[DL] A Dastardly Dude (Was: The juices are flowing...)

[RYAN.KIMMET@DFAS.MIL]

>I have been thinking about the 2 character merging idea I mentioned, and
>have some ideas

(SNIP great ideas)

>Hmm.. what do you think? Workable?

Oh, this is *extremely* workable, Brian.

>What's the great evil? 
>Brian "not bad for made up as I went along though" Leybourne.

I'm strictly an amateur Ghoull, but if you don't mind my grabbing your idea and running with it . . .

Perhaps the "great evil" started out as a simple outlaw by the name of Rupert Bly. Old Rupert had the blackest of hearts and was just about the worst horse thief/rapist/murderer of his day. He'd rustled hundreds of horses and killed 42 men by the time he was finally caught and hung not one week before Raven's Reckoning.

However, unbeknownst to Rupert, he had been cursed by a powerful shaman whose daughter he had brutally slain years before. When Rupert's soul departed for the great beyond, it was . . . redirected instead. Rupert "woke" from his death to find that he had been reincarnated as (of all things) a horse. 

But even in his new form, Rupert's evil streak dominated his personality. Instead of learning from his mistakes (as the shaman intended), he eventually hooked up with an outlaw almost as dastardly as he used to be. The two made a great team, but eventually the law caught up to Rupert again, this time on the outskirts of the little town of Prudence, Kansas--when Rupert's rider whipped him to death trying to escape the posse that had chased them for the past four days.

So, Rupert died again, his soul even blacker than it was the first time. But this death was a post-Reckoning death, and a powerful manitou was drawn to Rupert's wicked aura like a moth to a flame. Sensing only the overpowering hatred and maliciousness, the manitou instantly bonded with Rupert's soul. Only afterwards did the demon realize that its host's human soul was in fact trapped in an equine body.

At first, the demon raged at its seeming impotency. But it still had most of its infernal power. And eventually, with Rupert's help, the devil-horse formed a plan . . . Prudence, Kansas would soon be theirs for the taking.

That's the villain. I'll actually tie this in to the Weird West/HOE dual-characters later on, if anyone is still interested.
______________________________
Ryan M. Kimmet
Innovative Logistics Techniques, Inc.
RKimmet@DFAS.MIL