#Ravyn Hurley

[lookthedevilintheeye]

One Evening in Calcutta, Summer 1726...

“... Uncle Joshua, I have something I’ve been meaning to ask of you.”

“Oho? What’s on your mind, Little Bran? You can always ask me anything.”

“Cripes, you haven’t called me that since before the Old Man died. ... anyway, actually, it’s about him. The Old Man, I mean - about my father. There is something I’ve realized I’ve never quite known about him, something that the more I try to think about, the less I actually can imagine a satisfactory assumption.”

“Really now? And what would that be, then?”

“.... The Eye. .... The legends say variously that it can grant the wishes of any who possess it. Or give them the power to make whatever they wish for come true. .... so what was it? What was HIS wish?”

“.... Hehe. You surprise me sometimes, Little Bran. I never would have expected you to muse on the motives of others. You’ve grown up a lot since we parted ways. ... anyway. My brother’s wish, the reason he spent a decade searching for that damned thing which cost him his life...”

....

“I honestly don’t know. Well, no. I know what he told me. What we told each other, when we agreed to search for the Eye to begin with. That we’d be richer than rich, more secure than all the Kings of Europe combined! Ours and our kin would want for nothing for the rest of time. But... looking back, I know that wasn’t really why I wanted to find the Eye. It’s what I told myself, but deep down, it wasn’t the whole truth. So I can’t imagine that being Mortimer’s true wish either.”

“Mmmm. .... so then what was it? What was it you really wished for if not the fame and fortune of it all?”

“.... Honestly, I don’t think I even had one. I just wanted to do it, because Mort wanted to do it. That’s just how we did things. Whatever one wanted, the other supported wholly. It’s why we joined the Navy. It’s why we left the damn Navy. It’s why we became privateers. It’s why we adopted you. You handed me that Eye now, right here, and there’s only one thing I can really think of wishing for on it these days.”

“.... and? What? What is it?”

“.... to have him back. Even just for a day. Even just to catch up on things. I’d love for nothing more than to share my current contentedness with my brother. Not a day’s gone by since we lost him that I don’t miss his glum, gloomy glowering. Ha ha ha....”

[sins-of-the-sea]

//Hilariously, despite him being the Sin of Greed, and being born to a wealthy merchant family in Venice, you won't find typical stereotypical greedy pirate tropes in Giovanni.

Being a greedy pirate is Captain Ravyn's job.

[der-karibisch-heyder]

Caribbean Currency 2

Continuing from the last post I made.

(Pictured: Florentine Guilder from 1341)

So I did a bit more reading around, mostly in the interest of grasping living wages and cost of living in the 17th and 18th centuries. In doing so I came across more in depth information about Dutch currency beyond the Lion Dollar, namely the Guilder.

Guilder, which is the English term for Gulden, which is German and Dutch for just “golden”, an informal term for “gold penny”. It is largely considered interchangeable with the Florin, as the currency was widely used all across the reach of the Holy Roman Empire. Anyway.

A Guilder was essentially worth half a Lion Dollar. Recall earlier, a Lion Dollar is worth between 4 and 5 Shillings in English currency. It takes 20 shillings to make a pound, thus 4 to 5 Lion Dollars to make a pound. Hence, it takes about 10 guilders to make a pound, so a Guilder is roughly equal to 1/10th the value of the pound or English Guinea. This is all noteworthy because the Guilder was the long accepted go-to currency for foreign reserves, likely due to its equal value and standing with the Florin and its widespread use across central Europe.

In reading on all this, I too found the values of ships were often rated in tonnage. Specifically about 20 pounds to the ton. Using some ships in Devil’s Eye for a quick reference...

La Demonia Roja, a massive Manilla Galleon, weighs in at 1000 tons of storage, giving it a massive value of 20,000 pounds.

The Barracuda, a simple schooner, weighs in at a mere 100 tons, giving it the value of 2000 pounds.

The Barracuda’s long standing rival and competitor from their piracy days, the Dutch vessel Diantha, being a converted Fluyt (a ship with a unique design meant to maximize tonnage without taking up too much area), weighs in with 400 tons for a value of 8000 pounds.

The HMS Cavalier, a 6th Rate warship oared frigate captained by an old former friend of Ravyn Hurley’s father, Post-Captain Jack Davenport, weighs in at 300 tons for a value of 6000 pounds.

For comparison’s sake, the annual wage of the First Lord of the Treasury of England was 4000 pounds. It’s a little sad that Ravyn’s pride of a ship is worth less than that, but such is life. Middle class wages were expected to be anywhere between 40 and 75 pounds a year, which is about what would be expected for a merchant trader who owned a ship. Given the costs of a ship and hiring a crew to captain and sail the ship, the loans must be outrageous. Despite that, a ship was a long term investment that often paid for itself several dozen times over several decades of use, which is why piracy for stealing such vessels was a lucrative business to begin with.

Other notable wages and fees of the 17th and 18th centuries include:

Coach rides were 5 pence per mile if you rode inside the coach, and 2 pence per mile if you rode on the outside.

River ferrying was about 3 pence per mile.

A cheap shared bed at an inn would cost you 2 pence a night - but an unfurnished room for rent would only cost 1 shilling a week, so it was actually cheaper to pay by week if you were staying over long term. (Things like this are again, why Ravyn needs Robert around to manage the crew’s finances!)

Servants only made between 2 and 5 pounds a year in earnings, but their estate would pay for their clothing, food, and board, which were the most common and costly expenses of living at the time. A more experienced housemaid could make up to 8 pounds a year, and an exceptional housekeeper could make up to 15 pounds a year.

Lastly, it was generally assumed anyone making 500 pounds or more a year were considered wealthy to some degree or another. I don’t know how far up one must go the wealth ladder to be considered nobility or aristocracy, though.

As for the money the Heyder family pulls in, I’m still working that out. I’m imagining Robert having a fairly large amount of disposable income, but not enough to where he can just liberally throw money at any and every problem he comes across. Otherwise it would start begging some questions. I’ll get back to that later.

[silverfrapp]

My 20 favourite EPs of 2022 // Spotify playlist

+ 25 honourable mentions (good albums that I probably should’ve spent more time with – ordered alphabetically)

EPs:

1. Daniela Lalita – Trececerotres 2. Uroish – Goodbye Party 3. Sun’s Signature – Sun’s Signature 4. Brodka – Sadza

5. Crystal Murray – Twisted Bases 6. Tops – Empty Seats 7. Lolahol – Go 8. Frou Frou – Off Cuts

9. Blue Hawaii – My Bestfriend’s House 10. Sevdaliza – Raving Dahlia 11. Empress Of – Save Me 12. Pure Shores – Nightfall Feelings

13. Zoon – Big Pharma 14. Sabina Ddumba – Dear 27 Pt. 1 15. Mr Twin Sister – Upright and Even 16. Eugénie – Moment in Time

17. Thelma Plum – Meanjin 18. Dana Gavanski – Bouncing Ball 19. Oh Land – Xtra 20. Hockeysmith – Hunted Eyes

Honourable mentions:

Andrew Bayer – Duality Andy Bull – People You Love Anne Marie Almedal – We Dance Alone Beach House – Once Twice Melody Bendik – Liv

Boohle – iSlomo Chelsea Jade – Soft Spot George FitzGerald – Stellar Drifting Gloria de Oliveira & Dean Hurley – Oceans of Time Grace Ives – Janky Star

Honey Dijon – Black Girl Magic Hurray for the Riff Raff – Life on Earth Kiwi – Pętla Little Simz – No Thank You Methyl Ethel – Are You Haunted?

Mykki Blanco – Stay Close to Music Nnamdï – Please Have a Seat Orlando Weeks – Hop Up Ravyn Lenae – Hypnos S10 – Ik besta voor altijd zolang jij aan mij denkt

Sylvan Esso – No Rules Sandy Vendredi sur Mer – Métamorphose Vero – Unsoothing Interior Zazie – Aile-P Zola Jesus – Arkhon

[artofimmy]

Oh Captain, my Captain.

[lookthedevilintheeye]

"...the boat has STAMINA?!"

"What kind of a boat has stamina?!"

"Especially one that requires furling up your sails to recover?"

"Nevermind apparently all you need to man it is to just have one person behind the helm and no one else."

"Splendid!! Hey, Devil Pirates!! Our boat doesn't need a whole crew to man it too!"

Oh, no. La Demonia Roja groans as one of her scuppers very slowly leaks water.

Giovanni sobs as he hugs one of the masts. "It's okay, Demonia!! You're still special to us!"

"You made our ship cry!! FIRE!!"

It only took one rinky dink canonball to sink the Hurley Crew's ship instantly.

"OH WHAT THE BLOODY HELL??!!"

"Just gather a couple trees and you can repair your boat."

"But these trees are already harvested despite no one having come here!"

"That's a you problem, then."

[lookthedevilintheeye]

Sneezes.

[lookthedevilintheeye]

"But our Captain hasn't stolen anything! ..... As of late!"

An entire box full of silverware drops from under her skirt.

"....Captain...."

"Hey, at least I didn't put it in my bodice this time around."

[lookthedevilintheeye]

//Cappn and I frequently joke how Captain Ravyn is the manliest character in the entire cast. Even more than her First Mate, who can bench-press a cannon like a Q-tip.

Bonus:

Rashid gets it.

[lookthedevilintheeye]

I have no idea what Captain Ravyn and Abena are fighting over. Whoever stole that beautiful candelabra, who got the last chocolate chip cookie, who has the most wonderful husband, who suggested Omar rob a bank all by himself with just a stick and a ball of twine, it can be anything.

Not to mention it’s just outright rude for a man to interrupt a ladies’ fight.

[lookthedevilintheeye]

//We're still figuring out the story itself, but this is more or less how the Magic Maharajahs (what they call themselves to foreigners, at least) would be introduced into the main Devil's Eye story.

By this point, Ulan would have joined the party, and she is so fucking tired of bullshit.

[sins-of-the-sea]

The 'Devil's Eye' Pirates yell at 'Assassin's Creed: Black Flag'!

"You're privateering!! Privateering!! Why are you sinking the boat?! You're supposed to capture the boat and its crew alive!! Your pay is going to be shit for this!!"

"Why are the guns on the top deck?! They don't even look secured! How are they being aimed to begin with?!"

"'Visibility' I guess."

"I hope the sliding 5 tons of metal crushing your crew and equipment is worth 'visibility'. Also I just love how both ships sank like they were made of paper. I want to believe an entire herd of albatrosses shat on them both just before the battle. Less pathetic."

[lookthedevilintheeye]

After a particularly bitter battle where the Crew of the Barracuda obtained a Key of St. Emilio...

"Oh, seriously? We won this battle, Captain Wrath can eat my ass."

[lookthedevilintheeye]

“All in favor of sinking La Demonia Roja, say aye.”

“Not enough of the muses on this blog have icons in order do so, Captain.”

[lookthedevilintheeye]

“I feel called out.”

“We’re ALL called out.”

[lookthedevilintheeye]

“Oh, sure, you’ll bark at anyone who threatens to pressgang someone in YOUR Crew, but then you go after Johnny all the time and force him and la Brujula to work for you!”

“Captain, that is called ‘kidnapping’.”