draigthedm

Prologue Smoke?   Why do I smell smoke?  Where am I?  This isn't my bed?  Then I remember it was 10 years ago, a different time on a different ship.  I was the captain of the SS Endeavour a merchant airship carrying 80 tons of cargo and 20 passengers in style. They struck in the middle of the night, cannons roaring and destroying my beautiful ship.  When they finally boarded her Endeavour was unrepairable, and sinking towards the ground.  They slaughtered my crew and took me for ransom.  Not even 2 hours later they had taken anything of value and set my ship aflame.  They locked me in a room and forgot about me.  For 2 weeks I languished in

A Native American orphan raised by a Canadian family Archimedes is an intimidating figure.  At the age of 15 he left his family to find the tribe of his real family.  He joined the Dakota Sioux and regained his heritage.  Having a duel life he decided to travel.  On one of his trips his ship was attacked by pirates.  Coming from nowhere the Hammerhead intervened and drove the pirates off.  Archimedes asked to join the crew and worked his way up from an Able Body to his current position as Quartermaster

Richard was born in England and raised in America where his parents sought a better life through the Homesteading Act.  Having settled in Montana territory he is quite the cowboy and dresses it.  Although he seems to be gruff he sincerely cares about the crew and is not afraid to defend them.  He was recruited by Capt. Draig early on and quickly proved himself to the crew whereas they made him first mate.

A fiery Scott Vanessa is a tinkerer at heart and loves machines and working on them almost as much as she loves her fiancée Capt. Draig.  She is the heart of the ship and can tell when something is wrong by vibration, sound or sight.  She keeps the ship in top shape and the weapons never fail.  Without her the pirates would fall apart.   She met the captain when the ship went to Europe to chase down the last of the pirates that shot down his old ship.  After a hard fight the Hammerhead was damaged and faltering when out of nowhere this feisty woman showed up and started fixing her.  She claimed that the ship called to her and that she wo

– Born and raised in San Francisco's infamous tenderloin district Tessa is a tough cookie.  She has more temper than any 10 men and enough training to take those 10 men on.  By the age of 16 she had become a spy for Brittan.  By age 20 she became a mole for America.  At 22 she was caught and tortured, beaten and raped and then turned out by everyone who ever trained her she became very bitter.  Capt. Draig found her in San Francisco after this and saved her from a gang of clockwork thugs.  She joined the crew and discovered that she had a talent for navigation and she is there ever since.

- found in the dark corners of the ship, this steambot was found and rebuilt by Vanessa Macleod to be a general deckhand, bodyguard, and soldier among the crew.  He rarely speaks but when he does everyone listens and generally survives for doing so.

Capt. Michael Draig    a veteran of the wars of Britain in Africa Capt Draig was a skilled airship pilot and commander.  In 1885 his commission ended and he returned to a Brittan that was far too different than he remembered.  Purchasing a small airship he became a wandering merchant.  In 1889 his ship was captured by sky pirates.  They killed his crew and were going to kill him as well when the airship hammerhead attacked and destroyed the pirates, claiming that those pirates gave real pirates a bad name. Liking their spirit he joined the crew eventually becoming captain.  

The Hammerhead is a small caravel needing a crew of 10.   The masts were removed and a steam engine put in.  Two large propellers (one on each side) propel the ship through the air.  She has a semi rigid airbag to keep her aloft.

Rainy. The raindrops glistened on the glass in the soft glow of the candles. The room had an air about itself almost. Tense and quiet except for soft whispers here and there. Then there were sudden explosions of screams. Marie lay beneath the covers clenching them firmly between her fingers with her teeth grinding. Her breathiong labored to say the least. Covered in sweat, she looked over at her husband. A look of concern upon his face, wishing he could somehow take her pain, he can only offer her a smile and comforting words. The pain subsides, and once again, soft, faint whispers fill the room.     "No more after this one, " she sighs tot