eastbound | video; un: majortom

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[ Unlike certain pointy-eared aliens out there, Jim appears on the broadcast looking perfectly normal and wearing no funny hats or accessories. His shirt and hair are maybe slightly rumpled, but that's to be expected. Given the nature of the announcement, he looks serious too. ]

For those of you who I haven't met yet, I'm Captain James T. Kirk. [ Yes, the T. is important. ] Recently I was part of a group who visited the Concord, and I personally got to talk to her Captain, Maximilian Hawk.

He shared a few things, though I don't know how much of it really will be news by now. Long story short, the Company wants to get their hands on some rare item, something that's either been lost for a long time or is only mentioned in myth. They discovered Samuel Vane, or Quicksilver Sam, was already looking for said item, so they hired him to find it for them. They gave him the ship, the crew, a set of coordinates and a fragment inside a small box that supposedly reacts when close to aforementioned item.

The so-called 'gifts' we were sent to deliver were half of that coordinate, and the empty box. Which leads me to believe that the gesture was meant as anything but a peace offering.

Considering Vane's mental state at the moment, it also makes me wonder if he was the one sending those gifts, or if Kreil is the one behind the gesture.

[ He takes a slow breath. ]

Now, regarding the rest of our conversation. I managed to avoid a conflict in the moment by explaining we were refugees here, and not part of either crew. He believed me. He also offered a deal for us: we take the fragment and the coordinates and we find the item ourselves, effectively taking up the job what was given to Vane, and we'd be rewarded with supplies and funds to carry on with our trip or find somewhere to settle, as Hawk put it. Part of his conditions is that we hand over Vane as well— and the remainder of the crew, I imagine.

I am not in favor of this, just to be clear. I have no interest in handing over Vane, but I'm not on my ship, and you aren't my crew, and I can't make that kind of choice for the group at large. As much as it goes against what I believe in, I thought that it was necessary that I share this with you all, so that everyone can weigh in on what they think we should do.

That said, I'll take no part in a plot to capture and deliver Vane, not when we have so little idea of what's the story behind all this. Hawk has shared what is convenient to him, what makes him look like the one in the right, the one who was tricked and lied to, but there's a lot we don't know too.

Anyway, I figured I'd open this up to a vote. At the very least we'll get some idea on where most of us stand regarding this.

That's all. Kirk out.

((ooc: for the sake of organization, I ask that everyone go to this comment and vote on what your character would want to do (plus with any wild plots/ideas they might have suggested). Please hop over there and vote, even if you don't want to or don't have the time to reply to this post!))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Plenty of people here are eye catching. But I'll give it my best shot. If all else fails, you know what I look like.

[ Don't worry, he'll get the joke once he meets him. The deck isn't too crowded right now at least, so Jim's job of locating anyone 'eye catching' becomes a little easier.

Once he spots Wrathion, he smiles faintly, then walks over to him. ]

Eye catching, indeed. Black Prince, I take it?

[ The pirate dress style, at least, suits Wrathion. A little ostentatious, leather, sashes and loose shirts and long coats. That's the way he dresses anyway, the only difference is his own personal affects are perhaps a little less weather-beaten and little more finely made.

He's stood away by a small pile of netting, a quiet corner of the deck with a cup in his hands that once Kirk is close enough smells of herbal tea.

He's got a little stash from their last location. It won't last forever, but everything is trying his patience currently so he's probably going to get through it. ]

You may call me Wrathion.

[ His tone is warmly amused, but the well-spoken tone of his voice would certainly fit the fancy title if it's real. He takes a sip of the tea, glances absently around the deck. ]

Captain James T. Kirk, was it not? Was your ship anything like this?

[ Small talk, but also useful for helping Wrathion contextualise Kirk's home world and the level he should pitch explanations at. ]

[ Tea is probably not what he'd have expected, least of all on a pirate ship, but to each their own. Jim would love to be able to get his hands on some coffee personally, but something tells him he'll have to wait for that. ]

Wrathion, then. You can call me Jim.

[ Less of a mouthful, at least. The question is met with a soft huff from him, not quite a chuckle but close. ]

No, not at all. Mine has a complement of about a thousand officers, for a start. So she's much larger than this. She's also meant for space travel, so considerably different in terms of appearance.

[ Jim would normally be a little more careful about sharing that, but space travel isn't a concept that's unfamiliar among many of the people in their group, so he figures that even if Wrathion isn't used to it himself, he must have at least heard of it during his time here. ]

[ Wrathion nods in understanding, taking a small sip of his tea as he thinks. A large space faring vessel -- for war or exploration? Or seeking a new viable home? An intriguing mystery. ]

Something of a downgrade then, unless you're fond of the ocean

[ Wrathion has no real strong feelings either way. He shifts to lean against the side of the rail behind him, thoughtful. ]

You arrived with us here, onto the ships? Did Karsa find you? I've seen she's back with us.

Technologically speaking, yes. But setting that aside, I don't particularly mind sea travel. It's just... slower, and more complicated in terms of supplies.

[ And disease too. On his ship, he's never really had to worry about scurvy or infections deriving from open wounds, but here he knows that's a real concern. All the more so when getting to anywhere that might have the means to help would take far too long. ]

Yes, she was present when I was brought back onto the ship. I first came to on a small patch of land, with no idea how I got there.

[ Wrathion hums in thought, taking another slow sip of his tea. ]

Karsa works for the Merchant. She made the communication device I have, potentially yours too. A brusque manner but honest, she won't pretend to like you then stab you in the back. She'll let you know exactly what she thinks.

The first major settlement I found myself in here was called Taravast. Karsa assisted me then immediately, in return, asked I act as a double agent in a political gambit it seemed the Merchant was organising. There were two siblings vying to be the next leaders after the current one stepped down, and I was to pretend to support one while actually undermining him.

That was my first encounter with the Merchant. The city was under siege, I had no idea how I'd arrived there, and I was hiding in a room where they were burning the bodies of citizens who had fallen in the siege. Karsa found me, offered me a change of clothing, a new fake identity and an infiltration job.

[ Jim nods. He'll take brusque but honest over lying and deceptive any day. Not that he feels inclined to trust Karsa any more than the Merchant, but then he's very fresh here. He's not inclined to trust anyone, least of all those seemingly more connected with his being brought here. ]

Would you say Karsa is loyal to the Merchant, then? Some people so far mentioned that he's not the most transparent, I'm just wondering if she works alongside him, if he shares his plans and thoughts with her, or if there's more to their relationship than that.

I believe she's loyal. It's hard to say what, if anything, she knows of his greater plans -- at least partly because I'm finding it hard to judge exactly how much of this he has planned in detail and how much is taking advantage of circumstance. When we were in Taravast, for example, there was a noble he seemed friendly with and worked with. However, by the end of our stay there he was assigning someone to kill her for her part a scheme where they were arming the undead legions in return for safety. Did he already know she was? Was he playing at being friendly? Did he know this is how Taravast stayed a safe city, and was just looking for evidence of who was in charge of that operation? We know, for example, he had a vested dislike of the city. Karsa told me he'd have been happy to see it burn down.

So I can safely assume he's not a man with many principles, if he'll so easily kill someone for something they have, or possibly burn down an entire place for a personal goal of his.

[ Yes, he knows it's an expression, it might not have been meant too literally, but on the other hand... ]

Do people tend to follow his orders? The people in our group, that is. If he intends to use us as his personal mercenaries, I'd prefer knowing if there are people here I need to be particularly careful about.

On the contrary, he has principles -- just ones others may not necessarily agree with. He believed having the noble who trafficked arms to the undead assassinated was justice. Those undead had destroyed other cities, and she helped them do so. Other people would say it was fairer to have a trial, or at least to allow the local leaders to make the decision for themselves rather than strangers from another place.

[ Still, Wrathion considers a moment. ]

The person assigned that task did not agree with the Merchant, and I helped him capture the woman and turn her in for judgement by the local authorities instead of killing her. Not everyone follows his instructions blindly, but certainly many here do feel that it is safer to do as he asks. The Merchant knows more than us, and may better understand the consequences. This is his world, and he has experience and contacts that we do not. If we stray from his instruction he can make our lives difficult, or lead us unknowing into danger and watch us suffer.

[ Some twisted principles, in Jim's own view, but then he is well aware that he's an idealist on a lot of things, in a lot of situations where others couldn't really afford that kind of perspective. But it all makes him feel all the more that the Merchant isn't a man who can be trusted, at least not by his own definition of trust. ]

So basically, stuck between a rock and a hard place. [ Can't go off on their own, can't fully rely on this man. ] What of the people in our group? We're all from very different realities, from what I understand. Do you feel like there are people among us that we can rely on more than others?

[ Wrathion takes a sip of tea, considering that thoughtfully. ]

That depends entirely on what you need in the moment. Each of us have different skills, different experience and different opinions. There are some, I am aware, whose gut instinct is always to ask the Merchant for his input first. If you are planning something you'd rather he didn't know, they'd not be someone I'd rely on. All the same, if your problem is you are too cold you wouldn't ask a frost mage for input. The group is varied enough that usually at least one person has the skill you require.

[ He taps his finger against the cup, thinking. ]

Has anyone told you about Ellethia?

[ Jim's not even talking about the usefulness of each of the people here, more thinking about who he could trust to even rely on with information, or with an idea or plan he might have. He doesn't rank trust based on someone's usefulness, regardless he nods at Wrathion's examples and leaves it at that for now. ]

The Merchant's native city. There were a lot of these magical mirrors there, before the place was destroyed. At least that's what I've been told.

[ Wrathion nods, weighing up that. ]

There was a tower there, an institute of technology they called it. It was where a group of scientists conducted experiments with mirrors. The Merchant himself worked there. Civilians were conscripted into these experiments.

Against their own will, I imagine.

[ He frowns, none of this giving him ease or peace of mind. ]

Do we know if whatever happened there originated on that institute, or was it something else?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

video; un: majortom

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They were cousins not siblings, that's what I get for writing without checking.

Consider it corrected :)

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