The Pirate of Baserria/The Tavern

## The Tavern

"**The Tavern**" is the second chapter of *The Pirate of Baserria*. Like the entirety of the novelette, this second chapter was released privately on January 2021 and publicly published to the site on May 22, 2022.

## Plot

Linh’s idea was pretty out there, even for her standards. And her teammates knew this. Mysolus was skeptical of putting the townspeople in harm’s way, but Alwyn somehow mustered enough hope to go along with the plan, believing that with the help of the Baserrian villagers, they would be victorious. And to Lydia, the idea of a small, quaint town rising up against vicious invaders was the type of drama she lived for.

Cydi and Mera were hesitant to the plan initially, as well. The farmers of Baserria were peaceful, working people for as long as either of them could remember. But if this was the plan that the privateers Cydi hired came up with, who was she to question their abilities? Hopefully, Cydi and her wife thought, the townsfolk would be able to even *barely* match the level of skill seen with the crew of the *Glass Comet*.

Before telling the villagers the ambitious plan, Cydi thought it best for the crew of four to meet with them first. She thought it wouldn’t be wise for their first introductions to be demanding that they fight for themselves, and the crew agreed. The couple walked around town with the crew, briefly introducing them to the fresh faces of the settlement as they walked down the simple streets. The buildings were round in shape and painted white, matching the bark of the trees that bordered the settlement. Some buildings had their front entrances decorated with golden flowers, with civilians tending to these flowers when they weren’t working on the paddy fields.

Among one of these civilians was a bulky, long-haired man, who was fixing up the exterior of a small building—although most of the buildings were rather small to begin with. The crew didn’t quite catch a name, but Mera introduced the man as Feffis after the fact. Feffis, like many of the other villagers, was human. There didn’t appear to be many other non-human sentients living on the planet, which made all four members of the crew stand out like a sore thumb. They didn’t mind this, however, as they were used to sticking out among crowds.

Their stroll through the streets of the Baserrian settlement took them to a tavern. 'Tornac's', Cydi and Mera called it. The inside of the tavern was not like any tavern that could be found on Cassiopeia Prime, or any other city planet for that matter. This being said, the tavern was not unappealing, but simply not as fancy as any rich world tavern would be. Thankfully, none of the *Glass Comet* crew were sticklers on that sort of thing, and so they adjusted to their surroundings just fine. Quiet, yet upbeat music played through a stereo on the side of the barstand. Although it was daytime, the tavern was dimly lit, partly to set the mood but mostly because the townsfolk couldn’t be bothered to replace the lights.

There were only a few people inside the tavern, as most of the villagers were on their shifts, working in the fields. One woman in particular was waving the crew over, sitting at a table up against the furthest wall from the tavern entrance. Linh assumed that she was waving over Cydi and her wife, directly. The tan, human woman had her hair cut much shorter than Mera’s. Seated next to her was a man, who looked to be around the same age. The two of them looked similarly enough for the crew to make the assumption that they were related somehow. They had some spots of dirt on their clothes here and there, so it was clear that they were also farmers like Cydi and Mera. Thankfully, the table was big enough for the six of them to sit down with the man and woman.

“I didn’t think the guys you hired would arrive so soon,” the woman commented, looking over at the crew of four with pleasant surprise.

“Believe me, I didn’t either,” Cydi chuckled. “But once me and Mera saw their ship fly down, we knew it had to be them.”

“Allie Lamaand.” The woman introduced herself properly to the crew as she shook their hands.

“Well Allie, I’m Linh,” responded the captain. “I’m the captain of the *Glass Comet*.” She gestured over to her three teammates. “This is my crew: Lydia, Mysolus, and Alwyn.”

“It’s a pleasure,” Lydia greeted calmly.

“We’re happy to be of help, Miss Lamaand,” Mysolus said politely.

“It.. It’s nice to meet you!” Alwyn smiled, although a bit nervous from meeting this many people in such a short time.

“Name’s Tedan,” the man seated next to Allie said. “How much is Cydi paying you guys?”

Allie elbows Tedan’s side. He winces.

“Excuse my brother,” starts Allie. “He doesn’t think before he acts.”

“*Ouch.*” Tedan rubbed the side of his stomach. Alwyn couldn’t help but giggle.

“We’re planning on letting them stay here in town while they figure out their plan,” Mera explained to her friends. “It’s… Quite ambitious.”

“Oh yeah?” Tedan asked, raising an eyebrow. He was curious, yet almost suspicious.

“We’ll fill you in on it first thing tomorrow,” the captain assured them. “And the rest of the town, too.”

“We thought it’d be best to get settled in first,” Mysolus explained, his tone an optimistic one. “Before you know it, those pirates will be off your land and your fields will be safe once again.”

“Let's hope that’s the case.”

A voice came from a man approaching the table. A Coronan man with vibrant, indigo head-flames, which came as a surprise to the crew. In the man’s hands was a plentiful tray of fresh, hot food. He placed down the plates quickly and with ease.

“Captain, this is Tornac,” Cydi spoke. “He runs this tavern, and his food and drinks are the best in town.”

“It isn’t saying much, with only one other tavern in town,” Tornac chuckled, placing down what appeared to just be glasses of water. “But I appreciate it, Cydi.”

“Ay thanks Tornac!” Tedan thanked the Coronan barkeep, immediately diving right into the plates of food as if he hadn’t eaten in days. Allie rolled her eyes as she, Cydi, and Mera began eating as well. Tornac shook his head with a smile, turning his attention to the crew of the *Glass Comet*.

“You’re the privateers Cydi hired,” Tornac deduced. “Well, feel free to use the room upstairs for as long as you need to.”

“That’s awfully generous of you.” Mysolus thanked him. “We’re very much grateful.”

“Yeah, we really appreciate it.” Linh smiled.

“Don’t mention it. I’ll get you four some special soft drinks.” Tornac began to walk back to his barstand. “It’s on the house, but they’ll take a while.”

“Take all the time you need!” Alwyn expressed with elation.

Alwyn was happy to hear this as she always enjoyed trying out new food and drinks during their travels. Allie even offered Alwyn a plate of food, which appeared to be simmered taro, grown fresh from the paddy fields of Baserria. Lydia was too distracted by her surroundings, thinking of ways to use the tavern as inspiration for her eventual self-proclaimed Auricsonian Best Seller. Alwyn gladly dug in while Lydia daydreamed. Linh took this time to talk with the Baserrian farmers for just a bit longer.

“So are you all from here, born and raised?” Linh asked, trying to break the ice.

“Born a raised,” Tedan responded with a mouth full of food. “Except for Tornac. He came from somewhere else, I think.”

“I was born here,” Cydi started, “But my great-grandparents weren’t. They moved here about sixty-seventy years ago from Cobiza, with my grandparents.”

“Ah, *Cobiza,*” Mysolus remembered. He sympathized with Cydi. “During the Indigo Crisis. It must have been a difficult journey.”

“It was,” Cydi confirmed. “But it’s how I’m here now. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She exchanged smiles with Mera, lovingly.

“A family escaping from chaos to live a life of peace and tranquility…“ Lydia sighed with awe at the thought. “How appropriately moving.”

“How about you?” Allie asked, deciding to be a bit bold. “Any of you four want to share a bit about yourselves?”

The four crewmates looked at one another with surprise. It wasn’t too often they got this sort of question from clients. They had no extreme reasons to hide too much of themselves away from Baserria’s natives, and so they were more than happy to go around the room and give the villagers some small snippets of their lives.

“I grew up in Hoanghon,” the captain said briefly. “Went to a UCR military academy when I was younger. So I can safely say that me and my team know what we’re doing to help you all out.”

That was Linh’s way of reassuring the natives and trying to give them a boost of confidence. There was a hint of relief in Cydi and Mera’s faces, which Linh took as her words having their desired effect.

“I was born and raised on the foggy, mysterious, marsh world of Makuru.” Alwyn and Mysolus couldn’t help but feel amused as Lydia started her long-winded introduction. “A world where almost everyone covered their faces, and the *secrets* they kept behind their masks.”

Lydia was known for playing up the poeticism and dramatism of her retelling of events, something her faithful crew saw as commonplace by this point. Regardless, Linh rolled her eyes, shaking her head with a smile. *Here she goes again,* Linh thought. Lydia went into *everything*; how she found her love for books and the horror genre, how she earned the golden mask she wore fancily, and even began to explore how she first met Linh. Her way of words, though theatrical, managed to keep the attention of the Baserrian farmers for quite a bit.

After Lydia tranced Cydi, Mera, Allie, and Tedan on the autobiography she prepared for herself, Tornac finally brought over the soft drinks he offered them a while ago. Lydia took this as a sign of her story running on for a bit longer than she would be able to keep up with, and so she concluded her lengthy story with a neat bow on top.

“I learned to fix up all sorts of ships back on Culicia,” Alwyn began, not hesitating to take long sips of her sweet drink between sentences. “So I started working on the *Glass Comet*, and that’s how I’m here now.”

Alwyn was always grateful to be part of the crew, as were her crewmates. She was the most sentimental of her crewmates, although the appreciation she felt for them was thankfully reciprocated.

Eyes turned to Mysolus after Alwyn finished her brief introduction.

“What about you, old man?” Tedan pressed. His sister nudged his side again, but he tried to pretend it didn’t happen. “What’s your story?”

Mysolus took a long sip from his glass. Placing it back on the coaster, he looked at the Baserrian farmers in the eye.

“I come from a planet in the Outer Core,” he began. “A desirable sort of quiet… But I’ve since traveled far beyond my homeworld. And I grew to love helping people just like you in whatever ways I was able.”

He smiled, softly chuckling. “There’s not much more to it than that, I’m afraid.” That was all he disclosed, but it was enough to satisfy the farmers. Mysolus’ crew always knew him as the type to not talk much about himself. He’d much rather talk about other things, and so the amount of knowledge he had on the galaxy was a clear testament to that.

They got to the point that Allie and Tedan had already finished their meals. They stood up with Cydi and Mera joining them.

“We’ll have to get back to the fields,” Allie explained. “An attack hasn’t happened in a few days, so let’s hope it stays that way for now.”

“Stars above forbid…" Mera almost shivered at the thought. “It was nice getting to chat with you all.”

“Likewise.” Mysolus smiled. Linh, Lydia, and Alwyn exchanged similar friendly partings, with handshakes and short-lived waves. The crew of four was left to their own devices—and to their surprisingly tasty soft drinks—for the time being.

“So what now, captain?” Alwyn looked over to Linh with a buzz.

“Only thing we can do,” the captain answered. “Start figuring out our plan.”

## Appearances

### Dramatis Personae

* **Linh Malina** - Human-Penumbrian. Captain of the *Glass Comet*, ready to get the job done.
* **Mysolus Pravo** - Praeliorian. The fellow crewmate with much to teach and with many talents.
* **Alwyn Nimbus** - Culician. An eccentric privateer with a genuine heart of gold.
* **Lydia Jezda** - Makuran. Horror novelist/privateer and long-time friend of Linh.
* **Cydi Thaidero** - Human. The Baserrian farmer who contacted the *Glass Comet* crew for the job.
* **Mera Mishum** - Human. Cydi's loving wife.
* **Allie Lamaand** - Human. Tedan's sister, who often keeps him in check.
* **Tedan Lamaand** - Human. Allie's brother, who doesn't think before he acts.
* **Tornac Rehl** - Coronan. Proprietor of the one of the only taverns on Baserria.

### Locations

* Cassiopeia Galaxy
	+ Central Expanse
		- Gran Axuda Sector
			* Baserrian System
				+ Baserria
					- Baserria settlement
						* Tornac's
			* Cobizan System (Mentioned only)
				+ Cobiza (Mentioned only)
		- Hexapod Sector (Mentioned only)
			* Culicia (Mentioned only)
		- Lanh Sector (Mentioned only)
			* Hoanghon System (Mentioned only)
				+ Hoanghon (Mentioned only)
		- Makuru (Mentioned only)
	+ Outer Core (Mentioned only)
		- Marean System (Mentioned only)
			* Facund Mare (Mentioned only)

### Organizations and Titles

* *Glass Comet* crew
* United Cassiopeian Republic (Mentioned only)
	+ Cassiopeian Military (Mentioned only)

### Sentient Species

* Auricsonian (Mentioned only)
* Culician
* Human
* Kawalan (Mentioned only)
* Makuran
* Penumbrian
* Praeliorian