[DL] SPOILER ALERT - Advice needed on a Campaign loosely based on the Gammorah storyline

[J Tolle <jwtolle@altavista.com>]

Spoilers for Gomorrah, the Confederacy, and especially for Jeff Tolle’s posse – you know who you are ;-)







OK, here is the setup.

A young Cherokee Shaman named Soaring Spirit Eagle was recruited by a mad scientist, Wildman Whitehouse, to work on a secrect project for the Confederacy.  The project is to develop a permanent portal into the hunting grounds, of which the Shaman has considerable expertise.  The Shaman agrees mainly because some shadowy figures working for President Davis captured his family.  The MS is hopelessly out of touch, and cannot wrap his mind around the fact that the Shaman may be working with him under duress.  His energy and joviality is endearing, and Soaring Eagle comes the begrudgingly like the man.

As it turns out Soaring Spirit Eagle (or Jake as his nutty boss calls him, after his son who died in the war back east) had escaped from the trail of tears when he was very young.  One night in the woods in Northern Tennessee he witnessed what appeared to be the president of the CSA wandering around.  He did not follow the man, but not too much later he heard a man scream.  He raced to the noise only to find a blood drenched president Davis leaving a clearing.  Something about the man’s expression told Jake to approach no further.

In an effort to convince his MS boss that Davis was in all likelihood a killer, and possibly something much worse, he told the man his story.  Of course the MS was dismissive, but much worse, he told his supervisors about Jake’s “wild” stories.  This worked its way up the ladder until someone who knew the stories might not be so wild put the word out that Jake was no longer an asset to the project.  Jake’s boss got wind of this directive, and even through his Manitou addles brain realized that this meant nothing good for Jake.  He told Jake to go, and Jake made his escape.   In a dream Coyote came to him, and told him to go to Nashville where he would find a reluctant hero…  And this is how he met the posse.

Meanwhile an overzealous Agency man is trying to make his mark in the organization.  Through his contacts in Gomorrah he learned of a Cherokee Shaman.  Working on the theory that you catch more flies with honey his supervisor said no.  Frustrated, the agent went rouge, and began to pursue Jake Spirit Soaring Eagle.

So why does Davis want this project so badly.  Well he has plans for it.  He wants to run telegraph lines to his allies in Britain, since the reckoning ended the Transatlantic Cable project (IRL the cable ran from England to Newfoundland to Canada.  In the Deadlands, the USA was not about to let British ships go poking about so close to Maine.  For those of you who care there were three cables laid before the Civil War, but all of them failed after a very short while.)  Britain has agreed to help against Mexico and increase their attack on the US, if Davis gives them the technology.

Why does Britain want this ability, you ask?  Well they have a way of dealing with their criminals by shipping them off to colonies.  But Transportation is very expensive.  Better to just toss them into a portal through the hunting grounds that will take them to Australia.  (More info for the History buff – The vote to end Transportation to the eastern colonies came a whole ten years, it was not to come for IRL Western Australia until 1968, In the Deadlands it was not to come at all.  Worse still, a revolt on Norfolk Island convinced England that maybe transportation could maybe go again.)  Also, with instant access (or so they think) to Australia, they will be able to control the colonies much better.

Into this mess comes the posse.  And oh yes, they are headed for Australia!  (Among other places)  Oh how I long for the Hunting Grounds book!

Some other details of note.  I do not follow the Boomtown story line very closely.  In my Deadlands, there is no Indian faction in Gomorrah.  (They always seemed tacked on to me anyway) The Collegiums was not a power structure to speak of – mainly because it divided into three camps, one supporting pure research, one funded by the USA and CSA respectively.  Captain Carl and the Agency however have seen that co-operation is beneficial, and the Collegiums was beginning to rise in power until – BOOM, a certain demon blew up their base.

So anyway, given that Captain Carl wants to work things out with the Agency since they have bigger fish to fry out west, she would protest the insertion of the thugs operating under the Confederacy’s name.  Who would she protest to?  She does not know that Davis sends the men there.  I ask because I want the posse to find this letter of protest.

Just so you know, the Agency is well aware of the rogue agents, and is QUITE upset about them.  They have inserted an informant into the posse to help them find out more.  In the meantime they offer the posse supplies advice, and other help.  (The posse however doesn’t trust their contacts, and do not know of the informant’s obligations.)

In a more general sense, what do you think?  Any plot holes.  I know it doesn’t agree 100% with the cannon of Deadlands, but other than that let me know if you see any weaknesses or the like.

Jeff “How’s that for Convoluted?” Tolle


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