Name
Isak Blomqvist
His official American name is Isak Bloom, and he introduces himself as this. Acquaintances often call him the “Railroad Cat.”
Age
18
Gender
Male
Position
Railroad Worker
Railroad construction is currently delayed, and Isak has been doing odd jobs around the ranch to make sure he has enough money to get by.
Sexuality
Homosexual
Isak doesn’t have much of a problem with this, and in fact he’s found it’s less of a big deal out here in the lawless West. But he’s not totally open with this information unless it comes up or someone asks him.
Appearance
Isak is very tall for his age, and honestly tall for any age. He’s very thin and has a scrawny, gangly look. He has thin limbs, though they’re not exactly weak. He does have muscle tone, it’s just that his limbs seem too long and his muscles don’t really seem to bulk him out. He has a small chest with narrow but strong shoulders. His hands are large and his fingers are long, and his feet as well are quite long. At times he seems slightly bow legged. He’s always standing up straight, giving him a stick-like appearance. He’s unkempt and rather dirty, with dirt on his face, soot in his hair, and calluses and blisters on the palms of his hands. He always has a number of scrapes, bruises, and cuts, but no scars that seem permanent. His skin is naturally pale, but he does have an uneven tan along his shoulders, neck, and upper back. These areas are also covered in copious amounts of dark freckles, and often sunburned. He has freckles all over him, covering his shoulders, neck, and face all over. This, combined with his tanned spots and frequent sunburns, give his skin a patchy look.
Despite Isak’s scrawniness, his face isn’t thin at all. In fact, it’s somewhat round, with a weak chin and full cheeks. His ears are large and stick out from the sides of his head. He has rather large eyes, downturned on the edges. They give him a sort of sad look. His irises are rich, bright brown like a dog’s eyes, and seem rather lively, contrasting with the downcast feeling of his eye shape. His eyebrows are faint and thin, a yellow that doesn’t stand out too much from his skin tone. His nose is medium sized, with a slightly curved bridge. The dome of his nose is upturned. The freckles scattering his face are all over, but most prominent on his forehead and nose. They’re dark and clustered close together. His hair is thin and very straight. It’s bright blond, looking positively yellow, and is splaying downward, often tucked under a hat. It’s very short, just reaching past the nape of his neck.
Isak wears the same thing pretty much every day. His clothing has been provided by the railroad, and he’s not too interested in using his wages to buy his own clothes. He has button-up cotton shirts which are either striped or off-white. They’re all dirty and weathered slightly yellow, and he wears the sleeves rolled up past his elbows. He has a pair of old denim overalls, like a pair of slightly baggy pants with suspenders holding them up. The bottoms are fraying badly and they have several large pockets. Besides the tools of the trade, he likes to keep anything interesting he finds in there. For shoes, he has short leather boots with sturdy soles that are partially sun-bleached. He’s almost always wearing a dark broad-brimmed hat, tall and slightly rounded with a wide, flat brim. All of this is dirty and worn out, and Isak doesn’t have anything to wear for formal occasions or some event like a barn dance. Perhaps he’d wash his clothes clean and do a bit of patching if he saw the need to, but he really hasn’t ever had the opportunity.
Personality
Isak likes people. He likes the idea of people, and he wants to get to know people. He believes in the innate goodness of people. It’s just in the interaction that he gets himself all mixed up. It’s been difficult moving from Sweden to here, and the culture shock is enormous. Isak feels there’s still so many things he doesn’t understand, and the last thing he wants is to seem like an idiot. He’s not stupid by any means, but he’s certainly gotten to feeling like it. So for the most part, he doesn’t speak unless spoken to and doesn’t give his opinion unless he’s asked about it. He was never a reserved person, but he’s been struggling for so long to understand people here and make himself understood. He’s doing much better now, but there’s still space to screw up. Because of his nervousness, he often comes across as awkward. And he’s overly-polite, even and perhaps especially in situations that don’t call for it. He very much values keeping a good reputation. Sure, he’s done a few things he’s not proud of. Yes, the West is full of thieves, drunks, and gamblers, and is he any different? But he doesn’t want people to think badly of him for it. He tries to be an amiable person, and certainly wouldn’t want anyone to be afraid of him. He also likes to keep a good professional reputation, and is a hard worker. He does things by the books, and does the best he can in everything he does. He loves some good competition, though he doesn’t get competitive unless it’s agreed by both parties that they’re competing. He’s very dedicated to things, and when he’s very interested in a topic or a person, he can’t stop thinking about them. One of his favorite topics is history. He’s trying to learn more about the history of the American West, but it’s difficult because he can’t read or write English. So he collects little scraps of information from people and writes them in Swedish. He now has a collection of the personally revised and vaguely recalled history of America. If he’s lucky, about half of the stuff in that book is true, but he certainly believes it.
Isak is, in fact, a generally trusting person. He’s not naive enough to put his trust in someone he doesn’t know. But he’s easy to get to know, and once he’s gotten familiar with a person (and didn’t have a reason to question their motives from the get-go), he’s quite willing to put his trust in them. When he’s given special attention by someone, he’s delighted and becomes quite talkative. He’s a very earnest and straightforward person, and prefers not to skirt around issues or complicate communication. He’s an open book, willing to talk about his or anyone else’s feelings. While he can be a bit awkward when dealing with people, he really tries to avoid any miscommunication or misunderstandings. He likes to know where he stands with people, and let them know where they stand with him. He’s rarely harsh unless he feels someone really deserves it. Though he has a certain naive trust to him, he doesn’t seem easily beaten down by betrayal. If people want second chances, he gives them second chances. If they tell him they’re sorry, he absolutely believes it. He seems to have emotions of steel, and is so hard to offend or really hurt. That’s how he appears, anyway. Truth is, he gets hurt just as easily as anyone else. But he always feels stupid to have his feelings hurt, especially if he’s betrayed by someone. He’s a romantic type, and when he gets into a relationship he takes it seriously. He fancies the idea of having a family, though he’s painfully awkward with kids. He just doesn’t understand them at all.
Despite his investment in work, he likes time off just as much as anyone else. He enjoys waking up late most of all. He’s a bit of a night owl, and can’t really get to sleep at night. Sometimes he takes to prowling the streets at night. He enjoys the darkness and strange stillness, and likes to imagine ghosts fingering on the edges of his vision. Now and then he spooks himself with it, but mostly he finds it enjoyable. But with all this roaming, he’s often tired whe e has to wake up early the next morning. By noon he’s tired himself out. When he gets the chance, he likes to catch a quick nap. He can fall asleep anywhere, and often in the strangest positions. After finding him asleep in various places, some of his colleagues have nicknamed him the “Railroad Cat.” Once he’s had a nap, he’s full of energy, nervous and yet sturdy. When given the chance, he likes to get his energy out in physical activities like sports or dancing. He has good stamina for the physical labor of his work. One physical activity he does not enjoy, though, is fighting. He’s a strong young man, but doesn’t have the form or fire to get into a real fight. Still, he’s not easily cowed, and will defend himself or others when necessary. He relies heavily on bluffing to get people to back down, but someone with nerves of steel may be able to outdo him. He prefers to solve problems in some other way.
Likes
Attention
Nighttime
Romance
Waking Up Late
Rain
Ghosts
History
Scary Stories
Honesty
Competition
Dislikes
Kids
Fighting
English Books
Early Morning
Sarcasm
Manipulation
Misunderstandings
Rudeness
Seeming Stupid
Getting Spooked
Strengths
Energy
History
Dancing
Bluffing
Romance
Quick Learning
Politeness
Loyalty
Strong Nerves
Amiableness
Weaknesses
Illiterate
Naivety
Seriousness
Awkwardness
Sleepiness
Fighting
Cultural Difference
Drinking
Openness
Obsessiveness
Backstory
Isak was born in Sweden. His father owned a butcher shop, while his mother cleaned houses. They got by, but they were certainly never rich. Isak started working young, and his parents were constantly talking of the day he could support them and they could stop working so hard. Isak got good grades, and had good prospects. He was only fourteen when a couple of men came to his town. They were from America, and spoke of great wealth to be had there. They were taking young men across the sea, and Isak was eager to go. He was among the lucky ones chosen, and promised to send money back to his parents. He sailed across the sea to the East Coast of America, and from there he was piled into a wagon train with other workers. He was lost and confused the whole way, but had to trust that things would work out. On the way there, he met Bud, a retired mine who took pity and taught Isak some English. Finally they arrived to work on the railway. The pay was nothing like it was promised, the conditions not good, but Isak adjusted as best he could and worked hard. He dedicated his time to learning English. He’s been working here for a while, moving across Arizona. A few months ago they ran into a huge engineering issue, and have been trying to work it out. So the workers have been staying in the town.
Family
Gerda Blomqvist
Mother
A house cleaner and the one who looked after the household. She was strict and a bit overbearing, but she was always proud of Isak. She wanted more than anything for him to do well. He hasn’t seen her in the last few years, and is too embarrassed about his low pay to contact her.
Torsten Blomqvist
Father
A butcher, a gentle but tired man who was well-liked by customers. He held onto hope that Isak would help the family do better financially. He and Gerda were very much in love. Isak hasn’t contacted him either in a few years.
Critters
Isak doesn’t have any sort of pet or livestock. He’s always fancied he’d like to get himself a dog, but he’s not sure where he’d find one. It would be nice to have a loyal friend like that.
Other
None
Do you believe William?
Isak doesn’t know a whole lot about the situation. He’s only been here a few months. He’s not sure if he believes William, but even if he did, what could all of them do about it? If the townsfolk want to start a posse, that has very little to do with him. He’s still mulling over the whole strange affair.
Summer Month: 1 
Night 
Earthquake Moon: 
