Ortegas vs Outcasts, A Narrative

jesters89 · September 30, 2009

It took nothing more than the mere suspicion that a small Malifaux slum harbored a necromantic library… Forty-eight hours later Sonnia Criid had applied her trade and the once inhabitable housing district was reduced to ash, rubble, and ruins. Once the wreckage cooled and only embers remained, Sonnia set into motion a plan to ensure that no foul artifacts remained, or at least those that did would be placed under lock and key at the Guild headquarters. However, Sonnia could not be bothered with something as menial as sifting through ashes. For this task, she elicited the aid of renowned monster hunters and Guild contractors: The Ortega Family.

News travels fast in Malifaux, especially if the news alludes to potential profit. It did not take long for the Viktorias to catch wind of the abandoned slums and the potential treasures housed within. Viktoria and her supernatural doppelganger conscripted the help of several of Malifaux’s most efficient mercenaries, including Hans the sniper, Johan the renegade steamfitter, and one cold-blooded killer who refused to disclose his name because he’s “gotta past ‘an he don’t want it catchin’ up with him,” I refer of course to the famous convict gunslinger.

The Ortegas arrived within eyeshot of the ruined library late in the evening. They left Papa at home and instead brought along a Death Marshal because according to Perdita, “this is real official Guild business and Dad has a way of making things… unpredictable.” The family carefully surveyed the area from a distance until Nino’s keen eyes caught a glimpse of several figures advancing on the ruined library from the far side of the slum. He quietly gestured to the family that he saw five targets moving together. He then tugged on the Death Marshal’s sleeve to follow him far left to set up a flank. The two took cover behind a large stone fence that had withstood Criid’s inferno. The cobblestone streets had been reduced to slag making movement treacherous and slow. Perdita, Francisco and Santiago quietly rushed forward to the library pushing against one of the intact outer library walls for cover.

Meanwhile the mercenaries moved slowly toward the library, picking their steps carefully to avoid the wreckage. No-one spoke save for Johan who hummed a saloon tune quietly to himself, keeping time on his armored shoulder with the shaft of his hammer. As the group neared the library, Hans spoke, “I have to admit, I’m surprised the Guild hasn’t roped this place off alread…” His statement was punctuated prematurely by the unmistakable rattle of Nino’s Gatling rifle followed by his trademark hooting and hollering… the irony of Hans’ statement escaped no one. The mercenaries reacted quickly, brandishing guns, swords, hammers, and rifles. Viktoria reeled as a bullet from Nino’s rifle grazed her shoulder. In one voice, she and her doppelganger yelled, “Bring him down!”

As the mercenaries began to respond to the relentless lead assault from their flank, Perdita darted around the corner, and if not for Han’s keen perception, would have gone unnoticed entirely. She let a single bullet fly before disappearing back behind the library corner. The bullet slammed into Han’s chest, but was mitigated by his finely crafted flak jacket. He gritted his teeth as he slid a long bullet marked with a red “X” from his belt into his rifle chamber and whispered, “Let’s see you dodge this, Ms. Ortega.” He leveled the gun and waited.

Around the corner of the library Santiago growled, “Come on Cuz, let me by, I can take ‘em!” Perdita calmly replied, “No Santiago, these aren’t amateurs. We do this smart.” Francisco nodded solemnly. Santiago exclaimed, “Fine!” as he peaked around the corner. With that, Hans chuckled to himself, “Typical.” There was a loud crack followed by a booming explosion that rocked the library. Francisco was thrown back from the blast, while Perdita gracefully ducked out of harm’s way. Santiago emerged from the inferno still standing with a huge black burn wound that seared the clothing off of his right shoulder and arm. He looked at his wounded relatives and was overcome with bloodlust. Before Perdita could stop him he flew around the corner, his dual Peacebringers outstretched sending bullet after bullet toward Hans. Hans looked on with disbelief at seemingly impervious psychopath barreling toward him, duster still smoldering from the explosion. Santiago continued to fire even after Hans was blown to the ground, unmoving.

A flash of steel halted Santiago’s rampage as Viktoria dove out of one of the library ruin’s blown out windows. Santiago staggered back as the front of his shirt turned crimson with blood. As he fell backwards he was caught by Perdita. She spoke through clenched teeth, “Suck it up Santi, we don’t have time for this.” His cousin’s voice filled him with resolve and suddenly, his wounds did not feel so burdensome. Francisco joined his relatives, sword drawn. The three Ortegas stood facing off against the Viktoria positioned with her twin katanas crossed in front of her, angled at the ground.

The stand-off was ended when Perdita smirked and said, “Take care of her, boys.” Santiago flailed about in a fit of rage and violence, failing to connect with the expert duelist. Francisco lunged forward with his blade, entering into an elaborate dance of thrusts, slashes, and parries. After several exchanges, his blade found its mark. He plunged the sword into Viktoria’s belly and quickly removed the blade, flicking the blood to the ground. Viktoria crossed her arms over her stomach and dropped to a knee. Perdita approached her wounded adversary and raised her Peacebringer. What happened next caught her off guard. Viktoria slowly raised her head and locked gazes with Perdita and grin spread across her face. Viktoria’s eyes flared with a green light and she darted to her feet extending her blades out and through the belly of both Santiago and Francisco, who were flanking Perdita. Perdita looked on with horror as her brother and cousin fell to their knees one either side of her. Her calm composure was cast aside, and she screamed, “Witch!” as she opened fire sending a barrage of bullets into Viktoria’s chest, toppling the Neverborn Doppelganger.

The constant rattle of Nino’s Gatling rifle ceased momentarily as he heard the death cries of his relatives on the far side of the library. Tears filled his eyes as he leveled the rifle and spewed another volley of bullets at the Viktoria who he had been exchanging fire with. The volley found its mark, peppering the upper body and downing the last Viktoria.

The death marshal left Nino’s side and began its slow advance toward the library, where he had orders to retrieve items of value for the Guild. As he neared the collapsed wall of the library he heard gun fire on the far side as Perdita and the convict exchanged fire. The Marshal hefted his coffin up into the library ruins, and as he pulled himself up he was met with a devastating blow to the chest by Johan’s hammer. Johan casually rounded the corner from where he had ambushed the Marshal. Johan began to hum to himself again as he hefted the hammer and prepared to execute the Marshal. The Marshal clenched his fist around his gun sending a single round into the Steamfitters chest, but his desperate attempt was too little too late. Johan crushed the Marshal beneath his maul, splintering the coffin in the process.

Meanwhile, Nino had left his cover and was advancing toward the library. Seeing the Marshal’s gory demise caused Nino to freeze in place. In his hesitation he failed to notice that gunfire on the far side of the library had stopped. As he struggled to snap out of his panic, a pop came from the corner of the library, followed by several similar pops. Nino dropped to his knees, riddled with bullet holes. The convict sneered, and then spat in Nino’s direction. Johan looked through the blown out wreckage of the library at the convict and nodded approvingly. The two began to turn in place to handle the last standing Ortega, but were halted when they heard the unmistakable sound of cocking gun-hammers. Johan stopped humming and the convict cursed under his breath and dropped his pistols. Perdita stood at the center of the library wielding her pistol along with one of Santiago’s side arms, both trained on the heads of the remaining outcasts. She calmly spoke, “Checkmate.”

For whatever reason I was feeling creative, so I decided to write up the game my fiancé and I played in a narrative form. One of the things I really enjoy about Malifaux is that the skirmishes lend themselves well to a narrative. In fact, while playing, I really enjoy imagining what character might say, how they might react as different events unfold and what those events might look like if portrayed in an fluid cinematic sequence. As for this write-up, I tried to apply logic to the game mechanics to create a narrative. For example, a lost initiative flip was described as Nino freezing in his tracks and panicking.

Mechanically, the game was set up as follows: 25ss a piece. Outcasts had the slaughter strategy and bodyguard (Hans) scheme. The Ortegas had the Claim Jump strategy and bodyguard (Perdita) scheme. The endgame was 4ss to 2ss in favor of the Ortegas. The game was incredibly bloody and could have been anyone’s game right up until the final turn. The location was, obviously, the slums and we generated an encounter that made all non-terrain covered board-space severe terrain (hence melted cobblestone in the story). Probably the most exciting moment was when sword Viktoria made a healing flip on Francisco’s killing blow and pulled a red joker! She proceeded to mince the poor Ortegas with her swords before finally being put down by focused fire by Perdita.

I hope you enjoyed the read. I probably should polish it up, but it’s late and I don’t have it in me. I hope it makes sense and conveys some of the exciting narrative I experienced while playing the game.

Best,

Jeremy

Edited September 30, 2009 by jesters89
To avoid eye-bleeding

thetang22 · September 30, 2009

I'd hate for people to skip right over this because of the "wall of text syndrome" going on. I love a good story as much as the next person, but without spacing between paragraphs it will make the reader's eyes bleed. Hope this helps, and keep on writing (with the newly added paragraph breaks :captain: )

"It took nothing more than the mere suspicion that a small Malifaux slum harbored a necromantic library… Forty-eight hours later Sonnia Criid had applied her trade and the once inhabitable housing district was reduced to ash, rubble, and ruins. Once the wreckage cooled and only embers remained, Sonnia set into motion a plan to ensure that no foul artifacts remained, or at least those that did would be placed under lock and key at the Guild headquarters. However, Sonnia could not be bothered with something as menial as sifting through ashes. For this task, she elicited the aid of renowned monster hunters and Guild contractors: The Ortega Family.