[Flashback] Sea Slaves

[Jette]

Winter 80th, 509 AV Northern Sylira Coast Music They learned to defend themselves, or at least escape the confines of pirate arms when the opportunity arose. If the pirate was still lucid, a beating would ensue for their insolence. They would never injure the face, black eyes made the girls less appealing. Observing acts of violence between the chaotic crew members made the girls absorb knowledge and experience of dodging incoming blows and using objects around the environment to block or strike an opponent. They watched silently in the company of their oppressors, and then practiced the moves in the few moments they had together away from the watchful eyes of the guards. Dodging flying mugs and throwing a chair in front of oneself to catch a swinging sword also became part of their routine and from that, the girls were effectively schooled in the ways of evasion and brawling. One had to take up some sort of self defense while living with pirates, for the weakest perished under heavy fists. Being the oldest and most vigilant, Jette took on the role as leader and attempted to teach the girls to stay out of harms way with a mixture of obedience, caution, assertiveness, and alertness. This kept them sane and alive through the traumatizing events on board as slave girls. Destiny had a way of making them it's play thing as it tossed them from ship to ship. Often jested at was the pattern of their slavers who must have been particularly evil and hated to always end up ransacked by their rivals. Everyone's reign of terror had to end one day. The five slave girls were submerged several times in the chaos of a sinking ship. It was no easy task to swim with shackles on and many slaves that were inexperienced drowned. The remainder of the slaves managed to swim their way out from being dragged down but never got far before being spotted and captured by the offending league, and would just to be enslaved again. Sold back and forth between the greedy and twisted, they studied the interiors of hundreds of ships, ports, and taverns. While badly mistreated and used, the girls were well fed in order to stay voluptuous and appealing to the crew. When slaves were left to starve their skin would pale, their hair would fall out, and they usually died. Some could call them lucky; in relation to the other abhorrence they were exposed to. But in the ashes of their breaking spirits they rekindled a motivation to live, and strike down their cruel enemy. It was on a most mystical full moon night in the late of winter, with the ship immobile at a port just on the coast of Northern Sylira, when four other slaves were thrown into the same cell as Jette and her girls. They were scared, possibly new slaves, and as soon as they had been left alone (the crew preoccupied by loading the boat with supplies), they planned their escape. We will kill them in their sleep tonight, all of us. If you can't cut his throat, look around for something to use, and hit the back of his head right here. Jette touched the base of her skull casually as if to scratch an itch. She was rallying an army of delicate flowers, each strike had to be precise and without fear; any hesitation would result in their pruning. Unsure of the skills of the new girls, Jette turned her trust to those she trained with who were ready to cooperate. Any sense of the putrid smell of pirates had normalized for them, and they could stand to be around the crew without gagging or wrinkling their noses. Such a facial expression would either make the crew laugh at or hit them. The more innocent slave girls didn't totally understand what lay ahead of them and nothing was outright said about what to expect. Nothing could prepare them for the agony they faced - discussing it only made it all the more terrifying. At four bells before dawn, the pirates had taken off from shore and began to coast south and the nightly ritual of drinking, claiming a woman, and then eventually passing out begun to unfold. Jette and the other slaves were kept in the lower decks in prison cells when they were not actively working. But as soon as the ship cast off, they were out and forced to serve ale, scrub pots, and lounge in the laps of the crew; the last being the hardest and most excruciating to swallow. Jette boldly 'requested' the Captain for the evening, who thundered in front of her menacingly before checking her out. With a peek under her skirt and a slap on the romp the Captain approved. After all, she was taking the most important task into her own hands: to take down the pirate leader herself. Many elements worked to their advantage, of which Jette was convinced there was some divine presence that helped them. When she was led to the Captain's cabin at the aft of the ship, she felt tantalizingly close to her victory and remained patient. The timing had to be absolutely perfect. Two bells before dawn and the ship was silent with sleeping pirates. The drink had a most sedative effect, rendering three quarters of the crew completely unconscious. And when they're fast asleep, hold the glass in your hand like this and drag the sharpest edge along his throat. Be swift and press firmly or he may wake up and kill you first. Kill as many as you can with anything you can find, use swords, bottles, torches. Have no fear, we are all in this together...

[Jette]

From laying naked besides the passed out Captain, Jette dressed silently and scanned the room, taking note of how far the candles were to the end of their wicks. A short blue sword lay scattered on the table along with books, trinkets and compasses. Gingerly pulling the sword through a pile of parchment, Jette gripped the weapon in her right hand, approaching the Captain's bed with light footing until she crouched besides him, her hands shaking and brow slick with perspiration. An almost inaudible whimper escaped her throat as she held the sword on an angle tightly in her two fists. In one heart felt motion she raked it across the taut skin of the Captain's throat and his eyes shot open in horror as his voice was drowned out by the blood that flowed down his windpipe. He jerked upright with a paling face, hands rising to his neck to assess the damage. Jette backed away from the Captain's staggering form, and she fumbled for one of the candle sticks, swinging it front of her. She rammed the candlestick holder into the side of his head as his hands cupped her neck, attempting to drag her down with him into his hell. But he quickly bled out in front of her, his blood pooling around her knees as she gasped to loosen his dying grip. Opening the door revealed a single pirate laying against the wall on a short stool. Pathetic body guard she scoffed to herself as she thrust the blade into his throat. A wheezing groan slipped from pursed lips, and it took a few heaving pushes to thoroughly lodge the blade into the dense flesh of his neck with a satisfying crack that left his body limp. Two other girls happened to appear as she stealthily creeped down the corridors in the ship's lower levels. Their gowns were painted scarlet with blood - a sign that they had been successful in their own battles. The sound of a commotion hurried them to the scene where three other girls were having trouble killing two guards. The one with a half cut throat swayed back and forth with one hand clutched under his jaw and the other padding his hip for his sword, which had been cleverly removed. As the other girls distracted him, Jette promptly raised her sword to the best of her beginner ability and slashed at the belly of the pirate thug. A bloated pocket of internal organs sagged out, encased in a thin layer of tissue. As the pirate gingerly groped at his innards in shock, Jette hoisted and pushed the blade into his chest, aiming for his windpipe but hitting his lung. He let out a short yelp but gasped for air and fell over, dumbfounded to death. Jette's hands flew from the blade as she was then struck on the side of the head and knocked to the floor. The second pirate was attempting to yell for help as two girls were working hard to choke him with a linen sheet. They eventually brought him down and slit his throat. We're almost free After finding the remaining girls, the seven slaves swept the lower decks with weapons in hand, muffling the cries and screams of the dying crew beneath. Dawn was just cresting over the water as they edged back up to the main deck, having killed most if not all the pirates that woke to their death. It became easier to do in a group, and they overpowered two easily; even as their muscles burned and their hearts ached. None of them had ever been killers, but something within them was born that morning, a part of them that shed the slave girl skin. Gems and small valuable trinkets were collected as they riffled through the corpses' pockets, Jette told them they could not float in the small rowboat overflowing with coins and they they had to choose their treasure wisely, as greed would weigh them down. With the ship coasting lazily through the water, the pirate standing watch at the ship's wheel looked out to sea in a hypnotized daze. In a crouched formation, the girls flew past the slumberous crew, blades outstretched behind them, swiping the throats of the unexpected. It took all seven of them to swiftly kill and toss overboard the eight crew that dotted the main deck. As they stood by the main mast, panting and dabbing at their sweaty faces, the helmsman came roaring down the wooden ladder with sword in hand. Frozen in fear and stress over the entire ordeal of their situation, the girl who stood directly in his path didn't move and was slashed at repeatedly. They jumped at him, trying to redirect his stampede but she fell, exhausted and relieved by her circumstance, dying with a smile on her face. Unable to kill him, they instead crowded, dragged, and then pushed him overboard alive; possibly the worst mistake of their lives. Burn the ship, let it sink into the sea were the words that marked the moment that the sun burst up from the horizon, striking a golden aura on the ship. They felt blessed. Three of the girls readied the small ship boat as the other three sped through the ship knocking over candles onto curtains and scrolls. After hoisting themselves onto the water's surface, six piled into the eight person boat. The ship drifted away and the slaves instantly felt a wave of triumph. Myri herself had appeared before them, awarding Jette for her leadership and applauding the other girls for their fervor. Then they rowed, constantly swapping out rowing duties and burning through their exhaustion just to touch dry land. It was on the second day that one of the girls, named Elese, had struck a fever and was bleeding from the nose. The bruising on her forehead and ear suggested that she suffered some kind of head trauma and within another half day, she was dead. Unsure of what to do with her they threw her off the boat, kissing her goodbye. On the end of the third day, they saw the twinkle of civilization through a fog that hung over the coast. Enthusiastic chuckles broke the painful silence of their long journey and upon seeing land, Jether let the paddles fall from her shaking arms, allowing the tide to bring them in as the evening set into full darkness. The five remaining slave girls half crawled out of the row boat as they hit land, waves crashing through their clothes and soaking their hair, cleansing the dried blood and sweat that collected on their skin. We made it Jette mouthed to the girl that laid next to her, smiling with a face half buried in the sand. The three other girls and her scoured the shore for a cave and before long, an abandoned space invited them to rest until they were strong enough to move again. Every muscle in their bodies was utilized in their fight for freedom and with the rationed water but no food, they slept for what seemed like days, awaking together eventually with starved stomachs but eager minds. Talk mutiny bolstered their confidence; We can do this, we've done it before. We need a ship. The small gems and things they collected from the pirates were not of much value, but were enough to trade for meals and shelter when they came across small encampments along the beach. They also got in the routine of paying for clothes and food with special requests of pleasure and it wasn't long before they began to organize the profit opportunity that lay before them.

[Puck]

Player_______ Skills Brawling 1 Shortsword 1 Leadership 1 Lore of... Executing Mutiny Being a Ship Ho First Blood Learning to Defend Yourself Notes_______ Note that it is mandatory you always say "First Blood" in a deep, masculine voice.