AndyC

Sensation & Wonder: An Absolute Comics Roleplay [DC & Marvel One Universe Style Game]

Added a bit to Flash's CS, mostly a fashion montage of the various costumes he might break out.

Sensation & Wonder: An Absolute Comics Roleplay [DC & Marvel One Universe Style Game]

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L

T H E F L A S H

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^{_{Barry Allen ♦ Forensic Lab Assistant ♦ Central City, Kansas, USA ♦}}

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:

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^{"Flash Fact: force equals mass times acceleration. And nobody’s better at acceleration than me."}

My story’s one you’re probably all familiar with. Boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, boy watches his mother killed in front of him by a blur of yellow lightning, boy’s father is wrongfully imprisoned for murder, boy loses girl.

Years later, boy grows up and becomes a forensic sciences major in order to prove boy’s father was innocent, boy moves back home, boy meets girl again, boy gets a job at a crime lab for the same police department girl is writing an exposé on, boy falls for girl again. Boy gets caught up in an interdimensional resonance cascade at a high-concept super-science laboratory, boy can suddenly tap into an undiscovered force in the universe that lets him warp time and space around him to move at impossible speeds. Boy is enlisted by super-genius director of said laboratory as a proverbial guinea pig to push the boundaries of known physics, boy sees people in danger and goes off the beaten path to save them, boy begins an exciting and illustrious career fighting crime and saving people as the Fastest Man Alive.

Tale as old as time, right?

Well, I’ve been on the job for a few years now, and I’m dangerously close to having my act together. I got my BS and am working on my Masters degree. I finally moved out of Mr. Garrick’s garage and have an apartment to myself uptown. Captain West actually laughs at my jokes now…well, sometimes…once or twice. But he doesn’t stare daggers at me when I’m with Iris anymore. And speaking of Iris, I finally worked up the courage, and she said yes. And as the Flash, I’ve saved the city more times than I can count, even saved the whole world once or twice, though that’s usually as part of a team. I’ve got my own sidekick —Iris's nephew Wally— a trophy room packed with enough stuff that I could open my own museum, and I’m even on the Justice League! Like, main inner circle! I get to sit at the table with Superman and Batman and Wonder Woman! And they think I know what I’m doing! ….well, Batman probably doesn’t….

Still, even with things looking up, none of it’s guaranteed to stay that way. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that life comes at you fast. Lucky for me, fast is what I’m all about.

OOC Thoughts:
I’ll be honest, Flash hasn’t ever really been one of my favorites. Comic Barry has always been a bit of a snore, CW Barry started off fun and then fell off, and movie Barry is mostly irritating. However, there are two versions of the Flash that I absolutely love and will be drawing my inspiration from: Wally from the DCAU, and Byrd Man’s take on Flash from Ultimate DC way back in the day. Playing into the “dork in real life, swaggering adventurer in costume” archetype, I’m also infusing this version of Barry with bits of Spectacular Spider-Man, Archie and IDW’s take on Sonic the Hedgehog, and David Tennant’s run as the Doctor. Basically anyone who talks fast and banters a lot, but backs it up with genuine heroics.

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P L O T ( S ) & G O A L ( S ):

ROAMING CHARACTER

Rather than being a driving character, I want to take advantage of the Flash’s speed and his nature as a team player to primarily work doing crossovers and team-ups. While Barry definitely has his own things going on, I feel like he’s best served as part of an ensemble, so I plan on keeping his dance card open as much as possible.

C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:

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^{_{THE SPEED FORCE}}

Hider

If I had to explain the Speed Force, I'd say it's.....complicated. If you asked me to elaborate, I'd say it's very complicated. But if you twisted my arm and made me give you my notes, I'd say it's some facet of extradimensional reality that's both intrinsic to time-space as we know it while also being separate from it. Dr. Wells has all these theories about Hyperspace, Hypertime, the so-called 'Dark Energy' that's causing the expansion of all matter in the universe, and the Speed Force seems to be tied into all of them. For practical purposes, I can convert my body and the world around me into a sort of 'hyper-matter,' allowing me to move at relativistic speeds without all the messy business of relativity-- not to mention the physical limitations of air friction, escape velocity, and getting bugs in my mouth. The deeper I delve into it, the more of myself I convert, the faster I go, and the crazier stuff I can do.

It's useful, sure, but tapping into the Speed Force is also dangerous. Usually I sort of dip my toes into it, just enough to go about Mach 10 or so without accidentally peeling my skin off and launching my skeleton into orbit. Occasionally, I'll have to dig deeper, going larger and larger fractions of the speed of light, and when I do that, things get....weird. Time distorts, causality starts to break down, not to mention it leaves me feeling like hell in the aftermath. The deeper I go, the harder it is to come back to the real world. If I go all the way with it, completely convert over to the Speed Force, I could theoretically be everywhere all at once, but I don't think I'd ever come back.

^{_{CENTRAL AND KEYSTONE CITIES}}

Hider

A pair of twin cities smack in the middle of Kansas, Central City and Keystone City are the hearts of the Midwest. Not as fast-paced as New York, nowhere near as dangerous as Gotham, and a lot less out-there than the West Coast, the people here are as thoroughly middle-American as you can imagine, and the cities prided themselves in that, being the "normal" part of the country....at least, until it started getting invaded by psychic gorillas and bank robbers with freeze rays every other week.

Still, it's one of the nicer places to live, if you don't mind the occasional misfit of super-science rampaging down Main Street.

^{_{S.T.A.R. LABS}}

Hider

The largest scientific research and development facility in the world that isn't on a government payroll or sponsored by an eccentric billionaire, they're usually on the front lines when it comes to pushing the boundaries of science. While they've got locations all over the world, the Central City one is often my home away from home, where Dr. Wells and company help me understand my abilities, invent crazy new gear for me to try out, and most importantly, feed me intel on whatever crazy thing I'm facing on any given day.

^{_{SUPPORTING CAST}}

Iris West

Iris is a freelance journalist who broke off from the big corporate media monster a few years ago, and has been reporting independently on her own site ever since. She's absolutely fearless in exposing injustice and questioning authority, going after crooked cops and corrupt politicians just as often as she exposes crime bosses and supervillains. And in person, she's just...just the best. She's smart, funny, brutally honest, her confidence is astounding, and when she laughs she does this cute little thing where her nose wrinkles up and....well, I'm getting off track. Point is, she's the best thing that ever happened to me, and in a life filled with weird and unbelievable things, the most unbelievable of them all is that she chose me of all people.

Wally West

Wally is Iris's nephew, and at age fifteen he got pulled into the Speed Force during a particularly crazy encounter with Zoom. When I managed to pull him out, we found out he could now tap into the speed as well, and once I let him in on my secret identity, we started working together. For the past year, he's been running around as Kid Flash-- a name he hates, so I of course use it all the time. Wally's a great kid-- hilarious, clever, inventive, all traits I credit to him spending time around Iris. He might be a bit full of himself, and he loves to show off, but hey, when you've got it, you've got it.

Henry Allen

My dad, who I've visited once a week since I was eight. Since he was sentenced for a crime he didn't commit: killing my mom. I know he's innocent, and I know who's actually to blame, but unfortunately "Your Honor, it was actually a crazed super-villain from the future who framed him because he's obsessed with me and how my life affects the timeline he's from" wouldn't exactly hold up in court. Still, I'm never going to give up on him. I'll make sure he goes free, if it's the last thing I do.

Jay Garrick

Jay took me in while I was bouncing around as a foster kid, and was the one I ended up sticking with. Guy was a superstar race car driver back in the day, and did it all-- two Indy 500 wins, three Formula 1 Championships, two World Rally Championships, one NASCAR championship, a win at Le Mans, and holder of the land-speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats for twenty years. Sports Illustrated called him "The Fastest Man Alive," and I'll admit, I blatantly stole his nickname "The Flash." He didn't take me in just to show off his trophies and cars, though; since he retired, he's spent most of his money on helping troubled kids, and I guess he saw potential in me. Taught me the importance of pushing yourself, never giving up, to keep moving even when the track is slick and there's dangerous turns ahead. Nobody's ever going to replace my Dad, of course, but I don't think I'd be half of what I am today if it wasn't for Jay.

Dr. Harrison Wells

Dr. Wells is the director of Central City's branch of STAR Labs, and the one who first helped me figure out all of this Speed Force stuff. An expert in the far fringes of theoretical physics, he has a bad habit of paying more attention to the scientific consequences of whatever craziness is happening than he is with actually stopping it. But he's still my go-to guy when it comes to all things weird.

^_ENEMIES

The Rogues

I ran into each of these guys one-on-one when I was first starting out, and they've all kind of held a grudge ever since. First they used to act alone, but over time, they figured out it was better to work together, and formed an odd little gang, with their own 'code' and everything.

Their gimmicks are all pretty self-explanatory. Captain Cold has a freeze ray-- sorry, a cold gun, that's definitely a different thing. Captain Boomerang throws boomerangs. Mirror Master does tricks with mirrors and lasers and stuff. Heat Wave shoots heat rays, and doesn't like it when they team him up with Captain Cold for the obvious "fire and ice" thing. Weather Wizard controls the weater. And Trickster is basically the Joker without all of the stuff that makes the Joker scary.

Individually, they're all small fries. Working together, though, they've managed to make themselves properly dangerous.

Grodd

Grodd is....well, he's an angry psychic gorilla. I know that sounds stupid. And yeah, it is kinda stupid. But Grodd's also one of the most powerful telepaths in the world, on top of having a decent degree of super-strength and toughness that comes from being a giant gorilla. He's the brains and the brawn of any of his schemes, and he's come within a hair's breadth of world domination more than once.

Quicksilver

Oh God, this freakin' guy. One time, one time, I get involved with a conflict involving mutants, and the speedy one decides to take it personally and never lets it go. Look, he's not evil, he's just, well.....a dick. And he keeps finding himself on the wrong side of a lot of conflicts. And he's always running his mouth about me, calling me out for another race. Granted, he's one of maybe two people on Earth who can give me a run for my money, but man, what I wouldn't give to finally shut this guy's mouth.

Still, I'd rather deal with him than the other guy who can keep up with me....

Zoom

He picked the name, not me. Silly name aside, Zoom is the one guy I take deadly seriously whenever he pops up. He claims he's from a thousand years in the future, and is determined to make sure his future happens by constantly screwing with my present, and with my past. He's the one who killed my mom, who framed my dad, and who basically set me on my path to becoming the Flash. Unfortunately for him, whatever role he thinks he's playing in my "story," I'm going to make damn sure it ends with me stopping him once and for all.

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^_COSTUMES

Like any hero worth his salt, I've got a fairly decent wardrobe for all sorts of occasions.

Original "Mark I" Suit

This is what I came up with originally, made out of the same material as a firefighter's turnout. No bells and whistles, no fancy super-technology, just a mask and a logo and some bright colors. These days my old suit mostly just collects dust in the same storage unit where I keep my Flash 'trophies,' but I'll occasionally break it out if my regular suit needs repairs.

Standard "Mark II" Super-Suit

My current everyday, running-around crimefighting costume, this is the first one S.T.A.R. Labs made for me. It's made of some advanced tri-polymer to resist intense heat and cold, woven with synthetic diamond threads to deflect energy blasts (though nowhere near as good a defense as just getting out of the way), has a built-in comm link to keep in touch with S.T.A.R. Labs, a sensor system to monitor my vitals, GPS to navigate across long distances, and nano-seams to shrink it all down into an easy to carry ring when I'm not using it. It's peanuts compared to what a Tony Stark or a Lex Luthor can whip up, but as far as super-suits go, I'm happy with it.

Heavy Duty "Mark III" Combat Suit

This is what I usually end up wearing when the Justice League calls. It's got all of the protective qualities of my standard suit, with dwarf-star infused armor plates for impacts. More importantly, the circuitry in it allows me to safely dip deeper into the Speed Force, letting me open the throttle up even wider than usual. The downside is that the plates and circuitry can only be used for about an hour or so before they need replacing, and the whole thing is too ungainly to collapse into the ring for a quick-change. It's definitely a beefier suit that lets me take on bigger challenges, but it's not something I can break out all the time.

Experimental "Mark IV" Speed Force Suit

We haven't broken this one out yet, but Dr. Wells claims I can use this to fully immerse into the Speed Force and still come back in one piece. According to him, it'd let me phase between universes, travel through time, be in multiple places at once without causing a paradox. All sort of insane high-concept stuff that I struggle to get my mind around. Still, all of it's in theory, and to be honest, I'm a little nervous about ever actually trying it out.

Sensation & Wonder: An Absolute Comics Roleplay [DC & Marvel One Universe Style Game]

<Snipped quote by Hound55>

Was kinda hoping he'd go Thor. Avengers is going to need to go to Careers day at High School, try to drive some recruitment.

@Sep

If I went Thor, I'd be too tempted to make him "Superman with a different paint job." And I wanna distance myself from that.

Sensation & Wonder: An Absolute Comics Roleplay [DC & Marvel One Universe Style Game]

<Snipped quote by AndyC>

Hoping someone catches your fancy!

@Lord Wraith

Perhaps.

Stay tuned

Sensation & Wonder: An Absolute Comics Roleplay [DC & Marvel One Universe Style Game]

Eh, I'll spare the formalities and rescind. If I figure out another character I want to play, I'll jump back in.

Sensation & Wonder: An Absolute Comics Roleplay [DC & Marvel One Universe Style Game]

Without tipping my hand too much, I'm quite intrigued by the prospect of President Superman and would love to see what is planned there.

@Lord Wraith

So should I just go ahead and start working on a backup character then?

Sensation & Wonder: An Absolute Comics Roleplay [DC & Marvel One Universe Style Game]

Let's Give This A Go

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A L

S U P E R M A N

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^{_{Clark Joseph Kent / Kal-El ♦ Farmer, former journalist ♦ Smallville, Kansas, USA}}

C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:

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^{"You’re much stronger than you think you are"}

Born to a doomed world, Kal-El was sent away by parents he never knew, to a world that was strange and often unjust. By either the hand of some benevolent fate or an extraordinary stroke of luck, he was found by a loving couple, and in the summer of 1978, Jonathan and Martha Kent announced to the people of Smallville the birth of their new son Clark.

Over forty years have passed since his ship landed on Earth. For twenty of those years, he’s acted as a protector of the Earth, wearing the mantle of the Last Son of Krypton and using the name “Superman,” a title given to him by his at-the-time rival and eventual wife Lois Lane. Across his heroic career, Superman has been a lot of things: a vigilante, a social activist, a champion of the downtrodden, a force of nature, a one-man global superpower, a figure of endless controversy, a target of derision and mockery, a source of inspiration, a leader of fellow heroes, even a martyr to his adopted world.

The things that Clark is proudest of, however, are being a husband and a father.

Clark Kent has seen the world change time and time again…sometimes at his own hand. But his world changed once again recently, when his mother passed, leaving him the family farm. As his family gets used to their new life, Clark has to figure out how to manage his responsibilities to the world, be there for his son during difficult times (not to mention his cousin Kara, who is struggling in college), deal with the fact that he’s getting old, and accept that the challenges he faces aren’t getting any easier.

All in a day’s work, right?

P L O T ( S ) & G O A L ( S ):

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My goal with Superman isn’t to reinvent the wheel, but simply to make the best wheel I can. While he’s getting on up there in years, this isn’t a “sad old man feels bad about getting old” sort of deal. This is an experienced Clark, a happily married family man with a full supporting cast and rogues’ gallery up and running, taking full advantage of the utter craziness of Superman’s canon to really showcase the best elements of who he is and what he’s all about. While I do want him to have some driving plots, I also want to spend a good amount of time crossing over and interacting with other players, so he’ll have a very active role in the Justice League.

Ongoing plots:

The Super Slayer:

All over the world, dessicated corpses have been turning up near major landmarks, wearing red capes and the familiar S shield. When analyzed, these bodies appear to have Kryptonian DNA. They aren’t just dead men….they’re dead Supermen. Men of Steel from other worlds, being hunted down, murdered, and left for this world’s Superman to find. Who is behind these killings, why are they doing it, and can the Man of Tomorrow put an end to it? Or will he just be the next on the killer’s list?

Sympathy for the Devil:

In a decision that sent shockwaves through the world at large, the billionaire genius, former President of the United States, and notorious super-villain Lex Luthor was recently released from prison. In the years since his ignominious defeat at the hands of Superman, and the exposé by Lois Lane that outed him as a master criminal, Luthor has never repented, has refused any attempts at rehabilitation, has even published several manifestos from his prison cell. Until Superman’s death at the hands of the monster Doomsday, and his resurrection a year later, after which Lex claimed to have had an epiphany and changed his ways. Swearing to put his immense genius towards the good of humanity, Luthor once again has control of his corporate empire, and vows to make amends with his former nemesis. Can Superman really trust someone who has been so vile in the past? Can he forgive all the times Lex has tried to undermine and destroy him? Or is the self-proclaimed “Da Vinci of Crime” up to another one of his diabolical plots?

Bizarr-O-Geddon:

Ten years ago, the crazed Fifth Dimensional imp Mxyzptlk caused a tear in the fabric of reality, and the resulting warp created the Bizarro World, a cube planet where everything is a grotesque parody of Earth. After a harrowing battle with the Bizarro Superman, Clark was able to send the psychotic backwards world to an empty pocket of deep space, where the deranged duplicates could never harm anyone. Or so he had thought. Bizarros have been cropping up again, warping everything they touch, causing outbreaks across the world. And worst of all, deep space telescopes have detected a large, cube-shaped object entering the solar system at an alarming speed, apparently on a collision course with Earth.

C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:

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_{PRIMARY SUPPORTING CAST}
Lois-Lane Kent: Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, Clark’s wife and Jon’s mother
Jonathan Kent: Clark and Lois’s ten-year-old son, has just recently begun to display Kryptonian abilities
Kara Zor-El/Kara Danvers: Kal-El’s cousin from Krypton, 21, college student and five-year veteran as Supergirl
Jimmy Olsen: Lois’s photographer of choice, and on-and-off boyfriend of Kara Danvers
Krypto: The Kent Family’s dog, given super-powers after an encounter with Mr. Mxyzptlk
Lana Lang: Clark’s childhood sweetheart, now a teacher at Jon’s school in Smallville

_{ROGUE’S GALLERY}
Lex Luthor: Billionaire genius CEO, claims to have reformed after serving prison term
Brainiac: Malevolent Kryptonian AI, wishes to upgrade all organic life
General Zod: Usurper and dictator on Krypton, wants to conquer Earth and use humanity as breeding stock to repopulate his species
Mr. Mxyzptlk: Devious trickster entity from the Fifth Dimension. Seems to torment Superman for his own amusement
Toyman: Anarchic technophile. Obsessed with hijacking new technology and weapons to play with.
Metallo: Kryptonite-armed cyborg, originally created by the US military as an anti-Superman weapon before going rogue
Parasite: Life-draining aberration, absorbs the energy of anything he touches
Bizarro: Chaotic duplicate of Superman, created as part of one of Mr. Mxyztplk’s twisted games, ruler of the psychotic Bizarro World

Variety Hour: An Absolute Comics Roleplay

So.....is this thing still a thing?

Because I've got some old unfinished business with a certain half-demon witch girl and a certain alien princess roommate.

Deadlands: Tales o' the Weird West

IC is LIVE, everyone!

Deadlands: Tales o' the Weird West

Deadwood Mining Camp
Black Hills Region
Dakota Territory
April 5th, 1877

The regular bustle up and down the street's thoroughfare had grown to an eerie silence, as dozens of townsfolk stopped what they were doing to stare. The only sounds audible beyond the wind and the odd creaking of hanging sign were the squeaking of wagon wheels, and the irregular clopping of a horse's hooves.

The brown mare limped into town, snorting and heaving from exhaustion, its fur matted with dark blood stains. Flies buzzed over a nasty wound in its right flank, no doubt the cause of the animal's limp. Many more of those flies, however, swarmed across the body seated at the front of the wagon, head drooping to one side, mouth frozen in a permanent scream.

"What in God's name...." Sheriff Seth Bullock muttered to himself as he stepped out into the street, the crowd of gawking bystanders unsure of what to do. "Everyone....*ahem* everyone stay back! Someone get the Doc!"

A boy in the crowd, maybe twelve years old, nodded and broke out into a run towards Doc Cochran's practice. Bullock whistled to the wounded horse, trying to get it to come towards him as it listed aimlessly down the street. With his left hand, Seth held out an open palm, trying his best to soothe the animal. His right hand, however, was firmly on the grip of his pistol.

A year ago, Deadwood had its first brush with the strange and unnatural events that had been cropping up across the country. What seemed at first to be an outbreak of smallpox in the camp turned out to be something far more dangerous altogether, as those who died from the illness simply didn't stay dead. Since then, the folks of Deadwood and Seth Bullock in particular had done their best to prepare for the day that the otherworldly visited their camp again, while praying that it never did.

"That's it, that's it...." Bullock said gently as the horse approached him, snuffling his outstretched hand. "Nothin' to fear, girl."

A thin man in a bowler hat emerged from the corner building, approaching the Sheriff and the wagon.

"Everything all right, Seth?" Sol Star asked, his own hand subconsciously drifting towards the Derringer in his vest pocket.

"No," Bullock answered curtly. "We've got a dead man riding through our thoroughfare, so I'd say everything is not all right. Just need to know how bad it is. Think you can keep the horse from getting spooked?"

Sol nodded, not entirely confident.

"Good," Seth said before Sol could change his mind. "I need to see what's in this wagon. Maybe that'll tell us why this man died...."

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TWO HOURS LATER

"There's an old bit of Celestial wisdom," Al Swearengen began as he looked at the faces gathered in his office. "Rather, a curse. 'May you be born in interesting times.' I'm sure our esteemed friend Mister Wu could expound upon why this particular phrase is considered a curse by his people-- or at least he would if I could ever convince the man to speak a fuckin' word of English-- but I personally never found any ominous tones in such a saying."

Seth Bullock and Sol Star glared at Swearengen from the far corner, arms folded across their chests. They'd never liked the man, and had more than their fair share of conflicts with his operation, but over time, they'd worked out something of an understanding for the sake of the camp as a whole.

"You see, if there's any constant in the world, it's that nothing's constant," Al elaborated. "Everything changes sooner or later. Just when you think you've got your house sorted out, the winds start blowing in another direction and you've got to start all over again. Some people might look at that and see chaos. They might see it as dangerous, even downright fuckin' deadly. Me? I see it as opportunity after opportunity."

Down the hall, a woman's voice cried out in high-pitched squeals of exaggerated ecstacy. Al rolled his eyes.

"Johnny, would you mind going to room four and reminding Lucy that our establishment is not a God damned opera house? I'm in the middle of something and I'm finding it exceedingly difficult to hear myself think over her hamming it up for the customers." Johnny Burns, one of Al's lackeys, nodded urgently and scrambled out the door, his lanky limbs practically fumbling over themselves as he nudged past the others. "Now then....where was I?"

"Opportunity," Joanie Stubbs, owner of the Bella Union saloon and Al's chief competitor, chimed in. "And what exactly this has to do with a dead man riding into our camp."

"Y-y-yes," E.B. Farnum, ostensibly Deadwood's mayor but very much another one of Al's lackeys, sputtered. "I-I was wondering wh-what exactly is going on here, Al. Th-there's panic grown in the camp."

"There's always panic in the fuckin' camp," Al spat. "Ever since last year's unpleasantness, the goddamn hoople-heads have been jumping at their own shadows. What you're about to hear does not leave this room until we have a plan on how to deal with it. If anyone lets slip, I'll cut every last one of you myself, then do your families and friends just to make sure."

"Big fuckin' talk, as always," sneered Jane Canary, who had once worked as one of Al's dancers before coming under the wing of the legendary Wild Bill Hickok. In the past year, "Calamity Jane" had become a legend in her own right hunting unnatural creatures throughout the Black Hills. "I ain't scared o' you no more, Al. I'll tell whoever the fuck I want--"

"I d-don't think that's necessary, Miss Jane," stammered A.W. Merrick, the owner of the camp's sole printing press and newspaper. "But Al, if there's a threat to the public at larger, maybe we should--"

"Not. A. Fucking. Word." Al repeated. "Now, before this conversation gets completely out of hand, Sheriff Bullock, if you would be so kind as to show everyone here why I am so insistent on the lot of you exercising some caution."

Seth exchanged looks with Sol, shrugged, and moved towards the desk, producing a small burlap sack.

"We were able to identify the body as one of the miners," he began, "A fella who only went by 'D.B.' No family in the camp, no close friends, only a few friends at the No. 10 Saloon. Seems he came here looking for gold. What he found, though...."

Opening the bag, Seth poured the contents onto Al's desk. A handful of pitch-black stones, criss-crossed with veins of sickly glowing green.

"My God," Stubbs exclaimed, "....is that--"

"Ghost Rock," Bullock answered with a nod. "His wagon is full of it. Enough to buy a mansion in the hills..."

"Or burn down a city," Sol added.

Ghost Rock was a mineral only discovered after the Great Quake of '68 on the West Coast. It burned far hotter than coal, and could be used as a power source for contraptions beyond the wildest imagination. As the war between the North and South dragged on, both sides were looking for any edge over their enemies, which meant that these days a fistful of Ghost Rock was worth nearly ten times its weight in gold.

"...s-so....that makes us rich, d-don't it?" Farnum asked sheepishly.

"It makes us all fucked, is what it makes us," Swearengen answered, "Unless we play this very carefully. The second word gets out that there's a vein of Ghost Rock this size out here, the camp is going to be swarming with outsiders. Blue Coats, Gray Coats, scientists, mystics, Mormons, you name it. And that's just the folks who'll be coming here willingly. This stuff does things to people, calls out to 'em like it's got a mind of its own. You mark my fuckin' words, before this day is out, we're going to see people wanderin' into Deadwood that we've never seen before, who have no idea that the rock is even here. There is going to be blood on the streets that'll make last year's disaster look like a spring dance. And we have to decide, here and now, how we're going to deal with it."

"...I suppose," Bullock began, "I can start looking for deputies. People who can help keep the peace."

"I believe between the two of us," Stubbs said to Al, "our girls can get an information exchange going, find all about any newcomers and their secrets before they get out of line."

"I-I-I can hold of any, um, 'ambassadors' from the Yankees and Rebels, and t-tell you what they tell me," Farnum added.

"I ain't helpin' you with shit, Al," Jane scowled. "But if Bullock needs me to put a critter down, I can get a posse together."

"And, of course, I can keep the town notified of any events or opportunities," Merrick added. "At least, those you see fit to print."

"Well, I suppose that settles it, then," Al sighed, opening a drawer on his desk and producing a bottle of swill. "To interesting fuckin' times."