Paradiso

Current Location: Ringneck Creek, North Lemoyne
Population: Unknown

This notorious gang's roots lie in a fateful meeting between two outlaws around the year of 1887, when Morgan Quincy and Shay Pepperwood unwittingly robbed one another during a poker game in the small town of Valentine. But rather than exchange bullets, they swapped laughter, boasting upon one another's skill and eventually drawing an agreement which would spur the very founding of the rampant Heartland Gang.

The charismatic Quincy convinced Shay Pepperwood that they might find redemption in robbing the rich and giving to the poor. Quincy had an anarchistic vision of a world without government or corporate interference, a "savage utopia" free from the pressures and intolerance of civilization. He saw himself as a revolutionary and thought that the gang could be an example to others who would follow their lead. They began pulling tricks and ripping off people they believed deserved it the most.

Over time, the Heartland Gang collected a menagerie of individuals for its posse, hosting men, women and children alike. Each held tales of hopelessness and suffering, and each confided in one another. The years have seen many lives both gained and lost.

In 1898, a year before the present, Quincy formulated a dire plan which would see every member of the Heartland Gang revelling in riches. But the raid went horribly wrong, and Quincy - among a few others - lost their lives at the hands of the ever-growing law who sought to tame the remainder of the West. Shay and the rest escaped to safety, but not without grievances of their own. Wounded, mourning, and without any money, the remainder of the gang began to claw their way desperately across the country.

Though not quite as endearing as his predecessor, Shay's new leadership has pulled the gang together and into their current state. A year later, they still cling to hope, forever running from the constant pressure of the law and bounty hunters on their tail.