Articles of the Tanar"ri Alus
I. Every crew member has a vote regarding affairs of the moment, has an equal right to fresh provisions, or strong liquors, at any time seized, and may use them at his or her own pleasure— unless a scarcity makes it necessary, for the good of all, for a retrenchment.
II. Every crew member shall obey "Civil" command.
III. If a crewmember takes more than his share of the loot from the ship, the crew will act in accordance, by marooning said member on an uninhabited island. If a crewmember steals from a fellow, singular crewmember however, the punishment will be decided either by the captain, or quartermaster/first mate.
IV. If any crewmember sees fit to act in his or her best interest by desertion of the company, or keep any strategic information from the company, he or she will be marooned with one bottle of powder, one bottle of water, and possibly be shot.
V. Lights and candles are to be put out at eleven o"clock. If any are inclined to stay awake and/or indulge in drink, they must do so on the open deck, or, if the ship is at port, on land; If any crewmember is to fire his or her arms in the hold, use a pipe without a cap, or light a candle without a lantern, he or she will receive forty lashes against his or her bare back.
VI. Every crewmember must keep their piece, pistols, and any other weapons clean and fit for service.
VII. He who is found guilty of gaming or defrauding a fellow crewmember shall suffer whatever punishment the captain and majority of the company see fit.
VIII. To desert the ship or quarters in battle is punishable by death or marooning.
IX. No striking one another on board; if quarrels escalate, then they will be ended on shore, at sword and pistol. The quartermaster will take the parties ashore, set them back to back, and have them turn and shoot. If they miss, it goes to swords; the victor is whoever draws the first blood.
X. When out to sea, whichever crewmember sees the first sign of sails gets the best pistol or small arm aboard the spotted ship.
XI. If any crewmember loses a joint, he or she will receive four hundred pieces of gold; if a limb, eight hundred. Either way, said member will be released from service, and dropped off at the next port.
XII. If any crewmember is drunk or otherwise intoxicated during times of engagement, he or she shall suffer whatever punishment the captain and the majority of the company sees fit.
XIII. If any time a crewmember meets a woman, and meddles with her without her consent, he shall suffer death. Likewise, if any woman sees fit to take advantage of her male counterparts, she too will be penalized.
~Captain Christopher Watercress
"These 'ere be tha Articles o'the Tanar'ri Alus," said the Captain as he prepared to sign on his newest crewmember, a young man who went by the name of, Gabbs. "If ye wan' ta join, yer to read, sign, n'take an oath o'loyalty, swearin' ye won' be breakin' any o'the rules," the Captain finished by handing a goose feathered quill over to the red haired man.
As Gabbs nodded and eagerly signed his name, the Captain Christopher Watercress took the time to study the boy once more. Gabbs was a lanky fellow, skinny and pale, with freckles dotting his face, squinting blue eyes, and brilliantly red hair. He looked far too young to be joining a pirate crew, especially the crew of the Tanar'ri Alus, known for being tough and dangerous, even to other pirates, but Watercress knew different.
The Captain vaguely recalled the night he met young Gabbs, he had been out drinking of course, at one of the dockside taverns, chatting it up with a couple of serving wenches, when the large burly man stormed through the door. Now, people did this sort of thing often so the door slamming open did little to distract the Captain from the women and drink at his disposal; So the Captain just ignored it, figuring it another man angry and tired from a hard days work, nothing special.
Then said burly man, stormed over to the bar, where the Captain was sitting, and Watercress gave the man a wide berth, let him sit and didn't bother him, just continued his conversation with the two ladies, drinking bottle after bottle of the amazing drink known as rum. A few hours passed, nothing had changed, then the burly man turned toward the Captain.
"Oi! Ye filthy pirate, ye be tha one they be callin' Watercress?" the man inquired of the Captain.
"Hmm...?" the Captain turned toward the large man and then smugness came over, he thought himself quite special all of a sudden, being recognized and the like. "Aye, Watercress be m'name, how c'n I be helpin' ye?" he asked the large man who nodded and mumbled, "Thought so..."
Suddenly the man was a whirl of action, lunging toward the Captain, dagger in hand aimed for Watercress' throat, snarling threats and demanding blood. Now, the Captain was intoxicated, was off guard, but to his credit, avoided the attack. The moment that large mass came hurtling toward him, his feet lifted up and planted on the side of the bar, then with a shove, the Captain launched himself back, pushing himself and his stool back a few feet to send the man barreling right into nothing.
The man was off balance, and thus came crashing down on the hard wooden floors of the tavern with a loud and resounding thud. The Captain quickly stood and approached, flintlock pistol in hand, trained on the man's head. The man started to move but when he heard the tell tale click of a hammer being pulled back, he remained perfectly still.
"What problem do you have with me?" asked the Captain in a suddenly sober and calm tone, accent seemed to have just flown away, drifting from the dwarven influences, to perfect and smooth common.
"I no' be havin' a problem wit' ye Captain Watercress," spat the large man, "It be Pasha Reshtan, he be puttin' a price on yer head, be tellin' me ta kill ye," he answered honestly, hoping that honesty would save his life.
"Ah...so you're of the Resthan Guild then" If you are then..." he trailed off upon hearing the sound of metal being freed from its sheath, hammers of pistols being drawn back, and the sliding of chairs and stools against the ground, "...you must've brought company," the Captain finished as he slowly lifted his gun away, eased the hammer back into place, and then bent down to lay it on the ground before lifting his hands up in surrender.
"Alright lads, ya got me," he admitted the nod with a resigned tone, then started chuckling and clapping his hands. "Bravo really, I'll imagine the good Pasha will be paying a hefty sum of gold to the lot of you for this won't he?" all the men with the drawn weapons smirked and nodded in their agreement...the stupidity of them all annoyed him. "Oh wait no, not a one of you will get a copper," he said with a smirk of his own.
"Wha' ye be talkin' abou' Watercress?" demanded the large man as he scooped up the Captain's gun, then began to rise to his feet. Suddenly the Captain went into motion, darting back and to the side, bringing a knee up in line for the man's ribcage, and wrenching his pistol from the man's hand. His arm went under the man's arm, and then the Captain yanked him up, sure he was no dwarf, but years of hard labor had him in prime physical shape.
Now with the large man as a barrier, and a pistol trained on the closest one of the Resthan Guild's assassins, he continued.
"Pasha Resthan, is a liar and a crook, he-"
"This comin' from a pirate?" shouted one of the men, and the Captain winced at the irony and the blow he was dealt then, metaphorically speaking.
"As I was saying..." just as the large man was about to protest, he pulled the hammer back and jammed the barrel of the pistol against his temple.
"As I was saying," he started again, with an annoyed edge to his voice, " the good Pasha will kill you all. Once I've been delivered and taken care of, he'll have each one of you killed, that's how the Pasha works."
"We be hired by 'im directly!" shouted one man in protest, and another joined in. "Aye, he be sayin' we be the perfect ones fer tha job!" and the Captain chuckled at their ignorance.
"The Pasha said the same thing to me, said the same thing to a great many people, how many of his thugs lie dead now" Or have been tossed to the sea" How many?" the Captain inquired of them all. "Countless!" he exclaimed suddenly. "Countless people have fallen first to Pasha Resthan's words, then the blades of his true guild members. You lot, you're just thugs to him, fodder, replaceable muscle, once you're job is done, you'll be 'taken care of' just like all the rest," he finished then took a moment to let it all sink in. The men stared at him, one seemed particularly interested, a young red headed man, with blue squinting eyes and a heavily freckles face.
"You all know I'm right," said the Captain, locking eyes with the red head, a forceful gaze, a man of will and one who knew the Captain was in no way wrong on that part.
"So wha' if yer righ'?" asked one of the men. "There be a chance ye be wrong! Yer no' fer knowin' iffin'-" he was cut off by the sound of a pistol shooting off, everyone winced and ducked, then all eyes fell on the red haired man, who had shot his weapon off into the ceiling.
"What're you getting at Watercress?" the red haired man asked the Captain as he lowered his weapon and waited.
"Simple," the Captain started, "I let you catch me, you take me to Pasha Resthan," he stopped and let his gaze dart at a man who was taking the time to aim the pistol he held at the Captain.
There was another sound of a pistol firing off, this time it was the Captain's, hitting the man who had been aiming at him dead center in the chest, knocking him back and down to fall over a table and tip it over, very much dead. By this time the tavern owner was crouched behind the bar, peeking up at the scene, and the serving wenches had all fled.
"Then we kill him," he finished bluntly with a nod. "We kill Resthan, he doesn't have nearly as many soldiers as he would lead one to believe, and once his elite guard is down, the rest will either join or run in fear of us. His personal stores will be free for the taking, you can split it up amongst yourselves."
"How're we fer knowin' if yer no' ta be stealin' some o'the loot?" asked one man and the Captain waved his pistol to silence him. Knowing he had the groups attention for the moment, in a less deadly way than before, he released the large man and prodded him forward.
"Resthan has made several attempts on my life, stolen things from me, and killed friends. All I want is to see the bastard lying dead in a pool of his own blood, with everything he built crumbling around, and being stolen from him. Once that happens, his loot, his treasures, everything is none of my concern," some of the men exchanged less than convinced glances but the red head nodded and turned toward the group.
"Lets do it," he said with a nod, then one of the men shouted in return.
"Gabbs, ye hush up lad, ye no' be decidin' wha' we be doin' r'no'!" Gabbs frowned at that. Gabbs, Captain would remember the name, he knew who supported him in this group, he knew who to talk to.
"C'mon, ya know he's right! Ya know Resthan'll do us in 'afore he ever pays the lot of us! And this is Christopher Watercress we're talking about, the captain of the Tanar'ri Alus, if he's got a plan, it's sure to work!" Gabbs shouted in protest. Those words had the Captain swelling with a bit of pride, yes, his reputation had proceeded him it seems.
Grumbling, the men began to nod, the large one turned and rubbed his sore rib cage, eyed the Captain with hate and displeasure, but nodded all the same.
"Alrigh' Watercress, we're listenin', wha's tha plan?"
Christopher grinned at that, lowered his weapon and holstered it, ordered rum for the group, and then sat down and started his planning.
~Captain Christopher Watercress
"These 'ere be tha Articles o'the Tanar'ri Alus," said the Captain as he prepared to sign on his newest crewmember, a young man who went by the name of, Gabbs. "If ye wan' ta join, yer to read, sign, n'take an oath o'loyalty, swearin' ye won' be breakin' any o'the rules," the Captain finished by handing a goose feathered quill over to the red haired man.
As Gabbs nodded and eagerly signed his name, the Captain Christopher Watercress took the time to study the boy once more. Gabbs was a lanky fellow, skinny and pale, with freckles dotting his face, squinting blue eyes, and brilliantly red hair. He looked far too young to be joining a pirate crew, especially the crew of the Tanar'ri Alus, known for being tough and dangerous, even to other pirates, but Watercress knew different.
The Captain vaguely recalled the night he met young Gabbs, he had been out drinking of course, at one of the dockside taverns, chatting it up with a couple of serving wenches, when the large burly man stormed through the door. Now, people did this sort of thing often so the door slamming open did little to distract the Captain from the women and drink at his disposal; So the Captain just ignored it, figuring it another man angry and tired from a hard days work, nothing special.
Then said burly man, stormed over to the bar, where the Captain was sitting, and Watercress gave the man a wide berth, let him sit and didn't bother him, just continued his conversation with the two ladies, drinking bottle after bottle of the amazing drink known as rum. A few hours passed, nothing had changed, then the burly man turned toward the Captain.
"Oi! Ye filthy pirate, ye be tha one they be callin' Watercress?" the man inquired of the Captain.
"Hmm...?" the Captain turned toward the large man and then smugness came over, he thought himself quite special all of a sudden, being recognized and the like. "Aye, Watercress be m'name, how c'n I be helpin' ye?" he asked the large man who nodded and mumbled, "Thought so..."
Suddenly the man was a whirl of action, lunging toward the Captain, dagger in hand aimed for Watercress' throat, snarling threats and demanding blood. Now, the Captain was intoxicated, was off guard, but to his credit, avoided the attack. The moment that large mass came hurtling toward him, his feet lifted up and planted on the side of the bar, then with a shove, the Captain launched himself back, pushing himself and his stool back a few feet to send the man barreling right into nothing.
The man was off balance, and thus came crashing down on the hard wooden floors of the tavern with a loud and resounding thud. The Captain quickly stood and approached, flintlock pistol in hand, trained on the man's head. The man started to move but when he heard the tell tale click of a hammer being pulled back, he remained perfectly still.
"What problem do you have with me?" asked the Captain in a suddenly sober and calm tone, accent seemed to have just flown away, drifting from the dwarven influences, to perfect and smooth common.
"I no' be havin' a problem wit' ye Captain Watercress," spat the large man, "It be Pasha Reshtan, he be puttin' a price on yer head, be tellin' me ta kill ye," he answered honestly, hoping that honesty would save his life.
"Ah...so you're of the Resthan Guild then" If you are then..." he trailed off upon hearing the sound of metal being freed from its sheath, hammers of pistols being drawn back, and the sliding of chairs and stools against the ground, "...you must've brought company," the Captain finished as he slowly lifted his gun away, eased the hammer back into place, and then bent down to lay it on the ground before lifting his hands up in surrender.
"Alright lads, ya got me," he admitted the nod with a resigned tone, then started chuckling and clapping his hands. "Bravo really, I'll imagine the good Pasha will be paying a hefty sum of gold to the lot of you for this won't he?" all the men with the drawn weapons smirked and nodded in their agreement...the stupidity of them all annoyed him. "Oh wait no, not a one of you will get a copper," he said with a smirk of his own.
"Wha' ye be talkin' abou' Watercress?" demanded the large man as he scooped up the Captain's gun, then began to rise to his feet. Suddenly the Captain went into motion, darting back and to the side, bringing a knee up in line for the man's ribcage, and wrenching his pistol from the man's hand. His arm went under the man's arm, and then the Captain yanked him up, sure he was no dwarf, but years of hard labor had him in prime physical shape.
Now with the large man as a barrier, and a pistol trained on the closest one of the Resthan Guild's assassins, he continued.
"Pasha Resthan, is a liar and a crook, he-"
"This comin' from a pirate?" shouted one of the men, and the Captain winced at the irony and the blow he was dealt then, metaphorically speaking.
"As I was saying..." just as the large man was about to protest, he pulled the hammer back and jammed the barrel of the pistol against his temple.
"As I was saying," he started again, with an annoyed edge to his voice, " the good Pasha will kill you all. Once I've been delivered and taken care of, he'll have each one of you killed, that's how the Pasha works."
"We be hired by 'im directly!" shouted one man in protest, and another joined in. "Aye, he be sayin' we be the perfect ones fer tha job!" and the Captain chuckled at their ignorance.
"The Pasha said the same thing to me, said the same thing to a great many people, how many of his thugs lie dead now" Or have been tossed to the sea" How many?" the Captain inquired of them all. "Countless!" he exclaimed suddenly. "Countless people have fallen first to Pasha Resthan's words, then the blades of his true guild members. You lot, you're just thugs to him, fodder, replaceable muscle, once you're job is done, you'll be 'taken care of' just like all the rest," he finished then took a moment to let it all sink in. The men stared at him, one seemed particularly interested, a young red headed man, with blue squinting eyes and a heavily freckles face.
"You all know I'm right," said the Captain, locking eyes with the red head, a forceful gaze, a man of will and one who knew the Captain was in no way wrong on that part.
"So wha' if yer righ'?" asked one of the men. "There be a chance ye be wrong! Yer no' fer knowin' iffin'-" he was cut off by the sound of a pistol shooting off, everyone winced and ducked, then all eyes fell on the red haired man, who had shot his weapon off into the ceiling.
"What're you getting at Watercress?" the red haired man asked the Captain as he lowered his weapon and waited.
"Simple," the Captain started, "I let you catch me, you take me to Pasha Resthan," he stopped and let his gaze dart at a man who was taking the time to aim the pistol he held at the Captain.
There was another sound of a pistol firing off, this time it was the Captain's, hitting the man who had been aiming at him dead center in the chest, knocking him back and down to fall over a table and tip it over, very much dead. By this time the tavern owner was crouched behind the bar, peeking up at the scene, and the serving wenches had all fled.
"Then we kill him," he finished bluntly with a nod. "We kill Resthan, he doesn't have nearly as many soldiers as he would lead one to believe, and once his elite guard is down, the rest will either join or run in fear of us. His personal stores will be free for the taking, you can split it up amongst yourselves."
"How're we fer knowin' if yer no' ta be stealin' some o'the loot?" asked one man and the Captain waved his pistol to silence him. Knowing he had the groups attention for the moment, in a less deadly way than before, he released the large man and prodded him forward.
"Resthan has made several attempts on my life, stolen things from me, and killed friends. All I want is to see the bastard lying dead in a pool of his own blood, with everything he built crumbling around, and being stolen from him. Once that happens, his loot, his treasures, everything is none of my concern," some of the men exchanged less than convinced glances but the red head nodded and turned toward the group.
"Lets do it," he said with a nod, then one of the men shouted in return.
"Gabbs, ye hush up lad, ye no' be decidin' wha' we be doin' r'no'!" Gabbs frowned at that. Gabbs, Captain would remember the name, he knew who supported him in this group, he knew who to talk to.
"C'mon, ya know he's right! Ya know Resthan'll do us in 'afore he ever pays the lot of us! And this is Christopher Watercress we're talking about, the captain of the Tanar'ri Alus, if he's got a plan, it's sure to work!" Gabbs shouted in protest. Those words had the Captain swelling with a bit of pride, yes, his reputation had proceeded him it seems.
Grumbling, the men began to nod, the large one turned and rubbed his sore rib cage, eyed the Captain with hate and displeasure, but nodded all the same.
"Alrigh' Watercress, we're listenin', wha's tha plan?"
Christopher grinned at that, lowered his weapon and holstered it, ordered rum for the group, and then sat down and started his planning.