In monsters and valiant men Abigail has taken to writing as her sole form of therapy and healing. By the time anyone meets her there ( unless otherwise plotted ) she will have five years of writing under her belt. Though she specializes in novella, as of five years into the game she has seven published works – four of which are collections of aforementioned novellas and three are independant novels. 

Her stories all have similar arcing themes in the pursuit of truth, and in the questioning of what is right and what is wrong. There are notable characters throughout her works that make appearances rather frequently, though the role they play may be as major or minor as she needs to chase her overall point. 

These characters are all based off individuals she met in what she internally refers to as the ‘Charlestown Event’ and her conflicting views have been picked apart to give her a working cast that allows her to craft dynamic tales without having to reach too far in order to create them. 

For those who are likely to interact with her in this verse, I thought it might be handy to have a short list of them so they can perhaps be confronted – either by people who recognize them or, perhaps their source material themselves having something to say on the matter. 

Lord Garrott & Lord Abbott: Both these men are based off Abigail’s father. Lord Garrott being the face of all that which Abigail sees as false and evil in her father, and the darker side of what is called ‘civilized society’ while Lord Abbott, who appears infrequently but is a kindly man who supports the legitimization of the fictional pirate city New Hope, is all that she believed to be good in her father. Lord Abbott seeks to live honestly and to offer other men the same opportunity – he is considered one of the heroes of her works, though he shows up seldomly. 

Captain Redbeard: Commonly seen in tales forging sympathy for pirates, this man is based off Flint and all that Abigail recognized as good within him. Redbeard is an ideological and morally gray hero who defends truth as Abigail sees it, and shows up most prominently when protagonists hold strong belief that pirates are evil and nothing more than that. 

Redbeard is designed to humanize pirates, while not taking away from the fact they do terrible things. Rather, he stands for giving the stories behind why pirates do those dark things and why they may not be as dark as one may prefer to believe. 

Redbeard is motivated by the need to grant outsiders a safe harbor, and to bring a lasting peace between pirates and merchants that will put an end to the wars at sea between men who were once brothers to those they now decry as villains. He shows up, or is at least mentioned, in every single one of her works. 

Captain Shane: Commonly seen in tales where pirates are evil, this man is based as much on Lowe as he is on Flint’s temper and the utterly unyielding and unforgiving nature of that temper. While Redbeard rarely does anything too utterly unforgivable ( with the notable exception of an entire city destroyed in his grief ) Captain Shane is the monster her father always whispered about. Shane is motivated by money and power, and will do anything it takes to obtain them. He is a common villain in her tales and has a bad habit of dying only to come back and ruin things later, representing the nightmare of Lowe in Abigail’s life rather starkly in so doing. 

Captain Trent: Of all the pirates in Abigail’s stories, Trent is perhaps the hardest to understand. Like Shane, he is motivated by financial gains – but like Redbeard, he has a bigger goal in mind that is known only to himself. He is determined to uphold the sanctity of piratical freedoms, though why is never truly discussed in any of Abigail’s works. 

This, of course, owing to the fact she honestly doesn’t know. Trent is based off of Vane, and much of what he does is as mysterious to her as Vane’s own actions – but one thing she ensures, is that no matter how frightful Trent may be at any given time, he always keeps his word. Whether that word is a forgiving one or a terrifying one depends on the needs of the tale at the time, however. 

Lady Tremaine / Jeanne / Miss Martin / The Mother: These four women are all based off Barlow. In the tales of Jeanne, Barlow is both Jeanne and The Mother.

Lady Tremaine stars in three novellas about a woman wronged by society, a woman who was tormented and deceived by those closest to her who, with the aid of Captain Redbeard, saw justice delivered upon those who had wronged her. She ultimately resides in the fictional pirate city of New Hope, where she presides over trade. Her cameos in other works see her as a benevolent if shrewd businesswoman.

Jeanne’s mother is a friend of Captain Trent’s and seeks to convince Lord Garrott to pardon Trent’s crew in exchange for their service in defending the fort. Her mother is killed by one of Lord Garrott’s men, who declares sympathy for pirates an act of piracy itself. While this man roams freely, Jeanne seeks to have him punished and informs Trent of what occured. To her horror, rather than make the man himself pay, Trent calls the entire city to task and renders it aflaime. 

Jeanne’s tale takes place over a course of five novella that are printed in one collection, though may be found in individual serials in specific markets. It tells the tale of how Jeanne becomes a hunter for hire, and will as soon hunt men of the crown for their crimes as she will pirates. Many believe, thanks to Jeanne’s cat being named Arcanus, that Jeanne is in fact based off Joan d’Arc.

Miss Martin is the only version of Barlow that is completely true in its tragedy, beyond the Mother of Jeanne. In Abigail’s novel Of Liars And Thieves, Miss Martin rescues and later protects the young protagonist who has been kidnapped for ransom by pirates. Miss Martin, in her quiet and unassuming way, helps the protagonist to slowly see Redbeard’s crew as men in their own way, rather than as monsters. 

Along with Captain Redbeard, Miss Martin goes to the protagonist’s father – a new character by name of Lord Aston – who turns out to have been the very same man who caused irreparable damage to Redbeard and Martin both. When Martin challenges Aston on his actions, she is cruelly shot and silenced by Aston’s general. 

The tale that unfolds then, is precisely that of Charlestown – even going so far as to include Trent coming to Redbeard’s trial with the protagonist’s diary, and the protagonist being chased from the town by survivors declaring her to be a witch.  

Bandit, Blaine & Mort: These men are all based off individuals Abigail met aboard Flint’s ship, and though their personalities and roles are designed to add a comedic element to any tale, their appearances are specific enough there is no doubt the men would recognize themselves if ever they heard the stories. Bandit is an enormous man with arms that look like they could uproot trees – Blaine is a silent man who carries a strange blade from another land – and Mort is a short, bald man with a mean face bearing interesting scars and tattoos.