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Ezekiel
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Zeus23Incompetent in that you are looking for partners?@Inkarnate
Penny Member
STATUS: Ethical issues aside, AI prose is just really bad. 19 days ago
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19 days ago
Current
Ethical issues aside, AI prose is just really bad.
3
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27 days ago
She wanted to read, she wanted to write, but the main thing she wanted was something to fight
4
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1 yr ago
Make it clear that you don't need him to be reading Dante tomorrow. Also suggest it would be fun if you had a private language that you could use to mock English speakers in secret.
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2 yrs ago
Luckily history suggests an infinite ability for people to be shit heads ;)
1
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3 yrs ago
Achmed the Snake
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Bio
Early 30's. I know just enough about everything to be dangerous.
Most Recent Posts
Woods seemed a little uncomfortable for a moment and then manipulated her controllers. A video from a small electronic drone showed the same strange architecture from a higher angle. The drone closed quickly and a second feed from a ground based camera appeared showing what seemed to be the same vehicle as it approached the edge of the city. With a startling suddeness the drone picture went blank and the ground based feed showed the little vehicle suddenly exploding in a puff of smoke.
"We haven't been able to get any tech into site beta," she said, a red ring appeared around the site, marking the barrier.
"Biologicals haven't fared any better, we are working on the assumption that Pretty Boy's alien ink will get us through the barrier." She nodded at Taya.
"Best case we get a small window we can carry our tech through. Although I think we probably would be better off using our own people..." she trailed off and York rolled his eyes. Clearly it was an old argument between the two of them. Woods was too much of a professional to rehash it now.
"You will be coordinating tech support on the other side of the shield. We have to assume that comm nets and tech is going to need to be put together on the other side. We will be sending a tactical team in with you. My team. We are going to get in, get what intel we can and try to find someway to bring down the shield so that we can start properly studying the site. If you guys can do that for us, then its mission accomplished."
Sayeeda crossed her legs, looking at the logistics of the operation. It was clear that the Terrans weren't telling them everything. It seemed like they could just take Neil along and leave the rest of them ship side. Why was York so keen to get them all down on this mission?
"Well, we are still a month out, we are just going to cruise in the mean time?" she asked. Woods smiled as though she had been offered the most handsome man in the universe for the night.
"Of course not captain, that means we have a whole month to train up."
"We haven't been able to get any tech into site beta," she said, a red ring appeared around the site, marking the barrier.
"Biologicals haven't fared any better, we are working on the assumption that Pretty Boy's alien ink will get us through the barrier." She nodded at Taya.
"Best case we get a small window we can carry our tech through. Although I think we probably would be better off using our own people..." she trailed off and York rolled his eyes. Clearly it was an old argument between the two of them. Woods was too much of a professional to rehash it now.
"You will be coordinating tech support on the other side of the shield. We have to assume that comm nets and tech is going to need to be put together on the other side. We will be sending a tactical team in with you. My team. We are going to get in, get what intel we can and try to find someway to bring down the shield so that we can start properly studying the site. If you guys can do that for us, then its mission accomplished."
Sayeeda crossed her legs, looking at the logistics of the operation. It was clear that the Terrans weren't telling them everything. It seemed like they could just take Neil along and leave the rest of them ship side. Why was York so keen to get them all down on this mission?
"Well, we are still a month out, we are just going to cruise in the mean time?" she asked. Woods smiled as though she had been offered the most handsome man in the universe for the night.
"Of course not captain, that means we have a whole month to train up."
Calliope walked unsteadily off the gangplank, ignoring the leers and catcalls she recieved from the various dockside layabouts. It wasn’t entirely prudent to leave the ship completely uncrewed but in a port like Stormcrest it was unlikely that the ship would be outright stolen. Rigging her for sail alone would take an hour, which was longer than she planned to leave her. There were spells she might use to secure the Weather Witch but after two and a half days with no more sleep than the vagrant wind had allowed she hardly trusted herself to attempt to light a candle with magic, much less set up a ward.
The lower reaches of Stormcrest were wooden tenements, a maze of ship chandlers, bars, brothels and pawn shops. Sailors of dozens of nationalities and several races milled about haggling and drinking. Here and there a pistol cracked and swords clashed but it was the natural high spirits of a nautical town rather than any serious trouble. The town rose gradual towards the blue hills. Naturally the houses and shops became more substantail the higher one got. The better quality houses were made from baked red brick with slate rooves. It was just possible to see the ramparts of the Crimsion Fortress from down here, banners flapping in the breeze and the glint of its great dwarven guns. Unlike Calaverde Stormcrest enjoyed a far greater hinterland so its millitary might had to be greater. In the fertile lands beyond the port were dozens of plantations, producing sugar cane, coffee, indigo as well as oats and barley for the population. A network of dirt roads connected the port to the plantations, bringing crops to the sea and manufactured goods out to the farms.
Makus had only just completed his discussion with the dockmaster as she strode past without a word vanishing into the crowd. She might have notionally granted command to the man but she certainly didn’t consider herself to be under his command. Most of all she wanted to get some sleep and then study the Codex. There had been no time during the voyage and her skin all but prickled with the desire to dig into its pages. There would be time, but first she had to make a stop.
The pawn shop was most of the way up the hill. It was well appointed, racks of swords and fine clothing were positioned around the outside. Smaller cabinets filled with navigational instruments, charts, arcane devices and spell books were carefully sealed with expensive glass paneling. Arcane illumination from crystal globes bathed the store with a glimmering radiance. Behind a small counter was a fussy man with a neat black coat, powdered wig and a pair of spectacles. He looked up as Calliope entered, measuring her worth with a practiced eye. A woman in fine clothing, but rumpled and dirty, concealing her face with a hood. A widow whose husband had left her less than she needed to keep up appearances perhaps. A weathly merchant who had made bad investments. The fellow all but licked his lips.
“Can I help you madam?” he asked in a prissy voice. Calliope made a show of being hesitant moving forward only reluctantly.
“I… I don’t know if I have come to the right place,” she stammered with faux concern.
“Infact perhaps it is best I go…”
“No! No,” the pawnbroker said with just a note of panic at the thought of such a juicy mark slipping from his grasp.
“I’m sure whatever you require I can be of some assistance,” the oily man said. Calliope smiled within her hood and hesitantly reached into the satchel she had bought with her from Calaverde. She hadn’t troubled to share with Markus the fact that she had escaped with a small fortune. It wasn’t properly any of his concern afterall, as an avowed pirate he might just as soon slit her throat if he knew what she had. Carefully she withdrew a small intricately carved sapphire from her pouch.
“My husband… well the detail aren’t important surely,” she said, her face quavering. The pawn brokers eyes opened wide.
“I can hold onto it for you madam,” he said smoothly, “until you get on your feet.”
When Calliope found Markus she was dressed in a new white silk shirt with a gray leather vest corseted around her waist. Her legs were sheathed in a fine trousers of soft doeskin tucked into black leather boots. A new rapier hung on her belt and a tricorne hat sat upon her head. Several arcane texts were tucked into her pouch, chosen to help her with her study of the Codex. She strode into the bar where the pirate sat, pulled a purse of coin from her tunic and tossed it onto the table. I clinked weightily and several gold sovereigns spilled out onto the table top.
“Start up money, to find a crew and proper artillery,” she said airly before taking a seat across from him.
“You may consider your half a loan,” she declared waving one of the barwenches towards them and calling for ale and hot stew.
The lower reaches of Stormcrest were wooden tenements, a maze of ship chandlers, bars, brothels and pawn shops. Sailors of dozens of nationalities and several races milled about haggling and drinking. Here and there a pistol cracked and swords clashed but it was the natural high spirits of a nautical town rather than any serious trouble. The town rose gradual towards the blue hills. Naturally the houses and shops became more substantail the higher one got. The better quality houses were made from baked red brick with slate rooves. It was just possible to see the ramparts of the Crimsion Fortress from down here, banners flapping in the breeze and the glint of its great dwarven guns. Unlike Calaverde Stormcrest enjoyed a far greater hinterland so its millitary might had to be greater. In the fertile lands beyond the port were dozens of plantations, producing sugar cane, coffee, indigo as well as oats and barley for the population. A network of dirt roads connected the port to the plantations, bringing crops to the sea and manufactured goods out to the farms.
Makus had only just completed his discussion with the dockmaster as she strode past without a word vanishing into the crowd. She might have notionally granted command to the man but she certainly didn’t consider herself to be under his command. Most of all she wanted to get some sleep and then study the Codex. There had been no time during the voyage and her skin all but prickled with the desire to dig into its pages. There would be time, but first she had to make a stop.
The pawn shop was most of the way up the hill. It was well appointed, racks of swords and fine clothing were positioned around the outside. Smaller cabinets filled with navigational instruments, charts, arcane devices and spell books were carefully sealed with expensive glass paneling. Arcane illumination from crystal globes bathed the store with a glimmering radiance. Behind a small counter was a fussy man with a neat black coat, powdered wig and a pair of spectacles. He looked up as Calliope entered, measuring her worth with a practiced eye. A woman in fine clothing, but rumpled and dirty, concealing her face with a hood. A widow whose husband had left her less than she needed to keep up appearances perhaps. A weathly merchant who had made bad investments. The fellow all but licked his lips.
“Can I help you madam?” he asked in a prissy voice. Calliope made a show of being hesitant moving forward only reluctantly.
“I… I don’t know if I have come to the right place,” she stammered with faux concern.
“Infact perhaps it is best I go…”
“No! No,” the pawnbroker said with just a note of panic at the thought of such a juicy mark slipping from his grasp.
“I’m sure whatever you require I can be of some assistance,” the oily man said. Calliope smiled within her hood and hesitantly reached into the satchel she had bought with her from Calaverde. She hadn’t troubled to share with Markus the fact that she had escaped with a small fortune. It wasn’t properly any of his concern afterall, as an avowed pirate he might just as soon slit her throat if he knew what she had. Carefully she withdrew a small intricately carved sapphire from her pouch.
“My husband… well the detail aren’t important surely,” she said, her face quavering. The pawn brokers eyes opened wide.
“I can hold onto it for you madam,” he said smoothly, “until you get on your feet.”
When Calliope found Markus she was dressed in a new white silk shirt with a gray leather vest corseted around her waist. Her legs were sheathed in a fine trousers of soft doeskin tucked into black leather boots. A new rapier hung on her belt and a tricorne hat sat upon her head. Several arcane texts were tucked into her pouch, chosen to help her with her study of the Codex. She strode into the bar where the pirate sat, pulled a purse of coin from her tunic and tossed it onto the table. I clinked weightily and several gold sovereigns spilled out onto the table top.
“Start up money, to find a crew and proper artillery,” she said airly before taking a seat across from him.
“You may consider your half a loan,” she declared waving one of the barwenches towards them and calling for ale and hot stew.
bump
Rene endured the questions without immediate response. He didn’t blame Solae for not liking the current plan. There were alot of things that could go wrong, starting with the very real risk of drowning while they tried to cross the straight. He sat down on an upturned packing crate and tore open one of the simple single use medical packs that they had liberated from the plantation back on New Concrdia. He wiped off his shoulder with some gauze only to watch the blood well up from the cut almost immediately. It didn’t hurt exactly it was just an ache that was a little more intense than the general ache his body had developed. Swimming in storm tossed seas was a pretty high energy activity and even in top fighting condition he couldn’t expect to come away scott free. There was a small container of spray sealant, about the size of a pen, which he picked up and primed. Wiping the blood away once more he triggered the sealant which hissed out in a greyish mist, spraying his shoulder with a combination of antiseptic and a bio-synthetic glue which dried almost instantly to the consistency of latex. It wasn’t quite clear but it was translucent enough that you could see through it without difficulty.
“Thank you,” he said smiling at Solae as set a cup of coffee down by his uninjured side.
“I think it should probably be stitched,” he said after a moments consideration and fished the surgical stapler from their hoard of medical supplies. He turned the stapler butt first and handed it to Solae who looked deeply uncertain.
“Just hold it over the wound and press that toggle on the side,” he encouraged. The stapler cast a dozen horizontal laser beams in a grid pattern over the wound. A moment later the beams narrowed into short discrete targets as the program recognized the wound and calculated the necessary size and shape of the sutchers needed.
“Press it down where the…” But Solae had already grapsed the idea and pressed the stapler down so that the dispenser lined up with the first target light, it gave a warning click and then a snick snack sound as it delivered the first staple. Rene felt the tug in his flesh but the topical analgesic in the spray seal stopped him from feeling any real pain.
“See? We will have you certified as a combat medic in no time.” It took Solae only another minute or two to place the seven stitches the computer deemed necessary. When she was done Rene applied another blast of spray sealant to cover the sutures up. When she was done he took her hands and kissed them, turning them over and kissing her palms as well in the fashion of noble lovers.
“Solae, I wish I had more answers for you,” he said at last, returning to her original questions. He wanted very badly to tell her that everything would be alright and that he had a plan for every eventuality. He wanted her to know that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her and that she was perfectly safe. Lying wasn’t something he particularly enjoyed and he wasn’t about to start lying to Solae just to make her feel a little better. Besides, he thought ruefully, as a diplomat she could probably have seen right through him.
“The truth is I don’t know. There is no way for us to know what conditions are like in San Roayo. We won’t know until we get there and see for ourselves.” He had a few vague notions about putting fuel on a ship and bringing it close enough that they could run lines to the Bonaventure, that shouldn’t be a problem on a world built on maritime agriculture. Stealing the fuel didn’t bother him in the abstract, he was afterall, the ranking member of the Imperial Military on this world and it was technically within his jurisdiction to requisition supplies a time of war, but as Solae pointed out using a little currency might smooth things over and avoid worse problems. It might equally make sense to take the Bonaventure to the fueling depot directly, even though that meant waiting till the Caldrea dried out enough for them to break the landing gear free.
“Fuel and inform... information,” he said musingly stumbling over the words, his mind felt a little hazy from hours of work in the enevating rain. How long had it been since he had slept? There wasn’t time now so he settled for gulping down the coffee, hoping that the caffeine would clear his mind. The tide would be going out for the next several hours. The retreating water would beach the barge again and he needed to use that window to get their makeshift engine aboard, then wait for the incoming tide to refloat her. High tide would be the best time to risk the reefs, giving them the maximum amount of clearance. He tried to keep the timeline straight in his mind. Once he got the engine aboard he could snatch an hour or two of rest.
“We have got to get access to that uplink and find out what is going on.” His father had always said that in any crisis the first thing to do was think, and the second was to act. The Marines had a similar theory assess, orient, act. Repeat until either the crisis was over or you were dead.
“Are you going to take me to my papa?” a small voice asked from the hatchway. Rene looked up in shock to find Dramaris, wrapped in the sheets of her bed peeking from around the corner. The IV was still in her arm though it had disconnected when she had got up. Rene realised belated that he had forgot to activate the alarms that would have warned him of just such an action.
“Thank you,” he said smiling at Solae as set a cup of coffee down by his uninjured side.
“I think it should probably be stitched,” he said after a moments consideration and fished the surgical stapler from their hoard of medical supplies. He turned the stapler butt first and handed it to Solae who looked deeply uncertain.
“Just hold it over the wound and press that toggle on the side,” he encouraged. The stapler cast a dozen horizontal laser beams in a grid pattern over the wound. A moment later the beams narrowed into short discrete targets as the program recognized the wound and calculated the necessary size and shape of the sutchers needed.
“Press it down where the…” But Solae had already grapsed the idea and pressed the stapler down so that the dispenser lined up with the first target light, it gave a warning click and then a snick snack sound as it delivered the first staple. Rene felt the tug in his flesh but the topical analgesic in the spray seal stopped him from feeling any real pain.
“See? We will have you certified as a combat medic in no time.” It took Solae only another minute or two to place the seven stitches the computer deemed necessary. When she was done Rene applied another blast of spray sealant to cover the sutures up. When she was done he took her hands and kissed them, turning them over and kissing her palms as well in the fashion of noble lovers.
“Solae, I wish I had more answers for you,” he said at last, returning to her original questions. He wanted very badly to tell her that everything would be alright and that he had a plan for every eventuality. He wanted her to know that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her and that she was perfectly safe. Lying wasn’t something he particularly enjoyed and he wasn’t about to start lying to Solae just to make her feel a little better. Besides, he thought ruefully, as a diplomat she could probably have seen right through him.
“The truth is I don’t know. There is no way for us to know what conditions are like in San Roayo. We won’t know until we get there and see for ourselves.” He had a few vague notions about putting fuel on a ship and bringing it close enough that they could run lines to the Bonaventure, that shouldn’t be a problem on a world built on maritime agriculture. Stealing the fuel didn’t bother him in the abstract, he was afterall, the ranking member of the Imperial Military on this world and it was technically within his jurisdiction to requisition supplies a time of war, but as Solae pointed out using a little currency might smooth things over and avoid worse problems. It might equally make sense to take the Bonaventure to the fueling depot directly, even though that meant waiting till the Caldrea dried out enough for them to break the landing gear free.
“Fuel and inform... information,” he said musingly stumbling over the words, his mind felt a little hazy from hours of work in the enevating rain. How long had it been since he had slept? There wasn’t time now so he settled for gulping down the coffee, hoping that the caffeine would clear his mind. The tide would be going out for the next several hours. The retreating water would beach the barge again and he needed to use that window to get their makeshift engine aboard, then wait for the incoming tide to refloat her. High tide would be the best time to risk the reefs, giving them the maximum amount of clearance. He tried to keep the timeline straight in his mind. Once he got the engine aboard he could snatch an hour or two of rest.
“We have got to get access to that uplink and find out what is going on.” His father had always said that in any crisis the first thing to do was think, and the second was to act. The Marines had a similar theory assess, orient, act. Repeat until either the crisis was over or you were dead.
“Are you going to take me to my papa?” a small voice asked from the hatchway. Rene looked up in shock to find Dramaris, wrapped in the sheets of her bed peeking from around the corner. The IV was still in her arm though it had disconnected when she had got up. Rene realised belated that he had forgot to activate the alarms that would have warned him of just such an action.
@Sophrus When thinks get really bad who does he go to. It dosen't need to be a demon but I suppose it can be. If vampires were burning down your apartment block right now who would be on your speed dial.
Alright! A few final questions. You can loop other characters into these but only if they agree.
@POOHEAD189 - Someone broke an important promise to Caber. Who is it and what was the promise?
@Hour Error - Vera is involved in some sort of scheme at the moment. What is it and how is it likely to blow up in everyone's face?
@Sophrus - Who does Thaum run to when he gets in over his head?
@Fetzen - You recently witnessed something strange, unexplained and dangerous. What is it and why are you keeping it a secret?
@POOHEAD189 - Someone broke an important promise to Caber. Who is it and what was the promise?
@Hour Error - Vera is involved in some sort of scheme at the moment. What is it and how is it likely to blow up in everyone's face?
@Sophrus - Who does Thaum run to when he gets in over his head?
@Fetzen - You recently witnessed something strange, unexplained and dangerous. What is it and why are you keeping it a secret?
Woods took a step forward her full lips tugging into a grin as she beheld her audience. It must have seemed like quite a group. A massive Hex being held back from extracting blood vengeance, an eeriely calm cyborg, a pilot who was sassing the most dangerous man on the ship, a girl barely out of here teens and a mercenary captain who had officially been charged with murdering five Terran commandos.
She cleared her throat and touched the hologram with a fingertip. The map expanded to twice its original size. The hologram was so clear and perfect that Junebug thought she could see the oceans slowly moving in their tidal flows. Terran holographic tech, like everything else, was state of the art. The world had three continents one of which was a polar plate. Two red dots blinked in steady rythym.
“This,” she said in a clear melodious voice, “is Site Alpha.” Images, some from satellite, some from helmet cams populated in the air. It seemed to Junebug like they came from another lifetime but she recognised the lush tropical jungle of Saavran. There were other pictures, clearly taken after the fact with professional imaging equipment, showed a devastated forest and a vast, vaguely anthropomorphic ridgeline. Junebug shuddered, she had worked hard to put the strange golem thing that Neil had stopped from waking up out of her mind.
“Even after three years of research we haven’t made much headway into understanding what happened,” Woods explained.
“The original caverns you penetrated appear to have vanished. Sonar and other remote sensing gear suggests that the ‘guardian’ as we are terming it is a solid undifferentiated mass,” Woods explained. Junebug’s lips compressed into a frown.
“We saw it move though it cant be solid,” she objected. Woods nodded at his.
“Yes we did, current theory from the experts is that it is some kind of super fluid solid that can harden itself when inactive. Whatever control chamber you penetrated must have been subsumed.” Taya leaned forward clearly rapt to be learning about an adventure that had occured before she had joined the crew.
“Which brings us to Site Beta,” Woods went on. The image rotated to bring up a red dot on the polar plate. More images appeared of strange cyclopean architecture thrusting up out of a sheet of perma frost.
“It only became active after you fucked up Alpha, and so far we haven't been able to get so much as a sensor drone within half a kilometer of the edge of it.”
She cleared her throat and touched the hologram with a fingertip. The map expanded to twice its original size. The hologram was so clear and perfect that Junebug thought she could see the oceans slowly moving in their tidal flows. Terran holographic tech, like everything else, was state of the art. The world had three continents one of which was a polar plate. Two red dots blinked in steady rythym.
“This,” she said in a clear melodious voice, “is Site Alpha.” Images, some from satellite, some from helmet cams populated in the air. It seemed to Junebug like they came from another lifetime but she recognised the lush tropical jungle of Saavran. There were other pictures, clearly taken after the fact with professional imaging equipment, showed a devastated forest and a vast, vaguely anthropomorphic ridgeline. Junebug shuddered, she had worked hard to put the strange golem thing that Neil had stopped from waking up out of her mind.
“Even after three years of research we haven’t made much headway into understanding what happened,” Woods explained.
“The original caverns you penetrated appear to have vanished. Sonar and other remote sensing gear suggests that the ‘guardian’ as we are terming it is a solid undifferentiated mass,” Woods explained. Junebug’s lips compressed into a frown.
“We saw it move though it cant be solid,” she objected. Woods nodded at his.
“Yes we did, current theory from the experts is that it is some kind of super fluid solid that can harden itself when inactive. Whatever control chamber you penetrated must have been subsumed.” Taya leaned forward clearly rapt to be learning about an adventure that had occured before she had joined the crew.
“Which brings us to Site Beta,” Woods went on. The image rotated to bring up a red dot on the polar plate. More images appeared of strange cyclopean architecture thrusting up out of a sheet of perma frost.
“It only became active after you fucked up Alpha, and so far we haven't been able to get so much as a sensor drone within half a kilometer of the edge of it.”
"There are people who would take me in," Calliope responded around a mouthful of jerky.
"I could trade on my knowledge of these seas, my connections in Calaverde or my... charms, at least for a while." Many former rulers did do just so when they were deposed or driven into exile. It was a comfortable enough existence at first, at least for a time. In the end though they became more expensive than they were worth, or merely hostages for their hosts to hold over the rulers of other cities. Don't press too hard or we will support a coup by the old ruler. Calliope had no desire to be a hostage, nor did she want to settle for the comfortable life of an exile. Her dark eyes narrowed into slits glinting with suppressed ambition and malice for Sebastian and his cronies.
"But I don't think I will, I intend to make myself such a plague upon these seas that Calaverde and all the other cities will wish that I had never had to leave my comfortable palace."
Combined with the state she had left the treasury in, she was willing to bet that she could have the mob baying for Sebastian Del Mondas blood within a year. They would beg her to return to her rightful place. She realised after the fact that she had trailed into silence while she had been contemplating her revenge her beautiful face had been momentarily transformed by her lust for power and revenge. She coughed to break the silence.
"As for the captaincy," she made a dismissive guesture.
"I know which rope is which, I spent enough time on them as a girl... my father... well never mind. The point is I am not enough of a sailor to be a captain. Much as I enjoy giving orders..."
"I could trade on my knowledge of these seas, my connections in Calaverde or my... charms, at least for a while." Many former rulers did do just so when they were deposed or driven into exile. It was a comfortable enough existence at first, at least for a time. In the end though they became more expensive than they were worth, or merely hostages for their hosts to hold over the rulers of other cities. Don't press too hard or we will support a coup by the old ruler. Calliope had no desire to be a hostage, nor did she want to settle for the comfortable life of an exile. Her dark eyes narrowed into slits glinting with suppressed ambition and malice for Sebastian and his cronies.
"But I don't think I will, I intend to make myself such a plague upon these seas that Calaverde and all the other cities will wish that I had never had to leave my comfortable palace."
Combined with the state she had left the treasury in, she was willing to bet that she could have the mob baying for Sebastian Del Mondas blood within a year. They would beg her to return to her rightful place. She realised after the fact that she had trailed into silence while she had been contemplating her revenge her beautiful face had been momentarily transformed by her lust for power and revenge. She coughed to break the silence.
"As for the captaincy," she made a dismissive guesture.
"I know which rope is which, I spent enough time on them as a girl... my father... well never mind. The point is I am not enough of a sailor to be a captain. Much as I enjoy giving orders..."
“Stormsrest,” Calliope said taking a swig of the whiskey to dissolve the almost leathery jerky in her mouth. The pennant snapped above them and she glanced up at the flag to gauge the direction of the wind. It was a fair wind for it and it was probably the best place to pick up a crew. With only the two of them, it would be a poor idea to stop at the lawless pirate coves as killing them and taking the ship would be much more appealing than signing on. Of course that might mean dealing with Rodrick. The SeaLord had been an associate of sorts during her rise to power, they had been lovers for a while but it handn’t ended well. Perhaps they would be able to avoid dealing with him, afterall a busy trading center like Stormsrest had many ships arriving and they would certainly out run the news of Sebastian’s rebellion. Blackmoor hated Sebastian she recalled which at least was something.
“Well we have no charts,” Calliope agreed eyeing her companion speculatively. Navigation at sea was a tricky business even over such short distances. Unlike Calaverde Stormsrest didn’t have the same kind of impressive terrain that could be seen for miles when the sea was calm.
“I think before we go any further we should talk though,” she said passing the whiskey back.
“You came to my city to steal a ship, should I assume that you want to turn pirate then?” she asked bluntly.
“Well we have no charts,” Calliope agreed eyeing her companion speculatively. Navigation at sea was a tricky business even over such short distances. Unlike Calaverde Stormsrest didn’t have the same kind of impressive terrain that could be seen for miles when the sea was calm.
“I think before we go any further we should talk though,” she said passing the whiskey back.
“You came to my city to steal a ship, should I assume that you want to turn pirate then?” she asked bluntly.
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