Name: Eli Ward
Sex: Male
Age: 51
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 172lb
Written Appearance: Eli is an older man, with the lines to prove it, and a few scars too. He's never been a great looker, but it's fair to say that he's grown into his face as he's gotten older and might now be considered somewhat attractive for his age, whilst others that were better looking in their youth haven't aged so well. He has a moustache that he keeps maintained and has his hair (which is holding up quite well so far, even if it is mostly grey) slicked back. He dresses smartly and makes an effort with his appearance, which helps him to keep a professional image on the surface, at least.
Image:
Personality: On the surface, Eli seems like a friendly character, with a drink and a tale for anyone that happens upon his little saloon. He comes across as affable, charming, perhaps a bit of a dandy and maybe a bit of a flirt with the right muse, and to most people they never see any other side of Eli as no-one really probes any deeper than the surface when talking to the saloon owner. He's a part of the furniture, having lived in the town for close to two decades, being notable only for rumours that he's cheated death on more than one occasion. People talk of his luck and he's been known to prove it by absurd trick shots that most allege a mortal man could never pull off successfully, yet Eli carries them off with plenty of aplomb. He's a showman at heart, and does love basking in the attention of an audience.
Those that know Eli better are few and far between, but if you look deeper, he's not nearly as cheerful and friendly as he appears. In his own dealings, he's a ruthless businessman and whilst his saloon is the only real asset he owns, Eli has plenty of money and valuables held in storage beneath the saloon. He's acquired them through various means, but mostly through blackmail. He knows most people in the town, their histories, their families, their stories... their secrets. He's ruined people that have crossed him and made their life a living hell, but he's never done it in the public eye, preferring to extort others through hired enforcers, so as not to ruin the persona he has created.
At his core, Eli knows his time is running out. He made a deal with the Devil, and he knows that he'll have to pay his due one day and that day isn't far off. As he grows older and steps closer to the grave, he's become meaner and his cheerful facade slips on occasion when his frustrations get the better of him. His urge to acquire material possessions was simply a distraction that he recognises now, he's never truly found the happiness he sought and now realises that a deal with the Devil only ever benefits the Devil himself. He knows that God never held him in any regard and all he can do is wonder what Old Scratch has in store for him when his time's up. These thoughts keep him up at night and haunt his days, they've made him somewhat twitchy, looking over his shoulder to see if that same dark man is lurking and beckoning him closer to make good on his promise.
Character Strengths:
- Phenomenal luck - Eli wins card games with ease, despite the odds, he can pull off trick shots and bullseyes and has surprisingly deadly aim with a firearm
- Fearlessness - As a result of his supernatural luck, Eli is confident he can handle anything that comes his way, so he knows no fear
- Jack of most trades - Eli's had a lot of jobs in his life, working as a brewer, a rancher, a builder, a miner and even a brief stint as a doctor's assistant, and each one has given him useful skills and a well-rounded knowledge, even if it lacks depth
Character Flaws:
- Womaniser - Eli's got an eye for the ladies and has been accused of having more that wanders than just his eyes
- Older age - Eli's not getting any younger, so he's not as fit or as strong as he once was and he knows it - he reaches for his gun at the first sign of trouble because his fists just don't pack the punch they used to
- Alcoholism - Alcoholism is by no means uncommon around these parts, but Eli still struggles to get through the day without several drinks
Occupation: Professional gambler, saloon owner
Skills:
- Proficient with revolvers and their maintenance (Eli's favourite is a Smith & Wesson Model 3)
- Knowledge of herbal remedies, poisons and basic medicine
- Basic carpentry, wagon repair etc.
- Basic animal handling
- Charismatic
- Reasonable piano player
History: Not a whole lot is known about Eli's history. He looks and sounds local enough, but there's never been anyone that remembers Eli as a kid, or even a young man. No-one knows his family, and if asked, he says he has none, and all he's let out is that he's "been around" and that he's gotten his hands dirtier than most trying to make his fortune. It's known that he's worked a lot of odd jobs prior to arriving in town, but since he strolled in, he's only ever been the saloon owner, though he still remembers plenty from the work he did in his formative years. A man with no past in the old west isn't anything unusual, but it breeds rumours and people have always spoken of Eli in hushed tones, something that he's all too aware of, and the rumours are usually bad, suggesting he works for the Devil himself, or that he's killed men to take their fortunes, but worse than that, some of them are actually true.
The truth is that Eli's early days aren't anything all that interesting. He was an average man, of average height, with average looks, average strength and average intelligence. What set him apart was his ferociously bad luck. If ever a man could find a puddle to step in, it was Eli, and when he found a puddle, it was always the biggest and deepest, and he'd stroll right in. He was sacked from every job he ever had, but never for being bad at it, just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. As time went on, he became a patsy at first, with others quickly riding on his poor luck to blame him for their mistakes and in turn, that led to Eli being called a cursed man. People were afraid to spend too much time around him for fear of it rubbing off on them, so he did what all unlucky, lonely men did - he turned to drink.
By his late twenties, Eli was little more than hopeless drunk, working awful jobs for awful pay, just to get enough cheap liquor to get through the day. Any friends he had ever known now pretended not to know him and women crossed the road if they saw him on their side. Eli had next to nothing, but was too much of a coward to do anything about it, and too much of a drunk to get smart enough to fix it. On one day, when Eli was already very hard up, he was working for the local rancher, cleaning out the livestock and doing all the other menial jobs that most people wouldn't take. A series of deeply unfortunate events led to him releasing an entire herd of cattle, that not only fled into the wilderness, but tore up the town along the way. The stampede destroyed carts, damaged buildings, killing some and injuring many more people. This was the last straw and caused the townsfolk to exile Eli, driving him out of the city and into the desert, giving him a revolver with which to do the "right thing" when he was sober enough. With nothing to live for, Eli roamed the dusty wild, waiting for death and cursing his luck, himself and God. It was then that he met a certain well-dressed individual at a crossroads, who talked the good talk and appealed to Eli. All he had to do was shake the stranger's hand and his luck would be reversed. Well, when a man has nothing to lose, why not take the deal? Even if nothing good ever came of it, Eli couldn't possibly be worse off than he was before.
If Eli's past is a secret known only to the man himself, then what came next is the stuff of legend in the old west. Eli strolled into Golden City one morning, his lips parched and his skin dried out, with nothing more than the clothes on his back. He entered the saloon, an establishment run by Wild Bill Thomas, where his appearance and stench offended all present. Bill asked him to leave and Eli said he wanted in on a game of poker taking place in the saloon. The only thing of value Eli had was the revolved, it was standard issue and not worth a whole lot, but it bought him in for the round. There were three other men at the table, all experienced, successful gamblers, but when Eli took the pot with four aces, they insisted on another round, not to be outdone by a case of "beginner's luck". Of course, for Eli, this was only the beginning and in the cause of the afternoon, he doubled up and doubled up again, until he'd driven every other man from the table and amassed quite a fortune. He immediately rented a room, visited the barber, bought new clothes and set out to make himself a new man. He bought the saloon from Wild Bill, paying more than it was worth to make it his own and has run it ever since. None of the locals are foolish enough to challenge Eli to a game of chance, but the odd visitor comes by and refuses to believe the stories until they see first-hand just how lucky he is. Whatever they have, Eli always has something just slightly better...
Details of the Devil's Contract: Eli traded his soul for the devil's own luck, to make up for the bad luck he continued to endure. At his lowest point, with no girl, no money and nothing to lose, Eli met a strange feller who was talking a lot of a sense. After all, if God couldn't see fit to give Eli a hand here or there, then Old Scratch was willing to cut him a deal and he'd be a fool not to take it.
