| Logs |
1999-11-14a
| Starfall |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
 |
Sharing Information
- The Deck of the Saucy Mare
The main deck of the Saucy Mare is clean and neat, kept that way by the dedicated crew. The twin masts tower overhead; aft is the steersman on the quarterdeck.
The Saucy Mare is out in the high seas now, racing along before the wind across the rolling grey waves.
Skeee announces, "Land Ho!" just before dawn two days after the Saucy Mare turns east.
Alexandra beams delightedly at Dimitri, "So far so good!" She nods to Jared, "Bosun, would you have the crew ready for the captain to speak to them an hour after dawn?" She trots off to wake up Carroll... gently. She slips into the cabin, "Carroll? Wake up... it's just before dawn, and we've sighted land. I asked Jared to have the crew ready to listen to you an hour after dawn, so you can freshen up first?"
Carroll isn't awake quite, just before dawn. He gnrrks at the awakening, "What's happening?"
Alexandra says, "I thought it'd be smartest to have you talk to them before we land? Want me to wake Horatio too?"
Carroll uhhs. He asks, "Why? I thought we should tell them as late as possible." He sits up and rubs his face, yawning.
Alexandra sighs in sisterly exasperation at her groggy brother, "This IS late as possible, Carroll!"
Carroll shakes his head and murrs, "No, after we've landed and are ready to leave, repairs made, is as late as possible."
Horatio blinks in his cabin with a start, lifting his head from the book that was his pillow. he bounds up. Oh good, now they can fix that rigging! As he leaps out of bed he trips on the edge. THUD Oh, blast. He picks himself up and starts trying to gather the tools he'll need. In the captain's cabin Alexandra giggles, one ear cocked towards the command crew cabin, "Never mind, by the big thump I can tell Horatio is already awake!" Carroll climbs out of bed, and rummages for a brush, to try and tame his unruly fur.
Alexandra tilts her head at Carroll, "Is it fair to spring it on them like that, Carroll? Wasn't the whole point to give them time to think about what they wanted to do?"
Carroll ponders. He murrs, "My instincts say that I don't want people who know they're leaving doing repairs on the ship and such."
Alexandra says, "Um... okay, you're the captain. Shall I tell the bosun to belay the meeting till after repairs are done then?"
Carroll hmms, "I don't know. How much time do they need to think? Once we've left them off we're in a hurry, and once they know we're in danger from the dissenters."
Alexandra shakes her head, "Carroll... true, we need to get repairs done, but we can't rush them on this. This is the rest of their lives potentially that you're asking them to decide on! That's not something you can do in 10 minutes, y'know?"
Carroll murrs, "We did." He then sighs and adds, "You're right. We'll make repairs today. Presuming we can finish today we'll tell them at dawn tomorrow and leave tomorrow evening, giving them the day to think and for us to get out some provisions. They're several days walk from a town, and I'm not just going to abandon them here." Carroll finishes brushing the fur, and begins to dress neatly and precisely.
Alexandra says gently, "No we didn't, Carroll... we knew there was bad stuff happening and we had several days to adjust to it. The stuff on the ship was just the... the um icing on the cake, y'know? But yes, I think a day is sufficient... okay, I'll go tell the bosun that." She grins, "Feel free to go back to sleep for a few more min- uhh... okay." She waves, "See ya in a bit!" and slips out the door.
Carroll mumbles, "Once I'm up, I'm up," and finds his boots, sitting to pull them on.
Horatio pokes his head up onto deck, unfurling a coastal chart. He begins wandering around, looking for Carroll. He's rather pleased... they made better time than he expected, even though they're slightly north of where he was aiming. Once the sun is up he's sure he can figure it out easily. He starts checking the map absently as he wanders... they'll need to find a sheltered area to anchor in. The ship can scout along the coast either north or south, but south puts them into more traveled areas..." Horatio almost bumps into Alex on her way out of Carroll's cabin. "OH! Hello, sis- er, ma'am! Is Carr- uhm, the Captain up?
Alexandra waves to Horatio as she trots by, "Hiya, Horatio! If you're looking for the captain he's in his cabin!" then goes and relays the new meeting orders to Jared. She giggles over her shoulder at Horatio, "Once he's up he's up, he says!"
Jared nods. "Okay, ma'am. No problem." Alexandra nods and thanks Jared, then gets out of his way.
Carroll emerges from his cabin at about this point, buckling on his sword-belt and looking around the deck. Horatio blinks as his sister passes him, then raps on Carroll's door... just as Carroll comes out, which means he raps on Carroll's jacket. Whoops! Carroll smiles and murrs, "Yes, Horatio?"
Horatio ers, then straightens. "Ah... we need to find a place to lay to, sir, preferably in a nice little secluded harbor. There are some down the coastline, but we'd need to hunt around for a bit..."
Skeee had spotted the coast from the air, of course, which means that the land is just barely in sight from the deck as the sun rises. Jared gauges the wind then turns to Carroll. "We'll have to turn in an hour or so, sir. You want to run up the coast or down?"
Carroll nods and murrs, "Go up the coast the wrong way from our goal," to Jared and to his brother, "It's worth seeking one out. Find us a good one."
Horatio nods, "Aye, aye!" He bounds up to the quarterdeck table and starts working out a course line to steer once they get closer to land. Jared joins Horatio with the chart of this coast, and they put their heads together to decide where they are and where a good repair anchorage might be. Carroll stops by the galley and finds some coffee, or reasonable excuse thereof. A little later he re-emerges on deck, carrying hot coffee and sipping it occasionally. He walks around slowly. Horatio nods to Jared and turns to Carroll. "Captain... there's a place north of here, a couple hours at most, where we can lay to.
Carroll nods, "Good. Take us there."
Two hours sail brings the little sloop to the mouth of a small cove where they can anchor safely. Horatio nods and starts giving appropriate orders to the helm. Jared brings the ship in slowly, with leadsmen in the bow to make sure that no sandbars have shifted since the chart was made. By noon working parties have begun re-rigging the damaged stays. Carroll finds his brother Horatio as he scurries about the repairs, and asks, "How long will this take, Horatio?"
Horatio says, "Oh! About two watches, Captain... the repairs'll be finished by nightfall."
Carroll smiles and murrs, "Very good." He goes and finds Jared and asks if sending crew ashore to gather water or game is a wise idea, considering their plans?
Jared nods. "Might as well re-water, that's always helpful. I suppose you can send out a hunting party but they might not have much luck... limited time, after all."
Carroll nods and murrs, "All right, for the water then. Forget the hunting. We'll probably stay the night here and leave tomorrow. And, I'll need to speak to the whole crew tomorrow morning."
Alexandra glances at Carroll, "I'd be happy to lead a hunting party if you want, Captain... although I can't promise success?"
Carroll shakes his head, murring, "We've enough provisions. I don't want us to get separated." Alexandra nods.
Jared starts organizing the crew not working on the rigging to start re-watering. "Check. You're going to make your announcement then, eh?"
Carroll nods. "We'll leave tomorrow afternoon or evening once that's resolved, if all goes as I'd like." He's carefully ambiguous. He murrs to Jared, "I hope we're ready."
Jared nods. "Aye... so do I."
Alexandra watches the ship and crew quietly, her ears tilting back occasionally to the bosun and her brother, giving them some privacy. Carroll just nods, and resumes watching his ship. Alexandra walks up to Carroll quietly after Jared's gone, and murmurs softly to him, "Captain... if you want some time to um... compose your thoughts, I can cover here no problem?"
Carroll murrs, "I've been thinking about it for days already, Alex."
Alexandra nods, "'kay." She studies her brother for a moment, then adds very softly, "Carroll... you'll do it great, we're sure of it... that's why we're all behind you." Then, quite properly, she just goes back into her usual comfortable parade rest at Carroll's right... with maybe just a small, quietly happy smile.
Carroll murrs, "Thank you, Alex." Alexandra's smile gets a little happier.
The re-rigging goes without a hitch and Jared reports, "All set," about an hour before sunset.
Horatio nods to Jared and meanders over to Carroll. "Captain, the repairs are done..."
Carroll nods and murrs, "I think we'll stay here tonight then, and I'll talk to the crew in the morning. That's still a good plan. Post watches and make sure nothing amiss happens and no surprise visitors arrive... or depart."
Alexandra nods, "No problem," and reports the plan to Jared. She also makes sure Dimitri knows.
The watering party manages to get the barrels back on board without hurting anything. Jared oversees stowing them in the hold.
Carroll nods to Horatio, "Good work, Horatio. We'll stay the night here, out of harm's way hopefully, and depart tomorrow." He looks at his brother and murrs, "I will talk to the crew in the morning."
Horatio nods, grinning. "Aye, aye!" He spends the rest of the time either taking small naps or re-checking the rigging to check for more sabotage. Alexandra sets watches for the night, making sure she's got both folks Jared trusts on watch, and the list of folks Jared doesn't trust for Carroll. Carroll finds a quiet moment after dusk and heads to the bow of the ship, as far forward as he can manage. He looks out over the water for a long time, thinking. Dimitri finds a set of stairs on the quarterdeck to sit and watch the boat, leaning on his scabbarded sword.
Jared's list of untrustworthy is short... a half-dozen who were on the beach for suspected criminality rather than upsetting the powers-that-be. Alexandra paces quietly on watch, keeping an eye on Carroll's back as well as on the ship. She's pleased only a few are, in Jared's opinion, untrustworthy... she worries silently about whether enough crew will be left for a good seaworthy crew, let alone for piracy against House Pravinchandra.
Carroll turns about, facing aft down the craft, and waits for a moment he thinks he's relatively alone. He looks up to the rigging and calls, not loudly but not quietly, "Skeee?"
The bat flutters down from the rigging. "Cap'n?"
Carroll smiles and murrs, quietly, "I thought you'd be listening." He pauses, a bit uncertain, and then says, "I wanted to thank you for the excellent work you've been doing."
Skeee grins, white fangs showing briefly in the light of the Hare. "Thanks. You folks deserve it though."
Carroll smiles and murrs, "I'm glad to hear you feel that way." He looks over the ship and adds almost idly, "I hope we have the chance to work together for some time to come."
The bat gives him a conspiratorial wink. "Wouldn't miss it for anything, Cap'n. Sounds like the most fun I'll have had since I told Mr. P's nephew to get stuffed. When are you going to tell the rest of 'em?"
Carroll smiles and murrs, "Tomorrow morning's meeting will be interesting." He stands and brushes his pants smooth. At her words he chuckles and murrs to her, "Goodnight, Skeee. I won't worry about that any more." Only then does he walk to his cabin. The bat flutters off into the sky to make another patrol...
Alexandra will wake up Carroll the next morning so he has enough time to get himself together without rushing. She finds Carroll is already up; bathed, dried, brushed, and dressed when Alex comes in to wake him. Alexandra laughs! "Okay, I'll leave you in peace. Come out when you're ready." She goes back on deck, smiling to herself. Dimitri quietly joins the others out on deck.
Carroll follows her closely, murmuring to her, "I don't know that I'd ever come out if I waited for that." He heads out on deck, watching Jared gather the crew. Alexandra grins over her shoulder at her eldest brother. Carroll murrs to Alex, "Can you and Horatio go and get that crate and a crowbar? We'll need it now." He adds, "Forgive me if I want to have Dimitri handy."
Horatio clambers down from the rigging and nods to Carroll. Alexandra nods, "No sweat." She heads back towards the cabin, waving to Horatio to come with her. As she passes Dimitri she pauses to whisper what Carroll wants to him. Dimitri walks quietly half a pace back and to one side of Carroll.
Alexandra says, "Heya, Horatio! Give me a hand with the crate, please?" Horatio bobs his head, and bounds into the hold.
Carroll looks at Dimitri and asks quietly, "Ready, brother?"
Dimitri says, "At your back, brother."
Alexandra pauses, watching her brothers... some of her own exuberance fades a bit, and she takes a deep breath, straightens her sword belt, then follows Horatio. She'll 'prep' the crate -- pry it open, then tap the lid down once lightly... so she doesn't have to struggle madly with it in front of the crew. A few minutes later they shove the crate up and out on deck, then lug it over to next to Carroll.
Carroll murrs, "There's no one I'd rather have there." He shuffles the papers he's holding somewhat nervously and takes a deep breath, then concentrates on remembering how to stand to appear in charge. It seems to help. Alexandra will stand on the other side of Carroll, the crowbar behind her back, in her usual calm parade rest. On the outside, at least. Inside she's got excited butterflies in her stomach!
Carroll looks at Jared, asking, "Are we ready, Mr. Greytail?"
The muskrat nods. "All hands present, sir." Even Shifty has been brought on deck, in chains and with a pair of guards. Skeee is watching from the masthead, or occasionally flitting around.
Carroll nods and murrs, "Thank you." He turns to the crew and calls again, "Gentlefurrs of the crew. Today, I fear, will be a bit of an unusual day." He continues, calling clearly and loudly so they can all hear, but not shouting, "Several things that have occurred this trip have led me to believe that our employer, the House Pravinchandra, has set us up to fail in one way or another."
Dead silence. Carroll's definitely got their full attention. He turns to his first mate, "Open the crate please, Ms. St. Genevieve." Horatio glances at Alex and steps back to let her open it on her own. Alexandra steps forward, inserts the crowbar, wrenches it down with a screeech! of nails leaving wood, then raises the lid. She sets lid and crowbar aside, and pulls out the top two pieces of clothing, laying them across the quarterdeck railing so all the crew can see them easily. Carroll turns back to the crew while this is happening, to continue, "First, our cargo doesn't seem to be what we expected it to be. Instead of fine clothing for the Impies we have..." he gestures to what Alex is displaying from the crate, "-other things." The crew mutters in some confusion. Carroll's still got their attention, though. He continues, "Secondly, we were rather abruptly followed by a suspicious looking ship. When one of its crew decided to try and throw a torch on our ship it became clear they weren't friendly."
Carroll murrs, "Before that, however, we thought we'd simply slip away from them, and then it wouldn't matter. We discovered, though, that we'd been damaged so that full sail would have left us disabled and easily, mm, intercepted." The crew nods, muttering again. Carroll continues, "When that happened we found out -- which is why our saboteur is still breathing -- that yes, in fact, Pravinchandra had set these people upon us. Even if we escaped them, this replacement cargo showing up instead of the finery we were supposed to deliver would have ruined at least the family." He explains, "I don't think it likely that was intended, though." He gestures across the ship, expansively and inclusively, saying, "We have here a crew who contain many with a history of discord with Pravinchandra or his House. I can't help but feel something more... final... was intended, to clean up a whole ship load of problems all at once, as it were."
More than half of the crew are nodding now, recalling that this was the first berth they'd had in a while after apparently being blacklisted... Carroll lets this sink in before continuing, "So as my family and I realized the trap was closing around us, and that we couldn't go forwards in to disaster and we couldn't go back into Pravinchandra's hands, it occurred to us that we needed to do something different." He looks at his crew, surveying them slowly before he calls out, "We decided we weren't going to let him do this to us. We can't stop him the right way -- that's already failed for us and for others, but only because he's willing to play dirty, with crime and corruption. So we realized we'd have to play that game too, to try and do something about this unpleasant man's grip on us."
Horatio blinks, looking up at Carroll. He's never heard his brother speak that way. Carroll tries to explain, "His empire is only as secure as his finances, as his bankroll. Through attrition and damage to that bankroll we can affect his grip on others and free them and ourselves to do the work we want to do." He calls out, "I will not stand idly by and let him buy my family's good name into dishonor! It is to correct this that we have made the difficult decision to try and damage or break the Pravinchandra empire through costly damage and exposing his crimes and corruption." Carroll pauses for a moment, looking over the crew again, letting them realize what this means. The crew looks thoughtful, and a little upset...it's starting to sink in what he's leading up to... Carroll smiles then, and continues, "I expect, however, that Pravinchandra will object to this, and loudly. This is not a clear and easy choice and it will, at least for a while, have him label us as renegades and a danger to the seas. Through his networks, of course, a danger to him is a danger to them."
Carroll nods. He calls out, hopefully before anyone becomes too hot, "I will not ask any of you to do this if you do not wish to! I cannot make you make this choice and I do not want to force it upon anyone. Anyone who is uncomfortable with this is free to disembark here. We will provide rations enough and directions to get you to the nearest city so you can find ways home and other work. There will be no repercussions from us and no hard feelings. I understand any of you who do not wish to be part of this. I don't wish to do it myself, but for me and my family there is little choice. For you, however, there is a choice, and this is it. You may stay with us, or you may leave."
The crewfurrs are absolutely silent. Carroll murrs, "For those who stay we will do our best to provision and protect. If you have families we will try collect them. I can't promise success, but we will try. We have a plan and a goal, and will work towards it." He adds, "We may actually ask more of you to go, to lower the ship's compliment to a number easier to manage and provision, honestly. Do not consider this a mark of unpleasantness, but a matter of practicality."
Alexandra looks rather proud of her brother. Carroll looks down at the deck, and then back at the crew, finishing, "We will leave here this evening. You have until then to discuss and decide for yourselves. If there are any questions please bring them to the bosun who will gather answers, as best we can give them. Thank you."
Horatio blinks, still rather stunned by the whole thing. Carroll gestures to Alex for a dismissal. Alexandra nods sharply, then calls out to Jared, "Bosun, you may dismiss the crew to duties!" Then she beams at Carroll. Dimitri turns on his heel, sharp and quick. With a military quickstep he marches to the quarterdeck... and strikes the House Pravinchandra colors. Carroll stands tall still, looking out over the crew and watching their reactions. He turns and smiles to his brother, nodding.
Jared gathers up a couple crewmen and dismisses the rest. "Think about it carefully. He means we'll be pirates until we can find proof of what House P was up to. But for the record I'll be stayin'." Skeee chimes in from overhead, "And me."
Carroll smiles more broadly. He waits for the stunned crew to thin, and finds Jared. He gives him directions quietly, whispering to Jared, "Don't let anyone leave the ship until evening, please. I don't want someone getting too far ahead of the others. If they ask why tell them we'll put them all over at once with the supplies.""
Alexandra whispers to her siblings, "What colors should we put up instead? I don't think we should put up ours immediately? We might as well keep who precisely we are obscured as long as possible, yes?"
Carroll murrs back to his sister, "For now, no colors will do."
Dimitri shrugs quietly. "Next time in port we'll collect a 'andful." Alexandra grins and nods quietly. Horatio chuckles softly."
Carroll goes to his family, and asks, "Did that go well?"
Alexandra beams at Carroll proudly, "You were splendiferous, Captain!"
Dimitri says, "We will know by evening, Carroll."
Horatio says, "You did outstanding, Captain!"
Carroll nods. He murrs, "We should find a few minutes to discuss our next plan of action."
Dimitri looks to Carroll and adds to Alex's support. "You made pirating actually sound respectable, Brother."
Alexandra nods and says frankly, "Um... in regards to our next plan? Dimitri's going to need more marines. You don't pirate with just harsh language, after all, like he said?"
Carroll looks at Dimitri, "Pirating is never respectable. Fighting against an oppressor is. One is thievery to live an 'easy' life. The other is fighting for justice."
Jared talks briefly with a youngish raccoon, then brings her over to the four of you. "Captain? I think you should talk to Ariel yourself."
Alexandra nods firmly at Carroll's words, still looking rather proud of her brother -- then turns towards the raccoon, her ears tilted curiously. Horatio blinks. The raccoon looks a bit nervous. "Sir... what did you mean about getting families out?"
Carroll looks to Jared and murrs, "All right." He makes sure his sister's on hand, and then smiles. He murrs, "We hope to be able to go and collect people's families if they want us to, and find a place for them to live safely. I don't want someone starving or being persecuted because of a choice someone made on the other side of the ocean."
Alexandra nods, adding, "We have a place in mind, Ariel. Some of our manor servants are en-route there already. We know, unfortunately, that the Pravinchandra is um... vindictive."
Carroll nods, then asks the girl, "Do you have a family you're worried about?"
Ariel nods. "I think you're right, sir... but the thing is, I've been supporting my mother and my sibs since my father... well, his ship didn't come back... and I don't think I could abandon them. Could you take them, too?"
Horatio listens quietly. Carroll nods. He murrs, "They're your family. We will try. I have my family here with me. I don't want to ask anyone else to leave theirs."
Alexandra glances at Carroll, then nods to Ariel, "Is the problem um... of a financial nature, as far as getting them moved?"
Horatio says, "Ah... Ariel, what ship was your father on?""
Ariel nods. "We don't have the money to move away, and Mom isn't that healthy. She's been terribly upset since the Rover didn't make port... it's been a year now." Horatio nods sadly, knowing the same feeling.
Carroll murrs, "I'll be honest with you, Ariel. Where we're going isn't terribly civilized. We'll try our best to make things comfortable -- warm and dry and safe -- but especially at the beginning it will be difficult."
The raccoon grunts, looking a little miffed. "And the slums of Starfall ARE civilized? Sir? It can't be much worse than what we can afford now."
Carroll smiles and murrs, "Well, right now there's not actually any buildings... but that will change quickly."
Alexandra grins quietly at Carroll, then says to Ariel, "Okay... so we're going to need your mother's moving to be an easy one, so we don't upset her health. Hmm... Carroll, we're going to need someone trustworthy to organize moving the families and carry the money, right? Someone who can meet us at the new port?"
Carroll murrs to his sister, "We'll do it ourselves, I hope." He murrs to the raccoon, "Have you any other questions? Is there anything else we can answer?"
Alexandra nods, "All right." She turns to the raccoon, "Ariel, we'll do the best we can, we promise, to get your family to safety."
The raccoon nods. "Thanks..." She turns around and heads back to the main deck.
Carroll asks Horatio, "That ship her father went down on -- do you know it? Whose ship was it?"
Alexandra sighs softly, watching Ariel, then glances at her brothers and murmurs, "Let's hope we can cover all this, financially..." She tilts a curious ear at Carroll's question.
Carroll tells his sister, "Supplies for building will be the most expensive part. Moving -- well, we've a longboat and a crew. It's the hard way, but sometimes that's what you do. As to supplies... I hope Pravinchandra will provide us with some." Alexandra nods, brightening a bit at that thought. Carroll nods. He murrs, to Horatio, "Horatio, we're going to have to build a base of operations. A main hall, barracks or housing of some sort for these people. We will have more than just us and the crew. Think about what facilities we need and what we'll need to build them. Presume we have trees and whatever we bring with us, and manpower."
Jared wanders back in time to hear Carroll's question. "The 'Rover' was an independent on the Impie run. Wouldn't surprise me if Mr. P hired Ariel to finish hurting the families of her crew. This is her first voyage." He spits over the side.
Alexandra looks puzzled, "Finish?" Horatio tilts his head to the side, frowning.
"Can't prove it," Jared says, "-but an awful lot more of sailors' families have had trouble surviving after independent ships have gone down, than families of the few House ships that've gone missing."
Carroll murmurs, "I don't wonder if we won't wind up with a small village, of people who want to flee Pravinchandra."
Alexandra's ears both go straight up in shock at that -- then flatten in anger. She mutters, "I am going to enjoy hurting that man..."
Horatio frowns and nods softly. "Right, brother. I'll start drawing up plans, or.. something." He sighs. "Brothers, sister... did I ever express concern about the rightness or wrongness of what we're about to do?"
Alexandra says firmly, "Now's the time to say it, Horatio. Not when we're well and truly committed to a plan."
Horatio says, "On the contrary. If I ever had, I was wrong." He looks around, then mutters viciously. "Hurt him.""
Alexandra smiles quietly at Horatio, "We will. We all will."
Carroll is about to lecture his brother then stops. He smiles, and murrs, "I'm glad you feel that way."