Deadlands Reloaded - Bad Dreams
This is the 22nd session log of our Deadlands Reloaded campaign "The Great Northwest" (March 13th 2014)
The night after the battle for the mining camp Toni, Gus, Tyler and Hunter all suffered terrible nightmares.
Toni found herself on a bleak desert highland surrounded by the corpse of starved and slaughtered cattle. A priest was handing out rotten meat to a hungry crows which they eagerly devoured. An old, emaciate crone sat behind him on a cow's corpse gnawing a bone. She gave Toni a wicked stare and cackled loudly. Then the priest turned to Toni and offered a a plate of rotten offal which he abhorred and desired at the same time. With an effort of will she resisted taking it and woke up with a scream.
In his dream Gus stood on a battlefield strewn with the slain, French and German, US and Confederate soldiers, Indian braves and White settlers. The thunder of artillery rumbled in the distance and black smoke of burning villages obscured the sky. From among the fallen rose a huge Indian brave, painted with blood, holding a scalp in one hand and a blood-drenched tomahawk in the other. Gus recognized him as Raven and felt a rifle in his hands. The bayonet was set and bloodied and Gus felt like he had killed against the Lord's law. Raven bared his chest and belly before Gus, daring to stab him with the bayonet or be killed. Gus refused to attack and when the hatchet came whistling down, he awoke in a cold sweat, muttering "This ain't how it was, this ain't how it was like."
Tyler dreamed of a nightmarish city of technology, machines, pipes, poisonous fumes and the screams of burning ghost rock. He was hurrying home to his sick family, with a cure given to him by a scientist - a huge syringe bubbling with a vile green liquid. He found his wife (Lotus Blossom Wen) and his boy and girl in a rickety hut among the machinery. They were disfigured by metal "augmentations" and his daughter lay in a horrible fever. But when he bent down to administer his medicine - the only thing able to stop the sickness - his daughter was deathly afraid and pleaded with him not to use the syringe. He fought with himself for a moment, remembering the earnest and convinced scientist who had given it to him, but with an effort of will resisted the urge to force the medicine on her. We woke up with a cough and a bit of a fever himself.
Hunter found himself in a parched and deserted western town, with only skeletons for company one even dangling from a gallows in the street. Then he heard slow but steady steps around the corner accompanied by the clink of spurs. For a moment he did not know whether he was the hunter or the prey. Then a gunslinger in a faded coat, high top hat and two enormous Army revolvers in his belt stepped out into the street. Hunter just knew he didn't stand a chance against this man in combat, and when the figure told him "Draw... or run" the urge to turn around and flee became overwhelming. But he resisted it and drew his gun, fast enough even to outdraw the gunslinger. The bullet hit him in the chest, but the figure just shrugged as if it hardly felt the shot. Hunter woke in a sweat as he looked into his opponents barrel and the trigger finger began to bend. He held his own smoking gun in hand, having it fired in his sleep.
Except for Tyler, who just turned around and went to sleep again, everybody gathered for some coffee and told their dreams. After a while it occurred to Gus, that the nightmares had the themes of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse: Hunger, War, Pestilence and Death. They wondered what that meant and felt like they had caught the attention of something incredibly evil. In a gut feeling Toni connected her vision of the priest with the stories she had heard about Reverend Grimme in the City of Lost Angels, though there was no evidence to support this theory.
After that horrible night, the day started out surprisingly well. Mama Ayida had decided to stay at Hell's Canyon and found a settlement here, as that seemed the best way to keep the Seven Devils in check and prevent further Ghost Rock mining. The posse managed to convince most of the workers to stay with here. Only about 30 or so wanted to head westwards, to Walla Walla and then on to California and Lost Angels. Pete and Hank volunteered to take them to Walla Walla together with the captive regulators, and were paid a generous bonus by the posse. Mr. Dunlevy proved pretty resistant against attempts to have him cede his claim to the workers. Mama Ayida decided to keep him and put him to work in the kitchens. Hopefully this would teach him some humility, though it seemed unlikely.
Hunter found some Sasquatch tracks not far from the mine, which headed back north into the wilderness. He took that as a good sign, as their own path also lay northwards to Clearwater River and the area where the Old Glade was to be found. They set out the next morning, now only accompanied by Chris, Racing Cloud and Bu.
Several days later the posse reached the Clearwater River area. They noticed a column of cavalry and eventually learned that it was the company from Walla Walla, led by Colonel Jones and his new Indian Scout: Angry Mouse. Apparently Angry Mouse had shown up in Walla Wallla a while after they left, claiming to know the general location of the Sasquatchs' home. As there had been more attacks and now also killings, Colonel Jones decided to mount an expedition to strike at the Sasquatch and defeat them once and for all. 70 men and 4 cannons were on their way.
The posse saw this with dismay and headed onwards to meet the Sasquatch before battle could be joined. As they crossed a pass towards the valley where the Old Glade was most likely located, the noticed the presence of Wendigo in the area, but also realized that these were focused not on them but on the soldiers. The next day was one of searching and tracking with many promising leads towards the Old Glade ending in dead ends or destroyed paths. As the sun was setting and they headed into a narrow side valley, they suddenly heard gun and cannon fire from the pass behind them, then faint screams on the wind and finally silence. They feared the worst for the cavalry but headed onwards ... and ran into a party of Sasquatch. They had finally found the way into the Old Glade and were met by a gang of suspicious warriors, branding spears and clubs.
To be continued...
The night after the battle for the mining camp Toni, Gus, Tyler and Hunter all suffered terrible nightmares.
Toni found herself on a bleak desert highland surrounded by the corpse of starved and slaughtered cattle. A priest was handing out rotten meat to a hungry crows which they eagerly devoured. An old, emaciate crone sat behind him on a cow's corpse gnawing a bone. She gave Toni a wicked stare and cackled loudly. Then the priest turned to Toni and offered a a plate of rotten offal which he abhorred and desired at the same time. With an effort of will she resisted taking it and woke up with a scream.
In his dream Gus stood on a battlefield strewn with the slain, French and German, US and Confederate soldiers, Indian braves and White settlers. The thunder of artillery rumbled in the distance and black smoke of burning villages obscured the sky. From among the fallen rose a huge Indian brave, painted with blood, holding a scalp in one hand and a blood-drenched tomahawk in the other. Gus recognized him as Raven and felt a rifle in his hands. The bayonet was set and bloodied and Gus felt like he had killed against the Lord's law. Raven bared his chest and belly before Gus, daring to stab him with the bayonet or be killed. Gus refused to attack and when the hatchet came whistling down, he awoke in a cold sweat, muttering "This ain't how it was, this ain't how it was like."
Tyler dreamed of a nightmarish city of technology, machines, pipes, poisonous fumes and the screams of burning ghost rock. He was hurrying home to his sick family, with a cure given to him by a scientist - a huge syringe bubbling with a vile green liquid. He found his wife (Lotus Blossom Wen) and his boy and girl in a rickety hut among the machinery. They were disfigured by metal "augmentations" and his daughter lay in a horrible fever. But when he bent down to administer his medicine - the only thing able to stop the sickness - his daughter was deathly afraid and pleaded with him not to use the syringe. He fought with himself for a moment, remembering the earnest and convinced scientist who had given it to him, but with an effort of will resisted the urge to force the medicine on her. We woke up with a cough and a bit of a fever himself.
Hunter found himself in a parched and deserted western town, with only skeletons for company one even dangling from a gallows in the street. Then he heard slow but steady steps around the corner accompanied by the clink of spurs. For a moment he did not know whether he was the hunter or the prey. Then a gunslinger in a faded coat, high top hat and two enormous Army revolvers in his belt stepped out into the street. Hunter just knew he didn't stand a chance against this man in combat, and when the figure told him "Draw... or run" the urge to turn around and flee became overwhelming. But he resisted it and drew his gun, fast enough even to outdraw the gunslinger. The bullet hit him in the chest, but the figure just shrugged as if it hardly felt the shot. Hunter woke in a sweat as he looked into his opponents barrel and the trigger finger began to bend. He held his own smoking gun in hand, having it fired in his sleep.
Except for Tyler, who just turned around and went to sleep again, everybody gathered for some coffee and told their dreams. After a while it occurred to Gus, that the nightmares had the themes of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse: Hunger, War, Pestilence and Death. They wondered what that meant and felt like they had caught the attention of something incredibly evil. In a gut feeling Toni connected her vision of the priest with the stories she had heard about Reverend Grimme in the City of Lost Angels, though there was no evidence to support this theory.
After that horrible night, the day started out surprisingly well. Mama Ayida had decided to stay at Hell's Canyon and found a settlement here, as that seemed the best way to keep the Seven Devils in check and prevent further Ghost Rock mining. The posse managed to convince most of the workers to stay with here. Only about 30 or so wanted to head westwards, to Walla Walla and then on to California and Lost Angels. Pete and Hank volunteered to take them to Walla Walla together with the captive regulators, and were paid a generous bonus by the posse. Mr. Dunlevy proved pretty resistant against attempts to have him cede his claim to the workers. Mama Ayida decided to keep him and put him to work in the kitchens. Hopefully this would teach him some humility, though it seemed unlikely.
Hunter found some Sasquatch tracks not far from the mine, which headed back north into the wilderness. He took that as a good sign, as their own path also lay northwards to Clearwater River and the area where the Old Glade was to be found. They set out the next morning, now only accompanied by Chris, Racing Cloud and Bu.
Several days later the posse reached the Clearwater River area. They noticed a column of cavalry and eventually learned that it was the company from Walla Walla, led by Colonel Jones and his new Indian Scout: Angry Mouse. Apparently Angry Mouse had shown up in Walla Wallla a while after they left, claiming to know the general location of the Sasquatchs' home. As there had been more attacks and now also killings, Colonel Jones decided to mount an expedition to strike at the Sasquatch and defeat them once and for all. 70 men and 4 cannons were on their way.
The posse saw this with dismay and headed onwards to meet the Sasquatch before battle could be joined. As they crossed a pass towards the valley where the Old Glade was most likely located, the noticed the presence of Wendigo in the area, but also realized that these were focused not on them but on the soldiers. The next day was one of searching and tracking with many promising leads towards the Old Glade ending in dead ends or destroyed paths. As the sun was setting and they headed into a narrow side valley, they suddenly heard gun and cannon fire from the pass behind them, then faint screams on the wind and finally silence. They feared the worst for the cavalry but headed onwards ... and ran into a party of Sasquatch. They had finally found the way into the Old Glade and were met by a gang of suspicious warriors, branding spears and clubs.
To be continued...