#spectre open

[jeremiahlocke-blog]

As Kidri faded into the distance and the Spectre took its own course as swiftly as possible in the opposite direction from the planet Jeremiah sought out something to occupy his time with. With the rigging secure, the vibration of the engines humming throughout the ship and stars sailing past both port and starboard sides he could currently be found on the foredeck. On his hands and knees with a bucket of sud-laden water swelling with the slight tip of the ship as solar winds buoyed the ship in its flight, he worked methodically; using a stiff-bristled brush to scour the wooden boards underfoot leaving them glimmering and reflecting the galaxies overhead. 

He'd been working for the better past of most of the morning, only ever pausing to spread some more water over the deck. His expression set in a stern look of contemplation, mind occasionally going back to the naval officers he’d rather literally beaten to a pulp with his bare hands and the memories caused him to mutter something to himself and scrub a tad more violently. It was only upon hearing the sound of approaching footsteps that he spoke up lest someone accidentally slip and hurt themselves or fall overboard... “Careful, it’s wet” was the only thing he uttered as he continued to scrub, the sinewy muscles of his lean arms wound tight, coiling and relaxing with each movement he made.

[yiranbahijri-blog]

It was another one of those nights when Yiran’s restless mind simply would not let her sleep. Rather than settling for staring at the ceiling of her and Brendon’s shared room for hours Yiran grabbed her blanket, a book from under her bunk, a small hand held light, and made her way onto the empty deck. Within a matter of minutes she had scaled the beams, climbed the ropes, and was nestled happily on the floor of the crow’s nest within her blanket, book in her hand. She didn’t know how long she was up there, enjoying the silence, occasionally looking up from her book to gaze at the slow moving stars up ahead, but suddenly Yiran found that she wasn’t alone when she heard the tell tale sounds of someone making their way up to the crow’s nest. “Occupied.” Yiran called out. She wasn’t to tell them to go away, she just wanted to let them know that someone was in there so they wouldn’t be completely caught off guard to find her in a blanket burrito.

[jacehelly]

Meanwhile Jace was spending his time happily wandering through the food stands, sampling everything Kidri had to offer.  Unsurprisingly Jace was an easy target for street vendors, as inquisitive as Jace was, winning over the coins in his pocket was never hard. Perhaps this was obvious, for it was Jace which the bartender singled out amongst the crowd, offering a free sample of the local swamp beer. Naturally, Jace wasn’t much of a drinker, however the bartender had sounded so hospitable as they pulled out a seat, in the little makeshift tavern, underneath a wide, open tent. Now on his third glass, Jace felt someone give him a slap on the back, offering some kind of warning. Jace only gave a lopsided grin, “This swamp beer is great!” 

[captainmarcuszeng-blog]

Marcus had done his rounds of the city and there were few establishments that had caught his eye. Yes, he was fully aware of the festival going on. It was hard to ignore what with the way most of the crew were drawn towards it, and that was fine, they had a rough week and a half. However, no matter how enticing the festival was, Marcus had other things on his mind: what to do with their current findings, how he could add to the ship’s supplies, the repairs, etc. At the moment, Marcus was standing in the store room, looking over their findings from the island; all the weapons (both more modern and ancient), the gold and artifacts that Yiran and Jace had found, and the massive, still glowing gems that were currently wrapped in padding in the corner. Marcus was in the middle of inspect a sword when he heard someone approach the store room behind him. “You can come in.” 

[anna-romwell-blog]

Anna was drawn to the cheese and wine tasting almost immediately. Living on a pirate ship didn’t offer much in the form of culture, and she was practically starving for civilization. The smorgasbord of free samples did just the trick. A tiny cup of merlot in one hand and a slice of gouda in the other, Anna perused and chatted with other connoisseurs as if mingling in a soiree. By the gods, did she miss this. Her schmoozing was interrupted by the loud shatter of a bottle against the ground, and she turned to find a group of revelers, armed and drunk off their rockers, standing around a display table they had just knocked over. Anna frowned in displeasure, and the people around her seemed just as annoyed, moving away from the now singing drunkards to whisper bitterly among themselves. As the fools reached a crescendo, Anna felt someone standing by her side, and assumed it was a fellow gossiper.

“Embarrassing, isn’t it?” she murmured, not even bothering to look at her new neighbor. She took a swig from her glass before adding with a sigh, “Some people have no self-respect.” 

[julian-sinclair-blog]

Waiting was something that Julian had become more than accustomed to after joining the crew of the Spectre. Being their morale officer, he had to have the patience to wait in order to deal with them and actually do his job right. Although -- technically Julian wasn’t doing his job right in this moment. He hadn’t been since the Spectre took land and he was ordered to stay behind with the rest of the ship while a select group went ahead towards the temple. Minutes ticked by, quickly turning into an hour, and so forth. Julian was mentally counting the time, eyes not faltering from the skyline he had seen them disappear into until a bright flare is bursting across it. That was his queue. He joins the others in one of the long boats that take them to the other’s location near the temple, bright eyes staring carefully at the scenery around him before he’s stepping off the boat and onto the temple’s courtyard, a flash of concern morphing across his face at what he was seeing. “What happened?” He asks out loud.

[andrew-yong-and-full-of-hop-blog]

After being stuck in a jungle for over a week and on a ship even longer before that, being back in civilization was like a breath of fresh air for Andrew. Finally a place he would not have to worry about some creature trying to eat him. No, the only thing being eaten today was going to be all the delicious foods he spent his allowance on. In his search for the perfect food to indulge in however, Andrew found himself stopped outside a tent with a sign explaining this was the Eldritch the Magnificent, fortune teller whose predictions were not for the faint of heart. While his knowledge of magic tricks were mostly sleight of hand based, Andrew had read up on enough to know fortune telling was bogus.

And yet he still could not help but enter the tent. After such a rough start to the adventure, the young man needed something to lift his spirits. Even if it was some cheap laughs drawn from tricks he would see right through.

“Take a seat,” Eldritch said as soon as Andrew was inside, waving a hand at one of two chairs. “Your partner on this adventure through space and time will be arriving shortly.”

“My partner?” Andrew asked suspiciously as he took his seat and looked back towards the entrance to see who, if anyone, would enter. Probably a plant of some kind the fortune teller used to make his tricks more convincing.

[tevesazentri-blog]

There had never been a time where Tevesa missed the cool ship interior more. There was no escaping the blunt disaster of the island. Either it was vaguely dangerous and too sunny, or it was blissfully shaded and too dangerous. This was a true Catch 22 if Tevesa ever did read one. No winning. But if they had to choose, with great reluctance they would pick the outside. 

Even now, risking the overcharge that came with too much exposure to the sun, they sat beneath the shade of a nearby tree as the crew loaded up and mingled, their worn and slightly sat on straw adventuring hat perched on their head to offer that extra bit of protection. The patients had been seen to, all that remained was waiting for orders. The gem from the monster had gone with Maxine, and Tevesa had no samples to speak of. It was not turning out to be a fun Scouting day. 

Since when was it so hot? Cautiously, Tevesa removed their gloves, laying them on their lap, clasping their hands to minimize contact. Much better. Someone moved beside them, the shadow helping to minimize the sun’s contact.

“You’re blocking the sun. Don’t move.”