<div class="floatleft">(https://i368.photobucket.com/albums/oo122/grizzly/Royce-Closeup.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Royce O'Malley<br/><strong>Location:</strong>The Esperanza, Main Deck<br/><strong>Time &amp; Date</strong>: Day 1, Morning<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Open<br/><strong>Content:</strong>Boarding the Esperanza<br/><hr/><br/>Royce walked up the gangplank with a bounce in her step that was not from the lengths of wood beneath her feet.  Royce had been in port for a little over a week, and had been bored out of her mind.  She'd been unable to obtain a position on a ship.  Mates took one look at the young woman and turned her away, sometimes with a good hearty laugh.  There was that one who offered her a position as a 'bed warmer'.  Royce wasn't entirely sure what that was but she didn't like the way that he was eying her so she turned him down.<br/><br/>With no ship to sail on, Royce decided that it might be time for a short vacation, spend some time on land for a few days and then go look for work.  She 'borrowed' the coin purse of some jerk who had slapped her stern end several unwanted times, and used the coin to pay for a fancy room in one of the Inns.  She was entitled to some luxury, and a bath, after all.  And good food.  The bottle of wine had been a mistake and she had woken up in a very unladylike position with an inhumanly heavy head as a result.  She was contemplating another mistake named Jack, when the First Mate of the Esperanza had come looking for crew.  Royce hadn't even known that the ship was bound for Port Royal and its presence excited her.  The Esperanza was legend and captained by a woman no less.  She had to get on that ship.<br/><br/>Which brought her musings back to the gangplank that she was walking up.  Dressed in a simple blouse and vest, trousers, and her worn in boots that came just to below her knees.  Her remaining worldly possessions were wrapped up in a canvas bag and slung over her shoulder.  Her long red hair was tied up in a messy braid, and covered by a bandana and wide brimmed hat.<br/><br/>"Royce O'Malley, reporting.  Permission to come aboard, Captain." she called out formally, one foot resting on the ships gunnels.  The Esperanza was a beauty, as was her captain, and Royce was almost bubbling over with excitement.  Royce did not want to screw this up and when in doubt, she fell on Royal Navy procedures.