Thread: Foxee's Island Breezes Profiles & Affairs

Welcome, players, to the Island Breezes RPG!

This thread is for character profiles, rules, and any questions/discussions that we need to have out of character so that we don’t spam up our storyline.

Game Leaders:
Foxee
Slayerofangels
Blossom

Players:
Cefor
Faustling
Aurashield
Alanmt
Seigfried007
IvanTiger
DarnDame
Suzip
CrazedScribe
ColdTwilight

Unlike some other RPG’s this one has right answers and wrong answers. The object of play is to both enjoy writing a good story together AND for you to find out what is hidden. Take cues from Slayer, Blossom, and I to help keep things on track. After all, we know the answers. (And, no, we cannot be bribed)

PLEASE READ everyone’s profiles so that you can describe them adequately when needed. Also please read everyone else’s posts so that the story will be cohesive. Besides, you are hoping that they’ll read yours, right?

The story…well…here is what I can tell you of it right now:

The ad that you each replied to was purposefully vague. Please forgive us for that but it was necessary to protect your new employer’s identity. You will understand why later.

You’ve just been hired by Velga Enterprises, a shell corporation fronting for your real employer. The ten of you are gathered to one point and put on a mid-size passenger jet together. The flight to Cassamay Island in the south Pacific is a long one.

You might get a brief look at the island from the air if you happen to be looking out the window as the plane lands through storm clouds. The island is volcanic in origin though the volcano itself is very old, worn and green with lush flora. The coastlines are generally somewhat rocky although there are a few narrow white beaches. A couple of much smaller islands may be seen just on the other side of the main island.

I also must confess that while the house is described as a ‘resort location’ in the ad it is actually a hotel converted to a private home. The hotel had been a speculative venture that failed for several reasons before being purchased by the husband of your current employer.

There are people native to the island. In spite of the hotel’s failure they gained a taste of modern life and entrepreneurship so that Mainland clothing, food, and dwellings are mixed with their own Pacific Islander culture. They mainly serve their own community and supply the Thompson House with some things that are not flown in from the mainland. Some work at the house as well.

SCORING, RULES, AND GLOSSARY

Scoring:

Posts will be scored with points given on:
- spelling/grammar 3 points
- plot progression/support/timeliness 3 points
- the effectiveness of description/action/dialogue 3 points

I am not going to agonize over this, simply give points according to what I think when I read then post the scores at the end of the body of your post.

Space is limited due to the feedback aspect. The RPG begins with 10 open positions for players and, if we have people drop out we’ll probably keep it to 6 players or under. New characters will not be added unless there is an overwhelming need for them. PM for information on whether characters are needed if you want to join later on in the story.

Rules:

1. No godding

2. Do not control another player’s character*

3. Each post word count should fall between 50 and 800 words and be written as though you’re writing a fiction novel. Conversation posts may be shorter.

4. Conversation posts may interrupt the cycle of play (you may post more than once in the round if you are in a conversation) but should be wrapped up in four or five posts, please.

5. Let’s keep it moving. When it’s your turn it would be great if you could post within two days.
*Any player who doesn’t post within five days when it is their turn will forfeit that round and their character will be NPC’d. They can once again control the character if they write a post in a timely manner in the next round. If you’re going to be gone please PM Foxee, Slayer, Blossom or put a post in the Treasure Hunt RPG Profiles & Affairs Thread so that we can cover your absence.

6. Post scores are final. They are really just feedback for your own improvement and reflect my personal opinion of your post. Don’t agonize over them. You can tally them for your own amusement if you feel competitive. Or ignore them. It’s up to you.

Glossary of terms:

Godding: To play your character in ‘God Mode’ – essentially all-powerful, perfect, omniscient, and invincible. Annoying and incredibly boring. Don’t do it.

RPG: Role Playing Game. In this case written like a fiction novel with each person writing material that solely pertains to their character(s).

NPC: (Non Playable character) Characters that can be controlled by more than one player or all players as specified.

OOC: Out Of Character

Round or Round of Play: when each player takes a turn that’s one round.

Anya Dering-Thompson

Age: 42

Physical appearance: Tall (5’10”) with long wavy copper-red hair and sea-green eyes. Pale, warm-toned skin. Very faint scars above one eyebrow and just in front of one ear. Walks with a slight limp, using a cane on bad days. Dresses in rich fabrics, dramatic and elegant style.

Background:Anya is a legendary celebrity due to her swift ascension to stardom, undeniable talent, horrific auto accident, and subsequent disappearance. Once an actress and singer much admired for her low dulcet voice and timeless elegance, Anya is now a widowed recluse.

It is generally accepted that she’s dead although that is hotly debated in some circles.

Anya hired Blake midway into her career after firing a string of four other bodyguards who each either didn’t do their job or tried to cash in on it inappropriately. (One of them sold a few of her personal things for exorbitant prices.)

Blake, however, took his job seriously and often did things for Anya’s own good that caused her lose her temper and fire him. Each time she fired him he reappeared at his post the next day as though nothing had happened and she hid her relief that he did so.

Eventually she stopped bothering to fire him.

The accident happened four years ago, a year after Anya’s ‘Celebrity Wedding of the Year’ to Derek Thompson, a successful shipping magnate. Ever more weary of the paparazzi’s rabid attention, Anya gave her bodyguards the day off (causing a heated argument with Blake) and went for a drive alone in her candy-apple red Aston Martin.

Someone called in her location, causing the photographers of The Daily Sun to pursue her.

Anya’s injuries from the resulting car wreck required the finest plastic surgeons to rebuild her famous face which they did well. Surgical repairs were also required for back and ankle injuries. She slowly recovered almost completely from the physical aliments but not from the mental ones.

She has become pathologically frightened of people and is convinced that she is marred for life.

A passionate, strong-minded woman, quick to humor and temper, she is now a shadowed personality. She still may be dictatorial although it is basically a coping mechanism built of habit.

After the accident, her husband secreted her away to the south Pacific island that he owned and they lived in moderate contentment until he contracted a mysterious illness. He was attended by Dr. Hayley Marsden, a brilliant research scientist recommended by their regular doctor, who was at a loss as to Derek’s condition.

Despite Dr. Marsden’s best efforts Derek died.

The circle of people that Anya trusts has narrowed quickly, cutting her off from people on the mainland and resulting one by one in the dismissal of nearly all of her employees. Since Derek’s death she is only willing to see Blake and her other bodyguards. She will see Dr. Marsden for short periods of time to begin with. To interact with anyone else will be an ordeal for her.

She spends her time in her suite of rooms at the Northwest corner of Thompson Place, painting watercolors, playing checkers with Blake (he taught her how), and reluctantly dealing with decisions regarding her late husband’s businesses.

Yay, we're off!


Name: Hayley Marsden
Age: 28
Occupation: Doctor, specialising in research.

Description: Hayley is of a fairly average height (5’6”), quite willowy, and perhaps just a few pounds over her ideal weight (119 lbs) though by no means overweight.

Her chestnut curls spring from her head in a wild abandon that she long ago gave up hope of containing, and she still wears them fairly long though they are usually tied back.

Her skin, though pale, is the type that tans easily, so she is often brown and freckled. Wide green eyes dominate her heart-shaped face behind a pair of rectangular, designer glasses, and reflect her good-humoured personality.

Background: Born in rural Oxfordshire, England, Hayley had a fairly normal childhood and upbringing, though she spent more time at home than in the town. The countryside setting of her home led to an appreciation for nature and preserving the environment, as well as long hours blackberry-picking in summer.

Since her house was always scattered with books, newspapers and records, Hayley also developed a love of poetry, literature and classical music - she'll often come out with random bursts of Old English and poetry. Her father was a medical practitioner, and the various medical journals around their house inspired Hayley’s interest in medicine when she was quite young.

She became even more determined to pursue medicine, particularly research, when her mother fell ill with an aggressive form of cancer and, unfortunately, died during her teenage years. This determination lead her to study diligently in order to get the grades.

After studying Biology, Chemistry, Maths and English Literature to A Level, she went on to read Medicine at Oxford University. Once armed with her degree, she spent her internship and residency at the Royal Hospital in London. Since then she has spent much time researching new treatments and dealing with difficult and unusual cases that required delicate handling, such as Derek Thompson’s illness before his death.

Generally a sunny, optimistic person, Hayley has learnt not let things depress her - mostly due to her line of work. She still take things seriously, and is determined to the point of being stubborn, but is able to let the past go and move on.

She is fairly good-humoured, able to laugh at herself and with others, but she is sensitive to the feelings of others. Although usually even tempered, when angry she can be very sharp tongued - though any fits of rage are generally short lasted and followed by regret and an apology.

Though she is, for the most part, quite easy going, she will get very irritated and has no time for people who are self absorbed and arrogant, and get too high above themselves. She also dislikes those who are insensitive and rude.

She is known among her acquaintance for being a loyal, fair minded person and very trustworthy.

Gareth Blake
Age: 45

Appearance: 6'7" with bright blue eyes, iron grey hair and close-cropped beard, though his eyebrows are still very black. He has a lean, powerful build, though he sports a jagged scar across his right cheek from a shrapnel wound. Usually wears a grey, doublebreasted business suit, white shirt, black tie and shoes.

Background
Born in rural Ireland, he joined the Irish Army at sixteen but was discharged after 5 years at the rank of sergeant on medical grounds. Seeing no opportunities for employment in Ireland, he emigrated to America and began working as a driver and bouncer to make ends meet.

He was employed by Anya Dering in the early nineties as a bodyguard following some publicized scandals and has remained in her employ since, though his actual role has become somewhat more ambiguous. In addition to his titular duties as bodyguard he has served Anya as a driver, escort, manager, secretary, handy-man and sometime marital counsellor during her relationship and subsequent marriage to Derek Thompson.

A quiet, stern man, Gareth is unofficial head of the household staff, having managed and worked with Anya's retainers for many years, organising various functions for them as needed and needling Anya into dealing the less routine aspects of her late husband's various business interests.

Not overly educated, he is nonetheless relatively well read and takes Anya's mood swings with a grain of salt. He generally divides his public time between supervising the bodyguard detail and household retainers, and liasing with the local gentry, as well as organising the supply shipments from the mainlands. In private, he is licensed to use a side-arm, has a black belt in Ju-jitsu, a passion for checkers (though he has yet to win a game to date), reading, and tinkering with clockwork mechanisms. His two rooms in the northen part of the house are full of old clockwork music boxes he intended as presents but which, one way or another, he never got around to giving to Anya.

I'm not cut out for RPGs on forums, Foxee. I brought Adam up as a joke, but I'm not going to take him that far. He's too sensitive for this kind of thing, and I don't have the time to put into learning a new system, OOC posting with other players--not when I need to get back to a series that's languished in my head for years.

Name: Bruce Thompson (legally changed from Nigel Thomas)
Age: 37
Occupation: Former cowboy, now probably janitor or something similar.

Description: Bruce is 6'7" and weights about 200 lbs, when he was younger it was all muscles and while he's still pretty fit he has put on a slight beer gut in the last two years. He's normally built but with fairly impressive shoulders.
He has blond unkept hair reaching his shoulders and rarely shaves more then twice a month. His eyes seem to shift between grey and blue constantly and often have touches of red as well. As he spends a lot of time in the sun and seem to be unable to get a decent tan his skin color is closer to tomato then human.
Bruce's wardrobe is pretty limited, for the last twenty years he has simply switched between sets of identical outfits. Blue jeans and a wifebeater with an unbuttoned shirt on top. His only accessories is a classic cowboy hat, leather boots with spurs and a revolver (which was unfortunately claimed by customs, making him feel somewhat naked).

Background:
Although he would never admit it Bruce Thompson was born in Oxford, England as Nigel Thomas. Both his parents were intellectual academics and he rebelled by becoming just about as macho as humanly possible.
Having grown up watching old western movies he couldn't imagine anything more macho then a cowboy so he started to dress and act as he perceive a cowboy would. In the very academic environment where he grew up this wasn't very well received so as soon as he'd raised enough money he bought a ticket to the United States and eventually ended up in Texas.

Wanting to fit in he changed his name to Bruce Thompson (because Nigel Thomas sounded like a "bloody sissy") and started to talk in what he perceived to be a Texas accent ("talkin' like ah man!").
After spending two years as a farmhand he manage to get hired as an actual cowboy at a ranch. He had never been happier and turned out to be the best cowboy they'd ever hired, Bruce had a natural understanding of the animals (his colleagues sometimes said he was half-bull) as well as a will of iron (some might call him stubborn) and impressive physical strength.

Bruce ended up spending about fifteen years at the ranch, making friends, money and a police record for driving under the influence and a couple of bar fights. Eventually though, the ranch just wasn't making enough money and Bruce had to be let go.

The two years that passed between getting fired and answering to Velga's add was mostly spent on bars, blowing his welfare money on whiskey and beer. Strangely he never seems to become an alcoholic and easily spent a week without drinking in preparation for Velga's drug test. It does make him grumpy though.

Bruce's personality is best described as a blunt instrument. Some people like his honesty, straight-forward humor and general machoness while others consider him a rude, narrow-minded brute. The truth probably lies somewhere in between and it's sometimes hard to understand where his real personality ends and his act as a manly cowboy begins, if there even is such a line.
Although he talks with his homemade accent most of the time he sometimes slips back into the Oxford English of his childhood which is pretty much his only shame.

Name: Marissa Williams
Age: 30
Occupation: NA

Description: Marissa is the runt of the family standing at only 5’5. Quite average you would think for the average American female, but in a family with a father towering at 6’7, a brother that measured in at 6’5, and a mother that was a precise 6’1 and ¾” she stood out like a sore thumb. Marissa didn’t differentiate only in size but in coloring as well. Her father and brother inherited the ability to stand in the sun for seconds and come away like bronzed gods, their coal black hair glistening under the sun’s worshipful rays, whilst she would scuttle away from the sunshine looking like a pink flamingo. The one characteristic she did share with her family was her startling hazel eyes, which was her most arresting feature. As was customary for her, her eyes spoke volumes though her lips had been trained to refrain from offering her opinions or thoughts. Her frazzled chestnut hair was somewhat naturally curly if the right amount of gel was applied and just about shoulder length. Unfortunately, it had been thinning the past year or two, a by-product of too much stress her physician had advised her. Hence, she had resorted to pulling her hair back into a loose ponytail in hopes of hiding what she was sure were glaring bald spots. Her stature was a bit overweight. Motherhood, matrimony, and emotional eating had softened her once firm athletic build into what her youngest daughter had described as, “soft enough to take a nap on, like my pillow.” Friends had remarked she was fortunate that her weight was proportional, which she assumed meant she was fat all over instead of just one area. Her bust was her most embarrassing asset and one she constantly worked to conceal. At 38DD it was a full time job and a never ending source of displeasure to her. In that regards, at home she was often garbed in her husband’s old t-shirts and shorts or in the winter, oversized sweatshirts and jeans or sweatpants. On the rare occasion she had to attend a social engagement, she would wrap herself in oversized pantsuits that she believed hid her glaring physical flaws. Her husband had once bought her a daring red dress with plummeting v neck. She has worn the dress due to his urging, but had felt practically naked and uncomfortable for most of the evening. Thankfully she had negated wearing her daily glasses and had been practically blind to what she was sure were looks of disgust and half hidden whisperings of criticism.

Background: The second and final born child, the first female, of a career military man and his wife, she made her debut on an army base on July 4, 1979. Typical of most military brats, she spent her youth moving from base to base, state to state, country to country. She learned to pack and unpack at a moment’s notice, take her orders with stoic silence, and due her duty to the best of her ability. Both parents were alcoholics, her mother the closet drinker of the two. It wasn’t until Marissa was in her teens that her mother abolished any attempt at hiding her drinking habits. The fights were frequent and loud, and she had hidden many a night in her older brother’s bedroom, snuggled safely in his bed, while the echoes of curses and crashing items reverberated from downstairs through the thin floor of his bedroom. Thankfully, at the age of 16 her parents divorced. By then her older brother, her protector, had left home for college and married. It seemed he never looked back. Her mother moved back to the heartbeat of America, the Bible Belt as it was known. Marissa managed to remain almost invisible in her hometown and her school. She lived the next two years dreaming of the day she could leave home and find the safe haven of her own husband, family, and home. Until that time, she too, would drown out the screams of her reality in the comfort of drink every chance she got.

Marissa became pregnant on her 19th birthday, a night she didn’t quite remember. Subsequently, she married her high school sweetheart. Her husband had taken the role of protector since they had begun dating at 16. He had become the crux of her world. The small circle of friends she had collected eventually faded away as her savior’s role grew in her world.

Marissa spent the next eleven years trying to create the perfect family home she had dreamed of as a child. The moment she found out she was pregnant she quit drinking and had not touched a drop since. She was the faithful homeroom mother who hosted the school parties, attended PTA, dropped her children off and picked them up every day. She made sure each child, all three of them, had activities to participate in, she attended every event, and her home was a haven to all the neighborhood children. The laughter of children in her home always made her feel at peace. Because work always took her husband away from home for weeks at a time she ran the household, with the exception of the bills. This, he decreed, was his job. She had no qualms about it as he always provided well for his family and anything she desired, she only had to ask. As the years melted one into another, the relationship began to frazzle. Rumors of affairs on the road were whispered from one to another and accidentally dropped into her ears by “good friends.” Seeds of mistrust were sown, and year after year, rumor after rumor, it consumed their relationship until Marissa had become an insecure, untrusting, and embittered wife. The “protection” she had so yearned for as a young girl began to materialize now of a controlling husband. She could not continue friendships with her friends because it was her duty to care for her children 24/7. She was accountable for every moment that was not spent at home, including her trips to the grocery store. As Marissa grew older and more confidant, she began to buck the limitations placed upon her. This added to the discontent between husband and wife. Still when she was served with divorce papers, she was shocked and panic stricken. Although she admitted they had problems, she still fancied him the love of her life and believed they could work any problem out. It hadn’t mattered that they had been trying to for years now. Her life since then had plummeted into a seemingly unending spiral of loss. Three weeks before her divorce became final she learned her husband and their tall, dark, leggy, sophisticated (also married) accountant were moving into together. A week before her divorce, her father dropped dead of a massive heart attack at her breakfast bar. Soon after the ink had dried on her divorce, her children chose to live with their father, in his new spacious home, with his new “fun” girlfriend, and her family home, well, it had to be sold and the proceeds split in two. Less than three months later, her ex husband and their accountant, newly divorced, had married. Rumor had it they were looking into reversing his vasectomy and planning on starting a family together.

Marissa had spent the past eight months in a small rented apartment surrounded by towering stacks of various packed and slightly unpacked boxes, her former family furniture piled in every spare corner, which her ex husband graciously allowed her to have because it didn’t fit in with their new home, and the silent screams of her dying dreams. Coming across the generic want ad had seemed like a godsend to her. It would allow her to escape this nightmare that had become her reality. With little thought, for once in her life, she acted with no regard for how it might affect anyone, as if they cared in the first place.

Name: Chad Anderson
Age: 27
Occupation: former small business owner (pool maintenance business)

Description: Chad is six feet tall, lean, very tan, with short dark blond hair and Nordic blue eyes. He is a California boy, an adult by age if not by demeanor. His usual attire is beachwear: sandals, board shorts or cargo shorts, topped by a pastel-covered Hollister T-shirt, with a blue topaz on a leather strap around his neck and his ever-present Ipod tucked into a pocket.

Although he is a beer drinker, Chad’s personality is a bit like a Napa Valley white zinfandel: light and sparkling, pleasant but somewhat forgettable. He is relaxed in attitude and cheerful of disposition, generally, but has a touch of the adrenaline junkie to him. He is more intelligent than he presents.

Background: Raised in a southern California beach community by his working-class single mother, Chad grew up in the sun and sand and waves. An only child, he started working early to help out his mother. During high school, he worked as a cabana boy at the exclusive 12 Palms Beach Club, serving the rich and famous in the most menial way, offering towels, mixing drinks, skimming the pool. He enjoyed the work, not resenting at all those who had what he did not. The rich girls seemed to like him, and he lost his virginity with the daughter of an aging rock star.

Chad’s mother pushed him to go to college, and he enrolled in Malibu college, graduating five years later with a degree in Geography. His mother had saved enough for his first year, but Chad started a pool maintenance business, and paid his way without financial aid or having to use his mother’s savings. When he had graduated, he used the money his mother had given him for college to buy her a new car – her first new car. It was a Ford Taurus.

Enamored by the feeling of giving and still uncertain about what to do with his life, Chad enrolled in the Peace Corps. He was sent to the Golden Triangle, in Northern Thailand to build schools in remote jungle villages. He fell in love with the wild jungle while he was there, and spent a lot of time on solo treks.

When his year was up, he returned to the United States. As he was entering the country, the customs inspection revealed that he was transporting a small cache of forbidden Thai antiquities. He claimed a complete lack of knowledge, insisting that the artifacts had somehow been planted in his luggage. Since his record was otherwise clean, he was able to reach a deferred prosecution agreement, and after two years probation, the guilty plea was withdrawn and his record cleared. During the time he was on probation, he was confined to Los Angeles County, and worked doing laundry in a residential institution for the deaf and blind.

His probation completed, Chad looked for an opportunity, any opportunity, to get back to the jungles he loved and away from the dirty, overcrowded city. He came across the Velga ad and applied. He hasn't stopped smiling since he got the letter of acceptance.

The profiles up so far are fine but remember that the longer they are that's more detail...and your fellow players may not remember all of it. My profile for Anya is a tad longer than I'd like. It's ok to only hit the really important things that you need us to know about your character.

Originally Posted by seigfried007

I'm not cut out for RPGs on forums, Foxee. I brought Adam up as a joke, but I'm not going to take him that far. He's too sensitive for this kind of thing, and I don't have the time to put into learning a new system, OOC posting with other players--not when I need to get back to a series that's languished in my head for years.

You'd be surprised what you're capable of. And when push comes to shove you could always rank this away as one of the odder jobs on Adam's resumé.

Seig, I would like to talk to you on IM. Please don't take Adam out. There is no OOC posting required...it is simply an option so that we can keep the story on track. Adam would be great for this RPG and so would you.

Right, I'm putting this up in segments because I have a meeting and a match, so...I'll add the rest later.

Name: Jingla Mairee Li'D'Sangre
Age: 31
Occupation: World traveler, sommelier, sous chef, and former business partner.

Appearance: Red hair -- brilliant, fiery red that darkens almost to black indoors-- and brown eyes so dark they lookd reddish-black (mostly black). She is slender, elegant, and a precise six feet, with graceful hands and smooth, flowing movements that have made her a success in all of her businesses. Her hygiene, well-kept nails, hair-style and deportment are always impeccable. Her voice is low and soothing, with a hint of deeper bell tones.

Clothing: For work-- she wears black slacks and an exquisitely styled french-type white satin shirt, matched with highly polished black shoes and a neat, inconspicuous black beret that partially hides her the low bun she puts her hair into. The shirts are accented at the sleeves and neck with deep red ribbon (almost black) with the same ribbon going down the seams of the slacks and a rosette at the back of the beret.
.................... For casual -- she wears any combination of brown, deep gold or amber, deep red, and black, somehow managing to keep an elegant, chic look that fits in anywhere while remaining practical.

Personality: Having been around the world and back, she is not easily thrown by anything, meeting disaster and good fortune alike with the same calm efficiency. She is quick and certain, an organizer, but not controlling. She will lead as needed, and do it unobtrusively, but prefers to take a lone hand, knowing that she can get the job done right.
Beneath her calm, however, lies a bright and enquiring mind and strong spirit. When taxed beyond her limits, she has been known to find a quiet place alone and explode into agitated French, with suitable arm-waving, foot-stamping, stalking about, and furious expressions. When this isn't possible, her movements have a tendency to gain speed and sharpness, her speech becomes more precise, almose clipped, and everything has to be done just so.
Intelligent and efficient, she is careful of other people's positions and emotions, but isn't strongly affected by them.

Background: Born in France to an ailing mother, Mairee, and a father she only remembers for his booming voice, shock of red hair, and a catch phrase: “Liberty, Death, and Blood.” This she drew her last name from, Li’D’Sangre, as her father disappeared one day about the time of her fourth birthday, while her first name came from her mother, a distortion of the Christmas song “Jingle Bells”. She was the second oldest of five children, and her older brother took over as man of the house at twelve years old, while she, at eight, became a little mother, dropping out of school.
Only a year later, their mother died, and for the next two years, their family broken up, Jingla was shuffled through the foster care system, going back to school irregularly, and one time learning to dance. The year she turned eleven, an older man (Jean, pronounced Zhan) came to the foster home, looking for a boy to train as his assistant sommelier. Jingla, tall for her age, confident, and quick to learn, convinced him that she was the person he was looking for, and from age 11 to 19, she studied hard with him, coming to regard him as her father, as he saw her as the daughter he’d never had, adopting her for her twelfth birthday present.
She used his last name, Gaudior, until the day he died, just before her nineteenth birthday, leaving her with a set of skills, a taste for fine wine, and an aching heart. She went back to Li’D’Sangre and joined a dance troupe for a short time--it concentrated on using ballet-style gymnastic dance to depict plays and the seasons--before going back to the wines and restaurants she knew. During the next ten years, at the ages of 19-29, she worked at three different places, twice acting as a trouble-shooter and shuttling between several branches of the same business. Between each job she went back to the dance troupe for short periods, keeping in touch with her one friend there.
Having a last gathered the capital she needed, she went into a business partnership with fellow dancer Analisa Franks, opening the cleaning company “Sparkling” in London. Just two years later, with the business going well, she sold her half of it to her partner and went in search of new work, not having the heart to tell Analisa that it would work out so much better if Analisa’s new husband didn’t keep trying to take over. Seeing Velga’s advertisement, she decided to see some new country, and sent in her application

Name: Kari Snider

Age: 19

Physical Appearance: Kari is about 5ft 7inch and has thick curly black hair which is usually unmanageable and wild. Her eyes are dark brown with long thick eyelashes. Her olive skin is flawless, although due to her Mediterranean background (from her grandparents) she is obsessive about shaving the dark hairs from her arms and legs. She is naturally slim, although she works out to make sure she stays that way, but she doesn’t work out obsessively. She is happiest in jeans and short sleeved t-shirts. She likes wearing silver jewellery.

Background: Kari was orphaned when she was 7 when her parents died in a car crash. There was no other family so she grew in a number of houses with foster parents. None of which she was able to call home. She did however, become close to three of her fellow orphans who she now considers family, despite the trouble they often still get her into. She doesn’t remember her parents but dreams about a faceless couple in a car, and always wakes up with a headache afterwards.

Kari lives in London alone in a small damp bed-sit. She works part time in the local pub which she doesn’t really enjoy. She is quite a loner and feels awkward around a lot of people. She had until recently been going to college studying accounts, but following an “incident” she had to leave. She finds it hard making friends and found living and working in London very difficult. She is hoping to find somewhere, where she can keep to herself.

Kari is very secretive. She drinks too much and finds loud music comforting. She carries around a wrap across shoulder bag and gets very agitated if anyone gets too close to it. She bites her nails when she is deep in thought. Despite her dislike of being around a lot of people Kari is able to outwardly “fit in”.

Name: Maria Smith


Age: 19


Physical description: She is a fairly active person and enjoys playing various sports. This has
contributed to her fit and toned body. She has shoulder length brunette hair and dark brown eyes.
Her skin tans well in the sun light and having just returned from her travels, she took a gap year, her skin is lightly tanned, at the moment, albeit fading because of the dreary British weather and she is reasonably tall (5' 11'').


History: She comes from a fairly rich family and has, since her teenage years, hated her parents snobbishness and somewhat vacant position in her life. Often leaving her in the care of others while they go on business ventures together or holidays. Family Holidays are very rare within their family.


The feeling of being an 'outcast' from her family has lead her to rebel in her school years. At school she had become known as the class clown; subconsciously trying to be noticed by her parents She has nearly been expelled, several times, for practical jokes which have gone too far (It wasn't her fault Jane's head ended up down the toilet). Although she does, most of the time, know when to draw the line. Her close friends have found her to be a loyal, trusting and deep person.


The one subject she did take a liking too was PE, being an active person, she tried out for the school teams and eventually made it to captain of both the Netball and Hockey squads. Even as her parents tried to persuade her taking PE was a waste of time for a GCSE they failed and she took it any way. She spent most of her sixth form years skiving subsequently the only grades she got were an A* in art (which she also took a liking to) and an A in PE for GCSE.


After leaving school her parents paid for her to take a gap year and travel the world, hoping that she would find some direction and motivation in her life. She didn't. She spent most of the time partying and exploring the different countries. It was a shock to the system when she came back and her parents disowned her, trying the 'tough love' approach. This forced her to think of her future and she eventually found the island breezes application...

Status so far:

out of thirteen, there are:

six women, three men

one man (Adam) who received a job offer, but may not board the plane)

three to go.