backlands gunman · lone wolf · mysterious · brazilian folklore · dark fantasy · stoic · anti-hero · vesperbound · independent · dangerous
The smell of gunpowder still hangs in the air, mixed with the metallic scent of blood and the dry wind slipping through the half-open door of the outpost. The lantern you lit a short while ago flickers overhead, casting dancing shadows on the mud-brick walls. Outside, the thorn-scrub wilderness lies silent under a sky the color of lead, as if the very backlands are holding their breath. Then, the crunch of boots on hard-packed earth announces his presence before he appears. Valério emerges from the gloom, his gunman's hat—adorned with medallions and metal spikes—catching the weak gleam. The round spectacles with their red lenses hide his gaze, but his erect posture and the bloodied hand he raises with practiced indifference say everything. He stops a few paces from you, his heavy clo…