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Chapter One:

Old Wounds

The Weird West is a strange critterand been witness to bona fide bush-burning miracles and ills of spectacularnote. Recently, you’ve seen more of thebad than the good and might bewondering where it’s all heading. Somefolk say that good things come to thosewho wait, but bad things ain’t that shyneither. You’re about to see both.

There’s change coming to the WeirdWest, and it starts here. Make the bestof it, though, because like everythingelse in Deadlands, it’s looking to bestyou.

The StorySo FarAbraham Lincoln, the old Illinoisrail-splitter himself, was a visionaryin more than just the standard

colors. He demanded equality for allmen and women, regardless theirskin, but he also foresaw things,

things that troubled him terribly. Threetimes in his life, even before theReckoning slithered into town andCalifornia was drier than an angelnamed Sobriety, Old Abe saw his owndemise.

The final time he received a visionwas on April 1st, 1864, when he saw hisown funeral — a troubling sight for folkof any steel.

Nightmare Come TrueThirteen days later, President

Lincoln’s premonition came true thanksto John Wilkes Booth.

The ugly affair unraveled at Ford’sTheater, during a performance of OurAmerican Cousin. The Lincolns arrivedan hour into the performance, stoppingthe production to a rouse of applause.Then the show continued, leading intothe third act where a great bit of stagetomfoolery usually riled the audienceinto fits of laughter.

Booth, however, timed his assassinationfor this moment. The young actor, lostin his brother’s and father’s giftedshadows, stared through a littlepeephole in the door. Just when theplay hit its funniest moment, Boothstrode through the unlocked door,raised his brass derringer and...

...the audience hollered out inlaughter. They never heard the shot, butthey did hear Booth shout “Sic sempertyrannis” (“Thus be it ever to tyrants”).After a quick tussle with MajorRathbone, Booth leapt to the stage andmade his getaway of a broken leg.Army surgeon Charles A. Leale, whowas present at the show, tended toLincoln’s head wound until thePresident’s personal physician, Dr.Robert King Stone, arrived. Lincoln diednine hours later.

Honest Abe’s GhostLeale and Dr. Stone tended to the

president during his last nine hours onthis world, cleaning and draining his

wound, and removing the lead ball fromjust behind his left ear. Nonetheless,blood loss and other complications didhim in eventually.

However, when Abe returned, at leasthe was none the worse for wear!

Lincoln spent the next few yearsmastering his manitou before pulling aLazarus. When he was good and ready,he drifted into the White House inFebruary of ‘73 like a lazy Virginiabreeze and sat down with PresidentGrant. The meeting wasn’t civil at first,mind you, with Lincoln nearlyfrightening his successor into apremature grave. Eventually, after agood dose spirits—the liquid sort thistime!—Grant finally settled down to astate of jittery and made a go atsettling the Reckoners’ dilemma.

It took a few years, but Lincoln, nowunder the habit of cultured cowboyAndrew Lane, A.K.A. the Ghost, tookover the Western Bureau, the Agency’soperation out west. Only a three-fingered handful of folk knew it wasLincoln, mind you, including AllanPinkerton himself and President Grant.

Back to the BulletOver the years, misfortune touched

those who had been at Ford’s Theateron April 14, 1864. Mary Todd fell intolunacy after surviving her husband andthree of her four children. MajorRathbone went insane over his belovedpresident’s death. He married ClaraHarris, who was also present at theassassination, and eventually butcheredher. Rathbone is currently rotting awayin an asylum, waiting to answer toSaint Peter.

But even many folks who weren’tpresent felt the effects of the greatman’s murder.

When Lincoln was shot, Leale andDr. Stone moved Lincoln to the homeof tailor William Petersen, who livedacross from the Ford Theater. AfterLincoln died, Petersen was left to cleanthe blood and tracked-in mud withnothing to show for it except one tinylead ball accidentally left on hisnightstand by the distraught surgeons.

After a suitable period of mourning,Petersen sold the bullet to a collectorfor a tidy catch.

Old Wounds 7

Over the years, the lead bullet madeits rounds among collectors and idle richlooking for some conversationknickknack for their socials. Eachowner, however, earned a strong dose ofnight terrors and eventually dementia.

Eventually, the bullet passed awayfrom reputable circles like a sinkingrock, into the hands of spiritualists andmediums trying to make their reputationby conjuring Lincoln’s ghost. It failed, ofcourse, because the ex-president wasvery much around and unwilling tomake appearances, thank you kindly!

The Grimme DetailsNow despite the good most folk have

heard of Reverend Grimme, the lies don’thold a candle to the truth. Grimme hasturned Christianity into a snake-oil pitchcomplete with the snakes still in thebottle! Reverend Grimme, founder of thechurch—or cult, depending on who’stalking—of Lost Angels is anabomination of the Reckoners.

His pulpit is drenched in blood andhe even reads his bible upside downhalf the time.

The Reverend Grimme gets aroundthese days, but you can’t expectotherwise from a power-hungrymonster bent of spreading discord andfear. Needless to say, some folk—including the Agency and TexasRangers—don’t trust Grimme as far asthey can toss him with one hand. Thatgovernmental scrutiny has proven athorn in his side for years and he’sready to do something about it.

Grimme claims it’s a strugglebetween church and state, of course.He spurs rabid anti-government rhetoricagainst both the US and CS of A, andhis faithful toadies, believing they’redoing right by the Lord, repeat hiswords like spiteful little parrots.

The Reverend’s PlanLately, Grimme’s been looking to

unburden one cross from his back byway of eliminating the Agency andAndrew Lane. Grimme knew AndrewLane was in fact Abraham Lincoln, andthat provided him with moreammunition than any worldly armycould ever muster.

By giving the spirit control of theGhost, Grimme knew it would sooneror later reveal the ex-president’s truefate. At best, the scandal would shatterthe Union’s faith in its own governmentand eliminate Lane as the chief of theAgency’s Western Bureau. At worst, itwould destroy the Agency itself andsplinter the Union.

Either way, Lincoln’s revenant woulddisrupt the very alliance he swore touphold and protect in life. And Grimmewould move in to fill the vacuum leftby the Agency in the Maze.

Boomerang BulletGrimme’s got more connection with

the Reckoners than Pope Leo XIII haspriests. Well a little graveyard birdwhispered in Grimme’s ear and toldhim all about Lincoln’s real fate. Like atrue confederate of Hell, Grimmeplotted and schemed a hundred ways toturn this morsel to his advantage.

Finally, he heard about Lincoln’scursed bullet making its roundsthrough the Eastern seaboard, fellingowners with its curse.

Grimme sent an Avenging Angel toChicago, where a spiritualist namedAaron Hennessy was foolishly loose-tongued with the local papers about hisrecent acquisition: Lincoln’s bullet.Aaron claimed he was going to channelLincoln’s spirit at his next seance andinvited the press to attend.

He earned the local headlines, allright, but with his brutal murder at thehands of Grimme’s minion instead.

A month later, another of Grimme’shenchman handed the bullet over to aSouthern deserter named AustinStoker. Stoker was to deliver the bulletto Andrew Lane through the six-chamber pony express. Grimme nevertold Stoker the significance behind theartifact, merely that it would unleashLane’s manitou—which Stoker neededto defeat his own otherworldly nemesis,the renegade manitou Knicknevin.

Grimme was hoping the bullet woulddo the trick, sending Lane’s manitou ona rampage. Of course, the Reverenddidn’t count on Abe Lincoln’s tenacity—nor his visions.

GomorraAndrew Lane and his cronies were

shacked up in Gomorra, a viper’s nestbordering the Great Maze. The entiretown was built atop a mother lode ofghost rock that served as a funnel tothe Hunting Grounds for the manitouKnicknevin. The Agency kept a fierce

eye on the town, as did the TexasRangers, the diabolical and inbredWhateley family, and a hearty helpingof other major players. The Agency haditself a situation just ready to explodeinto the next big war...and it very nearlydid!

Thanks to the Whateleys, Knicknevinappeared over Gomorra and violenceerupted like a lanced boil. You wereeither partnered with Knicknevin oryou faced off against him. Fortunatelythe latter forces, consisting of theAgency, Texas Rangers, and their allies,whooped the demon’s keister so hardall that was left was its skull. The badnews was they lost many brave menand women that night, and onlymanaged to give the Whateleys abloody nose.

During the big showdown, though,Lane “lost control” of his manitou,mostly thanks to Stoker plugging himwith his old friend, John Wilkes’ bullet.While the manitou and Knicknevin wentat it over an ancient feud, Lane—prisonerin his own subconscious—sufferedvisions like the ones in April of ‘64.

ForewarnedAfter the battle with Knicknevin,

Lane surprisingly reigned his manitouunder control, despite Grimme’s little gift.Nonetheless, his demon had taken itstoll. It was stronger thanks to the bulletnow buried deep in Lane’s gizzards, andwily enough to cloud Lane’s memoriesas to what was inside him.

The Ghost, meanwhile, saw himselflosing control again, and this timeharming both innocent folk and theUnion as a whole. He wasn’t sure whenor why it would happen, but he knew itwas soon. Rather than surrender to hisfate and ignore his visions like the lasttime, Lane took steps to prevent them.

Lane wrote a letter to President Grantand dispatched it by train. It explainedthe dreams and that, should his manitouescape again, it would certainly head forthe East raising Hell along the way. Ineither case, the Agency should be readyto put him out to pasture if hejeopardized the security of the Agencyor the Union. Unfortunately, Lane didn’thave the opportunity to implement theplan.

Old Wounds 9

Angel of MiseryAlmost immediately, Grimme knew

his gambit was only a partial success.He needed some extra ingredient togive Lane’s manitou full reign. TheReverend’s solution was to use a rockchip from his altar, enhanced by theHeart o’ Darkness earlier this year, totip the scales.

Two days later, an Avenging Angelrode into town with an altar-chiphidden in a crucifix, and Andrew Lanein her sights.

Grimme’s angel of misery, ReginaColeport, arrived in Gomorra at its worst.Buildings still smoldered from the bigbrawl, glass covered Main street fromthe rioting, while a nest o’ familiesloaded up their possessions to leavetown. Nobody paid the young womanwith two horses any mind, even aftershe hitched her mares in an alley.

Framed!She emerged looking like the

prodigal Whateley boy, Nicodemus —with the help of black magic. Reginaentered the Red Hill, signed the guestregistry under Nic’s name and asked forLane’s room. Of course the desk clerkwas more frightened of Nicodemus,given the boy’s reputation, andspinelessly did as told.

Regina was framing NicodemusWhateley by edict of Reverend Grimme.By helping Knicknevin cross into thisworld, the Whateleys proved themselvesa threat to Grimme’s future plans aswell. He couldn’t have individuals of thatstrength running amuck in his Maze!

Regina arrived at Lane’s room andassumed a different mask beforeknocking. Lane opened the door to finda pretty nun waiting. She graciouslythanked Lane for helping save thetown from the Whateleys, andpresented Grimme’s homemade crucifixas a personal token of esteem andappreciation. The double dose ofGrimme’s alter chip and assassinationbullet slammed through Lane like arandy bull and set his manitou free.

Worse yet, the bullet and chargedaltar fragment together gave themanitou greater powers than normal.That’s when all Hell broke loose.

A Ghost of a ChanceLane, under the manitou’s control,

drifted into his operatives’ rooms (he iscalled the Ghost for a reason!). By virtueof Regina’s black magic, he now lookedlike Nicodemus Whateley, and hecontinued the ruse by attacking theother members of the Agency. Lane’sfierce will stopped the manitou short ofkilling, but that didn’t make the spooks’injuries any less severe.

Meanwhile, Regina ransacked Lane’sroom,. She made it appear as though ascuffle had ensued., to put a few morenails in Nicodemus’ coffin.

Lane’s manitou knew about theletter to Grant and snuck out to thedispatch office just up the road fromthe Red Hill. He wired telegrams tooperatives in Sacramento and VirginiaCity trying to stop the letter.

The telegram was coded, but thedispatch operator saw Lane around thetime he was supposedly shanghaied. Hecouldn’t very well sign the telegram asLane looking while like Nicodemus!Afterward, he returned to Red Hill togather up Regina.

The two crept out of the hotel andhoofed it off to Sacramento to pick upthe letter. Along the way, the pair tookcare to knock down telegraph polesand wires so word of Lane’s“kidnaping” didn’t get ahead of them.

RecommendedReading

We’ve released this at the same timeas the sourcebook The Agency: Men inBlack Dusters, for a reason: the two gotogether like whiskey and a shot glass.You don’t have to have either to makeuse of the other, but they complementeach other nicely!

To get the most use of the Ghost’spowers, Marshal, you should have TheBook o’ the Dead. Also, Doomtown orBust! can provide all the details on the

10 Marshal

build-up to the battle with Knicknevinand the City o’ Gloom boxed setprovides a lot of information on SaltLake City, but you don’t have to haveeither to enjoy this adventure.

In fact, you can run Ghost Busterswith just the Player’s Guide to the WeirdWest and the Marshal’s Handbook. Thoseare just the supplements that can addthe most to your game for this hoedown

The SetupGhost Busters takes place three days

after the Ghost and Regina slipped outof Gomorra.

Obviously, this adventure waswritten with Agency characters inmind, but it easily can involve heroesfrom both the North and the South.With recent events in Gomorra, thelocal representatives of the Agency andTexas Rangers have temporarilymended fences—especially where theWhateleys are concerned. Or at leastseem to be as the case is here.

Good and bad folk alike died in thebattle of Knicknevin, with the forces ofevil getting hit the hardest. Doesn’tmean the forces of good didn’t getknocked about; they just pulled throughwith a smaller casualty list. The fightheavily taxed the resources andmanpower of the Agency (under theguise of US Marshals) and the TexasRangers in the area.

Regardless, with groups like theWhateleys still running about and theincreasing stream of religious fanaticsfrom Lost Angels itself, the Agencyand Texas Rangers need reinforcementsbadly. Neither side is strong enough toprevent a coup should some Evil-with-a-capital-E come to roost in Gomorra.

The OfferIn a perfect world, Marshal, you have

an Agency character in your possealready. If so, it’s a simple matter todetail him to raise a few troubleshooters

and head to Gomorra to reinforce thespooks there. The same holds true for aTexas Ranger hero.

Failing that, if at least one possemember has earned the trust of eitherthe Agency or the Texas Rangers, she’sapproached by a representative fromone of those groups.

If none of those is the case, amember of one of the appropriateorganization makes a “cold” contact withthe heroes. Both organizations are inneed of extra guns as soon as possible!

The Agency (or Texas Ranger) hero isauthorized to make the followingarrangements with his troubleshooters.Coincidentally, these are the sameterms offered a posse hired by a non-player representative.

Following a confrontation inGomorra, our forces there are alittle short-handed. While thelarger threat was successfullyeliminated, the situation remainsvolatile. We need fresh guns —namely you—in the area to helpkeep a lid on matters until wecan properly reinforce our folks.

In return, we can reimburseyou $25 a week, plus a $250dollar bonus at the end of the job.In addition, arrangements havebeen made for room and boardduring your stay there.

Agency members or Rangers are noteligible for this payment; this is justpart of the job for which they’ alreadydraw monthly salaries!

The troubleshooters are giveninstructions on how to find theirrespective supervisors: Cort Williams atthe Red Hill Hotel for the Agency, andCaptain Katie Karl camped outside oftown for the Rangers.

Kickin’ Off thisShindig

Before starting, there are a few thingsabout Gomorra you should know. First,much has changed since Doomtown orBust came out (with Knicknevin rearinghis ugly head and all). Here’s a quickbreakdown on Gomorra, enough to runthis adventure, though we’d recommendlooking through Doomtown or Bust formore information.

The TownWhen the heroes arrive in Gomorra,

they’ll notice several buildings burnt tothe ground, or completely razed. TheCollegium to the north is a bigger pileof rubble than the adjacent scrap yard.To the southeast lies the burnt downWhateley estate surrounded by a smallnest of tents. Just east of that are theruins of Lord Grimley’s Manor withdebris strewn about like a Civil Warbattle. This is where the fight withKnicknevin was heaviest.

The remainder of town doesn’t lookthe worse for wear. Shops along Crossand Main Street, Gomorra’s two majorthoroughfares, are boarded up from therioting. Broken glass and wood arestrewn across the boardwalks. The FirstBank of Gomorra, One-Eyed Ike’sWeapons Locker, Sam’s General Storeand Perry’s Pawnshop were the hardesthit by the mobs.

Everywhere else, there are telltalesigns of death and strife, from pools ofdried blood caked into the earth to thehourly train of the bereaved pulling intoElephant Hill Cemetery.

The FactionsNow, there’s a whole passel of groups

vying for control in Gomorra and not aone escaped the battle with the forcesof Knicknevin’s unscathed. However,we’re just going to focus on the threefactions with whom the heroes are mostlikely to become involved: the Agency,the Rangers, and the Whateleys.

The AgencyThe battle against Knicknevin cost

many good agents their lives. Amongthe roster of dead or missing are JosefRocescu, Mr. Slate, Johnny Quaid, Boom-Boom O’ Bannon, The Pennsylvania Kidand Melissa Thomas. To add insult toinjury, the Ghost’s recent attacksknocked out the remaining Spooks atthe Red Hill, leaving only Sister MaryJebediah unharmed.

Sister Mary moved the hurt agents toSt. Martin’s Chapel, now abandonedfollowing the death of Reverend SimonMacPherson at the hands of Flim andFlam. Sister Mary hopes the sanctified

ground will keep evil folk like theWhateleys at bay. Dr. Reginald Bransonis tending to the badly injured Spooks—which means the Sweetrock Miningcompany is well informed about thestate of the “U.S. Marshals!”

Only Cort Williams recovered thus far,thanks to Sister Mary’s lay on hands,but he saw Nicodemus Whateley attackhim. Unfortunately, Sister Mary failedher next attempt at miraculous healingand was seriously injured as a result.She’s under orders from Cort to not tryany further healing until she recovers.

Gomorra, CaliforniaThe East End,The East End,The East End,The East End,The East End,

After KnickneAfter KnickneAfter KnickneAfter KnickneAfter Knicknevin’vin’vin’vin’vin’s Rampages Rampages Rampages Rampages Rampage

Red Hill Hotel

Pacific MazeRail Station

TTTTTo Sacramentoo Sacramentoo Sacramentoo Sacramentoo Sacramento

TTTTTo Shan Fano Shan Fano Shan Fano Shan Fano Shan Fan

Elephant HillCemetary

Hill S

trHill S

trHill S

trHill S

trHill S

treeteeteeteeteet

The Ruins oftheWhateley Estate

The Texas RangersThe Texas Rangers are saddled with

their own set of troubles. Among thedead and missing are Zeke Beauchamp,Tombstone Frank, Danny Hamilton andBartholomew Prospectus. Katie Karl, thepresiding captain, is short on manpowerand desperate for help.

On the other hand, Captain Karlmade some important friends in theSioux Union when she had JosephEyes-Like-Rain’s body returned to theIndians following his death in battle.

She also knows the Ghost isHarrowed after seeing his manitouemerge in the fight against Knicknevin,but she keeps this tidbit to herself. Shewants to end the friction between theUnion and Confederacy, and knows herknowledge could do more harm thangood. She trusts Andrew Lane, however,despite his Harrowed state.

She’d like the opportunity to extendthe olive branch, but her hands are tiedby her loyalties to the Confederacy.

The WhateleysSome folks are just plain sinners;

others, like the Whateleys, give sinnersa bad name. The Whateleys are aninbred household who kept theirwealthy estates and black arts strictlywithin the family.

Centuries of a stagnant gene poolhas taken its toll. Each progressivegeneration furthered its understandingof the maleficent disciplines of themanitou, but at cost to physical andmental well-being. There isn’t oneWhateley who isn’t touched by aninfirmity in some capacity or another.

The Whateleys served Hell forcenturies, most recently through abargain with Knicknevin. They fulfilledtheir part of the deal, but the manitouwho failed.

His defeat nearly broke the family’sstrength in Gomorra with the deaths ofeleven members (including thematriarch Wilhelmina) and thedestruction of their estate. Likecockroaches, though, they’re stillscurrying around, plying their evil trade.

Everyone in Gomorra knows theWhateleys are cursed, but few have thepower to confront them. The fight withKnicknevin took the wind out of a lotof folks; destroying the rest of theWhateleys would take far more effortthan what good people could muster.

Fortunately, the Whateleys aren’tmaking many public appearances thesedays. They’re staying hidden in a mine-shaft—protected by the walkin’ dead.Only Nicodemus visits town with anyregularity, spouting silver-tonguedclaims of his family’s innocence andslander on the part of the governmentsof both North and South.

In spite of their absence, theWhateleys are quite up on events inGomorra, thanks to their newestmember, Gabriel.

An Odd BirdWell-versed in ornithology, Gabriel

researched any legend dealing with thereputed supernatural significancebehind birds. Gabriel eventually entereda pact with a manitou who promisedhim power over birds if Gabriel servedas the manitou’s host. He poisoned

himself with cyanide and arose a fewdays later, surprisingly in control of hismanitou and with dominion over birds.

Gabriel spent the next few yearswandering the Maze before stumblingonto Gomorra and Nicodemus.Nicodemus immediately recognized thepotential of Gabriel’s talents and kepthim hidden until Wilhelmina andKnicknevin’s recent demise.

Gabriel controls a murder of thirty orso crows. They hover around Gomorra,though most folk figure these carrioncame to feast on the aftermath of theKnicknevin fight. Nobody’s gotten closeenough to realize the crows are deadthemselves and in various states ofdecomposition. Through his crowminions Gabriel keeps an eye onGomorra for Nicodemus.

Gabriel doesn’t make a personalappearance in this adventure, but he’sout there watching the posse. He’s oneof Nicodemus’ aces-in-the-hole for thetime being.

The CavalryArrives

Gomorra sits on the edge of theGreat Maze, a short detour from themiddle nowhere. Getting there’s simple,whether through the southern trailcoming up from Shan Fan, or thePacific Maze rail to Sacramento. Forthose loco enough to sail in throughthe Great Maze, the Gomorra Docks arealso open. Needless to say, the journeyalone has enough adventure to kill thethrill seekers and entertain the fools.

When the posse reaches Gomorra,the townsfolk greet its arrival withfatigued indifference. They’re too tiredto look suspicious—or even concerned;the fight with Knicknevin drained theirspirit. Whatever happened in Gomorrainvolved many deaths and scores ofcrows perched on roof ledges waitingfor more to die.

Townsfolk answer most questionswith a head nod, grunt, or dumb-founded blink. Nobody’s talking aboutthe fight with Knicknevin; you wereeither there or you weren’t, and,obviously, the heroes weren’t.

The open saloons are also doing briskbusiness, but most wakes seem livelycompared to these mausoleums.Nobody’s in the Fat Chance or NewMoon saloons to socialize. They’re thereto pickle their brains and forget.

Union IntroductionsThe heroes are already booked at the

Red Hill Hotel. When they arrive, theskittish desk clerk, John Paytonson,informs them that Cort Williams andthe other “US Marshals” are currently atSt. Martin’s Chapel, recovering fromtheir wounds. John doesn’t reveal muchmore, saying that Sister Mary Jebediahalready warned him to keep his mouthshut until the US Marshals concludedtheir investigation.

Unless the heroes prove they’re U.S.Marshals themselves, John only tellsthem somebody bushwhacked CortWilliams and the others “real ugly like.”He adds Sister Mary Jebediah has moreinformation, and she’s holed up at St.Martin’s Chapel.

Chapter One RoundupChapter One RoundupChapter One RoundupChapter One RoundupChapter One Roundup

Near the beginning of each chapter, you’ll finda Chapter RoundupChapter RoundupChapter RoundupChapter RoundupChapter Roundup like this one, Marshal. Init, we’ll give you a quick down-and-dirty on theaction that takes place in the chapter.

The CaThe CaThe CaThe CaThe Cavvvvvalry Arrivalry Arrivalry Arrivalry Arrivalry Arrives.es.es.es.es. Here the posse arrivesin Gomorra and learns the reason they’ve beensummoned. The rest of the chapter is prettyfree-form, allowing the posse to wander thetown and gather clues.

About TAbout TAbout TAbout TAbout Tooooown. wn. wn. wn. wn. This section is dedicated tovarious locations and folks the posse may visitin their investigation.

Somethin’ Ain’t Right...Somethin’ Ain’t Right...Somethin’ Ain’t Right...Somethin’ Ain’t Right...Somethin’ Ain’t Right... At some point, theposse meets with Nicodemus Whateley, leaderof the Gomorra Whateleys. He’s the primesuspect, but innocent—of these charges anyway.Nicodemus is as interested to the heroes’motives and information as they are to him.Anything that hurts the Agency is good for theWhateleys!

14 Marshal

The clerk is nervous because he toldNicodemus (Regina) where to findLane’s room. John thinks he’s in a worldof trouble with the Marshals and that’senough incentive for the little weasel tokeep his trap shut.

Once at the chapel, Cort Williamsimmediately tasks the heroes withfinding the Ghost. He can’t risk chasingdown the matter himself—things inGomorra are too dicey right now. He alsowants the posse to build a solid caseagainst the kidnappers (presumably, theWhateleys) so it doesn’t stink of agrudge match should the law becomeinvolved in the matter.

For more information on what theAgency knows, see the entry on St.St.St.St.St.Martin’Martin’Martin’Martin’Martin’s Chapels Chapels Chapels Chapels Chapel in About TAbout TAbout TAbout TAbout Tooooown.wn.wn.wn.wn.

ConfederateIntroductions

Although not as dandy as the RedHill, the Texas Rangers have a nicecamp well away from the horse andhuman stink of Gomorra. Just north ofthe Rangers is the Sioux Nation, butKatie’s first warning is to leave thenatives to their own affairs. With theloss of their leader, Joseph Eyes-Like-Rain, the Sioux Nation has been testythese past few days.

Only Captain Karl has sanction towalk among the Indians, seeing as howshe consoled Joseph in his final hoursand delivered his body to the Sioux forproper burial.

Captain Karl gets right to the point.Two days ago, somebody ambushedAgency members posing as USMarshals at the Red Hill Hotel. Missingis Andrew Lane, the head of theAgency’s Western Bureau.

The heroes have time to shake thesand from their boots and grab somegrub from the chuck wagon. After thatKatie wants them investigating thematter. She wants Lane alive.

For more on what Captain KarlKnows, see the Ranger EncampmentRanger EncampmentRanger EncampmentRanger EncampmentRanger Encampmententry under About TAbout TAbout TAbout TAbout Tooooownwnwnwnwn, below.

About TownNow that they’ve received their

assignments, the posse is going to needto roam about town a bit and gatherinformation. Below are the locationswhere they find important clues, but ifyou’re using Doomtown or Bust!, feelfree to tap into any of the town’s locales.

Dispatch OfficeAlthough we’ve listed it first

alphabetically, this is likely to be aposse’s last stop in town,. The chiefoperator is Sandra Harris, a womanwith photographic recollection and theability to communicate in eightlanguages including French, German,Sioux and Mandarin Chinese. Sandra isa plain woman with blond hair and abook by her side. She’s currentlyimproving her Sioux.

With the lines down around Gomorra,Sandra is waiting for news of repairsthat have yet to come. She has therecord of Lane’s transaction as well asthe time it was requested and sent.

The following clues can be obtainedwith the listed roll. A hero can onlyattempt each roll once, but get all thelisted information for TNs equal to orless than his roll. In other words, if acowpoke rolls a 9 on his overawe, hegets both tidbits.

Overawe or persuasion: Fair (5) TN.Lane came in three days ago anddispatched a message. Lane arrived at3:42 PM. The message was promptlysent two minutes afterwards at Lane’saggressive insistence. Sandra sent itpersonally. Lane seemed anxious andwas short with the dispatch operator.He barely kept his temper in check.When he finished, he tore out of theoffice in a rush.

Overawe or persuasion: Hard (9) TN.The message was sent to a Faisal ibnSimkir ibn Shatar Muhammad inSacramento and to Virgil Constance inVirginia City. Although Lane took thecopy of the message, Sandra’s memoryhas a perfect copy stored. It read:

willow of arrive virginia thepackage city in grandpas urgentstop gift sacramento to peachesrind reclaim or will transport

Sandra admits it doesn’t make muchsense. It’s actually a Stager cipher,detailed on page 62 of The Agency: Menin Black Dusters sourcebook. Operativeswho have access to GovernmentPamphlet 28-51A detailed in that bookcan use that knowledge to translate it.Other cowpokes have to make anIncredible (11) professional: cryptology(based on Smarts) roll to crack the code.

When translated, it reads:Urgent. Stop transport of

grandpas gift. Will arrive inSacramento or Virginia City toreclaim the package.

The Fat ChanceSaloon

Charlie Landers is the mouth and earsof Gomorra, and a good friend to manyfolks. Nothing happens in town withouthim eventually sniffing it out. He isn’tnosey. He’s just a trustworthy fellow.

Regardless, Charlie can keep hissecrets bottled if need be, and if hedoesn’t want to share them, he won’t.Anyone forcing the issue will findthemselves facing a mob of Charlie’ssupporters—namely most of Gomorra.

Charlie heard about the attacks atRed Hill. He knows folks suspectNicodemus on account of what John

Paytonson said (John spoke to a friend,and wouldn’t you know it, it spreadfrom there), but Charlie isn’t so sureNicodemus was responsible. Thefollowing tips cost two drinks apiece, bythe way—no rolls necessary.

Nicodemus is too slippery ason-a-bitch to sign hisinnocence away in some hotelregistry. He’s too smart forsomething that stupid, no matterhow cocky he gets. (This oneonly comes up should the possemention the ledger.)

At the time of the attacks,Wendy Cheng at Fu Leng’sLaundry (facing the Red Hill)saw Andrew Lane hightailing itout of the hotel. Lane went tothe Dispatch Office and ranback to the Red Hill ten minuteslater.

Ranger EncampmentA posse working for the Rangers has

free access to the information CaptainKarl has; no rolls are necessary. Otherheroes have to arrange to meet withher, which isn’t terribly difficult if theylet the Rangers know they’re workingfor Cort Williams.

Years of working with the Rangershave given her a pair of naturally tightlips. Even though she’s interested inhelping Lane, the posse has to work toget the following information from her.

Note that only friendly persuasionattempts work on Captain Karl; not onlydoes she have guts of tempered steel,she’s as stubborn as a mule.

Persuasion: Foolproof (3) TN. Therewas a ruckus at the Red Hill Hotel.Somebody ambushed the five agents intheir rooms and kidnaped AndrewLane. The “Marshals” are at St. Martin’sChapel. Rumors around town sayNicodemus Whateley was in the areaaround the time of the attacks. Thatsnake is probably involved somehow.

Persuasion: Fair (5) TN. One daybefore the kidnapping, the telegraphlines to Shan Fan went down. Later, thelines to Sacramento broke down aswell. Nobody knows why, but theDispatch Office sent out riders toinspect the poles. They haven’t returnedyet. (Regina dropped the Shan Fan lineon her way into town.)

Persuasion: Onerous (7) TN. JohnPaytonson, the desk clerk at the RedHill Hotel was on duty when thekidnapping happened.

The Red HillHotel

Marshal, before the posse enters thislocation, see Somethin’ Ain’t RightSomethin’ Ain’t RightSomethin’ Ain’t RightSomethin’ Ain’t RightSomethin’ Ain’t RightWWWWWith That Whateleith That Whateleith That Whateleith That Whateleith That Whateley Boy Boy Boy Boy Boyyyyy.... . .. . .. . .. . .below.

The closest thing Gomorra has to“fancy” is the Red Hill Hotel. With overone hundred rooms, it sees moretravelers than the local rail station.

After the recent attacks on itsguests, the hotel management is eagerto please any investigators. They’vekept the six rooms sealed anduntouched until the “US Marshals”concluded their investigation. Accordingto public perception, Andrew Lane, CortWilliams, and the others were goodfriends of the two Marshals (RaymondArmstrong and Nelson Roberts).

Andrew Lane’s RoomLane’s room is a simple affair with a

comfortable bed, washbasin, writingdesk and dresser. The bed is disheveledand the washbasin is tipped over. Thedesk, which normally rests against thewall, is askew, with its cargo of quills,inks and papers spilt on the floor.

Heroes scouring the room forevidence can make search and trackin’rolls

Trackin’: Fair (5) TN. There’s ink onthe floor, but it looks like someone setthe bottle down and let it empty. Thereare no splatter marks from the ink orblood. Nobody tracked through the inknor across the papers. It’s too clean.

Search: Onerous (7) TN. Lane’straveling bags are missing, as are someclothing and his Stetson if the emptyhooks and drawers are a clue. His guns,ammunition, and holster are also gone.

Walks-In-FootprintsWhen the posse leaves Lane’s room,

it finds Walks-in-Footprints, theTsimshian intermediary between theSioux Union and Gomorra, waiting withinterest in the hallway. Wearing a mix

Old Wounds 17

of Western and Indian clothing, hespeaks with excellent diction andcultured bearing.

His room is two down from Lane’s.He heard the heroes and wonders ifthey had any news concerning Lane. Ifany hero is a Texas Ranger, he’sespecially helpful; reduce thepersuasion TNs below by one level.

Walks-in-Footprints was presentwhen Lane vanished. On successfuloverawe or persuasion rolls as listedbelow, the heroes learn the following:

Fair (5) TN: On the day of thekidnapping, Walks-in-Footprints lookedout from his room to see a young nun—not Sister Mary—speaking to Lane.Footprints minded his own business,but heard Lane’s door close followed bymuffled noises.

Onerous (7) TN: Walks-in-Footprintsdidn’t hear sounds of struggle or fallingfurniture that would account for thecondition of Lane’s room.

Hard (9) TN: He never heard theyoung woman leave Lane’s roomconsidering she would have gone pasthis door on her way out. He did hearmovement from two people leavingthirty minutes later, though.

Other Agent RoomsThe same situation played itself out

with each attack. Lane drifted into therooms and surprised each agent. Thehotel was mostly empty at the time, sofew heard the ruckus. Those who didknew Gomorra well enough to mindtheir own affairs.

Lane tore into each person with hisclaws, leaving them a bleeding mess onthe floor or in bed. The rooms don’thold much aside from the dried poolsof blood or tipped furniture.

If the heroes make a Fair (5) searchrolls in the rooms, they find terribleclaw marks tearing into furniture andwood. Whatever it was had five clawson each hand—or paw.

The Desk ClerkJohn Paytonson is a nervous little

runt caught in the middle of a badsituation. Sister Mary gave him theverbal thrashing of a lifetime whilewaving a shotgun in his face. Lying

when she initially confronted himdidn’t help his case, but Nicodemus is afrightening man.

Frightening enough that John almostpreferred making an enemy of the Lordrather than crossing paths with theWhateley offspring.

Now that the damage is done, John isa walking case of the jitters. He jumpsat every noise and hurries pastshadows. Following Sister Mary’sthreats, he keeps what he knows tohimself. With a bit of cajoling, though,he opens his mouth faster than theposse can blink.

When questioned about Nicodemus,John tells his version of the truth. Johnisn’t deceitful, but Regina’s disguisewas good. It wasn’t flawless, however,because Regina was relying on a phototo form her spell (detailed in Chapter 4.).

There were some imperfections tothe disguise that John remembers, ifthe heroes encourage rather thanfrighten the young clerk. The heroeslearn the listed information accordingto their rolls.

Overawe or persuasion: Onerous (7)TN. Two days ago, at 3:20 PM,Nicodemus entered the Red Hill Hotel,signed in and asked for Andrew Lane’sroom. John knows the specific timebecause Nicodemus signed it in theregistry under “visitor.”

Overawe: Hard (9) TN. Nicodemuswent to Lane’s room unescortedbecause he scared John. John never saweither man leave, though they couldhave exited from the rear of the hotel.

Persuasion: Onerous (7) TN. Therewas something odd about Nicodemus.He seemed dour, not his usual cheeryself. John’s never seen Nicodemus notsmiling.

Persuasion: Hard (9) TN. Nicodemusfelt all wrong somehow. He seemedtaller and his hair was too red. He triedsharing that bit of information withSister Mary, but she wasn’t listening. Itwas Nicodemus as far as she wasconcerned.

18 Marshal

Persuasion: Incredible (11) TN.Nicodemus wasn’t shuffling his cards.He didn’t have his trademark deck inhand. John has never seen Nicodemuswithout his cards.

Any hero examining the ledger shouldmake a Hard (9) TN Cognition or Fair (5)trade: forgery roll. If she succeeds, shenotes Nicodemus’ signature is a forgery.People have a flair and style whensigning. Whoever penned “NicodemusWhateley” was slow and hesitant likethey were unfamiliar with their ownname. If the heroes have Nicodemus’signature to crosscheck against thename in the registry, the Cognition rollbecomes Fair (5).

St. Martin’sChapel

St. Martin’s Chapel is a small,reserved house of God nestled betweenGomorra’s dens of inequity. It served asfiery Simon MacPherson’s pulpit beforehis demise; until a replacement isfound, St. Martin’s is closed She and theremaining agents are resting in back.

Cort Williams screens all visitors,turning the majority away. He attendsSister Mary when she needs to enterthe chapel to speak with importantvisitors like the posse.

Sister Mary is badly hurt. Her torsoand arms are bandaged tightly, and shewalks with the help of Cort Williams.If asked about her condition, she’llmerely say it’s the “hazards of healin’the unfaithful,” at which point Williamslooks flustered and embarrassed.

If the heroes are affiliated with theAgency, Sister Mary and Williams revealthe following information freely.

Heroes get the best results frompolite conversation with the two. BothWilliams and Sister Mary are prettysure they’ve seen the worst Hell has tothrow against them recently, so blusterand threats have little effect on them.

Persuasion: Fair (5) TN. The Ghost ismissing and must be found. The

telegraph lines out of town are down,so Cort Williams hasn’t been able towarn the Agency of the events.

Persuasion: Onerous (7).).).).). The Ted Hill’sdesk clerk, John Paytonson, saidNicodemus Whateley came to visitAndrew Lane just before the attacks.The heroes should keep an eye out forNicodemus, even question him if theycan. They shouldn’t attack or arrest himuntil the remaining Agents are up to fullstrength—he’s obviously a handful!

Persuasion: Hard (9) TN. Two daysago, Nicodemus Whateley ambushedthe agents in their rooms. Thankfully,none died despite the brutality of theattacks. The normally prim and properNicodemus used his hands with savagefrenzy. He tore through furniture andagents like they were soft bread. That’swhy Cort is advising caution!

Sister Mary JebediahBecause of the foul hocus-pocus at

play, Sister Mary and Williams bothbelieve it was Nicodemus whocommitted the attacks and kidnappedLane. With the remaining spooksbedridden and Sister Mary injuredherself, neither can confrontNicodemus directly. They needsreinforcements, but it might take someconvincing to trust the heroes giventhe events of the past few weeks.

On a final note, Sister Mary doesn’tknow Lane is Harrowed.

Profile: Sister MaryCorporCorporCorporCorporCorporeal:eal:eal:eal:eal: D:3d8, N:1d8, Q:4d6, S:3d6,

V:3d8Climbin’ 1d8, fightin’: brawlin’ 3d6,

shootin’: shotgun 5d8, sneak 2d8,speed-load 2d8

Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental: C:3d10, K:3d8, M:2d6, Sm:2d8,Sp:3d12

Academia: occult 4d8, academia: theology5d8, faith: Catholicism 5d12, guts 2d12,medicine: general 3d8, overawe 3d6,search 3d10, tale-tellin’ 2d6

Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: 8Size: Size: Size: Size: Size: 6WWWWWind: ind: ind: ind: ind: 20Edges:Edges:Edges:Edges:Edges: Arcane background 3: blessed,

nerves o’ steel 1Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Intolerance -2 (those

who stand by and do nothing), loyal -

3 (the Agency), one-armed bandit -3(lost to Flim and Flam), self righteous-3

Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Grit: Grit: Grit: Grit: Grit: 3Blessed: Blessed: Blessed: Blessed: Blessed: Miracles: Consecrate

armament, protection, lay onhands, smite, spiritual backhand.

Gear: Gear: Gear: Gear: Gear: Double barreled shotgun (w/fiftyshells), a bible, a rosary and acanteen of holy water.

Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Sister Mary looks likeyour typical, eye-brow raising, no-nonsense nun. Doesn’t help herattitude that she cradles a shotgunlike the Baby Jesus.

Cort WilliamsAs the only conscious witness to the

attacks, Williams has little information.He was working at his desk when

Nicodemus ambushed him, and wascaught off guard by the savagery of theattack. He remembers only a great dealof pain, and immediately fallingunconscious afterwards.

Once he’s convinced the posse is onthe up-and-up, he may provide thefollowing information Agency possesget these clues without rolls as well.

Persuasion: Fair (5) TN. Anyonevisiting the hotel rooms had to sign theregistry. The Agency needs that toprove Nicodemus Whateley was in thehotel at the time of the attacks. Theheroes should secure that as a clue.

Persuasion: Hard (9) TN. Williams hasa small nagging doubt lingering in theback of his head. Why didn’t Nicodemuskill him or the other agents? He knowsCort got a good look at him, so whyspare his victims?

Somethin’ Ain’tRight With ThatWhateley Boy...

Marshal, this encounter should takeplace just before the posse enters theRed Hill Hotel to investigate the attacks.Because Nicodemus is keeping a lowprofile, the heroes won’t find himwandering around Gomorra. He doesintercept them, however, before they getinto the meat of the investigation.

When Nicodemus appears, any nearbytownsfolk pull away from him. Hecontinues smiling, however, with noevident malice or hostility in his stance.A deck of cards blur between his fingersall the while

Nicodemus offers his services to theheroes. He knows the posse is in townconcerning some attacks at the Red Hill,and hopes to clear his family name. Likemost townsfolk Nicodemus doesn’t knowabout the kidnapping, and is unsure ofthe specific details of the attacks. Hischief (and unspoken) goal is to gathermore information about the assaults.

At no time will Nicodemus actbelligerent or otherwise provoke theheroes. He’s here to “help.”

He maintains unwavering eye contactlike he can read the hero’s thoughtsbefore they even reach her tongue. Aperpetual smile carves his face, and hishands are always in motion whileshuffling his cards.

Nicodemus knows little about theincidents. He wants to learn more, buthe’s never be obvious. By allowing the

20 Marshal

heroes to question him, he may gainmore information through theirinterrogation of him than he wouldquizzing them.

Nicodemus also knows how to keepa poker face, so heroes shouldn’trealize they are helping him out.

Nicodemus knows the followingclues and the posse can weasel themout of him with bluff, persuasion,overawe, or ridicule, or any combinationthereof, since he’s “cooperating.”

Foolproof (3) TN: Two days ago, hesupposedly ambushed five guests atthe Red Hill Hotel. However, he has analibi to account for his whereaboutstwo days ago during the attacks. Hespent the afternoon with Silas Peacockat the Funeral Home, making properarrangements for family members. (Ifthe heroes follow up, Silas confirms this.)

Fair (5) TN: If he (Nicodemus) wereactually guilty of the attacks, whywouldn’t he kill the victims as the onlywitnesses to the crime if he was goingto so brutally attack them? (Yeah, weknow this is technically a question, butyou know what we mean, Marshal.)

Onerous (7) TN: The brutal attacksobviously hint at some element of thesupernatural. Not too many folks sportclaws of the sort he’s heard theattacker must have had.

Nicodemus WhateleyPeople in the know joke that when

folks die, they return manitou, andwhen manitou die, they come back asNicodemus. This red-haired devil isscion of the Whateley clan, and theirmost visible and potent hex-slinger. He’salways a perfect gentleman in wordand deed serving as intermediarybetween Gomorra and his family. Hesocializes and maneuvers with the bestpolitician.

Now that Wilhelmina is out the way,Nicodemus has the run of the family,and is pursuing agendas his greatgrandmother would never haveapproved.

He’s already attracted a number ofrebellious elements from the DeseretWhateley branch, including his avianspymaster, Gabriel.

With the recent uproar, Nicodemus istrying to smooth over relations withGomorra since he plans on spendingmany years here. There’s still much intown to hold his interest.

He’s also heard allegations that hekidnapped Andrew Lane—a delightfulturn of events were it true. It’s inNicodemus’ best interests to provehimself innocent, however, and theheroes might be the tools he needs toaccomplish just that.

Profile:Nicodemus Whateley

CorporCorporCorporCorporCorporeal:eal:eal:eal:eal: D:3d8, N:2d8, Q:3d10, S:2d6,V:2d6

Climbin’ 1d8, dodge 2d8, filchin’ 2d8,quick draw 3d10, sleight of hand 4d8,sneak 3d8

Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental: C:2d12, K:2d10, M:4d12, Sm:4d10,Sp:2d8

Academia: occult 5d10, bluff 3d12,disguise 2d10, guts 3d8, language:Latin 2d10, overawe 4d12, performin’:card tricks 5d12, ridicule 4d10,scrutinize 3d12, search 2d12

Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: 8Size: Size: Size: Size: Size: 6WWWWWind: ind: ind: ind: ind: 14Edges: Edges: Edges: Edges: Edges: Arcane background 3: huckster,

big ears 1, dinero 3, fleet-footed 2, giftof gab 1, nerves o’ steel 1, renown 2:notoriety, “the stare” 1

Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Big britches -3, big mouth-3, mean as a rattler -2

Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Grit: Grit: Grit: Grit: Grit: 4Huckster: Huckster: Huckster: Huckster: Huckster: Hexes: Bash 5, beast

master 3, black lightnin’ 4,brimstone 4, corporeal twist 5,disrupt 3, earshot 5, looking glass 4,mind twist 5, nightmare realm 5,phantasm 5, poltergeist 4, powerstruggle 3, shadow walk 6, soulblast 6, soul burst 3, texas twister 5

Gear: Gear: Gear: Gear: Gear: Well-pressed suit, bowler derby,tinted glasses, a walking cane andNicodemus Whateley’s Deck (seebelow)

Description:Description:Description:Description:Description: Nicodemus is a dapperyoung man and sure the catch theeye of many women if he didn’t have

Old Wounds 21

the Devil’s grin. His red long hair,falling from his bowler, and rose-tinted glasses only enhance hisdiabolical cast.

Nicodemus’ DeckNicodemus employs a special card

deck that’s been empowered with aportion of the Hunting Grounds. As youmight suspect, there are noticeabledifferences for any hucksters castinghexes with this deck:

PoPoPoPoPowwwwwererererers:s:s:s:s: When hex-slinging, ahuckster draws an additional free cardover the standard five (not includingraises). If one of the draws is a facecard, the user can abort the current hexand unleash a demon to attack anyvisible opponents. The demon variesaccording to the Marshal or hero’simagination. For quick and easyreference, use the gremlins from theDeadlands main rulebook, substitutingjinx for claw attack (1d12+2d6 damage),and raising their Terror from 7 to 9.

TTTTTaint:aint:aint:aint:aint: Nicodemus is immune to anybacklash from his own deck, but otherpeople using it receive backlash oneither Joker. If a hexslinger drawsbacklash with the deck, he must roll at+4 on the Backlash Table and, inaddition, must fend off an immediateattack from a manifested demon.

The AftermathRegardless of the posse’s loyalty,

both Captain Karl and Cort Williams saythe same thing after reviewing theheroes’ findings: Go after Lane, there’ssomething greater afoot. The posse’sobjective is finding Lane and bringinghim back to Gomorra.

Meanwhile, Nicodemus Whateley hasenough information to know Lane wasresponsible for the attacks and iscausing a heap o’ troubles for theAgency out east. Gabriel has dispatcheda crow to Virginia City with a messageto a cousin there to kill or delay theposse. Nicodemus may not be involved inLane’s condition, but anything that hurtsthe Agency is a good thing in his book.

Regina Coleport and the Ghost lefttown about three days before the heroesarrive, so they’ve got a decent lead on

them. Even if the posse has some madscience contraption to rocket them toSacramento once they determine theirdestination, they’re likely to be runningabout two days behind the pair.

By the way, it’s certainly possible theheroes may find a way to short-circuitthe Ghost’s plans before the lastchapter of this adventure. If that’s so,they’ve earned congratulations;however, we’re going to present youwith a few options later to help keepthem on course as much as possible.

Tyin’ Up Loose EndsIf they follow all the leads we’ve

presented, the posse should haveenough clues to get them on their wayto Sacramento. Of couse, it’s alwayspossible the heroes miss a few or havetrouble getting their investigation rolling.

Just about any Gomorra resident candirect the posse to Charlie Landers atthe Fat Chance as the clearinghouse forgossip in town. Feel free to use him tokeep the heroes pointed the right way.

Nate Hunter, the local sheriff, isanother good source. Right now, he’s gothis hands full trying to keep whatfragments of piece remain in town andis more than happy for a little help withthe attacks on the “U.S. Marshals..”Hunter knows something’s up withLane—he was at the last battle, afterall—but not exactly what.

On the other hand, if you’re usingDoomtown or Bust!, Marshal, you shouldfind all sorts of opportunities forsidetracking the posse in that book ifthey’re moving too quickly.

BountyGetting Katie Karl or Cort WGetting Katie Karl or Cort WGetting Katie Karl or Cort WGetting Katie Karl or Cort WGetting Katie Karl or Cort Williamsilliamsilliamsilliamsilliams

to trust non-afto trust non-afto trust non-afto trust non-afto trust non-affiliated posses: filiated posses: filiated posses: filiated posses: filiated posses: 1white chip

Getting John PaGetting John PaGetting John PaGetting John PaGetting John Paytonson to rytonson to rytonson to rytonson to rytonson to reeeeevvvvvealealealealealeeeeevvvvverything: erything: erything: erything: erything: 1 red chip

DiscoDiscoDiscoDiscoDiscovvvvvering the Ghost wering the Ghost wering the Ghost wering the Ghost wering the Ghost wasn’tasn’tasn’tasn’tasn’tkidnapped bkidnapped bkidnapped bkidnapped bkidnapped by Nicodemus:y Nicodemus:y Nicodemus:y Nicodemus:y Nicodemus: 1 redchip.

Chapter Two:

The Plague

Sacramento, third behind Lost Angelsand Shan Fan in terms of size, emergedrelatively unscathed from the GreatShake of ‘72. Sure buildings fell andmost of the region had to be rebuilt, butit was nothing compared to California’scoastal cities. Currently, Sacramento isthe largest inland mining town within100 miles of the waters of the Maze.

California is supposedly a Yankeestate, but that seems to differ accordingto where within its borders you live.However, Sacramento is definitelyUnion territory and the lifeline to FortLincoln. Between Fort Sacramento withits 200 infantry and 50 cavalry, theGreat Northwestern railroad to Portlandand Sacramento’s proximity to VirginiaCity, it’s a hub for Union supplies to the

Great Maze.Sacramento is a growing city of

over 8000 miners, families andrefugees from the Great Quake. It’stoo large to cover in detail here, sowe’re just going to hit on the section

of most interest to your posse at themoment: the Embarcadero, or moreimportantly, the Rat District.

The EmbarcaderoThe Embarcadero is the city’s wharf

situated on the Sacramento River.Following the great flood of ‘62, theonce dock-less Embarcadero wasswiftly raised to handle riverside traffic.Unfortunately, the Quake of ‘72 broughtin so many ships that the wharf isforever overcrowded and noisy. A mancan run the length of the SacramentoRiver just by leaping from ship-deck toship-deck. It’s congested with everyGreat Maze-class vessel, from miningbarges to Union ironclads.

When the heroes arrive, the city isabuzz with activity. Men with woodplacards tied around their neckadvertise slogans like: “Only the UnionCan Heal the Great Maze...Vote Union inthe Referendum,”

24 Marshal

“Fathers, Sons, Brothers, Uncles,Confederates...Vote California into theC.S.A.” and “Free! As America WasMeant To Be! Vote Independent!”

Bar fights break out with increasingfrequency over political debates, whilesoapbox rhetoricians speak to vocalcrowds about the Maze’s fate. The shortof the matter is, California’s holding areferendum to decide its political future.The arguments, as the posse can see,are heating up, and the local Unionboys aren’t tolerant of certain stances.

We’ll get into vote this in more detailin Rain o’ Terror, another adventurecoming shortly.

The Rat DistrictThe Rat District lies a mile from the

Pacific Maze and Great Northwesternrail terminals. It also holds theBittermann Hotel where Faisal ibnSimkir ibn Shatar Muhammad lives.

Rat District is the poorest section ofSacramento, with an estimated ratio ofthree rats per person living in the area.And that’s with an extermination

program firmly in place. (We call itfamine, but Sacramento likes to call itpest control.)

Most Rat District buildings are pre-Quake, and on the verge of collapse.Several fall each winter, but the cheapaccommodations are worth the risk.Ironically, this was the richer side oftown at one point, with impressivebrownstones, theaters and in-citymansions built by miners who struck itrich during the gold rush.

When the Quake damaged thebuildings just enough to make themunsafe, the city claimed it couldn’t affordto bring down the remaining district. Thecity left the fractured, lopsided buildingsbe, and ignored the huge cracks in thestreets and the rubble-strewn lots. Therich folks moved elsewhere and thesmart folks rented out former mansionsand hotels as “affordable” housing.

Mechanical things, from simple cartsto six-shooters broke down more easilyin Rat District. Nobody knows why, butit’s like everything’s been jinxed, and it’sgetting worse. Now buildings arecollapsing for no apparent reason. Fouralone fell in the last two days.

Now you can walk into a Rat Districthotel lobby and find squatter tents onthe marble floor, or venture into formerstaterooms and discover five familiesliving under conditions that might evencause an outhouse rat might turn itsnose up.

The Rat DistrictSacrSacrSacrSacrSacremento, Califemento, Califemento, Califemento, Califemento, Californiaorniaorniaorniaornia

The Bitterman Hotel

The BittermannThe Bittermann is a four-story hotel

built of cracked stone, with chippedmarble ornamentation, tall, archedwindows of jagged glass and Doriccolumns that have since collapsed intorubble stacks. Painted on the doorwayin red paint is a crescent moonsurmounted by a star. This identifiesthe Bittermann as a place of hospitalityfor those of Islamic faith.

The Bittermann holds Muslimfamilies, though codes of hospitalityprevent the squatters from refusinganybody. Many elderly folks forced tolive in Rat District have found a kindhome there as well, religions notwithstanding. All the Muslim occupantsare Chinese of the Hanafi Islamic sect,a segment of the millions still living inChina. All came to Shan Fan hoping toescape militant Chinese Muslims. A tinyhandful made it to Sacramento,escaping persecution at the hands ofthe Shan Fan triads. Their expertise infamilial and interpretive law has madeHanafi Chinese favored among the legaloffice of Sacramento, and even pusheda few further east, into Washington.

The Bittermann was run by Faisalibn Simkir ibn Shatar Muhammad, aMuslim of mysterious motives andunknown past. We say “was” becauseLane and Regina killed the man recently.

Faisal Ibn Simkir IbnShatar Muhammad

Faisal was one of few Agency spooksin the region, and the only one currentlyin Sacramento, thanks to the drainGomorra placed on the field office.

The Chinese claim Faisal practices amixture of Taoism and Islam based onwhat they’ve seen. That’s almost true.He was a scientist mixing ghost rockwith Sufist Muslim philosophy andmathematical principles dating back tothe cult of Hermes Trismegistus fromancient Egypt.

Faisal, however, missed his ownpeople after living in the Bittermann. Heslowly converted it into an Islamichospice. He turned the top two floorsinto his personal laboratory andguarded it with some nasty traps of hisown devising.

Faisal occupied the top two floors ofthe hotel. None of the other tenantspried into his business; the few banditswho stole into his sanctum neverreturned. Old Faisal soon developed anasty reputation in Rat District.

Faisal discovered the District’s jinxwas actually a gremlin plague of Biblicalproportions. In response, he used aunique blend of Eastern philosophy andWestern mechanics to create a gremlincatching device.

The gizmo worked like a charm. In notime, he’d trimmed the numbers ofgremlins in the Bittermann to anacceptable level. After dealing with themischievous critters in his home, he soldhis gremlin catcher gizmo to FortSacramento, now noticeably free of themishaps plaguing the rest of the city.

That’s how the Agency noticed himand eventually got Faisal on theirpayroll. As the other local agents hadheaded west to deal with problems inthe Maze or to help in Gomorra . Faisalwas the only Spook left in Sacramentowhen the Ghost arrived.

After piecing together information theygathered in Gomorra, the posse sets out for ahotel in Sacramento.

MurphMurphMurphMurphMurphy’y’y’y’y’s Martial Las Martial Las Martial Las Martial Las Martial Lawwwww. . . . . The posse is facedwith the dangers of Sacramento’s Rat District.Specifically, the poorly-repaired buildingsdamaged in the Great Quake and a plague ofgremlin-induced jinxes.

No VNo VNo VNo VNo Vacancies!. acancies!. acancies!. acancies!. acancies!. After hopefully averting alynch mob, the posse must win the confidenceof Bun Hzou, caretaker of the Bitterman hotel.

The Not-So-Grand TThe Not-So-Grand TThe Not-So-Grand TThe Not-So-Grand TThe Not-So-Grand Tourourourourour..... The posse gets atour of the Bitterman Hotel—and some traps leftby a late resident. After negotiating the pitfalls,they find the next clue in their search.

GrGrGrGrGremlin Maemlin Maemlin Maemlin Maemlin Mayhem.yhem.yhem.yhem.yhem. Before they get out of theBitterman, the posse must face a parting giftleft by the Ghost—a gremlin lure left running atfull steam. And a room full of the annoyed littlebuggers.

Chapter TChapter TChapter TChapter TChapter Two Roundupwo Roundupwo Roundupwo Roundupwo Roundup

26 Marshal

The Ghost’s LegacyThe Ghost and his unholy missionary

rode hard out of Gomorra and reachedSacramento in two long, saddle-soredays. Their horses were dried up fromthe trip, but the two have sinceacquired new mounts.

As soon as he reached Sacramento,Lane hightailed it for the Bittermann tomeet up with Faisal. The letter to Grantwas already gone, but Faisal kindlyshowed him the gremlin catcher, whichhad already snared a dozen of the littlecritters. The Ghost was appreciativeenough to maul Faisal an inch short ofhis life. This time Regina finished thejob, then impersonated Faisal to theother hotel occupants, leaving word hewas not to be disturbed.

On the way out, Lane activated thegremlin catcher’s lure and deactivatedit’s trapping mechanism. Gremlins fromall over Rat District are currentlyconverging on the device like trout tothe spawning fields, and causing nosmall mess of troubles along the way.They’re working on the Bittermann, butsince it was virtually untouched in theQuake, it’s taking much longer.

Lane and Coleport skedaddled off toVirginia City to intercept the letter toGrant two days before the posse arrives.The Ghost would like to be movingquicker, but for all her crazed fanaticism,Coleport is only human.

Murphy’s MartialLaw

When the Great Quake hit,something odd happened. It loosed anest of gremlins from beneath RatDistrict, allowing them to run amok.There’s a good four dozen workingtheir evil juju on mechanical artifacts oranything else that’s been built to serve.From gadgets to simple appliances likeguns, wheels, and pianos, everythingeventually breaks down in Rat District.

On a 1 on 1d10, a normal item attractsa gremlin’s attention; check each week.Gadgets are a tastier meal and earntheir attention on a 1 on 1d6, checkedeach day. Unfortunately, once a gremlininhabits an artifact, it attracts more kinon 1-3 on 1d6 into the device over thefollowing day.

Furthermore, Lane forced 12 gremlinsto manifest when he released themfrom Faisal’s contraption. The machine iskeeping them materialized, and theywon’t leave the Bittermann hotel. It’sdriving them crazy, and they attackanything that comes near them.

The lure also attracts more gremlinsinto the region. They’re attackingbuilding braces and trusses, collapsingthe already weakened structures. In thepast two days, four buildings have fallendown and more are sure to follow.Unless the heroes act quickly, theBittermann may be next.

Gettin’ to Bittermann’sGetting to the Bittermann Hotel is

fairly easy. Most folks around the trainstation and wharf can point the possein the right direction. No street namesare given, and people laugh when theheroes ask for one. There are no morestreet signs left in Rat District. Folkswill tell heroes “just drop a peso insomebody’s lap and they’ll give you theguided tour. Just make sure they don’tguide you into a trap.”

Rat District is a sorry place, moreneglected than poor. The buildings wereonce beautiful, but the Great Quakechanged that. The streets curve andbuckle like soft waves; buildings arecracked and partially collapsed, orthey’re a sitting pile of rubble. Humanscavengers fish through the ruins forloose wood to warm the night or a ratmorsel to fricassee. In other words, thesightseeing is less than spectacular.

Citizens of Rat District are dirty-facedand black-palmed from working longhours in the regional ghost rock mines.For a drop of dinero or even a morsel ofreal food, they’ll take the heroes to theBittermann while sharing the latestregional gossip.

Asking around, the heroes get thefollowing information, one tidbit persuccess and raise, on a Fair (5)

Streetwise roll. A hero can roll every 10minutes until all the listed informationis garnered.

Everybody’s got an opinion onthe Referendum. No matter howthe vote swings, however, there’ssure to be blood in the air. (Atwhich point the guide will askthe heroes their opinion in thematter.)

Items break down in RatDistrict. That’s how come few

people own guns or evenwagons. The only things folkscan rely on are horses, familyand rats--and it’s getting worse.Now entire buildings arecollapsing and claiming lives bythe bushel load.

Some Persian named Faisalwho takes in Chinese Muslimsand old folks runs theBittermann. They’re peaceful,quiet and keep to themselves.Faisal protects the hotel like heowned the property. Nobody hasever broken into the Bittermannand lived to tell the tale.

The last four collapsedbuildings are all within astone’s throw of the Bittermannhotel. Folks suspect foul play,and are blaming Faisal. Ifanymore buildings collapse, thenthere’s sure to be a lynch mob.

Playin’ HeroesWhen the posse is within eyeshot of

the Bittermann, an adjacent two-storybuilding creaks and moans the way oldfolks do when getting out of bed.Dozens of rats suddenly scamper outinto the streets, squeaking up a stormand wide-eyed in terror. The buildingcollapses, folding in on itself like ahouse of cards. A cloud of dust anddebris blossoms outward, choking theair and blinding everyone gathered inthe street. The posse hears screamsfrom inside the rubble.

Gremlins caused this nuisance incase you hadn’t figured, killing 12squatters and trapping 30. If the heroes

don’t help clear the debris, only eightpeople are going to survive. If the possehelps, they can up that numberconsiderably.

Whether the heroes work in tandemor alone, they must displace 300 lbsworth of debris to rescue just one soul.A hero can move up to 10 x her Strengthevery 5 minutes. After the heroes rescuethe first 16 squatters (not including theother eight), they must then displace 400lbs to rescue the next 10 people.

Unfortunately, the last five victimsare seriously injured. Each bears 1d4wounds ranging between Serious andMaimed and dies without some sort ofattention, either medicine or somearcane healing like lay on hands.

The Gatherin’ MobOnce the rescue is done, the posse

has a bigger problem. The locals werealready suspicious of the Bittermannsquatters, but a mob is gathering withtorches, and the posse can see morethan one pair of eyes looking over at

28 Marshal

the hotel. One of the rescuers, a mannamed of Simon Dickers, jumps atop apile of rubble. He hollers about thegoing-ons at the Bittermann and how allthe collapsed buildings were withineyeshot of those “yellow-skinned devils.”

Simon’s speech is obviously taking aracist slant, and the mob’s falling forevery line like it was prime-cut rat flank.They’re in the mood for a killing, and gottheir sights set on the Bittermann.Within minutes, they march to the hotel,set it ablaze, and lynch anyone whoescapes, unless the heroes step in.

If the posse helped rescue folks inthe collapsed building, then they’ve gota chance of reasoning with the crowdThis takes an Onerous (7) overawe orpersuasion check. An impassionedspeech on the part of a player may giveher character a bonus to this roll, ifyou’d like, Marshal.

The crowd is more scared thananything else and wants answers. Evenif the posse is successful in calmingthe mob, the citizens still want theheroes to enter the Bittermann anduncover what’s happening. They agreeto wait until then, though the situationobviously remains tense.

If the heroes fail to appeal to the mob,or the posse never helped the injuredfrom the collapse, then only a Hard (9)overawe check—using not-too-subtlethreats—stops them. Even if the heroespromise to uncover the mystery, the mobremains, grumbling and waiting for anyexcuse to rush the hotel.

Use the Typical BanditTypical BanditTypical BanditTypical BanditTypical Bandit profile onpage 82 of the Marshal’s Handbook formob members, but drop bloodthirsty,and substitute area knowledge: RatDistrict 2d6 for survival and throwin’:unbalanced 2d6 (bricks( for horse ridin’.

There are 20 folks riled up enough totussle in the mob. However, they’re notseasoned fighters and scatter back intothe city after half their number iswounded or put down. Luckily, even theSacramento law dogs avoid the Districtnowadays, so the posse doesn’t have toworry about legal entanglements!

No Vacancies!The squatters inside the Bittermann

are obviously frightened. There are sixChinese men women and children alongwith another 14 elderly folk. Many peerthrough cracks in the walls and doors.The young, non-Chinese residents fledwhen tensions began to grow in thearea. The Chinese and elderly are anobvious minority, though, and given thelocal fears, not welcome anywhere now.

As the heroes approach, the tenantsquickly seal everything up and bar thedoors. They’re not armed and certainlycan’t handle a well-equipped posse. Theonly one among them who isn’t shy isBun Hzhou, a young man working asan assistant to a local law firm. He actsas translator and intermediary, onlyallowing the heroes in after they winhis trust.

Bun HzhouBun is an intelligent young man and

quite savvy when it comes to the streetsof Sacramento. He helps the Bittermanntenants, including his old grandmotherand serves as their only contact to theoutside world. He teaches them Englishon a daily basis after work, cares forbed-ridden elderly, and shows hiscountrymen how to handle localcurrency. He’s even helped several getjobs at the Embarcadero Fish Markets.He is a lifeline for his people.

Bun is a devout Muslim and oftenprayed with Faisal. Faisal even taughtthe young man Persian to help lessenhis own homesickness.

Bun also knew—and respected—Andrew Lane who visited Faisal on anumber of occasions. Lane, apparentlya student of law himself, wasimpressed with Bun’s knowledge, andsponsored Bun’s application to auniversity back East.

Because of his upbringing, Bun ispolite and friendly, though he isn’tafraid to speak his mind. Hisgrandmother would admonish him forhis impertinence—but she doesn’tunderstand English, and Bun is smartenough to confront English-speakingfolks with a smile on his face.

The Plague 29

Dealin’ with BunBun doesn’t know the heroes, and so

won’t let them into the Bittermannimmediately. He isn’t unreasonable,however, and the quickest way to gainentry is by mentioning Andrew Lane orFaisal by name.

However, unless the posse resorts tothreats of violence, Bun eventuallyyields, either because he wants to helpor because he fears the mob more.

Bun was present when Lane blewinto town two days ago and met withFaisal. Since then Faisal has remainedalone with instructions not to bedisturbed.

He often does that when he’sinventing new gadgets, but rarely forthis long without making noise or atleast coming down for food. Bun wantedto go into Faisal’s fourth-floor laboratory,but knows the third floor is trapped.

Bun’s pretty concerned, and anycowpoke making a Fair (5) overawe orpersuasion roll can convince him to letthem check on Faisal.

The posse can coax furtherinformation from him as follows:

Overawe or persuasion: Fair (5) TN.Lane arrived two days ago and wasaccompanied by a strange woman withshort black hair and men’s clothing.The woman was exceedingly rude andderogatory about the Chinese. Lane didnothing to stop her ignorant tirade.

Overawe or persuasion: Onerous (7)TN. The normally congenial Lane wascurt and obviously rushed. Somethingmust have been troubling Lane, forFaisal, the woman and he met privately.Faisal came down and announced he’dbe working on an urgent project. Hewas not to be disturbed. He soundedhaggard and looked angry. Lane andthe rude woman left shortly thereafter.The woman covered herself up thistime, as though ashamed. Bun thinksperhaps Lane had chastised her. (Thiswas actually Regina disguised as Faisal.Regina covered herself upon leavingbecause she was covered with themurdered man’s blood.)

Overawe or persuasion: Hard (9) TN: Afew hours after Lane left, the firstbuilding collapsed. Perhaps Faisal’simportant experiment is somehowrelated to this.

The Not-So-Grand Tour

Forget the old adage about notjudging a book by its cover. It doesn’tapply here.

The Bittermann is dilapidated insideand out. The floorboards show throughthin carpeting while the walls alternatebetween faded wallpaper and holes.Wood fixtures like doors, doorframes,banisters and chair leggings aremissing from one too many cold nights.The smell of human stink pervades thebuilding. These folks live in squalor andthere’s little they can do about it.

Still Bun and the others make thebest of it. They keep the floors cleanand open rooms are separated by

30 Marshal

curtains. There is also a nursery for thelittle ones, an impromptu schoolroom, aprayer room, and a dining room. Ifyou’re using our Boomtowns set,Marshal, you can use the Large Hotel,Large Hotel,Large Hotel,Large Hotel,Large Hotel,FirFirFirFirFirst Floorst Floorst Floorst Floorst Floor tiles to represent thebottom of the Bittermann hotel.

When the heroes enter, theBittermann squatters keep theirdistance. They stand in different rooms,staring. The children, however, are morebrazen and follow the posse around withgiggles and whispers on their lips. Theycan’t stop marveling at the guns andanything else the heroes might carry.

While Bun offers the grand tour, theposse can hear the building creak andmoan something fierce. It doesn’t soundhealthy at all. The hotel will collapsesoon and the plague of gremlins isn’thelping.

If the posse points this out, Bunsighs and says he feels the same way.Unfortunately, his kin aren’t willing toleave the Bittermann since they havenowhere else to go. No place can takethem all in, and they’ve become familyto each other. Bun’s trying to convincethem of the dangers, but to no avail;they’re too afraid to move elsewhere.

Fair WarningTo reach Faisal’s laboratory, the heroes

must take the west wing stairwell, crossthe third floor and take the east wingstairs for the fourth floor. The east wingstairwell is choked with debris from thefirst level through to the third, while thewestern stairs are completely blockedoff between the third and fourth.

Before taking the posse up the westwing stairwell, Bun warns the heroesthat the third floor is a nest of traps.Faisal trapped the upper floors to protecthis secrets from bandits and looters.

Bun has never been upstairs, butinsists on coming to check up on Faisal.If the posse balks, Bun asks who amongthem are actually faithful in the eyes ofFaisal? Who else is Muslim? If they stillrefuse, Bun waits until the heroesreturn, which should be pretty soon.

Riddle me This...True to his Sufi nature, Faisal

couldn’t resist leaving behind riddles.The riddles are in Persian and, unless

someone in the posse knows thislanguage or has some magical way tointerpret them, only Bun can read them.

To illustrate the point, the third floordoor bears the following in Persian:

The real truth of existence issealed,

after many twists and turns ofthe road.

Once translated, any posse membermaking an Incredible (11) professional:theology recognizes it as the writingsof Rumi, a 13th century Sufi poet; aMuslim hero gets a +4 to this roll. Infact, all quotes are Rumi’s. Bun, if he’swith the posse, realizes the same;Faisal quoted him often and eventaught Bun some of Rumi’s lessons.

The Plague 31The Third Floor

The third floor is a buffer zonebetween downstairs and Faisal’slaboratory upstairs. The only way toreach the fourth floor is through stairs atthe end of the hallway. Faisal remodeledthe third floor to his liking.

Like most simple hotels, the thirdfloor was one corridor stretching thelength of the building with rooms oneach side. Faisal barricaded the hallwayat intervals — with debris, sandbags,broken glass, barb wire and anythingelse he could find — and knocked downwalls between some rooms.

This forces the heroes to enteradjacent rooms before reentering thehallway behind the obstructions. Theycan’t be broken down safely; thanks tothe hotel’s weakened structure anyheavy moving may trigger a collapse.

The hallway and rooms have severaltraps in them. Unlike most other devicesin the Rat District, the gremlins have leftthese alone. The possibility for mischiefin them was just too great to destroy!

The First TrapThe heroes exit the stairwell to find

themselves in a corridor. A barricadeblocks the way ten feet into thepassage, but there are two doors to theleft and right. The door on the left hasno numbers while the door on the righthas 60-1-1. It’s obvious the numberswere taken from other doors. Againstthe barricade itself is a piece of woodwith Persian script.

For sixty years I have beenforgetful,

every minute, but not for asecond

has this flowing toward mestopped or slowed.

I deserve nothing.

The door to the left is the exit sinceits value is “nothing.” It leads into twoconsecutive rooms before entering backinto the hallway.

The door on the right has severalhundred pounds of debris weightedagainst it. It is also unhinged, but keptin place by a hydraulic bar set againstthe frame from the inside. Turning the

door knob moves the hydraulic baraway from the frame. The resultingweight crashes the door into thecorridor, crushing anyone beneath.

Heroes who make a Onerous (7)Cognition check notice that the rightdoor is buckled slightly into thecorridor. Any cowpoke in front of thedoor when it’s opened suffers 1d12damage rolled 1d4 different times. Roll ahit location for each 1d12; a hit locationcan be struck more than once. If threeor four body parts are struck, then thehero is pinned beneath the rubble.

The Second TrapThe door exits into a section of

corridor with an open door directlyacross and a partly toppled hallwaybarricade to the left that the heroes cancrawl over. On the wall in Persian is:

Who makes these changes?I shoot an arrow right.

It lands left...I dig pits to trap others

and fall in.I should be suspicious of what I

want.

The open room across the hallway isthe way out, not the toppled barricadethat appears more direct. Like the lastobstacle, the room leads around the trap.

The toppled barricade exits into ashort corridor and a dead-end trap. Thefour doors on either side of this sectionare nailed shut and impossible to open.Scattered on the ground halfway intothe corridor, however, is a length ofnails, glass and strips of barbed wire allsticking up. It looks like a poorly hiddenfoot trap, but anyone venturing withintwo feet has a nasty surprise coming.

A hero making a Hard (9) Cognitioncheck notices the real nature of thetrap by blood splatters at the beginningof the board. The nails, glass andbarbed wire rest at the back edge of afloorboard that Faisal mounted on a

32 Marshal

crude swivel. The board’s effectively aseesaw. When the hero gets within twofeet, he steps on the balancedfloorboard, which then drops under theweight. The swiveled floorboard rushesup and pops the hero in shins. The nailsand glass do 2d6 damage to each leg.

The Third TrapThere are six rooms in this corridor,

three on each side, and another heavybarricade at the end. The doors arelocked, however, all but one have keys(the last door to the left).

Above each of the five remainingdoors is the following Persian inscription:

FastingDaily PrayerPilgrimageAlmsgivingThe Creed

These are Islam’s five pillars of faithrequired of each Muslim.

The heroes must turn the keys insequence from the first pillar to the last,to open the sixth door. Pillar one is TheCreed “There is no god but Allah.” Twois Daily Prayer (at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, dusk and nighttime). Threeis Almsgiving, four is Fasting duringthe Islamic month Ramadan (celebratedearlier each Christian year by elevendays) and five is Pilgrimage (see theFire and Brimstone sourcebook or visityour local library for more information).

If anyone asks, Bun, a Muslim, canrecall the order of the faith’s pillars.,Anyone that makes a Hard (9)professional: theology roll can as well.

If the posse turns a key out ofsequence or attempts to break down thesixth door, the traps activate at once.Crude pumps in five rooms jet out avolley of poison fumes into the corridor.

Anyone in the corridor must makean immediate Hard (9) Vigor check.Those who succeed suffer 3d6 Wind.Any who fail suffer 6d6 Wind eachround they remain in the corridor. In

either case, the heroes suffer fromheadaches, blurred vision and stomachcramps for the next hour. Any actionsduring that time carries a -2 penalty.

If the heroes turn the keys properly,the unmarked door opens into a roomthat detours around the rubble. This isthe only room without a poison pump.The stairwell lies at the end of the hall.

The Fourth FloorThis floor holds four apartment-sized

suites occupying the hotel’s four corners,and one central corridor. Faisal took thisfloor for his living space, laboratory, testrooms and “blast proof” chambers.

Faisal only used one room in the left-hand apartment as his living quarters.The decor is miserly, with no personaltouches. Faisal lived as a Sufi, with fewluxuries. In the corner of the room (eastwhere Mecca lies) is a prayer carpet.

At the foot of his floor mattress is abox with two telegrams on top. Thefirst is a translated version of Lane’stelegram from Gomorra stating:

Urgent. Stop transport ofgrandpas gift. Will arrive inSacramento or Virginia City toreclaim the package.

The second telegram is from VirgilConstance in Virginia City. It reads:

willow virgil will fatherreceived grandpas not awaittwelve sycamore his to gift advisepanic arrival street.

This is the same Stager cipher usedby Lane in Chapter OneChapter OneChapter OneChapter OneChapter One; it’s an Agencystandard. If the posse got a transcript ofLane’s first telegram from Sandra Harris,they may be able to use it to assist incracking the code. If that’s the case, theheroes only need succeed at a Hard (9)professional: cryptology roll. Otherwise, itremains an Incredible (11) TN.

When translated it reads:

Received grandpa’s gift. Advisefather not to panic. Will await hisarrival. Virgil, 12 Sycamore Street.

The telegram was sent from VirginiaCity, Nevada.

The Plague 33

Grand Gremlin StationThe fourth floor is a gremlin

repository not including the dozen whoalready manifested. The spirit gremlinsare jumping into different objects,causing doors to fall off hinges with justa pull, weakening ceiling support strutsand infesting the posse’s possessions.

The gremlins reduce reliability of anyposse-owned item with moving parts by–4—gizmo or not! Assume normaldevices have a base reliability of 20.

Heroes with otherworldly sight likethe Knack Bastich (for example) see astorm of gremlin spirits whippingaround them, fighting each other likejackals at a kill.

The key concern, however, is thetwelve materialized gremlins runningaround unhitched. They can bewherever the Marshal needs them—under beds and grabbing at legs, orbehind doors that they slam them shut,and so on. The gremlin catcher isdriving them crazy, and they’re meanerthan Hell. As result, they take greaterrisks when confronting the heroes.

Use the gremlins liberally before theheroes find Faisal’s body. Justremember to save one for the finalscene with the gremlin catcher.

Profile: GremlinsCorporCorporCorporCorporCorporeal:eal:eal:eal:eal: D:3d10, N:3d10, Q:4d10, S:1d6,

V:1d6Climbin’ 5d10, dodge 6d10, fightin’:

brawlin’ 3d10, filchin’ 4d10, lockpickin’3d10, sneak 6d10, swimmin’ 3d10

Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental: C:2d10, K:3d8, M:3d8, Sm:2d8,Sp:2d10

Ridicule 4d8Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: 10Size: Size: Size: Size: Size: 4WWWWWind: ind: ind: ind: ind: 16TTTTTerrerrerrerrerror:or:or:or:or: 8Gear:Gear:Gear:Gear:Gear: NoneSpecial Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:

Damage: Damage: Damage: Damage: Damage: Claws (STR+1d4)Jinx: Jinx: Jinx: Jinx: Jinx: A gremlin causes a mechanical

item’s Reliability to drop by 1. Evenitems without a Reliability scoreare affected. Make a Reliabilitycheck whenever these items areused. On a 20, the devicemalfunctions.

DescriptionDescriptionDescriptionDescriptionDescription: When manifested,gremlins are little green humanoidswith comically large ears, and not-so-comically large claws.

Blastproof Chambers &Laboratory

The blast proof chambers are justdebris-filled rooms of two apartmentssurrounding a living room and adjoiningbedroom that have been converted intolaboratories. Faisal deliberately collapsedthe ceilings here, hoping the debriswould absorb and blunt any explosionsfrom his adjoining work areas.

Faisal’s laboratories are unlike anywork-space the heroes have ever seen.In addition to standard mad scientistfare are detailed charts on humananatomy and Persian Islamic calligraphy

Faisal’s Body

Faisal’sLiving Quarters

Laboratory

Laboratory

Trap#2

Trap #3

Trap#1

Third Floor

Fourth Floor

34 Marshal

bordering on the arcane. Bottles andbeakers of alchemical catalysts andsolvents line the shelves, while a crudeforge lies cold in the corner.

Beakers, heating pads and glasscorkscrew pipes of unparalleledcraftsmanship also crowd severaltables.

On one work table are weatheredcopies of the Emerald Tablet and TheGoal of the Wise — written in ancientGreek and Persian — and the diagramsand schematics for Faisal’s gremlincatcher.

Heroes not versed in Faisal’s uniquemethods of coupling alchemicalformulae with Sufi philosophy andmechanical sciences (in other words, allof them) have a difficult timeunderstanding the device unless theypool their skills.

Academia: occult: Onerous (7) TN. Thedevice (read the upcoming section formore information) somehow relates tothe duality of gremlins and theirexistence in the ethereal and physicalworlds. Faisal’s script speaks ofreversing the process of transmutationfrom spiritual gold to physical lead.

Science: biology: Onerous (7). Thedevice uses a chemical formula toattract gremlins like flies to a corpse.One ingredient is crushed gremlinglands.

Science: chemistry: Onerous (7). Thefilm and flash powder are treated witha black dust that Faisal refers to ascrushed spirit coal (ghost rock).

Tinkerin’: Onerous (7) TN. One gadgetresting between the two cameras hasno function. It’s an elaborate movinggear-works encased in glass. The gearshave been treated with some gooeysubstance (the gremlin gland-chemical).

Tinkerin’: Hard (9) TN. The device aretwo interconnected cameras facingeach other. Manually operated, theytake pictures that are offset from eachother by a second.

Other diagrams include crudemechanical men, underwater spheresand incomprehensible formulas forairborne firebombs. Also pressed intothe tomes are Persian and Englishnews articles concerning Dr.Hellstromme’s achievements and thenew inventions of the west. Thearticles correspond to certain pages inthe Emerald Tablet showing devices ofsimilar function, with Faisal’s notes.

In the second room, on another desk,is a dead gremlin. Faisal pinned thecritter to the table like a butterfly andsplit it open. From the number ofspecimen bottles and skulls, Faisalcaught and killed a number of gremlins.

Gremlin MayhemThe last apartment has no interior

walls, but is broken up by supportbeams. Before the heroes reach thedoorway, however, they see a flash oflight coming from inside the apartment.

Just beyond the door frame is Faisalhimself, half-gutted and eaten. If Bunis there, he runs to the body, but stopsat the doorway. There’s a large pool of

The Plague 35

dried blood around Faisal and the smellis rank. Flies have already made a mealof him and maggots are soon to follow.

In the center of this forgotten ruin isFaisal’s gremlin catcher. It’s an odd-looking and rather unwieldy device,consisting of a glass disk resting on apodium directly between two tripod-mounted cameras.

At the moment, there’s a gremlinsitting on the left camera and the sixgremlins charging the posse? Thecritter snaps another shot and, in aflash, three more gremlins appear,upping the number to ten in the room!

Why Don’t you Take aPicture?

The two cameras and podium arelinked together through tubes and pipes.Sealed inside the glass disk are dozensof gears like an overly complex pocketwatch, forever moving and clicking.

The gears and disk are smeared witha clear liquid that smells worse than ahermit’s armpit in Nevada. It’s analchemical paste of gremlin glands thatsdrives the critters mad and keeps themnear the disk. The gears do nothingmore than turn as part of the lure.

The glass casing and cameras aretreated with Faisal’s special catalysts andimmune to jinxes. Unfortunately, theformulas for these catalysts died withFaisal.

The cameras are the actual traps.The films and flash powder have beentreated with pulverized ghost rock.When the left camera takes a picture,it forces the gremlin to materialize, andthe right camera snaps another pictureand literally traps the critter.

Looking through either lens allowsthe viewer to see the spirit gremlins, butheroes can’t carry either camerawithout pulling out the tubes. Once theydo that, the machine’s permanentlybusted. They can, however, swivel thecameras around, trapping gremlinswithin eyeshot.

Lane turned both cameras off, butleft the lure active. A dozen gremlins inspirit form are flitting about the roomnow, hovering around the disk. The lastgremlin figured how to turn the leftone on and is materializing 1d4 newgremlins every two rounds.

If the posse doesn’t figure out howthe device works, the Marshal canallow them an Onerous (7) tinkerin’check. Unfortunately the device’s builtwith Sufist alchemies and concepts,rendering the design nearly impossiblefor the hero to copy.

As long as the lure is active, moregremlins will infest the Bittermann untilit topples. The posse’s best bet is to trapthe gremlins in the camera, and throwthe lure into the deepest darkest hole.That cures many Rat District problems.

Besides, the cameras can materializeand capture another thirty gremlinsbefore breaking down completely.

The AftermathSurprise, surprise, the lines between

Sacramento and Virginia City wentdown a day ago. The posse’s gotanother long ride ahead of them.Assuming all goes as planned, theheroes gain some ground on the Ghostcutting his lead to barely a day or so.

Of course, the heroes may haveaccess to a mad science contraption tohurry them along. That’s fine.Remember how infested Sacramento iswith Gremlins. Well, they just lovegizmos, and it sure would be a shameif that rapid transit failed for a few daysthanks to gremlin highjinks!

If the gremlins are still a threat, thehotel isn’t going to last beyond a day.The collapse destroys the lure and killssix people. The gremlins disperse leavingRat District in the same condition beforeFaisal developed his gizmo.

BountyTTTTTaking the “Laking the “Laking the “Laking the “Laking the “Lynch” out of Lynch” out of Lynch” out of Lynch” out of Lynch” out of Lynchynchynchynchynch

Mob:Mob:Mob:Mob:Mob: 1 white chipEach of Faisal’Each of Faisal’Each of Faisal’Each of Faisal’Each of Faisal’s traps as traps as traps as traps as traps avvvvvoided: oided: oided: oided: oided: 1

white chip to the responsible hero.Rescuing collapse victims:Rescuing collapse victims:Rescuing collapse victims:Rescuing collapse victims:Rescuing collapse victims: 1 red chip

to each hero participating.Ridding the Bittermann ofRidding the Bittermann ofRidding the Bittermann ofRidding the Bittermann ofRidding the Bittermann of

grgrgrgrgremlins:emlins:emlins:emlins:emlins: 1 Blue Chip

Chapter Three:

Double Whammy

Lane’s escapades lead the possefrom one city to another. Now arrivingin Virginia City, the heroes are about todiscover that they aren’t on happy trailsyet. Lane’s gone, having finished hisdark deed here, and is on his way toSalt Lake City. Before the heroes canget there, however, two perils awaitthem in this chapter.

Marshal, you may want to let yourheroes rest up a bit during their trip toVirginia City considering last chapter’smayhem.

The only mischief on the way in isthe occasional downed telegraph poleor severed wire. The poles, specifically,look like they’ve been torn throughrather than sawed down neatly. Lane’sensuring word of his condition doesn’t

get ahead of him.He’s even hacked down a few

poles between Virginia City and SaltLake City. The heroes have to findthat out on their own, though.

A Family AffairRemember Gabriel Whateley? Even

though the heroes never saw him, hisspies were everywhere. With thetelegraph lines down, Gabriel tookpossession of a crow and flew awritten message from Nicodemus to aWhateley cousin, Uriah Whateley, inVirginia City.

Thanks to Gabriel’s spies andNicodemus’ own ability to worminformation out of folks—namelyGomorra’s dispatch operator SandraHarris—the Whateleys discovered Lane’stwo coded telegrams to Sacramentoand Virginia City.

Nicodemus doesn’t have all the facts,but he does know that someone—probably the Agency— is desperatelytrying to find Lane using the posse.He’s also aware Lane doesn’t want tobe found, however, and not above usingviolence to ensure his privacy.

38 Marshal

Nicodemus is an accommodatingdevil and wants to help Lane continuehis rampage. As such he’s taken itupon his family to impede the posse asmuch as possible.

Following the instructions receivedthrough Gabriel’s crow, Uriah Whateleyhas already seen the Ghost enter VirgilConstance’s home and kill everyonewithin (we’ll get to that in a moment).He followed Lane and Regina to thetrain station afterwards and watchedthem depart on a train bound for SaltLake City just the other day.

Uriah is now waiting for the posse toappear at Virgil’s home. And thesurprise he’s got planned doesn’texactly involve a cake or party hats—although there are going to benoisemakers!

An Ill WindCalled Lane

Earlier, we mentioned Regina andLane disposing of Virgil’s household.Well that’s half-accurate. TwelveSycamore Street is both Virgil’s homeand the Agency’s safe house for localoperatives. That figures to be a wholethree operatives.

When the Ghost blew into town, hecalled an Agency meeting at Virgil’shouse. That’s when both Regina andLane ambushed the unsuspectingagents. Same as before, though, Lanereigned in his manitou, stopping thedemon from killing the other agentsoutright.

Unfortunately, Regina again followedlike a faithful lapdog, finishing off theinjured while Lane searched for hisletter to Grant. He didn’t know it waswith Virgil. He hadn’t given Virgil theopportunity to hand it over beforeattacking him.

Regina dispatched the first twoagents using bolts o’ doom. When itcame to Virgil, though, Regina hadn’tfigured she’d be facing a man withstronger faith than hers. She advancedon Virgil, eager to devour his “sins”when he pulled out a cross andinvoked God’s name against her.

Infuriated by the blasphemy, Reginatried to blast Virgil straight to St. Peterbut realized she couldn’t. It wasn’t a manwho thwarted her at that moment, itwas the power of Heaven itself.

Regina faltered and left the near-crippled Virgil behind. She stumbledfrom his home and waited for theGhost outside. Lane’s manitou, stilllooking for the letter, went to searchVirgil when the wounded spookinvoked his protection miracle. Thepossessed Lane couldn’t go near Virgil,much less hurt him.

Enraged, he doused the carpets andpaintings in lantern oil and alcohol. Hefigured if he couldn’t hurt touch theblessed directly, he’d finish him bycausing a fire and destroying allevidence including the letter.

The Ghost’s better self wouldn’tallow it, however. He still couldn’t killfolks he once considered a friend, andleft Virgil’s home with out torching it.

After deciphering a message left in theBitterman, the posse heads for Virginia City,Nevada.

VVVVVirginia Cityirginia Cityirginia Cityirginia Cityirginia City..... Closing the gap with the Ghost,the posse rushes to Virginia City. There, theyfind another Agency safehouse-turned-abattoir.Virgil Constance, the lone survivor provides animportant lead.

WhateleWhateleWhateleWhateleWhateley Ambush. y Ambush. y Ambush. y Ambush. y Ambush. Tipped off by his cousinNicodemus, Uriah Whateley has scraped up aband of bushwhackers to waylay the posseoutside of Virgil’s home.

Last Train to Salt Lake. Last Train to Salt Lake. Last Train to Salt Lake. Last Train to Salt Lake. Last Train to Salt Lake. In the aftermath ofthe ambush, the posse must make its way to theCity o’ Gloom.

Regina’Regina’Regina’Regina’Regina’s Ws Ws Ws Ws Wrath. rath. rath. rath. rath. Grimme’s flunky proves toonuts for even a manitou and the Ghost ditchesher—and half a train in the middle of the Nevadadesert. Guess who happens to stumble acrossthe now madder-than-a-hornet and her newundead friends?

Chapter Three RoundupChapter Three RoundupChapter Three RoundupChapter Three RoundupChapter Three Roundup

Double Whammy 39

The terrible two departed, but theexperience left Regina morally drainedand doubting her faith. Lane knew thathe couldn’t make it much furtherbefore word of his condition finallyslipped ahead him. As such, he decidedthat Salt Lake City was where he’dmake his stand and reveal himself—andthe Union’s deceit— to the world.

Virginia CityFear Level 1

The only real concern in the city isVirgil Constance’s address at 12Sycamore Street. So, since we’re shorton space, just treat Virginia City likeany other booming mining town sittingatop hundreds of millions of dollars ingold and silver. The Comstock Lode sitsa stone’s throw away and nearly 25,000people reside in Virginia City and it’snear neighbor Gold Hill.

If the heroes want to set up for thenight, there are a number of hotels.Virginia City has over 100 saloons;contrast that to its three undertakersand four churches and you get a goodfeel for the town, Marshal.

Given the circumstances of their lastencounter, however, the posse may wantto find out what’s happened to Virgiland hightail it to Sycamore street. It’seasy enough to find.

Virgil’s district is in the prosperouspart of town. Folks here can still affordto tip their bowlers and nod a goodmorning as they pass by. The ladiespossess a fashion sense better gearedfor a New York soiree, and loveparading their latest mail-orderacquisitions. The men drink brandyinstead of beer, and enjoy piano recitalsover a saloon kick-line. In a word: Class.

Virgil’s HomeVirgil Constance maintains a nice

and rather reputable front. His buildingis a two-and-a-half story brownstonelocated in an upper-middle incomestreet. The half-basement, whichextrudes above ground, is taken up byVirgil’s cover business, Virgil’s FabricEmporium. The shop is closed and has

been since yesterday and no one in theneighborhood knows why.

The remaining floors are Virgil’shome, which is accessible throughoutside stairs leading to double doors.The doors are also locked, but that’snothing that a Fair (5) lockpickin’ rollwon’t fix. Mind you, Marshal, the street’sfull of pedestrians during the day, andyou should point out that folks arelikely notice strangers — especially the“I-just-rode-in-from-Sacramento-‘scuse-me-while-I-pick-this-lock” kind-of-strangers.

Unless the heroes flash a Union-authorized badge like a US Marshal’s,the residents report the attemptedbreak-in to local authorities and theyhave some fast talking to do. They’d bebetter advised to try this route at night.

40 Marshal

Of course, the heroes aren’t the onlyfolks interested in Virgil’s home. Acrossthe street, in another home is UriahWhateley and his cronies.

They confiscated the house by forceand gutted the owners for theirtroubles. Uriah is keeping watch andnotices anybody walking up to the door,especially if they don’t look local. Oncethe heroes enter the house (whethernow or later) Uriah sets up his ambush.

The InteriorThere’s a corridor directly in front of

the door, leading to the kitchen at therear of the house. To the immediate leftand right are two arches into the livingroom and dining room respectively.Straight ahead, thin stairs lead up totwo bedrooms and a storage room. On

the left corridor wall, between thearchway and kitchen is the door to thestudy. The smell of oil and alcoholpoisons the air.

Virgil is fairly well-to-do, and hishome reflects his prosperity. Althoughthe furniture is imitation, they aresuperb duplicates of Frenchfurnishings from the court of LouisXIV. European paintings that wouldnormally brighten several walls arekept dark from the heavily lacedcurtains blocking all light out. The onlyoutward signs of Virgil’s faith are ahandful of small crosses that decoratea wall here or table surface there.

Unfortunately, the house is currentlyin some disarray. Lane and Regina dida fair amount of damage, topplingfurniture, spilling flammable liquideverywhere, shredding cloth andbreaking nick-knacks during theirintrusion. The agents never got achance to fire their guns, and theheavy curtains kept the bolts o’ doomhidden from the outside.

Marshal, if you’re making use of ourBoomtowns supplement, the SmallSmallSmallSmallSmallHouseHouseHouseHouseHouse tiles work great for Virgil’shouse. You’ll need to modify the layoutof the rooms below just a tad, but nomajor changes are necessary.

The Mundane AreasThe master and guest bedroom,

dining room, pantry, kitchen andstorage room hold no pertinent clues tothe adventure. The only informationheroes can discern from these areas isthat Virgil was widowed by a few years,and came away childless. Pictures of hiswife on a mantle above the cold hearthtestify she was once a very beautifulwoman. He stored all her possessionsin the attic.

The Living RoomThis is the first place the heroes will

likely enter since it’s open to theentrance. Virgil entertained his guestshere, including Lane and Regina.

When Lane arrived with Regina,Virgil was serving everyone drinks.Lane’s manitou, fighting for control,attacked quickly before anythinghappened. He gutted the agent sitting

Living Room

Study

Pantry

Kitchen

Dining Room

Stairs

Coat

Clo

set

Low

er L

evel

Storage

GuestBedroom

MasterBedroom

Upp

er L

evel

Double Whammy 41

on the couch and quickly turned onsurprised Virgil. Regina blasted thesecond fleeing agent in the back, andshot him again on the floor.

By that time Virgil was able to throwLane off him and stumble towards thekitchen. Knowing his host body couldn’tkill Constance, the manitou told Reginato finish the job while he went for theletter. Regina blasted the agent on thecouch, then went after Virgil who madeit into the kitchen before collapsing.

The fight displaced furniture andshattered a glass display case filledwith American Revolutionary figurines.Portions of the wall have been blastedby heat, burning away the golden floralwallpaper and revealing the solid brickbehind. The carpet, furniture and wallsare also painted with a spray of blood,thanks to Lane’s claws, while bottles ofbrandy and whisky have been emptiedon the floor and furniture.

The main couch is half burnt as well.There’s one corpse sitting dead centerwhere the couch was hit, with his frontbaked and his blackened innardsexposed. A Fair (5) medicine roll revealshe suffered from claw rakes across thestomach.

On the coffee table is a spilt bottle ofbrandy that congealed into a sticky filmon the table, and five drinking glasseson their side. Virgil was serving his fiveguests just before he was attacked.

Another corpse lies in the diningroom. The dead Spook is on hisstomach, his spine and ribs exposedthrough blackened and burnt wounds,the immediate carpet scorched asthough blasted by a gout of flame.

The StudyThis was Virgil’s office and the heart

of the Agency’s operations in theregion. Fortunately, Virgil kept all hisAgency related documents and materialcoded, scribbling his notes in“gibberish.” It requires an Incredible (11)professional: cryptology roll (it’s not in astandard Agency code) in order todecipher Virgil’s intelligence.

Essentially, it contains records onAgency operations in and aroundVirginia City, including local dead drops,code names, and passwords. However,since everyone in the Virginia City

office is now out of action, it’s oflimited value.

Agency operatives should confiscatethe coded ledgers, while Confederateslike Texas Rangers should hand theirevidence over to Katie Karl at the endof the adventure. As a show of goodfaith, she then hands the material backto the Agency to improve relations.

In Virgil’s office is the family bibleenclosed in a glass display case, a mapof continental North America and across adorning the wall. A secretcompartment at the base of the displaycase has been torn open and an oddset of goggles (photo-reactive goggles,to be exact) lay half-dangling out of it.

The desk drawers are pulled out andthe table’s contents scattered all overthe floor. Lane tore through the officelooking for his letter to Grant. He thenpoured oil over everything, but didn’tset it on fire.

There are no clues to indicate Lane’snext target.

The KitchenThe kitchen is likely to be the last

stop for any investigators. It’s like anyother kitchen with a wood stove,pantry and pot rack. Virgil sits proppedup against the pantry door, one handclenching his cross like it was thearchangel Michael’s blazing sword, theother holding a rag to stem the blood.He heard the heroes enter but was tooweak to call out or even move.

A handsome man under normalcircumstances, Virgil maintains a well-groomed handlebar mustache and hasa broad-shouldered physique with anobvious healthy love of food. Virgil isbadly injured and near death. Hiswounds are severely infected, killinghim through fever and gangrene. Onlyan Incredible (11) lay on hands orOnerous (7) panacea roll can save himnow. Even then, he’ll need time torecover, and slips in and out ofconsciousness easily.

Talkin’ To VirgilVirgil’s can only answer a couple of

questions regardless his condition, ashe has little information to share.However, what he does know is veryimportant!

Whatever the hero asks, Virgil’sanswers essentially come to thesetidbits. He won’t waste his time withother irrelevant chitchat:

Who did this? Lane and... black-haired woman.

What happened? Woman triedto kill me...but the Lordprotected me. She ran... Lanecouldn’t kill me either.

Do you know where theywent? Overheard...City o’ Gloom.Think they’re after NevadaSmith. (Now this should soundqueer to folks, consideringNevada Smith is a fictionalcharacter in some dime novel. Theauthor, Ignatius Martin Hymme,lives in Salt Lake City).

Do you know why? No...Don’tthink Lane’s responsible forthis...saw remorse...Tried to setmy home on fire. Couldn’t. Heseemed conflicted.

The LetterBy this point Virgil is near dead (or

utterly fatigued) and knows he’sdrifting out of consciousness. Unable tospeak any longer, he pulls Lane’ssealed letter from his breast pocket. Hislast act is to motion to his crucifix andwhisper “...beware this...”

The reason Virgil points to the cross ishe saw Lane’s crucifix when the Ghostfirst arrived. Later, Regina tested herfaith against his using an identical cross.He surmised the shared crucifix hadsomething to do with Lane’s condition,but not what. Virgil is trying to point theheroes in the right direction.

As he knew his control was slippingfast, Lane did not encode his letter toPresident Grant. However, he did usethe Agency’s invisible ink to pen it.Fortunately, there’s a pair of photo-reactive goggles in Virgil’s study,exposed from their hiding place duringLane’s rampage.

Whateley AmbushThere’s no rest for the wicked, and

this is especially true of UriahWhateley and his posse of miscreants.While the heroes gathered theirinformation and tended to Virgil, Uriahhad sufficient time to muster his forces.He and his ambush party have takentheir positions on Sycamore Street,

U,Know that this is harder for you to bear than I

to suffer. Since the fight in Gomorra, my visionshave returned, seemingly with a vengeancefollowing 13 years of neglect. My friends are indanger, seemingly by my own hands. I find nosolace in that.

I pray my visions deceive me by mirroring myfears rather than my destiny. Still I cannotchance either. I implore you to stop me by anymeans necessary. My inner demons will driveme to undo all we strove to accomplish in thedecade following the Reckoning.

I can only impart what I remember, but Iremember these horrors well enough.

1) I see the mark of our Savior, Jesus Christ,burdening my shoulders as though I were theone walking the path to the Crucifixion. Thecross weighs on me and I know not why.

2) I see the salt flats of Deseret.3) I see darkness...Whatever is to happen, I’m unsure. My final

fate was foretold once and I ignored it. Fatedenies me a second chance at seeing theculmination of my existence.

I’m uncertain to whom the duty ofintercepting me falls. I can only console you withthis...Stop me, for I would do the same for youwere the situation reversed. I bear you noanimosity, as I pray you bear me none.

Yours Faithfully,AL

Lane’s LetterLane’s LetterLane’s LetterLane’s LetterLane’s Letter

Double Whammy 43

hiding in neighboring staircases and inthe well of a half-basement shopacross the street.

Thanks to information from cousinsNicodemus and Gabriel, Uriah has apretty good idea of the number ofheroes in the posse. Since he never letshimself be in the underdog position ifhe can help it, Uriah has hired onegunman for each member of the posse.

Bushwhack by the NumbersTwo gunmen are hidden behind the

solid stone walls of the stairs to theleft and right of Virgil’s home. Theyhave cover for both legs and lower guts.Another bushwhacker is in the housefacing Virgil’s. He’s the most difficult tohit given his cover is guts and bothlegs, and he’s cloaked in darkness (-2penalty to the posse’s shootin’attempts).

The rest of the gunmen, includingUriah, are across the street, in thestairwell of a basement store. Theircover only includes both legs. Uriah toldhis boys to open fire once the posse isin the street and away from cover.

This kind of ambush can easily killthe posse, so Marshal, you may want tohelp the heroes out. Each cowpoke rollsagainst an Hard (9) Cognition checkwhen stepping out the door; ifsuccessful, she notices the reflection ofthe desperadoes in the window acrossthe street. Also, if any hero peeks outthe front window when they were stillup in Virgil’s home he notices Uriahsetting up his welcome wagon.

If they miss all these warning signsand you’re still feeling forgiving,Marshal, you can have a desperadojump the gun, so to speak, and shootwhen the lead hero is walking downthe stairs. The other ambushers andthe posse all have to roll Cognitionagainst an Incredible (11) TN to avoidsurprise. This might give the posse thatone round it needs to find cover.

Just remember to give the heroes thebenefit of any cover against the ambushparty as well—if they think to use it! Ifanyone jumps into the half-basementstairwell on the right, then he’s also gotthe same cover as Uriah across thestreet, while the left side gunman can’tsee him at all.

If three or more gunmen go down,then the remaining two bolt. No matterwhat, though, give the posse a goodshot to either kill or capture Uriah. Ifhe escapes, a valuable clue vanishes aswell

Uriah WhateleyUriah never displayed his family’s

knack for black magic, and alwaysproved the brunt of their jokes. Sadlydeformed with a painful hunchbackthat swallowed his neck, two six-fingered grips, teeth that would shamepiranha and a set of eyes sunk furtherdown on his face than normal, Uriahproudly displays the Whateley’spenchant for centuries of inbreeding.

Unlike other Whateley monstrositiesleft back East, however, Uriah can

44 Marshal

function in normal society withoutdisplaying his ghoulish habits. Sure hestares at children a minute too long,but at least he knows to kidnap themat night and not snatch them in themiddle of the street at high noon.

Despite appearances, Uriah hasfriends in low places. He’s got money tospend and appreciates any depravedvice whether he shares them or not.Uriah’s even marked himself as amover and shaker in Virginia City’sprostitution and opium trade.

Naturally, he didn’t appreciate itwhen Gabriel’s crow showed up withorders from Nicodemus. Uriah wouldhave ignored them were he not deathlyafraid of the scion from Gomorra. Hehopes to do this little favor for hiscousin and go back to being a big fish.

Uriah still has Nicodemus’ letter inhis breast pocket, even though theletter isn’t signed. Uriah knows who itsfrom though:

Under no circumstance does Uriahbetray Nicodemus. He shares thecontents of the letter, but he won’tname the sender. Nicodemus is far toopowerful and nasty to betray, especiallywhen he can get to you even afteryou’re dead.

Profile:Uriah Whateley

CorporCorporCorporCorporCorporeal:eal:eal:eal:eal: D:3d6, N:3d6, Q:4d6, S:4d6,V:2d10

Dodge 3d6, fightin’ 2d6, filchin’ 2d6,horse ridin’ 1d6, lockpickin’ 3d6,shootin’: pistol 3d6, sleight of hand1d6, sneak 2d6

Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental: C:4d6, K:4d8, M:4d6, Sm:1d8,Sp:1d8

Area Knowledge: Virginia City 3d8, bluff2d8, gamblin’ 2d8, guts 3d8, medicine3d8, overawe 3d6, persuasion 2d6,scrutinize 2d6, streetwise 3d8

Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: 6Size: Size: Size: Size: Size: 6WWWWWind: ind: ind: ind: ind: 18Edges: Edges: Edges: Edges: Edges: Dinero 3, keen 3, “the stare” 1,

thick-skinned 3, tough as nails 4Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Ailin’ -3: Chronic pain,

bad eyes -3, loco -3: (cannibal),double ugly as sin -2

Gear: Gear: Gear: Gear: Gear: Double-action Colt Peacemaker(w/50 rounds), Nicodemus’ letter

Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: See text.

Slime From the Bottom ofSome Saloon

In every gunfight there are somefolks who do the killin’, and some folkswho gets the killin done to ‘em. Let’smeet that second group, shall we?

These lowlifes are the dregs of theWeird West. Their version of ashowdown means plugging theiropponent in the back—preferably whilehe’s tied up or sleeping. For the rightprice, they’ll even defile the corpse aswell. That’s why Uriah likes them.They’ve got no morals and every one ofthem’s got a Wanted poster with theircrimes listed front and back.

Greetings Cousin,

I hope this letter finds you in good health andeager disposition. There’s a man by the name ofAndrew Lane, the head of the Agency’s WesternBureau and a thorn in our side, who’s passingthrough Virginia City. He’ll be at 12 SycamoreStreet over the next few days. Leave him be. Heappears to be on a rampage of sorts and I do sowant him to continue. Let him have his fun.

Your concern is a posse who’s been sent afterLane. They’ll probably visit 12 Sycamore Street aswell, so if you can “delay” them, I’d be mostappreciative. I’m curious to what Lane’s up too,and I wouldn’t want anyone spoiling his fun. Dothis and we’re even. Ignore me and I’ll see yourprecious playmates brought back to life andhowling for your blood.

Your Faithful Cousin

Uriah’s LetterUriah’s LetterUriah’s LetterUriah’s LetterUriah’s Letter

Double Whammy 45

Profile: BushwhackersCorporCorporCorporCorporCorporeal:eal:eal:eal:eal: D:3d6, N:2d6, Q:2d6, S:3d6,

V:3d6Dodge 2d6, fightin’: brawlin’ 3d6,

shootin’: pistol (rifle for the thugupstairs) 4d6, sneak 3d6

Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental: C:2d6, K:2d6, M:3d6, Sm:2d4,Sp:3d8

Gamblin’ 2d4, guts 2d8, overawe 2d6,ridicule 2d6, streetwise 3d4

Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Outlaw -3, wanted -3Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: 6Size: Size: Size: Size: Size: 6WWWWWind: ind: ind: ind: ind: 14Gear: Gear: Gear: Gear: Gear: Double-action Colt .45 (w/50

rounds), Winchester ‘73, Bowie knife

After the Dust Clears...When the gunfight’s in full swing, the

authorities are slow in arriving. Theposse has plenty of time to vamooseonce the gunplay’s over, though the localsheriff combs the streets for the culpritsinvolved in the fracas. Of course, giventhe reputations of the thugs the possesent to Boot Hill, he’s not going to looktoo hard for their killers.

If Virgil survives, then the posse hasitself another Agency ally. If UriahWhateley survives, then the heroes havea nasty enemy willing to cause them noend of trouble whenever they return toVirginia City.

If the heroes wait around, they cancertainly convince the sheriff that thematter was self-defense, thoughexplaining the dead bodies in Virgil’shome is going to be trickier. Withcommunication to Sacramento and SaltLake City down, the local departmenthas no way to verify the posse’s claims.On the other hand, if Virgil’s still alive,somebody’s going to have to look afterhim, and the authorities are the onlyones who can help.

The heroes’ best bet is to flash abadge, a writ of authority from PresidentGrant or to hightail it out of there —especially if they’re Confederates.

In any case, the heroes havenarrowed the gap between Lane andthemselves by no more than a day. Ifthey wait, all their efforts might be fornaught. Be sure to stress the urgencyof the situation and the fact that morelives are at stake in Salt Lake City.

Last train toSalt Lake

The posse has two options forreaching Salt Lake City. The first isthrough the Denver Pacific Line; thesecond involves hoofing it. Fortunately,both the railway and horse trail runparallel through most of Nevada, untilthey near Deseret. After that the trainline splits north around the Great SaltLake and stops in Corrine, Ogden andSalt Lake City. The horse trail cutssouth across a thin stretch of landbetween the Utah Salt Flats and theGreat Salt Lake.

Both routes are equal in length, butthe journey would be quicker if theposse crossed the Salt Flats. Wewouldn’t recommend it though. That’s adifferent set of problems—Rattlersproblems, to be exact. Travelling byhorse the trip is nearly a week and ahalf; by train, it’s barely two days.

This portion of the adventure takesplace in Nevada, where the trail andrail lines still run parallel. Along theway, telegraph lines are down, as arethe occasional pole. Lane’s stillspreading discord in his wake andensuring the region’s bogged underrepairs.

A Parting of WaysOn his last outing in Virginia City,

Lane spotted Uriah Whateley followinghim. He figured someone was on histrail and decided to sabotage the trainto keep the rail lines tied up.Meanwhile Regina wasn’t proving thebest of company.

Annoying to begin with, she turnedmore zealous in proving her faith afterthe debacle at Virgil’s house. Shestarted “judgin’ sinners” on the train,shouting at them and nearly revealingtheir identities on more than oneoccasion. The conductor was going tothrow Regina off the train at the next

46 Marshal

switch stop. Lane realized his travelingcompanion was a liability and decidedto part ways.

Lane left Regina in the caboose onthe pretense that he had to stretch hislegs. He moved forward four cars, justbefore the engine, and cut the train’srear half loose. Lane then forced theconductor to go straight through to SaltLake City. Along the way, he made afew unscheduled stops to knock downtelegraph poles.

Regina went plumb loco. Alreadyabandoned by the Lord, the only thingshe had left was fulfilling ReverendGrimme’s orders. When Lane left herbehind, she believed she had failed inher mission to God and Grimme. Shewent on a bona fide rampage, beginningin the caboose, killing passengers withbolts o’ doom and animating burningzombies to send into the adjoiningcompartments. The last car held her offfor a while, but eventually the zombiesoverran the living.

Regina is still on the marooned train,growing crazier than an outhouse ratunder the hot Nevada sun. She’s takento feeding off bodies and talking to thezombies.

Now, the train is a blood-soakedabattoir, little more than a putrid foodlocker for a madwoman.

Next Stop...Hell!About 200 miles into the journey, the

heroes encounter the second ambush.Whether they posse’s riding hard underthe desert sun, or watching thescenery slip idly by the train, itencounters an odd sight. Lying still onthe tracks is the caboose and threepassenger cars for a Denver Pacifictrain. A handful of corpses arescattered about with some evenhanging out the windows.

On horseback, the heroes are free toinvestigate or ignore the cars as theychoose—although you should mockthem mercilessly if they pass up suchan obvious mystery, Marshal!

If aboard the train, the engineers stopsome distance back from the cars andbicker about what to do next. Give theposse ample time to remember they’resupposed to be the heroes in the story.

If they don’t go forward, eventually alineman does. Minutes later a horribletortured scream comes from the cars,but nothing else. The railroad mannever returns. Should they continue toshirk in the train, the engineers,fearing bandits or worse, reverse theengine and head back down the line.

Regina’s WrathHope the heroes are healed up,

because they’re in for a nasty fight.Regina may be straight out crazy, butshe’s still got tricks up her sleeve,including a few dead bodies and thebones to raise bloody ones.

The zombies spotted the heroesriding in and warned Regina. Sheimmediately animated more walkin’dead, then used her black magic spell,judas, to alter her appearance. Shecurrently looks like a typical travelingbelle with a one piece green calicodress that stretches from the groundpast the bodice, up to the embroideredv-neck collar. She’s also wearing abonnet from which hang strands ofblond hair, and a rosary with hercrucifix around her wrist. Her dressballoons at the shoulders and wrist.

Should this disguise fail for anyreason, then she appears in plaintraveling clothes with a wooden crucifixhanging around her neck like someunholy noose. Her fingers are allbloodied from feeding on corpses andher face is a mess of gore like a clumsychild who planted his face in mud.

Regina is currently in the car furthestfrom the caboose. Before the heroesarrive, she drops a pair of bloody ones’bones between the first and second cars,just under the connecting platformwhere they’d have time to grow.

There are two bloody ones waitingbetween the first and second car, andanother pair under the thirdcompartment. The first two remainpatient and quiet until somebody walksabove them. Then they spring up

between the footplates and drag theirvictims under the train. Also playingpossum are several walkin’ deadscattered among the honest corpses.

Hell On WheelsFear Level 3

Coming up on the still train, theheroes can already see it’s aslaughterhouse. The windows arewashed in blood, and more than onecorpse leans gape-mouthed and hollow-eyed against the window. A murder ofcrows sits on the roof or gatheredaround the three corpses cookingunder the hot sun. Buzzards circle,waiting for their turn at the feast. Theair is rancid with the stench of rottingflesh and blood.

Suddenly, there’s a gunshot and awoman’s scream from inside the train(Regina’s playing the damsel indistress). The crows take flight, fillingthe air with their beating wings.Everything draws silent again.

Treat the exploration like combat,Marshal, and have the heroes to rollinitiative and act on their turn. Beforethem is a train, from which they justheard a scream and gunfire. They don’tknow which car it came from.

Let em’ have at it.

CabooseFrom the outside, the caboose

appears to be the least damagedportion of the train. Inside is anothermatter. Regina began her “cleansing”here, raining down bolts o’ doom andgun fire against her fellow passengers.She then animated the burnt corpsesand sent them all Hell-bent into theadjoining cars. The passengers didn’thave a chance.

The caboose has no bodies simplybecause Regina pressed the corpsesinto service. Heroes find blown offhands and feet—enough to warrant aFair (5) guts check—but nothing tomake a formal identification. Thecaboose is a mess of broken glass,scorched paneling, torn up seating,pools of blood and spilt personal effects.There are also bullet casings on thefloor. The door to the next car is open.That’s where the body count begins.

First CarThe real tragedy of the situation

confronts the heroes here. A wall ofstench hits the posse.

A dozen corpses are scattered acrossthe floor, burnt to a crisp or shot dead,with their skulls broken open andleaking what’s left of their brains.Some even died trying to escapethrough the windows. Their bodiesdangle outside now, food for the crows..Any hero entering this butcher shophas to make a Hard (9) guts check.

48 Marshal

This car is in similar distress to thecaboose. The upholstery’s torn up andthere’s a spray of blood on the walls andceiling. The floor’s thick with bodies andgore. Whoever did this showed no mercy,slaughtering men, women and childrenwith equal savagery.

Of the twelve corpses, a scattered fourare re-animated, but playing “dead.” Ifthe heroes start capping off corpses inthe head just for good measure, then thezombies spring into action when a heroapproaches. Otherwise, they lie still evenif a hero takes their pulse.

The zombies won’t react unlessthreatened or when a bloody one grabsa hero moving between the first andsecond car. Once the first two bloodyones attack, the zombie nearest the doorgrabs an adjacent hero. The threeremaining zombies scramble behindseats and open fire.

In any combat on the train, thebenches act as cover for the guts andlegs. Unfortunately, each shot has a 1-3chance on 1d6 of punching through thethin wood and seat stuffing. Thebenches provide protection equal to AV 1.

Second CarThe scene of carnage and slaughter

repeats itself. Another five corpses arescattered about here, with three zombieshidden in different rows. When oneattacks, it jumps one hero while theother two open fire. If, however, thezombies in either the first or secondtrain hear the posse waiting outside andplaying timid, then two of them openfire from the windows. The remaindersneak out the windows on the othersideof the train and crawl on the roof.Anyone who makes a Fair (5) Cognitioncheck notices the zombies just beforethey jump on anyone below them.

To add further drama, just as thecombat finishes, Regina screams andfires again. This time a zombie goesflying out the window, trailing skullbits, grey ooze and broken glass beforeit hits the ground like a sack of wet

sand. Regina killed this zombie forshow. She’s got two bloody onesbeneath the last car, and several morezombies to send the posse’s way.

Third CarIf the train had any survivors, they

holed up in the last car before beingoverrun. There are 20 corpses scatteredon the ground, with another threezombies who were crawling through thewindow before having their heads airedwith buckshot.

In fact, the entire train looks likesomeone filled it with buckshot. Duringtheir final assault, the zombies riddledthe car with bullets. Now a hundredneedles of light pierce the interior likea pincushion. Not a soul stirs from themess, except for Regina playing thescared lone survivor. Any cowpoke whomakes a Fair (5) Cognition check seesher bonnet just above the second tolast seat.

Regina acts scared and frightened todraw the heroes in closer. She wants togauge how they’ve fared against hercritters. She then focuses on the leastinjured hero and waits to strike.Meanwhile, Regina answers anyquestions the posse asks her.

She claims the train was recentlyseparated, after which they heardgunfire from the caboose. Within aminute, walkin’ dead appeared andstampeded through the first two cars.The survivors holed themselves up inthe last car and waited for help. Thewalkin’ dead, however, continued toattack and eventually whittled thesurvivors down to her. She’s beenholding them off, but only barely.

While Regina’s talking, her twobloody ones are crawling out frombeneath the car. If the posse is onhorseback, one hides under a windowwhile the other goes after the horses;the animals’ panicked whinnies shouldbring the heroes running. Otherwise,they both wait outside and one slamsthe door to the second car to draw theposse’s attention back outside.

As soon as they react to the bloodyones’ distractions, Regina shots theclosest or healthiest hero with a bolt o’doom. That signals the three other

Double Whammy 49

zombies on the ground to attack. Thebloody ones bushwhack any heroemerging from the train. If the heroesare mounted, one of the two runs fortheir horses.

Of course, all this is preempted if theheroes spot the bloody ones emergingfrom under train or if the posse shootscorpses on their way to Regina. In thelatter case, Regina screams “Look out!”when a zombie is about to attack ahero. She then uses the distraction tofire off a bolt o’ doom.

Profile: Bloody OnesCorporCorporCorporCorporCorporeal:eal:eal:eal:eal: D:3d6, N:3d10, Q:3d10, S:3d8,

V:3d8Dodge 2d10, fightin’: brawlin 4d6, sneak

4d10Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental: C:4d8, K:1d4, M:2d8, Sm:2d8,

Sp:3d6Overawe 4d8, ridicule 4d8, search 4d8,

trackin’: scent 3d8Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: 10Size: Size: Size: Size: Size: 6WWWWWind: ind: ind: ind: ind: 14TTTTTerrerrerrerrerror: or: or: or: or: 9Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:

UndeadUndeadUndeadUndeadUndeadClaClaClaClaClaws: ws: ws: ws: ws: STR+1d6Bite:Bite:Bite:Bite:Bite: STR+1d6

Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Bloody Ones look likecorpses with their flesh gnawed off—which is exactly what happened.

Profile: Walkin’ DeadCorporCorporCorporCorporCorporeal:eal:eal:eal:eal: D:2d6, N:2d8, Q:2d10, S:3d8,

V:2d8Climbin’: 1d8, dodge 2d10, fightin’:

brawlin’ 3d8, shootin’: pistol, rifle,shotgun 2d6, sneak 3d8, swimmin’1d8

Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental: C:2d10, K:1d6, M:1d6, Sm:1d6,Sp:1d4

Overawe 5d6, ridicule 1d6, search 3d10Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: 8Size: Size: Size: Size: Size: 6WWWWWind: ind: ind: ind: ind: 12TTTTTerrerrerrerrerror: or: or: or: or: 7Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:

Damage:Damage:Damage:Damage:Damage: Bite (STR)FearlessFearlessFearlessFearlessFearlessGuns: Guns: Guns: Guns: Guns: These zombies are packing all

manner of smokewagons.Undead: Undead: Undead: Undead: Undead: Focus (Head).

Gear: Gear: Gear: Gear: Gear: Pistol, rifle, or shotgun (Marshal’schoice).

Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: These walkin’ dead looklike Western travelers and tinhornswho’ve seen better days—muchbetter days!

Spottin’ the VarmintNow, Marshal, you know your posse

better than anyone else, and you knowwhether this ambush could spell itsend. If you feel some forewarning’s inorder, you can allow the following clueson with a successful Cognition check:

Onerous (7) TN: The fair damsel’sdress and appearance are in excellentcondition considering she spent the lastday battling the walkin’ dead and livingamong wounded.

Hard (9) TN: Many of the bodies inthe train look chewed on. If she foughtoff the zombies, who ate the corpses?

If the heroes suddenly realizeRegina’s involved, let her make a Fair(5) Cognition roll to deduce she’s beensmoked out, unless the posse is reallysneaky about it. In any case, once thecombat begins, her disguise drops,revealing her as the local cannibal.Regina will fight to the end. She’s alittle more than a wounded or rabidanimal that must be put down.

When you describe her, be sure tomake mention of the awkward crucifixaround her neck. It’s pretty importantthat the posse figure out the similaritybetween her cross and that on theGhost’s neck. If they don’t, they’re goingto have to kill the Ghost in the nextchapter to stop him!

Regina ColeportRegina Coleport was always partial

to any scripture that justified murderand looting as long as it was righteous.When Regina stabbed her cheatinghusband to death, she had a hymn onher lips. When she stole from herheathen neighbors, she donated a lion’sshare of the loot to Grimme’s church.

50 Marshal

Regina earned Grimme’s attentionfollowing the proclamation of the 22:18Bounty which rewarded the goodcitizens of Lost Angels for turning insuspected witches and warlocks. Reginamade quite a living as a professionalaccuser—similar to a 17th century Salemwitch hunter, but with even lessscruples. Often, she played the role ofthe possessed victim to validate herclaims of heresy against those shebetrayed to the Guardian Angels.

Having sent 11 neighbors to thegallows, Regina profited from the 11weeks of meals she earned at theRectory, and developed a hankering forhuman flesh. With her almost dailyworship at the Cathedral of Lost Angels,it was only natural Grimme indoctrinateher into the fold and train her to defendthe word of God—as spoken by the goodReverend, of course.

She moved through the ranks like abullet through a gun barrel, learningthe ways of the church and cult. Eachhorror she uncovered, however, was justanother tool of the righteous. It didn’t

hurt any that her black magic, thanksto Grimme’s altar, came up looking likeholy deeds. She even justified theircannibalism as consumption of mortalsins so the person’s soul was free toenter Heaven. Needless to say, she evenspooked most Guardian Angels withher persistent faith.

When the time came to dispatch anAvenging Angel to Gomorra, Grimmeassigned Regina. Few folk were moreloyal than her, and it delighted Grimmethat she fully believed she was doingright by the Lord. Eager to please thegood Reverend, Regina pursued herduties admirably. She’s followed Lane,killing off folks when the manitou can’t,and eating their “sins” to sustain her.

Profile: Regina ColeportCorporCorporCorporCorporCorporeal:eal:eal:eal:eal: D:4d8, N:4d6, Q:3d10, S:4d4,

V:2d10Dodge 3d6, filchin’ 2d8, horse ridin’ 1d6,

lockpickin’ 2d8, shootin’: pistol 3d8,sneak 2d6, throwin’: bolts o’ doom 4d8

Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental: C:4d8, K:2d10, M:2d8, Sm:3d10,Sp:2d8

Area knowledge: Lost Angels 2d10, bluff2d10, disguise 2d10, faith: Church ofthe Lost Angels 3d8, guts 2d8,overawe 3d8, performin’: acting 3d8,persuasion 2d8, scroungin’ 2d10,scrutinize 2d8, search 2d8, streetwise2d10, survival: desert 2d10

Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: 6Size: Size: Size: Size: Size: 6WWWWWind: ind: ind: ind: ind: 24Edges: Edges: Edges: Edges: Edges: Brave 2, keen 3, “the stare” 1,

tough as nails 3, “the voice”(threatening) 1

Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Hankerin’ -4: human flesh,loco -4 (fanatical devotion to Grimmeand Lost Angels), self-righteous -3

Gear: Gear: Gear: Gear: Gear: Colt peacemaker (w/50 rounds), 4sets of bloody bones, chip of stonefrom Grimme’s altar imbedded incross.

Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Black Magic: Black Magic: Black Magic: Black Magic: Black Magic: Bolts o’ Doom 2, dark

protection 2, judas 3, zombie 3Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Regina Coleport wears

clothing like a man, with a simpleshirt tied up to her neck. Her hair isblack and short, but her eyes areintense and hungry. Her mouth istwisted in a sneer and she holds acrucifix against her chest.

Double Whammy 51New Black Magic

SpellHere’s a new Black Magic spell for

you to trouble your posse with, Marshal.

JudasSpeed: Speed: Speed: Speed: Speed: 1Duration: Duration: Duration: Duration: Duration: SpecialTrappings: Trappings: Trappings: Trappings: Trappings: A dripping candle, a pinch

of dust, a veilThis spell allows cultists to alter

their appearance right down to theirclothing. Cultists primarily use judas tohide their own identities whilecommitting crimes or unholy acts inpublic. The effect is illusory, however,and does not affect Traits or Aptitudes.

The spell slips an illusionary “glove”over the cultist, adding, at best, sixinches or so in either height or girth.With judas, the cultist alters gender,voice, eye color, hair length and mostany other physical characteristic.Likewise, clothing runs the gamut fromminer’s work cloths to a jauntysocialite’s evening gown. The cultist cannever look smaller or thinner, or gainEdges like “the stare” or “the voice.”

He can even look Harrowed, thoughhe cannot impersonate as a non-human Abomination. His generalappearance must remain human.

Of course manufactured illusionsdesigned to impersonate anotherperson require either a photograph, awell-rendered drawing or a visual cueto work from. Obviously, studying thesubject allows the cultist to prepare abetter-looking illusion, while thosecrafted from photographs and drawingsdon’t appear exactly right.

If the cultist is trying to deceive ahero using judas, the cowpoke canpenetrate the disguise making ascrutinize roll against a TN based onthe cultist’s basis for his disguise.

Of course, the Marshal can assignbonuses or penalties according to ahero’s familiarity with the impersonatedindividual.

If the disguise isn’t based on a realperson, but simply a fictitious onecreated by the cultist to mask his ownidentity, the TN for the scrutinize roll isIncredible (11).

JudasJudasJudasJudasJudas

LeLeLeLeLevvvvvelelelelel DurationDurationDurationDurationDuration1 1 round2 1 minute3 1 hour4 1 day5 1 week

KnoKnoKnoKnoKnowledge of Subjectwledge of Subjectwledge of Subjectwledge of Subjectwledge of Subject TNTNTNTNTNBased on quick study 9Based on detailed study 7Based on photograph 5Based on drawing 3

The AftermathUnfortunately there is little to do for

the dead save burning the train,making sure none of the other victimsreturn Harrowed, or leaving the trainfor Denver Pacific to handle. Any herotrying to protect the common citizenfrom the Reckoning (like an Agencyspook or Ranger) already knows thisslaughter is evidence. It has to go.

If the posse missed any vital clues tothe Ghost’s destination in Virginia City,Marshal, you can leave telltale evidenceon Regina’s person. Perhaps a dimenovel written by I.M. Hymme aboutNevada Smith’s adventures.

Meanwhile, if the heroes came bytrain, then they’ll have to take theirhorses from the livestock car. It’s goingto take several days just to clear thetracks, and the posse has itself anappointment in Salt Lake City.

BountyGetting a look at Nicodemus’ letter:Getting a look at Nicodemus’ letter:Getting a look at Nicodemus’ letter:Getting a look at Nicodemus’ letter:Getting a look at Nicodemus’ letter:

1 white chipSaSaSaSaSaving Vving Vving Vving Vving Virgil:irgil:irgil:irgil:irgil: 1 white chipFiguring out the Ghost’Figuring out the Ghost’Figuring out the Ghost’Figuring out the Ghost’Figuring out the Ghost’s crucifix iss crucifix iss crucifix iss crucifix iss crucifix is

significant:significant:significant:significant:significant: 1 red chipDefDefDefDefDefeating Regina:eating Regina:eating Regina:eating Regina:eating Regina: 1 blue chip

Chapter Four

Salt in theWound

Welcome to God’s country, where theApostles are still alive and the Saintsare armed with shotguns. The lastportion of Lane’s saga appropriatelyends in Salt Lake City, the “City o’Gloom.” Let’s hope the posse is wilyenough to stop Lane withoutpermanently fixin’ his wagon.

City o’ GloomThe heroes are walking into a messy

situation, what with Lane’s presenceand the Mormons’ disposition towardsGentiles. Here’s a rough primer on thecity and its attitudes (though werecommend you pick up City o’ Gloomfor your library.) If you don’t have the

book, we won’t leave you high anddry neither. Here are some key factsabout Salt Lake City that might

help you out.Salt Lake City is the culmination

of 57 years of religious

enlightenment, persecution and warthat drove the Mormons all the wayfrom Palmyra, New York to thisovergrown patch of table condiment inUtah...or, as its residents now call it,Deseret.

Salt Lake City is supposedly aparadise, but that depends on whichside of God you happen to be on.Mormons reside in the agreeableportion of town where the blocks areneat little grids, the streets are wideand the air’s fresher than springtime bythe river. Some Gentiles have homesthere too, but their cost of livingamounts to nothing short of extortion.

Most Gentiles, on the other hand,have the misfortune of calling theJunkyard home. This is where theheroes are bound, given the Mormonsare mighty suspicious of strangers, andgive the posse more trouble than Lanedoes.

One other matter of importance:Church and law are one in the same, soif the hero breaks a Commandment,he’s broken a law. In Salt Lake Citythere’s also the unspokenCommandment: Though shall not beararms in Salt Lake City. This is a minorcrime, and not enforced in the Junkyardunless the hero is flagrant about hispossessions.

JunkyardThe Junkyard isn’t a bad place to live

if you’re soot. Originally this region wasa nest of factories, steam and waterpipes, smoke stacks, power lines,valves, massive pumps and anythingelse one would expect to find in thebelly of a ship’s engine room. This wasthe truth of Dr. Hellstromme’smechanical paradise, an industrialsector that painted the air black withghost rock soot. Leave it to the City o’Gloom to turn it into affordable housing.

The Junkyard is now a labyrinth ofblack-brick streets, alleys and tightcorridors beneath a sky of steel pipesand girders. Although the street lampsare electrically powered, soot coats thebulbs and dims their nimbus to a fewfeet. Everything else falls into shadow.

Most homes are the basements ofreconverted factories, with fewwindows touching the clear sky. Those

that do are also coated with soot. If youcouldn’t tell, soot is a way of life and amajor health risk in the Junkyard. Folkswalk around with smudged masks toprotect their face and spit black sludgeon bad days. Life expectancy isn’t high.

The Ghost’s VisitLike Gomorra, this portion of the trip

might seem civil compared to thewhirlwind events in Sacramento andVirginia City. They aren’t.

The Ghost didn’t exactly arrivequietly, given his train blew past severalforts in Nevada as well as the towns ofCorrine and Ogden. Lane killed theconductor and leapt off the train justbefore it reached Salt Lake City. Ofcourse the runaway engine badlydamaged the Denver-Pacific Depotwhen it reached end terminal,attracting a heap of attention.

Everyone suspects sabotage of somesort, including the Union, Confederacy,and just about every rail baron of note.The city is electrified by rumors.

The Ghost’s in town, meeting withvarious Spooks. Fortunately, he can’tkill them for the moment. Heremembers Lane’s vision extended toDeseret, whereupon there was onlydarkness. Whatever happens, heknows, happens here.

Instead of killing off spooks, heinformed local agents that there are

Junkyard,Junkyard,Junkyard,Junkyard,Junkyard,Salt Lake CitySalt Lake CitySalt Lake CitySalt Lake CitySalt Lake City, State of Deser, State of Deser, State of Deser, State of Deser, State of Deseretetetetet

The Ledge

The Salt LakeCity Grand

Gonzalez’sHouse

The Rathole

infiltrators trying to discredit the Unionin Salt Lake City. The train crash at theDenver-Pacific Depot and the felledlines to Virginia City were two in aseries of plots to kill Lane and disruptthe Agency’s lines of communicationwhich are now compromised. Accordingto Lane, outsiders can’t be trusted,neither can any incoming or outgoingmessages, at least until the infiltratorsare uncovered and stopped. As inchecked in with the local undertaker—with extreme prejudice.

The Ghost is currently holed up,appropriately enough, in a place calledthe Rathole Apartments. He hides here,coordinating the efforts of the otherspies. They’re currently patrolling thehotels and saloons, watching for anystranger asking the wrong questions.

Where toBegin?

We hope the posse had time to rest,cause matters can get nasty dependingon how the heroes make their waythrough the City o’ Gloom. To start off,Marshal, you should warn the heroesabout the local do’s and don’ts, such asthe strict gun laws. Mormons get twitchywhen Gentiles walk around armed.

The best accommodations in SaltLake City are the Restful Arms ($4.00 anight + $2.00 for meals) and the SaltLake City Hotel ($12.00 a night, foodincluded). However, since the heroesprobably don’t want to attract attention,they’re better off in the Junkyard, atGonzalez’s House (.50¢ a night) or SaltLake City Grand (.75¢ an evening). Allfour offer a bed and a proper roof.

Virgil Constance didn’t leave theposse much to go on save the nameNevada Smith, a dime novel charactersupposedly based on a real agent. Onlythe local author Ignatius Martin or I.M.Hymme knows for sure. Only PresidentGrant, Andrew Lane and a handful ofothers know Nevada Smith is really anAgency operative who writes about hisexploits, while crediting I.M. Hymme,who’s played by Michael Mullwood.Mullwood acts as Nevada’s front man bypretending he is I.M. Hymme.

The local Mormons know very littleabout Hymme or Nevada Smith, and arelikely to be offended by the questions.Nevada Smith’s nemesis is Dr.Hellstromme himself, a virtual saintamong the Mormons. He introducedelectrical power, clean water and steamengines to Salt Lake City. Hellstrommeall but built the city with his hands.

The posse might get away withoffending one or maybe two Mormons,but if it persists in asking folks thewrong questions, it likely attracts theNauvoo Legion — the local militia andpolicing force.

How the heroes handle the situationis entirely in their hands, but if they’recarrying guns, at the very least theygo to jail for a day, suffer stiff fines($100.00) and lose their weapons. Atworst, they start a gun battle with theNauvoo Legion in the heart of SaltLake City!

The Legion patrols in groups of 10,nine soldiers and a sergeant.Regardless of rank, though, the profileis the same.

After sending Regina off to a dirt nap, theposse trails the Ghost to the City o’ Gloom.Unfortunately, he’s beaten them there andplanted suspicion in the minds of the spooks intown.

WherWherWherWherWhere to Begin?e to Begin?e to Begin?e to Begin?e to Begin? Realzing they’re strangersin a strange land, the heroes have to locate theAgency’s most famous operative—Nevada Smithfor assistance against the Ghost.

VVVVVisitin’ Neisitin’ Neisitin’ Neisitin’ Neisitin’ Nevvvvvada.ada.ada.ada.ada. Rumors lead the posse tothe Ledge in Junkyard. There, they meet BoBuchanon, Nevada’s current assistant. Hescreens them before leading them to his boss.

Ode to a Hymme. Ode to a Hymme. Ode to a Hymme. Ode to a Hymme. Ode to a Hymme. Convinced of theirhonesty, Bo sets up a meet with Nevada. Hearrives disquised as the Ghost to ascertain theirintent. If they convince him, he helps againstthe renegade Lane.

ShoShoShoShoShowdowdowdowdowdown. wn. wn. wn. wn. Lane snatches a member of thecity’s ruling council. If the heroes don’t stop him,he kills the man, exposing himself and strainingUnion relations with Deseret.

Chapter Four RoundupChapter Four RoundupChapter Four RoundupChapter Four RoundupChapter Four Roundup

56 Marshal

Profile: Nauvoo LegionnaireCorporCorporCorporCorporCorporeal:eal:eal:eal:eal: D:2d8, N:2d8, Q:2d8, S:3d8,

V:4d8Climbin’ 2d8, dodge 3d8, drivin’: steam

engine 2d8, fightin’: brawlin’ 3d8,horse ridin’ 5d8, shootin’: pistol, rifle3d8, sneak 3d8, teamster 4d8

Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental: C:2d6, K:2d6, M:2d8, Sm:2d6,Sp:3d6

Area knowledge: Salt Lake City 4d6,faith: Mormonism 3d6, guts 4d6,leadership (officers’ skill) 3d8,overawe 2d8, scrutinize 2d6, search3d6, survival: desert 3d6, trackin’ 3d6

Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: 8Size: Size: Size: Size: Size: 6

WWWWWind: ind: ind: ind: ind: 14Gear: Gear: Gear: Gear: Gear: Horse, double-action Colt .45

Peacemaker, Winchester ‘73, Bowieknife.

The posse should have better luckquestioning Gentiles, especially folksliving in the Junkyard who aren’t abovecharging .25¢ for their help. Regardless,the answers come up the same:

“Don’t know Hymme, butNevada Smith’s always drinkin’and meetin’ folks at the DeseretCafé in his books.”

What If...Now there’s always the risk that the

posse has its own list of Agencycontacts in the cities mentioned thusfar we haven’t factored into theadventure.

If the Marshal wants to keep thingssimple, spook extras unique tocampaigns can simply be out of townduring the incidents or they can be oneof Lane’s victims.

If the Marshal doesn’t want to usecontrivances, then agents inSacramento or Virginia City mightsimply have missed certainappointments. The Ghost was soconcerned with retrieving the letter toGrant that he didn’t stay behind to

eliminate all Agency resources. He didas much damage as possible and leftbefore communication between thedifferent communities werereestablished.

The only operatives “officially” in theCity o’ Gloom are Nevada Smith and BoBuchanon. However, Marshal, if youhave other agents in your campaign inSalt Lake City, the heroes can certainlyapproach that individual for help—provided they’re acquainted. Rememberthough, Andrew Lane, the head of theWestern Bureau and third in direct lineback to President Grant, is in towntalking about traitors in the Agency’smidst.

The posse’s ally is going to beskeptical of any accusations leviedagainst the Ghost, and might even leadthe heroes into a trap. At the very least,he doesn’t spill the beans about Lanebeing in town until he’s certain of thefacts.

If the heroes know Nevada Smith byany chance, and know how to reachhim, the super-spook isn’t a willingparticipant in the posse’s plans. Helistens, but he reports back to theGhost for further orders. Lane sanctionsan ambush at The Ledge, however,which doesn’t sit well with Nevada. Hecarries out his duty with sometrepidation as elaborated upon in thesubsequent sections, using Bo to testthe posse’s loyalties.

By the way, in this adventure, onlythe Ghost and Bo Buchanon know theparticulars of Nevada’s double life.

Visitin’ NevadaWith nothing but “Nevada Smith” and

“I.M. Hymme” as clues, the posse setsout for the Deseret Café, a locale madefamous by such dime novels as NevadaSmith and the Locomotive o’ Doom andNevada Smith and the Black MesaShowdown.

The Deseret Café is two blockssoutheast of the Junkyard on First SouthStreet and Fifth Street East. Theestablishment is polite and clean,without a hint of caffeinated beveragesor alcohol. Flavored water andsarsaparilla are the local poisons. Sixtables occupy the center of the

establishment and another six boothsline the walls. The clientele are mostlyMormons, though the odd Gentile sitsquietly, minding their thoughts.

Even the rare non-Mormon isconservatively dressed and the posselikely stands out like a Confederate inNew York. Everyone stares at theheroes with some consternation beforereturning to their drinks. It’s obviousthat they not only don’t fit in, no onehere really wants them to either.

It only takes a few minutes for theposse to determine that if I.M. Hymme isa patron of this place, he isn’t in today.

The heroes’ questions are met withblank stares and the same response: “I.M.Hymme just writes about this place, herarely visits.” While the posse is gettingnowhere, it is noticed by a man sitting inthe café’s darkest corner. The customeris Bo Buchanan, a spook on the lookoutfor infiltrators; Bo believes he’s foundthem.

Before the heroes can leave theDeseret Café, Bo walks by anddeliberately drops a piece of paper.Written on it is: The Ledge- The Junkyard.7:00PM. If the heroes try and follow Bo,he loses them in the Junkyard sprawl.

Bo BuchanonFolks say Mother Buchanan weaned

Bo on rattler poison instead of milkwhen he was born. It must haveworked, cause he’s got the ugliestscowl this side of the horizon. Bo’s builtlike a side of beef hanging in abutcher’s window, and he’s tall to boot.Don’t let that fool you, though, Bo’s aquick man for someone his size.

Bo can’t say he’s impressed with thestate of affairs between the Mormonsand Gentiles, but he’s got biggerconcerns right now with Dr.Hellstromme; Bo’s one of many agentstrying to get his hands onHellstromme’s technology for the Union.

Lane’s presence in town has thrownBo and Nevada for a loop, especiallywith allegations of infiltrators. He’sunder orders to kill, which Bo doesn’ttake lightly. He’s suspicious of Lane’ssudden bloodthirstiness. Bo will carryout his duties, but he’s on the lookoutfor actions that might prove the heroesinnocent.

Profile: Bo BuchanonCorporCorporCorporCorporCorporeal:eal:eal:eal:eal: D:3d6, N:3d8, Q:2d8, S:3d10,

V:3d12Climbin’ 3d8, dodge 2d8, fightin’:

wrasslin’ 3d8, lockpickin’ 2d6,shootin’: pistol & shotgun 5d6, sneak4d8, swimmin’ 2d8

Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental: C:3d8, K:2d6, M:4d8, Sm:2d8,Sp:3d8

Academia: occult 2d6, area knowledge:the Junkyard 4d6, bluff 2d8, gamblin’2d8, guts 2d8, overawe 2d8,persuasion 3d8, scrutinize 3d8, search3d8, streetwise 3d8, trackin’ 2d8

Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: 8Size: Size: Size: Size: Size: 7WWWWWind: ind: ind: ind: ind: 22Edges: Edges: Edges: Edges: Edges: Brave 2, rank 1 (Agency), tough

as nails 1Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Big ’un -1, obligation -3

(Agency)Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:

Grit: Grit: Grit: Grit: Grit: 2Gear:Gear:Gear:Gear:Gear: Army pistol (w/ 30 rounds),

scattergun (w/ 20 rounds)

Description:Description:Description:Description:Description: Bo’s a big man, square atevery angle, with a beard, mustacheand all the fixings to look like agrizzly. He scowls at everything.

Out on aLedge

The Ledge is a saloon in the Junkyardsituated on the sixth floor of anabandoned apartment building. Thatshould tell you something about itsquality of clientele. The ledges arewooden platforms running along theoutside walls of the saloon. Theyoverlook a sea of overhanging pipes andgirders and occasionally, a patron cancatch a glimpse of polluted sky throughthe tangle.

The Ledge is notorious for thrillseekers who leap to adjoining pipesand walkways, scurrying around likemonkeys for the sake of a bet or toimpress the opposite sex. When theheroes arrive, any number of death

games are in play here, much to thedelight of the drunken patrons.

Bo is already in the Ledge, havingarrived a half-hour early. His plan issimple. He talks to the heroes, but heplays conservative. Bo’s not here toexchange information, he’s here to testthe posse and determine its real goals.He’s not about to kill a group of NevadaSmith fans just because the Ghost’sbeing paranoid.

Bo Knows...To help him gauge the heroes, Bo set

up some tests including an encounterwith a bar patron and another with aNauvoo patrol searching for the culpritsof the Denver-Pacific train crash. Itdoesn’t help that it was Bo whoanonymously tipped them off, butagain, it’s all part of the plan. Theposse, in turn, has the evening to provetheir innocence, even though they don’tknow they’re on trial.

When the heroes arrive at the Ledge,the evening’s festivities are already infull swing. Truthfully, the Ledge is likethis most of the day, but nighttime isparticularly lively. Moving past thedrunken masses, the heroes eventuallyfind Bo sitting at one of the few opentables with a nice view of the outsideledge through a broken down wall.

During the conversation, Bo is waryand evasive with his answers. If theheroes ask about I.M. Hymme, Bo bluffsand say the author frequents the bartowards the latter part of the evening.To deflect suspicions, he even demandsa $10.00 fee for arranging the meetingwith Hymme.

Bo is fishing for information on theheroes. Having read Nevada Smith’sdime novels, Bo‘s in a position todetermine whether the heroes aremerely avid Nevada fans or if they’relooking for a backdoor into theAgency’s operation in Salt Lake City.

Once the conversation putters out, abar patron playing at drunk bumps intoa random hero, spilling beer on them.The patron (hired by Bo to play thispart) accuses the hero of tripping him;it’s obvious he’s looking to fight, andnothing the hero says satisfies thedrunkard. In fact it enrages him to see“a grown man grovel like some big city

Salt in the Wound 59

Mary.” Bo is impressed with diplomaticattempts to settle the problem.

The patron challenges the hero to amonkey bar race across a set ofadjoining pipes. If the hero refuses,then the braggart settles it the oldfashioned way and starts a knock-down-drag-out bar brawl.

Should the hero agree to thechallenge, however, then the crowdcheers and makes way for the two men.

Swing ShiftThe monkey shimmy is a simple

race. The contestants leap from theledge to a set of overhanging pipes andrace to a rust-covered girder somefifteen feet away. Once there, theybreak a beer bottle over the girder andrace back. Sound easy? Not entirely,some pipes are hot and others areslicked with grease.

The hero needs one Fair (5) climbin’roll to determine whether he makes itacross or not. If he fails, he falls sixstories (4d6+20 massive damage).

Each contestant moves at a Paceequal to his climbin’ Aptitude level.Every 5’, however, the Marshal rolls 1d6to determine whether the hero (don’tworry about the opponent) hit a hot pipe(on a 1) or a greased pipe (on a 2). Thehero can see and avoid the greasedpipes, on a Fair (5) Cognition roll. If hedoesn’t see them, he’s got problems.

Hot pipes a Fair (5) Vigor check toensure the hero hangs on despite thepain. Greased pipes require another Fairclimbin’ roll to avoid a slip and fall.

The real drama occurs on the wayback when the hero’s opponentaccidently grabs a greased pipe andloses his grip. Hanging by one arm, hescreams for help because he can’t usehis hand anymore; it’s covered in grease.Worse, his good hand is losing strength.He will fall and die if no one saves him.

Eventually other bar patrons do, butonly if the hero doesn’t react.

Allowing the man to suffer figuresheavily against the heroes in Bo’s eyes.They were willing to watch a man dieand that isn’t right. By equal measure,if the heroes save him, Bo hears theirstory without immediately dismissingthem—unless they’ve really gone out oftheir way to put him off.

Profile: Saloon PatronsCorporCorporCorporCorporCorporeal:eal:eal:eal:eal: D:2d8, N:2d8, Q:2d6, S:2d8,

V:2d6Climbin’ 3d8, dodge 4d8, fightin’:

brawlin’ 3d8, filchin’ 3d8, sneak 3d8Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental: C:2d6, K:2d6, M:2d8, Sm:2d6,

Sp:2d10Area knowledge 5d6: Rat District, guts

2d10, overawe 3d8, ridicule 2d6,scroungin’ 3d6, search 4d6,streetwise 4d6, survival 4d6

Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: 8Size: Size: Size: Size: Size: 6WWWWWind: ind: ind: ind: ind: 16Gear: Gear: Gear: Gear: Gear: Bottles (small club), chair (large

club)

The RaidAfter the incident on the ledge (or

during the bar fight), the heroes barelyhave time to recover before a Nauvoopatrol bursts into the saloon. Severalpatrons decide they aren’t stickingaround to find out why the Nauvoo arehere and escape on connectingwalkways and pipes. Bo whispers: thatthe Nauvoo never visit the ledge.

Almost on cue, the sergeant yells:“We’re searching for the

individuals responsible for thetrain sabotage at the Denver-Pacific Depot. Two hundreddollars to the person who turnsthem in now!”

If they want to escape, Bo takes tothe pipes, and, despite his size, deftlymaneuvers to the walkway. The Nauvooare still inside and haven’t seen theescapees yet. Should the heroes stay,however, Bo remains as well; he’s gotnothing to hide.

Should I Stay? The posse is in for a long wait. The

Nauvoo search through the crowd,examining everybody. Several patronspoint out the heroes as strangers, butBo vouches for them.

60 Marshal

The Nauvoo block the exits andbegin interviewing each remainingpatron (including the heroes) separately.Pull each player aside and ask hercharacter the following:

Where are you from?Where are you staying?How long have you been in town?What’s the purpose of your visit?What is your relationship to one

another?

If the heroes are carrying weapons,the Nauvoo arrest them and continuetheir interrogation in jail. The samehappens if the Nauvoo catch the heroeslying or contradicting one another. Ifthe heroes manage to sweet talk theirway out of the situation, Bo takes themto the meeting and potential trap.

Or Should I Go?Should the posse escape, Bo leads it

through the winding streets of theJunkyard, taking the time to questionthe heroes further. If Bo likes them,he’s more open with the posse, tryingto ascertain its allegiance. He doesn’tlike deceiving folks, and honestlyresponds to their suspicions by sayinghe’s ensuring the posse isn’t out tocause trouble. That’s as elaborate ashe’ll get.

Meanwhile, Bo slowly leads theheroes to meet with I.M. Hymme.Whether it’s an ambush or not dependson the posse’s earlier performance.

Ode to aHymme

True to his word, Bo “arranged” arendezvous with I.M. Hymme, but it isn’tthe meeting the heroes expect. Nevada,who’s present but hidden, allowsMichael to speak for him. Nevada trustsBo’s judgement.

If the big man gives any indicationthat the posse isn’t to be trusted,Nevada won’t hesitate to open fire. Bo,Nevada and Mullwood worked out theircodes in advance, and know whatcertain gestures mean. They knowwhen to open fire and when to talk.Hopefully the heroes convinced Bo theydeserve the latter and not the former.Nevada’s hoping for a reason to sparethe posse; he’s not an executioner, buthe isn’t stupid either.

The meeting place is a maintenancecorridor filled with machinery andpiping. Mullwood stands at the far endof the wide alley, a step from a hiddenaccess way leading to a labyrinth ofwork corridors. Nevada hides in thisniche, covering Michael. This is theircover and escape route if necessary.Mullwood keeps his back to a brightlight. The heroes can’t make out hisface no matter what tricks they employ.

There are two hired riflemen cradledin pipes some fifty feet up. It requiresan Incredible (11) attempt to spot them—and then only if a hero is specificallylooking for ambushers— given theircover and the thick shadows. Nevadachose this spot well.

The two bushwhackers only firewhen Nevada gives the signal, even if agunfight ensues. Use the NauvooLegionnaire stats as the profile forthese two riflemen.

Come Into the LightWhen the posse finally arrives at

their destination, Bo takes lead. Hedraws his gun and taps it against aneighboring pipe. After a few moments,Mullwood steps out from the passageat the end of the alley. Bo gives theappropriate signal to either shoot orhear the posse out.

In either cases, Bo moves away fromthe posse by pretending to grab a smokeby the side. He doesn’t want to becaught on the killing end of a gunfight.Regardless, Mullwood still questions theposse, however, allowing Nevada tomake the final decision himself.

Mullwood stands directly before thelight and keeps his distance so theheroes don’t hear Nevada coaching him.He apologizes for the cloak and daggerroutine but far too many Mormons are

Salt in the Wound 61

out for his blood given his penchant for“besmirching” Hellstromme’s name.Mullwood plays the mysterious writer,claiming Nevada’s just a character, buthe keeps up the double speak.

If the posse mentions names likeLane or Virgil Constance, Nevadaprompts Mullwood with a few questionsof his own such as: “What is yourprofession?” and “Why are you looking forNevada Smith?” Nevada’s looking for todraw more information out from theheroes. If the posse keeps mentioningLane or the conversation is gettingnowhere, Mullwood says “All right folks,you got your wish.”

Mullwood exits the alleyway whileNevada steps into the light. LikeMullwood , he is backlit and impossibleto identify. . Nevada won’t reveal much,but drops enough clues for the posse toknow he’s the real deal.

Again, Nevada listens, weighing eachanswer carefully. He’s alreadysuspicious of the Ghost, but won’tbetray him. At least, not until he revealshis hidden ace. Nevada’s final test toascertain the posse’s intentions is tostep away from the light, and reveal hisdisguise as...Andrew Lane!

Although this is at great personalrisk, he knows this is the moment oftruth. If the heroes believe he’s Lane,they’ll drop any pretense. Nevada fullyexpects a gunfight to ensue, for whichhe’s ready to dive for cover.

Nevada won’t go for his guns unlessthe posse draws first. Even then, duringthe firefight, he goads his opponentswith questions that seem more liketaunts:

“Tell me gentlemen, what Ihave done to deserve suchtreatment? “

“Killing me won’t solve yourtroubles.”

“Can’t we can negotiate?”If the heroes respond by leveling

accusations against Lane for themurders of agents out west, orotherwise prove they aren’t trying tokill Lane, Nevada calls a cease-fire. Hereopens dialogue, but without thepretense. He wants to know why theheroes are after Lane.

If the heroes prove they’re out to killLane, however. Nevada signals hisshooters to open fire from above.

Profile: Nevada SmithCorporCorporCorporCorporCorporeal:eal:eal:eal:eal: D:4d10, N:4d10, Q:4d8, S:3d8,

V:3d8Bow 1d10, climbin’ 4d10, dodge 8d10,

drivin’: jet pack 2d10, drivin’:ornithopter 2d10, drivin’: steamwagons 5d10, fightin’: brawlin’ 6d10,filchin’ 2d10, horse ridin’ 5d10,lockpickin’ 4d10, quick draw 6d8,shootin’: automatics 6d10, sleight ofhand 2d10, sneak 6d10, swimmin’3d10, teamster 3d10, throwin’ 3d10

Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental: C:4d10, K:3d8, M:2d8, Sm:3d10,Sp:4d8

Academia: occult 4d8, area knowledge:Deseret 4d8, artillery 4d10, arts 2d10,bluff 8d10, demolition 4d8, disguise10d8, faith: Christianity 3d8, gamblin’7d10, guts 6d8, language: French 4d8,language: Indian sign language 4d8,language: Mormon alphabet (writtenonly) 3d8, language: Spanish 5d8,leadership 3d8, medicine: 3d8,overawe 3d8, performin’ 6d8,persuasion 4d8, professional: law 4d8,ridicule 5d10, science: chemistry 2d8,science: engineering 2d8, scroungin’5d10, scrutinize 6d10, search 4d10,streetwise 8d10, survival: desert 4d10,tale tellin’ 3d8, tinkerin’ 3d10, trackin’3d10, trade: blacksmith 1d8

Edges: Edges: Edges: Edges: Edges: Friends in high places 3, levelheaded 5, luck o’ the Irish 3, rank 3(Agency), veteran o’ the Weird West

Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Enemy -5 (Hellstromme),heroic -3, loyal -3

Gear: Gear: Gear: Gear: Gear: Excellent disguise kit (+4 todisguise), Gatling pistol, other weirdgizmos

Description:Description:Description:Description:Description: Currently, he looks likeAndrew Lane.

Common GroundThe meeting can either end

peacefully, or with a shootout. In eithercase, Nevada’s now more suspicious ofLane’s presence in Salt Lake City thanbefore. If the heroes brought alongLane’s letter as evidence, that’s all the

62 Marshal

proof Nevada needs to validate hissuspicions. He’s read enough of Lane’scorrespondences to recognize thewriting-style and signature.

If the meeting between the posseand Nevada ended badly, however,Marshal, you can allow the posse tocapture Bo during the firefight if needbe, and allow the posse to questionhim. Whether they use compassion orthreats to gain this information, theirnext stop should be the RatholeApartments.

ShowdownAn aptly named den of squalor, the

Rathole complex has 200 apartments,three times as many tenants and threetimes that number in rodents. It’s theJunkyard’s largest building and whereNevada hid Lane for protection.

What Nevada failed to mention,however, was he also assigned ahenchman to keep an eye on the Laneand reporting on his activities.. He’sharbored suspicions about the Ghostever since he arrived.

Tired of running like a huntedanimal, the Ghost decided to turn andfight. He’s smart enough to knowNevada suspects him and even assignedsomeone to keep track of hismovement. Why not, then, use that tohis advantage?

Since the telegraph lines back westwould be repaired soon, Lane’s littlecharade was almost up anyway. Hewouldn’t make East without runninginto an Agency welcome wagon inDenver, Cheyenne or somewhere else.Salt Lake City, was as good a place asany to reveal his existence.

With a little planning, the Ghostrealized he could stack the deck in hisfavor. He plans to put Nevada and theposse in a situation where they meethim on his terms. That way, he’srelatively confident he can defeat them.If they don’t, he can shatter relationsbetween Deseret and the Union.

Dirty LaundryOver the years, Nevada has kept

records on members of Deseret’sleadership. The Ghost, through Nevada’ssurveillance reports, learned JosephStrauss, one of the city’s current ruling12-man Council of Apostles, has asecret affection for a young man livingin the Junkyard. Now, folks—particularlyreligious ones—weren’t quite as open-minded about such things back then,so this represented a powerful lever forthe Agency to use on Strauss should itprove necessary.

However, it also gave the Ghost apretty good idea of where he could findStrauss unwatched. Lane left theRathole complex and paid Joseph’s lovera visit. There, he waited for Joseph toappear and kidnapped him at gunpoint.Leaving the apartment with Joseph hisprisoner, Lane confronted the agentfollowing him, and delivered anultimatum. If Nevada and the otherSpooks were not at the Steel Tree inIron Cave Avenue within two hours,Joseph would die, soon followed byevery other member on the Council.

Unfortunately, while Lane escortedJoseph through the Junkyard, a Nauvoopatrol recognized the Apostle. Beforethey could react, however, Lincolnsavaged them, deliberately leaving onealive to spread the tale. Lane, withJoseph, proceeded to Iron Cave Avenue.

State of EmergencyRegardless what happens at the

meeting, Nevada Smith heads straightfor the Rathole Apartments—hopefullywith the heroes in tow. Upon arriving,he finds his spy who reports on Lane’sabduction of Joseph Strauss, and theattack on the Nauvoo patrol. The spygoes on to deliver Lane’s ultimatum. Hementions the Nauvoo survivor reportedthat the attacker had horrible claws.

The Nauvoo are already scouring thestreets for this mysterious attacker.

If the heroes are with Nevada, heresumes his disguise as Lane and tellsthe posse to stop the Ghost before heundermines the Agency by killingJoseph. The posse should capture Lanealive, however. Nevada is emphatic onthe point (he suspects Lane is in fact

Abraham Lincoln, which means Lanewas Harrowed well before this incidentand in control of his manitou).Meanwhile, Nevada plays decoy for theNauvoo patrols, distracting them longenough for the heroes to do their jobs.

If the heroes learn of the RatholeApartments through Bo, they arrivewhile Nevada is speaking with his spy.Nevada, convinced of the posse’ssincerity now. He tries to avoid furthergunplay and puts forth the plan above.

Confrontin’ LaneIron Cave Avenue is actually a wide

service corridor, rarely used for traveland secluded. It’s crammed with pipescrisscrossing from wall to wall, and fromceiling to floor. . Over half the steampipes running through the Junkyardcome through here, a fact Lane uses tohis advantage. He’s already bled a dozenvalves and cracked open pipes, fillingthe corridor with steam and broken lightfixtures in the area.

In the middle of Iron Cave is the SteelTree, a collection of pipes thicker than atrain engine, branching from the groundinto the ceiling. It looks like a metal treewith pipes for branches. Joseph Straussdangles from the pipes on a chain,gagged and bound. He’s unharmed fornow, but it is difficult for the heroes toget a good look at him with all thesteam.

The level’s hot as hell and it’s difficultto see. Lane stalks the heroes in thisenvironment, using the darkness,labyrinth of pipes, steam, and his ghostpower to tremendous advantage in hitand run tactics. His manitou loves usinghis claws, by the way.

Identifying targets in this steam-filled space requires a Fair (5) Cognitioncheck; Lane doesn’t suffer this thanksto his cat eyes power. If a target usesmoves further than a few feet, then thehero loses track of his quarry betweenthe pipes and must roll again.

It’s difficult to move around freely andwhenever a ranged attack is madethere’s a chance it strikes an interveningsteam pipe instead. Marshal, on eachsuch attack, roll an extra d20 todetermine which hit location on thetarget is covered by a pipe, and thusprotected from most normal damage.

Additionally, because of the metalsurfaces and enclosed spaces, soundsecho easily. It’s difficult to gaugedistances. When the heroes are still andhearing nothing but the hiss ofescaping steam or the static bursts ofbroken lights, you should play up theodd echoes.

We didn’t map this area because it’stoo complicated, Marshal. Besides, thereis too much steam for the posse to geta good look at the layout anyway. Justmark off an area about 20 yards acrossby 50 yards long with a 15 yard-diameter circle in the centerrepresenting the Steel Tree and followthe quick rules we detailed above tocomplicate your heroes’ lives.

Six-Bullet ExorcismThe fight with Lane should be a

nasty affair given the circumstances. Atone point, however, when a hero andLane tussle, Lane’s shirt rips open andGrimme’s crucifix comes out.Succeeding in a Fair (5) Cognition check

64 Marshal

allows the hero to see Lane’smomentary panic when he thinks he’slost the crucifix. With an Onerous (7)Cognition roll, the hero should recognizethe crucifix as similar to Regina’s.

Because Lane spent the last weekgrowing his beard and hair longer, helooks more like Lincoln than ever.Heroes who fight Lane hand-to-handcan make a Hard (9) Cognition check tonote Lane’s resemblance to Lincoln.

Hopefully the heroes stop Lanewithout using a head wound to killhim. Once he’s down, then they canremove the crucifix and discover thealtar fragment within. Removing thecross during combat also work, but thehero must succeed in an Hard (9)Deftness check after grappling withLane. Grabbing the crucifix, however,opens the hero to Lane’s claws. Thatmay not be a great idea.

Once the crucifix is off Lane, themanitou loses dominion. It takes around, but the real Lane finally returns.

The GhostThe last few weeks have been trying

for Lane. The fight with Knicknevinbrought out the manitou in him, but alsoreawakened his precognitive abilities. Hesaw himself hurting good folk. “Why” or“how” remained a mystery, however.

Currently, Lane’s manitou is strongerthanks Grimme’s interference. It hasaccess to a wider array of abilities(marked with a *) due to the altarfragment and bullet, though it stillfights with Lane for control.

Profile: The GhostCorporCorporCorporCorporCorporeal:eal:eal:eal:eal: D:2d8, N:3d6, Q:3d10, S:4d6,

V:2d8Climbin’ 3d6, dodge 3d6, drivin’:

steamwagon 3d6, fightin’: brawlin’5d6, horse ridin’ 4d6, shootin’:automatics, pistol, rifle 4d8, sneak5d6, swimmin’ 3d6, teamster 3d6

Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental:Mental: C:4d10, K:3d8, M:5d12, Sm:5d12,Sp:4d10

Academia: occult 5d8, area knowledge:Gomorra 3d8, area knowledge: Illinois5d8, bluff 3d12, disguise 5d8, faith:Christianity 4d10, guts 5d10, language:Sioux 2d8, Latin 3d8, leadership 4d12,overawe 7d12, persuasion 3d12,professional: cryptology 2d8,professional: law 6d8, politics 6d8,scroungin’ 1d12, scrutinize 6d10,search 4d10, streetwise 2d12, tale-tellin’ 3d12, trackin’ 2d10

Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: Pace: 6Size: Size: Size: Size: Size: 6WWWWWind: ind: ind: ind: ind: 18Edges: Edges: Edges: Edges: Edges: Friends in high places 5: US

government, keen 3, rank (Agency) 6,“the stare” 1, “the voice” (soothing andgrating) 1

Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Hindrances: Curious, enemy -5: many(but most immediate are ReverendGrimme and the Whateleys), oath -5:to restore the United States.

Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Special Abilities:Grit: Grit: Grit: Grit: Grit: 5HarrHarrHarrHarrHarrooooowwwwwed: ed: ed: ed: ed: Dominion: Harrowed 8,

Manitou 3, Powers: Arcaneprotection 3*, bad mojo 4*, berserker2*, cat eyes 4*, claws 4*, ghost 5,stitchin’ 2, unholy reflexes 3*

Gear:Gear:Gear:Gear:Gear: Colt Peacemakers (2 w/100rounds), Gatling pistol, 1 spare Gatlingpistol cylinder, Agency badge &credentials, manitou cruciform

Description:Description:Description:Description:Description: It’s a wonder nobody’spicked up on Lane’s uncannyresemblance to President Lincoln. Putsome more hair on the clean-shaven,short-cropped Lane and you’d have adead-on (full pun intended) look-alike. Currently, Lane’s manitou isallowing his beard and hair to growout again, if only to facilitate hisrecognition as Abraham Lincoln.

AftermathIf the heroes save Lane, the Agency is

grateful. The Ghost can’t remove thebullet, not without a surgeon’s help, butit eventually comes out. If the heroes areConfederates, the Ghost is even moredetermined to mend the great nation.

However, the Ghost is going to be outof action for some time. He voluntarilyhas himself sent to Denver and theStar Chamber to make sure. Followingthat, he plans to stay incarcerated

Salt in the Wound 65

there until he’s certain he poses nothreat of the same sort of rampage inthe future.

If Lane died during the fight, theheroes allow Grimme to further cementhis power in the Maze. Another flowerof hope just died, and the heroes werethe ones to stamp it into the ground.Worse yet, they may have exposed one ofthe Union’s deepest and darkest secrets.

Regardless the outcome, Lane’spresence in Salt Lake City created ahuge stink. Fortunately, Nevadablackmails Joseph Strauss over hisindiscretion, securing the Apostle’spromise he will stay quiet in the matter.

Eventually the attempted kidnappingand attacks are attributed to theresident serial killer, Black Hands.

BountySaSaSaSaSaving the bar patrving the bar patrving the bar patrving the bar patrving the bar patron during theon during theon during theon during theon during the

race:race:race:race:race: 1 white chipMaking peace with NeMaking peace with NeMaking peace with NeMaking peace with NeMaking peace with Nevvvvvada Smith:ada Smith:ada Smith:ada Smith:ada Smith: 1

red chipSaSaSaSaSaving Joseph Strauss:ving Joseph Strauss:ving Joseph Strauss:ving Joseph Strauss:ving Joseph Strauss: 1 red chip.Stopping Lane without killing him:Stopping Lane without killing him:Stopping Lane without killing him:Stopping Lane without killing him:Stopping Lane without killing him:

1 blue chip.Stopping the Ghost frStopping the Ghost frStopping the Ghost frStopping the Ghost frStopping the Ghost from publicom publicom publicom publicom public

rrrrreeeeevvvvvelation belation belation belation belation by killing him: y killing him: y killing him: y killing him: y killing him: 1 Merit*(Agency members only).

Stopping the Ghost without puttingStopping the Ghost without puttingStopping the Ghost without puttingStopping the Ghost without puttingStopping the Ghost without puttinghim dohim dohim dohim dohim down:wn:wn:wn:wn: 3 Merits* (Agency only).

*Merits and their importance are coveredin The Agency: Men in Black Dusters.

Tale-Tellin’Time

Okay pardner, here’s your chance tospeak your peace and tell us how yourposse handled Ghost Busters. Better yet,we’re going to pick one posse’s exploitsat random and make it a part of theofficial Deadlands’ storyline!

Here’s how it works: Fill out thecoupon on this page. Then, if you wantto write a short tale (no more than 500words) of how you heroes solved theadventure include it with the coupon.You don’t have to send a story with thecoupon; we’ll still count your posse’svote regardless.

If you do, make sure you cover whichside of the Mason-Dixon they hailed

from (i.e. Rangers or Agency), whetheror not the Ghost succeeded in revealinghimself to the public, and if hesurvived the final confrontation.

Mail (no email please!) the couponand your submission (along with thenames of the posse members—real andcharacter) if you’re sending one andMarshal to the address noted above.

By the way, if you’re not partial to theidea of cutting pages from this fineadventure, you’ve got our permission tophotocopy the coupon instead.

On July 17, 2000, we’ll tally the votesup to determine the outcome on theDeadlands setting. Then, we’ll pull oneentry at random from those entriesmatching the final solution and publishit in an upcoming Epitaph andincorporate the results in the world ofthe Weird West!

“You saw nothing.”

“You heardnothing.”

“We were neverhere.”

Who says the goodguys wear white hats?

The Agency