Post by cj on Jun 26, 2007 20:23:50 GMT -5
Charlotte deBerry
Name: Charlotte de Berry
Date of Birth: March 1636
Place of Birth: Kea Parish of Carrick-Cornwall, England
Apparent Age: 22
True Age: 371
Sex: Female
AKA: Chance Barry, Charlotte De Bries
Nationality: English
Residence: Chicago, Illinois USA
Close Friends: Brace de Marche* and Ferdinand Santiago (husbands; both deceased).
*This was a forced marriage, Charlotte would admit later that she had some fondness for him, but his preoccupation with sex and his wandering eye, turned that fondness to bitterness. Ferdinand was the love of her mortal life.
Date of First Death: 1658
Cause: Stabbed and thrown overboard
Teacher: Terence Kincaid (deceased)
Watcher: Denise Smithson
Languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Cantonese, Hindi, and Bengali
Personality: Charlotte is a tough customer. She takes her personal vendettas very seriously. This comes from her days as a pirate captain. Already skilled at swordplay when she entered her life as an Immortal, the Game gave her excuse to sharpen her skills. Her attitude as pirate has followed her into her current profession. She married into the De Bries diamond fortune and found acceptance as a fierce competitor. Her fierceness led to several worker deaths in the De Bries mines in South Africa. She will take any life if it furthers her ambitions.
Special Skills: Charlotte is an accomplished business woman and is a tough negotiator. She has been a hired assassin and is proficient with most firearms. Her past as a pirate has made her used to fighting for her life. Her excellent swordsmanship is a testament to this. She has never quite disposed of her pirate attitude and this has led to many unnecessary deaths, mortal and Immortal alike. She spent 100 years of her life in the Orient and is familiar with several styles of martial arts.
Participation: Evil
Number of Q’s: 231
Weapon of Choice: Custom Pirate Boarding Cutlass
History:
Cornwall 1636 Charlotte is found by the de Berry family near a stream in Kea Parish of Carrick, Cornwall.
Cornwall 1653 Disguised herself as a man and joined the Royal Navy. She was following the man she loved. But an officer on the ship discovered the relationship. Charlotte’s lover was flogged to death by the same officer’s order. He then tried to seduce Charlotte. He failed miserably. She stabbed him and fled ashore.
Dover 1654 Charlotte became an entertainer in waterfront saloons.
A ship captain kidnapped her and forced Charlotte to marry him. They set sail for Africa. Bitter at having to bend to his will in all matters, she convinced the crew to mutiny. She stabbed her hapless spouse in his offending parts and had him thrown overboard. She took over the ship and turned the crew to piracy.
Granada, Spain 1657 Met and married Ferdinand Santiago who, with a grudge against the Spanish crown, joined her in a life of piracy. For the next year they took pleasure in each other and raiding Spanish shipping.
Near Gibraltar 1658 Charlotte and Ferdinand’s ship is sunk in a storm. The survivors take refuge on a raft. They go without food or water for 6 days aboard a raft. Hunger turns to desperation. They draw lots to see who will die so the others can survive. Ferdinand draws the short straw. He is killed despite Charlotte’s objections. They are rescued a day later by a merchant ship. Charlotte goes mad and her own crew stabs her and throws her overboard. She is washed ashore on the African side of Gibraltar. Immortal Terence Kincaid finds her and takes her aboard his ship. He sees her more as a student and an obligation than a love interest. He teaches her what she needs to know to survive in The Game. Upon her departure from his tutelage in 1660, he surprisingly gifts her with a bag of jewels. He explains, “My teacher, Raymond Tibbits got me started, I suppose I should get you started.” The two would never meet again. There was no love lost between them and she didn’t exactly weep when she learned of his beheading in 1995.
Europe 1660 Wanders Europe for the next 50 years taking heads and taking odd jobs as an entertainer and hired assassin. She learns the skills of killing for profit, not a far cry from her years as a pirate.
Milan 1710-1713 Acts as an assassin for the Austrian government and works against Spain, making sure the Spanish lose claim to their possessions in Italy. Charlotte acts as a bodyguard for the Austrian representative in the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht, which officially stripped the Spanish of most of their Italian possession. She feels vindicated and ends her mourning for Ferdinand.
Vienna 1760 Unsuccessfully attempts the assassination of Frederick II of Prussia. The matter is kept quiet. Charlotte is held for the next 15 years in a Prussian prison where she is repeatedly brutalized. She escapes with the help of a guard who had fallen in love with her. Hardened by years of exploitation, she killed him to cover her escape. She disappears from records for the next 81 years.
Milan 1841 Has short and stormy relationship with Harrison Richards aka Richter von Harrisburg. When a turn of events reveals the sins of her past, Richards ends their relationship.
Acting as a woman scorned, she challenges him, but loses. He spares her life. She views this as an insult and vows to kill him the next time the two meet. Richards leaves for Rome and warns her not to follow. Cutting her losses, Charlotte goes to San Remo and leaves Italy for good.
Africa 1842 Travels throughout Africa and arrives in the Cape of Good Hope area just as the diamond boom begins in 1867.
South Africa 1872 Marries for money into the De Bries diamond family. Charlotte inherits a majority stake in the company when her husband dies “mysteriously” 2 years later. She stays for five years. She assumes the identity of Chance Barry and leaves the majority stake to herself. She leaves for Antwerp. Despite the two Boer Wars the diamond business remains good for the De Bries company. After amassing a huge fortune, she leaves for the Orient.
Bangkok 1912 Charlotte, now involved in opium meets up with Harrison Richards aka Richter von Harrisburg. The two battle. Charlotte unable to beat him, flees, but only temporarily. She lures the Immortal Phongsivit, von Harrisburg’s Buddhist mentor, off holy ground and takes his head. Forbidden by Phongsivit to take revenge for his death, von Harrisburg leaves Charlotte alone, at least for the moment. Charlotte leaves for Hong Kong.
Hong Kong 1914 Proprietor of numerous opium dens, Charlotte also came into competition with other drug traders in the area. She had her own group of thugs and eventually she dominated the opium business in Hong Kong. She stayed until 1940, just before the Japanese took over.
Calcutta 1941 Lays low in Calcutta until the war is over.
Singapore 1946 Heads up a smuggling ring out of the port of Singapore. She is always one step ahead of the authorities.
Macao 1961 Moves her base of operations to Macao. She continues her activities here until things get too hot. By 1972 she had worn out her welcome in the Orient.
Los Angeles 1972 Runs a shady import/export business and smuggles heroin in from Asia. She stays in L.A. until 1982. She changes her identity when the authorities begin to investigate her activities. Charlotte lays low for 20 years moving from one town to another.
Chicago 1992 Gets involved with illegal import of diamonds in the Chicago area. She runs a legitimate diamond business in Chicago as a front for her illegal activities. Having assumed the De Bries identity again, the authorities pay less attention to her.
Chicago 2007 Benny Carbassa and a partner run a diamond scam and cross Charlotte. Benny bets the money from the scam, loses it all, and they fail to pay Charlotte her share. In a classic Carbassa scheme, they steal a precious necklace from Charlotte and try to blackmail her into releasing them from their obligation. Charlotte has Benny’s partner murdered and she comes for Benny’s head. Benny shoots her and with police sirens wailing in the distance, leaves Chicago for the only place he knows he can find help…Seacouver. Charlotte awakens in the morgue, escapes, and makes the necessary arrangements for a new identity. Burning for revenge and what was stolen from her, she sets out in hot pursuit of the hapless Carbassa.
Played by Dave