brethrencourt | TEST DRIVE 001b

Try on those ridiculous clothes, sample the catering, and run through your lines. It's time for the Long 18th Test Drive.

ARRIVAL: Characters come to in a dark, tropical forest in a huddle. There are the sounds of strange birds, animals, and insects all around, some of them perhaps worryingly close. With a closer inspection, arrivals realize they're on an incline: Going up will prove fruitless, no matter who they are. The ground there starts to grow rocky the further they climb, and they may find themselves slipping back down to their arrival point, even if they're expert mountain climbers. The ground sloping downward will eventually level out leading toward light, music, and noise. But for the moment, they're simply a group of lost people (or monsters/bipedal animals/robots/etc) with no idea where they are or how they got here. Now's probably a good time to ask, "Who the hell are you? Where am I?" Time to use the buddy system.

TORTUGA: There's a town off the coast of Hispaniola that never sleeps, and that town is Tortuga. It's swapped hands more times than anyone can count, but for now, the French have it. And they do like the extra money the pirates that frequent it bring in; they like it so much that they imported over 1600 prostitutes from Europe to keep them happy. So you might as well relax while you're here, as much as you can with random gunshots and fist fights, anyway. Drop in for a drink at the Faithful Bride, check out the wares for sale (provided to you tax-free thanks to piracy) near the dock front. Visit the warehouse where those ill-gotten goods are stored and distributed. Maybe you're looking for work on a ship? The captains can usually be found - frazzled and busy - in the taverns and at the shipwrights and everywhere in between (just look for the hats), and if they're in a good mood, they might be willing. But the key point of Tortuga is this: Have fun. Some examples might include: A barfight! Wandering into a brothel (maybe by mistake)! Getting duped into joining a crew! There's no end of trouble to get into.

MIRROR POST: When they arrived, every person found, in a pocket or a bag or tucked away somewhere on their person, a little compact mirror. It's nothing fancy: Square, with hinges and a latch that keep it closed, the outer casing carved from seashell, the inner mirror a little spotted with age. But if it's played around with enough, it quickly becomes apparent it works as a communication device. Here you have access to all of the marked folks, no matter how far and wide they might spread. Need to have a heart to heart with a buddy in Singapore? Want to send out a general ad to everyone at large? Looking for answers to questions? This is the quickest way to get all of that.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE: The world is open, and it's full of pearls that are just waiting for you to take them. Maybe you want to have some quiet time to scrub clean in a bathhouse in Singapore. Perhaps you're visiting the fabled pirate city of Libertalia in Madagascar. Maybe you've found yourself lost in Mayan ruins or stranded on an island. Or you were shipwrecked in a hurricane. Or you've decided to relocate to Port Royal or one of the American colonies for a quieter sort of life. Either way, this is your story, might as well make it a good one.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I. Arrival

He's no stranger to waking up in new places. He's also no stranger to not remembering how he got there. He usually at least knows which realm or city he's in though, even if everything after that gets a bit fuzzy. So whatever's happening right now is a bit strange for him.

He doesn't bother trying to go up the incline. Not because he knows it won't get him anywhere, but because he knows that going down the incline will eventually lead to the sea, and the sea is where he's best able to orient himself. There tend to be people there, too, although that's not as big a concern right now because he's not alone here.

"Bloody hell. What did I drink last night?"

II. TORTUGA

Tortuga. He's been hearing about it for years, since even before his days in the Royal Navy (there's no more wretched hive of scum and villainy, or at least so Liam had assured him), but somehow even in all his years of piracy, he's never managed to make it here. Well now he's determined to change that. There's nothing to keep him from it. It almost seems to be expected of him, in fact.

And now that he's here, boy, is he going to be making the most of it. The first place he heads is straight for the tavern, fistfights and all, because what kind of pirate would he be if he didn't get sloshed on rum? He might even get into a fistfight or two himself.

But of course he can't keep himself from heading to the brothel, too. It's been too long since he enjoyed the company of a woman, and it's much less fuss if he pays for it.

He staggers back to the tavern later in the evening. He's going to enjoy his time here.

Edited 2017-05-01 01:32 (UTC)

It's been...Well. It's been a while since his last little sojourn into Tortuga. The early days of the curse at the very latest and...She never changes, does she? That, he supposes, is the one good thing he can count on. The world can be falling to pieces around her and it won't matter, because her taverns and brothels will be open, and those that make up her ever-shifting population will always be three sheets to a good strong wind and not have a solitary idea of what's going on around them beyond idle drunken gossip.

It is, in effect, good to be "home".

Good to be home, fresh out of battle that Joshamee Gibbs will be drinking on for years if he plays his cards right, and in the time Hector's known him, he's never known him not to do just that. He's half wondered if Jack has any idea how wily his first mate actually is, but if Jack doesn't...Well, he's certainly not going to be the one tell him, is he?

The door opens frequently enough that it's only by chance he happens to glance up from his own business - a bottle of his own and a list of things needed on the Pearl as she is woefully in need of refitting after the day - to catch a glimpse of the newcomer and he feels like, really, he can blame Jack for this new breed of pirate. A once over says a lot of flash and no substance, but he's never been one to keep that initial first judgement as the right one.

"Look at that, Fanny got herself a new fancy lad and he's managed to stumble hisself where the actual pirates ply their business."

Edited 2017-05-01 04:32 (UTC)

Hold up. What did he just hear someone say? Someone who appears to have glued a dead animal to his face. Just because you're out at sea most of the time doesn't mean you can't wash yourself once in awhile. He manages it, and with only one hand, at that.

"I've been captaining a ship for over two hundred years. I was a pirate before your grandparents were even born." And he hasn't even lost his ship once.

Oh, even better. It's one of those.

Hector simply stares at him a moment, almost imperceptible and dry smile ticking one corner of his mouth upward ever so slightly, dried blood still there on one side of his face from the battle with Jones, all while he waits on Jack to grace him with his presence (he's about this close to finding said pirate and dragging him out by those ridiculous beads from whatever whorehouse he's probably tucked himself away in, honestly), and here, in this tavern. In this town. Right here. Comes some upstart with a claim like that and-

"Two hundred years." He makes a face, as though he's mulling that thought over. "Impressive. But seein' as I've never heard of you, I doubt it. Run along, child, the adults are working."

And with that, he gives an imperious, dismissive wave of his free hand.

Two hundred years indeed. Given everything, he's fairly sure he'd have heard something if any such fool nonsense was true.

[ It's around this time that Jack Sparrow makes his way into the Faithful Bride, where Captain Hook and Captain Barbossa are currently conversing. Needless to say, he'd been caught up and held back with his own run-ins as he made his way through town, what with the influx of new people with strange clothing and asking ridiculous questions.

(Where had they all been last time he were here? He could have used all these people who didn't know where they were and would believe any promises Jack made about attempting to return them home.)

Whatever the case, he's here now, ready to play catch up with Hector, to compare To Do Lists of things to fix with the Pearl and how much of their own money they'll need to pitch in to ensure she's back to her pristine figure. He doesn't bother hesitating before he makes his way over, not paying Hook any mind at all. It almost seems like he doesn't even know Hook's there as he brushes past and takes a seat at Hector's table. ]

The place across from Bonita's, [ he says without preamble. ] They be the ones most willing to haggle. Especially if it's you and your.... [ And then he sort of gestures at Hector's. Everything.

And then, without missing a beat and without a change in tone, he jerks his thumb over to Hook. ] Who's he, then?

Clara's definitely a stranger to waking up in new places. Or at least new places that she doesn't choose for herself. With her last memory being a near death experience, she thinks that maybe this is the afterlife at first. Groggily coming to, she picks herself up and looks all around. And quickly decides that while a place like this could offer plenty of adventure, it's far too hot for her liking. But at least she's not alone.

Her eyes flicker over to the man nearby, and she gathers her skirts so she can start to walk down the incline.

"Can't tell you how many good stories have started that way," she smirks a little, before heading off. If he's curious about who she is or where she's going, he'll follow.

"Best not to stand there alone, though. Never know what might come looking for a bite, in a place like this!"

TEST DRIVE 001b

Captain Hook | Once Upon a Time

II. Tortuga - fair warning, Jack Sparrow is also incoming. To this thread. At an undisclosed time.

oh dear. batten down the hatches and grab the rum!

no subject

/kicks down the door HONEY I'M HOME --

arrival