At one time, the Orion was a pirate Hammership, but it has been modified so much that the original owners wouldn't begin to recognize it. While still a Hammership is overall design, it has the following modifications:
At the bow of the ship rests a statue of a giant space hamster, posed in an attack position, fangs bared, and rumor has it that the ship flies as part of the Great Prince Andrew's Anti-Pirate protective league (see below). The ship is painted the darkest black, with a blood red undercarriage. When seen in port, its crew never seems to leave the ship. This may be just as well, because they are the meanest looking bunch of lizard men and (believe it or not) elves ever seen in wildspace. Their captain is a truly terrifying man. He wears a full suit of plate mail, complete with helm which he is never seen without. While this might not seem very extraordinary, the fact that from the back of the suit extends a pair of metallic wings, which allows the captain to soar through wildspace, is. Rumor has it that he was a test subject of mindflayer experimentation. What the truth is, the world may never know.
The Great Prince Andrew is a human ruler of a space-faring community known as Branalin. Branalin is located on a small moon in orbit around a gas giant. It is also a city-state which depends largely on trade. While the moon is very high in valuable ore content, it's incidently a terrible place to grow things, including food. Because of the frequency of these ores, and their products, Branalin could have quite easily been susceptible to piracy. In fact, before Prince Andrews began his reign, piracy was a major problem. To combat this problem, he founded the Anti-Piracy league.
To head this organization, Prince Andrews hired a former pirate, Morgan Calamon. While a very capable leader, Morgan's recruiting style is more than a little harsh. He believes in thoroughly testing any prospective recruits, even before telling them about the secret organization. His method of doing this is, basically, by setting them up. To further this ability, Morgan has gained a reputation as a smuggler. When he finds a band that seems capable, he hires them for 'a simple transport job.'
While on the job, they are given a box containing a statue which has a simple magic spell cast upon it so that it would appear enchanted. The recipient of the box is a beholder by the name of Marinox. Marinox is moderately senile, but still competent. During the trip, Morgan has the ship hijacked at least once. If the team succeeds with the mission, further such jobs are later assigned. Gradually, Morgan prepares them to join the league.
The crew of the Orion were the first such team Morgan hired. While he did test them quite thoroughly, he went a tad bit too far. For in the process of the testing, he accidentally convinced them that he was their arch-enemy. Needless to say, things went poorly. The crew ended up making a pact with a mind-flayer who used the ships captain for some testing of experimental magics, in return for protection. While ultimately things did work out, and the crew does now work for Morgan, the crew does have some strange personality quirks as a result of the mind-flayer association.
The biographies of the crew are sketchy, so they do not have full entries in the "personalities" section. There is reason to believe that nobody wants to get close enough to interview them, but here is what is available.
The Ship's Captain is C'Sid Tcapmoc. C'sid is a 14th level human ranger, who has undergone Illithid experimentation. Due to this testing, C'sid is unable to remove his plate mail or helm. However, his plate mail also contains wings which allow him to fly at 30' with a maneuverability class of A.
The Ship's Chief Spelljammer is Pyro-Lite. Pyro-lite is an eccentric 16th level mage who has an intense fascination with fireballs. Basically, he tends to lob them toward any foes, inconsiderate of where the ships fighters might be.
The Ship's Secondary Spelljammer and Quartermaster is a priest of the Stars known as Patriarch Rudolpho. He's a 14th level priest, who's not at all above using a mace when necessary.
The next figure is one not commonly seen on spelljamming craft, but one used by the Orion. This is the ships 'Transporter Chief.' A Human Psionicist named Markos, whose specialty is Dimension Door. Markos generally helps the boarding party to attack by opening a dimension door across to the other ships deck, quickly transporting 10-15 members of the crew into the heart of the fight.
Lastly, the ship's Sergeant at Arms is a 14th level Dwarven Fighter named Ralth of Clan Arkfire. Ralth's major quirk is that after years of working along side Pyro-lite, he now hates mages. He passionately despises all those who use magic haphazardly, and thus generally attacks anyone who starts making strange gestures in his general direction.
The normal members of the crew are all 3rd level Lizardmen and Elves. The crew is well experienced and has travelled throughout Wildspace, logging at least 14 different Crystal spheres. The only foe they truly fear would be a mindflayer or beholder ship, and even these would be willingly fought if the situation arose.
