Tales From The Sunless Sea - The Seventh Zee-Captain

 First Zee-Captain                                   Previous Zee-Captain                              Next Zee Captain

     The seventh Zee-Captain was doomed for failure. Well, actually he was very much one of the most capable Zee-Captains the Unterzee has seen, however, luck was not on his side. By which I mean the Gods did not favour him. Zeraphya stole a perfect cruiser and had the experience of years of dealing with Zee-Captains doing the bidding of The Cheery Man. The problem being, work for the cheery man didn't always go in favour of Salt, Stone, or Storm.

     With money and a boat and the ability to fight as well as knowledge of the Zee let Zeraphya immediately boost himself into success. He traded cargo back and forth, took out some Zee threats and everything seemed well. His main problem was recruiting new members for his crew, and of which there were two reasons why he kept his crew count low. Firstly, he was a talented man who neither needed much help, nor wanted much help. Even though most of his work was illegal or against the authorities of Fallen London, he still made enemies of pirates and he still treated the residents of Kahn as if they were not friends. Secondly, people took a disliking to him. His face was known to Zee-Captains, no most of them avoided dealings where possible, and many religious folk saw his general appearance, with the scars and tattoos, to be a bad omen for travel.

     So, Zeraphya's crew was considerably low. The reason I mention this is because it wasn't long before this became his undoing. He had been dealing with unstamped human souls, when his voyage was blocked by some kind of hideous crustacean, as described in the journal of one crew member.

"It were a crab, monstrous one, to be sure, yet it had one claw too many! With the flailing it were hard to know where be limbs coming from on its body. It glowed red with anger as it came for us! It were the work of Storm, I tell you - and I wanted nothing of a Storm's curse. I understand why Zeraphya fought, but I just wanted off the ship. Once we landed on the nearby Polythreme, I stayed behind. Polythreme ain't a nice place to stay, but it were clear to me that Zeraphya's vessel was one not looked kindly upon by the cavern above!"

     After felling the beast, Zeraphya apparently took no heed of religious omens floating around the crew. Few were happy as they all felt an unearthly gaze upon them, though most kept a steadfast faith in Zeraphya. It was then that they took a shipment of Claymen. Three to help on the ship, and another six to trade in Fallen London. He had seen a hundred Zee-Captains ferry Claymen here or there and although he heard rumors of the things that have gone wrong - he had seen no evidence that Claymen were dangerous at all. That is unless they were ordered to be by whoever makes them act.

     Naturally, then, this shipment seemed like good money to Zeraphya, though it was on the return journey - somewhere near the Khan's shadow where the first of the woke up. In a blind panic, it killed two men before giving pause. Zeraphya, as soon as he was aware of the commotion ordered the Clayman dead - and so his crew threw themselves at it in the hopes of taking down the beast. It took down three more men before being dismembered to uselessness and each limb cast off into the Zee.

     With so few men left to a cruiser, the ship moved particularly slowly. Morale was down, fear was high, and grief was weaved into their actions. They were so far away from Fallen London, but it was the only direction they could afford to go. It was at that point they were spotted by a Khanate Warship. Zeraphya knew he didn't have the crew to outrun them, so he needed to outwit them. He turned off all lights and drifted in the dark for some time, praying.

     Zeraphya did escape, just. Not before a struggle, however, as just before he was able to get his ship out of view around the side of an island the Warship fired one heavy shot which hit the cruiser right by the cannons - killing the two men manning them. Zeraphya cursed, set the boat to drift, set his crew mates to nightly watch and went to sleep off the problems and wait for London. Which, of course, allowed the second Clayman the perfect opportunity to attack.

     The second Clayman woke at the same time as the first, though did not attack like the other did - instead he simply watched. When Zeraphya went down below to be, the Clayman decided he needed to take control of the ship as Zeraphya was clearly incapable of manning such a vessel, so thought the Clayman. He managed to kill three men before drawing attention to himself. The men attacked, not sure what else to do, and when Zeraphya emerged from his quarters to find out what the noise was there was only Claymen left. Eight of them, to be precise.

     Zeraphya tried to hide when he realised what had happened - he had no idea which of the Claymen was the woken one and which were just doing as they were told. They followed him. He was able to grab a cutlass and remove the arm of one and the head of another before they got him, but in the end they did get him. When they did, they put him in a coffin, nailed it shut and dropped him into the Zee.

     Thus began the adventures of the first Clayman Zee-Captain. First, however, he needed to organise his boat - and Fallen London was on the horizon.

---Howard Sterling, Chronicler of the Fallen London University

Rebecca - The Nameless Girl

     *Spoiler Warning* - As the post goes on, I will reveal more of the story. If you wish to yet read the story, then at least stop reading by the third section of this. It is a brilliant book.

     Today I thought I would explorator one of my favourite books of all time, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. In order to do so there are, in particular, three things about the book I would like to look at. It is worthy of note that little of what I say here will be original, as this is a well known book which has been analysed since it came out in 1965. Nevertheless I would like to summarise three interesting things about this book: The opening line, the protagonist, and Ben.

The Opening Line

     "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." Let us get one thing straight - this is, without a doubt, one of the best opening lines in literature. In these nine words, we have established so many things about the book. Also, almost every word brings something new to the sentence. Let us deconstruct it.

•      Last - Immediately, this word shows us that we will learn something. If a book starts with 'The', it could go literally anywhere. With 'Last' it either means something like repetition, or narrative voice.
•      Night - It now becomes clear that we are being spoken to and we have established a time-frame for our story.
•      I - The story is being spoken in first person, this is their story we are being told.
•      Dreamt - This sets up the theme and style for the rest of the book. It makes us frame the whole story in a dream-like way and suggests that some of the elements might be a bit fantastical or unreal.
•      I - This is a personal story, whatever happened in the dream is important to the character, as we have repetition of the character uttered and there needs to be a reason we are being told.
•      Went to - We are being set up for a setting, we know that the setting must be important to the story we're about to be told.
•      Manderley - We don't know what this means, but we were set up to know it was a place, but because we know nothing about this place, we have our hook - now we want to know why this place is important enough for us to be told about it - particularly from a dream.
•      Again - This is what brings the whole sentence together. We now know it is from a memory, it is part of this person's life, we know that at the current point of being told the story that the narrator hasn't been to Manderley in a while.

     Every part of this sentence establishes the story and the hook of the book. That, on it's own, should show us that the rest of the book is going to be very well written. While it is not something that I can elaborate on to do with the lore, this was definitely worth mentioning.

Next, we have our nameless protagonist.

     One of the running themes of Rebecca is our narrator's self-identity. Throughout most of the story, our narrator is young and trying to find her own identity. It is for this reason she remains anonymous throughout the book, to the reader.

     At the start of the book, the narrator is not her own person, she is at the whims of a strict 'companion' who has hired her, as she is an orphan. So at this point, she doesn't have much choice in her own life. She cannot model herself off of her parents, as she has none, and she is not overly fond of her elderly companion: Mrs Van Hooper. Mrs. Van Hooper, as the person paying the narrator for her company then gets to tell the narrator to do what she likes, or interrupt her activities when she likes - so at this point the narrator's life is not her own.

     Then comes Maxim, which is the first time our narrator gets a glimpse of freedom as her name is mentioned but we still do not learn it. Her name is described as "unusual and lovely", and the next moment is a whirlwind ride and Maxim asks for her hand in marriage and she accepts. However, she is not comfortable with this - while she is happy about the whole situation, and she doesn't question it too much while they are on their honeymoon, she is slightly insecure about why Maxim would want to be with her. Her identity at this point feels fragile and unfitting to her as the new Mrs. De Winter.

     We then learn of Rebecca, the old Mrs. De Winter, who our narrator struggles to climb out of the shadow of. This covers the core part of the book as Rebecca's name is on the title of the book, yet the narrator who we are seeing things from the perspective of and empathising with has no name. This story is not the story of the narrator, as much as it is of Rebecca, and our narrator remains nameless as she cannot live up to the established identity of the old Mrs. De Winter.

     It feels like at the very end, as we are being told the story after the event, that perhaps the character is older and settled in her identity - but the events that happen throughout the story happen while the narrator was not really anyone. So, we are not given her name. Perhaps the narrator, still, doesn't think she is important enough in this story. Either way, a very interesting literary choice my Du Maurier.

Ben

     Ben is an older mentally ill man who lives on the Manderley estate, and happens to be one of my favourite characters from the novel. This is despite him not being in the story very much / often, barely says much when he is in the story, and seems wholly inconsequential to the story. However, he is not - and he serves as the greatest foreshadowing elements in the story.

     It is easy for the reader to dismiss Ben, as the narrator does. The narrator talks to him when she is alone with him and we very quickly learn he either doesn't want to say anything or doesn't understand what is being said to him at any given time. We also learn he is harmless and the narrator, while not caring about him much, doesn't feel very threatened by him as she is happy to talk to him multiple times while on her own. This makes us feel like he is just there have doesn't have an important role to play. Also, because he is not very bright and appears to have some mental issues, we don't take what he says very seriously, though that is our fault and not his.

     Ben, from the first time we meet him, is the first person who doesn't like (or claim to like) Rebecca. Obviously, by the end of the story we learn why, but it should have been telling that such a harmless seeming man was scared of Rebecca. This is the first time we hear negativity towards Rebecca, so stands as foreshadowing that she is not as amazing or golden as she appeared to have been when her shadow first loomed over Manderley.

     While mostly we can dismiss what Ben says, it still does serve to give that underlying feeling that there is something more going on here, that things might not be as they seem early on, and what exactly the twist may be. This is because as he has seen things he shouldn't and was told not to say anything under threat. If Rebecca isn't coming back and Ben is okay with this, and was being threatened not to talk about what he saw - what is it that he saw that was so important? He is the catalyst for all the secrets in the depths of Manderley, and that is why I adore him, as such an unassuming important character.

Black Sails - The Story Toward The Book

Major Spoiler Warning: I will be spoiling parts of the end of the series, so best to be avoided until you've finished the show.

     Black Sails is a fantastic show which acts as a prequel to the popular book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. With the finale of the TV show Black Sails aired, people have many opinions on whether or not the last episode was a good one or not, but one thing is sure - everyone who has read the books knows that where the characters end up in the show set up where the begin the book of Treasure Island very well.

     With that in mind, I thought I would take the time here to bridge the gap, embellishing some of the story that would lead to the characters being who and where they are by the time Billy Bones first knocks on the Admiral Benbow. Afterwards, keep reading, as I shall explain my take on the ambiguity of Flint's end in the series.

     Added, is some of the end of the real pirate's lives, as they happened in history, despite the liberties taken in the series with regard to their stories, I feel it is interesting to fill in the whole narrative. By my account, the story of Black Sails starts 20 years before Treasure Island and I would estimate around six years passes over the course of the show, leaving 14ish years before Treasure Island starts. So without further ado, here are the next steps of the characters in the books.

--------------

          Madi finally forgives Silver after a long contemplation and seeing that her people have not returned to slavery or ended up dead. They move together to Bristol and open up a tavern / restaurant which likely houses pirates from time to time.

     Captain Jack Rackham has a few successful years of pirating, making his flag known around the world and securing it as one of the most famous pirate flags ever. Anne Bonny becomes good friends with Mary (Mark) Read and they sail together until the pirate ship is caught. Jack Rackham is hung for piracy, leaving a legacy of tales in his wake. Anne Bonny and Mary Read avoid their sentence by both claiming to be pregnant. Mary Read dies in child-birth and Anne Bonny's end is unknown.

     Woodes Rogers was finally released from prison after the judge took pity on him. He would later attempt to publish a book that would restore some of the credit of his name. He became reappointed by the British Isles as Governor of Nassau, as he makes a slow and successful isle of commerce by initiating taxes and riding off of the back of Nassau's now pirate-free claim. Max and Mrs Guthrey likely struck a deal with him and are running the place alongside him. Piracy is kept quiet, but still continues.

     Billy Bones washes ashore on Skeleton Island and searches for Flint's treasure. It takes a long time and many vessels show up due to the aftermath of what happened there, but then one of two things happen depending on the fate of Flint. By my account, Billy decides he won't leave without the treasure and creates a map of the island, and after going a bit mad and frequently singing to himself, he finds the treasure and then seeks passage upon one of the vessels. He takes only some of the treasure with him and rallies himself a small crew with the promise of prating and knowing where the rest of Flint's treasure is. Thus becoming a captain of his own crew, and turned to drinking to rid his nightmares of Flint. After a long run of not actually returning to the island for the treasure, his crew-mates abandon him with his chest in Bristol Docks.

     Or he gives up on finding the treasure, takes passage on one of the vessels, recruits a crew of his own and his chest contains his own treasures of the seafarin' life. Then one day he bumps into a dying Flint  in Savannah, drinking himself to death because of Hamilton, who had left him after their reunion once he learned of what Flint had done. Flint had drawn a map of Skeleton Island with the location of his treasure, and Billy sought to find it after his return to England.

     Israel Hands, Ben Gunn and the rest of the surviving pirates go their separate ways. Some, still working as pirates and keeping in touch with Silver, such as Israel Hands. Some other important pirates not seen in the show stay loyal to Silver in this time, such as Black Dog and Blind Pew. Three years before the book, Ben Gunn resolves to find a merchant vessel and usher it to Skeleton Island under the claim he knows where Flint's treasure is, perhaps after bumping into his friend, Billy Bones. After he does not find the treasure, the ship that took Gunn to the island decides to leave without him. He goes slowly mad, but, like Billy, also has the time to find the treasure.

     Silver and Madi are fairly happy together for many years. That is until Billy Bones walks in one day with a chest in a barrow looking for drink. Silver recognises Billy immediately, and the adventure of the ocean calls to him in the very same way that Flint told him it would. Billy escapes on foot and decides to hide in as remote a location as possible. Silver sends people after him to retrieve the chest. After asking around for the taverns with the least footfall, Billy finally decides to inhabit the Admiral Benbow, under the paranoia that a one legged seafairing man is hunting him.

Treasure Island begins.


--------------------


     Now for Flint...

     The last time we have a proper scene with Flint he delivers an incredibly powerful speech (kudos to Toby Stevens for his wonderful acting) before Silver offers him an ultimatum and we don't really see what happens next. I believe Silver shot Flint at that moment and had been planning the story he could spin after such an occurrence for some time. The reason I believe this is that more things appear to fit into place.

     Firstly, the story told to Madi by Silver is shown in a dreamlike way, and is also resembling a story of Flint going to heaven to be with the one he loves most.
     Secondly, the scene after Silver's talk shows birds flying away and the other characters starting towards them, as if an alarming noise happened, like a gunshot.
     Thirdly, the episode before, Flint states that if Silver kills flint, even he couldn't spin a story to Madi that would make her forgive him (which is exactly what he does).
     Fourthly, him lying, even to those he loves, in the most realistic and manipulative way is exactly representative of who Silver finally becomes to become the nasty character he appears as in the books.
     Fifthly, and most the compelling reason, is that the treasure remains in the ground on Skeleton island. Silver still wanted that money before he stopped the war, so it seems more likely that Silver shot him for failing to reveal the location and getting him out of the way for good rather than delivering him to Thomas Hamilton as a very different man and risking him still causing problems. Also risking Flint leaving with Hamilton and going to collect the money anyway.

     For me, that is way more compelling and accurate to who Silver's character has become and who he is in the books.