Jasmine Baro
Jasmine is the former trade minister for Guarma who sat on the ruling council of the Guarman Militia
History
Early Life
Jasmine was born and grew up in a small village deep within the jungle along with her parents and two sisters, Maria and Mercedes.
At a young age Jasmine would experience the first of many losses in her life. One evening, while Jasmine watched from the shoreline, her father's fishing boat came under attack by a shark. Jasmine would watch helplessly as the shark dragged her father beneath the otherwise calm waters, his cries of her name the last memory of him alive. Her father's body would wash up on the shore a fortnight later, the bloated body filled with purple crabs. This would be but one of many lessons on the harsh reality of life that would shape Jasmine as she grew up.
Many regimes would come and go throughout Jasmine's youth and the upheaval that came with each change would leave their mark upon her. Though Jasmine weathered the storms of change for many years, they would shape her for better or worse into the woman she would eventually become. Non would do so more than under the harsh rule of the militia and the man known as "El Comandante" who's reign left a scar upon the souls of all who suffered under his yoke. Jasmine and her mother would be held captive by the oppressive ruler of the island and at the mercy of their cruel whims. In trying to protect Jasmine her mother would one day go too far and as punishment was gutted and killed in front of her. Jasmine held her dying mother in her arms. Eventually, like so many before, El Comandante's time would also come and Jasmine would gain her freedom. The militia's leadership would pass hands to yet a new ruler, a man known as "El Capitan".
Events in Guarma
Once Upon A Time In Guarma
When Jasmine's sisters grew sick, she was forced to make a trip to Saint's Crossing to acquire medicine that couldn't be obtained on Guarma. Jasmine was successful in retrieving the medicine though a series of robberies and attacks by local wildlife waylaid her return and by the time she eventually made her way back home, her family had tragically died to the fever that had befallen them.
Perhaps it was the trip to the mainland and seeing the opportunity that was ripe for the picking, or perhaps it was her family's sudden death reminding her of life's fragility, but something upon Jasmine's return sparked a new drive in her. Jasmine would spend the next weeks collecting the plentiful resources from across the island that she had noticed were absent on the mainland and prepared to set off once again across the sea to that foreign land.
Her trip successful and with the little money she had been left after her family's passing, Jasmine began expanding her burgeoning trade business. Rum and cigars under her Cangrejo Morado brand name were included into her wares. Jasmine would make many more trips and make a number of new contacts and trade deals between the Crossing and Guarma. Her growing business and its success began drawing the attention of the local militia and its leader Vasquez known to the island as "El Capitan". With success on Guarma came new challenges and Jasmine found herself drawn into the dangers and politics that came with doing business under the eye of the militia and the many less reputable individuals who found their way to the island.
As Jasmine's business and connections on the mainland grew, her usefulness would become more and more transparent leading to Vasquez offering Jasmine a position within the Militia itself as the new trade minister for Guarma.
To Live And Die In Guarma
Jasmine took to her new position of power and responsibility with gusto, seeking to use it to improve the lives of her fellow Guarmans and guard the future prospects of the island from those that wished to exploit its natural resources at their expense. Jasmine set to work instituting new policies to secure Guarma's financial future, including the institution of export taxes for non residents, the marking of certain items as contraband and the formation of the Guarman Trade Force Organization to watch over the docks and ensure her new policies were upheld.
As Jasmine began to settle into her new position, the winds of change once again blew across the island. Vasquez who had been missing for a number of weeks was officially announced by members of the militia to have been deposed and a new council was formed to oversee the Militia and the island consisting of its newly appointed ministers. Jasmine found herself now sitting as a ruling member of the nation of Guarma.
When Jasmine had first made arrangements for a group calling themselves the Bounty Hunters Guild to base themselves out of Guarma, she had met and grown close with one of their members, a man known as "Lockjaw" Jim. Over the weeks and months the two had grown closer and closer, their troubled pasts a bridge between the two melancholy souls. Lockjaw would reveal to Jasmine's dismay that he was a dying man, suffering from tetanus. The tragic inevitability of their love's demise would cast a shadow upon their relationship that only the passion they felt for one and other could hold at bay.
Jim in his efforts to regulate the hiring of bounty hunters upon the island would fall afoul of Delilah who was running Omens Bar and herself the hiring of bounties and handing out of coins to approved hunters. Delilah gave Jim an ultimatum, in penance he could leave the island, never to return or take part in a death match and let the island decide his fate. Jim, a man of pride and honour chose the latter rather than be separated from the island and woman he had grown to love.
As the date of the death match arrived, the island would gather above the fighting pit to watch as Jim and his opponent Clive, machetes in hand, began their battle to the death. Jim, a man who had always admitted he was not a killer would be struck down by Clive's blade, time and again. Jim seemingly refusing to die would get to his feet only to be struck down once more, again and again. Jim's resolve however would not be enough and eventually accepting that his time had been cut shorter even than he had imagined, he died before the people of Guarma that had been his friends, his killer, and his lover.
Jasmine, who had watched everyone whom she had ever loved die had now once more faced tragedy in the untimely death of the man she had allowed herself to love. Distraught at the harrowing demise of Jim, Jasmine fled the fighting pit and the people of Guarma, renouncing her titles and swearing to devote her life to La Madre. Jasmine would leave the people who had grown to look to her for leadership and disappeared deep into the jungle.
Character
Personality
Jasmine has a calm, thoughtful and pensive personality who between her bouts of long silences is known to break into tales of the islands history, beliefs and many mysteries. Jasmine can come across aloof and introverted, speaking only when necessary. Though she speaks little, she is always listening and watching those around her. Her cautious nature has served her well and she is oft among the first to spot deception from those who make their way to the island with self serving or ill intentions.
Jasmine is a shrewd business woman who is accustomed to navigating the dangers that come with living in a land populated by criminals and runaways, under the leadership of a dictator who's mood can change as quickly as the island's erratic weather.
She cares deeply for Guarma and its people, often growing irritated by those that come to the island seeking to exploit its residents and the natural resources it has to offer.
Jasmine is a firm believer in the divine and mystical nature of the world, being amongst "La Madre" the island goddess's most ardent followers. Her unwavering support for Vasquez may have been tied strongly to her belief in the rumours of his supernatural powers, having believed him to be La Madre's chosen protector of the island.
Appearance
Jasmine has dark hair and hazel green eyes like the sea of Guarma. The right side of her face is marked by three long scars, the cause of which differs with each telling. While at home on the island her clothing reflects the casual laid back lifestyle that is present on the island though can be seen in her official Militia uniform when carrying out her ministerial duties.
relationships
- Vasquez - Jasmine was a firm supporter of Vasquez's rule and believed the tales of his supernatural powers over the island. Jasmine believed him to be La Madre's chosen protector of the island. Vasquez would save Jasmine's life from a would-be assassin who had snuck into the old fort in an attempt to kill him. This event would go to solidify her loyalty to the island's benevolent dictator. With Vasquez's mysterious removal from power and her own rise in the ranks of the Militia it would seem that perhaps La Madre's favour had shifted focus.
- Herbie Coltrane - Jasmine maintained a close friendship and working relationship with the island's ambassador. The two often worked closely on island matters.
- Lockjaw Jim - Jasmine first met Lockjaw Jim when organising for the bounty hunter's guild that he was a member of to use Guarma as a base of operations away from the prying eyes of the law. As Jasmine got to know Lockjaw better she found herself developing feeling for the rugged bounty hunter eventually coming to the realisation that she had fallen in love with him.
Trivia
- Jasmine worships and is a priestess of La Madre, the goddess of Guarma.
- Jasmine is the producer and seller of the Cangrejo Morado brand rum and cigars that fetch a high price in Saint's Crossing. The name harkens back to the purple crabs that were found feasting on her fathers body the day he washed ashore after his gruesome death following an encounter with a shark.
- Jasmine speaks multiple languages including Spanish and English along with a passing knowledge of several others.
- Jasmine maintains a loose spy network across Saints Crossing, always on the lookout for information on those that may find their way to the island.
Quotes
- "In Guarma, everything has a price. Even information"
Clips
- Vasquez saves Jasmine
- Jasmine reminisces
- Minister Jasmine has ways of dealing with smugglers
- Jasmine laments Jim's fate
- Jasmine laments Jim's fate continued
