No Oath, No Spell Chronicle Log

The Wargate Presents

No Oath, No Spell

A World of Darkness Chronicle

Season 1, 2016

Little beast, 
are you wild as me?
Left some teeth in your enemies...

We won't be broken,
there's no curse we haven't spoken...

There is no oath,
there is no spell...
to deliver us, to make us well...

- Murder by Death

Winter, 1875

Smokefall Ridge, The Indian Territory

Weeks have passed for our intrepid pioneers.  The Dread that hung over the settlements has been dispelled, and the horrific events in the town nearby have earned that place the moniker "Hell Bend".  No one goes out there anymore.

Now the land of the southern Territory are plagued by tales of supernatural outlaws and worse.  Strange incidents have definitely slacked off in frequency, but the tales of the place persist even in the larger world.  In Ft. Grant, people speak in hushed whispers of a whole town purged of devil worshipers.

Yet people ARE coming to Smokefall!  The tiny town has had a bit of a resurgence, and our characters have found themselves in important functionary positions.  Now that people are coming to Smokefall, another set of problems emerges.  All those people have to be dealt with and integrated into the community.

Even with more hands helping, the crucible of the frontier is not done with the settlers.  Life is harsh, and there is competition.  Will Smokefall Ridge find a way to solidify itself as an incorporated entity?  If so, will the legacy of the settlers stand the test of time...or will the coming years blow away all the characters have built like so much dust in the wind?

---

No Oath, No Spell is a World of Darkness chronicle set in The Indian Territory.  This chronicle contains the final stories for Smokefall Ridge in our current arc.  This is exciting, as our first installment (The Rough Edge of Night) finished up over four years ago!

Smokefall Ridge and the final state we leave it in will have an effect on our other World of Darkness chronicles going forward.  We have begun to show how two of our settings in particular are interconnected, the Indian Territory and South-by-Southwest.  Dead Man's Hand this season will also affect Smokefall Ridge, so actions in both games this season could potentially affect characters, backgrounds and settings for years to come!  This chronicle, and this season in general, will be a legendary time in our World of Darkness.

Also, this is the first season of 2016, which means it's also the first of a new slew of four-month project seasons!  Bear that in mind, settlers - and good luck to you.  If you can make it, Smokefall Ridge will as well.

---

Current Player Characters

• "Doc" Jameson
• A man of science, looking for the truth.
• Ignacio Madera
• The sheriff of Smokefall Ridge and proprietor of Twin Pines Fine Horse Mall.
• Don Juan Ortega
• Mayor of the township of Smokefall Ridge, Don Juan is focused on the town's sustainability.
• Rusty Shackleford
• The former mountain man decided to give "civilization" a go and try his luck in the settlements.
• Josephine Maxwell
• A journalist sent to Smokefall to investigate the strange happenings, she intends to find a big story here in the Territory.
• Jakey Wales
• Life has changed a great deal for Jakey since coming to Smokefall.
• Caleb Tinker
• The town's gunsmith returns after a few weeks worth of introspection on the mountain.  Smokefall is looking pretty rough to him...
• Arthur Littlehawk
• A native hunter who lives at nearby Snake Valley, he recently befriended the folks at Smokefall Ridge.
• Doctor Anya
• An educated lady from back east, her medical skills have helped the settlement immensely.
• Preacher
• A new pastor has arrived to take over the services from Don Juan.
• Johnny Chu
• Smokefall gets it's first taste of Chinese cuisine from this immigrant cook.

Deceased Player Characters

• None (Yet...)

Disbanded Player Characters

• None (Yet...)

---

Chronicle Log
Total Game Time: 49 hrs

Life Outside
(01.03.16 to 01.31.16)
Total Session Time: 23 hrs

The characters make lives for themselves in Smokefall, and deal with the day to day dramas of life.

• Session 1, 2 & 3 (01.03.16, 01.10.16 and 01.17.16)
• Session 4 (01.24.16)
• Session 5 & 6 (01.31.16 and 02.07.16)

Your standard Western fare has occurred, and besides the bandits and hooliganry there are stranger things afoot.  The best part is that there is now a Chinese restaurant in Smokefall and people love it.

Stones in Dream, Stone in Wood
(02.21.16 to 04.24.16)
Total Session Time: 26 hrs

The woods and wilds around Smokefall begin to reveal a secret that could change the course of history for the Indian Territory.

• Session 7 (02.21.16)
• Session 8 (02.28.16)
• Session 9, 10 & 11 (03.20.16, 03.27.16, 04.03.16)
• Session 12 (04.10.16)
• Session 13 (04.17.16)
• Session 14 (04.24.16)

It seems that the mystical strangeness of the Territory will continue unabated by man's interference.  Some sense of stability has come to Smokefall at last - but what new challenges does having so many...strange individuals in one place bring upon the intrepid pioneers?

---

Campaign Resolution

For the most part, the land has been preserved.  It will be so for the foreseeable future, as far as the residents of Smokefall Ridge are concerned.  The area once simply called "the settlements" is now being threatened with the very bane of the pioneer lifestyle - government regulation.

Yet the town is growning, even at a faster rate than the arguably better constructed (and prettier) Primrose.  Moreover, the mysterious Media Movement folk connected with Ms. Holmes and her peculiar friends bring a stability to the settlement that was never there before.  Several new businesses, funded by the City Council and the Media Movement, are erected and are prospering in the burgeoning trade of the Territory.

Progress has come to Smokefall Ridge.  It's set to become a trade hub of the region, superseding Andersen's Hill in that respect.  It's good for the town, but the Territory is still a dangerous area.  The characters in this chronicle have set the foundation for the future of the Southwest, but what threats will rear their ugly heads in the future?

In time, it will fall to other folks to step up and face those challenges - whatever they may be.  Though we do not know the exact ultimate fates of the player characters yet, the Smokefall Ridge City Council and Community Development Committee have the administration and development of their growing town to deal with.  They have been entered into the Honor Roll of the Wargate for their role in combating the powerful spiritual forces gathered in the Territory.  Undoubtedly, we will hear from them again - eventually learning what exactly becomes of them as time unfolds.

We cannot divine their fates just now, as we must look to the others who are yet to come that will make their mark on the coming world.  A world that waits more than a century away...and a great deal can happen in such a long span of time.

The Lodge of Dusk at Silver Lake, Near Smokefall Ridge
April 19th, 1878

The inside of the Lodge of Dusk was very impressive, especially to those who were unfamiliar with the ingenuity of the native tribes.  The strange, dark wood that made up the structure was something most people had never seen before...and it's origin wholly unknown.  Yet that was par for course here, as so many things took on qualities of the strange.  Such things as the low, slow drumming inside was like the sound of a pounding pulse inside your skull - it wasn't loud, but it could not be ignored.  The burning sage was there as well, cloying the senses in a manner that was wholly of the strange.

Lisa Holmes stood facing Five Stones and White Hawk.  The City Council was with her, as were the members of her cabal.  She held the child in her arms, and Jakey Wales stood beside her.  Still, her emotions were running rampant...and she struggled to maintain her calm.  Jakey put his hand on her shoulder to offer support, but she couldn't lift her gaze from her baby's face.   

Rosa Wales was almost 8 months old now, and what she was about to do was the most difficult thing she had ever faced.  The Mastigos of the Free Council who had faced down and tamed her own inner demons was gone.  Only the mother of the child was left, and she wept. Five Stones put his hands out over the altar.  She hesitated, then stepped forward and presented Rosa to the shaman.  

The atmosphere among those gathered was tense, but hopeful. The werewolf stepped forward from the darkness of the shadowed recesses.  Though she showed her war-form to the onlookers, the Lunacy did not affect them.  Her fur was a soft brown, and she was adorned with shamanic vestments and spirit charms.  Her staff, dangling with mystic seals and medicine stones, clanked on the hard dark wood of the floor. The mage and the shaman looked up at her.  She acknowledged them softly.  

Lisa and Five Stones faced one another across the square podium of the altar, and the werewolf took her place on the east side.  "Protector, " the female wolf said, her voice surprisingly motherly and soft, "take your place."  Mongwau the shaman stepped from the gathering to stand on the empty side opposite the wolf.

"It is an honor, Onowa."  he said, reverently.  "Let us begin."

The wolf, Onowa, shook her hand over the child held by Five Stones over the altar.  She began to speak the tongue of the spirits, reminding them of the pacts she had made with them.  Then, it began to appear.

It was a wispy thing, thin and gaunt.  It was made as of smoke, and curled from the burning sage smoke hanging in the air.  It reached out and began to coil around baby Rosa.  Lisa began to waver, but Jakey was there to hold her.  She did look at him this time, and his eyes told her to trust in him.

A second spirit appeared.  It wound it's way down like the other, and seemed similar yet had a different quality of light to it, eerily a smoky purple unlike the other.  It began to do the same, and as it did, the other spirit lifted away from the child to coil around the head of Onowa.  It made a lazy, coiling smoke ring above her head.  In a few moments, the other spirit followed suit.

The smoke coiled together, and the other shamans moved away from the altar, with Five Stones stepping straight back a step holding Rosa to his chest.  The wolf motioned to the altar, and commanded the spirit to appear and speak it's truth.  The two spirits made one, vaguely in the shape of a human upper body, in the space above the altar's burning sage.  When it spoke, a mouth opened to reveal the purple-lit smoke.  The voice that issued forth was a horrifying, rasping whisper.

"tHiS - cHiLd - - iS-oF - - - uRaThA - - -"

Lisa gasped, and many of the natives seemed to exchange nervous glances.

"tHiS - cHiLd - - wIlL nEvEr sLeEp - - -"

The spirit faded away.

Lisa looked at the ground, resigned.  Jakey looked at Five Stones, and they nodded to one another.  They had already made the agreement, and it stood.

"It is settled, then!" came a commanding voice, breaking the tense silence.  Bullet Braids stepped forward from the crowd and raised his hands to gather the attention of the gathering.  "The child is one of us.  She will go with Onowa."

He walked to Lisa and the Council.  The cabal also drew in closer, eager to hear what he had to say.

"As for you, willworkers..." Bullet Braids continued, lowering his voice as he approached.  "Now...and only now...will we speak towards what you ask of us.  The child will be safe with the Hunters in Darkness, and you have shown us you know of our ways...and what Mother Luna asks of us.  We believe we have seen the only way forward."

Bullet Braids stared at the Council with a scrutiny of one sizing up one's own allies instead of one sizing up how to destroy his enemy.  It was an odd sensation to those who had encountered him before.  "Come, " he said, "let us complete our pact, and speak of the seasons yet to come." 

No Oath, No Spell (Session 14)

This session was originally recorded 04.24.16.

April 24th, 6:18pm

From the Journal of Josephine Maxwell
January 26th, 1876

In the morning a stagecoach arrived in town.  Several people came from it to greet Ms. Holmes.  They went to the Yellow Rose for breakfast.  I caught their names - Christopher Harlan, Augustus Pikarion and Lady Coriander Barrister.

The mineral company had a meeting in the conference room later with the tribal governments.  They say that the tribal gov. says that they have mineral rights to the area.  They say they are going to view Smokefall as an incorporated township.

Ms. Holmes left her breakfast to go to the meeting.  She said, "Mr. Bloch, your services are no longer needed," and gave him a dossier.  This infuriated them, but sent the energy company away back to Washington.  The Federal Government said the area was "already spoken for".

Three more wagons come into town, two covered and a flat wagon.  Twenty men came asking for me.  Seamus Tolliver said they were there to finish the telegraph office.

Jakey Wales and Ms. Holmes announce that they will be married.

That night the Doc and Jakey Wales awoke us all to say they saw a triangle in the sky with lights on the corners.  They said it went north.

Jakey Wales wants us all to ride out to find the stones he thinks he sees.  We went east.  Jakey used Tohtra-Ohtra to take us there.  There was a group of people following us.

There is the cavern where the Ancient One went into the stone.  A big golden owl flew down and sat on the stone, then flew to the ground and turned into a puff of smoke.  It was the shaman from the fire - Mongwau the Protector.

He asked why we had come.  He says he will meet with Ms. Holmes before the next moon "in between".

That night Lady Barrister and her group invited us to dinner.  The wine was very good and was particularly fancy.

No Oath, No Spell (Session 13)

April 17th, 6:30pm

From the Journal of Josephine Maxwell
January 24th, 1876

Further down into the cave, Juan and I find a man on collapsed in the white light of a glowing floor that was glassy smooth.  There was a floating cube that seemed to have changing lighted marks on its' faces.




Juan grabbed the cube, and the lights went off.  The man was able to get off the floor, and he wanted to go further into the cave.  He could barely walk, so we moved to take him.

On the way we find two of the shiny meta creatures, and they tried to stop us.  Juan shot them.

We headed further into the cave and the rest of the group came to join us and decided to help the man as well.

We followed the man down the cavern and found a silver disk that was very large.  The man went ito it after it opened into stairs.  We followed to see the white light inside the thing.  He turned the light red, and then signaled that we should go.

Jakey Wales, the Sheriff and John Skinner left the cave.  We followed the man further into the cave into a stream.  We follow him out, wading through the stream.  We find a lit grotto with a large, glowing stone.  The man turned into an orb and went into the stone.

The Red Band were there, all around the stone.  White Hawk as well.  He told us the little men were corrupted by the Snake Brothers, and made to follow their commands instead of those issued by the Ancient Ones.

White Hawk helped us find our way back to town.  It took over five hours.  We decided to have dinner, all together.  We had a rather uneventful night.

8:40pm

January 25th, 1876

A child came to tell me that Ms. Holmes wanted to talk with me.  She gave me a check for $10,000 and said she wanted to both renew my contact and make the paper more successful.

Later that morning, we ride out to check on the tree.  It was growing and green.

Late that evening a knock on the door at the sheriff's office brings Bass Reeves and two men he had captive.  He said that a band of men may be following.

No Oath, No Spell (Session 12)

This session was recorded 4/10/2016.

From the Journal of Josephine Maxwell
January 21st, 1876

The shaman said we must earn the right the keep the land.  He said "all the oaths must be honored".  I fell asleep with my dog next to me.  I told them to tell me everything that happened.



January 22nd, 1876

The men said the shaman had pulled a spear out of a tree made of blue fire.  They had a spear.  Jakey said the tree "felt young, like it was about to be born".  He said it seemed like it needed to be buried someplace.  Jakey insisted that he had to take the spear to Ms. Holmes.

After a meeting with Ms. Holmes that didn't go well, Jakey agreed to take the spear to the tree in the mire.  He says he thinks the spear is a bomb of "good vibes".

January 23rd, 1876

Ben Alden says that he has seen long-eared little creatures scaring his children.

We decided to go out to the evil tree with the spear.  On the way we found the wagon of the snake oil salesman.  When we get near the swamp, we hear someone yell for help and see the salesman chasing something around the brush.

The men in the group, led by Jakey Wales, insist taht they will go on to the tree and refuse to help the man.

Jakey, Juan and Ignacio headed into the swamp.  They see crazy things.

The salesman walked up behind me and asked if I had seen his horses.  He watched the men in the swamp for a while, then screamed and flew into the air after them.  Shackleford shot at him, and he fell into the water.  I went toward the creature while the men continued to the tree.

Jakey climbed the tree to stab the spear into it.  Juan and Ignacio climb up to help.  Together, they drive the spear into the heart of the tree.  Suddenly, all the evil energy went out of the tree.  It wisped like black tendrils into the air,  to be chased off by what looked like birds.

The water starts to swish around with the roots and the living tendrils spreading from the spear.  The men get back across the mire safely.

When we get back to town, I head out to Ben Alden's farm and check on them.  Ben said that he knew which way that the creatures came from.

January 24th, 1876

The next morning, Ben came to town and told us he found where the little creatures live.  We went with Ben to go find the creatures.  He said they live in a cave near his property.

We found a lot of footprints at the mouth of the cave that looked like the prints we saw before at Johnny Chu's house.  We went in the cave and through a narrow passageway into a large cavern.  We saw some odd creatures and they caused us to exhibit some weird behaviors.

9:25pm

After a huge ordeal with the creatures making us run around the cave, Jakey Wales ran away back out of the tunnel.  I threw a rock and hit one of the creatures, and it popped like a balloon.

No Oath, No Spell (Sessions 9, 10 & 11)

These sessions were originally recorded 3/20, 3/27 and 4/3/2016.

February 28th

From the Journal of Josephine Maxwell
January 19th, 1876

Two men from the survey parties came back to Smokefall.  They said that their friend had been gutted by an indian man who came out of the woods and into their camp.

We went to go see the place where it happened and the only evidence was a pool of blood.  It was next to an old, dead tree that my companions know to be a death locus.

Around the locus was a swamp.  I walked into the water and called out to the spirits and a dead body rose out of the water and told me to go back.  As we were leaving, a Dark Thing flew over and an indian man appeared by the old tree.  He told us to leave this place.

That night, one of the surveyors ran into town, saying he saw the dead man, Sal Meany, following him.  No one else saw this.  Jakey Wales stayed out and saw Sal later.  Sal turned into an owl-creature and flew into the night.

January 20th, 1876

When we woke up it seemed to be a normal day.  That morning, we met at the Yellow Rose and hada  conversation about how we should proceed.  We decided to investigate the tree once more.

While at the tree we couldn't seem to make it through the mire to tree.

On the way back, I noticed Juan staring at me.  When I looked back I noticed he wasn't there.  I could tell something creepy was following us back to town.

January 21st, 1876

The next morning a man named John Skinner arrived in town.  The whole group seemed to know him.  He brought a large amount of skins and meats with him.

At the Yellow Rose, we caught him up on what has been going on in town.

The Doc went to the carpenter and commissioned a small boat to be able to get to the tree in the swamp.  Also, he reports people have gotten upset stomachs from the Snake Oil.

The survey men said they saw Sal (the dead man) and he is trying to kill them.

I went to go talk with Ms. Holmes.  She suggested that we find out what sort of entity we are dealing with.  Jakey then went to go talk with Ms. Holmes.

We see a man watching the sheriff and the surveyors from across the street.  We went to go see if we could find the man that we saw out the window.  He had disappeared into the shadows.

Later, a man came to tell us he saw a large fire outside of town.  We investigated, and saw a man dancing a Native American ritual dance.  There were drums and flutes playing, but he was the only person there.

Jake and Juan started dancing with the man.  I walked up and sat down with my whiskey and watched.

Faces started to appear in the fire.  Then the men sat down in a triangular pattern around the fire.

The Doc and Sheriff came to sit with me.  They sat with John Skinner on stones that were around the fire - stones that bore their names.

Boomers!

Let's talk about Smokefall Ridge.

Specifically, let's talk about settlement patterns in the Territory.  Although our settlements are entirely fictional, it is entirely likely that they could have existed.  All that would have been required is a little bit more industrial exercise by the intruding settlers, such as we have explored in our game.

Even the term "Boomer" (as we are so fond of in Oklahoma, for some reason) would not be "too" anachronistic.  After 1870, non-native settlers began to pile into the Indian Territory.  In fact, at this place and time more whites lived in the Territory than Indians.  Studies have put the number of illegal 'intruders' at about 35,000...while the legal non-native settlers numbered over 100,000.  Contrast that number with the 67,000 - 71,000 natives believed to be living in the Territory and you start to get the picture.

In 1879, members of the so-called "Boomer Movement" attempted to enter the Unassigned lands in defiance of government treaties with the natives.  They believed it was public property and open to settlement.  Officially, settlement of the Unassigned Lands didn't begin until 1889, but in other parts of the Territory it is entirely possible that some small settlements could have been completely overlooked until that time...especially in the World of Darkness.

The University of Oklahoma adopted "Boomers" as their team in 1895 (Sooners in 1908).  The Boomer Movement first started in 1879, and was illegal.  The first "land rush" was 1889.

The first organized football game in the Territory was in 1896.  Statehood was 1907.  Wrap your head around those dates, and lets put them in order.

• 1865 - End of American Civil War
• 1870 - Rebuilding of the Nation draws more people to the Territory.
• 1876 - Smokefall Ridge, Current Year (~35,000 'intruder' settlers in the Territory)
• 1879 - Beginnings of Boomer Movement into the Unassigned Lands (labeled Cherokee / Seminole on our map.
• 1889 - Land Rush
• 1896 - Sooners Football, baby!
• 1907 - Statehood

All this time later and we still have our priorities straight.

Our imaginary settlements of Smokefall and Primrose sit right on the border of two native sections.  The Chickasaw on the east, and the Apache / Commanche territory on the west.  One place is pretty rough, the other is rapidly beginning to approach "progress" as railroads and other infrastructure are built in the Territory.  Remember also that the settlement of Oklahoma was unique in that "instant cities" sprung up out of the ground.

Since "none" of the original Boomers (or Intruders) camps or settlements became permanent, it's easy to say they came and went with no impact.  Yet in many areas, the original structures built before statehood still stand.  Usually it's in tiny towns in rural Oklahoma...the places time never caught up to, and consequently, never reshaped them.  Anyone that lives here knows exactly what I'm talking about, and anyone who grew up here may experience negative time distortion effects if this is meditated on for too long.

So, it COULD have happened.  With a nudge here, a nudge there, anything is possible.  Just don't discount the encroaching civilization that governs these lands.  The end goal of this long, long game is this:  make Smokefall last.  It may be a tiny town in 2016...maybe even a ghost town.  Or maybe it will just be a few creepy foundations in the middle of the woods.  Maybe...a city on the interstate?  Who knows?

No Oath, No Spell (Session 8)

This session was originally recorded February 28th, 2016.

February 28th

From the Journal of Josephine Maxwell
January 14th, 1876

Lisa Holmes says she wants to go see Jakey Wales, but he's not at his house.



January 16th, 1876

Jakey Wales' horse came back into town without him.

Ms. Holmes asked for a personal memento of his and suggest we give him one more night to return.  I took his telescope.

Jakey Wales was in the woods running with the werewolves.  He met Arbalest in her demon form.  She silenced the wolves by yelling "You will bow before the supernal power of [Indistinct]!"

January 17th, 1876

I went to go see Ms. Holmes and Mr. Higgins.

Mr. Higgins is bewildered.  He said something weird is going on.  There was growling coming from the room, and I went in to find a naked Ms. Holmes tearing apart her notes.  A strange symbol was scrawled on the floor.

No Oath, No Spell (Session 7)

February 21st, 6:17pm

From the Journal of Josephine Maxwell
January 7th, 1876

The people in our group gathered in the Yellow Rose to talk.  Rusty and Johnny Chu told us about the shiny little metal people.

January 9th, 1876

A man called Bass Reeves came into town.  I met him at the Yellow Rose.  He asked about one of the men that came through with the dynamite.  He said one of the men, Tom Rib, stole the dynamite.

We went to the house where Tom Rib and his men disappeared to investigate.  The house was empty.  There were tiny odd tracks all around the house.

Bass Reeves asked about our town.  He tells us that he will be back once a month, then left.

Two of Johnny Chu's family came into town.  A waitress and a prep cook.

A man named Barry Sanders came to tell Johnny Chu that he had also seen the little silver people.  The man said he had the little people terrorizing his children at night.

We let Barry Sanders stay in the Land Office that night while we went out to his ranch.  We went to the ranch and that night the Doc saw one of the little people, and we followed it.

The little person climbed up a tree and then a light shone on the tree.  The creature disappeared.  After the light went out, the tree was discolored and turned white.  The snow around the tree melted.

9:40pm

January 10th, 1876

The next morning in town, the Sanders family report that they slept better than they have in weeks.  The men that were watching in town said they saw strange lights go over the town while we were gone.

Juan was told that his goats had been running around all night.  Three of them died.  Juan decided to start hobbling and putting the goats in the barn at night.

There was other weird animal behavior reported.  The cows were all staring due North.

No Oath, No Spell (Sessions 5 & 6)

These sessions were originally recorded 01/31 and 02/07/2016.

Jan. 31st, 6:57pm

From the Journal of Josephine Maxwell
December 23rd, 1875

We left the Yellow Rose with the men after the leader pulled out some dynamite.  The men still insisted they were going to take the injured man.



Jakey Wales pulled out his gun and the men grabbed Juan as a hostage.  Juan attempted to get away with a punch to one man's face.

The man shot at Juan and grazed his head.  The men tried to run around the Doc's office and Juan followed.  They shot Juan and he collapsed to the ground.

The Doc ran out to help Juan and Jakey Wales shot back at the men.  Rusty Shackleford shot one of the three men from inside the building, and that man fell.  The sheriff came out and shot the leader down.  Then Jakey shot the last man after I walked into the church.

8:07pm

After all the men were shot, we took everyone into the Doc's office.  Two of the men were taken to jail, two were taken to the chapel.

Feb. 7th

December 24th, 1875

The blizzard had picked up.  We got the feeling that the storm would go on for a while.  After a day we began to check to make sure all the people in town were all right.

December 25th

We brought Granny Crocker into town.  We also decided to check on the rest of the people outside of town.  The three men from out of town seem to have disappeared.  All of their belongings were left, and the horses were left and had frozen to death.

6:28pm

December 31st, 1875

The newcomer to town, Johnny Chu, went out to find that Algernon Dike had built a fence right against Johnny's house.  We had a town meeting and agreed that he had to move the fence back.

January 2nd, 1876

Wire arrived from Ft. Grant:  "Rep FMM will soon arrive to survey the grounds."

A young sick girl was brought into town by her parents.  She continued to get more sick over the next few days.  She had a red dot under each of her shoulder blades.

In the Doc's office over the night, the Doc saw the girl with a person standing over her int he middle of the night.  The person had a weird glow around him.  The Doc threw his coffee pot at the man and it deflected off the person and landed upright on the floor.

The Doc grabbed the strange intruder, but then felt calm.  The person disappeared after proclaiming that the girl was hurting.  The weird light seemed to glow around the girl.

The stranger disappeared, but the girl's spots seemed to be getting better.

The papers saying the FMM survey party was going to be there soon arrived.

Mr. Bloch returned to town to talk about surveying.  We let them know where they could survey, and I told them not to go past the river and not to go near Round Bend.

January 3rd, 1876

The sick girl with the red dots seemed to be getting better.  She went home with her parents.

January 6th, 1876

Rusty Shackleford heard footsteps on top of his house and then tapped the ceiling with a broom.  He then heard a tap back on his roof, then looked out to see a light float down off the house, then head into town.

Johnny Chu heard a glass break in the kitchen of his house and saw, just below the window, a small creature with long ears.  He reached down and grabbed it.  It was textured like metal.

The things floated away and ran off to the woods.

Rulebook Ruminations: Inferno

With all the World of Darkness gaming going on here at the gate for the past while, I thought I'd take time to focus on the impetus for our last campaign, Hell Bend.  I've got a lot of the books from this line, and I've wanted to take the time to let players really experience the contents of each one.  I knew the Book of Spirits would be one of the first ones I'd introduce into the setting, and I knew that Inferno would follow shortly after.

Inferno is a World of Darkness supplement that explores the nature of demonic spirits.  These kinds of dark spirits hail from the titular Inferno, or Hell.  OOOO...spooky Satan stuff, right?  Isn't that what they warned us about in the 1980's?!  Haven't you spent the better part of the last twenty years telling people gaming isn't Satan worship, Dave Bone?!  What the Hell?!

What the Hell, indeed.

I thought about how to approach this for a long time, the subject matter being what it is.  Upon first seeing this volume in a lot I bought, I thought Inferno was going to be a really hokey approach to the whole thing...but I was surprised.  I didn't find the Leveyan hokiness or a barrage of uncontrollable and largely incoherent "gothic-punk" blasphemies against Christ.  I read it anyway...and was very surprised.  What I found instead was a rather adult treatise on what evil means, on the nature of evil, and how it can be interpreted in many, many ways.

The crunch of the book is a sophisticated system governing a specific caste of dark spirits that feed on human sin, unlike normal spirits which feed on Essence.  These evil spirits are literally linked to a Vice.  It is theologically neutral in the delivery - your demons could be Judeo-Christian...or not.  Fancy a Pinhead-style once-human demonic entity?  Examples and classifications are provided...but you are encouraged to be as vague as you want as to the true nature of these specific kinds of evil spirits.

From a strictly rules-oriented standpoint, in Inferno a demon is an evil spirit that has certain qualities that differentiate them from other similar spirits.  Not all dark spirits are demons, and not all demons started as a spirit wisp.  These are different in classification than normal spirits, and in many ways have far more capacity to truly wreak havoc on a setting. In addition, because of this alternate nature, can cause some dark things to come to the fore on your gaming night.  Of course, we love black comedy here at the Wargate.

In the end, this volume specifically is NOT going to be for everybody.  It's going to depend on your spiritual leanings, and your strength of character.  I won't comment on my own personal spirituality, or that of my game group, but I will state that we all felt safe in exploring the subject and it was never an issue.  Of course, there are demonic armies at the Wargate, so who cares about a few more disembodied voices?  The demons presented in Inferno are (largely speaking) immaterial as any other spirit.  They are truly reflections of terrible things from within ourselves, unlike so many Balrogs, Pit Fiends and Bloodthirsters who are just 'roided out boogeymen.

I also would like to state that even though Hell Bend was a story chronicle about demonic entities, I have yet to write a Satanic story.  I just can't bring myself to do that.

Because Satan is really hokey.

No Oath, No Spell (Session 4)

Jan. 24th, 9:20pm

From the Journal of Josephine Maxwell
December 23rd, 1875

Doc Jameson had just left the Yellow Rose when he found that a man with a gunshot wound and a stab wound had broken into his office.  The Doc patched him up and the man told him that "they" would be here soon.  The Doc came to tell us that the man was here, and what he had said.

We went to the Doc's office.  Soon a group of men rode in.  They were waiting outside the office so I walked out to greet them.  I invited them to have a drink, but they said they were busy.

The others from the group talked to the men.  The strangers insisted they were going to take the injured man with them.

Shortly thereafter, things take a more peaceful turn.  It's short lived, however.  The session ends with Mayor Juan Ortega sitting at a table with the leader of the strangers, reaching for a stick of dynamite the stranger placed on it.

Hell Bend Campaign Log

The Wargate

Presents

Hell Bend

World of Darkness Chronicle, Season 4 2015

Indian Territory
October 16, 1875

Welcome back to the Settlements, partner.

Since the events of The Rough Edge of Night, nothing has gone according to anyone's plans.  The settlements themselves are depopulated, with people fleeing the haunting and desolate landscape instead of flocking to it.  If Smokefall Ridge is to survive, the folk who seek to make that place their own must contend with the forces that have called it their home since time immemorial.

The Red Band has moved west, pursued by Ft. Grant's brave American cavalry - but the threat and memory of Indian raids is alive in the thoughts of the settlers.  In order to survive, the players must build a thriving community of like-minded "pioneers", which may prove difficult under the current atmosphere of dread.  To make matters worse, that sense of dread seems to be growing into something tangible...

---

Hell Bend is a chronicle for the World of Darkness Role-Playing Game.  It is set in a fictional group of settlements in the Indian Territory in the year 1875.  Players will make normal human characters, though certain merits from The Book of Spirits may be available to certain concepts.  This chronicle also makes use of the Firearms in the Indian Territory rules.

The players' success in the game will determine how many new settlers arrive in Smokefall Ridge, and what services they can provide.  The growing / dying town is key to success in the chronicle, and the peril to all the characters is very real.  In addition, influences outside Smokefall in the other settlements (and Fort Grant) may have an effect on the growth and livelihood of the town as the chronicle progresses.

The following set of values describes various aspects of Smokefall Ridge as an entity.  Law indicates the level of order in the town.  Economy describes the availability of productive work.  Culture indicates the general level of civility for the townsfolk.  Technology indicates the number and frequency of manufactured items.  Supply indicates the production of food and other sundries for the populace of Smokefall, while Goods indicate trade surplus and connectivity with other settlements.  The total of all these values indicates the Total Growth Level of Smokefall Ridge.

Smokefall Ridge 
(Population:  One Less Every Day)

Vitals

• Law: 1
• Economy: 4
• Culture: 2
• Technology: 1
• Supply: 6
• Goods: 1
• Total Growth Level: 15

Township Assets

• Yellow Rose Saloon
• Culture +1
• Church
• Culture +1
• Law +1
• North Territory Hotel
• Economy +1
• Supply +1
• Freight Trader / General Store
• Economy +2
• Technology +1
• Supply +1
• Goods +1
• Communal Corn Fields
• Supply +2

Player Assets

• Twin Pines Fine Horse Mall
• Economy +0
• Doc's House
• Technology +0
• Don Juan's Goat Spread 
• Supply +3

---

Current Player Characters

• "Doc" Jameson
• A man of science, looking for the truth.
• Ignacio Madera
• Forging a place for himself in this savage and haunting land, Ignacio intends on breeding horses in this wide open space.
• Don Juan Ortega
• The Don knows that the ground will yield all he needs to build a new empire north of Mexico.  Corn and goats, what else do you need?
• Rusty Shackleford
• The former mountain man decided to give "civilization" a go and try his luck in the settlements.
• Josephine Maxwell
• A journalist sent to Smokefall to investigate the strange happenings, she intends to find a big story here in the Territory.
• Jakey Wells
• Moving to Smokefall after tragedy befell his family, all he wants is to grow a subsistence-level farm.
• Caleb Tinker
• The town's gunsmith returns after a few weeks worth of introspection on the mountain.  Smokefall is looking pretty rough to him...
• Arthur Littlehawk
• A native hunter who lives at nearby Snake Valley, he recently encountered evidence of the anger of the spirits.
• "Anya"
• A mysterious doctor from New Orleans, she has only recently arrived in Smokefall.

Deceased Player Characters

• None (Yet...)

Disbanded Player Characters

• None (Yet...)

---

Chronicle Log
Total Game Time: 60.5 hrs

The Dread
(10.04.15 to 10.25.15)
Total Session Time: 25.5 hrs

A palpable aura of unease has come over Smokefall.

• Session 1 (10.04.15)
• Session 2 (10.11.15)
• Sessions 3 & 4 (10.18.15 & 10.25.15)
• Session 5 & 6 (11.01.15 & 11.08.15)

More questions than answers arise from bumbling around the woods at night, but with the banishment of the horrific spirit waking folks every morning things get a little less restless.

Across the Red Earth
(11.01.15 to 11.29.15)
Total Session Time: 19.5 hrs

Halloween 1875 starts what will become a solid week of terrible realizations as the demonic forces arrayed against the settlers become apparent.

• Sessions 7, 8 & 9 (11.15.15, 11.22.15 & 11.29.15)

After confrontations with black spirits and possessed killers, the player group now has a clear idea of the forces arrayed against them and at least a general idea on how to defeat them.  However, the Dread is still palpable in Smokefall, and the odds may be insurmountable...

The Condemned
(12.13.15 to 12.26.15)
Total Session Time: 15.5 hrs

With time running out, the group finally gets some answers.  They aren't comfortable answers, though...but that's life in the Territory.

• Sessions 10 & 11 (12.13.15 & 12.20.15)
• Sessions 12 (12.27.15)

Round Bend has been destroyed.  The people there are lost, and the land itself is spoiled.  Folk are warned to stay away from the tainted soil, and no one mentions the place where the old town was much anymore.

---

Campaign Resolution

The residents of Smokefall Ridge have helped their town survive the supernatural onslaught...but now they've got real problems.  Over the next six weeks, the settlers begin to see signs of revivification in their camp as new folk start to arrive.  In a matter of weeks, the current population has increased by 50% to a little over one-hundred souls.

Now, the course for the future must be decided.  The hardy settlers immediately set to work rebuilding and preparing to weather the coming winter, making their town more secure against any extant threats.  Yet, it may be a force that is quite mundane that proves to be the true threat to Smokefall.  An insidious corruption that is creeping across the continent - a force that many whites simply call progress.

No Oath, No Spell (Sessions 1, 2 & 3)

These sessions were originally recorded 01/03, 01/10 and 01/17/2016.

Smokefall Ridge has seen somewhat of a resurgence now that The Dread has been purged from the land.  The characters have made New Friends, and the town has prospered in the weeks since the last ruckus.  It seems that the town will survive (for now), but there is a new issue at hand.  How will Smokefall Ridge survive the transition into a new century?







Jan. 03

From the Journal of Josephine Maxwell
December 18th, 1875

Felecia the Indian Princess is still in town.  She has a boyfriend now, his name is Thomas.  They are working on the language barrier.  She says it's starting to get serious.

Jan. 10, 5:33pm

December 18th, 1875

This evening in Smokefall, a shot rang out from the Yellow Rose.  I threw on my coat and took my camera equipment out to investigate.  The sheriff and several of the deputies had begun to gather in the saloon.

Sarah and her bartender John had a man sat down in the middle of the parlor and a man's body lay on the floor not far away.  The man who shot him said that he caught the dead man cheating.  He said that he confronted the dead man, who went for his weapon and he shot to defend himself.

John said he heard no arguments, but heard a shot.  There were extra cards on the table.  Mel, from across the room, was sure that he saw the dead man go for his gun.

The sheriff asked the man to leave town.  The man gave the sheriff ten dollars for the dead man's funeral.

December 19th, 1875

I received a letter with just three letters on it, saying FNM as the return addressee.  The text said, "Don't leave yet, a Nexus is near."
Juan says that he saw his goats running in circles.  I went to go take a picture of the ring they left in the dirt.

December 20th, 1875

We all gathered at the Yellow Rose as normal.  A man from town, Mr. Hofsteader, comes in and says that he's had something bad happen on his land.  He too us out to his farm to see a cow that was cut cleanly in half, head to haunch.  There was no blood around, like the cow had somehow been drained.

8:52pm

A man named Mr. Blöch, who was portly looking, came into town.  He said that he was in town and his company was considering surveying for mineral.  He asked the mayor to let he and his group survey the lands surrounding Smokefall while the town accommodates them.  His group, Gladstone Energy, is from Baltimore and Chicago.  We took information for the next day's paper to announce that Gladstone Energy Co. would be in Smokefall to take surveys.

Jan. 17, 5:28pm

December 22nd, 1875

Jakey Wales met up with the doc and let him know that weird things have been happening around him.  They came to get me and tell me that Jakey thought that the eagle spirit had been affecting things in his house.

Jakey Wales decided to cut himself and the spirit made the blood spell out the word "Tohtra-Ohta".

The preacher came to tell me that there was a family on the outside of town that has a daughter that is six years of age.  The girl, whose name is Alice, started acting in a strange manner and collecting increasingly macabre things like bullets and fresh rabbit's feet.

The family had brought the girl into town to meet with the preacher and the doctor.  The Doc got a really bad feeling from the girl.

After this, there is a somewhat varied account of an attempted exorcism on the young girl, but the preacher declared it was not proper and unnecessary.  The family went home to Primrose.

Hell Bend (Session 12)

This session was originally recorded 12/27/2015.

Dec. 27, 6:18pm

From the Journal of Josephine Maxwell
November 3rd, 1875

We talked about how we were going to handle our situation.  we tried to bandage up Jakey Wales so we could take him with us.  Barton says that he doesn't want to leave until the next day.

November 4th, 1875

We left the next morning for Round Bend.  When we got to the town, a native approached us and told us that "three are in town and three have fled", referring to the demonic entities of Table Rock.  We deduced this to mean:  The Kinleys and Reverend Revenant were in Round Bend.  Farmer O'dell evidently WAS possessed, and had killed himself.  The wolf had been banished by the spirit following Jakey Wales, and Burke had left Smokefall.

When we entered the desolate town, we went to the cornfield to talk to Jed Kinley.  Jed asked if we wanted to buy some corn, so we went with him to the shed.  When the Doc saw the corn, he proclaimed the corn was made of human teeth!  The man continued to say that the corn was not strange at all.

Then Juan grabbed him and started to try to excorcise him.  They started fighting.  All of us worked with Juan to complete the ritual.  I got knocked out, and Juan ended up having to shoot Kinley.

The sheriff, Tanya Kinley and Rusty Shackleford went with her to the house, and apparently she fought with them as well.  She was stabbed, and died.

We went to go find the Reverend in the church.  He tried to coax us into the church.  We wouldn't go in, so he came out.  We looked around to see a group of three wolves.  He fought with Juan and the Doctor, but ended up getting shot.  The wolves disappeared.

We then went to the pit at Table Rock to help Barton.  When we got there, an Indian war party was waiting.  They took us to the pit where Barton lie dead on the ground.  The feeling of the demon did not seem to be there.

The old white haired indian they called White Hawk told us we could keep the town.

No Oath, No Spell Chronicle Begins!

Wow!

More than four years ago, we started a journey together.  We've done a lot of different games and settings, but historical games were a foreign entity to us until a few years ago.  Now I feel confident saying that Smokefall Ridge & The Indian Territory is one of our favorite campaign settings.

It's the blend of the wild west, The Twilight Zone, Tales from the Darkside, Tales from the Crypt, Outer Limits, etc...together with the wider World of Darkness mythos we all like.  However, when you blend all that with the added eeriness of the setting near our homes you get that sense of immersion that few other settings can match.  Tapping into this was the lucky strike of this game, and I can't tell you all how good it makes me feel that you have enjoyed your time with this one.  I worked hard on this one, and it has really paid off in terms of how everyone has truly become invested in the game and the ongoing story of the Settlements.

We had never done a wild west game, but from the very beginning it was something everyone was interested in.  Originally, it may have been out of my comfort zone, and when originally writing the setting I questioned my understanding and portrayal of several points.  Practice makes perfect though - and now I feel as home as Storyteller for the Territory as I do as Dungeon Master for Castle Greyhawk.  That's not a boast I could level at many other settings...Smokefall Ridge has become a real place for me.

 I'd like to thank everyone for allowing me to take the club into an area unfamiliar to it at the time.  I did my research however, and everyone's portrayals of their characters has added a lot to the sessions.  We don't often have time or inclination to roleplay in D&D like we do in WoD...the situations and approach to the game just don't lend themselves to that level of interaction.  However, I'd like to tell you guys how much I enjoy watching your characters interact with each other - the roleplay level in WoD, and the lines that are delivered by the troupe literally make this my favorite weekly black comedy.

Check out the Chronicle page for No Oath, No Spell, available on the nav-bar at the top of the page.  Season 1, 2016 lasts four months, until May 1st.  So, there's about three and a half months of play time for Smokefall Ridge before we complete a four and a half year story cycle.  Congratulations, Gatekeepers ... some of these characters may yet see the Honor Roll!

Hell Bend (Sessions 10 & 11)

These sessions were originally recorded 12/13 and 12/20/2015.

Dec. 13, 8:23pm

From the Journal of Josephine Maxwell
November 3rd, 1875

We decided to go out to Farmer O'dell's plot.  At the farm we found a pile of random half-packed objects in the floor and coins nailed to the trees.  Farmer O'dell is not there.

9:20pm

We go out to find O'dell and find him on a path toward the river.  Jakey Wales pulled a gun on him and got shot a few times.  While we stop to tend to him, Juan chased after O'dell and fought him.

Dec. 20, 5:30pm

We went back to town, with the injured Jakey Wales in the cart.  We found a place to put him so he would be safe.  The group decides to leave for Round Bend just before daybreak the next day.

November 4th, 1875

When we get to Round Bend we find a group of Native American men with a pile of the bodies from town.  Kyle Barton is with the men, and they tell us to leave after they have a conversation in spirit babble.  I argued with Barton about leaving until a blind shaman-like man came up and said maybe we could be useful and tells Barton that we are sleep-walkers.

We walk for a day's time and camp near the blood pit at Table Rock.  The group seems overly calm.  Anya and I decided that we would take a walk to see if the calm feeling would leave.  While out in the darkness we saw a large, scary creature so we hurried back to camp.

Shortly after that we all fell asleep except for Rusty Shackleford.

After we are all asleep, we find ourselves standing near the fire.  Barton says that we should go.  We go into the pit.  There was a black hole that Juan went into first.  We follow and saw a shaman chanting at the stone in the pit.

Juan mimics the man and then we were all separated from one another.  We all saw the shaman torturing a man until the man disappeared.  Then he took a stone from the place the man died.

I appeared in a different place and a man wearing a buffalo headdress painted red.  He was Wrath, and he knocked me back into a pile of dead people.  The shaman defeats him with dream animals.  Then all the bodies of the dead fell into a vortex.  At the botton of the vortex was a giant three-headed eagle as it ate the dead.  Then the shaman fought it with werewolves and captured it as well.

After the visions we had, we appeared back at the campfire.  We had a conversation about the stone, then head back to Smokefall.

We had a conversation about how the shaman was named Oderinko.  We then heard a giant thunderclap and rushed outside to find the giant eagle-monster.  We saw the clouds open up and shine on Barton and natives all around.  The things disappeared, and Bartons' eyes glowed for a moment.  He approached a wounded native on the ground, joined hands with him, then the native died.

A huge wolf-man walked from behind the barn holding a staff.  The wolf-man tossed Barton a bag of what he called "silver klaives" to us.

Hell Bend (Sessions 7, 8 & 9)

These sessions were originally recorded 11/15, 11/22 and 11/29/2015.

Nov. 11, 6:28pm

From the Journal of Josephine Maxwell
November 1st, 1875

We went to the next town (Round Bend) to notify them about dead bodies.  On the way to their town we find another dead body.

Jakey Wales stood over the body and cut himself.  A spirit came to him.  It said to him that it knew the man was dead and that it found him.

We found another body of a younger woman.  A quarter of a mile later we find another dead body.

In the town we found a bunch of dead people (35).  There was smoke coming from someplace in the town.  As we walked into the town we noticed all the bodies were all face down facing Smokefall.  I also noticed there were a lot of blackbirds.

Jakey Wales seemed to be surrounded by a spirit.

We walked into the church and it all seemed to be covered in blood.  The group decided to go into the saloon and see who was alive there.  In the saloon, we found a man who seemed very disturbed and said he hadn't and wouldn't go outside for days.  He said he would make a meal for the group, but we went to investigate the town.

I headed quickly back to Smokefall before they did so.

November 2nd, 1875

After the group returned to town I showed them the picture I had taken of Jakey Wales.  There was a mist around him that seemed to suggest a human face.

The Doctor's Office caught fire.  Doc ran out of town toward the totem.  Juan saw the Doc and followed him.  Once they got out there the Doc turned wolf-like and scared Juan away.  They both ran back into town.

A man came into town and the Doc told the man about the wolf spirit.  The man told the Doc that he could help him.  The Doc goes with him and everyone heads off to find items the man told them to look for.

I went with the man and the Doc.  Just outside of town the man pulled a gun on the Doc and said to go to the locus barn.  I turned to shoot the man, and shot off his hat.  He shot me and then the Doc shot him.  The Doc and I hopped on my horse and rode into town.

The others went to go see if they could find the man.  They only saw a trail of blood.  After the group came back, we debated on what we could do to help the doc and he requested to be tied up.  The Doc then started to speak in gibberish.

Jakey excused himself and returned shortly thereafter.  He grabbed the Doc and made for the locus.  In the barn, they say a wolf monster battled an eagle spirit, and in the end the eagle ate the wolf.  It then told Mr. Wales to come back regularly.

We went back to the saloon and then the creepy guy from the river, Burke came in.  He suggested that he knew what was going on, and we should agree to help him.  He explains that in return for the locket, he will give us information on the demons that plague us.

Burke told us when Oderinko the Shaman's tablet was destroyed, it released 7 demons into the world.  He said the demons had learned things from their imprisonment.  Burke's horse walks around on the boardwalk watching us.

Demons of Table Rock

• Lo'khahn the Avenger (Malus Locus at Table Rock)
• Kho'al the Warrior (Reverend Revenant)
• Voku'ale the Serpent (Burke)
• Saskahale the Black Wolf (sent to Hell, was urging the Doc)
• Mo'shaz the Collector (Farmer O'dell)
• Ramaho the Denier (Jed Kinley)
• Lasa-Ayo the Silent (Tanya Kinley)

Hell Bend (Session 5 & 6)

These sessions were originally recorded 11/1 and 11/8/2015.

Nov. 1, 6:37pm

From the Journal of Josephine Maxwell
October 21st, 1875

I set up my camera in the house that I had taken a picture of.  We stayed in the house over the night.

We did not see or feel anything strange.  We did hear the scream in the middle of the night.  We went outside to investigate but found nothing.

The next morning I went out to go take a picture of the men that were working on building at the spirit lodge.  The was a very strange aura that we could all feel.  Once the picture was developed, it was very disturbing.  I took it to the Yellow Rose to show them.  It had a blackness behind the people in the picture where the lodge should be.

That night, a few of us decide to stay up and watch the town.  We set lanterns and  I laid red clay dust along the entrances and exits of town.  That night I found the locket from the house in my bedding.

In the middle of the night we heard the scream again and followed it to find a girl in the middle of town.  She looked sad, and pointed out of town toward the stream.  We went out to the area indicated and found a lit cabin.

We called out to the cabin, and an evil-seeming man came out to greet us.  There was a strange horse.  He told us there were lots of spirits in the creek.  He suddenly asked about the locket that I had.  I showed it to him after it seemed to get warm.  The man said his name was Burke.  He grabbed my arms and tried to make a drinking motion toward it.

Juan punched him and he let go of my arm.  We went back to town.  There was a trail through the clay dust where the girl had walked.

The next morning, we headed out of town after a nap.  We went to investigate the creek.  We found an old cabin.  In the cabin, under the floorboards we found three bodies buried in the ground.  There were two women and a girl.  We take them to bury them in the church yard.

The nightly screams cease.

Nov. 8, 6:37pm

From the Journal of Josephine Maxwell
October 31st, 1875

We decided to have a celebration around the totem and try to raise the spirits of people around town.  The kids are going to trick or treat.

After the party is over we hear a man yelling for help.  We run to try to help him - he was covered in blood and proclaimed "They're coming!"  Then he ran away.  We went to see who "they" were.  Out of the darkness came a blood-covered woman who was missing half her head.

All the men shot her.  She fell to the ground.  Just then we heard more shuffling footsteps in the dark.  There were more people covered in blood with split heads  The things moved in a terrible way, and were upon us in moments.

We shot the men and took the bodies to the house of the Doctor.  A man from town panicked when he we saw the bodies and us covered in blood.  We all go to get cleaned.

Not long after that we heard gunfire and a terrible roar outside of town.

November 1st, 1875

The sheriff went to find the man that we saw covered in blood  The man has left town.

A stage stopped in town to drop off a passenger.

Hell Bend (Sessions 3 & 4)

These sessions were originally recorded 10/18 and 10/25/15.

From the Journal of Josephine Maxwell
October 19th, 1874

10/18
We went to greet the men herding the animals, and they were friendly.

We continued to the area that Barton wanted to go to.  The area was a pit in the ground.  That pit was covered in blood.  there was a stone in the center of the pit that had a burn mark near a split in the center.  The stone is covered in blood and there is a boot.

There was a cowskin stretched on rack that has some sort of writing near the altar.

There was a trail of blood that looked as if someone had crawled away out of the pit.  After a brief argument in the pit about the plan of action to take, we come to an agreement that we should follow the trail of blood.  Upon leaving the pit I heard something that sounded like three voices speaking in unison.

"Come back if you ever need anything."

At the end of the trail was a man in a crumbled heap.  Barton reached down and grabbed the man and the man said "I have failed, Praxiteles..." - and after that Barton shot the man in the face.

The man's body then stood back up - after being shot - and said in the same voice that spoke in the pit.  This time it said "Behold my Testament!"

Then, the Doc shot it again.  Barton wanted us to burn the body.  We did and we sat to watch it burn.

October 20th, 1875

10/25, 7:35pm
The next morning we had a funeral for the pioneer couple.

A man came into the town that the people seem to know.  They greeted him warmly.  He seemed somewhat disturbed at the state of the settlement.

Jakey Wells informed us that he wanted to let us know about the events the night before.  He told us that the Doc had followed Barton to his house the night before.  He watched the Doc and Barton talk to a demon that Barton had summoned from a skull in a bag.  Mr Wells tells us that he witnessed the Doc sell a "year of his life" to the demon in return for information about the shrine that we found,.

The group decided to go out to Bartons'.  After no answer at the door we notice a note from the Doc saying he is at the Sweat Lodge.  When we get there the Doc tells us that we sold a year of his life to teh demon so that he could get the name "Locar the Avenger" - a spirit he claims can save the town from a three-headed eagle demon.

After that we noticed smoke coming from the other side of town.  We dashed to the source of the smoke and found a man's body burning on a pyre.  I took a picture of it.  Just after I took a picture of the burning body the fire flared up and burned blue.  The body was burned away in a matter of moments.

We investigated the fire and determined that the person who set the fire probably escaped into the woods.  We headed back to the Yellow Rose to discuss what the next move would be.

Barton told us that the totem was attracting things (even him) to the town.  We decided to build something from the materials of an old house to surround the totem.

8:53
In the evening we went back to the houses.  Late in the night we all wake to the sound of multiple voices screaming.  The deputies went to check the town.

We awoke the next day and the deputies went out to build the structure.  I went about the town to take pictures and interview townsfolk.  Once developed, one of the photos was very peculiar.  There was a woman in the window of an empty house.

We went to the house to investigate and found a picture of the girl in the house in a locket.  The Doc asked the innkeeper Sarah about the woman.  She said her name was Anna Sharp, and she died of fever.

That night I stayed at the Yellow Rose.  I heard footsteps under my door in the middle of the night.  I screamed, and the owners of the inn ran to see what the matter was.

After finding no one there, I went to go talk to the Doctor.  There was a real feeling of unease in the town.

Hell Bend (Session 2)

(Session Recorded 10.11.15)

From the Journal of Josephine Maxwell
October 17, 1875

6:17
We were awoken in the early hours of the morning by a shrieking scream.  It seemed to have come from many voices.  We rushed across the town to find a horrible crime has taken place in the home of one of the homestead couples.



I was able to deduce that the man murdered his wife by stabbing her and then almost cut off her head with a butcher knife.  Then he took the kife and stabbed himself in the neck with it.  He has scrawled the word "TESTIFY" on the wall in his wife's blood.

As far as the towspeople knew, this man could not write.

We look around and find a journal in the house.  In the journal there doesn't seem to be any English writing.  It is covered in pentagrams and seems to be written in some Indian language, with the word "Silence" repeating over and over.

Out side we found all the mans' dogs still in their pens, except for one.  It barks at us and then stares until it runs into the darkness.

We investigated thoroughly and then debated what we should do with the bodies.

I took a black male dog with me.

8:09
In the morning light we collect the bodies and apparently the Doctor cut the head off the man.  He claimed it was so the devil could not use the body as a puppet.  The sheriff and Jakey Wales became enraged and punched the Doctor in the face.

8:30
I was awoken by the sound of a woman singing in the middle of the town.  I stayed in my bed.  After an ear-splitting shriek, the singing stopped.

I went to the saloon, and there were several other people there.  They decided with me after a story from Rusty Shackleford that it must have been a "banshee".

Kyle Barton has asked if some of the townsfolk would ride out to a place that he has been told about.  When we get out to the middle of no place, he told us that he is looking for the encampment of his friend Simon Drake.  At that point we hear a lot of livestock nearby.

We go to see what the sound is, and we see five to six men with a mixed herd of animals.