::Rumors heard in the Lucky Ferret::
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A Black Sails vessel comes limping into port, sails torn and hull scorched and blasted with what looks like ballista marks. Supping their grog at the Ferret afterwards, the battered crew spreads the word that the elusive ghost ships are not so elusive nor as ghostly as rumour would have it, and that their crew bleed and drown like any mortal men. Sabre Seesaw can be overheard muttering bitterly about needing to sink such a fine ship into the briny, yet celebrations are in order as it seems the Sails picked up a bit of a reward from the Defenders for ridding the waters of at least one of the scores of raider ships terrorizing the waters of late. The Dockmaster at least seemed grateful, as part of the floatsam recovered appears to have been a crate of food originating from the Falcon's Folly. Two dead raiders were seen carried off by Defenders, both corpses sporting blue leathers.
"We'll catch us a live one next time", Sabre remarks. "This fleet may be fast an' well-armed, but they ain't unbeatable. An' wi' so many of t'bastards out there, there's gotta be at least one or two nice lil' sloops we cin liberate successfully.. "
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A young girl, around age seven, can be seen working in the ferret lately. Seemingly filled with boundless energy, she helps with cleaning the place and keeping it tidy, often singing little pirate ditties as she does. She can also often be seen with the fallen priestess of Umberlee, Taria, who works on teaching her to tie knots and other useful sailors tricks. Every so often Taria also takes her out to the docks.
When asked about the girl, the answer given is, "she's Taria's kid."
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Rumors mention a ship set sail from Peltarch, with such a prominent figure on it, as Seth and a merchant from Waterdeep, and two Black Sails. And while those figures are seen inside the city again, that same rumor has it that the ship hasn't been seen again. Some might even claim that Captain Dal, who steered the ship, is known for losing ships - but at least up until now, the captain herself always returned - even if sometimes her crews went missing. For which the usual suspects are superstitionally held responsible: cold, watery undead rising up from the Icelace, horrible sea monsters devouring the ship, or the flamboyant pirate captain Henri Bonfleur.
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_The Dockmaster and a Defender Sergeant were overheard talking on the docks about a late shipment of food from a well known trading vessel called the Falcons Folly. The Captain of the vessel, a man named Dedron who has long traded with the city in foodstuffs hasn't met his arrival time, the first time ever he has been late. This seems to have the Dockmaster a bit worried as they are good friends.
The Defender Sergeant was only heard saying that he will have the Marines look into it, but the waters seem filled with all sorts of odd things of late, pirates, ghost ships and ships filled with undead if the stories can be believed. After the Sergeant leaves, the Dockmaster goes about his business, but is seen keeping a keen eye to the lake most days after, while seeing to his duties._
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_Many sailors have been spreading tales of ghost ships tracking other vessels on the Icelace. These ships seem to just drift into view, trailing the small trading vessels before disappearing after a short time. Any attempts to get closer to these mysterious ships ends in failure as they seem to slip out of sight quickly, when they notice they are being approached.
Many a sailor has been tossing a few extra coins into the water and keeping their lucky charms close at hand whenever they set out on a voyage. As with anything sailors see, it sometimes gets exagerated and tales of burning ships still afloat, the whole crew gone missing, or whole galleys full of undead archers raiding any ship unfortunate enough to get in its path are told in the taverns during a good night of drinking._
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_On one of the few clear days, a group of adventurers is hired by the one and only Derek Underhill, they set forth on a ship, heading to find and retrieve a lost shipment of food. As they're leaving the harbor, the raw voice of a sailor on board can be heard bawling a classic taven song, Nancy's Harbor Café.
A few days later they return, a bit more somber but looking more tired than beaten. They speak of encountering angry wyverns, strange deer, cows, a wide varieties of hags as well as a small army of pirates and least but not last a mysterious raven.
And while they point out how Celebring's magic saved the day for them more than once, the rumor also mentions that the pirates' mage managed to escape from right under their fingers._
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Returning from a business trip to Hoarsgate, a travel-dusty Sabre dumps her light pack down and orders a drink, soon picking up on the rumour and commenting to Anah with a crooked grin:
"Oi, a nekkid lass runnin' from tha Ferret ta tha commons an' back.. an' one as pretty as Jack too.. must be tha best advertisement imaginable, eh? Lemme guess, a whole trail o' "curious" fellas came sniffin' after 'er, aye? An' stayed fer drinks.. oi, idea! Have yer lasses do tha same, only we make it a wee bit more obvious an' paint tha name o' this place on strategic places o' female anatomy, mm? Crowds'll come roarin' in, I tell ye."
Winking to Anah, Sabre swigs down her grog, before having a hot bath prepared to soak the cold and grime of her recent journey away.
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_It seems the sailor Luke and the Umberlant Priestess Jack got a bit restless and had a small drinking game in the tavern. Some say Jack lost the bet and was seen running naked through the streets of the city to the commons and back to the Ferret in all her drunken glory.
A few hours later, she was seen sitting at the same table, completely sober while Luke was almost passed out on the table. Any who ask about the naked running get a blank stare and a shrug as she denies it ever happened._
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The Umberlee priestess Jack was released from jail it seems, for her involvement in the recent criminal activity in the docks. Her first thing was to go to Anah for a strong drink, a hot meal, then a hot bath at the Ferret. A few hours later and she was back out at the docks, humming to herself and accepting donations from any sailors, preaching about the destruction that may come to their ship should they displease the Queen.
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_An old and considerably more scary visage has returned to the docks, namely the seashell-armoured dwarven priestess of Umberlee, Mercy, recently released from the same jails that now house the newly arrived priestess and the green-panted sailor known as Luke.
Notably, Black Sails Lt Sabre was escorted off by Fortesque along with the other two, yet emerged from the courthouse a free woman, just a few hours later._
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It seems a new priestess of Umberlee has wandered off a ship into the city a few days ago, a small woman who seems to be a bit less scary than the previous priestess' known to frequent the docks. Only a few days seemed to pass before she was wearing the colors of the Black Sails and also seemed to have been tossed in jail for a short stay. Courtesy of Guard Captain Fortescue and his mean right hook.
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An evening of drinking and merriment at the Ferret was briefly interrupted by contingent of guards, headed by none other than the grizzled captain Fortesque himself. Tearing herself from the company of new recruit John Isle, and a male exotic dancer wearing nothing but a hat and a loin-cloth, Sabre Seesaw supervised as the captain made an arrest inside the gambling room. After an unconscious nobleman was dragged off by the guards, Fortesque shared a quick drink with the manager before briskly striding off into the night.
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After moving to the city sometime ago with his wife, the Cerulean Knight, Lycka, Aelthas can now be seen patrolling the docks district in full guard armor, organizing the patrols of three other guards as they cover the dark streets of the usually troublesome district.
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_Sabre Seesaw, Black Sails Lt and manager of the Lucky Ferret, catches wind of said rumours as she saunters from the warehouse to the Ferret and twitches, unleashing a long string of colourful sailor curses. In between cuss words best left unrepeated, the attentive listener can hear the black-haired wench muttering doomsday-like remarks about "the Norwick curse" spreading across the lands, adding a sarcastic, yet shuddering comment about spiders being the only thing lacking to complete the horror.
Extra work opportunities are soon available for the burlier of the dock population, as the Lt orders security tightened on both warehouse and the inn, as well as reinforcing window shutters and doors against a possible attack. Paranoid? You bet._
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Several people can be seen and heard talking loudly of bugbear designs on Peltarch, and how they've been seen not far from the city.
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_Word around the docks has it that a rather gruesome murder took place at the Pissing Goat recently, leaving one of the inner rooms scorched with fire marks, and the victim burnt to little more than a pile of ashes. The latter is rumoured to be none other than Windriders Captain Hresh's niece, and certainly the captain himself stormed into the establishment. He was followed shortly thereafter by a pair of Cerulean Knights, joining the Guards already at the scene. Guard Captain Fortesque arrived to the Goat later on, after which a fight seems to have broken out between the guards and a party of Bloodspider witnesses, leaving the latter dead on the floor.
The suspected culprit, described as a bald, foreign man, is by all accounts still at large, having fled the scene prior to the arrival of the guards._
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A certain commotion could be observed at the docks one late night, as an inspection of a ship by three blue-clad Cerulean Knights apparantly lead to a bit of panic. One of the ship's crewmen is said to have jumped overboard, and then to have run the streets screaming about some horrible affliction. Eventually several of the city guard came to the scene, lead by Captain Fortesque himself. After conferring with the knights, the captain launched into a loud tirade and stormed off, leaving his subordinates to settle whatever the real matter at hand was. In the end, one guard remained, restricting all access to and from the ship in question, while the Ceruleans left with brisk, determined steps.
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The slot machines at the Ferret were all out of order for a few days. Whatever was wrong with them seems to have been repaired.
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Rumor has it a boat came into port one night, loaded with foreigners who now seem to be competing with gangs for control of the docks, only these new lads aren't doing it with brawn, but deception and lies.
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Rumors are that a new group has been showing up on the streets of the docks in recent tendays. A strange group of men, typically in extremely fancy garb, wearing actors masks, and carrying fine canes have been showing up on 8th street, the south along the wall, of the Dock District. What exactly their doing loitering on the street either isn't known, or not openly spoke about.
