Name: Earnest Corleone

Species: Vampire (Pureblood)

Appearance: Average height though not as tall as his older brother. He has a similar look, reasonably handsome with pale cold skin, deep crimson eyes, and black raven hair cut short with a pair of side bangs parted asymmetrically. He is youthful in appearance, clean shaven, looking as a young man of 18 or 19, when he is really closer to 270 years old. He’s usually dressed in very classy and aristocratic attire, mostly of 19th century era fashion, his brother’s wardrobe was mostly 18th century in comparison. He often wears white under black, and doesn’t care to dress formal as often as he might. His family crest is worn in a pendant around his neck, and he has a ring once worn by his older brother, linking him to his family’s high council, made up entirely of males representing the branches.

Background: Earnest is the last remaining heir of the fourth Corleone family branch, his mother being a direct descendant of the Corleone family’s head and great grandfather. His mother and father both pure blooded vampires from Italy and England respectively, were both killed by a vampire hunter, who happened to be Earnest’ uncle. They died protecting their home and castle, making sure all of their treasures, valuables and secrets, along with their two children were safely locked away from the clutches of mortal beings. Their two children, Santino and Earnest, stood in the castle, afraid to leave after their parent’s death, and went hungry for many years, until they braved the outside, while taking up their parent’s mantle and living to protect their home. Santino took it upon himself as the older brother to protect and nurture Earnest as they both grew, and established connection with their head family again. Their great grandfather and the high council, made Santino a representative of their family branch, since his mother was no longer alive. Since only males were allowed to represent their branch, Santino and Earnest’s mother was overlooked most of the time. Santino recounted to the council the horrific day his mother and father died, and that he requested some familial check-ups and meetings every year for future branches of the family without a male representative. The council agreed and granted Santino a designated seat, as well as visitation every year, regardless. Earnest had since then lived with Santino in better conditions, with more comfort, more luxuries, more blood, and more peace of mind. The brother’s cousins, Antoine and Louis, and their mother, Madame Pazanne would sometimes come to stay and visit with them, as well as Santino’s rich friend from his school years, Morticai Tepes, a descendant from Vlad Dracula himself.

Unfortunately Santino grew to be quite the ladies’ man, and a regular philanderer delighting in the nightly presence of women. He often made vampires of them, or even on occasions draining them entirely. Earnest was often the one to see his brother’s brief lady companions come and go, mostly in heartbreak and frustration, and had to send them away or help Santino bury any bodies. He grew used to the many girl’s attention towards him, as he was a young boy in appearance, and sometimes wished they didn’t have to leave. Some of them were already vampires, while others were witches or enchantresses. One of them being clever enough to resist Santino’s charms, and rarely visited. Earnest didn’t care so much for his brother’s numerous affairs, but rather his brother’s culinary talents, and trained under him to become a master chef. He learned of his family’s many artifacts and secrets kept in their castle’s vaults and dungeons and secret nooks behind secret rooms, and became familiar with the outside world through the many books in their castle library. He learned of his Uncle’s death years ago, and his family’s tie to working with werewolves to hunt down vampires. Though being taught all his life that werewolves are his kind’s natural enemy, Earnest himself felt unsure as to the reason why. Santino taught him most about handling dangerous situations, and emergency contingencies if the castle is ever in danger, but he did not teach him anything about what to do once he was gone.

One night, Earnest found that Santino could not be found anywhere in the castle, and wouldn’t respond to his calls for him. He checked every room, and then the secret rooms, where he found left behind in a lavish bedroom, a pile of ashes and red bones, and a skull with fangs. He also found a note beside them, on the bed, with Morticai’s family seal on it. Earnest mourned for his brother that day and reported his death to the high council with his close in age, cousin Antoine’s support. The high council made Earnest the representative to take his brother’s place, prepared a funeral for Santino’s death, and swore stealthy vengeance on Morticai Tepes. Since then, Earnest has grown slightly older by the decades and has mostly been alone, in his family’s castle, with little to do except eat and read, and hunt and write to his cousins, since they have had to attend to their own family issues, and could no longer stay to visit.

Though being out in the day is dangerous for vampires, because the sunlight is painful and suffocating for them, Earnest found a means to shade himself and stay in the dark shadows of the nearby surrounding forest, where he documented interesting flora and fauna, collected ingredients and even spied on human activity. He also went out at night, doing the same and comparing his observations. A few nights into his excursions, he heard and saw werewolves roaming close to the forest, disappearing back to the castle, in fear of meeting one too close. Since then, he never goes out on a full moon, but either the night before or the night after. And it was on one of those outings, that he came across a girl in the middle of the forest, alone and in distress, seemingly blind, cold, and without much to keep her covered. He thought she’d been attacked, and though he was reluctant to intervene and show hospitality, her blindness was to his advantage, and he decided to help her. He couldn’t have suspected that the girl he helped, and eventually started to fall in love with, was a werewolf herself.

Likes: Reading, drawing, cooking, learning about magic and history, spending time with his cousins, writing letters, writing poetry, making wine, tending to his growing collection of paintings, feeding birds, learning to play a violin as well as he can the accordion, olive oil and garlic (as it doesn’t actually do anything to vampires), making pastries, and befriending stray cats.

Dislikes: Opening or unwrapping parcels and packages, mice or rats, the summertime, rainstorms, thick blood or blood clots, werewolf howls, having to feed on innocents, licorice, hard alcohol, and dirtiness.

Name: Antoine Leveque

Species: Vampire (Pureblood)

Appearance: Tall, lean, pale skinned, with often bright red eyes. His hair is dusty blonde, wavy, and shoulder length but often tied back. He sometimes does or does not shave his chin hair, and wears a pair of bifocals a majority of the time. (He can see perfectly fine, but he likes to appear intelligent and busy.) He typically dresses in red, though isn’t picky, as he has many fashionable examples of men’s wear. Always dresses his finest when staying in his home, or when going out. He has a clean cravat around his neck and wears his family’s symbol around on a brooch pinned to his jackets or coat collar. His sleeves are sometimes billowing and sometimes frilled at the cuffs. He never leaves his home without his princely top hat and cane.

Background: Antoine Leveque is the younger and more successful of his siblings, being the only male in the family involved in helping to establish different, comforting, lavish, and pleasant hotels. He’s incredibly more financially successful, managing to both invest in repurposing of old properties, and donating to city landmarks and transportation and like the train station, the automobile inventors, and carriage service companies. Though he appears as serious and as important as vampires twice his age, he does have a playful side. He lavishes in hosting parties, pampering himself, making new friends, flirting with ladies, and trying new and exciting foods and treats. He isn’t nearly as busy as he pretends to be, and often likes to slip away to pretend to be working. Though he does in fact write letters and converse with his collaborators in meetings from place to place, he does little work himself, other than to convey his vision for a perfect hotel. He sometimes has unexpected encounters with humans that wander through, but he typically finds them unsatisfying to want to bite, not having a fresh and direct meal for himself in many years. He is too rich to feed in such a raw manner, and instead gets his blood already filtered, fresh and prepared in a glass.

Though as a boy, he’d visit breifly with his cousins Santino and Earnest Corleone at their castle, he took full advantage of his visits. He’d solve riddles, recount stories and play games with Earnest, and together the two learned about and found some of the secrets the Corleone family kept hidden within the castle. One of those secrets, being a golden ticket to success. They found a small vial which was nearly empty, holding a small amount of light liquid inside, which they discovered to be a magic potion of wealth and success made by a witch a long time ago. Antoine dared Earnest to drink it, but Earnest dared Antoine back, afraid it might taste bad. Antoine took the dare and drank the remainder of the potion, but, nothing seemed to happen, so they put it back, filling it with water in place of the potion and sneaking back out. Anotine still believes decades later that the potion is why he is so successful.

When he left Corleone castle, he was still a boy, and he had been living in his family’s mansion with his mother, older brother and four sisters. He slowly grew along with his siblings, his brother Louis becoming a head butler for another vampire family in their home, his older sister getting married off to a count, and his younger sisters all taking care of their mother, while on the hunt for their own husbands. Antoine himself stood behind, with nothing to do, and no one to talk with. He missed Santino and Earnest, and practiced making Italian dishes in memory of them.

As he grew, he expressed interest in spending money on things like fountains, paintings, instruments, pets, and décor. He enjoyed his gifts his mother spoiled him with, mostly clothing items and new hats. Dressed finely and looking confident, he grew to be a self-reliant gentlemen, as he took his gift of scene-setting, and designing, to investors. Liking his personality, and rare ties to French aristocracy, the investors gave him the chance he needed to succeed. And since then he’s been without worry, without trouble and without care.
Unfortunately this means, Antoine got bored very quickly and very often. He was in and out of relationships, even secretly dating men, unsatisfied with anyone. He grew tired of the same sorts of parties with the same sorts of guests, with the same sorts of dancing. Which is why he sought to put an end to his boredom with museum visits, and learning more about the world outside his own, and wondering if it had more to offer. He submerged himself in human mythology, gave new spins on Mediterranean foods, admired the mysterious art of Native Americans, and dared to try fishing for the first time, loving the serenity and excitement.

Just as he was beginning to feel less bored, one of his hotels had been awarded the finest prize in hospitality, and he was chosen to attend the ceremony for accepting the award. Reluctantly, he had agreed to go, though he had tasted the pleasures of exploration, and wasn’t sure he wanted to stay successful anymore. It was then when he found a young human woman in his mansion gardens, seemingly trespassing. He told her to leave, though her hand was cut and she had nothing else but her clothes to wrap it in. Anotine would come across her again, wandering the columns in his garden, and wondered if she was genuinely dumb to stick around at night in a city of vampires, a fresh cut on her hand. He hastily took her to his home’s front door to throw her out, but was shocked to see that suddenly in the middle of it, she had fallen asleep on the ground. Faced with a frustratingly humiliating situation, he let her stay in his home until she awoke. He introduced himself and she introduced herself as Abagail, and said she had wandered into his garden to die, but she couldn’t bring herself to cut her wrist or throat. Obviously distressed, Antoine asked her why she wanted to die, and learned that she had been branded an outcast, for her uselessness. (When really it’s because she was suffering from Narcolepsy.) He’d never encountered a human this eager to die and wasn’t about to let her become a vampire meal so easily, and he found himself, in a single night, taking an interest in her more than anyone else before.

Likes: Fine music and art in culture, gestures of admiration, romancing, gourmet meals, mythology, playing the piano, sorting through his assets and finding surprise financial dividend, tea and coffee, gifts and giving them, selling things, new fashion, new technology, dancing, parties, interior and exterior designing, and nearly anything with oranges in it.

Dislikes: Losing money, cannot stand flavorless food, unwarranted authority, human involvement, strings hanging from anything, boring entertainment, undusted shelves, dogs, autumn, cigars, walking on grass, and being unable to look at himself in anything other than a painting.

Name: Rama [Birth last name: Balthazar] Niel

Species: Human (Cursed)

Appearance: A young woman, though seemingly appears more aged in some manner. She has a quiet face, with dark yellow eyes, and a dangerous expression. Her hair flows to her mid-back, and is a sort of bloody magenta in color. She wears the attire of a knight, with a black and crimson armored and horned helmet, shoulder pauldrons, small chestplate, faulds, gauntlets, greaves, and sabatons. She wears a dark long sleeve dress with pants sewed into it, covering her completely. She also has a short red cape, ripped and worn, attached to her dress underneath, and wears a necklace with a single white feather attached to it around her neck. The most prominent thing about her appearance is of course the war lance and doll she carries around with her at all times.

Background: Rama was born Ramalda, and to a rich and happy family, her father a count and her mother a duchess. She was raised in comfort and stability, where she was allowed to grow and express herself in safety and to her own luxury. As a result however, she was often spoiled, and had many toys and games and clothes given to her. One night, her mother and father invited in a beautiful looking young woman to stay the night, when she could not walk to the nearby town’s inn. Curious about the young woman, Ramalda happily shared her things and played with her during her brief visit.

When it was time for the young woman to leave, Ramalda felt very sad, and demanded she stay. But alas she could not. Before the young woman left however, in the privacy of her guest room, she confessed to Ramalda that she was actually a witch. She told her she had to leave because she was being pursued by people who wish to see her burned for being a witch. Though she wished she could stay with Ramalda, she knew she couldn’t risk bringing danger to her and her family. The young woman cast a spell of protection over Ramalda, and sadly took her leave.

Ramalda missed the young woman, and found herself once again alone with her lavish life. She however felt confident enough to set off on her own, with her favorite doll, and ran away from her home to seek the young witch again.

Unfortunately, Ramalda found her, deep within the woods and away from the village. She came across her, as she hid behind the trees, and she was not alone. The young witch was speaking with another young witch, and they seemed to be old enemies. To Ramalda’s sheer fright and awe, the young witches did battle with one another, and greatly injured one another. Ramalda ran out to stop their fighting, and protect her friend, but was thrown aside. Sadly, the young witch was bested in battle and the victorious witch beheaded the poor woman. Ramalda wept and whimpered over to her, her decapitated head uttering out her final words to her, thanking Ramalda for being her friend and for getting too know her. The other witch set a fire to her foe’s decapitated body, and turned it to ash with her magic.

Ramalda was furious, and she attempted to kick the witch, screaming at her that she was evil for killing her. The witch snatched her up, and shouted back at her, telling her that she should be punished for trying to stop her revenge, silencing her, and thought of what she should do to the little girl. She cast a great spell, and with a look of satisfaction, she placed a curse on Ramalda.

Ramalda’s eyes turned a dark and empty yellow, and she felt her energy drain from here body, until she went limp and deep inside her heart a wretched, twisting despair lingered. She cried, afraid and cold, as the witch solidified the curse. The witch told her that she has cursed her very soul, which shall be kept inside her favorite doll. If the doll is destroyed, then she will die, and her soul will return to her body. However, she took the doll next, and placed a spell on it, making it indestructible. She then went on to say that if she dies, and the doll is left intact, her soul will forever inhabit the doll, unable to escape for all eternity. She left Ramalda, crying wearily in the woods, and flew away.

Ramalda, scared, alone, and lost, took to a nearby trail and wandered through the woods, until she came to the village again. She could not find her way back home, and no one would help the lost little girl, thinking she was a street orphan who was after money. She had to find a new place to live, and sought shelter with a old man and blacksmith who offered her a new home.

18 years later, Ramalda had gone by a new name, and had a new reputation. In living with and growing up with her adopted blacksmith father, she had learned about the many tools, weapons and protective armor that he would craft and sell. She trained herself to use many of the different weapons laying around in her father’s shop, and helped him repair, re-enforce and construct all sorts of things. The only thing she had trouble with, was changing horseshoes, as horses are one of the only animals she feels the least comfortable around.

Rama travels around the land on foot, typically with her identity hidden behind her armor, always carrying her favorite doll with her. She has only one goal set on her mind. She is employed to hunt down witches, and in the pursuit of the witch who cursed her, if she succeeds in beheading her, she is certain to break her curse and return her soul to its proper vessel.

Likes: Lovely dresses and fabrics, jewelry, playing card games with others, birds, watching clouds roll by, places with views, herbal teas, trading stores, baked sweets, pain relieving drugs, learning more about the realm of magic, making rich acquaintances, fixing things, helping out those in need, myths and legends, hunting, cider, and thunderstorms.

Dislikes: Having to climb over a log or up a tree, being hit on at pubs, other mercenaries, greedy people, most witches, horses, boats and having to cross any water that requires a boat to cross, the extreme cold such as a snowy mountain, the extreme heat such as a magma field, questionable stews, cats, having to come across an innocent witch, waiting for service on her armor or for weapons, odd jobs, haunted places, werewolves, chocolate, fog, and thieves.

Name: Gideon Stroggard

Species: Human (He swears!)

Appearance: Young but ragged and scrappy, with hair peppering down his jawline and chin. He has neck length, dusty hay-colored hair, and dark teal eyes. His ears are both pierced with one lobe holding a golden stud and loop, and the other holding a dulled fishhook. He wears a worn down tan shirt, with it’s collar sticking up, his ripped sailor slacks, trampy black boots, and his old, weathered, dark navy coat with belts across his waist and one over his chest. However his most recognizable trait, being the first thing people notice about him, are the large sandy brown feathery wings coming out of his back.

Background: The child of the notorious pirate, Captain Flock Stroggard, Gideon was taken away from his mother shortly after his 3rd birthday, and taken abord his father’s ship to be raised on the seas. Flock wanted his son to grow and inherit his ship, the crew and his legacy, to make a name for himself as a fearsome sea dog. Gideon was at first resentful for being taken away from his mother, but grew to be more delighted to sail. He grew up with pirates, helping them around the ship, and learning to tie knots, climb into the crow’s nest, swab, alert the crew, and defend himself against danger. By the time he was 7 or 8, he knew enough to be first mate of the ship, though he seldom did more than relieve the first mate of his own duties, and instead was re-purposed to work as a cabin boy, away from the upper decks as much as possible. This was due to the fact that his father feared Gideon would be more vulnerable during piracy raids and tousles with other pirates on the sea.

One night, during a storm, Gideon found himself atop deck, in the raging wind and rain, while the ship was under attack from a mighty serpent the men dubbed, “The Typhonjaw”. Though Gideon was only a boy, and could have easily died, he bravely fought the serpent back, while the crew either fell overboard, or were killed by the attempt to control the ship in the harsh storm, and escape. Gideon fell overboard while hanging onto a cannon and was quickly dragged down into the ocean. Flock was stopped from diving in after Gideon, and was left with the rest of the men to battle the Typhonjaw and sail to calmer waters. Though he was devastated on losing his son and his legacy, Flock assumes Gideon dead, and claimed by the sea.

When Gideon awoke, he was floating upon wood planks from the damaged ship, and coughing up sea water from his lungs. He was weary, and helpless, the ship gone, as well as the serpent and the storm with no land in sight. Seagulls came to curiously peck at him, thinking he is a body ready to feast upon. He waved them off and used the wooden planks to make his way across the water, determined to find land and humming one of the many hymns he learned with the pirates, to comfort himself. He kept a lookout for any ships or land in the distance. Instead, however, he found something following him as he swam. A group of mermaids curiously tailed him as he hummed, and it startled him. He quickly tried to get atop the wooden planks and out of the water as they surrounded him. Though he could not understand their language, they seemed to know he was a lost child and proceeded to assure him that he had nothing to fear from them. Although their true intention was to kill and eat him as soon as he had grown into an adult, and so they would guide him to the nearest island to eat and stay and grow large enough to harvest their next meal from with ease.

The mermaids took Gideon to a mysterious island, where he could at last find fresh water and food to sustain him. He thanked the mermaids by giving them some of his fish and some land meat as well. He made his own shelter, and kept track of the days with stones as he awaited rescue, keeping a look out for ships on occasion. He slowly explored much of the island including a deep jungle in the center, which hid an ancient looking temple of skulls, stones and leftover riches.

Fascinated, he couldn’t help but to explore the temple further. Then Gideon stumbled upon an old woman, who appeared to be native to the ancient people that once built the temple. She told him to leave the island and never to return. But Gideon wanted to know more about the temple and about the wrath of a goddess she seemed to fear should he climb to the top of the temple. The old woman urged Gideon to leave immediately for she has seen his fate and it could be avoided if he heeds her warning. Unfortunately Gideon wasn’t in the mood to listen to a crazy old lady and made his way up the temple steps until he got to the top. When he reached the top, he found lots of golden riches and ancient statues depicting several gods and creatures. A seagull perched at the top with him, was busy building a nest in one of the golden bowls of the treasure trove. Gideon shooed the seagull away, but it returned, squawking with another gull and they began attacking him. He tried striking at them with his wooden spear, but he lost balance and fell off the high top of the temple, to his death…or so he thought.

He had a vision of a beautiful ancient woman with a large headdress and adorned in golden jewelry and small skulls. She came over him and with one of her feathers, placed it into his chest. She told Gideon in order to truly be free, he must make peace with the spirits of freedom. The vision ended once Gideon felt his heart begin to beat harshly and suddenly he awoke once again on the jungle floor. He had seemingly survived his long fall and cheated death, though his back was killing him. To his utter shock and horror, he had two limbs attached to his back, covered in feathers; wings.

For a while, and much to the old lady’s dismay approaching him again, he screamed and cursed and cried over his new wings. The old lady, in an “I told you so” tone, told Gideon he would have been better off if he left when she told him to, but to nevertheless, he should thank the goddess for sparing him his life, and granting him this curse. Gideon lamented that he didn’t even know how to use his new wings, and could not go back to sailing if he looked like a giant seagull man. The old lady offered her wise advice to live with what has been given and to be at peace with it, that freedom comes with patience and responsibility. Gideon told her the goddess said to make peace with the spirits of freedom, and asked her if only then would he be rid of the wings. The old woman answered him that it is the goddess’ will, and only she may lift her own curse, not the mortal. But it would help him to prove himself worthy in her eyes. Gideon then left the temple, much to his chagrin, and refused to return to it, except to steal some of the gold around.

He eventually took to surviving on his own on the deserted island and slowly grew up little by little. Though he outgrew much of his clothing, he found some pirate corpses with clothes still on them that he could grow into. Occasionally he found a ship and flagged it over to his direction, but unfortunately they were scared off by his wings once they got closer and left him on the island. Gideon was left without help and without hope of rescue, refusing to learn how to use his wings to fly. However, he found himself little by little accepting and getting the feel of his wings, using them to sometimes shade himself from the sun, and to keep himself balanced. He then noticed the mermaids guarding the waters of the island to seemingly become more and more attractive to him. He worried they might be intending to drown him, if he allowed himself to become susceptible to their charms. They were making ready to lure him to the deep and kill him, his wings looking to be some extra meat on his body.

Gideon began building a raft in order to get off the island, with some provisions and some treasure to bring back with him. He even made a little flag to put on the raft’s main mast. He worked very hard and was determined to get off the island and sail to the east, where there was sure to be land. Gideon slept each night far from shore, because the mermaids had begun to sing louder and louder in an attempt to lure him into the water. He held his wings closely around himself and curiously decided to try flapping them one day. He did kick up a large gust as he did so, and got off the ground a little, but was afraid to go any higher. He wondered how long he could flap until he got tired, and if he could glide at all. He stretched his wings, plucked some of the feathers from them, and eventually began to practice flight, watching the seagulls. He had little success, but he also kept his chin up and eventually felt more and more confident as he practiced.

At last he was ready to leave the island, which he did in the early morning. Though the mermaids were there waiting for him, he sent them after his raft with a skeleton decoy inside it, while he resisted their song by singing his own, and made off with a satchel of food, water and some golden jewelry, taking to the sky and soaring high, away from the island and to the east.

He spotted several islands which he would rest at after flying for so long, and he replenished himself there before taking off again further and further east. Gideon hoped to find land at last, but was growing very tired as he journeyed across the open sea. He began to doubt he was heading east, and was worried there was no land in the direction he was going at all. Finally, he flew down from the clouds and onto what appeared to be another island, but as soon as he touched down, the whole island began to sink into the ocean! He flew off once more, and left in the direction he came, losing hope the longer he soared. He began to realize that birds aren’t as free as they look.

Finally, a relieved and overjoyed Gideon spotted land. He flew over to it and came to a seaport, where although he was a stranger and was admittingly freakish, the people seemed all too busy to notice or care that he had wings. He looked around, and seemed to be in a very foreign but overall populated place, with so many things and people and places around him. It was all so overwhelming. Gideon found a place to sell most of his gold to, and used the money to get himself food and lodging. He was sometimes unfairly treated as subhuman however for the most part, with fear and often with curiosity from others. Until one day, a circus owner came across him in a pub and offered to employ him to be a part of his freak show. Gideon agreed, although on one condition…that he can have a captain’s coat, and be announced as The Angel of Pirates instead of Gideon the Bird man.

Likes: Freedom, food, drink, games, riches, hunting for treasure, duels, stealing, singing sea shanties and hymns, telling stories, barmaidens, free flying, starting a fight to get out of one, and of course lively music and dance.

Dislikes: Old grudges, being caged, having to explain how he got wings, being called a bird, graveyards, tales about sea monsters, seeing slavery or indentured servants, coconuts and crab, fire near his wings, the sheer cold, and surprisingly, honey.

<x} I finished it.