William Brand

You just wait. The chocolate bearers have yet to arrive.

I do believe it is Miss Ashcombe's birthday, so no work for her today. We shall endeavor to pamper her to no end, and by so doing, pamper ourselves. Bring on the cake and ice cream!

August 3, 1704 - Fort Royal Lieutenant Raul Turcotte and the woman he had chosen for the evening were as intimately involved as two strangers could be when Donatien Durand burst into his room unannounced. Turcotte was instantly abashed and angry, a point which Durand ignored as much as he did the nudity of the pair. The Lieutenant protested at the outrage of the man's arrival, but Durand simply walked over to the large table which occupied the room and poured himself a drink. The woman, sensing that departure was prudent, gathered up her clothes without dressing and fled the room, leaving Turcotte to his disdain. Durand raised a hand. "Enough." he said, in a tone that sounded as much bored as tired, then added, "That cannot be the first woman to storm from your chambers." The Lieutenant narrowed his eyes at Durand and would have made a retort, but Quirion arrived at the door then to see what was the matter. "Sorry, sah." Quirion said as he made an attempt to leave and shut the door at the same time, hopeful to escape the company of the two men. "Stay." Turcotte said, wishing he hadn't almost immediately. The Lieutenant did not like the need of a third man when speaking with Durand, but L'Ours had a way of unsettling people and having Quirion present was becoming a reflex action whenever the man was around. Durand simply smiled and the Lieutenant tried to return to a place of elevation by moving the subject to their mutual business with haste. It came across as a kind of retreat. "What have you learned, Monsieur?" Durand said nothing. He sipped his drink slowly, and when it was dry, he poured another. Then he made a point of removing his coat and hat. Quirion made an offer to take them, but one look from Durand and he changed his mind. Instead, Durand dropped them unceremoniously across the surface of the table as if the room were his and not the Lieutenants. The gesture was not lost on Turcotte, who took it graciously enough. Then Durand invited the Lieutenant to sit, though Quirion remained standing a safe distance from the table. "I have visited the Heron...now the Lucy...and found nothing." Durand began. Turcotte heard 'Lucy' as 'Lieu si' and thought it had the air of a question to it. "I was also privileged to meet Capitaine Lasseter and Capitaine Brand." Brand came out sounding like 'Brond' as he said it, and there was emphasis on both names, for Durand did not hide his respect of men that he felt deserving of it. "They command eight score men...and women." Durand punctuated this addition with a smile before refreshing his glass for a third time. "These things I already know, Monsieur." Turcotte said impatiently. "Then you have engaged me on a wasted errand." Durand returned with a shrug in his voice, sounding falsely apologetic and matter-of-fact. "You have learned nothing more than this?" Turcotte pressed. "I have learned enough to know that there is too much to learn." Durand returned simply, as if this alone should be an adequate explanation, but whether Durand had intended this to sound sage or final, Turcotte would have nothing of it. "You will go again, Monsieur." The Lieutenant insisted, and Quirion made a face from where he stood. Had Quirion been seated at the table, he would have kicked the young Lieutenant. Turcotte pressed on. "Oui. You will go again and learn more of them until I am satisfied on this point." "Until you are satisfied on this point." Durand reiterated slowly, almost to himself. "Until you are satisified." Turcotte saw that this irritated Durand and he made the mistake of thinking it an advantage. "Oui. You will bring me intelligence of these two captains and their crew. You will 'learn much' and bring it to me. Once I am satisifed I..." "Diable d'Upstart" Durand growled. Quirion raised a hand from his side ever so slightly to caution the Lieutenant, but Turcotte pressed forward, pell mell. "I believe that the favor owed me is not..." Durand stood up. Just that. He stood up and it was enough to cut off the Lieutenant. There was a protracted pause as the overbalanced chair decided which way to fall. It teetered between a choice of gravity fed possibilities before it finally fell over in a clatter of wood on wood. Then Durand walked around to the side of the table with a practiced patience that proved most unsettling. He placed his hand on the back of the Lieutenant's chair and leaned down so close that Turcotte could see the star like flaw in the dark cabochon that was Durand's false eye. "Is it possible for me to owe a favor to one that has lost all favor with me?" Durand whispered, so close now that the wind of his last three drinks pressed upon Turcotte's face. "Be careful how you trade favor for disfavor, Monsieur. The exchange of such currencies comes at a price." Then Durand smiled. He smiled and remained in Turcotte's face until he was certain that the young officer understood the differences between the semblance of position and rank and the actual position of power which knows no limitations. Turcotte understood. Then Donatien Larue Durand, general of a thousand silent and unrecorded battles, took up his coat and hat and left the room without another word, leaving Quirion in the company of an overturned chair, an empty glass and a very angry superior officer. 'Not so superior as before' Quirion thought as he closed the door. Larboard Watches on Duty

I had an art deadline this week and to keep from going mad, I watched the whole series and the movie in one go. A little of the 'Verse goes a long way.

Don't mention it. We always begin with a polite invitation prior to the press ganging. Here is a list of the attendees so far... http://pyracy.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=12192

As you are from Florida, can we expect to see you at Pirates in Paradise 2008? We'd love to have you join us at the camps. http://www.piratesinparadise.com/

Welcome aboard.

I don't know how everyone is, but I am well. Welcome aboard, Miss Read.

I merely sewed him together from various doctors of the period. The actual reanimation of this patchwork corpse is still a mystery, even to me.

August 3, 1704 - Aboard the Watch Dog Robert and Paul arrived in the Watch Dog and reported what little that there was to report on the matter of Klaas, Joshua and Ajayi. William was not happy of the news and could not satisfy himself that the men had gone missing to rum or whores ashore. The matter seemed unlikely, and in the case of Ajayi, somewhat absurd. He informed the two marines that he would send them again within the hour, but this time in different directions with additional men of the watch. He further explained that he himself would join a third party in the search for the missing men, as he meant to do other business ashore anyway, and by all their labors they would discover what had become of the three crew members. Then he sent Robert and Paul to the galley while he prepared documents for them to bear on their second expedition ashore. As William penned the several documents, he reminded himself aloud that he should see to Luigi first, that the man might be born back to the 'Dog immediately. He did not like the idea of leaving the Italian ashore, since the man who had cut off his finger might come back for the rest of him. Two bells of the First Dog Watch ~Larboard Watches on Duty~

My lovely wife made a lovely little pirate quilt for our son, pictured here with cat and son for scale.

A moment of silence for Angus McAllistaire, able seaman.

And we'll add a little chocolate covered Turkish delight...

You may try some of these... BUCCANEERS OF THE ATLANTIC COAST (Cary) scottrorieart@aol.com THE CORSAIRIUM (Franklin) draxprime@yahoo.com DEVIL MEN OF CAPE FEAR (Wilmington) pyratenc@yahoo.com THE DRUNKEN MARINERS (Weddington) http://www.drunkenmariners.com SHADOW PLAYERS - STAGE COMBAT GROUP (Raleigh) http://www.shadowcombat.com/ UNITED ALLIANCE PRIVATEERS (Thomasville) UAP@triad.rr.com There are also several groups in Virgina... BLACKBEARD'S CREW (Hampton) captainpern@cox.net CREW OF THE ARCHANGEL http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheArchangel...tes_privateers/ REVERED ORDER OF PIRATES AND ROGUES (Smithfield) naibs2000@yahoo.com

Moved.

Sword biscuits...mmmmm.

Why does it snap and crunch when she bites into it? Is it some sort of airy, fluffy, tooth-friendly hard tack?

Pardon...? You are eating what in the Kate? A cake made of rice?

I think it is a fine idea and I whole-heartedly support it.

Say that you'll attend Pirates in Paradise in November and that you'll sponser the Mercury crew by buying us two wall tents and a longboat. Oh...and welcome to the Pub.

Jacob Badger showed Jack to their shared quarters in the after cabins. Their Starboard room was of a good size, private and well kept. Jacob's only welcoming gesture was a sweep of the room with one hand and a nod to the empty hammock hooks before he returned to the weatherdecks, leaving Jack to himself. Back on the Lucy, Robert Thatcher and Paul Mooney came aboard, followed by a shipment of fresh fruit sent there by Miss Tribbiani. Paul and Robert went aft at once, while the Ti-Dwarf and Fressinette bananas were hauled down into the holds. In the Villa du St. Pierre, Lagueux Michaud mopped the brow of Tara Tenille, as he was attended to by a French surgeon named Jean-Bernard Dubernard and his assistant, Philippe Pétain. The three men were completely unaware that they held the life of a monster in their caring hands. Their concern for the stranger was both genuine and human, but had any of them known what Monsieur Tenille was capable of, none of them would have hesitated to slit the unconscious man's throat. And in the town of St. Louis, Donatien Larue Durand walked out of La Chateau Anse with a slip of paper in his hand and a new name on his lips, bound for the fortress of Fort Royal. ~Larboard Watches on Duty~

This sounded interesting...a little ricotta pie with pineapple.

August 3, 1704 - The St. Louis Docks First Bell of the First Dog Watch Robert Thatcher and Paul Mooney reached the docks a full bell later than they had been ordered to, but given the distance that they had traveled over the last watch, this was forgivable and certainly understandable. They had visited some fifty establishments in rapid succession, trying to discover the whereabouts of Joshua Wellings, Klaas Scymmelpenninck and Ajayi Abiodun. Every place that they went to, with the exception of two establishments, had yielded nothing. Even the two places where the men had been seen, La Porte-Arrière and La Chateau Anse, had yielded but little. A handful of men had remembered seeing them, and then only for an instant. The last place the two men had visited was the Chirurgeon's Home, finding only Miss Kildare at home. She had not seen the men once since their disappearance, though she promised to send them on should she see them. It seemed, at least to Robert and Paul, that the three men had indeed begun a search for Mister Pew and then just as quickly s they had set out, they had disappeared. Now, Paul and Robert reached the Lucy. They exchanged looks which simply said, "Let them be here. Let them be on the 'Dog. Let them be ashore with the Starboard Watch. Let them be anything but missing or worse." ~Larboard Watches on Duty~

Would anyone like some custard torte and a glass of milk?

Well, I have enough interest for an order and I've recieved money from two interested parties for four shirts. Please feel free to mail your checks and we'll get this thing going.