Haul the Main Brace and Hoist the Jib!

[jdd2035]

Cain was sitting in a corner booth with his back to a window. His hand was full of cards a pair of jacks and a deuce. He had a smile on his face much to the frustration his opponent. The game was a pirates game based on skill and deception, it was taught to Cain by one of his most clever Midshipmen. Clever hell! Mr. Midshipman Agon was a lying, conniving, blackguarded, piratical scoundrel of an ex-smuggler and it was a skin of the teeth paperwork exercise that kept him just on the right side of Naval law... Mr. Midshipman Agon was one of Cains most valued crewmen and he took the time to teach his Captain how to win this game.

The first step was to have keen eyes which Cain had in spades, the next step was to keep your back to a light the brighter the better. The light and keen eyes provided you with plenty of evidence to detect a bluff while masking your own bluffs in the glare. It all took a little practice but Cain had his opponent by the lee and it was hard to hide the grin of victory. Over the course of the half day Cain had won from his opponent (A foolish captain who was a glutton for punishment.) all of his pocket cash, a cook book, two prime able seamen and now there was a pause in the play.

Cains opponent having ran out of money and other goods had produced a map, more specifically a portion of a map that he was willing to ante up.

Cain shook his head "No deal, real money or better."

Cains opponent slid the map on the table "It's a genuine piece of the map to the Dragons Heart! The largest blood ruby known. It's worth this entire pot ten times over. Please you gotta give me a chance to win back that pile."

Cain scratched his chin and leaned back at the end of the day he had won a nice pile of money, two able seamen and a cookbook and he wanted to finish the game. If that meant winning a worthless piece of paper along with the pile than so be it. "Sure" he nodded in agreement and the piece of paper was placed on the pot. The final two cards were drawn and a second deuce was laid on the table. The best Cains opponent could do was a high pair.

Cain had won the pot, the money was placed in a pouch, the cookbook under his arm and the orders for the sailors plus the map stored neatly in his pocket. That was the last the Cain would think about that map for several map.

[jdd2035]

It was a few months later Cain was once again in port. That was the thing, when your ship is privateer with out an enemy to capture as a prize you spent a lot of time in port. The Peregrine still caught pirates from time to time and there were always the private contracts and transports but compared to a full fledged war. But at the end of the day, it was about midnight Cain had found himself in port heading back to his ship when the sound of shuffling and a shift of movement caught his eye.

"You have a map that my captain would like to have." Said a voice in the shadows.

Cain could see clearly in the dark he eyes being better than average and could make out the details of his potential attacker; it was sailor possibly a boatswain, he had a belaying pin in his hand and his sennit hat had the name "Raven" embroidered on it with the slogan "never more" following it. Keeping his cool the Privateer replied "I am sure that your captain has all of the charts that I do."

The man in the shadows tightened his grip on the belaying pin "Not one third of a chart which would lead to the Hear of the Dragon."

The man in the shadows said too much, the Heart of the Dragon was a large ruby a little bigger than an ostrich egg. It was a legend but at the end of the day most legends have a nugget of fact within them. To add further credibility Cain did have what the man in the shadows was looking for.

It was time for Cain to put the conversation to a close. It was an instant a flash of steel that brushed against the cheek of the man in the shadows causing it to flow blood down his cheek. The man in the shadows dropped his head and belaying pin defeated. Cain then lead the man in the shadows to the Peregrine and made the order "Weigh anchor and get us under way with coarses and lower top sails.. and don't be quiet about it."

The Peregrines raucously climbed the ratlines and sails were unfurled causing the Peregrine to slip through the wine dark sea under a small spread of sail. Cain wanted the Raven to follow him out into open water where he could gain the weatherguage easily and have a "talk" with the Raven's captain.

[jdd2035]

Cain had knew of the Raven, knew that she was a heavier brig and her captain had a reputation of getting in close and hammering his enemies with eighteen pound carronades. Not the heaviest smashers out there but they were formidable. What really bothered Cain was the further reputation, the Raven on paper was a privateer like the Peregrine but the captain of the Raven tended to pray on anything even on allied ships.

The Raven sprang to life more like waking up from a drunken stupor rather than an eagle spreading its wings; but under way she got. It was all Cain could do to to keep the Peregrine from outstripping the heavy and clumsy Raven. He ordered the topsails reefed and barrels tossed over the rail to act as a drag.

Eventually the Raven did catch up with the Peregrine and as it did Cain ordered "with my complements please desire our guest to come up on deck." That was the genteel way of telling ordering the man from the shadows to be brought up on deck. The Cain turned to his boatswain "Mr. Grimand clear for action just in case this goes sideways." The drum beat and Peregrine was cleared for action with bulkheads being knocked down and guns being ran out. Cain himself donned his number one sea coat, a tricorn hat that had seen many years of service and his weapons belt that held his pistols and cavalry saber.

The captain of the Raven looking through his glass saw that his boatswain was on board the Peregrine and questions began running through his mind. "What does the captain of the Peregrine know? What has my boatswain told him?" The captain of the Peregrine asked himself as he looked out over the water at his captive crewman. There would only be one way to find out and the captain of the Raven ordered "Signal the Peregrine I wish to parlay."

An hour later the captain and their respective boat crews were both landed on a near by deserted island.

The Captain of the Raven opened up negotiations "You have one of my men. I would like him back."

Cain countered "Your man tried to rob me in the night. Clumsily too. If you want him back I can arrange it though for a price."

The Captain of the Raven flushed "Well what do you have in mind?"

Cain smiled and replied "Your third of the map your crewman tried to rob from me last night."

The Captain of the Raven grew angrier "What would keep me of just attacking your ship and taking your third by force?!"

Cain remained relaxed and answered "The fact that the instant your ship fires on mine I'll burn my third of the map before dropping the remains to the bottom of the sea and the Heart of the Dragon will remain lost for time in memorial." Cain let the point soak in before continuing "Not to mention if you attacked my ship I would have every right to take the Raven as a prize and pay my entire crew a bonus." The last statement was matter of fact and really sunk the teeth into the dialogue. Cain was in control of the situation. Then to hammer things home Cain played a hunch "Do things this way and you'll still have a third of the map and thus control."

The captain of the Raven paled "How did you!" Then seeing Cain smile he realized that Cain did not know until now.

The parlay continued for a few more hours until a deal was hashed out. Both ships would sail in consort for one another with Cain and the Peregrine taking two thirds of the treasure while the Raven had first selection of any unique items. The captain of the Raven agreed a bit too quickly for Cains comfort.

Almost imediatly after setting foot on board the Peregrine once again Mr. Grimand asked "Well how'd it go?"

Cain smiled and replied "They're going to betray us as soon as they get the treasure. Set course East, by south east a half east. Give her tops and courses and pipe the men to dinner. Keep a watch on our friends."

With that both vessels were underway to a potential pay off.

[jdd2035]

Time at sea flowed different than time on land, time was ruled by the bell, the pipe and the drum. Every time the bell rang a half hour passed, every time the pipe pippiped the watches changed and every time the drum beat meals were ready. Watches normally ran for fours hours except the ones on either side of noon which ran for two hours and thus changed when the watches changed so the crew would not burn out. There was of course time on deck for games, songs, some drinking and dancing.

It was during one of these nights when the crew was enjoying them selves when Cain noticed an incredible disparity between the crews of the Peregrine and the Raven. The Ravens even when on duty had at least a warm buzz, and when not on duty were completely plastered. But the real disconcerting thing Cain noticed was that there were no capers. The Peregrine had sailed in consort with ships before and during the evening out of a sheer sense of pride the two crews would normally compete against one another racing up the shrouds and sliding down the back stays. But the Ravens barely acknowledged the Peregrines. The best case scenario was that the Raven was not a "happy ship" the worst was the ship was on the very edge of mutiny. The Raven was in for a nightmare sooner or later.

[jdd2035]

Silently the two ships passed the days near one another but barely talking to one another. Eventually though both ships arrived at the island with the calls "On deck there! Land! Land Ho!" If there ever was a place to hide valuable treasure this island was it. The island had no named so one of Cain's crew men named it "Saw Tooth island" so named for the jagged peaks that rose up out of the water around the only approachable bay. It was dangerous and the first ship to pass through the maw on its way out would have every advantage in the world if it came to a ship to ship battle.

The Peregrine lead the way with two midshipmen one on the larboard the other on the starboard side taking depths as fast as the lead would drop in an even cadence "By the half eleven! By the deep twelve! By the mark ten! Bay the mark eight!" The Peregrine's master and pilot worked vigorously to keep up guiding the corvette through the crystal blue water toward a black sand beach.

As the two ships began to drop anchor Cain let his eyes focus across the bay at the Ravens captain. He was talking with his second in command and Cain recognized the lip moments of "ready the guns".

Cain had already realized that the Raven would betray them about five seconds after meeting with their captain this just confirmed it. Leaning over to Mr. Grimand his own boatswain he ordered discretely "Keep the Peregrine at single anchor while we're ashore." Then to Mr. Agon "It would be a boon if one could come up with a caper of some kind for when we get back."

Mr. Agon nodded and started to pass from the Holy quarterdeck to the forecastle as he did he would pat a crewman on the shoulder in a silent signal. When he reached the forecastle he stood up on the rail and hollered loud enough for the Ravens to hear "All right men! An extra ration of grog to the first man on the beach!!" With that Mr. Agon pulled his shirt off and dove into the water swimming like a mad man to the shore followed closely to the men that he had patted on the shoulder.

Cain for good show shouted "You all have liberty until we weigh anchor!"

Soon after a shore party for both ships had lowered a jolly boat and were on shore in a much more dignified fashion. The captain of the Raven had the portion of the map for the island itself so it was his turn to take the lead.

[jdd2035]

The Saw Tooth island was not covered in jungle nor was it a deserted island of palms. What vegetation it had was cedar trees and some sort of shrub that produced a sweet red berry it was populated with a kind of small roebuck deer and feral hogs. Under both crews feet ground a kind of red and white sand stone with a mix of whiter stone that had fossils of barnacles and muscles hidden with in.

Upon leaving the bay the pair of crews began following a large stream of clean, clear water. It was a fast moving stream being fed by many tributaries. The hike was slow and ponderous with many of the Ravens crew having to take a breather and they were slow moving even after they had rested. Again there was a strange segregation between the crews with and even among the raves there was little talking compared to the Peregrines. The Peregrines even Cain himself made an effort to be amiable to one another joking, having capers and taking mental and written notes of the things they have seen. There was a deference between being professional and being whipped the Ravens seemed to have been whipped into a grudging submission.

The silence from half of the shore party made the trek even longer. But eventually the group made it to a waterfall near the center of the island. It was fed by a pool at its crest and just enough of a water fall conceal a cave from behind.

----------------------------------

Meanwhile back on shore Mr. Agon had two of the ships jolly boats and their crews racing around the bay making enough changes to the crew and the rosters to make the Raven crews head swim. What the Ravens didn't notice was that a crew of ten people on a jolly boat would turn to nine people on the return.

Further throwing things off kilter was the fact that the small cutter had been lowered and beached on the other side of the Peregrine out of sight and out of mind of the Ravens. Even if both jolly boats were returned twenty men still could leave the island easily with the use of the cutter.

[jdd2035]

Inside the cave behind the waterfall the shore party began to dig. The earth was soft and as they dug water began forming a pool where they were digging. Eventually a shovel hit something solid and after a very slimy reach inside the milky white mud a cheaply made porcelain doll was retrieved. Both crews looked on in confusion for a moment with Cain rolling his eyes.

"Crack it open."

The Captain of the Raven looked up and furrowed his brow.

Cain found that it was quite mysterious that a porcelain doll would be found on an uncharted island, inside a cave, hidden by a waterfall, and buried three feet under the ground, for no good reason. Not to mention on the back of each piece of the map scrawled in big black letters read Crack - the - doll. With "crack", and "doll" being on his two pieces of the map and "the" being on the last piece.

The doll was soon cracked open revealing an credibly clear red gem the size of his boatswains fist.

Then Cain heard the click of a pistol being cocked.

[jdd2035]

"I think I'll be taking that little bauble, and your ship now." Spoke the Captain of the Raven.

Cain turned to face his enemy, and was looking down the barrel of a sixty caliber flintlock, and he grinned. Flintlocks were powerful and incredibly unreliable at the best of times and the group had been slogging through mud and water for the last several hours. Sill he was backed into a corner with a decidedly dangerous enemy so he signaled the man who was holding the gem.

The gem was passed from the Peregrines to the Ravens and Cain started to laugh.

The Captain of the Raven cantered his head in a wondering way as Cain stated "It's funny, from the moment you agreed to this little deal I knew this would happen." The Ravens Captain began to turn red as he grew angrier and finally said "Did you anticipate this?" and pulled the trigger of the flintlock. The flint sparked and the charge powder fizzled out.

Cain shouted "Peregrines!" and kicked the Captain of the Raven squarely in the chest making him stumble out of the cave, through the water fall and into the large stream. At the same time the the Peregrines sprang into action turning the cave and just out side of the cave into a fur ball. The gem was stripped from the Ravens hands and was gathered back up by the Peregrines.

Scrambling out of the caves Cain ordered at the top of his lungs "Blue peter's up! All hands make for the ship!!"

The next hour was a mad scramble filled with skirmishes and guerrilla fighting as both crews rushed to their respective ships.

It was pretty much a tie to get to the jolly boats and Cain roared "Mr. Grimhand! Weigh anchor! Clear For Action!"

All the orcish boatswain hears was Anchor and Action but that was all he needed to hear and he repeated the orders "We shall beat to quarters!!!" The snare drum thundered through out the peregrine seamen started to climb ratlines to their posts in the tops while others began to man the capstan bars heaving the anchor up.

The moment that Cain set foot on his ship Mr. Grimhand stated "Up and down sir."

Cain nodded and replied "Excellent work." Followed by the orders "Ship the anchor! Staggered broadside fire on the Raven! Bring us about hoist our colors and set jibs and stays!"

Sails were hoisted on the Peregrine in a flash, while at the same time the her guns began to flash in sequence as a flag of royal blue with a dark red diamond and black cross flew proudly her mizzen. At the same time the Peregrine tuned like a cutter her main chains dipping into the water on the leeward side.

The Raven followed suit just a little slower weighing their anchor and firing their carronades. The Peregrine's four pounders bounced off the Ravens thick side while the Ravens shots went wide. This fight seemed to just be getting started.

[jdd2035]

The Raven fired off their bow chasers as they came about chasing after the Peregrine. There was one thing that the Ravens watched for the better part of the day, and one thing that the Ravens including their Captain had forgotten about. There was a small cutter not much more than a long boat that was on the beach manned by about twenty men that was out of site and out of mind that was now slipping through the water of the bay behind the Raven.

This small cutter was manned by nineteen of the Peregrines best vanguards-men and one enterprising Tifling. This was the benefit of letting your crew think for them selves. It was a decisive play where all the Ravens attention was focused on the Peregrine who was firing in rapid succession the cutter and her crew would sneak up from the other end and board her causing confusion and allowing the Peregrine to perform a pincer attack. But that was not all the narrow passage where the Raven was passing through did not allow her to maneuver and thus have to charge straight into the Peregrines broadside.

The Peregrine being a former smuggling vessel out stripped the Raven luffed up and began firing as fast as the gun crews could reload. The bow of the raven, her spritsails, flying jibs, and her chasers were peppered the first shots bouncing off or tearing fabric, but the accurate and rapid fire of Peregrine soon began to blow large chunks out of the heavier ship over setting both of her bow chasers and causing the anchor to be dropped when the bow capstan was hit.

[jdd2035]

The Peregrine's cutter softly brushed against the Raven and the twenty vanguards-men boarded attacking the Ravens gun crews. At the same time the Raven's anchor found purchase in the rocks below and force the Raven against the wall. Finally the Peregrine closed in on the Raven their hulls crashing violently as the ships met in such a narrow passage.

The spars were tied to one another and boarding hooks were tossed over the side locking both ships into a violent ship to ship battle with the Ravens being caught between two fires. Cain leapt from the quarter deck of the Peregrine onto the forecastle of the Raven his weight and sharp cavalry saber severing the arm of his nearest enemy. The smaller ships bows, crewmen and midshipmen followed the larger dousing slow burn matches and powder.

Cain pressed on from the forecastle, the Peregrines swarmed over the waist of the Raven and the cutter crew pressed from the quarter deck. Eventually the two captains met. Not wasting time in an all out duel Cain fired his pistol the steel shot digging into the the chest of his opponent. Cain followed up by running the Captain of the Raven through to the hilt with his cavalry saber. It might not have been flashy but it got the job done.

Soon the colors of the Raven were struck and Cain took the Captains cutlass wrapped in the ships colors. That was it, the ships action was over. It was unfortunate, Cain would have to do a little story telling at the Admiralty about taking a lawful letter of marque as a prize but the Ravens reputation would help. In the end it was the long game that won the day.