The Oceans Around Scalvoris
5th Saun, 717
5th Saun, 717
“I’m sorry, can we go over the plan one more time?”
Following the success of their last raid, the crew that Tio had rather hastily joined last season had decided to remain together to form a proper pirate crew under the name of The Redthorn Pirates. They were quite possibly the smallest crew in Scalvoris at the moment, comprised of just over 40 men and stuck with a shody second hand cog ship with no manner of nautical weaponry the crew had lovingly named “The Fat Cow”, but damn it if they weren’t determined. The advantage of being a new crew was that they had a perfect track record unblemished by failure, and that was enough to keep the less experience members such as himself in high spirits.
Due to still being a fairly weak crew the captain, who Tio had still yet to catch a glimpse of but was assured by the quartermaster was a clever tactician, had decided to only go for the easiest of targets. There had been a number of trade ships passing Scalvoris laden with wealth which would have made fine prizes, but each of them had been judged to be too fast or well protected for them to handle. It was only now that news of a passing trade ship filled with alcohol who’s owner had cut corners on his protection fees in order to make a better profit had reached them that the captain had decided to act, and after so much time spent waiting the crew was nice and eager to get to work.
After a few trials at sea to take them to their ambush point the quartermaster had gathered the crew together on the deck and told them the battle plan. In this case it was a simple one; the route their target was following normally took them against the wind at the point they were now waiting at, and so when their target was in sight they would simply use the advantage of the wind and charge straight at them. There would be a chase, but the lack of heavy weaponry on The Fat Cow made it suitably quick enough to catch them before any better armed ship could arrive to help them. When they did catch them the crew was to board the target, subdue whichever crew members resisted and, if the merchant ship was more valuable than theirs, occupy the target ship and give the crew The Fat Cow to get home in.
“It’s a straightforward enough plan Tio, what’s the problem?” The quartermaster asked, frowning in disapproval. “We run them down, take the ship and go home, what part of that is difficult for you to understand?”
“The part where we chase them down, sir.” Tio replied
“What’s so hard about that?”
“That part.” Tio said, pointing off into the distance.
There were dark clouds gathering on the horizon, black as tar and flecked with flashes of lightning that promised a terrible storm beneath them. Chrien it seemed was sending her wrath towards some far off place, and considering the direction it was headed and the place where their target was due to show it seemed that they were going to be caught right in its path. The rest of the crew took notice of the storm themselves and began to exchange nervous glances with one another, clearly unwilling to enter a storm like that for such a low value target.
Judging from his expression the quartermaster shared their sentiments, and hobbled off into the captain’s cabin in search of instructions. A short while later he returned, his face noticeably paler than it had been when he went in.
“It changes nothing. We continue with the attack anyway.”
Following the success of their last raid, the crew that Tio had rather hastily joined last season had decided to remain together to form a proper pirate crew under the name of The Redthorn Pirates. They were quite possibly the smallest crew in Scalvoris at the moment, comprised of just over 40 men and stuck with a shody second hand cog ship with no manner of nautical weaponry the crew had lovingly named “The Fat Cow”, but damn it if they weren’t determined. The advantage of being a new crew was that they had a perfect track record unblemished by failure, and that was enough to keep the less experience members such as himself in high spirits.
Due to still being a fairly weak crew the captain, who Tio had still yet to catch a glimpse of but was assured by the quartermaster was a clever tactician, had decided to only go for the easiest of targets. There had been a number of trade ships passing Scalvoris laden with wealth which would have made fine prizes, but each of them had been judged to be too fast or well protected for them to handle. It was only now that news of a passing trade ship filled with alcohol who’s owner had cut corners on his protection fees in order to make a better profit had reached them that the captain had decided to act, and after so much time spent waiting the crew was nice and eager to get to work.
After a few trials at sea to take them to their ambush point the quartermaster had gathered the crew together on the deck and told them the battle plan. In this case it was a simple one; the route their target was following normally took them against the wind at the point they were now waiting at, and so when their target was in sight they would simply use the advantage of the wind and charge straight at them. There would be a chase, but the lack of heavy weaponry on The Fat Cow made it suitably quick enough to catch them before any better armed ship could arrive to help them. When they did catch them the crew was to board the target, subdue whichever crew members resisted and, if the merchant ship was more valuable than theirs, occupy the target ship and give the crew The Fat Cow to get home in.
“It’s a straightforward enough plan Tio, what’s the problem?” The quartermaster asked, frowning in disapproval. “We run them down, take the ship and go home, what part of that is difficult for you to understand?”
“The part where we chase them down, sir.” Tio replied
“What’s so hard about that?”
“That part.” Tio said, pointing off into the distance.
There were dark clouds gathering on the horizon, black as tar and flecked with flashes of lightning that promised a terrible storm beneath them. Chrien it seemed was sending her wrath towards some far off place, and considering the direction it was headed and the place where their target was due to show it seemed that they were going to be caught right in its path. The rest of the crew took notice of the storm themselves and began to exchange nervous glances with one another, clearly unwilling to enter a storm like that for such a low value target.
Judging from his expression the quartermaster shared their sentiments, and hobbled off into the captain’s cabin in search of instructions. A short while later he returned, his face noticeably paler than it had been when he went in.
“It changes nothing. We continue with the attack anyway.”
