The New Yorker

The Division - Tragedy is Invisible

I'm so ready.

The Division - Tragedy is Invisible

Tracie

Appearance

Tracie

Tracie is a thick-skinned sort of gal, with sun spots around her strong, scarred shoulders. Her face is naturally stretched into a satisfied stare, as her smooth angled features betray her experience. The dullness of her blue eyes are contrasted by the character of her eyebrows, the personality of her nose.

It’s quite easy to look at Tracie now, especially as she touts her pant suits, and think only of the kid she has in college. Her round hips and comfortable tummy can lead a shallow person astray. Someone who is lucky enough to see her without her clothes, however, will see her years in the desert stamped on her back. They’d see her missing middle toe from an encounter with a Bathist rebel in a Baghdad alleyway. They’d see her toned, taught 5’8 frame as what it was: an agent of war.

Name
Tracie Armond

Age
39

Gender
Female

Call Sign
“Momma Bear”; Formerly “Ace”

Personal Description
One of the universal traits of a soldier is loyalty; which Tracie possesses in abundance, though her age has tempered the zealotry which can arise from this. Another universal trait is stone-headed dignity; Tracie cannot help but possess this trait in abundance. Being the daughter of an Admiral in the US Navy, and one of the first female attorney General’s in United States history, Tracie was brought up in Charleston, WV believing she could do anything, and ought to do something. After losing her mother to cervical cancer at a young age, Tracie bonded rather tightly with her father.

This brought out all the aspects in her which would prepare her for her future. Her wide eyed curiosity of the world and her militant intelligence came from her mother, but her father filled in the rest. He instilled a no-bullshit attitude, the importance of truth and honesty, and taught her the importance of the irrational. After her advocacy in college, Tracie realized then more than ever that she was meant to join the military. Her outspoken behavior, which embarrassed her father, was imparted upon her by him. She would never turn down a fight, and of that she learned easily.

All the other things came hard, like learning to appreciate what you have while you do. Tracie learned of the terror of death, and the relief it can bring in the only way a person can: intimately. The hardness of the world has shaped her, but it has not changed her. Like a tree to the wind, she becomes who she must to face adversity. Though she retains the happiness, the colorful imagination, and resolute skepticism, it’s all a little dulled from the wearing of time.

Tracie is naturally flirtatious. It's as much a personality trait as her affinity for witty banter. Tracie is mostly unaware of it, generally perceiving it as playfulness.

Backstory Description
Tracie was always a bit of a tomboy, something she never particularly liked being called. She grew up in Charleston, West Virginia with her Attorney mother, and Navy-man father. She played sports, did well in school, played video games, and got into a great deal of trouble. She got in trouble with boys fairly often, which led to her father talking to her about sex more often than she would have ever liked. She played pranks in school and at home which was a constant source of trouble and berating. The trouble was compounded after her mother died, only to trickle out as she got older. Eventually settling herself into a smart and comfortable teenager.

Tracie was sent to military school at the age of 16. She enjoyed the prospect of the military, for some reason it spoke to her. She dreamed of making a career out of order, and justice, and, secretly, killing. The first time she was nearly raped she didn't tell anyone about it. Then it happened again, and again. Each time the boys ended up greatly injured. What generally goes unspoken in societies like this is the prevalence with which rapes happen in military institutions. Eventually she confided in her friends, discovering that some had been less successful in deflecting these disgusting advances. Tracie remained her joking self, but was still quite affected by the various assaults all throughout her high school years. She started a movement throughout military academies all over the country in an attempt to root out foul play, especially when it came to sexual assault. She became a bloodhound during her college years after graduating from Massanutten Academy. Having made a name for herself as an honest person, and perfectly completing her training, Tracie was recruited into the Green Berets with a special NROTC commission. A few tours of duty in Afghanistan, performing assassinations and sabotage missions, led Tracie to a CIA contact, one who offered a position in a team code-named Ghost Recon. Tracie joined and aided in missions all over the world, most of them covert, and some of them off the books.

After a 6 year stint in the Ghost Recon team, it was dismantled. During her time overseas her Husband, Thomas, was killed in a car accident. Tracie was called home to join the CIA, working in conjunction with the legendary Jack Ryan. She accepted without hesitation as she needed to begin raising her teenage son anyway.

Tracie was caught in New York city, her new home, when the outbreak started. Though she wanted to search for and rescue her son from an upstate university, she was called on by Jack Ryan and the President of the United States for an important mission. One which would ensure the safety of her son after he was found, if he'd survived. This was yet another fight she could not turn down. Every part of her wanted to escape the city and find her son, but the parts that mattered reminded her that if she didn't stay, her son might not have a life to live if they survived.

Role
Rifleman/Squad Leader; Formerly LMG gunner

Inventory
Contact Lens
Respirator
Computer
Go-bag
MRE x3
Bottle of water x5
Tool set (Wrench, pliers, screws & screwdrivers, hammer, etc.)
Winter gear (Scar, gloves, skimask, etc)
Rappelling gear (Winches, clips, etc.)
Gun cleaning and management kit (Rags, pipe cleaners, etc)
Flare
Smart Watch
5.56 mm clip x2
9mm clip x6

Weapons
MINI-BERYL 96
HK-P30
Machete

Talents
-Expert tactician: Tracie has not only been trained in the classroom how pincer strikes work, she’s completed them in action, and refined them in the field. Perhaps the one thing her father can never criticize her for is her unquestionably keen tactical mind. And he would know since he’s privy to a great deal of her personnel files.

-Expert marksman: Tracie can easily pin a man to the wall within 200 meters while in a prone position, as any Green Beret can. But Tracie isn’t about to let movement, imperfect conditions, harsh winds, or extreme pressure get to her. She takes the shot when she has it, no sooner, no later. She happens to be quite good at lining up her shots, so that only serves to her benefit.

-Administrative work: For a while Tracie wouldn’t have been able to add this to her lists of skills. Now she can, being a leader of two analyst teams, and three ground crews. Her understanding of the bigger picture has grown to include governments, and organizations, bureaucrats, intelligence officers, and animals alike. Tracie is constantly thinking of the repercussions her actions will have on those around her, and those who aren’t. This is a skill almost no career soldier can boast of.

-Experienced Officer: For most of Tracie’s military career she’s been in a position of authority. After the Baret’s she led two teams in Iraq and Afghanistan before joining as a squad leader in Ghost Recon. One does not need to consider her tremendous career over the last few years as Chief of the Military Statistical Analysis Unit in order to see her skills as a leader. Tracie naturally has the confidence most military leads need to build up. She is quick and decisive, but also kind and responsive. Her instincts are key to her work, but she’s learned to greatly respect intelligence officials and statistical analysis.

-Charm: There's not much like a West Virginian accent to defuse a situation.

Spiritum Aeternum; or The Ramshackle Monster Hunters

Quite the saucy post, @Fairess.

Spiritum Aeternum; or The Ramshackle Monster Hunters

@Eru Iluvatar, you and Stefano have both been added to the cast list. You may now post IC at your leisure. Welcome aboard!

Spiritum Aeternum; or The Ramshackle Monster Hunters

Post up!

@MacabreFox

Nice! Well done bringing the story another layer of depth and suspense in equal measure. I can't wait to see how everyone else socializes, or doesn't...

Spiritum Aeternum; or The Ramshackle Monster Hunters

Stefano Morosini

Name:
Stefano Morosini

Age:
39

Gender:
Male

Birthplace:
Candia, Crete

Religious Affiliation:
Partially Hellenic

Secular Affiliation:
None

Level of Education:
High. Learned reader and writer, speaker of Modern Greek [Native], Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Latin. Heavily educated by various tutors employed by his noble family in literature, geography, history and mathematics.

Social Status:
Long lost son of a noble in the Morisini family of Venetian Crete.

Occupation:
Freelance artist, trained in Post-Byzantine art but aware and respectful of foreign art styles.

Appearance:
Stefano is of an average height and is slightly overweight. He is reasonably tanned due to living in warm climates throughout his life. His coal black hair is commonly found hanging down behind his neck in a ponytail, kept together by a jewel-encrusted band of leather. Stefano goes to great lengths to maintain a pleasant state of hygiene, washing his hair sometimes thrice a day, provided an acceptable quality of water is available.
His eyes are small and coloured hazel, and there are rarely any marks underneath them designating signs of fatigue. His eyebrows are large and bushy though limited in width, and they are commonly moving vigorously due to Stefano's naturally interested state. His nose is verging on large facing outward, though it is short, leaving a large area between his nostrils and his upper lip. His lips are small and lacklustre, but the interior of his mouth is lively and prone to laughter. Stefano keeps a controlled amount of stubble between his upper lip and nose and his lower lip and neck, yet it is embellished a strong black like his hair.

Stefano likes to dress exquisitely, keeping a selection of vividly coloured waistcoats and doublets, with fashionable cravats and ruffled shirts, petticoat breeches with decorated boothose. His signature item of clothing is a white-washed cloak over the left shoulder, bordered with gold linen in circular designs.

Personality:
Stefano is a loud, boisterous and pompous man. He has never had any regard for the suffering and unfortunate people in the world, and his views on others is limited to the small groups of royals that he grew up with to the companies of rich merchants and eccentrics in Spain, Portugal and Italy. On the other hand, Stefano is also passionate, friendly to those he acknowledges, well meaning and humorous. He can make a friend just faster than he can eat a vine of grapes or the carvings of a suckling pig, though there is little time between them. Stefano has in several cities grown around him an entourage of lesser nobles - an action other high-borns might find insulting, but the lost Morisini is seldom as cheerful without a listening body in which to tell his many stories to. Even when taking part in artistry, where many in the market would find solace in peace and quiet, Stefano would chatter away to anyone attending him while skilfully painting renditions of joyous banquets or lively social scenes.

The downside to Stefano's openness is his inability to judge characters. He defaults to looking on at people as amused and happy, as that is how his childhood accomplices were when around him, and sometimes this results in a budding pickpocket getting a little too close to him. Thus, Stefano has taken action always to hire a watchful bodyguard when dealing with strangers. When travelling in cities through streets too dirty for Stefano to walk on, he hires a carriage or takes to his steed and attempts to avoid the serfs and common folk milling about.

Stefano is an able conversationalist and he rarely shuts up when engaged with a worthy opponent in a diplomatic or social encounter. He can speak fluently in a handful of widely spoken dialects and is always looking to expand his language knowledge. He is quite proficient in the art of persuasion and business dealings and has urged out many a bonus when selling his paintings or received discounts when buying materials. It does not take long for the cheerful artist to become renowned in a city or region, and some are even excited to deal with the man despite his impressive work. Sometimes Stefano receives money for being his amusing self instead of the pieces intended to be traded.

Skill Set:
Fluent in six languages.
Expert businessman, good at persuasion techniques.
Gives off a cheerful aura and is easy to trust people and for people to trust him.
Skilled artist.
Able to read and write well.
A natural-born leader.
Rich.

Languages:
Modern Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Latin and French.

Bio:
Stefano was born in the mid 1620s to one Robert Morisini and French wife Emma. Robert was a cousin of Donato Morisini whom was once the Duke of Candia, which meant Robert had a comfortable life with plenty of money and a luxurious estate in which to reside. By extension, Stefano had an unsullied upbringing, and as the only descendant of the wealthy royal - Emma had tragically died in childbirth and so could not bear any further children - Stefano was prized and spoilt to no end. Robert was an honourable man and he repeatedly refused the option of remarriage, choosing to pledge the estate to Stefano when he was still at a very early age and leaving everything he had to him in his will.
Stefano's childhood was idealistic, beautiful sceneries to explore, ample reserves of high quality food and drink, access to great amounts of money - meaning the best educational tutors, private staff and attendees around were already on the Morisini payroll. In regard to the royal family, Stefano never saw much of most of them - his father held an estate in an enclosed area on the coast and the government held their bases further inland. Robert was not the best at diplomacy not ingenuity so he was largely left to his own devices and rarely consulted in matters of state.

When Stefano turned twenty, Robert died peacefully, from natural causes. As stated by Stefano's father, everything was passed down to the young man - the estate, with it's resources, staff and Robert's considerable conservation of wealth.
However, it was not Stefano's wish at this point to live a life of tranquillity and isolation. Having had only limited contact with the household staff in Robert's estate, it was instead his desire to live with a monastic group of Hellenists, devotees to a religion worshipping the ancient Greek Gods and Goddesses. His childhood friends were largely of this religion, as their families were predominantly Greek traditionalists who were partially separate from the secular Venetian rulers, especially in matters of faith and sociality.
Stefano took great interest in the fascinating religion, and it was also at this time that his artist hobby began to flourish. He took a great deal of inspiration from the visual representations of the Greek ascendants and their worshipper's culture. His other main influence was the Post-Byzantine art styles of Venetian Crete that he had been trained in by one of his creative tutors.

However, not all things last, and ten years after Stefano's induction into the religious group he left - having permanently adopted various beliefs and inspirations from Hellenism, although he did not believe wholeheartedly all the stories that it wove. Stefano's art was now widely recognised in Candia and he was beginning to erect a business from the foundations of a fundamental hobby. Despite the large amount of wealth Stefano was still in possession of, he partly lusted for more and he partly desired to travel the continent, developing his languages and spreading himself into foreigner's knowledge.
He departed the Greek island, not long before the decades-long oppression from the Ottomans was about to begin, and travelled to Italy, then France and England, then Spain, and finally Portugal.
Stefano's habits were largely the same in the large cities of each country, he would set up his business and form or join a group of intelligent wealth-bearers or noblemen within the city, selling his prestigious paintings and learning histories and geographies of the unexplored areas. It was an enjoyable life, one forged from the rich and pompous lifestyle Stefano had been born into.
That all changed in a coastal town by the name of Sintra, in the intriguing country of Portugal.

Stefano was painting a new intuitive portrait at the time, looking out over the picturesque rooftops of the quiet town. His painting was foiled when a surge of flame leapt over a building opposite him and scorched the beautiful woman black that Stefano had paid to model for him, in a balcony across the street. The rich artist never caught a glimpse of the creature, yet he knew that it was beautiful - a new being, never recorded by visual or hand-written notes. Stefano became obsessed with an idea from the initiation of the attack of Sintra - a history he could start for himself, a series of paintings of the like the world had never seen. He would be famous beyond belief, and rich too besides. If only he could see the majestic creature. Stefano cared not for the danger he had seen it display, if any concern was held it was only for himself, yet this yearning was almost - almost - more than his own self regard. Not long after the Sintra incident, Stefano sat in a plush red armchair, pondering. The town was still recovering from the unbelievable event, and it was here that Stefano made his decision - he was going to find the creature and start a foundation of art, stories - and perhaps even a religion - associated with it.

Notes: None.

@Eru Iluvatar

You were right. Consider yourself accepted!

You can post that in the character tab, after which I'll link you up in the cast list.

Spiritum Aeternum; or The Ramshackle Monster Hunters

<Snipped quote by The New Yorker>

Still around, I'm looking forward to the next round of posting. Everything is pretty promising so far.

@Danko

I'll probably have a post up by Friday as well. I'm wondering if people would rather I wait until another round of posting is complete, or if they feel like they need something extra to chew on. Let me know what you guys think!

Spiritum Aeternum; or The Ramshackle Monster Hunters

Will have CS up tonight. I think you'll like this guy :D

@Eru Iluvatar

I like him already.

The Division - Interested Check

I don't understand what happened here.

Spiritum Aeternum; or The Ramshackle Monster Hunters

@The New Yorker I'm doing fine. Thanks for asking :)

@TheDuncanMorgan

Good, who's that in your avatar? Naruto character of some kind? I followed it up to Shippuden, but even then I wasn't exactly avid. It holds a special place in my heart though. Actually, it bears some themes which are pretty similar to this RP. It depicts mysticism in a realistic world, with dynamic characters. That depiction is a conflicting juxtaposition, one which reflects, or at least attempts to reflect, something about our truer nature.

In other words: awsum avi! Naruto is total b0ss.