Welcome, to the Barkhills

[The Skarzs]

Garan Rudderpaw struggled with the ship's tiller, trying to keep it on course through the storm. He pushed his iron spike-paw against the wood beam, trying to see through the downpour to look out for rocks or any other obstacles that might endanger ships in a night storm. The otter had told those unneeded on deck to go below until the storm had subsided; he hadn't told them that landlubbers would be only a hazard and be easily washed off the side in such a deluge.
Suddenly, in a crack of lightning, the silhouette of a rearing rock appeared directly in the ship's course. Trying desperately to avoid it, Garan could not stop his boat from being cast against the monolith, while wood creaked and snapped as they collided. Garan was thrown against the deck timbers, and he blacked out.

The following morning, Karn Warcat looked over the beach at a wrecked boat lying on it's side. The cougar motioned quickly for his regiment of soldiers and scouts to follow him to the site. "Come on; some creatures may need our help, fools for sailing in a storm or not. Let's go!"
It took a while for them to make sure all were safe, aside from those washed overboard in the storm. Karn poured fresh water into an otter's mouth, who spluttered as he woke from unconsciousness.
"Great seasons, who're you?!"
The big cat smiled. "My name is Karn Warcat, a commander of the Hammer Warriors. Welcome, to the Barkhills."


OOC: Thank you all who have joined for doing so! I hope you enjoy this RP as much as I will. There's only a few things I must say before we truly begin:

One- Make your posts count. Try to make posts that contribute to the story, and post when you are able. Don't try to hurry through this.
Two- I will always be happy to answer questions whenever you ask.
Three- Have fun! I want this to be an enjoyably RP. If you want this too, then do your part and have a good time.

[Cornflower MM]

OOC: I don't like my first post in an RP to not have a BIC: bit, but I really don't know how to start. . . . . . So, any helpful clues?

[Gwen A. Mouse]

((OOC: It's up! Huzzah!))

During the storm, Ginny was one of the few beasts crazy enough to work in the rigging voluntarily. Usually, it was where she was most comfortable, but she realized tonight that it could be the end of her. The roiling ocean or the unforgiving wooden planks of the ship; it made no difference. If she fell, she would not survive. Then she saw the rock. She clung tightly to the ropes, bracing for impact.

When it came, she was jarred from her perch and slid painfully down the rope until finally losing her grasp. A thud, a flash of pain, then darkness.

{(+)}     {(+)}     {(+)}

When the darkly-colored ferret woke the next morning, she was surprised to be alive. She blinked a few times against the bright sunlight, then turned her head to the side. That's when she saw a cougar, standing over the form of Garan Rudderpaw. Only one thought managed to form in Ginny's groggy mind- protect the captain. He had let her sign on to his crew, extending some measure of trust. She respected him for that, and would go to the Dark Forest Gates before she'd see him harmed.

Forcing herself to stand, she staggered towards Karn, only with the vaguest plan of attack. The last few steps, she broke into what could only loosely be called a charge, and swung at the cougar. Her punch would be easy to dodge or block, but even if it connected, it didn't have enough power to do anything but maybe annoy the beast.

[The Skarzs]

Karn let Ginny punch her, not even flinching as her fist bounced off his armor. "Well, ferret; you are bold; and still groggy. Sit down next to the otter," he ordered.
Garan eyed Karn suspiciously. "You're a cat of some kind, though I had no idea they could get as large as you. Why do you and yore companions help us? Ye don't know us."
"We don't let those in need of help stay in their plight unless all that can be done has been done. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to help my soldiers. We can talk later." Karn walked off, his armor clanking. Garan thought that he must be less than half his size. "Ginny, sit down, missy. You ain't looking so chipper. I'm going to see what's left of the crew, then we'll decide whether or not to trust these beasts."

[Izeroth]

 Ashtail washed ashore clinging to a peice of wreckage. It was quite fortunate he'd managed to find something to cling to; if he'd tried to swim away his chainmail tunic would have made him sink. Even with his good fortune, he'd still been pretty beat up by the waves.

He groggily got up and looked about him. He could see the wrecked ship in the distance, with a few beasts standing around it. With the hoarse, grating voice of a beast who had taken in too much salt water, Ashtail called to the beasts standing by the ship.

"Hello there! Got any idea where we might be?"

[Gwen A. Mouse]

Ginny was lucky that her punch wasn't very strong- otherwise, she could have broken her paw on Karn's armor. She stared at her fist in surprise for a moment, before Karn's words finally registered. The captain seemed to be fine... and he told her to sit down, too.

So she sat, nearly falling over in the process. "Aye, sir," the ferret managed. She looked down at herself, suddenly noticing that she was covered in sand. "Tchah." Ginny let out a small, annoyed breath and got to work dusting herself off. By the time she was done, she was much more awake, and able to think before doing stupid things like throwing her fist at a suit of armor.

"Hello there!"

Ginny's ear flicked. Had she heard something? ant all, it was probably just water in her ears, or the after-effects of getting shipwrecked.

[Jasper]

Trillo Thistledown, completely new to sailing of any kind, had been hiding inside the cabin with some of the other crew members when the ship wrecked. His head had slammed into the wall, dealing him a fearsome blow.

He awoke inside the cabin with a painful headache. Slightly disoriented, he looked around in confusion, trying to remember where he was. Suddenly realization dawned and he was up like a bolt. He banged on the remains of the cabin door, which was blocked by rubble.

"Anybeast out there? Someone let me out! Is everyone alright!?

[The Skarzs]

Garan looked toward the voice he had heard. "Ahoy!" he called, going toward Ashtail. "Need some help, mate?"

Karn heard some banging on the cabin door, and beckoned one of his soldiers, a mink, to help him clear away the debris in front of the door. "Hold on, comrade; we'll get you out." The cougar shoved a heavy plank that was jamming the door aside, and the soldier opened the door.

[Jasper]

Trillo strolled causally out of the cabin as though he had merely been resting there.
"Ahoy Cap'n and all me mateys, I was jus-"
His composure was shattered when he saw the dangerous looking creatures all around him. He bared his teeth and waved his fists, turning in circles to keep all of the new creatures in his view.
"I say, who in the name of acorns and oak trees are all of you? Are you friendly?"

[The Skarzs]

The mink chuckled, but Karn glared him into silence. "We're friendly enough to those we trust, and to those who trust us. Since we don't know you, the most we can say is that we're not going to hurt you, despite our. . . appearance. But we will take action should you attack. My name is Karn Warcat." He motioned the mink to move along. "Thank you, soldier. Now, mouse, your captain is on shore; you may wait with him until all creatures are accounted for."

[Jasper]

Trillo was clearly shaken by the encounter, particularly with the gigantic cougar.
"Er... Aye, aye Mr. Karn Warcat Sir."
He made his way down the wreckage onto the sand. Trillo had never been to the beach before and he was mightily impressed. He crouched down, picking up a pawful of sand. He squeezed it and felt the unfamiliar texture. Then he looked forward and spotted his captain, along with that ferret. He narrowed his eyes and squinted at the ferret, no doubt this whole mess was in some way that awful creature's fault. He had tried to warn the abbot and the captain not to trust vermin, but did they listen? Of course not. Well now the ferret had gotten them all captured.
"Ha! Serves them right, trusting a creature like that. What did they think would happen?" He thought
Instead of speaking his mistrusts, he merely walked up to the captain and said:
"Ello Cap'n! Oh, er, hello Ginny. Suppose we're just going to have to wait for everyone else to gather up, aye?"

[Izeroth]

"Need some help, mate?"

Ashtail saw that the otter, Garn was his name he thought, was coming towards him. Clearing his throat, Ashtail yelled back at the otter.

"I'm fine, captain. I got a few bruises, but nothing that won't heal over time."

It was then that he noticed the large cat and the weasel-like creature standing next to Trillo and Genevieve. "Who are those fellows?" He asked.

[The Skarzs]

"Good to hear, Ash. These. . . fellows. . . are the ones who helped us get out of the wreckage. We owe them that much. Hopefully we'll find out more when everybeast is safe; then we can decide whether or not to trust them." The otter turned to Trillo. "Oh, hello; good to see you're alright, young 'un."

Karn and his soldiers had gathered up nearly everybeast they could find who wasn't dead or missing in the ocean: A few crewbeasts, and the four on the sand.

OOC: When Corn posts, then they'll be able to talk properly.

[Cornflower MM]

OOC: Sorry! *Scuttles into hole with keyboard* Now, let's see if I can make sense o' this, shall we?

BIC: Arya was wandering along the sand, looking for Ginny and everybeast. The squirrelmaid had been thrown into the sea, where she had started swimming. Fortunately, she ended up on the shore, where she had then passed out. Soon she saw the wreckage, and was trotting towards it. "Ahoy, mates!" She called once she was in range.

[Jasper]

"Aye, nearly ever one's accounted for, all we're missin' is that squirr- Ahoy there! Here comes she herself, er I mean here she comes," Shouted Trillo! He waved at Arya, hoping to draw her over to the group of surviving crew members.