Willis O’Neill was a Wraith who lived in the 19th century United States.
Biography[]
O'Neill moved to Hatter's Well in order to make a mint off hungry, thirsty and love-starved miners. Securing loans and recruiting women, he built the three-story building that still houses the saloon to this day.
O'Neill's only goal was to make as much money as quickly as he could; he toyed with the idea of expanding his saloon into a general store, but the manager of the general store was friends with the sheriff. He didn't want to attract undue attention to himself. Instead, he mistreated the women by forcing them to work extra-long hours and pay for their room and board, and charged too much whiskey. He had a few cardsharps on regular retainer who "drifted into town" on an irregular basis and took miners for all they were worth while giving O'Neill a percentage of the take.
Finally, five years ago, O'Neill decided he wanted to move back East and open a respectable restaurant sometime within two years. He needed to supplement his income, and one way he did this was to establish his saloon as the only place to get whiskey in Hatter's Well. O'Neill hired a group of cutthroats to attack a wagon train carrying whiskey and other supplies for the saloons; it was the last shipment of the season before the winter sealed the mountain passes to the east and west. By attacking the shipment and stealing the whiskey, he ensured that the Wagon Wheel was the only place the miners could get whiskey. (O'Neill claimed he'd stockpiling the whiskey for a while, and that he'd "gotten lucky." In truth, he was restocking his supply from a hidden cave several miles out of town.)
O'Neill doubled his whiskey prices, and the miners paid it. However, his envious competitors spread rumors that the reason O'Neill seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of whiskey was become he was watering it down. One night, O'Neill decided to raise the price to triple of what it had been prior to the hijacking. The miners, who already felt they were being ripped off, rioted. Although the sheriff tried to protect O'Neill (and was dealt a drubbing in the process), the saloon owner was lynched at the edge of town. That same morning, O'Neill had checked both his finances and whiskey stock. He was $300 away from having enough money to start his restaurant back East, and there were five barrels of his ill-gotten whiskey left.
None of the other saloon owners had predicted the circumstances that caused O'Neill's death - the intent of the barman who started the rumor about the watered-down whiskey was merely to damage O'Neill's business - but none of them feel any guilt over what happened to their less-than-savory competitor. O'Neill, however, feels plenty of guilt over the greedy, selfish life he led. As the terrified man felt the sharp pain of his neck snapping, his final thought was that if he could undo the wrong he had done, he would live his life differently.
When O'Neill regained consciousness, he wasn't in Hell like he had expected, but back in his room in the Wagon Wheel. O'Neill, who had been raised by strict Christian parents, decided that God was giving him a chance to right the wrongs of his life. He has now dedicated his efforts to making sure that the Wagon Wheel is run honestly, and that the girls who work there are treated with respect and dignity.
He occasionally has conversations with Ezekiel Hatter, and is friendly and outgoing toward any other wraiths who pass through town. He also warns them of the "devils" who live in the mines.
Profile[]
- Image: O'Neill looks as he did when alive: a lanky white man with thinning hair. He wears boots, black pants, and a striped shirt.
- Roleplaying Hints: You spent your life thinking about nothing but money. You didn't care who you hurt to get it, and you could never get enough. Now, God has given you chance to atone for the sins of your lifetime. It's not easy, though. The greed that once consumed your is still with you, and it tempts you to become your old self at every turn. Worse, your own personal demon wants to destroy the Wagon Wheel, now that you've gotten the current owner to run an honest establishment. But you fight it. Every day, you fight it; eventually you will have atoned for your sins, and you will join God in Heaven.
- Destiny: O'Neill is destroyed in 1962 when a band of Spectres invade his haunt, one year after the Wagon Wheel is named a historical landmark.
- Nature: Survivor
- Demeanor: Caregiver
- Physical: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2
- Social: Charisma 3, Manipulation 5, Appearance 3
- Mental: Perception 2, Intelligence 3, Wits 4
- Talents: Athletics 1, Awareness 1, Brawl 1, Dodge 1, Streetwise 3, Subterfuge 4
- Skills: Etiquette 1, Firearms 2, Melee 2, Performance 2, Ride 1
- Knowledges: Accounting 1, Bureaucracy 1, Business 3, Cooking 1, Politics 1,
- Backgrounds: Eidolon 2, Haunt 4 (the Wagon Wheel)
- Passions: Cleanse soul of sins (Guilt) 4, Expose the dishonest 3 (Shame)
- Arcanoi: Castigate 2, Embody 2, Outrage 3, Pandemonium 1, Phantasm 2
- Fetters: Five hidden barrels of whiskey 5, women employed at the Wagon Wheel 5
- Willpower: 9
- Pathos: 8
- Permanent Corpus: 7
- Shadow: The Freak
- Angst: 6
- Thorns: Aura of Corruption, Dark Allies 2, Shadow Life, Spectral Prestige 1
- Dark Passions: Corrupt the innocent (Lust) 3, Drive Wagon Wheel out of business (Hate) 3
References[]
- WTWW: Ghost Towns, p. 40-41