Whistle at the Wind (a "brief" pirate introduction)

Phrase: To "whistle in the wind" means to try in vain to change something that is impossible to change through your power alone.

Superstition: Whistling aboard a ship was seen as tempting fate. Some believed it would cause the wind to take offense and try and show you how it's done, bringing stark weather.

Practice: Whistling was often banned aboard Royal Navy vessels because it was considered a possible sign of mutiny (mutineers could communicate through whistled signals).

July 13th 1761. It is a quiet night on the sea not far off the coast of Hispaniola. There's barely a wave or a whisper of wind to carry the Solomon, sixth-rate frigate of His Majesty's Royal Navy, towards any goal her crew would set for her. Most men aboard are asleep, but there's a handful of souls who plan to do anything but.

Thomas Adams, former lieutenant and officer on the Solomon, sits in the brig, awaiting execution. Although just seventeen, he's made peace with his fate.

Others have not.

Sneaking through the ship's hull, four people are hell-bent on breaking him out. Midshipman Matthew Taggart, captain's daughter Elizabeth Rowland, topman called "Hawk" and the ship's boatswain, Ed. They all have their reasons to follow through their mad plan to get the young officer out before his sentence is carried out in the morning.

Their success, however unlikely, comes at costs that follow them through the months and years. Choices were made that night – choices made in haste, choices made for them and choices forced by circumstance. The quintet gains a life of independence, but have to spend it on the run, as the Solomon now chases them down through the Caribbean.

It is a story of adaptability and growing to accept change. Thomas has to learn that the roads through life rarely turn out the way one plans them, and that not a single one of them is always right and good and does no harm. And that sometimes, much more courage is needed to run away rather than duly accept the blade.

So, you may have noticed I keep having some very strange talks about 18th century sailors or pirates. In case of you unfortunate few who know me closer, yeah, I know, I haven't been able to shut up about it for the past year and a half. (Even longer, to some of you.)

It all began back during my university studies, when I was supposed to write a "scifi take on Red Riding Hood". I won't bore you with details (yet), but through a convoluted series of events and my friend (and a kickass artist, go check her out) needing a script for her school work, it mutated into a full on graphic novel (well... in the making) rooted in historical reality of about quarter a millenium ago.

So this is just the first (... officially first) post in what I hope to be quite many.

I'll throw some concepts your way next, then follow with short stories, and then hopefully get to the main novel. Considering my relationship with drawing people is still evolving, it's bound to be at least amusing to watch. But hopefully, you'll find the story to your liking, too.

So that's it from the first "proper" look at the future pirates. I hope to have the first short story done after the two charr shorts, so hopefully around July. (It's hard to tell, as the current C-related situation in this country keeps pushing everything back.) But before that, I'll show you around the ships and their crews a bit.

There's also a rather large thing for you to play with that's still in the works, but that's delayed by the nature of collaborative work being... well, not entirely dependent on me alone, which is a bit of an issue. Rest of the book is mine alone though, so nobody to blame but me when that gets late.