Caleb closed the cabin door behind him. The room’s modular table had already been set up on the far side of the room. So he simply opened the bag containing the parchments he’d taken off the Damsel and shook them out.

The table’s surface rattled as pieces of dry parchment and blobs of sealing wax showered down upon it. Caleb heard a miaow of protest, then felt a familiar furry warmth brush up against his leg. He knelt and stroked the calico splashcat behind her ears.

“Sorry if I woke you up, Breena.” He gently picked her up in his arms before looking over the table. The documents lay in a mass, some with disturbingly red stains or blackened in spots, as if someone had touched a flame to them. “Damn. I haven’t even touched these things, and they already make me want to wash my hands.”

Breena squirmed in his arms. She pushed back, looked him in the eyes, and let out a longer, more plaintive miaow. Caleb would’ve found it cute, if it weren’t scented liberally with the salty smell of brislings.

“Well, you’re not hungry, not if someone’s been giving you fish,” Caleb said. The cat squirmed once more, so he set her down on the table. Breena seemed to relax, and began to wash herself with her little pink tongue. “I guess you just wanted an open spot to take a shower?”

That got a chuckle out of Caleb. He considered the mess on the table once more, then decided to hold off for a moment.

“You just keep an eye on those parchments for a bit,” he said to Breena. “I need to take care of something more pressing.”

Caleb walked across the room and pulled out the fold-down desktop next to the wardrobe. He pulled out a scrap of paper, ink, and one of the quill pens stored in the shelf above. A quick flick of one finger brought up the line in his Character Sheet he wanted.

Unspent XP 1495

He then scrolled up to his Corsair Sub-Specialties and tapped on one entry. The details came up in a new screen.

Swap XP for Gold: This ability allows you to swap 5 experience points for 1 gold crown.

We recommend that you use this skill only in extreme circumstances. Gathering XP is important, as it’s the only way to reach higher levels. This goes double for your case, since your talent is burning XP in exchange for boosting spell power!

Caleb picked up the pen and did some quick math. He compared the numbers against the cost of his un-activated spells. Finally, he came up with a number that he could live with. He decided to envision the word and number combination: Unspent XP 495.

Before he could solidify that thought, a brand new screen came up at the edge of his vision. The flash of red from around its borders drove home the point: Pay attention to me!

Well, mission accomplished, he thought wryly, as he read the screen’s verbiage.

WARNING: SIGNIFICANT XP DRAIN IMMINENT.

DO YOU WANT TO COMPLETE THIS XP-FOR-GOLD SWAP?

YES / NO

Lir and Danu’s Helpful Hints:

We recommend that you use the XP-For-Gold Corsair Sub-Specialty only in extreme circumstances. You are fairly close to attaining another level. For this reason, continuing to gather XP is extremely important, as it’s the only way to reach higher levels! Without higher levels, you will not be able to access better and more powerful spells! This shall leave you at a disadvantage in Hostile Encounters. Failing to emerge victorious in Hostile Encounters can result in death. This is a condition that we continue to recommend that you avoid.

“Dammit, you two are right. All across the board,” Caleb grumped. “But those extra levels aren’t going to help me a damn if I don’t have the gold to activate the spells that I do receive. And boy, are those prices going up.”

With that, he set his jaw, reached out, and jabbed the YES button.

A four-note chime echoed in his head, followed by neon-bright lines of text that flashed into existence.

LARGE XP-FOR-GOLD SWAP COMPLETED:

1000 XP FOR 200 GOLD CROWNS.

INDICATE SPACE TO RECEIVE COINS.

Caleb quickly moved paper, ink, and pen to one side, and then pointed to the open space on his fold-out desk. The words silently burst into flame with a silent poof!

Blank-faced gold coins rained down from nowhere onto the desk. The shower of metal made a tinny clink-clank! as it rattled down. Several bounced off the wooden surface and rolled onto the floor.

He bent down to gather them. When Caleb stood up, he came face-to-face with a little golden dragon sitting next to the pile of coins. Her tail waggled excitedly, and her face wore an expression of delight.

Daffodil’s little-girl voice was breathless with wonder.

“That…was…awesome!” she squeaked. “Why don’t you pull gold out of midair anytime you want it? It would seem to solve a lot of the problems around here.”

“Yeah, it would,” he agreed with her. “Unfortunately, it’s not something I can do that often. Nor should I. It prevents me from becoming an even stronger wizard.”

He wasn’t exaggerating. He checked his character sheet once more. Sure enough, he’d burned two-thirds of his earned XP, leaving him with the last third to use in boosting spells.

Unspent XP 495

“Also,” Caleb went on, “it’s not like I’m going to have this more than a few seconds. It’s going to be spent on all-new spells for me to use.”

Daffodil cocked her head. “I don’t understand.”

“Well, just watch.”

Caleb checked his notes, and then laid a hand palm-down on the shining pile of gold while he envisioned the following spell entries in his head.

Wind Cast Wind Shift Call Up Storm, Minor Microburst Deflection

Yeah, I need all of these, he thought. Weathermancy is getting expensive, right when I started getting some especially useful spells. Being able to use Wind Cast and Wind Shift without burning more XP to power these is a savings in the long run. And I’ve got to be able to put a Storm and Deflection spell to use, somehow!

Daffodil let out a low whistle as she watched the pile of gold shrink. Coins simply disappeared as if falling into an unseen void. Soon, only a half-dozen blank-faced golden disks remained. Caleb scooped them up and placed them with the other five blanks he’d stored in his wardrobe.

“And I thought I was the only creature on board that ate coins!” Daffodil breathed. She wrapped herself around his forearm and hugged him. “I’m so lucky to have someone understand me!”

“Well, it’s not quite the same thing,” Caleb said, with a laugh. He stroked her scaly head the same way he’d done for the splashcat.

At that moment, Breena let out a miaow. He looked over to the table, where she stared at him intently.

“What is it?” he asked idly. “Are you getting jealous? I’ll pet you some more in a minute, I promise.”

With that, Breena sniffed, turned around and stalked off. As she jumped down from the table, she knocked off the closest parchment. The document, already half-curled from its exposure to moisture, rolled over and landed on the floor in a shower of lavender-colored bits of wax.

Caleb let out a groan. That’s a cat for you. Always knocking things off counters or tables.

“I’ll get it!” Daffodil said brightly. She unwound from his forearm and leapt down. She gathered up the parchment in her little paws and stared at it for a moment, frowning. “Hmph.”

“What’s the matter?” Caleb asked.

“Princess Lili was teaching me how to read. I still don’t know all the words. There’s one mentioned here that I don’t know.”

“Oh? What is it? Maybe I know.”

“Chattel.”

“That’s an old-fashioned word being possession. Or…” Caleb paused and sat up for a moment. “Or a piece of property. That word’s got a dark connotation, at least in my world. What’s the rest of the sentence say?”

The little dragon scowled as she worked it out.

“Dis…Disgraced Dam-sell to arrive…and collect human chattel for imprisonment and soul-draining upon shipment to Deep…wait, Deep-hold port. And it’s signed by a noblewoman., I think. Lady Lilin Ravencrow.”

With that, he got up and took the parchment from Daffodil. He read the contents of the document, twice. His heart started to beat in his ears as he realized what he’d stumbled upon. He grabbed some of the other parchments and read their contents before coming to his conclusion.

Caleb threw open the door to the quarterdeck. The clouds had finally started to break, and the late afternoon sun threw his helmsman’s profile into sharp relief.

“Donal,” he called. “I need you to call my officers up to the great cabin. Emergency meeting.”

“You mean all of your officers, Captain?” Donal asked.

“Yes, you too. Get Noack Miley to cover the helm’s position. And one more thing.” Caleb lowered his voice. “I want Decklan Patrick to join us. He’s got a lot of questions that I need answered.”