The fire is put out and the crowd is dispersing. The sheriff starts rounding up some of the cowboys who are left, so the party becomes scarce and heads to the hotel. Magnus is not with us. In the hotel, Lawrence is playing poker and waiting for us. He greets us, and asks if anyone wants to play cards. Thaddeus goes up to bed. Charlotte hangs out with him as eye candy. Bill takes him up on the offer. They both notice that Lawrence seems to be sweating and uncomfortable. Charlotte declines to accompany him, but Maverick agrees to a game of cards. Maverick takes him again for $60. After the game, Lawrence seems forlorn and says to Maverick, “I do believe you’ve played this game before.” Maverick sheepishly admits that he has played “a time or two before.” He offers to buy Lawrence a drink and that seems to lift his spirits a bit. Magnus walks in as the game breaks up. He and Maverick discuss leaving early to avoid notice. Magnus tells him that it should not be a problem.

Von Klemp comes in and sits with them. He talks to Magnus about an item that he wants to sell, namely his lightning gun. He asks for $1000. Maverick says he will loan Magnus $100. Magnus talks Von Klemp down to $450. They agree to meet behind the saloon. VK leaves, and Magnus asks Charlotte to provide backup for the deal. Charlotte agrees and takes a covering position behind the saloon. Maverick and Magnus meet VK and two of his friends from the Sciencing guild. They meet and VK shows Magnus the gun.

Magnus inspects the gun and sees that the gun is more powerful than an off-the-shelf model, but is very likely to explode if used. VK suggests that the user wear chain mail to protect against possible premature electrocution. (?!?!?!) He is also missing a few fingers, probably from failed experiments. The cash is exchanged and the deal is done. The party gets it back to the hotel and retires.

Maverick gets up early and checks his gear and cleans his guns (not euphemisms). There is a significantly increase law enforcement presence, including new law enforcement officers who are rounding up people. He heads back to the hotel and wakes everyone else. We decide to get a light breakfast to go and meet our wagon. At 6 am we meet Earl, load up, and get going. An older man with a large hat and mustache, The county Marshall, is addressing the crowd. Marshall James Carr is rounding up people with the Sherrif. Behind him is a Mexican man with dark hair who is not talking. Several of O’Kelleys men, along with VK, are in manacles and being led away. They are not searching our stuff, (?) but Earl gets us out of town. Marshall Carr says that he has taken over this jurisdiction and is bringing in a judge who will bring law back to this town. We leave. Magnus hints that he had a hand in providing us with a guardian angel.

As we are traveling we notice Lawrence is even more white. A new member joins our stage, Deacon Barton. With him is a 9 year old who is freckled, dirty, with read hair. Deacon says that he is returning to Paradise Falls to return to his church. Deacon came down here to get “The Kid”, and was not able to return before the snows. The kid tries touching Mavericks pistol, but gets his hand slapped. Deacon cuffs him and the kid jumps into the carriage. Deacon says he was told to bring him back to his parents, but doesn’t know the whole story. He takes a swig off of Maverick’s flask. Maverick rides up with Earl, and the rest are in the carriage. Magnus is next to the kid.

The kid talks to Magnus and draws his picture:

Magnus talks to the kid about school, but the kid loses interest and asks to see Charlottes titties. Barton gives the kid the riot act for his rude behavior. Reverend McFarland will give the kid a punishment when they get home, but the kid is not cowed. Some of the kids other drawing are not normal. He has a drawing of a dragon on a pile of gold, with a mouthful of gore. There are other pictures of monsters with gore in their teeth. The kid refuses to share his drawings with Magnus. Thaddeus also asks the kid to show him his drawings, but the kid does not want to share. Barton is annoyed at the conversation.

Maverick plays harmonica while watching for trouble up front with the driver. We keep heading to South Fork. Magnus jumps up on top of the stage, but the kid follows him. Barton tries to stop the kid, but Magnus catches him and pulls him up top. Charlotte persuades Barton to let the kid go. Barton sulks.

We approach South Fork before lunch, a town at the base of the mountains. We are not stopping and things are bad in South Fork. Folks have gone missing and people have seen wired things. The air seems heavy. We just push through. There really is a weird sensation here. Ominous. We should not be here. As if the trees and brush are angry, and are staring at us. We roll through as fast as possible. A few miles out of town it seems to get better, but doesn’t completely go away. Like we are being followed.

We stop for food several miles past the town. Magnus finds some ghost rock near the lunch site. We mount up and keep traveling. The kid wants to see the ghost rock. Magnus tells him to stay in school. There is a big branch across the road. Several people pile out to move it, and Thaddeus lifts it almost by himself. This happens twice more on our travel. It always seems natural. The last time we are cleaning debris, Charlotte notices a shape moving down in the trees off the road.

Eventually we come upon a huge landslide that we will not be able to move. Some dude steps out on top of the rocks and talks to us. Next to him is the biggest Native American we hav ever seen. They are shabbily dressed, and they have some horses behind them. He asks if we are heading to Paradise falls. The Indian, “Jimmy’ does not move a muscle. Maverick talks to the man, Glen. Glen offers to show us a way around if we were able to pay him. The kid is agitated, and Barton is upset. The kid offers to let them suck his little d*ck. Charlotte comes out of the carriage and tries to persuade them to help us. Magnus also chimes in and offers to use dynamite, either on the rocks or on Jimmy. Thaddeus offers to give them 3 bottles of his cure, plus $5. Jimmy is very interested and agrees to show them a way around. Glen introduces them as the Dust Boys. They are good folk, but like to fleece individuals. Earl talks to Glen and finds out that things are bad in Paradise Falls. They are starving up there and haven’t gotten shipments of food in weeks. Things normally come in from the West, but Glen is not sure why shipments have stopped.

We take the back way around and the traveling gets much tougher. We eventually get into more open country and it is beautiful country. Maverick starts looking for deer on the route, but does not see any. Charlotte notices a fleeting shape through the woods which looks like a person a long way off. She doesn’t mention it to the rest of the group.

The country starts getting easier as we reach the plateau. Maverick sees something up ahead. It looks like a wagon that has been totally destroyed. We stop. Maverick and Lawrence scout ahead, Magnus and Charlotte cover from on top of the wagon, and Thaddeus walks behind, checking our six. We slowly close on the clearing. There is white everywhere. Magnus thinks it might be flour. It looks like the wagon was carrying flour up the hill, but bites have been taken out of it. There are parts of bodies, blood, gore, and gut scattered with the flour all wound the clearing. Thaddeus is freaked out and gains a phobia for gore. Lawrence gags, and Earl vomits. Meanwhile the kid has slipped out of the carriage and is gone. Charlotte mentions that she saw something in the woods earlier, and the group asks why she didn’t share that info earlier.

People spread out and start looking around the clearing. The wagon was turning towards Paradise Falls when it was hit. Boot prints and hoof prints go off in several directions. Magnus sees some tracks with three toes, but very few of them. Seems like they flew in and flew out. He sees that there is a trail that heads out of the clearing and heads up the hill. The boot prints and hoof prints head up that way. Earl backs up the horses and goes back down the trail. Barton is concerned abut us finding the boy. Maverick puts a gun to his head and asks why the boy is so important, but Barton doesn’t know. The grave digger from Del Norte steps out of the bushes behind us, and joins the party, saying that he noticed bodies piling up around the group and that it could be good for business. We start up the hill.

We walk up the trail after the prints. Magnus spots a clearing up ahead, with several guards in front of it. There are tents in the clearing. Maverick takes point and keeps walking. Maverick spots the boy off in the bushes. We are hailed by the guards in the clearing.

The party attacks. Maverick drops three guards. Thaddeus runs up and throws a potion, which sails over the guards and explodes in the camp. Maverick is shot by one of the guards. Magnus pulls a magical gun out and evaporates him. Smoking boots are all that is left.

Magnus also shoot one of the guards who is hiding in the woods, but he is still up. One of the guards is taken out by the kid, who throws a rock at his head and knocks him out. Charlotte runs after the kid. The one remaining guard shoots Magnus and hits him good. Fossar runs up to that guard and lays him out with the shovel. Magnus heals himself and Maverick.

The guards have gear from Soapy’s gang. The camp is shabby and has been here for a while. We line up the survivors and start questioning them about the wagon on the trail. They say that some weird thing killed their men. It looked like a child but with a huge head and took bites out of the wagon and his men. As the guy is talking the kid is drawing. The kid asks for more details. Maverick asks why he is drawing the things, and the kid says that he draws everything that he sees. Maverick catches him in his logic and says “If you’ve seen them, where are they?” The kid agrees to show us where he saw them.

The party wakes up and everyone has breakfast at the hotel in Salida. We all pay $1 for room and board. Lawrence and Charlotte had been sharing a room, and he offers to bring her breakfast so she can continue to rest. After this Charlotte takes a (much needed) bath. Thaddeus works the dining room to see if he can sell any bottles. He sells bottles at 3 tables. Lawrence hangs around Charlotte. The hotel owner brings the group out to meet the stagecoach drivers, Earl and Susan Baker. They are quiet. Earl drives the coach and she drives the wagon. This is one of the first trips since the mountain passes just cleared.

There is a passenger joining the group here that they have not met. He is well dressed and carrying two pistols. He calls himself Maverick. We introduce ourselves, especially Charlotte – we’re not sure if she’s a prostitute, but she’s definitely a whore. Lawrence is also well dressed this morning and does not seem to be carrying a pistol. He always has cards in his hands and is doing card tricks. He and Charlotte remain close together. Maverick meets Lawrence and convinces him that he doesn’t know cards, so Lawrence agrees to teach him.

Earl explains that the trip is 120 miles and is a rough ride. We will stop in Del Norte which is a little more than half way. He has made the trip many times and there are no interruptions for the long bumpy excursion. We start off on the trail. Conversations ensure.

Maverick and Magnus compare West Point rings and stories, as they were both in the military. Thaddeus shares stories of his travels and how he learned of his cures which the group finds mostly boring. Lawrence seems to be sticking close to Charlotte after their encounter last night, but she doesn’t react one way or the other. Lucille does not talk at all, but when Maverick asks a somewhat rude question — what percentage she is — suddenly explains that she is half white, by rape from a plantation owner.

We stop for lunch, a basic meal of beans, jerky and bread. We keep going and the afternoon goes quickly. Lawrence talks about the city and has letters from Poker Alice. (Is her nickname because….) She says there has been a crime element from people who have come into town this last year. You had to be part of their group to share in the benefits of Paradise Falls. There is lots of opportunity, however. There is ghost rock in the area and the silver mind is booming. Bill Jenkins runs the town and she likes him. He is very entrepreneurial and wants people to be successful. There is also some religious folk in town (Catholics) that have caused some trouble.

Late afternoon we pull into Del Norte. The view of the mountains is spectacular, though the town is on a flat piece of land. There is a lot of activity in town. Many people packing stagecoaches. They are leaving in the morning for Paradise Falls. There are cowboys, miners, gentleman, ladies, kids. The town is packed. There is a creepy guy standing next to the graveyard on the way into town. He is burying someone, and gives the party a look with this one eye.

Earl stops us at a hotel, and they unload our stuff. We spread out around town. There are several people with brand new equipment, obviously tender feet but seem like a gang. Lucille investigates the sheriffs office, looking at wanted posters. She does not seem to find what she is looking for.

Several of the group meet up at one of the town’s many bars. Lawrence asks Maverick to play a no stakes card game. Thaddeus joins in. Maverick wins $30 from Lawrence, which Lawrence is not happy about, but he doesn’t guess that Maverick is a veteran card shark. Maverick offers to buy him a drink to make up for it, which seems to lighten Lawrence’s spirits a bit.

Charlotte goes and chats up some of the greenhorn cowboys. They warm up to her, and start complaining about their jobs. They are from the region and are working for a boss, but they don’t want to talk about him. They talk about rolling people for money. Charlotte takes them to The Rusty Bucket Saloon. They spread out and start drinking and gambling. Lawrence, Maverick, Thaddeus, and Magnus are all there. The gang starts whistling at Lucille when she walks in.

The activity picks up in the bar. We notice one guy with goggles and a shock of white hair. He approaches Magnus and starts a conversation. He is part of the Sciencing Guild, which is a group who have been doing with ghost rock and they produce low quality, dangerous stuff. They are primarily in Colorado. They look a little wild and crazy. He has a design for a lightning gun. His name is Professor Etrian von Klemp. He invites us to see his inventions later. Magnus creates a translator and speaks German to him, and von Klemp is impressed. Von Klemp tells Magnus that he is not going to Paradise Falls because Soapy’s gang has taken over the town.

After a while, the place starts getting rowdy. A shorter Irish dude in a bowler comes in and bosses everyone around. They abuse the staff and act like they own they own the place. One serving girl is quite thick and may not really be a girl, and is not taking as much crap. Late in the evening people start getting surly. Thaddeus notices a well coiffed stranger enter the bar wearing upscale traveling clothes. He looks Mexican and has an understated air of authority. The man comes up behind Magnus, and Thaddeus lets him know that someone is approaching. The man discreetly shows Magnus a badge. He asks Magnus to accompany him, and they both go outside. No one else notices this in the crowded bar. They return in about 15 min and Magnus doesn’t say anything about the encounter.

Maverick asks the bartender about the Irishman. His name is Edward O’Kelley, one of the lieutenants of Soapy’s gang. The bartender is putting bottles below the bar because of impending violence. One of the cowboys pinches the large serving girl and she punches him. A massive bar fight ensues.

Lucille is punched and shaken. Charlotte leaves. Lucille punches the guy who hit him. Thaddeus hides behind the bar, joined by Maverick. Magnus pulls a device, points it like a pistol and creates a tunnel/barrier to the door. Lucille lays a guy out with a beer bottle. She also picks his pockets. Thaddeus and Maverick head through the tunnel and out the door. Magnus follow them. The fighting is also happening out in the street.

The fighting escalates. Maverick intimidates one guy by pulling out both of his guns, and the man pauses. Charlotte shoots him in the face and he goes down. Lucille picks up her meat shield and pushes through the crowd. More gunplay. Lucielle drops one guy and so does Thaddeus. Magnus creates a shield that protects the group. Several of them shoot at us but the shield deflects them or they miss. Maverick is hit and shaken.

A stranger with one eye strides into the light and takes out two guys with a shovel. The stranger moves very quickly. Lucille pushes her meat shield into one of the other guys. The group focuses their attacks on O’Kelley, who is yelling profanities. Magnus shoots Edward O’Kelley with his shotgun. Maverick also shoots him with a double tap. Charlotte wings him.

Prof von Klemp shows up on the street with a lightning gun, calling out to Magnus. He charges up his weapon and fires it at the cowboy standing next to O’Kelley, and he is turned into a pile of ash. Unfortuntely this also starts the building on fire. O’Kelley is wounded and shaken, but clears his head and shoots at Magnus, who is shaken. Other people shoot but miss, except for one who wounds Maverick.

Shovel man takes out another guy. Thaddeus drops Edward and all of the remaining cowboy scatter. Magnus and shovel man attack a few more people as they run away. Citizens converge on the burning building and begin to put out the flames. Magnus wades through them, wanting to make sure O’Kelley is dead, but after breaking through the crowd he sees that O’Kelley is gone.

The town takes the fight in stride. It seems like a normal day. The party heads back to the hotel. Fossor, AKA shovel man, takes the bodies to be buried, and negotiates for a good price — 50% more than what he normally gets.

All characters have received a flier and are going to Paradise Falls. It is early April 1880, and winter is just leaving the mountains. The party meets while on the train traveling to the town, starting with Magnus Effing and Thaddeus Lowe. There are lots of conversations about the strange things that people have seen in their travels. In Glenwood Springs, Charlotte Vaughn and Lucille Smith get on the train. A dapper gentleman with a bowler also joins the train, and greets everyone, he is Lawrence Wilcox and shows everyone card tricks. Half a day later we get to Salida and travel toa local hotel that we all stay at. Lawrence gets comfortable and starts working with the guests. He invites all the guests for a no stakes poker game. Lucille goes to find a chicken.

He deals the cards. Thaddeus wins $20 and Charolette loses $20, but that hand doesn’t count as there were no real stakes. Charolette keeps going and loses big, $120. She starts talking her way out of it with Lawrence. He is looking to meet his old friend “Poker” Alice Ivers in Paradise Falls. She took to gambling after her husband died. Charolette asks if she can come to an arrangement and….

Meanwhile Lucille is looking for a chicken. She knocks on a farmers door and asks to buy one. After some persuasion, he sells her a chicken for 2 dollars. She gets the scrawniest chicken imaginable, but curses him on the way out of his yard (not really). She sacrifices the shit out of it (direct quote).

…..meanwhile, Charlotte proposes partnering with Lawrence’s friend Alice to help recover some of her money. He counters with a trip back to his room. She accompanies him.

Magnus and Thaddeus work the dining room. Many people are excited about Paradise falls. Others from South Fork say it is not like it used to be. Weird things happen around Paradise Falls. People disappearing. There is a silver mine in Paradise Falls. There is also a pretty hefty crime element selling items of dubious quality. Soapy Smith is one of the more powerful people in the town.

After a while, everyone heads to bed as there is a long stagecoach ride tomorrow.