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Wood the Writer

~ Author of Tales From Undersea

Wood the Writer

Tag Archives: pirates

Tales From Undersea Character Profiles. Part 2 – Villains

01 Wednesday Jun 2022

Posted by Jessica Wood in author, Blog, Bonus content, character profiles, pirate, steampunk, villain

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Bonus content, character profiles, characters, pirates, steampunk, villains

I previously posted the character profiles for the heroes in the Tales From Undersea series, but haven’t yet gotten around to the villains. So here they are! These are only the villains from the first two books, in order to avoid some major spoilers:

Petturi Konna

Captain of the Fenrir

Real name: Lewis Mercier

Name meaning/origin: English, ‘famous battle’

Race: Caucasian

Nationality: English

Birthplace: Penzance, England

Sex: Cis male

Age: 48

Orientation: Heterosexual

Languages: English

Deity: None

Family: Father (deceased), mother (estranged), 3 brothers (estranged)

Appearance: Thinning, balding dark red hair usually tied back, beer belly, dark brown eyes

Virtues: Intelligent, tactful, persuasive

Vices: Obsessive, vengeful, paranoid

Skills: Monster fighting, ocean knowledge, gathering information, lying

Weapons: Longsword, axe, duelling pistol

Flag: Two headed dragon on black background

Influences – Count Olaf (A Series of Unfortunate Events), Fagin (Oliver Twist), Captain Hook (Peter Pan)

Note: He is a poor fighter and compensates with trickery.

 

Background: Originally from a poor, abusive family in Penzance.  He had to steal to keep himself and his brothers alive, and even killed their landlord so they wouldn’t be evicted. His mother was so horrified by this act that she kicked him out and he moved Undersea. He eventually joined Redscalp’s crew, becoming his quartermaster. He became increasingly bitter and greedy, even leaving Priscilla and Robert to die for his personal gain. He helped Redscalp to hide the treasure but Redscalp hid the gemstone without his knowledge and wouldn’t tell him where. He intended to steal back the gemstone and the treasure for himself and got Redscalp drunk so he’d reveal where the gemstone is. But he gave him too much and he drank himself to death (specifically by drowning in his own vomit). He changed his identity and became captain of a Viking ship to avoid detection because the Pirate Queen was looking to punish him for his crimes. He spent years looking for the gemstone so that he could get the treasure back.

Captain Grail

Captain of The Invicta

Full name: Captain Richard Theodore Nigel Grail

Name origin/meaning: English, ‘brave ruler’

Age: 46

Nationality: Irish

Race: Caucasian

Birthplace: Cork, Ireland

Sex: Cis male

Orientation: Heterosexual

Appearance: Beer belly, grey hair

Virtues: Cultured, confident

Vices: Creepy, talkative, misogynistic, cruel

Skills: Trade, throwing parties

Likes: Art, canapes

Weapons: Pair of holster pistols

Quirks: Compulsive liar.

Goals: To be accepted into high society

Background: Grail is the captain of the The Invicta, a trade ship. While he is good at trade and highly cultured, he is cruel and uncaring and has thrown crewmembers overboard for displeasing him, resulting in some of them becoming merfolk. He is on the lookout for a suitable wife, but is overconfident in his abilities and looks. He is desperate to rise above his station and become a part of high society, even if he has to buy his way in.

Inspiration: Zapp Brannigan (Futurama), Douglas Reynholm (The IT Crowd)

 

Bonnie Read

Queen of the Pirate faction.

Name meaning/origin: Scottish, ‘pretty’

Age: 59

Race: Caucasian

Nationality: Scottish

Sex: Cis female

Orientation: Bisexual

Appearance: Long red hair, green eyes, thin face, expensive clothes and weapons

Deity: Poseidon

Languages: English

Virtues: Courageous, intelligent, calculating

Vices: Selfish, greedy

Quirks: Abuser

Skills: Combat, democracy, recognising opportunities

Weapons: Sword, pistol, throwing stars

Likes: Money, fine things

Dislikes: Rich people

Favourite food: Booze

Hobby: Racing

Vessel: The Revenge, The Hangman

Pet: Plato the monkey

Background: Bonnie ran away from her family at an early age to become a Pirate. She was elected Queen after sinking an entire Empire fleet at once. She will do anything to make the Pirate faction stronger and richer, which often means doing highly immoral things.

Inspiration: Anne Bonny (historical figure), Akito Sohma (Fruits Basket)

 

Sir Dante Francis Ashburn

Privateer and commander of the Silver Lion

Name origin/meaning: Italian, author of The Divine Comedy

Age: 34

Race: Caucasian

Nationality: English

Birthplace: Somerset, England

Sex: Cis male

Orientation: Homosexual (closeted)

Appearance: Wispy blonde hair (under wig), blue eyes, fine military uniform.

Family: Debra Ashburn (wife), 4 children, Shirokani (former lover)

Friends: Richard Holburne

Languages: English

Virtues: Courageous, determined, hard working

Vices: Insensitive, possessive, controlling, hypocritical

Quirks: Hidden sexuality, abusive

Skills: Leadership, keeping secrets

Weapons: Musket

Likes: His children, opera

Dislikes: His wife, Undersea factions

Background: Dante is from a prominent military family allied with the Holburnes. As a younger officer, he was part of a fleet which bought slaves from Japan. He fell in love with one of these slaves, Shirokani, and had a secret relationship with him. When he was forced into marriage with Debra, both of them were devastated. Shiro asked Dante to run away with him to Undersea and become Pirates, but Dante said that it was beneath them and the marriage went ahead, even though it made both of them miserable.

Eventually Shiro became so depressed that he literally jumped overboard. Dante thought it was suicide but he was actually jumping to the Barracuda. He deeply regrets his actions and still secretly grieves for Shiro. On the outside, he is happily married with four young children.

Since then, he has been knighted and become a privateer (legal pirate). He still looks down upon actual Pirates, and Shiro is well aware of his hypocrisy, although he isn’t.

 

Notes: He believes Shiro is dead and is still in love with him. He still adores his children and they are the only thing that makes him happy, even though his career means he can’t see them often.

His love for Shiro comes mostly from his desire to control another

He and Debra would actually make a good couple if their sexualities matched up.

Inspiration: Sir Francis Drake (historical figure)

 

Lt. Thaddeus Judecca

Second in command of the Silver Lion and very briefly the Captain. Later becomes Kei’s second

Name origin/meaning: Biblical, ‘heart’

Age: 50 (born 1734)

Race: Caucasian

Nationality: English

Sex: Cis male

Orientation: Heterosexual

Religion: Christian

Deity: Jesus Christ

Family: Wife, 2 children (he hates them)

Appearance: Dark hair under wig, thick grey eyebrows

Virtues: Devout, opportunistic

Vices: Poor judge of character, ruthless, submissive,

Quirks: Racist, homophobic

Likes: Battle

Hates: Vices such as alcohol

Weapons: Military issue sword

Languages: English, Latin

Foil: Shu Kei, Dante Ashburn

Goal: To rise above Ashburn

Background: Like Ashburn, Judecca is from a wealthy and important family and gained a high position in the Navy. He is somewhat bitter that Ashburn was promoted over him, since he is older and more experienced but slightly lower in social status.

Inspiration: Captain Norrington (POTC)

Note: His surname is a reference to The Divine Comedy and the place in Hell where traitors to their masters are sent.

For more character and worldbuilding info plus free books, join the Undersea Newsletter.

On This Day… November 22nd 1718

22 Monday Nov 2021

Posted by Jessica Wood in Blog, pirate, villain

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blackbeard, history, history facts, pirate history, pirates

Today marks the 303rd anniversary of the death of Blackbeard, one of the most famous and most notorious pirates in history. He was so famous in fact that many fictional pirate tropes can directly be attributed to him (and I’m not talking about all these weird images where it looks like his hair is on fire).

First off, the ‘pirate accent’ is actually just the regional dialect of south west England, where Blackbeard (or rather Edward Teach) was from. He most likely started life hauling cargo in the busy Bristol docks as his father had done, before giving it up for a life of piracy.

But perhaps Blackbeard’s greatest contribution to pirate lore is just how reckless he was. His blockade of Charles Town is regarded as one of the boldest moves made by any pirate. His death might have influenced the heroic image of the pirate dying in battle, fighting until the end. Even though if you take a close look at pirates, they weren’t really that romantic but brutal terrorists and murderers.

Even so, Blackbeard’s story is fascinating, and a big inspiration for my own pirate novels. If you want to learn more about him, I highly recommend Internet Historian’s video The Gentleman Pirate, which is half drama and half documentary.

Tales From Undersea – Traitor’s Revenge (excerpt)

04 Monday May 2020

Posted by Jessica Wood in author, Blog, book exerpt, self publishing, steampunk, story, villain, writing

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book, book excerpt, book sample, creative writing, lit, oceanpunk, pirates, seapunk, steampunk, story, vikings, writing

“Move aside. I’ll take her,” a new Viking joined the fight, the others parting to let him pass. Judging by his age, the quality of the axe in his hand, and the commanding tone of his voice, Alethea guessed that this was the Viking Chieftain.

A roar from Iku-turso interrupted their fight. Each of them instinctively covered their ears, forgetting that they were all wearing diving helmets.

“Chief,” one of the Vikings said over the sound. He was a tall Polynesian man with ink black skin and long hair which flowed in the water. His Viking attire was decorated with patterns and symbols of the Polynesian islands and a shark toothed club hung from his holster. The man looked as if he could punch through walls and kill an elephant with a single fist.

“Not now, Inoki,” the Chieftain said, not looking at him as he swam closer to Alethea, who gripped her own sword tighter. She considered how quickly she could draw her gun from her holster and fire, or how quickly she could draw Robert’s gun from its hidden pouch if she needed to.

“Chief, it’s about to rip the Fenrir apart. We need to leave now,” Inoki said, placing a large hand on the Chief’s shoulder.

Alethea risked a glance to see that the creature, blood pouring from its cut tentacle, close to tearing off the Fenrir’s hull. Glances between the Vikings told them that they would have to leave, without the stone.

“Damn you pirate arseholes. Think you rule the entire ocean,” one of the more particularly violent Vikings said, throwing his axe to the ground in frustration. It took him a moment to remember that he was underwater and desperately grabbed it again before it floated to the surface.

The Chieftain said nothing. He kicked himself off his crewmate to cross the distance to Alethea. She barely raised her sword in time to clash against his axe.

“I hope you don’t think Redscalp’s treasure is yours to take, Barracuda,” he growled.

There was something in his voice which shook Alethea. Something which bothered her even more than the axe in his hand or the monster roaring close by.

“Who are you?” she asked without knowing why.

With a motion so swift it made her gasp, he grabbed her arm and pulled her closer. She could see his face clearly through his helmet. She could see his greying red hair streaked across his forehead and his dark brown eyes, looking straight into hers as if he were inspecting her. Even in the cold Nordic sea, her blood seemed to boil.

“I already told you, I’m Petturi Konna. And I am the rightful heir to Redscalp’s treasure. It’s what I’m owed.”

 

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