Great Lakes Pirates issue #1

Great Lake Pirates Mark your Calender for July’s Events Interview with the Lords

Thee Bluebeard adventures

July- Issue 1, $ free

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For our first issue we want to thank those that gave support throughout June giving us drive to put out a great magazine. We hope to grow and see more and more fans. Feel free to stop by our page and give us a like and message us.

Star~Dust

Editor, Motivator

Timber Gray Wolf

Editor Chef, Designer, photographer

Issue #1 Great Lake Pirates is published monthly freelying through ISSUU. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted into any form by any means without written consent from the publisher. Unsolicited manuscripts and photographs will be returned only if accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. All letters sent to Great Lake Pirates will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication, copyright purposes and use are subject to Great Lake Pirates unrestricted right to edit and comment.

/GreatLakePiratesMagazine 2

Contents 07) One Piece 08) Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag 10) Behaving Boldly and Badly 12) Interview With the Lords 15) The Bluebeard Adventures 20) Pirate of the Month 22) July’s Events

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“There once was pirate named Gold Roger, who was the King of the Pirates. He had fame, power and wealth beyond your wildest dreams.

Before they hung him from the gallows, these were the final words he said; “My fortune is yours for the taking, but you’ll have to find it first. I left everything I own in One Piece.”

Ever since, pirates from all over the world set sail for the Grand Line searching for One Piece the treasure that will make their dreams come true.”

If you read that in the narrator’s voice, you welcome. One Piece is an anime from Japan that came to the United States in 2007. The animated TV show fallowed band of misfit pirates lead by Monkey D. Luffy, young man whose body gains the properties of rubber after unintentionally eating a Devil Fruit. With his diverse crew of pirates, named the Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy explores the ocean in search of the world’s ultimate treasure known as “One Piece” in order to become the next Pirate King.

and become King of the Pirates.

In an effort to organize his own crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy rescues and befriends a swordsman named Roronoa Zoro that was sentenced to death, a pirate hunter that mastered the use of 3 swords. They are joined by Nami, a navigator and thief, that didn’t agree to join till sometime late. Usopp, a sniper; a man that tells more stories then truth. Then Sanji, a womanizing chef; that Luffy recruited by refusing his refusal to joining the crew. In their journey, they acquire a ship named the Going Merry. On their search for One Piece, they engage in confrontations with pirates including Buggy the Clown, Captain Kuro and Don Krieg.

After running in with Captain Smoker, a Navy captain who can turn into smoke (from eating a Devil Fruit); the Navy places a bounty on Luffy’s head.

They later befriend the doctor and anthropomorphized reindeer Tony Tony Chopper while in Drum Island.

All this is happens in the first 100 episodes!

With all of the crazy characters, much of it can be lead back to at one point consuming a Devil Fruit. The Devil Fruit are mystical fruits found in the world that can give the eater many different and varying kinds of strange and interesting abilities, depending on the type and variation of the fruit itself.

One Piece can be found in other form.

Manga (comic) form is one of the most common, so far there are 783 chapters since released in 1997. While there are 697 episodes, there are several split off series. There are so far 13 animated films.

The story picks up twenty-two years have passed since Roger’s execution, and Luffy inspired by his childhood idol and powerful pirate “Red Haired” Shanks, sets off on a journey from the East Blue Sea to find the One Piece 7

With the release of Ubisoft’s installment of their Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (2013). This game is a historical fiction action-adventure open world stealth video game, filled with thrills and plot twists all around. The timeline takes place in the early 18th Century during the golden age of piracy, in the Caribbean Islands. Besides the great struggle between pirates and the royals, you get to partake in the ever going power struggle between the Assassins and Templars.

Edward Kenway, the antagonist of the game. Playing in third person you follow Edward through his life and glimpses of his past. When playing him you jump right into excitement. Unknowingly dawning on the Assassin’s uniform that leads him down a path he couldn’t have dreamt of. Slowly he takes on some responsibility of an Assassin but still the will of a pirate.

The Jackdaw, the mighty ship in that Kenway sails in the game. The Jackdaw was a brig, which he obtained with help of Adéwalé, while they were imprisoned on it. The ship was known as El Dorado and formed a part of the Spanish Treasure Fleet. Upon securing her, Kenway renamed the vessel Jackdaw, after the bird from his home land. As you play through the game you get to upgrade the ship, from its ram and armor to the cannons, even upgrading its hail and cabins for a larger crew.

A lot of the game play takes as much time on the seas as it does on land.

Some of the sea battle are not just as simple as one vs one, but you might be taking on a fleet of ships for the gold.

But don’t try to sink the ships and when you get you board them and take the fight to their decks and the plunder is greater. Besides battling ships you will also be battling the sea itself. The weather is always changing as quickly as it does in real time. Also when doing plenty of sailing get ready to have some sea shanties stuck in your head.

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Fighting hand to hand? Being an Assassin comes with its extra perks of weapons and one is the infamous hidden blade, used by the Assassins for stealth attacks for centuries. With Kenway you will also get the dual wielding swords, up to 4 pestles, blow darts, rope dart (aka Dragons Tail), and many more as you play and add on. With all these weapons, combo attacks are the best way to mow down a full enemy crew by yourself.

No good pirate game is set without some big names; Edward “Blackbeard” Thatch, Benjamin Hornigold, Mary Read, Stede Bonnet, Anne Bonny, Calico Jack, and Charles Vane. That is just to name a few. Many of these characters you will interact with throughout the game. Some with will come close your heart and will crush it with they pass. If this is a pirate game then where is the treasure? As you play you will come across small chests with furs to stock for trade. The big ticket item, maps you will get as

you complete goals in the game. The maps given for these treasures are close as you get. A rough sketch of a tree or building close to it and a rough X and Y coordinate.

Sunken ships are away to find more treasure. When diving for these ships spread across the map, they are no simple swim. There are predators down there, from eels to sharks and huge jellyfish, if they don’t get you running out of air will.What else could there be, beside fighting, looking for treasure, and drinking rum; hunting and fishing of course. Fishing is more to the whaling boats. You will be spearing bull sharks to the great white. Speaking of white, you will have a chance to go after the great white whale. A tip before taking it on is sure to have your boat and spears fully upgraded. In a tropical region there is a large range of animals to hunt. Smaller animals like rabbits and monkeys up to deer. Then there are some more dangerous creatures to hunt. Watch yourself in the water inland as there are crocodiles and not far away panthers in the brush. What to do with all these kills? Adding up the skins and bones are used to make/unlock different outfits. Also trade the meat, bone, teeth, and skins for money to buy other things.

With all of these great things to fill up the game do not let it distract you from the story line. It is filled with great moments in history (close to the real thing). Then topped with so many plot twists it will keep you wanting to play for hours. I would love to tell you some of them, but that would take it away from you. Then you may be wondering, this is the 4th in the storyline, shouldn’t I play the others first? Not necessarily, Black Flag stands strong by itself. If you love the game and want to play more as the Assassins go for it

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Behaving Boldly and Badly: The Lure of Pirate Lore

by Andrea Jones, Author of The Hook & Jill Saga

Master of all he surveys, Captain Jack Sparrow stands at the masthead. When he steps unruffled from the mast to the dock, something sings in our hearts.

“Welcome to Port Royal, Mr. Smith.”’

Damn and blast, me hearties— Mr. Smith is us.

I’m Andrea Jones, “Capitana RedHand” of Under the Black Flag, a member of the Brethren of the Great Lakes, and author of The Hook & Jill Saga. I’m honored to help hoist the anchors of Great Lake Pirates.

The appeal of pirates to modern folk is many-layered. The clothing, to begin: bright colors, sashes beating in the breeze, long coats to swirl about our ankles. Flashy jewelry, the weapons, the boots and jingly things. What’s not to love?

But the clothing lies on the surface.

Beneath our buckles beat hearts of abandon. Who doesn’t want to break the rules, burst from the office, and climb up the rat-lines? Modern life has us battened down, buttoneddown, and boring. We long to cast our responsibilities to the four winds and lock our troubles in the brig.

Pirate re-enactment is an opportunity to behave boldly and badly— if only just for pretend.

Aye, we be hooked on pirates. I was snagged by Hook himself. I’ve rebooted Captain Hook for adult readers in an award-winning book series. But why, after all these centuries, do we love to read about, sing of, re-enact, and idolize piracy? Curse me for a lubber if we don’t all have our own stories of how we got hooked.

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A few of us are star-blessed enough to make a living feeding the fantasy.

Whether we’re sailors, tailors, singers or writers, we carry the dream to those who seek to live it. A pirate festival, a Tall Ships celebration, a Renaissance faire is more than a weekend’s pleasantry. It’s a step toward history— and the operative half of that word is “story.” Our stories, whether true or imaginary, are primal.

Don’t we each harbor the longing to leap into those adventures?The entertainment industry is picking up on our dreams: Captain Hook in his many incarnations on screen and in books; Pirates of the Caribbean; endless re-tellings of Treasure Island. “Black Sails,” “Crossbones,” “Assassin’s Creed,” and the huge et cetera of current pirate lore are a-striding in, like Captain Jack on the pier, to fill our requirements. I say, welcome aboard!

The common theme among these new buccaneers is an old theme: individualism, and defiance of death and authority. Even the language has us grappled. Pirate phrases are bandied about in the movies, and who’s to know which of those are historical?

Being a literary type, I refer ye to The Pirate Primer: Mastering the Language of Swashbucklers and Rogues, by George Choundas. As for me, I’ve a fondness for “Savvy?” (“Understand?”) weighed up again by Jack Sparrow, and “No bones about it,” (“no fooling”) spouted by Long John Silver in Treasure Island. Of course, “I’ll split ye wide open” holds a charm all its own.

from Barrie’s Hook, demonstrating his aristocratic core and his literary bent, is his oath, “Split my infinitives!” But, “Prepare to meet thy doom” is pretty good stuff, too.

In the spirit of “take what ye can,” I suggest that ye lubbers plunder my award-winning novels, and spread their treasure among readers on your shore. Hook & Jill, book one of the Hook & Jill Saga, is a serious parody of the original Peter Pan story, for adults. Other Oceans is book two, set on the High Seas aboard the pirate ship. Book three, Other Islands, will go “on sail” in 2016.

We’ll be in your sights at festivals all around the Great Lakes. You can request an author appearance for your piratical gatherings, and split me infinitives if I don’t sign a book for ye. Here be me website: www.

HookandJill.com. Jump aboard my Facebook page, Facebook.com/ HookJill.

Fair winds, buckos, and strong sails to Great Lake Pirates!

As the author of the Hook & Jill Saga, I commandeered the pirates of Peter Pan for adult readers. J.M. Barrie’s buccaneers are too enduring to maroon them on the Neverland when we abandon childhood. The iconic Captain Hook is THE literary pirate, and is symbolic in our culture as the quintessential captain. I point to the Pirate of the Year award from the old Pirates Magazine— a trophy in the shape of Hook’s infamous claw. (No bones about it). My favorite quote

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This month, we are happy to be interviewing Dan Leonard or better know as Count D’Bouty, the Pirate Lord of Lake Michigan.

How long have you been into the pirate life?

A: I started in 2000 so 15 years now.

It seems a lifetime now, I was a pirate before the PoTC movies came out.

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A: That is a story in itself. I am a trained fencer and the crew of the Scarlett Harlot were doing a stage show where they captured the princess and had a large battle with the rest of the fair.

They found out I could fight so they basically press ganged me into service. I had so much fun in the show, that afterwards I asked how I could join the pirates and they took me to the captain and signed me up. Back then it was very different. This was before the Brethren and it had to follow the Privateer guild rules.

A: I was there at the beginning and I didn’t actually try to be a Lord, but back then to be a Pirate Lord you were nominated based on certain criteria and I filled all of the requirements. There were a lot fewer pirates and most didn’t have the qualifications. I did actually choose the lake, Lake Michigan, because I had been on it a good deal of my life and knew a lot about it. It made sense especially since I was doing a lot of events on both sides of it.

:What made you want to be a pirate?

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What made you want to be the Lord of Lake Michigan?

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: What are the duties of being a pirate Lord consist of?

A: Way too much work, lol. Mostly it’s supporting the pirates, monitoring what is happening, making sure the rules are followed and mediating conflicts. There is also a great deal of work that goes into the mundane part of keeping the organization running and funded. I recruit and train new pirates, and keep the perception of my character a certain way. It really is more work than anything.

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How did you get your pirate name, if it isn’t your real one?

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What do you like the most about going to the events and what is one of your favorite so far?

A: MiRF has always been my home fair and so I tend to like that one the best.

Plus I prefer the larger crowds. I have been to so many events over the past 20+ years I can’t even remember some of the ones that no longer exist. What I like most about going to events is that I have plenty of opportunities to make people smile and that makes my day better.

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A: I don’t actually vend but I do jump in and help several vendors when needed.

At MiRF it’s usually at Uncommon Adornments, at some of the smaller ones either the Brethren booth or Gypsie Raqs. I’m not really a boothy as I tend to move around a lot.

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A: I am actually in the market and home to buy one soon, however I do sail a number of boats for other people. Last year it was mostlty on the Endeavor, but this year it is the Treist, a 46 foot Caribbean cruiser.

: Is there anything you would like to share with our readers?

A: One thing I’ve learned from being a pirate is that you get out of it what you put in. I’ve been doing this for so long but the more I’ve been involved the more satisfied I’ve been at the end. There is always issues, always challenges, always disappointments, but in the end it’s been worth every minute. I’m so greatful to have had the opportunity to have these experiences.

Do you vend at the events, if so what might your booth consist of.

A: My pirate name came from a collaborative night of too much rum at a castle in Illinois. My pre-pirate character was a Count and I became the accountant for the Scarlett Harlot, Captain Red’s ship, so my name was actually my job aboard ship. I counted the booty.

Do you have a ship of your own and do you have a picture to share of it?

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What might be our “day job”

A: I am actually an engineer by day and I work at a precision machining facility in Zeeland Michigan

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Pirate of thee Month FEATURING Blackhand Betty

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How long have you been into the pirate life?

A: Aye, Mateys!! I joined the Brethren of the Great Lakes Pirates in 2012, first servin’ a spell on the Lusty Wench (and a fine bunch o’ scallywags they are!!), then transferrin’ over to the Crysta, which was closer to me home port.

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What made you want to be a pirate?

A: Ah, why become a pirate? For the freedom.

For the cameraderie. For the booty, swag and of course, the RUM!

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How did you get your pirate name, if it isn’t your real one?

A: Me pirate name be Blackhand Betty, due to the colour of me hands when workin’ the cannon- I be a gunnery mate on the Crysta, as well as ship’s cook and mistress of shipboard gamblin’

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Do you have a ship of your own

A: Nay, I do not have a ship of my own.....yet!!

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What do you like the most about going to the events and what is one of your favorite so far?

A: The thing most liked about events is learning new skills, pirate lore, seeing old friends and making new ones. Oh, and did I mention rum??? It’s hard to pick a favoriteM’Lord Cap’n Barbenegra’s Buccaneer Camp, The Michigan Pirate Festival, Buccaneer Bash in Augusta and being all piratey at numerous Faires and Festivals.

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: What might be our “day job”

A: My day job is being retired, so I can commit myself to the pirate life. During the school year, I substitute as a bus driver.

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Is there anything you would like to share with our readers?

A: The life of a pirate isn’t always easy, but it is always fun, entertaining and in many ways rewarding. If you think the pirate life may be for you, come on out to some events and give it a go!!!

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JULY’S EVENTS

Weekends of June 27 – 28 and July 4 – 5, 2015 5226 Monument Point Road Egg Harbor, WI (Just 1/2 mile East of Hwy. 42 and 1 mile North of Carlsville)

July 11 - August 2 The Olde World Village 13215 M 96, Augusta, Michigan 49012

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JULY 9-12, 2015 225 Washington Ave. Bay City, Michigan 48708

July 25-26, 2015 Glenwood City, Wisconsin

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