The Pirate Ship Inferno

by Helen W & Chris N

Sung to the tune of “The Mary Ellen Carter”, which can be found in mp3 format here.

She went down last Midsummer, With the skies all clear and plain. Our skipper was Perdana And our passengers were strange: We set out from the Port And sailed away to isles unknown Where the pirate ship Inferno was brought low.

There were twenty men aboard her When the Ashen ship hove to, By the time that we had sunk 'em We were missing half our crew. But we limped into the harbour and we loudly did proclaim That the pirate ship Inferno'd rise again.

REFRAIN: Rise again, rise again Let her name not be lost To the knowledge of men And those who loved her best And who were with her to the end Will see the pirate ship Inferno rise again.

Well the owner wrote her off, Not a Hexa he would spend. That scum Imaldo scarpered and her hull we could not mend. She wallowed in the scrapper's yard We wallowed in the inn; Hard by Iarendo's dock, we drowned in gin.

But we talked of her all summer, Far past the midnight bell; “She'd be worth five hundred Hexa, If she were hale and well!” And with every jar that hit the bar We swore we would remain And make the pirate ship Inferno rise again.

REFRAIN

Come Autumn, heard a rumour From our friend Alicia Fane: “There's a pirate named McKenzie says He wants to sail again.” Well, we piled out of the pub And braved the Maiden's driving rain: “Inferno'll have a captain once again!”

Well, Ripper Bill McKenzie, why He stood near ten foot tall And when we came across him He was fightin' a brick wall. But we don't hold it against him, He's our Captain all the same: He'll make the Pirate ship Inferno'd rise again!

REFRAIN

McKenzie worked us hard, We caulked and hammered for our lives: The money flowed like water, And most of it in bribes. The taxman and the navy Swore she'd never feel the air: But the Captain never held by playing fair.

For we couldn't leave her there, You see, to rot and fall below. She'd saved our lives so many times, We couldn't see her go: And though that Glass-Mage bastard Left us sinking on the main, We'll see the pirate ship Inferno rise again.

REFRAIN

She came up from the water With her figurehead agleam We sent our banner skyward And we put her out to sea. With McKenzie at our prow We'll rant and plunder through the main: You'll fear the pirate ship Inferno once again!

And you to whom adversity Has dealt its final blow, With lords and mages lying to you Everywhere you go: Turn to and put out All your strength of arm and heart and brain, Be like the pirate ship Inferno, rise again!

FINAL REFRAIN: Rise again, rise again Though your heart it be broken, Your life about to end; No matter what you've lost, Be it a home, a love, a friend, Be like the pirate ship Inferno: RISE AGAIN!

(If not all the beer is now spilled, reprise the standard refrain)