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RP Thread

Plot

Double Rail Ranch has been running the cattle industry on the west coast for decades. Situated on several thousand acres in Arizona and headed by the formidable baron Henry Bennett, the DR has become a home for countless scoundrels, ruffians, and outcasts to society over the years. But Mr. Bennett has begun to show his years, and as such he’s decided to hand the reins over to his son, William Jeremiah Bennett. It should have been an easy transition; the boy spent his entire life on the range, and he’s been prepared for this day since he was a child.

But then cattle started going missing.

And then the horses.

And finally, Henry Bennett himself was found dead. They say it was an animal attack- and if you saw the body, you’d be likely to agree. But William swears up and down; there’s someone out there. Someone capable of tearing a strong man limb from limb like he was nothing but a rag doll. He seems to be deluded from his grief, and the hands aren’t sure they can even trust him anymore, but what really killed the Boss?

Regardless, whatever has been taking the lives of those on the ranch needs to be stopped, and quickly. It’s calving season, and Double Rail Ranch can only afford so many losses…

一

Rules

Follow all of WP’s and Eve’s Rules, obviously

1. While specific time and place are sort of hand-waved, the overall vibe is late 1800s-early 1900s, Verde Valley area of AZ. Please do try to be semi realistic in terms of naming conventions, backstories, etc.
2. Animals aren’t strictly sentient. While I encourage you to have a realistic number of them, please do not spend too much time in their heads during the RP.
3. Please limit yourselves to 2 characters at this time. I’m likely going to keep this RP relatively small, and reserve the right to deny anyone if I find your application to be lacking.
4. I’m expecting at least a paragraph for the personality, appearance, and backstory of the application, but the more the better. Likewise, the RP itself is semi-lit to lit, please do include as much detail in your posts as possible, when possible.
5. Please PM me and/or the person involved before involving them in plot-changing events or drama. If I decide your character will be involved in plot-changing drama, I’ll let you know beforehand. I will never kill your character without your consent, unless you’re showing a habit of inactivity.
6. Remember that most of the founders of cowboy culture (and the west in general) were LGBT+, people of color, and women. Everyone is most welcome here.
7. We’re rather loosey-goosey with roles here. Wanna be a cowboy? Sure! An agent with the railroad who ships the cattle? Absolutely! Random drifter who appears and disappears at will? You got it! Just make it obvious the kind of character you want to play in your application, I’ll PM you privately if it doesn’t work for some reason or another.

Name: William “Will” Jeremiah Bennett

Age: 24

Gender: Male

Personality: Anyone who knows Will would describe him as serious, levelheaded, and given to a rather austere life. He’s trustworthy and hardworking, if a bit quiet and socially stunted. His close friends would instead describe him as a bit spacey, with a dry sense of humor and a secret admiration of famous outlaws. Having spent the majority of his life on the range, he’s never truly comfortable out of the saddle, and sleeps better in the open air than in his own bed. Or other beds, really, seeing as he seems to have interest in neither the fairer sex nor his fellow cowboys. Since his father’s death, he’s become almost paranoid, dogmatic in his belief that the “animal” causing all of their problems is indeed a human, or at least human-shaped, and that everyone is in grave danger. That in mind, he’s set on arming himself and taking to the country, hunting down the thing that killed his father, alone if he must. If only it wasn’t for the ranch, which he knows will fall into disrepair if he goes…

Appearance: Will looks exactly like, in his opinion, a cattle baron should look like. He’s not particularly tall, though neither is he short, and while he is visibly well-muscled, he’s not winning any strongman competitions. His skin has a naturally darker cast to it (a topic of gossip in the community when he was a boy), it’s further darked by his time in the sun and crisscrossed by innumerable scars and burns acquired by his life thus far. Ask him the story of one or the other, and if he doesn’t have one, he’ll spin you a fantastic yarn instead. His features are overall rather square and heavy, a thick jaw, big hands, etc. Will’s eyes are deepest brown, almond shaped and framed by long, dark lashes. Set above them, his hair is the color of a fresh oil spill. He keeps it cut fairly short, but if he allows it to grow, it turns into loose curls that defy any pomade or styling. His attire leans toward the plain, lacking in ornamentation, though he takes pride in his clothing and keeps it clean and well-mended as much as he can. He’s rarely seen without his tan hat and matching boots, both of which were gifts from his late father. He wears his hat with a red-tailed hawk’s feather in the hatband.

Backstory: Born somewhat premature in February, William’s entrance to the world was distinctly marred by his mother’s speedy departure from it. Luckily, a woman on the ranch had recently given birth to her own son only a few months prior, and was able to nurse him, leading to William and Thomas’ lifelong friendship. While he loved his pseudo-family, William was ultimately his father’s son, and spent his childhood in ruthless pursuit of his father’s approval, affection, and attention, all of which were readily given. Between his father and his pseudo-family, he was raised up thoughtful, empathetic, and remarkably self-sufficient for a man; he is as able to cook, clean, and mend as many of the women in his life. While he went through somewhat of a rebellious stage in his teenage years (consisting primarily of developing a tobacco habit and spending hours on end getting bucked off young colts with Thomas), he’s aged rather gracefully into his 20s, even after the genuinely devastating loss of his father. Well, as long as you ignore the paranoia and (alleged) delusions, that is.

Family: Henry A. Bennett (Father, dec.), Sotera M. Bennett (Mother, dec.)

Critters: Will has a stocky bay mare named Clever, as well as some sort of cowdog mutt named Jack.

Other: N/A

Do you believe William?: Obviously yes.

Name: Thomas Avery Brown

Age: 24

Gender: Male

Personality: Despite being raised by well-mannered, good-natured parents (both his own and Henry Bennett), Thomas somehow managed to become a rakish instigator of a young man, constantly being bailed out of situations by his long-suffering pseudo-brother. An excellent sharpshooter, he likes to think of himself as being cunning and charismatic, and while those are mostly accurate assessments of his personality, he’s also rather childish, desires nothing more than getting his own way, and seldom takes full responsibility for his oversights. Despite this, he loves his family with an almost religious passion, and wants to keep them safe by any means possible. In his adult life, Thomas is as likely to be found in the pool hall (or in the shadowy alleys behind them with company) as he is to be found actually working on the ranch, but he has a surprising ease in keeping the peace, and he doesn’t delude himself in thinking William keeps him on the payroll for any other reason. He’s deeply grateful for this, but likewise he sort of dislikes that he is unequivocally beholden to his brother.

Appearance: Thomas really is a beautiful man. He’d have to be, to get away with all the crap he pulls. He’s a few inches above tall, with exceptionally long legs and the strong build of a rancher. Naturally of a medium complexion, he tans wonderfully, leaving bronzed skin dotted by freckles, particularly over his face and hands. His whole bearing is rather fox-like, especially through his face, which is cut sharply. His honey-brown eyes are narrow and upturned, complimenting the almost obscene smirk that sits on his shapely lips constantly, as well as his strong nose. He’s topped by a veritable mop of wavy strawberry blonde hair, which he wears at a medium length, such that it brushes his shoulders. Like his brother, he tends to stay away from excessive ornamentation in his dress, although it’s largely because he can’t be bothered with the upkeep. He does indulge in a very fine black hat and a twin set of ornate pistols, which he keeps on his person constantly. They’re the only things he personally takes care to maintain, and he can often be found cleaning and servicing the pistols in the evenings. He’s also quite taken with wearing his chaps at all times, to accentuate the length of his legs.

Backstory: The most interesting part of Thomas’ childhood was the atypical family unit. William is unequivocally his brother; and by extension, he always regarded the late Henry Bennett as his second father. The two boys were always extremely close, even after the birth of the twins several years later. He showed no particular prowess as a cattleman (much to the chagrin of both of his fathers), although he was an excellent gunman from the moment he first picked one up at the age of 8. His teenage rebellion began with rolling tobacco (a habit he quickly spread to William, and later, his sisters), and quickly spread into a proclivity for good-looking men, card tables, and generally disappointing his family in all ways possible. He has indeed mellowed with age, but none of his vices have wholly disappeared.

Family: John J. Brown (Father, 46), Mary A. Brown (Mother, 45), Charlotte A. Brown (Sister, 21), Henrietta C. Redding (nee Brown, Sister, 21).

Critters: A flashy, tall, grullo stallion that he won in a game of blackjack named, aptly, Fortune.

Other: N/A

Do you believe William?: He doesn’t know what he believes. He just wants everything to go back to normal.