I ran a session of Guns of Telluria (Into the Odd) for the game day. I barely managed two players, and in the afternoon I had no players.
- “Jeb.” (Shaun) He was recon in the army, but since he quietly left without saying goodbye, he didn’t share his name around. He was a survivor of the death run on the Soot King in Topeka; best let everyone think he died. He also had a porter, Jim Jackson, a man with a great mustache.
- Peter Henson. (Jason) This poor bastard was experimented on by the fey, they rendered his skin translucent so they could see what was going on in there. He’s still kind of see-through, which people find off-putting.
These veterans of the Tellurian War met up and travel together, both finding some companionship in the other despite their various troubles. In September 1922, they headed to the town of Pralis–or more accurately, to the tent city called Refuge, where the inhabitants of Pralis went for about a week.
The Rising
Every two years the fish people rise out of the lake and kill everything in Pralis, torching the buildings and running amok. The town developed a response of leaving for that easily predictable weekend, then returning after the fish folk slope off under the water, safe for a couple more years.
They headed to Pralis because Peter’s twin brother Arthur lives in town. Arthur was the only one in Peter’s family who knows he’s still alive. Also, “Jeb” knew the mayor from way back, and he got a telegram that the mayor wanted his help.
Refuge
They arrived in the tent city, riding past the fire-and-brimstone tent revival led by Solomon Davis, who was preaching that this attack was just a front, and followers of Dagon (both fish-person and human like) were having big orgies under the cover of violence–he would take volunteers in to root out that abomination!
They also rode past Gabriella Turnstile’s camp. Her rich uncle’s will specified she could only take possession of the mansion and wealth if she did so during the Rising, so she was hiring defenders at $10 each (and the veterans signed on. They were going into town anyway, so why not?)
Finally, they got into the camp proper and found where Arthur’s tent was set up by his neighbors in town. He had not arrived, however. The neighbor girl, Minnie May from across the way, speculated he headed off to make sure the girl he was sweet on, a ceramics sculptor, was safe and he got caught in the Rising.
Meanwhile Jeb talked to the mayor, who tasked him with figuring out where these fish people were coming from so they could launch some sort of counter-attack when the time was right. And, also, to check on his inlaws in the stone tavern in the center of town; they fortified their place and refused to evacuate. Jeb saw the rolling armory, and met the sheriff, and was generally sworn in to help the town out.
Into Pralis
The next morning they traveled into Pralis with the fortified coach. They got a short distance into town when they were spotted by fish people, who attacked in force. Jeb was scouting ahead, but he managed to get back to the coach as Peter fired repeatedly from the cover of the coach roof fortifications. A thrown hatchet downed Peter, so Jeb grabbed him and cut a horse loose of the doomed carriage, barely escaping as his porter Jim and the whole expedition fell to the fishy grip of the attackers.
The fish people headed them off as they tried to reach the fortified stone inn with the mayor’s inlaws, the main defensible spot in town where some townsfolk stayed. Children with rifles helped snipe the way clear from the stone tower, and the veterans made it into the inn.
Finding the Twin
After consulting with the inn keeper, they determined he was okay. Before more time elapsed, they headed out through a trap door sally port to go rescue Arthur, Peter’s twin. They snuck through town, and managed to cross the bridge unseen as the fish people did some sort of weird looting through the district, building a raft with some items on it in the river.
They found the potter’s house, with a fish man inside. Jeb distracted the fish man so Peter could shank him, and they found a trap door with lots of supplies, Arthur, and the very pretty potter woman named Alana.
They thought about waiting it out there, but then horses approached. The veterans urged the potter and the twin to stay underground, and they stepped out to confront Reverend Davis and his crowd of heavily-armed do-gooders. They managed to convince the Reverend nothing untoward was happening here, and the Reverend rode on (sticking to the outskirts, not yet braving the town.)
The Mysterious Raft
Peter provided cover as Jeb approached the raft to see what the fish people were so happily collecting; weird, it was white dresses along with accessories like shoes and jewelry. Then Jeb was spotted, and he raced away, running after the preacher. He slowed down as needed to keep them on his trail, firing off the occasional shot to keep their interest. Then he managed to run them into the preacher’s crowd, and the fish people made short work of the zealots with the help of Jeb’s firebomb and judicious shooting.
Meanwhile Peter watched a few fish people finish loading the raft and tow it out to the lake.
They regrouped at the bridge and returned to the potter’s house to wait out the last day of the Rising.
Aftermath
When it was all over, the mayor gave Peter and Jeb $50 each (along with the $10 they got for riding shotgun on the coach.) The mayor speculated that the raft might be headed out to the stone ruins that appeared about the same time the fish people did (ancient ruins on a brand-new site.) Maybe there were clues there.
But for now, it was all over, and Arthur made them promise to stay and get some food, rest, and family time before continuing their adventures.
Fictive Fantasies 