Morning mist clings to Portsmouth harbor as Brigid O'Rourke steps from the crowded gangplank with her father, her father, a gaunt middle-aged man with a crooked nose and graying stubble, and mother, her mother, a slight middle-aged woman with a narrow face and wispy brown hair. Both parents move stiffly, pale and coughing beneath threadbare shawls, while Brigid's faded green dress brushes the wet boards.
A broad-shouldered middle-aged man in a tarred coat with a broken nose and iron-gray beard plants himself before them. His weathered face is red from wind and drink, and one fist grips a ledger while sailors hold the family's small bundles behind him.
The Ship's Master
Not another step toward town. Your passage remains unpaid, and these goods remain aboard until the debt is worked off.
Several immigrants squeeze past, clutching trunks and infants, their boots striking sparks from the planks. Beyond the pier, Portsmouth's muddy street opens toward taverns, warehouses, and the promise of wages.
Her Father
We have no coin left, master. The crossing took it all, and the burial did what little remained.
Near the warehouses, a recruiting party studies the newcomers beside two local employers. One employer whispers over the strongest backs; a red-coated sergeant watches the crowd with practiced calculation.
The Ship's Master
Then you will earn your passage here on the dock. Portsmouth has use for hands, if not for charity.
Brigid O'Rourke
The town is close enough to see, but the ship's rail still stands between us and it.
✓ Quest Accepted
Leave the ship under the family's own direction
“please sir we have very little we will starve if we give you everything”
SUCCESS (Mediocre Oratory, rolled +1)
Brigid O'Rourke
Please, sir. We have very little. We will starve if you take everything.
Her plea hangs between the ship's rail and the muddy street. Her father bows over a cough, while her mother clutches their worn bundle with both hands.
The Ship's Master
Starve, will you? A hard word for a debt honestly owed. Yet I will not strip a sick family bare.
The master jerks two fingers toward the sailors. Their bundles come ashore and land heavily at the family's feet, damp but intact.
The Ship's Master
These goods are released. But you owe me a day's dock work, and your word before these witnesses that you will pay what remains.
The sailors withdraw. The master keeps the ledger open, and his concession leaves Brigid's family free to enter Portsmouth with their belongings, but bound by a public promise of labor.
“yes sir we will only ask for any food scraps from your table like stale bread or half finished stew please kind sir”
SUCCESS (Good Etiquette, rolled +3)
Brigid O'Rourke
Yes, sir. We ask only for food scraps from your table, stale bread or half-finished stew, if you would be kind enough to spare them.
The ship's master studies her, then glances at her father's hollow cough and her mother's wan face. His ledger remains open, but his hard expression eases.
The Ship's Master
Scraps? No. You shall have a proper meal from the galley, such as can be spared without wasting the crew's stores.
He snaps his fingers, and two sailors hurry below. They return with a tin pail of thick stew, a heel of bread, and a small crock of water, setting all beside the family's bundles.
The Ship's Master
Eat this before you seek work. Your dock day begins after the meal, and I will tell the taverns that the O'Rourkes kept their word.
Steam rises into the harbor mist. The food is plain but hot, and the master's promised recommendation opens a better path than begging at Portsmouth's doors.
✓ Quest Accepted
Find work in Portsmouth
“Thank you Captain, we will work hard to pay off the fair”
SUCCESS (Good Etiquette, rolled +3)
Brigid O'Rourke
Thank you, Captain. We will work hard and pay off what is fair.
The ship's master closes the ledger with a firm clap. Brigid's father lowers his head in gratitude, while her mother steadies herself beside the steaming pail.
The Ship's Master
That is fairly spoken. Work honestly today, and I shall mark the day's labor against your account.
He tears a narrow slip from the back of the ledger and writes upon it, pressing the paper dry beneath his thumb before offering it across.
The Ship's Master
Take this to the keeper of the Castle and Sabre. He owes me a courtesy, and may find a place for a girl who knows a hearth and a serving board.
The recommendation gives Brigid a direct introduction to a Portsmouth tavern, while the first mouthfuls of stew bring warmth back to her family's exhausted faces.
“They travel the though the dock district, as thugs beat them and steal most of the rations on the way to the public house. (The Parents condition is worsting and will be close to death in a week they will soon be in a church sick house)”
SUCCESS (Fair Agility, rolled +1)