Second Session: Shpadoinkle and Salt Lake City

Part the First

In the aftermath of the "audition," the group quickly determined that the only way they'd reach Carson City in time would be to ride like madmen over the Rockies to Salt Lake City, where they could catch one of the Snakeback trails. These serpentine railways were built on the bones of the failed transcontinental railroad, built to the whims and specifications of whichever local community decided to foot the cost of construction.

Fortunately, during the height of the Kingdom of Deseret, they built extensive lines between their largest cities. Salt Lake City's Snakeback offered the party a nearly straight shot to Carson City, which would shave weeks off of their journey. With that in mind, everyone bundled up in the warmest clothing they could lay their hands on and struck out.

The first few days of their journey were relatively uneventful. Everyone had purchased enough supplies to not have to worry about hunting or scavenging for food, and the multiple layers they were bundled in kept the cold at bay.

Early into the party's third day of travel, they came to the ruins of Fort Suttor, built in the '50s during the Utah War. When the Mormon pioneers declared their independence, the Union left dozens of these forts throughout the Rockies. In the aftermath of the war, many of the forts fell into disrepair, and Suttor was no exception.

The party decided to search the fort for supplies. Splitting up to search the infirmary, barracks, and officer's bunks, they quickly discovered recent tracks in the snow... bare footprints (Okay. So, for a while we had trouble. I said "bare" footprints, they heard "bear" footprints. We got it resolved soon enough). While they were examining the tracks, the ladies in the barracks were attacked by something that was lurking in the dark.

A moment later Teddy came upon three more of the creatures, feasting on the body of a local hunter. Once, they might have been simply cannibals, but by the time the party encountered them, they were nigh-supernatural things controlled by a lust for human flesh - Wendigo.

The group dispatched the Wendio quickly, sustaining only a few injuries in the process. Searching the bodies, they found a handful of Deseret coins, and identified the leader of the creatures as Alferd Packer, a notorious local who had been arrested for cannibalism before.

Part the Second
Leaving Fort Suttor behind them, the party rode hard out of the mountains, going for several days without sleep. Their horses exhausted and near death, they rode into the edge of Salt Lake City as the sun was rising on a Sunday morning. Even from a distance, they could hear the peal of bells and rumble of organs, and could see as a small army of pilgrims wandered into the city from nearly every direction.

Knowing that they wouldn't be able to get a train in Deseret on a Sunday, and not wanting to draw too much attention from the Nauvoo Legion, the group decided to stay over in the Black Quarter - since the Kingdom of Deseret considered Africans the cursed descendants of Ham.

While there, they gained intel from different sources. At a public bath, the ladies learned of a Confederate soldier in Salt Lake City to address the Council of 50. At a gin-cellar fortune teller, Teddy and John Henry learned that the Rail Baron was wielding them like pawns, and that they could kill him if they fought him on his Hellbound Train, and that he had 9 brothers in the States, both North and South. Rufus learned that even in a theocracy, there are still back alley places to find hard drugs, and that while he might not have any old enemies, the Ghost Rider certainly does.