[Northern Sea, Dragon's Gale, Captain's suite]
A few days later, Lewis found himself in a meeting with the other high-ranking members of the crew in the captain's suite.
As a deck lieutenant, he was always the one with the highest status on the deck. He was ordering the crew around, and made sure that they were navigating well through the sea. With the minimap feature, seamanship and naval insight skills, he was an excellent navigator.
In this room however, he had the lowest status.
He was standing next to Kurk, fellow officer in charge of boarding operations, and Rubie, fellow officer acting as the coin master, handling crew payments and logistics, including prisoner logistic and interrogations.
[Rubie - Lv. 3 Rogue, CR 1]
If Kurk was like a fatherly mentor figure, Rubie had that big sister energy, thinking she is better than others. And in some ways, she was a recognised genius on this ship. She grew up on this ship, after her parents died on the ship ten years ago. At twenty years of age, she was now a proud officer.
After Rubie's parents died, the captain raised her, which is one of the main reason she was acting spoiled. Next to her adoptive father, or his right hands, she was nothing like her usual self. She was not emotional nor unreasonable, but rather subdued.
[Captain Morgan - Lv. 7 Swashbuckler, CR 4]
[First Mate Varg - Lv. 4 Chain Swinger, CR 3/2]
[Boatswain Ariana - Lv. 3 Axe Thrower, CR 1]
Ariana, despite being their superior, was a thirty-years-old veteran pirate with a barbarian subclass called "Axe Thrower". She was essentially monitoring officers and filling up the gap when one died. In combat, she was quite savage, capable of fighting opponents from mid-range and close range simultaneously. She came from a barbarian tribe of a Swadian mountain range, but escaped her primitive tribe for the sake of exploring the world. After a few years of banditry, she killed a noble by mistake and joined the Dragon's Gale for protection, as assassins started to track her down. Captain Morgan killed those who were chasing her, and his presence intimidated the rest of the others.
Varg, a forty-years-old pirate who was one of the founding crew members of the Dragon's Gale, was a veteran pirate with a fighter subclass called "Chain Swinger". Even before the creation of the Dragon's Gale crew ten years ago, he had served as a pirate, in the same ship as the captain. His strength was definitely above 20, because he could wield a massive chain with an iron spiked cannonball at the end. He could also wield rapiers better than Kurk.
As for Captain Morgan, he was a figure that was rarely seen. In his early forties, the man was a mystery. As strong as a bear, he was also the most skilled in duels. His frame was smaller than Varg, but he could kill him ten times out of ten if he wanted to. That was the difference between a 7th-circle and a 4th-circle.
His Challenge Rating was as high as 4, which was above average, making him a hard boss-like NPC figure.
In comparison, Varg was similar to a medium-level boss with the same challenge rating as Lewis. Although part of Lewis challenge rating might be inflated because he had a ranged class, inherently more lethal.
Captain Morgan sized all of them up, and nodded: "Good. Everyone is here. We are approaching the coast, and our target this time is the Greenfield Village. As you know, the local baron of the Virius House has been very weary of our raids over the past few years and dispatched mandatory militia training in all villages, overseen by veteran soldiers of his private army"
Varg continued the speech: "This means that this will not be easy. If we are unlucky, we might have to deal with a 4th or 5th circle knight. The militia is usually of lower standing, most of them lacking professions. But you know how that goes. Even non-profession can be lethal"
Ariana asked: "Greenfield is a rather prosperous village, so we expect it to be well-guarded. However, this also means it will be one of the largest haul we will get if we succeed. It is especially famous for its dyeworks, which sell for a crazy amount"
Rubie's eyes widened in expectations: "How much are we expecting? The latest merchant raids on sea relieved the treasury and we were able to pay the crew, but it only gave us six months' worth of respite"
A pirate ship was similar to a business. They had a code, acting as internal laws, ranks and a clear pyramidal hierarchy. Treasury management was one of the main reason why mutinies happened on pirate ships, though Captain Morgan was too popular or strong for it to happen.
Of course, Lewis was aiming for this position. This is why despite being stronger than Ariana, he never showed this level of skill in raids, only showing "just enough" to be overwhelmingly talented and valued, but not "enough" to be considered a threat.
"Enough to renovate the main mat Lewi, new equipment for the ship's crew members and still increase those six months into 2 years' worth of crew runway", Captain Morgan said, "I will let you make the calculations, but with the latest successful raids, we have been able to scale very fast. The average number of professions on the ship went from 15 to 30 in the last six months, officers are now roughly 3rd-circle when they used to be 2nd-circle on average, and though we lost Jack we now have Lewis, who is much more proficient than him. More importantly, I reached the 7th circle, which makes me on par with the Baron himself"
Captain Morgan was taking the crew's growth with his own acts and aggressive raids. A guess that he took for granted. Too charismatic and self-centered, he was thinking his hard work had suddenly paid off. And his massive recruitment effort over the past six months was indeed his decision.
But the truth was that the true mastermind behind the crew's growth was standing in front of him all along.
It was but a consequence of the system.
[Tier 1 Mission(Hard) - Greenfield Raid
Captain Morgan is targeting the Greenfield Village for the next raid, a prosperous coastal settlement known for its valuable dyeworks. The local Baron of House Virius has grown weary of pirate raids and has enforced mandatory militia training across all villages, overseen by veteran soldiers of his private army. Worst case scenario: a 4th or 5th Circle knight may be present.
Threats: Militia (commoners), veteran soldiers (Lv. 1-2), potential knight (Lv. 4-5)
Objectives: Secure the dyeworks and plunder the village, defeat or scatter the militia, minimise crew casualties
Personal Rewards: 400 EXP for player, +50 Reputation with the crew, 20 Silver coins
Dragon's Gale Rewards: Medium (1-800 EXP) gain for crew members, prisoners captured can be recruited into the crew later, estimated 1500-1800 silver coins' worth of loot]
Regular crew members, numbering 120 were paid approximately 10 copper coins per month, professions, numbering 30, were paid 30 copper coins, officers 1 whole silver coin. Ariana was paid roughly twice as much, Varg took thrice as much, and Morgan took 5 whole silver coins a month for himself. In total, crew salaries amounted to roughly 34 silver coins a month.
Adding to that food (~10 silver coins), ship maintenance (~25 silver coins), medical supplies (~5 silver coins), docking fees (~5 silver coins), bribes and information (~10 silver coins), rum and morale (~6 silver coins), and miscellaneous expenses (~5 silver coins), the total expenses of the Dragon's Gale could be counted at roughly 100 silver coins in total.
Although Lewis was not coin master, he was literate enough to understand the ship's economics after gathering information from Rubie and the other crew members. This also meant that the crew only had a little more than 600 silver coins in total—roughly six months of runway before the treasury ran dry.
The Greenfield Raid, if successful, would bring in approximately 1,800 silver coins' worth of loot—enough to extend that runway by roughly 18 months. This was huge.