A discussion thread for: Fantasy Kingdom [Strategy Quest]. Also, if you want to create a character who would be included in the story, feel free to post them here.
Well, assuming [B3] carries the day, which seems likely, I submit the following individuals: Mayor Bartimaeus Scourge: Mayor Bartimaeus is an older man, well into his sixties, but still keen of mind and strong of limb. He comes from a long line of political types and law enforcement professionals. Were he not elected mayor he might have been chosen as Sheriff/Chief of Police: because he certainly has the right mentality for it. Bartimaeus stands 5'10" (or, more accurately, 178.1cm,) and has a pair of watery blue eyes set in a somewhat pinched face and sandy brown hair, which is worn close-cropped to the skin. Even in his old age, he maintains a strict diet and exercise regimen, which means that though he has a small amount of fat on his body, it is strictly kept to a healthy level. --- Dame Abigail Winchester: "Abby" as she prefers to be known to her intimates, is a woman of 27 years and one of the colonies' residents "Trans-Genius" miracle workers. Raised in an orphanage until the age of ten she was adopted by a childless "Trans-Genius" couple who recognized her very high "Potential" levels and sought to induce Break-Through. They succeeded when Abby was 16, resulting in the creation of the "Abigail Winchester Remote Demodulator"©®, and she was then sent to the Foula School For The Gifted to finish her education. There she studied until the age of 21 when she graduated Magna-Cum-Laude and returned home for a few months to visit friends and consider her various prospects, including three proposals of betrothal, twenty job offers, and a subtle request by the foreign office to join Defence Science and Technology Laboratory outpost at Yanek in British Antarctica. Abby ultimately chose a commission as a "Special Engineer" with the 44th Regiment of Foot. This was to earn her great distinction when her brave use of Trans-Scientific-Equipment of her own design allowed her to save her entire surviving platoon of 15 men and 30 Brittish camp followers during the disastrous retreat of the 44th from Kabul in Afghanistan in 1842. For this act of bravery and heroism which preserved the largest single segment of the 44th to reach safety alive, (along with recovering the regimental standard of the 44th,) she was awarded the rank of Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order and its associated honors. When her term of service ended three years later, she all-but-retired, to an estate in Wessex to pursue some mysterious project for an undisclosed patron. During this time Abby finally met and ultimately married Sir John Anglesey, a fellow Trans-Genius who had once been offered by his father the late Lord Johan Anglesey as a possible match after her impressive graduation from Foula. Sir John Anglesy was third of his fathers four sons, each and every one of which Broke-Through in their late teens, and is two years her senior. Though he had been married briefly, his spouse had not been a Trans-Genius and the marriage had been unhappy. When his late wife Clara died in childbed three years prior it was seen as something of a relief by the family. Sir John was and is not a political sort of man, (the traditional occupation of a third son,) but by all accounts is an obsessive regarding mathematical pursuits. This compliments Abby nicely as she is more mechanically inclined and has trouble with the 'theoretical' side of Trans-Genius work. The couple has two children Justin Thomass Anglesey and Clair Melody Winchester, born together slightly less than five months ago. The twins are very vigorous and show signs of a "potential" fully equal to their parents if not stronger. Abigale does not tight lace her corset, much to the astonishment of other Wessex ladies that called on her. She, in fact, is an outspoken detractor of the corsetry concept, or at least the way it presently is being used. Her, (not-at-all-humble,) opinion is that corsets should be used strictly for supporting the standard human anatomy with external bracing, and that is quite all. More importantly, Abby feels that they are utterly unsuitable for children of any age: only physiologically mature adults should wear them*. *(This opinion was held by Abby's adoptive mother Melody as well, who categorically refused to corset Abigail as a child, and in fact, demanded a strict aerobic exercise regimen of her adopted daughter, which left her with an immense ribcage that no standard corset pattern would ever fit. Her mother later had to fight with the Arch-Dean of Foula over this refusal: literally, the two met each other on the central quadrangle at dawn a month into Abby's studies and faced each other with foils in an Olympic style fencing match.**) **(As you may guess by the fact Abby is still living, her mother, Melody Winchester, won the duel.) Physically Abigale stands 5'6", weighs in at 11 stone, mostly muscle. She has coal black hair and hazel eyes, with skin that is naturally pale, accentuated by a severe lack of typical sun exposure, so much so that she must take vitamin supplements... Her bosom is slightly above average, one we today would have a hard time defining as it lies exactly halfway between the technical specifications of a C & D "cup". (For those of you familiar with the show, think a Victorian, somewhat taller, way bustier & broader chested, much more athletic, and totally non-goth, version of Abby from NCIS: and you won't be too far off the mark...) --- Final note: I leave the writing of Sir John Anglesey's backstory and any further information on the Mayor to another person so long as they respect what is written above and the following additional provisos: 1: Sir John and Dame Abigail are quite happily married: while there may be small issues between them, such as arise in any marriage, they are not anything serious like an affair or religious strife.* *(1.1: on that note, both are somewhat-heretical-but-mostly-orthodox Church of England members Circa 1847...) 2: Sir John and Dame Abigale have agreed, prior to marriage, that neither will take the others name and their children will be named for their same-gender parent's family: they are fortunate that their first pregnancy resulted in fraternal twins, a son, and a daughter, so this is now set in stone and will cause no conflict... 3: Sir John and the twins came with Abigale to the new world. 4: The mayor is a widower but none of his children came with him...* *(4.1: Grandchildren might be another story, I leave that to the others...) 5: Also keep in mind that the Mayor might not actually be "Mayor"... I was a bit overenthusiastic...
Aditional Dramatis Personae: Duke Josephus of Wessex: Almost no one is quite sure why Duke Josephus is even along on this expedition, no one but Abby and Her Husband... Duke Josephus of Wessex was a gambler, a card shark of the most ruthless sort. He has been blacklisted from dozens of the worlds greatest casinos, including both The Monte-Carlo and The Casino Esplanade. He has won a significant amount of not only money but also slaves, in the gambling halls of the empire. As everyone knows you cannot sell a slave unless that provision is stipulated in their contract, but desperate gamblers will often bet their own freedom trying to "win back" their losses, and the Duke is quite happy to take advantage. The Duke also has the reputation, quite deserved, of being a Libertine. At 55 he remains unmarried, having instead legitimated four of his both canniest and eldest male bastards, each of which had already made himself rich without any help from the earl other than providing a safe and well-fed childhood until the age of 18. Each of these men is very different, one is an industrialist, the second a Politician, the third a solder with Her-Majesties Cavalry, and the Fourth, like his sire, a successful gambler. Two of them have come with their father on this expedition for reasons that are unclear... Which Two? [A1] The Industrialist. [A2] The Politician. [A3] The Cavalry Officer. [A4] The Profesional Gambler. The Duke Has, in fact, uprooted his entire core staff to accompany him, which consists of: [B1] A Footman, Batman, Cook, Laundress, and His Current Bed-Slave. [B2] Four Footman, A Batman, Three Cooks, Two Laundress, His Butler Dorian, A Scullion, and His Current Bed-Slave [B*] (Write-in: min 5 people, max 15: must include his Bed-Slave.) The Duke is the highest ranked noble on this trip, and as such, it should surprise no one that he is at the center of the attempts to preserve noble power and privilege in the new world's social order... Physically the duke is a balding, slightly portly, man of 5'9" with a ruddy complexion from a life of social drinking and hair already gone white from a high-stress lifestyle. In his youth, his hair was a kind of dirty blonde which he bleached to a lighter shade with lye treatments. He has had all four of his sons do so as well since they were legitimized. --- Gillian Horse-Bread: At the other end of the spectrum we have Gillian Horse-Bread. Where the Duke is charming, witty, urbane, and cold as ice: Gillian is firey, passionate, rough-spoken, and blunt to the point of rudeness. Born out of wedlock she was sold into slavery by her father until her 18th birthday to cover up the scandal. Brutally hard work and inadequate food left her with a tightly packed frame and a tendency to over-eat when food is plentiful, but an extreme resistance to hunger which allows her to go up to a week on clean water alone with no noticeable ill effects. Gillian is almost Asexual, for reasons she won't discuss. She could satisfy her own needs with masturbation once a month and be quite content for a few years: far longer if she had a selection of well crafted 'toys' to play with... She is very passionate about political issues though, notably being an aggressive abolitionist and child welfare advocate, and leader of the Anti-Royalist Faction among the castaways. Her faith is a deeply personal matter but at its core, she believes that [God/The Gods] care about everyone and want what's best for us. [At least from their own point of view...] Gillian stands 4'11", weighs in at 90 stone, and has hair the color of a raging bonfire. Her breasts are large for her frame, being a solid C with upturned nipples. She is 21 years old and enlisted as a soldier. --- Final question: the Duke's current Bed-Slave is? C1: Kunto Kabewela: what we would recognize as an "African" woman; one of the very few Bed-Slaves the Duke has had which he's developed actual feelings for instead of seeing them as what amounts to a sapient fleshlight. C2: Countess Katherine Balmoral: a noblewoman who sold herself to the Duke to settle her husband's gambling debts... C3: Fa Yie: a 'Chinese' woman gambler in her late 40s who bet herself for a seven-year contract in a mahjong tournament to buy food to feed her grandchildren. The Duke won her, but, proving that he is, in fact, a magnificent-bastard, (he's not actually a technical bastard, but,) he set the rest of the family up in the capitol running an ethnic restaurant.
