Silver Moon
Adventurer
Chapter 90, “Home Sweet Home”, Friday, March 17th, 1882, 1:00 P.M.
The Zeppelin begins to fall at a rate of almost fifteen-feet-per-second towards the cliffs and mountains that are only a little more than a thousand feet below. “We need to lighten the load!” Hank exclaims. Arcade gestures to the door and states “Feel free to jump out.” Hank says, “Just push the whole sarcophagus out, you can’t hurt the guy, he’s already dead.” Morgana refuses, rumbling through her backpack for the scroll that has one remaining Floating Disk spell.
Hans uses his skills to adjust the fore and aft rudders, propellers and planes to change the angle of the descent from the steep twenty-five degrees that they started at to a more reasonable ten-degrees, which also slows their descent to ten feet-per-second. He says, “I’ve gotten us an extra minute or so. I’ll look for a possible landing site, but most of what I see are jagged rocks.”
Arcade tells Morgana, “Look, I don’t want to hurt the artifacts but I won’t get us killed trying to save it. When we get closer to the ground it’s going off!” “Hold on!” she exclaims as she pulls out the scroll. She begins to read the spell as the Animis Mountains draw closer and closer. They are within fifteen-seconds of crashing when the spell finally goes into effect and Hans is once again able to fully control the craft. They gain altitude again for the trip back to Promise City.
As they approach the New Mexico/Arizona border Hans changes direction to have them fly well north of the towns of Rodeo, New Mexico and Galeyville, Arizona so as to continue to avoid being seen. They travel directly above the mountainous rock formation known as Cochise Head, situated where the Chiricahua and Dos Cabezas Mountains meet. The skies to the west of them are now filled with lightning storms that appear to be moving eastward, causing Hans to be concerned. He spots a good potential location for the airship to stop, in a valley five miles northeast of town between Bowie and Fisk Mountains where the cliffs on the southeastern side of Bowie Mountain will provide both concealment and protection to the craft. He strongly suggests that they stop there.
The group discusses specifically where to go. Hank and Arcade want to fly the Zeppelin right down the center of Main Street to announce their triumphant return, but the others are against that given that they do not know the status of Gonzales trying to clear their names as well as what reception they can expect from Marshall Wyatt Earp. Hans is also concerned with the prospect of drunk cowboys firing their guns at the hydrogen-filled Zeppelin. Morgana points out that the final Disk spell will run out in a few hours, so they’d best come up with an idea soon.
Since it is Friday night and the mines nearest town are closed for the weekend they consider unloading the artifacts and storing them in a mine. The most obvious choice is the Liberty Hill Mine, which the Gang had worked at before as guards. It is also just a short distance from the El Parador, where they had left their horses. They decide to fly within a half-mile of town, unload the items, and then have Hans fly the craft to the location that he had identified. Arcade, Morgana and Louie get off with the artifacts while Hank and Sam stay with the airship to ensure that Hans does as instructed with it.
The trio with the artifacts finds a secluded spot near where they exited the craft to store the four trunks, leaving Arcade to stay and guard them, as Louie and Morgana head into town with the Disk spell still running and carrying the sarcophagus. They approach the mine, whose doors have been locked for the weekend but Louie is able to unlock them. The sarcophagus is levitated inside and lowered, with Louie helping to push it off of the disk.
They then make their way over to the El Parador’s stables, where Morgana and Arcade’s horses are found and saddled up. Louie heads inside and inform Dorita, the Cantina and Inn’s owner, that Arcade’s Gang is back and is taking two of the horses. She confirms that her Grandfather was able to help clear their names of the murder charges.
Saturday, March 18, 1882:
Shortly after midnight they head back to the mine, where Louie agrees to stay and guard the sarcophagus while Morgana rides back to where they had left Arcade and the chests. The chests are slid onto the Floating Disk and then brought back to the mine prior to the spell elapsing where they are unloaded beside the sarcophagus. Arcade returns the horses to the El Parador then rejoins his wife and Louie in the mine where the doors are secured and they then go to sleep.
At 8:30 A.M. Sam wakes up Hank and Hans when he notices a trio of men a few hundred yards away and approaching, two humans and a dwarf, one armed with a rifle. Hans and Sam both strap on their side arms and exit the passenger compartment with Hans as the other trio approaches. The dwarf is the first to speak, pointing to the dirigible and says, “What the hell is that thing?” Hank replies, “A type of balloon. It is a secret weapon of the United States Army so don’t tell anybody.”
Sam asks the men who they are. The humans introduce themselves as Humphrey Lewis and Charlie Mearl and the dwarf as Torvald MacNaulty. Lewis and MacNaulty say that they are owners of the Fisk Mountain Mine, with mining operations on the opposite side of the mountain southeast of the valley. Mearl is one of their guards. The miners offer to bring over a fresh pot of hot coffee and some hot breakfast, which Hank happily accepts.
They spend the better part of the morning chatting with the miners and being shown a tour of the mining operations, which are still in their infancy although they have struck a rich vein of silver. The miners are noticeably impressed when they discover that the others are members of Arcade’s Gang. The miners give them an update of what is going on in town. Hank is concerned about Wyatt Earp and is relived to hear that he is temporarily away. Sam asks, “So, with him gone who is in charge.” “Sounds like we are,” Hank interjects. Lewis assures him that there is a pair of deputies, including Wyatt’s brother Warren.
Morgana gets her two companions up at around 9:00 A.M. She sends Louie over to the El Parador to get breakfast for the three of them and also to leave a message for Manuel Gonzales as to where they are. After breakfast Arcade gets his and three other horses and rides out to the dirigible to bring the others back to town. The miners and guards agree to guard the dirigible for them, which Hans makes sure is well secured with both the controls and compartment’s door locked up with chains and a padlock.
Around 10:30 A.M. they are all back together. They leave Hans with Louie to guard the artifacts while the others head over to the El Parador. Gambler Conrad Booth is enjoying his first meal of the day and approaches them, letting them know that he had been the one to meet with Judge Isby and has cleared up the misunderstanding with the wanted poster. He returns their passports to them. They think him for his efforts.
Gonzales soon joins up with them, lighting a candle and casting a spell to place a spell around their table giving them privacy. He is thrilled that they made it back safely to town. He becomes concerned when they tell of the French wizards and soldiers they had spotted in New Mexico. He says, “That’s a problem. They’ll soon realize they missed you and probably come here.” “Sounds like we have some unfinished business to take care of,” Arcade states.
Morgana asks about what to do with the items, mentioning where they are currently located. Gonzales says that the four trunks are not a problem, that he has somewhere safe within the building to put them and will get the employees of the El Parador to help him move them once it gets dark, adding that a heavy rainstorm is expected from noon until almost midnight so should also help to provide adequate cover for the transfer of the chests.
The sarcophagus is a different matter altogether and he suggests hiding it in a cave in Apache Territory where the Indians would not let the French find or get to. They will need to use the dirigible to move it, so will not be able to do so until well into the night once the lightning storm ends.
That plan will also give the group most of the day to rest, although there are currently no available rooms at the El Parador at the moment as a recent Dwarven Festival called Moradin’s Day has taken place and the inn is now full up with dwarves. Hearing that, Arcade decides that the deserted mine would probably be a better place to sleep anyways. Dorita offers to save them some rooms once the dwarves move out. “Well fumigated I hope,” Hank adds.
Louie announces that he is going to go visit his girlfriend Mary Wong. Hank says, “You’ve sure gone a long way just to get yourself slapped.” Morgana says, “I think he’s hoping to get kissed instead.” Gonzales shows him where the trunk of items for her has been placed. Louie drags the trunk over to the Wong house and knocks on the door. Mary’s father, Charlie Wong, answers the door. He takes one look at Louie and says, “Go away, we already got one,” he exclaims. “One what?” Louie says. “One everything, you go away,” he states.
Mary pops up in the room and expresses pleasure over Louie’s return and asks her father to let him in. Louie presents the chest, which he opens to show it filled with presents. Charlie reconsiders and lets him inside.
It rains for most of the afternoon. Morgana checks with her druid mentor, an elderly wood elf named Mother Jimenez and confirms that the storms will cease at 11:00 PM. They plan on sending Hans and Hank to ride back out to the Zeppelin at 10:00 PM to fly it to the mine just as soon as the storms cease. They also decide to bring along all of their weapons in case they decide to deal wit the French sodliers afterwards. The group sleeps for the afternoon. Gonzales arrives at the cave at around 6:00 PM, offering to watch after the artifacts while the group heads over to the El Parador for dinner.
The Zeppelin begins to fall at a rate of almost fifteen-feet-per-second towards the cliffs and mountains that are only a little more than a thousand feet below. “We need to lighten the load!” Hank exclaims. Arcade gestures to the door and states “Feel free to jump out.” Hank says, “Just push the whole sarcophagus out, you can’t hurt the guy, he’s already dead.” Morgana refuses, rumbling through her backpack for the scroll that has one remaining Floating Disk spell.
Hans uses his skills to adjust the fore and aft rudders, propellers and planes to change the angle of the descent from the steep twenty-five degrees that they started at to a more reasonable ten-degrees, which also slows their descent to ten feet-per-second. He says, “I’ve gotten us an extra minute or so. I’ll look for a possible landing site, but most of what I see are jagged rocks.”
Arcade tells Morgana, “Look, I don’t want to hurt the artifacts but I won’t get us killed trying to save it. When we get closer to the ground it’s going off!” “Hold on!” she exclaims as she pulls out the scroll. She begins to read the spell as the Animis Mountains draw closer and closer. They are within fifteen-seconds of crashing when the spell finally goes into effect and Hans is once again able to fully control the craft. They gain altitude again for the trip back to Promise City.
As they approach the New Mexico/Arizona border Hans changes direction to have them fly well north of the towns of Rodeo, New Mexico and Galeyville, Arizona so as to continue to avoid being seen. They travel directly above the mountainous rock formation known as Cochise Head, situated where the Chiricahua and Dos Cabezas Mountains meet. The skies to the west of them are now filled with lightning storms that appear to be moving eastward, causing Hans to be concerned. He spots a good potential location for the airship to stop, in a valley five miles northeast of town between Bowie and Fisk Mountains where the cliffs on the southeastern side of Bowie Mountain will provide both concealment and protection to the craft. He strongly suggests that they stop there.
The group discusses specifically where to go. Hank and Arcade want to fly the Zeppelin right down the center of Main Street to announce their triumphant return, but the others are against that given that they do not know the status of Gonzales trying to clear their names as well as what reception they can expect from Marshall Wyatt Earp. Hans is also concerned with the prospect of drunk cowboys firing their guns at the hydrogen-filled Zeppelin. Morgana points out that the final Disk spell will run out in a few hours, so they’d best come up with an idea soon.
Since it is Friday night and the mines nearest town are closed for the weekend they consider unloading the artifacts and storing them in a mine. The most obvious choice is the Liberty Hill Mine, which the Gang had worked at before as guards. It is also just a short distance from the El Parador, where they had left their horses. They decide to fly within a half-mile of town, unload the items, and then have Hans fly the craft to the location that he had identified. Arcade, Morgana and Louie get off with the artifacts while Hank and Sam stay with the airship to ensure that Hans does as instructed with it.
The trio with the artifacts finds a secluded spot near where they exited the craft to store the four trunks, leaving Arcade to stay and guard them, as Louie and Morgana head into town with the Disk spell still running and carrying the sarcophagus. They approach the mine, whose doors have been locked for the weekend but Louie is able to unlock them. The sarcophagus is levitated inside and lowered, with Louie helping to push it off of the disk.
They then make their way over to the El Parador’s stables, where Morgana and Arcade’s horses are found and saddled up. Louie heads inside and inform Dorita, the Cantina and Inn’s owner, that Arcade’s Gang is back and is taking two of the horses. She confirms that her Grandfather was able to help clear their names of the murder charges.
Saturday, March 18, 1882:
Shortly after midnight they head back to the mine, where Louie agrees to stay and guard the sarcophagus while Morgana rides back to where they had left Arcade and the chests. The chests are slid onto the Floating Disk and then brought back to the mine prior to the spell elapsing where they are unloaded beside the sarcophagus. Arcade returns the horses to the El Parador then rejoins his wife and Louie in the mine where the doors are secured and they then go to sleep.
At 8:30 A.M. Sam wakes up Hank and Hans when he notices a trio of men a few hundred yards away and approaching, two humans and a dwarf, one armed with a rifle. Hans and Sam both strap on their side arms and exit the passenger compartment with Hans as the other trio approaches. The dwarf is the first to speak, pointing to the dirigible and says, “What the hell is that thing?” Hank replies, “A type of balloon. It is a secret weapon of the United States Army so don’t tell anybody.”
Sam asks the men who they are. The humans introduce themselves as Humphrey Lewis and Charlie Mearl and the dwarf as Torvald MacNaulty. Lewis and MacNaulty say that they are owners of the Fisk Mountain Mine, with mining operations on the opposite side of the mountain southeast of the valley. Mearl is one of their guards. The miners offer to bring over a fresh pot of hot coffee and some hot breakfast, which Hank happily accepts.
They spend the better part of the morning chatting with the miners and being shown a tour of the mining operations, which are still in their infancy although they have struck a rich vein of silver. The miners are noticeably impressed when they discover that the others are members of Arcade’s Gang. The miners give them an update of what is going on in town. Hank is concerned about Wyatt Earp and is relived to hear that he is temporarily away. Sam asks, “So, with him gone who is in charge.” “Sounds like we are,” Hank interjects. Lewis assures him that there is a pair of deputies, including Wyatt’s brother Warren.
Morgana gets her two companions up at around 9:00 A.M. She sends Louie over to the El Parador to get breakfast for the three of them and also to leave a message for Manuel Gonzales as to where they are. After breakfast Arcade gets his and three other horses and rides out to the dirigible to bring the others back to town. The miners and guards agree to guard the dirigible for them, which Hans makes sure is well secured with both the controls and compartment’s door locked up with chains and a padlock.
Around 10:30 A.M. they are all back together. They leave Hans with Louie to guard the artifacts while the others head over to the El Parador. Gambler Conrad Booth is enjoying his first meal of the day and approaches them, letting them know that he had been the one to meet with Judge Isby and has cleared up the misunderstanding with the wanted poster. He returns their passports to them. They think him for his efforts.
Gonzales soon joins up with them, lighting a candle and casting a spell to place a spell around their table giving them privacy. He is thrilled that they made it back safely to town. He becomes concerned when they tell of the French wizards and soldiers they had spotted in New Mexico. He says, “That’s a problem. They’ll soon realize they missed you and probably come here.” “Sounds like we have some unfinished business to take care of,” Arcade states.
Morgana asks about what to do with the items, mentioning where they are currently located. Gonzales says that the four trunks are not a problem, that he has somewhere safe within the building to put them and will get the employees of the El Parador to help him move them once it gets dark, adding that a heavy rainstorm is expected from noon until almost midnight so should also help to provide adequate cover for the transfer of the chests.
The sarcophagus is a different matter altogether and he suggests hiding it in a cave in Apache Territory where the Indians would not let the French find or get to. They will need to use the dirigible to move it, so will not be able to do so until well into the night once the lightning storm ends.
That plan will also give the group most of the day to rest, although there are currently no available rooms at the El Parador at the moment as a recent Dwarven Festival called Moradin’s Day has taken place and the inn is now full up with dwarves. Hearing that, Arcade decides that the deserted mine would probably be a better place to sleep anyways. Dorita offers to save them some rooms once the dwarves move out. “Well fumigated I hope,” Hank adds.
Louie announces that he is going to go visit his girlfriend Mary Wong. Hank says, “You’ve sure gone a long way just to get yourself slapped.” Morgana says, “I think he’s hoping to get kissed instead.” Gonzales shows him where the trunk of items for her has been placed. Louie drags the trunk over to the Wong house and knocks on the door. Mary’s father, Charlie Wong, answers the door. He takes one look at Louie and says, “Go away, we already got one,” he exclaims. “One what?” Louie says. “One everything, you go away,” he states.
Mary pops up in the room and expresses pleasure over Louie’s return and asks her father to let him in. Louie presents the chest, which he opens to show it filled with presents. Charlie reconsiders and lets him inside.
It rains for most of the afternoon. Morgana checks with her druid mentor, an elderly wood elf named Mother Jimenez and confirms that the storms will cease at 11:00 PM. They plan on sending Hans and Hank to ride back out to the Zeppelin at 10:00 PM to fly it to the mine just as soon as the storms cease. They also decide to bring along all of their weapons in case they decide to deal wit the French sodliers afterwards. The group sleeps for the afternoon. Gonzales arrives at the cave at around 6:00 PM, offering to watch after the artifacts while the group heads over to the El Parador for dinner.