The Spitfire bustled with activity. Aside from the crew manning the sails, acting as lookouts, or preparing to load a cannon, Caleb had ordered everyone who could be spared up on the main deck. As per his instructions, they were to wear the rattiest clothing they had (which wasn’t a problem for most of them) and be ready to hold a weapon aloft.

Though the day had advanced to late morning, it hadn’t gotten much brighter out. Fog continued to lay thick and heavy upon the ship, turning the sunshine into a diffuse gray glow. As if sensing the importance of the upcoming event, conversations were kept to the minimum, and spoken in just above whispers.

Caleb paced the afterdeck. He leaned on the forward rail and put his spyglass to his eye once more. Again, beyond the boundaries of his ship, the view was of roiling gray, and that was it. He cursed to himself, then put the spyglass back into his pocket.

Patience, patience! Caleb chided himself. We still have the element of surprise. If we can’t see that schooner, she can’t see us coming either.

The fog swirled more urgently dead astern. Shaw’s gold-and-white form emerged from the mist. He landed with a clack of his talons on the afterdeck near Caleb.

“Thou art drawing nigh unto the target,” the griffin announced. “Perhaps ten more minutes of sailing should bring her into thy sights. The schooner doth face broadside to us and remains at anchor off a wee island. Their longboat just returned, carrying a brace of wooden casks.”

Caleb considered. “They’re likely restocking their water supply from a spring there. Good, that means they won’t be going anywhere until the casks are stowed below.”

Shaw snapped his beak eagerly. “‘Tis a prime opportunity to attack!”

“We’re in agreement on that, my friend.” Caleb called down to the helm. “Donal, steady as she goes. On my command, be ready to swing hard to either larboard or steerboard.”

He got a Yezzir in reply. Sienna came up to the afterdeck and looked to Caleb.

“What are your final orders, Captain? The crew’s ready to play their part.”

“I want complete silence on deck,” Caleb said, after a moment’s thought. “That schooner’s only a few more minutes ahead. Keep an eye out for my directions. I’ll indicate which side I want everyone on. Have the more able-bodied climb our rigging. I want this entire ship crawling with damned souls. When I give the signal, everyone raises hell.”

“Yezzir, this will be a pleasure.”

He nodded. “So long as it works. Have our grappling hooks ready to go if it doesn’t.”

“What doth thou wish from me?” Shaw asked, as Sienna went to spread the orders. “I could strike them from above, since the element of surprise is with us.”

“Actually, I’d rather preserve that surprise for the ship as a whole. Stay aloft and be ready to buzz them. We’ll be giving them a spectacle they won’t soon forget.”

With that, Shaw spread his wings and took off astern. His avian form vanished into the fog. Caleb brought up his Quest Window, where he saw new screens had appeared.

Adventurer's-Level Quest: Attack and take merchant schooner as a prize. STATUS: IN PROGRESS. New Bonus Level Mini-Quest: Utilize spells to magically bluff the target vessel. A successful bluff shall increase the XP Value of the next quest completed by a minimum of 25%.

A quick glance at the three gauges that marked his Health, Stamina, and Magical Energy confirmed that they were all at maximum. He pursed his lips as he considered calling Tavia up on deck as well. But he dismissed the idea out of hand.

I need her full concentration on that crystal panel for now. I’m also not sure how thrilled a paladin would be about participating in a sneak attack. Let her be, she’ll be as safe in the great cabin as anywhere else on board.

The muffled conversations on the deck below faded away as Sienna passed the word to the crew. Minutes passed in silence, save for the flap of a sail or the creaking of the wooden planks that made up their ship.

Caleb decided to call up two of his Corsair abilities once more.

Dead Reckoning Depth Sense

The ocean spread out before Caleb, the surface melting away before his eyes. Below, the seafloor had risen sharply. The deep blue of an open channel lay directly below the sloop’s keel, but it quickly turned to the deep and middling greens of shallower water ahead.

He raised his vision above the surface. Low islands punctuated by a hill or two spread out in a wide arc ahead of them. Directly ahead lay the first, a tiny, flat smudge of a landmass perhaps four or five times the size of the Spitfire.

All right. Now it’s time to start putting the elements of the show together.

Caleb planted his feet firmly on the afterdeck’s planking. He cracked his knuckles as he peered ahead over the length of his ship, taking note of the density of the fog beyond the bowsprit. He raised one hand and began to concentrate.

I want our entry to really shock them. Like we came out of nowhere. Just like a ghost ship. Just like a Burning Star.

He pulled up the first spell he’d planned on using.

Increase Ambient Humidity

His eyes flicked to the spell’s description once more: This pair of spells allows you to affect the amount of ambient water vapor in the air within a given area. This area starts at 10 by10 foot area for a Level One spellcaster and grows by 10 feet per level. In other words, a Level 10 Wizard could affect a 100 by 100 foot area.

Caleb nodded at that. As a thirteenth-level Weathermancer, he had more than enough power to affect the entire area surrounding the Spitfire. He concentrated and invoked the magic to increase the local area’s humidity.

To his surprise, the effect was almost instantaneous. Living aboard a sailing ship meant that the air was always moist. But it felt as if someone had draped a warm, sodden blanket over his shoulders.

Low curses rose up from the crew on deck. Droplets coalesced on the sails and railings, which ran off and landed on the deck in wet plops. Caleb ignored it as he invoked his next spell, to build off of the first.

Call Up Mist

Again, the effect was almost instantaneous. The damp air fueled the formation of mist, wrapping the sloop in a dark gray shroud of moisture. Caleb grinned to himself.

I knew it! When I used this spell back on Irongrasp, the effects were negligible. Calling up mist requires humid air – and a lot of it.

Finally, he pulled up the main spell he’d planned on using. He closed his eyes, envisioning what he wanted, and cast it.

St. Agobard’s Fire

Suddenly, a faint crackling sound came from high above, tickling his ears. Gasps came from the crew on deck. Caleb opened his eyes and looked up.

A nimbus of light surrounded the top third of the mainmast. It shifted from cerulean blue to the bright green of seafoam as it danced atop the mast’s summit. Little sparks flew off into the fog, flaring orange as they grew in thickness and intensity.

“Lir and Danu be praised,” Donal gaped, as he remained at the helm but riveted by the sight.

The nimbus grew brighter as it descended the mast, flowing like luminescent water. It made a soundless splash as it touched the deck and spread out from there, encompassing the entire ship in a handful of seconds.

A couple members of the crew let out a yelp or scream as the wave of light washed over every corner of the sloop. Caleb heard Sienna’s voice shushing them.

“Quiet, now! This is Captain Ledger’s doing. He’s our wizard and our Master of Monsters. We’ll be fine!”

Once the initial shock wore off, people looked on in amazement. Anything inanimate – the railings, the planks, the cannon, their swords, even their clothes – pulsed with blue-green light. Even better, the glow interacted with the heavy fog as yet more sparks of reddish light, lending the entire area a reddish glow.

Finally, a cry came from the lookouts at the bow. Caleb put his glass to his eye and spotted the barest outline of a ship ahead in the fog, perhaps a point or two to steerboard.

“Donal!” he called, while trying to keep his voice low. “Count to ten, then swing us four points to larboard!”

His helmsman had barely responded with a Yezzir before Caleb put his fingers together and whistled. Once he had Sienna’s attention, he raised an arm and pointed off to his right. She nodded and went down the deck, passing on the word.

The crew dutifully moved to the steerboard side of the ship. Several members reached the side and scaled the rigging. Jaime Quinton’s gun crew moved to the middle cannon and began to make ready to fire a shot if needed.

Caleb closed his eyes and envisioned a brand new red radio knob. Only this time, the white label read something different:

AGOBARD’S LIGHTSHOW

He reached out with his mind and spun the knob hard to clockwise, all the way to maximum.

The results were dramatic, to say the least.

The cool glow of blue-green fire turned into bright, ghostly beacons. Seafoam and sky tones shifted into hard planes of unearthly sapphire and emerald. But the biggest change was to the sparks being thrown off.

The reddish glow roared into a hellish conflagration of red. The scarlet corona of light backlit everyone on board. It shaded their faces and turned them into black, twisted silhouettes.

Caleb grinned. Perfect. Just perfect.

He called up one more of his Corsair Abilities as he unsheathed his cutlass.

Piratical Flair

With that, he grabbed a line and stood tiptoe on the steerboard rail. Caleb let out a bloodthirsty yell. Sienna and the others picked it up, and a ripple of screams and howls erupted from the crew. Swords and pistols went up into the air, shaken by ghoulish-looking hands.

The fog parted to reveal a two-masted merchant schooner ahead. Just beyond her lay a low, sandy island dotted with a fringe of coconut palms. Her gold and purple pennant flapped listlessly at the mast, while her name was just visible at the starboard bow: Dromos Bay.

Her crew were mostly on deck. Some were busy adjusting her sails. Another group was stowing the ship’ longboat. Still others were at the capstan, hauling up the anchor.

The crewmen looked up as the Spitfire emerged from the fogbank on their steerboard side in a blaze of hellfire. Flames shot out thirty feet above the mast, with yet more licking across the water between them as if hungry to consume the schooner. The burning ship swung to one side, revealing a horde of howling, angry demons brandishing flaming swords and guns, all out for their souls.

The schooner’s crew froze as the blood drained from their faces. The sail crumpled all cockeyed as the sailors abandoned their work. The longboat’s oars fell with a clatter as it was dumped on deck. The anchor dropped back into the water with a frothy sploosh!

As one, the men screamed and ran for the far side of their ship. Faint splashes echoed across the way as en masse, the crew leaped off the larboard side into the sea. Caleb holstered his cutlass and put his spyglass to his eye.

Heads bobbed in the water as the crew of the Dromos Bay swam towards the nearby island’s beach. They were followed as the very last crewmen working below came up on deck. As soon as they spotted the burning phantasmal ship bearing down on them, they also leaped over the far side.

Caleb reached out with his mind and spun the spell’s intensity knob back to minimum. The hellfire dwindled. He mentally reached out with his fingers to snuff out the last of the flames.

For a moment, all went quiet but for the lapping of the waves.

Then a massive cheer rang out as the crew hollered and whooped in excitement and joy. Men and women shook their weapons in the air. They fell to their knees in thanks or danced impromptu jigs on deck.

New screens popped up in his Quest Window.

New Bonus Level Mini-Quest: Utilize spells to magically bluff the target vessel. Your successful bluff resulted in a Flawless Victory. This has increased the XP Value of the next quest completed by 100%. Adventurer's-Level Quest: Attack and take merchant schooner as a prize. STATUS COMPLETE. Bonus Level Mini-Quest has doubled the value of this Quest’s Completion.

I love it when a plan comes together, Caleb thought joyfully.

“Donal, bring us around,” he called, raising his voice to be heard over the revelry. “Lay us next to that schooner, we’ve got some easy treasure to collect.”