@Scribe of Thoth@Rekaigan@Claw2k11@Bluetommy@Naw

"Captain! Vessel to starboard!" The shout came down from the crows nest, an eagle eyed youth shy of 20 years old manning the high platform atop the ships mast. Armed with a cutlass and a parascope they had proven more than adept enough at spotting even the smallest ships at great distances.

On the quarter-deck, Delilah Laxen stood stiff backed in finery with her polished dwarven rapier in easy reach. Far from being a decorative weapon to suit her station, the weapon on her person had seen more than its share of fighting in her time with it in the last year aboard the Great Aquarius. A salvage crew primarily, the company of men and women serving under her had taken a special place in the greater townships ongoing struggles against privateers. Now that they had been contracted and provisioned by the Dwarven craftsmen at Karaz Kharagul they were easily one of the top fighting ships sailing the 'Shallows' as it was referred to.
The clear blue waters known as the Shallows was likely an ironic naming that had stuck, sections reaching as far as 50 miles near as anyone could tell before hitting the seabed and other places reaching further still. The red sea, so named for its hostile denizens, was nearly its equal in terms of depths and size. Only the black sea to the south was larger on a scale none had ever charted, its waters inhabited by twisted monstrosities above and below the waves. Orc pirates, goblins, the sharkmen, sea drakes, Cerulean Crabs with claws big as a schooner was tall, to say nothing of the deep dwellers.

The most valuable treasures lay at the bottom of the black sea but nobody sane of mind ventured out that way. Death was a far more likely reward than the riches laying at its depths.

Signaling the crows nest to continue watching, Delilah gave instructions to the helmsman to give chase before making her way to the railings where the crew toiled.

"To your stations! Lock down cargo, seal off the lower portholes. I want us at full sail with every crew member armed and ready for a fight. Remember your orders. Archers, ballista team, wait for confirmation of hostile intent from the enemy crew or until I give you the signal. Boarder teams you have my permission to cross at the first sign of hostility. Go!"

Not waiting for the 'yes captain' that accompanied her instructions, Delilah stood with hands on hips near the wheel staring at the blip in the distance. Maybe an hours sailing with favorable winds, two without. From a distance it looked like their target was limping in the waters. Not a good sign.

Cooper had headed into the bowels of the ship to do as the captain ordered. Odd jobs were his specialty, and so securing the cargo was his first priority. In the heat of battle, he would be flitting about much the same, making sure this enormous tub didn't spring a leak, or if it did, that said leak would be plugged in a short space of time. He would give a good ol' thump on the head with his hammer to whomever it was necessary, but smacking humanoid skulls didn't have the same appeal as hammering a good piece of wood into place. There was always that sickening crunching noise with bones, not like that satisfying thunk that you got with a plank. Still, duties were duties, and everyone had to fight if it came to it.

"Golly golly, I hope we take it intact..." Cooper muttered as he busied himself with tying a crate down. "Who knows what kind of wood it's made out of? Oak? Pine? Larch? Cedar? Oh, it'll be a treat to find out..." It was typical of the times not to waste wood, but battles were battles, and there was the possibility they'd sink the other vessel without ever touching the bounty it was made of. But if luck would have it, they'd take the ship for themselves, and then Cooper could get a close look at the craftsmanship done on it. He certainly hoped to lay his eyes upon a real work of art, and not some rotten, cheaply made, sailing barrel.

Pretend this doesn't exist

"Aye, aye, captain." Nathaniel said lazily moving away from the railing of the ship upon he had been just resting and reading from one of the books that were to teach him more about geomancy. His lackadaisical attitude towards most things and the fact that he was still reading from his book made it seem it seem as if he barely even paid attention to what his captain had just said. The nonchalance was certainly not helping his cause at all, making him seem all the more incompetent.

However, the moment those three words escaped from his mouth, more than two dozen of the crew members of the ship started moving with quite a bit more alarm than before. These crewmen, covered from head to toe in various amounts of cloth, save the eyes, were the undead under his own command, covered so that the sight of so many zombies and skeletons did not unnerve the living members of the crew, especially when they were to eat.

While a few of his undead moved below deck to check on their remaining supplies, most of the other picked up their cutlasses, pistols and muskets and moved to the starboard to be prepared to repel any pirates dumb enough to board them or in turn to board the ship that was coming for them. After spending a few more moments to read from the book, Nathaniel placed the large leatherbound tome inside his pouch and drew both of his pistols, ready to shoot anyone who dared to face him and this crew, his menacing looking undead bodyguard captain looming right behind the young man.

"More bodies for me..." He eventually muttered as he waited for the action to start.