Age of Steam.

[Nyx]

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The year is 1865, Victoria sits on the throne of England, the Industrial Revolution is evident across the modern world, the age of steam is upon us, and the 16th president of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln is dead.

Andrew Johnson, the newly sworn in president, has declared war on Britain.

“My fellow Americans, I take this post out of sadness, we as a country have lost a great man, and it is to our understanding that we have lost him to a foreign threat. This country used to called itself our mother, and now it works against us, threatened at how far we have come, how we have surpassed her. A widowed Queen governs this nation, and I am sure my dear Americans that you now know of whom I speak. It is believed that the individual who assassinated President Lincoln was working for the country of England. Why, we do not know we can only speculate, but we as a nation will not, and can not stand by and let a old and scared nation pick us off as they see fit. I call on you, people of America, and join our fight against this old Queen and her country.”

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Okay guys, to keep this simple you are welcome to join either side, you can be of any profession and if you so wish you can ignore the war altogether. It is essentially a alternate history steampunk setting, you do not need to know the history to do this, if you want extra info just ask me. Airships, crazy inventions etc are all okay but I will have to ask that anything invention-wise be passed by me first, I don’t want anything too overpowered to be set into play. The two main cities (assuming someone wants to play a Yank ) will be London and Washington D.C.

Bio-wise:

Name:
Age:
Profession:
Apperance:
Personality:
Skills:
Allegiance:
Background:
Additional Info:

Note: I will not be running this RP without the interest it needs to keep it going.

[Nyx]

Name: Erin Nicolson
Age: 25
Profession: Engineer

Appearance: Slim and fairly plain in appearance, long brown hair that’s usually tied back in a messy way, green eyes and pale skin. Clothing usually consists of a long pair of boots, cropped trousers and an oversized shirt, with a pair of goggles always on her person, but does have her fair share of more appropriate women’s clothing in her possession due to her mothers insistance.

Personality: Easily distracted but rarely means to be, can be rather defensive but more often than not misreads the situation. Smart woman when it comes to mechanics but not so great with the social aspects of life.

Skills: If its mechanical she can know how it works, what’s wrong with it, and how to improve it.

Allegiance: Britain

Background: Born into a middleclass family, her mother is your average socialite, her father however is something of an eccentric and encouraged his daughters interest in anything mechanical from a very early age when he found her taking apart and mending all the clocks in their family home. Entered into the guild at a unusually young age Erin absorbed any new infomation like a sponge but as usual lost interest once there was nothing new to learn, with her father's go-ahead she took over one of his small airship companies that is now world renownd for the quality of its workmanship, if also for the odd young woman that runs it.

Additional Info: Not usually interested in the world around her unless its something mechanical, usually gets dragged into things though due to her curiosity outweighing her lack of interest into getting in trouble.

[Ciaran]

Name: Octavius Kitchingham

Age: 19

Profession: Apprentice Engineer

Apperance: Short, thin, pale and always dirty. Smeers and smudges of black oil are always on his face and clothes, seeing as he's always too busy building of fixing things to clean up before moving onto the next project. He wears long black, leather boots with bronze capped toes. His auburn coloured trousers are always tucked into the ends of his boots. He also wears a white shirt, and brown suspenders with bronze clips, the shirt's top two buttons are always open and the sleeves always rolled up, revealing his white vest. He also wears a waistcoat and a brown cravat around his neck, Octavius ALWAYS wears his large brown & brass goggles on his forehead... unless he's working or wearing his classic brown flatcap... with his goggles onto of those.

Personality: An engineering prodigy, Octavius is poilte and charming, but also a bit of a troublemaker (inadvertantly). He seems to believe he's some sort of lady kiler due to his charming qualities.

Skills: Need something mechanical? Octavius is your man. He knows what makes things tick, while building, improving and inventing his own products. His own creativity and enthusiasm is often his downfall, as he doesn't often think his own ideas through as carefully as he should. These inventions often back fire... and blow up.

Allegiance: Britain

Background: With a medical background in his family, Octavius was supposed to become a successful doctor. As he grew older his fondess for anything mechanical also grew. He would still try and keep an interest in medical science, but gave up after he finally gave into his own heart, and following his own path to becoming an engineer.

Additional Info: Octavius has been arrested twice, once at the age of 16 and again at 17. Both times for attempted grave robbery. During his years on the medical career path when his interest was waning, he decided it'd be interesting if he could bring a corpse back to life via his own engineering ideas. The first time, he was caught just before he began to dig up the grave, the second just as he went to open the casket.

He has since then given up his crazy theory.

[Pyra]

Name: Captain George Arwell

Age: 28

Profession: Airship Captain

Appearance: George has an athletic build which while not appearing large or strong suggests he is willing to and has done manual work when required. He has green eyes and short neat brown hair and a handlebar moustache. He normally wears a pair of grey striped trousers, a white wing collar shirt with a red silk cravat, a grey waistcoat. A black morning dress coat (with white silk carnation in his left lapel), black chamois gloves dress boots and a top hat complete the look of a formally dressed gentleman. It would give that impression if not for the Walker Colt revolver and sabre he normally carries with him. While he is working he wears a plain white porcelain mask to hide his features.

Personality: Above all else Geroge is fair. While his occupation choice may sometimes cause he to harm people, he doesn't regret that because he knows it was their choice to take that job. He would never intentionaly hurt someone if there was a way he could avoid it however. At first if often seems he is quick to make decisions that cause problems for others but those that get to know him realise that he does this only when he believes it will be better for everyone.

Skills: Being able to make quick decisions and having no problems with asking people to make sacrifices for the greater good make George a good leader which is he main reason why he was voted into his currently held possition. He has had quite a bit of practice with his sabre and so is above average swordsman. Although not an engineer he works his time aboard a steam airship has resulted in him helping out with some basic repairs and maintainance.

Allegiance: Himself and his crew.

Background: George never knew what he wanted to do with his life. He had had a couple of jobs but he always lost them. He could never do something unless he thought it was the best course of action or trusted the person giving the instructions and this tension eventually became to much and he would end up getting fired. He was in one of those jobs working as a deckhand on a cargo airship when he was given a chance at a job he might be able to do. A small band of pirates attacked the ship to steal what they could. The pirates in question where known in this area, they had an unsual reputation of being calm and avoiding violence where they could during their raids. Their ship was even name after the serene way they acted. The pirates in question wore white porcelain masks to avoid giving away their identities. The crew didn't bother to defend against the raid not wanting to risk violence and happy to lose somebody elses cargo for their own safety. Geroge took this chance and offered to join the pirates.

He worked with them for quite a while, Captain Nathan was wise and conducted buisness in the best way for everyone even their victims. Over the years there where times when George had to fight and kill those who would protect their cargo and while he personally thougth it was foolish of them he respected their choice. He didn't hesitate to kill them though. With the outbreak of war their were more important deliveries flying around and less guards so they all did well. However there were a few warships being used and during an encounter with a confederate ariship Serenity was damaged and Captain Nathan was killed. The crew voted for George to take over as Captain due to the leadership skills he had shown and he has since been leading them in the same style of raids they have always been doing.

Additional Info: Although he thinks of himself as independant George is American. However he'd only act in America's interests if doing so would further his own.

[Phoenix Taichou]

Name: Emmet O' Brien
Age: 33
Profession: Handyman/Engineer


Appearance:
Emmet is tall and athletically built. Having always been tall kept him out of trouble when young, and he built himself up through his years of working the docks. Emmet has messy brown medium length straight hair, usually covered with a simple brown cap. He has bright blue eyes accompanied by thin brown eyebrows that are slightly raised giving him the appearance of permanent surprise or curiosity. A well kept natural moustache sits at home under his long, thin nose. He usually wears more practical clothing, simple white shirts, trousers and braces, occasionally wearing a waistcoat and jacket when he is not working.

Personality:
Emmet is generally polite and usually seen as quiet until he gets a few drinks in him. Although he is well respected and liked, there are some that question his loyalty to England because of his lineage, and he has been in occasional trouble because of it. He likes to keep to his studies when he can, and generally only involves himself in anything when it holds his interest or is personal. His large stature often leads to difficult first impressions.

Skills: Emmet is not shy to manual labour, and his years of studying engineering and steam power have turned him into somewhat of a local engineering legend.

Allegiance: Primarily to Ireland, but generally to Britain

Background:
An only child sent to England at 15 during the Great Famine, Emmet worked on the docks, spending as little money as he could to survive and sending the rest home to his family. In the few possessions he took with him were two of his fathers books, on the great engineers Isambard Brunel and Adalbert Zander. Whilst Emmet worked the docks, in his spare time he studied these books, slowly acquiring more, and began to practise his own engineering. As time went by he gained a reputation, starting with fixing simple mechanics to earn an extra coin, until people soon started coming to him for help.

Additional Info:
Emmet has a fear of heights, something which has thus far hampered him in some of his grander exploits.

[Zirak]

Name: Archibald Hinley

Age: 32

Profession: Private Investigator/Adventurer

Appearance: Archibald is fairly tall at 6 foot even and has a slim, if lithe, build. He has thick, black hair that he keeps at just below shoulder length, either tied back or open as the mood takes him. A small scar is visible on his right cheek that suggests he lives a life with more risk than the norm. He has bright blue eyes that provides a stark contrast to his dark hair. He tends to dress smartly in a white shirt, dark red vest, black trousers, black long-coat and black leather boots.

Personality: Never say die is Archibald’s philosophy. No matter the situation he tends to wear a jaunty smile and exude a calm confidence that surprises his friends and unnerves his enemies. He likes to live dangerously and this nature is what drew him to a life of travel and adventure. He tends to act quite aloof and cannot resist to offer his opinion on any matter he has knowledge of, no matter how little. He likes to be heard, especially if he’s right.

Skills: Coming from a wealthy background he is well educated and his travels to exotic lands have also afforded him some knowledge of the mysterious and even mystical. In addition he is an excellent shot and a skilled swordsman.

Allegiance: Great Britain

Background: Born into a wealthy upper-class family he had the best education money could buy but as he grew older he became bored with the strict etiquette and social requirements imposed on him by his family. When he was 18 he left his family and their life, pursuing one of danger and adventures with forays into strange and unique lands. Constantly living on the edge and several near-death experiences forced him to hone his combat skills and he is now never seen without his custom Beaumont-Adams revolver, a gift from Queen Victoria herself for his services for Queen & Country. He also carries an elaborate but fully functional longsword, unconventionally sheathed on his back.

The reputation he garnered in his adventures grew swiftly and he was soon performing special tasks and missions for the British Empire, though he insisted he remain independent. Most recently they have called on him to solve the mystery behind Lincoln’s assassination and find the true perpetrator. Britain is, of course, innocent and had no hand in his death, he was assured.

Additional Info: He has a strong sense of patriotism though he has enough sense to look at the Lincoln assassination without blind anger at the affront the new President has caused. He is more concerned with preventing any unnecessary loss of life.