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Writer's pictureMichael Magee

The wild tale Of the Thoc Davidson Gang

Updated: Sep 26


(not Thoc Davidson)


The Legend of the Kettlesteam Mountains

In the Snowy Mountains to the North there were legends told of magical healing hot springs that could allow the lame to walk, lepers to rejoin society as their original unmarred selves and even bring the recently dead back to life. These legends were accompanied by a warning to any who might attempt to to find this place: There is a powerful witch who protects the springs who has put a powerful spell surrounding the mountains that acts like a fog that once you enter, you may never leave again. Recently, however, a knight named Mantodea journeyed into the fog and this time came out, carrying with him the witche's head in his hands. The region was henceforth named after him: The Kettlesteam Mountains of Mantodea. With the witch's death the spell was lifted and soon many began the long pilgramige to see it for thier own eyes. The first to emigrate there was a dragonborn priesthood that beleived The Kettlesteam Mountains drew it's healing magic from a slumbering dragon, deep below the springs that heated the water with his fiery breathing. laid claim to the islands in the lake of healing waters at the center of the Kettlesteam Valley. The next group to settle there were a couple hundred dwarven miners that defected from the Rellium Empire to start a new free life in Mantodea. They soon made a deal with the dragonborn and laid claim to most other springs in the area surrounding the lake and river. The Dwarves started their own priesthood named the Church of the Golden Slumber. In the following year a group of men, a few families of half elves and a halfling firework company settled on the outskirts of the dwarven camps. Then of course there were the tribes who already lived in the Kettlesteam Mountains: a massive colony of over 1,000 kobolds and a tribe of cannibalistic Tabaxi who rode elk, moose and even bears, high up in the snowy mountains.


For months there was no law in Mantodea. Then two elves arrived on the scene and together took on the roles of Sherrif. One, a high elf, ex military captian by the name of Arafast, the other a drow noble by the name of Dagor Dagorath. The Dwarven Priests made these Sherrifs (along with themselves) a magical invention called a Silver Quill that acts as a Magic Focus for ranged spells as well as a badge to be able to use spells within city limits. Soon after that another power emerged in the form of a human named Spyglass Angeleyes who opened up the Tiger's Tub Saloon. Soon after the men in town were seen carrying mechanical silver quills of thier own.


Enter Thoc Davidson.


Rumor has it Thoc met his gang at a hotel in the Rellium Empire and convinced them to rob the hotel and leave at once for The Kettlesteam Mountains where they would start their own hotel and strike it rich.


The road to the mountains was long and all they had between them was enough food for the journy, a wagon filled with supplies for thier new hotel and an old mule named... his name escapes me. Along thier journey they met a royal elf named Ithilbor, ancient and one foot in the grave, accompanied by his squire, Tinuviel and drunk doctor, Rose Moonrose who wished them well on their journey but went on thier way.

One night while huddled together for warmth in thier wagon deep within the snowy mountains, they were visited in the night by a member of the Canabil Taxi Tribe who killed their mule and offered the heart to one of the brothers, who, rumor has it, ate it.


Upon reaching the top they met the Mayor, Billybob Bunker who introduced them to Spyglass Angeleyes who set them up with room and board and offered his friendship and hospitality as well as an idea of where to find one of the last unclaimed springs. Only an hour up into the snowy mountains from the edge of town is a Yeti cave that his men recently lost some good men to before killing the beast and bringing it's head back to Angeleyes. He (photo of taxedermy yeti) told them he would outfit them to scout the area if


they but returned the sled of supplies that had been left up in the mountains during the skirmish with the Yeti. When they reached the cave however, they found two yeti babies abandoned and hungry. They decided to take the Yeti babes with them but not before they were ambushed by a Tabaxi cannibal shaman and his daughter riding a top a giant polar bear. The gang fought off the Shaman but he and his daughter were captured by a group of Angeleyes men who were following them up the mountain.

Realizing the treachery of Angeleyes plan (as well as realizing that he stole their wagon) they moved out of the Tigers Tub and into The Golden Slumber Inn (run by the church of the golden slumber)

(Map of area protected by the Church of the Golden Slumber)


The Shaman was hanged in the center of town and the daughter was thrown in prison to be watched by Captain Arafast. Suddenly in the night they heard a commotion and discovered the Sherriff's Station had been burned to the ground along with the Shaman's daughter... except she hadn't. Later Dagor Dagorath arrived in thier hotel room with the Shaman's daughter and told them she was thier responsibility now.



Doctor Delmerev is Deputized

After witnissing the group defend a funeral wagon from Angeleyes armed thugs and witnissing Thoc Davidson rise out of the fiery aftermath of an explosion from a TNT barrel, the Church of the Golden Slumber offered to make one of them an honorary mamber of the church and deputy by proxy. Dr. Criv Delmerev agreed (though they wanted Thoc) and he was taught the art of forging Silver Quills.

Then there was a duel between Astro Montage and the royal elf Ithilbor which ended up in Thoc Davidson being shot somehow, which enraged the dwarves, who immeidtly began firing upon Ithilbor, greatly wounding him.

Meanwhile back in the hotel room (which was constantly being torn apart by tiny yeti's) the Shaman's daughter sang a song to the snowy mountains behind the hotel and called her fathers bear to rescue her. The bear killed one of the miners at the hotel and maimed severel others before riding away with the girl and one of the members of the Thoc Davidson Gang.

(Aoife Eyolfa and her bear)

They followed brought the girl and her bear out to the edge of the snowy mountains where they delivered her to the Tabaxi tribe and then barely made their way back to town before freezing to death. When they arrived back in town they found that the town beleived them to be on the side of the Tabaxi cannibals and blamed them for the death of Henrik (the dwarf who was killed by the bear).


Gunfight at The Golden Slumber Inn

They told them that they would pardon them if they all stood and pledged loyalty to the church. When they agreed and handed over thier weapons the dwarves revealed a gatling gun from underneath a covered wagon and began gunning them down in the street. Ithilbor the royal elf was also made to pledge and was the first to die. The hail of bullets was heard throughout town but out of the smoke, rising from the ashes yet again, was Thoc Davidson. This scared the Dwarves long enough for Dagor Dagorath to jump on the gatling gun and turn it on the dwarves. Somehow the entire Thoc Davidson gang escaped and even managed to run over Angeleyes right hand, the massive half orc, Grim Rob, nearly killing him.


Bounties are put out on the heads of the Thoc Davidson Gang.

Known Bounty Hunters that have come to collect:

  • Nebudchanezzar Frost- A Frost Tiefling Sorceror that rides a Winter Wolf

  • Dokovan Reign- A Hobgoblin Ronin, known to be the best in the world with a glaive- has a magic glaive called the Glaive of Geyaiyah




Life with the Kobolds


Astro Montage brought them back to his village of kobolds who provided them sanctuary as long as they stayed with them. There they also met the Halfling Fireworks Co. which consisted of: Smokepedal, Powderflower,  Sparkleseed, Bombpollen and Firebloom Starblossom. As well as the Ma and Pa Starblossom who no one knew their first names.

The Starblossoms also accepted Doctor Delmerev into the fold and made him an honorary member of the Halfling Fireworks Co. They also helped the doctor construct a magical wheelchair for Astro Montage who had recently lost the use of his legs in a gunfight. On top of that they gave the Thoc Davidson gang enough TNT to blow a hole in the side of the bank for a quick getaway which the Thoc Davidson gang took full advantage of and they are rumored to have walked away with over 100,000 in gold. There bank robbery also cleared the way for Captain Arafast to get Black Cactus Casidy out of jail. Meanwhile Dagor Dagorath left to collect reinforcements for thier gang.

The bank robbery and jailbreak both happen on the eve of...

The Night of the 7 Strangers


At the heart of the Kobold village was a large golden temple that was built for the Witch that used to live there and.... her seven children. Her children are what few in the world know to fear and call Rakshasas. Each one has a different animal head with a human torso and all of them are extremely magical and powerful beings. The Kobolds informed them that due to thier constant warring agianst each other, thier mother put a curse on them, allowing only one of them to be in the Kettlesteam Mountains at a time for an entire year, save one night. One night they were allowed to be together in hopes that they would eventually be able to come to some kind of understanding. When the night comes, it's hard to tell if they're their as Rakshasas have the magical ability to look like anyone, hence, the Night of the 7 strangers. The Kobolds know to stay underground on the night of the 7 Strangers and do so in a massive, underground mosoluem, filled with treasure, endless tunnels and a cave of healing springs.

On the night of the 7 Strangers, The Thoc Davidson Gang spent the night down with the Kobolds and met one of the 7 Strangers whom the Kobolds worhip. The Rakshasa with the head of an alligator, painted gold. They call him Aurix Oth and beleive he is the avatar of the gold dragon sleeping below the lake. The Thoc Davidson gang also brought some of the Dragonborn of Mantodea down in with them who helped the gang rob the Kobolds and kill multiple of Aurix's head teifling priests, before being beaten to death by Aurix in hand to hand combat. Aurix also ate the Cheif of the Kobolds in front of everyone for bringing intruders down into his temple. After that Astro Montage had a change of heart and agreed to help the Thoc Davidson Gang escape from the skylight in Astro's family tomb.

They all barely escaped the tomb with their lives but Aurix followed them along with hundreds of torch bearing kobolds who helped search for them in the woods. Thoc Davidson knew they wouldn't be able to outrun them, injured as they were, so he took Aurix Oth on by himself to buy his comrades some time. Because of him they were able to escape and as far as anyone knows, Thoc died that night, at the backwards hands of a menacing, narcissist, Allligator man.





Things that they missed on The Night of The 7 Strangers...

  • 13 people were murdered in the night. Witnesses recall seeing a gentleman in a top hat and cape.

  • Elephant Rakshasa tries to protect his people but they are trapped and burnt alive in the Iron Elephant Inn. Only one survived but is badly burnt.


After the night of the 7, The Thoc Davidson Gang gained 2 new members:

  • Jim Duncan Dandy- previous weaponsmith for Spyglass Angeleyes who quit after seeing the men not help the Elephant people.

  • Tamen Windriver- A former soldier for the Starveld Kingdom, turned bounty hunter. Taman was convinced by Jim Duncan Dandy to join the Thoc Davidson gang.



Inducted into the Dragonborn Mafia


"The Maw"

After stealing a massive amount of treasure from the Kobolds the The gang meets the leader of the dragonborn. Standing over 7 feet tall and weighing 350 pounds "The Maw" looks like he could give Aurix Oth a run for his money. On top of that the Thoc Davidson Gang gifts him a Hammer of Antigravity which has the ability to launch people over 100' in the air when it is brought down on the ground. The Maw gives them all glowing dragon tattoo's and black silk robes and tells gives them their first mission as initiation into their empire. He tells them to attack the Dwarven train and make it look like it was the tabaxi cannibals. There is a shipment of books on the train that The Maw wants them to steal and then deliver to him secretly.



The Not So Great Train Robbery

The gang found the train tunnel outside of town and with expolsives caused an avalanche blocking the train from enting Mantodea. After being spotted by the dwarven watchtower guarding the tunnel, the Thoc Davidson Gang fled into the snowy mountains with a possy of Dwarves as well as the Winter Wolf riding Nebudchanezzar Frost after them. They then ran into a group of Tabaxi Cannibals who were riding elk. A battle insued but then they made peace with Nebudchanezzar Frost

them and together fought off Nebudchanezzar before staying the night in the Cannibal Village. Moth and espcially Mantis are brought into the Cannibal fold and are taught how to hunt like the tabaxi and there is even talk of Marriage to strengthen the bond between the tribe and the Thoc Davidson Gang. Mantis begins to develop a taste for raw flesh.


The next day the gang runs into a caravan of lepers coming up the trail toward Mantodea. Upon investigating they discover the lepers to be none other than Dagorath and his new drow recruits, here to join the gang. Half of them agree to go up into the mountains and attack the train before it gets here. Unfortunately, upon arriving at the tunnel they find the train already there and 60 dwarves outside waiting for the tunnel to be blasted and dug out. The gang develops a plan to draw some of the dwarves out by disguising themselves as members of Angeleyes' gang and informing the dwarves of a new mine just a few miles away. It works and they lure 26 dwarven miners and dwarven priest into the mountains where the drow pop out and murder them all. There is one amongst the drow who kills 10 of them himself. A young pretentious college boy that is related to Dagorath.

Back at the train, Astro Montage leads an air attack on the train and the train reveals a gatling gun and shoots Astro out of the sky. Tamen Wind-river and Jim Duncan Dandy board the train and attack the conducter and a priest up at the engine. This attack fails and they are tied up and bagged and brought to Angeleyes. Angeleyes tells them that he didn't issue the attack and more still that they should hang them at the gallows. The Dwarves hang Jim Duncan Dandy and leave Tamen Wind-river stripped of his possessions in the dirt.

However, they recruited a Goblin who claims to be the mayor of goblin town in Mantodea. A delusional Goblin by the name of Stumblefungus.


The Genie's of the Islands of Lake Mantodea


The Maw told them that in order to redeem themselves for failing to rob the train they would need to clear off one of the islands in the center of the lake of it's Genasi inhabitants. He told them a story of how the islands had four genie's who had been there for centuries and that all of them mated with the inhabants of Mantodea. Recently they were all captured by Mantodea and given to the Maw for safe keeping.

The gang was given thier choice of island to clear and the Gang chose the Air Genasi.


Fire Genasi. Descendent of Kobolds they stand as tall as a dwarf and live in a lava tube that flows beneath a small island.

Air Genasi. Descendent of the tabaxi they live in a magical tree that seems to dissappear in the mist and reappear in the clouds high above Mantodea.




Earth Genasi. Descendent from the Orangutan Rakshasa member of the 7 strangers. They live in a large stone temple and believe thier dead comes back to life if buried on a small magical island filled with geysers near thier temple.



Water Genasi. Descendent of Kua Toan they dwell in the deep and ride giant crabs. Their mother the Marid (water genie), a.k.a. The Queen of Eels, killed every female and has since been mating with her own male offspring for hundreds or maybe thousands of years making many of them deformed and insane but also powerful as they are all direct descendents of the Marid.



After the gang fell from the the great air genasi tree, they swam off the island and were followed by one of these Water Genasi back to shore. We'll come back to him...



While up in the air genasi tree they were held captive and the air genasi told them to point to where the Djinn (air genie) was being held. The Gang gave up The Maw and waited while the Air Genasi led an attack. When they came back half of thier troops were gone and they were bruised and battered. It was an ambush. So, in return the Air Genasi attacked them and forced them off the tree where they plummeted down through the branches. Tamen WInd-river didn't survive the fall.

The Gang decided to swim back to shore and noticed they were being followed by a Water Genasi. Before they knew it Mayor Stumblefungus was being pulled underwater. Dr. Delmerev went after him and saw him pulled down into a black murky darkness.

They then decided to start a war between the Genasi and so stole a boat from the most incompetent dragonborn. As they made thier way over to the Earth Genasi Isalnd they ran into a Water Genasi in a living tree submarine. It turns out that this Water Genasi- by the name of Booga Ooga works as an emissary for the Earth Genasi after they saved his niece from being sacrificed by The Queen of Eels. Booga brought them to the Earth Genasi temple where they were hiding inside stone statues made in thier likeness. The door closed behind the gang as the stone statues started to come to life. The Earth Genasi intimidated the gang and told them to go to the dragonborn and steal all the genie bottles for them. Booga is tasked with helping them but first he promises to help thier friend, Mayor Stumblefungus, from the Water Genasi.

Booga remembers that they sometimes keep surface dweller prisoners in a sunken ship that has an air pocket inside. They all cram inside Booga's submarine and he takes them down to the ship. When they get there they find that the Earth Genasi are sacrificing surface dwellers to bring back thier Mother and Patron, The Queen of Eels. Booga is able to convince them to hold off on sacrificing Mayor Stumblefungus briefly while they find a suitable replacement for them. While they are down there Booga watches a woman sacrifice drown.



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