[Savage Colonial Gothic] Adventure, the first

December, 2012.

Conrad Waxman is a college student at NYU and Rutgers (Newark). He sees a man at an Amerind anthropology presentation at MOMA who gives him the creeps. Throughout the talk, the creepy man keeps looking at him. Walking home, he notices he's being followed and diverts to his friend Bob Peabody's lab, 3 blocks away from his SoHo loft. Bob is a fellow history buff and re-enactor and has Conrad's kit.

Bob tells Conrad he made a breakthrough in 'temporal studies' and can send stuff back in time/space. At least it has worked with some test items, including a small white mouse! A horrific magical beast, a Wendigo, attacks the lab by smashing through the security glass, ripping out bars, and coming in through window. The creepy guy from the presentation is guiding the Wendigo, shouting at Waxman, "At last, after so long, you're finally mine!" Bob shoots the monster with a flintlock pistol and pushes Conrad towards the basement, grabbing equipment, including Conrad's kit, on the way.

Barring the lab door and setting controls on a strange machine and pushing Conrad into it, Bob starts loading his rifle. The Wendigo breaks through security door to basement, takes the rifle from Bob and shoves it through him. Bob's dead body is thrown onto the controls of the machine right as it activates.

June 17, 1775

Ezekiel Theodore Hollinsworth III and Samuel Picket are watching the battle of Bunker Hill from a distance. The two are cousins, with Samuel the older at 26 to Ezekiels 20. They hear a thunderclap overhead and turn around just in time to see Conrad Waxman fall on his ass behind them. Samuel goes to help the man up as Ezekiel looks around the sky for the thunder clouds.

They all get acquainted, then Samuel and Ezekiel notice that the battle turns against the Americans as they run out of ammunition. They both agree that it's time to leave as the militia withdraws. Ezekiel witnesses General Warren being killed in the fourth Red Coat wave of the assault. As they leave, they encounter a squad of British Regulars along the main path and run off the trail into the woods, getting shot at but escape with no injuries.

Things start quickly not adding up with Ezekiel and Samuel about Waxman, such as the strange clothes, the Jansport mountain hiking back pack, and the iPod that accidentally comes on when they're running from the Redcoats. The weak and transparent excuses on Waxman's part does not help.

A few miles later they come to a copse of trees, and Waxman is encouraged to change into some less conspicuous garb. Some commentary on his Rutgers sweatshirt and his "Historians do it in the stacks!" t-shirt takes place , as well as inspection of some of his items, most notably a coin with the date 1978 on it and a fine Colonial Officer's jacket that hasn't been put in use yet.

Also, his rifle is very much an excellent piece, better made and worth a lot more than either of their firearms and he fobs off an explanation on that as the rifle was a bequest from his father. Once he is reclothed they go into the Natick Tavern for a pint or two, see Sally the Busty Barmaid and get some nice garlic sausages.

While Waxman goes to the privy, the iPod chirps up again with Judas Priest "Breaking the Law", followed by Billy Idol "I Don't Need a Gun." Ezekiel and Samuel think it may be a snuff box with a man's soul trapped in it. A rather rough and evil-looking villain notices the music from the bar and Samuel and Ezekiel close ranks quickly under his watchful gaze.

The party leaves just before twilight, and in the darkening evening, they're followed by two men, one a very large man and the other the fellow from the bar. Samuel asks Waxman if his rifle is loaded and proceeds to load it for him as they walk along. Just before a sharp bend to the right in the road a lantern flares - a signal to the footpads behind them.

The party break for the woods on the right, inside the corner with the footpads behind in hot pursuit as the accomplice ahead with the lantern fires a pistol shot, missing.

As soon as they get into the treeline, a fourth assassin fires a musket at almost point-blank range at Samuel . He returns fire, taking off the top of the shooter's head. Ezekiel turns and shoots the larger of the two who followed from the tavern and kills him right dead. The fellow in front of the group drops his musket and swings a tomahawk at Waxman, who manages not to die.

Ezekiel calls to Samuel to take Waxman's rifle, as he's unsure of Waxman's ability to get the job done, but Samuel calls to Waxman and says "can you do it?" Waxman takes down the fourth bandit. Yet another footpad makes a break for it and tries to run, as Ezekiel starts reloading. Samuel drops his rifle, draws knife and tomahawk and pursues him. He trips, and is caught by Samuel. Waxman follows while Ezekiel finishes loading his gun and then catches up with Samuel.

In the dark woods, it's thought that the robber threw something away, so, to the obvious upset of Samuel and the amazement of Waxman, Ezekiel conjors up a magical light using MAGIC as Waxman draws his Maglight from his pack. The third assailant (the one with the pistol) has run away by this time and no-one ever saw what he looked like. The remaining assailant is interrogated, and his discarded small cannon-barrel pistol is found, he recognizes Waxman's Maglight with a few words , and is extremely and unforgivably profane with Samuel , who strikes him with the tomahawk handle into unconsciousness.

Samuel strips the man and As Samuel searches him, he finds an object about 3 inches long embedded under the skin of his left arm. At about the time he realizes the object is there, he feels it give way under his rough grasp and the assailant disappears in a thunderclap, much like the one that was heard that heralded Waxman's appearance.

This freaks out Ezekiel and Samuel. Samuel is faced with a disappeared man, a cousin who can do magic and a stranger with weird demons in a snuff-box and is very upset. Ezekiel says to Waxman "We're going to have a talk later and you're going to start telling the truth" with a calm cocking back of the musket hammer. Nobody says much after that.

Finally that night, they get to Ezekiel's room over the print shop in Acton. Samuel drinks Ezekiel's skunking ale from the morning.

Thus this episode ends.