The Tavern Wench's Ear
As long as men have gone to sea there have been the women who served them in their ports of call and beyond. Many are veterans of the world's oldest profession. Some are just trying to make ends meet. Regardless of how they get there, these women are the companions or servers of men away from home. When the ale has been flowing and the boys are feeling their oats, their tongues begin to wag. As it is said many, many years later, "... loose lips can sink ships ..."
The gossip and rumors are from a multitude of locales. Here are some of the more popular establishments across the Spanish Main:
- The Horned Dorset Primavera in Nassau. The favorite haunt of Edward Teach.
- Gigolettes, les Aliments et l'Ale in Martinique is home to the Commodore, French West Indies Squadron
- Admiral's Inn in Antigua is extremely popular with the boys of the Royal Navy and rumored to be home to the black syph, the bane of every seaman.
- The Spanards are not to be outdone. Signo de la Vela Negra in Maracaibo is rumored to be such a den of depravity that not even a Jesuit will venuture near it.
- De Jong Meisje Boezem in St Martin's is deemed the only reason to visit that island. The Dutch Colonial Governor is known to visit en cognito whenever he can get away from Guyana
- It seems that the Legendary "Black Sam" Bellamy doesn't really care for the old Colonial trappings of the Admiral Benbow Inn in Port Royal proper. He spends his time further down the beach at the Plucked Parrot where the girls are less discriminating and the beer much more plentiful
- But the most favorite dive in all of the Caribbean, from the Lesser Antilles to Panama, has to be The Bloody Eye in Tortuga. It is said that anything can be bought there if a man can make the price. No woman, no weapon, no treasure, no secret is beyond negotiation. That is where a man goes to get what he needs
This thread is based on some of the latest conversations our darlings of the taphouses and dives along the waterfront have heard. Because everyone likes news, be it bad or not, items about events in the Caribbean will be presented here. Players of Scenario C can make inquiries and perhaps get their rumor confirmed or denied. But you will never know if you don't ask.
Who's new
- joequ1oeil
- koolguy66
- Sakkal
- David Adams
- rkimler
Death of Jean Bart
As Colonial Governor of the Dutch West Indies, it is my great pleasure to announce a major victory in the name of all civilized nations. The brave sailors of the frigate 'Jager' heroically engaged the Pirate vessel 'Le Roi David' in the coastal waters off St. Martin. Despite trying to flee, the experienced Pirate crew could not escape the vengeance and need for retribution that every Dutch crew member felt. After a pitched and violent battle was waged, the scoundrel Jean Bart was no more. His crimes included the capture of a Dutch frigate under a flag of truce, and more so, the sinking of a Dutch transport carrying over 3,000 settlers & missionaries just days ago. The seas are now safer thanks to the brave sailors of the Dutch Navy.
Mark Majewski
Colonial Governor
Dutch West Indies
Meanwhile, in the Caribbean ...
The Anarquía pirates seem to have their backs to the wall as the Spanish Viceroy has commenced a campaign against all known refuges of the pirate faction in and around the holdings of New Spain. The seizure of Nassau and Port Royal seem to indicate that all known locales willing to host pirate crews and vessels are gone. However, the local Spanish garrison commander at Nassau reports that citizens there have stories of a “hidden island” where the Anarquía keep their horded treasure. Others refute this rumor as fantasy and cite the current raid by Edward Teach and Black Sam Bellamy to loot the docks of Nassau harbor as proof that the pirates are on the run and desperate to find the essentials for their existence.
Elsewhere in the world ...
The conflict among the Colonials in the Caribbean seems not to be restricted just to the New World. There are reports that French frigates were engaged and sunk in the English Channel by vessels of the Dutch West Indies Colonial Squadron headed home after escorting a treasure shipment. If true, this would be a great set back for the French as well as a provocation for expanding the conflict beyond Caribbean waters.
Hidden Island
The names I have heard whispered are;
Isla de Muerta
Shipwreck Cove
or Singapore. But that would be an anachronism. Singapore does not exist until the 1800's. An Anarquían anachronism no less.
John Vanvark
Dockage for Rent
A scrap of papier found by Spanish Marines in the Plucked Ferret indicates that one of the Colonial powers is providing repair and resupply to Anarquía Pirates.
John Vanvark
Pirates with no port
Senors Blackbeard and Bellamy,
Well it looks like now we have all your rum, and your ladies of the night.
Your crews must realy be mad at you by now! Maybe they will hang you and
save me the trouble. Your 'good friends' the English or Dutch I am sure are
coming to your aid as soon as I hang both of you, maybe you do not have a good
choice of friends.
By the way your women was very sweet to me again last night. Your son keep
asking were you are and why you do come and get him and his mother.
The Mad Adm.
Clark Van Buskirk
The rape of Port au Prince
The citizens of Port au Prince have sworn eternal damnation on their tormentors ... the sailors and soldiers of the Colonial Governor of the Dutch West Indies! One of his captains, the Captain of the Dutch ship Wilhelmina, arrived too late to help the locals defend themselves from Edward Teach. He and his men were welcomed as saviors by the local populace until the looting began. The militia tried to fight them but there were too few after the battle with the pirates and they were slaughtered. Then the surviving few men and the women & children were subject to a week long ordeal of rapine and pillage as the Dutch found the pirates had left little to no booty for them to seize. Stories of gold teeth being pried from mouths, fingers cut off for rings, the list goes on and on .... Hopefully these villians will be brought to justice by whatever passes as civilized men at St Martin's.
Sack of Port au Prince
The British get it back
The girls at the Admiral's Inn report that several crewmen off the HMS Incendiary were throwing around a lot of gold during their brief stop before starting pursuit of the Tortuga pirates. They were part of the "victorious" squadron that caught the French frigate Creole in Cayenne harbor and trapped them against the leeward shore. The Frogs put up a good fight and took the HMS Fury with them. Lost over 50 men and the rest are now part of the penal colony. It seems the Creole had trouble manuevering because she was loaded down with Crowns from the Governor's warehouse. Took her straight to the bottom once she got holed at the waterline. The boys said they were able to take what they could get in their breeches after salvage operations were done. Seems there was still some gold left on the bottom because of sharks!
Edward Teach and Esmareldas
Oh Diego, a nice try
A trap outside of me liar....the Spano's in waiting, you boys wern't
tryin to land outside of Nassau and walk in, wer ya's?
Jeepers-creepers, I hope not, cause we got surprises for uya there too.....
Oh Diego, nice try......a clean miss........
I think my aft chasers migh ta just nicked one of your boy sailors...
Better luck next time.......
And wish that silver-tongued assistant Spano me best, friend of the
9th Duke of nobody....
~ ☮ Blackbeard ☮ ~
A little late but from Sam Bellamy...
BLACK SAM BELLAMY NEEDS HELP
I be needin 200 strong men ta assist me in raisin tha
former New Grenada Treasure Fleet, which I happen ta put
in the bottom o' Maracaibo Harbour after removin' her
cargo o' gold doubloons.
The whole damn fleet o' transports bound fer Barcelona
never raised a sail!
Now them 3,000 Spanyol soldier-boys, who watched
me sink 'em from the quay be not a helpin' us much.
It be easy work an' there be some treasure scattered
around tha' bottom for all who can pick it.
Can I count on ye?
Black Sam Bellamy
"X" - his mark
Aboard the Whydah
Pirate Code Paragraph #4:
"Thar be no friggin' in the riggin' whilst we be at sea."
Come one, come all!
Edward! Ye see wha' they done?
The girls at the Plucked Parrot overheard the following exchange:
So's I be sendin' ten men ashore ta scout a Spanish garrison of 3,000 an' they gets caught.
Look Edward, wha' they gone an' done! A head on a spike!
An' ye know 'im, Edward . . . remember Paco Santiago - brother of that poxy Count Diego, the Count who was disowned after the stories of tha sheep proved true?
He been a good sailor, an' his bruther used ta' send him such fine wool sweaters... I'll miss him ...
I be getten a bit of revenge, too. . .
From the one and only...
Oh Diego,
Thank ye for the contribution, I'll be sure to report you as a donor
on me next TAX RETURN!
5 Stores
200 Treasure
~Blackbeard~
Aboard the "Queen Anne's Revenge"
Desiree's lament
According to the girls down at Gigolettes, les Aliments et l'Ale, poor Desiree is in mourning.
It seems her man, the admirable Jacques d' Azur Lamar, went down with the brave souls on Courageuse off Curaco. It seems they ran afoul of that dreaded Swedish mercenary captain, Matt "le Fou" Majewski, in the HMS Incendiary and the ship was lost with all hands.
So sayeth Black Sam Bellamy
Ta All Who Read -
I be offered "Letters of Marque" by them would call me their lap dog.
Them letters be read on tha seat of contemplation an' be so soft as ye wipe!
I be a buccaneer, beholdin' ta none, an' palsy-coo wi' them that no cross me bows.
Be keepin' ye distance. Be sailin' ye course leeward.
iffin' ye cozy up when profits ta be made all be ducky.
Whydah be a ship ta be feared an' her consorts be havin' stingers dipped in pisen.
Be keepin' a weather eye win'ward. Many brave hearts be asleep in tha deep - so beware.
--
Black Sam Bellamy
"X" - his mark
Aboard the Whydah
Pirate Code Paragraph #4:
"Thar be no friggin' in the riggin' whilst we be at sea."
2009 Spring Games: Never Grog & sail
The girls at The Horned Dorset Primavera report that the helmsman on the Queen Anne's Revenge was in his cups when the good captain Teach left Port and confused his right with his left.
Blackbeard had been studying up on his French but wound up having to use Spanish when the ship made landfall in Cuba! It seems there was plenty of booty regardless, especially after the helmsman lost his head (literally!)
Passing along a Pirate message
Avast, me hearties! Yer dutiful Cap’n invites ye t' lend yer ear t’
his words o’ wisdom.
Let none o’ ye doubt me words, ‘pon pain o’ death! Aye, this be the
best advice – serve ye well in a pinch, ‘twill, till ye find yerself
adrift on a hogshead or dancin the hempen jig, or asleep in Davy
Jones’ locker!
If ye ponder fittin me for a Gibbet Cage, think agin.......
We have "Letters of Marque" from 3 of 4 of you gutless scallywags, you
know who you are, no prey, no pay our crews are hungry and tired of
Cackle Fruit....
They will risk a hempen halter....we will be a comin for you....to
avoid any misgivings ye just send me Booty at: "The Horned Dorset
Primavera", Nassau...
Now wench, bring ye more Nelson’s Folly....me goblet is empty.......
~Blackbeard~
Aboard the "Queen Anne's Revenge"
Atmospheric skull
Haunting in this hull
Black flag flying high
Most horrible way to die
Terror of the seas
Unspeakable atrocities
Sounds of guns a'blazing
And shouts of 'l am amazing
The gruesome death of edward teach
Shark atlantic shore
Seen this ship before
Drink killdevil flips
And climb aboard the ships
Smoking hempcord fear
And loud the drunken cheer
Of pirates on the waves
Sending them to ocean graves
The gruesome death of edward teach
Carolina sound
Blackbeard has been found
Eight musketballs he takes
Until his neckbone breaks
Cutting off his head
Turns the ocean red
Trophy on display
As his headless body swims away
The gruesome death of edward teach
http://music.aol.com/song/the-gruesome-death-of-edward-teach/3185184
Letters of Marque
It seems the Colonial Governors are in a race to out-do one another in the issuance of Letters of Marque. It seems that all parties are in a rush to make the pirates of Anarquía and Haven their friends. In fact, it is rumored that the British, following the loss of the Interceptor, are reliant on the commission they have given several pirates to make up for their loss of power in the region.
Cadiz Treasure Fleet survives
It seems that Don Diego Santiago can still lay claim to being Spain's finest sailor.
Caught in the open sea by a combined British & French squadron (something that causes speculation all onto itself), the Cadiz Treasure Fleet and its escort, the Thetis, were able to fight a running battle and get away from the British when the French frigate refused to take direction from the British captain. The Thetis was somewhat worse for wear though no worse than the Frenchmen on-board the Concorde. Rumors heard by senora Sophia at the Vela Negra is that the British refused to expose themselves to the French guns allowing the brave sailors of the Cadiz Fleet to maximize their fires on the French.
The fall of the HMS Interceptor
It seems the Colonial Commodore has been away from the Admiral's Inn as of late. He has heading up a Captain's Mast of the late captain of the HMS Interceptor. It seems the pride of the Caribbean Squadron had managed to get the drop on the French frigate Tigre and the Dutch warship Abraham. Causing the Tigre to flee the battle and then trapping the Abraham against the coast. The HMS Interceptor then proceeded to sink the Abraham only to be boarded by the survivors of the sunken Dutch frigate and captured! The captain was exchanged and now is headed to a reduction in rank and status at the hands of the Commodore.
I ran into...
an old friend at the Wilted Pepper while passing through Cayenne recently. He reported that a pretty little French lass who hopped aboard a trader out of Martinique mentioned that Pirate ships were rendevouzing there UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE HOME GUNS, no less. But I would tend to believe the French Colonial Governor would have more civility than interact with the likes of common criminals.