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The Tale of Crossleg Luke (GoF Eras module 2)

Luke McReady

Freebooter
Coordinator
Creative Support
Quest Writer
QC Advisor
First of all,Thank you to MK for bringing me the most enjoyable time I've had in COAS yet! After my hiatus from it I hope to return to continue my story :D. my only Problem with the mod was having to sink all those beautiful ships that just barely didn't fit in the budget or minimum qualifications of my fleet standards.

Secondly, This was written over the course of several days on the screenshot thread. and after Pieter suggested it I decided to give it its own thread here.

This is an example of the good times you can have in Modern Knight's Historical Eras Module 2 with a little imagination and role-play! I would like to encourage everyone else to also share your adventures on the forum as well whether its GOF, ERAS, or POTC that you play!( Or ny other ones i have no clue exist :D )

Episode 1

Lets see... i started out with something I've always wanted! a little sailboat lol:pirateraft. which was even smaller then the boat I used to get on shore... :confused:

Then as I was struggling for cash running around being a debt collector, the boss tells me to go find this ruby. well I figure with the 2,000 gold he's offerin' I can get me a ship and make some money as a merchant, smuggler, or scavenger. As I step out of the city gates to begin my search, I come across a young woman being threatened by some hooligans. After near thirty minutes of me getting my Noble but, weak and under equipped ass handed to me several times, I just about gave up and just let them have their way with her. I told the men i wouldn't interfere and began my search for the ruby. I then found somethings that were even better! a tree... and a bush.

Now a know what you're thinkin' mates; "Luke! How does this here epic tale of adventure and the such, got anything interesting involving a tree and bush?"
Well mates... these here were not just any tree and bush, oh no! These here were the gateway to my freedom and fortune! for ya see this tree an this bush were conveniently JUST far enough apart fer a man to fit in-between'em, with his back to an invisible wall called "The Edge of the map". This inspired new bravery within me as i aimed my pistol an shot one of the rogues in the back and as they charged that tree, that bush, and myself stood fast defending all that was holy and righteous against those spawns of the devil!

One by one they each received consecutive slashes with a rusty sword followed ever so promptly by Musket-balls-to-the-face. the lady then thanked me and I began to loot her assailant's cadavers, when all at once my eyes fell upon a cashew of jewelry on one of the blaggards! I thought to myself "That's prolly worth somethin'."

And boy was it ever. a whopping 73,000 coins!!!!! I swiftly went to give the boss his ruby, and made my way to the shipyard. didn't see anything I liked so I went to San Juan. There I saw the cutest dang vessel you ever laid your eyes on. Named her the "Darlin" and began to look for battles to scavenge. A few days later I captured a Pirate English made Pinnace, and bid Adieu to my Darlin. (I seriously didn't want to get rid of her lol) Sold the Pinnace in Martinique where I picked up a Merchant lugger, and made plans to start my smuggling operation with it.

However, as I walked out of the my room in the tavern I was met by a certain French Captain who said he had a proposition for me. So I went out to meet him on his ship to see what all the fuss was about. when he told me the plan I was certain my good fortune had to run out sometime, but it didn't seem like it would be today! He told me the tail of a English convoy that had been forced to moor just outside of Santiago by a storm, and that they were loaded down with gold! Now open Piracy was never my style but i figured my Dutch allies would care very little if this convoy went missing.

Me and my new companion set sail within minutes bound for Santiago and arrived in a few days. Once I observed from a great distance our targets I realized that we were very much out manned, outgunned, and outmatched; but not outran. I devised a plan, and using our two smaller faster ships as bait we Lured the enemy into Santiago's harbor where the Spanish fort opened fire on the convoy. Using the fort to our advantage we captured the Enemy flagship, and main merchant vessel. I decided to keep the former for myself of course:doff.

The battle lasted near 20 hours (In game time) and when the enemy were defeated I docked at Santiago.

While there I repaired, rearmed, and re-manned my new ship. I also bought me a new Sword and pistol :guns::duel:.

I then decided that my companion didn't do enough to earn half of the gold, so while I was in town I sold all 102 units of it. (Had to pay for that pistol somehow:pirate07:)

Needless to say my good friend was none too happy about this and found it ever so necessary to try and kill me when i tried to tell him that there was never any gold, I had no clue what he was talking about, and that this new sword was a gift sent from me mama back home. :shrug

after while i was busy dealing with dispatching his goons his badly damaged ship disappeared .



Meantime...
Purchased Marine Xebec from the French in Besse-Terre. the Ultimate smuggling vessel if I do say so myself.


Episode 2

After we laid the Jekkanna'aw and Lukas into Storage, we set sail aboard the Urania. A modest little vessel Who's original Captain had joined my smuggling operation a few weeks back. I put him in charge of keeping the Jekkanna'aw safe during my travels while it remained moored in Willemstad, Curacao. Soon we left the port to come across some Dutch merchants being attacked by a English Patrol. Among those ships was a 54-gun Fourth-Rater which, was with the help of the dutch, captured by myself. Humble beginnings of my plan to build an army of my own from the ground up.

We Rechristened her the Bello'aw (Spirit of Arrogance), Sank the Urania, and sail north pillaging English traders and Defending Spanish, Dutch, and French merchants from patrols and pirates alike. The English by now are none too fond of us and sent out 2 64-Gun Third Raters to destroy us. With help from the Dutch on San Martin one of the ships was completely disabled and swiftly sank. We soon regained our order from that boarding party and set out to capture the other ship which was completely in tact and fleeing out of the harbor. after a brief exchange of cannon fire and a boarding party the ship was ours.

Renamed the Gevverra'aw (Spirit of Fear) I declared it my flagship. Sailed around causing trouble for the English for a bit, not seeing anything I wanted for a couple months. Decided to go back to Willemstad, and on the way got a few surprises. the first of which was fighting a pirate Galleon that was harassing a Spanish merchant. He soon joined me after his capture as an officer and fighter on my crew. The Second Surprise was when we captured the 40 gun Fourth-Rater The Duke renamed her the Dear'aw (Spirit of War) and handed her over to my newest officer: The captain of that pirate Galleon who now was quite happy to be in service of me. We sailed less than a day further south when we came upon a large pirate squadron attacking some dutch merchants off the north shore of Curacao.

These boys must've been some of Morgan's men because they were armed to the teeth with 4 very large ships. But only one caught my eye: the enemy flagship. after a loooong fight the pirate fleet all except for my target had surrendered. With a well placed snipe of the enemies main mast the old dutch man o' war was halted dead in her tracks. but as we approached to board she shot out our mast as well. The Guns of the two flagships exchanged fire for several minutes, completely de-masting both ships. The ol' girl finally gave in a struck her colors. and both ships were towed into harbor and repaired. After which the man o' war was made the flagship and named her the Rebba'aw (Bad Spirit, or Demon)

So heres my war Fleet as of the end of episode 2:

The Rebba'aw- 60 Gun Old Dutch Man O' War
The Gevverra'aw- 64 Gun Third-Rater
The Dear'aw- 40 Gun Fourth-Rater
The Bello'aw- 54 Gun Fourth-Rater



Episode 3

NOCTICE: alright mates this will be my last Episode for a lil while. this has been all I've played for several days now and I think I'm going to give it a rest. Maybe until Patch1 Idk yet. But I need to begin work in Earnest on the HoO storylines and I also can't keep allowing my own novel to go neglected yet another month either:facepalm:checklist....


anyway here it is Episode three.


Our voyages on the Rebba'aw were growing in number and length. The Governor-General of Curacao promoted me to a lieutenant of the Dutch Navy and sent my fleet on a mission to the Pirate city of La Vega, Hispaniola to meet with its leader Edward Mansfield/Mansvelt. We were to gain information on the English plans against the Dutch. When we arrived in La Vega we were redirected to Admiral Henry Morgan in Jamaica.

We sailed to Jamaica taking a few English trade convoys by surprise along the way until we arrived in Fort Orange were we rested until night before sneaking into Port Royal. Waiting until the morning to leave the tavern me and my 3 bodyguards went to see Morgan at his residence. But he wasn't there, he wasn't even in town! his secretary informed me that the good admiral was at his home on Antigua.

So the fleet set sail raiding the English shipping along the way we arrive at Antigua in a little over a week. Landing on the southern shore of the Island we snuck into the town and met with Morgan who agreed to give me the Information if I went to Tortuga to gain information on one of his business associates that had lost his faith. Well by now lads I am pretty fed up with sailing my fleet around the whole damn Caribbean three times over just to receive a reward that wouldn't even pay for the maintenance and wages for the force which I commanded and drug along with me on this little Adventure.

We arrived in Tortuga after a few annoying Bounty hunters got in the way. We remained in that good city for a few days and let the crew enjoy themselves while me and my officers sought information on the individual. I finally decided I had enough information after a few futile attempts over the course of a few days and set sail to return Antigua.

BUT when we arrived, Morgan, that arrogant pompous bastard had the nerve to tell me it wasn't enough after blatantly insulting my abilities and intelligence told me to go back to gain more information. Morgan of course was not expecting my very... "Reasonable"... response to his request.

Out of sheer frustration from being someone that I owed nothing's lapdog, and pure hatred of pointless sailing in a giant circle between a couple ports, and being forced to go (As we say where I come from) "Halfway 'round my @$$ to get to my elbow". I ordered the Rebba'aw and the rest of my fleet to show Morgan the extent of my Incompetence and idiocy.

For just a under a month we blockaded the whole of Antigua, circling the island and sinking everything that came near, Military or civilian, with demonic efficiency. Morgan sent a few pirate flotillas to attempt to halt our blockade which has become known as "St. John's Noose". The English joined in by sending privateer and Royal Navy alike only for their ships to wind up with the Brethren of the Coast in Davy Jones' armada forever moored below the waves.

After I felt my point had been made, (And my ships' holds couldn't hold anymore looted ammunition or tea.) We vanished into the morning fog and set our course for Martinique to sell the stolen goods, and give the ships some much needed repairs. I left fully confident the world and Morgan alike, would remember the days that the whole of the Royal Navy, the People of Antigua, and the "Great" Pirate Admiral himself were held hostage by four warships under the leadership of an incompetent commander, and there was nothing they could do about it. The World feared Henry Morgan, but Henry Morgan feared me.

We setup Martinique as our port of call. The French though officially neutral had no qualms with harboring a fleet while they torture the battered English Leeward Islands, and they paid good money for all the tea shipments we intercepted I might add :doff.

For a couple months we raided English shipping, while battling mostly military and bounty hunters, seemed like I could rarely go ashore, or set sail in open water without being jumped in the streets, or harassed in the coastal waters. It was during one of these engagements that we added a fifth ship to the fleet: The appropriately named "Eko'aw" (Spirit of Sorrow), a forty-two gun Dutch made warship.

After receiving multiple threats and the bounty on my head being increased several times, I decided it was time to send another message to the English. I set my fleet's sails towards Barbados. We approached Bridgetown Proper from a great distance to scout out the harbor and gauge the quality of its defenses. As we sat outside the harbor I noticed activity in the port. A Royal Navy vessel that had been sitting in harbor, a 64-gun warship all of a sudden broke out of the harbor at full speed hugging the shore and fleeing for their lives.

The crew let up a cheer at the sight of this and you could hear laughter ringing from all five of our vessels. I continued to sit off the coast not moving a few more hours estimating the amount of force, amount of weapons, and how much medicine I would need for the operation. I was rather enjoying the peace, and hearing the men enjoying themselves on the deck.

Then came the shout from the crows nest "Ship Ho! In the Harbor sir!" The Crew rushed to the side of the ship to see, and I pulled out my spyglass and pointed it toward the city. A Second-Rate Ship of the line which had been sitting in harbor for several hours immobile had suddenly woken up and was sailing straight for us. "Apparently the English do have a little fight in'em boys! Battle stations all of ya!" I yelled out.

Not feeling the need to wastefully risk the lives of my men I ordered my other ships to remain where they were in case of an approach from the West. I felt sure my flagship the Rebba'aw, my beloved Dutch Man O' War, would be more than able to hold its own despite being an ancient antique in comparison to the ship we were up against. Preparing myself for a bloody and intense battle I was shocked when a the first exchange of fire from distance knocked the enemy's mainmast over. what surprised me further was the enemy surrendered before the cloth of the fallen sail was even good and wet from contact with the sea.

We boarded the ship only to find it crewed by townsfolk, and captained by a local merchant. The captain explained that when he saw our fleet approaching Bridgetown, the English commander had abandoned the larger of his two warships in favor of the faster one in order to make his escape, leaving the town and its inhabitants to their fate. The townsfolk fearing that Barbados would suffer the same torture as Antigua had a few months before, crewed the abandoned 84-Gun warship and set out to put up a fight to attempt to run us of with the quality of their ship, and the number of it's guns.

I imprisoned the merchant and his militia crew, Adopted the captured ship into the fleet and towed her back to Fort De France, Martinique. When We arrived I reorganized my forces, Sold the weakest of my ships, the 40-gun Dear'aw who had been reduced to 30 guns during the blockade of Antigua. and I handed over the Rebba'aw to one of my most trusted and skilled captains. We then restocked the ammunition and supplies of all the ships, and I took the Second-Rater as my new Flagship.

The Governor-General of the English Colonies was none too happy with my capture of his Second-Rater and raised the bounty on my head again. We avoided the bounty hunters on the sea and killed the ones that confronted us in Martinique. I was now tired of those pests and the governors petty attempts to destroy me so I set out to deliver my message to England.

I renamed the my new flagship to The Survva'aw (Angel). She was my favorite ship by far armed with 84 Forty-two pound guns making her one of the most powerful Privateers in the Caribbean, and to me the name Survva'aw fit her elegance and beauty. I do not see myself ever getting rid of her, and if I ever have to upgrade my flagship I doubt she will be out of my sight for long. But alas I cant be getting all sentimental of my dear Survvaaw in the middle of a tale of adventure!

With the Survvaaw in the lead and the fleet in tow we into Bridgetown and assualted the city with the very ship that had defended her on our last visit leading the charge.


We let it be known to the Governor-General of the English colonies that despite his countless attempts to obliterate me, from this earth. This Irishman only grows stronger despite his attempts at ending my reign of terror over these waters. and that St. John's Noose was only the beginning. That they were no longer safe even behind their fort walls, and on land.

Using the seal of Bridgetown's Governor I wrote a letter to the King of England and sent a courier aboard a French Merchant bound for Europe. In that letter were these words:





Thank you for all the ship's that you have given me, I particularly adored the last gift. This new warship will do quite nicely in making my efforts easier here in your colonies, and I don't think any other corsair in these waters has one like this. Thanks again for your presents I'll be sure to continue and make good use of them.

Yours Truly,
Luke McReady

P.S. If you would your majesty, would you mind sending this message to my good friend the Governor-General of the Caribbean Colonies? I Would thank him personally but my fleet wont fit in Port Royal's Harbor anymore. ;) :guns:

To Be Continued.....
 

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Very creative! Enjoyed the read very much! The game always inspires the same imagination in me. Having the way more nationally defined lines in my mod I think makes a difference in the immersion experience I think. This was evident to me from your narrative of the ships you encountered which was the experience I was trying to achieve with the mod.

Thanks for the continuing story and the validation.

MK
 
I am going to be sure to continue this in the near future mate! I've even been thinking of perhaps doing a let's play on Youtube with it. but as for now, i have alot of writing and Violin playing to catch up with :D lol
 
If anyone is wondering what language the Ships are named in it's a Conlang I created when I was younger, It's heavily involved in my Short stories and books that are currently in the works. If I ever own a ship I can almost guarantee it will be named in this language so I felt it was appropriate to name my ships here in it to better immerse myself.

The only ship I didn't translate in the text was Jekkanna'aw which means Mischievous Spirit (Sort of like a Goblin in a way or the Irish Leprechaun)

I'm sure a few people were wondering about this :doff
 
I had wondered about the language. I thought because of your background it might be some old Orkney or Isle of Man Gaelic dialect or some Kentucky/Tennessee Scotch/Irish hill dialect.

True story on that: I bought a red Branko/Sock-it-to-me hunting beagle pup from some of those hill people once. The hollow was so far out of the way and in such rugged country that my truck almost didn't make it. I got lost several times and I'm a very good navigator although I've never privately used GPS.

Everyone that met me was well armed and I could barely understand those people. It was a good experience though and the dog (named "Luke" BTW LOL) turned out to be one of the most awesome dogs ever.

MK
 
I'm not from the Georgian Highlands I'm From the Coastal Lowlands of GA. :p

Appalachia is a strange place to me as well but I love those mountains :p

And When I was studying my families history i did teach myself a little bit of Irish-Gaelic though I can't write it for nothing lol the spelling seems... Off. I did find out my families original name was Mac Riada, "Son of the Long-Armed" an Irish Ard Righ (High-king) whose kingdom controlled Ulster and the western shore of Scotland. He was one of the Gaelic kings that halted the Roman advance in the British Isles.

And as for the conlang. Most grade school kids are busy playing... me? I hated the English language so much that I set out to create a new replacement. I called it Jakl bc the first word ever coined was Ja'ak (King).

I had a rather... different childhood. I don't know many eight 9 or 10 year olds that had a command of the English language to such an extent that they could devote time to creating and organizing their own legitimate language that operates fluently and naturally with itself.

Most kids were busy playing... me? I was more concerned with reading history books, learning everything about anything, and creating an entire fantasy world with which to create stories. Jakl grew up intertwined with that world. Now well over a decade later neither are complete and are ever evolving :) . Jakl itself has went through 4 generations of development and change since its original creation lol
 
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J.R.R.Tolkien did that. He created several languages as well as becoming a professor at Oxford.
 
Interesting - Very impressive and very creative. We actually have similar origins and background experiences.

My own family surname (lots of French and Dutch too on Mom's side) is Irish. Originally Ui'Siadhail (O'Shiel) minor kings/chieftains over the area now known as Roan Inish (that little peninsula that is the very most northern tip of Ireland). The family has a good past with many notable doctors and soldiers. It's one of the 9 finea of the Niall so has the red hands on both corners of the shield. A couple notables were an O'Shiel that fought with Brian Boru expelling the Vikings at Clontarf - and that's where we got the mullet star on the bottom of the shield. Also Murtagh O'Shiel was queen Elizabeth's doctor and a spy for Hugh O'Niell. Daniel O'Shiel was 2nd in command of the Catholic emancipation movement against Great Britain.

I was a member of the History Book club at age 11. I had read 80 percent of the Britannica series "Great Books of the Western World" by the time I was 15. My friends and I didn't make up our own language but we did exchange notes in the classroom all throughout gradeschool thru highschool in Greek - which really pissed off the teachers who never had a clue what it was. We did make our own Tolkien-esque alphabet that we used in our own very expansive campaign gaming world.

I have been very concerned dealing with a lot of young people in my profession over recent years that the current generation is no longer interested in a classical education or even ever questioning what they are taught. They want social recognition among people that would never even consider helping them in tough life and death situations. They want bling - and they want to shoot up people in games where they steal their cars. LOL Yo PEACE Yall OUT

MK
 
After I started didn't take me very long to discover Tolkien.

And I hope to one day have enough energy to create more. But my ultimate goal for Jakl was to make it a COMPLETE language. and Tolkien's LotR series is wonderful. has spawned many clone worlds using many of his elements. Also his interpretations of mythological aspects astounds me.

I always enjoyed the story of how he came up with the Hobbits :). And most of his stuff was invented originally for his family. He had alot of Influence from dead European languages. An advantage I fear I will never be able to match. The world of my creation has no common aspects with Tolkien and almost no relation to any cultures of the real world (At least not purposefully)

At this time their are 3 known races of men, with multiple nations in each one. Multiple religions and sects. and the list goes on.

But this thread is for promoting MK's mod not my own personal work so I cant use this to talk too much about my own endevours. :)

Besides unless we're talking about the Island nation of Ren, My world has very little to do with pirates :p
 
Interesting - Very impressive and very creative. We actually have similar origins and background experiences.

My own family surname (lots of French and Dutch too on Mom's side) is Irish. Originally Ui'Siadhail (O'Shiel) minor kings/chieftains over the area now known as Roan Inish (that little peninsula that is the very most northern tip of Ireland). The family has a good past with many notable doctors and soldiers. It's one of the 9 finea of the Niall so has the red hands on both corners of the shield. A couple notables were an O'Shiel that fought with Brian Boru expelling the Vikings at Clontarf - and that's where we got the mullet star on the bottom of the shield. Also Murtagh O'Shiel was queen Elizabeth's doctor and a spy for Hugh O'Niell. Daniel O'Shiel was 2nd in command of the Catholic emancipation movement against Great Britain.

I was a member of the History Book club at age 11. I had read 80 percent of the Britannica series "Great Books of the Western World" by the time I was 15. My friends and I didn't make up our own language but we did exchange notes in the classroom all throughout gradeschool thru highschool in Greek - which really pissed off the teachers who never had a clue what it was. We did make our own Tolkien-esque alphabet that we used in our own very expansive campaign gaming world.

I have been very concerned dealing with a lot of young people in my profession over recent years that the current generation is no longer interested in a classical education or even ever questioning what they are taught. They want social recognition among people that would never even consider helping them in tough life and death situations. They want bling - and they want to shoot up people in games where they steal their cars. LOL Yo PEACE Yall OUT

MK

I've always wanted to become fluent in Greek or Latin, and finish learning French... But i simply don't have the time or resources with which to do it... :(

And yes. The U.S. as a whole simply becomes more hedonistic as time goes on. and less and less is concerned with learning. I understand there has always been this element but why did I have to grow up with kids who couldn't even have a normal conversation with me without my Bestfriend or Girlfriend at the time being forced to translate my sometimes complex statements. I usually can keep it simple but i lose myself sometimes :p

Whenever I got in an argument that almost ended in a fight, My mama would tell me to simply return the insults with better ones and stand up to my opponents that way. My response was "Mama... when you insult an idiot with anything that constitutes any sort of actual depth and meaning. It's the same as speaking Korean, neither they nor anyone around will be able to tell you insulted them, and then its you that looks like a fool."

When did knowledge become a handicap >.>
 
I think it's time I explained the origin of the name "Crossleg Luke"

You see at a very early age (Noone is 100% sure when, but it's believed to have been when I choked very young) I contracted Cerebral Palsy in my legs. If you don't know what it is look it up!

Anyway I was a lucky one and came withing a few moments of dying when I contracted it. But managed to get oxygen quick enough for it only to have effected my legs.

Due to my condition I couldn't walk until I was 3 years old (But I could run at age 2). anyhow long story much much shortened all I have now is a limp in both legs and the occasional spasm. I can run faster than most completely healthy and physically normal otherwise, though I still have the nerve damage.

The condition left in me a very curious habit, even though I don't need it anymore. I sometimes stand with my legs crossed. and I always sit with my legs crossed, and sometimes double-double crossed. As you all know my fascination with pirates ran very deep. and well when i started getting into pirate games and playing pretend with friends. I developed the name "Crossleg Luke" I like it so when i play pirate games, it's the name I use :p
 
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