Sea-Salt & Sacred Shanties: Part 1
An adventure spanning seas and continents begins! Welcome to the world of Ae'sdaan, This world is populated by Ae'smen, a term used to describe the typical person. Unlike in our world, people have a variety of noticeably different characteristics based on their breeding, some covered in fur, some in scales and other in feathers. Put simply, they're anthro animals...
Ae'sdaan is drastically different to our own world in many ways. The population of Ae'smen and other creatures in the world have access to magic through a variety of venues, and the world itself is almost universally has a steampunk aesthetic. After a catastrophe which little know about, many are unable to live on the land they were born on, and have had to take to the seas to survive. The cataclysm has created monsters, and allowed less scrupulous creatures to slip into Ae'smen from other worlds.
One such creature is our main character, a male human, a type of monster that isn't well documented or recorded. As he learns more about the world he's in, and grows ever distant from the one he left, who will he come to trust, and possibly even love?
Let's find out!
(I will read comments to see what people like, and it will probably shape the path forward. If people want to learn a particular type of magic, pursue the arts or study technology, then that's what'll be done. Passively, our protagonist will learn whatever skills are offered up to him, but he might choose to focus on particular talents if directed. I've seen this sort of thing done in other places and think it'll do well here, if/when this reaches people. These will probably be short at first, but will become longer and more frequent over time. Tags that aren't seen now will appear later.)
The light of the new world is blinding, and my stomach is rebelling against the rest of me. I have no idea where I am, but the sound of waves and the smell of the sea is intense. It's a stark contrast to lying in bed. Figures surround me, and the strangely furred hand that I'd grabbed onto pulls itself out of my grip spasmodically. I fell back against a wooden floor, and hear the stomp of a boot next to my head. I flinch involuntarily, and feel something press against my bare tummy, cold and pointy. I go perfectly still, my head spinning from the sudden shift, and a strange tingle that spreads all throughout my body. Before I can gather my thoughts, I hear a soft voice speaking to the others, a refined accent that seems out of place here.
"I want it for my studies, don't kill the thing, bring it to my cabin and I'll examine it further."
These must be people. I feel completely dazed and confused. Where am I? Am I dreaming? This feels so real. I open my eyes at last, and my brain reels. This isn't a dream, that's for sure, but it can't be reality either. I'm surrounded by furred men. I begin to ask what's going on, when a furred paw jabs into my belly, winding me. I can do nothing but wheeze and gasp for a few moments, trying to suck in breath.
"Keep ye' mouth shut, beast, we en't having any of ye' Monstersong on th' ship!"
Another voice, this one lacking the refinement of the last. He doesn't speak to me, he speaks at me, as if I were an animal. It comes from a fox-looking creature with scars marring the fur on his bared chest. I stare, but he doesn't seem to notice. What are these people? What are they going to do to me? What is this Monstersong that they were talking about? Questions buzz through my head and I feel sick. The movement beneath my feet, being winded and the growing unease makes me want to vomit. I keep my mouth shut though, and close my eyes tight as I'm pushed awkwardly down stairs and into a strange little room. My arms are held firmly by two of the animal-men, one is a sort of bear-like creature, while the other is a tiger-like thing. Even if they hadn't been holding me, I wasn't going to try and run away from them, looking as scary as they did. Something in me was scared of being eaten, despite the two long blades that were clearly displayed on their waists. The tiger had two of them. He also had his chest bare, clearly defined muscles on his stomach rippled as he moved, making me feel more and more conscious of my skinny physique. After a short, awkward minute and standing still with my mouth clamped shut tight, I can feel the gaze of the tiger on my body. He's judging me, I can see. From the smirk on his face, I can tell that he's looking down on me. I shrink into myself as much as I can, and then our eyes meet. He cuffs the back of my head and growls. Something inside me, primal, makes me whimper in fear.
"Stop that, ye' checking it out, pervert."
The bear speaks now, but despite his words, looks me over, his gaze falling on my crotch, covered only by boxer-briefs.
"Beast's got more modesty than most of us."
He scratches at his own crotch lazily, and I see something shift. I look down, heat rushing to my face. I feel like I should speak. For some reason, they don't think that I can speak their language. It might be for the best that I don't indicate that I do. Besides, if I open my mouth, I'm worried that they'd just bury one of their blades in me. I remain as still as I can, until I feel a paw-hand tugging at the waistband of my underwear. I squirm and try to angle myself away, but I'm so tightly held between the two that it's difficult. The tiger lets out an amused little chuffing noise into my ear, like a cat, and draws it back out.
"Prrrudish too! I bet it has something worth hiding frrrom us boys, eh, Baurrrien?"
I close my legs together as best as I can, and the bear chuckles at the Tiger's purred comments. He shakes his head at the tiger, a silly smile on his face. Maybe these things aren't as scary as I thought? I risk opening my mouth again, and change my mind quickly as the tiger moves a hand to his blade. He looks at my curiously, then pets my head.
"It learrrrns, interrrresting..."
It's at that point that the soft spoken one returns. He's a rabbit, and weirdly enough, he's wearing glasses. He is also the most well-dressed person on board. He has his chest covered, for one. I'm almost disappointed. He drops a pile of books onto the bed, and then moves over to me. He grasps my head between two paws, and then closes his eyes for a moment. He whispers a word, and my head feels light all of a sudden, completely numb. The feeling slowly spreads downwards, until I'm limp in the arms of the tiger and the bear. He begins to intensely scrutinise me, poking at my ears, nose, eyes and then eventually forcing himself into my mouth, pushing in far enough to make anyone gag, his hands tasting of something sweet and sour. I don't, whatever he'd done stops that, and I can do nothing but make a pathetic noise against him. Eventually, he pulls back, then after a moment of ponderous thought, pats down my chest, pinching one of my nipples momentarily. It's enough to make me gasp through whatever he'd used on me. I get a funny look for that, and he breezes downwards to the only thing left covering my modesty. The rabbit looks up at the bear and the tiger, who wait in anticipation. I can't even shake my head as he uncovers it, then grasps it in a paw. He seems almost like he was expecting something different, but allows it to fall out of his grip. He finishes up by examining my legs and toes, then returns to his books, scrawling notes in them while I watch, exposed to the world, face fully reddened. The tiger seems far more amused at my shame than I feel he has any right to be.
"Okay, yes. This thing is clearly not an Ae'sman, but he is similar in some ways to us. I will have to consult my library and even ask for some help from Bawnette if that contains nothing of this one. We must be able to use it to our advantage somehow. My Lady wouldn't send it to us otherwise."
The rabbit motions for the tiger and bear to leave. They let go of me and leave the room. I fall to the floor, hard, unable to stop the fall. The rabbit looks over to me, and pulls out a hoop from under his desk. I shake my head at last, and manage to get out a firm but insistent:
"No."