Colin Mallery

Colin Edward Mallery
30 years old; b. 1883; a well groomed white man with chestnut brown hair and blue eyes. You're known as a quick wit with lots of charm, strong willed, and impeccably level headed. You are developing a reputation as a society photographer and had a solid reputation as a tough. You have many scars.

Colin Edward Mallery's parents' story:
Your mother was shot in the head when you were 6. You still don't know the specifics. Some say it was a fight with another Italian woman over your dad; some say your mother crossed another gang leader; some say your father shot her when she crossed him.

Your father was a tough man, but you loved him. He showed you how to stay alive in a tough world. He taught you the "honor of the street," to never fink, always avenge an insult, that your friend's enemy is your own, and to never attack a good-fellow except in a fair fight. He was part of the Dead Rabbits gang, an infamous Five Points gang. Later, he was part of the Five Points Gang and fought in many battles against Monk Eastman's gang. He was good with numbers and a fast talker, and he bribed politicians, cops, businessmen, whoever the gang decided to bribe.

Your father was shot fifteen times in a barbershop when you were 14. That was 1897.

Colin Edward Mallery's story:
After, you lived by your wits, primarily working as a cat burglar. After nearly getting shot and heavy with the betrayal and death of your father, you joined the U.S. Army in 1899. You joined the 9th Infantry Regiment, Company C. You thought you would join the Spanish/American War, but it was largely over. You were shipped to the Philippines and saw fierce battles. Things quieted down, so you were shipped to China to stop a local revolution by the so-called "Boxers." Your battalion captured the walled city of Tientsin against severe odds and after marching 25 miles. Your battalion became known as "the Fighting Manchus" and eventually just "the Manchus." You saw things as horrific as anything you saw in the Five Points; you watched your fellow soldiers commit atrocities that still haunt you.

You grew disillusioned with the military and the U.S. reasons for invading China, but a year later you went to the Philippines to quell the burgeoning revolution. Both the Philippines and China had inhuman warriors who fought in a fierce controlled style you had never seen before. The Philippines was rough and bloody. In Balangiga, September 28, 1901, your company was eating mess (breakfast) when your company was suddenly attacked. It was bloody and insane and you fought off attackers first with a kitchen knife and then with a baseball bat. You were stabbed in the gut and passed out. Almost everyone you know was killed.

The only person to survive from you platoon was "Jew" Sam Dreben (or "The Fighting Jew"). Jew Sam was from Five Points and along with Colin Mallery and Wlodek "Slav Jim" Madej (or "Slav Jim"), your closest friend. Slav Jim was a photographer who wasn't in the military but who traveled with your company. He taught you photography. Slav Jim died that morning. Colin Mallery also died that morning. Colin was an orphan from a once prominent but now poor English family and he was your closest friend. 14 of your platoon brothers died that morning. In total, 44 members of Company C died.

In the hospital tent, a fellow soldier in Company C (but not in your platoon) named Hoyt Lowe mistook you for Colin and you, at that moment, decided to adopt Colin's English identity.

After convalescence, you ran into Hoyt Lowe in Manilla. Hoyt had "gone native" and you went with him. You saw the hardships caused by the war, and met the enemy, who deserved their anger.

You moved to Paris and met many young and wild artists. You were introduced to socialism and the writings of Karl Marx, and anarchism and the writings of Kropotkin and Bakunin. Those were good years, were you honed your photography skill, learned more than you thought possible, and met many incredible "Bohemians."

Then you saw Benny Fontaine in Montmarte, Paris - a Five Points man you were sure betrayed your dad (and Five Pointers, as a rule, never leave the neighborhood). You quietly trailed him, broke into his well-stocked apartment and tortured him. He claimed he merely set it up, and that it was a collusion between one of the Five Points Gang leaders and some strange German. He gave you the name of one of the former Five Point Gang members, Visconti Venosta. Visconti was living in Milan. He owned a factory but was oddly protected by many bodyguards. You trailed him for days. Once you were caught by several of his henchmen. After a protracted firefight, three of them lie dead and you were shot. You made it back to your apartment but passed out before you could contact a quiet doctor. Clarence Hightower found you and brought in a private doctor. He guessed that you were an assassin and told you he had connections with anarchists, socialists and the Secret Service. You have had three jobs through him, and although you don't totally trust him, he is a close friend.

You have since killed Visconti are still trying to unravel the conspiracy behind your father's death. Your photography has been both a boon to your standard of living and a convenient cover to let you travel and trail who you want. You followed the Italo-Turkish War a year ago while trailing a close confidant of Visconti. You took pictures in the Five Points while trailing leaders of the Five Points Gang.

You are not close to figuring out who was behind the death of your dad, but you will find out, and you will have your justice.

Your contacts:
You know a few anarchists in New York and Italy, several artist and writers in Paris, many society people, and a handful of thugs from the Five Points.

What you know about the other characters:

Beatrice Mabel Emerson, who you met at one of Mabel Dodge's salons. You took a portrait of her and the two of you hit it off. She is everything you ever wanted, but she is married. The two of you have been in an elicit and torrid affair, but despite your love for her, you haven't really told her anything about yourself - just a cobbled together version of Colin's life story.

Clarence Hightower, whose life you saved in Paris. You stopped two men from knifing him in the back. You two have been friends for years even though you don't really trust him and know he has an inability to tell the whole truth - but so do you.

Hoyt Lowe, who is a very dear friend. He gave you your name by mistaking you for Colin in the medical tent after the massacre of your platoon. You “went native” with him in the Philippines. You left after a few months, but stayed in contact. Hoyt now lives in NYC and is a detective.

23rd. and (Giovanni Lenzi)