We don't know him, so we side with you by default.
Actually, you all DO know him. He was Russo for the first ten days of our playing. Russo really WAS a guy to start with.
The recent Tarotdragoon, she admitted to me that she had hijacked his account for April Fools day-- it backfired on her, she said, and she began posting as Russo for the past 18 days or so. (though she tells me that he has given her help here and there.)
I actually feel bad for the original because he had posted on my Artifact forums back on the WotC pages, and was a long time fan of this campaign.
So that's what really happened.
Now if for some reason she and he BOTH wanted to play then one of them would have to create a new character so I could work them in as you guys leave Santa Boca. But obviously that's dependent on them both to work out. I would be willing to accept one addition player in this case alone.
On the other hand if neither of them decides to come back... as much as I enjoy the Russo character-- I have plenty of NPCs I will have to worry about for the expedition, so I'd likely phase him out at some point.
What are your thoughts on this guys (and gal)? How long is fair to wait to keep Russo going? Would one of you be dedicated enough to continue the character after that period of time?