Cycle 1062 (Autumn), Day 36: 'Regal Star'

[atpollard]

"Captain? A word? I hear the plan is to torch the ship. May I ask why, to what purpose?" Jacques continued "If it is to just cover tracks, might I suggest another option? Deploy all lifeboats and make a few entries in the logbook. Make it appear as if everyone abandoned ship. When the Regal Star is found drifting, hopefully by my associates, the authorities will spend a lot of time trying to locate the survivors. Time you could use. As a bonus, it's been my experience that wealthy ship owners may care more about retrieving their ship than the fate of the crew."

JACQUES & REMY

Cycle 1062 (Autumn): Day 38: Shift 2: Hour 5:20 [Side-wheeler 'Regal Star']

Torquil MacCrain smiled and shook his head "I canna fault ya lads. The blame tis mine fer not properly explaining things to you." He continued with a frown "Greed tis a good thing. Motivates a man. So now you have a taste and yer thinkin a bigger bite might be to yer likin. That way lies dangerous waters. Many men let greed make them careless and stupid. Stupid gets a man killed." He relaxed and smiled again "Tis better to have a plan, a well thought out plan, an to work the plan without letting greed drive you into dangerous waters that you have not prepared for."

Torquil shrugged "Say we follow your improvised plan and launch the lifeboats and simply abandon the ship and your friends find it first and claim the salvage. Where is the cargo? Perhaps your friends do not wish to hang for piracy and tell of your hiring them. Now the Government is looking to hang you as well. Perhaps you will tell them of us before you die. You ask all of us to risk a great deal on your friends." Leaning back in a chair, he continued "Perhaps nothing goes agley and we get the money from the salvage of the ship and no one asks about the cargo or the jewels from the safe. Where are all the people? Recovering the ship and finding empty lifeboats will scream that all of the passengers were taken. That's a trouble that we don't need."

He waves around the room "Now let us examine The Plan. The ship disappears without a trace far at sea. No survivors or wreckage is ever located. Was it a creature? Some mechanical disaster? Was it sunk with all hands by an enemy warship or a smuggler? Men will speculate, but no one will ever know for sure. The passengers and crew will simply never be seen again. We, however, remain free to continue to work The Plan."

I rolled a reaction to your proposal. He hates it, but not enough to want to kill you to keep himself safe.

[Monsieur Rose]

Jacques

Jacques listens to the captain explain The Plan. He scowls a bit and nods at the finer points. "I see. I suppose you are right, of course. This doesn't seem like your first capture." He continues. "Still, it seems a waste to lose the ships. Perhaps there is another way to have our cake and eat it too. I'll keep thinking on it."

He turns to leave. "Thank you Captain. This was very educational. We'll see you later. Remy? Let's go back to my room, I need to pick up my bag before we go. I do hope it hasn't been damaged too much."

Jacques plans to gather his things, a few provisions from the kitchen, then head over to the old captain's launch.

[AsenRG]

Jacques

Jacques listens to the captain explain The Plan. He scowls a bit and nods at the finer points. "I see. I suppose you are right, of course. This doesn't seem like your first capture." He continues. "Still, it seems a waste to lose the ships. Perhaps there is another way to have our cake and eat it too. I'll keep thinking on it."

He turns to leave. "Thank you Captain. This was very educational. We'll see you later. Remy? Let's go back to my room, I need to pick up my bag before we go. I do hope it hasn't been damaged too much."

Jacques plans to gather his things, a few provisions from the kitchen, then head over to the old captain's launch.

"Of course, Monsieur Jacques! I'm coming right away, can't let you carry your bag."
But before going, Remy turns and bows to the captain.
"And I should thank you, too. It was quite...enlightening? To hear your way of planning, that is!"

[atpollard]

JACQUES & REMY

Cycle 1062 (Autumn): Day 38: Shift 2: Hour 7:00 [Open Launch sailing on the Western Ocean]

Unsure how long their journey might take, Jacques and Remy loaded their personal belongings and provisions for 7 days into the 20' long open boat. A canvas cover was rigged over the forward third creating a small tent to keep essential supplies dry. A moderate breeze blew from the east making the 61F temperature feel a little colder and the sky still offered a minimum of light from the sun below the horizon. It was just getting dark enough to see the brightest stars and do some approximate navigating. You headed off SE as close into the wind as practical and had to admire how the long slender boat sliced through the water and held a course. From half way to the horizon, you saw the distant red glow of the burning ship.

On day 39, the temperature fell to 52 F and the wind had both picked up to a fresh breeze and shifted further towards SE. Soon you would be forced to choose between heading due south ... risking an encounter with any search parties following ... and tacking to head north or northeast. Northeast would place more distance between you and the Brotherhood. It was around the start of third shift, about 24 hours after you first set sail, that Remy woke Jacques. The wind had continued to shift and he could no longer hold the course. Coming about in a 20 foot boat as it rose and fell skimming over 11 foot tall waves was something that Remy was uncomfortable attempting. Better if Jacques took the rudder and lines for that maneuver and Remy just helped.

Several hours NE of your position, you spotted a distant Lighthouse. While these Lighthouses were constructed by The Society for communication, rather than navigation, that didn't prevent sailors weak in Celestial navigation from using them as guideposts to mark trade routes. So your course was adjusted slightly to head towards the Lighthouse.

Day 40 brought total darkness with a clear sky revealing millions of stars, with a gentle breeze from the SE kicking up 5 foot tall waves and a drop in temperature to 43 F. Several hours ahead were two lighthouses. A larger one atop a remote rocky peak and a smaller one atop a low rise above a settlement. As the boat headed into Gwynedd, Jacques and Remy had plenty of rations left, but some quick decisions to make. The boat you were in was painted with the name of the ship that sank ... were you prepared to answer questions about being in a "Regal Star" ship's boat? Did you prefer to dock at the pier, or to beach the ship on a secluded part of the small island and walk into town?

[Monsieur Rose]

Jacques

"Let's beach the boat in a secluded area for now. Try to remove any identifying marks. We'll come back for it soon. I think the town of Gwynedd is just over that way a bit. You up for a walk?"

Jacques gathers his things and provisions and tries to remove any removable things that could identify the ship.

[AsenRG]

"Most definitely ready, Monsieur Jacques! I had enough boating for now...and I'm much better at walking than lying to people, anyway."
Remy gathered his belongings as well and checked Jacques'. Then he asked him to check him for any indices.
"Regardless, we still need to come up with a story about what's happened. In case anyone knows we were going to board the Regal Star... I'd suggest a sudden storm."

[atpollard]

Day 40