Tales from Ravolox

Epic tales from the floating clockwork city of Ravolox, and the Scarlet Night.

[talesfromravolox]

Chapter 9: Cass Townem

I open my eyes to the bright sun in my face.

Too bright.

I squint in pain and look around me, trying to decipher where I am. It seems as though I fell asleep on the deck. The last thing I remember is winning a drinking contest against Small George, whose name is surprisingly deceptive. I try to stand up, and it seems as though all the blood in my body rushes away my head. I sway on the spot, gripping the closest thing I can. Which turns out not to be solid. I fall sideways, struggling to gain control of my limbs. It takes me a few moments before I feel confident enough to get back up again, my head throbbing.

There are crew mates scattered across the deck, and I see Will a few meters off, his vest open and his face red from the sun. It must be around eleven, because the sun is almost high. Or maybe it’s one… I can’t really tell. I shoulder open the door to my office... and literally fall in to find it wrecked. I see Elyas calmly sitting in one of the chairs, looking over one of my books. I think he’s looking down at me disdainfully. I don’t know. I’m still facedown on the floor.

“eeeieiiiiiihhhhshhssaaassssnnnnnnjjkmmmmmmmmmmcmggggmmmm,” I sigh out, barley able to handle the light in this room either. 

“Tough night?” He says.

“Can you talk quieter?”

“No,”

I turn my head to look at him. My vision is fuzzy in one eye because it’s still partially in contact with the floor. I don’t really have the energy to argue with him. “Why aren’t you dying?” I ask instead.

“I only drank the vodka last night,” he says. “After you made out with about everyone on board I went to sleep in this office. I did not trust myself to go downstairs without falling.”

I’d been lazily flapping my arms against the ground, but I go still after that, and look at him with wide eyes. “Wait… I made out with...“

“Just about everyone.” He finished for me.

“…. oh dear.” I say, I smash my face against the floor again. Now I remember why I’m not allowed to get drunk. Will will be mad. “Well, I guess I’ll let everyone sleep for a little while longer, but we’re going to have to clean up soon.”

Elyas nodded in agreement. We sit in quiet company for the next hour, him reading while I think and try not to throw up. I think about last night, the events and my conversation with Elyas. It’s hazy but I remember how well he held out. An entire bottle of vodka is no small feat, but he pulled it off. He is certainly full of surprises…

He notes that it has been about an hour, and we go outside the office together. I get up on a block higher up on the deck and yell for them to get out (well specifically, I called them all lazy bums and told them to get their asses up and clean the ship up) and in a few hours, after some much needed cleaning the Scarlet Night was looking brand new. Well as close to brand new as she could. I pull Will aside after cleaning and led him to my office. When I close the door he says, “I cant believe you did it again! you made out with EVERYONE. Liliana, Small George, hell you even got Kiligen!”

Now that was a feat. I can't help but smile a little bit to think I finally cracked him. “HEY! get that smile off your face this isn't funny!” I start to giggle. I put a hand over my mouth to stop it but it just makes me laugh more. Soon Will joins in and we are laugh uncontrollably. At the height of it Elyas comes into the room. We stop and look at him, grins lingering on our faces. Out attempt to contain it just makes us laugh more. Soon all three of us are laughing, unable to stop.

[talesfromravolox]

Chapter 8: Elyas Twain

I try to avoid most of the people, but unfortunately the Captain catches me in a corner. We go to her office and she introduces a drinking game. I suspect it has something to do with the fact she knows nothing about me (I get this feeling she needs to know stuff about people). She doesn’t know this, of course, but I can hold my liquor. Well. I don’t throw up when I drink, anyways. 

But her bottle of vodka is half full and that’s a lot of alcohol. 

I shrug and watch as she pours us both our first shot.

“So,” she says, “How old are you, then?”

“Nineteen,” I reply. We both pick up our glasses and down them. I cough a few times to try and get the taste of alcohol out of my throat. I grab the bottle and pour us our next ones.

“Same question, I suppose,”

“Twenty,” 

As we take our second shots I’m glad that I had a bowl of soup before retreating to the corner. She pours the next one.

“describe the perfect day.” she asks me.

I think for a moment, and say “getting to sleep in for once, maybe read a book. but mostly id like to do nothing.”

she looks at me, a bit starlted, for a moment, then says, “nothing? you want to do nothing? not go out buying the town, taking a ship out with a pretty girl, having lunch by the clouds?”

“no, nothing like that. I’ve worked so hard for so long under ravolox.... i just want a day of nothing.” I look away, embarrassed that I’ve shown her my inner thoughts. 

“well then, maybe we’ll give that to you tomorrow, though i suspect it wont be as much fun as you think after this bottle of vodka.” 

we laugh and around the fourth shot, I feel the alcohol hitting my system. By the seventh all filters and any bit of decency we had are out the window. 

We finish the bottle around out fifteenth shot. 

She gets up to go back out onto the deck. She stumbles a lot and I laugh a bit. “I win.” I say. She struggles with the doorknob.

“Whaa? No, I defnily win!” She manages to get the door open and staggers out into the rest of the party.

“DRINKING CONTEST!” she screams drunkenly. Part of me says that that’s a terrible idea. The other part wants to watch everyone else get completely smashed.

Guess which won.

By the time I manage to get myself on the deck, there’s a row of barrels with people behind them, and they’re all chugging beer from tin mugs. Someone shouts, “Second round!” and they’re all handed another. I giggle to myself. 

[talesfromravolox]

Chapter 7: Cass Townem

The party has started. Finally! It’s been too long since we've had a good party! Unless you count that sorry excuse for a party Harold threw a week ago. Board games and sober lemonade. I only threw up once and that’s because the jiggers had spoiled.

I’m sitting on a barrel filled with lemons left over from HAROLD’S LAME ASS PARTY (I’m sorry; I get very emotional about these things). Around me sit Will, Liliana, and Kiligen. We’re chatting, catching up on the day’s events. Liliana is our technician, and talking about the steam engines in the bottom of the ship, and how close we came to falling out of the sky. We all knew she was exaggerating, but nonetheless it was a bit scary. We have a whole host of technicians, most untrained when they arrive on ship, but get hands on training and pick stuff up as they go along. Liliana was one such recruit, she joined us about 2 years ago, and she is one of my closer friends. Kiligen on the other hand... although he’s been on the ship as long as I have, I really just know his name. He keeps to himself, and mans the Crow’s nest. I think he sleeps up there. He looks at me as I think this, his eyes soulless, his face emotionless. He only moved his neck to look at me. Shivers run down my spine and I look away. 

I find Kiligen...unsettling. 

“I’m going to go grab some -” I cough. “- some beer” I say, sounding a bit. Will waves at me, a smile with a hint of worry and confusion on his face, but goes back to talking to Liliana. 

I turn my attention to finding the beer, or alcohol of any sort really, when I see Elyas standing off by himself, looking rather worried and awkward. I forget my other friends and walk over to him.

“Hey! How was party prep in the kitchen?” I say. He looks up at me, startled. Evidently, he hadn’t noticed I walked up to him. 

“Oh! Um yeah, it was fine.” He looks down, shy and obviously a little uncomfortable being around so many people. 

“How about we have a chat.” I say, starting to lead him over to my office. 

“Uh, sure...” He says, walking with me. We enter my office and I close the door behind him. The lighting is calming, not too bright but also not too dark. As if lit by candles. There are some chairs in the corner, when I don’t want to seem too intimidating, but rather to just have a chat with friends. I lead Elyas to go sit in one of the chairs, and I get out a bottle of vodka and two shot glasses, and sit across from Elyas. I set down the glasses and the vodka.

“Elyas, we are going to play a drinking game.”

He looks up at me at hearing this with a panic in his eyes. “Do I get a say in this?” He says. 

“Nope! Here’s how the game goes: I ask you a question, and you answer, and we take a shot. Then you ask me, I answer, and we take a shot. The game ends when we run out of vodka or someone throws up, whichever comes first.” 

He swallows, takes a deep breath and takes on a determined look. “Alright then,” he says, his voice unshaking.

[talesfromravolox]

Chapter 6: Elyas Twain

The captain assigns me to kitchen duty. I hope she realises I can’t cook to save my life. She’s also put me in possibly the tiniest crevice one could call a “room” below deck, though I’m not complaining because the most of the rooms we passed on our way down with approximately six to eight hammocks smelled like ass and smoke. This one just smells like dust (and is just big enough for a hammock to stretch across diagonally). There’s a tiny window at the top of the “far” wall, and a singular ray of sunlight pushes its way in.

The first thing I do is take the hammock down from its hooks, go into the corridor, and shake it out. I cough as I’m hit with a huge cloud of dust. When I’m satisfied, I bring it back in and hang it up again.

I sit on the floor and undo my boots. Then, I take off my uniform slowly; this is the last time I’ll be doing so. Or, at least until I can get off this ship, I think. Then I remember that I’ve been banished and would probably be killed on sight. 

I fold everything to give back to Archie, but slide the leather pouch off of my belt and leave it in the folds of the hammock. I leave on my protective vest for obvious reasons - armor is a good thing to have.

I pull my new clothes on, tying the sash around my waist. The weapons I had I left in my quarters back in Ravolox. Only the dagger strapped to my boot remains. I unbuckle it and instead tie it to the sash. I feel strangely light and vulnerable.

I put my boots back on and turn to leave, but the flash of my pins on the breast of the coat catches my eye. I sit back down and take them off, slipping them into the leather pouch. 

Archie is stitching together what looks like one leg of a pair of pants on a squeaky sewing machine when I return. He barely looks up and waves a hand towards a basket on the floor that was definitely not there the first time I was here. I take his gesture to mean I should put my clothes in it, so I do. Then I go back into the galley. The cook is rummaging around in a lower cupboard, so I just stand in the gap between the two counters in the middle of the room and wait.

As he emerges with an armful of potatoes, he catches sight of me and grins. 

“Capt’n told me you’d be helpin’ out!” He says happily. He dumps the potatoes into the tiny sink next to the stove and holds out a hand. “Name’s James August Fisher.” As he says this I can hear Archie’s wheezy voice imitating him. “But you can call me Jim.”

“Elyas,” I say, shaking his hand.

“Well, Elyas, I hope you can cook!” He turns back to the sink and starts peeling the potatoes at an astonishing rate. “You can start chopping onions; they’re in the cupboard over there.”

I head over, passing by the stove. The whole room smells delicious, and I catch sight of a simmering pot of soup. There’s a second pot of water on the other burner. “Two pots?” I say questioningly.

“Capt’n’s informed me there’s to be a party this eve’in’,” Jim says, “In your honour.” I’m startled by this information, but that didn’t really answer my question.

“So why a double batch then?” I ask, opening the cupboard.

“More people’ll be eatin’. See, usually the one’s with a night shift sleep through dinner and eat in the mornin’,” He explains, “But capt’n’s parties get everyone up.”

“Hm,” I close the cupboard and open the one next to it. A basket of onions sits on the top shelf. I grab a few. “How many?”

“Two should do it. Make sure they’re peeled” He says. He’s produced another cutting board for me and is chopping the potatoes now at an equally astonishing speed as he peeled them. I put one back and bring two to the counter. He kicks a metal bin over to me and I peel the dry skin off of the onions into it.

“Knives.” Jim says, jerking his head behind him. I see a block and take one. “Not that one.” He didn’t even turn around, but I put it back. “Top left.” I take the top left one and he nods. 

I start cutting. By the time I’ve managed to cut half of one sufficiently, he’s tossing all of the potatoes into the now-boiling water and starting on the next ingredient. 

______________________________________

An hour later, he has me take the first pot out onto the deck. It’s starting to get dark, and tiny lights have been strung up on the ropes and sails. There’s already a fair number of people out and talking and drinking. I see several crew members off to the side with instruments. 

I set the pot down on a barrel and go back in. Next, he sends me out with a crate of bowls. Then spoons. 

The trumpeter starts playing, and then the rest join in. At the sound of the music, more people come up onto the deck to join in.

[talesfromravolox]

Chapter 5: Cass Townem

A/N sorry this is a bit late! procrastination is fun.

I leave Elyas in his new room after giving him some clothes and a new job, which I decided would be helping in the kitchen (much to his disdain, I add). I gave him a single room so he can leave the hecticness of the ship for awhile if he wants to. I am starting to quite like Elyas. He should be interesting…

I am walking up to the deck from the innards of the ship contemplating our new arrival when I see Will across the deck, reading one of the books from the ship library. I try to keep the ship well-stocked with books and games and stress relievers. It isn’t all fun and games up in the sky, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t some fun and games.

“Hey Will! meet me in my office!” I yell over to him, some of the crew on deck turn their heads, but otherwise don't bother too much with our meeting. He looks up from his book, and gets up to start walking toward me. I see him approaching and turn to head into my office. 

He enters the room, a little peeved he had to stop reading, but quickly gets over himself and stands across from me. I’m behind a large desk, leaning over it a bit, mostly for comfort.

“So Will,” I start, “This kid from earlier-”

“He’s the about the same age as me; he’s not a kid.” Will interjects. I wave my hand in animosity. He’s always been a little sensitive about his age, and because of that he’s sensitive about other peoples age as well.

“This…” I say, searching for the word to describe him. I give up and move on. “Anyway, his name is Elyas, and has joined the crew! We have a new chef hand!” I say, rather excited. I do enjoy new crewmates. Will looks uncomfortable however, obviously wanting to speak his mind. “What is it Will?”

“Is it really a good idea to just accept anyone on to the ship as a crew member? Shouldn’t there be some… regulations? Something? I mean, what if he’s a spy for Ravolox?! We can't have that, Cass! You know what happened last time!” He says, becoming more anxious, "I mean, for gods sake, this is-” I cut him off, returning the favor from earlier. 

“Will, calm down. He’s fine. We are fine. I know our last… encounter with Ravolox was ...unpleasant… but it’ll be fine! Okay? Worrying about it will only make it worse, so just smile through!” He looks up at me, still a bit worried, but forces a smile on his face. “See! don’t you feel better?” 

“Not really. Mostly my cheeks just hurt.” he says, still smiling.

I sigh and roll my eyes, and sit down in the chair behind me. Will and I sit in comfortable silence for a few moments until suddenly, I get up, eyes wide.”I know, Will! I know how to make everything better!”

He looks at me, a bit confused. “uh.. what?”

“A PARTY!”

His eyes get wider, and he stands up taller and exclaims “ooohhHH NO! NOT AGAIN!” I start leaving the room, a wide grin on my face. “CASS! THIS IS A BAD IDEA! YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET DRUNK!”

I'm already across the room, but I turn to him, standing in my doorway, and shout back, “I KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I GET DRUNK, BUT WHO CARES?!” I turn and start heading off again, determined to have the best party this ship has ever seen.

[talesfromravolox]

Chapter 4: Elyas Twain

A/N: I was at camp for a week and missed my chapter so here it is

I wake up to find myself in a musty, crusty cell. There’s a misty light filtering through a high window.

It takes me probably a whole ten seconds for me to realise that I’ve been taken prisoner. I look around and see a moldy cot attached to the wall. I get up gingerly and sit on it, taking in my surroundings. In a wave of emotions and exhaustion, the events of the day thus far hit me like a train. 

Before I can stop them, I feel tears falling from my eyes. The weight of the day has finally caught up to me. My inability to control them just spurs them further. I eventually fall back asleep.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I start awake. Someone is in the cell with me. I can make out the outline of them sitting on a creaky bench across the cell, and instantly realise that it must be the captain. I suppress my instinct to attack; I don’t need to give her any reason to harm me. Instead, I try to wear a face that might be considered “typical” for someone in my position.

She doesn’t say anything, so I decide to start. “...hi?”

She immediately tells me I almost killed her. Well, her and me. Though not much would have happened if I had died. 

We have a short exchange, and I start considering my chances of escape. By looks, I could probably take her. But looks can deceive, and I don’t really want an entire ship of people wanting to kill me. 

“Are you for or against Ravolox?” She asks me. I think about it. I figure that she’s against him, and then turn to myself. Am I for or against Ravolox?

“…I …I’m not sure. But I think I …I think I hate him.” I say. I’m not entirely sure if it’s true, but right now it feels like it. 

As soon as I say this, she leaps up and welcomes me to her crew. That works...I guess? I try to give her a handshake but she puts her hand on my shoulder instead. I resist the urge to shake it off. She asks me my name, and I try to ignore the awkward addition (”handsome”) at the end of her inquiry.

I finally break eye contact and stare at the floor. “Elyas,” I say, “Elyas Twain.”

“Alright Elyas,” she shouts, “Let’s get you out of this cell and to a proper room. Welcome to the crew!” Without missing a beat, she whips around and opens the cell door and heads for the ladder up to what I assume must be the deck. When I don’t follow she turns and beckons to me. 

“I don’t bite,” She says, “Well, usually.” She winks and starts up the ladder. Processing what she just said, I wait until she’s almost to the top to follow suit and make my way up to the main deck. 

It takes a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the light, and I spot her a few feet away looking at me disinterestedly. She leads me across the deck to a door between the ladders to get up to the quarterdeck. She throws it open and I find myself in a cross between the galley and an armory-slash-secondhand-store. A heavy-looking wooden counter stretches across the halfway point of the room with a gap in the middle. On top of it are numerous bits and bobs, pots, pans, and cooking utensils. The back half of the room seems to be the galley portion; I can see a stove with a large pot on it from where I am, and a man in a yellowed and stained white apron is humming to himself while chopping some sort of vegetable, his back turned to us. 

I only realise I’ve been standing and staring around when the captain calls me over. “Elyas! Come look at this. This’ll probably fit you.”

She’s standing with a very thin man with a bandanna tied around his head by a large pile of clothing on top of the counter (which I now notice stretches around along the wall to the door and is lined with cabinets). She’s pulled out a ginormous pink flowered blouse and is holding it up for me to see. I obviously make some disgusted expression because as soon as the thin man sees my face he breaks into laughter. I hear the cook in the back chuckling too.

“Never gets old, that one, miss!” He says, his eyes watering with mirth. The captain is also smirking as she tosses it back onto the pile and pulls out a shirt that must have once been white. She tosses it to me and then dives back in, emerging with a pair of black pants. The man holds up a beaten brown vest and a deep red sash. I eye them skeptically.

“If anything doesn’t fit, you can come back and Archie here can help you find something that does.” the captain says. I shrug. 

[talesfromravolox]

Chapter 3: The Red Maiden

The robbery goes without a hitch. That guy who crashed into me after getting off the ship was sent to the brig for storage, his pockets emptied. Though there wasn’t much in them to begin with.

My crew and I walk back to the ship now, bags of gold and silver slung over our shoulders, our heads held high. The people in the street don’t pay too much attention to us, just as always, and just as always it’s very useful in our escape. I lead the group, a hand in my pocket, my eyes closed to feel the warm sun on my face. I don’t have a care in the world. With Will walking next to me, life is good. I still have my ultimate goal of course, but for now I am content.

We are nearing the ship now, greeted by cheering from the skeleton crew we left behind to maintain the ship and our prisoners. I’m not one to take prisoners, but we don’t treat them poorly. They are merely there until they decide to join our ship, which they almost always do. In some cases they’ll choose to leave, and they are able to when we reach a port to dock at. Occasionally I’ll send a crew member down if they become too rowdy during dinner or the rare cases of insubordination, which I stomp out the merest signs of. My boys and gals can have their fun, but I will not tolerate disobedience.

I climb the ramp to join my ship. A skeleton crew member takes my sack of gold to bring down to the treasury, and my other crew members follow, also carrying loot. I start toward my office, assuming that Will will follow.

“Now then Will,” I start, without looking back and taking my feathered hat off as we come into my cabin. “What of that boy who crashed into me? what do you think?”

“I don’t know ma’am. you’re the captain.”

I chuckle. It’s still funny that to me that my best friend still insists on calling me ‘captain’ or ‘ma’am’.

“You know you don’t have to call me that in private, Will.”

“Right, I’m sorry ma’-uh… Cass.”

“There you go. Now, I’m going to go interrogate our… guest.”

——————————————————————————————

I’m sitting in the boy’s cell, the one who ran into me earlier today. There’s a decent amount of light coming in from a high window. I’m sitting the bench by the wall, across from the boy. He’s sleeping on the dirty cot. It’s attached to the wall with rusty chains and hinges so it can be put away during the day. He’s lying on his side, facing me. A peaceful look on his face. He looks about my age, maybe a bit younger (although looks can be deceiving), and is wearing what looks like a royal uniform. He’s quite handsome, actually. The crew didn’t rough him up too much from the looks of it. They told me that not ten seconds after they got him on the ship, royal guards came around asking for a boy matching his description. The crew shrugged them off, aware that they couldn’t care less about us, and were obviously not paying much attention. We protect people from ‘Lord Emperor’ Ravolox and other dangers. We plunder, sure, but we never take more than we need. And we save the rest for those who need it more than the banks.

The boy’s eyes flutter open, a little red and watery. He’d been crying before he slept. He doesn’t register me in the room immediately, and once he does, he jerks awake, sitting up on the edge of his bed.

He regards me suspiciously, with a hint of surprise.  “…Hi?”

“Yes. Hello indeed. Well, boy, you nearly killed us both earlier. Just because you’re cute doesn’t mean you get a pass”

He’s taken aback by my forwardness. “Uh… Sorry, it’s been a…” he takes a deep breath, widening his eyes and continues. “It’s been a…weird day. Where am I?”

“I’ll be asking the questions.” I hold back a grin. I’ve always wanted to say that. “You aren’t exactly in a position to be asking anything. So tell me boy, what happened?”

He doesn’t answer, but instead looks me up and down, sizing me up.

“Look, I’m not going to hurt you, unless you pose a threat to me or my crew.”

He looks a little more reassured. “I’m one of - used to be one of - Ravolox’s pupils. And then he kicked me out… I mean. I was with him for 7 chrons! And he just…” he trails off, making a gesture with his hands, a look mixed with confused, scared, angry, and sad.

I’m not really sure if (and if so, how) I’m supposed to comfort him, so I ask, “Well, are you for or against Ravolox?”

“…I …I’m not sure. But I think I …I think I hate him.” He says, half to himself.

“Welp! That’s good enough for me. Welcome to the crew!” I get up and walk over to him. “My name’s Cass. I’m the captain, and you will call me as such until we get to know each other better.”

He tries to give me a handshake, but I put my hand on his shoulder, looking him in the eye. “We’ll figure out something better for you to wear than that gross shit, and somewhere to earn your food. Now, what’s your name, Handsome?”

He looks startled at my compliment. He then looks at my hand as he thinks (obviously uncomfortable with the contact, though not acting on it), then replies, “Elyas.” He doesn’t look at me, but rather at the floor. “Elyas Twain.”

“Alright Elyas, let’s get you out of this cell and to a proper room. Welcome to the crew!”  

[talesfromravolox]

Chapter 2 - The King’s [former] Apprentice

Lord Shithead - sorry, Lord Emperor Shithead has decided that I’m not a suitable apprentice for his Select Academy of Magic, nor a suitable citizen of Ravolox, for that matter. Lord Idiot Shithead happens to be terrified of necromancy. I am not a necromancer. But one look in that section of the library, and I’m being ejected from the city. Fine! I didn’t need his Disciples University of Magical Brilliance (DUMB) academy or whatever anyways. 

Ever since he caught wind of some plot to make a huge army of re-animated bodies and re-awakened souls, he’s been paranoid about all signs of necromancy. In the last twenty-four days (that’s just two weeks), he’s banished fifty supposed necromancers on very little evidence. But he’s the ultra-old ultra-leader of Ravolox, and he’s the the one with ultra-power to get whatever the hell he wants. 

Which is fine, right? I’ve only lived in Ravolox my entire life. I’ve only resided at Clockwork Castle for seven chrons, where I’ve only been personally trained by Lord Emperor Shithead’s magical advisers. I’ve only been legally adopted by Archenies Silveren - who’s only Lord Shithead’s favourite alchemist - because of the startling high number of my family members still alive: zero. Ravolox is only the only home I’ve ever known. And I only wanted to know identifying signs of a necromancer. 

Which is, of course, why I’ve decided to become a fugitive of Ravolox’s stupid law. And continue being a resident of the city, albeit illegal. I mean, what else would I be expected to do? Actually let myself be thrown out? Please.

I know the men guarding me well. Lucian Belemonte and Emmet Underwood. Lucian was one of my best friends from the beginning, but we’ve grown apart in recent chrons. Emmet I’m less familiar with, but I know that he’s ambitious, hardworking, and loyal. Without a doubt, he’ll dedicate his life to Lord Emperor Ravolox when he completes his training.

As soon as I am dismissed from His Lord Emperor’s Hall of Idiotic Condemnation, Lucian and Emmet begin to guide me back to gather my things. When we get outside and the doors have swung shut behind us, however, I make a run for it. Seven chrons of vigorous militaristic and magical training make for decent odds when escaping guards who are only half-heartedly going after you. Emmet seems conflicted as he runs after me. He’s close behind, and could easily shoot me if he took out his gun. Lucian jogs after me, making a show of shooting his pistol wildly inaccurately. By the time the courtyard guards figure out what’s going on, I’ve leapt over the wall and am running down the semi-crowded street. Emmet looks down, panting, and I glace back in time to see the other guards turn away to alert more people. I dart away into empty sidestreets.

My chest aches, my feet hurt, but I can’t stop. I figure if I can get to the docks, I’ll be able to blend in more than the streets. My Royal Uniform isn’t exactly what one would call “common” for obvious reasons, nor subtle. There, I might be able to find myself some different clothing. 

I slow down as I begin passing anchored airships, and begin to calm down and appreciate how nice the day is as I near the busier portion of the dock. That is, until I hear shouting behind me and see other uniformed folks coming after me from the end of the dock. Shit.

I start running again and disappear into the crowd. I push past people until I run straight into someone. We both fall over. We look at each other. She looks mildly familiar, but her face goes from an expression of annoyance and surprise to one of glee. I’m confused about this until someone is dragging me up and grabbing hold of my arms. She’s part of the royal forces? I have little time to contemplate this because before I can even begin to struggle, I’m hit over the head with something.

[talesfromravolox]

Chapter 1: The Red Maiden

It's a warm summer day. I'm leaning on the rail on the front of my ship, the (scarlet night, for those interested.) looking down at the clouds below, I noticed a school of jiggers leaping from the clouds. Jiggers, for those who may not know, are scaly animals that live in the clouds. Though I suppose you know that if you live in Ravolox, seeing as it's a jigging city. But I could be overstating your intelligence, so I suppose you’ll also need to know what jigging is, if you don't know what jiggers are. Jigging is catching jiggers, plain and simple. Some people do it for sport, others for food. Some cities economies are built on the jigging that happens around the city. Though don't be fooled, jiggers are a name for the collective and vast variety of animals living in the clouds.

The chron is 504. We are nearing the end of the chron, and ‘Lord Emperor Ravolox’s birthday. Who also happens to be 504. If you think that’s a coincidence, its not. And if you hear a bit of distaste in my voice, you would hear correctly. I’ve never like lord buttface much. Sorry, lord emperor buttface. there’s a reason I’m an outlaw on a ship. My ship is a beauty- the Scarlet Night. She’s fairly large, a few hundred meters across, and a 4 dozen meters wide. She’s got three steam engines and sixteen beautiful fans (or rotors, whatever hovers your ship) to keep her aloft in the sky. She's mostly wood, but has some metal here and there, painted a deep hue of red, hence the scarlet. I myself have fire red hair, hence my infamous name of  “The Red Maiden”. She has a handmade helm, stand and all. It's about a meter wide and the sloping arches come down from the wheel to meet the floor. It was made by the old captain, who left the ship to me. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, remembering the good ol’ days. But now I'm captain, and I must move on for the sake of the crew.

I hear the horns squealing signaling we are about to stop, and I feel a jolt, and I know we’re here. 

“Captain!”

I move away from the railing and turn, greeted by the face of my first mate, Will Reid. Will is not especially tall, and not especially short. An average size if ever I saw one, I'm about a head taller than him. He’s got curly brown hair, which always seems to be dirty, even after just being washed. He’s dressed in brown pants that went down to his mid calf, and meet his shirt near where I would imagine his belly button was. His shirt is a exactly what you’d expect a pirate to be wearing: white, filthy, and coarse in texture, the top undone. His shirt is accompanied by a light vest matching his pants. His heavy goggles are on his forehead, pushing up his hair and making it stick up. 

He hands me a note as I start walking to the docking station.

“What are we doing in Ravolox, will ol’ chap?” I say, examining the note. It has the seal of Ravolox on it, and a large amount of legal looking text, so I pocket it. Ravolox is the center of the nation. The ‘Capital city’ as some might say. As the old saying goes, what happens in Ravolox never sleeps!

“We’re going big this time capin’, you might want to hold on to something” he says, warning, but excited.

“I like the sounds of that! It sounds like a good, nice, challenge! Tell me!” I say, anxious to hear what he has to say.

“We’re  going after the bank of Ravolox!” He tells me, “... Mam’!” he quickly adds. The Bank of Ravolox is the largest bank in the city and heavily guarded. 

“WOOHOO! AH! I need this. ADVENTURE, WILL! Think of it! Its what being a pirate is all-OOF!”

Unfortunately, as I say this, I’m taking the ramp off the ship to the dock. As I step onto the dock something comes crashing into me and nearly knocks us both over into the clouds, presumably to our death below.