And So The Mishaps Of The Good Ship 'Penny Bone' Begin.

It's a beautiful day out on the western shore. The sky is wonderfully clear and the sun is shining as bright as ever. Various sea birds screech and cry at each other as they circle over the dock of Halyard, which is bustling with activity as the crew of the good ship 'Penny Bone' prepares to set sail! A dwindling pile of crates and barrels, which are getting carried aboard by the crew, are stacked in front of the gang plank. Orlop, the captain of this filthy herd of lazy chops (or so he's been heard to call his crew), is bustling about, calling out orders, mostly for the sake of seeming as if he's actually helping, "You thar'! Put yerself ta use an' take tha' barrel aboard! And you! Don't jus' stand thar'! Move! Get tha' crate!"

The beasts pointed to take a deep breath and sigh. One is a lanky sort of creature. A young pine marten with a brown pelt. He wears a tan sleeveless vest that comes down to the bottom of his chest. It is left open to expose his chest and middle. A rope belt holds up his baggy trousers. Kazi rolls his eyes as he leaps off the crate he was sitting on to let the rat behind him pick it up. He is a bug eyed sort of creature, with flies buzzing around him, where a dark brown tunic. "Thulog, do this, thulog do that. Just wait until we are at sea...we will see how well he gives orders hanging by his squirrely tail over da crows nest." Kazi merely adjusts the straw of wheat in his mouth and thrusts his hands into his deep pockets. "Oh come off it. At least try to act the part of a sea beast. We need this job." Kazi follows the rat along as he lifts the crate, for moral support. Important that.

As beasts go onto the boat others come off. Some are crew others are passengers. One very important beast, at least in his own mind, is the first mate.

Orlop casts a jaundice eye over the rat and marten, not being close enough to actually hear the mutinous remarks. He contains his desire to bellow at them to stop their blathering, and instead mutters something under his breath. After all, it's not crime to speak, right? He finds another reason to bellow, however, when he notices Kazi going abroad without carrying anything. Moral support or not, this would not do! He takes a breath and roars after him, "Oi! You! What da' you think you're doin'?! Get back 'ere and take a barrel aboard!" He mutters something or other about slackers, then catches sight of the first mate. He raises an arm to hail him and starts to make his way towards the weasel, saying as he does, "Kilby! Are all of tha' crew accounted for?"

CLUNK step, CLUNK Step, CLUNK step goes the weasels wooden paw against the gang plank. Walking past the offending marten who is now struggling to pick up the barrel Kilby doesn't pass him so much as a second glance. The muscular weasel’s height loses some inches with the way he bends over as he walks. His body is covered by brown fur with a black mask to hide his shifty eyes. He is wearing a blue waist coat over a tattered rag that once used to be a white tunic. He has a cutlass on his belt but the last time the weasel used it escapes him. Coming up to the captain he drums his paws together, "Oh yes sah! All accounted for! Even the stragglers." He leans closer to say to the captain in a hushed whisper, "Just between you and me, I think this is the cheapest crew we could have afforded..."

Orlop looks on with satisfaction as the martin grapples with the barrel. His attention, however, is drawn back to Kilby as the weasel clunks across the dock. He nods as the first mate makes his report and seems to glean some amount of fulfillment at the news of the stragglers, saying ruefully, "Tha'r seems to be a goodly number o' them amongst this group. We'll 'ave to work it out o' them on this voyage!" His fulfillment withers a bit as the weasel whispers to him, and he nods sadly, "Aye, tis true, tis true. But it's really all we could afford, what with the need for supplies. Maybe we can drop this lot off once we reach the Southern Isles and pick up a more suitable group, eh?" He's not so sure such a scheme would work, since the crew will undoubtedly want to come home, but it's still a possibility.

Kilby chuckles, rubbing his weasely paws together as he says, "Oh, indeed, indeed. The supplies are all load'd sah! All we 're watin on is your glorious orders to leave." Kazi and the rat disspear up the gang plank. "And if you ask me sah, I say why wait until we reach the isle to shove them off the ship?"

Orlop lets out a sharp bark of laughter, patting the first mate on the shoulder as he does so, "For one thing, if we got rid of 'em now we wouldn't make it to the isle in the first place. All the other decent crews 'ave already been hired. Besides, it would hardly be proper like to shove 'em over board." He starts towards the gang plank, saying over his shoulder, "Righto! Off we go." He boards the vessel and starts bellowing orders in preparation to set sail.

Nearly topples over once Orlop slaps him on the back. "R-rright sah. Anything you say sah. Captain is always right!" He waits before the squirrel leaves to mutter to himself, "At least until you are alone, with me dagger at your back. THEN we will see who is captain. Heh heh heh." The weasel nearly jumps out of his fur when a young gold furred cat asks from behind him. "Sir? What are you talking about?" The weasel lets out a shriek and shouts, "GET BACK TO YOUR POST JINX!" Before storming off up the gang plank, leaving Jinx to sigh and shake his head. Weasels.

Orlop is oblivious to the first mates scheming and continues dishing out orders to the crew, "You, you and you! Tend to the sails!" He strides over to the wheel and takes up his position behind it, roaring as he does so, "Pull up the gang plank and raise the anchor! Hurry up you lazy lot! We don't have all day!"

Beasts of all shapes, sizes and species...some even looking like they belong to more than one species due to one reason or another, mostly just being to ugly to be identified, race about the ship. Of course the captains orders are obeyed, eventually, after the rope tying them to the dock is forgotten for a full minute, the sails refuse to unroll, and the gang plank falls into the sea with a loud SPLOSH.

Orlop sighs, gripping the spokes on the wheel to keep himself from losing too much more of his temper. He feels a bit aggravated that the ropes was neglected, and he curses under his breath, waiting impatiently as the crew sorts themselves out. After a few more minutes of scrambling, the sails fill with wind, and they start to pull away from the dock. They have set sail, seeking out the adventures of the sea!

Back at the docks a lithe looking ferret stands on the edge of the harbor. He is holding several charts and maps in his paw as well as a bag. He has a forlorn look on his face as he watches his ship leave port without him. "But...But...what will they do without a navigator?!?" He moans, being able to only watch them sail off into distant blue sea.

Hope you enjoyed! More to come soon! If you want to run a crew member, feel free to page Orlop.