The Story
The year is 1869 and the cities of England are booming with the industrial revolution. As buildings get higher, the money grows for many. Within the crowded streets of London, through the alleys, in every house, love, friendship, and rivalry reign.
On the outskirts of London lies an area called Upperton Edge, a popular place for the higher classes and aristocracy to come and live. Many members of the Upperclass come to live in the city for good business and to start a new life, leaving their country estates to wait for the warmer seasons. Upperton is a gloriously clean area, expensive and grand, abundant with many happy families. Though it is not all what meets the eye. Corruption, death, betrayal, and heartbreak take place within the elegant walls. Scandal is not unheard of.
Come and enjoy the city, hide behind your smiles and clouds of smoke and bow politely to your neighbor you might want to stay on their good side.
On the outskirts of London lies an area called Upperton Edge, a popular place for the higher classes and aristocracy to come and live. Many members of the Upperclass come to live in the city for good business and to start a new life, leaving their country estates to wait for the warmer seasons. Upperton is a gloriously clean area, expensive and grand, abundant with many happy families. Though it is not all what meets the eye. Corruption, death, betrayal, and heartbreak take place within the elegant walls. Scandal is not unheard of.
Come and enjoy the city, hide behind your smiles and clouds of smoke and bow politely to your neighbor you might want to stay on their good side.
(You may hear a lot about Ashford Estate. That was the group that came before Upperton, set in a country house a bit like Downton Abbey, and we have quite a few original members, if you're curious about it or your character's parents were conjured in that group please do read about it on the original site / or the updated site)
CURRENT PLOT AND STORY
Autumn/Winter 1869. Upperton's residents are returning into the city, finding themselves in department stores searching for gifts for the upcoming holidays, ordering the latest fashionable gowns, receiving more and more invitations for the balls and parties to come as the temperature drops. But, as always for our dear friends at Upperton, life never stays dull and normal for long. Killings continue to terrorize the city, bloodshed in the darkened streets of the city as upperclass gentlemen continue to be killed and other crimes are publicized on the front of the Gazette. Is a serial killer in their midsts? A commoner lashing out against the rich a powerful? Scandal, infidelity, and foreigners are just a brush of the surface for our posh residents. just how far are these upperclass heirs and heiresses willing to go to make their connections and to save face? Will friend turn against friend in the search for an advantageous match? Will a lady be shunned from society when they discover she is with child? How much blackmail can our lords and ladies take? What exactly happens behind those closed doors? Connecting the dots, everything seems to all end at one name; Lord Atticus Alvah, one of the richest men in England. With his hands in every kind of business, even in politics, everything always seems to go the man's way. Deeper into the high society men's club called Serpens, things come together; back hand dealings, black market purchasing, assassinations, rigging political votes, everything begins to make sense yet go further into the dark as questions find their answers, only bringing more questions. An underground work of Atticus Alvah and his band of men, most of which are blackmailed into doing his dealings, stuck in this club that on the surface is an esteemed group for titleborn men with wealth and power. Will dark powers crumble? Or will Atticus Alvah only get stronger, crushing anything that gets in his way?
SERPENS
Aut viam inveniam aut facam
I will find a way or make one
Founded in 1730, Serpens is one of the eldest, highly esteemed, private clubs for gentlemen of titleborn blood to come together. Any man in England who has ever risen to the top of their social elite status, parliament members, high judiciaries, counts, lawyers, bankers, etc... has done so by the grace of their alligance to Serpens. To have the upmost privelidge to announce membership alone has granted endless possibilities for those who have been inducted. Private seats at the opera, a table at prestigeous restaurants, invitations to the greatest social events of the upper circles where even Dukes are invited, no door is ever closed, every opportunity is within their hands should they ask for it, and should the President permit it.
The club has its own meeting ground, a building owned by Lord Atticus Alvah just outside of Upperton Edge, closer to London. It is very difficult to even enter the premesis, one needs a specific pinky ring that every member earns, or a silver medal bearing their insignia; a band of snakes intertwined together to wear upon the lapel of a suit jacket. To join the club is very difficult, only an invitation from the President, Atticus Alvah grants you permission, and family history, no matter how much influence they might hold in their region due to Serpens or not, does not necesscarily mean induction. There have been rumors that behind the white doors of the Serpens are hidden lies, secrets, political rigging, even murder... However, the club adamantly denies these accusations, insisting they are simply a club for the upperclass gentlemen who arrange meetings to discuss, share stories with and help one another with business. It also helps that some of the most influential members can deter these rumors from ever taking full grasp. As it might be true they conduct business in a mannerly way... the rumors are also. The proud members of Serpens are well informed that behind those doors lays a darker, deeper, world, a complex inescapable web that once you're in you can never get out, unless in a coffin. The club is very well known, but only on the surface, very few only ever getting the invitation to see what really happens behind closed doors.
The club has its own meeting ground, a building owned by Lord Atticus Alvah just outside of Upperton Edge, closer to London. It is very difficult to even enter the premesis, one needs a specific pinky ring that every member earns, or a silver medal bearing their insignia; a band of snakes intertwined together to wear upon the lapel of a suit jacket. To join the club is very difficult, only an invitation from the President, Atticus Alvah grants you permission, and family history, no matter how much influence they might hold in their region due to Serpens or not, does not necesscarily mean induction. There have been rumors that behind the white doors of the Serpens are hidden lies, secrets, political rigging, even murder... However, the club adamantly denies these accusations, insisting they are simply a club for the upperclass gentlemen who arrange meetings to discuss, share stories with and help one another with business. It also helps that some of the most influential members can deter these rumors from ever taking full grasp. As it might be true they conduct business in a mannerly way... the rumors are also. The proud members of Serpens are well informed that behind those doors lays a darker, deeper, world, a complex inescapable web that once you're in you can never get out, unless in a coffin. The club is very well known, but only on the surface, very few only ever getting the invitation to see what really happens behind closed doors.