Dyelli Beybi

Empire of the Clouds

Arkadios Andreaou

Name: Arkadios Andreaou
Gender: Male
Age: 49
Nationality: Inburrian
Appearance: 6'1'', dark eyes and rapidly greying hair

My Hider

Personal Effects:
- A single Makarios C94 Pistol.
- A sepia photograph of his family.
- A slightly grimy Captain's uniform

Background:

What is your job: Captain in the Inburian Military
Backstory: Arkadios Andreaou comes from a family of gentry and as the second of three sons, (and two sisters), Arkadios was not expected to inherit the family estate but rather was groomed to enter the military and, having completed his studies was sent to the Officer's Training College at Grendell, where he graduated without any particular merit or failings before being assigned as a 2nd Lieutenant to the East Morktree Regiment of Foot.

For the last 28 years, Arkadios has remained with the regiment. He married, and has four children of his own, three boys and a younger daughter, Elodie, whom he dotes on. During all this time, the Regiment has seen no action aside from quelling the occasional outbreak of communalist unrest in the central provinces of the Empire. Aside from the odd border skirmish with Xak-Shariq, the Empire has remained peaceful.

Arkadios rose through the ranks slowly as other officers retired, eventually reaching the rank of Captain, Commanding one of the Regiment's Companies.

When it became clear the Calarians were mobilising, Arkadios and the East Morktreee were given transfer orders to the border, though the Calarians attacked before the regiment was in position, breaking the Inburian lines and driving towards the capital of Inbur itself. The East Morktree fought an action to delay the Calarian advance at the bridge at Picmylos, which was a gallant but ultimately costly defeat with only 70 men of the East Morktree escaping the field to join the retreat towards Inbur.

The survivors arrived with the enemy hot on their heels and with some units joining the Communalist uprising and the Inburian command structure in a shambles, orders were received for all units to retreat North to Grendell. Arkadios relayed the orders to his troops but was shortly separated from them during an artillery barrage.

Arkadios is a worried man. He is worried for his troops, for his family but also for his own neck. The Calarians are nearby, Communalist rebels are in control of some quarters of the city and everyone remembers what happened to the Nobles during the Calarian revolution. There has to be a way out...

Empire of the Clouds

@Terrans Couple of small changes I would like to suggest, otherwise super!

You've spoken about 'scouting, patrolling, camouflage, infiltration and advanced marksmanship.'... change that to 'scouting, patrolling and marksmanship'. Because camouflage is really in it's infancy as a concept - they know muted colours are helpful and trying to disguise artillery emplacements can help but that's about it. Infiltration hasn't been invented yet (historically this is a response to the battlefield conditions of WWI... which is just kicking off in this world) and marksmanship is also pretty basic... that being said snipers do exist. So all good with the general concept!

Can I also recommend you change the name of the 'Scout-Trackers' to an Alpine Regiment? Just gives that early 20th century feel... and it fits with the terrain!

Empire of the Clouds

@Athol@Theyra@Badarby@Expendable

All look good to me.

Bear in mind there is a bit of sexism in this period... but it's also the time of women's liberation starting to take off.

Incidentally I've dumped character 1 of 2 into the character sheets

Empire of the Clouds

Zoe Spyrou

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

My Hider

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.

Empire of the Clouds

@Bingelly Looks excellent!

Wild Beasts of the Earth (Gothic Horror)

Nicola Hoffman

"The only previous evidence for dogs was a police officer had dismissed it as that," Nicola replied to Rudy, "And we dont even know if that Officer had seen a body."

Apparently she also didn't hold the police in high regard.

"How many people have guns?" she asked the group, "We have a lot of potential victims, hostages or people who can be shot by accident," she said, then motioned at herself, to be sure the group knew she was including herself in that number, "If you wish to embark on this, those of us who won't be of any use should return to our homes or at the very least the club. And it would be better if we were escorted. I do not want some boy dressed up as a solider taking a shine to me after too much schnapps."

Empire of the Clouds

Chrstina Ferrari

Character Description

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

appearance

This girl makes you think of a dangerous bird of prey. She has round green eyes that are like two chunks of jade. Her fine, straight, brown hair is worn in a style that reminds you of a turtle's shell. She is very tall and has an amazonian build. Her skin is tanned. She has a large mouth.

Her wardrobe is practical. Cotton batiste camisole and drawers, wool socks, good brown leather work boots, Khaki drill shirt, tan khaki overall suit, brown cassimere cap (golf style), horsehide work gauntlets, black sweater with leather patches on shoulders & elbows; Turkey red bandanas (x2), sheepskin coat, sheepskin hunter's cap, goggles.

Personal Effects:

On her person

Ladies' Nickel watch (4H12282)
Pathfinder Brass Compass (6H5230)
Police Call Whistle (6H4471)
Steamboat Playing Cards (49H160)
Vest pocket Memorandum Book (3H955?)
Pencils x3 (3H13450)
Three-Blade Electricians' or Mechanics' knife (6H17154)
Brass Knuckles

Brown cowhide traveling bag (33H1271)

Tin of hard candy (local)
14-piece Handy Tools in a canvas roll(9H55045)
Hunting Knife (6H4513)
38-Caliber Automatic Pistol (8 shot) with extra magazine (6H1503)
38-Caliber Automatic Smokeless Cartridges with metal patched bullets (box/50 x2) (6H2580)
Book, True Detective Stories (3H1856)
Gold coins inside leather poker chip tubes.

---

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.

@Expendable

Looks good to me! Feel free to move this to the character page!

Empire of the Clouds

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.

My Hider

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 Normandy, 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.

@PrinceAlexus

Perfect. Before shoving into characters, can I please recommend changing 'Hammer of Normandy' to something like 'Hammer of Vich' to reference an in-universe location? :)

Empire of the Clouds

Name: James E. Carter
Gender: Male
Age: 36
Nationality: Commonwealth of Ardell
Appearance:

My Hider

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.

Once he came of age Carter eagerly joined the Ardellian Defense Corps during one of its many wars with the Iktani Confederacy. The war saw the widespread use of airships by the Commonwealth mainly for reconnaissance, all the while rhe rest of the war was brutal battles across the fields and forests of the Confederacy as the Commonwealth attempted its efforts to expand across the continent to coast.

Serving as a scout and later a reconnaissance airship pilot, Carter flew missions over charred battlefields and shattered towns. Losing countless of friends to trench combat and skirmishes forced Carter to face the reality that war was not a noble or glorious ordeal but a gritty and ugly tragedy, survival was not a matter of powerful but luck and sheer will.

The war came to an end after the bombardment of Tihacoma, the capital city of Confederacy. Carter war part of the crew that manned the Screaming Eagle, the Commonwealths first large airship meant for bombardments. The mission was relatively successful as it forced the Confederacy to the bargaining table. Carter felt a sense of grief at the thought of having taken part in such a task as he felt that with every bomb dropped more innocent lives were lost in a pointless war.

Once the Screaming Eagle began making way back home across the Gulf it was caught in bad weather it had not been designed to fly through, the ship caught fire and fell into the Gulf, Carter and only a few lucky ones survived the burning wreck as it sank into the seas. They were eventually picked up by a Nordisle Patrol boat and brought back to Ardell just in time for the celebrations of the Treaty of Hulanak, which saw the end of the war snf the Confederacy conceding mineral rights snd various other humiliating demands by the Commonwealth, unbeknownst to them that the Commonwealth's trump card was no more. Carter and the other survivors were hailed as heroes but he felt anything but that and upon requesting discharge he went off to join The Evig Traders' Guild, a rapidly emerging Ardellian flight company known for shipping all sorts of commodities across the continents, his skills were highly sought, the pay good and it allowed him to stay far away from Ardell as he could.

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.

@InfamousGuy101

Generally a pretty good app, there are one or two little details I would like you to change in the backstory though.

1. Around the war you've written with the Iktani. I've written there has been no frontier movement in the last 50 years, so since before Carter was born. I don't mind having a war, but perhaps write it as something like this. The Commonwealth send a force of a few thousand troops to make a beachhead on the far side of the river but are spotted by an Iktani observation balloon. The Iktani then surround the beachhead and assault it, with heavy casualties on both sides but without dislodging the attackers. Carter's airship is sent to bomb an Iktani city where they believe the Iktani are massing troops to send to the front. From the height it's impossible to figure out where the bombs are landing but he's pretty sure it's not on the rail yard...

... Keep the crash in if you want, but switch the Iktani response from surrender to 'they are really, really, really pissed off' (this is generally the effect that terror bombing of civilian targets has - think the Zeppelin raids on London and the Blitz). Commonwealth troops try to fight their way off the beachhead and fail. Iktani are arriving in large numbers. Commonwealth withdraws troops and sues for peace.

This is a bit of a change but elevates the Iktani threat level to about where I want them to be - they are intended to be a major power in the RP.

2. Small change to the Screaming Eagle... call it something like the 'CAS17' (Confederate Airship 17 it's boring, but vaguely based on how the Germans named there's, which incidentally gives a good incentive for the crew to give it a better name), which he and his crew nicknamed the Screaming Eagle.

Wild Beasts of the Earth (Gothic Horror)

Nicola Hoffman

There was the sound of movement, someone approaching hurriedly through the long grass off the main tracks that people had actually taken the time to maintain, "What are you looking at?" Nicola piped up breathlessly.

There was a pause then, "Sweet Lord and Saviour," she crossed herself in the dark, "Is that a dead person? What a mess... uurgh... I feel slightly ill," She said, burying her nose in her coat as if to block out a foul odour, though in truth the body was not so long dead that it had begun to smell overly.

"Is there anyone here who is qualified to examine it?" she asked, leaving a pause before adding, "Someone should tell the police, and Mister Temple," the Police might not be the most responsive in the current climate, but Temple had had a contact, which Nicola seemed to appreciate, "Possibly tell Mister Temple first as I think he knows the Officer working this case." If, indeed, anyone was working the case...

Nicola looked distressed, worried though, peculiarly, that seemed to have spurred her to try to take control of the situation, while previously she had tended to defer to Rudy. Perhaps this was her way of coping?