The Saints of Sanda Fey
Rabbit, before his friend
Djumpa was a Harengon and a member of the Rabbit Mafia who opperated out of the city of Sanda Fey. He was rather short, even for his kind, and accidents he suffered as a child left him missing an arm, a leg, and both ears.
Lucky for Djumpa, the rabbit mafia had an artificer that went by Scraps who was able to fit him with prosthetic limbs. That didn't stop the less than ideal treatment he would receive from other mafia members.
Djumpa worked hard for his crime family, but no matter what he did he was unable to earn their respect. Eventually Djumpa had enough, and decided to flee the Rabbit Mafia. He found news of a train that was heading West to Vista Dune, and it was supposed to be loaded with gold. All he needed was a bit of help.
A halfling with a massive hat
Cade was a halfling who lived a simple life. He was a hermit who lived in a little hideout just outside of Sanda Fey. He would only wander into town on occasion, and always with a purpose.
Besides his hat, all Kade had was his loyal dog and his sword. He wasn't terribly social, and never carried much gold on him. So when a loan shark named Eddie mistook Cade for an easy target, things went downhill fast.
Eddie stopped Cade in the market as Cade was shopping and accused him of stealing from the stall of another merchant. So convincing was the act, that the guards soon had Cade in custody.
Eddie argued that since the halfling didn't have the gold to cover the stolen goods, he should have to pay with his dog. The guards agreed and had Cade's dog executed that day.
Cade decided then that he would get revenge against this Eddie man if it was the last thing he did.
No plan, only revenge
The fact that Eddie was transporting a huge amount of gold on an armored train was well known to many in the deadlands. But nobody was stupid enough to do anything about it before Kyenga the Dragonborn started trying to gather a crew.
Kyenga, despite his best efforts, was only able to gather two crew members. Kade and Djumpa, united by their desire to rob Eddie's train, took the job. But when Kyenga began discussing plans with the two, the discussion fell apart.
The dragonborn wasn't all there in the head, but Djumpa and Cade's obsession with the task at hand made him seem like the smartest one in the room. Cade and Djumpa, possibly bored from the Dragonborn's constant talk of "details" and "plans" took their horses and left alone to go intercept the train.
How would they breach the armored car? What would they do if they weren't able to stop the train? How would they transport possibly thousands of gold pieces off of a train in the middle of the desert?
They didn't know either.
Rabbit and his friend
Gonna rob a train
The beginning part of the robbery went about as well as you could imagine. Cade and Djumpa parked their horses away from the tracks, and waited atop a cliff overlooking the tracks the train would be arriving on. They leaped onto the train, took out four of Eddies private guards, and threw the conductor into the coal fire in the engine car. This is where the complications began.
Train theft is very common in the Deadlands. So common in fact, that when trains are purchased or built, the buyer will pay to have an artificer make the controls as complicated and unintuitive as possible. That way, if someone does try to seal the train, it will at least take longer to get it rolling, and may be impossible to control once it does.
All this to say, that Eddie had thoroughly theft proofed his train. Neither Djumpa nor Cade were able to figure out how to stop the train, and so they ran to the back, towards the vault car.
The vault was tough, but not as intentionally complex as the driving controls. With some effort and a little bit of time, Djumpa was able to open the vault. Inside were large metal boxes of gold trading bars. Far too heavy for either of them to lift. And then the train began to slow down, as if by automation.
Maybe it was good planning on Eddie's part, or maybe it was just the lack of planning on Cade and Djumpa's. But the sherrif of the town along with a small army of armed guards were waiting at the station when the two pulled up. There were too many. They were outgunned and surrounded.
The sheriff was obviously in Eddies pocket. They were found guilty on the spot for grand theft and thrown into prison to be executed the following morning.
But when Cade and Djumpa arrived at the small prison in Vista Dune, they realized they weren't alone.
Tyell the Goliath
Who walks the path of disaster
Tyell was a Goliath from a small tribe who lived in the cold unforgiving mountains near Mt. Celestia. The tribe was not of barbarians or savages, but of Monks, Paladins and Clerics. All following the path of Zanthros; the god of natural disasters. Zanthros instilled in his followers the belief that weak creatures build a weak world. Ruin and tragedy were needed to drive the mortals forward towards greatness. And Tyell was a devoted cleric to Zanthros. Blessed with his divine might.
Tyell, without knowing exactly why, was banished from his tribe one day. He would be only the second to leave his tribe in decades. The last being another Goliath. A Paladin named Kragus the Storm.
Kragus bore the title of the champion of Zanthros, and Tyell admired him for it. But while Kragus was sent out by Zanthros himself, Tyell felt like he was wandering aimlessly.
And wander he did. With no direction, and entirely unsure of the reason for his exile, Tyell found himself hungry and exhausted in the desert town of Vista Dune. With no money to his name, and no concept of how life outside his tribe worked, Tyell began "scavenging" for food. The scavenging just happened to find Tyell inside one of Eddies supply carts set to head to Tombflats that evening.
Tyell had eaten and taken about as much as he could when Eddie fell upon him with the strength of the town guard. Tyell fought bravely, killing 2 of the guards before finally being brought down.
Rather than kill him there in battle as Tyell demanded, Eddie promised Tyell he would starve in prison slowly, and that Eddie would check in on him from time to time to laugh at him.
Tyell was taken to the small prison in Vista Dune. The walls were too thick, the bars were too strong. He was unfortunately stuck. But he wouldn't be alone for long.
Escaping Was a Breeze
Now they're skipping town
The jail was very small. It only had two rooms, and each one was only big enough to fit two average men with any amount of comfort. Cade was put into his own cell, while Djumpa was put into the other, holding a Goliath of a man.
Tyell introduced himself, and it became quickly clear that they were all on the same side. Through a series of shenanigans involving annoying the guards and causing distractions, the three prisoners were able to uncover a water pipe just under the floor between the cells without being discovered. Using a combination of a spoon they found on a dead wizard, and a couple well placed cantrips, the three were able to burst the pipe, blowing a hole in the wall and escaping the prison.
The explosion caused enough chaos for them to shake off any following guards and regroup in the town market. With almost no money between them, and few options, they decided to attempt to steal a horse. Djumpa used his mage hand to attempt to free a bunch of horses at a stable. But the attentive owners were able to stop the attempt and began searching for the culprit.
That is when they met a strange looking tiefling who introduced himself as Zedrith. It was clear that Zedrith had seen what Djumpa tried to do, and found it amusing. Zedrith told the group that if they wanted to have more success, they should try cheaper horses. And so they did.
Djumpa, Tyell and Cade found their way to a stall that was notorious for selling horses at a bargain. The quality of the beast was the last thing on their minds. The exact same plan succeeded at the less secure stall. The owners kept far more horses in the stalls than should have been allowed. And when the gates came free, a stampede of horses were let loose onto the city.
In the chaos, the escapees snagged 2 of the best looking horses and made their way towards Tombflats. They knew Eddie's personal bar was located there from overhearing the guards talking. Nothing slowed them down on that night.
Rabbit to the Head
No, there is no mercy.
Tyell, Djumpa and Cade arrived in Tomflats around late afternoon. It didn't take them long to find Eddie's bar, but they wanted to wait until night to be less conspicuous.
While investigating the bar they learned that it was managed by a well-liked goblin. He had a small office on the first floor and seemed to run a pretty tight ship. Unfortunately for the goblin, he chose the wrong employer.
The party of 3 followed the goblin into his office. Maybe they saw him as a threat, or maybe it was just another shot of vengeance into the revenge cocktail. Whatever it was, it didn't end well for the goblin. Upon bursting into the room, Tyell grabed Djumpa, who had taken quite a liking to traveling on Tyell's shoulder, and threw him as hard as he could at the goblin's head. Djumpa adjusted mid-air into a kicking position, and the goblin soon found himself as one with the wall. A splatter remained where the goblin had once stood.
The poor goblin had tried to reach for his gun, but he was too slow. His dream of retiring to his tiny home in Vista Dune, a home he had spent years fixing up, was now dust in the wind.
And Eddie was next.
The Bar Was Rigged With Runes
Made with chalk
Rather than just storm upstairs to Eddie's office, the group decided to cause a scene first. Djumpa paid some bards and the bartender to get the music and booze flowing. Tyell started a bar fight. And Cade went outside to relieve himself.
The bar became incredibly loud and drunk. So much so that the group was convinced that Eddie would come downstairs, but he didn't. The group made the call to storm upstairs.
Almost as if he had been expecting them, Eddie was standing in his office with a body guard who was wearing the emblem of the Silver Daggers. In the middle of the room was a magic carpet that Eddie had laid out for intruders. Stepping on the carpet would pull the intruder down into it like quicksand. Eddie could empty his gun into them before they were able to pull themselves free. Unfortunately for Eddie, it did not go down like that.
Cade must have sensed something off, because when he ran into the room, he intentionally danced around the edges of the carpet, infuriating Eddie. The lone bodyguard was powerless against the three angry adventurers. They had blood in their eyes, and the bodyguard realized it quickly. Whoever the mysterious man was became irrelevant as he casted a spell, and vanished from Eddie's office. Eddy was alone, but he had one final trick.
Eddie was a coward, and he always had a feeling someone would track him down to his bar. So he paid a wizard to put glyphs of exploding all around the outside, with the activator being a locket he kept in a small safe in his office.
The runes however, were made of chalk. And it just so happened that when Cade went outside to pee, he thought it would be fun to spray some of the runes off. This completely disabled the glyphs and Eddie felt no response when he pressed the button on his locket.
And so, Eddie was alone in his office with three people who wanted him dead, and he was never seen again.
They Say They Took The Bar
Renamed the bar and runs it too
It's fairly obvious to any observer that Eddie was killed that day. The confusion comes in how Tyell, Djumpa and Cade handled the situaton afterward. The three began telling people that they worked for Eddie. And that Eddie had left town on vacation. They managed to supply paperwork saying that Eddie had sold them the bar, and so they took the bar over. It became such a common running joke that Eddie was "out of town" that some people began believing it, and conspiracy theories started.
When the group were taking inventory of their new building, they found a a note from the old bartender. The note claimed that he knew what they did, that he wanted no part of it, and that he quit. He wasn't the only one either. And without any staff, the party wasn't going to be able to open the bar that night. Hiring would have to become their main priority.
Along with a decent supply of cheap liquor, and enough food to run the kitchen for a night, they found a confused horse. The horse asked them where Eddie was. Apparently the talking horse had been delivered that morning for Eddie from a man named Ash Winters.
The party was just as confused as the horse, but absolutely excited to have a bar mascot. They renamed the bar "The Talking Horse" and began searching for employees. Completely oblivious to the implications of the whole situation.