Pirates of the Hard Nox [Open]

ShoddyProduct
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Pirates of the Hard Nox [Open] Jul 18, 2023 22:03:57 GMT paperwork likes this

Post by ShoddyProduct on Jul 18, 2023 22:03:57 GMT

They shrugged, and by consequence winced and let out a curse by way of their shoulder. With a grimace, Juniper took another bite of apple before responding. "Food. Firewood. Anything to make this more livable." They continued walking, until they were officially off the manor's grounds, and turned to head further in, away from the portal.

"This place is impressive, I figure they must've had some stuff stored somewhere. Magic is pretty varied, after all. Plus, it beats being cooped up in there, it felt like I was suffocating." They spoke nonchalantly, as if they were unbothered, or if this were an everyday occurrence. The truth was, however, they were starting to feel fenced in, claustrophobic. They wanted to change, if even only for a little while, but they had to get away for that. They wanted to be someone else, to not have to worry about the Nox falling apart, but there was nothing else here... Unless there was.

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Pirates of the Hard Nox [Open] Jul 18, 2023 22:04:22 GMT

Post by paperwork on Jul 18, 2023 22:04:22 GMT

"I meant no offence. I just didn't want to hurt you without meaning to; that's all," Hester said, a touch defensively. She leaned forward, affording the not-a-vampire a better angle to work with. "And thank you. I suppose." What did having 'lovely blood' mean, to Vena? Was this going to turn into a Naveen situation? Wait--were they trying to be nice?

"Um." There was a bit of crackling as fabric of the dress was pulled away from her injuries; some of the blood had begun to dry. If it hurt, the necromancer didn't show it. All that blood made her skin look a little bluish, by contrast. Not that Hester had eyes in the back of her head, but this was hardly the first time she'd been injured like this. Plenty of monsters liked to set up in tombs, to say nothing of their guardians. One nice thing about her ancestry, she supposed; she didn't heal any faster than anyone else, but her injuries tended not to scar as much. Oh, Vena was talking again--but she'd only missed the first couple of words, this time! Progress!

"A violet motif would be lovely. I'd never thought of decorative stitching for injuries before. Or I had, but not on the living, I suppose. It didn't work well for corpses, but... She was wandering off again; back on track. "The crew? They're... I'm not sure. I'll be careful. We've gone from disaster to disaster since I joined. Raided the Good Cap--to King's ship, immediately after a fight; got away with a map that led us back to King. Went to Allegria, which was supposed to be a safe port; somebody tipped the guard off, and apparently they hadn't been bribed well enough to leave us alone. So right now, I'm--not sure. Sorry. You weren't asking for a rant. I can't shut up right now. Fed my spirit to a centipede."

“The only thing that ever stopped me being exactly who I wanted,” she said, “was the worry that I would soon be dead … and now I am dead, and I am sick of roses, and I am horny for revenge.”
-Harrow the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir

illirica
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Pirates of the Hard Nox [Open] Jul 18, 2023 22:14:38 GMT paperwork likes this

Post by illirica on Jul 18, 2023 22:14:38 GMT

"Oh, no worries. Usually I'm the one who doesn't shut up." Vena's tone was cheerful, their hands busy threading a needle with lavender silk. "Sounds like quite the adventure. I am not an adventurer. Far too much flitting about with the same people who'll notice if you start cutting them open. Cities are much easier to hide in. I signed up with Captain King to raid a city, but he didn't mention it was full of dead biddies. Prick."

This last was apparently a warning rather than a character judgment, as it was swiftly followed by the insertion of a needle into flesh. It was nothing at all like embroidering good cloth, but Vena would do the best that they could anyway. A bit of tugging on the thread, some stabilizing loops, it wouldn't be too difficult as long as they didn't get too fancy.

Not that they couldn't get fancy... but then again they didn't have a whole lot of thread, so it was probably best to focus on outlines and simplicity - oh, and actually closing the wound, they supposed.

"So, that, ah... centipede thing, is that...?" Normal? Normal was not the right word here. "Ah, common, with quarter-ghouls?"

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Pirates of the Hard Nox [Open] Jul 18, 2023 22:26:31 GMT

Post by paperwork on Jul 18, 2023 22:26:31 GMT

Again, the only obvious sign of pain Hester gave was a slight intake of breath--and that, only at the first insertion. Even that could have been directed at the casual blasphemy.

"Wouldn't call myself an adventurer either. That's rather the problem, isn't it. No, it's not common. Not a lot of people with ghoulish heritage in a position to be tutored in necromancy. My father was--" shut up shut up shut up shut up "--a relicker. You know, a rag-and-bone man. We collected bits and things; sold scraps and discards to the factories, or fixed them up and sold them to merchants. So necromancy was a natural next step. I suppose. Gods." She couldn't stop herself from tensing up. Wasn't supposed to talk about this. Honesty, yes, fine, she'd agreed to that, promised herself she'd stop lying, but the more people knew about her, the less control she'd have over what she was, and here she was, cutting herself open for the benefit of a complete stranger. Humiliating. Oh well.

"They're not supposed to be conscious, but. Sometimes, I suppose, when you fill something up with chunks of dead memories, it figures out a way to assemble them into something resembling a consciousness. And then it bites you."

“The only thing that ever stopped me being exactly who I wanted,” she said, “was the worry that I would soon be dead … and now I am dead, and I am sick of roses, and I am horny for revenge.”
-Harrow the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir

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Pirates of the Hard Nox [Open] Jul 18, 2023 23:02:51 GMT paperwork likes this

Post by Golden on Jul 18, 2023 23:02:51 GMT

A moment of silence filled the space between them, her eyes still trained on the deep red fabric that encapsulated the bed. It matched the curtains; once beautiful yet left to rot.

On the surface, his question was innocent enough - polite even. But why those words over all the other possibilities?

Propping herself up on her elbows, Alys lifted and turned her head to look towards him. "Like fucking shit. I'd wager you feel the same way." She looked intently at him, studying his face, the bruising, the patch, the expression... trying to decipher him.

"Do you think I can't take it?" Was that why he wasn't telling her what'd happened? Did he still not trust her enough? "Because I can. You know I can."

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Pirates of the Hard Nox [Open] Jul 18, 2023 23:29:06 GMT paperwork likes this

Post by trandy on Jul 18, 2023 23:29:06 GMT

Juniper was still mad, or sad, or maybe both. Beck knew she'd played a part in some of it, even if she had nothing to do with Sinead's death.

"I didn't try to shoot her. Not on purpose, I don't think." She looked down at her boots and the transparent cobblestones beneath her feet, reflecting a distorted image of the Juniper, who walked a few steps ahead of her. "If it hadn't been her I probably would have kept a better grip on the arrow, but I didn't want anyone to get hurt, I swear! I-... I'm sorry."

***

Caleb’s eye escaped Alys’, but he could still feel them on him, trying to uncover the truth he was hiding from her. What was it exactly? Her first guess was that she was the problem, which was so absurd it was almost funny. Caleb rolled around, turning his back on her and sitting up straight. Perhaps if he couldn’t see her judgment he’d be able to get the words out.

“I gave King a copy of the map. I asked for protection for our crew and… the Hard Nox. In exchange for our loyalty when he starts his war on the Floating Isles.” Caleb said, looking down at his hands. It wasn’t the blood that caught his attention this time, but the inked symbol on the back of his right hand. “We’ll have to find a way to kill King. He left his pet vampire for us, maybe he knows something useful. I don't think I can get anything new from Hester.”

There was more he wasn’t saying, and that was obvious for the both of them. Caleb was the one who couldn’t take it.

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Pirates of the Hard Nox [Open] Jul 19, 2023 0:19:14 GMT paperwork likes this

Post by ShoddyProduct on Jul 19, 2023 0:19:14 GMT

Juniper stopped in their tracks, looking further down the glass street they had been travelling on, off into the fog which eventually enveloped the entire city. It was impossible to know how big the place was, or what was ahead. Just nearby there was a building of frosted glass, impossible to see inside, with a glass sign hanging from a glass chain, words etched in a language they never even had an opportunity to know. Who were these people, and what was this place? They would have loved to figure that out, if only there was any way to.

They half turned to face beck, their face blank. They knew that feeling, the sentiment. I didn't want to break the plate, I just got frustrated and threw it, I didn't mean to singe the drapes, I just had a bad morning and the neighbor kid made me angry, I didn't-

"Beck?" They spoke suddenly, quietly, solemnly. "I know. I know you didn't want to hurt her. You wanted to help." They had wanted to help, too, once. "You were worried that someone else would get hurt, and you wanted to do your part to keep that from happening." As had they. "Then, you got excited. Your adrenaline was pumping, and the person at the other end was someone you didn't care for. You got reckless." The changeling looked away suddenly, towards the building they were standing beside. Juniper pushed the door away to head inside and search. "You hurt someone, trying to keep anyone from getting hurt. Because you didn't get a dance." Voice even, calm, almost impersonal.

It was dark inside, glass tables and a counter made of crystal adorned the room in a fashion that was vaguely familiar. It seemed, to them, like a bar. "Don't be like me, Beck. I'm going to search the back. Break some of the furniture down, but not too much. We have to carry it back."

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Pirates of the Hard Nox [Open] Jul 19, 2023 0:21:58 GMT paperwork likes this

Post by Golden on Jul 19, 2023 0:21:58 GMT

Exhausted, famished, emotional as hell, yet entirely lucid. There were no illusions, no poison, and yet Alys felt the urge to throttle him. The deal had gone according to plan. They'd fuck over King eventually; a feat in itself, but not impossible for a supposed group of cutthroats and liars - though the fae was beginning to think that the crew of the Hard Nox had gone uncharacteristically soft. No matter - the world seemed to produce a never ending supply of bastards.

This was it; their opportunity for something greater, her opportunity, and he was sulking, turning away, biting his tongue. Losing it.

She stared at the back of his head, as she'd done with Leo, though in an entirely different mindset. The emotion was there though, bubbling, brewing - but she had to keep it down. Just a little longer. She couldn't afford to lose it. And so it stayed.

No throttling. That's what Sinead would've done - or something like it. And look where that got them.

A hiss of pain escaped her lips as the muscles in her abdomen strained to pull the rest of her body into a sitting position. She found herself beside him, legs dangling over the edge, much closer than before. His body heat radiated through the layers of clothing - he felt like he was on fire. "We'll find it," Alys whispered, gaze slowly travelling from her own lap to his, watching as his fingers interlocked. Taking in the stains, the flash of a symbol. A tattoo? A marking? She'd never seen it before, and she'd held those hands. Slowly, she placed her hand on her edge of her thigh, palm-up - offering it to him silently. "Let me help."

Tell me.

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Pirates of the Hard Nox [Open] Jul 19, 2023 0:25:38 GMT paperwork likes this

Post by illirica on Jul 19, 2023 0:25:38 GMT

"Sounds like an interesting childhood." Vena was not sure whether or not it was something to be jealous of. Maybe not. It seemed like a hard life. "Never knew my father." It had always just been mother. That was not so uncommon, though - certainly not as uncommon as quarter ghouls and necromancy, but Vena supposed they couldn't all have tidy little childhoods like they had.

"So, this soul-stealing centipede of yours... is it around here somewhere? Because I'm already worried about getting chomped by Naveen the moment I close my eyes, so if there's something else to worry about along those lines, I'd rather like to know. If I'm going to spend my time here in wide-awake paranoia, I might as well have options, right?"

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Pirates of the Hard Nox [Open] Jul 19, 2023 0:42:16 GMT

Post by Annasiel on Jul 19, 2023 0:42:16 GMT

She hesitated, moving to gently place a hand on Emryk's shoulder.

"You are the best judge of character I've met, and the kindest heart I've known, but - I need this. Please understand."

A soft smile, and then she was gone, hurrying off across the lawn back towards the manor.

-

"Caleb?"

Her voice echoed through the large, empty house. Though she knew most of the crew had to be here, the place was large enough that - past the foyer and living room - she hadn't seen a single soul. Caleb could be anywhere inside. It was odd, thinking people used to live here. They had to have a massive family to make use of such a space. If not, it had to have been a lonely house, to have so many walls between you and the rest of your scattered folk.

"Caleb O'Cain, we need to talk. Please."

Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there!
He wasn't there again today,
Oh how I wish he'd go away!

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Pirates of the Hard Nox [Open] Jul 19, 2023 1:20:13 GMT paperwork likes this

Post by trandy on Jul 19, 2023 1:20:13 GMT

No, it wasn't like that. There was no excitement about what she'd done, Beck realized after seeing how much grief it would have caused if she had hit Alys - or anyone in the crew, for that matter - with a deadly strike. The person they were describing, it wasn't her.

"... Because you didn't get a dance."

Beck stopped at the entrance, brows furrowed as her eyes threatened to leak.

"Fuck you, Juniper." She said, feeling the pain of the other night all over again. It wasn't because of a dance and Juniper should have known that, but they were too absorbed on their own issues she couldn't see it from Beck's perspective. And she was tired of being sorry.

She walked away, returning to the mansion and leaving the mage by themselves.

***

Alys' reaction had been much better than he had expected. No anger, no resentment for all the things he should've done differently, no insults… Instead, she sat by his side and asked to take his hand.

He could feel it, the emotions bubbling up from his stomach to his throat and the back of his eyes. Caleb brushed his dark fingers over Alys' palm before intertwining their hands, gently stroking the back of hers with his thumb.

"Let me help."

If he didn't do something, he'd have to face it. He'd have to think about her, talk about her, but Caleb didn't want that, he wanted her. He wanted to be cuddled and to not have to feel the pain that once out, wasn't likely to be put back in quite as easily. Caleb leaned forward, asking for Alys' help in the shape of a kiss. He would have brushed his lips on hers if it hadn't been for the sound of a familiar voice calling for his name, making his heart stummer, this time out of fear.

"Be quiet." Caleb ended up whispering, trying to hide his initial intentions by redirecting his mouth to Alys' ear.

***

Naveen wouldn't admit he'd been hiding from a certain vampire, but that was exactly what he was doing. It was quite boring to be alone in that big house and the book he'd found wasn't his kind of literature, so when a voice echoed through the house calling out for the new captain, Naveen's interest was peaked. He followed it by hiding in the shadows, making sure to freeze the aos gaotha's feet in place before revealing himself.

"Eimear!" He called, with the ragged book in hand, opened on it's first page. "That's your name isn't it? Funny. It was her name too."

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Pirates of the Hard Nox [Open] Jul 19, 2023 1:21:15 GMT

Post by paperwork on Jul 19, 2023 1:21:15 GMT

Jul 19, 2023 0:25:38 GMT illirica said:

"Never knew my father."

"Sorry to hear that," Hester mumbled, automatically. Oops.

Jul 19, 2023 0:25:38 GMT illirica said:

"So, this soul-stealing centipede of yours... is it around here somewhere? Because I'm already worried about getting chomped by Naveen the moment I close my eyes, so if there's something else to worry about along those lines, I'd rather like to know. If I'm going to spend my time here in wide-awake paranoia, I might as well have options, right?"

"I doubt you have anything to worry about. It's hiding from Naveen. It has no reason to hunt any of us. And it's not soul-stealing or soul-eating or anything; it's..." She struggled for a moment, trying to find the words. "It already had a link to my spirit, because it's my construct. I was piloting it. You wouldn't call a noose a neck-thief, would--actually, I suppose that wouldn't be that far off. And I suppose it'd probably still think of you as a member of the Good Captain's crew. Hmm. Maybe you shouldn't go out looking after all."

“The only thing that ever stopped me being exactly who I wanted,” she said, “was the worry that I would soon be dead … and now I am dead, and I am sick of roses, and I am horny for revenge.”
-Harrow the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir

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Pirates of the Hard Nox [Open] Jul 19, 2023 1:35:07 GMT via mobile paperwork likes this

Post by Annasiel on Jul 19, 2023 1:35:07 GMT

Her momentum was enough to make her stumble when her feet stopped being able to move. With a startled yelp, she toppled forward, only saving herself from twisting her ankles by catching onto a nearby drape. Whatever happened - it stung. Looking down, she stared at the ice caked around her wrappings, cold easily seeping through to the already chilled skin. Wincing, Emer twisted towards the source of the voice.

The pale faced one. The one she'd thought might've killed Sinead, before - well. A member of the Truth Teller's crew, and one she'd heard enough about to know he was not the sort of person she wanted to meet. Still, she drew herself tall - as tall as she could manage - and met his eyes.

"Emer. It is Emer. And I really - do not have time for silly games at the moment. Please release me."

She flexed her feet expectantly.

Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there!
He wasn't there again today,
Oh how I wish he'd go away!

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Pirates of the Hard Nox [Open] Jul 19, 2023 2:02:54 GMT Golden and paperwork like this

Post by ShoddyProduct on Jul 19, 2023 2:02:54 GMT

The changeling let loose a sarcastic, wry laugh, a short burst full of the venom, of the distaste they'd been holding in. Beck was already gone, though, and wouldn't hear it as Juniper made their way into what they assumed was the storage room of this supposed bar. Why wouldn't she just listen? They understood! They were trying to warn her! They hadn't gotten a dance with anyone that night either, they'd been, as Beck had put it, moping around by theirself. It was all so frustrating. Why had they decided to even talk to her? Why were they trying to be nice? She knew they were all pirates, and decided to stay. She stayed after the crow cage. Clearly she was a lot meaner than they gave her credit for.

This wasn't a bar. There weren't kegs, or caskets, nowhere food or drink would usually be stored. Maybe they had misunderstood the purpose of the furniture out front. They certainly couldn't read the signage, so there was no telling what function this place was to serve, however many centuries ago it had been in use. What did catch their eye, however, were the staffs. There were maybe a dozen of them, in alcoves on the wall. They'd lost theirs during Fen Manor, and while it was by no means necessary, it had been something they'd kept from before they had joined the crew. It was missed, despite being mundane.

"Don't get yourself lost," they called, hopefully loud enough for the girl to hear, before reaching for one of the staffs.

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Pirates of the Hard Nox [Open] Jul 19, 2023 5:36:52 GMT paperwork likes this

Post by Quirbles on Jul 19, 2023 5:36:52 GMT

Emryk did not raise his gaze to meet hers; it merely remained upon the wall, creasing as she offered a half-comfort to try and staunch the flow from his heart. Fool. "I understand." He spoke plainly, offering her amnesty-- even if the words rang hollow.

You are the best judge of character I've met, and the kindest heart I've known...

What good was her endorsement, with the company she regarded as kin?

"Be safe." He whispered as she left. His head went to his hands a moment later, rubbing his snout with a degree of earnest grief. His lack of experience with matters of the heart was triumphed only by that of piracy, and it seemed both had been thrust to the forefront in this new, uncertain age. Idly, he wondered what might have happened if the Sweet Rosebud had never been attacked by King's men. If the Truth Teller had never taken him prisoner. But... no. No, he needed to be here, now, instead of meditating upon faraway daydreams of a simpler life.

These people needed Emer. Perhaps, one day, they may need him too. For now, he would make himself available, which entailed dragging his admittedly heavy buttocks from the stables and out towards the storehouses. He stood, pushing himself from the earth with a soft grunt, and set about fulfilling a rendezvous with the two girls-- until Beck trudged by him across the lawn, tears in her eyes. He extended a hand out of caution-- but did not press, and let her return to the mansion. His gaze fell, and he moved towards the storehouse, pushing in with as much silence as an 8-foot Al-Ashtavahk could manage.

"It seems everyone within this crew has difficulty adhering to instruction." The Baron remarked grimly to Juniper, who was currently looking over a staff. How long he had been standing there was anyone's guess. A sigh fell from his lips. "Myself included. Do I want to know what made the poor girl leave like that?"

Last Edit: Jul 19, 2023 5:37:08 GMT by Quirbles