[WitchdoctorDan]

Foreword

This is a pet project I've started. "The Rise of the Bloody Red Ensign" was an idea for a guild quest for an old guild who was not active on POF. I decided to scrap it after I realized that it would've been near impossible to present to the guild. After some modifying, I have adapted it to become a huge multi-chapter story following Merriwether Musketball, someone that some PnC guildies may recognize. The real reason I have started this story thread is to exercise my writing skills as to improve my performance on the future Shadow Sorcerors guild quests, which I have a hand in writing (along with Davy Fireskull). I would appreciate your feedback, as it would let me know what I need to improve on, as to make better stories and quests in the future. Thank you for taking the time to read and critique my work.
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Merriwether Musketball
And the War with the Crown

Chapter 1: The Rise of the Bloody Red Ensign
Part 1: A Modest Threat

As the HMS Advance burned in the dead of the night, Merriwether Musketball looked over the wreckage. The money and loot was nice, but the sweet taste of revenge on his tongue made everything worth it. No matter how small the haul, seeing the swine beg for their lives made him much richer every time. Revenge has been described as "bittersweet" by most, but to Merriwether, revenge was better than any loot. One of his crew called out, "Cap'n! Man 'O War on the horizon, we can outrun her. Should we run?" Merriwether was headstrong, but he was no fool. A basic sloop that was dangerously undermanned stood no chance against a fully crewed Man 'O War of His Majesty's Fleet. Merriwether responded, "Aye. Full sail, you lazy fools! Drop your loot and get us hard to starboard!" No ship had ever had Merriwether dead to rights, even before he turned coats. He had always known whether to fight or flee, and he believed strongly in fighting... to run away.

Meanwhile, onboard the HMS Stewart, the Navy Man 'O War on the horizon...

"CAPTAIN! Pirate sloop to the starboard! An-and... my God... There's the Advance! The cowards burned her! Sir, shall we pursue?" Captain Knightley put down the bread he was beginning to eat. The ship was tragically under-supplied, so they had to resort to eating, drinking, and sleeping like the pirates they were tasked with hunting. Ironic, but true. Knightley responded in his calm mannerism, "Nay, looks like the work of Musketball. He's a modest threat, I promise you. Just because he has the audacity of sinking one of His Majesty's ships does not make him dangerous. Knowing his amateurish work, he left survivors. Sail to the Advance, we'll salvage what we can of her and save any of her surviving crew. Don't dilly-dally! HARD TO STARBOARD! Hurry, before they all drown!" As they sailed, they heard a few men screaming for help. Knightley ordered his crew, "Drop the boats. Two men to each boat. Save as many as you can." The crew of the Stewart had loyalty beat into them by the Stewart's previous captain, so they were quick to follow. Many of the crew were glad he was dead, they hoped the old man was burning in Hell constantly. Not only was Captain Knightley much more respectable and less strict, but he could keep cool under pressure exponentially better. The previous captain had died with chainshot to his midsection, in a relatively simple battle. Knightley wasn't going down anytime soon. The boats had recovered five survivors, the bodies floating in the water showed that Merriwether was a bit more than a "modest threat". Word had to be brought back to Port Royal of this treachery. As they sailed back, the crew of the Advance shared their stories of what happened. A royal marine said, "They came out of the fog. They were upon us quicker than we could call the captain. Landrige cut down the sailors on deck, some with steak knives and silverware sticking out of them. The decks were bloodwashed when they pulled alongside us. We only had the gunners below deck alive, and the pirates were too close by the time the guns were loaded. We fired the swivels, but we were so shocked that we all missed. As they boarded, they killed anyone who dared fight. A grenade landed at my feet, so I jumped overboard. That's all I know. These are either highly-trained pirates, or I'm a beautiful woman." A crewman of the Stewart said, "That you certainly are not. We'll inform the captain, and maybe word will get to Port Royal." The Naval crew had no idea whom they were facing just yet...