Drunken Disaster!? Crimson Harvest set sail!

[Tim Curry]

It had been 2 weeks since the events on Lyneel where Zansatsu had come close to death.
He had been sailing on the boat he commandeered since, towards the nearest on the island on the map with the help of a compass.
He had been thinking about what had happened in great length, along with attempting to heal his broken left arm through first aid.
Through great lengths he had finally managed set it back into position, though he wasn't able to use it quite as easily as he could thanks to ample bruising.
While thinking he came upon the conclusion that while he had no will follow the path of justice he also had no wish to become a monster for the sake of returning himself to his previous mental state.
Certainly he was still free from the constraints of society but he would no longer be so quick to kill those that posed no real threat to himself.
With this new philosophy in mind Zansatsu finally arrived at the island of Micquoet.
He had two goals, finding a permanent crew, or at least crewman and getting a more sizable boat.
The first one was easy to search for, Zansatsu headed for the nearest bar.
The strong smell of fine wine hit him like a wall when he pushed his way through the door, no wonder the place was famous for it.
Yet despite how exquisite the wines were, people were drinking them like some kind of cheap grog.
One man in particular was taking down more than he could probably handle with one bottle in each hand and many more on the table.
Yet, no matter how grotesque the scene may have been Zansatsu couldn't help but admire the man's flowing beard and finely tailored headwear.
With this in mind he sat down at the man's table, there seemed to be a card game in progress.
"Hey, want me to deal you in?"
Zansatsu turned to see a man as well dressed as himself.

[braner]

"Hey, want me to deal you in?"
Donald turned and asked the newcomer. He had been here for several hours and cleared out several challengers. He was currently sitting in front of an impressive pile of berries, deeds to houses, 2 miniature boats, 3 chickens, a bowl of goldfish, and some sort of foul smelling liquid.
Needless to say it was obvious he was having a good day, even for him he was doing unusually well, and a combination of his streak and the whiskey had him feeling confident. Prepared to bet outrageous on fairly average cards.


"Poker's the game and you can buy in with anything, ships, heirlooms, women whatever."
At this the man at the other end of the table chuckled.
Ah yes, his latest challenge. Mr.Byrnian was actually quite the card player, and the game so far had been preety even, but his skill was slowly decreasing as he drank excessive amounts that would knock out most men and probably horses.
His pile of Beri was nearly twice the size of Donald's, and from his name he sounded like royalty. The perfect target, some drunk rich-boy with an ego. These type of men were Donalds usuall target. But unlike the others Byrnian was big, most rich-kids were scrawny little brats and were no trouble unless accompanied by their body-guards. Byrnian was built like an oak tree. Tall and broad, and made all the more intimidating by his bristly beard.
He was more akin to a lumberjack than a prince, perhaps he was a lumberjack who kidnapped somebody and held them ransom?
A rogue mad lumberjack who just got more violent the more he drank? Who would gladly murder Donald and everyone else in the bar if he began to lose and get frustrated? ..........
Nah

"Well hurry up and decide." Donald said, finally finished thinking about Mr. Byrnian's mental stability and turning his attention back to the other man.

[Tim Curry]

"Poker's the game and you can buy in with anything, ships, heirlooms, women whatever."

Zansatsu took a moment to consider what he could afford to lose should the situation demand it.

"Well hurry up and decide."
He decided on his hat and the few bronze doubloons he had picked up from earlier escapades.
Though his clothes were a bit worn, they were still of the highest quality and value.
"I'm in, these are worth about 50000 beri altogether."
With that the game began.
The monocled man dealt the cards out with flare, but still took care to avoid revealing the nature of the cards.
It seemed as if he had done this many times before.
Luck took favour on Zansatsu that day, he was given 3 jacks, an ace and a 7.
He quickly weighed up the options for flop, "Give me one."
If he had put down the ace and the 7 he would have had only 4% chance of picking up the last Jack, even with the two pickups.
On the other hand, due to there being 3 aces remaining he had a 6% chance of picking up one despite only drawing one card.
Still, he had no such hopes as relying on such low odds and instead turned his focus to the more psychological aspects of the game.
The bearded man was sadly unreadable beneath the mask of his drunken stupor.
The man with the monocle was also incomprehensible, but for a different reason entirely.
It seemed that the blank look on his face was the result of continual practice and innate skill at the game.
He drew the card he had been given, a 3.
Even with that setback the chances of anyone having a better hand than himself were miniscule.
He decided to test just how skilled the monocled man was when in an unpredictable environment.
"All in."

The bearded man followed suit, releasing a garbled shout of some kind while doing so.
(Gmodding by request) Donald seemed to view this as a challenge of sorts and matched the cash.
All cards down and the result was revealed.
The bearded man had one pair and Donald had three tens, a narrow victory indeed.
Having lost the last of his funds, this did not go down well with the beardo.
To make it clearer he flipped out, the table along with his mind.
"You ******* cheatin' bastershh, I'm goin' a kill ye."
He was unarmed, but that didn't stop him from causing an all out barfight.
The drinks on the table he flipped flew straight at an two onlookers who were quick to retaliate.
With a grace not often found in drunks the man avoided both of their blows before returning with two of his own in the form of an upwards fist strike and some kind of foot uppercut.

[braner]

Donald's winnings scattered about the room as the table flipped into the air, knocking him backwards off of his seat.
The table, his winnings and Donald all hit the floor almost simultaneously. Surprisingly the bar patrons followed suit, but not to be cool because everyone was doing it, but because Donald's money was now everywhere. People were lining their pockets with Beri. HIS BERI.
"HEY, GET YOUR DIRTY PEASANT HANDS OFF OF MY MONEY!!" He screamed as he jumped to his feet in anger.
"I'LL RUN THROUGH EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!!" And he would have if he didn't have a more pressing matter at hand. There was now an angry, intoxicated bear yelling out incomprehensible threats and about how Donald had cheated.
CHEATED!!! THE NERVE!! A REAL GENTLEMENT NEVER CHEATS. The nerve of him, just because he dresses like a man doesn't make him and less of a dog.
"How dare you insinuate that I cheated!!" Is what Donald probably would have said if his jaw had now just been shut by a wild uppercut.
Donald has sent nearly half-way across the room, knocking into several peasants shoving Beri into their pockets and knocking them out for the count.
He had just been shown the true power of a beard the hard way.
He lay in a heap atop the scruffy patrons for a few moments before managing to pull himself to his feet. Dusting off his suit and replacing his top-hat on his head he drew his sword from his cane.
He realised that the source of his power was his beard, and if he could cut it, Mr.Byrnian would revert into a skinny alcoholic teenager who is very lazy indeed.

[Tim Curry]

Donald's seemingly cool exterior was shattered when his money was put under threat.
"HEY, GET YOUR DIRTY PEASANT HANDS OFF OF MY MONEY!!"

Zansatsu was no longer sure how useful he would be as a crewman when he had such an easily exploitable weakness.
Still, he had to at least have intelligence as shown by his winning streak.
Now the final test was at hand, a measure of his prowess in battle.

Zansatsu did not care for others laying their hands on his money either, though more as a matter of practicality than having any kind of care for it.
Standing up from his seat he drew his gradesword rapier, "Akuma fukō"
"I suggest that you take a step back, I have no wish to end your lives."
This caused a wave of pause to spread through the thieves.
Sadly this was short lived due to the beardman lashing out at several of the bar attendants, including the monocled man.
Suffice to say that the situation descended into pure chaos at that point with Zansatsu and the Bearded man at the eye of the hurricane.
Ignoring the others, he focused in on the man with the beard as he seemed to wish to battle Zansatsu.
He was unarmed, but no less deadly than a swordsman due to his monstrous strength.
There was no pause before they engaged in battle, the beardman came in both fists and feet swinging.
That obviously caused a problem to Zansatsu, as he had never encountered such an irregular attack.
The man had literally launched himself off the ground at Zansatsu while swinging his limbs wildly.
Taking a defensive stance he raised his blade and braced himself.
But this alone was far from sufficient as it only parried his left fist, leaving himself completely open to the tremendous blows that followed.
His legs curved in to smash Zansatsu's gut at the moment his fist impacted with his blade and his right fist hooked into hip(He was nearly upside down at that point.

This sent Zansatsu flying backwards in pain.
He then remembered his near death at the hands of the immeasurably strong Ballard, the beardo was no where near as powerful but he was still strong in his own right.
Zansatsu decided to take the frustration of his defeat out on this man, though he would have to return to the ground first.
His natural agility allowed him to land back on his feet, though not without feeling a strain on his hip.
It seemed that the monocled man had also returned to his feet and was ready to do battle with his rapier cane.
Though Zansatsu could likely have defeated the bearded man with his knives he felt it necessary to hone his skills in the art of fencing as well.
"Monocle, what say we take this fiend down together?"

[braner]

"Monocle, what say we take this fiend down together?"
He turned to face the other man who had also been knocked back by the giant beard which happened to have a muscular body attached to it.
"I do not require your assistance, this man has offended my honour and my family by insinuating that I cheated. He shall be dealt with by me and only me." Donald snarled, he was outraged by what had occurred in the last few minutes. The two things he values most in this world had been insulted at the same time, his money and his twisted sense of honour. It was time to put things right.
"A duel it is then, between I Donald Hawkes and you....... sorry your first name if you don't mind?"
Unfortunately for Donald, Byrnian had no intention of getting on a first name basis with him. He swung out again with a wild hay-maker, but alas while he had huge strength Donald was the quicker of the 2 men, and this time he was ready for him.
He ducked underneath the punch and delivered a quick kick to his gut, causing him to stumble back wards.

"THE DUEL HAS NOT BEGUN YET!! ARE YOU SO SIMPLE MINDED THAT YOU CANNOT TELL WHEN AN HONOURABLE DUEL BETWEEN 2 MEN HAS COMMENCED!!!"
Donald had lost his temper once again. Taking a deep breathe he regained his composure before once again pointing his rapier at his opponent.
"To the death, the winner shall have his honour restored."
Donald lunged forward attempting to pierce one of his targets vital organs.

[Tim Curry]

"I do not require your assistance, this man has offended my honour and my family by insinuating that I cheated. He shall be dealt with by me and only me."

Zansatsu didn't particularly mind having to avoid this battle, though he would have preferred to join in.
This gave him a chance to observe both of the men after all.

"A duel it is then, between I Donald Hawkes and you....... sorry your first name if you don't mind?"
It seemed that the man had lost all sentimentality in his drunken rage and attacked with a right hook.
This gave Donald the chance to finally show off his skills as he ducked underneath the swing with ease before returning a counter blow of his own.
He didn't seem like the most powerful of men, but his movements certainly had a certain grace to them that few could manage.

"THE DUEL HAS NOT BEGUN YET!! ARE YOU SO SIMPLE MINDED THAT YOU CANNOT TELL WHEN AN HONOURABLE DUEL BETWEEN 2 MEN HAS COMMENCED!!!"

Zansatsu started to wonder if he might need some grooming mentally though, he seemed to have some form of psychosis.
Showing at least some restraint, the man calmed himself and raised his blade once more.

"To the death, the winner shall have his honour restored."

At that he lunged forward with killing intent.
Alas, this man was not an opponent that could be defeated by such a simple strike, regardless of it's efficiency.
Instead of retreating from the blade he did just the opposite and dropped forward, beneath the strike before it reached a far enough point to skewer him.
From his position but inches from Donald's chest he lashed out with both arms.
His left was auxiliary, aiming for Donald's shoulder with more of the power of a slap than a punch. On the contrary, his right fist flew forth with incredible force, directly towards his solar plexus.
The winner of this duel was not yet, but Zansatsu had no plans of letting the bearded man damage Donald any more than necessary.
As luck had it, or perhaps it couldn't really be counted as luck, the local marine force burst through the doors with the intention of ending the bar brawl.
The main problem that Zansatsu faced here was that he was a wanted man and it only took one half informed officer to spot him.