The Ballad of the Dreadwalker

 Today I will post some collages from the Twisted Western series of short stories I am working on. Twisted Westerns is an anthology series my local writing group, The Writing Journey, has been developing. If any of them read this article they might recognize the names of these characters.

My original concept for Ballad of the Dreadwalker was a bit convoluted taking place in a far flung post apocalyptic future. But when they explained the alternate history North America of the Twisted Westerns fantasy setting, I decided to transplant the Dreadwalker and his cast there because it sounded like a perfect fit. I had to edit out and change some of the details tied to the timeline of the post apocalyptic setting but it still works.

Twisted Westerns takes place in a version of the Old West of North America where history went in a very different direction. The United States of a America as we know it does not exist, instead a very different version of the nation and states exist. The Aztec Empire still exists. Texas is divided into North and South kingdoms. The plains are divided into a series of free city states. And many other things are different.

Lets take a look at The Ballad of the Dreadwalker

 Fifteen years ago, the noble House of Draeden was destroyed. Their manor was burned and the family and servants killed. The only survivor was a boy named Seamus. Now Seamus of the House of Draeden is a bounty hunter known as the Dreadwalker. He travels across the Twisted West making a living and searching for any clue that will lead him to Damien Rex, the man who lead the attack on his home that night. Seamus will make allies and enemies on his journey and learn the perils of revenge.

SEAMUS OF THE HOUSE OF DRAEDEN

THE DREADWALKER

 Seamus was just a kid when his home and family were destroyed. He generally tries to keep his identity as the last surviving member of the House of Draeden a secret. He has grown up to work as a bounty hunter known as the Dreadwalker for his uncanny ability to sneak up his targets. He still seeks any clue that might lead him to Damien Rex but so far the outlaw has eluded him. He tried to live a solitary existence but he managed to make some friends anyway.

 

 MORDECAI HATTS

Mordecai Hatts is a young gunsmith, engineer, and inventor. Seamus came across his remote workshop by accident and that chance meeting turned into a friendship. Mordecai always has some new gadget for Seamus to test out in the field and half they time they even work the way they are supposed to. He supports Seamus however he can but also encourages him to stop to enjoy the little things in life when he can.

As I have starting writing these stories I find there are still some details of Mordecai's background that I need to work out. I need to do some research to determine what tribe he would be from. And I need to decide how he ended up making his workshop in the middle of nowhere.

 

DESDEMONA JEWEL

   When Seamus met Desdemona, she was chained to a bed in a pleasure house and dressed up in a belly dancer harem girl costume. She had attempted to rob the pleasure house and it had not worked out. Seamus rescued her from her predicament and she had been a part of his life ever since whether he wants her or not. Desdemona switched careers to bounty hunting and takes every chance to team up with Seamus. She and Mordecai became fast friends and together they work to get Seamus to be a little more upbeat.

Desdemon is a woman with many secrets. I have an idea of what those secrets are but I will fill in the details as I writer the story.

 

SHADOW CORTES

 The night the House of Draeden was destroyed, Shadow Cortes was there and rescued Seamus. She took care of him after that, teaching him to survive and the way of the gun. When he was old enough she sent Seamus on his quest with her blessing.

Shadow was a blind gunslinger who carried the title of The Augustus, an ancient charge to watch the border between the regular and supernatural worlds. Each Augustus can pass down some of their knowledge to their successor which gave Shadow the skills she needed to make her blindness of little consequence to her gun fighting skills.

TEMPERANCE JAMESON

The last time Seamus saw Shadow, shortly before she died, she told him the name of the woman she had chosen to be the next Augustus.

 Temperance Jameson is a Texas Kingdom Marshal. This gives her a decent amount of authority across the West, if only because no one wants the hassle of getting in a Marshal's way. Temperance knows who Seamus is but does not have any sentimentality towards him like Shadow did. She distrusts bounty hunters but chooses not to interfere with Seamus in his pursuit of Damien Rex.

 

DAMIEN REX

 Long before the night he destroyed the House of Draeden, Damien Rex was a notorious outlaw. But his previous crimes consisted of roguish theft and vandalism. Never before or since had he committed such murderous violence. To this day no one knows why he attacked a noble house. There has been a massive bounty on his head ever since but no one has been able to capture him. He can be recognized by his signature tall black hat, long black coat, all black clothes, and black staff. But he is never recognized for his face. Many people have seen Damien Rex in person, but not one of them can remember what his face looks like. This has caused many theories to pop up about how he may be something more or perhaps less than human.

And those are the major characters from The Ballad of the Dreadwalker. As with the previous collages the images came from a mix of dress up games, heroforge.com, and some AI generated images.