Maroons

Maroons was the name given to escaped slaves who formed their own independent settlements. One such group inhabited a large encampent that was home to roughly 1000 people on an uncharted island, led by the Maroon Queen. There were other maroon communities in places such as Jamaica and Barbados.

Most of the men of the camp serve as hunters and warriors. They use weapons modified for better use in the jungle terrain of the island and use warpaint to camoflauge themselves. Due to their limited access to weapons such as guns and swords, some rely on more primitive but no less deadly weapons such as spears and clubs. The rest of the men and the women tend to whatever livestock they possess and some also serve as healers, using herbal medicines.

They maintain their secrecy by capturing any men who happen upon their shores. As revenge for the cruelties and injustices served to them while in bondage, the Maroons force the white men they capture to do hard labor, which eventually kills them.

History[]

Background[]

Mr. Scott knew of the impending Rosario Raid, so he sent his wife and young daughter to the Maroon Island for their safety. It was smaller and more disorganized then. Eventually, Scott and his wife became the leaders of the settlement, he became the "away king," he stayed on Nassau and used his position as right hand to the Guthries to provide the camp with supplies that were necessaary for survival but could not be created on the island, finished goods such as guns and shot. His wife stayed and became the Maroon Queen, the highest authority on the island, her word was law. While she had the final word, she did have advisors such as Kofi, who led the warriors of the camp at her behest. The camp grew, and had over a thousand inhabitants when it is discovered by the crew of the Walrus.

Season Three[]

The Walrus anchors off the coast of the island after escaping the Doldrums. The crew makes camp on the beach to recover from starvation. They are observed by the Maroons from a hill above the beach. After capturing the foraging parties in the jungle, the Maroons, led by Kofi and Udo, apprehend the rest of the crew and make their way back to the camp. While they are distracted by Silver falling, a Walus man attempts to escape into the jungle, he is pursued by one of the Maroons, who seems unworried, this is because the jungle is laden with traps, which the pirate soon falls victim to.

Maroon warriors&prisoners — The Walrus crew is captured by Maroons

The crew is taken to a large settlement filled with possibly a thousand men, women and children. They are questioned by the Maroon Queen, who seems to react at Flint’s name. Silver explains how they ended up on the island and assures her no one else knows the location. They are imprisoned while the Queen corroborates the story, by torturing four of the crew to death. In the cell with them is another man, Ben Gunn, the last survivor of a slave trader crew captured before the Walrus.

Madi, the daughter of the Queen and next in line for the throne briefly releases Silver to question him about the events that led his crew to the island. He tries to convince her that they have similar hatred toward England. It seems to no avail, but she goes to her mother and voices her concerns. The Queen rebuffs her, but Madi insists on talking to her father, the ‘away’ Maroon King.

In an isolated bay near Nassau, Mr. Scott is helping the fort slaves escape Nassau. He is the ‘away’ Maroon King who has been sending supplies and slaves to the unchartered island for years under everyone’s noses. Two English patrolmen come upon them, and a brief gun battle ensues, wounding Mr Scott in the crossfire.

The escaped fort slaves, and the wounded “away” King, Mr. Scott, arrive from Nassau. Flint is granted a private audience with the gravely injured Mr. Scott, and learns that Nassau has fallen in Flint’s absence. Mr. Scott is in favour of a partnership with Flint, now that they cannot be supplied from Nassau. However, the Maroon Queen has the final say. Flint is called before the Maroon Queen to discuss the proposed partnership. With Silver’s help, Flint polishes up his sliver tongue, and speaks honestly. He tells her that they can take things back together, starting with Nassau. Flint and the crew are released, much to their surprise. Step one in their plan, find Charles Vane , and step two, retake Nassau.

Silver is left behind to solidify the arrangement between the pirates and the Maroons. Madi notices he is absent from the healing ceremony for her father. She goes to berate him for this, but finds him tending to his amputated leg, which has become infected. Meanwhile, a sizeable contingent of Maroons, led by Kofi, join the crew of the Walrus. On the Walrus, which is sailing to Ocracoke Island, the pirates struggle to work to refit their ship at sea with the inexperienced Maroons. Dobbs nearly begins a fight with a young Maroon he taught how to tie a knot to raise a spar, however the spar came crashing down on deck right next to Dobbs. Flint rebukes Dobbs, and insists that if Dobbs taught the Maroon how to tie the knot, he must have done so incorrectly.

Back on the Maroons Island, Silver insists that he cannot show weakness in front of Madi’s people and must endure the pain. Madi who has been groomed to follow in her mother’s footsteps can understand and relate. She convinces Silver to receive some medical treatment for his leg, and the two bond during his painful treatment.

At Ocracoke, the Maroons in Flint's crew watch his duel with Edward Teach, Flint is nearly defeated, but saved at the last minute by Vane. Teach, hurt after being betrayed by Vane one again, orders Flint and Vane off his island. When they return to the Maroon Island, James Flint discusses his new plan with the Maroon Queen, since he failed to secure Blackbeard’s fleet. He will go to Nassau, and find Rackham and Bonny and the cache. While there, John Silver will recruit new men by revealing that Flint is still alive. Vane explains that by taking the cache, which Rogers desperately needs to return to the Spanish, they will force Rogers to commit all his forces to an undesireable battlefield. Kofi asks what battlefield they have in mind, and Flint tells him the Maroon Island itself, which Kofi reacts incredulously to. Flint is able to convince her, but the Queen insists that Madi will accompany them to retrieve a store of guns hidden by Mr. Scott.

Once back at Nassau, Silver leads Billy Bones, Dooley, Joji and several other pirates and Maroons into the tavern. Madi goes with Kofi and another Maroon to secure the weapons from Eme. After Silver gives his speech threatening those who do not rejoin him and Flint, Dufresne insults him, which Silver kills him for. Silver takes the pardon rolls and the two groups then rendezvouz outside the tavern and head back to the Walrus. Eme and Mr. Scott's other agents are able to secure some of the weapons stockpile, but any more would arouse suspicion. They are able to transport to the Walrus 40 barrels of powder, 20 of shot and 48 muskets.

While Flint, Vane and Billy lead the men to rescue Jack Rackham and the cache of gems from Rogers' caravan, Silver and Madi remain aboard the ship, which waits off the coast below the horizon under bare poles to avoid detection. Dobbs, angry at the Maroons for killing and torturing several of his crew mates, assualts one of them, Chidi, who he holds responsible for the deaths of his friends.

Dooley, Joji and Wayne discover what happened and lock the two of them in a room. Chidi is tied up and Joji watches the two inside the cabin while Wayne guards the door. Dooley then fetches the quartermaster, John Silver to figure out a solution. Dobbs explains to a furious Silver that at the Maroon Camp, several pirates were chosen to be tortured to death for information, and that Chidi was the one who chose them. Dooley and Silver then step outside to figure out a solution. Dooley first advocates killing Chidi, for if he leaves and tells the rest of the Maroons, it will cause a war on the ship. Silver refuses, saying that they will not finish what Dobbs began. Dooley's next idea is to put a knife in Chidi's hands and let him settle the score, but Silver says that Dobbs' disappearance would be noticed by his friends on the crew. Dooley is at a loss on what to do and Silver fetches Madi.

Madi and Kofi arrive and look at the scene. Madi approaches Chidi, stroking his face tenderly. She then requests that Silver give her a knife, which he does after hesitating. She whispers something to Chidi before cutting his bonds. Chidi then struggles to rise and begins walking towards the door before being halted by Dooley. Silver says he cannot let Chidi leave without knowing what he'll say to the crew. Madi says that he has been ordered to say that he spoke disrespectfully to Madi and that Kofi chastised him and it won't be spoken of beyond that. He is then allowed to leave.

While Chidi eats with his fellow Maroons on deck, Silver and Madi look at him from the quarterdeck. Silver thanks Madi for solving the issue. Madi says that she has known Chidi since they were both children and his parents were killed by White men, so it was no easy thing telling him to accept what happened. She says despite her desire to give him a knife to kill Dobbs and turn her people loose on the pirates, she will not do it. As punishment, Silver has three men hold Dobbs down while Dooley and Wayne beat him. The Walrus is spotted by Benjamin Hornigold and the Orion, who then gives chase. The Walrus picks up the shore party and the gems, minus Billy who remained behind to free Vane and sails away.

The Walrus then returns to the Maroon Island with Hornigold on their heels. They execute a daring maneuver by swiftly turning their ship around to bring their broadsides to bear on Hornigold while in shallow water. Hornigold tries to sail away and land his men on the shore, but sees a massive army of Maroons emerge from the jungle. He then turns around and flees back to Nassau.

The crew of the Walrus goes ashore to the camp. Flint informs the Maroon Queen that they now have a week to prepare for the English attack. This is not the only concern at the moment. Mr. Scott is dying. As they wait for the inevitable, Flint discusses Silver’s recent actions. Flint recognizes a darkness boiling up inside Silver and warns him of its costly effects if it is allowed to remain unchecked. Mr. Scott soon passes away peacefully, which Kofi announces by blowing his horn, and the entire community mourns his death. Silver approaches Madi to offer her some sort of condolence and the two embrace as Madi cries. Mr. Scott's funeral is an elaborate ceremony, and the Medicine Man slits the throat of a goat as a sacrifice.

The Maroon Queen, Flint, Rackham and Silver agree to bury the gems in a secret location. The Queen agrees provided that Silver is among those that know of its location. The next day, Rogers' forces arrive and the battle takes place. The pirates and Maroons man the beach defenses, which are pummeled with cannonfire from Rogers' Fleet. The Redcoats then land in longboats, and are met with volleys of musketfire from the pirates and Maroons. However, the Redcoats use mortars to attack the pirates, and Flint is forced to call the retreat. He leaves behind roughly fifty dead, and a dozen of his men are captured.

Meanwhile, the Walrus waits hidden behind a promontory, listening to the sounds of battle. Anne is worried that their one ship won't be enough, but Jack believes that if they can get their vanguard aboard just one ship, they can break their line. However, a second fleet flying British colors is spotted, and De Groot wants to send a messenger ashore to warn Flint. However, Jack realizes that it is the Pirate Fleet under the command of Edward Teach, who's aid he is able to enlist.

Back on the shore, Dobbs is sent to kill Hornigold, who is leading the ground force. However, he betrays the pirates and surrenders, offering to lead them to the camp. To prove his loyalty, he kills a Pirate Prisoner. At the camp, Madi finds a child who had been hiding by the river, and returns him to the hidden cave where the women and children are waiting out the battle. After speaking with her mother, she joins Silver on the ramparts just as Kofi spots the British.

Dobbs leads Hornigold and his men to the camp, which they begin bombarding with their mortars. However, Dobbs had only pretended to betray the pirates, and actually led the British into an ambush. The pirates and Maroons emerge from the brush and begin attacking the Redcoats, who are unable to form up. Flint kills Hornigold during the fighting, and the Redcoats are forced to retreat leaving hundreds dead behind them.

At sea, the Pirate Fleet approaches Rogers' flying British colors before raising the Black after Chamberlain signals them. While the fleets exchange broadsides, Anne leads their vanguard aboard the Orion, whose skeleton crew is quickly slaughtered. They then fire the Orion's stern chasers into the bow of Chamberlain's flagship, the HMS Milford, decimating the gun crews just as Teach is bearing down on them in the Spanish Man O' War. Chamberlain orders that their anchor cables be cut and to signal the line to retreat.

After the battle, a council is convened between the pirate leaders and the Maroons' with the goal of retaking Nassau and leading a massive slave revolt across the New World. The Maroon Queen lets Madi take her place at the council, while Teach, Rackham, Flint and Silver represent the pirates.

Season Four[]

The Revenge, Eagle, Defiant and the Walrus attempt to invade Nassau. Madi leads a contingent of Maroons who have integrated into the crew of the Walrus. The invasion fails when the three latter ships run aground on hulks that Rogers sunk in the bay. Rogers then begins firing on them from Fort Nassau and sends his sloops to engage them. Flint calls for the pirates to abandon their ships. Silver's prosthetic leg gets tangled in a rope ladder, and his ladder later falls when the Walrus is hit again by cannonballs, dragged to the bottom of the bay by a swivel gun. Flint prepares to jump in after him, but the sloops arrive and begin firing at the longboats and he is forced to flee. The Revenge sails away, luring away three of Rogers' sloops.

At the fallback position on the eastern shore, a few dozen survivors gather, waiting for the final longboat. Flint tells Madi that he shares her concern for Silver, and that he heard the last longboat pulled an injured man from the water who nearly drowned. When it arrives, it is not Silver. Billy then arrives with his men, and tells them that Featherstone was supposed to warn them not to enter the harbor. He then leads them back to the Barlow Estate, which has become his base of operations. Madi lingers for a moment, distraught over Silver's presumed death, for they had become lovers.

At the Barlow Estate, Flint, Billy and Madi discuss their plan of action. Billy believes that even with the survivors from the fleet, they still don't have the numbers to make a direct move on Nassau Town. Instead, he wants to attack the Underhill Estate and free the slaves there, hopefully giving them the strength to assault Nassau. Flint disagrees, saying that Rogers is still recovering but if they don't attack now he'll retrench. Billy tells Flint that he is no longer in command, and without Silver, Billy will lead the men. Flint threatens to withhold the location of the cache of gems before Madi steps in. She says Silver told her the location of the cache and sides with Billy.

The assault on the Underhill Estate is largely successful, the Plantation Militia guarding the estate are killed, and the pirates and Maroons begin sorting through the supplies and munitions. However, the slave quarters are locked from the inside. Ruth, a slave and former contact of Mr. Scott, tells Madi that after she recovered Scott's weapons stockpile, the estate owners became suspicious. They split up the families across the eight plantations, and if any one slave community would rise up or through inaction, allow an estate to fall, their family members would be tortured or killed. Madi tells Billy informs Billy of this and attempts to lead the men away with Flint. They plan on taking Nassau, which would act as a signal for simultaneous slave revolts across all the estates. Billy wants to stay at the Underhill Estate after losing six men trying to take it, believing his men can move to the other estates quickly enough. When Flint and Madi try to lead them away, Billy orders his men to apprehend Flint. This leads to a standoff between Flint, his Maroon allies and the men from the fleet, and Billy's men. They begin fighting each other, but the Plantation Militia from other estates arrives. Billy and his men stay and fight, while Flint, Dooley and Joji, and Madi, Kofi, Obi, Zaki, and their men retreat into the fields.

Flint, Madi and about a dozen of their men regroup at an Abandoned House in New Providence Island's interior. Obi thinks that they have no other chouse but to leave the island, but Flint and Madi are adamant about staying and taking Nassau. Obi asks what army they plan on taking Nassau with, for no slave will fight with a pirate again after the events of the previous night. Madi decides to go into Nassau Town and assess the situation for herself, and Kofi accompanies her to keep her safe.

In Nassau, Madi and Kofi meet with Eme, who tells them that there is very little support for them in Nassau Town. Most of the town lives in fear of Captain Berringer. However, Eme reveals that John Silver is alive and a posse is heading to the Wrecks to capture him. Madi is able to inform Flint in time, and he and his men rescue Silver and Israel Hands.

When they regroup, they plan on an attack where Silver and Flint lead their handful of men into Nassau, to be supported by the townspeople that Madi and Eme rally. The plan works as planned, and Berringer is killed and his forces routed.

After they take over Nassau, Flint, Silver and Madi work towards calming the chaos that now engulfs the city. They reach an uneasy truce with Billy, who agrees to give them Max after revealing he captured her. They then exchange Max for 20 prisoners captured during the invasion.

Madi, Kofi and Obi are escorted to the Underhill Estate by Jacob Garrett, in order to help repair the alliance with the slave communities on the island so they can defend Nassau. Once there, Madi asks Ben Gunn why there are still slaves in chains. Ben explains that they freed the ones who understood that the pirates came in good faith, but kept the ones who bore them ill will in chains.

Members[]

At the Maroon Island[]

Mr. Scott, the “Away King.” He is usually in Nassau, procuring items for the camp that cannot be produced or manufactured on the island.
The Maroon Queen, the ruler of the camp, where her word is law.
Madi, their daughter, the heir apparent to the throne.
Kofi, leader of the warriors of the camp and military advisor to the Queen.
Udo, a Maroon warrior and bodyguard of Madi.
Chidi, a young Maroon warrior.
Obi, a Maroon warrior and bodyguard of Madi.
Zaki, a Maroon warrior and bodyguard of Madi.
Fremah, a medicine woman.
Eme, a former slave working at Eleanor Guthrie’s tavern, secretly a spy for the Maroons.
Ruth, a slave at the Underhill Estate, secretly a spy for the Maroons

Other Maroons[]

The Jamaican Maroon Chief, leader of a tribe of Maroons hailing from Jamaica.
The Maroon Chief, leader of a tribe of Maroons from Barbados.
Julius, leader of a slave rebellion on New Providence Island who then joins the community on the Maroon Island.

Quotes[]

"Who are they?"

"Maroons. Escaped slaves. They must have a camp upriver. Judging by their numbers, a large one."

- John Silver and Flint in XXII.