[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/250324/b71cf5ab5cebec9b4e857200f7c42a8b.png[/img] [img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/250324/dc185f5e06aa08f3af9fbb79b4040da5.png[/img] [color=EBA536][b]Location:[/b][/color] [color=E579FF]The Mercy[/color] [color=E579FF][b]Race:[/b][/color] [color=EBA536]Dark Elf[/color] & [color=E579FF]Human[/color] [color=E579FF][b]Class:[/b][/color] [color=EBA536]Artificer[/color] & [color=E579FF]Rogue[/color] [color=EBA536][b]Interactions:[/b][/color] [color=E579FF][b]Mentions:[/b][/color] [color=EBA536][b]Equipment:[/b][/color] [hider] [color=EBA536][b]Scratch[/b][/color] Medical bag Tinkerer's kit Arcane spindlelock (shortened) musket Spindlelock pistols x2 Hand axes x2 [color=E579FF][b]Val[/b][/color] First-aid bag Tinkerer's kit Spindlelock pistols x2 Steel daggers x2[/hider][color=E579FF][b]Attire:[/b][/color] [hider] [color=EBA536][b]Scratch[/b][/color] Dark brown, knee-length coat Black waistbelt Grey button-up shirt Dark brown trousers Heavy leather boots [color=E579FF][b]Val[/b][/color] Off-white shirt Red ribbon tied around left arm Brown hooded coat Brown trousers Leather boots Goggles on her head[/hider][color=EBA536][b]Gold:[/b][/color] 95 [color=E579FF][b]Injuries:[/b][/color] [hider] [color=EBA536][b]Scratch[/b][/color] NA [color=E579FF][b]Val[/b][/color] NA[/hider] [/center] The place was a dump. It wasn’t the most polite way for Scaerthrynne to describe the ship’s cabin, but he honestly couldn’t think of any other way to put it. Not when the room was so cramped, so dark, and stank so heavily of damp rot. He swore he could sniff out hints of actual, festering decay as well—likely from some poor animal that’d snuck in and hadn’t the decency to sneak back out before dying. Just about every scrap of wood—from the beams supporting the deck above, to the planks that formed the bench he sat upon, to the table upon which he’d laid out his equipment—had more green tendrils creeping along their surfaces than they had grains and knots. The metalwork wasn’t in much better shape. So pitted and rusted were the brackets and clamps and nails holding everything together that Scaerthrynne wouldn’t have been surprised if they started spontaneously dissolving into dust. Clearly, nobody had entered this cabin—or stepped aboard this ship, in fact—in a very long time. And had Scaerthrynne the choice, he wouldn’t have, either. “What’re you doing?” a gruff voice asked from behind him. The dark elf let out an exasperated sigh, set his tools down, and turned around. Even in the dim light, the voice’s owner’s bald head shone, and the tattoos decorating his bare arms—of ships, sea creatures, and other nautical imagery—made his pirate allegiance clear for all to see. [color=EBA536]“Maintenance,”[/color] Scaerthrynne replied drily, sweeping a hand over the partially-disassembled pistol, and the open medical bag on the table. [color=EBA536]“Since you’re keeping me here for who-knows-what reasons, I may as well do something productive.”[/color] The pirate’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve been doing that for a while.” [color=EBA536]“Maintenance takes time,”[/color] Scaerthrynne said, unfazed. [color=EBA536]“You’d know that, if you’d actually bothered to take care of this floating wreck from time to time.”[/color] The pirate glared at him. Then, he harrumped and said nothing more. Scaerthrynne wasn’t too concerned about antagonising him—the pirates needed him. For what reason, he didn’t know, but he could—for now, at least—be certain that Vallena and he wouldn’t be hurt. Still, this was far from an acceptable state of affairs. He’d been content enough with repairing the Stormrider when these pirates had shown up in force, and had essentially kidnapped Vallena and him. That they’d wanted to take the girl aroused his suspicions. He could understand why these pirates might have issue with him—maybe he’d made enemies with them some time in the distant past. But the girl? That was very, very strange. The pirates had also allowed the two of them to bring their weapons along. That suggested two things. For one, it meant that the pirates were confident enough that they could keep Vallena and him in line. And two, whatever they wanted with him, likely involved work that called for use of force. Scaerthrynne didn’t like the sound of either. [color=E579FF]“I didn’t find anything.”[/color] Vallena returned at that moment, her voice small as she turned the corner around a stack of shelves. Her eyes, large and nervous, flitted over to the pirate before settling on Scaerthrynne. He glanced at her, then reached out with a hand to tug her coatsleeves down over her arms. [color=EBA536]“Are you trying to cut youself on something?”[/color] Vallena whined. [color=E579FF]“But it’s hot!”[/color] [color=EBA536]“So’s a fever,”[/color] Scaerthrynne replied firmly, fixing her with a stern glare. [color=EBA536]“Which is what you’ll get from some strange disease after cutting yourself on some rotten splinter or rusted nail.”[/color] [color=E579FF]“That won’t happen if I just stay here and wait with you,”[/color] she countered. [color=EBA536]“One of us has to go looking for something useful,”[/color] Scaerthrynne said. [color=EBA536]“And seeing as how I’m working on your pistol, again, it’s not going to be me. Go dig around a little more. See if you’ve missed anything.”[/color] He glanced furtively at the pirate. Vallena’s eyes followed his gaze. Then, she nodded and quickly slipped away, disappearing into the shadows as she made her way to another corner of the cabin. Hopefully, she’d find something that could help them escape. A weak spot in the decking, perhaps, that Scaerthrynne could punch through and allow them to get away from their captors. That’d be ideal, but he’d be happy enough if she could just find something that could be used as a distraction. Or something that could magically knock out a dozen or so pirates at once. Well, if he had to be honest, he could very easily cobble together that exact ‘something’. Unfortunately, it’d also likely be explosive, or destructive in some other way. He didn’t have any problem with that, really. Had he been alone, he would’ve been more than willing to sink the entire ship—with everyone in it—with some sort of arcane device, and find a way to crawl out of the wreckage. With Vallena here with him, however, he’d have to resort to more covert, and more gentle, methods. “What do you want her to find?” the pirate asked, his face scrunching up in discomfort as he scratched his crotch over his trousers. Scaerthrynne shrugged. [color=EBA536]“Just anything useful.”[/color] Then, he grabbed a vial from the medical bag and held it out to the pirate. [color=EBA536]“Here,”[/color] he said, not bothering to look up from the table. [color=EBA536]“This will help with your crotch rot. Smear it on the sores and they’ll heal in a day or two. I’ll mix up something for you to drink to help with the itch for now. Your scratching is driving me crazy.”[/color] The pirate’s face flushed. “W-What? I–” [color=EBA536]“Don’t even try to deny it,”[/color] Scaerthrynne cut in, turning to look at him, his expression unamused. [color=EBA536]“I’ve seen you do that at least a dozen times, now, and there’s only one reason a man would keep scratching himself down there even after it starts to hurt.”[/color] “You’re not trying to poison me, are you?” Scaerthrynne rolled his eyes. [color=EBA536]“If I really wanted to, I’d have much, much better ways of doing that. Relax. I can’t get out of here even if I poison you, anyway. Your friends outside would stop me, wouldn’t they?”[/color] The pirate furrowed his brow. Then, he hesitantly took the vial. “I guess that makes sense. And thank you, I guess.” No sooner had he pocketed the vial did a shrill scream—Vallena’s—cut through the stale air. Scaerthrynne immediately turned, and was just about to jump to his feet when the girl shouted, [color=E579FF]“Ew, ew, ew! Scratch! I–I stepped on a d-d-dead rat!”[/color] Her words quickly turned into a wail. [color=E579FF]“T-There’s more of them! S-Scratch!”[/color] Well, at least now he knew where that festering scent was coming from. [color=EBA536]“Mind helping her clean it up?”[/color] he asked the pirate, his shoulders relaxing. “What? You do it. I’m supposed to be guarding you.” Scaerthrynne held up his hands and nodded to the medical bag. [color=EBA536]“Right. I’ll go handle a rotting carcass and come back to touch medicines that you’ll be drinking, will I? How many more varieties of rot do you want in your body? You can just tell me now and I’ll mix them all up for you.”[/color] The pirate met his gaze, his lips curled in a frown. Then, he grunted. “Alright, alright. Fine. But you’d better not try anything funny.” [color=EBA536]“Do I look like I ever do anything funny?”[/color] Scaerthrynne asked drily. Truth be told, however, he was sorely tempted to stab the pirate in the leg with a syringe as he passed. All it’d take would be a simple prick with a powerful anaesthetic, and he’d be out cold for at least the next few hours. Or perhaps even forever, if the dosage was off. But taking care of one pirate meant little when there were many more spread out across the ship’s decks. Even if he were on his own, it’d be a tall order to ask him to deal with that many people. With Vallena, it’d almost be impossible. He returned to his work with a huff, fishing out an empty vial from his bag. No, for now, he’d wait. Once the opportune moment came, he’d take his chances to get Vallena and himself out of here. “You idiot, don’t grab it like—!” [color=E579FF]“I-It’s on me! G-Get it off! Get it off!”[/color] Scaerthrynne sighed, reached into the bag again, and took out a roll of clean bandages, as well as a bottle of cleansing solution. For now, he supposed, he’d be happy enough surviving a very irate Vallena.