I am bad with names. Even the names I make up...The 40 acres the character owns thanks to his wife is just outside of New Dawn. Unfortunately, the plat and half the time I talk about it I call it New Harmony. And the characters just left Harmony, which was run by a religious zealot.
So...originally the township was New Harmony. But Harmony got such a bad rap, the town council decided they wanted nothing to do with that name. In 1862 (one year after the plat was drawn up) the town was officially renamed New Dawn. Retcons can be your friend!
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| New Dawn |
Our characters roll into town at dusk, having only encountered a rattlesnake that Pachy smooshed underfoot. Some of my encounters are geared to people walking along - dinosaurs present an entirely different encounter. At least horses may have reared up for a snake. I just don't think a critter weighing more than a ton is going to worry about something that small.
New Dawn seems a lot friendlier than Harmony: two boys are rolling a hoop down the street; the smell of bison steaks is wafting through the air. Lee, wanting to get in touch with the sheriff but a note on the door indicates he is at Edna's. The group walks to the good-smelling restaurant and see the Edna's sign above the doors. A boy runs out as the group, including 4 dinosaurs, approaches the single-story building.
"Hi! We ain't got space for all your critters here. You can take them to Colt's - he's got the space down there," and points a bit to the edge of town where a large barn can be seen. "Don't think he's got a perch for yours, Ma'am. And I'm Morgan," he finishes up before rushing back into the restaurant.
The group goes to Colt's barn, finds an older man there and says he's got the space for 4 bits a night, plus food costs. Two girls peer around from behind him. As the group takes the harnesses and equipment off their dinos, Colt indicates a smaller barn off to the side. "Got space for yer stuff if you want to lock it up," he says. They don't, so just pile the equipment in the barn. Volgol has a fairly large corral, and Colt has some raw bison for the pterodactyl.
They head back to Edna's, and Morgan meets them at the door to take them to a table. Spying what looks to be the sheriff, Lee goes on over, interrupting the lam man's medium rare bison steak. Looking up, after a bit of conversation, Lee will meet up with the sheriff later that evening. The group, with the exception of Archibald, notice the well-dressed man in the corner listening in apparently. The same man Molly saw walking to the town earlier that day.
They find the dapper Mannix Durango speaks with a southern drawl (which sadly, despite living in the south the last almost 40 years, I cannot do. Nor even hear any more as I apparently have the aural filters translating things. I honestly could barely understand my wife when I met her, and now I cannot hear that southern accent at all. This is also why I would never want to work at a coffee or donut shop as I do not want to not be able to smell those wonderful aromas!) He introduces himself as someone who hears the spirits, and there was a calling from the Badlands. He plans on going there after a day or so of rest to see what was calling to him. Lee perks up at this, asking if he can talk with the spirits. He can sometimes he says, and Lee wants to talk with him later as well. As he leaves the table, the words "you can trust him" seem to come into his mind. Archibald wonders about people who can puts words in your mind may also be able to hear words in your mind.
The food at Edna's is good: bison steaks, mashed potatoes, beans and steamed string beans. Edna is only heard in the kitchen, and it turns out Morgan is her son. She apparently had some training in France. She has the only restaurant in the small town. The beer is made by Beautrice, and there are no other liquors in town, except for an occasional crate of wines. Though the last one was a couple months back and the wine is long gone.
Morgan shows off a giant black serrated claw. No one recognizes it other than not matching any dinos they are familiar with. Morgan says Sargent Thomas of Fort Talon gave it to him. It was from some creature with six legs that took a gatling gun to kill. There is a reason Fort Talon is there and has some surplus equipment from the Civil War.
The group goes to the hotel named The Hotel. As there is just the one there. The man behind the desk, Rufus, indicates there are only 2 rooms left out of the 4. Mannix is in one room, and a man named Rufus Porter has checked into the other. Molly gets room 3, and Archibald and Hambone decide sleeping in the barn loft is good enough for them. Lee goes and finds Mannix while Molly bathes and washes her clothes in the claw-footed tub. Which takes Rufus about 30 minutes to fill up with multiple trips from the stove carrying buckets of hot water.
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| well, maybe not exactly but Archimedes is as clean as Archibald has ever seen |
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| and Molly cleans up well as well |
Bringing out two wedding rings and a large locket, Lee and Mannix talk. He has his small room set up with a candle on the table and attempts to contact Lee's wife and child. He manages to pull their names from Lee's mind but after that, I failed every roll. The spirits were not willing to be found apparently according to Mannix. Lee still drops $5 on the table even though he was only charged $2 as the spirits were not willing to talk that evening. There was more but sadly my notes, as always, are incomplete.
Realizing he still needed to talk with sheriff George Holt, Lee and Molly go to the sheriff's office. Hambone & Archibald have apparently gone to sleep in the loft, though Hambone sees a ribbon tied in a bow on Puddin', and Archimede's horns are fairly glistening. The dinos have been well cleaned and pampered. I was going with Colt's daughters are dino-crazy. Molly will find Volgol cleaned and what looks to be polish on his claws.
The sheriff finds the same wanted poster for Manual Fuentes, and Lee explains he believes he may be holed up at Hambone's farm. Lee agrees to meet the group in the morning at Edna's as Lee heads back to the hotel.
Next morning, after griddle cakes and fresh maple syrup, Hambone finds the land office with a young man pouring over maps. They find the land plat with the old town name on it, and find it is all of 2.1 miles east of town. There are apple trees already growing there, though George, the land office man, says they will need some work if you want to make an orchard there. An artesian well halfway up a hill indicates a good place to build a house should he want to. Stepping back outside, the sheriff walks up and that is where we left the game. No fights or battles this round, and a lot of talking from Lee mostly. Everyone got 150XP for the evening.
Characters met
Strange Art
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