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Chugs Chugington
Moon
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2019
***
The Caribbean Sea, 1716
*** "Captain" Duncan Elliott ***
"Far away, our continent is - yet it always seems to be right at our backs. The "New" World, everyone keeps saying. 'Oh, how we can escape the squabbles of Habsburgs and Bourbons and Popes and Kings, simply by way of sail to the New World!' Supposed to these folks - peasants and middle-of-the-way men with high hopes - they can go to the New World and find a place where the great powers aren't calling for husbands and sons and fathers to die. That's what any man of reason craves, if I be asked. Hardly, is that ever the case. Come to the New World, to the Caribbean, and the blood is there as well. No use in getting away from it in Europe, if you have sense. Just because this sea, this Caribbean, is beautiful and alluring, with its clear water and white sand - doesn't mean it don't kill you all the same. Here, you don't often have the luxury of last rites before you die. A burial at sea; now, that can oft be arranged. You just go stand and wait on the docks, and the trouble will find you."
"A breed of man can thrive here; indeed, that breed can be found in the New World in spades. For that is the only kind of man; to find a posh man in the Caribbean is to find a fortune, and either those men have already been robbed, or they have enough incentive for you not to waste time - and life - waging havok on them. Indeed, havok is to be found here in spades as well. It eats us all, pirate or privateer, navy man and soldier, commoner and governor. Havok comes for different reasons; for land, for God, for no other reason than to just damn do it. The men I mentioned earlier; men of havok. A man who knows no permanent master, a man who can spit in the face in the Devil - these are the men who churn the blood of the Caribbean. Sometimes, in fact many times, it's not just us boys, either. Women of ostracized stature, of lost paths, can take havok as a husband, here on the seas."
"The times now, are changing. Back home in the old world, the mire of the Succession has ended with the Peace of Utrecht, over a year ago. I remember a different kind of war, different from the memories of massed men of pike and musket taking arms against one another in a meat grinder. A man of the sea, I am; under an English flag and a Letter of Marquee from the Governor in Kingston, I took my men and my ship against the Spanish galleons and men-o'-war. With cannon and shot of chain and grape, I did war unto many a Spanish ship. My men and I plundered a great many Spanish ship, took many a prize to Kingston and claimed many that - if I were a frugal man - would merit me richer than any king or queen in London or Paris. If there wasn't so much to spend my money on, perhaps I would be a wealthy man."
"Sadly enough, however, the wealth is gone. With the Peace of Utrecht, has come yet another temporary end to our labor. While some are openly celebrating the end of yet another war, my kind anxiously bides its time for the next one. War will come again in due time, as it has for millennia. We dogs of the sea are now in an interesting predicament; with our ships and guns, and no master or impetus to serve, in a land far from that of our birth, what is it that we do now?"
"We do as we please, I say! If I wish to drink on my ship, then I simply slug my rum down my gullet without the word of approval from any man. What if I desire fairer company? I take wenches atop my sword and pillage their nethers until I can hardly move. But the best part? Any ship I want is mine? East India men, Spanish galleons, Dutch fluyts; my mastery of the game of naval combat merits me any ship I please, so long as I have the merits to back myself up. We fuck, we drink, we make merry, we pillage for gold and guns and slaves and rum. And to gods and masters, we answer nought."
"Accordingly, the Old World disdains piracy, our way of life that our old employers seconded us to. For our toil, for our reward, the penalty is steep. The lucky ones face disease and dehydration in the coffin-like confines of the prison ship, bound for some far-away land. If they survive their journey long enough to be forced into servitude, then they have a shot at escaping back into our world. The gallows await many, taken in battle by martial men and made to answer before their crimes, ostensibly in the name of the 'people.' The lucky among us will fall to cannon and cutlass in the heat of battle, free until the very end."
"What life is this, some ask? From the looking Glass, our way of life is unattractive, unclean, and unworthy in the eyes of our Maker? How are we unlike kings and warlords, who equally take as they please in the names of pre-conceived covenants without the consent of the common man? At least we do not hide behind false words and old promises."
***
An Explanation
Confused? You shouldn't be; this is clearly a Pirate-themed RP. As you can see, this RP takes place in the aftermath of the War of Spanish Succession, which raged heavy in both the Old and New Worlds. A staple that characterized naval combat at this time were privateers; private mariners operating under the flag of a nation, authorized to seize "prizes," or enemy ships, by way of a Letter of Marquee. Raids on naval ships and commerce vessels alike proved invaluable to all sides involved, be they Bourbon or Habsburg. With the Peace of Utrecht came the lack of need for a standing force of privateers; undisciplined by naval standards and often unreliable at a whim, the risks of maintaining privateers during peacetime far outweighed the positives. Privateers such as Edward Teach and Benjamin Hornigold, once noted privateers, were cast aside in the New World, with hardly any desirable option other than to dabble in brigandry on the high seas.
Our RP shall revolve around such individuals, with the player-characters taking the mettle of unemployed privateer, taken before the Viceroy in Havana for crimes completely of your own making. Predictably, the sentence is death, and you are to be taken before the public gallows to meet your fate. What happens instead is bedlam; one of your fellow gallows-mates, a notorious pirate commodore, is rescued in a brazen attack by a force of pirates and mercenaries. By virtue and help from a motley group of fellow prisoners, you make your escape and join those same fellow prisoners aboard a stolen ship, making out for open sea with the Spanish Navy close on your tail. Eventually escaping, it is time for the fun to begin.
What comes after that? With a ship and a crew, that is your decision. With your fellow players, you will vote upon a Captain and the ship's officers, before striking out on the Caribbean. With peace between nations for the time being, commerce is flourishing between the two worlds, making the allure of prize all that much more veritable. It goes without saying that, depending on the dedication of yourself and your fellow players, that you could seize many prizes and many hostages. Along the coasts, colonies and villages practically await a good pillaging, and there will be no shortage of action. All I ask is that you write superbly, and harness the senses to enthrall everyone into your writing.
If this RP sounds like it's up your alley, please feel free to comment below with suggestions, criticism, and/or pledges of support. I will commence an official OOC once I have secured three to six pledges, and such an OOC page will list desired rules as well as character applications.
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My apologies for the gigantic text. I shall correct it once I get to an actual computer, instead of my phone.
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