Midnight Glow: The Bounty List(Signup!)

[Overcast]

Northwestern New Mexico, winter of 1880. A cold wind blows across the plains and mesas in the vast expanse of nothingness on the way to the nearest railroad town off the Navajo reservation. Three men ran a carriage, two riding to the side on horse, while one sat in the coach, they mutter smalltalk as they proceed on, one or more almost wishing they were criminals so they could be inside.

You have been captured. Taken by skilled lawmen who had caught you off your guard. You sit in a locked carriage, more like a cage with wooden reinforcement filled with other men and a few women, your transport dragged by horse where you will be turned in for the reward money. Your future, it seemed, would be decided in court, for some of you that may have been a death sentence already. For others it was a mild inconvenience that you hoped you could evade if you ran far enough away. Either way when the muttering man by the door finally picked the lock everything changed.

And soon there was no turning back.

-----------------------------------------
Welcome to Midnight Glow, where everybody dies in the first scene.
=D
Okay no, but a lot of NPC's are probably going to die to start. Mostly because I imagine many of your characters are not going to be outright murderer's which will make calling you terrifying criminals that people want more dead than alive to be a bit more difficult.

This may be a bit more character driven than Shining Dawn was, but I will provide setting notations for the sake of aid. And if it seems like that isn't working I am fairly good at railroading you guys to a more suitable storyline. I have one in mind, mostly based around what is about to happen. So you guys can give me feedback on which path you might enjoy more.

For now, the skeleton.

Name: Most start their lives with a name given by those who love us.
Alias: Some get a name given by something else.
Gender: Most of us were born with one.
Age: How long has your luck been running?
Occupation: Sometimes we still cling to what we built our lives on before they were taken away, or some like to call what they do something special.
Appearance: The bounty picture may not be perfect, but if someone saw you what would they expect?
Skills: What CAN you do?
Gear: Tools of the trade, among other things.
Personality: Word gets around, but who are you really?
Bio: Our pasts shape us, and can sometimes help us understand why it came to this.
Record: A list of crimes to help us get some perspective on that bio.
Other: A little extra never hurt.

Example:
Name: Ernesto Martinez
Alias: Rata Gorda, the Fat Rat.
Gender: Male
Age: 31 years.
Occupation: Scavenger
Appearance: A tall Mexican man at about 6'1 and 330 lbs of mostly gut, with a thick black hair cut raggedly around his head to something somewhat even and a thick beard that smells strongly of all the things that have touched it since his last known shower. Fond of a basic shirt, a poncho, some reasonable pants, and a pair of boots. He takes what he can and can sometimes look a little bit mismatched or ill fitted.
Skills:

Lockpicker: By some odd miracle his fat fingers have some capable dexterity and he knows how to break through many a lock. He claims his father a locksmith who taught him how they work inside, but who can really tell if that is true.
Big Man: Ernesto is aware he is big, he knows how to swing his weight to accentuate his size into many of his punches and can take a few on liberty of his fat alone. He also realizes that being bigger than people can make you intimidating and uses that as well.
Expert Recycler: Ernesto makes his living mostly off of things he takes or finds, so in his searches he tries to get the most out of the most minuscule of things and then use it until there is nothing left but a faint nub. He knows how to use things and understands how some things can be used for other things.
Shameless: Some would call this a negative thing, but it has saved him more than once.

Gear:On Him: Hidden hairpins, ill fitted clothes, poncho.
On the Guards: Proper lockpicks, blackjack, shotgun.
Personality: Ernesto is a humorous if crude individual who comes off fairly friendly until you get on his bad side. His trouble seems to lie in the fact that he seems to lack any kind of morality or scruples, simply doing things as he finds the need to do them and worrying about the consequences later. When aggravated he is often wordless and ruthless shedding nearly any of his carefree nature as before.
Bio: Ernesto was born in New Mexico just a year after the Mexican-American war. He was a reasonable kid, but his family was poor so they had to make the most from what they could get. The trouble was sometimes other people would want to make the most from what his family could get as well, and this was what got him started on scavenging. He pulled what loot he could get off the assailants before turning them into the law, but he started to feel the pull that said he could get more for his family by being this way. Honestly it was either that or become a priest, and he just never felt the pull of religion. He began breaking into places, robbing people, never doing much in the way of killing, but always taking nearly everything his large form could carry. When he got caught the first time his family was mortified, and kicked him out after he finished his sentence.

He continued on his way though, not fazed by time in jail nor by his disowning. This was the way he chose to live, and if people had trouble with that they should offer him a better way. He would go from town to town, creeping in places and sneaking away before the town got back to him but soon his large form became a target worth looking for as the puzzle pieces began to consistently point to him. He took to hiding out in the reservation and sneaking into towns at night to plunder, but this time he was caught in his escape. Dragged into a cart with all the rest of you.
Record:
Theft
Assault
Resisting Arrest
Armed Robbery
Extortion
Threatening to Commit Murder
Public Indecency
Other: Blah.

[mauve]

Placeholder. Gotta come up with something suitably criminal. :dance:

[batgirl]

Placeholder. I'm thinking a blacksmith with a long record of assault or a sassy bartender who poisons people and takes their gold.

[Overcast]

Blacksmith might be interesting, especially if he had a family history of the craft. Even by this point the usefulness of blacksmiths had begun to go downhill, interchangeable parts had shoehorned them out of the gun market entirely and many other markets as well. Forcing them essentially to the occasional old wagon repair and the shoeing of horses. A reduced sense of usefulness in a new world can be aggravating.

Bartender who poisons people seems like someone who had been working for a while and wanted the means to retire and chose a specific mark. Having a history of that isn't exactly good for the job market, and she'd likely only be able to get a place in new boomtowns where other shady businessmen were raising up make or break ventures.

[mauve]

Okay, so I'm thinking either a gambler/con man or a cattle rustler.

[Overcast]

Gambling was actually considered a fairly reasonable occupation in the old west if you had the intellect to always be ahead of the game, famous gunman Doc Holliday made almost all of his money as a gambler since his TB scared away people from his dentistry.

Con men came in all sort, the most theatrically prevailing one though was the Snake Oil Salesman. Which considering you might like to play your old doc again it might actually be a reasonable thing, seeing as he would be plenty qualified on going over people's head medically while he tried to sell them miracle drugs that were mostly just water mixed with your own urine.

Other con men did it the old fashioned way, clever tricks and lies that eventually led to people giving you their money. Often investment fraud since many people would enjoy a piece of the pie.

Cattle rustling was a fairly deplorable act since it messed with people's livelihood and could end up killing a family out of poverty. Similar in ways to horse theft in the way of severity. Back in the day they struck at ranches and cattle runs but with the advent of the railroad ranches became more centralized and runs made inefficient by just stuffing them in a train back east. So most rustlers about now were fairly capable train robbers as well.

[Inbred Chocobo]

I told myself that I was going to take a break from roleplaying, but this is making me want to make a cheating gambler with some terrible name like Jimmy the Card, who has like 20 counts of cheating at a game. Or maybe a person who had an opium den, drugged people, took all their money, then when they tried to recall the details informed them they lost it in gambling. Maybe not quite illegal, but hated all the same.

[Overcast]

Opium dens were often run by Chinese immigrants who either were addicted themselves or had a reliable quantity of people they knew needed the stuff. It was a sort of community of addict who supported each other on their addictions, but most people who you could scam good money off of usually kept to their own homes than risk their reputation at a den.

Meanwhile cheating in gambling had various effects, if you were a casino dealer it often led to complaints, which would make you the ace they kept if someone was winning too often. Usually this kept you from trouble. If you were a freelancer and targeted other casinos then you usually would find yourself testing the edges until someone came down to either kick you out or kick your ass. Cheating in saloon games was usually unlikely to go to a sheriff as much as to a disgruntled second player. If he was the third kind he might have more counts of murder than of fraud.

[Inbred Chocobo]

Name: Jim Daniel Vancock
Alias: Jimmy the Card
Gender: Male
Age: 20
Occupation: Gambler
Appearance: Jimmy still has the look of youth on him, someone you would more expect to see in highschool than out here. His hair is a dirty blonde color, though a little matted. He is skinny as a rail and doesn't weigh much of 150. He stands at 5'10', so only about average size too. The clothes he wears are tailored to fit him too, if they are a bit worn. His baby blue button up shirt goes well with his baby blue eyes, and the brown vest and belt with holster do well to break up the blue that is added in with his jeans. The boots he wears look like something you would fine a rich man buy rather than a rancher, but have a lot more age than something the former would wear. Currently he is without a hat, though quite a few wanted poster picture a wide-brim brown hat sitting on his head.
Skills:
- Bluff: Jimmy is an excellent liar, and is great at getting people to see his side when the truth is staring them in the face.
- Cheat: Jimmy doesn't like playing fair, he prefers to keep the odds in his favor. Whether thats keeping a few cards up his sleeve or knowing where to stand in a duel so the sun is in his opponent's eyes, Jimmy knows how to take advantage of a situation and stack the odds in his favor.
- Quick Draw: Jimmy has been called out quite a few times in cheating and gambling (and maybe sleeping with women he shouldn't), and thanks to his massive amount of dueling, Jimmy has learned the fine art of quick-drawing. He has become one of the fastest guns in the west out there. Hell there was one time he shot a guy while he was in the middle of the act with the man's wife.
Gear:
- On him: Nice comfortable clothes, a deck of cards, and a winning smile.
- On guards: A .45 Schofield revolver and holster, along with a box of ammo for it.
Personality: Jimmy tends to take things light-heartedly, and is always a big eager for a deal. He seems to always be smiling or peaceful, even when certain death is facing him. Its this cool front that throws people off his cunning and underhanded tactics, as he would make you feel like you are his best friend before the bullet hit you in the back of the head. He tends to put composure over all else, looking as if he stays calm even in the roughest of situations.
Bio: Jimmy started his life out as the youngest of the litter for Mr Johnson Vancock, owner of the Vancock Railroad Inc., a rather new railroad company looking to set itself up in the world. He took after his mom in his looks and charms, and his dad's ingenuity to get in through the world. Of course, being a rich kid and the youngest, he never really had any pressure for following in his father's footsteps so he never did. Instead he started using his looks and charms to go after the women and the booze and the gambling for fun. This kept up for a while until his father said enough is enough and threw him own, disowning him. (sleeping with the competition's daughter and them through a bad spin on that in the newspaper would do it).

Once Jimmy was thrown out, he did the only thing he knew how, drink, gamble, and sleep with as many women as possible. This got a lot of people mad at him, and out of need more than want he learned how to wield a pistol and use it quick, as most of the time the people coming after him wanted him dead and quick, so Jimmy had to learn and had to learn fast to be quicker. His skills developed, but so did his reputation.

The lawmen that have him now got lucky and caught him with his pants down... literally. Luckily he was worth more to them alive than dead so instead of being shot, he was thrown into the carriage.

Record:
Murder (Jimmy: Well, I've had my nights were I made a woman both happy and a widow.)
Arson (Jimmy: Now wait just a second here, I had no idea that the barrel there was full of gunpowder and would burn the house down.)
Resisting Arrest (Jimmy: What can I say? Everyone wants me for one reason or another.)
Public Indecency (Jimmy: This one isn't my fault. Her husband threw me into public naked, clearly he is the one to blame here.)
Other: *Smiles*

[Krylo]

Name: Jim Narstrom
Alias: Blankin' on this at the moment. If someone else wants to give him one that's fine.
Gender: Of the masculine proclivity.
Age: 26
Occupation: Shootin' Folks.
Appearance: Mostly a fresh faced kid, but he's already managed to get a few scars here and there from his line of work and he ain't a particularly small man. Ain't a particularly big one, either. He thinks a bit o' stubble makes him look closer to his age, so he don't shave much.
Skills: Shootin' Folks. Or to be a bit more explanatory:

Dueling--There are times when a man needs to face down another man, look him in the eye, and then shoot it. Doin' so before he does it to you first requires a very quick and steady hand. Jim's got both.
Dead eye--He can shoot the bridle out of the mouth of a runnin' horse at distance with a revolver without breaking its teeth. Well, many of its teeth.
Rough and Tumble--Sometimes when all hell breaks loose you ain't got a gun to use, and sometimes you don't wanna risk killing someone with a bullet. During these times it takes a quick mind, a strong arm, and a good left hook to come through. Or a well placed kick to the manhood. Or the clarity of mind and lack of honor to use that there bar stool as a bat... or to bite man's finger off. Jim ain't above any o' that.
Fast Shootin'--Sometimes there's six men against you. Sometimes you just hate someone so much you wanna shoot him six times. Most times the hammer of the pistol ain't quite quick enough for this. That is unless you've got the skill and the know how to pull it back manually just enough to give it the oomph to fire without locking it back. And do it fast. Jim can.
Bondage--Well, when a bounty pays twice as much alive, its usually best to tie them up before you bring them in.

Gear:
On guards:


Six Shooter--A rather new colt single action army chambered 44-40. A real killing machine.
Lever Action Rifle--A good ole .44 Rifmfire Henry. His dad used it in the civil war before he died. It's a keepsake. And a deadly one.
Shotgun--Nothing works better in close quarters than a nice 1878 double barrel hammer shotgun. Sawed off, of course, for easier maneuvering in buildings.
LeMat Revolver--Another keepsake from his father, pulled off the corpse of a Confederate cavalryman. He rarely uses it, due to the antiquated loading and inaccurate firing. Though the grapeshot barrel is useful on rare occasion.
Various Supplies--Some rope for tying folks up, climbing things, and general utility, a buck knife, some rations, and some basic camp supplies.

On Him

Duster--You can't be a proper bounty hunter without one. And one of them thar fancy hats.

Personality: Jim always gives people two options. The easy way or the hard way. It's an unfortunate fact of life that most folks are too obstinate to take the easy way and end up pretty hurt at that. Though the fact he gives them an option at all, shows that he's not quite so gruff and rough as his exterior personality would seem to imply. On the other hand, he has seen a lot of death and fighting in his day, and when the bullets start flying all that compassion goes right out the window in the name of survival.

Bio: His dad died as a union soldier when he was seven, his mother didn't exactly make it so well without him and ended up with a monster of a man who ended up killing her when Jim was 12. Unfortunate for his step-dad then that Jim knew how to use his father's old Henry Rifle and put a bullet in the man's head. After that Jim fell in with some outlaws, killed folks, learned to shoot, etc.

Dead dad and abusive step father aside, though, Jim never quite agreed with his new family, and once he he was old enough to make it on his own--about 16--he cut out of there. With no marketable skills other than killing people, however, he quickly fell into bounty hunting and selling his gun to the highest bidder. There are a few rumors of unscrupulous bidders being on the wrong side of his gun if he didn't like a job, or his payment wasn't forthcoming, however.

He was mostly okay with the law, until he was sent to get a man he used to run with, made the mistake of bringing him back alive, and he got fingered as a gang member after hauling him back. That day did not go well, and suddenly he had a bounty on his own head, some of it for things he didn't even do. 'Course a good amount of it he did in his escape from the sheriff's office when he turned the man in... and then there's all the less than legal 'hired gun' things he's been doing since.

Record:
Murder-Multiple counts
Theft-Multiple counts
Horse Theft
Train Robbery
Armed Robbery
Murder of an Officer of the Law-Multiple Counts
Resisting Arrest
Aggravated Assault
Destruction of Public Property

Other: Jim can be a bit... vindictive when he doesn't like what someone's been doing. One report, for instance, claims that he walked in on a man beating a whore and shot that man six times in the space of mere seconds. Once in each knee, once in each elbow, and twice directly in his manhood... before calling a doctor. When asked he responded that he would have only shot him the five times, but he felt there wasn't any point leaving just one bullet in his revolver.

[PyrosNine]

Name: "John NarrowEyes Smith" (Name written upon Warrant)
Alias: Nein
Gender: ???
Age: 24
Occupation: Mercenary/Wanderer
Appearance: Faded brown wide brimmed hat, even more faded brown leather jacket and pants, covered in dirt, patches, and holes, over an almost respectable white collared shirt. Hair is messy, black, and smells as if he'd taken a shower with cheap booze. His most recognizable features are his eyes, being wide and narrow, like a chinaman's (which he may very well be) and looking like they are always closed. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EyesAlwaysShut) When he does open them, they are apparently big eyes, but closed, they give him a serene, friendly appearance. Everything else about him is his fairly stringy build, muscular but not thick from a life of booze and beef. Not too tall, but not as short as your average chinaman.
Skills:
DeadEye: Despite never entering any sharpshooting contest, Nein's wanted poster warns of his quick draw, excellent aim, and quickfiring.
S. Jack: He's not bad with that blade, either.
Chon Woo: Nein wears two holsters, and it looks like when he keeps two revolvers, he uses two revolvers at the same time.
La Volpe: The fox eyed Nein moves quickly and strategically.
Revenant: While they say it's hard to keep a good man down, it's even harder to keep Nein in his grave.

Gear:
Ornate Dual Revolvers, emblazoned with sevens. Called "Hot and Cold" in English.
Sword: A western short sword, sharp on both sides, with a hilt wrapped in bandages, and has it's own sheathe.
Personality: A quiet and reserved man of violent compulsion. He never gives out his name, nor his business, but whenever he steps into a dangerous situation, he always acts with very little restraint or fear of consequences. This makes him perfect for mercenary work, and in some cases the best kind of charity.
Tends to be cowed a bit by women, and dislikes cats.

Bio: Five years ago, a choir boy went searching in a dangerous desert city for a lost friend. He found hell, debauchery, and a dead friend. He responded in the only way his mind could, ill prepared as it was for what it found, by raising hell. After a series of chaotic events that began with him throwing a burning bottle of liquor, an entire city burned to the ground and many illustrious businessmen were found dead from lead poisoning.

The Choir boy ditched his name and his past, and picked up of pair of guns, and a sword he took as a trophy, and began to wander. Perhaps god never left him after he left god, because his talent for guns and mercy work quickly built him up a mysterious reputation.

Record:
Murder-Multiple Counts.
Kidnapping from a Lawful institution
Petty Theft.
Murder, Assault, and Resisting Arrest on Law men.
Arson, Destruction of Public Property
Undisclosed crimes against the Government.

Other:
It's been said that his full, opened gaze has an incredibly strong allure.
Does not know the difference between a Tavern and an Inn.
May suffer from mental disorder, only does what he "feels" like.

[Overcast]

TWO Jim's? It would seem I'll have to pick one of your characters to be Jim and the other Jim 2. That or Jimmy. Either way Jimmy the Card and Shootin Jim Narstrom are on the scene. Only slight to Jimmy is I would enjoy to know the kind of pistol he has. He seem like a Schofield fellow, they were always a favorite of wildcards.

Even before I read the thread once I saw you Pyros I knew it was Nein. He's EVERYWHERE. Of note is his pistols should be fairly weak if he dual wields. Anything above a Colt 1851 Navy (.36 cal) will likely be rejected. Witchcraft was not really found illegal at the time in the West that was more the century before this one, so it probably wouldn't be in the list. I'd enjoy knowing the kind of crimes he did against the government, I'll keep it a secret for now but when you do something against the government I obviously have to work it into the plot one day. Also realize that death is a very real element here, and I may not always accept that you are coming back. Once we are on terms there it should be nice and fine.

[PyrosNine]

If Nein dies here, he'll just wake up in another RP. But let me check my Revolver knowledge, my big list of guns for reference went away with my computer.

[batgirl]

Name: Samson Walter
Alias: "Hammer Sam"
Gender: Yup, I'm playing a male.
Age: 26
Occupation: Blacksmith, now man for hire
Appearance: Samson is a very imposing individual. He stands at around 6'1" and is a muscular 240. He has a mop of black hair on his head, usually kept short due to the fires of his work. If he is actually working he'll wear dark pants, no shirt and a thick apron to cover him, but in the cage he is currently wearing dark jeans, boots, button up gray shirt (gray from color or sweat/dirt is up for debate) and a tan jacket with fringes on it, given to him by an 'injun as payment for his last job. Instead of a hat, he opts for a red bandanna to keep the sweat off his face.

Skills:
Big Man: Sam is a big man, and knows how to put all of his muscle behind his punches and kicks.
Hand to hand brawler: He'll disarm you and punch your lights out before you can sneeze.
Fair shot: While not a sniper or dead eye, Samson is fairly good with a gun.
Hammer Time: Guy can smith, he knows his stuff. Need something repaired? He can do it.

Gear:
Guards: Revolver (M1873 .45 Peacemaker), large hammer (for makin stuff and beatin stuff), a knife and some basic supplies (rope, canteen etc)
On Him: His clothes, pack of smokes, tinder for smoking
Personality: The term strong silent type tends to be a good way to describe Sam. He talks when he needs to and shuts up otherwise. He is truly happy when practicing his two crafts: Blacksmithing and beating people up. Otherwise, it's not that he's not social or anything, he just appreciates the quiet.

Bio: Sam comes from a long line of Blacksmiths, and is well versed in his trade, being the 4th generation. He took over his father's business when dad died of fever, and also took over his father's passion for boxing, and slowly saw the business die. No one really needed him anymore, save for making horseshoes and some repairs. His craft was withering away, and so was his coin. He sold his smithy and went off trying to make it in the fights, but found that those too were few and far between. When he did win, he was happy, but it was a hard life going from fight to fight. He began using his boxing talents to help out various unsavory people with reclaiming owed money or owed lives. He got his nickname from the few times when fists weren't enough, and he had to beat his opponent mercilessly with his smithing hammer.

Record: Countless counts of assault
Murder
Accessory to murder
Theft
Resisting arrest
Assault on an agent of the law

Other: He likes to smoke

[Raiden]

Man, I was totally going to use my token Deadlands character but then Krylo went and took it. Gonna go with my gravedigger.

Name: Nikolas Smith
Alias: None
Gender: Male
Age: 42
Occupation: Grave digger/A Surprising Opera Aficionado
Appearance: Nikolas is a big guy, tanned from years out in the sun. It happens when you spend years digging holes, carrying dead bodies, then filling them up again. 6'8", bulging muscles, and messy blond hair that is kept long more from neglect than a fashion statement. His clothing normally consists of slacks and a dirty shirt. He has a wide-brimmed hat that he keeps losing. More than one is probably left in a grave somewhere.
Skills: What CAN you do?

The Size of An Outcast: Nikolas has always been big. Always. Spending years as a gravedigger only exaggerated the problem. He's strong and powerful.
An Amazing Constitution: Whether from his thick skin, extra cartilage, or mutated growth, he's able to take a lot more damage than the normal person.
Shovel-Fu: Nikolas has a shovel, and he's quite good at using it. Whether it's to break through rock, tear off roots, or break bone, his shovel can handle the job.
One With Death: Nikolas has found more friendship with the dead than with the living. The living talk too much and yell too much. The dead are quiet and listen to him sing. Plus they don't mind if he puts them in chairs.
Unknown Opera Voice: Spending years alone with nothing but piles of dead bodies and a phonograph gives one ample amounts of time to practice his singing voice.

Gear: His special grave-digging shovel and an 1880's hammer double barrel 12 gauge with a 13" barrel (sawed down to super illegal levels. Don't need to be good at shooting for this gun. Point in a general direction and say goodbye to whatever's there).
Personality: Nikolas isn't used to being around living people. Misunderstandings can and do arise. A misunderstanding is what wound him up in a cage. He can interact with humans, but mostly he'll stay quiet and to himself unless provoked otherwise.
Bio: Nikolas was born to a mother and father of no importance. One died from the consumption, the other died of alcoholism. Nikolas never seemed like a very right boy to begin with, so he was given to the digger at the local graveyard. He was honestly the only one who'd take the boy. Nikolas's childhood was filled with learning about how to dig holes 6 feet deep, 2 feet if they were criminals, and fill them back up. The exercise made him even bigger, and he got very good at the job. So good that when the gravedigger died of old age, Nikolas simply buried him and kept doing the job. Eventually, though, the loneliness began to get to the poor guy. He'd talk to the corpses he was given before burying them, which grew to him not burying some bodies at all. He'd set them on the gravestones to listen to him sing his opera or talk about the weather. If any graverobbers showed up...they ended up joining his audience. This was innocent enough until someone from the town showed up to personally bury their loved ones and saw the audience of dead bodies. They called the sheriff who came out to try and arrest Nikolas. After that failed spectacularly they had to call in the Marshalls. They finally took him down by setting fire to his house while he was sleeping and roped him up when he stumbled out of the flames. It still took an hour to bring him down. His constitution kept him alive, but it made him docile enough to drag in.
Record:
Desecration of Human Corpses
Theft of a Phonograph
Murder
Resisting Arrest
Assault on a Law Officer
Murder of a Law Officer
Assault on a Marshall
Murder of a Marshall

[mauve]

Name: Zeke McCoy
Alias: Does "lyin', theivin' bastard" count?
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Occupation: Redist-- redistrib-- redi--... takin' stuff what don't belong to him.
Appearance: Disappointingly unremarkable. Zeke has no noteworthy physical features-- he's not too tall or too short, not too heavy or too slim (Well, fine, he may be a bit on the scrawny side, but it ain't his fault he can't eat as well as he should), no visible scars, no fancy accessories... It's good for stayin' unnoticed, which is fine and dandy... but really, it's a bit of a stab in the pride when you've finally got yourself on a wanted poster and the picture could describe seventy different people.

Skills:
Quick: Can run like the devil's at his heels.
Quiet: He wouldn't get far if he went around making more noise than a stampede of buffalo. Chances are, you won't know he's around until he's already gone...unless he gets cocky and makes an idiot of himself, showin' off his skills. It's happened before. He'd rather not discuss it.
Sneaky: Y'all can't pin this crime on him. Y'all ain't got no proof. He wasn't even in town that day.
Bluff: BACK OFF OR HE'LL SHOOT Y'ALL DEAD. Nevermind the fact that the gun has maybe two shots left. He'll conveniently forget to mention that.

Gear:
Bandana: Oh, it's just to keep the dust out of his face. It's not like he's going to use it to hide his face while he's stealing that fellah's horse over there. No.
Pistols and holster: 2 1878 Colt models. Zeke ain't a bad shot, but the two pistols are mostly just for "lookin' more imposing-like." However, they are functioning weapons and he knows how to use them.
Shovel: He MEANT to steal a pickax too, but Zeke didn't notice the pit bull at the campsite until it was almost to late. Those things are fast! Anyway, the shovel turned out to be more useful than Zeke expected, so it stays. Y'know you can behead a rattlesnake with one o' those?

Personality: Shifty, a bit full of himself, and an opportunist. Has a tendency to overestimate his abilities, which gets him into trouble.

Bio: Zeke can't really remember when or how he got into the thievin' business. All he remembers is that somewhere along the line during his teenage years, it dawned on him that he really, really didn't like raising chickens. He spent most of his time on his family's poultry farm back east, watching cattle and horses go to market for what he saw as monumental sums while he was stuck kicking through hen droppings to collect a few pennies' worth of eggs and occasionally chop the head off some unlucky rooster.

The thefts started off as little things-- pocketing a few inches of ribbon for some girl he liked, little trinkets like that. Over time, the thefts got bigger, the schemes more involved, and Zeke got better at it. Course, he kinda got himself run out of town for an incident involving the sale of a goat which may or may not have been his to legally sell, but in the end it was all for the best. It was easier to go somewhere where he wasn't already a suspect.

As he got older, his targets got more varied. He lifted stuff from travelers' pockets, stole horses from farms, even managed to pull over a stagecoach at one point. He very nearly got himself shot during that one, but it was worth it.

He was doing a fine job of keeping himself out of jail, too, until an unfortunate incident involving a group of fellow bandits and a train. Stupid backstabbing know-nothing unprofessional sons of--

Record:
Theft-- multiple counts: Okay, he probably deserves this one.
Train robbery: To be fair, Zeke never actually got AWAY with anything that was on that train, so he wouldn't really call it robbery, per se.
Assault: The guy deserved it.
Horse theft-- multiple counts: You have no proof of that.
Sale of stolen property: The horse that went missing was white. The horse that Zeke sold was white with big black spots. The fact that Zeke had four empty containers of black shoe polish in his pack was a total coincidence, he swears.
Cattle rustling: Heh. He remembers that one. Good times.
Attempted Murder: The keyword is "attempted." Nobody actually died. What's the problem?
Armed robbery of a stagecoach: Turns out, the term "riding shotgun" really DOES mean the fellah in the front seat is holding an actual shotgun. Zeke kinda thought it was just a story to scare off bandits.

Other: He's innocent, he swears.

[Toastburner B]

Name: Peter McHayes
Alias: Powder Pete
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Occupation: Miner
Appearance: Pete is a average, gangly man who is going prematurely gray. He often wears very plain clothing (cheaper that way, clothes get ruined quickly in his line of work), and wears a much worn, slightly scorched hat (his good luck charm).

Skills:

Demolitions: From his mining days, Pete is an expert in the placement and used to explosives
Nerves of Steel: As you might imagine given his line of work, Peter has a knack for keeping a level head under pressure. It takes a quite a bit to rattle old Powder Pete.
Good Throwing Arm: Pete can throw things with relative good aim at a respectable distance...including explosives. He also happens to be good at horse shoes.
Harmonica Player: Every western needs at least one dude that can play the harmonica.


Gear:
On Him: Plain, cheap clothing, scorched hat, box of matches, paper and tobacco to make about 3 cigarettes, and a slightly battered harmonica.
With Guards: Explosives (a few boxes of dynamite and a small, very carefully packed bottle of nitro), plunger-and-box detonator, double barreled shotgun.

Personality: Peter is the kind of guy who doesn’t really stand out. Most people think “explosives guy” and think of a crazy pyromaniac. Peter is not that guy in the least. He’s a friendly sort, but a bit of a pessimist.

Bio: A few years back, Peter McHayes came out west to seek his fortune in the gold mines of the west. Unfortunately, no one told him that those mines were mostly already staked out or picked bare. The bare patches of land he worked for five years didn’t even yield enough to cover the price of the donkey he bought when he first came out west. With his debts coming due, Peter spent a long, dark night of the soul considering his options. With dawn, however, came an epiphany: Why should he waste money using explosives to look for gold in the ground when he could use explosives to get money he knew was in the bank? Well, it turns out that was a lot easier than mining for five years. A lot more profitable, too. Eventually, Pete got himself hooked up with a group of like minded fellows who could give him cover as he took his time laying down the explosives. It was profitable relationship, until one of the gang got sloppy and bragged about their next job at the local saloon. Nothing makes robbing a bank harder than have the sheriff and sizable posse waiting for you. Pete escaped the attempted robbery, only to be caught outside of town by the posse.

Record:
Bank Robbery
Destruction of Property
Arson
Attempted Murder (bank employees don’t like almost getting blown up)
Murder (Pete maintains it wasn’t his fault that idiot was too dumb to leave when he was told too).
Claim Jumping (“How was I suppose to know? The guy told me it was legit. It was a worthless chunk of land, anyways!”)
Resisting Arrest.

Other: Is very careful not to smoke around his dynamite. Shotgun is from his mining days…you can’t keep a claim just by asking nicely, you know. Because of all the gear he has, he has to travel by wagon, or have a pack horse.

[Overcast]

This is getting bigger than I initially anticipated. Excellent. Though you guys are making me a liar with the lack of a female! Okay fine I'll edit it no one has to change genders just for me.

Anyway time for the discerning eye of criticisms!
First to everyone I would enjoy to know the kind of guns you are using, it helps me gauge just how often the sands of fate will kick up in your eyes.

Walter is approved, no major gripes here.

Nikolas is semi-approved. Remember kids that bullets don't just hurt, they kill! And medicine was a crapshoot back then. By extension it is a rule that when most people get shot they may find themselves in a bad way. If I ever gave up that rule this game would probably get consequentially harder and easier all at once, moreover it might end up wasting time. I would enjoy if the marshalls took a separate means to bring him down. I'm a fan of horses and lassos myself. If they can get a bull they can get a man with a shovel.

Zeke approved yada yada pistolkind yada yada blah.

Powder Pete is also approved, because everything is better with explosions.

[mauve]

Uhhhhhhh..... Guns aren't really my specialty. Could someone give me some ideas as to something pistol-ish that would have been used back then?

EDIT: Thanks Ovie! Edited post.

[Inbred Chocobo]

TWO Jim's? It would seem I'll have to pick one of your characters to be Jim and the other Jim 2. That or Jimmy. Either way Jimmy the Card and Shootin Jim Narstrom are on the scene. Only slight to Jimmy is I would enjoy to know the kind of pistol he has. He seem like a Schofield fellow, they were always a favorite of wildcards.

Decided to go with your suggestion and go with the 45 Schofield revolver. Its more of a cavalry pistol I know but I could see Jimmy wielding something like that.

And do you really want that many women in the party with a guy like Jimmy on the loose anyway Overcast?

[PyrosNine]

Nein could totally be a woman just to spite that suggestion and cause interparty conflict!

[Krylo]

TWO Jim's? It would seem I'll have to pick one of your characters to be Jim and the other Jim 2. That or Jimmy.

I was going to rename him 'cause of IC's character, but then I would have been compelled to change a bunch of other things, and I liked Jim, so younger Jim Narstrom is what you're getting.

[batgirl]

Samson can very easily be changed to Samantha if you want a female character. I was thinking of playing one initially, but was worried due to the lack of female blacksmiths.

[krogothwolf]

Still open for sign-ups? I didn't get around to do anything, just recovering from getting nice and sick.

[Overcast]

Indeed, sign ups are still open. Some folks still require minor edits, and gun details.

And you can change the gender if you want to. The female blacksmith thing isn't too unusual, but a female boxer...that might be a bit odd back then. No need to change genders for my sake though. But if you are more comfortable playing a female I'd allow it. Though hardship will come with it.

[Bard The 5th LW]

Clearly cross dressing is the best option. For everyone.

Every character is hiding their true gender from every other character.

[batgirl]

I'm in paramedic school, I have enough hardships as is, I'll keep Sam a male.

[Overcast]

Alrighty, everyone else we have until next Wednesday to get all your repairs together or I'm making those characters who I had issues with the cannon fodder necessary for the rest of the characters to survive. Which means they get to have all your stuff when they loot the guards.

As a clarifying note that is just Raiden until Kro gets his character up, though as I said before better clarification on pistols would make me happy for those who still haven't(Batgirl and Pyros). Shotguns aren't really necessary since this was before the advent of the lever action and most were just double barreled break action, though as a note Nikolas's sawed off is likely to be single barreled since the only good reason to do that ever is for concealment.

Any questions about what might be going on?

[Raiden]

Sorry took me so long to get back, work sucks while looking for new jobs. Changed.

[batgirl]

Revolver put in

[Overcast]

Apologies for the delays, but they have decided the building I'm living in costs too much money to maintain and thus are moving everyone in it to another building. By extension shit-hit-fan. BUT this still should go up on Wednesday as long as I can get settled into my new living conditions properly. Everyone so far is accepted. And Kro you are nearly out of time.

This does not bode well for you.

[Overcast]

DELAYS. Only one day though, couldn't pull the thing out of my ass today. But since tomorrow is essentially free I should be able to make some goodness for everyone. For sake of time wasting go ahead and put up the roll call. Also Kro, time is up unfortunately. ALL ENTRIES ARE CLOSED!

[mauve]

Time wasting is what I do best. I'm still here.

[batgirl]

I'm here too. Got all the time in the world.

[Raiden]

I'm here. Well, not really HERE, I mean I'm sitting at a computer far far away from you but...yeah, you know what I mean.

[Inbred Chocobo]

I is here. Kinda. Maybe.

EDIT: But know really, I am here, just trying to think up a good intro for Jimmy.

[Toastburner B]

I'm here.

And by here I mean totally at house, and typing this when you aren't on your computer.

How creepy is that?

[PyrosNine]

I've been down and sick for the past week of spring break suffering from a cold I got from my ungrateful brother who watched stupid college basketball instead of spending time with sick ol' me, and at my special dinner for going back to college to soon graduate, no one showed up even though we made a 5 course meal with spaghetti and breadsticks and everything and we never got to go anywhere and I had a paper due during spring break and I couldn't do any work on it so I had to spend all of last night writing a crappy essay and submitting it before 1:30 today and oh god I am tired and sick of being sick and tired.

But yeah...Pyros will be productive when his Bronchitis lets up.

[batgirl]

I have the cardiology exam of death at 9am, so I will hopefully post later today.

[Overcast]

Thanks you two, and since I am learning not everyone has a subscription to the RP subsection I guess I should place these here!

The discussion! (http://www.nuklearforums.com/showthread.php?t=39753)

The Real Thing! (http://www.nuklearforums.com/showthread.php?t=39749)

Will also be working on getting all the accepted profiles linked to in the first post when I get the time, just for everyone's benefit.