"Captain. Iron Guts reporting in."

Talogan looked up from the shattered spectacles as he heard his first mate call through the door. "Enter." Talogan bade the dwarf while retrieving a small case from the corner of his desk, in which he stowed the remains of the spectacles as Tayang entered the room. "Report." Talogan ordered, now mostly returned to his usual cold stoicism. Talogan listened intently to the report, nodding occasionally at the mention of details he found particularly important. The combined haul they had taken from the hamlet and the orc ship had been the biggest they had taken in quite some time, not mention that this was the second day in a row that they had taken a prize. Talogan was sure that this was no fluke of circumstance. This was the work of Maglubiyet, no doubt blessing his faithful paladin with a bountiful harvest to allow for a few more useful purchases in Red Shard before challenging the shipwreck.

There were also some decisions to make. As Tayang mentioned, slavery was banned in Doros, but freeing slaves was not a legal requirement. Especially in such a lawless place as Red Shard. If they so desired, they could sell the slaves off to Thersa Silvermane for a tidy profit. Talogan decided against such an action. Despite the very agreeable price he'd probably get for them, the slaves were helping them row the even more valuable orc warship back to port and Talogan made a point of always showing leniency towards those who assisted him to encourage future victims to do the same. There was also a choice on what to do with the ship itself. Tayang said it could probably fetch a good two thousand gold pieces if they sold it. But depending on how much they got for the rest of the loot, Talogan wondered if hiring a new crew and having them man the orc warship to bring a second vessel under his control would be worth the investment. As he thought this over, Talogan asked his first mate a question.

"You mentioned that [i]most[/i] of the slaves have no skills beyond labor, did you not?" Talogan asked. "Is that to say that there are a few among them who are talented at more than just hard work?" Talogan was always on the lookout for potential recruits to his cause. Especially ones that were a little more unique than what he could hire at the havens with little more than a bag of gold. Granted, that sort of potential was unlikely to be found here, but that didn't mean there was no potential at all.