Precious Cargo
Precious is a con-artist and criminal with a flair for the dramatic
History
Early Life
Precious grew up on Long Island, New York to wealthy merchant parents. Despite her parent's dotting over her and providing her with whatever she asked for, Precious' rebellious and troublesome nature often saw her at odds with her family.
Precious's antics soon saw her in hot water and she found herself incarcerated in a reformatory school for young offenders. It was during her stay here that she would meet Ethel, Kora, Judith and Jupiter. The group formed a friendship that would last beyond their stay at the reformatory and sow the seeds of what would many years later become the Bouquet.
Growing increasingly bored with her family Precious made the decision to run away from home and joined up with a travelling circus. She spent many years in the circus working her way up from cleaning the elephant cages to becoming a talented knife thrower with her own act. Things would soon sour within the circus and Precious found her stay become less voluntary. For a number of years she remained held against her will at the mercy of the Ukrainian clown that was her captor. When one night during a performance the big top mysteriously caught fire with everyone inside Precious made her getaway.
Following her escape, Precious spent some time working as a parlour dancer and Vaudeville entertainer though her criminal activities only continued to escalate as she grew into adulthood.
Precious' trouble with the law would only be matched in her trouble with men. She had a brief, tumultuous relationship with a chemist during which time she learnt how to create and use explosives among other things. She would later date the son of a wealthy carriage works owner which Precious would burn down following him cheating on her and then proceed to date the father and owner of the now destroyed carriage works and its insurance pay out.
With warrants in Delaware for scams, Maryland for insurance fraud and Virginia for assault, Precious decided to make her way to Saint's Crossing where a clean slate awaited her.
Events in Saint's Crossing
New Cargo, Old Baggage
Precious arrived in the Crossing seeking new opportunities and soon fell into old habits. She quickly drew the attention of the law following multiple crimes and scams. It was during this time that Precious first met Marty Malone. Believing Marty to have stood her up on a date, Precious followed Marty into the Saint's Hotel and held him at knife point while he bathed before stabbing and robbing him and leaving him tied and bound on the floor. This would be but the first of many such interactions between the two with Precious's infatuation with Marty only growing as time went on.
Following a stay in the Sisika Penitentiary Precious would make a number of attempts to go straight including a period of time working as a telegram operator. After numerous unscheduled breaks, attempts to extort customers and even changing the contents of people's telegrams she was eventually fired from her position with the telegram office.
The Bouquet's Bloom
Boredom with the civilian life led to Precious contacting her old reformatory friends. The group would meet again in Saint's Crossing and their reunion would lead to the blossoming of the Bouquet. In memory of the conversations they would have as young girls to pass the days they each took up the name of a flower. Judith took the name Carnation, Kora - Hellebore, Ethel - Hollyhock, jupiter - Bramble and Precious would choose Venus Flytrap.
Together the group's criminal endeavours would grow tenfold with numerous robberies under their belt. Their activities did not however go unnoticed and would culminate in a running battle through the streets of Saint Denis following a failed attempt to retrieve medical supplies. The event would lead to a number of the gang once again finding themselves in Sisika with the remainder remaining heavily wanted by the Sheriff's department.
Upon release the group would briefly attempt once again to go straight, with the Desert Rose in Tumbleweed acting as the base of their legal activities. It would seem that civilian life was not in store for the women however and the group for the time being took leave of their association.
Precious once again found herself alone and this isolation from her friends saw her energy directed once again at the beleaguered Marty Malone. Upon hearing of the estrangement from his wife and his battles with alcohol following a series of unfortunate events, Precious saw the downturns in the fortunes of Marty as an opportunity to work her way into his affections with a new vigour.
After a series of bath house robberies in an attempt to gain Marty's attention Precious once more found her self behind bars. In an attempt to get Precious to turn her life around, Marty made a promise to to go on a date with her should she stay clean for three months.
Keeping Clean and Playing Dirty
Following her release Precious began the arduous task of remaining crime free. Precious worked briefly for the Rhodes Undertakers as a Makeup artist, then a jingle writer and finally as a pianist and performer at the Valentine saloon. As the end of the agreed upon crime free three months came and went and no telegram or date from Marty materialised, Precious' boredom with civilian life and restlessness got the better of her. Precious once again fell into her criminal ways and her position as a singer within the Valentine Saloon saw her falling in with the establishments owners, The Firm.
Under the Firm, Precious found her need for excitement satiated and her ever increasingly chaotic nature given direction. Precious would go on to take part in her first bank robbery along with a number of robberies and violent attacks upon enemies of the Firm. As the group planned an audacious train heist, tragedy would strike for the firm when one of its leaders, Ronnie Hurbert was killed by bounty hunters hired by a recent victim of their aggression. With the culprits still on the hunt for Fin and Macratty, Fin made the decision to leave the group to deal with the issue by himself. As tensions flared between the remaining members, Precious sensing a sinking ship quickly took her leave of the group.
Precious however would not remain without a group for long. Following a successful "job interview" with The Ten Tonne Gang who held a grudge for a previous robbery that she and the Firm had committed upon them, Precious found herself her tied and left upon a railway bridge but with a promise of work should she want it.
Along with Ten Tonne gang members Flyspeck Floyd, Dolly Dyer, Duncan Murphy, Reuben Roberts, Enoch Holt and Hank Hanson, Precious would continue her chaotic crime spree across the crossing seeking ever greater heights to her criminal escapades.
Damaged Goods
Character
Personality
Precious is very charismatic and flirtatious with a quick mouth and a flair for the dramatic who has little in the way of a filter. She is an incredibly manipulative person with little empathy for those around her and will often use others for her own gain and entertainment. Precious has shown herself to be an extreme narcissist and despite her habit of bending the truth for her own amusement she will often quickly confess to her many crimes largely through a desire for the attention it will bring her. Despite her many supposed attempts to turn a new leaf, Precious quickly falls into old habits time and again.
Appearance
Precious has delicate features with a beauty mark beneath her left eye and a curvaceous figure. She has bright blue eyes and naturally blonde hair though her hairstyle and colour changes often partly through boredom and partly through necessity to avoid anyone who may be looking for her. Precious has a natural flamboyance and her clothing tends to feature animal skin or fur often in large quantities, Most notably her leopard fur coat that she can often be seen wearing.
Relationships
- Marty Malone - Marty has arrested Precious on multiple occasions though this hasn't dampened her "love" for him any less. He has rejected her advances time and again though this seems to only have strengthened Precious's resolve and desire to win him over. Precious's obsession with Marty has escalated to her stalking him and waiting outside the Saint Denis Sheriff's Office in the hopes of encountering him. Their relationship can be best described as toxic.
- Justyn Thyme - Justyn was an ex-boyfriend of Precious's who assisted her in her crimes. Their relationship ended when he let her take the fall for one of their escapades which saw Precious being sent to Sisika.
- Hank Hanson - Precious and Hank have had a combative relationship with Precious robbing him on a number of occasions. Precious takes pleasure in being a nuisance to Hank though her recent collaborations with the Ten Tonne gang have seen them forming a more friendly relationship. Precious has teased Hank a number of times with the prospect of marriage though seems deterred by his lack of money and numerous children.
Trivia
- Precious favours throwing knives over guns and often carries a large number concealed about her person
- Precious hates dogs and once took it upon herself to rid the town of Tumbleweed of every last one of them
- Precious has a fear of rats and mice
- Precious has made multiple attempts to go straight but her severe lack of work ethic and natural mischievousness leads to her quickly turning what jobs she finds employment in into scams
- As a child Precious persuaded her parents to buy her a large dollhouse that her best friend had desired but her own family been unable to afford. Upon inviting her friend over Precious proceeded to throw the coveted dollhouse down the stairs before her and threw her crying friend out of her house. She refers to the moral of this story as being about "controlling the dollhouse".
Quotes
- "Oh no, I dropped my beans"
- "That's right, it's me! Precious Cargo!"
