Deadlands
Here is the wikipedia link [1]
If I ran a Deadlands game it would be much less overt than the standard setting. Magic and all those things would exist, but they would not be common knowledge. From the first glance the world would look exactly as ours did in 1873.
Rules Snafus
Hey, look what I found! http://www.sonic.net/~dkjedi/deadlands/
The Posse
Reuben McRotch An ornery old cuss of a prospector who cant seem to keep his mouth shut about how he doesnt trust people, or his ex partner, or, well, anythin' really.
Jonah Benton A huckster from back east. Or at least he dresses like it.
Miranda Valentine A two-gun gal from parts unknown. She doesnt say much, she lets her six guns do the talkin'.
Other Available Characters
Wandering Bear A Shaman of the Peiute tribe. His entire tribal group was wiped out just a few months ago, leaving him their sole survivor. Even though he is only 13, he is determined to complete his visionquest and reunite his tribe and return them to their former glory.
lil' Tim McKenzie A wanderin' muckraker who just might be the one who writes that book about what is happenin' that nobody'll speak of. The tales livin' in this brain pan might curdle a double whiskey.
Father 'Silver' Hank O'Keefe A travellin' preacher who resolves to drive the devils back to hell by force of his faith and will, alone if necessary. He's seen 'em, but he has enough sense to keep to himself about it.
The Links that Fasten 'Em
All of the characters, as well as potential characters, have direct knowledge of the supernatural evil thats pointin' its bony finger at the world. All of 'em are damn sworn to do whats necessary to stop it, too.
The Setting
It is the world of 1873. Things are pretty much as you might see in a history book, with a few exceptions. The Civil War rages on, seemingly endlessly. Every time one side or the other seems poised to make a telling strike, something happens to prevent the conclusion from occurrin'. People are a little on edge; things are a little unnerving everywhere. Nobody knows why, but somehow they all know. The superstitious whisper about devils, or monsters, or things that cant be described. But nobody has any proof, nobody of any respectability has seen them, and no serious intellectual considers it anythin' more than wives tales.
Current Recap
After acceptin' the Agency's offer, the posse begins trainin' back in Denver.
The Mission
Its a warm afternoon when Agent Andrew Sykes invites the posse into his office. He is pleased with their progress, and is ready to offer them a job to do. Seems one of their field agents has been out of contact for over 6 weeks. They need to find out why. His last known whereabouts was somewhere in eastern Arizona, and he was investigatin' some religious outfit.
Wait, Arizona? Aint that Confederate territory?
Damn right pardner, damn right. This is gonna take a good cover story and some undercover work. But be careful, if'n the Confederates get wind o' what yer doin', its espionage, and that is punishable by hangin'.
Now that we have that out of the way...
The Trip
After some conversin', the posse decides that religious folk is the best cover story. They can be on some sort of pilgrimage, and it makes sense to visit other religious establishments along the way. Yep, that works all well and proper.
So the posse hits the trail, and for the next three days makes their way to the missing agents last known whereabouts.
Rancho Viejo
Its nothin' but a tiny, one-horse town of maybe 50 folks. They make their way to the local roomin' house and saloon and secure themselves some lodgin's. After checkin' in, they proceed to gently probe the barkeep about the missin' agent.
It seems that no one has seen him or anyone from the mission in weeks. Thats a mite strange too, considerin' they used to make it to town every two weeks or so for supplies and such. Its almost a two day ride out there, but the posse decides they had better hit the mission pronto.
Finally, They Arrive
Its an uneventful day and a half ride to the site of the mission. When they arrive, around one, the scene is still and serene. Deadly serene.
Cautiously they approach, guns drawn, alert on high. The compound is surrounded by an adobe, 8 foot wall, with a thick, log gate in the front. Lucky for them, its wide open. Did I say lucky?
Scattered around the inside of the compound are bodies and plenty of them. Old and picked, with some arrows stickin' in 'em all nice like. The compound itself consists of 5 buildin's, one of 'em a church. The others, well, we will see soon now wont we?
Mission, Proper
Once inside the posse splits up and investigates the buildin's. They quickly determine that they consist of a mens and womens dormitory, a rectory, a church and a dining hall. Each of them seems to be also full of bodies, and the dormitories have a selection of beds; some slept in, some not.
Jonah finds hisself in the church, lookin' through every nook and cranny all by his lonesome. He inspects the pews, enters the prayer room, and even hits the bell tower for a spell. But by far the most interesting discovery is somethin' found in the confessional.
On the floor he spies a gold double eagle, wedged between a chair and the wall, and partially under the wall itself. Behind the priests chair a concealed panel hides the entrance to a tiny room. After opening it, he finds what was likely a treasury of some sort. Now, however, its only home to $120 and a torn bag.
Reuben is in the mens dormitory, futtsin' around with this and that. He counts bodies and beds, and finds that the members of this sect had little for personal effects. He also notices a collection of scratches near the base of a pot bellied stove and that gives him an idear or two. He gives it a fine shove and it moves revealin' a passageway.
The Star of the Desert
Armed with this new discovery, he makes his way to the courtyard and signals the others. After a few minutes of waitin', the posse is reunited and alerted of the system of tunnels residin' just a few feet below. This leads to a resumed search of the others, and discovery o' four more tunnels: one in each buildin'.
Together, the posse descends into the depths below. After a thorough investigation and some cogitatin' they determine that the maze of tunnels creates a pentagram. They all seem clear, well, except the one beneath the church.
The Tip of the Starberg
Under the pulpit sits an altar, a horizontal, blood stained, symbolically engraved abomination of an altar. Reuben and his sharp old eyes notice spigots leading down the corners into blood stained grooves on the floor. Everyone is disgusted.
But Jonah, as focused as he is, begins contemplatin' exactly what they are findin'. After reflectin', he comes to the conclusion that some sort of summonin' ritual is goin' on here.
Its been a nice hard first night, so the posse decides to make camp here.
Little Indian Girl
During the second watch, a little something happens. Something I am sure at least one of the posse wishes they could forget. But between you and me, I doubt she ever will.
Jonah is up, keepin' watch on the posse as they sleep. Everythin' seems to be goin' pretty much as they would expect. Miranda starts to become restless; tossin' turnin' and other evidence of less than ideal sleep. Then, suddenly, she bolts up and mutters:
Dream, girl, crazy...laughing, doll, blood...AAAAAAHHHHHHH!
Immediately she is in hysterics. Reuben and Jonah do their best to calm her down, but it takes a while. Eventually its clear that she had a nightmare, and a particularly awful one at that. After some calmin' and a little proddin' from the others, she relates her tale o' horror.
She found herself wakin' up in one of the dormitories to the sound of a gigglin' child, and when she walked into the courtyard she could see fires burnin' all around. The shadows are eerie, and occasionally a dark figure darts from one to another. She can never make 'em out, but somehow she knows these are the ones who killed the disciples.
And speakin' o' the disciples, their mutilated bodies, fresh and bloody, litter the compound in front of her. Again she hears the laughin' and she turns to find a little Indian girl runnin' away clutchin' a doll. Somehow she keeps pace ahead, and even finds time to stop next to a gruesome corpse and touch the blood, still bein' all giggly-like.
That was it. Miranda couldnt take anymore and ran full steam up to the lil' gal and grabbed the back o' her dress. She pulled her away from the body and turned her around to face her. And when she did, it was clear her throat had been violently slashed. Blood drained down the front of her dress. Oh, and that doll, well its neck was cut so deeply that its head lolled back and forth as she moved. She was still gigglin' all right. Clear as day.
Past Recaps
What's Next?
Next Sunday: A trip to Salt Lake City (The City o' Gloom) and a walk down The Road to Hell.
Now that the posse are agents of the Secret Service all right and proper, the whole world is different.
Status
This game is active and weekly.
