The Flying Hydra

The Flying Hydra is a massive triple-decker Galleon and the ship of the Goldhide Pirates, led by Captain "Black-Hair" Solitar Caemal.

Characteristics
Like all galleons, the Flying hydra was a class of blue-water sailing ship that combined the easy-to-manoeuvre fore-and-aft rig of smaller shipping with the square rig of cargo vessels. Galleons solidified the place of the square-rig and the centrally situated tallest main-masts and the slightly shorter fore-masts of a square-rigged ship, but introduced the use of the lateen rig to sail closer to the wind on a tack than could a square-rigged vessel—an important attribute in restricted waters, but more so over long voyages where holding a few compass points closer to the wind might save hundreds of miles and days or weeks of sailing 'beating into the wind'.

The most distinguishing features of the Flying Hydra include the long, prominent beakhead followed by a foremast and mainmast, both noticeably taller than the single or double lateen-rigged mizzenmasts with their sloped lateen-rig yards, and below those the square quarter gallery at the stern. As a large Galleon a fourth mast was present, another lateen-rigged mizzen, called the bonaventure mizzen.

The Flying hydra is a fully armed warship with it's lower compartments containing Ballistae and the upper deck being armed with stationary catapults, optimized over Trebuchets as they would not fit the ship.

History
The Flying Hydra became Solitar's ship sometime in the second century of the Fourth Era, it was acquired in Daggerfall after multiple raids that earned him the money, the ship used to be the property of a Nobleman but Solitar offered a large amount of gold and obtained the ship through mostly legal means. In the following years, Solitar had the ship armed at various ports across the Abacean sea.