Antonio is the oldest child and heir to the noble family of Nicastro from the Duchy of Montferrat. However, he was forced into hiding across the English Channel and ended up in the Grand City of London. He works as a physician in dingy hospitals, bars, and wherever he can under the name Nino Donovan—unable to risk being under watchful eyes.
Stubborn as a mule but harmless as a kitten, Tullio ran away to London seeking fame and fortune beyond the constraints of his family and mentor, only to find that was a much more difficult goal than wealthy Englishmen made it seem. A sculptor and painter, Tullio is in desperate need of money if he doesn’t want to be living in a rat-filled tenement house for his entire life. Commissions would be good, and a rich patron would be even better.
The “too bleak of an urban legend” man among the alleys of London, William Rourke, is a born and bred Irishman from a farmer family. A “victim” of his inner and uncontrollable rage since his childhood, he only found his place in the world once he left the meadow behind. William’s rage came in handy for the British Army. Enlisted, he fought the Perak War (1875–1876) and the Anglo-Zulu War (1879); the stories from this period birthed his ethos. Merciless, firm, and bloodthirsty, William was the perfect soldier; his ruthless performance earned him the ranking of Captain.
On London’s streets he was all vain but had a funny and surprisingly decent side.
Also, William was a known big spender, frequent gambler, and guest at brothels; he earned another ranking… Devourer of pussies. Yet, all came crashing down. After the British’s defeat (and William’s too) during the First Boer War (1880–1881), he turned into a man with no decency or morality.
Tales of his violent outbursts, drunkenness, debt, and overly cruel sexual practices ran through London like fire; some rumors say he killed a young woman during “action.” All respectable places—and the unrespectable too—barred him from entering. The devourer of pussies had to turn to men to satisfy his urges, but even Maggie’s barred him. A pariah, a tragedy, a shadow of a man, William has been relegated to the city’s outskirts, living among London’s criminal underbelly. Can even the most heartless be redeemed? Does he even want to?
The widow of a struggling member of the gentry and daughter of a baron not much better off, Olivia has known all her life that if she was to be properly supported, she would have to ensure her future herself. While her father squandered their family money, his title still opened doors for her, and now that she is staring down a pitiful annuity following her husband’s death, she has seized the opportunity to become the revamped London Review society reporter. Writing anonymously under the name Lady Tattleton, she has been perfecting a balance of building friendships amongst the nobility whilst projecting an aura of harmlessness so that they confess their deepest secrets. Her columns are the most popular in the paper.
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.
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.
Alex is a detective in the Criminal Investigations Division of the Scotland Yard. He’s a hard working individual, whose work-life balance revolves almost entirely around his career. Which allows him to live a relatively comfortable middle-class life.
The son of a schoolmaster and teacher, Zack has managed to disappoint both of his parents by insisting upon entering the field of journalism since he was old enough to read the crime pages. His position at the London Review is his first in the field, and has turned out to be much less exciting than what he’d anticipated. Operating as a sort of “jack of all trades,” he acts as a courier, runs errands, brews tea, sweeps floors, and generally does anything needing doing at the Review offices. Still wide-eyed and a little naive, he has begged to shadow the crime reporters — Especially the famous Hugo Noble — but thus far no one has accepted his offer.
One of the only staff members to remain at the London Review after the switch to a new owner, Ford has been working the politics beat as long as he can remember. The son of a law clerk at a high-ranking firm, he was exposed to important names early around the dinner table, and began his career as an errand boy for the members of the House of Commons. He knows Parliament in and out, and spends the better part of his days within the actual buildings associated with it. His reporting is a bit dry, but straight-forward and thorough, and he somehow always finds nuggets to report on when the Houses are in recess. Never married, his dedication to his work has made it difficult to kindle relationships outside the halls of government or in the Review staff room.
