Out of Character:
closed to jdd2035
The rising tide tickled Breaker's bare feet, and he awakened with a red morning sun looking down on him. The demigod blinked and sat up in the sand, grit caking his black sifan pants and shirt. A whimsical sea breeze played in his close-cropped brown hair, and bleary hazel eyes looked down at his feet, still bare. Where are my boots? He wondered as another crashing wave rolled in, lapping at his ankles. Slowly, memories from the previous night took shape in his mind.
He'd been aboard a pirate ship, on a return trip from Scara Brae to Radasanth. Queen Valeena of Scara Brae had invited him to attend a ball held in her honor, and he'd brought his close friend Anastacia Alliendra along. Afterwards Stacia wanted to stay a few days in Scara Brae, but Breaker had needed to return to Radasanth for... some reason. He massaged his temples with sandy hands. He wasn't normally one to imbibe, but the pirates had been a rowdy lot, singing silly drinking songs and offering him cup after cup. Eventually Breaker had relented and consumed his weight in fine whisky. He didn't remember much after that, until he awakened on the beach, without his boots.
Those beer-swilling bastards, Josh thought as he clambered to his feet. The wind rippled his black clothing against his muscular body. His boots bore his namesake, and were more than just a stylish addition to his wardrobe. They were made of the magical alloy Rythadine, and boasted several unimpeachable enchantments. With them he could walk up walls, or skate over any flat surface as if it were ice. He could make them heavier, or lighter as desired, a trick which came in handy more often than one might think. At the end of the day the boots were a part of him, and he felt somewhat naked without them.
Heaving a heavy sigh, Josh oriented himself using the rising sun and strode off in the direction of Radasanth.
The walk lasted several hours. By the time he reached the outskirts of the port city the sun stood high in the sky. As he approached the docks he summoned water from the waves and scoured his clothing and hair clean of sand, leaving his garments looking freshly pressed and smelling of salt. He reached the docks and climbed up on the long wooden jetty, casting his eyes over the ships and boats bobbing in the tide. A single old sailor sat on a fish barrel nearby, smoking his corncob pipe and giving the barefoot man in the perfectly clean clothes an odd eye.
"Excuse me," Josh said to the sailor, "I'm looking to hire a ship."
"Well, I ain't got one," the sailor replied.
Josh frowned, the twin Y-shaped scars on his cheeks bunching. Of course the old sailor didn't have a ship, but he must know the names of a few captains who did. The demigod reached into his back pocket and found it empty. Trisgen smite those bloody pirates. They'd taken his coin pouch as well. Josh sighed. Without gold to put on the table, he'd have to rely on his charm to get what he needed. Why couldn't this sailor have been a young woman?
"Surely an experienced seaman such as you must know the names of a few local captains," Breaker said, playing to the sailor's ego, "why, I'd wager you could name the captain of each ship I see, if you needed to."
"Aye, that I could," the old sailor said, leaning back to spit off the docks and then chomping on the stem of his pipe.
"And you must know which ships are the fastest," Josh reasoned.
"Certainly I do," the sailor replied, and took his pipe out of his mouth long enough to wave the stem at a particular three-masted corvette. "That'n there, the Peregrine, might well be named for the falcons she flies like. Captain Cain Jodin commands her, and there ain't no faster sailor on the waves."
"And where does Captain Jodin make his berth?" Breaker asked, examining the fine Alerian ship, with its closed gun ports and furled canvas sails.
"Most days you can find him in the tavern nearest the docks," the sailor said with another careless wave of his pipe. Josh thanked the man and padded barefoot down the dock toward Radasanth proper. The first tavern he came to was called The Shorebound Sloop, and bore several accoutrements designed to make it look like a ship. Breaker fixed a grin on his face and opened the door. The smell of stale ale and sawdust washed over him as he moved to the long bar and rapped his knuckles on its polished surface. A bevy of sailors and seamen filled the tavern, but only a few of them looked up at the stranger's entrance. Most had their noses so deep in mugs of ale they probably missed him altogether.
"May I be of service?" Asked the bosomy barmaid as she sidled up to Breaker, polishing a silver tankard with a clean cloth.
"I hope so," Josh said in an intentionally loud voice, "I'm looking for Captain Cain Jodin. Is he here by any chance?"