Member
Leo Khan
Hos
puddingpunter
Abstract Proxy
She had been waiting over a decade for this. Ever since she'd heard tales of The Consortium Dihala had known that this was what she wanted; to be in command of ship, crew at her side, the wind at their backs. There was no telling how many things she'd stolen, lies that had been told, hearts broken, and money that had been spent on this endeavor, but it had all been worth it.
One of the informants had come to her about two months ago telling her about a ship that was coming to port in Shyllshara and would be vulnerable. It was perfect. A frigate in good condition, new solar sails, and a crew prone to drunken parties where they would be incapacitated. It would be hers as long as she could pull off the feat of stealing it. And so Dihala began to plan her heist of stealing what was then called "The Sky's Siren," and before long the plan was set in motion. Dihala would board the ship as a passenger, posing as a tourist wanting to see the ancient ruins of Shyllshara, wait until they were on the planet and the crew got drunk, and then steal the ship right out from under their noses. It was fool-proof! Or at least that's what she thought. What the good captain hadn't planned on was a dryad aboard the crew taking a liking to her and starting to follow her around like a puppy. Honestly, who got attached to tieflings like that? At any rate the Dryad had caught Dihala in the midst of her heist, and she'd been forced to lie on the spot. She told a story about how this ship (which was brand new) had been in her family for generations, and that these horrible pirates (merchants) had stolen it from them many years ago (brand new ship), and she'd been tracking them down ever since. If they could work together, Dihala would offer her a place on her crew and they'd sail the stars exploring together (she was going to drop her off on the first moon they reached).
Much to her surprise, the dryad believed her and kept believing her. Even after she let it slip that she was actually a pirate herself. She believed the next lie too. And the next... And the next. Wow, this dryad really had no street smarts. Well, long story short, Dihala started feeling really guilty about lying to this incredibly innocent creature, and decided not to abandon her on the first moon they reached for fear of her not surviving. Not to mention she actually turned out to be a really good navigator? Who knew acorns made such reliable guides?
Finally they made it back to The Consortium base on Iyananor and Dihala began the process of making the ship "officially" hers. They forged some paperwork, had her sign it, had a professional carpenter come in and change the name on the ship to The Wayward Maiden (Dihala thought it was fitting), and there you have it! She had her very own ship to captain and run as she saw fit. All that was left was to find a crew, which wasn't exactly a struggle until it came to hiring general deckhands, powder monkeys, and the like. That's when she remembered her old favorite band of faeries and decided to have them come fill in this role.*
The rest of the crew was filled in easily enough. There were a few odd characters that tried to sign up, and it had taken quite the silver tongue to turn them away peacefully, but nevertheless she was left with what she thought to be a rather intriguing bunch. There was her quartermaster; a man by the name of Valyrim. Bit bland and to the point in her opinion, but he seemed honest enough. Ironically enough she respected that honesty. He did weird her out with talk about an angel, but eh. So what the guy was a bit off his rocker? Speaking of off their rocker, the engineer she hired was most definitely more than a little bit mad. However she'd seen some of his work, and it had been very impressive. As long as him and the pixies didn't blow anything up it would all be fine. Oh, and then there was the cook. The cook... Dihala was slightly worried the she-orc (Morag?) was going to end up murdering her one of these days, but no one had wanted to challenge her for the cook's position so Dihala had no choice. Also she made a mean hydra stew. The master gunner seemed fairly unproblematic at the very least, which was a refreshing change of pace.
Oh and of course Dihala couldn't forget their centaur medic. Seemed to have a shady and tragic past of some kind, but what else was new? Perhaps one of the more unique crew members though was some sort of... Genasi goliath? It was a very odd mix, but he was charming nonetheless. Dumb as dirt (no pun intended), but very endearing and seemed to do his job as bosun well enough. The navigator was none other than the dryad she'd picked up on Shyllshara.
So here they were. A motley crew in search of fortune and adventure with just enough brain cells between them to keep the ship running. At the moment they were all readying the ship for takeoff, and Dihala herself was pacing back and forth on deck trying to keep an eye on things and help where need be. It wasn't quite time for her to take the helm yet. They were just loading the last of their supplies, then they'd be releasing the sails and making their way out of port. She could already feel the solar winds lapping at her hair, beckoning her further into the black unknown that they called space. She had waited so long for this. They were finally going to be on their way, exploring whatever secrets the darkest reaches of the galaxy held.
*