[OOC] 1920's Gangsters

[Sterling]

@Jotunn Draugr

Did you see the info I put up about the family in IC?

Chat rooms...?

Are you talking about a Google Doc?

[POOHEAD189]

@SterlingHe means Chatzy. It's something I've learned that many people on this guild now use for RP centric chats.

[Jotunn Draugr]

Okay, the info is updated, and heavily tied-in with the Cassidy Crew.

"The Liquor Man"...

"Hard-Stuff" McFinnegan

Name: James-William "Hard Stuff" McFinnegan; "Jimmy" to his friends, "Hard-Stuff", to his business associates

Age: 29

Description/Appearance:
Jimmy is a slightly smaller man, standing 5'7" in height, and is fairly slim in build. He's perpetually scruffy, sporting an unkempt, aged five-o'clock shadow. His hair is wavy, and messily slicked backward, more to keep it out of his face than to look good. His hair is darker in colour, but his eyes shine bright blue.
His hands are calloused and bony, and well suited for underground boxing. He wears a suit that was very expensive at one time, but is now well-worn and fraying at the seams.

Occupation: Alcohol Smuggler

Affiliation: He's affiliated with The Cassidy Crew, and cuts them a large discount on his product. In return, they help him distribute across the city.

Skills:

- Lockpicking
- Fluent in both English and Irish Gaelic
- Swimming
- Sailing
- Knife-Fighting
- Boxing

History:
McFinnegan was born in New York, to two Irish immigrants. He had a sister and two brothers. His father founded a successful ship-construction company out of New York, and he and his siblings worked together in the company. The first world war broke out, and father McFinnegan put his children into hiding. His company had made enough money that he was able to bribe his way into the immigration office, and have the records of his children destroyed. He died only a few years later during a mugging, leaving his oldest son, Jimmy, as the new head of the company. During prohibition, however, the McFinnegan family found their business dwindling, as highways began replacing ships as the main mode of goods-transport.
Facing poverty, Jimmy convinced his siblings to move to Canada, where prohibition wasn't in effect. Jimmy himself stayed in New York, and used his siblings to establish a liquor smuggling business along the Atlantic coast. It started out small, with his siblings buying whiskey and beer, and sending it to him to resell at a premium. Within a couple years, they had saved up enough to start their own brewery in Newfoundland. With the bargaining chip of a constant supply of liquor, Jimmy talked his way into the high ranks of the Cassidy Crew, an up-and-coming organization of New York Irishmen, lead by three of his cousins. With their help, Jimmy began mass-distributing "Hard-Stuff McFinnegan's Canadian Whiskey" and "McFinnegan Fine Ale" all across the West Coast.
Of course, as his business grew, so did his reputation. Soon enough, McFinnegan found himself paying off several police stations, and buying protection from various regional gangs. He soon found it more cost-effective to completely turn himself into a middle-man, merging his company with the Cassidy's, so that they could handle all the difficulties of distribution and protection, while he focused on keeping the booze flowing across the border as fast as possible.

[Jotunn Draugr]

@Jotunn Draugr

Did you see the info I put up about the family in IC?

Chat rooms...?

Are you talking about a Google Doc?

@Sterling

Yes I did, and I've just rewritten my CS to tie Jimmy in with the Cassidy's.

Nah, something like this:

titanpad.com/ktj0T3YpqW

Edit: done, let's do this!

[Sterling]

You learn new things everyday! Thanks guys!

Anyone else needing some feedback from me? Anyone else want to be part of the Cassidy Crew or La Familia?

[POOHEAD189]

@SterlingI might need it. I've been quite busy but tonight I have very little to do other than my nightly work out so I will get to this character. I will say I am thinking of a Con Artist, and wondering where best to put him.

[Sterling]

Hmmm Con artist...

Do you want to be part of the Cassidy's orrrrrrr you could be a sort of freelancer that nobody likes/everybody needs?

[Sterling]

@Jotunn Draugr Lost the connection! Don't know what that's about. Heading to work. Get off late PM CST

[Jotunn Draugr]

@Jotunn Draugr Lost the connection! Don't know what that's about. Heading to work. Get off late PM CST

@Sterling

Yah first time I've seen that. Shouldn't be a major problem going forward. Okay, shoot me a PM when you're back.

[POOHEAD189]

@SterlingI like that second option.

Unless of course you'd prefer me to be in the family.

[HeySeuss]

WIP, Draft and if people want to take over a role, that's cool. I didn't bother to talk about the button-men or associates under the capos.

This basically gives a sense of what the family operations are and where things are going. I just needed a Sicilian family in the traditional mold in the mix, and felt it was good to set it up in Brooklyn since East Harlem was grabbed. I don't intend to control any of this, but needed a good setup for, well, basically, mayhem and massacres.

The Scarpello Family

Ethnicity: Sicilian. Half-Sicilians are allowed to be associates but cannot be made under current rules.
Don: Donato Scarpello
Consiglieri: Anthony Geraci
Size:: < 40 - the Don has been keeping the recruitment low and overworking the crews doing the alcohol work.
Area of Influence: Brooklyn, especially around Sunset Park, Borough Park, Park Slope, Bensonhurst, Flatbush, Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights and Bed-Stuy. Moving into Jersey as well.

Overview: The Scarpello family is a real 'Moustache Pete' operation of old world values and mafiosi credo. However, the allure of Prohibition and the increase in resources has created tensions as the organization tries to protect itself and its prime position at the South Brooklyn Terminal, expand into New Jersey and lock down even more docks, and set up front businesses for the booze distribution. The problem, of course, is that the old man is holding on too tightly, such as forbidding business dealings with non-Italians, particularly the Jews and the Blacks. There's a lot of power in the Scarpellos, but the old men just want their peace and quiet in a time of opportunity and the younger guys aren't having it. Part of what Scarpello is trying to do is keep the crews of Polumbo and Mazzara from getting too dominant, forcing a turnover.

The old guard and the young blood are a couple gunshots away from a civil war in the family. The reason it hasn't happened yet is because Tony Geraci, the consiglieri, is well-regarded on both sides and is keeping things going with shuttle diplomacy. Current operations include; docks, alcohol distribution, prostitution and extortion. There are four crews in the Scarpello family, with about 30 or so soldiers and associates, with more muscle available in the traditionally Italian parts of Brooklyn. The truth is that in a bid to control wages and skim off as much as possible, the Don has kept the numbers of soldiers dangerously low, especially in the operations that have the best growth potential but are under capos of questionable loyalty.

Caporegimes:

- Vito Polumbo - Younger and more progressive than his Don, Vito Polumbo is the guy that runs the Brooklyn docks and set up the Scarpello bootlegging operations. The shipping from other nations, the unloading and distribution comes primarily from his operations. He is, for all intents and purposes, the most powerful and lucrative single operation in the Scarpello family thanks to Prohibition and his quick recognition of it. He uses the funding to make sure that his crew are well-outfitted and loyal. Polumbo is currently in a bind because Don Scarpello wants a bigger cut of the profits during a time of growth and investment. Meanwhile, Geraci is keeping the peace, but for how long? Polumbo's crew is tough, working the docks, but Polumbo is a deal maker and has successfully negotiated with unions in the past. He keeps trying to bring on more talent, but Scarpello keeps trying to keep him in his place. Scarpello sees a threat, Polumbo sees more money. Geraci is trying to keep the two from going to war.
- Salvatore Mazzara - Another young turk in the Scarpello family, Mazzara's crew move liquor into a variety of places, starting with the brothels but then moving into other venues as the alcohol smuggling really got underway. He started off as part of the Baglio crew. However, with Prophibition, he has set up the Pappalardo Olive Oil Company as a front and is, secretly in negotiations with the Blacks to move liquor into the Harlem jazz clubs, despite the Don's prohibition on working with 'those people.' (and that's the nicest thing he has to say.) Mazzara is a dapper sort of guy, a guy that knows how to use a gun and sweet talk while holding it. Mazzara wants minimal disruption to his operations, though he is concerned that Scarpello isn't dynamic enough to keep the business going as more than his retirement fund. He is, however, Geraci's nephew and is staying on the fence, for now.
- Joseph Baglio - Part of Scarpello's old regime, Baglio focuses on protection rackets, a pretty traditional mafia undertaking. Because his territory covers much of Western Brooklyn, outside of Crown Heights and other traditionally Jewish areas, he has a lot of manpower compared to the other crews. Baglio is totally loyal to Scarpello and has the bulk of the family's muscle.

@Sterling

[Plank Sinatra]

Coke: It's what's for breakfast

Name: Vivianne “Coca-Cola” Laurent
Age: 25
Appearance: 5’11 and lean, Vivianne’s statuesque beauty has adopted a somewhat intimidating reputation in the years since the European pair began their burgeoning criminal enterprise. Standing only two or three small inches below Napoli himself, the French woman could have been a gymnast if you had shaved half a foot off her height in adolescence. Instead she wears a flapper dress - usually colored in her her trademark laurel green - that highlights her long legs, slim waist, and healthy tan. An FN Model 1910 is usually hidden on her person, in one of a variety of locations that only Napoli could locate without the pistol going off.

Vivianne rarely smiles; that is an expression reserved for her irreverent other half. Her heart-shaped face is usually far more stoic, thin lips only widening into a bright, confident grin on occasion (though one of her incisors does have a slight chip in it, a badge of courage from a...mishap...while biting a headboard in Naples too hard). Despite her expression usually falling on a spectrum from “neutral” to “scowling,” her face itself is innocent enough - wide hazel eyes, a smattering of dark freckles along her cheeks and sharp nose, and a fashionable dirty blonde bob tend to take the edge off of her size and remind people that they’re still dealing with a woman.

Napoli often says that Viv should let people think that gives them an advantage...and unfortunately, whatever Napoli says goes.
Ethnicity/Nationality: Born in Paris, France; immigrated to America with Napoli Fiordilatte in 1919.
Affiliation: Napoli Fiordilatte. Though her partner delights in both reminding her that he is charmer of the tandem and in provoking her sulks or rages, she is fiercely loyal to the silver-tongued con artist and has killed in his name more than once on both sides of the Atlantic. Though the mozzarella man has several loyalties of his own amongst people who have a cut in their club, these higher investors remain inconsequential in Vivianne’s mind as long as they do right by the Italian.
Occupation: Taxi driver (legally licensed), bartender, bootlegger, part-time lounge singer (illegally)
Skillset: Though Napoli is the war veteran of the Club Sodeux management team, it is his partner who is the true muscle of the operation. While Napoli charms anyone and anything from bosses and local politicians to the unwashed Italian masses of Carroll Gardens, Vivianne is the mercurial beating heart of the Fiordilatte operation - fearlessness and business savvy rolled up into the mold of the 20th century woman and painted over with a thin veneer of calm, known to flake off at the hint of provocation. Renowned in Carroll Gardens for conducting most of Napoli’s business deals for him, Vivianne is the brawn and brains that can back up the mouth. She runs the shipments. She runs the club. Damnably enough, she is usually the one behind the gun whenever such a scenario is called for - becoming known as the only flapper with a trigger finger across Caroll Gardens. She even handles most of the money - though Napoli, understandably, has taken a greater role in this aspect of their criminal operations over the last couple years.

The greatest mark against Vivianne’s reliability to her partner is her increasingly serious addiction to cocaine. Though her habit is entirely recreational and she’s never once done a piece of work while high, more than once the temptation to skim funds from the speakeasy’s books has become great enough that she now occasionally conscripts Napoli into balancing accounts for her rather than betray his trust. Though she’s not entirely certain how he truly feels about the habit, the fact that it was Napoli who coined her “Coca-Cola,” after both her drug of choice and the name of their original bar before America went dry, has led her to believe he’s at least tolerant of it - a sign of trust that has only furthered her odd devotion to the breezy Italian.
Property: Napoli Fiordilatte, Club Sodeux, Renault Taxi de la Marne, Beretta OVP, FN Model 1910
History: Though she’s taken to it with aplomb, the criminal lifestyle has never been something Vivianne Laurent aspired to. She had no particular skills at pickpocketing, confidence tricks, or moving illicit items. She grew up with one hell of a poker face, but rarely needed to use it - she grew up as the dutiful, well-adjusted daughter of a playful and gentle antique collector and an adventurous father, an Ottoman Turk who had signed up with the French Foreign Legion in his youth and settled down into a comfortable career as the maddest Renault owner in Paris.

The Great War brought out her wild side.

Her father had taken ill several weeks before and was slow in recovering, so it was Vivianne who manned his cab in the bold (yet exaggerated) dispatch of Paris’ taxi fleet on the Marne. Amongst those stuffed into Vivianne’s cab was a smartassed Italian bastard in the uniform of a Foreign Legion member who called himself Napoli Fiordilatte. All along the ride, he jested with his cabmates and harassed Vivanne mercilessly, and the repressed young girl prayed for a quick end to the war - but not before it put an end to that Italian bastard.

Neither wish came true.

In time, her father went off with the Foreign Legion yet again, and upon his return from the war she found that the bastard had not only survived, but gotten to know and befriend her father over the course of their time in the trenches. In time, Vivianne came to know and reluctantly befriend the Italian, too - eventually becoming fiercely enamored with him, much to her own chagrin. The two attempted to settle in Italy for a short time after the war, but both eventually agreed that the real opportunity was across the Atlantic, in the United States.

It was, though not in the way that they had planned.

See, Napoli and Vivianne got it in their heads that their talents meshed together well enough to scrounge together a club. Live the American Dream. Yadda yadda yadda. For a brief time, maybe a year or so, it worked out flawlessly. The pair’s business, Club Soda (thanks Napoli) - was a financial success and even made Viv a little bit more outgoing - right up until the country went dry. Suddenly the pair’s business had gone up in smoke, and the European immigrants were back to square one.

For a girl who was so straight-laced before she had met him, Vivianne had the idea to go illicit pretty quickly.

Using Napoli’s heritage and charm to start up their network of connections, as well as Viv’s smarts and intimidation factor, the two had managed to establish a new speakeasy, Club Sodeux (a play on this business being their second Club Soda and Viv’s native French) and by the end of 1921 the pair of fire-forged criminals had themselves a booming enterprise yet again. It was around this time that Vivianne picked up her cocaine habit, a rare indulgence that quickly blossomed into recreational use by the year 1922.

[Onarax]

And I finally finished, sorry for the delay, I'll see about working on a draft for parts of La Familia and potentially other Italian families a little later today or tomorrow.

I like pairing Coke with Cheese, no need to wine about it.

Name: Napoli “Baby Face” Fiordilatte
Age: 26
Appearance: As his nickname might imply, Napoli possesses a youthful air and a perpetually beautiful face. Despite years spent experiencing humanity’s less savory side, the Italian maintains the boyish charm of his youth. At a glance one might find it hard to believe that the former sniper is indeed a former sniper, much less that he’s become involved with the American underbelly. Whether it be the light sun-kissed skin, the baby blue eyes, or the soft yellow hair that appears perpetually windswept, Napoli is not what one might expect from an experience criminal. Still, despite his boyish charms, Napoli can still be somewhat imposing when he has to be, a height over six feet will easily enable such a feat. In addition if one looks closely, or has a chance to voyeur when Napoli lacks a shirt, they’ll notice the well developed muscles the former soldier has amassed. In addition a few scars on his chest and stomach still exist from the years on the trench.

Still it is rare to see the Italian angry, he’d much rather run around with the dumb grin he’s become renowned for. His choice of clothing also reveals more about his personality, while he’d much prefer the looser rags he grew up accustomed to, the Italian is quite aware that his position requires more class. Thus a multi-piece suit is common, even if the pieces aren’t all properly fastened. The Italian’s primary wardrobe usually consists of muted browns and yellows, and if it weren’t for interference from Vivianne, it’s unlikely he’d ever maintain any sort of colour coordination or indeed fashion aesthetic at all.
Ethnicity/Nationality: Born in Naples, Italy; immigrated to America with Vivianne Laurent in 1919.
Affiliation: Napoli Fiordilatte, as his name might imply, is tied up with many different factions that currently call New York their home. He has loose ties to the Morellos and the Jewish Mob, he’s a black sheep of the Fiordilatte Family, both the Cassidy Crew and the Scarpellos have had dealings with him, and the rest of La Familia knows the Italians name. Of course, due the nature of Napoli’s role in the criminal underbelly, none of this should serve as any surprise. See Napoli acts as a mediator on many of the illegal business dealings the factions of New York must engage in. Since the Carroll Gardens are a neutral ground after all, Napoli is able to use his club as a safe haven for such dealings. Only the completely new and completely stupid have ever picked a fight inside Club Sodeux, and thus it works out both in the Club’s favor for the business it draws and the favor of the gangs. Of course, such affiliations are only secondary to Napoli’s true allegiance: one Vivianne Laurent and her addictions. It’s hard to get on Napoli’s blacklist, but disrespecting Vivianne is the only surefire way.

Of course that’s assuming the offender survives such an encounter.
Occupation: Co-Owner of Club Sodeux, “Professional Grifter”, Totally not a Con-Artist, Part-time Chef, Host, Club Sodeux Pin-up Model
Skillset: If there’s one thing Napoli is known for, it’d be his slick tongue. The young Italian has acquired the blessings of the American Dream through his charms and little bit of grit. He’s quick with a joke or to light up your smoke and there’s no place he’d rather be than charming the locals. Those that have had the (mis)fortune to meet the face of Club Sodeux often remark about the Italian’s gift with words. Whether it be the punishing puns, the witty witticisms, or just his goofy grin, few can keep a straight face when Napoli is speaking. This ability to get people to laugh plays a large role in his skill when it comes to cutting deals and drawing in customers. Of course when he’s not being a smooth tongue, Napoli might be seen in basement of Club Sodeux practicing his shooting on the makeshift range or his fencing on the piste Vivianne built as a birthday present a few years back. Despite the many years since the end of the war, Napoli has maintained his skill as both a sniper and a duelist. However normally when such a situation arises he allows to Vivianne to handle to gunplay. The Great War left the Italian with a slight distaste for violence, although he will still kill if necessary.

Outside of being the face of Club Sodeux, Napoli has begun handling some of the club’s finances particularly when it relates to money matters of their less than reputable investors. Although he does have to handle some of the more general money affairs whenever Vivianne feels that her addiction is interested in becoming another illicit investor. In addition some of the Club’s most popular recipes, both of the legal and illegal, wet and dry, food and drink varieties have come from the young Italian. During the lunch time hours in particular, when the primary customers need food not drink, Napoli will often be the one in kitchen prepping the meals. Surprisingly, the Italian does have a decent voice and experience with the piano, although time for playing rarely comes up, especially since his partner outclasses him in every sense.
Property: Vivianne Laurent, Club Sodeux, a scoped Modello 1891 from his wartime days, an old rapier he stole from his dad.
History: Crime may have run in his blood, but that didn’t mean it ran in his heart. The Italian was born, as his name might suggest, in Naples, Italy as a bastard. His birth had been the result of a dalliance between a young maid and the head of the Fiordilatte Family. Napoli was not the first of such births, far from it, but he had the misfortune of losing his mother at an early age and being forced to stay at the Fiordilatte estate. Of course despite his last name and his blood, staying at the estate simply meant he had to take care of it alongside the other servants. It’s not hard to imagine the poor treatment he received as a result, particularly when half of the family's wealth came from illegal sources. Somehow tho, the boy managed to always maintain his smiles and jokes.

When the Great War started, Napoli saw his opportunity to escape.

Like many other young boys, Napoli saw it as a chance to escape, explore the world and make some good money. Since Italy did not join at the start of the war, Napoli quickly enlisted in the French Foreign Legion, although he did hope his fellow Italians wouldn’t double back on their word not to fight. When the boy departed for France, all he had with him was a rapier he stole from his father’s cache, and a M91 he borrowed from an Italian rifle club.

Like many other young boys, Napoli soon learned this would not be a quick or easy war.

Just a few weeks after enlisting, the Italian found himself in the back of a cab driven by a rather intimidating young woman. Of course her glare did little to slow down his jesting with her and his other cab mates. Vivianne Laurent, as she had reluctantly introduced herself, was someone the Italian would never forget. However at the time, Napoli had no way of knowing the resulting fortunes of this chance meeting.

The rest of the war is not something Napoli speaks much of, what can be ascertained is that Napoli was one of the war’s first snipers and that he served in both the Italian and French trenches. More importantly however, the Italian would often find himself entrusting his life, and vice versa, to the father of one Vivianne Laurent. When the war finally ended, the two men, much to a certain french girl’s chagrin, came back singing as brothers in arms. Napoli hadn’t planned on staying at the french household for long, it was simply a way to collect himself as he figured out the best plan to escape his family for good.

Vivianne gave him a new reason for living. As might be expected, the italian boy and the french girl became friends and then soon that friendship blossomed into something else. For a little bit that two tried out living in Italy, before eventually deciding that the American Dream was too good to pass up. So like many others, the two became immigrants to a foreign land with foreign customs. They adapted however, and founded a club known as Club Soda, fully intent on capitalizing on the American capacity to have a good time using their new wealth from the war.

Then the nation went dry and things fell apart.

With the first club little more than a wet dream now, Vivianne eventually saved Napoli once again. Club Sodeux was born, as Napoli capitalized on his heritage and spoke to members of the Fiordilatte Family in America to establish their speakeasy. Despite some initial misgivings, the Italian soon found himself enjoying their new criminal enterprise, and the business of the new club was booming. By the time 1922 rolled around, the two had become completely embedded in New York’s criminal underbelly.

[Sovi3t]

I'll have the CS in 24-72 hours, tired out sorry and joining 1-2 RP's besides this one. Again sorry for the wait!

[Mao Mao]

I will also have a sheet up within twenty-four or seventy-two hours depending on how much detail I put on my sheet.

[Sterling]

@Jotunn Draugr I'm on

[Jotunn Draugr]

@Sterling

Yo yo yo

[Sterling]

@Jotunn Draugr Finnegan is approved, you can move him to Characters

[Sterling]

@HeySeuss Approved

[Sterling]

@Onarax approved