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History

Over a century ago, Shade's great-grandfather left Silver Lune in search of adventure and fortune, the stuff of the fairy tales he'd been raised with by a doting mother. But the outside world was far from what he'd imagined, and disillusionment quickly drove him away from the dirty, choked cities and sprawling, gluttonous suburbs. He lived a great many years on back roads and dusty highways, a happy nomadic troubleshooter, handyman, and soldier of fortune. Though he eventually took a wife, she too was of traveling folk and neither of them were keen to settle down for years to come. When they passed on, they left behind a young, healthy son with a strong drive to succeed, an indomitable spirit, and a yearning to set roots.

Shade's grandfather, having had the wanderlust successfully worked out of him by growing up on the road, tried to follow his father's wild adventures back to their beginning, but misfortune claimed one of his legs and almost his life, were it not for the woman he would forever call his little miracle. A flash flood, one of the worst in the region's recorded history, had damaged a vital bridge that was one village's only link to the world outside. Aiding the villagers in trying to shore it up, he was trapped when a section collapsed, leaving him pinned and helpless in frigid water for almost a full day and night before he could be extracted. His leg was ruined by the experience and had to be amputated at the knee, and illness kept him bedridden and at death's door for the next two seasons, during which he was lovingly nursed by the daughter of the thankful village's mayor. Resigned to make the best of his situation, he settled down permanently with her family, his remaining injuries mended quickly in her care, and he set about making his own fortune, becoming a prosperous farmer and rancher despite his disability. His wife bore three children, two lovely daughters and a young, impetuous son. Their daughters were the pride of the village- hard-working, virtuous, compassionate and fearless. Each became independent and prospered in their own right, eventually marrying the village's twin blacksmiths.

Their son, Shade's father, was not so industrious. Hating the rural life and everything to do with it, he packed up and left without a word after his sisters married and moved to the first city he came upon with a building taller than ten stories. A well-schooled but foolish and thoughtless man, he quickly found himself in the employ of the region's most unscrupulous crook. Drinking and gambling ruled his life, and while he sought quite seriously for a good woman to wed, his judgment of character left much to be desired. The mother of his two children quickly abandoned them as soon as Shade was old enough to walk, leaving him to tend to his baby sister alone.

Greed and ill fortune drove Shade's father too far. Desperate to maintain his good standing with the boss, he sold Shade into the pit-fighting circuit when the boy was only twelve. For the next four years, Shade would spend every night fighting for his life, and every day caring for his sweet little sister, keeping her well away from anything to do with his father's dark world. When she was old enough, and when Shade had amassed enough money from the pits to afford it, he sent his sister to a distant boarding school with a new name and identity. That same night, his father's boss died under mysterious circumstances, a mystery never solved to this day, though Shade has long since been exonerated of any possible involvement.

But the loss of protection and employment drove his father to disown his children and drink himself into an early grave, but by that time Shade had already left in search of his dying grandfather. Following bread crumbs and rumors across the countryside, Shade arrived at his grandfather's farm just in the barest nick of time. The old man had held on for so long, just in hopes of seeing his progeny redeem themselves. His last words imparted to Shade the secret to finding his way back to Silver Lune. In return, Shade produced the only surviving photograph of his sister. That photograph was then buried with the old man, clasped tight to his heart as he died with a beatific smile on his face, to be laid to rest beside his loving and devoted wife in the shadow of the chapel to the Goddess his wealth had built.

Following his grandfather's cryptic clues and an old yellow journal kept by his great-grandfather, Shade worked his way across the country as a jack-of-all-trades and bodyguard, much like his great-grandfather before him. Most of his profits were mailed discreetly back to his sister, to provide for her education and comforts, but he kept aside enough to cover his own expenses, and to pay for any he might incur in reclaiming the family homestead. His reputation from the pits preceded him into the larger cities, but every time he walked away victorious and a fair bit richer. Outside the urban sprawl, he kept his name clean, taking honest work and handyman jobs in the villages he passed through for almost a song. He never made any friends, but he never made any enemies either, and that was how he wanted it.

He arrived in Silver Lune by night to find the ancestral home in ruins, and hoped he could afford to have it restored...

Statistics

Birth Name: Shadrach Feargus McCoy
Nicknames: Shade
Age: 24
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 220
Hair: Black
Eyes: Ice Blue
Blood Type: AB
Allergies: Smog, strong perfumes

Likes:
Ramen soup, apples, cookies
Hard rock, country, jazz
Dogs, horses, hawks and other raptors, snakes, spiders
Getting his hands dirty, working up a sweat, feeling exhausted at the end of the day

Dislikes:
Anything with too much tomato in it
Mushy love songs, folk music, punk rock
Ants, rats, gophers
Boredom, unemployment, yammerheads (people who talk too much)

Hates:
Fast food, potato salad, ranch dressing, liquor
Mariachi, rap, hip-hop
Pigeons, raccoons
Gambling, boozing, liars, criminals, politics (redundancy?)

Personality:
-Happiness: idea idea
-Outgoingness:
-Conversationalism:
-Time Sharing: idea
-Generosity: idea

Skill Points
Farming:
-Crops
-Animals exclaim
-Expansion
Skills:
-Fishing exclaim
-Mountaineering
-Exploring
-Mining exclaim
-Bug Catching
-Swimming exclaim
Household:
-Cooking exclaim
-Cleaning

...And you may quote me.

Don't get angry- you'll make mistakes. Keep your temper until the very last, and let the other guy get angry instead.

Words are cheap enough as it is. If yours are truly worthless, it is better that you keep silent and let your deeds redeem you.

If it is yours, fight for it. Do not let yourself belong to those who do your fighting for you. It matters not if you win or lose the fight, so long as you fight with all your heart, for it is there that it truly becomes yours.

When all that you have is the fight, then you've already lost.

Don't threaten- threats are empty by nature. Don't make threats, give warning shots instead. They'll mess with a man that blusters and threatens, but they'll think twice if he's bloodied their nose.

When all else fails, you are all you have, so make sure you're a good person to fall back on, because if you can't help yourself, who will?

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...well, you've gotta sleep sometime.

Justice has to begin with you. If you've done wrong, make it right. If you've been wronged, right it yourself. No system will ever give you real justice except the system of your own two hands and one heart.

No speeches, no promises, no snappy one-liners, just do and be done with it.

Live with all your heart, or die empty.

Blood Takes Care Of Its Own

[Potential Plot Hooks, Handle With Care]

With his father long since pickled into a pauper's grave, Shade abandoned the home in which he'd been born and raised, never bothering to search for his mother. Whether she yet lives, or is looking for him, remain to be seen, though the way she abandoned him and his sister suggests the latter to be unlikely even if the former is true.

Shade's sister lives in a very distant country, far outside the reach of those who would have used her against him. At last report, she was nearing graduation from the boarding school where Shade had paid her tuition for several years, and was already looking at a healthy scholarship to a number of nearby colleges. Shade often wishes he could see her again, but he is happy enough to know that she is safe and doing well, and he is very proud of her.

By his two great-aunts, Shade has a number of cousins growing up in a distant community. He never begrudged them his grandfather's estate, but did not wish to be a burden on them while he sought out Silver Lune. What he doesn't know is that they are now looking for HIM, eager to solve the riddle of their grandfather's heritage and help their distant cousin grow less distant to the world around him.

While McCoy's Folly stood occupied, the merry rovers whose daughter captured the heart of Shade's great-grandfather avoided Silver Lune like the plague. But after the last McCoy was buried in the village graveyard, they began to make trips closer and closer to the paradise the family prodigal spoke of in his dying days. Now and again, one of their clan may be seen passing near the village, keeping a watchful eye on their distant relation's holdings.

Unfortunately, not everyone looking for Shade has friendly intentions. A number of "business associates" of his late father's equally late employer have posted a rather handsome dead-or-alive bounty for him, but with inaccurate descriptions and under the assumption that he would still use his old pit-fighting monikers. And quite a few of his former opponents in the pit are looking to settle the score permanently...

Reserved
Until I can think of a better idea.

Acquaintances

Hasn't met anybody in town yet.

Enemies

None in this time zone, certainly.