Jesse Firefingers

## History

Jesse grew up the oldest son of a wealthy Ifrit weapons merchant on the northern outskirts of the Mana Wastes. Raised with a silver spoon in his mouth for the first several years of his life, he was quickly put to work learning how the family business operated and became familiar with trading the tools of war.

His childhood was relatively lonely for the most part, receiving weapon training in the tools that he was burdened with the responsibility of trading, learning how to do mathematical processes quickly and without the aid of paper and ink. However, he wasn't a lonely child for long. With the advent of his younger brother's birth, Thomas, Jesse found himself a companion and someone to watch out for. Sadly, this was not the case for Thomas

Constantly compared to his older brother in his ventures, Thomas became quickly filled with venom for his sibling, taking any chance he could to spite his older, "more perfect" brother. Finding ways to tarnish his reputation in town and purposefully trying to ruin an romantic ventures his brother took part in, there was no limit to how low he would stoop to to see his "perfect" brother suffer as he became more and more bitter.

While he had a strong aptitude for the numbers and haggling the venture was fraught with, Jesse never found that the deals sat well in his stomach. The only thing that kept him going through the grueling schooling was his little sister, Melody. Cheerful as could be, Melody gave Jesse life and consoled him whenever he wanted to give up, eventually giving him the courage to go talk to his father about inheriting the business overall not too far from his 60th birthday.

To say that his father wasn't pleased with his son's request is an understatement. Jesse's father gave him a hard look and pulled a musket out, and gave him an ultimatum. Either stay here and be a part of the family business, or leave and never set foot on the family property ever again.

Shocked beyond belief at his father's hostility, Jesse slowly backed away, the smell of gunpowder clear as day in the air and his father's face oddly flushed. Keeping an eye on him, Jesse continued walking out of the room and hurriedly began packing his bags, putting on the leather duster and hat his little sister gave him as a birthday present. Hearing gunshots and a blood-curdling scream, Jesse ran outside to see his little sister dead on the stairs and a large hole with smoke billowing from it, the sound of gibbering heard from within.

Grabbing his sister's corpse, he ran down the to estate's armory to arm himself, grabbing a pepperbox with a mother of pearl inlaid handle and a small inscription of "Faith". Running into the estate's butler, he explained what happened and handed Melody's still warm corpse to him with instructions to give it a proper send off, tears streaming down his face as he gave it a kiss on the forehead goodbye.

Hearing another gunshot and more panicking from upstairs, Jesse rushed by Thomas gave him a quick hug and orders to keep himself safe, explaining that there was something horrible happening upstairs and it had a gun. Thomas's face screwed up at the blood covered Jesse and nodded before brushing him off. Hurt and concerned by the sheer lack of worry from his brother, Jesse tore himself away.

Running towards the stables, he flew past the stable hand and packed as much feed and water as he could before hopping astride his favorite steed. A beautiful, pure black stallion named Ashmore. Jesse urged the horse onward as they flew off the property at a lightning speed, he looked back once he had covered some distance and saw a gout of flame spew from one of the house windows and a scream of anger from what could only have been his father. Shuddering, Jesse urged Ashmore onward and began riding towards the nearest town.

He found himself alone among the sands of the Mana Wastes fro the first time, the dunes sapping away at his innate magic. Jesse arrived at the town after several days of travel, almost losing a leg to one of the monsters that roamed the wastes and just barely ahead of a dust storm. He quickly found a job at the local sheriff's office and spent the new few weeks drowning in sorrow and drink.

A few months afterwards, a warrant was put out for his arrest, wanted for the murder of his family and the destruction of the estate. Crushed, Jesse fled the town with Ashmore once again, this time riding on for almost a full month and finding a small town in the middle of nowhere.

He rode in that day and found himself accosted by a group of bandits, fighting back Jesse slowly shot his way through the bunch and found himself elected as the de-facto sheriff of the small shelter against the sands.

News rarely ever came and went in the town, the sands making the travels of the messengers difficult and perilous in the extreme. No one knew who he was, nor did they care, only that he kept them safe and sound from the occasional bandit group that decided to prey on them.

Jesse stayed in the town for years on end, being the only ifrit, he outlived many of the inhabitants, giving him the local nickname of "The Eternal Lawbringer", which brought him no end of both challengers who wanted to prove themselves and pain as he was forced to defend himself time and time again.

One day a young man rode into town, requesting to speak with Jesse. Unable to turn him down, Jesse invited him inside the sheriff's office and poured him a drink as he waited for an explanation. The young man looked up and told him a short story involving a manor that burned down, a man wrongly accused and the bloodshed that followed. Jesse stopped and stood still, ready to draw his gun at any time before the young man said something that caught and transfixed his attention completely. "I know who didit too. Works over 'n Rattlepass. He wants t'talk wit ya."

Jesse's breath caught as he looked at the young man. "Congratulations young man. You just earned yourself the position o' sheriff 'round here. Enjoy." \*He tossed his badge from his pocket and tore out of the building like a bat out of hell towards the stables where Ashmore's descendant, stood, ready and waiting to go as he jumped atop them and rode out of the dumpy little town towards Rattlepass.

It took him several weeks, but he crossed the distance to Rattlepass, avoiding death multiple times thanks to pure luck and occasionally skill. Jesse rode into the city and found the tavern where he came face to face with a cloaked fellow, whose face refused to be shown. Walking up and making sure his gun was easily able to be drawn, Jesse ordered a whiskey and sat down before asking one simple question. "Are you the one who did it?" The cloaked figure nodded and Jesse felt a surge of uncontrollable anger pierce his heart.

He stood up slowly and pressed the barrel of "Faith" against the back of the figure's head, cocking the hammer to the dismay of everyone in the bar. After a moment, Jesse pulled the trigger, the hammer firing, into an empty chamber. He pulled the gun back and threw a few pieces of silver on the counter for the drink and strode out of the bar, a calm and hardened look on his face as he went to the closest bounty board and tore off a few warrants, unable to bring himself to kill the perpetrator in cold blood.

Decades of bounty hunting later, Jesse found himself effectively stranded in the Wastes with the nearest town several days away and no idea where he was as he pulled a bound criminal behind him. During the night, he heard the sound of a blade cutting rope and felt something hard and heavy hit the back of his head, the world turning dark and a pain in his side.

He awoke several hours later, slowly bleeding out from a knife embedded in his side with a note attached:

"Happy birthday big brother

Love,

-T."

Confused and angry, Jesse found his horse in much the same condition as he hurried over and quickly tended to their wounds. Cursing his brother's name, Jesse became determined to leave the hell that was the Wastes and did just that.

Exiting the Wastes for the first time, Jesse felt alive and free. Hearing about Nibiru and the untold lands it offered, he quickly rode to the nearest port town to see what could be seen and maybe hopefully escape from his family and past once and for all.

## Appearance

Tall and wiry, Jesse can be found in his standard leather duster that his sister gave him all those years ago, patched up and covered in wear and tear from the years, but it still holds strong. Underneath he tends to wear a thing vest and or a long sleeved button up depending on the weather.

His face is decorated with a dirty blonde beard and mustache that covers a select few scars he earned when he was far younger and far stupider back at the estate.

## Personality

Jesse has a strong sense of justice, feeling the urge to right wrongs where he sees them, otherwise, he is an incredibly easygoing person, enjoying a good dare once and a while. Acting as a mediator most of the time, he tries to keep himself calm so that he can make sure that people stay safe and happy. When push comes to shove, he sticks by what he sees as the "proper" way and tries his best to have fun along the way.

## Relationships

Ranli-A woman who stole his breath away the first night he arrived at Nibiru and someone who he's found a kindred spirit in.

Jim-A bit of an idiot, but well-meaning and good-natured in his own lovable way.

Gus Gus-A mouse with a sense to do right as big as he is tiny, which is something Jesse has a massive amount of respect for.

## Aspirations

To do right by his moral code and make a name for himself that's no longer shrouded by his past and family name.