Ross Roscom

Ross is a photographer at the Union City Tribune.

Written by Will Sedai

 Physical Description

Short-cropped sandy brown hair, an ink or oil smudge across one cheek and fine looking clothes often rumpled or dirty from either trying to get a great shot or from an unruly piece of machinery. Regardless of how filthy or disheveled he may get, Ross still has a mega-watt smile, and he’s well aware that it makes members of both sex’s knees go weak. Ross really does care about how he looks and dresses but his first passion is fixing things and his job is to take great photographs and Ross Roscom takes pride in a job well done, damnit. If that means the clothes he spent a fair amount of gold gets soiled, so be it, he has a great dry cleaner.

## Personality

Ross is an interesting mishmash of personality traits. He’s hard working to a fault but often the first to be counted at a party or gathering. He’s quite outgoing and likeable with a down-to-earth honesty and sensibility that catches others off guard and opens them up to chatting with him. Ross has a good sense of humor although he’ll be the first to admit that he’s not as quick with a jest or a quip as some but he’s warm and loving to his friends and tries his best to act as a peace-keeper in arguments. He has a very soft spot in his heart for small children and animals, many of his artistic shots being of animals in various, natural settings. Ross is someone who isn’t afraid to invest time and energy in a project or a person, when it doesn’t work out he tends to not take it well, indeed Ross doesn’t handle betrayal or dishonesty from his friends very well. One thing he doesn’t admit is how much he had been hoping to meet his father in Vellenvale, he didn’t and he couldn’t find a trace of him, the fact that he never knew his father eats at him, his mothers stubborn refusal to supply him with his fathers name is also a heavy weight on his subconscious.

## History

Ross was born and spent most of his young life in Damerel. His mother, Olympia was a gifted mechanic and he often nursed Ross while she worked on the small jobs that she was confined too for much of his infancy and early childhood. The first few years of his life, whilst he was unaware, were some of the more turbulent while he lived in Damerel. His father was deeply dissatisfied with his life and had wanted to, from a young age to be a performer, someone well known and loved. Before Ross had even turned two, his father had absconded with all the money that he and Olympia had saved up and left for Vellenvale. Olympia, ever practical even in her heartbreak sold the small repair shop she had opened and moved back in with her own mother, where she would stay, raising Ross and working as a mechanic for everything one could need fixed. When Ross was old enough he tagged along and helped, soaking up the skills his mother exhibited everyday. Olympia kept her focus on what she really wanted, out of Damerel. She worked hard and eventually, as Ross grew older and was able to help out more, they managed to save up enough money to move out of Damerel and into a farm house in a small farming community not all that far from Vellenvale. Olympia had always wanted to live in the country, on a farm and she had achieved that moving her son and mother out to the small, one story farmhouse. She set up shop in the community fixing anything that needed it and taking only a modest fee for her trouble. While his mother and grandmother loved life in the country, Ross was insanely and utterly bored. He had no friends here and the farm kids didn’t seem to like him but he did see something he wanted and it was within reach...Vellenvale. It was only a few hours away, he reasoned with his mother and grandmother, he could go and work there, maybe pick up a different skillset.

Olympia, remembering the drive his father had possessed, was wary of standing too firmly in Ross’ way and finally, she relented, the work she did she could easily do herself and hiring out a few farm hands was well within her means, so Ross packed a bag and headed to Vellenvale. It was smaller then Damerel but he found that he fit right in regardless. He quickly took up a job as a camera repairman’s apprentice while he explored his creative side. The arts drew him in and, while he didn’t want to be an entertainer, the lifestyle appealed to him and with his good looks and easy to work with attitude he made plenty of friends. He had arrived in Vellenvale at 18, fresh and eager by the time he was 26 he had tried his hand at many different creative outlets but it was by sheer accident that he had found his aptitude as a photographer. In Spite of all the time he had invested in fixing cameras he had never used one until he had started a tryst with a photographer who come to him for repairs. The relationship wasn’t long lasting, but Ross’ love of capturing a moment in time was. Soon he went just from fixing cameras to using them and by the time he was 30 he had developed an impressive portfolio of work. As with everyone who gets big in Vellenvale for whatever reason, the time came for Ross to leave the small pond and head to Union City. Ross had proved his mother's fears unfounded and proved to be a loyal son when it came to visiting his mother and grandmother, being only a few hours away made it somewhat easier but the news that he was leaving for Union City was still a bitter pill to swallow. They didn’t begrudge him too much though, he had always taken care of them during the rough years and the remittance he sent to his mother to help pay for his grandmothers medicines would be much bigger now, he reminded them both.

The train ride to Union City wasn’t new for Ross, he had been going to the capital for various shoots as he built up his skills and portfolio but this time he was moving there for actual work. It wasn’t long before he landed a job at the Union City Tribune, his training, his portfolio and the fact that he knew how to fix the majority of the equipment that was used in the newsroom all helped him to clinch the position. Ross’ expectations of the city were vastly different but as with everywhere he’s lived, Ross managed to find his own niche and prosper there.

## Storyline

A Hard Day's Night - Ross surprises Dan by coming home early, and they get a

surprise drop in from Arthur Layman.