[OOC] All the king's men.

[Ozymandeus]

The Kingdom of Veronia is a paragon of culture, an economic powerhouse, and despite it's small size, it has managed to avoid being absorbed by any of the numerous larger kingdoms that share borders with it. The King, Alden, is well loved by his people, and known for being a savvy diplomat as well. However, a great deal of the kingdom's prosperity can be traced to another man. You won't find this man's name on any monuments, he bears no title of duke, or lord. This man is Gregory Hawk, Spymaster to the king.

Veronia is a kingdom surrounded by greater military powers than itself, so how has it avoided destruction? It has perhaps the best information network and secret agency of any kingdom. It survives by being one step ahead of everyone else, and eliminating threats before they even start. This organization is known as the Royal information corps. But they go by another name, The King's Players.

You play a member of the King's Players, part of a special team recruited by Hawk to undergo missions that the Kingdom might not want publicly known about. This might range from Investigating a lord that hasn't paid his taxes, to foiling assassination plots.

The main countries that will be featured are Veronia, and the two larger nations that border it.

One is Skaarlund. A county that used to be known for raiding and pillaging, but that stopped a few years back when their king, Yoland Ring-Giver unified the country and turned it more toward sea trade. They're still known for their fierce warriors though, which now often act as mercenaries or guards for those who can afford it.

The other country is not technically a country, but an alliance of city-states that make up what is called the Colameri Union. The DeFacto leader of this union is Patzo Rapheli. His family's wealth gives them the largest standing army in the region, and thus the power. Patzo is old however, and his son, Cosimo, is chomping at the bit to take control. It isn't unheard of for family heads in this kind of situation to get "mysteriously sick" and die. The Colameri Union is also well known for it's skilled alchemists.

Now Skaarlund and the Union don't get along very well. There is simmering tension about who should control the coastal trade, and they're fighting a proxy war at sea using "privateers" to sink or capture each other's trading vessels. The only reason it hasn't escalated is because Veronia has arranged for peace talks to be held between the two in the near future using Veronia as neutral ground, if something were to go wrong before then, or at the peace talks, it could mean all out war.

Character creation should look like this:
Name: Gregory Hawk
Picture(Optional)-
Backstory+how Hawk found and recruited you:
Skills/role in the group: Spymaster
Miscellaneous(likes, fears, bit and ends)

Some important info. I'm looking to see a diverse set of skills when it comes to the team. Hawk would pick people who's skills complement each other. Magic does not exist, but alchemy does. Alchemy in this world is basically science, it covers poisons, bombs, various things like that, plus an alchemist would probably be pretty observant and good with things like schematics and engineering.

[Ozymandeus]

Bump.

[Themerlinhawk]

Name: Solomon “Crow” Fare

Backstory: Solomon Knox was born to Karen Silvia and Oscar Fare in the slums of Veronia’s capitol. Solomon was raised by the proprietor of the whore house his mother worked in, Casidy Hesh, after his father left Karen to fend for herself.
Solomon took his father’s last name when he was twelve as a means of spiting the man who had left him and his mother to fend for themselves. When he was thirteen Solomon had his first contact with the more dangerous elements of the underworld, a group of mercenaries who had just finished a contract as part of the Veronian military came for a night of fun and had too much of. The mercenaries killed three of the establishments women, including Solomon’s mother, and broke Casidy’s back rendering him paralyzed. Solomon followed the half a dozen mercenaries to another bar where he poisoned four of them who died choking on their own vomit. The fifth mercenary made it out of the bar completely inebriated only to be garroted by the thirteen year old Solomon. The sixth mercenary made it as far as the end of the street when Solomon put a meat cleaver in his back. However Solomon would make his name and reputation for being the Crow from what happened after. Solomon made all of the dead mercenaries disappear, silenced the witnesses and almost completely covered the entire incident up. After that Solomon came under contract for the Veronian criminal underbelly as a cleaner known as Solomon Crow. Solomon specializes in cleaning up messes, tying up and sorting out messes. Political cover ups, back street alley murders, accidental killings by higher ups of civilians. You name it Solomon has cleaned it up. While not technically an assassin Solomon is totally capable of silencing people permanently as part of a cleaning.

Meeting Hawk:
Solomon was recruited as a King’s Player when the law finally caught up to him after cleaning up a political assassination gone wrong and was caught fleeing the clean up. He was tried and found guilty of conspiracy and treason even though the charge of treason was falsified in an attempt to use the courts to silence Solomon. On the eve of his execution Gregory Hawk conscripted him as one of the King’s Players for his skills as a cleaner for the various operations the King’s Players the enact.

Skills: Cleaner, assassin, shadow (Someone who follows a mark), underworld contacts.

Misc: Solomon is a very bland individual on the surface, which helps him do exactly what he’s good at. Go unnoticed. Solomon’s upbringing has also given him a sadistic slant when it comes to his job. Additionally Solomon harbors a burning hatred for his Father after he left and never came back.

I'll include a picture as soon as I can find one.

[Stranger]

Name: Isabelle "Izzy" McAverie

Picture:

Backstory/Recruitment: Isabelle is perhaps the youngest member of the King's Players. Abandoned at birth, she was raised in an orphanage in the slums of the Royal City. As she spent time outside in the city, she began to have dreams of living the high life: gold, jewelry, big castles, lots of servants... A lot of the other orphans laughed at her ambitions; most orphans ended up on farms and service industries. But not Isabelle. Isabelle took to thieving, beginning with just a single apple from the marketplace. As time went on, Isabelle slowly began taking bigger and bigger targets, moving from simple stall-robbing to pickpocketing trinkets off of nobles.

As time went on, Isabelle eventually moved away from the orphanage, taking a small hovel in the slums. It wasn't the high life, but it was one step closer to her goal. At this point, she tried her first burglary, sneaking into the house of a commoner who had apparently come across a pearl necklace while outside the city. As the successes rolled in, she began taking more and more risky jobs. Though there were several close calls, she was never caught. Unfortunately, this made her careless. After a three-year streak of successfully robbing nobles, Isabelle made the foolish mistake of trying to rob the castle. Needless to say, she got caught pretty quickly. After three days in the dungeon, she was visited by Spymaster Hawk. He offered her a job (a very well-paying job, for that matter) as a spy and information gatherer for the King. She happily accepted, and has since been working in the King's Players.

Skills: Lockpicking, pickpocketing, eavesdropping, thievery of many kinds, forgery (not her strongest skill, but she's done it before).

Misc:
+Excellent infiltrator and saboteur
+Can operate with minimal supervision
+Knows every back alley and waterway in the Royal City (from her frequent escapes)
+Trained in throwing daggers
+Expert escape artist
-Despite her training, Izzy is not skilled in combat, and anything beyond a hit-and-run encounter puts her in serious jeopardy.
-Does not work well with others, due to being solitary for most of her life.

[Merrygold]

Name: Edwin Blackwater

picture

Backstory: Edwin was a son of a lesser lord. His family had small piece of land in the south of Veronia, mostly known for its great vineyards. They were wealthy enough to have anything they ever needed, but they were still too poor and far from Royal city to really participate in Veronian politics.
Edwin was a second son and always the black sheep of the family, living in the shadow of his older sibling. Edwin was smarter than his brother, he was better with a sword and when their father fell ill, it was Edwin who was keeping their business together.
But it was still not enough. No matter what Edwin did, his brother was always the better one, at least in eyes of their father and everyone around.. Edwin, disgusted by this, decided to run from home and join military. Something his father took with great displeasure and even disinherit him.

Edwin hoped that in military, he will be finally valued because of his skills and capabilities, but his hopes proved to be wrong. There were two types of people in Veronian army: poor who wanted the steady wages and rich who wanted to enhance their fat pockets with bribes.
Edwin was surrounded by incompetence and corruption on every step. But he didn´t give up and tried to change the established order. He made his name in fights against raiding parties and foreign marauders and achieved a pretty high rank among his peers. He earned respect of his soldiers and remade them into actually capable fighting force, but when he wanted to make more general changes, or tried to weed out the incompetent among his seniors, he was immediately shot down and transferred into closest backwater.

In his exile, he was visited by a strange man carrying king´s signet. The man ordered Edwin to lead a raid into another country. His task was to find an imprisoned Veronian ambassador, free him and get him home in absolute secrecy. Edwin took this mission as a way to prove himself again and maybe regain his old position.
The mission was successful. He and five of trustworthy men crossed borders at night, infiltrated the city and made their way into prison. Well placed distraction with element of surprise on their side, gave them a perfect opportunity to get in there and before anyone noticed, ambassador was free and on his way back to Veronia.
After delivering the man, Edwin learned that the stranger, who ordered the mission, was Veronian spymaster, Hawk. He told him that mission was only a test of his skills and offered him a job among king´s players. Edwin accepted almost immediately.

Skills:
ex-military officer used to lead from both, general´s tent and front
skilled combatant both on horse (he used to ride with hussars) and on his own feet (trained by professional swordsman when he was young)
familiar with Veronian politics (knows who is from which noble family, what they have and what they want)

Miscellaneous: Edwin is pragmatism and opportunism incarnate, and he is willing to do literally anything to success in his mission. He also has deep connections in Veronian army with few veterans still loyal to him.

[Muttonhawk]

I'm unfortunately busy for the next few days, but I'd like to express interest in making a charismatic con artist. A Templeton "Faceman" Peck from the A-Team type, if you have room for someone like that.

[Ozymandeus]

Actually. I already had tell me they wanted to make a character like that. But there's still room for an alchemist/inventor type character if you or anyone else wants to make one. Or if the guy who first claimed that character type doesn't make a character then I'll let you know.

[Themerlinhawk]

Awesome peoples!!!

[Muttonhawk]

Ozymandeus said
Actually. I already had tell me they wanted to make a character like that. But there's still room for an alchemist/inventor type character if you or anyone else wants to make one. Or if the guy who first claimed that character type doesn't make a character then I'll let you know.

Sure thing. I might be able to conjure up a character of that nature :)

[Hagura]

Any good team some times needs big muscles in tight spots. I wouldn't mind being that. Or when people need to be pushed around without needless slaughter.

[Ozymandeus]

I think every team needs both science and muscle, looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with.

[Muttonhawk]

Alright! Business is mitigated for now! I can start making a character properly.

Now, Ozy, you mention this being medieval-renaissance. I was thinking if I had the engineer, I might make him suitably teched up with clockwork gizmos and alchemical fun. I don't want it to resemble steam punk though, I was thinking something more of a prequel to it, something to suit the setting better. I don't know, I suppose you might call it Da-Vinci punk? Would it be alright if I took on that aesthetic?

[Ozymandeus]

That sounds fine.

[Ozymandeus]

Well, here is the deal, one of the people participating in this game won't be able to put a character up till Monday, which is what I'm making the deadline for everyone else planning on submitting a character as well. That gives us a couple of options, we could either start this game next Tuesday, or we could wait till the following Friday I'm fine with either, so I'm leaving it up to you guys to decide which you would rather do.

[Stranger]

I'm fine either way. Given a vote, however, I cast mine for Tuesday.

[Muttonhawk]

I'll go for Tuesday.

[Gareth]

How about a Story Teller/Court Bard/Insider type character? Basically someone who has performed for the different noble families, and taverns-so basically the high end places as well as the low end places. This person has and or can, receive info.-sometimes more easily then trying to take it by force. For example by the fact that he knows people and is welcomed in many places because he is a performer and coincidentally a good listener.

[Muttonhawk]

Here's the scholar.

Name: Ilario Falegname

Picture(Optional)-

Ilario

Backstory+how Hawk found and recruited you:
Some might call Ilario a traitor to the Colameri Union, technically being the third heir to a member city state named Salices Luco. In reality, Ilario has no vested interest in any domain in the region, his desires being confined to simple tastes and scholarly pursuits.

While his four brothers were all educated to be politically minded despite what Ilario would rightly describe as their 'Manipulable, narrow, meat-filled minds', Ilario himself was a self driven learner for the most part. He became fascinated by the chemistry and engineering that had been pioneered by learned men in his area. He wanted to know how the true magic of the world worked, and it was found that he had a knack for it. All his spare moments were spent either experimenting and constructing various apparatus, or reading about said apparatus, science, or engineering.

As he matured, Ilario's brothers found themselves scheming against one another. Without him realising it, Ilario's seclusion had caused him to harbour a naivete that the slyest of his brothers, Pietro, sought to manipulate. Pietro convinced Ilario to construct a mechanism to deliver a sleeping poison to his eldest brother Marco. A week later, Ilario's completed mechanism was stolen and Marco never woke up from his sleep that night. Having carefully constructed his plan, Pietro was able to angle sufficient blame on Ilario to force him to pack up and run away. He managed to slip away on his nineteenth birthday on a trading cog that travelled to a border city state near Veronia. He left his naivete behind and replaced it with a perpetual cynicism.

His new home was a hotbed of political intrigue, but Ilario was able to survive the next seven years by making medicines by day, and poisons by night. Underworld connections around the city spoke of Ilario as the man to talk to if you wanted to buy a lockpick that would defeat any lock, a crossbow that could fire five bolts consecutively, a poison that could replicate a sudden onset of consumption, or even such mystical things as a pair of wings that would allow someone to glide like a bird. Any foreign spymaster worth his dagger would see Ilario's potential, and soon enough he was scooped up for Hawk's private commissions.

At first, Ilario's work was for the same purpose as it always had been; making a living. But as the pay went beyond satisfying Ilario's living requirements, he found fulfillment in solving new challenges brought before him by Hawk.

Skills/role in the group: The Multi-Disciplined Scholar
- Brings the forward the perspective of one well versed in academic texts and methods.
- Provides mechanical devices of all manners for the team and expertise to use them, including: Explosives, poisons, compasses, watches, concealable weapons, hand drills, lockpicks and other such devices.
- Researches and scrutinises the designs of various buildings for weaknesses in structure through which to infiltrate and/or sabotage.
- Provides private medical treatment for wounded, sick or poisoned members of the King's Players.

Miscellaneous:
Ilario does come with his flaws, as much as he is loath to admit it. He is a tactless individual, and will be pedantic about any reasonable ignorance of others, often being chiding and venemous in his dealings. Those he despises the most, however, are those fixated on power. He sees such people as slaughtering others for what is essentially a hollow goal in most cases. Hawk was able to convince him to be employed by Veronia merely because his agenda is more grounded in stability. At least that's what he's been told.

In a conflict of words or steel, Ilario has to rely on others, as he has little skill with either.

He tends not to go out of his way to help others, but for trivial favours, he may be bribed with a bowl of dates. He seems to have an affinity for the exotic fruits.

[Hagura]

Name: Vestagio Montrill

Picture(Optional)-

Backstory+how Hawk found and recruited you: Vestagio was a low life thug. He was born in the streets. A rat child who had to run between the gutters and shoes of other people to survive. A tough life for a young boy. Taken in by a small time gang, he was nothing but a bully and a thief for a while. He was strong a big, and really good at putting his fist in other peoples faces. As he grew up, he wanted more than just to beat up other people. He wanted the money. He joined larger gangs and put his money on his skills. The lords of the underworld often held tournaments of underground fighting. It was a chance for Vestagio to make it big. He joined in the tournament and went undefeated. He was a merciless killer, deadly in all aspects. Word started to pass around that there was a nobody who killed champions. An unknown figure simply dubbed "Red Fist" as a title. This unknown combatant rose fast through ranks of the underworld fighting tournaments. Thats when Hawk took notice. Hawk watched one of this mans fights. And he was impressed a little at the mans skills. Vestiago was a master at his craft of dealing deadly blows. What made Vestiago the best was his adaptive combat style and his skull crushing power with every strike. Vesiago had a tactical sense to his combat. His every move was a calculated hit. Hawk then recruited Vestiago after a match. Contacting him with a letter. Vestiago had been in the ring for so long. He had almost forgotten what it was like to live out side in the air of the world. The underground was now too suffocating. And the opponents were too easy. But Vestiago was also aware that his life was in danger.

He had heard rumors that some of the other under lords wanted his head. Jealousy ran deep in their veins as their money all went to the champion. There was word an attempt on Vestiago's life was going to be made soon. Hawk offered not only protection, but a better life. Vestiago couldn't deny that offer. So he disappeared into the night under Hawk's wings.

Skills/role in the group: Combat specialist
Expert at hand to hand combat
Proficient with weapons: Swords/daggers/axes/bows/crossbows/rifles/pistols
Information extraction (Ex. Torture)
Survival (Ex. basic first aid, camping, hunting, etc.)

Miscellaneous(likes, fears, bit and ends): Vestiago is a man that has a refined pallet. He is a cook just a much as a fighter. He loves to make food and cook for other people. Vestiago is a very cheerful person. Always full of joy, even when in combat. He lives a laid back life. But of course he is serious when he needs to be.

[Stranger]

I think we've got a pretty sweet-looking group here.