(no subject)
The episode begins on a sombre note; two of the original posse members are dead. As the GM puts it, the remaining members (Evie and Jacob from the party that set out from Denver back in Season 1, their son Sam, Albus' brother Isaac) have lost a brother, a best friend / father, a 'life partner' (his term - more specifically 'life partner... without the romantic aspect'), a comrade in arms and a moral compass... and that's just Malcolm. Rudie might not have been the easiest person to get on with (again using the GM's words, he was 'the most annoying son-of-a-bitch') but he was loyal, and funny, and probably the nearest any of the posse are / were to 'a good man'. That sort of loss rightly has them reeling, and they attend to the business of burying them as is only right. Evie and Jacob pick out a spot - southfacing, so they can see the sun rise and set, with their backs to the canyon walls because that's been their way of guaranteeing an easy night's sleep while on the road -and although there's a chill which feels like they're nearer the Deadlands it still feels right (Malcolm, for one, kept referring to the Hunting Grounds as home, and so it's sending him where he wanted to be) and an hour's digging between the four of them has a grave of sufficiently respectful depth forming. There's little point trying to sort out which parts belonged to whom, and so preacher, gunslinger and horse all end up sharing the one.
Evie uncorks one of the bottles of whiskey Rudie left with Sam, and the Forge family (which we're now taking to mean Jacob, Evie - since she's been 'welcomed in' on an altogether darker level - and Sam) drink a generous toast to the fallen; Jacob pours an even more generous measure into the dirt, and Isaac buries the remains of the bottle. Jacob also carves a few words into the rockface, detailling the names, relationships and accomplishments of those buried there. Evie contemplates throwing her mourning chain and the ring on it into the grave, but instead slips the ring off the chain and back onto her finger.
Once that's done, the Forges find themselves... without any direction, really (can you blame them?). Sam is silent, and it's not his usual attentive silence but a glum, despondent sort. He's also staying far further away from Evie than usual. She doesn't really notice this - or at least writes it off as completely understandable - and sets to scribbling down various notes in her journal in various degrees of coherency, while Jacob sets himself up near the boy and talks about Malcolm - Sam doesn't respond, but in many ways that's better because Jacob just needs to talk.
It falls to Isaac to get them moving again; he saddles up the remaining horses (Malcolm's and Jacob's) and puts it to them quite bluntly that they can's spend forever sitting here and mourning. The only logical direction is Cliffside, because anywhere else takes them into the Grand Canyon again, and so they set out. They make slow progress, but reach Cliffside by nightfall. There is no sign of the Agents who had been there when they left, and things seem to have returned to normal; they rent two rooms (one for Isaac, one for the Forges as Evie doesn't want to have to get used to sleeping without a Forge watching her back just yet; as if more evidence were needed as to just how depressed everyone is Jacob does not take this at anything other than face value) for the night with the intention of getting as far away from this particular town, this stupid saloon with its too many memories, and possibly this entire state, as possible at sun-up.
During the night Sam gets up, goes to the window, and stares out at the moon. He whispers “It's begun. I've started it”.
The following morning the party procure more horses, mount up and ride out. The road will take them back to Denver - Evie is in no hurry to be back there, given that it's her old Agency stomping ground and therefore likely packed with people she'd rather not bump into, but there aren't many other choices when it comes to finding a way out of the state; the only other option is going south, which takes them back into either the Canyon or the wendigo-filled mountains. Night falls with them still on the road, and in the distance a campfire can be seen. Evie's ridiculously awesome eyes are apparently on form despite her despondency (she rolls d10s for cognition - 5 in search and 4 in scrutinize - and gets +2 from the edge 'keen') or perhaps because of her paranoia now she's realised how few allies and how many enemies they have, and she makes out a figure with a long white beard sat by the fire roasting a rabbit on a spit, and six plates set out ready for guests. Jacob uses shadowwalk to sneak closer, and hides in the shadows at the man's side. Pretty well, actually, until he goes to quick draw his pistol (he feels better with his hand around his piece, apparently - no comment), fumbles and makes a noise. The figure doesn't look up from the roast but invites Jacob to come join him and make himself comfortable.
Evie, still in the distance with Sam and Isaac, sees Jacob step out and wonders what the hell the idiot is doing blowing his cover. After telling Sammy to stay put and Isaac to grab him and run like hell if this goes south she sneaks closer herself (amazingly rolling something like 35 despite only having d8 nimbleness and the hindrance 'lame: crippled'), doubling around to the other side of the camp so if this does turn out to be bad news they'll not know where her son is, and steps out of the shadows to be greeted by the figure - “Ah, and you must be Evelyn. Please, take a seat. I mean you no harm. Where are the others?”
Jacob says that the stranger sure seems to know a lot about them, so he hopes he won't think him rude if he asks for a name in return; the bearded man introduces himself as The Prospector, and Evie recognises the name but can't place it beyond knowing that he's a major player (though not in Crow and Jordava's league) and not on the side of the Reckoners. The camp feels safe enough (though after last week Evie and Jacob can be forgiven for not being too comforted by that) and a quick scrutinize suggests that he is genuine.
Jacob gestures for Isaac and Sam to come join them, and the Prospector offers everyone plates of rabbit and cups of strong black coffee which the rest of the posse say are quite good (Evie hates the taste of coffee, and despite her night terrors avoids drinking it as a rule). Evie and Jacob can't help but wonder about that final plate - the hole in the party still being at the forefront of their minds. As they eat he says that there are things which need to be discussed, and things of which the posse need to be made aware, and that the road is likely to get a lot harder from here on out now that they've made some interesting and troublesome enemies. He also says that there's two people the posse should add to their number; one who will be joining them tonight, and one who he will guide to them soon. He's here now because he needs them to stay calm when they meet the one who's joining them tonight.
Right on cue Isaac becomes aware of someone approaching. Out of the shadows steps a tall, bulky figure leading a pack mule. Sam whimpers, and the figure steps into the light...
… and Jacob draws his guns, turning them on the Prospector and demanding to know what sort of trick this is, while Evie is on her feet, marching towards the newcomer with her fist drawn back ready to throw an angry punch.
Because the newcomer? Has Mal's face. We're not talking 'looks like' but 'is identical to' (Mal's player, handily enough, drew a card which gave him the hindrance 'Looks like a wanted outlaw' during the gen for his new character, and our GM loves messing with people's heads and apparently approached him about this angle between sessions). The Prospector demands everyone remain calm, and Evie retorts that she's perfectly calm, she just wants to know what the fuck he was playing at jumping off that cliff. The Prospector cuts her off with “He's not Mal.” and she tells him not to try that because any idiot can see that it is. Sam, meanwhile, has stopped cowering and is inspecting 'Malcolm' - not in his usual 'prey or opponents' frame of assessment but with genuine curiosity and slight amusement. He asks the stranger to re-angle his head a few times, which 'Malcolm' does obligingly enough, and Sam laughs slightly and says it's really strange; he then asks 'Malcolm' to cuss, and 'Malcolm' replies - apparently having developed a Welsh accent - “... what?”
Jacob: “Just cuss a little.”
'Malcolm': “I don't understand why...”
Jacob: “Say 'motherfucker'”
Evie: “Or cunt.”
Jacob: “Yeah. Say cunt.”
'Malcolm' tells the Prospector that these are some strange people he's asked him to meet up with, and Sam shakes his head in something like wonder and turns conspiratorially to Evie, saying “... he talks funny”. The Prospector, who is probably losing patience by now, says “That's because he's not Malcolm. I've already told you. This is Nathan.”
It's not entirely clear whether or not anyone actually believes him on that point.
The Prospector turns to Sam and says that now everyone is here he's sorry to have to ask him this but could he please tell everyone else what he knows and what's happening? Sam is obviously uncomfortable, but draws a deep breath and begins anyway.
Jacob, for his part, casts Hunch and gets a beaut of a hand, so spends the next few minutes having a vision and misses a lot of the explanation.
Sam talks about how Crow's come to him again - Crow, who calls himself his 'Injun Daddy', though he knows that's a lie now because his Daddy's here. He says that Crow's used what the party's shown him - all the killing they've done - against him, twisted and turned it so Sam ended up spilling blood, killing an innocent man. He knew it was wrong, and he didn't want to hurt anyone, but Crow forced him to - Nathan cuts in saying that it wasn't Sam's fault, that everyone has done things they can't control and later regret, and that someone as young as Sam has plenty of time to atone, to which Sam responds that he appreciates what he's trying to do but knows what he's done (the exchange doesn't do much to convince Evie that Nathan isn't Malcolm, because he's slipped neatly into Mal's old role when it comes to comforting Sam) - and now that's he's done that things have been set in motion. Crow calls it the 'Blood Red Moon' and says that when the moon's covered the real world will be one with the Deadlands.
The Prospector invites everyone to look up; the first thing that strikes them is that the moon is still full, when it should have begun shrinking two nights previous. The next is that a thin band of red has appeared at one side. Sam hastily goes back to lamenting what he did, and Nathan again tries to reason with him, saying that the Apocalypse (because that is, we assume, what this is) happening was an inevitability, and that if Sam hadn't started it then it would have been someone else, maybe one of his parents or one of Nathan's family. Sam and Nathan argue about destiny for a bit, and Nathan makes some compelling statements about the balance between accepting it and overcoming it, because his family are fairly renowned for being evil
(Evie puts a few clues together - welsh accent, famous evil family, ill-favoured look - and comes up with the Whatleys, who she came across a reference to while in Sacramento as a young agent and, being morbidly curious as she is, chased up everything she could get her hands on about; the short version is that they're incredibly fucked up, mostly mutated, and definitely in league with the Reckoners. A popular saying amongst the agents she used to work with is that there's two types of Whatleys - evil ones and dead ones - though there's a third sort she's aware of, ones who try to overcome their destiny, though granted they tend to end up in the second category thanks to the first. Wisely she doesn't mention any of this to the others. Besides, it doesn't make any sense. Mal's not a Whatley. He's a Forge).
Jacob snaps out of his vision at about the right time to hear Evie asking the Prospector how they stop the Blood Red Moon. The Prospector says he doesn't know how, but he does know where - and Jacob cuts in saying he's seen the place. Evie tosses him her diary and tells him to draw what he saw, and he draws a blackened tree beneath a red moon, with two hands forming a gateway in front of it. Evie scans the drawing and a chill runs down her back: she knows this place, she saw it as a young agent working out of Sacramento. It's in the Great Maze, and it's called the Fingers of the Earth. Legend says the fingers emerged not long after Raven broke the veil. Jacob talks about his vision, saying that the Fingers are a gateway and he knows now what his destiny is. The Prospector grimly warns them that all he knows about the ritual is that it will require sacrifice, and Jacob says he knows, he's the one who's supposed to sacrifice himself.
Argument erupts in the group. Jacob is adamant that his vision is correct - he claims he's never had a bad one, though Evie disputes that pointing out that he thought Sam had eaten his way out of her and killed her, and that was pretty off the mark - and equally adamant that he's supposed to die there. Nathan's confused as to why exactly Jacob is so willing to throw his life away. Isaac tells Jacob that maybe he's got it wrong - the Bible's full of sacrifice, but it's always about self-sacrifice and penitence and not actual heathen bloodshed, and Jacob starts screaming at him about how he doesn't know anything about how destiny works. Evie cuts across demanding that they stop talking about sacrificing anyone (with the mood Sam's in, she's rightly scared of where that leads) and that they'll cross that bridge when they get there. First they have to get to California.
Nathan shakes his head, saying “... well, this is going to be an interesting trip. I'm going to bed.” The Prospector reassures everyone that they're safe here for the night, and suggests they take advantage of that. He further adds that he'll meet them in Denver in 5 days time with the other person he wants them to take with them; Evie asks if it has to be Denver, and he says he'll go wherever they want to meet him... she reluctantly admits that that has to be Denver if they're going to get into the Great Maze in time to make a difference. The party take advantage of being able to sleep without setting watches, and when they wake in the morning the Prospector has left. They get back on the trail north, and ride without incident, though the more spiritually attuned of the group notice small things which hint that reality is already sliding towards the Deadlands - plants dying, the earth cracking, the absence of animals.
As a sidenote, Evie's not feeling great, for more than the obvious reasons; it's the fourth day since she last killed with the claws no one in the posse except Sammy yet knows about, and the demon who'd been quick to welcome her to the Forge family isn't too happy that he's not getting his sacrifice every three days (mechanics-wise, Evie's now making a spirit roll every morning to reflect her attempts to fight off the compulsion to kill, and losing a d8 wind if she passes and a d12 if she doesn't as the demon presumably feeds on her instead. This wind cannot be regained by the normal means, and it's been hinted that she really doesn't want to fall to 0 off the curse). Bizarrely she's also not been having Night Terrors since what the posse are dubbing The Incident (i.e. Sam killing Sitting Bear) - she assumes that's because Crow now has better things to do than worry about dragging her into the Hunting Grounds each time she falls asleep.
Nightfall of day 3 of the Rising Of The Blood Red Moon. The posse set up camp, and have one of their customary disagreements about watches. Jacob decides to go the whole night without sleeping, Evie takes the first watch with him - which passes without incident, though Evie does take the time to look at the moon and sees that the red band has widened; she estimates 10-12 days until the moon is covered in dark crimson - and Nathan the second, where he hears the beating of leathery wings and, glancing up into the darkness, spots a demon carrying a cross hovering over the camp - enter the Lost Angels, our old nemeses. Nathan luckily a) does not go to pieces over this, and b) refrains from shooting it, judging that it's not attacking, just observing. It flies off in the direction the posse intend to travel, and the rest of the watch passes quietly enough.
Morning of day 4. Nathan catches some rabbits and has breakfast on the go when the others get up. He breaks the news that they had company during the night, and Evie interrogates him as to exactly what sort of company. Sam says he knew they were being watched, and Evie tells him that he should tell her if he feels anything like that.
There's a little debate about what the plan is now; they could keep going along the road to Denver, but there's an uncomfortable feeling that that would be walking straight into a Lost Angels trap and /or luring them to the city itself. The other option is going off-trail across Injun country - Nathan's local knowledge tells him that that would take them past two tribes, one renowned for avoiding contact and the other the Sioux.
Sam asks who the Lost Angels are. Nathan says that all he knows is that they supposedly pretty much rule the city-state of Lost Angels (Evie cuts in with “Scratch the supposedly”) and Jacob explains about Grimme's cult, saying as far as he understands Grimme has set himself up as a holy man but is instead leading a rabble of cannibals (Jacob knows this thanks to that heart-attack triggering hunch back in S1). Sam tilts his head at the word 'cannibal', asking if he means “like Uncle Mal” and Jacob explains no, Mal's cannibalism was an affliction while the Lost Angels do it for fun. Furthermore Mal only ate bad people, while Grimme's cultists eat children. Jacob says he knows this because he's seen it, and Sam smirks a little and asks if that's a hunch which wasn't wrong.
Sam asks if Grimme is working for Crow. Jacob and Nathan don't know. Evie responds with a definite 'Yes', which isn't entirely true (or at least what she knows from her time working in Sacramento hasn't completely confirmed it) but since they're definitely both pro-Reckoner she's mentally lumping them in on the same side for simplicity - it's easier for the posse to think that they're all Bad Men instead of worrying about political divisions within Team Reckoner. Sam says he would like to kill them all, then, please.
Isaac is in full agreement with this plan (which may be the first time he's agreed with anything the posse have suggested) - he's itching for some vengeance as the Lost Angels maimed his brother Albus and, as he now confesses, killed his father. Jacob snarls that this isn't about vengeance, while Evie a little more rationally says that she understands a thing or two about wanting that sort of payback but now really isn't the time. Sam argues that going towards the Lost Angels means that the only people that will get hurt are us and bad men, while if we go into Injun country they'll only be defending their land and won't deserve to die; he doesn't want innocent blood on his hands again. Evie reminds him about their time in the Hunting Grounds, bringing up the times when they were hunted by Jordava's people and pointing out that he and Malcolm wouldn't go charging straight towards their enemies back then; if they're going to survive to make it to the Fingers of the Earth he has to be clever and remember what Mal taught him (should Evie be feeling a little more uneasy about constantly using Mal to emotionally blackmail Sam? Probably. She's justifying it as being the best way to get through to him). Sam says that he understands that but still thinks they should kill evil-doers.
It finally gets put to a vote. Sam is surprised to find that his opinion counts - Jacob is confused by this and says “You've always had a vote”, but Sam disagrees as he's been told where to go and what to do ever since they made it out of the Hunting Grounds. He votes, unsurprisingly, for the canyon road. Jacob and Evie's votes are, therefore, made for them, as they're going where Sam goes. Isaac votes for the canyon because he can't pass up the chance to kill Lost Angels, and Nathan votes for going cross-country and avoiding trouble but is outnumbered.
They spend the day riding towards the canyon and camp out at the mouth, with their backs to the cave walls as per usual. On second watch Evie spots the Lost Angel hovering again. It watches for a while and then flies off in the direction of Denver.
Morning of day 5 of the ROTBRM. Jacob catches some skunks and they prove to be quite tasty once cooked. There is a brief discussion of what they can expect from the ambush - the flying Lost Angels usually travel in groups of three, from what Evie understands, and they may or may not have acolytes with them dependent on how overconfident Grimme is feeling. Sam says they're still being watched, and she asks if he can estimate how many. He doesn't know.
Evie takes Sam aside, saying that this isn't the really the circumstances she wanted to be having this talk under but given that they're heading towards trouble she's not got much choice; she pulls out Mal's relic gun, asking if Sam knows what it is. He replies that it's Mal's gun. Evie says that Mal wanted him to have it, and Sam argues that it's special and he doesn't deserve it. Evie insists that Malcolm specified it was to go to Sam if anything happened to him, even before Sam was born, and that as long as he has it it's like Mal's not really gone. Sam eventually takes it, and apologises for being 'off' with Evie because he's still dealing with a lot of things. She tells him not to worry about it, that she'll be there when he's ready.
While mother and son are bonding Nathan has spotted Jacob's knife - specifically the one Jordava gave Mal - and asks if he can see it. Jacob says he can look but that's all. Nathan asks if Jacob knows what he has there, and he says sure he does. Nathan's not entirely sure that's the case, and Jacob gets angry and says it's a knife his brother gave him and that's all that's important. Nathan further winds Jacob up by talking about Mal as “the good looking chap, right?” They're interrupted by Evie before it can turn nasty, and she tells everyone they're moving (cue lots of sarcastic 'yes ma'am' and 'who died and made you boss?', since her taking charge is pretty new).
With the cheerful thought that they may well be walking straight to their doom the party ride into the canyon (Jacob and Evie recognise it as the place where the devil bat attacked way back when, which doesn't help the foreboding). It is a fiercely hot day, and while the majority of the posse deal well with the scorching sun Isaac is less lucky and blacks out (Vigor rolls are made to cope with the extreme heat, with a TN of 7 aka 'onerous'. Isaac botches, and so loses 1 dice type in Vigor and a d20 of wind). Jacob recognises this as similar to the heat stroke he suffered on the way out through the canyon the first time, and first uses first aid to bring Isaac back around, then attempts to cast Corporeal Tweak to raise his vigor and better allow him to cope with the weather. The hex... does not go well. (Black Joker time!) His manitou laughs, and Jacob feels the spell fracture into various strands. And everyone except for him slumps lifeless in their saddles.
As if that wasn't bad enough, high above him Jacob can hear the beating of more than one set of leathery wings.
Nathan revives (thanks to a) being the only person in the party who still has a dice-type for vigor once four have been knocked off instead of added onto Isaac, and b) a phenomenal roll on said vigor coupled with some first aid from Jacob) and Jacob leads everyone else's horses into the shade while yelling a warning that they've got incoming, then braces himself by casting - with much more success, thankfully - Kentucky Windage, which makes shooting easier.
(IC action pauses for a moment while we debate whether it's worth spending our last legend chip on reviving everyone else; Jacob drew it randomly as reward for pulling a red joker on his earlier hunch. House rules regarding legend chips are that the posse get to argue for / against using it but the one who drew it gets the final say. The GM points out that he's not going to pull punches because a spell went wrong, and it's decided that while IC-ly Jacob thinks he could take all the Lost Angels himself dying thanks to an ambush would suck, especially after the pointless deaths last session).
The rest of the posse start coming to as the three Lost Angels swoop. One hits Jacob but does no damage, one hits Nathan and claws his guts up and the third swoops for Sam but luckily he dodges out of the way. The posse retaliate; Jacob tries to cast Rapid Fire but fails, and the manitou giggles and twists his brain around (he loses 1 level in Hexslingin'), Isaac fans his pistol and sends one angel reeling away as he pulps its leg, and Evie pulls out her prized Colt Patterson Model '36 and blows a crater in the middle of another so it drops like a stone. Finally Jacob pulls his shotgun and the head of the final angel explodes.
Nathan grins and says he's glad he now knows he's travelling with people worthy of his company. Jacob, of course, is quick to say that he could have taken all three himself.
Evie asks Sam if they're still being watched, and he says no, and adds that they should probably take advantage of the pause in surveillance and go off-track. She's a little puzzled, and points out that that will take them into Injun country, and Sam says that he trusts Nathan's plan and hopes they can avoid trouble.
Speaking of Nathan, he's slipped off alone for a moment, and when he comes back his gut wound isn't bothering him anywhere near as much. He asks if anyone else has been hurt, offering his First Aid skills.
The party double back and cross into Injun territory. Jacob takes point, casting a more successful tweak on himself and raising his tracking skills so they avoid incident as he sneaks ahead to check that it's safe then brings the rest of the party forward once he's sure there's no one around. The disadvantage of this is that Jacob wears himself pretty thin keeping Corporeal Tweak up all the time (since it costs 1 wind / round) and drops like a stone every time they turn in for the night. Thankfully the nights are without incident, and as night falls on day 7 of the ROTBRM, 4 days after their meeting with the Prospector, the posse arrive in Denver. Evie finds them a hotel as far from the Agency's section of the city as possible. Despite her initial bad feeling about returning once she's actually in 'The Smoke' again it's good to be 'home' - granted, she's not a Disputed Territories native and has spent more time in both Sacramento and, more recently, the Hunting Grounds, but there's something about the most technologically advanced city in the Weird West which never fails to make her feel better; Nathan, on the other hand, really doesn't like the city with its abundance of technology and weird ghost-rock glow.
The posse sleep well, and head down to the bar on the morning of day 8, where two figures are waiting for them. One - the Prospector - turns to greet them. The other is seated in highbacked chair with their back to the group and only a hand visible...
Evie uncorks one of the bottles of whiskey Rudie left with Sam, and the Forge family (which we're now taking to mean Jacob, Evie - since she's been 'welcomed in' on an altogether darker level - and Sam) drink a generous toast to the fallen; Jacob pours an even more generous measure into the dirt, and Isaac buries the remains of the bottle. Jacob also carves a few words into the rockface, detailling the names, relationships and accomplishments of those buried there. Evie contemplates throwing her mourning chain and the ring on it into the grave, but instead slips the ring off the chain and back onto her finger.
Once that's done, the Forges find themselves... without any direction, really (can you blame them?). Sam is silent, and it's not his usual attentive silence but a glum, despondent sort. He's also staying far further away from Evie than usual. She doesn't really notice this - or at least writes it off as completely understandable - and sets to scribbling down various notes in her journal in various degrees of coherency, while Jacob sets himself up near the boy and talks about Malcolm - Sam doesn't respond, but in many ways that's better because Jacob just needs to talk.
It falls to Isaac to get them moving again; he saddles up the remaining horses (Malcolm's and Jacob's) and puts it to them quite bluntly that they can's spend forever sitting here and mourning. The only logical direction is Cliffside, because anywhere else takes them into the Grand Canyon again, and so they set out. They make slow progress, but reach Cliffside by nightfall. There is no sign of the Agents who had been there when they left, and things seem to have returned to normal; they rent two rooms (one for Isaac, one for the Forges as Evie doesn't want to have to get used to sleeping without a Forge watching her back just yet; as if more evidence were needed as to just how depressed everyone is Jacob does not take this at anything other than face value) for the night with the intention of getting as far away from this particular town, this stupid saloon with its too many memories, and possibly this entire state, as possible at sun-up.
During the night Sam gets up, goes to the window, and stares out at the moon. He whispers “It's begun. I've started it”.
The following morning the party procure more horses, mount up and ride out. The road will take them back to Denver - Evie is in no hurry to be back there, given that it's her old Agency stomping ground and therefore likely packed with people she'd rather not bump into, but there aren't many other choices when it comes to finding a way out of the state; the only other option is going south, which takes them back into either the Canyon or the wendigo-filled mountains. Night falls with them still on the road, and in the distance a campfire can be seen. Evie's ridiculously awesome eyes are apparently on form despite her despondency (she rolls d10s for cognition - 5 in search and 4 in scrutinize - and gets +2 from the edge 'keen') or perhaps because of her paranoia now she's realised how few allies and how many enemies they have, and she makes out a figure with a long white beard sat by the fire roasting a rabbit on a spit, and six plates set out ready for guests. Jacob uses shadowwalk to sneak closer, and hides in the shadows at the man's side. Pretty well, actually, until he goes to quick draw his pistol (he feels better with his hand around his piece, apparently - no comment), fumbles and makes a noise. The figure doesn't look up from the roast but invites Jacob to come join him and make himself comfortable.
Evie, still in the distance with Sam and Isaac, sees Jacob step out and wonders what the hell the idiot is doing blowing his cover. After telling Sammy to stay put and Isaac to grab him and run like hell if this goes south she sneaks closer herself (amazingly rolling something like 35 despite only having d8 nimbleness and the hindrance 'lame: crippled'), doubling around to the other side of the camp so if this does turn out to be bad news they'll not know where her son is, and steps out of the shadows to be greeted by the figure - “Ah, and you must be Evelyn. Please, take a seat. I mean you no harm. Where are the others?”
Jacob says that the stranger sure seems to know a lot about them, so he hopes he won't think him rude if he asks for a name in return; the bearded man introduces himself as The Prospector, and Evie recognises the name but can't place it beyond knowing that he's a major player (though not in Crow and Jordava's league) and not on the side of the Reckoners. The camp feels safe enough (though after last week Evie and Jacob can be forgiven for not being too comforted by that) and a quick scrutinize suggests that he is genuine.
Jacob gestures for Isaac and Sam to come join them, and the Prospector offers everyone plates of rabbit and cups of strong black coffee which the rest of the posse say are quite good (Evie hates the taste of coffee, and despite her night terrors avoids drinking it as a rule). Evie and Jacob can't help but wonder about that final plate - the hole in the party still being at the forefront of their minds. As they eat he says that there are things which need to be discussed, and things of which the posse need to be made aware, and that the road is likely to get a lot harder from here on out now that they've made some interesting and troublesome enemies. He also says that there's two people the posse should add to their number; one who will be joining them tonight, and one who he will guide to them soon. He's here now because he needs them to stay calm when they meet the one who's joining them tonight.
Right on cue Isaac becomes aware of someone approaching. Out of the shadows steps a tall, bulky figure leading a pack mule. Sam whimpers, and the figure steps into the light...
… and Jacob draws his guns, turning them on the Prospector and demanding to know what sort of trick this is, while Evie is on her feet, marching towards the newcomer with her fist drawn back ready to throw an angry punch.
Because the newcomer? Has Mal's face. We're not talking 'looks like' but 'is identical to' (Mal's player, handily enough, drew a card which gave him the hindrance 'Looks like a wanted outlaw' during the gen for his new character, and our GM loves messing with people's heads and apparently approached him about this angle between sessions). The Prospector demands everyone remain calm, and Evie retorts that she's perfectly calm, she just wants to know what the fuck he was playing at jumping off that cliff. The Prospector cuts her off with “He's not Mal.” and she tells him not to try that because any idiot can see that it is. Sam, meanwhile, has stopped cowering and is inspecting 'Malcolm' - not in his usual 'prey or opponents' frame of assessment but with genuine curiosity and slight amusement. He asks the stranger to re-angle his head a few times, which 'Malcolm' does obligingly enough, and Sam laughs slightly and says it's really strange; he then asks 'Malcolm' to cuss, and 'Malcolm' replies - apparently having developed a Welsh accent - “... what?”
Jacob: “Just cuss a little.”
'Malcolm': “I don't understand why...”
Jacob: “Say 'motherfucker'”
Evie: “Or cunt.”
Jacob: “Yeah. Say cunt.”
'Malcolm' tells the Prospector that these are some strange people he's asked him to meet up with, and Sam shakes his head in something like wonder and turns conspiratorially to Evie, saying “... he talks funny”. The Prospector, who is probably losing patience by now, says “That's because he's not Malcolm. I've already told you. This is Nathan.”
It's not entirely clear whether or not anyone actually believes him on that point.
The Prospector turns to Sam and says that now everyone is here he's sorry to have to ask him this but could he please tell everyone else what he knows and what's happening? Sam is obviously uncomfortable, but draws a deep breath and begins anyway.
Jacob, for his part, casts Hunch and gets a beaut of a hand, so spends the next few minutes having a vision and misses a lot of the explanation.
Sam talks about how Crow's come to him again - Crow, who calls himself his 'Injun Daddy', though he knows that's a lie now because his Daddy's here. He says that Crow's used what the party's shown him - all the killing they've done - against him, twisted and turned it so Sam ended up spilling blood, killing an innocent man. He knew it was wrong, and he didn't want to hurt anyone, but Crow forced him to - Nathan cuts in saying that it wasn't Sam's fault, that everyone has done things they can't control and later regret, and that someone as young as Sam has plenty of time to atone, to which Sam responds that he appreciates what he's trying to do but knows what he's done (the exchange doesn't do much to convince Evie that Nathan isn't Malcolm, because he's slipped neatly into Mal's old role when it comes to comforting Sam) - and now that's he's done that things have been set in motion. Crow calls it the 'Blood Red Moon' and says that when the moon's covered the real world will be one with the Deadlands.
The Prospector invites everyone to look up; the first thing that strikes them is that the moon is still full, when it should have begun shrinking two nights previous. The next is that a thin band of red has appeared at one side. Sam hastily goes back to lamenting what he did, and Nathan again tries to reason with him, saying that the Apocalypse (because that is, we assume, what this is) happening was an inevitability, and that if Sam hadn't started it then it would have been someone else, maybe one of his parents or one of Nathan's family. Sam and Nathan argue about destiny for a bit, and Nathan makes some compelling statements about the balance between accepting it and overcoming it, because his family are fairly renowned for being evil
(Evie puts a few clues together - welsh accent, famous evil family, ill-favoured look - and comes up with the Whatleys, who she came across a reference to while in Sacramento as a young agent and, being morbidly curious as she is, chased up everything she could get her hands on about; the short version is that they're incredibly fucked up, mostly mutated, and definitely in league with the Reckoners. A popular saying amongst the agents she used to work with is that there's two types of Whatleys - evil ones and dead ones - though there's a third sort she's aware of, ones who try to overcome their destiny, though granted they tend to end up in the second category thanks to the first. Wisely she doesn't mention any of this to the others. Besides, it doesn't make any sense. Mal's not a Whatley. He's a Forge).
Jacob snaps out of his vision at about the right time to hear Evie asking the Prospector how they stop the Blood Red Moon. The Prospector says he doesn't know how, but he does know where - and Jacob cuts in saying he's seen the place. Evie tosses him her diary and tells him to draw what he saw, and he draws a blackened tree beneath a red moon, with two hands forming a gateway in front of it. Evie scans the drawing and a chill runs down her back: she knows this place, she saw it as a young agent working out of Sacramento. It's in the Great Maze, and it's called the Fingers of the Earth. Legend says the fingers emerged not long after Raven broke the veil. Jacob talks about his vision, saying that the Fingers are a gateway and he knows now what his destiny is. The Prospector grimly warns them that all he knows about the ritual is that it will require sacrifice, and Jacob says he knows, he's the one who's supposed to sacrifice himself.
Argument erupts in the group. Jacob is adamant that his vision is correct - he claims he's never had a bad one, though Evie disputes that pointing out that he thought Sam had eaten his way out of her and killed her, and that was pretty off the mark - and equally adamant that he's supposed to die there. Nathan's confused as to why exactly Jacob is so willing to throw his life away. Isaac tells Jacob that maybe he's got it wrong - the Bible's full of sacrifice, but it's always about self-sacrifice and penitence and not actual heathen bloodshed, and Jacob starts screaming at him about how he doesn't know anything about how destiny works. Evie cuts across demanding that they stop talking about sacrificing anyone (with the mood Sam's in, she's rightly scared of where that leads) and that they'll cross that bridge when they get there. First they have to get to California.
Nathan shakes his head, saying “... well, this is going to be an interesting trip. I'm going to bed.” The Prospector reassures everyone that they're safe here for the night, and suggests they take advantage of that. He further adds that he'll meet them in Denver in 5 days time with the other person he wants them to take with them; Evie asks if it has to be Denver, and he says he'll go wherever they want to meet him... she reluctantly admits that that has to be Denver if they're going to get into the Great Maze in time to make a difference. The party take advantage of being able to sleep without setting watches, and when they wake in the morning the Prospector has left. They get back on the trail north, and ride without incident, though the more spiritually attuned of the group notice small things which hint that reality is already sliding towards the Deadlands - plants dying, the earth cracking, the absence of animals.
As a sidenote, Evie's not feeling great, for more than the obvious reasons; it's the fourth day since she last killed with the claws no one in the posse except Sammy yet knows about, and the demon who'd been quick to welcome her to the Forge family isn't too happy that he's not getting his sacrifice every three days (mechanics-wise, Evie's now making a spirit roll every morning to reflect her attempts to fight off the compulsion to kill, and losing a d8 wind if she passes and a d12 if she doesn't as the demon presumably feeds on her instead. This wind cannot be regained by the normal means, and it's been hinted that she really doesn't want to fall to 0 off the curse). Bizarrely she's also not been having Night Terrors since what the posse are dubbing The Incident (i.e. Sam killing Sitting Bear) - she assumes that's because Crow now has better things to do than worry about dragging her into the Hunting Grounds each time she falls asleep.
Nightfall of day 3 of the Rising Of The Blood Red Moon. The posse set up camp, and have one of their customary disagreements about watches. Jacob decides to go the whole night without sleeping, Evie takes the first watch with him - which passes without incident, though Evie does take the time to look at the moon and sees that the red band has widened; she estimates 10-12 days until the moon is covered in dark crimson - and Nathan the second, where he hears the beating of leathery wings and, glancing up into the darkness, spots a demon carrying a cross hovering over the camp - enter the Lost Angels, our old nemeses. Nathan luckily a) does not go to pieces over this, and b) refrains from shooting it, judging that it's not attacking, just observing. It flies off in the direction the posse intend to travel, and the rest of the watch passes quietly enough.
Morning of day 4. Nathan catches some rabbits and has breakfast on the go when the others get up. He breaks the news that they had company during the night, and Evie interrogates him as to exactly what sort of company. Sam says he knew they were being watched, and Evie tells him that he should tell her if he feels anything like that.
There's a little debate about what the plan is now; they could keep going along the road to Denver, but there's an uncomfortable feeling that that would be walking straight into a Lost Angels trap and /or luring them to the city itself. The other option is going off-trail across Injun country - Nathan's local knowledge tells him that that would take them past two tribes, one renowned for avoiding contact and the other the Sioux.
Sam asks who the Lost Angels are. Nathan says that all he knows is that they supposedly pretty much rule the city-state of Lost Angels (Evie cuts in with “Scratch the supposedly”) and Jacob explains about Grimme's cult, saying as far as he understands Grimme has set himself up as a holy man but is instead leading a rabble of cannibals (Jacob knows this thanks to that heart-attack triggering hunch back in S1). Sam tilts his head at the word 'cannibal', asking if he means “like Uncle Mal” and Jacob explains no, Mal's cannibalism was an affliction while the Lost Angels do it for fun. Furthermore Mal only ate bad people, while Grimme's cultists eat children. Jacob says he knows this because he's seen it, and Sam smirks a little and asks if that's a hunch which wasn't wrong.
Sam asks if Grimme is working for Crow. Jacob and Nathan don't know. Evie responds with a definite 'Yes', which isn't entirely true (or at least what she knows from her time working in Sacramento hasn't completely confirmed it) but since they're definitely both pro-Reckoner she's mentally lumping them in on the same side for simplicity - it's easier for the posse to think that they're all Bad Men instead of worrying about political divisions within Team Reckoner. Sam says he would like to kill them all, then, please.
Isaac is in full agreement with this plan (which may be the first time he's agreed with anything the posse have suggested) - he's itching for some vengeance as the Lost Angels maimed his brother Albus and, as he now confesses, killed his father. Jacob snarls that this isn't about vengeance, while Evie a little more rationally says that she understands a thing or two about wanting that sort of payback but now really isn't the time. Sam argues that going towards the Lost Angels means that the only people that will get hurt are us and bad men, while if we go into Injun country they'll only be defending their land and won't deserve to die; he doesn't want innocent blood on his hands again. Evie reminds him about their time in the Hunting Grounds, bringing up the times when they were hunted by Jordava's people and pointing out that he and Malcolm wouldn't go charging straight towards their enemies back then; if they're going to survive to make it to the Fingers of the Earth he has to be clever and remember what Mal taught him (should Evie be feeling a little more uneasy about constantly using Mal to emotionally blackmail Sam? Probably. She's justifying it as being the best way to get through to him). Sam says that he understands that but still thinks they should kill evil-doers.
It finally gets put to a vote. Sam is surprised to find that his opinion counts - Jacob is confused by this and says “You've always had a vote”, but Sam disagrees as he's been told where to go and what to do ever since they made it out of the Hunting Grounds. He votes, unsurprisingly, for the canyon road. Jacob and Evie's votes are, therefore, made for them, as they're going where Sam goes. Isaac votes for the canyon because he can't pass up the chance to kill Lost Angels, and Nathan votes for going cross-country and avoiding trouble but is outnumbered.
They spend the day riding towards the canyon and camp out at the mouth, with their backs to the cave walls as per usual. On second watch Evie spots the Lost Angel hovering again. It watches for a while and then flies off in the direction of Denver.
Morning of day 5 of the ROTBRM. Jacob catches some skunks and they prove to be quite tasty once cooked. There is a brief discussion of what they can expect from the ambush - the flying Lost Angels usually travel in groups of three, from what Evie understands, and they may or may not have acolytes with them dependent on how overconfident Grimme is feeling. Sam says they're still being watched, and she asks if he can estimate how many. He doesn't know.
Evie takes Sam aside, saying that this isn't the really the circumstances she wanted to be having this talk under but given that they're heading towards trouble she's not got much choice; she pulls out Mal's relic gun, asking if Sam knows what it is. He replies that it's Mal's gun. Evie says that Mal wanted him to have it, and Sam argues that it's special and he doesn't deserve it. Evie insists that Malcolm specified it was to go to Sam if anything happened to him, even before Sam was born, and that as long as he has it it's like Mal's not really gone. Sam eventually takes it, and apologises for being 'off' with Evie because he's still dealing with a lot of things. She tells him not to worry about it, that she'll be there when he's ready.
While mother and son are bonding Nathan has spotted Jacob's knife - specifically the one Jordava gave Mal - and asks if he can see it. Jacob says he can look but that's all. Nathan asks if Jacob knows what he has there, and he says sure he does. Nathan's not entirely sure that's the case, and Jacob gets angry and says it's a knife his brother gave him and that's all that's important. Nathan further winds Jacob up by talking about Mal as “the good looking chap, right?” They're interrupted by Evie before it can turn nasty, and she tells everyone they're moving (cue lots of sarcastic 'yes ma'am' and 'who died and made you boss?', since her taking charge is pretty new).
With the cheerful thought that they may well be walking straight to their doom the party ride into the canyon (Jacob and Evie recognise it as the place where the devil bat attacked way back when, which doesn't help the foreboding). It is a fiercely hot day, and while the majority of the posse deal well with the scorching sun Isaac is less lucky and blacks out (Vigor rolls are made to cope with the extreme heat, with a TN of 7 aka 'onerous'. Isaac botches, and so loses 1 dice type in Vigor and a d20 of wind). Jacob recognises this as similar to the heat stroke he suffered on the way out through the canyon the first time, and first uses first aid to bring Isaac back around, then attempts to cast Corporeal Tweak to raise his vigor and better allow him to cope with the weather. The hex... does not go well. (Black Joker time!) His manitou laughs, and Jacob feels the spell fracture into various strands. And everyone except for him slumps lifeless in their saddles.
As if that wasn't bad enough, high above him Jacob can hear the beating of more than one set of leathery wings.
Nathan revives (thanks to a) being the only person in the party who still has a dice-type for vigor once four have been knocked off instead of added onto Isaac, and b) a phenomenal roll on said vigor coupled with some first aid from Jacob) and Jacob leads everyone else's horses into the shade while yelling a warning that they've got incoming, then braces himself by casting - with much more success, thankfully - Kentucky Windage, which makes shooting easier.
(IC action pauses for a moment while we debate whether it's worth spending our last legend chip on reviving everyone else; Jacob drew it randomly as reward for pulling a red joker on his earlier hunch. House rules regarding legend chips are that the posse get to argue for / against using it but the one who drew it gets the final say. The GM points out that he's not going to pull punches because a spell went wrong, and it's decided that while IC-ly Jacob thinks he could take all the Lost Angels himself dying thanks to an ambush would suck, especially after the pointless deaths last session).
The rest of the posse start coming to as the three Lost Angels swoop. One hits Jacob but does no damage, one hits Nathan and claws his guts up and the third swoops for Sam but luckily he dodges out of the way. The posse retaliate; Jacob tries to cast Rapid Fire but fails, and the manitou giggles and twists his brain around (he loses 1 level in Hexslingin'), Isaac fans his pistol and sends one angel reeling away as he pulps its leg, and Evie pulls out her prized Colt Patterson Model '36 and blows a crater in the middle of another so it drops like a stone. Finally Jacob pulls his shotgun and the head of the final angel explodes.
Nathan grins and says he's glad he now knows he's travelling with people worthy of his company. Jacob, of course, is quick to say that he could have taken all three himself.
Evie asks Sam if they're still being watched, and he says no, and adds that they should probably take advantage of the pause in surveillance and go off-track. She's a little puzzled, and points out that that will take them into Injun country, and Sam says that he trusts Nathan's plan and hopes they can avoid trouble.
Speaking of Nathan, he's slipped off alone for a moment, and when he comes back his gut wound isn't bothering him anywhere near as much. He asks if anyone else has been hurt, offering his First Aid skills.
The party double back and cross into Injun territory. Jacob takes point, casting a more successful tweak on himself and raising his tracking skills so they avoid incident as he sneaks ahead to check that it's safe then brings the rest of the party forward once he's sure there's no one around. The disadvantage of this is that Jacob wears himself pretty thin keeping Corporeal Tweak up all the time (since it costs 1 wind / round) and drops like a stone every time they turn in for the night. Thankfully the nights are without incident, and as night falls on day 7 of the ROTBRM, 4 days after their meeting with the Prospector, the posse arrive in Denver. Evie finds them a hotel as far from the Agency's section of the city as possible. Despite her initial bad feeling about returning once she's actually in 'The Smoke' again it's good to be 'home' - granted, she's not a Disputed Territories native and has spent more time in both Sacramento and, more recently, the Hunting Grounds, but there's something about the most technologically advanced city in the Weird West which never fails to make her feel better; Nathan, on the other hand, really doesn't like the city with its abundance of technology and weird ghost-rock glow.
The posse sleep well, and head down to the bar on the morning of day 8, where two figures are waiting for them. One - the Prospector - turns to greet them. The other is seated in highbacked chair with their back to the group and only a hand visible...