Sea Change

Sea Change is the tenth and penultimate Widdershins book. The protagonists are former antagonists Lei Feng and Verity Cunningham as they investigate Pemberton Pryce aboard his ship The Good Intentions on his voyage to steal the Fourth Anchor.

Blurb
Things have been a little difficult for Lei Feng ever since she broke out of prison.

Having made a rather explosive exit from her previous career, Lei picked up a new job as a flunky for the self-proclaimed World's Greatest Bounty Hunter, Verity Cunningham, thinking it would be a good opportunity to turn things around and get herself on the right path. But now the repentant former villain has found herself setting off on a journey of discovery, it turns out to not quite be the one she was hoping for.

Traveling across the globe on the trail of an eccentric and sinister American millionaire, Lei and Verity set sail on the mysterious magically-powered cruise ship The Good Intentions, and soon discover that all aboard is not exactly as shipshape as it should be...

Plot Summary
After escaping jail during the events of Curtain Call, Lei Feng joins bounty hunter Verity Cunningham as her new assistant, and she decides to keep a diary to document her attempt to turn over a new leaf and become a good person. She’s concerned Verity is a terrible role model though. Together, they travel to America and board the S.S Good Intentions, a revolutionary new ship that can use magic to travel over water thanks to a track of pylons and grounding cables full of dirt. Lei is very excited to try and see the special engine she’s heard rumours about. Verity was only able to afford Third Class tickets, but she reveals they are in fact there for work, not just for fun. She explains the entire ship is owned and financed by Pemberton Pryce, and their client has hired them to discover what he’s doing and why he’s so invested in finding the Fourth Anchor, though she also wants to prove a point to Harriet Barber.

They try to follow Pryce to the first class lounge, but are unable to get in without a ticket. Verity finds a spot on a lower deck where they can observe Pryce and his group instead. He’s with Patience Rattaker, the genius engineer who designed the workings of the Good Intentions, and Theadora Pryce, his daughter, an artist and wizard. As they start to plan who they can get to the first class area, the entertainment, a magic act, begins. Lei recognises the design as hers and they sneak backstage, knocking out Doris the False Maid and finding Lei’s cousin, Tim Chiang, was the magician. Lei is angry he is using her designs without credit, but realises Tim is terrified that she’s there to hurt him. Tim tells her to get away before he calls security, but Verity entices him with mention of their quest to find the Fourth Anchor. They come to an agreement: Tim will get them both into First Class and Lei will act as Tim’s assistant for his act.

Verity gets talking to Rattaker about the mechanical arms used in the act, and they get a drink together. While flirting, Rattaker invites her to come and see the engine.

Meanwhile, Pryce invites Tim and Lei to have a drink with him after being impressed by their act. He proudly boasts about Thea’s magical abilities and accidentally let’s slip she’s going to do something more with the engine. Tim manages to get him talking about the Fourth Anchor and he explains he believes the Fourth Anchor just hasn’t opened up yet and is a potential Anchor.

In Rattaker’s workroom, Verity examines the Certainty Engine, which has been storing up the Certainty from the passengers, but isn’t currently active. Before she can find out more, her and Rattaker get into a flirtatious fist-fight. They’re interrupted by the Captain telling Rattaker she’s got a radio call from Pryce telling her to activate the Certainty Engine. She does and the whole ship teleports from the East Coast to the West Coast of America. Pryce explains to Lei and Tim that they’re going to sail along to where he thinks the Fourth Anchor is and open it. He starts to mention there’s a second phase to the plan, but Thea interrupts, saying she’s tired and wants to go to bed. Pryce leaves with a final threat to Tim and Lei not to let anyone know about this side trip.

In Tim’s dressing room, Verity and Lei discuss their next moves. Verity wants to use Tim to distract Pryce so they can investigate, but Lei becomes angry that Verity is treating him like a resource and potentially putting him in danger and an argument breaks out between them. Lei storms off, saying Verity is a bad person and that’s why she’s always alone.

That night, Lei is wracked by guilt for what she said to Verity and what she tried to do at the Widdershins Anchor, because she recognises her past self in Pryce. Her brooding is interrupted when she comes across Thea sketching on the deck. She compliments her art, but Thea says her father prefers her to focus on her magic. Lei encourages her to do what she believes is right, even if it means disagreeing with someone she respects, and Thea agrees, thanking her for encouraging her and saying she has made up her mind to do what does the greatest amount of good.

The next day, Lei wanders the ship looking for clues or Verity, but finding neither. Eventually she comes across a door being guarded by Pryce’s men, but just as she considers how to get by she sees Tim distract them so Verity can sneak in. Angry at Verity for bullying Tim into helping, she follows. Inside, she finds Verity meeting Rattaker in a workshop. As Verity flirts with Rattaker, she steals some notes and asks about her plans. Rattaker says she still has a job to do and reveals a diving suit in the cupboard. Before she can explain what it’s all for, Lei knocks over a spanner and the noise gives her away. Upon seeing Lei, Verity starts arguing with her, and Rattaker realises they are working together so punches them both out.

Lei wakes tied to a pipe next to Verity in a room close to the steam engine and Verity explains they have less than half an hour before they are boiled to death. Verity asks why Lei is angry at her and Lei explains it’s because she bullied Tim into helping her. Verity says Tim volunteered to help because he wanted to be involved in the adventure, but she still apologies and says she understands Lei leaving her after all this. Lei says she doesn’t want to leave and apologies for her mistakes, explaining she’s trying hard to be a better person and she’s beginning to think there’s nobody who would be able to teach her how. Verity laughs and says nobody is a good person inherently, it’s all about what you do, and all she can do is her best. The spanner she keeps in her hair falls out because of the humidity and Verity catches it, using it to unlock both their handcuffs. Doris appears from another pipe and says Tim sent her to look for them because Pryce is on deck and says phase 2 is about to start, so she needs to lead them out.

Pryce’s plan is to send Rattaker down in a bathysphere to attach the Anchor to the ship using the grounding pylons and then teleport the ship away to move to Anchor closer to the USA. If he succeeds, it could cause earthquakes, disrupt magic worldwide, and cause a tsunami that could kill millions of people in Chile, all of which Pryce is totally unconcerned by.

Verity and Lei head to the deck just as Thea attempts to open the Anchor. She summons a door similar to Mal’s, though is surprised it forms right in front of her rather than on the seabed. Tim spots Verity as she tries to sneak into the bathysphere and distracts Rattaker long enough to let her sneak on. Thea begins to cast the spell and Lei tries to convince her not to, but Thea says it’s the right thing to do. Lei rushes out to stop her, but Pryce holds Tim at gunpoint and threatens to shoot if she doesn’t stop.

In the bathysphere, Rattaker and Verity fight, but as the storm starts to damage the walls they decide to stop and return to the surface for safety. Without the line to the Anchor, Thea struggles to continue the spell. Doris appears from a pipe and snatches Tim to safety while Pryce is distracted, allowing Lei to knock Thea away. Water gushes from the Anchor and snatches Thea up as something possesses her, but Lei grabs her hand to try and pull her back. Thea seems to make a deal with an unseen spirit and lets go of Lei’s hand, disappearing back through the door, which vanishes after her.

The storm starts to collapse, threatening to take the ship with it. The bathysphere lands on the deck, but the door is stuck shut by the splintered decking. Rattaker tells Lei to run to the Certainty Engine and fire it up to teleport them out of there. Lei is worried there might not be enough certainty, but Rattaker tells her she needs to believe there is or they’re all going to die, and Verity gives her a pep talk about how great she’s going to be. Lei runs to the engine room and pulls the lever just in time, teleporting the ship back to the East coast.

Back on dry land, Lei gives a selective account of events to the authorities, who arrest Pryce for consumer rights issues, though Lei notes he mostly seems devastated by the loss of his daughter. Doris and Tim reveal they have gotten together, and the police rescue Verity and Rattaker from the bathysphere where they have been making out, in order to immediately arrest Rattaker.

Back in Widdershins, Verity and Lei meet with their client, who turns out to be new police detective Eliza Swift who does not care at all that Lei is an escaped criminal as long as they tell her about the Fourth Anchor. Eliza wonders what the Fourth Anchor being opened will mean for magic in the world and what it wants with Thea, but while Verity argues the Anchor can’t want anything, Lei privately muses she’s not sure that’s right.

In the Witch Space, Nyree is busy teaching Jack O’Malley some magic, when they’re interrupted by a disturbance from the sealed Fourth Anchor door. Nyree says she smells something rancid, while Mal says he can hardly see it, and Nyree warns this can’t mean anything good as water leaks from under the door.

Characters

 * Lei Feng
 * Verity Cunningham
 * Pemberton Pryce
 * Patience Rattaker
 * Theadora Pryce
 * Tim Chiang
 * Doris

Cameos / Minor Role

 * Dominik Voss
 * Heinrich Wolfe
 * Eliza Swift
 * Jack O'Malley
 * Nyree

Locations

 * The Good Intentions (ship)
 * The Fourth Anchor
 * The Hunter's Folly (pub)

Website
The post-book bonus content on the website was:


 * Creative Differences - An 11-page fancomic by Mez about Ben working as a scribe for a penny-dreadful author for the day, set in the gap between Curtain Call and Witch Hunt. The original characters are from Null & Void, a Widdershins fancomic.
 * 5 pieces of guest fanart
 * A 1-page comic by Emily Gilbert (creator of the Shifting City webcomic + many Widdershins fics!) about Eliza celebrating the news about the Fourth Anchor being real

Book
The print and PDF editions of the book include 2 pages of photos, postcards and letters from the main characters:


 * A postcard from Verity to Harry informing her they are no longer rivals
 * A postcard from Tim to Sid telling him he's engaged to Doris
 * A letter from Lei to Nicola including her diary to try and prove she's turned over a new leaf
 * A postcard from Verity to Ben letting him know she'll be back in Widdershins soon
 * A note from Patience to Verity saying 'see ya soon, princess!' attached to a selfie of her escaping jail

Release
Sea Change ran on a mostly weekly release schedule between November 20th 2020 and September 23rd 2022.

The Kickstarter campaign for the physical release ran from September 23rd 2022 - October 23rd 2022 and £20,985 was pledged by 634 backers. This makes it the most successful Widdershins Kickstarter yet! The unique reward for this campaign was a set of 5 travel stickers based off the 4 Anchors and one of the University of Widdershins crest.

Easter Eggs / Trivia

 * The print and PDF editions of Sea Change contain an error where Patience's speech bubble is missing from the first panel on the page where she is leading Verity to her cabin.
 * Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima from the Yakuza franchise, and Hana from Yakuza 4 appear as background characters when Lei is searching the ship. Goro Majima is one of the influences behind Patience Rattaker.