2. How they got involved in the masquerade These are the souls who stumbled out of denial and embraced the truth. They may side with MOSE, or with me, but rest assured, all shall be as tainted as I, the Jester, by the time the masks have shattered.
Francisco Lopez Pasqualigo Profession: Librarian Age: 22
Nationality: Spaniard (Venetian mother)
Languages: Spanish, Latin, Italian, English.
Physical description: Fondly called Flaco by family members and very close associates, a play on his childhood pet name Paco and his frame, Francisco's thinness was a constant source of worry to his parents, especially his mother who believed baby fat was an important indication of their household wealth. Standing at little over 6'1'' Francisco has constantly had to endure little jibes and jokes from his stouter siblings and peers, and advices that it'd be best if he stayed indoors during windy weather. His heavy black hair is falls just below his nape- another source of consternation for his mother- while square rimmed glasses hide sharp and observant dark grey eyes. Perhaps because of his pale skin, brought on by hours and days on end indoors, poring over books and texts, or because he's just so thin, Francisco is rarely if ever seen without some sort of outer covering over his clothes, which are almost always either long sleeved tunics over loose pants or sleeveless tops and a light long sleeved shirt. Three things with which he never parts- his wallet, cell phone, and his bunch of keys with a deceptively ornamental looking switchblade attached.
Personality: For someone who spends most of his life inside the make believe world of fiction, Francisco is surprisingly grounded. He excelled in the sciences while at school and incorporated the concept of an objective perspective into his way of life. Never the one to denounce a point without analyzing it's merits, no matter how trivial or improbable it may seem, Francisco has achieved some sort of 'open mindedness' in that if confronted with irrefutable fact and proof, even if it goes against his own personal view, he would support the opposition simply based on the ground that their point has been proven. This trait is seen by others as not necessarily a good one because such a fellow is deemed indecisive and unreliable because he has no fundamental 'truths' to which he holds dear.
History: Growing up in a household of five children and numerous 'uncles' and cousins meant that at almost every point, some people had to go without for the resources to meet others. Being among the oldest children meant that Francisco was more often than not of the former category. Although the Lopez's were not the wealthiest of people, they were certainly not without their pride and no visitor ever went empty handed, even if the household had to suffer in silence. That one particular trait has been instilled in every member of the family, including Francisco, who is usually seen as the maverick of the clan. The only person he seems to get along with is his mother and thanks to their closeness while he was growing up, he has been able to establish himself independently of his family and survive the rigors of cooking and house keeping. Working at a library was always a given for this book worm and after his tertiary education, finding work in one was relatively easy. Working in this library is made all the more pleasurable because unlike the public system, it was smaller and more obscure, containing books and texts to be regarded as esoteric and specialized, and so patrons always knew exactly what they were looking for.
Scott MacKnew Profession: Aspiring author; currently works as a sort of paranormal expert at a bookstore in the city.
Age: Twenty four
Nationality: American/Caucasian
Languages: The only language Scott knows how to speak is English, and perhaps just a bit of Spanish.
Physical description: A young man of about five feet ten inches, an estimated 180 pounds - most of that muscle. He is not incredibly brawny, but the muscles are definitely there. His drowing blue eyes are surrounded by sharp, near-perfect features. His hair is wavy and dark brown, with red undertones, and falls to about chin length. His clothes are usually tight enough to show off his body - a body of which he is nowhere near ashamed of.
Personality: A plain name for a plain man, Scott has never traveled outside of the USA before. He thinks of Venice as the most beautiful city he has ever seen.
Since Scott was a child, he has had great beliefs in the supernatural - for many particular reasons. In particular, he believes in ghosts, certain types of magic, powers of the mind (i.e. telekinesis and telepathy). He also has reason to believe that mythological beasties such as vampires exist.
Scott believes that the word humanity should be used loosely to describe human beings in general. Even though he himself is selfish and egotistical, he hates people who are the same way - which also deems him hypocritical.
Scott's biggest virtue - which he contradicts so often - is the phrase "what's fun is fun and what's done is done." He believes in not holding grudges, and letting the past live in the past.
His greatest vice is his writing. He always, always has some sort of notebook with him. He gets out all of his emotions with his writing - and sometimes, he talks about himself and his problems just a bit too much.
Scott would kill for nothing, for he believes there is nothing to kill for - as of now.
He would die to be able to go back and have a better childhood, somehow, some way.
He does not make any sacrifices, for he has no one and no thing to sacrifice anything for.
He is purely alone.
History: Scott was born thirty minutes outside of Washington, D.C. He has never left the United States, let alone the east coast. His childhood was very much - to put it nicely - ******** up. He had virtually no parents - a controlling father who used his children and wife as outlets for his need to control everything, and a mother that had checked out as soon as she had given birth to her first child. Scott had two siblings, a two-year-older sister and a twin brother - hence his belief in telepathy. Scott faced the typical type of schooling - elementary, junior high, and high school. All three were years upon years of hell for him. His life was one sob story after another. Rumors always flew about, and he was constantly bullied.
He works as a sort of paranormal expert in an occult bookstore in D.C., while constantly working on what he hopes to be a bestseller.
Venice presented an opportunity for not only escape, but a chance to study something that had always intrigued him - the supernatural. Since he was little, he has had multiple encounters with spirits, dark shadows in the woods surrounding his home that he thinks are something more tangible and malignant than spirits, and telepathic communication with his recently-deceased twin brother, who he sees on occasion.
Marquez Esteban Profession: Socialite
Age: 47
Nationality: Spanish
Languages: Spanish, Italian, English, French
Physical description: An old, but distinguished man, with dark leathery skin and strands of gray hair thick upon his head. He has a full beard, which still maintains it's rich brown color with a few stray gray hairs. He is slender and tall, standing a little under six and a half feet. He almost always in some sort of formal wear, preferring his custom tailored Armani suits. On occasion, especially in the heat of summer, he can be seen in polo shirts and khaki shorts, though only when in the company of those closest to him.
Personality: Marquez is a silent and observant man. He is arrogant, and believes that in his years of experience, he knows the right path compared to the rash youths and the lost elders. However, he does appease those he finds below him, in the hopes to continue gathering favors for wealth, so that he never has to work a day in his life. As for this, his wife and children are little more than a facade to make him look like a kindly, old, influential man. Underneath he's a conniving and manipulative weasel.
History: Marquez was born in Barcelona in 1961. His family recently returned to their Spanish estate after the fascist regime was finally put out. In the economic boom, his father's many investments took off, and the family, down financially for a few years, was back to their prominent position in social life. The father made his rounds often to New York and London as a stock broker, while the mother was a fashion designer who spent most her time in France. Marquez grew up with a maid, and spent most of his childhood being taught a classical education. By the time he was 18 and going to college, he had been brought up a socialite good for little more than making contacts and floating upon his family's fortunes.
He went to all the right colleges, making all the right connections and blackmails, married a Brittish woman by the name of Audry when he was 24, had three kids, and was invited to most major events throughout Europe. His father died, and he attended the funeral and made a touching speech, followed by the mother for whom he did the same thing. He had investments made for him by people he hired, and they made sure his wealth never wavered. His children grew up quickly, learning to resent the man they called father, and Audry soon realized exactly who she married, but refused to divorce due to a prenuptial agreement. Audry realized her looks were not as appealing as when she was younger, and her parents were in debt by the time she realized she was in the embrace of a cold, calculating monster. Publicly, they are a splendid couple, but privately they sleep in different beds and nearly never share a word with each other. The marriage, as far as Marquez is concerned, is a business endeavor.
He came to Venice in the hopes of getting away from his nagging wench and his spoiled children. He plans to spend a few fine days sailing the Aegis Sea, and a few nights attending a few of the more prestigious balls in the area. His ideal trip would span a month, though he fears other occasions may require his presence in less than two weeks.
Capitaine Jaques LaRocProfession: Captain in the DGSE, Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (Means Directorate-General for External Security, in other words, Jaques is a French James Bond)
Age: 28
Nationality: French
Languages: French and accented English. Learned basic Italian for his Venice mission [OOC: Basic as in: Talk to me, I use a translator]
Physical description: Jaques is 6' exactly, 190 lbs. He has curly brown hair and blue eyes. He is skinny and doesnt appear very muscular, but is quite the athlete. His face is slightly rounded and carries a cheerful look. He wears quite basic clothes, at this time a white t-shirt and jeans, and oddly, a black trench-coat. His shoes are plain black running shoes. Jaques has a worn, brown leather belt that most times carries a badge and a holster for his FN Five-Seven handgun. Also has a strap concealed by the trench coat, which has an MP5SD3
Personality: Jaques has a very distinct moral compass. He doesnt kill unless he has absolutely no choice. He will never harm an unarmed or innocent woman. Jaques, when not in the middle of a job (or sometimes, if he is) will always be cracking jokes, making sarcastic or witty remarks, etc. If he needs to be serious, he will be. He enjoys quieter things, like reading, writing, traveling, etc. He always believed in the paranormal, like ghosts and such, despite his very down to Earth job.
History: Jaques was born to a normal enough family. His father, like his father before him, and so on and so forth, was a spy, to put it bluntly (To be precise, the missions are called 'clandestine operations'). His mother was a well-respected police officer in the DCPJ (Basically the FBI). Jaques, from the get-go, loved this. He would always try and watch James Bond movies, despite his parents telling him not to. He would get in trouble at school for sneaking into places he shouldnt go, like the teachers lounge, other kid's lockers, etc. So, when he got out of school, he studied to be a police officer. He excelled in fields such as lock picking, interrogations, marksmanship, among other things.
This caught the attention of the DCPJ, who hired him. A few years down the road, and the DGSE got interested when they found his skill with hostage takers and the like where quite good, and they hired him on.
Currently of Captain rank, Capitaine LaRoc is in Venice, making sure a new, slightly more shady company, MOSE, is being good.
3. Other guests and hosts of the masquerade The masked
The Jester Profession: Shakespearean Jester
Age: Unknown. Should mortals have the ability to believe such ancient entities might exist, some hints mark him as over 300 years old, such as referring to the city as "The Serene Republic of Venezia."
Nationality: Plausibly Italian. He always refers to Venice as Venezia. However, his skin is always covered, and his accent shifts as he desires.
Languages: No one has spoken to him in a language he has not been able to understand and respond in. This includes one plucky scholar who believed he could fool the Jester with Sanskrit.
Physical Description: He wears a jesters uniform and a full face mask. The uniform is very tight, showing a strangely skinny man to be under it with rather awkwardly long limbs, yet he moves with amazing grace. The uniform and mask always match in color, though the color scheme alters regularly. Everyone first meets him while he wears green and white. The mask may have differing details, but usually there are golden notes on a music score over his right temple. He also sometimes carries a wand that jingles.
Personality: Haha, try to define that which defies logic and resists registration. His personalities seem to be affected by his masks and colors. However, the only time his personality is quantifiable is when he first meets a person. In such a case, he's morbid, nihilistic, and playful. After that, one meeting he is jovial, and in a meeting five minutes later he is depressed.
History: No one knows. There are reports of the Jester throughout Venice's history, but when a man is this covered it would be simple for it to be a different person throughout the ages.
Teofilo Rossini Profession: Family owner of "The Fool's Glass" company, a glass company on Murano.
Age: 58
Nationality: Italian
Languages: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese
Physical Description: In his youth, he was a strapping lad, and he often shows pictures of him when younger to remind himself and others of this fact. Now he is a rather robust man, fairly short and fat. He has eaten well, and it shows in his round face and body. He always wears suits, except on the days he actually works on glass, when he wears jeans and a grubby white shirt. He has graying hair which is slicked back, and is always clean shaved.
Personality: He is the salesman. He grew up in the showroom of Murano, and though he long has ascended from this position in the family, he keeps his gusto of youth when dealing with people. He is quick to make friends and promises. He will furiously try to keep his promises, although he is also known for over extending said promises and letting down a few people here and there.
History: He grew up in the family business. He started in the showroom, and he was training to be an apprentice, and possibly a master in time. However, he disagreed with being below someone, and though he did train, he spent most of his time defiantly doing his own thing or in the showroom. Now that he owns the business, when the master is not working with the forge, he goes down and makes his own creations. He knows they are not very good, but it is meditative for him. Now he is married with several children whom are already taking a variety of positions in the business.
MOSE project
The project is also known as the Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico project, or Experimental Electromechanical Module project in English. The project is to help save Venice from sinking. It claims this will be done through floating gates, but some claims seem to point to a more devious project. Little is known beyond the public face of the company.
Savaria Esposito Profession: Assistant Engineer
Age: 31
Nationality: Italian
Languages: Italian, English, German
Physical description: A rather plain looking brunette. She wears her hair short and down. She wears glasses, is average height, average weight, brown eyes. She wears a business suit at work, and is never caught with a skirt. She wears no jewelry except for a ring to signify she is married. The ring has many diamonds and is a platinum band.
Personality: The joke is she lacks one! She is very straight forward and matter-of-fact. No one believes her capable of lies. She's monotone to the point the company has asked to record her for their phone system. On the weekends she generally works on side projects, such as playing bridge building simulators until she comes up with the next ingenious design. Since she has a lack of friends, her coworkers regularly refer to her as boring and monotonous.
History: As a child she was usually shunned by her classmates. She was not enjoyable to work with, though she was brilliant. She worked jobs in the back of places, as she was not truly suited for social work. This caused her to work harder with books in a society that seemed to be socially boisterous.
In time she went to Florence to study architecture, and then she came back to work on some mundane projects in Venice. When the officials set up MOSE, they asked her to be a part of it, and she gladly accepted. Because of her personal issues, though she was more than qualified, she did not receive the head engineer position.
Supposedly she is married. No one has ever seen her husband, she never talks about him, and no one asks. Most claim she's too much of an ice queen to be married, and she simply wears it to either look human or make sure men stay away.
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