.png "English"){kind=small}
Act 1: The Scene of the Crime
Heath tips his hat back, squinting against the harsh sun. "I appreciate you answering the call, Madeleine. Most folks around here are too spooked by the 'Ghost Steel' talk or the Ute war parties to lend a hand. But Hank was a good man. He didn't deserve to go out tangled in his own fence like a panicked calf."
He gestures to the barbed wire where bits of Hank’s flannel shirt still flutter in the breeze. "Town undertaker's back at the ranch house if you want to see the damage for yourself, or you can poke around here. What’s your pleasure, Miss Red?"
The wind over Uinta County carries a bite that doesn’t just chill the skin—it rattles the soul. Madeleine Red, her twin Peacemakers heavy at her hips and a grim shadow seemingly tethered to her boots, stood amidst the golden, swaying grass of the Crittenden Ranch. Heath Crittenden, a man aged a decade in just two nights, gestured toward the distant horizon where the fence line cut a jagged scar across the plains.
"Hank's back at the house, Miss Red. Or what's left of him," Heath muttered, his voice cracking like dry leather. "Then I'll take you out to the wire. Just... watch yourself. Something ain't right with the silence out here."
1. Examining the Body (Healing d4-2, Unskilled)
Roll: 2 - 2 = 0. (Wild Die: 3 - 2 = 1).
Result: Failure.
Consequence: Madeleine looks at the perforated remains of Hank Beamer. The wounds are jagged and deep, but without medical training, she can’t quite place what kind of "bullet" makes holes that look like they were chewed by a serrated tooth. It's gruesome, and the metallic tang of old blood fills the room, but the "how" remains a mystery.
2. The Crime Scene (Notice d6)
Roll: 5 (Wild Die: 2).
Result: Success! (Target Number 4).
Consequence: Out at the fence line, Madeleine’s sharp eyes catch something the ranch hands missed. While the tracks are a mess of cowboy boots, she notices the way the barbed wire itself is twisted. It isn't just broken; it looks strained, as if it had been pulled with a purposeful, coiled strength. More importantly, she notices a lack of pony tracks nearby. Whatever happened here, it wasn't a Ute raiding party.
3. Checking the Other Side (Survival d6-2, Unskilled)
Roll: 6 (Aces!) + 2 = 8. (Wild Die: 3). Total: 8 - 2 = 6.
Result: Success! (Target Number 4).
Consequence: Jumping the fence to inspect the untouched grass, Madeleine confirms her suspicion. No horses, no moccasin prints. The Utes haven't been within a mile of this spot in a week.
Madeleine began her search in the dim light of the ranch outbuilding where Hank Beamer’s body lay. The sight was enough to turn a lesser stomach; the man had been riddled with holes that looked like messy gunshot wounds, yet there was a strange, burrowing quality to the trauma she couldn't quite identify.
Moving out to the range, she inspected the "murder weapon"—a stretch of ordinary barbed wire. Her keen eyes spotted the anomaly: the wire was mangled in a fashion that suggested a struggle with something that didn't leave footprints. Stepping over the boundary onto the wilder side of the fence, she confirmed the local Utes were innocent; the earth was pristine, devoid of any pony tracks. Whatever had tangled Hank Beamer in that wire hadn't come on horseback—it was something far more unnatural.
Madeleine Red’s reputation precedes her—a woman followed by a dark shadow, but undeniable with a pair of Peacemakers. She arrived at the Crittenden Ranch just as the sun was beginning to dip, answering Heath’s desperate plea. Her first stop was the dim backroom of the ranch house, where poor Hank Beamer’s body was waiting for the undertaker.
Looking at the perforated remains, Madeleine realized she lacked the specialized medical knowledge to truly solve the puzzle, but her intuition told her that the wounds, though resembling messy gunshots, had a strange, burrowing character that traditional lead didn’t leave. Stepping into the bright sun, she examined the fence line miles away. A cursory inspection confirmed that the simple barbed wire was broken but twisted with unusual force, consistent with a struggle, not a simple snag. More importantly, her careful check beyond the boundary verified that the soil was undisturbed—no pony tracks, no moccasin prints. Whatever had tangled Hank Beamer in that wire hadn't come on horseback, clearing the local Utes. It was a phantom, and it hadn't left a scent.
With the Utes cleared of suspicion and the wounds on the body looking more like "bites" than "bullets," a frantic shout breaks the silence. A cowboy comes galloping over the hill, his shirt soaked in red.
"The beeves! They've gone mad! They're killin' everyone!"
Act 2: Stampede!
Madeleine was just finishing her survey of the fence line when a cloud of dust appeared on the nearest ridge, growing rapidly. A young cowboy came cresting the hill, his horse pushed to its limit, his shirt soaked in red from a dozen small, sharp cuts.
"MISS RED! MISS RED! It’s got into the beeves! They’ve gone mad! They’re killin’ ever’ body!"
He points frantically back over the hill behind him, trying to stem the bleeding on his arm with a shaking hand. He looks like he's seen the devil himself.
Madeleine hears the sound of distant, echoing lowing and the unmistakable snap of wood splintering. From this distance, she can only see a small, dust-shrouded cluster of five maddened bulls, but one of them, a massive beast with a broken horn, seems to be driving the others directly toward two ranch hands desperately trying to outrun them on foot.
The high-desert air suddenly filled with the thunder of hooves and the wet, rhythmic slapping of something metallic. Madeleine didn't hesitate. As the panicked cowboy scrambled for safety, she put her spurs to her horse and rode toward the crest of the hill.
What she saw made even her cold blood run a degree colder. The five longhorns weren't just spooked; they were being piloted. Coils of barbed wire were wrapped around their massive frames like constricting snakes, the rusted thorns digging deep into their hide. Long, silver strands whipped from their skulls like antennae, twitching with a life of their own.
Combat Round 1: Madeleine vs. The Blood Steers
This are the cards dealt:- Madeleine Red: Ace of Spades (She goes first!)
- Blood Steers: 8 of Diamonds
Madeleine’s Action: She wants to be effective but careful. She is using Two-Gun Kid, firing both Colt Peacemakers at the lead "Alpha" bull (the one with the broken horn). Since she moved to get into range, her Marksman Edge doesn't apply this turn, but her Steady Hands reduces the "Unstable Platform" penalty of firing from horseback to 0!
Rolls:
Right Hand (Shooting d8): 4 (Wild Die: 3). Success!
Damage: 2d6+1 (Base) + 1 (Grim Servant). Roll: 3+4+1+1 = 9.
Result: Hits the Alpha's Toughness (9) exactly. The bull is Shaken.
Left Hand (Shooting d8): 7 (Wild Die: 5). Success!
Damage: 2d6+1 (Base) + 1 (Grim Servant). Roll: 2+5+1+1 = 9.
Result: Since the bull was already Shaken, this second hit causes 1 Wound.
Seeing the ranch hands in the path of the stampede, Madeleine spurred her mount into a gallop, drawing both Peacemakers in a fluid motion. The sight of the "Blood Steers" was a nightmare made flesh—rusted wire pulsing against their muscles as if drinking from them.
With the steady hands of a veteran, she loosed two shots into the lead bull. The first heavy .45 slug hammered into its shoulder, momentarily breaking its charge and leaving it reeling. Before the beast could recover, her second shot tore through its neck. The bull bellowed—a sound that was half-animal and half-metallic screech—as the first wound slowed its momentum, though the unnatural wire forced it to keep stumbling forward.
As she fired, she realized the truth: the wire wasn't just on them; it was in them, threading into their brains. To save the ranch, she wouldn't just be putting down cattle; she'd be cutting out a parasite.
The dust from Madeleine’s opening volley hadn't even settled before she realized the scale of the horror. These weren't just angry bulls; they were puppets of a parasitic steel mind, and they were far tougher than any natural beast.
"Listen to me!" Madeleine shouted over the thunder of hooves and the unnatural metallic screeches. She holstered one Peacemaker to grab her reins, waving the other toward the canyon to the east. "These things won't go down easy! Help me drive 'em toward the creek bed—bottle 'em up where they can't circle us!"
She looked at the youngest cowboy, the one who’d first brought the news. "You! Ride like the devil's breath is on your neck. Find Chipeta and his war party. Tell 'em the 'bloodwire' is in the beeves! This rot is on their land too, and we need their bows if we're gonna end this before sunset!"
To execute this plan, Madeleine needs to exert her will over the maddened steers while the cowboys scramble to help.
1. Leading the Drive (Intimidation d4 vs. Steers' Spirit d4)
Madeleine's Roll: 3 (Wild Die: 2).
The Steers' Resistance: 1.
Result: Success!
Consequence: Even with her lower skill, Madeleine’s sheer presence—bolstered by her Overconfident nature—forces the Alpha bull to veer. The herd follows, lured away from the fleeing hands and toward the rocky terrain.
2. Sending for the Utes (Persuasion d4)
Madeleine's Roll: 4 (Wild Die: 1).
Result: Success!
Consequence: The young cowboy, spurred by Madeleine’s authority, nods once in terror and peels away, heading toward the Ute territory at a breakneck gallop.
With a roar that challenged the unnatural bellows of the herd, Madeleine took command. She rode dangerously close to the Alpha bull, using the bark of her Colt and the steel in her gaze to force the stampede toward the high-walled creek bed. The ranch hands, seeing a flicker of hope, fell in behind her, using their lariats and hats to keep the flankers from breaking off.
As the dust thickened, the young cowboy disappeared over the ridge, a lone messenger sent to bridge the gap between the ranchers and the Ute warriors. Madeleine knew the "Bloodwire" was a threat to every living soul in the valley; today, the feud between the town and the tribe would have to wait. The hunt for the shunka warak'in was about to take a backseat to the slaughter of the metal-bound dead.
Act 3: The Stand at the Creek
The plan worked. You’ve funneled the five Blood Steers into a narrow, rocky wash. Their Pace is slowed by the uneven ground, but they are cornered—and a cornered beast is twice as deadly.
Just as the Alpha bull prepares to charge Madeleine again, a feathered shaft whistles through the air, thudding into the beast’s flank. On the ridgeline above, Chipeta and three of his warriors appear, bows drawn.
The dust in the rocky wash turned into a swirling red fog as Madeleine pulled both Peacemakers. Beside her, the ranch hands held the line with trembling hands, while above on the rim, Chipeta’s warriors loosed a rain of arrows that thudded into the thick, wire-threaded hides of the steers.
"Keep 'em bunched!" Madeleine roared over the thunder. "Chipeta! Aim for the eyes—the wire's nested in the skulls! Boys, don't let 'em break the flank or we're all tangled in the devil's knitting!"
Madeleine leaned into the recoil, her hands a blur as she unleashed a lead storm.
The Action:
Two-Gun Kid: Firing both Peacemakers (No Multi-Action penalty).
The Bonus: +2 from the Utes' distraction.
The Penalty: -2 for the "Fan the Hammer" style (rapid fire).
Net Modifier: +0.
Rolls:
Right Hand (Shooting d8): 8 (Aces!) + 3 = 11. (Wild Die: 5). Raise!
Damage (Alpha): 2d6+1 (Base) + 1 (Grim) + 1d6 (Raise). Roll: 4+2+1+1+5 = 13.
Result: 13 vs Toughness 9 is a Raise. The Alpha takes a second Wound and falls, the wire twitching one last time before going still.
Left Hand (Shooting d8): 6. (Wild Die: 4). Success!
Damage (Second Steer): 2d6+1 (Base) + 1 (Grim). Roll: 6 (Aces!) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 11.
Result: 11 vs Toughness 9 is a Success. The steer is Shaken.
The creek bed became a slaughterhouse of sparks and lead. Madeleine’s Peacemakers barked in a rhythmic cadence that drowned out the metallic screams of the herd. Her first volley took the Alpha bull square between its maddened eyes; the heavy slug shattered the skull, and as the beast hit the dirt, the barbed wire lashed out one last time like a dying snake before losing its luster.
"It's the metal!" she shouted to the Utes as she pivoted her second gun. "Burn the carcasses! Don't let a single inch of that wire stay whole!"
Chipeta signaled his men, their arrows now tipped with flaming pitch. As the remaining steers were cut down by Madeleine's relentless fire and Ute precision, the wash began to glow with a cleansing fire. The "Bloodwire" hissed in the flames, a sound like a thousand angry wasps, before finally turning to harmless ash.
Aftermath: The Grim Request
As the smoke cleared, Chipeta rode down into the wash, his face a mask of grim concern. He looked at the charred remains of the cattle. "This is a sickness of the earth, Long-Slinger," he said quietly. "The metal wakes when the land is wounded."
Madeleine holstered her smoking guns and looked at the Ute leader. "There’s a man back at the ranch, Chipeta. Hank Beamer. He was the first. I need you to look at him. If this 'sickness' is spreading through the fences, we need to know how to kill it at the root before every ranch in Wyoming starts bleeding."
Chipeta nods slowly. "I will come. The 'Shunka Warak'in' we hunt is a beast of flesh, but this... this is a ghost of the new world. We must see what it left behind in your friend."
With the herd destroyed and the Utes and ranchers standing on common ground over the ashes, the immediate threat is over. Madeleine earned the $100 reward from Heath Crittenden, and more importantly, she has forged an alliance with Chipeta that might be the only thing saving Headstone Hill in the nights to come.
Adventure Complete!
Madeleine Red turned a certain massacre into a coordinated hunt. By clearing the Utes of suspicion and identifying the supernatural threat of the Bloodwire, she not only saved the ranch hands but also brought a temporary peace to the territory. The mystery of the "wounded land" remains, but for tonight, the guns are cold and the fire is bright.
0 comments:
Post a Comment