Synopsis
In 1716, far out into the Caribbean, an evil power is about to awaken. The English privateer vessel Lively has just pulled off a daring attack against the Spanish vessel Nuestra Señora de la Purificación, and has done so with the help of the pirate vessel Hazard, captained by John "The Ladyman" Laurier. The odds seemed impossible, and their crews doubted them, but they've pulled off what no one thought possible--the defeat of a Spanish galleon amidst a storm! But after their victory, the sun sets...and it doesn't rise again.
A cosmic horror may be upon them. The stars appear to have shifted, two alien moons occasionally appear in the night sky, and strange things move beneath the water. Fighting panicking crews, both Laurier and his friend, Benjamin "Devil's Son" Vhingfrith, must keep their wits about them as they seek to understand this cosmic phenomenon and reach Port Royal. If it's even still there.
This story includes action, adventure, exploration, detailed battle sequences and descriptions of sea tactics, and both ship and island politics, amid a shifting landscape that involves historical events altered by an extreme cosmic phenomenon. There are Lovecraftian creatures, secret cults, discussions about religion and its views on what this cosmic event may foretell. There will also be graphic violence and some romance (two of the main MCs are bisexual, but they try and keep that a secret). But make no mistake, this is already a gruesome, grim topic when you decide to include actual pirates, their lifestyles, and their tactics, which I intend to go into detail about. The "Golden Age of Piracy" is one of my favorite topics to research and you will occasionally see historical figures in this story. Pirates were complex people with complex relationships and opinions on government and faith. Many escaped slaves became pirates themselves, even captains of their own ships. Our world was forever reshaped by the "Golden Age of Piracy," and I intend to explore how those changes might've been even more bizarre had there been a bizarre cosmic event on this scale.
If you came for detailed descriptions of sailing, life as a pirate and privateer, politics concerning cosmic horrors, and epic battles, I think you've come to the right place.
Finally, while we will bounce around between lots of character over time, the mains are John Laurier and Benjamin Vhingfrith. Laurier is a white man of privilege who, because of his sexual orientation being discovered, was driven away from his home out of shame and desperation. Benjamin is a half-Black man whose white father raised him to be a businessman, sailor and privateer, and fights to earn respect in the only place that will even marginally give it to him--the near-lawless territories of the Caribbean.
Table of Contents
- 1Prologue: How it Came to Be This Way2024-11-13
- 2Chapter 1: The Hazard2024-11-13
- 3Chapter 2: The Lively2024-11-13
- 4Chapter 3: Boarding Action2024-11-13
- 5Chapter 4: Castle at Sea, Under Siege2024-11-13
- 6Chapter 5: First Anomaly2024-11-13
- 7Chapter 6: The Hellmouth2024-11-13
- 8Chapter 7: A Review of the Facts2024-11-13
- 9Chapter 8: The Frenchman2024-11-13
- 10Chapter 9: A Dark Deed That Needed Doing2024-11-13
- 11Chapter 10: The Short Mutiny2024-11-13
- 12Chapter 11: Honour, the Cosmos, and the Republic2024-11-13
- 13Chapter 12: Land Ho!2024-11-13
- 14Chapter 13: The Mallory2024-11-13
- 15Chapter 14: Port Royal2024-11-13
- 16Chapter 15: Jack the Pickpocket2024-11-13
- 17Chapter 16: A Treasure Worth 300 Million Pounds2024-11-13
- 18Chapter 17: The Firmament Stirs2024-11-13
- 19Chapter 18: One Dark Rumour2024-11-13
- 20Chapter 19: The Masquerade Ball2024-11-13
- 21Chapter 20: Do You Understand What Room You're In Now?2024-11-13
- 22Chapter 21: The Trap2024-11-13
- 23Chapter 22: The Dead Who Walk as We Do2024-11-13
- 24Chapter 23: The Behemoth2024-11-13
- 25Chapter 24: Toby, and the Monsters of Port Royal2024-11-13
- 26Chapter 25: A Dark Visitor2024-11-13
- 27Chapter 26: Oddsummers2024-11-13
- 28Chapter 27: The Deception at Porto Bello2024-11-13
- 29Chapter 28: A Little Dance with Jack Ketch2024-11-13
- 30Chapter 29: The Attack on Porto Bello2024-11-13
- 31Chapter 30: Tortuga2024-11-13
- 32Chapter 31: Uncharted Isles2024-11-13
- 33Chapter 32: Hunger Makes Men Stupid2024-11-13
- 34Chapter 33: Old Charley2024-11-13
- 35Chapter 34: The Goddess Gawa2024-11-13
- 36Chapter 35: The Battle for the León Coronado2024-11-13
- 37Chapter 36: The Kind of Doom Only the Sea Brings2024-11-13
- 38Chapter 37: A Better Pirate Never Lived2024-11-13
- 39Chapter 38: Business in Nassau2024-11-13
- 40First Interlude: The Leaving of London2024-11-13
- 41Second Interlude: Queen Anne's Revenge2024-11-13
- 42Third Interlude: Blackbeard's Final Lesson2024-11-13
- 43Chapter 39: The Messenger is Not Important2024-11-13
- 44Chapter 40: Before the Devil Knows You're Dead2024-11-13
- 45Chapter 41: The Doldrums2024-11-13
- 46Chapter 42: Yo-ho!2024-11-13
- 47Chapter 43: Monsters in the Fog2024-11-13
- 48Chapter 44: Mr. Burr's Return2024-11-13
- 49Chapter 45: Jack's Turn2024-11-13
- 50Chapter 46: The Final Push2024-11-13
- 51Chapter 47: Palaver2024-11-13