Shore Leave:
Additional Crew Currently on Shore Leave
Learn More About the Alumni Members of Our Crew!
Doc
Pyrate Surgeon
Played by Keith Mapplebeck
Doc’s Backstory
John “Doc” McManus was born June 21, 1671 to his father, Darby and mother, Airmid. Airmid was a Celtic healer and Medicine woman and Darby served a kindly English surgeon, Daniel Marsh.
They both taught John all that they knew about medicine and the old healing ways, until he was the tender age of 9 when an English Commander killed his parents in a fit of jealousy over Airmid.
Dr. Marsh took John in as a boy servant and raised and trained him as best he could outside of a University setting. When John was 25, Dr. Marsh passed away, and John found his way into the pirate life.
Being familiar with both English medicine and the old healing ways, John managed to find a sought-after position as Ship’s Doctor.
“India Anney” Jones
Cannoneer
Played by Lori Galloway
Anney’s Backstory
After being saved from a life of indentured servitude when Blackbeard captured the ship she was on, Anney made her way onto other pirate crews and spent time plundering the East Indies. She didn’t like guns but loved using the native weapons of the region, and she became well-known for her colorful clothing of Indian fabrics, as well as her whip-cracking…. So, from the Bay of Bengal to Borneo, she is known as “India Anney” Jones!
Milo Rhodes
Boarding Leader and Ship’s Musician
Played by Taran Hook
Milo’s Backstory
Milo grew up on the shores of Cape May, a small and isolated coastal town on the southernmost shores of West New Jersey. His family were farmers, but to supplement income they also turned to the sea and became involved with the slowly growing local whaling industry that operated in the Delaware Bay. Look-outs situated on the beaches, small row boats, and whale carcasses being towed in and dragged ashore were a familiar site to both Cape May, and Milo who was too curious for his own good.
At 14, he became involved in the hunts. Everything from scouting to rowing over a 6-year whaling career until opportunity took him north to the city of Nantucket. Milo’s first assignment was on board the Jolly Nancy, mastered by Daniel Fledger and bound for the arctic waters of Greenland to hunt for sperm whale. Being as small as he was, he was the prime hand that would be ladling out the valuable spermaceti from inside the whale’s head. However, sailing in the arctic was dangerous. Many ships that sailed from New England, Canada and Scotland didn’t always come home. It wasn’t just the treacherous seas and unpredictable weather of the frozen north, but there were also rumors of ghosts. The few survivors of such attacks told stories about a ship that would seemingly appear from the mist and was crewed by ghastly demons that would kill everyone on board and leave the vessels robbed of their barrels of whale oil. But the shores of Cape May were home to their own specters, and Milo’s response to such tavern tales were “I ain’t afraid of no ghosts.”
Sure enough, shortly after reaching the frigid waters of East Greenland, and under a perpetual northern sunset, an eerie ship was seen floating above the horizon and creeping closer. Aside from their tools, the crew of the Jolly Nancy had no real defense against intruders and certainly nothing that would protect them from angry arctic spirits. Once again, Milo’s curiosity got the best of him. He wanted to see these ghosts for himself! Instead of staying on the deck to fight, he grabbed a harpoon and hid below decks hoping to catch one for himself. Equipment and jolly boats crashed to the deck. Pistol shots and screams rang out, and the steam engine driving the Jolly Nancy came to a halt, leaving the ship wrapped in a chilling silence. The voices Milo heard above were not ones he recognized and the language they spoke was as jagged and cold as the ice itself. Footsteps descended down the stairs into the lower decks and Milo watched from behind storage barrels as a figure wrapped in fur came into to the yellow glow of the whale oil lanterns. The figure peered around the room through thin slits cut through wooden goggles. Deeming the area clear, it removed them and it’s fur covered hood to reveal a golden mane of hair and fiery red beard. ‘This was no ghost’!
“All’s clear down here!” the man shouted up in a distinctly New England voice.
“Anything worth while?” another voice then shouted back from the top deck.
The man continued his scan of the store room until an unintentional gleam from Milo’s harpoon caught his eye and he reached inside his coat for the pistol holstered to his thigh. Milo wasn’t prepared to back down, and without breaking eye contact he slowly lowered the harpoon and took aim.
“Ay Captain! Anything down there?” The voice said again.
The man released his grip from his pistol, “No, nothing down here. Not sure how they expected to stay up here with such little in storage. I’ll be up in a moment.” He turned his attention back to Milo and hissed, “I saved your ass, kid,” before returning to the upper deck.
While Milo was left alive, he was the sole survivor left aboard the Jolly Nancy, now adrift and unmanned in the vast Labrador Sea. It would be a week before another ship would sail by; a whaler called The Start, mastered by Captain Beetle and hailing from Martha’s Vineyard. The Start found the Jolly Nancy and was able to bring Milo back to West Jersey.
Now on an unexpected shore leave, but still eager to get out on the water again, Milo met up with an old sailing friend, William Hart, and the two spent the next few years whale fishing by day and playing music in the local pubs by night until the deep sea called once more and both Milo and William signed aboard a transatlantic voyage to Dundee, Scotland to take another stab at making their fortune in the Scottish Arctic Whaling industry. The night before they left however, while once again filling a local tavern with their shanties and whaling songs, a familiar voice shouted “Will?! Is that Bloody Will?!”
“Aha! Well if it isn’t that old scurvy mutt Devlin!” Will shouted back. The two had been shipmates years prior. While Milo was off hunting for whales, Will and Devlin sailed together aboard another ship. “Captain O’Dricoll now!” Devlin said, rather proudly.
“Captain?! So I guess this means you’re no longer ‘handsome’ then?”
Captain Devlin raised an eyebrow at Will’s playful remark, and the crew filling in behind him all snickered. After a few rounds of drinks were had and stories were told to catch up on lost time, Milo and Will told Devlin and his crew about their transatlantic voyage to Scotland aboard a well-stocked merchant ship.
“Would be an awful shame if something happened to said merchant ship…” Captain Devlin smirked.
“Yes,” Milo and Will agreed, “an awful shame…”
Milo and Will would eventually make it to Dundee, but oddly enough, not the merchant ship they had initially sailed on as there was an ‘exchange of goods and crew’ halfway across the Atlantic.
Milo aids the crew of the Fortune’s Folly with book and record keeping, catching offshore meals, upkeep of the ships equipment and weapons, and occasionally lends a tune or two to accompany it all; tasks he learned during his whaling days. On land, he and his shipmate Will, and their friend Rosie McGann, enjoy a Jolly Shore Leave, earning money filling local pubs with song and story.
Milo hopes to one day again encounter the Arctic Ghost that spared his life…
Nessa Blackwell
Navigator
Played by Stephanie Rainer
Nessa’s Backstory
Nessa was born noble but then when she was 13 her family was attacked by a band of thieves. They killed her parents and her one brother William, and took her other brother Bartholomew as their captive. Nessa was at her Aunt Genevieve’s for the season, training to become a “lady” so she was spared. Filled with rage and needing vengeance, she vowed to get back at the murderers.
She set forth, traveling to major ports looking for their crest (a wolf with an owl in its mouth). Nessa first met the crew sailing to Nassau. Falling in amongst pirates, she quickly learned the ways of sword and blade. She fell in love with someone on the ship and convinced them to help find the thieves.
Red-Handed Jill
Able-bodied Sailor
Played by Widget Dixon
Anne “Bones” Lynn
Helmswoman & Matchmaker
Played by Roman Channing
Bones’ Backstory
Anne “Bones” Lynne (or just “Bones” to her friends) was born in a quiet costal village to moderately well to do landowners. She was one of 4 daughters, and as the eldest it fell to her to marry well and help the family improve their station. There was just one problem, Anne could care less about marriage and station. What Anne loved more than anything was reading and adventure. You could often find her high in a tree and lost to the world around her, because she was off in whatever far off land the latest story she was reading took place in.
As a child Anne’s parents indulged her desire to read and learn, but as she grew closer to marrying age they tried harder and harder to lock her away in doors and teach her the proper way to “be a lady”. So to keep the peace, Anne played lady during the day and took to reading at night. That is when she found a passion for astronomy and navigating by the stars. Anne began to plan adventures and voyages and used the stars as her guide.
At 23 Anne was more than old enough to marry, but every suitor who came calling seemed to leave infuriated and frustrated with the well read and adventure loving Anne. Her parents decided in secret to send her off to a cloister in hopes they could marry their next daughter off to a rich and wealthy man. When Anne found out she was devastated and enraged. In the dead of night she packed her books, and her mother’s favorite silver spoons, and she escaped her cursed life. That was the Death of Anne Lynne and the birth of Anne “Bones” Lynne.
Using the stars as her guide Bones traveled by night to the nearest sea port and found passage on a ship where she was taught how to be a helmswoman. After a few years of traveling Bones was enjoying a few pints at a port in Spain when she struck up a conversation with The Folly’s first mate Cat McKenna, who invited her to try her hand a guiding the misguided crew of The Folly. Bones gladly accepted and is now the proud Helmswoman of the mighty Fortune’s Folly.
Donovan Hall
Gunner
Played by Robert Murray
Donovan’s Backstory
Donovan Hall was born to Malian African parents on a sugar cane plantation in Jamaica. Life on the plantation was harsh, but he was clever enough to use humor as a way to ease life under the slavers. It spared him the lash and he was trusted to accompany on fishing and hunting details. He played music upon request and watched closely as men prepared and fired weapons.
Respected among his fellow slaves, he caught the eye of his master as one who might lead unrest. Unfortunately, he also caught the eye of his master’s wife… and daughter. Caught in a compromising situation, Donovan killed his oppressor and was forced to run for the nearest port. Not without, of course, a kiss and a reliable supply of rum.
It was his wit, rum, and knowledge of weaponry that earned him a gunner job in a pirate crew, one step ahead of those who hunted him. The legs that carried him from slavery became sea legs, and he sailed away as “Donovan Hall, the Moor with it all!”. Now Donovan, a natural born leader, aspires to become a captain of his own ship one day.
Furious Fingers Freddy
Marooned?
Played by Brian Albert
Freddy’s Backstory
Fredrick Von Winklehiemer aka “Furious Fingers” Freddy was born of nobility. His parents were wealthy aristocrats from Austria, and Freddy was the only boy in line to inherit the family fortune.
When Freddy was 15 his parents went to England on holiday and never returned. Fearing the worst, Freddy did the only thing a man could do when one’s parents leave home and there is no idea if they will ever safely return… throw the biggest party the world has ever seen. And he did just that!
Unfortunately, the invitation list was so large that it reached some of the more unsavory people who felt it was their duty to lighten the burden of so much wealth ending up bestowed upon such an innocent boy.
After a week of some of the craziest partying anyone has ever partied, the party came to an end. It left the estate in ruins and the entire family wealth had been stolen, including his fathers prized pocket watch. So Freddy did what any sensible man would do, he become a barber.
Now, Freddy had barber skills like no other man before him (or since). He could cut hair faster than any known human on the planet. He was not very GOOD at it, mind you, in fact he was downright awful, but he was fast. This speed eventually earned him the the nickname “Furious Freddy.”
His career as a barber ended at the end of his first day, once the news quickly spread about how what a terrible barber he was. But this did not stop our valiant hero, no-siree-bob’s-his-uncle! Nope, Freddy valiantly moved on to a bigger and brighter future….as a pickpocket.
It seemed that his propensity for cutting hair quickly gave him the edge he needed to pick the pockets of unsuspecting victims. At first he would only pick easy prey (children and babies) but after only ending up with candy and some gum wrappers, he decided to go big. He started to pick from the homeless and lepers. Still not satisfied, he decided the only way he was going to make any real money was to actually *make* real money. That proved to be far too time consuming, so he went back to picking pockets.
Now quickly gaining the title as one of the best pickpockets in Europe, he decided to go after the most challenging goal ever… The dead. He started with freshly dug graves and eventually moved to the morgues (easier to get to the bodies) Freddy was known cut to off the fingers off of the dead to get at their gold and diamond rings. Thus earning him the additional nickname “Fingers” Freddy.
Now with some people in town calling him “Furious Freddy” and others in town calling him “Fingers Freddy,” this dilemma of an undecided moniker quickly became a burden that the land could no longer bear.
So, on a cold wintry morning before the sun rose, a committee of the brightest minds gathered together and came to the decision that from that day forward, his name would become Furious “Fingers” Freddy… the 3rd.
When the town heard of this news, a fight broke out and divided the town into factions of north and south. Freddy decided to go West, leaving the town in turmoil. He dropped “the 3rd” and became known as only Furious “Fingers” Freddy.
Oh, and he also likes to invent stuff.
Barnabas Morningstar
Ship’s Ambassador
Played by Colin Antes
Barnabas’ Backstory
Little is known about the man known as Barnabas Morningstar. First, that he was found as a stowaway aboard the Fortune’s Folly. Secondly, that he so successfully talked his way out of being thrown overboard, that the crew named him “Ship’s Ambassador”.
(He talks good and drapes beautifully.)
Horatio Primm
Master Gunner
Played by Don Benhardt
Horatio’s Backstory
Primm is the son of a Duke. The 5th son to be exact. He isn’t sure exactly which Duke, but he is pretty sure they may have met once… maybe. By the time Horatio came along, his father figured out that it’s far easier to pay people to tend the children. Money was something that was never in short supply, so there was quite an inheritance for the sons of Lord… whomever it was. Horatio’s oldest brother received their father’s land and the title. His next brother ended up with their father’s property in London and he lets it out, making a good living doing so. The next brother went into politics and is in Parliament. The brother after that attended the finest schools and studied medicine. He has a thriving practice in York. By the time the inheritance got to Horatio… well, there wasn’t much left. Horatio got… a turnip. It was a very nice turnip, as turnips go, but that left him to make his own way in the world.
Taking his trusty turnip, Horatio decided a life at sea would be best for him. He enlisted in the Royal Navy. His family name must have carried some weight, as he ended up stationed aboard a Royal frigate. He served well and learned the ways of a proper sailor and absorbed everything he could about the ship’s arms and armament. Before too long, he’d made Lieutenant and was ready to climb the ranks higher. The sea had another plans…
Primm and a small group of soldiers were temporarily sent aboard the merchant ship, Great Allen. There was a rise in pirate activity and the plan was to have a merchant ship with Navy sailors aboard to trap them. Well, that did not work. The Allen was taken by none other than Blackbeard himself. The pirates gave Primm a very generous offer and he made a strategic career move. Being pirates, the “generous offer” was that Primm could join the crew… or walk the plank. He decided there was more long-term profit in not dying, so he chose the way of the pirate. However, he afterwards decided that Blackbeard was too scary to work for and snuck off to join a less… intimidating crew with the pirates of the Fortune’s Folly. Since that fateful day, he has made his way across the seas, earning his fortune, his lucky turnip along for the ride.
Mei Mei
Sail-Maker & Surgeon’s Mate
Played by Lauren Grennen
Mei Mei’s Backstory
Mei Mei is the ship’s sail-maker, and is equally quick to patch a sail or a crew-mate. Quick to pick a fight, and possessing zero impulse control, she seems to have the notion that she’s within her rights to cause damage -both property and bodily- if she knows how to fix it.
Mei started as a street urchin and thief, who started aboard another ship as a simple hired hand. Then a fellow crewman got caught in some rigging and ended up with a badly broken leg with the boney bits sticking out and everything. Mei was the only crew member who didn’t faint or get sick at the sight and simply patched the injured man up and continued with her work. Impressed, the captain dubbed her mate to the ship’s surgeon when he came to. When the ship later sank (totally not her fault), she ended up with the crew of the Fortune’s Folly. Lucky them.
Sirena
Pirate Fairy
Played by Stephanie Krause
Sirena’s Backstory
Sirena was created by the Lady of the Sea from the adventurous spirit of all Pirates.
During her youngest days, she was irresistibly drawn to the famous Irish pirate queen, Gráinne O’Malley, who stood up to the men in her life (and the Queen of England!). Her strong example gave Sirena the confidence upon which to build her own piratical life.
Like many fae, Sirena has some control over her size. She prefers to remain at her natural, small size when she doesn’t wish to be seen, but on festival days, she is able to be human-sized to join in the fun. On those special days, she has from sun-up to sun-down to enjoy being “big,” but she is sadly unable to use her wings to fly until she is fairy-sized again.
Sirena continues to be ticklish on her wings, at any size.
Sirena’s greatest desire is to sail to every port on the Seven Seas, and spend some time aboard every famous pirate’s ship, watching, learning, treasure-hunting, and sharing in their freedom and adventure!
Koral
Mermaid
Played by Stephanie Rainer
Koral’s Backstory
Koral is a happy-go-lucky mermaid who loves to watch the pirates that come into the port of Nassau. She also loves to play small tricks on them, like singing when no females are around, and putting sea-stars all over the deck of their ships.
One day Koral was sleeping on the edge of the shore when she was discovered by the crew of the Fortune’s Folly. The crew’s musician, Cat, very much liked the mermaid, and wanted to keep her as her own. Koral did not like the idea of being someone’s pet. A tank would be much too small, and living on the deck would just cause her to dry out.
After much argument, the pirates and Koral came to an agreement. Koral would swim along the ship and play with Cat whenever she was bored, and in turn the pirates would give Koral jewels and chocolate whenever she wanted…
Mostly the chocolate.
Learn More About the Alumni Members of Our Crew!
Doc
Pyrate Surgeon
Played by Keith Mapplebeck
Doc’s Backstory
John “Doc” McManus was born June 21, 1671 to his father, Darby and mother, Airmid. Airmid was a Celtic healer and Medicine woman and Darby served a kindly English surgeon, Daniel Marsh.
They both taught John all that they knew about medicine and the old healing ways, until he was the tender age of 9 when an English Commander killed his parents in a fit of jealousy over Airmid.
Dr. Marsh took John in as a boy servant and raised and trained him as best he could outside of a University setting. When John was 25, Dr. Marsh passed away, and John found his way into the pirate life.
Being familiar with both English medicine and the old healing ways, John managed to find a sought-after position as Ship’s Doctor.
“India Anney” Jones
Cannoneer
Played by Lori Galloway
Anney’s Backstory
After being saved from a life of indentured servitude when Blackbeard captured the ship she was on, Anney made her way onto other pirate crews and spent time plundering the East Indies. She didn’t like guns but loved using the native weapons of the region, and she became well-known for her colorful clothing of Indian fabrics, as well as her whip-cracking…. So, from the Bay of Bengal to Borneo, she is known as “India Anney” Jones!
Milo Rhodes
Boarding Leader and Ship’s Musician
Played by Taran Hook
Milo’s Backstory
Milo grew up on the shores of Cape May, a small and isolated coastal town on the southernmost shores of West New Jersey. His family were farmers, but to supplement income they also turned to the sea and became involved with the slowly growing local whaling industry that operated in the Delaware Bay. Look-outs situated on the beaches, small row boats, and whale carcasses being towed in and dragged ashore were a familiar site to both Cape May, and Milo who was too curious for his own good.
At 14, he became involved in the hunts. Everything from scouting to rowing over a 6-year whaling career until opportunity took him north to the city of Nantucket. Milo’s first assignment was on board the Jolly Nancy, mastered by Daniel Fledger and bound for the arctic waters of Greenland to hunt for sperm whale. Being as small as he was, he was the prime hand that would be ladling out the valuable spermaceti from inside the whale’s head. However, sailing in the arctic was dangerous. Many ships that sailed from New England, Canada and Scotland didn’t always come home. It wasn’t just the treacherous seas and unpredictable weather of the frozen north, but there were also rumors of ghosts. The few survivors of such attacks told stories about a ship that would seemingly appear from the mist and was crewed by ghastly demons that would kill everyone on board and leave the vessels robbed of their barrels of whale oil. But the shores of Cape May were home to their own specters, and Milo’s response to such tavern tales were “I ain’t afraid of no ghosts.”
Sure enough, shortly after reaching the frigid waters of East Greenland, and under a perpetual northern sunset, an eerie ship was seen floating above the horizon and creeping closer. Aside from their tools, the crew of the Jolly Nancy had no real defense against intruders and certainly nothing that would protect them from angry arctic spirits. Once again, Milo’s curiosity got the best of him. He wanted to see these ghosts for himself! Instead of staying on the deck to fight, he grabbed a harpoon and hid below decks hoping to catch one for himself. Equipment and jolly boats crashed to the deck. Pistol shots and screams rang out, and the steam engine driving the Jolly Nancy came to a halt, leaving the ship wrapped in a chilling silence. The voices Milo heard above were not ones he recognized and the language they spoke was as jagged and cold as the ice itself. Footsteps descended down the stairs into the lower decks and Milo watched from behind storage barrels as a figure wrapped in fur came into to the yellow glow of the whale oil lanterns. The figure peered around the room through thin slits cut through wooden goggles. Deeming the area clear, it removed them and it’s fur covered hood to reveal a golden mane of hair and fiery red beard. ‘This was no ghost’!
“All’s clear down here!” the man shouted up in a distinctly New England voice.
“Anything worth while?” another voice then shouted back from the top deck.
The man continued his scan of the store room until an unintentional gleam from Milo’s harpoon caught his eye and he reached inside his coat for the pistol holstered to his thigh. Milo wasn’t prepared to back down, and without breaking eye contact he slowly lowered the harpoon and took aim.
“Ay Captain! Anything down there?” The voice said again.
The man released his grip from his pistol, “No, nothing down here. Not sure how they expected to stay up here with such little in storage. I’ll be up in a moment.” He turned his attention back to Milo and hissed, “I saved your ass, kid,” before returning to the upper deck.
While Milo was left alive, he was the sole survivor left aboard the Jolly Nancy, now adrift and unmanned in the vast Labrador Sea. It would be a week before another ship would sail by; a whaler called The Start, mastered by Captain Beetle and hailing from Martha’s Vineyard. The Start found the Jolly Nancy and was able to bring Milo back to West Jersey.
Now on an unexpected shore leave, but still eager to get out on the water again, Milo met up with an old sailing friend, William Hart, and the two spent the next few years whale fishing by day and playing music in the local pubs by night until the deep sea called once more and both Milo and William signed aboard a transatlantic voyage to Dundee, Scotland to take another stab at making their fortune in the Scottish Arctic Whaling industry. The night before they left however, while once again filling a local tavern with their shanties and whaling songs, a familiar voice shouted “Will?! Is that Bloody Will?!”
“Aha! Well if it isn’t that old scurvy mutt Devlin!” Will shouted back. The two had been shipmates years prior. While Milo was off hunting for whales, Will and Devlin sailed together aboard another ship. “Captain O’Dricoll now!” Devlin said, rather proudly.
“Captain?! So I guess this means you’re no longer ‘handsome’ then?”
Captain Devlin raised an eyebrow at Will’s playful remark, and the crew filling in behind him all snickered. After a few rounds of drinks were had and stories were told to catch up on lost time, Milo and Will told Devlin and his crew about their transatlantic voyage to Scotland aboard a well-stocked merchant ship.
“Would be an awful shame if something happened to said merchant ship…” Captain Devlin smirked.
“Yes,” Milo and Will agreed, “an awful shame…”
Milo and Will would eventually make it to Dundee, but oddly enough, not the merchant ship they had initially sailed on as there was an ‘exchange of goods and crew’ halfway across the Atlantic.
Milo aids the crew of the Fortune’s Folly with book and record keeping, catching offshore meals, upkeep of the ships equipment and weapons, and occasionally lends a tune or two to accompany it all; tasks he learned during his whaling days. On land, he and his shipmate Will, and their friend Rosie McGann, enjoy a Jolly Shore Leave, earning money filling local pubs with song and story.
Milo hopes to one day again encounter the Arctic Ghost that spared his life…
Nessa Blackwell
Navigator
Played by Stephanie Rainer
Nessa’s Backstory
Nessa was born noble but then when she was 13 her family was attacked by a band of thieves. They killed her parents and her one brother William, and took her other brother Bartholomew as their captive. Nessa was at her Aunt Genevieve’s for the season, training to become a “lady” so she was spared. Filled with rage and needing vengeance, she vowed to get back at the murderers.
She set forth, traveling to major ports looking for their crest (a wolf with an owl in its mouth). Nessa first met the crew sailing to Nassau. Falling in amongst pirates, she quickly learned the ways of sword and blade. She fell in love with someone on the ship and convinced them to help find the thieves.
Red-Handed Jill
Able-bodied Sailor
Played by Widget Dixon
Anne “Bones” Lynn
Helmswoman & Matchmaker
Played by Roman Channing
Bones’ Backstory
Anne “Bones” Lynne (or just “Bones” to her friends) was born in a quiet costal village to moderately well to do landowners. She was one of 4 daughters, and as the eldest it fell to her to marry well and help the family improve their station. There was just one problem, Anne could care less about marriage and station. What Anne loved more than anything was reading and adventure. You could often find her high in a tree and lost to the world around her, because she was off in whatever far off land the latest story she was reading took place in.
As a child Anne’s parents indulged her desire to read and learn, but as she grew closer to marrying age they tried harder and harder to lock her away in doors and teach her the proper way to “be a lady”. So to keep the peace, Anne played lady during the day and took to reading at night. That is when she found a passion for astronomy and navigating by the stars. Anne began to plan adventures and voyages and used the stars as her guide.
At 23 Anne was more than old enough to marry, but every suitor who came calling seemed to leave infuriated and frustrated with the well read and adventure loving Anne. Her parents decided in secret to send her off to a cloister in hopes they could marry their next daughter off to a rich and wealthy man. When Anne found out she was devastated and enraged. In the dead of night she packed her books, and her mother’s favorite silver spoons, and she escaped her cursed life. That was the Death of Anne Lynne and the birth of Anne “Bones” Lynne.
Using the stars as her guide Bones traveled by night to the nearest sea port and found passage on a ship where she was taught how to be a helmswoman. After a few years of traveling Bones was enjoying a few pints at a port in Spain when she struck up a conversation with The Folly’s first mate Cat McKenna, who invited her to try her hand a guiding the misguided crew of The Folly. Bones gladly accepted and is now the proud Helmswoman of the mighty Fortune’s Folly.
Donovan Hall
Gunner
Played by Robert Murray
Donovan’s Backstory
Our mate “Izzy” hates that nickname, and hails from the New World, from the colony of Rhode Island. He first set sail on a merchant ship hoping to get a taste of a life at sea. He’s been lookout for as long as he’s been working on ships, as he’s so good at it, he can “spot a fly on a needle from a mile away” (or so he says). Meanwhile, just in case, he also always carries his trusty spyglass.
Israel enjoyed life at sea, but not so much his crewmates on the merchant ship… They insisted on calling him “Izzy” and often ‘forgot’ to ring the bell, relieving him from his post. He once spent TWO DAYS up in the crow’s nest before relief was called.
He decided to take a bit of revenge on the cruel merchant sailors by not sounding the alarm as a pirate ship headed swiftly in their direction. Once the pirates took the ship, Israel decided to jump ship and join the pirate crew of the Fortune’s Folly.
Israel teaches the crew new things every day… Like the correct way to look at a spyglass is through the large lens and not the small one… of course!
He’s happy with the pirate life, and the more jovial nature of the crew of the Folly, and looking forward to all the adventure a career as a pirate can give him!
Furious Fingers Freddy
Marooned?
Played by Brian Albert
Freddy’s Backstory
Fredrick Von Winklehiemer aka “Furious Fingers” Freddy was born of nobility. His parents were wealthy aristocrats from Austria, and Freddy was the only boy in line to inherit the family fortune.
When Freddy was 15 his parents went to England on holiday and never returned. Fearing the worst, Freddy did the only thing a man could do when one’s parents leave home and there is no idea if they will ever safely return… throw the biggest party the world has ever seen. And he did just that!
Unfortunately, the invitation list was so large that it reached some of the more unsavory people who felt it was their duty to lighten the burden of so much wealth ending up bestowed upon such an innocent boy.
After a week of some of the craziest partying anyone has ever partied, the party came to an end. It left the estate in ruins and the entire family wealth had been stolen, including his fathers prized pocket watch. So Freddy did what any sensible man would do, he become a barber.
Now, Freddy had barber skills like no other man before him (or since). He could cut hair faster than any known human on the planet. He was not very GOOD at it, mind you, in fact he was downright awful, but he was fast. This speed eventually earned him the the nickname “Furious Freddy.”
His career as a barber ended at the end of his first day, once the news quickly spread about how what a terrible barber he was. But this did not stop our valiant hero, no-siree-bob’s-his-uncle! Nope, Freddy valiantly moved on to a bigger and brighter future….as a pickpocket.
It seemed that his propensity for cutting hair quickly gave him the edge he needed to pick the pockets of unsuspecting victims. At first he would only pick easy prey (children and babies) but after only ending up with candy and some gum wrappers, he decided to go big. He started to pick from the homeless and lepers. Still not satisfied, he decided the only way he was going to make any real money was to actually *make* real money. That proved to be far too time consuming, so he went back to picking pockets.
Now quickly gaining the title as one of the best pickpockets in Europe, he decided to go after the most challenging goal ever… The dead. He started with freshly dug graves and eventually moved to the morgues (easier to get to the bodies) Freddy was known cut to off the fingers off of the dead to get at their gold and diamond rings. Thus earning him the additional nickname “Fingers” Freddy.
Now with some people in town calling him “Furious Freddy” and others in town calling him “Fingers Freddy,” this dilemma of an undecided moniker quickly became a burden that the land could no longer bear.
So, on a cold wintry morning before the sun rose, a committee of the brightest minds gathered together and came to the decision that from that day forward, his name would become Furious “Fingers” Freddy… the 3rd.
When the town heard of this news, a fight broke out and divided the town into factions of north and south. Freddy decided to go West, leaving the town in turmoil. He dropped “the 3rd” and became known as only Furious “Fingers” Freddy.
Oh, and he also likes to invent stuff.
Barnabas Morningstar
Ship’s Ambassador
Played by Colin Antes
Barnabas’ Backstory
Little is known about the man known as Barnabas Morningstar. First, that he was found as a stowaway aboard the Fortune’s Folly. Secondly, that he so successfully talked his way out of being thrown overboard, that the crew named him “Ship’s Ambassador”.
(He talks good and drapes beautifully.)
Horatio Primm
Master Gunner
Played by Don Benhardt
Horatio’s Backstory
Primm is the son of a Duke. The 5th son to be exact. He isn’t sure exactly which Duke, but he is pretty sure they may have met once… maybe. By the time Horatio came along, his father figured out that it’s far easier to pay people to tend the children. Money was something that was never in short supply, so there was quite an inheritance for the sons of Lord… whomever it was. Horatio’s oldest brother received their father’s land and the title. His next brother ended up with their father’s property in London and he lets it out, making a good living doing so. The next brother went into politics and is in Parliament. The brother after that attended the finest schools and studied medicine. He has a thriving practice in York. By the time the inheritance got to Horatio… well, there wasn’t much left. Horatio got… a turnip. It was a very nice turnip, as turnips go, but that left him to make his own way in the world.
Taking his trusty turnip, Horatio decided a life at sea would be best for him. He enlisted in the Royal Navy. His family name must have carried some weight, as he ended up stationed aboard a Royal frigate. He served well and learned the ways of a proper sailor and absorbed everything he could about the ship’s arms and armament. Before too long, he’d made Lieutenant and was ready to climb the ranks higher. The sea had another plans…
Primm and a small group of soldiers were temporarily sent aboard the merchant ship, Great Allen. There was a rise in pirate activity and the plan was to have a merchant ship with Navy sailors aboard to trap them. Well, that did not work. The Allen was taken by none other than Blackbeard himself. The pirates gave Primm a very generous offer and he made a strategic career move. Being pirates, the “generous offer” was that Primm could join the crew… or walk the plank. He decided there was more long-term profit in not dying, so he chose the way of the pirate. However, he afterwards decided that Blackbeard was too scary to work for and snuck off to join a less… intimidating crew with the pirates of the Fortune’s Folly. Since that fateful day, he has made his way across the seas, earning his fortune, his lucky turnip along for the ride.
Mei Mei
Sail-Maker & Surgeon’s Mate
Played by Lauren Grennen
Mei Mei’s Backstory
Mei Mei is the ship’s sail-maker, and is equally quick to patch a sail or a crew-mate. Quick to pick a fight, and possessing zero impulse control, she seems to have the notion that she’s within her rights to cause damage -both property and bodily- if she knows how to fix it.
Mei started as a street urchin and thief, who started aboard another ship as a simple hired hand. Then a fellow crewman got caught in some rigging and ended up with a badly broken leg with the boney bits sticking out and everything. Mei was the only crew member who didn’t faint or get sick at the sight and simply patched the injured man up and continued with her work. Impressed, the captain dubbed her mate to the ship’s surgeon when he came to. When the ship later sank (totally not her fault), she ended up with the crew of the Fortune’s Folly. Lucky them.
Sirena
Pirate Fairy
Played by Stephanie Krause
Sirena’s Backstory
Sirena was created by the Lady of the Sea from the adventurous spirit of all Pirates.
During her youngest days, she was irresistibly drawn to the famous Irish pirate queen, Gráinne O’Malley, who stood up to the men in her life (and the Queen of England!). Her strong example gave Sirena the confidence upon which to build her own piratical life.
Like many fae, Sirena has some control over her size. She prefers to remain at her natural, small size when she doesn’t wish to be seen, but on festival days, she is able to be human-sized to join in the fun. On those special days, she has from sun-up to sun-down to enjoy being “big,” but she is sadly unable to use her wings to fly until she is fairy-sized again.
Sirena continues to be ticklish on her wings, at any size.
Sirena’s greatest desire is to sail to every port on the Seven Seas, and spend some time aboard every famous pirate’s ship, watching, learning, treasure-hunting, and sharing in their freedom and adventure!
Koral
Mermaid
Played by Stephanie Rainer
Koral’s Backstory
Koral is a happy-go-lucky mermaid who loves to watch the pirates that come into the port of Nassau. She also loves to play small tricks on them, like singing when no females are around, and putting sea-stars all over the deck of their ships.
One day Koral was sleeping on the edge of the shore when she was discovered by the crew of the Fortune’s Folly. The crew’s musician, Cat, very much liked the mermaid, and wanted to keep her as her own. Koral did not like the idea of being someone’s pet. A tank would be much too small, and living on the deck would just cause her to dry out.
After much argument, the pirates and Koral came to an agreement. Koral would swim along the ship and play with Cat whenever she was bored, and in turn the pirates would give Koral jewels and chocolate whenever she wanted…
Mostly the chocolate.
Have You Ever
Considered Piracy?
We are looking for versatile people (with good comedic timing and audience interaction) to join our crew. We do a variety of appearances, from scripted shows to parties to weekend encampments. We operate in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and other locations up and down the Eastern Coast.
Interested in learning what we are looking for, as well as how to audition?
Have You Ever Considered Piracy?
We are looking for versatile people (with good comedic timing and audience interaction) to join our crew. We do a variety of appearances, from scripted shows to parties to weekend encampments. We operate in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and other locations up and down the Eastern Coast.
Interested in learning what we are looking for, as well as how to audition?