Author Games: Salem

PEOPLE OF SALEM: Luca Grey - The Blacksmith ✝

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: Luca Grey

Age: 27

Sex: Male

Occupation: Smith/Traveler

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Appearance: Even if he hadn't told you he was Romani, you could guess from Luca Grey's looks. A darkly handsome face, untouched by a beard, is framed below thick black hair, which he usually keeps tied back in a loose tail. Black eyes often will gaze coldly at a customer, making a woman giggle nervously and a man shift with discomfort. Standing at around five feet, eight inches, Luca is hardly tall, but he rarely seems small due to an ineffable air of intimidation that only leaves him when he is around his family. A blacksmith, Luca has strongly built shoulders and arms, something his wife Lillian approves of greatly.

Personality: Raised in a clan of Roma, Luca has learned the hard way not to trust outsiders. Though a caring person, he chooses to lavish his affection upon only a few beings; namely, his wife and their five cats, Amriya, Baxtalo, Draba, and Prikasa (Curse, Luck, Charm, and Omen,) as well as a single kitten, Juju. However, all other beings Luca treats as suspicious at best and downright enemies at worst. This gives him a guarded, chillingly rational sense of others, and he consequently has made very few friends in the short time he has spent in Salem village.

Family Tree: Ever since he left England, Luca has not been in contact with his vast Romani family. Nonetheless, he has a living mother (though his father was killed by an anti-gypsy mob,) four brothers, two sisters, and a paternal grandmother.  In his clan there are over 100 people, all of whom live and work on a system of caravans on the English moors. His wife, Lillian, was the only one to accompany him on his journey to the New World, and he has been disowned by his family.

History: Luca was born in the Grey clan of Roma just outside of a small town called St. Cerelia’s. He was raised in a roving band that and educated in a variety of useful skills, such as blacksmithing, dog training, pickpocketing, and boxing. However, his life changed when he was seventeen and entered a village that was hosting another clan of Roma, the Tansey clan. There, he met the love of his life, Lillian, during a May Day festival. It was love at first sight. After a courtship lasting seven months (made awkward by the sometimes sizable distances between caravans,) Luca and Lillian announced their intention to be married. Their families did not approve, but Luca and Lillian eloped, leaving the caravans and moving to Dover. Later, each found out that they had been disowned. They lived happily in Dover for a while until Lillian, an herbalist, was blamed for a stillborn child. Luca, in defending her, injured officials of the court and drew suspicion upon himself. As the court could not prove Lillian guilty, they focused upon Luca’’s struggle and offered him a choice: death or deportation. Luca chose the latter, and was deported to Boston with Lillian. After living in Boston for several years, Luca was attacked by several men who disliked the strong effect he was having on their wives. Although Luca fought them back, he and Lillian fled Boston for Salem, six months ago, which is where they live today, on a house just outside of town.