Mother to Ambrose Wilkes, leader of the Black Powder Gang, Lottie has not only survived the brutal affections of her former pimp and a career as a prostitute, but thrived. While she’s not officially part of the Black Powder Gang, it’s well known that she advises her son from time to time. She also acts as the house mother and madame of the Gun, protecting her girls and her son’s interests at the same time.
Giovanni De Mura
Giovanni was born in Naples and came from a poor background. His father was a foundry worker, and his mother a seamstress. Giovanni started out as a street singer. At 22 he made his stage debut in Naples, and lived for a few years the life of a starving artist, traveling around Italy and Portugal and earning very little. His voice grew in power and weight as he aged, and at the age of 29 in Milan he met an opera manager from London who, after hearing him sing, engaged him for a six season contract with the Royal Opera. In London, Giovanni suddenly finds himself very successful – for the first time in his life, he has money, fame and recognition. Whether or not he can survive the allures of success remains to be seen.
Ippolita Celetti
Prima Donna Ippolita Celetti has risen to international fame for the unmatched quality of her lyrical voice. Both her parents were opera singers from Sicily, and she spent her entire life traveling the stages of the world. Despite being of Italian heritage, she was born in Spain and spent most of her youth in New York, where she debuted at 16 years of age. She performed at 18 for the first time in Covent Garden and saw such grand success that she chose London as her base and purchased a house there. Then she went on to conquer the European continent, performing in Paris, Vienna, and St. Petersburg, and becoming an idol. Her voice is known to move tsars, kings, and generals to tears. She is business-savvy and demands extravagant fees. She is at the height of her fame, and it is rumored that she is set to marry a marquess.
Lisette Berwald
The famed “Swedish nightingale” Lisette Berwald is a star soprano opera singer. She resides in London, and will do so for at least the next two seasons. Her performances at the Royal Italian Opera have been met with rave reviews and much acclaim by critics and laypeople alike. Born in Sweden, she was discovered for her extraordinary voice and has been a court singer in Sweden and Norway, followed by engagements in Berlin and Vienna, where she was mobbed by admirers and received by royals. Now in London, she has secured the most lucrative deal of her career – but fate is capricious and past struggles with vocal damage may (or may not) come back to haunt her.
Joseph Warrens
Only the best of the best survive the harsh streets of Whitechapel, and Joseph Warrens has long since proven himself among those ranks. Born and raised in the poverty-stricken and dangerous streets he would later police, Joseph has a keen understanding of the woes and challenges that the people of his jurisdiction face. He spent his entire career in Whitechapel, and now has risen to the rather unenviable position of superintendent over Division H of the London Metropolitan Police. He is responsible for every success and failure of his men, and with the unique challenges Whitechapel offers, it’s often more failures than successes. While he is fiercely loyal to his men and fiercely protective of the streets that are his to protect, he has long since learned to play the bureaucratic games that his position requires. While his integrity (such as it is) has mostly remained intact, it has not made him the most popular of the Met’s superintendents, and the political aspects of his position also mean that he isn’t the most popular with his own constables, either. Still, Joseph puts the work and the people of his jurisdiction first, and will continue to do so until death takes him or he is relieved of his position.
Madeline Wheeler
One of the newest Lambs, Madeline is the daughter of Irish immigrants who came to London seeking a better life. Instead, they found rampant discrimination, crime, and disappointment. Madeline had little intention of following her mother into the career of a washerwoman, and so turned to petty theft. One of the people she tried to steal from ended up being Lila Scriven, who took a liking to the firebrand of a young woman. Under Lila’s tutelage, Madeline has begun to blossom into a very promising thief indeed. She is wholly devoted to the gang and its leaders. Recently her parents have begun to question the source of her suddenly much greater income, and she can only lie for so long. Right now she claims to have a wealthy beau who grants her all sorts of gifts and allowance, but how long that particular lie will last is anyone’s guess.
Lila Scriven
One of the “Twins” that lead the 40 Lambs, Lila is the mastermind behind the entire enterprise. Though many consider her the ‘softer’ of the Twins, Lila is as ruthless as Beatrix, her ‘wife’. The daughter of an English soldier and his Indian wife, Lila has seen how society rejects those deemed lesser or different, and has resorted to carving out a place for herself and her family. Now that the gang has met with such wild success, her ambitions have grown accordingly. She will allow nothing to threaten the success and peace that she has worked so hard to create. All that matters is herself, her wife, and the family they have found.
“Mama” Beatrix Scriven
One of the “Twins” that lead the 40 Lambs, Beatrix is often known as “Mama” or “Mama Bea” by her “lambs,” the women that make up her gang. Beatrix is the leader who wields the iron fist. When the Twins get their hands dirty, it’s Beatrix’s hands that end up bloodiest. Though the concept of the gang and its success is largely due to the strategic mind of her other half, it’s Beatrix’s force of will and willingness to be brutal that has allowed the gang to flourish. She is not a woman of halves. She is devoted entirely to her ‘wife’ Lila, to the gang, and to seeing their power continue to grow.
Meredith Trevor
The son of a successful Welsh banker, Meredith’s poor behavior during the last decade has seen him cut off from his father’s financial support. In spite of his good education and gentry breeding, Meredith has little love for the world of business and money – save for the methods of spending it. It was spending it, and spending too much time in gambling parlors, that saw him indebted to Lord FitzMaurice and thus whored out at Maggie’s Place. While FitzMaurice keeps him on a short leash, Meredith’s affection for the man has long since waned. Instead, he finds his eye drawn more and more often to the enforcer, and now manager, of the brothel: Martin Love. Meredith is well aware of the dangerous game he plays, but he has never been one for caution… Or denying himself his worst desires.
Martin Love
One doesn’t dream of one day running a brothel full of homosexuals, and indeed this is not the life that Martin ever imagined for himself. After a career as a constable with the London Metropolitan Police was cut short by running afoul of a gang, he was introduced by a mutual associate to Lord Oscar FitzMaurice. With his knowledge of London policing and his connections at Scotland Yard, Martin seemed ideal to help protect the secrecy of Maggie’s Place. Over time, his role has expanded; after the Madame of the brothel abruptly quit some months ago, Martin was unceremoniously promoted. He’s done well enough in the role, but the stress of dealing with a large number of young, often catty, men and the nature of the clients the brothel attracts, on top of his normal duties of seeing to protecting the brothel from the attentions of the police force and gangs who think they’re owed protection money, has pushed Martin right to the edge.