Aiden went below deck to find Trudi pushing herself against a wall groaning.
"What... are you doing?"
"Uuuuuurgh"
Aiden shook his head and carried on.
"WAIT" Trudi yelled, pushing herself away from ease. The reason it was ease was because there was a large pressure of water coming through the hole she was trying to block.
Aiden looked around to find water spraying all over everyone's beds, and a soggy looking Trudi stood right in the middle of it all looking thoroughly miserable.
Aiden looked around, then hammered a keg of rum into the hole. As long as the tap was facing inwards and THS didn't remove it in some kind of drunken haze it would be fine.
"Don't tell anyone" He told her specifically.
"Uh... okay" she said, before turning around and squelching off.
Aiden sighed and carried on with his round of checking.

Aidan had promptly finished checking the ship. Well, okay, so maybe promptly wasnt really the word to use. It was a fairly big ship and took him bloody ages. Needless to say, when he got back on deck he was really tired.

Mang get off me, Deck said, throwing Aidan off his shoulders which he had collapsed on. Captain Fishears floated on over to Aidan and nodded at him.

Good job, laddy! Ye did a splendid job, not just in battling but in checkin the ship over and repairing the mast! I take it we have no further problems to worry about, yarr? The ghost asked.

NNone, captain. Aidan wheezed inbetween puffs.

Good job, laddy! Yeeve been promoted to first mate.

This obviously attracted the glares of a few of the other crewmembers who werent exactly pleased to see such praise, especially as it wasnt directed at them. Well, the bloody buggers should have done more to help out.

Youre job is to routinely check the ship everyday for any other new problems that might crop up, yknow? Fishears nodded.

Aidans eyes widened, before he collapsed back again. Having to search the ship all the time didnt seem like such a glamorous promotion. =(

Rightio, ladies! Time to set sail for Gredalst Gate! Weve got no time to be wasting! Captain Fishears declared, pointing to the distance. In response, all of the crewmembers apart from the lazy tossers got into position and set sail in the direction Captain Fishears pointed to. The sail was holding for now, but they could only hope it wouldnt break in the near future.

They were at sail for two days. It was their longest length of time at sea yet, which was precisely why they stopped off at Another Island to gain supplies for the coming treck. What they did the most of the time was basically drink some more alcohol and play card games. Well. Those were the ordinary activities they took part in. The other stuff? Mang, best left unmentioned. Trust me on this.

Gredalst Gate

So! Moving on. Two days had past, and no sooner had they realised it, but they were nearing Gredalst Gate indeed. All of them stared dumbfounded at the gate, and at how large it was indeed. A passage of sea crept through two nearby continents, representing the gate. On either side of the gate, were two towering monuments, reaching so high in the sky that none of the crewmembers could see where they stopped. The monuments were made of marble, their symbols: two giant men, garbed in strange and ancient clothing, each one holding what they assumed to be a spear. The crew could only see their massive feet and legs, the rest of their body was lost in the clouds. An arch also formed from the two monuments over the body of water, to make it look somewhat like a tunnel.

Bloody hell thats quite large, Lokki commented, gazing off into the sky at the monument.

Hey! HEY! Anyone got my Polaroid??? screamed one of the crewmembers.

Yarr, this be Gredalst Gate indeed, the Gods gate. Course, none of us are ever really sure what formed such strange things. People say the Gods themselves, but thats just a myth, yknow? Fishears commentated at the front of the ship. The ship continued sailing forth, and was beginning to pass under the arch and inbetween the marble monuments.

Now, on ye left here, there be a lighthouse which guides the way for pirates, Fishears pointed. His crew all murmured oohs and ahs and clicked several devices which produced flashes at the things.

Hey, Fishy my good man. THS pointed up. I thought this was all supposed to be rough sea, cause two oceans were meeting. Seems pretty dang calm tme.

Aye, ye be right. This be most perplexing inde- Fishears began, and then suddenly the skies turned dark and it began to thunder and rain. Oh, for crying out loud, ye had to bloody well jinx us, didnt you?

=( THS replied.

The A&W pirates had been so close to passing through the Gredalst Gate and continuing on the next part of their journey until the sudden storm. In no time at all, a whirlpool had formed beneath the ship, and although the crew tried to sail on and get past the storm, they were all too incompetent and their ship sunk into the depths of the whirlpool. What a bummer. =/

3 days later

Deck slowly opened his eyes. His head hurt like merry hell and he had a cracking migraine. He desperately tried to recollect what the hell had happened to him, but couldnt seem to remember. He looked around, and found he was on a beach. But no beach he ever recognised. Uh where am I?

Well, Ill bloody be! came a voice from behind Deck. He slowly turned around, disoriented, trying to find whatever that obnoxious voice was to shut it up so he could sleep some more. As he turned round, he found out that there was only one other person nearby. If it isnt me good olchum, Deck!

It was a slightly tall figure dressed in a smart suit with a cane resting over one arm. In the other was a cup of tea. The figure had a massive brown afro on his head, upon which rested a stylish tophat. The figure in question was a fox by species. And a lawyer by trade.

Pach? Mang, what the hell? I thought you was dead. And where the f*ck am I?

OOC: Please Insert Disc 2

Save?: Y/N

The adventure continues! But, for at least a brief moment, somewhere else on a mysterious island that no one knows about! :O Such savage natives there are indeed. To continue your quest, CLICK HERE:

OOC: Y

but srsly i'm gonna back all this up in case it drops damn far down the list before we get back. We don't know how long we'll be there! (probably not long enough for 10 pages worth of new RPs)

gogo disc 2

Off the shores of Creoland

Geo threw down ladders from the ship, to which the A&W pirates hastily clambered up, apart from Fishears who simply floated up. Goldstein demonstrated some expert steering, pulling away from the island and leaving before the Creositians could catch up. The pirates were safe and fortunately had managed to get their arses off that island. With their former Captain, no less. The Creositians uttered dignified obscenities and witty insults towards the fleeing pirates, but then again for all intents and purposes they had won. They got what they desired and managed to get rid of the pirates, to boot.

Meanwhile, on the ship, there was a joyous mood for having finally gotten out of that hellhole of a strange place and back to the sea. All apart from Pach, who was still struggling to catch up to everything that had happened and his dismayed feeling that he hadnt stopped Mr. Creosote at all. As the crew began to celebrate, he came to a wondering realisation. Where was Tiankai?

OOC: A&W continues again back on the Guild! }:O Let's show these poser rps what for!

OOC: Poser RPs such as Gifted, what what Pach!

proper post later maybe i had to make that joke

IC edit: THS, now safely aboard Dave with the rest of the crew, remembered that he still wore the coat of Gingerbeard. Removing it and half-heartedly shaking it dry, he handed it to the cat with sentiments along the lines of 'get some pants on for the FSM's sake I think it touched me down there'. With this inconsequential-but-dragged-on plot point resolved, the fox now turned to his own business.

He went to his cabin and, from beneath a hidden compartment, produced a chest of almost toff-degree quality - lined with gold, diamonds, and rare gems of all shapes, sizes and types, it looked to be worth a lifetime's supply of rum. With great care, he cracked open the lid, to reveal...

...a lot of sunglasses.

His eyesight still impaired (although improving - it seemed that water was very beneifical to his monocle-damaged eye, but the salt meant they would be stinging for a while stille), he picked out a pair and put them on, blinking and wincing in an attempt to focus out of them. Satisfied to a degree, he once more hid the chest and headed back onto the deck of Dave.

"Bloody hell, it's dark up here," he proclaimed, as he came into the bright sunshine of the clear, warm day. "Well, I've finally got some glasses again," he muttered to himself, "so who's up for some rum after all that time on that foresaken island?"

No one felt the need to tell him that the glasses he wore were both pink and frilly.

OOC: Just clearing up the numerous sub plots I had created over the course of Disc 2, hopefully in a suitably humorous manner. 😯 For the record, everything including the glasses are to revert to their form prior to the landing on Creoland following this post (or section of RP, if anyone has a joke to make regarding.). gogo deus ex machina

~: Bleeeeeep! :~

...Y

Gingerbread, who had been leaning half comatose over the siderail of the ship, still fighting with the "crumpets" in his belly, suddenly snapped to attention at THS's offer of rum.

"Arrr-r-r-r-rccchhhhh-rrrrrr!" He Arr'd oddly, spinning on his heels with a grin. "That's the best idea I be hearin' all day!" Although this responce was certainly to be expected of the pathetic pirate @#%$, the crew still blinked at him in confusion.

"Um..." Pach started, "I've not know you long, but didn't you used to have a beard, and not have that odd chin glitch when you prounonced your "e"s?"

"I dunno what in tha name of tha infamous eigth sea o' rum ya be talkin' about ye foofy bilgerat. Now gimme some rum!" came the brusqe reply as he drew on a cigar, snorting out a cloud of quickly dissapating static.

Meanwhile, a exceedingly clean ship followed the Dave at a distance. On it Captain Dettol scowled at them. He then shook his hand at the sky.

"THINK YOU'L FORGET ABOUT ME EH?!" he yelled, before skating across the deck in his specially modified mop-slippers.

On the Dave...

Trudi left the cabins sniggering to herself. Another girl on board?! We'll see about that.

Her boobytrapping skills left much to be desired, as Tinakai found the tacks left in her bed straight away.

OOC: Assuming Tinakai is still there of course.

Tiankai surveyed the ship from atop the mainsail. Being remarkably agile, she'd climbed much further than the rest of the crew during the mad scramble to get aboard the Dave. Quite how this turn of events would affect the deal she'd cut with the captain she didn't know, but she was incredibly glad to be off the island at long last. After spending a good fifteen minutes just staring out at the open sea, it occurred to her that probably none of the rest of the crew even knew where she was. She would have to amend that.

Gracefully descending the rigging (a hard thing to do when you're wearing an especially tall topper and an improvised cloak) she touched down on the deck and began to look for Pach. With his afro he wasn't that hard to find. "About our deal," she began as she tapped him on the shoulder. After jumping about a foot in the air (he was still recovering from the sudden departure, and Tiankai was light-footed) he exclaimed, "so there you are!"

"Yes," Tiankai answered shortly, "about the terms of our agreement; I'd say this turn of events has rather profoundly affected it". "I'm afraid I don't know how we can work around this one," Pach told her, "I mean I think our former deal's annulled, but you're still on the ship. And worse, you're no longer able to stop Mr. Creosote, since we're in no hurry to go back that way".

"It's not all bad news," Tiankai informed him, "for one thing I'm as happy to be off that island as you are. For another, I still know now what I knew then. We can attempt to defeat Mr.Creosote at a later date if necessary. And better yet, I can get out of this ridiculous disguise at last!" With that she removed the top hat and rug.

Pach stared in amazement. With the topper and the rug removed, Tiankai looked entirely different. She was an anthropomorphic varient of the species that would in another place & time have been called a Chinese Mountain Cat.

It was obvious now that the reason her topper had stayed firmly in place was that her long ears had kept it there. She had mainly deep brown fur, with lighter tawney markings around her eyes. Her hair was black as obsidian, and arranged in three long braids which ran the length of her back. Her long tail was the same brown as the rest of her fur, but with bands of black ringing it, and a black tip to the end. She wore a dress that seemed to be of oriental origin, which reached to her knees, and sturdy boots of tanned leather. Her gloves were also of tanned leather, and fingerless. One was of standard length, the other reached to halfway up her upper arm, and was tightly strapped.

Strapped to her belt at the back she had two cutlasses in a single scabbard, that had clearly been customized for the purpose. At either hip she had a pistol. Or rather, at one hip she had a pistol, at the other... "what in the world is that?" Pach asked.

"This?" Tiankai said gesturing to the weapon, "I call it my Heavy Pistol". Pach nodded. The monstrosity looked like it had started life as a baby ship's cannon, but had at some point changed it's mind. The result was the most terrifying hand held weapon Pach had ever seen. "Anyway," Tiankai said, "where do we go from here? I've a destination in mind, but it's up to you and the crew now I guess". Pach nodded again, noting that Tiankai's voice sounded different now that she wasn't trying to impersonate a Creosotian. Where did they go from here? That was a very good question...

OOC: Sorry for such an epic post! I promise my next will be much shorter!!!

In his cabin (Which was probably just a converted storeroom), Aidan packed away all the disguises he had acquired over on Creoland, incase he ever needed to dress like an old woman again. (Which no doubt he will).

Returning above deck, he took out his compass to check where they were heading. Looks like they were heading west directly...

"Wait, west?"

After turning the ship around, they were finally back on course again for the Gredalst Gate. Hopefully they wouldn't get caught up in any sort of storm again.

Gingerbread gazed at the new crewmember in awe, his chin still glitching somewhat, though less than before.

He'd never seen such a striking feline, but she didn't interest him. Till he saw that Heavy Pistol. Gingerbread was in love...

So of course, he made the appropriate actions.

Swaggering over, he grinned a rotten toothed grin at Tiankai. "Arrrr, ye be a fine lookin wench, if ye bunk up wit me I won't be burning yer familiy."

This was of course, the traditional pirate form of courtship.

Geo couldn't get over how he threw the ladder.
It was like.. he was making.. a stairway... with ladders... whoah.

Pach sat down within the Captains quarters. The room had briefly been his own before his little excursion off the island, but thankfully enough, no one had apparently pinched the spot for themselves. Had they had hope that Pach would return, or did Fishears prevent them, or were they just too apathetic to care? He didnt know. He sighed.

None of this felt right. Why was he? A pirate? A captain, at that?! It felt completely against his nature. He was one of righteousness. He was a lawyer, serving for justice. Being a pirate was like a weird paradox with no nearby window to jump out of. It was maddening.

As such, why was he picked by Fishears to be the groups leader? And why did he say yes? Was it a convenient plot excuse and beginning for the RP or was there something more to it than that?

Argggh! Pach shouted in frustration, sweeping his hand across the desk (unbeknownst to Pach, this was not the original desk, after a certain someone *COUGHTHSCOUGH* destroyed the previous one. It was a replica hastily and quite conviniently stolen prior to this post so as to not to address any sort of plot hole at all! Boon!), clearing it of all items upon it, with some smashing against the ground. He then defeatedly smacked his head into the desk and clutched his huge afro with his hands. The afro wasnt just a product of a lack of available means of cutting his hair on his short stay on Creoland, but it too was to serve a purpose. Yet it seemed as though that purpose had been lost now.

Yarr, no good story is complete without the morally anguished main character!! came an interrupting voice. One whom Pach was entirely familiar with.

Get out, Fishears. And for gods sake, Im not the main character. This is a contributive story, there is no main character. Were equals. He muttered.

Yarr, ye whine too much. Face it, if I didnt tell us all tah escape, wed have died and thatd have left us in a right pickle. Well Fishears replied.

But he was is going to start a war, and Pach began, but trailed off.

Yarr, I do feel a bit of guilt for being the reason why he was revived. But then again, we be pirates and all. The navy will handle things, and itll make it easier for us to search for the treasure! Fishears responded.

As you said before, yes. Pach sighed. He then lifted his head up, having a curious thought. Just how did you revive Mr. Creosote, Fishears?

Er, a story for another time, me thinks. Fishears replied, hovering and phasing through the flooring, fleeing from Pach. Pach was going to charge after the ghost, but thought against it. Fishears plotting was certainly worrying, but there was nothing Pach could do about it at the moment. He was going to find out just what the ex-captain had in mind however, and if it was anything sinister, he was determined to put a stop to it.

Pach exited the captain and arrived on the deck. He addressed those that were willing to listen. Anyone else who didnt well, sod them. I heard you guys blew up a town

Yeah, we really nailed them! came a cry from the group. One of them asked how the hell Pach knew about that, considering his isolation. Pach pulled out from his pocket pieces of paper. It looked like a newspaper, one that was delivered routinely to nearby islands, and it documented the groups infamous activites at Mikai Istou.

You guys really did a number on them, huh? Pach trailed off, before remembering. Im not sure if it was intent, but some of you got bounties as a result. Well, only one of you. Be careful for any wandering bounty hunters, Goldstein, considering youre not hard to spot.

O______________o;;; Goldstein responded. How much is the bounty??

$3000. Nothing much really, considering the rumours that the really hardcore pirates have bounties in the millions Pach said. Before he walked off: Oh, by the way, we have a couple of days before we reach the Gredalst Gate. You of course have free time to do whatever it is you want. Have, uh, fun. Pach wandered off to brood, the emo bastard.

Tiankai eyed Gingerbread, her expression a mixture of mild disdain and overt suspicion. "My thanks for your compliment," she said, sounding more formal than usual, "but as for bunking with you, the answer is no. Quite apart from the fact that I suspect male & female crew members have seperate quarters, I believe my family are quite safe from you. After all, I doubt you even know where my homeland is, let alone my family".

Leaving Gingerbread to contemplate this, she rolled her rug up and turned back to Pach. "However we resolve our business problems," she declared, "one item of business we could take care of now is introducing me to the rest of the crew. And Introducing yourself to the crew members you don't know".

Since everything else would clearly take some time to think through, Pach decided to take Tiankai's advice. "Um, right everyone," he announced, raising his voice to make himself heard. When all heads had turned his way he continued. "For those of you who don't know me," he began, "I'm the captain of this ship. Or captain-in-training under Fishears who is the captain. Or was before he died..." he trailed off for a moment, "it's complicated. Anyway, that means I give the orders. And this lady here is Ke-Tiankai".

After five minutes of listening to several of the crew mispronounce her name in a number of different ways, Tiankai decided enough was enough. "For pity's sake!" she exclaimed, a strong oriental lilt creeping into her voice, "I'll make this easier on everyone: Those who feel they lack the mental agility to use my proper name can refer to me from here on in as Katy!"

"Well why didn't you say your name was Katy?!" several members of the crew called back. Tiankai sighed and turned to look at the open sea again. This was going to be a long voyage...

OOC: Decided against posting this information last time since the post was so huge, but for anyone who wants to know, here's a brief description of the Chinese Mountain Cat:

Name: Chinese Mountain Cat (Felis bieti)
Shoulder height: 10 inches (25cm)
Head & Body-length: 27-33 inches (68.5-84cm)
Tail length: 11-16 inches (29-40cm)
Weight: 10-20 lbs (4.5-9kg)
Location: Steppe-lands & moutains of SE China & NE Mongolia.
Description: The Chinese Mountain Cat has thick dense fur, which is yellowish brown in colour, but darker along it's back. They have tufts of dark fur extending about 2cm off the tips of their ears. They generally have about 3 or 4 dark bands to their tail, and also a black tip.
Diet: Chinese Mountain Cats eat small mammals and birds.

Katy. Trudi tried it out and didn't find it too difficult. She then looked up to find the cat staring out of the window.
Trudi scowled at her, but Katy didn't seem to aknowledge her doing so. She probably did, but she pretended otherwise.

They seemed like opposites - while both were very good examples of their species physically, Katy was intelligent and graceful. Trudi was thick and grumpy. The one thing they both seemed to excel at, however, was a good old fight.

Trudi drew herself up to her full height, which at 5 feet and 11 inches was taller than many of the men on the ship, and stomped over to Katy. She looked down at her very obviously, before Katy finally looked up.

"May I help you?"

"YE-NO-N-NO" she yelled, stomping her foot. "WELL SO WHAT I'M TALLER THAN YOU" she bellowed before stomping to her bunk to get a change of clothes.

Then a horrifying thought occured to her.

Katy was a girl.

There was a boys bunk and a girls bunk.

She was going to share the same room at Katy.

She huffed loudly as she hoiked her skirt up, thououghly annoyed.

"Greetings, Ms. Tiankai, was it?" said Lokki - pronouncing it perfectly first time with the grace and eloquence of a practiced orator. He took off his newly acquired cavalier hat and bowed with a flourish, "Myself, I am Lokki Estiano Gallansbayne the Third, esquire, accomplished bard and swashbuckler extraordinaire. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Lokki donned his feathered cap once more and turned on the ball of his foot before walking off below decks. He made his way down to the cargo hold, where he set eyes on his most beloved possession. He dropped to his knees before the vast cache of bottles, selecting a particularly fine specimen and rubbing it gleefully against his face.

"Oh, my precious rum! How did I ever live without you?" he squeaked ecstatically. Gathering up several of the bottles in his arms, he run up back on deck.

"Now then, everyone!" announced Lokki. "I propose a celebration, in honour of our escape from that accursed island and return to our proper adventure!"

With that, he started tossing bottles of rum to everyone visible upon deck.

OOC: Muahaha Trudi Lokki's 6'2" ;P

"Hmm..."

As Aidan gazed out to sea, ignoring the flying bottles of alcohol Lokki was dispensing to everyone, he contemplated all the insane things that had happened thus far, and they had only scratched the surfaces far as getting the treasure was concerned.

"Ahoy there!" A voice was heard. And Aidan peered up to see where it was coming from.

A somewhat small ship sailed up adjacently to Dave, and the man aboard this strange vessel stroked his moustache leaned over his ship towards Aidan, who happened to be the closest crewmember to him.

"What do you want?" Aidan inquired.

"Hohoho! I'm glad you asked!" The man replied. This here is a simple merchant ship, I sell to worthy looking ships who may need to stock up there suppies aboard the high seas!" He continued, still stroking that black, greasy moustache of his.

Aidan rolled his eyes. "We're not interested in ship-to-ship salesmen..."

"My boy! I'm simply offering you food, drink, and anything else you desire? How can you resist?"

"Drink eh?" One of the crew slided over.

"Shh. I'm dealing with this." Aidan said as he pushed them away.

"Okay fine, gimme some vegetables, we could do with a decent meal." Aidan said. He then turned around towards the rest of the crew. "Anyone else want anything?"

Gingerbeard leaned over to THS. "Listen 'ere, foxy," he whispered to him, ignoring the fox's stutterings over how his beard seemed to be flickering in and out of existance, "I thought ye said ye were captain of this 'ere vessel?"

THS gaped at the feline for a moment, then looked around surreptitiously. He vaguely remembered first meeting him while completely hammered and going on about being captain or something, and he figured that if Pach were to find out, he would most verily frown (I won't do the emoticon because I don't want to overuse the joke!). On the other hand, he missed a sense of command, and it could come in useful some time...

"I'll let you in on a little secret," the fox started warily, clearly making it up as he went along. "It is true - Pach there is stating he is the captain - but the truth is it's me who's in control," he bluffed. "You see, most authorities only know that it's a fox commanding the ship, so we use Pach here as a scape goat to protect the true captain - myself. He's higher ranking than the other crew for it, and so can make decisions on his own accord, but in the end I can overrule it if I see fit," he finished, feeling rather pleased with this rushed explaination.

There was an unbearable silence for a while, and THS nearly thought he wouldn't get away with it, until Gingerbeard conceded, "Yarr, that seems like a reasonable explaination." The fox sighed visibly. "But then why did ye tell me off the bat if it's supposed to be so big a secret?"

THS stuttered a moment, first starting, "Well, I was a little intoxic--" before rephrasing it, "...Pach had gone temporarily missing, so uh...I was obligated to act in my role. For legal purposes of course. Can't have a crew without a captain, eh?" He chuckled half-heartedly, fearing what would happen if Pach and Fishears caught wind of any of this exchange. He hoped Gingerbeard would be trustworthy enough not to mention anything to them...

Trudi hopped out in her new outfit (she needed it, she hadn't gotten changed in a while), just as Aiden called out for anyone needing anything.

"ooh!" she said, before running forwards and wispering in the salesman's ear.

The poor bloke turned a wicked shade of white. "C-c-c-certainly! I guess"

"Time of the month" she told Fishears, before climbing up to the birds nest like she usually did. Gingerbread looked up her skirt.

Lokki had just finished distributing the rum when the travelling merchant arrived. It occurred to him that he had lost most of his inventory when he had washed up on Creoland and was taken captive (although he had gained a totally awesome new hat). It was about time for a restock, he decided.

He walked over to the merchant. "I say, my good man. Do you happen to sell any form of arms?"

The boatman glanced from side to side surreptitiously. "Alright, I suppose I can trust you. But don't tell anyone I showed you this!" He disappeared into his ship momentarily, then re-emerged carrying a large chest that smelled of rotting meat. He opened it to reveal a number of quite literal arms. Lokki gagged.

"Ack! No, you imbecile! I meant armaments! Tools of war! Weapons! Specifically, I'm looking for..." Lokki paused. He did like his rapier, but he wanted something slightly more versatile. Something that could slash as much as stab. "I should think I would like try a sabre, if you have any. A couple flintlocks would be appreciated, too."

"Oh, riiiiight," said the merchant. "Why didn't you say so?" He toddled off and returned carrying the requested items. Lokki took the sabre and made a few experimental lunges, parries, ripostes and such like. It was beautifully crafted and exquisitely balanced.

"Hm, it isn't half bad," remarked Lokki. "It'll do I suppose."

"Very good, sir," said the merchant. "Anything else?"

"I don't suppose you have any lutes, do you?"

The merchant considered this. "Yes, I do believe I have one in stock."

"It wouldn't happen to be... masterwork, would it?"

"It might just be, yes. Here, take a look." The boatman produced his instrument. Lokki inspected it with the careful eye of a connoisseur, appreciating the quality of the wood and the perfection of it shape.

"It's beautiful," Lokki mouthed. "I'll take it!"

"Excellent choice, sir."

Pach inspected the merchant ship and the dealer himself. He looked curiously odd and had a large nose and moustache which did his credibility little help. Nonetheless, his ability to produce goods was incredible. It was like he had everything! This was something Pach could appreciate, but he wandered how in the hell the crew would pay for it all. Did they pillage a lot of gold from Mikai Istou?

"Ahem." Pach spoke aloud, addressing the gentleman's attention. The merchant stared at Pach's massive afro, almost as if in wonderment, before the clicking of Pach's fingers brought him to eye level.

"I don't say you have a comb." Pach asked. The merchant twidled his moustache in consideration.

"For you obno- exquisitely large hair, sir?" The merchant responded. "Of course." He reached into his ship, pulling out a delicate comb. It was quite marvellous, actually. Solid cold and encrusted with gems and diamonds. "This'll set your tab back slightly, but here you go."

Pach retrieved the comb and nodded. Pach came to a sudden realisation. He reached down to the merchant and whispered in his ear. The merchant's eyes told a story as they widened and shrunk in tune to his hearing of the fox's whisper. He nodded. "Of course, sir!" He reached into his ship and pulled out a bag that carried a mysterious set of items, handing them to Pach. "That too will set your crew back some monies."

"Add them to the crew's tab," Pach said, wandering off to his quarters with the comb and bag carrying a strange set of items.

"Right, I think that's everyone sorted..." Aidan looked around the ship and didn't see anyone else with the desire to purchase everything.

"Alright them laddie." The merchant said, while jotting some figures down on a scrap of paper, "That comes to 574 peices of gold."

Aidan turned back towards the ship,to see that everyone had conviniently run inside the ship. Typical.

"Do you take credit cards?" Aidan inquired.

"What? No." The mechant replied.

"How about cheques then? Easier to keep a cheque safe than bags full of gold." Aidan cunningly continued.

"Fine, give me a cheque."

Aidan quickly ran inside and pulled out a chequebook from his personal belongings. He scribbled down the amount and signature and rushed outside again.

"here you go, my man." Aidan cheerfully exclaimed as he handed the cheque over across the ships. "i have an account over at the Bank of Miktai Istou. Mention my name over at the Sexy Swan (but not the Seaman's Shaft) and you'll get a discount on your grog too."

"Pleasure doing business with you!" The merchant pulled up his anchor, and set off course in the direction of Miktai Istou.

"What did you do that for?" Goldstein said, creeping out of the woodwork with the rest of the crew now that the business of paying was done. "There's nothing on Miktai Istou but burnt remains!"

"Well, it seems he doesn't know that." Aidan said as he smirked. "Now let's get the bloody hell out of here before he realises that isn't any Bank of Miktai Istou (anymore)."

Tiankai knocked at the door to the captain's cabin. After a few moments Pach's voice called, "come in". Tiankai entered the cabin to find Pach sitting at the desk, looking as though he'd just finished some serious brooding and was now engrossed in reading a map. "I believe you mentioned that we were on our way towards the Gredalst Gate," she began. Pach nodded, hardly looking up from the map. "And judging by the way your crew handled that merchant, might I suggest that you're a touch short on funds?" Tiankai added. Pach looked up for longer this time. "Is this conversation going anywhere?" he asked.

"That's up to you," Tiankai answered, "you see; I think based on that information, we could re-negotiate the terms of the deal we made when we first met". Pach looked more interested now, "how so?" he enquired.

Tiankai walked over to where Pach was sitting, so that she could see the map. "May I?" she said. With Pach's approval, she scanned the map as she explained. "As I understand things," she started, "we're currently here". She pointed to their position on the map, "and this is the route we're currently taking," she continued as she traced a line with her finger to where the Gredalst Gate was marked on the map. "Now", Tiankai continued, "if we were to stop say, here," she pointed to an empty bit of ocean en route to the Gredalst Gate, "then I believe I might be able to furnish you with something by way of funding".

"What's so special about that part of the ocean?" Pach wanted to know. "A ship sank there 200 years ago," Tiankai informed him, "however, what only a few people know is what that ship was carrying". She turned from the map to look straight at Pach. "That ship," she told him, "was one of the flagships of a ferocious gang of pirates. They were almost like a sea-faring version of the mafia. They started out with a small headquarters on an otherwise unremarkable little rock of an island, and ended up controlling many of the islands round about them and some particularly lucrative trade-routes besides. They were sending the ship in question to establish a new fortress on another island to consolidate their supremacy over the area, when a terrible storm hit them, and the ship went down".

Tiankai paused for a moment before continuing her tale. "That ship," she revealed to Pach, "was carrying a substantial amount of gold bullion, along with a respectable collection of quality alcohol. It's all still down there with the ship". "How can you be so sure?" Pach asked. "Because the ship is at least two miles beneath the surface ," Tiankai replied, "so in the two centuries it's been there no-one's ever been able to reach it".

"But you can?" Pach asked, somewhat sceptically."Yes I can," Tiankai assured him, "just weigh anchor at the right spot and I'll do the rest". "Assuming I believe you," Pach answered, "do I take it you still want your ride to a destination of your choosing in return?" "And within the time I set," Tiankai added, "yes that's what you can assume. However, you needn't worry too much since my destination is beyond the Gredalst Gate anyway. So; is our deal renewed?"

No. came an interrupting voice into the conversation. The pair looked into the air to spy a familiar individual hover downwards, phasing through the captains quarters ceiling, before stopping at a comfortable eye level with the other two.

No? Pach reiterated, confused with Captain Fishears statement. What do you mean, no?

Are ye daft, lad? No means no, negative, as in no, were not going to do that. Fishears explained. Were not stopping for treasure like that.

Can I ask why? Pach inquired, folding his arms as he relaxed in the chair.

Because its inconvenient and not to our advantage. We have enough treasure as it be laddy, if we ever need more we can simply steal it when the time comes. Fishears explained.

That word again. Steal. From innocent people Pach was inclined to go with Tiankai. At least theyd be stealing from pirates.

Besides, Ima not sure of the young missus capabilities and I certainly dread ta think of the time wasted by going down 2 miles in the sea. So no, I dont believe it be in ah best interests to do so. Fishears explained. No, were near to our next destination in fact, and its there which were going to.

Pach was baffled. They were already at a location? But the area which Tiankai pointed at was nowhere near the Gredalst Gate, so, where were they going to?

Fishears? Where exactly are we heading to, and why? Pach asked.

Were heading to Gredalst, of course! Fishears exclaimed.

Pach was confused. There was a difference? He wasnt particularly knowledgeable about the sea around these areas. He only managed to hear about the Gredalst Gate from him eavesdropping on Creoland, and something about how the Gredalst Gate was sort of a gateway to Creoland, if one failed to overcome the trial there. But another area called Gredalst itself?

Fishears could see the confusion evident in Pachs eyes, and so furthered his explanation. Gredalst is a town near to the Gredalst Gate. A very respectable and worthwhile community, and certainly a location wed do best not to pillage. Im on as good a terms as the denizens there as the ones on Another Island.

Pach continued to frown.

Gredalst Gate was reportedly built by the Gods, as a gateway between the Western Sea and the Centre City. The seas inbetween there are dangerously rough due to the meeting of the two seas currents. Many ships that past through there are often destroyed and swept under but then, my crew already knew that since I explained it to them before. Fishears told.

Obviously hence why you managed to be swept to Creoland. A bit of fortunate luck as it would have it, huh? Seeing as you managed to find me and Tiankai Pach mused.

Indeed. Fishears nodded. Going to Creoland wasnt a coincidence. Yarr, Im not that daft! Anyway, theres a way to pass through the Gredalst Gate, but to do that yneed the artefacts held within Gredalst, the town whose denizens oversee it! Understand?

Wait, Pach thought, so does that means going to Creoland was no accident at all? In fact, Fishears could have passed through the Gredalst Gate the first time perfectly well if they had only gone to Gredalst first, but instead, for whatever reason, he decided not to?

But why? What was the reason for it? Pach was fortunate enough that sea currents he had landed in off the Deserted Island had swept him there to Creoland too, but did Fishears know he would be there? Was it for some reason, that all of the Western Seas currents drifted there, and so he purposely put the Dave and its crew through that storm to get to Creoland, FOR him? No that sounded peculiar and too unlikely. Sure, it was obvious Fishears held Pach in some regard else he wouldnt have named him Captain, but would he really have done that?

It would make sense. He was mentioning this all in secret to Pach and Tiankai, and not the others. If the others knew that Fishears purposefully put them through all that peril for whatever reason, theyd be furious and fuming!

So then, why DID he?

Anyway. Fishears spoke, bringing Pach back to attention again. We sail for Gredalst, and with the help of the locals, get the artefacts, and then sail through the Gate.

Pach looked into whatever eyes Fishears had, and stared at them, if searching for an answer. Of course, he could simply try asking Fishears, but what good would that yield? It was doubtful that this enigmatic ghost would tell Pach the truth, if at all tell him anything. His mind was already musing with too many other things he had recently learned.

Who WAS Fishears? What were his ultimate goals? Was it just to recover that treasure? And at what lengths would he go to achieve these goals?

OOC: Continue on with a bit of miscellaneous interaction for a few more posts as the crew sails towards Gredalst. I would have written the post with them landing on the island but that would make the post overly long as it is.

Just who the hell is Fishears?

Trudi, who was still in the crows nest, narrowed her eyes as Katy entered the cabin. She soon lost interest at staring at a closed door, however, and carried on looking around.

Behind them she could see a tiny dot on the horizon. It had been there for a while now. While Trudi was not the smartest person on the ship by far, she knew that they were being followed.

Still, she ignored it. They'll come to that when it comes.

Up ahead, she suddenly saw land.

"LAND AHEAD" she screamed, sliding down the ropes and she started adjusting the sails.

OOC: and BAM, my parents kick me off.

Aidan went to the front ship and peered over to see land indeed was in sight.

"That will be Gredalst then." Aidan nodded. Having a good knowledge of geography, he knows these things, and as the rest of the crew are usually intoxicated, none can question this.

"I wonder why we didn't stop at Gredalst before...seems like an obvious place to stop and find out more about where we are heading..." He continued to ramble on, eventually turning around and seeing Trudi standing there getting tangled up in the rop used for controlling the sails.

"Well, I guess after last time we need to be prepared for whatever challenges we face, and Gredalst seems to be the best place for this..." he stopped.

"Why am I talking to you about this anyway?" Aidan turned away from trudi as she made a wierd grunting sound, and proceeded to trying to pick up the anchor ready to land.

OOC: Thanks, Trudi (and Dane)8O

IC:

Gredalst
The ship neared to the land. The town of Gredalst was a part of the Great Northern Continent, on a section of land jutting out into the Eastern Sea and as such an area of land in between the crews voyage to the Gredalst Gate. It was a good thing Trudi shouted out actually; the crew were so engulfed in their festivities that if they hadnt noticed it they would have crashed into it already! And that would have made for a very short rp indeed.

Fishears phased through the walls of the Captains quarters, followed by Pach and Tiankai who had to proceed through the door. They all eyed the land ahead of them. Fishears shouted out to the crew. Make prep for landing!! to which the crew, quite reluctantly did so.

They could spy the town ahead. This got some of the crew to wandering what it is they were docking for. Perhaps they were going to relax and enjoy themselves on the land, or perhaps aim to pillage it? If so, sod that, all they wanted to relax for a while after the manic mayhem of Creoland.

Ahoy, Fishears, Lokki began. Tell me, good chum, why are we docking here?

Yarr, it be integral me laddy if ydont want to die at the Gredalst Gate! Fishears exclaimed. During this time, the crew were making preparations for their landing, weighing anchor after parallel parking the ship next to two others that had also docked at Gredalst.

Oh? Lokki inquired.

Fishears speech was loud enough for everyone to hear, and it was pretty much the same as he had told Pach. The fact that the Gredalst Gate needed the use of artefacts which were stored in the Gredalst town whose population oversaw the protection of the Gate. These were all facts that were being informed. But, in contrast to what he had told Pach, when the crew asked why they didnt do all this the first time, Fishears told them all he had simply forgot. Pach and Tiankai didnt say anything about this, instead they were just puzzled by what it was Fishears was up to. At any rate, they were fortunate enough that Fishears DID do what he did, otherwise theyd have never be rescued from Creoland. Instead, they were keeping a weary eye.

The crew departed the Dave onto Gredalst. The docks were quiet, and the sun was beginning to set. It had been a long day.

The town was fairly standard and reminiscent of all buildings built on familiar islands. It wasnt much like the Victorian styled buildings on Creoland, but more of the familiarity of Mikai Istou and Espoir Gauche. The town was set up in a circle esque area, surrounded by a hilly area from all sides until it met the docks. The majority of the hills were covered in trees but there was an empty patch inbetween the sets of trees.

Yarr, there be a couple of inns around here if any of ye take a fancy to staying in them for tonight or ye can rest up here. Theres quite a few things to take part in here as well, all manners of buildings and activities and whatnot. Ye might enjoy yourselves here. Fishears explained. He then looked at Aidan and gave him a funny look. Even things for someone with interests such as yerself, laddy.

Aidan went red and looked elsewhere, whilst the group remained perplex.

And you, Fishears? Pach asked.

Im gonna inquire about those artefacts I mentioned, but at any rate we wont be setting off until the morning. Enjoy yourselves laddies oh! And one more thing. Even though youll be having fun, try not to blow stuff up or pillage anything, alright? This place is a neutral zone. I dont want any repeat activities like with Mikai Istou. Fishears explained. The crew were all looking elsewhere, whistling innocently.

Trudi ran out into the middle of the town, gave out a large sigh, and lied down bang in the middle of the ground. Here she sighed again, relishing the feel of the cold cobbles on her back. She closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of the setting sun...

And the wet thing as well.

Opening her eyes she saw a dog peeing on her top.

She took one of the tiny vials she held on her belt and squeezed the pee into it. Who knows what use it could have? Maybe to wake those damned drunkards up.

She put it back in its slot and continued to lie in the middle of the street.

Little did she know how popular lying down in the street would become in the next few hours...

Tiankai wandered the streets of Gredalst town, taking in the scenery. It all seemed so different from her own home, so very far away. A slight sensation of homesickness tugged at her, but she suppressed it. She'd set out with a clear-cut task in mind, and she aimed to see that task through to completion, whatever the odds.

She spent some time at the docks, learning the times, dates and destinations of the other ships currently in port. Although outwardly she seemed completely calm, there was a growing concern within her. The clock was ticking, and it was only a matter of time before she would have to abandon her own quest.

That she was now at Gredalst, as opposed to Creoland was a marked improvement, in that it brought her significantly nearer to her goal. And assuming that they made it past the Gredalst Gate she'd get closer still. But what then? Clearly the pirates were on a quest themselves, and their aims might take her anywhere but the place she wanted to go. Either she would have to change ships soon, or abandon her quest entirely.

She continued her musings as she wandered. If she'd ended up just a little further from her original course, she wouldn't have needed the help of her new aqquaintances and might well be nearer to her own objective. But she couldn't start dealing in what-ifs now.

She would, she decided, stay with the pirates at least until they attempted to pass beyond the Gredalst Gate. Then she would burn the bridges as she came to them. If she had to abandon them, so be it. She directed her steps back towards the Dave. The last thing she wanted right now was to be absent from the ship when it left.

Gingerbread mused half-drunkenly to himself over Fishear's explainations and decided that Fishears was totally being a wuss. They could so totally make it through Gredalst Gate alive, after all, he'd done it before.

Or was that Gandalf's Gate, he could never remember. Stupid eye. Either way he was happy to once again hit a port with a proper rum supply, and he voiced that opinion, loudly. And often. With that he scarped toward the nearest inn, a dispreputable looking place called "Honest Stan's Quality Anti-Sobriety Enabaleation Establishment."

Once inside, he lit up a cigar, ordered a "Primo quality fermented sugar refreshment beverage with extented warrenty." And sat to think. Hopefully that young captain THS would come along soon, he didn't like the way that bloody ghost and the decoy kept talking behind the captain's back. If anyone was going to overthrow THS it would be he, Gingerbread, the most feared captain of the seas. And he'd do it on his own terms. In a proper rum-drink off.

Maybe they wern't the best terms, since the duels often had to be called a draw since nobody could remember the outcome, but they were the RIGHT terms damnit!

Sat shouting insults at anybody who looked game for a brawl from his smokey table, he also kept an ear out for any mention of relics, after all, if that's what they were he for, maybe he'd find what he himself was looking for...

An old woman laid down next to Trudi, and gave out a long sigh.

"You looking to pass Gredalst Gate?"

"How do you know?!" Trudi whipped around, alarmed.

"Shush, child. You're more skittish than a mouse. I saw your ship dock. That's all"

Trudi eyed her suspiciously.

"I wouldn't harm you child, rather help you if you like." She pointed to the hill behind them. "One of the artifacts is there. It's guarded though, only those who are strong enough can return it"

"Oh that's okay i can fight"

"I can tell. But you need more than the strength or your sword arm"

Trudi bit her lip. "I'll have to try though I guess. Everyone needs to do their bit" she said slowly.

"Now you're thinking for yourself!" The woman patted her back, and Trudi, who was totally overweilmed by it all, didn't react. "You're not as thick as you seem"

"Wh... what does it look like?"

"Can't tell you that, it's one of the tests"

"oh" Trudi slowly stood up and looked up the hill. "...thanks"

"Hurry child, you wouldn't be able to see after dark"

Trudi just ran towards the hill. She was just confused now.

~MEANWHILE~

Dettol docked his ship in, right besides the Dave. His crew outnumbered the crew of the Dave by 5 to 1, so he got some of them to stay at the boat and the rest of them to leave with him.

"Do what you like, boys!"

"Like pillaging?"

"Espeically like pillaging!"

"What about mooning?"

Dettol sighed. "As long as it's clean first"

The pirate spat on his hand and shoved it down the back of his trousers to clean the offending cheek.

"That's more like it!"

They cheered, and split up across the town.

Whilst the crew of the Dave embarked on their various musings throughout the town of Gredalst, the ghost of Fishears phased through a prominent building. His phasing shocked the owner of the building, who shrieked in horror, but after making out what the shape of the ghost was, and who it resembled, they quickly regained their composure.

F-Fishears? Is that you? The surprised individual asked.

Yarr, it be me alright, Sarah. Fishears replied, eyeing the woman in front of him.

Sarah was tall and had long red hair down to her waist. Her ears were long and pointed, and her clothing consisted that of robes. The room was covered with candles, and an engraved symbol was covered on the floor. She wore rectangular trimmed glasses, and she shifted them as she looked up and down at the ghost.

So, youve finally gone and gotten yourself killed, huh? Sarah mused. Cant say Im surprised. Although this result. Is that supposed to happen?

Yarr, what? Me being a ghost? Well, I suppose. Wouldnt happen to any normal bloke but then Im not normal. Anyway, I didnt come to socialise, Sarah, I came to talk business. Fishears responded.

The secret treasure, I presume? Sarah sighed, before asking. Fishears nodded. Going through the Gredalst Gate then, and so you want the artefacts?

Yarr, and I have a new crew with me. The old one, well Fishears trailed off.

Sarah simply frowned, but carried on with the pressing issue. Youve come at a disappointing time, Fishears. Acquiring the artefacts isnt so easy anymore. I know I could have vouched for you before, but well the artefacts were stolen.

Fishears stared wideyed. Yarr, ye wot?

Sarah sat down on a chair next to a fire, illuminated by it and the surrounding candles. You remember Count Brandon, who lives in the manner on the hill? Hes been unstable the last few weeks, and well hes finally snapped. He stole all the artefacts and killed some people along the way.

Fishears folded his arms in front of his chest. Yarr, what a silly fool. He should have been banished long ago, and ye should have reclaimed those artefacts back anyway!

Sarah shook her head from side to side. The situation isnt as easy as that. Brandon as acquired some unusual talents. Quite like yourself, in fact. If any of us go near him wed be killed.

Fishears paused, thinking. Yarr but those artefacts are vital to crossing the Gredalst Gate. Me and my crew, well have to go up to that manor and

Its a suicide mission, Fishears. Sarah said, before realising something and laughing. Although, for you I suppose it doesnt matter. Then again, your crew on the other hand

Fishears simply shrugged, preparing to phase out through the wall and inform his crew their task.

The manor isnt as simple anymore. Its become warped as well. Do take care. And try to be easy on Count Brandon. It isnt all his fault, yknow. Sarah spoke softly.

Fishears paused for a minute, before nodding and phasing through the wall. Yarr, I know that. He said as he departed.

While the rest of the crew was wandering around, Aidan was busy making sure the ship was secure before he stepped out into the town. The only person that was left onboard was Tiankai.

"Here." Aidan said as he threw a kay which Tiankai caught.

"What's this?" She inquired.

"...It's a key. Make sure you lock up the cabin and whatnot when you're done, you can't trust anyone out here..."

Suddenly, another ship barged onto the shore, it had a rather large crew (compared to Dave's anyway), so they were rather roudy. The deck gave off a marvelous sheen though. The man which appeared to be the captain took a landing party with him into town, who gave the Dave a quick glance as they went by. The leader then spoke to Aidan.

"Lad! You seen a girl anywhere?" He shouted.

"...I dunno, there's probably plenty in town if you're looking for a good time..." Aidan murmured.

"Not like that!" The man angrily replied. "I'm looking for someone specific!"

Aidan shrugged again.

"Bah! Waste of time!" He wandered off with his crew, rambling on at them as they wandered into town.

"Odd bunch." Aidan shrugged. He finished making sure everything was in order on the Dave, and continued into town, keeping a safe distance from the crew of the other ship.

Trudi saw a mansion ahead and hugged herself. She scratched the back of her leg nervously. She'd never truely done anything by herself before. Her clan back at Espoir Gauche didn't trust her.

She carried on forwards, her hand staying ever present at the hilt of her cutlass. She didn't have a gun... or any form of long range weapon...

She reached the door. It was strangely quiet. And felt wrong. She considered running away, as every sense in her was screaming for her to do so, but she didn't.

"Bravery is a fine line from foolishness" she whispered to herself in Romany, "And I am a fool so bravery mustn't be far away..."

And with that she wrenched open the door and jogged in.

It was quiet and dark in the entrance to the manor. Every step she took echoed.

Suddenly she felt something tap against her boot. Looking down, she saw something sperical.

She screamed and dived behind a table as the grenade exploded. Insane laughter followed the explosion and Trudi found she was being shot at by a shotgun.

As she rolled under a chest or drawers to shield herself from the bullets, she realised she was in trouble. Big, big trouble.

She started humming pop songs to calm herself down.

Wandering the outskirts of town, Aidan overheard a number of shots and a familiar scream...

"Hmm...Is that Trudi?" Aidan said to himself, looking over to the big hill, and the dark woods that surrounded the path. "She's probably gone off chasing badgers or something..." He said as he rolled his eyes. Nevertheless, somebody had to go check it out...

He walked into Honest Stan's Quality Anti-Sobriety Enabaleation Establishment, the nearest bar to where he was, found Gingerbread, and dragged him away from the bar.

"Yarr! What be this intrusion of my rum-time?!" Gingerbread said while the two of them were outside, Ginger still clucthing his pitcher of grog.

"I think I heard Trudi and some strange noises (Which were probably trudi again) Up on that hill, I think we should go check it out..."

"Yarr..." Ginger somberly replied, finishing his grog.

"Come on, let's see if we can find some more of our crew." Aidan waved over to Ginger while he looked around the town centre for there crew.

*Ginger nodded and tossed his tankard over his shoulder, neatly setting off a tavern brawl behind them as they left. Very neatly actually, Stan being the conciencous type had put up rules and scoreboards for brawling*

"Well, if tha wench be in trouble, we bes' help her!... She IS a wench aint she?" He shrugged half heartedly. "Anyways, I dunna be knowin' where tha' rest o' tha' matey's be, perhaps tha' lovely feline enchantres woul' be a good idea?"

His eye glazed over at the thought of Tiankai "I'm sure Trudi be capable o' holdin' her own fer more than a while..."

In a dark dark town there was a dark dark hill, on the dark dark hill there was a dark dark manor, in the dark dark manor there were some dark dark stairs, down the dark stairs there was a dark dark cellar. And in the dark dark cellar it was where the skeletons lived.

But, beyond the skeletons who guarded the door, there was an enshrouded in shadow individual who sat on a stool next to an obtusely large organ set. Its body was covered in a tattered and worn cloak. A small window provided the only light in the dark dark cellar. Moonlight shot through into the inky blackness. The figures lips moved. At laaast night

Manor Entrance

The shotgun blasts continued to proceed. The force of the blasts were enough to slowly begin chipping away the edges of the chest of drawers, and Trudi was running out of cover space.

The wielder of the shotgun paused as he reloaded. During this time Trudi took a quick peek to see what her attacker was.

It was an exceptionally large and muscular individual, at 89. His arms were huge and almost twice the size of its own chest. It was a man, or at least, as close to a man as could be. It was bald and grey skinned with ziz-zagging scars crossing what was visible of its flesh, especially its face. The clothes it wore were ragged and torn.

The obscene monster finished reloading the weapon. Arrrrr ya wench! Nobody sets foot into the manor~!

This was only the first of many protectors that the Count had.

Tiankai was attempting to take a cat-nap (pun intended) in the girls' quarters. So far her attempt had met with limited success. She'd almost fallen asleep several times, but some strange scent kept irritating her nose and bringing her back to full wakefulness. What was that smell anyway? Tiankai took a good sniff and nearly choked.

The smell seemed to be cleaning agents of industrial strength. Tiankai tried to remember the last time she'd smelled chemicals that strong. Ah yes, during that inccident involving school toilets, a pipe that wasn't blocked after all, a trapdoor that opened at precisely the wrong moment, and a practical joke that went horribly wrong. Still, that was in the past, where was the smell coming from now?

Going out on deck Tiankai saw that another ship had arrived. This one was immaculately clean, and sparkled in the moonlight. The chemical odour wafted off of this vessel in a constant invisible miasma, like smoke from a volcano but undetectable to the naked eye. Who in the world was so obsessively fastidious about their ship anyway? Tiankai momentarily lapsed into her native tongue to sum up her opinion of them. She did it in one short, barely audible, but surprisingly vehement exclamation.

Having done this Tiankai took the key Aidan had given her and stalked off below decks to the cargo hold. There she found a comfortable corner and sat down. There might be a powerful chemical scent here too, but at least this kind was less offensive to her, and might actually help her get to sleep. Surrounded by innumerable bottles of alcohol, Tiankai finally managed to doze off...

Pach was sitting by a table in one of Gredalsts many bars and inns. He relaxed in the leather, sighing as he looked out of the windows into the darkness outside. Of all the places to appear in during the town, he just had to have been here.

Well, here we go then! came a familiar voice. Pach gave a half interested look to the voice belonging to THS, the ex-captain who was the only other crewmember to have been a fox as well. THS had bought himself a jolly good round of drinks, enough for thirty (all of which, would of course, go to himself.). You wanted to talk?

Pach didnt know why he was suddenly eager to know what the crew had been doing during his absence, but, it was safer to be sure of and know exactly what they had done. It was best he knew what the A&W pirates had been up to, although

asking THS this, whilst he was proceeding to get very much drunk, was certainly perplexing.

And the bloody fox still had those ridiculous glasses on.

Listen, THS, youre probably the best person to ask this about, considering you were an ex-captain once yourself. I figure youd be the most reliable. Mind filling me in what happened to you and the crew during my, ah, absence? Pach asked.

THS, who had already downed 3 glasses, lifted his eyes up to Pach and nodded, as he proceeded to slurp down another.

Uh huh, if you can tell me what happened to you during that same absence as well. How are you alive? And most importantly, what the hells up with that afro? THS replied.

Pach knew this was going to be a long night

He gazed outside the window again, and suddenly his eyes widened in surprise and interest. Although it was dark outside, he could make out the shapes that were running about. It was a pair, and this pair of shapes distinctly resembled those of Aidan and the recent self-proclaimed Captain Gingerbeard (godsakes, man, wear some pants!). Judging by the pace of their running, and the shouting between them, Pach could certainly guess that something was wrong.

just his luck

Cmon. Pach said, leaving the table and lifting THS up, who was surprised and very much cross at being disturbed.

Hey, hey?! Where are we going? What about my rum? THS yelled.

Seems our companions need some help. Lets get going. Pach said.

THS frowned. >= He contemplated it for a moment, and finally sighed, as if for once in his life deciding on the right course of action. Fine, fine, Im with you. Pach was understandably surprised. But I can take the rum with me? That surprise vanished.

As the pair of anthro foxes left the bar, they quickly remet Aidan and Gingerbeard, who were on their way towards running to a hill that was set in the clearing of two surrounding forests.

What are you guys doing? Pach asked, trying to keep the noise down to a minimum so as not to disturb the locals.

Yarr, wes heard the fin wench shuting for help upon the hill. Naturally we thought bes te help th girl. Gingerbeard slurred. Clearly, he had also had too much to drink, although, then again, this was probably how the cat normally spoke anyway.

Uhn, Pach groaned, gripping his face with his hand in understandable frustration. I might have only known that girl a short while, but she cant seem to keep out of trouble, huh? Then again, this is Trudi. She typically IS loud

Best to chec out? THS asked, already on his 17th glass.

Might as well Pach sighed, leading the band of four towards the hill. By miraculous luck the group didnt encounter Dettols group of pirates, as they set off towards the hill at the moment that Dettols group began the invasion, and so, in effect, were moving away from the pirate.

The group encountered the mansion quickly enough. It was huge, and very imposing. As the group cautiously moved towards the mansion, they spied the giant entrance before them. The sounds from inside were growing louder and louder, resembling gunshots and rampant swearing. Yep, Trudi was inside.

Well, me laddies, how do we ge in? Gingerbeard asked.

Inside

The madcap scene within the hall continued. Trudi tried to maintain cover against the rapidly thinning defence. The shotgun blasts continued without relent (well, obviously to reload BUT SHUT up). Trudi was unsure what to do, but nevertheless knew she couldnt remain pinned here forever.

Just as she was about to move, a large BANG rumbled throughout the hall. Something large flew past Trudi, narrowly missing her, and smacking into the shotgun armed giant beyond. He stumbled backwards, as the entrance door shattered against it. For some insane reason, the door to the mansion had come off of its hinges, flew and hit the giant.

But how?

Trudi turned around to the bare entrance. Dust poured from the area, moving outwards due to the sudden rush of wind accompanying the fast flying door. She could see outside, and more importantly, the individuals who now filled up the entrance.

...Seemed like that swearing did some use, after all.

"Oh, it's you"
"AREN' YER ASOUNDED BY OUR MANLINESS?!" Gingerbread yelled, ripping off his shirt.
Trudi blinked. "Wha?"
Pach brought his mighty finger down towards the direction of the creature, who ducked from whatever Pach sent his way and scrunched his eyes up. Some monster he was.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah it huuuuuuuuuurts"
Trudi scrambled out of her hiding spot, sword at the ready. They all looked up so see various strange creatures, some with leathery wings and others with extra limbs, scrambling away from the group.
"It's... it's Gingerbread" Aiden said quietly.
THS found a smirk coming across his face. "Aye, you're blindin' them wi' your toplessness!" he elbowed him in the ribs.
"Permission to pu' me top back on, sir?" Gingerbread said glumly, looking at the reminants of his top on the floor.
"No" Pach said sternly, shaking his finger in a lawyerly way. "It's proving useful"
"Er... yeah-I mean no! It's useful like he said" THS added. Pach gave him a look, like wtf.

Gingerbread grumbled to himself about how these heathens before them obviously didn't know the pinnicle of seawater sexiness when they saw it, and about how he wore a bandanna over his eye, not a patch, nomatter how dashing and awesome the portrait made him look.

Either way, he reached into the depths of his coat, immediatly enticing a flinch from his compatriots.

"Oh gawds he better be searching for his pockets..." Muttered Aiden, hiding his eyes.

"No laddy, I be takin' advantaaaarge of this! It be time to pull out me great hard weapon and spray these buckos wit everytin' it's got!" He arr'd.

THS blinked, holding onto his rum with great difficulty.

Luckily to everyone's releif, it turned out he was simply talking about his musket.

THS finally finished the last of his rum, which he had somehow managed to carry countless glasses worth at a brisk pace uphill without spilling anything and taking drinks along the way. Because that's the sort of skill you need when you're a pirate.

He set the last glass down (well, dropped more than anything), and then stumbled forward to the stunned giant and lifted up the shotgun from its side. He examined it - it turned out it was only one shot left from having to reload again. He crouched by the creature and searched it, finding only three more shells on his person.

"Hey guys," he said, as I'm struggling to think of a way to slur 'Hey guys', "thissing onl' had four morrounds lef' beforr e'was out." Suddenly there was a loud bang as the weapon discharged, which happened to be pointing directly at the beast's face at the time, and so happened to blast its head rather clean (well, aside from the inevitable spray of...well.) off. "...3 now."

"...I guess we'd have been more use coming earlier?" muttered Aiden.

Pach sighed. He doubted anyone would have a chance defending this crew.

Trudi was now confident again that she was back in her confort zone - short-distance combat. Well. Not quite, since the creatures were flying around several feet over her head, but at least they weren't firing at her with guns.

She didn't like guns.

So, being the genius she was, she came up with the genius idea of throwing her cutlass in the air at them. Obviously she had never heard of the phrase "What goes up must come down", as she was quite startled when the sword, after slashing some creature's leg off, went in a graceful arc, before flying back down, blade first, at Trudi's head. She screamed again (her voice was starting to give by now) and dived out of the way as it landed, with a thunk, on the floor again. With it's blade stuck in the wood.

After a few fruitless tugs, Trudi sighed and gave it a dirty look.

Mansion Entrance

"I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I think it might be a good idea to leave this mansion... or whatever it is." Pach commented, scoping around the hallway of the mansion. It was noticeably large and grand, with a spiral staircase in the far end which had two sets of stairs lead upwards until it met in a short landing before continuing onwards to the first floor. That said, it was difficult to survey the area what WITH NUMEROUS DISGUSTING AND VILE CREATURES MOVING AROUND THE CEILING AND WALLS. He looked at Trudi. "What on Earth were you even doing here?"

Trudi paused to try and recollect just why she had come here. Tsk, the silly girl had forgotten. Oh, I know! Looked as though she actually remembered. There was one of those artefacts here. Well. Thats what some granny said.

An artefact in here?? Pach repeated. And you thought to actually come here by yourself?

Well, I didnt think the tests would be THAT hard Trudi mumbled.

Yarr, she be right came a voice from above. The crew looked up, to see in front of the shifting mass of ghouls above them the ghost of Fishears. Apparently the artefacts have been stolen by the owner of this mansion

Fishears! How did you know that, and where have you been?! Pach exclaimed.

Fishears frowned. I saw an old friend and inquired the location of the artefacts, obviously. I didnt expect them to have been stolen, at least by the old Count. Anyway, I then proceeded to investigate tha place, see if I could find these artefacts.

And, my ghoulie chum? Gingerbeard shouted.

Havent found them yet. Its a bloody big mansion, god damnit. Keep your pants o- keep your bandana on. Fishears replied, fuming somewhat. Still, we need to recover them. Hurry up with these bloody monsters, would you?

Pach nodded, before hearing a sudden bang. The loud noise almost deafened him. The group looked over to see THS, who was holding the shotgun upwards, pointing to the ceiling. Above, there was a massive hole where the shotgun blast hit and raining down upon him were corpses of disfigured monsters. geez, I whas onli reloadin! THS exclaimed. What a tit.

Man, THS, dont you know anything? In places like this youve always got to conserve your ammo and aim for the head! Aidan exclaimed. Er, right. And where the bloody hell did he appear from?, THS wondered.

Yarr, lets just move on to the next room. These monsters here are nobody and the rate you guys work well be here until were all dead. Fishears muttered. He headed towards a door to the left on the mansion and opened it, leading the way for the five other crew members to follow. They quickly shut the door behind to prevent any monsters from following.

In the next room it appeared to have been a dining room. A massive table stretched out across the length of the room, decorated with candles and plates. The plates had uneaten food upon them, but they all seemed to be moldy now. Cobwebs decorated the table. On the left of the room were windows giving a view outside. It was still dark and bleak. At the far end of the room was another door, and near to it a fireplace. Above the fireplace was a decorative crest and antique swords. They gleamed.

Trudi was a bit annoyed that she didn't have the chance to yank her sword out (AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA).

OOC: I wouldn't be surprised if Gingerbeard felt the same!

"Mmm...antique swords..." Aidan pondered.

"Whassup wi' dat?" THS slurred.

"Well, you know, these mansions are full of old booby traps and tricks, these swords may act as a key or something."

"...Booby." THS solidly replied.

Aidan groaned and rolled his eyes. "Anyway, let's see if we can find any clues as to what we're looking for." he said as his eyes fluttered around the room.

"Sure are a lot of cobwebs here..." Pach said after a few seconds of silence, the silence was again disrupted by THS falling down, and Trudi getting herself caught up in some cobwebs.

"AHGERRIDOFIZALOVAHMEE" Ginger was heard shouting at the other end of the room. Everyone rushed over to see a huge spider crawling around his feet. Trudi insitinctively reached for her sword.

"Woah!" Aidan rushed in and intervened. "You'll chop his feet off woman!" She frowned in reply. >=/

Aidan got out his mace and smacked the spider away just as it was about to crawl up Ginger's leg (that could have ended nastily).

"Man, mutant spiders. Scary things..." Aidan grumbled.

Ginger was reeling from the fact that Aidan had clipped his knee while in the process of macing the spider, Aidan was cleaning off his mace, THS was still slumped on the floor, so noone was paying much attention to the screaming Trudi until Pach turned around and stumbled back into Aidan.

"Hey, Watch it..." He casually said, and has he instinctively turned around, that's when he saw it.

A whole bloody army of mutant spiders.

"...Anyone got any bug spray?" Aidan whimsically replied, but noone laughed.

Whilst our intrepid band of seafaring adventurers were fighting all manner of beasts in the mansion atop the hill, Lokki had been preoccupied with entertaining the twin teenaged daughters of a local farmer. Presently, however, he was interrupted by the sound of heavy-booted footsteps on the stairwell outside the bedroom.

"Curses!" exclaimed Lokki. "Sorry, my dears, but it seems as though our menage will have to be cut short. Fare thee well!" With that, he leapt from the bed, crept across the room, hastily gathering his accoutrements, and dived out of the conveniently open window. He hit the ground with roll and found himself, stark naked, crouched in front of a very large and hungry looking doberman.

"Oh dear," said Lokki.

The dog growled.

"N-nice puppy," reassured Lokki as he fished about in the pockets of his coat (which he happens to be holding right now you idiots >=() for something that could be of use. Grabbing hold of something woolen, he pulled out... an entire sheep.

"o.o", said Lokki. He then shrugged and hit the dog over the head with the sheep.

"Baaah!" yelled the sheep.

The beast thus sedated, Lokki paused in his egress to put his clothes back on. Just as he was finished buckling up his belt, he heard the high-pitched squeak of a rusty gate swinging open. He look around to see the farmer coming up the garden path, brandishing a pitchfork.

Lokki sprinted off and vaulted hastily over the garden fence, only for the burly farmer to come crashing through seconds later. Lokki sped off down the alleyway between two rows of houses and into the twisting maze of Gredalst's avenues and side-streets, but try as he might he could not evade the enraged father.

Eventually, the persued and persuer found themselves on the main street of Gredalst. It was nighttime and most of the figures on the street were as silhouettes, which gave Lokki an idea. As he ran down the street, he removed his hat and swiftly switched it with that of a random passer-by (who reeked curiously of cleaning products). He then ducked into another alleyway and, after checking that his cunning ruse had succeeded, paused to catch his breath.

Lokki began to wonder what the others were up to at this point. He recalled catching sight of a large, sinister-looking mansion on top of a hill just outside the town. The sort of mansion, Lokki's adventuring intuition told him, is simply bound to be haunted. That seemed like a good place to start.

"Unnnnnggggghhhhh" groaned the zombie.

"Die, foul abomination against nature!" shouted Lokki as he plunged his sabre repeatedly into the zombie's head, before decapitating it just to be on the safe side.

Lokki got up, sheathed his sword and dusted himself off. He noticed a door to his right. Opening it up and walking through, he found himself in a room with a long dining table running the length of the room and crest above the mantlepiece on the wall immediately in front of him on his right.

"Evening, chaps," he greeted those crewmembers of the Dave present. Sorry I'm late. What'd I miss?"

"That comzin two flayvors, long'n'sort," stuttered THS. "Bas'cly, th'artfacts we want were stole, Trudi end'up here where they ar', we came t'help 'n' now there's 'narmy of sp'ders tryin' kill us."

Lokki stared blankly for a moment. "...Could I have the long version, preferably from someone who isn't intoxicated?" he finally asked.

"That were being the long version," said Gingerbeard. "The short version is, we're buggered, yarr."

"Don't be so pessimistic, guys," assured Pach. "We can take these monsters on. Right Trudi?" The assembled Crew turned to find Trudi curled in the corner, rocking uncontrollably. "...you've got to be kidding me. She's afraid of spiders!?" shouted Pach, who then sighed. "Fine then. Aiden, go ahead and mace them."

Aiden looked surprised. "All of them? At once? As odd as it might sound, I'd appreciate a little more help than that."

"What do you expect me to do?" asked Pach, "Point them to death?"

"It worked on the door!" shouted Aiden.

"Spiders aren't doors!"

"Mebbe I should shoot'em!" shouted THS, swinging the shotgun around wildly and causing the crew to duck down.

"Er, cap'n, I don't think ye'd be best for saving ammo, yarr," said Gingerbeard. "P'raps if ye gave it to me...?"

"Nooooooooooou!" moaned THS, clutching the weapon close and stroking it lovingly like a cat. "S'mine~"

Lokki, from across the room, sighed, and grabbed the two swords from the crest, and sliced his way across the room to the rest of the crew. He then crouched down and whispered something in Trudi's ear, whose face displayed surprise, then anger, before grabbing one of the blades and attacking the spiders wildly.

Pach looked at Lokki with surprise. "What in the world did you say to her to get her out of that?"

Lokki merely winked. "I know what the ladies like," he said, before once again attacking the spiders.

Tiankai awoke from her cat-nap feeling reasonably refereshed. Perhaps, she mused, despite the earlier events of the day tonight would be uneventful. The thought lasted until she emerged on deck. Breathing lightly to avoid choking on the chemical fumes still emanating from the other ship, Tiankai's sesitive ears rapidly picked up on the inordinate amount of noise coming from the town.

Turning to look inland Tiankai saw that there seemed to be a riot in progress. And after the way Fishears had warned them! Giving her weapons a quick once-over, Tiankai strolled into town to see what was going on.

She'd hardly gone the distance of one street when a burly shape came charging towards her. Sidestepping her would-be assailant, Tiankai tripped him with her tail. The figure fell headlong and lay on the ground, half-stunned. Going in for a closer look Tiankai saw that he wasn't one of the A&W pirates. She also noticed that a lingering smell of cleaning agent clung to him and his garments.

So; another group of pirates were causing chaos on an island where Fishears had specifically told her own companions not to cause trouble. If they'd ruined her chances of passing the Gredalst Gate...Tiankai felt her hands clench into fists. If they'd ruined her chances hell would seem mild before she was through with them! A baleful look appeared in her eyes as she began to walk up the street again.

As she began to make her way down the main street, a sizeable group approached her, all of them armed. Two of them, she noticed, were supporting an individual who looked like he'd had a very unfortunate run-in with a rake. He did have an awesome hat though. In fact, Tiankai realised, she recognised the hat as belonging to one of her companions. The individual wearing the hat wasn't Lokki though.

"Where did you get that hat?" Tiankai asked. The wounded individual moaned something unintelligible. "Who wants to know?" one of his friends demanded. Tiankai noticed that the others were silently moving to surround her. Acting as though she were oblivious to this Tiankai responded, "just answer the question". Sniggers rippled around the group of rogues. "I don't think we care for your attitude," the spokesman of the group informed her, "maybe we'll have to teach you some manners". Looking him straight in the eye Tiankai smiled a small, mirthless smile & said, "you are welcome to try".

The sniggers rippled around the group again. Then one of them swung his cutlass at her. Stepping inside the blow, Tiankai delivered a jab to his torso that seemed surprisingly effective. As he sank to his knees another pirate ran at her from behind, blade thrusting forward. Tiankai half-turned, swayed to avoid the blade, then gripped the extended limb and threw the attacker into two of his comrades. As they all collapsed Tiankai advanced on those who remained still standing. They hesitated for a moment then all charged as one.

Several seconds later Tiankai was the only one still standing. The fight had been disappointing, she hadn't even drawn her swords. Stooping down to one of the rogues who was still half-concious, Tiankai wiped the blood from her razor-edged claws & asked, "now where did your friend get the hat?"
"I dunno," the wounded ruffian informed her, "some lunatic ran up and switched hats with him before running off. That was just before another madman came at him with a rake". Tiankai nodded; that seemed in keeping with her companions. "Where was this lunatic going?" she asked.
"No idea," her victim replied, "but there's been a lot of screaming and shooting going on up at the old mansion and it wasn't our lot who started that. You might want to check there".

Tiankai nodded again and retrieved Lokki's hat. She stuck it through her belt and began heading for the mansion. Whatever was going on, she felt certain Lokki would want his hat back...

Trudi was demolishing the spiders at an alarming rate, including unnessesary acrobatics. Flips, spins, running up walls. The showoff.

After demolishing over half of the creatures in blind fury before Aiden and Lokki had even got through half of their share, they both sighed and left her to the rest. Might as well. I mean, it's not like she had any other use whatsoever. Well. Maybe yelling. She was good at that.

Trudi cleared off the rest of the spiders, then remembered she was scared of them and freaked out at the dead bodies on the floor.

Once the room was clear of spiders of the living sort, they all moved onto the next room.

And this one, was full of plants. Ones with long tenticle-like vines which took no hesitation in grabbing hold of Pach.

"At leas' they're no' carnivuvus" THS slurred, and once again did his wonderous tempting fate trick. The plant's 'flower' head snapped at Pach as it raised him to it's jaws.

"Uh... guys? Any help?!" Pach cried out, squirming.