OOC: "Blood and Guns"

DeadManTyping

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Main Characters: these characters have their own profiles.
  • Vance Hamilton -- Vampire; gunslinger; recent resident to Willow Springs, Arizona Territory.
  • Lillian Stewart (McGregor) -- Widow; rancher's (adult) niece; (less) recent resident of Willow Springs, Arizona Territory.

Secondary Characters
  • These characters do not have their own profiles.
  • They are listed and very basically described at this link.
  • They are often better described within the profiles of one or more Main Characters. (This list above explains which Main Character.

FAQs about Vampires -- all you could want to know about vampires.

Willow Springs -- all you could want to know about our setting.
 
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Vance Hamilton

Place in story:
  • Vampire.
  • Arrived in Willow Springs, Arizona Territory (January 1880).
  • He is a Freeman of the Paris Coterie:
    • He was turned by a female vampire from the Paris (France) Coterie (or Family).
    • However, he was turned without his consent.
    • Because of this, he had no inherent (force) loyalty to the vampire who turned him or to the vampire who turned her, the Sire of the Coterie.
    • He is considered a threat to the Coterie due to his lack of forced loyalty, part of the reason why he fled Paris.
    • For an unknown number of centuries, he has been hunted and on the run from the Coterie.
    • Although he was tracked to his last location (New Orleans), his current location (Willow Springs) is unknown to the Coterie.
  • Employee of the Stewart Ranch, where he is the new night time security agent.
  • Potential love interest of at least one of the Stewart women. (He has his eye on Lillian, but Jenny has her eye on him.)

Physical Appearance:
  • Image
  • Age:
    • Appears to be in his mid-30s.
    • Has been a vampire for more than 200 years old, though an exact number has not been stated.
  • 6'3"; very fit. (Out of context pic.)
  • A multitude of scars (not shown in the pic above):
    • On the front of his torso: three sword, four knife, two spear, four gun shot, and one scythe attack.
    • On the back of his torso: one sword, one knife, the exit wounds for the spear and two of the gun shot, and a dozen lashing from a leather whip.
    • On his left thigh: a sword slash.
    • On his right thigh: another bullet wound, through and through front to back.
    • On his left forearm: a knife slash from wrist to elbow.
  • Dark brunette hair, wavy; some graying; worn down beyond the back of his collar.
  • Pale hazel eyes that sometimes seem to shift from blue to brown.
  • Sun darkened skin, ironically smooth and flawless for his age and the era.
Psychological:
  • Although a capable killer, whether with firearms, knives, hands, or fangs, he is not by nature a killer.
  • Vengeful. And when seeking revenge, brutal.
  • He is typically soft spoken with strangers or even with people he knows.
  • But he is confident and determined, and whether by word or action, typically gets what he wants.
  • Sexually active: he enjoys the company of all women and rarely concerns himself with whether or not they belong to another man.
  • He prefers to feed often without fatal results to his donors, while other vampires prefer to get the greater boost by killing their prey.
  • While a vampire who feels human lust, he also years to have a woman with whom he can feel deep, lasting love.

His History (before Willow Springs):
  • France:
    • 1333:
      • Born Nicholas Girard, to a peasant family living on the outskirts of Paris.
      • From an early age, he worked as a shepherd for a wealthy landowner.
    • 1349 (age 16) -- For the IC thread post about the following, see Post #81.)
      • The Black Death was sweeping its way across Europe, reaching France and then Paris, taking one after another of Nicholas's family members.
      • On the night of the death of his mother -- his last living relative -- Nicholas's lover, a young vampire named Gabrielle (who had claimed his virginity days earlier), explained what she was to him, telling him that she could save him from the plague if he allowed her to turn him.
      • He refused, thinking it the Devil's doing ... yet, Gabrielle -- who yearned to have Nicholas as her lover for all time -- turned him anyway.
      • This made Nicholas a freeman in the vampire culture, meaning that he had free will and was not beholding to the Sire of the Family from which Gabrielle had come, called the Paris Coterie.
      • Freemen are a danger to the Sire, the Coterie, and the vampire culture as a whole, and as such Nicholas was marked for death, as wall Gabrielle if she did not do the right thing ... which was kill the vampire she had created.
      • Gabrielle and Nicholas fled Paris and -- when the Coterie caught up to them -- France as a whole.
      • (More coming about this era.)

not done yet ... have to enter all of this too:

"I was most recently in New Orleans. Before that, Chicago ... before that New York ... Atlanta, Toronto, Memphis, Chicago yet again ... spent some time in Mexico city ... Havana ... that's in Cuba ... then back to the States ... Philadelphia, Toronto, Boston--"



Possessions worth noting:
  • Colt Model 1873 .45 caliber Peacemaker. The model is nicknamed "The gun that won the west." (Despite the image above, he wears it slung across to the front of his left hip, making it quick to draw when on foot or mounted.
  • Henry Rifle, .44 caliber, on loan from Benjamin while Vance works the ranch.
Associates:
  • Mister Bowers: Willow Springs mortician and servant to Vance.
 
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Willow Springs
Arizona Territory, 1880

Location of Willow Springs:
  • Arizona Territory (Map).
  • Midway between Tuscon (to the southeast) and Phoenix (to the northwest).
  • Located on the Southern Pacific Railroad (spoken of in detail below).

Geography and Water:
  • Sits in the low point of a shallow valley created by low laying mountains to the east and west.
  • Hills to the north and south make the city appear to be boxed in, but there are six passes through which wagons and coaches easily traveled to other parts of the territory.
  • Until the late 1700s, there had once been a lush wetlands here fed from artesian springs which in turn were fed by rains falling here and on the surrounding mountains. Amongst the plants growing amongst the springs were Willows, thus the town's name.
  • Depleted surface water caused the wetlands to fade away. Arroyos flood and fill during the rainy season, but as there is no year round flow of water via a river or stream. There is, however, a generous aquifer below the town, and wells -- some with windmills -- provide ample water for the people and ranches. (The recent population explosion has caused the aquifer's level to drop, though, putting fear in some that a new influx of people could threaten the entire area.)

Pre-Railroad Population, Economy, and other Facts: (pre-1870):
  • The population of Willow Springs in 1875 was 66.
  • Indigenous Peoples had lived in the area until the mid-15th century.
  • Mexicans called Willow Springs home until they were pushed out after the Mexican–American War of 1846-1848 and the Gadson Purchase of 1854.
  • The town's layout was simple: two main roads crossing in the middle of town, with structures on either side. These two roads were the east-west running Main Street and the north-south running Rogers Road.
  • The primary industry before the arrival of the railroad was cattle ranching.
    Twice a year, herds were driven to the north of the Territory, to cities through which the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad passed on their way from Missouri to California and back.
  • The Rogers, a local well-to-do ranching family, had discovered copper on their land in the 1860s. But without a local smelter or railroad to transport ore to one, there was little profit in the mine.

The railroad's'a'comin'! (1870-1872):
  • Things in Willow Springs changed rapidly when long considered and closely guarded plans to build a railroad through the Southern portions of the New Mexico and Arizona Territories were approved.
  • The original route of the east-west rail line would have taken it far to the south of Willow Springs.
  • But a mining consortium secretly bought the Rogers mine and bribed those with decision making power to move the rail line closer to the mine. The line was now going to pass just a quarter mile north of Willow Springs and less than 2 miles from the mine.
  • Those in the know quickly began buying up soon-to-be-valuable land near the intended rail line routes and mine, as well as all about Willow Springs.
  • After the plans for the rail line were made public in 1872, land around Willow Springs began selling for as much as 100 times what it had sold for just 2 years earlier.

Post-Railroad Boom: (1872-1880, now):
  • The influx of people and construction of new structures of ever purpose was unlike any thing the previous residents of Willow Springs could have imagined.
  • Between 1870 and 1880, the town's population exploded from just 66 to 1,066.
  • The town which previously had had 8 blocks of buildings loosely arranged to flank two dirt roads suddenly expanded to have 40 blocks of buildings tightly arranged to flank two dozen roads.
  • All of the businesses and homes in 1870 had been single floor dwellings, yet by 1880 there were more than a dozen buildings -- mostly hotels, brothels, and boarding houses -- that were three stories in height.
  • Most of the new construction had occurred north of Old Town, near the railroad. Once all those lots were built upon, construction headed north and south, eventually connecting New Town to Old Town.
  • Territorial Road and Railroad Drive, which were east-west running and flanked the railroad to the north and south (respectively), were paved with cobblestone imported from the east.

Some of Willow Spring's buildings and businesses:
  • The Golden Eagle Hotel:
    • Comfortable with mid-range prices.
    • No bar but the restaurant serves alcohol.
  • There are other respectable hotels, some of which have nightly or periodic entertainment (singing, theater, etc.) from as far away as California or the East Coast.
  • There are at least a dozen saloons, featuring drinking, cards and other gambling, music and dance, and/or girls. Some are real dives, while others are considered rather respectable.
  • There are opium dens.
  • There is at least one photographer.
  • There are two mortuaries, one of which is small and run by Mister Bowers, who is a servant to Vance and his vampire family, the Paris Coterie.

More to come. Each time I add something significant to a pre-existing reply, I will post a reply in this thread to announce that addition, so that you know it's been added.
 
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FAQs about vampires

Will daylight kill a vampire?

No. But keep reading.​

Can a vampire be out and about while the sun is up?

Yes, but it isn't good for them.

During the daylight hours, a vampire loses its beyond-human abilities and protections (which I will explain more further below).

Additionally, a vampire's energy is drained dramatically by extended periods of daylight activity.

While a vampire can typically survive and even thrive by simply feeding (with non-fatal effects on a "donor"), a full day out and about in the light will almost always require the rapid, complete, and life-ending draining of a human being.​

Does a vampire have to feed regularly?

Yes. "A pint a day keeps the aging at bay."

To fully and entirely halt the aging process and maintain the beyond-human abilities and protections, a vampire must ingest a pint of blood every night.

Missing a night will add a day of mortal life to the vampire's age, as well as defeat the beyond-human abilities and protections until a proper feeding occurs.​

Can a vampire feed on other animals beside humans?

No. That's it. Just ... no.​

Is killing a human required?

No! A vampire can live a long and fruitful life without ever taking a human life.​

What beyond-human abilities and protections does a vampire have?

Length of life: a vampire who feeds regularly can dramatically slow the aging process and become almost immortal. (Killing is not necessary, but it, too, will dramatically slow the aging process.)

Physical abilities: a vampire who feeds regularly (or has killed recently) can increase its strength, speed, endurance, senses, etc., to as much as 10 times that of a typical human.

Charisma (a mind manipulation ability): a vampire has a sort of charisma-driven mind manipulation ability. It allows him/her to make humans do things for him that they might not otherwise do. It doesn't work all the time: a vampire has to will it into use; and it doesn't work on everyone, working better on the less intelligent or the highly intoxicated while not working well or at all on people who are intelligent and entirely sober. It works pretty well on those who are physically attracted to the vampire as well.

Dream (also a mind manipulation ability): a vampire can make anyone upon whom he/she is feeding forget recent events, including the period prior to and including the vampire's feeding upon them. Oh sure, the fang wounds are still there, but how they got there can be rather fuzzy. And the wounds are barely larger or more painful than a bad bee sting anyway. Dream doesn't have to be accompanied with a feeding, though. A vampire can simply use it to make a person think or dream of subjects he picks for them; or he can let them pick a subject of their own, simply to cover up an event he wishes they didn't recall.

Invincibility: well, that's a longer subject, so read below.​

Are vampires invincible, as in they cannot be killed by conventional means?

No. But, keep reading.

If they have fed regularly (or killed recently), a vampire does not suffer many of the ills and pains that a human does.

For example, during a fight or accident, they do not feel pain. Therefore, they are not overwhelmed with such pain and don't go into shock, allowing them to continue to battle on or endure hardship.

Also, a vampire's body heals at 100 times the rate of a humans. If, for example, a vampire is shot, the wounds will heal so rapidly that only a small amount of blood will be lost (typically just enough to let others know that the bullet struck but not nearly enough to cause the vampire to bleed out); and the part of the body struck will often heal up so quickly that there is little if any loss of use of that body part. (There are exceptions, however: keep reading.)

However, an injury that would be instantaneously fatal to a human will typically be so to a vampire as well. For example, a bullet to the lung might heal so rapidly that a vampire will survive with little effect, but a bullet to the heart or brain could cease its operation permanently, meaning death.​

Do vampires turn humans into vampires?

They can, but they don't do it often.

Some vampires wish they themselves had never been turned, and as such they aren't about to turn someone else.

Other vampires, however, enjoy a following of other vampires who are loyal to them. (See "Sire" and "Coterie" below.)​

What is a Sire?

A Sire is a male vampire who has turned one or more humans into a vampire with that human's consent.

The vampires turned by this Sire are collectively referred to as the Sire's Coterie. (See below.)​

What is a Coterie?

A Coterie is a family of vampires that can trace their lineage upwards to a single Sire.

The Coterie's vampires -- also called the Sire's Children -- are loyal to their Sire and will do anything he asks of them, short of causing themselves or their Brethren severe harm or death. (See exception concerning Brethren below.)​

Are some vampires not in a Coterie and, therefore, not loyal to a Sire?

Yes, but this is an undesirable situation for existing Coteries and Sires.

A vampire who was turned without his/her consent does not have the same inherently forced loyalty to his/her Sire as one who was turned with consent.

This vampire, therefore, can present a threat to other vampires. This is not a desired situation.

A vampire who turns a human without that human's consent is considered a traitor to the Coterie from which he/she comes and, therefore, can be killed by his/her Brethren.

(BTW, Vance was turned without consent. He is not inherently loyal to a Sire or Coterie.​

How does a vampire turn a human?

Wouldn't you like to know? (In other words, I haven't decided yet.)​
 
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Name: Lillian McGregor (nee Stewart)
Age: 22
Height: 5’4
Hair: Dark brown
Eyes: Brown

Basics:
Lillian Stewart married Bruce McGregor were married in Boston a year and six months before his death. He was trampled trying to tame a horse on his family’s estate in Massachusetts.

When he died Lillian went into mourning. At her family’s insistence she traveled out to visit her uncle, Benjamin Stewart, her aunt Mabel and her cousins. They have a prosperous cattle ranch in Willow Springs.
 
Secondary Characters

Other Vampires:
  • Gabrielle: the vampire who turned Vance (then named Nicholas) in 1349 Paris, France, during the Black Death. (For more on this, see Post #81.)

Stewart Family Members:
  • Benjamin Stewart: patriarch of the family; owner of the Stewart Ranch.
  • Mabel Stewart: Benjamin's wife.
  • Johnathan Stewart: Benjamin's eldest son.
  • Anna Stewart: Johnathan's wife; currently pregnant.
  • Maxwell Stewart: Benjamin's youngest son.
  • Jenny Stewart: Benjamin's wife.
  • Notes about the family:
    • Johnathan:
      • Gambler. Got into debt and trouble with a local crime boss named Gregor (see below for more on him).
      • When Gregor's men -- the Iron Club Gang -- visited the ranch at night and attempted to rape Johnathan's cousin, Lillian, Vance stepped in. He killed 2 with his bare hands and shot down 5 more in the time that just one of them got a pistol out and got off a shot.
      • More trouble was brewing, though, so Vance agreed to a bare knuckles fight against Gregor's men. Gregor could bet money as he wished to earn what Johnathan owed him, and the Gregor would agree to leave the Stewarts alone.
      • Vance won the fight -- a bout against 4 men simultaneously -- yet Gregor betrayed him.
      • After a running gun fight that resulted in the death of half of Gregor's men -- including his oldest and more dear friend, Pavel -- a cornered Gregor agreed to Vance's terms.
      • Vance is still unsure as to whether or not Gregor can be trusted.
    • Maxwell:
      • Although Johnathan is the elder son, Maxwell presumed he would inherit the ranch due to his brother's issues. Benjamin, however, has already signed the papers to turn over the ranch to Lillian while giving each of the brother's an allowance.
      • Maxwell and Jenny's sex life includes having other men engage in sex with Jenny, after which she and her husband's sexual interactions are heightened.
      • Vance is their latest sex partner.
    • Lillian:
      • Was in mourning at the story's beginning but will be coming out of it any time.

The Iron Club Gang:
  • Gregor:
    • A Ukrainian who was conscripted into the Russian army as a teen, then became a Russian sailor in far eastern Siberia.
    • After leading a mutiny, he and his cohorts -- they came to be called the Iron Club Gang -- headed south for California.
    • However, there ship was attacked and sunk near British Columbia. They moved about a lot a criminal gang, ultimately ending up in Willow Springs where Gregor has risen to become the premiere organized crime boss in the growing city.
    • He is essentially the Godfather of crime in Willow Springs. He operates out of an old hotel which he renamed The Red Russian.
    • He was knocked down a peg by Vance recently, but he's still powerful and dangerous ... maybe even more so now?
  • Pavel: deceased
    • Gregor's oldest friend, right hand man, and most dedicated, most loyal associate.
    • He would -- and did -- give his life to protect Gregor.
  • There are at least 18 Iron Club Gang members alive today. Vance killed 7 at the ranch and more -- between 1 and 2 dozen, though the number isn't known for certain -- in a fight at The Red Russian.
  • Additionally, there are at least 200 people whose livelihood depends upon Gregor: non-Club member gunmen and security at The Red Russian; brothel whores, other various criminals and criminal associates, gamblers, extorted store owners, and more ... including a handful of law men whose meager salaries are supplemented for doing bad crap for Gregor.

Others directly associated to the Stewart Ranch:


Other Willow Springs residents
  • Mister Bowers -- mortician (Willow Springs Funeral Parlor) and servant to Vance Hamilton. (Basic profile.)
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Mister Bowers

Occupation: Mortician, Willow Springs.

True Purpose in Willow Springs: Servant to Vance Hamilton.

History in Willow Springs:
  • Arrived in July 1879, ahead of Vance Hamilton's expected but unscheduled arrival.
  • Purchased the Willow Springs Funeral Parlor. (Its previous owner had been murdered in the streets for reasons unknown just days earlier.)
  • Accepted a casket delivered by the Southern Pacific, containing Vance Hamilton's undead, inanimate body on 18 January 1880. (Post #1).
  • Reanimated Vance by "sacrificing" to him the boy, Bobby Cooper, who had accompanied the casket from New Orleans.
  • Bowers wired Bobby's parents $1,000, claiming Bobby had been killed in an accident shortly after arriving in Willow Springs. (Post #11).
 
I made some edits to this post, all in red, that concern two areas:
  • The updates of Vance relationship with the Stewarts.
  • The deaths of the Iron Club gang members -- including Pavel -- in the fight at The Red Russian.
 
Gabrielle

Place in story:
  • Vampire, a loyal servant to the Sire of the Paris (France) Coterie.
  • In 1349, she turned Nicholas Girard, now known as Vance Hamilton.
  • Since then, she has been searching for Nicholas/Vance with the intention of killing him. (More about this below.)
  • Gabrielle has been in the United States for quite some time. She tracked Nicholas to New Orleans and -- unknown to Vance -- is the reason he nearly died and had to flee west to Willow Springs.
  • As of yet unknown to Vance, she is currently a school marm in Abilene, Texas, where she has been living since late 1878, just a little more than a year prior to the RP's start in January 1880.
  • With her are 3 additional vampires (spoken of below).

Physical Appearance:
  • Image; Image now as school marm; Image with vampires with whom she travels.
  • Age:
    • Appears to be in her late 20s.
    • Born and (at age 19) turned in the mid-13th century. (Exact year has not yet been stated.)
  • 5'6"; 36C-26-34. Shapely, beautiful body.
  • Dark brunette hair, long and wavy, with occasional wisps of hair that come out blonde.
  • Deep, brown eyes.
  • Fair, flawless skin.
Psychological:
  • She is obsessive-compulsive. Once she sets her sights on something, she doesn't let up until she gets it (as explained more below).
  • She was desperate for love as a young girl and as a young woman (also explained more below).
  • She is a killer, not hesitating to take the life from a blood donor.
  • She feeds and kills often.
  • Sexually active, often with men (and even women) who she kills after she has achieved her own satisfaction.

Her History (before Willow Springs):
  • France, early 1200s:
    • Born to parents who rarely showed her love and caring.
    • Became sexually active young (early/mid-teens).
    • At 19, after years of wasted life, she was introduced to the Sire of the Vampire Coterie. He promised her the life for which she'd been searching and -- with her eager permission -- turned her.
  • In 1349:
    • Gabrielle met a 16 year old shepherd boy named Nicholas Girard (aka Vance Hamilton). She initially used him for sex and nutrition, but quickly fell in love with him. (For the IC thread post about this, see Post #81.)
    • She wanted to save him from the Black Death ravaging France, but after telling him what she was, he rejected her. After Nicholas's last living relative -- his mother -- succumbed to the plague, Gabrielle took advantage of Nicholas's grief and -- while again making love to him -- turned him against his will.
  • This turning was unsanctioned:
    • It made Nicholas a Freeman in the vampire culture, meaning that he had free will and was not beholding to the Sire of the Family from which Gabrielle had come.
    • Nicholas was a danger to the Sire, the Coterie, and the vampire culture as a whole (for reasons to be explained elsewhere).
    • As such Nicholas was marked for death and -- to her horror -- Gabrielle was tasked with killing him.
    • Unable and unwilling to do it, Gabrielle and Nicholas fled Paris, then France, then the European mainland. They ended up in England.
  • But Gabrielle's need for the Coterie was stronger than her need for Nicholas:
    • She left him to return to Paris, knowing she would be punished.
    • She was chained naked in a dark cell for years and tortured relentlessly. She was denied the sustenance she needed to avoid the pain, only to be granted a blood donor to repair the damage before again being tortured and denied the vital fluid.
    • She had agreed to the Sire's terms of hunting down and killing Nicholas, and yet was tortured for another two years. All of this was done in the full view of the Coterie's members, as a warning to them of what would happen if they themselves went against the Sire.
    • Eventually, she was sent after Nicholas with a male escort from the Coterie, a man then named Jacques but now known as Seth, with whom she still travels.
    • Together, they tracked Nicholas for centuries, from Europe to Africa to the Western Hemisphere, including North and South America and the Caribbean as well.
    • The nearly caught up to him in New Orleans and very nearly killed him before he escaped and headed west, a fact they would eventually learn.
    • Gabrielle can feel the direction and approximate distance of Vance, whose name they only learned recently. But this locating is not a precise ability, is time consuming, and requires Gabrielle to feed from -- to kill -- a number of humans to aid her in her quest.

Possessions worth noting:
  • She wears a ring that signifies her loyalty to the Coterie.
  • She also wears a pendant that Nicholas purchased for her in London (currently on the most recent of chains that have no real meaning to her).

Associates: (image of all four of them together.)
  • Seth Newton -- a Paris Coterie vampire tasked with escorting Gabrielle during her quest to find and kill Nicholas. His secondary duty is to ensure that the quartet of vampires stays safe.
  • Windy (Wind Through Trees) Thompson -- Native American escapee from a Florida reservation, turned by Seth in the early 1800s. She is strong willed, afraid of no one, and good with a handgun, so she has adopted the unusual lifestyle and look of a female gunslinger.
  • Rosa Lee -- a slave from the Caribbean who the others took with them to Brazil as they tracked Nicholas to Rio de Janeiro. She was turned by Seth and -- with her love for sex -- is currently working as a saloon brothel whore, earning well over half of the quartet's income.
 
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