A life of luxury had been the one thing Amaury had dreamed of since he was a child. Yet, in the pursuit of that very thing, he’d managed to find himself in Alaska, living in a fixer-upper cabin that was really just a dilapidated shack in the woods. It had an outhouse for crying out loud! And for that matter, it retained heat about as well a refrigerator -- which was real useful when the weather forecast couldn’t even get above 70F in August. There were a lot of things to complain about but at the end of the day, he was still alive and not in prison. If that meant having to stop at the store -- where he was now -- for more blankets and bundles of firewood, so be it. He was looking at said blankets when he grumbled to himself, “I shouldn’t just buy a damn sleeping bag.” Though said to himself, it was loud enough to be overheard.
So I’ve basically had Amaury’s account made since Nic’s and Ilyas’ -- I debated a couple of other character ideas I had but, honestly, the disaster of a human being is the one I had the most muse for. I’ve played Amaury a few different times over the years though, in this case, he’s more based off another former character of mine named Apollo... But he’s also meshed with my vain, totally-not-Cajun Amaury. Anyways, I’m going to stop rambling and tell you his story.
LIKE THIS if you’d like to plot!
Amaury isn’t from Anchorage. Amaury’s real name isn’t even Amaury. In fact, he’s lived in a bunch of different places under a bunch of different aliases -- ‘tis the life of a runaway turned career conman. And though he’d never willingly fess to the truth, preferring to weave a tangled web of lies that’ll score him what he’s after, this is where it begins:
Remy Devaux was born deep in the Lousiana backwaters to loud and boisterous Cajun family. Far from the richest people in the world, they were still flush with love and laughter... Two things Remy couldn’t care less for. Money, beauty, comfort -- that’s what he wanted, despairing the existence he already had. He was a troublesome child. Not violent but a liar and an occasional thief; his parents did their best to managed, to discipline him fairly and try to find the source of his issues, but he rebuffed them. At seventeen, he ran away. New Orleans was where he took his first alias -- Eli. It’s also where he took money from unsuspecting tourists and worked to make his accent disappear. About a year afterwards, he moved on.
This would be his pattern. Move, change the name, smile and charm some unsuspecting soul’s cash suddenly disappeared. Originally, it was just pick-pocketing -- but that was hard work for little reward. Conning was far more lucrative and thus became his newfound career. Eventually his life would take him to a place where everything would change -- where his lonesome ways would come to an abrupt halt when he met a man that would become his fiance and where one con would go disastrously.
Devin Huff was a 54 year old man who’d made a fortune in stock trading, retiring earlier with a sprawling mansion and an array of yachts, helicopters, and private jets. He was usually going at spotting those after his fortune but didn’t see Amaury -- then known as Etienne -- coming. Perhaps he was too distracted by the mob enforcers knocking on his door. It was when he was about to give up, pay them off, that he realized how much he was missing and cleverly connected it back to the young Etienne. He invited him over under the guise of a friendly dinner and, in the middle of confronting him about the truth, his own demons came to haunt him. Men in black holding guns snuck in, surprising and overpowering the billionaire and conman. They demanded cash that Devin didn’t have and Etienne was firmly denying knowledge of -- the men believed Devin but that was something he’d come to regret in the split second between the trigger being pulled and his brains being splattered on the floor. Etienne was framed for the murder and given an ultimatum: hand over the cash and they’d make the charges go away or rot prison for the rest of his life. He took a third option.
Illegally crossing into Canada and hitching-hiking his way towards Alaska, Amaury eventually found himself in Anchorage. Though a fugitive, no one was looking for him in Alaska -- and they certainly weren’t looking for anyone named Amaury LaChapelle. He was safe, he thought, as he bought a tiny, rundown cabin in the woods ( with an out-house, for God’s sake ) and got a dog to blend in.
Unfortunately for him, Anchorage is looking for a murderer -- not one of a random rich man in the lower 48 -- but one responsible for a string of gruesome murders. In a time of chaos, being an outside isn’t a good thing.
Connections: ex-fiance is highly wanted or someone from the mob hunting him down. He’s been in town for two weeks tops so there isn’t much available as far as pre-established connections but I’d love some people that are suspicious of him or maybe someone he’s set his eyes on as a potential con. If you’re character has lived elsewhere in the past nine years, they could have run into each other. Otherwise, I’m totally for whatever.
text over art: “Power and Control” - Marina and the Diamonds // Michelangelo’s “David”, 1501-1504 // Niels Schneider in “Les Amours Imaginaires” (dir. Xavier Dolan), 2010
