Amongst the Comanche, a birdlike brass head raises. "! Plus plus footsteps," it remarks, though all but the most distracted of the party have probably noticed this.

Adrian lead the pack. "I will, Dr. Ward. Please inform your men that there's a large bone monster up ahead. I don't want them to catch a bad fright. It looks scary, but I've got it under control for now."

He called ahead to give them warning, so nobody got an itchy arrow finger. "Ghost Wolf, we're comin' up on you. I've talked peace to the white men and we're ready to work together."

"Wait, what?" Dr. Ward says, clearly alarmed. "You resurrected that fiend that tried to slaughter us all!?"

"No, this is a different bone monster. From outside," he said.

"I killed two of Tezcatlcoatl's brood. Several of us got their venom on our blades, cause they're vulnerable to it. Anyway, when I killed one of them, I absorbed its powers, kinda, then I accidentally used it to create a bone monster. I was really just there to help free the Priest, you see. So I killed the first one, but that apparently powered a ritual that let two of its siblings out. I killed one of the siblings too, but the other one got away and I'm pretty sure it's somewhere down here. It's got a mask of some kinda hard obsidian on its face. It ran away from me because it was scared of me."

Ghost Wolf translates and steps forward whilst his men variously blow the torches brighter and pace back to watch the dark behind them. He stands tall and square as the flames light his outline, arms folded across his chest to show he has no weapon readied.

Behind him, the torches illuminate an as-yet immobile nightmare of bone.

"Spread the word, Dr. Ward. There's a new bone monster, but it's on our side - as long as nobody acts up. I've given the Injuns my word that we'll keep the peace. If some of your Dust Adders start actin' the fool, then we end up back where we started. If we need to have any chance of gettin' those plates away from Pale Moon we can't be killin' each other."

He walked a bit closer to Ghost Wolf and spoke quietly. "Let's keep your men up front, and these folks towards the back. They'll be good, but there's a big one that's kind of outta control and might start trouble," he said.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:56, Mon 16 Nov 2015.

Charging Bear wished for a set of pants as the groups got together. He held a rather nasty looking pistol in one hand and one of his paired tomahawks in the other. The native son gazed upon the newcomers but remained quiet as he took in the members of this new group.

Ward looked dubious, but passed the word down the line. "You may wish to send word on ahead about Mr. Shaw. His appearance can be...startling to those who have never dealt with him before."

The groups closed in on each other.

Charging Bear's movement from the shadows attracts the clank's attention at once. "!"

"Howdy Called Charging Bear!" it calls, then squeals and tackles the big brave into a hug. The Comanches look bemused.

"He is Called Charging Bear; he knows all the things and when to do them," it informs Ghost Wolf when Charging Bear has pried himself loose, then points at the tall Comanche. "He is Ghost Wolf; he's friends with violent death," it chirps, then points at the others.

"He is Iron Action; he was sleeping on the ground but self fixed him...he is Pond, he ran away from Names William Pierce and doesn't like him...that is Names William Pierce, he's a good vampire and has ghost friends that live in his gun...that Pure Blooded Comanche is Always Ready To Fight; he is always ready to fight, that one is One Shot, he shoots things like John Wesley Hardin...self doesn't know the other Pure Blooded Comanche's name."

"Speckled Bull," Ghost Wolf throws in, a bit dazed by information.

"Wait-" Wildcat tries, but it's too late as the clank finishes introducing one side and shifts to the other.

"-and that is Harry Lazarus, he defeated a melon and a Comanche and got sick but is better now, and that is Bitter Waters; he is working on repenting. That is Ranger Hawkins, she's the other angel and she can make the Confederated States of America interested in people and whoop the ass of a man, that is Doctor Ward, he is a Man of Genius and Complicated...he is Carl, he has nuts and can make them go crunch with just his fingers-" Carl looks like he'd prefer his nuts and that noise never to share a sentence again, thank you.

"Those are some cattlehands called Dust Adders and that is Reginald Shaw who is wanted for armed robbery...and he is Ambrose, he has long words and a friend called Jack Daniels who lives in a bottle, and that is- ! !!" having noticed Augustus, the distracted scientist gets an enthusiastic glomp.  "AUG-US-TUS!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:51, Mon 16 Nov 2015.

Charging Bear was taken aback by the sudden burst of child personality that was Alouette. "Hey there Alouette!" The native son returned the metal creature's embrace as best he could. "Good to see you've survived this far storm hawk but you shouldn't be here... the snake wants to destroy what makes you you."

OOC: Does Charging Bear perceive Jake as Bitter Waters due to his Knack?

"Fear not, Called Charging Bear!" Alouette responds brightly. "Angels are minus often eaten by snakes."

In reply to Charging Bear (msg # 11):

"Hmph." Dr. Ward says. "If we are to be precise, then my associates should be named as well. Our religious friend is Mr. Michael Bennett. The tanned tracker is José Romero, whom we call Spanish Joe. The well-fed gentleman is Henry Wallace. The short gentleman is a genuine Patrick Murphy, and the gentleman cringing in the background is Ned Chalker."

He seems amused by the clank's exuberance, but Charging Bear's words give him pause. "What do you mean?"

((OOC: Yes, CB can see Jake's Spirit Name, as well as Wildcat's...which is just Wildcat.))
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:04, Tue 17 Nov 2015.

"Snake can't destroy no clank," he said reassuringly.

"Don't you worry, Alouette. I already done killed me a couple big snakes today. If I need to, I can take out one more."

Shifting to look at Alouette the native smiled a slightly sad smile, "I'm less concerned with the angel as I am the vessel."

Charging Bear then regarded Vega for a moment, "The spirits gave me a vision of it. A terrible terrible vision of a great storm hawk and a massive earth snake fighting. This fight ended with them killing each other - claws and fangs. Their combat causes much destruction to the land. I have no doubt in your deeds, but we can kill the snake and keep hawk safe too is the bigger question."

He considered what Charging Bear said. "Best thing is we keep the snake from gettin' out. Which ain't gonna happen if we keep talkin' here. Ghost Wolf, shall we move on to go find Pale Moon?"

"Killing an Aztec serpent-god who lairs mostly in the Aether Field is a tall order." Dr. Ward says. "My plan was never to kill it...my plan was to put it back to sleep, as the Karankawa did ages ago." he strokes his chin.  "However...Mr. Vega, you said you killed it's brood by using their venom against them, yes? The same principle might apply to their progenitor. I can open a passage to take us into the Aether and face it directly. however, I'm uncertain of that working well with the shaman working his magic to break the wards that keep Tezcatlcoatl in place."

"Well, I figured Plan A was to stop Pale Moon without damaging the plates. Plan B is only if Pale Moon succeeds in bringing the snake demon into this world, in which case I will give some snake venom to our best fighters and we can take the damn thing on, though I hope it doesn't come to that," he said.

"Tell everyone to be on their guard. There's another one of Tezcatlcoatl's brood in here slithering around, the slippery motherfuckin' coward ass snake."

"Those are Bad Words, Deputy Vega," Alouette chides Adrian. "Take one out where? Are we going dancing with death and Comanches?"

"We have heard something in the tunnels, but not close. One that walks is with that one, I think," Ghost Wolf says, beckoning them to talk whilst moving. He makes no remark on any other plan, though he looks deeply concerned with the discussions.

"We are indeed going dancing with death and Comanches," he said. "Whenever they're ready, we'll hop on the warpath."

"Logic error, Deputy Vega: it is plus efficient to use two feet," Alouette says, trotting back beside Charging Bear.

"Tell me what troubles you, Ghost Wolf," he said, walking beside the Comanche leader.

A slight shake of his head was all Charging Bear felt like giving to Vega's bravado. He looked down at Alouette, "Been a while since we've been together Alouette, I'm glad you're still whole."

"Did you done arrest Itza-Chu? Cantrell stood and did shouting but that didn't work and then he went away and then...retrieval error: no card...and then we had to go to the ranch but Cantrell didn't go: he stayed in the Town Hall with Bill."

"Hang on," Wildcat says, edging up. "If y'all are here, where'd Danny git ter?"

"Danny Albatross got blown up after John John Smith kicked him in the head and wanted to sleep a lot. Fear not! Danny Albatross is not alone: we left him with a tree and ropes and Jack Daniels but he was minus clothing..." there's a bit of ticking. "Where did Called Charging Bear's clothing go?"

Ghost Wolf looks at Adrian a long moment. "I do not trust the lines your people draw," he says obscurely, then points at Rattleshirt. "Will you ask it to come with us?"