Here is the second part of our Savage Christmas session. When we last left off, the party had spoken with the Marshall and had headed out of town on his behalf to hunt down some bandits.
Spoiler Alert: We played the Deadlands one-sheet “Silent Night, Hungry Night” from Pinnacle. The are, not surprisingly, major spoilers for the adventure below My GM comments, as always, are in [italics and brackets] as usual.
John Clum
Editor of The Tombstone Epitaph
Dear Sir,
My apologies for the abruptness with which I cut off my last missive. It is my sincerest hope that you find my reasoning for it to be to your satisfaction. When we had left the train prior to our exciting adventure, I had been writing another article for submission and…Sadly…I had left most of my paper on the train. When we returned to Hooverville after the conclusion of the activities I am penning for you here, I did not have sufficient paper to finish and had to wait to return to the train to continue. Rather than wait for our next stop to whet your appetite for the story, I sent the prior letter from Hooverville.
I must also apologize for the lack of the strange or supernatural in my prior correspondence. While it is quite strange for an entire town to be so terrified and exhibiting a siege mentality even towards their closest neighbors, I know that many of our…If I may be so bold as to include myself amongst the storied writers of your fine publication…readers expect more than that. If I do say so myself, I think you’ll find exactly what our readers are looking for in this second installment of “It Was the Monster Before Christmas.” (Sir, if you can think of a more suitable title for publication, please feel free to modify my poor choice.)
My pen is at your service,
Pierre Bascou
~
Welcome back, Gentle Readers, to the tale of the my most recent adventure in the western frontier. As you certainly remember, I had fallen in with a trio of travelers…Maggie, Kate, and Graham…when the train we had been riding was stopped due to some sort of mechanical failure. At the conductor’s suggestion, we made for nearby town of Hooverville and Rosie Stone’s Steakhouse and Saloon to seek warm shelter and entertainment for the night.
It was Christmas Eve.
When we arrived in Hooverville, we learned that the saloon was closed, the townspeople were barricaded in their homes, and pretty much all of their food had been stolen by the hands from Gerald Goodman’s Ranch. Hooverville’s Marshall, Ted Lesieg, had been shot a couple of times in the subsequent fighting amongst the townsfolk over the food scraps left behind by the ranch hands turned bandit. Marshall Lesieg was in no shape to do anything and deputized us to go after the bandits and the food. He loaned us the last of the horses in Hooverville and we set out for the Goodman Ranch.
“Come on! Let’s get that food back!” Kate cried out as she set her horse to a gallop.
Maggie and I quickly spurred our horses on after her but Maggie looked back a few moments later and pulled up, yelling to Kate, “Hold on, Kate!”
Graham, it appeared, was having some difficulty and it wasn’t the horse that was the problem. The old mare was fine but Graham really didn’t know how to ride. So instead of galloping off to the rescue…Kate was quite perturbed at this turn of events…we set off at a leisurely walk.
[A little more poetic license from our fine reporter. Of our four party members, only Maggie has more than basic skill at riding (i.e., she’s the only one with the Riding skill). No one set off at a gallop but I suppose this does make it more exciting and does highlight Kate’s Heoric nature.
The tracks of the ranch hands were quite easy to follow. In addition to the horses they must have been riding, Kate and Maggie also pointed out some sled tracks; tracks that indicated the sled was heavily weighted down.
It wasn’t long before Kate noticed something in the snow. Dismounting, she quickly plucked it from the snow…a Christmas gift! wrapped in colorful paper with a ribbon. As she unwrapped it to reveal a child’s doll, her righteous anger boiled over.
“Those BASTARDS stole the childrens’ gifts! The Marshall can keep his reward money; I’m going to teach those thieves a lesson they’ll be lucky to forget!”
Actually, Gentle Reader, Kate’s language was much more profane and to spare your sensibilities AND because no writer could do her anger justice, I took liberties with the above statement. Suffice to say that the snow around her was melting from the heat of her anger and between her fiery passion and Maggie’s thrill at hunting bandits, I would have felt sorry for our quarry if they were not such low life cads! As if stealing the town’s food was not bad enough, they had also stolen the childrens’ Christmas gifts! Even Graham’s riding skill seemed to improve significantly and we set off again at an increased pace!
[That wouldn’t be Pierre’s first…or last…liberty in telling this story but at least he admitted this one.]
At our renewed pace, it took us just over an hour to reach the ranch. The tracks went right through a gate in the fence and continued on. The gate had the letters G. G. Ranch nailed upon it, although one of the Gs had lost its top nail and was hanging upside down.
The sun had already set behind the mountains when we arrived but we could still see some smoke rising from some still smoldering buildings, presumably the ranch house and a barn. As we continued forward, it started snowing a bit harder. Maggie and Kate both started to point out “lumps” under the snow. The first that we came upon was a large piece of ham with large bites missing. The next was another wrapped present.
The third, Dear Reader, was not something that any of us were really prepared for. It was quite a bit larger than the prior two and, after some of the snow was brushed away, we saw that it was part of a person, presumably one of the ranch hands. Yes, Gentle Reader, I said part of a person. As we cleared the snow, we saw that it was only the upper torso.
Poor Graham. While we all found the site to be quite disturbing, it was simply too much for him. He stumbled away, looking quite pale, and fell over another bundle under the snow. This one was about ten feet away and turned out to be the OTHER HALF of the ranch hand. Yes, it looked as though the poor fellow had somehow been torn in half and tossed away like a toy a child no longer wanted. Perhaps there was some poetic justice in this or perhaps this fellow had come to his senses and wanted to return the ill-gotten goods but the others fell upon him and somehow murdered him in a most foul manner…not, Dear Reader, that any murder is not most foul.
Maggie and Kate had already armed themselves for the possible dangers that lay ahead. I did the same and took it open myself to help Graham to his feet…after he relieved himself of what remained of the lunch we had all shared hours before…and pressed the shotgun borrowed from the Marshall into his hands.
The tracks from the horses and sled both led beyond the smoldering ruins of the house and into a space between it and its sister ruins of the barn. I suppose we should have been steeled for the sight awaiting us but close to a dozen dead bodies lying about is sure to rattle even the most steely of nerves.
I’m sure we were all affected by the sight but Maggie let nothing of it show on her face. She kept the same grim, cold set of her jaw and frightful glimmer in her eye as she set about examining the scene.
“It looks like the killed each other. This one was shot right in the forehead from close range, even has powder burns on his face.” Pointing at the various bodies, Maggie described the likely scenario that had unfolded. “That one looks like he killed that one over there and that one there probably killed him.”
“The sled tracks circle around the barn, we should keep going. If they kept going and this snow keeps falling, we’re going to lose our trail.”
Her logic was impeccable, of course, as we still had not found the food and the sled tracks still looked like it was carrying a considerable load. It was, however, quite disturbing at how easily Maggie was able to describe what had happened. It appeared, as I’m sure you may have already guessed Good Reader from our previous installment, that Maggie had at least some small experience with death and killing in a shoot-out type manner.
As we followed the sled tracks around the ruins of the barn, we were in for another surprise! Fortunately, nothing quite so gruesome this time but still quite disconcerting. While it appeared that horses had been pulling the sled to this point, that changed now. As the tracks led away, it looked as though a pair of dogs had begun pulling the sled. Yes, yes, I know, you are likely questioning the veracity of such a statement but I do not mean the tracks of a small collie or any normal dog tracks for that matter. Each paw print was nearly the size of a man’s head! Not even a large wolf would leave such a track!
I fully admit that I was taken aback by this turn of events and Graham looked positively terrified. What kind of creature could leave such a track? One look from Kate and the righteous fury burning in her eyes was more than enough to even fix Graham’s resolve to press on. We did, of course, take a little more caution in our travel from this point forth.
The tracks led away from the site of fire and death and circled back around towards the mountain peak that overlooked Hooverville. When we reached the ranch’s fence, the tracks simply ran up a small embankment of snow and disappeared. Maggie would not let our foe escape so easily. She quickly rode up to the fence and spotted that the tracks resumed beyond it…a leap of a good twenty to thirty feet!!!
Maggie quickly spurred her horse to leap over the fence as did Kate. Graham, however, dismounted before I could follow and took a few minutes to dismantle the fence so that he and his horse could simply walk through rather than leap. Rather than letting the boy look totally foolish and incompetent, I also made use of his newly created gate and thanked him for the assistance.
The tracks led up and up and up the side of the peak. About halfway up the mountainside, we found a cave and, of course, the tracks led right inside. Looking down, I spotted the town of Hooverville and a small light that just flared up. However, we wasted no time looking back towards the way we had come and turned to what lie ahead of us which, hopefully, included the food and presents that had been stolen.
Kate was the first to sneak forward. She stole right up to the mouth of the cave and started to listen. As she did so, we all heard a deep, loud growl and a massive dog sprung forth out of the darkness. The beast stood as tall as a pony and strange antlers adorned its massive head. Blood and gore smeared its face and jowls and the thing tried to gore Kate with its antlers and rush her over. She deftly stepped to one side to avoid the beast and charged out of the cave. I admit that I almost felt my nerve break but then I thought of the children in Hooverville and hefted my rifle. Even poor Graham, surprisingly, stood his ground. Maggie, of course, barely flinched as she pumped bullets into the beast.
As I brought my barrel to bear on the creature, a SECOND charged out of the cave! One was terrifying enough but two! Thankfully, Kate and Maggie quickly dropped one and then the other with their respective hot and cold demeanors.
If the growls from the beasts had not alerted anyone else…Or ANYTHING else…in the cave, the retort of our gunshots certainly did. We quickly made some makeshift torches, as no light emanated from within the cave, and entered. Maggie went first. Chivalry be damned my Good Readers! This woman was the most skilled and capable of all of our group in this endeavor. The rest of us quickly followed behind.
The sled tracks led down a short passage before entering a larger cavern. Some torches lay nearby to one side and the sled, having presumably circled around with the cavern, sat on the other side of the entrance. We quickly exchanged our makeshift brands for more proper ones and hurriedly discussed going back for the horses to hitch them to the still full sled and head back to Hooverville. As we did, we heard someone…Or SOMETHING…hiss out in a raspy voice, “Merryyyyyy Christmasssss…”
We could just make out movement at the edge of our light. Whatever it was, it was quite large…larger than a normal man. We began to toss torches into the cavern to illuminate our situation and our “host” but it kept skirting the edge of our light. It was almost as if the thing was toying with us.
I am quite positive that each and every one of us will have nightmares about the thing we saw when it finally step forth into our light. It was tall and gangly, nearly ten feet in height. The thing’s arms nearly dragged along the ground even when it stood straight to its full height. A yellow-greenish fur covered it from head to toe and its eyes were a sickly, solid yellow that gleamed evilly in the light of our torches. A Santa Claus jacket, many too sizes small, hung upon the thing and a matching Santa Claus hat teetered upon its head. It laughed with menace.
Maggie did not delay for more than a split second before she shot both of her pistols at the creature. The force of the blow caused it to stagger backwards and out of our wan light. Its evil chuckle joined the retort of Miss Maggie’s gunshots, echoing throughout the cave before silence overtook them both in a few moments. We pushed forward, tossing more torches to illuminate the entire cave. By the time we reached the end of the cavern, we had not yet come upon the creature again!
“Where is it?!? Where is it?!?” Graham frantically cried out.
“I don’t know. Shut up!” Maggie shot back.
“It couldn’t have snuck by us and what was it?!?” Kate asked.
That’s when a cold suspicion sent a shiver up and down my spine. As I began to turn around towards the cave entrance, that same chuckle came from behind us. The creature had scrambled up and across the cave’s ceiling with us none the wiser!
As it rose to its full height, we let loose with all that we had. Each of us solidly hit it. Even Graham, with an ace up his sleeve, let loose with…I presume as it was dark and I could make out little with the flashing gun muzzles…some sort of weapon he must have gotten through the Smith & Robard’s catalog. Along with our bullets, a small ball of what looked like lightning streaked out and struck the creature, nearly tearing its arm off with the force of the blow.
I’m sure you can imagine, Dear Reader, our horror when the creature simply stood there and shook its arm and we watched its grievous wounds HEAL IN BUT A FEW SECONDS!!! It chuckled again and in its horrible, raspy voice, whispered, “Yoooouuuuu cannnnotttt killl meeee! As looong assss Hooovervilllleee hoardsssss….I am invincible….”
Believe me, as dismayed as you may be reading this in the comfort of whatever safe place you currently sit, we dismayed at least a hundred-fold more as we stood there, in a dark cave, facing the thing.
Maggie calmly spoke, “I reckon we’ll just have to put that to the test then!” She began firing again and we all followed suit.
The creature soaked up everything and simply stepped forward. With a swipe of its long arm, it sent Maggie flying into the back of the cave wall. The force of the blow and the abrupt ending of her short flight had to have been painful but she stood again and kept firing. Kate and Graham both also felt the force of the creature’s blows but each, miraculously, was not badly injured. I was fortunate enough to dodge each of the blows the creature directed in my direction.
[Hmm…that or Pierre kept his distance…I’ll let you, “Dear Reader,” decide which you think is more plausible.]
The creature just kept shrugging off wound after wound after wound and things looked bleak for us. Again, the creature seemed to be just toying with us again. It is likely that it couldn’t have snuffed us out as easily as a candle if so decided. But each of us, even the boy, were not going to go down without a fight.
And that was when it paused and seemed to listen to some sound coming from outside the cave. As quick as a striking rattlesnake, it whisked the sled into motion and was pushing it outside. As it went, it hissed, “Musssttt killl…themmmm…alll!!!”
We gave chase and, as we exited the cave, we could hear singing. The residents of Hooverville had put aside their fear and differences and joined together around a large bonfire. And they were singing! They were singing “Silent Night, Holy Night!” I spared a glance at my pocket watch as I ran out, it showed that it was just past midnight. It was Christmas!
As I looked back up, the creature had leapt upon the sled and it was starting down the mountain, heading right for Hooverville!
“Musssttt killl…themmmm…alll!!!” It screeched into the chill mountain night.
We all ran for the sled but, alas, I stumbled over a rock in the dark and could not reach it in time. Cursing my poor luck, I leapt atop one of the horses and grabbed the reins of another to chase after. All three of my compatriots had been able to climb atop the sled before it had gotten away.
As I rode after them, I could see the creature turn towards the trio and clamber over the piles of food and gifts to reach them. Maggie shot and this time the creature shrieked in pain. For some reason, her bullet actually hurt the creature! Graham let loose again with his lightning gun and the creature shrieked again. Then, to my horror, the creature swiped at the boy and knocked him off of the sled.
As I made all due haste towards Graham, the ladies continued their battle with the thing. By the time I reached Graham with a horse, both of the ladies had caused further damage to the creature but it had succeeded in knocking each of them from the sled and was speeding away down the steep mountain slope.
Maggie cursed but Kate shouted, “Look over there!” Apparently some of the items on the sled had fallen off during their struggles, including a pair of skis and a small tobbogan. Kate donned the skis and Maggie jumped upon the sleigh and the chase was on again.
Graham and I continued on horseback but, as much as we pushed the horses, they could not keep the pace with those on more appropriate modes of transportation down a snow covered mountainside.
It was not long before the sled reached the bottom and was speeding towards the town. The creature was beginning to screech its need to kill them all and the residents of Hooverville began to flee…all but one child who stood her ground, directly in the path of the oncoming sled and monster.
The sled, however, was slowing on the flat ground, presumably under the significant load it was carrying. The rest of us were able to make up ground on it and kept shooting away with our chosen weapons.
We only had a scant few seconds before the sled AND creature reached the little girl. I stopped my horse and, although I have never been much of a marksman, I said a short prayer and took aim. Time seemed to slow and nearly stop. The sled stopped just before the girl and the creature was readying itself to spring at her and I pulled my trigger.
BANG!
The sound of my shot echoed in my ears and, by luck or by providence, my bullet flew true. It struck the creature in the head and it fell! It fell! As it fell, it shrunk into the form, we learned later, of Gerald Goodman!
As the hat fell from the head of our fallen foe, Cindy Louis, the young child who stood there, simply asked with a child’s innocence, “Santa?”
It would be heart-breaking that my shot in saving the child would, at the same moment, destroy her innocence but Kate stepped in and quietly explained to the child that was not Santa Claus but rather a bandit that was trying to make Santa look bad. The lass has a huge heart of gold…Something that we all could use a little more of.
Postscript: So that, Gentle Reader, was how our adventure ended. As the townsfolk gathered round, we learned that Marshall Lesieg and Miss Rosie Stone had rallied the town into celebrating Christmas regardless of the hardship of starvation that might soon face them.
None of us could explain exactly what had happened. Many had seen the creature on the sled and no one could believe that it was the same being as Gerald Goodman. Still, his body was the only one that was on the sled in the end. With our disbelief we simply could not refer to the creature as Gerald and, to be honest, none of us could believe that any human being would be so cruel and callous. We could, of course, be wrong in that belief but we refused to give up on it.
So, instead of referring to the creature as Gerald, Graham came up with a good suggestion. When we went back to the Double G Ranch the following day to look around some more, he looked up at the gate…Where the hanging G had fallen during the night and left only the single G. Graham muttered, “Granch?” Maggie inquired as to what he muttered and he responded, “The name over the gate. It says Granch now.” The name stuck.
So that, Gentle Reader, is the tale of how the Granch almost stole Christmas from Hooverville. If not for the steely spirit of my companions and the rekindling of the Christmas spirit in the town’s residents, who knows what might have happened???
[Pierre took quite a few liberties with the details of the battle with the Granch (e.g., Maggie got the killing shot) and what happened after…which, actually, was nothing. We ended the session with little Cindy Lou Who, er sorry, Cindy Louis asking “Santa?”
Obviously, everyone gets the reference and my group caught on pretty quickly. Actually, Bridgett kept writing Whoville down in her notes instead of Hooverville from the very start but I don’t think anyone got it until they found the first present…the doll…that had fallen from the sled.
I took a few liberties with the Silent Night Hungry Night one-sheet but nothing too major. The only major changes I made were to change the Steakhouse and Saloon from being Geisel’s and run by Ted Geisel to Rosie Stone. As I understand it, Dr. Seuss used the psuedonym of Rosetta Stone for some writings and that was a little less obvious than Theo Geisel. I also added the halved body at the ranch to add a little more menace to what the posse might be facing.
All in all, I thought it was a pretty fun session and a fairly dramatic ending too.]
