Young Writers Society

Physical Description
5’ 4”, long, black hair, and piercing blue eyes. She’s lithe like a cat and is quite panache: she wears a bright, floppy red ribbon to tie her hair back in a braid, a colorful tunic, and a brilliant iridescent green panache in the leather sailor’s hat. Her boots are knee-high and always shining.

Her bird is constantly with her: a Black-throated Magpie Jay she calls “Mags.” (See enspoilered image below).

Personality
Optimistic, happy-go-lucky, loyal, independent, adventurous, daredevil. She loves danger and risk and excitement. She’s also a little lonely. But, hey, look on the bright side: she’s not tied down!

Background
Jay was an orphan and never knew her parents, or where they came from, or anything, really. All she knows is that one day Themba found her on the streets as a babe. She took her in and brought her to the Thieves’ Guild where she found the closest thing she would ever have to family. Themba was a mother to her, and Felicia was a mentor. Skip was her brother and Ol’ Meke always made sure to keep her fed.

She could never shake the feeling that it wasn’t the right place for her, however. Though she enjoyed the company of her family and she loved her home she had a wanderlust that she simply couldn’t forget. So, when she was fourteen, she struck out on her own with her cat (Magpie) and never came back.

She wandered all across the world, from pale gold deserts to emerald mountains and cool, dripping subterranean caves. Then, a very peculiar thing happened: she was running from some guards when she ran into Ardeshir Ellonhav, and after that her life was never the same. He was so genuine and kind. When she met Aryessa and stepped foot on The Hippocampus there was no turning back. Ever since she’s been on board. She was seventeen then, and the story takes place four years later.

Physical Description
A towering 7’ Ari resembles a lion in his size and muscular-yet-not-bulky build. His eyes are dark brown and his skin a shade of deep gold (he’s an islander) and marked with many scars. His hair is black and cropped short. He’s quite intimidating.
He wears a worn brown doublet over a traditional white shirt with the sleeves rolled up (or none, depending on the place). His pants are the same worn brown as his doublet and his feet and calves are covered by long leather boots, if he’s wearing shoes at all. He may carry a great sword on his back - like most of his attire and equipment, it’s worn from years of use, but well taken-care of despite its evident age.
He has a large tattoo covering most of his back, side, and shoulder of a raft of sea lions chasing fish in the sea through a forest of kelp.

Personality
Contrary to what many people think on first glance, Ardeshir is quite friendly and well-meaning. He’s a bit of a klutz and he is a bit quick to fight, but his laugh is joyous and smile warm. What he lacks in experience and technique he makes up for in brute force and skill.

Background
Ardeshir is the son of a fisherman and his wife, a seamstress. He was never very high-up in life but was valued in his community for his great strength. He was quite the family man and absolutely adored his elder brother, Caspian, who had five years on him. He always tried to make himself useful no matter where he was and spent his days fishing, repairing/building boats, and doing heavy lifting for his neighbors. In his free time all he would do is swim with the sea lions. It's what gave him his name - "ari" meaning "lion", and "shir", meaning "sea".

Physical Description
Aryessa is about 5’ 4”, with a tall, lithe build, reminiscent of an ungulate. She has very long honey-blonde hair that goes down to her thighs. She’s quite pretty, with tan skin and defined muscles. However, she doesn’t go out of her way to exaggerate her looks: instead, she wears the same clothes as all the other sailors, a simple brown tunic over off-white sleeves and knee-high boots. A rapier swings at her hip.

Personality
Compassionate, kind, noble. She’s loyal and pure of heart. She’s kind of like the mother of the ship, making sure everyone has what they need and can get along. She’s willing to give everything up to do the right thing or for someone else. Though Aryessa has seen some terrible things she realizes that everyone has their reasons and has compassion for every single one of them — and she’ll try to give them all a second chance, if she can. Her philosophy is that people are treated with kindness, perhaps they’ll remember they kindness they, too, have.


Background
She was born and raised in a small pod of hippocampi off the coast of the Mquel Isles in Kyrn. The pod highly valued two things: first, loyalty, and, secondly, obedience. But they, like dolphins, were full of character and playfulness. She was also born with a very peculiar gift: she could change her color, and, to an extent, her shape.

Like most people, she went through a stage in her youth where she was adventurous and rebellious — however, unlike some, it never went away, and she was constantly straying from the pod to go and investigate and learn. On one such adventure she encountered Captain Quervar Bellskylls, or, as he introduced himself, Captain Lionheart. She was enchanted with his ship (also charmed that it was named after her own species) and she began following it around. Eventually he took notice of her and let her come on board to help. At first, this was a challenge due to her shape, but he showed her a few tricks and after many grueling hours on the coast of her home she managed to take on full equine form and was able to join him.

He stayed for a few weeks, due to the ship needing repairs, and she was constantly leaping on ever opportunity to help. After watching her for long enough he deemed her capable and allowed her to stay on as part of the crew. Her pod objected but she already had her mind made up.

Time went on and eventually she became first mate and was able to take on a human form. She learned to fight and to heal and never lost her love. Captain Bellskylls taught her the ways of the sea and the ship.

Then, one day, they were sailing the seas of Xyphl and there was a battle with pirates, in which Captain Bellskylls fell and left Aryessa as the captain. She took the responsibility well but still doubts herself, and wishes he was there.

Physical Description
He’s a large man (dwarfed next to Ari, however) with a bushy beard, one eye, and a hook for his left hand. Several of his teeth are missing and he wears a typical pirate captain’s attire, including the hat and the eyepatch.

He has a capuchin monkey as a pet that he always keeps with him.

Personality
Power-hungry, greedy, brazen, self-involved.

Chapter 1.1

It's horribly written, I'm sorry, I'm submitting this six minutes before the deadline for LMS...xD I'll edit soon so y'all can read something half decent lol

Chapter name is also soon to come!



~~~~~

The old buildings loomed around her in an almost daunting way, their bricks worn from the wind ant salt and fog. The cobblestones themselves were smooth from the years of feet trekking across them and the sound of the ocean sung musically in the distance. It was all rather serene, really, and it would’ve stayed that way had Mags not noticed something that she rather fancied and, without warning, leapt off Jay’s shoulder and disappeared into the sky in pursuit of something that her mistress could not identify.

“Get yer feathered arse back ‘ere!” she yelled, her heart skipping a beat as she took off after her bird who was dancing on the wind with all the ease of a gull. It wasn’t the first time she’d done this but it never ceased to put her in a panic — she wasn’t so sure that the avian had any kind of homing instinct and didn’t want to lose her only companion.

Mags, of course, ignored her, and ascended in altitude steadily with every beat of her wings, long train falling behind her like a gallant knight’s cape. It was still unclear as the where, exactly, she was going, but she was definitely rather driven and didn’t heed any of Jay’s many unkind words (in at least three languages) and instead opted to land atop the tip of a sign post up the road.

Why she went up there was a mystery to Jay. It wasn’t the first time she’d randomly taken off and utterly ignored her human — and so far she’d obviously come back — but the fact was she could fly faster than Jay could run, and no matter how fleet of foot the young woman was, she couldn’t hope to keep up with a bird on the wing.

Jay skidded to a stop and nearly fell on her backside as she stumbled beneath her pet on the slick rocks. She was unaccustomed to the dampness of the area and this, of course, made running a bit more difficult. Mags’ crest raised as she glanced down towards the thief.

“Don’ ya go laughin’ way at me ‘r nothin, ya fowl beast! Get down ‘ere!” she snapped as she steadied herself and looked up towards the jay-thing.

She leaned forward for a moment as though she were about to fly to Jay, then hesitated, wings still half-spread. There was a moment of tense silence between the two of them.

Jay let out a long breath of relief as her bird unfurled her wings and dropped from her perch and made an almost vertical descent towards her. That moment of happiness was abruptly put to an end as Mags changed directions and took off past Jay’s shoulder and disappeared down the street. She took off after her, crashing through the numerous crates, ropes, and people that were between her and the corvid, apologizing as she bolted through the small groups and earning prompt reprimands in response. She was beginning to figure out why sailors were so well known for their foul tongue.

Unfortunately, this only got worse when she found herself barreling straight through the market street, and in moments she was face-first in a large burlap sack of fish guts, far behind the one she pursued, and buried in whatever she’d tripped on in the first place to put herself in such a predicament.

“What the hell do ya think yer doin’, ey?!” a man was yelling in her ringing ears. She blinked and pulled herself to her feet, smelling strongly of decaying fish.

“Uh, sorry sir, no harm meant, didn’ mean nothin’, fer real,” she smiled weakly and glanced around for the nearest escape route. Stalls of a variety of kinds lined the cobbled street, with everything from fabric to pastries to weapons and fish hooks. There was a small crowd beginning to gather dos ee what all the commotion was about and she was sure it was only a matter of time until the guards showed up to disband things before they got too rowdy.

“Ya go runnin’ ‘round like ain’t no ‘un else ‘ere ’n now yer goin’ ’n makin’ messes!” he bellowed, stepping towards her. He was missing a fair amount of teeth, and those that were left were in none too fine condition.

Jay took a step back and stumbled over the fish she’d just fallen into. “I’m real sorry ’n all, just tryin’ t’ catch me bird, she’s all I’ve got ya see—“

“Get out!” he roared furiously. “NOW!”

She didn’t argue and immediately scrambled to flee, shoving through the crowd as she moved to get away from the very angry fisherman.

She was a good person. This she was sure of, and this she strived to be — a woman of values and kindness and determination. She was also, of course, a woman of flaws, as every one was, and her greatest flaw was one that she was bound to have due to her upbringing as a thief.

She couldn’t resist an opportunity to filch a bit of wealth.

Pushing her way through a crowd in a panicked attempt to escape was, of course, a good time to ply her trade, and as she went through she gently slipped her fingers into the nearest pocket and drew out a wallet. Or, rather, she slipped her fingers into several pockets and came up with what she hoped was at least three gold pieces. However, she had no time to count, and so promptly fled the moment she got the space to take off in a full-fledged run in the opposite direction of the soon-to-be-furious crowd and already-very-pissed fisherman and towards what she hoped was where Mags had disappeared to.

She wasn’t sure how long she ran, but she soon found herself stumbling through a small alley with her heart pounding and her sides heaving. She was fast and was used to running long distances but that had been a real workout, even for her.