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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Paka" data-source="post: 1730917" data-attributes="member: 100">Old Man Carson’s FuneralThe Watchdogs were awakened by Benjamin Ibex II, who everyone in Eden called Deuce.  He was walking through Garden with his rifle across his shoulders, yelling for his brother to come on out.  Deuce didn’t know why his brother wasn’t sleeping where they normally made camp until he saw the Watchdogs.He briskly sent Tres home because he thought that’s what Pa would want under the circumstances.  “Pa wants to see you, Tres.  You lost three more goats, I saw.”  Tres mumbled about wolves in the hills and went home, leaving Deuce with the Dogs.“I just came up to Garden to get my brother.  If ya want I could take you to the cemetery.  Old Man Carson will be buried come sun-up.  We can make it if we ride hard.”They mounted up and the five of them road towards Eden while Tres made his way home.  It was goodly ride to the cemetery and they talked to the eldest Benjamin boy of the Ibex clan.He repeated much of what his younger brother had said.  But he also mentioned the aid of a traveling prophet who had helped their family in their time of need after the death of their ma.  When asked about this prophet, Deuce just said, “He died,” and didn’t talk much for the rest of the ride.The folk of Eden were heading towards the cemetery in a stream of about three hundred or so.  At their head walked the Steward and just behind him was the coffin, held by those who knew Old Man Carson best.  Benjamin Ibex the First was among the pall-bearers.Deuce soaked up the attention he got from being the one to officially introduce the town to the visiting Watchdogs.  The Steward, a fat man with gray sideburns that fanned on either side of his plump face, wiped away sweat from his brow and asked if any of the Dogs would like to say a word over Old Man Carson’s casket.  Anadarch declined, not wanting to speak over a man’s grave who he didn’t know but Jeremiah offered to say a few words.  He thought such a thing would be proper, given his vocation.The Steward spoke of Carson’s fine life and the even finer existence that awaited him in Heaven, where his wife and family awaited.  He seemed nervous, an odd trait for a Steward in front of his own congregation.  Babies cried and a man kept coughing throughout the sermon.  Realizing that his congregation was not listening with their hearts, if at all, the Steward’s sermon came to an inconclusive and meandering end.But the congregation listened to Jeremiah.  He was a golden-haired boy who reminded everyone of some nice cousin or neighbor they remembered.  And when he spoke he spoke with confidence and determination.  His new coat shimmered in the sunshine.Jeremiah’s eulogy ended with, “Old Man Carson died from sickness and now he is healthy in heaven.  We must take this opportunity to remember to cleanse the sicknesses in our own lives.”Once Jeremiah was done the Congregation looked at a neighboring hilltop, as if a third sermon were in order.  Benjamin Ibex the First stood on that hilltop and eyes downcast he took off his hat and began to talk about Old Man Carson.  They paid him the respectful silent attention they had paid the Watchdog.  Benjamin was funny and poignant with his words.  He made people laugh even as he made them cry and talked about Carson’s good will towards the children of the town, teaching the boys to throw a baseball and always making nice comments on the girl’s hair and dress. He ended his speech with a steely glare at the Steward and the Watchdogs. “Mayhaps if Carson would have been re-married as the Prophet’s ghost had suggested to me, perhaps if someone had seen to that he would still be with us.  I know more than anyone that no man is fit to take care of himself.  We are in dire need of women-folk to aid us in the day and night.  I hope he is with his wife now in the heavens, beside the Savior Who Has Returned.”When Benjamin the Goat-herder was done speaking the people of Eden were openly weeping and the Watchdogs exchanged glances.Anadarch stayed with the Steward but Jeremiah walked to the nearby hill where Benjamin Ibex stood among the people of Eden.  He shook hands, knowing full well that the town’s ills somehow surrounded this man and he talked with him.  Their conversation was watched by the entirety of the town.One never knew what would happen when a Watchdog came to a congregation.  Would he shoot Benjamin Ibex I?  Would he swear him in as the town’s new Steward or create an office of the Faith just for him?  When it became clear that Jeremiah was going to do nothing but decide for himself if Benjamin’s words rang with truth or falsehood, the Faithful of Eden began their walk back to town.  GM’s Note:The first conflict of the game outside of the accomplishments was Jeremiah’s battle of wills with Benjamin Ibex I.  Their discussion was a conflict that Mario (Jeremiah’s player) declared the goal as, “I want to know if he is lying.”  In the end he knew.It had become obvious at this point who the movers and shakers in the group were going to be.  Mario, player of Jeremiah, was taking this adventure by the throat and going with it right along with Aaron, player of Anadarch, who had cast himself as party leader and was prepared to walk the walk.  Mateo was playing Benny and having picked him up at ultimate Frisbee practice before the game I knew he had just gotten through his first day of grad. school and had been going for over 12 hours.Kolja was playing Cain and I liked the character and the player but he was new to the group and the youngest to boot.  I had contacted Kolja through the Burning Wheel forums because I knew he didn’t have a regular gaming group in these here parts.  I think Kolja was still getting his feet under him and I drove the adventure so hard that I wasn’t giving people spotlight time and I think our newest player in the group suffered from my unrelenting pace.Either they moved or they were left behind.  I fear I left Kolja behind a bit.  After the game I got the sense that he likes the way we game and wants to do so again.  I think he will relax and enjoy himself more in future sessions and hopefully, he will play in a game I run in which I can ease up and enjoy a moment here and there.  Nice kid and a good gamer.The Ibex Homestead and the Princess of EdenJeremiah insisted that he, Cain and Benny discuss Eden's well-being in greater detail at the Ibex estate.  He was firm, smiling, yet polite.  Benjamin Ibex I tried to turn down the honor but Jeremiah just smiled politely and insisted.  Benjamin the First sent his sons ahead of them in order to get the house prepared for guests.  “My late wife, Faith, Savior rest her soul, passed on  and living with eight boys….I’d rather the place was tidied before such honored guests arrived.  Set out lemonade and the like.”Jeremiah knew this was only a half-truth and while Benjamin gathered his boys around him, the Dogs gathered.  It was agreed that Anadarch would go into town and do some looking around while the rest of the Dogs rode with the Ibex family.  Anadarch walked in the opposite direction with the Steward, leading his horse while his comrades went with the Ibex family into the hills where their homestead awaited.  From the Steward, Anadarch heard about his disdain of Benjamin Ibex and how the congregation took pilgrimages to his homestead in the hills after services.“Ever since that Prophet passed away while staying with him he has been insufferable.  He says the Prophet’s ghost speaks to him and the people believe.  They often go to him for advice.  It is insufferable.  He must be stopped.”Anadarch listened without comment but asked, “The prophet, where was he buried?”The Steward looked puzzled.  “I reckon he was buried on the Ibex land.  Never saw to the body myself.  I know I should’ve been there for him better when his wife passed but he is stepping over the boundaries, here.  One of his no good sons was found in a glade at a barn-raising with my daughter.  I kicked that boy into a state of proper respect with Ben’s help and blessing.  But still, he don’t know his place.“He’s a goat-herder and I am the congregation’s Steward.  Am I not?”Anadarch nodded in agreement.  “Did he come into town to have a coffin made?”“I’m not certain,” the Steward replied.  There and then, Anadarch rode away from the Steward with a tip of his hat and a good day.Meanwhile, Benny, Cain and Jeremiah rode with the Ibex boys.  Jeremiah counted six of the Ibex boys with them.  “Where are your boys, Benjamin?  I only count six.”“Deuce stayed up at the house to do some chores and I sent Tres ahead to see to tidying up of the house and some lemonade set out.”Jeremiah stood among the Ibex family and could smell a falsehood thick in the air.  Mr. Ibex wasn’t all lying but he was far from telling all the truth.  Ever since they had talked back at the cemetery, Jeremiah was getting a feel for his style of fibbing.  Like most good liars, Benjamin Ibex I surrounded his lies with truth in order to obfuscate their passage.  Even Benny was getting wise to the fib’s comings and goings.  Cain just appeared ready to follow his Brother-in-Arms’ leads, not wanting to do anything foolhardy while hearing the Watchdog’s coat.  He still saw his brashness as having allowed a Demon to abscond from Watchdog Temple in the body of Josiah and the guilt weighed heavily.Jeremiah asked Benjamin what he thought was in the town that needed fixing and the eldest Ibex launched into a line about how the Temple was at the far end of town.  “If the temple could be re-built, perhaps bigger and better it would be easier for me and mine to reach.  Not to mention when the many folk who come to my homestead to pay respect to the Prophet’s grave-site and gather to discuss the Book of Life they’d have less to travel from Sunday services.”Jeremiah smiled.  “Why don’t you show us a good site for that Temple on the way to your place?”On his way back from his walk with the Steward, Anadarch was just about bushwacked by a gaggle of young ladies from Eden.  They were lead by the Steward’s daughter, a pretty young lady with two blonde braids hanging down her shoulders.  She strode up to the Watchdog, bold as you please.“Good day, Watchdog.  Is it true you were ushered into town by one of the Ibex boys?”Anadarch smiled as he nodded and the girls of Eden melted.“I’m sorry they had to be your first impression of Eden.  Please don’t always think of their stench when you think of our fair town.”  The girls looked shocked at her boldness and one of them even stammered out her name, “Emma!”Anadarch asked questions about the Prophet and the girls didn’t know much.  Linea, the shopkeeper’s daughter, told him what she knew.“He must’ve used the wood he used to build a shed he was keen on.  He bought the wood from my pa’s store.”The handsome Watchdog asked, “Was it enough to build a coffin with?”“Sure, enough to build a slew of ‘em,” Linea responded.At that, Anadarch tipped his hat and rode off hard.  He was riding towards the hills towards the Ibex Homestead.Jeremiah, Benny and Cain were being shown the site where Benjamin Ibex I thought the Temple should go when across the hills to the east they saw Anadarch heading into the hills hard, right towards the Ibex Homestead.  Jeremiah tried to distract the Ibex family from their brother Dog making towards their home with speed but Benny broke into a smile and pointed.“Anadarch!” he grinned.Tight lipped and grim, Benjamin Ibex led his sons and the Watchdogs towards his home, knowing that the fourth Watchdog and some lemonade would await.By the time they got there Anadarch had taken a look around and saw the second and third Benjamin’s trail of dust heading up towards Garden through the hills.Benjamin said the Prophet had broken his leg the night before he died.  They knew he was lying but the Dogs just stared at him over their glasses of lemonade.“The next day he was dead,” he explained weakly over lemonade.Anadarch was asking about the shed and the wood used to build the coffin and how a man with eight sons could leave a shed unassembled when the shots rang out.The Watchdogs were trained in such matters.  They were two shots, both from the same pistol and they were coming from the northern trail that led to Garden.  Benjamin Ibex I looked scared and shocked.  He knew in his heart that his lies had finally led to violence.The Watchdogs spurred their horses into action, heading towards the ghost town of Garden with members of the Ibex family in tow.GM’s Note:The momentum had begun to die and once the players realized there would be no big revelation at the Ibex Homestead I could feel their energy deflate.BANG BANG.Off they went to Garden.  It wasn’t subtle but it worked.Like I said, I drove this thing hard.</blockquote>

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