I do not own Sunless Sea. Sunless Sea is owned by Failbetter Games.
"A ship please!" I yelled, waving my arms as I stood alone on Wolfstack Docks, zailors and captains walking past me, ignoring me. "I can be of help! All I need is a ship!
I've been doing this at least a few hours, and I've gotten nowhere, I thought to myself, might as well take a break. It's not like I'm in too much of a hurry, anyway.
I sat down on a nearby bench, looking anxiously around the gas-lit harbor. They couldn't find me here. Not as quickly as they would wish, considering the huge crowd here. I dug through my bag and pulled out a half of a loaf of mushroom bread.
Just as I was about to take a bite, however, I noticed a particularly tall zee captain sifting through the crowd, heading in my direction. They didn't look like they were from the Bazaar, so they probably weren't dangerous.
As she finally made it to the bench where I was sitting, I could see more of her features. Her long, auburn hair was almost waist-long (which was saying a lot, considering that she was at least seven feet tall) and very messy. She wore a standard captain's outfit, which was stained a silvery color at the bottom. The most discerning feature about her was the long scar that ran across her cheek, and the eyepatch that covered it up.
"'Ello, good sir!" she greeted enthusiastically with a thick, high-pitched, Cockney accent that betrayed her gruff looks, reaching for my free hand and giving me a rather awkward handshake. "I 'eard you yellin' earlier 'bout needin' a ship." She paused, and looked at me quizzically. "That was you wasn't it.
"Yes, yes it was," I confirmed, "Are you willing to let me on yours?" I took a bite out of the mushroom loaf as the captain smiled jovially and replied,
"Depends. What'cha good at?"
"I have a good memory. I can also draw maps fairly well." These skills of mine were required from my time as a scribe at the Echo Bazaar.
"Good," the tall zailor said, "I need a new navigator. Las' 'un died a few days 'go." She rummaged through her Echo purse as she added, "How much?"
It took me a moment to realize what she meant, "Oh... I wasn't really thinking that I needed to get paid." She eyed me curiously.
"Then why d'you wanna go to zee so badly?" She fastened her coin purse back around her waist and sat down next to me. "You runnin' 'way from somethin'?"
"No, of course not," I lied, I just want some adventure in my life." I couldn't tell her the truth. If she new what was after me she would never let me aboard her ship.
"A lo' o' zailors say the same thing," she said, tapping her fingers on her purse, which made a delicate clinking sound, "I have to warn ya though, the zee is no' kind to those who zail it."
The zee is a lot safer than London for me right now, I wanted to argue, but instead I answered, "I know, but I'm willing to take the risk."
"Well said," she replied, then asked, "Mind tellin' me your name?"
"I'm, John Cicero, The Tormented Scribe," I told the tall zee-captain, lying, of course.
"The Tormen'ed Scribe..." she pondered, shaking her head, "You go' a funny accent, you ain't from 'round 'ere, are ya?"
"I'm from the Surface... I'm from America actually," I half-lied, I remembered the old saying about trapping yourself in a web of lies that only gets harder to escape the more lies you tell. I could already see that my web was going to be comparable to those webs built by the Sorrow-Spiders in The Nativity.
Her eyes widened, and she said excitedly, "I've never met anybo'y from America. What's i' like? What part o' the Surface are you from? Are the Sun and Moon as bright as they say"
"America is..." I struggled to find an answer that could satisfy our questions, "...brighter than London... I guess?" I silently cursed myself for creating such a terrible description of the land above. It really shouldn't be this difficult for me. I've been to the Surface more times than I can count.
But apparently the zee-captain thought I was only jesting. "C'mon, stop teasin' me. I want to hear your stories," she said, with a smile, which, like her accent, betrayed her rough and tough appearance.
"I mean... it would be impossible to tell you everything about the Surface and all of its wonders in a few sentences." Nice save. "It would be easier for me to tell you about my adventures over time, which would be easier if you let me go with you." I could make up a very reasonable argument on the go if I needed to. "Plus, I'm free labor ."
"It's a deal!" the captain confirmed happily, "I'm Amanda Wallsworth, the Towerin' Cap'n, my ship's jus' righ' o'er 'ere." she pointed her right middle finger (the right index finger was gone) to a fairly large corvette. " 'er name's The Myrmidon."
"It looks wonderful." Wonderful enough to get me away from this cursed town, I thought to myself. To be perfectly honest, though, it was a fairly nice ship. It was well washed, and it almost had no dents on it at all, a rare sight, considering the fact that ships are constantly bombarded by sea monster attacks.
"Wanna come 'board with me?" Amanda asked, we're about to leave port."
"Sure," I said hiding my fears, "this'll be great."
Sorry for the short intro. It's been a while since I posted anything. I am currently working on a story for Huniepop, and a story for Percy Jackson. Since school starts tomorrow, it may be a while till my next post. Thank you!