One could hardly call the hideout of the Osprey crew 'charming' or 'pleasant.' Sure it had a sort of charm to it, but it was hardly the good kind. After all, they were in a blasted swamp, and the closest thing to any solid structure was the 'shack' ...the blasted apart stern of a much larger vessel than the Osprey. What's left of it had been largely repaired of course, but one still couldn't shake the feeling that they were meeting inside the remains of a vessel which was probably the grave for several hundred men when it sank. Not only did it serve as a meeting house of sorts, but also doubled as the living quarters for all officers of the crew, as well as important figures such as the surgeon (that, and Jack being the womanizer he was, he wasn't about to let the girl sleep anywhere else). Today, it was being used as a meeting house. They'd sail at dawn...
Jack was dressed as nicely as ever of course, a nice black vest over a clean white, long-sleeve shirt, and a nice pair of black trousers and leather boots to complete the outfit. Oh, and he was bristling with firearms and weapons, as usual. The Necromantia Isles were the best place to hide in order to avoid pursuit, but that also meant the risk of dealing with necromancers, and he'd be damned if he weren't going to play it safe and keep all his weapons on him. He hid his overall discomfort with the place rather well, as did Selene, who stood behind and to his left at the railing around what used to be the ship's helm. Her wardrobe was certainly less...expensive, as she was content with a simple pair of boots, pants, and a long blue and black robe, though the hood was down. She had no reason to hide her nature from the crew, and by now most had grown accustomed to having the blue-skinned elemental aboard. Mostly because she had a strange air about her...soothing almost. She also caused less trouble than Jack, which was always a plus.
"Alright ye dogs, time for business! Pickings are scarce as usual, and I don't think anyone here, me included, is stupid and foolish enough to try raiding any shipping meant for Thanatos, or from Thanatos for that matter. I don't fancy being chased across the bloody globe by a bunch of angry necromancers," Jack began, taking a brief pause to look over the assembled crew before continuing. "...But we do have a few courses of action available to us. I can't guarantee the success of any, as you well know, but I can at least give you lot my best assessment of any given option..."
"Our first option is to sail to the frigid north and lie in wait for a trade convoy expected to sail out of Hyoite. We'll keep an eye out for her along the way, but assuming the weather's fair we'll arrive two days early and we can send a scouting party ashore to get a better idea of what we'll be up against. If our luck holds true, the convoy will ship out with a tidy sum of coin bound for either Connlaoth or Serendipity."
That was certainly one of the easiest options available to them. The others were a good deal more risky, which the crew would soon discover.
"Our next option is to capture the vessel of a certain Desmond Champlain, the governor of Orbourne province. For those of you who haven't the first clue what a map is, that's in Serendipity. He's not aboard, but his only son is. I don't need to tell you what good that does us if we can get a ransom notice out."
Well, hopefully he didn't need to explain to anyone what it meant. Some bunch of pirates they'd be, yeah? And of course, the most difficult, but potentially most rewarding, target was saved for last...
"And then there's the matter of Ostnesse. Again, for those of you who've never seen a map, it's a major port city in Connlaoth...and the home of a major garrison. If we play our cards right, we can divide the crew into two groups and raid both a warehouse and the arms depot for the garrison and come away from the deal very, very wealthy men...and women, of course. I won't lie to you though, if anything goes wrong and the town guard is put on alert, we'll have a major fight on our hands. All mages will be held back on the ship in case mordecai are in the area. Plus, if things head south, they can blast the town from a distance and give the guards something else to worry about."
The latter was something Jack had to be talked into...Selene had finally convinced him that the mages were too valuable in an anti-ship role to risk being lost ashore should any mordecai come into the area. Plus, they'd be fairly unreachable on the ship, and could easily dispatch anyone who tried to seize the ship. Mordecai would be unlikely assailants in that arena, as the guards ashore would have no idea there were mages guarding the Osprey until it was too late.
"For the time being, this is all I can offer you. Time is of the essence, so tonight is the only night you can cast your vote. There's paper and a quill at the desk, simply write either 1, 2, or 3 on a scrap of paper and drop it in the chest. Once you've voted, you're free for the rest of the evening, but we ship out in the morrow."
((NOTE: simply vote in the poll for the course of action your character would want the crew to take. The option is available to vote twice, but DO NOT DO SO IF YOU ONLY HAVE ONE CHARACTER ON THE CREW. That option exists in the event anyone with two characters on the crew would have those characters prefer two different courses of action. The result of the vote here will determine what the next thread is, and where.))
