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Description
For thousands of years the Drow had captured the ships of their foes both to bolster their navies and merchant fleets, a tradition which commodore Eyvalsiin ti'Xalmis had continued as her squadron returned to Valnothron's Harbor. It was a bit unusual for a flag officer, even a junior one, to ride a prize in but given that they were a pair of Infrastructural Freighters she felt that it was fitting.

Her five ship light squadron had been on a routine North Sea patrol when they happened upon a small Infrastructural convoy of three pure steamships flying the Hexagonal Banner coming in on them. Seeing the opportunity it presented she had her ships move into encircle them. Doing so was more difficult than normal, the coldlander ships were faster and more maneuverable than most and one of them managed to give her forces the slip in it's entirety. The two that she had trapped did not go down lightly either as they were armed and carried explosive rounds. They only had a single breechloading cannon a piece and thankfully their gunnery was far below what their navy could do, but they still managed to sink one of her brigs, severely damage another and blast holes in the rest of her command. They also each had one of their blasted fast firing guns as well as a spring loaded catapult that fired glass jars full of some flammable liquid, but despite that her marines were able to get aboard and quickly managed to overrun her new prizes. She fished out the survivors from the sunk frigate, managed to get the surviving boiler tenders to get their prizes under way and made for home. That was three days ago.

She stood on the "bridge" of the freighter Vertebograd and took in the surroundings. As she saw the bustling port with it's bustling warfs, the never-ending activity of the shipyards and the myriad ships and boats either at anchor, coming in or going out she felt on top of the world. She hadn't felt this good since she'd been given her first command. The 43 Infrastructural sailors they'd captured would fetch a good price at auction, the cargoes of trade goods that would fetch a good price but the vessels themselves were the real prize. After discussing it with the admiralty, the Navy had decided to buy both ships for 160,000 scimitars each, of which 60,000 would go to her with the rest being distributed among her Drow sailors and their households. That windfall was be enough to move House Xalmis up a rung or two on the social ladder as well as earning it that more rare and precious coin of prestige for the middling merchant house. She'd spend a bit of it on herself in celebration and leave the rest for when she needed it latter on. An Admiral's banner, something she'd dreamed of since childhood was significantly closer at least and hopefully what house Valcas could glean from the prizes she'd provided them will make her fleet that much more powerful when it was finally under her command. Finally there was the satisfaction she gained that she'd scored a victory over a foe of terrible power, even if it was only capturing a pair of their cargo shps.

Previous-Infrastructure: Part Two Hundred and Forty Six
Next-Infrastructure: Part Two Hundred and Forty Eight

Description
For thousands of years the Drow had captured the ships of their foes both to bolster their navies and merchant fleets, a tradition which commodore Eyvalsiin ti'Xalmis had continued as her squadron returned to Valnothron's Harbor. It was a bit unusual for a flag officer, even a junior one, to ride a prize in but given that they were a pair of Infrastructural Freighters she felt that it was fitting.

Her five ship light squadron had been on a routine North Sea patrol when they happened upon a small Infrastructural convoy of three pure steamships flying the Hexagonal Banner coming in on them. Seeing the opportunity it presented she had her ships move into encircle them. Doing so was more difficult than normal, the coldlander ships were faster and more maneuverable than most and one of them managed to give her forces the slip in it's entirety. The two that she had trapped did not go down lightly either as they were armed and carried explosive rounds. They only had a single breechloading cannon a piece and thankfully their gunnery was far below what their navy could do, but they still managed to sink one of her brigs, severely damage another and blast holes in the rest of her command. They also each had one of their blasted fast firing guns as well as a spring loaded catapult that fired glass jars full of some flammable liquid, but despite that her marines were able to get aboard and quickly managed to overrun her new prizes. She fished out the survivors from the sunk frigate, managed to get the surviving boiler tenders to get their prizes under way and made for home. That was three days ago.

She stood on the "bridge" of the freighter Vertebograd and took in the surroundings. As she saw the bustling port with it's bustling warfs, the never-ending activity of the shipyards and the myriad ships and boats either at anchor, coming in or going out she felt on top of the world. She hadn't felt this good since she'd been given her first command. The 43 Infrastructural sailors they'd captured would fetch a good price at auction, the cargoes of trade goods that would fetch a good price but the vessels themselves were the real prize. After discussing it with the admiralty, the Navy had decided to buy both ships for 160,000 scimitars each, of which 60,000 would go to her with the rest being distributed among her Drow sailors and their households. That windfall was be enough to move House Xalmis up a rung or two on the social ladder as well as earning it that more rare and precious coin of prestige for the middling merchant house. She'd spend a bit of it on herself in celebration and leave the rest for when she needed it latter on. An Admiral's banner, something she'd dreamed of since childhood was significantly closer at least and hopefully what house Valcas could glean from the prizes she'd provided them will make her fleet that much more powerful when it was finally under her command. Finally there was the satisfaction she gained that she'd scored a victory over a foe of terrible power, even if it was only capturing a pair of their cargo shps.

Previous-Infrastructure: Part Two Hundred and Forty Six
Next-Infrastructure: Part Two Hundred and Forty Eight