Shay Pepperwood

H e a r t l a n d s

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  "We've raised a lot of Hell.
  It's about time we're owed some back."

  
  

  Name: Shay Pepperwood Alias: Sometimes "Pip" Age: 32 Gender: Male Allegiance: The Heartland Gang Skills Gunslinging: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ Horsemanship: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ Leadership: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ Planning: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆ Charisma: ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Load-out Inventory 2x Schofield Revolvers, dual wielded; one is well-worn and engraved with the initials 'MQ,' having once belonged to Quincy. 1x Carbine Repeater, stolen; acquired from a gunsmith locker in Rhodes. 1x Lasso. 1x Hunting Knife. 3x Dynamite, small. Horse "General," Turkoman stallion
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  Overview

  
  
  
  The soul; Shay Pepperwood - renowned gunslinger, outlaw, and remarkable horseman - currently serves as the arrowhead of the Heartland Gang in place of the recently deceased Morgan Quincy. Though he lacks the eccentric charm of his predecessor, Shay's heart lies firmly with the concept of loyalty and he clings desperately to the last of the gang's legacy. He is not generous, nor is he explicitly unkind; he feeds those who need feeding, and kills those who need killing. He regards his camaraderie as family, and in turn lives to be well-respected. Indeed, the hole left by Quincy's depature is dire, though Shay's skills in leadership are ever-growing as he aims to keep his pack above the water's surface. He seldom smiles despite his optimistic speeches, and comparing him to the wild Quincy is sure to leave him sore; alas, he is not a man of grudges, and he firmly believes that revenge is a fool's errand -- the fall after pride.
  
  The man; Shay stands a brief inch beneath six feet, hosting a broad-shouldered silhouette often clothed in loose worker shirts and duster jackets. A choice of vests and puff neckties may be sported for presentable occasions, such as 'business' trips into Saint Denis or the brief surveying of small town banks. Years of exposure have left his complexion warm and slightly weathered, scruffed with a short beard and bearing a head of medium-brown hair. Harsh eyes hold a dark brown stare, shadowed with tiredness and forever hardened by furrowed brows. His right shoulder is marked with a pale, spattered scar, in memory of a shotgun wound sustained at the time of Quincy's death. Calloused hands are also licked with multiple faded scars -- the result of nearly two decade's worth of horse handling.
  
  The action; Shay's most notable skill lies within his handling of dual-wielded revolvers, which he uses to continuously pummel his enemy's location with rapid bursts of fire. He recently discarded his old cattleman revolver for the late Quincy's schofield; a worn yet sentimental piece he keeps carefully close to his person. However, though his shooting is sharp, his most passionate talent lies within horsemanship. Since a young age, his interest in horses has allowed him to develop a keen sense of training and bonding with them. He is able to break even the most violent of mustangs, and he handles his own Turkoman with impeccable mastery. He is often the first point of contact for those wishing to break in a difficult horse.
  
  
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  Backstory

  
  Most would not give it credence that a young stableboy would run off in the wintertime, far from home in pursuit of their father's killer. A man named Theron Smith murdered Shay's father in cold blood, all for the sake of the platinum buckle of his belt and the small gold piece he carried in his trouser pocket. Now Shay's father was not a good man, nor was he honest or kind; perhaps it was these influences that ignited his only son's bitterness into flame. The young Shay - known to most as "Pip" at the time - did not love his father, but the loss inflicted upon his estate left Shay's mother overburdened by grief and despair.
  
  He first tried his luck at enlisting a state marshal, but was turned down due to his young age and lack of reward. Disappointed yet not deterred, he set out on his own, spurred by the spitefulness and hatred inherited from his father's ill behaviour. There was no concept of reason within the young Shay, and he shot Theron Smith off a cliffside soon afterwards, earning himself a ripe bounty at the age of fourteen for killing a man before a fair trial. He has never been free from the pursuit of the law ever since.
  
  Though angry and desperate, his demeanour mellowed greatly upon hearing the news of his mother's early passing. Her weakened body and mind has succumbed to sickness not even a year after Shay's departure, and the boy withdrew even further inside himself. Four years of shoot-outs filled in with petty crime eventually led to a fateful game of Poker; Shay Pepperwood, confident in his ability to fix such games, placed his bets against a man named Morgan Quincy.
  
  The two men intended to rob each other blind, leaving both individuals dumbfounded by the dry outcome. Shay, who did not initially see the light side of it, reached to grasp his holster in grim anticipation. However, he was met with only laughter -- a charismatic sense of humour that he would eventually find to be contagious. Believing their meeting to be one of fate, Quincy convinced Shay to follow him in a friendly and lawless partnership; one that would lead to the founding of the outlaw posse known only as the Heartland Gang.