Chester Frazier

Background

Chester was born to Leah Frazier as a sickly child in one of the many plant-less towns of Gunsmoke. This one was called Little Enora due to its place near the Enora Precipice; it was some back-water hick town that was decently bad-off and fully dedicated to worshipping the Eye of Michael since the EOM would supply it with resources. In return for these resources, the EOM would often take kids from for experimentation reasons, claiming they were being "sacrificed to God" in order to keep the town afloat.

Chester was ill consistantly as a child. Despite this, he grew up very loving and excitable; Chester as a character adores humanity and people, he loves talking and meeting people and simply living. But, unfortunately, he was very weak. His father was always gentle with her, so Chester has a good relationship with him; although, Leah, her mother, was distant, seeing Chester's illness as a punishment for herself for her own past mistakes. It is around this time as well that Chester happens to overhear that she would be very lucky to even make it to her thirties; it is not likely that he will live past the age of thirty. As to be expected, it is devestating to hear, as Chester wants to live his life to the fullest he can- but that life will likely be cut very short. This establishes something that will follow Chester the rest of his life: a time limit. Thirty is all she has. Somehow, she has to fit seeing the entire world into that time- because Chester wants to live, wants to see everything this world has to offer. It is unfair that he will not live long, but she at least wants to live before that time comes.

This worldview is firmly established- but is challenged when the town decides that, since he is sickly already, they will choose Chester as their next sacrifice to the EOM. Upon hearing this, his father- Alexandros Frazier- (Chester calls him "Pa" or "Paw") decided to grab Chester and get the hell out of town- a night that Chester remembers vividly. Alexandros argues with Leah that night, because Leah, fully dedicated to the town's religion, wants to give Chester up, but Alexandros refuses to sacrifice their own daughter ("You and I both know what they do with the kids we hand them"). This fight leads to the two's divorce: Alexandros leaves Leah behind and escapes with Chester, leaving Little Enora behind entirely.

From here on out, Chester is raised by only his father. The two of them were always on the move, moving from town to town looking for work. Alexandros did mostly blue-collar work (mines, carpeting, construction, etc), which rubbed off on Chester, who idealized her father: Chester comes to adore construction and archetecture and very much envies the people with the strength to do that full-time, as she wants to be able to build and do this sort of heavy-lifting. To cope with his inability to do so, he talks the ears off of any of Alexandro's coworkers and bosses, which leads to him slowly learning how to plot out building design, architecture, and all sorts of other things. Along with this, Chester also takes up the hobby of wood-carving, as it is something she can do with her hands that is similiar to what she really wants to do.

It's due to this roaming lifestyle with her father that Chester never really learned how to settle down. He's always on the move, but he often finds himself wishing she could settle down with friends or in a community somewhere- though, by this point, she feels unable to.

Years pass. Chester is still a teenager when she and Alexandros wander into the town of New Oregon. Chester at this point was still developing a filter- he still had problems with sticking her nose into situations and talking to anyone and everyone. Typically Alexandros got her out of these situations when they went south, but... this time, Chester wandered into something much messier: a group of outlaws were setting out to rob one of the banks in the area. Chester winds up in the middle of them, staring down the barrel of a gun, and... realizes that her death might come much sooner than it was supposed to. Terrified, he is, for once, silent.

However, Alexandros finds her and intervines: Alexandros tells him to go, that he will talk with the outlaws. The last exchange they have is Alexandros smiling and telling Chester, "Don't you worry, I've got this handled. ...I love you. We'll meet up when I'm done."

Chester runs. Rather than leave town, however, he hides somewhere nearby, somewhere where he can still view Alexandros and the outlaws. Chester watches, then, as Alexandros attempts to bargain with them and defuse the situation- only to be gunned down. Before her eyes, the man that means so much to him is shot brutally right in front of her.

After it is all said and done and the outlaws leave, Chester is left alone with the body. This death, which he was ultimately the cause of.

...Chester winds up having to bury the body himself. The two of them never had a permanant home though, so where is she supposed to put him that feels appropriate-? What can he give the man that protected and raised her? Chester winds up burying him on a cliff nearby, and, in the act of trying to give him something, Chester uses her skills he's developed to carve a grave. He finds a decent slab of rock and etches for days, trying to make it something special, something that can home him. When she finishes, it isn't perfect, but it is quite beautiful: it is intricate and decorated, a worthy send-off to the man she adored so much. To take a piece of him with her as well, Chester decides to keep the bandana that Alexadros wore everywhere, wanting to keep a piece of his father with him wherever she went, just like before.

From here on out, Chester is terrified of guns and tends to avoid people who are visibly similar to the outlaws that killed her father. If someone looks like an outlaw or seems like they would whip their gun out over anything, Chester avoids them entirely. Gunshots that go off very near him lead to a fear response.

Following his father's death, a few years pass by where Chester is simply trying to keep living. Seeing Alexandros die reminded her that one day, that is where she is going to be: dead on the sand somewhere. So, he focuses entirely on trying to live his life to the fullest: she continues traveling and talking to folk, trying to see everything he can before his time runs out. Chester maintains the connections that his father had, using those people to help him stay afloat, both physically and mentaly: people who like her offer her food and hospitality, which is really more valuable than money, right? That, and they are there for her in his grief in a way she takes to heart. People really are kind, aren't they? Even after what he witnessed, people are still so kind. That sticks with him forever. For extra change she sells wood-carvings, but for the most part, Chester relies on favors from people.

This shifts a bit when Chester comes across a town that has just been ravaged by the *Fifth Moon Incident; Chester sees the amount of people that were left dead by it and is struck deeply by the need of the people there. They need help. They need comfort. Chester, with his bleeding heart, decides to assist by making graves for all the people there: he uses the skill he gained in making his own father's grave to make graves for the people here, only taking payment in favors. Chester sees that this is a good, helpful job- it would keep her traveling and would allow him to help so many people. So, after finishing work in this town, Chester decides to make graves full-time: he takes on the job as a gravestone carver, dedicating his time to helping grieving people much the same way she was assisted after the death of his father.

Traits / Trivia

Relationships

Achilles: A very, very close friend; she has helped him through some of his roughest patches. Not only that, but he has helped Achilles comes to conclusions about himself and learn how to view the world with less hatred and anger. Chester often likes to pick on Achilles and piss him off, but it's all in good fun: Achilles is one of his closest relationships.

Jerboa: Jerboa is Chester's "darling". They are not officially together nor do they have plans on labeling their relationship, but its clear that they adore one another in some sort of queer-partnership. Chester absolutely adores this woman and thinks the world of her; once you get her started on it, she'll never shut up with praises for Jerboa's character.

Weevil: Weevil is another of Chester's close friends! Chester met Weevil through Jerboa, and the two of them adore this thing. These two have similar humors and, when left together, they have a tendency to get into shennanigans.