The Black Basilisk

The Black Basilisk The Black Basilisk was a ship operated by mages of the Hosttower of the Arcane of Luskan in the mid-to-late 14 century DR.

Crew
It was crewed heavily by apprentices and younger mages of the Hosttower, all of them ambitious and avaricious.

Activities
Plying the Sea of Swords, the mages eagerly hunted down pirate vessels and defeated them with their great magic, but not to keep the seas safe. They did it to take the pirates' plunder for their own, even reading their minds to find the locations of their treasure stashes and information of their rivals.

What's more, the mages then turned the defeated and slain pirates into obedient undead under their command. The undead sailors crewed their ships and followed The Black Basilisk in a "Dead Fleet" that swelled with every victory. Soon, those pirates who were left lived in dread of it.

History
Finally, Mirt the Merciless of Waterdeep, retired ship captain himself, came out of retirement in the 1360s DR to seek out and destroy The Black Basilisk. He was successful and the Dead Fleet scattered. The Black Daggers of the Nelanther Isles were so thankful they granted amnesty to Waterdhavian ships. Despite this, sailors warned of encountering lone "ghost ships" all along the Sword Coast.