Klaus needs a holiday

Our heroes, Dan, Seamus and Owen, have heard that Sinter Klaus and his assistant, Clint Elfwood are under siege at Klaus's workshop in North Poleville. Cole Black and the Naughty Bunch have decided Klaus's days of giving free swag to good children will stop now. (It also may have something to do with the fact that Cole never got that LeMat pistol he's wanted every Christmas since he was 7. "You'll shoot your eye out!" was the usual response to his request.

Our heroes arrive and assess the situation from a hilltop. From there, they decide to come in from two different sides of town. They are going to try to kill the gang instead of escorting Klaus through the gauntlet.

Owen and Seamus, coming from the north, immediately kill Cole and John! But the Naughty Bunch is unphased and will continue the fight. Next, Dan sneaks up on poor Gill and unloads his sawed-off shotgun on Gill at point blank- but Gill survives the first blast easy enough and returns fire doing more damage to Dan than was done to Gill.

While Owen and Seamus move into the street, Klaus emerges from his workshop with Elfwood. The Naughty Bunch is delighted! Enrique, on the roof of Hughe's Store immediately takes aim, but holds his fire.

Manny, who has been hiding behind barrels at the Barbershop takes a couple shots which miss. Owen and Seamus move to take out Manny. In the menatime, Manny turns around the corner to take a couple shots at Dan his is coming up the street after having plugged Bert who lies dead in the street near the saloon.

Our heroes are tearing up the Naughty Bunch with little trouble, but no one seems to notice Enrique and his rifle on the roof.

Good spirits intervene on behalf of our heroes: Manny has a short range shot at Dan and shoots- but one of his guns jams! He drops it- it's useless. He then turns to face Klaus at almost point blank range- and another JAM!! With no pistols, Manny takes action; He grabs poor Kane near the saloon and puts a knife to his throat. "Don't come any closer!!!"

Owen closes in. Klaus calls to Manny to do the right thing.

Seamus, finally taking notice of Enrique, pops off a shot to take Enrique off his line, but misses. Enrique now has a shot at Klaus in the open after a long time of aiming ... and MISSES!!

Klaus has lots of luck surrounding his head today.

Meanwhile, Owen throws down his pistol and calls to Manny, "Let go of your hostage, and we'll go at it with knives like men!" Manny agrees, pushes his hostage aside and draws the biggest, baddest Bowie knife this side of the great river.

The luck that has plagued the Naughty Bunch continues as Owen strikes quickly and easily at Manny, killing him instantly.

Of the Naughty Bunch, only Enrique lives. And while the crisis with Manny unfolds, Enrique has taken a shot at Dan- and hit! Dan goes down!! He is unable to finish the mission (but he will survive.)

While Enrique exchanges shots with Owen and Elfwood, Seamus has managed to climb up to the roof behind Enrique. Enrique turns and assesses his situation right-quickly, and decides to escape. He runs and jumps toward the roof to the Gunshop. But he has misjudged the distance and falls to the alley below. Seamus plugs him from above. Enrique hasn't a chance.

Klaus is safe. Another holiday season sees all the children of the county getting their toys and candy and ugly sweaters. And the Naughty Bunch no longer will be a threat to Christmas.

The Cesar Gang

The Cesar gang is a group of banditos from Dirt County. They usually come to Hades County (via Bontess County on the Titan trail) to hide out and ambush miners who have found gold, but the gang is always exploring new ventures - mostly killing.

The gang fluctuates monthly and sometimes weekly, mostly due to Cesar's abrasive attitude. But no matter how many members come and go, there have always been three permanent members of the gang: The leader, Sosimo (Sebastian Ciriaco) Cesar aka "Bloody" Cesar; Cesar's right-hand man Juan Valesquez aka Ben Enrique; and Juan's cousin Octavio Ortiz aka "Quick" Rico.

Cesar was born a peasant in the tiny town of Chaca, Monterrey, sometime around 1830. He is known to have served during the Monterrey war of 1846. After the war, he headed north to make his fortune as a miner. Unfortunately, he met with nothing but bad fortune and racism. He returned to Monterrey where he was taken in by the Valesquez family for whose ranch he worked. During this time, he became friends with young Juan Valesquez. Juan looked up to Cesar and saw him as an older brother.

When he had no chores, Juan would go out on the range and practice shooting with his Henry repeating rifle. Juan was a gifted shot with the rifle, and even as a young man, had no known equal. Because of his talent, the locals gave him the nickname Ben Enrique after the creator of the Henry rifle, Benjamin Henry.
Often, Juan's cousin, Octavio Ortiz, would visit, and the two boys would go out shooting together, Octavio trying to learn as much as he could from Juan. Octavio never could equal Juan in accuracy, but he was quick on the lever and could fire the rifle almost like he was fanning a pistol!

In the fall of 1860, during the Rodrigo Rebellion in Monterrey, the Valesquez ranch was raided by a small force of rebels. The rebels burned the ranch to the ground and stole or killed all the livestock. Cesar took Juan and the visiting Octavio, and the three escaped to a nearby ridge with their rifles. Even with Juan and Octavio raining deadly accurate fire from the ridge, they were unable to save the ranch, or their parents and siblings who were all killed. Juan and Octavio lost everything, and Cesar was back where he had started. The rebels put a price on the heads of the last members of the Valequez family forcing Cesar and the boys to escape north.

The penniless trio eventually would resort to robbery to sustain themselves. After witnessing his family's murder, Juan would become cold to the world; when he was 17, he committed the trio's first murder in Whitlow County.
Cesar simply hated the Federal States and its people- for the war it had won in 1846, and for the people who had shown Cesar only disdain after the war. Cesar was always tempermental, and could be easily set off into a rage. Only Juan could calm Cesar down.
Octavio was just plain scared of Cesar and the whole situation that had befallen the group, but he was too afraid to leave the gang for fear that Cesar would hunt him down.

The gang continues to operate in Dirt, Bontess, Hades and Thessaly counties. Posses will form to chase the gang down sometimes, but are afraid to get too near for fear of being shot out of their saddles by Ben Enrique. The Cesar Gang is considered one of the most dangerous in the state.

In Gutshot terms:
The Cesar Gang will always have Cesar, Juan and Octavio, but may have up to four other gang members. The gang's main motive is almost always robbery, but sometimes may kill, though, only during or after a robbery.

Sosimo Cesar: Armed with a pistol and a bowie knife TN: 7 Specialties: Sure shot-pistol, Lucky, Tough as nails.

Ben Enrique: Armed with a rifle, pistol and a knife TN: 5 Specialties: Sure shot-rifle, reliable, contemplative, reputation.

Octavio Ortiz: Armed with a rifle and a pistol TN: 7 Specialties: Quick reload, quick fire-rifle*
*This is a new specialty created for Octavio. When firing, Octavio can choose to take two shots instead of one (rolling each shot separately.) At point blank and close ranges, Octavio's second shot is at a -1 modifier. At medium to far ranges, the second shot is at a -2 modifier. Octavio cannot move any faster than a crawl during an action phase when he is firing two shots.

The Raies Gang

The Raies gang is made up of a father and his two sons. Bartholomew (Bart) Raies was born to French parents who settled Thessaly County while it was still part of the frontier in 1830. Bart married his second cousin, Genevieve, who gave birth to their first son, Montague (Manny) in 1849. Genevieve later died, in 1853, while giving birth to their second son, Gillaume (Gill.)
Full of anguish over his wife's death, Bart drowned himself in Whiskey and Bourbon at the local saloons. This binge lasted for years. In those years, Manny and Gill had to raise themselves, and they grew up sour. Manny found himself a job and honed his pistolier skills with Thessaly County rancher, Aggie Mormon. Gill, in the meantime, tried to learn as much gunplay as he could from his older brother.
One summer evening in 1864, in a drunken fit, Bart shot a man at the Troy No. 9 Saloon. Bart fled quickly before a lynch mob could form. He gathered up his boys and has been on the run ever since. In the meantime, the family has robbed travelers, miners, stagecoaches, a couple banks and a train, as well as taking part in numerous shootouts and murders; these are the only ways Bart knows to fill his heart with something other than the hurt of memories of Genevieve. The boys love their father and heed his every word, however vile it might be.

Manny returns to the Mormon ranch every now and then. In fact, some suspect Aggie Mormon of aiding the Raies gang to ensure the services of Manny, who has become a deadly enforcer in his own right.
The Raies operate mostly in Thessaly County but have been seen in Hades and as far south as Dirt County. The gang can be identified by the striped pants the three wear when committing their crimes. The gang has taken in other members now and again, but never for more than two or three jobs.

In Gutshot terms:
When using the Raies in Gutshot, they will always commit crime as a family, so you will need figures for Bart, Manny and Gill. The gang will never take in more than one or two other gang members, so the gang can never be larger than 5 members. The extra gang members are usually brought in to add firepower with shotguns or rifles.

Bart: Armed with a shotgun (5 reloads), a pistol (3 reloads), knife. TN: 8 Specialties: True Grit, sure-shot/shotgun. Notes: Bart has an affinity for the drink, so if any game has a saloon as part of its terrain, Bart will always start from there. He is bold enough to show his face before a crime, so long as that face gets some Bourbon. He also has a soft spot for ladies (after the death of his own wife) and will not fire at anyone within 6 inches of a woman.

Manny: Armed with two pistols (2 reloads each), and a bowie knife. TN: 6 Specialties: Two-gun shootist, quick draw. Notes: Manny loves his Pa and will do everything in his power to help if his father gets into trouble. Manny also retains a little honor and will not shoot anyone in the back (no surprise shot, in other words.)

Gill: Armed with two pistols (2 reloads each.) TN: 7 Specialties: Two-gun shootist, fanning the pistol. Note: Gill has grown bloodthirsty. He's 15-years-old, and his impulsiveness is proof of that; Gill will shoot down innocents if they get in the way of an armed opponent. Sometimes he'll shoot down innocents just for the fun of it. Manny worries for his little brother, and Bart harbors a secret fear of what Gill will grow up to be- that is, if Gill lives past his own bloody ways. Also remember that you can't use two-gun shootist and fanning the pistol at the same time.

The first blow is struck by the Dogtown Navy

The Setup:

Owen, Seamus and Dan joined up and took a stage to Faust, having received information that the bandit El Torro was in town. The trio and an englishman disembarked at the Brosco Station, and the boys started askin' around for El Torro. Unfortunately, no pictures of El Torro existed, so the group had to ask around town to find out who or where the outlaw was. Luckily, the Brosco agent gave the men a lead that El Torro had the sweets for Wilhelmina who ran the store across the street.

They found two banditos at the tail end or the early moments of mischief in the store. After a quick interrogation, the banditos were allowed to leave (mostly to put poor Wilhelmina at ease so that she would talk without fear- and talk she did.) As it turns out, El Torro wasn't a bandito at all; he was the very Englishman who had arrived in the same stagecoach as our heroes!

John "El Torro" Bull had wandered into the saloon to gather his compatriots to battle the bounty hunters.

The Battle:

The two banditos found in the store had been allowed to leave. Joaquin ran into the saloon to warn El Torro (who was already in the know) Also in the saloon was the infamous 2-gun shootist, Hector. The final bandit, Cesar, walked over toward the alley between the gunshp and the barber across the street from the saloon. There he waited to see what transpired.

Owen walked over to Cesar. Cesar told Owen to stop where he was if he wanted to live. Owen closed the distance, drew his pistol and went to work. The Owen-Cesar duel lasted the duration of the game as they traded pistol and retaliation shots.

Meanwhile, Dan and Seamus split up. Dan went to the backdoor of the saloon, and Seamus went to the front door with his pistol holstered to not arrouse suspicion. Unfortunately, Owen's opening shot alarmed the enemy within the saloon. So with Seamus in the front door and Dan about to come in the back, the final shootout was about to take place.

Joaquin jumped up on the bar and pointed at Seamus in the front door, "That is him, Boss!!!!" Joaquin immediately began fanning his pistol oblivious that his own gangmember, Hector, was in the line of fire. But Joaquins guns jammed afer only the second shot! No one was hurt in the opening salvo.

Dan quickly burst through the backdoor and came face-to-face with El Torro who fumbled drawing his pistol. Dan let the gangleader have both barrels of his sawed-off shotgun at point blank range! El Torro's nice clothes weren't pretty anymore. Torro got his pistol out and shot at Dan AND MISSED! Dan cooly reloaded his shotgun under fire.

Seamus poured lead into Joaquin while saloon customers took cover in corners and behind the bar. Torro would get one more shot on Dan, wounding him for minor damage. Then Dan let Torro have one more barrel of his sawed-off. That's all it took. El Torro lay in shreds on the saloon floor. Hector and Joaquin quickly surrendered.

Outside, just seconds after El Torro had fallen, Cesar's ticket was punched by Owen.

The bounty hunters were wounded, but none seriously. And they now had a handsome reward and a town full of new friends to celebrate with!

Town of Shed pop: 2

The town of Shed lies on the Saddlerock Trail in the northwest corner of Hades County. The town consist of a small homestead, stage station and store. The town also is home to a few ample trees, rocks and a pond called Shonebeck Pond (named for the hometown of the town's only two residents.)

German transplants Otto and Wilhelmina Shed were among the original residence of Hades County and built the town that bears their name in 1845. Shed was the first town to be built in the county.

Otto runs the stage station on behalf of the Big Rock Stage Company (known as the Brosco.) Otto secured the Brosco contract before any other towns had been built. Brosco, satisfied with Otto's work, have remained loyal and have kept their station in Shed, despite the larger town of Saddlerock being just 10 miles down the trail. Still, the Brosco makes a stop in Saddlerock on its way to Shed.

Wilhelmina runs the store across the street from the stage station. The store serves those coming through on the Brosco as well as equips the farmers and small ranchers who live on the land between the Saddlerock Trail and the Titan Mountains.

Photos: The photos show two arial views of the town as well as the home of Otto and Wilhelmina Shed. The store is the small brown building, and the Brosco station is the green building.

Hades County: Beginnings and basic geography

Just past the land of the tall grass and big sky, just on the other side of the Big Rock Mountains away from the frontiers of civilization hides Hades County.

Hades County was founded and named in 1843 by Colonel James Middleton Saddlerock of the New Amsterdam 12th Volunteer Dragoons. Col. Saddlerock named the county after his mother-in-law, Innis Hades Jewell.
Col. Saddlerock brought with his dragoons three survey teams to help explore and map the territory encompassing Hades and its surrounding counties. They found a surprising variety of terrain with the county.

Hades County is 30 miles from east to west and 50 miles from north to south. Filling most of the western half of the county is the Titan mountain range named after its largest mountain, Mount Titan (8,157 feet above sea level.) Among the northern reaches of the Titans sits Silver Lake, a freshwater lake serving as a center for wildlife activity.

The northern quarter of the county is filled by the Thessaly Prairie, a 900-square-mile field of tallgrass prairie extending down from Thessaly County.
The foothills of the Titan Mountains are covered in pine forests mixed with deciduous as the land flattens out away from the mountains. The remainder of the county in the central and southern portions supports an irregular mix of grass steppes, wild prairie, woodlands and scrub land.
Out of the southern "toe" of the Titan range flows Division River which turns south in Bontess County from where the river continues all the way to the Gulf of California.

The southwestern corner of Hades County represents the northern part of the land of the Nilsud indian tribe. On their land sits the sacred Triple Rock, three massive columns of rock, 50 feet thick and 300 feet high.

In 1844, one of Saddlerock's survey teams, led by Captain William "Gunner" Janaidar, discovered silver in the northern part of the Titan range. It wasn't long before the news reached the towns on the eastern side of the Big Rocks. Soon, miners flooded the county searching for silver and opportunity. Other folks followed the miners into Hades County, folks who came to build towns, some who came to settle the land, and some who came to take advantage of everybody.

Seven main mining camps were eventually set up (not counting the countless small mines.) They are, from north to south, the Janaidar, the Bonafide, Sheol, Lucifer's Hole, Titan, Hades and the Silver Fire mine. The Nilsuds knew of silver in the territory having picked up a few nuggets from small streams and amongst the rocks of the Titans. The Nilsuds even spoke of a spot within the mountains containing a rock of silver so vast, it could be used to make another moon. The Nilsuds called this place Shamballah. Shamballah sounded good to the miners, until the Nilsud shamans also spoke of the curse that protects Shamballah.
The miners shook off this curse and began in ernest to find Shamballah. It is said three miners found Shamballah. Inside three weeks, the three miners were dead. One miner had brought his family to Hades County, and they had not lived past the next winter. Even the mule of one of the miners was found dead the day after its master's death.

Word of the deaths of the discoverers of Shamballah spread quickly around the county and, as is the way of frontier folk, each retelling of the story made the miners' deaths more gruesome, or increased the number of miners and family members who had died. Far-off family, friends, acquaintances and even entire hometowns of these miners were said to have been killed off by the Curse of Shamballah. Stories about the curse were enough to sppok many miners into other counties or professions; most simply went west where gold had been recently discovered.
Many of the homesteaders and farmers stayed behind, but the population of the county had dramatically decreased from the flush times.

In 1860, the War out East came, and men left their homes and the mines of the west to fight for their country. With the war raging, most forgot about the Shamballah curse; it had receded into simple folklore. When the war ended, men returned west; with them came the miners and opportunists.

The year is 1866, and the people of Hades County again look to opportunity, the future, the flush times and the hopes that one of them will be the lucky one to find the Shamballah lode.

The real world and the Hades County world

Hades County is neither a true county, nor does it reside in any true state nor even a country called the United States. But the country IS the United States in some parallel world; We refer to it ambiguously or as the Federal States. There was a Civil War (called the War Out East,) and an industrialized north was still the victor. There was a president from the north who was assassinated by a dissolute from the south. In fact, every bit of history that has occured in our own time has occured in the universe surrounding Hades County (with a few names of people and places altered). Hades County does not exist in the real world, but every character, big and small, who was known to the '49s, the Civil War and the Old West of our universe are known to those personnages of Hades County's universe. If there could be a state Hades County would exist in, it would be a little of Wyoming, a little of Colorado and a little of Montana.

As a side note: Those of you who played my Arcadia pulp games, Hades County exist in that world -- just 70 years earlier and a few hundred miles more west.

Welcome to Hell!

This is Hades County. The setting for my Ricochet games (Gutshot ropleplaying.) More history to follow, but for now, the setting is merely this map.