Amaline. A week ago Amaline was contacted by a representative of the Fuzeta da Ponte family with details of a forging job that would take her out of the city to the village of Bara Gairo. There, a Qizmiri businessman and associate of the family would be waiting, in need of some special documents so that he could get a special shipments of good into the city. Of course, details of what exactly was being transported were not forthcoming, but Amaline could guess it was likely some exotic drugs, or a dangerous pet; really, it was not her concern.
She was furnished with an example of the documents she would be forging, with instructions to burn them once she was done studying and preparing for the job. Materials would be provided on site in Bara Gairo, so as not to unduly risk her being apprehended on the way out of the city. So Amaline did as she was asked, and once she was confident she had the technique down, she burned the example and waited a couple of days for when she needed to head to the village.
In the time to spare, Amaline did a little consulting work on the price of stolen goods for a couple fences from the Castidia family, but otherwise she decided to take it easy. She was not hurting too badly for money at the moment, and the price on the documents would add nicely to those savings. Eventually it was time for her contracted job though, and she headed to Bara Gairo.
Forging the documents ended up taking a little longer than Amaline had expected, but the Qizmiri businessman had been quite impressed by her knowledge of his language; if he had any issue with her work, it seemed to have been forgiven. In any case, once the forging had been completed and she had received her payment, it was too late for her to head back into the city that day, and she was forced to stay in the village for the night.
Feo Gato. Background: Feo grew up as another poor street rat in Porto Liorte, though he had a knack for climbing and roof jumping. He joined up with one of the local gangs called the Saracens, but the group ended up on the wrong end of a score and were wiped out of their turf by the Turnball ACs. They should have known that the Turnball ACs would look down on them robbing a low-rate jewelry store on their territory, but Edge, the Saracen gang leader, thought the place was too undefended and lucrative to pass up. Feo came out of the fight unscathed and with enough of the loot from the score to escape to Bara Gairo and lay low for a bit. Half of his gang was killed outright (including Edge), while the others were hurt bad or scattered to parts unknown. Feo knows some other local gangs that might take him in, such as the Moonrunners, once things settle down. Feo is dusky skinned with chubby cheeks and dark eyes set in a squat face. He is downright unattractive and talks little, though he is generally even-tempered.
Roderick. I'm a simple man. I usually like to take the time to enjoy the niceties that life has to offer, but lately things have been a little hectic. One of my...heavier...associates has decided to do me a favor by putting the screws to a rival of mine.
Thing is, the heavy doesn't realize I've a truce with said rival, and now he's going to think I'm trying to put him out of business--which is not an endeavor I am prepared to undertake at this particular juncture.
If that weren't bad enough, my father's been getting a little anxious about a recent undertaking of his own--and he want's me to see if I can take the heat off of him, for a little while. That means raising my profile a bit higher than I normally like, what am I going to do? The man's been good to me.
Complications! Maybe when I get these messes all cleaned up, I'll get a chance to unwind and relax for a good long while...
Lano. He was Porcellana to the Mother of the Gabia d’Ocell, ‘Lanetto to the ladies of the house, ‘Lano to his younger half-brother. Porcelain to his half-brother’s Brick, he was the precocious darling of the house, favored, pampered, and played with like a living porcelain doll that could have any face painted on and dressed to take on any role. When he got a little older he was trained to entertain those nobles from the Empire who came to Porto Liure seeking illicit pleasures of a certain, unusual bent.
This was the only life Lano knew until a short-lived war between an upstart gang and the established criminal enterprise that owned the Gabia d’Ocell ended with the Gabia burning and Lano and Brick escaping to the streets. Life on the streets of Porto Liure was particularly hard for Lano and the two brothers eventually stowed away on a ship headed to the Empire. In the Empire the two roamed from town to town, lived in the woods briefly (Lano hated it), fell in with bandits, and ran away from any problems they encountered. Brick did a short stint in a city militia and when Lano finally learned that the best disguise was one that didn’t call attention to oneself he dragged Brick back to Porto Liure.
Lano immediately began planning small cons and thefts…
Recently returned to Porto Liure after a few years abroad, Lano immediately began looking for marks and that edge that could set him and Brick up for life, or at least a month or two while he looked for the next bit of work. Hitting the streets and bars of the city Lano has picked up a few unusual rumors concerning the Fuzeta da Ponte family, hidden pirate treasure and the nearby village of Bara Gairo. Shoving his meager possessions into a bag and collecting his brother Lano books passage for Bara Gairo.
Stephano. Stephano was working dockside this evening. He was loosely allied with the Fuzeta da Pontes (meaning that he could also work independently) and wanted to keep it that way, so when Carlo asked him to pull this job, he didn't hesitate or ask too many questions.
He used his one minor magical talent, so that he Carlo could communicate at a distance with whispered messages. Carlo knew what the mark looked like, but the mark also knew him. So when Carlo whispered from his hiding place "It's him. Rico. Guy with the red hat", Stephano began to make his way toward the mark.
The man he was following looked wealthy enough, with a fine leather outfit, rapier, and that jaunty hat. But Carlo's instructions were clear: He was to steal a sealed scroll and nothing else. He must not open the scroll, or else.
Rico was walking quickly, so Stephano could do little but follow. Rico went straight to the dock and onto a ship! Stephano hesitated, but knew he had to follow. He paid the last of his gold for passage on the ship. Only later did he find out that the ship was headed to nearby Gara Bairo, much to his relief.
It wouldn't do to make his move during the trip, since if the mark missed his scroll, the passengers would surely be searched.
Stephano's eye was drawn to a young lady on board. With nothing better to do, he struck up a conversation, using his sleight of hand skills to perform a couple of fake magic tricks. Sarah was friendly and laughed readily.
By the time the ship docked, Stephano was hardly thinking about the job, but he forced himself to get his head back in the game. With an 'accidental' brush against Rico as the passengers disembarked, he had the scroll.
He turned back to Sarah, hoping to turn this chance encounter into something more. "Good bye!" she told him, laughing and embracing the tall blond man who had come to the dock to greet her.
He sighed. In the morning, he'd have to book passage back to Porto Liure. In the meantime, he'd have to find the cash to do it with. He began to eye the people around him, looking for an easy mark.
Brick. Brick & Porcelain worked in a house of ill repute. Brick served as bouncer, hired muscle and self-appointed protector of Porcelain. Porcelain was a male prostitute with a specialty of dressing in costumes to fulfill the johns' fantasies. After the house shut down (gang war, law crackdown, whatever) the two escaped to a new city but Porcelain uses his skills in assuming different guises to infiltrate and impersonate for pulling cons and acquiring information. Maybe in the wilds Brick takes better care of the both of them than in the city, where he is ill-at-ease, and Porcelain is the better provider in the city. But since Porcelain loves the city and Brick will do anything for his "little" brother (who is probably the older) he goes along.
I also took militia veteran so he probably served in a small town/village militia at a stay over when the two made a stop between cities. Probably only there a month before Porcelain grew tired of "Hicksville"
A twist: no matter how good Porcelain thinks his disguises are Brick, his simple-minded brother, can always see through them.