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The Company

The three continents are individually governed, each claiming sections of the ocean and the islands therein as its own, the main force allowed to travel between the three being The Alsai Unified Trading Company. In truth, it is the real government of the world, and the others are nothing but puppets in its shadow.

Agents of the company are highly paid, either as trade runners, or hunters who seek out pirates to ‘escort’ them to the rope. None but the greatest pirates ever dare to take on a trade ship of the company, but those who do are vastly rewarded…if they aren’t caught.

The punishment for attempting to rob the company of even an apple would be severe; public lashings for shoplifters are not uncommon; public executions of pirates are treated like a holiday.

For those with the ability, the company has precautions even still; for those with the fire ability, they are held in copper cells: any attempt to use the flames to escape would prove only to cook oneself.

For those with the water ability, they are kept in cells suspended off the ground, hands and feet bound, given only enough water to drink to keep them alive until their execution.

For those with the earth ability, they keep them bound in wooden cells inside steel rooms.

The air ability has proven the most difficult for the company to control; most often, they will not be imprisoned, just executed on sight.

Before the executions, however (aside from Air Manipulators) they will brand pirates with their mark, indicating even to death that this person had been a privateer in life. Some, have managed to escape with only the mark.

For all intensive purposes, there really aren't three countries. The AUTC has long since pretty much overpowered the official governments, which now all listen to it. As such, The Navies all have to get along and play nice, under the AUTC. The best portion of the force is Asura, making it seem like they have the best Navy. Most of the time, to keep up this illusion, the company keeps people stationed under the direction of one country or another. They do keep up false infighting, as most of the soldiers don't really know that their country is being controlled by the company, but mostly the goal is to eradicate pirates: the last real threat to their complete control of the world.


Powers

People in this realm have been gifted with unusual talents. There is no trick to it, no magical pill to give them power – it is a birth right. Seemingly, there is no hereditary reason for this power, but it is a little more likely to appear in a child if an older sibling has the gift.

Most people have either found a trade to go into using their gift, or the Navy. Others, become Pirates. To have the gift is not required for any of these vocations, but it would certainly help.

Manipulation is generally an elemental based ability, such as fire, water, earth or air, there are also those with healing power, and other varying abilities. On rare occasion, a person may develop a first trait, and later in life gain a second, but most people who have the power only have the one.

In general, a ship will have a water manipulator and a healer onboard for the safety of the crew. It is unusual to find a vessel that will not have at least one or the other.

All manipulations take varying amounts of strength to complete. After using a technique, it could result in fatigue, dizziness, exhaustion, or acute narcolepsy, depending on the level of the technique used.

These are the basic Manipulations:

Fire – Fire manipulators have the ability to make fire appear from nothingness. These manipulators strengths vary based on how much time has been spent training with their power as well as natural ability. The intensity of the flames can be changed by force if needed by means of a catalyst, such as oil. These manipulators are most likely to develop colds from extended periods of time in water, but have a higher tolerance for heat. Their ability is useless when they are wet.

Water – Water manipulators can use any source of moisture to their advantage. Based on their degree of control, they can often even form water into steel-hard frozen weapons. Master water manipulators are highly sought after aboard ships, to prevent them from sinking if they have incurred damage during a fight. The amount of training a person with this power has can help to increase the amount of water they can control at any one time, and how much accuracy they have with it. Unfortunately, they have the least tolerance for heat.

Earth – Earth manipulators can manipulate just about any aspect of the earth; stone, sand rock, clay, and soil are all fair game. They can create grand structures in moments, and are often recruited for construction work, the most skilled being hired by the company. Earth users are not often seen onboard ships, as they are the most likely to get seasick, and feel out of their element with the only earth being the sand beneath the waves.

Air – Air manipulators can use any aspect of air to their advantage. They can compress amounts of air into disks, and float using that gift, but cannot fly. However, they can glide with the assistance of tools. Most people with the air gift have the tendency to hide it until they are well established in communities as someone who is trustworthy, or can enlist in the Navy or be hired by the Company. Air manipulators are the fewest in number, thanks to the suspicion that surrounds them and the Alsai Trading Company’s suspicion of them all.

Healing – Often considered to be the most valuable of the gifts, master healers are sought after by Pirates, Navy, and Clinics. Schools have been established specifically for increasing the number of masters. They are often among the highest paid, even in the Company, thanks to their immensely useful talent. They are also not purely medical and defenseless; healers can use their ability to do things such as inflict wounds, cause paralysis, or increase or stop a pulse. Unfortunately, active techniques such as those are more draining than passive healing, and tend to take more strength to do successfully.

Other – Those with unusual gifts, deviating from the five major categories. Most of those with unusual gifts are registered with the government.


Superstition

Pirates and Navy alike are remarkably superstitious. Anything they can do to dispel “evil” amongst them is likely to be done. Women are still considered bad-luck, and the Navy and Company simply won’t have them on their ships, but the number of females on Pirate vessels is on the rise. Some have gotten to the point of captaining their own ships, but these individuals are still few and far between. Fortunately however, the Company has issues regarding whether it is right to hang a woman, pirate or no, so of the few High Pirate women that have been captured, almost all have been spared from the hangman’s noose.

Races

The two most dominant races on Alsai are Humans, and merpeople, the latter with severely dwindling numbers. Possibly, there is really only one great city left for them, though the reasons for this are unknown. The Merpeople don't get along very well with Sharkpeople, the other very nearly dominant race, though technically they were at one point a part of the Merpeople, but they have lately branched off. Mostly, the conflict is over the Merpeople refusing to aid the Sharkpeople, thanks to a distaste for their eating habbits... Their numbers are slightly (very slightly) more than those of the Merpeople. However, the Sharkpeople have trouble getting to any of the Mer-cities, or rather their remnants, which tend to be at depths beyond them.

Shark people tend to stay near the surface, looking for snacks. They can have human legs for periods of time, but they do need to keep damp, and can't often maintain that form for very long.

Sirens are more or less the harpies of the sea.

Humans are the only land-based race, other than various animals, of course.

There is no cross-breeding between the water races and Humans.

Cael woke up immediatly at the sound of footsteps on the stairs leading to the crew's quarters below the top deck. He sat up as the captain entered and brushed his long bangs from his face. He slid out of his hammock and stood, stretching out his arms and falling into a casual attention.

"We leaving?" There was a note of hopefulness in his voice as he said the words, taking a subconcious step towards the slightly battered and bolted chest lying under his hammock. He kept his belongings in it: a rarely used coat and some trinkets hidden under a collection of well-travelled maps. "We haven't been in port that long."

Cael's eyes had lit up with excitement as Lina told her tale and now he turned and dropped to his knees to get out his maps. He knew exactly where they were headed, of course, and he could explain it in great detail without them, but the visual would help get the message across to anyone who was not as fortunate as to have the maps already firmly in mind and readily present at all times. Furthermore, he liked his maps and liked getting the chance to use them.

"Here," he pointed, holding out the parchment for Lina to see. "We could go up this way. There's a nice easterly that should take us on the quickest course. Otherwise," he let his finger trace out an alternative route that pointed a little sharper north. "Here. The wind's not as strong, but it will take us straight up here." Cael jabbed the small island with his finger. "The port in Laossei. Now, that's a bit farther from our destination than Westside in Verguenza, but only by a few miles and," he looked up, meeting Lina's eyes and grinning broadly, "it's a far better place to stop and reload. About a quarter mile west from the dock," he motioned, setting down the map and letting it roll up as he used his hands to better describe the turns of the road, "take a left back down south and cut across the second alley on the right and you're at The Golden Ale which last time we were there really lived up to its name. It's definitely a cut above The Highland and The White Sails in Westside, and the only other decent taverns are all the way on the other end of Verguenza, and the docks up there are crap." Cael shrugged. "It's your choice, but I'd suggest heading for Laossei. It should only take us a day more. We'll be in fairly shallow waters for a while when we leave, but the winds will be the same as those on Verguenza."

"Right," Cael picked up his map before following Lina up onto the deck. By the time he reached the end of the stairs and finished blinking in the sudden light she had gathered the crew about him. Cael's smile broadened. He liked this part.

"This is where we are now," he announced, launching into a quick but detailed explanation and giving the map a shake of his hand so that it unfurled itself with a snap. "Pio. This island here at the right edge. We're heading up this way," Cael traced his finger off the right side of the parchment and then back up the left where the seas continued, "following the easterlies that blow this way. There's a stronger one a little to the south, but the one that we want should hold pretty steady across the equator and up northeast through shallower, but not dangerous, waters to here." Cael pointed with a flourish to their destination. "Laossei, the home of The Golden Ale." He jerked his hand again, quickly rolling the map back up and looked about the others with a slightly cocky grin. "Any questions?"

Cael, still holding his map, walked across the slowly rocking deck to the head of the ship and leaned on the wall, letting the "encouraged" wind come up behind him and blow his hair into his face. He liked this part, the beginning, of the journey the most.

Cael glanced back over his shoulder at Lina working the steering wheel. "Planning on telling the crew about the real reason behind our sudden departure anytime soon?"

((When is the cut to the fight scene?))

"Of course,"replied the enthusiastic captain, her grin seeming ever-knowing for the moment. Really, it didn't seem to matter to the crew why they were leaving at the moment, since it was the Li who instructed them to do so; that was reason enough.

She waited until Cael was so close that she could be certain that she wouldn't be overheard, and then said "I'm not taking any risks with this treasure talk while we're still near any ships. I overheard this rumor from a man who was careless, and I'll not be named the same."

"White gloves my a**. They've got dirtier hands than anyone, and blood stains are hard to hide...You should know as well as anyone on the crew, if the navy knows about something, the company will know it too,"she said, reminding him that they were for all intensive purposes the same entity.

"but...you do have a point. Even if, heaven forbid, the Navy's whipped mutts were to find out about our wonderful little rumor, it would still take the company's main body at least a day or so to find out about it too...that gives us an edge,"the captain threw in, rather confidently. The ship slowly glided away from the dock, getting closer to the wide open water; a sight that always made Lina feel better no matter the situation.

On land, there was only so far you could run; Eventually, you were bound to be cornered. However, in comparison, the ocean was nothing but room to run, and if someone decided to try them in a game of tag...well, it was 'catch us if you can', and the Coup d'etat had one of the best crews in all of Alsai at staying in the game.

((god, that was a WEIRD analogy at the end there....but it makes sense in my mind. >.<))