forum "Bloodstained Gold" (Pirate Group RP) {Closed}

Started August 25, 2022 by @ScotchTapeWorm group

tune

Kavo watched people rushing around, firing weapons, throwing themselves into the water, or prepping nets. The magic in the song pulled at him, promising him his deepest desire. He made a snap decision based on the fact that the Captain was clearly intent on fighting this, instead of running.
He hauled on the lever to drop the weights and the anchor. The Deceit came to a slow stop over the next few seconds, and Kavo locked the levers in place.
He was skittering down from the poop deck to help with the fight, when he noticed Inez on her knees on the main deck. She looked dazed, and seemed to be trying to move towards the railing. Probably trying to throw herself in.
He scuttled over to her. Kavo could understand what she was feeling, the surging, overwhelming waves of emotion that the song caused were nudging at his heart, pushing it to override his mind, his choice. There was only one reason it wasn't working as well on him.

They were promising him his deepest desire, but nothing could bring his brother back from the dead.

Nothing would ever fix that, and no amount of magic and music was going to convince him the Sirens could do it.
His grief, his real grief, was the thing keeping him from giving in to the song.

Kavo knelt in front of the girl, and snapped his pincers shut in front of her eyes, making a loud clack. "Hey, Inez, snap out of it, it's not real!" He had to yell over the noise of the battle, the guns and shouting of crew members ringing around them. "Don't listen, they're tempting you!"
She didn't seem to be responding, her face locked in a mask of some emotion Kavo couldn't identify, but… he knew he had to do something. The energetic cook had been friendly, and Kavo's loyalty was nudging him to help her.

He stood up, thought quickly, and came to a conclusion.

The Karcaon glanced over at Captain Silver-tongue, trying to make eye contact, but the man was busy. Kavo took a deep breath, squared his shoulders…

And charged over the railing and into the churning sea.

(all of your guys's writing is so good its intimidating haha)
(also, slight gore warning!?)

Orion's deepened eyes focus on a the captain as he comes into the sight of the sirens and the crew around him.
Panic rising in the chests of the sailors as they watch their brothers willingly throw themselves into the churning waters below with the look of hope on their faces. Tears glistening in their eyes and streaming down their cheeks before those same salty droplets are fused together with the unrelenting tides of the sea.
As a siren, Orion feels the deep desires of his prey till the last second their soul stays with their body. Up until the tears stop and the life leaves their eyes, he feels their heartache, their grief. He feels the twinge of loneliness and the pain that drives them off the railing. The desperation that lays deep in their bones. Desperation for a loved one or to be loved. Desperation for their life to have meaning so they can convince themselves that this life is worth living.
But little did they know that in this reverie, they were giving up the very life they were trying their best to get the most out of; only to be torn limb from limb and eaten alive in the chilling depths they oh, so fear.

Orion's heart felt as if it were crying out to him as the emotions of the sailors overwhelm his soul to the core.
Pulling himself out of his thoughts, one of the sailors throws himself towards him. He swims to the side with a sharp flick of his tail but doesn't let another second go by before grabbing the man by the arm and pulling him down.
His body thrashes left and right as Orion drags him deeper into the waters. Bubbles escaping the mans lungs before water floods them, that didn't stop him from fighting back. Orion catches sight of the glint of a blade in his hands and he quickly thrashes his long tail fin against his stomach, knocking what little air he had in him out.
He drops the blade in the water, letting it sink, trying desperately to get it back. Though in the depths a simple man had no power when it came to movement and trying to survive. Especially against one of the most dangerous predators of the sea.
The man was able to kick Orion in the face, throwing his head back and loosening his grip. He floats back a little before regaining his sight, swishing his tail once again at the man, thrashing it against his back and tearing flesh from bone with the knife like scales on his tail. The man attempts to yell out in pain as blood fills the water around him, though water only drowns him. Still lashing about till his last breath, Orion grabs his arm, snapping it in have at the elbow and lashing him again with his tail.
Sinking his teeth into the major artery on his neck and splitting the fat and muscle from his body, the man soon loses consciousness. And with that…his life.
He lets go of the man, letting it sink for the sirens below to get ahold of, the lifeless corpse is quickly snatched up by another and dragged to the bottom to be eaten.

Orion takes a deep breathe, pulling in the water in his gills for them to separate the oxygen until he can breach the surface.
Once he breaks through the layer of water separating him from the world man lives in, his eyes dart around once again, looking for any other men throwing themselves aboard.
Worry fills his head as he watches the pirates throw giant, deadly nets over the railing and into the water, hitting sirens, capturing them.
He goes to swim towards the nets to help, though is interrupted as a large figure plummets towards him and into the water with a giant wave, knocking one of the sirens out of the way and into unconsciousness with his sheer size and weight.
Orion watches in awe as the siren quickly drifts down towards the bottom. He wasn't worried too much, as he knew there were other sirens to help below in case of something like this. He snaps his eyes towards the large figure, whisking towards it.
The figure wasn't human that was for sure….but what was it? He furrows his non-existent brows in confusion before putting the pieces together.
By the smell of crab, he figured he was Karcaon. And with that simple observation, whether he was right or wrong, he decides to be selfish (or should i say…shellfish? 0.0) and take hold of the creature. This much meat would be able to feed him and Liyas for weeks if not longer! He couldn't pass this chance up.
He attempts to dig his fangs into the creature, but was met with the unpleasant feeling of hard Karcaon shell against his teeth.

And with that simple observation, whether he was right or wrong, he decides to be selfish (or should i say…shellfish? 0.0) and take hold of the creature.

(😂🤣 No! Not the puns!!)

Kavo hit the water with a massive splash, and was briefly disoriented by the switch from his air-breathing lungs to his water-breathing gills. It only took him a second to adjust, but in that second, he was latched onto by something very strong.
However, he was no human, virtually helpless in the water. He was a Karcaon. And Karcaon are born in the water.

6 legs made walking awkward sometimes. They made swimming easy, though, providing thrust and stability and swift mobility in the scrum of bodies and blood. He could turn and maneuver and keep up with the fish-tailed creatures around him, his legs rippling and kicking.

Gills took a moment to adjust to, but they meant he wouldn't drown like the others. The water he was breathing was bloody, which was a bit gross, but it was better than nothing.

His chitinous carapace was hardened against pressure and temperature, which meant nowhere under the water was too extreme for him. The Sirens' teeth and rough, jagged skin posed no danger to his shell, but if they could get to his softer humanoid skin, they could be a problem. However, he wasn't much worried about that.

Because to get close enough to hurt him, they had to get within range of his claws. His massive, powerful, razor-sharp pincer claws.

Karcaon pincers measure their pinching force in tons of pressure per square inch, meaning that whatever Kavo got a grip on, he snipped clean in half, like shears through wet paper.

A siren had latched onto him. He clubbed it in the head with his bigger pincer, knocking it loose, and hit it again across te chest, knocking it backwards into the barbed net. He wasn't sure if it was unconscious, but it was definitely caught as the barbs did their work.

He proceeded to spin and attack anything within reach, bludgeoning heads, or cutting off fins and arms and tails, knocking other sirens into the nets, killing them outright, or leaving them maimed and bleeding into the water to frenzy the others even more. He swam in circles, dodging teeth and tails, occasionally grunting as one found a soft spot, but managing to keep his arms and vital bits inside the radius of his shell, well guarded by those crushing claws.

He couldn't stop more sailors from jumping in, to their deaths, and he didn't have a way to get them out of the water, but if he could distract the Sirens enough, cause enough chaos, wreak enough havoc, Kavo hoped he could save some lives.

And maybe the intense sadness, the heavy grief, the unbearable weight on his soul, would go away. The beautiful voices kept promising his brother would come back to him, if he just gave in to them. Let them help him.

Kavo just gritted his teeth and fought harder, his tears mixing with the blood and saltwater.

"Inez"
A small window of clear thought was granted,
"…not real!"
"not real'?
And clawed in two, which merged.
Upon rising, Inez realized whatever ethereal state she'd been in had been washed over. The only reminisce of it was the slightly fever-like sensation, though significantly numbed. She gripped her temple, then retraced her steps, from what she could remember; first, the voice. There were some men running next to her, then there was a disturbance in the ocean below, a splash. Had that been five hours or five seconds ago? Likely five seconds, since she could remember this. Looking to her left, she noticed something in the water, again. She tried to see closer; A larger silhouette was shifting in the water. Judging by the seafoam, it-

That was Kavo's voice right then.
"It's not real!"
"Don't listen-"

How did he- "Kavo!" Inez cried instinctively.
Kavo hadn't come back up. There was a rush of blood, in a crimson color that made her eyes glisten. Her head whipped left and right, searching for something.
The sword. She thought. She looked at it, shocked that she'd let it out of her grasp. Grabbing it by the blade, holding it very haphazardously, Inez had a final- or her first-clear thought; before erasing it all again with the adrenaline she'd already probably given herself.
'I just need to get close to the water.'

Orion pulls his face away from the karcaon in response to the hard surface his teeth had been met with, his fangs now aching.
Looking over his body for the few seconds he had, he takes in the many limbs, the hard shell, and the pinchers. The most dangerous part about it would be those pinchers if not his hard shell, as he didn't seem to have a weakness he could get to.
He didn't have much time to think before the creature regained a sense of stability in the water and knocking him in the head, causing his neck and skull to whip backwards. His sight disappears for a short moment, not regenerating in time for him to be hit in the stomach.
His eyes widen as he curls into himself, groaning in pain whilst trying to get back his movement, stunned.
Before Orion can do anything else, he's pushed back into a net.
Shearing pain courses throughout his body as the barbed rip his scales and dig into his flesh. He yells out in pain, though bubbles of air the only thing escaping his mouth and gills.
Soon he's caught in a tangled mess with flailing sirens around him. His friends blood fills his gills and tears fill his eyes as he watches them die, panicking as he does so. His tail trashes around along with the rest of his body, though he's not able to move much as the barbs dug deeper into his skin the more he moved.
Looking out of the net into the depths, his eyes catch sight of a ghost white siren shoot up towards him.
"LIYAS!!!" he calls desperately "GET BACK!! SWIM AWAY!!" Orion pleads with his friend. Though Liyas doesn't listen to him and meets him at the net, evading the other sirens as they swim away in retreat.
The crowd was getting smaller and thinner, and Liyas wouldn't be able to hide for long.
He comes to a stop at the net, the knife from the sailor Orion had killed in his hand. His black eyes looked into Orion's before looking over his bloodied body. "I knew i shouldn't have stayed down there" he says softly, reaching his small hand through the net to hold Orions "im getting you out of here" he says.
Orion shakes his head, panicking "N-No Liyas you need to get out of here! You'll get killed. Theres a Karcaon in here killing everyone else! Im lucky im even alive!" he says, squeezing his hand back.
Liyas looks back to see the karcaon ripping others to pieces as others flee, keeping their distance. A karcaon was strong sure. And fast as well. But Sirens were equipped for speed and could outrun(swim?) the crab creature. Though it seemed that it was there only advantage in this situation. So fleeing was their best bet.
Sirens swam towards the surface, but no longer to feast on the living but to jump out of the water only to plummet back down, giving them more speed.
The beautiful creatures now letting out high-pitched, ear defeating screeches as they flee. The ones in the nets only letting out soft, high pitched cooes as they pass, the others struggling to get free. Teeth attempting to gnaw through the nets, claws and sharp scales scratching at others in the panicked frenzy.

Tears attempt to fill Liyas's eyes though they only mix with the sea water and blood around him, he turns back to Orion, putting the knife in his hand. Orion grabs it "go Liyas. I promise i'll find you again" he says, promising.
They press their foreheads together through the netting before Liyas whips his eel like tail, turning and darting through the water and away form this hell-hole.

Once Liyas swims away, Orion looks up towards the surface as it becomes closer to him. He realized….the net was coming up!? (if thats good with you?)
He grips the knife tight before realizing he couldn't get away with having a knife in his hands without being killed. If he had a chance of living at all.
Looking to his side, a lifeless siren floated in the water next to him. He swallows hard before apologizing to her. "im so sorry" he says, cutting open the side of her soft flesh of the upper part of her body and stuffing the knife inside.
Hopefully this plan would work…

(also, i love how descriptive your writing is, celeste :D it gives a lot of insight)

(Thank you! I appreciate it! I try haha)

The Captain was breathing heavily, feeling the undeniable rush of adrenaline that came with battle. It coursed through his veins intoxicatingly, urging him to move, to act, to do everything.It made the tall man antsy, he'd spent most of the time after hauling one of the huge nets off the deck, furiously yanking his men away from the edge of the ship. Screaming in their faces until they snapped out of whatever trance they'd been caught under. Every splash he heard increased the fury he felt at the Sirens, stealing away his men.

Looking around, at the moment Silver-Tongue couldn't see the Karcaon, so he just assumed he was still steady at the helm. The ship already stopped so the men could get better aim at the darting, black shapes in the water. He spotted Inez, who had a dangerous look in her eyes, which the Captain didn't trust at all. But he wasn't going to stop her, if she wasn't under a trance, he had more important things to deal with than bad ideas.

Grabbing a handful of dirty fabric the Captain pulled a sailor standing on the railing down. The man fell heavily, looking at the Captain with a betrayed look, tears streaming down his face. The pitiful sight didn't spark any empathy in Axel, he hissed a threat in the mans ear and pushed him below deck. Looking around, the crew had thinned a bit, but so had the pack of Sirens. As a matter of fact, corpses began to float to the surface, looking ripped apart by.. Claws? An arm here, a leg there, a body without an arm or a leg over there.. Something clicked in the Captains mind and he rushed to see who was at the helm, the scratches on the wood indicated that Kavo had jumped down to the main deck. He knelt, touching the scratches with a fleeting look of annoyance.

He ran a hand through his blood and water soaked hair, unsure of whether to laugh or curse the crab-man. The sheer number of floating corpses in the water, indicated he should probably be thankful. From the slightly more elevated height, Silver-Tongue could see more of the water, still turbulent from the battle just below the surface. The Captain sucked on his teeth, momentarily caught with indecision when.. Sirens began to leap from the water, letting out these awful keening noises as they fled. They arced through the air in a way not dissimilar to dolphins or small whales. Aside from the hideous noise, the Captain found himself watching the retreat with a fascinated look on his face. It also came with a feeling of victory, of satisfaction, and a dark joy. He let out a breathy laugh, a wicked grin curling up on his face. They'd won, but of course they had. Defeat was unimaginable when you go into battle the Sirens had probably imagined the same thing.

His men began to drag up the nets, they only had one reinforced with metal, so as expected, the rope ones had snapped, letting their prey wiggle out and go free. But that was more than alright, they still had one it was just really bloody heavy. It took ten men, gritting their teeth and straining their muscles to begin to pull up the barbed trap. And it was slow, painfully slow. The Captain found himself pacing the deck impatiently, grinning like a madman and fiddling with his gun Greed this time, Avarice already snuggly put back in its place. He did not follow proper gun trigger safety, his finger constantly playing with the trigger at all times. (He shot his foot once on accident, don't be like the Captain kids-)

As the net breached the water, the men seemed to struggle more to break the waters tension, that moment where the sea itself seemed to surge up, not willing to break its hold on the creatures that called it home, being ripped from where they belong. But all things yielded eventually, the moment the waters pull on the captured Sirens snapped, water and blood streaming in concerning amounts from the bodies, they were able to be pulled onto the deck. Several men jumped back, making warding signs with their hands, others simply stepping away from the pink pool forming near their feet.

Just from a quick glance, most within the barbed net seemed.. Not acquainted with the living anymore. Dead eyes staring lifelessly at the sky or the floor. But that was more than alright. The ship had a room that was kept chilled with runes he'd purchased for this exact reason, most of his share from the last raid actually going into this one. And the Captain had seem how much a Sirens corpse sold for in auctions, even if its authenticity was dubious. They easily had half a dozen caught in the nets, and maybe a few more salvageable ones left floating on the waters surface. The feeling of victory again washed over the Captain, who looked very pleased. But not with the prospect of gold, or even the glory of fighting off a full pack of the creatures. No, it was the four living Sirens still breathing shallowly that caught his eye.

One was cut into ribbons, but was still gasping for air, the gills flapping up and down desperately. The Captain couldn't really tell it's gender, some of the beautiful creatures seemed very androgynous, which was fair, since they only seemed to imitate humans, a beautiful face and a monsters body. Either way it wouldn't survive long, but the other three seemed to be in far better shape. Approaching the net slowly, his gold trim boots making noise even on the waterlogged wood, he kicked aside some of the corpses, peering at the more alive ones.

And..

He laughed.

Inez spotted a rope ladder as the Captain seemed to notice Kavo wasn't present. She considered explaining the current situation, but now definitely was not the time. He seemed to agree, rushing around in a frenzy. She could hear distant laughter. She watched as it grew darker.
'I just need to get close to the water.'
She trusted Kavo's ability to swim, but judging by the cloud-like rush of blood she'd just witnessed….
Breathe.

Sloppily tying her jacket around her waist, Inez threw the heavy rope ladder overboard, trusting that it was hooked to the ship (which it was, luckily.). Her original plan was to outstretch the sword's handle to Kavo but decided that wasn't the best route to take. As she scurried down the ladder, the sense of urgency in the air advanced with the speed of her breath and heartbeat. She stuck the sword in the thick rope, trusting it'd stay in place. Halfway down, she took a quick breath and dove into the water.
The ocean was less appealing than before, scattered with nausea-inducing bodies and blood, which Inez realized as she opened her burning eyes, wounded hand stinging. At the very least her skin was cooler.
Swimming through the bloodied water, she searched for those who may still be fighting to stay alive. The Sirens were already gone, so quickly, but the attack was evident with the absence of whoever was breathing, living on the ship just that afternoon. The sun continued to set, the previous red fading to a brilliant violet. It only indicated the passage of time.
She began to wonder why the helmsman had jumped in the first place. Surely he knew about Sirens, and wasn't human anyway, so it wouldn't affect him as much as it had her. And on top of that, he was intelligent and quick-witted by nature. Maybe he jumped in to fight the Sirens head-on? Even then, it didn't seem right.
Inez pushed and broke towards the surface, her eyes, lungs and spirit unable to bear any more. "Kavo!"
She waited for a reply.
Breathe.