Bio

Biography Jasper Romain

(Current Year 1876)

Background

Full Name: Jasper Romain
Date of Birth: 1839
Place of Birth: Pearl River, Louisiana
Parents: Alain Romain, father (deceased) and Irene Romain, mother (deceased)
Siblings: Eleanor Romain, sister (deceased) and Delores Romain, sister (deceased)
Important Events in Past: See bio.
Biggest Fear/Nightmare: Dying before confronting Colonel Ellison Mercer.
Where were you during the Great Quake (1868)?: On August 8 though 11, 1868, Jasper was camping along Blue Ridge, Tennessee.
Married?: No.
Occupation: Former rancher. Current gunslinger.
How did you become [your occupation]?: Jasper was a horse rancher like his father. He left the life and became a gunslinger after the murder of his family.

Goals
Where are you going?: Out west.
What are you doing?: Looking for Mercer and his men…

Timeline

1839 (October 10th) – Pearl River, Louisiana: Jasper was born to Alain Romain and Irene Romain.
1843 – Pearl River, Louisiana: Jasper contracts Scarlet Fever and almost dies.
1845 – Pearl River, Louisiana / Washington County, Arkansas: The Romain family purchase a horse ranch and move to Arkansas.
1846 (December 20th) – Springfield, Arkansas: Delores Romain (sister) is born.
1848 (November 15th) – Springfield, Arkansas: Eleanor Romain (sister) is born.
1862 (December 1st) – Washington County, Arkansas: Jasper departed the Romain Ranch to help a family friend, Hunter Marshall, drive cattle to Missouri.
1862 (December 7th) – Prairie Grove, Arkansas: The Prairie Grove Campaign begins.
1862 (December 8th) – Washington County, Arkansas: A wounded Colonel Ellison Mercer and a small band of soldiers from the First Corps, Trans-Mississippi Confederate Army fled from battle and forced refuge at the Romain Ranch.
1862 (December 9th) – Washington County, Arkansas: Instigated by Private Morris Cole, the band of men attempted to rape Eleanor and Delores. This prompted Alain and Irene to intervene. During the altercation, Alain was shot and died a few hours later in the family stables. Irene was hung from the porch as a “Union sympathizer.” Eleanor was raped repeatedly and then strangled to death in the family den. Delores was taken from the ranch and raped before being shot in the head and left for dead six miles from the Ranch. Colonel Mercer did nothing to prevent this and in fact stated, “The battle at Prairie was lost, but the spoils of war remain.” It would come be known as the Romain Massacre.
1862 (December 14th) – Washington County, Arkansas: Jasper returns to find his family dead. He also finds the remnants of the bloodied uniform of Colonel Mercer. This sets him on the trail to find those responsible for the death of his family.
1863 (February 12th) – Springfield, Arkansas: Colonel Mercer and three of the men responsible for the death of the Romain family are brought to trial. Judge Harold Stone finds the men guilty of the crimes. However, in an attempt to divert any further military opposition in the area, local politicians comprised of councilman Conrad Burke convinced Judge Stone to a lesser reparation of 3 months in jail. This was not enforced on Colonel Mercer as he was a decorated officer. He was instead ordered to pay Jasper $1,000. Jasper refused.
1863 (February 15th) – Springfield, Arkansas: Jasper attempted to confront Colonel Mercer at his room in the Coles Inn. Jasper was subdued by deputies.
1863 (February 16th) – Springfield, Arkansas: Judge Stone found Jasper guilty of attempted murder and sentenced him to three years in Washington County Prison for the attempted killing of a decorated officer of the war.
1865 (April 9th): Confederate States of America President Davis ends slavery in the South.
1866 (February 16th) – Springfield, Arkansas: Jasper is released from Washington County Prison.
1866 (February 18th) – Washington County, Arkansas: Jasper returns to his ranch to find it in ruin. He finds his fathers pistols that were placed in a box and buried at the base of a large oak tree by the barn. He carves " Eleanor " into the hilt of one and " Delores " in the other. He vows that the men responsible for their deaths will be brought to justice.
1866 (February 20th) – Washington County, Arkansas: Jasper leaves his family ranch behind and travels to see Hunter. Hunter had taken what horses he could manage and sold the rest. Jasper takes his personal horse Comet and the money made from selling his horses and begins seeking out the men who were responsible for the death of his family.
1867 (April 19th) – Birmingham, Alabama: Jasper locates Percy Camden, one of the soldiers responsible for the death of his family. He locates him at the Moss Tree Inn. He discovers that Camden raped his sister Eleanor. Jasper hesitates on shooting Camden allowing the man to retrieve his own gun. Jasper is wounded in the arm but Camden is killed in the return fire. Jasper manages to escape before law enforcement can identify him.
1867 (April 19th – April 29th) – Cherokee County, Alabama: Suffering from the gunshot wound to his arm, infection begins to overtake Jasper. He and his horse wander into Cherokee territory where he collapses. An Indian woman by the name of Walini finds him and takes him back to the tribe where he is nursed back to health. During his unconsciousness, Jasper has vivid dreams and nightmares about the rape and death of his family and of the men who carried out the acts. The visions have a reoccurring figure who can never be clearly seen in the background. The figure is masculine, adorned in a cowboy hat and a duster and is always sitting atop a dark horse holding a hangman’s noose. During these hallucinations, Jasper always feels that there is a path to take and the decision as to which always fills him with dread. He eventually awakens from the coma and is taught the basics of Indian sign so that he can communicate with other tribes as he travels.
1869 (October 31st) – Albany, Kentucky: Jasper locates Smith Donnur, one of the soldiers responsible for the death of his family. He locates him just outside of Albany on a plantation. When confronting him, Smith transforms into a werewolf. This is the first encounter Jasper has with a supernatural creature. Though Jasper causes heavy damage to Smith, the werewolf takes Jasper down and is about to kill him when Comet kicks Smith in the head giving Jasper the opportunity to fire a shot in between the beasts eyes. The wound is fatal. Jasper will begin the tradition of giving Comet 6 green apples every October 31st to show his appreciation for saving his life. It is at this point that Jasper begins giving credence to superstition and the mysteries that may lie in the plains ahead.
1870 (August 1st) – Brunson, South Carolina: Jasper locates Benjamin Porter, one of the soldiers responsible for the death of his family. He locates him with a small band of mercenaries on the outskirts Brunson in Hampton County. When scouting out the encampment, Jasper is discovered and brought to camp. It is revealed that Porter was the man who strangled his sister Eleanor to death. Porter offered Jasper the chance to settle the matter in a duel. However, before the duel took place, Jasper was severely beaten by Porter’s men. Still, a broken Jasper killed Porter with a single shot to the head and then proceeded to gun down the other 5 men in the encampment. One man lived long enough to tell Jasper that Colonel Mercer “wasn’t what he seemed.” He died before being able to elaborate.
1872 (June 19th) – Gleason, Tennessee: Jasper locates the last known location of Evander McRae, one of the soldiers responsible for the death of his family. He discovers the McRae farm in Weakley County only to find that Evander died of a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head 3 months prior. His wife Tessa and his child William are the only survivors and tell Jasper that they believe there was “more to his death.” She tells Jasper that Evander was afraid of something in the days leading up to his death. He had received a telegram stating that a person he had served with in the war, Benjamin Porter, had been gunned down. He is also told that soon after, a man with a great red beard visited the farm. William says that the man was rail thin and “dressed like an undertaker.” He spoke with Evander for almost an hour and then left. It was the next day that Evander was found dead. Jasper visits the grave of Evander on the farm before leaving.
1872 (June 22nd – July 2nd) – Bartlett, Kentucky: Jasper makes his way to the Rattlesnake Tavern and seeks comfort in drinking. The guilt of potentially leaving a widow and a son without a father weighs on him. He spends the next several days drinking and shacking up with women of ill repute in Bartlett. This is when Jasper first encounters a dark skinned prostitute named Darla Ray. She owes several hundred dollars to the inn keeper and decides to skip out and travel with Jasper.
1872 (August 3rd) – Paden City, West Virginia: Jasper and Darla learn of a few farms in the area that are being attacked at night by “bone animals.” The local farmers are in need of aid and offer a $1,000 reward to anyone who can put an end to the attacks. Needing money, Jasper and Darla agree to investigate the matter. On the first night, Jasper and Darla come across the culprit; a bone fiend. The creature is an amalgamation of animal parts and bones with a large steers head. After a lengthy fight and the unloading of several rounds of bullets into the creature, the bones turn to powder. Jasper elects to tell the farmers that a wolf had been responsible for the attacks on their animals. He collects the $1,000 reward and the two continue on.
1873 (February 14th) – Raleigh, North Carolina: Darla suggests to Jasper that the two should consummate their relationship legally. Jasper disagrees. This leads to a large argument that causes Jasper to hence forth despise Valentine’s Day.
1873 (July 3rd) – Goose Creek, South Carolina: Arthur Humphrey, one of the men responsible for the death of Jasper’s family, tracks him to Goose Creek. That night, after a drinking binge, Arthur confronts a drunk Jasper in his room and attempts to kill him. Arthur is ambushed by Darla who shoots him. She tells Jasper that he needs to accept the fact that he either “kills them or they kill him.” Though she loves him, she tells Jasper that they both have too much baggage for one another. She sends him away saying that she will deal with the territorial executioner if he comes to investigate the death of Arthur. Jasper reluctantly leaves Darla behind.
1874 (December 22nd) – Macon, Georgia: Jasper locates Samuel Belmont, one of the soldiers responsible for the death of his family. He locates him attending a fundraiser being held by the Wesleyan Female College at the Italian Renaissance Revival mansion. Belmont has now earned the rank of Captain in the Confederate Army and continues his enlistment in the military. Jasper also first encounters Rowena Vanderbilt when Belmont attempts to assault her. Not wanting to draw attention to himself in public, Jasper decides to let Belmont go. Later, finds Belmont and one of his men in the city stables. During a crossfire. Belmont is fatally shot by his own man. Jasper gun downs the soldier and learns from a dying Belmont that Mercer has a daughter in Nevada.
1875 (March 3rd) – Stockbridge, Georgia: During his first train ride on the 601 locomotive to Atlanta, it is robbed by a group of bandits called the “Schofield Gang.” Only the first class car is assaulted and Jasper sleeps through it in the stable car with Comet.
1875 (March 4th) – Fulton County, Georgia: On the last leg of his first train ride on the 601 locomotive to Atlanta, the train accidentally derails sending the engine car and several passenger cars into a ravine. Jasper and Comet emerge unscathed. Jasper elects to ride the rest of the way on horseback. He hasn’t trusted trains since.
1875 (May 1st) – Atlanta, Georgia: Jasper locates Gideon Meeks, one of the soldiers responsible for the death of his family. Meeks has become a preacher and expresses that he has come to terms with his sins. He understands that Jasper plans to kill him and asks only that he deliver a small inheritance to his sister after he is dead. Jasper agrees but is ambushed when Meeks draws a Derringer from a hollowed out bible and shoots at him. The bullet, that would have been a fatal shot, strikes a metal liquor canteen kept in the breast pocket of his coat. Jasper returns fire shooting Meeks four times in the heart. Jasper would confess in the future that it was drinking that saved his life. The trail to Colonel Mercer and his men now points him westward.
1875 (May 20th) – Rawlins County, Kansas: Jasper and Comet come across several animals in the open plains that have been infected by prairie ticks. Jasper forfeits a bottle of his best liquor and ignites the area in order to escape. Though he hated ticks before, he despises them now.
1876 (March 1st) – Virginia City, Nevada: Jasper and Comet arrive in Virginia City on the trail of Colonel Mercer and his remaining men. Certainly, new adventures are just around the corner…

Soundtrack

• “Rooster” – Alice in Chains
• “99 Problems” – Hugo
• “O Death” – Jen Titus
• “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” – Johnny Cash
• “Barton Hollow” – The Civil Wars
• “Rusty Cage” – Johnny Cash
• “When the Man Comes Around” – Johnny Cash
• “Folsom Prison Blues” – Johnny Cash
• “Man of Constant Sorrow” – Union Station
• “Desperado” – Eagles
• “Bird on a Wire” – Leonard Cohen
• “The End” – The Doors
• “Bad Moon Rising” – Creedence Clearwater Revival
• “Dust in the Wind” – Kansas
• “Farewell Ride” – Beck
• “Gallows Pole” – Jimmy Page and Robert Plant
• “Times They Are a Changing” – Bob Dylan
• “Ghost Riders in the Sky” – Johnny Cash
• “Riders on the Storm” – The Doors