Jeanette Vignes



Jeanette is French, but born and raised in the West Indies, more specifically the island of Saint-Domingue She is the only daughter of Fleur and Lucien Vignes, a merchant in the Caribbean. She plays at reading fortunes and is arrested by the Inquisition as a witch.

While she has many friends on the island and spends a lot of time with them, she has spent time with her father, trying to learn what she can about his business. Unfortunately this meant that Jeanette spent as little time as possible with her mother, and their relationship suffered as a result.

Jeanette also had a great deal of curiosity about the occult and the beliefs of the natives, slaves, and servants she knew on Saint-Domingue. She learned how to read tarot cards, and what she could about the supernatural. Her friends are happy for her to make predictions for them, and Jeanette plays it for a laugh but sometimes she wonders how true it all is."She was not a witch, as the Inquisition had asserted, but she was certainly interested in the supernatural. Certainly using tarot cards was frowned upon, but there was very little about the cards that was true magic. It was mostly about leading the ones you were doing a reading for into telling you how the cards made them feel.""Still, Jeanette was fascinated by the beliefs of the slaves and natives of Saint-Domingue, and had snuck away to learn some of the secrets of vodou. The incorporation of Catholic saints into their practices, in order to hide their true worship, was surprising. Her mother thought their servants were simply devout Catholics, as was proper, but Jeanette knew the truth."Rescued under dubious circumstances by the crew of the Bloody Sunrise when they attack the ship carrying her toward Columbia to stand trial, Jeanette manages to convince one of the pirates to put her under his protection and is promised safe passage to their next port of call, Kingston.

Timeline

 * Attending a party at a neighbor's home, Jeanette reads the cards for some of the guests at the request of her friend Noelle. They were not aware that Inquisitor Ignacio Castillo was present, and he is so offended at something Jeanette says that he comes to her home the next day and arrests her as a witch.
 * Her father is out of town on business, and her mother, Fleur Vignes, can do nothing but watch as Jeanette is dragged out of the house.
 * The ship she is on, the Esmeralda, leaves Saint-Domingue at sunset, only to come under attack by pirates. Jeanette uses the distraction of the attack to try to escape, but Castillo finds her and drags her into the captain's quarters as he tries to find a weapon to defend himself with.
 * Thaddeus Petalas enters the cabin in search of important papers he is sure the ship is carrying, to find the two of them inside. He uses unnatural powers to calm the situation, and Jeanette tries valiantly to convince him to take her with him. Her words sway him, and he agrees to 'rescue' her from the Inquisition.
 * She is taken aboard the Bloody Sunrise under Petalas' protection, and given a small cabin and a change of clothes. After meeting with the pirate captain, Erik Odinson, Thaddeus Petalas, and Jacob Martin (who seem to be the three most important pirates on the ship), Jeanette accepts passage to Kingston, Jamaica. She hopes to find Jacques Mercier there, as he is an associate of her father.
 * Dropped off in Kingston, Jeanette runs into Jean Mercier, the son of Jacques Mercier. He takes her home, and Mr. Mercier takes her in immediately and graciously. The next day is largely uneventful until the evening, though she finds that Jean has been sent away and Mrs. Mercier is at the family plantation and not in their Kingston house. Jacques Mercier gets quite drunk and tries to force himself on her at dinner, but she manages to get herself away. While running out the door she runs right into Jacob Martin, who has been sent by Thaddeus Petalas to make sure she is doing alright before they leave Jamaica. Jacob is incensed by Mercier's treatment of her, and kills him after Jeanette runs away.
 * Jacob Martin finds Jeanette at the shore, and takes her back to the Bloody Sunrise.