Hydaelyn Role-Players

Quickly throwing his cloak back on Xha'li hefted his pack and scrambled up the road ladder behind Salaah. Once at the top he walked carefully off to the side so he was out of the way of everyone else coming up the ladder. Leaning against the railing a yalm or so further aft he stood looking out towards the town while growing accustomed to the creaks and groans of the ship as she swayed lightly at anchor.

Desmond was not the type to barge his way through a crowd but there was something about the ocean that chilled his bones. As a result of his phobia he was quick to make his way to the rope ladder right after the Miqo'te passenger was on his way up. He feigned holding the ladder steady for a moment before the usually resolute young Hyur dropped the facade and followed.

Putting one hand on the railing, he popped himself onto the deck in one fluid motion, leathern boots hitting with a muffled 'thump'! A sense of relief washed over him before the Phoenix Flame bobbed lazily in the water.

"Limsa isn't that far. We'll be there in no time at all," he said to himself before looking over the side to see if he could help with the next passenger's belongings.

Monty watched Xha'something clamber up the ladder and blinked. He'd expected the nervous looking quiet fellow to be the first to make haste for slightly more solid ground. Turning his lone eye toward the man he barely spotted him before he too shot up onto the boat. Well, answered that question.

He shook his head, sighed again and looked to the over-encumbered Miqo'te.

"Ladies first," he mumbled, tilting his head toward the ladder.

-Peering up the rope a bit watching the passengers dart up it so easily. She rubbed her head nearly jumping at Monty's tone. Her ears ticked back as she remembered her mother's words at leaving belongs behind. She nodded slightly as she looked at him in a bit of silence as she didn't want to be rude to his manners. She softly spoke barely audible in a small bit of shyness,

"Thank you."

She gripped the robe finding it was sturdier then it looked as she scaled it carefully watching her feet for a good footing before lifting herself up. Her tail swaying to keep her even on the rope ladder as she was up it in no time even with her hefty armor, her feet thunking on the wooden flooring. She turned and glanced back down the ladder noting its actual height made her a bit dizzy as she stepped back a little, careful she didn't bump into anyone she found a inner part of the deck to settle down and sit on.-

Monty watched the girl climb, impressed by the ease of her movements - appearances could be deceiving, it seemed. He turned to the woman holding the ladder, stared for a quiet moment and decided that chivalry had been appeased. His decision had nothing to do with the fact that the Roegadyn looked like she could snap him in two.

His thoughts did not show on his face as he merely gave her a respectful nod, shouldered his pack and climbed up on deck.

Melle waited for the dinghy to steady itself against the ship and stood, bent, stayed upright when the rope ladders plunked down to their boat. Ships, though terrible, were the lesser evil compared to little stolen fishing vessels. Eager to find less unstable ground, she bit into her third ginger piece and quickly climbed her way to the deck.

Time to work your magic, tangy crystallized root, she thought, and found a spot near the railing between the two ladders. She regarded the passengers from the first boat with an easy enough smile as they arrived while she waited for Cima and the others.

Faydrel perked up a bit as the other thanked her and her face fell slightly. "No, no. Don't get the wrong idea, sweetie. I just don't feel like watching you hurl this morn's breakfast." She explained in a teasing tone and brought her arms up and around her knees to bring in her legs against her chest. "They worked for me when I first started sailing. So, cheers." Fay continued with a small half-smile as she watched the young red-head pop the slightly sweet confection into her mouth. She could still remember the first time she had sailed, the constant sway of the ship was unnerving and made her stomach constant somersaults well into the night. Thankfully she'd earned her sea-legs years ago and it was almost unnerving to be on dry-land these days.

A short distance later the Phoenix Flame came well into view and it was quite the beauty. Faydrel gave a small whistle as she looked over the curves, size, and the number of sails upon the vessel. As they came up to the side to board the ship with Agile and Salaah were scrambling aboard first. Fay stretched her arms over her head lightly with a small yawn before she swung her legs off the bench and waited for their boat to steady. Once it was their turn to board the Pheonix, Faydrel stood in the rear and swung her bag over her shoulder and shifted the bow at her back.

"Not a problem, Cap." She stated with a mock salute and waited for the other two girls climb aboard first before following up the rope ladder behind them with relative ease. Once she was finally deck-side Faydrel wandered the outskirts of the group of fellow passengers and allowed her gaze to travel and take in her surroundings.

-Released a sigh, letting her ears tick to the side as she reached up with her heavy hand and rubbed her right ear tip thoughtfully. She dreaded the feeling over water, her tail coiled around her waist as if to suppress the slight awkwardness of her stomach from just walking to her now seated spot. She let her eyes linger along the other passengers before turning her jaw to look out over the city they'd be leaving. Almost relief flushed over her as she seemed to relax for a moment.

She had her pack and her axe now in her lap as she tried to squirm to much, finding her thoughts to over take the nauseated feelings that threatened her throat. Her fingers pulling her pack closer to her chest as she seemed to want to safe guard it subconsciously.-

Looking behind him Xha'li noticed the Miqo'te in the heavy armor was looking a bit squeamish.  Heading over to her he dropped his back before sitting just behind it and putting his leg through the strap to keep it by him.  "Not fond of sea travel?"  He asked her, "it might help to close your eyes and just pay attention to what your sense of balance is saying.  Unfortunately while I did train for a while as a conjurer and can handle most common injuries there's nothing I can do about seasickness."

Thinking for a moment Xha'li grins, "Or at least not magically.  A distraction of some sort might help as well."  Realizing he hadn't introduced himself yet Xha'li grins sheepishly while running his left hand through his hair, "My name's Xha'li Moui by the way."

Siuane's fingers drummed on the harp case in her lap.  Less than six hours ago she had been in a warm bed enjoying her latest gig as 'court bard' for some hyur merchant who had a thing for miqo'te singers.  Not a bad job even if she did have to constantly fend of his playing with her blonde tail.  It's just a tail she thought.

A spray of water snapped her from her thoughts. Growling a little "Please row faster!" she snarled. The man rowing sighed to himself and continued at the same pace. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a small but heavily leaden pouch.  "You can have all this, if we get to that ship in time."  

She felt the small skiff pick up speed as the man redoubled his efforts.  "Captain, Captain!" Siuane shouted.  "Do you have room for one more? I can pay and I'll sing and play as well if need be!"

To take his mind off of the ocean Desmond studied his surroundings. All around him the passengers from his rowboat and the one commandeered by the Captain milled about. The tall Elezen looked contemplatively away, standing as straight as the mast at his back. Two of the Miqo'te were acquainting themselves a ways off. The pretty blonde Hyur that had flustered Desmond ashore wore an expression of bemused satisfaction, it almost made it seem like this was her ship.

Agile was conversing with a few sailors as Salaah was busy darting around, this way and that, doing things Desmond assumed sailors did. The Captain himself, looking no less jovial than when his life had was threatened ashore was standing tall, feet planted wide in dramatic fashion, calling out orders. 

'Quite a motley crew we are', thought Desmond, as a hint of a smile perked at the left corner of this mouth. He looked around for a place to stash his pack before taking a stroll around the ship, anything to keep his mind occupied and away from thoughts of sea serpents and endless cold depths.

As he neared the railing, he heard cries over the water. Desmond cocked his head and peered over the side. There was a third rowboat now bobbing in the water beside the Phoenix Flame. In it there was one sweaty man at the oars, looking annoyed and a fair-haired Miqo'te female, clutching a rectangular case to her chest and waving frantically. 


 "Captain, Captain!" she shouted.  "Do you have room for one more? I can pay and I'll sing and play as well if need be!"

She caught his eye, her expression asking for a reply. Desmond put a hand to his chest and shook his head, indicating he was not the right person for her request.
He withdrew from the railing and quickly strode towards the Captain, who had apparently just said something amusing as everyone around him burst into laughter.

"Captain," he began, "there is one more requesting passage. It's urgent."

-Her eyes shifted up towards the male Miqo'te, her left aqua tinted iris eye glinted slightly in the dim light in the shade. Her right an odd near white ringed in silver seemed slightly dull. She smiled a little discomforted as she tried to settled herself but her tail still fluffed from the stress.

"First time actually... Water isn't my stronger suit. That and I heard to many stories as a kit of Krackens over taking even the largest of ships."

She felt as if she was rambling and covered her mouth as she tried to recover from it, She felt her ears tilt back a little as the tips even seemed razzled from her discomfort of fear of large sea beasts. A tint of pink hazed under her eyes in a bit of shyness and embarrassment. 

"I'm K'ahrue..."

A dark haired Hyur looked over the ship’s railing and theireyes met.  They stared at each other forjust a second and then shaking his head he stepped away from the railing. Her heart sank.  She had to get toLimsa.  

The oarsman lowered the oars,making ready to head back.  With a quickflick she slid an arrow out of her bag and tucked the point under his chin.  “You will wait” she hissed.


The Hyur’s voice camefrom above, “Captain, there is one more requesting passage. It's urgent."  Thank the heavens she thought...

((My apologies for the delay, 60-70 hour work weeks have been killing me. I'd intended a more detailed post...but I doubt most of you care about the details of getting a ship set to sail anyway :p))

Tyriont peered over the side of the ship at Desmond's call. Seeing the girl down in the boat pointing an arrow at the other man in her tiny boat, he chuckled to himself. "Aye, get your arse up here, love! Make it fast!" Dashing back, he made his way up the small set of steps leading up to the ship's wheel as Salaah and Agile Wolf secured the ship's dinghy. As he took his position, a lean Hyur Midlander woman was moving quickly about the deck shouting commands at the other crewmembers on deck - a hulking behemoth of a blue-skinned Roegadyn man, two red-haired Elezen who looked as if they could be related, one male and one female, and a tiny extremely nervous looking Lalafell man. Moments later the sails had unfurled and the ship began to move away from the shore as Tyriont maintained his grip on the wheel. Glancing back, he saw that the furious man he'd left behind on shore was still there and called back with an apologetic wave. "Woulda been someone else if not me, mate! You're better off!" Before long, the small port was starting to vanish over the horizon and the ship was on its way. Tyriont beckoned over the red-haired male Elezen to take the wheel and stepped down to address his assembled passengers, clapping his hands.

"Right then! Let's talk payment, shall we? Some of you look like you might be a tad hard up, so don't worry...I'm certainly not about to charge the same as those other buggers. Gil's preferred, but if you're short then I'll take whatever work you can offer on the ship over the next few hours. If that's what you're offering, I'll be sending you to talk to Hana over there." He waved his hand towards the Hyur woman who had been yelling orders before they set sail. "If you can't pay and you're too weak to work, then talk to me anyways. We'll work something out. Either way, we're getting the lot of you to Limsa Lominsa. Not about to throw any of you overboard now." He smiled warmly. "Now, who's first?"

In a few short moments the Phoenix Flame's newest passenger was safely onboard, but not before her rower had exchanged a few colorful words with her. Desmond was amused at how effectively the little blonde Miqo'te reciprocated the language. Once the rowboat was out of earshot, she scanned the ship and finding him watching, favored him with a smile and a wave in thanks from across the deck. Desmond returned the gesture.


And with that, they were under way. After a time, the Captain addressed the passengers about payment. Being from a merchant family, Desmond knew he must get his own accounts settled before the struggle over gil made the Phoenix Flame a less amenable hostess.


Desmond pulled a small cloth sack from his belt. It jingled softly as he passed it from one hand to the other, weighing it's contents. Stepping up, he cleared his throat to get the Captain's attention.

"Captain," he began as he walked up to the bearded Elezen, " I have a fair amount of gil for passage here, in my own humble opinion." Desmond eyed the Captain, whose face was a mask of graciousness, yet he did not offer a reply, instead implying Desmond shouldn't be done speaking. "As I said ashore, I can also offer my sword-arm  should the need arise. I was given to understand pirates are a chronic problem." With that he bowed his head slightly and meeting the Captain's gaze with his own, held out the little bag in his outstretched palm.