Quest: Slight Navigational Error [Ended]

[The Jenn]

The feline had been brought a bit of food before bedding down for the night and her sleep was undisturbed, though the sounds of small vermin skittering across the deck or the roll and creak of the ship might have made sleep more difficult if she wasn't used to the noises. Similarly, the sea had a set of sounds all its own.

Even before dawn had broken, some of the sailors were up and tending to chores, a helmsman going to relieve the man who had stood duty during the night. When the sun had begun to properly peek over the horizon, more men and women came up on deck as well as one or two with rolls of bread and a bit of meat. What kind of meat wasn't especially easy to distinguish.

Les approached her about an hour after dawn and raised an eyebrow. "Well, Minh, it seems the sea's been treating you well. We have about six hours before we hit shore at Fisher's Cove, at which point you're free to do whatever you want until the next morning. I don't really care. We'll be leaving with the tide and if you're not with us, it's a fistful of money wasted on your part."

[Dark]

She'd slept soundly--like the dead--as she was apt to do; Mnem had often teased/threatened about all the things she could do to Minh without the feline being any the wiser. Which was pretty much the entire reason Minh had never lived in a dorm. Now she stretched, flexing claws and ears and tail, before shrugging her skin into human proportions.

"The air is rather invigorating," Minh smiled, nodding her understanding, "I'll be sure to be back on the ship with the tide, then."

The six hours that it took them to get to port Minh spent on the upper deck, enjoying the pleasant weather and puzzling over the riddle Pinkbeard had left behind for her. Obviously, she was looking for an inn. And a cellar. But she was working under a deadline, now, and if Fishers' Cove had more than one inn she wasn't going to have an easy time of it. She'd just have to hope she got lucky.

[Kiki]

Dark and Jenn receive 1 token each, to be redeemed in Ashwin's Shoppe. This will automatically be added to your recorded totals in the shoppe. Congratulations, and keep up the good RP!

[The Jenn]

The sailors went on with their duties around the feline, paying her little mind while she was looking but taking a good, long glance at her foreign coloring and human form when she wasn't. A lot of Midori were too lackadaisical to do much with forms, at least stereotypically. Once they reached biped, many of them figured that 'hands were enough' and didn't bother to go any further. Some of the more magically-inclined might have, voodoo and mystics and whatnot.

One of the crew pointed out the speck of an island when it came into view over the horizon, but it took them a good two hours after coming into view to go around and dock in the cove where the small settlement could be found. Fisher's Cove was a relatively secluded area, out of sight unless you got close and swung around. By then, if you didn't belong there, the inhabitants had a good long while to have spotted you and decided what to do.

Docking went about much as setting sail had, only in reverse and with more enthusiasm. The sailors were apparently looking very forward to hitting shore here. Les walked up to her after the last ropes had been secured and made a gesture towards the settlement, which had several different tiers and looked to take advantage of the cove's natural cliff system. "Well, this is your destination and you won't find another inn with half the variety of this one. They get shipments from all over and they're the only one on the island, so there's not all that much competition. 's where some of us will be spending the night if we don't have contacts - friendly ones, at any rate. They'll charge you a pretty penny for a crappy room, but it's the safest one you'll find. The proprietor isn't someone to mess with. And now we'll part ways until tomorrow. Whatever you're doing, don't cause too much of a stink."

With a tip of her hat, the woman walked away and down the gangplank, off to do whatever. Probably indulge in a bit of the local 'flavor'.

[Dark]

Captain Les had that same gleam in her eye that Mnem sometimes got when she was planning to get laid, and Minh watched the captain's back with no small amount of curiosity. She had never been able to understand why people constantly went to such measures to rut; she liked sex well enough but she had never felt compelled to go out of her way to 'get some.' Maybe she was broken.

Shaking her head to clear the rampant musings, she snatched up her satchel and trotted down the gangplank into the throng. She was already half in love with the port; the multi-tiered town with it's shifty-eyed peddlers, scruffy sailors, and dubious smells was enchanting. Feeling rather decadent she stopped at one of the stalls to snatch up a bit of lunch--fried katamaria skewered on a stick, legs and all--and varify her directions before she started the climb to the inn.

The inn was rather high up on the cliff face, situated up on the final teir towards the point of the cove. It was run down and rather seedy looking, and Minh adored it. She scurried towards the entrance and stepped into the loud, gloomy smoke in high spirits.

Weaving her way through the patrons, she made her way to the bar and its tender, "I'd like a room, just for the night."

[The Jenn]

The high placement of the inn on the cliff-face ensured that it was a more defensible position, less easily accessible and hard to run away from without breaking your neck or falling to your death on the tiers below. Smoke wafted through the room, some patrons indulging in simple tobacco while others preferred Midori fingers, the home-grown stuff as potent as you were liable to find it anywhere. Still others favored opium and lounged near one of the larger windows, the pall hanging over them visible through a curtain which was either sheer, worn beyond help, or both.

The bartender was a half-Midori from the looks of things, his other half Selkie, and he was all cockatoo. His head bobbed as he turned to face her, the blue and green swirls warring over the white expanse of his beak, and one of his eyes looked as though it had seen better days. "Eh, a room? We can do that. The price ain't negotiable, so ye either take it or leave." He quoted a moderately high price for a bunk in a communal women's room, and an extremely high price for a tiny single. Then he turned back to the cup he'd been polishing. "Before the night really hits though, love, could we get ye a drink? Ye look like ye could use one. Don't get many human-types 'round here. Where are ye hailing from?"

[Dark]

Considering the nature of the mission that had brought her to Fishers' Cove Minh took the single room, carefully counting out the coins. She would need her privacy for what she was going to be doing.

Still, she watched the bartender pocket the coins with a keen sense of loss. The room had just eaten up a great chunk of her funds which meant she actually had to be frugal with her money from this point on and she really had never been very good at that sort of thing. Money had a tendency of burning a hole in her pocket.

She threw the bartender a patented lopsided grin, "Corvistowne, originally. I've been living in the Capital now, though, close to twenty years. I think I'm getting old," she winked, "And I think I'll have a pint of hard cider, if it's not too much trouble."

[The Jenn]

More than pleased to get his asking price for a costly single room, the cockatoo set the money away where it would be far from harm. The human seemed a friendly sort, which sat well with him. He always felt better serving a charmer than a sourpuss, for all it came out the same in the end. If they were here, there was something fishy with their business, himself included. He didn't ask, just reaped the rewards of being the only establishment offering rooms on the island and ensuring he stayed that way. His inn hadn't earned its reputation of relative 'safety' for nothing.

"I used to know a girl from Corvistowne," he reminisced, matching her grin with a beaked smile of his own. "She was off her rocker most of the time, but loads of fun. I think she was a munitions specialist on one of the vessels, but we never talked about business all that much. She liked fiddling with gunpowder and I liked getting in the way, so it all worked out fine in the end."

Laughing, the sound screechy thanks to his breed, he set down a mug of cider in front of her. "This stuff might be harder than ye're used to, so be ready for the kick."

[Dark]

Minh took a long pull from the mug, sputtering when she realized just how true the barkeep's friendly warning had been. It was strong stuff. She grinned and took another hard pull. She could get used to this stuff.

Unfortunately, tonight was a night for restraint. No one would claim she was suave on the best of days, and she would need her wits about her if the mission was going to be a success. She contented herself to tiny sips, nursing what was left of the strong brew over the course of the next several hours. She passed the time watching the other patrons and surreptitiously noted where the door that led to the cellar was. (The giant caskets of booze that were frequently lugged up the stairs were the big clue.)

She snagged the attention of a passing barmaid, "Could you show me to my room, please?"

[The Jenn]

Pleased that the stuff gave her a good kick to the gut, the cockatoo continued putting away some of the glasses he'd just had washed in the back. This was going to be a busy night - three ships had put in port that afternoon, all of them with full or mostly full crews, and the ones that didn't have someone to bunk down with would inevitably come here. It was probably better for the woman that she'd chosen a single. Who knows what would have happened to her otherwise, or to them if they'd touched her.

The door to the cellar was about two feet to the left of the small opening that let people go from behind the bar to wait on tables. Right next to it was the door to the kitchens, where people came in and out frequently. There were plenty of other patrons to watch, most of them seeming to be sailors of the saltier sort.

When she asked to be shown to her room, the woman gave a quick nod and grabbed a busboy as he rushed back into the kitchen. "Oy, Rory. Go ask Jim where the nice lady's staying an' show her up." The boy did as he was told after dropping off the dishes and led her up two flights. People in the cliff area tended to build up rather than over due to the natural structure of the land. It was a closet of the room when he opened it, but it had a sturdy lock and a bed that looked free of mites and various other bed beasties.