To Raid San Zanita: Chapter 5

[Obadiah Jib]

Chapter 5:  The New Quartermaster

The fight at the Three Turns has heated up!  If you sit on the side and don't engage in the brawl you see the crew of Neptune's Daughter eventually get the upper hand over the puritans minions but only because they outnumber the former parliamentarians. You take no wounds and suffer a -4 to your Pirate Code score.

If you jump in the brawl your daring quickly turns the battle in favor of the crew of the Neptune's Daughter.  If you draw steel or unload a firearm you coax the fight to a higher level of violence!  You personally dispatch a foe but you also see two shipmates die by the hand of the stoic puritans.  You take a wound in the melee.  You earn a +2 to your Pirate Code score! 

If you just keep to just a bare knuckle brawl you manage to give as good as you get.  You take a single wound in the fight but show the followers of the cold eyed puritan what happens when you bother a buccaneer while debauching! You earn +4 to your Pirate Code Score!  If you have Fisticuffs at the Exceptional level you take no wounds and personally knock unconscious two of the thugs who started this brawl.  You earn +5 to your Pirate Code Score!  If you have Fisticuffs at the Master level you take no wounds and clean the floor with at least six foes!  You earn +7 to your Pirate Code Score!

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After the brawl you notice that the cold eyed puritan stranger has left the Three Turns.  Broken glass, pottery, shattered furniture, and blood decorate the décor of the tavern.  The owner screams at your crew but you ignore him as together you leave the carnage and head toward the Sugar Loaf tavern with your companions in tow.  After all, the night is still young!

Two days later you arrive back at the docks.  You have spent half of the silver you had when you arrived at Port Royal on drink and pleasant company.  Looks like plunder is the only way you will ever earn enough to buy that little farm and settle down.  Of course if you did not leave the ship and explore Port Royal you still have all your silver.  You also hear tales of a brawl in a local tavern.

Waiting on the deck of Neptune's Daughter is Captain Gilbert Lanoue and a gathering of a few other men.  You recognize the English buccaneer Robert Town who owns a sloop called "The Horizon" and also see Gilbert's younger brother, Jean.  Jean Lanoue is a handsome and capable sailor and the owner of a local Port Royal Plantation.  His Pirate Code score is 8.  Robert Town's Pirate Code score is 15.  Captain Gilbert announces that his brother Jean will take the captaincy of the El Toro de Blanco and that Robert Town will be joining the expedition with his sloop "The Horizon".  He also introduces the crew to the new Quartermaster for Neptune's Daughter.  Out from behind a mast steps the cold, emotionless puritan bastard who started the brawl at the Three Turns tavern!  You also realize that his followers make up the rest of the crew on both the El Toro and Neptune's Daughter!  What misfortune!

The puritan is introduced as "Black" Edward Ehresmann.  Black Edward was born in the Salem colony and returned to England during the civil war where he distinguished himself as a Calvary officer for the parliamentary forces.  After the restoration of the monarchy Black Edward found himself and his stoic ways rather unfavorable.  He killed a priest of the Anglican Church in Cambridge over a debate of faith vs. good deeds and the fate of the immortal soul.  Rather than face the noose Black Edward Ehresmann fled England with a band of his former loyal "Roundhead" soldiers for the Caribbean.  Gilbert, in need of good sold soldiers recruited him for his skills in warfare.  Black Edward is rumored to be absolutely deadly with a sword and pistol.  He has a Pirate Code score of 12.

Black Edward Ehresmann shows no emotion over causing the brawl.  He claims he was "testing" the crew to see what kind of men he would lead against the hated Spanish.  He then mentions that he was unimpressed.  You notice that Black Edward carries a mortuary sword that was rumored to once belong to Prince Rupert, a pair of ivory handled Portuguese flintlock pistols, and wears but a single piece of adornment...a gold ring with an onyx stone.

With the roster of crew now filled out and the new leaders it is time to leave Port Royal.  The tiny trio of ships weighs anchor and slips out of the harbor with the high tide.  Black Edward gives you the task of feeding the Spanish prisoner in the cramped hold of Neptune's Daughter.  You get the impression that Black Edward just doesn't like you nor do his followers.  You take the captive a hunk of brown bread, a sliver of cheese, and a tankard of rum.  Down in the hold you find the Spaniard, beaten, bruised, and covered in filth chained to support.  Despite his condition you see he still regains a shadow of his noble bearing.  Do you approach him with respect and compassion, indifference, or malice and hatred?

[Welsh Wench]

Well, damn! I'm a sucker for those eyes like melted chocolate!
I figure with some soap and water, he's gonna clean up good!

And I guess my new red dress doesn't impress old Vinegar Veins, does it?

The Spaniard doesn't happen to be named Jose Morelli, does he?
Carlos Mancuso?

I didn't think so.....

[Charlotte Rowan]

Respect and compassion.

[Lady Amy of York]

I approach the prisoner with respect and  compassion. I tell him that I recognise  his noble  bearing, and that I was once  a noble  lady myself, and  that he  can  trust  me  and  confide  in me.

[Welsh Wench]

That 'pleasant company' I spent time and silver with happened to be a boot maker.

Never do I pay for a man's company!

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

Respect and compassion.  There's more to this bloke than meets the eye.

[Blue66669]

Ok.... so I've been thinking and I changed my mind.

I approach with respect and compassion... and LOTS of caution!

[Capt Spleen]

I just fought the Spaniel...... he's lucky to get any Indifference from me at all...... I toss him the food.

[Welsh Wench]

Jeez, Spleen--give the guy some dignity! At least put it in a dog bowl.