Jinx

I was born on the infamous day the tides came in and stayed, flooding the forest where my family lived. Many were drowned. The storm that wrecked our home sent a few ships and boats caught in the storm all the way to the forest. Only one ship wasn’t torn apart by hitting the land. It was a pirate ship. The captain of the ship was not in the habit of rescuing people and he was making every effort to save his own ship. But when he saw the pregnant woman clinging to a tree, he threw a rope to her.   I was born not long after the pirate ship was spun and was pulled out to the sea again. Some of the most seasoned crewmen were said to have been seasick. My poor young mother went into labor on a ship that was being pulled in one direction and then another, tossed up and pulled down by gravity. Holding on to the nearest thing she could find, she began screaming against the howling wind as her labor pains began. I know this through the stories told to me over the years aboard ship.   Captain Goodhope sent for the cook and his wife to help my mother. I suppose he thought the old cook's wife, being a female, would know what to do. Serin and Anilah took turns trying to sooth my mother or help her birth her baby, nobody knows for sure. After hours of being tossed about on the sea and numerous bouts of sickness, my mother gave a heave to and out I came. They tell me if it weren't for the umbilical cord I probably would have flown off the ship. It seems I slid towards the aft deck squalling all the while, and then back to where my mother lay panting, her face grey, blood still pouring from her. Nobody knew how to stop her bleeding. They say she lifted her head to see what her labor had produced and gasped out, "Jinx!," just before she died.   The Captain looked around at his crew, scooped me up, and made a little speech. "This is one for the record books, lads! The Jinx has always been a lucky ship, and today proves it. We beat the flood, we witnessed a near drowned lass give birth and name her child Jinx without knowing she was on the good ship, Jinx. This child is a good omen!"   I remember none of that of course. But the old ones like to tell the story when they've had a bit of something to drink.   I grew up on the finest pirate ship on the sword coast. They say it takes a village to raise a child. In my case, I was raised by a ship crew. Each and every crew member from galley scrub to first mate contributed to my education. When Captain Goodhope declared I was a good omen and a treasure, it became everybody's business to raise me.   Maybe I really was a good luck charm. We succeeded in every adventure we undertook. I suspect it has a lot to do with the captain and the crew. We were a tightly knit family.   It is the rare pirate captain that dies of old age. We gave him the time honored burial at sea.   When we hoved in at the sword coast, I had much to think about. I knew my famiily was from the ill-fated Chondalwood. I knew nothing about where they might have gone and even if I did, would I have anything in common with them? They were wood elves. I'm a wood elf but what does that mean when you're raised by human pirates?   I didn't know what I wanted to do but I had enough gold hidden away that I could afford to take my time. I didn't want to make any decisions right now. I just wanted to get drunk. My Captain was dead and my old life behind me.Jinx : Adventures in the Underdark I