March Mingle

[maskedtyrant]

Who: The Sinewave and Triton's Mistress (Sinewave's Mistress? Triton's Sinewave?...)
Where: Gun Frontier, the ocean (headed south).
When: From 3/7 to 3/13-ish, possibly longer.
What: All-purpose mingle for the Mistress/Sinewave alliance at the start of March! Records the formal meeting of their crews and subsequent journey to the southern oceans, in pursuit of one of the Eight Captains (who they find in another log, stay tuned for that).
Warnings: Probably language and mild amounts of crazy, will update if needed.
Style: Whatever strikes your fancy!
Status: Open to crews of the Sinewave, Mistress, and any recruits they happen to get between 3/9 and 3/13.

It's a mingle! Please specify where you are (Gun Frontier, either of the ships involved on the open ocean) and when it happens in the header. Feel free to make subthreads for parties or other large gatherings if you'd like.

Enjoy!

Comments

The Docks at Gun Frontier

[elissacousland]

Elissa stood on the dock nearest the Sinewave, giving it a critical once-over with her grey eyes. The caravel was incredibly similar to the first ship she'd learned to sail upon arriving in these lands - the first incarnation of the Triton's Mistress. The larger brig sloop that was the newest Mistress was moored not far away, its furled sails and masts casting slanted, narrow shadows over the wooden dock where the Grey Warden stood in the late afternoon sun.

"Halloooo, Sinewave!" the woman called through cupped hands. "Anyone aboard?" Harlock had mentioned the other ship might be needing help, so here Elissa was to take a look at the vessel in question.

[maskedtyrant]

The Sinewave is indeed as empty as Harlock made it sound like, as no sentient presence answers Elissa's call. It isn't unoccupied, however; within the minute, the curious snout of a small, brown-feathered raptor peers out from between the ship's rails, sweeping her eyes over the nearby dock to locate the source of the human-sounding voice. When she manages to locate Elissa, she screeches in excitement and bolts, disappearing somewhere on the main deck save the frantic rattling of her claws on wood.

Codi would have preferred to take her dinosaur children island-side along with her, but given how poorly the locals reacted to them on Empieza (and how much of a bother they were to keep up with on their own), she decided they could stand staying on the ship for their stay. The raptors are, unfortunately, still quite young, and haven't taken to her absence as readily. Any sort of human voice has their immediate attention.

Fortunately for Elissa, the excitable lizards are too nervous about clearing the gap between the ship's landing platform and the docks to risk escaping. Any fit human should be able to meet them with little difficulty.

[elissacousland]

"Maker's breath! What is that creature?" Elissa exclaimed to herself when she spied it. How could she miss the thing with the noise that it made? Fearing the ship had some kind of unwanted infestation, the armored woman drew her sword and made her way aboard without hesitation.

"Hallo!" she called again while she moved in a slight crouch and warily looked over the deck. "Anyone here? Anyone harmed? Did these things attack you?" So far, the Sinewave did seem remarkably like the old Mistress which meant it would not be entirely strange to sail her.

[maskedtyrant]

Again, no one answers Elissa's questions save the two tiny dinosaurs scampering excitedly across the main deck. One--gray-feathered, slightly larger of the two--follows close after the other, and seems just as weary of Elissa as she is of her. She hangs back while her sister--the brown-feathered raptor from before--fearlessly stumbles ahead to nuzzle at their guest's ankles. That is, if she'll let her get close enough.

Meanwhile, Codi is only now within sight of the docks and, since her hands are full with crates of the island's famous Bourbon, is taking her time getting there. She is, for the moment, completely oblivious.

[elissacousland]

The creatures are certainly odd, but... they are not attacking. In fact, Elissa stills her blades as the smaller one comes closer to her ankles in a curious and affectionate way. How odd.

Very slowly, the armored woman lowers her weapons as she allows the little raptor to inspect the ankles of her boots, though she is warily watching the beast. It is behaving in a way that is almost catlike to her bemusement.

"You are a strange little thing. Not quite bird and not quite lizard. Almost like a tiny, feathered dragon."

Sinewave - At sea

[orderispeace]

The ties holding the sail down were undone allowing the fabric to catch the wind and fly out ahead of the ship. At full sail the vessel cut through the water, splashing through the wake left by the larger Mistress as they gained on her flank.

Haytham watched their progress from high up on the mast before taking two steps and dropping back down to the deck.

"That should have us secured for a while. Now, what else needs to be done?"

Re: Sinewave - At sea

[alwaysgrumpy]

"So what would you like me to do?" Akira asked, calling out to him, "I can handle just about anything, with a little guidance."

[orderispeace]

The deck was taken in at a glance as he searched out any deficiencies in the ship's deck. He nodded to a length of rope that ran across the deck.

"That rope should be in a coil and we could use more canon balls brought up from below decks, if you have any more on board. Otherwise you will want to buy some before we leave port."

[alwaysgrumpy]

"Right. I'm on it."

[maskedtyrant]

"Make sure we don't tip over or spring a leak," calls Codi from behind the helm, biting her lip in concentration. She doesn't have much experience at the wheel of a ship, though she hasn't found the ordeal too terribly difficult the few times she's tried it. It's only now that she has to keep up with another ship that Codi finds herself doubting her abilities.

Judging from how close they're getting to the back of the Mistress, her tendency to tailgate is unaffected by her nerves. "If we aren't about to crash, you can relax," Codi continues while she eyes the foamy wake on either side. How much air would they get if they tried to pass over the waves, she wonders...

[elissacousland]

Elissa paused in tying off a line to watch Haytham's unhesitant drop to the deck with an admiring look and shake of her head. She hid a smile at the man's words as she looked back to the thick rope and finished wrapping it around the belaying pin in the proper form.

"You always ask the most interesting questions," she teased while passing near to him to adjust another line. "I could think of several interesting answers for what needs to be done... but would you take the 'hint'?"

Elissa shot a glance to Captain Codi before offering Haytham an irrepressible grin. Good weather, good wind, good speed, and good company. So long as their novice captain didn't inadvertantly ram the Mistress, this was going to be a good trip.

[orderispeace]

Haytham squared his shoulders and brought his hands round to hold them behind him in the almost regal way he liked to stand, even taking a stern tone with her as he might have any lowly crewman.

"Keep your mind on your work."

But, being so well acquainted with him now she might have noticed the faint smile and she certainly could not have missed the words whispered to her as he stepped for a moment behind her. Since she enjoyed his questions so much...

"Later, maybe you will tend to more than ropes?"

Then his attention turned back to the fledgling Captain. He was not looking to sink the ship before they even saw the Navy.

"Why not bring us along side the Mistress instead of running us into her stern?"

This was dryly stated as Haytham made his way up to stand beside the Captain's wheel.

"We shouldn't have any need to worry about leaks if we can avoid a collision."

Sinewave - At sea

[crackpotcrocker]

Crocker is needless to say, very nervous and scared with the Navy being out there and him not being able to fight. There has to be something he can do to increase his odds... but what?

Denzel is prowling around on deck, checking out the cannon balls and trying to pick one up and failing completely. He scratches the top of his head as he eyes around for loose boards that he could maybe use a plank to the cannon. Don't mind Crocker he's just going to be on deck building a steampunk machine that can pick up cannonballs, which will roll down a plank into the cannon.

If he's not found on deck doing that, Denzel can be found on deck with a kitchen knife and trying to use that as a weapon and hilariously getting the knife stuck in the lower part of the mass on the ship and struggling pulling it out.

"Who am I kidding myself I'm not a fighter.... At least not with someone my own size or with these weapons."

Sinewave - At sea

[elissacousland]

"You'd be surprised how little size can matter with the right sort of tactics," offers a gentle, female voice from behind the man. Elissa, after all, isn't even five-and-a-half feet tall, but she is armored and bristling with weapons.

"Do you have any sort of experience with weaponry? Either blades or bows or guns?" she inquires. The latter mention is a very new weapon to her, but one that is quite effective when she actually hits her target.

Sinewave - At sea

[crackpotcrocker]

As Crocker tries to pull out the butcher knife his focus is on that over anything else so despite his ability to hear a bit better because of his glasses is ignored. The man flips around to face her even though he's still holding onto the handle.

"GAH! DON'T SNEAK UP ON SOMEONE LIKE THAT!"

Even with his slouching, Denzel is almost six feet tall but size doesn't matter when you have a woman armored with bristling weapons watching towards you. Crocker finds himself pressing back against the ship even if she doesn't mean harm with her smile the weapons are still intimidating,

"Hello." Denzel awkwardly states with a very small wave, before shaking his head no, "Can't say I've use any of those before. The only thing I’ve used before are lasers... That and just before I was summoned here I was working on an Anti Mind Reading Helmet."

Sinewave - At sea

[elissacousland]

"An enchanted helmet! You can craft such things?" Elissa asks as she takes a step closer and offers the man her hand in the way she's seen Haytham do when meeting people. "I am Elissa Cousland. I did not mean to startle you. We've not much time to prepare you for battle, but I will gladly try to help, if you've a favored weapon."

Curiously tilting her head, the woman adds, "What are laze-ers?"

The Mistress - At Sea

[madeofswords]

[A]

[Archer used a great deal of gunpowder, brass and lead to make three or four hundred total rounds for the rifles--an amount that would seem only a little bit low compared to what most crazy apocalypse-fearing recluses would recommend.

Rather, it was a lower number than what Archer hoped for, given that he used his propane tanks up just keeping the lead boiling. Archer did little else other than prepare the ammo and go through the meticulous process of maintaining the rifles. All in all, Archer's days were spent with the most mundane of details set aside.

When he finished on any given day, he would be found on the deck cleaning up and getting ready for the next day already. Sweeping, then swabbing, checking the rigging and making sure every latch on the ship was greased in case someone had to make use of them. He was insanely meticulous, if not completely dedicated to being ready at all times for a struggle of life and death.]

[B]

[His time spent practicing was much more peaceful. Archer rarely actually fired any arrows into his straw target--rather, he took his time meticulously going through the motions of drawing the bow and lining the arrow, but only fired when he felt he had the perfect gesture prepared. Really, he could draw it perfectly any time he wanted, but he was intentionally making mistakes--constantly looking for ways to make things difficult for himself.

It was the attitude of someone who had to account for every possible scenario. It likely made him look somewhat unapproachable, which was another reason why he was going through the motions with that kind of practice--to try and avoid talking, though he knew that it was an exercise in futility to try.]

b

[bloodheels]

[Lenalee didn't really need to prepare to fight, not did she need the practice. So instead she prepared some food and drink to hand out for the moment. With the various meals sorted, hopefully something they would like she started to make her rounds with a smile on her face.

First up Archer.]

So is that the weapon you usually use for fighting?

[madeofswords]

Unwillingly. [He lied, easily. If he were a normal man, he could list hundreds of reasons why the bow was a poor tool.]

If I had more ammunition, I would never touch this thing. Otherwise, because of our supplies, I have to revisit it.

[bloodheels]

[She went to put the tray down, looking over.]

Then what weapon is it that you usually use then? [She was kind of curious.]

Galley of the Sinewave

[unlikelyfarmhand]

[Hachiken can almost always be found in the Galley, working hard on making food for everyone. It's basic, but delicious. With a few new people hanging around, he has to adjust his yields.

Since they have company, he decides it's finally time to make some pizza.]

[elissacousland]

[Grey Wardens have tremendous appetites and Elissa is no exception. Despite the fact that she isn't an overly large human by any stretch of the imagination, she can easily eat enough for three to four people her size. With her belly gnawing at her thanks to the delicious smells from below, the young woman follows her nose to the scent, her expression one of near bliss.]

What is that amazing smell?

[unlikelyfarmhand]

[Hachiken has his hands wrist deep in dough, kneading it.]

I'm making pizza for dinner. You're smelling the yeast from the bread, or maybe the sauce on the stove.

[elissacousland]

[Have a Warden 'inspecting' your galley, Hachiken, as Elissa snoops around and follows her nose to find the scent that pulled her here. She leans over the sauce and softly inhales, her expression shifting to something almost reverent.]

Oh, this smells wonderful. Tis a sauce, you said? For what? What is pizza?

[Oh, look. There's cheese here. And is that an apple? Taking both of them, she begins to nibble, leaning one hip on his kneading surface as she awaits an answer.]

Triton's Mistress

[oneofthelost]

a)

[Alex, well, does what she can during the day. She's learned enough about ships to manage with some of their crew absent, though she definitely feels the loss.

Still, she's out and about, fairly active, if not bearing any particular expertise. She's learning.

Perhaps most of all (inspired by certain others) she's focused on her climbing. There is a very distinct lack of finesse, but she can usually be found, if there's nothing pressing to do, running the rigging with increasing speed and certainty. Nothing fancy, nothing too confident, but she's learning to really move on a ship.

And, of course, there's a daily series of practices with her archery.]


b)

[The difference is night and day. The young woman, dressed in dark clothes and armed with her new blades, her bow, and her quiver, sits perched on a yardarm of the mainmast.

Her hunger sated between the man at Gun Frontier and her "tending" of the sheep Haytham got her, her seasickness is almost non-existent, and, now, she's practicing the things she's seen other crew members (especially Altair) do during the day.

Nowhere near as impressive, not as far as she's concerned. Because she has to have her vampyric agility and balance to do it, to sit easily, ready to strike, on the thin yardarm and look around, surveying the decks of both ships with sharp eyes.