abstract
| - Not much is known about “Lucky” Louie Costello, and he prefers it that way. In fact, his actual name might not even be Louie Costello. A wandering conman who fleeced his marks of all of their valuables before moving on to the next, Costello never stayed settled down in one place for very long before coming into possession of the Mary Murray, the hotel and casino that he runs and operates. According to some stories, Costello is a former slaver who ran afoul of an important person and fled to escape their wrath. According to other stories, he is a bastard son of Allistair Tenpenny who is working to establish a fortune to rival his fathers, to gain his love and acceptance. Some even claim that he was never actually born, but was instead created, a synthetic android created by scientists of the Commonwealth’s Institute to covertly gather intelligence on the political realities of the New York/New Jersey area in preparation for some kind of invasion. Costello never talks about his past, preferring the many rumors to throw his enemies off and give him an advantage when dealing with other businessmen. He does not go out of his way to spread such stories, but he does not deny most stories when asked upfront. Whatever the truth may be, in 2277, Costello was in the Jersey Wastelands and was staying at the Mary Murray, a hotel operating in the rusted out hull of a large ferryboat on the Raritan River. One particular night while he was there, he somehow became involved in a high stakes card game with the owner of the establishment, Scott Searle. One thing led to another, and Searle put his casino on the line as his bet. Costello won, and became the proprietor of the establishment. Searle was found dead roughly a week and a half later. Costello says that he committed suicide, having lost an family heirloom that had been in their possession since before the Great War. Others claim that Costello had him killed to prevent him from returning with an armed gang to forcibly retake possession of the ferry. As is the case with many details in Costello’s life, either story is plausible and believable, and the truth will likely never be exactly known. Costello himself hasn’t done much to change the Mary Murray since taking control of the casino. Because Costello has many contacts in the area and further away- some that know him as Louie Costello, others that know him using other aliases- he has been able to refurbish much of the casino, importing gambling machines from Atlantic City and Pilgrim’s Landing. For the most part, since the casino is a steady source of income, Costello has changed little about the operation. He is not without enemies. As a result, Costello pays for protection in the form of bodyguards from The Pack, a highly trained mercenary group. The mercenaries not only provide protection for the Mary Murray, but they also protect Costello himself. He is very rarely seen without Irish Jack, his personal bodyguard, nearby.
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