Riflebird

Who Believes In Fairytales?

Cool! I'll put the character sheets and my first post up soon. In the meantime, here is where The Gingerbread Man's HQ is located. I marked it on the map with a chef's hat. :3



Also, some info on the building:

The Il Palazzo Hotel, aka "The Bakery"

A rebuilt five story hotel that caters to both the discerning and the unobtrusive. It has over forty rooms, seven suites and a penthouse. It also houses a swanky five-star (at least that's what management says) restaurant that specializes in both Italian cuisine and German desserts. Many of the most wealthy Tales choose to make the hotel their permanent residence due to its many luxurious touches; though the accommodations in many ways pale to what these Tales used to have back in the Homelands, it is the closest many of them will ever get to having what they had lost. It is a very well known secret that the hotel is the base of the criminal gang known as the Breadwinners, as the numerous well-armed men in dapper black suits found on the premises will attest to. Many of the Bakery's residents don't seem to mind this fact, as the gangsters' presence makes the hotel and the surrounding neighborhood one of the safest areas in Taletown.

The Il Palazzo is owned by John Dough, which is the not-so-secret alias of The Gingerbread Man. He lives in the penthouse suite at the top of the hotel. His lieutenant Swan lives in a suite on the second floor, room 2B.

Who Believes In Fairytales?

@Riflebird Thanks for editting! Sorry for the confusion on the names, that was probably my fault.

@Crosswire

Are my characters approved now or do I need to make any more changes?

Who Believes In Fairytales?

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The only problem on his sheet is that you state his headquarters being back in the Homelands. Now I don't know what Drag thinks of this, but from the start we've kind of been implying that the Exodus was sort of a one way trip. Very few if anyone stayed back in the Tale's Homeland and while there may be some means to go back, it'd probably be too much of an undertaking to go through simply to set up a crime headquarters.

Drag has the final word, but I'd prefer Mr. Dough's crime HQ to be set somewhere in Taletown. It can be well hidden though.

@Crosswire

Oh. Whoops. Actually, I thought the "Homelands" was the name of a neighborhood in Taletown. Kinda like Chinatown or something. I know one of the apartments was named The Homelands, so I thought the area around it was named so too. I'll make corrections.

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Reading his alias won me over. I like the character, especially his true form. One thing I would ask (same goes for Swan) is giving some kind of pic base so we can get an idea on what their human form looks like (True forms are a bit more niche so there's no pressure there though)

Just gotta let Cross look over it and I have reason to assume Gingerbread Man is accepted

@Drag

Okay, I'll edit the character sheets and put up a photo of each.

Who Believes In Fairytales?

Here's my Gingerbread Man character sheet. Hope it's okay.

The Gingerbread Man

“Run, run as fast as you can!
You can’t escape me
I’m the Gingerbread Man!”

Name: The Gingerbread Man
Alias/Nickname: John Dough, GM, The G Man, Gömböc, Johnny Cakes, Boss
Tale: The Gingerbread Boy
Physical Age: Late 50’s
Actual Age: Unknown, though his tale was popularized in print in 1875
Height/Weight: Human Form - 5’9” / True form - 10”
Gender: Male

Physical Appearance and Attire:

As with most of the inhuman looking Tales who could afford them, The Gingerbread Man has paid for a magical item that grants him a human form. As a human, GM looks like a man in his late fifties with shoulder-length dark hair and a mustache. He always wears a pinstripe suit, though he tends to change the color of the suit depending on the day.

The GM’s true form though is much more gruesome. The Gingerbread Man is a small, man-shaped cookie as you would expect, but that is all he has in common with his misleading name. He is not composed of Gingerbread at all, or perhaps not any more. He is a mixture of various foodstuffs, like bread, cheese, meats, etc. But such things have long since perished, as his body is composed of completely rotten ingredients. Whenever he goes about in his true form, a foul stench permeates around him.

Personality:

The Gingerbread Man is gruff and overbearing, often prone to anger and violent flares of temper. He is also shrewd and cunning, and was able to make his gang one of the leading criminal enterprises in New York City in just under five years. He also has a habit of eating his enemies, which makes him very feared in the Underworld.

Despite his vile reputation, he acts as a sort of paternal figure to his underlings and treats them, if with not kindness, then with care. This is especially true with his lieutenant Swan, whom he almost acts like a surrogate father to. A foul-mouthed, violent, cannibalistic father, but a father nonetheless.

Background:

Unlike the popularized version of his tale which made him famous, his origins were much, much different to that of the printed story. Instead of being chased around by people trying to eat him, the opposite was true. Upon being created, he felt an overwhelming hunger that drove him insane. First he ate the old woman who baked him, then her husband. Then he ate everyone in the small village they were in. He quickly moved to another. Then another. Then another. In less than a month, he had devoured an entire kingdom and his appetite was finally sated.

With hunger gone, sanity resumed. GM found himself alone in the dead kingdom. Instead of seeing tragedy in his actions, the GM saw opportunity. He went off in search of a band of bandits, and upon finding them killed (and ate) their leader. He then announced to the bandits that he was now the new leader of the band; those who refused to acknowledge him he ate as well. He then took his new gang of bandits and plundered the riches of the dead kingdom. With a coffers filled to bursting, the Gingerbread Man used it to fund the formation of a large criminal network which operated in three different kingdoms.

By the time of the Exodus, things had changed. His once wealthy and powerful organization had all but faded. The Gingerbread Man knew the direction the wind was blowing, and knew that he would have to join the Exodus in order to survive. He took the last remains of his once vast wealth and left for the human realm. He then paid a sorcerer from the White Lotus Lodge to make him an item that would give him human form. With new body at hand, the GM headed for New York.

He took the name John Dough and settled in with the other Tales in the Taletown. Unlike his brethren though, The Gingerbread Man saw opportunity in this new world. He pulled the same thing here that he did back home, i.e. finding a local street gang, killing their leader, then taking his place. Needless to say, he ate well that night. In a few short years, he transformed that small street gang into profitable criminal enterprise that dealt in selling narcotics, weapons and other black market goods. GM dubbed his new gang The Breadwinners. Although the organization wasn’t as large as his previous one, Gingerbread Man knew that it was only a matter of time. He had his sights set on the future.

Skills and Abilities:

-Speed: In his true form The Gingerbread Man is extremely fast and agile. He can outrun almost any Tale and can easily cut someone’s throat in the span of an eyeblink.

-Crime Boss: GM has a criminal gang, and thus has the resources being a crime boss entails. He has various thugs working for him, both Tale and mortal. He has access to guns, knives and explosives, and has connections in the local and state government. He also has the greatest weapon in the human world: money. He knows from experience that if a threat can’t be beaten, it can usually be bought off.

Starting Items/Trinkets:

-Jade Fox Statue: This magical item is what allows The Gingerbread Man to shift from his human and gingerbread bodies. If it were to be destroyed, then GM would revert to his true form. The statue was created by a sorcerer from the White Lotus Lodge, and stands about two feet tall and is composed entirely of dark green jade.

-Knives: The Gingerbread Man never goes anywhere without at least one knife on his person. Not only is he deadly with a knife in his true form, but it comes in handy when he has to eat someone out in the field.


Weaknesses and Flaws:

-Bad BO: GM’s true form is made out of rotting, spoiled food. That stuff stinks. If you start smelling rancid food, then it’s a dead giveaway that the Gingerbread Man is around.

-Made of Bread: Despite his ability to kill quickly and accurately, The Gingerbread Man’s true form is pitifully weak since he is composed mostly of (rotting) bread. A single blow could damage him severely, though like all Tales he can heal his wounds in time if he is in recovery.

-Hunger Madness: Gingerbread Man has to eat. If he goes for more than a few days without food, the madness that struck him on the day of his birth will return. When hungry he gets irritated, then violent. Thus he must have regular meals or he will lose himself.

-Foul Mouthed: The GM has a potty mouth, one that can make sailors blush. This often leads him into conflict with less abrasive folk. (If his swearing gets too offensive, I can tone it down.)

Other:

-The Gingerbread Man’s main headquarters is in Taletown, despite the majority of his business dealings being in out in human New York. Not only does this put him near his own kind, but the wards help keep mortal authorities away from his place of business. He rebuilt an old abandoned hotel to its almost former glory, even allowing wealthy Tales to enjoy the accommodations so long as they were willing to pay the expensive tab, as well as mind their own business if they see anything less than legal. Though he renamed the hotel Il Pallazzo, most locals jokingly refer to the hotel as "The Bakery."

-GM makes his Breadwinners dress in dark suits and ties, a sort of uniform that he believes lends them an air of class. That is, if gorillas in suits were ever classy.

-The Breadwinners are composed mostly of mortal thugs, but he keeps some Tales employees on hand, such as Swan. And though most of his businesses lie outside of Taletown (as those make the most money) GM does have some small time operations occurring in the area. Despite being criminals, the Breadwinners act as a sort of unofficial peace keepers for his part of town. The Gingerbread Man likes to keep his house in order, and he considers his hotel and the surrounding area his. Thus his men stop any muggings, fights, vandalism, and any other job that would usually go to police, if Taletown had them. This, ironically, has made the Breadwinners’ territory much safer for the Tales living there than those who live outside of it.

EDIT: Put in image and corrections.

Who Believes In Fairytales?

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I absolutely LOVE Swan. Her backstory, appearance, and personality are wonderful. Giving her a re-chambered Lemat revolver is really cool since I have a love for the gun and have been using a re-chambered version in one of my own stories. My only concern is about how the gun 'always hits it's mark'. I guess it balances out since she's useless in close quarters combat due to her shitty physique and every seventh shot is doomed to screw her, but I just want a promise you won't abuse the gun to brain everyone's characters.

@Crosswire

I swear on the lives of my cute, adorable kittens that I will not go Rip Van Winkle on everyone's characters with my magic bullets.

You could totally make the Gingerbread Man as a second character, but I feel Swan would work better if she had someone to bounce off of. If you don't mind the Gingerbread Man potentially dying in the future, I could make and play as him.

@Crosswire

Thanks for the offer, but I'd like to give a shot at playing him. I actually had most of his character sheet written up already. :/

I'll post it tonight asap.

Who Believes In Fairytales?

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Man with the amount of smugglers and criminals Taletown is in a lot of trouble~

Swan looks okay to me, the non-curse thing miiiight be a slight thing since we'd need to discern what exactly she is and isn't immune to, I know you said jinxes and whatnot but wards and things are a little unclear. Also I'm unsure on where I stand with using Gingerbread man, on one hand he's fairly unlikely to be someone that a person wants to play since he's a bit more obtuse but that said if he were to be picked he#s kind of locked off as a character really, that said if he's the only one I can overlook it. I'll wait to see @Crosswire's thoughts and if she's fine with the character then Swan can be added to the character's tab

@Drag

Sounds good. For the Gingerbread Man, would it be easier if I took him as a second character? Are we allowed two?

Also, Swan isn't immune to curses, only resistant to them. Thus if the curse was powerful enough, it could affect her. She only has resistance to low-mid level curses, stuff like jinxes, hexes and vooodoo spells (i.e. long term enchantments on her mind/body/soul). Wards, shields and direct attack spells (fireball!) still affect her.

Who Believes In Fairytales?

I hope I'm not too late in joining in. It's a great story and would love to be involved.

Swan

Name: Swan
Alias/Nickname: The Ugly Duckling, Queen Odette, Gingerbread’s Ice Queen
Tale: The Ugly Duckling / Swan Lake
Physical Age: Late 20’s
Actual Age: 212
Height/Weight: 5’6” / 125 lbs
Gender: Female

Physical Appearance and Attire:

Swan is a tall, thin woman with pale blonde (almost white) hair and a pale complexion. She has an ethereal beauty due to her delicate appearance, which would lead many to (falsely) believe the woman to be physically weak. As befitting her rank as the lieutenant of the Tales’ Underworld’s most vicious crime bosses, Swan dresses in a crisp black pantsuit with white shirt and tie. She also never goes anywhere without wearing her long white trench coat, one that is belted snugly around her slim waist.

Personality:

Swan has a quiet, cold persona. She takes her job as The Gingerbread Man’s lieutenant very seriously and treats everyone except her employer with polite disdain. She never seems to lose her temper or cool, and is capable of ignoring even the most vicious of insults. Her aloofness and seeming inability to be affected by emotions has earned her the nickname “Gingerbread’s Ice Queen,” even though she isn’t related to the Snow Queen at all.

Background:

Swan started her early life as the Ugly Duckling. Everyone at the pond treated her badly, even her family, due to her appearance. Much of her childhood was spent being beaten and insulted by the other animals of the pond, and she was always cold and lonely. Eventually, after one long winter, she emerged from the snow reborn. Gone was the ugly duckling, and in her place was a beautiful swan. All the animals at the pond were so in awe of her beauty that they made her into their queen. Although throughout the years the former ugly duckling reigned over the pond justly, she secretly hated all of the animals around her, remembering all their past hurtful words and abuses.

Then one day, a human prince named Siegfreid arrived. Although many of the animals fled from him afraid, the Swan Queen did not. She had instantly fallen in love with the handsome young man, and quietly lamented that she and he could never be together due to her being only a swan. To her surprise, the Prince approaches her and places a kiss upon her head. She is suddenly engulfed in a bright, golden light, and upon the light’s vanishing she finds herself transformed into a human woman.

Prince Siegfreid explains that she is actually Princess Odette, the daughter of the king and queen of a nearby kingdom. Odette’s parents had an agreement with Siegfreid’s, that their children would be wed in order to unify the two kingdoms into one. Unfortunately, such a union was to the detriment of the evil sorcerer Rothbart. Upon Odette’s birth, Rothbart’s foul magic transformed the infant princess into a swan egg. The wizard then stole the egg and placed it upon a duck’s nest, where Odette would hatch and be none the wiser to her royal (and human) heritage. The prince goes on to tell her that her parents as well as his family never gave up on her, and continued searching for her for years until a few days ago when he was passing by a nearby village whereupon he heard the local hunters speak of a beautiful swan who lived at this pond. And with his bride found, Siegfreid put all his love into a kiss, a love so pure and genuine that it shattered the evil curse Rothbart had put upon her, transforming Odette into her true self. The prince and princess embrace and kiss each other in joy, and both looked forwards to the long, happy life they were to have together.

But alas it was not to be. As soon as the curse broke, Rothbart knew. He could not allow the two kingdoms to unite, so he transformed himself into a great gale so that he may travel the long distance from his dark tower towards the pond. He fell upon the prince and princess, showering them in snow and hail, freezing them with arctic winds, and blinding their eyes and ears with thunder and lightning. The brave Siegfreid tried vainly to fight off the vile sorcerer, but his sword could do no damage to the storm that Rothbart had become. With all hope lost, both Odette and Siegfreid decided to take their fates into their own hands and take their own lives by diving into the dark depths of the pond; although they would die, they would be together forever and away from the cold grip of the evil wizard. And so, both of the young royals tossed themselves into the cold, chilling water of the almost frozen pond, grasping each other and awaiting the reaper to take them.

Unfortunately, Odette felt panic at the last moment. Although her love for the prince was great, her desire to live was greater. And thus she broke away from Siegfreid’s arms and swam to the surface, leaving the prince behind in the cold dark depths. Her last memory of him were his dark blue eyes, the orbs shining with hurt and grief at her betrayal.

Rothbart’s laughter was the last thing Odette remembered as she ran away from the pond that was her home. The evil wizard found delight at the events that transpired and let her go; after all with the prince dead then the two kingdoms would never unite. Within a few years, both Odette and Siegfreid’s parents would die of grief, leaving no heirs to take their place. Both kingdoms were torn apart by the greedy nobles who sought to take the crown as their own.

Odette ran, and has been running ever since. Over the years she has grown more bitter and resentful, both at herself for her cowardice and at the world for its unfairness. In order to survive she worked various jobs for various employers, most of said work being less than legal. She has served as bodyguard, smuggler, thief, mercenary, and killer. Now calling herself Swan, she built up quite the reputation as being a cold, ruthless and, most importantly, effective problem solver.

Eventually her path led her to joining the exodus to the mortal plane where she came under the employ of The Gingerbread Man. She proved herself an impressive minion, and thus rose to become the crime boss’s right hand.

Skills and Abilities:

-Cold Heart: After a long childhood of bullying and abuse at the hands of the animals of the pond, Swan has grown a thick emotional shell. She is extremely slow to anger and is not easily riled. She can maintain a calm demeanor even when physically attacked, allowing her to coldly calculate the best way to survive an engagement.

-Underworld Savvy: Over a century’s experience dealing with criminals and their ilk, Swan is well versed in the ways of thieves, rogues, and murderers. She has many contacts in the criminal underground as well as in both the Tales government and the local mortal Police department.

-Twice Cursed: Swan is no stranger to magic. Not only had she been cursed by the powerful sorcerer Rothbart, but she has a current curse active that was put upon her by the Devil himself. Such powerful magics have had an effect on her physiology, such that now her body has become very resistant to curses. Any attempt by hedge wizards or witches jinx her has been met with failure; even simple glamours can’t be cast on her.

Starting Items/Trinkets:

-White coat: Swan never travels anywhere without her signature trench coat. The garment is a brilliant white, the same color as swan feathers. It has been enchanted to both repel dirt as well as mend itself if damaged.

-LeMat Revolver: Swan’s main weapon is a customized LeMat revolver. Its barrel and cylinder have been converted to fire seven cartridged .44 rounds. The lower barrel remains unchanged and can be loaded to fire a single 20 gauge shotgun shell.

-20 gauge rounds: Swan carries several spare shotgun shells in her belt. Most contain regular lead balls, but she keeps a couple loaded with silver on her person just in case she runs into more “esoteric” enemies.

-Seven .44 Zamiels: Seven magical bullets that Swan came into possession of after meeting the Devil in a dark forest. These legendary bullets are said to always hit their mark. Sadly, all this power comes with a price. Though six of the bullets move at the shooter’s will, it is said that the seventh moves at the Devil’s. Thus every seventh shot is guaranteed to cause misery. After the seventh bullet is expended, the gun is magically reloaded with the bullets once more. Anyone other than Swan shooting these cursed rounds causes all the bullets to fire with the Devil’s will.

Weaknesses and Flaws:

-Physically Weak: Although skilled in combat due to her centuries of experience, Swan is not that impressive physically. In fact, she is somewhat weaker than most Tales. She can easily be overpowered by stronger Tales, as well as overwhelmed by superior numbers.

- Alcoholic: Despite her dour nature (or perhaps because of it) Swan spends her off-hours in her room drinking herself into a stupor. Although she never lets her bad habit get in the way of her work, her addiction to alcohol is great. She often drowns herself in whiskey in order to fall asleep, though thanks to her nature as a Tale she never has to worry about debilitating hangovers.

-Zamiel’s Curse: Swan suffers the Devil’s curse with every seventh bullet she fires. Every seventh shot hits a target she was not aiming for, and often hits something or someone to do the maximum amount of misery to her. The cursed bullet has hit allies, innocent bystanders, her employers, and even Swan herself. What’s worse is that Swan can not prepare for it, as she is cursed to lose count of how many bullets she has fired. Even counting the rounds in the cylinder or having someone tell her the number of her shots will not allow Swan to know when the seventh bullet will be fired.

Also, I hope I'm not overstepping bounds by writing in some gang bosses. The Gingerbread Man is going to be somewhat vital in Swan's story but I can change it if I need to.

EDIT: Added pic.