BlackJack in Deadwood 2.0

My friend and fellow blogger Marrant Vita were talking the other day about how our characters change once they get into the roleplay. I have found this to be true with BlackJack. His personality is changing from what I had originally envisioned. My thought was BlackJack or Jack as he calls himself now, would be a villianous sort with an icy stare and the look of a hardened killer. However, he is not turning out quite that way. BlackJack will still be a bad guy. But I am finding in him a bit of tenderness that was missing from the BlackJack of DW 1.0. As you may remember that fellow had no compassion or tenderness in him, except for his immediate family. There were a few people he respected and even liked, Dio, Clay, Daisy...but, if he had a logical reason to kill them, he would have. This BlackJack, is not quite so cold and calculating. Jack Landar is an Army deserter, cattle rustler, bank robber, con man and sometime law man. That being said, he is a fairly likable guy, someone you would share a beer with or play a game of cards with.

I brought Black in a bit earlier than planned. It was a spur of the moment decision and I am glad I did it. He is already laying the foundation to allow him to pursue less than honorable pursuits later. How is he doing this you ask? He is building relationships. He happened to wander into the store that Meriwether Runningbear and Mahalia Bertrand are running, looking for some tinned peaches and bottle of whiskey. (Jack likes to eat the peaches then pour some whiskey into the syrup for a drink.) While talking Meri had looked Jack over and decided Jack would be a good one to help protect Miss Bertrand, though Miss Bertrand believes he is there just to help around the store. Jack took the job and is finding that he truly likes this couple. They are both good, decent people, just the sort that a man with a nefarious turn to him needs. Because when suspicion comes upon you, a man really wants respectable friends to vouch for him.

So will Jack become a villian? Yes, no mistake on that, though he will have his own sense of honor and loyalty to those he considers his friends.

The Death of BlackJack Landar, cont'd

Planning for Black's demise is going forward. Barring the vagaries of RL, we plan to play this out on Friday, February 5. Time will be sometime after 5pm SLT.

I shared with Dio last night that, while I am looking forward to the rp, I am really going to miss the current incarnation of BlackJack. But nothing lasts forever and the new BlackJack will arrive in Deadwood sometime in April or May.

A look inside of BlackJacks thoughts and feelings

I thought it might prove helpful for some who do not know BlackJack Landar well, how his mind and emotions work. Some will read his profile, which states he is a hired killer and immediately think he has no emotions and forms no ties to anyone. That is an unfortunate assumption. BlackJack is a man who does care about some, I repeat, some people. But those people either have to be related to him by blood or have earned his respect.

Now Black is a ruthless killer. When he takes an assignment, he see's it to completion without any undue emotion. The target (person who is to be murdered), is simply that. A target, the job to be done. Black does not take pleasure in killing as some do. In all of his business dealings, whether legitimate or not, he strives to keep emotion out of the equation. To him, emotions and business is illogical and just plain bad business practice.

In Deadwood there are a few people he actually cares for. First is Dio Kuhr, or Miss Dio, as Black always refers to her as. He found in her a woman of strength and ability. He learned of some of her past and his respect for her increased. She had once requested that he not harm anyone whom she cared about. Out of his respect and growing fondness for her he agreed. This did not sit well with Black's employer at the time, but that is a story for another time.

The other two people that Black cares for in Deadwood are Clay Kungler and Daisy Stratton. Black considers Clay to be a kindred spirit, due to Clay's habit of collecting the heads of those he kills. Black is puzzled as to why Clay collects these trophies, but figures it does no harm and perhaps some good. Daisy, who works as a prostitute for Clay. Daisy reminds Black of a girl he had known in his youth. Because of this and that she is connected to Clay, Black has set himself up as a sort of protector. He almost see's her as a sister, though not quite that. Even Black has trouble explaining to himself the relationship between him and Daisy. What he does know is that the man that brings harm to her will pay in blood.

So, as you can see, Black is not some emotionless killing machine. He does have relationships and feelings. I would advise those who meet him to treat him with the same politeness and respect that he shows everyone. Those who become rude to him may well not live to regret it.

Deadwood Restart / What, or Who shall I be?

The Deadwood sim in Second Life is going to do a restart in late March of this year. Others, like my good friends Marrant Vita and Dio Kuhr have already expounded on this subject and have done a very good job of describing what it is all about.

Many of us are trying to decide what or who we should be. Now, we are not going to play actual historical people. Rather we will base our characters on real people or several real people. BlackJack, in the current Deadwood is a murderer, plain and simple. I came up with the BlackJack character in order to help another roleplayer in the sim. The idea was Black would be the number 2 man to the self proclaimed crime lord of Deadwood. But I digress, BlackJack was based not so much on real life characters as on fictional ones. The idea was to create a villian who could and would kill without mercy or remorse. It was also my plan to have this character be the best bad man that I could create. I am pleased and more then a little troubled that Black turned out to be a very good bad guy. Pleased, because playing a villian is difficult, especially if you want the character to survive more than a few months. Troubled, because I found some really dark places inside me that was brought out in BlackJack.

In any case, BlackJack is going to die. The rp leading up to his end has already begun and will play out over the next month or so. This will make it clear to everyone when we do the restart that the new BlackJack Landar is not the same character. I have also purchased a new avatar so that his appearence will be different. So, with a new avatar and the old character dead, what or who shall BlackJack Landar be? I am leaning toward a lawman/outlaw type. More than a few lawmen worked on both sides of the law and order fence. I have some time to finalize my plans and ideas. BlackJack will likely not be in at the beginning of the restart, but will be in a few weeks or months later. I do have another alt that will be there at the beginning, because Black's typist is not going to miss the restart for any thing.