Surrounding Waters
3rd Saun, 718
3rd Saun, 718
“But Commodore!...”
“No means no! And for the last time it's Captain Silver, not Commodore.”
Things had been going well for the Skylance Pirates lately. With the addition of their new ship, new headquarters and extra crewmen business had been booming. Only a few breaks ago they’d managed to capture a lone gallion stocked with trade goods, and were now setting sail back to Scalvoris with the hold of The Thundering Plunderer full to the brim with cargo.
There were only two things that bothered Tio. First of all was the fact that, since he now commanded two ships, he was technically a commodore. Most people would be incredibly pleased with themselves to attain such a title, but Tio wasn’t; in his opinion it didn’t have the same ring to it that captain did. It just sounded more… pompous, whereas captain had that cool adventurous feel to it. Unfortunately insisting on being called captain was causing his crew unneeded confusion, since technically Teddie and the newly hired Rhea were the captains. Perhaps he should sell his current fleet and buy one big gallion? Making such drastic changes to the fleet just so he could call himself by a cooler title probably wasn’t the most mature thing to do, but he was sure he could persuade the crew that it was in all of their best interests somehow.
And secondly were the newest members of his crew. Most of them were great, albeit a little unusual. Rhea was fantastic, but not a people person; she never seemed to interact with anyone when the subject wasn’t somehow related to their immediate work, and prefered to disappear up the crow’s nest by herself when there was nothing to do. She had just appeared out of thin air in the middle of his castle one day and asked for a job, and even now Tio couldn’t figure out how she’d managed to get there without him noticing! His house was completed isolated at sea for crying out loud, and yet there hadn’t been a drop of water on her or a boat tied up at his jetty. Jack was absolutely hilarious in an insane kind of way and had a talent for inspiring the crew, but his drug addiction and reverence for the darker Immortals could be a little off putting. He’d been running a gang up until last season and had brought a handful of his best men aboard, who had quickly established themselves as drug-crazed nutcases who insisted on charging in as the first wave on all raids, and it was this small faction in his crew that concerned Tio. They were a bit too hungry for blood for his liking, and didn’t quite mesh with him and the rest of the crew in terms of morality. There had been slaves on the gallion they’d just raided, and Jack’s gang had wanted to take them back to Scalvoris and sell them on the underground slave market (which had recently become very profitable thanks to the councils new anti-slavery laws.) However Tio had refused, instead giving the slaves the option to join his crew or return home, and they hadn’t stopped pestering him to turn back and recapture them ever since.
“Commo… captain! There’s a storm on the starboard horizon!” Came Rhea’s voice from the crow’s nest, and Tio tensed at the tone of worry in it. It wasn’t like Rhea to sound worried by anything. “It’s a bad one sir, a real ship-killer.”
Tio strode over to the starboard side and whipped out his spyglass, surveying the horizon. He could also see a wide wave of pitch black clouds speeding towards them, with ominous flickers of light that could only be lightning. While he studied the oncoming storm Grace, Teddie, Rhea and Jack all assembled beside him.
“The Rude Jester isn’t sturdy enough to survive a storm like that, but it is quick enough to escape before the storm hits.” Grace noted.
“Whereas the Plunderer doesn’t stand of chance of escaping, but might be able to whether it with some preparation.” Teddie grunted.
Jack cackled to himself, and turned one eye to look at Tio. “Chrien’s wrath is clear, she’s angry that we’ve ravaged her oceans without paying her proper tribute. We should make a blood sacrifice with one of the slaves to appease her. Perhaps then we might be able to survive.”
Rhea, predictably, said nothing. She merely regarded them all with a cool glance, then turned back to glare icily at the storm.
Tio considered their advice for a moment. Then he turned around to address the whole crew, bringing up the commanding persona he saved for issuing orders. “There will be no blood sacrifices. Those slaves who joined us are part of the crew now, and crew stick together no matter what. The less experienced sailors among you will go with Rhea to the Jester and get out of here, then turn back and look for us when the storm has passed. The rest of you fasten everything that moves down and man the sails. If we’re going to live through this its going to take a lot of hard work.”
The crew got to work following his orders, and scurried around like a nest of ants to finish their tasks before the storm arrived. The Rude Jester soon darted off to safety, and the remaining crew finished securing the ship just as the waves began to pick up and the sky grew darker from the growing cloud cover.
“This is a bad idea captain. You aren’t the first sailor to think themselves good enough to survive Chrien, and you won't be the last, but listen to me when I say that appeasement is our best option.” Jack muttered to him as Tio took his position at the helm. “It’s not too late to make a sacrifice. One death is better than having us all perish.”
“The Immortals aren’t all powerful Jack, I know that better than most.” Tio replied as he spun the ship to angle it so that the bow was facing towards the incoming waves. This was going to be a bumpy ride. “We mere mortals can take them by surprise sometimes. I’m willing to take a chance that we’ll be able to survive Chrien’s spite this one time.”
Jack flashed him a wide grin. “Very well then captain. I look forward to seeing how the power of mortals can match up.”
The first of the large waves hit, and the Plunderer lurched up and back down again like a rollercoaster as the swell of the tide grabbed ahold of it. Those who could afford to tied themselves to railings or whatever secure decking they could find as the rocking grew more and more extreme. The winds began to pick up into a screaming howl, and the distant booms of thunder began to catch their ears. Tio didn’t even have to look at the faces of his crew to know that they were nervous; in fact some of them seemed to already be resigning themselves to death. It occurred to him that he needed to do something to lift their spirits; something to remind them that they were united as a team.
And he had just the thing in mind.
“As I was going to Darbyton, 'twas on a market day
I met the finest ram, sirs, that ever was fed upon hay.”
He began to sing, the roaring winds allowing his voice to carry over them thanks to their kinship. The newer members looked at him in confusion, whilst the older ones smirked as they recognized his favourite shanty and began to sing the chorus.
“That's a lie, that's a lie
That's a lie, a lie, a lie!”
The first of the truly monsterous waves fell upon them; lifting the bow of the ship high into the sky. Had that wave hit them from the side it would have doubtlessly obliterated the ship, but thankfully the angle they'd approached it at allowed them to skim right over the top. As they past the peak of the wave everybody held on for dear life as the ship fell back down, literally lifting them all of the floor as gravity stole the deck from beneath them.
“This ram and I got drunk, sir, as drunk as drunk could be
And when we sobered up, sir, we were far away out on the sea.”
“That's a lie, that's a lie
That's a lie, a lie, a lie!”
Another monster wave came at them from a different angle, forcing Tio to make a sharp turn to face it. The crew scrambled about to adjust the sails to catch the wind in the new direction.
“This wonderful old ram, sir, was playful as a kid;
He swallowed the captain's spyglass along with the bo'sun's fid.”
“That's a lie, that's a lie
That's a lie, a lie, a lie!”
As the wave hit the Plunderer lurched upwards again and made its ascent to the top. Yet the sharp change in direction had caused it to slow, and as it came near to the peak it seemed for a minute like it might not reach the top. If they got caught up in the flow of the wave the ship would be pushed back and would capsize, drowning everyone beneath the weight of the rampaging water.
“One morning on the poop, sir, afore eight bells was struck
He climbed up to the sky's I yard an' sat down on the truck.”
“That's a lie, that's a lie
That's a lie, a lie, a lie!”
With a last burst of speed the Plunderer crossed the peak by the skin of its teeth, and like a stone plummeted down the other side. It hit the surface of the water again with a dense thud, and even above the sound of the wind the crack of something wooden splitting rang out clearly.
“This wonderful ol' ram, sir, he tried a silly trick
He tried to jump a five-barred fence and landed in a rick.”
“That's a lie, that's a lie
That's a lie, a lie, a lie!”
A bolt of lightning scorched through the sky, striking the crows nest with the precision of an arrow. The crows nest set ablaze and tumbled down towards deck, crashing into the side railings and taking a good chunk of it with it as it fell down into the sea. Crewmembers grabbed empty buckets and scooped up the water across the deck to throw on the patches of flames left behind before the could spread.
“This wonderful ol' ram, sir, it grew two horns of brass
One grew out o' his shoulder blade, t'other turned into a mast”
“That's a lie, that's a lie
That's a lie, a lie, a lie!”
A stray wave, small enough to go unnoticed in the dark but still big enough to make an impact, caught them unawares and crashed into the side. The water ran across deck, sweeping away a few items that weren't strapped down securely enough. Tio held on to the wheel as the wave tried to take him away with it, and managed to cling on long enough for the wave to pass. He quickly did a headcount to check that nobody had been swept overboard, and was glad to see that everyone was accounted for.
“An' when this ram was killed, sir, the butcher was covered in blood
Five and twenty butcher boys was carried away the flood”
“That's a lie, that's a lie
That's a lie, a lie, a lie!”
The end of the storm came into sight up ahead, but there was one final hurdle in their way before they could reach it. One last monster wave sped towards them; white spray thrashing about like a stampede of horses. Without needing to be told the crew pulled every sail as tight as they could manage, sending the Plunderer speeding straight towards it. The masts creaked and groaned under the strain but held firm.
“An' when this ram was dead, sir, they buried it in St. Joan's
It took ten men an' an elephant to carry one of its bones!”
“That's a lie, that's a lie
That's a lie, a lie, a lie!”
The Plunderer smashed into the wave, rocking and jittering as the wild spray beat at it from every angle. But the speed the raging winds allowed it to go at kept it stable, provided it with the strength to muscle its way through before the tide could grab ahold of it. A jet of spray burst up over the deck as they cleared the final wave, and a cheer erupted over deck as the clouds began to thin and the swell of the sea began to return to normal. They'd done it; they'd weathered the storm!
Crack!
With a painful groan the main mast collapsed sideways and splashed into the water, splitting open a large fissure in the deck. Although it wasn't big enough to sink the ship yet it was damn close, and if they had another streak of foul weather it would undoubtedly tear the fissure even further open.
“Well… we kind of made it…” Tio muttered half-heartedly to himself as his crew rushed about trying to repair the damage. “Looks like I'll need get a new ship again after all. All hands to masts… or mast I guess! Let's get out asses back to Almund before Chrien throws something like that at us again!”
“No means no! And for the last time it's Captain Silver, not Commodore.”
Things had been going well for the Skylance Pirates lately. With the addition of their new ship, new headquarters and extra crewmen business had been booming. Only a few breaks ago they’d managed to capture a lone gallion stocked with trade goods, and were now setting sail back to Scalvoris with the hold of The Thundering Plunderer full to the brim with cargo.
There were only two things that bothered Tio. First of all was the fact that, since he now commanded two ships, he was technically a commodore. Most people would be incredibly pleased with themselves to attain such a title, but Tio wasn’t; in his opinion it didn’t have the same ring to it that captain did. It just sounded more… pompous, whereas captain had that cool adventurous feel to it. Unfortunately insisting on being called captain was causing his crew unneeded confusion, since technically Teddie and the newly hired Rhea were the captains. Perhaps he should sell his current fleet and buy one big gallion? Making such drastic changes to the fleet just so he could call himself by a cooler title probably wasn’t the most mature thing to do, but he was sure he could persuade the crew that it was in all of their best interests somehow.
And secondly were the newest members of his crew. Most of them were great, albeit a little unusual. Rhea was fantastic, but not a people person; she never seemed to interact with anyone when the subject wasn’t somehow related to their immediate work, and prefered to disappear up the crow’s nest by herself when there was nothing to do. She had just appeared out of thin air in the middle of his castle one day and asked for a job, and even now Tio couldn’t figure out how she’d managed to get there without him noticing! His house was completed isolated at sea for crying out loud, and yet there hadn’t been a drop of water on her or a boat tied up at his jetty. Jack was absolutely hilarious in an insane kind of way and had a talent for inspiring the crew, but his drug addiction and reverence for the darker Immortals could be a little off putting. He’d been running a gang up until last season and had brought a handful of his best men aboard, who had quickly established themselves as drug-crazed nutcases who insisted on charging in as the first wave on all raids, and it was this small faction in his crew that concerned Tio. They were a bit too hungry for blood for his liking, and didn’t quite mesh with him and the rest of the crew in terms of morality. There had been slaves on the gallion they’d just raided, and Jack’s gang had wanted to take them back to Scalvoris and sell them on the underground slave market (which had recently become very profitable thanks to the councils new anti-slavery laws.) However Tio had refused, instead giving the slaves the option to join his crew or return home, and they hadn’t stopped pestering him to turn back and recapture them ever since.
“Commo… captain! There’s a storm on the starboard horizon!” Came Rhea’s voice from the crow’s nest, and Tio tensed at the tone of worry in it. It wasn’t like Rhea to sound worried by anything. “It’s a bad one sir, a real ship-killer.”
Tio strode over to the starboard side and whipped out his spyglass, surveying the horizon. He could also see a wide wave of pitch black clouds speeding towards them, with ominous flickers of light that could only be lightning. While he studied the oncoming storm Grace, Teddie, Rhea and Jack all assembled beside him.
“The Rude Jester isn’t sturdy enough to survive a storm like that, but it is quick enough to escape before the storm hits.” Grace noted.
“Whereas the Plunderer doesn’t stand of chance of escaping, but might be able to whether it with some preparation.” Teddie grunted.
Jack cackled to himself, and turned one eye to look at Tio. “Chrien’s wrath is clear, she’s angry that we’ve ravaged her oceans without paying her proper tribute. We should make a blood sacrifice with one of the slaves to appease her. Perhaps then we might be able to survive.”
Rhea, predictably, said nothing. She merely regarded them all with a cool glance, then turned back to glare icily at the storm.
Tio considered their advice for a moment. Then he turned around to address the whole crew, bringing up the commanding persona he saved for issuing orders. “There will be no blood sacrifices. Those slaves who joined us are part of the crew now, and crew stick together no matter what. The less experienced sailors among you will go with Rhea to the Jester and get out of here, then turn back and look for us when the storm has passed. The rest of you fasten everything that moves down and man the sails. If we’re going to live through this its going to take a lot of hard work.”
The crew got to work following his orders, and scurried around like a nest of ants to finish their tasks before the storm arrived. The Rude Jester soon darted off to safety, and the remaining crew finished securing the ship just as the waves began to pick up and the sky grew darker from the growing cloud cover.
“This is a bad idea captain. You aren’t the first sailor to think themselves good enough to survive Chrien, and you won't be the last, but listen to me when I say that appeasement is our best option.” Jack muttered to him as Tio took his position at the helm. “It’s not too late to make a sacrifice. One death is better than having us all perish.”
“The Immortals aren’t all powerful Jack, I know that better than most.” Tio replied as he spun the ship to angle it so that the bow was facing towards the incoming waves. This was going to be a bumpy ride. “We mere mortals can take them by surprise sometimes. I’m willing to take a chance that we’ll be able to survive Chrien’s spite this one time.”
Jack flashed him a wide grin. “Very well then captain. I look forward to seeing how the power of mortals can match up.”
The first of the large waves hit, and the Plunderer lurched up and back down again like a rollercoaster as the swell of the tide grabbed ahold of it. Those who could afford to tied themselves to railings or whatever secure decking they could find as the rocking grew more and more extreme. The winds began to pick up into a screaming howl, and the distant booms of thunder began to catch their ears. Tio didn’t even have to look at the faces of his crew to know that they were nervous; in fact some of them seemed to already be resigning themselves to death. It occurred to him that he needed to do something to lift their spirits; something to remind them that they were united as a team.
And he had just the thing in mind.
“As I was going to Darbyton, 'twas on a market day
I met the finest ram, sirs, that ever was fed upon hay.”
He began to sing, the roaring winds allowing his voice to carry over them thanks to their kinship. The newer members looked at him in confusion, whilst the older ones smirked as they recognized his favourite shanty and began to sing the chorus.
“That's a lie, that's a lie
That's a lie, a lie, a lie!”
The first of the truly monsterous waves fell upon them; lifting the bow of the ship high into the sky. Had that wave hit them from the side it would have doubtlessly obliterated the ship, but thankfully the angle they'd approached it at allowed them to skim right over the top. As they past the peak of the wave everybody held on for dear life as the ship fell back down, literally lifting them all of the floor as gravity stole the deck from beneath them.
“This ram and I got drunk, sir, as drunk as drunk could be
And when we sobered up, sir, we were far away out on the sea.”
“That's a lie, that's a lie
That's a lie, a lie, a lie!”
Another monster wave came at them from a different angle, forcing Tio to make a sharp turn to face it. The crew scrambled about to adjust the sails to catch the wind in the new direction.
“This wonderful old ram, sir, was playful as a kid;
He swallowed the captain's spyglass along with the bo'sun's fid.”
“That's a lie, that's a lie
That's a lie, a lie, a lie!”
As the wave hit the Plunderer lurched upwards again and made its ascent to the top. Yet the sharp change in direction had caused it to slow, and as it came near to the peak it seemed for a minute like it might not reach the top. If they got caught up in the flow of the wave the ship would be pushed back and would capsize, drowning everyone beneath the weight of the rampaging water.
“One morning on the poop, sir, afore eight bells was struck
He climbed up to the sky's I yard an' sat down on the truck.”
“That's a lie, that's a lie
That's a lie, a lie, a lie!”
With a last burst of speed the Plunderer crossed the peak by the skin of its teeth, and like a stone plummeted down the other side. It hit the surface of the water again with a dense thud, and even above the sound of the wind the crack of something wooden splitting rang out clearly.
“This wonderful ol' ram, sir, he tried a silly trick
He tried to jump a five-barred fence and landed in a rick.”
“That's a lie, that's a lie
That's a lie, a lie, a lie!”
A bolt of lightning scorched through the sky, striking the crows nest with the precision of an arrow. The crows nest set ablaze and tumbled down towards deck, crashing into the side railings and taking a good chunk of it with it as it fell down into the sea. Crewmembers grabbed empty buckets and scooped up the water across the deck to throw on the patches of flames left behind before the could spread.
“This wonderful ol' ram, sir, it grew two horns of brass
One grew out o' his shoulder blade, t'other turned into a mast”
“That's a lie, that's a lie
That's a lie, a lie, a lie!”
A stray wave, small enough to go unnoticed in the dark but still big enough to make an impact, caught them unawares and crashed into the side. The water ran across deck, sweeping away a few items that weren't strapped down securely enough. Tio held on to the wheel as the wave tried to take him away with it, and managed to cling on long enough for the wave to pass. He quickly did a headcount to check that nobody had been swept overboard, and was glad to see that everyone was accounted for.
“An' when this ram was killed, sir, the butcher was covered in blood
Five and twenty butcher boys was carried away the flood”
“That's a lie, that's a lie
That's a lie, a lie, a lie!”
The end of the storm came into sight up ahead, but there was one final hurdle in their way before they could reach it. One last monster wave sped towards them; white spray thrashing about like a stampede of horses. Without needing to be told the crew pulled every sail as tight as they could manage, sending the Plunderer speeding straight towards it. The masts creaked and groaned under the strain but held firm.
“An' when this ram was dead, sir, they buried it in St. Joan's
It took ten men an' an elephant to carry one of its bones!”
“That's a lie, that's a lie
That's a lie, a lie, a lie!”
The Plunderer smashed into the wave, rocking and jittering as the wild spray beat at it from every angle. But the speed the raging winds allowed it to go at kept it stable, provided it with the strength to muscle its way through before the tide could grab ahold of it. A jet of spray burst up over the deck as they cleared the final wave, and a cheer erupted over deck as the clouds began to thin and the swell of the sea began to return to normal. They'd done it; they'd weathered the storm!
Crack!
With a painful groan the main mast collapsed sideways and splashed into the water, splitting open a large fissure in the deck. Although it wasn't big enough to sink the ship yet it was damn close, and if they had another streak of foul weather it would undoubtedly tear the fissure even further open.
“Well… we kind of made it…” Tio muttered half-heartedly to himself as his crew rushed about trying to repair the damage. “Looks like I'll need get a new ship again after all. All hands to masts… or mast I guess! Let's get out asses back to Almund before Chrien throws something like that at us again!”
