private Thread and Needle

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Arellion.

 

"I'd quite like to know the answer to that myself, Captain."

 

Having emerged on deck at the sound of one of the overly serious fools bellowing, Arellion sauntered over and rested a hand on the shoulder of the one called Annie as if they were old friends and comrades... which of course they weren't.

 

"Other than what I see here, I've been kept in the dark about all of this. Not that I'm complaining mind you: there are far worse fates than tending a ship filled with so many fine examples of the more enigmatic gender..."

 

With a cocky smirk dancing at the corner of his mouth, the duelist ran his free hand through his hair in an obviously practiced fashion. He reached for the bottle at his side and briefly brought it to his mouth as he watched his employer emerge from below deck - rolling his eyes.

 

"Oh, here comes the bleedin' ice queen..."

 

---------------

 

Eleanor.

 

The fire Mage blinked in the change of light as she climbed above deck: eyeing the gathering tiredly. Was this going to be it for the foreseeable future? A foul tempered, foul smelling gathering and constant bellowing of orders? Likely - at least she had Nef.

 

Reaching down to fuss the elemental absentmindedly, the pyromancer stood a short distance from the actual crew and waited to see what was so important that half the island needed to hear.

[The Dark Lord 332]

@@Torrent505,@@RunsWithSquirlz,  

 

"Well if you plan on doing some treasure hunting, I need a bit more time to pin a location." John said coming back up from below deck. That was the whole reason, or the majority of it, he decided to join this crew. "And I hope no one is squeamish when it comes to dead bodies. Those tend to be lying around when hunting treasure."

[Torrent505 370]

Anne raised her brow at the man, sounded like he might have some experience in seeking out ancient treasures. Maybe this whole crew wouldn't be useless. A bit of mischief actually made it to her eyes, "Squeamish of dusty old bones and papery flesh? Hardly. Or are you used to fresh bodies lining your path? If so it certainly makes me wonder where your previous party members met their fates and what brings you to our crew." She grinned a devilish smile, honestly curious how many places this man had plundered, could his experience be equal to hers?

[The Dark Lord 332]

@@Torrent505,

 

"Hey, their deaths are on themselves. Their impatience is what cost them." John said to Anne as he crossed his arms over his chest. What he said was true, it was their fault, and he didn't feel any guilt for leading them to dangerous places, they knew the risks. "I'm hoping you lot have more common sense than they did."

[Sekel 696]

@@Flying Ace

Blake heard what the little pyromaniac said and smirked at her. "The only fire hazard waiting to happen would be you. You saw how well the ship took the bomb burning. I felt how well the ship took the fire show you did so I doubt you could much more damage to the ship than its already sustained."

[Torrent505 370]

Anne's small smile widened becoming shark like, "well then they certainly did deserve it and you're better off without them. As for me?" She blinked trying to look confused and giving her best impression of a wide eyed noblewomen, "nope not an ounce of common sense." She knocked on her head with her fist as if that proved something.

 

"I'll just have to make sure you walk any spooooky temple ruins first so you can sniff out the traps for me." She surprised herself with how playful she was being, she hadn't been in this good a mood within the last year; being at the helm of a ship and with Captain London had to do something with it. Maybe as well as the wealth of crew to exchange jabs with; she almost felt normal again.

[The Dark Lord 332]

@@Torrent505,

 

John chuckled at the girl's antics, 'I like her." He thought to himself. "That sounds highly likely since I may be the one who knows the most about any temples we would happen to run across." He said to Anne. "Plus, It's really fun trying to avoid traps. Although my former partners may not agree with me."

[RunsWithSquirlz 274]

"The Thread is in no condition for a proper run. But luckily the treasure is coming to us." London leaned forward on the railing.

 

"A small pirate ship is returning from its 6 month voyage, bringing a good haul of coin and goods with it. With the money from this capture, we can fix the boat. Currently, we have 6 cannons of which only 4 work. Kind of. A depleted powder supply and such."

 

 

London handed Annie a small map "I've marked the course they should be taking. We'll stop right here, and then play a game of Dead Duck."

 

It was a term she used when the captain and crew would all hide. Making it seem like a ghost ship to the other forces. With luck they'd either pass by and give them a clear killing shot or board the vessel. Once boarded her crew would ambush the others and quickly take the enemy ship. London had done this many times with good results, and she didn't really have to do it with The Needle. It was equipped for a raging battle.

 

But not this ship. Not yet.

[Scribblegroove 565]

@Torrent505 @Dji @RunsWithSquirlz @Flying Ace @Alex Kennedy

The moment the order had been given to him, Duncan had headed down to the lower deck to check on the guys as quickly as he could, since the promise of getting to work on a true Gatling prototype was so tempting that he'd rather get to it as quickly as possible. During the time he was below deck, he missed most of the conversation going on above. He walked by each of the six guns, two of which were completely unusable, but repairable. Another one had it's safety valve missing, turning it into a potential bomb when loaded, so that was definitely a red flag. Then one other gun would fire, but most likely not very accurately since the inside had worn off it's aerodynamical grooves. The final two were in decent shape, but they weren't the best guns in the first place. All in all not a very strong collection of firepower.

 

Reaching inside of the rusty cannon, he could vaguely feel the grooves that had been there before they had rusted away. He could at least make this gun slightly more functional with one simple move. He took his ring and held it against the inside of the barrel. Then he drew it over the remains of the guiding grooves, renewing the slightly with the magically rune-heated ring. Once that was done, he ran for his buck and excitedly grabbed his gun smithing kit.

 

He quickly went back up to the deck and eagerly announced. "Guns have been checked. First and third starboard and middle port guns will be functional. The others are not to be fired." he then tried to pick up where the conversation had headed whilst walking towards the Gatling gun on the nose of the ship.

 

He kneeled down in front of the fire weapon, as if trying to show it his respect, and gently placed his hands on the mechanism. It was a very complicated piece of machinery. 'Top notch', one of the newest designs out there. However, it was clear that it had been badly assembled and horribly cared for. It was rusty, dirty, slanted and there were all sorts of loose parts. "Poor thing. What did they do to you?" he mumbled to himself as he ran his finger over one of the four barrels, revealing all the dust, dirt and tar it had collected. He wiped off his hands and stood up again. Without the proper materials and a good amount of time it would be no use to try and restore it. First they needed funding, and the plan the captain had proposed deemed to be very interesting.

 

"Ahh, I like that way of thinking captain. Stealing from the pillagers themselves. No one will bother calling us the bad guys after we've taken down a pirate ship, so we can take as much loot as we want. Very crafty..." Though Duncan was usually lawful, he was also very fond of maneuvering oneself within the borders of the law that you get as much profit out of any situation as legally possible. This was one of those maneuvers.

 

"I have a plan which I wish to propose then." He said, gesturing everyone to listen closely. "If we want to get as much loot out of that pirate ship without risking too much of our own men, and without sinking our own ship, we'll have to be very cunning. Duncan smiled at the deviousness of his plan. "I don't believe that just the element of surprise will give us enough of an upper hand to succeed. I believe that if we are to turn this ship into a makeshift ghost ship, we should make those pirates believe this truly is a ghost ship." He gestured towards their entourage, which was indeed that of quite a scary and ghostly ship. "If we scare them enough to make them quiver or even abandon ship, taking care of the remaining crew once we enter them will be a piece of cake! All I'll need is an alchemist, a firemage and a whole lot of gunpowder!" He said perfectly seriously.

 

Turning to Arellion, he grinned. "And if they are stupid enough to get close, we'll have our swashbuckling demon come from the lower decks of the ship to haunt the pirates." he joked, but at the same time he was quite serious."Don't worry, I'll have your back. From a safe distance. Up there." And he gestured towards the crow's nest, from which he usually shot down dangerous opponents from afar.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Scribblegroove

[RunsWithSquirlz 274]

She watched him with intrest. A smirk pulled across her face at his suggestion "That's a fantastic idea, Gunny." In truth, she could not remember his name, if he had given it. But his skill and intrest in guns was apparent enough.

 

"We have two of each but the powder is low. Take your pick or maybe one of the crew will volunteer. "

[Scribblegroove 565]

Duncan nodded at the captains approval of his plan. "Excellent." He stated with a determined look on his face. He then scanned over the crew. "To get my point across, I have a short story to tell." he said slightly apologetic, but he continued anyway.

 

"A few years ago I saw one of the most fantastic light shows in the world. I've only seen two, but I'm quite sure I won't see any better. It came with huge explosions of colored fire which seemed to be animated at times, and a lot of strange noises and sounds. I asked the pyrotechnics crew how they had managed it, and they explained it was quite simple. You see using alchemists gunpowder, and alchemist and a firemage can put up quite a show. The alchemist infuses the gunpowder with the power of fire, and a single hair of said firemage. Then the firemage will have a far easier time animating the large amouts of fire from great distances. Some of the intensity of the fire is lost, but if we can make the fire turn green we can put up quite an illusionary show for out guests, which will definitely be frightening enough to scare them to their cores."

 

He turned around and wringer his hands together and pointed towards the little fire-obsessed girl. "I suggest that we create a few bombs with the specialized alchemical gunpowder." He then gestured towards the guns in the lower decks. "Fire them with the ship's cannons when the pirates least expect it." And he then raised his arms high, laughing. "And then the fire mages put up a show that will convince the pirates this ship is haunted for sure, animating the fire to represent demons and terrible beasts! And during the distraction we will sail closer to them and enter their ship! Easy!"

 

Then Duncan cringed a little, questioning himself. "However, I have no idea how alchemy or fire magic works. Is this possible? This is just what I heard. I have some alchemical gunpowder ready for infusion. Probably enough for two or three cannonball sized bombs..." He explained, hoping he got his plan across.

[Shadow Dancer 111]

,@@Scribblegroove, @@RunsWithSquirlz,  I caught wind of the Idea while looking around I turned towards the two, "I am skilled with Shadow magic give me a myth on these seas and I can make them true so to speak." I decided that this encounter would put me to use, as i had little experience with ships, that was left to navel specialist in the guild.

Edited August 7, 2014 by Shadow Dancer

[Flying Ace 142]

@@Scribblegroove,

Rondra processed Duncan's plan before giggling, and it wasn't even a cute giggle, "Ohhhhhh, I like yooooou I'm the right girl for the job! Give me time and the ingredients and I shall make bombs the like of which the world has never seen." Rondra then proceeded to laugh manically while rubbing her hands together. "Give me the ingredients, give em' give em' give em' give em'."

[Sekel 696]

@@Scribblegroove

"That sounds like a good idea. Not sure what I can do to help with it though." Blake said, frowning. He liked the idea and thought that it could get done. The only problem he found with it was something personal but didn't really think it mattered. "If you'd like a contribution, Pluto could help scan for them from the air." Blake said, pointing upwards.

 

Up in the sky, Pluto circled the boat but he was slowly drifting down until he landed on top of Blake's staff, looking at the group with interest.

 

"He's a hawk so he has keen eyesight." Blake stated.

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

Edward shook his head. As a proud warrior, he didn't like having to rely on trickery. That said, if the captain wanted to do it, then he would put everything he had into it.

 

@@Scribblegroove,@@RunsWithSquirlz,

 

"Alright, what do you need from the rest of us? I for one can't manipulate fire or make bombs, but I'll help wherever you need me. If there's to be a boarding party, I can lead it. I have some experience with that."

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Eleanor.

 

"It could be done..." Mused the pyromancer. She wasn't a pirate or a soldier - merely a wanderer. Admittedly, she had seen her fair share of conflict but... well, she wasn't usually the one doing the attacking. Not on such a grand scale anyway: a ship? Sureshe could burn it but this was... it was....

 

Well, kind of exciting. But ludicrous.

 

"I actually specialise in manipulation of my element." She spoke up - raising a hand with her fingers splayed and palm facing upward where a flame appeared. Leaving the elemental at her side alone, she used the other hand to gesture towards the fire - coaxing it into shapes and moulding it to do her bidding. With a few motions, there sat a second, even smaller dragon on her palm.

 

"Oh course, this one isn't alive..." She shrugged - still motioning with a finger and causing the tiny construct to snap its jaws playfully. "... but it's a pastime of mine, if you like. Any Mage can wield their element: but to control it flawlessly is... much more difficult to master."

 

Lifting the tiny dragon to her neck, she had it break down into its base form again, before reshaping itself into a fine chain that hung around her neck - incorporeal and flickering with its burning light.

[The Dark Lord 332]

@@Scribblegroove, 

 

John didn't really care for the plan one way or the other, but it did involve minimal confrontation on their part so it was passable. There was just one problem "Surely the crew of that ship won't be stupid enough to let us get close to them with ready cannons without having done the same. And I know from experience, If someone gets shot at, they're going to be shooting back. How much damage are we expecting to take?" 

 

@,

He turned to Eleanor, "And how close do you need to be to manipulate the flames?" 

[Scribblegroove 565]

@, @, @@Alex Kennedy, @@Dji, @@Flying Ace, @@Shadow Dancer, @@Scribblegroove

 

Duncan scratches his chin as he though about his plan a little more thoroughly. "See it like this, it's not only going to scare the pirate crew. It's going to distract them, and it might even hide us from sight completely." He looked at the man who said he was proficient in the art of the shadows. "If you can summon some kind of mist or fog to hide us, it might even be better." He then looked up to the crows nest and tugged at his musket. "In the first burst of chaos I can pick off their captain and helmsman. They'll be an unguided projectile. Then we might be able to get close enough without them even noticing, since they'll be far too busy with trying to protect themselves from a giant wall of fire." Casually he leaned against the mast and gritted his teeth together, something he did often when he was thinking. "And remember, from a distance we'll look like a desolated ghost ship. They won't expect us to fire at all, and once we do it'll be too late for them, unless they see through the illusion."

 

Thinking on how he could make sure everyone contributed to the plan, he tried to figure out positions and actions relative to their objective. Many would have nothing to do, which was terrible for efficiency. But secretly he didn't really care. He loved being in the spotlights, and right now that was exactly what was happening. Everyone was agreeing with his genius plan. Then again, he did want to succeed, so he had to make sure that everyone could work as efficiently as possible.

 

He turned to Blake and Edward. "Now I don't know how useful you can be in this situation, though we do need someone to lead us when we board the other ship, and I don't think anyone will be able to see much during the hail of fire. Well, except for me, but I'll be all the way up there, so I won't be of any help. If you can somehow communicate with that hawk it will be quite useful to know if it is safe to board the ship." He then sighed and looked at Eleanor, who seemed to be quite certain of herself. It was a good sign, but he still had to state the faults in his plan.. "But then comes the first obstacle in this plan. I need to know if our alchemist can infuse gunpowder, because I have no idea how to do that, I just now it is possible. And besides that, I don't know the range of a fire mage, and I don't know how much infused gunpowder will help either. These are holes in my plan, so either we'll have to cover those up or come up with another." 

 

He then realised the captain might feel like he was taking over. Like usually, he let himself get carried away talking. When he was comfortable and in his element, that was something he tended to do often. He gave her an apologetic look and spoke softly. "I suppose all this could work, but if you have some kind of other plan I'd be very interested to hear it." He doubted she had, but getting into the good books witht he captain was never a bad idea.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Arellion and Eleanor.

 

"This b..." Arellion trailed off at the death glare that Eleanor gave him - quickly rewording what he had been about to say.

"... rilliant and upstanding lady, who most certainly did not set her evil dragon-snake-thing on me a few days earlier for bad mouthing her? She..."

 

"... is quite capable of speaking for herself, thank you very much."

 

The cocky duelist promptly shut up.

 

"Ahem, to answer your question, I really don't know. I've never tried on such a grand scale, but it helps to be able to feel the heat of the blaze: smaller fires and finer details need much more precise work, as you might imagine. The closer I can get, the more intricate the motions might be."

[Torrent505 370]

Anne had final had enough, "your plan is stupid." she said bluntly, she wouldn't lie and indulge this foolish idea any longer.

 

She pulled out the tooth and flesh dagger twirling it in rapidly around her index finger, it seemed to crackle with ruby colored lightning and blur its shape, "you're not thinking of two important things: first if a sailor sees a flaming ship in the ocean they do not approach it, so you'll need to lure them close before your show starts or they'll simply run; second they will shoot at us when this starts, no crew would not ready guns on the unknown even on a ghost ship. Fear is a powerful weapon, but you must have never traveled long at sea; fear does not make a sailor abandon ship or try to hide, they fight because defending the ship and escape is the only thing that can save them."

 

She stopped the spinning weapon in her hand, it was now a revolver that looked more like it was made of the chitinous shell of a smashed bug. "If you want to your plan to work like you IMAGINE then you'd need the explosions and smoke from our ship but the fire demon to come from inside their ship and also something on their ship to stop them from fear firing at us. If we could get some crew on their ship first it might work, but that's not going to happen so the plan is delusional. Whether the flames are possible or not."

[Sekel 696]

@@Scribblegroove

Blake smiled at his suggestion. "Don't worry. I can communicate with Pluto, no problem." Blake said, leaning away from his staff. He walked around the group so that his legs won't get tired. He easily side stepped obatacles in his way and whistled at Pluto.

 

The spotted hawk flew off his staff and up to the crow's nest.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Eleanor.

 

Eleanor looked at the pirate - brow raised challengingly.

 

"Well then dear, why don't you show us what you can do and get me onto that ship!?/i]"

 

Maybe it was the atmosphere - the scent of vulgar, unwashed sailors and dried blood - but as much as she agreed with the girl, she couldn't help but take it personally.

 

"Bloodthirty brigand like you, you're telling me that your giving up just because something isn't easy? Pah, I thought sailors were supposed to be stubborn..."

 

She smirked - not even attempting to be subtle. If she was going to help this bunch of miscreants out, she was damn well going to put her all into it - it would be disappointing in a way if the trip turned out less eventful than she had anticipated.

 

"Do you drink tea with your little finger sticking out too? Perhaps help little old ladies with their heavy lifting?"

[Scribblegroove 565]

Duncan looked at Anne, frowned at first, but then returned her doubts with a wide, generous smile, raising one brow. "Now now, I wasn't saying this was a plan that was going to work at all. I said I had no clue if it was from the get go. But shooting down a plan like that is not only foolish, but also childish." He explained, and then pointed to Eleanor. "And she is right." He turned to face the Mage. "You are right. Sailors are stubborn, and since I've spent a considerable amount of my time on a ship, I can safely say that I am a sailor."

 

He stopped leaning against the mast and stepped closer to Anne. He raised his hand and extended his index finger upward. "One, the ship won't be firing until the pirate ship is close enough, and before that they will not have any suspicions for this wreck. Even more so, they might even come closer to attempt to board and loot it!"

 

He extended his middle finger next to the first one. "Two, to find a solution on them potentially firing is down is more tricky. At first I would've assumed that a wall of fire would distract them too much to be able to even aim at us, but we cannot expect them not to have their cannons readied, even though they might be less on their guards because they are returning from their voyage. I suggest I take down their captain right before we fire our bomb so that they won't have orders for a moment and be distracted. In that time we might be able to move enough to throw their aim off. Otherwise, I don't know." He said, and with that last statement he shrugged and lowered his arm. "I honestly don't care what we do, as long as the job gets done. If you have a plan I'd be very glad to hear it."

 

But then he stamped his right foot on the ground. "But damnit, if we're going to loot a damn pirate ship we're going to have to take risks. Grow some guts. Throw in some ideas rather than shooting others down completely. You won't get anywhere like that!" He exclaimed, frowning this time.

[RunsWithSquirlz 274]

She laughed.

 

"Thank the Ancients for sending me a crew with some imagination!" she wiped a tear from her eye and began to walk.

 

" Alright Annie, take us out. Delano, get the fire nut some powder. Miss Prissy, figure out some small tricks with Gunny there. I want that bird to fly ahead of us to scout out the ship then alert us every so often on distance. First mate, make sure this happens. Anything else?"

 

London looked among them, hands folded behind her back expectantly.

Edited August 8, 2014 by RunsWithSquirlz

[Torrent505 370]

Anne snorted, "you really want to get yourself alone onto a pirate ship full of fiends and murders? You don't look like a fighter, princess, but okay I can get you there," She glared at the gunner, "I do have some ideas, my concern isn't for my health only the Thread staying together. If you really want to try it we could sacrifice our only lifeboat beat it up and throw miss fire in it. She acts like a scared pathetic survivor," Anne licked her lips looking back to her, "should be easy enough for you; they pick you up, you tell them a sob story of sirens attacking the ship and of course of our secret priceless cargo; that will draw them in close and put them at ease that it's crewless."

 

She took a swig of her coffee, "if they don't kill you out right you can start the demonic fire show when they pull close. I'll stay underwater under the lifeboat and slip into their lower decks to stop the gunning crew from firing when the show starts. Then maybe the rest of the plan has a chance."

 

She spun the revolver on her finger and suddenly it was the dagger again. She pointed it and snarled at Duncan, "me in the ship killing gunners like you while you hide in the crows nest killing like a coward. Ever question my 'guts' again and I'll show you your own intestines." She sheathed the dagger.

 

She glanced at Captain London, still tense about these two insulting her. This crew would learn some respect for her or there would be blood, the dagger was whispering to her again, Orpheus and his honeyed words of violence. She squeezed her eyes shut and ignored the weapon. She spoke through clenched teeth, "Yes captain." She stalked back to the helm, yelling to the crew, "Raise the boom sail, no need for the main until we leave clear the docks."

Edited August 8, 2014 by Torrent505