June 2025 Realmgard Short Scenes: Day 14
The Porthaven Raiders vs. fear or fear itself. And a whole bunch of other things…
So, aside from the fact that the girl (or possibly very youthful woman) in that header image is wearing a sweater and a modern watch with a clearly plastic strap, she's a remarkable representation of Dunstana — which is doubly impressive because relying on free stock photos is always a bit of a gamble.
The "nothing to fear except fear itself" quote ultimately comes from FDR's 1933 inaugural address (though he actually phrased it as 'the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself'). Ultimately, I was only using the concept to have the characters start listing off some other fears.
“We have nothing to fear,” Dunstana tells the rest of the Porthaven Raiders as she looks down at her crew from the helm of her ship, “except for fear itself.”
She looks down at the confused faces of her crew.
“I don’t know what that means,” she admits. “But it sounds smart.”
“Um, Captain?” Williams asks, tentatively raising his hands. “What about bears?”
“What about bears?” Dunstana replies.
“Well, it’s just that they’re big and hungry and scary,” Williams explains.
“I guess there are pretty scary,” Dunstana admits.
“Williams,” Abrams counters, “how many bears have you seen out at sea?”
“P-polar bears?” Williams offers.
“And how many polar bears have you seen in this part of Realmgard?”
“Okay,” Dunstana says. “We have nothing to fear except fear. And polar bears, I guess.”
“What about sharks?” Williams asks. “They live in the ocean. What if somebody falls overboard and there’s sharks?”
“Okay, okay,” Dunstana amending her speech on the fly. “Fear. Polar bears. And sharks.”
She takes a moment to consider.
“Right? Other than fear, polar bears, and sharks? Is there anything else we should be afraid be of?” she asks her crews.
“Shark-bears?” one of the Raiders offers.
“Thats not even a thing!” another protests.
“Spiders big enough to fit over your face!”
“That we live in a cold, uncaring cosmos where all Human endeavour is futile and no-one will remember or care about us after we’ve died?”
“Wow,” Dunstana mutters. “That’s pretty dark, Fredrick. I think you need a hug. Williams, hug Fredrick.”
“The fact that I’ll never live up to my father’s expectations?”
“Public speaking?”
“Heights!”
“Public speaking on top of a tall building with a big spider over your face?”
“Oh,” Williams exclaims, sticking his hand up again. “I’ve got another one!”
“Yeah, Williams?” Dunstana asks.
“The Pelayan Inquisition! They could be getting ready to inquisit us right now, and we’d never seen them coming!”
Dunstana looks up at her Pelayan first mate. “Do you want to field this one, Jimena?”
“Williams,” Jimena assures the crew’s anxious notary, “you do not need to be afraid of the Pelayan Inquisition. For one thing, they only have jurisdiction in Pelayo.”
“Will we be going to Pelayo anytime soon, Captain?” Williams asks.
“Um… no,” Dunstana answers.
“Right,” Williams says, bashfully clearing this throat. “Sorry about that, Captain. You, were, um… giving some kind of inspiring speech, I think?”
“Well, yeah,” Dunstana says. “But now I don’t remember what I was going to talk about! Thanks a lot, guys!”
“I did say you should have written it down, Captain,” Jimena notes.
“Yeah, yeah,” Dunstana mutters.
She stares down at the Raiders.
“Look, guys, the important thing is that we go out there, and be all piratey and awesome and kick everybody’s butt!”
“Kick all the butts!” the Porthaven Raiders cry in one voice, triumphantly thrusting their fists into the air.
“Right,” Dunstana says, resolutely setting her hand on her head. “Close enough.”
She looks up at her first mate.
“Steady as she goes, Jimena,” she declares.
“Captain,” Jimena notes, bashfully scratching her nose. “You’re at the helm.”
Existing betwen1478 and 1834, the Spanish Inquisition was, most simply, responsible for Catholic religious orthodoxy in Spain. Although Pelayo is Realmgard-Spain, the religious situation in Realmgard doesn't really lend itself to the Inquisition as a institution. I just really wanted to use the phrase "Pelayan Inquisition." And, insofar as possible, not just turn it into one big Monty Python reference — hence, while I did reference the Inquisition's legendary use of fear and surprise (among other things), I very scrupulosity avoided the words "nobody expects."
Though I did basically end today's scene by recreating the All the Things meme…
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