[DL] Sundays Session

["Ben Rasmussen" <nyddoybdyle@hotmail.com>]

Well, had my weekly DL session and things went rather well, all things
considered.

The group gained another posse member. A former player has rejoined the fold
as he now has our game day off. A decent gamer, he can piss off other
players (often IC) and yet some of our funniest stories come from him. He is
the utterer of the only death qoute I posted as well as 'Consumption of
what?'.

Johnny NightWalker, Half-Injun Texas Ranger has joined the posse. Due to
time constraints Johnny's background is sparse so I can't add much. He's got
till next week to come up with something interesting.

Now, for Player type folks out there who don't like things Spoiled, this
contains...


SPOILERS for the Fire & Brimstone adventure












When we last left the PC's, Grove was in a deserted dormitory (with dead
bodies). While Rupert and Max just reentered the Mission Compound, looking
for Grove to show him the thing they saw on the horizon.

I start off with Johnny, and send him off to Pueblo Veijo, on the trail of
Emile Boucharde (I hope I got that name close to right). Boucharde is wanted
for murder, assault, and numerous counts of kidnapping. I fill Johnny in on
his quarry, and how he's raided small towns, ranches, indian settlements,
and even occasional stage coachs. He promptly forgets. But he's off and
runnin'.

To sync things up, He was at the last know camp of Boucharde a couple of
days ago with the Pueblo Veijo sheriff (Carter). Carter had left Johnny,
while Johnny continued to follow the trail.

This dovetails Carters absence from Veijo and subsequent arrival and meeting
with the other PC's.

With a feeble tracking roll, he looses Boucharde and picks up the PC's
trail. Lucky me! I love being manipulative.

There's a great sequence where he tries to figure out what transpired at the
cliff face where Rupert was shot. Johnny finds Ruperts hat with the bullet
hole in it, then leaves it on the Indians grave at the foot of the cliff.
Rather ironic, and the group busted into laughter.

He finds the mission a while later, about the point where I pick up from
last week with the other PC's. Noticing horses tied up out front, the burnt
buildings, and the start of a mass grave, he decides to sneak up.

Inside the compount, Rupert and Max notice a shape running behind the chapel
in the rear of the compount. Max calls out for Grove and the two hook back
up to investigate the rear of the church. Rupert wanders off someplace quiet
to try and cast hunch.

Johnny scales the mission wall and spots Rupert (who fails 3 times to cast
hunch), but no one else. Seeing a few remaining bodies in the court yard he
decides to sneak in. As he climbs the wall, he notices weird marking along
tte top, but doesn't think much of it and moves on. He goes bust on a sneak
roll as he tries to crawl in a window to the womans dormitory. He crashes to
the ground and Rupert makes a great roll to hear him.

The womans dormitory is alot like the men's that Grove previously found. A
two room building, with identical rooms. Lots of bunks, mostly still made,
foot lockers, and a pot belly stove in each room. Oh, and the dead bodies,
some killed in their sleep, all are women. He makes a guts check easily and
moves to peek out a window.

Rupert investigates with a gun drawn and Max and Grove see him wander off
and follow. Grove tries to sneak up on the building Rupert is headed towards
and Max takes cover behind a well.

Grove spots Johnny, who has a rifle out, and calls out. Rupert panics and
drops, cowering, to the ground. Rupert ends up bewildered when he busts a
Cog check. Grove then tries to peacefully aproach Johnny. Johnny tries to
outhink the PC's and props a gun through the window and tries to act like
it's a second person. He also identifies himself as a Ranger.

Grove indentifies himself as a priest and Max tries to overawe Johnny but is
barely beaten. Rupert takes cover around the corner of the building and
conducts his conversation from there.

The 4 of them come to an uneasy settlement, but Grove and Johnny start off
on the wrong foot due to an arguement about burning versus burring bodies.
Rupert mentions the area is cursed.

After a bit of conversation, Max, Grove, and Johnny decide to investigate
the church. Rupert wanders off to get into trouble. Johnny tries to charge
headlong into the church, but Max yanks him back and takes the lead, causing
more friction.

The church is deserted and spooky. I try to put some oomph into the fear
level 3 description and I think I unsettle Max's player a bit. There is a
flowing red velvet curtain that hangs on the back wall and red stained glass
windows. I mention the curtain seems to ripple like blood dripping down a
wall and the stain glass seems to squirm and almost form partial shapes like
arcane lettering.

As Max is overwhelmed in the church, Grove and Johnny get into another
argument in the foyer. They squable over Johnny wanting to ring the church
bell. I miss most of it cause I'm dealing with everyones favorite Brit,
Rupert.

Rupert quickly checked out the womans dormitory, looking for the second man
that Johnny was talking to. I flip him a chip for great RP (rember his blown
Cog check when Johnny pulled the ruse? I didn't, but he did.). He spots a
shape move in the corner and searches only to find a pot-belly stove. A
so-so search roll yeilds nothing. Giving up, he lights the stove. A joke is
made about Rupert discovering fire.

Since the others are still in the church, Rupert moves on to the Bonfire
remains looking for more firewood for the stove. Lord only knows why he's
doing this, but I just mediate.

Inside the church, Max scopes out the pulpit, Grove illuminates himself (the
miracle type), and Johnny lights a couple of lanterns. No one seems overly
bothered by the fact Grove is glowing. I'm perturbed and point it out, but
no one seems to care. Eh, their loss of chips.

Rupert gets a great Cog roll while gathering wood and discovers a bit of
melted gold in the bonfire remains. He decides now is a good time to Hunch
and casts it on the gold. I boggle, but quickly regroup. He draws a Flush
and the Black Joker. I let loose a hidious cackle and decide now is time to
really give 'em the hee-bee jee-bee's.

In the church, Max blows a search roll. I let him brush the velvet curtain
with his duster. I describe it just right so Grove thinks something is
behind the curtain trying to grab Max. I quickly shift to Rupert and his
Hunch, leaving Grove hanging and biting his nails.

Rupert gets to experience life as a bit of gold. It starts off with someone
cackling hidously (I really need to pick up the black circle, I'm running
blind but it's never stopped me before) as the gold is shipped to some
banking group in the south. From their it's shipped via train outwest. He
gets a image of the gold being given to some preacher man and being stored
in a church. Its then at a pay off of some shading looking cowboy at a cave.
Back to the church and the good part.

At night some screaming and hollaring injuns break in and grab all the gold.
The whole mission is lit by one big fire and fresh corpses litter the court
yard. At the bonfire there is the preacher again, bound to a pole as the
gold is melted down.

Perspective shifts as Ruperts Manitou gives him more then he bargained for.
Suddently Rupert is the man tied to the pole. Flames lick at him, climbing
higher as the Indians take the molten gold and start to pour it down his
throat. I gruesomely describe molten metal pouring into his gut, down his
nose, burning his face and even disembowling him as it trickles down his
legs. I think Ruperts player paled a bit.

For backlash I do a pitiful 1 wound to his guts, and he chips it. But he
cries out in horror and startle the other PC's. Grove is torn between
calling out to Max and hightailing it to Rupert. The later wins and all
three of them bolt from the church.

They find a shaken but okay Rupert. He fills most of them in, and in the
distance they hear a rumble of thunder.   The posse realizes that if someone
was burned alive there is no body at the bonfire. They argue if a corpse
would actually be left and Rupert points out that 'Metacarples and
Metatarsles should be left'. Grove replies with a 'Huh' and Rupert explains
'The small bones in ones hands and feet' while Max pipes up with 'Toes!' in
a great western drawl.

Johnny heads off to get the horses so misses Ruperts story, and the
desciption of the Shady Cowboy (It's Boucharde).Everyone makes easy scart
rolls for the horses, and Johnny's horse fails,  making it uneasy. He tries
to calm it, and busts his roll. I let his horse kick him, and roll an
ungodly amount of damage, 5 wounds to the guts. He chips all of it.

At this point Grove, Max, and Rupert decide to investigate the well. Johnny
wanders off to investigate another building. Rupert fashions a crude torch
from a shirt and a piece of timber. Someone cracks a Joke about Rupert now
discovering portable fire. He's moving up.

Johnny discovers a personal home, mainly a library and a spartain bedroom.
He finds 2 bookshelves of theological books and a reading desk with a locked
drawer. Using the butt of his rifle he cracks it open, and also sets off his
rifle. The group is surprised by the gunfire, but no one cares. I roll my
eyes. Inside he finds a leather wrapped book, inside is page after page of
numbers.

With Rupert tied to the end of a 100 feet of rope, Grove lowers him down the
well. Rupert bangs his head a couple of times, but finally gets to the
bottom. THe walls are slick with some redish black ichor and the bottom
doesn't look like water, more like broken ground.

Rupert debates dropping the torch, but quickly decides against it, thinking
it might explode or something. At the bottom he discovers numerous dead
bodies, and he's ankle deep in them.

He makes a gut check, and screams to be pulled up. Grove tries but fails a
strength check and Rupert panics again. Something grabs Ruperts ankle and he
blows another Gut's check, fainting dead away.

Grove and Max haul likes nobodies business trying to get Rupert out of the
well. Johnny comes running up to help. At the top of the well, Johnny tries
to pull Rupert over and notices something hanging onto his leg. He draws on
it and opens fire.

Grove drops the rope (leaving Max holding it) and dashes over to help. He
leans over the well, and goes bust on a simple nimbleness check. I groan and
Grove plummets down the well. Numerous fate chips later, Grove is at the
bottom and Rupert is out. A dead body had simply gotten caught on Ruperts
pants leg

I luck out and discover Groves worst nightmare is to be in an inclosed space
with dead bodies that are on fire (where do players come up with this stuff?
It links to his past at the monistary, but it's weird). Grove is now down a
60 foot well full of dead bodies and 1 is on fire from Ruperts torch. He
blows a gut check and starts trying to scamper out franticly.

Max throws him the rope, but it takes him 4 tries to get out of the well,
and most of his fate chips as well.

Shortly after, Rupert and Grove wander off to clean themselves up. Grove
picks the dinning hall as it has a water pump, and completely changes
clothes.
Rupert picks a rain barrel and stands around in his socks pantsless as he
tries to clean them. Grove puts on his only other set of duds, his offical
catholic priest outfit.

Johnny reinvestigates the womans dorm and Max checks out the the living
quarters with the library in it. He can't find the book Johnny mentioned.
Hollaring back and forth, they discover it's gone missing while they were
playing in the well.

Rupert, Max, and Johnny converge on the library to check it out. Grove heads
to the church. At the church, Grove discovers scuff marks on the ground by
the pulpit, but finds it attached to the floor.

Rupert investigates the bedroom attached to the library. He finds a bed, a
small night-table and a wardrobe. In the wardrobe Rupert discovers several
sets of clothing an an inconspicous throw run (I really down played it).
Possessed by the spirit of inquisitive PCness Rupert decides to move the rug
and gets a decent cog check.

He finds a trap door at the bottom. Rupert, getting shreweder, draws a gun
and aims at the darkness. The rest of the posse regroups with him. Grove
decides to go first and discovers how great a climbing skill is when he
botches again (a tn of 5, the handholds are mostly stone). Grove meets the
ground hard and a fate chip meets the pot.

Under the wardrobe they discover a tunnel system. Following Grove, the posse
makes it's way down the tunnels only to come upon a large stone alter with
two candleabras on either side.

Rupert hypothisises that each building probably has an entrance to the
tunnels. Max makes a leap of intuition and does manage to figure out that if
the rest of the tunnel system is layed out similarly, they're in a large
pentagram surrounding the well.

My spooky music CD sountrack hits a cresendo at this point of ominous
chanting and I decide leaving the PC's standing in a large pentagram at the
foot of an undground alter and call it a night.

Next week should see the arival of Boucharde, and the appearance of Witcliff
the evil priest. Witcliff needs only another sacrifice or two to open a
portal to the hunting grounds. Luckily Boucharde is bring plenty of fresh
bodies to sacrifice.

It'll be a riot as Boucharde tries to kill the PC's only to have them have
to protect him from Witcliff. If I'm lucky it'll be one big three way fight
of PC's versus NPC bandits and an Undead army lead by a Evil Cultist.



---
... armchair philosophers? Where are they supposed to do it? "Descarte leapt
across the ditch as the bullets buzzed past his ears like angry wasps - 'If
all I can know is the product of my own perceptions,' he thought as he
punched another Hussar in the throat, 'then all I can say with any
confidence is "I think, therefore I am." ' Turning, he grabbed the Prussian
colonel's cap and wrenched down over his ears, tossing him back into the
trench now filled with twisted corpses."  --Radical Athority (rpg.net)