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Mephibosheth
2006-09-13, 11:14 AM
Beardless Morgan and his "Crew"
The tale of the gnome pirate Beardless Morgan and his crew of benevolent (and maybe not-so-benevolent) rebels has been around as long as islanders can remember. Almost as many versions of the story exist as storytellers who relate their exploits.

This story, however, is not about Beardless Morgan and his Crew.

This story is about Beardless Morgan Brandt the "pirate" and his "crew," a group of children living in the islands who have fallen in love with the tale of the original pirate and have made its reenactement and and elaboration the focal point of their lives. In playing at pirates, they have begun to leave their more mundane lives behind and let their imaginations run free, living the majority of their days in the adventurous time of Beardless Morgan's struggle against anti-gnome oppressors. Using magic to add realism to their games, Morgan Brandt and his friends spend their days reliving the legends of the pirate and his crew.

I hope everyone enjoys the tale of Beardless Morgan Brandt: The "Pirate" and his "Crew."

Mephibosheth

Mephibosheth
2006-09-13, 11:15 AM
Morgan Brandt – The “Pirate”
Growing up in the islands, everyone knows some stories of the high seas; daring tales of great feats of seamanship, terrifying tales of the monsters of the depths, and heroic legends of brave sailors and warriors. Above all, however, everyone knows stories about pirates; those dastardly, rakish, swashbuckling rogues who sail the seas, alternately taking ships and engendering fear and hatred in all honest sailors or standing up to oppressive evil organizations and championing the freedom that only the sea can bring. They horde swag, fight terrifying sea beasts, rescue damsels, loot and pillage, fight amongst themselves, “rescue” damsels, and entertain audiences throughout the islands.

As soon as he was old enough to understand the stories, the young gnome named Morgan Brandt was fascinated by pirates. The way they dressed and spoke and acted held inexorable attraction for his imagination, and he spent his early years hungrily seeking out new pirate stories and reenacting pirate exploits with his friends. As the son of relatively a wealthy gnome sword smith and craftsman, Morgan had the opportunity to indulge his imagination unfettered by worldly responsibilities. Morgan’s mother had died giving birth to Morgan, and his father dotes on him. He would spend hours dressed in old clothes, playing with small wooden cutlasses crafted by his doting father, and running about the city streets pretending to be a pirate.

Morgan’s favorite story had always been the story of the most famous gnome pirate in history: Beardless Morgan. This famous pirate roamed the seas, standing up for gnome-kind during a time when persecution of gnomes ran rampant. He was best known for his fateful vendetta against a powerful merchant guild that refused to deal with gnomes. Over the course of this vendetta, he took over 100 of the guild’s treasure ships before being cut down by an expert assassin who had infiltrated Morgan’s crew, the last in a long series of hired knives sent by the guild.

Because of Beardless Morgan’s honorable rebel persona, his successful pirate career, and the first name that they shared, Morgan Brandt began to idolize Beardless, making Beardless the center of his imaginative play. He and his father constructed a small replica of Beardless’ famous ship, The Floating Jape and Morgan and his friends began to sink even farther into their games of pretend.

These days, Beardless Morgan can be seen again in the calm lagoons that dot the shoreline, where Morgan and his friends play at pirates in their Floating Jape, occasionally harassing fishermen and other sailors around the coastlines (who usually know the children and play along for a break in the monotony of their work whenever they get the chance) or venturing into the wharfs and streets of the city to conduct a heroic mission or clever ruse of some sort. Morgan's burgeoning magical powers and his formidable storytelling and acting abilities make their play all the more real and aid them as they conduct their games.

"Beardless" Morgan Brandt - Age 15 (http://www.sylnae.net/3eprofiler/view.php?id=36427)

Mephibosheth
2006-09-13, 11:15 AM
The “Crew”
Morgan’s crew, such as it is, is composed mostly of his childhood friends, whom he has drawn into his games of pretend so deeply that they, like him, live most of their lives in the imaginary world of Beardless Morgan. The “crew” is small, with only 4 members besides Morgan on a regular basis. All of these regulars are devoted to Morgan to varying degrees and for varying reasons, or they are at least devoted to the game.

Annie Macie – Morgan’s sidekick and the “First Mate” (http://www.sylnae.net/3eprofiler/view.php?id=36673)

Annie Macie is Morgan’s closest friend. The two have been neighbors for as long as they can remember, and have played together almost since their infancy. Annie is a unique girl, closely tied to the spirit world and able to draw power from the spirits that inhabit it.

For a long time, Annie was terrified of ghosts. Even more terrified than most children. She claimed that unquiet spirits would visit her in her bed at night, and she would often refuse to go to sleep, sitting awake in her bed with a lamp lit, trying to ward off the ghosts. Stories of ghost pirate ships and the unquiet spirits of people killed by pirates especially haunted her dreams, and she almost stopped playing with Morgan for fear of these ghost pirates (because the longer they sail the seas fighting for gnomish freedom, the more likely it is that they’ll run across one of the ghost pirate ships). Few believed her, and, unsatisfied with her parents’ response (“there’s no such thing as ghosts!”), she and Morgan went in search of stories to explain the hauntings. They talked to all the storytellers they could find, sailed to the far ends of the world (the other side of their local lagoon), and even interrogating several scary old men, until they finally found some rumors of people closely connected to the spirit world, Spirit Shamans.

Annie is still afraid of ghosts, though to a much lesser extent. As her spirit powers have developed, her experience with ghosts has increased and her fear has lessened, but she still balks at retrieving spells in the morning on occasion, and she’s still skittish around her Spirit Guide (a lizard she has neglected to name, for fear of interacting with it too much). She finds escape from the strangeness of the spirit world in the games of pretend, where it’s possible to interact with spirits on a more tangible level than is possible in the real world.

Annie Macie always takes the role of Esther Trace, the First Mate and confidant of Beardless Morgan. Some stories indicate a more intimate relationship between Esther and Morgan, and Annie finds these stories the most attractive. She’s drawn to Morgan Brandt’s magnetic personality, and has something of a crush on him (not that she’d admit except under dire circumstances). In the old tales, Esther is very mysterious and mystical, possessing strange powers and obscure and dangerous knowledge. Annie is attracted to these qualities of Esther as well, seeing the famous pirate as something of a mentor and teacher.

Richard Everard – "Boatswain" of the Floating Jape (http://www.sylnae.net/3eprofiler/view.php?id=36679 )

Every pirate ship needs an old salt, someone who could swim before he could walk and has hung around the ships and wharfs his whole life and can tie a bowline with his toes while hanging from a spar with his eyes closed. Usually sporting scraggly beards and various maimed body parts acquired in years at sea, the old salt is a fixture in all the tales.

Morgan’s crew doesn’t have an old salt, but they do have Richard!

Richard and Morgan are good friends, each somewhat dependent on the other. Richard (most often called **** by his friends) is the son of a sailor that Morgan and Annie met one day when they when they were hanging around the wharfs, playing at pirates amongst the old coils of rope, empty barrels and crates, and other detritus of the maritime lifestyle. The two friends were trying to rig a makeshift sail out of a few broken boards and a scrap of sailcloth when **** happened upon their games, bursting onto the scene with a flurry of criticism of their knot-tying and rigging techniques. Since then, the three have been inseparable.

**** is held with some reverence by the rest of the group, since only he is really connected to life at sea. He purports to have an encyclopedic knowledge of sailing and ships and is the group expert when it comes to all things nautical. That said, he’s still a little kid and is more often wrong than right when it comes to his area of expertise. But then again, it’s all just pretend anyway. He frequently appeals to his sailor father as the source of his knowledge and to lend credence to his claims. You tie a knot in a specific way because, “that’s how my daddy does it. He showed me! And then he defeated fowty monstews, all by himself!”

Ailill Meallan – The "Gunner" (http://www.sylnae.net/3eprofiler/view.php?id=36689)

Ailill Maellan always liked the secondary characters in the story the best. The normal crewman who played a small-but-important part of the daring plan. The subordinate officer who had a brilliant idea that turned a bitter defeat into an inspiring victory. The jailor’s daughter who fell in love with the daring pirate and sprung him from jail the night before his execution. Above all, he liked to hear about people whose role behind the scenes made everything work. The competent and gruff craftsman who built the best ships. The gunnery sergeant who made sure that all the artillery was maintained properly, so that it functioned correctly in combat. Ailill knew that, without these people, the heroes would never be able to accomplish their daring exploits.

It is in this role that Ailill serves the Floating Jape. He maintains those aspects of the ship that **** is unfamiliar with, he crafts extra materials that the crew needs for specific adventures, and he makes sure that the Jape’s artillery hits its mark as often as possible.

Of all the crew members, Ailill is least friendly with Morgan and company. He likes them well enough, but if the games start to get boring, he’ll find new playmates without a thought. He hasn’t been displeased with the quality of the games yet, however.

Niko Brandt- The "Stow-away"

Niko Brandt is Morgan’s younger brother. He constantly tags after his older brother and is something of an annoyance to the rest of the “crew” (Morgan included), always hanging about underfoot and detracting from their games with his childish comments and references to the real world. However, Morgan’s father has made it clear that Niko is not to be excluded from the games, and even famous pirates have to do what their fathers say.

Niko is just too young to really appreciate their games of pretend, and makes an annoying habit of making real-world references, pointing out that it’s getting late, whining about being hungry or thirsty, and generally interrupting the flow of imagination. At the same time, however, he is capable of incredibly vivid imaginative moments, and his naiveté makes it easy for him to become completely absorbed in the games.

Mephibosheth
2006-09-13, 11:15 AM
<Reserved>

Mephibosheth
2006-09-13, 11:16 AM
<Reserved>

Mephibosheth
2006-09-13, 11:17 AM
<Reserved> - Just in case

Carmichael
2006-09-13, 04:21 PM
Pirate-poseurs? If the concept gets executed nicely, I think it's got a shot at "funniest entry".

Mephibosheth
2006-09-13, 05:41 PM
Any suggestions on what would make nice execution? I know you don't have much to comment on now (should have a lot more content up by Friday), but I welcome any suggestions. Anything in particular you're lookin' for?

Mephibosheth

Carmichael
2006-09-13, 10:47 PM
As I've noted before, concise, clear writing and a summary of your entry in your first post is always nice.