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| Lore Dearborn |
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Posted by: Lore - 08-16-2024, 05:28 PM - Forum: Biographies & Backstory
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"Lore Dearborn is a self-made entrepreneur of considerable worth, who first featured on the Forbes Under 30 list in 2044. She grew up on the Ashurst Estate outside London, alongside controversial figure Damien Oakland, the current Patron of the newly established Dominance IX. Ms. Dearborn studied at Oxford before completing her education overseas, and made her first mark on the business world while interning for luxurious brand Stella Moreau in New York. Her business Second Chances sold to Anastasia Vega of Jivana Industries for an undisclosed amount. In recent months she has been seen in the company of Jessika Thrice, former governor of Texas anticipated to become the first Privilege of IX."
Business news pages, late 2045
BIOGRAPHY:
Early Life
Lore grew up outside London, on a modest estate shared with the family of her father’s longtime friend and business associate. The unconventional circumstance was only something she understood when she was older, though even as a child she was somewhat aware of the subtle shunning of society around them, and why. There was no great pedigree to the Dearborn name, and certainly nothing to leverage respect or justify their acquisition of the Ashurst estate from its ancestral keepers – just the hard work of her entrepreneur father, who’d forged a fortune over the years in blood and sweat. When hardship threatened, the sharks circled; waiting for their tumble back down the ladder – for if her father broke a glass ceiling on his rise, those same shards were waiting to cut him to shreds on the way back down. And they weren’t wrong. Truth was, in the turbulent economic flux of the late 2010s, inviting the Oaklands was the only way they could keep hold of their home while investing the capital to keep them afloat.
The joint business venture more than paid off; debtors were repaid in full, leaving the coffers renewed and then some, but as it was the Oaklands stayed. The grounds were large, and it was no imposition; it seemed pointless to break the ties when they had proved fortuitous on both sides, and by then both young families had grown.
Their son, Damien, was six years old when Lore was born, more stern older brother than playmate to her when she was growing up. As a toddler she was both terrified and infatuated, hiding from him in shadows, yet following everywhere he went. Her mother blamed it on the colourful dreams she suffered even then, and of course Lore was too small to articulate. She was a generally quiet child, happy with a book and her own company as she grew older. In that they were much alike. By the time she was a teenager, tragedy took the Oaklands back to Maine. Lore was both disappointed and relieved to see Damien go.
Financial difficulty hit the Dearborns again in the following years. A few bad business deals; sure bets that inexplicably backfired due to unmitigated natural disasters around the globe. The world was erupting in disturbing chaos. Meanwhile Lore attended university on scholarship, won on her own merits, though some did not feel she deserved the help – that her family, having known and lost their wealth – were simply not poor enough to warrant an opportunity that might have been better gifted elsewhere. If anything it made her work harder, and she was already a diligent student, bright-minded and with a very fine memory for detail. But she struggled to fit in, and that was before the news reached them about Damien back in America.
Suitably horrified, Lore was not actually surprised to hear he’d ended up on Death Row. He’d always been so intense, she didn’t have to try hard to imagine him capable.
Though it had been many years since Damien had passed through Oxford’s halls, it was the kind of old world institution where legacy had a sharp bite – and his was already a legacy she was living in the shadow of, for he’d left an indelible mark there as a future bright star. She did not bother explaining she was not Damien’s sister, knowing it would only make the title stick harder – and no one here seemed to remember her name anyway. Instead, she opted for foreign-exchange the moment the opportunity was offered, and completed her studies in the US, where no one knew who she was at all.
America
After graduation she interned for a year at Stella Moreau in New York, and fell in love with the city. Though her father offered financial support where he could, she mostly relied on herself, and lived in a tiny apartment she shared with three other girls. A far cry from the country estate of her childhood, where two entire families had been able to sprawl without invading the other’s privacy. Not that she ever mentioned it. Her friendship groups remained in academic circles rather than the socialite scene – she’d chosen Stella Moreau for their notable philanthropy and clean moral bill more than any interest in cosmetics. Not that she didn’t take advantage of the company perks. But she never seemed to be wearing the right brands at the right time, or the exact shade of the season’s exact favoured colours, no matter how hard she tried to wrap her head around that world. Despite a reputation for quiet and efficient work, she made no lasting impression.
More importantly to Lore, Stella Moreau employees were entitled to take a paid day a month where they were encouraged to give back to the community. She was astounded at the poverty she discovered beyond the Custody’s borders. Not that London didn’t have its own problems, of course – and she’d learned about the world-wide catastrophes of the 20s; had even felt their sting on her own life. But it was nothing like seeing the sad ruins that had been left behind elsewhere in the world. Here, disaster had ravaged the coast, New York City itself nearly sinking into the sea, and even more than a decade later the infrastructure struggled to recover.
When she sat in her box room that night, grateful to have a roof over her head at all, she began drafting the first version of a business plan that would soon become the making of her.
Business
Her start-up was called Second Chances, and focused on the homeless and displaced; networking employment opportunities and training, assisting job application and interview preparation, and providing a physical address for mail and government necessities. Lore plied every free moment she was not working into winning funding and attracting investors, including the Stella Moreau Charitable Foundation, who donated a sizable chunk in the year of its inception and helped give the venture wings. At its helm Lore was remarkably adept, but there were never enough hours in the day, and something eventually had to give.
When her internship came to its natural conclusion she was sad to close the chapter, but determined to use the opportunity to refortify her attentions on Second Chances – risk that it was then, with the venture still in its infancy. But the company continued to grow, and by the time she was 24 she was among those featured on the Forbes under 30 list for social impact. After its publication, the first flutterings of interest from large corporations surprised her, given the nature of the work, but Anastasia Vega numbered among them, and it gave Lore pause. The business was her very heart at the time, but she placed its needs above her own. The work here was a drop in the ocean, even in New York itself. And she would let go if it meant the help would reach more people: something she simply couldn’t do alone.
The flagship branch was self-sufficient by then. Lore had never been the face, preferring to enable local people the chance to step up for their own communities. Over the past few years she had employed good and talented people, and she knew it would continue to flourish without her. She still did her due diligence, that went without saying. But Jivana Industries had a stellar reputation, and Lore agreed to a period of consultancy to ensure a smooth transition. The brand and its ethos would be disseminated out into the Custody. Investment would be injected into the New York branch, with the option to franchise out. Second Chances really would fly high.
The sale propelled Lore into extreme wealth – Ana Vega was more than generous with what she offered. Ever the astute businesswoman, Lore began investing her new capital immediately, and has significantly increased both her net worth and portfolio over the past year. Typically she looks for opportunities that enable her to share knowledge with those who will use it wisely, investments that ease environmental impact, and ventures that support free education. Notable acquisitions include the American business Cyberpoint, which she flipped for an obscene amount of profit to the Custody company Paragon Group, noted for their support of war veterans. She retains shares, and will benefit from future projects which use Cyberpoint’s IP.
Mexico City
It was around this time that Damien's shadow loomed over her life once more, when news broke about the bombing of the American Embassy in Mexico. Close to a decade had passed, but she recognised him immediately, and began following the story with a morbid curiosity. It wasn't that she had ever forgotten Damien, but neither had she ever written or attempted to visit him at San Quentin. She was quite certain he would have had his own version of what happened back then; just as certain as she was that he could charm the birds from the trees and convince them to clip their own wings.
Her instincts urged her to steer well clear. But there was an element of guilt too. Not because she owed him anything, but because Second Chances had been about just that.
She considered herself at least somewhat worldly by now, having survived the cut-throat arena of New York City for so long, but Mexico was a shock to the system. Lore was organised and sensible with her travel preparations, but she had no concept of the danger into which she placed herself so willingly – and no concept of what a civil war might truly look like. Even safe to her destination, she found herself unsettled. In the foyer of Damien’s building, she was met by a dull-eyed man whose lofty tones declared himself a lord. Lore was not au fait enough with the gentry to say otherwise, but she couldn't see what he was doing in Mexico – and at the side of a convicted killer. It sent a shiver down her spine to consider what kind of allies Damien might have surrounded himself with. Yet it was too late to turn back.
Damien had weathered under hardship, but when she was granted his audience he was almost exactly as she remembered; which is to say his magnetism made her supremely uncomfortable. She had no real notion of what reception she would receive, or if they would be strangers now, but she told him she was sorry about Elissa. The meeting was private, and none know exactly what transpired between them, but within the month Lore had been sent – or exiled – north, where she has remained at the side of Jessika Thrice since.
ABOUT:
Lore appreciates order and understanding the world around her. She greatly admires figures like Nikolai Brandon, who have affected such great change, and is a great supporter of the Custody, which she believes to be the first steps towards peace and utopia. She feels a pull towards those who shape the world around them, but her admiration is usually formed from a distance. She’s naturally introverted, and can seem shy, but does not actually lack confidence; in fact she is usually direct and practical, and not someone afraid to speak her mind. But she is more comfortable away from the limelight, and she is certainly no great actress.
She’s not competitive in nature, but is certainly highly driven. Work is the main component of her life because she enjoys what she does. Tasks are completed quietly and efficiently, which sometimes leads to her being overlooked in favour of those more vocal about their talents. She is and has always been independent.
Everything about her mannerism and appearance is feminine, from porcelain skin to rosebud lips, but she’s not the sort to attract lots of attention, usually falling into the shadow of more gregarious women, where she is quite content to stay. She prefers actual conversation to small talk, and can be passionate when she feels a rapport (for person or topic). Public speaking is no issue for her – she excels at anything she may practise or plan for. She loves to be organised, and is an exceptional businesswoman, with a knack for making money – as attested by her self-made fortune.
In Jessika's circles she's primarily known as Damien’s sister, which she doesn’t correct despite the inaccuracy, or the way it marginalises her own accomplishments. She is loyal to Jessika, unaware of any corruption beneath her meteoric rise, and curious for the challenge of Moscow.
TALENTS:
She possesses the ability to channel, should she ever learn.
She often dreams in vivid detail, and sometimes lucidly. Occasionally she records these snippets in a diary, but she has no notion that they mean anything specific. Rather, she does it because it is the closest she ever feels to spirituality. Sometimes it fills her with the sense that there is something missing inside her for which she deeply longs, an answer she has chased for most of her life. In the minutes when she wakes, before the dream fades as any other, she sometimes feels like that answer has just slipped through her fingers.
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| Totally Family [Three Trinities Haven Church] |
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Posted by: Sterling - 08-09-2024, 08:25 PM - Forum: Camps
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Risha was pissed off at her. Sterling had been ditching school more and more and Risha couldn't come -- she didn't want to lose her academic scholarships or something like that. Sterling didn't care. She wanted to learn how to channel, and the only place she knew she could do that was at Kalisti. So that's where she went. But Nox had been an asshat. He'd contacted her parents through actual mail, sent them a proposable about learning to channel, and keeping her grades up. It was bullshit really.
She could sneak off to the club and learn, but she had to maintain classes online and keep up her grades. Turnes out that was the easy part. Channeling wasn't. It was hard. And Juls didn't know much more than she did, but Sterling kept at it.
While he was gone, she started looking out for the twins that Nox had brought to the club a couple of times. They'd gotten her number from Nox's hacker friend and Sterling spent many days hanging out with them, doing school work. They liked doing work. I guess when you didn't go to school it might be. Sterling hated it, but she helped them out.
And they had so much freedom, Sterling enjoyed spending time with them at the church they currently called home. There were a bunch of people there. Sterling tried to ignore the smell. It didn't bother the twins.
Today they were playing a rather rousing game of hide and seek in the Church. Kenzie was it. Morgan insisted she knew the best hiding places and dragged Sterling after her. "Come on, she's gonna be done in a minute. She always cheats."
Sterling laughed. "Says the girl who counts by twos."
Morgan blushed, but pulled Sterling down and into a hole which they both had to crawl through. They still weren't hiding when Kenzie called out "Ready or not! Here I come!
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| Tragic Fire Engulfs Blackthorn Mansion: Only One Heir Survives |
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Posted by: Ashton - 08-06-2024, 11:23 AM - Forum: The Scroll
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A devastating fire engulfed the opulent Blackthorn mansion in the prestigious Garden District, leaving the community in shock and mourning. The blaze, which consumed the entire estate, claimed the lives of many members of the esteemed Blackthorn family, including the patriarch Ambrose and his wife Eleanor, their sons Reginald and Octavius, as well as Cedric and Charlotte. Among the victims were also their children Percival, Ambrose, and Octavius, along with the former heir to the family fortune, Edmund.
Miraculously, most of the children survived the inferno. Victoria, the sole surviving daughter of Cedric and Charlotte Blackthorn, emerges as the new heir to the vast Blackthorn fortune. In addition to Victoria, the foster children of the Blackthorn family were mostly spared, except for young Ethan Williams. The three daughters of Maximilian – Arabella, Seraphina, and Genevieve – also survived the tragedy.
The fire not only ravaged the mansion but also caused the structure to sink into the ground, leaving nothing but ashes and rubble. Authorities suspect foul play in the incident, but the extent of the damage has left no evidence to examine. As the investigation continues, the community is left grappling with the loss and the mystery surrounding this devastating event.
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| New Beginnings (Olkhon Island | Baikal Lake, Siberia) |
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Posted by: Tenzin - 08-01-2024, 05:15 PM - Forum: Rest of the world
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[[Continued from Wild Heart]]
Tenzin fell easily into the routine of travel, a soothing aid for the confusion still in her aching heart, and a good distraction for her human worries. She had not truly realised how stifling she found the city until she left it. The freedom lifted her lungs with a breath of joy, but it did not remedy the hollow she carried inside now. A reminder of what had been left behind.
A reminder of what might have been irretrievably lost.
Back in Leh they had lived communally in the monastery, but many years of solitary living had passed since then. At heart Tenzin was a nomad, used to her own company and content to run with her brethren when she could. She’d lived on the wild edges, focused by the hunt to which she pledged her life and energies, and enlivened by the companionship of the wolves who called her sister. There had been no discontent in that old life. When she needed it she sought the succour of human company in the rural lands where elders still knew something of the rākṣasa hatyārā’s work, and treated her with distant kindness. These pangs of loneliness were new. It felt strangely like the grief she had lived through after Silver’s death.
The wolves guided, and she followed the trail they left for her. They did not use the human names for places, but Tenzin was accustomed to interpretation of their shared language and how to use it to navigate the journey. The new packs she encountered found it an unusual delight, how fluently she aligned with them without becoming lost to herself, as so many of the kin still did. The excited ripple of Star Dancer comes that went ahead of her, especially amongst the pups, made her smile for the welcome received.
Once in the dream she met an old wolf, older than Silver, with a far more cantankerous tongue. She sat at his paws, hands on her knees, to accept his wisdom and direction. Then, towards the end of her journey she was greeted by a springy, half-grown pup whose excited sendings identified him as one of Chase’s brood. By then her waking body was close to her destination.
*
Civilisation closed back around her, and though it was not the towering cityscape of Moscow, it took a moment to readjust herself to the throngs of people. Contacts concealed Tenzin’s yellow eyes, but a few still stared at a woman openly draped in so many tattoos. The gazes did not linger over long, though. These people had bigger concerns, evidenced by the signs of recent weather damage battering their harbour and surrounding dwellings. Summer in Siberia was not what it was back home, but it was not the season for storms. Even the ferry to the island had been damaged, only yesterday resuming its crossings. Tenzin’s sharp ears caught murmurings of ill omens as she purchased her ticket.
Ohlkon Island bore similar signs of destruction, and in its isolation far less signs of efficient recuperation. The settlement had no roads to speak of, only dirt tracks lined by wooden houses – something far more akin to the villages Tenzin was used to in India. Supplies were being unloaded from the boat when she alighted on shore. Her brow flickered concern, and she briefly deliberated pausing to offer help, but the pull towards brethren was stronger. One of the kin who had already survived the change likely also knew how to survive the elements, and there were a few wolves here for support, the small resident pack skimming over the ice for good hunting when the lake froze over in the winter months. If the kin had been hurt in the storm, Tenzin was sure she would already know, but she would prefer to see it with her own eyes before delaying to help others.
Beyond the village, great larch and pine trees shadowed the narrow passes, giving way to great swathes of steppe. The long grasses tickled her skin, and beat her heart with the urge to run for the joy of it. Instead she sniffed the air. She did not know exactly where the cabin was, except that it was between the village and the basin of water that curved from a great rock. When the dappled light of the trees once more shaded her shoulders, Tenzin’s mind unfurled and reached out in greeting. The pack who called this place home might not be close, but they would be able to guide her step.
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| They Found Me |
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Posted by: Ayden - 07-29-2024, 12:40 PM - Forum: United States
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Ayden was working her shift at the diner when a man in a black suit and sunglasses walked in. She'd never seen him before and he was too clean to be a resident or even a visitor. That should have been her first clue. He sat down at one of her tables and put his sunglasses down on the table.
She grabbed her pad from her pocket and approached him. His eyes looked up and she could have sworn he recognized her as someone who he knew. But she didn't know this man. She would remember him. He smiled at her. "I'll have a coffee, cream, no sugar." He paused then his smile turned dark. "Anne."
Ayden's face went white. That was not her name -- it hadn't been her name for many years. It wasn't even close. "I'm sorry, we are out of coffee." she said without letting him know she was panicking on the inside. Someone found me. Holy fuck! We have to leave.
"That's alright. I'll take the #1 special and a chocolate milk shake. And then you'll come sit down and have a little chant with me. Chastity."
Fuck! He knew more than he should!
"Right. I'll get that right in." She said with a waiver in her voice. This was going to go badly. What the fuck!
Ayden put the order in and then went into the back room to call her husband... While still officially it still felt weird. Her name was Nikki and she was married to Josh.
Connor picked up and Ayden didn't even wait for him to say hello. "Someone found me. Start packing, we need to go." She hung up quickly and made her way out to the front "I'm going to take a break." She told the girl up front and then went to sit down with the man who knew too much.
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| Setting Up |
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Posted by: Nox - 07-21-2024, 05:17 PM - Forum: United States
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Kai walked into the office building like he had been everyday for a week. "Hey, Mercer." the security guard said as he walked through the checkpoint and to the cleaning closet and readied his cart.
Across town, Finn was doing the same thing.
Preparation for something like this was always key. And this one was a big key job. The pay was excellent and the cause didn't matter. It was just another job for the Mercer brothers.
They were almost ready. They had the schedule down pat. It was like clockwork. And the riots all around made it even more predictable.The whole country was under curfew and it was days away from a full fledge lock down. They only had a little more time left and then the rest of the world would go into a frenzy.
Kai set the last peice of the rifle in his hiding spot. Their plan would happen in one more day. It was almost ready.
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| The Last Six Months |
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Posted by: Ayden - 07-20-2024, 04:26 PM - Forum: United States
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Leaving San Antonino had been easier than Nikki thought it would be. Getting used to the new name -- that was always a challenge. She changed her stay at home look only slightly, adapting something more feminine and suburban housewife like. She made sure to stay on top of the high fashions for her age bracket and hip with the kids.
Her and Josh eventually found a home in a small town just north of the New Mexico border and the Southern Ute Reservation. It was quaint if you discounted the tent city that most of the town was made up of. But they had a house of their own. It was small, barely livable for the two of them, and now with a baby on the way -- things were about to get more crowded.
Nikki Haydensen was now three months pregnant with her first child -- it would be Josh's second, though they never told anyone that, it was their little secret.
Nikki was working at a local diner making very little money, but she wasn't worried about that. She had enough stored up as Ayden Hayes to work through whatever they needed going forward.
Her nightmares still plagued her. The blood and the sacrifices still kept her awake at night. And images of Connor, no Josh, dying were pulling at her restless nights more times than she could count. And now images of the baby held up high in her hands all akuna matta style and then stabbed in the chest or thrown from the top of some Aztec temple or another plagued her nightmares.
That was when Nikki and Josh went on a sight seeing tour just south of the Colorado border to the Aztec Ruins National Monument. Though her dreams resembled something from south of the border, Nikki called upon her ancient learning and knew some bits about the Aztecs.
Sadly the Monument was for the Pueblo Native Americans but it was still an interesting trip they took together. They vowed to do that more -- see the things they never got to see before.
It was a happy little life thought she did miss the job. She made a trip out to a gun range once a month. It was quite the drive to get there, but it was worth shooting the rifle in a safe environment. The loud pops and the feel of the trigger under her finger made her feel at home -- something Connor/Josh would never truly understand, but it wasn't her little secret. He knew. She told him it was just to stay sharp and not lose her edge. But it felt good to watch the bullet smash into the target down range. And she was good at it.
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