Tide Child is a dead ship. Made from the bones of a sea dragon it's bones can no longer absorb the souls of the sacrificed so it was painted black and given a crew of the condemned. The Black Ships are still part of the Hundred Isle's navy but despised by everyone including their crews. The deckchilder of Tide Child prefer to spend their time drunk until the most famous and infamous Shipwife, or captain, of the fleet shows up and duels Joron for his Shipwife's hat. To his astonishment Meas doesn't kill him but instead makes him her second in command. So starts the strange tale of an unjustly condemned murderer and a politically condemned tactician in a world that reveres women that can bear children free of mutation but also sacrifices the first of those children to keep their ships "alive".