@moonblack
Tortuga - French West Indies
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Night reigns on Tortuga, and with it, drunken debauchery. The French colony turned pirate haven is alight with activity, the many pubs and brothels filled with pirates drinking and partying, while drunks wander the streets, firing pistols into the air, and prostitutes ply their trade in the open, with no fear of any of the guards arresting them - indeed, the French garrison are their best customers.
"Everything you imagined it would be?" A female voice sounds from an alley behind Mariel, and a woman approaches - Arabelle, the ship's quartermaster. A veteran of several ships, Arabelle was likely quite beautiful once, but time and rough living have worn much of the beauty away, into fierceness.
The woman doesn't trust Mariel yet, it's plain to see - the new ship and crew have taken one score, but Arabelle clearly doesn't think that's enough of a test. Still, she was well recommended, from a naval officer friend of Mariel's, and does her job well. "We know who it was." She doesn't have to elaborate. Someone on the crew evidently thought that a few coins taken from the plunder of the Sea Swan's first captured ship wouldn't be noticed. Clearly they didn't count on the fact that Mariel would be particularly attentive to her first ever score - or the fact that Arabelle is
never particularly inattentive. "It was the new girl - the one who jumped off that fishing boat to join us. She's over there." She points to the nearby beach, where the woman in question smokes tobacco and tries to sweet talk a prostitute into a free ride.
"How do you want to handle it?" Arabelle looks at Mariel. It's obvious that Mariel's answer will inform how the quartermaster - and the rest of the crew - comes to view her. It's equally obvious that Arabelle isn't inclined to reveal which decision would satisfy her.