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The Duffield Report
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12-02-2014, 12:43 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-02-2014 03:34 PM by Old Dwarf.)
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The Duffield Report
This is my 5th Solo Game to learn the Rules.
I'm using 2 Heroes The U.S. Marshal Milton Duffield & The Rancher Deliah Morgan to keep things simple. The Mission is Basic Mission #2 "Exploration" Marshal Duffield was a real U.S. Marshal in the Arizona Territory during the SoB time period. Miss Morgan is someone I knew in the 60's (The 1960's that is). 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 & Pah-Ute County all existed at the time. Dramatis Personas * Milton Duffield-US Marshal: Shot Gun, Marshal Badge, Dynamite token in side Bag, Worn Eye Patch & has 'Hardened Resolved-400XP-$750 Dark Stone Gloves-1 Dynamite in Side Bag Deliah Morgan- Rancher: Hunting Rifle, has Home Remedies, a Personal Journal,empty Side Bag & has Home Remedies-350XP, 115 Gold,1 Dark stone Shard +1 Daemon Shot * This is the 2nd Mission for both Heroes & they are both still at Level 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This past Summer I picked up a copy of " Blackwell's History of Arizona" published in 1923 at a yard sale. Being a history buff & rather lacking in information concerning the history of the South West I thought it might be an interesting read. I was wrong it's a scholarly tome, dry as dust & filled with a seemly endless reference to various Native American Tribes & tracings of obscure Spanish land grants. I started to rapidly skim through it until a slim chapter on "Pah-Ute -The Lost County"caught my attention. That at least sounded interesting so I read through it & it was more puzzling that interesting .The county existed for only 4 years from 1865 to 1869 & then it was dissolved with most of its area transferred to Nevada. The puzzling thing was a reference made by the U.S. Marshal assigned to Arizona Territory referring to the county as The Devils Backyard(16). Curious I turned to the book's Appendix & looked up footnote #16. Professor Blackwell included 2 pages of correspondence to backup the reference which I found most strange. Intrigued by the implications the correspondence seemed to suggest I tried to find out more information on this Pah-Ute County only to discover the area is now at the bottom of Lake Mead. Were all these prominent people from the President on down possessed with a type of mass hallucinations ? Did Monsters really walk in the South West? I guess we'll never know. Here's the footnote reference Blackwell made, judge for yourselves. P.211-Notes Chapter VII-Pah-Ute-The Lost County #16-The phrase "The Devil's Backyard" is traced to a single source ,a letter from U.S.Marshal Milton B. Duffield to U.S. Attorney General Henry Stanbery dated April 12th ,1868 This remarkable correspondence & it's reply is undoubtedly the most bizarre communication between to two government officials that exist or will ever exist. It was uncovered from a file on The Office for U.S. Marshal misfiled under expense vouchers from the Library of Congress during the research for this book. I hastily made a verbatim copy. Several months later I requested a copy from the Library of Congress Clerks office only to be told no such letters could be found. The following is from the hand written copy I made. --------------------------------------------- "Honorable Henry Stanbery , A.G. Dept.of Justice Washington,D.C. Re: Pah-Ute Incidents March 12,1868 Dear Attorney General Stanbery This letter is in response to your December 14th, 1867 request concerning Governor 's Goodwin's desire to have various incidents around the Brimstone/Callville/St. Thomas areas of Pah-Ute County investigated. I would preface my remarks by acknowledging what you are about to read will seem outré & fantastical but I can assure the contents are vouched for by my personal investigation & the signed affidavits of several members of Callville town council & other prominent citizens who assisted in the investigation. I believe a brief history of the region may be helpful in the understanding of the background of these incidents. The Region got it's start back during the Mexican War as an Army supply station run by Dalton Outfitters. A settlement called Brimstone grew up around it. Nothing much happened until 1858 when Dark Stone was discovered outside of Brimstone. The Dalton Family set up Mining Operations & the town boomed. Things came to a halt in February of 1866 when the Dalton Warehouse blew sky high, destroying Brimstone & desolating the land for 10 miles around. No one knows what caused it the best guess was that Dark Stone in large concretions is highly combustible. In any case that's when these "incidents" that the Territorial Legislature is so worried about started. People attacked by what they called monsters, livestock mutilated & creatures reported roaming the region. They tried to reopen a couple of the Mines a few months after the blast but miners reported being stalked by corpses & worst. Got so bad no one would work the mines & they have been shut eversince. People paniced & pulled up stakes for quiter places. My first experience with the Mine occurred in November 1866, when I had occasion to go with an Indian Scout into one of the Mines to recover stolen property. I can definitely state without shame that the atmosphere & sense of darkest evil saturates those Mines. In the course of recovering that property we were set upon by 3 hulking creatures half again as big as a man all massive claws & glowing eyes. The locals call them Night Terrors. Now in compliance with your request to fully investigate such occurances I obtained the help of Deliah Morgan a prominent local rancher who has had experiences in a Mine & who is well known to Governor Goodwin. The following is a detailed account of our investigation into one of the Mines, again I can assure you ,upon my professional integrity that the events herein reported are gospel truth no matter how unbelievable they may appear. On February 2nd of this year Deliah Morgan & I entered the Dalton Mine # 2. I had chosen this Mine to investigate as it's the closest to Miss Morgan's ranch & she has reported slaughtered livestock in that area of her property. Her ranch hands were also reporting seeing strange Creatures & were afraid to work in that section of the ranch. We entered the Mine at approximately 9:30AM one could immediately feel the presence of some dark force, an evil in the depts. We shortly encountered a passage where the Mine split in two directions .We chose the Right Passage & proceeded up to a rail Tunnel. The Tunnel was partly filled with murky water & there was a Stirring in the Deep but it proved to be a mere reflection . Apparently the room was used for the storage of explosives & we cautiously proceeded. The Darkness which was like a physical presence seem to rise up & suddenly 5 Tentacles burst from the back of the room. We battled the Monsters for what seem like an eternity, when an inhuman Shriek assailed us quite unnerving Miss Morgan. Nevertheless we continue our struggle & finally killed the vile creatures with the help of our shear Stubborn Resolve. Then the roof collapsed the rubble did some damage to us. Due to the intensity of the struggle with the Tentacles before we left the room I took dynamite that was not water damaged. We left the room & continued down a long passage when that terrible Shriek came again leaving our nerves quite frayed. We did however press on down a Short Passage & came to a Mining Room. We then ran into a large insect type Monster the local calls a Slasher. Nasty brutes with giant lobster like claws but which were no match for our guns. We moved through the Mining Room choosing the left hand exit & entered a large Cavern of Bones & were at once ambushed by 6 Hell Bats, man sized flying Snake like Creatures. We were able to Kill them off thanks to the dynamite & Miss Morgan's shooting. The Bone Room proved to be a dead end so we began to backtrack to explore the left hand entrance of the Mining Room. The sense of approaching Darkness was ever present. Then another Ambush this time 3 Stranglers, Tentacled Daemons ,we struggled in the attacks Deliah Morgan was showed great resolved seemingly overwhelmed she rallied & revived to fight on & kill off the Creatures. With more Stubborn Resolve we moved on toward the rooms exit. Then a Flood of Bats erupted from room leaving us with lost Sanity. Recovering we entered the left passage finding another Cross Passage. the Mine being a veritable Warren ,we chose to pursue the right exit. A feeling of Growing Dread seem to encompass us as we looked out on an Underground Lake. The shoreline was marred by an ugly looking whole , which proved to be a Hell Pit as 6 more Stranglers emerged. We again managed to fight them off but the Growing Dread feeling continued to increase. Their attacks did however leave me with a feeling of Corruption on my Soul & I think I was altered in some way. The room proved to be another dead end. Feeling the sense the Darkness rising we moved quickly back up the corridor to the right exit & entering a Storage Room only to be Ambushed by 6 Void Spiders horrible Creatures half the size of a man with mouths full of teeth. We did manage to kill them off before they could do any damage to us. That room proved a Dead End so we hurried back towards the left hand entrance on the Mine split. Alas as we moved toward the Junction out of the Depths emerged 4 Hungary Dead & a Corpse Pile laying in Ambush. There is some force in these Mines that reanimates the dead. Our Shooting was such we managed to kill or re-kill these dead . Our victory was short lived as the rising Darkness caused 4 Tentacle to Ambush us. Again we managed clear out these Monsters & move on only to find another T-Junction. Our luck however again deserted us as the unstable Passage partially collapsed & the falling rubble took it's toll on both of us. We did manage to push on taking the right hand exit of the Junction & going into a Rail Tunnel. There we were attacked by 6 more of the relentless Tentacles, we struggled with these horrors but were both overcome. Fortunately the Creatures lost interest once we were knocked out. We awoke alone on the passage floor. I had suffered a crushed arm & Miss Morgan a slashed leg which made it impossible for us to continue to explore the Mine. We thus hurried & left the Mine & returned to St.Thomas without incident, however arriving there we found the Darkness that we had stirred up had arrived before us & destroyed the Frontier Outpost. In conclusion although we could not fully investigate the entire Mine it is indeed obvious that these Creatures are no rumors ,they exist & are a danger to our citizens. I therefore strongly Federal Troops, at least a Division be sent to cordon off the area & purge the Mines. Pah-Ute County has become the Devil's Backyard. Respectfully submitted Milton Duffield, U.S. Marshall, Arizona Territory. ------------------------------------------------- Marshal Milton B. Duffield Marshal's Office St.Thomas, Arizona Territory June 2nd,1868 Marshal Duffield, It is my honor to inform you I have received your report & have shared it with President Johnson. Please be aware that both the President & myself have the upmost respect of your integrity & that of the other people involved. We both believe the seemingly impossible events & incidences you describe. You are to be commended for your tenacity & fortitude in pursuing your investigation. In regards to your recommendation the President feels introducing large numbers of Federal Troops would just exacerbate the resentment generated among many of the Territories citizens from the recent war. Such a demonstration would increase the likelyhood of word getting out about this pit of evil & cause a public panic. Such an event would greatly hinder the settlement of our Western States. Therefore you & the others who took part in this investigation are not to discuss this matter further ,anyone inquiring about these incidents should be told they are rumors under investigation, that includes Governor Goodwin. Please convey these sentiments to the others involved along with our heart felt thanks for their contributions. Please be aware the U.S. Government will take appropriate measures to isolate & remove this blight on the Arizona Territory .You will be informed should we require your further assistance. Again thank you for a job well done. I remain, Your Obedient Servant, Henry Stanbery U.S. Attorney General ---------------------------------------------------------------- Final Stats for Campaign (in addition to Starting equipment) U.S. Marshal Milton Duffield-$65, 275XP, Pick Axe, 3 Eyed Skull ,2 Herbs,2 Corruption, Health now 11, Luck now 4, Grit Max at 3 & has Focus. (note Black Stone Gloves stolen in fight with Crimson Hand Cultist when he was attacked at Church). Rancher Deliah Morgan-$590, 520XP,Trun Disintegrator Gun,3 Bandages , Initiative now 4, has Iron Concentration (note Daemon bullets are used up) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Town Visit Day 1 Both stay in Hotel, Both visit Dr. Office. Marshal looks at the Doc's dirty instruments & just buys 2 Herbs. Rancher however gets a Medical Miracle & her leg is healed. She also buys 3 Bandages. That Evening an The End is Neigh feeling overtakes the Town. The Rancher leaves town. Day 2 Marshal again visits office but again is off put from having his arm looked at by the dirty instrument the Doc keeps. That Evening Spreading Fear is felt throughout the town the Doc Office closes. Day 3 The Marshal finds his Hotel bill is inflated but pays. Visiting the Church in hopes of ridding himself of some Corruption he instead is attack by Cultist . Losing the struggle the Cultist runs off with the Marshal's Dark Stone Gloves. The Church closes. The Marshal gives up & returns to his office to begin his report. That Evening Spreading continues & the Saloon closes. Sighing like the night wind and sobbing like the rain,— Wailing for the lost one that comes not again: |
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