After a ship and a crew, a captain's contacts are his greatest assets, and Santiago has developed a number of excellent contacts in the Caribbean. Lets meet them!
Art by KiraSs
Esmeralda:
Driven out of France by the obsession of a judge, Esmeralda made her way to the Caribbean where she parlayed personal charisma, creativity and persuasion to get herself a partial stake in a bar and brothel. That partial stake burned up when the rest of the place did during one of Santiago’s disagreements with the crew of the Ulysses. Unlike her business partners though, Esmeralda wasn’t willing to accept the loss. She hunted him down to demand repayment, only to be swept up in a race that took them to the East Indies. There, while hunting for a Lantean artifact, they found a few new allies, plenty of adventure, and in a cove not far from Singapore, a beached Chinese Treasure ship. Clearing out the pirates who’d been using it as hide out, and coincidentally claiming their modest horde for themselves, Santiago and Esmeralda made a deal. His crew would get the ship seaworthy, and use the captured pirate horde to rearm and crew the ship, and Esmeralda would captain her as a free floating pleasure galleon, touring the Caribbean offering gambling, drinking, live entertainment and more to any with the coin to pay for it. In return for his assistance, The Menagerie and her crew would maintain a 50% stake in the ship and any profits she made.
Esmeralda accepted. Now she captains The Jade Empress around the Caribbean, trading luxury and entertainment for information, leads, and of course, plenty of silver.
Namaari & Raya:
The scions of two warring peoples, Raya and NamaarI none the less fell in love. Knowing that unification of their people would be impossible, they elected instead to flee their homes and start a fresh life together. Trading on their combat skills, they made their way to Singapore, where a fight in a warehouse spilled out into the street, and directly into them, dragging them both into a new adventure. Leaping to the defense of who they assumed to be an innocent woman, they instead found themselves fighting alongside Kida as she battled a batch of local gangsters for possession of a map. The three of them fled back to the Menagerie where Raya and Namaari found themselves carried along on the adventure. At its conclusion they were offered the opportunity to join the crew, but instead decided to travel with Esmeralda, offering their services as her bodyguards and bouncers.
For Raya, this is an opportunity to get out of the base mercenary work they’d been doing. To find a new home somewhere she and Namaari felt needed and appreciated.
For Namaari, it’s a little more simple than that. She gets to stay with Raya in something approaching her previous lifestyle’s comfort, and she gets to beat the hell out of a few drunks and pirates now and again. She’s happy with that.
Dolores:
Everything was going well for the Family Madrigal, until a new priest came to town. Denouncing their miracles as devil worship, he turned the people against them, driving the Madrigals from their home, and splitting the family apart in the process. Dolores was hounded all the way to the Caribbean coast, where she hopped a ship for the Bahamas. Using her gift, she was able to warn the captain of her ship of an impending mutiny, and he in turn carried her to Tortuga just in time for the Jade Empress to arrive in port. Unsure of where else to go, and hoping she might find information there, Dolores made her way onto the massive ship. It didn’t take her long to figure out just what the ship was, and that information was one of the ship’s largest markets. With her gift, she plucked leads, tips, and secrets from the air without ever leaving her seat. She even caught a hint about her family. Somebody had seen Isabella aboard a ship named The Lovely Assistant. With no other leads to follow, and aware that the Empress traveled a lot, she approached Esmeralda, offering her services as an informant in exchange for a place on the ship and the promise of help should any leads come up. Esmeralda in turn introduced her to Santiago, who promised to pass on any information he heard about her family, and pledged the full capabilities of himself, his ship, and his crew should she need them to follow up on any leads.
So now Dolores does odd jobs around the Empress, from dancing, to serving drinks, to even a few more intimate services for the right customers, always with an ear out for news of her family, or anything else Esmeralda or Santiago might find helpful.
Elizabeth Swann:
With Will cursed, doomed to sail the seas as Davy Jones replacement, Elizabeth wasn’t just about to sit around at home. Using her contacts and reputation among both sides of the law in the Caribbean, she amassed enough money to start a legitimate trading company, a company she used as a front for moving pirated goods. Funding secured, she began to search for legends, myths, anything that might give her a way to break Will’s curse.
Her search put her in the path of The Menagerie when they both ended up hunting the same prize. Santiago and his crew beat the crew she’d hired, so next time, she simply hired them herself. The ancient texts they recovered for her didn’t have the answers she wanted, but she was impressed with the captain, his crew, and the casual way the crew approached sex. It’d been years since she’d gotten any at that point, and while she wasn’t so desperate as to bed Santiago, she figured Will wouldn’t mind too much if it was with another woman.
Thus began her relationship with pirates of The Menagerie. The arrangement they reached was simple, she’d help them sell any pirated cargo, and in return, they’d undertake the occasional treasure hunt for her. The fact that most of their hunts ended up with little more than trinkets didn’t dismay her. Each failure was simply one more possibility checked off. Eventually, she’d find a way to free Will. And when she did, she might see how he felt about the idea of sharing her with another man.
The Hideout:
Like all good pirates, Santiago has a hideout on an uncharted island in the Caribbean. To the passing ship it looks like nothing more than an average, if pretty, island cove, and the few ships who have tried to put in have discovered a rocky reef just below the surface, making entry at any time other than high tide impossible. Unless you happened to have a woman in league with the ocean aboard your ship. Moana can get The Menagerie into and out of the cove with ease, lifting the ship clear of the reef and into the shallow bay on the other side. And if that was all there was to it, it would be impressive enough, but that’s just the first defense. The true hideout is hidden behind a massive waterfall that tumbles into the bay, tall and wide enough for one to sail a ship through, if a ship could be taken through a waterfall. Once again, The Menagerie’s unique crew comes into play. Elsa can freeze the waterfall if needed, or Moana or Ariel can spell the water to part around it, granting the ship access to the cave hidden behind it.
The cave itself is large enough not only to perform most maintenance upon the ship, but to store several months of repair supplies, extra food, and to house any cargo they need to offload. A small beach inside the cave has also been outfitted with a bar, a few tables, and a raised and secluded bedroom for the captain, and as often as not, at least a few of the girls.
The location of the island is a secret held by Santiago and his most trusted allies. Esmerelda uses the hideout when she needs to meet with the captain away from prying eyes. Elizabeth uses it when she needs to collect or deliver cargo. And now and then, both have been known to use it simply when they need a place to let their hair down a little.
Thank you all for sticking around! Have some titties as a reward!
So much fun with these amazing ladies #Illuminations #TheMenagerie #BellaFarrow @missyvsimplyv @mamasaintmerman @msluna80 @borgiabloom #dragqueensofinstagram #dragshow #lgbtq #drag photo by @officialmakeupgangsta (at The Menagerie Riverside) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqzanb1AGBp/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=s4xhd5obwtsu
Back in the menagerie #FinalFantasy14 #stormblood #miqote #WarriorOfLight #Coeurl #FinalFantasyXIV #finalfantasy #Stormblood #ninjamiqote #ninja #themenagerie
Maybe some folks don't know, but The Menagerie is actually made by two nonbinary gremlins! :)
So, on Trans Day Of Visibility, we thought we'd give a little extra love to our trans characters by showing them off before the launch. OUT ON APRIL 12TH!
