Guiseppe Voloni

Guiseppe Voloni concept art.

• Player: Eric
• Name: Giuseppe Voloni

• Age: 68

• Gender: Male

• Eyes, Hair, Skin: Eyes are dull brown but with a hint of vibrance to them, like antique finished wood. Hair is just short of shoulder length and scraggly, unkept but not wild. Once kept neat and cropped, his wiry hair has fallen into disorder as its rusty colour further mixes with grey; the two are about evenly balanced throughout save for at the eyebrows, which remain bright. Hair is still considerably thick, and as such his full widow's peak and rising hairline is not very apparent. A full beard and moustache of the same colour fills the lower half of his face and falls to mid-breastbone. Skin is a mild tan which comes from years outdoors, and is rough with age.

• General appearance: His appearance is a mix of both age and vigour, yet not completely either. His years are certainly apparent in his figure - he looks rather worn - yet there is an air of controlled vitality to him. Hard face looks weathered more than aged. Eyes have wrinkled bags under them, countered by the thick, animated eyebrows above, which seem both serious and sarcastic at the same time. His frame is of a light muscled sort which comes from a life of physical activity, and is on the lean side.His walk has been slowed only minutely, his back is not bent and he never hobbles. A leather flat cap tends to stay on his head, and his wardrobe is dominated by browns and whites of simple cloth and leather. The clothes look as worn as their owner, yet fit him and work as they need to. He does not look like a man who cares about his image, yet he is not so much a mess as to be reproachable.

• History: Born in Sardinia to a poor family in 1941, Giuseppe was too young for WWII to have a significant impact on his life. However, it had less than a positive impact on his family's already humble lot, and as such found himself working with his father and older brother as a steel miner at the age of 10. A focused worker from an early age, and not one to complain at the hands of necessity, Giuseppe continued to toil in the deep mines to help the family get by - however, it always lingered at the back of his mind that a different life was to be set for him. After eight years in the mines, the opportunity arrived as Giuseppe, in a bout of youthful impulsiveness, left his home town with a visiting circus troupe, the Sogno di Marmo, where he soon found himself a learning acrobat. His childhood had shown him how to work hard, how to do with what's available, and how not to complain about life; Sogno di Marmo showed him the rest. Traveling fascinated him, and just as quickly as he learned to leap and twist as an acrobat, he learned the ways of the world, about people and how they live. The troupe was small, a cast of 13 at most, and each one became like family to him. Hadi, the ringmaster and Arabian mystic, watched over him; the juggler Verity was a failed academic and taught Giuseppe to read. On the road, books were not hard to find and trade, and soon enough Giuseppe had read though much literature and developed an interest in the sciences and arts. Money was always tight, and between performing, moving, and a constant slew of odd jobs, there was always work to be done. The life a performance band is a rough one, if somewhat surreal (though less so to those on stage). It was by no means paradise, and Giuseppe was not a man to revel, yet he was certainly content. Over the years, he traveled far beyond the island of Sardinia, traversing all across Europe, Eastern Asia and the Middle East. He stayed with the troupe and became an expert of his art, and through the places he had seen as well as the books he had read, he had come to know a fair bit about the world. Time continued to pass this way, and Giuseppe grew older. He continued his acrobatics to the seasoned age of 56, when at last his body could no perform optimally. Still in good health and strength, he continued on with Sogno di Marmo, working behind stage and doing the odd magic trick or clown act. Mostly though, he pulled his weight by doing whatever jobs he could get in the areas the troupe visited. The extra money was well needed: the years went on and their traveling band became more and more a relic of the past. By 2000, there was rarely money to be had, and the troupe became connected together less for the spectacle of the show and more to support themselves in mutual survival. As their way of life had never been a glorious one, there was little complaining amongst them. But, as people became older, they became grimmer, and the band slowly shrunk- some leaving, some dead- and they hadn't had a new addition for years. Giuseppe continues with the band today, having lived 50 years with the Sogno, now working together to survive with only a remnant of the once lively show remaining.

• Physical abilities: Years as an acrobat, travel, and his overall disregard of stress have kept Giuseppe healthy in his old age. He no longer has all the acrobat skills he once had, but is still rather spry for 68.

• Mental abilities: Despite never having any sort of formal education, by teaching himself over his life he has gained a broad, if not very deep, body of knowledge. He is able to concentrate well, as well as control his emotions. It is extremely difficult to catch him off guard.

• Personality: Giuseppe has always been a mild man, almost lax, and is usually willing to let things go as they are. He has a solid determination which is in part stubborness; he does not get excited or driven with a task but works at it slowly and with firm resolve. When with those he does not know or trust, he is especially mild, and can be rather aloof and serious. He has no qualms being curt to those he does not like, but generally does only does so in defense. He stands his ground, but also has a friendly warmth to him when he wishes to show it, a trait quickly picked up by a traveling performer. A stranger who shows kindness will get a genuine bit of warmth and humour out of him, as well as any advice an old man can give. To those he trusts, he has a stromg loyalty backed by his stubborn determination. The life of a circus troupe has imparted a wry, humourous side to him as well, and a sense of the absurd. This quality has grown in Giuseppe in his old age, leading to a rather eccentric personality - partially caused by a life of performing, partially due to an underlying obstinance, of a man unwilling to change his strange way of life in a world that no longer cares. He is seen as as quaint, as unrealistic, as an anachronism, and in token defiance he ensures that he remains so. Just as this has added to his quirkyness in his old age, it has also added to his distrust and stolidness. Giuseppe has two definite sides to his character, which sometimes mesh. He is always in control of what character he shows.

• Hobbies: Finds interest in many branches of knowledge. He is not smart enough to called a polymath, but does have a fair grasp on a good deal of information. He finds medical knowledge especially interesting, though the chance of becoming a doctor was never remotely possible in his life; the closest he came was as a basic medic for the troupe. He finds reading agreeable in general, but sticks mostly with nonfiction and classics, with modern popular literature having little appeal to him.

• Family, friends: Lost touch with his family a long time ago, originally out of the difficulty communicating with them while on the road. A handful of the original members of Sogno di Marmo remain with him. His trainer Verity has been dead just over a decade, but the leader Hadi remains as an old and sagely friend. He otherwise has very few connections with people, having moved from place to place all his life.

• Nationality: Italian

• Skills: Acrobatics, which are now extremely minimal compared to his prime. He also has various other performance related abilities in lesser degrees including some simple magic tricks (only partially for reasons of performance - when money is hard to come by, sleight of hand is always a useful skill to have). He speaks fluent Italian and English and has a basic level of comprehension and vocabulary for a number of other languages.

• Religion: Roman Catholic. He would not be describe as a man of great zeal, but is solid in tradition.

• Philosophy: Impassive in both character and belief, Giuseppe is not a man to have strong feelings about anything. He has seen many places in the world and observed even more perspectives, and has no wish to butt heads. Having lived only as a miner and a performer, he feels he has little to offer on the subject of philosophy and, as a miner and a performer, has found little reason to care. He is a perceptive and contemplative man, but does so with few large designs in mind. He is rather miffed about the present day, its ideals, and a good deal of its people, however this only manifests itself in a gruff bitterness - he is not up in arms against any sort of cause, nor does he spend much time devising alternative ideals.

Prologue: A day in the life of Giuseppe