William Brand

Again, my apologies to everyone who placed an order. I haven't had an order hit so many stumbling blocks in a long, long time. For those of you who ordered early, I was able to secure more orders and fill the minimum numbers I needed to run the shirts. Still, it was delayed again. I was sick for the last week and a half, but this was not the cause. I had three different people order shirts by mail or paypal who did not tell me what sizes they needed, and it took numerous emails and calls to get them to answer. I just got the last one yesterday. The shirts are ordered, I'm on the printing schedule at Ty's place and if the place doesn't get hit by hailstones the size of cats, the shirts will go out early next week. I'll send something extra for the wait.

Sooo...they're calling it Plague Day, but rather than actually recreate any educational or observational aspects of the original 'plague', they're making the Renaissance Faire even less renaissance yet again. Gimmick before history.

Welcome aboard. You'll be very comfortable here.

We should take a poll on how many people use 'Aye' in day to day conversation. I use it so often now that people smile at me when I do and it takes me a moment to figure out why.

Aye. I sometimes type a soft 'g' especially when using a word like jonesin'. It's the blatant misuse of words that gets under my skin. I've seen people abbreviate every word in a sentence to the point that I can't decipher it without reading the same sentence three and four times.

I was speaking with a friend years ago about the pirate hobby when he said, "Do you know why I hate pirate re-enactors and hobbyists? They all come from some imaginary country that utilizes a Cockney-Welsh-Lancashire-Northumberland dialect. Then, if this isn't enough, they add a little Jamaican-Australian-Voodoo-Nyaaahwleens (New Orleans) twist just to sound more piratey. Are there no true New Englanders? Are there no pirates from Spain?" He's not wrong. It does happen more often then not. People equate a bad hodge-podge of British Isle accents with piracy, often to the point of channeling Peter Ustinov from Blackbeard's Ghost. What troubles me even more than this is the poor execution of accents styles throughout the Pub itself. The only thing worse than people affecting a bad accent in person is trying to read their mismatched interpretations of it in chat or in threads. The misuse of language as a tool even extends to the alteration of the very definition of words. Example: 'Aye' is not a pronoun...objective, subjective or otherwise. 'Aye' does not mean 'I'. 'Aye' is an affirmative and is used as an answer showing agreement or acceptance. It is commonly used in place of 'yes'. I have to wonder sometimes what our members from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales must think of our general misuse of the King's English, especially as we try to portray accents at events. For myself, I don't try to utilize an accent at all, preferring instead to concentrate on the use of vocabulary and the art of speaking with clarity. After all, I'm from the West where people pronounce 'wheel' as 'will' and 'meal' as 'mill'. I also catch myself dropping the 't' out of mountains so it comes out sounding like mou'uhns. This is not to say that people should not attempt regional accents and localized dialects if they can do them. Such accents can be a vital addition to a character portrayal, just as much as a poor use of them can lead to character betrayal. As you improve kit, improve speech. You don't want to ruin the display of good kit and a well planned presentation with an execution of amateur dramatics that raises Monty Python to high art.

Wow...I was brutally honest about my shortcomings and still got a good result. You have the ocean sailor's attitude.

Oh heeeeyy, tharss a coin under my glash. Wai...whu...? Why can' I pick it up? I need another drink.

She was a genuine beauty.

It's like a punch in the gut and a beautiful spectacle of destruction at the same time, but mostly a punch in the gut. Several unpleasant phrases strung together by four letter words spring to mind. The humanity.

What? No more pictures?

Jeeealous.

Use what you know. I always recommend that you model who you are after your true self as you would be 300 years in the past. Many of the pieces of history that make up William Brand are grafted directly from real life events, people and places of my own life. They are of course altered and even exaggerated against a large backdrop of sea and bloodshed, but they still stem from real turning points in my life. It's easier to reference the timeline of your imagined self when referencing memory as much as imagination.

Jacob Badger was in his element as he ordered men about from line to line and pin to pin. It was an orchestration of sail that built in volume as every stitch of canvas filled and carried the frigate forward. Soon she was flying across the darkness and Jacob could only rate her speed by the enlarging of the snow far off their Starboard quarter. As dark as the 'Dog was then they could clearly see the first flashes from the snow and more than a few curses could be heard across the deck. Despite the order for silence throughout, they slipped out still, some in Gaelic here and others in French there. Even the Spaniards, new to the frigate by only a day, swore a little at seeing the flashes and the faint reports which came back against the wind. And still the Lucy prevailed in beauty. A light and winsome thing bearing before the snow. William sent for Mister Youngblood, who came up to the quarterdeck like a casual specter. It was the stroll of a man already in the moment, confident that he would divide the snow asunder if ordered. William found Petee's mood contagious and said as such. Brand gave over the great guns to the Master Gunner to use them as he would. Petee's smile, bright and disarming at the best of times, showed well against the darkness. "They'll remember me ever after." he promised.

Why do I suddenly want to see a pie ablaze? Let's get some cobbler and rum in here stat!

Bananas foster perhaps? We'll get a whole bunch and have a bonfire of sugary confection and pass out.

That's a pretty thing. It's nice to see you guys broadening the scope of your products so often.

Story telling and shanties both. Aye.

I think about the four person camp all of the time, and to be honest, we really felt strongly that the encampments would grow really fast from that point on. Next year we'll be turning people away.

Bienvenue!

We have well over 100 now. We could actually reach the camping cap of 150 if we keep growing by November.

Very good news to hear that he's recovering consistently over time. I've seen more than my share of miraculous recoveries.

I was surprised to see the masts still standing and the tiller intact. I look forward to more news on this.

Eric Franklin approached the gathering of men and marines. "Ciaran, you're aloft." Ciaran smiled and rushed the shrouds, as musket and ball were passed to him. "Tribbiani, fall aft an' see arms to Luigi an' Wellings. They can fire from the portholes." "Aye, sah." "And take the dog. I'll not have him soundin' too early." he said with true threat in his voice. "He barks an' I'll see him shot." "Aye, sah." she returned again, and could not fault the Master-at-arms for his concern. One mislaid foot, one solitary pistol discharged or one unintentional alert from a dog not yet trained to true soberness and all would be lost. She slapped her leg and the Argus was up and moving, though it cost him a little. "Good lad." He fell in beside her as she laid aft.

William met Jim at the quarterdeck after wending his way through the quiet chaos of the maindeck. They stood without word for awhile watching the last of both watches assemble. The crew could not so much be seen as felt and heard, for even without words there was a presence of noise. Bare feet on larch. The rustle of hemp and wool. Shoulders colliding. Badger and Roberts were at the stair and William met them there. "Bend all, gentlemen. Give me everything." It was not an exact order as orders went, but it didn't have to be. They understood what was needed. With the Navarra falling off to Larboard and slowing, they could clearly see the snow turning on the Lucy. "Haste and hellfire. Aye, Sah." Jacob agreed, and there was a kind of rare merry in his voice. "Come, Jack. Let's be about it." William turned again to Jim. "The boarding falls to you." "Aye." Jim agreed, his tone neutral. "I cannot call a vote of the Whole Company on the matter of our guests, but as the elephant was kind to me, I have enough to give up a share of the engagement." "For the Spaniards then." "Aye. A single share of mine to be divided with any of them who join the fray." William committed, then added. "...but only at the last." "Very good." Then silence. Every officer new his place and his purpose. Every able seaman new his worth and his own demons. The rest was waiting and the gathering speed of the frigate and the blood.