In Memory of Nathanial Lawley

Name: Nathanial Lawley Age: 39 Occupation: Artist DOB: April 5th, 1966 POB: Cork, Ireland Hair: Dark brown Eyes: Brown Height: 6' Weight: 157 Ibs Identifying Marks: Various scars Place of Residence: Cornwall, England Hobbies: Painting, sketching, plays the violin, walking, climbing Languages: English, French, Italian, Latin Family: Father, William Lawley. Mother, Alice Lawley. Brother, Ethan Lawley *deceased* Seat: 9 D

Background: Born and brought up in a quiet village of County Cork, Ireland, some would say it was an idyllic place to raise a young child. His father was English and mother Irish, and it wasn't a difficult decision to bring their son up in the same village Alice herself had been raised in. In fact, it seemed like the best thing to do for their son...and indeed, as he grew old enough to be aware of the place he lived and to appreciate it, he loved it. Even as a young boy he was allowed to play out by himself and with friends as long as he wanted, his parents not even thinking there could be any real danger for him.

He went to the local school with the other children in the area, and progressed well until he reached ten years old. His teachers reported that he seemed to be distracted and distant during lesson time when he should be focussing on his work. After a lot of debate, he was sent to boarding school in England for the rest of his schooling in hopes of forcing some kind of structure on him. Whilst many teachers there punished him frequently for the same kind of distraction during lessons, one started to realise that he was distracted because his attention was being drawn elsewhere. He was always watching everything around him...everything. When he saw that Nathaniel shone in his art lessons, he couldn't help but smile...it wasn't that he was lazy, it was that he was an artistically driven person rather than academic.

Despite his art teacher having figured it out, his other teachers weren't convinced and continued to push pressure onto him to smarten his act up. He passed all exams, but with significant amount of stress and pushing from his teachers. He couldn't wait to break free and leave when he had cleared all exams at 18, and immediately returned home to Ireland...but with his newly formed public school boy's accent. Although the place was just as beautiful as he remembered it, the people were less than welcoming, seeing Nathaniel as being a corrupted Irishman by the English. It wasn’t long after returning home that on a walk one morning, Nathanial found his brother, Ethan, tied, naked and shot in the back, his body discarded in a field. Nathanial was shattered at the murder, and after the denial he felt a grief so deep at the loss of his brother that he was sure it would consume him...and he wanted it to. He spent a year like that, rarely going out unless he had to, and not caring about anything...but after soul searching in his local church on a Friday afternoon as had become his ritual, the Priest spent the whole night with him, talking and listening, and by the morning, he had managed to urge Nathanial to try and move on. Having been pushed out and made to feel distinctly unwelcome by the locals because of his new, English accent and public school education, he decided to leave his home town and return to England for a fresh start.

He sold his paintings and drawings, providing himself with a small but manageable cash flow. Nathaniel pushed and pushed for his work to be recognised in a higher level of art appreciation in galleries, and although it took years, he finally managed to break into the highly selective market of 'fine' art. His name soon became a well known one in the art circles, and his artwork was said to be identifiable by his uncanny ability to realistically capture the depth of human emotions in his people, and the warmth of his landscapes. Despite having such a struggle to get recognised, once known in the art world, his career took off rapidly, his name becoming well known even outside of the art world, and his artwork fashionable and desirable enough to reach what even he considered to be ridiculous amounts of money. Although buying a cottage in Cornwall to enjoy the still beauty of the place, he has spent a lot of his time travelling to openings of his art displays in various galleries around the world.

It was one such event that sent him to Japan, the opening night of an exhibition of his work in a Tokyo gallery. After a successful launch, he was travelling to Seattle to travel onto a meeting with some possible new investors when the plane he was travelling on went missing.

Player's Contact: K