Kingsport 1844: The Burnt Sawmill

37) The Burnt Sawmill
1 Mile Towards Arkham. Est. 1751

A) Hooper’s Mill
Abandoned for a generation, the Burnt Sawmill is located at a twist along Hooper Creek, and consists of a stone millhouse adjacent to a wooden sawmill. The mill straddles the creek, which is shunted through a wooden trough and directed over the paddlewheel. The wheel was once painted a bright red, but the paint has faded and chipped, and the wheel has become jammed by accumulated refuse. Inside the mill are rotting pieces of timber, and a large vertical saw blade rusted in place. The stone millhouse also straddles the creek, which runs through its basement. The ground floor is cold and damp, and long given over the elements; the second floor was gutted by fire several years ago.

B) Preparations
The trip from the Old Powderhouse to the Burnt Sawmill takes half an hour. The journey is quiet except for the sounds of the surrounding woods, alive with insects and the occasional hooting of an owl. The moon is waning gibbous, and the Keeper should consult the weather to determine the temperature and cloud conditions—there may even be some fog curing around the tree trunks.

Upon arriving at the sawmill, Jane hands out canvas bags cut with crude eyeholes, and helps her crew tighten them around their necks with lengths of twine. Unfortunately, the hoods hamper visibility, and any action requiring sight is subjected to a –5% penalty, including Spot Hidden, Shooting, and Dodge rolls. Of course, the hoods may be removed, but if any Ghoul shows his or her face, the Liberty Bells must be murdered to prevent a gang war. Jane crouches behind a rock opposite the sawmill, while Biter Cabot hides behind a rotting pile of lumber. The player characters may distribute themselves as they see fit, with the Keeper noting their locations and secretly assigning Stealth modifiers.

Alabama Dan
Unbeknownst to the player characters, Alabama Dan is prone on the charred roof with his Kentucky Rifle, covered by a dark horse blanket. Obviously the Ghouls will not mention this to Morgan; although they don’t plan on betraying the blacksmith, Dan’s presence is a welcome ace-in-the-hole no matter how the deal goes down!

C) Arrival of the Wagon
Around 1:30 am, a lonely lantern appears in the east, swaying as the wagon negotiates the bumps and pits along the road from Kingsport. Twenty yards from the sawmill, the wagon is revealed as a simple buckboard drawn by a single horse. The driver is a rough-looking man dressed in a slouch hat and a black alligator coat. A Hard Spot Hidden roll notices the coach gun holstered under the driver’s box. Two passengers sit in the wagon’s back, trading a smoking cheroot and guarding the cargo, which is covered by a canvas tarp. One carries a Springfield musket, the other is gripping a fireman’s axe.

Three Illsley Liberty Bells

Combat

Skills
Appraise 30%, Art/Craft (Firefighting) 75%, Climb 60%, Fast Talk 40%, First Aid 50%, Intimidate 75%, Jump 70%, Leadership 30%, Listen 30%, Persuade 40%, Psychology 15%, Renown 10%, Sleight of Hand 45%, Spot Hidden 50%, Stealth 40%, Survival 60%, Swim 15%, Throw 75%.

Possessions: Each man has 1D10 dollars.

Description
These burly toughs are paid by the Illsley Shipyard to maintain security, collect debts, strong-arm opponents, and occasionally put out fires. The driver’s name is Robert Sawyer, a veteran of the Second Seminole War who lost three of his fingers to a Seminole tomahawk. The man holding the fireman’s axe is Beck Holloway, known for the scar across his face and his tendency to demand “favors” from the women he rescues. He used to run with an Arkham gang called the Bad Water Boys, but after the Crow Warlocks pushed them from town, Holloway relocated to Kingsport. The “brains” of the outfit is Wayland West, a former Crow Warlock and the Liberty Bells’ connection to the Arkham gang. His M1822 Springfield is locked and loaded, and he keeps a .30 caliber Elgin “cutlass pistol” in his boot.

D) The Robbery
If all goes according to plan, Morgan steps out and announces the robbery. He is immediately followed by Biter Cabot and Hurricane Jane, their pistols aimed at the Liberty Bells. Alabama Dan remains hidden, and other player characters must decide whether to step forward or remain hidden as well. If Morgan gets cold feet, Biter Cabot spits an oath and takes over his role, attempting to disguise his voice.

Stealth
All three Liberty Bells are allowed a free Spot Hidden roll to detect concealed characters. Alabama Dan is exempt from this; he remains hidden underneath his blanket, the muzzle of his rifle darkened with lampblack. Each Liberty Bell opposes his Spot Hidden against the player’s Stealth; however the Keeper should modify this based on the hidden characters’ positions, rewarding concealed players with one or even two D10 bonus dice. If a concealed character is spotted, the Liberty Bell calls out his position—“There’s another cocksucker on top of the waterwheel, boys!”

Combat: Leland Morgan’s Opium War

The Keeper should play this scene as tensely as possible, à la Sergio Leone or Quentin Tarantino. Remember, all the firearms have only one shot, and there’s no time to reload. The Liberty Bells don’t want to surrender their cargo and the Ghouls don’t want to kill anyone; it can go any number of ways, and the Keeper must remain flexible. Here are a few possible scenarios:

Peaceful
If there are enough guns trained on the Liberty Bells, the Keeper may allow Morgan to make an Intimidate roll with a +1D10 bonus die. The firemen surrender their weapons and submit to being hogtied in the sawmill’s damp basement. The horse is separated from the cart and driven into the woods, and the cargo is “liberated.”

Hostile
If Morgan’s Intimidate roll fails, or of the Keeper decides she’d like additional drama, Sawyer may lunge for his shotgun and West open fire with the Springfield. Both Liberty Bells make Sleight of Hand rolls. A success allows the character to shoot first in the round, no matter the Dexterity of the other characters. On the other hand, a failure forces the character to shoot last. Otherwise Initiative proceeds as usual, with Alabama Dan sniping the most aggressive Liberty Bell from the roof. (The Keeper should remember that one of the player character’s pistols is unloaded.)

Bloodbath
Of course, the Keeper may decide to host a bloodbath! If this occurs, the first round of Initiative unfolds as described above. After the opening gunplay is over, mêlée proceeds. Biter Cabot rips off his hood and starts biting, Hurricane Jane uses her razor, and Alabama Dan takes the required three rounds to reload his Kentucky Rifle. Holloway jumps down swinging his axe. West draws and fires his Elgin pistol, then uses the blade. Sawyer inverts his coach gun and uses the brass-capped butt as a cudgel.

In the event of a bloodbath, the Keeper is advised to show mercy on the player characters. After all, killing Morgan or Dixon during the first few sessions is hardly good for the scenario in the long run! That doesn’t mean they can’t be wounded, or receive some form of permanent injury like a blasted finger or severed ear. The Powderhouse Ghouls fight until the Liberty Bells are dead. Their corpses are looted, then weighted with rocks and sunk in the millpond. Although the Keeper is encouraged to keep at least one Ghoul alive, dead Ghouls are given the same treatment, with everyone pledging a vow of silence—“What, Jane? Last I saw, she was at the Diving Bell. Went off with some dago, haven’t seen her since.”

The Booty
Once the deed is done, the treasure may be examined. It proves to be three boxes of Indian spices, two crates of Chinese porcelain, a bolt of Chinese silk, one crate of tea, two barrels of Madeira, and a crate of “chow chow”—miscellaneous Chinese goods such as patterned  fans, silver eggs spoons, and lacquered jewelry boxes. There’s also a mango-wood chest stamped with the mark of the British East India Company.

Upon seeing the chest, Jane hoots excitedly—“Boys! This ain’t no Turkish shite!” Biter pries open the lid to expose forty balls of opium, stacked into two racks of twenty each. Jane triumphantly confirms the discovery—“That’s Patna opium, straight out of Calcutta, courtesy of the East India. Best there is. Some Illsley was up to no good, I can tell you that!” An Appraise roll places the Canton value of the chest around $600–$800, a price that can be quadrupled on the American black market. A second Appraise roll values the remaining cargo at $2000. (Unless, of course, a missed gunshot shattered the porcelain or put a hole in the Madeira…)

Aftermath
Needless to say, the Ghouls are delighted by the lucrative haul! The imported goods and “chow chow” will be fenced, and the opium divided into manageable amounts and sold locally—“That druggist chap is good for two balls at least, and he don’t ask questions!” If Morgan surrenders $20, he’s given half a ball, cheerfully divided using Biter’s knife. Jane tells him to bring $20 dollars to the Old Gibbet at noon on October 31, and she’ll have the remaining half. (See “Leland Morgan’s Opium War, Part 3” under Encounter 39, “The Old Gibbet.”) However, if Morgan forks over the remaining $20, he’s given the whole ball—“So you brought all your tin, eh? How trusting of you, mate! But that’s fine, we can conclude our business now.” If Morgan insists that his role in the robbery was sufficient payment, a Regular Persuade roll earns him a 50% discount, a Hard success allows him to keep his money, and an Extreme success wins him an extra three-pound ball! Of course, this depends on Morgan’s performance during the robbery, and the Keeper should adjust his Persuade roll accordingly. If he becomes pushy, Jane rebukes him sharply—“We’re giving you Canton prices here, mate. I can sell this ball for $100 easy-peasy. So watch your fuckin’ tongue.”

If the robbery went poorly, or if any Ghoul was slain, the exchange may be less good-natured. However, as long as Morgan and his associates didn’t act cowardly or betray the Ghouls, they remain level-headed. Any pushback about the unloaded pistol or the presence of Daniel Petty is greeted with a shrug—“You’d have done the same, sailor.” Jane collects the Harpers Ferry pistols, but the player characters are welcome to claim any of the Liberty Bells’ weapons, including the rare Elgin pistol (Handout: Elgin “Cutlass” Pistol). Sawyer’s alligator coat is awful pretty, too.

Needless to say, news of the robbery won’t make the Kingsport Chronicle. If Jane’s ploy was successful, the Crow Warlocks lay the blame on “Illsley sailors” tipped off by the Liberty Bells, whether deliberately or accidentally. If the robbery was less than perfect, the Keeper may determine the political outcome between the three gangs. If Donovan Wreck or Mr. Lovejoy hear about the robbery, they may be forced to execute Jane, Biter, and/or Dan as a peace offering to the Bells and Warlocks. However, because the player characters are only in Kingsport for a few more days, they should escape any potential fallout.

White Leviathan > Chapter 1—Kingsport 1844
[Back to Encounter 36, The Old Powderhouse | White Leviathan TOC | Forward to Encounter 38, Valentine & Howell Gun Shop]

Author: A. Buell Ruch
Last Modified: 16 June 2023
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
White Leviathan PDF: [TBD]