Fable - Ask Set Sail!

[Esme Tyndall]

Esme followed Edwards gestures as he pointed out the crew he had already collected. The small girl, Fenic, bowed to her and Esme chuckled softly.

"No need to bow to me, Fenic. I am no one special," her voice held truth in it. She was not even a captain anymore.

She looked back at Edward with a smile. "So we - you - have killer, killer, and former pirate captain..." Esme took a drink from her glass and shook her head with a worried smile.

"Legendary, indeed." She raised her glass to his in a cheers.

 

[Edward Lorain]

"Yeah, I know. I need a couple more hands-on board who know the ins and outs, but I have enough money to pay for a few here. At least for a trip or two." He downed the rest of his drink with two gulps and smiled.

"Besides, they may not know how to sail, but who better to teach them than Esme Tyndall, Queen of Sailors!" He yelled out this last part in a boisterous manner.

"With you around then we can turn Fenic and Trovik into veteran sailors in no time."

He felt a small current of wind tickle his ear and he followed it to look at Trovik and the man he was talking to.
"Trovik, we got a problem?"

 

[Trovik Half-horn]

The minotaur would scowl at the man has stumbled over his words and began to explain himself to Trovik. humans were so often easy to intimidate it was boring sometimes they just caved looking at him but he understood his perfect and size was intimidating to be in the presence of.

as the man continued to ramble on his family or some shit trovik lost interest the man's voice becoming white noise to him then he offered him a hand which brought him to listening catching his name.

"so you just want a job?" his eyes scanned the mans face, his own holding the same expression as before until it completely did a 180 and into a smile "why didn't you just say so?" the minotaur would jut his three-fingered hand, engulfing Lord Blackwell's hand in his own shaking it so vigorously it caused Blackwell himself to shake. "The name's trovik" he would say wholeheartedly.

Then he heard Edward speak, turning he would reply "Nope, he just wants to join the crew, his name is Blackwall something or other. I'll leave you to do the hiring stuff, boss" he walk back other to table with little and finish often his drink.

 

[Edward Lorain]

Edward raised one eyebrow in surprise and nodded. He had expected a bar fight to break out, but Trovik had turned away. Edward motioned for the man called Blackwell to come over to the bar with him and Esme.

"So, you want a job? No offense, but you don't look like you know how to sail."

He looked to Esme in confirmation, wanting to hear her thoughts on the matter. The wind around Blackwell was funny. It was definitely there, but it was moving in many different directions. It made it too difficult to read.

 

[Fenic Creed]

"No need to bow to me, Fenic. I am no one special,"

She straightened immediately on instinct, but then her shoulders relaxed. That wasn't an order, she was simply stating that there wasn't a need for Fenic to bow to her. Perhaps Fenic overestimated the relationship this woman had with her master?
They were familiar with each other, they had a history together, so she had assumed that she was of the same social stratus as Edward... Another Captain.

In spite of her upbringing and her skill as a controller in the beast pits, she had very rarely been referred to as a "killer". She'd only ever fought and destroyed other piloted beasts competing in the fights which technically didn't count as killing since the person piloting was never at risk... Wait, that wasn't true...
She remembered one master, someone who had bought her and used her and her friend to attack a ship full of refugees fleeing an oppressive kingdom... She had killed before, when she tore apart the ship's crew and the fighters onboard...

As Edward moved on to speak with Trovik and the rich man Fenic stepped forward to speak with Esme.
Fenic was so tiny compared to this woman, a child by comparison in both height and age. Thus far Edward had been very permissive of Fenic to do as she pleased, so she thought to venture to exercise some of that permission and see what it was like.
"If I may speak, miss Tyndall? I have a question."
Nailed it! She took initiative!
That felt weird and wrong, but wasn't this what Edward was talking about? is this how free people talked?

 

[Esme Tyndall]

Esme was about agree with Edward about the Blackwell man not looking like a sailor when the tiny girl, Fenic, spoke up. The girl seemed to be on the quiet, shy side but Edward had called her a killer so perhaps there was something hidden inside the girl.

"Of course, Fenic. It gives me a few minutes to think of my own questions for him." Esme smiled kindly at Fenic. For some reason, Esme wanted to be nice to her and help her.

 

[Lord Blackwell]

Lord Blackwell smiled and shook up and down in his bar stool, being partially manhandled by the minotaur and having a great time with it.

"Pleased to meet you, Trovik. I hope to be working with you soon."

The old noble made his way further down the bar to the captain and his friend, drink still in hand, with about a quarter of its contents on the floor from the previous shaking.

"So, you want a job? No offense, but you don't look like you know how to sail."

Johnathan Blackwell III chuckled lightly and put his drink down (partially to avoid any more spills), and placed his foot on the bracing of an empty bar stool with his hand on his knee.

"Appearances can often be deceiving, lad, for I have experience on several vessels, not to mention on the crew of The Roaring Lion, pride of the Allirian navy! If you need more reference than that, the Blackwell name is known for its sailors. There's my sister, Anna Blackwell IV, who recently discovered a new fish in the Allirian Strait. My uncle, Bill Blackwell, was the very man who charted the Blighted Sea. My cousin, Bill's very own son, was the notorious pirate Edward D. Blackwell. Unfortunately he was dispatched by a disgruntled Krakarl last summer, gods rest his soul."

The noble removed his pith helmet for a moment of silence for his fallen cousin.

It was a very short moment.

"Anywho, I believe that should clear up any doubts to my sailing prowess. Quite difficult to grow up in a family of explorers if any one of us cannot sail. Still though, I'll be glad to answer any questions you have in a jiffy."

The old explorer stuffed his pipe and lit it, trading one substance for another in a matter of a few rambling justifications.

Trovik Half-horn Edward Lorain

 

[Edward Lorain]

Well, the man could certainly talk. He could not help but notice that in all of those references, he never actually mentioned that he knew how to sail. Still, maybe he knew from second-hand experience, and Edward needed the crew, so this could still work out.

"Good to know Mr. Blackwell. You look well learned so I'm sure that will come in handy. The crew is heading out west if you are up to it."

He glanced at Esme and Fenic out of the corner of his eye. He had not really mentioned where they were heading next, but they would need to leave in a day or two. Edward had come by some information that a wealthy trading vessel was coming around the tip of the Seret Mountains in the next week and Edward wanted to capitalize on the chance.

With just a little bit of timing and some luck, they would walk away with some decent gold for everyone and enough to get some upgrades to the ship....or maybe a new ship altogether.

 

[Fenic Creed]

"Of course, Fenic. It gives me a few minutes to think of my own questions for him."

Esme seemed nice, that emboldened her slightly to forge ahead.
"Do you know Master Lorain well? You seemed close... I find myself confused around him, he rarely asks me for anything and I cannot guess what he might require of me... I don't know how he wants me to serve him."
Her throat felt tight, and not just from the liquor she choked on a moment ago, this was the most she'd spoken to anyone in a single sentence even if her shy voice was barely audible above the noise of the tavern.

She was used to being used as a gladiator, a means of making money for her master in the beast pits. Did he want her and her friend to use their skills against other ships? She'd gathered thus far that she had been sold to a pirate.

 

[Esme Tyndall]

Esme smiled down at the young girl. She seemed shy and the fact that she had spoken up made Esme want to answer and be honest with her.

"I have know Edward since we were children. We have spent a lot of time together but more recently we have been doing out own things. I wish I could answer what he requires of you but I cannot. If nothing else, I will teach you how to sail so you know how to run the ship."

 

[Fenic Creed]

"I have know Edward since we were children. We have spent a lot of time together but more recently we have been doing out own things. I wish I could answer what he requires of you but I cannot. If nothing else, I will teach you how to sail so you know how to run the ship."

Her eyes widened in shock and worry but she didn't protest.
Run the ship?! Of course miss Tyndall said she would teach her, but the task seemed daunting. That was for a specialized tradesman, she was just a slave used as a gladiator... Obviously if she was asked to help around the ship, she felt that she couldn't refuse and thus she should know her way around the ship to perform the tasks that they required of her.

"Th-thank you... I'm happy to serve..."
She bowed her head, once again letting her hair fall over her face to hide her misgivings. Aside from when she and her friend fought together, her hair was the only place where she could convincingly hide her thoughts in plain sight before her masters.