Character Description

Name: Christina (Visconti) Ferarri
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Nationality: Calarian
Appearance:

Personal Effects:

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Background:

What is your job Mechanic

Backstory: Born to the Visconti Merchant family, she had been playing with Fosca, the daughter of Nicola Ferrari, local blacksmith and family friend, he had spent time with the merchant fleet. As Nicola was bringing her home, they found her father and mother were being dragged out of the house by the communists, then shot in the street.

Nicola picked her up and whispered in her ear, "Remember, you are now Christina Ferrari, niece."

She began spending time in his workshop, helping him alongside his sons, Vittore and Martino. Then the communists came for the teens, to induct them into the people's infantry.

Christina, like the other men and women, learned to march, to polish her boots, to shoot a rifle, to fight unarmed and with a knife. Then when that was done, their basic training unit was broken up to join other units. Some of the women in their group were sent to become nurses. Fosca and Christina, however, were taught how to drive and repair the people's trucks, built in their factories. Once they were graded as satisfactory, they were granted permission to go home before their next assignment.

Nicola told them they'd missed Vittore and Martino, who had been there the previous week. He, too, was worried about the build-up of soldiers and was convinced the communists intended to invade their neighbor. Christina decided to escape. There was a secret escape tunnel her parents never had a chance to use. She used it to get into the house, inside its hollow walls, and retrieve her father's secret stash. Christina provided half of it to Nicola and Fosca, carefully hiding the rest on her person.

Back at their camp, Christina began driving the relief truck along the line. However, the people's truck would frequently break down. One night after it again had broken down, she sent the men up ahead to continue relieving the border guards, telling them she'd pick them up eventually when the truck was fixed. When they were out of sight, she then snuck across the boarder and surrendered herself to the Inburian soldiers, who were surprised she could speak their language, one of several her father had taught her.

It turned out that she was not the first Calarian to cross those lines to warn them. They took her rifle and sent her to the capital. As it happened, Generoso Rubino, one of the few friends of her father to escape the purge was living there and vouched for her. However, it seemed to her that nobody was taking the threat seriously. Nor could she sit around making idle talk with other ex-pats, that was no longer her life. So she got a job with the company building and maintaining the Inburian Zeppelins and began to prepare to escape should the Communists invade.

Name: Nikos Vassiliou
Gender: Male
Age: 25
Nationality: Inburian Empire
Appearance:
Personal Effects:


Small patchwork button quilt.
Ditty box with his papers, ink bottle, fountain pen.
Rifle
Belt pouches with ammo

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What is your job Boatswain 2nd class, Zeppelin Service. Elevators and helm on rotation.
Backstory: Nikos grew up in a fishing village on the coast and was very much a trouble maker. When he was 16, he was conscripted into the Inburian Navy for two years. Deciding he liked the Navy life, he re-enlisted and wound up on zeppelin duty for four years, then two years on the ground - when he wasn't in the brig for one reason or another. He's been busted down twice but has worked his way up.

Name: Post Captain Hamelin Le Marinier
Gender: Male
Age: 42
Nationality: Favis
Appearance: A taller man and bearded to hide the Scars from his injuries that caused his active retirement. Right eye is glass or an eyepatch depending on comfort and part of his right hand is a mechanical prostatic from a blast injury.

Has a number of miscellaneous scars from said explosion on his right side.



Personal Effects:
.455 Favis Heavy pattern Navy Revolver
Favis Diplomatic papers
Old Riggers Knife and spike.
Silver plated hip flask with Whiskey.
Navy wool overcoat.
1 glass right eye, 1 eye patch, 1 Right partial hand prosthetic
A folded bundle of small maps and a simple small metal compass.

History:

What is your job:
Former active Naval gunnery Officer and Diplomatic mission staffer from Favis..

Born into a long family of sailors from pirates to merchants and even the odd privateer down the family history it was almost expected that he would serve, sail in some way related to the sea. Hamelin did not disappoint and joined the Favis Navy as a junior midshipman when the chance was first available.

Though minor nobility their Title meant little more than a long family history, a coat of arms and a large home that cost too much to heat but they also refused to sell, a sense of pride and also the old stone building had withstood the centuries as their protector from storms, conflict and more unnumbered. It was this family that shaped the officer who rose in the Royal Flavis Navy, showing promise and being assigned first as a navigation officer until his real talent as a gunnery commander was revealed.

Success began to follow success until he was aboard the heavy dreadnought class, Hammer of Vich', a large ship clad in iron and steel, mounting the heaviest and most powerful armaments Flavis Forges and war smiths could craft. It lead the fleet forward befitting its name, fire, fury and wrath where exchanged without mercy or pause.

It was In B main turret an anti armour shell slammed into a plate already weakened by several hits from a heavy cruiser that lingered close exchanging close fire but losing it was when his world went black and his memory only returned aboard a land based hospital after the battle taken away by the the hospital ship Mercy of the Angel then to the main Naval hospital.

Victory came at a price for all, for our noble office it came high. His hand was a mass of bandages, Half his face was too. Shrapnel from the hit that buckled the turret's side sending a wave of steel into space and leaving grievous wounds and death to many. 1 man in 20 got out walking.

Decorated, promoted, His active career was over, honourable service meant he had a choice, a quiet retirement or to take what job was available and serve behind the desk instead of gunplot. Hamerlin chose to stay and soon his command was a desk in a comfortable enough office building trying to learn how to use his new hand and adapt to a single eye after a long stay in hospital.

…

Years passed.

…

Years passed and Hamerlin now held a role in the Embassy to a semi allied nation, their Naval attache, his job was not what he wanted, to have commanded warships, maybe even fleets but he had found at least a life that kept him from getting bored. He still was an expert at reading maps, able to calculate terrain, elevations, and transform the 2D into a 3D puzzle to crack complex tables and calculations easily. Those skills he kept, advising on situations and attending various events on behalf of the nation he served.

He rose to Post Captain on both seniority and merit, he was unlikely to make a flag but he had risen as far as a land based officer likely could. His rank also came with responsibilities and pressures that he had not shouldered before but privilege was never freely given.

…

Fire came.

…

Forts, defence lines and established defensive plans expected to hold the enemy for weeks, months if not drive them to utter stalemate buckled and broke far faster than anyone could have believed and soon the Capital rang with guns before even people could move to escape. The armies of the Red tide could not be held back as they began to pound the city, their batteries and heavy siege armies now able to dig, bombard and break the final defences before all was consumed.

Expecting no such army to obey the Diplomatic niceties, he grabbed what he could, his pistol and so from his drawer, stuffing ammo where he could, his knife and a few other things before he left. He would find his own way out and he believed he saw one last do or die plan in his eye. He was likely dead anyway so a small chance of success was more than none.

He had carefully studied the city and its plan, its maps, layout and what he helped would save his life. He made for his desperate plan, avoiding those places he knew would likely be main targets, and navigated his way to the last escape route he could devise.

Name: James E. Carter
Gender: Male
Age: 35
Nationality: Commonwealth of Ardell
Appearance:



Personal Effects:
- Silver pocket watch
- Personal journal booklet
- Clothing he has on
- Model II shotgun (basically an M1898 shotgun)
- Harlan Arms Model 45. Pistol (ye old 1911)
- Pack of Loro Cigarettes he's never opened

Background:

What is your job: Merchant Airship Captain/Pilot
Backstory: James hails from the Commonwealth of Ardell, a nation across the Evig of sprawling plains, winding rivers, large forests and industrious cities. Raised on his family’s sprawling farm in the dust-laden plains of the West Fork he grew up knowing only hard work, clear skies, and endless fields. His life changed forever the day he saw the glide of airships over his small town of West Fork, the airships were ornate back then but the sight of them were a promise of a future far from the soil. From that moment, he knew his fate lay not in the dirt but in the boundless sky.

Upon coming of age, he eagerly joined the Ardellian Defense Corps, seizing the chance for adventure and the possible opportunity to some day pilot an airship of his own. When the Commonwealth sent a force across the river to establish a beachhead on Iktani soil, they were spotted by an Iktani observation balloons. It wasn’t long before the Iktani encircled them, launching a brutal assault to drive the Commonwealth forces back. Despite heavy losses on both sides, the Commonwealth troops managed to hold their position, though without advancing. To bolster the assault the Commonwealth finished building it's first bombing airship, the CBS-11, which came to be nicked "The Screaming Eagle" by the crew, and Carter was part of that crew which was dispatched to bomb a key Iktani city believed to be a staging ground for reinforcements.

The bombing mission was chaotic. From the altitude required to evade anti-air defenses, it was impossible to gauge where the bombs would land, but Carter knew they weren’t hitting the intended rail yard. The mission left him feeling conflicted and disillusioned, as he sensed that innocent lives had been lost without clear military gain. The Iktani's reaction was immediate and fierce, swelling their ranks with reservists who had lost homes and families in the bombardment.

The Commonwealth troops fought to preserve the beachhead but were soon overwhelmed by the wave of Iktani reinforcements. Forced to retreat, the Commonwealth began negotiations, ultimately withdrawing their forces and suing for peace. As The Screaming Eagle headed home, it was caught in a storm it wasn’t built to withstand. Fire spread through the vessel, sending it crashing into the Gulf. Carter was one of the few survivors, rescued days later by a Nordisle patrol. Returning to a hero’s welcome in Ardell, he felt only grief and guilt. Requesting discharge, he left the military to join The Evig Traders' Guild, a merchant company offering steady work far from Ardell.

Carter spent years with the Traders' Guild, shipping goods across the continents. His journeys took him from the rugged (rumored to be haunted) mountains of Bayn Alain to the icy reaches of the northern seas of Brendahl, where the airships had to navigate treacherous winds and frigid salt spray. He has traversed jungles, deserts, and even the mysterious islands of the Southern Archipelagos where he witnessed skybeasts and all kind of otherwise fantastical creatures most couldn't even fathom. Yet, despite the thrill and freedom that the open skies brought him, he found little peace. The memories of the war, the fallen friends, the burning wreck of the Screaming Eagle, and the lives lost from his own actions followed him wherever he went, a weight on his conscience that no distance could lift.

Through it all, he led his small crew with a steady hand, navigating his ship through occasional ambushes, violent storms, and encounters with beasts that haunted the southern seas. Despite the money and respect he had earned the sense of unease gnawed at him, a reminder of the past he couldn’t fully leave behind.

Carter and his ship now find themselves in Inbur, a city under siege. Originally, he’d come here on a rare but necessary assignment for The Evig Traders' Guild: transporting high-value artifacts and essential supplies from the embattled Inburian forces as they braced against the Calarian advance, the only reason why he accepted this task was the company offering to pay him double the bonus, triple if he brought everything unscathed. Inbur’s Imperial Palace held a trove of relics and important documents, treasures deemed too valuable to risk falling into enemy hands. The mission was simple enough; arrive, load the goods, and leave before the Calarian forces could fully encircle the city.

But the situation has spiraled faster than anticipated. Enemy forces have pushed through the defenses faster than anyone had expected, cutting off traditional supply routes. The Inburian command is in disarray and scrambling to evacuate its highest officials and essential personnel. As the city’s defenses crumbled, the military base near the palace was abandoned in the rush to withdraw. In the chaos, Carter's airship was targeted by Calarian artillery, now with his airship burning and his crew missing Carter must make his way back to the homeland he's avoided for years, how he will do that only fate may tell, for now though the large unattended airship in the imperial palace seems to be his only hope for escape.

Name: Zoe Spyrou
Gender: Female
Age: 23
Nationality: Inburrian
Appearance: 5'5'' tall with dark hair and eyes



Personal Effects:
- Nothing but the skirt, blouse and jacket she is wearing. All of which look expensive.

Background:

What is your job: Refugee
Backstory: Zoe Spyrou is a young Inburian aristocrat. Though the Spyrou name is not one which is particularly well known, Zoe has the accent and education (knows quite a few languages) to suggest that she either went to an expensive girl's school or was possibly privately tutored. Despite having grown up with wealth and privilege most people do not enjoy, Zoe has railed against this most of her life, finding the conceits and expectations of nobility rather stifling longing for the (largely imagined) freedoms of the lower classes.

While it is not especially likely that her family would be targeted by the Communalists, at least not initially, there is still plenty of reason to be nervous - in Calaria, senior nobles and members of the Doge's Government were executed, often along with their family members with little discrimination for age or political involvement.

Zoe has never had a job and was, rather, expected to marry into another noble family and run the household. Which is not at all uncommon for Inburian noblewomen. While Zoe does not appear to have any skills to contribute to a zeppelin crew, apart from, potentially, acting as an interpreter, she is reasonably intelligent and, unlike most Inburian nobles, is very happy to get stuck in doing basic tasks. In fact, she rather likes the idea.

Name: Itzamatul ‘Itzi’ Ku
Gender: Female
Age: 30
Nationality: Kingdom of Hunyunak
Appearance: Of both average stature and build, with dark brown eyes and jet black hair, Itzi is not uncommonly mistaken for Inburian, at least until she speaks; then her ‘foreign’ accent tends to give her away. With her hair generally in a single thick braid and the hands of someone used to manual work, she favours simple and practical pants and long sleeves. If she happens to be wearing anything that exposes her arms, legs or any of her torso, she’s fairly covered in traditional Ikitani tattoos from collar to wrist to ankle.

Personal Effects:
Necklace (A gift from her parents when she left home)
Brass pocket watch
Boot knife
Harlan Arms Model 32.
Wallet

• Work permit for the Even Giver (General Crew)

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Background

What is your job: Pilot/Helmsman by choice, General Labourer by necessity

Backstory: One of many children born to her large family on a farm outside the Hunyunaki capitol, Itzi grew up like many children in her situation did, with little to no formal education and learning to ‘work’ on the farm as soon as she was old enough to be trusted with at least simple tasks. It was a tough life, but not a bad one; the family didn’t have much but they cared for one another and their friends and neighbours as best they could.

One day when she was about 7 or 8 she accompanied a couple of her older siblings on a market trip into the city to sell their produce at market; their father usually did this but he’d taken ill. During that trip she saw her first Zeppelin, a lumbering bulk of a cargo hauler waddling its way into dock; the sight fascinated her and from then on, whenever possible she took to accompanying her father (or whoever else) on sporadic trips into the city. When she was there, she did all she could to talk with Zeppelin crews, asking them not just about what they saw, but just how they did their jobs. Some were less than enthused to be pestered by a child and expressed themselves as much, but others were more forthcoming and humoured her…usually until one of Itzi’s family had to come and drag her away. At fifteen she told her parents of her intention to join one of these crews, not only to fly off to see the world, but so she could send money back home; the only other real future available being staying here to work the farm until being married off to one of a handful of uninspiring local boys; not something she was willing to consign herself to.

At first her parents were more than a little hesitant to let her try, but she pointed out that from her questionings, a basic crewmans wages were better than what the farm made and by now her oldest siblings had children of their own old enough to help around the farm. Eventually they agreed, but only if she could find work within the next few months; Itzi accepted the stipulation and set off to the city a week later.

From friends and contacts in the city she’d already known of an older freighter the ‘Valdez’ that had come into port, with the crew complaining at the bars about running short handed. Bold as anything when she got to the city, she headed straight to the ‘Valdez’ and marched up the gangway to see the captain. While he was understandably hesitant to take on a random girl that’d marched in to see him, he agreed to at least hear her out. Up front, she told him that while she couldn’t read or write, she could cook and clean, was used to hard work and long hours and was willing to learn anything that was asked of her. Eventually he relented and agreed to take her on when the ‘Valdez’ shipped out in a few days; from there she rushed home for a tearful goodbye to her family before setting off.

In the years since she’s proven that despite no formal schooling she is quite smart; learning to read, write and speak several languages, both Zeppelin and aeroplane flying, general Zeppelin maintenance and a host of other duties that are common to ship’s crew. She’s also managed to both keep sending money home and even returns there from time to time, though the Kingdom of Hunyunak isn’t exactly on any major trade routes.

In their opening attacks, Calarian shells struck several warehouses in the commercial port including one next to the Even Giver the Zeppelin she was currently crewing aboard. Unfortunately the warehouse must have been storing volatiles of some kind, as when it was struck it exploded rather spectacularly, with debris sadly shredding the Even Giver and setting the wreckage alight; the only thing that save Itzi was that she ways away enjoying shore leave and was in the process of making her way back (thoroughly broke) when the attack happened. Now like so many others, she finds herself trapped and looking to escape the besieged city of Inbur.

Character Description

Name: Giogoula "Giogio" Giorgiou
Gender: Female
Age: 25
Nationality: Inburian
Appearance:


Personal Effects:
- Snubnose revolver
- Pocketwatch
- Inbur City Police Department Badge

Background:

What is your job: Policewoman
Backstory: Giogoula "Giogio" Giorgiou was born to a working class family of four in the city of Inbur. Her father, Yiorgous Giorgiou, was a sergeant in the city police and worked hard to ensure his family's safety and well being, even going as far as teaching his wife and children self defense lessons. Growing up, Giogoula never felt that she was in a struggle despite her working class background, she attended and completed public schools by her late teens and enrolled in a women's college.

After college, Giogoula would follow in her father's footsteps and join the city police, due to her looking up to her father's tireless work in trying to keep the city safe before retiring. Despite her father’s initial opposition due to the possible dangers of police work, he would eventually relent and put in a good word for her to his colleagues. Giogoula's initial work with the police was limited to handling domestic disputes and interviewing female and juvenile witnesses and victims. Overtime, however, she would be assigned to taking part in investigations, particularly in infiltrating criminal activities.

Using various disguises and identities, she was instrumental in the police busting some underground activities. Soon, she was tasked in infiltrating a suspected communalist cell that may have been cooperating with Calarian agitators. It was an joint operation with the military in busting the fifth columnist as the threat of war looms, and she was willing to take part in it, having no love for communalists.

Giogio would continue her police work even as war seems more likely. Her family had moved north but she remained, seeing it as her duty to keep the peace in the city. Plus, Inbur is pretty far away from Calaria. Eventually, the Chief of Police wants her to stay away from infiltrating the communalist cell; there was ample evidence that her cover could be blown if she continues her work and that the Chief was worried that there is a traitor within the police department giving informations to possible insurrectionists. The decision to have her move north happened right when war broke out between the Empire and the Calarians.

The Inburians were set back by insurrections within the fifth column, despite the best effort of the empire's intelligence agency, and a surprise attack in the east by Xak-Shariq. Even the police was involved in the defense of the city, albeit they too were getting overwhelmed. Trapped in the city and knowing what fate becomes to the military and police informants, Giogio and some of the others were ordered to flee the city alongside many of the other civilians for their safety.

Name: Zano Mirazdar
Gender: Male
Age: 24
Nationality: Sakh/Addonian
Appearance:
Personal Effects: A set of goggles, a pocket watch, two journals with two pens, a wallet with money in it, and a satchel with papers and other items in it.

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What is your job Inventor/Engineer
Backstory: Zano hails from the city-state of Mina-Sakh. Born the youngest of four in a wealthy family. Zano did not have many prospects initially by his family's standards but was still given an education worthy of their status. But as time went on, it became clear that Zano had a creative mind and a knack for engineering. Combining them led Zano to create some interesting creations that caught the attention of his parents by the time he was eighteen. Seeing the potential in them, they enrolled him in a prominent engineering college in the city, and by the time he graduated. Zano now had the knowledge to pursue his interests.

After graduating, Zano, with his family's help, set up a workshop where he could work on his inventions and sustain himself. While Zano did invent and patent some of his inventions, they were not as major as his parents thought they would be. That and Zano did not like his parents looking over his shoulder, as it were, when it came to inventing. Plus, not wanting to be solely dependent on them for financial support. After a fight he had with his parents over what he should focus on, he threatened to restrict him financially if Zano did not listen to them. That was the last straw, and Zano would find himself after defying his parents without their support. But, a friend of his who lived in Inbur offered to help him out and give him a place to work, which he would accept, so he moved to Inbur.

There, with the help of his friend, he went to work and made some more inventions, which were gaining traction and catching the eyes of people. His latest invention became popular, and Zano started to have more ambitious ideas and started to have an interest in airships and would learn more about them. However, Zano was growing concerned about the events happening in Calaria and the rise of the Communalists. Still, he went on as usual and was working on something big when the Calarians invaded.

Zano was in his workshop when the Calarians reached the city, and he managed to save his notes and other important papers. But, as he and his workers were packing up, artillery shells struck the workshop, and while Zano managed to escape with little injuries. Most of his workers and his friend were killed as a result, along with his big invention.

So, with the city falling, Zano ran as fast as he could and felt like today might be his last day on Earth. Then, as he ran past the Imperial Palace, he saw his salvation. A sole Zeppelin was still docked, and an idea came to mind. Perhaps this is his way out of the city. So Zano ran to the Zeppelin, hoping that it would be his ticket out of the city. If not, then he would be truly dead.