As I walk into the bar I find it is significantly slower than last night, but there are still about 10 people drinking. Last night I didn’t notice the faint smell of urine lingering about, but I don’t know if the body odor of 30 dirty pirates masked it or several people pissed themselves… probably both now that I think about it. I sit down at the bar in the back and I put down a quarter piece of 8, “Uhm, how much beer can I get for this?”

I see the madam come from the back. She looks at the piece of silver and shrugs, “That will get you three glasses.”

I act like she just jipped me, “Three? That’s it?!”

I see her stiffen underneath her hood. As she begins to lift her face I stop her, “Oh shit… is that the madam? I must be fucked up… I am so sorry, please forgive me. Just don’t… do anything weird to my nethers please.”

She points at me as she croaks, “That’ll be two beers, and don’t let it happen again. I don’t enjoy harming patrons.” She squats to pull out a glass for me, but I swear I catch a smirk on her half hidden face. The nervous looks from the other patrons tells me I just help her ‘witch’ facade out a little.

After that I ‘enjoy’ my lukewarm beer as I wait for either Billy or the madam’s girl to show up. After I paid for and drank four more beers I was feeling pretty good. I had to pee of course after drinking that much fluid, and after that was tajen care of I felt so much more relaxed. The sore muscles from working so damned hard on that godforsaken ship have finally started to ease. Not to mention the ludicrous amount of stress I had accumulated working under Captain Piggy and Tori is starting to melt away.

About that time I hear someone walk through the door. I turn to see who it is, but it takes me a moment to comprehend what I’m seeing. He is wearing a light blue coat with fine yellow trim around it. Underneath he has a matching blue vest and a ruffled white shirt. His pants are a slightly darker blue, but they still match quite well. They stop just below the knee and white stockings cover the rest of his legs. He has a shiny pair of black leather shoes tie the rest of the outfit together nicely. It’s not over the top, but he definitely looks dignified.

He sees me and starts waving to my like an idiot and I can’t help but laugh at him. Dress him all you want, Billy is gonna be Billy. He walks up to the bar and I push a beer to him. As he takes a sip the madam comes out from the back, and the look of shock is hilarious.

She gives me a questioning look, and I just nod to confirm, “Lord child, I didn’t know anyone could clean up like that. You have thoroughly shocked an old woman. Well, Sarah should be here any moment. Enjoy your drink until then.”

The shit eating grin Billy has on his face tells me he is eating up every word out of her mouth. After about 15 minutes Billy and I had both finished our beer. We were just talking about different scores he’s been apart of when we hear the doors swing open.

Now, the madam did say she was pretty, but thats kinda like saying fire is warm. It’s not a lie, but that’s not the whole truth. Your ass is gonna be burnt if you sit in a fire expecting to warm your cheeks. Well, Billy and I are shocked.

When you ask a crude man what they notice first about a woman, they’ll say ass or maybe tits. If you ask a more modest guy, they’ll usually say her face or maybe her figure. Ask a romantic, they’ll probably say eyes. Well, I can say every man that sees Sarah will say the same the same thing… a pair of impossibly vivid green eyes.

And let me tell you, this girl knows she has gorgeous eyes. She is wearing an emerald color dress to bring out the color in her eyes, but I honestly believe it's the other way around. She has her sunny blonde hair fashioned into curls that frame her sharp cheekbones and jawline, which just end up accentuating her eyes. The dark, ruby red lipstick couldn't be a more perfect match. Everything about her seems to make it harder to look away from her eyes..

I look over to Billy, and his mouth is just wide open. I nudge him and he shakes his head to regain his faculties. Sarah crosses the room with a curt stride, “Madam. I’m here.”

The madam walks to the front, “As beautiful as always Ms. Camble.”

She nods slightly, “Thank you. Is he her? I’m rather nervous. When you said he was a pirate I was frightened, but I know you’d never set me up with someone that would hurt me. So who paid again?”

The madam laughs softly as she nods towards us. I wave at her with a smile, and I burst out laughing as I see the look of shock on her face. This just makes me laugh harder, but when I see the color drain from her face I shake my head, “Oh don’t worry. This cut on my face probably is as bad as it looks, but you should’ve seen the other guy!” This poor woman is not finding me funny so I decide to clear the air as I point to Billy, “Don’t worry, I only paid. Billy here is actually the young gentleman that will accompany you the next few days.”

The madam and I both burst out laughing at the look of relief on her face. As she looks at Billy her demeanor changes. Her cheeks get rather rosy and a small, shy smile spreads across her face, “Hello Billy, how are you today?”

I give him a moment to answer. When he doesn’t I look to see whats wrong. God dammit Billy, “Billy, close your mouth and answer her before she starts to think your an idiot.”

His entire face gets bright red as he starts trying to stammer out a greeting. Sarah starts laughing as she reaches out and grabs Billy’s hand, “I am flattered Billy, but I’m really nothing to lose your tongue over. You can just talk to me.”

This seems to calm him some, “Uhm, yea sorry about that. My name is Billy. It’s wonderful to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine.” She is smiling ear to ear at this point.

The Madam interrupts, “So, I take it that you accept Sarah?” Sarah nods and the Madam continues, “Then I give you the same warning I give every man Billy. Yes Sarah’s services have been bought, but she can change her mind at any point. If that happens you will get a portion of your money back. Unless of course, it’s your behaviour that causes problems. You and Sarah have three days together. I have already set up a room at the Inn across from the Brown’s. It includes three meals for you and Sarah. If there are no questions then you two are free to go.”

They both nod and Billy puts his arm out for Sarah. She takes it, and they go to leave side by side. I grab Billy by the shoulder and hand him my last few pesos, “Take these. Also, don’t forget that Duncan’s funeral is at midday tomorrow.”

Billy stops and just solemnly nods his head. I feel bad for ruining the mood, but I know he wouldn’t forgive himself if he forgot. I'm pretty sure Sarah notices his change of mood, and her genuine look of concern sets me at ease.

The madam looks at me and smiles, “I haven’t seen her like that. She is quite taken by the boy. He is quite adorable. I think you just made their next few days. Lord knows she could use it.” The look on her face tells me that Sarah has suffered.

“Yea, Billy could to. I hope they have a good time. Well, I enjoyed your company Madam, but I need to go wait for my captain out front. I’m sure to come see you agin before we set sail.”

She gives me a smile beneath her hood, “See that you do Utah.”

I am almost to the door when I get a notification.

Notification

Good Morning Utah,

I just wanted to let you know that your skill modifier has been changed from .01 to 1. This is effective across all players. Also, you now have access to your attribute list. This is only a numerical representation of each stat compared to other players. Just as a frame of reference, 5 is a perfectly average human and 10 is human ‘perfection’. It is important to not that not all body types can reach 10 due to genetic limitations. To overcome this, NBP beta will now be implementing body enhancements. Some of these will be straightforward like increased muscular density. Some are more complicated, and there are even some ‘animalistic’ enhancements. Note that any cosmetic changes from enhancements will not affect how NPCs will interact with you. Enhancements will be obtained through special actions, and the clearing of a new aspect of the game, dungeons. Please see the section on dungeons for more information.

Thank you for your support in these new features,

Ceto

P.S. I think it was really awesome what you did for Billy! I love how you treat everyone as if they are real. It makes me feel special. Btw, don’t forget to work hard in the coming days!!

I take a few moments to go through the information, but I guess this is a pretty huge update. I’m still trying to get of the ‘dungeon’ and ‘enhancement’ portion. I guess NBP was a little tame in the gaming aspect, and they needed a way to make it more playable. I’m just wondering about they mean by animalistic and what that will entail. Does that mean we are going to have literal animal parts? Surely not.

Just as I was about to look at my attributes I’m interrupted, “Utah, is the captain here yet?”. I see Bheki walking up, and he looks… like hell. His eyes are bloodshot, and he’s squinting like the sun needs to be turned off.

“No I haven't seen him yet. It’s about midday so it shouldn't be long.”

Bheki nods before goes over to the shady side of the building to sit with his eyes closed. I go back and pull up my skill sheet and attribute list.

Strength 7.24 Endurance 7.01 Agility 7.94 Perception 6.83 Intelligence 6.21 Willpower 8.54 Luck 3.54

Hhhmm, well I’m averagely above average I guess. Well, besides for luck… well lets see what dungeons are all abou…

“Utah! Have you see Bheki?” I see Zijde strolling up carrying a large bag. He seems to be in much better shape than Bheki.

“I’m here captain.” Bheki stumbles around the corner.

“Jesus Bheki, you look… like hell. How much did you drink? Eh it doesn’t matter. We just need to pick up our payment and secure it on the ship. You can sleep it off then.” He opens the bag and pulls out a smaller bag to give to Bheki. He digs through the bag again, and hands me a leather harness and another sack. “Here are both of your weapons. I took the liberty of making you a harness for your machetes and pistols Utah. Also, you really shouldn’t walk around unarmed. See that you don’t anymore.”

I nod in agreement, feeling a little self-conscious at the chastisement. I pull the harness out, and start putting it on. It is made from simple but high quality leather with brass buckles. It has two, 6 inch straps that go around forming an X on my chest and back. The front straps have four loops for flintlock pistols and various pockets for shot and powder. On the back there are two, crisscrossing sheaths for my khukris and a larger loop for a blunderbuss. The sheaths are placed on my shoulder blades, which put handles sticking out over each shoulder. The loop for the blunderbuss hangs at the lumbar curve of my lower back. Once I get the pistols, knives, ammunition, and blunderbuss in my harness I am about 35 pounds heavier.

I look towards Captain Zijde, giving him the largest smile I could muster, “Cap’n, this is really nice. Thank you so much. Do I owe you anything?”

Zijde just shakes his head, “Utah, you seem to forget we are about to pick up 15,000 pesos due to your actions. Please don’t mention it. Now let's get going.”

As we make our way towards the Brown’s building I look to see how well armed we are. Bheki has a cutlass on each hip and four pistols on his front and back. Zijde has his basket handle sword and matching wheellock pistols on his chest. He also has a musket slung across his back. After contemplating how many men it would take to rob us, I decide we three are are plenty to transport the money. Well, at least I hope we are… 15,000 pesos would be a lot of coin to lose.