Cain Matthews

Born under an unlucky star

Cain Matthews (a.k.a. Cursed Cain)

Born in the town of Morganburg, Cain Matthews was born with a curse on his head. Born to poor farmhands, his mother died from complications during childbirth. A year later, Cain's father was killed by a stray kick from a horse. Orphaned at just one year of age, he was placed into a local orphanage. Cain spent five years in the orphanage, during which most of the children were adopted. As funds dwindled, the orphanage was forced to close. At six, the headmistress of the orphanage closed the Morganburg Orphanage and travelled with the remaining children to Blackstone.
Already sensing his bad luck, Cain snuck away from the orphanage just one year later. Growing up on the streets, he quickly learned to pickpocket. Cain spent three years scrounging together a living on the streets. He befriended other street urchins who took him under their wing. However, during a routine pickpocket, Cain got his finger caught in a stranger's belt loop. Turning around, this stranger was the infamous outlaw Stanley Clay. Smiling, Clay took the child under his wing. Clay's gang was the most stable home Cain Matthews had found in ten years of life. He spent the next ten years learning from Clay and his gang. The group was always on the run but Cain was always well fed and well hidden.
His next turn would come on his twentieth birthday when Morcan Roach stormed the gang hideout, killed most of the gang and imprisoned Stanley Clay. Clay had been the closest thing Cain had to a father. Morcan Roach didn't fire on the boy and instead suggested he find a job and go straight. Cain joked about becoming Roach's deputy. Roach, noting he was short one deputy, pinned the bloody star on Cain Matthews in the aftermath.
Matthews spent the next seven years as a deputy, dispensing justice across the harsh desert. However, he began to gather a reputation as being one of the only deputies to return. Despite Cain's skill as a lawman, Roach eventually had to succumb to social pressure and fired Cain Matthews. After he was fired, Matthews had three things with him that would determine the rest of his life: deadly skill with firearms, resentment at the law, and enough savings to buy a broken airship.
After purchasing a run-down airship, Matthews spent the next six months robbing merchant wagons and train cars. He was looking for supplies, valuables, ammunition. Anything that would keep him going. Soon enough, his exploits became noteworthy enough to catch the attention of his former boss: Morcan Roach. Roach had no idea that the newest criminal threat in Serrano was his former deputy. All this would come to a head in Cain Matthews' first major heist: The Blackstone Engine Heist of 1817.
Following the Blackstone Engine Heist, the perpetrator now identified as Cain Matthews was assumed to be deceased. The engine was reported to be destroyed. While this event forced the Rawson Railroad Company to close, other opportunities would arise for the Rawson family. Bruised and broken, Cain Matthews survived his dangerous stunt. Assessing the damage, Cain found the bulk of the engine was intact. On a wing and a prayer, Cain Matthews had everything he needed to set sail on his airship. Back in Blackstone, Cain's accomplice had sold him out to ensure their freedom. 
Cain spent the next three years healing and building a small crew. Once he was fully healed, his target was revealed: The Blackstone Provincial Bank. A heist of that scale would ensure he could continue hiding from the law for another twenty years at least. Hovering above the city, Cain's crew rappelled down and overwhelmed the bank staff. When the law responded, Cain made sure that Morcan Roach saw his face. Cursed Cain Matthews was, despite the odds, still alive.
Matthews spent the next twenty years robbing banks and running from the law. With every plunder, his reputation increased. However, twenty years of running had left the gang tired and spiteful of each other. Traitors grew more common and became harder to bury. Soon, Matthews decided to disban the gang. Their wealth was divided and Matthews retired to the farm his family had worked on for fifteen years. Plenty of people came looking for Matthews over the years. However, the old farm hand they questioned looked twenty years too old to be Matthews. Eventually, even the law forgot who Cain Matthews was. Word arrived to the farmhouse that Morcan Roach had died in his sleep and his daughter was sure to be the first governor of Serrano. 
Cain spent the last years of his life tending to his farm until one day he collapsed. It took his neighbours three days to notice. When they did, a very old contract was to be fulfilled. Cain Matthews' funeral was to be attended by all who knew him across his storied life. For some, that was only the beginning of their story.

One of the most infamous outlaws in the United Oshatan States, Cain Matthews spent half a lifetime being cursed and the other half cursing other people's days.

Character Location

Morganburg

Current Location

Morganburg

View Character Profile

Current Location

Morganburg

Species

Human

Life

1790 1865 75 years old

Circumstances of Death

Disease

Gender

Male

Eyes

Brown, almost black

Hair

Curled black hair, moustache

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Weathered

Height

6'0

Weight

100kg