You have been taken by the Mists

Author Topic: ≈ Mariette: The Captain's Thoughts ≈ [Complete]  (Read 4061 times)

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≈ Mariette: The Captain's Thoughts ≈ [Complete]
« on: June 05, 2014, 08:43:28 AM »

Click image for portrait link.

Name: Captain Mariette Regine L’Hereux
Meaning: Little rebel, queen, red.
Age: 23 Yrs.
Race: Human
Pistoleer/Privateer
Origin: Chateuxfaux, Dementlieu (Ravenloft Native)


“Le difficile n'est pas de monter, mais, en montant, de rester soi.” - Jules Michelet
(The difficulty is not in climbing, but rather in climbing and remaining oneself. )

--

Guide My Sword - The Princess Bride (Mariette’s Theme)

“La guerre est le dernier recours.”
(War is the last resort.)
House L’Hereux
« Last Edit: April 30, 2017, 07:10:34 PM by emptyanima »

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You Have It In Writing
« Reply #1 on: July 02, 2014, 10:26:31 AM »
[The journal is written in an efficient but feminine High Mordentish script.]
I am living on borrowed time.

I cast my mind back to that day when we were doomed at sea, my father, my mother, my sister and me. My father, Pierre L’Hereux, refused to believe that we had lost, as he always had. He had a mind for stratagem and warfare, but he was stubborn as a mule, and as the ship caved in with cannon fire and filled with our cries, he refused to believe that it was the end.

We had long fallen from the graces of the Council, I see that now. While Father refused to see truth in his times of stubbornness, the rest of the time he was the one presenting it to unheeding ears. They did not want to hear of his concerns and whispers of threats. But gradually, his voice became one that was less and less an annoyance, and more a great grievance. They despised that my father refused to accept the veneer of amity and peace that the Serene Republic wears like a masquerade adornment.

To this day, I do not know who lay behind it, the conductor of the L’Hereux’s swan-song orchestra. We were close to the bay, I remember, when we encountered another ship. We sent up the flags to send a message of peaceful intent, but this was ignored and they came with intent to board us. Many men’s feet clattered upon the deck of my family’s flagship. We huddled within our cabin until they rapped on the door with great force.

“Let us meet with your captain! Let us parley!” They cried. My father was a man who honoured the terms of parley with each breath. He went out of the door with no arms in his hands.

[The writing stops suddenly, ink pooling a little at the end of the sentence as though the writer was given to shaking in recollection.]

The following gunshot has resonated in all my dreaming since. They knew his honour, and it condemned him.

They took my mother and my sister, my dear Sabine first, and wrought unspeakable deprivation upon them. I will honour their memories by letting it remain unwritten. They will not endure it a second time by my reading of it. They found me in the corner, huddled, my father’s sword clutched in my hand. But there were many of them, one of me, and my mind was adrift as the very ship we sailed. They left me in my anguish and shame as the ship began to break apart, and they returned to their own vessel, firing their pistols in a mocking salute to the ship they had vanquished. I held my father’s sword, cried out for my mother, my sister, but they did not reply. I waited for the waves to claim me. Perhaps I would see if the fantastic legends of the merpeople were true. Perhaps I would become one.

I should have died with the rest of them, lost in a sea burial. But I did not. Something in me made my cling tight to the driftwood, and while exhaustion and pain wracked my body, my heart screamed in anguish, and my head ached, I struggled to keep my eyes open. To close my eyes would mean submitting to death, so I forced them open. I could barely see for how much they watered, and I shuddered in the freezing depths.

I was illness and misery as I was washed onto the shore, and allowed myself finally, upon the sands of the Serene Republic, to sink into the darkness. When I woke, not knowing how much time had passed, I was in one of the Halan refuges, surrounded by their white robes and their gentle voices. I hear my countrymen sing their praises to Ezra, and while I join them, it is Hala that has touched my heart most. They restored to me my health, and when I was well, they gave to me my father’s sword, sharpened anew.

The name L’Hereux has always meant ‘red’. Following the sinking of our ship, the name became scarlet, like the fallen woman. It is my hope to return to the sea as a privateer, to keep the Serene Republic safe from threats which come across the sea, that my name might reclaim the honour it once held, to absolve the names of my father, my mother, my dear Sabine.

Pierre. Josephine. Sabine.

I do this for you.

~ Mariette
« Last Edit: March 26, 2017, 11:01:52 AM by emptyanima »

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In Happier Times
« Reply #2 on: July 02, 2014, 10:30:27 AM »
My family was a happy one, I remember, despite its origins. My parent’s union was one of merit, given their work. Josephine L’Hereux, née Roche, came from a family known for their diplomatic skill. My father, the tactician, used steel and powder where words could bring no peace. What began as convenience and sensibility gave way to love, a love that lasted until the end.

Sabine, two years my junior, turned all heads. Her beauty and grace were unmatched, and her sweet tongue and warm demeanour held some sway. The men of Chateaufaux would have all leapt into the Baie de Pernault if she had asked it of them. Where she was the butterfly, I was the moth. I would come to evening gatherings and there present myself, but during the day I would be holed up within the L’Hereux estate, studying the great tacticians, sea battles of note, advances made in the production of firearms.. But not all my knowledge came from books. I would often gather up old artworks that were worn with poor treatment, and fill them with bullets - it would not do for a Dementlieuse woman to be seen in the Rue de Pistoles, firing at the busts of men with names long forgotten.

Swordplay also took up my time, and while I struck with steel, Sabine mastered the dance of the fan, the power that lies in eye contact and how to couch the most appalling criticism in words that seemed like compliments. I was always more my father’s daughter. This was true also in our time at the University. I spent my time in Military studies, while Sabine gave herself to the arts and the statutes of law.

Most of my memories of my mother, who was a busy woman for all her visitors and diplomatic functions, come from songs sung and tales told as I lay in my childhood bed. Tales of heroes and heroines, and songs that never leave my head.

Hero. L’Hereux.

Ha, perhaps I think too highly of my family. Don’t we all?

~ Mariette

« Last Edit: March 26, 2017, 11:02:13 AM by emptyanima »

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For His Lordship
« Reply #3 on: July 07, 2014, 08:55:32 AM »
We have a ship.

I did not expect it so soon, I confess. I believed that those being chosen for the crew would have to wait far longer before I became a true Captain. We were exploring together, a deep and winding cave in the forests near Vallaki, when we found ourselves surrounded by thick mist. We remained close together, and soon we could not see in front of our very faces. I was deeply worried by this, and before I knew it, we had been snatched away by its tendrils. We stumbled out, dazed and bemused, across grass, surrounded by yet more mist. But then… came the scent of the sea, and the sound of waves. We were tugged away again, and came to be upon the island of Blaustein, battered by the elements. We made our way through the storm, alongside high walls, and met with a guard of the island.

Upon hearing who we were, privateers and seafarers, he brought us into Castle Bluebeard. It is truly gigantic. The corridors seem never-ending, lined with portraits of beautiful women. We came into the main chamber, where the tables were long and lined with many chairs. We waited there, and a valet came. He blew upon his trumpet and we rose, as in came His Lordship himself.

None of the women among the crew could stop looking, utterly taken in by him. We came and stood before him, and he made his request of us. He wished us to find a ship unlike any other, with a hull of steel that did not sink, and would spew fog. Upon that ship, a woman was being kept, a woman he desired. If we could bring her to him, we would be able to keep the ship he leant us. I discussed with my crew, and we agreed. The challenge was set.

We convened in the Davy Jones’ and waited out the rest of the night. We drew up a code of conduct.

[A copy of the code has been slipped into the journal’s pages.]

Quote from: The Code
The Code

I. No fighting among members of the crew is permitted on board. Any disputes that have to be resolved with violence will be dealt with on land.

II. Each member of the crew is entitled to a fair share of all spoils. Shares will be chosen according to rank, with those of high rank choosing first.

III. Each member has a say in important decisions.

IV. All weapons are to be kept clean and well-serviced.

V. If any desert the crew during battle,  they will suffer marooning or death. If they are marooned, they will be permitted only one Bottle of Powder, one Bottle of Water, one small Weapon, and Shot.

VI. If any member loses a limb during service, they will be compensated. 800 gold coins shall be given.

VII. All shall mark and declare their belongings upon joining, that ignorance may not be plead in thievery.

VIII. Any member that shall break their weapons, smoke in the Hold, without a Cap to their Pipe, or carry a Candle lighted without a Lantern, will receive 39 lashes on the bare back for placing the ship in irresponsible danger.

IX. Any man among the crew who forces a woman for his own pleasure shall suffer death. The reverse, while rarer, is also enforced.

X. There is to be no theft from fellow crew members. Any who steal from officers shall be shot.

XI. Those who are discovered to be Mutineers will be tried by the Captain, Ship’s Master and Quartermaster. If no penitence is shown, they will be killed. If remorse is shown, but they are discovered again, they will be killed.

XII. Smoking is permitted on the deck, but those who toke of the hookah and poppy’s milk must do so in moderation, that all are in command of their bodies should danger arise.

XII. The right of parley is to be respected and honoured. Any who break the conditions of parley will find their punishment severe. Anyone who harms a person asking for parley will receive 50 lashings.

XIV. Any action which violates the Letter of Marque and Reprisal held by the Captain, that is, any action taken against ships of the Serene Republic and its ports, is forbidden on pain of lashings at best, and death at worst.

When morning came, we went out into the bay, and found the ship moored. She is a beauty. We took a rowing boat to meet and board her, and all went to their assigned places. When I stepped behind her wheel, I returned home. We steered her from the bay, and took a northwest path across the trackless seas, with the help of Anette, the navigator, and Desiree, the lookout sat high up in the Crow’s Nest.

The ship, the Ironclad, was a beast of a vessel. Upon spotting us, and seeing our cannons, it launched an attack, destroying our master. I rang the ship bell, and the cry for parley went up. The vessel belonged to travellers from Zherisia, Paridon particularly. We asked to meet their diplomat, and she boarded with her captain. Lady Bancourt, the object of Bluebeard’s desires. They set their sailors to work repairing the mast, and we took new sails and rigging to mend it. Melanie, the Quartermaster, tempted the woman into the hold with tea, while the captain remained with his crew. I left my Ship Master, Juergen, with the rest of the crew to oversee repairs, before descending into the hold. Unbeknownst to us, Melanie had slipped opium into the woman’s beverage, sufficient to make her weary and slip into a deep slumber. She was taken carefully to lie down in my cabin.

We shared a hushed discussion regarding our next move. I was uncertain about bringing the Lady to Bluebeard, knowing it would be against her will, but if we did not, Bluebeard’s punishment would be swift, and the ship, the beauty that she is, ‘The Scarlet Woman’, would be lost to us. And how would we deal with the captain and his crew? To fight would mean to break parley, and to be like those who killed my father, and doomed my mother and sister. It was inexcusable. So when Captain Wentworth broke it, his judgement was swift. He threatened us, and declared that he would commandeer our vessel. Non, I cried, non! He had signed his death warrant. We knocked him out, bound him, and began the return trip to Blaustein. The sailors were easily convinced by Melanie’s charms to remain with us, and they have joined the crew, that the ship be kept in good order and the decks be swabbed.

It was night when we arrived. We approached to moor, and dragged the bad captain up on deck. He was bound to the mast, and given fifty lashings for his treachery, by Melanie and his former crew members. It was not enough. He had broken parley. He had to die. The cry to keelhaul him came up, and I answered it, upon my honour as captain. Fins poked out of the water, which was inky in the pale moonlight. The reavers had come seeking food. We would provide them with traitor’s blood.

Guts and viscera splattered the decks, and the new boys began to swab. Lady Bancourt was examined by Marguerite, our Voodan surgeon, and she found her in good health. The anchor was lowered, and we went ashore in a dingy. We went to Castle Bluebeard immediately, and the Lady woke. She had come to her new home, her new life with his Lordship to begin. I confess I felt a pang of guilt as the woman, a widow, was led away. Marriages are arranged often, my parents was, and they grew to love each other. I pray it is the same for them. The wedding is on the horizon.

My Scarlets and I have been busy, sharing our spoils and expanding our numbers. I have my ship. My crew is loyal. All the open seas are ours to explore. And I shall be a good captain, not like the code-breaker. May I die before I break parley.

~ Captain Mariette
« Last Edit: March 26, 2017, 11:02:49 AM by emptyanima »

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Reflections
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2014, 07:10:22 AM »
We have been busy.

The crew has been working hard, both as a unit and individually. We aim to be as self-sufficient as we can, taking up useful crafts and occupations. We made many land-based expeditions while the winter snow and ice rendered the ship unsafe. But now it has thawed, we can return to our work.

A few evenings spent aboard have revealed more of the crew to me, their thoughts and ideas, and I am grateful to be given the chance to learn more of them, as it will no doubt cause us to function as a more effective and understanding group.

We've yet to hear word of the wedding Bluebeard planned, but continue to keep our ears open. In the meantime, my continued presence in Port-a-Lucine may hopefully lead us to be approached with a task to defend the Serene Republic's ports, or rival any other seafaring group which may be causing trouble.

May I soon be on the water with my crew again,

~ Captain Mariette
« Last Edit: March 26, 2017, 11:03:11 AM by emptyanima »

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Extending Her Sphere
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2014, 06:22:37 AM »
How fortuitous that we were the ones to hear such talk.

I met a man by the name of Rudolph LaFranchi, and shared pleasant conversation. He dabbles in alchemy, and is given to travel, and has made reference to seafaring endeavours. We ate a simple meal in the Broken Spire, continuing to talk, and as we did, a woman came downstairs and asked if she could sit with us. We said that she was most welcome to do so. She kept her head covered with a hood, but a few locks of sandy hair spilled out, and said her name was Pauline. Upon learning that I am a privateer, she asked me a very strange question - "Do you serve the Dementlieuse government, or the people?" I wondered why she made such a distinction. Certainly, it is by the letter of Marque and Reprisal that the government has bestowed upon me that gives me the right to sail without investigation, but I do it for the Republic's defence, aside from my own love of the seas and the sense of adventure they afford.

She incited uprising and rebellion, saying that the aristocracy will be made to listen in the only way they understand. Rudolph and I said very little, so stunned were we by her outburst. The Government Food Provider has been shut down that resources might be directed towards defence for the time being, but this has caused discontent to bubble, further adding to recent disruptions. She realised that she was wasting our time, and promptly left. I gave my thanks and apologies to Rudolph, and made my way hastily to the Palais Dirigeant. Thankfully, Councillor Helene DuSuis was available for a private word, and I was able to inform her of what had transpired, that those who are orchestrating the discontent may be swiftly dealt with, to save the lives and secure the safety of many more. She also reminded me of the work of Zidonne LeFebvre, Knight of Song, and Baron Edmond Montte, whose continued assistance and presence among those less fortunate is a great blessing to them.

Helene and I are similar, in some respects. I am the last of my house, and as such, my status is little in terms of nobility. Helene struggled to reclaim such status following unwise words from her father, concerning unflattering opinions of the Lord Governor, spoken inches away from one of his aides. And yet, she now sits on the Council of Brilliance, a prominent member. Such a rise is possible. And while I do not think I should like to sit on the Council, I pray that one day, the name L'Hereux will be intoned with respect, and not with the uncertainty left by tragedy.

There are no politics at sea. We wait on shore now for the colder months to pass. I already yearn for my vessel. For the time being, my passions must be focused on restoring my family's name.

~ Captain Mariette
« Last Edit: March 26, 2017, 11:03:33 AM by emptyanima »

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Memory, Murder, Manifesto
« Reply #6 on: November 03, 2014, 09:28:26 AM »
Were it not for memory, I know I would be a poor captain, for then I would recall no knowledge of how to steer, how to navigate, how each part and member of the ship completes its function. For this, I am grateful for memory, lucky that I was able to keep hold of those faculties, despite the shock of that shipwreck.

But sometimes I am driven to curse the ghosts that haunt my mind’s eye, even if those things never touched me. My dear sweet sister. Poor Kreshnik.

I had hoped to find some good company, to fill my head with happier things, thus my reasons for attending the masked ball and auction yesternight. With a bright red wig, severe mask and flowing gown, I was the Scarlet Woman, the namesake of our ship. I sat with a fellow who had donned the mask of Death. It seems that is was far too fitting...

It occurred partway through the bidding on the second item. Charlotte LaRouche, a noblewoman, sipped from her glass of punch, coughed blood, and expired, despite the efforts of clerics, herbalists, and my own rough hands to revive her. I am convinced that the perpetrator, both killer and coward, was in that room as the gendarme questioned. To think that Councillor DuSuis could have so easily been the one to die. Thank goodness that she did not drink it. Perhaps... the talk of anarchy I brought to her afore. Might there be a connection?

It will not suit at all to dwell on this. My domain is not the land of the Serene Republic, but her seas. LaSalle, Marguerite and Kreshnik have returned to me. It is time to bring the Scarlets together, to get hold of our tasks and goals, and roam the oceans once more.

It’s time for us to end our shore leave. I wish only that I had picked a better moment.

~ Captain Mariette
« Last Edit: March 26, 2017, 11:03:49 AM by emptyanima »

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Disdain and Glittering Gold
« Reply #7 on: November 10, 2014, 07:59:08 AM »
The task the councillor gave to us is completed, though I did not anticipate such a lack of clarity, such confusion, as we searched the hold of the rogue privateer's ship. The Locust played host to contraband, explosive, and its captain had fled below the moment we boarded. We left his ship unharmed, as commanded, and we planned to bring him in alive. He made that impossible for us.

That blade he wielded had me pinned to the floor in a matter of moments, but thankfully my crew leapt to my aid, bringing the man to his knees. He surrendered to his injuries, despite the efforts of the Halan sisters, but we were still paid handsomely for our work. Much more however was the reward for his blade. I came across a woman as I reached Port-a-Lucine's gates. She saw the blade and screeched, for she had one the very same, but it had been stolen. She paid very highly for it, a payment I have begun to divide amongst the crew as they come to me.

I hope that those perpetrating the civil unrest in the Serene Republic are found quickly. Their poison is spreading...

[What follows appears to have been written after a pause, the ink pooling somewhat.]

I will not be so careless again. I jeopardised them thoughtlessly, and paid for it with the screeching of restless spirits echoing in my ears. Our wounds shall heal, but that memory shall not so quickly fade. Thank heavens that Kreshnik is so patient.

What freedom it is, when burdening secrets can be shared. But having what that freedom has brought to us, knowing of dear Desiree's tragedy... and so quickly, without warning, that singing echoes in my head again.


~ Captain Mariette
« Last Edit: March 26, 2017, 11:04:23 AM by emptyanima »

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Re: ≈ Mariette: The Captain's Thoughts ≈
« Reply #8 on: August 23, 2015, 11:55:39 AM »
I feel alive once more.

Kreshnik could never quite understand my need to be active. He is the kind, perhaps sensibly, to know when it is time to step back and be content with your accomplishments. But here I find myself, among the Company of the Fox, wearing blue instead of red and willing it to be no different.

To be at sea upon The Scarlet Woman once more has been so freeing. To be in a position where she can again sail for the good of Dementlieu is even better.

The rest of the Company set off on rowing boats, while I guided her to find harbour between the cliffs of the Arden Bay.

Here I will wait until Captain de Larose sends further instructions. I wish it was Desirée watching from the crow's nest, though, and not me.

I hope my old crew are happy, these days.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2017, 11:04:35 AM by emptyanima »

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Re: ≈ Mariette: The Captain's Thoughts ≈
« Reply #9 on: August 26, 2015, 10:38:42 AM »
I have never seen so much blood.

As we were pelted by the Mordentish rains, and the arrows and blades of the Valachani, it mingled in it, soaked the earth so that we slipped in mud and viscera.

The claws of the rending beasts, the elite force of the Valachani, were responsible for most of the bloodshed. I feared that several of the Company were lost.

For a moment, I thought my borrowed time was at an end, and that I would drown in the bloodied mud instead of the sea.

Instead I, as a member of the Company of the Fox, have been named a Hero of Mordent.

Once our post-campaign respite is at an end, I look forward to setting sail with them all once more, should The Scarlet Woman be needed.


I did not think I would warm so quickly to wearing blue.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2017, 11:04:51 AM by emptyanima »

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Re: ≈ Mariette: The Captain's Thoughts ≈
« Reply #10 on: August 26, 2016, 11:40:12 AM »
((Bump for safeguard.))

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Fin [Unwritten]
« Reply #11 on: April 30, 2017, 07:43:01 PM »
At last, the hourglass was drained.

She could feel the wire tightening at her neck, the words that nobleman had uttered echoing in her head. How was it that they had all stood by while her family's name was impugned? How was it that standing up for those who slumbered in the ocean's depths could result in her own demise?

How much had she lost? She had emerged from the bay, the sole survivor of an attack and the ensuing shipwreck. She had mustered, sailed with, and lost a crew. And where was Juergen, the one who had remained, the little rebel's lover?

"He'll know. He'll sense me in the seas." She thought.

She still refused to relinquish the last vestige of her bravado, her pride. It was true. She was not in the brig of her own ship, but it would run with scarlet.

Beyond the door stood the sycophantic cowards who had ordered her death-- they'd greased palms for it. Although she tried to muster up the will, she couldn't wish ill on them.

For what were they but any other noble family? The higher rungs on the social ladder are hard to cling to, for they are slick with blood and poisoned tongues.

She met the eyes of the nameless bluecoat who'd been bribed to carry out the deed. He had a sword in hand, but he did not use it. She had hoped they might fight at the last.

Still, she could not help but smile faintly, her attention returning to the bars of the brig's door as the wire reached its tightest point. She could feel her eyes bulging, and she tensed as her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. But still, she smiled.

For while they had ripped from her that letter of marque and reprisal, and would now prise ownership of her Scarlet Woman from lifeless hands, there yet remained something they could not take.

Her loyalty.


There are more sharks on the land than in the sea.