Pistoleer

Captain John Faraway, aka The Pistoleer, is an open source character created by Simon Kirby for the Landmark Universe, a tribute to the "lone gunslinger" genre of the 1950s. Initially depicted as a wandering vigilante, he eventually made his way east to Chamberlain City, where his narrative took on a considerably darker tone. In his penultimate story arc, Faraway joined forces with The Night Raiders to combat demonic forces stalking the back streets of Radcliffe.

Background
John Faraway is believed to have been born in Luckton, Illinois in the late 1830s. Early records are scant, though he's known to have started working as a hired gun around the age of seventeen. With the outbreak of war, he enlisted in the Union Army, where he earned two field promotions; first to the rank of Lieutenant, thence to Captain. After his eventual discharge in 1865, Faraway drifted south toward New Mexico, amassing a formidable reputation as both a mercenary and a regulator.

A dour and sombre man by nature, Faraway was quick to anger, dispensing "justice" from the barrel of a gun. He is believed to have killed over seventeen men in the space of two years, mostly cattle rustlers and small-time crinimals. In common with many high plains drifters, he worked both sides of the law as he saw fit.

Following a shootout with a crooked lawman in the town of Lowengreen, he donned a mask to hide his identity, heading northeast to avoid arrest. News reports followed him along the trail, hinting of a mysterious, range-riding "spectre" whose speed with a pistol was almost supernatural. By the time he arrived in Chamberlain City, The Pistoleer was one of the most feared outlaws in the country.

First crossover
Upon arrival in Chamberlain, Faraway immediately set about finding employment as a lawman, citing his military background and experience as a bounty hunter. His few dozen acts of murder and terrorism were conveniently ignored when he agreed to take the job as acting sheriff of Port Kingston, the city's dockland region. Knowing it was one of the worst cesspools on the East Coast, Faraway assembled a group of deputies - mostly cowpokes, drunks and vagabonds - to assist him cleaning up the back allies.

As the previous sheriff had been lynched by one of the local gangs, Faraway made it his highest priority to bring the culprits to justice (alive if possible, though dead would've been no great loss). This proved to be more difficult than it first appeared, as the entire district was a quagmire of thieves, cut-throats and vagabonds. When the last of his deputies were picked off one by one, Faraway decided he'd have to bend the rules a little to get the job done. Once again donning the mask and uniform of the Pistoleer, he tracked down and executed each of the Dockland's crime-bosses, leaving their mutilated corpses hanging from the walls of Kingston Barracks. Within six months he had driven the criminal element back into the shadows (though he never quite managed to subdue them entirely).

This early success led to Faraway's jurisdiction being extended to nearby Radcliffe, giving him authority over the so-called Red Zone; a precinct so violent that no sane police officer dared set foot in the neighbourhood. Faraway tackled the problem by organizing citizens' militias and recruiting the leaders as his personal deputies. The ensuing struggle between Faraway's private army and the local mobs lasted more a year, culminating in a vicious fire-fight at The Longhorn Tavern.

It was around this time that Faraway first encountered Ezra Slade Jr (The Chamberlain Kid) and Phoenix Summerdale (The Six Shooter). Slade had taken Faraday's side during the Longhorn shootout, impressing the older man with his cool head and iron resolve. Noting the Kid's enormous potential, Faraway offered him the job of Chief Deputy within the Sheriff's department, a position of considerable prestige and responsibility. Slade agreed on condition that Summerdale be allowed to join them. Although Faraday considered The Shooter something of a loose cannon, he eventually capitulated to the kid's terms, thereby founding the earliest incarnation of The Night Raiders. Over time, all three came to view each other as the most trusted of friends and allies, with the two younger gunslingers referring to Faraway as "Capt'n Johnny" (a title he accepted with only mild annoyance).

Second crossover
With the re-emergence of The Deathspeaker in 1868, Senator Earl Makepeace petitioned Faraway to track down and apprehend the elusive vigilante. Although Faraway considered the Deathspeaker nothing more than an old wives' tale, he nonetheless decided to investigate rumors of skullduggery out on The Westside. According to his informants, women and children had been disappearing off the streets, suggesting the presence of a major kidnapping ring. Suspecting he'd need back up for this particular mission, Faraway called on his two most trusted lieutenants, and The Night Raiders rode for Gallows Hill.

Their investigation led to Willowgrove Cemetery, where they were suddenly ambushed by a gang of maverick veterans - twenty-three gaunt figure in grey uniforms. Despite clearly overwhelming odds, the Raiders opened fire on the advancing mob, and were astonished to discover that their weapons had absolutely no effect. In the ensuing struggle, The Kid was seriously wounded and The Shooter crippled by a slug through the thigh. Realizing they were now in serious trouble, Faraway ordered a retreat to a ruined mausoleum, where they found themselves surrounded by hostiles on all sides. With their backs literally against the wall, the Raiders prepared to go out with all barrels blazing.

At that moment, The Deathspeaker materialized out of the darkness, twin flintlocks thundering in the night.

As the Raiders watched in mute disbelief, the Speaker cut down the enemy with fire and steel, leaving their bullet-riddled corpses scattered throughout the tombstones. The man they'd been ordered to capture had just saved their lives, then - without even a glance in their direction - vanished back into the shadows. For perhaps the first time in his life, John Faraway was utterly thunderstruck; what he'd just witnessed bordered on the impossible, leaving him momentarily speechless.

Examining the bodies, Faraway found his worst fears confirmed - the "mercenaries" had been revenants - animated corpses returned from the grave. He'd even known some these creatures, had fought them tooth and nail at The Longhorn Tavern last summer; sent their filthy, ex-confederate souls to hell himself. Somehow, they'd come back, risen from the dead to stalk the living. He knew that was nothing short of insanity, yet the evidence was right there before his eyes.

What in hell was going on?