Captain's Cabin 1st July 1809

De Wulf kept walking, listening for the carry on to dismiss the men. Watching his footing in and around all the ropes and pulleys on the deck, he made his way to his cabin, smiling and nodding at the sailors who moved out of his way and stood at attention. Silly boy, he will learn his place. Stepping up in front of the whole mustered deck? He really is green. Shaking his head he walks up to the cabin door and inhales deeply. Well here goes…

Opening the door slowly he peers into the room. A large desk sat toward one side bolted to the deck with an accompanying chair, in pretty good condition for what they were, though the cabin was devoid of all other furnishings. He dropped his bag onto the table and checked each drawer. A few old quills in the top one with a few scraps of paper, nothing on any of them. Nothing at all in the second one. But the third and last drawer held a prize. Hello… What is this…? Wulf pulled out a mahogany box inlaid with gold and strangely enough his name engraved on it. How…? Opening it he laughed out loud as he saw the Crest he and his sister used to seal their letters. The exact duplicate of the one on the ring he wore. Jacqueline!! He pulled his boot knife and broke the wax seal opening the note sitting on the top, the contents forgotten in his haste for the words written within.

My dear Pierre, Wolf of the Sea,
Wasn’t too long ago we called you Wolf of the plains but the calling of the sea has taken you far from us. Not too far that I cannot get a token to you of how proud I am of you making Captain!! Of a Corvette no less!! Take this gift to show how much I love you and wish you fair winds and safe seas. And remember, the first ship you catch you must name after me…
All my love,
Jacqueline

He smiled broadly at her words and put the note down to inspect the contents of the box. Inside it lay 20 Gold pieces and a small pin in the shape of their crest. He pulled his hat from where he sat it on the table and fastened the pin to it at the front, baring it to the world. Jacqueline, you always had a way of finding out everything. How did you know about my promotion? I haven’t spoken to you in months. He laughed again. Doesn’t matter, Thankyou dear sister.

Placing the note back into the box he put it back into the drawer along with his sextant, eyeglass and his other belongings. Moving over to the door of his bedchambers he opened it slowly and coughed at the smell of mould emanating from within. That will have to be fixed.

Taking his jacket off he rolled up his sleeves, just as a man opened the door and walked into his cabin. Dropping the sheets on the floor in shock to see someone there he quickly recovered and eyed him up and down. Who was this young ruffian in the captains cabin! Just as the man was about to speak he noticed the jacket on the table and all the belongings around the cabin. To which it was devoid earlier when he was in there.

“Sir, I wasn’t listening for the Still, I apologise.” De Wulf grinned Perceptive, I could have been anyone.

“It’s quite alright man, I was just going to rid my rack of those awful smelling sheets and ask for some new ones but you seem to have beaten me to the punch. If you are willing to accept the help I have an extra pair of hands.” He held them up in front of him and wiggled his fingers. Lets give him the choice instead of ordering him to do it and see where it goes.

“Thank you sir, but no. I have it all under control. Are those your belongings?” The man guestured to the desk.

“They sure are, but first is first, by what name do I call you, I can’t have you be my steward without knowing your name. Now that would be barbaric.” He crossed over to the desk and picked up his rucksack and gear.

“Jerrarde. Jerrarde Polifonte sir, at your service.” He said the last with a courtly bow and de Wulf laughed.

“Now now, none of that bowing nonsense. We are just two men you and I. I would like it that within these walls we act as much. Agreed?” He watched the older man with a raised eyebrow.

Jerrarde looked his new captain up and down with an appraising eye. He might be young but he seems to know his way around He grinned.

“If that’s your wish sir, then so it shall be done. Two men within these walls out of eyesight of others. I would like that. Other Captains I have served in the past have had quite the opposite ideas of… Employment…” Laughing he picked the sheets back up. “I had the idea you were going to be an old salt come by for his last tour of duty. But I can see now this isn’t going to be a boring trip.”

Wulf turned over his shoulder as he stored his uniforms in the closet in his bedchambers and laughed also.

“Jerrarde my good man, I was thinking the same think myself not 15 minutes ago…”

(OCC: I'm continuing as the 1st lt. started in the original thread.)

Directly after the last bell, the first lieutenant, whose eagerness was starting to annoy the master, collected Du Bois and the master gunner. They walked trough the gangway carefully, making sure they didn't fell over tools, wood, barrels or sailors at work.

The first lieutenant then knocked, and a short reply ordered them into the cabin. They entered one by one. Du Bois, as according to rank, entered second. As the three men removed their headdress and lined up like a gang of schoolboys, the Breton was surprised by the fact his new captain had already taken off his coat. Getting informal already?

Ding-ding....Ding-ding

"Sir", "the Sailing Master and the Master Gunner." Ahh I see you've met your steward already too.

Here is the ships current muster list, laying a sheet of paper on the Captaine's desk.

Van Bang followed Du Bois into the capitaine's cabin removing his beret as he did so. He stood standing adjacent to the Sailing Master, at his ease, as he noticed that De Wolfe's jacket was off so it was to be an informal meeting.
well this seems like his style, it's good to know that his rise in rank hasn't gone to his head. Although ill wager 10 shillings that before the weeks out he has to crack a few heads and lay down the law before the crew
He waited silently for his capitaine to receive the crew muster list from 1st Leut Sauveur.

De Wulf finished stowing his gear and sat in his chair watching Jerrarde potter about cleaning the few things left in the cabin. Moving his jacket to the back of the chair and his hat on the corner of the desk on the affixed stand so it would fall to the deck in rough seas, he heard the watch bell ring. Already? I haven’t had time to… sigh… As the cards are dealt. The men would soon be here and he had better be ready. It was the first proper meeting, hopefully what he wanted would be accepted easily. A knock at the door caught his attention Already? Wow I better stop daydreaming.

“Entrer” he called out and waited to see how they came in. Sauveur… Du Bois… Van Bang… Good there was no hiccup with rank here. He realised that his jacket was still on the back of the chair. [/i] Not a good start, but maybe it could work. [/i]

Lining up in front of the desk the three men took off their hats and waited, with the 1st Lieutenant making the first move.

“Sir, the Sailing master and the master gunner. Ahh I see you’ve met your steward already too. Here is the ships Muster list.” He stepped forward and placed a piece of paper on the desk stepping back into his place. Short, sweet and to the point. every bit an officer. Wulf thought.

Wulf nodded to Sauveur, looked at the paper and stood up. He clasped his hands behind his back and walked over to the windows. Looking out he addressed the three men standing at ease before the desk.

“Gentlemen, as you are aware, this ship is in need of a lot of work. From her sails to her keel she needs to be re-painted, re-sailed, re-roped and re-moulded into the French beauty I know she can be. I know that you are undertaking it and from what I can see you are doing a fine job. A lot more work has been completed than I thought, and you are to be commended.” Turning to face them his eyes grew hard. In turn looking each of them in the eyes while his next points were made.

“I know I may look young, and I am. You may have some doubts at my experience and my leadership abilities. But as of right now I will have no questioning of my authority. I expect that as the senior members of this crew that my orders will be carried out as if I was a man of 40 years sea experience.” Turning back to his desk he opened the top drawer and picked out the revised muster list, handing it to Sauveur.

“Trust gentlemen is something that is not given freely, I know this. It is something that is earned and should be respected. I intend on earning your trust and respect on this ship. And I hope in turn you will endeavour to earn mine.” He nodded to the list.
“That is the revised muster list for the revenant lieutenant. Unfortunately yours is out-dated as it was the one I received over a month ago. The one I just handed to you is the updated version handed to me by the admiralty last week. It has a few more aspirants and officers than the old list, for a total of 150 crew. Please make sure that all the men are bunked down accordingly when they arrive.” Wulf stepped back.

“Dismissed lieutenant, I know you have important things to do and I wont keep you.”

Merci Captaine, I'll be back on deck if I'm needed again. With that Jean-Claude will leave the Captain's cabin and head up on deck.

Responding to the lieutenant's order to notify their captain of the new arrivals, Aurelien made his way to the captain's quarters. He paused at the door then knocked.

"Permission to enter, sir?" he called out.

Pierre de Wulf watched his 1st lieutenant walk out of his cabin and had only one thought in his head. Words will be said next time I have you alone lieutenant. Respect for rank is utmost. No matter the man. Turning to the two gentlemen standing there at their ease he walked around his desk and sat down.

“You are the upper echelon of the non-commissioned rank. As of this moment you are the only ones on board and I wanted to speak to you.” He paused pondering his next words carefully. “As my sailing master the normal day to day sailing will be handled by you and the Officers of the watch. Each watch will have one lieutenant and an Aspirant. I believe in training on the job so each Aspirant will be shown by the Lieutenants how to hold a watch and command the ship. I will brief each of them in their duties but I wanted you to know that they will come to you for assistance. I expect you to act accordingly as respect for rank implies. I know you are a professional. You have the air about you that says you are extremely apt at your job. I want to exploit that confidence you have. This ragtag bunch of wannabe sailors are going to need a good leader among their ranks. And I want you to be that leader. I will always be seen by them as above them no matter what I do. I need you to pull them together. I need you to have them ready to face a warship that has outgunned us 2 to 1. I need you to have them so they won’t cower in the face of danger. And I think you have the ability to do it. We have been tasked to do some dangerous things. We have been given a lot of leeway that other naval ships do NOT have, I will not go into the details right now but believe me… this will not be walk in the park. And I need a crew that can live up to that.” Wulf stood up and walked back around the desk to stand in front of Du Bois. Looking him straight in the eye he said slowly.

“Do you accept this challenge I am setting you?”

Hearing a knock and a small voice at the door he raised his voice.

"Wait!"

Turning back to the sailing master he waited his reply.

As soon as he asked for permission to enter, Aurelien got his answer in an emphatic one word reply.

"Wait!"

Alright, that was clear as a bell, the young aspirant did as told and stood there outside the door.

Du Bois kept a straight face as the captain explained his vision of the Bretons duties. While he wasn't entirely happy with the treatment he had to give the aspirants, he damn well knew how the system worked.

The young captain looked him into the eyes, asking for an answer. That took courage, no doubt. Maybe he wasn't such a bad sort, all trough Du Bois wondered why he didn't what explain those 'dangerous things' were. Time would tell.

"Mon capitaine" he answered, just as slowly, looking back into the captains eyes, "I accept that challenge with pleasure".

It might have been the light, but one could have sworn there was just a hint of a smile on the Sailing masters face for a second...

De Wulf grinned as he stepped back, the intensity he had when looking the men up and down was gone and the mood lightened considerably. His tone became lighter.

“Good, now that that is over we can go back to business. I have commissioned a new ships head to be carved for our first voyage, its not going to be completed for at least the next week but wen it arrives I would like you,” he was still talking to Du Bois, “to arrange the men to fit it. They will do it all themselves but I want you to make sure they don’t make a mess of it. Agreed?”

He raised his eyebrows as he finished in question. Was that a hint of a smile on the old man’s face just before?

"A new ships head sir?" That was unusual. All trough the current head was in a bad shape, repairing was the usual solution for that.

"Well, if that are your orders, sir, then I shall make the arrangements."

"Thankyou."

De Wulf stood back and nodded, satisfied with the answer. He knew a new ships head was different and not normally the way of things BUT he was here to make an impression. There was no rule saying it couldn't be changed. It just was not normally done. I want a new image for this ship. The brits will cower at the sight of her brow smashing through the waves.

"You must have a few jobs awaiting your keen eye, dismissed. And can you tell whoever is outside my door to come back in an hour. Or wait. Your decision." With that Wulf turned, walked around his desk and started to rummage through his desk drawer.

Du Bois saluted with a crack "A vous ordres, mon Capitan!" and turned around, not realizing until he had reached the door that the captain has specially said 'eye' instead of 'eyes'. Also a sense of humor? That was promising...

Upon leaving the cabin he almost bumped into the Aspirant (again). So he was waiting? The sailing Master played with the idea to tell the lad to enter now and watch how he would make a fool of himself, but Du Bois had not forgotten the captains word - as much as he enjoyed that little fantasy.

"The captain is currently busy. If you have other duties to look too, I suggest you turn to those and return in an hour," Du Bois said, as he put his top hat on, and then continued:
"If not, you can wait until the captain summons you. That may take as much as an hour, though. Good afternoon, Aspirant" He then saluted, inspected the lad for another second and went on to his duties, silently wondering why God had made aspirants.

The door opened but it was not the captain but the aged sailing master.

"Sir," Aurelien nodded, standing straight and tall as he waited.

The man then informed him that the captain was busy? And would be so for a good hour. So he could not expect to see him prior to that. That was most distressing news, Aurelien pondered on it even as he answered the man.

"Thankyou sir, but I have my orders from the lieutenant and as an aspirant I do not have the luxury of picking and choosing which orders to obey or not obey. I will wait."

A strange way to run a ship the boy thought. The captain has no idea what the person outside his door might even want or have in his possession. What if it had been a vital message delivered in haste by a courier? Or what if he was needed up on deck for some sort of emergency, even a life and death situation which called for the captain? What if an admiral had arrived unexpectedly demanding to see the man?

No, but the captain was busy............

Nonetheless, he was at least determined to do his duty as directed by a superior officer. He remained next to the door, thinking.

Saluting back the sailing master de Wulf turned back to his drawer. looking up as the door shut he smiled at Jean Claude Van Bang. Laughing he stood straight up and stretched his arms out. Its good to see you old friend, its been too long.

"Well old friend... Here we are again... A few years older and a few shakes of salt wiser." Walking around and standing in front of Van Bang, Wulf stopped and took out 10 Florins from his pocket holding them out to his new Gunnery officer.
"I think I owe you this..." he said with a wink.

Jean Claude Van Bang watched as the sailing master Du Bois saluted the capitaine and made his way confidently out of the cabin
I wonder what he thinks of our new capitaine? Ill bet he was a bit surprised at de Wulf's open frankness. Ill find out soon enough I guess he thought to himself as the capitaine's cabin door shut behind the sail master.
A big grin spread across Van Bangs scared face as he looked at his capitaine and saw a matching grin on de Wulf's youthful one.
As de Wulf laughed and made his way towards Van Bang, he couldn't help but break into a laugh as well at seeing the "young Wolf" again.
my god has it really been about 18 months since he had seen him. He looks pretty much the same as he had whilst leading our unit in the many raids we conducted. And I knew he would be a capitaine the next time our paths crossed, admittedly I didn't expect to meet "young wolf" again so soon Van Bang mused to himself as de Wolf spoke and pulled 10 florins out of his pocket and presented them to him.
" Ahh. See that was one of my safer bets capitaine, I told you that you would be a capitaine of your own ship the next time we met" Van Bang laughed as he took the offered coins and placed them in his pocket.
Van bang stepped forward and gave de Wulf a bear hug, slapping him on the back "It's great to see you again Wulf, and still in one piece I see " he said jovially as he stepped back to look over de Wulf.
"You don't look a bloody day older than when I last saw you about 18 months ago in the blue sail inn after that successful munitions supply raid" Van Bang said smiling "seeing you alive and doing very well means that your sudden posting was not only a success but has been good to you as well"

Being wrapped up in a bear hug was not new to him, As gruff as van Bang was he had a soft spot for those who he considered his good friends. And after what they had gone through they were closer than most.

"It's great to see you again Wulf, and still in one piece I see."

"You don't look a bloody day older than when I last saw you about 18 months ago in the blue sail inn after that successful munitions supply raid" Wulf watched Van Bang smile. The scars giving his face a mischievous quality, "Seeing you alive and doing very well means that your sudden posting was not only a success but has been good to you as well" He was right, it HAD been 18 months since that raid.

"A bet I was happy to lose old friend." De Wulf laughed again. "Seems I have been favoured by the gods for some kind of act of valour" Wulf winked after that statement, knowing full well van Bang remembered what had happened during that raid. The now faded scar running under his left eye proof to the bond they shared.

"I kid of course, I was in the right place at the right time once we had gotten back from..." he stopped and looked toward the door, Lets hope we haven't been talking too loud, these stories could be dangerous in the wrong hands Lowering his voice and nodding toward it he continued, "those raids. We should keep that between us jean-claude, there is no one on this vessel I recognise from those forays so we cant be too careful." His voice gained its normal volume again. "They had thought me brash and foolhardy when I got that posting but when I got back with the spoils they could not ignore me any longer. So here I am." He smiled again stepping back.

"Now how in the mothers name did you come onto my crew??"

Jean Claude Van Bang smiled as he listened to his Capitaine. He noted the way de Wulf lowered his voice when speaking about the raids, and nodded his agreement with keeping quiet about the details. Van Bang smiled again as he listened to the light hearted explanation of how the "young wolf" has risen in rank and realised that his capitaine was no longer a "young wolf" but had matured and become a "sea wolf". His eyes were more commanding and his confidence and bearing were much more evident.and thats hard to believe considering the confidence he had as the "young wolf" Van Bang chuckled to himself.
"Don't worry Wulf, I will keep quiet about the specifics of our past assignments. Although I know a few of the crew from a short assignment I had on board the Abelard, they are good men and reliable in a pinch" Van Bang said in a low voice.
"As to how I got my sorry behind in this billet" he laughed as his voice returned to normal jovial tones "well lets just say that the admiralty informed my superiors in my old unit that I was to be billeted in a sea draught again for "respite", although to me they mentioned that I was to ensure I brought along old Michelle, (Van Bangs musket) and be prepared for any eventualities that may occur." Van bang reached up with his right hand and lightly touched the faded scar under his left eye, then ran his fingers along the scar running along his jaw line on the right side of his face from the chin to his right ear. He smiled as he looked at de Wulf " I must admit that I was curious and a little apprehensive about the assignment, but seeing you here mon capitaine, well lets just say that this sea billet will be far from boring"
Van Bang patted the pocket where he had just deposited the 10 florins and offered a wager to de Wulf " ill wager these 10 florins that some of the crew you have put on your modified list are also specialists of some form or another, I know that Du Bois is a veteran and I doubt you would find a better sailing master in all of France and I'm judging that by not only his bearing but his service record as well. So lets cut to the chase and tell me Wulf, what assignment or job do you want me to do?"

Wulf smiled.

"May as well hand them over then old friend. For they might seem green, but some of the boys on that list I have seen firsthand. they show great promise. I think I can bring it out of them. As for Du Bois? He was assigned this ship before I was made aware, but he seems solid and seaworthy. I think I can count on that man to do what I need to do to this ship to get her and her crew into a good fighting condition."

Sitting behind his desk Wulf motioned toward the only other chair in the cabin and continued while he waited for Van Bang to take it.

"As for your assignment on here, now that I know its you who is my Gunnery Captain, I can relax how it is run. I need you to take 3 of the 4 aspirants and give them guncrews. Train them. Make sure they know their crews inside and out. They will be assistant officers of the watch as well so their time will be limited. But I know you can do it. I have seen you train men before. What say you?" He sat back, trying to meet Van Bangs eye.

"Ahh ha mon capitaine so you have selected some of the crew, although I admit they don't sound like specialists, I will concede the point and pay the half" Van Bang states whilst reaching into his pocket and bringing out a hand full of florins" shall we say 5 florins for I was only partially correct in the summarisation of the crew manifest in question?"
Jean Claude Van Bang counted out 5 florins and places them on the table and then draws back the indicated chair. "Don't mind if I do mon capitaine, after you Sir" he states with a grin whilst indicating his captains chair.
Then something De Wulf said catches Van Bangs attention, and he looks at De Wulf curiously " three aspirants? You want me to train three specifically for the gun crews? I can understand two as we have 10 guns apiece port and starboard, and I can understand teaching the basics to all aspirants to take over if casualties occur, but surely 5 guns apiece for each aspirant is enough, they will be able to control 10 guns apiece if we are surrounded and have to fire both sides at once. So why train a third specifically for gun detail? Are you going to run a rotation?" Van Bang queried. " or do you have something else in mind?"

De Wulf smiled a wicked grin at the last question from Van Bang.
"I see that you can still do the math..." Laughing he swipes up the 5 florins and throws them into his desk. At the same time plucking out a blank sheet of paper and a quill. Lets see if my idea will work in your eyes my old friend Putting the paper onto the desk Wulf starts to sketch.

As his sketch starts to take shape he looks up at Van Bang to see if he can grasp what he is doing. Pleased with the look on the scarred face he continued with vigour.

Slapping the quill down on the desk and turning the paper around so he could get the whole picture, Wulf sat back and started to explain.

"The way I want to do this will change the way the battle at sea is shaped. I plan on placing two more cannons facing forward out of our bow. Rigged exactly the same as the broadside cannons with ports and pulleys and the entire rigging needed. But hidden from view. I know that a few ships have bowchaser swivelmounted guns but I want us to be able to punch our way through the quarterdeck of whatever ragtag bunch we decide to chase..." His eyes were wildfire as he described the details. Envisioning himself ploughing through the waves after an English warship. His cannons ripping chaos through the rudders and men on the aft end of their deck, crippling them. Luring them in for the kill. "And that is why you have been allocated an extra aspirant... I want you to teach him as much as you can about trajectories, windspeeds affecting the cannonballs, everything you can so that when the time comes... They will perform..." Wulf sat forward, his grin very wide. his eyes still very bright.

Jean Claude Van Bang rubbed his scarred jawline with his right index finger and thumb as he watched De Wulf detail his plan for forward guns. it should work, there is no reason I can think off that would prevent it. The extra ton and a half should be no problem, and the ships carpenter will have no trouble with it. I'm guessing the 32lb cannonade's will be the preferred cannon of choice. Van Bang thought As he asked
"I'm assuming that you will be using the 32lb cannonade's instead of the long six's Wulf? I can see no problem with the design, and it will defiantly be a surprise to any lobster we decide to chase down"
Van Bang glanced up at his capitaine with a wicked grin and a glint in his eye.