therookery | pirates are friends not foes

FORM: Sending Crystal
SENDER: Max
RECIPIENT: Everybody (yeah)
WHAT: Introducing pirates: your latest problem courtesy of the Corypheus. The Venatori have sacked their island off the Tevinter coast, and Max consequently has a request.
WHEN: Nowish
WHERE: Kirkwall

[ The journey from Nascere to the Free Marches had been a difficult one, not just for the number of days it had spanned, but for the things each of them had left behind, still tethering them to its beaches. Hopes and dreams that, with each passing mile, they must watch unravel, and begin to accept may never be within their grasp again. Amid the bitter mire of blame that had welled up in its place, one thing had become clear to Max: if she wants to have any say in what comes next, she needs to be the face (or at least the voice) of Nascere, as surely here as she was on its shores.

And she needs to do it before anyone else does.

So it is, the very day the terms of their recruitment to the Inquisition and continued presence in Kirkwall is agreed upon, the sending crystals alight with a new voice. ]

Good afternoon, Inquisition. Some of you I have already had the pleasure to meet, but for those I have not, my name is Max.

[ It's a not unpleasant voice, as these things go. A smooth, melodic Orlesian of the sort one can imagine trading one's cares away to in exchange for gentle but firm reassurance. Today, it is mostly business, but artfully tinged here and there with a withheld sorrow. (Most of which may even be real.) ]

I have recently arrived from the island of Nascere, in the Colean Sea, under circumstances I believe concern us all. One week ago, after operating for some time under the guise of reinstating legitimate Tevinter governance, persons we believe to be agents of Corypheus ravaged our home and have killed or captured many of its people.

The situation in Orlais is no better, as you must know, but even as the Inquisition fights on that front, I would ask one small thing of all of you. While some of us were fortunate enough to make berth in Kirkwall, our sisters and brothers of Nascere have been scattered to the four winds. Some may be dead, others we fear enslaved, but there are still more whose escape we may simply not be aware, who may become allies to you as myself and my colleagues Captains Flint and Vane now are.

[ ‘Colleagues.’ As if they are partners. Perhaps friends. :> ]

I ask then, in the course of your travels to fulfill your duties to the Inquisition, if you should hear word in taverns or crossroads of refugees from Nascere, that you bring this news back to us as soon as you are able. And if you should have business with a man or woman of the account, that you pause but a moment where sense and safety allow, and ask if they are of Nascere. You may find a friend in place of an enemy, and one who would join our cause.

[ Or one of their causes, at any rate. Of those who once called Nascere home, a fair number are more likely to want her dead than reinstated. But there are some whose good opinion Max does not expect, who she would risk more than this to see alive again.

She draws herself up, forcing a gentler warmth into her tone. ]

And, as I am certain rumors abound, [ False ones, surely, ] I would be happy to answer any questions or concerns any of you may have about our island or its former residents as we join your ranks.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The leaders of the Inquisition know exactly what kind of help we want.

[ what the troops think of it, Vane could hardly care, so long as their commanders uphold their end of the bargain. ]

We want them to go to our island, kill the Venatori there, and leave.

What - and you only care about the leaders of the Inquisition? I thought you were a man with no love for kings.

Don't have love for them that follow them blindly either.

[ his distaste for civilization and polite society hardly ends at the rulers. It isn't them alone that make the cities what they are. ]

This compact's a means to an end.

A means to an end?

[ Kitty shakes her head. ]

But there are other people - loads of other people - having their freedom taken away by Corypheus and his - [ A pause as she searches for a word vile enough to describe Corypheus' followers, but can only really come up with: ] Goons. Shouldn't your end be helping them out, as well? Freedom's worth nothing if only some people have it.

Joined the Inqusition, haven't I?

[ that said: he isn't here to conquer the world, he isn't a savior, and no one south of tevinter knows the kind of slavery the north seas do. They can get themselves out of that, rather than leeching off those that did more with less. ]

For as long as this bargain lasts, I'm lending strength against Corypheus. After that - I won my freedom myself, and they'll have to do the same.

Then will you abandon the inquisition, soon as your island's freed?

I imagine my island won't be completely safe until Corypheus is dead.

Mm.

[ Kitty purses her lips. Anyone who loves freedom - they have to come around eventually. ]

What's your name, anyway? Or is that too private, too?

Charles Vane.

[ A quick noise, not quite a laugh but something close. ]

That's quite the pirate name.

Is it? First I've heard of it. [ wow little girl what is your beef with his name??? ] What makes a pirate name, do you suppose?

Well, something roguish, to begin with, I suppose. But Vane is awfully good, isn't it? It sounds like vain, and also you've got weather vane - It just suits.

[ vane snorts, actually fairly amused by that. The name is nothing special, just what was drawn from the proverbial hat when he'd been dropped off on a doorstep ]

I know a Quarter Master named Featherstone. Suppose it's good he's not a captain.

[ Smiling a bit broader - ]

No, captain wouldn't suit him at all. Was that his true name? Or do pirates take on names for themselves?

Only a few, far as I know. Some 'cause they're leaving another life behind. Others when people came up with names for them.

[ he's pretty sure Flint's mother didn't name him Flint, and Vane's aware the man came from Minrathos originally, high enough in its web that influential politicians called him friend. ] 'Edward Teach' became 'Blackbeard' when terrified Tevinter sailors only heard stories of his visage.

[ Oh, Blackbeard is a very good pirate name. Puts "Vane" to shame. ]

But it's not for magical protection?

It's not very often you find a mage pirate in the North Seas.

[ mostly they're running from the rule of the magisters, but every now and again, maybe. they don't tend to live long when outed. but, to actually answer - ]

Not to my knowledge, no.

Hm.

[ That's interesting. She files it away. ]

Well, Mr Vane, my name is Kitty Jones. I'm quite pleased to make your acquaintance. If you've ever got time to talk further about your system of government, I'd very much like to learn more.

Are you? [ Vane chuckles, because pleasantries and basic manners aren't things he gives a single fuck for, and she didn't seem terribly pleased with his answers. But sure, whatever floats your boat. ]

I spend most my time at the docks. If you're willing to help with work on the ship while you talk, you're welcome to.

I'd be quite pleased to. I don't know much about boats, and I'd quite like to learn.

[ Ships, Kitty. Ships. ]

Perhaps I shall see you there the day after next?

Ships.

[ booboo. pls. ]

I'll be there.

pirates are friends not foes

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