by macadmin | Dec 15, 2016 | Blog, Characters
Count Vasily Dolgorukov, played by John Barrymore
The Count is a Russian exile. Fabulously wealthy in Imperial Russia (by his own account), all that was left behind when, as a young army officer, he was forced to flee from the Communists.
His adventures in the intervening years have seen him in Paris, Monte Carlo, Kenya, Macau and Shanghai. There are rumours about his activities – he is said to have fought two duels (and emerged the winner each time), seduced women (and, according to some, men too) in four different continents, ruled an Indian kingdom, crossed the Himalayas to the hidden land of Tibet, acted as a consultant on Russian Imperial culture to several major Hollywood directors, won and lost three fortunes in as many nights on the gaming tables … to be on first name terms with princes and dictators … and with the leading gangsters in five American cities. He is an inveterate gambler.
What he is doing in this comparative backwater in the Zittau mountains is less clear … although it may have something to do with those lost fortunes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Count Vasily Dolgorukov is a NonPlayer Character in Murder at Christmas. This means that she will be written by Mel Mason, who is running the game.
You can learn more about other characters here.
Murder at Christmas is an online email game that will run over (approximately) the Twelve Days of Christmas – from December 21st 2016 until January 6th 2017. There are eight writers, working collaboratively (see the Rules of the Game). Regular updates will be posted on the website, with links that you can follow on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ so that people can follow the story, root for their favourite characters, and keep up with the twists and turns of the plot.
Followers can also apply to join the Gossip mailing list,where they can discuss the game with the writers!
by macadmin | Dec 13, 2016 | Blog, Characters
Franz von Essen, played by Helmut Dantine
Franz von Essen is the young scion of a noble German family, who have a long tradition of service in the diplomatic service. Von Essen is something of a protege of Joachim von Ribbentrop. Originally under the protection of Baron Ernst von Weizsäcker, Director of the Policy Department at the Foreign Office, von Essen has become associated with the more aggressive foreign policy being pursued by von Robbentrop, who is understood to be in line for promotion to Foreign Minister of the Reich.
Franz von Essen is young, charming and cosmopolitan. He spent some years at school in England, and travelled in the United States, for which he holds considerable affection, before returning and settling down to work in the Foreign Ministry, with frequent trips abroad on diplomatic missions.
Another thing that interrupts his working life is the fact that he is an Olympic level skiier; in the winter he is frequently to be seen on the slopes at major competitions. He competed in the Alpine skiing at the 1936 Winter Olympic Games, held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany, where he narrowly missed winning a bronze medal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Franz von Essen is a NonPlayer Character in Murder at Christmas. This means that she will be written by Mel Mason, who is running the game.
You can learn more about other characters here.
Murder at Christmas is an online email game that will run over (approximately) the Twelve Days of Christmas – from December 21st 2016 until January 6th 2017. There are eight writers, working collaboratively (see the Rules of the Game). Regular updates will be posted on the website, with links that you can follow on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ so that people can follow the story, root for their favourite characters, and keep up with the twists and turns of the plot.
Followers can also apply to join the Gossip mailing list,where they can discuss the game with the writers!
by macadmin | Dec 12, 2016 | Blog, Characters
Frau Gutrun Blauer, played by Paula Wessley
Frau Blauer was widowed in the Great War. Her husband, Fritzel Blauer, was considerably older than her and had run the inn for twenty years before taking a wife. Their marriage was rumoured to be unhappy but, shortly before his demise, they had a son, also called Fritzel.
It was expected that once the war was over, Frau Blauer would sell up and move to Zittau, if not Dresden, where she could live comfortably on the proceeds. However, she made the decision (a fortunate one, when one thinks what German inflation would have done to her savings) to continue running the inn as a legacy in trust for her son Fritzel.
Various decisions she made in support of this, including developing connections with the local skiing areas and running a small, select casino on the premises, have ensured that the inn has become extremely successful.
Her only regret was that her son Fritzel shows little interest in the business, preferring instead to pursue studies in physics at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Berlin. In the last two years, however, he has spent more time at home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gutrun Blauer is a NonPlayer Character in Murder at Christmas. This means that she will be written by Mel Mason, who is running the game.
You can learn more about other characters here.
Murder at Christmas is an online email game that will run over (approximately) the Twelve Days of Christmas – from December 21st 2016 until January 6th 2017. There are eight writers, working collaboratively (see the Rules of the Game). Regular updates will be posted on the website, with links that you can follow on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ so that people can follow the story, root for their favourite characters, and keep up with the twists and turns of the plot.
Followers can also apply to join the Gossip mailing list,where they can discuss the game with the writers!
by macadmin | Dec 11, 2016 | Blog, Characters
Chetwyn Glyde, played by Cedric Hardwicke
Chetwyn Glyde is a wealthy and notoriously ruthless American media owner in his early sixties. He has fingers thrust into many pies and his enemies – of whom there are many – say that any meat in those pies soon starts to smell rotten.
Despite being rumoured to be on the edges of organised crime, he has friends in high places, which has seen him awarded government contracts. Exposure of his investment in a leaky oil pipeline, along with reports of fraudulent tax returns, have seen him taking an extended holiday in Europe, accompanied by one of his sons and his beautiful mistress. His love of chemin de fer at the gambling tables might also be another reason.
Glyde has been married twice: an early marriage that ended in divorce and the subsequent death of his wife, leaving him free to marry the lovely (and fragile) heiress Annalisa Dunwoody of Maryland (yes, one of THE Maryland Dunwoodys) in 1903. Three children later, Mrs Glyde had a nervous breakdown and, since 1920, has resided in a nursing home. Her family refuse to countenance a divorce.
Shortly before the collapse of his marriage, at a point where Glyde had become a well-known figure in New York society on account of his vast fortune (accrued through profiteering in the Great War), he met a young chorus girl called Nellie Nolan. She has been his mistress for the last fifteen years.
His two sons by Annalisa (Ian and Kevin) are employed in the business – and are, like Glyde, under investigation by the FBI, although those in the know have suggested that they are as likely to have been duped by their father as his unfortunate investors. He is said to treat them worse than the average employees, keeping them short of cash and working long hours. He also has a daughter (Miranda) who is rumoured to have some of her mother’s fragility.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chetwyn Glyde is a NonPlayer Character in Murder at Christmas. This means that he will be written by Mel Mason, who is running the game.
You can learn more about other characters here.
Murder at Christmas is an online email game that will run over (approximately) the Twelve Days of Christmas – from December 21st 2016 until January 6th 2017. There are eight writers, working collaboratively (see the Rules of the Game). Regular updates will be posted on the website, with links that you can follow on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ so that people can follow the story, root for their favourite characters, and keep up with the twists and turns of the plot.
Followers can also apply to join the Gossip mailing list,where they can discuss the game with the writers!
Recent Comments