piratejournal | 2nd Spirit - Text [FILTERED TO THE SHEPHERD]

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2nd Spirit - Text [FILTERED TO THE SHEPHERD]

[This post is filtered to the crew of the Shepherd and is viewable by Dirk Strider]

Greetings,

I would like to speak to the captain of the Shepherd or the first mate if he/she is unavailable. It has come to my attention that this crew has the reputation of hunting any of us that engage in piracy. As myself and my crew are all recent arrivals, I would like clarification.

I have learned that piracy has different defining characteristics depending on what world a person is from. As I am not looking to create unnecessary conflict between my crew and any others on the sea with us, I would really like to know what your definition of piracy is.

Thank you.

Ihrie
First Mate, Sinewave

[She can be diplomatic when needed.]

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... I'm the first mate, Aida Mana.

It's true. We've committed ourselves to keeping the seas safe from those who would prey on the weak and helpless. If you want to know what our definition of a pirate is, you can find it there... Someone who spreads fear and terror across the seas without regard for the greater good.

I can also say that those of us on the Shepherd don't want unnecessary conflict either... But we also won't back down from a challenge, if it comes, all the same...

Edited 2013-12-02 23:59 (UTC)

Though I am relieved to see that your crew's definition of piracy is similar to my own, I do feel the need to question your reference to the 'greater good'. In this unfamiliar land where we have been brought here against our wills, who it to say what is the greater good?

To one person, the greater good could be returning us to our rightful worlds and thus anything that furthers that cause, to them, is serving the greater good. We are clearly aberrations of this world, so our presence alone causes difficulties for this world. I am not one of them, but there are people that believe the end justifies the means.

Let me play devil's advocate for a moment.

Say that the final shard of the Piedra Roja has been found upon an island in the possession of those who inhabit it. Negotiation or trade has failed to sway the people to turn the shard over. Attempts to covertly steal the shard have also failed. So all of our ships decide to blockade the island, deny it shipments in or out, and destroy any ship attempting to break the blockade until the shard is handed over. After several islander ships are sunk and lives lost, many beginning to starve, then they decide to turn the shard over. The shard is collected and all of us disappear from this land in a single wish upon the jewel.

In that case, the end result served the greater good of ridding this world of us, but to achieve it, we had to engage in piracy. What then?

... It's true that what's right isn't always clear. That sometimes, you need to make difficult decisions to do what's right.

But... your story isn't something that necessarily will will happen. And if it did, I myself would only be a part of it if all possible options were exhausted. But then, you also have to be open to the idea that there's more to this whole scenario than just getting home... there's a lot about this world and the treasure that we still don't know about.

And all that... is still pretty different from the kinds of piracy we're against. The kind where people only take from others for the sake of themselves, or out of greed. I think, in a place like this, it's important that there are people willing to oppose it.

Remember, my story was just me playing devil's advocate. It's not something I'd be comfortable doing, myself, but I've been around enough ruthless people in my life to know the lengths some will go to.

I'm not exactly the hero type, so I'll leave seeking that kind of opposition to you and stick to the safety and well-being of my own crew unless something unsuspecting comes up. Though, this also makes me wonder how your crew and the Navy interact.

After all, according to them, you are pirates just like the rest of us.

Oh, oh, I know this one! It's... people who commit crimes and do bad stuff at sea. At least, I think that's right!

[Henry is the most helpful member of this crew obviously.]

That is the definition that I grew up knowing, but not every world's definition is the same. Perhaps it's best to leave this conversation to your captain and first mate.

Awwww, but they leave me out of tons of stuff already! It's not like you can't talk to multiple people, right?

Besides, I'm from the same world as the captain, so that should still count!

I suppose you're right.

[Well there's certainly a twinge of disgust in Maribelle's voice as she speaks.]

This is the captain of the shepherds crew, and all too often I find that when one does not even know the meaning of the word piracy, one must have a very limited education. Piracy is an act of robbery, typically involving violence on the high seas, although not solely limited to sea. Those who would 'profit' by stealing from the innocent, whether it be through theft, enslavement, or any other means, have been and always will be, my enemy.

So I ask you First Mate Sinewave, what is your definition of piracy?

[Despite the tone being used with her, Ihrie maintains her temper and makes some mental notes. She already prefers speaking to this crew's first mate.]

My personal definition of piracy is the same as yours. This inquiry was to learn if that was the case. As I said before, there are so many of us from different worlds here, and one definition of piracy I have learned here is from a world of high level technologies that deal in something called 'digital information' and that getting that information without a license is, to them, piracy.

That is far different than anything regarding piracy that I have experienced in my life. I'm certain you and I are not from the same world. So, how about you stop being antagonistic when all I am doing is asking for clarification to make sure me and my crew don't accidentally do something to cause conflict between us.

As your First Mate has said, there is more to this world than just the scope of our own. Expecting people from other worlds to just automatically know what it is like in yours is just ignorant.

[Well... that actually does manage to erase the venom from Maribelle's voice.]

Very well... perhaps I have been hasty in my assumptions then. You see, I have been here from the start of this dreadful summoning for lack of a better word, and in that time I've met far too many lowlife pirates and scum. It has been my experience that those who questioned the definition of piracy, were oftentimes pirates seeking to merely antagonize me.

I... have been very weary of late, and perhaps as a result I was far less diplomatic than I could be. Now that we are both aware that our definitions of piracy are the same, might I know if you intend to seek conflict with the Shepherds? My goal is to protect, not to be judge, jury, and executioner.

Edited 2013-12-05 17:26 (UTC)

[And this was what Ihrie had been hoping for. See, Dirk, she can hold her temper.]

We don't. Piracy is not our calling, though we are seeking the Piedra Roja. Most of us just want to go home, and it sucks to hear you've been here so long.

Do you actually call yourselves 'pirate hunters' or is that just the reputation speaking? And as you have my name, I'd like yours.

Indeed? I shall warn you, that I'd be very careful about that gem, as we have no way of knowing what even a small fraction may be capable of. It may be capable of sending people home, but it may instead do something far, far worse.

As to your other questions, no we do not call ourselves pirate hunters. At the very least that is not a name I would encourage, since it implies that our sole purpose is to catch pirates which it is not. The purpose of the Shepherds as I mentioned before is to protect the innocent, and all too often the innocent are the favorite prey of pirates.

As to my name, I am Maribelle, former magistrate of Ylisse, and captain of the Shepherds.

No need to caution me about the potential of the jewel. I have personal experience seeking and obtaining a wish-granting artifact from my own world. I'm a ruin explorer by trade and anything with the lure of granting someone anything they want always comes with strings attached.

But we're not going to know what those strings are until we find it. Or why its the focal of the fountain in Empieza.

A treasure hunter are you? I haven't seen many of your profession, as all too often they are either rich beyond people's wildest dreams, or flat broke beggars on the side of the road. The royal treasure of Ylisse, the Fire Emblem, is said to hold a similar power, although usually granted by a far more benevolent source.

As for the fountain? Well that is the location where this specter all summoned us to, so perhaps his power is connected to it somehow. Perhaps the gem he's asking us to look for is a part of his power, and he is incomplete without it. Empieza may be the location the fountain is located simply because it was the town in which he was born.

[Ihrie gives a slightly nervous laugh. She and her partner tended to be broke, but they certainly weren't beggars.]

It all depends on the ruin and the appraisal of the take. And knowing the right merchants.

Now, I've heard a couple mentions of this Davy Jones guy being something not alive, and people talk like we all should know who he is. It's kind of irritating to those of us who're new.

Well then, I suppose this place would likely be ideal for you then, seeing as how there are countless numbers of undiscovered islands with mysterious pirate treasure.

That's bothered me for quite some time now as well. I have to assume he must be some sort of famous pirate legend in Japan or something, as that seems to be where a great many people seem to originate from. [Oh Maribelle, so close, yet so far.] Though the majority of them come from different realities or versions of Japan.

You and I probably haven't heard of this Davy Jones because we come from completely different worlds that never had a version of this mysterious pirate ghost.

Pirate ghost, huh? Remind me to kick his ass if he ever shows himself.

While I can appreciate the sentiment, I fear that would be rather unwise. Not only do I believe it's not physically possible, since I doubt he has a material form that one could kick, but the only time he ever did reveal himself to my knowledge, we were all frozen in motion. It was as if time simply stood still for the entire world, and perhaps he exists outside of regular time and reality itself.

Although... perhaps that's merely just overactive speculation on my part.

Or you just need to use magic to affect him.

Can I ask what your world's definition is?

My world's definition of piracy are acts of theft, assault and murder by bandits that use nautical forms of transportation.

Good.

That is the same as my world's, and for the pirates here.

That's what I was looking to learn since I have come across other definitions.

Like what?

One of the definitions I don't understand from another world is that acquiring something called 'digital information' without a license is considered piracy.

Must be from the same people who traveled in space.

I have no idea what that means either.

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2nd Spirit - Text [FILTERED TO THE SHEPHERD]

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[sorry for the delay. x_x I've had a veritably crappy week so far]

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Sorry for late!

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