@Arnyn @Ercassie
Trevadir
Cali and Iole's house - Third Circle
Urimë 16 (3 days after the fire)
He was slightly unsure what the lieutenant's look was about, until she mentioned that about their numbers being too few. Still, he wasn't quite sure why there wouldn't be enough folks between the rangers, the army, the navy, and whatever else there was, to catch all of them in time. But then, he thought perhaps she'd misunderstood. "I didn't mean
you, specifically, or even the rangers in particular," he mentioned. "Just, well I figured you would know better how to contact whoever
is best equipped to do that sort of thing, you know. Like the navy, for example, or," he nodded as Nal spoke his piece about Abrazimir Dimaethor, "yes, exactly. I figured if I can give you this information, you could maybe share it with folks like him, in Belfalas, who are already trying to fight the pirates. So they can make the best use of it... Whatever works. I just.. I'm not terribly eager to chat with them, myself.." He explained, a little awkwardly. "And I don't know how to contact.. rangers? Or whoever there is to enforce the King's law out North, about the bandits and all that. But maybe some of the navy folks could handle it. I definitely didn't mean that you and the rangers should try to handle all of it, personally." He tried to clarify.
"Or, that it should all be done all at once." He added. "I mean, like, if Dev is caught, for instance, and it's kept quiet enough, then maybe after that, we could use his ship to lure Uhta into a trap, and catch him too, because if he hasn't heard that Dev's been caught... well, it's an idea anyway." He shrugged. She had said they'd revisit the Halsad subject, so he didn't try to go into that too much right now. "And from there, maybe someone could pose as him, traveling down the coast to where he usually meets with the bandits, and.. I don't know. I'm just sort of hoping that I can help put a stop to all of them, that's all."
A weak smile was aimed at Nal, upon the reminder that there were a few folks keeping an eye on Toby. It was appreciated, but he still worried. And maybe he was worrying for nothing, but he couldn't forget the threats Dev had made toward him and his brother.. that if Trev wouldn't do as he said, he'd get his other son to replace him. With Trev having gotten away at last, he wasn't sure whether Dev might try to make good on that threat, and therefore, he couldn't even bring himself to face Toby or his grandmother yet. Partly because he feared he would be putting him in danger by doing so. Because, as far as he knew, Dev did not know what his little brother looked like, although he might be able to find him by asking around, it would be easier for them to find him, if they saw Trev with him. Of course, that was
if any of the pirate crew could even manage to get into the city to accomplish such deeds. But even if they didn't, he also worried Toby was upset with him for leaving. And he might be even more upset with Trev if he learned that he'd put him in danger on top of everything else.
Holding back a sigh, Trev took a last drink of his lemonade, before setting the empty glass on the table. Then, remembering Cali's worry for the surface of the wood, he swiftly moved it onto the 'coaster', and ran his sleeve over the damp spot he'd left on the table. Thoughtful, he considered the pirate/Umbar comment the Lieutenant had made, and how she was unsure which order to tackle them. "Hmm. Well, I'm not any sort of authority," He answered slowly, slightly hesitant, "but if you asked me, I'd suggest taking out the pirates first. They're the ones supplying Umbar, you know? Then once you have that situation stopped, where there's no longer a constant supply being brought over there... then a rescue missions can be made for all the ones who have been taken there in the past. And that Halsad temple.. well, it oughta be burned to the ground." He declared vehemently. "With
him in it. Only this time, someone should make sure he doesn't crawl out somehow." He glanced slightly toward Nal, wondering if Arnyn knew about the man's burn scars from having previously been lit on fire, or how he came to have them.
He had little to say in reply to her words about his preparations, and that he was doing the right thing. But he smiled slightly in gratitude for the last bit, while thoughtfully considering Nal's suggestion about the sketches. Then several questions came back in reply to his one, and he paused as he considered how to answer them all. He took a deep breath and sat back to think on all that the lieutenant had asked. He decided to answer the one about their tactics, before their skills. "Sometimes, they'll follow a prospective ship, staying just out of sight until they're far enough away from land, and then wait until it's dark, close the gap with small boats and climb aboard in stealth. From there.. they'll generally sabotage the other ship so they can't flee, or take the crew by surprise while they're sleeping, stuff like that. Or, if they find a target out alone somewhere far from land, they might run up a distress flag to lure them in to help. Not many folks who aren't pirates would ignore a plea for help. He might also fly Gondorian colors so that when he's approaching merchants from Gondor, they wouldn't feel threatened. That way he can get close enough without raising alarm, until it's too late. Dev's more into stealth tactics, being sneaky and deceptive. That's his way."
"As for his personal skills," he frowned. "Well, aside from deception and lies.." He hesitated. "He's a fairly good navigator. He's got a gyrfalcon he keeps, almost like a pet, but also a little more. She spies for him a lot. He can communicate with her.. the bird.. and she'll help him a lot. She can spot things from further off than the lookout can, and she's much more reliable." He explained. "She's extremely loyal to Dev.. she'll even defend him in a fight. Apparently, he rescued her when she had a broken wing or something, when she was a young bird. He doesn't care much about people, but birds like that.." He shrugged. "My grandfather taught him the falconry business, so that's one thing that's stuck with him, I guess." Trying to leave his glass alone, he took his hands off the table and instead found his flute, taking it from its place at his belt so that he could hold it. "He likes to fish," he added quietly, recalling one of the few things that they used to do together when he was little. Though, he wasn't sure really how useful that information might be, it seemed worthwhile to mention whatever he could think of.
"For fighting, Dev uses a sword primarily, dagger as backup." He tried to think of other skills that she might be interested in knowing about. "Ummm, he's good at convincing people whatever he wants them to believe," He mentioned with a frown. "Or, like, he'll know exactly the sort of thing someone wants to hear, and use that to say just the right thing to manipulate them to doing what he wants." He shrugged, not sure how to explain exactly what he meant. "Like, he knew how much I wanted to have my father back," he said softly, looking down. "So, he made a point of calling me 'son', or saying something like that when he wanted to win back my loyalty, or he'd say something to invoke guilt for not being a good son... Like, the last time I saw him, he tried all saying all this stuff to convince me to come back, about how he wanted his son back.. said he missed me, and all that.." He rolled his eyes. "Just a bunch of lies, but if I didn't know better..." He sighed, shaking his head. "Five years ago, the dumb kid that I was would have been delighted to hear him say stuff like that. He knows it, so he that's why he said it. I'm convinced of that." he explained quietly, feeling a mix of wistfulness, resentment, and embarrassment to admit such things.
"As for the crew.." He hesitated. "Well,
most of them are criminals, like.. this guy. He used to be a thief." Coincidentally, he had just flipped to a page featuring Jay, wanted for multiple burglaries and robberies, from years ago. Turning the book so that Arnyn could take a look, he pointed to that entry. "Jay. From what I hear, he and Dev worked together on some jobs they pulled on a cruise ship a long time ago, robbing rich people of their jewelry and stuff, and then later, when Dev was looking for crew, he came across Jay who happened to be needing to get away from the area for a while. So Dev invited him to join him again. There's nothing mentioned here about him joining Dev's crew, so, I guess they've been wondering whatever happened to him," He shrugged. "He's.." Trev tried to think how to explain the man. "His best skills are stealth. Lockpicking, pickpocketing, keeping hidden, stuff like that. I mentioned earlier that Dev will sometimes have a small party board a target ship in stealth and clear the way for the rest to come aboard? When they do that, it's Jay who leads them. He's good at stealth, but he's also pretty good at crippling ships." He smiled faintly. "He actually taught me how to do that.." He admitted, a little sheepishly, remembering how annoyed Jay had been when Trev put that knowledge to work on their own ship. "There's a few others who are good at stealth, but he's the best. He's not so skilled in fighting though." He shifted slightly. "He.. also led a small group into the inn to attack me, that night in Harlond. Only, he found Macardil instead," He smiled faintly as he imagined the look on the thief's face when Macardil emerged from his hiding place.
"The other two who were with him that night.. Rurik and Borim.. they're more of the 'brawn' types, you know, thugs, more skilled at fighting than stealth-ing, but they got arrested, so they shouldn't be an issue anymore," He took a moment to consider who else to mention. "Grisly probably still has a broken hand," He cleared his throat, slightly hoping not to have to elaborate on that. "But that was his left, so the right's still useable I guess. Not sure if Scar's up for fighting, either. There'd still be plenty others though, who can definitely fight. Typically blades. Nothing too big or long, or you'd risk slicing through rigging or other important ropes and things, you know. They sort of grab whatever they can get. I mean, anytime they raid a ship, if there's a weapon so and so likes better than what he's been using, he takes it as part of the spoils. So, their weapons tend to change over time, and it's hard to say exactly who has what weapon, but I know Jay sticks to daggers, and Dev sticks to swords, and so on. There's a couple of archers on board, but they mostly use crossbows, and they have to be sparing with bolts. So, that's mostly saved for special circumstances when they need long range stuff. Some of the guys use throwing knives." He checked in his glass to see if there might be another drop or two left, while he was thinking if there were any other skills he should mention. He couldn't think of anything to add as far as that went, but there was something else he wanted to make sure and mention. "That being said... there are a couple of guys on board who are there against their will. Or,
were, last time I was there."
Trev looked at Arnyn with a serious, and saddened, expression. "That was one of the things I wanted to mention." He sighed. "I wasn't the only one he held captive. Sometimes, if the ship is low on crew for some reason, depending on the circumstances.. he's been known to trick some drunken sailor from a tavern into coming aboard, or he takes sailors from another ship and presses them to join his crew... stuff like that. He did that with a healer from another ship one time.. he's still with him last I heard. Dev gave him the choice of joining him and getting paid like the rest of the crew, or being sold in Umbar with his original crew. And there's a carpenter, and.. they're just stuck as part of his crew. Usually, folks like that, they end up losing their will to hold out against all the atrocities going on around them, and.. over time, they give up and before long they're just like the others. It's quicker for the sailors, since they're more.. in the middle of it, if that makes sense. Either they start giving in and folding to the pressure, or they get killed."
Trev swallowed and looked down. "There's never too many of those at a time, so they don't outnumber the rest, but there's a few of them that I know of. If they haven't already given up, that is. Dev's pretty good at.. taking away a person's hope. Trying to break a person's spirit.. that sort of thing." He turned his flute over, fingering the instrument thoughtfully as he remembered how many times he had come close to losing hope, himself. If not for the small item in his hands, he might not be sitting here now. "I.. I'm hoping maybe some of them might not be too far gone, and maybe they could be rescued. Maybe even pardoned for anything they've been pushed into doing, you know?"
