January 22nd, 1683: The crew is getting restless. I suppose that the Baron could hardly slip past me, after all his sailing is atrocious. Oh, and the Netherlands are at war with France now.
February 14th, 1683: Still no sign of the Baron, only some French smugglers to plunder. There was a Jesuit monastery nearby, and I decided to check if they had any information about Raymondo. Long story short, I'm slightly more poor and I have to escort some immigrants to San Juan. I was heading in that direction anyways, so I hardly care.
February 20th, 1683: Those pesky immigrants are finally in San Juan. One of the immigrants, out of appreciation for repelling those slimy French privateers, gave me a ruby ring. Sounds like something that could happen to me, eh? Actually what happened is that some of the immigrants were hit by a cannonball, and I took the opportunity to loot the bodies after we defeated the French. I found the ring sewn into the folds of a dress. The owner doesn't exactly need it anymore, and it is quite a nice ring.
February 21st. 1683: The governor of San Juan was overjoyed to see me when I visited. A commission from the Crown had arrived, making me an admiral in the Spanish Navy. It's a legitimate commission, but my duties are kinda vague. I'm guessing that the Crown is perfectly fine with me continuing to loot and pillage. Being an admiral, I get to wear a fancy hat, and access to the Royal Docks. Normally the shipwrights are not supposed to improve my ship without some sort of fancy document, but a few bribes should fix that. On the plus side, it should cost me less to improve my ship.
February 27th, 1683: I've spotted the Baron's ship (finally). It's a War Galleon with all the fixings, and is fairly imposing as well. The only thing I can't understand is why the Baron would paint EVIL along the side of it. Just doesn't make sense.
February 28th, 1683: I've fought Raymondo. Whooped him more like it. He was hiding below decks while his crew was getting slaughtered, the coward. He only turned to fight (if you could call it that) me when I managed to corner in in his room.
"Give it up, Raymondo. You're got nowhere else to run," I yelled. By then his back was against the wall and he was covered with cuts.
"Hah!" he grinned, "little do you know that I'm not"
He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before my fist collided with his nose.
"I don't care, damn it (I said more than that). I've waited two entire months for you to show your ugly hide. Two whole months of plundering gone like that. Just tell me where my sister is." Don't get me wrong, I like my sister. Actually, I only fought the Baron because I thought I could get rid of him in a week or two at the most. Not two entire months.
"Look, I have no idea where you sister is!" he protested.
I attempted to jog his memory at that point, but I jogged it a bit too much. Anyways, I found a piece of a map on his body. It looks like it could lead me to my sister, at least once I find the rest of it.
The Baron had a skilled quartermaster with him. Now I have no idea what a quartermaster does, but apparently he maintains morale with whips and insults. I have no idea how that could improve morale, but then again I'm not a quartermaster, am I?
March 14th, 1683: I'm back in Santo Domingo. It was closer than San Juan. I sold the Baron's ship for a fine hunk of gold, and celebrated by purchasing some dancing boots. Of course, I can't stay in Santo Domingo very long.
May 4th, 1683: Turns out that a cooper is a person who makes barrels, and has nothing to do with chickens. Unless the chickens are in those barrels, I guess. I only know this because one of the French ships were captured had a cooper among its crew. As our own barrels were on the soft side, I hired him.
May 22nd, 1683: Against my better judgment, I back in Santo Domingo. The crew is clamouring for there share of the loot, and San Juan is too far away to sail to. Annoyingly, the quartermaster is the most vocal of the group, that slime-bag. At least we shouldn't be staying in the city for very long, right?
September 11th, 1683: Summer is close to being over, and I suppose that I should gather the crew together. There's only so much you can do without showing your face. Seeing as I haven't been diligent in writing in this thing, I should put this in now, before I forget. I'm officially the 9th most notorious pirate (don't ask me how they rank these things). I've also started to call myself a rogue. Sounds fancier than being a pirate.
December 1st, 1683: Screw this. I've (finally) got all the important crew members on board and enough men to man my ship. We're leaving anybody else behind. I've named my Ship-of-the-Line the "Cagafuego" about, oh, a month and a half ago. If I had a clever anecdote I would put it here, but honestly I just think that "Fireshitter" is an awesome name for a ship. Spending the months bored out of your mind can do that to a man. Normally re-naming a ship is bad luck, but I figure that the French have no souls anyways, so they're ship don't have souls until they manned by another nation, right? So really, the "Cagafuego" was the "Cagafuego" all along, it just happened to be called something else by the soulless French.
January 18th, 1684: St. Kitts is lovely this time of year. I love the way that the gun-smoke reflects off of the water. I learned from some English sailors (who were pleading with me not to kill them) that Spain is even attacking the Dutch now. Serves them right, those heathen traitors.
February 7th, 1684: St. Martin is still a backwater. The Dutch governor made me a colonel in the Dutch army. I figure that he's looking out for some friend, in-case someone comes to raid the city, like they did to St. Eustaticus. He also practically chucked his daughter at me. I guess that the news from Santiago is starting to filter through. Anyways a dance is "conveniently" scheduled for tomorrow night.
February 8th, 1684: The Dutch styles of dance are more complex than the Spanish ones, what with all the flourishes and whatnot. But with the way that the gentry were treating me, I could have stumbled into everyone and they wouldn't have cared. One of them even gave me the shirt off his back. It's one of those light, puffy types designed for ease of movement. It'd be a good fencing shirt, though I'd washed it first. One of the captains invited to the ball was a little overzealous. The shirt was kinda useful.
March 13th, 1684: I think I know why the Marquis hired Baron Raymondo. It has been barely more than a year, and he already has an entirely new ship, crew, the works. More annoyingly, I also learned that he has another part of the map that leads to my sister's whereabouts. If I'm lucky, it'd be the rest of the map and not, say, a quarter of it. The French captain who told me this was actually rather nice, and so I decided to drop him off on a nearby island. If he's lucky, a French ship will pick him up before a Dutch one.
March 21st, 1684: A large crowd was waiting for me when I entered St. Martin. Some raiders were barely repulsed by the defenders a couple weeks ago. The crowd was clamouring for passage, but I told them that I would only take on crew. A musket volley anybody who were still eager.
March 23rd, 1684: It might have been rather petty to delay my visit with the governor, but I've literally just finished supplying the "Cagafuego". The damn crowds keep following me everywhere.
March 23rd, 1684 (continued): Just quickly writing this down before I forget. Or something else happens. When I greeted the governor, I could literally smell the desperation on him. He handed me a commission as a Dutch admiral after he gave his greetings. At least I think it's a commission. The handwriting looks like it was made by a drunken buccaneer in a storm. After he handed me the commission we had a little chat. Every-so often his voice would swoop into falsetto while we talked.
"Well, ah, Admiral," he stammered. This was near the end of our conversation, though I can now see that we was trying to steer me into a certain direction from the very moment we started talking. But I digress. "A funny thing, actually. As you might have heard, I've decided to take a... rather long vacation."
"Look," I said, realizing where he was going, "the last thing you want to do is book passage on the "Cagafuego". The only Dutch port I'll be visiting is St. Eustaticus, and I know that you don't want to go there."
"Is there any way I could change your mind?" he practically begged.
It took me an entirety of two seconds to come up with a reply. "No, and I think it's about time I left." The weird, sickly look in his eyes was starting to ring some alarms in my head. My ears were practically ringing when he rather abruptly changed the topic.
"But you haven't even seen my daughter yet!" he almost screamed.
As I wrote before, something is up. He practically led me to his daughter's chambers, the hallways devoid of servants or anybody else. I'm writing this in an "antechamber", no idea why. I guess maybe if something happens to me.
March 23rd, 1684 (continued): The governor sickens me, the way he was trying to use his daughter like that. Thankfully we both kept our dignity, and that is all I'll write about it, damn Dutchmen. I'm surprised that she has any dignity living with that monster. Before I left I gave her that ruby ring that I found. If I had anything else valuable on me I would have given it to her as well. I left her bedroom through a window, in case that someone was waiting outside the door to catch me or something. The governor obviously thought that his ruse would work. The courtyard I found myself in was packed full of boxes, carrying what probably was most of his household goods. I figure that that scalawag owes me a bit after what he tried to do, so I stole a set of perfectly balanced swords and a weather glass. If I could have taken more, I would have. As it was, I barely escaped with my loot.
April 17th, 1684: Damned English. You take one little frigate and all the pirate hunters from here to Britain are after your head.
April 19th, 1684: We've (barely) repulsed those pirate hunters. Gave me a real sense of Deja View. The "Cagafuego" is looking worst for wear. I'm told that the copper plates along her hull is mostly keeping her together. St. Martin is the closest port, we'll make repairs there. Hopefully it won't turn into another Santiago.
April 25th, 1684: The crowds in St. Martin were subdued when they saw the condition that the "Cagafuego" was in. I'm not surprised, the old girl looks like she went through hell and back. At least he'll have some peace and quiet to make the repairs. I hope.
April 26th, 1684: I guess that seeing the shape that the "Cagafuego" was in only made the Dutch more eager to escape with their sorry hides. And as the strongest thing on the water, we've been swamped even more.
April 27th, 1684: I stumbled upon the governor accidentally. I had defeated another pesky Dutch captain in a tavern brawl when his carriage rolled up. The governor looked as embarrassed as I felt. He hurriedly handed me a letter before ordering his lackey to flee drive away. The letter contained my title to a Baronship, which I quickly pocketed. Thankfully I haven't seen his scum-ball face after that chance meeting.
April 28th, 1684: My first mate handed me a letter after I woke up. Now I trust my first mate with my life mail, so I knew that the letter had to be important. He said that the person who delivered it had a bit of hope on her face. After spending a lot of time in St. Martin, I know that hope is worth its weight in gold in this place. Intrigued, I opened the letter. Surprisingly, it was from the governor's daughter. Her father had forced her to accept the engagement of a Dutch privateer, so that he could buy his way off the island. At the end of the letter (there was other, unimportant stuff) she warned me that the privateer would be arriving four weeks, and that he was a master swordsman. Why she would tell me this, I have no idea, but I figure that the governor wouldn't mind if I lost a fight to this privateer. Needless to say, I'm not going to back down from a challenge, no matter how obtuse and perceived it might be!
April 28th, 1684 (continued): Rereading the letter, I'm starting to feel something for that woman. Something I've never felt before. Something odd and confusing and wonderful and beautiful all in one. Pity.
April 29th, 1684: The privateer is going to arrive in St. Martin around, oh, May 23rd. I figure that I have enough time to visit San Juan and wash this taste of desperation out of my mouth.
May 13rd, 1684: The Spanish governor was actually glad to see me. He handed me the title to some god-forsaken piece of land, and told me that I'm now a Spanish Baron. This ought to catch the eye of any sailors I might need. As if on cue, his daughter burst entered the room. She commanded invited me to join her at a ball she was hosting in a week. I might have refused just from her tone of voice alone, but she had a body that warms up the room by a couple degrees and makes your pants tighter, so I accepted. Besides, I've got time to kill.
May 20th, 1684: The big ball is today. According to the rumours, I should feel honoured if I was invited to stand outside the front door and listen to the ball inside. All the important people in San Juan will be there. I could care less.
May 20th, 1684 (continued): I think that my dancing skills are improving. True to the rumours, only the most sophisticated and elite of San Juan were allowed in the door. Luckily I didn't have to do much talking. The governor's daughter did most of it for me, recounting several adventures which I'm entirely sure she made up (for the record, the one about the "Cagafuego" and the maidens was my favourite). Just before I left, she told me that she expected me to join her for a luncheon tomorrow. I protested that I had other, more important things to do. Besides, I prefer a liquid lunch. She said something about advancing in society and loving her to try and convince me to join her, I can't remember half of it. I reckon that that Dutch privateer ought to be nearing St. Martin right now, and that a few lackeys are going to become slightly more rich.
lot. Sid Meier's Pirates! is as wholesome as a Disney movie. Also, if anyone wants to suggest names for some of the characters, go ahead. I'll be naming the important ones, just to help with my writing.
This time I actually managed to get a few screenshots. I'll add some of them tomorrow.
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Topic: Let's Play: Sid Meier's Pirates! That's Mr. Baron Montoya to you! (Read 21246 times)