Pirate Princess Seeks Salty Seadog For Answers and Companionship.

[Catalina]

21st Cylus, 722

This place was a dive.

Catalina DeFoe, Reynard to her friends, strode into the North End Lodge and looked around. Her lips pursed in disapproval at the place, but she said nothing. She'd been staying here for a few days and would stay a while longer. It had been useful as a place to gather some information, and that was something she sorely needed. After all, her world had turned upside down just lately and, somewhere along the line, she'd lost quite a few years of memory, a ship, and every person she knew. So, she'd needed to find out information.

And what she had found out, she did not like. Not one bit. The Pirate Lords - and all their ships and crew - had disappeared. They'd been swallowed up by the mists which had covered the Shadow Creatures and the Pirate Lords had not returned. Since that disappearance, there was now a Council and a Military and slavery had been abolished. She let out a derisive snort of disapproval and the lilly-livered lax liberals who were making such nonsense. This was not Scalvoris! This was not her home, the place she remembered.

"Rum," she said, to the woman working behind the bar. Looking around, she saw some new faces in there. People who hadn't been here so far in her stay. "Who are they?" she asked Cornelia, with a nod of her head. Cornelia Caldwell, the owner and manager of the North End Lodge. Cornelia looked up and smiled. "That's Darius Baer. He's one of the Barons on Faldrass, he's well known for being a local hero. Scalveen by birth." Catalina nodded. "And the woman?" Cornelia shrugged. "You were wanting to know about Pirate Lords, weren't you?" Cornelia asked and Cat nodded. "He might be able to help you. He's local, as I say, but he's also a sailor and involved in a lot of things lately. He's one of those Forged, too, so I'm told."

Catalina thought about it and nodded her head. "That is helpful," she declared and then pointed. "I'll take the bottle and three glasses."

And so, Darius and Astra would find themselves approached by a tall biqaj woman. She had long brown hair which fell below her shoulders, skin tight black trousers into which was tucked a loose white shirt. She wore a tight leather waistcoat and thigh high black boots. Atop her head was a wide-brimmed hat with a long feather and there was a sword at her side. She approached them and then spoke, her voice thickly accented with a Scalvoris accent.

"Forgive the intrusion," she said, looking at them both with vivid violet eyes. "I am Catalina DeFoe, and I seek information on the Pirate Lords and what has happened since they left. I was a member of Dianarv's crew, " she said, pride in her voice, "and I would know what has become of them. Apparently, you may be able to help, so I brought rum and three glasses." Looking at them, she did not sit until and unless invited to but indeed, she had a bottle of rum in one hand and three glasses in the other.

"Will you drink with me, and we can talk?"

[Darius Baer]

Arc 722, 21st of Cylus

It had been three trials since Darius had received the letter.

He had been away from both Hopetoun and his home in Scalvoris Town at the time, but the missive had eventually caught up with him. It was threatening in nature, and from an unknown source, and it meant that he was a little more wary than he usually might be.

It had culminated in his trip to Egilrun - where he hoped to reap the rewards of the town's fine shipbuilding artisans - including a stay at the North End Lodge with a portion of his bodyguard in tow.

And so, as he and Astra sat at a table and were approached by a stranger, a pair of his retainers sat nearby and watched the stranger approach, hands resting cautiously near blades that were visible at their hips.

Darius and Astra had been enjoying a meal. Eating in the main room of an inn might not normally seem like the safest option for someone who had received a threat, but knowing that only those who were staying there could partake in food, he doubted that anyone who wished him harm would have arrived there before him.

That immediately suggested that their visitor was unlikely to be a hired assassin, waiting to spring a trap!

Astra was the first person to return Catalina's greeting. With eyes of orange, she stood and extended her hand, before welcoming the woman in the Rakahi tongue. Darius had not heard her use the biqaj language before, but he recognised the colour of her eyes as indicating respect. Whether that was a feeling the freckled brunette experienced before all biqaj, or if she simply saw another fierce female farer of the seas, Darius wasn't sure.

Either way, their visitor looked confident and was offering them a drink. It would have been rude to say 'no'.

"Well met, Catalina," he replied, standing and offering a hand just as Astra had. "You are welcome to join us."

Especially if she was claiming to be a former crewmate of the Pirate King. They were impressive credentials, and Darius had to consciously remind himself to not express the obvious sense of awe that he felt when hearing them being spoken aloud.

"You seek Dianarv, I take it?" he asked as he and Astra returned to their seats, expecting Catalina to do likewise. "I, too, am hoping to find a Pirate Lord. I heard rumours that they were gathering in Almund, but I went there and didn't see any."

At his hip, Darius' fingers absent-mindedly traced the sword knot that hung from his longsword. He still hoped to return it to Liathen.

"I take it you were not on the Pirate King's ship when the Pirate Lords disappeared?" he asked. "Had you left his service?"

[Woe]

Arc 722, 21st of Cylus

Since Woe received the letter that prompted this excursion to Egilrun, he'd wrapped Eve's habit around his neck, to take her along with him. They had an agreement, that she would only feed when she needed upon him, and so it stood to reason that where he went, so did she. She was a quiet travel companion, however, resting in the Beneath for much of it as Blodwen and Woe made the journey from Scalvtown to Egilrun.

Eventually they arrived, and Woe's first thought was to see if Qairona had heard anything from her people. The former Element, and mer woman had some lingering ties to the Akktava that he wanted to capitalize on, and very much hoped that she had heard something from her former tribe about the pirate factions rising.

The Phoenix was a lesser-known faction, but its goals were clearly outlined in its motto. A return to the old ways. Woe presumed that the mer knew more than most what that meant, especially a tribe with as long a memory as the Akktava. Perhpas Qairona knew somethings besides whatever she might've heard recently.

So Woe walked into the North End Lodge, followed by Blodwen. "What a shithole." Blodwen said almost immediately. Woe tsked, and closed his eyes momentarily to conceal his irritation. Without missing a beat, however, he led the way toward the proprietor Cornelia. "Sorry, she's from Yaralon."

"Don't care hon, what're you about today?"

"I'm wondering if Qairona is still in residence."

The corner of Cornelia's lips quirked, and she looked over toward the entrance to the bathhouse. "Oh, about that. I'm still cleaning up the inky substance in the..."

"Right." Woe put a few golden nels down on the counter. "Does this help jog your memory?"

Cornelia sighed, and then slipped the golden nels into her hand. "She's busy, but I'll let you know you were looking for her. While you're here, why don't you just take a seat somewhere. We'll see if we can fish her out of her hiding hole."

Woe thought, not for the first time, that he could really make a nicer place for accomodation than this in Egilrun. He'd look into that when times and conditions were less hectic. For now, he led Blodwen away from Cornelia and toward the common room.

There, he was surprised to see a small detachment of armed bodyguards. This immediately drew his attention to the one they seemed to be protecting. It was none other than Darius Baer. He was sitting with a biqaj woman, and speaking to another of the same breed, who held a trio of cups.

Woe lingered at the threshold to the common room another moment, before he decided to take a seat not far away from Baer and his drinking companions.

As they waited for their server, Blodwen sized up several of the bodyguards, as was her habit. Woe looked from her glance, to Baer's table. He wondered if it was By design that Baer wished to stand out, keeping a small group of bodyguards around him. They looked like they could handle themselves in a fight, by Woe's estimation, but they were not very discrete about the way they watched over their charge.

Blodwen spoke to Woe after taking in the serious look of the bodyguards, "Who's that? The King of Scalvoris?" She asked in jest.

"Darius Baer." Woe said, not necessarily to Blodwen in particular. "Baron von Smooglenuff."

[Catalina]

Catalina

They were gracious and the woman, then the man, stood and offered her hand. Raynarde shook the proferred hand and gave a slight smile, first to the woman and then to the man. "Thank you," she said as she sat and she put down the glasses. Then, pouring each of them a drink, she handed them each a glass. Looking at the glass she had picked up, Catalina noticed that it was a nice thing, a pretty thing with an intricate engraving on it. She decided, in that moment, that it was hers. The owner wouldn't mind and, if he did, she would make it so that he didn't.

Still, that was for when she left. Right now, she poured them drinks, and when they each had one, she raised her glass in a toast-like gesture, although she did not speak. Darius asked her a question, and she shook her head. "I was on his ship," she said. "No time has passed for me, since the Pirate Lords disappeared and ten trials ago." She shrugged and gestured to "out there". "No time at all for me, arcs in which it has all changed, for you."

Taking a swig, she felt the burning sensation of the liquid as it slid down and she gave a smile. Raynarde knew that she was feeling positively sensitive to alcohol since she returned, like she'd not had a drink for all the arcs she was gone. So, she was careful not to drink either too much, or too fast.

"You are seeking information on the Pirate Lords?" It was a half-question, half-statement. After all, he had said he was looking for one of them, but why that may be Raynarde did not know. Still, any port in a storm, she believed and, at the very least, the pair of them were interested and may have information which would help her. So, she came to a decision.

"So, I can help you by telling you about the Pirate Lords and what happened when the mist came," she said, stretching out her legs and adjusting her hat to an appropriate angle. "And you help me by telling about what has happened since, in terms of the Pirate Lords?"

Catalina was not known for being aware of her surroundings and so she did not notice the man watching them. Leaning back in her chair and watching the biqaj and the human who were interested in the Pirate Lords, she waited to see what they would say. It was no difference to her, she would find out what she needed anyhow. Still. Mustn't spit in fortune's eye, and all that.

[Darius Baer]

Darius cocked one eyebrow at Catalina's curious chronology comment. He initially thought she must be speaking metaphorically, but then he realised by her tone and demeanour that she was being completely serious.

"What do you mean, 'no time has passed for you'?"

But what did she mean? Having never met Catalina, Darius had no relational context to work with. Was she saying that she genuinely felt as though no time had passed? Or was that simply a turn of phrase?

"The Pirate Lords disappeared over five arcs ago," he added, his voice laced with confusion. "Have you been searching for them all this time?"

It seemed a strange thought - to be searching for someone for so long, with seemingly no success. It earnt the biqaj some sympathy, too.

"I can tell you what I know," he offered, and then he did precisely that, speaking of the departure of the Pirate Lords as he remembered it, having woken up on that fateful morning to discover an almost empty harbour.

As he was finishing up his version of events, he caught sight of movement out of the corner of his eye. His two bodyguards had shifted in their seats, and Darius turned to see where they were looking. There, he recognised a familiar face nearby.

"Councillor Morandi," he spoke up, beckoning the man over. "What brings you to this part of town?"

Darius tried to appear jovial, but he couldn't help but wonder if Woe had received a threatening letter, too. Becoming a councillor was surely becoming more 'a voice of change' than anything the baron had done recently?

"This is the councillor for Egilrun," he whispered to Catalina. "He is a good man."

Darius wagered that if the biqaj woman was not familiar with the details of the Pirate Lords disappearing more than five arcs earlier, she was unlikely to have kept up with all of the political changes that had taken place a mere twenty trials earlier!

[Woe]

Woe had no real designs on eavesdropping on any of the other patrons, particularly even the Baron Darius and his companions, yet once Blodwen turned his attention toward that group, he couldn't help but overhear talk of Pirate Lords. Then Darius himself prompted an invitation to Woe, to join their conversation. They were close enough that they didn't need to shout, and anyway, the North End Lodge wasn't that populated at this hour. Woe nodded to Darius, and then to Catalina. "I've only just arrived in Egilrun. In fact, I was hoping to meet with Cornelia to discuss mutual interests." Woe said, then glanced at Blodwen to search her expression. There wasn't much there, however. "At least, staying here is the plan while we establish more suitable, permanent accomodations in Egilrun."

It was a ill-kept secret that there was a real poverty of places to stay in Egilrun, of places that weren't absolute trash dives. There was the Two-Queen's Shy, which was fine if you didn't mind sharing a room with a courtesan, and there was the Lodge, which was rowdy and full of soldiers at the best of times. Woe had a thought to establish his own house of hospitality, but that was neither here nor there. And a concern for the future.

Good man. Darius endorsed Woe. He wouldn't have gone that far, at least insofar as his morality was concerned. Woe did what he felt he had to, but he was far from paragon material. Darius was much more straight laced and proper, by Woe's estimation. But anyway, none of that mattered really. "Thank you. But I couldn't help overhearing what you said about Pirate Lords and their return? I've heard rumors across the island about that. Also, I take it you received a note from some mysterious source, calling you out?" Woe held up the note.

Blodwen by now was looking very bored, and stood up from the table. "I'll let yo..."

"Sit down, Blodwen." Woe said. His tone suggested it was not a request.

"You say you were on the crew of a Pirate Lord?" Woe wondered at that, and frowned, "I wonder if this has any connection to the people who arrived a season ago, out of time and thinking it was a different period of time? But these folk did not claim to be from a time five arcs ago, but a full two hundred or so."

Blodwen sat reluctantly, crossing her arms in a huff as she did so. She merely cast her attention toward the other patrons, ignoring these people entirely.

[Darius Baer]

Rewards Requested

Notes/Warnings: Incomplete thread, so we've decided as a trio to call time on this one. Woe's player does not want any knowledges. Catalina is an inactive PC and will claim the knowledges below, but may request more if the PC is reactivated. Darius' player is happy to take what he's got and move on.

Thread: Pirate Princess Seeks Salty Seadog For Answers and Companionship.
City/Area: Egilrun

Renown: If applicable.
Do you want this to be considered for Mark Progression? No.
If any PC in this thread is in a faction, please list them: N/A.
Faction Points: N/A.
Wealth Points: N/A.
Collaboration: Yes.
Local Language Thread? No.

!	Message from: Doran
	Done!

[Doran]

Catalina:

Knowledge:
Investigation: It doesn't harm to ask
Resistance: Know your own limits

Loot: -
Language -
Losses: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 15

Darius:

Knowledge:
Detection: Noticing when someone else notices something.
Investigation: Focusing on a main point of inquiry.

Loot: -
Language -
Losses: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 15

Woe:

Knowledge:
Detection: Noticing when someone else notices something.
Investigation: Focusing on a main point of inquiry.

Loot: -
Language -
Losses: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 15

- - -

Comments:
I love the title of this thread. It immediately piqued my interest!

Catalina, the proud and superior pirate princess and her thoughts on the current state of Scalvoris are very entertaining to read. Her personality shines through in everything that she does.

Darius is (or was?) a Baron, but he still needs to remind himself not to express the obvious sense of awe that he felt upon hearing that Catalina used to be a part of Dianarv’s crew.

He gives me the impression of being a very honest and humble man, and in many ways Catalina’s opposite.

Woe has gotten very good at investigating, and he always seems to be where the interesting stuff happens. I especially enjoyed his NPCs. They make his threads interesting to read.

Bloodwen’s question if Darius was the King of Scalvoris made me laugh! I wonder what Kura would say …

You three had a very interesting setup here. It’s always entertaining to read if such very different PCs meet, and on top of that you were dealing with one of the great mysteries of Scalvoris – the Pirate Lords and their disappearance. It’s thus a pity that this thread wasn’t finished.

Enjoy your rewards!