Contents
Alan
Paul
Jeff
Jim
Joe
Darren
Sonja is a member of Ritchies gym. She’s also a fitness
buff and thinks fighting is a fun way to keep in shape. She has no plans of
competing as an MMA fighter, but she does like the idea of American Ninja
Warrior (I assume there is training stuff related to that around the gym). She
trains in the same sessions with Jeff’s character (and maybe Evans), and both
are lucky enough to have Ritchie as their trainer.
Sonja is also an avid gamer. She is in a clan with Ben,
Peter, and Mickey (and maybe Evan’s character) and some other random people I
will invent. They have been gaming together on and off for four or five years
now, and consider each other family. They call themselves Whatever Our Group
Name As Superheros Will Be.
Sonja talks about Ritchie a lot to her clan. She thinks
it’s cool that she is being trained by an America Ninja winner. She is a bit
annoying and fan-girl about it. She has even mentioned wanting to try it out
herself. She has been talking about having the guild gather for a party or
something since she turned eighteen a few months ago. She has finally
convinced them to come out to San Luis Obispo for a vacation and to hang
out. On the schedule is a trip to a vineyard and, best of all, a special
training session/demonstration with Ritchie Peterson (Sonja charmed him into
giving them a one hour demonstration thing when her normal training group is
there). She also wants to show off a bit.
Ben Vistan
40 year-old Caucasian-American Male, 5’11”, clean shaven,
with short fully silver-gray hair, blue eyes
Background:
Ben grew up Napa Valley as part of a well off family who
run a successful vineyard. He is the oldest of four siblings.
Ben is more interested in the workings of the vineyard than he is in
dealing with his narcissistic family members.
Growing up he spent his time in the fields and understanding the flow and
efficiencies of making wine and growing grapes.
Ben got so into how to improve the yield of the vineyard he analyzed
every area of the process and developed a software program to monitor and track
the use of fertilizer and it's chemical makeup as it relates to grape subtypes,
track and calculate the effects of weather and sun angle, planting day to
harvest day, the use of pesticides, maximizing the five steps of plant
pollination, etc.
Ben Vistan did well in school academically, even if he
wasn’t part of the largest social circle. He went on to college and got a degree
in Computer Science, leading him into a job as a programmer in the high-tech
industry developing applications for the farming industry. He enjoyed solving
problems creatively and digging deep into how each crop could be maximized. Work
was never a drudgery, although people sometimes are.
Ben’s hobby is bee-keeping, something he’s been interested
in since he was a child. Ben has a bee farm in Napa. Ben not only found working
with his bees a relaxing distraction from work, but he felt that he really
learned things from them: their organization, their seamless communication and
synergy. There were times when Ben felt like he understood the bees in a deep —
he would almost say spiritual — manner. It wasn’t something he shared with
people, only partially because of concern he would sound crazy. It was a
personal experience, something that was his and his alone.
Ben has his bees as pets and cares about them more than any
of his "friends". His friends are
people from work who he tolerates.
He never goes out to dinner with them or hangs out after work for drinks.
He only rarely goes out to lunch with them.
He works for his money even though he is first in line to
inherit the family business. He
doesn't really like his family but keeps in good standing with his parents so he
can get what's coming to him.
Ben doesn’t follow an organized an organized one he’s more
of a druid, believing in mother earth and all her wonderful gifts.
The drive is to create the perfect system of reproduction with no
inefficiencies keeps him motivated each day. He dreams of the perfect cycle of
life, no waste. Life is one big
cycle where the sacrifice of one form of life will ultimately feed the next.
Ben got into Warcraft when it first came out and has been a
gamer forever. He gets into
dressing up as one of his favorite characters and going to conventions.
He can cover up his issues dealing with people by being in disguise.
Chef Melancon Maxim Rush
40-year old, African-American male, 6’1”, 225 lbs,
intimidating mustache, dark complexion, brown eyes, black hair (though usually
shaves off for bald head), wide smile and friendly attitude when in his element,
highly intimidating when angered (takes a lot to make him mad).
To konprann?
Background:
Born
in the tiny village of Pointe a la Hache, Louisiana (southeast coast) in 1990.
Grew up poor, two parents, two younger sisters.
Worked as an Oysterman from age 10 to 15.
Moved with his family to Chalmette at age 16, finished high school there,
got a job at a local cajun hole-in-the-wall as a cook.
Mastered his cooking skills and at age 20, after years of saving up,
purchased an old truck and, with the help of some buddies, turned it into a
make-shift food truck. From there
he served several local specialties for the next 5 years.
Apparently did very well because he was noticed by a noteworthy Louisiana
chef and given an opportunity to enhance his skills at a professional chef
college for two years. At age 27 he
worked briefly at a restaurant but always wanted to do his own thing.
At age 30 he grew restless, heard of unique opportunities in California,
so he moved there with his small savings.
Once in CA (northern LA county to be exact), he bought his own food truck
and set up shop doing his cooking – cajun style, his way.
Over the next 10 years he moved his business a bit further northward,
eventually ending up in the San Luis area, which is where he is today – now with
three food trucks and an excellent local reputation.
Now he isn’t as famous and noteworthy as a few of the other
up-and-comers in the cooking world, but that suits him just fine.
He may be flashy when it comes to the pan and the pot, but in his
everyday interactions with folks he tends to be of few words and tends to become
impatient with chatty bodies and idle chit chat.
When you crack a good joke or say something inspiring he is quick with a
wide smile. When he becomes
annoyed, his frown is enough to intimidate most.
He respects persons of all social standings – from the super rich down to
the super poor. He does not judge
based on income or position or looks.
If anything, he judges based on the ethics and morals of the man (or
woman) and how they conduct themselves.
Think of him as a “law” abiding and generally “good” guy, despite his
intimidating presence. He has a
deep voice with a slight cajun accent.
He practices MMA, and a few of you know him as an absolute
powerhouse. He was always a big guy
and very possessive of his things and his friends, not to mention his cooking
skills, so he enhanced his ability to protect what is important to him thru
boxing and MMA training. He can
sometimes be found in one of Ritchie Peterson’s (Joe’s character) MMA training
facilities. He fights hard but he
fights fair, and is always up for helping others with their developing skills.
He is eager to help you if he can, generous with his time, generally good
natured. His friends see him as
having a protective side to him. He
is generally busy running his business, but his passion is cooking so he keeps a
business manager to handle the day-to-day.
He is a social drinker and enjoys good comraderie, but rarely attends
fancy dinner parties, and you will probably never see him in a business suit
(with tie). In fact, due to his
size he requires custom suits and he just doesn’t like spending money on such
things. Usually, when not in chef
attire, see him in jeans and T-shirt, sometimes with a jacket.
He wears no jewelry, has no tattoos, just keeps himself kept and clean.
He has high standards when it comes to food, nutrition, and
cooking. He prefers the best in
quality, he eats healthy, and he cooks with gusto.
He specializes in cajun recipies, including sauces.
Some might call him a Saucier, and if you do, never get out of the boat.
He is fine as any other man may be with polite feedback (when requested)
about his cooking, but he becomes impatient and even a little annoyed with
untrained criticisms of his cooking skills.
If you are going to take a disliking to his dishes, you better word your
comments carefully and skillfully, otherwise simply finish what’s on your plate,
thank him for the food, and order something different next time.
No one has seen him lose his temper, but you suspect if he does an
earthquake is coming right behind it.
He has been in any number of scrapes doing his MMA thing, but has never
gotten really angry. You suspect,
however, that if he were to ever become angry about something, it would have to
do with food.
Peter Mitchell.
He is a 33 year old that is single.
Did the playboy thing and is now a city counsel member for San Louis
Obispo. His parents died a few
years ago and Peter sold their business so he is “wealthy”.
He is a pilot as a hobby. In
general, he is a normal guy. Went
to school at Arizona State, got a law degree but didn’t like practicing law.
He like to party and is a social guy.
My character is Ritchie Peterson.
For those of you who know him well, he had a tough life growing up.
His father was imprisoned for killing Ritchie's mother is fit of drunken
rage so Ritchie and his younger sister were put in foster care when he was 4.
They immediately got split up.
He was in and out of various foster homes until middle school when his
father was paroled and took him back (although not his sister who was adopted by
another family). Ritchie fled his
abusive father his senior year of high school and spent a year on the streets
until he was able to graduate, get a job and get back on his feet.
He loved Japanese historical culture and old karate movies.
He was also a parkour and MMA enthusiast and spent most of his spare time
practicing when he didn't have his odd jobs (like picking up dog poop for rich
people). He also was a role player
in high school and still is (actually paid the skill points because Mark made
me) although I can easily add video games to this if that is our hook.
He spent a year at the police academy but dropped out
because he didn't like the other recruits.
He's now not a huge fan of cops overall knowing that some are good people
but thinks that most are just bullies with a badge.
Several years ago, he tried out for the American Ninja
Warrior tv show and failed spectacularly. He tried again the next season -
lost on the first go but actually won the second time (why they allow them
to try-out multiple times in a season is beyond me).
He invested his winnings into a MMA
training facility and now owns three of them in case any of you are fitness
buffs. He also recently
reconnected with his sister and is hoping that they stay in each other's
lives. I'm 26, which would make
my sister not a teen anymore, but if you want to make that a connection, I
can always drop my age and make myself a little older when I went to foster
care.
BACKGROUND: If
you asked anyone he knew, Mickey was already a genetic freak. He was always
hungry and could eat anything (and did) but stayed unhealthfully thin.
He didn’t have that outward hyperactivity that accompanies some with high
metabolism. No, he could just eat
and eat and eat and never get fat.
And on 6’ 2” frame people would wonder if he had an eating disorder.
Even when he worked out he could not gain any real muscle tone.
DESCRIPTION:
Tall, unhealthfully thin looking, with dark shaggy hair and dark brown eyes and
a big smile. He often wears loose
fitting clothes because most clothes he would buy to cover him also end up being
too big for his frame. Often in a
video game t-shirt and shorts.
FAMILY: Mother
(Sandra, Secretary), Father (Edward, City Planner), Younger Sister (“Newt”,
Student), Grandfather (Saul, former Attorney, retired.
EDUCATION:
Palo Alto HS, Palo Alto, CA.
Graduate.
LIVING ENVIRONMENT:
Family all live on the same property, with Saul living in guest house out
back
CAREER JOB/INCOME:
Tech support over phone (and remote connection) for a technology firm in
Silicon Valley. Given his low overhead
most of his income goes to food and improving his computer setup.
HOBBIES: He
desperately wants to be one of these million-dollar-a-year video game
contestants, but doesn’t have the skills.
He enters a lot of tournaments and plays regularly whenever he can.
FAITH/RELGION:
None.
PETS: A
salamander named Saulamander, named after his grandfather.
RELATIONSHIPS:
No current girlfriend since HS ended as all the girls he knows went off to
college.
PERSONALITY:
Did I mention he’s always hungry?
He’s an amiable enough guy, friendly.
Phone tech support turns out to be a good fit because of his tendency to
let his face express what he’s really thinking.
MOTIVATION: He
wants to be rich and self-sufficient, with a hot wife and hot-and-cold-running
video games, like all twenty-something males who don’t have a crushing amount of
responsibility.
MORALITY:
Mostly good. At times he can be
selfish, but he corrects that when reminded.
Ken smith grew up in southern California.
He had a fairly difficult time in school, and while he struggled he did
not get good enough grades to get into a 4 year college.
Following a good deal of conflict at home, he joined the army and
completed ranger school feeling that he needed to prove himself.
He then went on to sniper school, but did not graduate.
He was then deployed to Afghanistan where he served for a single tour.
During that tour he was involved in a firefight where his squad came
under heavy attack, and over a period of 24 hrs, half of his squad was killed.
After returning to the US, he found that he was haunted by his experience
as a survivor and under certain circumstances feels the effects of PTSD.
When he got back he retired from the army and became an electrician.
The pay is pretty good, and it allowed him to work by himself in
relatively quiet environments.
His recent hobbies include MMA and rock climbing.
Ben finds MMA an activity where he can blow off steam, and vent some of
the rage and frustration he feels.
While the rock climbing provides a combination of physical focus and adrenaline
as well as a quiet serene environment.