Friday January 23rd, Year of our Lord, 1671 — Port de Basse Terre

We find ourselves in fine mood for a voyage today, bound south east across the waves for Barbados and Bridgetown. Our hold is packed with Cocoa Beans and the voyage promises a swift and simple one. It has been too long since men sailed the sea and as my confrère Philippe le Rogue told me it is best to wet their moods with a quick turn before taking on a longer voyage...

---

Jean Lefanu still considered himself young at twenty five but he was quite old enough to have gained some traits that left others scratching their heads. Many a sailor dressed as impressively as they could afford so his insistence on a certain style was not so strange in of itself. Much more peculiar was the fact that he disdained the garish rings, tattoos and other paraphernalia common to his peers and instead favoured the attire of a foppish young court rake (or as close as he could afford, which alas was not much.)

It did make getting dressed time consuming but one had an image to maintain.

Currently Jean lived in Basse Terre, that port of exquisite tropical Guadeloupe. He had a nice if small house with a view of the blue sea that he paid a old crone who was a sorceress with a sweeping room to keep clean. This morning as he departed his abode he tugged his frock coat a little tighter - it may have been the Indies but January was January and he could feel a breeze blowing at his almost womanishly long fair hair and flickering the long red feather in his hat. God willing it promised fair winds!

It was a nice house but home was the fine sloop Enchantresse. A slender, handsome ship, fleet of sail and fast as a dolphin. As Jean elegantly boarded the vessel (waving away the grubby hand of the boatswain) he shared a grin with his First Mate M. Lavigne.

Bernard Lavigne was everything Captain Lefanu was not. While Lefanu was almost fanatically clean, well dressed and so fair of complexion and fine of feature a persistent rumour held he was actually a woman pretending to be a man (an insult that had led to more than one duel) the First Mate was very masculine, very hairy, very tough and seemed to be a magnet for every flea in the West Indies. He gambled excessively (so did Lefanu of course but at more gentlemanly tables), drank anything that came in a bottle and had fathered a whole tribe of children across a league of wives and mistresses.

Still as Jean well knew there was no better man to have at your side in a fight or facing a storm.

"Bienvenue, Monsieur Lavigne, how fairs the cargo?" Jean said as walked across the deck.

"Well secured Mon Capitaine," Bernard replied, his own grin revealing big yellowing teeth. "Both cargos."

Jean raised an elegant eyebrow. "I assure you Monsieur Lavigne the log mentions only the Cocoa and a gentlemen does not lie."

"Of course Mon Capitaine."

Both men knew that the hold did indeed contain Cocoa Beans... and hidden beneath them Unlicensed Naval Flags. A gentleman did not lie but he was free to omit details that might embarrass himself or others.

---

OOC: Some help with French would be nice though I'm just using it for flavour - I am alas monolingual! :)

I've bought a crate of Cocoa Beans (2gp) and Unlicensed Naval Flags (3gp, do these go under 'contraband'?) and the Enchantresse is Setting Sail for Bridgetown.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:27, Wed 02 Feb 2022.

OOC:

Very nice start! And very well written!

As a matter of game mechanics, I want to remind you that having done your port action, you could also pay 2 gold to get a Rumour to solve. You could also buy ship modifications, or buy weapons before setting sail.

I also had a question about what sort of special talent Jean had? I'm trying to provide your character with an in-game ability that will give you an advantage in certain situations.

The one I had in mind, for example:

"LeFanu may receive an extra rumour, and choose which one to pursue. This skill also applies whenever a benefit might be received when completing a mission/or feat."

Another might be you can draw an extra cargo in French ports and sell a certain commidity at +1 gold, or...

Force an NPC to re-roll a successful scouting check, thus passing them by unseen.

Let me know.

OOC: Thanks, glad you liked it!

I think will go rumour hunting before setting off then - I'll write up an IC post this evening.

For special talents the first idea you had spunds both fun and flavourful!

Excellent, I have added the talent on your ship's info so that it's easily accessible (and I won't forget). :D

I've deducted 2 gp from your ship stats and you can now choose one of the following rumours:

"





Note that completing either would get you 1XP and a Benefit, on top of the benefit you might get from the rumour.

Choose one, and then you can RP finding it out.

Before departing Captain Jean Lefanu made one last stop at Marcel's tavern, a favourite haunt of the rogues and ruffians that visited Port de Basse Terre. Grizzled old Marcel himself was a sailor had lost a leg to a cannonball but gained a beautiful Mestizo wife in an adventurous few years before discovering that he much preferred having dry land under his feet. His establishment was not

Marcel served overpriced wine fit only for dogs or Englishmen so Jean took a bottle of better but still overpriced rum sat in on a game of cards in the dark tavern. Monsieur Dupont, the thin and Roman nosed ship's surgeon of the Pluton was playing today and he was one of the most reliable sources of information in the Indies. Today's gossip took another bottle of Jamaican rum and a promise of introduction to Jean's acquaintance Senhorita da Silva (a charming and vivacious young lady of Lisbon making a name and a small fortune for herself among the gentlemen of Port de Basse Terre.)

"Apparently the galleon Esmeralda suffered a mutiny," Dupont said over a bad hand. "The slaves overthrew the crew and threw them to the sharks."

"I feel sorry for the sharks. I doubt slavers taste very nice. Certainly I've never met one I felt comfortable shaking hands," Jean said, eyes momentarily flicking to his own hand (of cards.)

"Yes I don't care for slavers myself. As a profession it seems to attract the lice of humanity. Still the Spanish would pay handsomely for their galleon back - unless you preferred the ship itself."

"A tempting idea," Jean replied and went on to win the hand - though given what he had paid for the rum Monsieur Dupont was still comfortably ahead.

"Which one?" Monsieur Dupont asked, a sly look passing across his face.

Jean answered with an easy smile. "I still have to find the ship first Albert. I'll see how it goes."

"Try the waters off Trinidad my friend," Monsieur Dupont called out as Jean departed for the Enchantresse.

Trinidad? Well that made it easy, Captain Lefanu reflected. First on their original voyage to Bridgetown and selling the cargo. Then for Trinidadian waters and perhaps a battle...

“If you’re thinking of taking her on, you should invest in a swivel gun to cut down some of the prisoners crewing her,” Monsieur Dupont said just as Jean crossed the threshold, heading back to the ship. “I hear the shipwright has one for sale for three gold, if you need to even the odds in….” If Dupont had said anything more, the hubbub from the street scattered it to the wind.

"Thank you Mon Ami," Jean called back.

After a moment's hesitation he decided to follow the surgeon's advice even though it would clear him out completely - any fortune not gained through blood required some risk!

From the Enchantress he fetched Armel, the red haired Breton who was the sloop's carpenter and who would know better than the captain how to fit a swivel gun.

Predictably a lot of the arcane conversations about shipbuilding went in one ear and out the other for Jean but as he watched the two men talk with enthusiasm he got the feeling he was getting a good deal.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:31, Wed 02 Feb 2022.

The swivel gun was soon installed and paid for, and Jean gave Monsieur Lavigne the go ahead for taking the Enchanteresse out to sea.

“Bosun, retrieve her lines, and push off…!” The crew answered happily with their Oui Monsieur, and the ship’s lines were retrieved and stowed away so as to not clutter the deck when it came time to hoist the sails. The sun might be setting, but Jean felt like the adventure was just beginning.

“Up top gallants, and easy as she goes helmsman!” he shouted and soon the crew answered: “Haut hisse, haut…. Hisse…. Hissé haut..!” The top sails unfurled and caught the wind, sending the ship lurching forward like a horse out of the gates at the races. Ah, and how the Enchanteresse loves to race, thought her captain fondly as they set sail.

It was at moments like this with the wind carrying and the surf champing at the hull and the creak of timber and canvas and rope that Captain Lefanu felt he might have been luckier than his detested half-brother in his Normandy chateau. The bluest of blood was in his veins and he would never not be proud of it but there was something about the sea and command of a fine fast ship that awoke deep passions within.

He stood a moment on the deck, filling his lungs with the salt sea and looking up at the first stars appearing in a sky turned purple by setting sun.

Well a good start and confident crew, what more could be asked for?

"Monsieur Lavigne, a moment s'il vous plaît," Jean said to the First Mate as he led the way to the cramped but clean and well furnished captain's cabin. The windows at the back of the cabin on the stern of the sloop showed Port de Basse Terre slowly fading into the distance.

"Aye Mon Capitaine," Monsieur Lavigne said. He was a large man, certainly more so than his captain and tended to make the cabin seem even smaller, though Jean was used to that by now. Indeed he poured his second a portion of rum and one for himself.

"Santé," he said clinking his glass against Lavigne's. "As you know we are bound for Bridgetown. What you don't yet know is that after that we'll be on the hunt for the galleon Esmeralda. She was seized by the slaves carrying her and is now in the waters off Trinidad or so I hear."

Bernard Lavigine rubbed his chin, scratching at his rough beard. "A sloop against a galleon? A hard fight. That's what that pretty new gun is for right?"

"It is and you'll be training the men to use it. I'll wait until after Bridgetown before I tell them," Jean said, a sly look on his handsome face. "They'll be in a good mood after we've slipped in our contraband and feel all the more confident about taking on the world. Well Monsieur Lavigne here is to adventure, renown and Spanish gold!"

Captain Lefanu drained his own glass and after Monsieur Lavigne departed Jean spent time studying his charts until night had draped her starry cloak all around the ship and he departed for bed and dreams of the future...

Saturday, January 24th, year of our Lord 1671 - Bridgetown Sea Zone

The Enchanteresse speeds through the night like a shooting star over dark waves and cloudless skies, her captain resting contentedly in his cabin as the 1st Watch changes over to the Mid Watch at midnight. Shortly after the 1st bell of the day, the 1st mate knocks on the cabin door.

"Désolé de vous déranger, monsieur, mais on a besoin de vous..." came the familiar voice as he carefully opened the cabin door. "We've sighted Bridgetown, but the mouth of the harbour is a tricky one, we might need your careful hand on the wheel."

"Surely, the Enchanteresse isn't as fat bottomed as a brig, Monsieur Lavigne?" Jean knew full well that his sloop could manoeuvre her way in and out of Bridgetown without any trouble, it was those clumsier ships that needed a hand.

"Habituellement, non," the mate admitted, "mais... it is night time, and I'll be scanning ahead to make sure we don't hit the shoals."

Captain Lefanu nodded. "Très bien alors. I shall be there presently Monsieur Lavigne."

Jean swiftly donned his coat and slashed cold water on his cheeks to make sure he was awake. Then he pulled on his boots and made his way out to the Enchantresse's quarter deck and the wheel. There was a rueful smile on his face; he'd forgotten quite how swift his beauty of a ship was and for once it worked against him. A slower vessel would have sighted Bridgetown in the early morning light.

Well the moon and the stars would have to suffice - with his own skill of course. Taking the wheel Jean made ready to guide the vessel safely into harbour as the First Mate kept watch.

"Mon dieu! Another ship," Lavigne said, "heading for the harbour mouth..! Someone's in a hurry to leave Bridgetown mon ami!" He started shouting orders and the Enchanteresse changed course, Jean nimbly steering her back to deeper waters, clearing the harbour mouth as another ship, slightly bigger than the Enchanteresse headed for the harbour exit her sailors shouting and tackling her sails. French and Spanish reached the Lefanu's ears. It seemed the ship had a spaniard ordering French crewmen.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:08, Thu 03 Feb 2022.

"Monsieur Lavigne mark her name as we pass her," Jean ordered, his hands thigh on the wheel as he turned to give the oncoming ship way.

Part of him was tempted to order an attack at once but cool headedness won - however suspicious it was the vessel was racing out of harbour at night as if all the hounds of Hell chased her there was a chance it was an innocent explanation...

"Ehh, it's hard to tell in the night like this, mon Capitaine," Bernard said as he pressed the spy glass to his eye.

OOC: Roll me a Scouting Roll (2 dice) please.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:58, Thu 03 Feb 2022.

Captain Lefanu didn't reply, his mind and hands intent on keeping his ship from hitting a submerged rock - that would be an inglorious finish to his career!

---

OOC: 21:15, Today: Secret Roll: Jean Lefanu rolled 1 success using 2d6 with the Target Number system with a target of 5 with rolls of 4,5.  Scouting.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:29, Thu 03 Feb 2022.

The other vessel rushed out of Bridgetown's harbour, having only slowed down enough to avoid a collision that would have never come. The Enchanteresse had daftly changed directions, manoeuvring quickly and skilfully, commencing a tack as her crew adjusted the sails, veering her away the very moment when her master noticed that the vessel was coming towards the very same and only entrance to the harbour.

"Ahh! The moon gave me just a mere moment, but I believe I made out the Merry Widow, monsieur," said the 1st mate as the Merry Widow veered south, leaving the Enchanteresse in her wake... "We could pursue, but they're heading towards Trinidad. They'll be impossible to find," added Lavigne.

"Well done Monsieur Levigne," Captain Lefanu replied. "No we shall let her go but remember the name well. I suspect we haven't see the last of 'La Veuve joyeuse'."


Despite his initial anger at the other ship - was their master a drunk or a fool? - Jean could not help but be amused at the name. The Merry Widow! There was a story there.

"We'll make for the harbour Monsieur Levigne. Monsieur MacGann," Jean called out to the Second Mate, a wiry Scotsman with scant love for the English. "Go inspect the cargo... both cargos."

Jean found the last remnants of his anger dissipating, a vulpine smile forming on his lips. He might have planned this to be a quick, uneventful voyage but obviously God had other plans and it was a hard man who didn't thrill to a bit of excitement.

His hands at the wheel and calling out commands to his crew the master of the Enchantresse steered her into Bridgetown harbour.

Despite the lateness of the hour, the Enchanteresse's crew found the port bustling with activity. Granted it was a subdued affair, not at all like the bustle during the day, but trade, apparently, didn't stop between the hours of 5pm and 8am.

"Oh, excellent..." exclaimed the older man as he considered the flags, "these will fetch a pretty sum!" He dropped a purse full of coin into Jean's hands. "I appreciate the discretion... ehh, and I can give you three gold for the crate of cocoa beans. Shall I take it off your hands, or would you rather do some shoppin' of your own?"

OOC: Added 10 gold to your coffers and took away the flags.

Saturday January 24th, Year of our Lord, 1671 — Bridetown

After a swift voyage with fortunate winds we have made harbour at Bridgetown on the fair isle of Barbados with a cargo of cocoa beans. Making port in the dreaming hours was more exciting than it might have been due to a near collision with the Merry Widow. A vessel I suspect we shall see again!

---

Having written the near miss with the ill mastered flute in the Enchantresse's log Captain Lefanu had been happy to welcome the British merchant aboard to see both the hidden and the overt cargo. Though Jean was still a little tired he had washed, shaved and changed into clean coat, shirt and breaches. He could hardly wander around port looking like a wastrel!

"Ah, I believe we can do business mon ami," he told the older gentleman, offering his hand to shake. "The cocoa is yours with the flags and I look forward to trading with you again."

Captain Lefanu was thinking ahead to possibility of buying a cargo of rum if he could source it - Mardi Gras was coming soon! - and perhaps also see if they were useful, specialist men (or women) about the town who could bring their skills to the Enchantresse. Jean would hesitate to employ an English sailor with his French crew but Irish and Scots were a different story.

The other man nodded and pocketed the coin. "I'll have my men bring it to shore," he said as he took out a ledger from his pocket, marking down the cocoa beans and the price he paid for it. He quickly licked his thumb to help him flip through the pages, and then turned the book over to Jean.

"As you see, I have a fair bit of spices, rum and textiles for sale," he said, "you might want to consider those..." he said pointing into his book.

[Private to Jean Lefanu: The trader has marked a few contraband for your consideration next to some of the cargo he has for sale:


1 crate of Rum, 2gp, or Embargoed Goods to be smuggled into Basse Terre, 3gp
1 crate of rum, 2gp
1 crate of spices 1 gp, or Confidential documents to be delivered to a contact in Caracas, 3gp,
1 crate of spice, 1 gp
1 crate of spice, 1gp
1 crate of textiles, 3pg

You now have 13 gold]
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:09, Fri 04 Feb 2022.

Captain Lefanu raised an eyebrow at some of the man's stock. "Ah... I see you are a most enterprising fellow Monsieur. I believe I shall take two crates of your finest rum."

He looked at the trader thoughtfully. Older and with a certain respectability but definitely a glint of shrewdness in his gray-blue eyes.  "You seem a man who knows much Monsieur...?"

"Greene, Monsieur Capataine."

Jean smiled and shook his hand. "Well Monsieur Greene, I shall have to deal with you again."

Taking his leave of the merchant Jean climbed back up the ladder onto the deck and hailed his First Mate. Bernard Lavigne had been dozing against the mast - like Jean he had a busy night - but with a yawn he woke up, stretching limbs and scratching his breeches in a most undignified fashion.

"Monsieur Lavigne I intend to explore the town. I assume you can keep the men out of trouble for a couple of hours?"

The First Mate grinned, exposing those yellow incisors of his. "Oui mon capitaine."

If past form was any indication Lavigne was probably already planning the first of the dice games he thought Captain Lefanu didn't know about. Captain Lefanu very much did know but as long as no one lost enough money it became a problem he preteded he didn't. Asking a sailor not to gamble was like asking a weevil not to burrow into a ship's biscuit.

Strolling into the port with the early morning light Jean went in search of men (and women) with special talents.

An hour later and Captain Jean Lefanu was back. He had not found exactly what he wanted but Bridgetown had other resources worth investigating.

As he strode up the gangplank onto the deck of the Enchantresse it was easy to see who had won and lost at the First Mate's 'secret' dice games. Lambert and Old Henri were glaring daggers at Bernard Lavigne and Young Henri, both of whom had the lack of refinement to be smug about their victories. Well so long as they didn't try to bludgeon each other over the head while they slept (and Jean trusted his sailors more than that) they'd have a chance to win it back - the First Mate never could resist a roll of the bones even when his purse was full.

Captain Lefanu fetched Monsieur Lavigne and Monsieur Armel the carpenter and strode over to a trader by the shipwrights specialising in armaments for the careful (or paranoid) mariner.

"L'Enchantresse is the fastest and fairest vessel in these waters gentlemen, but speed can only do so much. What we need are some arms to help us in close quarters."

Eventually he settled on a heavy iron grappling hook with a strong hemp rope thick as a man's arm and a barrel of grapeshot.

"Rien de plus dangereux mon capitaine?" said Monsieur Lavigne, his thick and wild eyebrows raising in surprise. "What if we have to sink an enemy ship?"

"Then something will have gone badly wrong," Captain Lefanu replied, lightly drumming his fingers on the seal keg of grapeshot. "If we face a galleon bent on our destruction we rely on escape and our ship's speed not turn it into a duel of cannons we can't win. If we chose the fight or it is forced upon us we board and try and take their ship with sword and pistol."

Bernard nodded and started directing the Monsieur Armel's assistants; no one touched the Enchanteresse without him watching them like a hawk, and making sure it was done just so. Gambler he might have been, Lavigne didn't take chances when it came to the ship.

An hour or so later, Mr. Armel came by with an invoice, which Lavigne verified and initialled, then passed on to the invoice to the ship's purser. The older man, lifted his spectacles as he read the items and their cost, then annotated his records and provided Monsieur Armel with the owed amount of coin. "Nice doing business with you, Capatin," Armel said as he and his aids disembarked, "and safe travels."

As the day wore on a Bridgetown bustled into life Jean Lefanu returned to his cabin aboard the Enchantresse. The First and Second Mates found themselves summoned to see their captain.

"Ah Monsieur Lavigne. Monsieur MacGann, I have been pleased with the crew's performance so far and have decided to allow them a night on the town to relax before we sale tomorrow." Jean elegantly pushed a velvet purse across his desk to the two men. It clinked lightly as it moved, full as it was of coins stamped with the regal profile of le Roi Soleil.

"I assume you can find taverns for the men and las maison de tolérance for the men after more than just drink. Let them have a good a time so long as they don't get out of hand; if any sailor mine gets in trouble before the magistrate they can swim back to Basse Terre because the Enchantresse leaves with the tide in the morning."

Leaning back in his chair Jean surveyed the tall, dirty looking Frenchman and the wiry, fiery haired Scot that were his senior officers. Good men both for all their flaws and part of Jean Lefanu would have liked nothing better to join them. Alas, a gentleman captain had to keep a certain distance from his crew and more to the point his purse did not stretch to the more sophisticated tastes of a man like Captain Lefanu.

"Oui monsieur," Bernard Lavigne replied as Ian MacGann picked up the purse of gold. The First Mate grinned exposing those big yellow teeth and looking more brutish than ever. Aye, but a likeable brute for all that.

---

After the two left Jean Lefanu stretched and leaned back on his chair. He had intended to spend the evening reading - on a boat where the number of men who could read could be counted on a clumsy butcher's hand the Captain boasted an unfathomably large library of half a dozen books. Jean's favoured author was the great Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac but he must have been more exhausted than he knew for only a few chapters in he dosed off and was only awoken in the early hours by a knock on his cabin door.

Lavigne and MacGann sidled inside. Even in the grey morning light filtering through the cabin's rear windows Jean could see Monsieur McGann sported an impressive black eye and bloody nose. Both men looked sheepish.

"What happened?" the captain asked after a moment. "Did you get into a fight with the English and should I expect the magistrate and his guards to be hammering on the door?"

"Ne t’inquiète pas capitaine," Bernard said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. The big man's tone and expression were apologetic but there was a hint of amusement there. "No one wanted trouble so no one said a thing."

"Aye I gave the cur a hiding he won't be forgetting," said MacGann pugnaciously. "Second Mate on Maid of Hexham if you please!"

Captain Lefanu rose from his chair, expression darkening. His Scottish Second Mate was a good sailor but his dislike of the English was proverbial. "You got into a fight with an English sailor Monsieur MacGann?"

"Ach no! A Scot, even if he was from MacDee Clan," MacGann said. Captain Lefanu looked at his Second Mate in fascination. He'd pronounced 'McDee' with far greater hatred than Jean had ever heard him say 'Sassanach'.

"Different Scottish Clans hate each other," Bernard Lavigne explained.

"I'm beginning to understand," Jean said thinking of his own half-brother. No more bitter blood than between family! "You and this MacDee fought and since he's not going to embarrass himself going to the magistrate because he lost you're safe?"

"Aye captain."

Having been forced to flee France himself over an ill-tempered duel Jean could hardly be too angry about that. Still a warning was needed. "Well don't do it again Monsieur MacGann or you will be the one who earns a hiding as you put it. You might have won but I see he left you with a few memories."

Lavigine gave a husky laugh: "Oh no, no monsieur! The black eye and the bloody nose came from the doxy MacGann and McDee were fighting over. After MacGann beat up McDee the local girl punched MacGann hard in the face and knocked him cold. She had taken a liking to MacDee it seems."

MacGann glared at the First Mate but didn't say a word.

With a heroic effort Captain Lefanu managed to keep himself from laughing. Instead with a stern expression and tone he said: "I see. It seems you have learned your lesson Monsieur MacGann so I won't discipline you this time. I would also advise you Monsieur Lavigne not to mention this story to the rest of the men. We have order to keep aboard this ship. Now attend to your duties; I want to set sail later this morning."

Only after the two had sheepishly departed did Jean allow himself a proper laugh. The mental image of the hot headed, expert brawler Ian MacGann knocked cold by a punch from a common harlot was one he'd think of for a long time to come...