For those of you who wonder about my screen name . . . and for those of you who were there. This bit was taken from the journals of a ship's carpenter named Stedd Amblecrown.
Captain Khelendra Seasweeper wasn't always a sea captain. Once, she was a young girl who loved to sit on the quais of Westgate and look out on the waters along the Dragon Coast and dream of escape. She'd occasionally pilfer a loaf of bread from the neighborhood baker and feed it to the gulls. Their raucous screams spoke to her of faraway places and the strong clean beauty of their flight made her long to follow them.
When I first met Khel, she was 21 years old. She was as bright as a tequila sunrise and twice as deadly. Khel had long, black, curly hair pulled back from her face with a black ribbon. Her coat was a bright peachy orange trimmed out in dark rose. Her leather pants were the color of the deepest night sky and the gloves & high boots she favored were a silvery-blue. At her belt hung her precious telescope and although I couldn't see them, I knew she kept more weapons than the dagger and rapier at her waist. She walked everywhere with a swagger that challenged anyone who cared to look.
As for me, in those days I was no more than a deckhand. I was still more boy than man and more than anything I wished she'd turn her roving eye my way. Such a fine woman. She had a knack for knowing all the back exits to rough places and an appetite for strong drink and handsome men. But there was more to Khel.
The tattoo was unexpected. I caught sight of it one day while on duty with her aboard Umberlee's Thrall (the name later turned out to be an ill omen, but Khel had moved on by then). On her arm it was. A set of manacles. The upper one was open and the lower closed. Khel caught me looking and told me it was a reminder of a promise she'd made. I later learned what it really was. I've seen very few of those tattoos since those who wear them must earn them fighting as slaves in the pits at the Quivering Thumb arena. That manacle tattoo is indeed a reminder. A reminder of slavery and hard-won freedom. All slaves are marked with the lower manacle. Only those who survive a year in the pits live to complete the pair and walk away free.
Shortly thereafter, Khel left the crew of Umberlee's Thrall and it was many years before I saw her again. This time it was on the docks in Waterdeep itself. Imagine my surprise to hear that the captain of the Merry Marauder was none other than Khelendra Seasweeper herself. Her swagger may have been the same, but I could tell the captain had seen her share of rough seas.
Look to your left. The latest update to the account page frees up space by moving the dashboard to the left side. It still works the same, it's just slimmer and sexier. And for those of you that don't know it, you can collapse the dashboard by clicking on the header.
