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Post by Admin on Oct 28, 2020 3:36:07 GMT
Begma City is buzzing with excitement for war. The city people rush about taking care of the tasks needed to prepare the city's defences for the expected battle.
Brennon can see a few ships he recognizes that are also berthed in Begma. It seems that many captains are going to ground in these uncertain times. A few ships from Amber's navy are also docked.
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Post by Brennon on Oct 28, 2020 6:51:45 GMT
This is a better town in a first-rate coutry, so once affairs have been put in order, Brennon will inquire where the Captain's pub is, the better-than-a-common-tavern establishment where he can have a few nice drinks, some nice food, and swap tales with other men who know what it's like to have to maintain authority, instead of fraternizing with the deckhands like any other sailor.
On his way there, he'll also scout out a few of the real dives and dark alleys, to have a nice scuffle on the way back to his berth.
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Post by Admin on Oct 31, 2020 7:09:59 GMT
Until recently, Begma hadn't been much of a sea power. Whether it was due to a steady supply of issues best solved with armies on the ground in Ereginor, Kashfa, and other neighbouring lands or due to Begma City being the only shadow path in and out of the world making it easy to leave shipping to other peoples, it is unsaid. With Kashfa joining the Golden Circle Treaty and Gerard's creating a path to Jidrash, the Begmans have begun a push towards achieving naval supremacy in their shadow.
Brennon sees signs of this rapid change taking place in the city; foreign traders and sailors mix uneasily with the provincial locals with palpable tensions in the air across the lowtown - definitely a good place to find a fight later in the evening.
But his destination was a promontory overlooking the harbour. Perched on the edge of a hundred-foot drop was the Siver Sails, a luxury private club exclusively for the wealthy captains who dock in Begma built by Prime Minister Orkuz to attract ships to the city. Inside, Brennon finds a tastefully decorated place in brass fixtures, dark wood, and burgundy upholstery. Tuxedoed servants dash about at a quick pace seeing to all the guests' needs.
Brennon finds the barroom filled with captains, almost all in a sullen mood due to the foul weather interfering with their business. Even the threat of war, which usually lights up the eyes of those who know how to wring a quick buck out of desperate governments, can't lighten the mood when shipping is so difficult. When one of the captains is proposing a toast to those of their number recently lost at sea, Brennon enters as he talks of Captain Barrett missing and presumed dead after being seen sailing into a great storm shortly after departing Amber.
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Post by Brennon on Nov 6, 2020 3:33:18 GMT
Brennon will quickly order a drink (whiskey, neat) from the bartender so that he can raise a glass to the storm-tossed Barrett as well. While he didn't really know the missing Captain, he's heard of the Antelope.
When the moment is over, Brennon will lean in to the bartender and very quietly ask, "Has a glass been raised for Prince Gerard yet?" in the tone of a man who wants to know if he's missed something he wanted to attend.
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Post by Admin on Nov 6, 2020 4:20:05 GMT
"Ahh, they leave the best for last, sir," the bartender says, "And it is considered bad luck to give such a toast to the living, so we held off until there was confirmation of the Prince's passing."
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Post by Brennon on Nov 6, 2020 7:19:12 GMT
"I was there," Brennon admits, "and we must have been the last ship out of Kasaba, when it all blew apart. Many a good ship fell into the space between worlds when his ship exploded." He pauses, partly because telling such a tale should have a wider audience, and partly because this isn't the time for details- yet. Not until that glass has been raised.
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Post by Admin on Nov 12, 2020 8:30:46 GMT
The toast to Barrett completed and was then followed with a few more other toasts to captains, some of which Brennon has heard of others he hadn't and then there is a pause as if none of the assembled captains wants to be the one to admit Gerard is dead and say the toast.
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Post by Brennon on Nov 12, 2020 20:38:57 GMT
Brennon steps forward from the bar where he had been leaning. One of the shortest people present, including the barmaids, his motion is still enough to draw all eyes in that uneasy stillness. He raises his glass.
"To the Stormrider!" he says. "While there's a slim chance her Admiral may have had the devil's luck and gotten away, her Captain and crew surely didn't. I saw her sink, and we've not heard from a soul of her since."
While it isn't the custom to toast a ship, there are precedents. Certainly, going down with all hands was a way to earn the toast, as well as relieve the tension of the moment.
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Post by Admin on Nov 14, 2020 4:34:29 GMT
There is a relief in the air, a lightening of the tension after Brennon speaks, followed with "Here, here"s and "To the Prince"s from the assembled captains.
They all fall into smaller group conversations about the safety along certain sea lanes and speculations about Amber's next move. A pair of seadogs Brennon knows approach him.
"Well said, Captain Brennon, well said," says the first.
"Didn't believe a word of your expecting Prince Gerard to have survived but well done just the same," says the second, more cynical captain. "At least it loosened their superstitious tongues."
The first orders a round of drinks for them.
"I saw your Celessia arrive from the windows here, welcome to Begma. Do you also smell the large piles of coin lying around just waiting to be handed over to brave crews willing to chance the seas?"
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Post by Brennon on Nov 18, 2020 15:42:31 GMT
"Captain Jasper," Brennon greets the first, and to the second, more cynical, "Captain Lord Agathion. I'll admit, I arrived with light holds, and I'd rather not leave that way. Celessia always sails in storms of one sort or another. The ones I took to get here weren't too bad, a few spars and some rigging, but that's why we all carry spares, isn't it?" Part of the price of that was of course the fetid waters, the sharks and other large sea predators, and a slightly longer extension of the trip to include a plague quarantine or two, but he doesn't mention that. Fresh foodstores are for shipping runs in well-known and well-traveled waters, not for long cross-shadow voyages.
"I take it you're feeling the urge to see blue water again, but the weather has been keeping the sea lanes closed?" Not that Brennon would ever let that stop him from making a pretty coin, dangerous or not, his tone says.
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Post by Admin on Nov 19, 2020 2:39:58 GMT
"Ain't that the damned truth. Weather; they say Amber's in a mess so we out here are paying the price."
"This keeps up and they'll find some land routes to get their stuff from and we'll be bankrupt."
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Post by Brennon on Nov 19, 2020 21:04:26 GMT
Brennon shrugs at the remarks.
"I've promised my last passenger I'd stay in town a week, in case he wanted to book passage and get back out of here. I plan on leaving about then anyhow, tide, storm, or no. I've sailed tougher storms than what we met getting here. What's the best trade.. pardon, the best honest trade, and route, from here? Any commissions you wish you could take?" He flashes one of his roguish smiles on the last sentence, making it almost a dare. As long as someone else is paying, of course.
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Post by Admin on Nov 25, 2020 4:29:40 GMT
"Out of this land, the only path leads towards Amber. That's one of the issues the P.M. was planning to bring up with King Random before the unpleasantness. Getting Kashfa put back in its place as the lesser kingdom in this world is also of concern." says one.
"For a job that would be up your alley? Not too much seems to be around at the moment other than a lone woman - we call her the Blue Lady - who's been in and out of the city, always looking for someone to take her Amberwards. Not offering enough coin to make it worthwhile for most of us and with the unpredictable weather adding to the risk..." his voice trails off as if he is mentally recalculating the risks and expenses of her offer.
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Post by Brennon on Nov 27, 2020 20:22:47 GMT
"Well, I've never been to Amber, but I'm sure I could find the route," Brennon jokes, referencing the old saw that all roads lead to Amber. "I imagine she'll find me soon enough, if she's been scouring the port for transport. What's this about the local troubles, and Kashfa? The port guide mentioned something to that effect, but he was a bit scarce on details."
Brennon is planning to take his time getting the local news, buying and accepting drinks as needed, then have a good early supper before finding some local entertainment- music, girls, some sporting event, anything to while away the time and catch a few more street-level rumours before taking a less-than-advisable route back to his ship after dark. While he's confident he can take on one or two men by himself, he doesn't want to be the target of an entire gang. It would be preferable to go down a lighted street where someone tries to pick a fight with him, than to tangle with thugs in a dark alley, but either would do to release some of the ship-board tension of a long journey. Delgos was a great port, but the constabulary were very tight about violence, whether they turned a blind eye to black market dealings or not.
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Post by Admin on Nov 30, 2020 4:03:49 GMT
"Oh, you know how it is, Begam and Kashfa are always looking for an excuse to bicker. Things seemed to have settled down but it is always a delicate balance and with the loss of King Random the realms are getting testy again."
[OOC: You can make up a story about the walk through the city and I'll work on some new rumours.]
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