The day had finally come and Harrison Jones finally had enough to commission a ship to be built for him. It had taken some time and each day waiting for the ship to be built had him on pins and needles for quite some time. He was anxious to have his own ship beneath his feet and now that dream was closer to becoming true. It wasn't long before the ship was completed and today was the day he would go down to the docks and see his ship in its full glory and be able to walk the deck of his own ship. Sure there would be the problem of obtaining a crew and a first mate but those were problems that he would worry about at different time.


The city of Adeluna was buzzing as it had been since he had arrived but today the sun shone a little brighter and the world seemed to be excited as well. Harrison had to wait a little while after waking up in the Winking Mermaid, he had woken before dawn and he would have to wait until mid-morning to see his ship. He couldn't even manage to eat breakfast as his stomach churned with excitement, he would eat when he got to his ship. Provisions would be loaded up for him as well, it was going to be crew ready so this way he could leave port and begin his travel.


But when the time came, he ran to the docks. He had waited long enough and now was the time to see his vessel, his home, his ship. The devilishly handsome man ran down the docks and spotted a ship with its sails folded up for the moment and there was the ship master waving him down. Harrison thanked him profusely and then walked up the gang plank to the deck. The sound of his feet on the deck was music to his ears and one that he certainly missed. The rogue then ran up to the helm and ran his good hand over the wheel, he turned it a little while he used his hook to keep it it steady a little. It was like finally waking up to find out his dream wasn't a dream after all. Just to check, Harrison pinched himself a little, no this was quite real. This was his ship.


“The Jolly Roger.” He said with a wide grin. He could see him and his crew sailing the sea, traveling from port to port. More importantly finding and keeping treasure would be fantastic. Adventure on the high seas, his ship wasn't capable of firing upon other vessels, but perhaps he would come to own more ships. That certainly brought a grin to his face at the thought. A whole fleet of ships under his command and his hand at the helm of his flagship. Yes that was quite the dream.


But this was certainly the first and most important step and Captain Harrison Jones couldn't have been more pleased with himself.

Jake rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he had finally awoken. Not exactly sure of the time as he'd fallen asleep in a room with no windows. The bard got up and had a quick look around, it appeared as if nobody was here. That was good as Jake had sneaked aboard a random boat during the evening to avoid paying the outrageous fee at The Winking Mermaid. Bah if Jake wanted to get robbed he'd go wandering in the mountains. At least the bandits had the common courtesy to offer him a drink after they took his silver. Overreactions about tavern prices aside Jake wanted to get off the ship before the captain raised anchor and left the city. So still yawning Jake stood up and began walking towards where he believed the exit was.

After a few minutes of blithering around in the dark ship Jake eventually found the way to the top of the ship. He planned to slip out the door quietly and then to jump into the water and swim to the docks. Unwilling to answer questions about why the bard had just gotten off of a ship. Especially with Jake being unable to prove that he had any link to this ship. Yes that'd all be rather horrible it would be best to avoid such a thing happening. The last thing Jake wanted was to get arrested for getting a good nights sleep. it wasn't even that good, Jake had slept hiding behind a few supply crates that had been left around. This was all besides the point though as Jake slowly made his way onto the deck.

He'd thought it'd all go off without a hitch. If it wasn't for the man standing behind the wheel of the vessel who could blatantly see Jake. At this point Jake threw out his plan in its entirety and just decided to wing it. Albeit that was a rather common occurrence. Jake kept plans for about as long as a drunk kept sober. Instead choosing to outright throw them away if anything went wrong. This had led to the bard getting quite good at winging it. So turning to the man Jake quickly thought about what to do, deciding to just say hello. "Hello there, lovely weather today isn't it". Whether or not Jake had planned to comment on the weather or just felt the need to comment on it after spending the night in the dark not even he knew.

To say that Harrison Jones had been a fish out of water since he arrived in Adeluna wasn't an accurate statement. The man had found himself in wine, women, and work to keep him occupied until he had finally earned enough silver to purchase the boat he so desired. The ran his hand over the smooth helm and just began to touch anything. His hand found the rail and he touched it as softly as one would touch a lover. This ship was one of the few things that he would keep close to him. On the other hand he wouldn't have to worry about paying for space at the inn, he would have everything he needed on this vessel. He was about to go down to inspect his new quarters when a man on his ship caught his attention. Harrison hadn't heard the man come up the gang plank and he hadn't been that enthralled that he wouldn't notice that. Then the man just commented on the weather and that furthered Harrison's suspicions.


Harrison's blue eyes focused on the man now, a smile was currently playing on his face. Most likely he would give the man a chance to be at least a little more truthful of his purpose of being here. After all, sometimes it was difficult to con a conman. “I don't think I could have asked for a better day.” The pirate said with a grin and gesture of his hook. “Today would be quite the day to take my ship out her maiden voyage, but it would seem I am without a crew.”


The rogue walked down the steps from the helm, approaching the man that had boarded his ship. He appeared to be a strong looking lad, but he was certainly carried himself like a man who had seen his own share of conflicts. The pirate glanced over him and scratched the scruff on his face as he considered what to do with this man who had stumbled onto his precious new ship. “So tell me, what brings you onto my ship on such a lovely day. You don't appear to be someone who would have been loading supplies, and that was finished yesterday.” The rogue's hand ran over the smooth metal that was his hook as he kept a careful eye on this man. It was hard to gauge what he would do, but considering his first decision was to tell a cover story then he probably wouldn't need to worry about this man immediately jumping him.


The owner of the ship considered something for a moment before he spoke once more. “I am Captain Jones, owner of the fine vessel that you are standing upon.” He added, no need to be rude to this man, so far this stranger hadn't done anything that warranted him being less than a gentleman. Well, this man hadn't done anything yet that Harrison was sure of beyond suspicion. It looked like maybe he may have boarded the ship for a place to sleep or some people had a genuine interest in ships and wanted to see it before Harrison took her out to sea. Harrison idly ran his fingertips over his hook as he looked over the man and considered a few more possibilities for what had brought their paths to cross this day.

Jake looked around at the ship, it looked fairly similar to many ships that he'd ridden on in the past. Though it was noticeably sparse of people other than the man at the helm. Who was now walking towards the bard hopefully lacking any ill intent. Luckily the man was just talking "Yes I did notice a a sparsity of people on this ship besides you and I.". At this point Jake decided he'd probably just be better off sticking around and explaining himself rather than jumping ship. As if nothing else this man didn't seem angry and it usually wasn't in the bards best interest to anger people. After all this man seemed to be a personable fellow.

As was expected the man with a hook for a hand asked the question. While it might have been sugar coated a bit it boiled down to the same thing. What are you doing here? "Well if we're being technical here I did load some supplies onto your ship. It was a barrel of alcohol I believe. But you would be correct in the assumption that my primary goal was not to stock your stores. No I simply refused to pay the outrageous prices for a room at the winking mermaid. Which led to me boarding your ship so as to not have to sleep outside". While the answer was unnecessarily in depth Jake did manage to explain why he had boarded another mans ship. "Frankly I'm just glad this ship wasn't planning on leaving port yet. I have no interest in being an accidental stowaway, again".

Jake was now noticing that he was quite hungry. He'd have to go get breakfast after this was all over and done with. Ah so his name is Harrison and he was the captain. That would explain why he was standing at the helm of the ship. "It is a pleasure to meet you Harrison, though I wish our meeting would've happened under more auspicious circumstances. My name is Jake I'm a travelling bard". Jake extended his hand towards Harrison to shake.

Harrison considered the man's words, he didn't seem all that upset. “I don't blame you lad, I've done the same at some point or another. Though I think you might have enjoyed being on my ship, that is if you don't mind a bit of looting other ships.” Harrison gave a little grin, he seemed to be relaxing a little, his fingers still tracing over the curves of the hook on his left arm. But then the bard said something the brought a frown to the rogue's face, his eyes then narrowed dangerously at the man who had stowed away on his ship. That wasn't the name he had given him, which made Harrison's hair kind of stand on end. Either this man had done more than simply sleep in the cargo hold or he had been hired by someone to sabotage his ship. Or perhaps he was sent to kill Harrison. Any of it seemed unlikely considering anyone who was going to kill him would at least have the savvy to cover their tracks a little better.


Perhaps that was it though, a tip off that someone was going to try and kill him. Though why would this man try and warn him. “Quite the shame.” Harrison said coldly, any kind of warmness had drained from his voice. His hand rested on the hilt of his rapier as he eyed up the bard. “Well Jake the bard, it would seem that there's more to your story than you have let on. Considering the name I gave you was Captain Jones, it brings the very interesting question of how you knew my first name.” The rogue looked at the extended hand suspiciously before taking a step back to put a little distance between them.


“You will tell me how you knew my name, and depending on your answer I may allow you to leave my ship with your hands.”

Jake was beginning to relax as this fellow seemed to not want to kill him, which was always a plus. Hmm this guy just mentioned looting other ships, he must be a pirate. What's a pirate doing in Adeluna? You'd think he'd be hanging around in Vilpamolan then again he did just mention that this was a new ship. Hmm this seems like a rather dangerous place for a pirate to get a new ship. Maybe Vilpamolan just isn't a place to get a proper corsair. Hmm Jake would have to ask him about it. After all they were seeming to get rather friendly.

Well that was until the man voice changed to a tone that sent a chill down a Jake's spine. The bards eyes widened as he realized, how did he know this guys first name. They'd never met before had they. "Hmm that is quite the conundrum isn't it. Where have I heard your name before?". Now realizing that he wasn't gonna get a handshake Jake pulled his hand back before something bad happened to it. The bard needed something to help him think, so he very slowly and carefully pulled out his lute and began absently plucking at it as he thought.

By this point Jake had really stopped caring about the threats on his life, worst come to worst he'd have to run. Or die, but preferably the former as the bard still had several things he wanted to do before dying. Where have I heard the name Harrison Jones before? Hmm oh yes that's right. "I believe I can answer your question. So when I first arrived in Adeluna City three days ago I went to a tavern. The Horses Hoof is its name, rather run down ramshackle place. Frankly I'm even surprised that they're still in business but I digress. Anyway I went there to visit the innkeepers son as we're uh," Jake's face turned bright red "we're uh quite friendly. Anyway after my uh visit with him I was sitting at one of the corner booths right next to some rather disgruntled looking men. Who were mentioning some old debt with someone named Captain Harrison Jones. So I guess when I heard you tell me what you did of your name my mind made the connection without me noticing". Jake was rather unhappy that he had to mention so much just to save his limbs. As keeping his private life private was extremely important to him. A lesson learned through a lot of painful experience.