*** Session 08 - Scene 4 (of 12) ***

Back in town, Tex has the printer make up some posters to let people know information is wanted regarding the death of Kid Cassidy and that Gunhawk is a person of interest in the case.

Once the posters are up, Tex heads over to the brothel to see if he can find any information. One of the girls, a two hundred pound Negro prostitute named Portia, says she has some information. She wants Tex to do something for her first. He agrees to go along with what she requests.

Six minutes later, Tex rolls his cigarette as he lays in bed, relaxing. Next to him, a somewhat satisfied Portia tells him what she knows.

According to Portia, all the colored folk in the area know about Reno Jones and he's a bounty hunter. She says he is staying out near Blue Stem. Tex recognizes the name as a nearby small settlement formed by ex-slaves.

He gets up to leave, telling her he may need to talk with her again. She says, "Any time sugar!" and says she likes that Texas spice and he can come back for her brown sugar any time.

*** Session 08 - Scene 5 (of 12) ***

Over in Quebrada Cruz, Earl has his eye on a plan to reform the Golden Nugget themselves. He believes opening their own saloon / casino could be just the thing to make them all rich.

Knowing they’ll need more money than they have, Earl decides the appropriate thing to do is go secure a bank loan. Earl, Franklin, and Coltrane head over to the Horton Bank.

At the bank, Earl tells the receptionist they need to see someone about a business loan. She tells him he’ll need to talk with Ms. Horton, personally. Earl recognizes the name as belonging to Susan Horton, the spinster daughter of the bank’s found who is known for her fiery disposition.

They are taken into the back office to talk with Ms. Horton. She asks Earl how much of a loan he is looking for. He explains he is looking to build a saloon with “high-class gambling and women of good repute”. She seems dismissive of the idea and asks again how much he wants.

Using his business knowledge, Franklin figures they will need at least 5,000 dollars to secure the location, build the structure, get in the equipment, hire staff, and have operating capital for the first few months before they begin turning a profit.

Horton wants to know what they have for collateral for such a large amount. Earl notes he has a plot of land out in the canyon that is still being assayed, but says the next door property was sold to the Redwine Mining Company so it is only a matter of time before his begins producing as well.

She asks what else they have. Earl looks over at Coltrane. He shrugs.

Horton berates them for suggesting she would loan them five thousand dollars based on collateral worth only fifty.

Franklin suggests the bank would have the lien on the new land and casino, but Horton says it is not nearly enough. When he suggests his horse as collateral, she says he would need a stagecoach to secure that amount.

Earl pipes in they do own a share in a stagecoach company. Horton asks why they aren’t putting the stagecoach up for collateral then. Earl says they are trying to keep the business ventures separate.

Ms. Horton says they will require a more forward-thinking bank to do business with. Earl asks who she would recommend. She says she wouldn’t. She then wishes them good day and has them escorted out of the bank.

*** Session 08 - Scene 6 (of 12) ***

As they leave the bank in defeat, Earl spots a flyer up near the building. It announces an upcoming poker tournament at The Cottonwood. The tournament requires a five hundred dollar entry fee, but the prize for winning is eight thousand dollars, less a 10% fee charged by The Cottonwood for hosting the event.

The three men spend much time discussing their options. They consider robbing the bank or entering the poker tournament (but aren't sure who should play in it). Earl wonders if they could partner with Hatfield. Another random thought is a plan to find a child prodigy in the Chinatown area, as he's heard the Chinese are hard workers and good at math. Franklin isn't so sure about that last idea.

In the end, they mosey over to Ernie's Tavern to see if Hatfield may already be in town for the tournament. They find a younger man shuffling cards at the counter, but it isn't Hatfield.

Earl talks to him a moment, saying they are there looking for a gambler. The youth says he himself is a gambler, giving his name as Billy Montana. When Earl says they are looking for a particular person Billy says he has seen a lot of gamblers around and asks what the man looks like. Earl simply says he'd know this one if he saw him.

Introducing himself, Earl makes the acquaintance of the young man. Billy says he wanders from town to town, and heard about this tournament and decided to enter. Franklin whispers to Coltrane they could always rob the boy to get his five hundred dollar entrance fee.

When Earl asks Billy if he's seen any other gamblers entering the tournament, a man from a nearby table announces he is also entered into it but is the only real card player in it. The man has a back East accent, saying he is from "Joisey" and giving his name as Eddie Moran.

Eddie asks Earl if he is entering the tournament, saying he doesn't look like a card player to him. Earl agrees, saying his one eye makes it too hard to keep track of all the cards.

Earl asks Eddie if he's played in a lot of tournaments back in New Jersey. Eddie claims he's a champion of the Newark Open Poker Tournament of 1872. Earl asks what the prize money for that was, and Eddie claims he won three thousand dollars.

As they talk, Earl wonders if the competition will be better at this tournament than in Newark. Just then, a tough-looking woman with a rifle over her shoulder enters the bar. For a second, Franklin wonders if Jane has returned from wherever she ran off to, but as the woman enters he sees it is a different woman.

The woman asks if they are talking about the poker tournament. As she lights up a cigarette she tells them they may as well go home, as she intends to win it.

Earl, calling her "little flower", asks her who she might be. She steps right up to him and gives her name as Kate Muldoon, the famous female bounty hunter. Earl tries sweet talking her but she tells him she has an itchy trigger finger so the old man had better not get any ideas.

With the three gamblers in the room, Earl asks if any of them are familiar with a Southern dandy named Hatfield. Kate asks if he means the fancy fellow, and when Earl confirms it she says she last saw him down in Ritzville.

*** Session 08 - Scene 7 (of 12) ***

Back over in Odessa, Tex has also noticed some posters up around town about the poker tournament in Quebrada Cruz. He wonders if their friends might get into some trouble with that, knowing it is exactly the sort of thing that could catch their attention.

Since Squantum claims he has solved the murder case, Tex decides to send the Indian to go check on the others and make sure they don’t get into too much trouble.

Squantum, seeing the large amount of winnings in the tournament, agrees to go look in on it. Tex notes it would be easier to rob the eight thousand than win the tournament.

Over the next few days, Squantum travels to Quebrada Cruz while Franklin practices his card counting with Earl, intending to have him enter the tournament.

Back in Odessa, Tex heads out to Bluestem with Annie to look for Reno Jones. He heads into town and begins asking around for “Gunhawk”. Naturally, none of the Negros in town have ever heard of him and are all apprehensive about talking to Tex.

Tex takes a gentle approach to talking to the townspeople, saying he just wants to talk to Gunhawk. He suggests perhaps the man shot Kid Cassidy in self-defense and just wants to help clear his name.

Waiting around a while, Tex eventually decides no one is going to produce Gunhawk so he’ll need to try a different tactic.

Tex heads over to the small trading post in town, Chappy’s. He talks to Chappy (who still calls him “boss” after his days on the plantation) and makes his case to the man. He tells Chappy he wants to make sure they don’t get the Klan into town looking for Gunhawk because of the killing. Chappy agrees he doesn’t want any trouble like they had out at the farm.

Ignoring the comment about the farm, Tex tells Chappy to send word to him if Gunhawk wants to talk. He then heads back to Odessa.

The next morning, a lawyer shows up in Tex’s office. The man gives his name as Lance Temple. Temple explains he represents Reno Jones, who he knows Tex is looking for.

Tex says yes, he needs to question the man in the death of Kid Cassidy. Temple tells Tex he’s not the right man for the killing, but Tex says he’ll need to talk to him first. Tex agrees that when trouble comes to a small, White town it is natural for the people to blame a Negro (or failing that, an Indian). Temple, thinking of Squantum, says he heard about the Indian.

Temple goes on to explain that Kid Cassidy and Reno Jones were actually partners in bounty hunting. Tex isn’t surprised, he thought that might be the case.

According to Temple, the two were hired by a farmer out in Bluestem who was having trouble being harassed by some type of Klan group calling themselves the Night Riders. The farmer hired them for protection against the riders, who were starting fires at night.

Temple says the next thing after they were hired, Cassidy ends up dead with Jones named as the suspect. He finds it all very suspicious. Tex walks back through the details of the case, agreeing there is more going on that at first glance.

Tex wants to know if Jones has anyone who can verify his whereabouts during Cassidy’s death. Temple says the farmer he is staying with can verify he returned to the farm after visiting the bar while Cassidy stayed behind.

They decide the best thing to do is have Tex go talk to the farmer, a man named Brooks. Temple, Annie, and Tex head out to the farm to investigate.

As they head out there, Tex can see there are indeed some burn marks on the outbuilding on the outskirts of the farm. Temple then goes up to the door and gets Reno to come out.

Tex greets Jones and recounts the tale the lawyer told. Jones agrees to the details Temple gave. Tex asks if he’s figured out yet who the Night Riders might be, but Jones says he hadn’t gotten that far yet.

Turning his attention to old man Brooks, Tex asks him a few questions to make sure his story is consistent and clears Jones for the killing. Tex believes Brooks and Jones, feeling he is not the one who committed the killing.

Since he still has a case to solve, Tex asks who else might have killed Kid Cassidy. Jones is pretty sure it was the Night Riders, and Tex agrees they are the likely suspects. Jones says Cassidy said something that night about having a lead on the riders he was going to investigate.

Tex says he’ll take care of it from here, saying if he finds any more information or has any other problems he should let him know. Tex is particularly annoyed at the idea of anyone harassing the hard-working farmers in the area.

As Tex goes to leave, Brooks thanks him saying the Night Riders have been a great strain on his family; so much so he is considering taking that offer.

Tex picks up on the comment and asks Brooks what offer he is referring to. Brooks explains a nearby farmer from Odessa, Clay Riley, made an offer on his land a while back. The farmer says he didn’t originally want to sell, but since all of the troubles have shown up…

Even though he already knows the answer, Tex asks the man if the troubles started after he originally turned the offer down. Brooks says come to think of it, they did.

After getting some information about the location of Clay Riley’s farm, Tex asks Jones what he thinks. Jones said he had his suspicions, and Cassidy was going to look into him, but they never found any proof. Reno also says he asked around about Riley himself, but notes the man keeps some Pinkertons on the payroll as guards.

Tex says he will look into Riley some more, as he doesn’t like hard-working people being driven off their land. He tells Jones he’ll get back to him once he knows more.

Heading back to Odessa, Tex starts asking around.

*** Session 08 - Scene 8 (of 12) ***

By the time a few days pass in Quebrada Cruz, a few more people have arrived in town for the tournament. One is a wealthy banker named Tom Fleming. Another is a cavalry officer from Ft. Harney, Capt. George McDowell, and a Spaniard dressed as a vaquero named Mateo "Blackthorn" Gil.

Earl gets an idea about offering to give a partial stake to some of the players in exchange for a partial take of their winnings. Squantum arrives during the discussion, much to Earl's dismay. He asks what the Injun is doing there. Squantum replies he had a prophecy that One-Eyed Earl was up to something stupid.

Squantum then asks what Earl is up to. Earl tells him Hennessy is entering a poker tournament. Squantum laughs at the idea, saying look at Hennessy's face as he is clearly not a lucky man. Squantum insists he is a trained gambler.

Earl tells Squantum to use his own money to enter the tournament then. Squantum tells Earl if he pays his way into the tournament, he'll give him the money back when he wins.

Pausing a moment to reflect, Squantum then asks Earl what he wants all the money for anyway. Earl says every man has a right to money and asks the Indian why he's being so nosy.

Since Earl won't answer, Squantum asks Franklin. Franklin says they are planning to use the money to start their own business.

Squantum asks if it will be like the stagecoach business. Franklin says it won't quite be like the stagecoach business. Squantum sardonically asks if this one won't fail then. Diplomatically, Franklin admits it won't be the same and they learned some lessons from their last venture.

The Indian is clearly skeptical of their plan to get the money by entering a poker tournament. He asks how much money they need versus how much they have. Squantum says they are a lot closer to the goal than they realize, but Earl insists they'll be even closer once Franklin wins the poker tournament.

Squantum asks how much they can get from the bank. Franklin tells him the bank won't give them any. He tries telling them he can win the money but Earl doesn't believe him. Earl tells Squantum and Franklin they can argue it out while he goes to take care of some business.

Earl asks around to all the players, offering one hundred dollars of stake for ten percent of the winnings. Oddly, no one wants that deal.

*** Session 08 - Scene 9 (of 12) ***

When Franklin goes to put in his fee, he sees several more slots have already filled up. One of them is occupied by the owner of The Cottonwood himself, William Finney. Billy Kilburn is also entering the tournament along with saloon owner John C. Davenport. Even Preacher comes out of seclusion to enter the tournament, saying he is there to win the wages of sin to give to God while rebuilding his church. The strangest of the local entrants is Deputy Oldman, who shouldn’t have enough money to enter but somehow does.

After signing Franklin up, Earl heads over to the Black Lotus in Chinatown, where he secures enough opium to drug all the other players. They hand him a fair-sized bag of it, calling it “Ancient Chinese Secret”. He samples a little just to be sure, then hands over one hundred fifty dollars to pay for it.

Earl then heads over to The Cottonwood and asks around who is serving at the tournament. He identifies three women – Donna, Marie, and Osma – as all working that night. He offers them each fifty dollars to have them spike the drinks with the opium powder. Osma mistakes his initial proposition, telling him quite forcefully she’s not interested in playing “hide the miner” with him unless he pays at least double.

Meanwhile, Franklin is concerned he may need some help so Squantum offers a special medicine that will help sharpen his skills, insisting there are no side effects. He calls it “Squantum’s Special Powder”.

When Earl returns, he tells Franklin of the plan and tells him not to drink anything. Franklin says he’ll order a drink but not imbibe.

For Coltrane’s part, he goes to The Cottonwood and secures a position as a dishwasher. Earl believes this is a good idea as will give them some extra access to things.

They resume training at Ernie’s Tavern. One afternoon, a familiar voice rings out a greeting to Squantum. Everyone turns to see Richard Hatfield.

Hatfield asks if Squantum is there for the tournament. Squantum says he is planning to win it. Hatfield notes he didn’t see the Indian’s name when he signed up a few minutes ago.

The dandy warns Squantum there is only one slot left open. He says right after he signed up, the wealthy mining magnate from Spokan Falls, Rufe Bennet, entered. And to even Rufe’s surprise, his stepson Jeremiah entered right after him. Apparently the two had quite a row about it.

Squantum asks what the disagreement was about. Hatfield says he wasn’t sure, but suspects the two don’t get along. He notes many fathers and sons don’t get along, saying he himself is known to have some “daddy issues”.

Hatfield tells Squantum he would be honored to “do battle” with him again at the card table. Squantum says he’d rather “be in his corner” and help the man by getting him food and drink. Hatfield notes The Cottonwood already has people to do that, being a fancy place and all. He muses on how he likes fancy things and hopes they serve mint julips.

Getting wistful, Hatfield continues on about how many times as a young man he would hang out with other young men on the porch, sipping mint julips. He says you just lay back and get one of those in your mouth, saying the taste was delightful.

Hatfield asks Squantum why he isn’t entering the tournament himself. Squantum says he has friends like Hatfield entering the tournament so he wouldn’t feel right taking their money. Hatfield asks who else is entering and Squantum points to the “hideously scarred” Hennessy.

Franklin takes exception to Squantum’s description. Hatfield says he didn’t realize the barber could cut cards as well as hair, and says he’ll see him there, calling him a “big ball of excitement”.

Hatfield asks Earl if he is entering, but Earl says he is too old for this sort of thing. Squantum notes he can’t see the cards well enough. Hatfield says he hears many things stop working as you get old. Squantum notes Earl is stupid, too. Hatfield laughs, saying Squantum is always such a peach.

*** Session 08 - Scene 10 (of 12) ***

Over in Odessa, Tex's investigation continues. After asking around for a couple of days, he determines Clay Riley keeps a small force of six Pinkertons around as guards under the control of a man named Caleb Hammer.

The investigation also reveals Riley has been buying up land in the area along a particular path. Tex is convinced he must be planning for a railroad expansion that hasn't been announced yet.

Armed with the information, Tex heads back to the Brooks farm and starts plotting with Reno. They decide to set up an ambush for the Night Riders. They round up three men from the local farms to assist.

Later that night, they spot the torches on horses headed their direction. Tex can see there are six of the men, all dressed in Klan outfits. As they get closer, Tex sees the man in the lead carries a cat o' nine tails in addition to a gun while the others have guns and torches.

When they get within twenty feet, Tex tosses a section of dynamite at the riders but the fuse goes out. He and the others then open fire.

Tex misses with his first shot, as does Annie. Gunhawk and one of the farm hands do manage to take out a couple of the men, with Gunhawk getting a head shot.

The riders begin firing back. Tex gets a glancing shot in the leg, but not enough to really wound him.

Annie attempts to fire back, but her gun jams. Tex fires another shot that misses. Gunhawk and another of the farm hands manage to wound a couple of the men with their shots, causing them to fall to the ground.

Tex takes another shot from the riders, this time to the arm. Tex responds by shooting the man in the side; it is enough to make him fall off his horse as well.

Gunhawk takes out another man with a shot to the gut. Annie and the farmhands, however, have no luck.

With all of the men left alive now on the ground, Tex orders them to throw out their guns. They agree.

Tex then asks which of them killed Kid Cassidy. The lead man points to one of the dead, saying "It was Marcus over there that done it."

Satisfied the case is solved, Tex asks who hired them. The lead man takes his hood off, revealing himself to be Caleb Hammer. Hammer says they work for Riley, who had a tip the railroad might be adding an extension so he wanted to buy up all the land.

Tex tells them as they are all guilty of rustling, there are grounds for having them hanged. Hammer tells Tex he has some friends in the Pinkertons and if he lets him go he would owe him a favor.

In the end, Tex gets Hammer to agree for him and his men to be arrested and testify against Riley. He hauls them back to Odessa.

*** Session 08 - Scene 11 (of 12) ***

The day of the poker tournament, there is still one open slot. Just as Finney is explaining how they’ll need to switch around things with only fifteen players, a voice from the crowd offers to take the slot. The dramatic last minute player is made even more dramatic when everyone realizes the voice belongs to Jake Kilburn.

Billy Kilburn is clearly not happy to see his brother there, nor are Earl, Franklin, and Squantum. They ponder trying to have Jake arrested, but recall he doesn’t have a legal warrant out on him as far as they know.

Finney nervously accepts Jake’s money and says the tournament is back on then. He announces the table positions.

Franklin is placed at a table with Eddie Moran, Deputy Oldman, and Kate Muldoon. The second table has Tom Fleming, Billy Kilburn, John C. Davenport, and Mateo Gil. The third table will be Jeremiah Bennet, Jake Kilburn, William Finney, and Hatfield. The fourth table has Billy Montana, Preacher, Captain McDowell, and Rufe Bennet.

As the tournament starts, Squantum gives the drink to Hennessy with the ground up peyote. The barber begins feeling the effects of the mescaline right away but manages to keep under control.

The first round of play, Hennessy’s luck starts out poor with a hand of only two pair. Kate ends up taking the first hand.

The play continues for some time. Kate and Hennessy escalate a series of raises, with Franklin winning the pot in the end. Luckily, Squantum’s special powder hasn’t taken full effect yet.

As the game continues on, Eddie starts looking pretty drowsy and Deputy Oldman still appears to be half drunk, just like he was when he showed up.

Over at the second table, Earl observes Billy Kilburn and Tom Fleming are starting to slow down. No one seems affected at the third, and McDowell at table four is the only one who seems to be having a problem. In the back, Coltrane makes sure to carefully clean all the glasses to remove any evidence of the drugs.

The third hand of play, Franklin wins all of Oldman’s money on a bad bid and the man leaves in disgust as he stumbles away from the table.

Just afterwards, Mateo spots two men in the crowd giving Tom Fleming signals. Billy Kilburn then grabs him and starts beating him within an inch of his life. The two men in the crowd start making a run for it, followed by Eddie Moran.

Squantum chases after Eddie with his tomahawk. He tries hitting the man, but other people get in his way and prevent him from getting any further.

Kate Muldoon tells Franklin she’ll head after the cheaters. She forfeits her money to Franklin, causing him to win the round.

Over at table two, Billy Kilburn is forfeited for attacking Fleming (who is arrested and hauled out). Mateo easily wins the round from Davenport.

At table three, Jeremiah Bennet passes out from the drugs causing him to lose while Hatfield loses the rest of his money (all the while complaining Piquet is the better game). Finney and Jake Kilburn have a strong back and forth, with Jake finally winning the round.

Rufe Bennet also collapses at the fourth table. Billy Montana beats out Preacher and McDowell. Preacher accuses Billy of cheating, but lacks any proof.

*** Session 08 - Scene 12 (of 12) ***

There is an hour break between rounds, and Finney gives all the players a free room to relax in before the next round. Franklin gladly avails himself the chance to rest, as he's pretty sure the table he's at is beginning to melt into the floor.

To help with Franklin's condition, Earl provides him some opium to counteract the mescaline. Meanwhile, Squantum makes up a special triple dose mint julip for Hatfield. Hatfield says it is very good, saying how nice it was to get his lips wrapped around Squantum's cool refreshment. Squantum quickly takes the glass back to Coltrane to clean.

Earl then starts needling Squantum about Mateo being a Mexican. The Indian waits outside the man's room.

When he emerges, Squantum greets the man. Once he admits to being Mexican, Squantum arrests him saying there is a bounty on Mexicans.

Mateo swears in Spanish and goes for a gun but Squantum clubs him. Mateo does a quick draw, missing spectacularly. He shoots up and the shot knocks a decoration off of the wall, causing it to fall on his head and knock him out. Squantum hauls the unconscious man off to the Sheriff's Office.

When Franklin comes out he starts saying something about anyone seeing the size of that chicken but the opium starts to kick in and even out a bit.

Over on one of the tables, Hatfield is naked, standing on the table, acting like a chicken. Some of the men in the crowd have to haul him away.

Franklin is sat at a table with Jake Kilburn and Billy Montana for the final round. Hennessy gets a good opening hand, but Kilburn's is stronger. Montana surprises everyone, however, by pulling out a flush.

The second hand Franklin gets an even better deal, and neither Kilburn nor Montana have a good showing. He makes a strong bet but notices Billy has an ace up his sleeve.

Franklin puts his hand on his gun and calls out to the dealer that Billy Montana has an ace up his sleeve. They stop the game and they pull out an ace, a snake, and a basket of flowers from Montana's sleeve but the dealer tells Franklin he's clean.

The barber realizes he must still be hallucinating from Squantum's powder. He tells Billy he was just kidding, but sets his gun on the table. The other two do the same. Earl calls for everyone to calm down as it is just a friendly game of poker.

When play resumes, Kilburn takes the next hand but everyone has terrible cards. As he collects his chips, Jake talks of using the money to reopen his theater that mysteriously burned down. Franklin mumbles something about hoping it doesn't burn down again.

Before the next hand is dealt, Billy takes a big drink then falls over backward in his chair. Franklin is pretty sure Billy really did fall because they are calling him forfeit in the round, but he isn't sure why they brought in that horse to haul Billy away.

Because of Franklin's crazy ramblings, Jake tries to claim he should be the winner as the barber isn't right in the head. The dealer ignores him, but Kilburn wins the next hand anyway.

The following hand, Franklin gets a lucky draw and wins the tournament with a straight. Jake stands up and grabs his gun, claiming the barber is a cheat.

Franklin gets a shot off with his gun first, hitting Jake with a deadly shot to the gut. He also gets a tomahawk in the back of the head from Squantum. He falls over dead at the table.

Billy Kilburn looks at the men grimly but says nothing. He has his men take the body and they all leave as Hennessy collects his winnings.

*** Session 08 - Session Notes ***

These notes are a couple of weeks old, with the holidays it took me a little longer to get them typed up. This was a very busy session with a lot going on; overall, I think it went really well except for the whole "splitting the party" thing which meant it could be 40+ minutes for some people waiting around for the others to finish doing their thing. I've never figured a good way around it; whenever the party splits up and there is anything at all going on, there doesn't seem to be a good way to switch back and forth that doesn't leave some people doing nothing for stretches of time.

Neither of the two main plots are original - the poker tournament is heavily inspired by the film Maverick and the TV movie "Kenny Rogers as The Gambler". The plot with Reno Jones is heavily inspired by the classic and modern takes on the characters from Marvel Comics.

Random notes about the session:
* Kid Cassidy and Reno Jones are both Marvel characters and had the comic "Gunhawks". I gave Reno that nickname partly as a reference and partly as a play on the Hawk character from the Cthulhubusters Crescent City campaign that the Tex player played.

* Squantum went after Melvin because he wrote "Melvin" on his character sheet after the cat incident. Then, the player couldn't remember why. When I reminded him he put Melvin on there to deal with later, he decided he would arrest him for whatever the next crime in town was.

* During the session, I accidentally referred to the bar as the Harrington Haus which, of course, is in Harrington and not Odessa. None of the players noticed but when I did the write-up I made the correction.

* The men who identify Reno as the potential killer all worked for Clay Riley. If Tex had actually investigated their backgrounds like he thought of doing (but never followed up on), he would have discovered that.

* The real Odessa wouldn't have it's own undertaker or livery stable (it's far too small), but since Tex assumed the town had those I went ahead and let them exist; it didn't affect the story any.

* The fate of Melvin remains to be seen.

* Portia the prostitute was inspired by a description given in Mad Men when Pete spots his father in law at the brothel. I gave her the name Portia because it seems particularly white so it would be ironic.

* There is a real farming area called Blue Stem, but the whole "village of ex-slaves" thing is purely fictional. I needed somewhere close by for them to live.

* Earl's idea to open a casino wasn't bad, but I have no idea how he thought they'd have enough money for that (or why the bank would loan it to him).

* Although I didn't include it in the write-up, during the session the joke about Susan Horton was that she was an elderly spinster as she was nearly 35 and unwed.

* Horton was played as somewhere between Mrs. Deagle from Gremlins and a female version of Mr. Potter from It's a Wonderful Life.

* The comment about the stagecoach as collateral is me poking fun at the fact the players had something worth a lot of money they abandoned foolishly.

* I wasn't originally planning to bring Hatfield back for the poker tournament, but since the players started talking about it...

* The play on stereotypes about looking for a Chinese child who could count cards went on for far, far longer than the write-up suggests with all kinds of OOC jokes about terrible plans they could do to find a "poker prodigy". The worst was inspired by the film Unbreakable - they'd burn down Chinatown and see which child survived (the joke being the incredibly flawed logic there).

* I noticed in the write-up that between Billy McLaughling, Billy Kilburn, and Billy Montana, there are an awful lot of Billys in the area.

* The Billy Montana in the game is based on the character from the Kenny Rogers movie, not the actual country singer. Kate Muldoon is taken from the sequel (Kenny Rogers as The Gambler 2 - The Adventure Continues).

* Eddie Moran isn't based on anyone in particular. He's meant to be a joke - an anachronism more appropriate to the 1920's. And of course there wouldn't be a poker tournament called the "Newark Open", I was just throwing a random funny-sounding name out there.

* Tex's trip to Bluestem was funny because he was trying to be friendly, but of course the whole town was terrified of what he might do.

* Lance Temple is another Marvel character, though pretty much in name only for my use.

* I had the farmer named Brooks as a joke back to the Hawk character since the players wouldn't shut up about it, even after I explained the comic connection.

* Clay Riley and Caleb Hammer are other Marvel characters.

* I don't recall where I came up with Tom Fleming or George McDowell from. Mateo Gil is named after the director of the film Blackthorn (which is where his nickname comes from). The Gil character in the game has a deeper backstory that hasn't been revealed yet.

* I have no idea why Earl thought any of the gamblers would take him up on his stupid offer. Even the other players were mocking him ("So you are looking for a gambler who thinks he won't win?")

* William Finney is based after a real historical person, though he never owned The Cottonwood.

* Deputy Oldman being able to enter the tournament is a whole sideplot the PCs didn't explore (but may come up later).

* The "ancient Chinese secret" Calgon joke got trotted out yet again. It's hard not to keep using that one whenever anyone visits Chinatown.

* I named the waitresses after Donnie and Marie Osmond, obviously, as a spur of the moment gag. The joke was so obvious, and so unexpected, that several minutes of laughter ensued (including the Squantum player nearly coughing a cookie out his nose).

* The "hide the miner" joke was inspired by a similar-ish line in Bad Santa. That got quite a lot of laughs too.

* Rufe and Jeremiah Bennet are characters half inspired by the Kenny Rogers movie, half by the characters in the film The Quick and the Dead. More on them later perhaps.

* Since Hatfield showed back up I got to make some more obvious double entendre jokes. The mint julip thing is because it was the fanciest drink I could think of at the moment that might be appropriate.

* The players actually asked for a "training montage" for Hennessy so I mimed out some montage scenes while playing a min or so of "You're the Best" by Joe Esposito (as used in the Karate Kid).

* The ambush against the Night Riders probably shouldn't have worked so easy, but the night was getting long and I figured I'd run with the player's idea. The PCs kept rolling terribly, which is why most of the killings are done by Reno (though it does add to his reputation).

* I always intended Jake Kilburn to be in the tournament (it was a scenario I wrote up before the campaign started). I thought it was a perfect opportunity for him to show back up again.

* The tournament was resolved with a few die rolls and some descriptions of what happened. I didn't want to play through a whole tournament.

* I wanted to give the time for the drugs to really kick in, which is why Franklin doesn't get too high until after the first round is over.

* Mateo's (false) arrest will have consequences.

* Franklin's comment about the chicken is ostensibly about Hatfield, but was in fact my own joke reference to the drug-addled scene in Young Guns.

* I told Franklin that Billy Montana was cheating for his hallucination because I wanted to see what he would do. Hilariously, none of the other players guessed it was a hallucination until I mentioned the snake and basket of flowers.

* Killing Jake Kilburn against Billy Kilburn's expressed wishes will definitely have consequences.

*** Session 09 - Cast of Characters ***

"One-Eyed" Earl: A 65 year old prospector from California. He's a rough, mountain man type but is missing an eye from an injury earlier in his life.

Squantum: A 27 year old Indian scout of an undetermined tribe. He's tough, if strange, and is hideously scarred.

Franklin Hennessy: A 45 year old barber from Maine. He's also quick with a knife or a pocket pistol.

Johnny Coltrane: A young hunter from the area looking for new ways to make money.

*** Session 09 - Scene 1 (of 10) ***

With the tournament over and the money delivered to Hennessy, the attention turns to what to do with the money. While the group is united in wanting to start up a new casino, the more immediate problem is getting the money to the bank without being robbed.

Squantum wants the tournament to provide armed escorts, but Finney says that is their problem. Earl gets Coltrane to come assist them.

After much discussion, they decide to have Hennessy take the money while Coltrane and Squantum escort. Earl goes on ahead to the bank to keep watch.

As Earl looks around, he spots a couple of figures on top of the nearby building housing Valley Foods, Frese Carpentry, and Ernie’s Tavern; across the street from the bank. They appear to be armed with rifles.

Earl gives a signal to the others down the block. He then heads around to the alley and climbs up to the roof. While he does so, Squantum takes a “decoy bag” and makes a zig-zagging run for the bank.

When Earl gets up to the roof, he sees the Frese boys, Timmy and Tommy, are there with rifles. They haven’t seen him yet. He takes aim with his mountain rifle and waits to see what they do.

Timmy tells Tommy, “There’s one, he’s moving fast.” From his position, Earl can’t see what they are looking at. But when Tommy raises his rifle to fire, he immediately shoots without hesitation.

The shot hits Tommy in the back of the head. The twelve-year-old boy yells out and falls as he is hit badly in the leg.

Timmy turns around and asks Earl what he is doing. Earl figures it is best just to shoot the boys now even if he made a mistake. He fires again and hits the youth straight in the head. Timmy’s body falls from the roof.

Down below, the running Squantum is hit by the body and the Indian finds himself on the street pinned under the corpse of the murdered child.

Back up top, Tommy begins crying. He asks Earl what he is doing and says they were just hunting quail. Earl considers smothering the boy quickly, as the gunfire has started attracting attention. To get it over with quickly, he dispatches the boy with another quick shot to the head.

*** Session 09 - Scene 2 (of 10) ***

Luckily for Earl, no one has seen him yet. He makes a mad dash across the roof tops towards Ernie's Tavern. But the old man is slow and uncoordinated and a couple of old women walking by spot him on the roof before he makes it off.

One of the women asks what he is doing up there. Earl ignores them and runs into Ernie's. He hears one tell the other to go get the sheriff as he goes inside the rear entrance.

Meanwhile, Coltrane and Hennessy decide to leave Squantum to deal with the body while they make a quick dash to the bank.

Once inside, Hennessy tells the receptionist he needs to make a deposit. When he says he does not have a current account, the teller tells him Ms. Horton likes to approve all new accounts. Hennessy sighs and says they'll wait to see her.

Outside, Squantum rolls the body off him and gets up to find himself surrounded by a crowd of gawkers. The Indian is quite annoyed as he is bruised and covered in the boy's blood. One of the townspeople asks him what happened; he says only that the boy fell on him and it hurt.

Another person in the crowd wonders what happened, saying he heard gunfire. A third man asks Squantum if he saw anything. He says he did not see anything. Someone else in the crowd says the sheriff is coming, apparently there was a gunman on the roof. Squantum decides to wait around to give his statement. Back in the tavern, Earl also waits around patiently with a drink for one of the lawmen to arrive.

Over in the bank, Ms. Horton is ready to see Hennessy and Coltrane and they are shown back into her office. With a false smile, Franklin greets the woman and says it is delightful to see her again.

Horton is clearly less thrilled to see the barber, and reminds him she told him she would be unable to help with his loan. He tells her he no longer needs her money and has a large cash deposit to make, wanting to put six thousand of his winnings into the bank.

After explaining he won the poker tournament (as Horton clearly suspects he stole it), Hennessy convinces her to let him open an account. She notes he appears to have come by the money legally, if not morally (though she plans to verify it with the sheriff).

Taking down all of Hennessy's information, Ms. Horton gets the account set up. Franklin gives Earl's shack as his address and his two character references as Coltrane (who she hears has good-tasting meat but she won't touch it as she prefers fish) and Tex, the marshal of Odessa.

Back in the bar, Sheriff Trulock enters and heads over to Earl. He greets the sheriff warmly. The sheriff immediately asks him about the women seeing him up on the roof.

Earl doesn't deny it and freely admits he was up there. When the sheriff says he has two dead twelve-year-olds up there, Earl simply says "Yes you do."

The sheriff asks Earl to explain what happened. Earl says he was waiting over by the bank for his friends when he saw the boys up on the roof arguing. Saying he went up to break up the fight, Earl claims by the time he got up to the roof they were shooting each other and that was that.

Skeptical, the sheriff points out both boys were shot in the head. Earl claims they must have fired at the same time. Not fully buying the story, the sheriff takes him in for suspicion of murder. Earl agrees to go quietly, saying the sheriff can do what he needs to do, confident there isn't enough strong evidence against him.

*** Session 09 - Scene 3 (of 10) ***

With Earl arrested for the double murder, Squantum, Hennessy, and Coltrane try to decide what to do next. Since Hennessy killed Jake Kilburn, they know they won’t be able to rely on Billy Kilburn to get them out of trouble this time.

Squantum suggests Hennessy go hire Rusty and offer to pay any “special legal fees” to get Earl out of trouble. Hennessy isn’t sure there is enough evidence to get Earl into real trouble. Squantum is sure he’ll end up hanged.

The two argue back and forth for some time, with talk of daring jail breaks, bribes, or just hiring the lawyer and hoping to win the case. Eventually, they decide the more pressing need is to purchase the plot of land for their new casino.

They immediately run into a problem when they realize the location of the Golden Nugget is technically still owned by Jake Kilburn’s estate, so it would go to his brother or mother. Since neither is likely to sell to them after killing Jake, they look for other open parcels of land.

Eventually, they settle on a plot of land next to Skagg’s Cash Store. Before they make the purchase, Squantum heads over to the Corner Boutique to buy some new clothes; as he is planning to become a respectable businessman, Squantum insists on buying a fancy new suit. The owner, Celeste Linwood, sells him a tell tuxedo with cape and top hat for one hundred dollars.

When he gets back to the others wearing the suit, Coltrane can’t help but laugh. He asks Squantum when he got a job with the circus. Squantum says if they are to own a casino he should look the part. Franklin tells the Indian he is getting a little ahead of himself but admits he admires the attitude.

Franklin still wants to work on getting Earl out of jail (including such whacky schemes as slipping Earl something so he appears dead). Squantum calls Franklin obsessed with getting Earl out of jail, saying the old man got himself into jail so he should get himself out of it. Squantum also notes Earl is always trying to get him in trouble.

Hennessy tries to sweeten the deal by offering Squantum some of Earl’s cut of the casino ownership if he can get him out of trouble. Squantum says they should get the casino up and running first, then help Earl. Franklin says that could take a while, so they agree to just get things started first.

After purchasing the land, the group realizes they will next need to secure some laborers to start building the casino. Unfortunately, the main carpenter in town is Frosty Frese, whose sons were just murdered by Earl. Franklin notes he will need money to pay for two funerals but Squantum feels finding Frese’s second in charge would be more fruitful.

Since they don’t know who Frese’s foreman is, they swing by the carpentry shop just to be sure no one is there. As they expected, the shop is closed. There does appear to be a lot of activity going on upstairs, with crying heard out the open window.

They move on to Ernie’s Tavern to ask around there. Big Ernie serves them each a drink as they ask him about a contractor. Ernie agrees Frese would be their best bet except for the recent killing.

Big Ernie goes on to say how the sheriff is saying Earl was the killer. Hennessy repeats Earl’s story about how he was just trying to stop it. Ernie says he doesn’t really care either way, as he is happy the two are dead since they were always causing trouble (such as stealing his beer).

Hennessy asks if the brothers had any other enemies. Big Ernie says the only real dangerous people they hung out with was Big Brendan Pellerin, and he’s still up at the federal prison. As he is talking, Ernie recalls Earl was one of the people who arrested Pellerin. He gives the men a couple more drinks on the house and tells them he’ll give them another free drink once Earl is hanged.

When asked about other carpenters in the area, Ernie says they all worked for Frese. He suggests Frese’s men won’t be likely to take a job with them since they are known friends of Earl.

Ernie suggests they use his brother Alvin. According to Ernie, Alvin is a farmhand but knows how to put up a barn so he can do some carpentry. Ernie suggests Alvin could find a few more farmhands to help.

Franklin thanks Ernie and takes down the information for Alvin. Once Ernie leaves to wait on other customers, Franklin tells his friends they should probably still look elsewhere. Everyone agrees trusting a farmhand to put up such a large building would be folly.

Instead, they decide to send a telegram back to Odessa as Squantum knows there are skilled craftsmen among the Russian immigrants there. He and Franklin head off to the telegraph office while telling Coltrane to check in with Earl (as he won’t be welcome at the telegraph office).

*** Session 09 - Scene 4 (of 10) ***

Earl sits in the small jail cell at the back of the sheriff's office with his cell mate, Mateo Gil (still being held on charges of being a suspected bandit). Gil complains to Earl about how the sheriff would have let him out by now if the man weren't off busy with some nonsense going on in town.

Gil then complains about the Indian that arrested him. Earl agrees the Indian is always causing trouble. Gil says he may cause some trouble of his own for the Indian when he gets out. Earl says he can't blame him for that.

According to Gil, he claims he will be out of the jail very soon. Earl suspects he may be planning to escape.

Mateo asks Earl what he is in for, and the miner gives the same story he gave the sheriff. When the vaquero asks who won the poker tournament, Earl claims it must have been the banker from back east or Jake Kilburn. Mateo knows the banker didn't make the final round so he assumes Kilburn was the winner.

Gil then asks Earl some questions about Kilburn and what he does. Earl calls him a businessman who once owned a casino. Mateo says he might go see it, saying surely he'll reopen the casino now that he's won the tournament.

Earl asks Gil where he's from. He says he's from near here, a vaquero from just across the border. Earl warns him to stay out of Odessa as they are not very welcoming to Mexicans because of the bandit activity. Mateo asks if he looks like a bandit to Earl; Earl says of course not, saying he himself does not look like a murderer either and that both of them are just down on their luck.

Gil says their luck can always change, and he has a feeling it will soon. Earl says to make sure he isn't asleep when it happens.

Around this time, Coltrane steps into the sheriff's office. He can hear the sheriff and Deputy Oldman arguing; apparently, the deputy is convinced something funny is going on with the poker tournament and wants to investigate. The sheriff, for his part, thinks Oldman is just being a sore loser and wants him to focus on the murder investigation. Oldman yells something about going to talk to the women at the Cottonwood then brushes past Coltrane in the doorway.

After making sure Coltrane isn't armed, the sheriff has Sullivan take him back to see Earl. Earl greets Coltrane, saying he can't believe they are locking an old man like himself in jail for murder; he says the whole idea that he would murder children is preposterous. Coltrane expresses his sympathy.

Coltrane goes on to tell Earl about the purchase of the land for the casino. Earl sardonically remarks he's glad his incarceration hasn't slowed them down any. He asks if they've gotten around to hiring him a lawyer yet, but Coltrane admits they haven't gotten that far and wanted to get some context by talking to Earl first.

Earl says he's wrongfully accused and rotting in jail and isn't sure what kind of context they are looking for. He tells Coltrane to tell the cheap bastards to get a lawyer up in there.

Coltrane says he'll do what he can. Earl tells him his life is in his hands.