Role

Chapter 9

And so it was that Trekas found himself on a tiny island in the middle of
nowhere, sitting on a cask of dye that no one would want to buy. He knew that
in water this shallow, someone would be around to rescue him - people liked
coasts more than deep ocean afterall he reasoned.

He used the intervening time to work on his story, the one the exotic ladies
he found would adore and beg of him to put to song. The first subtle change he
made was to his name - in this foreign kingdom he would be Captain Trekas
Brightsail, which he determined sounded much more like a hero's name than
Trekas Wright the carpenter's son. He had also decided as important details
that the ship was his by right, and that he had crashed only after defeating a
mutiny. His crew had turned on him, he reasoned, because his brother had
connived to have him killed at sea to claim his vast merchant fortunes. By the
time he was finished, the past week seemed like a much more suitable story
that would fit him properly.

The other decision that Trekas made while waiting on rescue directed his goals
for the future. He knew that he would not live out his days in this foreign
land - he imagined that their ales were likely wrong and their women only
somewhat to his taste. Trekas determined that he would use this kingdom as he
imagined it to recruit an army. He would return to Murrandy with fifty-one
cannons, be elected leader by unanimous consent, and have Yirda the Black
executed. Once that was settled, he would need to have harsh words with his
brother.

He had settled all things in order and arranged them neatly in his head before
the first hint of a sail appeared on the horizon. Trekas was starting to feel
that all was right in the world as they altered course to meet him. In
addition, the ship that approached was magnificent - a strong vessel that he
imagined raining metal upon his foes. This ship, the Buzzing Hornet, was
captained by a proper crew of men that did not strike him as pirates. These
soldiers - this Empire - would be his road to both vengeance and wealth in
this new land.

He wondered if they had a fashionable taste in dye.