[HS] High Seas I: Pirates and Profits

[darkblade]

Davy Jones

Something is amiss for the King of the Deep. The Flying Dutchman sits off in the distance watching a motley crew of mixed water and fire benders from Republic City raid a East Indian Tea company vessel. It won't be long before the merchants and their crew belong to you but you cannot shake a sinking feeling in the back of your mind that something is about to go horribly wrong.

***

Captain Hook and Pipsqueak

Bounty has been good to you since you escaped Pan and Neverland. No armed bands of flying children, no horrific crocodiles stalking you. This was indeed the life. Those impossible challenges have done nothing but honed your mind, leaving you sharp and prepared for whatever the fates might throw your way.

Off in the distance Smee spots a small steamboat cruising towards the new world colonies. He calls down from the crow's nest to the little pony trying to swab the deck with a mop in his mouth. "Pip! Go tell the Captain we see small merchant vessel!"

***

Captain Haddock

The Karaboudjan had a simple job. Drop off some supplies from London to the Port Royale colony and get a hefty fee from the King. So along the sea you trudge when off in the distance you see a large galleon sailing towards you. Now while it could be perfectly harmless the odds of a major ship like that crossing paths with you without ill intent is quite unlikely.

***

Captain Avery

You stand in chains along-side your first mate as you are marched towards a courthouse by several large but seemingly unarmed men.

Of course you know better, having already lost once to them. These men will never be unarmed for as long as they shall live having tasted the forbidden devil's fruit they have been gifted with an assortment of inhuman abilities ranging from freezing anything that touches their skin to being in several places at once. Half a dozen of these invincible super marines took you and your crew down. While they slaughtered your crew like animals for some unknown reason they left you and your first mate, a Spaniard Inigo Montoya alive. As you stand in front of the sealed court doors he turns to you and says. "I told you Royal Vessels make for bad targets. It's always revenge with them. This here. It's your fault Benjamin."

***

Popeye the Sailor Man ~toot~ ~toot~

After a long and peirlous job, sailing halfway across the world and back all you want is to go home and spend some time with Olive, even if you have to give old Bluto a good beating to get him away first. Unfortunately you find your ship being boarded. A stern looking man crosses the plank and draws his sword. Strange wires connect the sword to unseen devices hidden within his long coat, it is unclear just what it is but it is quite obviously not a normal weapon.

Standing before you and your crew alone he smirks. "I represent the Pirate City Armada. This vessel has been chosen to join, may the Captain please step forward."

Every sailor has heard the legends of Armada. A mobile pirate city built on top of thousands of commandeered vessels, their command killed and the crew and passengers forcibly inducted to ply their trade for the pirate lords. Usually though the stories said the boarding parties composed of more than one man.

[doliest]

Davy Jones
The sea stirs around him- no, with him. He is the sea, and the sea is him. With its' goddess bound, the waters sung through the next best thing- the Lord of The Deep, The Ferrywayman. Davy Jones. He didn't have feelings anymore- not the way men of mortal kin did. No, his feelings were those of the sea. The dread of a coming storm; the rage of a tsunami; the obsession of a whirlpool.

This, though? This was...different. Something harder to comprehend. Perhaps it was the presence of Benders- Moon Children and Dragonspawn singing their counter-point melody. It was unsettling. Yes, that was it, surely.

He'd come for the merchants- blood upon his waters, scared men for his crew. But...he hadn't claimed a Moon Child in quite some time. Perhaps that would end this discordant melody. Yes, he chuckles, that would calm the waters nicely.

His voice raises so that the whole crew might hear, Alright boys, time to show the Moonchildren how cruel the sea can be! Let the waves claim the Dragonspawn. Open fire, and move into range for boarding!

Not with ropes- unnecessary, given the...unique nature of the Dutchman's crew.

[Cracklord]

Captain Ben Avery
"I'm shocked at you." The good captain said, and sounded it. Tall and well made, he seemed to bear his current imprisonment and circumstances with commendable fortitude, though something in the set of his jaw gave the impression that the thought of his men, and the fate of his ship, the Hotspur, wasn't far from his mind. "Are you suggesting that we should have sat on our hands and allowed Countess Maria Annette y Valdecia to be forced into marriage against her will to the nefarious Don Lardo? Poor form, I say."

Behind the two of them stood a woman dressed all in black; black breeches, black jacket, and a wide-brimmed black hat that shadowed her face but in no way in no way concealed a beauty that was startling, a wide mouth, dark eyes, long dark hair, skin like silk and a slender, but undeniably feminine figure.

Innigo didn't answer, although he sighed, a weary sort of fatalism in his eyes. After twenty years, he had learned all that could be taught, to the point where he was simply too good to fence anymore, there was no challenge, no competition, and no sign of his enemy, the six-fingered man. The vengeance that had once sustained him had begun to give way to despair, and increasingly he looked to wine for company.

"I followed you to avenge my father, to slay Comte de Rochefort so that at last Dominyo Montaya could be at peace. Instead, I shall die, and my fathers spirit will never be appeased." Inigo seemed diminished, without his fathers masterpiece, the six-finger sword. Like his heart had been torn from him along with the sword.

"Cheer up, sport, we're not beaten yet." Avery replied, running his hands over the bonds that held his hands behind his back. Getting them free would be a start, although without swords he and Inigo would be at a disadvantage. What they needed was Fezzik, although he was currently visiting family off the coast of Greenland and wouldn't be appearing in this story. Stil, failure was not a word in his vocabulary, and giving up wasn't even worth considering. Then he grinned. They'd tied his hands in the classiv double-overhead devil-tongue, quite effective, but easy enough to slip, if you had the knowledge. Which he had.

Of course, he still didn't have a sword (nor did Inigo) but it was certainly a start. Twisting his wrists just so, the knot came loose, and the ropes fell away, leaving him rubbing his wrists to get circulation back into his hands. Sidling over to Inigo while the guards attention was diverted, he freed his hands with two sharp tugs, then checked on the countess, blithely oblivious to the look of adoration she gave him as he did.

Now it was two unarmed swordmasters in the middle of a hostile town, against a dozen of the most terrible, black-hearted cads empowered far beyond the human norm in ways it was better not to think about. Things were looking up already. Now all he needed was a ship and a crew, and perhaps he could make his triumphant escape, and resume his part in the war against Napoleon, and the more personal vendetta against the head of Cardinal Richelieu's guards.

All in a days work for Captain Ben Avery.

[Draxx]

It's an hour from sunset when a sailed vessel pulls ahead of the steamship. But such a dark and sinister craft it was! A brigantine, fully rigged and outfitted, cannons bristling from its gun ports, its hull rakish and gleaming in the light. A skeleton with an upraised sword formed the spine of its prow, its death's-head grinning with the anticipation of its next victim's fate. A huge cannon, four times the size of any other, sat alone atop the aft deck behind the wheel, its massive barrel swung about fixed on the sky, as though at any moment something could descend from the heavens and attack the ship, its cradle mounted on a revolving base. Below, the captain's quarters were framed by a stern crafted like a huge skull with windows forming luminous eyes and gilt the outline of its jaw, nose, and brows. The railing above was shaped like a captain's hat with serpents hissing at the corners. The hull was painted red and black with gold trim, and brass fittings gleamed in the sunlight. The pirate ship looked fast and wicked, like a cat prepared to pounce. To make matters worse, over the ship's intercom came the muzak consisting entirely of dirty drinking songs illegally taped from Radio Tortuga.

Smee made his ungainly way down the rigging, moving without grace or skill or any concern for basic safety, yet always preserved, seemingly, by sheer dumb luck. At last he landed upon the deck, and knocked twice on the double doors that led to the Captain's Quaters. From behind Smee, the doors to the captain's cabin burst wide and out strode the infamous Captain James Hook.

From port to starboard and bowsprit to mainmast the pirates stopped what they were doing as their master stepped upon the deck, the sleaziest sleaze of the seven seas, a man so deep he's nearly unfathomable and so quick he's even fast asleep! Of the coast of Hispanola, The Jolly Rodger had been enjoying some time in the waking world, plundering and spending their stolen gold, before returning to the land from which they berthed, and the immortality and youth it offered.

At first glance, Hook looked very like his ship - or perhaps it was the other way around. He was sleek and narrow and wicked looking from his sharp-nosed face to his pointed toes. His captain's coat was cut from red and black cloth and trimmed in gold filigree. He wore a gold-fringed sash across one shoulder with a cutlass sheathed at its loop. Ruffled white lace hung at his neck, and the angular face above it was reminiscent of a ship's prow cutting through a sea's white froth. in short, he was dressed to kill, loot and plunder, everything a pirate should be.

His black hair hung down about his shoulders in ringlets like the rigging from a mast. His captain's tricorne was broad-brimmed and tailored and looked exactly like the aft railing of his vessel, and the Black Flag had found a twin in Hook's face. Cruel, hard, sneering, utterly remorseless and without pity it was, with mustaches that coiled like vipers and eyes that could freeze a bird in flight, he was a dread figure standing there at the helm of the most feared Pirate Ship of an age. At the end of his left hand he had affixed the dreaded hook for which he was so well known, its newly sharpened hook point gleaming in the sunlight, and a cutlass was held in his other.

His sneer firmly in place he turned and faced the crew, and lifted his lace-sleeved right hand condescendingly. Two hundred strong, and not a man among them could read past the second grade, only one or two could distinguish a spoon from a fork, and less than a handful could count to ten. Their idea of living was to hit people with anything handy, grab any valuables in sight, and blue the lot on wenches and rum, all the time bellowing those hearty songs which John Masefield would write in course of time.

"Avast, me hearties!" cried the Bosun, twice for emphasis. "Blow me down if it isn't easy pickings ahoy! Look lively and shipshape, run out the guns, and hoist the mainsail! Put your backs into it, you swab-headed deck-knaves!" This was his normal habit of speech, since anything else would have been incomprehensible to his crew, but Hook preferred the airs of a gentleman. "Hoist the colors and alter course! No prisoners!"

The pirates cheered, and raised their arms, some brandishing weapons, some bare fists. The ship rocked with their cries, then with the ease of long practice fell into position, bringing the ship about with uncanny grace and skimming it over the waves, the craft moving so easily it was seemingly on the cusp of taking flight.

[ThePhantom]

Popeye the Sailor Man

Popeye steps forward, corn pipe in hand. Who does this fella thinks he is, trying to take his ship with only one man? It would take fair more than that to take a ship from Popeye, especially if they plans on doing him in.

"I yam captain, and ye aren't taking me ship. Better fer ye to leave."

He points back at the stern's ship with his pipe.

[Grif]

Captain Haddock

The good captain was not having a good day. First he found out to his dismay that the deck boy had somehow managed to misplace his personal brandy store during their stopover in Seville. Then his first mate, the treacherous Allan Thomson tried to lead a mutiny, apparently in league with a Moroccan businessman to smuggle opium. No honest captain would allow that! He took personal satisfaction in throwing that landlubber off shore.

That left him with a problem though. He now only has half the crew a ship this size this size would normally have. That meant pirates were a Bad Thing (tm). "Mutinous deckrats. Confound these blood-sucking parasites." He put his telescope down and sounded the horn. "Cutler! Full steam ahead. No pirate is boarding the Karaboudjan on my watch. Tell the men to ready their weapons." Of weapons, they have only a few: revolvers and pistols at the most, along with the customary swords. But he knew the men now would put up a stout fight against any privateers. They done it once with Allan, and they'd do it again if they have to.

[Draxx]

Hook
In contrast, the captain of the Jolly Roger had seldom been in finer spirits, feet tapping up an impromptu hornpipe as he beheld the vessel in his sights. The main topsail suddenly flapped like thunder, and the Ship of the line turned to it's prey, the Trade winds blowing eternally across the Atlantic, at his back and all he needed. With a flourish, he drew out his telescope, training it at his victim, a crocodilian smile alight on his features as he watched his prey.

It was one of those newfangled sorts of ships, iron within and without, running on engines instead of the wind. "Lay her on port tack. Full and bye."

"Aye aye, cap'n!" Came the response, and the order was carried out with efficiency unrivaled in the navies of any kings. His crew had served him since time out of mind, their port the undiscovered country where the turning of the years touched them not, and they knew their business better then anyone, having had eternity to learn it.

She crested a wave, seeming to hang suspended a moment, weightless, then thrust back to the ocean in a burst of spray. The tautened weather rigging began to sing a more cheerful note, blending with the music of her passage through the water. The roaring wind pressed her over, and she went surging along, rising and swooping as if with pleasure, leaving a creamy wake behind her on the blue water while the sea roared under her bows.
"Run out the guns." Hook said, as he closed inexorably with his prey. "Give them a taste of the buckshot."

[PurityIcekiller]

[The Jolly Roger]

"Aye-aye, captain!"

Pipsqueak ran to a nearby cannon and struggled to load it. Despite what some might think, picking up shot with hooves was not exactly an easy thing. After finally getting the shot inside, he lit the fuse...

The cannon didn't fire. It seems the careless colt had neglected to put in powder or wad. After staring for a moment in disappointment, he re-emptied the cannon and tried again.

[Draxx]

Hook
The lower deck guns had been secured (bar a few exceptions), and the sweating crew worked at them, rolling the forty guns out of their ports. The enormous gun on the decks, Long Tom, began to swivel, the enormous gun revolving on it's base with a slow, tortured grinding noise, until it faced the merchant ship.

Smee walked down to the lower gundeck, inspecting the action stations, where ten twenty-four pounders of the starboard battery had rolled out. Most of the lower deck was in twilight, for the stout shafts of twilight did little to illuminate the farther parts of the ship with it's sombre red paint. Half a dozen men came by with buckets of sand which they scattered about, Smee kept an eye on them because the guns crews depended on sand for a firm foothold. The water buckets beside each gun were filled, serving to dampen the swabs that cleaned out the guns, and for instant use against fire. "Clear for action, Cap'n!" Smee called out, failing to notice Pipsqueaks attempts to get ready.

"Not yet." Hook said, his eyes, blue as forget-me-nots, flashing with vindictive pleasure as he watched the merchantship. "Pull alongside them first. Then fire."

[darkblade]

Popeye

The swordsman lets the corners of his lips flare slightly upwards into the world's slightest smirk. "Well Captain, you can surrender or you can fight. Regardless this boat belongs to the Lovers now."

***

Avery

As you break free the bulbous Don Lardo makes off, Innigo's prized weapon (and Avery's useful but not nearly as sentimental sword too).

One of the magical fruit abusing soldiers lunges for you as his fist closes you can feel the warmth being drained out of the air.

***

Davy Jones

The shells (literally your cannon balls appear to be large shellfish) rip through the Bender's boat. Several Dragonspawn fall into the depths where their talents are useless. The Moonchildren though mostly manage to call upon streams of water to slow their descent and keep them afloat. Still they are sitting ducks for your crew.

***

Luffy

You and the Strawhats are visiting the infamous port of Tourtoga. Never have you seen such a wretched hive of scum and villainy. The rest of your crew have all gone off to see to their own needs in town leaving you to wander the town on your own. Suddenly you hear the terrified screams of a woman in danger, no one else seems even remotely concerned.

***

S'reee

You swim a clear stretch of water untainted by human hands. For generations they had used your oceans without issue but now they abuse magic and science alike for the sake of comfort and efficiency.

As you swim you hear a desperate cry from the depth, a powerful beast, ancient and scared is trapped on the bottom of the sea, trying to escape it's confines.

***

Barbosa

Port Royale, a tiny little colony but you can sense the last piece of your cursed gold is holed up in the Governor's mansion. It's meagre garrison shouldn't pose much of a threat.

((Yes you're just starting with the plot of the first movie, don't worry things will pick up soon.))

***

Kidd

While visiting a minor English noble you hear a rucus downstairs. Out in the hallway you can hear the noble, Don Lardo order more soldiers rush to the courtyard as he sprints by (much faster than you have ever seen him run) carrying two swords, one of which you recognize. The six fingered sword, the famous blade of the pirate and legendary swordsman Innigo Montoya.

***

Blackbeard

The problem with tongueless zombies for a crew is that they don't make much noise when they are killed. When you step out of your cabin you find several of your crew men lying dead on the poopdeck. The remaining zombies go about their tasks barely aware of the world around them, much less their dead companions. Closer inspection reveals whoever did this knew what they were fighting, a single slash to the back of the brain stem, reducing the rest of the greymatter to useless meat. Also the blood is still wet and no other ships are in sight. Whoever did this is still on board (or a very good swimmer).

***

Hornblower and Sharpe

You stand before Sir Albemarle Bertie, Admiral of the Royal Navy. He looks you over disapprovingly. "I asked for the best and this is what Lord Fury sends my way. Pathetic really, unfortunately I don't have time to send for another crew."

He pulls out a map and a compass that does not point north. "One of Lord Fury's spies on the mainland was returning to London with some key intelligence when the ship carrying him was hijacked by pirates. It was a mixed blessing that the pirates happened to be from Armada."

You've heard rumours of Armada, the floating pirate city, that captures civilians to ply their trades of pirate lords. The fact that such a thing could avoid detection for the centuries that the rumours have been floating about made you pay them little mind though. "He managed to send us a message confirming he is alive and this compass which we believe will lead you to Armada. Any questions?"

***

Nemo

Republic City welcomes you. A joint effort by the four nations that through ingenuity and their mystical mastery of chakra have managed to fend off European imperialists. They idolize you and what you stood for. Of course just last year they idolized a man who wanted to strip every citizien of the very same chakra powers that have kept their nations free so it is faint praise. None the less it is one of the few places that you won't be shot on sight and has shipwrights capable of doing repairs on the Nautilus.

A young woman approaches you as you wander the docks. A member of the Water Tribe by the look of her, she does not seem pleased to see you. "You're the mad bomber everyone loves so much lately, right?"

[Aric Kale]

Barbossa

The pirate captain chuckles grimly, the clouds seem endless and the night would be long. All in all, a good night for a raid. He gives a command for the lights to be dimmed, and the scorched ship glides towards the coastal town with black sails–invisible to the naked eye. Hahaharr! Alright now, ye cack-handed deck apes! I want ye to cause as much a ruckus as can be while Pintel and Regetti recover our gold from the mansion. I have only one rule tonight lads...no prisoners! The crew lets out a short cheer before Barbossa silences them with a glare and a quick word.

Soon, the cannons are in range and Captain Hector Barbossa orders a full, continuous broadside on the tower and barracks, while half the crew would ravage the city.

[doliest]

Davy Jones
A grim smirk plays across the tentacles that partially comprise his mouth as he watches the Dragonspawn fall. Their song of fire had no place on the sea; now, their duet partner on the other hand...

He calls out to his men again, pointing to the targets,Bring the Moonchildren aboard men, but remember- knock the fight out of them first. Only the dead and the dying have a place on this ship!

A cruel glimmer dances in the eyes of most of the crew- how could it not? Those who lived on the Dutchman were a superstitious and cowardly lot, either murderers hoping to forstall judgement indefinitely, or weak men petrified by the fear of what awaited them. Regardless, both could only alleviate the boredom that now defined their lives with gambling and cruelty. The first was to be put away, as the captain had called for the second.

Some will 'board' the other ship, moving from one to the other in an instant to deal with those not thrown aside.

Others? Take to the sea that commands them, straight for the Moonchildren, ready to rip and tear until they were suitable for...recruitment.

[Cracklord]

Blackbeard
The Captain roamed the deck, a bottle of Rum in one hand, his other on the pommel of his ancient, broken sword, the legendary Blade of Triton. His visage was dark and cold, ravaged by passions too strong for any individual brain, by cruelty, sorrow, age, pride, selfishness and loneliness, a cold and murderous glint in hooded eyes the only hint of the dark and brooding mind at work within him. He was tall and broad, his chest and arms in particular strong after a lifetime at sea, however his true strength was something more primal, more primitive, and animalistic, savage even.

"I find I be placed in something of a bewilderment." He said, seemingly to himself as he kicked one of the corpses over the side, with no more ceremony or regard then he would his fingernail clippings. He took a swig of rum as he spoke, then turned slowly, the turn of his lips thoughtful. Normally, the mere rumor of the Queen Anne's Revenge was enough to clear the Trade Routes and put men to ground. And yet, men had looked to make their fame by coming after him before.

"It's third watch, yet I hear no bell, and upon deck I find me crew put t' t' sword." His tone is slow and at ease as he continued, a show of confidence as much as anything, although solitude had given him the habit of speaking to himself on occasion. He stepped over the corpses without a backward glance, as though the deaths of his crew were of no consideration whatsoever.

"I find meself intrigued by these circumstances. A stowaway, aboard this ship. Such a thing is unheard, normally getting men to come aboard be something of a difficulty." He waved over the First Mate. "But I have a way to get to the bottom of this. Take brimstone, and set it to light below decks until the hold is full of smoke. That will force our interloper out of hiding."

[Grif]

Captain Haddock

"Cutler, you three-eyed parrot, where's that speed?!" Haddock shouted, watching the wooden vessel slowly, but impossibly catching up.

"The lads are coaling as we speak, capt'n!" came the hassled reply.

"Well hurry it up!" Haddock replied into the brass speaking tube, before turning to his helmsman: a scrawny lad of twenty.
"Simmons, keep 'er steady."

"Aye, aye, Captain."

"I need a drink." he grumbled. Haddock rummaged around in his personal drawer, and came out with a flask of brandy. He promptly gulped down half the contents.

A fresh billow of smoke erupted from the funnel, and the Karaboudjan, where she was sailing steadily at a sedate pace, finally began to lumber forward, cutting through the seas with all the efficiency of modern technology. A merchant ship she may be, but speed is something she had in abundance, at least compared to sail-powered ships. It was, after all, the reason she had been chosen to deliver these supplies.

[darkblade]

Blackbeard

Your zombies comply with their orders bringing torches down onto the lower decks. Soon smoke billows up through grates and formerly invisible cracks in the decks. No intruder is revealed.

Another zombie falls from the crow's nest right down in front of you. Quickly glancing up you can see a man in a white cloak, a thin dagger extending from his wrist reflecting the torchlight below.

***

Davy Jones

The remaining benders put up little fight but there is little they can do to creatures capable of breathing their weapons. Within minutes you have a small selection of Water Benders, many missing limbs (only the most blessed of the Moonchildren can bend without hands as your crew soon learned.

One of them a young boy, smart enough to compliment his natural abilities with a now waterlogged pistol looked up at you in awe. "Great spirit of the sea..."

***

Barbossa

Your crew storms out into the city smashing and burning everything in sight. Generally causing as much mayhem as possible so that you can slip to the mansion relatively undisturbed.

As you make your way up to the mansion you notice something amiss. The front gate is unlocked, surely the governor would have someone put some effort into protecting himself and his family?

[Cracklord]

Blackbeard
Standing on the deck, his eyes trace the fall to it's point of origin, where a man in a white stands crouched, blade extended, silhouetted for a moment in the cold moon light. For a moment, some long-buried superstitious part of him feels mortal as he stares up, and urges him caution. Seventy years, man and boy, he's walked upon decks and commanded vessels, and some part of him recognizes this, understands what it represents, perhaps even welcomes it.

But he has never backed down from a challenge, and no intention to start. He smiles, the expression somehow endeavoring to make him seem even crueler, and turns his hand on the pommel of his blade. The entire ship creaks in protest, but obeys it's master, and the interloper finds his footing gone as the entire sail collapses, leaving the mast bare and nothing to hold him up, ropes snapping away then snaking around the figures legs as Blackbeard watches with every impression of enjoyment, lifting his rum bottle to his lips and draining the last of it.

[Draxx]

Hook
"Fire Long Tom. Beneath the Water-line." he says as the ship begins to draw away again, hand and hook holding the telescope in place as he watches the ship ahead. Long Tom was the monstrous cannon mounted on the aft deck. It was Hook's favorite weapon. The entire ship shook as it boomed, it's deadly payload sending up a plume of water forty feet high, barely a dozen meters sternward of the Karaboudjan. Hook shook his head, then gestured meaningfully with his hook."Well, now that you've taken the time to find your range, hole them beneath the engines. I want that ship dead in the water."

It really was an ugly vessel, he thought as they closed, held together with rust, spit and hope, it's engines stinking up the clean sea air. Some part of him is glad those designs never took on. He's a romantic at heart - why be a sailor otherwise? - and had no desire to pilot command such a vessel. "Fire again. I want them scuppered."

[ThePhantom]

Popeye

Hm, arrogant git. Well, its not like Popeye was one to back down from a fight.

"Then lets go."

Popeye swings his fists, aiming for battering this swordman's head as the crew steps away, not wanting to get caught by their captain's fists. Thoses hurt like getting smacked by a hammer.

[doliest]

Davy Jones
Davy Jones steps down, looking at the assorted Moonchildren, his pipe taking a place in-between his tentacles. I am the sea.

He looks over to his men as they take their places at the ready- to give live, or take it, all on his order. Aboard the Dutchman, such was the captains' power. Moonchildren. Do you fear death? Do you fear that dark abyss? All your deeds lay bare...all your sins punished?

On that statement he gestures, almost lazily, to the ship they had been raiding. It had been but moments, but already to them it may no doubt seem a lifetime ago.

I can forstall that judgement- one hundred years before the mast. Or... Another lazy gesture over the side, this time to drowned/drowning Dragonspawn. Ye' can join the Dragonspawn in the Deep...in the Dark. Its' yer' choice.

[Corvond]

Sharpe + Hornblower

Sharpe was silent as the Admiral spoke. He was 6'1" with tousled blond hair, and a scar that gave his lips a sardonic look. His eyes were at once thoughtful and grim, and he looked tough and lean, hard and incalculably dangerous. Worth a battalion of Gurkhas all on his own. Since his battlefield promotion he was used to this sort of treatment, from officers who had bought their commissions, and it just washed over him like so much hot air. These sort of men needed him, and they knew it. Let them complain.

"Doctor Manturin sir?" He said, when the Admiral stopped speaking, accepting the compass and letter, glancing at them briefly then turning to stare at the admiral once more, handing them to Hornblower as he did so. "A good man. I've met him a few times." The his lower class origins were plain in his speech, the Sheffield accent unmistakable.

This was hardly the first time he'd been asked to escort a ship on an important run, he'd even wound up serving at Trafalgar due to such circumstances, and had only one question. "How many men should I bring then? The entire regiment?"

Hornblower, for himself, was a rather tall and rather gangling individual, with hollow cheeks and a melancholy cast of countenance. He was a little nonplussed at the treatment, but didn't show it. He was sometimes dismissed or patronized a little because of his youth, but normally his successes earned him, at the very least, a measure of respect from the Admirality. Nonetheless, he rose above it, inclining his head. "Very well sir. And if I may ask, what exactly should we do when we find the Armada?" He asked.

He didn't like the sound of these orders. The source was suspect, the mission seemed too open-ended, and the information too lacking.

[Aric Kale]

Barbossa

Barbossa was not often seen doing his own dirty work, but this had do be done right the first time.
In the dark of night, with Jack on his shoulder, playing with the ridiculous feather in his wide-brimmed hat, Barbossa strides up the steps to the Governor's mansion and shoves the hapless Pintel forward. You'll be goin' through first, Master Pintel, with yer matey Ragetti soon to follow. Keep a sharp eye fer traps! His hand played with the pistol at his side, ready to fire at a moments notice as the one-eyed crewman opens the door cautiously.

[AnimeKid]

Luffy

With a massive grin on his face Monkey D. Luffy wandered aimlessly around Tortuga. He hardly ever got to walk around on his own anymore. Not since that incident with him almost getting executed by Buggy and Alvida back in Loguetown and Smoker showing up. That was a couple years ago though. Now it finally seemed like he could go do what he wanted. So what first? Oh, duh! He needed to find some place to eat! As he comes to that train of thought he hears the screams of a woman. His grins widens as a person in danger means a reward to whoever helps them! And if that person was a woman chances were she either had her own tavern or worked at one! That's how it always worked out for the Strawhats. With that in mind Luffy took off like a shot to where the woman was screaming from. 'Free food here I come!'

[Grif]

Captain Haddock

"Billions of billious blue blistering barnacles!" the captain thundered, as the ship shook from the near-miss, waving his now-empty flask of brandy about. "The bloodsucking brigand wants to sink us! Well, I'll show him what's what!" Haddock took a speculative gulp of his flask again, and blinked as he found it empty. Shaking his head, he grabbed the pistol that lay on the desk, and stormed out.

"But Captain--" Simmons began, to no avail. Rolling his eyes, he quickly darted out of the bridge and hollered for help from below-decks.

Hook himself might soon spy a man waving angrily at that at the aft of the Karaboudjan, holding what appears to be a pistol at one hand and a metallic flask on the other. Then the figure abruptly disappeared as two more came and tackled him from behind, presumably to save the good captain from further foolishness.

And all this while, the ship continued to pull away from the pirate ship.

[darkblade]

Luffy

Tracing the screaming you find a woman pinned to a wall by another woman. The attacker has one very notable feature, for a head she has a horrifically large scarab beetle.

***

Barbosa

As you and your men enter the mansion you hear the sounds of feet shifting upstairs someone is there.

***

Sharpe and Hornblower

"One ship, last time something like this happened we tried a direct assault. It ended badly for everyone." The Admiral explained.

"Find a way on board without raising suspicion and retrieve Manturin's intelligence. Preferably with Manturin alive but if it proves impossible we can't risk his knowledge of the crown falling into the hands of the pirate lords."

***

Davy Jones

Another bender this one a little older, given the scars along his face this wasn't his first battle. "You killed my brother down there, just because he wasn't a Waterbender. I'll spend a thousand years in Hell before I serve you."

There is a murmur of approval through the prisoners except the one that called you 'spirit'. "Fools! Don't you see? He is the sea, true vengeance upon the Fire Nation for the war to refuse his offer is to deny your ancestors."

The others seem less than impressed with this speech and don't say anything.

***

Popeye

The swordsman goes to duck under your blow but fails and takes it to the chest. He is sent flying and losses grip on his sword. As they blade falls something strange happens, for a split second it seems as though there are hundreds of versions of the sword spinning as they fall into an intricately bladed snowflake. The fact that your deck takes a good fifty slashes right through the thick wood before the sword clangs flat on the ground supports this.

***

Blackbeard

The hooded man tries to outrun the collapsing sail. He manages to swan dive off, more to avoid falling than to really try escaping, that would be impossible now. The ropes catch him though and leave him dangling before you.

[doliest]

Davy Jones
He tilts his head looking at the scarred Moonchild, To The Depths, then. That is all the word the shark-man behind the Moonchild needs to slit his throat, letting him bleed for a moment before throwing him overboard.

He turns to the younger Moonchild, Welcome to the crew, laddie. The Spindlefish man behind the young Moonchild pushes him to his feet and over to the crew.

He overlooks the remaining Moonchildren,one last offer to them conveyed in his eyes- and in the fact that they hadn't joined the scarred man yet.

[Aric Kale]

Barbossa

The pirate and his two cronies make their way inside the mansion. Regetti is shoved forward by Barbossa, as opposed to Pintel, and the three men make their way upstairs.

[AnimeKid]

Luffy came around the corner with a smile on his face at the thought of all the meat he was going to get to eat. A nonstop all you can eat buffet. Then he saw the woman that was holding up the defenseless one. I think you know how it goes after that. "BUUUUGGGGG! GUM GUM PISTOL!" the womans' bug head might turn just in time to catch a glimpse of the fist coming towards it.

[Cracklord]

Blackbeard
The rope tightens, until it's so taut it's cutting out circulation, and more snake their way down, wrapping around his legs and shoulders, holding him quite motionless, like a fly in a spiders web. After a moment, Blackbeard tosses away the empty rum bottle, where it shatters, then without ceremony steps over and pulls away the hood, getting a good look at the interlopers face. "Now, we can either talk this out, or I can send you bellow-decks, as fuel for the fire." He paused, then shrugged. "Your choice."

Ben Avery
When the escape came, it was sudden and entirely unprompted, more a desperate reaction to Lardo then anything else. Avery ducked under the swipe of the pirate, turning his momentum into a dive, and seized the legs of the corpulent spanish Nobleman in a tackle that knocked him off his feet and against the ground hard. Lardo was well-enough padded that no fall like that would harm him, but nonetheless he lost his grip on the blade. In the split second he had before the guards stabbed him, prone and helpless, Avery seized the sword, scabbard and all, then threw it to Inigo.

Inigo caught the sword, brought it to his lips in the fencer's salute, and suddenly was a shadow of his old self once more. He drew it as he stepped forward, and the blade flashed and sang around him like a living thing. His first blow deftly redirected a hand full of fire the guard to his right had summoned from somewhere, sending him staggering back clutching his hand that was missing fingers, his second sunk clean into the guards chest, and the sixth guard was dead before the first had had sufficient time to hit the ground. Their powers were no match for the uncanny mastery Inigo had with the sword.

"Hello. I am Inigo Montaya, come on if you dare!" He shouted as a challenge, then before they had the chance he was upon them, fighting brilliantly, holding off the remainder of the guards while Avery led the Countess slowly back down the road towards the docks, and Lardo slipped free, getting to his feet. Inigo's sword leaped and slashed, whirled, stabbed, cut. Blood flew from it. A trail of blood ran down the road, and a dozen men lay dead or sorely wounded around him, but it was all he could do. More troopers crowded in, prepared and knowing what to expect, and Inigo was tiring. Even as Avery watched, Inigo twisted a split second too slow, and a bone spur that had errupted from ones knuckles grazed his neck, drawing blood even as Inigo's counter-thrust took the mans heart. Another came in low, and inigo's parry was a second slow, leaving him open to the thrust of another. Then the sword was knocked aside, and Avery was with his friend, the two of them back to back against a veritable horde of the soldiers.

It was powerful stuff, a last stand, two against many in the defense of a lady, yet it seemed a futile defiance. The two of them could each block a hundred slashes, yet the one hundred and first would slip through their defenses, and fatigue, and numbers, and the unnatural abilities of their opponents were beginning to tell. Then, for a split second, Avery saw it. An opening, no more then a split second, but enough. He darted through it, flipping over two of the surprised guards with incredible agility, and a moment later Inigo followed, darting down an alleyway, The countess in tow, hoping against hope that fate would be so kind as to offer them some hope of escape, or lying low.

[The Tygre]

Nemo

Captain Nemo stares out at the docks, watching the lights from the Nautilus and the repair crews dancing on the water. The Benders and their cities have always reminded him of home, or at least certain parts. He can't help but muse on how they should be ingratiated to his home nation for showing them the way to connections between the spiritual and physical in a practical fashion, but he keeps such thoughts to himself.

As the girl asks Nemo her question, he cautiously grips the squid-emblazoned hilt on his scimitar, carefully. An assassin? "I hold no claims on being a sane man if being a sane man means submission, girl. As for being a bomber? No. I am merely a deliverer."

[Hattish Thing]

Kidd

While visiting a minor English noble you hear a rucus downstairs. Out in the hallway you can hear the noble, Don Lardo order more soldiers rush to the courtyard as he sprints by (much faster than you have ever seen him run) carrying two swords, one of which you recognize. The six fingered sword, the famous blade of the pirate and legendary swordsman Innigo Montoya.

The Captain sits upon his wooden desk inside a small windowless room. This place was to be his living area for the small amount of time he was at port. There wasn't much stored within. Several books, an inkwell, his rifle, some spare clothing... Just his regular things. He's sitting upon his desk overlooking the account of a sea monster some surviving sailor had written of an encounter with a fearsome tentacle behemoth... Twas a frightening yet riveting read. He is distracted from his reading at the sound of yelling. He didn't like that much.

He rarely got free time, and now this was bothering him.

Captain Kidd rushes downstairs, wondering what the hell was going on. This was supposed to be some time off before his next voyage. Kidd had in his room reading over some documents telling of a mysterious creature destroying English Vessels every few months... No idea what that could be. He was to have lunch with the noble in but half an hour. Kidd did enjoy a cup of coffee and a biscuit or two. Or possibly some fresh toffee. Kidd always had a fondness for sweets.

Anyway, he grabs his two large pistols from his pocket and sheathes his rapier, running down as fast as he can to see what the problem is. He has his pistols pointed forward and shouts out to Don Lardo. Don, what the hell is going on?!