Pirates & the Strange

[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.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond calmly walked out of the bathroom, nods politely at the people in the room, and strolls out the door.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Silme inhales the scent deeply, but then stops, not wanting to.
You better fix him up before I e, he gets to bad to be fixed.
A small sweat breaks out on Silme´s forehead, the scent, the sight, getting a bit to him.
He sends Jen a look, to know that she´s not alone in this, because he guesses she´s most likely feeling the same.

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker smiled in a friendly way at the man and widened his eyes. Carker drew the merchant into those eyes, he waited until he was certain the man was in his power. Carker moved a step closer to the merchant and intoned his words far clearer then his earlier muddled speech.

You do want to take the lumber don't you? this captain's desperate to get rid of it, you'll defiantly get it at a great bargain. It'd take no time at all to take it in and you'd be on the horizon before the Governor could even get his wig on. A little heat is worth the profit that wood would bring you in the end though wouldn't it? Good timber in those waters would certainly sell better then some shoddy bolts of cloth..*

He clapped his hands together loudly and turned his head away from the merchant for a moment. He turned back and frowned to himself, he let those words run around in the captain's mind before speaking.

I not know.. If you are not interested in cargo then I must hurry and find other who may.

*note: This part of conversation will not occur if Carker doesn't think the captain is in a suggestible state.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Isla Prima, the Caribbean, Noon:
Leigh walked out into the street and stood there for a while, as it appeared Jonathan needed his time to do his shopping. After a while a familiar figure passed through the busy shopping street: the governor of Isla Prima, flanked by several guards. He must have been on his way from the church to his mansion up on the hill.

Desmond didn't really mind interrupting these people in one of their most private of moments and simply walked into the room. The woman shrieked, as she was the one that didn't have her back turned on Desmond, and the man jumped up. Dressed in nothing more than a loosely draped sheet and definitely not prepared for battle the man drew his rapier that had been hanging from the side of the bed. Desmond simply walked on, out into the hallway.
"Hey, you, blaggard! Hold it right there!" the man shouted. What was worse was that the woman's shrieks had attracted unwanted attention from downstairs. Rapid footsteps could be heard on the stairs. The woman seemed flushed, scared almost, but not so much of Desmond, as he didn't seem to be much of a threat right now, faced with what was soon to be several armed men.

"Dear god , no!" Shanks screamed, briefly escaping from unconsciousness. With a thud his head fell back again. Silme gulped. The scent was almost unbearable, and it didn't look like anyone was about to patch up Shanks soon. Masik was no-where to be found, and no-one else on board seemed to have any medical knowledge.

Carker's stare did it's job. The captain's eyes glazed over briefly, and then he snapped out of it. He clapped his hands.
"Men, follow this young gentleman and help him unload the timber. Sir, here's the advance on your pay. The rest upon delivery"
The captain slipped Carker an agreeable sum of money.

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker grinned stupidly and bobbed his head to the indicated men.

Walk to ship is this way.

Carker inclined a hand in the direction and let his feet follow. He weaved his way with the merchant's men in tow through the crowded docks and back to the ship. Carker trudged up the ramp and stepped on deck. He glanced around to see if anyone was on duty.

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond puts his hands up. "Good day to you all. There seems to have some sort of misunderstanding here, but I'm sure that if we all keep our heads and talk this thing out. We can put it behind us and all go our seperate ways. I was just trying to find the way out of here. So if you could just show me to the front door, than this would be resolved quickly and painlessly." He flashes a winning smile.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Carker arrived at the ship with some fifteen men to help him lug the lumber. The deck was abandoned, but there wasn't much to steal there anyways, and certainly any thief would not dare interfere with an obvious pirate vessel. There was a lot of noise belowdecks though. Voices, and a scream. Carker wondered if leading the men downwards was such a good idea.

Desmond remained calm even in this stressing situation, and it seemed to serve him well as the men were about to let him leave, even though he'd just destroyed a quite exquisite window.
"No" a voice spoke out. It was a female voice, shivering slightly, but nonetheless determined.
"Throw him in the dungeons"
"But milady-" one of the servants exclaimed.
"He's seen too much. Now get him out of my sight, before my huspand gets home"

[An Enemy Spy]

Bloody Hell!
Thinking quickly, Desmond darts away from the guards and grabs the woman by the arm and holds her in front of him.
"Nobody move or I'll ... do something or other to her. And mark my words, it will be very unpleasant."

[MrEdwardNigma]

Desmond tried to get to the woman, but hadn't counted on her lover. The man jumped in front of him and put the tip of his blade to Desmond's throat.
"No" he growled. Two men grabbed Desmond from behind by the arms and dragged him back.

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker told the men to wait offdeck for a moment. he trekked across the deck and peered down suspiciously through the hatch. He recognized several figures and became a bit more at ease. He dropped down below and looked around the small crowd.

What is going on? I have men outside for taking wood away.

He got a look at the blooded man in the hammock and surprised himself with an unexpected winch.

[An Enemy Spy]

"You're making a very big mistake! I have friends in high places who will be very anxious to know what happened to me!"

[Dallas-Dakota]

Get...Away.....I'm turning....Into....Those...Things...Get away...NOW!
Silme says, his urge for the sweet flesh and the rich blood only strengthening.

[Levyathyn]

Johnathan

Johnathan examines the suit. The disply case leads him to believe in the suit's expense, but it is a fine piece of tailoring. The cost and style could indeed provide him with the needed class to help the licensing process. And if all else failed, the suit's ease of movement would leave him with the upper hand in combat. "Excuse, but how much for the exquisite item?" He says, indicating the Oshoru-Hensi. He absentmindedly jingles his change, hoping he has enough.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Carker went belowdecks, to the crew's quarters, where the cook was looking at Shanks desperately. He was pacing back and forth, trying to think of a plan. They had need of a doctor on board, and right now they couldn't find one. Everyone else just sort of stood there gaping, Silme and Jen at some distance from the others, in a black pool of shadow. Silme muttered something, but only Jen seemed to be able to hear him.
"Can we come down yet? We hasn't got all day" a voice yelled from the deck.

Desmond screamed as he was dragged away, and somewhere along the way down the big marble steps one of the men grew sick of his squirming and hit him over the head. He awoke some time later with a bursting headache. He was in a cell of sorts. That is, it was a network of bars joined up with a single wall. The bars formed the three other walls and the ceiling. There was a small window in the ancient looking stone wall, where a little bird sat perched on a rather nasty looking metal spike that stuck through the window. Maybe it had once been a bar, intended to keep prisoners from sticking even their hands outside, but now it was a vicious spike, keeping prisoners from sticking their hands outside only if they wanted them back in one piece. Facing the window was a door in the bars. The only sign there was even a door in that network of steel was a thick lock.
The adjacent cells, left and right, were pretty much identical to Desmond's. They too had small windows, sans spike, and they too had as only furniture a small heap of straw, either intended as a bed or a toilet, Desmond was still trying to figure out that part.
The cell to his left was empty except for a small old man, who had been there for at least a hundred years, if his beard was any indication. His beard was long, white, and was sprawled all about the cell. Somewhere in the centre sat the old man, snoozing with his own beard as a pillow.
Desmond wasn't quite sure how the old man managed to sleep through the noise that had awakened him: the arrival of a bunch of new prisoners. They looked like pirates, that was for sure, and were all dressed in black. They'd all been stuffed in the cell to Desmond's right, all the while screaming and laughing, and trying to pour down some more rum before the guards took it.
One of the two guards who had escorted them gave them an angry look as he locked their door and walked off. He walked up some stairs, the keys jingling on his belt, and then disappeared into the darkness. It was a whole lot darker now, now that he had left with his torch and the only sources of light were the windows. The pirates in the cell next to him began to sing a song. It seemed to focus largely on gallows and coffins.

The storekeep smiled broadly at Jonathan and made a slight bow.
"Let's see. The price is -ah-"
The storekeep paused, looking estamatingly at Jonathan's purse. He named a price that was just too high for Jonathan to pay. As he saw the look on Jonathan's face he said "I could -ah- of course give you a -ah- discount, if you'd be willing to do a small favour for me"

[An Enemy Spy]

Desmond grabs the bird before it can fly away. He throws it at the old man to wake him up. "Oi! Wake up!"

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker

Carker appeared to ignore Silme's feverish ramblings.This was a awkward situation for Carker. He had the porters upstairs getting impatient, and the crew downstairs gaping at one of their bleeding comrades. What could Carker do? The answer became clear, make it someone else's problem!

Carker stepped over to the cook, who was the most senior crewman onboard in Carker's opinion. He tugged at his sleeve until he got the man's attention.

There are men updeck, sent by merchant to take wood away, what should be done now?

Carker was now satisfied that whatever happened, he would not get blamed for it.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Desmond managed to grab the bird and the throw it, but the poor thing flew away as it was being thrown, out the old man's window. The pirates were now singing a song, the lyrics of which seemed to consist entirely of the word "beer". None of this affected the old man.

The cook looked at Carker.
"Hey, I'm not in charge here and I've got problems enough as it is. That being said, I'll take care of the lumber, you go find the witchdoctor, because Shanks here isn't doing too well"
The cook walked over to the hatch and let the men in, then showing them down. Except for some strange looks they seemed to have little reaction to the bleeding crewmate.

[Dallas-Dakota]

The smell was getting stronger........bright.....more new prey, no! no! They were people! Not food!

Damn, Silme continued on thinking, I need to keep my thoughts toghetter.

He looks if he can seek some other dark place where he can be alone, also looking worriedly at the silent Jen.

He takes Jen's hand to take her to the dark empty room, if there's any.

[Cpt. Soup]

Carker
Carker felt the relief of his burden lifted from his shoulders. He didn't like the idea of having to scrabble through the crowded town for that witchdoctor, he'd certainly stick out, but Carker didn't like being near him. On the other hqand this was an excellent opportunity to escape the press of sweaty bodies and the stench of blood suffocating the cramped area, Carker gratefully fled to the deck.

Since the witchdoctor wasn't with the returning men, it was safe to assume he wasn't with the main crew at that tavern, perhaps he was with the Captain? Carker looked up and down the streets for signs of the witchdoctor as he made his way to the fine establishment Scarlet Will had chosen to recline in.