Byrd Man

The Octopus: A 19th Century Political/Crime RP

Central City

June 28th, 1876

Bob Stockton always came back home by steamboat. He was wealthy enough now to afford a private coach or his own car on the train. But coming in by river was how he'd first arrived here nearly fifty years ago. Central City was a far cry from the little frontier town he remembered all those years ago. It was so new back then that several of the log cabins in town were built with green wood.

Stockton stood on the deck of the steamboat, cigar firm in his mouth, and watched the city appear around the river bend. The city in front of him now was a vast metropolis with buildings as high as six stories stretched out across its expanse. A thick layer of smog rose above those buildings. To some that was a sign of urban sprawl and decay and pollution, but to Bob it was the price for progress. Industry and the wealth that came for it led to more expansion and growth. That was what America was all about.

"Senator Stockton."

Stockton turned around and saw a Marshall Holm standing on the deck with notepad and pencil at the ready. Like Stockton, Holm was on the way back home to Central City after spending the winter and spring in Washington. Also like Stockton, Holm and his paper worked for the Combination. Stockton scowled and blew smoke from his mouth.

"I told you, Marshall, I'm not talking about the convention until it gets--"

Holm cut him off as he shoved a piece of paper into his hands.

"This was sent to me over the wire when we stopped to refuel in Jeff City. Words coming out of the frontier. There's been a big battle out near someplace called Little Big Horn. You're chairman of the Senate's Committee of Indian Affairs, Senator, and I wonder if you'd like to comment."

Stockton read the bulletin. His face grew redder and redder the more he read. When he was done, he ripped the paper in two and tossed the scraps out of his hands.

"Fucking Custer!"

Stockton spat his cigar stub out of his mouth and watched it fly overboard into the water. These next few weeks were crucial to furthering Stockton's political goals, there was no room for error. And now some goddamn long-haired moron had fucked him over! How hard was it to kill a bunch of Indians? They were almost as easy to kill as the fucking buffalo. As the chairman of that Senate committee he stood to come under fire for lack of oversight on Custer's activities.

"My statement is this, Marshall: This does nothing but delay the inevitable. Like when the unruly child tries to ward off punishment from their father. They do nothing but ensure the punishment will be twofold. The committee on Indian Affairs will do whatever it takes to see that 7th Cavalry and Colonel Custer are avenged, and their murderers are brought to justice toot sweet. America will not forget the brave sacrifice of the 7th and the cowardice of the savage."

"Dynamite stuff, Senator."

Holm hurried away while Stockton brooded over the news. The plan that he and A.J. laid out for the coming convention did not include Stockton having to defend the actions of the now deceased George Custer. If he wanted to emerge from the convention as the party's compromise candidate, a man who could carry the party standard and win the White House, he needed to be as far from controversy as possible. The task was still feasible, the convention taking place here in Central City meant that A.J. had the power to put anyone he wanted on the ticket, but they would have to play things very carefully from here on out.

"Five minutes," one of the sailors announced from the steamboat's top deck. "We'll be in Central City in five minutes."

Stockton found another cigar in his coat pocket and lit it up. His original plan was to go home and rest, but that was now amended in light of the recent news. He had to head into the city and find A.J. as soon as possible. If he knew A.J. like he thought he did, after thirty-six years as partners in law and politics Bob knew him pretty damn well, then he would have already heard the news and would be ready with a plan for how to proceed forward.

The Octopus: A 19th Century Political/Crime RP

Make up your damn mind! And there might be some Chinese, but I imagine it wouldn't be big enough to form a political bloc with.

Here's my character! tl;dr: A woman of seemingly ambiguous ethnicity and origin who hitches herself to power to influence politics through her beau.

Name: Olivia Dawson, née Anika Popov

Age: 28

Ethnicity: Russian/Indian

Occupation/Place in the Combination: Professional Divorcee, No official position

Personal History: Olivia's parents emigrated when she was a toddler, and she grew up on the West Side. Her Russian father fell into debt with the wrong people- Olivia never knew the details, but it was she who found his body. Her mother, an Indian seamstress who spoke little English, died of heart failure mere days later. The fifteen year old Olivia came into a small inheritance, just enough to buy a few costumes; the sorts of things the politicians' wives would wear, complete with jewelry and pretty new shoes, and a new name. An unknown face, with an odd accent and a seemingly ambiguous ethnicity, she seamlessly inserted herself into the lower ranks of the social ladder. A Precinct Captain took a liking to the girl, and kept her as a side girl for a little while. As soon as he decided to run for political office, though, he discarded Olivia without a thought. A week or so later, she was hitched with his closest rival, who won the position. However, she didn't stay long, after she met another man, of slightly better power.

Since the age of sixteen, Olivia has bounced from fling to fling, some approaching seriousness. Twelve times, she has been engaged. Only once has the wedding actually come to pass- giving her the chance to steal a new surname. Her relationships end when her partner approaches failure, or defies her recommendations. They end in moments of dissidence and strife, and sometimes, a few end in her partners' deaths. She is seen by the public as a pretty face, tossed from success story to the next; to the people holding power, she is nothing but a little pretty object. However, to those who have fallen for her, or rather, entered a business agreement with her, she is a reliable source of information, and suggestion. She may not hold any real power, but her abilities lie in her manipulations of the men she claims to love.

@aviendha

Approved!

The Octopus: A 19th Century Political/Crime RP

I'll post the first post sometime tomorrow.

The Octopus: A 19th Century Political/Crime RP

Character Sheet

Name: Officer Daniel Shea

Age: 25

Ethnicity: Irish (1st generation American migrant)

Occupation/Place in the Combination: Police officer

Personal History:

Danny Shea is the son of Captain Thomas Shea, an Irish immigrant who has used his political skills to rise in the Central City PD and amass great influence inside the Combination. Danny is the middle child of the family, his brother Joseph is an assistant district attorney while youngest son Matthew is away at college. Despite being from a family of wealth and influence, Danny has steadfastly held to the determination to be his own man and make his own path separate from his father. He lives across town from the Shea house in the city's westside in a neighborhood filled with new German, Italian, and Eastern European immigrants.

He patrols the westside twelve hours a day, six days a week, and is faced with the harsh realities of urban life. As a member of the police department, he is unwillingly part of the city's political machine. He considers himself nonpartisan, but still is forced to donate a portion of his pay to the Combination and take part in partisan acts for the sake of keeping his job and pleasing his father. He wants to rise and become a detective, but only on his own merits and not because of who his father is or what he could do for the machine.

The Octopus: A 19th Century Political/Crime RP

Character Sheet

Name: Robert Thomas Stockton

Age: 59

Ethnicity: American (British descent)

Occupation/Place in the Combination: United States Senator/Advisor

Personal History:

The story of Bob Stockton is the story of American success. Born in 1817, Stockton's father was a veteran of the War of 1812 who moved west to seek his fortune. The state was still a territory when the Stockton family arrived in the small town of Center and set out as cattle farmers. The Stockton's made a modest living and Bob was prepared to learn the trade from his father when the Panic of 1837 changed everything. The depression ruined the elder Stockton's farm and business prospects. Heavily in debt and depressed, he took his own life. At twenty years old, Bob became the man of the house. The burden of supporting his mother and six brothers and sisters fell upon him.

Bob worked three jobs -- as a saloon floor sweeper, house painter, and general store clerk -- all while reading law at the offices of William "Bill" Patterson, a prominent local attorney. It was there that Bob met Bill's son A.J., an apprentice reading law as well. The two young men formed a fast friendship based on their mutual outlooks on life and fierce ambition. In 1840, Bob and A.J. passed the state bar and started Stockton & Patterson Attorneys at Law. The practice thrived in both criminal and civil cases. A.J. thrived in criminal court, representing the lowest class the city had, while Bob showed his talent as a representative of the growing special interests in the renamed Central City. The men were soon making money hand over fist and establishing connections from every facet of urban life.

In 1852, A.J. and Bob used their connections to get into the political game. Mayor Anthony Scott, the long-serving political boss of the city, was toppled by the two upstarts who used a coalition of poor ethnic voters and wealthy American businessmen to toss Scott and his city council cronies out of office and replace them with men loyal to A.J. and Bob. The Patterson Combination was born. The machine's power grew out from Central City and took over the statehouse. While A.J. preferred to work behind the scenes, Bob liked the spotlight and used the Combination's power to his advantage. In 1860, Bob ran and won a seat in Congress by capturing 99% of the vote in his district. He served for ten years, through the Civil War and Reconstruction, before he saw a greater prize. In 1870, the Combination controlled state legislature elected Bob to the US Senate. The man who had once worked eighteen hour days to provide for his family was now one of the most powerful men in the state and the entire West.

Now, Bob is ending his first term in the US Senate and is coming home to stand for reelection. As A.J.'s closest lieutenant, he helps the Combination plan its moves for the upcoming election season that will be hotly contested by reform candidates in both the city and the state. Michael Wood, the state's current governor, ha made his intention known that he wishes to take Bob's seat in the Senate. In addition, presidential politics may be coming into play as the party convention comes to Central City to elect a president. For a man who has achieved so much, Bob sees a path to the White House could be easily within his grasp if he can play his cards just right.

The Octopus: A 19th Century Political/Crime RP

@Byrd ManI'd love to participate in this, but I'm stuck between several character ideas: A beat cop, new to the force, who has wide-eyed aspirations and laughable hope for the world; A woman who's been jailed several times for prostitution, but has finally wizened up, and decided to start working on the management end of that whole thing (i.e. she runs an escort service/whorehouse); A woman who lives among the political machine, with no official position, but who finds ways to influence it nonetheless, through 'romantic' entanglements. Which would be best for this RP?

@aviendha

I'm fine with the second and third one just because the first one is kinda similar to one of my characters. Plus, I'd like to see a lady.

Name: Morris Cohen

Age: 43

Ethnicity: German Jew

Occupation/Place in the Combination: Ward Boss of the Jewish West Side

Personal History: Having emigrated to America as a child, Morris was raised in Central's 'Uptown' West Side. He had an ordinary upbringing in the German Jewish community, attending synagogue regularly. Morris was always a sociable fellow, and belonged to numerous clubs and organizations, fundraising among the German Jewish community for sponsoring a group of 'poor Russians' to immigrate to Ottoman Palestine and settle an agricultural commune there. Morris is especially talented at persuasion, quoting from the Torah and Talmud to convince others to give money. Although the commune folds two years after it's founding due to continued ideological grievances between the anarchist and the social democratic factions of the commune, Morris counts it as a personal success. Leaving the dry goods store to his brother, Abraham, Morris takes up politics as his profession, integrating himself into the Combination. Morris is successful with courting the German Jewish vote, handily winning their votes for the Combination. With the growing trend of new Russian immigrants arriving from the Pale, Morris has had to start to adapt, but so far his strategies have proven effective. The only other politics these greenhorns know about is socialism, but that's such a joke that nobody is ever going to listen to that except for a few bozos, right? Besides, all Morris has to do is play up his faithfulness to the new Orthodox crowds, convince a couple factory owners to let them have Saturday off instead of Sunday, and they love him!

@Sypherkhode822

Approved! Everyone who has been approved, you can post your sheets in the characters tab.

The Octopus: A 19th Century Political/Crime RP

Also, @Dinh AaronMk, you should peep the Bread-Winners as a counterpoint to the American Labor movement from one of America's privledged sons. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bread-Winners

The Octopus: A 19th Century Political/Crime RP

Hell yeah. Approved, fam.

The Octopus: A 19th Century Political/Crime RP

What a quitter!

The Octopus: A 19th Century Political/Crime RP

Nice. You're approved. Welcome aboard.