ITD WESTERN AU LOREDROP PART 2
/guys, you weren't waiting for this in vain
A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE SHERIFF AND WHY YOU SHOULD TRUST HIM
Skitzo is the sheriff of the Circle of Betrayal, the one who maintains order in the city and does everything possible to ensure its residents remember their place and the name of his horse.
A random and mysterious individual suffering from a multitude of triggers, just like in canon, and performing the functions of "killer" perfectly but not as a sheriff. Skitzo was appointed to this position by Idolatry simply because he killed Idolatry's hound with his bare hands as a strange, homeless teenager. Idolatry was impressed by this brutality and realized he would make a fine town watchman, and since then, he has been known and feared within and without the circle.
The sheriff is truly a busy man: his job is to police the city streets, even when the main danger is himself. During his shift, the city seems to die out becoming quiet for fear of encountering him and getting shot in the head for making noise. Crime is rare in Betrayal, as guilty criminals and thieves are punished cruelly and bloodily; Skitzo is selective in his executions. Then the city's residents — both mortal and demon — take to the streets and gather to watch the bloody scenes, for this is one of their pastimes. Even if they fear the sheriff, it doesn't diminish their thirst for cruelty.
Part of Skitzo's job is also to resolve conflicts within the circle but… the citizens prefer to resolve all conflicts among themselves, because if the sheriff is brought in, there's a high chance he'll kill both parties indiscriminately. Therefore with a completely free schedule, the sheriff is a frequent visitor to the saloon, and his appearance is difficult to predict. So the patrons sit as quietly as possible, knowing his triggers, and the bartender (the pig-bartender from the episode "Wild West") has become so accustomed to the goings-on in Betrayal that he's accustomed to his visits and isn't afraid.
Like in canon Skitzo has one flaw: he's practically mute. In the AU this is due to the advanced aphonia he's suffered from since childhood. His voice has lost its resonance and now he can only whisper. Even so, he's not very talkative, and few have heard his quiet hoarse speech. Besides his voice, another flaw is the fact of his origin: he's a hellborn (his past is murky and unknown, but one could assume the "perverted creator" from canon is his father who went out to get milk). But he's clearly not traumatized by a "sad past"; he's simply an odd character.
A good owner deserves a good horse, and Skitzo acquired one thanks to Idolatry. This breed of hellish beasts whose appearance almost perfectly mirrors that of horses, is common throughout Hell on earth, but not everyone can train them and caring for them is difficult: these "steeds" require fresh blood, are aggressive, willful and would rather devour their owner than obey commands. Skitzo wouldn't have earned the title of "Sheriff of the Year" more than ten times if he hadn't been able to accomplish the impossible — tame such a beast. His horse is "Forget-Me-Not," a demonic mare capable of revealing her body as a hideous flower of flesh, bone, and teeth. In her demonic form, she is a creature with a bare skull, protruding ribs, and the grotesque features. He has inherited the most stubborn and unpredictable demonic creature, which either disobeys him or begs for attention. He named the horse "Forget-Me-Not" because of her terrifying appearance, which breaks the psyche of mortals. The mare roams freely and comes running when he calls her—she dislikes being confined to buildings and smashes everything in her path, and also loves to devour living creatures.
The peaceful days in the Circle of Betrayal are constantly disrupted by a bandit – Little Dog!
This young man came to Hell a couple of years ago, constantly looking for an opportunity to commit robbery and challenge the Sheriff to a duel. No one knows who or what Little Dog is – a demon or some other creature – but the fact remains that after each death, he returns to a random respawn point close to Betrayal. Little Dog never remembers the moment of his death, is completely lost in time and feels like he's only been in Hell for a week. Skitzo finds this criminal both annoying and amusing – the Sheriff hates noise, but oh, how sweet it is to kill a noisy bastard with memory lapses. He's not bothered by Little Dog's constant respawns; it's become routine for him.
Little Dog is mischievous and reckless by nature, looking for ways to trick someone but only to fall for it himself and pay with blood. He's not afraid of demons, seemingly accustomed to them, considering them his equals and having the audacity to rob them. He's interested in the sheriff simply because Dog considers him an easy nuisance due to his oddity (Dog genuinely believed him blind at first). His memory fails him after the murder but he remembers some facts about Skitzo. With each death, Little Dog forgot his past life before Hell and all that remained of his memories was his real name (Matthew) and something personal. And if Dog realizes this, well, he dies a painful death before the next cycle.
To the townspeople Matthew or "Dog" has become both a legend and a local idiot, this clearly flatters Dog's pride as he's become so popular within a week of his perspective. He lives for a maximum of five days before being killed and beginning the next cycle.
WORM FROM ISSUE 1 WHO ARE YOU
/When resources are limited and you want to write lore, you can look at characters for a single episode.
Trematoda is the leader of the "Worms" and an Skitzo's old friend. Trematoda has a strict personality as a leader. He's often overwhelmed with work, which makes him particularly irritable and he takes his anger out on his subordinates.
"Matt" is a shorthand he allows only Skitzo to use so his voice doesn't strain. In reality, Matt can only be open with him because of their long history of friendship. Trematoda has known Skitzo since childhood, when demon lived on the ranch. Even before his illness, Skitzo would sometimes wander past demon territory, even if it was risky. They met by chance but young Matt warmed to the hellborn, considering him a friend. Even when the hellborn lost his voice, Matt communicated with him years later. Trematoda still doesn't know the full truth about why his friend lost his voice back then. He is rude, but can occasionally show concern or compassion. This is rare among demons so he often suppresses it, as such soft emotions are comparable to those of mortal weaklings.
Since Matt is an overworked person, he rarely crosses paths with his old friend, so in their free time they both indulge in various things —chilling in the saloon, fishing, and at the sheriff's house where situations like the one in the pic unfold:
No, Skitzo isn't depressed, he's just a slob at home and Trematoda being a "kind soul" helps him sort out all the junk.
For fun I drew all three of them from this post and now for some facts about each:
Skitzo can read and write, the problem is his illegible handwriting. Since Mephistopheles obliged the Sins to report on the goings-on in Hell, Idolatry demanded that his sheriff write reports; he even has a whole separate book for it. And when this book falls into the hands of Idolatry's secretaries, they are highly likely to kill themselves.
One day Little Dog asked Skitzo to become his deputy, and the hellborn agreed to let him work as a stable boy for a while. Dog's first task was to feed Forget-Me-Not… Matthew disappeared in two bites.
Trematoda had the misfortune of living on the border with Birdcage, and his new hobby became shooting criminals who wandered onto his property.
There's one last bit of lore left with Birdcage and I'll get it done pretty quickly.