Over High Seas is a supernatural-horror web novel by VineLightnote , and the eighth full-length entry in The Kindness of Devils, functioning as a prequel to the main series. It can be read here
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1718, the Golden Age of Piracy. Hardestadt Delac, captain of the Shrike, is drawn into a chase across the wave that threatens the entire Caribbean alongside his comrades. Racing to uncover an ancient secret, the pirates find themselves hunted across the waves by their enemies, and below the waves by creatures they may never have imagined.
Tropes:
- Action Girl: Anne Bonney and Mary Read are tougher than almost any of the men they sail with and both have chances to throw down in battle.
- Affably Evil: Hawkins is extremely pleasant and polite, genuinely considering Benjamin Hornigold his friend, even while being a ruthless necromancer who thinks nothing of enslaving the souls of his victims.
- Ambiguous Gender Identity: Mary implies she's non-binary, not really caring much if she's male or female but she does prefer female pronouns and has no issue being referred to as a woman.
- Artistic License – History: Deliberately invoked for the sake of the story, such as the date of Edward Thatch's historical death actually differing from history.
- Big Bad: Enigmatic blackguard Sebastian Hawkins, actually the "Arch Pirate" Henry Avery who vanished mysteriously in history, who exploits an artifact called the Leash to enslave a beast called the Cthonis in order to conquer all he sees.
- Buried Treasure: Mark Read mocks such an idea saying that pirates spend the loot they steal and don't have enough leftover to bury. Turns out they find the stash Captain Henry Morgan buried.
- The Cameo: Mammon, Hardestadt's aunt, pops up right at the end to fuss over her nephew in the epilogue.
- Cruel Mercy: Hardestadt leaves both Robert Maynard and Woodes Rodgers, even though he could kill either or arrange their deaths at the hands of his family. Instead, he condemns the former to permanent obscurity and ruins the latter's governorship by having him default on his debts.
- Dead Guy Junior: Anne Bonney names her daughter Mary after her best friend Mary Read.
- The Dragon: Alijah Marsh is Avery's right-hand man, and being the least human of his crew; a Deep One hybrid capable of assuming a very nasty form.
- Didn't Think This Through: What what becomes of a pirate captain who has a reputation as a murderous savage and throws treasure overboard? Vane' crew mutinies at the end in favor of the more intelligent and measured Jack Rackham.
- The Dreaded:
- Blackbeard is a very feared pirate, though he deliberately cultivates such an image.
- Charles Vane on the other hand is as brutal as his reputation suggests.
- Duel to the Death: The final duel is not between Avery/Hawkins and Hardestadt but between him and Mary in an old fashioned swordfight aboard his ship, the Fancy.
- Dying Moment of Awesome: Thatch's death—a Foregone Conclusion—is one of the most epic in historical record and it's carried over just as awesome into Chapter 7.
- Eldritch Abomination: The Cthonis is an ancient massive sea monster that is able to control the seas. It is able to create storms that can sink ships, islands, and even tear apart continents. There are three artifacts that are together capable of controlling the Cthonis, one of them being the Leash.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- Hawkins has a few moral standards to him and truly respects those who stick to their principles, while also caring about his men.
- Charles Vane disdains rape and while he contemplates betraying the other pirates, he ultimately refuses to double cross them, even forsaking treasure to keep on the path to avenge Thatch.
- Face Death with Dignity:
- Stede Bonnet, contrary to his historical counterpart, dies with a defiant shout of "long live the brotherhood" and his executioners alter the record to make it appear otherwise.
- Edward Thatch meets his end with flame and blood, not flinching once in the face of the end.
- Fiery Redhead: Anne Bonney, a fierce Irish Pirate Girl who remains passionate even when her brilliant red hair has started to grey.
- Fire-Forged Friends: All they go through together brings Eliza extremely close to Anne Bonney and Mary Read both, firmly bonding with the latter.
- Hates Being Touched: Eliza avoids all contact due to the Consultant having killed people for simply brushing by her. She is reluctant to touch Read even to provide medical care.
- Heroic Sacrifice: A mortally wounded Benjamin Hornigold pays with his life to seal a piece of the Leash and then pilots his ship, the Marianne to crash into and cripple Hawkins own Fancy.
- Historical Domain Character: Several pirates, such as Edward Thatch, Mary "Mark" Read, Charles Vane, Anne Bonney, Rackham, and Samuel Bellamy are based off real pirates. Sebastian Hawkins is also secretly Henry Avery, who historically vanished uncertainly.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Avery falls into the maw of the Cthonis, the very creature he'd enslaved through the Leashes.
- Kangaroo Court: Stede Bonnet is sentenced to death by Maynard with barely a trial, in violation of British law.
- Kill It with Fire: The way to destroy the undead pirates? Fire.
- The Last Dance: Edward Thatch expires as he did in real life; fighting the British to the end and having the time of his life while doing so. Hardestadt can only see the man go down a roaring beast to the end.
- Leave No Survivors: Charles Vane has earned himself a—not inaccurate—reputation for this to ships he scuttles.
- Lovable Rogue: Virtually the entire cast, from Hardestadt himself, to "Blackbeard" Edward Thatch and the other pirates Hardestadt settles with, is comprised of this. The two major excepts are the brutish Charles Vane and the blackguard villain Sebastian Hawkins/Henry Avery; even the Affably Evil Benjamin Hornigold is pretty sympathetic.
- The Neidermeyer: Nobody likes the stodgy, stuck up Robert Maynard, who leads without any dignity or gentleness towards his men.
- Outlaw Couple: Jack Rackham and Anne Bonney are lovers, true to history, with both being pirates. Hardestadt and Mary Read are lovers as well, all but openly. Hardestadt and Anne Bonney have a brief relationship before giving up piracy, before going their own ways.
- Pirate Girl: Anne Bonney is an openly female pirate. and "Mark Read" is actually Mary Read.
- Pirate King: Henry Avery aspires to be a literal pirate king, turning his informal Red Baron title into actual nobility. Avery intends to establish a literal pirate kingdom over the world, over which he'll rule supreme.
- Retired Badass: The epilogue features an older, retired Anne Bonney raising her daughter Mary.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Eliza gets the pirate crews to help her by promising to use her status as a noblewomen to get them pardons.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Maynard thinks he's a legend in waiting. Even if he does succeed in killing Edward Thatch, nobody gives him any true credit for it and he's left to languish in permanent obscurity without even a promotion.
- Surprisingly Sudden Death: Captain Samuel Bellamy is introduced in the very beginning of the story only for his ship to be destroyed by a sea monster killing everyone on board.
- Sweet Polly Oliver:
- Mark Read is actually Mary in disguise. Eliza discovers this when she is impaled in the chest and she needs to cut off her shirt.
- Anne Bonney was stated to have disguised herself as a man in the past.
- Token Evil Teammate: The group of pirates Hardestadt and Eliza settle in with are still pirates, but of the Lovable Rogue type. Charles Vane, on the other hand, is a murderous scumbag whose savage reputation is entirely correct.
