Historical Fantasy Adventure

Salt and Bones

Historical fantasy adventure · Caribbean, 1692 · Adult Fiction

Synopsis

The Story, Spoiler-Free

In 1535, the Spanish galleon The Vanguardia disappeared during a storm while carrying gold and a mysterious relic taken from a lost civilisation. For more than a hundred and fifty years, she has been written off as a myth.

Then, in 1692, cryptographer Bonny Read uncovers a lead to her last known location, setting her on a quest to find the wreck and the treasure it carried.

Bonny joins forces with Anne Grace, a disgraced privateer desperate to rebuild her reputation, along with the watchman John, Edward Bellamy, a talented navigator hoping fortune might mend his broken marriage, and Billie, a young dockhand who stows away in search of a better life. Together they sail aboard Anne’s sloop, The Gale, in search of The Vanguardia.

When the crew recover an ancient relic from the wreck, they unintentionally awaken the wrath of a forgotten storm god. Strange spiral marks appear on their palms, contact with seawater becomes deadly, and violent storms begin to follow them.

Piecing together fragments of old Spanish notes and the history of a civilisation long thought extinct, the crew begin to understand what they have woken, and why The Vanguardia’s crew never made it home. With a dangerous pirate captain on their trail and the storms worsening, they must follow the clues left behind by those who faced the curse before them and find a way to undo it before it destroys them too.

The Vision

Why This Book

I’ve always loved adventure stories. I grew up playing Tomb Raider, exploring forgotten ruins and solving puzzles, and watching films like The Mummy, Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean. I’ve always been drawn to the mystery of Sherlock Holmes, the puzzles and conspiracies of Dan Brown, the magic of Harry Potter and, perhaps unsurprisingly, a good escape room.

What draws me to all of them is the sense of discovery. I love stories where there is something to uncover: a piece of history to dig up, a mystery to solve, a forgotten place to explore or a puzzle whose answer leads somewhere unexpected.

That was what I wanted to create with Salt and Bones: a fantastical adventure rooted in history, with mysteries to unravel and places to discover, but also with energy and humour. I wanted the danger to feel real without the story becoming grim.

I’ve always loved ensemble adventures, and I wanted the crew of The Gale to feel like one. Anne, Bonny, Edward, John and Billie each bring their own personalities to the story. For me, much of the fun of an ensemble comes from putting those characters together and seeing what happens.

Characters

The Crew

Spoiler-free introductions only. Portraits, for those who want them, are kept separately in Bonny's Sketchbook.

Anne Grace

Captain

Anne Grace is a privateer and captain of The Gale. Originally from London, she stowed away aboard a privateering vessel bound for the West Indies at seventeen, where she eventually earned a place among the crew.

Anne later sailed alongside her partner Jack. After a successful raid on the Spanish galleon Reina de los Mares, the pair became known as the Fiery Grace and Thunder Jack. Their partnership ended when Jack abandoned Anne and the rest of the crew during a later raid, escaping with part of their haul and leaving them to fend for themselves. Anne survived and went on to captain a ship of her own.

By the beginning of Salt and Bones, another setback has left Anne with The Gale, but, rather inconveniently, without a crew.

Bonny Read

Cryptographer

Bonny Read is a cryptographer and scholar with a particular interest in languages, lost histories and ancient artefacts. She comes to the West Indies after Henry Longford hires her to decipher the lock on his grandfather’s vault. The position also gives Bonny the opportunity to pursue a mystery of her own: the disappearance of the Spanish galleon The Vanguardia.

Unlike most of those who join the search, Bonny is less interested in The Vanguardia’s fortune and more in the chance to uncover a mystery lost for more than a century.

Much of what Bonny knows about sailing has come from books rather than experience. Although the voyage from England has given her some time at sea, knowing how a ship works in theory proves rather different from being useful aboard one.

John

Gunner

John is a watchman employed by the Longford family in Port Royal. Having spent time aboard their ships when he was younger, John is an experienced sailor as well as a capable fighter, and is often relied upon for protection.

Quiet and polite, John tends to observe before speaking and rarely draws attention to himself. When his position with the Longfords becomes uncertain, the prospect of returning to sea appeals to him.

John has heard plenty of stories about the Fiery Grace, although he is initially sceptical that Anne is really the privateer of legend. Once convinced, he jumps at the chance to join the crew of The Gale.

Edward Bellamy

Navigator

Edward Bellamy is a skilled navigator and musician who previously sailed with Anne during her early years as a privateer. He originally went to sea hoping to make his fortune and prove himself worthy of the woman he loved, whose wealthy family disapproved of their relationship.

After several dangerous years at sea, Edward left privateering behind and the couple married in secret. When her family discovered the marriage, they had it annulled and sent her back to England, leaving Edward heartbroken and with little interest in returning to his old life.

By the beginning of Salt and Bones, Edward is still struggling with the loss of his marriage when Anne reappears with a proposition: join the crew of The Gale as navigator and help search for a legendary Spanish treasure.

Billie

Bosun

Billie is a thirteen-year-old dockhand from Port Royal, of Taíno descent through Billie’s grandmother. Billie has spent years working under an ill-tempered dockmaster, cleaning, maintaining and repairing the ships that pass through the harbour, while learning from the sailors along the way. Wanting to escape the dockmaster’s cruelty and make a better life elsewhere, Billie stows away aboard The Gale and becomes its youngest crew member. Billie’s gender is intentionally never stated in Salt and Bones. The character is written without gendered pronouns, leaving this open to the reader’s own interpretation.

The Lore

History and Worldbuilding

Historical Inspiration

The historical setting of Salt and Bones grew from Port Royal and the events of 1692. On 7 June that year, a major earthquake struck Jamaica, followed by a tsunami. Much of Port Royal was destroyed, with sections of the town sinking beneath the sea. The disaster became one of the reasons I chose both the location and the year in which to set the story.

Having a specific year also gave the fictional adventure a fixed historical world to exist within. Research into Port Royal and the wider Caribbean helped shape the settlements the characters move through, the ships they sail, the clothing they wear and details of everyday life, from food and money to trade, travel and life around the harbour.

Salt and Bones is a work of historical fantasy, so its characters, mythology and central adventure are fictional. Where possible, however, the setting and everyday details are based on the historical record.

The Pariakoans

The Pariakoans are a fictional pre-Columbian civilisation created for Salt and Bones. They lived around the Paria Peninsula, on the north-eastern coast of what is now Venezuela. Their culture and mythology draw inspiration from the peoples and beliefs of the pre-Columbian Caribbean and surrounding region, but the Pariakoans themselves are not intended to represent a real historical people.

In Pariakoan belief, life began with the Creator. The first life emerged from the waters of a freshwater spring within a great cavern. The Creator therefore became associated with freshwater, fertility, the harvest and creation. The Zemi’s symbol represents the sacred spring from which life began.

The Pariakoans believed that deep beneath the earth was a sacred place where the freshwater of the Creator met the saltwater of the Stranger. The two Zemis represented opposing forces of the natural world: the Creator associated with life and freshwater, and the Stranger with the sea, weather and storms.

A sacred conch also held an important place in Pariakoan belief. Its music was associated with communication between the mortal and spirit worlds, and with the Guide, a Zemi connected to travellers and the passage of souls into the afterlife.

According to Pariakoan mythology, the relationship between the Creator and the Stranger eventually broke down, and the Stranger became the Destroyer, associated with hurricanes, earthquakes and immense waves.

Much of what followed has been lost to history. By the time of Salt and Bones, the Pariakoans have long since disappeared, leaving behind ruins, artefacts and fragments of a mythology whose full meaning has been forgotten.

Saladoid Inspiration

The Pariakoans are fictional, but some elements of their material culture were inspired by the Saladoid cultures of the pre-Columbian Caribbean. Beginning around 500 BCE, people associated with Saladoid material culture travelled from northern South America into the Caribbean, establishing settlements throughout the Lesser Antilles and as far north as Puerto Rico.

One of the things that drew me to the Saladoid was their distinctive visual culture. Archaeological sites are particularly known for their ceramics, including pottery decorated through painting, modelling and incision. As symbols and artefacts play an important role in Salt and Bones, this provided part of the inspiration for the Pariakoans and the visual language I created for them.

The Pariakoans themselves, however, are not Saladoid. Their civilisation, Zemis, symbols, mythology and history are fictional and were created for the story. The Saladoid influence is a starting point rather than an attempt to recreate a historical culture.

Pariakoan Zemis

Zemis are sacred beings within Pariakoan belief, each associated with different aspects of the natural and spiritual world and represented by a distinct symbol.

Pariakoan zemis and their mythology draw inspiration from Taíno religion, but the Pariakoans, their Zemis and their mythology are fictional creations within Salt and Bones.

The Creator

Fertility · Harvest · Freshwater · Mercy · Love

The supreme Zemi of Pariakoan belief. The Creator is associated with life, creation and compassion, as well as fresh water, fertile land and the harvest.

The Stranger

Sea · Weather · Storms

A wandering Zemi said to have come from across the sea. The Stranger represents the unpredictable and untamed nature of the ocean and weather, and is known for a fierce temper. When enraged, the Stranger becomes the Destroyer.

The Destroyer

Hurricanes · Catastrophe · Death

The enraged form of the Stranger. The Destroyer represents the most violent forces of the natural world, bringing hurricanes, earthquakes, immense waves and destruction.

The Guide

Travel · Spirits · Communication · Afterlife

A link between the physical and spirit worlds. The Guide carries communication between people and the Zemis, guides travellers on their journeys, and leads the souls of the dead into the spirit world.

Ships

The Gale

The Gale is Anne Grace’s single-masted, gaff-rigged sloop and the primary ship in Salt and Bones. Small, fast and highly manoeuvrable, its shallow draught makes it particularly well suited to coastal waters and navigating around reefs.

The Gale carries 8 cannons, 4 on each side, along with 4 swivel guns positioned at the bow and stern. A small boat is suspended from the stern, and the ship can be sailed by a crew of around 5–7.

Type: Sloop
Masts: 1
Armament: 8 cannons · 4 swivel guns
Minimum crew: 5–7

The Sea Witch

The Sea Witch is a 3-masted, Dutch-style frigate with a long, narrow hull and 24 guns, 12 on each side. Larger and considerably more heavily armed than The Gale, it is built for speed and combat and can accommodate a crew of around 150.

During Salt and Bones, however, The Sea Witch sails with a crew of only around 50.

Type: Frigate
Masts: 3
Armament: 24 cannons
Maximum crew: Around 150

The Vanguardia

The Vanguardia is a Spanish galleon from 1535. Built for long ocean voyages, the ship has 3 masts, with square sails on the fore and main masts and a lateen sail on the mizzen, a configuration characteristic of early galleons.

Heavily laden with treasure on its final voyage, The Vanguardia carries around 120 people, including sailors and Capitán Navarro’s conquistadors.

Type: Spanish galleon
Masts: 3
Tonnage: Around 120 tons
People aboard: Around 120

The Curse

The curse is marked by a black symbol that appears beneath the skin of the palm: a counter-clockwise double spiral flanked by two smaller spirals. The symbol represents a storm, with the central spiral representing the hurricane and the outer spirals wind or waves. It is the mark of Jurucan, also known as the Stranger.

Once marked, contact with seawater becomes deadly. If enough seawater touches a cursed person, the body dissolves into salt, leaving only the bones behind. Smaller amounts, such as sea spray, leave a faint crystalline residue on the skin.

Avoiding the sea is not enough to escape the curse. Those who bear the mark are pursued by unnatural storms that follow them even on land, causing earthquakes, flooding and immense waves.

Bonny's Sketchbook

Turn the Page, If You Like

Salt and Bones was deliberately written with very little physical description of its characters, beyond what was necessary to the story. I wanted to leave space for you to imagine them however you liked.

If you’re curious to see the characters as I imagined them while writing, turn the page. If they don’t look anything like the people in your head, your version is the right one. Feel free to forget everything you saw here. It never happened.