Hell Hath No Fury - Book One

Challenge Accepted

There were twenty-three crews that stayed to inquire about helping with the expedition. The amount of them, while welcome, infuriated her. They had enough interest to fill all 15 originally proposed positions and allow them all to get paid but Fletching had to be a saboteur and switch the number of votes needed. Theo managed to figure out a way to capitalize on the amount of interest though and helped come up with an incentive plan.

They filled all five paid slots but there was still significant interest and Theo would not be able to stop thinking about the information that could have been uncovered if she turned them away. So after speaking with her present officers, and the others involved in the proposal drafting, they agreed to start an additional fund with their own money to compensate for any leads that might have been brought in at the conclusion of the three-cycle excursion.

An additional pot of 5,000 gold was agreed upon, the Scorned Woman agreeing to pay half and the other Captains in her group agreeing to pay the other. Each piece of information brought forward by a pirate that had not been already uncovered by the fully paid crews would be eligible to receive up to 100 gold in compensation. It might have not been worth the effort of devising that branch of their new plan but only time would tell if their approach would yield results. This way, when crews traveled along the continents on regular business they were inclined to go slightly out of their way to try and find information. It seemed to be a good motivator at face value because the Captain's seemed excited to share the opportunity with their crew, some even considered it a competition.

Once they had agreed upon an alternate plan to bring in more crews, most of the pirates left, and only the ones that were committed solely to the discovery of how to defeat the Center stayed. Among the five other crews were Captain Owl and Captain Blue, one other member from their small coalition, and two crews that were up in coming in the pirate ranks. Theo stepped back, her work having been complete, and let the others in charge of the proposal take the lead. Captain Tack, who was the one behind the logistics of it all, could manage the rest. They discussed expectations, strategies, and modes of communication. Each of the paid pirate crews was given a continent and set to scour its coasts for information. Theo was given the freedom to choose where they wanted to go. She still had to think about it but she had narrowed down their options to Aeliz, the west coast of Efriti which they didn't visit, and Elox.

As the supplementary meeting was drawing to an end, Theo excused herself and her officers from it. They were discussing money and coordinating that effort but Theo had no longer wanted to stay. Captain Tack had already been told that he could send anyone to get Theo's portion of the gold within the next few suns as they were planning on staying for a bit. It would have been more professional if she were to stay but it had been a long few suns and she would see most everyone at the festivities later. It wasn't a pirate meeting unless it ended in an island-wide clusterfuck of celebration. The sun was already down and the night of partying was set to start soon. It would be only a few hours between then and when everything actually kicked into gear and she wanted a bit of rest before then. She would grace everyone with her presence after letting them hang for a bit.

As she walked out, Cooker came up next to her and draped an arm over her shoulder, "I cannot believe you pulled that shit off."

"You are but of little faith," Theo chuckled and put her arm across Cooker's back. Xyra and Ava silently walked behind them as they exited the large stone structure. The hallways were empty but when their walk ended in the foyer, it was bustling with bodies. At the sight of her, some of the pirates cheered and she gave a joking bow. There were more than just pirates and top officers there, crew members had hiked up from the city to get news. Theo shot a few waves and greetings around as she walked past groups, promises of meeting up later in the night were exchanged, but she kept walking. Theo was dead set on her mission to get to the inn for a few hours of sleep or just peace.