In reply to Maybelle Diggory (msg # 8):
OOC: I copied Bellgrove & Connors descriptions, then "played" with them a little...hope I didn't go too far, guys ^_^
Maybelle:
"My word, you accidentally set off an explosion? That must have been terrifying."
"It was that and more, Miss." interrupts a man's voice with a distinctive American accent--Northeastern States, possibly from Boston, if Maybelle's trained actor's ear is hearing it correctly,
"All the more so if you were only twenty yards away from the blast point, eh, lads?"
Appearing from further astern of
Le Falcon, a trio of men approach--two walking more-or-less side-by-side with a taller man behind them.
The man who spoke was a bit taller than average, maybe 6-foot, and trim of build, with tastefully short-cropped, light-brown hair--
mostly hidden by an age-worn white
crusher-style cap with black patent leather band and bill, cocked back on his head. Bright blue eyes
twinkle over a moderately handsome, smiling face that's got a few days of stubble--as well as some impressive bruises and scratches--on his chin and cheeks.
Besides the rumpled cap on his head, he's dressed in a white cotton Brookes Bros. shirt--with arms rolled up, revealing further bruising and scratches on his arms and hands--over khaki trousers (of which both items could use a few moments with a hot iron) and rubber-soled, gray deck shoes on his feet. A flat knife hanging from a black leather belt finishes the somewhat
nautical look of his outfit, though his
bearing seems to counter-indicate any sort of
common background to the man.
The companion of the man with the Bostonian accent is one of those unique, truly
average looking fellows--standing an average height of about 5-foot-6 or 5-foot-7 with a lithe build, well groomed hair and clean-shaven face, and a physical demeanor that, if one were not paying
close attention, could be
easily forgotten as soon as the eye passed by him--though he was in
no way unpleasant to look at.
Two things about him that
did stand out, however, was that his pallor seemed slightly too
pale for someone who was so well dressed for
outdoor activity--that being a white linen shirt, a waistcoat of black-gray-blue plaid, plain but rugged-looking brown twill jacket and dark, black or navy blue corduroy trousers tucked into tall leather walking boots--also he stood out in that, if you could look
close enough, his eyes were
lavender in color.
The gentleman in the back towered over the other two by several inches--maybe 6-foot-4 or 6-foot-7--and he was a little broader in the shoulder than either of the two men walking before him. Even in the shadowy light it is obvious that the taller man is wearing a cap similar in style to that worn by the Bostonian--though the Bostonian's cap has a far rougher, beat-up appearance to it.
As the three step into the better lighting, the tall man in the back is
indeed wearing a cap--a black, leather-looking
grease top railway-style cap atop a head of thick, well groomed, chocolate-brown hair possessing a few streaks of silver...
But what's
under that head of thick, lustrous hair momentarily takes her
breath away.
Though the hair atop the tall man's head (and under his cap) is trimmed in a most
manly fashion, including fashionable sideburns, every other bit of
exposed skin on the tall man is covered in
fur--short, white fur with black stripes! Violet-colored eyes with slit-irises seem to
glow dimly from definitely feline facial features--including a broad smile of
sharp teeth possessing an over-large pair of upper canine teeth. As he raises a hand to casually wave at the group, it's seen his hand is shaped like a
human hand, but it possesses feline fur and claws, even what look like rough pads on his palm and up onto the lower part of his fingers.
The tall man is likely a Human-Animal blend, what the European newspapers have been calling a
"Moreau" person--in this case, a
Tigerman. Now that he can be seen clearer, the Tigerman's wearing a pale sage-colored, band-collared linen shirt and black pin-stripe waistcoat over slightly-faded indigo denim workman's trousers with several pockets. When the occasional opportunity presents itself, it can be seen that the Tigerman is not wearing any footgear, and that, unlike his hands, his
feet more closely resemble those of a
tiger, than those of a man.
"Myself and Bellgrove, here..." the Bostonian gestures with a thumb towards the other Human-looking man, next to him,
"We got a little shelter from the blast by way of some packing crates, but still got our noggins rattled. Now Conner, here..."
The Bostonian now hooks a thumb over his shoulder at the Tiger-Man,
"He got blown sixteen feet through the air and slammed onto the ground. That would have killed either of us..." this time he gestures back and forth between himself and Bellgrove,
"But the Big Guy just gets up and tries to shrug it off. Of course, we had to help him stay on his feet, but otherwise he was good to continue on to rescue the Professor."
"Who we are looking for. Anyone seen Profess--oh, there you are, Professor! I hope you're feeling better, I have a question for you..."
OOC: we all got confused about this a couple of times--Dash, and thus Bellgrove and Connor--have been on board Le Falcon this whole time. A couple times it almost seemed like we were thought to be aboard the Black Zep, but MSG# 937 in "Flight to Bourbany" Dash makes reference to brewing the last pot of the Italian Roast coffee that was picked up when Le Falcon stopped on the east coast of Italy. Those coffee beans were stored in the galley of Le Falcon. Later, in MSG# 945, same thread, Bellgrove had asked OOC which ship we were on, Dash responded OOC that we were on Le Falcon, and that comment was never challenged or corrected by the GM.
SO...our sudden appearance among y'all is thus perfectly normal. Pfffffft! ^_^
And now, it's time for.... "Edu-muh-kashun wit Lord Vince!"
Above, a couple of "cap" styles are mentioned (go figger, Boys and their Hats, right?) So anyway, being the resident Clothing Nazi ^_^ I thought I should explain the differences. First we must look at what is called a "Peaked Cap"--like the US Marine Corps Dress Cap, to the left (actually, my USMC buddies would hit me in the shoulder for calling that a "cap"--Marines call their headgear "Covers". ALL their headgear. And I'd get hit real hard for such a snafu). Note the stiffness of the upper part of this style of cap--that comes from the placement of a thin, circular wire ring holding the fabric stiff. On some types of Peaked Cap there are even support wires from the headband to the circular ring that help hold the upper fabric even stiffer.
This is the base style from which the mentioned caps come--a headband with a bill, usually these are both made of leather, but can be of the same cloth as the upper portion. An upper portion that has a diameter wider than the headband, usually made of a fabric, but can also be made of stiffer materials like leather and felt, as well as the same material as the headband, whatever that mat be. Keep this basic image in mind, as I move on to the kinds of caps mentioned, above.
The first cap mentioned was Dash's Crusher-style Cap. This is almost identical to the Peaked Cap I just mentioned with only a couple of slight differences. First, the headband & bill and the upper portion of the cap will always be of different construction--usually a leather headband and bill with something else above. With a Crusher-style Cap, that "something else is always a flexible, breathable material, usually canvas, but other cloth styles are also popular. Even when the headband and the upper cap appear to be made of the same material (like those fishing caps called "Greek Sailor" caps), the headband is actually a band of leather or some other stiffer material (cardboard, thin wood, folds of thicker cloth) covered in the same material as the upper.
The other difference between a Peaked Cap and a Crusher Cap is that the wire that stiffens a Peaked Cap is not present in a Crusher Cap, thus the upper portion of a Crusher Cap often looks more collapsed, more relaxed, more like it's been rolled up and shoved in a pocket (which it probably has)--in other words, it looks more "crushed".
Now in the case of the "Bos'n's Cap" that Dash wears, he's a Maritime Trader aboard a Clipper Ship and he serves as a Junior Officer on the ship, so that's a Merchant Marine cap he's wearing.
Connor is mentioned to be wearing something described as "similar in style" to what Dash is wearing. The similarity being referenced is a similar lack of rigidity when compared to a Peaked Cap. Connor is wearing a cap that has a headband and attached bill, and an upper section that is not as rigidly defined as that of a Peaked Cap, however, the upper portion of this cap is not as "relaxed" as a Crusher-style Cap, either. This cap is called a "Grease Top" Railway Cap (it's a cap worn by British Locomotive Engineers and Locomotive Firemen (the guy who keeps the fire going)). These caps, like Crusher Caps, usually didn't have the stiffening wire, but they were made of leather or heavy fabric which kept it's shape a lot better than the Crusher Caps did. They were called "Grease Tops" because they kept the grease that often dripped from underneath locomotive engines from getting into the wearer's hair, and sometimes even from running down their neck. They were not, however, fire-proof, and when sparks or flying embers from the engine happened to land upon them...well...thankfully few railmen were truly harmed, but everyone had a good laugh.
And these are examples of modern...um...of unique...uh...these're...
Ah, hell, they're North Korean, who the fuck knows what they were thinking when they put these on. North Korean Halloween, maybe...? Hiding a Kalashnikov up there? Contraband Hooch?
This message was last edited by the player at 07:46, Sat 09 Feb 2019.