Two players down this week, so my friend Tommy and I dusted off his enlightened Martial Artist, Jubae…and Jubae’s NPC companion, Creighton Kennedy.

Jubae, in Deadlands Classic, was last in Texas, near the Mexico border where he and one-armed werewolf Spencer Crane were seeking some kind of healer that could restore Jubae’s leg and Crane’s arm.

We begin with Crane having disappeared in a feral freakout, and a bodycount that is rapidly rising in the area, the victims all being horribly clawed up.

Jubae and Kennedy are on the trail, hoping to bring Crane in before he gets himself into the kind of trouble he can’t get out of.

Now: Traveling North through Texas, Kennedy thinks about the lay of the land and recalls that a small town called Prosperity should be nearby. Kennedy can’t recall the details, but it seems as though Prosperity has some kind of reputation for buried outlaw gold or something. Jubae senses danger afoot, and warns Kennedy of an impending ambush. Jubae slips behind his horse for cover, as Kennedy and Jubae spot a pair of Apaches hiding in a rock formation. One launches an arrow at Kennedy, who twists with it and manages to avoid wounding, while the other shoots Jubae’s horse, but it’s barely a scratch. Jubae snatches up a rock which begins to glow, and streaks through the air as he tosses it…but it bounces off the rocks of the formation. Kennedy opens fire, dropping one Apache where he stands. Jubae hears something in the distance, but shrugs it off as an arrow whizzes at him and misses, while Kennedy drops the second archer with a well-placed shot.

Scouting the area, Kennedy now hears what Jubae did: Horses, riding in fast! Jubae and Kennedy scurry up to the rocks, lying low as seven men on horseback ride onto the trail. They shout something about “finding the injuns and the stuff they stole, then headin’ on to celebrate”, while another chimes in that he knows a guy paying a fair price for Apache scalps.

Kennedy recognizes the leader of the men, a brutal ruffian named “Snake” Johnson. Kennedy and Jubae hunker down low, listening close until Snake gives the order to “fan out and find those red bastards”. Kennedy sensed that they had a small window of surprise…so he charged out of the formation guns blazing, shooting two of the men off their horses! Jubae launched another glowing rock from the formation, but missed.

Kennedy and Jubae pressed their attack, Jubae moving in and slugging one of the men, while Kennedy blasted two more. One of them fired at Kennedy, who again had to twist to avoid damage (chipping to suck it up). Snake Johnson opened fire on Jubae with his shotgun, but instead clipped his own man’s horse. When he moved in for a second shot, his man got directly in the way, and had his chest blown out with shot. Kennedy blasted the other rider, as Jubae knocked Snake Johnson off his horse and to the ground.

When Snake came to, Kennedy and Jubae were riding alongside him, with Kennedy informing Snake that he was being turned over to the law in Prosperity as soon as they arrive. Snake laughs and says “There ain’t now law in Prosperity!” When Jubae presses him for elaboration, Snake just says he’s gonna let them figure it out for themselves.

Jubae, Kennedy and Snake ride into town, shocked to discover it appears to be completely deserted…until a scream of agony rips through the air, snapping them to attention! Jubae tries to find the source of the scream, but fails. Riding up near the old well, which has a noticeable fire ant nest next to it, he looks around the town: A church, a grocery store, a livery, the sheriff’s office, a telegraph office and a saloon. Jubae decided to check out the sheriff’s office…to lock up Snake Johnson while they investigated the scream. The door creaked open with a knock, but no sign of anyone or anything was inside. Snake asked if they were seriously going to lock him up, to which Jubae said yes…and he did. Snake beat on the bars screaming, while Jubae and Kennedy walked away…Snake unleashed a bloodcurdling scream, which was then cut short!

Jubae and Kennedy quickly ran back inside, to see Snake slowly stumbling backwards, the sheriff’s badge sticking out of his head. The ghastly form of the Sheriff – long dead and partially eaten - appeared in the room, and a fountain pen snapped from the desk and drove itself into Kennedy’s arm! Jubae snapped at him with his flying claw, but it passed through harmlessly.

Jubae summoned his chi and the claw came to life, ripping through the Sheriff and inflicting noticeable damage. Kennedy staggered, then let loose a moan of horror as the Sheriff stuck his hands in Kennedy’s face! Jubae pulled him away from the ghost, and Kennedy went into defensive mode. Jubae and the Sheriff fought back and forth, before Kennedy screamed out something about “ghost-killing rock salt” and flung it at the Sheriff, making him shriek and cover up, before Jubae slashed the Sheriff “apart” with the flying claw! Jubae asked Kennedy about the rock salt, which Kennedy shrugged off, saying he’d had a pocketful of dirt from hiding behind the rocks when they were ambushing Snake’s men, and figured the ghost wouldn’t know any better, which it didn’t.

Kennedy, attempting to remove the pen from his arm, twisted it wrong and opened an artery! Blood poured out of Kennedy’s arm, leaving him in shock at his own foolishness. Jubae quickly tied off the arm, then decided to escort Kennedy to the church, thinking it would be safer there.

Inside the church, Jubae helped Kennedy get settled, then Jubae looked around out of the windows…seeing lights on at the old grocery store! Jubae decided to go check it out, shutting the church door tight behind him.

He entered the grocery store, not noticing the fire ants swarming up behind him, transforming into a humanoid shape. Inside the store, Jubae was put off at the fact that the store was lit up, without a noticeable light source…and that things kept falling off of shelves.

It took an apple, a cookbook, a child’s doll, several coins, a Nevada Smith dime novel and a glass jar falling on the floor before he finally decided to check the floorboard and realized it was loose…so he pulled it up and found a diary inside!

Heading out the door, he ran headlong into the fire ant monstrosity, in one of the most agonizing battles I have ever ran in Savage Worlds history, because Jubae would hit it repeatedly, making it Shaken, it would recover and be utterly unable to strike him due to his parry (the exception being on attack I blue chipped, which did enough to shake Jubae, but that didn’t last). Jubae finally harnessed his chi on his Flying Claw and did enough damage to wear the thing down.

Meanwhile, at the church, a swarm of fire ants had entered under the door, but Kennedy leapt off a pew and squished them.

Jubae arrived at the church with the books and news of the fire ant thing, and he and Kennedy traded tales of their attacks.

Kennedy and Jubae noticed, stalking outside the church grounds: the fire ant thing again.

Kennedy read the diary, and discovered that it belonged to a girl named Jessica, who was the grocer’s daughter. It told how she fell in love with a drifter named Kit Harding, and how the town was up in arms about it. She details how they came to lynch Kit, and how he fought back, killing or mortally wounding four of the townsfolk. He read aloud to Jubae how the townsfolk strapped Kit to the fire ant nest, and how his screams of agony led her to shoot herself in the head so she didn’t have to listen to her lover suffer. Kennedy concluded that Jessica must still be at the grocery store, and the two men snuck out to it.

Inside, Kennedy called out to Jessica, who appeared and struggled to say: “Must…stop Kit…bury him…tree…”

Jubae decided to head to the Livery to find a shovel, while Kennedy rounded through the town, trying to avoid the monster. Jubae entered the livery, and his instincts allowed him to see right away, the form of an older man appearing before him, and a horse shoe on the wall beginning to shake. Jubae grabbed the shovel and dove for the window, just as the horse shoe hurtled past him. He took off toward the old oak tree, where Kennedy was waiting.

Jubae looked confused, not finding a body, but he began digging anyway. Kennedy seeing the ant-beast approaching again, opened fire and unloaded with several well-placed shots that scattered the creature once more. Jubae dug down, finding a skull, then a skeleton still attached to it…and tree roots having grown through the skeleton. With a sense of urgency, Jubae channeled his chi through the shovel and drove it through the roots of the tree, shattering it…and just in time: The fire ant beast was returning again!

Kennedy and Jubae managed to cut around the telegraph office (a variation of the “Head ‘em off at the pass” adventure card”) and ran into the cemetery. Jubae stumbled into a grave, where he began pulling dirt onto the skeleton of Kit Harding, while Kennedy unloaded on the fire ant beast again.

As the burial finished, the fire ants erupted into a blue flame, and an agonizing howl came seemingly from the entire town. Inside the livery, the saloon and the telegraph office, blue light briefly shined, then vanished…and inside the grocery store, the lights gradually faded away, leaving Jubae and Kennedy alone, and alive, in prosperity.

Unfortunately for Kennedy and Jubae, what they didn’t see was – falling out of the pack on Snake’s horse – a Wanted poster…offering a decent reward for The Shanghai Slasher, which bore a decent resemblance to Jubae.

Notes: Fun times. Other than the agonizing battle between Jubae and the fire ant beast in which Jubae just could not do more than wound it most of the time, and the Kit’s fire ant body just could-not-touch Jubae, it was a nice little one-off session. This was the One Sheet called Ghost Town, but with Jubae (a selfless martial artist) and Kennedy (a filthy rich gunslinger) the promise of gold meant nothing, so the hidden treasure was never searched for.

What Jubae is soon to discover is that he is being framed for a series of murders. In our Classics campaign, we played the dime novel Perdition’s Daughter, and the pacifist Jubae hit a brutal one-hit kill on Edgar DuChamp, the second-in-command villain of the adventure. DuChamp has tainted the instrument of his death: Jubae’s Flying Claw, and has now begun to manifest a claw that he is using to kill people within a mile of his anchor (DuChamp is now a ghost haunting our heroes), Jubae’s weapon…so really, as long as Jubae keeps traveling towards civilization, he is putting people at risk, and DuChamp is leading him where he wants to go, appearing a mile ahead of Jubae and killing people off.

Next time we pick up this game, I do believe we are going to see a run-in with a Texas Ranger.

A Rock and a Hard Place

Jubae and Kennedy continued north out of Prosperity, and about mid-day passed a man in a wagon. The kindly fella asked if they were more bounty hunters, which seemed to confuse Jubae and Kennedy, but they played along. Jubae’s a heroic type, and Kennedy’s rich, so the promise of money means little.

Seems Mayor Harold H. Holden had called for an open bounty on someone who had come to town and brutally murdered his daughter’s fiancé…slashing him to death in gruesome fashion! Jubae and Kennedy decide to find out what this is all about, riding on into Holden’s Bluff. The town is bustling with activity, though a stark tension is in the air.

At Town Hall, just past Tinny’s Saloon, a balding man with shocks of black hair wearing a strange headband with an antenna, and carrying a large cannon of some sort on his back is reassuring Mayor Holden that his Entrapifier z8000 will bring the murderer to justice, or his name isn’t Quentin Horschwickle!

Kennedy and Jubae took themselves to Town Hall to meet the Mayor, who gave them the terms sweet and simple: “$500 for the killer of my daughter’s fiancé, dead or alive.” Jubae asked to see the crime scene, which rather annoyed Holden, mostly because he didn’t like being talked to by a ferner, but at Jubae’s insistence, he ordered Town Marshall Zeb Kenny to take them to the victim’s room.

On their way to the stables, they saw three Cherokees tying up their horses, a tall Indian with a rifle slung over his shoulder, a brawny one carrying a warclub and a quiet one with a black-painted face and a tomahawk at his hip. More bounty hunters.

Jubae and Kennedy were both quite concerned that their erstwhile werewolf buddy Spencer Crane was responsible for the murder, and hoped to track him down before he could kill again. Outside the Holden residence, Ray Campbell – a hired gun in town with his gang – is trying to assure Mae Holden and her young, now-single daughter Hildy, that he and is men will bring the assassin to justice. Jubae, Kennedy and the Marshall encounter Campbell, who chides the Marshall for bringing in “more vultures”.

Jubae says he and Kennedy are working for free, and Campbell dismissively points out that Holden’s Bluff will “get what they paid for” with Jubae and Kennedy.

Heading inside, Jubae and Kennedy study the blood-splattered room, and immediately realize there were no signs of struggle, no forced entry, no broken windows, etc. They inquire about other victims, and Marshall Kenny says that a stableboy died about a month back, and Jeffries, the town drunk, was killed a day or so ago, as well. Kenny offers some details, the first being that no one heard a struggle and the victims throats were ripped out before they were ripped apart. Kennedy and Jubae were quite dismayed, on some level, that Spencer WASN’T (apparently) the killer, which meant that they had something ELSE to deal with out there.

Jubae was struck with a thought and asked to look at a map of Texas, realizing that he and Spencer passed within a mile of this town a month ago, seeking aid for their injuries! This led to an extended conversation between Jubae and Kennedy about whether or not Spencer could – or had – spawn(ed) more werewolves! On top of it all, Lt. Col. Ethan Jessup of the Confederate Army arrived, with half a dozen soldiers in tow…seeking the murderer plaguing the town.

Jubae and Kennedy decided to grill the Mayor about the other murders, but he seemed oblivious because Frank Grisham, his daughter’s fiancé, was the first victim of any standing to die, and thus the only one that mattered! When that line of questioning went nowhere, Jubae and Spencer began formulating a plan: That got interrupted when a loud scream pierced the town and the Marshall said that young Ginny Peters had been found dead, slashed apart, in the General store cellar! A crowd quickly formed as the townsfolk and the various bounty hunter factions converged on the store!

Jubae and Kennedy snuck around back, where the cellar had a second entrance, and Jubae summoned his chi around his fist, which began to glow as he shattered the cellar door with a thunderous boom!

Unfortunately for Jubae and Kennedy, Clayton Maloney, “Red” Keller and Heath Kyle – part of Campbell’s gang – saw the whole thing! This led to a tense standoff, with Jubae and Kennedy trying to get them to back off while they went downstairs first, when Quentin Horschwickle showed up and said that only a man of science could find the clues needed to crack this case! Attracted by the noise, Lt. Col. Jessup showed up, followed by the leader of the Cherokees, Stalking Snake, and his powerhouse brave Angry Cub! When the Town Marshall came around as well, Jubae and Kennedy slipped around FRONT and into the cellar, where Kennedy promptly paid off the undertaker to give them ten minutes alone with the body.

The same signs they had been told about before were present, namely the missing throat. They could find no tracks on the dirt floor of the cellar, or any sign of forced entry. Jubae and Kennedy were growing more convinced that werewolves had nothing to do with this…and that suspicion only grew as they saw the slash marks were in groups of three. Jubae asked what could cause such marks, and Kennedy helpfully offered “a werewolf missing its pinky?”

What they didn’t see, was the black-faced Indian named Shadow-in-the-Trees already in the cellar, watching them. Kennedy and Jubae heard the Marshall leading the hunters down into the cellar from the first door, so they slipped out the front of the store and decided they should lay a trap for the killer, whatever it may be. Unfortunately for them, they saw Mayor Holden speaking with a grizzled, one-eyed man accompanied by a wolfhound.

The man, a werewolf hunter called Caleb, said his hound, Timber, could smell the wolf in the area and he’d have the werewolf dead by sun up. Jubae and Kennedy interrupted, trying to tell Caleb that it wasn’t a werewolf, but Caleb blew it off, saying Timber’s never missed a werewolf. When Jubae brought up the slash marks in groups of three, Caleb’s best guess was a werewolf that lost his pinky. Caleb looked Kennedy and Jubae up and down suspiciously, asking them if they had ever been to Colorado. He then casually mentioned that this wolf he’s been tracking has killed nearly 100 men from Denver to Mexico.

Jubae and Kennedy got awful concerned, and grilled Mayor Holden on the other deaths, but were again rebuffed because Holden had tunnel vision about the most recent tragedy. So Jubae and Kennedy decided to get some sleep and awaken at nightfall, to set a trap for the killer…hopefully.

Heading to Tinny’s Saloon, Jubae got kinda creeped out watched Quentin Horschwickle pouring a fresh drink from one glass into a second, empty glass before drinking it. A comment from one of the Confederates told Jubae that “Tinny” was actually a Yank from Back East, which was confirmed when Kennedy knew him! Kennedy and Tinny caught up, with Tinny saying he got stuck in Texas after his Papa cut the money off.

He won the Saloon in a card game, which has angered most of the residents, but Holden keeps anything bad from happening to Tinny because Tinny keeps the taxes paid.

Kennedy gets him and Jubae a room, and they weave their way past the Confederates, Indians, gunslingers and Caleb.

That night, Kennedy wakes Jubae shortly after nightfall when a wolf’s howl breaks the night sky, and Timber breaks into a barking run from the saloon with Caleb in tow. Soon guys are fanning out in droves to go after the werewolf, leaving Jubae and Kennedy concerned.

Still convinced that Spencer’s not their murderer, Jubae and Kennedy head to the stables, thinking it might be connected to the dead stableboy. Gunshots rang out through the night, and a nearly human wolf-yelp followed. A handful of Confederates rode into town, near the stables, looking for Lt. Col. Jessup…claiming him to be a deserter! Jubea and Kennedy helpfully pointed them in the general direction of the fracas.

As the waiting at the stables was going nowhere, they moved to the cemetery…where they could see the conflict raging down the way. Kennedy finally said he didn’t know if he could kill a werewolf, but he could stop a hunter from killing his werewolf friend and headed toward the fight, and Jubae followed.

The two Confederate factions were battling it out and Jubae decided not to get involved. They picked up a fresh trail of blood and followed it, stumbling past one of Campbell’s men, who had apparently been knocked loopy with something blunt. The blood trail brought them to Spencer Crane, bleeding and crawling away. Jubae caught a glint of moonlight and found himself between Shadow-in-the-Trees and Spencer, with the Indian aiming an arrow at the wolf. He fired, but Jubae enacted his chi and snatched the arrow from the air! Angry Cub and Stalking Snake approached Spencer from one side, while Caleb and Timber approached from the other! Campbell’s remaining men came up over the ridge, while Quentin Horschwickle moved in as well. Kennedy and Jubae were looking at a battle royale!

Jubae and Kennedy tried to reach a peaceful resolution, but then Kennedy had to dodge an arrow and Stalking Snake drew a pair of Bowie Knives and charged Jubae! Upon actually SEEING a werewolf, one of Campbell’s men ran off, and the others joined him when Quentin zapped them with his Emotitron 48-T! Jubae drew his flying claw and attacked Stalking Snake, who batted the claw away and advanced! Caleb took a shot at Spencer, who tried to run away. Quentin and Caleb made a quick pact to bring the werewolf down together, and Caleb sicced Timber on Jubae to keep him from interfering.

Angry Cub charged Kennedy as Shadow-in-the-Trees notched another arrow, but Kennedy unleashed both pistols and shot both Indians, dropping them in their tracks!

Jubae and Stalking Snake each tried to break the other’s defense, with Snake nearly tagging Jubae after Timber bit into Jubae’s leg! Kennedy fired past Jubae’s ear, however, and Stalking Snake dropped as well…and Timber followed!

Caleb swore an ugly curse at Kennedy and opened fire on him, striking him in the shoulder! Spencer loped away bleeding, and Jubae tried to close on Caleb, never hearing the horse charging him! A figure dove from the horse and drove Jubae into the ground, and when he came up, he was staring into a Texas Ranger badge! A bald, bearded Ranger told Jubae he was under arrest for the murders of nearly 100 men from Denver to Mexico and back again!

Jubae looked confused and realized that he was being accused because of his claw, but when he moved to resist arrest, the Ranger hooked his head and dropped him hard, leaving him knocked out!

Jubae awoke in a cell where the Ranger, “Rattlesnake” Austin Williams was telling Mayor Holden and Marshall Kenny to keep Jubae locked up until the circuit judge could arrive in a month. Jubae again protested, but Austin showed him the “Shanghai Slasher” poster and told him to tell it to the Judge!

A couple of hours after everyone left, Mayor Holden returned with Marshall Kenny and Campbell’s gang, all holding firearms! Holden said he wasn’t going to wait for any judge, and was going shoot the little foreign slasher right there!

Jubae scrambled for something he could do, when a figure materialized in the Marshall’s office, a three-bladed claw flashing! He began a savage slaughter of the seven would-be killers, even laughing as one gun shot zipped right through his head and stuck in the wall! His gory massacre complete, he turned to Jubae with blood dripping off the claw and nowhere else, and taunted him.

“I put up with the Lady Carstairs and here insufferable attitude because I was supposed to live forever! Then you come along and you stuck me in the face with that claw of yours and put an end to that. I don’t know if it’s magic or what, but I have been inside your claw ever since…and I have killed people every where you’ve gone. I’ve killed while you sleep, I’ve killed while you’re awake. The blood of a hundred people are on your hands, chinaman!”

Edgar DuChamp, hired gun of Cynthia Carstairs, who was killed by Jubae a couple of months ago, has lived on inside the claw and framed Jubae as the Shanghai Slasher! DuChamp disappeared, and then Jubae got a vision through DuChamp’s eyes, of him standing over a wounded Kennedy, waving the claw in front of his face!

Jubae summoned his chi into his fist and blasted the door, knocking it off its hinges! He raced through town, looking for DuChamp, and found the ghastly spectre about to murder Kennedy! DuChamp lunged at Jubae, but Jubae deflected his attack and swung back, missing the “heart” of DuChamp. DuChamp clipped Jubae, then gleefully attacked Kennedy, who barely rolled away! Jubae struck DuChamp, who snarled at being hit by the empowered Jubae! DuChamp did managed to stab Kennedy, but Jubae snapped out, beating DuChamp down into nothingness!

Kennedy and Jubae realized they had a HUGE problem, what with all the dead people and Jubae being the prime suspect…when Shadow-in-the-Trees appeared in the doorway, holding Jubae’s claw! He told them that the Manitou in the weapon was not gone, only dormant, and would rise again. The Indian scout led Jubae and Kennedy from the town and into the wilderness to find their road…

Notes: Rambly write-up, I know. This was me resolving an old plot thread from my Deadlands Classic came, because the Pacifist Jubae killed Edgar DuChamp in the first round of combat with a headshot with the claw and I decided to punish him for it.

The player of Spencer wasn’t present, so I used Spencer as plot device in werewolf form.

Designing all the Bounty Hunters made me once again LOVE Savage Worlds, because it was a matter of taking the relevant templates and making any tweaks I wanted. For instance, Angry Cub and Shadow-in-the-Trees were the same Brave template, with tweaks to make Cub stronger and dumber and Shadow stealthier.

Anyway, just a game of Deadlands designed to kill an afternoon and resolve the Shanghai Slasher subplot. Jubae is now “Wanted” and will be pursued by, among others, “The Rattlesnake” (badly based off of Stone Cold Steve Austin.)