The Duel
/greet
Lord Jackin Montmorency was a cad.
Born to English privilege, he had squandered his prospects on cards and drink and questionable liaisons.
He lost his title to scandal and his estate to debt.
Too reckless for the Navy,
too ruthless for the EITC,
too untrustworthy for piracy,
and having betrayed a true love's heart,
he found himself in France with a wealth of stolen Spanish gold.
/coin
He set up a lifestyle befitting his pleasures,
drifting from party to party, drinking, and playing cards.
/vittles
He courted every pretty face with an ear for flattery,
/wink
lavishing upon them gifts and jewels and sweet nothings.
Offering promises empty of intent.
Singing songs stolen from better poets.
He loved collecting young, beautiful things.
He would stalk them,
trap them in a killing jar,
and then mount them for
all to see.
/flex
As time went on, however, he found that his wealth was beginning to run out.
/frown
Even a chest of Spanish gold cannot last when living like a prince.
Jackin realized he needed to find a new source of income.
Oh, nothing so mundane as finding a job.
/cower
Oh no...
Lord Montmorency would never stoop to such
measures.
/rofl
He would need to find a lady.
/yes
Someone wealthy.
/yes
Someone who would support him in the manner in which he was accustomed.
/cackle
Preferably, someone seasoned and easily flattered by his charms.
/wink
It was at a salon party that the answer to his problems arrived.
Through the storm clouds of tobacco smoke and laudanum haze she strode,
with a courtier on each arm and a third in tow.
/primp
Wearing a gown of black silk and velvet, red trimmed with lace,
a bejeweled and ribboned stomacher,
tall heels, a slender rapier of gold and ivory, and a rich jacket of lustrous copper.
She was Mademoiselle Angoisse,
a renown and recently retired privateer for the French crown.
Having arrived in Paris with a galleon full of New World plunder,
she was setting out to conquer the strange waters of Versailles and the court of King Louis XV.
She was lovely, majestic, shapely,
with flashing eyes bleached by the tropical sun and hardened by battle,
and long auburn hair unashamedly shocked with grey at the temples.
/sigh
She was tall, confident, mature...
and oh...
so...
RICH...
/celebrate
It was lust at first sight, and Lord Montmorency felt a sudden rush of blood
to his wallet.
/blink
Shaking himself free of whatever dalliance had been clinging to his arm,
he rushed before this handsome vision and made his introductions with a bow.
/bow
And she passed him by without a glance.
/blink
Jackin Montmorency loved a challenge.
/frown
He pursued the target of his affections with a ruthlessness that any pirate would admire.
And he was surprised by how well she resisted his charms...
At best, she tolerated his attentions with patience.
/impatient
At worse, she ignored his existence entirely.
He quickly discovered she had many suitors,
young and old,
rich and impoverished,
sincere and... less so.
/growl
To improve his chances, Lord Montmorency chose to narrow the field.
Some he discouraged with venomous words disguised as honest advice.
Some he bribed with coin from his own purse.
Some he threatened with violence or shamed with blackmail.
Some he distracted with more easily wooed companions.
But soon it was clear to him that Mademoiselle Angoisse's most favored suitor,
and his chief rival, was the Baron Trautmansdorf.
/hiss
Being that he was her very own First Mate offered him many advantages over poor Jackin.
/sad
He was known to her and trusted, so his character could not be maligned.
He was a seasoned pirate, so he was not easily intimidated.
He was faithful to a fault, so his eye would not stray.
And being that he was nearly as wealthy as his Captain, Jackin's gold had no power over him.
/growl
Jackin decided this man must die.
But not in any mundane case back alley of violence.
/no
Mademoiselle Angoisse was far too cunning to be fooled by that.
The Baron must be done away with publicly, properly, and honorably.
There was nothing for Jackin to do but challenge the Baron to a duel for the lady's hand.
/flex
Lord Montmorency was certainly capable of expressions of violence,
especially when the subject was alone and helpless.
/wink
But testing his metal against a skilled Master Pirate involved considerably more risk than he was willing to take.
Perhaps something to shift the odds in his favor a bit?
Lord Montmorency reached out to his mystical Romani contacts,
and spending the last of his coin, he purchased a new sword.
Quite the special weapon, it offered terrible powers to its owner
and carried an equally terrible curse.
The moment Jackin took the handle in his hand, he felt the corruption seep into his flesh.
/hand
/no
Not to worry, he told himself.
Soon enough, he will have wealth aplenty to buy himself a cure.
/yes
The day of the duel soon arrived,
and it was a very public affair.
Lords, ladies, officers, and pirates came to witness the outcome.
Baron Trautmansdorf arrived in a carriage with a young crewman serving as his second.
Jackin Montmorency had no friends willing to serve as second,
and so he had to enlist the aid of an idle livery boy.
Pleasantries were made,
/impatient
ground rules were set,
/yawn
and after a shallow bow, the men drew their blades.
/sword
Baron Trautmansdorf held a long a deadly rapier
and Lord Montmorency had his ancient and heavy broadsword.
And at last they embraced!
The fight was swift and furious,
and Lord Montmorency quickly found himself winded.
/wait
Stepping back, he looked upon his opponent.
And saw him laughing.
/lol
Baron Trautmansdorf had barely broken a sweat!
/hiss
Jackin flung himself again at his foe,
and this time, he invoked the power of the blade.
In an instant, he disappeared!
/potion
Baron Trautmansdorf jumped and spun.
He hesitated and jerked.
And then a spray of blood covered the field.
And the Baron fell dead.
At last! Mademoiselle Angoisse was his at last!
Lord Montmorency reappeared, jubilant and victorious!
/celebrate
/9000
/flex
/dance
But then he heard the hiss of a blade drawn from its scabbard.
Turning around, he saw the Baron's second, enraged by his foul breach of honor and etiquette.
/chuckle
Jackin chuckled and prepared to defend himself.
But he quickly found himself fighting for his life again.
The boy was easily a match for the Baron's skills,
but swifter, more cunning, and his blows were backed by fury.
Jackin found he had no recourse but to invoke the power of the blade again.
Again, he vanished from sight.
But the boy wasn't as easily fooled as the Baron.
/scared
He watched the grass for Jackin's passage, he listened for Jackin's gasping breath.
/gasp
And whenever he moved, he struck.
Invisible as he was, Jackin was still fighting for his life.
Blood was already scored twice upon him,
once on his arm and once on his chest.
And a couple times he considered using this as an opportunity for a hasty retreat.
/flee
But no,
Jackin could be clever as well.
Taking off his jacket, he tossed it onto the grass next to him.
Seeing only its impression on the ground, the boy lunged in its direction, hoping for a finishing strike.
And a finishing strike he received.
He crumbled to the ground, and Jackin reappeared,
wiping the blood from his black blade.
/9000
/flex
/celebrate
The crowd around him murmured,
unsure of how they felt about these events.
/primp
Lord Montmorency did not care.
Soon, he will be wealthy enough to buy and sell their opinions a hundred times over.
/curious
But then he looked down at the boy...
and saw that his hat had fallen askew...
and the stray lock of grey hair escaping from beneath it.
/frown
With a frown, he flipped the hat away with the tip of his blade,
and a cascade of black hair fell upon the grass.
.Huh?
The Baron's second was Mademoiselle Angoisse...
Her disguise had been nearly perfect.
/sorry
.Oops...
/kidding
Lord Jackin Montmorency was a cad.
Born to English privilege, he had squandered his prospects.
He lost his title to scandal and his estate to debt.
Too reckless for the Navy, too ruthless for the EITC, too untrustworthy for piracy,
having betrayed a true love's heart, and now cheated in honorable combat,
he now found himself impoverished, disgraced, and exiled from France.
Hiding out in the deepest hold of a Portuguese galleon bound for the Orient,
he looked upon the corruption growing on his palm
/palm
and he wondered what he had done to deserve so much misfortune?
/bow