Richard Bluecrowne

**Captain** ****R******ichard Bluecrowne** was the father of Lucy and Liao Bluecrowne and the captain of the British letter-of-marque ship *Left-Handed Fate*.

## Biography

### *Greenglass House*

Mrs. Hereward noted that Lucy and Liao's father was a British privateer, and had remarried to a Chinese lady after the death of his first wife. They had a son, Liao, and sometime around 1812 he decided he should bring his family together in a place that he hoped would not be part of the war, so he'd built Greenglass House and brought his family to Nagspeake.

### *Bluecrowne*

Captain Bluecrowne showed Bluecrowne House to Lucy, trying to make it seem like a good thing. Lucy hated it because it wasn't a ship, and he knew it. He explained all the things he'd done with the house, while Lucy sulked. Xiaoming and Liao then arrived, Lucy's stepmother and half brother. Lucy recalled all the places she'd been while aboard the *Left-Handed Fate*, noting that her father had chosen to put the house in Nagspeake because he hoped it would stay neutral in the war. Liao, delighted, went to go to his fireworks shop. He spoke to Lucy about the house, knowing that she would rather be aboard ship, and she refused to sneak back on to the *Left-Handed Fate* because that would be against orders. Lucy later had a dream about the day she'd gotten a terrible splinter in a battle, and her father, seeing her wounded, decided that she should live in a house.

Lucy later took a cutter to the *Left-Handed Fate* so that the crew could say what they thought of it, because she wanted to buy Mr. Yarrow's cutter. Lucy and Liao met up with their father, woh commented that the crew were all finding something to do on the cutter instead of the ship. After the boat had been inspected, Lucy told her father that she did want it, and he arranged it to be bought for her, to her delight. She named it the *Driven Star*, and her father arranged for it to be fixed up.

Liao asked Lucy about the house, saying that her father had said she'd have stories about it. Lucy did not know what that meant, but then realized why the house had seemed somewhat familiar: Captain Bluecrowne had had each part built to resemble a certain place here they'd stayed ashore, to make it seem more homelike. Lucy later overheard her father and Nell Levinflash arguing over Lucy being on land, her father thinking she was strong enough to handle it and Nell insisting that fish were strong too, but needed the water, like Lucy, but he worried about her safety. Her father informed Lucy that the *Left-Handed Fate* had to go to Flotilla to be worked on, to Lucy's disappointment, because that way she wouldn't be able to visit the ship.

When working on rescuing Liao, Lucy thought often of what her father would do. After having escaped Trigemine and Blister with Liao, the *Left-Handed Fate* showed up, and Captain Bluecrowne worked hard to have Lucy and Liao brought to safety, eventually getting them onto the *Fate.* Liao then informed him that Xiaoming had been unbodied, to his dismay. She had been, Liao said, a celestial being, and would return someday, but he didn't know when. Xiaoming had mentioned to Captain Bluecrowne about her powers, but he hadn't believed her. In the morning, Captain Bluecrowne tried to give them each what they wanted, then informed them that they were to stay aboard ship with him, since Xiaoming could not be on land with them.

### *The Raconteur's Commonplace Book*

Captain Frost told a story about Melusine and Lowe. The two, he said, were the children of the *Fate*'s captain. When Melusine, Lowe, and the *Fate* met a ghost ship, Melusine sent Lowe to get the captain's spyglass, and the boy found that his father was not there, along with the rest of the *Fate*'s crew. He later presumably returned, as did the crew.

## Personality and traits

Captain Bluecrowne cares for his children deeply. He tries his best to keep them safe, and will go to great lengths for them to be happy. Captain Bluecrowne can be quite stubborn, however. He likes tactics and is an effective captain of the *Left-Handed Fate*.

## Gallery

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