Vito Scaletta came to America from Sicily as a child, learning about poverty first-hand in Empire Bay's Italian ghetto. He watched his father work himself into an early grave and soon decided that life inside the law wasn't for him. Growing up on the streets, Vito crossed paths with Joe Barbaro, a loudmouth bully, who eventually became his best friend. Vito and Joe were the brains and brawn behind a hundred petty crimes, all the while watching the neighborhoods wealthy gangsters and dreaming of the good life. Now an adult, Vito is determined to make something of himself at all costs.
Joe Barbaro is a career criminal and a lifelong friend of Vito Scaletta. Brash and unpredictable, Joe can seemingly make trouble out of nothing. As a child, Joe was the neighborhood bully. He met Vito when the younger boy offered to fight him for a place in his gang. Over the next 10 years, the two of them made a great team, rational Vito keeping wild Joe in check as they enjoyed a life of petty crime. These days, Joe lives large- strong booze, fast cars and loose women. Moving up the criminal ladder is the perfect way for him to feed his vices.
The son of a Sicilian mobster, Henry Tomasino was sent to America in 1931 by his father to escape Mussolini's crackdown on the Sicilian Mafia. Upon arriving in Empire Bay, Henry came under the protection of family friend and ruthless mob boss Alberto Clemente. Now a full member of the Clemente crime family, he is regarded as a loyal soldier and respected hitman. Henry is reserved and has few friends. His sole motivation is pride.
Vito's mother, Maria Scaletta, has seen tough times. She came to America with her husband, Antonio, and their two children seeking a better life. Instead, America brought little but poverty and hardship. She watched as her husband's will was broken through years of toil and alcoholism, and as her son turned to a life of petty crime. Devoutly religious, Maria has faith that God will save her family and steer Vito to an honest life. Now a widow after Antonio's death, Maria still lives in the small family apartment with her daughter, Francesca.
Antonio Scaletta married his wife, Maria, in the tiny Sicilian village of San Martino in 1920. Their daughter, Francesca, arrived one year later, soon followed by Vito. In 1932, Antonio and his family made the long journey to America. Arriving in Empire Bay nearly penniless and unable to speak English, Antonio accepted work and housing from union boss Derek Pappalardo. Trapped in a vicious cycle of backbreaking labor and extortionate rent, Antonio grew distant from his family as he turned to drinking, his dreams shattered. He drowned at the Southport docks in 1943 after falling in to the water, apparently drunk.
Francesca Scaletta is Vito's older sister. A shy and quiet girl, she graduated from high school with honors and has run the church youth club since she was sixteen. Francesca tried to steer Vito away from the local street gangs when they were young, rewarding him with candy for doing chores and attending church. Now that they're older, all she can do is pray. Francesca, or "Frankie" as Vito calls her, lives at home with her mother, supporting them both with her bookkeeping job at the Trago Oil Co..
Eric Reilly was born in Empire Bay to Irish immigrant parents in 1918. He grew up in Millville, working with his father servicing trucks for Trago Oil. Eric married Sara Collins, the daughter of the Trago motor pool boss, in 1936. After the wedding, Eric was rarely at home, stumbling in late at night after drinking with his delinquent friends and often verbally and physically abusing his wife. She left him after two miserable years. Eric lost his job soon after, and now he earns money working occasional shifts and dealing marijuana.
Martin Santorelli was born in Empire Bay in 1933. His dad worked as a projectionist in the huge theatrer in Midtown, so Marty watched a lot of movies as a kid, especially gangster films. Marty dreamed of a life in the mob, and his teens took to hanging around Freddy's Bar, just like his childhood neighbor and role model, Joe Barbaro. He now runs errands for Joe- Delivering messages, collecting his winning bets, and waxing his car. He nags Joe to let him come along on some of his jobs, but Joe sees Marty as a kid brother and too naive to get involved in serious business.
One of the most dangerous men in Empire Bay, Eddie Scarpa is a jovial sociopath. Once a Moretti family hitman, Eddie now runs many of Carlo Falcone's rackets out of the Maltese Falcon restaurant. Born in 1908 in Tamborra, Eddie fell in with organized crime at an early age. He and Carlo met while smuggling liquor into Empire Bay during Prohibition. When Carlo became the head of the Moretti (now Falcone) criminal family, he wanted to reward Eddie so he appointed him the owner of the Cathouse. The two are still close friends, although Carlo secretly views Eddie as a liability due to a poorly concealed drinking problem.
Luca Gurino is a capo in the Clemente family, a position to which he rose after entombing his predecessor in the foundation of the Culver Dam. Always meticulously presented, Luca tries to mask his crude nature with an air of sophistication, though his ignorance always shows through. He was involved in Clemente's bootlegging operation during Prohibition, and afterwards attended to some of the family's more grim tasks at the Clemente's Slaughterhouse, where his ruthless nature drove him up the ranks.
Federico "Fat Derek" Pappalardo is a Vinci crime family Capo and head of the local chapter of the longshorman's union. He started working the docks as a strikebreaker in 1916. It was his involement in the dockyard smuggling that led to his introduction to the Vinci crime family. After spending two years in prison for embezzlement, he played a prominent role in Empire Bay's Vinci-Moretti War in the early 1930's, after which he was rewarded with his current position. He then married Franco Vinci's goddaughter, bringing him further prestige. Derek is vulgar, violent, and greedy, perfect attributes for his job.
Carlo Falcone arrived in America in 1913 and quickly fell in with the Moretti family. He ran their bootlegging operation during Prohibition, working with Eddie Scarpa to run alcohol from Canada. Carlo secretely conspired with Frank Vinci to assassinate Tomaso Moretti in 1933, bringing the Vinci-Moretti War to an end and taking control of the Moretti family for himself. An apt strategist and modernizer, Carlo has no time for Sicilian mafia traditions. He recognizes that the mob got rich through Prohibition, and that they need a similar revenue stream to stay at peace.
Alberto Clemente is head of the Clemente crime family. After killing a Palerno Police captain for his uncle Silvio in 1920, he fled to Empire Bay. There, through his uncle's underworld contacts, he eventaully made big money smuggling liquor during Prohibition. He was approved by the Commission to start his own family in 1929. Though powerful, Clemente's gang is still seen as second-rate by the other Families. This is mostly due to Clemente's crooked business practices, even by mob standards.
Frank Vinci is the long-standing Boss of the Vinci crime family. Arriving in Empire Bay in 1908 with close friend Leone Galante, Vinci quickly set up extortion rackets in the Italian immigrant community. His gang ruled the city for the next decade. Frank operates discreetly, having close ties to politicians and Police. When Prohibition cash dried up in the early 30s, tension between the Vinci and Moretti families erupted into full-scale war. This conflict cost Vinci his underworld primacy, but he remains a powerful advocate of traditional mafia values, especially when it comes to drugs.
Leone Galante is Consigliere to Frank Vinci, and the mastermind behind the most successful criminal organization in Empire Bay's history. Upon arrival in 1908, the pair set up the Vinci crime family; Leo strageized and Frank provided the muscle. The pair took control of the Southport docks in the early 1920s, which made for easy smuggling of alcohol during Prohibition. Leo's passion lies in sports, especially boxing and horse racing. For 20 years, Leo ran the city's biggest bookmaking operation. He was arrested for fixing fights in 1943 and sentenced to five years in jail.
Stephen Coyne is an Enforcer for the Vinci crime family. Steve grew up in rural Birkland, moving to the city at the age of sixteen. While being arrested for battery, Steve badly beat an EBPD officer and was sentenced to ten years, of which he served five. It was in prison that he started working as muscle for fellow inmate Derek Pappalardo, a relationship that continues on the outside. Steve can never be a full member due to his Dutch-Irish heritage, but became the family's most trusted associate after he assassinated rival boss Tomaso Moretti to end the Empire Bay mob war.
Dipton and Kingston are two of the oldest districts in Empire Bay, and the O'Neill gang that rules these areas has a long history. Brian O'Neill is the grandson of Jimmy O'Neill, head of Empire Bay's once-powerful Irish mob. The O'Neil clan first settled in the city in the early 1800s. Brian has his own ragtag gang of flunkeys, and employs them in rash and violent criminal acts. Smash-and-grabs, burglaries, muggings, and hold-ups are Brian's specialties - anything where his brute force and limited intellect can earn him the cash for a night and the company of the city's many prostitutes.
Mr. Wong holds the rank of Enforcer in the Empire Bay's Triad criminal organization. He operates out of the Red Dragon restaurant in Chinatown. The young Zhe Yun Wong came to America as forced labor on a ship smuggling opium. He escaped when they made port at Cape Peak, and headed east to Empire Bay. Penniless and unable to speak English, he fell into servitude to the Triads. He moved up the ranks slowly, guarding opium dens and eventually masterminding their smuggling operation. He killed his cousin for stealing a shipment of opium, proving his loyalty and thus earning his current position.
Antonio "Tony Balls" Balsamo is an aging mafia soldier in the Falcone crime family. Tony has worked for the Falcone Family for over twenty years. He was once Tomaso Moretti's personal driver, and was badly injured when a car bomb killed Moretti in 1933. Since then, he has spent most of his time working the Falcone family's protection rackets. His most recent assignment is to protect the family's accountant, Harvey "Beans" Epstein, and the secrets he holds.
Street punks known as Greasers first appeared accross America in the early 1950s, named after their slicked-back hairstyles. Greasers interests include motorcycles, hot rods, and rock and roll. Rebellious troublemakers, greasers are the dirtier side of the rock and roll generation - barely organized, tough deliquents with attitude. Greasers in Empire Bay are led by ex-U.S. Army tank engineer Billy "Bones" Barnes, and hang around the garages and vacant lots of Millville, racing their cars, drinking alcohol and partying.
Mike Bruski runs the junkyard in Riverside. Ostensibly a mechanic, Mike is a career criminal, having served two brief prison terms in his early twenties for involvement in Lost Heaven bank heists. After his second stretch, Mike moved to Empire Bay and used his stash to open a junkyard. Mike runs various scams- trading in stolen auto parts, fencing stolen goods, and allowing the mob to use his junkyard to dispose of incriminating evidence.
Nathaniel Harold "Harry" Marsden III is a gun nut who sells black market military ordnance out of his basement shop in Kingston. He served six years in the U.S. Army and fought in France in WWII. It was in Normandy, during a nighttime visit to a whore house, that Harry earned a discharge when he poked out his left eye on a branch while climbing over a fence. Upon returning to Empire Bay, Harry worked with some Army contacts to get his hands on surplus ordnance. In between studying military history and drinking with fellow war vets, he supplies weapons to various organized crime elements in the city.
Bruno Levine is a mob-backed loan shark based out of a small office in Southport. He sits at the top of a network of loan sharks in Empire Bay, and is officially sanctioned by the Commission. He lends mob money to small-time sharks, crooks, and businessmen, charging extortionate rates of interest and backed by mob muscle. He is fair in so far as he treats all debtors equally. He will honor his side of any bargain to the letter, but expects the same in return. Numerous stories exist of those who have failed to pay Bruno back on time.
Andreas "El Greco" Karafantis is an expatriate Greek doctor. He provides discreet medical services to Empire Bay's mafia Families. El Greco studied medicine in London, and originally served as a doctor in the Greek Embassy. He was transferred in 1927 to the office of the U.S. Ambassador in Empire Bay. El Greco was dismissed from the embassy three years later after a dalliance with the Ambassador's wife, and went into private practice. After being handsomely rewarded for saving the lives of a number of gansters during Empire Bay's Vinci-Moretti War, he began offering his services to the underworld.
Giuseppe was regarded as Italy's most talented forger and safe cracker, renowned by the underworld and Police alike. He often worked directly for the Sicilian Mafia, including when he helped break thirteen notorious gangsters, including Alberto Clemente's uncle Silvio Clemente, out of Palermo jail in 1917. When Mussolini rose to power, Giuseppe relocated to Empire Bay, where he would once again begin providing illicit services to the Mafia. Now retired, Giuseppe is a friendly old man with no known family, who lives only for his craft.
Freddy Macchione is the bartender and proprietor of Freddy's in Little Italy. Freddy's was a speakeasy during prohibition, funneling alcohol smuggled by Alberto Clemente to thirsty customers, and enjoying protection from the Clemente crime family. After prohibition, Clemente capitalized on Freddy's gambling debts to buy into the bar, funded a refit, and re-opened it as a bar and restaurant. Freddy's now plays host to the day to day operations of the Clemente Family, in addition to laundering money from Clemente's protection rackets.
Jack Olivero is the bartender at the Maltese Falcon, one of the classier restaurants in Empire Bay and the base of the Falcone crime family's operations. Jack worked for Eddie Scarpa during prohibition, running alcohol out of Tambarra. When Jack was arrested for smuggling in 1928, he refused to cooperate with authorities and did his time. He was rewarded with his current job by Eddie and Carlo Falcone upon his release. These days, Jack is happy to work the bar at the Falcon and turn a blind eye to the daily traffic of mobsters, money and contraband.
Sidney Pen, or "The Fat Man" as he is widely known in the Empire Bay underworld, is a crooked businessman and former associate of Alberto Clemente. Clemente bought a stake in Pen's Empire Bay Cab Co. in the late 1920s and began laundering his bootlegging profits through the company. The two fell out when Pen opened a distillery in Sand Island in 1939 and refused to give Clemente a piece of the action, assuming the evidence he had against him would keep him safe. After his men killed two would-be hitman sent by Clemente, Pen stepped up his personal security.
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