Steamfunkateers

by Balogun Ojetade

  Patty Cannon is a slave trader who kidnaps free Black people and fugitive slaves to sell into slavery in the Deep South. She is the leader of what is known as the Reverse Underground Railroad. Patty bought Douglass from the slavers who captured him, then sold him to John Crenshaw.

  Milton Davis is an astrologer in Galveston who earned his freedom from slavery. He works with the members of the Abandoned to help slaves escape, and he commands a small army of Street Sparrows who can guide characters stealthily almost anywhere in the city.

  Lucretia Mott runs a mortuary that disposes of the corpses of slaves, but she’s also secretly a member of the Abandoned who smuggles escaped slaves out of Galveston.

  Kevin Kennedy is an owner of Mandingo-Fighting slaves and a follower of Adelphon, the God of White Supremacy. He bought Douglass from John Crenshaw and intends to sacrifice the statesman to the evil god, after torturous alterations are made to Douglass’ body and mind.

  John Crenshaw is an owner and trainer of Mandingo-Fighters. He bought Douglass from Patty Cannon, then sold him to Kevin Kennedy. Although he’s completely amoral, Crenshaw will help the characters if their interference will harm his competitor.

  George B. Cheever is a homeless street preacher who rants against the evils of slavery in Galveston. He is the ultimate key to finding Douglass before it is too late.

  Beginning the Adventure

  The adventure begins in New York. The PCs have been brought to New York by airship, by train, by carriage, by steam car, or on horseback, velocipede, or bicycle, depending on their distances from New York City just before the adventure begins.

  The player characters are approached by Jimmy McCune, who brings a message from his boss, Jeremiah G. Hamilton, a man of considerable influence and importance among Black people worldwide and among whites in America. Hamilton wants to see the PCs immediately to offer them a job. McCune explains that Jeremiah G. Hamilton is a powerful leader, a good man to have on your side or in your debt. He needs mercenaries that can’t be linked to him for an important task. McCune wants the characters to come with him immediately; time is pressing.

  Hamilton’s Mansion

  Hamilton’s mansion is a “palace” of great splendor. The parlor alone is a capacious, mahogany-columned hall. Tables, benches, and a fireplace are arrayed near the center of the room. A thick, white polar bear fur sits on the polished granite floor, a few feet from the fireplace. At the end of the room opposite the single entrance, an impressive, oxblood leather chair stands beneath the mounted head of a dire wolf. Seated on that chair is a man wearing a navy blue wool suit and a fur coat made from the dire wolf’s pelt.

  Jeremiah G. Hamilton is a tall man and still impressively powerful despite his short gray hair and manicured gray beard. He wastes no time on pleasantries as the characters approach.

  A dark mood hangs over the entire parlor, but especially on the man wearing the dire wolf coat, whose chin rests heavily on a tightly-clenched fist. You’re only halfway across the room when he speaks loudly without raising his head. “My dearest friend, Frederick Douglass, has been captured by the Army of the Trans-Mississippi and taken to Galveston, and I need someone to bring him back—bold mercenaries not of my company, who won’t be recognized as my people in that cursed city.

  “What you have to do is simple: travel to Galveston, pick up Frederick’s trail, and buy him back. Don’t let anyone know you’re working for me, or they won’t let him go. Just make a quiet business transaction. That’s what these bastards understand.

  “Once Frederick is safely home, then our thoughts of deep revenge can take form. For now, just bring him home. Bring him back to me, so he can go on serving his people, and your honor and reward will be great.” Then he dismisses you with a wave toward Jimmy McCune and sinks again into somber meditation.

  McCune draws the characters aside at that point and gives them the specifics. The characters are offered $1000.00 in gold apiece (around $15,500.00 today) as pay for the job.

  One-fifth will be paid up front, the rest when Douglass is brought back. He must be alive, or there will be no further payment. McCune emphasizes that besides the monetary reward, Jeremiah G. Hamilton is a powerful and generous man to his friends and allies. In addition to their up-front payment, he provides them with $2000.00 in gold to purchase Douglass’ freedom. They’re expected to bring back a receipt and return whatever gold is left over.

  Douglass was captured two weeks ago while speaking in Delaware. One of his companions eluded the slavers and followed them to their airship, where he heard them saying their cargo bay was full and they were flying straight to Galveston to sell their catch. It took Douglass’ friend eleven days to make his way back to Hamilton and report, so the slavers now have a two-week head start. The airship was named Storm Racer.

  Jimmy McCune also recommends that before the PCs depart for Galveston, they meet with a man named Newton Knight, who lives among the Blacks and Native Americans in Willow Marsh, the swamps near Galveston even though he’s not kin. Knight is wise in the ways of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi, and he might have useful advice for the characters.

  The Ex-Slaver

  Newton Knight is short, swarthy, and has dark, darting eyes. His lodge is indistinguishable from any other in the marsh from the outside, but inside, the collection of exotic weapons and other oddities on the walls and shelves makes it obvious the resident has traveled widely across the country. Jimmy McCune, who flies with the PCs to Texas, introduces Knight to the characters as “someone who knows the evil business you’re about to delve into.” Knight explains unapologetically that he fought with the Army of the Trans-Mississippi “when I was young and didn’t know any better.”

  He hasn’t stepped foot in the city of Galveston in 7 years, so Knight can’t offer much specific advice about the city. He advises characters that they should be able to get information about Storm Racer from the Air-Harbor Master, but Douglass probably will already be sold by the time characters arrive. They can track legal sales through the Master of Accounts at the central market, but most city officials won’t show much courtesy, or provide assistance to anyone Black.

  Most importantly, if they run into trouble, they must not place any trust in city bureaucrats or guild officials. Instead, he offers this advice.

  “Your first friend in Galveston is an astrologer who calls himself Milton Davis. He was a slave who bought his own freedom. If he’s still alive, my name should get you in the door and let you explain your needs.

  “If you find yourselves truly in desperate straits, you must seek out the followers of the Abandoned. They specialize in helping escaped slaves and other fugitives reach freedom. They can get you out of Galveston even with the whole city hunting you. If you need their help, go to the swamp-side mortuary and ask for ‘The Pearl Coffin’. I can’t guarantee that’ll still work, but it did seven years ago.

  “Whatever you do, protect that information with your life. Because they undermine slavery, the Abandoned are the most wanted criminals in Galveston. The Army of the Trans-Mississippi would pay handsomely for their heads—or for yours, if they suspected the knowledge of how to find the Abandoned was inside.”

  Traveling To Galveston

  An airship is the quickest way to reach the city. Luckily, Hamilton owns several. If the characters can handle an airship, they can borrow one for the mission. If not, McCune will fly the characters to Galveston, drop them at the air-harbor like any other passengers, and spend the next few days nervously pretending to be a slave in search of cargo for his master. You can create encounters with pirates or creatures along the way, or jump straight to Galveston.

  ACT I: CITY OF SHACKLES

  When the PCs arrive in Galveston, read:

  Galveston makes its presence known from many miles away. It is a coastal city and port off the southeast coast in the State of Texas. It also lies on the northwestern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. A gray haze of smoke hangs over the city throughout the day, giving way to a sullen
red glow at night. A pyramid-like fortress towers over one end of the city, and the spires of an elegant mansion rise above the opposite end. The airship port lies along the southern bank of the coast.

  The Moses River crosses the northern edge of the city before flowing into the western end of a long inlet. The river mouth is marshy and pestilential, a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other swarming insects that literally darken the sky at the height of their hatching seasons. Huge, slow-burning pyres are continually stoked throughout the city to create a pall of smoke that drives away the clouds of voracious mosquitoes. Most of the city stands on slightly elevated ground as the city is actually an island surrounded by the sea.

  The smoky pyres burn year-round and create a perpetual haze over the city; but residents agree that being choked and blinded by the smoke is preferable to being devoured by the mosquitoes. The pyramid fortress of the powerful and the spires of the Bishop’s Palace can be seen from most points in the city, making them twin lodestars for those trying to get their bearings.

  Law and Order

  Despite its well-deserved sinister reputation, Galveston is a city with typical laws against assault and murder. Characters who carve a trail of corpses, injured witnesses, and collateral damage through the city are likely to run afoul of Galveston’s authorities, which could lead to the characters being enslaved themselves as punishment. Most of Galveston’s law enforcers are typical constables, but they have tougher soldiers to call on when adventurers cause trouble.

  Standard patrol (1,600 XP): 1 soldier, 4 constables

  Tough patrol (4,350 XP): 3 soldiers, 3 constables

  Riot squad (8,550 XP): 2 soldiers, 1 chaplain, 10 thugs

  Storm Racer

  Characters who begin their search for Douglass by looking for the ship that brought him to Galveston discover that Storm Racer isn’t in the air-harbor when they arrive. They’ll need to check with the air-harbor master or ask around for more information.

  The Air-Harbor Master

  The air-harbor master, a friendly but busy man named Dudley, confirms that Storm Racer offloaded slaves two weeks ago, took on provisions, and flew out of the air-harbor again eight days ago. He helpfully adds that Storm Racer is crewed largely by mercenaries, so a few members of her crew might not have signed on for the voyage. If any are around, they probably can be found at some dockside hangout, but he has no idea which one.

  Finding the Crew

  Searching saloons, inns and brothels for the crew of Storm Racer requires a successful skill roll. Each attempt takes one hour. When the PCs succeed (or when they employ some other method, such as the use of divination) they find a few of the ship’s crewmen in a bar called the Whip & Noose.

  The Whip & Noose is a typical waterfront dive populated by Confederate soldiers, out-of-work sailors, air pirates and smugglers, aviators, down-on-their-luck gamblers, prostitutes, pickpockets, malingerer, and tough-looking mercenaries. When you ask about Storm Racer, the barkeep nods at three men slumped at a table in the corner. Only one is conscious at the moment.

  The conscious man is an aviator named Gomer. He is not antagonistic to a group of dangerous-looking characters who outnumber him, but he won’t say anything helpful unless he’s paid at least $2.00 or someone makes a successful skill or ability check against him.

  What Gomer can tell the characters is that the slavers captured the man they describe (he refers to Douglass as “the uppity smoke”) on their final raiding stop. They knew he was valuable, so they came straight to Galveston. Most of their other captives were fit for nothing but labor and were sold at standard rates to brokers at the city’s slave market, but “the uppity smoke” was sold to a dealer named Patty Cannon who specializes in slaves with rare qualities.

  Note: If the characters throw their weight around in the tavern—if they try to intimidate Gomer in front of the other patrons, for example—they gain the enmity of a rough and racist crowd. Gomer’s fellow patrons won’t leap into a battle against well-armed adventurers, but they’ll trail the characters through town and either ambush them in a dark alleyway, or creep into their sleeping rooms with knives and blackjacks in the dead of night.

  Development: Unless the characters do something to prevent it, Gomer leaves the Whip & Noose moments after the PCs depart, and races through the streets to reach Patty Cannon first. He informs her that strangers are looking for “the uppity smoke” and collects a small reward from Patty Cannon for the information. (What Patty does with this information is explained under Patty in Act II.)

  Milton Davis

  The shop of Milton Davis is identified by a stylized brass astrolabe hanging above the door. Finding the astrolabe, which identifies the building, requires a successful Spot check to find someone who knows the location, followed by another Spot check to actually find the building in the maze of streets. Each check, successful or not, uses up an hour. If characters want to make individual checks, then they must split up; if they stay together as a group, then one check is made per hour for the group.

  Davis is a free Black man of fifty-eight, highly educated, generally outgoing, but wary of armed strangers, especially Black ones, which is an odd thing to see in Galveston. He’ll answer questions about Galveston for free or give an astrological reading for $2.00, but nothing else unless characters mention Newton Knight. At that, he locks the front door, draws the blinds, turns to the characters and says, “How is my old friend, Newt, and how can I be of service to y’all?”

  The ways Milton Davis can be of service include:

  He can give reliable directions to anyplace in Galveston.

  He knows Street Sparrows who can lead the characters almost anywhere in the city through alleys, sewers, and other hidden paths. A Street Sparrow costs $1.00 each time one is used.

  He knows two safe-houses in the city where fugitives can find shelter from any manhunt. One on the south side of town expects a payment of $3 per night; one near the river expects a payment of $5 per night. The characters are welcome to sleep on the benches and rugs in Davis’ shop for free if they’d like, but his shop is not a safe-house. All freed slaves are perpetually suspected of aiding escaped slaves, so his shop is routinely searched when a runaway is being hunted.

  He knows that dropping the words Pearl Coffin will make the followers of the Abandoned clam up instead of gaining their trust. The correct code word is “Indigo Rose.”

  He’s never heard of Douglass and has no idea where he might be, but Davis can put people on Douglass’ trail. If characters go for this option, NPCs track Douglass’ progress to Kevin Kennedy, then refuse to go any farther. This information takes a number of days to collect equal to 1d-2—roll one die, subtract 2 from the roll, giving minimum 1 day, up to 4 days—and the characters must reimburse the NPCs 1d6 dollars per day in fees and bribes.

  Casual Brutality

  Casual brutality is commonplace in Galveston. Quick scenes can be used to convey to characters some of the suffering inflicted by the Army of the Trans-Mississippi.

  At the docks and air-harbor, characters see freshly-arrived slaves being unloaded from raiding ships and dirigibles. The enslaved Black men, women and children are shackled, filthy, terrified, and weak from starvation and thirst. They are being driven toward holding corrals and warehouses under whips and cudgels.

  In the streets, they see the enslaved being struck by their owners, laboring with heavy burdens, or being publicly lashed or confined in stocks for disobedience.

  Heavy, unpleasant, or dangerous labor, such as unloading ship cargoes or cleaning out livestock stalls, is done by slaves.

  All but the poorest taverns and inns have one or two slaves to handle menial labor.

  Almost any other information the GM wants to place in the characters’ hands can be delivered through Milton Davis. The astrologer has many gossipy white clients, so he’s privy to all the news and rumors circulating through every level of Galveston.

  If told that Douglass might be taken to the catacombs of Rebel
Red, Davis is horrified and urges the characters to arrange a rescue as quickly as possible.

  The Slave Market

  The slave market is a sprawling collection of colorful tents, open-air stalls, and a few permanent structures where slave buyers and sellers conduct business. Black men, women and children in various stages of dress, cleanliness, and health shuffle to and fro inside small corrals, but the fences alone couldn’t contain someone who wanted to get out. Most of the slaves are shackled at the wrists, ankles, or neck. Guards armed with cudgels and whips patrol everywhere, and they lash any slave who moves too slowly, bows too shallowly, speaks too often, or stares too long at a white man or woman.

  Each seller appears to have a specialty: slaves from the north or from the south, slaves from the mountains or from the coast, slaves for field work, domestic work, or skilled tinkerers.

  The carnival atmosphere of fluttering pennants and friendly hawkers shouting their wares can’t overcome the nightmarish background drone of screams, groans, rattling chains, and cracking whips. Drifting walls of smoke from nearby pyres and the smell of sorrow add a hellish accent to the scene.

  To the citizens of Galveston, this is just business; buying and selling people is how they feed their families. Few of those involved in the trade feel any doubt over whether what they do is ethical or whether the people they subjugate are inferior, and they react angrily to outsiders who raise such questions.

  Important Leads

  Characters can learn a lot about the slave trade in the market, but they can’t learn much about Douglass. Information that can be gleaned is described below.

  The Master of Accounts, an obese man named Miller, knows that Storm Racer unloaded a cargo of slaves two weeks ago. Most were bought by the trader Aleister Aldous to be resold for field work.