The Obsidian Key ✔️

KNOW THE CHARACTERS

As you can tell most of the characters in this story were actual living breathing human being who walked the earth in 1715-1722. Since piracy was a risky thing to do in this time most pirates were killed before they could live their relaxed and luxurious dream of retirement... so I will let you know who was real and who wasn't. Also giving you input on what happened to the pirates that I introduced in the story.

Ria Shay– Sadly, as you can tell, she is not real. She was fun to write nevertheless! Getting herself in situations that seem impossible, fun and witty, and didn't quite understand that in the 1700's woman was seen as lower class...

Caspian "The Face" Woodrow– He was not real. I personally came up with the character just to be a thorn in Ria's side during the whole trip until you said you would like romance in the story and this is the only romance in the story I could come up with. I took the idea and ran with it as you can see, and now I'm glad I did. The story turned out better than I originally thought.

John "Calico Jack" Rackham– He was real. Of course, he was only popular for having two women pirates on his ship. He wasn't a good fighter and only plundered small ships, he had a romantic fling with Anne Bonny. He was Charles Vane Quartermaster before Vane was marooned by his crew for running from a fight and declared cowardly and Calico Jack was declared a new Captain. He took the King's pardon but ran with Anne Bonny from Nassau, even stealing a ship. He was hanged in 1720.

Charles Vane– he is real, although introduced in the very beginning of the story and was a character who I only wrote about briefly. He was a notorious pirate who ran with Blackbeard himself, they were known to have worked with each other and perhaps were mentored by him. They were also known to haunt the tavern in Nassau with Stede Bonnet (A character never mentioned). He never took the kings Pardon and tried to snatch Nassau from the government's grip. He was hanged in 1721

Anne Bonny– Known as one of the famous female pirates that roamed Calico Jack's ship, and was Jack's lover. She was married when she met Jack at the Tavern although she was really married before to a man named James Bonny, who worked as a snitch to turn in pirates. Seeing that his wife was cheating on him a pirate he turned to the government and if his wife didn't end the arrangement with Jack, she would be punished. Jack tried to bribe James to get a divorce from his wife but he refused the deal, so they ran off, causing Jack to break the King's Pardon when he returned to piracy with her. She went to prison in 1719 when their ship was taken by pirate hunters and Jack gave up fighting and let them take the ship they were sent to prison to be hanged, but because she was pregnant her trail was stayed. Legend says that the last time she met Jack before he was hanged she said these last words of disgust to him, "If you had fought like a man, you need not have been hang'd like a dog."

Mary "Mark" Read– Yes, yours truly was real! And yes, she was a very good fighter and the most active crewmember on board. It is said that she was the best fighter on board and in a book written in the 1720's about the Golden Age of Piracy she was, from actual pirates who have met her, said "Willing to do anything", "Very active", "Very profligate", and "Cursing and swearing too much". She and Anne bonny worked together on Jack's ship, but they did not meet the way I made it in the story. Anny and Mary met when Jack plundered her ship that she worked on, and recruited her thinking she was a man. She really did dress like a man. She was taken to prison with Jack and Bonny and she too pleaded that she was pregnant. Later in prison Mary had grown a fever and died in prison and was buried at the St Catherine's Church in Jamaica. Her friend Bonny is said to have disappeared in her cell and was never seen or heard from again...

Samuel "Black" Bellamy– Known as the Romantic pirate. His one goal was to get to his beloved back in New England. Her family did not approve of him being so poor so he set out treasure hunting with a friend to become rich, promising his beloved that he would come back rich and riding a large ship. He was taken by pirates and in under a year, became captain. As if built for the pirate world he brought in more money than the whole crew could believe. It wasn't long before he captured the slave ship, the Whydah, with enough for every pirate on the ship to retire. Returning to his wife he was killed by the storm of 1717. Only two men survived to record how the famous kind Black Bellamy was like.

Amul– He was sadly not real. He was another character I had come up with to show a bit of how slavery was then, although as big as he was he was awfully kind wasn't he? Unless you tick him off. Then good luck to you....

Edward "Blackbeard" Teach– We all know that this ruthless pirate was real. He kidnapped the South Carolina's governor and used him for ransom to get medicine for his crew, which was medicine for the disease syphilis that his crew got from the women on land. Nothing was more important to Blackbeard than the health of his crew, knowing that a Captain of the ship can easily be mutinied and marooned that the next man. It is said that he planned to retire, and near Ocracoke, North Carolina in 1718 in November 22, he was attacked by Pirate hunters, the Captain of the ship Charles Eden. He was shot in the face and continued to fight, but was taken down finally when he was stabbed in the back. Eden cut off the man's head and hanged it in front of his ship as a victory. Legend has it that Blackbeard's body circled the ship three times before it sank...

Scarlatti's– No, they weren't real. I just needed a family that would help the Main Character steal a plate and would put her through more trouble.

Li Xiu Ying– as much as I wanted her to be real, she isn't. I have researched and there were assassins then, depended of which part of the world they were in. I did not do much research on the Chinese culture, but Li was an idea that came to me after playing a cool game.

Kingston, Nassau (New Providence), and Havana– All real places. Look them up.