WINFIELD, E.C.
+++Name: Nathaniel Curtis “Nate” Winfield
+++Age: 34
+++Gender: Male
+++Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
+++Physical appearance: 6 foot, 172 pounds, with broad shoulders and a disposition for muscles after years of working on his father’s ranch.
+++Identifying Marks: A scar on his left cheek after cutting it on a hooked nail.
+++Role: Rider
+++Ethnicity: Caucasian
+++Religion: Christian
+++Birthplace: Greens Bluff/Madison/Orange, Texas
+++Criminal History: N/A
+++Military History: Bugle Boy for Confederacy
+++Skills: A silver tongued devil, albeit a very angry one inside. Will prides himself on diplomacy and the ability to brawl should it come down to it. After years of working a ranch, driving carriages, and riding horses, he has become skilled in all aspects of ranch life. With a lack of things to do on the ranch, he took up shooting coyotes and playing with a deck of fifty-four. He has become deft at both, although his shooting leaves a bit to be desired.
+++Psychological analysis: Underneath layers of humanitarianism, playful conversation, and humility sits an indignant underbelly. Deep insecurities plague him, these and a lack of anger management stemming from his father’s absences. When his father was around, Nathan was subject verbal lashings that formed a thick skin.
+++Weaknesses: Nate, despite his attractive personality, is controlled by his anger and prone to outrage. His aiming and firing skills with any manner of weapon is less than accurate and in any event the only thing he’s shot at is coyotes and bobcats. In a gunfight he would have a slight edge over useless, but the prospect of killing another man is foreign and vile to him.
+++Likes/dislikes: Nate enjoys playing card games and heading out to town. Not only that, but ranch work is fulfilling for him in that it was his only respite from the rest of life’s turmoils. He dislikes his father in an bloated sense, one of the things that keeps him going throughout life. Nate also dislikes the proposition of meaningless sex; a whore has never and will never keep him company.
+++Interests: Card games of all kinds intrigue and delight him and he’d love to become a gambler if he had the time or money to do so. In saloons, a love of drinking and song comes to him and he happens to be a merry drunk, despite his sober self telling otherwise. In totality, his goal in life is to settle down with a family and be a better man than his father was.
+++Fears: In a cliche way he finds it, but a fear that nonetheless encompasses him is becoming like his father. A lack of doing anything significant with his life is another fear that has roped him in, a tier above the more primal fears of gunfights, dying, and actually settling down.
+++Equipment:
In the distant summer of 1846, Nathaniel Winfield was born to a ranching man and his wife in the town of then Madison, Texas. They lived close by, only going to the doctor for childbirth and the mother’s (then known as Clarice Winfield) pension for illness. Thankfully, the ranch made enough money and as he grew older in his first ten years of life, he went fishing with his father and survived as an only child. However, Nate found himself more in the embrace of his mother rather than the cold hand of his father. They were a poor family who couldn’t afford slaves; any money they had was put towards his mother’s struggles with illness (specifically tuberculosis in 1854) and food. Nate, his father, and a few family friends were enough to drive cattle during that time. The work was fierce and the work was hard, but things were mostly well. Nate was alone often; his father worked all day and his mother rested from tuberculosis. In the meantime, he practiced card games of all sorts such as solitaire, or battled imaginary foes in poker and blackjack. Sometimes, he’d get the chance to ride to town with his father where he picked up a Southern charm he became confident in. Eventually, his mother recovered from her tuberculosis with the help of some prescribed tonics and his father (before known as Mannix Winfield) was happy to note that in early 1856, his wife was pregnant with a second child.
In the Autumn of 1856, the bastard consumption returned. It killed Nate’s mother insidiously. His father was distraught. A potential child and his dearest Clarice were marked for death. Nate was similarly devastated; he could see his mother was weak and he could see that this winter was sure to be hard. During that fateful winter, his mother did give birth to a small, tiny child named Alice Winfield who only barely survived. One week later, Clarice Winfield was dead and buried in the Madison Cemetery. The years passed. Mannix coddled his daughter, but Nate was left alone following the wake of his mother’s death. While they kept keeping on as best as they could, the Civil War loomed on the horizon. Nate would have to leave his cards on the table when, in 1861, his father got the two packed up to fight for the Confederacy. His young sister was sent away to Galveston to stay with their aunt and uncle, for the time being. Mannix sold the cattle and left the ranch behind with his son, marching with the Texas Brigade.
Nate would not see much fighting during the war, but he would see plenty of injured and wounded. He served primarily as a bugle boy and would run away at the first sign of gunfire due to his young age. By the time he was old enough to truly serve, the war was over and the South had lost. His father had lost a leg after it was shot by an enemy Unionist soldier; as such, he was given a wooden prosthetic to replace it. They returned home to the ranch, now empty. Alice came back too with smarts that Nate never had, something he resented somewhat. Nate was the only one who could work efficiently and at the age of nineteen he became the physical head of the household. He helped get ranch hands with help from his father and bought more cattle, learning the ropes along with his sister who had learned a little practice of her own. His father became more and more distant and spiteful towards him, coming home drunk after squandering his money on whores and drinks. Sometimes, he’d come up with a scam and even buy his son some help with the ranch every now and then, but it wasn’t often.
As the prominent figure on the ranch, Nate had to learn how to shoot, along with his sister. The two would play cards with each other and try target practice when they had the time, and the two became best friends, somewhat. While he considered his sister too young for many aspects of his life, such as going out to saloons, they became fast friends. When he was twenty-six, he found love in the form of a girl named Emery Wilkinson. Meeting her in Madison was always one of his greatest pleasures; the girl of his dreams, a girl who would never love him as he loved her. She would come to the ranch with him sometimes and it was true that they were meant for each other; but differing goals end up offsetting destiny. He wished to marry her, but she would only have him if he left the ranch. Leaving the ranch was no easy task for Nate; he could bring his sister and father, sure, but he had put too much work into their home. At the age of eighteen, his sister broke her leg while riding a horse one day and was put onto morphine. Two years later, he realized she had become addicted to the morphine and the doctor got her cocaine gum to offset the addiction.
Flings came and flings left and ranch hands were no different. The ranch began to die when Nate was thirty-two and his anger was getting the better of him. Around this time, he realized two crucial things; his sister had become addicted to the cocaine that was to offset her morphine, and his father had become afflicted with the same disease that killed his mother so many years ago. Contracted from what he did not know, but his passing was long and arduous. Nate wanted to help his father but he hated him all the same; his sister was the final push that made him gather medicine for the man. With a influx of leaving ranch hands, a lack of cattle being sold, a harsh winter, and heavy payments for Mannix, they were bankrupt and forced to sell the ranch. Mannix was buried beside of his wife and Nate was able to talk his way into getting more money than he should have for the ranch at $500. He split the money with his sister, where they rode out to Galveston. Alice informed him that their aunt and uncle, Sally and Bennie Adkins, had moved to Arizona to be closer to their children. Nate charmed his way into a ride there, but had to pay a lot of cash to go.
After two months of travel, they wound up in Arizona and found Sally and Bennie’s kids there. Sally and Bennie had not survived the trip; they were killed by outlaws before they even set foot in Arizona. Nate and Alice stayed there for a few months, but eventually found work in Perdition Valley in the form of Black Dove Ranch. They both started as ranch hands, but Alice worked her way up and worked as an assistant to the head doctor when she wasn’t performing manual labor. Nate stayed on as a rider; helping in any way he could, including diplomacy if they be inclined to ask for his help. He stayed Baptist as his father had; he had no reason to not believe in God yet.
+++RP Sample:
+++Why Are You Here: I missed a number when entering the address, but I’m too embarrassed to leave now.
+++Theme Song: All Day I Face
#ItWillBeDone (DO NOT REMOVE)
+++Age: 34
+++Gender: Male
+++Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
+++Physical appearance: 6 foot, 172 pounds, with broad shoulders and a disposition for muscles after years of working on his father’s ranch.
+++Identifying Marks: A scar on his left cheek after cutting it on a hooked nail.
+++Role: Rider
+++Ethnicity: Caucasian
+++Religion: Christian
+++Birthplace: Greens Bluff/Madison/Orange, Texas
+++Criminal History: N/A
+++Military History: Bugle Boy for Confederacy
+++Skills: A silver tongued devil, albeit a very angry one inside. Will prides himself on diplomacy and the ability to brawl should it come down to it. After years of working a ranch, driving carriages, and riding horses, he has become skilled in all aspects of ranch life. With a lack of things to do on the ranch, he took up shooting coyotes and playing with a deck of fifty-four. He has become deft at both, although his shooting leaves a bit to be desired.
+++Psychological analysis: Underneath layers of humanitarianism, playful conversation, and humility sits an indignant underbelly. Deep insecurities plague him, these and a lack of anger management stemming from his father’s absences. When his father was around, Nathan was subject verbal lashings that formed a thick skin.
+++Weaknesses: Nate, despite his attractive personality, is controlled by his anger and prone to outrage. His aiming and firing skills with any manner of weapon is less than accurate and in any event the only thing he’s shot at is coyotes and bobcats. In a gunfight he would have a slight edge over useless, but the prospect of killing another man is foreign and vile to him.
+++Likes/dislikes: Nate enjoys playing card games and heading out to town. Not only that, but ranch work is fulfilling for him in that it was his only respite from the rest of life’s turmoils. He dislikes his father in an bloated sense, one of the things that keeps him going throughout life. Nate also dislikes the proposition of meaningless sex; a whore has never and will never keep him company.
+++Interests: Card games of all kinds intrigue and delight him and he’d love to become a gambler if he had the time or money to do so. In saloons, a love of drinking and song comes to him and he happens to be a merry drunk, despite his sober self telling otherwise. In totality, his goal in life is to settle down with a family and be a better man than his father was.
+++Fears: In a cliche way he finds it, but a fear that nonetheless encompasses him is becoming like his father. A lack of doing anything significant with his life is another fear that has roped him in, a tier above the more primal fears of gunfights, dying, and actually settling down.
+++Equipment:
- Colt Single Action Army (Colt .45)
- Winchester Model 1876
- Playing Cards
- Satchel
- Work gloves
- Boots with work uniform
- Stetson Hat
- Twenty dollars on hand
- One hundred and fifty dollars stored away after selling his father’s ranch
- Small folding knife for use on the ranch
- Mother’s brooch
In the distant summer of 1846, Nathaniel Winfield was born to a ranching man and his wife in the town of then Madison, Texas. They lived close by, only going to the doctor for childbirth and the mother’s (then known as Clarice Winfield) pension for illness. Thankfully, the ranch made enough money and as he grew older in his first ten years of life, he went fishing with his father and survived as an only child. However, Nate found himself more in the embrace of his mother rather than the cold hand of his father. They were a poor family who couldn’t afford slaves; any money they had was put towards his mother’s struggles with illness (specifically tuberculosis in 1854) and food. Nate, his father, and a few family friends were enough to drive cattle during that time. The work was fierce and the work was hard, but things were mostly well. Nate was alone often; his father worked all day and his mother rested from tuberculosis. In the meantime, he practiced card games of all sorts such as solitaire, or battled imaginary foes in poker and blackjack. Sometimes, he’d get the chance to ride to town with his father where he picked up a Southern charm he became confident in. Eventually, his mother recovered from her tuberculosis with the help of some prescribed tonics and his father (before known as Mannix Winfield) was happy to note that in early 1856, his wife was pregnant with a second child.
In the Autumn of 1856, the bastard consumption returned. It killed Nate’s mother insidiously. His father was distraught. A potential child and his dearest Clarice were marked for death. Nate was similarly devastated; he could see his mother was weak and he could see that this winter was sure to be hard. During that fateful winter, his mother did give birth to a small, tiny child named Alice Winfield who only barely survived. One week later, Clarice Winfield was dead and buried in the Madison Cemetery. The years passed. Mannix coddled his daughter, but Nate was left alone following the wake of his mother’s death. While they kept keeping on as best as they could, the Civil War loomed on the horizon. Nate would have to leave his cards on the table when, in 1861, his father got the two packed up to fight for the Confederacy. His young sister was sent away to Galveston to stay with their aunt and uncle, for the time being. Mannix sold the cattle and left the ranch behind with his son, marching with the Texas Brigade.
Nate would not see much fighting during the war, but he would see plenty of injured and wounded. He served primarily as a bugle boy and would run away at the first sign of gunfire due to his young age. By the time he was old enough to truly serve, the war was over and the South had lost. His father had lost a leg after it was shot by an enemy Unionist soldier; as such, he was given a wooden prosthetic to replace it. They returned home to the ranch, now empty. Alice came back too with smarts that Nate never had, something he resented somewhat. Nate was the only one who could work efficiently and at the age of nineteen he became the physical head of the household. He helped get ranch hands with help from his father and bought more cattle, learning the ropes along with his sister who had learned a little practice of her own. His father became more and more distant and spiteful towards him, coming home drunk after squandering his money on whores and drinks. Sometimes, he’d come up with a scam and even buy his son some help with the ranch every now and then, but it wasn’t often.
As the prominent figure on the ranch, Nate had to learn how to shoot, along with his sister. The two would play cards with each other and try target practice when they had the time, and the two became best friends, somewhat. While he considered his sister too young for many aspects of his life, such as going out to saloons, they became fast friends. When he was twenty-six, he found love in the form of a girl named Emery Wilkinson. Meeting her in Madison was always one of his greatest pleasures; the girl of his dreams, a girl who would never love him as he loved her. She would come to the ranch with him sometimes and it was true that they were meant for each other; but differing goals end up offsetting destiny. He wished to marry her, but she would only have him if he left the ranch. Leaving the ranch was no easy task for Nate; he could bring his sister and father, sure, but he had put too much work into their home. At the age of eighteen, his sister broke her leg while riding a horse one day and was put onto morphine. Two years later, he realized she had become addicted to the morphine and the doctor got her cocaine gum to offset the addiction.
Flings came and flings left and ranch hands were no different. The ranch began to die when Nate was thirty-two and his anger was getting the better of him. Around this time, he realized two crucial things; his sister had become addicted to the cocaine that was to offset her morphine, and his father had become afflicted with the same disease that killed his mother so many years ago. Contracted from what he did not know, but his passing was long and arduous. Nate wanted to help his father but he hated him all the same; his sister was the final push that made him gather medicine for the man. With a influx of leaving ranch hands, a lack of cattle being sold, a harsh winter, and heavy payments for Mannix, they were bankrupt and forced to sell the ranch. Mannix was buried beside of his wife and Nate was able to talk his way into getting more money than he should have for the ranch at $500. He split the money with his sister, where they rode out to Galveston. Alice informed him that their aunt and uncle, Sally and Bennie Adkins, had moved to Arizona to be closer to their children. Nate charmed his way into a ride there, but had to pay a lot of cash to go.
After two months of travel, they wound up in Arizona and found Sally and Bennie’s kids there. Sally and Bennie had not survived the trip; they were killed by outlaws before they even set foot in Arizona. Nate and Alice stayed there for a few months, but eventually found work in Perdition Valley in the form of Black Dove Ranch. They both started as ranch hands, but Alice worked her way up and worked as an assistant to the head doctor when she wasn’t performing manual labor. Nate stayed on as a rider; helping in any way he could, including diplomacy if they be inclined to ask for his help. He stayed Baptist as his father had; he had no reason to not believe in God yet.
+++RP Sample:
+++Why Are You Here: I missed a number when entering the address, but I’m too embarrassed to leave now.
+++Theme Song: All Day I Face
#ItWillBeDone (DO NOT REMOVE)
WINFIELD, A.M.
+++Name: Alice Mary Winfield
+++Age: 24
+++Gender: Female
+++Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
+++Physical appearance: 5’4, 129 pounds
+++Identifying Marks: Oblong birthmark on left bicep
+++Role: Rider/Nurse
+++Ethnicity: Caucasian
+++Religion: Atheist
+++Birthplace: Madison, Texas
+++Criminal History: N/A
+++Military History: N/A
+++Skills: Well educated compared to her brother, she can read and write up near the upper-class. She has some knowledge of ranching skills, but nowhere near the level of her brother’s. Besides that, she has knowledge of big cities as well as a proficiency in doctoring skills, although she is nowhere near the level of the head doctor and hasn’t worked many real cases before.
+++Psychological analysis: Alice is jittery and hyperactive often, which leads to being heavily emotional and getting frustrated over small thing. Cocaine seems to course through her veins at certain parts of the day, mostly before long days or tiresome events, but it’s only obvious to those who know the symptoms of cocaine addiction. Otherwise, her happy-go-lucky self can be seen in full force unless a bout of the vapors catches her off guard, in which case her mood will swing low and low.
+++Weaknesses: Her previous morphine addiction led to cocaine gum, a thing she now can’t get enough of. Besides that, she’s weaker than most women her age, let alone men. Born to a mother dying of tuberculosis will do things to one’s physique and Alice was no exception. Onto her personality, Alice is a fluctuating person; she can have one mindset one second and a completely different one the next. After breaking her leg when she was eighteen, she has a permanent limp in her left leg.
+++Likes/dislikes: Alice enjoys horse riding, reading, writing, and doctoring. Research is one of her favored topics and she loves to learn. She has a small distaste for Mexicans and Unionists after things her father told her, but has learned to mostly understand these people.
+++Interests: Alice realizes that her addiction to cocaine is a problem and wants to leave it behind. She hopes to become a doctor in a nearby town and settle down, but that’s unlikely; she’s settled with the dream of becoming a physician’s assistant or opening a general store.
+++Fears: Alice fears her addiction will overcome her one day and kill her. She has a slight fear of horses after falling off of one and breaking her leg.
+++Equipment:
Alice Mary Winfield was born in the mid-winter of 1856 to a ranching man and his soon to be deceased wife. She never knew her mother; Clarice Winfield died but a week after Alice was born. Alice was feeble from the day of her birth, diseased and a miraculous survivor of a horrifying child birth. Her father took an affinity to her and spoiled her and as she grew she realized her brother was not a proprietary of this love. She felt a little guilty, but nonetheless followed her father as best as she could. Eventually, her father and her brother headed off to fight in a war she didn’t understand and she was sent to live with her Aunt Sally and Uncle Bennie in the big city of Galveston. While they were old, they were nice and gave her a formal education she otherwise would not have living on her father’s ranch.
In a way, she was conflicted. She had never known her mother but had some sort of longing for her nonetheless. Sally quenched this need, bringing her up as proper as a young girl could. She stayed with the two of them for a long four years, learning much about the higher class of society and the way the streets worked. Alice found a love for writing, reading, and drawing in this new home and worked under her uncle’s welldoings as a physician. She was fascinated by this and became eager to explore the world and discover new things. She began documenting anything she could find in the city, drawing mangled messes of people, concrete, and metal. Her learning continued until she was nine, at which point she was sent back to her father’s ranch at the end of the Civil War.
She was amazed at how old her brother had gotten so quickly. Similarly, Alice was entranced and horrified at her father’s missing leg and his seemingly new (or more upfront) desire for alcohol. When he was drunk, he would yell at his son to work and he’d tell his daughter that she was better than him and always would be. She wasn’t sure if she believed this, but subconsciously something pushed towards her; she was better than him, she was more educated than him… but that wasn’t right in any way, shape or form. Sometimes, Nate would get angry at her and she’d get angry back, but they had a great relationship up until that point and Alice overcame most her conceit she had derived from living among the upper-class for four years.
She loved her father, even though he would leave for long times on certain days and wouldn’t come back until the next day, seemingly more miserable than before. Mannix Winfield, similarly, loved his daughter. They were two peas in a pod, and Alice Winfield was just about two peas in a pod with everyone. Her brother, the ranch hands, the old couple who ran the Madison General Store, all of them. They would visit her mother’s grave sometimes and pray, but Alice would feel nothing. It was sometime when she was sixteen that she realized she didn’t believe in God. At the young age of eighteen years old, Alice had her accident. She was riding one of the ranch horses out to town one day when it reared and bucked her off, scared by a rattlesnake. She broke her leg during the fall, trapping it against two large rocks. Luckily, her brother was with her and he helped bring her to town to the doctor. There, she was prescribed morphine.
The morphine began to control her. As her brother was addicted to anger, she was addicted to something a little more sensible. The morphine made her feel good even when she walked on her bad leg. The doctor told her she’d limp on that leg forever; the guilt of her brother doing all the work by himself made her angry at herself, maybe not rightfully so, but angry nonetheless. The morphine, however, helped with both pains. She was soothed and found something else in common with her father; fear. When Alice turned twenty years of age, Nate discovered her habit. She was taken to the doctor, although she was angry, she would never turn on her brother. She was too loyal for that and she knew he just wanted the best. The doctor at Madison gave her cocaine gum to alleviate the pain and the addiction and it worked well for a while.
Eventually, the girl found a new friend to make her limp feel fine. The cocaine made her feel good; frequently she’d travel into town to buy more, buy more potent doses and buy different mixes of cocaine. Eventually, Alice thought that her deeds had caught up with her. She thought using her brother’s money was what gave her father consumption; in a karmic sort of way. Her happy-go-lucky attitudes would fade as she became more and more devastated at her father’s slow death. Before he died, he gave her his wedding ring, but was saddened they couldn’t retrieve her mother’s as she had been buried with it. He did die, of course and she was of course destroyed by this. The ranch passed on with him, but after a little while, Alice managed to inform Nate of Aunt Sally and Uncle Bennie’s travels to Arizona. They headed on and Alice was once again hit with the inescapable tragedy of death. Her brother was all she had left; so of course she followed him to Black Dove Ranch.
+++RP Sample: The weather’s GREAT up here.
+++Why Are You Here: Seems like a fun romp.
+++Theme Song: The Course Of
#ItWillBeDone (DO NOT REMOVE)
+++Age: 24
+++Gender: Female
+++Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
+++Physical appearance: 5’4, 129 pounds
+++Identifying Marks: Oblong birthmark on left bicep
+++Role: Rider/Nurse
+++Ethnicity: Caucasian
+++Religion: Atheist
+++Birthplace: Madison, Texas
+++Criminal History: N/A
+++Military History: N/A
+++Skills: Well educated compared to her brother, she can read and write up near the upper-class. She has some knowledge of ranching skills, but nowhere near the level of her brother’s. Besides that, she has knowledge of big cities as well as a proficiency in doctoring skills, although she is nowhere near the level of the head doctor and hasn’t worked many real cases before.
+++Psychological analysis: Alice is jittery and hyperactive often, which leads to being heavily emotional and getting frustrated over small thing. Cocaine seems to course through her veins at certain parts of the day, mostly before long days or tiresome events, but it’s only obvious to those who know the symptoms of cocaine addiction. Otherwise, her happy-go-lucky self can be seen in full force unless a bout of the vapors catches her off guard, in which case her mood will swing low and low.
+++Weaknesses: Her previous morphine addiction led to cocaine gum, a thing she now can’t get enough of. Besides that, she’s weaker than most women her age, let alone men. Born to a mother dying of tuberculosis will do things to one’s physique and Alice was no exception. Onto her personality, Alice is a fluctuating person; she can have one mindset one second and a completely different one the next. After breaking her leg when she was eighteen, she has a permanent limp in her left leg.
+++Likes/dislikes: Alice enjoys horse riding, reading, writing, and doctoring. Research is one of her favored topics and she loves to learn. She has a small distaste for Mexicans and Unionists after things her father told her, but has learned to mostly understand these people.
+++Interests: Alice realizes that her addiction to cocaine is a problem and wants to leave it behind. She hopes to become a doctor in a nearby town and settle down, but that’s unlikely; she’s settled with the dream of becoming a physician’s assistant or opening a general store.
+++Fears: Alice fears her addiction will overcome her one day and kill her. She has a slight fear of horses after falling off of one and breaking her leg.
+++Equipment:
- Winchester Model 1873
- Folding knife for ranch work
- Journal
- Satchel
- Work uniform with boots
- Work gloves
- Stetson Hat
- Ten dollars on hand
- Two hundred dollars from selling ranch, stored away
- 5x tins of cocaine gum
- 10x ounces of powder cocaine
- Father’s wedding ring
Alice Mary Winfield was born in the mid-winter of 1856 to a ranching man and his soon to be deceased wife. She never knew her mother; Clarice Winfield died but a week after Alice was born. Alice was feeble from the day of her birth, diseased and a miraculous survivor of a horrifying child birth. Her father took an affinity to her and spoiled her and as she grew she realized her brother was not a proprietary of this love. She felt a little guilty, but nonetheless followed her father as best as she could. Eventually, her father and her brother headed off to fight in a war she didn’t understand and she was sent to live with her Aunt Sally and Uncle Bennie in the big city of Galveston. While they were old, they were nice and gave her a formal education she otherwise would not have living on her father’s ranch.
In a way, she was conflicted. She had never known her mother but had some sort of longing for her nonetheless. Sally quenched this need, bringing her up as proper as a young girl could. She stayed with the two of them for a long four years, learning much about the higher class of society and the way the streets worked. Alice found a love for writing, reading, and drawing in this new home and worked under her uncle’s welldoings as a physician. She was fascinated by this and became eager to explore the world and discover new things. She began documenting anything she could find in the city, drawing mangled messes of people, concrete, and metal. Her learning continued until she was nine, at which point she was sent back to her father’s ranch at the end of the Civil War.
She was amazed at how old her brother had gotten so quickly. Similarly, Alice was entranced and horrified at her father’s missing leg and his seemingly new (or more upfront) desire for alcohol. When he was drunk, he would yell at his son to work and he’d tell his daughter that she was better than him and always would be. She wasn’t sure if she believed this, but subconsciously something pushed towards her; she was better than him, she was more educated than him… but that wasn’t right in any way, shape or form. Sometimes, Nate would get angry at her and she’d get angry back, but they had a great relationship up until that point and Alice overcame most her conceit she had derived from living among the upper-class for four years.
She loved her father, even though he would leave for long times on certain days and wouldn’t come back until the next day, seemingly more miserable than before. Mannix Winfield, similarly, loved his daughter. They were two peas in a pod, and Alice Winfield was just about two peas in a pod with everyone. Her brother, the ranch hands, the old couple who ran the Madison General Store, all of them. They would visit her mother’s grave sometimes and pray, but Alice would feel nothing. It was sometime when she was sixteen that she realized she didn’t believe in God. At the young age of eighteen years old, Alice had her accident. She was riding one of the ranch horses out to town one day when it reared and bucked her off, scared by a rattlesnake. She broke her leg during the fall, trapping it against two large rocks. Luckily, her brother was with her and he helped bring her to town to the doctor. There, she was prescribed morphine.
The morphine began to control her. As her brother was addicted to anger, she was addicted to something a little more sensible. The morphine made her feel good even when she walked on her bad leg. The doctor told her she’d limp on that leg forever; the guilt of her brother doing all the work by himself made her angry at herself, maybe not rightfully so, but angry nonetheless. The morphine, however, helped with both pains. She was soothed and found something else in common with her father; fear. When Alice turned twenty years of age, Nate discovered her habit. She was taken to the doctor, although she was angry, she would never turn on her brother. She was too loyal for that and she knew he just wanted the best. The doctor at Madison gave her cocaine gum to alleviate the pain and the addiction and it worked well for a while.
Eventually, the girl found a new friend to make her limp feel fine. The cocaine made her feel good; frequently she’d travel into town to buy more, buy more potent doses and buy different mixes of cocaine. Eventually, Alice thought that her deeds had caught up with her. She thought using her brother’s money was what gave her father consumption; in a karmic sort of way. Her happy-go-lucky attitudes would fade as she became more and more devastated at her father’s slow death. Before he died, he gave her his wedding ring, but was saddened they couldn’t retrieve her mother’s as she had been buried with it. He did die, of course and she was of course destroyed by this. The ranch passed on with him, but after a little while, Alice managed to inform Nate of Aunt Sally and Uncle Bennie’s travels to Arizona. They headed on and Alice was once again hit with the inescapable tragedy of death. Her brother was all she had left; so of course she followed him to Black Dove Ranch.
+++RP Sample: The weather’s GREAT up here.
+++Why Are You Here: Seems like a fun romp.
+++Theme Song: The Course Of
#ItWillBeDone (DO NOT REMOVE)
STAFFORD, M.H.
+++Name: Murphy Hedley Stafford
+++Age: 61
+++Gender: Male
+++Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
+++Physical appearance: 5’10, 176 pounds
+++Identifying Marks: A beer gut and a smattering of tiny scars scattered about his back.
+++Role: The Gourmand
+++Ethnicity: Caucasian
+++Religion: Agnostic
+++Birthplace: Cincinnati, Ohio
+++Criminal History: Disturbing the peace, drunk in public, pissing in public, etc.
+++Military History: Fought in numerous battles for the Union during the Civil War, such as Gettysburg, Shiloh, and Five Forks, also cooked often for Union soldiers. Also fought in the Mexican-American War.
+++Skills: While Murphy is an alright shot, he prefers to keep himself inside after seeing what happened in the war. He has always had a knack for cooking great food and he’s always had a knack for warming bellies with food, even if he rarely warmed hearts. He’s a likable man who likes to drink and likes to sing, so a sense of morale boost can often come from him.
+++Psychological analysis: Murphy isn’t a very angry man, though he can get so if provoked. Not only that, but he’s lazy as a dog. He prefers to sing and drink and cook and eat when he can, rather than go fight or do work for the ranch (besides cooking and ordering others around, that is.)
+++Weaknesses: Murphy is a sloppy drunk. While he’s cheerful during happy hour, he’s mostly useless and won’t do much of anything. His beer gut makes him particularly slow at working around the ranch if he is pushed to do so. Oftentimes, Murphy will make up diseases that he has to get out of working and as such, is unbelievably lazy.
+++Likes/dislikes: Murphy, as stated before, enjoys a good whiskey, a good dog to pet, a tree to nap under, and a good group to give orders to. He does enjoy cooking as well and will help out with that. He however despises work and will do anything to weasel his way out of it. Besides that, he has a special hatred for slave owners and those who enforced indentured servitude; he saw it as inhumane and lacks sympathy for those kinds of people.
+++Interests: Murphy has nowhere left to go and he realizes that. He is content to spend the rest of his days lazing about the ranch and cooking.
+++Fears: Murphy fears the idea that his life was for nothing. In a small sense, he fears doing work, but that’s minor in the face of his current existential question; did he do anything important with his life?
+++Equipment:
Murphy Stafford was born in Cincinnati to an unloving mother and a non-existent father. The year was 1819. He was never sure if his mother cared for him or not; all he knew was that she abandoned him in the streets of the city and taken in by a group of vagabonds. He grew up having to fend for himself, a trio of homeless people offering little in the way of sustenance or defense to a gradually growing boy. He doesn't remember much of his early years; most of his earliest memories come from the year he turned seven and on. He fell in with various families throughout the city, having few options for surviving the streets as a boy. Malnourished, broken, and tucked with terror, the boy was taken care of by the poor. He realized what it was like to struggle, what it was like to nearly die because of one's societal circumstances. This is perhaps one of the things that turned him abolitionist, and the time he found himself under the care of a black family, some of them once slaves.
He met the slave family when he was eleven and dying on the side of a road, trying to escape Cincinnati on foot but failing miserably. They picked him up and cared for him, working on a nearby farm. It was a tough life, but it was a life that worked for him. Here, Murphy found a love for the culinary arts and began learning recipes from many workers on the farm and the higher ups of the household. Seven years there led to him becoming a mainstay on the ranch and making friends for life; including finding the woman he'd marry, Darcy Porter, on the farm. They wed and he and her lived nearby for a good few years until he was twenty-seven. Hearing of war in Texas, he was taken up with the 4th Ohio Volunteer Infantry much to his wife's dismay. He assured her he'd be back and he headed off to battle.
The war was full of nothing but terror. The initial weeks of travel were full of nothing but merry times the men were sure they'd have in Texas. Murphy even cooked for the men some of the best food they'd ever had, as they said, which warmed his heart in every layer. As such, a few of his friends were killed during the war, creating a more jaded and cynical person in the form of their beloved cook and now ranking corporal. When the war was over and America was satisfied (though Murphy wasn't) he returned home to find out his wife had passed away from cholera, which she caught while visiting family. Distraught, Murphy left the farm behind and stayed on with the US Army.
He worked his way up the ranks, becoming a first sergeant after a long time. He was becoming slack, however, and this cost him valuable time in the war of promotions. He supposed he didn't much care, however. Murphy had little to fight for, especially amongst the US Army. When he had time, he'd work on helping escaped slaves stay hidden so they wouldn't be taken back to their plantations. Sometimes this was futile, but sometimes it all worked out for the freed men and women; and he was never caught, so no harm in the end had been done. He was an abolitionist through and through and though some of the men hated him for it, many others respected him. He took up cooking again to try and remember his wife by, now writing down the recipes she had given him. He never found love again, finding it useless in such a mournful wake. Murphy didn't much want it, anyways. While he soul-searched, the Civil War boiled and brewed on the horizon.
When it finally did overflow, he was reluctant to battle. His warring days were over and he was old now; nevertheless, he pushed on and fought in battle. He was an alright soldier and a much better cook, to which his compatriots were thankful for. He fought in numerous battles during this war and also fought under/beside Colonel MacGuire many times. He found a heavy respect for the man, vowing he'd follow that man into battle wherever he went. The war ended eventually and Murphy got his wish, though he himself was a drunken, lazy, angry fool. He left the army after the war to start cooking for freed slaves and veterans, even Confederates should they come to his kitchen. Hard work continued to become distant to a man such as himself, even cooking for all of those people in the kitchen. Eventually, he left the state of Ohio for a new life out West like many others, following a group of veterans into the unknown.
The trip took four months; four months of pain and ardour. Towards the end of their journey, Apaches attacked and five men in the caravan were killed. Murphy’s hatred for Apaches swelled, but he held his gun. His fighting days were long over. As they arrived in Utah, Murphy heard tell of Colonel MacGuire situated down in Perdition Valley, Arizona. At such words, he went down and was hired on again in 1876. He was the only cook for a while there, providing all of the men with much needed grub after a long day’s work. Murphy enjoyed it, as long as they gave him beer, money sometimes, and didn’t make him work too hard, he was all set. Even when MacGuire told them to get lost, he couldn’t bear to leave. Besides; he had nowhere else to go. Murphy continued cooking for MacGuire and became the Gourmand of the establishment, using his own recipes, too prideful to take anyone else’s. He tries to stay friendly to most members of the camp unless they provoke him, yet some get on his nerves especially.
+++RP Sample: I’ve, uh, run out of insults.
+++Why Are You Here: Terminal illnesses.
+++Theme Song: The Ring Dang Doo (What Is That?)
#ItWillBeDone (DO NOT REMOVE)
+++Age: 61
+++Gender: Male
+++Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
+++Physical appearance: 5’10, 176 pounds
+++Identifying Marks: A beer gut and a smattering of tiny scars scattered about his back.
+++Role: The Gourmand
+++Ethnicity: Caucasian
+++Religion: Agnostic
+++Birthplace: Cincinnati, Ohio
+++Criminal History: Disturbing the peace, drunk in public, pissing in public, etc.
+++Military History: Fought in numerous battles for the Union during the Civil War, such as Gettysburg, Shiloh, and Five Forks, also cooked often for Union soldiers. Also fought in the Mexican-American War.
+++Skills: While Murphy is an alright shot, he prefers to keep himself inside after seeing what happened in the war. He has always had a knack for cooking great food and he’s always had a knack for warming bellies with food, even if he rarely warmed hearts. He’s a likable man who likes to drink and likes to sing, so a sense of morale boost can often come from him.
+++Psychological analysis: Murphy isn’t a very angry man, though he can get so if provoked. Not only that, but he’s lazy as a dog. He prefers to sing and drink and cook and eat when he can, rather than go fight or do work for the ranch (besides cooking and ordering others around, that is.)
+++Weaknesses: Murphy is a sloppy drunk. While he’s cheerful during happy hour, he’s mostly useless and won’t do much of anything. His beer gut makes him particularly slow at working around the ranch if he is pushed to do so. Oftentimes, Murphy will make up diseases that he has to get out of working and as such, is unbelievably lazy.
+++Likes/dislikes: Murphy, as stated before, enjoys a good whiskey, a good dog to pet, a tree to nap under, and a good group to give orders to. He does enjoy cooking as well and will help out with that. He however despises work and will do anything to weasel his way out of it. Besides that, he has a special hatred for slave owners and those who enforced indentured servitude; he saw it as inhumane and lacks sympathy for those kinds of people.
+++Interests: Murphy has nowhere left to go and he realizes that. He is content to spend the rest of his days lazing about the ranch and cooking.
+++Fears: Murphy fears the idea that his life was for nothing. In a small sense, he fears doing work, but that’s minor in the face of his current existential question; did he do anything important with his life?
+++Equipment:
- Double-barreled shotgun
- Cooking utensils
- Cooking supplies
- A journal for recipes, as pre-written recipe books were for “carpetbaggers” and “sissies”
- 3x tins of tobacco dip
- A bottle of whiskey
- A picture of his wife
- A picture of his squadron
- Thirty dollars
- Stetson hat
- Satchel
- Boots with work uniform
Murphy Stafford was born in Cincinnati to an unloving mother and a non-existent father. The year was 1819. He was never sure if his mother cared for him or not; all he knew was that she abandoned him in the streets of the city and taken in by a group of vagabonds. He grew up having to fend for himself, a trio of homeless people offering little in the way of sustenance or defense to a gradually growing boy. He doesn't remember much of his early years; most of his earliest memories come from the year he turned seven and on. He fell in with various families throughout the city, having few options for surviving the streets as a boy. Malnourished, broken, and tucked with terror, the boy was taken care of by the poor. He realized what it was like to struggle, what it was like to nearly die because of one's societal circumstances. This is perhaps one of the things that turned him abolitionist, and the time he found himself under the care of a black family, some of them once slaves.
He met the slave family when he was eleven and dying on the side of a road, trying to escape Cincinnati on foot but failing miserably. They picked him up and cared for him, working on a nearby farm. It was a tough life, but it was a life that worked for him. Here, Murphy found a love for the culinary arts and began learning recipes from many workers on the farm and the higher ups of the household. Seven years there led to him becoming a mainstay on the ranch and making friends for life; including finding the woman he'd marry, Darcy Porter, on the farm. They wed and he and her lived nearby for a good few years until he was twenty-seven. Hearing of war in Texas, he was taken up with the 4th Ohio Volunteer Infantry much to his wife's dismay. He assured her he'd be back and he headed off to battle.
The war was full of nothing but terror. The initial weeks of travel were full of nothing but merry times the men were sure they'd have in Texas. Murphy even cooked for the men some of the best food they'd ever had, as they said, which warmed his heart in every layer. As such, a few of his friends were killed during the war, creating a more jaded and cynical person in the form of their beloved cook and now ranking corporal. When the war was over and America was satisfied (though Murphy wasn't) he returned home to find out his wife had passed away from cholera, which she caught while visiting family. Distraught, Murphy left the farm behind and stayed on with the US Army.
He worked his way up the ranks, becoming a first sergeant after a long time. He was becoming slack, however, and this cost him valuable time in the war of promotions. He supposed he didn't much care, however. Murphy had little to fight for, especially amongst the US Army. When he had time, he'd work on helping escaped slaves stay hidden so they wouldn't be taken back to their plantations. Sometimes this was futile, but sometimes it all worked out for the freed men and women; and he was never caught, so no harm in the end had been done. He was an abolitionist through and through and though some of the men hated him for it, many others respected him. He took up cooking again to try and remember his wife by, now writing down the recipes she had given him. He never found love again, finding it useless in such a mournful wake. Murphy didn't much want it, anyways. While he soul-searched, the Civil War boiled and brewed on the horizon.
When it finally did overflow, he was reluctant to battle. His warring days were over and he was old now; nevertheless, he pushed on and fought in battle. He was an alright soldier and a much better cook, to which his compatriots were thankful for. He fought in numerous battles during this war and also fought under/beside Colonel MacGuire many times. He found a heavy respect for the man, vowing he'd follow that man into battle wherever he went. The war ended eventually and Murphy got his wish, though he himself was a drunken, lazy, angry fool. He left the army after the war to start cooking for freed slaves and veterans, even Confederates should they come to his kitchen. Hard work continued to become distant to a man such as himself, even cooking for all of those people in the kitchen. Eventually, he left the state of Ohio for a new life out West like many others, following a group of veterans into the unknown.
The trip took four months; four months of pain and ardour. Towards the end of their journey, Apaches attacked and five men in the caravan were killed. Murphy’s hatred for Apaches swelled, but he held his gun. His fighting days were long over. As they arrived in Utah, Murphy heard tell of Colonel MacGuire situated down in Perdition Valley, Arizona. At such words, he went down and was hired on again in 1876. He was the only cook for a while there, providing all of the men with much needed grub after a long day’s work. Murphy enjoyed it, as long as they gave him beer, money sometimes, and didn’t make him work too hard, he was all set. Even when MacGuire told them to get lost, he couldn’t bear to leave. Besides; he had nowhere else to go. Murphy continued cooking for MacGuire and became the Gourmand of the establishment, using his own recipes, too prideful to take anyone else’s. He tries to stay friendly to most members of the camp unless they provoke him, yet some get on his nerves especially.
+++RP Sample: I’ve, uh, run out of insults.
+++Why Are You Here: Terminal illnesses.
+++Theme Song: The Ring Dang Doo (What Is That?)
#ItWillBeDone (DO NOT REMOVE)
