A Portal for Padre Xavier

[Old Dwarf]

This is my 4th SoB Game It will be Solo to learn the Rules & using
the 3rd. Mission in the Adventure Book:

Seal the Void Gate

I'm using 2 Heroes -Preacher(Padre) Xavier & The Lawman- Willard Benson,
to keep things simple the first few Games & to try out new Heroes. Both names
are just made up but the Deacon Carlos Reibe mentioned is from a Mexican
Soap Opera.

Note- that the dates are different from the Brimstone Story
given by FFP. I use my own Time line set about 20 years
earlier so that it would cover some actual historical events.
The towns mentioned all existed at the time.

The Back Story : A Portal for Father Xavier (Seal the Void Gate)

August 6th 1867. Mission San Miguel, Pah-Ute County,A Z Territory


" Padre the Lawman is here"

Ah, show him in Manuel ,por favor.

Deputy Willard !, please have a seat, I was expecting Sheriff Shibell.

" Well Padre the Sheriff has been out with a Posse these last two weeks
trying to round up this plague of critters that is overrunning the county.
Your messenger said it was urgent & even though the Sheriff doesn't
want me to leave Callville when he's out of town I knew it had to be
something very important for you to send for the law, so I came right
out."

That is most appreciated Deputy , why I sent for help actually concerns
those critters the Sheriff is trying to stop. A Portal to another dimension
has opened in the abandoned Dutton Mine #19 those horrors will keep
coming through until it's closed.

"Padre are you sure it's Mine #19 that collapsed in the explosion & how
do you know about this Portal whatever that is?"

My son the Mission is Holy Ground we are sensitive to the power of
Darkness as it spreads across the land. We had signs, the Communion
Wine soured, the statue of St Miguel shed tears, the cross of our Blessed
Savior fell from the Altar. My Deacon Carlos Reibe is most sensitive
& could track the Darkness back to it's origins in Mine #19. It's about
Carlos that I sent for the Sheriff.

"Padre excuse me but I'm just ex sod buster with a badge & I just don't
understand about this Portal & if that's what's causing all these troubles
what can be done about it? but what about Carlos?"

Deputy just think of the Portal as a Gate that has been opened to let these
Monsters out to rampage. What must be done is that this Gate must be sealed.
Carlos left here a week ago with a few of the Mission Indians to go to the
Mine to shut the Gate down. We have in our possession a Terrible Book "The
Necronomicon" which gives rituals necessary to close such Gates. Alas none
of his party has returned & I fear they have all perished .

Now I must go & make the attempt ,the Mission Indians are too scared to
accompany me so I called for the Sheriff to help me do this thing. Now my Son
it appears Fate has sent you instead, will you help me?

"Padre those critters are killing livestock & people all around the county if you
know how to stop it I'm in, I'll go with you to Mine #19. That Necr...er Book
you got should let us do the job quick enough"

Deputy ,That Book was taken by Carlos so we'll need to discover what happened
to him to find the Book before I can use it to perform the closing ritual .

"T'aint getting any easier is it Padre, when to we leave?"

Tomorrow morning My Son, now let us go to the Chapel & pray for the courage
to complete our Mission.

The Game begins:

Dramatis Personas

-Preacher(Padre) Xavier - Holy Book, Lantern, Faith Healing Blessing also has Smite Judgment,
Personal Journal , Holy Speed Blessing & is a Firebrand.

- Lawman(Deputy Sheriff)Willard Benson-Peacekeeper Pistol Sheriff's Badge, also has a
Pocket Watch & Frontier Justice

Note-I do my Game Reports more to tell the Story the Game creates
than to give a rule by rule use account. However to better give an
understanding of how the Game flows I numbered each Turn.

------------------------------------------------

9AM, August 7th, 1867-Entrance to Mine #19

" Can you make it through Padre? This opening is really small."

Yes but notice how the rocks that had sealed up this Mine have been
pull out from the inside. This indeed is an evil place, I can feel the
Darkness rising. We must hurry I'll light the Lantern.

(1) The Darkness pauses evaluating the intrusion.

The Deputy takes makes an unsure step forward but builds up his Grit.

The Padre moves past him toward the next segment.

(2) The Darkness creeps upward from the depths.

Deputy Willard still cautious passes the Padre but stops short of
the entrance to the next chamber & the Padre moves up beside
him .

(3) The Darkness sensing the intruders fear sends out Encroaching Shadows.

The Lawman overcoming his caution moves to the rooms exit & sees a Long
Passage going down before him.

The Padre raises his lantern & firmly holding his Holy Book moves into the
passage.

(4) The Darkness moves upward.

The Deputy quickly moves down the passage & pauses to look into the room
which proves to be an Excavation Chamber.

The Padre boldly moves into the chamber & is confronted by the Child of Sorrow.
The sudden appearance of the ghost child overcomes his Spirit & he loses 3 Sanity.
The child vanishes & in it's place the Padre finds a rock of Dark Stone.

(5)The Darkness continues to advance the Mine fills with the Chill of the Grave .

The Lawman ignoring the chill goes to the next entrance & calls back to the Padre
"it's A Big Room".

The Padre moves up alongside the Deputy at the entrance.

Exploring the Room they find Tracks in the Dust seemingly going into
a solid wall.

(6).The Darkness pauses to see how the Posse handles the setback.

Both the Deputy & Padre attempt to break through the wall & manage
to chip away some of the rock.

(7) The Darkness pushes upwards & the Mine is filled with Overwhelming Dread.

The Posse again attacks the sealed up wall but nothing is accomplished.

(8)The Darkness is amused & Holds.

The Posse continues hammering away at the wall breaking off another chunk.

(9) The Darkness continues to Hold.

The Posse in a final effort breaks through the wall into A Blast Room

When the dust clears The Padre observes the bodies of Carlos Rebie
& his party & among the butchered remains is the Necronomicon.
Then he sees behind them A hulking Night Terror & 4 Stranglers.

(11) The Darkness advances on the horror of the scene.

The Deputy recovers quickly forcing down his Terror & pulls
out his dynamite & throwing it just in front of the lurking Monsters.
The explosion causes 4 wounds on the Night Terror& kills one of
the Stranglers .

The Strangler moves & attacks the Deputy giving the
Lawman 2 wounds. Another Strangler targets Padre Xavier
but then The Night Terror lumbers forward displacing the
smaller Strangler & attacks the Padre. The Attack is brutal
& the Padre takes 8 wounds.

The Padre takes a Sanity loss for the Terror but gathers himself
together & unleashes a powerful Judgment that Smites the
Night Terror doing 4 wounds to the Monster.

The Padre then cast the Blessing of Healing on himself & recovers
3 of his wounds.

(12) The Darkness continues to rise adding to the sense of Growing
Dread.

The Lawman again withstands the Terror of the Monster ,firing 3 shots
ripping through the assembled Creatures doing Critical Damages &
Killing them all.

The Padre quickly scoops the Necronomicon from Rebie's battered
body. In addition he finds a Dark Stone Shard & $50 in Cash.
The Deputy search finds him two strange Artifacts, a 3 Eyed Skull
& Ruin of the Void.

Now catching their breath The Padre heals another of his wounds &
the Deputy recovers 2 of his.

(13) The Darkness Holds with this set back.

The Deputy moves to the edge of the rooms exit & informs the
Padre it's just a Mining Room.

Padre Xavier moves just ahead of Deputy Willard but suddenly sees
that the Room he entered is occupied by 3 more Stranglers await.

The Deputy aims & fires killing 2 of the Stranglers with his Critical
Hits.

The remaining Strangler moves & attacks the Deputy giving him 2 wounds.

The Padre calls us Smite & kills the Creature.

A Search of the room gives the Deputy $50 in Cash & the Padre $50
in blood stained Bills. Catching their breath The Padre heals 1 wound &
Deputy Willard heals 3 bringing the Posse up to full Health.

(14) The Darkness Still Holds & ponders it's next move.

The Deputy moves toward the rooms exit stopping just short of the
entrance to the next segment.

The Padre moves past the Lawman into the next chamber & his
flickering lantern reveals a huge hole in the floor like an opening
to Hell, a Devil's Pit.

The light also reveals lurking behind the pit a Corpse Pile & 4
Hungry Dead . The Padre is repulsed by this blasphemy of walking
dead. The rooms temperature drops & the Posse feels the Chill of the Grave.

(15)The Darkness still Holds waiting to see if the dead can stop the intruders.

Deputy Willard moves up along side the Padre & empties his pistol into
the bloated Corpse Pile & the quivering mass of bodies is rendered still.

The Hungry Dead shamble towards the Posse.

Father Xavier attempts to invokes his Judgment on the obscene creatures
but his words fail him.

(16) The Darkness it's wait over moves upward & unleashes a Flood of Bats.
The Padre iron Will Power never waivers but Deputy Willard is shaken &
he loses a Sanity.

Recovering quickly the Lawman fires & kills the nearest Hungry Dead.

2 of the Dead reach the Posse & attack the 3rd moves up behind the Deputies
attacker. Both the Padre & Deputy receive 3 wounds.

The Padre overcoming his fear this time successfully cast Smite & kills his attacker.

(17) The Darkness pauses.

The Lawman fires at his attacker but his shaking hand which cannot be calmed
even by his Grit causes him to miss. His Fear cause the loss of 1 Sanity

The Dead thing again attacks the Deputy but he manages to avoid damage.
The Padre attacker however scores 3 hits.

Father Xavier Willpower overcomes his fear & he thunders out his Judgment &
Smites his attacker giving the thing a final death. He then cast healing & recovers 1 wound.

(18)The Darkness still waits.

The Deputy recovers his nerve & shots the final Hungry Dead taking it down.

The Posse looks around the now empty room the Padre finds a Dark Stone Shard &
the Deputy picks up an old journal Page.

Catching their breath after the struggle the Deputy has a chance to read the old
journal page & manages to heal 2 wounds. The Padre uses the bandages from
his Side Bag to recover from his wounds.

(19) The Darkness gathers itself up but still Holds.

The Lawman now moves to the next Junction & hearing the roar of falling
water observes the Room contains a Waterfall.

The Padre moves up beside the Deputy.

As the lantern light reveals the room the Padre sees the Glowing Portal & suddenly
the room becomes a place of Powerful Dread but the Posse's Willpower allow them
to ignore it. However a Chittering in the Dark causes both to lose 2 Sanity.

Then the Posse notices they are not alone the Glowing Portal reveals a hulking Night
Terror & 2 large insect type creatures .

The Padre not to be distracted takes the Necronomicon & begins a high pitched chant
causing the Portal flicker & weaken.

(20) The Darkness Holds leaving the intruders destruction to it's minions.

The Slasher insects scuttle forward & attack the Posse. The Deputy manages
to avoid any damage but the Padre takes 1 wound.

The Lawman mind rebels in Terror & Fright losing 4 sanity. He still is able
to shoot & does 5 wounds against the slasher .

The Padre overcomes the Terror & Fear to Smite it's attacker with 3 wounds.

The Night Terror lumbers forward but is unable to close with the Posse.

The Padre ignoring his wounds continues his chant & the Portal flickers again
at the force of the words.

(21) The Darkness now advances but see no need to Summon more Creatures.

The Slasher attacks Deputy Willard who is still stunned by the loss of more Sanity
bring him close to having his mind shut down & collapse his body.The attack adds
5 more wounds to the Lawman. The 2nd Slasher also inflicts 5 wounds on the Padre
but the holy man's willpower saves him from any Sanity loss.

The Deputy staggers & fumbles with his pistol but realizing his duty to Lay Down the Law
steadies himself & squeezes off a volley of shots killing the Slasher & wounding the
Night Terror.

The Night Terror closes on the Deputy & attacks causing 2 wounds.

Father Xavier again overcomes the Terror & Fear casting out Smite
& doing 4 more wounds on the remaining Slasher.

The Padre is able to cast Healing to remove 1 wound from the Lawman. Then
he takes up the Chant again but mispronounces the vile words & leaves the
Portal intact.

(22) The Darkness now Holds back.

The remaining Slasher attacks the Padre & does just a single wound.

The Lawman takes another Sanity hit & in his confusion misses his Shot.

The Night Terror attack on the Lawman however also fails.

Father Xavier seemingly immune to the terror & Fear coming off the
Creatures again Casts Smite & kills the wounded Slasher.

He then cast the Healing Blessing on himself & removes 3 of his wounds.
Then taking up the Necronomicon resumes his Chant & the Portal weakens again.

(23) The Darkness now moves up & Summons a Night Terror plus unleashes
Suffocating Mists in the Waterfall Room. The toxic Mists inflict 2 wounds
on both Posse members.

The Lawman losses another Sanity as the Terror moves closer to breaking his
Sanity. Still he is able to aim & fire causing the Night Terror 7 more wounds.

The Terror attacks the Lawman but misses the newly arrived Night terror
moves toward the Padre.

The Padre Uses Smite on the Terror attacking the Deputy but only manages
to inflict 1 wound. Still his Willpower prevents any lost to the Creatures aura
of Terror. He again returns to the Chant & as the Necronomicon script begins
to turn Blood Red the Portal flares up & then is gone the Void Gate is sealed.

The Suffocating Mist however cause the Deputy another wound but the Padre
remains unaffected.

(24) The Darkness satisfied that the intruders are being dealt with Holds in place.

The Lawman's mind is now shutting down with another terror Sanity loss & is holding
on by a single thread. The Deputy attempts a shot on the advancing Monster but in his
current mental condition misses.

The Night Terror is now on the Deputy & delivers what appears to be a knock out blow,
but somehow the Lawman calls up hidden reserve & Revives shaking off his wounds &
Sanity losses.

The Padre quickly starts a Judgment & Smites the Night Terror causing 3 wounds & easily
overcoming the Creatures Terror. He then casts Healing on himself & recovers 2 wounds.

The Posse is able to overcome the effects of the Suffocating Mists.

(25) The Darkness seeing it's minions losing moves up & Summons a Corpse Pile &
5 Hungry Dead.

The Lawman taking a Sanity loss shoots at the Night Terror with 3 shots causing
it 8 wounds.

The Night Terror moves & attacks the Padre doing 2 damage.

The Padre again cast Smite on the Night Terror attacking the Deputy &
reduces it to a single remaining Health..

The Hungry dead shamble forward trying to reach the posse.

The Suffocating mist cause the Deputy a wound but the Padre is able
to avoid its effects.

(26)The Darkness now fully aroused moves up & causes a Cave In . The falling rocks
hit the Padre causing a wound but the Deputy jumps clear. No more Creatures are Summon.

The Lawman holds down his Terror & fires Killing the wounded Night Terror & the nearest
Hungry Dead.

Padre Xavier throws out another Judgment & Smites & kills another Hungry Dead.

The Dead shamble forward one reaches the Lawman but fails to do damage.

The Suffocating Mist do another wound on the Deputy but the Padre is again able to
resist.

(27) The Darkness Holds.

Deputy Willard ignores his fear from the Hungry Dead & gets off 3 shots killing 2 more Hungry Dead.

Father Xavier nearing exhaustion gathers all his Faith & unleashes 2 Judgments Smites reduce the
Corpse Pile to ashes & the 2nd casting takes out the remaining Hungry Dead. The effort however
of so many Judgments in a short time catch up with him & he feels a stain of a Corruption on his Soul.

Searching the now quiet room except for the sound of the waterfall the Padre finds $275 in
gold & cash. The Deputy picks up a Dark Stone Shard, a Tonic & a Trusty Axe.

The Posses then hurries to leave the room to avoid the Suffocating mists. Upon leaving
the Mine the Dark Stone they carry reacts . Padre Xavier is unaffected but the Lawman
feels a Corruption enter into him.

On the trip back to Callville they come upon a Massacred Wagon Train but having
experienced enough carnage for one day the Padre utters a prayer & they pass on.

Checking back into the Sheriffs office to report the Portal is sealed & the immediate
danger has passed, they find a displeased Sheriff Shibell who returned to town & found
his Deputy gone. The information about the sealed Void Gate however tempers his judgment
& he gives the Padre $150 reward for the Mission. He gives his Deputy only $50 but Willard
considers himself lucky to get that given the Sheriffs displeasure at his leaving his post.


Both Posse members decide to lodge at the hotel & then set about taking care of their
Corruption.

Father Xavier sees the Doctor the vague Smell of Death from the office he ignores,
paying his $100 fee the Doc removes the Corruption but the effort gives the Padre
3 wounds. But he considers it a small price to pay to free his Soul.

Deputy Willard after making peace with his boss also sees the Doc, paying his $100
& having his Corruption removed without complications.

That evening,most of the town not yet hearing the Monsters plaguing the area have been
dealt with & the root cause sealed, a Sense of Fear spreads. The Saloon with no customers
closes up. The Posse finds the Hotel has doubled its rates & have to spend extra as they want
to cash in their Dark Stone..

The next day The Padre visits the Fortress Outpost Bank ignoring the old prospector trying to
sell an Artifact simply wishing him Gods peace. He sells his 3 Dark Stone for $225 which will
pay for replacing the Mission's cracked bell.

Deputy Willard also visited the Bank & as always the Banners Yet Waiving fortifies
him & he regains Grit. The single Shard brings him $50.

The evening still finds the Town with an The End is Neigh feeling . The Deputy returns
home & the Padre leaves to return to San Miguel.

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Final Stats for Campaign (in addition to Starting equipment)

Padre Xavier-115 XP,$325 Gold, Agility now 2, Health now 14 , Sanity now 12, Rightous Fury -now at Level 2

Deputy Willard- 500 XP, $100, Cold Stare, Dark Stone Resistence ,3 Eyed Skull, Rune of the Void-now at Level 2

Both have 1 Grit.