"Soooo..." Farah leaned over the wooden railing of the ship, as her crew eagerly watched. "Are you going to tell us where you keep the trading maps yet? Because otherwise, you're going to fall down down down into the waters, with the sharks, and that'd be an awful waste of you, wouldn't it?"
The merchant captain was hung by his feet. The ropes lead up to a board, nailed to the ship, and were securely tied around them. Below the merchant was the blue of the Blackwater Bay. The merchant was sweating harder like a pig on a skewer, and he was redder then the ideal sky for a sailor. He gasped out "Never! Never, you blasted pirate!"
Jordan Svenson, Farah's quartermaster, grinned and twisted the rope to be slightly looser. He was an attractive youth, dressed well in a blue cloak and grey trousers, with straight black hair and pale blue eyes. His skin was pale, but getting slowly tanned. The merchant gasped in fear and yelled out "It's in my office, the floorboards under my desk! Now let me go!"
Jordan seemed like he was going to do something, but Alexei Risovat, the first mate, stepped forward and shot an arrow that ended up right between the merchant's eyes. Alexei was older then Jordan and Farah, but he wasn't an old man. He had shortly cut brown hair and strong features, and wore practical clothing with little style. Jordan frowned and let go of the ropes, which dropped the merchant's corpse into the deep blue sea.
"I wasn't finished." said Jordan.
"We got what we wanted." said Alexei. "Nothing more."
Jordan looked like he was going to do something, but Farah looked at him and he stopped. "Jordan, get the board off the railing now. Alexei, get the maps then scuttle the trader's ship: we've gotten everything else." Jordan set to work as Farah walked to her cabin. Alexei walked with her. Farah looked at him with angry eyes. One pair real, the other painted.
"I thought I told you to do something." said Farah. "You better hop skip and fucking jump to it or I am going to get very angry."
"I was just curious," said Alexei with a calm tone. "As to why we need maps. We don't need pathways, we know our way around here."
"You're a soldier still, not a pirate." said Farah. "We need maps to intercept traders routes. They'll change them around when they realize we have the trading maps, but for now we have the advantage. Now get moving or you won't have a head to say 'I'm sorry, Captain, for not following your orders and asking questions that could be asked later.'."
"I see." said Alexei, with the same calmness. He walked off, leaving Farah to take out a pipe and fill it with a reddish plant matter some people called Visuri. She lit it with a tinderbox, and took a deep breath of it. She felt immediately better, and everything seemed a lot brighter. She looked around at her crew working, and felt an inkling of pride. Then she looked at her wrists, where the chains were. They weren't physical, of course, but it's amazing what your mind can do to you.
"Still not free yet..." she muttered, then she entered her quarters. The door slammed behind her, leaving her time to plan.
Farah begins raiding independent merchant ships who trade inbetween the multiple city states. Attempt to either scare them into compliance, or start killing them until they surrender. Capture them and steal their riches, then ransom the prisoners off. Sell the ones whose family won't or can't gather up a proper ransom into slavery.
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Topic: Blackwater Coast IC Thread (Read 9120 times)