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

Started August 25, 2022 by @ScotchTapeWorm group

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( Aww- Thank you guys. Appreciate it. Everyone's doing incredible. :D )

Silver-Tongue had just finished up "negotiations" if you could even call them that, with another man, when his scales started to feel itchy. It was an old superstition among Sefksins that you could tell three things with your scales. Weather, health, and danger. The first two had grains of truth in them, as you could often tell how healthy the snake-like people were from the shine of their scales or the vibrancy of the color. The last one.. It was always dismissed as rumor, but sailors are known for being a superstitious lot and as such the Captain never disregarded the feeling. He heard the clatter of legs on wood and began to turn around, his hands immediately went to one of his pistols, Avarice, which was closer to his left hand at the moment.

His other hand had just closed around the hilt of his saber when he saw the action happening behind him. Eyes narrowing he watched the mercenary stare at the remnants of his sword with a shocked expression. The man was clearly ill, and this case of stupidity was likely to be terminal for this particular man.

The faint splash made his eyes widen, sure the tavern was close to the water, but not.. That close. That was a throw. Axel couldn't help but stare at Kavo appreciatively, very glad negotiations had gone well. His guns were strong, but the Karcaon was a skilled fighter, in a fair fight the Captain would never be able to take him on. Which didn't particularly worry the tall man. His last fair fight was when he was eight years old. He'd learned better. Violet eyes flashed with amusement as Kavo spoke to him and left, making quite the exit. The crab-man had style and showmanship, two traits Silver-Tongue highly appreciated.

Just to be sure, Axel slipped a coin to one of the women standing by the bar, nodding at her. Delilah did good work and she walked slowly out through the back door, or rather, the gap in the wall that was never really fixed and people used as a back entrance. She'd make sure the man in the water was dead, one didn't get away with something like that and live. Unless it was funny. Then maybe.

The silence was deafening inside of the tavern, so he decided to break it, the Captain started to laugh uproariously, slapping one of his thighs, and using the other hand to prop himself up. A few nervous chuckles followed him, before he slowly stood, still smiling, but dangerously this time. The surviving chuckles were quickly extinguished, and silence once again reigned. He wiped a fake tear from his eye, staring at all the people. He pointed a thumb in the direction of the door, the way the Karcaon had went. Silver-Tongue pulled his hair into a full man-bun now, shaking his head.

"Welp. This had been fun boys.. But.. Business is business, hm?" He waved at the people he'd gotten to restock his crew and most of them could reasonably stand and walk, which was reassuring. Giving a few basic instructions to go to the ship and who to talk to all sorted, Axel needed to finish up his real business for being in this town. His smile fell, he had a tiny scar on the top of his lip, almost never seen unless one knew what to look for. It was a small detail, but as the mirth drained from the pirate Captain's face, he touched the scar thoughtfully.

This shouldn't take long.

She'd make sure the man in the water was dead, one didn't get away with something like that and live. Unless it was funny. Then maybe.

(I'm at work, you can't make me laugh like this!)

Walking through a city like this was always interesting, people crowded the streets with the arrival of all the ships. Some people had family here and were reuniting after a long stint at sea, others were hurriedly getting things together, trying to get hired or hitch a ride. Venders called out their wares in the street, holding shiny glass jewelry out or fresh produce, trying to make sales of the new arrivals.

The back alleys were just as busy today, beggars held out their bowls piteously and people were running back and forth, often for similar reasons as the people on the main roads, except they were meeting with old mistresses, getting hired for less legal jobs, or trying to sell wares that couldn't be shown in public.

It was the back alleys that Axel took himself down, stepping around a man collapsed against a wall, he made a face at the smell. He wasn't sure if the man was dead or not, but he was not going to stop and check. Making dead bodies was easy, dealing with them after was.. Uh. Gross. The Captain grimaced, heading further down the shady alley, and stopped for a moment, amused.

Even if it was an alley, it shouldn't be this comically shaded, it was the middle of the day and light should be able to get through. Yet the alley looked as if it were deep into the twilight hours and looking up, someone had set up a few fabric tents, propped up against the neighboring building to create this effect. Cute. Silver-Tongue passed this one, skirting along the edge of another building, doing his best to keep his coat from snagging on any of the abandoned trash and refuse.

The tight squeeze proved fruitful however as he emerged into a little cove, nestled into the sea of buildings. It wasn't visually impressive, just a door embedded on the side of a building but it was exactly what the Captain was looking for. His usual resting smirk disappeared and a serious expression crossed his face. He approached the door slowly, walking in measured steps. Glancing about, he finally.. knocked. The door slid open, no password or special knock required. He knew if he wasn't who they were expecting he'd be killed, why bother with measures that could be easily bypassed if you could go for the more straightforward option.

Inside of the dimly lit room was a small man hunched in the corner, the one who had so kindly opened the door for him, he had beady little eyes and stringy hair. The little goblin-looking creature gave Axel a toothless smile and motioned for him to go down, and he obliged. The room at the bottom of the stairs was a large one, with a desk in the center with a gold filigree pattern covering the edges. A plush rug made the floor soft and the walls were covered in a maroon colored wallpaper. Sitting at the desk was a woman with warm gold hair and sharp eyes. The Captain smiled, but differently than how he had this morning, with none of the usual mirth, it was almost polite, but he couldn't resist a cheeky bow to the woman.

"Ah! My Lady. Always a pleasure to lay eyes on you! How have you been? It really has been too long!" Axel said with infuriating politeness, all hints of his pirate accent gone. The woman before him was simply known as 'The Lady' and she ran this town. She kept the law away from them and the little cove hidden and friendly to pirates. All for a price.

"Captain." She had a cold voice, and her eyes looked like they'd never even heard of an emotion. Silver-Tongue didn't particularly like dealing with her, she was absolutely no fun and was too important to be messed around with. Normally, people like her he liked to poke and prod until they broke their stony exterior, but experience has taught Axel that The Lady did not take kindly to it. He tossed her a bag of gold, which landed with a satisfying clink on the table. She swiftly pocketed it into her robes the coin purse simply disappearing off the table, he'd never figured out how she did that.. Apparently it was a good enough tithe, because she nodded at him.

Walking backwards he left the little room, letting out a breath that he disguised as a yawn. It was high time he got back on his ship, any repairs should be done and he'd paid The Lady enough that she would even repaint the ship, making it look more presentable. It helped intimidate the merchants they ran down. It had been a long enough day, and hopefully everyone would be in place, they didn't wait for stragglers. Axel walked with a spring in his step now, he whistled as the door closed behind him, today was good.

Aria jogged up behind the captain. "Wow. Can we talk about Kavo, though? That was…"
"I mean, I wasn't paying attention, but he's hired, right? Like- that- I couldn't even-" She finds herself at a loss.
"Also, who was that lady? What'd you pay her to do?" Aria asks, showing more how new she was to this. "You were being so-" Aria looked confused. "polite to her."

Isla was already on her way back to the ship pushing through crowds of people shoving whoever didn't move on their own she naturally didn't look like a happy person the scar over her eye not helping that at all she climbed aboard and got back to work

Kavo, true to his word, had gone to the dock where the Deceit was moored. He'd given it a good look, even going so far as to submerge himself and get a good look under the waterline. It was a fantastic ship, seasoned and well built, with scars to prove its worthiness, and new boards to show good upkeep. He eventually was satisfied. This is it. I'm doing this.
A smile tugged at his face.
He joined the line of loaders, who by this time were loading supplies onto the ship. He noted that the line was handling the easy stuff, while 2 or 3 big, burly men were carrying the heavy stuff on board. He got out of the line and joined the carriers, easily hefting what took 2 of them to carry. They worked for a while longer, the crew generally looking like a well oiled machine, with a few squeaky cogs.
The very last thing was a new cannon, a big 12 pounder. The men had taken it off the mount, using half the crew to lift it carefully and set it on the ground. They'd gotten the mount set in place, and were having trouble lifting the cannon. Kavo couldn't blame them, a cannon that fires 12lb shot would have to weigh over half a ton.

He nudged them out of the way, squatted, and grunted in effort as he used all 4 arms and all 6 legs to lift the thing.

He scuttled up the gangplanks, carefully, and down into the hold, the crew not bothering to stop him from getting on. He managed to get the cannon on the mount and pointed the right direction, with a lot of grunting. It was only as he was wiping his brow that he realized some of the crew members were staring at him in abject fear.
He smiled good naturedly at them and stuck out a hand. "Name's Kavo. Your captain just hired me."
He wished he could paint a picture of the look on their faces.

Aria stepped back onto the ship, having seen what'd happened. "wow, wish i could carry bags of flour like that." she commented. as he turned, she approached him, sword drawn. "you've gotta tell me how to do that sometime. with the whole, like, throwing a guy out of a pub thing." she laughed. she looked at her sword in hand, and remembered it being "common courtesy" as she'd heard someone say, to, say, not have a sword drawn whilst with allies. she tosses it haphazardly to the side for the time being. Aria holds out her hand. "anyway, welcome aboard."

Kavo smiled at her, eyeing the sword briefly before she dropped it. "Just hit him pretty hard, that's all." He shook her hand, before reaching over and picking up the sword. "Maybe don't throw this around. Just stick it in your belt and it'll be fine."

Inez nodded as she shook Kavo's hand. "Ha! Just that?" She laughed casually. "I'll figure it out one day." She took her sword and sheathed it. "Anyway, until the captain gets back, I'm gonna set something up. You hungry? Any requests?" Inez strolled towards the small crates of ingredients. "I mean, I guess there're some limitations." She mumbled. "I can steal some stuff later."

The Captain looked at Aria curiously, for a girl so talkative he kept forgetting she was there, he had barely registered that she'd followed him to meet 'The Lady', she seemed to have a knack for simply.. Disappearing and reappearing sometimes. Axel was learning not to question it, all of his crew had their quirks, as far as Aria's went, her sticky fingers and a penchant for cooking were more useful than a hindrance. The girl was a quick learner, but that didn't mean he was going to answer all of her questions.

"Yeah, Kavo's hired if he wants to be. I'd cut off my left hand for two more like 'im, though I'm not sure the ship would be able to stay afloat!" Silver-Tongue chuckled, still running through the logistics of hiring the crab man, obviously they could carry him, but where was he going to sleep? The Captain doubted he'd fit in any of the normal bunks or hammocks, maybe they'd have to give him some space in one of the cargo cabins? For now Axel just planned on sticking him in with the surgeon, since they still had free beds available. He'd figure out what to do for Kavo when he had more time on his hands.

The other questions, Silver-Tongue figured he could have some fun with the girl, she was so new to this some things just went completely over her head. To sell the bit all humor drained from his face again and the tall man's violet eyes showed no mirth. He shook his head looking thoughtful.

"That woman? She's my ma, you can't see the resemblance? I keep her safe in that little hole in the wall and keep her fed. She's not too happy about me bein' a pirate an all that. No more questions!" Axel couldn't keep the glint of mischievousness from his eyes, he very clearly wasn't telling the truth, there wasn't a scrap of familiar resemblance between the Captain and The Lady, besides maybe cold eyes and a hard gaze. It was frowned upon to let others know about her, too many first mates had tried to bribe the woman who ran the island to dispose of their captains for them. She never did, loyalty was an important tool in her arsenal, and the hard woman made sure everything stayed in order.

So, picking up whistling again the Captain walked off, trusting that Aria would make her way back to the ship without him. Glancing at the sky he had about half an hour to kill. Walking through the pop-up markets was an amusing past-time, picking up the odd bauble or two to place in his already cluttered cabin. When the time finally came, Axel strolled back down to the docks, looking over his ship with a critical eye. The repairs were done well and efficiently and the new paint made the ship look sharper than it actually was. Silver-Tongue grinned, he knew being generous with his tithe was a good idea, The Lady was apparently very pleased, judging from the sleek accents of gold paint shining on the vessel. It screamed opulence, and he couldn't help but wonder if he was finally growing on the cold woman? He tossed aside the idea, she'd probably try to up his next tithe by 25% for this 'favor', best to stop at different ports for while.

Throwing out his arms, he addressed the crew still milling around on the wooden dock.

"Sorry we're not stayin' longer lads and lasses. We've got a job to do! I want everybody on board within the next ten minutes or yer gettin' left behind! We clear?" Axel had a loud voice, which carried clearly in the briny air, he got many nods, a few 'aye's', and Jared, who bless his probably worm ridden heart, just looked confused. He'd never figured out time… Or much else for that matter. The Captain mostly kept him around to win a bet with another one of his crew members. Clapping his hands, the crew lurched into motion and he smiled at Kavo and Aria, they seemed to be getting along.

Resting his arms on the railing of the deck, Silver-Tongue watched his men work, both pleased and taking mental notes. He liked to check in with most of the crew personally. They had plenty of time on the open ocean.

(Sorry I've been pretty silent! I'm recovering from the tail end of getting Covid and have mostly been asleep the past few days haha. T^T )

Kavo smiled at Aria. "No requests, I'll eat just about anything, other than crab. Kinda tastes weird if I think about it too much." He winked at her. "I'm sure you'll do just fine with what you've got here, the Captain seemed happy with your cooking."
Speak of the devil, Kavo turned as Silver-tongue called the all-aboard. Kavo scuttled over to the man as the crew scattered to do last minute jobs.
"Captain, looks like I'm ready for that handshake, if you haven't second guessed having me here." Kavo gave him a genuine smile, a bit different from his calculated polite smile, and held out a hand. "Let's talk destinations."

Silver-Tongue straightened up, sticking his hand out immediately, it hadn't even crossed his mind that he hadn't already offered the crab-man one. The Captain had the weathered hands of a sailor, with a few scales gathered in a diamond formation in the palm of his hand. Most people, when touching a snake for the first time were surprised by the texture of scales. They weren't cold, but rather soft and warm, feeling vaguely like scarred skin. Axel had a firm grip, and he grinned at Kavo soon after.

"Destinations? The ocean, obviously!" He chuckled lightly, looking at the crew finishing up. He did have a destination in mind, it was just that the Captain preferred to have maps to point to.. And a compass on the table. A small gleam grew in his eye, excited and devious. Silver-Tongue very obviously had a plan that he was working on, one that he liked, it could be something small, like overhearing merchants planning a shipment, or something obviously insane. Time would tell what was on the Captains mind.

Aria smiled, then picked up a crate and carried it to the kitchen. It was common for her to make stew, but it was the simplest and most versatile meal she knew of. Picking out produce (that she'd actually bought, miraculously), she started to boil water in a pot and washed vegetables, preparing broth that she'd made earlier in the day. Extracting her knife, she quickly chopped carrots, tomatoes, and whatever else had been in the crate. She never knew how to read very well, so whatever she saw on the stand that she'd at least vaguely recognized Aria had taken.
The scars on Aria's fingers reflected the number of times she'd accidentally cut herself with a kitchen knife, though it never made her more careful with knives. She was proud of herself, though, since it had been a good while since the last time it happened.

Kavo returned the grip, no limp fish handshakes here. His hand was rough, but not hard like his chitin. It was calloused, but otherwise normal skin. He noted the scales and wasn't surprised, but only because he'd handled actual snakes before.
He liked the Captain, but he also knew they might butt heads a couple times as he learned Silver-tongues style. He didn't want to create problems, but the first few days were always… interesting.
"Can I at least know a cardinal and you can give me the details later, sir?" Kavo offered. He extended his smaller pincer and turned the 'wrist' upwards. There was a small compass set into the chitin. "I can be prepping our heading with the rest of the crew."
He also needed to familiarize himself with the Deceit's helm. Every ship was a little different, every rudder had a different pull, every wheel had a different resistance, and he'd need to be steady in order to do his job correctly.

The Captain made a humming noise, though it retained a hissing quality whether he liked it or not, it was a hard habit to break. Removing his hand from the Karcaon's grip, running it through his own hair. The curly mess had come undone from it's previous bun and hung around his face in waves. Kavo was formal, very polite, and clearly wanted to do a good job. Silver-Tongue always could appreciate a good worker, but he'd see how the man did after a few days actually aboard. The Captain ran an odd ship, but it worked for him and the crew eventually got used to it, or found employment elsewhere.

"North East, start us out slow, no faster than five knots, the waters around here are tricky. If I see the scamp around, I'll send Isla yer way. She's our sailing master, I expect you an 'er to be seein' a lot of each other. Or save me the trouble and find 'er yerself if you see 'em. Young blonde thing." The Captain's eyes drifted away from the conversation, he seemed to be.. Listening to something? There was lots of noise aboard the deck. Men moving, the sound of ropes and exertion, the bells from the little town still giving life to the wind..

Axel shook his head, not letting his expression change. "But Kavo? End of the week I expect a report from you. Questions, concerns, hell, if you have any complaints this is yer one chance to make them with my… Full, undivided attention." Again, the Captain had an unnerving grin, he was purposely being vague, not letting the crab-man fully catch on if this was a test or not. Maybe he genuinely wanted his opinion, maybe he just wanted another test of character, the Captain himself didn't really know, it was part of what made him so unpredictable.

The tall man clapped the Karcaon hard on the shoulder, though it didn't have any force. Even if he'd pushed with all of his strength the Captain doubted he could even make Kavo shift his weight. He left, still looking wistfully off at the sea, the expression of confused listening more apparent now that it had his full attention. Still, the violet eyed pirate had work to do, and that work started below deck. He gave a nod to one of the men, who let the body of the old helmsman drop into the ocean, he was stuffed into a barrel, the corpse long since beginning to rot. To any observer it just looked like they were throwing off dead-weight, making room for all of the cargo brought aboard. The sailor made a religious sign with his hands, visibly shuddering. The men hadn't liked that they kept the old helmsman around post-mortem, thought it was bad luck. It would probably make them give Kavo a warmer welcome than some of the other new crew, maybe they'd even see him as a good omen. Silver-Tongue chuckled, scratching at the side of his jaw, it wouldn't help the poor soul with the hazing that much though.

Going below deck, he trusted his men to make the rest of the preparations alone. He tasted the air, pulling a face. It was another benefit of not having completely human blood, the more serpent elements came in useful. For example, he had an excellent sense of.. Smell. After a sort. He could tell what Aria was cooking, mildly annoyed with stew again, but the broth had already been started this morning, so he couldn't complain. The fresh ingredients would be a welcome addition. The Captain could also still taste the blood in the air from a brawl between two of the deckhands last week, he ran his tongue across his lips, trying to clear the taste.

His cabin was the most spacious of the ones on the ship, but easily one of the more full. His room clashed a bit between two styles, it had sleek, wooden furniture of clearly expensive wood. A real bed, with plush pillows and blankets, he had bookshelf's lining the walls, filled with trinkets and books. A desk, littered with papers held down by glass paper weights. It was very elegant, very expensive, and an extreme point of power. The room reflected his wealth, which could be taken as both arrogance or an encouraging sign. His men were paid well, of that the Captain took a sense of pride. In his mind's eye, they were just as much his possessions as any of the trophies in this room. As such, they were a reflection of him, his men received insurance fee's if injured, though that was an industry standard, but the better off they were, the better Silver-Tongue felt about his own reputation. A dubious sort of symbiosis. Perhaps it was the serpentine part of him, or the naturally greedy man, but the Captain loved to have things. People, money, power, little trinkets, or trophies, they filled him with an immense satisfaction. Though was often the case, it was never enough.

Sitting down at the desk, the pirate kicked off his tall boots, Pouring over the papers before him, maps, filled with personal notes and such. Part of this would have gone to the job a first-mate, but Silver-Tongue was a very paranoid man. Keep your friends close but your enemies closer. Keep your cards close to your chest. Even his desk, had more secret compartments than he had fingers to count on. It was time to get to work.