[Jack Shipsteel]

The sun had just fallen behind the Mountains, and it wasn't even past 3:00 P.M. Smythe already knew that this was going to disrupt his internal clock. Back on Port Royal, he always served as the guard from either sun up to sun down, or reversed. Now, it was going to be harder to tell when his shift was over.

McKirkley's Unit had gotten underway and had started moving up the path for almost 15 minutes now. The trek up the path was the shortest up to the town and living quarters for the EITC, but still was a 20 minute trip. The welcoming commitee had told them they were coming up with a way to make the trip shorter. Smythe sure hoped so. If he got posted on dock duty, he would waste a ton of time going back and forth from duty and break.

McKirkley noticed Smythe staring around and behind him and knocked him on the shoulder. McKirkley told him, "Eyes front Corporal. You're supposed to be leading by example."

Smythe shook his head and focused front. He knew he shouldn't be letting his mind wander.



McKirkley had always been afraid of being posted here. McKirkley had been told of the place as a young cadet back in the Homeland, and had heard many atrocious tales been told about the dreaded place. So far, they all were true.

The man who had greeted his squad, a certain Sgt. Craw, was Capt. Shaw's right hand man. He had fought in several wars in the English Navy, fighting against some other country or another, and had been transferred to the EITC nigh upon 15 years ago. He was 20 years McKirkley's senior, and 5 years Shaw's. Yet, he was as spry as most of the newcomers.

After a few more minutes of measuring up his superior, he noticed they were passing through a tunnel, and the ground was growing level. Craw then shouted out, "Welcome to Raven's Town."

McKirkley became confused at this comment, until he and his men escaped from the tunnel.



The town wasn't as nice as Port Royal's.

Smythe had always compared other islands to his former post, and he didn't know why. He had seen plenty of other cities of grandeur, but he always compared each village he crossed to Port Royal, due to his knowledge of the place.

Raven's Town wasn't a city like Port Royal, but had the nessecities. Your standard Seamstress, a tackle shop near the bay, and of course, a Tavern. Smythe was happy to see that the place wasn't too barbaric to forget that.

The buildings were of an odd sort. Some buildings were made out of the usual wood and nails, but Smythe still saw that some places disobeyed this standard, such as the clay huts near the town center. And even more peculiar, buildings built into the mountain itself. Other than that, nothing was remarkable about the quaint town. A small wall fence around the main buildings, a well, and a lack of a fort was the only thing that strayed across his mind.

However, the people weren't your average bunch. Sure, there was the townsfolk that blended into the crowd, but he only spotted a dozen of these. What he mainly saw were men and women of strange looks. They wore clothes Smythe saw usually wore by gypsies and other weird folk back on Port Royal, except magnified to a more dirty degree. The clothes were dressed in soot, and you could barely tell the yellow day colors of the women from the brown styles of the men. They spoke numerous languages, although from what Smythe could tell, his own was the norm. Still, he thought he heard Indian voices amongst the crowd.

Smythe was quickly shuffled along though, not given a moment to study his surroundings. That was a downfall of his, he would overexamine anything and everything. From the island of Raven's Cove to the drabness of his own apparel.

The EITC were walked through the center of town to the much gossip of many of the villagers. Smythe tried to make it look like their talk didn't bother him, but he couldn't help but look down at his feet while the banter continued.

He and the others were then escorted down another path to a small cluster of cabins, which he could tell were their living quarter's from the blatant lack of color and style of them. That and the tell tale EITC mark.

They were shown their quarters and allowed to make do. They started shuffling through their bags they brought with them, when the Sgt. who took his time to escort them announced, "You will be shown to Captain Shaw within the hour."

They all hurried to dress appropiately. They all knew Shaw's story.. and his expectations.