Deadlands Reloaded - Triad Business
This is the log of our 15th Deadlands Reloaded session (on October 4th, 2013).
The posse headed south as planned, but not without stocking up with some "interesting" supplies from the Agency Station, such as sleeping gas, a dynamite launcher and special ammunitions. Tyler had convinced Agent McKendrick that supporting Lotus Blossom Wen's triad was in his own interest.
This time they took the train via Tacoma and Olympia and switched to horseback when they reached the unfinished bit of the line. That allowed them to reach the outskirts of Portland without drawing attention. In addition to the posse Wen brought her pet ogre Wu, a quartet of Kung Fu warriors and the Indian scout Angry Mouse along. Her "plan" was pretty straightforward: she would simply walk up to Xiu Lieh again, demanding his submission. Matt came up with an idea to throw the Portland triad boss off a little more. He would disguise himself magically as Kang! While he had not seen the rail baron himself, Wen suspected that Xiu Lieh had not either and they made do with an approximation.
Click on the image to download an A1 pdf version of the map.
Sure enough the fake Kang quickly got them into Xu Lieh's mansion north of town. The old triad boss made a show of welcoming Kang, but Toni noticed something odd (her "Knack/Bastard" edge kicked in) and suddenly saw a big Chinese ogre on the balcony above Xu Lieh, looking as if it was playing him on strings like a marionette. She blurted this out to the assembled crowd, the ogre became himself visible and everything erupted into violence.
While everybody was kung fu fighting around them, the posse focused on the ogre as the main opponent. Angry Mouse, whom Tyler had equipped with the dynamite launcher, proved reckless and fired dynamite indiscriminately into the crowd. Kang's rail warrior (a ronin) who had betrayed Wen to Xu Lieh in their first meeting showed up, but held back and didn't enter the fray. Some very well-placed magic bolts and gun shots brought the ogre mage down. When Toni toppled him down from the balcony, it fell on Xu Lieh, crushing him and revealing the body as a skin and paper simulacrum of the real triad boss. Seeing this the Portland triad members gave up demoralized.
Wen took over, obviously quite relieved that she had managed to fulfill Kang's orders. During the aftermath the real body of Xu Lieh was found in his summoning room. Apparently he had made a deal with a pair of Ogre mages a while ago who had betrayed him and taken over his operation. Wen confronted the traitorous ronin, who told her that he had just followed Kang's orders all along. Taking care of Xu Lieh under unexpected difficulties had been a test of her capabilities and resourcefulness. Wen was furious and only Matt and Gus' intervention prevented her from killing the ronin on the spot.
With the triad business taken care of the posse headed on to Portland and began organizing the relief effort for Walla Walla. They found Boyd's representative - a certain John di Angelo - to be skimming off supplies for his own benefit and "corrected" the situation. The triad, now under Wen's command, helped with loading supplies onto a chartered river steamboat and Hunter and Toni hired a few (4) capable gunmen. Wen also offered to send Angry Mouse along, but remembering his action on War Eagle Mountain and the recklessness at Xu Lieh's mansion, they declined. River travel proved dangerous at this time of year due to ice on the Columbia. But by traveling in daylight only, always posting two lookouts, and having a capable pilot they made it safely to Wallula on the Walla Walla river mouth.
The little outpost at the landing was completely deserted. They found the buildings damaged and ransacked but no bodies, blood or signs of gunfire. Hunter identified a lot of Bigfoot tracks - a group of at least six had been here not long ago and caused the damage. Confronted with the immense tracks as positive proof of these legendary beings, the hired gunmen suddenly got cold fight. Only two could be convinced to stay on, the others decided to go back to Portland with the steamer. At least they helped with the unloading. The posse found a wagon and harness in one of the buildings. They would be able to hitch their mules to it and transport the supplies this way.
Evening came before the posse could start towards Walla Walla and they decided to spent a last night on the steamer. On his watch Matt noticed a large shape moving beyond the landing among the buildings - probably a Sasquatch. He didn't raise an alarm and it slipped away northwards. Hunter found the tracks in the morning, but it was too late to follow it. He was concerned it would be alarming its tribe. Nevertheless they bid good-bye to the boat's captain and the two cowardly gunmen and then started the trip eastward to Walla Walla.
As to not give away the contents of the rooms in Xu Lieh's mansion, I printed roofs for each room and put them on them map. Only when the players entered a room did I reveal the appropriate secion. If you want to do the same, you can use this pdf to print the roofs.
The posse headed south as planned, but not without stocking up with some "interesting" supplies from the Agency Station, such as sleeping gas, a dynamite launcher and special ammunitions. Tyler had convinced Agent McKendrick that supporting Lotus Blossom Wen's triad was in his own interest.
This time they took the train via Tacoma and Olympia and switched to horseback when they reached the unfinished bit of the line. That allowed them to reach the outskirts of Portland without drawing attention. In addition to the posse Wen brought her pet ogre Wu, a quartet of Kung Fu warriors and the Indian scout Angry Mouse along. Her "plan" was pretty straightforward: she would simply walk up to Xiu Lieh again, demanding his submission. Matt came up with an idea to throw the Portland triad boss off a little more. He would disguise himself magically as Kang! While he had not seen the rail baron himself, Wen suspected that Xiu Lieh had not either and they made do with an approximation.
Click on the image to download an A1 pdf version of the map.
Sure enough the fake Kang quickly got them into Xu Lieh's mansion north of town. The old triad boss made a show of welcoming Kang, but Toni noticed something odd (her "Knack/Bastard" edge kicked in) and suddenly saw a big Chinese ogre on the balcony above Xu Lieh, looking as if it was playing him on strings like a marionette. She blurted this out to the assembled crowd, the ogre became himself visible and everything erupted into violence.
While everybody was kung fu fighting around them, the posse focused on the ogre as the main opponent. Angry Mouse, whom Tyler had equipped with the dynamite launcher, proved reckless and fired dynamite indiscriminately into the crowd. Kang's rail warrior (a ronin) who had betrayed Wen to Xu Lieh in their first meeting showed up, but held back and didn't enter the fray. Some very well-placed magic bolts and gun shots brought the ogre mage down. When Toni toppled him down from the balcony, it fell on Xu Lieh, crushing him and revealing the body as a skin and paper simulacrum of the real triad boss. Seeing this the Portland triad members gave up demoralized.
Wen took over, obviously quite relieved that she had managed to fulfill Kang's orders. During the aftermath the real body of Xu Lieh was found in his summoning room. Apparently he had made a deal with a pair of Ogre mages a while ago who had betrayed him and taken over his operation. Wen confronted the traitorous ronin, who told her that he had just followed Kang's orders all along. Taking care of Xu Lieh under unexpected difficulties had been a test of her capabilities and resourcefulness. Wen was furious and only Matt and Gus' intervention prevented her from killing the ronin on the spot.
With the triad business taken care of the posse headed on to Portland and began organizing the relief effort for Walla Walla. They found Boyd's representative - a certain John di Angelo - to be skimming off supplies for his own benefit and "corrected" the situation. The triad, now under Wen's command, helped with loading supplies onto a chartered river steamboat and Hunter and Toni hired a few (4) capable gunmen. Wen also offered to send Angry Mouse along, but remembering his action on War Eagle Mountain and the recklessness at Xu Lieh's mansion, they declined. River travel proved dangerous at this time of year due to ice on the Columbia. But by traveling in daylight only, always posting two lookouts, and having a capable pilot they made it safely to Wallula on the Walla Walla river mouth.
The little outpost at the landing was completely deserted. They found the buildings damaged and ransacked but no bodies, blood or signs of gunfire. Hunter identified a lot of Bigfoot tracks - a group of at least six had been here not long ago and caused the damage. Confronted with the immense tracks as positive proof of these legendary beings, the hired gunmen suddenly got cold fight. Only two could be convinced to stay on, the others decided to go back to Portland with the steamer. At least they helped with the unloading. The posse found a wagon and harness in one of the buildings. They would be able to hitch their mules to it and transport the supplies this way.
Evening came before the posse could start towards Walla Walla and they decided to spent a last night on the steamer. On his watch Matt noticed a large shape moving beyond the landing among the buildings - probably a Sasquatch. He didn't raise an alarm and it slipped away northwards. Hunter found the tracks in the morning, but it was too late to follow it. He was concerned it would be alarming its tribe. Nevertheless they bid good-bye to the boat's captain and the two cowardly gunmen and then started the trip eastward to Walla Walla.
As to not give away the contents of the rooms in Xu Lieh's mansion, I printed roofs for each room and put them on them map. Only when the players entered a room did I reveal the appropriate secion. If you want to do the same, you can use this pdf to print the roofs.