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Ship's Fox Background
5 years ago
General
Today, for those who may be a bit confused, I’ve written up a little of the background story for Ship’s Fox:
This story takes place on a world called Avalon, which has several magical portals allowing contact with our own Earth. Mages visit Earth from time to time, and sometimes they assist non-magical people to go there, but in general Earth is off-limits. The people of Avalon originally came from Earth, and they know this, but knowledge of current events on Earth reaches Avalon in a haphazard, partly suppressed way. Some bits of Earth knowledge, such as the secret of gunpowder, are actively suppressed by the Mage’s Guild.
Skritch Pelagos is a penzeloot - one of a species of giant talking otters created by magic several hundred years ago. Penzeloots, or lutis, organize themselves into clans. All members of a clan contribute what they can to support the clan, and the clan supports them in return. Individual lutis have little interest in wealth for themselves, but they are very motivated by anything that makes their clan richer and stronger. Skritch is the presumptive heir to the matriarchy of her clan, and because of this she was sent out as the financial manager on the maiden voyage of a captured and refitted pirate ship, now named the Dancing Bear. The Dancing Bear is a clipper ship patterned on Earth’s Cutty Sark. Even though she was bought very cheaply at a government auction, the Dancing Bear is the largest and most expensive ship any luti clan has ever put to sea. Although the Dancing Bear is owned by lutis, its voyage begins with a human captain and crew because it is a square-rigged ship with tall masts, and lutis are not considered to be much good at working sails so high in the air. Lutis prefer smaller, lateen rigged vessels that don’t require so much climbing.
At the beginning of this story the Dancing Bear is ready to go to sea, more or less, but Skritch’s clan has run out of money, including money to replace a large number of copper plates on the hull that had been stolen while she waited to be auctioned off. These missing copper plates contributed to the very low price she sold for, but they will need to be replaced soon, before the hull is destroyed by shipworms. Due to lack of money that project has been postponed until after the Dancing Bear has completed her first voyage, a simple grain delivery to the Shoalwater Isles.
While waiting to sail, Skritch rescues a fox from drowning, and pretends she wants to eat him. The fox is named Sushi because of this. The Dancing Bear puts to sea shortly after the fox’s rescue, but her voyage is interrupted by a mutiny plotted before she even left port. The mutineers send off the captain and his loyalists in a ship’s boat, but they keep Skritch aboard because she is trained in the art of navigation, and the mutineers need her skills to follow a treasure map they have discovered. Skritch’s human foster brother Hans, and another human named Silvus, are kept aboard as hostages to force Skritch to obey.
While the main body of mutineers are ashore searching for treasure, Skritch escapes and swims back to the Dancing Bear, then cuts the anchor cable and sails away with just four humans for crew: her allies Hans and Silvus, along with two mutineers who have agreed to help her. Skritch can’t safely operate her vessel with such a small crew, so she takes it to the nearest place she might hope to find assistance: the island of Sinpuerto.
Sinpuerto has been settled by lutis and hellhounds, a type of intelligent dog. It has no full-time human residents. At this point in the story Skritch is trying to get the Dancing Bear ready to sail again. She needs a crew and also an anchor, because she lost her only good anchor while escaping from the mutineers. The Dancing Bear does not have a full sized spare anchor because she put to sea in such a low-budget condition.
While on Sinpuerto, Skritch will also try to sell some of her non-grain cargo. Part of this cargo consists of bootleg brandy, which can be very profitable if it is not discovered and confiscated. At this point in the story Skritch is ashore, with Sushi, trying to negotiate trade deals. She has released the two mutineers ashore, as she had promised to do in return for their support. Hans and Silvus are still aboard the Dancing Bear, keeping her secure. Hans has already found a buyer who will trade desperately needed copper hull plating for their cargo of bootleg brandy. He has accepted the offer on Skritch’s behalf.
On the most recent page, 43, Sushi encountered a hellhound puppy and pounced on it, easily defeating it. In the next installment, page 44, you’ll learn more about the ways of hellhounds, and what they do with uppity foxes who attack their pups.
This story takes place on a world called Avalon, which has several magical portals allowing contact with our own Earth. Mages visit Earth from time to time, and sometimes they assist non-magical people to go there, but in general Earth is off-limits. The people of Avalon originally came from Earth, and they know this, but knowledge of current events on Earth reaches Avalon in a haphazard, partly suppressed way. Some bits of Earth knowledge, such as the secret of gunpowder, are actively suppressed by the Mage’s Guild.
Skritch Pelagos is a penzeloot - one of a species of giant talking otters created by magic several hundred years ago. Penzeloots, or lutis, organize themselves into clans. All members of a clan contribute what they can to support the clan, and the clan supports them in return. Individual lutis have little interest in wealth for themselves, but they are very motivated by anything that makes their clan richer and stronger. Skritch is the presumptive heir to the matriarchy of her clan, and because of this she was sent out as the financial manager on the maiden voyage of a captured and refitted pirate ship, now named the Dancing Bear. The Dancing Bear is a clipper ship patterned on Earth’s Cutty Sark. Even though she was bought very cheaply at a government auction, the Dancing Bear is the largest and most expensive ship any luti clan has ever put to sea. Although the Dancing Bear is owned by lutis, its voyage begins with a human captain and crew because it is a square-rigged ship with tall masts, and lutis are not considered to be much good at working sails so high in the air. Lutis prefer smaller, lateen rigged vessels that don’t require so much climbing.
At the beginning of this story the Dancing Bear is ready to go to sea, more or less, but Skritch’s clan has run out of money, including money to replace a large number of copper plates on the hull that had been stolen while she waited to be auctioned off. These missing copper plates contributed to the very low price she sold for, but they will need to be replaced soon, before the hull is destroyed by shipworms. Due to lack of money that project has been postponed until after the Dancing Bear has completed her first voyage, a simple grain delivery to the Shoalwater Isles.
While waiting to sail, Skritch rescues a fox from drowning, and pretends she wants to eat him. The fox is named Sushi because of this. The Dancing Bear puts to sea shortly after the fox’s rescue, but her voyage is interrupted by a mutiny plotted before she even left port. The mutineers send off the captain and his loyalists in a ship’s boat, but they keep Skritch aboard because she is trained in the art of navigation, and the mutineers need her skills to follow a treasure map they have discovered. Skritch’s human foster brother Hans, and another human named Silvus, are kept aboard as hostages to force Skritch to obey.
While the main body of mutineers are ashore searching for treasure, Skritch escapes and swims back to the Dancing Bear, then cuts the anchor cable and sails away with just four humans for crew: her allies Hans and Silvus, along with two mutineers who have agreed to help her. Skritch can’t safely operate her vessel with such a small crew, so she takes it to the nearest place she might hope to find assistance: the island of Sinpuerto.
Sinpuerto has been settled by lutis and hellhounds, a type of intelligent dog. It has no full-time human residents. At this point in the story Skritch is trying to get the Dancing Bear ready to sail again. She needs a crew and also an anchor, because she lost her only good anchor while escaping from the mutineers. The Dancing Bear does not have a full sized spare anchor because she put to sea in such a low-budget condition.
While on Sinpuerto, Skritch will also try to sell some of her non-grain cargo. Part of this cargo consists of bootleg brandy, which can be very profitable if it is not discovered and confiscated. At this point in the story Skritch is ashore, with Sushi, trying to negotiate trade deals. She has released the two mutineers ashore, as she had promised to do in return for their support. Hans and Silvus are still aboard the Dancing Bear, keeping her secure. Hans has already found a buyer who will trade desperately needed copper hull plating for their cargo of bootleg brandy. He has accepted the offer on Skritch’s behalf.
On the most recent page, 43, Sushi encountered a hellhound puppy and pounced on it, easily defeating it. In the next installment, page 44, you’ll learn more about the ways of hellhounds, and what they do with uppity foxes who attack their pups.
