Vultures and Vengeance 1
Vultures and Vengeance
Session One
1.1
The man in black
Returning home from a laborious day on the range, the Boon
siblings spot a pillar of smoke. The homestead was left in flames when they approached,
with bodies strewn about, their lifeblood seeping into the thirsty desert sand.
Of their parents or grandfather Jeremiah, there was no trace, but that was yet
unclear whether it was a blessing or if their charred corpses were lingering in
the embers of the main house. Caution preceded courage as the siblings
scrabbled among the remains, gathering what they could and headed west before
there could be a return of the perpetrators to the scene of the crime. Who
knows who they were, this band of strange men headed by the man in the black cassock.
Perhaps one day soon, they would be able to return to search for clues about
what happened that dire day, and why.
1.2
Escaping west
They rode into the unknown, into the west, the land of the
setting sun. Following the trail of the ‘49s, them were the borderlands of the
map, those white areas where previous generations had put “here be dragons”. Looking
at the horned lizard crawling over the sunbaked rock, shuddering in the
stifling heat, the siblings noted that there were still dragons, and barely
anything else.
1.3 Arriving at Perdición
Perdición. Damnation. The tiny town at the foothills of the
San Rafael region, cradled in the Texas panhandle, did not live up to the name.
In fact, it seemed rather welcoming in stark contrast to the devil’s desert the
siblings had just crossed. It was in Perdición they found some short respite.
There were no clues or news yet, about what had happened to the east, but there
were indications of wrongdoings here as well. The Owen brothers, caretakers of
a silver mine up in the hills, had gone missing, and the siblings took to the
task of gathering news of them with the promise of a reward.
1.4 Sullivan´s Gap
For being a desolate place in the bone-dry foothills of
Texas, Sullivan’s Gap was sure one busy place, provided one could read the
tracks as well as the Boons. Sure enough, there was a single man walking, there
was a trail of several people with carts and mules, and there were the
tell-tale signs of a huge Mountain Lion. A busy place for being desolate, to be
sure.
1.5 Avoiding the Crazy Spaniard
On the hilltop above, a shimmering glean hinted at a man
with willowy wispy white hair walking hunched over the ridges of the mountains,
apparently looking for something. It was a sad shape, reminiscent of Miguel de
Cervantes Saavedra’s Don Quixote, staggering in pantaloons and a glimmering
breastplate and a conquistador’s massive metal helmet with a longsword by his
side. The siblings chose to avoid this knight of the woeful countenance, using
the terrain to hide their advance further into the canyon.
1.6 Disregarding the Cat Cave
Euripides stated “chance fights ever on the side of the
prudent.” One must not only be cautious in this harsh life, but also ready to
seize upon opportunities as they arise. Curiosity led the investigators to the
mouth of a small cave upon the hillside, but prudence mandated they leave it
alone. The tracks in and out were a multitude of beasts, primarily a huge
mountain lion accompanied by small cubs. Perhaps this was the Shadow of the
Desert that the townsfolk of Perdición had warned them about? In either case,
the Boon siblings decided to leave well alone.
1.7
The Camp of the Owens Brothers
Just as the sun was slowly sneaking in behind the hilltops, the
Boons approached a narrow rift in the sunbeaten mountains, like a deep scar in
the Earth. Sure enough, there were the telltale signs of the Owens camp here,
just outside the mine entrance, but something wasn’t right. Tracks pointed to
the gaping mouth of the caves, but the tracks were of something having been
dragged or crawled there, something big. The mules were gone from their
enclosure, and there were even clothes and holsters strewn about. What happened
here?
1.8
The Mine of the Owens Brothers
1.9
Rise up Dead man
In the deep veins of the belly of the beast, in the cool and
dark embrace of Mother Earth, there they stumbled over the remains of the Owens
Brothers. In a crossroads deep in the mines, a pile of bodies lay. To be sure,
we called them dead, as their skin was grey and ashen, and cold, open eyes
stared into the darkness. From their mouths, noses and ears, a crusted black
liquid had caked. But as the Boons tried to search the bodies, vestiges of
their souls stirred, and the mass came alive! They were mindless, ravenous and stumbled
up, grasping for the Boons in an insane stupor. From the depths of the mine
came stumbling another one of the former miners, yet this one carried a gun,
and was using it with a degree of success. The thunder of the firearms caused
rumblings and cave-ins.
They flight of the Boons was impeded by one of the miners
throwing himself onto Vendela and gnashing his stumpy, brown teeth into the
back of her leg, snapping tendons and ripping flesh. In fact, it was the most
narrow of escapes, only possibly by snapping off a few rounds of the 10-gauge
shotgun into the ceiling of the cave, causing rocks to fall in. As only luck
would have it, the Boons escaped the crumbling rock unscathed.
1.10
Out of the ashes, into the fire.
Stumbling out of the dark, Riley practically carried his
severely limping sister. The sounds of growling and stones tumbling from behind
signified that the miners were probably not far behind, but still, the warmth
of the sunlight basking on their faces was a stark relief. It somehow signaled
security and safety. This proved quite rapidly, however, to be quite wrong,
evident by the three dirty, sneering faces that met theirs. Three men stood
armed in the middle of the old Owen’s camp, rifle barrels aiming down towards
the cave where the siblings stumbled out again into the world. Who knows what
their intentions were?
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