First
Zee- Captain --- Second
Zee-Captain --- Story Continues...
I have
made some grave errors of judgement. It seems that my withdrawn
lifestyle in Fallen London has blinded me to the amount of
Zee-Captains there are. That does not stop me wishing only to
chronicle this particular line, but in my research I have found that
most Zee-Captains bump into numerous others on their travels. I would
guess there are plenty though most of their lives are secret and
personal and some do not last very long at Zee. This is a mistake I
have had to accept, but it changes nothing.
The
Third Zee-Captain had a story of his own that goes against the desires of the previous two in my chronicles. After the Cavies
from Pigmoat Isle sent the money back to Fallen London, it fell into
the hands of a particular individual down on his luck. His name was
Garrid and he was a street urchin of Fallen London - the only problem
was that he grew too old for his gang to continue accepting him. Upon
his first free day he was lost and unsure of his direction in life
when something fortunate happened to him by the docks. A Zee-Captain newly taking port approached.
"Oi
buddy, you know who 'the hairless advisor' is?"
"What...?
No."
"Right,
well it's a fool's errand to find someone who does, so take this and
go..." the Zee-Captain shoved a package toward Garrid's stomach.
Garrid took it, of course, without asking any questions. He grew up
on the streets and learned to always take free gifts. Even if you ought
to be wary about the giver. Package in hand he ran to the nearest
alley-way and opened the package of money. It was more money than he
had ever seen in his life.
Over
the past month or so, he knew he was going to be booted from his
street gang soon, and had also begun hearing tales of noble folks
taking to the Zee, such as the philosopher Ylvanna, seeking knowledge
and a place to settle. Garrid began to dream of such things. To be
able to afford a small vessel and pick up a small crew and earn money,
legit this time. Only with this bundle of cash in his hands did he
realise that this dream could become real, however. Over the next
week, he recruited some sailors with nothing to lose, he pooled their
money into securing a worthy vessel he stocked up well on fuel and
rations and went off on his first journey, hoping not to return for
as long as he could manage.
Naturally,
his name as a street urchin had travelled further than his
possibility of being a successful Zee-Captain, so first things first,
he had to prove himself a legitimate non-criminal captain. There
would be authorities watching him, after all. The first task he took
upon himself was to grant passage to a desperate woman. Being from
the streets, Garrid noticed immediately why this woman so desired
passage and why others seemed to be avoiding her. So he offered her
passage under her pretence that she was to be reunited with her long
lost love, though he knew she was smuggling goods. He took her all
the way to Vanderbight and let her ashore, knowing immediately that
the authorities would check her suspicious look. He watched her get
arrested and secured his place as a non-criminal Zee-Captain.
Garrid
did not shy away from battles. Rather, when he saw a creature, he
hunted it down. On his first long voyage out, he took down two pirate
ships, which even further aided his good-guy reputation, and
travelled north to south, far and wide. Helping people felt good. He
wasn't engaging in anything of the dodgy sort of his past, yet this
took him a little too far. On his visit to the northern town of
Whither, he spotted a woman in a green dress clearly in distress.
Calling out to her in the frozen land she did not respond. Desiring
to help he approached her and with a hand on her shoulder she drooped
to the ground and slithered away as a giant serpent emerged from just
below the icy waters nearby. The serpent threatened to eat them all
and Garrid had a swift choice – fight or flight. He fled to his
boat, told his crew to move as quickly as they could, though alas the
serpent caught up and managed to devour a crew member before the boat
sped away.
Saddened
by the event, he knew that at least he had a story to tell and that
he had learned his lesson. You shouldn't try to help everyone, and
sometimes running or hiding might be wiser than trying to fight
everything. At least he didn't try to fight the beast. It was a long
trek back to Fallen London, but once he arrived he rested a while. Having
recruited an entire crew, he knew the benefit of skilled groups from
his urchin life, so with increased morale and skills was his method realised.
Garrid
sought coin, and coin he made. He sold many stories and port reports
to Fallen London and his voyage was one of the most successful,
enlightening, and enthralling that almost any Zee-Captain had to
offer. One night in Fallen London, however, he took the night off and socialised. In this night he met
a fine woman, and they enjoyed each other's company more than just
one night would justify. So when the time came to take to the Zee
once more, the lady offered him a Locket with the only wish being
that he not forget her. He did not.
Taking
to the seas for a much shorter time, Garrid ran some errands to
Vanderbight and the Iron Republic and returned to Fallen London
within two weeks. This time, he was met by that mistress, who
admitted she was partially there in the hopes of his return and they
chatted. She admitted how pleased she was that his work was not of
criminal origin like mahy Zee-Captains and they agreed to meet up
later that day. Maybe she had spoken too soon, however, for as soon as she
left, Garrid was approached by a shady sort. The very same man who
offered gift to Ylvanna offered similar gift and asked for return
favours from Garrid. Old habbits die hard, as they say, and Garrid
took the offer and accepted the underground request.
Knowing
his demise could happen at any time out at Zee, having been shaken by
the serpent trickster and although confident of his voyage was fully
aware of what was possible, he decided to take on extra measures. He
took much of his coin, wrapped it up in a small pouch and went to
visit one of his urchin 'brothers'. He gave him the package in
confidence and asked, a promise made in blood-pact, that should the
boy hear of his death, that this was to go to a woman named 'Thistle'
right there in Fallen London. With that, Garrid went off, spent a
wonderful night with his new love, and in the morning went off to
sail again.
To
be continued...
---
Howard Sterling, Chronicler Of The Fallen London University
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