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ysabetwordsmithHere are the character notes for "The Surest Passport to Fortune."
Esma Romica -- She has tinted skin and brown eyes. Her long curly hair was dark in her youth and has paled to silver with hints of gold. She is tall and slim. Her heritage is Romani. She speaks English, Italian, Romani, and Spanish. She is 65 years old in 2015.
Esma is the mother of youngest daughter Eldorai (30) and grandmother of grandson of Durril (8). Esma grew up in a Romani caravan traveling around North America. As a girl, her family joined a traveling circus, the Wandering Wonders. There she began working with horses as her contribution. Her equestrian skills include raising and training horses, trick riding, liberty acts, and other animal shows in the circus as well as running the pony/horse rides for guests. She works primarily with Gypsy Vanners and ponies. Her prime stallion is Sir Prance-a-lot.
Off duty, Esma wears practical but colorful clothes, usually with a floral scarf over her hair. On duty, she wears a sheer pantsuit decorated with pastel flowers. In her youth, she performed in a sequined swimsuit, but now prefers more coverage. Between her ethnicity and her profession, Esma attracts a lot of negative attention from bigots.
Qualities: Master (+6) Equestrienne, Master (+6) Wisdom, Expert (+4) Athletic, Expert (+4) Grandmother, Expert (+4) Naturalistic Intelligence, Good (+2) Musician, Good (+2) Reading People, Good (+2) Teamwork
Poor (-2) Bigot Magnet
Esma Romica in Ring
Esma Romica Portrait
Eldorai Romica -- She has tinted skin, brown eyes, and long wavy hair of light brown. She is tall and curvy. Her heritage is Romani. She speaks English, Greek, Romani, and Spanish. She is 30 years old in 2015.
Eldorai is the youngest daughter of Esma (65) and aunt of Durril (8). Eldorai works with her family at a circus, the Wandering Wonders. She helps her mother with the horses and ponies, performing as a trick rider and working the pony/horse rides for guests.
Off duty, she wears practical women's clothes, mostly in black and white. On duty, she wears a sequined swimsuit in pastel swirls. Unfortunately she is pretty enough to attract constant, unwanted attention from guests. She is holding out to find a Romani man willing to join her circus.
Qualities: Good (+2) Athletic, Good (+2) Cheerful, Good (+2) Equestrienne, Good (+2) Kinesthetic Ingelligence, Good (+2) Loves Children
Poor (-2) Jerk Magnet
Durril Romica -- He has light skin, brown eyes, and short black hair. His heritage is Romani. He speaks English and Romani; he is learning Spanish. He is 8 years old in 2015.
Durril is the grandson of Esma (65) and nephew of Eldorai (30). He works with his family at a circus, the Wandering Wonders. He has not fully settled into a specialty yet. He helps his family care for the horses and ponies. He plays accordion and fiddle. He has been working with the dog act since he was 5. He is a ventriloquist. Sometimes he serves as ringmaster for the Children's Circus.
A year ago, Durril's favorite dog Graybeard passed away. Not long after that, a stray showed up at the circus who turned out to be telempathic. Durril set him up as a fortune teller, Master Zim. Although the dog cannot actually see the future, he can read people quite well and use that to predict things likely to happen in their life. Durril uses his ventriloquism to create a "talking dog" act in which he recites the "fortunes" that Master Zim sends him. They like to joke that Durril is Master Zim's pet, rather than the other way around. Their gig is enormously popular and profitable.
On duty, Durril wears a fancy "liveried servant" costume in his role supporting Master Zim, a ringmaster's coat when running the Children's Circus, and a simpler white shirt with black pants for other performances. Off duty, he likes practical and colorful boy clothes. Recently Durril has made friends with a foster care refugee, Barric Edgerly (10) as they are close in age and both love working with animals.
Qualities: Good (+2) Agility, Good (+2) Circus Performer, Good (+2) Musician
Poor (-2) Undecided
Master Zim -- He is a dog with short black-and-tan fur, a white belly, and vivid silver-blue eyes. His features suggest possible heritage from Alaskan malamute or husky, beagle, German shepherd, and pug. He has a broad head with a high forehead; his semi-erect ears can prick all the way up or fold all the way down. In front he has long nimble toes and short semi-opposable thumbs tipped with claws; the pads are thick enough to function as paws, but thin enough to serve as clumsy hands. In back his paws are more like feet, somewhere between plantigrade and digitigrade; he can stand or sit upright easily, but prefers to walk on all fours. He tends to carry his tail high with a bit of curve. Master Zim is at least 10 years old in 2015, based on when he escaped, but does not know how much older he may be -- likely at least several years.
Born in a mad science lab, he was separated from his family as a puppy and does not know what happened to them. Early on he realized that these were terrible people so he hid his telempathy and eventually used it to escape. After that, he met a college professor who named him Zack and stayed with him until the man's death. Their time together made him a scholar; he can read and write, and he enjoys reading about the history of animals and superpowers.
Not long afterward, the Wandering Wonders traveling circus passed through town. The superdog made friends with Durril Romica (then 7) who invited him to join the show. When Durril realized that the dog could read people, they came up with the fortune telling act and Durril suggested the name Master Zim. The costume was something Master Zim concocted with the help of the show's costumers, who knew the history of fortune telling schticks and show dress. Master Zim cannot actually see the future, but he can read people quite well and uses that to predict things likely to happen in their life. Durril uses his ventriloquism to create a "talking dog" act in which he recites the "fortunes" that Master Zim sends him. They like to joke that Durril is Master Zim's pet, rather than the other way around. Their gig is enormously popular and profitable.
Origin: Mad science. Master Zim was created by Carl Bernhardt.
Uniform: On duty, Master Zim wears a gold turban adorned with costume jewels and feathers, a velvet collar, a black sequined vest, and black satin pants. Off duty, he wears an ivory shirt and plain black pants, similar to what many of the circus employees wear. He sleeps in pajamas. He wears gloves, boots, and a coat in bad weather. He even has nylon colllars and harnesses for bathing. Master Zim never goes nude. He won't risk being mistaken for an ordinary dog, and a dog wearing clothes will get a more careful look from anyone.
Qualities: Good (+2) Agility, Good (+2) Dog, Good (+2) Scholar, Good (+2) Showmanship, Good (+2) Reading People
Powers: Good (+2) Enhanced Lifespan, Good (+2) Super-Intellect, Good (+2) Telempathy
Motivation: To understand people.
Barric Edgerly -- He has fair skin, brown eyes, and short brown hair with a little wave. His heritage is American. He speaks English; he is learning Italian and Romani. He is 10 years old in 2015.
Barric grew up on a farm in Nebraska. He helped take care of the livestock, worked in the garden, and assisted at their farmer's market booth. When he was 8, his parents were killed by a drunk driver. He and his siblings were put into foster care, where they were promptly split up and shuffled around to different homes. Barric was abused physically, emotionally, and sexually by various people. However, he maintained his cheerful personality. He never gave up his determination to make a better life for himself.
While Barric was living in Lincoln, the Wandering Wonders circus came thorugh. He had heard other children joke about it, but he knew that "run away to the circus" was a protected option. So he took himself behind the tents and successfully argued that his farm skills and work ethic would make him an asset to the show. Barric was taken in by Lonzo the Lion Tamer, on the hunch that he'd probably do well with some sort of animal act after studying circus skills. So far Barric is just a roustabout, caring for animals, helping with setup and takedown, doing other odd jobs around the circus.
Barric is quite happy with the circus community, considering it the best family he's found since losing his parents. He is carefully studying the various animal acts and other circus arts to consider what he'd like to do in the future. He is unwilling to leave. He has become close friends with Durril Romica (8) who runs a fortune telling gig alongside his psychic dog Master Zim, since the boys are near in age. Barric still struggles with the damage left by foster care, but he's far from the only circus worker with a traumatic background, so that support helps. He wears rustic boy clothes in dull earth colors.
Qualities: Good (+2) Cheerful, Good (+2) Farm Boy, Good (+2) Hard Worker, Good (+2) Naturalistic Intelligence
Poor (-2) Foster Care Survivor
Lonzo the Lion Tamer (Alonzo Napoletani) -- He has light brown skin, black eyes, and short hair of dark brown with a mustache and beard. His heritage is Italian-American. He speaks English and Italian. He is 38 years old in 2015.
Alonzo grew up in the Little Italy neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, Eastbord, New York. However, he wasn't satisfied spending all his time in such a big city. He wanted to see more of the world, especially the wilder parts. So he joined a traveling circus, the Wandering Wonders. After a few years working as a roustabout, he showed a knack for the animal acts. His first act featured highly atheletic feats with small wild cats such as jaguarundis, margays, and ocelots. Later he assisted with the big cats. When the old lion tamer died, he took over as Lonzo the Lion Tamer. His current act features lions, tigers, cougars, and leopards. His favorite stud is Lombard the Lion.
Lonzo is an avid conservationalist who campaigns for wild cat protection and habitat preservation. Outside of the main show hours, he and his cats staff a booth for feline charities, and he donates part of his show pay as well. He is skilled in rescue work, and several of his star performers are rescued cats who can't be released in the wild -- mostly ones taken as kittens from poachers or exotic animal traffickers. He really hates people who harass wild animals.
On duty, Lonzo wears various "wild man" or "safari" style costumes. Off duty, he wears practical men's clothes mostly in shades of black, brown, and khaki. Sometimes he wears cat prints like jaguar spots or tiger stripes. Lonzo is territorial and rarely allows anyone else in his personal trailer, but he has recently taken in a foster care survivor, Barric Edgerly (10), who ran away from an abusive home. Barric is a diligent roustabout, and Lonzo is teaching him about all the animals who work in the circus to see what kind of gig he would like to develop in the future.
Qualities: Expert (+4) Lion Tamer, Good (+2) Happy, Good (+2) Naturalistic Intelligence, Good (+2) Protective, Good (+2) Strength
Poor (-2) Territorial
Emiliano Dalmonte -- He has olive skin, black eyes, and short wavy hair of dark brown. His heritage includes American, Italian, and Spanish. He speaks Arabic, English, French, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. He is 33 years old in 2015.
Emiliano grew up in the Italian Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, Eastbord, New York. It was rough enough that a lot of childhood trauma happened there. Emiliano became a private investigator, traveling all over the country to track down lost, abused, trafficked, or otherwise endangered children. As a result, he has friends in many different places and professions. His skills brought him to the attention of the supervillain community, and after some wary negotiating, they agreed that they could work together on some cases and try to stay out of each other's hair with others. While a skilled detective, Emiliano is bad at minding his own business. This has cost him many friendships and more than a few romances. So he's still single. Most recently, he got recruited to help track down foster children from Nebraska who had left the state one way or another.
Most of the time, Emiliano dresses to blend in with wherever he is currently. Sometimes that means jeans and a T-shirt, other times a button-up shirt and sportcoat over chinos. His looks give him an advantage because he can pass for Italian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, or most other Mediterranean heritage depending on what neighborhood he needs to visit.
Qualities: Good (+2) Citizen, Good (+2) Fast, Good (+2) Friends All Over, Good (+2) Observant, Good (+2) Private Investigator
Poor (-2) Minding His Own Business
Esma Romica -- She has tinted skin and brown eyes. Her long curly hair was dark in her youth and has paled to silver with hints of gold. She is tall and slim. Her heritage is Romani. She speaks English, Italian, Romani, and Spanish. She is 65 years old in 2015.
Esma is the mother of youngest daughter Eldorai (30) and grandmother of grandson of Durril (8). Esma grew up in a Romani caravan traveling around North America. As a girl, her family joined a traveling circus, the Wandering Wonders. There she began working with horses as her contribution. Her equestrian skills include raising and training horses, trick riding, liberty acts, and other animal shows in the circus as well as running the pony/horse rides for guests. She works primarily with Gypsy Vanners and ponies. Her prime stallion is Sir Prance-a-lot.
Off duty, Esma wears practical but colorful clothes, usually with a floral scarf over her hair. On duty, she wears a sheer pantsuit decorated with pastel flowers. In her youth, she performed in a sequined swimsuit, but now prefers more coverage. Between her ethnicity and her profession, Esma attracts a lot of negative attention from bigots.
Qualities: Master (+6) Equestrienne, Master (+6) Wisdom, Expert (+4) Athletic, Expert (+4) Grandmother, Expert (+4) Naturalistic Intelligence, Good (+2) Musician, Good (+2) Reading People, Good (+2) Teamwork
Poor (-2) Bigot Magnet
Esma Romica in Ring
Esma Romica Portrait
Eldorai Romica -- She has tinted skin, brown eyes, and long wavy hair of light brown. She is tall and curvy. Her heritage is Romani. She speaks English, Greek, Romani, and Spanish. She is 30 years old in 2015.
Eldorai is the youngest daughter of Esma (65) and aunt of Durril (8). Eldorai works with her family at a circus, the Wandering Wonders. She helps her mother with the horses and ponies, performing as a trick rider and working the pony/horse rides for guests.
Off duty, she wears practical women's clothes, mostly in black and white. On duty, she wears a sequined swimsuit in pastel swirls. Unfortunately she is pretty enough to attract constant, unwanted attention from guests. She is holding out to find a Romani man willing to join her circus.
Qualities: Good (+2) Athletic, Good (+2) Cheerful, Good (+2) Equestrienne, Good (+2) Kinesthetic Ingelligence, Good (+2) Loves Children
Poor (-2) Jerk Magnet
Durril Romica -- He has light skin, brown eyes, and short black hair. His heritage is Romani. He speaks English and Romani; he is learning Spanish. He is 8 years old in 2015.
Durril is the grandson of Esma (65) and nephew of Eldorai (30). He works with his family at a circus, the Wandering Wonders. He has not fully settled into a specialty yet. He helps his family care for the horses and ponies. He plays accordion and fiddle. He has been working with the dog act since he was 5. He is a ventriloquist. Sometimes he serves as ringmaster for the Children's Circus.
A year ago, Durril's favorite dog Graybeard passed away. Not long after that, a stray showed up at the circus who turned out to be telempathic. Durril set him up as a fortune teller, Master Zim. Although the dog cannot actually see the future, he can read people quite well and use that to predict things likely to happen in their life. Durril uses his ventriloquism to create a "talking dog" act in which he recites the "fortunes" that Master Zim sends him. They like to joke that Durril is Master Zim's pet, rather than the other way around. Their gig is enormously popular and profitable.
On duty, Durril wears a fancy "liveried servant" costume in his role supporting Master Zim, a ringmaster's coat when running the Children's Circus, and a simpler white shirt with black pants for other performances. Off duty, he likes practical and colorful boy clothes. Recently Durril has made friends with a foster care refugee, Barric Edgerly (10) as they are close in age and both love working with animals.
Qualities: Good (+2) Agility, Good (+2) Circus Performer, Good (+2) Musician
Poor (-2) Undecided
Master Zim -- He is a dog with short black-and-tan fur, a white belly, and vivid silver-blue eyes. His features suggest possible heritage from Alaskan malamute or husky, beagle, German shepherd, and pug. He has a broad head with a high forehead; his semi-erect ears can prick all the way up or fold all the way down. In front he has long nimble toes and short semi-opposable thumbs tipped with claws; the pads are thick enough to function as paws, but thin enough to serve as clumsy hands. In back his paws are more like feet, somewhere between plantigrade and digitigrade; he can stand or sit upright easily, but prefers to walk on all fours. He tends to carry his tail high with a bit of curve. Master Zim is at least 10 years old in 2015, based on when he escaped, but does not know how much older he may be -- likely at least several years.
Born in a mad science lab, he was separated from his family as a puppy and does not know what happened to them. Early on he realized that these were terrible people so he hid his telempathy and eventually used it to escape. After that, he met a college professor who named him Zack and stayed with him until the man's death. Their time together made him a scholar; he can read and write, and he enjoys reading about the history of animals and superpowers.
Not long afterward, the Wandering Wonders traveling circus passed through town. The superdog made friends with Durril Romica (then 7) who invited him to join the show. When Durril realized that the dog could read people, they came up with the fortune telling act and Durril suggested the name Master Zim. The costume was something Master Zim concocted with the help of the show's costumers, who knew the history of fortune telling schticks and show dress. Master Zim cannot actually see the future, but he can read people quite well and uses that to predict things likely to happen in their life. Durril uses his ventriloquism to create a "talking dog" act in which he recites the "fortunes" that Master Zim sends him. They like to joke that Durril is Master Zim's pet, rather than the other way around. Their gig is enormously popular and profitable.
Origin: Mad science. Master Zim was created by Carl Bernhardt.
Uniform: On duty, Master Zim wears a gold turban adorned with costume jewels and feathers, a velvet collar, a black sequined vest, and black satin pants. Off duty, he wears an ivory shirt and plain black pants, similar to what many of the circus employees wear. He sleeps in pajamas. He wears gloves, boots, and a coat in bad weather. He even has nylon colllars and harnesses for bathing. Master Zim never goes nude. He won't risk being mistaken for an ordinary dog, and a dog wearing clothes will get a more careful look from anyone.
Qualities: Good (+2) Agility, Good (+2) Dog, Good (+2) Scholar, Good (+2) Showmanship, Good (+2) Reading People
Powers: Good (+2) Enhanced Lifespan, Good (+2) Super-Intellect, Good (+2) Telempathy
Motivation: To understand people.
Barric Edgerly -- He has fair skin, brown eyes, and short brown hair with a little wave. His heritage is American. He speaks English; he is learning Italian and Romani. He is 10 years old in 2015.
Barric grew up on a farm in Nebraska. He helped take care of the livestock, worked in the garden, and assisted at their farmer's market booth. When he was 8, his parents were killed by a drunk driver. He and his siblings were put into foster care, where they were promptly split up and shuffled around to different homes. Barric was abused physically, emotionally, and sexually by various people. However, he maintained his cheerful personality. He never gave up his determination to make a better life for himself.
While Barric was living in Lincoln, the Wandering Wonders circus came thorugh. He had heard other children joke about it, but he knew that "run away to the circus" was a protected option. So he took himself behind the tents and successfully argued that his farm skills and work ethic would make him an asset to the show. Barric was taken in by Lonzo the Lion Tamer, on the hunch that he'd probably do well with some sort of animal act after studying circus skills. So far Barric is just a roustabout, caring for animals, helping with setup and takedown, doing other odd jobs around the circus.
Barric is quite happy with the circus community, considering it the best family he's found since losing his parents. He is carefully studying the various animal acts and other circus arts to consider what he'd like to do in the future. He is unwilling to leave. He has become close friends with Durril Romica (8) who runs a fortune telling gig alongside his psychic dog Master Zim, since the boys are near in age. Barric still struggles with the damage left by foster care, but he's far from the only circus worker with a traumatic background, so that support helps. He wears rustic boy clothes in dull earth colors.
Qualities: Good (+2) Cheerful, Good (+2) Farm Boy, Good (+2) Hard Worker, Good (+2) Naturalistic Intelligence
Poor (-2) Foster Care Survivor
Lonzo the Lion Tamer (Alonzo Napoletani) -- He has light brown skin, black eyes, and short hair of dark brown with a mustache and beard. His heritage is Italian-American. He speaks English and Italian. He is 38 years old in 2015.
Alonzo grew up in the Little Italy neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, Eastbord, New York. However, he wasn't satisfied spending all his time in such a big city. He wanted to see more of the world, especially the wilder parts. So he joined a traveling circus, the Wandering Wonders. After a few years working as a roustabout, he showed a knack for the animal acts. His first act featured highly atheletic feats with small wild cats such as jaguarundis, margays, and ocelots. Later he assisted with the big cats. When the old lion tamer died, he took over as Lonzo the Lion Tamer. His current act features lions, tigers, cougars, and leopards. His favorite stud is Lombard the Lion.
Lonzo is an avid conservationalist who campaigns for wild cat protection and habitat preservation. Outside of the main show hours, he and his cats staff a booth for feline charities, and he donates part of his show pay as well. He is skilled in rescue work, and several of his star performers are rescued cats who can't be released in the wild -- mostly ones taken as kittens from poachers or exotic animal traffickers. He really hates people who harass wild animals.
On duty, Lonzo wears various "wild man" or "safari" style costumes. Off duty, he wears practical men's clothes mostly in shades of black, brown, and khaki. Sometimes he wears cat prints like jaguar spots or tiger stripes. Lonzo is territorial and rarely allows anyone else in his personal trailer, but he has recently taken in a foster care survivor, Barric Edgerly (10), who ran away from an abusive home. Barric is a diligent roustabout, and Lonzo is teaching him about all the animals who work in the circus to see what kind of gig he would like to develop in the future.
Qualities: Expert (+4) Lion Tamer, Good (+2) Happy, Good (+2) Naturalistic Intelligence, Good (+2) Protective, Good (+2) Strength
Poor (-2) Territorial
Emiliano Dalmonte -- He has olive skin, black eyes, and short wavy hair of dark brown. His heritage includes American, Italian, and Spanish. He speaks Arabic, English, French, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. He is 33 years old in 2015.
Emiliano grew up in the Italian Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, Eastbord, New York. It was rough enough that a lot of childhood trauma happened there. Emiliano became a private investigator, traveling all over the country to track down lost, abused, trafficked, or otherwise endangered children. As a result, he has friends in many different places and professions. His skills brought him to the attention of the supervillain community, and after some wary negotiating, they agreed that they could work together on some cases and try to stay out of each other's hair with others. While a skilled detective, Emiliano is bad at minding his own business. This has cost him many friendships and more than a few romances. So he's still single. Most recently, he got recruited to help track down foster children from Nebraska who had left the state one way or another.
Most of the time, Emiliano dresses to blend in with wherever he is currently. Sometimes that means jeans and a T-shirt, other times a button-up shirt and sportcoat over chinos. His looks give him an advantage because he can pass for Italian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, or most other Mediterranean heritage depending on what neighborhood he needs to visit.
Qualities: Good (+2) Citizen, Good (+2) Fast, Good (+2) Friends All Over, Good (+2) Observant, Good (+2) Private Investigator
Poor (-2) Minding His Own Business
(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-18 05:25 pm (UTC)Hmm... since he can read, I wonder if he knows what happened to that (expletive).
Well ...
Date: 2024-01-18 08:17 pm (UTC)* whether Master Zim knows Carl Bernhardt by name or face
* which likely depends on how much direct contact they had and how old Zim was at the time
* and how much attention Zim pays to townie news, which is probably not much.