Sam Stoneheart

Samuel Stoneheart, or Sam for short, is a central character in the Morgan Series. He is the final antagonist of the Finley Morgan Series, a major character in the Prequel Series, a major antagonist in the Dave and Talia series aswell as the overarching antagonist of the Isaac Morgan Series. The Cold Blooded leader of the Saint Denis Police Force, Sam is an incredibly rich and powerful man, funding groups such as the Lemoyne Raiders and the O'Driscolls. He uses this power to hunt down Isaac Morgan after he took the blame for his younger sister, Talia Morgan, killing Sam's brother. Sam works his way into Isaac's Gang and pays them to betray him, eventually learning that Talia is alive and Isaac has a son, both of who he sends adversaries of Isaac's after to finish off the bloodline for good.

## Backstory

Sam and his brother, John, were born to a rich family in Saint Denis, Lemoyne, and their parents were very well respected individuals within the city. While his brother followed a life of Politics, Sam joined the Saint Denis Police Force and worked his way up the ranks. At 20, he was already well known within the force and he was getting payed decent enough money for his age. John was also doing well politically, and even planned to run for Mayor in the next election, though he lacked funding and needed money to push himself further with advertisements. Sam offered up money he had been saving, and although John graciously accepted it - and promised to place Sam in charge of the Police Force should he win - he didn't have nearly enough money. Instead, Sam had the idea to invest the money into a currently growing and lucrative business - Moonshine Operations. Although Moonshining was illegal, Sam loved his Brother - and was desperate for a promotion - so looked past it and used his influence in the Police Force to cover up John's investment should the business be busted.

The Brothers decided to invest in various Moonshine Operations in and around Lemoyne. This quickly gathered them some income, and a particular business - The Lunar Drip - earned them enough money for all of the Campaign themselves. Due to this, John won the following election and as promised, made Sam his Chief of Police. However, Sam still needed to ensure that The Lunar Drip both continued running and wasn't busted by any of the other officers so that he and John could keep their positions. He decided to pay them a lot more money so that they would be covered up and pulled out of all of the other investments, removing their involvement with other Moonshine Operations, deciding only to do business with The Lunar Drip. They gathered a lot of money from the group and their cover-up was working well - Until The Lunar Drip began clashing with another growing Business in Saint Denis. Andrew Morgan, a well known businessman in the area, had his own Moonshine business that he would have his Son, Isaac Morgan, lead while he was working at his shop. Knowing that if he tried to arrest Andrew and destroy his business, he may get himself and John in trouble, Sam equipped The Lunar Drip with the resources necessary to dispose of them themselves, hoping that he and John wouldn't be tied to it.

Despite their new resources, The Lunar Drip was taken down by Isaac and his Gang; His sister Talia Morgan and their friend Dwight Grayson, causing them to discover that they were being funded by The Mayor himself. After news of their destruction spread, Sam headed to his Brother's house to warn him, revealing that Andrew was killed in the Crossfire between the two Gangs and it would be dangerous if his children decided to come after them. He promised that he would make sure that he and John weren't tied to it, even if he breaks the Law even more, and headed back home. The next morning, he was awoken by the news that during the night, Isaac, Talia and Dwight had invaded his Brother's house, dispatched of the Guards and Lawmen Sam had assigned there and killed him. Sam was furious, and when a Lawman told him that they had discovered Isaac's hat on the scene, Sam immediately place a bounty on Isaac's head and determined that he would get revenge for his Brother's death. Unbeknownst to Sam, it was actually Talia that killed The Mayor, and Isaac just took the blame for her so that she wouldn't be punished. This caused the group to go their separate ways for each other's safety.

## Isaac Morgan Series

Isaac, Talia and Dwight had split up, with the latter two going into hiding. Even after new Mayors had taken up the mantle, Sam kept his job as Chief of Police due to both his influence and how good he was at his job. Eventually news reached him that Isaac had began a Gang named The Morgan's Marauders, but the Gang was transitionary and never stayed in one place. In order to ensure that Isaac was dispatched off, Sam began paying lots of money to Gangs in the area such as The Lemoyne Raiders, and more importantly, The O'Driscolls, a rival group of Isaac's previous Gang, The Van Der Linde Gang. He promised to massively improve their lives if Isaac was killed, and much like he had with The Lunar Drip, he gave them many resources to do so. The O'Driscolls frequently attacked The Gang but were never able to kill Isaac, and Sam grew frustrated with them. He organised a meeting with Colm O'Driscoll, the Gang Leader, and spoke with him about their next move. Colm commented on how he was fairly certain that Isaac's Gang was crumbling and if they could break it apart, they may be able to convince his own Gang to turn on him, meaning that he would be disposed of and neither he nor Sam would be attached to it. Sam agreed, and prepared a significant amount of money to offer to one of Isaac's particularly more infamous gang members, Micah Bell. Sam and Colm met with Micah in Blackwater, a city on the other side of Flat Iron Lake, where they wouldn't be recognised.

When Colm arrived with Micah, Sam greeted him and explained the situation, offering Micah a large sum of money to betray Isaac, and even more money if he could convince other Members of the Gang to do so aswell. Micah quickly agreed and quickly joined up with the O'Driscolls after he was discovered by Isaac as a Traitor. However, he had intel on Isaac preparing a heist in Blackwater, and Sam tipped the Blackwater Police Department about this, causing the Heist to be disrupted and Isaac's leadership be questioned. This allowed Micah to infiltrate the Gang once more and convince both Juan Ramirez and Dave Johnson to betray Isaac. After a battle atop Mount Shann, a Mountain in Big Valley, that involved Micah, Juan, Dave, The O'Driscolls and some corrupt Lawmen Sam had sent to the area against Isaac, Isaac was shot and killed by Juan after a battle with Micah. Colm delivered this news to Sam himself, and Sam headed to the Mountain himself to ensure it was true. He visited Isaac's Grave, where Micah and Juan were waiting for him. Micah explained the scenario to Sam and that Dave had gone rogue after the battle so only he and Juan would be expecting money, to which Sam complied. He payed all three a lot of Money, and Juan even left to begin his new Gang in New Austin which Sam funded entirely. Colm and Micah retired to the Grizzlies, a Mountain Range in Ambarino which they could essentially rule over. Satisfied with his victory, Sam headed back to Saint Denis to continue working at the Police Force. However, the current Mayor noticed that Sam had been using a lot of money and was frequently absent and began questioning his intention, to which Sam was worried that he would be demoted and his corruption would be outed.

He continued correspondence with Micah and Colm, and the two alerted him that they had captured one of Isaac's old Gang Members in the Mountains, Mason Clerk. They sent O'Driscolls to deliver Mason to Sam, and after meeting Mason and realising that he wasn't scared of Micah and Colm, nor was he angry about Isaac's Death, Sam offered him a job and protection. He helped Mason work his way through politics in the City and at the next election, he had Mason run for Mayor. Sam rigged the election so that Mason would win, essentially having a Mayor that he could manipulate and one that he was certain wouldn't demote or expose him. Mason revealed to Sam that although he and Isaac weren't particularly close, Isaac had brought him one day to visit his son, who Mason was fairly sure was still alive. Although he refused to tell Sam were Finley and his mother Isabelle lived, he wanted Sam to be wary that if Finley was found by any of the other surviving Gang Members, he would come for them.

## Finley Morgan Series

In 1906, Sam received a notice from a patrol that he had around Mount Shann that people were spotted going in and out Hanging Dog Ranch - specifically a woman and a raven haired man. Determining that it must be Talia and Dwight, Sam personally went to make sure that they didn't get any further with whatever they were planning there. Using a Bounty Wagon, Sam founded his own private army and headed to West Elizabeth to kill them. When they arrived, they headed into the Ranch and began destroying it. Sam had the main house looted and when he headed upstairs, he was ambushed by Fernando Coyote, Isaac's closest friend and an old member of his Gang. Sam managed to overpower Fernando and stab him in the leg, kicking him to the ground. He then shot Fernando in the head, leaving his almost headless body slumped against a bed. After burning down their barn, Sam lead the Private Army away and back to Saint Denis. This wasn't timed incredibly well as Mason was hosting a party for New Years the following week and was worried about the group intervening, so Sam ensured that when the Party happened, it would be heavily guarded. However, Dwight and Talia did in fact infiltrate the party, this time with Dave Johnson (who had betrayed Isaac but disappeared quickly after his death), Sean McGuire (an old member of the Gang) and Isaac's own son Finley, now 18. During Mason's speech to the party goers, Sam found Finley sneaking around the house and hid around a corner. He waited for the boy to approach where Mason was and bashed him round the back of the head with his revolver, knocking him out. After this, Talia, Dave, Sean and Dwight were captured at the party and they were all knocked out. Sam had them all lined up in the Garden and by the time they had all to woken up, it was morning.

Sam paced around in front of them, lecturing them about their behaviour and how they should be punished for what they did. In order to prove a point, and claim further revenge, he shot Dwight in the head. Seconds after, Sam was shot in the stomach from behind and the Guards in the area helped Mason escape to safety. In the commotion, Talia, Finley, Dave, Sean and the unknown shooter escaped and Sam lay on the ground. He was pulled inside the Mansion by Guards and he blacked out. When he awoke, he was informed that that Mason had been killed by Finley, Isaac's Son. He was also told that the old Mayor would be returning, and when he did so, he fired Sam, still skeptical of him. Taking his private Army and what money he had left, Sam decided to head into The Heartlands where he set up a mercenary group to make money. Overtime, Finley and Talia took out Juan, Colm and Micah leaving Sam powerless to defend himself against them should they come after him. However, they were fairly certain that he was dead, and instead he decided to tell Finley and Talia the truth and invite them to his camp to have them killed and end the Bloodline there and then. He sent a letter to Hanging Dog Ranch in hopes they were still living there and after a few days, Finley arrived at his camp with Dave and Josephe, who was revealed to also have sniped Sam back in Saint Denis and be working with them ever since, and some reinforcements. With his men present, Sam admitted to Finley that he had Isaac killed due to what happened and payed Micah and Juan to betray him, alongside funding the O'Driscolls. He then had his men open fire, killing one of Finley's reinforcements and injuring the other. Before Finley, Dave or Josephe could stop him, Sam fled on the back of his horse, leaving his men to die.

Finley pursued Sam back to Saint Denis, where he hoped that somebody was recognise him and stop Finley, but nobody did. He scaled buidlings, ran through major streets and side allies, he did everything to escape, knowing that revealing himself to Finley was a bad idea. Hoping to escape, he arrived at the beach where he found a small boat. However, before he could leave, Finley dragged him out and they began engaging in a Physical fight in the shallow water. Their fight lasted a while, with Finley eventually knocking Sam down and aiming a gun at him. However, Sam managed splash water at Finley to distract him and then lunge forward and knock his gun aside, punching Finley in the face and forcing him to stumble back. Sam began gaining the upper hand, but once again Finley overpowered him due to being better at physical combat and half Sam's age. Finley tackled him to the ground and pinned him in the water, strangling him. Sam fought back, thrashing around to get Finley off of him but it was to no avail. Finley said something, but with his senses all consumed by the water, all Sam picked up was 'Isaac' before he was drowned.

## Trivia

* Although he is incredibly important to the series, Sam doesn't appear in the Isaac series and all of his actions happen off-screen. His appearances in the Prequel and Finley series' are both brief, but he still serves as the whole series' overarching antagonist.
* His story somewhat mirrors Talia's, as both characters are the reason that their Brothers dies, and then they do everything in their power to get revenge on their killers.
* By proxy, Sam has the most main character kills of any character as he had both Andrew's and Isaac's Death organised, personally killed Dwight Grayson and Fernando Coyote and due to his actions his own brother, his Sister-in-Law, Juan Ramirez, Micah Bell and Colm O'Driscoll die too.