[h1][color=aqua]Captain Aldrich[/color][/h1]
"Sorry Cap'n!" Shouted a voice from the ironclad ship lingering just off the shallows of the Continent. "The lads all agree! This is where we leave you! We just can't abide a trip to this place, we've got families! Children!" Derisive laughter boomed from the deck as Aldrich's first mate, Berhtr, took the helm and waved with a smile on his face. Aldrich sneered as he pulled his coat back into order, sopping wet over his shoulders. The dirtied Imperial medallions shone on the lapel in the light of the torch. Berhtr walked to the edge of the deck and leaned over, "You know how I am with my 'family'!" From his hip, he pulled a long, slender blade that shone with white and gold in the low light of the ship's fires.

Aldrich grit his teeth and ran a hand over the smooth of his head. "At least arm me, you coward! If you challenged me like a man, we'd be swabbing the red off the deck by now!" The crew laughed again, Berhtr nodding along with the challenge from his former captain. "Aye, you would, Cap'n. You've got a foot on me, and you're schooled with this here scrapper." He raised the sheathed rapier and leaned over the railing to throw it in the shallows, "But you're not in the Guard anymore! These ain't Imperial waters! Honor got washed off the keel the minute we left for this godforsaken place."

Aldrich picked his blade from the water, and felt the sea spray his face as a flintlock pistol and a heavy bottle buried themselves in the shallows as well. He picked them up and holstered the weapons, toting the bottle with his free hand. "I've even left you a bottle of the Dagger's brew for good will!" The crew exploded into laughter again as they pulled anchor and began to slowly drift away.

And now here he was, he thought as he turned back to the shore of the Continent. Drenched to the bone, covered in salt and sand and in possession of some VERY strong moonshine. He gave a frustrated bellow as he moved toward the treeline, unconcerned with the island itself as he uncorked the Dagger brew and took a healthy swig. It burned as it went down, but he could take it.

He was one of the Empire's finest after all. Well, once.