CARREAU — Chicago, 1934
Ola Rabiou
Ola "Diamondback" Rabiou
Age: 44
Born 1892 in Abomey, the Kingdom of Dahomey
Height: 5'9
Fatal flaw: adamance
Born in Abomey to a world of pain, Ola has never had a chance to wonder how she has lived so unbroken. She does not question the desire to keep fighting. It's all she's ever done.
Age: 44
Born 1892 in Abomey, the Kingdom of Dahomey
Height: 5'9
Fatal flaw: adamance
Born in Abomey to a world of pain, Ola has never had a chance to wonder how she has lived so unbroken. She does not question the desire to keep fighting. It's all she's ever done.
Miryam Barak
Doctor Miryam Barak
Age: ???
Born in Fes, Morocco
Height: 4'10
Fatal flaw: the spirit of inquiry
The world isn't any less vast when she has a scalpel in her hand, but it is at least more interesting.
Age: ???
Born in Fes, Morocco
Height: 4'10
Fatal flaw: the spirit of inquiry
The world isn't any less vast when she has a scalpel in her hand, but it is at least more interesting.
Lex Gabarre
Alexander Gabarre
Age: 21
Born 1913 in Richmond, Virginia
Height: 5'9
Fatal flaw: filial piety
Lex forfeited her fortune when her father learned her secret: that some nights, protected by flame and moonglow, she isn't Alexander, isn't a son. But her father is dead now, and the country is broken. Soon, there won't be anyone on the trains at all. Her uncle is taking what belongs to her. She intends to take it back.
Age: 21
Born 1913 in Richmond, Virginia
Height: 5'9
Fatal flaw: filial piety
Lex forfeited her fortune when her father learned her secret: that some nights, protected by flame and moonglow, she isn't Alexander, isn't a son. But her father is dead now, and the country is broken. Soon, there won't be anyone on the trains at all. Her uncle is taking what belongs to her. She intends to take it back.
Nghi Le
Lê Thị Thanh Nghi
Age: 61
Born 1873 en route to France from Vietnam
Height: 5'3
Fatal flaw: fear of reciprocity
Nghi's father was an apothecary who became a railroad worker. Her mother was a teacher under the French education system before she started in a linen factory. Nghi doesn’t get why they ever left Vietnam; damn well doesn’t get why they still love her. She went into research to make them proud, sold out to a railroad company because it was easier, and because there was money, and what kid wouldn’t want to give their parents an easier life? Never mind the company’s reputation for killing the people it hired for pennies on the hour. Her parents are both gone now. Bad lungs, the doctor said each time, a life of too much working. There’s nothing we can do. Nghi didn’t even know the day her mother died. She was too busy working.
Age: 61
Born 1873 en route to France from Vietnam
Height: 5'3
Fatal flaw: fear of reciprocity
Nghi's father was an apothecary who became a railroad worker. Her mother was a teacher under the French education system before she started in a linen factory. Nghi doesn’t get why they ever left Vietnam; damn well doesn’t get why they still love her. She went into research to make them proud, sold out to a railroad company because it was easier, and because there was money, and what kid wouldn’t want to give their parents an easier life? Never mind the company’s reputation for killing the people it hired for pennies on the hour. Her parents are both gone now. Bad lungs, the doctor said each time, a life of too much working. There’s nothing we can do. Nghi didn’t even know the day her mother died. She was too busy working.
Manon Duchamp
Marie-Auguste Duchamp
Age: 29
Born 1905 in Lyon, France
Height: 5'6
Fatal flaw: avarice
The apprentice.
Age: 29
Born 1905 in Lyon, France
Height: 5'6
Fatal flaw: avarice
The apprentice.
Andy Benoist
Andromache Benoist
Age: 59
Born 1875 in New Orleans
Height: 5'11½
Fatal flaw: paternal instinct
You, forever burning down the whole house to find the diamond.
Age: 59
Born 1875 in New Orleans
Height: 5'11½
Fatal flaw: paternal instinct
You, forever burning down the whole house to find the diamond.
Elodie Frazier
Elodie Claire Frazier
Age: 34
Born 1900
Height: 5'8
Fatal flaw: her own masks
Performer by day and spy by night, lying is what Elodie does best. So far, she's found the easiest lies are to herself; to Andy, she wears them like a veil, an impression of a woman—glamour and smoke and song. There's little she lets slip about her life. She intends to keep it this way.
Age: 34
Born 1900
Height: 5'8
Fatal flaw: her own masks
Performer by day and spy by night, lying is what Elodie does best. So far, she's found the easiest lies are to herself; to Andy, she wears them like a veil, an impression of a woman—glamour and smoke and song. There's little she lets slip about her life. She intends to keep it this way.
Aina Ménard
Agnés Ménard
(Kutsuki Aina)
Age: 45
Born 1889 in Geneva, Switzerland
Height: 5'10
Fatal flaw: daddy issues
At fifteen, Agnés Ménard met Andy on a piano bench in her family's summer estate. Andy had good taste, even then, sporting a well-cared-for Ménard pocketwatch. Andy called her Aina because her mother called her Aina. She's been Aina ever since. She wanted Andy then. She wants Andy now. Aina will have her champagne, her silk gowns, her disgusting men and her impressionable young women, and never admit it.
(Kutsuki Aina)
Age: 45
Born 1889 in Geneva, Switzerland
Height: 5'10
Fatal flaw: daddy issues
At fifteen, Agnés Ménard met Andy on a piano bench in her family's summer estate. Andy had good taste, even then, sporting a well-cared-for Ménard pocketwatch. Andy called her Aina because her mother called her Aina. She's been Aina ever since. She wanted Andy then. She wants Andy now. Aina will have her champagne, her silk gowns, her disgusting men and her impressionable young women, and never admit it.
Frankie Aguirre
Frances Aguirre
Age: 64
Born 1872 in Chicago, Illinois
Height: 5'3
Fatal flaw: pedantry
The tailor.
Age: 64
Born 1872 in Chicago, Illinois
Height: 5'3
Fatal flaw: pedantry
The tailor.
Sal Durand
Sally Durand
Age: 62
Born 1874 in Southern Illinois
Height: 6'2
Fatal flaw: fear of dreaming bigger
The evangelical midwesterners she called family wanted her dead since she left home at fifteen and ran petty cons on the streets of New Orleans with Andy. If they weren't all gone, they'd hate her just as much now: sixty-something, grease-stained. Still in love with a woman. Still in love with Illinois, after everything. The place will never love her back. It doesn't stop her trying.
Age: 62
Born 1874 in Southern Illinois
Height: 6'2
Fatal flaw: fear of dreaming bigger
The evangelical midwesterners she called family wanted her dead since she left home at fifteen and ran petty cons on the streets of New Orleans with Andy. If they weren't all gone, they'd hate her just as much now: sixty-something, grease-stained. Still in love with a woman. Still in love with Illinois, after everything. The place will never love her back. It doesn't stop her trying.
