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Post by Aedan Cepero on Jul 5, 2014 4:19:08 GMT
One of eight captains scouring the state for volunteers, the newly minted Captain Aedan Cepero had a job to do. Go out and find roughly 100 enlisted men for his new regiment. Simple enough, right? Not quite evidently. The officers were easy to find, and a few old French and Indian war vets were quick to sign up and receive their sergeant stripes.... But the actual rank and file was a bit more difficult to recruit. Having tried a few churches and finding many of the men there a bit hesitant he decided it was probably best to not search in places of God, but places where men would prefer God wasn't watching them. The taverns.
Lit cigar clenched in his teeth and dressed in his finest uniform he stood in front of one of the taverns with one of the his three lieutenants, a young man from his hometown of Beaufort. A well educated boy from the gentry, as Aedan was, the lieutenant looked at the tavern with some hesitation as he held a ledger in his hands. "Are you sure this is a good idea sir?" The boy began. Aedan simply smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "There are few places where we will find a more passionate hatred of King George than in taverns such as these. Come on." Opening the door he took the cigar out of his mouth and took a slow, careful look around the bar. A few heads turned and of all the looks he received, the most were very clearly those of confusion. Had they not received word of what was going on? Taking a few steps in, he began.
"Gentlemen of this fine establishment. My name is Captain Aedan Cepero, with the 2nd South Carolina Infantry. As many of you may or may not know, the colony of South Carolina has elected to levy two regiments of troops to join the newly formed Continental Army. Notice, my uniform is NOT red... It is because our 13 colonies have unanimously declared themselves free of the tyranny of the British Monarchy, and now we must arm ourselves to defend this tentative, fragile new liberty. The 2nd South Carolina needs you! Join today, for a service length of one year, and you will be issued new uniforms, including boots. Good pay, clean food, and a new-found pride in yourselves knowing that you will be helping strike a blow for free men everywhere against tyranny. If you are interested, come speak to my lieutenant here, and he will place your name on the ledger and we shall leave for Charles Towne in the morning."
After he finished his speech, the lieutenant set up his table and opened the ledger, with several men already beginning to line up to sign up. However, the numbers were small... Too small for what he needed. Walking around, he noticed several men still simply sitting by the bar, having barely moved since he got there. Approaching them he stood next to one with shoulder length black hair and began. "You sir, any particular reason you haven't lifted your nose from that mug since I arrived here?"
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Post by Gideon Warnes on Jul 6, 2014 3:27:26 GMT
The night was still young. So there was hope yet. Gideon sat at a small table nearest to the bar. He had a glass of port sitting in front of him and a larger bottle of something quite stronger sitting nearby. Port, while cheap, was weak. Or at least he believed so. But he wouldn't let any drink go to waste. Once the port was gone, he intended to down the entire bottle of whiskey. The night truly was young and he intended to make it a night.
There were a shortage of preachers in some of the smaller towns, particularly the ones bordering the frontiers, so it was not difficult to find an open pulpit to speak at. But, not for the first time, his reputation had preceded him. The woman of that town were not easily swayed and they were now on their guard. The last few nights were spent alone. He hated to sleep alone. As much as he hated the cheap port he was drinking. But there wasn't much for it. After the first drink, he had spent the rest of his money on the whiskey. He was going to have to leave town the next day to find a vacant pulpit or start begging for money. But there was still the night. He would not sleep alone a fourth night.
Gideon stared at a barmaid. She was pretty though clearly older than him. Half of her dark hair had slipped from its cap. The fichu that had originally been modestly tucked into her bodice had slipped a corner. He stared at that bare patch of skin wondering what it felt like.
The door slammed open and two men walked in. He glanced up at their arrival, taking in their tidy uniforms. Soldiers. He returned his attention to the barmaid only to see that she had disappeared. He cursed silently.
One of the men started speaking. He barely listened. His attentions were more focused on his drink with half an eye to the cellar door in case his barmaid would make an appearance. A few words reached through his thoughts. Infantry, tyranny, liberty. As they didn't affect him personally, he let them drift back out as quickly as they had come.
Once the speech was finished, however, the man who had spoken approached him. Gideon was slow to look up. He drained the last few drops of port from his glass. Setting it back down on the table, he reached hold of the whiskey, opened it, and took a long surprisingly long swig straight from the bottle. Only then did he turn to look at the man.
”I was thirsty,” Gideon replied curtly. ”But what does it matter to you?”
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Post by Aedan Cepero on Jul 6, 2014 20:33:55 GMT
A small part of Aedan wondered if trying to get this clearly drunken man was worth it. He was likely just going to buck and kick with every advancement. But somehow, Aedan had a hunch. If he could convince this one man to join it was likely the other hesitant ones would be listening in and join up as well. "Well, good sir, I ask because while you only see the bottom of your bottle, I see a future soldier of the revolution." He patted the man on the shoulder, then leaned against the bar and spoke to the bartender. "Bar keep, glass of scotch please." As the bartender nodded and went off to pour Aedan his drink, he set his hat down on the bar and took a puff of his cigar. "So what is your name, and what exactly is it you do around here?"
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Post by Gideon Warnes on Jul 7, 2014 3:06:09 GMT
”Future soldier of the revolution...” Gideon mimicked back his reply. ”Perhaps you need your eyes checked then because I believe you're mistaken.”
The man was going to try to recruit him. Clearly his little speech did not result in the number of recruits he had hoped for and now he intended to recruit one on one. Gideon had no interest in enlisting so he firmly believed that the man was wasting his time. But he was in a fairly good mood. While the port may have been weak, the whiskey was not and he found it cheering himself immensely.
”Reverend Gideon Warnes. I am a preacher, a traveling preacher filling in vacant pulpits and providing comfort and guidance and penance and the like.” He laughed. ”Not much of a soldier, I'm afraid. Excuse me a moment.” The barmaid had returned with a brimming pitcher in her hands. As she passed directly by him, Gideon reached out and ran his hand along her arm. As the woman turned to look, he winked and gave his most charming smile. The barmaid blushed but continued on her way. He returned his attention to the soldier. ”And who are you exactly?” He had not paid attention to the speech.
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Post by Aedan Cepero on Jul 7, 2014 5:38:20 GMT
Oh this man was simply a treat. A real class act. A reverend who clearly preferred to whore about and drink his failure with bottle after bottle. Aedan couldn't help but feel as though he chose the toughest nut in the bar out of a strange sense of masochism. Still it was times like these were his stubborn nature paid off one way or another, and he wasn't about to look weak in front of everyone here in this bar by a degenerate preacher. No, he was going to convince this man to join.
"My name is Aedan." He was going to try to appeal to his honor as a reverend. Perhaps that would work. Taking a sip of his own whiskey, he noticed the reverend attempting to flirt with the older barmaid and questioned his approach for a second, but instead just took a mental note and continued on. "So you're a shepherd seeking a flock. Well, a shepherd guides, but they also help fight off the wolves, and as I speak the wolves are sailing down from England. The army needs good shepherds like yourself to fight them. Don't worry about not having a current flock, let the nation be your flock, and with your help we could create a new nation free of the tyranny of kings."
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Post by Gideon Warnes on Jul 8, 2014 3:07:56 GMT
"Shepherd, shepherd, shepherd. That's all I am, a damn shepherd. Let the wolves sail down the England. Doesn't affect me none." He cast another glance at the barmaid. "I'm not seeking a flock. Well, maybe I am. Which man isn't after a good flock? I suppose I haven't had a flock in a few days, not saying anything against me, understand? But such things are easily remedied, if you know where to cast your line. You like ... you look like a man who'd understand things like flocks." He took another drink. The whiskey was already half gone and he was quickly growing quite drunk. "I suppose I am a shepherd then."
He set the glass down suddenly and turned to look towards Aedan. "Tyranny of kings? Is that the best you got? Do I look like one concerned with tyranny?" He laughed. "There are more important things in this here world. Like her," he pointed to the barmaid. "Ain't she lovely? I will be giving her a bit of preaching before the morning, mark my words. There's a flock for you." He thought a moment. "She has a sister. I should introduce you. Gwenny!" He called out to the woman who came over with a smile - an apprehensive smile. "Gwenny, dear Gwenny. This is ... uh ... Captain Aedan Cicero or Cisily or Something amusing like that. Believe it or not, this man flocks the nation." He finished with a laugh that only increased in volume at seeing the rising blush color the young woman's cheeks a vibrant red.
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Post by Aedan Cepero on Jul 8, 2014 3:54:32 GMT
Choking back the slowly growing urge to strangle this degenerate preacher in front of the bar and find a way to declare self defense or that kind of malarky. The two women in front of him were not unattractive by any means, but perhaps it was the remoteness of this town that led to them being far more desired than they would be in a city like Charles Towne. In a moment, he finally figured out how to do it. How to convince this preacher to join. Smiling softly, he bowed his head at the sister.
"Thank you Gwenny, you're very lovely. However, I'm on official business I'm afraid. Were that not the case, I'd love to spend a night with you." Looking over at Gideon, he motioned for him to come closer. "Not to offend these ladies but... They seem a bit spent. It seems that if you're trying to drunkenly grope around here, this town must not have much left for you, or you have allowed your reputation to sully your chances. You join up with the Continentals, we go all over the colonies, to many different towns where no one knows who you are... Many beautiful maidens unaware of your own drunken shenanigans here in South Carolina. And just think, women love a man in uniform, how many you'll be able to find to rip your sharp blue coat off of you as we march to war."
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Post by Gideon Warnes on Jul 10, 2014 16:18:17 GMT
Gideon laughed as the young woman practically ran away, her face bright red. "Gwenny's not a whore, if that's what you're thinking. She and her husband run this tavern." He took her drink. "Her sister, however ... you should hear the things she's confessed. Some is quite shocking, but I must not say any more on it." He didn't care about one's beliefs. He certainly did not practice what he preached. But the one thing he did care about, was keeping one's confessions secret. It wasn't from any sort of religious reasons, Gideon simply believed that secrets should be kept by those entrusted to keep them.
And now the recruitment begins. He listened with an amused smile until Aedan had finished his little speech. He found it interesting that he was taking the women approach instead of something about glory or honor or even duty to one's people. It was probably the smart approach. While it may not get him to join, it would certainly make him listen. And that was a start. "I don't know who you're kidding. I am an ordained minister. And I'm sure it's in the Bible somewhere about not killing your fellow man. Besides, no woman is worth being shot at. At least I haven't yet met one who was worth it. So you're going to have to do much better than that."
He choked on his drink. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear." A large man strode through the door at that very moment. "That would be Gwenny's dear husband. You must pardon me if I don't introduce the two of you. I'm not exactly on ... speaking terms with the man."
He hadn't actually done anything with Gwenny, at least not recently so he wasn't too concerned with her husband's wrath. Gideon had actually dealt with it once before and survived well enough. But really the man had no room to complain. He was hardly the model of faithfulness. But still, he turned his chair slightly to keep his back to the door.
"Does it pay well?" He asked, referring to enlistment.
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