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Post by Morrigan Reid on May 28, 2016 11:48:06 GMT -6
Sure enough, Valerie was quick to ask Morrigan if she even had experience reading sea charts. There was no sense in lying to her: she was a captain. She'd know within moments of hearing Morrigan struggle to read the charts that the woman had barely looked at such before, let alone read them properly. So Morrigan shook her head. "No, I'm afraid I haven't. If I'm being honest I've only ever caught simple glances of sea charts and nothing more."
Despite this Gar seemed to have some degree of faith in her, and was about to share some reassuring words when he saw something that caught his eye. Morrigan followed his gaze and noticed a small commotion of sorts. That was troubling, they had barely set sail, but Morrigan wasn't all that surprised. Sailors tended to be loud, active, and boisterous fellows. Scuffles were bound to happen from time to time. Gar offered to go handle it and headed back to the deck to do just that, leaving Morrigan with Valerie.
Uncertain whether to say something or to just allow Valerie to come up with the plan, Morrigan decided to put her best foot forward. "That said, I am willing to learn, if you don't mind taking a moment to teach me. If that's too much then I understand. Really, I'm willing to perform any task I'm capable of while I'm here." This wasn't some sort of luxury cruise, nor was this like the ships she'd take from the Convent to one of her mission assignments. Morrigan was no guest here, nor was she a paying passenger. She was here to work. To build rapport with the mainlanders and create the foundation for a trust and alliance between the mainland and the Convent.
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Post by Valerie Aschdenne on Jun 2, 2016 2:10:02 GMT -6
Valerie barely gave an answer before some commotion began to stir below deck. It was...unfortunate, and yet expected. Valerie nearly snapped to attention, her natural captain instincts telling her to get down there and put those rowdy sailors in check. They may be ex-pirates, but they still ought to know there was no room for such foolery when a ship was just setting sail.
Still, before she could step in Gar volunteered to handle it. As hard a working man as he had seemed to be, so far, Valerie still didn't like the idea of leaving it all up to him. She wanted to get to the root of the problem and nip it in the bud herself, but she also had Morrigan to help teach. After all the raven haired witch did profess her inexperience with navigating. Sighing, Valerie gave a curt nod towards Morrigan.
"All right lass, I'll teach you. Open up that first chart there, would you?" She spoke firmly and clearly, yet her mind was clearly focused on Gar and the sailors. It was ill tidings for squabbles to happen so soon after setting off. Still, she had her tasks and she needed to carry them out. Odds were it was typical macho pride. Who could arm wrestle the best, drink the most, or bedded the most women. That sort of stuff.
"You'll first want to check the compass at the top corner, showing North, East, South, and West. We need to make south-west first, staying clear of the Dread Isle, and stick west along the Nabatan shore. Nabata ought to be the land mass covering the western edges of that chart. Ignore the lines moving through the sea for now, first you need your bearings."
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Post by Gar on Jun 6, 2016 17:00:42 GMT -6
Gar was inclined to get to the bottom of whatever the scuffle was about. Maybe it wasn’t nothing. Maybe the pirate had an obligation to determine the root of the problem and remove it from the source. Gar sighed, he didn’t want his first voyage as captain to be spent questioning his crew, but that was the case he had found himself in. The turquoise wearing captain rubbed his eyebrows for a moment before he resolved to find the deckhand that had been knocked to the floor earlier. He ventured below deck and called for the deckhand as his eyes adjusted to the dim light.
“Scrub you down here?” A moment passed and the deckhand revealed himself. “Ah good. Now would you tell me how your scuffle began? What was it all about?” The boy checked his surroundings to make sure no one else was around. The action itself made Gar suspicious and reinforced his desire to get to the bottom of the fight. The boy began to speak.
“Well ya see I aint one to tattle or nuthin. But I hear this aint no relief mission, but just another raiding party. I questioned some o’ the mates bout it n’ they shoved me to the floor n’ told me to keep my trap shut.”
Gar furrowed his brow. This was bad news indeed. He would need to report it to his co-captain, unless of course she was the leader of these pretenders. Gar mulled the question over while he returned above deck and headed to the helm where Valarie and Morrigan stood. He tried to choose his words carefully, he didn’t want to come across as accusatory, but he wanted to be clear that these raiders would not be tolerated. He spoke. “It seems we have a problem with our crew. There may be a few who are not here to do as they claim.” Gar’s eye darted between Valarie and Morrigan to gauge their reactions to the information. Perhaps he could see if one of them were in with the bad apples of the crew.
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Post by Morrigan Reid on Jun 16, 2016 15:13:47 GMT -6
Morrigan smiled a bit, that Valerie was willing to help her, so she nodded and opened up one of these sea charts. Sure enough there was quite a bit to take in, but she did her best to focus solely on the things Valerie told her too. Thankfully, like a standard map, landmasses were given names, so she was able to at least see Nabata and Badon quite well. It was the ocean itself that confused her. However, once she got a good look at all the relevant information, Morrigan slowly nodded.
"Okay...I do believe I'm following you now." Of course, her curiosity still piqued forward. "But what of those lines in the sea? What do they mean?" For some reason Morrigan suspected it to best something along the lines of sea currents. Where the waters themselves would naturally take you if the wind was not a factor.
Before she got her answer, though, Gar returned to them. He seemed to have dealt with whatever crew problem had cropped up, but he also seemed displeased. Distracted by or concerned with something. He said that there were a few among the crew who were not who they said they were.
...Ah, he was suspicious. Only natural. She was a "witch", right?
"That's...troublesome." Morrigan was honest, but knowing that she was under scrutiny naturally made her a bit nervous, regardless of whether she was guilty or not. "But I don't entirely understand what you mean." Wasn't this crew made up sailors and ex-pirates? That's what Morrigan assumed. But if some of them were not who they said they were, then what exactly were they?
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Post by Gar on Aug 9, 2016 19:31:11 GMT -6
Gar was prepared to provide more explanation and he began to speak to that end. “Mates aboard this ship are planning on attacking the village were supposed to be helping. Must've figured its easy pickings.” Gar let out a troubled, annoyed sigh and met Morrigan’s eyes with his own as if he was trying to discern her intentions simply by looking at her. He shrugged and almost spoke again but he was cut off by the sound of metal clashing and shouting on the deck of the ship. It had begun before Gar had any real chance to end it. He turned his head to the sounds. “Oh son of a –"
The pirate began barking orders at the crewmates. It mostly revolved around ending the fighting but it was too late. The raiders among them were fully engaged in attempting to take control of the ship. That wasn’t going to happen, not while Gar was a captain. With a furrowed brow Gar spoke to the two people standing near him. “We have a mutiny on our hands. Could one of you navigate us to the nearest port?” Gar certainly didn’t want to bring these ruffians anywhere near their destination while they were in this state. “As for the other of you, I would appreciate a little help cleaning the scum off the deck.”
Gar drew his axe from his sash and began to shout at the mutineers again. “Last chance, Throw down your weapons or you’ll be fish food.” The only real response he got, aside from the continued sound of clashing weapons, was a pirate charging at him with a drawn axe. Gar parried the weapon and shoved his shoulder into the enemy’s hip. Gar’s free hand wrapped around the man’s leg and lifted, bringing the man to the deck with a thud.
Gar angrily ended the mutineer with a swipe of his axe. He then hoisted the body over the guard rail and equipped the fallen man’s weapon in his off hand. Gar was now armed with dual axes and stood in defense of the navigator’s wheel, ready to engage any possible threats.
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Post by Morrigan Reid on Aug 10, 2016 14:47:25 GMT -6
"Wh-what?" Well...was that really so shocking? Plenty of these sailors were ex-pirates. Even if they weren't perhaps they were simply poor men who were down on their luck, feeling the need to take advantage of others they could consider "easy prey" in order to survive. Whether they were truly nefarious or not, though, did not matter right now. If fighting broke out on the ship Morrigan would have to do what she could in order to survive. If she was going to die it would be in service to her convent, not aboard some ship on a simple relief mission.
...And yet she had hid all of her tomes away in that room below deck.
"I will help you calm this down, Gar." Morrigan stated, handing the sea chart to the female co-captain. Someone needed to be at the wheel steering, even if there was a fight on deck, right? Getting lost at sea would be a truly terrible thing. "But I need to get my tomes! I'll be but a moment!"
Technically she could cast some Elder magic without tomes, but the Nether was a dangerous thing. Tomes or other conductors were not simply the basis for casting spells of all kinds or boosting magical power, they were safety measures. ALL magic was dangerous without conductors, even basic Anima magic. And that danger was perhaps greater for the caster than for anyone else involved. Knowing too well what the Nether can do, what it could take, casting Elder magic without a conductor was a truly last resort for Morrigan.
She did her best to slip through the fighting. While the chaos that had broken out made every step a dangerous one, it seemed to keep any focus and attention off of herself. That would make it easier to grab her tome. For simple pirates and sailors Flux and Trinity ought to be enough. No need to grab anything more potent than that...
"Where'd ya think yer going, missy?!" Morrigan let out a small scream and jumped back, a throwing axe spinning past her into the wooden deck right next to her. Close, too close. One of the mutineers walked towards her, another throwing axe in hand, and Morrigan was still without a tome. The steps below-deck were so close too...
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Post by Gar on Aug 31, 2016 19:17:01 GMT -6
The noise of the battle had begun to impair Gar's hearing. He couldn't quite make out what Morrigan was saying but he caught a few words. I'll help. Calm.. Need... Tomes.Tomes? Ah that's right. A magic user's books are just like my axes. Without them we're next to useless. Gar shifted his focus to finding a way below deck where the mates had their gear stored. While he was surveying the best route through the fighting, Morrigan had already entered the fray unarmed. Gar was surprised by the bold decision and moved in to assist. The woman had gained a few points in Gar's book with her courageous, if somewhat foolhardy, action. Somehow she had managed to make it deeper into the battle faster than Gar could keep up.
The pirate was trying to keep track of Morrigan among the crewmates and mutineers. He was trying and having a rough time of it. The fight was entirely disorienting, he could hardly tell who was friend and who was foe. A moment came when he could no longer see the magical woman. Crap. I lost her. Did she get..? From over one shoulder Gar heard a small shout and a 'thuck' of a hand axe splitting into the wood of the deck. Gar locked his sight on a man who possessed the menacing look of a mutineer. He was approaching Morrigan with another axe in hand. Gar had to act quickly here. He knew he was going to need Morrigan's magical assistance in this fight, he just had to help her out first.
Gar called out to the mutineer."Oi! Hand axes? Any sailor worth his salt shouldn't be afraid to fight up close!" Gar hoped his taunt would change the mutineer's focus toward himself rather than Morrigan. It didn't work, at least not entirely. The man looked Gar's way then continued to close the distance toward the druid. Gar cursed under his breath and sprinted. He couldn't tell the exact instant the he arrived nor did he prepare a legitimate attack. He simply ran and hurled himself at the man with the hand axe. They both tumbled to the deck, sliding a ways on the slick wood.
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Post by Morrigan Reid on Sept 3, 2016 10:19:31 GMT -6
Tomes. They were a necessary conduit for most starting mages, required in the process of learning and understanding new spells. Ancient and detailed, they could provide a sort of...safe feeling for one who learned how to cast through them. Morrigan knew that this was popular, well-known information on the mainland. The vast majority of mages used tomes to channel, focus, and cast their spells even if they had already learned and mastered the spell on their own. Her runic tattoos were sufficient for this, the movements she'd learned and studied over the years also sufficient in focusing her magic.
Morrigan wanted to blend in on Elibe. She did not want to raise even a single eyebrow. Elder magic was frowned upon as a whole, to varying degrees based on what nation one was in, and magic in general was likely viewed with at least minor to moderate scrutiny. If she went about casting like she was trained to, like she knew she could, there was no telling exactly what could come about it. Would she be distrusted? People already regarded her in a negative light. Called her a "witch" on sight.
But as this man, armed with another throwing axe, closed in on her, Morrigan took a breath. Fine. Call her a witch then. She'd endure any insult and all scrutiny if she had to, but she would not die. Not there, not that day.
Just as she felt the "bear's breath" on the nape of her neck Gar tackled the rebel pirate to the ground, the both of them sliding across the deck and closer to the melee that had broken out. "Gar!" Morrigan called out for him, breaking her connection with the Nether instantly. The captain seemed unharmed...and that was good. Truly a relief. So Morrigan wasted no time in making the most of his heroic move and hurried down the stairs.
Even if she COULD cast without tomes, Gar believed otherwise as of that moment. She would honour his efforts in protecting her by upholding the charade, however...Morrigan doubted she would ever again allow for such a risk. Nobody should have to wind up injured or worse simply to protect her.
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Post by Gar on Sept 3, 2016 18:42:46 GMT -6
Gar heard Morrigan call his name. He could only reply with one word. “Sorry!” The pirate was apologizing where others would boast or expect thanks. If he had the time, he could probably figure out why that lone word rose to his lips quicker than any other. Gar was the captain. This was his mission, his vessel, his crew. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This should’ve been a light-hearted mission to bring signs of hope to a downtrodden people. But Gar lost control of the crew, and because of that a woman almost suffered. This whole mutiny was, in a way, his fault and for that, Gar was sorry.
But the pirate didn’t have time to think about it. He was still responsible for restoring order on his ship. Gar rose to his feet quicker than his opponent. He noted from his peripheral vision that Morrigan made it below deck safely. That was good. Now Gar could focus on the man he had knocked down. The enemy was rising from all fours. Gar didn’t want that to happen. Gar swung his booted foot at the mutineer’s jaw. It connected cleanly, knocking the enemy flat again. His opponent laid flat on his stomach and he wasn’t attempting to move.
Gar deduced that the mutineer was unconscious. He placed his axes into the sash on his waist. Gar placed one hand on the mutineer’s waistband and the other gripped the cloth on the man’s back. He lifted the unconscious man and swung him to and fro, gathering momentum. He then heaved the man overboard, into the water. Gar turned and drew his axes again. A splash and a salty mist filled the air off the side of the boat.
Gar surveyed the scuffle. From what he could tell, the two sides were evenly matched. He grunted and briefly considered rallying his forces with words of encouragement. He shook his head. There weren’t any more words that needed to be said. Now was a time to lead by example. Traitors would not be tolerated on this vessel. With his resolve bolstered, Gar rejoined the combat, engaging with a pirate a few years younger than himself.
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Post by Morrigan Reid on Sept 14, 2016 8:55:06 GMT -6
OOC: Sorry about the wait. Was adjusting to college and so forth
Over the sounds of steel clashing with steel and the roars of battle, Morrigan could have sworn she heard an apology from Gar ring out across the ship. Regardless she descended below deck, running as fast as she could towards her room. It was foolish to leave her tomes below deck, even more foolish to simply not react to that pirate earlier without them. Blending in was a luxury that was certainly not worth her own life.
Morrigan entered the room and saw the small sack full of her tomes. With a sigh she simply took out one, her Luna tome. She doubted she'd need it for pirates, but if for some reason she did then at least she'd have the tome for justification. Turning on her heel Morrigan sprinted up towards the stairs above deck, flinching and stepping back as a pirate was sent tumbling down the stairs. She couldn't tell if he was friend or foe, but he seemed to be unconscious, so Morrigan just stepped over his large frame and made her way above deck regardless.
As soon as she appeared above deck Morrigan surveyed the battle quickly. It was chaotic and...again, impossible to tell whose men were on her side or not. They all looked so similar. No armour or uniform to tell them apart. She was so used to taking on brigands with a fellow mage or some Etrurian mercenaries, the former she'd know personally and the latter were usually so well-dressed for their profession that the distinction was easy to make. This was far different. Chaos abound, there was no one "side" of the battle her allies would be standing on.
This made things difficult.
Morrigan winced as one pirate's axe ripped through his foe's throat, spilling his blood on the deck and roaring in victory as the other man dropped, limp and lifeless. He then turned his eyes on Morrigan, and she saw all she needed to see. The wrong kind of hunger. Bloodlust. Enemy or not that man just became a threat to her, and there was no need for her to hold back now.
The pirate took one step towards her before she fired a strong bolt of pure dark energy towards his knee. The inky black Flux spell hit his knee hard enough to throw his balance off, causing him to stumble, the knee nearly buckling. Morrigan could feel the bear's breath on the nape of her neck, but she paid it no mind, instead firing bolt after bolt of Flux magic, aimed at the man's limbs. One bolt struck his hand hard enough that he dropped his axe, disarming him. Another hit his opposite knee and brought him from standing to kneeling.
One final bolt aimed right for his face, and the pirate was knocked onto his back, blood pouring from where the bolt had struck his head.
She would not need Luna, it seemed, unless she needed to take her opponent's out swiftly.
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Post by Gar on Sept 30, 2016 18:58:10 GMT -6
OOC:I think im gonna close this one out if that’s cool. Feel free to throw another post in if you want
The deck of Gar’s ship was covered in violence. At this point he was sick and tired of it. He placed his boot atop a mutineer’s corpse. “This is MY ship damn it! Mine!” the battle had been dying down for some time now, but Gar was still fighting. He had to make sure every combatant had been taken care of. His eyes fell upon Morrigan, who was deftly using her magic to engage and defeat her opponents. Gar made a note not to get on her bad side. Shaking his head he began to patrol the deck, searching for any last mutineers. The pirate had not started this fight, but he would have it finished. Soon.
The battle had been decided. Gar sighed remorsefully and took a knee. He spoke, mostly to himself, but the survivors may have appreciated his words. “I have failed this ship. This crew. You all have been remarkable. You have earned much more than I can give you. But I can give you my thanks.” Gar took another deep breath and rose to a standing position to address his crew once more.
“Now that the mutineers have been dealt with, I say we deliver the goods we promised. Change course for the village. Our mission begins anew and I for one plan to see it succeed. ” Gar turned his head to the west, the setting sunlight bounced off the seascape into his eyes. The trip had been a hassle, but if it meant healing a broken village, it was worth it.
[End Thread]
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