An Enemy Spy]

Oh, ****. Seeing the barrels, Desmond quickly clambers up them and grabs on to the edge of the hole. Below him, the barrels fall over from his weight and land in a heap. Desmond climbs through the hole and onto the roof.

[Vespe Ratavo]

Jen stared at the man, taking in the aroma of his blood. Dammit, no, I can't...but it smells so good...I am not a monster...just a little taste couldn't hurt...fight, dammit, fight...

Before she could stop herself, Jen had leapt from her bunk, crept around the man, grabbed him by the chest, tugged him in and...shoved him to the ground. Get out. Get out of here now. I want to drink your blood right now more than you can possibly imagine, and if you don't get out this minute I can't be held responsible for what happens next. GO!

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker

Carker muttered a curse under his breath as he watched the retreating form of the carpenter. The man was a surprising well of information, not bad company either. Carker carefully filed away the meager handful of names that consisted of ships he might consider as an alternative to returning to the rooster, he really wouldn't be surprised if he was turned down for any one of them. The Carpenter's reaction to that ship, the New Daunty, worried Carker. In the least, if they knew the rooster, they could tip off the Navy about them.

Carker picked up his pace, hunting the area for any merchant to dump the lumber on. After finding a choice candidate, it would be simple to persuade him into a deal that was to the advantage of the Captain.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Desmond escaped through the roof, running out into the midday sun. he'd slept for quite a while, it seemed. Below him he could hear shouts and the frightened whinnying of the horse. His sudden actions and the loud noises from the barrels crashing down had scared the beast. Desmond glanced down the hole and saw a young man picking up the pitchfork.
"Intruder!" he shouted, at no-one in particular.
Desmond returned his attention to getting out of there. It seemed the stable was on all sides too far away from the fence to reach it, and even if he could the fence was topped with vicious looking spikes. He could just jump down, off course, at the back of the stables, but the drop seemed quite deep. Then there was what seemed like the only reasonable option: a window. Somewhat removed from the stables, but not too far to jump, was a wing of the main building. The window in it was fairly large and Desmond could probably jump to the sill with some effort if he liked, but the question was off course where that would lead him.

Carker soon found the most likely looking buyer on the docks by the Mercator. As the carpenter had said, the man indeed had the air of a wealthy merchant, and what was worse the attitude of one. He was dressed in the finest linens, which was strange considering he'd just disembarked, and smelt a little too strongly of flowers. The man cleaned his lips with a handkerchief after tasting one of local merchant's figs.
"Yes, the taste is indeed quite satisfactory. We will take a small amount with us, if you provide us with some less ripe specimens, if you understand me"
The merchant took a gracious bow, muttered something under his breath and left.
"Did you want something?" the Mercator's captain asked Carker.

The shadows grew thicker in the alley around Masik, which was strange considering it was noon.
"You know, there were whispers on board, even during the battle, that you should not be trusted. You were a foreign devil, they said, a creature from the very bowels of hell. I laughed, off course, as it was not a very educated point of view"
The voice pauzed and Masik could now see a blurry figure standing beside him. Something about the general shape and sound of the guy was familiar, but the booze was clouding Masik's judgement.
"I believe I've changed my mind. I took my eye off you for a minute, it couldn't have been more, and you'd blended into the shadows, and then these... creatures appeared. The dark arts have strange powers, and now, my fellow doctor, I would like a cure"
His face came into focus. It was Patrick, the unfortunate barber-surgeon who'd been on the prison galley with them. Everyone had said he wouldn't last long, and they'd been right as his neck was torn up by one of the beasts in the Rooster's hull. It was contorted now though, and his skin had changed colour to a palish blue. He even looked slightly green in places. Seaweed hung from his tattered clothes, and his neck was still as it had been after the attack, but the most horrible thing about him were most certainly the teeth. Two big fangs, sticking out of his upper jaw.
"I just can't live like this, doctor, not even while I'm dead"

Jen pushed the man down, and he stared at her, in horror. He jumped up, made a quick stab at the girl, and then ran away, up through the hatch, unleashing another blast of sunlight on Jen. She could almost feel her skin singe. His boots plodded across the deck quickly, and then everything grew quiet again, but his scent lingered. They were still hungry, terribly hungry, but the food had gone. The small puddle of blood the man had left on the floor didn't help with the temptation either.

"You know, I think I recognise that girl"
"Really? Why, yes, isn't she the Michaelson girl?"
At the name Michaelson Samantha perked up her ears. Two noblewomen were gossiping by the exit of the church as everyone exited, and it seemed the conversation had turned to her. She vaguely recognised the two, probably from some party or the other back in the old days she so longed for, when her father had been alive.
"But the Michaelsons, weren't they accused of treachery? Weren't they thrown into the deepest dungeon Irshia had to offer?"
There were armed guards just a couple of feet away from the women, and some more escorting the governor. This was slightly alarming.

[Fireball.Man.Guy.]

Xan punched another bar patron in the head with his mug, not killing the man but knocking him out with a nasty bump. In the downtime he slipped out of the bar to explore the Isla Prima. Stealthily lifting an apple from a vendor(only one worm!), Xan munched as he wandered the streets. Suddenly he felt the same feeling he usually got in combat, and the images flashed before his eyes. Feeling a strange pull to an alleyway, Xan dropped his apple and began navigating the twisting walkways. Finally arriving at his destination, Xan stuck to the alley's shadows and gazed in shock at what he saw James doing just a few feet away.

[Raz_Fox]

Samantha gulped down a curse. She'd been waiting to speak with the minister... but perhaps that wasn't an option. Looking at the guards and then at the women, she decided to try and fade into the dwindling crowd - and as close to the minister as she could get.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Damnit....Food...:****, I don´t want to eat him...What the heck is happening to us? ****, Jen, I really think we´re turning into these things....Damn...I may be cruel to people who hurt me, but damnit, I´m not a monster!

How the....How are we going to stop this? I don´t want to become a monster......

But the taste....the smell of it was so goood......No....I must resist....But the smell...

[Anitra]

Leigh gave a light chuckle at the thought of Johnathan wearing an eyepatch like the average fairytale pirate. Getting off of the Rooster had improved her mood somewhat, despite the knowledge that she was going to have to go back. If she spent the rest of her money carefully, she might be able to afford two sets of clothing and not much else; it was better to stay aboard the Rooster than to make a run for it with almost no cash.

She had only a moment to take in the breathtaking silks before the shopkeeper presented himself. "Yes, please" she said earnestly to his offer of assistance, "Everything's so gorgeous, I hardly know where to start!" She figured a bit of flattery couldn't hurt for when she was trying to haggle the price down. Leigh went over to the dolls with dresses draped on them and started examining them, trying to find the least expensive one that would suit her. "You see, my family has fallen on hard times recently, but Father has found me a decent suitor, so I need something that will make a good first impression"

If she was going to sweet talk the nobility into vouching for the Rooster, her best bet would be to find a young nobleman and use what feminine charms she had at her disposal, and that meant finding a dress that flattered her figure. A corset that accented her curves wouldn't hurt either. Unfortunately, the type of clothing she needed to pull this off was things she wouldn't dare wear around the majority of the Rooster's crew. In the best case scenario, she would still have enough money left over to buy a second corset that helped hide her assets, as well as a shirt and one or two pairs of cheap pants. She could turn the bodice of the dress she bought into a second shirt, though it would break her heart to have to cut up such gorgeous silk.

Walking up and down the rows of dolls, she found a cornflower blue dress with silver accents. Both were colors that looked good on her, and the lack of complex embroidery suggested that it would be one of the less expensive ones. It had a fairly low neckline, which was a plus if she was to use her feminine charms."What about this one?" she asked Johnathan expectantly.

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker

Yes, you're a merchent, yes? Captain tell me find merchant to sell lumber to. We need space for cargo and we leave soon so is for good price.

Carker paused then nodded to himself as if looking back on his words to see if he did a poor job of them, then he grinned eagerly at the man. All he had to do was get an affirmative from the man and then Carker would let his winning eyes do the work of securing a good price. He had a rough idea of what the cargo is worth from his conversation with the Carpenter.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond takes a few steps back and did a few kicks to limber his legs up. He ran as fast as he could towards the edge of the roof and leaped for the window. He went a little too far as his top half made it through but his bottom half didn't. Desmond's stomach slammed into the sill and landed in an uncerimonious heap on the floor. He shakily rose to his feet and looked for a way out.

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

Johnathan, quiet, holds the dress up in front of her. He notices the plunging neckline and raises a single eyebrow. "It should serve it's purpose well." He says. He smiles, and adds, "I hope you don't plan on wearing it anywhere near our erstwhile Captain." He hands her the dress back. Glancing around the shop, he tries to ascertain if there's anything wearable in the building for him.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Isla Prima, the Caribbean, Noon:
Desmond smashed through the window in full flight, miraculously not getting cut, until he landed on the sill with his gut at least. He fell through the window, only to find that he was in a bathroom. There was a tub, at least, and a large collection of candles and bottles with various soaps and lotions, and a huge towelrack. There was only one exit, a door, behind which Desmond could hear muffled laughter and... well, moaning. There were at least two people in the next room, one female, and one male. They seemed to be having fun from what he could hear. Desmond looked at the cuts on his gut. they weren't too bad, but they hurt like hell, and the blood had messed up his shirt. Outside the guy with the pitchfork was shouting for aid. there were other voices too, presumably his little friends.

Xan escaped the fight, judging it not worth his attention, and deserted the rest of the crew. He aimlessly wandered the streets of Isla Prima for a while, until he finally felt drawn to an alley. Was that James he saw down there? He quickly ran up to the shadowy figure and grabbed his shoulder. The guy turned around. And he definitely wasn't James. In fact, the man was Eastern and looked nothing like James. He was pushing a cart with some linnen thrown on top that spread a strange scent.
"What do you want?" the Easterner asked in his native tongue.

Meanwhile, in the clothesstore Leigh had found a nice dress which she could just about afford with what money she had left. The storekeep gave her a discount, which allowed her to buy it. She was out of money, but her new clothes looked very good on her. Jonathan found very little in the store that suited him. Most of it were women's clothes, and whatever wasn't was made out of silk as well and usually reeked too much of the oriental for any serious person to wear. That is, until he spotted the black suit at the end of a whole collection of rolls of silk. It was encased in a glass display case. It had been put on one of the few male dolls in the store, which had also been equipped with a short blade in Eastern style and a black ornate mask, obscuring most of the face with thin bars. The suit seemed quite fashionable, but at the same time suggested a capable man in combat. It was fitted with somewhat broad black leather boots with a delicate gold wavy pattern on them, some rather sturdy looking black gloves and two black belts, of which one across the shoulder. Despite the suit most likely being made for usefullness rather than appearance, it still had some decorative features. The brass plaque on the display case said "Oshoru-Hensi, Hensi family style garb".

Samantha couldn't quite decide what to do. She wanted to go to the minister, but he was staying behind in the church, while the crowd she could try to hide in was leaving. Whatever she did, she'd have to decide soon, as the crowd was thinning rapidly.

"Lumber?" the captain asked, raising an eyebrow. He let out a deep sigh.
"I suppose it would depend on quite how low you're willing to take the price. As you probably know, there's nowhere near here to unload the lumber, except perhaps Orinooko, but most ships would rather not go there. Because of the savages and the heat, see? We were actually thinking of loading up some cloth before the governor gets wind we made shore. In fact, I've already got a deal lined up"
The captain smiled.
"We could be out of here in an hour or so, and avoid the trouble of going down to one of the dark continent's harbours, so why should we take your lumber on board?"
He looked at Carker, deeply into his eyes, as if trying to intimidate him.

On the Rooster Jen and Silme's peace and quiet was once again disturbed as a bunch of the sailors who'd been off drinking returned. They were carrying a bloody heap in their arms, one of them that looked like he'd had a close encounter with a bear. They put the bloody heap on one of the hammocks, his blood dripping down all over the floor.
"We went 'n got ourselves inna fight wit sum Skulkers" the beggarlooking fellow said.
"Nose did at least. Scared most o' da buggers off too, da crazy wopper"
"The name's Eustace!" Nose shouted at the guy that looked like a beggar, "And if you forget it again, Dimes, I'll rip out your heart and eat it raw!"
The imagery and the odour of blood was getting to Silme and Jen.
"An' me name is Charles, Eustace, not Dimes. Jus' cause I tol' ya wut dey used ta call me ain't mean you gotta spread it all 'roun for everyone ta hear! I been drinkin', alright?"
"Would you guys shut it?" the cook yelled, "We need to get Shanks back on his legs"
He turned to Jen.
"We haven't been able to find the witchdoctor anywhere? Has he returned to the ship? We need someone to set Shanks' bones"

[Anitra]

"I don't even plan on letting the captain know that I own the dress," Leigh told Johnathan, "And if he asks where all the rest of my money went, we spent it on bribes, okay?" Leigh's tone was somewhat short; she had been really looking forward to getting some better clothes, and there was no way she could wear this aboard the Rooster. She was going to have to either hide or dispose of the dress. With the amount of money the dress was costing her, Leigh decided she was going to get the most out of it while she could by wearing it out of the store. Before leaving the dressing room, she slipped her packet of spices into her new dress's corset.

"I'll wait for you outside," she told Johnathan, stepping out the door into the sunshine. She had spent too little time in the sun with her nocturnal sleep schedule while at sea, and she had certainly missed it. Leaning slightly against the building, she watched the people in the district go about their shopping with a hint of envy.