[DL] Dead + Famous = Harrowed?

["Derek D. Bass" <wangenstein@mad.scientist.com>]

I know this has been thrown about at least once before on the lists, but
does every single notable person who died between 1863 and 1880 have to turn
up Harrowed? I've recently started writing my own Deadlands material, and
thought I'd start with a favorite character from American folklore: John
Henry.

After I'd just about finished writing his conversion to Deadlands I found,
both in the List Archives and on the PEG website, references to John Henry
in Deadlands (rats!). But in both cases, John Henry was Harrowed! There is
absolutely no reason for John Henry to be Harrowed in Deadlands! Yes, I know
he beat the steam hammer and then his heart gave out, but things are much
different in Deadlands. If I remember correctly (I don't have my research in
front of me), John Henry's race took place in the 1870s. By that time, a
ghost rock steam hammer would have been well-established. There would have
been no need for a race against new-fangled technology. I estimated that
John Henry, never one to turn down a challenge, would have joined Union Blue
in the race to the Great Maze. No Harrowed, no Relic hammers, just a big man
with a lot of Strength, Vigor, Sand and two fifteen pound hammers. He'd work
at the railhead, driving steel and laying track, and pounding to paste
anything that threatened either the railroad or innocent people living in
towns near the work area. I just love to picture John Henry defending a town
from walkin' dead, hammering one after another, right and left, never
slowing, never tiring.

It may just be me, but it seems like it takes more effort (and is more
rewarding) to rewrite history so that the character avoids death in the
first place, rather than simply saying, "Oh, yes he died, but he came
back... Harrowed!"

Opinions? Which do you think is better (or more fitting for Deadlands):
maintaining historical accuracy (as far as can be done, given the Reckoning)
or rewriting history to create completely new circumstances for historical
figures? Is there a place for a non-Harrowed John Henry?


Derek "was a steel-drivin' man" D. Bass

Etheric Musings -- The Science of the Sons of Ether
http://web.cari.net/~ddbass/Ether.htm

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