Pirates vs. Dragons: The Lady Jean

Pirates vs. Dragons

I finally ordered physical CDs for Pirates vs. Dragons. Right now, I am tentatively planning an official CD release of the album in July 2016. The exact date is TBA.

In the meantime, you can now enjoy the full Steampunk adventure journal from my captivity. The Pirates vs. Dragons eBook is now available on Kindle.

In the meantime, I’m excited to continue sharing the podiobook…

Day 37: The aftermath of the storm saw us limping into the nearest shipwright on our very last leg. The Irish Stout has seen her final flight. Not even a captain as mad as Murphy would try and take her up again. The hull is stove-in in at least four places, and the mast snapped in two right behind me! We managed to jury-rig something to get to the shipyard, but I honestly don’t know how it worked.

Gus has been off the ship since we put in for those supplies a few days back. There’s no way to contact him and tell him to bring his recruits at once, but we are going to need them. The storm took out more than half the men. Murphy wants me to help recruit, but I don’t know the first thing about sailing—in sea or air. So, I did what any bard would do…I wrote a song that might convince a couple of green boys to join:

Come and Be a Pirate

* Leave behind the law and lawyers,
When you leave behind the land—
For the law that rules a pirate
Is you take whate’er you can.

So you want to be a pirate?
Well, repeat after me—
I’ll pillage, whore, and plunder
And live the life that’s free.

Little boys who listened
When their Mamas said they should
They ain’t the kind o’ pirates
That will do me any good.

I want a crew that’s ruthless
Cutthroats, thieves and ghouls.
’Cause we don’t hold tea-parties,
And we don’t live by the rules.

We sail upon the heavens,
In an airship tried and true
It’s a whole new world of treasure
That we’ll find before we’re through.

So, if you want to be a pirate
Come on down to the ship.
We need a dozen sailors
To replace those lost last trip!

This shipyard is incredible. There are ships of all sizes and types in all stages of construction. It is built on an island, with a great harbor full of seafaring ships, and a sky full of airships. The banging of hammers is constant. Shouts and saws and singing—cacophony, and yet oddly pleasing. There is a sense of excitement everywhere. Smells of tar and wood smoke, fish and sweat. You can even taste the salt in the air.

Murphy has his eyes set on a new ship—though I don’t know how he expects to pay for it. There’s a sweet schooner called the Lady Jean that is almost ready to fly. She’s not a wooden ship, like the Irish Stout. She’s built of a shining metal, lighter and more flexible than I’ve ever seen, but strong and sturdy. The deck and hull are covered with gold Dragon scales. She’s half the size of the Irish Stout, and the shipwright says she can be manned by a crew of ten.

I have to admit, she’s a yar ship. I’d love to see her in the air, although I’m not so eager to be one of the crew.

If I thought I could get away with it, I would slip away from this place and make my way home. But Murphy has me watched every minute of every day. I did manage to get away from my watcher long enough to pass my Dragon songs off to one of the shopkeepers—along with a note to Gwen. He promised to mail them for me. I hope I can trust him.

—

I’ve managed to sneak a bit of pencil stub from the ship’s doctor, and a few scraps of paper from the cook. I’m recording my thoughts with them so I can reveal Black Jack Murphy’s infamy when I finally return to civilization.

There’s a universal truth about pirates. They hunt treasure, and they don’t care who they have to rob to get it.

There’s a universal truth about dragons. They hoard treasure, and they really don’t like for people to try and take it.

I was kidnapped by the infamous air pirate Black Jack Murphy and his crew of the airship The Lady Jean. They wanted me to chronicle their dragon hunts. Little did Murphy know where my sympathies lie! So, this journal — and the resulting CD, coming soon from Mage Records “Pirates vs. Dragons” — tell the true stories of Pirates vs. Dragons. The CD combines rousing sea shanties about pirates being pirates with songs about the majesty of dragons, and the journal details the privations I suffered. There’s a little something for both sides here–and I bet you find a new favorite or two.

Pirates vs. Dragons podiobook was written by Rie Sheridan Rose and Marc Gunn. It was produced by David Reiland and Marc Gunn. It was edited by David Reiland. Find out more the book and album at savedragons.com.