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[staysail]

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[staysail]

It'd be a lovely answer if I could say Rivain was my dearest hope. But I only miss it when it rains, and even then, it'd be a lie to say I miss it, truly. I think of it. And I could go for a visit, if I wanted. Did you know my ship puts in along the Wounded Coast every now and then?

[cozen]

Does it? Do you give tours?

[staysail]

It's a place of business, mate. You don't give tours of your... bard office, do you?

[cozen]

If I had one, I would give tours. I can show you my lute if you like. There is a compartment for poison in the pegbox.

[staysail]

Is that right. And how d'you get it out of there discreetly?

[cozen]

If you really must reach it in front of an audience—you become much worse at tuning, all of a sudden.

Does your crew miss you? Probably not. You seem tyrannical.

[staysail]

Do I. Is that what Yseult says of me, or is that your observation alone?

[cozen]

Mine. It in the shoulders, the gait. And your smile is too nice.

[staysail]

Oh, aye. Sure sign of a despot is in the smile, you're right about that.

Only it happens to be that you're wrong. Pirates love a tyrant. You're not a proper crew unless it's pissing rain and you've not had a meal in a day and a half and some captain's shouting in your ear, calling you a son of a flea-bitten whoresdog, mangy nugfucker, a distempered puppet of fate. That treatment, that's how you know you belong.

[cozen]

Ah, ouais? Do you smile while you shout it?

[staysail]

Biggest grin you've ever seen.

If you're serious about it, I'll show her to you. She's called the Fancy. I've had her years now. Not when I met Yseult, I was only a deckhand then. And a pirate, though she didn't know it. Thought me some charming sailor, which I was, really. Not much difference between a sailor and a pirate but the name and who recognizes your legitimacy to sail around commandeering from others.

[cozen]

And eye patches and parrots.

[ Don’t correct him. Don’t destroy his dreams. ]

But I am serious, ouais. I would love to see her. If you need to shout at me the whole time, for appearances, I can take it.

[staysail]

For you? I'll only shout a little. And I'll make sure there's an eye patch laying about, if you want it. Can't promise anything about the parrots. They've a mind of their own.

[Though, fairly--and without destroying any dreams outright--]

In all honesty, it's not going to be what you're expecting.

[cozen]

Things rarely are.

[ Sometimes terrible. Sometimes great. He’ll survive. ]

Is it normal for a crew to be trusted with a your ship without you there? Or does it mean they like you?

[staysail]

Well, now. It could be a trust born of how intimidated the crew is by me, yeah? With all the yelling and the smiling. We've established that I'm a tyrant, so they're not likely to cross me, eh? Even if I'm not around to menace them to their faces.

[cozen]

I would find it hard to believe you could maintain power over them from a distance, but your smile is very impressive. It makes sense.

[staysail]

Years of practice.

Honest answer is that they're a good lot free to make whatever coin they can while I'm off otherwise occupied and saving Thedas from fate and evil. My first mate, he's called Garr. I'd say I trust him as I would a brother but I never had any brothers that I know of, so I wouldn't know what the trust is like either. Trust him as I imagine someone with a brother would trust their brother, if they liked him very much and felt he was worthy of that trust. Responsible with his possessions, respectful, that sort of thing. Honest, for a man known to cheat at cards.