Our little group collects itself just in time to sympathize with Chuck's current work environment and the inbred psychopaths who "manage" his existence. Tim (Serpentine!) makes various sympathetic noises. Chris (Michael Sangaree) does his best to suggest that even working for the State sounds better. Paul (Kumar Singh) stays very, very quiet. Bruce (Arthur Michael Vincent Pulfrey-Downs) simply records everything for posterity. Billy (Chang Fan Yo) has no opportunity to comment, as he isn't feeling well and misses the entire experience.
When last we left them, our heroes had just landed at the Skaggs Ranch out in West Texas. They debark from Michael Sangaree's plane and are quite surprised to find Serpentine waiting for them, already on the ground. He explains that he fights crime! Arthur Michael Vincent Pulfrey-Downs murmurs to Kumar Singh, "Hand me the tranquilizer darts..." Kumar Singh rather tentatively responds, "I'll give you the darts, as long as you promise you won't use them on me." Pulfrey-Downs takes the darts and promptly jabs Serpentine in the back with one. He is disappointed to see that Serpentine doesn't even notice.
Michael Sangaree tries to put a stop to the hijinks by talking to Joe Bob Skaggs and "professional kidnap girl" Margaret Lang. The sharper-eyed characters notice that Mr. Skaggs is escorted by a half-dozen armed men. He is quite happy to see the characters, and particularly to see his daughter Annabelle Skaggs back safe. His efforts are shattered when Pulfrey-Downs blares through the rationality to ask Skaggs "Can you tell me about the Mole-Men? What do you know about their habitat? Are they nocturnal or diurnal?"
Joe Bob Skaggs sighs loudly and says that he thinks the Mole-Men are just a silly rumor. Michael Sangaree explains that Pulfrey-Downs believes in the creatures because he is a Man of Science. Skaggs' expression clearly expresses his belief that Pulfrey-Downs has been ingesting way too much mercury in the course of practicing his "science." Michael Sangaree continues trying to rescue the situation, explaining that "Doctor" Pulfrey-Downs has had a lot of experience with both unexplained phenomena and supernatural hoaxers. He tries to imply that Pulfrey-Downs does not belong in either of those categories.
Michael Sangaree turns from his brilliant job of convincing Joe Bob Skaggs that the characters aren't all crazed to whisper to Pulfrey-Downs, "Why don't you just act like the Mole-Men are some sort of hoax, so the locals don't think you're some sort of coked-up syphilitic freak?" Pulfrey-Downs is indignant, responding "I'm not coked-up!" Kumar Singh, oddly enough, leaps to Pulfrey-Downs' defense, asking, "Are you insulting my employer's honor?" Michael Sangaree, honestly confused, asks the little Sikh, "What words would you use to describe Pulfrey-Downs?" Kumar Singh considers the problem, responding "Well, what languages to you speak?"
Joe Bob Skaggs explains that he's never seen a Mole-Man, but he has lost men to something at a very steady rate. He is down to only a half-dozen hands. He's only drilling pilot wells now, but he usually only gets one day's drilling done before something happens to the well. Even posting guards on the drill sites doesn't help: either they run off ("What else would Mexicans do?") or the underground drill shafts and bits are ruined. Kumar Singh suggests that the characters should volunteer to guard one of the wells. Skaggs agrees with this plan, and suggests that the best choice would be the test well between the ranch and the Devil's Spike.
Serpentine immediately announces his resolve to travel to the thriving town of Rattler's Gulch to purchase flares. Kumar Singh points out that the characters already have flares and electric torches in the Mole-Man Capture Kit. Serpentine is chagrined: he hadn't thought it possible that two basket cases like Pulfrey-Downs and Kumar Singh could possibly have brought along useful supplies.
Michael Sangaree unfolds the Origami Spad from the plane's cargo deck. He and Serpentine (who in addition to fighting crime is also preternaturally observant) announce their intentions to go out and do aerial reconnaissance of the well area. Pulfrey-Downs cautions that, no matter what Sangaree might have done during the Great War, he shouldn't try to shave with the propeller. Sangaree understands that his mapping efforts are getting him out of real work, so he flies very slowly and urges Serpentine to draw many, many things. Serpentine absolutely understands what's going on, so he draws very carefully and accurately. This causes Sangaree to share his liquor with Serpentine. After that, the maps get somewhat less detailed and accurate.
After an interminable period of flying to and fro over the desert sand, Serpentine spots three figures on the ground. He asks Sangaree, "You feel like doing a strafing run?" Sangaree agrees, but by the time he turns the Spad about their targets have vanished. For some reason, Sangaree decides that this is the time to that he found out that he can ferment the brake fluid from the Professor's car with great success. He also mentions the Professor's "superfuel," indicating that there are much better uses for it than pouring it down a fuel tank.
The two of them (and Fenris, who begged not to be left alone with Pulfrey-Downs and Kumar Singh) land and look around the area. There is little to be seen except for scrub bushes and lots of sand. They look for tracks. They find none. Serpentine does manage to find a series of strange "depressions" in the sand that look nothing like tracks.
Serpentine starts probing into the sand, trying to determine if any of the depressions conceals a tunnel. Sangaree recommends that they mark this area as well as they can and head back to notify the others. They decide to spend a couple more hours flying around first, as they have one more bottle.
Arthur Michael Vincent Pulfrey-Downs and Kumar Singh borrow a truck from Joe Bob Skaggs and load it up for a trip out to the pilot well. Pulfrey-Downs supervises, making one impractical suggestion after another. Oddly enough, the fact that both he and Kumar Singh have staggeringly good Survival pools ensures that Kumar Singh ends up ignoring all the unnecessary requests, packing only the supplies that are actually necessary. To Mr. Skaggs' men, it looks like the insane Englishman and his sarcastic, insubordinate servant are on the verge of killing each other. Or dying in the desert. Joe Bob offers the help of one of his men. Unfortunately, the fellow has no idea how to interpret Pulfrey-Downs' commands, and ends up carrying around a lot of wrought-iron birdcages with chickadees and sparrows inside.
During the whole process, Pulfrey-Downs discusses his old companion Smythe-Barley. The fellow was an explorer who studied the Indochinese coast and wrote quite an interesting treatise upon the nature of the New Guinean Mole-Men. He was firmly of the opinion that sparrows and chickadees worked best to attract Mole-Men. The spirit of Michael Sangaree doesn't buy this, suggesting instead that Smythe-Barley's research was mostly done with thin needles and folks who couldn't speak English.
Kumar Singh and Pulfrey-Downs arrive at the oil derrick and quickly set up camp. Pulfrey-Downs sets up a variety of lavishly impractical Mole-Man capture gear including several large cages and tripwires attached to bells around the edges of the compound. By the time he is done, Michael Sangaree and Serpentine have landed in the Origami Spad. Sangaree examines the cage traps and asks Pulfrey-Downs, "What self-respecting Mole-Man would ever walk into one of these things?"
The characters talk to the hands currently working on the derrick. The three white guys say that the whole thing is just a bunch of hot air and rumors. The three Mexicans say that they talk to the Indians a lot, and that the Indians say it is the Ugawa are responsible. They also claim that Chief Grey Cloud might know something. Pulfrey-Downs asks Sangaree to fire up the Origami Spad and take him out to the Injun Village. Kumar Singh and Fenris go along too.
Serpentine decides that he wants to clamber up to the top of the derrick to get a better view. He agrees to stay behind as everyone else heads out to visit the Injuns. From his elevated vantage point, he can see the Origami Spad fly off into the distance. Some time later, he sees a grey, hunchbacked figure appear, then vanish back into the sand.
A few hours' worth of hot sun later, the local Sheriff shows up. He peers up at Serpentine and drawls out, "Yer gawna fry yer fool-ass brains up there, ya damn Yankee!" He explains that he'd heard that some Yankees showed up at Skaggs' place and he doesn't want them to die out in the desert. He urges Serpentine, "Y'all come down here and drink some water." Serpentine reassures him, "I've got a canteen up here. Do I look like I'm frying, you ignorant yokel? Okay, Dwight, why don't you just hustle along and bust some more rednecks. I'm doing legitimate law enforcement work out here." The Sheriff looks like he's on the verge of bursting a valve as he spits out, "Y'all ain't the law 'round here, boy!"
It is obvious that the Sheriff is actively thinking about shooting Serpentine off the derrick. Serpentine doesn't help the situation by tossing the man a nickel and telling him to go buy something nice. The Sheriff tells him, "Fine, y'all can die out here," then gets into his truck and drives off. Serpentine suspects that the man isn't a real Texas Sheriff because he didn't call him out for that last insult.
The Injun Village is something of a ramshackle collection of huts. The locals emerge in a small crowd as the Spad pulls up. Pulfrey-Downs steps down from the plane and announces, "Greetings, my friendly Indian villagers! I am Arthur Michael Vincent Pulfrey-Downs, surely you have read my despatches in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society about the depths of the Hu River Valley!" He goes on in this manner for quite a while. When he mentions Indonesian Mole-Men Chief Grey Cloud breaks in and tells him about the Ugawa and their beautiful underground city full of jewels and gemstones. Kumar Singh listens to this and quickly understands that the Chief is telling the story he thinks a stupid white man wants to hear.
Kumar Singh talks to the chief in his own language, explaining that the characters are looking for real information and not tourist bullshit. The Chief takes him off to one side as Pulfrey-Downs develops a sudden fascination with some nearby cactus formations. The Chief tells him that Ugawa might have done something to one of the oil wells, but he finds it hard to imagine that they've been responsible for all of the incidents so far. Kumar Singh realizes that the Ugawa stories the Chief knows sound like bedtime stories for children. Even the Ugawa's history includes a strong Cain-and-Abel aspect: they were banished below ground by the Great Spirit for their crimes against their kinsmen. Kumar Singh thanks him for his help, then asks if there's anything the characters can do for them. Chief Grey Cloud asks for food and blankets (and not the type laced with smallpox). Kumar Singh agrees to do what he can, knowing full well that he can simply lift enough money to provide the entire tribe with blankets from Pulfrey-Downs' change jar.
On a more positive note, Fenris is a big hit with the local kids. Much more popular than the fat-headed English aristo. Sangaree tries to parlay this into romantic success with the local womenfolk, and is somewhat disappointed to find that nobody older than twelve thinks that Fenris is cool.
Pulfrey-Downs is out looking at cacti when an old Indian taps him roughly on the shoulder and growls, "You are coyote. You are here to steal from us" Pulfrey-Downs responds rather nonchalantly, "Nonsense, here's some bullion. How about telling me something about the Ugawa?" The old man growls out that he is White River, the tribal medicine man. He crows out, "Ugawa Evil. Come and get you!" Pulfrey-Downs chirps, "Excellent!" White River is unbowed, continuing, "They will eat your flesh and toy with your souls." Pulfrey-Downs asks, "Are you serious?" White River stares deep into Pulfrey-Downs' eyes and croaks, "They only eat the evil." Unwilling to let well enough alone, Pulfrey-Downs asks again, "How can you tell if someone is evil?" White River has clearly finally had enough. He tells Pulfrey-Downs "The Ugawa eat them. I can see into your black soul, walks-without-shadow."
It is at this point that Pulfrey-Downs realizes he has been cursed by the Evil Eye, and will suffer +1 difficulty on all tasks for the rest of the day.
At this point, Grey Cloud appears and says, "Father, father, father. Please leave the stupid white man alone." Kumar Singh follows along and asks his boss, "Are you ready to go, sir?" Pulfrey-Downs clutches at his heart but responds insouciantly, "Yes, and I had the most incredible experience. I had a curse placed upon me!" Kumar Singh nods knowingly, wondering why the locals had taken so long.
The characters report back to Serpentine at the oil derrick. He tells them about the gray man in the distance. Pulfrey-Downs sets up a number of wire snares out near the place where the figure disappeared. Kumar Singh tries testing the sand around there, but finds nothing.
Michael Sangaree watches all of this activity and becomes very tired. He decides to take a nap in the shade. He finds a nickel at the bottom of the derrick. His joyous shout of "Fuckin' A!" brings all the others running. They are a little disappointed when it develops that he has not actually stumbled upon the secret tunnel to the Mole-Man Hidden City of Gold.
Serpentine notices that he's not yet feeling woozy from spending the day on top of the oil derrick, though he is rather sunburned. He crawls down to rest in the shade.
The trap nearest Serpentine's sighting is hooked up to a powerful railroad flare. Pulfrey-Downs waits near the derrick, observing. Sangaree stays near the plane. Serpentine waits back on top of the derrick, with binoculars.
Later that night, the flare ignites, but Serpentine sees nothing. Nothing at all.
Pulfrey-Downs sneaks out towards the trap with his Garand. Sangaree joins him, all the while debating how Mole-Men see to get around at night. Pulfrey-Downs gets very upset and stands up, instructing Sangaree that he's not interested in holding a debate at the moment. Fenris growls. Pulfrey-Downs brings up his rifle, then notices that Fenris isn't growling at him. He also remembers that he's at +1 difficulty to do everything (who says curses don't work).
A guy pops up from the sand in front of Sangaree and swings at him with a sword. Sangaree elects to dodge, evading the blow. Another appears in front of Pulfrey-Downs, who lets his armor take the hit. Mostly. Serpentine takes a page from Spider-Man and swings his way down the derrick using the Claws of Apepi. Kumar Singh simply runs flat out to join the melee, eager to confront oceans of subterranean goons.
The violence breaks out fast and furious. The characters find that the Mole-Men are surprisingly resilient, and have a disturbing tendency to vanish back underground when they take damage. Kumar Singh manages to find himself locked in close combat with one of them, apparently close enough to keep the fellow from vanishing on him. Pulfrey-Downs whips out a pad of foolscap and starts scribbling notes, calling out, "Try to capture him alive, Gobey!" Kumar Singh ignores his request and goes for the Mole-Man's throat with his kukri. The Mole-Man survives the attack, then manages to get far enough away from Kumar Singh to sink back into the ground.
Serpentine clambers down from the derrick to find himself face to face with a particularly mean-looking Mole-Man. Deducing that the fellow had suffered through an abusive childhood, Serpentine reasons that he wouldn't expect to be entangled and grappled by the Claws of Apepi. He swings the claw-chain up around the girders of the derrick, loops it around, and catches the claw upon the Mole-Man's clothing. The Mole-Man finds himself unable to escape. He neglects to inform Serpentine that he led a very happy childhood, and that nobody would have expected to be entangled by the Claws of Apepi. Pulfrey-Downs continues taking notes from his vantage point behind a pricker bush.
By this time, the characters (particularly Michael Sangaree, who has seen more than one of his bullets bounce harmlessly away from their targets) have determined that the Mole-Men have quite a substantial lethal soak. Pulfrey-Downs has determined that the Mole-Men have humped backs, and seem to be wearing curiously-shiny bodysuits. Their bulging eyes actually appear to be goggles.
Pulfrey-Downs sniffs the air and scents the tell-tale odor of ozone. He calls out, "Gadzooks! It's my brother! These are not real Mole-Men!" Sangaree decides to shoot the only remaining foe. This happens to be the Mole-Man captured by Serpentine, who is busy insisting to anyone who will listen that he is, "More than just a man with a chain!" Pulfrey-Downs, who has been terribly upset by the realization that Horatio Mycroft is involved, follows suit. Serpentine howls out, "Stop! I want a live prisoner!" but his cries are for naught against the suddenly-devastating marksmanship of the other characters. Between the two of them, they inflict eight levels of damage upon the fellow, dropping him to the point of death.
Serpentine is really, really upset. "You assholes!" Pulfrey-Downs just grumbles about how the man isn't really a Mole-Man as he stabilizes the fellow's wounds.
The would-be Mole-Man turns out to be Chinese. Pulfrey-Downs examines his equipment. He finds that the goggles are sewn into their skin-tight hood. The lump on the back is a breathing apparatus with some batteries and wires hooking into the suit itself.
Intrigued, Pulfrey-Downs makes an Inspired Engineering roll. He looks at the batteries, then thinks about how they are hooked into a clever circuit that will cause positive ionizification of the suit and negative ionizification of the sand. The other characters are surprised by his shouts, "It's brilliant! The positive ionizification of the suit creates a de-frictionalization effect. And in turn, the negative ionizification of the sand causes a liquidification effect. The breathing apparatus is necessary to keep the de-frictionized liquidified sand out of the wearer's lungs!" Pulfrey-Downs starts in on a tremendous rant. He is particularly exercised by the fact that the bodysuit is made of silk-steel surprisingly similar to his own design. Serpentine pipes up, "How much work would it be to get that thing to work on me?" Pulfrey-Downs thinks about it, then starts refitting Serpentine in the suit.
The characters hear explosions in the distance. All except for Kumar, who calls out, "Look! An owl!" Sangaree rushes to the Spad. Serpentine determines that the sounds are coming from the Southeast, probably from the Skaggs Ranch. He decides to stay at the derrick, mostly to prevent someone from killing Pulfrey-Downs (though he claims that he wants to look for tracks). Sangaree listens to the "tracks" explanation and mocks Serpentine, "But they travel underground!" Serpentine protests, "But I'm a good investigator, and I've watched a lot of Bugs Bunny cartoons!"
Kumar Singh and Sangaree fly to the ranch in the Spad, still shaking their heads. On the way, Kumar Singh shouts forwards to Sangaree, "You realize that I can't fire a gun?" Michael Sangaree is unconcerned, "Don't worry about it! I can fire all the guns we need! I'm flying towards those flames over there."
Tracer bullets zip past the plane's starboard wing. Michael Sangaree leans back to ask Kumar Singh, "Are there any parachutes on this plane?" Kumar Singh responds, "My boss made it. Of course not." Michael Sangaree deftly avoids the gunfire, then explains his plan. He will barnstorm into the burning area, slowing down just enough to allow Kumar Singh to jump from the plane. Kumar Singh begins to realize that his boss might not be the only madman in the group.
As Sangaree makes the beginning of his dive, he realizes that it's not the ranch buildings that are on fire, it's his plane! His precious, precious plane! He throttles back as Kumar Singh clutches his knife in his teeth and leaps from the plane. In the flickering light, Michael Sangaree almost swears that he can see the conning tower of a German U-Boat emerging from the ground.
A moment later, Michael Sangaree realizes that he is dead right: there is a Sand-Submarine emerging from the ground. He dives upon it, blazing away with the Lewis guns. He finds that the thing has enough armor to completely stop machine-gun fire. He sees several prisoners being taken down into the conning tower. As he focuses his fire upon the heavy machine gunner, smoke belches from the conning tower. The Sand-Submarine slowly drops from view, leaving the luckless (and perforated) gunner behind.
On the ground, Kumar Singh finds himself faced with an array of eight goons. He fights his way through them with dramatic effect, though he does get slightly injured in the process. He tries to make his way to the conning tower. He leaps onto the sub. A strange sensation washes over him as he enters the de-frictionalization field-effect. The sub submerges underneath him, leaving him half-buried in the sand, right next to the injured machine gunner. The fellow is Chinese, just like Serpentine's captive Mole-Man, and proves very eager to answer Kumar Singh's questions in Chinese. Unfortunately, the guy is nothing more than a hired goon, and doesn't know anything technical about the Sand-Submarine. Kumar Singh sighs and tells the man, "I know how you feel. I'm just a henchman too."
Michael Sangaree is heartbroken to see that his plane has taken five levels of damage. He thinks about flying the Origami Spad into a nearby cliff in despair until he realizes that destroying planes belonging to mad scientists is a bad idea. After all, he might not die in the crash.
Four of Joe Bob Skaggs' hands are dead, leaving only two of them uninjured. It looks like they were all armed (they are all Texans, after all), and put up quite a fight.
The session ends with the characters ready to start hunting down the wondrous Sand-Submarine and it's fiendish creator. Each character gains three experience points. Pulfrey-Downs spends three points to purchase Awareness 1.