Q Division Always Gets Their...Man?

Scenario Outline

           Hallowe'en, 1879....

There's bad blood between the people of the town of Dagonfather and, well, just about everyone else in the territory. The town is small, insular, overly protective and downright sinister. The other funny thing is just how prosperous the farmers of Dagonfather seem to be, but with no good reason. The land is bad, stony, and dry. The area is covered with trees, which means stumping any land to make it arable. And where are they getting all of those fish?

Just a few miles from Dagonfather is the family farm of the Kreigleighs. They've been scared of the folks from town, and the two have been waging a feud for several months. Finally it's spilled over from intimidation, to murder. Jack Pickman, a local roughian and all around tough customer, took the final step in a campaign of intimidation while trying to force the Kreighleigh family off their land. Lee Kreighleigh was shot on his doorstep two nights ago, while answering a summons from a masked and mounted man, later identified by family as Jack Pickman.

Now it's up to the North West Mounted Police to bring Pickman to justice. It's known that he's holed up with his gang at the ruined Whately farm just the other side of Dagonfather, near a bend in the Azathaquon River. And as everyone knows, the Mounties always get their man....

Force and Objectives

The Old Whately Farm

A Report of the Action

It was quiet as Inspector Yongestreet and the column of men from Q Division rode up the pathway toward the ruins of the old Whately farm. Every tree and rock potentially hid a man, armed and ready to do harm, so the approach was cautious. The only sounds came from the Azathaquon river as it burbled lazily nearby and the swallows as they swooped in search of insects on which to dine.

As the column rounded the hill and the farm ruins came into sight, a shot split the silence and one of the lead constables fell from his horse, drilled clean through by the bullet. But where did the shot come from? There, in the house ruins. Teddy Pickman was in the old window aiming another shot from his Winchester. The other lead man loosed a round from his Enfield but only succeeded in chipping the crumbling bricks of the noisome house.

Spreading out into line, Yongestreet thought he could see where the fight lay. They were making their stand in the ruins. Almost as if to confirm Yongestreet's musing, another of the Pickman gang popped up, this time Long Hair'd Larry. He potted off a shot at the Mounties and felled another Constable.

Teddy Pickman also took aim at the approaching Mounties again, but this time the police were faster and a lucky shot laid him out, slumped in the crumbling window of the old Whately house. Larry, meanwhile, made a break for the cover of a rocky outcrop butting into the flow of the Azathaquon. As he paused in his flight, perhaps to take another shot at the pursuing officers of the law, one of the Mountie bullets found its mark and streched Long Hair'd Larry out in the fallow farm field.

Capt'n Jack then emerged from his hiding spot behind the ominous Whately standing stone. Using his Walker revolver the Capt'n lofted a couple of heavy lead balls toward the police, and another constable went down.

Inspector Yongestreet, along with several other constables, took aim at the luckless Capt'n and sent him to his reward perforated in several places.

The field fell quiet once again. None of the Pickman gang were in sight. Cautious once again, Yongestreet's men advanced in a rough line.

Suddenly Bobby Pickman leapt up from behind the low wall dividing the old farm field from the Azathaquon river. Rather than shoot, he too took to his heels, heading around the wall, and down they way toward his brother's hide out.

Qing Ren, a Chinese national who had come to Canada to work the railroad and to seek a new life but who brought his tong affiliations with him, leapt up from the same spot. He let off a round directly at Inspector Yongestreet. Though his horse bucked and reared, the master horseman quickly regained control and gave back better than he'd taken. Qing Ren joined his ancestors. Later examination showed that Yongestreet's horse, Pemmincan, had intercepted the bullet meant for his master. The skilled veternary surgeons of the NWMP quickly had Pemmican healed and back on duty.

The police tried to ride down the fleeing Pickman but with a burst of speed he slid from their grasp into the hidey-hole at the back of the farm.

Before the Mounties could respond a strange, slithering splashing noise distracted them all. Three massive shapes that were almost but not quite human emerged from the river and were almost on top of them!

The horrible creatures stood taller than the tallest man, with gorilla-like arms and hands tipped with razor sharp claws. Their tough, pebbled skin was obviously tough as leather or harder even. These fiends would be difficult to take on. Yongestreet knew they must not let them close to engage. To fight beasts such as these in close combat would be lethal for the men of the North West Mounted.

"Pull back!" was the order. The Mounties closed on their leader, out of the reach of the unwholesome monsters. Though in clear view of the two remaining Pickman boys, the Mounties took no fire. Something was up in sheltered cove. The police loosed a strong volley against the things confronting them. Two dropped dead and third seemed to be given pause.

"Charge past, regroup on the other side!" Yongestreet didn't want to give the Pickmans any opportunity to fell more of his command.

The Mounties dashed past the last remaining thing. Bravely or foolishly some took station beside the very spot from which the beasts had emerged, their horses trampling the webbed footprints of the sinister frog-beasts.

The monster shambled toward the forest, hoping to escape the wrath of the North West Mounted Police. Another crash of Enfields broke the stillness and the final monstrosity went down in a pool of the ichor it called blood.

"Finish it, lads! Take the rocks!"

The police sped forward again closing the gap in the rocks where the brothers hid. But what a strange sight met the eyes of the advancing officers! Another of those terrifying creatures was slowly making its way into the river, a pile of clothing lying on the bank. And between them and the river, was a horrible half-man, half-creature wearing the clothes of Bobby Pickman! The writhing thing, still clutching its rifle, fired blindly at the Mounties. A merciful return shot destroyed the abomination.

With what seemed to be a wave, the creature in the river slipped quietly beneath the surface, leaving not a bubble or ripple behind.

Conclusions

A definite victory for the North West Mounted Police and the people of Acinnibun Territory. The Pickman gang was wiped out to a man. While the body of Jack Pickman was never found, it is known that he couldn't have gone far in the Azathaquon river with no clothing, for it was his shirt, trousers and rifle discovered on the riverbank.

While the loss of three constables is a difficult thing to bear, it is mitigated by the knowledge that they fell in the line of duty, protecting the peace and defending the Territory.

The bodies of the monsters, and the twisted half-human thing that seems to have once been Bobby Pickman were quietly disposed of, so as to not alarm the local population unduly. Although one body was sent secretly to Winnipeg for analysis to help identify the species and determine where it came from. The local Crowsfeet tribes, speak of a strange, sinister race that lives in the waters of the Azathaquon, who mate with humans to keep their line going, and who plot their overthrow of the world of man.

If true, this story is very disquieting indeed.

Return to the dispatches to read about more encounters.
View the figures and scenery for this scenario.
View the scenario writeup and special rules for this scenario.

Q Division Always Gets Their...Man?