Post by Ladorak on Oct 8, 2012 10:16:03 GMT -5
The 15th of October was a pleasant enough day. Autumn had arrived on the Calgarian Peninsula, and Livorno was cooling down significantly since when they'd last visited, though it was still somewhat warm, due to Livorno having more of a Mediterannean climate than did other parts of Tuscany. The Agamemnon and the rest of Hotham's fleet had arrived at the Calgarian port only two days ago, having spent almost three weeks on Personza.
They'd arrived back at San Fiorenzo on the 20th of September, and had spent the next three weeks there doing relatively nothing. Hotham had personally congratulated Ladorak on his capture of the Rosferian prizes, though the Rosferian Mediterannean Fleet was taking advantage of the absence of the Welkinite Fleet to start sending out forays into the Atlantic and eastern Mediterannean. Hotham had heard that he was being relieved in either late November or early December, and it seemed the capybara Admiral no longer wished to remain at sea for his last few months. It was certainly an inauspicious ending to one of the most uninspiring Admirals to have commanded the Mediterannean Fleet.
The new commander being sent had previously commanded the Caribbean station, mostly with success. Admiral John Jervis was a strict disciplinarian and tolerated no nonsense from the Captains and ships under his command. He ran things very efficiently from what Ladorak knew, but the stoat also knew that in private, the mink Admiral could be generous, warm, and kind. He just rarely let that side of him show when he was going about his business. Either way, Ladorak considered the change a marked improvement over Hotham, and he was eagerly counting down the days to December when Hotham would leave and Jervis would enter. He was looking very much forward to meeting the mink Admiral (though he knew him previously from the winter galas he'd attended at Whistleminster) and getting right down to business with him.
Their time in Personza hadn't been very memorable. Carrow's birthday had come, and Ladorak had treated the striplings once more to a fine supper aboard the Agamemnon in his cabin, but Caden had held off on purchasing anything for the mouse because San Fiorenzo did NOT lend itself to much inspiration when it came to shopping. The town was sleepy and aside from the Welkinite dominated shipyards, there was little going on except a resentful town full of Rosferians who despised being "owned" by Welkin. No... Caden could better spend his money elsewhere, so he'd held off for the time being, waiting until they had a chance to visit other places.
Such an opportunity had finally come when Admiral Hotham announced they'd be sailing to Livorno on the 12th of October. Such news was welcome relief for the fleet, and they sailed as expected, reaching Calgary the next day, the 13th. It was an amelioration to be off Personza and back in Tuscany. True, they were far from their duties of blockading Toulon, and that rankled with some of the officers and crew, but the down time was appreciated as well. As it stood, Kostritz was still containing Rosferia in northern Calgary, and so long as that situation held, the war was not entering a critical stage.
Caden Fugate stood along the Calgarian waterfront, not too close to the Agamemnon but not terribly far either. His Cor d'Anglais was in his paws, his claws dancing and moving over the silvery buttons as he played a bit of a lively tune. It was a song he'd been working on the past few weeks in Personza, and he smiled at passersby as he blew into the reed, giving them a nod as they nodded in greeting at him.
He was growing now, and at a pretty rapid rate. He wasn't a "squirt" anymore, and his eyes easily met Ladorak's chest height now when the two faced each other. It seemed once one hit 15, all sorts of further changes started taking place.
The marten Midshipjack delivered his tune with a cheeriness that hadn't been present in him at late. Perhaps it was because Personza just created those types of feelings within you, and he was glad to be off the island, or maybe it was the change in the weather, but whatever it was, Caden was enjoying himself along the waterfront of Livorno today.
As his song concluded, he drew some applause from those who had stopped to listen, or those who were stopping briefly as they passed by. He held the instrument to one side of him whilst extending his free paw to the other and did a bit of a bow, putting his best paw forward as he did so. "Thank you!" he told them. "Er... Grazie! Grazie!" he quickly corrected himself.
Reaching down, the marten patted his pocket. Good! Carrow's present was still in there. He'd done some shopping this morning, and had stumbled upon the absolutely (in his opinion) perfect gift for his mouse companion. The curios shops in Livorno were often full of unique items, but this in particular had caught his eye in the literal sense, and he'd fished into his earnings to buy it. It was the least he could do, after all, in order to repay the mouse for buying what was surely an expensive Melpomene model (which Caden suspected Carrow had spent most of his previous earnings on). Fortunately, they'd since made more money from being at sea, and Caden had every intention of paying the mouse back.
The albino's large ears perked up as he heard the chiming of Livorno's bell towers. He carefully counted out the peals, and nodded to himself. Good! It was noon! He was supposed to meet Carrow a little after noon in front of Livorno's Duomo, and fortunately for Caden, it was just a short walk down the Via Grande, the street he was currently looking down.
Kneeling, he popped open his English Horn's case, and stuck the instrument firmly between the padding within. Closing and latching it up, the marten grasped the pawdle, hoisted it off the ground, and began walking down the broad Via Grande, whistling the tune he'd just been playing to himself as he strolled along the wide avenue.
Elsewhere in the Tuscan city, Ocean Sleet was buttoning up the last of the buttons on his brilliant red overcoat as he strode alongside Evi Panettos. He was dashingly bedecked in his Hospitaller uniform, which consisted of a bicorne hat, a red overcoat very similar to the Welkinite infantry uniform, with the differnce being the white Maltese cross emblazoned upon the front of it. White pants, white breeches, and black buckle shoes completed the look for the ermine.
They were heading to meet Evi's father (and stepmother) today, and the ermine wanted to look his best for his Catholic brethren, as well as of course make it clear what order he was from. "Well Evi, I can't believe the day has finally arrived!" the ermine exclaimed. "We're really going to meet your father today! I have to say... you joined us earlier this year... or was it last year?" he asked, struggling to remember. "Have you ever been to Florence? I've really been taking an interest in the Dominicans as of late, and they have a rather splendid cathedral in Florence. Santa Maria Novella it's called. I've been attending service there the past few times we stopped in Florence, in addition to the Duomo itself. If I weren't of course a Knight Hospitaller, I would probably be a Dominican. I believe they're called Blackfriars in Welkin." he commented.
"Anyway, their basilica is rather stunning, and while of course it's not as big as the main basilica of Florence, it's still a sight to behold. Perhaps we could attend mass there if we ever get back to Firenze." he suggeted, calling it by its Calgarian name. Ocean was of course planning to attend mass at Livorno's Duomo this coming Sunday, though that wouldn't be until the 18th.
They'd arrived back at San Fiorenzo on the 20th of September, and had spent the next three weeks there doing relatively nothing. Hotham had personally congratulated Ladorak on his capture of the Rosferian prizes, though the Rosferian Mediterannean Fleet was taking advantage of the absence of the Welkinite Fleet to start sending out forays into the Atlantic and eastern Mediterannean. Hotham had heard that he was being relieved in either late November or early December, and it seemed the capybara Admiral no longer wished to remain at sea for his last few months. It was certainly an inauspicious ending to one of the most uninspiring Admirals to have commanded the Mediterannean Fleet.
The new commander being sent had previously commanded the Caribbean station, mostly with success. Admiral John Jervis was a strict disciplinarian and tolerated no nonsense from the Captains and ships under his command. He ran things very efficiently from what Ladorak knew, but the stoat also knew that in private, the mink Admiral could be generous, warm, and kind. He just rarely let that side of him show when he was going about his business. Either way, Ladorak considered the change a marked improvement over Hotham, and he was eagerly counting down the days to December when Hotham would leave and Jervis would enter. He was looking very much forward to meeting the mink Admiral (though he knew him previously from the winter galas he'd attended at Whistleminster) and getting right down to business with him.
Their time in Personza hadn't been very memorable. Carrow's birthday had come, and Ladorak had treated the striplings once more to a fine supper aboard the Agamemnon in his cabin, but Caden had held off on purchasing anything for the mouse because San Fiorenzo did NOT lend itself to much inspiration when it came to shopping. The town was sleepy and aside from the Welkinite dominated shipyards, there was little going on except a resentful town full of Rosferians who despised being "owned" by Welkin. No... Caden could better spend his money elsewhere, so he'd held off for the time being, waiting until they had a chance to visit other places.
Such an opportunity had finally come when Admiral Hotham announced they'd be sailing to Livorno on the 12th of October. Such news was welcome relief for the fleet, and they sailed as expected, reaching Calgary the next day, the 13th. It was an amelioration to be off Personza and back in Tuscany. True, they were far from their duties of blockading Toulon, and that rankled with some of the officers and crew, but the down time was appreciated as well. As it stood, Kostritz was still containing Rosferia in northern Calgary, and so long as that situation held, the war was not entering a critical stage.
Caden Fugate stood along the Calgarian waterfront, not too close to the Agamemnon but not terribly far either. His Cor d'Anglais was in his paws, his claws dancing and moving over the silvery buttons as he played a bit of a lively tune. It was a song he'd been working on the past few weeks in Personza, and he smiled at passersby as he blew into the reed, giving them a nod as they nodded in greeting at him.
He was growing now, and at a pretty rapid rate. He wasn't a "squirt" anymore, and his eyes easily met Ladorak's chest height now when the two faced each other. It seemed once one hit 15, all sorts of further changes started taking place.
The marten Midshipjack delivered his tune with a cheeriness that hadn't been present in him at late. Perhaps it was because Personza just created those types of feelings within you, and he was glad to be off the island, or maybe it was the change in the weather, but whatever it was, Caden was enjoying himself along the waterfront of Livorno today.
As his song concluded, he drew some applause from those who had stopped to listen, or those who were stopping briefly as they passed by. He held the instrument to one side of him whilst extending his free paw to the other and did a bit of a bow, putting his best paw forward as he did so. "Thank you!" he told them. "Er... Grazie! Grazie!" he quickly corrected himself.
Reaching down, the marten patted his pocket. Good! Carrow's present was still in there. He'd done some shopping this morning, and had stumbled upon the absolutely (in his opinion) perfect gift for his mouse companion. The curios shops in Livorno were often full of unique items, but this in particular had caught his eye in the literal sense, and he'd fished into his earnings to buy it. It was the least he could do, after all, in order to repay the mouse for buying what was surely an expensive Melpomene model (which Caden suspected Carrow had spent most of his previous earnings on). Fortunately, they'd since made more money from being at sea, and Caden had every intention of paying the mouse back.
The albino's large ears perked up as he heard the chiming of Livorno's bell towers. He carefully counted out the peals, and nodded to himself. Good! It was noon! He was supposed to meet Carrow a little after noon in front of Livorno's Duomo, and fortunately for Caden, it was just a short walk down the Via Grande, the street he was currently looking down.
Kneeling, he popped open his English Horn's case, and stuck the instrument firmly between the padding within. Closing and latching it up, the marten grasped the pawdle, hoisted it off the ground, and began walking down the broad Via Grande, whistling the tune he'd just been playing to himself as he strolled along the wide avenue.
Elsewhere in the Tuscan city, Ocean Sleet was buttoning up the last of the buttons on his brilliant red overcoat as he strode alongside Evi Panettos. He was dashingly bedecked in his Hospitaller uniform, which consisted of a bicorne hat, a red overcoat very similar to the Welkinite infantry uniform, with the differnce being the white Maltese cross emblazoned upon the front of it. White pants, white breeches, and black buckle shoes completed the look for the ermine.
They were heading to meet Evi's father (and stepmother) today, and the ermine wanted to look his best for his Catholic brethren, as well as of course make it clear what order he was from. "Well Evi, I can't believe the day has finally arrived!" the ermine exclaimed. "We're really going to meet your father today! I have to say... you joined us earlier this year... or was it last year?" he asked, struggling to remember. "Have you ever been to Florence? I've really been taking an interest in the Dominicans as of late, and they have a rather splendid cathedral in Florence. Santa Maria Novella it's called. I've been attending service there the past few times we stopped in Florence, in addition to the Duomo itself. If I weren't of course a Knight Hospitaller, I would probably be a Dominican. I believe they're called Blackfriars in Welkin." he commented.
"Anyway, their basilica is rather stunning, and while of course it's not as big as the main basilica of Florence, it's still a sight to behold. Perhaps we could attend mass there if we ever get back to Firenze." he suggeted, calling it by its Calgarian name. Ocean was of course planning to attend mass at Livorno's Duomo this coming Sunday, though that wouldn't be until the 18th.
