Vailea, and by extension, the Red Jewel, spent most of her time on the water. They only made port for repairs, resupply, and the occasional dump of loot, only to acquire more. It was a long cycle, the turning of a wheel that would ever be eternal if Vailea had anything to say about it.
It'd been working for some two thousand years. So far, so good.
That also meant a long history of both evading capture, fighting on the water, and hunting down promising targets. Merchant ships and transports were always her favorites. Why wouldn't they be? Generally lightly guarded, at least by comparison to the pirate ship staff, and full of all sorts of interesting things. Even if she didn't find something specifically for her, the Red Jewel's crew was so varied in their wants, tastes, and desires that there was usually
something for everyone.
If nothing else, bodies could be animated for crew or she could consume a soul for extended life. A messy affair Vailea tried not to do if she was going to keep anyone alive from a ship. It tended to breed too much fear and resentment in anyone left alive.
It'd been some time since their last haunt, but that didn't mean much to the crew. There was a degree of patience to a crew used to working with the undead that might not otherwise be present on a pirate vessel. Especially when the captain was a lich as old as Vailea. Something would cross their path, something always did. The waters were too warm, trade was too frequent. The Red Jewel lazily sailed on a steady wind into the evening when the call went up.
Merchant ship. Off the port side. A bit of magic to kick up the wind in the dark sails and a sense of hunger and anticipation rippled through the crew. New ship, new loot, new people to play with.
A general rule of thumb that Vailea liked to live by. If they saw the merchant ship, odds were the merchant ship saw them. The chase had started, then, as far as she was concerned. Best get ready to received their guests soon.
She stood on the deck, dressed in her usual affair, with an unlit cigar in the side of her mouth. Watching the merchant ship, a smaller one than their own, turn with the intent to outrun them. Assuming they had their own magic user, it was going to come down to a battle of who could out magic, out maneuver, and out last who.
Vailea would put her coin on her own ship every time.
The large pirate ship cut through the water as the full sails carried her swiftly after the merchant ship. Lighter it might've been, but that only counted for so much. The closer they became, the more they could hear the orders carried on the wind from the merchant ship.
A giant fireball left the deck of the Red Jewel, blasted through the hastily constructed defenses of the merchant ship, and ripped through the main mast. As it toppled over, Vailea knew they were dead in the water. Any seasoned sailor would've known as much too.
Time for the fun, then. She slipped from the upper deck and, flanked by two slender, hungry wolf-like ghouls, she launched herself from the Red Jewel and onto the deck of the merchant ship. Anyone that went down beneath her blade, felled by one of her crew, or was mauled by one of her ghouls was quickly raised up as one of her own undead servants.
The fight, if it was a fight at all, was brief and bloody. It usually was when the living fought the undead.
Ship captured and undead lifted, Vailea dealt with the captain a moment. He was a defiant, strong willed man who fell beneath one of her ghouls when he insisted he would rather die than anything else. So she granted his wish, more as an example to the rest of the remaining, living crew. Best to get them to fall in line.
With the background noise of two ghouls eating the captain, Vailea walked along the deck to see who was left alive. Who was left to keep. She chewed idly on her cigar as she surveyed the remaining. Feeling amicable and in a great mood, she announced with delight, "Do we have any volunteers who want to join the Red Jewel?"
Not that she was expecting any to step forward, but it was only polite to ask.
@Maiden of Loss