Cort Strasser was the former Sec Chief for Baron Teague and sado-masochistic mastermind behind many plots against Cawdor's crew. He appeared three times: as the Sec Chief in Pilgrimage to Hell, as the leader of a group of formidable soldiers in Pony Soldiers, and finally as the leader of a group of raiders who travel by railway in Latitude Zero, in which he killed himself in an attempt to kill Ryan Cawdor.
Appearance[]
Cort Strasser was tall and lean (6'3" or 6'4", around 190 pounds), but very strong. With his bald head, empty black eyes, and a face almost devoid of flesh, his nickname was well-earned. He was completely insane and utterly ruthless; he had a penchant for inflicting pain and enjoyed torturing people.
He was tall and gaunt, wearing all black clothing. His head had a fringe of dark hair at the back but was otherwise bald except for a moustache on his lip. His skin is yellowish, the flesh over his face drawn tight, making him look skeletal.
Background[]
Cort Strasser was the head of security in the ville of Mocsin. He ambushed and killed nearly everyone in Trader’s convoy by attacking it using nerve gas he obtained from an enigmatic man called The Magus, or The Warlock. After attempting to use Ryan to disarm the boobie traps located on Trader's remaining War Wagons, the tables are turned and he is forced to flee for his life.
Cort Strasser, aka Skullface, was the sec chief for Baron Teague of Mocsin. He served in this capacity for about ten years, slowly drawing power away from the baron. When Trader and his convoy stopped in town to deliver arms to the baron, Strasser had the convoy nerve-gassed and attempted to kidnap Trader to coerce him into giving over control of the remaining wags so he could go investigate the rumours of something up in the Darks, but Ryan Cawdor and a group of friends managed to upset his plans and kill most of his men. They left him behind on their way to the Darks. (Pilgrimage to Hell)
He reappeared later after having taken over an predark museum in New Mexico dedicated to the 7th Cavalry. He read up on the cav and its leader, General Custer; after arriving at the fort, he took Custer's role and gained command of the ragtag troops, whipping them into a formidable force. His men captured Ryan, but Jak got him free and they fled with Strasser and his men in hot pursuit. With the aid of a local Mescalero tribe, they ambushed the soldiers and killed them all, but Strasser managed to get away (Pony Soldiers).
The third and final time the companions ran into him, there were in southern Texas, near the Grandee (Rio Grande), escorting a wagon train west. Strasser, now known as Skullface, had gathered together a group of coldhearts and was raiding settlements and convoys, using an old steam-powered train as transportation. They stumbled onto the ville at one end of the tracks and Strasser took all the civilians hostage, but Ryan, Krysty, and JB weren't with the group. They killed most of his crew, freed their friends, and chased him up into the mountains to the remains of a redoubt laced with quicksand. Strasser challenged Ryan to a knife fight on a high, unstable, bridge over a lake of quicksand; Ryan made the bridge collapse midway through the fight, and Strasser fell in. When Ryan refused to give him a quick death, he slit his own throat and threw the dagger at Ryan (Latitude Zero).