Krohlo ordered the cutter I’d chosen pulled out, but I had to involve myself as the goblins with the necessary skills just didn’t have the numbers to pull all of the other ships out of the way. There were maybe two dozen present with a seamanship skill. The pitiful showing underlined why the gift I was being supplied with was manageable – the orc nation truly had no maritime inclinations.

I remedied their shortcomings with summoned crew, the watery constructs taking over the smaller boats as they exited the hidden harbor. We were able to pull the ships out of the way, but as we got the cutter into the water the tide stopped our efforts with its influx, closing the mouth of the harbor. I didn’t mind, as I was able to get aboard her, test that she really was still watertight, and begin outfitting her. I was still hoping to avoid claiming this ship and sail it the normal way, but that required more preparation and supplies.

Gerald joined me as I looked over the ship, though Jorgagu looked like he wasn’t at all interested in getting back aboard a ship, Travis looked like he didn’t want to encroach on my space, and Krohlo just seemed amused to watch me work.

“So … Domenic,” Gerald said. “I gather things are going well with the orcs, and I trust you, but Travis and I are feeling a bit out of the loop.”

I paused with my hand on a section of hull that was showing early signs of dry rot and sighed. “Sorry about that. Want me to recap?”

“Jorgagu was kind enough to fill us in while you picked out this ship.”

“I didn’t mean to keep you in the dark, it’s just been hard enough keeping myself straight between talking orcish and negotiating with a necromancer.”

“I’m not complaining to you, not really. I just imagined you were getting tense and starting to make decisions on the fly … wanted to give you a chance to air your thoughts. An upside of this whole language thing? Even if there are eavesdroppers they won’t understand us!”

I chuckled. “Well, on one hand I’m worried the orcs are trying to push crew on me to serve as their informants. On the other, they won’t really have much means of doing so once we’re gone. It still feels weird that they’re condition for giving me a vessel is that they also give me crew.”

“Perhaps they just want a stake in the game? Have their warriors on board to remind you of their interests?”

“I thought of that, and hope that’s all it is. We’ll see; because the more I think about it the more excited I get about having a boarding team made up of orc shock troops.”

“Don’t get too greedy, it’ll get rather crowded sailing this ship.” Gerald followed the wood I’d already examined with his eyes before turning his hawk-like focus squarely on me. “Tell me why you aren’t claiming this ship.”

“It’s complicated. Typically I raise a new ship and discard the old one. I have an active quest tied to the Death’s Consort though, and can’t get rid of it. That makes me stuck. My next upgrade for raising the ship costs 400,000 XP.”

“400,000!” Gerald exclaimed.

“Yeah, exactly.”

“You have that much?”

“A bit more than.”

“Wow. So … skimming over the hundreds of thousands of XP you’ve gathered and the ridiculous prices for your profession … what’s the holdup?”

“If I invest it now, I can’t use it on any other abilities I might need. That’s most of my XP there! I need to be able to be flexible.”

“Okay, what other abilities are you considering?”

“Well,” I faltered.

Geralds’ laser focus somehow became more intense. “What’s going on?”

I sighed. “I want to develop my raise crew ability.”

“But you hate raising crew!”

“Living crew, yeah! It’s surrendering their lives! But for deceased people, it’s a second chance at life, and I’m not coercing them in any way. They still have the full option to not be raised.”

Gerald studied me for several long moments. “So who’d you lose that you want to resurrect?”

My throat clenched. “A lot of people. Some I killed and shouldn’t have. Others I … I was responsible for.”

“Not your father, right?”

Irritation flashed through me. “No! He’s dead and he’s staying that way.”

Gerald nodded. “Good! Jorgagu said he was worried about how your patricide title was impacting your mind.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll admit it’s doing something but I don’t have any desire to resurrect the man.”

“So you need this upgrade to resurrect people?”

“The upgrade lets me reach people who’ve been dead longer, yes.”

“How long per upgrade?”

“I don’t know! It isn’t spelled out and there’s not a manual for my class. I just don’t want to find their resting place only to not be able to do anything.”

Gerald let my words hang in the air, and the longer they stayed there, the more I realized I was being foolish. Maybe I couldn’t reach those I wanted to save, but not getting a second ship was hamstringing my profession. My profession was my ace, the only reason I’d been able to fight the ships of the fleet.

I still stood by my reasons for not claiming the Isa. I had to be careful about the ships I raised, as I didn’t control the perks they got – those were based on my history with it, and could be detrimental instead of helpful. I couldn’t afford to not claim my next ship, though.

I took a deep breath. “I hate spending so much XP at once.”

“I’m flabbergasted that’s what it takes for you! You’ll have to tell me about it later, my cook upgrades average in the hundreds these days. I thought a thousand was an expensive profession.”

“Yeah, well, rare profession means it’s a whale to feed. Thanks Gerald.”

“Anytime, friend.” He clapped me on the shoulder, and followed me to the deck.

I told the others I was going to claim the cutter after all and bought the ability, 400,000 XP disappearing from my reserve. I placed a hand on her deck and exerted my profession.

Would you like to raise “Cutter” as your ship?

The last time I’d seen this prompt had been a bad day. Now, however, I had more options. Affirming the prompt brought up a new option.

Unable to replace Death’s Consort.

“Cutter” slotted as second ship.

Multiple ships detected under your control, fleet interface unlocked.

That was new, and to be explored soon.

“Cutter” has been raised as your cursed ship! Ship interface has been added and adjusted for ship type.

The ships history and your experience with it have an effect on the nature of the ship’s curse. You have no history or connection with this ship. Given your selection and appraisal of the ship, cursed status has been set as: Perceptive Eye.

Basic level of purchased upgrades applied. Allocate XP transfer for further adjustments.

I’d wondered about that; changing ships caused some loss in the XP investment I’d made into upgrades. If I created a new ship, would I be starting from scratch or would it siphon from Death’s Consort? Apparently, I got the basics just with my Raise Ship ability, and could do a bit more adjusting as I saw fit. Perhaps through my new fleet interface?

You are in an area that has been deprived of mana. Certain functions will be limited.

When I raised my ship I sent my mana out to collect more ambient mana to fulfill the full cost of the ability. I’d noticed this time that the strands had been thickest in the water, had extended in the air, but stopped at the stone. The little harbor built into the cliff didn’t have enough ambient mana of its own to fuel the skill, and it had needed to extend longer tendrils out the mouth of the harbor into the wider ocean to fuel the cost. In the meantime, there was no ambient mana here.

Before I could dive into my interface for the ship, Krohlo cleared his throat and reminded me that he was organizing potential crew. Though he seemed as intrigued by what I’d done with my ability, it might not have made him very comfortable as he seemed to be noticing the sudden lack of mana in the area.

I had developed a rapport with the old orc and we’d relaxed around each other. For this upcoming recruitment, however, I donned my Captain’s face. As I did so, the simple joy I’d allowed myself to feel about overcoming my restriction and claiming a ship to challenge the mighty waves of the ocean disappeared, replaced by the indomitable will of a cursed slave who’d dared defy Davy Jones and who now dared to defy the human world.

We legged it back to the Seagate where Krohlo’s greeting party of zombies had first met us. Now, there were several rows of orcs standing in a semi-circle formation.

They were an interesting bunch. A few older, scarred orcs hung in the back but almost all were young, their skin having a smaller assortment of scars but no drastic or crippling mementos. While the old ones generally looked on with the practiced experience of evaluating foes and knowing their limitations, I could tell instantly that the youths were brash, considering themselves invincible and itching for a fight with anything.

In other words, trouble.

Before I could ask Krohlo why he was trying to saddle me with adolescent warriors I saw the chieftain … and there was no confusing him with any other warrior.

Name

Grish

Age

Race

Orc

Profession

Warlord

Level

Health

Mana

Stamina

Strength

Agility

Dexterity

Constitution

Endurance

Intelligence

Wisdom

Charisma

Luck