Wizardology
Master Merlin
The great wizard who helped in the ascension of King Arthur. His spirit was trapped in an oak tree by his apprentice Vivienne/Nimue, but he managed to fell the tree which was used to create the Wizardology book, hoping to find a worthy apprentice whom he'd teach through the book.- And I Must Scream: Being trapped in a tree and then in a book isn't a pleasant experience, especially if you're a powerful wizard witnessing the art of magic diminishing over the centuries.
- Merlin and Nimue: He was too enthralled by his apprentice's beauty and intelligence to realize that he couldn't persuade her into his way of thinking about magic and mankind until she betrayed him by enchanting him while he slept.
Vivienne/Nimue
A gifted and beautiful woman who was taught wizardology by Merlin, but their differing ideologies led to her enchanting him while he slept and trapping his spirit in an oak tree.- Ambition Is Evil: Averted. She had no desire to get involved in politics or human squabbles, and her interest in magic wasn't rooted in malevolence, greed or any desire to use it to help people. Betraying Merlin was simply because she was angered by his constant attempts to persuade her to use her talents to help the humankind she despised.
- Hot Witch: Beautiful, and according to Merlin, the most talented and intelligent apprentice he's ever known.
- Merlin and Nimue: Interestingly, her betrayal wasn't because of greed but because she lost her patience with her master's insistent attempts to drill into her his ideology of using magic to do good to the humankind she'd grown to hate.
- Nature Lover: She loved nature more than anything and learning wizardology because it helped her connect deeper with animals. She even wanted to isolate herself from humans and use her talents to help animals instead and turned on Merlin when he wouldn't let her do that.
Pirateology
Captain William Lubber
The narrator and English privateer who has made it his mission to hunt down the female pirate Arabella Drummond and put an end to her reign of terror.- The Hero Dies: His ship is sank by Drummond when he finally catches her.
Arabella Drummond
A notorious pirate captain from the early 18th century who is pursued by Captain William Lubber.- Big Bad: The main goal of Captain William Lubber, the author of Pirateology: A Pirate Hunter's Companion, is to find Arabella Drummond and bring her to justice.
- Brainy Brunette: She's portrayed in the journal's illustrations as dark-haired, and she's a cunning pirate captain and a Master of Disguise. She's also able to pass as a natural scientist and teaches Lubber much about Madagascar's unique fauna.
- Dark Action Girl: A vicious pirate captain who's been open about her gender for years.
- The Dreaded: Her plundering has left terror in her wake in the Caribbean and on the east coast of North America.
- Equal-Opportunity Evil: The piece of art Lubber has his artists draw out of Drummond's crew shows that she has not only European and African crewmembers, but also Chinese, Barbary pirates and South Americans.
- Even Evil Has Standards: She disdains slavery due to having been on the receiving end of it herself. When she took over the Phoenix (the future Bold Adventure), she made a point of freeing the African slaves onboard and giving them a choice to either return home or join her.
- Historical Character's Fictional Relative: She's somehow connected to Blackbeard himself, with the popular theories being that she's either his sister, cousin or childhood sweetheart.
- Karma Houdini: She kills Lubber by sinking the Sea Cat and disappears from history books, apparently managing to escape justice by retiring from piracy as a landlady like she had planned.
- Made a Slave: After running away from home on a merchant ship, she was enslaved by Barbary pirates and forced to row their ships along with the rest of the crew for months. She managed to free herself and her crewmates by taking over the ship while the Barbary pirates were raiding another ship.
- Master of Disguise: When she disguised herself as a boy to avoid being married to a man she didn't love, she managed to keep her gender a secret during all the months she served as Barbary pirates' galley slave. She also infiltrates Lubber's crew as a cabin boy for two months and meets Lubber on Madagascar as a natural scientist. Lubber doesn't even realize he's already met Drummond until he finally faces her in sea battle almost three whole years after starting his hunt for her!
- Meaningful Rename: She was born as Mary Drummond, but when she shed off her male disguise, she changed her first name to Arabella in memory of the Barbary pirates whom she liberated herself from. In the advert she has made about the boarding house she plans to uphold after retiring from piracy, she calls herself Belle Drummond.
- Pet the Dog: When she took over the future Bold Adventure that was transporting slaves from Africa, she freed them immediately and allowed those who wanted to return home to return home and those who wanted to join her crew to join.
- Pirate Girl: It's not revealed how young she is exactly, though.
- Retired Monster: Governor Shute finds out that Drummond is planning to quit piracy and start upholding a boarding house for other retired seafarers in New Providence. This makes Shute urge Lubber to catch her before she can do that because the local governor might be forced to pardon her due to the limits of the law.
- Right-Hand Cat: She owns a ship's cat called Mr. Teach.
- Runaway Fiancé: Being promised to a man she didn't love was what drove her to leave home as a sailor.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: In order to escape an unwanted marriage, she disguised herself as a boy and enlisted on a merchant ship heading towards Hispaniola. It wasn't until she took control of her current ship that she revealed her gender to the world. In the beginning of Lubber's chase for her, she serves in his crew as a cabin boy until they reach Port Royal.
- Terms of Endangerment: In the letter she sends to Governor Shute before Lubber embarks on his chase for her, she calls him Sammie while threatening to rob his mansion again unless he removes the arrest warrant he placed on her and bragging that he and Lubber will never catch her.
Samuel Shute
The Governor of Massachusetts who tasks his friend Captain William Lubber with catching Arabella Drummond. His mansion was robbed by Drummond before Lubber began his hunt for her.- Big Good: He's as dedicated to exterminating piracy as Lubber, and he's the one who mandates Lubber on the latter's quest to put an end to Drummond's reign of terror.
