[hider=Don't mind me]


[b][h3][color=39b54a][u]Tobias[/u][/color][/h3][/b]


The trip towards Juvegol felt like a lifetime for Tobias, he had never sailed too far from the surrounding waters of Jikari. His small fishing boat; Lucky Peace, wouldn't allow for such lengthy voyages but here he found himself on the very capable and very well-armed Miss Mathilda after several weeks of travelling north from the comparatively peaceful waters of Jikari.

Miss Mathilda was a two-story pirate cruiser ship with over twenty ballistas of varying sizes protruding from atop and within the rickety looking wooden mass that formed the hull. A huge copper bull bulged out the stern and also acted as a ram, the main sails were a deep shade of purple and at the captain's whistle a tapestry depicting a golden set of skull and crossbones printed largely on the middle would be released by Tobias given that most of his time spent aloft was on centre mast. It seemed Captain Hatch immediately took note of the lanky orc's climbing ability and was quick to set his riggers the task of teaching Tobias how to furl and release the sails of a larger ship. At first Tobias struggled with the technical side of things, climbing was second nature to Miss Mathilda's newest crew member and the orc seemed to get around the heights of the ship effortlessly, that wasn't the problem. It was all the commands and the shouting and the chaos that ensued during a harsh night at sea where Tobias found himself unstuck a few times. It was only two mistakes Tobias had made working so far and one of those times almost lead to losing three days of travel, in fact it was lucky that Keane, an older more experienced sailor corrected the young orc's error before the captain found out. Tobias was yet to face the wrath of the well respected captain and he was glad for Keane to keep it that way, for he couldn't yet figure out if this crew was bound to the red-haired, scar-ridden human that often referred to himself as "Hatchet Harry" by loyalty or fear. 

Tobias eventually decided he liked the ship after being onboard for a week, it looked almost like a glorified trading galley with a deadly arsenal and with the help of an impressive, albeit ragtag crew proved that a rather bulky mass of wood could move deceptively fast across the open waters of Tithe. Tobias had never seen such a varied cast as the crew of Miss Mathilda: Argon, a hulking minotaur as black as coal, claimed First Mate's quarters. The beastly looking chap never had anyone laugh at him, in fact only the captain could really look him in the eyes, the minotaur just carried an aura of pent-up aggression and hostility that was feared and avoided by the rest of the crew. Then there was the quartermaster; Humblebert, from what Tobias could tell the aged gnome was the brains of the operation and by far the most patient. Whenever Humblebert was posed a question his answers were guaranteed to be articulate and drawn out which seemed to put a lot of the other orcs onboard off of speaking to him, Tobias on the other hand always left conversations with the gnome feeling that little more knowledgable and was quick to engage him in conversation if neither of them were busy, which happened less than Tobias would've liked. The sailing master; Elrund, was a banished fairfolk with a missing eye and a bad attitude, Tobias was yet to speak to Elrund but it seemed the sailing master was equally as disinterested with him. The rest of the fifty-strong crew was comprised mainly of burly orcs and humans, a few more fairfolk and a handful of half orcs that always seemed to stick together. Needless to say Tobias knew that he had a lot to learn from Harry the Hatchet, he'd only ever heard his father speak ill of pirates but when Miss Mathilda docked in Blackstone bay where the Fischer family lived the veteran fisherman only had good words to speak of Harry, [i]and it must take quite a man to keep this lot together[/i] Tobias thought often enough when things got hard.

For all the time Tobias had spent on Miss Mathilda learning about his companions he achieved little progress in the way of actually making friends and when he had any time to himself would end up practising with his double-bladed sword despite a few of the swabbies mocking his efforts during meal times. Tobias didn't really care much about the laughs and smirks of his companions, he found he could just ignore it. Truth was that the orc liked the challenge of having a blade either side of the handle, he enjoyed the little falls and occasional dropping of the sword - it was all part of the learning process, [i]and for all they laugh I don't see them doing anything to improve themselves[/i]. The sword itself was quite simple, bright silver steel with a faded, mahogany cloth wrapped tightly around the centre, extremely light to hold, effortless to swing and had proven to be much sharper than the bone scimitar Tobias learned to wield whilst growing up. It was the best thing Tobias had found whilst spending most of his growing years scouring the ocean floor around Blackstone Bay for treasure chests and rare artefacts.


As the city of Juvegol came into Tobias' sight he immediately noticed a thin grey smoke rising high above it, with a peak into the looking glass Tobias also spotted a small fleet of crimson warships anchored in the Frost River. 'Captain!' He bellowed, 'Might want to come take a look at this', he wasn't sure whether or not to panic but Tobias was definitely clever enough to know what a siege looked like. Not a moment too soon the captain emerged from his living quarters in a rather unusual attire. Compared to his usual ragged clothes today the captain chose to don a glorious black admiral's jacket sewn together with a glowing gold thread and cover his long, unruly ginger hair with a wide brimmed pirate hat the same deep purple as Mathilda's sail. [i] He looks half done [/i] Tobias thought as he noticed the same dirty, pale green breeches and worn leather boots he'd seen the captain in for the duration of the trip, both items condemning evidence that this was a man who only half understood the expression 'dress to impress'.

'What'sa matter boy!?' He shouted skywards and began to ascend the centre mast that Tobias frequented, climbing and leaping with the same swiftness and cat-like precision the gregarious captain displayed whilst beating Tobias in a race to the top of Lucky Peace. Usually it was a quick way to make an easy few coins to challenge someone to a climbing race to the top of the tall fishing boat that Tobias was familiar with back at home. That was until Captain Hatchet Harry showed up and beat Tobias by about four seconds.

It wasn't long after he saw Tobias and Juvegol in the distance that the captain's firm, rough hands were snatching the seeing glass from Tobias' clutches and nudging him in the arm playfully. The jovial attitude was quick to change though and with a stern, unflinching gaze the captain announced a mate's meeting almost loudly enough for the sieging fleet to here. When Tobias came to think of it this was the first time since knowing the man that he's seemed unsettled.

'Mate's meeting? What's that?' Tobias couldn't help but start feeling the panic overcome him, he began thinking of the few fights he'd been in along the bayfront and even though he could hold his own against some of the bigger orcs that caused trouble around the bay he was no warrior. 'That's a siege isn't it? Now what are we going to do?' He asked the captain, adventure is what Tobias signed up for; not war. He wasn't ever completely sure that he trusted his new boss but Tobias had been hoping deep down that the fierce, battle-hardened reputation the captain had earned preceded him and that he wouldn't be out looking for fights. The captain calmly handed the glass back over, which Tobias was grateful for, quickly setting himself the task of counting ships.

The captain took one last look towards Juvegol before setting his cold, grey eyes on Tobias and letting a wry smile escape through the few stained teeth that stuck with him during his many years at sea before replying 'That IS what we're here to do! ARR!' and quick as a flash the captain was out of sight, before Tobias could even contemplate a response. As the mates shoved their way past the rabbling swabbies and into the meeting den Tobias knew he wasn't the only one on Miss Mathilda that felt uneasy about what was going to happen next. [/hider]