Giovanni has always been hungry. Poverty and starvation were his reality for most of his life. Now, with the taste of fame and comfort in London, they are still what fuel him. His main motivation is to never go back to those hungry days. The pursuit of excellence in his craft is obsessive. His desire to cement himself in high society is unshakeable. His love of being loved is insatiable. His ability to balance all these things; questionable.
Lucien King
Lucien, known as Lux among his peers, embodies a captivating blend of charm and recklessness. His ambition drives him to pursue his desires with fervor, yet he often struggles to maintain his composure, teetering on the edge of impulsivity and emotional outbursts. Despite this volatility, he possesses an undeniable talent for captivating a crowd, his silver tongue effortlessly weaving words that could sway even the coldest individuals to his favor. Lux knows how to command attention and inspire loyalty, even as he navigates the tumultuous waters of his own emotions as a young gentleman. The type to know a man, that knows a man, and so on- his connections vary far and wide, from the dirty slums of the east end, to the grand luxury of the upper-class.
Lucien King, playfully referred to as “Lucy” among his siblings, embodies a complex duality. While he is adored in high society for his charm, he grapples with feelings of inadequacy as he constantly finds himself compared to his accomplished eldest brother. The recent passing of their father has intensified his need to prove himself, fueling a quiet frustration that gnaws at him. At the forefront of his aspirations stands The Silver Bullet, a prestigious bar and club he opened just over a year ago in the vibrant east end, even as his father’s health declined. Lucien is fiercely determined to make this establishment thrive, attracting a diverse and eclectic clientele that reflects his vision. However, the challenges of managing such a venture weigh heavily on him, and he is acutely aware that maintaining its success amidst potential troubles is a precarious balancing act.
Barty Redd
Barty Redd, a lawful neutral man, lives by his own set of laws that often diverge from the law he is sworn to enforce. He is a corrupt cop if ever there was one, out to make his way in the world. He frequents the pub life by night and gets into trouble by day. Those who know him would say he is a bit of a hot head with a short temper, but he means well. Always looking to meet new acquaintances…
Lord Oscar FitzMaurice
The epitome of a carefree socialite, Oscar enjoys the easy life of a self-proclaimed artist and poet among London’s ton. Born into wealth as the eldest son of an earl, he has long been a fixture in the city’s social circles, where his lack of obligations affords him the freedom to pursue his passions as he sees fit. Always on the lookout for his next intriguing diversion, he has long embraced his image as an entertaining dilettante—not least because it distracts from his more pragmatic existence as the secretive owner of an exclusive male brothel known as Maggie’s Place.
Guillermo Fontana Losa
Guillermo is the son of a famed privateer. He is known for his violence. Known for his part in wars and rebellions, and for following in his father’s violent footsteps. His heart, however, is and has always been with the animals he saves.
Nyle Reid
Duke Nyle Reid’s life has been held deep within a fog for a long time; a product of compliance, of distance from his nature as a man, and a repression that buries him within the cold frontier. The premier face of English Lordship, he wears a distant smile in the common eye, but struggles to command the love and loyalty of others. Nyle’s life has long been a tapestry of formless despair, an obligation to duty, and a void of companionship. Perhaps, along the Thames, that will change.
Pavel Voronin
Embodying a gay man’s mid-life crisis in more ways than one, Pavel has followed his singer lover to London after *allegedly* stabbing a man in defence of said lover, leaving his family in shock, horror and scandal, losing his job and even the man who caused all of the mayhem. Single and practically exiled, he now needs to start from scratch as a middle-aged man.
Enzo Esposito
Enzo has always felt torn between two versions of himself. French and Italian; serious, dutiful son, and fun-loving artistic soul; normal, and deviant. Brought by his mother to London a few years ago, he does his best to portray himself in the way she expects and is proud of. To that end, he got a job as a telegram messenger, biking around the city to deliver telegrams to a wide variety of individuals. It was through that job that he was introduced to Martin Love, the proprietor of Maggie’s Place, who was quick to offer the handsome young man a place at the brothel. Though it is not the kind of work that Enzo ever imagined himself doing, there is a certain freedom to it that keeps him working there in spite of the danger and the distasteful aspects of it.
John Astor
Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: The first son of the first son of America’s most notable man of wealth, Lee managed to become well-rounded as well as financially successful. He’s also now in his 40s and firmly understands he is gay. He never wanted or meant to marry, but the edict has come down from his father at long last: The family name must be protected, and no Astor son ought to be a bachelor into their 40s. At his mother’s suggestion, Lee has ventured across the Atlantic to the more practical waters of Jolly Old England, in the hopes of finding a woman who will accept him as he is, in exchange for providing her freedom and the bounty of his personal wealth.
Eduard Eschenbach
Eduard Eschenbach (Ede to friends) might not be the most honest butcher In all of Stepney. He might let people assume that he’s a formally trained butcher when really, like with many of his apprenticeships in his younger years, he really only stuck with it for a month or so before being kicked out for stretching the rules, he may be capable of speaking somewhat better English than he pretends to in order to cover up the fact that it may, on some days, be possible that most of the meat at Gustl’s Fine Bavarian Meats and Sausages might lean a bit more toward horse, pigeon, dog and cat than your standard pork and mutton. Even calling his shop Bavarian when he and all thirteen of his brothers, including, Gustav, the shop’s namesake and co-owner, were, indeed, born and raised in Berlin might be a bit misleading, but when it comes to cheerful and friendly service, you couldn’t hope for anyone better! He meets (nearly) every customer with a smile (even quite unpleasant ones), is willing to slide an extra bit or bob here and there to more pleasant customers when he has it to spare and knows they could use it, and even keeps things sporting with would be thieves, having been a rather rampant pickpocket too in his childhood.
Like many, he spends most of his time working (either in the shop or procuring meat one way or another before or after hours), but you can also find him down the pub with or without one of his brothers at Mass on a Sunday, playing the faithful Bavarian Catholic (despite being raised protestant and not always being on the right side of a few of the commandments), or, every once in awhile, putting some of what he’s managed to set aside from the month’s profits to good use at a half-decent brothel.