The Eye of Abandengo, one of the most terrifying 'wonders' of the Inner Sea region, and all the more so for what it hides - the Shackles. An island chain that is home to all known and many imagined terrors of the seas. And then there are the pirates.
It is here that the tale begins, the thriving city of Port Peril, home port of the Shackles' current ruler, Kerdak Bonefist. A lawless, wretched place, the waterfront of Port Peril is lined with taverns and inns that cater to the pirates of the Shackles, but only one in particular is a concern. The "Formidably Maid" is a typical specimen, with all the rum, gambling, and company one can pay for. And a good brawl if that's your pleasure.
The quiet corners are few, and they're all being used for discussing business that would get you tossed in jail anywhere else in the Inner Sea. But here, well, business is good.
"Bah, I'm moving I'm moving" Jensen gets up from his seat and walks through the void to this plane, and sits down in the same chair.
Looking around he only sees one maybe two interesting people worth noting as of right now. so he will sit back and drink his double, and wait for his body to be a bit less sore. Maybe even a few cute lass's will grace his presence
The tall Elf wanders into the tavern, eyes and head seeming to be turning every where as she tries to take in all that is around her. Wearing leather armor consisting of some smooth, slightly grey looking material (The whole ensemble seeming held together with a complicated, cat's-cradle maze of lacing) and a long, slightly curved blade is sheathed across her back. she wanders towards the bar, deftly slipping and maneuvering around patrons, furniture and staff alike. As she comes to lean upon the counter top, her large blue eyes alight upon the fellow serving behind the edifice.
"Hey-YA there! I be likin' a serve o' Rum an' while we drink t'yer health, we's c'n discuss lodgin' an' storage, hey?" Her accent seeming thicker than the brew most are consuming. As she awaits her mug to arrive, she spins in place and leans back, her gaze again taking in all around her.
(^_^)
"If I were you, I'd just turn back and try my luck elsewhere. You won't get anything with that smile of yours here. Except if you're looking for a quick tumble upstairs.", grumbles the sour looking warrior sitting to the counter to the right of the cheery elf.
The warrior is a well build woman of Chelaxian blood despite her tanned skin and her face marked with scars. Sitting at the bar, she does not completely turn her back to the crowd and eyes every one with a wary eye. Her studed leather armor almost pitch black fits her very well and she looks armed for war. At her belt hung a wicked cutlass and a boarding axe while a wooden shield and a small pack lie at her feet.
Sharice had noticed the tall elf girl before she'd entered the tavern, and times her own entrance to slip in while the other woman's personality is still drawing almost everyone's attention. She moves smoothly through the crowd to make her way to a free table, and lets her carry sack fall to the ground next to her chair with a mostly contained sigh of relief.
She'll settle food and lodgings later; she's fairly certain she has enough for at least a few days, and tomorrow morning is soon enough to start looking for a new ship to serve on. For tonight, she wants a quiet drink... And the opportunity to get a feel for the town and its inhabitants.
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Kestryl had finally finished draining the rum from her clothes back into the bottle, and was taking discreet pulls. Next she pulled out her favorite deck of cards, and began scanning the room for likely marks.
When her eyes found the Chelaxian warrior, however, her coaxing smile froze. They couldn't have followed me all the way here, could they? I have *got* to get on a ship and get out of town. Kestryl thought better of the whole gambling thing and began discreetly making her way to a shadowy corner on the opposite side of the bar instead.
The petite, but obviously non-human, woman with Tian features enters, pausing in the doorway to observe the patrons.
Her skin is ice-blue contrasting her midnight blue hair and totally white eyes. Her clothing is a thrown-together patchwork of greens and blues, ragged and dusty from a long journey. The nicest thing she seems to have is the elegant trident she carries.
She walks to the bar and orders a drink, then looks around before settling into a corner table from which she can observe the group.
I wonder why the guide indicated this place.
She pulls a pendant from it's hiding place within her shirt and lets it dangle, tapping it to make it spin. Every time it stops she looks up before starting it spinning again.
Hm. it's pointing at some of the other patrons here. Are they important to my destiny?
She watches as the unusual, fey-like young woman moves to a table neer her, then spins her pendant again. When it stops, pointing to the stranger, she closes her hand over it and moves to join the newcomer.
"Good sailing to you. My name in this life is Taize Vesper, and I think I have been guided to meet you."
She opens her hand to allow the pendant to swing, and lets the stranger watch as the Seawraith image spins and comes to a stop pointing to her.
"Whatever our fates are to be, they appear to be linked."
Brendan sits around near a corner at a table all by himself slowly sipping a glass of water he looks aroudn at the people talking. He slowly comments to himself "Lot of diversity here." He slowly looks at Taize with curiousity towards the pendant. He checks over his back shoulder to make sure the people in the corner are not conspiring agianst him.
Is this right so far? (alphabetized)
Aula Heartpiercer: f/human: Spell-less Ranger
Brendan Voll: m/human (Ulfin): Magus
Cecic: m/halfing: Cleric [Besmara]
Jensen Roust: m/half-elf: Magus
Kestryl: f/sylph: Rogue (sniper)
Lucia Rhitu: f/human: Summoner (synthesist)
Sharice: f/human: Urban Barbarian
Sunny: f/Island Elf: Fighter (Dancer!)
Taize Vesper: f/Samsaran: Divine Channeler [Gozreh]
Turniphead: m/hobgoblin: Cleric [Besmara]
At Aula's addressing of herself, Sunny picks up her mug and skips around the bar towards her.
"Here's a tale." She says, still grinning, "Ye've all ways heard about them Dolphins an' how they's such cheery things?" She sips from her mug,
"So....they all-a-ways say how they c'n be bringin' a sailor t'shore when they's in trouble, right." And again Sunny lets her comment sink in as she sups more of her drink.
"So tell me...what happens t'the sailors that they take the other way....?" Sunny leaves her tale and question hanging, then she frowns,
"Here..how d'ye tumble 'up' stairs? I all-a-ways thought a bod tumbled down 'em?" She asks, clearly puzzled.
Brendan upon hearing Sunny speaks breaks a smile and half laughs to himself mumbling. "I think you can tumble to the side on stair if they are wide enough"
** spoiler omitted **
Soon enough after ordering (it was a surprisingly busy night after all, several ships evidently being in port), a somewhat burly woman in a maid outfit gets around to serving you the 'specialty house spiced rum,' as she calls it.
Taize studies the barmaid, smiles, then thanks her for the 'specialty' drink.
"To The Wind and The Waves"she toasts as she drinks.
A plain looking man in plain looking hide armor walks into the tavern. He's of average height and weight, and nothing special in the looks department. The only remarkable thing about him is the device strapped to his back, a wooden and metal tube more than four feet long, wider at one end, where it sports some fairly sophisticated-looking machinery.
The man scans the room quickly, and makes his way carefully to the bar, aware of everything around him. His eyes linger on each of the more unusual patrons, but he makes no attempt at conversation.
He proceeds to take a seat at the bar and accept the spiced rum.
(alphabetized)
Aula Heartpiercer: f/human: Spell-less Ranger
Brendan Voll: m/human (Ulfin): Magus
Cecic: m/halfing: Cleric [Besmara]
Jensen Roust: m/half-elf: Magus
Kestryl: f/sylph: Rogue (sniper)
Lucia Rhitu: f/human: Summoner (synthesist)
Sharice: f/human: Urban Barbarian
Sunny: f/Island Elf: Fighter (Dancer!)
Taize Vesper: f/Samsaran: Divine Channeler [Gozreh]
Tiberius Locke: m/hlaf-elf: Storm Druid
Turniphead: m/hobgoblin: Cleric [Besmara]
That makes 11. Is Cecic the one who never responded?
So far nothing from Cecic or Turniphead.
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What? Huh? Kestryl turns from her furtive monitoring of the Chelaxian woman, to face one of the most exotic looking women she's ever seen.
In this life...? Are you Samsaran? Really? I heard you were just tall tales, you know, to con the rubes. Pretty good shtick; not only can you tell the future, but you can tell some story about a down on her luck schmo being the current incarnation of some great queen of the past. I mean who wouldn't suck that up with a straw? I'm Kestryl by-the-by. So c'mon, don't con a con, just between us girls, that past life thing aint no thing, is it?
She just waves her re-bottled rum at the barmaid and says, Thanks, I'm good for now.
"Ah thank you, my fair lady. I have had quite the day so this rum should really hit the spot" Jensen downs the spiced rum quite quickly. I knew lady luck would have to throw me a bone at some point. Now lets see what fair lass are here in they bar. Jensen will mosey on over, with his new found liquid courage, to the table with Taize and kestryl.
"You don't often see such rare beauties as yourself in the port everyday. Mind if I pull up a chair?"
Taize studies the barmaid, smiles, then thanks her for the 'specialty' drink.
"To The Wind and The Waves"she toasts as she drinks.
At Aula's addressing of herself, Sunny picks up her mug and skips around the bar towards her.
"Here's a tale." She says, still grinning, "Ye've all ways heard about them Dolphins an' how they's such cheery things?" She sips from her mug,
"So....they all-a-ways say how they c'n be bringin' a sailor t'shore when they's in trouble, right." And again Sunny lets her comment sink in as she sups more of her drink.
"So tell me...what happens t'the sailors that they take the other way....?" Sunny leaves her tale and question hanging, then she frowns,
"Here..how d'ye tumble 'up' stairs? I all-a-ways thought a bod tumbled down 'em?" She asks, clearly puzzled.
Aula shakes her head in disbelief at the elf reply. "That's quite a tale. But it falls short. Every one knows that they would take the sailors to the other shore, you know. The one on the other side of the sea."
"And for your second question, just look round. Their job is not an easy one", she says looking at one of the whores climbing the stairs with one of her customers. "You may make some money trying that, but it's not worth it."
Brendan thinks to himself is this a group of adventurers forming and quickly moves closer to the group talking.
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If you're buying, pull up a seat. Play cards by any chance? Kestryl pulls her "lucky" deck out again and shuffles. She gives Taize another once over. D'ya play cards? Or is it no fun for ya, since ya see the past and the future and whatnot? And what about him? She jerks her head towards Jensen? Is his fate tangled up with ours? What's in his cards?
Brendan responds "I never play cards for money too much incentive for someone to cheat but on rare occasions play for fun. Oh was that question not asked to me?"
Sunny shakes her head, seeming nonplussed at the lack of communication between herself and the other, leather clad woman.
"So, d'ye have an appellation, then?" She asks, taking up a spot and leaning against the bar.
"Now thas' a whole lot'a Rosy!" She mutters.
Lucia stumbles into the bar, after what looks to have been a very long day. With golden-blonde hair almost down to the ground, she certainly makes an interesting impression. A bit less so is that her hair is still wet, as if she had just been out swimming in the harbor, and her outfit doesn't quite fit her body, the skirt down to her knees and a blouse for a slightly larger woman. She also has a (also recently wet) spear strapped across her back and a few, much smaller, ones tied to her hips, which all look a little more like props than serious weapons. But, she takes a deep breath and glances around, before heading up to the bar.
Taize smiles at Kestryl's comment. "No, we don't see the future. In fact, we barely remember our past lives. Bits and pieces, names, some abilities...'
She chuckles. "I can cook...barely. No, this"she holds up the pendant "is my guide now. I awoke on a beach with this in my hand, and this weapon nearby." She gestures to the trident.
"The pendant seems to be acting as a guide. It led me here, and once here, it began to indicate some of the patrons as well. I do not know what it means, but as it's the only guide I have, I follow it."
She looks up as Jensen joins them, and the pendant spins to point at him. "So it would seem. I do wish it was a clearer message, though."
The pendant spins again, to point toward Brendan. "Then again..."
As for games of chance, I have little, but why not see what our fates do bring?"
A hulking figure marches into the bar, glaring at anyone who meets his eye contact, to see if they have a problem with him being there. He is more wide than tall, but seems to walk hunched over, almost a hunchback. He wears patched black leather armor, with bones, and teeth holding the larger patches together. He reaches up to his face and with a loud huff, empties each nostril onto the floor of the tavern, sweeping some sawdust over them with his feet. Ritual scarring, and tattoo's do little to conceal the fact that he is a hobgoblin. His teeth protruding and his eyes shining, he looks for an empty place to sit down.
Though his many tribal scars and tattoos mark him as a Shoanti, he seems to have somehow worked he Pirate Queen into the designs a bit as well. Never hurts to cover all his bases.
As the tattooed hobgoblin walks in the pendant spins again to point at him.
Taize drops her head onto the table, burying her face in the arc formed by her arms, her shoulders shaking with supressed laughter. She sits back up, wiping her eyes. "Go ahead, deal. It can't get weirder than that."
"cards huh, I will give it a go."
Sunny smiles happily at the large figure who shambles up to the bar. (^_^)
Sharice snorts quietly to herself as the blonde elf tries to chat up the scarred woman, then turns to look as the door opens once more to admit Lucia.
She frowns slightly, silently assessing the human woman. You'd have to be crazy to go swimming here at this time of night -- unless it wasn't her choice to begin with...
Those clothes don't fit -- probably not hers. They're dry -- she didn't get them until after she'd gotten out of the water, unlike the spear...
... Something doesn't add up.
She takes a sip from her brandy as her mind ponders, wondering what the woman's secret is and whether there's a way for her to draw profit or advantage from it.
Sunny shakes her head, seeming nonplussed at the lack of communication between herself and the other, leather clad woman.
"So, d'ye have an appellation, then?" She asks, taking up a spot and leaning against the bar.
"Now thas' a whole lot'a Rosy!" She mutters.
"Aula" replies the chelaxian. "I've been here less than two hours and I'm still amazed at the coming and goings. And that no one is dead yet.", she adds, nodding to a table where a brawl as started between too drunk sailors.
Sunny spins to watch the fight, though her momentum brings her facing Aula again.
"Well..., in peopl's speak, m'name comes across as 'Sunny'..." And she frowns for but a second, "But...it does lose somat in'a translation, I be thinkin'...." Sunny shifts so that her mug of Rum is secure from anything that may come flying from the altercation that's developing.
"My kin be here 'cause o' trade. Whut brings yerself t' these waters, then?" Suny chirps at Aula, though the large fellow is still visible from the corner of one large, blue eye.
Lucia wanders past the card game getting started up, sparing them a glance and a nod...ducking just in time to avoid a tossed bottle as the brawl a few places over gets started. "...this spot taken?" she quickly decides to ask, pushing a stray strand of hair out of her eyes.
Sunny spins to watch the fight, though her momentum brings her facing Aula again.
"Well..., in peopl's speak, m'name comes across as 'Sunny'..." And she frowns for but a second, "But...it does lose somat in'a translation, I be thinkin'...." Sunny shifts so that her mug of Rum is secure from anything that may come flying from the altercation that's developing.
"My kin be here 'cause o' trade. Whut brings yerself t' these waters, then?" Suny chirps at Aula, though the large fellow is still visible from the corner of one large, blue eye.
"Had to leave my previous job and I'm not really welcome at home. So I'm looking for a new one. Are you kin hiring?"
Sunny actually manages a thoughtful look upon her features as she considers Aula's request. Though such a thing is but a short pause and she smiles again,
"Aye, well...'hiring' might not be th' right word. That involves money exchangin' hands, right?" She sips more of her Rum. "We kin...we think kind'a longer term than just in shine." Sunny shifts so as to be a little clearer of any flying furniture debris.
"I...in't sure as t'whut would be th' go of ye gettin' a berth aboard ship. Whut be it ye're good at doin'? Or...whut be ye thinkin' ye have whut'd be of use t' fillin' out as crew?" (^_^)
"As fer m'self? I be well versed at climbin'," She giggles, "Were all-a-ways scamperin' up th' palms at home." She admits a little quieter.
"So...on ship, I be a good rope monkey, how's about yer-self?" (^_^)
The blue-skinned woman at the table looks up with blank white eyes. She is holding a pendant consisting of a jade cresent moon with gold markings from which dangles a skrimshaw ship. As Lucia speaks the ship spins on the pendant, apparently on its own, and comes to a stop with the prow pointing at Lucia. The woman looks down in a fashion that shows she's not blind, in spite of those strange eyes.
She smiles at the pendant, then at Lucia.
"No, welcome. I believe the phrase is 'the more the merrier'? I am Taize Vesper."
Lucia takes a seat herself, being careful to avoid, well, dripping on anything. It's not hard, she's been out of the water awhile, other than her hair. "Thank you. You may call me Lucia," she says with as much dignity as she can muster.
Sunny actually manages a thoughtful look upon her features as she considers Aula's request. Though such a thing is but a short pause and she smiles again,
"Aye, well...'hiring' might not be th' right word. That involves money exchangin' hands, right?" She sips more of her Rum. "We kin...we think kind'a longer term than just in shine." Sunny shifts so as to be a little clearer of any flying furniture debris.
"I...in't sure as t'whut would be th' go of ye gettin' a berth aboard ship. Whut be it ye're good at doin'? Or...whut be ye thinkin' ye have whut'd be of use t' fillin' out as crew?" (^_^)
"As fer m'self? I be well versed at climbin'," She giggles, "Were all-a-ways scamperin' up th' palms at home." She admits a little quieter.
"So...on ship, I be a good rope monkey, how's about yer-self?" (^_^)
"Let's say I've learnt my way on a ship. If you're looking for a place on a ship. It's supposed to be the place to be. but up to now, I've not heard anyone hiring."
Sunny nods, smiling.
"So...ye be a kind'a 'all-rounder' then? Nice an' handy t'be at." She sips her Rum some more.
"P-shaw! Every ship be all-a-ways lookin' t' its crew as things change, ebb and flow a'tween peoples." She exclaims to Aula. "no ship ever be stable a'tween one port an'a next with its crew."
Sunny's gaze drifts towards the large fellow now nursing his drink at the bar with them.
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Kestryl shuffles again and gestures for Jensen to cut the deck. Jester's wild, and the Queens rule. This hand's just for a little warm-up. Have some more rum, put some coin on the table, and we'll play for real.
As she deals to Jensen, she gives Taize and Lucia an inquisitive glance if they'd like to be dealt in.
Giving a nod at Taize's pendant, she adds According to that thing, it looks like half the bar shares a destiny with us. Maybe we're all going to take over the bar, and run a quilting circle together.
Seeing the hobgoblin hock a loogy or maybe not.
Brendan asks of curiosity to Taize "What is that pendant if you do not mind telling?"
"I'm not sure...a compass of sorts, but a -so far- mystical guide as well. This and the trident are all I had with me when I woke to this life. As for what it stands for? The cresent moom is the symbol of Tsukiyo, Prince of the Moon and patron of my race. The ship?" she smiles oddly.
"The Seawraith, of course. Though what connection the two have...is what I must learn, I guess. I awoke on a storm-wracked beach, took shelter and when the storm cleared I found myself clasping this, with the trident against the wall of the cave I sheltered in. There was wreckage -and bodies- on the beach, but not all of those bodies perished in the waves. Some showed marks of violence, though there was no one else on the beach. I found myself able to bless their passage through the waves." She rises her left hand to show Gozreh's symbol on her left palm.
"I salvaged what I could and the Seawraith began to spin, showing me a path. I've followed it here and now it's pointing to various patrons. I can only assume our fates are entwined somehow."
Brendan responds [b]"Seems complicated"
"Life is. That's what makes it interesting."
Lucia shakes her head. "It is that..." she says quietly, though she declines to go into further details.
The gruff Hobgoblin looks for a table to sit alone, but if one is not available he will shoulder his way to the bar...glaring at any who look at him askance. Finally when he get's a servers attention, he orders in a voice that doesn't match his appearance. In fact it is pitched higher than normal, and he also has a pronounced lisp.
"I'll have a Fruit Juice please", he states placing his hand on the bar/table with coin underneath.
Tiberius, hearing an almost girlish voice come from the hulking goblinoid besides him, looks over at the newcomer and raises an eyebrow.
"That's almost a braver drink than rum in a place like this, folk might take it as a sign of weakness."