"Here There Be Vampires"

The Adventure

Chapter 7 - Strangers in the Night

The posse have whittled down the suspect list, are visited by Greely's ghoul, Thom, and Nolan Edwards disappears...

Jacky O Neil's secret

Hopefully by now the posse have ruled out Jacky O Neill and Bobby Whittaker as being Vampires and have visited and maybe destroyed the 3 ranch Vampires. Now they're probably stuck, unless they are really smart and have realised somehting is up with Greely and his "friend", Thom.

If the posse are struggling with who the head vampire is then Nolan suggests the posse sleep on it while he goes on the prowl. Unfortunately, Jacky O Neill and John Greely have struck a deal. Both have figured out the other's little secret (Jacky is a huckster looking for hoyle's book, Greely is the undead master of the town) and have come to an agreement, Greely will tell the Huckster of the loaction of the hidden copy of Hoyles Book if he helps Greely capture Nolan Edwards with his hexes. Jacky O Neill readily agrees and that night, while Nolan is on the prowl, Jacky will subdue him with the help of Thom the ghoul and has Nolan taken to Greely's lair in the basement of the saloon

Thom pays a visit

Hopefully the posse are none the wiser and Greely can continue with his plan. He knows what the posse are here for and is not happy with them destroying his "children" (the 3 ranch Vampires - presuming the posse have killed any of them), he will have Thom, his Ghoul, visit the posse in their place of residence with a double barrelled shotgun with the intent of killing them. Greely knows that the posse are a tough bunch and so doesn't expect this pan to succeed - but he has given Thom a note which the posse will find if they search Thom's body or capture him. It basically says that Greely has Nolan prisoner and the posse will have to come and get him if they want to see the old man again.

This is when he plans to bump them off

Unfortunately for Thom, the ghoul is not the most proficient of killers, he is large with flat feet, and even sleeping posse members will probably be woken by his creeking footsteps - have all the heroes take cognition checks at whatever difficulty you see fit to hear Thoms approach in the night. Thom is not cunning or subtle and will simply break down the door of the posse's room (assuming they are not camped outside) wearing a hood over his head and unloads his two barrels into whoever is closest, then he makes a run for it back to Greely's saloon (hopefully leading the posse back there) if the posse manage to kill him first then Thom will tell them with his last breath that Greely has taken the Vampire hunter to his saloon and will kill him if the posse do not go there immediately, he also has the note signed by Greely himself.
This should hopefully get them moving. If the posse think to go and wake the town priest, Sian York (who has the Protection miracle and access to holy water) then they are in for a shock, Thom has slit Father Sian's throat from ear to ear (Protection and Holy water have no effect on Thom). Deputy Weeks, if previously still alive, has suffered a similar fate at the hands of Greely or any other surviving Vampires.
The posse are on their own!

Bounty
Kill Thom: 1 red chip
Somehow prevent Deputy Weeks or Father Sian being offed in the night: 1 white chip per target
Decide to save Nolan Edwards rather than take the easy option and just run away: 1 white chip (each)


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