The Lost Children
A Hell on Earth Adventure
By Teller
Welcome to a special Halloween excursion into the Wasted West, Marshal! This little tale is suitable for most any campaign, and can be set either before or after the events detailed in the Unity. The power levels of your posse really don’t matter, because…well, read on, and we’ll make everything clear about the little town of Paradise and its inhabitants.
Chapter One:
Loot’s a Callin’
The Story So Far
Nicolas Chandler was a kindly man who loved children. Unable to have any of their own, Nick and his wife Edna ran an orphanage in Kansas—a state which never seemed to be short of homeless and lost kids. The Paradise Found Orphanage was an exemplary institution, praised as a model on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Wall of how to successfully raise parentless children and make them successful members of society. Then came the Last War, and Nicolas and his wife found themselves smack dab in the worst of the fighting. They hunkered down, marked their building with Red Crosses, and prayed for the best. As the war heated up after the disappearance of President Tremane, the Chandlers decided to move their wards to safer pastures. The little convoy of vehicles was moving towards Denver when it was strafed by a flight of trigger-happy jet jocks. Nick was the only one to survive the carnage.
End of Innocence
Something inside Nick snapped as he crawled through the flaming wreckage, pulling torn and burned bodies out of the debris that minutes before had been his children. He sat there through the night, crying to the heavens for a way to make things right, alternately cursing and pleading with God. The next day he wandered away from the scene, too sickened to even bury the dead that lay charred in the remains of the caravan.
The next few months were a blur, as the broken man wandered the blasted battlefields. Somehow Nick survived, although some of the things he did to stay alive pushed him even further into a black pit of insanity.
The Dogs of War
Eventually, in late August of 2081, Nick was rounded up by a Confederate patrol in southern Colorado and taken to a small town. A US National Guard division had hastily been thrown into blocking positions for the Confederate pursuit from the abortive strike at San Andres. Surrounded and vastly outgunned, the commander surrendered to Lieutenant General Alisa “Kill’em All” Wilson and her armored cavalry division. Despite negotiations for an honorable surrender and internment, Wilson had the northern troops massacred in the lush cornfields where they were gathered after stacking their arms. Internment, interment, those words are easy to mix up, right? The locals of a nearby town and Nick were forced to bury the thousands of dead from the slaughter, a grim task that took weeks, while Wilson’s Hellions moved north to batter themselves against the Iron Legion.
Shortly after the last of the bodies were buried, most of the townspeople packed up and left. Nick, exhausted and sickened by the trials of the previous months, moved into one of the abandoned houses and fell into a deep despair. Despite the best efforts of the few remaining citizens, the haggard old man refused to leave the house or eat. He seemed to be well on his way to an appointment with the Grim Reaper. Then Judgment Day dawned one cool September morning.
Pity the Children
Something came to Nick that fateful day, and offered him a chance to rebuild his shattered life—for a marginal fee, of course. Nick grabbed that chance like a drowning Maze Rat. He was given power and taught a ceremony to replace his lost children. He could help out those lost souls wandering this Hell on Earth, returning them to a simpler time, and even feed off their life force to remain safe and alive indefinitely. Sure, it would eventually drain his charges dry, but they would have died out in the wastes anyway, right? Now Uncle Nick performs his Reckoner-provided rituals on wanderers that happen across this isolated town. The next day they wake up as children, many not even aware of their previous lives as adults. Within a week all memories of their prior lives are lost, and they are once again kids, regressing bizarrely until they “de-age” to around two years old, at which point the village dogs devour them. Anyone who tries to escape before his or her memories are lost is similarly killed.
Paradise these days is a commune of children, run by a benevolent dictator whose only goal is to provide a safe haven for these tykes. Everyone is happy—Uncle Nick says so!
The Set Up
Now you have an idea of what’s going on in Paradise, Marshal. Dropping this little slice of Hell into your campaign is easier than picking maggots off a zombie.
Thar’s Loot in Them Thar Hills!
Tales of the massacre of the US 148th Infantry Division in the waning days of the Last War spread along with the fleeing townsfolk. While many of the stories focus on the ferocity of “Kill’em All” Wilson and her troops, many also whisper about the tons of equipment and gear that was hidden in the town and left behind after the slaughter. Many folks in surrounding survivor settlements claim to know someone who went out to Paradise in search of the “motherlode.” No one has ever found it, but some people have returned with the odd weapon or piece of equipment.
Unfortunately, truth be told, General Wilson was too savvy to leave that much gear just lying around at that stage of the War. Her troops took all of the gear that was usable, and destroyed the rest.
This Place isn’t on the Map!
The easiest way is for your merry band of scavvies to happen upon this small town. Old maps show no place in southern Colorado called “Paradise,” but this is not all that unusual. The small town atmosphere, the fields of corn, and general homeliness have lulled many a wandering traveler into stopping for the night.
Uncle Nick’s Bargain Basement
Paradise also has a reputation as a place where the town father is willing to trade perfectly good weapons and equipment for mundane items such as foodstuffs and clothing. The posse might be tempted to try their luck at such a trade. This is in reality the gear of wanderers who have been joined to the commune, and they have no need for it anymore.
Getting to Paradise
Paradise sits in the southeastern part of Colorado, nestled in the foothills of the Rockies. The pre-War roads leading to the town are in poor shape, and don’t show many signs of travel. Most posses should arrive late in the day, with an hour or so left of light. About a half mile outside of town the posse comes upon several wrecked M-98 Patriot Infantry Fighting Vehicles. An Onerous (7) Knowledge roll (Intelligence DC 15) allows the character to know that this was an obsolete design generally issued to US National Guard units in the Last War. The vehicles look to have suffered catastrophic damage, and have been thoroughly picked over in the ensuing years. They offer no usable salvage.
Paradise
Fear Level 4
This small town lies nestled in an idyllic valley, ringed on three sides by steep rock bluffs. Large fields of ripening corn sway gently in the breeze. The road runs down a gentle slope and disappears in the tall plants, while in the distance a small cluster of buildings can be seen among the sea of green and yellow. The hull of a demolished M-20 Chamberlain Main Battle Tank sits on the shoulder of the road, while in the ditch on the other side its turret lies upside down, a reminder of the fury of the Last War 13 years ago.
Entering Paradise
No guards challenge the posse’s arrival into the valley, although you might want to play up the creepiness of the corn pressing in on both sides of the road, their tassled heads seeming to bend over for a better look at these intruders. When the posse is halfway across the valley, a pack of large, German Shepherd-like dogs comes running up, barking and snarling, but making no overtly aggressive moves to toward the posse. If fired on they flee into the corn.
As the posse nears the town the Marshal can use the following description:
“The corn finally parts to reveal a scene of Americana
such as you haven’t seen since the bombs dropped. White washed houses line a
Main Street, their yards neat and trimmed. Children play on the streets among
the houses, and no weapons, guard towers, walls, or bunkers are in evidence.
Large dogs frolic with the children.
As you come closer, however, the pre-War façade of
normalcy begins to crack. The houses’ paint is peeling, and while the lawns are
well-trimmed many are filled with weeds. The children are all dressed in
home-made, makeshift clothing—hats too large engulf small heads, belts are
cinched tight around too-small waists, and most pants legs have been cut to
accommodate little legs. The illusion of normalcy fades to the grim reality of
post-Judgment Day America.”
Be sure to emphasis the lack of children’s clothing. While the children themselves are clean, their clothes are worn and faded, haphazardly pieced together to fit their small bodies. This isn’t unusual in this post-apocalyptic world, however, especially in small towns with no local resources or industry.
From the Mouths of Babes
If the posse approaches the children, they find them to be shy around strangers. The dogs act protective of the children, and more of the animals begin to appear from the surrounding fields, making no hostile moves but sitting in alleyways, porches, and sidewalks, watching the posse. While most of the kids are fairly quiet, a boy and girl, aged 12 and 14, do approach the group. They introduce themselves as Spence and Tara, and tell the posse the following:
“There’s nothing in this town for adults. Nick has his own
little world here, and if you’re smart you’ll head on back to wherever you came
from. The stories of old treasure is just so much crap.”
The other kids shush them quickly, and as the dog pack begins to form from the surrounding building the two kids run off and disappear into an old gas station down the street.
Uncle Nick
About this time an older man will hobble into view, preceded by the joyous baying of dogs. Uncle Nick is surrounded by at least 10 of the canines, which act like puppies around him—120-pound puppies that can tear a trog’s throat out, that is. Uncle Nick shoos the children away, and welcomes the strangers to Paradise. He invites them to his house for lemonade and a talk out of the hot sun. If threatened or harmed, the posse may learn early the terrible secret that Uncle Nick holds. An attack on Uncle Nick will trigger retaliation by the entire dog pack. Most of the pack (20+1d10) is in the immediate area, and the remainder (there are 40 total) will arrive in three rounds.
Assuming no gunplay, Uncle Nick is willing to answer any questions that the posse may have. He tells the posse that he is the only adult here, and has started an orphanage of sorts for the lost children of the Wastes. Word must have spread, because kindly folks have taken it upon themselves to drop off kids over the years. They exist on the bounty of the land, and what little they can trade. He hints that a Templar nearby has protected them from marauders, as well as the town’s dogs, which seemed to gravitate to the settlement over the years. As to the massacre so many years ago, he claims to have moved here after that and knows nothing about it. The posse is free to look around the valley, as long as no harm comes to the children.
Uncle Nick
Uncle Nick looks to be in his late 50s to early 60s. He admits to being from Kansas, but steers conversation away from himself and to the posse’s background. His clothes consist of a well-worn and patched black suit, making him look like a kindly schoolmaster from the Old West.
Corporeal: D:3d6, N:1d6, S:2d6, Q:3d8, V:1d10
Dodge 4d6,
Mental: C:2d8, K:4d10, M:3d12, Sm:4d10, Sp:2d12
Persuasion 4d12, leadership 3d12, academia: occult 4d10, scrutinize 4d8, language: Latin 3d10, language: Greek 2d10, language: Spanish 3d10, scroungin’ 3d10, faith 4d12
Edges: Keen 3, level-headed 5, light sleeper 1, the voice (soothing) 1
Hindrances: Geezer -5, loco (delusions) -3, yearnin’ (regain his lost children) -5
Pace: 4
Size: 6
Special Abilities:
Immunity: All
Man’s Best Friend: Nick can control the dogs that inhabit Paradise with a thought. They will do anything he commands, even at the expense of their lives.
Sandman: Nick can cause sleep in those he attunes himself to after spending an evening with. There is no save against this. Harrowed are not affected per se, but the link with their Manitou is severed for several minutes, placing them in a catatonic state and triggering a Dominion check.
Weakness: Nick can be wounded with the silver spoons that his wife treasured. If he is struck five times with these spoons, he will be destroyed. Destroying these spoons (Onerous (7) Strength check/Strength DC 15) will also render him vulnerable to normal weapons.
Gear: Besides his clothing, Uncle Nick doesn’t usually carry any gear or equipment.
Hell on Earth D20: Uncle Nick: Aristocrat: CR 5; Level 9; Medium-size Human; HD 9d8; hp 47; Init +2; Spd 30 ft.; AC 12 (+2 Dex); ATK +6/+1 melee, AL N; SV Fort +3 Ref +5 Will +8; Str 10, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 17.
Skills and Feats: Bluff +10, gather information +10, sense motive +8
Possessions: As above.
Description: As above.
Special Abilities:
Immunity: All
Man’s Best Friend: Nick can control the dogs that inhabit Paradise with a thought. They will do anything he commands, even at the expense of their lives.
Sandman: Nick can cause sleep in those he attunes
himself to after spending an evening with. There is no save against this.
Harrowed are not affected per se, but the link with their Manitou is severed
for several minutes, placing them in a catatonic state and triggering a
Dominion check.
Weakness: Nick can be wounded with the silver spoons that his wife treasured. If he is struck five times with these spoons, he will be destroyed. Destroying these spoons (Onerous (7) Strength check/Strength DC 15) will also render him vulnerable to normal weapons.
Hounds of Paradise (40)
These big shaggy brutes look like a cross between German Shepherds and Malamutes or wolves, but seem friendly enough around the children of Paradise. Visitors who are violent or run afoul of Uncle Nick might find them otherwise.
Corporeal: D:3d4, N:4d8, S:2d10, Q:4d10, V:4d8
Fightin’: brawlin’ 3d8
Mental: C:2d8, K:1d4, M:3d6, Sm:2d6, Sp:1d8
Scrutinize 4d8, search 2d8, trackin’ 3d8, overawe 4d6, guts 4d8
Pace: 12
Size: 5
Terror: 3 (7 when pack is assembled)
Special Abilities:
Damage: Bite (STR+2d4), Claw (STR)
Fearless
Jaws o’ Steel: The huge jaws and teeth of these supernatural hounds gives them an AP1 attack.
Like the Wind: When moving through the cornfield, these dogs are considered to have a sneak of 5d8.
Hounds of Paradise (40): CR 3; Large Animal; HD 6d8+18; hp #; Init +2 (Dex); Spd 50 ft.; AC 14 (-1 size, +2 Dex, +3 natural); Atk Bite +10 melee (1d8+10); Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 10 ft./5 ft.; SA Trip; SQ Scent; AL N; SV Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +6; Str 25, Dex 15, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10.
Skills and Feats: Hide +5, Listen +6, Move Silently +5, Spot +6, Wilderness Lore +1*.
Exploring Paradise
The town consists of a dozen houses, two abandoned fast food restaurants, an old pharmacy, and a gas station. Nothing of interest can be found in the houses, each of which provides shelter for 2d8 children (there are a total of 25 children in Paradise, ranging from 3 to 14 years old). A Hard (9) search roll (search DC 20) turns up 2d6 caches of small caliber ammunition scattered in drawers, closets, etc. Each find consists of 2d10 rounds and requires an hour of searching. The children don’t care if the posse searches their houses (unless they steal toys or other prized possessions). Tall hedges on three sides and the cornfields on the fourth enclose a large municipal playground behind the houses. It has well-used equipment, including a jungle gym, slides, and swing sets. Most of the houses are full of toys and sports gear such as baseball bats, basketballs, slingshots, lawn darts, croquet mallets and golf clubs.
Gas N’ Go
The gas station holds a battered police cruiser (use stats for a medium size car) with a half tank of gas. An Onerous (7) search roll (search at DC 15) reveals a locked upright tool chest. Picking the lock (Onerous (7)/DC15 lockpicking check) reveals a police vest, a motorcycle helmet, a Kevlar vest, and two NA assault rifles with 60 rounds of 5.56mm ammo. If the posse attempts to search the garage, however, Spence and Tara will get very agitated and do their best to keep the posse out.
Children of the Corn
If the posse decides to search the cornfields or surrounding bluffs for rumored cache of equipment, let them make a variety of search rolls. Searching the whole 100-acre plus area will take the better part of a day. Play up the spookiness of the corn as it rustles and clings to the posse and their gear. The dogs shadow the posse, and keen-eared members might hear their panting and footfalls, but never catch an actual glimpse of these animals.
A Fair (5) search check (search DC 10) leads the posse to a clearing in the middle of the largest cornfield. This area of bare dirt is 150 feet in diameter, and is ringed by a circle of broken rifles driven into the ground, each topped by a shattered helmet. Dominating this scene is a large wooden cross, made out of rail ties. This is the final resting place of the massacred Union soldiers. Anyone digging down into the soil will uncover a tangle of bodies three feet below the surface. While the bodies have the decayed remains of uniforms, no useful equipment or weapons can be found on a thorough search carried out by the more ghoulish posses.
Your Stay in Paradise
As mentioned above, Uncle Nick is happy to let the posse look around town, as long as they don’t hurt his dogs or children, although he’s not so free with his own house (the big old house in the center of town). He will sit on his porch and watch the posse’s movements, offering suggestions for places to look like the bluffs that ring most of the town.
Uncle Nick invites the posse to dine with him and the kids the first night in town. His dining room is typical Americana kitsch—heavy old furniture, faded wallpaper, two huge dining room tables that hold all 25 kids, and a wall of souvenir spoons from various states in the US and CSA. Paranoid posses who refuse to dine are still invited to spend time with the townsfolk. Uncle Nick seems like a genuinely friendly type, and those with the ability to scan his thoughts find nothing untoward in them. He asks them about themselves, where they’re from, their history, etc. After dinner he proudly pulls out an old box of souvenir spoons, and proceeds to show each posse member their home state.
“These spoons are my pride and joy. My dear, dear wife
collected them before the troubles. We weren’t able to travel much, but friends
would bring them to us from their travels, and Edna would imagine the places
each came from. Just a silly habit, I know, but it’s my one link to my past
life from before the War.”
If anyone happens to count, there are 26 spoons on the walls
of the dining room, from a variety of states. Some are repeated several times.
If asked about that, Nick excuses himself for being a near-sighted old fool and
continues the conversation. An Incredible (11) Cognition roll (Spot
DC25) allows the character to notice that several of the spoons are silver--
one of the Kansas spoons and one from Pennsylvania (Edna’s home state), plus an
assortment of others. If asked about these, Nick replies “Those were Edna’s
very favorites. Just before we settled down, we took a tour of America and
indulged ourselves. She sure loved those spoons and the memories they held for
us.” The number of silver spoons is equal to the posse members plus 2.
First Night
The posse will be offered rooms in one of the houses, and pass an easy night. Posses who decide to creep around town after dark will find nothing amiss. Anyone out at 3:00 am may see two small forms slip away from the garage into the corn (Incredible (11) scrutinize/notice DC 25). The forms are fast moving, and easily lost in the corn. An Incredible (11) tracking roll (DC 25) will lead the posse to the scene described below, but tracks will be evident—large dog tracks.
Around dawn they will be awakened by the sound of low voices, and will notice the children heading into the cornfield. If the posse follows them they head toward the bluffs. The posse will find the children surrounding the torn and mangled bodies of Spence and Tara, the dogs forming an outer circle. Shortly after the posse arrives, Uncle Nick will come upon the scene. He becomes quite angry, preaching to the kids about how they must have been out “fornicating”, or having other impure thoughts. He lectures the kids on the need to stay inside after dark to protect themselves, and seems genuinely angry and sad.
A Child Will Lead Them
The posse is free to spend the day looking for the lost equipment. Nick has some of the older children bring the bodies back into town and bury them at the edge of the cornfield, returning nourishment to the fields that nourished them for so long. The day passes uneventfully, and ends with a dinner similar to that of the night before.
Chapter Two:
Welcome to My Nightmare
After dinner Uncle Nick drops in on the posse as they return to their rooms, and wishes them a good night. This activates his Sandman power (see description above).
Sweet Dreams
Each posse member must make an Incredible (11) Spirit roll (Will save DC 25). Those who fail experience a dream about a time in their childhood when they were most happy and safe. Those who succeed experience a nightmare about a time in their childhood when they were most afraid. Pass this info through notes, Marshal, but don't add details - let the players color their own coloring books based on their backgrounds. However, if you have enough time and energy, as well as character background knowledge, feel free to script these out.
Upon waking up, all players find that they are now in 9 to 12 (8+1d4) year old bodies, and are all subject to the Kid hindrance (see p 45 in the main Hell on Earth rulebook, but add the scrawny hindrance as well). As the posse checks their rooms, they find all of their gear missing. Clothes have not been bothered, but are much too big for our heroes now, and will have to be modified.
Daddy, Can I have a Glass of Water?
Players that failed the Spirit roll while asleep awake disoriented, unable to distinguish their adult lives from a childhood nightmare, or waking reality from some vivid dream. Waking from their childhood dream as children makes reality feel like a dream, making it hard for them to focus and act alert. All actions for the rest of the adventure will be at –2.
Players that succeeded in their guts check (Will save) awake from their childhood nightmare as children and realize with a dawning sense of horror that they’re not in a dream anymore. Time for a Hard (9) guts check (Will save DC 20), Marshal.
But What About…
Now for some special cases. If the player already was a Kid, she awakes unchanged, with no penalties or Guts checks necessary (Nick's magic, while it can put one to sleep, can't make a child into more of a child).
For Harrowed, the Nick-induced sleep triggers an automatic Dominion test. Assuming the character succeeds, they automatically gain the effects outlined above for those who failed their Spirit check. The Harrowed awakes only to find that all of his companions have become children. This is disorienting to say the least, and he may feel that he must still be unconscious and the manitou is messing with him, provoking an unreal feeling to the rest of the encounters. Cyborgs find that the Reckoner-induced slumber causes twice as much drain on their systems due to sleep-induced sluggishness for the next 24 hours.
Toys R Us
Nick, not wanting the children hurting themselves, has confiscated their gear while they were asleep. Weapons and other dangerous things have been placed in the gas station under lock and key. The posse can find a variety of makeshift weapons in their house, or in neighboring residences, which are all strangely deserted at 3:00 a.m. Nick’s house stands dark and empty, the front door open. Posses who take the time to search through his house may notice on an Onerous (7) Cognition (Notice DC 20) check that the box of spoons is missing from the dining room sideboard. Give the posse another chance to notice that some of the spoons on the wall are silver at this time. Anyone moving along Main Street or behind the houses may notice a strange glow emanating from behind the hedges that surround the playground, and hear faint voices carried on the wind.
Recess is Over
If the posse approaches the playground they can make out the sound of children laughing and singing a song over and over again. The entire playground is lit with a ghostly glow that seems to emanate from everywhere and nowhere. Read or paraphrase the following:
“A weird glow fills the playground, a sort oft bluish
light that casts no shadows. A full moon shines down on the scene, and the corn
rustles in an unfelt breeze, the long, tassled heads bending over the
playground perimeter as if straining for a glimpse of the activities within.
The dogs of the town form a rough circle centered on the huge slide. Uncle Nick
stands at the bottom of the slide with the children running in a circle from
the base of the slide, around to the ladder, to the top, and sliding down where
Nick catches them, sets them down and the process repeats. The children
are all chanting a song lyric over and over in typical nursery rhyme fashion as
they run about.
“When I get to the bottom
I go back to the
top of the slide
Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride
Till I get to the bottom and I see you again.”
Posse members who have reverted to children who view this scene should make an Onerous (7) Spirit check (Will save DC 15). Regardless of what they roll, tell the players that they feel they want to join in on the chant. On a bust, have the player actually start chanting a bit before catching himself. Nothing like messing with the posse, right, Marshal? This is also a great time to throw a chip in for any Harrowed members and force another Dominion check.
To drive the ceremony that binds the posse into their youthful bodies, Nick needs energy. Each time a child slides and is caught by Nick, he gets a bit younger and Nick gains a bit more energy. Players observing this ceremony can spot the kids getting younger with a Hard (9) Cognition (Notice DC 20) check. A very observant character (Incredible (11) Cognition/Notice DC25) will see light glint off something suspended from beneath the slide—a spoon for each member of the posse.
Playing with Fire
The dogs form a perimeter around the playground, preventing anyone from entering and disrupting the ceremony. If the posse enters they will be attacked. All 40 dogs from the town’s pack are present. Nick will complete the ceremony in 20 rounds. While the posse may defeat the paradise hounds, defeating Nick will be tougher. The ceremony can be stopped in several ways:
-Kill all the children. This stops the flow of energy to Nick, but a posse that resorts to this should at least get the bloodthirsty hindrance (and a notice by the Reckoners as potential future servitors).
-Destroying the spoons hanging under the slide will eliminate all penalties and return the posse to normal, but will do nothing to make Nick vulnerable.
-Using the silver spoons from Nick’s house against him. The spoons represent Edna and Nick's memory of her. Read the following if one of the posse touches Nick with one of these spoons (either by a successful throwin': unbalanced or fightin': brawlin), or breaks one:
“When the silver spoon strikes the old man in black, a
clear tone rings out across the playground, a sound like that produced by
rapping a spoon upon a crystal glass. A ghostly female voice seems to carry on
the wind through the rustling corn. It seems to cry
"Nick...stop...please". Hearing the voice obviously unnerves
him. He staggers, clutching his hands to his head. The dogs attack the posse
with a renewed frenzy.”
After being hit 5 times, or if all the silver spoons are broken or destroyed, read the following to your posse:
“The remaining dogs all throw back their heads and howl in
unison, rapidly decaying and melting into the ground. The children stop running
and chanting, freezing in place, as ghostly figures emerge from the corn.
Edna's spirit comes out, followed by dozens of children's spirits (all of his
original "kids" that died in the strike). Nick fall to his knees
upon seeing them, weeping apologies, completely breaking down. The
children come forward and surround Nick. He calls each one by name, touching
each ghostly face, as they embrace him in a group hug. Edna smiles and says
"thank you" to the posse members. She then steps forward and embraces
Nick as well. The posse overhears their final words:
"Edna...I'm so sorry...I missed you all so much....dear God what have I
become?"
"Shh...we've missed you too...everything that can be made right, will
be...it’s time to come home..."
A flash of blinding light illuminates the playground. When you blink away
the effect, the spirits are gone, and Nick lies dead at the base of the slide,
a smile on his face.”
Homecoming
The posse finds themselves returned to normal if Nick is defeated before the completion of the 20 round ceremony. If not, they got a lifetime ahead of them to relive in a possibly better way. They also find themselves in charge of a bunch of scared children who look to the heroes for salvation. No one ever said that being a champion was an easy thing in the Wasted West.
