William Brand

How very strange that it should have disappeared. Bad luck I suppose. Come by the Kate. we'll get you a room and a private table.

^ I have several. < Right now I have an appetite for a new pistol. V How many firearms do you own?

Are you planning on reopening the Dragon and Tiger?

^ I will never turn down potatoes. I love the New World vegetable. < I like almost all vegetables actually, depending on mood and preparation. V I'll pass the question again.

^ Aye. < I'm a problem solver much of the time, but I'm just as willing to leave some things unfixed. V Do you have a favorite vegetable?

July 30, 1704 - Martinique William woke late and decided that it was not late enough for his tastes and he went back to sleep. When he awoke again it was after nine of the morning and he walked across the room to the Southerly window which looked over the harbor. He stood their in a shirt and slops, stretching and arching as he yawned wide. He scratched his scalp and squinted into the morning light. The few clouds which remained from last night's brief storm lay here and there about an otherwise clear sky and the day promised to be a sticky one. "Damn...there's a fine sight." he said aloud to himself as he spied the Watch Dog, Maastricht and Heron occupying their comfortable corner of the bay. He contemplated moving them nearer to one of the river inlets at the Eastern side of the Cul du Sac Royal, for he had heard that a good market village lay very near one of these tributaries. Then he called for an attendant from his room door and ordered up some breakfast to his room. While he waited, he stripped off the shirt of the day before and stood in the breeze that came through the open window with his eyes shut, trying to choose what he would do next. He decided that some of his business might be done ashore with regards to shares once he had fetched the ledgers from the Watch Dog. A polite knock came at the door and a lad of fifteen years brought in a tray of hot foods, all made fresh, and William sent him again with a nice round coin and instructions to find John McGinty. Three bells of the Forenoon Watch ~Starboard Watches on Duty~

So may I add you to the growing list under hotels?

^ Many. < I'm making good on several this year alone. V What period item have you made that you are most proud of?

Aye, a dedicated mic. Your sound quality will go up considerably.

^ I'm trying out my new dremel stylus. It is very nice. < Now I have no excuse not to begin a few lingering projects. V Does anyone else here do woodworking?

^ Well, having studied Martinique for some time now, I'm tempted to go there. I think it could easily be my favorite and I haven't even been there yet. < I'm going over patterns I got from Kass. So much to do. V What costume projects are you currently working on?

Well...where do I start. I recently purchased five patterns from kass, including the 1700's Frock Coat, the 1670s - 1720s Lady' Riding & Hunting Outfit, the 1700s - 1730s Sleeved and Sleeveless Waistcoats, the 1680s-1730s Breaches and Sailor's Slops and the Late 17th/early 18th Century Accessories for Men and Women. First, let me say how pleased I am to have so many patterns at once. It makes me a little giddy. I now want to make everything at once, but I must exercise control. Second, the patterns look great. They are printed on large format paper and arrived in a large enough format, even while folded, to be filed easily in any filing cabinet. The instructions, both in the patterns and online, are concise and well written. I expect to be a proper dandy of a gentleman scoundrel come November.

Hetha...hello. It has been some time. Welcome back.

^ Aye. I've also been to a sturgeon farm. < It snowed for three minutes today. Lightest, most unexpected storm this year. V Is it spring yet where you are?

Captain Midnight. Thank you in advance for the cartridge box. The check is in the mail. You must be doing your share of business, because your inbox is full. -William Brand, Captain

July 30, 1704 - Martinique Tawny's mischief that early morning was not ended with the ending of Monsieur de Mofras. Tawny was feeling bloody. He craved the need for it on his hands the same way some crave clean water, for a hatred had been planted in his otherwise unfeeling and unnatural heart. The Watch Dog had become his enemy, for he thought of the ship itself as one living thing filled with so many organs to pluck out, but having no way to revenge himself upon her, he took to stalking farmhouses and cottage yards looking for that temporary fare to slake his thirst. It was a dangerous thing to be angry and Tawny understood this, for while it sharpened his resolve, it dulled his wits. He had tried now for two days not to become careless in emotion, hiding whenever he could and stealing only so much to survive and no more. Still, like an angry and wounded animal, he could not stave off the need to rend something in retribution for his pain. His whole body was worked with it and he suffered from his own ill-treated injuries, his ear being the least among them. Smells, unhealthy and boding of lost limbs, had crept into his flesh. He was under the shadow of a constant headache and his body felt weakened throughout. Anger had become the sauce he poured over all of this discomfort. Now he stood over the fallen and unknown man whom he had cleaved so easily. The murder had been satisfying to him in the moment itself, but he knew that any lingering satisfaction would be gone very soon. He also knew that his wanton need to hurt someone had created an inevitable dilemma. The more he killed, the more he would be hunted, so he grabbed up the young, would be sugar baron and hid him under a nest of old straw and wood beside the outbuilding. He used little care in doing so, for he had a plan after a fashion and the discovery of the body was just a piece of it. With the man hidden, he took up the wicked, chosen weapon again and found his way to the slave quarters. Here he discovered a shuttered window, left open to let in the night air, for the slave house was a long, low, suffocating place with little in the way of creature comforts. The slaves were bedded down on straw and mattresses made of leaves and old blankets. They lay in longs rows in one common room, and while their accommodations seemed sparse, they were treated well for a sugar laborers and left to sleep the nights away unguarded. Tawny peered in at the window and found himself hovering over a slave girl of some eight or nine years who lay on the straw next to a larger man of similar features. Perhaps they were father and daughter. Perhaps they were siblings. Tawny hoped it was one or the other. He smiled and purred to himself they way the madd do in asylum corners. He set the cruel instrument of murder which had defeated Monsieur de Mofras next to the slumbering man, and with a skill known only to pickpockets and predators, he grabbed the girl up through the low window before she could utter any protest. With one hand clamped over her mouth and another about her panicked body, he slipped away into the dawning Martinique. ~Starboard Watches on Duty~

Today's special is Rigatoni with olives and bacon...

Harry has witnessed and heard witness of other witnesses that it is indeed haunted. He says that pirits of departed soldiers have made their presence known on numerous occasions.

Basile Duflot de Mofras was the eldest son of his departed father. He had already been a man of twenty-one years when his father had died of yellow fever, a disease brought to Martinique by the slave trade. Basile, though considered young by some, had proved to be an able provider for the large family left behind by the departed family patriarch. He was the industrious boy now turned man that his father had made of him. Basile walked the grounds of his family's modest estate. It was early yet and still dark, for Basile was up long before the sun. He was already walking the rows of buildings which dotted the new sugar plantation, just now blooming from investments across the sea. The property would soon blossom under Basile's control, and with far less suffering in human commerce, for Basile did not favor slavery. Still, he was pragmatic and the plantation was obliged to maintain the use of some purchased men and women for awhile yet, and Basile mused on this as he entered one of the larger outbuildings on the property. He was there for several minutes, pacing and thinking, and at first he noticed nothing amiss. The building was quiet, as he expected that it would be at this hour, but as he lingered, the mathematics in his head slowly gave over to something else. One moment he was calculating the income that his endeavors would bring and the next his skin was crawling with an alarming clarity that Basile himself could not understand. He had instincts to be sure, for he had used them wisely in many a financial matter over the last two years, but nothing quite like this had ever overcome him. The hair on his arms and neck seemed to stand on end as his skin goose-fleshed. He suddenly felt smaller than at any time in his life, including the time his father had slipped away in fever. He did not like the feeling one bit. Also, and Basile found this strange, he could swear that the odor of old cheese had crept into the place. Then the silence of the place was broken by a sound not unlike wind followed by a thick and solitary thump, wet and deep. Basile looked down to see seven inches of curved metal protruding from his waistcoat just above his right breast. He dropped the lantern out of his hand and it almost sputtered and died, but didn't. He felt the end of the garden scythe jutting from his chest and turned to see who had assailed him, but could only make out the two shadows on the wall cast by the fallen lantern. One shadow was his and the other belonged to something else. Some tall and twisted thing. 'My negro Thomas has killed me.' he thought and he tried to say as much aloud, but it just came out abbreviated, sounding like 'Taw...Taw...Taw...' before he slumped over dead on the ground. Tawny smiled at this, finding providence in the man's pronouncement as he plucked out the garden implement.

You're welcome, and William will do. I'm often called Mister Wake, but "Red Wake" is a nickname. William Brand is my pirate name, but William will do.

Ravens. They make tools, mimic other animals and like shiny things.

And save your money for Pirates in Paradise. The festival is not to be missed.

I know there is a strong need to know everything about the festival at this time, but some questions about the overall festival and the fort itself cannot be answered quite yet. We have to be patient for the time being. Meanwhile, let us all focus on the small stuff that we can and should be working on. Hurricane is already doing his part very well in oganizing all that he must do to ensure that the Port Royal encampment runs smoothly. The Mercury group is doing the same, little by little, and the Red Coat camp is growing. We must not sweat the small stuff... Recuitment Basic or improved kit, depending on the individual Individual camp needs These three things are the most important, and after them comes the larger picture when more answers are available to us. As the year passes, I will post all necessary updates. Things that we know so far... All of the encampments (i.e., 1680 Port Royal, 1720 Mercury Careening Camp, The Red Coat encampment and the Sutlers Camp) will all be camped in the trees South and West of Fort Zachary Taylor. We will have limited access to some parts of the fort. We will be using the Western side of the fort and the ramparts facing the ocean for some activities and battles. Each camp will portray and control their own needs. Each camp will have at least two campfires to be maintained and carefully watched by the members of that camp. Wood will be provided as it was in years past. Water will be available for our use. It will also be required for fire safety. See above. Several battles will take place at the fort, camps and throughout the park. The camps each have their own prefered modes of dress and kit. Please see the indivdual threads for assistance and instructions. People who are not staying at the camps due to health requirements or comfort or lack of accomodations may still participate in activities along with anyone else and they should be encouraged to ask questions and volunteer. The more the merrier. There will be law enforcement present. This is due to park regulations. Don't worry. This presence will be small and it exists only to keep things safe should safety by required. Our own individual safety should by governed by our own common sense. Participants who are camping on site can arrive as early as Tuesday, November 27th and stay through Monday, December 5th and Pirates camp for free. The Wolf will do sailing trips as always. If you haven't seen a sunset from the Wolf, you haven't seen the sun set. There will be a hanging or two. Come witness a hempin' jig. There are bathrooms. There may be multiple shower options this year. Warm and cold. There are events outside the fort. Harry has asked us to visit schools and help promote the festival in any way that we can. We should be aware of the End of Hurricane Season Party, the Walk the Plank Competition, the Parade and the many other events llisted on the Pirates in Paradise website. And last but not least, we're going to have a Hell of a good time. Oh yes.

Ol Man From the Sea. Check. We spoke on all subjects concerning Pirates in Paradise and it was a good long conversation. We discussed the good and bad things about an ever evolving festival and what we could do as individuals and as a group to make the event even better. It was an excellent conversation and I'm looking forward to PIP even more. Harry Silkie Red Cat Jenny Dorian Lasseter Siren, Captain of the Poseidon Red-Handed Jill Maeve Jim Hawkins Kass Ol Man From the Sea

I hope I haven't alarmed anyone with the question of officers. To put all of your minds at ease, we are not proposing an officer heavy crew. Quite the contrary. There won't be any cumbersome politics. There won't be any heavy handed authority or ordering. Just a few individual positions for someone who has the will and the know-how to play a roll. We're trying to answer the ongoing question of what each of us can do and would be willing to do at camp. The majority of the camp is and will be filled with your everyday, able bodied, pirates. If you are still uncertain about any issues presently being discussed, feel free to get in touch with me through chat or private messages. I know that a forum can be a deceiving medium of discussion and sometimes we may define upcoming plans and events rather poorly, so you may contact me with any clarifications and questions you may have. I'll even discuss matters by phone. I'm very glad to see so many people planning and striving to improve the camp.