Black Mab

Uh, hi guys. I'm not dead (yet), just very slowly slogging through a great deal of extremely crappy personal stuff. Won't bore you with the details. Honestly and truly sorry I have not been around or communicative. GoF, I PMed you my address & Carter's, who is in line after me. To be perfectly honest, I cannot draw right now (my muse has gone the way of my communication skills) so if you want to send them directly to Carter, that might be better. Again, my apologies for having caused confusion/chaos in this game. Hope to be back sooner rather than later.

Moira nodded her comprehension of the captain's orders. She might have smiled, just a bit, at the compliment on her writing as she accepted the proffered coin. It wasn't until she and Miss McDonough had murmured their understanding and thanks and she'd stepped toward the door that she realized she didn't even have a pouch in which to stow her newfound wealth, nor a belt to carry the pouch. The concept of shares, and what to do with them, suddenly began to make sense.

Moira set the quill carefully to the blank line Brand indicated, leaving not a drop of spilled ink as she smoothly traced the lines of her name. Writing with a quill was more of a trick than scratching with bits of coal but she managed a firm signature with barely a wobble. When finished, she set the quill aside and glanced up at Brand with a look that just might have contained a flash of, "Didn't I tell you I could write?" But the look was long gone by the time she stepped back from the table and answered, "Ah un'erstan' tha' purpose, sah, but am only passingly acquainted wit' tha' care an' operation."

Moira watched the captain closely as he spoke, and took note of the tired resignation in his voice. The import of his words was not lost on her, and when he had finished speaking she paused a long moment to consider his offer. It was more than fair, considering she came aboard under questionable circumstances at best, with limited knowledge of a seafaring life and lacking the brute strength of a man. Here she would have food, shelter and a shirt on her back for the price of honest, if hard, work . . . well, honest? After a fashion, she mused, and of a sort she could reconcile and still sleep at night. As for shares? What need had she of extra money, if she could earn her bread and board simply on the sweat of her daily labor? A handshake was in order. Moira rose from her seat and extended her hand to the captain. "Aye, sah. An accord, an' my gratitude," she said firmly, telling herself that she would live to these expectations and beyond, that she would prove her worth and learn all she could of the new life she had chosen.

Moira stared at the captain in complete surprise for a moment but was not so foolish as to waste his time with stammering. "Ye have been more than kind to me, Captain. Ah wan' tah stay an' earn me way, however ye see fit," she stated firmly, looking him in the eye. In the beat of silence that followed her bold proclamation, Moira could not prevent her glance from flickered over to Miss McDonough, seated beside her, and particularly to the woman's strong, slender hands folded neatly in her lap.

Moira flashed a quick grin as she shook the other woman's hand before returning her attention to the captain of the Watch Dog.

Moria was enjoying the fresh air and warm sun on the main deck of the Watchdog, leaning on her elbows on the railing, idly watching the ocean roll away from the horizon. She turned at the sound of her last name, spoken in a voice and accent she hadn't heard in what already seemed like several days. "Tha' ward room?" "Aye," Miss McDonaugh gestured for the younger girl to follow her, which Moira did quickly and willingly, curious as to what would happen next. It seemed there was never a dull moment aboard this ship.

Carter, if it's okay with you I'll send Ransom's book to you in a couple of days. I'm just finishing up with the last page.

What a cool idea. I especially like the "bomb" recipe . . . Found some on ebay that say they're from Mexico and were a 2006 Christmas promotional item: http://cgi.ebay.com/3-COLLECTIBLE-ROUND-ME...ksid=p1638.m118

Thanks, I was wondering about that. I couldn't find any instructions, but I love the idea!

I'll check. I'm having these things sent to my work address (I live on a really busy street and I'm afraid of packages disappearing from my front porch while I'm not home) and no one will be in the office after this week, so I was concerned about getting something from Chris in time. Anyway, Ransom, love your book! Love all the dangly lovelies hangin' off it, and it's got so many excellent pages already! Puts my little doodles to shame, let me tell you, so I will have to come up with something really good!

Nice website - especially liked the "work in progress" page. I'm really impressed that you simply took a class and figured out how to do this all on your own! Ah arrrrr literate pirate but ah still like me sum purty pitchurs. And that little rowboat is just the cutest thing on the seven seas. Great work!

Okay, I got something from Chris. Chris, is this your book or Ransom's? It is gold, has a big "R" on the front of it and Ransom's picture on one of the first pages so I'm confused . . .

Casketchris and I have been in contact over PM, since he's supposed to send his book to me. He is running behind and has not yet sent it out. I'm sorry, but I'm an extremely sloooooooow artist. My contribution is going to be sparse, at best. I will also be in Colorado from December 20 - 31, so if I don't receive it before then I will just mail it to the next person in the queue (in this case, Carter) without any work from me. Sorry I sent Pat's book on to Carter three days ago. I think Carter said it has arrived (I hope)?

*ahem* CasketChris, just a reminder - this is your month to get into the rotation. Send me your book! I draw extremely slowly (bah) so the sooner, the better!

I'm getting Pat's in the mail today, too, Carter so you should have it in a couple days. Ugh. It's been a horrendous month for my artistic muse. Hope December will be better.

August 2, 1704 - Aboard the Watch Dog The sun was setting as Moira checked the loaves browning in the stove and gave the thick, hearty stew simmering over the fire one last, solid stir. The kitchen tidy and the supper well on its way to complete, the lass hung her apron on a peg and looked about her. The Watchdog's cook was still ashore and he'd left her no further jobs for the day. Deciding she'd toiled in the galley long enough to warrant a short breath of fresh air abovedecks, Moira left the warm room and, following the half-remembered route of the night previous, found her way to the main deck of the 'Dog. The lamps had already been lit, revealing a riot of humanity packed between bales of cotton, great bolts of silk and woolens and boxes and barrels of all sizes. It looked for all the world like a village market. Moira paused in surprise then moved along the edge of the crowd, instinctively drawn to a sheltered vantage point from which she could watch the proceedings. Despite the dim light, Moira could make out the figures nearest her. They appeared to be wealthy men, shopkeepers and landowners from Martinique. Moira thought she recognized one, whose unguarded purse had fed her for a fortnight. She ducked deeper into the shadows just as a ruckus broke out along the far side of the ship. Amidst the shouting, she could hardly tell what had happened, though the whisper of "scoundrel" and "thief" filtered back to her. The market continued despite the interruption and Moira watched with interest as men bartered between themselves, bargains were struck and cargo and gold exchanged hands. She was particularly interested to note that a woman seemed to be holding a prime position in the goings-on. She had the look not of a merchant, but a sailor. Yet she moved among the tradesmen confidently, carrying herself proudly about her business. Retreating back to the galley and the business of distributing supper to a hungry crew, Moira wondered who the woman of her observations was, and what quality she must have that had led the captain to place her in such a position of consequence, in his stead.

Aye! No one would be pickin' those!!!

Thanks for clarifying, Pew. I wasn't that worried about it. Now I have to think of something creative and fancy to go in Pat's book. Oh horrors

I just got Patrick's. It is awesome, as expected. Pat, I hate you If you send me casketchris' does that mean I have to do 2 this month? That's fine, I just want to know how to manage my drawing time.

Great minds, eh Christine? Oh well. I did go through my person's previous posts and I learned the following: 1) They make everything themselves 2) They are extremely talented and resourceful 3) They are evidently EXTREMELY resourceful or are working with a higher budget than I am because their hand-made stuff looks better than anything I could buy, and the few bought items they have are museum-quality. Damn, now I'm going to have to get all . . .creative. This could get messy. Is it legal to ship rum?

And just to make it public (Patrick, I PMed you this already), I already sent Skull Pyrate Carter my book on the 5th so he should get it today or tomorrow. Pat, I haven't gotten your book yet but I'm watching for it.

Got mine . . .oh geez I don't know this person at all . . . what to get . . . maybe we should each post a couple of things we have been drooling over/are interested in (within a reasonable price range, of course) to give our santas a starting point . . .is that a bad idea?

Carter, I'm going to need yer address, unless you want to meet up at Escondido this weekend (which would be cool anyway, if yer goin').

I'm still in. Have PM'ed Carter to see if he's okay getting my book a little late and whether or not he'll be at Escondido this weekend. If not, I'll mail out on the 3rd (from San Diego, I guess).