Diary Entry 28

It only took a few days for my employer, Lennox McDoogle, to charter a ship to take us from Port Teach to Tortoise Island. The ship McDoogle had chartered turned out to be the galleon, The Lady Anne, which I hadn't seen since escaped Captain Lichbeard. For those who are curious as to why didn't mention that The Lady Anne was a galleon, I... didn't know. This time however, I brought my Junior Wood Cub's Illustrated Guide to Ships from when I was a kid. What? It's my hobby to bring relevant reading material. Anyway, it was great to see the captain again, (I still haven't figured out his name, everyone I ask just refers to him as Captain) and in a few hours it was time to weigh anchor.

A few miles after leaving the port, McDoogle pulled out a black flag with eight gold circles on it and handed it to a sailor. Seeing my puzzlement, he smiled and started to explain. The flag was a protection flag you could buy at any port that had a Pieces of Eight Faction Office. If a pirate ship from the faction encounters a ship hoisting the flag, the pirate ship will escort the ship to their destination after which they will receive the flag which the pirates use to obtain payment from a Faction Office. The flag is really expensive but if you are lucky to find a correct pirate ship, it's one of the best methods of protection on the Sea of Triangles. As this was being explained to me, the sailor had replaced the ensign under the house flag with the flag depicting eight gold circles on the main mast.

Luck turned out to be on our side as a quarter into our voyage, we encountered a pirate ship from the Pieces of Eight Faction. The Black Duck, was a Brigantine with their Jolly Rodger depicting a duck's skull. After signaling that they were sending people to discuss things, I was able to meet it's captain, Nigrum Mea inepta (from Avis-Poulí judging from the name). Nigrum Mea inepta was a duck beastman with black feathers and orange bill, and wore a red military longcoat and a powdered wig.

"Captain, you have the honor of being escorted by me, the great Nigrum Mea inepta, now give me that. Where are you going?" He spoke with a (slobbery) lisp as he arrogantly grabbed our map and asked for our destination. After we told him we were going to Tortoise Island, he said, "Very well, Captain, you may proceed at your leisure, while we escort you." When he turned around, everyone quickly wiped their faces as he continued, "I will leave my first mate, Pöddur, here to help me relay instructions by Rune Bracelet." First Mate Pöddur was a grey rabbit beastman with a bored expression on his face.

As the two ships traveled together, there didn't seem to be any incident, until near the end. I took this time to learn more about Sea of Triangles Archipelago and the pirate factions from First Mate Pöddur. According to Pöddur, the Sea of Triangles Archipelago, or SOTA, for short, is actually ruled by the pirate queen, Bonnie Anne, who is also the leader of the pirate faction, 'Parley and Quarter' which consists of pirates who love sailing and freedom. The faction known as 'Pieces of Eight', is lead by the rhino beastman, Captain Goldhorn, and is basically composed of mercenaries and merchant-types. The feared 'Dead Men Tell No Tales' is the faction lead by the mysterious Davy Flint and is composed of pirates who love fighting and such... Amazingly enough, the three factions seem to prefer working together than fighting for power.

"Or as one of my poetically-inclined pals put it, Bonnie Anne leads the heart, Goldhorn the brain, and Davy Flint the muscle. Sounds nice, don't it Doc," Pöddur said as he finished a bushel of carrots. "Course, doesn't mean we don't fight with each other, just that we don't involve our factions. Got any more carrots on you Doc?" I am wondering where he puts it all.

We were almost at our destination as Tortoise Island could be seen without the use of a telescope when a ship was spotted a few degrees off the port bow. It was a Brigs, (according to my Illustrated Guide to Ships) and judging from the creepy design, its captain was most likely a member the Dead Men Tell No Tales Faction. It's Jolly Rodger depicted a white bat holding a creepy phial. The captain didn't recognize the colors, so we ended up asking Pöddur who was eating a carrot (seriously, I don't think I have seen him when he wasn't eating a carrot).

"Eh...*smacks lips* looks like we met up with ol' Razvalivayetsya, the undead captain of The Mad Monk. Not a problem for us." I'm starting to think that Captain Nigrum Mea inepta had some ulterior motives in leaving his first mate here.

The Black Duck signalled to The Mad Monk for parley which was accepted. Captain Nigrum Mea inepta sailed to the Mad Monk on his little boat in order to negotiate. I was able to watch the negotiation between the two captains with my telescope although I couldn't make out what they were saying. All I could tell was that Capt. Nigrum Mea inepta was jumping up and down in a tantrum while Capt. Razvalivayetsya had to keep picking up and reattaching various body parts. Captain Razvalivayetsya was an undead wearing a brown habit, with greasy black hair parted down the middle and a long beard.

"Mister Pöddur, I don't think the negotiation are going through." I looked as the duck beastman stormed off The Mad Monk. He didn't look the least bit concerned.

"Eh...Them's the works kid. Come on, we gotta go prepare to sink the maroon." After looking at that ridiculous attempt at negotiation, I wondered which of the captains he was referring to. Especially since he had us fire the cannons before his captain even finished leaving The Mad Monk. I had to hand it to Nigrum Mea inepta, he is a fast swimmer. While his captain hung around Pöddur telling him how despicable he is and that he owes him a powdered wig, the rabbit beastman was giving orders to the crew of The Black Duck.

Battle between the two pirate ships quickly ensued and it was so crazy, so looney, you would have sworn that the Mad God itself was fighting on both ships. The Black Duck, in addition to cannons, also had traps (small catapults although these ones were a little larger) which the sailors used to launch... anvils?! What's more, the anvils seemed to be enchanted as they came back and gently returned to the ammunition pile. The Mad Monk wasn't much saner, I mean, better, as they kept loading their cannons with minions of various colors. The green ones only cared about disassembling stuff, the blue ones kept trying to steal stuff, the yellow ones kept shouting for bananas, but at least the red ones exploded. This bizarre and, to be frank, amusing battle finally ended when Pöddur threw a match into the powder room of The Mad Monk. The ship exploded and Captain Razvalivayetsya went soaring into the distance.

With the battle over, we were finally able to reach Tortoise Island's Port. Interestingly enough, instead of just collecting the protection flag and leaving, Nigrum Mea inepta and Pöddur invited everyone to a party at The Granny Canary, a tavern that they frequent whenever they visit Tortoise Island. Seems like this is going to be fun, so I accepted.