An Altogether Unsavory Band of Rogues

The Crew of the Bloodwake

Captain William "Scurvy Bill" Gunn

Captain Bill embarked on a career in the challenging field of roaming marine salvage after liberating a cache of jewels from Weymouth and purchasing a sloop to facilitate an extended vacation from the British Empire.

That first ship, the Rabid Prawn, was lost in a squall that smelt strangely of Spanish cannon fire south of San Juan, but was soon replaced by a smart schooner named Sweet Lucy, whose previous owner was occupied with a length of rope growing uncomfortably tight about his neck. The Lucy was soon re-christened as the Bloodwake, and a profitable enterprise was born.

Mister Marcy, First Mate

Mister Marcy is a bit of a mystery to the rest of the crew. Shortly after setting sail from Weymouth, the Captain found him sketching in a leeward cabin. When informed that this was now a salvage vessel, not a passenger ship, Mister Marcy reportedly answered, "You're standing in my light."

After sailing with Captain Bill for several years, he was made first mate largely because he was the only member of the crew who showed no interest whatsoever in becoming captain himself one day. His solitary nature and obvious education causes one to wonder why he chose seafaring over whatever life he led before that first fateful voyage of the Rabid Prawn.

Ba Ba the Portugee, Bosun

Sailing in the Portuguese navy aboard the King's Fist, Ba Ba claimed his freedom with a time-honored method: mutiny. He commanded the renamed Fellows' Fist for several months before the navy caught up with them. Sinking the ship they could not reclaim despite a lengthy battle, they sailed away thinking all hands lost. They were nearly right.

Three days later the Bloodwake fished one dripping Portuguese mutineer out of the sea, still clinging to a piece of splintered mast. The stubborn (and lucky) Ba Ba signed on with the band of roving mariners posthaste. The piece of mast from his first and only command he carved into a cudgel he carries to this day.

Jenny "Needles" Leslie, Quartermaster

Jenny Leslie signed on with the Bloodwake at the port of Wicklow after an incident involving the British cavalry stables' manure pile and half a pound of gunpowder. Jenny rose to the rank of Quartermaster in a rather unorthodox manner, winning the post from the previous tenant in an epic game of Fidchell.

Jenny came by her nickname not only for her skill with the knitting needles, but also by being the most-tattooed member of the whole scurvy crew.

Meg "The Bonny Lash" Seaget, Captain's Cook

Born a scullery maid's bastard near the Cinque Port of Hythe in Kent, as a child she took to combing the docks for cast-offs and the occasional pocket booty of a drunken sailor. Soon she found herself on the wrong side of the constabulary and took to the sea as cook's drudge aboard a transport ship called Fat Hilda. Learning the cook's skill and growing savvy with a whip (she could snap the head off a rat in a heartbeat), she earned her keep until the Bloodwake captured the Fat Hilda. The crew found the girl amusing and kept her aboard even as Captain Bill set her former mates adrift with the head of their captain.

Cooking for the Captain and his table was a fine life for one of Meg's beginnings and she took to pirating with the gusto of a natural born thief and killer. Meg's lusty appetites could pale many a strong man and did until she met a handsome highborn who allowed her to take him hostage for a share of his ransom. When his family refused to pay, she decided to marry him instead of killing him. Cannon Jack Darling would discover she had ways to make him pay and pay.

"Cannon Jack" Darling, Gunnery Master

None o' yer business where he's been or what he's done. Shove off!

The Dread Pirate Pea, Helmsman

None o' yer business where he's been or what he's done. Shove off!

"Splinter Mick" O'Flynn, Ship's Carpenter

None o' yer business where he's been or what he's done. Shove off!

"Whiskey Liz" O'Flynn, Ship's Cook

None o' yer business where she's been or what she's done. Shove off!

Master Jeffrey "Charts" Archer, Navigator

A man of science and persistent wanderlust, Master Archer orgininally boarded the Bloodwake as her first and only paying passenger, offering a hefty price for the privilege of avoiding the gallows (apparently poaching the King's deer is somewhat frowned upon, who knew?). He finances his scientific experiments by writing a series of lurid pirate tales for the London penny press under the nom de plume Percival Stalwart.

When the ship's navigator washed overboard in a storm, he offered his services for a cut of the plunder and became one of the crew. After an awkward first month, he got the hang of the astrolabe and sexton and now makes and sells his maps, which are becoming prized for their accuracy and footnotes on popular routes for well-laden trade ships.

Val "Leadball" Tyler, Gunner

None o' yer business where he's been or what he's done. Shove off!

Sean "Barbarosa" Connelly, Lookout

Barbarosa was the Bloodwake's first bosun, but during a night of carousing in Jamestown he was coshed on the noggin and press-ganged into the Royal Navy.

Nearly a twelvemonth later, the Bloodwake spotted a dinghy adrift in the Carribean, some hundred miles south of Puerto Rico. Investigating, they found a parched, salt-encrusted and delirious Barbarosa, who had finally made good his escape from the HMS Endeavour a fortnight prior. Captain Bill considered reinstating him as bosun, but decided instead that he should spend some time in the crow's nest for "escaping" so far from any port, and without provisions.

"Red Sam" Rackham, Able Pirate

None o' yer business where he's been or what he's done. Shove off!

Sally "Snips" Trounce, Barber/Surgeon

Lt. Raleigh Trounce was a Barber-Surgeon in the Queen's Navy. On a tour of duty, his ship was raided by the feared (but surprisingly friendly) mariners of the Bloodwake. In need of such services, they kidnapped the able surgeon, allowing him to bring a few trunks of medical equipment. Unknown to any, his daughter Sally had stowed away in one of those trunks and was not discovered until they were far at sea.

She quickly became an asset to her father at the side of the wounded. She studied every move he made and longed to be like him. During a raid Lt. Trounce was fatally wounded running to the aid of a fallen crewman, and Sally took up his instruments and went quickly to work. By this time, she had become accustomed to a seafaring way of life. She accepted the Captain's offer to remain aboard in her father's place.

Cristoffels "Criss Cross" De LaCroix, Apothecary/Clergyman

Though no cleric, the man known by some as "The Priest" did apprentice with the Knights of St. John (Hospitallers) as an apothecary prior to joining their ranks of soldier monks. No, not a cleric, but a man of prayer, even if he does enjoy worldly pleasures when opportunities present themselves.

None aboard knows the reason he parted with the military order, but it was in a city tavern in Marseilles where Sally Trounce made his acquaintance. He in turn is unsure if he found himself aboard the Bloodwake of his own volition. A night of happy drinking and Sally's company blurred events between the tavern and finding himself at sea the next day. With solid land far behind him, De LaCroix comported himself as if indeed it was his own idea to be there, and for this he has not gone unrewarded.

Jacques "Jake Scalawag" van der Kruis, Able Pirate

The son of Sally Trounce and Cristoffels De LaCroix has been a scoundrel and a tyrant from the first. If Jake Scalawag wants to go to Tortuga, by God you go to Tortuga, or get treated to a squall that could blow an entire fleet off-course.

A natural marine salvage specialist, he has an uncanny knack for spotting (and filching) shiny objects. He cut his teeth on the handle of his father's boarding axe, and Barbarosa swears the young Scalawag is plotting to take his job...by force, if neccesary.

Andries "Dutch" Visser, Anchor-Monkey

This pipe maker's apprentice from Amsterdam recently learned that drinking and dicing with pirates often leads to sudden career changes.

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