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Post by Brennon on Dec 13, 2020 22:11:21 GMT
[ooc: I don't really require new specific rumours if you don't want to do the work, just 'you've heard the rumours in town', and if it comes up later that I heard something while in Begma, let me know about it ] After hearing the news from the various Captains and ranking officers in the Silver Sails, Brennon steps out in to the late afternoon sun. Deciding it isn't quite boring into his eyes as sharply as it might be with a few more drinks, he heads to the theatre district for an afternoon show. Nothing is showing at the first-rate houses, so he ends up in a comedy tent with pretensions of grandeur, where cheap beer is sold to make the comedy of errors performed by second-rate artists actually amusing.
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Post by Admin on Dec 21, 2020 17:30:15 GMT
One of the minor irritants of travelling through shadow is the endless variations of the same play produced in every land. This performance is a particularly egregious version of common comedic tropes called The Tenth Night, or What You Will and concerns a prince from one country and a princess from another both disguised and lost in a forest, coming across each other in madcap misunderstandings and confusion. The not-so-subtle political subtext is easy to discern when the prince looks similar to King Rinaldo of Kashfa and the princess to Lady Coral of Begma and the forest is Ereginor. Adding to the poor performance is one of the woodsmen who takes it upon himself to soliloquize the need for the princesses realm to diminish the prime minister's role and reinstate the good king and queen. These speeches are met with some cheers but mostly boos from the crowd.
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Post by Brennon on Jan 3, 2021 20:09:17 GMT
The cheap beer really isn't very good, but the reaction of the crowd is something Brennon finds amusing, especially since the plot is so thinly veiled. He's seen similar performances, on similar events, even close to the courts of chaos. As the crowd boos and cheers in turns, he begins laughing. Not at the jokes themselves, but at the crowd. Several people turn to look back at him, so Brennon covers his mouth with his sleeve to muffle the sound. By the time the play is finished, the playhouse "staff" are politely waiting to usher him out of the tent. Giving them a quick lookover, it's probably the high quality of his clothes that is making them remain polite.
The night is drawing in as Brennon steps back outside. Looking at the big men, Brennon smiles and gives them a chance to get some secondhand revenge. "Hey, do you know any good local places for a bite to eat? It doesn't have to be a fancy restaurant, just somewhere the food is really good."
With any luck, they'll give him directions to the kind of place he'll be able to claim self-defence as a justification, either while there, coming, or going. Maybe all three. If he's really lucky, the food really will be some of the best in town.
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Post by Admin on Jan 8, 2021 8:37:20 GMT
The guards look Brennon up and down.
"A number of places suggest themselves," on says.
"Yet the better quality places don't take too kindly to boorish behaviour," says the other.
Just then, from behind the milling crowd of theatregoers, a loud voice proclaims:
"Thou knave! Thou villain! Thou thrice-damned gobilin! Stand and pay for the insults you have foisted upon our merry band of actors this eve!"
The crowd parts revealing one of the actors in blousy pantaloons, royal blue vest, and a wide-brimmed blue hat with a long pink feather trailing off the back. A rapier hangs from his belt.
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Post by Brennon on Jan 25, 2021 5:52:16 GMT
Brennon sweeps his hat off and gives the actor an extravagant bow, with several flourishes, saying, "Ah, a member of the august cast. I thank ye most heartily for uour fine entertainment. Truly, I haven't had such a pleasure in months, and while my first expectations were low, I find they have been amply exceeded, the much to your credit. Thank you, thank you, and again thank you."
The overly extravagant bow is the sort used in greeting nobility, hammed up for a stage farce but still of far better base quality than whatever was just performed. Brennon keeps a subtle eye on the rapier, willing to keep things 'pleasant' if the actor does, and a bit unwilling to injure a man he's just paid, even if the show was terrible and the fee was small. After all, he's certainly being entertained now, isn't he?
If steel is drawn, Brennon will match with his own blade, but seek to disarm rather than draw blood. Most cities don't like edged weapons and drawing blood in public. They like dead bodies even less.
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Post by Admin on Jan 26, 2021 6:35:39 GMT
[OOC: I will be picking up Ship of Magic this week after many months spent on the waiting list.
OOC: And now I have it. And it's over 800 pages! I don't reckon that I'll be getting much sleep over the next few weeks.]
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Post by Brennon on Feb 2, 2021 7:21:35 GMT
[Updated]
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Post by Admin on Feb 4, 2021 5:59:46 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/cwPt2VV/images-q-tbn-ANd9-Gc-Qa6kt7l-Ve7-Ph-TBp-e-ZBhmo-Dz-Rt78-H-CYWG5-A-usqp-CAU~jpg "Fwah! You can't now use candied words to cover up your foul snigger-dropping and foul insults to the lovely Esme. It is for her honour that I fight you, for our troop's honour, and the honour of actors everywhere!"He strikes a dramatic pose, which is slightly undone by his large false nose unsticking from the glue and listing off to the side of his face. A quick dash with his hand gets it back in position, and he resumes the full pose and the crowd around him cheers. Spurred on to rashness by the adoring crowd, he continues: "To have laughed at the dramatic passages the sat stone-faced during the scenes of high comedy show a soul without poetry. Fortunately, monsieur, you will have just enough time left in your life to learn a little about artistry.He draws his rapier with an actor's flourish. "For you, I will compose a ballad. Four stanzas of eight-line each and at the end I stab home!"
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Post by Brennon on Feb 4, 2021 20:50:24 GMT
[ooc: you asked for this...]
Brennon clears his own blade as quickly as the actor, tossing his blue coat at one of the bouncers, and much less drunk than he had appeared.
"Very well," he says, then in an aside to the audience, "Let us see of what words the man is made."
Brennon will begin his own lines then, keeping his focus to the duel, and attempting to disarm the actor while avoiding any bloody holes on both sides. (Parry, riposte, block, guard, etc.)
A comedy or tragedy well played Brings smiles or tears unto the viewer's face If backwards then the tale has been displayed Then smiles and tears be backwards from their place So if my comments thus have brought disgrace Then be content that I am satisfied And entertainer, what you must embrace Is to thy calling, and not to thy pride."
Even if the man is an excellent duelist, the stated verse and tempo required will put both of them at a disadvantage. Brennon will attempt to cause the man's sword to fall or fly from his hand at the last stanza.
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Post by Admin on Feb 5, 2021 7:26:26 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/cwPt2VV/images-q-tbn-ANd9-Gc-Qa6kt7l-Ve7-Ph-TBp-e-ZBhmo-Dz-Rt78-H-CYWG5-A-usqp-CAU~jpg The actor is a fine duelist on the stage but in the real world he is hopelessly outmatched by Brennon's greater skill. He is nimble on his feet, probably more so when not slightly inebriated. The press of the fight and Brennon's own rhyming gives the man barely enough breath to start with I throw my hat away, lightly, before he needs to save his breath and concentration for the duel. As Brennon fights, he can see from the corner of his eye the lead actress from the play, Esme, standing at the side of the tent looking at the actor, clutching a handkerchief and scared for his life. At the end of the verse, as the actor's sword flies from his hand along with the perilously glued on the nose to land in the crowd, here is a mix of boos and cheers from the audience, a loud gasp from Esme, a hiss from someone behind Brennon "Not so fast, stranger! Make a game of it so we can get more coin off these rubes before the coppers get here."The actor stands straight and takes an exaggerated bow with his hat off, sweeping the feather long and low to the ground before him. "Your skill with the bade exceeds your skill with poetry.
"If I may?" he asks, gesturing towards his fallen sword. [OOC: I did ask for it, and I think that I'm going to get it.]
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Post by Brennon on Feb 5, 2021 20:44:54 GMT
At the mention of the coppers, Brennon's blade finds its sheath with the agility of a practiced scoundrel, as if it had been stowed there the entire time.
Brennon gives the actor a stage bow, allowing the man to retrieve his blade and re-drawing his sword, slowly.
"For the honour of the lady, I believe you must. Though I would consider a yield as a win, were I in your shoes." A second duel would mean the guards will surely arrive before he can get away. So they had better be entertaining enough to make the guards discount the offence.
Assuming the actor has no secret surprises of skill, Brennon will duel him again, but with more flourishes, which he will use to cover that he is giving a duelling lesson to his opponent, as well as to entertain the crowd. The actor should be able to pick up on the cues without making them obvious to the audience, even in a third-rate back-tent outfit.
He will also give his opponent enough time for some witty repartee, though his own rejoinders will be spoken in a variety of accents, one accent per quote, and a few in foreign tongues. If the man gets too carried away with the insults, however, Brennon is likely to push his 'assault' and not leave the other man time to say much of anything.
Once the guard has arrived, assuming the man hasn't yielded, Brennon plans to perform another disarm, this one where his own sword flies with the actor's blade to land at (near) the feet of the actress Esme.
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Post by Admin on Feb 8, 2021 5:55:45 GMT
"It would be ungracious for me to not extend you the same courtesy, my friend. You may have impressed yourself with some early success in duelling, but I now have the measure of your sword-skill," the actor says.
Brennon notices a number of small children working their way through the crowd, thieves collecting coins and purses from the crowd. They understand the need to let the drama continue, so they do not come near Brennon.
I throw my hat away, lightly, I, slow as you like, discard the heavy cloak that warms me, and I draw my shining sword: elegant as Celadon, agile as Scaramouch, I warn you now, dear Myrmidon, at the ballad’s end, I touch!"
The actor says while doing as he says. His attempt to trip Brennon is easily dodged. Undaunted, he continues.
" You’d be better to have stayed neutral: Where will I skewer you, my turkey?... In the flank, beneath your medal?... In the heart, beneath your finery?... The little bells ring, ding dong! My point swirls: flies do as much! In the belly, I can’t be wrong, at the ballad’s end, I touch."
He twists and strikes, hoping to disarm Brennon, but the man's strength isn't enough to shift the captain's wrist even an inch. Somewhat less confidently, he continues:
" You break off - while I find a word - you’re whiter by far than snow, and furnish me with the rhyme coward! - Tac! I par-"
The last insult is enough for Brennon, and the two swords fly through the air; the crowd scatters and embed themselves in the turf at the feet of Esme. She looks at the weapons; then the men nonplussed for a moment, then reaches out and takes hold of Brennon's sword. The actor goes red in the face and storms off into the tent with only a "You haven't seen the last of me, Captain! You will rue the day you crossed the path of Antoine DeSavoy Pernod d'Avoine and the Lupin Tumblers Dramatic Guild!"
The woman Esme looks at Brennon wide-eyed with something resembling love.
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Post by Brennon on Feb 8, 2021 20:52:59 GMT
Brennon reclaims his coat, putting it back on with care before he walks over to the actress and bows, aware that the 'scene' is not quite over. "What ransom for my blade, Lady?"
The top of his hat is just even with the top of her head, though he is in boots and she in stocking feet, caught as she was between changing out of costumes by the drama. "I warn you, I am a sailor, and my life, my love, and my lady are upon the waves. I cannot take the place of Monsieur DeSavoy Pernod d'Avoine. Nor do I have even one surname to offer. What else would you have of me?"
The crowd, naturally, is enthralled by the drama in front of them. Brennon keeps a stranger's eye out for the law, even as he seems to be ignoring the bystanders.
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Post by Admin on Feb 15, 2021 6:55:36 GMT
#s://i~ibb~co/74HgMLV/esme~png Esme changes from doe-eyed awe to haughty imperiousness as Brennon speaks; if she had shown this much skill on the stage, maybe he wouldn't have had cause to mock the performance. "You say no harbour is your home, yet you would fight for me? Win my life, and my heart then cast me aside?"There are some boos from the crowd, and Brennon suspects that they are directed at him. A few of the town guard are mixed up in the group but seem more interested in watching the show than breaking up the scene. "You insult me, then woo me, and now hope to satisfy your honour by tossing me a few baubles and coins? You judge me so easily bought?"
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Post by Brennon on Feb 16, 2021 22:01:10 GMT
Brennon may have had lessons in etiquette and manners taught to him with his mother's milk, but it was on the wrong side of the pleasure-house's door, and at this point his genteel facade is straining against the decades of a life lived with the rougher side of society.
"It is Monsieur- It is Antoine who fought for your love, your honour, your bloody hand if you'd give him the time of day. I, on the other hand, fought not to kill him or make him a world of trouble." The implication is heavy that Brennon himself was in no real danger of being skewered by the actor, no matter whether the man started the fight or not.
He keeps his temper closely in check as he continues his angry tirade, forcing his words, barely, into the shapes of dramatic speech even if they must be forced and bound there like a corset built with iron stays.
"How do you win when the other man fights for his honour? Why should I die because some fool believes he can measure against me? How can he win when his honour has been put up against a skill that could match his master?
I say to you, he would not, could not, have had satisfaction from me, yet I did the best I could for him. If he wishes to take on the Captain of a demon ship, with a demon crew, and come away with a prize, then he is a fool. If he comes away at all, he is a lucky man, and I told him such before e'er we began.
It is not my honour, lady, that needs satisfaction, but call me a flirt and a rake if that is what you would have of me, for surely I have been both before, and likely will I be again. This choler suits you better than the former limpid waif, in any case, and if that waif is the price of my sword, I will find another."
Whether he is talking about finding another sword, or another woman, he leaves uncertain.
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