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Golden Age of Piracy: Caribbean 1655 (OOC)

“Jim!” The face of Braziliano, clouded over with the glaze of alchohol, brightened up in recognition as he saw his fellow pirate approach him.

“Jim, my friend,” repeated the drunk, but still dread pirate. He raised his bottle and took a long swig of rum, before wrapping his arm around Jim. His eyes fell upon the old bottle that Jim had, and hunched over, in a fit of laughter.

His breath reeked of alcohol as he spoke again, nearly in the pirate’s face.

“Jim, Jim. Are ye too broke to throw ol’ Sammy boy there another shillin’ for a bottle o’ rum? Your ol’ captain not payin’ enough for you, eh?” With another exaggerated motion, he chugged the bottle of rum before thrusting the bottle of gold-colored liquor into the crewman’s hands.

“Well, I got a proposal for ya Jim, and you don’t go around and be objectin’ about it neither, or I’ll have yer head. Word has it that this D’Oyley, the new gov’ner in Port Royal, might be, let’s say, sympathetic to our cause. Now you see, I’m all settled in nice here in Tortuga for a bit, so I want ye to get me ship provisioned –be fast about it, no more than half’a fortnight—and see how close Eddy is in with us. Ye got command for a week, Jim.”

Braziliano gave another hearty laugh. “And that means celebration, Jim! I’ll buy ye a whole round, as much as ye want!”

---

The HMS Endymion, resupplied, and refreshed, was two days out of Port Royal. With topgallants set and a favorable wind blowing, the English frigate was fast on its way to the coast of Tortuga. On a fair Thursday evening, Captain Hampshire and her ship had come across a small pirate sloop, armed but no match for the heavily armed warship. Its bearing indicated it was headed for Tortuga, likely fat with plunder after a successful raid on local shipping. The sighting of its masts would start the motions of Fir’s grand plans for the capture of Tortuga.

“One shot will do, Mr. Anson. Let’s not waste powder and shot.”

“Yessir. One shot, Mr. Johnson,” yelled the gunnery officer, after tipping his hat in acknowledgement of his captain. A moment later, a shot rang out, and a 12-pound shot flew over the bow of the pirate vessel.

Like clockwork, the enemy vessel faltered slightly, and then hove over to port in surrender. A moment later, the infamous black flag of the sloop slowly lowered, in jerky fashion to signify the end of the short-lived engagement. There would, naturally, be no other outcome for the pirates in the face of the devastating broadside of a 32-gun frigate.

“Well done, Mr. Johnson,” said Fir, standing on the starboard railing of the frigate. Robert Hudson was alongside, as was midshipman John Anson, who had recently been granted duties as a gunnery officer.

“The glass, if you please Robert,” continued the captain in her usual cool demeanor. With a nod, Mr. Hudson, who had been looking through his glass, handed over the small brass instrument the captain. “Do you fancy that vessel large enough for our purposes?” whispered the first lieutenant, as Fir looked through the glass.

The sloop was definitely a smaller vessel, perhaps 21 meters in length. It was named the Orient Fortune, and from what Fir could see, was probably rated at eight guns, probably 6-pounders. For all intents and purposes, it was a fine ship, and certainly one of the vessels that had been a thorn in the side of Port Royal shipping. With a silent yes, she nodded. The Orient Fortune would be a fine vessel indeed.

“Mr. Anson, get you and your men ready and prepare a prize crew. I want all the pirates off that vessel and aboard by sundown and the sloop alongside in an hour. Chop to it, we don’t have all day for you gaze at a little dinghy with your spyglass now, Mr. Anson!”

Golden Age of Piracy: Caribbean 1655 (OOC)

Braziliano is an npc. Is your question about interacting with them in general, or him specifically?

Golden Age of Piracy: Caribbean 1655 (OOC)

Did you know? Tortuga rum cake is delicious.

The Transreality War: Ship-Based Sci-Fi Multiverse RP

Erm.

What happened to everybody?

Golden Age of Piracy: Caribbean 1655 (OOC)

The captain of His Majesty’s Ship the Endymion looked out the glass windows of her cabin in deep thought. It was just past midday and the sun was streaming through the windows, illuminating the captain’s cabin with a brilliant golden glow. Fir Hampshire’s thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the cabin door and the voice of her first lieutenant.

“Mr. Gibson passed the word on the way out. You called, captain?”

“Yes. Come in,” said the captain, without removing her eyes from the window.

Opening the door in a brisk, but still smooth swoop, the first lieutenant Robert Hudson entered the room. As per normal, he removed his hat and placed it behind his back as he waited for his captain to speak.

Finally removing herself from the window, Fir looked at her first officer with an emotionless expression before removing a folded note from the breast pocket of her black peacoat. Producing a subtle frown, she handed the note to Hudson.

“Mr. Hudson, what do you make of this?”

Fir watched as her second-in-command’s face progressively redden in anger as he read the note. Robert was a very vocal man and had the unfortunate habit of showing his emotions… very indiscreetly. He seemed to reach his boiling point as finished reading the letter, gently setting down the letter on the captain’s desk before opening his mouth to launch into what Fir could only guess to be a very long and strongly worded tirade.

“Unorthodox, they say. What a load of stinking horse chattel--! D’Oyley-- He’s incompetent, rude, condescending, that’s what he is. To send a single frigate to capture a port! Tortuga! Bullocks! And to give a letter, through Mr. Gibson? Why, he had all the time in the world to speak--“

“Robert, that’s quite enough,” interrupted Fir, with a succinctly placed cough. “I do find it unfortunate, however, that Mr. D’Oyley was not acquainted with Mr. Gibson in the week he was aboard.”

She noted the phrases concerning the capture of pirates oddly worded; it was general practice to capture, not kill pirates and bring them to port for prosecution. It was oddly specific of him to simply restate common practice. There was definitely an ulterior motive to this, one that Fir had a hunch on but decided against mentioning to her first officer.

Pulling out the seat of her desk, Captain Hampshire sat down in her chair, motioning for Hudson to do the same. At the same time, she produced a quill and parchment.

“We will be in Port Royal for a fortnight to replenish supplies and to allow the crew some leave. We will, naturally, resume our patrol of the West Indies, and conduct ourselves as per normal in the manner that is expected of a Royal Navy frigate.”

She continued to write while speaking to the lieutenant. “Of course, the matter of Tortuga will have to be addressed in some manner; the order is vague at best.” Since the order implied and gave authorization to command a military expedition against the port of Tortuga, she would have to assemble an expeditionary force of seizing and holding Tortuga. She would write Sir Penn and request additional ships and a marine detachment, under the auspices of the governor. “I will request aid from Sir Penn. If D’Oyley objects to additional aid, he will have to explain himself why he is sending merely 220 men to capture Tortuga. In the meantime, we will patrol Tortuga and gather intelligence, and take action as the situation commands.”

The captain handed Robert a letter, neatly folded and sealed with wax. “Correspondence for the governor. Do make sure you give that to a dock official; if the governor did not have the time to approach me on matters as important as this, then I don’t believe I have to the time to pay him a housewarming visit to acknowledge.”

Fir knew D’Oyley did not expect a single ship and its captain to take Tortuga, but by god, he would have Tortuga and eat its cake one way or another.

Golden Age of Piracy: Caribbean 1655 (OOC)

Oh man, that governor is in way over his head if he thinks a single frigate can take a port.

This is going to be interesting.

Golden Age of Piracy: Caribbean 1655 (OOC)

RPs sound kinda awkward in first person, more so when everybody else is in third. :/

Golden Age of Piracy: Caribbean 1655 (OOC)

Some incomprehensible gibberish and a shameless ad for fifa coins.

Golden Age of Piracy: Caribbean 1655 (OOC)

Nice! Tell me how you find the book.

I just realized the new board doesn't have a report button. That... Kinda sucks.

Golden Age of Piracy: Caribbean 1655 (OOC)

You might want to look at the book series British Warships in the Age of Sail. They cover vessels from the 1600s until the mid 1800s. I haven't read it myself, but I heard it's a very good resource and I'll eventually buy it myself. :p