Welcome to the Logs of Annabelle Lee, owned by Princess Fief. This is a private journal, please do not post without permission.
Info
Name: Annabelle Lee
Owner: Princess Fief
Stage: Ship's Boy
Crew Position: Deckhand
Ship: N/A
Description:
Annabelle was not welcome, never was she, and she knew it.
In fact, her adulterous mother did not plan to have this baby conceived; the infant was viewed as an unscrupulous nuisance. Kati, Annabelle’s sultry mother, occupied not an office or the home, but rather other mens’ bedchambers during the late hours of the night. She ran a whore house dubbed the “Pleasure Palace” and paid no mind to her little, indecisive, completely innocent toddler as she cautiously roamed the “palace.” Belle was named after one of the more prominent prostitutes of the Pleasure Palace; one who regarded her as a slave girl, and treated her as such. Kati accommodated all the needs of this mistress of the night whom Annabelle was named after - fearing that if she did not, the famed whore would leave the Pleasure Palace and cause it to recede into the recesses of ruin. Thus, to make sure that everything was set aright for her, Kati forced her young Annabelle to be the servant to the other Annabelle. Kati, whom decided that having two Annabelles in the house would only confuse things, made sure that everyone used her daughter’s nickname, Mouse, formally. Kati nicknamed her child ‘Mouse’ because of Annabelle’s meek ways and silent nature. Mouse, as she came to be known, assumed the role of personal assistant to Annabelle Lenore [ the mistress ] and was often scolded by her master for making silly mistakes and succumbing to her nerves around her.
As time wore on, Mouse began to wonder about life outside the whorehouse. She was tired of washing Miss Lenore’s bedclothes, she was tired of never being able to get a silent night of rest, she was tired of the endless chores and the unrelenting “family” that verbally and physically tortured her night and day. The introspective and speculative child began to save up her small keep and eventually acquired enough to purchase a small notebook. The child, now at the ripe age of nine, began to practice her artistic talents during her free time - whenever a man was with Miss Lenore. Mouse soon slipped into the depths of art and fantasies which she’d created during the long nights of sitting and waiting for Miss Lenore and her Honored Guest to finish their nightly rituals. The redheaded girl’s emerald optics filled with inquiries and wonderment soon fell upon her soft, leather-bound notebook and she drew endlessly into the night and till daybreak; as she was forbidden to sleep when Miss Lenore had Honored Guests. As Mouse became more and more attached to her art and drawings, she receded even further into silence and timidity. While her drawings drew her in and offered her an escape from the world she knew, they could never supply the one thing that her heart craved for relentlessly.
Love.
That was what Mouse wanted more than anything. She cried herself to sleep whenever she was permitted to nap during the day. She stared at the window from her bunk that filled her small closet lodging at the young children at play in the streets. She thought of how happy they must have been; sporting and giggling... always having a loving mother and father to come home to at the end of each day and a warm meal beckoning for consumption. Mouse longed to furtively sneak away and play with these children. She secretly longed for an escape from this miserable life, from her mother’s horrible treatment, from Miss Lenore’s beatings, from the men shooting sickening glances her way. Mouse wanted so fiercely to simply... disappear. To curl into a miniscule fetal ball and fade into the vortex of her despair. Alas, even now, as she was ten, the little lass knew that sinking into oblivion was not an option. There was really only one release that the quiet child had, and that was through reading. About a month after her tenth birthday, which no one celebrated or remembered, Mouse gained a companion; a new mistress of the night by the name of Elise. Mistress Elise was much different than the other whores - she was kindly, forgiving, relenting, sweet and literate. She had a mind of her own and thought of things other than herself. Mouse was immediately drawn to this compelling character and found a solace in her. Elise viewed Mouse’s mistreatment and ordered Kati to reassign Mouse to be her personal servant. Kati complied, knowing that Elise was another one of the more enticing prostitutes and brought in much business.
Elise educated Mouse; taught her many things about life, love, companionship, friendship, simple joys, humility, virtues, benevolence, and, most especially, literacy. Within months Mouse, by Elise’s teachings, gained literacy and soon was gifted with a journal in which she wrote her deepest thoughts in - the pages not only strewn with impossibly neat handwriting, but sketches as well. Under the influence of the wonderful Elise, Mouse soon grew into a much happier child and began to love Elise like a mother. Elise returned the maternal love to this poor b*****d girl and fully assumed the role of a mother to Mouse. Mouse, now pushing womanhood, began to confide more in Elise and told her of all her thoughts and feelings. Elise, in turn, relayed her innermost desires to Mouse. As they forged an even stronger bond Mouse’s depression was eliminated entirely. Things got better and better, so it seemed, and Elise soon fell in love with one of her frequent visitors; a merchant, by the name of Josh Lee. Josh and Elise fell helplessly in love with each other and vowed to marry before Josh set sail. One thing that pulled them back, however, was Mouse. Mouse desperately needed Elise in her life, and Josh knew it - he respected it. He knew that his lover was a strong woman and could withstand the seas, but could Mouse, he wondered. His speculations were soon gone as Elise told him that she would not leave with him if Mouse could not come. Kati, despite her ill-treatment toward Mouse, forbade her to go with Elise and Josh. However, that did not stop the trio. Stealthily, on the night of Mouse’s thirteenth birthday, they smuggled her into the folds of the night and set sail the proceeding morning. Josh Lee, and, now, Elise Lee adopted Mouse and called her Annabelle - her rightful name that she had chosen to keep. Elise, Annabelle, and Josh never saw Kati nor heard of the Pleasure Palace ever again.
Life on the seas was pleasing to Annabelle. She enjoyed the spray of the frothy waves, the salty scent filling her nostrils and mouth. She enjoyed mostly the company of her new father and mother. They traveled far and wide - trading with nearly every country they came across. Annabelle met so many people; diversity entered her life and she developed true happiness.
And then, it struck her.
Like a paddle smacking someone rudely - like a fierce blow to the jaw. It came unexpectedly, the tuberculosis that was to plague her for the next nine years of her life. The debilitating pain scorched her lungs and throat and ultimately destroyed her life as she once knew it. She was only experiencing the beginning of an extenuated period of time in which she would running from the disease or hiding from other people. Annabelle, reluctantly but for the sake of her family and their crew, lodged in the very lowest of decks - forbidden to come into contact with her father and mother’s crew members. Elise often visited her forlorn daughter and brought her spices that they had a surplus of, or dashing books on piracy and adventures. Annabelle thankfully delved into the many books that Elise brought to her - influenced greatly by the many stories and by the daring tales of pirates and curses. Often, she would dig out her notebook and draw some of the many scenes depicted in the novels that she read. She kept this up until she turned eighteen and could not bear to live cooped up in the bowels of the ship any longer. During the next stop, a small port city which she cannot recollect the name of, Annabelle, using the porthole, managed to literally slip out of the ship without infecting the crew. However, this also meant that she was not able to bid her mother and father farewell. She never saw Elise or Josh again.
Yet in the tavern that she found herself entering and hour after departure, the blossoming young woman met a man who later became known as her brother. Tracey Tans; a handsome young fellow of kindly ways and benevolent natures. Annabelle began to weep and cough uncontrollably in the small tavern called The Night’s Keep; half the sobs were caused by her remorse in leaving her loving parents, half in the slicing pain that ripped through her wracking body as she coughed and sputtered blood all over her arms and hands. Tracey approached her, bought her some water to drink, and then escorted her to a wiccan by the name of Kara whom assisted Annabelle to banish the pain that scorched her lungs. Tracey stayed with her one night; by her side relentlessly. However, Annabelle soon learned that her adoptive brother dreamt of being a pirate and was going to board a pirate ship that was sluggishly making its way to the port of the city. In fear of never seeing him again, Annabelle offered to go with him. When he refused, Annabelle ran back to The Night’s Keep to hide and wait for Tracey to board the ship so that she might follow him. This time, Annabelle met another man in the tavern. One whom was possibly her first love, though she would never admit to that now.
The woman was being shunned by the entire tavern - evidently they had remembered the goings on the preceding night when she had slipped unconscious and was carried away by Tracey. Annabelle began to cough again, and this time a handsome young male approached her. Instantly there was a spark between them. He bought her a room in the tavern after she’d passed out, carried her up to the room, and let her sleep for a while. However, as he turned to leave the room she began to wheeze and cough. He returned to her side momentarily to make sure she was breathing aright and then left the room. When he reappeared a few hours later, he presented the sickly miss with a beautiful dress. She bathed, put on the dress, kissed Jonathan, then fled from his grasp in attempts to board the pirate ship which she had seen Tracey board in Jonathan’s absence.
This ship was the Aurarius, the innards of it she would come to know all too well. For after hastily requesting to join the ship so as to catch up to Tracey, she succumbed to another of her coughing fits and was hence "stored" in the lower decks so she would not infect the rest of her crew with the highly contagious disease that wracked her lungs. Ever since she'd been kept inside the small room, though, Annabelle had strange dreams of a kindly woman offering a cure for her malady if she could fetch her one hundred items. This woman called herself the Tome Keeper...
