[SR - FB2 - Jan 617 - Ship] The Bleak Angel

[kaiju]

Preamble: After finishing this build several months ago I had been growing increasingly frustrated with my inability to take 'ideal' shots with my limited photography set up.  Coupled with reduced opportunity to take pictures during the festive period the build had grown quite dusty, which is noticeable in the photos presented.  For this I apologise, but I have decided I would rather have pictures to post than continuously waiting until I have 'perfect' shots.  And with that said, I now present the finished ship.

Previous: The Bleak Angel: Prelude

Heroes, Villains and Legends

A Journey Through the Discoveries of the Age of Exploration: the Ships; the Captains; the People

Volume Four: The Self-Styled and So-Called Sea Rats

By Quentin Connors

Chapter Thirteen: The Bleak Angel, continued...

 

The next evening, all other affairs in order, I went to board the Bleak Angel. Upon sight of her I immediately knew how so many tales had sprung up around the ship. Tales of an immortal captain, an unsinkable ship dredged up by a dark force, of witches and heretics and all manner of things my Corrington upbringing left little room in the world for.

My first introduction was to the bleak angel itself, the ship's figurehead and the two skulls that flanked it. I was informed the skulls were named Larry and Barry. Several crewmen offered explanations for the names and their presence. My favourite was that the skulls were the remains of two headstrong crew members who had once pledged to man the ship until it no longer sailed; following their untimely deaths in an ill-thought up venture Captain Dracken took them at their word and installed them as the ship's “spiritual advisers”.

Mister Jakes greeted me as I boarded. I was swiftly introduced to Miss Abigail Kite, the ship's second officer and former gunnery master.

Miss Kite now largely served as officer for the ship's marines. As with most Sea Rat vessels the marines were less a dedicated group of soldiers and simply the most violent and reliable actors in previous boarding actions. Perhaps they were best exemplified by Eleanor and Elizabeth, commonly known by the rest of the crew as “the Murder Twins” - though I should note only from a suitably safe distance. The twins had positioned themselves as Kite's left and right hands, when not hurting people.

The last officer on the ship was Bartholomew Drake, the ship's quartermaster. A man surprisingly keen on bare knuckles pugilism, Drake often bore bruises from 'friendly' matches with other crew members. Somehow this did little to dull his mind, which remained consistently sharp despite the repeated head injuries he surely must have received on account of his hobby.

“Old Man” O'malley was the Angel's cabin boy and errand runner. Whatever his given first name is, I never heard it used during my time on the vessel.

After a few days of laborious sailing I was invited to meet with Captain Dracken himself in his cabin. Dracken revealed he had heard my tavern discussion with Mr. Jakes and was intrigued by my efforts to document the age of sail as it was happening.

Dracken's cabin was, unsurprisingly, the largest, though it did also have to function as his private office and briefing room for his officers. My eyes were drawn to the numerous idols decorating the cabin. Here was quite a curious thing: that a man claiming to be an Oleonder officer, and therefore minor priest of Poseidon, on a ship named after the Angelic Heresy and living in a room filled with heathen idols. The antique but well maintained admiral's uniform Dracken had lying on his bed certainly failed to clarify anything.

One of the more popular tales regarding Leon Dracken is the story of him being granted an extended lifespan by a witch for saving her life. I bring this up again for the unique interactions between Dracken and one of his crew make sense only with this context. Two young women serve on his ship. Liliana Vespwood, missing daughter of Lord Vespwood, is the ship's helmswoman and navigator. Her frequent – almost constant – companion went by the name Althea Holtzstein-Dracken and claimed to be the Captain's grand-daughter.

If this was a charade it was one the two Drackens managed to perform and maintain for several years. If it was not, truly, the world is much stranger than I and my countrymen would ever admit. In any case I seldom witnessed the two young women far apart and heard some talk their relationship was closer than friendly.

During the early stage of the voyage I caught frequent glimpses of the ship's most reclusive crew member, the one known as the witch: Iosefka. Several other tavern patrons in Bastion claimed the ship employed a witch to control the weather and turn it to the ships favour and I began to wonder which came first, the stories or Iosefka's presence on the ship.

My only significant interaction with Iosefka came when accompanying another crew member, Boris, to seek medical assistance from her. She made her home in a large cabin at the back of the gun deck. Iosefka's appearance was striking; taller than most of the crew, skin nearly corpse-like white and almost unnaturally slender build. She bore all the characteristics associated with the victims of the Blackwater Massacre. Discovering this 'witch' served as a the crew's surgeon was a surprise and her book collection included several volumes I recognised as medical textbooks banned in several nations on account of how subjects for study were obtained.

Like many pirate vessels, the Angel's gun deck was a cramped and noisy place, overloaded with larger cannons and leaving little space for cargo. I was told the ship traded, when the Captain was so inclined, in smaller high value items and so needed little space for trade goods.

And as on most ships, the Sea Rats were joined by actual rats. That the crew kept a number of animals for the purpose of hunting those rats was unsurprising.

Little did I realise at the time that I had joined the ship as the captain pursued the so called "Heretic's Hoard", a long rumoured treasure trove located on an unknown island.  As fate would have it, my first journey on the Bleak Angel would by far be the least unusual.

End of Chapter.

Some more behind the spoiler button.

Spoiler

This ship is largely the reason I joined BoBS: it gave me motivation to keep working on this build.  I had picked up the classic hull pieces in a lot at a toy & collectors' event a couple of years ago with the intent of building my own pirate ship from it.  What you see here is the result.

As you have probably gathered from the pictures above, the Bleak Angel follows the Imperial Flagship school of giant sterncastle and removable deck for access to the interior.  In this case, the deck is comprised of three sections - the main deck, the stairs, and the cabin.  The cabin roof also comes off for access to the cabin's interior.

Also, white and yellow are real pains to photograph sometimes... so much glare... and rage...

 

Edited September 18, 2017 by kaiju

[Jacob Nion]

Congratulations for finally sailing her into the brick seas! 

A worthy flagship. And great lore you established around her. Black is always a pain to photograph, even with good equipment. And it's a magnet to dust. You can always see every particle on it. 

But nonetheless the pics do her impressive appearance justice.

[Kwatchi]

It's a fine looking (and suitably creepy) ship Kaiju with some great details.  I love the wings everywhere, and the backstory on the crew is glorious.  It's a great edition to the SR "fleet".

[kaiju]

3 hours ago, Jacob Nion said:

Congratulations for finally sailing her into the brick seas! 

A worthy flagship. And great lore you established around her. Black is always a pain to photograph, even with good equipment. And it's a magnet to dust. You can always see every particle on it. 

But nonetheless the pics do her impressive appearance justice.

Thanks, and regarding the dust, it really does. And I'm glad you feel the pictures do it justice.

24 minutes ago, Kwatchi said:

It's a fine looking (and suitably creepy) ship Kaiju with some great details.  I love the wings everywhere, and the backstory on the crew is glorious.  It's a great edition to the SR "fleet".

Thank you. I figured that, with the names, the wings would work as decent greebling to break up the huge expanses of black bricks.

[Captain Dee]

Lovely ship! Black-brown-red look great together and this has a nice classic look, albeit much more refined, of course. She's very well armed, and I'm impressed with the details inside and out. The photos may not be perfect but they really show her off well, and I'm glad you took so many detail shots. Those wings are cool, if a bit unconventional, and the variety of the crew is nice. Good work. 

[kaiju]

@Captain Dee Thank you.  I was quite determined to show off as much of the build as possible, which meant taking more than a few detail shots.  As for the wings, I honestly thought the sides were too plain without something to help break them up, and the wings fit with the name.

[Garmadon]

A very impressive and large ship, Kaiju, and clearly a well-manned on as well!   The black, brown, dark red, and gold work very well together, and the vessel's profile - especially in the first picture - make her loo like a dangerous enemy!  I also really like how you made the decks removable for access to the cabin and gundeck!  Great job mate, I'm looking forward to seeing it in action! 

[kaiju]

@Garmadon Thanks  that first picture is pretty much the only decent picture of the full ship I've been able to take, so I'm glad people like the look of her.