By THLaird Colyne Stewart
From the Journals of THL Colyne Stewart, captain of the Red Arrow
August 26th, in the Year of our Lord 42, while at
berth in the Rouge
Port.
As stated in an earlier entry, dispatches had reached my ear
of a gathering of pirates, buccaneers, privateers and other knaves that were
going to once again descend upon the Shire of Bastia du Lac. Having many
friends in the good shire, and having a letter of mark from a previous baron
and baroness of Septentria, I could not let such potential deprivation go
unanswered.
Ethereal heralds were sent far and wide, and I did challenge
all pirates to battle, letting them know that my crew and I would be on hand to
protect the Bastia .
Yesterday, amidst a misting of rain, my good ship rolled
into port, flying our colours proudly. Many pirates stood jeering on the docks,
shouting challenges to us and waving their cutlasses. Most of my crew were in
no condition to fight, but Lord Snæbjörn sverðsbrjótr—the ship’s cook—exchanged
his apron for armour and followed me ashore. I wore a bright new basinet helm
with chain mail camaille, and we both wore surcoats in our canton’s colours.
We were quickly joined by the Shire militia, and squires of
some of our Norman King’s loyal knights. Her Saxon Majesty herself and her
husband (the King’s hostage) also appeared out of the mist, and the jeers of
the pirates were transformed into worried mutters.
I noticed that there were no signs of Cap’n Bloodfox and his
Black Trillium, nor of Cap’n Widow
and her Clever Wife. I did however
see the Jolly Menken lolling at
anchor, though Chequeybeard stood at the ship’s rail, seemingly content to
watch the coming violence and not take part. Beside him stood a tall blond
woman with small braids in her hair who looked both fierce and congenial. She was,
so I heard later, Captain Sincerity Cadfan, Captain of the Jolly Menken.
There then followed a great battle as we loyal Ealdormereans
fought with the scum of the sea. This battle ended up taking place on a rickety
boat that a squire-brother of mine had left behind when he moved to the East Kingdom
Quickly I bent to tend to Her Majesty when the drizzling
rain turned into a storm. The boat was torn from its moorings and cast adrift.
All aboard grabbed hold of the rails to keep from being swept overboard. I lost
consciousness at some point.
When I awoke it was to find myself on the shore of a small
island. I could see no sign of any of my companions, and quickly set out in
search of the Queen. Soon I found our boat, miraculously still afloat. However,
between it and me stood four pairs of pirates, each eying the others and
gesturing with their weapons. It appeared that each pair was from a rival crew,
and none of them wanted to share rescue with the others. I knew I had to secure
this vessel for myself, so I could use it to take Her Majesty, Snæbjörn, and the
others back to Bastia
port.
One of the pairs contained a pirate Queen, and she saw me
standing at the tree line and asked for my support in the coming battle.
Usually I would never agree to such a request, but since I needed to secure the
boat, and had less likelihood of doing so alone, I agreed. When the battle
started I managed to fell a fierce amazon and her giant companion, only to find
that the pirate Queen and her guard had both been killed. Alone I faced off
against the other remaining pirates, and in the end I found myself standing
with my back to the boat, one lone bull of a man staring bloodily at me. He
charged me waving a mace, and I managed to gut the rogue as he thundered past.2
I quickly clambered aboard the vessel and tacked out into the
now calm waters to begin circling the island. Before long I managed to find Her
Majesty and the others. Luckily one of the Shire militia was an excellent
navigator, and before long we were back in the Bastia .
When we returned I was taken aside by Her Majesty and asked
to come up with the wordings for two awards that were to be handed out that day
in court. I found myself sequestered with a knight who looked remarkably
similar to Chequeybeard, who did the calligraphy for one of the wordings I came
up with.
Court was soon held, and I attended Her Majesty as her
herald. I was most pleased to read out scrolls for the following deserving
individuals:
- Elizabeth of Bastia du Lac, Award of Arms
- Byrta of Bastia du Lac, Award of Arms
- Athena, Award of the Wolf’s Cub
- Serenity, Award of the Wolf’s Cub
- Ellie, Award of the Wolf’s Cub
- Lord Leod Dubh, Award of the Scarlet Banner
- Lord Snæbjörn sverðsbrjótr, Award of the Maiden’s Heart
After court I was able to sit and play at dice (without
wagers) with several friends, which is a luxury I have not been able to partake
of for a long time.
The Melusine and Phoenix Inn3 then presented an
excellent feast, with my favourite dish being the spicy mushroom soup. All
present were entertained by juggling, song, and the telling of stories.
It was a most excellent day.
1. The
fighters present fought a round robin where each fight took place inside a
small row boat. I managed to come in first with 6 wins—winning a reign point
for the Normans —followed
by Her Majesty Domhnail and Quilliam of the Hrogn in second (each with 5 wins).
2. The
fighters were split into teams of two, though since there was an uneven number
of fighters I was a team of one. Her Majesty and my brother asked me to fight
with them in exchange for some beer and Peanut Butter Cups. (This alliance
ended up being in spirit only, as we never ended up actually fighting side by
side.) We ran through this scenario of fighting for the boat four times; I
managed to claim the boat in the first run through.
3. The
feast was prepared by THL Melusine de la Rose, though since she ended up having
to work that day, it was prepped on site by Sir Siegfried
Brandbeorn.
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