anders_peril

(Sandwitched between an entry on ship's stores and a rather boring account of a night in Cameron is this:)

It is done. 

And, not at too bad a cost.  A bit of adventure is never remiss - and that it cost the Widow so little is an unusually bright spot in the story we tell by existing.  No men lost, but five deserters at Cameron, an extra night afloat to salve Lucy's need for mischief, and a few secrets?  Not a bad price at all, in the end.

The path the dead man offers is old, and will take a bit of time to make current - at least he offered enough to make that possible, given enough work.  But ah - where it goes?  No shadow I've known before.  An interesting puzzle, and one beyond me, with a head still muzzy from far too little rum.  For now, it matters little anyroad - there's another path to take.  Next, it will be Dinah I find, and put an end to the silliness brewing on the horizon, if that is not too late to still.

Or something I've missed.  A shame, that'd be.

Mm.  More to the point, I think the Lady Feldane has started to find her strength.  And with /that/ comes a bit of hope - I hope she'll not be overangry when she finally comes to sort the 'why'.  Necessity is a mother of a great many things - but at times she stands simply a mother.  This course is an odd one, twisty and pulled by the strangest currents - but aye, it starts to gather speed.  I hope that it were not too late in the starting, though.   It still astounds me how much more work goes into stopping a war than starting one.

And, dash it all, now I've got to go and get my hat.  Again. 

----

Four cannons on the starboard side are discharged - an no storm for at least the next few days.  You'll keep that in mind, won't you?  

Highlights from the evening's roleplay, taken out of context:

From the Mead Hall:

"Call it family courtesy," Desirata replies and hitches the sling protectively over her bosom. "But thank you for pointing it out, dear captain. I shall have to dash home and write a great deal of poor poetry.

Gerard looks surprised and glances over at Rae. "I love presents," he exclaims loudly!
Desirata chuckles at the various displays, settling into her island of the table. "I did not see any beheadings while we were there." Rae's words bring about a grimace. "I do hope his lordship is alright."

Emma objects, "Just because my breasts are under his protection doesn't mean I've fallen prey to his charm!" And somehow, this seems a perfectly normal conversation to her.

"By all means. I'm not immune to having my alcohol loyalty bought," Taine replies, more pleasantly.

- Repairs are completed this day:

-Aft mast has been reraised;
-The aft cabin's shutters replaced; the glasswork remains to be done.  We'll stay in warmer Shadow for the nonce.
- Railing and decking replaced.
- Hull patched and tarred -


My beauty is perhaps a little less so.  New wood never matches the old; there is no substitute for a weathered deck and her familiar creaks and groans.  Always, after work of this sort, a Captain wonders if his vessel will sing the same - but I've learned, now, that she never does.  Instead,  her song changes, always, as she grows with you. 

We'll be taking aboard two, Emma of House Feldane, and like as not her affianced, 'Saul'.  She'll stand where Abri stood before the Apple; we'll see what use Saul is on deck.  Even if he feeds the fish, it will be amusement enough.   This one is no delicate Lady, and if she yearns for freedom she'll find it in no better place than before the mast - of that I am certain.   We'll not keep her, I suspect, but it will be an interesting wind for a time.

Our intent to sail to Jade was laid slow by the necessity of repair.  Though we still stand short a pair of sails, I'll not sit in port but another day as we provision.  Tonight I update my charts, and by tomorrow's tide I hope to set my keel to Jade's waters.  Whether or not we'll be of use is hard to say.  Like as not we /will/ not, yet something says even a simple deck may come in halves to those who chose to go there and fight.  

I fear for Discordia, and have no means to secure her passage; if she had a full crew, like as not I'd laugh and wish her luck.  With her fortunes as they have been, taking but a handful into Minosian waters may be dangerous, for her.  But, little the Widow can do but wish her well - we've all stood before where she does now, and it is my own folly for growing fond of her enough to worry about what is but another turn of Fortune.

It is odd, these Ambeites and their press for Marriage.  Never have I seen such a wholesale plunge toward the travesty of matrimony, with eyes wide open and besotted.  You would think they'd nothing better to do than pine and sigh an compose bad verse.

Thank goodness we're away in a tide or two.  Marriage sits well on other men, and I do but wish most well with it; but  I would like nothing more than to go back to the sea and leave all this talk of nuptuals to those with more stomach for it. 

Except for the wedding I've to perform.  But that duty is one a Captain holds dear, regardless.

Wind and waves help them both.

Captain's Journal - March 1st,  In Shadow Unknown -

I have stood at the Widow's mast for thirty years, now, and little makes me as insufferably happy as the first page in a fresh volume marking yet another year at her wheel.  It is such a small and simple pleasure, the scratching of pen on vellum, the recording in indelible ink of time's passage and the events that come with it - I allow myself to enjoy it far more than I've a right, perhaps.

Especially for one that others would say shirks responsibility as much as is possible, mm?

But there Is a pleasure in this task.  A pleasure that comes with fulfilling a responsibility we chose rather than one that is thrust upon us.

----

The Apple is recovered, and Captain Dinah Discordia made whole, at the cost of nine of the Widow's men and an unknown number from Stormcrow's Coda.   A price gladly paid, if only to hold to what little is sacred on the seas.  What is done is done - and to good ends, for Discordia's taken on herself the Marque that was thrust upon us both, leaving me free. 

The chains have been slipp'd, and that is a thing of great worth indeed.

Now, on to an old cache to reprovision, and a hidden cove on my charts to lumber and repair - a bit of rum and a spot of mourning for those who have joined the sea.  Then on - a full sail to Jade, to cast the die on another of the Widow's bonds, to discharge at least part of the onus that binds her decks and keeps her from the waters where she should be.   And after that, but promises to keep - another responsibility that feels far better to keep than those brought on by the maneuverings of a Commodore holding a port over one's head. 

The Compass intrigues me in how it points, with the weather wind as it blows now.  My fortunes, and the fortunes of this vessel are caught in the House that has touched her twice in past - entangled and caught in something that draws her into a current that I've not sailed before.  Though I go willingly, I find myself curious to see where it draws us, and whether there is Destiny there, or just a tomorrow.   In either case, my course is set - past the Black Water and on, into inconstant and unsure winds.

An adventure.