// @luciamartincz // “ HERE ---- ” accalia grips lucia’s arm as the ship pitches, a sharp cry of a rigger briefly heard on the deck overhead before the wind snatches the sound away. she hands lucia a mug half full of ale, “ drink up : might as well get some rest --- no use trying to steer ‘er now. ” the rain has let up at least, though the sea is no less turbulent. accalia lets go of her and turns to search for another mug ; she feels TIRED, this storm is slowly sapping the strength of the crew, “ the course is lost until it clears. ”
// @lachlanatsea // snick. the sound of the whetstone against the length of her cutlass is a soothing sound, nearly as much so at the water lapping at the belly of the ship. it’s CALM --- almost too calm, sails hanging limp with naught a breeze disturbing the water. accalia worries this bodes ill for them, after all the sky had been fading RED early this morning when she rose, the carnal tones turning blue washing out the last of the stars. snick. she hefts the blade to examine its edge, gaze pausing at a nick along the used blade before she happens to gaze beyond it. the cutlass settles across her lap, unamused gaze turned up toward the newcomer. “ can i help you ? ”
// @jax-harper // angry, dark clouds have obscured the night sky making it impossible to get bearing when the sea and sky are indistinguishable from one another. accalia stumbles into jax’s quarters, one hand on the wall for support as the ship pitches beneath them. her hair hands in damp tendrils around her face, her cloak long soaked through. “ we’re still on course far as i can tell, captain,” she says, pulling off her cloak. there’s an open compass in her one hand, but it too is spinning with the uneasy sea. “ but we’ll only for sure once we’re outta this. ” it’s possible that they get blown leagues off course, all of them none the wiser as focus narrows to the simple task of keeping the ship afloat and intact as possible.
( tessa thompson, 33, female, human ) Blimey ! Is that ( ACCALIA ALALA ) ? ( SHE ) is the ( NAVIGATOR ) on the Cursed Serpent and has been on board the ship for ( EIGHT YEARS ). Legend has it they are ( HEAD-STRONG & CUNNING ), but don’t get on their bad side, because I hear they’re ( STUBBORN & CYNICAL ). Aye! Stop staring! ( ACCALIA ) has their ( CUTLASS ) out! ( ooc: ollie, est, 21, they/them, none )
THE STORY ( full bio is HERE )
--- accalia ran away from home when she was 14 and never looked back. it was then that she started her true life as a pirate aboard a ship called the nightwing.
--- she rose through the ranks, eventually becoming captain of the ship when she was only twenty-four. her inexperience and arrogance eventually cost her when her ship and crew were attacked and captured by the royal navy. accalia was left for dead, bleeding out into the ocean.
--- it was then that the cursed serpent found her, very close to death. captain bradway ultimately decided to take her in, saving her life.
--- those first few months on the cursed serpent were confusing for accalia; while grateful for a second chance, her confidence was at an all-time low. for the first time she didn’t feel like she knew everything. after all, she’d failed her crew.
--- she finally found herself in maps and stars, the process of navigating reminding her of why she ultimately chose this life.
--- she has now been the navigator of the ship for six years, been on the ship for eight.
THE SECRET
--- accalia is not her first name. her birth name was elizabeth marie declan, daughter of a noblewoman and a navy admiral. it’s almost ironic, maybe.
CONNECTIONS
POLARIS: Someone who has been on the ship longer than her, who watched her from the moment she was taken from the wreckage of The Nightwing. Maybe it was even them who first spotted her in the water. Perhaps they didn’t agree with Captain Bradway’s decision to help her, perhaps they too were moved to help her find her feet on the ship – a tough love sort of situation. However, Accalia can always trust them to be honest and blunt, and guide her.
VULPECULA: A pirate ship is no place for kindness, but perhaps someone who Accalia has taken under her wing to try to pay forward the mercy given to her.
NORMA: Working off the “Disgraced Captain” angle – this person knew she was once a captain, and it’s taken long years for her to earn their respect.
@talviste // accalia’s memory has NEVER failed her --- any other insinuation by anyone ( even herself ) would be a blatant lie. to truly forget a face no matter how seemingly irrelevant would be nothing short of a DEATH SENTENCE someday, especially these times. however, the captain would admit that this boy’s face did not yet seem to pose a THREAT to her or many others ( yet ). she chuckles quietly into her pint of the tavern's best beer, sharp eyes following the movement of the other ; one nail digging into the flesh of an apple ( small LUXURIES not often afforded on the nightwing ). “ not so BAD this time, ” she offers, a bare thread of amusement lacing her words.
----- missing. missing is not something accalia has afforded herself for a very long time. nostalgia bears no benefit, only emotional hampers that weigh the mind down and distract from the present. and maybe that’s what she loves so MUCH : never knowing what will happen next.
( there is this, some pale memory almost lost beneath the salt-roughness of her skin and the names she gave, built, and grew into herself : her sister’s laugh, a burst of fondness, a boy she was promised to and didn’t love but somehow cared for all the same --- there were times when love was given and did not have to be EARNED --- even now, she does not earn LOVE. she earns respect, admiration, and yes, fear. does she miss it? maybe
------------------ but that was a LONG time ago ).
“ if you get caught thinking about last night’s C A L M W A T E R S you’ll DROWN in today’s squall. ”
gold or silver? matte or shiny? werewolves or pirates? the ocean during a storm or just after?
“ SILVER is harder than gold ; MATTE easier hid than shine ; being a PIRATE is a choice but a werewolf is not ; the struggle DURING a storm only toughens you for what comes after. ”
“ LORD barrett and kai are bold to assume the seas can be fully controlled by anyone, and LORD bo just as so to stand against it ; LORD kess’s beliefs align most CLOSELY to mine, i believe — should she ever need assistance, i would consider it. as for CAPTAIN stoker, a prideful woman but deserving of her craft ; there is something to be said of the utmost LOYALTY of her crew. ”
how do you describe the heart of being a pirate ? yes, there are those who do it for the riches, the plunder, the gold and jewels ; no, they are certainly not TRIVIAL to her --- after all, what was it that drew elizabeth marie onto the nightwing’s deck that one fateful day so so long ago? --- but that is not ALL there is. treasure lured her to the ship, but it was curiosity drove her forward. “ the nightwing sails, fast and true and unseen and feared -------- nothing but LEAGUES of sea around and the deck below ; adventure and possibility on the wind and freedom at your fingertips. they say the sea can heal all ; rebirth all ; and destroy all. there are so many things you do not KNOW until you take to the sea. i am who i was meant to be. ”
------- elizabeth marie : she could not have even dreamed BIG enough.
@fclvks // the NIGHTWING does not find her moorings very often and it’s only things accalia cannot control that bring her there at all ( things like food and homesick crew and red skies at morning sailors take warning ). it feels WRONG to see her like this, shackled to unmoving land when she belongs ever moving, ever listing, ever roaming on the open sea. but accalia has also long learned to let things she cannot CONTROL go. they will not be here long ---just enough to restock, to replenish her crew, and take care of BUSINESS--- and then they will vanish once again for too long.
the ground feels unsteady beneath her feet in its steadiness, accalia’s knees still soft, anticipating the next pitch of the deck, but there is a proud steadiness in her shoulders and a glint in dark eyes that makes those part before her. a light hand on the cutlass at her side certainly helps things a LITTLE as well. gaze roams over the other ships at the port ; most familiar only in echoes, save for one with the royal navy seal proudly fluttering in the wind.
