ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤ ' it's no wonder every ㅤㅤㅤㅤ man in town, has neither fought, nor found you ' maria 'mari' lucielle stewerts / 33 / a trusted associate & right-hand woman to the vdl gang / low-down criminal / 'it's only a gamblin' problem if you're losing' / snake @ heart
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤas a child, maria never understood the world around her. not in a way that she was unaware, or 'dumb', but simply angry, & confused. in her mind, she would stay attempting to logicalize every single injustice, trying to make understanding of the countless instances she had faced. whether it be her mother's blame inevitably falling on her for her families wrongdoings, or her father's reoccuring ignorance in her views on life, she always felt as if she knew more than others, as if she understood the world in a way nobody else seemed to. she constantly found herself feeling like she was the only one with both a life and a mind of her own, both living & thinking for herself, and not for somebody else with a 'higher power'.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤmaria never liked the rich & powerful. that was something she never had to ponder on, she'd always felt that way, deep in her core. despite her growing up in a bustling, populated city, her youth was filled with days & nights worrying about money that had never even touched her fingertips, and being a witness & reason for meaningless wishes and unheard prayers for a better life. despite all of this, she found herself craving to be the same things she mindlessly & unquestionably hated throughout her whole childhood. but then again— can you blame her? living the life that she had, of course you'll want what you lacked. so by the age of 23, she found herself in the underground illegal gambling business. days & nights, she observed the rich & greedy men and women she both resented & wished to be one day. she knew she could— keeping watch of every move they played, every card they shuffled, all the winning plays, the seamless rigs before big games, both the anger after a loss, and the celebrations after a win. she played it smart & safe, watching from the bar, or the outskirts of the main tables rather than playing herself, getting a good look at what exactly she was getting herself into.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤten years later, and her experience with the business is completely different. after years of perfecting her strategies, she has found herself to be one of the best around, known for her seemingly-natural charisma, her genuine love for the game, making big, obnoxious, intimidating bets, and somehow— getting even bigger payouts. she always tries to make sure a chunk of this money goes to the poor & less fortunate, making her that much different from the individuals she spends her days & nights with. after a scare with the law, she decided it would be best to get a nice, unsuspecting day job nearby, just to keep her reputation(s) clean. when she saw the doctor's office in the town next over: valentine, was hiring, she immediately knew it was the perfect choice.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤafter about two months of working at the doctor's office, she had a run in with the infamous outlaw arthur morgan. he had just gotten into a fight with a feller named tommy from across the street down at the saloon, a fight in which he won— barely. maria strikes up a conversation as she patches him up which leads him to vaguely tell her about his life, & the gang. after a couple more questions, he also goes on to tell her about his distrust for a man named micah bell. after patching him up for what seems to be at least 25 minutes, she hears a knock on the door of the office. she sees two men from the pinkerton detective agency right outside. she discreetly tells arthur to hide, and walks right out of the room they we're in, almost unnaturally casual, immediately striking up a conversation with the two detectives. after a few minutes of talking, mr. milton, and mr. ross, write down names on paper, & ask her if she's heard any of these names, or seen any of the gang members they mentioned. despite them not mentioning micah, she decides it'd be a good idea to ask about him, as a gut instinct seems to be telling her to. after she improv's a story, & asks them about a "mr. bell", they go on to tell her that he had been 'heroically' helping them with their search, despite him being in the same gang they were restlessly searching for. she displayed faux relief at this information, falsely claiming happiness to know someone's helping them, and wished the pinkertons luck in their search. after they left, she called on arthur & told him to go to the gang and tell them exactly what he'd heard, though that went without saying. after some quicker-than-appreciated thank you's, he was off.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤonly three months down the line, and maria stewerts is one of the most looked up to, respected, & high ranking members in the gang. her firm, unshakeable role as the right-hand woman, her unexplained, highly consistent cash-flow, her charming, intimidating persona, and her undeniable saviourism from both the pinkertons and micah bell alike are all part of the 'heroic' woman she's both seen as, & claimed to be in the gang. she keeps this image up, despite her drinking, gambling, smoking, and the many other undeniably bad habits she keeps from the others. she typically goes out at night, coming back in the late hours of the evening or the early morning, always coming back with a nice stack of cash that she puts in the donations box as silently as she can, although, she usually just gets a hotel room if she deems her return as 'too late'. she leaves camp a lot more than the others, especially the women, which leads them to ask her about the things she gets into that they deem as 'adventures'. she, of course, would never tell them about her self-admitted, down-right degenerate activities, and though despite everyone here being a criminal, she has a image to uphold. besides— she doesn't need those poor girls worrying about her more than they already do.
