ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴏɴɢ 18ᴛʜ ᴍᴏᴅs (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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brethrencourt2017-04-29 11:17 am
pyracy) wrote in brethrencourt2017-04-29 11:17 am
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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.
Mary Read | Asscreed: Black Flag
[The pillar of green light flashes just off the horizon, signaling yet another returned from the dead. Just half a blink later, a young woman stands in the forest near you. Already dressed like she belongs here and only looking half like Hell, she cocks a hand on her hip and takes a gander at the scenery.
She seems equal parts confused and amused, like there's a dark joke she won't let you in on. You might get the impression she's always some level of amused.]
An' here I thought my work was done. [Her accent is vaguely English with strong, swinging Caribbean tones.] No rest for the wicked, eh?
[She'd just like to tell God or whatever being was daft enough to bring her back that she does not have any unfinished business, thank you very much, can she go back to sleep now?
No?
Well, alright. Finally done ignoring you, she notes your existence.]
Who're you, then? My spirit guide?
II. Drinks on You
[For anyone keeping one sober lid open, they might notice a woman of indeterminate age sashaying about town like she owns the city next door. Once, she did. It's like slipping into old shoes, taking the same downtrodden paths from home to home, base and back. Although Mary spent most of her time in Nassau and Great Inagua when she was alive, in the end, the reek of piss and rum complimented by rowdy music is the same at every pirate capital.
Only the most well-trained eagle eye would notice that, below her still waters, there's some disgust for the sloth of this place. Allow men to lurk in stagnant, murky waters long enough, gathering flies and algea, and they become stale pond scum themselves. Sloth. It makes men useless, and it reminds her of the fall of Nassau, once her pirate kingdom.
Her sequel has started here, however, and she must make it work. Confidence will get you to the ends of the earth and back, but it's nothing without information. She has no idea how long she's been dead, and Tortuga's unchanging nature doesn't lend itself well to any clues on the year. It's best to get reacquainted with the dregs of the human race.
And so, it's with a heavy boot and a devil-may-care attitude that she slides into the counter at one of the many taverns in town. There isn't a question about her, seemingly only there for the gin.
She orders a drink and holds it to her lips, listening to everything around her.]
III. Magic Sits Heavy in the Gut
[It takes a full month before Mary more than touches her mirror. She's not a superstitious type, but she's seen what the supernatural can do to someone, and the evils for which they can be used. Besides, who really cares about what a bunch of strangers are saying across the world if it's nothing useful?
But it's been a slow day of mucking about on some uncharted little sandbar, and so she drifts to the mirror. Behind her is the sea, the drop of sand, and the blinding Sun. She's since shed her frock coat, which is lying in the sand somewhere beside her, carelessly cast aside.]
Right. We're well past introductions, so let's dive righ' in. How safe d'ye think speakin' on these trinkets are?
[She leans forward, arm across her knee, as if she's about to divulge a great secret. A corner of her lips cutting upwards, whispering dangers, she lowers her voice.]
Who's listenin' in, I wonder?
((still in the process of making actual Mary icons, forgive, I have like...3))
3
Link blinks at his mirror.] Listening? [he repeats, curious and a little confused, like he doesn't understand where she got the idea from.]
ayyyy! Link! sorry for the late reply
Someone connected these other-worldly mirrors t' listen in on each other. Clearly, it wasn't any of us.
[Mary leans back on one hand.] That begs the question . . . why are we meant t' stay connected, and who connected us.
If I were t' make a device tha' magically listened in on conversations--[she says this heavily, as she's come across it before]--I'd make use of it. Ye understand?
no worries!
Yes, [he answers, slowly at first. Then, he explains his puzzlement.] I hadn't thought about it like that. I thought they were just... [Well.] Magic.
[He's used to magical artifacts falling into his lap, with no explanation as to who made them or why they're magical, most of the time. They just are.]
no subject
[Mary continues with a softer tone and a truer smile] Always ask questions.