Ricket’s Bar & Inn

A lone woman wandered into the bar silently, looking for a table to sit. Upon finding a place she sat down and kept to herself, waiting for someone to take her order. Kelly was new to the town but liked island already. Tropical, small, close to an ocean for sailing. Having accidentally found herself aboard a pirate ship and stowing away until they docked she was concerned for this new island and the dangers it contained but thus far she felt the most at home she had felt since her home was destroyed as a child. With so many bad experiences in her past, she was contemplating starting a new life here. One of honest, hard-working, reliable banditry. So many people to take from and no misguided dwarves or optimistic kobolds to tell her not to. No lone swordsman with shape-shifting weapons or rival criminals to get in her way. No deranged goblins, dragons, or even guards to stop her from amassing enough wealth to finally buy her own island and retire with a little fairy companion.

She smirked at the possibilities and continued to wait silently for a waiter to take her order.

Stevy strolls in stretching his arms and giving a bit of a yawn as he surveys the arguably rustic establishment. This is of no problem for Stevy however as he has yet to find a tavern in which he was incapable of finding a way of becoming flat out wasted in. It also eased his mind that this time around he actually HAD MONEY. Stevy squishes himself into a bench at the most crowded table he can find and begins smiling broadly at anyone who happens to look in his general direction. he only ceases smiling at someone when he notices the next persons field of vision pointed his way.

The lady glanced over across the bar at a gruff-looking man that was cleaning a mug out with a rag - who returned the near bewildered expression she held and raised her a short shrug of his shoulders before he waddled off along the bar. The woman turned back to Kelly, her look becoming a bit more kind with a bit of an apologetic smile on her lips.

"Nah, can't say we do for sure. I'd have to check the stores in the basement and hope - never quite know what all we get sometimes. Not alot of stable imports, ya' know? But we got this real nice Tiller mead - my personal fav. Real sweet, kicks hard. Interested?" she asks, giving the bandit a subtle wink as her free hand comes to settle on her hip again.

"You got it, love - sounds like the steak and shrimp. Give it a few minutes, and I'll get your mead real quick." A quick turn would have her wander off with a newfound spring in her step and a sway in her hips as she moved to place the order at the bar and take away another order of drinks to a different table - a loud and obnoxious one, at that.

As Kelly waited for her meal she'd look over to Abby as she entered the bar. She narrowed her eyes.

"Now who's this...." She muttered to herself as everyone turned to face her. Apparently she was popular. Must be the hair.

Kelly mulled over her drink quietly, keeping an eye on the woman but not making any sudden movements.

"Hmmm..." she chewed on one of her long nails for a few seconds, contemplating what she had just heard. "You really aren't a very clever man. You are not supposed to tell a pirate you intend to pay her to fatten your own purse. We don't go by the normal rules of trade, we want it all my friend, no matter the risk." she gave him another smile.

"However you are in luck, my friend. Because just like you I require something. Something that I can't seem to be able to locate myself, but such an experienced trader like yourself might be able to acquire for me. I have heard tales that this land is full of magical beasts, I would very much like to require one. They might not be that useful in Helmfirth itself, but they can be very powerful in the big wide world around here. You think you could get me one?" her eyes twinkled slightly as she looked at him, hoping he would give her the answer she was waiting for.

Abby chuckled and made no gesture to take the envelope. "Not so fast, my dear. Nobody said I was done. You see, you are dealing with a pirate. I am not just some tradesman ship that you can talk under the table and negotiate with. We don't play games, we get what we want or we are out. And when that happens you won't be able to pay anyone to protect you, especially not Shenk." She took her feet of the table and took a bit more professional stature towards the man in front of her.

"First of all there are two conditions to the creature that I want, it can't involve fire and it must look intimidating to my enemies. Don't come back to me with a fluffy unicorn." her smile had faded by now and she was looking quite serious, it would be clear that whatever terms she said next were for real. "Other than that you need to know that I control a fleet of pirates, not soldiers. Those men won't come to my bidding just because I ordered them too. I require enough money to feed their crew during those journeys and some extra to appease the captains. It won't be an unreasonable amount, surely a small margin to what you are about to make of this deal." she would take a paper and write down a number on it, it would be the number that she required per ship. It was nothing unreasonable, though maybe a bit steep for just feeding a pirate crew. Though she did not answer him before, it now became clear that she had a total of 37 ships under her control. "And lastly I want the promise that any ship that goes down will be either repaired or replaced. It doesn't happen often as moving as a fleet prevents a lot of loss, but I won't have a crew sitting on land just because their boat got destroyed by one of YOUR rivals."

Only then she would reach her hand out and the smile would appear back. "Deal?"

She crossed her arms over each other, the smile ever lasting. "Guess you aren't as dumb as I thought either way. You are right, we won't let cargo sink along with the ships. However, I wouldn't mind purposing that we trade them to a place of your own choice so it won't interrupt your own."

She would move in to reach for the envelope again and open it up in front of him, her eyes would scan over the lines that were written down on the paper. Making sure that they would not get in trouble for the open pirating and also validate which grounds they were meant to go on.

"We have a deal, Sir." she stood up to offer him a handshake. "It will take me maybe 2 or 3 days to get the ships mobilized and gathered together. Some of us are still on open seas and will need to return to the meeting point for a briefing. After that, it shouldn't take long for the first ship to hit the bottom of the seas."

"Contacting either other wouldn't be a smart thing if you wish to keep this alliance a secret. Any letter can be interrupted. I suggest meeting in this bar. Come here every Friday between 9 and 10 pm. Once your first rival has fallen I will be here to meet you. I sadly can't promise you will come for no reason the first few times. But I will surely try to make quick work of it." She smiled at him and took her hand back after his shake. He was interesting, this trading master. Making a deal with pirates. He must have been really desperate to do so.

She would then get up and walk towards the door. "If that would be all, I would like to start contacting my crew." she was already turning the key in the door.