Last updated: May 5th, 2009
Posted Part II of "Portrait of an Artiste as a Young Buffoon"

This profile has been revised to become the archive site for my story-telling/role-playing adventure, an exploration of steampunk as an alternative history, a space to address post-colonial interpretations of an imperialist past, a pro-feminist critique, and the home of ass-kicking.

Lots of ass-kicking.

Visit my steampunk character on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/writersyndrome

Current storyline: "Portrait of an Artiste as a Young Buffoon"

Character Intro:

People know me by many names, all with macabre connotations:

To the Indochine gouverneurs, I am la terreur de tonkin, the "Terror of Tonkin."

To my targets, I am "Death with a Smile."

To the Five Great Families, I am "Wanted: Dead or Alive (but preferably very, very dead.)"

To everyone else, I am Ay-Leen the Peacemaker, Tonkinese assassin for hire. "The Peacemaker" aspect refers to the sense of eternal tranquility that I bring to my targets and the blissful satisfaction I give to my employers.

"The Peacemaker" also refers to my prize weapon, a Chinese-engineered steam- and amberic-powered hand cannon with which I blow people into the next life in a most satisfying manner.

For the last several years I had run a successful freelancing small business disposing of various unwanted fellows for a Large But Reasonable Fee. Life was good. I could afford shiny weapons with which I shot, gouged or pummeled through the heads, chests, or groins of various people (the latter task was the usual request of Disgruntled Ladies).

But now all that has suddenly changed...