Dark_RP

Emmaline and Clarabelle Mann were used to living the high life in New York. Clarabelle making money as a faux- spirit medium, and Emmaline making her money by using her father's legitimate merchant fleet as a front for blatant war profiteering. Emmaline was amused that her clients, and those that sought to shut her down were looking for a man rather than a woman allowing her to take risks with big payoffs that others were not able to make. She had made sure her father was never implicated but several of his managers were thoroughly investigated at first by her competitors and later by the government itself: their lives left in tatters as minor embezzlements (real or manufactured) were brought to light.



Clarabelle, jealous of her sister's growing wealth looked for ways to extort more and more until she finally decided there was a 'killing' to be made in Europe. She talked about it, but her departure was sudden and unannounced. Emmaline was eventually able to track down which ship she took, and its unfortunate fate. The steamship Aztec was sunk, 28 were killed. She found that out the same day her father was being beaten to death by an angry mob, convinced that because of his Germany ancestry, Werner Mann was a traitor.

Not wanting to meet the same fate as her father, and fearing the fate of her sister she too left for Europe. She never discovered what happened to Clarabelle:- within weeks of landing at Brest she was bedridden with a terrible flu - she didn't rise from that bed until she was dragged out of her caul by a reaper working on behalf of the Grim Legion, his name was McCoy.

Emmaline was surprised to discover that her appearance was now one of androgony, and she also quickly learned about the horrors of the war that had financed her sometimes excessive diet of Manhattans for the past few years. She fell first into despair and then into a harrowing before she was able to suppress the guilt enough to continue existing. After the harrowing she resolved to be the provider rather than the profiteer: she adopted a new name: "Stringer".




McCoy introduced Stringer to other members of the Breathless Dead at the Paris necropolis who were also readjusting to this strange existence - and Stringer soon showed a flair for the Arcanoi Usury. Before her harrowing, only 4 wraiths knew her real name and they all agreed to discretion after the harrowing. McCoy, a sort of adoptive father, would frequently leave them and return with new victims and others would leave the circle after a time to seek their destiny. After 4 months Stringer began to grow restless like they had done and McCoy introduced Stringer to the Usurers for further training. Stringer was again horrified by some of their philosophies, their cold profiteering in light of the global disaster was abhorent. They had great potential to do good, but little motivation and Stringer vowed to do what little 'she' could to change this self-destructive course.


Unsatisfied however, she confided in McCoy a few months later. As ever, he understood as few others would. He explained that the Skeletal Lord understood the importance of the Usurers, and was also impatient with their ways. He gave her a choice then, to join with the Usurers and do what could be done for the ultimate betterment of all, or to join with the Skeletal Lord and take a more open role in the struggles. Stringer knew that her skills meant the former course must be taken, but wanted a third course - would it not be for the ultimate betterment of all to get the usurers to support the Skeletal Legion? The Smiling Lord's ways were no doubt bringing great profit in the short term but returning the balance of power was the only way to be sure there would be any means of enjoying those profits. McCoy smiled, he promised to return with a way to begin the Great Project.

And so he did, 2 months before present day he introduced Stringer to Gregory Lionel Hughcastle. Stringer had found few sympathetic ears at the Guild, though seh had been able to give pause to her immediate superiors with appeals to long term stability as a means of better profit. Hughcastle was in the Skeletal Legion, and it would be through him Stringer could begin to lend support to the Skeletal Legion to try and regain balance. The next challenge would be to avoid becoming that which she hated most, she must avoid the temptation of proft - she must avoid favouring the Skeletal Legion at the peril of wraiths from other walks of life. All must be regarded as victims of this travesty, even if the Skeletal Legions were the only hope of bringing it to a peaceful conclusion, she must not lose sight of the suffering of those caught in the sidelines. Stringer walks an impossible path, can she find redemption for her mortal sins before her newly awoken charitable heart leads to peril? Can she overcome her powerful dark side, now both weakened and strengthened?

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Just added a bit of post-death madness, with a random tie-in to Hughcastle.