Buried Treasure
In March of 1862, the Battle of Glorieta Pass (known as “the Gettysburg of the West”) was fought between the USA and the CSA. The decisive battle was fought a couple hundred miles southwest of Brimstone. Rumor had it that the CSA supply chain had a large supply of gold. Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley - a legendary drunk - who commanded the CSA forces had planned - after winning the battle - to set up a base in the region. To do this, he would need capital in order to succeed, because bases don’t build themselves. However, the best laid plans never survive contact with the enemy. As proof of this, the North destroyed the Confederate’s supply chain, causing them to retreat, and disgracing General Sibley. Rumor has it, six cavalrymen broke away from the chain and fled north, and hid the gold in the hills somewhere near Brimstone.
Recently, an old man named "Harold Cole" who resided alone in Brimstone passed away. Among his belongings was found a letter in which he claimed to have abandoned his post with the CSA at Gloreta Pass. It further implied that he left a stash in a cavern under Hogback Ridge. The letter was signed "Hubert Corley."
Word of this letter spread through Brimstone like a prairie fire! Multiple posses were assembled and a new, mini gold rush was started. All that was known was that Hogback Ridge lay to the north of Brimstone, and was quite large. WIth numerous reasons to seek the fortune - some more noble than others - four noble adventurers “cowboyed up” and headed out to search Hogback Ridge in hopes of striking it rich.
The posse assembled and decided to seek out a map of the area, and procured one (or more, to make sure no one else did). Successfully reading the maps and navigating through the rough country, albeit after a wrong turn here and there, the posse found a place to break for lunch. After finding a passable route into the ridge, the posse spied smoke through the trees, which they tracked back to a small cabin. Outside were hitched three horses.
As the posse approached, a young voice called out, telling the posse to stay away. Not dissuaded, the posse pressed for details and found that one of the members of the family within was ill. Persuading the child to let them enter, Doc McCoy and Rev. Storm entered. Inside they found an old man who professed to be a doctor, a woman who steadily fed paper to the fireplace - ignoring the newcomers, and three children.
The man was obviously (a) mad (scientist). The woman was angry, and burning what turned out to be her deranged husband's notebooks. Speaking with the man, Doctor McCoy determined that - while his body was deteriorated by age - his mind was too far gone to be helped. Speaking to the woman, Jeremiah was able to discern that the woman was distraught because she had lost her older children to her husband's experiments. She confided to the preacher that their bodies were still in the father’s workshop, and implied that he had experimented on them, causing their doom.
The posse convinced the oldest child to show them to his father’s workshop. Approaching the cave that served as his lab, the posse encountered another group of five treasure hunters, led by a man named Silver. They approached each other in a friendly manner, and negotiated an agreement to enter together, and split any gold found evenly.
Once inside, the posse was set upon by swarms of insects. Preacher Storm showed that he had a less mild-mannered side and flew into a berserk rage, smashing three swarms of bugs. Others were burned by thrown oil lamps or blown up by dynamite thrown with surgical precision.
In the workshop, the posse found some gadgets, including a periscope hat, some sort of device to detect underground movement, and a bunch of notes and schematics. The posse was set upon by a number of giant insects, followed by clockwork versions of the same, all of which fell to the posse's might. Smashing open the exoskeleton of one of the creatures, Jeremiah saw what appeared to be a human brain inside. Although Jeremiah never voiced his theory, he suspected the mad scientist had transferred the brains of his children into these clockwork horrors. The clockwork bugs spat out redish/yellowish goo and melted one of the NPCs named Silver, who was leading the other group of treasure hunters.
Heroically pressing on, Jeremiah led the charge further into the cavern, only to be set upon by a number of the creatures. They eventually overwhelmed him, and not even his righteous fury could overcome the adversity. Jeremiah Storm perished beneath the hills of Hogback Ridge, but he managed to hold off the attack so that his fellow adventurers could escape to safety.