[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] 111
[color=E579FF][b]Injuries:[/b][/color]
[hider]
[color=EBA536][b]Scratch[/b][/color]
NA
[color=E579FF][b]Val[/b][/color]
NA[/hider]
[/center]
Doing something about his pirate guard’s rot problem had, in hindsight, been a terrible mistake.

Unfortunately for Scaerthrynne, that realisation came too late for it to be useful. Three similarly rot-infested pirates—soon to be four—too late, to be precise. He had only himself to blame for his woes, really. Pirates were, after all, hardly the sort to remain tight-lipped around their salt-stained fellows. For his unwanted and unnecessary guard to tell quite literally anyone who poked a head into the cabin about the dark elf who did something about his accursed itch was thus, logically speaking, only natural.

And so, as Scaerthrynne squinted at the angry, weeping sores blooming around—and on, in fact—the lips of patient number four, he grumbled inwardly about the natural state of things. Pinching a cotton ball damp with cleaning spirits between the points of a pair of tweezers, he not-so-gently dabbed at the wounds. The young man—young enough to have only a few whiskers dusting his chin—flinched. He hissed, drawing in a sharp breath through his teeth.

[color=EBA536]“Be quiet,”[/color] Scaerthrynne said tersely. Pus quickly stained the cotton ball a sickly yellow. He huffed, tossing it onto the cluttered table. If it hadn’t been dirtied by the man’s wounds earlier, then touching the somewhat rotted, probably woodworm infested, and gnarled tabletop certainly rendered it utterly filthy. Scaerthrynne’s already sharp features sharpened even more in annoyance. 

[color=EBA536]“What a waste of perfectly good supplies,”[/color] he muttered beneath his breath. Frustration gnawed at him. His patience grew thin. He looked at the young man, and with barely hidden disgust and contempt in his voice, said, [color=EBA536]“You know, there’s a reason we call it [i]crotch[/i] rot and not [i]mouth[/i] rot.”[/color]

“Well, rot’s rot, innit?” the young pirate mumbled, still wincing.

Scaerthrynne fixed him with a deadpan stare. [color=EBA536]“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but crotch rot usually appears around a crotch. Thus the name. I’m curious as to how you managed to get it around your mouth. Are you such a confusing individual that even a disease gets lost?”[/color]

A deep crimson washed over the pirate’s cheeks. He squirmed on the stool, averting his gaze. 

Sighing, Scaerthrynne shook his head. [color=EBA536]“Val,”[/color] he called out. 

He received no response. 

[color=EBA536]“Val,”[/color] he repeated, firmer and louder this time. Still nothing. Clicking his tongue and furrowing his brow, he turned, his eyes meeting the back of the girl’s head. She sat facing the cabin’s blank wall, her arms folded tightly over her chest. [color=EBA536]“A reply would be nice.”[/color]

Vallena harrumphed, shaking her head. [color=E579FF]“No! I’m ignoring you!”[/color]

Normally, Scaerthrynne would’ve been annoyed by her behaviour, but he was inclined to let things slide on this particular occasion. He’d made her clean the cabin, after all, and despite her complaints, the odd dead animal here and there, and the generally unpleasant environment, she’d done a fine job. The bucket at his feet, filled with desiccated, broken carcasses—most of them had once been rats, but others were so badly decayed that it was impossible to tell what they’d been in life—was proof of that. It was also very likely the reason why she was so upset with him.

[color=E579FF]“You can get whatever you want yourself!”[/color] Vallena said with a huff. 

[color=EBA536]“I don’t need you to get anything,”[/color] Scaerthrynne said flatly. [color=EBA536]“Just watch your ears.”[/color]

Vallena refused to look at him, but still she obediently pressed her hands flat against the sides of her head.

Scaerthrynne wasted no time. He snapped back around to face the young pirate, his expression dark, and his gaze piercing. [color=EBA536]“Listen up and listen close, you dumb bastard,”[/color] he said in a low voice. [color=EBA536]“I’m not an idiot. I know how you got your rot. Now, I don’t know which whorehouse you and your friends went to, but I’m not in the mood to treat all of you just because none of you have enough of a brain to understand how to keep yourselves clean. What made you think it was a good idea to kiss a lady’s rotted nether regions?”[/color]

“I–I don’t know what you’re talking—” 

[color=EBA536]“Keep your voice down,”[/color] the dark elf hissed threateningly. [color=EBA536]“There are things I’d rather the girl not hear.”[/color]

The pirate gulped and nodded. 

[color=EBA536]“Now, I’m bloody sick and tired of treating crotch rot. If you pirates want my help, the least you can do is to come to me with something [i]interesting[/i], and not something so pedestrian,”[/color] Scaerthrynne went on, shaking his head as he turned to the table. He rummaged around his bag and pulled out a bottle. Wider than it was tall, and capped with a cloth tied around its neck, it was stouter than the vials he’d been using. [color=EBA536]“Smear this on your sores twice a day. Don’t scratch them. Don’t even touch them. Tell your friends to do the same for their own rots.”[/color]

Scaerthrynne tossed the bottle over. The pirate caught it just in time.

[color=EBA536]“And above fucking all, keep yourselves clean,”[/color] the dark elf said, practically spitting his words out. [color=EBA536]“You’re all attached to your cocks, I’m sure. If you want to stay attached to them, then follow my instructions. You’ll have great futures as eunuchs to look forward to, otherwise.”[/color]

He fixed the pirate with a glare. [color=EBA536]“Do you understand?”[/color]

The pirate gulped, cradling the bottle close to his chest, and nodded quickly. It was almost comical how his head bobbed up and down like an out-of-control spring. Were he any less irritated, Scaerthrynne would’ve almost certainly cracked a smile. “Y-Yes,” the pirate managed to say. “Use the cream twice a day, wash up more often, and tell my mates to do the same, aye.”

Scaerthrynne waved him away. [color=EBA536]“Now, can you get the guard from before to come back? He’s taking a very long time for a piss. I’m starting to wonder if his rot’s gone up his cock. Now [i]that[/i] would be interesting.”[/color]

“Oh, that’s just ol’ Nate for you,” the pirate replied. “Pisses a bloody river every damn time, he does.”

The dark elf blinked once, then shook his head. [color=EBA536]“Right, whatever,”[/color] he muttered. The stool’s legs screeched loudly against the floor as the pirate scrambled to his feet. Scaerthrynne paid him no heed whatsoever. He instead turned to Vallena, tapping her thrice on the shoulder. She uncovered her ears. [color=EBA536]“Did you manage to hear anything?”[/color]

The girl shook her head. [color=E579FF]“No,”[/color] she said. [color=E579FF]“But I’m still ignoring you!”[/color]

Scaerthyrnne suppressed the urge to chuckle. [color=EBA536]“Whatever you say, but can you just—”[/color]

A commotion from beyond the cabin’s door interrupted him. The sounds were muffled and garbled, but he could still make out voices—calm ones, thankfully—thudding footfalls, and the sharp, dragged out creak of wood being pried apart. It was that last one that alarmed Scaerthrynne the most. 

[color=E579FF]“What was that?”[/color] Vallena squeaked. 

[color=EBA536]“I don’t know,”[/color] he replied. Already, he was on his feet, his weapons slung and holstered on his person, and his hands busy packing away his items. He glanced furtively at the young pirate. The youth didn’t look as if he knew what was going on either. That was good. If there was something going on out there that took the pirates by surprise, then he had a chance to get Vallena and himself out of their predicament. They’d have to play things carefully, of course, to take full advantage of the potential chaos. 

He slung his bags across his body and pushed his way past the young pirate. [color=EBA536]“But I plan to find out.”[/color]

Vallena nodded. She waddled after him, hefting the carcass-filled bucket with both hands. [color=E579FF]“I’ll take this out and empty it. I don’t want to see it anymore.”[/color]

Scaerthrynne glanced over his shoulder, arching a brow but not stopping her. A bucket full of dead critters might prove to be a useful distraction, if nothing else. Keeping a hand near his pistol’s holster, he drew in a deep breath, steadied himself, and burst through the cabin’s door…

…Only to find nothing on the ship’s deck.

Well, there were people. A lot of people, in fact. But there wasn’t the chaotic opportunity that he’d hoped to find. The pirates weren’t in a panic; they seemed relaxed, if anything. A crate with its top ripped open gave him all the explanation he needed for the loud creaking he’d heard earlier. He couldn't, however, find much of an explanation for the very small, very wet, and very lost goblin standing in the midst of beings far taller, and far bigger than he. Scaerthrynne certainly didn’t remember seeing the creature when he’d first arrived on the ship. Had it been kept in the now-opened crate all this while?

He shook his head slightly, clearing his head. Now wasn’t the time for useless thoughts. 

[color=EBA536]“What’s going on?”[/color] he asked.

To his surprise, it wasn’t a pirate that answered him, but rather, Vallena. Although she didn’t answer him as much as she’d simply exclaimed, [color=E579FF]“Riddles!”[/color] She pulled at Scaerthrynne’s sleeve. [color=E579FF]“Look, look, Scratch! It’s Riddles and uh...other people.”[/color]

Scaerthrynne turned to look at the crowd. He had to be honest—he couldn’t remember any of their names, their faces, or even how they’d met, other than that they’d crossed paths on the [i]Stormrider[/i]. [color=EBA536]“Other people, right,”[/color] he said. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but arch a brow in surprise. He hadn’t been expecting to see anyone else from the airship here. Whether it was a good or bad thing remained to be seen. [color=EBA536]“I’m guessing you’re here for a pleasure cruise like the rest of us?”[/color]

[color=E579FF]“Hello again, Riddles!”[/color] Vallena greeted excitedly, waving her hand. The bucket slipped from the grip of her remaining fingers. It clattered loudly on the deck and tipped over, emptying its disgusting contents right by the girl’s feet. She looked down at it with wide eyes, and froze for a moment. 

Then, she screamed. [color=E579FF]“Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Scratch! It’s all over my shoes! Get it off! Get it off!”[/color]

Scaerthrynne simply sighed and looked at everyone.

[color=EBA536]“Welcome aboard.”[/color]