Days of Desolation

t has been a couple of weeks now since Hawkeye Pike had seen any member of the landlubber guilds the United Pirates had a relation with. Even if the relations were mostly based on extortion, collecting tolls, pillaging, plundering, and taking revenge, it was the salt in the fishsoup called Britannia. But all those guilds, be it the Purple Guardians of Honor, Aegis, Silverwood, Everthorne or Lich, had mysteriously vanished, and the pirate hadn't seen one of their members in a long time. Even the Black Market in May was a letdown, as the only people who showed up were four pirates.
These were the thoughts that crossed Hawkeye Pike's mind as he was standing on the docks of Red Skull Bay, watching his vessel "Kraken Hunter" swinging at anchor in the surf of the Britannian Sea.

From his experience, Hawkeye knew that this situation would only be temporary, but in times like these it always dawned on him how important and meaningful a community was for his own existence and for the whole population of Britannia. When he slammed his fist against the front door of Hook's house to wake the old drunkard up, nobody answered. Raven Gustare's pirate cottage looked also deserted. Most of his best friends had vanished.

It was just during this period of depression when news reached him that EM Cernunnos left Catskills. Pike was invited to a farewell party at the fair ground. This was a good opportunity to get wasted! After countless bottles of ale, the pirate found himself dancing on the tables with several other a little too merry people. Music was playing, liquor was provided, and the sorrows seemed to be washed out of Pike's mind for a couple of hours.
On the next day, the pirate found himself lying somewhere in the forest near Britain, where he must have passed out the night before. He got up, dirty and tattered as he was, stinking of ale, sweat and another unidentifyable smell, and staggered towards the moongate...

Even though the rest of the community seemed to be extinct, the crew still was very much alive. Even a new sailor called Jimmy Bones signed on and joined the pirate brethren. He received some basic gear and was thoroughly introduced to the pirate habits, the headquarter and its surroundings.

New Haven was less busy than usual, too. Hawkeye Pike immediately recognized an old acquaintance called Azura Bleu. Fortunately, some things never changed. They talked a bit and exchanged some experiences about Ricardo's hidden research books, and it felt good. Even though Azura showed up with a new guild tag practically every month, she was one of the indestructible constants Hawkeye appreciated so much about Catskills. And he knew that he would still recognize her by her gleaming golden kasa, the ocean blue robe and her charisma even 10 years from now.

Due to a lack of landlubber victims, the pirates regularly met on the beach of the Red Skull Bay to improve their fighting tactics. While the rest of the shard seemed to be asleep, the distant clashing of weapons and eruption of spells could not seldom be heard through the jungle near the Jolly Roger Inn.

05/2010

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