Dead Man's Promise Session 1-3: Shootout
Alfonso Puma clashes with The Bloody Rose
Dead Man’s Promise: Bounty Hunter is available at https://darkmirrormedia.itch.io/dead-mans-promise-bounty-hunter
The sun hung low over the wastes. Heat shimmered off the sands, and his boots sent up small clouds of dust with each step.
The tracks were easy to follow, if exhausting. The coach wheels had bitten deep into the earth. Alfonso trailed along as the red sun slowly sunk, his stomach growling, his tongue swollen and coarse.
“Brightfang” Roland Grimes had married Penelope, and he let the law catch him in an attempt to save her, but it didn’t work. They were both arrested. Brightfang had a talent to recruit fey—usually loners—into his gang. He understood their fears and hungers. He could make them feel seen and gave them a purpose.
Then he orchestrated crimes that enriched them, always one step ahead of his pursuers.
As dusk settled deeper into the badlands, the overturned coach creaked in the wind, splintered wood jutting like broken bones. No horses around, living or otherwise.
Alfonso crept closer. The buzzing of flies got louder as he reached the three bodies with cuts and slash wounds marking their death.
Moving past the ambush site, avoiding sun-bleached oxen skulls, Alfonso followed two pairs of faint footprints. They petered out after a few minutes, but lead into a canyon wall with a few scattered cigarette butts. Tents made of stolen lumber and wagon canvas hugged the wall.
Alfonso drew his gun and approached a small fire, spitting and cracking in the distance.
Like a ghost out of his tortured past, Penelope “The Bloody Rose” Grimes materialized in front of him. Her smile, long chestnut hair, and amber eyes burning over the fire flashed memories of his wife in his mind.
He should have known that marrying a fey would end in tragedy. They whispered behind his back, then to his face, then avoided and cast him out altogether.
And when hunters killed her, even without her ever committing a crime, a light went out inside him. He tracked and killed the craven group of murderers, but nothing filled the void left by true love lost. Alfonso became a pariah, disgracing the Puma name.
The gun rattled in his trembling hand. Could she had revived to heal his broken spirit, wished back to life through the chaos in his mind?
He sneered, eyes wide like a madman. No, his light was gone forever, and his penitence was to walk the earth with memories that burned his soul like open wounds.
Penelope was a fey, and the heart of a fey deserved only the kiss of a bullet. Sinner against sin.
With a jolt of resolve, Alfonso raised his gun. But the sun had set, the moon was out, and the night was theirs.
A scorching pain trailed across his back, hot and sharp, ripping off clothes, skin, and muscles. His scream echoed in the canyon as the force of the blow threw him off his feet. Alfonso crashed against the hard ground, his ribs cracking. Nausea engulfed him and his vision darkened, but he never let go of the gun. Not even when Penelope stepped on his hand and Roland howled, claws poised for pouncing.
The pain flared repeatedly as they tore his body apart. As his consciousness faded, he let the dark and the cold embrace him, setting him free of his curse.
Cards drawn
Alfonso: 8
Penelope: 21
Roland: 21
If either character wins by a margin of 10 or more, the other character dies.
Alfonso Puma opened his eyes, getting used to the surrounding brightness. An extended hand came into focus, and the smile behind it soothed him. As he took the offering, all his torment and grief washed away in a wave of acceptance.
Maybe there was some peace to be found, after all.
If you died, well, it’s a good thing a beautiful young woman dressed all in white found you face down in the desert sand. Meet your new traveling companion, Seline Argent, and end the game.
Notes
Well, that was a terrible draw.
Even dying immediately on my first session, I really enjoyed my time playing Dead Man’s Promise. The game gets exactly right the feeling of tracking and hunting a werewolf bandit in the wild west.
It’s strange to write a story like this. I have to relinquish control of the narrative and be at the mercy of dice and cards. This is not a novel, but an RPG session—random is a feature, not a bug.
I hope you still find it entertaining, though. Sometimes catharsis will disappear in the badlands, and all we have is a gritty tale with no redemption.
I intend to play again and continue the story in Cross. An estranged younger brother might come into the town looking to become a hunter…
Thank you very much for reading. I hope it sparks an interest in the game for you.
Learn more about the game here and support the creator.
A rough draw, If I'm understanding right, even if the other fey hadn't arrived, poor Alfonso would have met his end. He seemed to have a bit of a death wish haha. Looking forward to reading the next write up!