140
When Nythera opened, a man in a tattered cloak a hundred miles away snapped His head upward in surprise. Hamelin – or rather, the Tyrant Plague - felt Titania’s return like a dagger between His ribs, and in that moment, He realized that the careful game of maneuvering He had been playing with the other awakened Tyrants had just been ruined, as surely as if the Queen had flipped the table on which the game board had been resting onto its side.
Plague had been accustomed to a certain languid pace with His plans. He had once before seen victory slip through His fingers due to His haste, but the return of a player who could legitimately hurt Him – who could kill Him – meant that He could no longer afford that sort of luxury. Hamelin had to consolidate His power as quickly as possible, in case the Queen still retained some measure of her former strength.
By the time Von Schill and his surviving Freikorps had limped back to Malifaux City, the Guild was working desperately to contain numerous outbreaks of tuberculosis all across the city.
It wasn’t surprising, then, that they failed to notice that there was another sickness – a far more fatal contagion – slowly working its way through the city’s poor and homeless. The rat catchers complained about the sudden increase in the city’s rat population, but the Guild was too distracted by the tuberculosis outbreak to pay them much attention. Nicodem's undead horde and the Guild's round-up of the Union was an unexpected boon for Hamelin as it only served to provide an even greater distraction to those who might move against Him.
It was only when Hamelin once against donned his wide-brimmed hat, stepped out onto the midnight streets of the city, raised his pipes to his mouth, and started to play his haunting song that the city’s inhabitants finally began to notice that the Piper’s Plague had returned to their city… but by then, it was far too late.
Plague wasn’t the only Tyrant to notice Titania’s return. The night after Titania was freed from Nythera, the shuffling corpse of a Death Marshal shambled up to the heavily fortified gates of the Guild Enclave and was quickly gunned down by the surprised guardsmen. After ensuring that the zombie was quite dead, they dragged it inside, and – in accordance with protocol – had its sealed pine box sent to the warded storage vault in the basement, where it would be inspected by the Death Marshals in the morning.
When the pine box snapped open an hour later, allowing Tara to climb out of the nothingness within, there was nobody in the heavily warded room to sound an alarm. That came hours later, when the Witch Hunters opened the vault and discovered that someone had stolen hundreds of dangerous and uncatalogued magical artifacts and tomes. The only object still remaining in the vault was a single, unremarkable pine box.
As the panicking Witch Hunters sent runners to find Samael Hopkins and inform him about the theft, Tara was halfway across the city. She and the Tyrant bound to her undead soul had decided that Titania’s power should be their own, but imprisoning an entity as powerful as the Autumn Queen within the void so that they could leech away her power would be difficult… almost impossible, really.
Tara grinned as she held one of the stolen artifacts – a mirror of polished obsidian – up in front of her. Almost impossible, she mused, wasn't quite the same thing as entirely impossible.
Across the depths of the void, she could sense the approval of Obliteration, and together, they began to plan out the next step of its ascension.
That same night, Jack Daw found himself deep in the wilds of Malifaux, floating before a flame-ringed Breach that had opened twenty feet above the ground. These fluctuations called to him, drawing him to their vicinity in the same way that a scream draws the attention of a patrolling guardsman.
He had peered through these Breaches many times, and each time, he felt some forgotten memory stirring in the back of his mind before the flaming Breach collapsed, taking the half-formed recollection with it. This time, however, something was different. This time, someone peered back at him through the Breach.
The man was wreathed in blue flames, his head thrown back in a scream that did not pierce the boundary between dimensions. He floated in the air, a terrible star burning in the night sky, and Jack felt the noose tighten around his neck as the man caught his gaze.
The Burning Man reached out toward the portal with a flaming hand, blackened, cracking fingers reaching desperately toward Jack, pleading with him for assistance… or, perhaps, asking the floating specter to join him in the other world.
Jack raised his hand toward the portal, the runes beneath his flesh flaring up in bright green light as he mirrored the gesture of his counterpart in the other world. As their hands drew close to touching, two worlds shuddered beneath the force of the paradox, blurring lines that had always been – that must always be – distinct.
Then the flaming Breach collapsed with a flash of blue light, leaving Jack Daw floating in the darkness of the night, alone again.
The next morning, Jack Daw was back on his tree, watching the Breach… and waiting.
As his fellow Outcasts were struggling to come to terms with the death of the Governor-General, Leveticus was engaged in a struggle of his own.
More and more steampunk abominations were turning up throughout the city, the product of lesser necromancers attempting to duplicate his work.
By the time that he and his companion, Rusty Alyce, had hunted the last of them down, Leveticus realized that his body was beginning to decay: his skin was flaking away and his blood had turned a sickly, dark brown color. He suspected that it was merely a curse from one of the necromancers they had been pursuing, but when he died and returned to life in a new body, the problem had not abated.
In fact, it seemed to have worsened.
The cause of the change didn't matter to him;
whether it was a result of the time he spent in the void, untethered to one of his Hollow Waifs, something taken from him by the Hodgepodge Emissary, or merely the inevitable result of fraying his soul and returning from death one too many times. All that mattered was reversing the process or, at the very least, halting it before it spread further.
Leveticus was no stranger to the Necropolis, but now he began making forays into the crypt-like ruins beneath Malifaux City with increasing frequency. There had to be some spell, some relic, some scientific device that he could find and use to halt the slow creep of decay that worsened with each death he experienced.
Zoraida had claimed that Leveticus was the fulcrum upon which Malifaux’s destiny turned. If he was dying, did that mean that the burden of that destiny had shifted… or just that his destiny was far darker than even he could imagine?
142
Parker Barrows was supposed to inherit a fortune, but it was taken from him by his scheming brother.
The coward didn’t even have the nerve to steal it honestly. He hid behind lawyers and a judge.
Now Parker roams the Northern Hills with the Barrows gang, a group of outlaws and bandits just as contemptuous of the law as Parker. They steal anything that isn’t bolted down, hitting caravans, robbing trains, and shaking down travelers. Parker has his standards, however; he looks the people he robs in their eyes, never hiding his crimes behind a judge or a piece of paper.
The gang has proven to be a thorn in the side of everyone in the region, from the Guild to the Arcanists. The Barrows gang isn’t worried about taking any sides; they’ll steal from anyone who has valuables to take. Parker has only become more daring with each heist, hitting everything from the Guild’s Soulstone transports to Union payroll trains. His only concern is making sure his next take is even bigger than the last.
05/11/16
Go Through Their Pockets: When an enemy model is killed within a6, draw a card. Then, if the enemy was not killed by a friendly Bandit, discard a card.
Limited Supplies: Once per Turn, after this model discards an Upgrade, add one Soulstone to this Crew's Soulstone Pool.
A Fistful Of Scrip: At the end of this model's Activation, it may discard up to four cards to select a number of enemy Scheme Markers within p4 equal to the number of cards discarded. Place a friendly Scheme Marker into base contact with each selected Marker, then discard each selected Marker.
Parker Barrows
(1) Six-Shooters (Sh 6t / Rst: Df / Rg: z12 or y2): Target suffers 2/3/5 damage.
This Action's Attack flip gains +.
t Empty The Chamber: Before flipping damage, discard any number of Upgrades from this model to deal +1 damage for each Upgrade discarded.
t Drop It!: After damaging an enemy model, place an enemy Scheme Marker within 3” of the target.
M Hide In Shadow: After succeeding, move this model up to 3".
(1) "Hands In The Air!" (Sh 6t / Rst: Wp / Rg: 8): Target model gains the following Condition until the end of the Turn: "Pay Up: When declaring a Tactical Action (including Walk, Charge, etc.), this model must discard two cards or the Action immediately fails."
TACTICAL ACTIONS
(1) "The Job's Not Done Yet!" (Ca 5 / TN: 13 / Rg: 18): Push target friendly model up to its Wk in any direction.
(0) Five Finger Discount (Ca 5 / TN: 9): Discard any number of Soulstones or enemy Scheme markers within 3" (in any combination) to attach an Upgrade of equal or lower Soulstone Cost to this model (the Upgrade must have the restriction of Parker Barrows and follow all other restrictions for attaching Upgrades at the start of the game).
M Changing Plans: After succeeding, take a different (0) Action. This Action may not declare Triggers.
Parker BarrowsParker Barrows
30mm
142
oUTCAST sTATs Doc Mitchell’s life hasn't gone quite how he had
planned. His wife left him, and he took to drinking.
His medical practice dried up, and he took to drinking more. Eventually he ended up in Malifaux City, but he couldn’t make things work there either so he set out to Ridley. That’s how he ended up all tangled up with the Barrows Gang. They needed a doctor and, well, at least he was that.
Of course, it wasn’t his choice. So long as they want a doctor and he wants to keep breathing, everyone gets along just fine. Unbeknownst to Parker, though, the Doc keeps an old Flintlock at the bottom of his medicine bag. He just needs to find the right time to use it and make his getaway.
Somehow, it’s never the right time. Parker is looking in his direction. His palms are too sweaty. It could endanger another innocent hostage.
But someday, someday he’ll look Parker Barrows in the eye, reach into his bag, and pull out something other than his flask. That day’s just not today.
05/11/16
ABILITIES
Cg
Wk Ht
Wp
Df WD
Insignificant: This model may not take Interact Actions.
Drunk and Pathetic: This model is immune to the Focused, Defensive, and Poison Conditions.
“Doc! Get Over Here!”: At the start of this model’s Activation, it may discard a card to push up to 5” towards a friendly Bandit model within 12" and LoS.
Doc Mitchell Doc Mitchell
Minion, Living, Totem (Parker Barrows) Minion, Living, Totem (Parker Barrows)
5 4 5 5 - 2
COST COST
3 3 Doc MiTChell
30mm ATTACK ACTIONS
(1) Doctor’s Bag (Ml 4 / Rst: Df / Rg: y1): Target suffers 1/2/3 damage.
(1) Hidden Flintlock (Sh 4 / Rst: Df / Rg: z6): Target suffers 3/4/5 damage.
This Action may only be taken once per Turn. After resolving this Action during this model's Activation, if this model has LoS to a friendly Parker Barrows, sacrifice this model.
TACTICAL ACTIONS
(1) Stitch Up (Ca 4 / TN: 10 / Rg: 5): Target model heals 1/2/3 damage.
C “This'll Numb The Pain.”: After succeeding, the target gains the following Condition until the start of its next Activation: "Hard to Wound +1: Damage flips against this model suffer -."
Doc MitchellDoc Mitchell
144
Everyone in the Barrows Gang has a role to play.
For some of the bandits, that role changes with each new heist, depending upon the task at hand. On one heist, a bandit might be in charge of gathering hostages, while on the next, she's tasked with watching the horses.
Only two members of the gang have roles that never change: Parker picks the target and decides on the plan, and his second-in-command, Mad Dog Brackett, fixes any problems that might come up with restrained violence.
Hostages yapping too much? Jab a lit cigar into one of their eyes to make a point.
Guard won’t hand over the keys? Shoot him and blow the door open with a few shotgun blasts.
Door reinforced too well for a shotgun? Send soemone to fetch the dynamite.
To Mad Dog, life is simple. He takes what he wants, and if anything gets in his way, he blows it apart.
05/11/16
Bulletproof +1: Reduce all damage suffered by this model from Sh Actions by +1, to a minimum of 1.
Life of Crime: At the end of the game, all enemy Scheme Markers within a2 count as friendly Scheme Markers for the purposes of Strategies and Schemes.
Loot Their Corpses: After this model kills an enemy model, place a friendly Scheme Marker in base contact with the enemy model before it is removed.
Foaming at the Mouth: When this model has four or fewer Wounds remaining, it gains + to its Attack and damage flips.