Upon arriving in New Orleans, we booked several rooms at in Inn and coordinated our next plan. The point of contact from our notes was a man by the name of Emile Bouchard. After some preliminary searching, we were able to track him down to a small curio shop in the northern portion of town.

We journeyed to his shop and Lance and I stayed across the street as the rest of the party went inside. Our companions learned that Mr. Bouchard was indeed there and had only a name to offer as a clue to the location of the second key. A man by the name of XXXX apparently had possession of it. However, Emile could not find anything else out about it.

We decided to keep an eye on Mr. Bouchard as Alisha and Elliot journeyed to the town records to get some more information on Mr. XXXX.

Zora slipped around to the back and Lance and I remained out of sight at an eatery directly across the street.

It wasn't long before we saw dark coats (Lost Angels of Grim) enter Mr. Bouchard's store. What's more, we saw Garret, Grim's right hand man with these angels. Lance and I briefly debated what to do. We remembered the difficulty we had had with Garret back in old chicago, but decided now would be the ideal time to strike. I ran across the street, unseen, to notify Zora of what was happening. We decided to enter the back and listen to what was transpiring inside the shop. Mr. Bouchard was telling Garret that he had lead us on a wild goose chase. Apparently, Garret was looking for the same thing we were and demanded more information from Bouchard. Bouchard told him he didn't have anything else to offer, that he was doing the best he could. I told Zora who Garret was and we decided it might be best to follow him instead of fight and then visit Mr. Bouchard once again. We waited for the angels to leave and then I slipped into the street and while remaining a good distance behind them, followed. However, when I turned the corner, they were nowhere in sight.

I walked back to the shop and after a brief discussion with Zora and Lance, decided to quickly run to get Alisha and Elliot.

When we returned, a gun battle was in full process. They had sensed my following them and split up, then backtracking until they arrived back at the shop. I saw Garret and three of his henchmen in the street and several more making their way to the back of the shop. I didn't see Lance anywhere in sight, but did see broken glass where he had been sitting and frightened customers milling about. Elliot and I drew our weapons and began fighting Garret and his henchmen. I took one out and had turned my attack to another when Garret made a strange pointing gesture at me. The last thing I remembered was taking a critical gun wound to the guts from one of his henchmen, and falling to the ground, the life spilling out of me. I managed to crawl a short distance to some barrels before collapsing into unconsciousness.

I was awakened later by Zora, who graciously healed my wounds. Though I do not believe in her God, seeing as how the various Gods are merely a tiny aspect of the myriad reflections of the universe upon the psyche of mankind, the healing powers bestowed to me were most helpful. After taking inventory, my companions informed me that we had taken out nearly all of Garret's henchmen, before he turned tail and escaped. Alisha informed us that there was a house that belonged to Mr. XXX that had burned down some 20 years ago.

We decided to pay Mr. Bouchard a visit, however, Zora and I remained at the Inn while Elliot, Alisha and Lance took a horse ride to the burned ruins with Mr. Bouchard in tow.

They executed him, at the house. He would give no more information and Elliot had lost his patience. Alisha, however, found a secret chamber in a piece of metal and recovered the second key. Inside it was an additional clue relating to that mysterious game as well as a note from Mr. XXX's father to whoever found the piece. He pleaded with the finder to close the gateway, saying that chaos would run rampant through our world if we did not.

We pondered it for a while but decided to follow up on a lead Alisha discovered in her searching. Mr. XXX's father lived in Freeport, MA and had apparently given the piece to his son for safekeeping. It appeared, however, that his son became enchanted by the dark powers and somehow brought about his own demise.

We booked passage on a train to Freeport and arrived a few days later.


We debated waiting at the train station, expecting Garret to be there, but decided it was better to avoid him (especially since I nearly died that last time) and head for the senior Mr. XXX's house.

We found it and it was a sight indeed. An old mansion, deserted for many years. Strangely, upon our arrival we saw a light in one of the windows that went out shortly later. We managed to get the front door open and go inside. It was intriguing, but the level of dust in the region near the door and main hallway was not overly abundant. To the right, we saw a lavish living room type area and a set of thieves tools on the floor. The carpet was bunched up, as if someone had slipped on it. We searched the house and discovered that a party must have been in progress when suddenly something happened. For, the decorations were still up and the serving dishes and plates still on the dining room table. Alisha and Elliot managed to find a bullet lodged in a the wooden backing of a glass showcase. Alisha performed some type of psychometry and discovered that the bullet came from xxxxxxxx.

One item of particular interest was that the library room contained many books on a royal order of knights, that apparently served the forces of good. Apparently, Mr. XXX was a direct descendant of one of these Knights.

We then proceeded upstairs and discovered a trap door to an upstairs room. Inside the room was the decayed remains of what used to be Mr. XXX. On his lap was an open book containing information on how to close an opening in the planes. Zora discovered a pouch which contained the third key.

We noticed the sun was going down and .....

Deadlands 2 Entry:

After the sun went down, we debated what to do. During our ensuing conversation, we heard a loud sound, as of doors clanging shut.

However, we did not leave the upper attic chamber just yet. Instead, we discussed heading back down the stairs with the intent of finding the cellar. Zora and I consecrated our weapons against the inhabitants of the house, as a precautionary measure and then our party journeyed down the stairs.

Unfortunately, before we made it down the first few steps, who did we see confronting us at the bottom of the staircase but Garret and a fresh band of angels. We briefly debated a plan, when all of a sudden, the foundation erupted around the angels, spewing forth denizens of the undead. This was the break we were looking for. We decided to move down the stairs, clearing out a path of undead so that we might loop around to the kitchen area. It took us several brief but intense moments to accomplish this. In the interim, Garret was confronted by an undead and several of his band succumbed to their newly animated opponents. As they were busy fighting the undead, we made our move to the kitchen having to slay only a few of the undead.

When we arrived in the kitchen, we found a doorway leading down to a basement. Moving down the stairs, we searched for signs of other hidden areas. (Lance - I think) found signs of scraping near some boxes. Further investigation revealed a secret tunnel which proceeded down. We entered the tunnel and found ourselves in a large semi circular chamber. On the rear side of the chamber were three pedestals with indentations matching the game pieces we had found. Just beyond the pedestals was a swirling vortex which we surmised as being the gateway to the other dimensions.

Alisha proceeded to reading a special incantation to close the portal off. However, just as soon as she started reading, a hideous beast from the nether regions undulated down the tunnel and into the chamber after us. Most of us were hard pressed to keep our recent meals down, and not a few of us suffered from fright. I made every effort to use my faith to sustain me, faltering only a little in the beginning. However, further prayer lent me additional strength and I was soon able to join my comrades in fighting this abomination.

The weapons Zora and I had consecrated proved most useful against this beast. It did not appear to have a body, as we do. Instead, it was one long mass of blackened ichor, with the faces of those lost souls melded into its hide. We attacked it for some time, hoping to buy Alisha further time to complete the closing ritual. However, the creature began to move toward her. At this time, I used my martial arts training to weave around the hideous beast and move to protect Alisha so that she would not be accosted by the foul thing.

The universe smiled upon us at that moment. For, in concert, we were able to slow the creature down long enough to allow Alisha the opportunity to successfully close the portal. With a hideous scream, the creature was drawn into the vortex, which immediately collapsed. As we paused to catch our breaths, we heard (and felt) the house rumbling. Fearing that it would come crashing down upon our heads, we quickly exited. Fortunately, Garret and his lackies were nowhere to be found.

Once outside, we rested some more and I called upon the universal powers to heal my comrades from the recent battle.


We decided to journey back to Freeport. However, as we left the house we saw that Garret had left a present for us. The bridge leading back into the city had been blown up.

Cursing that dark one, we spent several moments debating our next course of action. We had no desire to remain there for the evening, so we moved away into the woods and made camp. The evening proved of little danger, other than to Alisha who was plagued with nightmares.

The next morning, we decided to journey down the ravine with the hope of finding another way across the river. Since it was winter and the water was quite rapid, we had no intention of simply walking across. Instead, we journeyed back in the direction of the city and eventually came upon a small foot bridge. Regrettably, it wasn't too stable and we had to take turns crossing it. Alisha traveled across first, after Zora had used her crossbow and (Theo, I don't know what the device is called that you used to attach the rope to the tree) secured a way for us to cross.

Zora was next across. However, midway across, she stumbled and fell into the water and was soon carried away. I leapt into the water (being the best swimmer of our group) and successfully rescued her. I managed to pull us both back to shore. Freezing, we quickly made a fire to warm up and dry our clothes out before continuing. After that, we all managed to cross with some small effort.

We then journeyed back into Freeport and made plans to rest for the night before continuing any further. At this stage, Zora took leave of our group, having other business to tend too. I shall miss her company, though it is only a matter of time before she comes around to the correct interpretation of universal creation and existence.

Elliott and Alisha traveled to the telegram office on some personal business and Lance and I decided to remain in the Inn. A little later on, Alisha returned somewhat confused. She had received a note from someone who appeared to know of us and our recent activities. The note suggested we visit a clearing up in the northern forest. Perplexed, we had no ideas as to what it could be about. However, not wanting to ignore it, we decided to journey up to that area the next morning.


We traveled up without incident. When we arrived there, we found what appeared to be an ancient Indian burial ground. Of even greater concern, was a spinning vortex in the center of the area. A small shed was there too. As was a man on horseback. The man was a telegram messenger who had another note for Alisha. As she read it outloud, the last words were a warning to duck for cover, and just at that moment, bullets sprayed out from the surrounding trees. Ducking for cover, we managed to protect ourselves and begin an offensive which lasted for several long moments. Before we completely finished, the vortex spewed forth a white man. He seemed almost as surprised to see us as we were to see him. Not knowing whether he was friend or foe, Elliott drew pistols on him, to which he similarly responded. A mexican draw. Our opponents in the forest were quickly thinning out, thanks to the shooting skill of Lance and the easy work Elliott had made earlier. I managed to bring one down in hand to hand combat after taking a hefty piece of his guts out with my flying claw. After all the opponents, who we saw were angels, were down, we turned out attention to the new comer. He introduced himself as Vince. Though none of us trusted this white man, we also had no reason to openly distrust him, for if he were truly an enemy, he would have opened fire upon us right away. So, an uneasy truce was made as we decided what to do next.

After questioning the man I brought down in combat and receiving no information of value, I briefly contemplated what to do with him, when Elliott (Or lance, I forgot) took the matter into his own hands and shot him.

I didn't concern myself too much as he was a servant of the dark serpent (those who worship the darkness), and he wouldn't have lasted long anyway.

We decided to journey back to Freeport with out new companion. As we journeyed back, we saw the dead body of another messenger. On his lap, were two notes. One for Alisha and one unlabeled. I gave the note for Alisha to her and felt what seemed to be money inside, while taking the other note and preparing to read it. However, just at that moment, gun shots rang out - in our direction. There was a man, alone, aiming his weapon at us and taking shots. He appeared rather wooden, as if animated against his will, but it was dark and perhaps it was only my imagination. The gun fighters in our group quickly took care of him, striving not to kill him. They did succeed in wounding him sufficiently to bring him down, but not kill him. However, just as they were about to approach him, he managed to get up the strength to throw himself off a nearby bridge. Confused, Lance, Elliott and Vince regrouped with Alisha and me.

I then proceeded to read the note. It was an apology to the dead man's wife. He said not to blame us for what happened, but that the money he had given to Alisha would be compensation, in part, for the loss of her beloved. At this stage I notified the group that there was money for us in the note addressed to Alisha. At first she denied it, but quickly backed down when she noticed that everyone was eyeing her rather darkly. We were each paid a small sum which certainly would take care of our most immediate needs.

At this stage, we decided to break up (once again) and investigate further. I saw Vince and Lance go into the city. Elliott, sadly, took leave of our group, saying he had other important business to tend to. I didn't see where Alisha traveled too, but I decided to journey into the city also. I wanted to give the telegram office a look over, at least for a while in the hope of finding something out. However, as I journeyed into the city, I saw Lance going in the same direction and it was at that moment that I realized we had not searched the body of that first telegram messenger. I hurried back and found the body as we had left it. After searching it over, I found some personal items which I planned to return to his wife and a business card saying he was from New York. I decided to seek out Lance and notify him of this finding and then regroup with Vince and Alisha before deciding on our next course of action.

Deadlands Entry 3:

Well Lance and I met up near the telegraph office and as we were heading back (in the fog), we heard footsteps following us. We quickly darted around a corner and waited. It sounded like the footsteps were hurrying along in fast pursuit, but they passed by us.

Much to our chagrin, we realized the footsteps belonged to Vince and Alicia. We ended up meeting in the town library, trying to decide our next course of action. While debating, we learned that a curfew was in force for the town. Apparently, everyone was supposed to be inside come sundown. We attempted to sneak back to


Upon arriving in New York City, we had just left the train station when gunshots rang out. Ducking for cover, we saw six gunfighters taking aim at our party. They were hiding behind park benches and pillars, making it most difficult to defend and counter attack. However, I managed to defeat two of them and the rest of our group held their own. After everything was done, we quickly left the scene, but not before I bandaged one of the men we wounded. I am after all a blessed and all life, no matter how dark and repulsive, is sacred.

We journeyed to find suitable lodgings so that we could rest from our prior travels. Lance went to the police station to fill out some paperwork while Vince, Alicia and I went to the local healer to patch me up. I was still wounded from our prior exploits in Freeport. After waiting several hours, the doctor finally saw me and was able to mend my wounds. I paid him and we left.

At this point Vince, Alicia and I decided to track down the deceased messenger's wife to hand over his belongings. Upon arriving, the man's son took a liking to Vince who gently tried to get some information from him. Apparently, the boy had seen something near the Old Brewery (which was where the greatest number of influenza victims were found) one day that frightened him so much, he refused to talk about it. All he told Vince was that he saw some women throw something into the river behind the brewery.

We decided to restock our supplies at this point and head back to the hotel for a short while. Then, since Lance had not returned, Vince and I decided to visit the Brewery to see if we could find anything. There were many homeless people there huddled around barrel fires, trying to stay warm in the frigid winter weather. Some of them did not appear very friendly, so Vince made a general show of arms and I decided to practice with my flying claw a bit. This was enough to keep them at bay. We walked toward the water's edge but could find nothing.

We then went back to the hotel for a night of rest. Upon awakening, Vince and I traveled out to the brewery again. As we approached the river, I noticed an oily film resting on the surface. It seemed to be coming from further up north. I asked Vince to help me by attaching a rope to my waist so I would not drown. I then dove into the water to find the source of that oily substance. What I found horrified me. It was the gruesome remains of some creature, or person. I know not what. After carefully examining it, I decided to wrap it up until I could decide what to do with it. Later that day, Lance rejoined our group and the four of us decided to travel to the Brewery. This time, we decided to split up a bit so as to be a little more inconspicious. However, shortly after splitting up, we heard a woman scream and we proceeded to run toward the commotion.

We saw two men (or what appeared to be men) attacking a woman. One was holding her down on the ground and another had a long blade which was about ready to plunge into the woman's body. Acting quickly, we attacked the ruffians. We were able to disarm the one with the knife and distract the other holding the woman so that she could safely flee. However, as we attacked, we noticed that our attacks were not causing any damage. No sooner would we strike them with bullet or blade when their wound would suddenly close up; completely healed. I called upon the universe to aid me, however, having been wounded by one of the foul creatures, I was unable to successfully strike them down. Vince managed to use his weapons with sufficient force to bring them down.

At this stage, Vince saw someone he recognized from a previous encounter. And he did not look happy about seeing this woman. She laughed gleefully and then fled the scene. We followed her into a huge industrial building filled with... the walking dead.

This turned out to be one major catastrophe. For just as soon as we entered the place, we got lost. Fog and steam obscured our vision and we struggled to find out way. Unfortunately, whenever we came across the walking dead, they would stop what they were doing and turn on us. Destroying them was not overly difficult, just tedious and timeconsuming. We did encounter several groups of the dead, which put a large dent in Lance's ammo supply. Additionally, one of the last two we met were encountered in a black powder room. That made defeating them all the more dangerous. One stray shot and we would all have died.

However, the Universe smiled upon us and we defeated them with no small amount of effort. As we journeyed further, we heard voices. Human voices. We decided to enter the room and apprehend the inhabitants for no one of a good heart could willfully be in a place like this. Upon entering, further gunfire erupted. After a long and dangerous gunfight, we managed to take all the opponents down. There were several men dead and only one who I had knocked out with my martial arts. Vince watched over him as I tended to another one of their wounded. Again, my teachings forbade me to let a mortal die, even if the degenerate deserved it.

The other survivor managed to catch Vince by surprise. He simply fled on foot. Vince and Lance pursued him and tried to stop him but failed. Soon, Alicia and I joined our comrades and as we ran down a set of stairs, we saw our escapee on the other side a waterway, and two walking dead on our side. Unfortunately, Lance had no more than six or so shots left and the escaped villain had several accomplices, undoubtedly with full ammo. We decided it would be best to flee. So, we all jumped into the waterway and swam out of there.

Deadlands Entry 5:

We managed to escape via the waterway and found ourselves on shore. We proceeded to the hotel to dry off and change our clothes as well as resting a bit.

While we rested, Vince and Lance went back to the Brewery each day to see if anything unusual happened. During this time, Alicia and I visited the theater to attend a special show. It was some kind of charlatan who could summon the spirits to commune with the dead.

We took our seats and eventually volunteers were chosen from the crowd. Initially, those sitting near me selected me as a participant, however, I declined, deciding it would be wiser to observe from a safe distance.

The show was rather intriguing. The charlatan exuded a protoplasmic ooze which transformed into the faces of kin close to the participants. Various words of wisdom were given to the participants. At the end of the show, the charlatan collapsed in exhaustion and then was helped off the stage.

Alicia and I decided to have a private visit with him. After a bit of bribing, we were given attendance. Before we could ask any questions, the protoplasmic ooze exuded again and transformed into the face of my beloved Sufi. He told me that our opponent, Plague was somewhere within the Brewery. We also asked about Garret and was told he died during the incident at the mansion. However, his spirit spoke to us and told us that he would still seek revenge upon us from beyond the grave.

Alicia received some personal information from her father and eventually, the session ended.

We hurried back to the brewery and did not see any sign of Vince or Lance. We decided to wait rather than risk losing them inside the maze like building.

Eventually, they came out, reporting that they had found an empty room. Even stranger, two men had gone inside, but were not there after they entered. An open window was evident, but I suspected otherwise. Alicia and I visited the room, and during our journey, we informed Vince and Lance of what we had learned. Upon arriving and inspecting the room, we found a trap door in the floor.

Opening it led down and we proceeded in that direction. The path led to a long, narrow tunnel leading under the city for several blocks. As we journeyed, we heard some noise ahead. Extinguishing our lantern, we waited and were surprised by an explosion. Someone had thrown something, not dynamite, but something else, at us and it detonated causing no small amount of damage. I was able to dodge out of the way. The others were not so fortunate. They took some damage. Vince traveled ahead along the hallway and eventually came to a larger room where two gunmen waited. Lance also proceeded forward and Alicia remained behind. I journeyed up to see if I could help Vince. However, during this time, Alicia was attacked by someone who appeared to step right out of the wall. Combat ensued and the two gunmen were taken out. Alicia tried several times to shoot her strange opponent, but some mysterious force protected him. He eventually faded back into the walls. We traveled up to the larger room and were debating what to do when that mysterious figure reappeared and threw a lit stick of dynamite into the chamber. I ran out of the room, Vince hid behind a dead body and Lance, acting quickly, was able to pull the fuze from the dynamite.

Breathing a sigh of relief, we proceeded onward and found the path led to a door leading up. We journeyed up and discovered it opened into a shop. Fortunately, it was empty. We noticed it was situated near the freemason temple and suspected that was where we had to go to find Plague. We searched the room and found another trap door leading down. We took this one and it led to a small hallway and then to a ladder leading up. Vince climbed the ladder and heard sound on the other side. He was ready to take action, when someone from the other side dropped a lit stick of dynamite down the opening. Lance took action again and defuzed the dynamite.

As we debated what to do, I felt a gun stick me in the back of the head. I held my arms up and at the right moment, initiated a secret martial arts move to sweep the legs out from underneath my captor. At that point, chaos broke out and bullets flew left and right. We eventually took them out, but not after some effort. We decided to travel back up the stairs to the shop and exit the store. As we did, some men from the temple noticed us and pulled guns. Since there were innocents around, we decided to blend in with the crowd until we could lose them. We did so and then came back later in the evening. At this stage, we saw guards posted at three doors along the temple exterior.

Vince took action and snuck up on one of the guards and knocked him out. He took the man's robe and opened the door, motioning one of the guards inside to come over quickly, When the guard came over, Vince pulled him out of the temple and knocked him out.

At this stage, we entered the temple and another gunfight ensued. After several long moments, we were able to take out our opponents and search the premises. We found two trap doors in the floor behind the altar.

Journal 6:

After completing our mission in New York, Vince and I decided to travel down to North Carolina by ship, where we would journey to Raleigh to meet back up with Lance who had some other business to tend to.

However, we had to contend with the Union blockade and didn't know of a safe way to get past it. So, I journeyed into China Town and sought out some contacts to help us. A day later, a small, businessman arrived and asked us to take a package down to NC for him. He paid each of us $50 and said we would receive and additional $450 when we arrived, provided the box remained unopened. He seemed very nervous but we couldn't pinpoint why. We agreed and the next night arrived at the dock to find Captain Morgan of the Spicy Hag waiting for us. We boarded and set sail for NC.

After several days into our journey, the lookout spied three Union vessels following us. We tried to outrun them, but failed. Soon, a battle erupted. We managed to take out one ship which diverted another one which sailed to take on survivors while the third ship maneuvered to board us. In short order, chaos broke out and hand to hand ensued. Many men died on both sides and our crew was decimated before the battle finally ended. We ended up taking three Union prisoners.

Though damaged, our ship was still seaworthy enough to travel and so we proceeded south. However, within a day a thick fog rolled in and stopped our journey. Strangely, we saw three lights shining from a short distance away. It appeared to come from an island. Captain Morgan, his mate, Vince, myself and four other red shirts decided to journey to the island to investigate. However, shortly before we made shore, Bloats attacked us. We lost all but two red shirts and Vince, myself and Capt Morgan. I nearly got pulled into the water but struggled to remain in the boat against my harrowed opponent. However, he was too strong and so I plunged overboard. Thanks to Capt Morgan, I was saved from drowning. The bloat didn't follow us onto shore, but merely waited out with the rest of its kind in the shallow water.

We made camp on the shore and set up watch. I had suffered several nasty wounds during our route with the bloats and so was weakened. By next morning, we were somewhat rested, though not fully as we all had nightmares. We learned that the lights we saw the night before came from a skull set in a mountain. It was the eyes and mouth which glowed like a beacon. We journeyed into the forest deciding to make our way to skull mountain. However, fate was not done with us yet. A vicious lion attacked us from the front and though Vince was lucky enough to be bending down at that time, the red shirt behind him wasn't so fortunate. The lion took him by the throat and dragged him off into the woods for a meal. We decided not to follow, knowing he would be dead.

We proceeded and eventually came to a path. However, as we journeyed along the path, we were set upon by Gorillas who attacked me and Vince. I managed to take a leg off of my animal opponent and Vince was able to take his down after a brief struggle. We journeyed further and finally came to a cove. There was a sandy beach and a ship half sunk in the water. We journeyed closer to inspect when all of a sudden the sweetest music I ever heard came from the ship. I recall (now with horror) that all I wanted to do was swim out to the beautiful women who were singing. The last red shirt with us did just that and quickly became a meal for the patrolling shark. Fortunately, Vince was there to stop me from plunging headlong to my death and he also managed to shoot one of the sirens. Upon doing so, I got a true look at them and they were cursed souls indeed. However, they vanished after seeing Vince's display of power.

We continued to journey toward the mountain and before proceeding up the stairway, Vince found a trap mechanism that we later learned would have released a large boulder upon us. Carefully stepping over it, we made our way up and into the upper entrance. We heard voices coming from within the chambers and cautiously proceeded inward. Vince went first, I was second and Morgan was last. As we rounded a corner the voices stopped suddenly. When we looked in the room, I saw two dolls a fireplace and a scroll between the two dolls. There was also a chest inside the room. Vince went down one of the other passages and I decided to take a look at the scroll. However, after snatching it, the dolls came to life and attacked me. I managed to remove the sword arm from one of them and flick him in the fire but not before taking a light wound from his small pistol. His mate remained and proceeded to attack me. I managed to evade most of her damage and by this time, Morgan was fighting a doll like parrot who slashed viciously at him and Vince had made his way back to us. In short order, Vince shot the remaining doll which split apart as the blast shot it into the fireplace.

We searched the entire area and discovered this was the only populated room. The chest contained a diary of an Edwin Teach (Captain Blackbeard). Morgan was horrified to hear this but we were able to calm him down a bit. We also found a map to a treasure hidden on the island. When we took a look at the map, we noticed it was an exact replica of the island as it currently was today, yet the map was very, very old. We decided to track down the treasure chest and after some careful maneuvering through the jungle and avoiding the tribesmen, we were able to find it. Hidden down in the sand underneath a spot marked X, we found a chest. Inside was another diary by Capt Blackbeard. In it, were the words of a child. He said he would get his parent back for what they did to him and one day create a secret pirate hideaway.

At this stage, we decided to it was time to leave but knew we had to find alternate transportation, seeing as how our boat to the island was destroyed by the bloats. So, we decided to steal a boat from the tribesmen. Our plan was to go in the evening and steal it away while their guard was down. We did so. However, we were caught in the act. But instead of attacking, the tribesmen bowed down to us as if we were some strange powerful entity. Taking this opportunity, we fled to the beach and rowed out to Blackbeard's ship in the cove. There, Vince was able to climb up and detach the emergency boat from it's ties. We then jumped into that boat and rowed back to the main ship.

When we arrived, we found a mess. Every man on board was dead and by the looks (and smell) for some time. It was apparent something had attacked in our absence. We found all but three bodies. Teash was gone as were the mate and the dwarf. Vince and I set about searching the ship with the captain in tow. We went down to each room and found nothing until we came to Teash's room. Inside was a chest on the floor and the windows were blanketed shut. We forced the chest open and found to our horror, the body of the first mate cut to pieces. Morgan had had it at that point and fled to the upper deck. Vince and I continued to search for any sign of survivors and especially Teash. However during our search, a fireball was lobbed down to our deck and exploded, causing us to become deaf. I ran upstairs while Vince continued to search the area. I ended up facing Teash who was unleashing the forces of darkness to summon his deceased brother; Blackbeard! In his hands, he held the head of Blackbeard and hurled it away from him before turning his attention to me. However, before he could continue, I dealt him a fatal slice from my chinese sword and his head rolled away, to join that of his brother's.

At this stage, Vince came up the stairs and saw a ship, Blackbeard's ship, fastly approaching ours on a direct crash course. Six ghosts came out to greet us, preceding the ghost of a headless body. Two ghosts disappeared below decks and the others came to stop us. I made haste to where Blackbeard's head had landed, intending to end the foul soul's existence once and for all. However the ghosts interceded. I called upon the Universe to aid me against these foul creatures and a long battle ensued. I expended every grace I had earned (chips) and nearly was taken down save for the benevolence of Vince who extended some of his grace toward me after one particularly nasty attack by Blackbeard. It was as if the very forces of darkness stayed my hand for I could not succeed in contacting his undead body with my blessed sword. I knew that one success could take him down, but he managed to avoid each and every hit. Unfortunately, he was able to regain possession of his head and reattach it to his body at which time he became mortal. I had succeeded in taking down one ghost and Vince had succeeded in taking down his ghosts. I continued to attack Blackbeard while Vince aimed a shot at him. Fortunately, the Universe was smiling on Vince for his shot hit the mark and Blackbeard fell. However, he was not dead. Not yet and we soon saw his bargaining chip appear. The two other ghosts had found Morgan and were ready to tear his head off if we did not cease. Vince ignored the threat and shot Blackbeard right through his skull, ending his life forever. The ghosts disappeared and Morgan was okay.

We regrouped at that point and eventually made our way to land in North Carolina. Somehow, we had moved across space in the span of a day, thanks to the dark magic of Teash, or Teech.

And so now we are in NC, ready to embark on our next adventure....

Journal 7:

After journeying to Wilmington, NC, Vince and I decided to take refuge for the evening. However, upon our approach, we noticed the most startling sight to date. The entire town was immersed in burning pitch. Not only were there pitch barrels burning and spewing forth noxious smoke, but the pitch factory was also emitting high levels of smoke.

We learned that ^Ñthe fever' had struck and according to legends of old, the townspeople believed that burning pitch would drive the fever away. However, it didn't seem to be doing much more than making it very difficult to breathe.

We found lodgings at a kindly woman's house and then decided to visit the local bar for some drinks and to catch any rumors. While there, we noticed three men staring at Vince. They were Rangers and Vince looked more than a little worried. We decided it might be wise to leave so as we got up to go, I made sure to cover Vince's back and we made for the door. However, before reaching it, one of the Rangers called out to Vince using his full name. Vince hesitated only briefly and was about to respond when a young lad intervened and called Vince by some other name. The young lad, who we later learned was named Jesse, had simply decided to help us out of a tough spot. We thanked him and moved on, back to our lodgings.

The next morning, we decided to learn more about the fever. All we were able to learn was that it started several months ago and nothing precipitous preceded it. Information was scarce, however we did hear some vague rumors of a strange insect like creature that some of the ill had seen prior to falling victim to the fever. No one would readily admit to it as they were frightened to come forward, but the rumors did persist. Vince and I decided to scope out the town in the evening and while doing so, I could have sworn I saw something moving by one of the pitch barrels one night. It was hard to see because of all the smoke, but it looked very much like what the rumors had suggested.

The next day, we decided to help someone and get still more information. We ended up finding a woman whose son had taken to picking pockets in order to support her. Fortunately, Vince was kind to the lad and didn't shoot him on the spot for the not so minor offense. The boy took us back to his home and with some small coaxing, I was able to call upon the Universal power to heal her of her illness. Within a day, she was back to normal.

Later that day (we stayed to make sure the woman was okay), we left and made our way back to our lodgings. However, we were waylaid by several drunken sailors who decided they wanted a little action. After several long and bloody fist fights (and more than a few broken bones) we managed to frighten them off without killing any of them - a first for us!

However, before we were able to recover, one of the Rangers came out to face Vince in a gunfight. Vince was able to quickdraw faster than his opponent and shoot the gun from his hand. We followed the Ranger and I ended up cornering him in an alleyway. I told him to drop his gun, but he wouldn't do so. I approached him, he shot at me, I used my Chi to catch the bullet and return it back and ended up severely damaging his leg. By that time, Vince arrived and we were able to take his gun away from him. I attempted to help him, but naturally he resisted and I fear I may have stepped over the line in aiding Vince. This was his fight and while I wished to assist him, I regret having to cause harm to another that could have been avoided. In retrospect, I should have simply dropped the bullet rather than throw it back at the Ranger. I will remember this should similar circumstances happen again.

We decided to stay at a different place so as not to draw unwanted attention to the kindly woman whose kind hospitality we did not wish to offend. So, we stayed in a rough, common area. Neither one of us got much sleep, for as we prepared for bed, an old sailor type took it upon himself to rid the room of my presence. However, he soon learned the error of his ways. For every time he attempted to attack me, I remembered my old master's instructions to use one's opponent against himself. And so, I merely used a simple martial arts trick to throw him to the ground. Needless to say, this infuriated him even more. This continued for quite some time until I finally threw him into some furniture which knocked him out. Vince was kind enough to keep the other occupants from attacking me during this confrontation and was most grateful.

We left shortly thereafter and it wasn't long before we saw the cause of those strange rumors. Insect like men were seen near the pitch barrels. We investigated and were surprised when they pulled out guns and started shooting at us. We returned fire and Vince was able to severely wound one of them. However, they escaped from us too quickly for us to apprehend them. Fortunately, we were able to follow the trail of blood the wounded one left for a short while and as we moved through town, we saw a strange light beyond the graveyard. At this stage, we met up with Jesse again who volunteered to join us. We agreed to let him accompany us, though we were a bit cautious of his ^Ñgood' nature. We investigated the light and found a fire burning some distance behind the graveyard. We approached but saw noone. Inside the fire was a strange object that was charred. I managed to move it out of the flames with my sword and take a closer look. It appeared to be a hard, resinous covering of some sort.

We debated what to do next. Jesse informed us that he had attempted to enter the pitch factory but was deterred by a few areas guarded by armed men. We decided to visit the pitch factory that same night after the shift ended.

We approached and managed to enter inside silently. A quick look around showed us a guarded room in the rear portion of the building. We decided to split up and take the guard down as quietly as possible. However, as I moved across the floor, I slipped and notified the guard of our presence. Recovering quickly, I managed to prepare myself for engaging the guard in hand to hand combat but Jesse who had crept up to the roof of an overhang, leapt down on top of the guard and knocked him unconscious. Relieved that the guard had not had a chance to let out the alarm, we approached the door he had been guarding. We opened it a crack and peered inside. We saw the four ^Ñcreatures' we had seen earlier that night, though one of them had his back to us. There was also a fifth one who stood taller than the rest and from the sound of it, the larger one was reprimanding the others who appeared more than a bit mollified at their failure.

We decided to attack and burst in the door. A gunfight ensued and we saw that the ^Ñcreature' whose back to us was actually a mortal human. The others were wearing masks of somesort and he had apparently lost his (his was the one we found burning in the fire). We managed to engage the four men and I had one opportunity to attack the taller one. Using my claw, I flung it out striking him squarely in the legs, sufficient to cause an incapacitating blow. However, my opponent merely laughed as it passed through him without harm. I did not have a chance for a second attack as I was subsequently engaged by another of the armed men. Vince managed to close with the taller one and in a flurry of activity, the robe or cloak our opponent wore was flung off and thrown on Vince. In the process, we saw a short man (dwarf) run out from the chaos and flee for a back door. In short order, we took the remaining men down and Vince managed to apprehend the dwarf.

We learned that the dwarf owned the pitch factory and had wanted to improve his business. Several months ago, a strange hag gave him some bottles containing an oily liquid which would make the population sick with fever. We suspected one of the horsemen, perhaps the one we faced in New York. The goal was to make the population sick and spread rumors that burning pitch would deter the illness. However, it was the pitch that caused the illness in the first place for the dwarf's men would go out at night in full protective gear (wearing a gas mask) and pour the foul liquid into the burning pitch barrels.

We made sure to destroy the remaining ^Ñfever' bottles and instructed Jesse to turn the men over to the local lawmen seeing as how Vince and I could not show our faces in town again (thanks to our fight with the Ranger).

Jess did so and asked if he could continue to accompany us. We agreed and decided to make way for the train station. Upon arriving, we were awaiting Lance's arrival. He arrived on the next train and as he stepped off, we saw Garret grab him from behind.....

After Garret grabbed Lance, all hell broke loose. Literally! Everyone in the vicinity, including those on the train started acting crazy. One man threw luggage from the train toward us which caused us to have to constantly duck; an elderly woman attacked me with her cane, nearly breaking my collar bone, Vince was hard pressed to defend himself using non lethal force and Lance was the unfortunate one who had to face Garret down.

During this episode, the engineer of the moving train went crazy and pulled the throttle on full, causing the train to move toward the river. Vince was able to get in and stop him and managed to get the train to slow down.

I spent several long and worrying moments trying not to harm the elderly woman who actually managed to knock me unconscious. I had no wish to use lethal force against her and tried, unsuccessfully to disarm her. Sadly, my skills were no match for her chaos state of mind and she was able to overcome my futile attempts.

The moments after that were blurry as I do not have clear recall of exactly what happened and everything happened so fast, it was hard to keep track of everything.

However, I do remember Garret used some kind of strange dark magic to throw Lance at me - without laying a finger on him. It was as if some invisible force picked Lance up and hurled him with unearthly force in my direction. I was able to move away just in time to avoid getting harmed, but Lance wasn't so fortunate. He landed unconscious at my feet.

While I tried to assist him, chaos continued to break out around us and Vince and I were beset with several more chaos driven citizens. I was separated from Lance and Garret casually strolled over, the crazed citizens parting before him like tainted water, picked Lance up and walked toward town. It took Vince and I several moments to recover and I managed to run in the direction of Garret's departure, only to find Lance laying unconscious on the ground (again) with his left arm at an odd angle. Closer inspection revealed that his arm was broken (maimed) with the bone jutting out. I also noticed a metal sliver in his arm. However, I wanted to heal him quickly and didn't think to remove the metal until afterward. I called upon the Universe to assist my efforts to heal this brave man and was rewarded.

At this point, Vince joined us and we hurried over to the Church to find out if a surgeon was in town. The priest directed us to the Latimer house where we found Dr. and Mrs Latimer holed up against the raging chaos outside. We convinced the good doctor that we were not crazed and merely sought his help in healing Lance. He looked at Lance's arm and said there was absolutely nothing wrong with it and gave us a very strange look. I tried to tell him that I saw a strange piece of metal enter his arm and asked if would do some surgery to find and remove it. At first he refused but Vince performed a Huckster trick which convinced the Doctor that these strange times warranted further exploration. He agreed to perform the surgery and in short time, removed the metal. I then healed Lance's arm (again) and we decided to stay the night. However, during the evening (during Lance's watch) we heard a shot ring out and rushed downstairs to find him staring blindly about. He reported seeing a ghost of some kind move through the house toward him. Worried, we ran upstairs and found the Latimer's dead in their bed and suspected the ghost (or ghosts) may have had something to do with it. We left the house at that point and followed the direction of the ghost's departure - the graveyard.

When we arrived, we were beset by four walking dead. After several long bouts, we managed to slay them and returned back to the town. Lance went back to the Latimer house and Vince and I went to the church.

Vince and I left at that point to go back to the church where we were greeted by the Priest holding a cross, Jesse pointing a gun and two of the Rangers we had seen earlier pointing their guns at us. One of the Rangers was the one I had wounded during the altercation with Vince. We managed to convince them that we were not crazed and they let us in. After some discussion, the lead Ranger ordered the younger one (the one who had tried to face down with Vince), to accompany us and said that we could put our differences aside for the time being. We agreed, though the young Ranger was none to happy about it.

At that point, we returned back to the Latimer house to get Lance and decided to journey toward the northwest portion of the town since that was the only section not beset by chaos.

The first building we entered proved fruitless, but the second one, the theater, proved somewhat worthwhile. As we explored, we found in the back of the building, a door. However, when we approached, a gun blast shot through it. We were able to dodge the attack and discovered a lone survivor holed up there. We managed to calm the man down and were about to leave, when we heard Garret's voice behind us (at the entrance to the building). Turning, we saw over 10 walking dead and fire streaming along the walls.....