Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1014 - City O' Gloom
1014 - City O' Gloom
Chapter Two:
Skullchucker!.67
Chapter One: The Rules ......................................... 67 Chapter Four:
The Tombstone Playing Skullchucker ......... 69 Dirty Little
Epitaph's Guide Secrets ............... 83
Archetypes ........... 71
to the City 0' The Powers That Be ........... 8.3
Brigham young ........................ 83
Gloom .................... 3 No Man's Darius Hellstromme ........... 84
Showdown at Land .................... 75 Smith & Robards .................. 85
Black Mesa! ............................... 5 The Mountain Meadows
Introduction ........ 6 Massacre .................................. 86
The City 0' Gloom .................... 6 The Civil War ...............................87
Chapter One: The Nauvoo Legion ............ 87
The Story of The Danites .................................. 89
the Mormons .............. 7 Sail Lake City....... ................. 91
The Missouri Years... ....... 8 Places of Nole...... ....... 91
Nauvoo ..................................... ,.......... 9 Hazards of
The Utah Years .............. ..... 10 Sail Lake City .... 96
The Civil War ................................ 14 jUnkyard. ................... ...100
The Coming of Hell- Places of Note....... ... 103
stromme ..................................... 14
The Present ................................... 15
Chapter Three: Hazards of Junkyard ......... 109
Current Events ............................ l!!
Chapter Two: Relics of Sail Lake Environs ..... 111
The State of Deseret ..... 16 Deseret ............... 77 Mad Scienlists ............................ 121
The Church ... . ........ 16 He\Islromme's
The Law .............................................. 17 Compound................. ....... 121
Law Dogs ....................................... 18 The Smith & Robards
Relations ......................................... 20 Compound ............................ 124
Chapter Three: Other Mad Scientists ...... 125
Sail Lake City ...................... 21
Lay of the Land ........................ 21
Power.. .................. .... 21
Places of Note ........................... 23
Hazards of
Salt Lake City ...................... 31
Chapter Four: Junkyard ... 33
Places of Note ............................ 35
Hazards of Junkyard ........... 42
Chapter Five:
Current Events ................... 44
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Nevada Smith and hiS men <;Iefend th('msel~s <tgaln.t the ,;erl'uors Of Ba)'Ju Verm,llion ..... hile SixUundr~ Pound SilIIy ]O''''cn; a Gilt1ing gun to them.
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It was a warm night in Ok lahoma. The night
wind whipped over Black Mesa like the fetid
at In minutes, lhe Galling gun inside was up and
raking the leering, slavering ranks of the
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zephyrs of Perdition.
Five weary spies checked their ammunition.
Less than 10 rounds each. The agents nodded to
damned. The gun reaped a harvest of walking
corpses as the mindless abominations pressed
forward.
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each other grimly, vowing they would save the
last rounds for themse lves.
Then tragedy struck. The undead horde's
masters, walching coldly from their rear, cast
!
Below them, a horde of groaning undead some evil enchantment. causing the gun to jam.
scrambled up the rocky slope. They were the Another wave of fresh dead pressed the hill. 1
unholy fool soldiers of Bayou Vermillion.
The leader of Ihe
band, the famous Nevada
The brave agents were doomed. Smith turned to
the pilot of the whirligJg.
"Can this contraption get
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Smith, took aim and us off this mesa?'· he
fired tile first shot. His asked desperately. 1
heavy bullel smashed
through the head of one
Sally looked him
straight in the eye. "The
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walkin' dead and max load is 500 pounds.
dropped it in its bloody load all you on board,
tracks. Nine rounds lefl. and we']! crash into the
and over 40 minions of desert floor fasler'n a 1
Baron Simone LaCroix's
most hideous,
blasphemous, undead
comel.··
Smith looked at his
tired, beaten agents. "Get
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army. on, lhe lot of you." The 1
There was only one
hope for the weary
agents of Union Bluc. As
four climbed abOard, and
Smith pointed to the
ground a hundred feel
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each man and woman below. "Land 'em safe,
counted their last bullets, pilot,'· he said as he 1
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they heard a whooping lurned to fight the army
sound f rom above. of dead.
Devil ba ts they Sally sized up the
conject ured? Some new
horrible abominaLion
stubborn Pinkerton and
knew he wouldn't board
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created by LaCroix or his even if" she decided to
lackeys? push I he I imits of her
No, friends-sa l vation. whirligig. So she picked
The whirligig bore a The au lhur. Six Hundred Pound Sa lly, m"!l8Lng (o r tI, e ~'mw"•. up the dangling cable 1
heavy crate. On its side that had carried the crate
were burned the words "Sm ilh & Robards: Rush in and quietly latched it to his belt. 1,
Delivery!" The airma n Nevada Smith had wired
yesterday had made it! And just in the nick of
"Hang on." she grunted as she quickly climbed
into the whirligig, fired up the ghost-rock boiler
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time. to an unbelievable howl and pulled up on the
The airman- who turned out to be a woman
named Sally Manners- landed low and slow on
stick.
LaCroix's gruesome soldiers closed the top of
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the sloping mesa lOp. the mesa just as the whirligig plunged off the
Nevada and a female agent continued sniping cliff. If Nevada protested Sally's suicidal 1
into the approaching horde as the other three maneuver, she didn't hear it over the roar of her 1
spies unhooked the craIe from its harness
and broke it open.
ghost-rock engine, the whir of the hlades,
and the rush of lhe wind as her amazing ,,
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The Ci~ 0' Gloom active in lhe labor movement out here, so take
everything she says with a grain of salt. Hell,
with the Sa ll Lake so close, you can take
You're probably wondering why most folks call everything w ith a grain of sa lt.
Salt Lake City the "City of Gloom." The answer Oh, yeah. My language. Sorry abou t that.
is <111 the manufacturing. Things are a little rougher out here on Lhe
See, there's so many factories and refineries frontier than they are Back East. so I'll just write
burning ghost rock that there's a constant pall
the way I talk and let Mr. O'Malley edit me the
of smoke hanging over the city. The soot covers
way Ile wants. (Editor's Note: Dear Constant
everything. It's so dark and, well, gloomy that the Reade]; please do nol be Offended, but we, the
name just came kind of natural. steadfast reporters Of tile truth at the Tombstone
I think the Epitaph was the firs t to use it. If Epilaph, find it our dUly to allow our
not, they were certainly the ones who correspol1denlto speak ill the manner Of those
popularized it. You know, it's strange how no one who live in this savage finntieJ: - EdJ
ever admits to reading the Epitaph, but everyone You can bet the Mormons don't call this place
sure knows what was in it last week! I quote: the City 0' Gloom, but most everyone else does.
Salt Lake City, Utah. What began as a 011 yeah, and it is City "0'" Gloom. Say "of" and
theological community has become arguably everyone will know you're a tinllorn. It's a
the most technologically advanced city in the loca l thing. Try to understand.
world. And one Of Ihe fastest growing.
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The Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to the Ci~ 0' Gloom
1876 Edition "Believe It or Else!"
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The messenger also
told Smith that he woul d
The Golden Plates be shown the plates a
year from that day, and
Joseph 's life as a
prophet began when he that if Smith ever showed
was 14 years old. He them to anyone else, both
wasn 't much of a
churchgoer in those
days, and one day, he
he and the viewer would
be destroyed. The plates
were secured on a l1ill near
Manchester, New York.
I
remembered a passage
from the Bible that said "If Smith tried to dig the
pla t es up right away, but
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any of you lack wisdom, let
him ask God." evidently his timing was off, j
So Joseph wenl into lhe because the messenger "'informed
woods and prayed. While he was Th e Pmphel. Joseph Sm l!h. (him) that the time for bringmg
there, a divine light shone upon them out had nOl yet arrived, 1
him and Lold him the rest of the world's religions neither would 1I11JouryearsJrom tlwt time."
were false. He passed out and spent the next
three years sowing a few wild oats. 1 reckon he
Smith himself was to come back in a year to
obtain the plates and begin the translation.
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had an idea what wa s coming and figured he'd IL was now 1827. Joe visited the hi l l for the !
final time and was given the plates, the umim
best get some sinning out of his system before
he became a holy man . In his own words, he and Thummim, and a golden breastplate.
Joe spent the next .3 years translating the
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'Jrequently {ell into many foolish errors, and
displayed tl1e weakness Of youth and the plates, in lhe middle of which he moved to
corruption oJ human nature, which, f am sorry to Pennsylvania, where his wife Emma was from. 1,
say, fed me into diverse temptations, to the
gratification Of mallY appeli/es ojJensive /0 in
Along with Emma, a local farmer and Joe's first
follower, Martin Harris, assisted Joe in this I
the sight oj God. tn making this confeSSiOn, tedious process.
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A curious incident occurred at this time. open to their new ideas and lifestyle. The Church
Harris' wife didn't believe in what was going on, doubled in size, then tripled. then whatever
and after reading a portion of Smith's first comes after three Limes something, and so on.
translation, she hid it from her husband. The They had about 1,000 members by the en d of the
"lost record" has never been recovered. year.
The re-Lranslation was a trying process, but Some of the more charismatic converts were
eventually was completed, and the Book OJ sent out around the country (and overseas) as
Mormoll was published in 1830. About 5,000 "missionaries" to convert more Gentiles. It
copies were printed and sold. worked, and the Church grew even larger.
Such a huge congregation required a Temple.
Wbat's a Marmon? The cornerstone for the Kirtland Temple of
Now I'm not going to tell you the whole story Latter Day Saints was laid in 1833. Unfortunately,
of the Mormon Bible-buy a copy and read it it was expensive, and neither Joe nor his friends
yourself. But it does help explain the mindset of Ilad much luck with business while Lhey were in
the Mormons- and thu s their city-if you Ohio, The worst of it was the Bank of Kirtland.
understand a bit of their rcligious history. which they established to assist their faithful.
"Mormon" was a descendant of Israelites The owners never had enough money to fully
forced to rlee Jerusalem bcfore the coming of capitalize the notes they issued, and things got
Christ. He was the caretaker of the sacred plates, so bad that the bank closed in 1837. A few of
and he battled the "wicked Lamanites" for their those notes are still around, by the way. If
safety. Indians- I don't know which tribe but 1 someone tries to give you one, you'd best pass.
guess al1 of them-are the descendants of the They're not worth a red cent regardless of what's
Lamanites who defeated Mormon's armies "with printed on them.
great slaughter." While all this was going on, Smith had sent a
Shortly before Mormon was slain. he passed party of Elders (prominent male followers)
the plates on to his son Moroni. He completed westward to setup a new colony. They
the record and hid the plates in the hill where established it in Independence. Missouri.
Smith would find them a thousand years later. This is where things really got interesting.
By the way, Mormons don't usually call
themselves Mormons They call themselves
"Saints." In 1834, Reverend Sidney Rigdon. an
early convert and friend of Smith, came up with
The Missouri Years
Smith remained in OhIO from '33 to '37. During
the designation "The Church of Jesus Christ and this time, the faithful in Missouri were having a
Latter-Day Saints," hard time wi th their neighbors. Among the most
violent issues was that of Slavery. The Mormons,
Revelations & Millenniums by and large New Englanders. were against it.
Smith, Harris, and Smith's family spent the Missourians were for it. Things got bad, and the
next few years proselytizing and growing the Mormons found themselves forced from town
church. During this time, Joseph started having after town. They were ejected by a mob in
"revelations" directly from the Lord. By the time Independence. then fought an all-out civil war
he passed on, they were collected in his Doctrine for the next few years. It's not hard to imagine
and Covenanls. how this started, since the mess was just a
One of Smith's revelations was that Judgment prevIew of what happened to us all in '60.
Day was coming soon. There was some Both sides armed huge mobs to fight the war.
confusion at first. and the date was variously Most important to those of us who now live
given as 1847, then 1870 and 1890, but the with the Mormons was the birth of the Danites
Mormons today claim the day of reckoning will and the Army of Zion. The Army was essentially
come around 2081. Critics claim they've just given the militia. while the Danites were and still are a
themselves lots of room to be wrong again. The kind of "secret police." I'll tell you more about
faithful claim the signs have never been more them later on.
clear.
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A 8 ro~P of Mormon,; on the ",""'f toward al1 Ul1n:l ta li\ dC5tlny, The oilly Ihing that walted for them in illinois was lrouble.
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The mob's revenge occurred on October 30,
1838. A mounted force of Missourians cornered a
band of between 18 and 30 Mormons in a log
cabin. The Missourians rired their weapons in
every door and window or the cabin and killed
most everyone inside. Those Ihat got ou t met
Nauvoo
The prophet himself finally disentangled
himselr from the Kirtland Bank fiasco in Ohio
and joined his flock. He had missed all the
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worse fates.
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fighting in Missouri.
This was the greatest single horror inflicted At this point in their history, most or the
on the Mormons while in Missouri. and it would country was sympathetic to the Mormons' plight.
play an important role in their ruture over 20 if not their actual beliefs. Many felt that
years later. I'll leave it at that for now, but just Governor Boggs was directly responsible for the
remember that Mormons hate Missourians. [f violence and lawlessness of the mobs and that
you're from the "Show Me" slate and you come
to Salt Lake City, I suggest you keep it to
yourself.
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27, 1838. The pan the Mormons quote most often claim it's a mistranslation.
is: "The Mormons must be treated as enemies, The Church built up lIle town in no time at
and must be exlerminated or driven from the all. Foreign missionaries did an especially
State if necessary for the public peace-their impressive job of proselytizing people rrom ,
Qulraoes are beyond al l description." England, Scotland, and Wales, Almost 4,000
Th~ Mormons hastily packed their things foreigners moved into Nauvoo between '40 !
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and fled Missouri, Boggs' mobs halon their and '46.
heels.
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The Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to the Ci~ 0' Gloom
1876 Edition "Believe It or Else!" Only 10<
Maybe the most impressive accomplishment in Missouri. He ask.ed Joe Smith to surrender
was the creation of an aUlOnomous governmcnL himself to tria l and thus avoid the impending
I think they managed this because the bloodshed. Joe reluctanlly agreed and was jailed
politi cians of the state needed the numerous along with his brother Hyrum and two other
Mormon votes. (There were only 467,183 people in men in nearby Carthage
illinois in 1840-Ed)
The City Council of Nauvoo was granted the
ability to pass any ordinance necessary for lhe
Death of the Propbet
peace, enforce the law with civil or military In jaiL the Prophet was under the protection
force, and create a Municipal Court to interpret of the militia, specifically the Illinoi s Carthage
the laws they created. The only caveat was that Grays. This wasn't such a hot idea, as the
they could not challenge any Illinois state laws. Carthage company soldiers were a bunch of
The Council called their military lhe "Nauvoo hotheads out for Joe's blood. They got it.
Legion," IL was real militia, complete with light On June 27,1844, the mob busted into tile lWO-
artillery, infantry, and cavalry. Slory stone jail. The prisoners were housed In a
large bedroom and tried to hold the mob back
Smith for President Just like at Haun's Mill. the mob fired through
There was a movement at this lime for Joe the door, this time killing Hyrum. One of the
Smith to run for President. As [ said, the rcst of other two men was wounded and lay bleeding
the country was sympathetic to the Mormons' under a bed; the second was unharmed.
experience in Missouri, and since the fighting Joe tried desperately to hold the door, but it
had ended whcn Smith jOined the Mormons, it was a losing battle. He turned and ran for the
looked like he was a peacemaker. Smith realized window but was shot as he crashed through it.
his position and sent out several agents, one of It's said the mob outside finished the mortally-
whom was Brigham Yo~mg, to canvas the nation wounded Prophet as he lay on the ground below.
and see what his chances were.
NauvoD TrDubles
The Evacuation of Nauvoo
Brigham Young returned shortly thereafter
The young town had no infrastructure and One might think another war would have broken
few resources. It didn't spring lip because of a out after such a horrible incident, but it didn't
strike, a shipping poinlo or any other reason. It Instead, the Mormons decided to sell what
had lew ways for the citizens to make a living. they could and move again, this lime to a place
A few bad apples resorted to thievery, and the so remote they could establish their own society
Mormons' neighbors in the surrounding counties without fear of fighting their neighbors.
didn't appreciate it. What really fueled the fires It look the Mormons until '47 to completely
was when the Mormon Municipal Court ruled in evacuate Nauvoo. This they did only after the
favor of Saints over Gentiles time and time again, last families had to use makeshift artillery
even when the evidence of the accused's guilt against the cannons of the stale mili tia.
was overwhelming. These last Mormons, forced to leave Illinois
This is about the time Smith had a new without proper provision s, wagons, or
revelation concerning the taking of "spiritua l preparation, had as hard a time as most settlers
wives." Yup, ["m talking about polygamy. who cross the not-so-fruited plains.
Regardless of what you think of it, the people of
Illinois saw it as a blasphemous practice that
confirmed their suspicions about the Mormons.
Finally, a paper called the Exposilor rose up at
The Utah Years
this time and decried polygamy as mere adultery On July 24, 1847, the Saints first gazed upon
licensed by "revelation." Smith ordered the paper the glistening waters of tile Great Salt Lake.
connseated and the printing press destroyed. The Again, their settlement was based upon no
owners altempted Lo sue, but needless to say the resources. Worse than even Nauvoo, there was
MuniCipal Court was less than helpful. little natural timber, and what crops they planled
The Gentiles in Illinois had had enough. They had to be irrigated from tile nearby Wasatch
began to arm for a war with the Nauvoo Legion , Mountains.
importing hundreds of muskets and even a The first years were hard. Folks starved, some
number of cannons. had no sheller, and only the luckiest had more
Governor Ford wasn't about to let things than a board and tattered quilt for a bed. By
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get out of control in his state like they had the summer of '48, lhe Mormons had
secured enough limber ror homes, and a
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few meager crops were growing. but neither crickets have become dangerous. You'll sec
coul d suppon a city o f lOa, let alone thousands. flocks of gu!!s hurl themselves into an
wagon trains from Nauvoo and other places approaching swarm and fight batlles as bloody 1
arrived weekly. The immigrants were near-
destitute themselves, and so only added more
and furi ous as anything humanity's ever
participated in.
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stress to tile town's already strained resources. The survivors fly otT a short distance and
crush the ones they've got in their beaks in sight 1
The Crickets of the swarm- almost like they're taunting them.
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Those first years. millions of crickets Sometimes I wonder if Angels and Devils fight
descended every fall La devour the Mormon's like thal.
pitiful crops. Th ousands of farmers stood guard
with boards trying to beat them off, or dug The Gald Rush
shallow moats in hopes of diverting them. but Maybe God smiled upon the Mormons,
al l their efforts were in vain. The relentless black because '49 and the Gold Rush were just around
horde could not be stopped by man alone. the corner. Thi s is wha t really made the city
Then a mi r acle happen ed. Hundred s of viable. All the prospectors heading for California
thousands of gulls came to nest on the islands found Utah a natural restocking poinl. They were
of the Great Salt Lake. Every morning as the sun eager to purchase certain types of supplies, and
broke, they rose from the island and began to even more eager to sell off those they didn't
feast on the plague or cricket s. The Mormons think th ey'd need in California, cheap!
cheered the birds and rejoiced in their salvation . Eventually, Salt Lake Ci ty was ready for a
This cycle repeated itself every year until J867. whole new wave of immigrants.
That year, the crickets got a little meaner. Ever
since, though their numbers are nowhere near as The Handcart Tragedy
great as in the past, the swarms that do venture The Mormon missionaries, especially those
from the moun tains are filled with larger oversea s, described Salt Lak e City as a paradise.
crick ets with mean streaks as wide as the Bear
River. The gu!!s sti!! feed on them, but the
That was a bit of an exaggeration, though I'm
sure they believed it themselves.
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Brother I)righ ~m YOung and his totlQ'.wrs arriv,:: on the :;hOTCS or the G[\!i1\ Sa il "-<, ke I I {'J ~ they t5labhsl1l'd whm l'I.uu ld bt:\:oml' sail LlIke CIty 1
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damning.
authority of the United Stales.
The Trial of John D.Lee Few Gentiles moved lhrough Salt Lake City for
the next few years. Who can blame them? This is
Unfortunately, the Mormon officials, who were
never proved to be involved in the massacre, when Brigham, according to his critics, turned
weren't exactly helpful in bringing the killers to his heavy hands upon his own people. Those
justice. In fact, it took almost 20 years before the who seemed disloyal or tried to leave Deseret
were publicly ruined and oHen murdered. Again,
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case came to trial.
A few months ago, the non -Mormons of
Deseret put enough pressure on Young to hold
I'm not saying the Church had its dissenters
murdered-I'm just saying a lot of them got
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murdered. The records are clear about that. and
an official investigation. I guess he figured it
would give his government legitimacy if he did. the Church doesn't deny it. 1
In 1876, John D. Lee, a Mormon who allegedly There are only three possibilities. There's a
led the deceitful massacre, was found guilty by a secret band of "enforcers" acting on their own to
mixed jury of Saints and Gentiles. He was punish those they believe have betrayed the
sentenced to death and executed by firing squad Church, Brother Brigham Young is a murderous 1
at the site of the massacre a few days later. tyrant who'll stop at nothing to build the . ~
While in jail. Lee claimed that not only did settlement envisioned by the Prophet, or it's I
Brigham and the Church know about the sheer coincidence.
massacre, but that they had actually Your call, partner.
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The Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to the Ci~ 0' Gloom ,I
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1876 Edition "Believe It or Else!"
agreed. The Genliles poured in by the thousands. How's this possible? Hellstromme, of course.
He's got some kind of super-turbine that runs
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Mormons are and where lhey came from. This
Junkyard started near the old Empire Mill at isn't supposed to substitute for a good history
the head of the City Creek Canyon and spread book, but I can't really tell you about the City 0'
down toward the city. along the canyon walls.
The creek running through the valley has
Gloom if you don't know about the Mormons.
Consider yourself partially educated
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A trllvcld~ ~tcanl I,'agon ~aslly oUlpac"5 a pack. of hungry salt r~lll"rs. Without these amo.7 mg devices. 54 11 Lake Ctty might not c~bt today
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The Church sons before his death, if you've ever read that
story in the Bible.
Mormon men are of ten addressed as "cIder"
In 1866, Brigham and the Church declared that (even when they're high priest s), and the
the state of Deseret was an independent president of the church and the stake president
territory awaiting the reunification of the united are addressed as "President so-and -so." "Brother"
States. Brigham is the PreSident, and prominent and "sister" are also common su rnames. Bishops
Saints occupy all the major governmental are an exception, and are called "bishops:'
positions. Got all [hat? Me neither. Just be polite, call all
Officially, Deseret is a "theocracy." There is no Mormons "Mr. So-and-so:' and you 'll do finc.
separation of church and state. Mormon law is By and large, you won't hear much from the
Deseret law, though there are some excepLions, higher ups. such as the Apostles or the Bishop.
as you'll see later on. They all do important work, I'm sure. but lhe
The lOp rung of the Church ladder is held by most outspoken voice in the Church is far and
the President He's watched over-at least in
away its President. Brigham Young.
theory- by a 12-man COllncil of Apostles. They
make all of Deseret's policies and laws.
Below them are two Quorums of Seventy and Brother Brigham
a Presiding Bishopric. These folks represent Brigham Young joined the Mormons back in
oliler Mormon settlements, as well as sit on their Kirtland, Ohio, days. He was so quiet at
specia l councils. first, many thought he was slow of mind. He
Geographically, the Church is organized into even misspelled his own name on some
stakes and wards (increasingly smaller groups). documents he signed back then
A ward consists of some 200-800 members. a Eventually. Joseph Smith and the other early
stake has 4- 10 wards. These numbers are all leaders in the ClllIrch realized that while 87
variable. but they give you a rough idea. Brigham wasn't educated, he wasn't ignorant.
The leader of each ward (thmk of it as a either. In fact. he was quiet because he pondered
"congregation" or "parish") is a Bishop. He is a long and hard about mailers he thought were
lay minister. as are all Mormon leaders until you important. And once he made up his mind, he
get up to the highest echelons, where they work rarely changed it. They say no man is an island.
full-time for the Church. He has two counselors. Brigham may be an exception to that rule.
The men are organized into the Melchizedek
priesthood (higher priesthood) which is For men President Yaung
19 and older. The younger men are "elders," and There were many possible candidates for the
the older men are "high priests." Each group is new President of [he Church after Joe Smith was
called a quorum and has a president and 1wo martyred. To his credit, Brigham didn't
counselors. The boys 12- 19 are in the Aaronic manipulate his way to the top- he told [he
priesthood, and their quorums are "deacons" ([2- congregation he was the man for the job and
13), "teachers" 04 -!5), and "priests" 06-19}. then started doing ill
The women's organization is called the Relief It was Brigham who organized the trek to Sail
Society. It was originally founded to help the Lake City and picked the spot for their new
men working on the Nauvoo temple. Now it does home. Neither the migration nor the first years
charity work, but has expanded to be a more in Utah were perfect. but the Saints survived
general organization for women. Again you in a place that scouts of the area called
have a president and two counselors. "hospitable to neither man nor beast."
I
The Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to the Ci~ 0' Gloom 1
1876 Edition "Believe 1L or Else!" Only 1Oq:
1
SaviDr Dr Tyrant?
By Brigham's own admission, his rule is
merciless. He considers the Saints "God's
II
cllOsen," and it his is duty to protect them "in ,
the manner of the Old Testament" In one of his
sermons, he likened himself to a shepherd who
•
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has "discarded the cane for the shotgun." His
flock appreciates his strong leadership-unti l
they wander from the herd. He also says that
1
true enemies of the Church perish if 11e "but
crooks his little finger."
Whether Brigham and his Danites quietly
practice "blood atonement" or not is a matter of
great debate. Brigham's actions may be harsh
!
because he lives in a harsh place. If he was bac k 1
in the gentle woods of Ohio, he might not call
for such fire and brimstone. But he's not And
right or wrong, Br igham and his fol lowers are
!
guarding the flock with a vengeance,
1
The Law 1
The basic laws of Oeseret are prelly simple to
remember, and they apply to bo th Mormons and
j
Gentiles alike, Follow the Ten Commandments,
and you'll get along just fine. Break one, and I
yOU'll face a punishment suited to the cr ime.
Capital offenses are murder and (like most
everywhere else) horse thieving. Steam wagons
fall under the "horse thieving" rule out here.
Ilmtnet Ilngham Young, I'resi<knt (,If
I
Minor offenses are vio lations of simple laws, like
City if they fee! they can't get an impartial jury
carrying a hogleg in a no-firearms zone (all of
Salt Lake City), lewd or lascivious behavior, or in their settlement, but around here "impartial
jury" is kind of a contradiction in terms anyway.
petty theft. Again, the punishment suits the ~
You've probably heard rumors t hat Mormon
crime, and Mormon judges can be preLly creative.
One last note. Mormons don't drink alcohol,
tea, or coffee, and they don't smoke. It's not a
courts aren't exactly fair. There's some truth to
that. If you're a Genlile and have a case against a
!,
law or commandment just "advice" from th e
Church. Dr inking or smoking among Mormons
Mormon, you will lose. J won't even say the
Mormon judges are corrupt. They just usually
!,
see things the way their brethren do, and that
won't win you any friends , Keep that in mind.
makes some unknown Gentile generally the
~ I
"False counsel" can get a fellow a rope fee goes to the government That's a penny
party sure as stealing a steam wagon. .~
",.
"I " I
, I'm sure they'l l appreciate (wink).
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The Tombstone Epitaph's Guide tothe Ci~ 0' Gloom j
1876 Edition
There are four chaplains that sometimes "Sons of Dan." When the identity crisis was over,
accompany the Nauvoo Legion on its everyone call ed them Danites.
1
expeditions. I know from personal experience If you believe Young orders his enemies slain,
that their job isn't to bless the men's meals and then the Danites are the ones who do the dirty 1
remind them that coffee profanes the body.
These four fellows are unofficially called the
"Black Chaplains" by the Legionnaires. because
work.
it's their job to combat the "forces of Satan." If If the Danites do exist. then their leader must
j
you read the Epitaph regu lar ly. you know the
horrors these grim preachers might face.
I met these dreaded servants of the Lord back
be Orrin Porter Rockwell . O.P. to his friends, if
he actually has any.
O.P. is a local exception that proves no rule I
I
in '72. They had me deliver a flamethrower ouL to
a cave in Devil's Canyon late one stormy night.
can think of. He's a Mormon, I hear, but he
smokes, drinks, and commits just about every
i
When I landed, there were six dead Legionnaires other sin I can think of, yet he's never been
lying in a line near the cave, their heads neatly
severed. The rest of the platoon hunkered down
nearby and watched quietly. The men who took
delivery were a lieutenant and four very bloody,
very angry chaplains.
blacklisted.
He's a gunfighter of sorts, though he's not
particularly fast on the draw. Even stranger,
everyone's afraid of him. but no one can tell you
who he's killed. If you're buying the whole
I
The chaplains emptied out the fuel in the
flamethrower and filled it full or water from the
Danite story, it's because the Danites work in
secret, so O.P.'s reputation is one of those things 1
Legionnaires' canteens. Then they started that's scary as Hell. though no one knows what
praying, and the lieutenant asked me to leave. I for.
saw the rest from the air. One of the "Black
Chaplains" strapped on the flamethrower and
went into the cave. Even over the eng in e of my
whirligig. I could hear what sounded like the
There are rumors, though, of who has met an
untimely demise at o.p.'s hands. Governor Boggs,
who issued the infamous "Extermination Order."
was shot by an unknown assailant in '42 (though
!
screaming of the dam ned the mselves coming out he lived). Lieutenant Worrel of the Carthage 1
of that God-forsaken hole. Gives me goosebumps Grays who was in command of the jail where
just thinking about it. , the Prophet was murdered, and members of the
Aiken party in '57, a band of selliers passing
The Danites through to California, are also alleged to have
died by his hand.
1
The last way the Mormons enforce their
laws is through the Danites. Count this as
O.P. serves as a deputy sheriff from time to
time but otl1erwise has no official power of !
"touchy subject #3,000."
According to anti-Mormons, the purpose of
the DaniLes is to carry ?u~ all the uns~vory
position with the Church. He hangs out in
]unkyard a lot, gambling and "dancing." If you
run across him. keep your mouth shut. He won't
i!
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89
work of the Church. ThIS lIlcludes mUlder,
arson, robbery, or any other means
necessary to enforce Brigham's tyranny.
(ill
l shoot you in public, but if you cross him,
your next sleep might be your last.
,19 ' 1!
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1876 Edition "Believe It or Else!"
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[n case you hadn't noticed, this chapter's
about Salt Lake City. That's where you're
going to live. right?
wrong. unless you're rich, you're living in
The effects of available electricity arc
amazing. Even the gas lights at every corner
have been hooked up to power. but we cai l lhem
"street lights:' since they don 't use gas anymore.
Which brings me to my earlier cynicism. See,
i
91
Junkyard. which is physically part of SaIL
Lake City, but might as well be a whole
power is more than just a status symbol around
here. When it gets cold at night or in the winter,
j
'ncther world. If you manage to buy a plot there's not a lot of wood to burn. Those without I
of land in the city, you'll be told all you need to power must travel to the Wasatch Moun tains. cut
wood, and thcn haul it back and most of them
!
know by your neighbors. The rest of you poor
sods have to rely on me. don't have horses or mules anymore. If you ask
Even "J unkers" have to go into the city on me, this is the greatest weapon in the Mormon's 1
occasion, so I'm going to tell you everything J "recruitment" arsena l. It seems Mormons are
can. Bear with me if I don't know about the more wealthy and prosperous than Gentiles. It's 1
inner secrets of the Temple or what's kept in the
armory- they just don't tell that kind of stuff to
an imagc Lhey don't mind, because it insinuates
that similar glad tidings befall anyone who joins
j
us heathens-but I can tel! you where to register, their fold. Who knows. it might even be true.
One last note. It's amazing to look down on
get a marriage certificate, and so on.
the city from up in the mountains and see all
1
Lay of the Land the lights. The big ones shining up the sides of
the Tabernacle are really impressive. To Gentiles,
the lights rub their faces in the Mormons'
1
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The first thing you'll notice about Salt Lake
prosperity. To the Saints, t he "jewel of Deseret" IS
City is how orderly the streets are. Tak e a gander a mOdern-day Canaan.
at the map and you'll be amazed. That's the
beauty of planning a city out before every
sod buster starts building a house willy-nilly. SDDt
When the Sain ts came here in '47, Brigham Junkers eaL breathe, and sleep In the grimy, ~
and his crew staked out equal sized plots and oily smoke that seeps oul of the factories. It gelS
divvied them up among the faithful. New in their hair, eyes, ears, and (most of all). lungs. j
sections annexed by the city follow this patlern. You should see the spil. junkers spit up so much
The streets on either side of the temple are gunk thal factories have "spit pots." The really
ca l led East and West Temple Street. The first cheap owners sin the ghost -rock dust back au I!
street east of East Temple is First East, then wearing a mask might not save your life, but
Second East, and so on. The same is true in the
opposite direction, as weJl as north and south.
Finding an address is damned easy. That can be
it can prolong it The down side is that all those
folks wearing masks makes Junkers even more
impersonal than lhey already are. See, junkers
II
a bad thing for nosy Gentiles. If you stray from arc little wary of each other. Their very nature
the "busy" areas it's hard to claim you were lost. makes them tough and independent, and it 1
Compare the streets of Salt Lake City to the doesn't help that folk s move in and out of the
alleys of Junkyard. In the city, you can sec from
one end of the street to the other. In junkyard,
city like miners at a two-dollar brothel. 1
Things are a liLLie different in Salt Lake City
you're lucky to see the end of the block. • itself. The city gets just as much of tile stuff as
The orderly feel of the city also helps remind Junkyard, but it never quite seems to elmg to the
you who's in charge. It's almost l ike the Church buildings and people like it does in junkya rd.
orficials are watching you. Devout Mormons claim God protects them
from the 5001. It's hard to believe God would let
Power one man suffer while another lives on, just
because they're of di fferent faiths. but I've seen it
The whole city- including junkyard - is about even in the converts. Some poor sod works for a
power in one form or another. whether it's year in junkyard sucking sool. The day he
electrical or the kind that makes one fellow give converts he shines up like a new penny. It's the
I
his life to another. damnedest thing J ever saw. And It makes
In pract ical terms, anyone who can pay junkers mad. Watch your fellow worker's eyes I
I"
for it gets power right in HIS horne. If you narrow when a prim and proper Saint works
live in Salt Lake City, you can afford power. beside him with no mask.
1
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The Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to the Ci~ 0' Gloom
1876 Edition "Believe It or Else!" Only 1O¢
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''' Tb~ 'TD~b~~~e Epita~h~S h~e"~'th~ 'Ci~'~; D~~~ " ," "'' I
1876 Edition "Believe It or Else!" Only JOlt 1
reserves left unmined in lhe Wasatch Mountains. I
Places of Note No one is permitted to extract the ore, and
armed guards watch over the various claims.
Only a team of bank-appointed assayers are
J
1
Here are most of the important or at least
allowed to enter the mines and evaluate the ~
_
{'\"-
interesting places to know about in Sail
Lake City proper. worth of the ghosHock veins inside. !
~ Aaron's Arms California Corral
They used to sell horses here, but these days
1
The Saints have never shied away from
91 picking up a six-shooter or scattergun in there are no horses and not a durn thing from I'
defense of their religion. Mr. Henry Aaron, a one- California as far as I can tell. J
armed veteran of just about every battle the The owner, CA "California" Carrol (how's that !
Mormons have foughL now makes sure his for confusing?), now sells steam wagons. There j
brothers are well-armed. are always at least three of the contraptions on I'
I'm friends with old Henry, and he told me he the lot. The price is usuaJ!y about 10% less than
originally started his business by selling the Lhe ones we custom make here at Smith & )
guns he'd taken off his enemies. That's why he's Robards thanks to a special deal he's arranged ~
a lillie wary of selling ar ms to Gentiles. He does,
but his listed prices are 50% higher than most
with his Mormon brothers at Zion's Cooperative
Carriage Factory. I
)
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Harry has some secondhand "imports" for know to stay away from places of the dead. Ever
sale, but most of his weapons come from Jon read a story about a graveyard where something
Browning's factory in Ogden or Granny Smith 's weird wasn't going on? Didn't think so.
place over in Junkyard. The Mormon Cemetery must be the exception
that proves the rule. There's absolutely no
The Bank of Demet weirdness to report here. None. Really. It may
have something to do wilh the fact lhal the
When Young declared Deseret's ind ependence,
Mormons consecraled Lhe ground.
II
the tempora ry government had no way of
minting new currency. So a few Mormons who Only Saints are buried in this cemelery.
knew something about banking got together and Genti[es are shipped home if they have money,
chartered the new Bank of Desere! in [867. or buried in the Gentile Cemetery up in the hills
The Sai n ts were leery of their own bank, since ir Lhey don·t.
their first attempt back in Ohio had failed so ,
miserably. This bank is run lighter than a Ci~ Hall j
Madam's corset to make sure they don't make All the administrative work of the city is
the same mistakes. No one loans a buffalo
I
carried out here. There are courtrooms, offices
nickel w ithout the manager's say-so. Gentiles full of bureaucrats, and everything else you don't
have a better chance of becoming president than really want to know about.
00 ,
they do of getting a loan, and even Mormons What you do want to know is that you must
have to offer sufficient collateral to borrow come here to get any kind of license or permit.
money from the bank.
The real security of the bank li es out in
the hills. Its notes are based on ghost-rock
If you're a Mormon planning on settling in
Lhe ciLy, Lhis is • good place Lo go first. i
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For those of you "mad scientists" heading our Danwoody's factory is one of only two that
way, let me tell you a few things you need yea rly remain outside of JUnkyard. The other is Zion's
licenses [or. Flying anywhere in the slate o[ Cooperative Carriage Factory.
Deseret ($10), driving a steam wagon ($10),
building a weapon ($IS), or "tampering wilh the Fire Sale
laws of God and man" ($\00--1.000). Pardon the joke. Last year, several prominent
Normal folks also need a "Statement of families suffered terrible house fires. All had
Citizenship" to settle ($I), a marriage license (SI), recently purchased furniture from Danwoody.
and birth certificates {SO~:J. There's a joke that When the story hit the Deserel News, business
says the Mormons would make you get a death at the furniture factory hit rock bottom. Howard
cerlificate if so many folks wouldn·t cheat. asked Brother Brigham Young himself to come
to his factory and purge it of whatever demons
Ci~ Jail had beset him. Young did so, and business
slowly returned. Since then, there have been no
The Mormons aren't big on keeping more strange fires. At least not enough all at
lawbreakers locked up for long stretches. Their once to atlracl anyone's attention. No one ever
justice is usually swifl and efficient. Steal from did figure out why it happened, though.
someone, and you wind up working off twice
your debt to that person. Murder someone, and
you face a firing squad, the preferred method of Denver-Pacific Depot
execution 10 these parts. If there's a thorn in Hellstromme's side, this is
Even drunks don't stay long. The lawmen it. I mean, here's this city Ilellstromme's gOI
throw Gentiles back into their own districts, and bamboozled into thinking he's candy-on-a-stick,
they let errant Saints sleep it off before sending he owns his own railroad, and he can't get rid of
them to their minister. If the problem persists, the only competition in town.
the drunkard is excommunicated and thrown out Hellstromme's been granted a rig Ill-of -way for
of the city. There are many former Mormons in his own Wasatch Railroad, but it's a long way
Junkyard who couldn't live up to this rule. from reaching Salt Lake City. What he'd like to
Sheriff Eli Waters keeps at least three do is buyout the Denver-Pacific and link its line
deputies on duty at all times. Another two are with his. This would give him a huge lead In the
always on patrol in the city. They ride steam Great Rail Wars.
wagons and carry quite an arsenal to deal with The only problem is, the owners of the DP are
particularly dangerous troublemakers. Smith & Robards- and they ain't selling. As a
matter of fact, the DP is their lrump card.
Sheriff Eli Waters The depot services Black River, Wasatch, and
Sal t Lake City'S top law dog is Sheriff Eli Union Blue. On the surface, they're all friends or
Waters. He's a cross between Bat Masterson and at least partners in business. The three are
WyalL Earp. He's got Masterson's style and savvy, allowed to sh ip via the Denver Pacific, including
with Earp'S stubbornness and mien. transferring cargo and passengers at other
Waters and his deputies keep things ve,o;.y depots further east. They're also allowed to use
quiet in Salt Lake City. Drunken workers from certain portions of the DP linc. Only Union Blue,
Junkyard who stray into the city wake up the however, is allowed to run their own lrains
next day hurting from more than just hangovers. anywhere on the line wilhout inspection. That's
because the DP has an exclusive contract to
Danwoody's Furniture Factory supply some of their forts in Nevada.
Howard Oanwoody's family was one of the
first in the valley. He figured everyone needs Deseret Cafe
something to sit on, so he started making The Mormons don'l drin k coffee, tea, or
furniture. What he makes is expensive, but high- whiskey, so don't get too excited, What they do
quality. His cabinets, sideboards, and armoires serve is "Brigham tea," sarsaparilla, flavored
are in great demand among the Mormon upper waters, and other local "gee, [ wish we were
crust. Even Brigham owns a few choice pieces. allowed to drink coffee" type drinks.
For cheaper furnIture, try one of the many [ menlion Ihe Deseret Cafe only because in
secondhand shops in Junkyard. The high I.M. Hymme's dime novels, Nevada Smith orten
turnover in residents means the used-goods meets his contacts here. If he ever did, he
stores always have plenty of merchandise certainly doesn't now that Hymme writes
to go around. ~ about it, or he'd be a lillle more cautious,
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A scne~ of my.! omou~ tu",~ plagul-d purchaSCH 0( f urnIture rrom tl.InYoftX>dy'$ furrllLut\' Factory WlI5l1 just a CQlncKlcn<:e. 0.- _re sinisler forct$ al work'
!
Every week, in the back right column of the 1,
Demel News last page, there is a large black box with a list
of Mormon names printed in white. Next to each
The oflicial newspaper of Salt Lake City is name is an offense of some kind. This is the
the Oeserel News. You won't find a more self- Saints' version of the "scarlet letter." Those
righteou s. opi ntonated, voci ferous rag in all the whose nam es appear in the "blacklist" are
Weird West. Thal's not to say what's in there is shunned by the rest of the community until the
wrong, just that the News has no' c!aim to following edition. Get caught drunk and you'll
objectivity- it's purely an organ of the church see your name and your crime printed for all
and the state of Dcsercl. your neighbors to sec. It works far better than
The editor, Hymus Crum, is a stern Mormon you might think.
from the old days of Joseph Smith. His editorials
preach fire and brimstone to those who would
dare trespass agamst hiS faith. Demel Tithing Office
The source of Hymus' rage is the loss of his
father, also a newspaperman, who was killed in
the Haun's Mill massacre back in Missouri. After
that, Crum picked up a rifle and tossed lead at
10% of everything a citizen of Deserel makes
is paid to the church as a tith e. That money is
collected here, at the Deserel Tithing Office.
Bank robbers beware. The tithing office has all
I
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the Gentiles every time they gave him an the usual safeguards-thick bars, armed guards,
excuse-which admitledly, was often enough in and a safe thick enough to SLOp a cannon
the old days to keep Crum poor from buying round but it's also got a good case of Holy
lead. protection.
Two years ago, a band of thieves staged a
The Blacklist daring daylight robbery They somehow got ,
Besides being a fantastic tool for inducing the inside (the rumors on how they did it are hard to
!
masses to follow tile Mormon's collective
wishes, the Oeseret News is also used by
the Elders to punish the wicked.
M
swallow even for a reader of the Epitaph),
and as lhey were about LO vamoose, their
~ blood sta rt ed boilmg in their veins.
1,
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Witnesses claim the Almighty "smale" them The on ly reason anyone knows much aboul
from above for trespassing against His people. It the Council is because a few years ago, one of
must be true because I saw the bodies lying in the professors, Dr. Leonitus P. Gash, started
open coffins the next day. I guess the bank messing around with sticking mechanical
wanted folks to see so the next band of robbers devices in flesh. The Council decided this wa s a
would think twice about messing with them. blasphemous practice and booted him out.
Dr. Gash didn 't go qu ietly, and it was quite a
Deseret Universi~ scandal at the ti me. He disappeared soon
afterward. Many people assumed that he wa s
The university tcaches all that smart stuff - dead, but Dr. Gash had just gone underground
mathematics, languages, engineering, and so for a whi le. No one knows where he got the
forth. I was never much for book-learning, so I money to keep up his research.
don't know exactly what all they do there, but A year later, his work showed up again. A
you can bet there's a lot of talk about science, factory worker had lost an arm in Hcllstromme's
manufacturing, and a healthy dose of theology. automaton factory. After his recovery, he
I can tell you that while anyone- Mormon or returned to work wi th a mechanical ann. He said
Gentile-is admitted to the schooL the required he'd been "augmented" by the long-lost Dr. Gash.
courses to gel a degree are set by the Church. So He and his kind became known as scrappers.
you can bet your last tuition dollar thaI history I'll tell you more about this fellow in Cha p ter
lessons have more to do with the Book of Seven : M ad Scientist s. It's interesting to note
Mormon than when Napoleon lost at Waterloo. here because the Council essentially made Gash
Brother Young is a frequent lecturer at the what he is today-an underground hero to some
college. I went once, and though I have no idea and the dark side of the new science to others.
what Brigham was talking about, j can tell you I
was damned convinced. ! just don't know what
of. He's a powerful orator with a voice that Edna's Eats
sounds like the wrath of God itself. It's no Mrs. Edna Jacobs cooks the best pastries in all
wonder he's got an enUre nation wrapped Deseret. I'll admit to a bil of sweet-loath, so I go
around his litlle finger. here a lot. If the gloom ever get.s you down, I
recommend stopping into Edna's bake shop and
The College of Engineering treating yourself to some of her goods.
One course I know they leach at Oeseret is You might also find the famous writer, I.M.
Engi n eering. They got a whole program on Hymme hangi ng out here. He and Edna mig ht be
working with mecha nical devices, scientific a lit tl e "sweet" on each other.
theories on ghost rock and its uses, and all l hal. Unlike most of the folks who run businesses
I haven't heard the students being particularly in the city, Edna is a Gentile. Even the austere
successful as yet. but the professors that head Sa ints like a nice sweetro!1 once in a while.
up the department arc all respected scientists
and inventors from around the world.'
I think the students don't do so well because
Empire Mill
the professors mostly use their income to help When the Saints rirst came to the area, one of
fund their own experiments. They might hire a their big tas ks was finding timber. Their solution
student assistant or two, but they can't let whole was La hau l it down from the moun tains and cu t
classes in on their work for fear their designs it into planks at the Empire Mill.
could be stolen and sold to a certain mai l-order These days, the slow-moving sludge won't
company in the nearby hills. power the mill's saw, so it's closed down. The
Hellstromme is the Dean of the College, but ruins are rat-infested and unstable, so stay clear.
he only serves wilen the mood hits him, I'm told. A new Empire Mill was built south of the city
He never lea ches, but wiLhout his influence, ! along the Jorda n River. That's whe re most all our
doubt that Brigham would permit the university usable l umber comes from these days.
to teach co urses concerning ghost rock.
Remember, the Saints donllike it. Faust's Livery Stable
I may have given you the impression that
The Council everyone au ! here owns a steam wagon. Tha.t's
In addition to tea ching, these nutty professors certainly no! the case. Most folks ca.n't afford
head up something called lhe "Council." They them. Those that can do, but the rest of us
serve as a "'think tank" for the state of
~
stick to the old four-legged transports;
Oeserel. Hel1stromme is the chair. ';'26 horses and mules. Even I have a horse- Me.
,L I
Hostile Neighbors
Unfortunately, the very troops designed to
protect against the Gentiles may be the very
ones who start some kind of fight.
Most full-Lime Nauvoo Legion naires were
Golding's Tannery
He re's the place to buy furs. Mr. Harvey
Golding has a very strict conservation policy. He
maps out all the pri me game locations an d
I
soldiers or f rontiersmen before bearing arms for
the Mormon s. Their old habits of dri nking,
gambling, and visiti ng the local brothel d ie hard.
Living so close to Junkyard often proves too
grea t a temptation for the reformed converts.
cha rts the number of pelts coming from each.
Exceed what he thinks an area can handle, and
he refuses to buy your catch.
His prices are higher than over at Jennings'
I
Tannery. but if you've got a brain in your head,
The fort's officers, primarily Major Andrew shop here instead. We've already seen what
McCart hy, is as by -the-book a soldier as you've overllunting can do to the buffalo.
even seen. He doesn't tolerate violations of the
rules- military or Mormon. When he catches his
soldiers drinking liquor or gambling their lithes The Green Room
away, he punishes them brutally. The most excl usive club in all Deseret. maybe
The soldiers tak e out their frustrations on the even the West. is the Green Room. I don't know
Gentiles, usually while o ut on patrol away from who owns it. though he or she must be a
Major McCarthy's prying eyes. I'm not saying the prominent and wealthy Mormon. Only the upper
crust of the Saints are allowed inside- members
I
Legion hates non-Mormon s- !'m just saying there
are certain individuals within this compa ny that of the PreSidency. the Twelve, and a few special
drink. smoke, and gamble, and then beat up friends to whom they've given the golden nod.
anyone who might get them blacklisted in the
Oeserel News.
D.P. Rockwell is defin itely one such friend.
I'd imagine the Green Room Jets these high
,
The co nstant fri ction is going to start a
fire one of these days. We'll see if
muckety-mucks relax in a place where they
don't have to worry abou t who overhears
!,,
McCarthy's got the spit to put it out. their conversations. Nevada Smith's last
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The Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to the Ci~ 0' Gloom
1876 Edition "Believe It or Else!" Only IO¢
Jel1llings' Tannery the Restful Arms Inn are high: $4 per night.
Unless you're loaded, you'd best make your stay
Walter Jennings runs this establishment. short or move on over to one of the "fine"
don't like this man . He does a good business, but establishments in Junkyard.
I don 't like his policies. He buys pelts of any The Restful Arms is run by Mr. Jebed iah
kind, no questions asked. It doesn't matler if Wilkinson, a recent convert to the Church of
everyone says the woods arc almost empty of Latter Day Saints. He charges Mormons only $2
minkS- Jennings still buys tlleir furs. A lillie per night. plus an extra dollar for meals. They're
forethought might keep the critters around here worth it, J'm told.
plentifuL but Jennings' greed is going 10 kill off
every muskrat. fox, and beaver in the terri tory.
Shop there if you want. sell there if you have
The Salt Lake Ci~ Hotel
to, but think a little. A few extra dollars in pelts The Restful Arms wants to be this place, but
today mei;lns no pelts for anyone nexL year. it isn'L The Salt Lake HOlel is the finest I've seen
this side of the Mississippi. You won't f ind a
EXDtic Pelts place any nicer, even in Denver.
A group of MormOns owns the place, but the
Jennings has more than just beaver and
ermine coats for sale. He's got furs from ca retaker is Monsieur Louis Montague. He's a
creatures I've never heard of. He claims most of snooty Frenchman that lives up to everything
his "exotic pells" are just '"simple rabbit furs" he's you've ever heard about them. He's got more
dyed and dressed up, or callIe-hides he's tanned ways to insult you than Jesse James has notches
with his "special processes." on his pistol. What's worse is he expec ts you to
Maybe. I advise you to take a good long look tip him for it too.
at any of the more expensive furs and strange StilL you won't find a rat or bedbug in the
leathers he keeps in the back room. They give whole joint. The food is included in the hefly $12
me a downright creepy feeling. per night charge, and it's about the best thing
that ever squirted past teeth. There's not much
Orphanage of it - the French are funny that way- but what
you gel is incredible.
A lot of folks die in Salt Lake City. Whether A gambler friend of mine, Velvet Van Helter of
they choke on soot. get mangled in some giant New Orleans , stays here whenever he passes
cog, or are murdered by something horrible, through. He claims lhat whi le he wouldn't Slay
some of them leave behind little ones who can't anywhere else, he has the strangest nightmares
take care of themselves. at the Salt Lake Holel. And he says a gunslinge r
That's where the orphanage come~ in. It's run friend of his had an even wi lder experience.
by Widow Grist, a German woman who came Another friend of mine, a traveling tinkerer who
here in '58 with the handcarts. Her own husband sometimes works for Sm ith & Robards, tells me
died during that journey, and when she arrived th e same story. Maybe it's the rich food.
in Salt Lake City, she was given the job of
watching after some of the olher orphans. Her
role grew, and eventually the Church moved her
The Tabernacle
and her growing family into a new orphanage. The Tabernacle was Ihe first assembly
The children work for the Church, picking up building consl ru cted by the Saints. They laid the
trash from the streets of Salt Lake City (not first stones in '51 and finished up just after
Junkyant). It's actually a pathetic sight. and many Hellstromme arrived in 70.
Mormons donate a little money t.o the waifs. Genliles are allowed in here to witness the
If you have a little extra money in your glory of the Latter Day Saints, but not dur ing
pockeL the kids could sure use it. A lot of them any kind of actual ceremony or sermon. Few can
are pale and anemic, as if they don't get enough remain unaffected in the face of this impressive
to eat. You can imagine what feeding over 200 building built out here on the frontier.
kids in the overcrowded orphanage must cost. The main ha l l is just that. a hug e room with a
Grist's helpers are the first girls she raised broad elevated gaJ!ery circling the interior until
for the Mormon s. Now they're al l in their it meets the organ loft and pulpit. Counting
~
. the gallery and pews in the center of t he
early teens and work under her care.
'll ~ hall, it can sea t about 9,000 believers.
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"'' ' ' '" '" Th~' Tombstone Ep'it~Ph's Guide to the Ci~ 0' c~om""""""l
1876 Edition "Believe It or Else!" Only IO¢: ~
The Lost Elder oUL Worse. every time someone reports hearing
the scratching noise, some relatively impOrlant
I
I guess every impressive building has La have member of the church goes La the Great Beyond )
an equa!1y impressive history. I'm lold over a the very next day. Creepy, huh? j
hundred died pulling up the Cathedral at Notre
Dame. The Tabernacle's luck didn't run that bad,
but there were enough accidents during Lhe
TheTemple 'I
building La make even the faithful wonder if the Well. it's mighty big and impress ive. That's all I ~I
Almighty wanted red curtains instead of blue. can lell you, as Gentiles aren't allowed inside,
The most famous of the tales is that of the Maybe 1 can lell you a little morc. Like it was ;
"LOst Elder." At some point in the Tabernacle's begu~ in 1853 an~ hasn't been finished yet. The I
design, one of the interior wa lls was built 12" rock IS granite n1111ed out of the Wasatch. Crews )
closer than it was suppo!:ied to be. Tearing it
down would have caused some structural
drag it out of lhe mountains within sight of the
Smith & Robards' Compound every day. Sleam-
I
weaknesses elsewhere, so the workers just pu t powered vehicles can't bear the weight of the j'
up a new wall, leaving a space between them. stone blocks when going downhill. so horses
Somehow, during the confUSion, one fellow and buggies are used instead. )
who was working inside the walls got sealed in. My Mormon friends lell me lhe purpose o f ~
Don't ask me how-you 'd think he'd notice the the Temple is to shield the most holy rites from )
sudden lack of light and no space to water the the eyes of the uncleansed. There are a number j
lilies, if you catch my meaning. of rooms dedicated to secret ceremonies and ~
The Elder wasn't missed for several days, and
whe n he was, it was too late to tear the wall
other rituals- like the taking of spiritual wives.
If you want to know more, become a Mor mon
j
down. They took out a few stones, of course, and get .hit.chcd or something. Then they might )
and yelled for the man, hut there was no answer. let you II1slde. You heller be sincere in your ~l
. t: few years later, about '63 or so, late night beliefs, though, because the church doesn't take
VISitorS to the Tabernacle claimed they cou ld kindly to "spies." Believe me, some folks have
hear him scratching on the walls, trying to get :~:~ ~~: ;~~n';I~~~ters always seem to ferret j
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The Mormon Templ~. a IM>rk In progress. NO Gentiles are ~lIowed Inside th iS mos] holy of buil dings !!
,
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Any city of this size is going to have its
fair share of trouble. Here's a handful of the ,j
L,. .(.J most dangerous bits. I
t"J Black Hands
96 [f anything has ever threatened to break
the uneasy peace between the Saints and
!
the Gcntiles in Junkyard, it's our resident serial 1
killer, Black Hands.
Black Hands kills only Mormons and, so far,
only well Mto· do Mormons at that. His victims are
horribly mutilated and always missing some part
of their body.
The killer has been called Black Hands
bccause of a sOlitary witness. Mrs. Etna Gruber,
a Danish immigrant. saw a man dressed in a
long black coat standing over one of the victims.
I
She could not see his face, but said his hands
were stained black as ghost rock. 1
Black Hands showed up around September. He
killed Mr. Jack Harding on September 17, Mr.
Harmon Ellis on the 18111, and Mr. Gregory Board
on the 19'h. All were prominent Mormons.
The paper and the local law dogs caught on
1
to the pattern after Board's death, but nothing
else happened until October. About the middle
E~ll stalks the Clly slreecs In the fOrm of lhe myslel"lou~ Black Harlds
I)
Dissenters within the church have started
of the month, three more Mormons were killed.
In every case, pieces of the victims were missing uglier rumors, They claim that the spirits have l
from the crime scene. come to show their disgust with the current
Because of Mrs, Gruber's statement. the direction or the Church and Brigham's rule.
Dcscrel News is pointing the finger at a' The most cynical anLi-Monnons say the
prospector or factory worker who works with ghosts are the shad es of people stain by Young
ghost rock (wl1ich, for those of you from Back over the years, including the families of th e
East. is known to sta in a person's hands black) Mountain Meadows Massacre.
who bears a grUdge against the Mormons. Me? J think there's a still on Third Street.
I
the Nephites. Most supposedly died in an epic
batlle with the Lamaniles a thousand years ago. popping up around the city. Their tactics are a
Now It seems some of those fine folks are lillie less soph isticated than their mommas'. Five
back and checking out their descendants' new or six of them pop up from underfoot or drop
city. Residents between Fourth South Street and down from a height and lake down lone
I
Third West Street claim they've seen a ghostly travelers. A grown man can usually handle one
mob of people late at night. The people are of these suckers, but a passel of these 200-
wearing ancient clothing and marveling at the pound monsters with teeth is another story.
modern buildings. One fellow attempted to talk Pay particular attention after a spring rain.
to them, and another even tried to touch them, The ~round is nice and sofL making it easy for
but each time tl1ey vanished. the lillie suckers to get underneatll you. Sheriff
Brigham Young postulates they are the Waters usually has a few deputies in a steam
spirits of the people of Nephi come home to wagon patrolling th e city for the worms, but 1
Canaan. they can't be everywhere. Watch your step.
1
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1
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IIIIIII III 11'1 1 1,\ IIII \1\1 II I I II II II \\\ \11 II
Nevada Smith
Yep, there really is a Nevada Smith. I've
actually worked with him (or. at least sO':lleon
who said he was Nevada SmLth), and while he7 s
not quite as lucky or as fast with his tra?emark
Gatling pistol as the dime novels make !l,m out
to be, he's twice as heroic.
The author of the dime novels is a fellow by
the name of Ignatious Marlin Hymme, or l.M. to
his friends and fans. I.M. lives in Junkyard and
occasionally even figures into the famous
Pinkerton's adventures. He's "doc umented" such
thrilling tales as Nevada Smith and the
Locomotive 0' Doom, Nevada Smith and tile Lost
Treasure Of the Paiutes, Nevada Smith and the
Automaton Enigma, Nevada Smith alld the Secret
or FaC10/Y #/9, alld of course, Nevada Smith and
tl1c Black Mesa Showdown (I'm in tha t one).
According to I.M.'s tales, Nevada was sent here
by President Grant to spy on Brigham. Before
long, however, he was caught up in "plots both
The 1)0;,51 (and only) oastlog pholo 01 Nc\'ilda Smllh. man <.II my!>let')'
supernatural and devious." involv~ng not only
Brigham Young. but ghosts, vampires,
Spies were\oVOlves, and salt rattlers.
Nevada'S constant nemesis, however, is Dr.
All the major cities in the Disputed Lands are Hell st romme. According to I.M.'s tales, Nevada
crawling with Union a~d Confederate spies. S~h believes Hellstromme has set out Lo destroy lhe
Lake City is no excepuon. In fact because of Its world. and iI's his job to stop him. Smith isn't on
value in ghost rock and technology, there are friendly terms w ith the Oaniles despite their
even more spies here than there. are in . common goal. This is probably because he was
washington, DC. We've got a veritable meillng sent here to stop folks from getting killed, not
pot of espionage with union,.confede~ate, help out the Mormon's sec ret police.
French, Prussian, and even railroad spies.
By and large, most agents are "industrial
spies," interested only in stealing technology.
Who is Nevada Smith?
Remember that all of this is purely conjecture.
Part of this is because neither the USA nor CSA No one. except maybe I.M., knows who Nevada is
have a significant presence in the area. It's no or what he looks like. He's truly a man of a
use them spying on each other when there's thousand faces. Many think it's even possible
nothing to spy on. that there is no single Nevada Smith, but that
On the other hand, Hellslromme's blueprints many of the deeds done by Oanites and <:,ther
are priceless to any nation. I'm lold Jeff Davis is saboteurs are collectively attributed to ttus
particularly interested in the Dr. G.ash's human phantom of Hyrnme's overactive imagination. .
augmentations. Smith & Robards IS also StilL there are an awful lot of folks who claim
sometimes the target of espionage, but the they were about to fall prey to some nefarious
gizmos we make are a litlle less useful for creature or bandit late one night when a man
fighting than Hellstromme Industnes products. with a Gatling pistol emerged from the shadows
That doesn't bother us a bit. by the way. and saved them. The man is never described the
Hellstromme deals with espionage in a same way twice, so if he exists. the rumors
pretty Draconian fashion. We'll talk about of his being a master of disguise are
{gj ':'32
the Steam Pipe Incident later.
certainly true.
I '
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Editors Note As with the previouS map. the IllilJO!1ty of the skel sky has been omitted to make the map more u~lul
Cffi
1
'L84 '
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The Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to the Ci~ 0' Gloom 1
1876 Edition "Bclieve It or Else!" Only lOe
I
Places of Note 1
The Asylum
The first place on the list mig ht be the 1
103
last place you ever see. Working in an
assembly line day after day, in a city
perpetually covered in soot for wages barely
above your cost of living, can be a liltle less
!
than mentally stimulating. Not everyone can 1
hack it. Those lhat can't wind up in the insane
asylum. 1
Dr Emil I!\bbcrt and a learn 01 nurses~a l 1
widows-staff the Asylum. Dr. Hibbert is an odd, 1,
obseSSIve bird who believes he can cure his
patients of their various maladies w ith what he
calls "coni rontational therapy" lie has wild,
I
while hair, a nose like a beak, and thick
II
spectacles that make his eyes look big as
!>Jucers. You'll know him if you see him.
The widows are all women whose husbands
were either killed In Junkyard or have been
adnlllled as palients to the Asylum. Most of
these women had nowhere else to go when their
l
husbands died (or were no longer competent), so
Hibbert lets them work at the sanitarium in
exchange for room and boa rd.
By the way, according to the laws of Deseret.
a husband or wife round insane is legally "dead."
They cannot vote, work, receive income, etc.
Cat's Used Goods
I
Smce this is a new Mormon law, anli~Mormons
claim the Saints use it to confiscate the property I mentioned before that there's a high turnover
j
or wife of someone Ihey don't like by having rate in the ractones. With all those folks coming
them declared "insane." You can believe what and gomg. there's a huge market in used goods. 1
you want. Furniture, clothes, you name it. Cat's got it
If an insane person is ever cured, he is "Cat" is Katherine waShington, a black 1
"reborn" as a new person. If he had a spouse, woman. There aren't too many black women out
they are no longer married, though the two can here, and J can't think of too many anywhere
remarry if they wish. Property, job, and most that actually run a business. I think she's greal. 1
everything else is still forfeited, however. If you don't like that idea, [ suggest you steer
clear. Cat's got a temper on her. 1
Some Disturbing Tales Cat is known in )unkyard as something of a
Some folks claim thaI while there are about heroine. She's saved rolks' lives more times than I
200 patients at the Asylum, there have been can counl Once a pack of young rattlers chased
almost twice as many admilled in the last two
years and nowhere near enough deaths to
a man inlo a blind alley in Junkyard He would
have been worm food if Cal hadn't happened to
1
account for them. I've heard similar stories about be strolling by. Fortunately ror him, she carries a
every hosp!lal or sanitarium mentioned in the Gatling pistol for emergencies, and she blasted
I
Epitaph so take such tales with a grain of sail. those critters to Kingdom Comc.
Dr. Hibbert and the widow nurses are fine She's also a bit of a humanitarian. Folks who
rolks. so t!lal rules out mass murder So unless need a Jew basic pieces of furniture have been
the insane are slipping down a drain somewhere,
I think t!lese stories are more wild exaggerations
able to buy from her on credit. cal ra rely gets
her money back, but it doesn't seem to bother
,
spread by folks who are scared of ending up her. I
t!lere themselves. Oh, and did J mention she'S my best
friend?
1
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The Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to the Ci~ 0' Gloom 1
1876 Edition "Believe It or Else!" Only lO():
Plant #9
Hellslromrne's mechan ical spiders, scorpions,
and other clock work minions are made at this
large factory. The second - highest- paying jobs are
fOllnd here, beat only by jobs in Plant #3, the
I!
automalon factory.
The creatures assembled here hold the same
secrets as the automatons. Something in their 1
heads gives them the ability to think and receive
orders. And just like automatons. they blow up if
you get too close.
j
Plant #13 •
Label this a "bad place" to work. Maybe it's
the number 13, but this place is unlucky as 1·lelL
j
Officially, Hcllstromme manufactures "bul let -
proof vests" and other wacky devices ror his
"experimental squads" here. UnoffiCially, he
might as well manufacture body pa rts for al l the
cor pses that come out plant #13'5 doors.
I don'l know why, but they have more
fatalilies and manglings here t han any other
plant in Junkyard. And it's always different. One
I
week, a fellow gelS his hand caught in t he
industrial sewing machine. The next week, a
worker falls into the smeller where they make
the metal inserts. Another week, some poor sod
in the testing department fi res a gun at a vest Workers 1011 .....'ay In one of Hclistrommc lndUSI" ~S' manutactunns pl ants.
only LO have his weapon backfi re and blow his
hand off.
Don't work here. Rea lly. No matter what they
offer you.
Inns & Hotels
Wilen you first get to Junkyard (and you don 't
Plant m have enough money to stay in the ciLy), you're
going to need a cheap place to bed down for the
I
~
Hellslromllle makes miscellaneous parts for
his armored vehicles in this plant. Nuts, bolts, night. Here arc a couplc of the least o f f e n s i v e jI
radiators, stea m boilers, and the like are dives. There are others. but unless you want to
produced here, then shipped out to Plant #47 out
on the Salt Flats.
share a bed, sleep on a rooL or shack up with a
family trying to pay their power bill by renting
out the floor, I suggest you stick with these.
I~
This is a great place to work. There are few
I1
accidents, and nottling here's secret. so Dani tes
or spies shouldn't be blowing anything up. GDnzalez'sHDuse
Manuel Gonzalez used La be a courier (or the
The Power Plant Mexican Army. He was an excellent horseman
Plant #"24 is commonly called the "power and a fast runner (his nickname is "Speedy") He I'
plant." though its real name is the SaIL Lake was transferred from the garrison at Mexico City
Valley Electrical Plant. This is where the City 0' to Santa Anna's staff in the southern Maze, and ~
Gloom gets all that electricity from. Il's never he couldn't believe what he witnessed. !
closed. and besides a couple of Hellstromme's
automatons, it's patrolled by a full-time squad of
his toughest X-Squad goons. No one wants their
Speedy won't say what he saw there, but it
was bad enough to convince this loyal and
honest fellow to desert. Santa Anna gave him the
II
)
power cut by some shifty saboteur. chance. He sent him into Texas disguised as a
Every now and then, however, the plant gets a peasant to buy a wagon load of whiskey-
glitch. If you're here and l he power goes out, Speedy won't say what it was for. He look the )
don't bust your chaps. J-Iellstromme's work money and just kept going. He stopped when
crews will get it back on in a few hours. As he hit Salt Lake City, and soon after, he
soon as they can chase the gremlins out. bought a crumbling apartment bui lding.
------ , , ..
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pretty to me. And her singing made my and the "perseculion of free speech" by both
ears ring. To each his own, I reckon 1. the United States and Confederate
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The Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to the Ci~ 0' Gloom I
1876 Edition "Believe It or Else!" Only 10~
1
governments. It seems Reverend Hungate is in
Deseret because he's wanted. I don't know what
for, and neither do the lawdogs, or they would
have arrested and extradited him
Drmys
The oreways were created by- you guessed it -
!
Dr. Hellslromme. Miners in the wasatch
Lenore's House of Fine Arts Mountains dig ghost rock all day, then sell it to
assayers at the top of the oreways. The are then
Miss Catherine Lenore collects "fine" an. travels down several miles of conveyor belts to
while hers is a private home, she opens her
doors to the public every Saturday from noon to
crushers at the bottom. There I he rock is sold to
various factories or individuals. Some factories
i
sundown She takes donation s for the have their share dropped from the crushers
collection's upkeep, but she never seems that directly onto another conveyor that runs into 1
concerned that the Junkers don't contribute. their plants. Others buy it by the wagonload to
Most of the art was created by the [oSl souls
or Junkyard, so it's not particularly artistic, and
power their own factories' needs.
From dawn to noon, Hellstromme makes a few
I
neither is it particularly fine. Bul it is interesting.
The paintings and sculptures are usually of
flowers, fields, and things Junkers haven't seen in
extra bucks by running the conveyors in reverse.
Miners can pay IOq; to ride the belt up into the
hills- a much-needed break for those who don't
II
a long time. Kind of sad, really But there's this have their own mule. After noon, the conveyors
I
one room of the house where Marie keeps only go downhill. It's easy to climb off before
Adelade Pick el'S paintings. you get dumped in the crusher, but be careful.
Adelade PickeL is from, well. somewhere else. More than one miner has fallen asleep during
lie hard ly speaks a word of English, works 12- the long ride down. I'm told their blood sizzles
hour days at the power plant, and spends his
even ings painting. Hi s paintings are dark,
when it hit s the ghost rock.
If you're thinking the oreways sound like easy j
brooding '.vorks of pipes, steam, and steel. Look targets for robbery, you're wrong. Besides being
ca refully, though, and you can see other shapes elevated 20 feet off the ground, they're patrolled
in the paintings. Horned humanoids, glowing by a squad of Hcllstromme's mounted thugs. 1
eyes, "scaly" serpentine cables and other J
weirdnesscs hide in the his eerie masterpieces.
Catherine is fascinated with Picket's work,
The Rathole
I
though she doesn't seem to care much for Picket Okay, the real name of this huge apartment
himself. I also don't think Cathy has lots of complex is really something like "A Warren's
money-I mean, Junkers aren't known as "patrons Apartments." If someone calls It that, you're
of lhe arts." I wonder sometimes just how she probably talking to A. Warren himself.
I
pays Picket for hi s work. The Rathole is the largest of the apartment
buildings in Junkyard. There arc 200 apartments,
Nicho~' Chost Rock Refinery but probably three times as many tenants. Most
tenants are single men, a few are women, and ~
The "Nichol Plant " refines ghost rock. Inside, most all are factory workers. No families stay at
the workers take raw ore, crush it, sift out the the Rathole, for reasons I'll tell you about below.
impurities, melt it, then pour the molten rock If you get a job here, you can rent rooms at
into various size molds. the Rathole for $5 a month. There's always
The ghost-rock "cylinders" that come oul in room-no one stays here long.
the end arc sold to folks who rely on ghost-rock
"ru e! cores" to power their vchicles. All of our in Rats the Walls
ghost-rock powered inventions here at Smith & As soon as someone started calling the
Robards can use fuel cores. apartments the "Rat hole," real rats started
This is usually a great place to work. The showing up everywhere. It was almost like the
owner, Jason Nichols, is a good Mormon who
doesn't take any unnecessary chances with his
local rat population heard the name and decided
the building was built for them.
I
investment. That means he's careful with his Most every place out here has rats, but the
ghost rock. He only had three explosions in '76.
The only problem, of course, is the risk of
catchmg "ghost -roc k fever." Wear your patented
Smith & Robards mask even if the rest of the
vermin here are big as cats. Some of the tenants
claim they've seen rats as big as dogs.
That's why families with smal[ children avoid
this place. Though it's never happened to my
I1
tinhorns don'!. This may sound like a plug knowledge, folks are afraid rats that big
for my company, but it' could save your life. ~ would make off with their lillie ones.
1
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1\ rough night at the L~-dS~ watch what )-<>1.1 ,;ay If you decide to hailS OUI here. SWlIlg plili~rs lend to he volatIle sons
r
three years ago after being ejected from Deserel
University, It seems that Spunzo was a supporter
Meeker. She's a big woman who can outdrink,
outfight, and outcuss any of her customers. !,
of Dr. Gash, and tile work enviro nment gOL a Consid ering her usual clientele, that's saying j
little hostile after the good doctor disappeared. something.
Spunzo, who had received an inheritance from a "I
rich relative Back East. bought a tenement in The Steamer
Junkyard. rented out the above-ground floors and Edgar Maybrick turned the basement of this
converted the basement into a hangout for Salt
Lake CitY'5 "brilliant minds,"
apartment building into a saloon. Business
wasn't so great, but then the steam pipes ,1.
It caught on pretty quickly. Most sci enlists and
inventors welcomed the chance to be around
running through the roof sprung a slow leak,
turning the "Junkyard Saloon" into the "Steamer." ,J
people that "understood" them and their \vork. It's holler than Hell in there, but for some
The Monkeywrench is regarded as neutral reason, Junkers love it. Why? For one reason the ,J '
ground by the scientific communi ty of tile City
o' Gloom, with Smith & Robards researchers
steam keeps the soot down. tt's hard to breathe,
but at least irs relatively clean air. The biggest
I
talking freely wiLM Hcilstromme's. reason the Steamer became a hot spot. however, "I '
There is a gentlemen's ag reement among lhc is because it's so danged hard to see in there.
I
f
patrons that no one talks about their projects That makes it the perfect place for people to
that they're working on for lheir employers. All hold a quiet meeting away from prying eyes. I
SCientists are mud more interested in their own
ret projects anyway.
Most normal folks don't go to the
Monkeywrench, but I've been there many limes
Worker's Hospital
You'll hear as many dark stories about the
r
),
read or play poker It's actually relaxing once you strike, and this was one of their demands. The I
learn to screen out all the talk in the room. factory owners quickly agreed, but as you can "
You might think this would be a pretty quiet
place, and most nights it is. But mad scientists
guess, they didn't pony up lhe funds for good
doctors. And a few months later, they started f
being the passionate creatures that they are (and taking "medical dues" out of everyone's wages to
cover the quacks they did hire. If you really need
j
trust me, they are) it's not unusual for an
,j
intelledual discussion to degenerate into a decent saw bones, see Doc Yates.
!f YOLl have to go lo the Worker's Hospital.
fisticuffs_ I had to drag one of our best
don't eat first. In the recovery rooms, you'll see ,,'
engineers out the back entrance one night after
he found a fault in some other scientist's pet
design. Dr. Spunzo does have a couple of
folks who lost their limbs in the factories.
victims of "exploratory" surgery, and other
horrors. The floor above that holds the Black
!
bouncers who keep things roughly in line, so J
most fights are brief events.
The Rustbucket
Lungers. These poor folks have so much soot in
their lungs that Death practically sits in the
waiting room. well, he would if there was one.
r
One of our seedier saloons is the Rustbucket.
It might sound "quaint" to an Easterner, but once
Stay away from the surgical rooms altogether,
whether as a patient or a curious wanderer The l'
you realize they actually save leftover beer in
ru sty buckets to serve later, you might
change your opinion_
screams you hear from inside can curdle your
blood. And if they're your screams, pray to
tile Almighty for forgiveness, 'cause you're
r"
!~1 1
going to meet Him real soon.
r"
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The Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to the Ci~ 0' Gloom
1876 Edilion "Bclieve It or Else!" Only IO~
~-3
boss or neighbor who reports it to the officials.
. ,. long enough You might get mangled by But think about this. There are more than
, some chunk of mach inery in the factory 30,000 lost souls Jiving in junkyard, with several
you work in. Or you might catch ghost-rock hundred morc coming in monthly. Another 50,000
109 fever and go out in a blaze of glory. or so live in or around Salt Lake City.
But unfortunately, there are worse things. such With that many people, there's going La be a
as bandits. ladies of the night. and strange lot of disappearances. Especially in junkyard
crilters that lurk in the Steel Sky. where transien ts come work for a while and
II lot of what I'm going La lell you Illay sound then try their best to get out again. When they
fantastic. It is. There might be perfectly do, lhey don't always tel l the boss they're
reasonable explanations (or some of the stufr leaving. ['ve heard of Lhe same sort of
that goes on , or there might not. I'll just tell you "disappearances" going on out in the City of
what popular superstition is. and you can come Lost Angels, in a place called Ghost Town.
up with your own half-baked answers. So lake all the weird stories you heal' out here
about missing persons with a gra in of sail
AIIeycats There's plenty of real weirdness witllOut
concocting any more.
Let's start w ith one of the rcally weird ones.
You see, there was a craze here in 72. Everybody
who was anybody had a "mechanical cat." The East End Massacre
Sounds silly, doesn't it? [ guess you had to be About two years ago, junkyard played host to
here. one of the bloodiest cr imes in Salt lake City'S
Anyway, an mventor named Dr. Erwin Gotlleib history: the East End Massacre.
was trying (\ike many others) to discover the . , One of the strangest things about the East
secret of Dr. Hcllstromme's automatons. He dldnt End Massacre is that it happened in broad
want to start with a fu l l- blown automaton, so he daylight out in public, but to this day, no one is
made a mechanical cat. The damn things could rea l ly sure what happened or who .did it. .
walk, make clicking noises, and, welL that waS tt happened around five o'clock.m the eve~JI1g
about it. They were absolute fa ilures as scientific on Tuesday, july 15, t874. That's shllt - ch~nge LIme
advances. As toys, however, t hey were an in the factory district. and the streets 01
overnigh t success. junkyard's eastern end were flooded with
At first. when GoUleib just wanted them out workers going to and from work. 11 was a ctear
of his sight he sold them cheaply enough that day, but it's always dim under the Steel Sky, and
workers' families could afford them. Later, when the electric street lights had not yet been turned
Mormon children decided they wanted them too, on for the evening.
the price got higher. This is where things gets fuzzy- According to
Someone must not have liked Gottleib's var ious accounts, ei ther one man . several men, a
inflation, because he was found torn La shreds wild animal or animals, an automaton gone
in 74. The superstitious claim his body was berserk, or some combination of the above, burst
mutilated by his toy cats] More rational minds from a side alleyway into Iron Street. The only
believe a jealolls factory worker who cou ldn't thing that witnesses could agree on was that \l
alTord the toys took out his frustrations on Dr. was shaped roughly lIke a man.
Gotlleib. Things like that happen in Junkyard. Reports say the being (known popu larly as
At any rate, something weird happened the East End Madman) em itted a hideous scream,
afterward. Those damn mechanica l cats are still but with in a matter of seconds any noise that it
around. And t hey're smart now. No more just was making was drowned out by the yells and
walking in a straight line making clicking noises. screams of the victims. 15 innocen t people died
Now they hide in trash piles and teap out for m five minutes of mayhem Some had theIr
00
your throat! skulls cracked in as If by a massIve club, and
The workers say the "alleycats" are haunted other wele lIterally torn 11mb from limb The
by Gottlcib's spirit, looking for vengea.nce on gutters literal!y ran Icd WIth the blood of the
his killer. Maybe. I've seen stranger Ihmgs. m_a_d_m
_ a_n_'S_V_ic_t_im_s_._ __________
I, '
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The Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to the Ci~ 0' Gloom j
1876 Edilion "Believe lL or Else!" Only \O~
Lurkers
There's a weird gang of masked bandits that
operate out here. They hang out up in the Steel
I
1
Sky somewhere and jump down on lone
travelers late at night They use tethers, much !
like the swing players (sec below), so some folks
think they're ex-swingers who have put their
athletic ability to more profitable use.
!,
The Lurkers usua!1y just surround some slob
and take his money, bu t lately they 've become
I
murderous. Several victims have been found
hanging in the Steel Sky, horribly mulilated. 1
A lot of folks are trying to gel "Slicer"
Muldoon, the currem swing champion, to get up
there after them, but so far no one's offered
!,
Slicer enough money to make it ..·vorlh his while.
What's wrong Slicer? Va chicken?
1
Roofers
Something lives on the rooftops of Junkyard.
At first everyone thought maybe they were just
cats or rats, then someone got killed and a
witness saw a small creature scuttling up a
steam pipe onto the Junkyard rooftops. Everyone
II
,
assumed it was the alJeycats.
Then some woman saw another murder~and
she swears a human head with two long arms
1
sewn onto it jumped orf the corpse and bounded
up onto the roof.
Since then, a few others have reported seeing
the strange creature, but they described it as a
j
head with two feeL a head with a leg and an
arm, and so forth. Only the head is common to
all descriptions.
I
Sheriff Waters claims the "roofers" are a form
of mass hysteria. I'm inclined to believe him, as
there's been no more murders and not a shred of
proof It's likely the first two murders were just
1
another of Junkyard's lragedies and the
unfortunates who stumbled upon the bodies
suffered some kind of delusion. I hope.
I
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, " "
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"
The Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to the Ci~ 0' Gloom
1876 Edition "Believe It or Else!" Only IO¢:.
Chapter Five: Current Events beat the life out of his opponent-literally.
Though I'm ashamed to admit it. the crowd
went wild, and the game of "pit" was born.
That's some of tile people and places of
r~ our lillIe city. Now let's talk about some of Normal boxers didn't stand a chance anymore.
Pit became a gladiatorial event in which the
~3 il~~;~~Oing on around h6e today. augmented fought each other, bears, mountain
lions, and even poor imitations of Hellstromme's
automatons made by some crackpot scientist
III You heard me: bloods ports. It's like rhe with nothing better to do.
days of ancient Rome around here sometimes. The most recent champion, Phineas Young
what with the popularity of pit. sku\!chucker (one of Brigham's children who doesn't embrace
and swing. All three sports are potentia l ly quile his father's religion), was slain by a particu larly
deadly, as YOu']] see in a moment. mean. ugly. and vicious bull. The bull has since
vanished. though word has it President Young's
WhyBloodsports? been eating a lot of steak lalely,
Why have these brutal sports caught on?
Think about it. Life can be preuy stale lor a Skullchucker
factory worker She gets up al dawn, trudges King has a head for games. He likes watching
toward the factory, works on a hol assembly line an augm ented wrestler fight a Kodiak as much
or some such al l day, then goes home to a dirty as the next guy. but there just isn't enough
apartment for a few hours sleep before doing it strategy in it for him. 50 he devised a new game
allover again . Watching someone put everyt hing ca l led "skullchucker."
on the line for fame and glory is exciting. I guess He built the arena tor this new game in a
it gives workers hope in some morbid way. rectangle nearby the old pit. A four foot - high
It also offers the chance to get rich quick. and plaLlbrm stands at the center of either end. Each
that always appeals to the destitute. Wageri ng one has a barrel. and a third barrel sits in a six-
on the games is all part of the experience, and foo t-deep pit in the center of the arena.
large sums of money change hands in the wake Each team gets a sku!1 painted up in their
of a major pit fight or skullchucker game. A few tea m colors. They try to get it in the central
lucky folks have actually made their fortunes barrel (] point) or the other team's barrel (3
through the bloodsports. Of course, even more poin ts). They can also steal the other team's
have lost their already rather threadbare shirts. skull and place it in their own barrel (5 points).
The Mormons preach against bloodsports but Half the team gets to carry clubs or staves·
haven't done anything about them yet. I thin k they're cal led "skullcrackers." The rest wear only
Brother Young Sees these deadly games as a way armor and <:Ire simply called skullchuckers
of letting the Gentiles work out their violent bec<:luse a common strategy is to throw the skull
tendencies on each other rather than on the around and caLch the other team where its
Saints_Or maybe he's a fan. Who knows? defenses are weak.
The SpOrl is growing so big LhaL leams from
Pit other cities have tormed. The Morgan Maulers
Two years ago, there was an huge explosion are odds-on favorites of late, but the Bountiful
in west Junkyard that left a pit nine feel deep Bashers are pretty good too.
and about 50 feet across. No one knew what to
do with it, until some fel lows jumped in and The Tourney
started beating the living (okay, we can't print King has proposed a major skullchucker
evelything Sally says/-Ed) out of each other. tournament for August of '77. The eight best
Soon afler, disorganized boxing ma tches teams are to participate in a week- long "round-
sprang up in the pit. drawing hundreds of robin" event. The winner gets $5,OOO!
gamblers. Il didn't take long for someone to )unkyard is all abuzz about this upcoming
realize there was money to be made. 1\ large spectacle; its the talk of nearly every saloon in
Scollish fellow named Bill King bought the pit town, even though the event is many months
and turned it into a boxing arena. It was away. "5kul!chucker fever " haS even begun to
profitable, but King wasn 't gelling rich. spi l lover into the Mormon community. Of
Then, one day a boxer came in with an course, Brigham has suggested that all good and
augmented arm. His name was Easton proper Mormons should steer clear of the
Purdue, a big bruiser who had lost his ar m event, and the Desert/ News has run
in the factories and had the infamous Dr.
(fill
.
columns condemning it.
1
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I,
~
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i
1
Swing
"K iller" Ca rl 8'VC1l5 <In d U,.zy "'Tile
I
It started in Junkyard. See, hundreds of pipes and gutted all the other players and left them
girders stretch high over the Sludge. Someti m es, hanging unconscious in their harnesses without
repair crews use ropes and harnesses in their bothering to cut them loose. Two died. The other
work to make sure they don't fall into the toxic three were fixed up by Doc Ya tes and have
waLer below. Some of these workers get prelly sworn off swing for life as a result.
good at climbing and swinging around like You can find "Slicer". along with a whole lot
pirates. One day. two workers decided to see of other swingers and their adm irers, at the
who was best. and thus another bloodsport was Ledge bragging about his last fight every
born Saturday night. He's a cocky son-of-a (Again, we
apologize Jor Ms. Manners' language, -Ed') Last!
I
In swing, one to four swingers per side latch
onto the girders at different points, and then heard, odds wefe 4-1 against anyone beating him.
swing out over the Sludge on 40-foot tethers.
The object is to cut everyone else's cord and be King's Challenge
the last player 5winging~or alive. Swing's growing popularity has scared Bill 1,
Players use whatever kind of blade they want King a bit. Skullchucker is big business, donl get
to accomplish this task - knives, sabers, even me wrong, but I guess he worries the violence in
sw ing will eventually gather bigger crowds than
I
polearms. Needless to say, most folks wind up
CUlling up the other players before they even sk ullchucker.
think about slicing their tethers. Since lhere's no
"ow ner" here to keep things at least a little
True or not, he's been ta l king about amending
the rules to allow one player per side to become
II
.'
under control, murder and mayhem are allowed. a "skullsplittcr," letting him use a bladed
The only rules are no guns and no gizmos. The weapon. He's also talked about Jelling scrappers
crowd is tl,c only referee. The winner of play. ! hope not. The last thing we need
each game gets 25% of whatever the around here is more ways for more folks 10
C!J
bookies bring in. '~S get kil led.
1
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I
The Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to the Ci~ 0' Gloom
1876 Edition "Believe [t or Else!" Only 10<;:
1
The toll canyons ma ke a little money for lhe
Chapter Six: Salt Lake Environs Saints who own them (and the Church through
Lhe lithe system), but t hey're also a great way of 1
The City 0' Gloom is the dirty filling in defending Sail Lake City. The US Army found ou t
the Utah pic. So let's ta l k about the crust. how narrow they were dur ing lhe Mormon War. 1
al! the interesting and weird things outside A couple of canno ns or GaUings and a few rifles I
of town that yo u might want La see or that can hold off an army in these narrow passes. ~
you shoul d avoid. With that in mind. the owne rs of the canyons
have invested heavily in their defense. Al l the
111
Browning Arms Factory canyons have some kind of thick wa l l or 1
barricade across them now. Guns and guards are
Jonathan Browning and his two sons operate in towers or bunkers along the canyons' rim.
the largest arms factory in Deseret, located up in Most of Deseret is wide open and so must rely
Ogden. The Brownings fOCllS on subcontracted on the Nauvoo Legion to defend its borders. Salt 1
Peacemakers and Wincheslers.
I understand both Colt and Winchester got in
Lake City, however, has little to fear from
anything but a full-scale invasion.
I,,
trouble for sharing thei r design with the These canyons are all passable, bu t there are
Brownings and "arming the Mormons." Whatever also a number of box canyons hereabouts, and I
the ir punishment by the governments Back East.
it hasn't Slopped them yet.
some of these hide strange secrets. l'lere's a little
more information on some of the most infamous
canyons you're likely to wander into.
I,
Copper Quarries Devil's Canyon I"
I know ghost rock is hot, but don't lorget
When tile Mormons first got to Utah, they
I
there's other are in the hills. The Wasatch range
were told Devil's Ca nyon was home to lost AZlec
is fu l l of copper There are several quarries
gold. The story goes lha t the Aztecs fleeing
employing a coup le of hundred workers.
Spanish conquista dors fled into this area and hid
their treasures from them.
Gentile Cemetery A cave somewhere in Devil's Canyon was one
Fol ks stay buried at the Mormon Cemetery, of these. When the Aztecs found it. according to
but good luck getting a corpse La stay put here. Paiute legends, they sacrificed one of their own 1
Gentiles with a few bucks in their pockets to serve as a guardian. That fell ow lurned into a
when they die usually get shipped to their hideous monster of some ki nd and supposedly
families Back East. Those with no families get still dwells there today. I'd discount this as just 1
real headstones if they left their funds to a
rriend with some smattering of morals. The rest
another wild laIc except that my run-in with the
Black Chaplains a few years ago was one of the j
,
of the unfortunates get wooden crosses and creepiest things I've ever seen in my life- and I've
two-foot graves. Which may be the reason they been around. Give this place a wide berth. i
get dug up so easy.
You see, every couple of times they take a
new corpse up to the cemetery, lhe last ones are
Long Drop Canyon
Ever notice how most places arc named
I
dug up, cut up, and laid out in the sun. Sure, "'Devi\'s this" or "Skull thal"? I think everyone
someone could stop it if they wan ted, but it's who discovers some landmark wants his to 1
not really worth the effort. No one's paying to sound creepier than the last one to make
find out what's going on, so no one does. himself look more important.
J imagine it wou ld win points with the Lord if
someone could fix things so the dead could rest
Long Drop Canyon isn't quite so menac ing to
the ear, but it's definitely as deadly as most
j
in peace instead of in pieces. other "evW ravines around here. See, the Long
The Canyons
Drop IS a deep, jagged crack in the earth, near ly
200 feet deep in the moun tains east of the ciLy. 1
There's gold in the botlom. Panners sift iL rrom
All around Salt Lake City are dozens of
canyons. The Mormons charge tolls of all those
who pass through them, Mormons and Genti les
the stream that runs through it. and others dig it
out of the side walls just like those crazy folks
in the Maze. The trouble is the ledges leading
j
,
alike. The current toll is 254 a head, plus an down into Long Drop are so narrow and so
additional dollar for every axle if you're prone to collapse that there arc almost as ,I
driving (! guess they f igure if you have a
~
I many bones down there as there are gold
steam wagon YOll can afford more in tolls). e
'~7 ~ n_"_8_8__'_
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Skull Canyon
Skull Canyon gets its name from the skull -like
The Great Salt Lake
Picture a bowl full of salt. Now picture
wall at its end. lLs eyes and nose are only deep, yourself pouring a canteen full of water into it
shadowy niches, but the mouth is a cave tha L That's the Great Salt Lake, Except your bow!
leads far under the Wasatch Mountains, probably won't have lake Hellions and a giant
A famous prospector, Coot Jenkins, ventured sea monster.
far down in the tunnels many years ago. He There arc a few weird fish swimming around
claims there are strange, rounded tunnels leading Sail Lake, but none big enough to cal. There are
on seemingly forever, but no ore, Coot's word is plenty of liny brine shrimp, though, and while
taken as law, so few others have ventured into they're hard ly fit for humans, there's a few
Skull Cave. or those wllo have, some returned thousand birds and pelicans that eat them
with no problems. Others vanished forever. The water is about two-thirds sall-sallier
than the oceans . Even folks who can't swim have
Corrine an easy time dog-paddling because lhe water's
so buoyant. The Mormons harvest saIL from the
Corrine is a wild Gentile town on the northern
edge of the Great Sail Lake. Il'S everything you've lake and sell it to other lawns out West or Back
ever read about in dime novels. There's noth ing East.
there but dancing, drinking, and carousing. The saIL farmers use weird stea m-powered
Both Mormons and Gentiles often sneak up to trawlers to drag giant metal nels througll the
Corrine to join the fun. The Mormons have yet to waler. The metal nets are charged by an on-
crack down on this den of rowdies and boa rd generator, and the electricity makes sail
troublemakers, I reckon they think it's beller to particles stick 10 them. Then they haul the nets
keep all the trouble in one place where they can to shore and scrape off the salt La be refined.
watch it than to force it "underground."
Lake Hellions
Fort Bridger About those brine shrimp I mentioned earlier.
According to the locals, the polluti on from the
Jim Bridger is a near- legendary mounta in man City 0' Gloom has mutaled some of thelll. There
who explored more of the desert lhan any man are bri ne shrimp in there as long as your hand,
known. When he (irst told folks of the geysers Worse, they bite. Worse than that, they're smart.
and other wonders at Yellowstone, they often We call them lake Hellions, They reed mostly
called the wild tales "Bridger's Lies." Only after on the lake's birds, and they way they do is
other explorers told of Yel1owstone's wonders did downright creepy. A few Hellions let themselves
folks start believing Bridger's incredible stories, float to the top and look dead or wounded (or
Jim eventually put up a fort in southern maybe they really are- which is really scary).
Wyoming, near enough to Salt Lake City to spit When a bird swoops down to catch it. a couple
at with a strong wind. In fact. wilen Brigham and hundred shrimp launch themselves rrom the
the rest of the Mormons first ventured here, he depths and catch the bird in mid-flighl. Each one
discouraged them from settling in the va lley, has a mouth and scores of liny but sharp lillIe
saying that vegetables wouldn't grow there for teeth. When the thrashing's over, there's nOlhing
lack of water. I guess he didn't cOllnt on left but bird bones.
persistent irrigation. I've also hea rd that lake Hellions attack
Over the years, "Fort Bridger" has become a people. They can't jump high enough to gel
famOlls waystation for settlers crossing the inside the salt trawlers, but any roo! who on the
deserts, It has also served as a military outpost. lake in a rowboat is asking for trouble.
During the Mormon War in '59, the Union force I read an article in the De5erel NeW5 once that
used the fort as their staging and supply point. makes me even more wary of these things.
Needless to say, this didn't endear Jim to the According to some scientist named Dr. Sheldon
Mormons. He's llad a love-hate relationship with Lysinger, he came across the aftermath of a lake
the Saints ever since. He's harbored those who Hellion attack on people. The bodies were
have opposed Brigham, then turned around and floating in the lake, and the doctor would have
helped the Mormons out in times of need. tried to retrieve them if his boatman hadn't
In short, Jim Bridger is an invaluable friend if stopped him. As they left lhe scene, the Hellions
you plan on exploring northern Deseret. You swarmed over the floating corpses and
can obtain supplies, water, and even devoured them, Could these critters really be
medical assistance at reasonable prices. smart enough to use hllmans as bait?
Idaho
The State
Ij
of Deseret
Scale: 1"=35 miles
® •
~
Great Salt
Lake Desert overlook
• Hotel
• S)<tlll
Canyon
Long E>JOp
• canyo.n
Mq,utlh
.0' Hell
DevAI's .
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InDians
There are several local tribes of Indians, but
the ones you're most likely to run into if you go
traipsing au! of the city are Paiutes (sometimes
just called Utes) and Shoshoni.
Both are friendly-most of the time-but about
once a year it seems something happens to rile
the Shoshoni. Then they raid outlying farms and
settlements and scalp and lorture every white
man, woman, and child they catch. When this
happens, the Mormons respond with
overwhelming forcc. The Nauvoo Legion and
bands of experienced scouts and Indian fighters
ruthlessly tear into the Indian villages and
retaliate in kind .
The Legion can get away with such heavy-
handed revenge because thei rs is a society based
on ultimate authori ty. If Brother Brigham says
P31uto;: traders convcrse wit h a Mormon at a trad ing poSt In Ogden
the Lamanites must be slain, then it must be so.
Okay, that's the scary stu ff. The good news is
Briny Lhat the citizens of Deserel are almost always at
Regular readers of the Epitaph have no doubt peace with the Indians. They get along better
heard of Nessie, Champ, and Jericho. We've got than the Confederates and the Coyotes.
our own monster out here, and we call llel" Briny. 1 don't have the space to tell you a whole lot
Whether or not she exists is of little debate. about the local tribes in te rms of their culture
Lots of folks have seen her purplish tentacles and history. For lhat sorl of in formation, r
rise from the depths and drag men from the recommend picking up a copy of Indian Coull try:
decks of their boats to a salty doom. What no A His/ory and Guide. It's written by a fellow
one's really sure about is whether Briny really named Charley Bul l and published by Infinity
wrecks entire ships or not. Press, a local operation run by an ex -Smith &
See, the Great Salt Lake Salt Harvesting Robards scientist. Its a fine book, and it tells you
Company owns most of the salt-harvesting all you want to know about that sluff.
trawlers. Two well-funded companies and What 1 can tell you is how the Mormons deal
numerous independents have tried to start up with the local tribes. Here's a little more abou t
their own salt-harvesting operations, but their both of them.
crews inevitably turn up dead or missing. Several
of the independents may have been killed by Paiutes
lake Hellions. The larger trawlers either blew up Pronounced "pie-yoots," these Indians roam
when their generators or steam boilers throughout territory in northern Deseret and
malfun ctioned, or they were wrecked by "Briny." into Nevada. They are not a huge tr ibe by any
Many folks wonder if the Great Sail Lake means, but their development of the Ghost
Harvesting Company doesn't cause some of Dance spiritual movement has given them a bit
these accidents. They've got several unsavory more power then one might expect.
types working for them, and all their boats have What is the Ghost Dance you ask? Well, for a
at least one big gun on them (presumably to full and complete explanation, see Charley
~
ward off Briny). Strangely, though the
GSLHC has lost crewmen to Briny, they-ve i here's the short version.
"
I
i, I
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I
klllmg folks IS m the Saint s' best interest.
Al l in alL I don't really understand it. since Hellstromme's various inventions,
Brigham has no trouble characterizing tile Then disaster struck. The gigantic "smelting
IndIans as the "hideous Lamanites" whenever it pot" at the center of the cavern gave way!
suits his purposes. Cha l k up yet another mystery Molten metal filled the chamber and ran into the
to tI,le inscrutable President Young. lower tunnels. Hellstromme had prepared for
Smce the Ghost Dance began, the relationship such an emergency, A giant waler tower sa t on
wooden timbers. The metal incinerated the
j
between the Mormons and the Paiutes has faded
a bit. The Paiutes· greatest shame is their tower's legs and the water spilled out, cooling
participation in the Mountain Meadows and hardening the molten metal minutes later,
But it was too late for the workers. Only a
Massacre. As a people, they feel ashamed or the
whole incident and are a bit touchy about it. A handful who had been off the cavern floor
survived . Those that weren't instantly killed by
j
Paiute brave won't kill you for mentioning it, but
you might end up nursing a black eye, the hot metal were swept inlo the lower caves by
the deluge and drowned.
Shoshoni Now Pete's Cave is called the "Mouth 0' Hell."
It remains flooded to this day ~ the water can't
The Shoshoni are a bit more of a thorn in the
Mormons' side. They are also a nomadic tribe,
and their travels take them through Deseret.
seep through the metal floor and remains
trapped. Grotesque corpses rise from the floor,
forever encased in steel forged by the 110ttest fire
!
While they arc ardent subscribers to the Ghost
Dance, this doesn't seem to keep groups of known Lo humanity.
Shosholl.i braves from raiding settlements every There were rumors that Pete's Cave was
year. WhIle the Nauvoo Legion deals with these almost played out prior to the accident. tf it
rai.ds with a heavy hand, its worth noting that wasn't, someone would have gone back in there
Brigham hasn't dispatched troops to drive the by now. Most folks don't go looking for scraps
Shoshoni out of DesereL. either. A few have, but I've heard that tired old
The Shoshoni often act as protectors for their cliche, "they never return," Tired it may be, but it
seems true this time. There's something
spiritual mentors, the Paiutes, especially for
the travelling Ghost Dance missionaries. down there in the Mouth 0' Hell. Something 1
in the waler that lies in wait for the greedy.
1
,
!
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Outcasts
Does the Nauvt)(! Lesion res<!IW a spt'C~1 f~le IDr Te~~s R~ngers> As you might guess, there are plenty of folks
who come to Oeseret and become enemies of
Nauvoo Legion Patrols the state. Some are workers cast out of society
for consistently violating Mormon law, some are
I told you earlier thal Deserel's borders are bandits on the run from US Marshals or Texas
patrolled by the Nauvoo Legion. Staying out in Rangers, and some arc self-proclaimed
the blasted deserts ail year fighting bandits and revolutionaries standing up to "Mormon tyranny."
such doesn't make them great company. They're Most outcasts head Back East or to the Maze.
hard-bitten veterans who don't fool around. A few, however, have gathered together to form
There's a joke out here that goes "How do you an oullaw band known as the "Outcasts." Their
tell a Texas Ranger from a Nauvoo Legionnaire? hideout is somewhere in the twisting caverns of
The dead one is the Ranger." 1 didn't say it was a las escapedas, or the "Staircase," a weird and
good joke, but it's fairly accurate. beautiful canyon in southern Desere!.
Remember Deseret officially ignores the The Outcasts are rarely here, however. Tiley
Confederacy and treats the Union like a spend most of their time in the saddle or the
redheaded stepchild. That's true among most of seat of a steam wagon roaming the deserts of
the Legion stationed in northern Utah or the Deseret. They're raiders, pirates, and thieves.
cHies. Down south, though, the Legion patrols They don't have the strength to assault large
hate Texas Rangers worse than Nevada Smith. settlements like Ogden, but they've been known
How come? Because a few years ago, a weird to take over a town the size of Kanab until the
disease started spreading up from Texas. People Legion shows up.
were withering away to skin and bones, but not The Outcasts donl commit murder as a rule,
before they went blood -si mple and started but they do shoot those who try to fight back,
attacking their neighbors. The Rangers claimed so it's about the same thing.
there was no cure and ruthlessly hunted down The most unusual thing about the outlaws is
anyone who showed the symptoms. Some of the their love for speed. Most of the band have
afflicted must have fled to Deseret and trademark red steam wagons they've stolen
spread it to the folks in Mexican Hat. a from Mormons traveling across Deseret. The
town in southeastern Utah. rest have fast horses.
I
folks. I'm just telling you, keep your pistol in Wilhelm likes to play with animals. Or at least
your pants if you run across them, and you'll their parts. The one time I stayed there, I found
live through it. You'll be broke. but you'll live.
The Church has offered a bounty of $500 on
bits and pieces of small ammals all over the
maze of trails leading into the woods behind the ,
Rose's head. I have to think that's enough money hotel. There's a healthy hobby for a youngster.
to make some of the scalawags who run with These folks arc just wrong. Slay away, and
her think about turning her in. $0 far it hasn't pray for a mudslide to carry them all down the
happened, but I just can't imagine her grubby mountain. 1
thieves not scheming after that bounty.
There's already been some dissent among the The Salt Flats 1,
Outcasts. A fellow known as "Utah" Starr broke
off with the gang and formed another gang Flat and white. That's what you think when
you see the Bonneville Salt Flats. Don't try to
I
called the Scorpions. More about them later.
cross it on fool. Besides being hot and dry
Overlook Hotel enough to cook a whale omelet, the Salt Flats
are chock f ull of rattlers.
High in the Wasatch Mountains, where irs said The starkness of the flats is really what
Brigham Young first looked out over the Valley makes them so dangerous. A traveler riding
of the Saints, is the Overlook Hotel. The owner, across them thinks he can see trouble a mile
Samuel Whateley. is a st range man. and his away. Then a pack of salt ralliers comes out of
family is even stranger. There were a whole nowhere and takes him from behind.
bunch of them up there. but one group of the That's right. I said "pack." The ones we got
Whateley's headed to some place called Gomorra around here are different than most. For one
In the Maze. We got stuck with the rest. thing, they're blood-red in color, with occasional
The Whateleys' weirdness might not be 50 bad dark black stripes. They're smaller than the ones
if their hotel wasn't such a nice place to stay. It's I've read about in Montana or the Mojave, unless
beautiful. the view is incredible, and the price is
only a $1 a night and half that for meals. The
problem is it gets snowed in a lot. and then
the folks there are just exaggerating.
Salt rattlers travel in packs of two to four. One
really nasty trick they like to pull is to send one
!
you're stuck with the Whateleys.
I've got to tell you about these folks. First.
rattler up where its prey can see it. th en the
critlcr steers the victim right int o the mouths of
I
there's Samuel Whateley. He's always looking its buddies. If you're bcing chased by a singlc
somewhere else when he talks to you, and he rattler. you can bet there's at least one more
always looks frightened. It's like thcre's some wail ing for you somewhere ahead.
monster that only he can see nearby, and if he 1
doesn't keep his eye on it. It'S going to eat him.
Then there's Edwina Whateley. I think she's a
Salt Flats Worming Company
mute-no one I know has ever heard her speak. I've told you about how bad the rattlers can
YOU'll see her carrying around an axe. She uses get out here. Lately the worms have been getting
it to kill chickens and other game to cook the
meal s, so it's not that strange, except she's
always got the axe in her Iland, I once saw her
the
opened
bad end of il. A year ago, Harold Towers
up the Sal t Flats Worming Company. Like
whalers, tlley hunt down rattlers in giant I
come from the kitchen in l1er nightgown with
that damn axe in hand. There aren't enough
"landboats." Then they strip their hides and sell
the fat as oil to the factories. The meat is greasy,
but ed ible if cooked by someone who knows
I
chickens in all of Deseret to keep her thar busy.
Let's move on to Grandpa. He SLtS in a rocker what he's doing.
The only part thai gocs to waste are the
1
on the front porch in the summer, and just
inside the huge bay windows in the winter. tentacles and the hides. The tentacles are just
That's all he does: rock. And cackle, he does a too disgusting to eat. You don't eat the hide
lot of that. too. Oh, and he must chew because you just don'l. You don't eat the skin
tobacco. because I've seen red juice off a beeve, do you? Besides, rattler hides
dribbling out his jowls on occasion. ~ make incredibly tough leather.
~I 1
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An artl~ I 's Ta,h", fancifu l pictur"..,f Ih" Sail I"lat s Mll1l1\g Company ~t work NOle the rail Ie 011 the lai1 . a common mlS<:il,,,cpliort
,i
The Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to the Ci~ 0' Gloom j
1876 Edition "Believe It or Else!" Only IO¢:
Besides the worms, which ['m told seem to be outlaws who use steam wagons to rob trains, it's
1
getting smarter every day, Towers' crews have
gollen into a war with the independent worm
the Scorpions. They operate along the rail line
from SaIL lake City to Virglllia City, Nevada, !,
hunters. I'J! tell you about them in a bit.
More interesting is that Towers ha s lately been
where the flat desert gives their rigs an
advantage. !
chasing a great red sail rattler he calls the If you happen to get caught on one of these
I
"blood worm." He swears this is the one that ate trains during an attack, fight back with
his daughter years ago. The similarity with everything you've got. They don't kill every
Melville's Moby Dick isn't lost on me friends. passenger on board, but they'll kill plenty. So
just report the facts to you as I see them. stand up for yourself and everyone else on board
by pulling your hogleg.
Salt Stalkers If you see a stra nge flying machine up in the 1
A party of trappers was silting out in the Salt
FlatS one night They were eating dinner, when
sky dropping bombs, don't shoot at it. That'll be
me or one of my friends from Smith & Robards_
We escort trains whenever the company lets us.
!
suddenly they noticed another fellow silting
Worm Hunters
among them. The stranger was wearing bleached
rags wrapped around his entire body. No one
had seen him approach. It was like the stranger I told you about Harold Towers and his Salt !
had just appeared out of the earth itself. A wind
made the trappers' fire dim for a second, during
Flats Worming Company. His company brings in
the most. but it wasn't the first. Worm hunters !
which the creature vanished. A minute later, the
trappers noticed one of their party wasn't
moving. They nudged him and were shocked to
see him fall over, a dried·out husk.
have been out here since the worms appeared.
At rirst. small groups hunted them like
buffaloes. They'd stake down a beeve, wait for a
worm, and then plug it full of lead. That never
Il
I heard this tale at the ledge one night I've worked very well. Those worms are mighty
heard similar tales from other folks as well. tough. Then some genius had the idea of loading
Taken together, it seems there's too much the cow up with dynamite. That worked real well 1
whiskey floating around the desert. The against the worms, but the hunters gave up after
alternative is just too freaky-t hat there's some
strange "race" of near-human creatures stalking
a couple of unfortunate exploding cow incidents.
Then Smith & Robards invented the
1
tile wastes. We've taken to calling them "sall ornithopter. A lei low named Crazy Pete copied .1
stalkers" because the first stories took place I!l part of the design and created an ornithopter
the Flats, but later tales place them elsewhere in without the power. He ca lls it a "glider." It's really 1
the deser ts and even the mountains. just a big wing fixed to Pete by a leather
The Scorpions
harness. To take off. Pete stands in a wheeled
cart and his wife Edda tows him behind their
!
steam wagon. He can sail around on nothing bllt
unless you're skipping around this book like air for up to an hour if the wind's strong.
some kind of durned fool, you should already Once in the air, Edda stakes a cow out on the
know who the Outcasts are. If not. go read about flats. Pete circles overhead like a buzzard, then
them and come back here. drops dynamite on the worm when it lakes the
The Scorpions were part of the Outcasts, but bait. Then Edda returns, and they get Lo cutti ng.
word has it they got tired of Bonita Rose's "no That was back in '71. Since then, probably 30
needless killing" rule. So the worst mounted up or more olhers have copied Pete's design. They
their steam wagons, rustled some horses, and work in teams of five or SiX Their gliders are
,i
shot their way out of the Outcast's hideout. less than reliable, and accidents are common.
The Scorpions are a true bandit gang in every Recently, the worm hunters have gotten into a
sense of the word . They'l! kill you for your gold kind of war with Harold Towers' worming fleet.
teeth and crack open your skull to get them.
Their leader is "Utah" Starr. He's a known
Both groups claim there aren't as many worms 1
hardened killer with 18 notches on his pistol and
a $400 dead -or·alive bounty. They say he's a
out here as there used to be, and they blame the
other side for "overhunting." The worm hunters i
handsome devil who always has some lovely
senorita on his arm, but if that's true, his wanted
made the first dumb mistake. One of them
dropped dynamite on Towers' flagship, the
Esmeralda and killed one of his crew. Now the
I
posters don't do him justice because he looks landships mount Gatlings to pick the hunters
I
like every other rat·bastard killer to me. out of the sky. In the meant ime, the worm
If you've ever heard about a gang of populalion seems La be recovering a bit.
1
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Chapter Seven: Mad Scientists parents were laborers. They were simple and
uneducated people. My uncle, however. had risen
to some wealth with texlife mills I eventually
There are a number of well -known
inventors living in isolated homes around went 10 work for him and there discovered my
Salt Lake City. I know many of you are "knack"for improving the performance of our
coming here to learn something of lhe new machmery. . . .
science yourselves, so I've separated these ON : Where did you receIve your traltllng?
cantankerous geniuses mto their own OH: Sand/Hlrs/ Military Academy My uncle
\2\ purchased for me a commission in Her Majesty's
chapter. I'll tell you about Hellstromme first.
then my bosses, SmiLh & Robards, and finally all Royal Engineers. I quickly sholto the lOp of my
the other "mad" scientists of interest. class and, after graduation, was posted 10. vanous
spots arollnd the world /0 build a new bndge,
dam, or road in the mosl inhospitable places
Hel1strDmme imaginable.
In my spare lime, I designed new wea/J?ns /0
Doctor Darills Hellstromme. What have you employ against the many savages Her. Majesty
read abouL him? Depends on '..vhich rag you chose to (rample in Her colonies. My Ideas ~re
read, I reckon. The Epilaph paints him as Jar too advanced for the time, howeve/; and It was
some sort of scheming mastermind. The 1863 beJore I experienced any realsucces.s. .
locals, Mormons and Gentiles alike, Most Of nry inventions have been copIed since
practically worship the ground he ~rives over, thell The Jlamethrower was mine. As was the
'4 if they don't hate his iron guts. ~mllh & steam -powered allack vellicle, or "tank" as you .
Robards, union Blue, and several 01 the other Americans have labeled it. The Rebels took credll
railroads claim he'S the anti-Christ That's for both oJ those, though they really only added
probably laying it on a little thick. I'd vote f~r the tracks 10 the tank - a wonderful improvement {
"scheming mastermind" bil myself. though Irs might add. They claimed the misguided captIves at
anyone's guess what his lIltenlions are. Roswell. (he "secret" base everyone knows about,
The Deseret News, the local Mormon discovered these devices on their own. Poppycock.
newspaper, did an interview with him a couple They were both ideas / had created to deal with
or years ago. Here's most of i t . . lhe numerous and bloodthirsty Sikhs oJ India.
Doctor Darius Hellstromme, sometJmes ON: When and why did you come to America?
misnamed as "Damien" by lesser newspapers, is OH : When I heard oJ the discovery o( great
one oJ Ihe greatest men alive today The people oJ quantities oJ ghost rock in the Maze. I had already
Salt Lake City hold him ill the utmost esteem. discovered a small supply Of tllis miraculous
Doctor Hel/stromme moved to our Jail' city in substance in the Hindu Kush and had been
1870, long after 5011 Lake had proven itself a experimenting with it fo r some time. That's why {
shining oasis ill a literal alld Jigurative ~ese/"t. At had such a /lead start on you Colonials when 1
Jirst, 1ll00ry o( ~s were ~istrustjul oJ .thls European arrived in Cali(ornia,
inventor ana IllS SomelJmes Jnghtenll1g machmes, ON : What brought you to 5011 Lake City? .
but cfter his conversion 10 Mormonislll, both OH: My rivals claim many things. That I saw JIl
pamcs realized that our match had (ruly been the Mormons all easily-led flock to serve my
made in Heaven. whims. Or that I knew Ihe Wasatch Mountains
This reporter recently had the distinct honor Of were brimming with priceless ghost ro::k. .
interviewing the doctor at Hellstromme Mallor; h,s The truth is, /simply couldn't establIsh the kind
compound outside of town. What Jollo,:"s IS a oJ mallufacturingJaci1ili~s / required in the Maze.
direct unedited transcript oj that meetmg. Reverend Grimme and IllS Janallcs, the shortage oJ
ON: Good evemng, Dr. Hellstrommc. Nasty Jood, and the Jighllllg between the "covert"
storm we're /Javing, isn 't it? operatives to the North and South are jar too
OH: Hmm? Yes. But I Jind the li$hlning usejul destructive. saIl Lake City seemed a perfect
Jor my experiments. I'm conductmg one even as location. The people werefrielldly. ghost rock had
we speak, In tile attic laboratory. Should you hear just been discovered, the government was stable,
anythJ/Jg . strange, you'll have to excuse me. and there were great, open spaces where I could
ON: 01
course, DocIOr. (The Doctor's . lest my marry devices without causing harm 10
mecIJamcal servant bnngs me a cup oJ sleanllng the local populace. The nearby Bonneville Sa/~
tea. It spills only a. few drops!) T~allk you. Dr. Flats were particularly usejul in field-testmg
HeJlstromme, I'd ltke lO begl~ With your early ~ sevemf ne~ high-speed c,onveyancesl am
year£ When and where wele you born' :SG
sti/llinkenn8 with to thiS day
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The Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to the Ci~ 0' Gloom I
I
1876 Edition "Believe It or Else!" Only IOC
1
I
ON: Tell us about your COil version to
Mor monism.
OH: I wasn't immediately accepted by my
I
I
brat/Jers and sisters h ere in Utah. But a single
invention oJ mine helped cement our relationship. 1
As you know, our brothers were CuI Offlor a
while due /0 the incredible creatures you 1
Americans-Jor some unfathomable reason - cafl
"raetlers," They are indigenous to the local desert
and are quick 10 seize those who venture outside
i
the cily propel: I merely showed the locals how j
my own steam -powered wagon could outrun the I
, , .' y~
I '
1
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The Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to the Ci~ 0' Gloom
1876 Edition "Believe It or Else!" Only IO~
---- -
---- ---
---
--
Hellstromme's
Compound
Scale: 1"=40'
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'87~h::~i:~ us who are interested In auto:::I,i::: It or :::~inion is 'hat the Danites know Only 10¢ ;
know their heads are manufactured here. But Hellstrommc ha s a secret agenda Young and the ~
where? I haven't been in the hangar or the rcst of the Mormons don't know aboul. If so, the I
workshop. but plenty of other folks have. and Danites likely tell Young they have nothing to do ~
there's nothing more sec ret in there than what with the acts they're accused of, but they •
I've al ready laId you about. sec retly impede Hellstromme's progress until J
So where does he crea te the heads? There ha s Lhey can prove he's up to no good. Then they'l l II
to be another workshop somewhere. My guess is '(ess up to Brigham and let God decide if thei r
that there's a false wall in the hangar or the end justified the means.
workshop. But who makes them? Something like It's also possible Young and Hellstromme J
thal must take a staff of at least a dozen people. aren't as close as they'd lik.e everyone to believe. ~
The folks who work in the hangars say every If not and Brigham is really as tyrannical as a
month or so there's a wagonload of automaton lot of Gentil es claim, maybe he's afraid to kill J
heads waiting on them when they get to work. He!\stromme directly. Mountain Meadows and ~
lI ellstromm e doesn't say where th ey come f rom, several other prominent assass inations have only I
and they don't ask. They just deliver them to the ju st begun to fade from the public memory. )
automaton factory in Junkyard and pray no one Young doesn't need the death of an "enlightened 1
tri es to steal them (they blow up, remember?) martyr" on hIS hands. ~
(§)'
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The Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to the Ci~ 0' Gloom !
1876 Edition "Believe It or Else!" Only I",
!
was, GOltleib said the abacus would be as big as Actually, 1110st of the evil eyes cast at us are
a house, and the sensors would be bigger than a from the Gentiles who don't work for us. They
man. Still, if Hellstromme somehow had a way to know we've got it made. That means they're
miniaturize the components, ! guess it makes either your best friend - because they think you
some kind of weird sense. At least as much might be able to get them a job- or they hate
sense as the mechanical auto-gyro I fly around. you because they're jealous. Of course every
1
Here's another wild theory for you. Union Blue individual you meet is different, but there's
Il
(former Col. Joshua Chamberlain's railroad) enough truth to what 1 say to make us
claims there are human operators mside the "hi1ltoppers" wary-
automatons, and that the whole "head" business
is just a diversion. Hellstrommc says this is just The Compound
a ploy on Chamberlain's part to get the
government to make Hellstrommc reveal his
secret. At any rate, there's some credibility to
OUT compound is prclty amazing. You can visiL
us if you want- most buildings are open La
I
this theory, but it \,vouldn't explain how the the public as long as you have an escorL-bul /'\,\
"pilots" could fit inside clockwork spiders or you have to leave your shooting iron aL the (
other, smaller devices, unless they were dwarfs gale. My bosses are wary of rowdy Lypes. !'1c:
or ch ildren. And that's just too scary to consider A few basics. The mountain is called Mount
The latest theory is that the automaton's Necessity because, in Mr. Robards' words, it is
"brain" is actually a human brain. The the "mother of invention." A single, wide spur 124 1
augmented have shown it's possible to make leads up to the mountain and accommodates
metal and flesh work together, but this seems a both a train track and a road. Each day, over 200
bit mu ch to swallow. I mean, how would a living workers ride from Salt Lake City to the
brain survive without blood and oxygen or compound in very basic passenger ca rs hauled
whatever else it needs? by an older locomot1ve for just this purpose. A
For a while, at least, the secret of the very few workers own steam wagons or carts
automatons will remain just that. and occasionally drive those in to work.
Workers are checked by the wagon drivers
when they pick them up. If they don't know you,
Smith & Robards they still take you up to the compound but they
turn you over to the guards on arrival. The
Those of us who work up on the guards then accommodate you as best they can.
mountain-for Smith & Robards- think our Prospective employees are taken to the business
bosses have the rest of the town by the short offices, and sightseers are escorted around on a
and hairies. They just don't know it yet. shan tour. Buyers don't come Lo the mountain
You see, the business is profitable enough (the showroom is in Salt Lake City) un less they
that a worker who hangs around a year or have a very special request cleared by one of our
85 so can make a good wage. Then he can design foremen.
afford to live in a good apartment in Junkyard, or If you're thinking about sneaking up here and
maybe even a home outside the city limits. If he stealing our expensive goodies, don't. There are
gets a management position, he can even move only a few places where the mountain can be
up on the mountain. In any case, he certainly climbed, and these are guarded. Trespassers
has enough money to buy power and a horse, aren'l shot unless they seem dangerous, but
~ .
I!
or maybe even a steam wagon, to get our guards escort mountain climbers off the
him self around. , premises after they get all the way up here.
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"mad" scientists must be like. Got an image ' f rom our cache and any weird gizmos we've
in your head? Okay, it's worse than that. gOl in development.
1
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The Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to the Ci~ 0' Gloom
1876 Edition "Believe It or Else!" On ly IO¢
I
talking about something called "thaumat urgical
diffusion." I tllink it has something to do with specializes in electricity. His home sits high atop
an isolated peak in the Wasatch Mountains. You
magic. Sound crazy to you? Maybe, but that's
nothing compared to some of the things those can see for miles from his front porch,
who deal with the "new science" believe. They I wouldn't actually stand on his front porch
are called "mad" scientists, after all. though- Doc Tremane has leI his home go to
Hell. That's bad, because it's not on a ledge. It's
Dr. Manfred Stark
Dr. Manfred Stark earned his degree in Biology
at Oxford, Engla nd. You'll know, because if you
ever meet him, he'll telt you that himself.
Anyway, his home is up in the mountains
built smack on the side of the mountain,
supported by stills. Walk carefully if you ever
visit. or you'll drop right through a floorboard for
a few hundred feel before landing hard enough
Lo make your own grave. Evident ly, Tremane
knows where all the weak spots are.
I
ncar the Gentile Cemetery, He studies the effects As for his experimen ts, he'S a whiz. My bosses
of all the pollution on the trees, grass, animals, often hire him to devise some electrical 1
and people, Lots of folks call him a crackpot, component for one of our own inventions. He
I
but I'll admit to a certain admiration for him.
Like Harvey Golding, who runs a tannery in
Sail Lake City, Stark seems a litlle more
farsighted than the rest of us. You've already
heard me whine about overhunting. Stark is
00 ISS
invented the "electrostatic gun" we sell.
Tremane's own house has electricity, though it
isn't connected to the Salt Lake City plant.
Instead, he stores lightning in giant batteries
hidden in his labyrinthine home.
1
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C++-A-? IER: Two:
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-
The most common strategy is for the captain skins. The outermost layer of the rattlers is
to stay at home with the skul!. The peeled off and boiled to make flexible but tough
skull crackers then move out and try to make an armor. Most players wear helmets made of
opening. The captain watches and barks rattler hide, too. A good suit of skullchucker
commands until he decides to get involved armor costs $25.
himself. If another skul1chucker has an opening, Skullchucker is a brutal game, but it isn't
the captain throws her the skull so she can go usually deadly. Mr. King doesn'l al!ow killing or
for the score, excessive violence. Hitting an unconscious player
5kullcrackers can never pick up their team's results in ejection. Knocking someone
skull (though they can bat it to a friendly player unconscious when they're still on their feel is
if it's dropped). They can pick up enemy skulls, just fine- and usually draws big hurrahs from
however. This is the only way skull crackers can the crowd.
score. If an opponent is killed, the guard who killed
5kullchuckers can pick up either team's skull him is instantly ejected from the game and
and score with them. The only catch is that no cannot play in Junkyard for a month. Jim Hodges,
player may ever carry two skulls at once. If a the referee, has four other men under him who
skullchucker gets the enemy's skull and has his help enforce this rule when needed. Jim's
own in hand as wei\, he has to chuck one to a "sta r ting pistol" is a .45 Colt Peacemaker, and it's
teammate. been known to enforce the rules a few times as
wel l.
ffi-H-1lI'
There's a reason they call this a bloodsport. X.1i;A-PPEI\::S &. :SKvLLCH VC-"E~
Fighting is part of the game. 5kullcrackers use So far, few scrappers have ended up on
any type of lighl. blunt weapon- hence the name. skullchucker teams, maybe because Pit is so
Most use poles or clubs, 5kullchuckers can't use much more glamourous (yeah, right). Of course
any weapons. sc rappers' enhanced attributes make them ideal
AI! players wear light armor made from rattler skullcrackers, so there should be more coming
soon. King likes to plan ahead, and to that end
he's come up with the following simple rules:
I. No more than half of any skullchllcker
learn may be augmented. Period.
2. As with normal sku]lcrackers, no blade or
spikes. Scrappers with pointy or sharp things on
their augmentations have to remove them.
3. Scrap pers with more than two augmented
limbs are not permitted to play.
Other than those three stipulations, King has
no problem with scrappers playing, and is in fact
a bit anxious to see what an augmented player
or two might do for at tendance.
In the back of his head, King has dreams of
an all-augmented skullchucker league, should
Gash's work become widespread enough. His
greedy little heart skips a beat every lime he
thinks about it.
Team A's
Goa l
Central Goal
The challengers playa game a week ror an to participate in the challenge stage. As
entire month, Arter the rourth week. the rive mentioned in Tile Tombstone Epitaph's Guide to
teams with the best records become the teams the City o' Gloom, King intends to hold a huge
for the new "season." If there are more than five tournament in August of 77 with a $5.000 purse
teams tied ror first place. they play orr over the up for grabs.
next week until five remain.
These five now join the winner of the last ~BIl T EI-"'I$
season to form a six· team league. Arter a two· The current champions from last season are
week break to recuperate from the challenges. the Morgan Maulers. led by Jesse "the Pummeler"
two of the teams play each Saturday afternoon Moran. The Maulers lost only twice all last
at 6 P.M. After every team has played every other season, and they look good for this next one as
team three times 05 weeks). King sponsors a well. The team has just added a top notch
"championship" match between the two teams skullcracker. a hulkin g Swede named Torvald
with the best records. The winners get a $2,000 Sigmundsson.
bonus on top of anything else they manage to Th ey won't have an easy time of it. though.
make on the sideline. The Junkyard Dawgs are looking good this
There are no "salaries" for skullchuckers. season, as are some of the out of town teams
Players win as much as they can bet on the like the Bountiful Bashers and the Ogden
sidelines. Few people take bets on teams during Outlaws. The tastelessly named East End
the challenge period. Once the real season is Madmen made a name for them selves with their
started. however, there's no shortage of folks reckless tactics last challenge period. and the
willing to risk their money on a wager. Iron Dukes. and the Factory =12 Falcons also
Once the enUre 16 weeks is over, King takes a seem to be in good shape for the tourney.
month off and then starts the process all over And these are just the best known teams.
again. The previous season 's champion always There will be host of others contending for
gets a slot in the next season and does not have King's $5.000 next August.
Plt\-\1t{('i- ~LLC+HJCl(ffi A player who wants to conduct an action that
has a Speed higher tha n I must "save" his aclion
That's how the game work s as far as your each turn until it is time to act. See what we
hero is concerned . As a player, you need to know mean about time going faster?
how to hand le detailed maneuvers and such in As long as the skullchucker game is in
the game. We're going to change the way the rounds, charact ers act ing outside of the arena
basic Deadlonds combat mechanics work a bit to use these rules as well. Say a sniper wants to
make skullchucker easier to handle. fire a rifle in to the pit (hey, it happens). Rifles
have a Speed of 2, so t he shooter must either
.SPEED fire from the hip (a - 2 penalty) or prepare t he
gun on one action and fire on t he second.
Once the pistol fire and the games starts,
skullchucker is played out in rounds, just like .:'SwJLLCtl va:./{'
combal. The Oeadlands combat system is
designed around shooting and fighting. For Skulls weren't made for throw ing, so they have
skullchucker, movement is much more important a Range Increment of 2. Getting one inside a
and must be simplified, so we suggest you use goal has a modifier of - 6. Of course a character
the following system. stand ing right beside a goa l doesn't have to
Every player rolls Quickness as usual, and throw it. If she's adjacent to a goaL the sk ul l
draws a card for every success. All players on a automatically goes in unless someone opposes
learn (both heroes and any extras) use the same her.
Action Deck, but each team uses its own deck. If another character can get to the to the goal
Here's where things get different. Rather t han or the player wit h the skull and manage to
keeping all the cards like normal. every player interrupt his opponent. the two make opposed
keeps his highest card and discards all the Strength rolls If the character with the skull
others. Th is is when your character acts. Faster wins, it goes in. Otherwise the character is
characters don't get more actions, but they do blocked and cannot try again un til her next
have more chances of gett ing a high card. The act ion.
Marshal does the same for all skullchuckers or
splitters not controlled by a player. D AJ'¥4E ~ ~LLC+HJC"-ER:
The Marshal cou n ts down from Ace to Deuce When you play skul lchucker, someone is
as usual. with the red Joker being the highest going to get hurt. It's part of the nature of the
card and the black Joker the slowest. When your game. Most of the time, the skullcrackers choose
character's Action card is called, your character to do non lethal damage with their clubs, as
can act or he can put it up his sleeve. beating someone to death in the arena is
Using a cheat card works just like in the main grounds for ejection. However, some 'crackers
game. The character can go whenever he wants, have been k now to take a cheap shot from time
but if he wants to interrupt an action, he has to to Lime, doing lethal damage. People don't die
beat whoever's going already in a Quickness often in skullchucker games, but it ca n happen.
contest. The wor m- hide uni forms that the players wear
aren't thick enough to provide any real Armor.
MoiEMBn but they can cushion a hit f rom a sku llcracker's
Time moves a lillie faster when playing club. The worm- hide suit subtracts Id6 from
skullchucker. Your character can walk up to half nonlethal damage only, wh ile t he helmet
his Pace (usually Nimblelless) in tiles, straight or subtracts 2d6 from nonlet hal damage, and Id6
diagonally. Anything over half Pace is funning. from lethal damage.
When running, a character can pick up his
Pace to gain an extra d4 tiles of movement at a P\<ORLE (TYF1Cf-L .:'SwJLLC-t+1JC.KER:)
cost of 1 Wind. Corporeal : D:3d6, N:3d8, S:2d8, Q:2d8, V:2d8
Fightin': brawlin' (sku l lchuckersl or club
(skull crackers) 3d8, throwin': skulls 4d6
A--c,IOb Me ntal: C:2d6, K:ld6, M:2d8, Sm:ld6, Sp:2d6
On a character's turn, he can move and Area knowledge: )unkyard 2d6, leadership
perform anyone other action. If he runs during (captain only) 2d8, overawe 2d8
his turn, he must subtract - 4 from any physical Gear: Skullchucker armor, skullcrackers have
action rolls (such as throwin? wooden staves (STR+ld4, Defensive Bonus +2).
T f?,A.ITS [, ,A--vrl~ ~-Ul'l
Deftness 3d6 1 used to work on the railroads, but I got fired
Shootin'; shotgun I for gellin' in a fight. A palo' mine- he's dead
Shoatin': pistol 3 now-said I could make money in the factories
Nimbleness 4 dlO here. That's a lie.
Climbin'l But I found my calling. I'm a skullcracker. I
Dodge 3 made a bundle in my first match before I got my
Fightin': brawl in ' 5 own head split. That's when [ realized what I
Sneak I needed was a little more strength. That Gash
Quickness 3d8 fellow~he's creepy, but his stuff works. Watch
Strength 4d12+4 me crush this brick!
Vigor 2 dlO
Cognition 2d6 Quote: "It's clobberin' time!"
Search 1
Knowledge Id 6
Area knowledge 2
Mien IdS
Overawe 3
Smarts 2 d6
Spirit 4d6
Faith I
Guts 3
Wind: 16
Edge s:
Brawny (Size 7) "
Be longin's (piston
arm) 3
Thick-skinned 3
Hindran ce s:
Big britches - 3
Illiterate - 3
Miser - 3 (You're
saving up for
another
augmentationJ
Ugly as sin - \
Gear: Piston arm. $250.
-, - -
T R;Ml,s, f,. .A-v1IlUD2S
Deftness IdS Science? P'shaw. What you call science is
Shootin': pistol 2
Sleight 0' hand 3
• .'
. t".;·~, " really a form of madness. 1 happen to know
that your inspiration comes from dark
Throwin' 3
Nimbleness 2d6
".C\\·l:w'
". 'l,~it~~/
•• , . ' . sources.
Oh, certainly the seed of the idea
Climbin'l .&. :\~.,: ... . ,f,~",.:; began in your noggin. but it was
Sneak 2 .:........ ~ ..~ ./ . . . . . ~' . fC: demons that nurtured il. Mad? Of
Quickness 3d8 'e?,.ia::. 1,.\ : ', ~1'!i... course I'm mad- l consort with the
Strength 3d6 .~~. . . '.~. sam e dev ils as you. Who would n't
Vigor 4d6 . • • • go insa ne dealing wi th such horrors.
Cognition 4dlO The di fference is that 1 unde rstand
Scrutinize 2 lhe origin of my abilities- and r can
Search 2 tap into their inc redible power
Knowledge 2dlO in several ways.
Academia: occult 4
Area knowledge 2 Quote: "A hex
Science: engineering 2 "-...:;: or an infernal
Mienld6 ~ device? They
Smarts 2d12 ~
.' both lead to
Bluff 3 ~ :' madness."
Gamblin' 2 ' .' ....
Scroungin' 2 ' ,.- :--
s~rcct":,,ise 2
Tmkertn' 3 A
• ~
·
i /"
~ ><
J{' 't
Spirit 2d6 y -
Guts 2
Wind: 12 1-
Ed~~c~ne
background: :
huckster 3 , ,:
Arcane .,
background: <a)
mad scientist 3 T
Bclongin's (steam
wagon) 4
Hindrances:
Bad luck -5
Q
.
'0 "
Curious -3
Yearnin' -2 (To
combine science
and sorcery.)
Hexes:
Oevil's workshop 2
Haywire 2
Infernal machine 2
Gear: Double-action Colt
Peacemaker, deck of cards,
box of bullets, steam wagon,
$232
jlEI<
TR:,MTS tf, ~~ PER5o\I-Ul'I
Deftness IdS [ was with the Saints in Missouri, during the
Shoolin': pistol 3 bad times. Had an uncle killed at Haun's Mill. [
Nimbleness 2d6 learned a devout man must sometimes become a
Climbin' I vessel for the Lord's fury.
Sneak I Now I protect my flock here in the Valley of
Quickness 3d6 the Saints. There's trouble enough for a
Strength 4d6 legion of Elders. Salt ratt lers, murders,
Vigor Id6 mayhem, debauchery, and the pollulion
Cognition 2dlO of Junkyard. It's enough to test anyone's
Scrutinize 3 faith.
Search I Between th is Peacemaker and the
Knowledge 3d8 Book of Mormon, I don't reckon
Academia: occult 1 there's anything I can't handle.
Area knowledge 2
Medicine: general 3 Quote: "Thill remi\"\ds me of
Professional: theology 3 something that happened
Mien 4dl0 to the Prophet once in
Overawe 3 Nauvoo.'"
Persuasion 2
Tale-te!1in' 2
Smarts 2d6
Spirit 2dl2
Faith:
Mormonism 5
Guts 3
Wind: 18
Edges:
Arcane
background:
blessed 3
Fr iends in high
places (the
Mormon
Ch urch) 3
Hindrances:
All Thumbs -2
Loya l (to Church) - 3
Poverty - 3
Intolerance (Missourians) -2
Miracles:
Cloak, consecrate armamenl.
devil's play thing, protection.
Gifts: Hardy. refuge 0' faith.
Gear: Double-action
Peacemaker, box of shells,
Book of Mormon, $232.
-
l(;,: I II FR -II tJfl E~
T,\J..HS. & A -PlllUDE5> 1="£r( ,,-O,,-LnY
Deftness 2dl2 Worms. I hate 'em. They've killed so many of
Shootin'; pistol 3 my mates [ don't like to make friends anymore. [
Th rowin': har poon 5 can't even sleep without dreamin' of the
Nimbleness 4dlO damnable things.
Climbin'l You think they're dumb brutes, heh? Aye, that's
Fightin': brawl in' 3 what they want you to think. I'm tellin' you,
Sneak I they're smarter'n we are. I've seen 'em lay traps.
Quickness 3dS I've watched 'em play dead. I've even seen the
Strength 2dlO great Bloodworm that Old Man Towers
Vigor IdS hunts.
Cognition Now I'm taking a break
4d6 from hunting the worms
Artillery 3 for a while. I hear
Search 2 there's other prey
Knowledg e out here in the
ld6 deserl. Something I can sink
Area a harpoon into besides a nasty,
knowledge 2 slinking, worm.
Trade: worm
whalin' 3 Quote: 'Thar she
Mien 3d6 crawls f "
Smarts 2d6
Survival: desert 3
Spirit 2d6
Faith I
Guts 3
wind 14
Edges:
Eagle eyes 1
Light sleeper 1
Sense 0' direction I
Hindrances:
Death wis h - 5
Night terrors - 5
Gear: Double-action
Peacemaker, box of
shells, harpoon
(STR+2d8), Bowie
knife, $218.
-
o
C +I-,A-P IE~ T ~FF:
t(FI ICS OF E I
Joseph Smi th left a number of artifacts in his Power: When on his person. a character may
wake. From his days as a gol d-digger through add +2 to his Jaith: Mormonism rolls.
the translation of the Mormon Bible and hi s Taint: None. except that there are a lot of
days at Nauvoo, most every "holy" object he Mormons out there who'd like to have such a
made use of is now a relic. When the manlle of valuable artifact.
leadership passed on to Brigham Young. he
became a sou rce for the creation of new relics.
Between these two men, Hellstromme, and the
T+ltE~1Q1?
often bloody history of the Mormons, many The Expositor wa s the first major internal
strange relics have emerged. opposition to the Mormon way. Smith responded
Though so me of these relics were active with a heavy hand and had the pa pers
before the Reckoning, theY've become doubly confiscated and the presses burned.
powerful sin ce. Maybe the Powers-that-be Since the Reckoning, the surviving copies of
decided the Mormons-a nd the rest of the world this paper have been imbued with a power marc
- needed a little extra assistance these days. sinister than it might at first seem.
The Marshal shoul d let a player read only Power: When a copy of the Expositor is read
about a relic he's found, and then only afLer he's and then carried by a person, it makes him
learned most of its powers th e hard way. totally immune to any miracle cast by a
AfLerward, he can read the fin e print to help the Mormon. It is also the only proof against certain
Marshal handle the details. other artifacts, such as Joe's pistol.
In these cases, any "normal " funct ion of an
T+lF~OF artifact works normally, but any magical effects
are negated. Thus Joe's pistol would stil l hurt
fl.'Ql<;VOI, 1--' ~~ like the Dickens, but even a non-Mormon might
live through being shot by it.
The first printing of the Book oJ Mormon is a
Taint: After reading the Expositor. a character
hard read_ It's full of grammatical mistakes and
instantly knows carrying it makes hi m immune
misspellings. The Prophet never claimed to be a
to Mormon divine powers. If he was al ready a
great writer, only a translator of a holy scripture.
Mormon, he can do what he pleases w it h it. If
Five thousand of these were printed. Most
he wa s not a Mormon, he can never become one,
have survived until 1876, A Mormon preacher
and gains a 3-point intolerance Hindrance of all
with one of these is a force to be reckoned with. Saints.
-
Power: Any mad scientist constructing a .
"FE,I-R: NOT'.s." :Sf-BE< gizmo using one of the Hellstromme's bluepnnts
Captain "Fear Not" Patlon shone early in the may add +6 to his linkerin' roll. All these
history of the Daniles. He was killed in Missouri blueprints have a base Reliability of 16. (Note
while routing a more-numerous mob of that using a bl ueprint allows a mad scientist to
"exterminators." The Missourians were so skip the first two steps in the crealion process.)
humiliated they, responded with the massacre at Taint: There is no actual taint to
Haun's Mill. Hellstromme's blueprints, but the professor cares
Fea r Not's saber was preserved by his men. lit tle for social mores when devising his gizmos.
and these days it's carried by the de facto leader The components are oflen illegal if not
of the Danites, Jeb Morgan. downright disgusting. People parts figure inlo
Power: Patton's saber causes STR+2ctIO several of his devices, as well as human blood, a
damage. . person's Willpower, live jackal opes, and the like.
Taint: Non-Mormons who see the saber 1Il
batlle are enraged and always direct their JOE':;' PEEP .STOlE
atlacks to its wielder. Before the discovery of the Golden Plates,
Joseph Smith used a "peep stone" to find buried
Tt+-E -I+-f-IU:X::~.s. treasure and locale water. It looks like a white
The "handcart tragedy" described in Chapter rock about the size and shape of baby's foot.
One was one of the Mormons' most hard- Brigham got hold of the peep st~ne afte.r Joe's
learned lessons. Hundreds of trusting death. He uses it to keep tabs on hIS enemIes
immigrants pushed these miserable barrows and find them when they must be dealt with.
across the High Plains. Many starved or froze to That's why so few escape his wrath.
death during the trek. Power: Once per day, if the user makes a
Most of the handcarts sat unused until the Hard (9) faith roll, he receives a vision of any
ghost rock mines were opened in 70. Afterward, person, place, or thing he concentrates on. This
they were sold to miners by survivors. They use doesn't give the wielder any special knowledge
them in the hills to haul ghost rock from the of the location unless he's familiar with the area
mines to the oreways, not suspecting that their seen in the vision.
very lives are being drained away. Taint: None.
Power: None. This is one of those "bad" relics.
Taint: Whoever uses one of these handcarts, J O E'.s. PbTOL
even once, begins to slowly starve and freeze to When Governor Boggs issued his
death. Treat this as a fatal ailin' Hindrance. exter minati on order, Joe Smith purchased a
Getting rid of the carl is easy. If a blessed brand new Colt Paterson Belt Model .31 revolver.
makes a Fair (5) exorcism roll (there is no He swore that his firearm would kill any Gentile
opposed spirit), or it is simply abandoned, the who tried to hurt him or his flock. He would
owner quickly recovers. The problem is there's no never miss, and his victims would never survive.
real way to tell the car t is the cause of the Power: Any character may use this weapon,
sickness. Most of the miners who use them but only a character with at least I point of
mistakenly think they have ghost rock fever. faith: Mormonism can tap into its awesome
A character who makes a theology roll might power. When fired by a Mormon, the shooter and
realize a cart was of the old type used in the his target have a faith contest. tf the shoo~er
"handcart tragedy" of '55 through '60. The wins, his target is shot in the heart and dIes
character might then realize the problem instantly. Otherwise she takes normal damage.
himself, or she can make a Fair (5) academia: The Belt Model's power does not work on
occult roll to realize it is now cursed. objects, animals, creatures, or undead (or other
creatures that don't have functioning hearts). It
-i+£LL.s.T'i:()'\\\I£'.s. B UJEPIilNl.s. does work on "human" abominations (like
Professor Darius Hell stromme always looks to Reverend Ezekiah Grimme). Curiously, it also
the future. His past designs are usual ly discarded works against other Mormons.
and later burned to hide his often sinister For complete statistics on the Colt Paterson
experimen ts. A few, however, have been salvaged Belt Model and a whole host of other new
from the incinerator and sold on the black weapons. see the Law Dogs sourcebook.
market of the City 0' Gloom. Taint: None.
--
~
It's time for the good stufr. You know the drill. Brigham'S a preuy big player in the Weird
Marshal. The badges in Posse Territory point you West, and we're going to leave his profile a
to all the goodies tucked away back here. my stery for now. We don't want your posse
killing the leader of a major religion now, do we?
We can tell you a little about Br igham, should
T -i+E P ONER:$ l +I-,A.-T B E the heroes ever encounter him personally. As the
Most of the major events in Deseret are head of the Church of LaUer Day saints,
influenced or directly caused by just a few Brigham Young is of cou rse, blessed. He has
powerful forces. Here's some of the dirt on the access to any mi racle you feel necessary, but
Mormon slate's most powerful men, Brigham like any true believer, Brigham knows to call on
Young, Dr. Hellstromme, and Smith & Robards. Divine aid only in dire emergencies.
He carries a copy of the Book or Mormon, lS \
BKJ~I-,A.-M y~ printing (see Chapter Three), wi th him at all
limes, and has Joe's peep stone and the Umim &
Brigham is very complex. He sincerely believes Thummim in his possession. Brigham does not
in all he does, and he does a lot of good. He can usually travel armed. He relies in his fai th to
also be merciless toward s his opponents. ward off his enemies.
The Danites are very rea], and Brigham does
use them frequently. He considers Mormons who ~1""'1 ,5. i-I--:Eu5lJ<'o.":v£
lose their faith t raitors, and in the most extreme Brother Brigham know s Hellstromme is
cases (where Brigham feels there's some very reckless, dangerous, and murderous. He also
real danger to his people), he's been known to knows Hellstromme converted only to live in
turn the Danites loose on them. peace in Salt Lake City. He has no true faith and,
Physically, Brigham is fit and trim, but the in fact, is an atheist.
stress of lead ing the Church has taken it s toll. So why does a holy man maintain such a
Recenlly, he suffered a major heart attack. He close relationship with the devious doctor? For
lived, but he wondered if his lime on earth was one thing, Young watched the Mormons founder
at an end. One of the Apostles, Orson Pratt, at Nauvoo when they had no industry to support
visited Brigham as he recovered and laid on their society. Hellstromme provides Salt Lake
hands, praying to the Lord to keep him alive. City with the means to survive. He employs
God must have listened, for Br igham's condition hundred s, and has caused thousands more to be
passed, and he has felt fine ever since. employed by other inventors mimicking his
processes or manufacturing his inventions. It is take a tragedy or two before Hellstromme slows
also Hellstromme who provides the city with down long enough to understand the forces he's
drinking water, power, and a reputation as the unleashing.
most technologica !ly advanced city on earth. Hellstromme is important enough to the
But even all those things would not let Church tha t he knows positively of the existence
Brigham turn a blind eye to Hellstromme's of the Oanites. He's been told that the Danites
misguided evil if he didn't think a greater good who operates against him have gone rogue, and
was served. The real reason he continues his that the rest of the group is trying to hunt them
relationship with the Weird West's foremost mad down. That's not exactly true, as you'll see below.
scientist is because of the one revelation
Brigham received in his life. Young foresaw that Br1~'1 &.SNmc & R:OJ!.f.J(J>S
Dr. Darius Hellstromme would one day bring Brigham sees Smith & Robards as another
about a Hell on Earth. Young also foresaw that if check on Hellstromme. Should the Doctor ever
he fought Hellstromme, he would lose, and there come close to fulfilling Brigham's apocalyptic
would be no one len to carryon the fight. His vision, he knows he may have to rely on
only chance to change the future is to bring weapons or machinery from these ingenious
Hellstromme into the fold. Gentiles. The wily Saint knows that it always
Brigham has since learned that Hellstromme pays to plan for the future.
is not truly evi l-he just has an incredible lust Occasionally, Brigham causes Smith &
for knowledge and will do anything to acquire Robards some minor inconvenience to prove to
more. He does not kill his opponents out of Hellstromme that "the Church is on his side." If
hatred. The victims of the famous "drainpipe they're late with their tithes, for instance,
incident" were meant merely as an unmistakable Brigham sees that they're charged an exorbi tant
warning not to interrupt his work. late fee, plus interest, plus reimbursement for
Brigham believes he can change Hellstromme, making the tithe-collectors come out to the
but he cannot expect to make the mad scientist compound, and so forth. Other than financial
see the cost of his experiments overnight. It may harassment. he leaves them alone.
D~.s +l-£.u5iR:0\IME
Right now, Dr. Darius Hellstromme is just as
evil as the Epitaph paints him. His armies of
automatons, clockwork spiders, and ruthless
enforcers carry out his instructions with ruthless
efficiency. Hellstromme never takes part in the
violence himself. If he did, it might cause him to
dwell on the destruction and misery he's
causing- a subject he keeps carefully supp ressed
deep in his subconscious.
Hellstromme is a Freudian dream. His mind
operates at a thousand miles an hour. He
literally does not allow himself to dwell on
emotions or think about the human
consequences of his actions. He considers only
causes and effects. It doesn't bother him that the
destitu te are sacrificed to make the zombie
brains he uses in his automatons. He merely
concentrates on the scientific process of
creating the melding of flesh and metal.
His mania was triggered when his post in
India was overrun by Sikhs and his wife Vanessa
was slain. It's an old story, but that doesn't make
it any less real ror Hellstromme. That's why he
keeps his mind racing, to escape the ever-
approaching pain. It's a race he's destined to
lose, for one day his actions will catch up with
-'
him. Then perhaps he'll see the error of his
ways. Brigham Young believes so. The real
danger is wha t kind of tragedy Hell stromme
must cause before he understands the
consequences of his actions.
As for Hell strom me's profile, we're going to
leave it blank. That way there's a lilli e less
chance your posse ca n kill him. Hell stromme
has a big part to play in the future of the weird
West, so you don't want him getting planted in
Boot Hill. Use Hellstromme as a pi al device, not
a monster with a bou nty stam ped on its head.
T yP1c,A-L LEc>JOI~J;:E
Corporeal: D:2dB, N:2dB, S:3ds' Q:2dB. V:4dB
Climbin' 2d8, dodge 3dB, drivin ': steam wagon
2d8, fightin' 3d8, horse ridin ' 5dB, shootin':
pistol 3dB, shooUn': rifle 3dB. sneak 3d8,
teamster 4d8
Mental: C:2d6, K:2d6, M:2d8, Sm:2d6, Sp:3d6
Area knowledge: local area 4d6, faith:
Mormonism 3d6, guts 4d6, leadership (officers
only) 3dB. overawe 2d8, scrutinize 2d6. search
3d6, survival: desert 3d6, trackin' 3d6
Gear: Horse, double-action Colt ,45 Peacemaker,
Winchester '73, Bowie knife.
P\?OFILE LLli
Corpore al: D:3d8. N:3d8. S:3d8, Q:4d8, V:3dlO Luke is the joker, though even he is grim
Dodge 3d8. drivin': steam wagon 4dB, fannin' 3dS. compared to mosl. His jok es are gener ally
fight in': brawl in' Sd8, horse ridin' Sd8, shootin': morbid and grotesque, something Paul does not
pistol 7dB, shoolin'; rifle 7dB, shoolin': shotgun appreciate but John and David find amu sing.
SdB, sneak Jd8, speed-load 3dB, teamster 4d8
Mental: C:4dlQ, K:3d8, M:4dlO, Sm:4d6. Sp:4d8 P\?Ot-lLE
Academia: occulL 6d8, academia: theology 4d8, Corporeal: D:3dlO, N:2dlO, S:2d6, Q:3d lO, V:3d6
area knowledge: Deserel 4dB, artillery 4dlO, Dodge SdlO, drivin': steam wagon 3dlO, fann in'
faith: Mormonism 6dS. guts SdS, language: 6d1Q, fight in': brawlin 2dlO, horse r id in' 4d10,
Paiute 2d8, leadership SdIO, overawe 5d10. shoot in': pistol 5d10, shoot in': rifle 2d10,
scrutinize 4dlO, search 3dlO, survival: desert shootin': shotgun 4d10, sneak 6dlO, speed-load
4d6, lrackin' 3dlO 3dlO, teamster 2dlO
Grit: 4 Mental: C:2d IQ, K:3d8, M:3d8. Sm:2d I2, Sp:2d8
Edges: Arcane background: blessed. brave, Academia: occult 6d8, academ ia: theology 3d8,
friends in high places 5 (the Mormon Church), area knowledge: Deseret 3d8, fait h:
kemosabe (Paul has friends among the local Mormonism 4d8, gamblin' 3d12, guts 4dS,
Paiutes and Shoshoni tribes) 2. level-headed, ridicule Sd12, scrutinize 5dlO, street wise 5d12,
rank 5, survival: desert 4d!2
Hindr ances: Cautious, gr im servant 0' death, Grit: 2
heroic, night terrors, obligation 5 Edges: Arcane background: blessed, f riends in
Miracles: Benediction, censure, devil's plaything, high places 5 (the Churc h), rank 5, sand 2
exorcism, lay on hands, protection, wrath Hindrances: Curious, heroic, obligation 5
Gifts: Divine providence Miracles: Cloak, mercy, protection, sen ti nel
Gear: As above. Gifts: Magic resistent, wisdom
Gear: As above.
JOilll
John is the biggest of the four. He prefers to D ,. ',ID
whack things with his holy hickory stick. He's a David is the most mysterious of t he four. He
burly sou1. bald on top with brown hair clinging was a famous gunslinger before joini ng the
stubbornly to the sides of his pate. Chaplains, t hough on ly his th ree bro th er
chaplains know w hat his name at that lime was.
Pi<:OFILE He has sandy blond hair, chiseled fea t ures, and
Corporeal: D:3d6, N:2d8, S:4dI2, Q:3d6, V:3dIO dark eyes that look as if they've seen far more
Cli mbin' 3d8, dodge 3d8, drivin': steam wagon horror than a normal man could handle.
2d8, fight in': club 5d8, horse ridin' 4dS,
shoot in': pistol 4d6, shoot in': rifle 4d6, shoolin': Pi<:01-ILE
shotgun 4d6, sneak 3d8, speed-load 2d6, Corporeal: D:4dlO, N:2dS. S:2d8, Q:5dI2, V:3d6
teamster 5d8 Dodge 2d8, fannin' 8d IO, fight in' 4dS, horse rid in'
Mental: C:2d8, K:2d6, M:3dIO, Sm:2d6, SpAd8 3d8, quick draw 7d12, shoal in': pistol 8d10,
Academia: occult 6d6, academia: theology 3d6, shoot in': r irie 4dlQ, shooUn': Shotgu n JdlO.
area knowledge: Deseret 3d6, faith: sneak 3d8, speed-load Sd IO,
Mormonism 4d8, guts 4d8, overawe 4dlO, Mental: C:2d8, K:2d8. M:3d6, Sm:2d8, Sp:2d6
scrutinize 3d8, search 2dB, survival: desert 4d6, Academia: occult 7d8, academia: theology 5d8,
trackin' 3d8 area knowledge: Deseret 3dS. faith:
Grit: 2 Mormonism 4d6, guts 4d6, overawe 4d6,
Edges: Arcane background: blessed, brawny, scrutinize Jd8, searc h 2dS. su r vival: desert 4dB.
brave, friends in high places 5 (the Church), trackin' 3ds
rank 5 Grit: 2
Hindrances: Curious, big 'un \, obligation 5 Edges: Arcane background: blessed, friends in
Miracles: Battle hymn, endure, protection, high places 5 (the Church), rank 5, two-fisted
retribution, smite Hindrances: Grim ser va n t 0' death, obl igat ion 5
Gifts: Spi r itual giant Miracles: DispeL hinder, lions den, protection
Gear: As above, plus a hickory stick (treat as a Gifts: Refuge 0' faith, zeal
club) Gear: David carries 2 Call Walkers.
Tfl-E D ,A-iITES I \'PIq-L D pn E
Corporea l : D:3d6, N:2d8, S:3d6, Q3dS, ~:3d6 ,
The Danites are indeed Brigham Young's Dodge 2dS, drivin': steam wagon 2dS, flghtm 3dS,
"Destroying Angels," though Orrin Porter horse ridin' 4dS, quick draw 2dS, shootin':
Rockwell is thei r leader in name only. o. P.'s pistol 4d6, shootin': rifle 4d6, shootin'· shotgun
second · in-command, Jeb Morgan. actually 4d6, sneak 4dS, speed-load 2d6, teamster 3dS
recruits Danites and plots out their missions. Menta l : C:2dS, K:2d6, M:3d6, Sm:2d6, SpAdS
The Daniles number about 30 men and Acade mia: occull ld6, area knowledge: Deseret
women. By day. they're normal fo lk s. When they 3d6, faith: Mormonism 3dS, guts 4d8, overawe
are called into duly. they don black suits and 4d6, scrutinize 3dS, sea rch 2dS, street wise 4d6,
masks and leave their compa ssion at home. track in' 3dS
Their missions are many. The first and Gear : Sidearms and knives, black clothing and
foremost is to smash any opposition to the masks thaL add +2 to sneak atlempts at night.
Mormons before it gel s a head of steam. That
may sound ruthless, and it is, but the West is a
dangerous and lawless place filled with
J JOB ~"'f-'I
jeb Morgan is the second in command of the
desperat e souls. Remember, loa, that the
Danites, alt hough more and more he's actually
Mormons have already faced murderous mobs in
running the day-to-day operations of the group.
Missouri and Illinois. They have no intention of
Morgan is frustrated of la te because a.p.
being run out of Deseret. If that means
refuses to ta ke charge and doesn't ever listen to
preemptively striking at the worst of the
Jeb. Even worse is the recent defection of Bill
troublemakers, so be iL
Hickman (see the next pagel.
The Danites don't always ta ke a direct hand in
Morgan runs a tight ship. If he suspects a~y
actions if they can avoid it. They are not above
of his men are betraying him, he puts them In
hiring thugs from junkyard to take care of jobs the cold ground and attempts to find out the
that don't require finesse as much as force,
truth later.
Pli:ORLE Hindra n ces: Bloodthirsty, ugly as sin (O.P. wears
Corporeal: D:3d8, N:3d6, S:3dS. Q:2d8. V:3dlO a huge, dirty beard- Brigham once told him it
Dodge 3d6, drivin': steam wagon 4d6, fightin' 4d6, protected him like Sampson's hair.)
horse ridin' 4d6, shoatin': pistol 5d8, shoat in': Ge ar: Two single-action Colt Walkers, Bowie
rifle 6d8, shootin': shotgun 3dS. sneak 4d6. knife, shotgun on his horse.
teamster Sd6
Mental: C:2d8. K:3d6, M:2dlO, Sm:3d6, Sp:3d8 T J+E DJ.-'n ES & +l-i=LLsT1<OV.'!£
Area knowledge: Salt Lake Yalley 4d6. faith: Young is trying to slowly bring Hellstromme
Mormonism 3dS. guts 4d8. leadership 2d10, out of his mania. He believes one day the mad
overawe 4d1Q, scrutinize 3d8, search 2d8, scientist will realize his mistakes. truly convert
survival: desert 4d6, trackin' 3d8 to Mormonism. and use his incredible mind for
Grit: 3 good.
Edges: Big ears. friends in high places 5 (the But there's no need taking any chances. He's
Church), rank 5 (Danites) told the Danil es not to kill HeHstromrne. but
Hindrances: Loyal (to Danites), obligation 5 they should sabotage and disrupt his plans on
Gear: Colt Peacemaker, scattergun. occasion. Young believes that could lessen the
chances that Hellstromme may bring about the
o.p, R:=·,aL end of the world by slowing him down and
D.P. Rockwell is something of a loose cannon. perhaps even destroying some particularly
He takes orders on ly when it suiLs him, and he dangerous invention.
of len assassinates targets long before the
Danites have even realized there was a problem V914 Tfj-£ DJ.-~lES
to be dealt with. He never takes charge of the Jeb Morgan is very careful about exposing his
Danites, though he is their appointed leader. He people to danger. It's easy enough to ignore a
prefers to do his dirty work himselr. masked body should one of his soldiers be
Hellstromme hates Rockwell and believes he killed. Should one be captured alive, however. it
is part of the "rogue Danites" working against cou ld be devastating to the Danites and the
him. Brigham defends O.P. and has warned entire nation of Deserel.
HeIIstromme that killing him would result in the For that reason, Morgan often employs
"Church's full retaliation." That doesn't mean outsiders for raids against Hellstromme. His
Brigham approves of Rockwell. In fact. Brigham agents might think they're actually working for a
distances himself from this "dark angel." but he rival factory, a railroad involved in the Great Rail
can't deny O.P.'s usefulness. Wars, or even Smith & Robards. The gunmen
For his part, O.P. thinks Brigham's "circus act" they sometimes hire could easily be your posse
is amusing. He doesn't understand why the of heroes. As the Marshal. this is a great way to
President sends the Danites after Hellstromme disrupt He!1stromme's plans and involve your
with one hand and protects him with the Olher. group in a lillI e Church intrigue.
But as long as he get enough money to keep
him in rotgut whiskey and gets to kill folks on ~LL -I+tcrNy.-~
occasion, he's happy. Hickman was the secret leader of the Danites
for many years. He started killing back in the
Pli:OFlLE Missouri days and has made murder his stock in
Corporeal: D:.3dI2. N:2d6, S:2dIO, Q:3d8, V:.3dlO trade ever since. He's been in on most every
Fannin' .3d12, fight in'; brawl in' 5d6, horse ridin' devious, underhanded murder in Mormon
5d6, shoot in': pistol 6d12, shoot in'; rifle 4d12. history-and a whole lot of killings that history
shooUn': shotgun 4d12, sneak 5d6, speed-load knows nothing of.
2d12, teamster 5d6, lhrowin': knife 4d12 It's never been proven the Church ordered,
Mental: C:2d6, K:2d6, M:.3d6, Sm:2d6, Sp:2d6 condoned, or even knew of Hickman's activities.
Area knowledge: Deseret 8d6 (he wanders a lot), Brigham says Hickman killed what he thought
gamblin' 7d6, guts 7d6, scrulinize .3d6. search were foes of the Mormons. th en tried to blame it
2d6, survival: desert 6d6, trackin' Sd6 on the Church when he was about to get caught.
Grit: .3 In any case, Hickman fled Deseret in '72 to
Edges: Keen, kemosabe (Paiutes). level -headed, turn state's evidence. President Grant has
friends in high places 5 (the Church), rank 5 welcomed the former Danite with open arms.
(Danites) giving credence to his otherwise wild claims.
has an address, since they have to license here
~..\-LT l.,A-rr ern to live in Salt Lake City. That's why there are so
Fear Level 3 many licenses.
As for the "tampering with the laws of God
::SOOl and man" license, that was cooked up when the
late Dr. Tom Huntington built a "trans~
There's a reason they ca11 this place the City dimenSional displacement device." When he
0' Gloom. The sool does morc than just make explained how it worked to some of his Mormon
the place dark and dirty-i t kills. friends, they feared it might open up the doors
The soot gets into a person's lungs and slowly of Hell itself. Check out Huntington'S Ruins later
chokes them to death. Every month a person in this chapter, and you'll find out that it did!
lives in the City 0' Gloom, he must make a
Foolproof (3) Vigor check, or Fair (5) if he hasn't
worn a soot mask most of the lime he's ou t and CmJf~L
about the city. If he fails, he loses 1 point of Sheriff Waters isn't a Danite, though one of
Wind forever. If Wind is ever reduced to half the his deputies is. They are told when the Danites
character's starting tolal, the TN of the Vigor roll will be striking, however, and are forbidden to
is increased to Fair (5), At this pOint. the poor intervene.
fellow is hacking up black gunk and blood every That's a bit of a problem for Waters. He was a
now and then, much like a consumptive. When lawman long before he became a Mormon. He
Wind hits 0, he dies in a long, slow, agonizing believes in lhe Church, but he's one of those
week. who believes Brigham uses force far more orlen
The Mormon faithful use the better of their than is called for.
faith or Vigor to resist the effects of the soot. He occasionally "makes a mistake" and
Those who make it avoid "black lung," and their intercepts the Danites activities (except when
clothes and homes stay clean as well! they have lo do with Hellstromme- he's never
told about those missions).
~-C£S. OF NOTE
T HE B,MiK O'F DES~El
The bank is heavily guarded, but the rumor of
the curse is nothing more than that-a rumor.
The Bank President staged the incident a few
years back to ward off real robbers.
The two men who supposedly robbed the
bank allegedly got in by walking through the
very walls. They also "died" aflerward and were
put on display for a few hours at the City Jail.
Truth is, both Buck McManus and Ralph
Sliger are alive and well. They can be found
running with the scorpions these days (see page
(20). They were each paid $500 a piece to keep
quiel. It takes twice that to get them to talk-
they're as afraid of the Oanites as the next man.
TJI-E CJ=MEl"ERI
As Sally said, there's nothing going on here,
but it is sanctified ground.
Cm +l-j.-LL
There's nothing particularly exciting to report
here except that the clerk of City Hall is a
oanite. That gives him a list of every citizen that
Young is furious with Waters, but the sherin's T#£CoJICJL
loved by the Gentiles. That makes Young both The Council is led by Hellstromme when he
very angry and reluctant to dismiss him for fear ca res to get invol ved, which is rarely. Most of the
of causing a riot in )unkyard. time the Council Cha irman is Dr. Ben Matheson.
He's an old-fashioned nuts-and-bolts engineer
5; ~ffi'Fl'-' Eu Wf-TER£> who doesn't care for those who deviate from the
Corporeal: D:3d8, N:3d6, S:3d8, QAdIO, V;3dlO "standard and proper path of science."
Dodge 3d6, drivin': steam wagon Sd6, fighlin': what's on the path is unclear even to
brawl in' 3d6, horse ridin' Sd6, lockpickin' 2d8, Matheson, but it definitely doesn't include
shoolilr: pistol 6d8, shooUn': rifle 3d8, sneak Leonitus Gash's so-called "augmentation."
Sd6, teamster 4d6 Matheson is the Dean of the University and thus
Mental: C:.3dIO, K:.3d8, M:2dI2, Sm:3d8, Sp:.3d6 controls the tenure of every other member of
Academia: law 3d8, area knowledge: Salt Lake the Council. When he decided augmentation was
City Sd8, faith: Mormonism 4d6, guts 4d6, blasphemy, the rest had litLle choice but to go
leadership 4d12, overawe 6d12. professional; law along. Most agree anyway (especia[ly in the
3d8, scrutinize SdlO, search 4d10, trackin' .3dlO wake of the East End Massacre), but on ly
Edges: Level-headed, law man .3 because they are jealous of Gash's genius.
Hindrances: Cautious, heroic, law 0' the West. Matheson speaks to Brigham every chance he
loyaL obligation 5 gets, and he urges him to send the Danites after
Gear: Steam wagon, double-action Colt .45 Gash. Brigham nods quielly in Matheson's
Peacemaker. Winchester 73, Bowie knife, club. company and publicly tells the Mormons
augmentation is profanation of the body. In
TYPlq.-L DEWIY truth, however, Brigham is in terested in seeing
Corporeal : O:3d8, N:3d6, S:3d8, Q:2d8, VAd6 what becomes of this new technology. He won't
Dodge 2d6, drivin': steam wagon .3d6, fightin' .3d6, send the Danites to find Gash - a task he's sure
horse rid in' 2d6, shootin'; pistol 4d8, shoolin'; they ca n accomplish - until he's made up his
rifle 3d8, shootin': shotgun Id8 mind for sure.
Mental: C:2d6, K:2d6, M:2d8, Sm:2d6, Sp:3d6
Area knowledge: Salt Lake City 3d6, faith: D,I-'!ilOODl'~
Mormonism 3d6, overawe 2d8, scrutinize 2d6,
search .3d6 ~l1RE F,I-CTQ!\"I
Gear: Double-action Coil .45 Peacemaker. Howard Danwoody's men get their wood from
the mountains. Once they ventured into an
~ERElNEw~ ancient and haunted grove. Living in the gnarled
A blacklisted character subtracts -6 from his but sturdy trees were evil nature spirits. The
persuasion rolls with Mormons for one week Paiutes knew not to eat the fruit and nuts of
after the printing of the list. The shame of being these trees, nor to disturb them, but Oanwoody's
blacklisted causes his faith to suffer a -2 woodcutters did not.
modifier as well. They only cut one trec. The gray, crooked
wood was only good as trim on larger pieces of
T+I-E CoLLEctt. OF ~ furniture anyway. But that was enough. The
spirit was present in eac h of its splintered
Whoever thought your heroes would go to pieces, and it was dying. The tree-thing decided
school during their adventures? If a mad it wou ld wreak revenge on anyone who
scientist attends a semester's \,vorth of classes purchased a piece of furniture containing one of
here, she gains a free level in any science its pieces. The spirit caused its dying slivers to
Aptitude. While it would be tough to work this animate, light themselves wit h matches, and
into a campaign, it is possible. The character then run about the home to set it on fire as well.
need only spend one hour every morning at the What no one knows is thaI the last piece of
college for three months (60 classes), and at the the tree, its hearl, became a manlle-piece in a
end of that time (fina[s week!) make a Hard (9) young bachelor'S home. Just before it died, the
Smarts 1'0[1. tree-thing emerged from the manlle as an
Atlendance is important in higher education. animated, grotesque "tree-man." It atlacked its
Every missed class adds +[ to the TN. The school owner in his own living room and left liWe but
expels anyone who misses to classes blood, bark, and twigs for the sheriff to find_
Danwoody never realized what had happened.
It's on ly a matter of time before his woodcutters
T tl-E cS-REB R:(X)\\
hack down another of the cursed trees. The Mormon leaders discuss their private
affairs here just as Sally imagined. What they
EAL T"IT .:SPi1'H don't know is the wa l ls have ears.
Corporeal: D:2d6, N:2dS, S:3d12, Q:3d6, V:4dl0 Nevada Smith hasn't been able to find a way
Fightin': braw!in' 5d8 in here- yet. He wrote in his last dime novel that
Mental: C:2dl0, K:ld4, M2d12, Sm:2d6, Sp:2dlO he broke in, but only to convince the "Greeners"
Overawe Sd l2 to hold their private conversations elsewhere,
Size: 7 (S' tal\) maybe someplace that wasn 't quite so hard for
Terror: 9 him Lo get into-like the sulfur baths.
Special Abilities:
Claws: STR+3d6 J BN'(ci-,s..' T,I-'I1ERI
Armor: I
Weakness: The tree spir it takes double v/f-L1 E": J ffil,,"-,s.
damage f rom fire. Walter Jennings is a monster hunter. He once
Splinters: The tree-thing can shake its great came across a rare Ranger's Bible and learned all
limbs to hurl wooden splinters at a target they knew of the Reckoning and the many
up to 10 feet away. Everyone with in a cone deadly denizens of the Weird West.
starting at the spirit and ending 10 feet He shared a small part of that knowledge
away and 10 feel wide is hit by Id4 splinters with his fellow hunters and sent them out after
causing ld6 points of damage each. rattlers, wall craw lers, and worse. The "normal"
pelts are his bread and butter, and he does
~1E":,s. encourage overhunting of these normal anima ls,
Corporeal: D:2d6, N:2d8, S:ld4, Q:3d8, V:ld6 but it's his exotic pelts that really bring in the
Fightin': brawl in' 3ds dinero,
Mental: C:2dlQ, K: td4, M:2d6, Sm:2d6, Sp:2d6
Guts 3d6, ridicule 3d6, sneak 6diO
Size: 1 (6" ta l ll
Terror: 7
Special Abilities:
Claws: STR
Weakness: The slivers lake double damage
from fire, but unlike the tree spirit they do
not fear it.
~',s..4T,s..
There's nothing specia l about the store, except
that the pastries truly are out of this world, and
Edna is a Confedera te spy. See Spies, page 98.
EMRR'E M LL
See Sludge Creek in the Junkyard section.
Make sure you do. This secret's a doozy!
-
P<Ol1LF Of course, the blood she uses is thal of the
Corporeal: D:2d8. N:4d8, S:3dB, Q:3dIO, V:4d8 children under her care. When she needs fresh
Bow 3dg. climbin' 3<18, dodge 2dB, drivin': steam blood, she simply puts a few drops of sleeping
wagon .3d8, horse ridin' 4d8, shootin': rifle 4dg, potion into a child's porridge and waits until
speed load: rifle 4dB, sneak 4d8, swim min' 4d8 night. Then she and a few of the older girls who
Mental: C:2d8, K:3d6, M:2d8, Sm:ld8. Sp:2d6 Grist raised spiri t the victim away in the middle
Area knowledge: Salt Lake City 4d8, demolition of the night and drain him or her of blood.
2d6, guts 6d6, language: Paiute 2d6, overawe Grist's older girls are feared throughout the
4dB. scrutinize 2dB, search 3d8, survival: desert school. Children who make enemies of them
4d8, trackin' Sd8, trade: tanning 5d6 may find themselves anemic and pale in the
Edges: Eagle eyes, keen near future.
Hindrances: Greedy, mean as a ralller
Gear: Sharps Big 50, steam wagon, fast horse 'IIIDO, (j'1S-r
Corporeal: D:2d6, N:2d6, S:3dIO, Q:2d6. V:3d8
"Bv1-l- flO" TO\', Climbin' 1d6, drivin': steam wagon 2d6, rightin':
Besides himself. Jennings' best hunter is brawlin' 3d6, sneak Id6
"Buffalo" Tom McGee, a former slave and Mental: C:2d10, K:3d8, M:3d10, Sm:3d8, 5p:2d6
hardened veteran of the Weird West Tom got La Academia: occult 3d8, gu t s 4d6, language: English
be enough of a problem that a los diablos 3d8, language: German 4dB, leadership 3dlO,
eventually showed up. Tom killed it. then sold its medicine: general 3d8, overawe 3d10, science:
pelt to Mr. Jennings on commission. If they can alchemy 5dB, scrutinize 4dlO, search 2d10.
rind someone to pony up $6,000, Tom's ready to Edges: Arcane background: mad scientist
take his share (60%) and relire. Hindrances: Geezer
The los diablos' hide can be made into a thick Gear: Riding crop, selection of syringes.
and leather jacket that provides a point of
Armor. Better still, wearing such a jacket makes ~-o.l ' -0. CiI'<L-o.
the owner immune to the attack of a diablo- Corporeal: D:2d6, N:2d6, 5:3d IO, Q:2d6, V:3d8
though it might still show up and give it a try Climbin' 2d6, fightin': brawlin' 4d6, sneak 1d6
until it learns otherwise. Mental: C:2d6, K:2d6, M:3d8, Sm:3d8, Sp:2d6
Academia: occult 1d6, guts 2d6, medicine: general
~Ol1LE Id6, overawe 3d8, science: alchemy 1d6,
Corporeal: D:2dIO, N:4d8, S:3d8, Q:3dlO, V:4d8 scrutinize 2d6, search 3d6.
Bow 3d 10, climbin' 3ds, dodge SdS, drivin': steam Gear: None.
velocipede 3d8, fighlin'; knife 5dS, horse ridin'
4d8, shootin': rifl e 5d10, speed load: rifle 4d8, T,I--E .s,,-L1 L,,;-KE CrTY -H-oTEL
sneak 4d8, swimmin' 4d8, teamster 3d8 A wandering Shoshoni shaman once ventured
Mental: C:2d8, K:3d6, M:2da, Sm:2d8, Sp:2d8 into Salt Lake City. He politely asked where he
Area knowledge: Deseret 4d8, demolition 2d6, might stay in this city, and a speechless Mormon
guts ad8, language: Paiute 2d6, overawe 3d8, pointed to the nearest hotel.
scrulinize 2d8, search 3d8, survival: desert 6d8, The caretaker, Louis Montague, could not
trackin' 5d8 believe a savage had entered the Salt Lake City
Edges: Nerves 0' steel. sand 5 Hotel! He threw the shaman ou l.
Hindrances: Heroic, yearnin (to relire) 3 The sha man cursed the place, claim ing that
Knacks: Born under a blood red moon no one would ever sleep well here until he did.
Grit: 6 He had no real ability to enforce his curse, but
Geal": Sharps Big 50, Bowie knife, bow and the Reckoners did. They took notice, and now
arrows, steam velocipede, fast horse. anyone who sleeps here is plagued with the
night terrors Hindrance. II's not so bad for most
Ow+/i-J)I,-<tt folks. The TN of the Spirit roll is only Foolproof
Grist is a monster in the very human sense of (3), Folks who already have nigllt terrors. however,
the word. She's an alchemist who has learned to make their roll against an Incredible Oil TN.
make use of other people'S blood to make Here's where it gelS really interesting. When a
philosopher's stone (see the alchemy rules in the Harrowed fails his roll. whether he goes bust or
Smith & Robards sourcebookJ nOL he gives birth to a night stalker. See Book 0'
the Dead for more information.
-
T -I+E TJ,~E>ER>\+CL£
The Lost Elder is a rea l ghost. It's not ha r mful,
but it does foretell of the death of a powerfu l
Mormon. It can be freed by fi nding the corpse
and burying it in consecrated ground (li k e the
Mormon Cemetery), The spirit does no harm.
T -I+E TEMPLE
Don't expect to find out what rea l ly goes on
inside the Temple in a game book, friend! The
Mormons aren't telling, and neither are we (plus,
we don't know. so you can make it up yourself).
What we can tell you is all about the missing
gargoyles. These creatures were ca rved by a
Welsh immigrant whose name was forgotten, but
everyone re fers to as "the Welshman."
His gargoyles did indeed come to life and slay
him. Then they flew off into the Wasatch
Mountains where t hey lair in a high cave. They
eat flesh. but the two of them together on ly
need a man - sized amount once per month. The
rest of their diet consists of various stones.
The gargoyles f requently come to the city and
sit atop the highest part of the Temple, wailing
for it to be completed. When it is. they plan to
roost and become nothing but stalUes once
again. In the meantime, they're invulnerable
except to the miracles of the blessed. Other
magic, even black magic, can't hurt them.
~jS~ ~P<401LES
Corporea l: D:2d8, N:4dIO, S:3dI2 , Q:3dlO. V:4d8
Fightin' SdlO, flyin ' 4dlO
Mental: C:2dIO, K:ld4, M:2d6, Sm:2d6, Sp:2d6
Si ze: 7 (8' ta ll)
Terror: 9
Special Abilities:
Stone cl aws: STR+ld6
Armor: 2
Flying: Pace 24
-
These things crawl along on their sewn on
hands and feet, attacking their victims with
[Oath and nail. The best way to kill them is to
place a bullet between their bloody eyes.
~OFlLE
Corporeal: D:2d6, N:2d8, S:3d8, Q:2d 10, V:2d8
Climbin' 4d8, dodge 2d8, fight in': brawl!n' 3d8,
sneak 4d8
Mental: C:2d8, K:ld6, M:ld6, Sm:ld6, Sp:ld4
Overawe 4d6
Size: 2
Terror: 7
Speci al Abiliti es:
Bite: 3d8
Scr atch: 3d8
Undead
--
~Ot=NOTE
T +l-E;A-9tUJA
Dr. Hibbert is a good man, though hi s methods
are a bit crude. The widow nurses are also good
and helpful. Hibbert has created a few new and
useful methods for treating the many manias
that affect citizens of Salt Lake City. Depressed
workers, demented inventors, and those driven
mad by a brush with the unholy may find
comfort in his drastic but effective techniques.
There are a few good things a posse can find
here. If your group find s its way into the
Asylum. you might let a mad scien tist in your
group notice an ingenious blueprint w ritten in
chalk on a cell wall . Or perhaps an inmate
screams some ingenious alchemical formula.
Hibbert only accepts pa tients who are willing
to remain as full-time inmales. Once in, they
ma~ only be released on his say-so. Willing
patlents who agree must pay a oneti me $50 fee.
Truly insa ne patient s can be committed by
family members (or the state) without choice.
Once committed, he puts hi s pati ents through
"confron tational therapy." Hibber t straps her into
a chair and confront s her with stories and
pictu res of the things she hates or fears most.
At the end of each week, the patient makes a
+lIBBEKl'"" ,A-?~s1,,10 ~>
Smarts test. The TN depends on how deep the
patient's fea rs or manias run . As a guideline, Cor poreal: D:ld8, N:ld6, S:ld6, Q:2d6, V:2d6
heroes wit h manias acquired through the Scart Mental: C:3d6, K:3d8, M:ld8, Sm:3d8, Sp:2d8
Table or from being a mad scien ti st shou ld roll Area knowledge: Salt Lake City 2, guts 3d8,
against a TN of Hard (9). Raise the TN by +2 for medicine: general 2d8, science: psychology
eac h occu rrence of a particular phobia or mania 3d8, scrutinize 2d6, search 3d6
the cha racter has suffered. If the patient fails the Gear: The women that assist Hibbert in Ilis
roll. nothing happens. Treatment continues. If the work are never armed.
patient goes bust. the TN increases by +4.
If the patient makes the roll. the TN drops by f;BlEI--1 ~,- 1 H-E ~.>'IL1-'"
2 for the following week. When it reaches Q or Things would be great for Dr. Hibben and his
less, the patient is cured. If the problem was a patients if it weren't for one thing-Dr. Leonitus
Hind rance, the hero must buy it off as normal. P. Gash's secret lab lies beneath the Asylum.
As for the laboratory itself. Gash and his
I::;>!i:,
EML fflBBEIi:'T assistants found an abandoned mine in the hi1Js
Corporeal : D:ld8, N:2d6, S:2d6, Q:2d6, V:2d6 above. They disguised themselves as miners and
Drivin': steam wagon 3d6, shooti n'· pi stol 2d8 began to carve out an underground laboratory.
Men tal : C:3dS, K:3dlQ, M:2dS, Sm:3dlQ, Sp:2d8 Their cavern s lead from the mines al l the way to
Academia: occult 3, area knowledge: Salt Lake certai n dwellings in town and the unused cellar
City 2dlO, guts 5d8, med icine: general SdlO, of the asy lum. This is where the mad doctors get
science: biology 3d10, science: psychology 5dlO, their experimen tal patients from. Gash's
scrutinize 3d8, search 3d8 assistants crawl through the hollow walls, duct s,
Edges: "The voice" dumbwaiters, and massive shower drains of the
Hindran ces: Geezer asylum to abduct their victims. Then they haul
Gea r : Dr. Hibbert carries a Colt One-Shot for them through the tunnels and down into the
personal protection. deep laboratory for experimentation.
- ....
I::>R:. LEoIl1JS P. C'i-A-SH- ~ ~ml-',s~ F,A-CTcY(!'
Corpore al: D:2dll, N:ld6, S:ld6, Q:2d6, V:2d6
Granny's arms are nothing special, though
Fightin': scalpel 2d6, sneak 2d6
they're invaluable to the embargoed Mormons.
Mental: C:3dI2. K:3dI2, M:2d8. Sm:3d12, Sp:4dlO
Only her and the Browning factory in Morgan
Academia: occult Sd12, area knowledge: Salt Lake
produce a stable supply of guns for Deseret.
City 2d12. disguise 3d12, guts 4dlO. medicine:
Without them, the Nauvoo Legion would be
surgery IOdI2. overawe 3d8, persuasion 2dB,
throwing rocks at the Union and Confederates.
science: chemistry 4d12, science: biology IOdI2.
Granny's "private" collection contains weird
science: engineering 10d12, scrutinize 6d12,
gizmos and even famous guns used by the
search 4d\2, slreelwise ldll
West's foremost gunslingers. Use this as a place
Edges: Arcane background: mad scientist, keen
to plant that new gizmo or magica l relic you've
Hi n drances: Ailin' 5 (leprosy), curious, enemy 5
come up with. Granny isn't too eager to part
(the Church), geezer, intolerance
wi t h any of her prized collection, but she can be
("unenlightened scientists"), scrawny, yearnin'
persuaded with the right amount of money.
(to be the father of augmentation)
Gear: Specially modified piston arm. Dr. Gash is
rarely heeled. He relies on his younger, more +4:.LLs~O\'ME MDJ,sl1<IE>
able assistants to defend him if needed. See the section on Hellstromme's compound
(page 121) for information on the "secret of the
~A~?H-'$ ;A-$:!dSTA ~T:S automatons." The rest of the factories here are
Corporeal: D:ld8, N:2d6, S:2d6, Q:2d6, V:2d6 more-or~less as Sally described them.
Drivin': steam wagon 3d6, shootin': shotgun 3d6, Outside, all are guarded by Hellstromme's
sneak 3d6 famed "X -Squads." gunmen (guinea pigs) given
Men t al: C:3d8, K:3d8. M:2d8, Sm:3d8. Sp:2d8 experimental equipment. These men are paid
Academia: occult 3dB, area knowledge: Salt Lake well enough to be fairly loyal, and fear of
City 2d8, guts 3dB. medicine: surgery Sd8, Hellstromme tends to make up for what the
science: biology SdB, science: engineering 4dB, money alone doesn't ensure.
scrutinize 3d8, search 3d8. street wise 2d8 Inside the more-valuable factories are the
Gear: When the assistants feel they're being infamous automatons. They stomp about the
followed or are in danger of some sort, they floor and intimidate intruders and workers alike.
tuck scatterguns under their coats.
,X-~-DDER:
~Y,A-TES Corporeal: D:3d6. N:2d6, S:3d6, Q:3d6. V:2d6
Dodge 2d6, fightin': any 3d6, horse ridin' 2d6,
Doc Yates is going to have a rough time
sneak 2d6. any skill necessary to use a device
locating his lost son. Like quite a few other
at 4.
unfortunates. Cal was ki!1ed by Hellslromme's
Mental: C:ld6, K:ld6, M:2d6, Sm:ld6. Sp:ld6
men. His brain eventua!1y wound up in an
Area knowledge: Salt Lake City 2d6, gamblin'
automaton. That automaton now patrols
2d6, guts 2d6, scrutinize 2d6. search 3d6.
Hellstromme's estate. The body was incinerated.
streetw ise 2d6, any other skill needed to use
The only way to discover Cal's whereabouts is
their gizmo at level 4
through divination of some sort. If the Doc is
Gear: Any single weird gizmo, such as a
told of Cal's fate. he snaps. He knows about Dr.
flamethrower, Gatling weapon, or a rocket
Stark's work and attempts to get Cal's brain and
pack. If the gizmo isn't a weapon. the X-
take it to Stark's Manor in hopes of bringing his
Squadder carries a pistol. rifle, or shotgun.
son back by putting his brain in a new body.
Heck, it might even work.
Of course, Cal won't go peacefully, and his
,A-mO\\A-10:
automaton head explodes unless the heroes Corporeal: D:2d6. N:2d4. S:2dlO. Q:2d6, V:2d12
come up with a really good way to zonk it Fightin" braw!in' 3d4, shootin': automatics 3d6
before it can detonate itself. Mental: C:2d6. K:ld4, M:2d6, Sm:2d4. Sp: ld4
And of course, Hellstromme would stop at Overawe 4d6, search 4d6
nothing to retrieve a stolen automaton. That Size: 7
means Cal's head might become the hottest Terror: 7
exploding metal potato in Utah. Special Abilities:
Armor: 2
-
Immuniti es: Automatons are unaffected by
Wind and physical stress, as well as
emotional stress (fea r and all social skills,
like overawe or persuasion).
Mec hanical Hands: Sentinels have a
grasping claw in one hand and a Gatling in
the ot her. If fu lly loaded, an automaton has
60 rounds for the Gatling.
Self-Destruct: If an automaton's armor is
breached badly (a mortal wound to the guts
or noggin ), the thing explodes immediately
with the force of a single stick of dynamite.
This is a mental command from the zombie
brain to a detonator in its head, backed up
by a gyroscopic detonator that triggers the
explosion if the automaton is knocked over
(though the zombie ca n hal t this command
if it is conscious), The only way to stop the
detonation is to somehow render the
zombie brain "unconscious." Walkin' dead
don't take Wind, so this is pretly difficult.
Magica l or weird-science effects might find
a way to short-ci rcu it the brain, however.
Vuln er ability : Since soul blast and the like
only work on animate objects, it affects an
automa ton only if it targets the noggin. In
that case, ignore the armor. Only spells that
affect objects can affect the body.
- --
~/<,,,.,--
<;;K:E~ ,-•
disguise skU]). Those who aren't looking for
~E'£'++CV£>E the creature have no chance of detecting it.
OF HlE.A-<rr£' Those who know something's up roll
normally. If the creature has already been
Lenore is no more than she seems~a patron
spotted, a character rolls his search at +4.
of art She sees it as her duty to preserve the
honest if naive works of the Junkers. T -/l-E7~ J:::::>a;OI
Adelade Picket is another story. He gives
Lenore the creeps, but she feels sorry for him Another of Pickel's creatures is a sentient
cloud of scalding steam. It's a cloud of billowing,
and so can't refuse his paintings. She's also
heavy steam with two sinister black eyes.
darkly fasci nat ed by them, though she doesn't
The steam demon only attacks a person once
admit thi s even to herself. Those who listen to
her describe them realize on a Fai r (5) scrutinize per night. Once it has, it wafts away to await
anot her night's work. It attacks by simply
roll that she's morbidly intrigued at the subtle
waftin g over some unfortunate individual. Roll
horrors hidden in his works.
3d6 damage once and apply the number of
What about those horrors? You guessed it:
wou nd s to 011 locations. Chips spent to negate
They come to life on occasion. Every full moon,
wounds negate them to all locations as well.
they climb o ut of their portraits and stalk the
city. When one is killed, which is rare (Nevada
got one once), it disappears from the painting. ~DtI-i'I f\\,I-"IE'£' D ,AJIC£ ++-tI-ll-
Picket knows his paintings are alive. In fact, at Marie doesn't have any "dirt" on any of the
the end of each night's revelry, eac h monster Mormon leaders. They abhor the place, but
pays Picket a visit and silently urges him to realize its importance in keeping the Gentiles
paint another portrait. Picket knows if he fails to peaceful. Nothing quiets a cowboy down more
deliver. he may become their next victim. than a "dance" with one of Madam Marie's girls.
The statistics for these monstrosities vary
greatly. as do th eir abili ties and weaknesses. ~END fflJ14,A-TE
Here are two you ca n start with, bu t you should Marie's real opposi tion, Reverend Robert
add your own abominable creat ions as well. Hungate, is another story. He knows a lot about
A Harrowed counting coup on one of these the Reckoning and doesn't mind sharing it with
monstrosities gains a free level of arts: painting. anyone who will listen.
up to a maximum of 3 free levels. Both the Pinkertons and the Rangers have
placed him on their wanted list ($100, dead or
T -1+E :PIPE iVoJ5.lE alive). Edna Jacobs isn't "that kind" of agent;
This hideous creature is tall and skinny with she's more of an intellige n ce~gatherer. Nevada
rusting, metallic ski n. It s face is a steam vent. Smith claims he ca n't rind him but, in truth, is a
and its arms, legs, and torso all look like steel friend and comrade-in-a rms of Rev. Hungate.
pipes. These are holl ow, and the creature makes Smi th has fought alongside the Rev on more
ee rie chiming sounds as it walks. than one heroic adventure.
He can be a powerful ally for your party as
~OFlLE well. He can share as much information about
Cor porea l : D:2d4, N:2d8, S:3dIO, Q:3d8, V:3d8 the Reckoning as you w ish- and he can even
Filchin' 4d4, dodge 3<18, fight in': brawlin' 4d8 heal them if he's able- and they've proven
Mental: C:2d8, K:ld4, M:ld6, Sm:ld6, Sp:2d6 themselves as allies in the fight against ev il.
Area knowledge: )unkyard 5d6, disguise 6d6,
search 2d8 ~OFILE
Te rror : II Corporea l: D:2d6, N:3<16, S:3d6, Q:3d6. v:3d8
Specia l Abiliti es: Climbin' 2d6, dodge 2d6, fightin': brawlin' 5d6,
Arm or : 1 horse rid in' 4d6, shooUn': pistol 2d6, sneak
Attack: The pipe monster attacks by bashing 2d6, swim min' 2d6, teamster 4d6
opponents with its long arms or stabbing Mental: C:3<i IO, K:3<i8, M:4dB, Sm:3d8, SpAdlO
them with its sha rp-edged, tubular fingers. Academia: occult Sd8, academia: theology 3<18,
Either one does STR+2d6 damage. area knowledge: Salt Lake City 4d8, faith:
Con cealment: In Junkyard. the pipe monster Baptist 6d1Q, guts SdlQ, language: Latin 2d8,
can stand stock still and easily pass for yet leadership 3d8, overawe Sd8, scrutinize 3d10.
another tangle of metal (hence the high search 3d lO
-
Grit: 2 O<:E'ilP. .S;i~LK£Ib
Edges: Arcane background (blessed) Corporeal: D:3d6, N:3d8, S:3dlO, Q:3d6, V:3dB
Hindrances: Enemy (Pinkertons and Rangers) 5, Dodge 3d8, fight in': brawlin' 4dB, sneak Sd8
heroic, poverty, self- righteous Mental: C:3d6, K:ld4, M:ld8, Sm:ld6, Sp:2d6
Miracles: Battle hymn, martyrdom, protection, Terror: II
reassurance, spiritual backhand, temperance, Special Abilities:
unfetter Climb: Oreway sku lkers can climb
Gifts: None underneath the oreways (upside down) at a
Gear: Colt Walker with only three rounds, iron Pace of 8 (a little faster than the oreway).
pipe (STR+!d6+1 damage). Club Fists: The skulkers' fists do STR+2dlO
damage. If altacking a vicUm unaware, it
T-H-E O<:Bilj,-Y5- can ·'aim" its attack for a +6 bonus, enough
La negate the called- shot-to-the-head
THE WES-TEC<N O<:Eilf-Y modifier.
Undead
Along the westernmost of the oreways, in the
dark of night. the ghosts of miners killed in the
ghost -rock crushers come to unholy life as
Ttl-E NarrtlF<N O<:E,f-Y
physical undead. Like spiders, they crawl along The northern oreway provides an easy path
the underside of the oreways and wait for for wall crawlers from the mountains. These
trespassers. nocturnal hunters are similar to those found on
When the skulkers find prey, they crawl out buttes and mesas in the deserts, but smaller and
from beneath the conveyor belt and attempt to more prone to roam. Every few days, a Wasatch
smash the victim's skull from behind with their wall crawler scuu!es down the oreway and
massive fists. There are many oreway skulkers, hunts for prey in Junkyard. The Steel Sky, tal]
though only one of them is ever called into smokestacks, and other high obstacles make
being in a single night. this a perfect hunting ground for the beasts.
V/f.$f-TCtI- \i/f~ CR:M'L.ER
Cor p ore al : D:ld4, N:2dlO, S:3dB, Q:2d12+2. V:2d8 •
Climbin' 8dlO, fighlin': brawlin' SdlO, sneak 4dlO
Mental: C:2dl0, K:ld4. M:ldlQ, sm:Ld4. Sp:ld6 Id6 Result "
Siz e: 10 I Death: Sorry, partner.
Ter ror : 7 2 Maimed: The docs accidentally took
s pecial Abilitie s: off an arm 0-3) or a leg (4-6). Hey,
Armor: I everybody makes mistakes. There's
Bite: STR+2d8 always Dr. Gash.
Tail Str ike: STR+3dl0 3 Where's My scalpel? One of the docs
Pace: 20 (when racing downhill, 10 otherwise) left a scalpel or other sharp object
inside you. Lt causes slow internal
T tI-E K:+T ti-OLE bleeding. You lose - \ Wind per day
until you die or someone cuts you
In addition to being a raul and disgusting open and makes an Incredible (It)
slum tenement the Rathole is actually fu l l of surgery roll to remove it.
rats, normal and giant. They're as big as feral 4 What's a "Spleen?" While poking
cats and twice as mean. They don't venture up around your innards, the docs found
into the living areas of lhe Ratho]e, but Lhey do some stra nge organ lhey'd never
lurk in lhe garbage outside of the building. seen before. You've got Id6 days to
The things live in lhe basement and live unless you find some magical
sometimes wander into the sewer system. Sludge healing that can regrow organs. A
usually adopts them, or eats them. "Frank enstein"- lype mad scientist
The rats don't altack singly. but they wait m ight also be able to fix the
until they can ambush some lone t raveler as a damage, if you can find a new
pack of 2dlO crilters. spleen, liver, kidney, or whatever.
5 "Ether" Here or T her e: The docs use
4\Vrr R:A-T:S- too much ether and drive your
Cor poreal: D:!d4, N:3d6, S:ld4, Q:3dB, v:3d6 character insane. He picks up a
Fighlin': brawlin' 3d6, sneak 5d6 doozy of a delusion (5~pointer) and
Mental: C:2dB, K:2d4, M:2d6, Sm:2d4, Sp:1d4 gets shipped over to the Asy lum.
Overawe 3d6 6 Hey, It Worked! You get off lucky.
Pace: 16 The docs don't kill you this time. or
Si ze: 3 course, t hey don't heal you either,
Terror: 3 but you can let them try again if
Speci a l Abilities: you're feeli ng lucky.
Bite: STR
I n f ec tion: If a rat causes a wound, the hero O HI-ER frJl.J\\BIT:S-
must make a Hard (9) Vigor check. If he As the Marshal, you have to determine what
fails, he contracts a minor disease. Treat happens La patients who enter the Worker's
t his as the aWn' Hindrance at level L IL goes Hospita l for other reasons, such as disease or to
away in 2- 3 weeks if treated by any kind of continue healing already-t reated wounds Keep in
doctor. mind that bleedings, leechings, and trepanning
(drilling holes in the head) are considered "state-
W~'~ i+o?AT,A.L of-the art" in this throwback house of horrors.
The Worker's Hospital isn't as bad as Sally Long- term patients can expect the same care
suggested; its worse. A character who visits the that crown heads of Europe go t ~in the 16005,
quackS and charlatans here risks life and limb. t hat is.
Assuming a hero goes to the worker's hospital Feel f ree to make a 3d6 medicine roll to help
for an unLreated wound, roll a 3d6 medicine lotal you decide. On a good roll, maybe the poor
for the quack on duty. If the roll beats the TN of fellow is actual1y aided in some way (but not too
the wound needing attention, it's healed \ leveL m uch). On a low roll. the quack s keep him
and all Wind is replenished as usual. around and tell him he's getting better, but he's
If the roll is failed, roll on the Surgical Mishap not. On a bust, things go bad. Real bad. YOLI have
Table below (isn't this fun?) to decide what that means, based on the case.
-
+l-frZ.,"~ OF ITtJ{Ky,M'D
,A-uBq,-.T;;-
The alley cats came La life and murdered their
inventor as the gossip suggests. Now they lurk in
the alleys, waiting for unsuspecting victims.
Their supernatural energy comes from
stealing breath. The cats atlack in groups of 5 to
15. They pounce on a victim and rake him with
their claws until he collapses (0 Wind), Then the
cats stand about his head and draw out his
breath. No matter how many cats there are, they
steal I Wind per second. The victim remains
conscious during this time, though he can do
liule morc than twitch a few fingers. Under no
circumstances can he speak, and he can't keep
his mouth closed either.
Eventually, drawing orf the vicUm's Wind kills
him (see the bleeding rules in the Dead/ands
rulebook if you don'l know how this works).
PP01-lLE
Corporeal: O:ld6, N:3d6, S:ld6, Q:3d8, V:3d4
Fightin': brawlin 2d6
Mental: C:2d8, K:2d4, M:2d6, Sm:2d6, Sp:3d4
Search 2d8, trackin' 6d4
Si ze: 3
Terror: 5
Special Abilities:
Claw: STR+ld4 The Lurkers are actually the Mullins kids, a
Teeth: STR+ld6 family of five orphans. Their mother died giving
Armor: 2 birth to Little Janie. Their father was a factory
Steal Breath: see above. worker until he found a brief but shining
moment of fame playing swing. Hi s tether was
Tjl-Eq...;;-l Em:>MA-;;-~~E cut by ··Slicer" Muldoon in early '76 during a
match, and he plunged into the Sludge. never to
The East End madman was none other than be seen again.
Dr. Leonitus P. Gash! To combat the leprosy that The kids were put into the orphanage. but the
infects his body, Dr. Gash had his assistants oldest, James. figured out what Widow Grist was
perform the first ever human augmentation on up to after she and her assistants drained his
the doctor himself. Maddened by the pain of his blood one night. When James recovered, he broke
new piston arm, Gash burst from hi s secret lab his brother and sisters out and escaped into
into Iron Street and killed 15 in a psychotic rage. Junkyard. They hid in the only place they were
He then fled into the alleys of )unkyard. sure Sheriff Waters couldn't find them- the Steel
Gash came to his senses in an alleyway about Sky. James had learned something of swing from
an hour later, covered in blood. Unable to accept his father, so he began training the rest of his
what he had done, Gash quick ly rationalized that siblings how to maneuver through the vertical
it was his own blood that he was covered in. He
labyrinth over Junkyard.
has no memory of the events of that afternoon Since then, the kids have learned the layout of
and refuses to even consider the possibility that Steel Sky like the backs of their hand, betler
he is the East End Madman. than anyone else in Junkyard. They've survived
His assistant Carl knows betler but is too by scrounging and common thievery. though
loyal to Gash to turn him in. Still. should Carl they all aspire to become swing players like
ever become disgruntled, he has much to tell. their father.
-
The oldest Lurker is James, 18. The next oldest Sooner or later. however, the lurkers'
is Billy, 16, Sarah, 15, Ferguson, 12, and Liltle Janie, population will grow so large the Lurkers will
9. By day, they roam the town buying food with have to ask for help. Sounds like a good
what little loot they manage to steal. They have adventure for a posse of do-gooders, doesnl it?
buill a hidden "treehouse" in a cramped section The lurkers are grotesque humanoids with
of the Steel Sky. This is where they eat. sleep, four spider-like arms ending in cruel hooks.
and hang out most of the time. They also have gray-furred bodies, horrendous
When funds run low, they rob Junkers by compound eyes, and the ability to shoot webs
dropping a lasso around them from the Steel from their wide-fanged mouths.
Sky. Then Sarah and Little Janie jump off a beam
high above and hold the victim in place six feet .p'\(OHLE
off the ground. Billy and Ferguson, both wearing corporeal: D:ld4, N:3d12, S:2d6, Q:3dlO, v:3d8
masks, swing down, relieve their prey of all his Climbin' IOd12, fightin': brawl in' 5dl2, sneak 7d12,
dinero. and retreat back into the steel overhead. webcasting 5d4
The kids wear masks when they attack, and Mental: C:2d8, K:ld4, M:2d6, Sm:2d4, Sp:2d6
the three who are actually seen are big enough Area knowledge: Steel Sky 4d4, overawe 3d6,
to pass for small adults, so few victims realize track in' 3d8
they've been robbed by kids. of those that have Pace: 8 on ground, 10 in Steel Sky
noticed the Lurkers' stature, all have so far been Size: 6
too embarrassed to say they were robbed by Terror: II
kids, but instead claim they were attacked by a Special Abilities:
dozen full -grown men. This can be quite Claws: STR+ld6 (lurkers can attack with each
misleading to a posse of heroes who overarm of their four arms once per round)
themselves to deal with the Lurkers. Web: A lurker can sacrifice its armed attack
to fire its web instead. Roll the creature's
.p'\(OFILE webcasting with a Range Increment of 1. If
Corporeal: D:2d8, N:3dl0, S:(2d8 for James, 2d6 it hils, a single man-sized target is
for the other kids, Id4 for Little Janie), Q:3d6, entangled. Breaking free requires a Hard (9)
v2d6 Strength roll with I raise. With a success
Fightin': brawl in' 4dlO, sneak 4dl0, swing 4d10, but no raise, a character can work a knife
throwin' 3d 10 or other sma ll blade free and start CUlling
Mental: C:2d6, K:2d6, M:2d6, Sm:2d6, Sp:ld6 himself loose. It takes 20 points oC damage
Area knowledge: Salt Lake City 3d6 (Steel Sky to cut enough webbing strands loose to get
6d6), scroungin' 3d6, search 3d6 free.
Gear: Metal pipes (STR+ld6), lassos and swing Implantation: Once the survivors are
harnesses, masks. entangled, the lurkers descend on them and
inject their eggs into their bloodstreams.
T+1£ "OT+~" ~$ The victim falls into semiconsciousness at
Sally mentioned that the Lurkers' most recent this paint. T[len ld6 days later, the eggs
victims have been murdered horribly. That's not hatch into six new lurkers, who eat their
strictly true. What's really going on is a keen way out and kill the victim. The eggs can
insight into the nature of the Reckoning though. be removed up to the moment of death,
The public's fear of the Lurkers has given life whether by natural or magical means.
to horrible new creatures in the Steel Sky. The Natural means requires an Incredible Oil
"other" lurkers are horrid, spider-like beings that medicine: surgery roll and ld6 hours. Reduce
drop down on a victim, draw him up into the the TN to Hard (9) if the surgeon has done
Steel Sky, and fill him with their eggs. In a few this before. Failure means the victim
days, the eggs hatch, and the larvae eat their sustains a wound, but the doctor can try
way oul. The victims dies in horrible agony. again. Going bust means the victim dies
Ironically enough, the only people who know instantly.
about the lurkers is the Lurkers. They've been
killing the small ones and running from the
large ones for the last few months. They can't go
T-<=t=ffi5,
The roofers are simply the "walkin' heads" of
to the authorities for help for fear of being the Butcher. See Hazards of Salt Lake City, on
arrested for murder. page 96.
-
~""~E~
--;;:!;i, '" be ,-~
.sA-LT lAll5MR:Ob
Fear Level 2
Ti ~E ~E.~-T ~L v/~"""
You already know about the relationship
between Brigham and Hel1strommc. Sally also You might call this place "corpses are us."
told you thal Brigham plans on giving the right- There are three mad scientists pilfering the
of-way to the first railroad to reach Salt Lake graves for body parts. One is Dr. Gash. He uses
City, without linking up to the Denver Pacific. the corpses to teach augmen tation surgery to
So why is he double-crossing Hellstromme? his disciples. The other two grave-robbers are Of.
He's not. Hell stromme is in on t his one. Both Stark and Madam Rasmussen. You'll find more
men want to see the other railroads kill information on each of them later, but boLh are
themselves racing each other to Salt Lake City. working on "Frankenstein"-type creatures.
This also makes the DP worth less, giving Occasionally, two or three groups hit the
Hel1stromme a chance to buy it at a cheap price. cemetery at the same time. All of them want the
Then, when it's clear who's going to win, freshest corpses, so when there's a major
Brigham can rind a reason to declare the contest accident at the factories or some other source of
invalid and forbid any railroad except Wasatch multiple casualties, there's a quick scramble to
from crossing Deseret. If they pull th is off. see who can get there first.
Wasatch should easily win th e Great Rail Wars. All the scientists' minions are fairly timid and
overarmed, which makes for comica l but rarely
H-£l.J....S11<O"NE",s A--c.E-tI-T1+E-+l-oLE deadly battles over the unearthed corpses.
Darius knows Brigham will do whatever is None of these groups are foolish enough to
best for the Saints once the railroad s reach steal from the Mormon Cemetery.
DesercL so he commissioned a secret line
through the Rockies. Actually, under the Rockies.
Hellstromme created an incredible
TtJ..E c,.,m0tS
In general. anyone can pass through the "toll
underground vehicle with a huge drill at the canyons" with no trouble. Even folks with no
front. He calls it, creatively enough, the "digging money are usually let through if they appeal to
machine." It's digging a tunnel through the the owners' softheartedness.
Rockies north of Utah. If he can get the line
Shou ld a conflict come, however, these
completed soon enough. he shouldn't need to barricaded canyons should prove incredibly hard
connect with the DP or lay line across Deseret. for an army to pass. In a war, Gatlings and
ca nnons can be added to the walls. In the la rger
L,~-~ MOIEMBfT passes, la-50 militia are set to guard them.
Stacey O'Malley 's as thick-headed as her
brother, Lacy. She's several years younger, I:::>BiL";:' C;,.;ii0i
though, and hasn't learned when to back down The legends about this cave are absolutely
and work a story from a morc subtle angle yet. true. The Aztec high priest who led the
Stacey has thrown her heart into the Worker's expedition sealed a hideous nosferatu inside. [t
Alliance. Her "poison pen" revea ls the horrors of eventually found a way out and infected a tribe
working in the factories, and she paints the of local Indians. Eventually there were over 40 of
owners as greedy monsters sacrificing common the hideous fiends lairing in this cave.
folk for the "Almighty Dollar." There's some truth A rew years ago, the nosferatu attacked a
La that, but the factory owners are trying. They're band of Mormons explorers. One of them
slower than they should be in meeting the escaped and informed the Nauvoo Legion. The
worker'S demands, but that's just because they're Legionnaires followed the trail and entered the
cautious. Hellstrornme just doesn't care. cave. of the 20 that went in, only three made it
So far. only Hellstromme has seriously back out. The Legionnaire commander set up
considered putting an end to Stacey's crusade in camp nearby and waited on the Black Chaplains.
the press. He's aware what her death would do, They arrived shortly before Sally and her
so he hasn't done anything yet, but if she flamethrower, then entered the nosferatu cave
persists and it looks like the workers will strike and hosed the monsters down with their rush-
anyway, Ilis automatons will pay her a visit. order weapon. Un fortunately, they didn't get the
original. ancient nosferatu, who cravenly hid in possible to immobilize one by severing its
the deeper caverns. spinal col umn. Co mplete decapitation is the
After the Black Chap lains left, the creature only wound that which ca n kill a vampire,
rampaged out of the cave and tore into a band Exposure to sunlight is also fatal to these
of Paiutes. Now it's replenishing its undead ranks undead. A stake through the heart can
and preparing for another fight with the paralyze one as long as the stake remain s
Mormons. It's smart, though, so it doesn't simply in place. Attempting to stake a nosferatu in
march on Salt Lake City. Instead, it spreads melee requires a ca ll ed (or lucky) shot to
vampirism among the Indians, local farmers, and the gizzards. Nosferatu ca n be momentarily
any other mortals it or its minions can catch stunned by physical attacks. A protection
alone. That way, the Black Chaplains have no miracle protects against nosferatu normally,
trail to follow back to the nosferatu lair in
Devil's Canyon. TH-E ,A-tlCJBrr (){£
Oh, and one more thing. If anyone ever did kill This loa thsome blood sucker was old when
the ancient nosferatu and exp lore the caves, white men first set foot on th e North America n
they'd likely find a treasure horde worth well continent, and despit e the best efforts of both
over a million dollars the Aztec priest that imprisoned it, and the
Black Chaplains, it still li ves, With the help of
No4t-"B'flU the nosferatu army that its creating, the Ancient
Looking rather like the unholy offspring of a One intends to have its revenge on the Mormons.
nearsighted, bald ferret and a w ingless, albino The regular nosferat u follow their "father's"
bat, nosferatu are unpleasant to behold, to say orders without question, so great is both their
the least Their eyes are solid blac k, with a respect for and fear of it.
small. red spark glowing at the center. Protruding With the shield of its "children," the Ancient
from the mouth are two overgrown, chisel-like One is a bold and fearsome predator, but it
incisors, resembling those of a six-foot-long rat. remain s a craven and cowardly creature at heart.
Nosferatu can speak, though most are so feral One of the reasons that its su rvived so long is
that they don't have very much to say, that it has a keen sense of when it's time to cut
Any person slain by a nosferatu's bite rises as and run. While it is a tough opponent if
a new vampire in Id6 hours, or at sunset. Just cornered, the creature will always chooses flight
being killed by a vampire is not enough - it must over fig ht if at all possible,
be the bite which does it. Nosferatu generally kill The Ancient One looks lik e a particularly fat
their victims before feasting, to prevent them and bloated member of its kind, dressed only in
from rising. a loincloth. The crea ture moves with frightening
agili ty and speed considering its great bulk, and
Pt(OFILE the charnel smell tha t it exudes is sickening !
Corporeal: D:2d6, N:3dIO, S:3dI2+2, Q:4d12, V:2dlO
Dodge 2d10, climbin' 4d10, fightin': brawlin' 4dlO, ~OFlLE
sneak SdlO Corporeal: D:2d8, N:3dI2, S:3dI 2+6, Q:4dI2, V:2d12
Mental: C:2dB, K:ld4, M:ldB, Sm:2d6, Sp:ld4 Dodge 3d12, climbin' 4d12, fightin': brawlin' 4d12,
Overawe 4d8 sneak 7dl2
Size: 6 Mental: e2d lO, K:ld8, M:ldlO, Sm:2d8, Sp: ld6
Terror: 9 Leadership 3dIO, Overawe 4dlO
Special Abili t ies: Size: 8
Claws: STR+ld4 Terror: 11
Bite: STR. Once a vampi re has successfully Special Abilities:
bitten a victim, it holds on and does STR A r mor: 2
damage eac h round. The only way to brea k Claws: STR+ld4
free is to win an opposed test of Strength. Bite: STR. See above.
The good news is that once the nosferatu's Immunity: See above.
bitten someone, it has to use its hands to Odor : The Ancient One smells so bad that all
hold the hapless victim and can't attack in a 3-yard radius of the creat ure mu st
with its claws any longer, make a Fair (5) guts check each round or
Immunity: Nosferatu are tough critters. They lose their first Action Ca rd of that round,
are immune to most for ms of attack. It is The nosferatu are immune to this.
-
,....",......,
5::>E,CR:Ej?
---~"7 " ~r-
4
'""
~LL~01 the juice out of their still- living victims. One day,
the ralller King hopes the queens can use
This is the only way a human can gel into the human essence to produce a "worm-man." So far,
most dangerous place in all Deserel-lhe lair of the queens have seen no change in their larvae.
the salt rattlers. What the fu ture holds is another matter entirely.
This is where the salt rattlers live. Over 50 of
the creatures lair in the deep recesses of this T+'£ Los.T LEc;lol
labyrinth. At t he center. in a tremendous cavern, Skull Canyon is in fact the final resting place
lies the father of the salt rattlers. lhe king, of that lost company of the Nauvoo Legion that
The rattlers are far smarter than people think. Sally mentioned.
They're also far older. In fact, they were he~e The Legionnaires stumbled upon this entrance
when the dinosaurs were, and they had a lIttle to the rattlers' lair by accident. They drastically
to do with hunting them La extinction. underestimated the strength of the creatures that
But the worms are in parl supernatural and lay inside and, rather than ,waiting ~or
cou ld not live when the Reckoners turned their reinforcements, headed on m to theIr doom.
atlentions from the Earth. Most died. A few of The salt rattlers dispatched the outnumbered
the strongest slumbered. Since the Reckoning, Legionnaires, then dragged all their bodies and
they've awakened. Some roam lhe surface" equipment down into the bow l ~ of t he earth to
inspiring terror for their masters. Others, lIke the conceal their fate. The rattler kmg then had hiS
sail rattler king, are plotting a new and dire fate minions collapse the tu nnel leading to the inner
to ensure their destiny. chambers. By the Lime the Mormons returned to
the canyon, t here was no evidence of the
T' ~E fIE, ~EED soldiers' fate. The worms redug the tunnel later.
The rattler king has ordered his younger The Black Chaplains would love to learn the
worms to capture live humans and bring them truth about this, but it would take solid evidence
back to the lairs of his many queens_The to get them to take the t ime to come and look_
queens use their spiked tentacles to slowly draw
~EA-T ?,A-LT W KE While th e lake Hellions usually feed on the
few fish that live in the lake, aLtacks upon
The sto ry of the Great Salt Lake is only humans are becoming more and more common.
beginning. As more and more people start. The creatures try to drive occupants of small
working and dying there, the Fear Level 01 the boats into the water, where the entire swarm
lake continues to rise. Some new terror comes ca n make short work of them.
to life there once every few months. That's bad. Incidentally. Briny (see below) eats these
The abominations in there now are bad enough. things up like ca ndy.
One nice t hing about the la ke is that anyon e
who fal ls in is more buoyant than normal. Pi;:OFlLE
Characters add +2 to their 5wimmin' rolls. Corporeal: D:ld6, N:3dlO, S:ld4, Q:2dlO, V:!d4
The salt does burn like the dickens. though. Fightin': swarm in' IdlO, swimmin' 3d lO
Wound modifiers from untreated cuts or other Mental: C:2d6, K:ld 4, M:2dlO, Sm:2d4, Sp:ld4
"open" wounds are doubled in the SaiL Lake. Size: I (6" long)
Terror: 5
L,.\-KE ti-fl..LJOes Special Abilities:
The soot and other pollUlanls from Salt Lake Bite: Id4
City has worked its way into the SaIL Lake. The Armor: 1
lake Hellion is a product of thi s ca relessness. In Swarm: Lake Hellion s live in schools of 50-
addition to increased size, a thick carapace, and 100 critters possessed of a primitive group
nasty mandibles, exposure to toxic residue has mind. This allows them to coordinate their
given th is mutated brine shrimp the strange attacks on targets without any dirficulty.
ability to suck life energy from other creatures. Any prey actually in the water with the
Lake Hellions gather in schools of 50- tOO swarm is attacked by Id20 of these nasty
animals and are usually found in the deeper things each round. Targets in small boats
areas of the Salt Lake, on ly occasionally are attacked by IdlO Hellions per round. as
venturing into sha ll ower waters. they launch themselves out of the water
with the hope of driving their prey
overboard. On anyone target, all attacks are
resolved at the same initiative (eight
Hellions would attack all at once as eight
1dl0 attacks). Damage from these attacks
are resisted separately.
Soul Sucker: No matter how much damage is
inflicted, any successful hit from a lak e
Hellion drain s I point of Wind in lieu of the
normal Id6 Wind loss from a wound. Since
this Wind is actually life energy, it is
recovered at a considerably slower rate than
normal Wind damage: I per hour rather
than I per minute. Nothing short of magi c
or weird science can speed up this process.
Harrowed are totally immune to this power.
~
Briny is a great ten tacled, kraken- like
monster that attacks salt trawlers on the great
Salt Lake. The Reckoners gave it life in early '64
after savoring the delicious tales of the sa ilors
who worked on the salt trawlers.
The Size given below is for Briny'S body. Each
tentacle has a Size of 10 and takes wounds as if
it were a separate entity. Briny pulls back any
tentacles that take serious wounds before they
can be severed (if possible).
00
c~:;! Q,'.-t:Zl
~-1{K McME,\->I There are 42 members of the Outcasts. They
At least one of these Rangers has become have seven velocipedes stolen from a train back
Harrowed. Ranger Frank McMean. once a good in 73. The rest ride in fou r steam wagons or
friend of the famous Hank Ketchum, returned horses they've rustled from the local seWers or
from the dead only a few months before Sally's Indians. All the steam wagons and one of the
book was published. Frank had a tough time velocipedes mount GaLlings.
with his manitou-i t has lata I Dominion. Now it's Rose's hideout is deep within the Escapetas, a
stalking the fron tier murdering isolated Mormon natural landmark in southern Utah, The Oulcasts
families to draw the Legion into an eventual winter there, then raid allover Deseret from
trap. It won't spring the trap until it's figured out spring through fall. See the Scorpions (page 120)
a way to kill every last man in the company. for more information about Utah Starr and the
Frank is a brawny man with weathered band that broke off from her.
features and a perpetua l sunburn. Being dead
doesn't really hurt his looks. He appears to be Bonf-R:O.5>E
about 40 years old. wi th dark-black hair and a Rose is a white woman trying her best to
full beard, look like a cross bet ween a gypsy and a Mexican
flamenco dancer. She wears colorrul dresses, and
Pli'Ol'ILE a scarf around her neck and the top of her head.
Corporeal: D:3dIO, N:3dB. S:4d8, Q:4d8. V:3d8 Once she leaves a lawn, she leaves a single rose
Climbin' 2dB, dodge 4d8, fannin' 7dlO. fightin': lying in the street.
knife 6dB, horse rid in' 6d8, shootin': pistol SdlO,
sneak 4dB, teamster 3<:18 Pli'ORLE
Me ntal: C:2dB, K:2d8, M:3dIO, Sm:3<:I6, Sp:4d8 Corporeal: D:2dIO, N:3dIO, S:2d8, QAd lO, V:3dB
Academia: occull Sd8, area knowledge: Southwest CIimbin' 2d10, dodge 4d10, drivin': steam wagon
5dB, artillery 3d8, bluff 5d6, gamblin' Sd6, guts 4d10, drivin': steam velocipede 7d10, fannin'
6d8, language: Paiute 4d8, language: English 2d10, filchin' 2d10, fight in': saber 3d10, horse
4dB, language: Spanish 4d8, leadership 4d lO, ridin' 4dlO, lockpickin' 3dlO, shoot in': pistol
overawe 4dlO, sc rutinize 4, search 4dB, survival: SdIO, sneak SdlO, teamster 3dl0
desert 3d6, track in' 2d8 Mental: C:2dB, K:2d6, M:3dI0, Sm:3<:I8, SpAd8
Edges: Brawny, law man 5 Area knowledge: southern Deserel Sd6, artillery
Hindrances: Bloodthirsty, mean as a ratller 3dB, blurf 5dB, gamblin' 4dS, guts 4d8,
Special Abilitie s : language: English 3d6, language: Paiute 3d6,
Harrowed language: Spanish 3d6, leadership 4dlO,
Harrowed Powers: Eulogy 3, marked for overawe 4d10, persuasion 3dlO, ridicule 4dlO,
death 2 scrutinize 3dB, search 4d8, survival: desert 3d8,
Gea r : Single-action CoIL Walke r. trackin' 2d8
Edges: puny
Til-E OnCA-£-.T£> Hindrances: Law 0' the West, yearnin' (she loves
Utah)
Bonita Rose considers herself a "freedom Gear: Rose usually carries a double-action Colt
fighter" again st the tyranny of Brigham Young Peacemaker,
and the Mormons. She feels no shame in riding
into a Mormon town and stealing their food,
rustling their livestock, and generally making a
TYP1Cf-L OJTc,I-.5>T
Corporeal: D:2d6, N:3d6, S:3d6, Q:3d6, V:3d6
nuisance of herself. She isn't violent unless her Climbin' 2d6, drivin': any 4d6, filchin' 3d6, fightin':
life or her followers' lives are in danger. of knife 4d6, horse ridin' 4d6, lockpickin' 2d6,
course, the only people getting hurt are the shoolin'; pistol 4d6, sneak 4d6
innocent Mormons outside the big cities, but Mental: C:2d6, K:2d6, M:3dB, Sm:3d6, Sp:3d6
Rose doesn't see it that way. Area knowledge: southern Deseret 3d6, artillery
Most of her followers are Gentiles w ho were 3d6, gamblin' 3d6, guts 3d6, overawe 2d8,
thrown out of town for some minor offense-at ridicule 2d6, search 2d6, survival: desert 3d6,
least to hear them tell it. They're really just trackin' 2d6
saddletramps whO've found a home and Gear: The Outcasts possess a variety of
something Lo believe in by riding with Rose. firearms, mostly standard ones like
While they're not particularly bloodthirsty, they Winchester 76s and Colt Walkers.
tend Lo be more violent when Rose isn't around.
O/ffiLC:X:)I(. i+oTEL
The Wha teleys are fun-for the Marshal.
They're creepy, weird. and just plain strange. The T +IE l,I-'lJ::>:S.i+IP$
family members (at least of this branch) don't Towers' incred ible landships are truly amazing
actually attack anyone that stays at their hotcL pieces of machinery. They were originally
but their bizarre activities are guaranteed to wooden -hulled ships built for the Confederate
weird oUl just about anyone. Navy in Texas. When the fight for the Maze
As a side note, the majority of the Whateley heated up, the Navy switched over to ironclads
clan lefl a few years back to set up shop in and sold off as many wooden boats as they
Gomorra, an isolated mining town somewhere in could. Towers bought four of their frigates and
the Maze. added light metal plates to the hull. The plates
won't stop cannon rounds, but they're tough
PlA-1/:<i- l +IE V/+I,,-lEJ'i$ enough to keep rattlers from ripping through- at
Portraying the Whatcleys' weirdness can be least long enough to plug them full of lead from
tough for you, Marshal. No matler how big a ham the Gatlings mounted above.
you are, you'll never come close to being as Common Weapons: The landships mount a
weird as these folks, Here's a few tips on playing single steam-powered harpoon gun on the bow
them to creep your party oul. and a Gatling on either side. The Esmeralda has
Play Samuel Whaleley like Sally describes. a Gatling on the rear as well.
Talk to one player, while you look at another.
Then suddenly look up at the ceiling and jump
• .,
like something's coming for you. l,I,DSt+lP 1----'
"
~.
Edwina isn't a mute- she had her tongue
ripped out by the last cult she joined. When Durability Pass Pace Turn Travel
you're playing her. smack a ruler in your hand, 40/8 32 20 3 10 mph
tell the players it's her axe, and grin at them
wild ly. She nods or shakes her head or points at Fuel Re I Mod Price
things, but can't speak. 3 16 +6 $25,000
That juice dribbling out of Grandpa's mouth Id20 Roll Hit Location Armor Mod
isn 't tobacco- irs blood. He likes to chew on raw 1- 7 Sails 0 +2
chicken necks. He's crazy as a loon, in case you 8- 15 Hull 2 +5
hadn't guessed. Laugh and point a lot when you 16- 17 Wheels 1 -4
play him, but never answer a question. \8- 19 Passengers 0 0
Wilhelm is dumber than a rock, but he can at 20 Boiler 2 •
least answer simple questions. The disturbing
th ing is the kid might have a squirming, half~ ;0; The boiler is housed inside and can't be
dead rabbit in his hands while he speaks to the targeted
posse. A stuffed animal you can sling around a
little makes a good prop when playing him. v/~v/~
Marguerite is the really dangerous member of Towers' crew are rough adventurer, both
this family. Her heroine is Mina Devlin. [f Mormons and Gentiles. They fear and respect the
someone checks her room, they find a number worms, but hate them as well.
of books and dime novels. A Fair (5) scrutinize
roll realizes the common thread among these ~OFlLE
otherwise normal books is Mina. Marguerite Corporeal: D:2d8, N:3d8, S:2d8, Q:4d6, V:3d6
wants to be a witch, and she's got a good head Climbin' 4d8, drivin': landship 4d8, fightin': knife
start. She can already cast the puppet and spook 3d8, shoot in': automatics 4d8, sneak 3d8,
spells through her dolly. teamster 3d8
Mental: C:2d8, K:2d6, M:3dlO, Sm:3d8, Sp:4d8
Pi;:ORLE> Area knowledge: Salt Lake Valley 3d6, artillery
The Whateley's have normal human profiles 3d8, gamblin' 4d8, guts 4d8, overawe 2d10,
(2d6 in most statistics), but Samuel has a 2d8 ridicule 2d8, search 4d8, survival: desert 3ds
Strength. Edwina has 3d8. Marguerite has the Gear: Some carry pistols; some rifles. At least
following black magic spells: puppet 3, spook 2. five men on each ship carry Sharps Big 50s.
All carry large knives.
'f?t=:CR:E~
~ ~.- ,;;r:; - -!.ow. /'
~ORLE
Corporea l: D:ld4, N:3d6, S:6dI2+16, Q:2dlO,
V:4dll+16
Fightin': brawlin' 6d6, sneak 8d6 (underground)
Mental: C:3dlO, K:2d6, M:4d12, SmAdIO, Sp:3d8
Area k nowledge: Salt Lake Valley Sd6, leadersh ip
(other worms) Sd12, overawe 6dll, ridicule 5dl0,
scruti nize (humans) 2dlO
Size: 18 (80 yards long)
Terror: II
Special Abilities:
Armor: 2
Bite: 4d20 ~OFlLE
Burrowi n g: Underground Pace 24 (cannot be cor pore al: D:2d6, N:ldlO, S:2d8, Q:2dl0. v:2d8
doubled by ru nning). Dodge 5d10, fightin': brawlin' 6dlO, filchin' 4d6,
surpr i se: Travelers who don't recognize the sneak 5dlO (and see beloW), throwin': spear 4d6
rumblings of a rattler beneath them Mental: C:ld8, K:ld6, M:ld6, Sm:ld6, Sp:ld6
subtract -4 from their surprise checks. Area knowledge: home desert 4d6
Gear: Spear STR+2d6
Size: 6
~,A-LT ~T,A-LKffi7 Terror: 5 (9 if unwrapped)
Sa1L stalkers are a race of near-humans drawn spe cial Abili tie s:
from the fears of those crossing the endless Burrowing: Stalkers can move beneath loose
deserts. They are living creatures broken up into earLh as if it were water. They have a Pace
three tribes: salt stalkers, snow stalkers (found in of 6 while doing so.
the mountains), and sand stalkers (found in the D ehy drate: A salt stalker dehydrates its
desert). victims by simply gelting within a few feet
They can maneuver on ly through loose earth and concentrating on the intended prey.
like salt. snow, Of sand (hence the names, Then it slowly drains 1 Wind per round
amigo). Their tactic is to burrow beneath the from its victim. The stalker's power is very
earth and then quietly emerge within a few feet subtle. A character must win an opposed
of their victim. There they begin to dr ain the Cognition roll versus the stalker's sneak
prey of its water, dehydrating it to death. each round to figure out something's going
Stalkers wear loose-fitting wraps, something on. This Wind can on ly be replaced by
like Arabian nomads. Beneath their rags is drinking water. Each canteen-full of water
tough, brown skin cracked like the earth during drank replaces Id6 lost Wind. A character
a drought. Thei r eyes are black as coals, and may only drink three canteens of water in
their l ips are peeled back from yellow teeth. an hour.
-ow
~PlOI.S llTf-+1 ?TfJ<!':
The Outcasts were bad enough, but the Utah Starr is the band's leader. He's a lady's
Scorpions are cold-blooded killers. There are man and a cold-blooded kil ter. Even when a
only 18 of them (compared to the Ou tcasts' 42),
train's crew surrenders, anyone who gives him
gUff gets plugged.
~ut what they lack in numbers. they make up for
In meanness. He rides his own velocipede, outfitted with a
The Scorpions chase Denver Pacific t rains
sidecar and a steam Gatling. See Smith &
across the flat land bet ween Utah and Nevada. Robards for statistics.
Ut~h i~ a b~a~de- haired , blue-eyed, rough-cut
They don't care who they ki l l to get hold of
some gold. The Scorpions don't usually wreck bandit. HIS skm IS perpetually tan, and his eyes
the tracks or the trains- they know doing so will twinkle even after the sun goes down. He wears
force the Nauvoo Legion or Smith & Robards to black leather clothes, a matChing hat, and a Colt
.45 double-action.
establish more forts along the tracks. Th ey prefer
La chase them down, jump aboard, rob the
passengers or the cargo, and then let the train
~OHLE
gel on its way so the law doesn't actually come Corporeal: DAdI2, N:2d8, S:2dIO, Q:5dI2, V:3d8
out to the desert where it might be able to track Climbin' 3d8, dodge 5d8, drivin': steam wagon
the oullaws back to their camp. 4da, drivin': steam velocipede ad8, fightin':
The Scorpions have two steam wagons, four braw lin' 5d8, horse ridin' 5d8, shootin': pistol
velocipedes, and the rest ride horses. The steam 7d12, sneak 3d8, teamster 3d8
wagons are loaded for bear-one of them has a Mental: C:3d6, K:ld6, M:2d IO, Sm:2d8, Sp:2d6
flamethrower and the other a Gatling. Each of Area knowledge: southern Deseret 5d6, artillery
the velocipedes sports a Ga tling as well. 5d6, gamblin' 3d8, guts Sd6, language: Spanish
The rank-a nd-file Scorpions are roughly as 3d6, leadership 4dlO, overawe 5dl0, scr utinize
skilled and dangerous as the Outcasts. Use the 3d6, search 3d6, survival: desert 4d8
typical Outcast's pronJe for average Scorpions. Edges: The stare
Hindrances: Greedy
Gear: Double-action Colt Peacemaker, steam
velocipede.
\iI~ +I-vrrER$
There are just over 20 worm hunters who use
gliders to hunt rattlers in the salt flats. Towers'
crews have brought down 10 in recent months.
As for the other hunters, they're out for
Towers' blood. They might have given up hunting
worms- it's dangerous work after all-but not
after someone else laid them to give it up.
The worm hunters now fly as a single group.
Up to 20.get airborn 7 on a good day. Jf they see
a Jandshlp a.pproachmg. ha lf of them fly high to
drop dynamite down on the vessel while the rest
circle around to draw fire.
-P,MIL :Si5E1<!
The leader of the hunters is Paul Siber t. a
young hothead. Sibert's abiding personal hat red
for Harold Towers is in large part responsible for
the escalating conflict with tile worm whalers.
He's the best of the hunters and a hot-shot
with his glider. He loves "buzzing" the landships,
taunting their Galling gunners. So far he hasn't
been hit, but his admirers who tried the same
stunt were lUrned into Swiss cheese.
-
PlicOHLE tvy...D X1Brn.sT.s
Corpo real: D:3d6, N:3dlO, S:2d8, Q:3d8. V:3d8
Dodge SdlO, drivin': glider 7dlO, shoot in': rifle Sd6,
sneak 3ctlQ. throwin': dynamite 5d6
Mental: C:2d6, K:ld6, M:2d8, Sm:ld4, Sp:2d8
+-l--£u...5""TR:0\'1\\E'.s Ca.<POJ1D
We already laId you some of Hellstromme's
Area knowledge: Salt Flats Sd6. gamblin' 3d4, personal quirks, history, and secrets at the
guts 4dB, search 3d6, survival: desert 4d4,
beginning of tl1is chapter. This section talks
trackin' 4d6
about his compound.
Edges: Brave. Lu ck o' the Irish
Hindra nces: Big britches, enemy (Harold Towers)
Gear: Glider, 10 sticks of dynami te or a Sharps -f+:Et..l.51~0\')\,E ~
Big 50 as well and 5 rounds. As you might guess, Salt Lake City'S most
famous mad scientist lives in the amazingly
C<;.z:.y PETE modern manor he named after himself. His
Crazy Pete, the inventor who started it al1. stil l servants are simply automatons without any
hunts worms bu t doesn't gel involved in the war. weapons other than strong hands (Slrength+2
Like Towers, he just wants to gel the "blood damage) and flimsy armor (Armor I). Their
worm" and retire a legend. names are "Maid" and "Butler," though they don't
look a btl different. Hellstromme isn't big on cute
PlicOHLE names.
Corporeal: D:3dB, N:3d8, S:2d8. Q3dB. V:3d8 There are two areas of interest in the manor:
Dodge 4dB, drivin': glider SdB, shootin': rifle 3d8, the study and the library.
sneak 3<18, throwin': dynamite Sd8 The st udy contains a magnificent mahogany
Mental: C:2d6, K:2dIQ, M:2d8, Sm:ldIQ. Sp:2dB desk, with gold-gilded lamps and other such
Area knowledge: Salt Flats SdIQ, gamblin' 3d IO, niceties. Hellstromme never uses them for one
guts 4d8, science: engineering 3dlQ, search 3d8, simple reason. A huge picture of his late wife,
survival: desert 4dlO, trackin' 4d6 Vanessa, hangs above the fireplace staring down
Edges: Arcane background: mad scientist. at the desk. I-Iellstromme sat here once and
mechanically inclined, eagle eyes couldn't bear for her to look upon him. Now he
Hindrances: Geezer. yearnin' (the blood worm) avoids this room at all costs.
Gear: Glider, 10 sticks of dynamite. The library sees a little more use, though only
by I-Iellstromme's trusted associates-he's already
~DFIi'~~ read all the books. Other characters who get
Tile gliders used by the worm hunters are all their hands on these books can gain insightful
homemade affai rs. Not even tile crackpots at knowledge into certain arca ne matters. A
Smith & Robards are cra zy enough to test and number of books must be read, each one taking
ma rket these things. Glide rs ca nnot get into lhe a week to complete. Once four of tl1ese have
air on their own. The usual metl10d of getting been read, the hero automatically gains a level in
airborne is to be Lowed behind a speeding steam academ ia: OCCull and anyone science
wagon. Once in the air. using the thing requires concentration.
the drivin': glider Aptitude. Finally, every good manor must have a secret
Common Weapons: Pilot's own. door. l-IellSlromme's is located in a giant
grand father clock at tile end of the upstairs
•
..+.:
,- ~DEIi' •.-.....
:)
ha llway. When the glass door to the clock is
opened, lhe pendulum SLOpS swinging. Then
Hells1romme ca n step inside and pull down upon
Durability Pass Pace Climb Tum it. This triggers a hydraulic elevator that lowers
16/4 I 20 2 to I 5 him down to the underground train that takes
him to Level Two of his secret labs.
Travel Fuel Rei Mod Hand Olher than the areas mentioned above, there
10 mph 0 18 +2 Flush is very little of interest in Hellstromme's home.
Id20 Roll Hit Location Armor Mod The professor simply doesn't spend very much
1-16 Wings 0 +2 time there. Most of his waking hours are spent
17 Harness I -4 either in his secret laboratories or attending
19-20 Crew 0 0 business in Salt Lake City.
-- , :.:
"E:>l='C~E--f
.'~":T - ~i~'"
.~~~~;
beauty or her brilliant mind that captivates him,
but most likely it is her striking resemblance to
Level Two Vanessa, his lost wife. Hellstromme hasn't
Staff Area consciously noticed t he resemblance yet. or he
would have dismissed her. What might happen
when he does is anyone's guess.
. ~.~.~
o.if"' . 'lQi
' ~~. -!+£u.sl1i:OVME'S i+-P""tI.R:S
" •• 0 " •
The smaller of the two hangars houses a few
',0. _
mundane vehicles such as steam wagons and
. ,. velocipedes. Hellstromme and his starf use these
Level Three ..... to get around , but there'S nothing particularly
Garage 0 , :. amazing about them.
The larger hangar is the real nerve center of
Hellstromme's operations. The ground level holds
a black ornithopter, an auto-gyro. barrels of oil,
• •0." :
.~ . ./ ,". ." ;. tools, and so forth .
" ...
"-:
[n the rear of the hangar. under an empty
barreL is concea led a large red button seemingly
set into the rloor. When stepped on, it opens a
secret door in the back wall of the hangar that
level Four
leads to the sec ret laborator ies below.
Biological
Hellstromme and the lab staff do not use thi s
Research
entrance during the daytime when the "topside
starr" is around. but large items can be moved
:',: . " : ,. .:.".." .. ,:.",,' ~ 0' ,.6." .
th rough these large doors at night if needed.
--
T+I-E 5NITtI-- f, T fI-E F,<-C.T~ 4-tI 0 $T
The ghost of Dr. Dowdy does indeed watch
R:o~ Cc.:x>\PCVID over the men and women who work in the
factory. Whenever someone is about to make a
Sally's descriplion of the various areas is serious mistake, the ghost warns her or
accurate. There are on ly a few that hide secrets otherwi se alerts the person to the situation. If a
we can reveal only to you, Marshal. gizmo is used in the factory and suffers a
Catastrophic Malfunction, roll on the
T,,-£ TlmEL Malfunct ion Table a second time. Only treat the
Th e mountain below the Smith & Robards result as a Catastrophic Malfunction if it is
Compou nd is home to a strange society of roll ed a second time. Otherwise use the second
gremlins. There are al least two lypes: green ~nd roll (either a Minor or Major Malfunction).
black. Green gremlins are the kind descnbed In
the Dead/allds rul eboo k. They occasionally "i~
venture forth from the caves La enter some new Smith & Robard s' guards are all impeccably
device as it passes through the tunnel bound for honest and loyal to the company. Robards'
some unforlunate customer. These days, about screening process, sees to thaL.
one in ten devices comes with a gremlin.
The black gremlins are ~ar more numerous: ~OFlLE
These are vicious rodent -li ke creatures that lLve Corporeal: D:3d6, N:2d6, S:3d6, 0:3<16, V:~d.6 ,
for more general mischief. The~ delight in . Dodge 2d6, fight in': brawli~' 3d6, horse. ndlll 2d6,
sneaking from the tunnels at m~ht and ca~Stng shoot in': ririe 4d6, shoot 111': automatIcs 3<16,
distractions for the gua rds, stea ling belongings sneak 3d6
from one worker and planting them in the Mental: C:ld6, K:ld6, M:2d6, Sm:ld6, Sp:ld6
locker of another, killing pets, and so forth. Area know ledge: Salt Lake City 2d6, area
The grem lin populatIon is small for now- knowledge: S& R Compound Sd6, gamblin' 3d6,
perhaps less tha n 100 creatu res. The paranormal guts 3d6, overawe 3d6, scrutinize 3d6,
energy emanating f rom the smith & Robards search 3d6
Com pound is helping them grow. One day, they Gear: Winchester '73, nightstick (STR+ld 4).
may become more dangerous, and perhaps even
new, more lethal breeds will ap pear. J lI1l'. ~->ME
Both types of gremlins have the sa":1.e ._ The junk thrown into this narrow but deep
stat istics, but the black ones have no JinX abIlity.
canyon radiat es the su pernatural energy of mad
science. It's littl e wonder the rats who feed off
TtlE D8SJ"~ i +OJSE the mundane ga rbage sometimes thrown in here
Sally knows this secret but isn't telling. Senior have mu tated inlo something far more horrible.
inventors and their assistants have offices in the "Junk rats" are hideou s rats that look as
upper levels of the design house, and this is though they've been fiLted with metallic)aws,
where most of the "blueprinting" is initially then rolled around in a sharp bed of nalls,
done. Once a theory calls for testing, however, jagged metal. or glass. The latter jut from their
the senior inventor and a few assistants move bloody fur painfully. Junk rats actually feed on
down to the underground testing labs. su pernat urally charged metal-such as s~rapped
All the scientists and assistants are gizmos. They absorb the energy, then painfully
con tractually obligated never to speak of the pass the "dead" metal out the!r .back and guts.
underground labs, but mad scientists being th~ Their sk in lears and bleeds, gIVing them a
lunatics they are, irs not the best-kept secret In constant coat of torn flesh covered in oily blood.
the state. That's okay w ith Mr. Robards-he feels
his securi ty is tight enough-he simply does~'t J~iK RfrT.s
wan t the sta ff telling any more people than IS
Corporeal: D:ld4, N:3d6, S:ld6, Q:3<18, V;3d6
necessary about the underground facilities.
Fightin': brawlin' 4d6, sneak Sd6
Unfortunately, the gremlins living in the tunnel
Mental: C:2d8, K:2d4, M:2d6, Sm:2d4, Sp:ld4
have found their way into the ventilation ducts.
Overawe Sd6
They sneak into the und ergrou nd. labs most
Pace: 16
every night to sabotage the experiments or
Si ze: 3
equipment left lying around there.
Terror: 11
Special Abilities:
Armor: 1
Bite: STR+ld4+infeclion
Infectio n: If a rat causes a wound, the
character must make a Hard (9) Vigor roll. If
he fails, he contracts a bizarre form of
tetanus. Within five minutes, the victim
develops severe "lockjaw" and ca nnot open
his mouth. Ten minut es later his joints
begin to seize up as if he were dead. The
infected joints continue to swell untiL one
hour later, they bursl. Then the poison
drains out. and the victim is left alive but
without a single working joint (that means
knees, elbows, jaws, fingers, hips, back, feet.
and neck). Unless the character has his
joints healed by magic or augmented by Dr.
Gash, he's permanently disabled.
PO,Eli: Pl;.IJf1
There's nothing unusual about the power
plant. but there are always two watchmen on
duty. Touching the fence is a bad idea. It causes
3d20 damage. A fellow who grabs the fence finds
his muscles seize up so that he can't let go. He
continues to take damage until someone shuts
down the fence and peels him off.
--
J1 .'"
~ ,
7
yo' r
.(: C~E r?
7 _ ;>
b
-
,~
.s.Tf~'S. FuJ'KJES> mind causes it great pain, so its mood can
Co rpo real : D:3d6, N:2d6. S:2d8. Q:2d6, V:2d6 change from that of an innocent child to that of
Climbin' ld6, drivin': steam wagon 2d6, fight;n': an ang ry Kodiak with the slightest trigger.
brawlin' 2d6, horse rid in' 2d6, shootin': pistol Treat the monster just like you've seen
3d6, teamster 2d6 Frankenstein's monster portrayed in the movies,
Mental: C:ld6. K: ld4, M:ld4, Sm:ld4, Sp:ld4 but remember, it's really just a trick played by
Academia; occull ld4, area knowledge: Salt Lake the Reckoners. There's nothing they like beller
City 3<14, guts 2d4, search 2d6 than to watch some hero attempt to save the
Gear: Stark's rlunkies carry clubs and cheap "pitiful" monster when it turns feral and atlacks.
double-aclion pistols (Reliability 19).
~OFlL£
T +. E MOL"'-TER Corporeal: O;2d6, N:ld6, S:4dIO, Q2d6, V:4dIO
The monsler looks [ike what it is- a crude Climbin' 3d6, fightin': brawlin' 4d6
amalgamation or arms, legs, lorso, and a head Mental: C:ld6, K:ld4, M:2d6, Sm:ld4, Sp: ld4
stitched together. When Stark finally figures out Terror: 9
electricity is the final piece in the animation Special Abilities:
puzzle, he inserts two large metal bolls into the Undead.
monster's cranium. The electricity travels inlo coup: A Harrowed who absorbs the monster's
these bolts and brings the brain back to unlire. essence gains a level in slilehin'.
The monster isn't a damned and ev il soul like
walkin' dead, and it isn't "cohabited" by a ~. ~<>ORY T'ill",41iE
manitou like the Harrowed. Instead, the body is Tremane is indeed the wizard of electricity
an empty shell with only faint traces of it s that Sally mentioned. Anyone who grabs his
individual pieces' many souls. In short. it is an house's front doorknob on his own finds that
abomination created by the Reckoners and made out- it delivers a shock that causes 3dl0 Wind.
to believe it's "alive." The confusion in its addled Moving around his mountaintop home is also
dangerous. Every time a character moves around
the house, roll a dZQ. On a ZO, a floorboard
snaps. The hero must make an Onerous (7)
Nimbleness or Strength roll (her choice) to avoid
tumbling down the mountain to her doom.
Tremane had an assistant once, but he
mysteriously disappeared. His fate might be
easily guessed once a character almost falls
through the floor. Tremane seems to have no
trouble naVigating abou t. Don't roll for loose
floorboards if the posse follows in his footsteps.
Dr. Tremane isn't up to anything particularly
insidious, but Dr. Stark speaks with him every
week, as he believes a strong electrical current
may be just the thing to give his creation liCe.
~OFlL£
Corporeal: D:2d6, N:2d6, S:ld6, Q2dB, V:2d8
Climbin' 4d6, horse ridin' 3d6, teamster 2d6
Mental: C:4dlQ, K:3dI2, M:ld4, Sm:4dI2, Sp:3d6
Academia: occult 2d12, area knowledge: Salt Lake
City 2d12, guts 2d6, science: electrical
engineering 6d12, science: engineering 3dl2
Edges: Arcane baCkground: mad scientist
Hindrances: Loco (absent minded)
Gear: Or. Tremane carries an electrostatic gun.
He doesn't know how to use it properly (thus
no shootin' Aptitude), but he gives it a try
anyway in an emergency.
--
The State
of Deseret
Scale: 1"=35 miles
Great Salt
Lake Desert 0veTIoo)<'
• Hotel
• ~ulJ
"an;y, !Jl
Moulih
• oj Hell
DeviI's •
ean~OJ1
Life in the Weird West's"" never really easy,
but some places are worse than others. If you're
fond of things like clean water, fresh air. and
wide-open spaces, then the City 0' Gloom's just
about the worst place around.
Sure, Salt Lake City's the only place in the
West with electric lights and indoor plumbing,
and it's the center of the most incredible
scientific advances anywhere in the world, but
progress always ha s its price.
The City 0' Gloom boxed set comes packed
with everything you need to know about this
city on the cutting edge of the Weird West's
tomorrow. It includes a I28-page sourcebook
(which covers the history and current state of
affairs of Salt Lake City, plus full rules for
sku llchucker™, the most popular bloodsport in
the City 0' Gloom), a 32-page digest on the
mechani cal augmentations of the human body
performed by the outlawed Dr. Gash, another
32-page digest featuring new hexes for huckster
mad scientists, three ful l-co lor cards (featuring
a salt rattler, a landship, and counters for use
with the sku llchucker game), plus a full -color
poster map featuring Sa lt Lake City on one side
and a skullchucker gameboard on the other'
ISBN 1-889546-24-0
53000
•
Deadl 1lI~~~~ west the Deadlands logo, o,,,,,
ndc~'.h;.~PI...
n.na cle slarbu l
....
.~ rks of Pmnacle EntertainmpJ
Entenammenl Group, Inc. All
In USA Components prmted I 6/5 0.0 0
9 781889 546247