"You are interested in the job, yes?" Laredo stared greedily from a porthole as more money than he'd ever seen exchanged hands. The sails in his mind unfurled as he had an hour to separate Captain Snow from his money. Nothing came to mind immediately, so he plopped down on a barrel wishing he hadn't drank so much.
"Here's my share", said William, as he gave the captain a number of coins. I'd be very interested in joining you on your ship. As long as the pay is good, that is.
As long as the pay is good, that is. "Well I can only give you two hundred denarii up front for the Kargaroc job" said the captain "but the party on the other end has promised two thousand. These are dangerous times; a good courier is hard to come by. Plus, who knows what other work you'll find, eh?" Just then a donkey cart loaded with crates arrived at the dock. "Captain Snow?" the driver asked "Aye, 't's me." "Got some cargo for ye." The man indicated the crates in the back of the cart. "Excellent, just unload them here, if you would." Snow gave the man six denarii and a smaller pentagonal silver coin with a large hole in the center. He placed the five money bags he had collected on one of the crates once it was unloaded and turned back to collect the rest.
Bentolo tipped a handful of coins from his purse into his own hand, then dropped the small heap onto Snow's outstretched palm. "That should total 1000 Denarii, Captain. As for the shipping job, it seems to me a suitable and unchallenging task, provided we don't run into a storm or get assessed as easy prey by the criminal element. What, aside from those, could possibly go wrong on such a simple voyage?" He caught a glimpse of Laredo's diabolical expression out the corner of his eye. Ah, yes, maybe something else could go wrong.
"now cap'n snow, im sure you can agree when i say that buying a boat is like marrying a woman." the captain smiled and finished the old adage "Ye don't marry a woman until you know she's got everything she's meant to, nothing she shouldn't, and does what she's told." Ryan winked and turned up a lip that some would have called a snarl. "so if ye dont mind, im a gonna inspect this fair lass of yours before i trust my life with 'er" Captain snow gave a curt nod and Ryan tightened his grip on his ruck sack then headed up the gang plank. as he set foot on the boat he realised the old girl was indeed old. the wood on deck had not been oiled for a long time evident by the planks grayed from the salt and and sea water. the wood around the centeral mast however still held a yellow tinge which meant either termites from being at shore too long or the mast had been replaced. He then set about pacing the length of the ship from the poop deck (the top of the stern castle) to the very tip of the bow and found it to be just lightly longer than the 50' the captain had advertised. the boat had three masts. one 10' from the bow (foremast) which attached to the bowsprit (a smaller mast that points at a 45 degree angle out the front on the boat) to allow for a decent sized square and a triangular jib sail. the main mast was almost in the exact center of the boat where they usually are closer to the stern. Ryan guessed the main mast was about 35' high allowing for one large single square sail and a one man birds nest for the lookout. the third mast stood just in front of the aftercastle where the wheel was also located, the known as the mizzen it was considerably smaller and was much like the fore sale, a small sheet of square with a triangular 'lateen' sail attaching to the stern. after Ryan inspected the rigging and found it in good order he went below deck to see what the sleeping quarters were like, and to no surprise found a dozen hammocks strung up at the rear with most of the room at the for left for cargo. Ryan hated sleeping on ships. constantly creaking and swaying, and the below deck was always damp with a musty smell. but fortunately for all those concerned he didnt spy a single rat, possibly because there was no food on board. after his inspection he came back up to the main deck where he spied Laredo testing the main shroud. "dont go kill your self little man, or i will never get me money back" Ryan received a retort he could not hear do to a crash of the waves. back on land the captain raised an eyebrow. and Ryan answered "well she lays a little low in the water for my liking, but the rest of her is sound. this will cover me and the boy" and handed over two red gemstones about the size of a mans thumb nail.
The captain inspected the gemstones. They looked like they would sell for slightly more than the eighty aurei he was owed; they were finely cut and their makeup looked like it would be ideal for storing flexible energy, an ability sorcerers would pay big for. He'd noticed that the most recent stranger to join the group had been carrying a a stone not unlike it around his neck. Probably a sorcerer. Captain Snow had taken a liking to this Ryan fellow. He was more of an honest man than he looked. "Well, its been a pleasure dealing with you, Mr. Whitecastle. Same to the lot of you. May she serve y'all well." The cart driver had finished unloading the crates with Fairbanks's help. "What's in these crates, anyway?" asked Fairbanks. "Pigeons." replied the driver "Messenger pigeons fly one way, you know. Lot of folk don't realize that. They take these little buggers for granted. They're not bad cargo, though. 'Cept for the dung, of course." Flynn had also been conducting an inspection of the ship, and was finishing on the deck. "I reckon she's seaworthy." he said to Ryan "What say you we load up and set sail?"
"What say you we load up and set sail?" "if ye' can navigate then there be no doubting us getting there, i was never much for sines and cosines m'self. ye' didnt happen to notice charts and compass in the captains quaters did ya? cause i didnt bother to see where i wasnt sleeping"
"The voyage shouldn't be much trouble." Around the time the vessel was fully loaded, a loud thunk echoed from below deck. The thunk sound was followed by and anguished yelp and some indistinct screaming. Moments later, the starboard cannon fired out to sea, hitting nothing. "They're here!" Laredo emerged from below deck wielding his fire poker and a bottle half full of corn whiskey. "Must have followed me!" "You're not tattooing me you bastards!" The boy threw the fire poker back down the ladder he just climbed at some unseen foe. "Salty Joe warned me!" He ran toward the others, tripping, and nearly spilling what was left of his whiskey. "No bar gnomes are putting a ugly girl's name on me! I'm not that drunk!" As he struggled back to his feet, he collided bodily with Captain Snow, though not knocking the old captain over. Laredo then forced the bottle into the captain's hands with a command, "Hold this." Laredo looked himself over and began pawing at his face. After not feeling anything, he grabbed the captain and resumed his shouting. "Is there anything on my face?! Did they get me?!" As though the sudden excitement were too much, the boy looked suddenly ill. He covered his mouth with a hand and ran toward the ship's windlass. Again, he tripped and stumbled overboard. Moments later panicked splashing and shouting filled the air. "Help!" "Can't!" "Swim!"
William dove over the deck, plunging into the sea below. He hauled up Laredo from the water, lifted them slightly above the water level, while the Captain tossed a rope down. When they both were safely back on the deck, he shouted at Laredo: "Calm down, man, no one's coming."
Fairbanks, Gwendolynn and the cart driver had finished loading the crates onto the ship. They had decided to keep them in the captain's quarters; they would have to realease the birds every few days to clean the crates, and the small wardroom was the only place fully closed off to the outside, apart from the crew quarters, which they didn't want to stink up. "We're all set up here!" called Fairbanks "She's in sailing shape" replied Flynn "We can set off soon as everyone's ready."
"We can set off soon as everyone's ready." "The sooner the better." Laredo mumbled, looking much like a half drowned cat after his spill overboard. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the old captain.
As the ship left the harbor, Captain Snow looked up in surprise, realizing he had been robbed. He knew it was too late to get his money back, and decided to eat the loss without much fuss. The old captain walked back to the pub, counting the money he had left. The Renedage had been sailing for a few hours when the crew sat down at the table below deck for dinner. It was decided that the ration per man would be a glass of grog, a biscuit, and an apple. "So" said Fairbanks, taking a bite of his apple "Flynn and I have got some sailing experience, anyone else know their way around a ship?"
"I've worked in a harbor, but never actually on the boat," replied William. "I guess I could be of use with some ship repairs, but I probably won't be much use in moving the thing." After a pause, he quietly muttered. "Ok, I'll shut up now".
"I can scrub one and mend sails. Don't know nothin' about navigatin' though. I worked on a clipper a few months ago." Laredo started to take a drink from his grog before remembering something, "Oh, uh, Ryan, I think this makes us even." Laredo tossed the yellow-smiled man a coin purse that looked strikingly similar to one of those used by Captain Snow.
Laredo tossed the yellow-smiled man a coin purse that looked strikingly similar to one of those used by Captain Snow. Ryan looked at the boy for some time before turning his attention to the coin purse. he drew the leather bag off the table, then threw and caught it a few times. "Seems about right...I guess 'ave the ol' cap'n to thank for this. an to ye other remark, i can sail a ship"
The Renegade had been sailing for four days when it ran into a dense fog. Fairbanks, Laredo, Ryan, Bentolo and William sat below deck playing dice. Flynn was taking a shift keeping watch on the deck. "I don't like this at all." said Fairbanks "It's right suspicious is what it is. Fog like this is... it's unnatural." "I think everyone best get up here!" Flynn called to the rest of the crew. As the four men came up from below deck, they began to see a shape in the fog. It looked like a ship. As they came closer to it they could see that it was surrounded by ice. The ice was thawing quickly in the ocean water, creating the fog. The ship was two or three times the Renegade's size, but its sails were ripped to pieces, and its hull was full of holes. Only the ice was keeping it afloat. The words "The Lunar" could be faintly made out on its side. "This's salt water." said Flynn "'Not supposed to freeze like that." "What do we do?" asked Fairbanks
"What do we do?" "What do you mean, whadduwedu? We run unfurl every bit of sail we've got and get the hell away from that thing!" Before he'd even finished, Laredo grabbed a rope and kicked a pulley, sending him upward toward the mainsail.
Bentolo looked up at Laredo's rapidly-receding figure as it shot upwards, cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted: "Are you a man? Why did you bother getting on board the ship if you don't plan on using it?" He winked at Fairbanks, knowing the reaction he'd get from the boy. "We should board it."
"We should board it." "i tell ya'll what, im gett'n damn sick of apples and stale sea biscuits. but we aint got the gear for this sorta frozen escapade." and with that ryan grabbed the main shroud and like a spider climbed to the crows nest. with out being able to see any better he called down to the people on deck."Any of you magic folk think they can move some of this fog? might be able to see if there's more."
"Any of you magic folk think they can move some of this fog? might be able to see if there's more." Bentolo reached out into the fog mentally, feeling the oppressive vapour close in around the small point he was focusing on. This fog was heavy, and with his meagre powers he could barely hold back the fog for more than a metre when he concentrated on the entire wave. As soon as he released it, the fog rushed back into place, sending a slight gust of wind across the ship's deck and temporarily distracting him. He brought the force back inside himself, grabbed the rope holding a subsail folded, and untied it, hoisting himself into the rigging and dropping the sail. He could see Ryan a couple of metres away. He reached out with his mind toward Ryan's eyes and dispersed the fog around them, extending the clear line closer and closer to the frozen boat, though it grew harder and harder with every metre, foot, inch. Sweating heavily, he wheezed a few words at Ryan. "Hurry... up and tell us what... you can see." Each word was increasingly painful.
"We should board it." Having not heard Bentolo, Laredo throws one of his bags of sand, but fails to hit anyone with it. "It's a ghost ship sailed by the damned! Only way we're boarding that is when we get shanghai'ed after they kill us!" Laredo struggled with the knots holding the mainsail.
"Calm the hell down and stop dropping things down 'pon us!" shouted Flynn to Laredo as he turned the ship's wheel sharply. He maneuvered the Renegade closer to the frozen ship until the two were parallel with only about eight yards between them. "You two!" he yelled to Bentolo and Ryan "Find out what you can see, then try'n swing across to her deck!"
"Find out what you can see, then try'n swing across to her deck!" "there aint no one on board from what i can see" Ryan shouted back "but see is pretty broken up, looks like if she wasnt frozen she would be accomidatin' the fishes" Ryan then looked at Bentolo and said "ye can stop now if ye like. we'll get a close up view if ye game."
"Captain, if you don't mind..." said William, enhancing his legs and dashing to the rail. He leapt up from the rail, making it about 5 yards, before jumping again on what seemed like nothing. He then proceeded to draw his sword and knife, and look around the deck. Seeing nothing, he went below deck. A minute later, a shout was heard by the whole crew of William's voice, saying: "Guys, stay back, don't board!" The sounds of metal clashing against metal could be heard, and after a minute and a thud, all was quiet.
