"You vish to tear apart your ugly ships on my  Skull Coast?" asked Von Braun, an irritated tone in his voice.  "Oui Monsieur," replied the overseer. "It will earn Nola Mar many doubloons!" "How?" he asked, suspicion always on his mind. He didn't like these coin-graspers, and he didn't trust them. "Simple!" answer Monsieur Claude. "Good structural timbers are in demand across the Brick Seas, and there are few merchants who can supply them at the scales needed. Lumber yards are few and far between, and even then, there's no guarantee that there will be a carpenter to knock things into shape." "So your people take ships and turn zem into timber?" "Ships, boats, junks, skiffs, wherries, any old hulks we can drag here are fair game! The prize courts will pay sailors for their captures, but frequently they're sold here for scrap." "So you vill keep ze rest of ze coast clear?" the soldier asked, with a threatening grimace. "Absolutement!" replied the overseer. "You may proceed. For now."  As the armoured man stalked away, Monsieur Claude let out a sigh of relief. It was time to get back to work!