Characterisation Doesn't Work in Games - An Extract from The Blackwater Ledger
Legendary Gunslinger Arrives in Armadillo. Exhibits strange behaviours!
The Blackwater Ledger August 15th, 1911Legendary Gunslinger Arrives in Armadillo. Exhibits strange behaviours!The God-fearing citizens of Armadillo, New Austin, were confronted last week by the strange and erratic behaviour of notorious bandit and murderer John Marston - formerly of the Van Der Linde gang who were responsible for the Great Steamboat Massacre of 1906. Rumours of Mr. Marstons arrival had circulated the township for several weeks prior, with local residents speculating that the outlaw would bring his legendary penchant for violence, gambling and solicitation upon their community. Among his famed dexterities, Mr. Marston is said to own the steadiest gun hand in the Frontier; be an uncannily able horseman, and have a hustlers knack for backroom card games. Armadillo business owners and residents alike however, have reported Mr. Marstons behaviours to be quite discordant with his rumoured proclivities. Though Mr. Marston repeatedly engaged in gun-battle, his aptitude in dealing with armed opponents has been reported as unwieldy. Shopkeep Mr. Herbert Moon describes how Mr. Marston repeatedly discharged his revolver way off centre then mounted his house and galloped directly into the Armadillo station front office. Saloon proprietor Mr. Walton Josephs was similarly befuddled by Mr. Marstons deportment: I had thought Mr. Marston would excuse the game room of a whole nights takings, such was his reputation for three-card brag. Rather, he accumulated forty dollars debt." The notion of Mr. Marstons stopover in Armadillo has also been the cause of local bafflement. Both residents of Armadillo and close-by Hennigans Stead describe conversations with Mr. Marston, in which he expressed a strong desire to locate and arrest the outlaw Bill Williamson, also formerly of the Van Der Linde gang. His deliverance into the custody of Blackwater law officials would supposedly guarantee the safekeeping of Mr. Marstons wife and only son, who are being held on the dependence of Mr. Williamsons capture. But despite Mr. Marston frequently and publicly declaring his desire to capture Mr. Williamson as soon as possible, New Austin settlers reportedly witnessed Mr. Marston engage in a series of desultory and unrelated tasks. For days at a time, Mr. Marston would camp in the New Austin wilderness, returning to town only when he had obtained precisely ten Red Sage flowers, or five Wild Feverfew. He was also rumoured an avid gatherer of animal pelts; Armadillo gunsmith Mr. Jeb Murphy would trade raccoon hide with Mr. Marston in exchange for weapon cartridges: Id hear Marston mouthing off about Bill Williamson, the Federal Government, his wife, his son. But then hed turn in with a full saddle bag of weeds and carcass that must have taken him days to round upall this from a man so-called eager to catch Bill Williamson. It makes no sense!
