Edoric Thatch - [i]One Teaching Pirate[/i]

Edoric looked at the Direwolf as the angry young man brough in his clothes and presumably his belongs in a bag. [i]Pirates hunting pirates eh? Almost like cannabalism.[/i] Edoric thought as the girl cut off his bindings. He rubbed his wrists and stood up, standing taller than Anna by a good head or two. He faced the corner of the room as he slipped on his shirt and pants along with the rest of his outfit. Rule number 40 of being a gentleman pirate dictated that one should only change in view of a lover.

Buttoning up the shirt, he heard Anna dump the contents of the bag on to the floor. "Hey, careful with my stuff will you?" Edoric buttoned his cuffs as Anna rifled through his trinkets. He checked his boots and his chest piece's straps as the tinkling noise stopped and Anna asked, [color=f6989d]"Now that business is done, what is this?"[/color]

Edoric turned around and with one swift move, he slipped his arms through his coat and caught the heavy parchement packaged and smiled, [color=aba000]"This, love, is what will help me getting my treasure."[/color]

He dropped to one knee and rolled it out, revealing a pristine map despite how old the outside looked. Behind the fading parchment was a series of thin wooden strips, colored and etched to show current borders of nations along the edge. However, in the middle was a series of rings, each one getting smaller in width as it got closer to a golden ball right in the center. 

At a first glance, the rings made very little sense. The lands etched into the moveable rings where on no normal map and gibberish marked along the edges of the rings where they could be turned. The sharp black ink stood out against the fading, but still clearly visible lands. The words looked like some form of alien language as if something other than mortal branded its language on to the scroll.

[color=f6989d]"What is this?"[/color] Anna questionably looked at the map, [color=f6989d]"This map is horribly wrong. Only the outside seems right and even then its still off."[/color]

[color=aba000]"Lass, that because this is no normal map. This is a Fog Map. One that lead you to it to be precise."[/color] Edoric fiddled with the rings, [color=aba000]"It leads to everywhere and nowhere at the same time. The marks will become word if you so wish them to be and the lands will become real."[/color]

Edoric twisted two of the rings and the words "The sky is of fire, purging those unworthy" from what was random ink marks seconds ago. Turning a different ring, the words disappeared into unreadable script and disconnected shapes formed a solid, noticeable land. Aging red, decaying green, and faint yellow formed connected land piece with no strange edges or unrealistic ends.

[color=aba000]"Its said that one will never see the map in the same way twice."[/color] Edoric looked to Anna and smiled as he once again moved the rings.

[color=f6989d]"It doesn't make sense."[/color] Anna eyed the pirate and his ancient map, [color=f6989d]"What good is a map that never shows the same place twice? And its impossible for that to be true."[/color]

With that Anna reached over and turned the rings to the exact spots she remembered Edoric had them. Her slender fingers danced on the old map as she nudged it ever so gently to get it exactly right. But to her surprise, Edoric was right. Even when she had turned the rings right back to where they were, there was no more connected land mass, no more words that formed from the incoherent markings.

[color=aba000]"See lass? This is what gets you to the edge of the world."[/color] Edoric leaned over and lifted Anna's hand off the map, [color=aba000]"But this is how you travel into the veil beyond."
[/color]

He folded his hand until only his index finger was out and pressed the tiny golden button in the center. His hand glowed a faint blue in some strange ruin. As he lifted his hand up, the mark shimmering through his glove, the rings followed his hand as if they were connected with invisible strings.

Anna drew in a curious breath as the rings became thicker in mid-air, and it flipped itself by a 90 degree angle and parallel to the wall. One by one, the rings slowly began to un agin themselves and continued spinning gracefully. The final result looked more like a gyroscope then the original map. The rings where golden and so beautifully crafted, there was no way mere mortal hands could ever hope to forge such a thing. Even the colors of the landmasses went from their dull and fading colors, to being vibrant and glittered faintly as the gyro-map move about.

[color=aba000]"This is a true Fog Map, one that will guide you in the deepest regions."[/color] Edoric whispered as the Fog Map's rings rotated along contiguously moving axis, it a beautiful thing that only few people knew how to read,[color=aba000] "This map will never show you where you are in correlation to the world, it will show where the world is in correlation to you."[/color]

[color=f6989d]"That makes no sense."[/color] Anna questioned Edoric as she stared into the gently moving map, unconiously moving a hand to touch it.

The gyroscope suddenly moved back and its rings rotated like a flustered chicken. "[color=aba000]Love, everything makes sense if you don't think about it."[/color] Edoric said as Anna moved her hand to chase after it, the orb dodging all attempts, [color=aba000]"The map choose who is worthy enough to be its master. You, who have never even been in the Outer Layer, are no where near worthy enough to have its respect."[/color]

[color=f6989d]"Pft."[/color] Anna scoffed as he retracted her hand and the gyro-orb returned to floating above Edoric's palm.

[color=aba000]"With this I can find things that no one else will ever touch. This is what will lead me to thrive in this world lass."[/color] Edoric stared into the center of the twinkling Fog Map, [color=aba000]"I am searching for an magical item said to be able to call down the sun as a weapon."
[/color]
As if on its own, the orb transferred itself back on to the ancient map and the pirate captain's hand stopped glowing, [color=aba000]"All things considered, this is very viable to your mercantile sections and possible the sections that no ordinary person ought to know."
[/color]
Rolling up the map and tucking it under his arm, [color=aba000]"Now I want to ask you something, how much do you trust me if I were to lead such a venture?"[/color] Edoric bowed, [color=aba000]"With your 'guidance' of course."[/color]

[color=f6989d]"And how do I know you won't stab me in the back and run off to what ever rat hole you came from?" [/color] Anna rested her head on a clenched fist.
[color=aba000]"Because of two things. One, rule number 62 of being a gentleman pirate says no deceiving women." [/color]Edoric swept everything on the ground back into the bag and slung it over his shoulder, [color=aba000]"Two, if you do allow this, that 'rat hole from which I came' is the first place I will have to visit."[/color]