Lady Pirates, Pillaging the Towne, in search of Treasure, Provisions, and Man-wenches....

"Capt'n! Capt'n!" call the slightly built cabin-girl. "I've broth ye some lager, straight from 'de tap, like 'ye ask'd". Captain Calico smiled, not enough to easy the girls fears of her, but enough to know she'd done well. As Calico looked around the small wharf, her crew it seemed had done as planned, surprising the few guards there with a slight show of leg and bosom. In these parts, it seemed to work everytime, Calico chuckled to herself.
The Captain drained the heavy mug, and catching the cabin-girl's eye, spat out an order... "Here ye' lil' skank, fetch me t'nother, and be quick about it." As the girl scurried away, Captain Calico Jacq started off toward the City gate and battlements, to gage the progress of her crew.
*******
Captain Calico Jacq Rackham had been sailing the Caribbean since she was a wee child. The love of her lifetime on the sea was evident in all her ways. All her seafaring days had been spent living aboard the Matriarch. Calico was the only known child of Maddy "MadDog"Rackam, the former captain of the Matriarch. At the age of five Calico Jacq watch as her mother, out conducting an island scouting party, disappear into the infamous Black Abyss. Maddy, was last seen standing tall, staring back at her ship....and at Calico...the only one that truly ever had a hold on her heart.
Now an Orphan, according the Lady Pirate's Code, she was raised by the crew, under the command of First Mate Sr. Elizabeth "Wild Betsy" Barbarossa. She learned the ways of a Pirate until her 18th birthday, when she became the full and true Captain of the Matriarch.....
******
As Calico strode toward the gate of the City, She thought how easily they had taken Saint Godric. "Almost too easy", she mused. The City proper was not heavily armed, but had a small contingent of British redcoats to deal with. As usual, they had no idea what weapons a crafty woman can hide on her person or under her petticoat.
Calico was looking for her first mate, Crimson, when she rounded from the battlement tower, into the cannonary yard...and saw the predicament Crimson was in. A hairy wild-eyed bloke had a blade to Crimson's throat, his back to the sea wall. From the look on her face, Crimson was non-too happy to have been caught off guard. "Dammit Crimson, I told 'ye to aways shoot, and ask questions later!" The Captain hollered while sprinting across the courtyard, drawing out her sheathed twin cutlass'. Others of the crew stopped short their pillaging and swarmed around to where Crimson, and now Calico, were. The man looked desperate, like a dog cornered by a pack of lionesses. Suddenly he saw something at the corner of his eye, and at the same time heard the 'click' of a flintlock. Ships Navigator Leslie "WaterGoddess"Dieu-le-veut, in her usual be-ribboned finery, held a pistol to his head. "I'd think long and hard monsieur before trying anything rash." Leslie mouthed through smiling teeth in her lithely French accent. The man defeated, dropped his scabbard, and was quickly overtaken by the crew.
"Well, Crimson, looks like ye owe the WaterGoddess a favor now, don't it?, chuckled Calico, looking at both the relieved face of her first mate, and the bemused face of WaterGoddess. And now that you've a bit 'o free time, give me some news! Crimson quickly recovered, and began relating to Calico what provisions, weapons, artillery, and other essentials they so far had found, and were now being loaded onto the Matriarch. "And rum, Crimson...do they have rum?" Captain Calico asked expectantly. "Aye Capt'n we've found 20 barrels, and eh...that be seventeen now..the ladies have 'elped themselves to three already." Calico's eyes flashed, then softened a bit, "Well it's been some time now hasn't it? I'll give 'em some leeway.....for tonight. Let 'em have 2 more barrels - and secure the rest. And threaten them with loss of a finger if they try to open any more!"
Calico started to walk off, then turned to Crimson - "Good work lass....and by the way, have you seen Blaze?" GypsyBlaze was the Matriarch's Chief Gunnery Officer, taking care of weaponry, gunpowder, and armament supplies. "Aye Capt'n I seen her over take'n stock of the cannonary, and I think she was looking how to get in'ter the magazine room - to take account of their gunpowder stocks." Captain Calico Jacq stopped short.
"Crimson...tell me she didn't have any of the rum" Crimson lowered her eyes, bit her lip, shuffled her boot, and then looked back up to the Captain "She cracked the first keg ma'm. And the second".
Calico, her face now ashen, turned and bolted toward the magazine room. "Great Queen of Scots, after what happened last time? Glory be that girl!...don't she ever learn!"


**********************************************************
I'm not sure where to start.
I think I bit off more than I can chew on this one. I keep this purposefully huge...
I was inspired by this "tongue in cheek" picture "Marooned Booty" [link] - Still one of my
Wanted to get artistic color/feel of Eastman Johnson's "Old Stagecoach"...In the end,

that didn't happen.
The Manipulation came first. Been working on it since beginning of April, and finally

finished. Not perfect....with shading, with perspective, with alot.
But I learned a lot. I had done a lot of work on the background, only to have it hidden by

foreground features. I also learned to do most of my work outside the layer file, and

only import what I needed (My Layer files were getting really bloated.)
And every once in a while...save a jpg to refer back to.

Stock (What I have accounted for)
Thanks to these artist for sharing their talents!
Background


Wall
[link]


CityGate
[link]


Cannonary
[link]


Barrels
[link]


Ship
[link]


Catacomb Dungeon
[link]


Water Well
[link]


Entry to the Treasure Room (heavily Manipulated)
[link]


Stairwell to the Dungeon
[link]

Characters


Captain Calico Jacq Rackham
[link]


Ships Navigator Leslie "WaterGoddess"Dieu-le-veut
[link]


Crimson and Wild-eyed Attacker
[link]


The Treasure - and keeper
[link]


Crew member
[link]


Wall sitting Crew member
[link]


Fancy Pirate
[link]


Rum-Soaked Crew
[link]


Water Well Pirate
[link]


Jailed Townies
[link]


Captured Townie
[link]


Cannonary Lady Pirate
[link]


Drinking Lady Pirate
[link]


Bell-Tower Cimbing Lady Pirate
[link]


The Lookout
[link]


Captured Townie
[link]


Dungeon Lady Pirate Picking her belly-warmer
[link]


Townie trying to rescue her man
[link]


Thanks again to all who let me play with their stuff!!!