It is extremely important to bear the information from the 'character design preface' in mind when reading all character backstories on this blog. Before doing so, please refer back to the information on that particular post first.
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The Cowgirl:
Name: Riley Calico
"Riley has never had an easy life.
Born and raised on a struggling ranch, she’s had to do farming tasks for her family from a young age. Despite it being arduous and back-breaking work at times, she has always enjoyed the simplicity of country life, and developed a natural affinity with all factors of living on a ranch, including riding, taming and breaking horses, building fences, tending to and maintaining farm land and even driving the wildest of bulls. Amongst these things, she’s always been rowdy and has kept her fists up.
However, Riley was only five years old when her mother died of bovine tuberculosis, so she’s always had a predominantly male influence. Her father, in question, was kind to her, albeit poor, and always struggled financially no matter how much work he did.
Tragedy struck once again a few years later, as, at the age of fourteen, she witnessed the ruthless murder of her father and the destruction of the family ranch as it was burned to the ground by an Sidewinder gang of bandits.
Instead of succumbing to grief and hiding herself away from the world, Riley spent a long time trying to figure out who killed her father. Even as a young girl she had been intelligent, quick to learn new skills and pick up on matters that adults concerned themselves with. That’s why, about a month before his murder, she was the first to notice a couple of burly, sketchy-looking workers approaching the front door. As the men and her father talked, Riley managed to sneak close enough to overhear their conversation. The workers, it turned out, were acting as representatives for some high-and-mighty railroad baron, who wanted to construct a piece of the railroad exactly where the family ranch stood. They declared that if he didn’t comply, there would be ‘consequences’. Her father became angry, and sent the men away amidst a barrage of strong language.
When her father consulted the sheriff about the matter, he did nothing, claiming that the baron’s actions were out of his control. However, he was known to be corrupt, and Riley always thought he had been paid to look the other way.
Since then, she was forced to strike out on her own and scrape some kind of a living together. Luckily, her natural talent as a rancher was sought after by many, and over the years has been between more jobs than you can count. She’s driven cattle from state to state, worked as a ranch hand on several different properties, hunted vermin, raised, fed and cared for horses and re-built sections of barns and ranch houses. Since Riley has driven cattle for so many years, she has seen her fair share of towns and has developed a taste for whiskey, amongst other strong spirits.
However, she’s no saint herself, preferring to use her fists if somebody looks at her the wrong way or gives her a snide comment. She’s started bar fights and generally disturbed the peace and as a result, has seen the inside of a jail cell more than once.
Her clothes are forever soiled from all the travelling and work she’s been doing, and her hands are constantly calloused and scratched.
She is skilled with a revolver and can defend herself, but is most skilled with her fists or her lasso."