Age - 28
Gender - Male
Occupation – United States Postal Service Courier
Appearance – Douglas is a man of lean build. He's not going to scare anyone from just his appearance. However, what he lacks in pure physical strength, he makes up for in stamina.
He's not an ugly man, but women aren't exactly falling for him immediately. He has brown eyes and dark blonde hair, which is long enough to tie back, which Douglas does for practicality.
Height - 5'10''
Weight - 162lbs
Apparel – A simple gray suit consisting of pants, shirt and waistcoat, a brown leather duster coat, leather riding boots and a brown leather slouch hat.
Weaponry –
Webley Bull Dog: Not the most popular revolver out there, but Douglas has a fondness for it as he feels it gives him some connection to his history in Britain.
Winchester Model 1976: Douglas got his hands on this repeater out of practicality. A newer model would have been too expensive, but it outperforms older models.
Hunting knife: This knife is nothing special and if it is of a particular make, Douglas has no idea.
Equipment -
Victoria: Douglas's horse. Gifted to him by a colleague who named her after the Queen of England as a joke at “Wales's” expense.
Travel kit: This kit has everything the traveling courier needs. Included are four yards of rope, flint, a cooking pan, a sleeping bag, extra ammunition, a wallet with some cash, a compass and a map of the region with the locations of towns and USPS and Western Union stations.
Travel rations: a few days rations of jerky and two leather water skins.
Mail bag: The standard issue bag given to couriers to carry their goods between towns and settlements.
Books: Douglas always carries a few books with him. He grew up reading Shakespeare and has recently grown a fondness for this Mark Twain fellow after reading his recent novel “The Prince and the Pauper.”
Skills -
Horseback riding: Douglas has built up great endurance and riding skill from his long rides through the frontier delivering the mail.
Map reading and navigation: A party with Douglas is not likely to get lost. He's a master of navigation through several methods, including landmarks, maps, the stars and so on.
Hunting and cooking: Though he doesn't practice shooting as much as most frontiersmen probably do, Douglas's long rides with little civilization has lead to him becoming a solid shot and learning the basics of tracking. He can also skin small and medium game with little issue. Likewise, Douglas had to learn to take care of himself on the frontier, so obviously he needs to cook his own food.
Well educated: Douglas's father made a point for him to be educated. He enjoys reading and makes a point to find local papers to keep up with current events.
Flaws -
Douglas is, at heart, a city boy. He was born in Cardiff and was raised in New York. He can get by on the frontier, but he prefers the comfort and activity of cities. He tends to get bored easily in small towns.
Douglas has an unusual Welsh accent. This is why his colleagues in the USPS nicknamed him “Wales.” However, it does often lead to others, especially frontiersmen, having preconcieved notions about him, purely because of the way he talks, especially with some less educated folks he encounters assuming he's Irish.
Personality – Douglas often comes across as brash and short when he first rides into town. He may have the physical endurance to do his job, but the long rides between towns exhaust him mentally.
Once he gets a drink or two in him, however, Douglas is much calmer. He's got a dry sense of humor and enjoys a hand of poker.
Backstory - Douglas is the only son of a Welsh leatherworker. His father, Johnathan, was a drunk for the majority of his adult life in Cardiff. The man had trouble keeping a job, despite being quite skilled at his craft. His wife, Carol, hated him for it, but gave up her plans to leave him when she had Douglas, instead hoping that having a son would knock some sense into him.
For a while, it worked. Johnathan was a very proud father, but he was also a very proud drunk. He never stopped drinking, but he did clean himself up enough to be a father. At least, for about four years. Johnathan slowly fell back into the bottle.
When Carol fell ill in 1861, Johnathan was at his worst. His reputation as a drunk was bad that he couldn't find work, let alone keep it. He loved Carol and it hurt him greatly to see her ill with him not making enough money to help her. He had his final drink the night before his wife's funeral.
Since then, he found work on the docks and spent the next two years working to get him and his son passage to the United States, where he hoped to open his own business to take advantage of the Union army's need for supplies in the ongoing Civil War. He and Douglas set sail for New York in 1863.
Johnathan's business ambitions weren't as successful as he had hoped. He was able to put food on the table for his son and make sure Douglas got an education, but not much else. Still, it was a living. Twenty years later, Johnathan still runs his leatherworking service in New York.
Douglas, however, showed no interest in learning his father's trade. Instead, after working for his father delivering orders, materials and goods between Johnathan, his suppliers and his clients, Douglas took to enjoying exploring New York and seeing new things he's not seen before.
Johnathan wasn't surprised when Douglas told him he took a job with the Postal Service. He was surprised when he said it was going to take him to Texas. Johnathan gave him about three years before he asks for a reassignment that takes him back to the city. This was five years ago.
Two days ago, Douglas rode into Soursprings on a routine mail delivery.
