At the Mayor's house:
"Is everything prepared, as per my orders?"
"Yes Sir, your Honor."
"Good, I want everything perfect for our guests"Down by the river:
"Hey Bubba, git over here! I think I found somethin'!"
"What'cha find Hank? (sound of sudden shock)Oh..my....god"
The mayor's coach arrived promptly at 7:00 pm and the posse was whisked away to his ranch in style. For several of them, it was the finest home and the largest spread they'd ever seen. They were greeted at the door by a uniformed butler and then shown to the library.
After a brief wait, they were escorted into the dining room by the maid. The dinner was, of course, steak and it was excellent, well-prepared and very tasty. Dinner was followed by dessert and cigars in the study. The mayor's collection of weapons, both swords and firearms, was very impressive.
Following a few awkward moments of stilted conversation, the mayor finally got around to the reason for his invitation. Bordertown, a settlement near the A-Ki tribe, hadn't been heard from in weeks. They'd missed their normal supply run and the two men the mayor had sent to investigate hadn't returned. He offered the members of the posse $100 each to help his A-Ki expert, Ken Carson, investigate.
The posse quickly agreed and, armed with a promise of payment, they arranged for necessary supplies for their journey, which was expected to take only a few days each way. The trip was mostly uneventful, save one brief encounter with a trio of would-be highwaymen.
The men waited on the road, hidden by the driving rain which had been falling for most of the morning. Ramon, who was on point, didn't see them until their rifles were pointed at him and they demanded his money. He tried to talk them out of it, but was forced to kill one with his sword while his faithful steed clobbered another. The third ran off, leaving his loaded rifle behind.
In Bordertown, things were less than cordial. While Ramon tended to the horses, the others entered the lone saloon. Within minutes, Skeeter was in manacles and headed for the sheriff's office. It seemed he took exception to the price of a dollar for a cup of coffee and had tried to beat his change out of the bartender's face.
A bit of a showdown had developed when the patrons had leveled their guns at Skeeter and Colin, in true “one riot, one ranger fashion”, had leveled his at the saloonkeeper. After some debate, Skeeter was taken off to jail while the other three attempted, unsuccessfully, to blend in.
Ramon arranged for a hotel room and bought some penny candy, both at exhorbitant rates. He was headed for the saloon when he heard a commotion in the jail. Investigating, he discovered that Skeeter had been forced to knock the sheriff out when the other man had begun mistreating him. Something seemed odd, so the two of them searched the office, finding two keys and a secret cache of weapons, including two gunbelts with the Winchester brand on them.
As they pondered on the meaning of their discoveries, they were interupted by two shotgun blasts from outside. The Ranger, on his way to find a room, had encountered two men trying to steal the posse's horses. When they wouldn't surrender, he was forced to kill them both.
The noise had also been heard in the saloon and the Professor and Ken found themselves taken hostage by a mob of townies. While Ramon questioned and then killed the uncooperative sheriff, the ranger began trying to make his way to the back of the jail. The saloonkeeper and his friends brought the Professor onto the porch and demanded that the rest of the posse surrender or watch him die.
While Skeeter bandied words with the villains, Ramon located a trap door and found a number of bodies and two cells, currently inhabited by Hank and Butch. He let them free and rushed up to help Skeeter who said things were looking mighty bleak.
Lots of things happened just as he poked his head up from the basement. The Professor triggered a flash of light from his nearby steam wagon, leaving most of the townsfolk reeling, their senses over-whelmed by the intensity of the flash. Ken smashed one of his captors with a chair and escaped through the front window of the saloon. Meanwhile Colin, entering the back of the jail, arrived just in time to see the sheriff rise up even though he had to be dead. Thinking quickly, he marshalled his faith into a mighty weapon which smote the sheriff.
When the dust settled, the entire posse, plus Hank and Butch were in the jail. They rechecked the basement and found a secret passage. Skeeter wired the trap door shut and they entered the passage. As the group opened the door an eery wail rose up on an icy wind and extinguished half their lanterns.
Undaunted, they entered the damp, dank tunnel. They hadn't gone far when they were attacked by some sort of skeletal creature with claws. Skeeter smashed his lantern over it and the ranger used his faith to drive it away from them. Continuing they found another door and opened it.
The room beyond was a Machiavellan nightmare. Instruments of torture were everywhere and in the very center of the room was a pit from which the wailing emanated. Rather than risk some sort of battle, the Professor tossed a light grenade into the hole, then drug Ramon away as the Spaniard fanned shots at the slimy figure they could see in the pit. None of them could have guessed what would happen next.
Brilliant light flooded the room but the screams of the creature below overshadowed it. The wail was beyond imagining and it was picked up from above, the townsfolk joined their town in its death knell. The posse checked the room over and decided to burn the torture implements by tossing them in the pit. The Professor started by throwing a burning stick in to see how deep it went.
A moment later, he realized the smell was gas. Everyone ran from the room as quickly as possible, just barely ahead of the gout of flame and force which rocketed out of the pit. When the dust settled and they went back into the sheriff's office, they discovered the explosion had really only ruined one building. Unfortunately, all the townsfolk were dead - their heads had exploded when the creature in the pit died.
As they surveyed the damage, they noticed two A-Ki warriors on the street. Ken spoke with them and learned they had decided to rid the town of the evil Black Soul which had possessed it. There plan had been to kill all the townsfolk, but the posse had beat them to it.
They burned the bodies and the town after looting it and returned to Dry Gulch. They told the mayor the truth of what had happened, so he might recognize the Black Soul if it came again. Everyone else was told about bandits to the north whom the posse had killed when they found them lollygagging in the ruins of the town.
Joe: The poison will affect you in a few minutes
Mike: In your case, secondsMarshall: He has a single peacemaker and it looks like he knows how to use it
Joe: He's got it stuck in the holster barrel first and everything!The Professor (mimes rolling down window): Kick some dirt on him!
Ramon (to Skeeter): You should eat more vegetables. Carrots would be good for you.
Skeeter: Coffee's normally 10 cents. I'll pay you the dollar, but when I'm done, I'm gonna beat the other 90 cents out of your face.
Saloonkeeper pours the coffee on the floor
Skeeter: Well, looks like you're gonna be gettin' the other ten cents.Skeeter smashes the barman's head into the bar; the whole saloon stands up and skins their smokewagons
Steve: Cool! I'm about to be the most experience party memberSkeeter: You and what army?
Sheriff: The fifteen people who I just deputized (over his shoulder) Say "I do"
Lou: I do
Tim: I do.GM: Everyone seems sort of bummed out
Tim: What is this, Joetown?Lou: Now, about my glass of wine. I put my dollar down next to Joe's.
Ramon: I'm tired of being a candyass.
Butch and Hank don't seem to recall any of what happened.
The mayor wasn't exactly surprised when told the real tale of what happened.
The mayor's collection of weapons includes some Federale and other law enforcement items.
The Black Soul, according to the A-Ki, will return somewhere and is not dead.
Most of the towns foodstuff's had been laced with salt.