Into the Tyrrhenian

After a brief consultation with his almoner, Cardinal Maximilian instructed his valet de chambre to obtain passage on the Pharaon, clearly the best-armed of the three open-water ships departing for southern Gallia on the morrow. Commanded by Captain Hugo Correteaux, a dark, taciturn Savoirard with over 20 years plying the dangerous waters of the Mediterranean, the Pharaon and its 24 guns seemed well able to deter all but the most suicidal pirates.

Having already loaded its cargo, the Pharaon awaited only the boarding of the ecclesiastics to kedge about and make for the open waters of the Tyrrhenian.