Deadlands: The Ferner Five: The Heart O' Darkness

Beware what lurks in The Heart Of Darkness! 

Welcome back to the adventures of the Ferner Five! Are you ready for one of the darkest chapters in their tale? I knew you were... Let's get started!

Chapter One: Fear and Loathing

Let's do a little bit of a re-cap, shall we? Since the adventure takes this time to fill in the Marshal (no peaking for you player types), we'll catch y'all up on the story so far.

In the last adventure, the posse had been contracted by Dr. Darius Hellstromme to recover a large black diamond called the Heart of Darkness, that had been stolen from him sometime earlier. The posse, using luck, skill, and a fair amount of money, had figured out that the stone had been stolen by the Tremendae Gang in the Junkyard, better known as Salt Lake City. After a showdown with the gang, they found out that the Heart had been taken to the city of Lost Angels, out in the Maze (the remains of California) by one of the gang to give to a man named Stone. The posse was offered the chance to get their money, if they went to LA and recovered the stone from Stone. Got it? Good.

For those of you paying attention, you've probably noticed that I've run many of these adventures more than once. Well, for this one, I've only done this one all the way through with this group. One group made it about halfway through, but that was many years ago. So, I should be able to remember this one better than the last few. Nor was there as much drinking when I was running it.

Chapter Two: No Stone Unturned

Our posse arrives in Lost Angels after a rather uneventful trip across the desert (read: The Marshal didn't want to come up with some sidetracks and didn't want to lose momentum). The city of Lost Angels in one of the few places in the Maze that can wear the moniker of “city” because it's crowded, dirty, and life has little meaning for the people there. With almost no fresh water or food, the city all but relies on the Sunday Feasts by the Church of Lost Angels, run by the Reverend Ezekiah Grimme. This makes Grimme a major power in LA. The city is laid out in a circle rather than a typical grid because of Grimme's desires.

Which means that the map was very different than the one for the Junkyard, when I put it down on the table. The posse had an address for Stone and started looking for him there. Of course, it couldn't be that easy. They went to the location they had, Hardwick's Boarding House, and asked for a Mr. Stone. And got shut down. Hard. But, with Deiter's Overawe and Penwood's money, they were able to find out that Mr. Stone was forced to check out. After fighting with Reverend Grimme himself! They went up to the room that Mr. Stone was renting, it being easy to find with the door knocked off and all, and start poking around.

What they found was that there had been one hell of a fight between Mr. Stone and Reverend Grimme. Furniture broken, burn marks on the walls, and even a pair of melted pistols. Exactly what happened between the two was a mystery for the posse, but they knew that it had been something else...

With that lead dried all the way up, they were back at square one. Well, not quite. They did know who had brought the stone to Stone and figured it might be a good idea to ask the Guardian Angels (the more militant arm of the Church of Lost Angels) about Doc Snead. Now, given how free they were with their money, I thought that this was going to be a breeze for the posse. Why? Because the man they spoke to, Clem Norbert, is quite the avaricious man. Perfect for the Vigilance Committee of LA... Anyway, all they had to do was bribe him and he'd give them all they wanted to know. But, since Penwood got all miserly, they almost got arrested. I had to take off the Marshal's hat and flat out tell them “If you don't give him the money he wants, you're going to get tossed into Church Court, which you will not survive.” They took the club over their head pretty well and we were able to move on. Thankfully. I was starting to pull out what little hair I have left out of my head because of this one. It was painful to deal with. I wish I had been drinking for it...

Now that they had a lead on their man, they were able to track him down to the Labyrinth Saloon and make contact with Snead. If you're smart, you're probably aware that Snead is a drunk and a coward. So, as soon as he got asked about Stone and the stone, he managed to get his “friends” to get him out of the jam from the posse. Cue one very short bar fight. With Ming and Deiter, it didn't take much to clean the clocks of the rowdies that came to Snead's defense. Of course, once Deiter drew down, well... The posse left the Saloon in a hurry and caught up with Snead and he spilled the beans. And the contents of his bladder. What he told them was the whole story. How he helped steal the Heart O' Darkness, brought it to Stone, and then got arrested by the Guardian Angels. To save his own hide, he threw Stone under the locomotive and went to the hotel with Grimme and his best Angels. He didn't see the fight but knew that it wasn't quite natural, what with the winds and lights and all of that. Last he knew, Stone was hauled off to Rock Island Prison.

The posse let out a sigh and walked poor Doc Snead home to where he had been staying. They then went to the hotel Penwood had put them all up in and hit the hay for the night, not sure where to go next. Of course, where there's a will, there's a way. Especially if there's a crafty Marshal and a good adventure writer to be found.

The next morning found the posse recovering from their bumps and bruises, as well as their hangovers, in an establishment where they could get some chow. That's when a mysterious stranger appeared. He was wearing a rough cloak and wooden mask on his face. He sat down and told the posse he knew what they were looking for and informed them that he might be able to help. After questioning him, finding his name to be Old Pete (no, I didn't make that up), he told them about once he'd been sent to Rock Island after being caught stealing. You see, Old Pete was not just a thief, but a good thief, because of some “special powers” he had. Of course, these powers hadn't helped him when the Angels came knocking. Before he knew it, he'd been tossed into the Rock to rot. He and two other prisoners had been able to escape, with him being the only one to make it to shore. The sharks got the others. It turns out that Old Pete is an old friend of Jasper Stone, the man the posse was looking for. In exchange for rescuing his friend, he'll help them get on the island and get away. When they asked for proof that he'd been on the Rock, he took off his mask to reveal that the skin on his face had been slowly flayed from his skull, square inch by square inch. They don't do things lightly on the Rock...

The posse accepted the offer and Old Pete told them to meet him at the docks at midnight, ready to go. While the posse took the rest of the day to gather supplies, they also tracked down Phil (who was drinking and enjoying himself, until these Ferners came to collect him), thinking they could use the back-up. For the record, I hadn't even mentioned his name since the start of the adventure, much less suggested he join them. They were the ones who came up with this idea. And that's how you do DMPCs right, kids. Phil always faded into the background and let the posse take the lead. When they thought they needed him, he was there to lend a hand. Or an axe. You get my point.

Chapter Three: A Piece O' The Rock

Finally, midnight rolled around and the posse found Old Pete waiting for them. He leads them to a beat up Knifeboat and they head out on to the dark waters. As they traveled, they asked him some questions about the layout. He told them two thing: The prisoner (and the stone) were on the bottom level of the prison and the only key was in the warden's room on the third floor. Beyond that, he couldn't recall too much, as he and his compatriots had been in a rush. He did warn them that the prison was full of guards and stealth was their best bet. The posse briefly discussed their plans as they continued on. He handed them a pair of flares to use, if they needed a rescue.

After a while, a huge fog bank rolled in, caused by Old Pete. He then shut off the steam engine and got Phil to help him row. The posse was tense, especially after they saw a few shark fins break the water near them. After a while longer yet, they arrived at the prison. Old Pete stopped the boat at a huge pipe that was dumping sewage into Prosperity bay. He explained that this was the best way in and out, and he would be waiting here until just before dawn. If they weren't back by then, he would assume they weren't coming and would leave before he would be caught. He had no intentions of being held there again. “Once was more than enough” was how he put it.

The posse began their journey up the pipe, with Phil having to help some people along as they slipped and started to fall. Some of that was because they were losing their dinners to the smell and muck. They did a good job of keeping quiet and made it into prison itself. After a bit of exploring, they left Phil to guard their escape route and crept their way towards the third floor.

Eventually, they found a guard standing by himself in the middle of the room. While they were trying to figure out what to do, we found out that Ming was sitting on a mountain of Bounty Points because he didn't know what to spend them on. After a discussion, Ming now had some fair Sneak and became the resident ninja (yes, we knew he was Chinese, but he used martial arts and was stealthy, you do the math). He carefully made his way towards the guard and put him down quickly and quietly, dragging him to Phil and made him hide him. And tie him up.

As they continued, Penwood did a bit of poking around at some frescoes and paintings, discovering that they weren't made of stone or tile, but chips of human bones! That caused him a Guts check, which made him lose more of his dinner. He filled the others in and there was a renewed sense of urgency.

It didn't take long for them to make their way to the warden's room. They were just barely able to keep quiet enough to catch him off guard. If I remember correctly, he beat the hel out of him after they got him to reveal where the key was. And, if my memory hasn't totally failed me, they killed him and then set the records they found on fire. I think the plan was to create a distraction. Nevermind that those files would have been worth thousands of dollars in the right hands, but I will give them points for creativity.

Again, they made their way back down and then into the basement. They had another brief scuffle (I think) and then finally entered the Throne Room. This is where having two people with medical experience kind of damned them. While the didn't trigger the Bone Fiend (which I wasted good money a mini for because I fully expected them to do something stupid), they did see the human teeth marks on the bones. It didn't take them long to connect the dots and figure out that Grimme was feeding his faithful the prisoners of the Rock. More Guts checks ensued. After a bit of doing, they got the door open... The one behind the dark throne in the room. Yeah, I forgot to describe it here, but I would suggest you go and buy the PDF of this adventure. It's worth your money.

Anyway. They opened the door (I think we had Ming take some levels in Lockpickin') and found their way to Stone's cell. They found him chained up to a wall and looking down right shitty. They helped him out and starting running for the exit. Since they had played things smart, I let the fire they had started become a roaring blaze and the way back was almost completely clear. They met up with Phil, who was more than a little scared, and went back down to the pipe...

Where they met the Dweller in the Muck. If you've seen Star Wars: A New Hope, you have a pretty good idea of what they were up against. With the fire raging and all that, they didn't even try to be subtle and killed it dead.

When they came out of the pipe, there was no sign of Old Pete. But, they remembered their flare and fired it off. Not much later, he turned up and the posse, Stone, and Phil clambered aboard. With that, Old Pete started taking the “long way back” to throw off suspicion. Which wasn't unreasonable, given how the Rock was still burning and now one of their Very Important Prisoners was about to turn up missing.

Chapter Four: Mass Murder

Before we get too far into this part, I have to tell you that I ended up narrating most of this section. We were running late into the night but we were almost done with the adventure, so with the posse's permission, I sped this up.

As the posse, Phil, Old Pete, and Stone got closer to shore, the sun had started to rise. As they docked, they could hear the bells from the Church of Lost Angels ringing through the city streets. Stone, who had been silent and resting, sprang to life and told them that Grimme was planning something evil in the church. So, with barely enough time to bandage up their few wounds, they headed off to the church. Before they left the docks, Old Pete told everyone to meet him at the Sorenson & Co. warehouse, in case they got separated.

As they made their way there, they noticed that the streets seemed oddly empty. When they made it to the church, they soon found out why, as most of the city was there, listening to Reverend Grimme give his sermon. It was in prime form, all hellfire and brimstone, yelling about the evils of the world. Mostly about the railroads, a common theme for him, but also the state of city and damnation. One of the posse members spied the Heart O' Darkness on the altar in front of Grimme, and the posse started to push through the crowd to get up there.

As the Reverend reached a frenzied pitch, the stained glass window behind him suddenly exploded and a “no shit, that's a real demon from Hell” landed behind him. While the two of them engaged in battle (with Grimme being surrounded by a magical white aura), the people inside panicked. Which only got worse when the rest of the horde showed up. While not as big as the one fighting Grimme, these guys weren't any slouches and the fight was on. As I was narrating the fight, I had Penwood firing and helping people, Deiter blowing the demons back to hell, Ming and Heinrich fighting as hard as they could. As their fight was winding down, the big demon retreated, as did the rest of them, “defeated” by Grimme.

In the scuffle, Old Pete and Stone had vanished, as had the Heart O' Darkness. The posse helped patch people up as best they could, then went after Old Pete and Stone. They had a suspicion that one of those two had grabbed the Heart in the confusion and were looking to get in back. By force, in necessary.

As they entered the warehouse, they found Old Pete by himself, the Heart in his hands. As they were about to confront him about it, Stone appeared...

Before I continue, I have to give you a massive spoiler warning. If you're planning on being in this adventure as a player, this is your chance to leave. We're about to reveal something big. And you'll probably want to skip the next adventure, too.

Anyway, where were we? Ah, yes, Stone and Old Pete. Well, Stone pulled a gun on Old Pete and demanded the Heart. Old Pete just chuckled and said they'd need to talk. Stone asked him who he was and Old Pete took off his mask... To reveal that was also Stone! He looked a little more haggard and rough around the edges but it was the same man! The two Stones looked at one another and then came to an agreement. The posse, recovering from their shock, started throwing down on Stone and Stone to get the stone. Or Heart. You know what I mean. Well, the Stones just went ethereal and walked out of the back of the warehouse. Like, through the wall. Then, the posse was jumped by a group of Walkin' Dead. Which distracted them long enough to let the Stones get away. Soon enough, the posse was having a hard time with the zombies, which was when a posse of Guardian Angels turned up... To help them out!

Turns out, that people had seen the posse in the church, and afterwards, and saw them as heroes. The good news is that no one knew they were the ones who had slipped on to the Rock and freed Stone. Which they were a might bit pissed about, in hindsight.

However, they did get the chance to be hailed as the heroes they kind of were and even got a photo op with Grimme himself.

After one of their longest days, the posse made their way back to their hotel to sleep off the pain. Oh, wait, that was what the whiskey was for...

Well, folks, I hope you enjoyed this recap of the Heart o' Darkness. As the adventure says, this is the “The Empire Strikes Back” part of this trilogy. And, boy, does it feel like it. After the adventure, I made sure that everyone was still on board to play and they were. I think they were mostly mad at Stone for making fools out of them and were itching for revenge. Did they get their revenge? Well, you'll have to check out the next part of this series: Fortress O' Fear!