DeadlandsNPCs
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Important Folk Around Gomorra Ladies, Gentlemen, and Unsavory Characters |
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BLACK JACK Jackson "Black Jack" P. Jackson The head of Blackjack's Raiders is something of an enigma. Numerous stories exaggerate his height, his appearance, his age - he's been reported as everything from a teenager to an old geezer. Much better known are the pair of peacemakers kept at his waist, emblazoned with 'Good' on the left, and 'Evil' on the right. also well known is his trademark black handkerchief, worn around his face during his robberies. Black Jack's real features mark several wanted posters around town, routinely torn down and replaced with new bounties as the price on the infamous criminal continues to rise. Black Jack's current bounty is marked at $5000 dollars, but he's left a trail of would-be bounty hunters in his wake. Black Jack has spoken to an intrepid reporter before - his words and elocution surprised most who assumed him to be a man of few words acting on his convictions, but he underscored his actions as an echo of the Revolutionary fathers, seeking freedom from exploitative tyranny. Most believe he views himself as a revolutionary, not a criminal, and that notion concerns the leaders of Gomorra far more than a man with a streak of vengeance. Black Jack is known to have a hideout in the Maze, but he and his fellow Raiders often travel frequently into Gomorra. Many of the lesser known members have no active crimes that can be linked to them; the Judge demands evidence or testimony in order to conduct a trial, and most have none in their wake. Jack himself has charges, but his reputation as a deadly, unstoppable gunfighter intimidates even bold men. OSWALD HARDINGER Chairman Oswald Hardinger, Head of the Distinguished Collegium of Interspatial Physics Oswald Hardinger is a noted scientist, with several patents sold to Smith & Robards. A distinguished engineer, the steel-and-clockwork 'Island' the Collegium rests upon is largely of his eccentric design. Oswald traveled to America a decade ago, and was recruited by the Confederacy to build war machines on behalf of the Confederate war machine. He was sickened by the slaughter some of his inventions were responsible for in the Battle of Washington, and left Roswell literally days before its destruction. Seeking refuge from the possibility of his inventions being used for war, he traveled further west, joining the Collegium and quickly emerging as its leader; he was a moderate voice on many subjects, and dedicated fiercely to the protection and independence of his fellow scientists. While the Collegium has periodically provided mad science gizmos to Gomorra when the community's safety is threatened, he has made it very clear that they are not a 'weapons super store." He does not forbid their study or creation, only their distribution and mass-manufacture. That said, the Collegium is known to have a small arsenal of gatling pistols, flame throwers, and a 'gatling shotgun' was field tested to horrifying success during an invasion of Gomorra by pirates. Hardinger himself is a friendly man, reserved but often distant. He believes there are many geniuses within the Collegium who's intellect will eclipse or surpass his own, but he views it as his responsibility to be a shepherd for that intellect. While he still frequently works on his own theories, his research has fallen to the wayside in an attempt to recruit more scientists to the Collegium and ingratiate the scientists to the community. He zealously guards the members of the Collegium, and the few times he is anything less than logical and reasonable is when their safety is threatened. Oswald is currently dating the Chair of Theoretical Mathematics, a handsome woman in her forties He likes to jest that it's because her department never asks for anything more expensive than chalk and chalkboard. JP COLEMAN Sheriff J.P. Coleman, Law Dog Gomorra's own law and order is now all but a fixture in Gomorra. While his early years were fraught with accusations of corruption and acting as the 'Hand of Sweetrock,' J.P.'s dedication to fairness and integrity in his dealings has earned him a reputation and the respect of the people of Gomorra. J.P. is not a kindly man - he tips his hat and minds his manners around the ladies, but he'll throw a criminal in jail regardless of gender, race, or religion. JP's own past is something of a mystery. A teetotaler, aloof and naturally reserved, he views most people with equal amounts of suspicion. The only men he seems to trust are his two senior deputies, Nash Bilton and Nathan Hunter. The former is a reformed outlaw, a man who changed his ways and hunts Gomorra's lawless element with unmatched zeal. The latter is a New York lawyer turned lawman, and also the chief prosecutor for the city of Gomorra when it comes to a criminal trial. Both men are also well known in Gomorra, and both raise troubling questions as a potential heir apparent upon JP's retirement. Nash is viewed as a hothead, a bit too much of a thug for the role of Sheriff, and Hunter is believed to be a bit too soft for the job, a 'pretty boy' who handles the drudgery of law enforcement, and not much of a deputy himself. Thankfully, JP shows no signs of retiring imminently. He's on old wolf of the west, canny and dangerous, with plenty of teeth left in his bite. CAPTAIN SIM YUT-SAN Captain Sim Yut-San Captain Sim Yut-San killed his first man when he was nine years old, running him through with a jian for no other reason than to prove himself to Captain Po Yat, a successful pirate who fought against British control of China's ports. The year was 1856, and while Po Yat would die in a cannonade, unremembered by history, Sim Yut-San would spend fifteen years aboard a pirate vessel before coming under the command of Red Petal Su, the head of a faction of pirates that would eventually come to the attention of a Chinese warlord known only as Kang. Seven years after the end of the Second Opium War, Kang gathered his forces, left China, and came to the Americas. Red Petal Su, Captain Sim Yut-San, and an army of pirates, samurai, monks, and peasants went with them. They arrived days before the collapse of the Great Quake, and fell upon the survivors like wolves. Kang underestimated the tenacity of the survivors of the Maze; he committed a large number of his army against the residents of San Francisco, a city ideally placed for operations throughout the Maze, a city he intended to claim for himself. When the dust had cleared, several thousand citizens of Shan Fan had been sent fleeing from the city. Hundreds were dead, but Kang had lost far more of his forces than he expected. It wasn't until after the Sack of San Fransisco - and the birth of a new city, 'Shan Fan' in its place that Kang began to legitimize himself. He seperated himself from the city he'd won, and Red Petal Su directed her followers into new vessels more suited for battle in the Maze. Disparate factions broke off from Kang's original forces, and the warlord's role in the butchery was never made widely known. Today, Shan Fan is a triad controlled city, a haven for opium and gangsters, and also deals a constant influx of cheap Chinese labor to Kang's labor camps and to the building of the Iron Dragon. Captain Sim Yut-San has served diligently for decades. He is clever, tenacious, and unswerving in his loyalty. He dresses in western attire, has already gained enough wealth to retire several times over, but risks his life and his crews in pursuit of Kang's orders. He does not need to know why. in his two decades of servicee, he has never asked. JOSEPH EYES-LIKE-RAIN Chief Joseph Eyes-Like-Rain, Chief of the Sioux Union Joseph Eyes-Like-Rain is a Lakota, but has been involved with politics in the Sioux Union for decades, long before there was a 'Sioux Union.' A peacemaker and respected wicasa, he counseled Sitting Bull against his war with the Union, and is one of the leading advocates of the Old Ways movement, though he does not force his beliefs upon his followers. Joseph is a wise and venerable shaman, forced into the position of Chief for the alliance of Native Americans that have come to Gomorra. Well aware of the delicacy of the alliance and the fragile relationship between so many tribes and so many disparate points of view, Joseph spends much of his time in counsel with the many advisers from the different tribes. His presence has allowed longtime rivals to set aside their difference, though the path is not always easily walked. Joseph hopes the alliance can act to all tribes as proof of the power of their cooperation. The people of Gomorra know little of the intentions of the Sioux Union. Some few have managed to make casual acquaintance and begin trade, but many others fear the intentions of the 'savage reds.' Multiple petitions have been put before the town council, the mayor, and the Law Dogs to evict the unwanted Natives, and fears of rape and scalping circulate every day. Rumours buzz of lone travelers ambushed by the Sioux and tossed off the mesas into the water below, and despite the fact that there has never been a hostile confrontation, many of the residents consider them a greater blight than the 'Chinese menace.' Jospeh himself has only been seen by two white outsiders - the first being J.P Coleman, and the second being a reporter who managed to gain admittance and speak to the venerable elder. J.P. said nothing of his meeting; the reporter indicated Joseph spoke perfect English; he had a soft voice and was very well-mannered. HOWARD FINDLEY President of the Gomorra division of the Sweetrock Mining Company, Chairman of the Gomorra Business Council, Howard Findley Tyrant. Savior. Businessman. Arsehole. There is a lot of colorful language used to describe Howard Findley, but much of the loathing directed his way is from the miners of Gomorra. Most of the long established business owners remember Gomorra from only a decade past - a place where starvation and murder in the streets were everyday events. Howard Findley may be a ruthless businessman, but it was his wealth that turned Gomorra into the frontier town with the veneer of civility it has today. He built the school, the jail, the orphanage, the asylum, the bank - and anyone who tells a tale of Howard Findley is a tyrannical monster is only telling half the story. The truth of Sweetrock's arrival in Gomorra begins with the greed of the Gomorran people themselves. The real story of Gomorra's founding begins with a man named Humphrey Walters, a Virginian landowner who'd lost his family to plague. Always a morose man, the plantation owner spent a fortune consulting with psychics and philosophers, before finally packing up all his worldly goods, selling them, and travelling west in the wake of the '49 gold rush. He purchased a remote but enormous parcel of land from California, built a shanty, and seemed content to live out the remainder of his life alone in the lonely stretch of land he called his own. He was a desert hermit in a desolate land, and for ten years he remained that way. Then the Great Quake turned Humphrey Walter's life upside down, as his shack and his remote stretch of land was caught in a mesa atop some of the richest land in the Maze. Miners poured in, followed by businessman and saloon gals, and in no time the hermit's solitary existance had a burgeoning town spring up around him. Humphrey Walters, instead of the life of solitude and contemplation he had craved, was richer than Midas. It was humphrey who offered the name 'Gomorra' to the people as the name for his little stretch of Perdition, Still seeking his redemption or his enlightenment, Humphrey boat a fishing boat and enough food for a week, and paddled up the Maze. A month later, he returned. Naked, burned red from the sun, covered in bites and scratches, the sole owner of Gomorra was treated by the town's doctor. Even after his wounds faded, however, it was clear his mind was gone. The people of Gomorra acted quickly; they assembled the Business Council and elected a mine owner judge, held a trial, and declared Walters mentally incompetent. The Business Council seized all his assets, and held them in a closed auction. Every mine, every strike, every parcel of land was to be sold, whether a business was established upon it or not. Come auction time, the wealthier members of town arrived to divide the spoils among themselves. When the auction was closed, they found the rug had been swept out from under them. A gentleman in a New York business suit had purchased half the mines and an entire mesa on behalf of the Sweetrock Mining Company. Months later, Howard Findley arrived with an army of miners, lawyers, and 'hired hands' to ensure the transition went smoothly. Howard himself is a hard-nosed, ruthless businessman. Miners in Gomorra say he'd sell his own mother for a chunk of ghostrock. Howard is a consummate wheeler and dealer. If he has any vice, it is the hubris of pride; he truly believes his wishes to be in the best interest of Gomorra, and that any threat to those wishes is the product of insanity or stupidity. He is consummately self-confident, surrounded by an army of bodyguards, and well-nigh untouchable. WILHELMINA "GRANDMA" WHATELEY Wilhelmina "Grandma" Whateley, matriarch of the Whateley family. Wilhelmina Whateley is rarely seen in public, outside the Whateley home. A kindly old lady, she brought her family from Atlanta, Georgia, to settle on the western frontier. She is a very old woman, usually pushed around in a wheeled chair, but never without a warm smile or a hand wave to her acquaintances. Wilhelmina is the presiding chair of Gomorra's social activities - her family regularly patrons dances, balls, and seasonal festivals. The Whateleys frequently spend a good deal of capital on these events, leaving open invitation to any resident who can afford proper attire to attend. These occasions are the few times the Whateleys are seen outside their home; only Nicodemus Whateley, the family's appointed business manager, is routinely seen throughout Gomorra. Nicodemus is unfailingly polite but somewhat unsettling - he dresses well, but constantly plays with a deck of poker cards, unable to set them down or keep his hands still. He liaises with the foremen of the Whateley family's mines, as well as overseeing the distribution of the Whateley's various philanthropies. Wilhelmina often entertains visitors to the Whateley estate on the front porch of the Whateley mansion - a nigh-perfect recreation of their Georgian plantation home. She always has sweet tea and homemade cookies available for guests, and seems to enjoy idle chatter and local gossip with the glee that only an elderly matriarch of the Antebellum South can. KANG REVEREND EZEKIAL GRIMME
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