In reply to Charging Bear (msg #186):

[[OOC: With the raise you are at 3 wounds, You are Shaken, and your Agility is reduced 1 die type until combat is over, but you are actually not incapacitated. You can fake being dead and let John Brown move on to a different target, which might allow you to get the Drop if it's not paying attention to you once you recover from being Shaken. Do you want to take control of one of the Dust Adders?]]

OOC: Nice! Go near dead me!

Sure I'll take Percy

Danny Boy:

Danny made his decision. "Brown! Is that you in there, private? We need to be gettin' out o' here!"

He runs back towards the barn, ignoring Gus in the shadows. he wanted to take the Redneck down, but there was too much trouble riding their way.

[[OOC: Danny runs towards the barn to rustle a horse.

Danny Boy: AD]]

---

Private John Brown:

"Go on, Danny Boy. I'll cover you."

The undead private cranes his head down at Alouette.
"The regiment marches off to war, hurrah! Hurrah!
The bugle calls out forever more, hurrah! Hurrah!
The blood will flow, the ladies will cry,
and on my saber an angel will die,
and all will despair
when the regiment marches in."

With that he thrusts down into the machine's casing, sparks flying from the blade as the metal tears with an unholy shriek.

Then, calmly, he aims his pistol out into the darkness, and snaps off one shot. He is rewarded by the sound of lead striking flesh, and a satisfying thump as Gus Shaw hits the ground.

Then he stood, waiting for the other cattle hands to arrive, to deal out revenge and death to them as well.

[[OOC: John attacks Alouette and Gus.

Saber vs. Alouette: Private John Brown rolled 7,3 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,3. Fighting! That's a hit.

Private John Brown rolled 26(!) using 2d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+6+6+3)21,5. Damage. Holy crap. What is it with the die roller and insanely high on damage? Alouette is Shaken and takes 4 wounds. You can attempt to soak, otherwise you're incapacitated and will need to make a vigor roll.

Pistol vs. Gus: His Marksman special ability cancels out the Darkness penalty, so it's just a straight roll. Private John Brown rolled 7,2 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,2. Shooting!

Private John Brown rolled 26 (again!) using 2d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of (6+6+6+4)22,3. Fuck! What is it with this guy and damage? That's a Shaken and 4 wounds for Gus, too.

Gus spends a chip to soak. Gus Shaw rolled 2,3 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,3. soak attempt. ick. So he's going to spend a Red Chip, as well. Gus Shaw rolled 3 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3. red chip. Total of 6.

That allows him to soak 1 wound out of 4. That leave him Shaken and at 3 wounds.

Private John Brown: JD]]

---

Gus Shaw:

Ow. That really hurt. Gus regarded his sucking chest wound philosophically. This was some pothole, and mo mistake. He could feel the bullet still inside, rubbing against his ribs as he breathed. Yup. This might be fatal, though he had Snake's gifts and that would probably make it less fatal.

Still, there was no way he was going to let that damn undead Yankee get away with this without a scratch. He raised his pistol, took aim, and squeezed off a shot, turning the dead man's jaw to powder. At least that shut the damn thing up.

[[OOC: Gus attempts to recover from Shaken. He has 3 wounds, but his nerves of Steel edge allows him to ignore one point of wound penalties, so he's at -2 on his recover from Shaken attempt.

Gus Shaw rolled 9,11 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of (8+3)11,(6+6+1)13. recover from shaken attempt. That's a success and raise, so he can actually act normally. He's going to take a shot back at John Brown in retaliation.

Gus Shaw rolled 2,1 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,3. Shooting! Ek. Going to spend Gus's blue chip...Gus Shaw rolled 3 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3. blue chip. Total of 5, which is enough to hit.

Gus Shaw rolled 21 using 2d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of (6+6+3)15,5. Damage. finally the high damage rolls work in the party's favor. John Brown is Shaken and has 3 wounds.

John Brown attempts to soak, using it's last personal chip. Private John Brown rolled 6,4 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,4. soak attempt. That soaks 1 wound. John Brown is still shaken and has 2 wounds.

Gus Shaw: 2D]]

---

Up next: Charging Bear and Percy

I have no words for the insane damage rolls I kept seeing this round. What. The. Fuck.

Charging Bear takes the hit and drops to one knee, pain twists the native son's face. "It wasn't like that..."the words come out with a bit of blood which he spits at the undead soldier. He tries to get back on his feet only to fail and fall to the ground. "Don't you dare speak of my family." Managing just to stand, he look at Brown with death in his eyes. "You weren't there. You did not have to watch them get slaughtered by Union troops simply cause they weren't white!"

OOC: Unshake roll failed and I'm out of chips... so still shaken. I think this the most Charing Bear has talked ever.
16:53, Today: Charging Bear rolled -2,1 using 1d6-3,1d6-3, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4. Unshake (-3 Wound mod).
16:57, Today: Charging Bear drew the single card: 10S using a deck of 54 cards. Initiative.



Percy moves forward at a run trying to get within better range of his Winchester

OOC: Moving 7 in a straight line
16:57, Today: Charging Bear rolled 1 using 1d6. Running for Percy.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:40, Mon 30 Aug 2010.

Private John Brown:

The skeletal thing looks at Charging Bear. It has no jaw, so the sounds it makes aren't intelligible, but it seems to be laughing at his efforts to stand.

[[OOC: Was writing up something for him to say here, but I remembered that Gus shot his jaw off, so I revised.]]

---

Dave the Dust Adder:

Dave ran ahead of the others, keeping pace with Percy. He aimed his pistol at the distant figures. He thought he could make out the Indian, the clank, and something clad in an army uniform all moving about. Well, that was what some might call a target-rich environment. He had a beef with each of them -- The clank had nearly killed Bill, the Indian had let him unconscious in an alley (where he'd been robbed, apparently), and if the thing in the uniform was one o' them they'd had locked up, well, it was time for a little payback for what they done to Slim.

He took aim at the soldier...but his bullet went wide, and ricocheted off of the brass of Alouette's arm with a *KA-PING!*

[[OOC: Dave moves up 6 squares and takes a shot with his Colt Army. He's at long range, so that's a -4 penalty. The Dust Adders rolled -3 using 1d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 1. Shooting!

That's a one. Since he's shooting into melee, that means he's hit an innocent bystander. Man, the die roller just has it out for you guys today.

Since there's two others the shot could hit, I'll flip a coin (a d2) to see whether it's Alouette or Charging Bear that gets hit by the stray shot. The Dust Adders rolled 1 using 1d2, rerolling max with rolls of 1. coin flip for innocent bystander. 1 is Alouette.

The Dust Adders rolled 4 using 2d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 1,2. Damage to innocent bystander. Finally you guys catch a break. That doesn't even ding Alouette's chrome.

The Dust Adders drew the single card: JS]]

---

Percy is currently 31 squares from Private John Brown, which is Medium range for his Winchester.
Dave is currently 31 squares from Private John Brown, which is Long range for his pistol.
Carl is currently 40 squares from Private John Brown, which is Long range for his shotgun.
Jack is currently 41 squares from Private John Brown, which is Long range fro his Colt Army pistol.

---

Augustus and Jack are up next.

Augustus has perhaps gotten lost in the darkness.  Or perhaps he's still attempting to find help.  Or, more likely, the scientist is hiding somewhere hoping that it all blows over.  All this violence isn't really his cup of tea.

--

Jack jogs along with the rest of the Dust Adders, his lantern held high.  His fingers flex around the handle of his Colt nervously.  Squinting his eyes, he tries to figure out just what the hell is going on.  As Dave fires, Jack nearly swallows his chaw in surprise, "Fuck Dave!  We're outta range!"  He raises his voice, and the lantern, "Gus!?  Where the fuck are you?!"

The deadman may not have realised that the explosion of static from the impaled automaton was not the sound of a broken automaton. He'll realise soon enough, however, when Charging Bear's words are punctuated by a scream of inhuman hate and anguish, during which the thing throws itself at him, grabs his collar and brings his skull to meet its brazen 'beak'.

It's a shame, or possibly a mercy, Alouette's creator saw fit to make it blunt.


[[6 damage, I think, if he was expecting the attack and there's no bonus for  shaken CB being there...hopefully the distraction'll get him some when he recovers.]]

Carl frowns slightly, catches Dave's eye and nods sharply at the soldier to indicate the armed target. He looks over at the scream, skin prickling, but he'd heard it from the house before to no ill effect and so simply lopes off into the dark. Jack had enough yellow underneath for a half-dozen officers' sleeves, he wouldn't draw fire.

Carl whistles sharply as though circling a herd on roundup, listening for Gus and hoping the others have thought to encircle as he runs.

[[Carl moves at +5 pace, taking himself out of the light and trying to get a better angle on the fight.

Initiative: 3C]]
This message was last edited by the player at 08:16, Tue 31 Aug 2010.

Initiative for next round:

Danny Boy: AD
Dave and Jack: JS
Private John Brown: JD
Charging Bear and Percy: 10S
Alouette and Carl: 3C
Gus Shaw: 2D
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:53, Tue 31 Aug 2010.

Danny Boy:

Danny looked into the stalls. No horese in this one...or this one...or this one...were there no horses here at all? What was going on? What was this barn for, if not to house the livestock?

"Oh hell..."

[[OOC: Danny Boy looks about for a horse, and finds nothing. Danny Boy rolled 2,4 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,4. Notice.

Danny Boy drew the single card: 2S using the Deadlands system. Initiative.]]

---

Dave:

"Jack! Keep up with that light, you brainless horny toad! I swear to God, if you pull a runner like you done in town I will give you something to run about!" Dave growls.

"Boys! Over here!" comes a weak shout from the distance. "...I've been shot!"

"Damn." Dave runs closer, forgoing more shots in an effort to close the distance.

[[OOC: Dave runs closer. The Dust Adders rolled 3 using 1d6. Running!

The Dust Adders drew the single card: AS using the Deadlands system. Initiative.]]

---

Up next: Jack.

The thought to encircle the bttle does not occur to Jack.  He seems more of a mind to make sure he stays just behind Dave.  Because Dave asked for the light, not out of any fear or anything. Sure.  Spitting, the gunman snapped back, "I didn' pull no runner.  I...I was just checkin' the pe-rim-ter." Any other comment is left unsaid as the unearthly howl is set loose.  Jack does in fact swallow his chaw this time.  Ew.

OOC - Running at Pace+2, right behind Dave or as close as may be
This message was last edited by the player at 11:06, Tue 31 Aug 2010.

The skeletal thing seems taken aback by Alouette's attack. Though the beaking to the face doesn't seem to hurt it any, it pushes the thing off balance. It kicks out at Charging Bear, but the stomp fails to connect. Overbalances, it lashes out with it's cutlass at Alouette, but this strike, too, fails to connect a telling blow, and there's a scrape of metal across metal as the blade skitters across the automaton's chassis. It pitches down into the dirt, but quickly stands again.

[[OOC: The Skeleton makes an Unarmed Attack at Charging Bear and then stabs at Alouette. Being Undead, it doesn't suffer any wound penalties.

Boot to Chargign Bear: Private John Brown rolled 1,3 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,3. Boot to the head. That's a Miss, for once.

Stab to Alouette: Private John Brown rolled 2,1 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,1. stab to the chassis. That's another miss.

Private John Brown drew the single card: KS using the Deadlands system. Initiative.]]

---

Up Next: Charging Bear and Percy
This message was last edited by the player at 11:34, Tue 31 Aug 2010.

Charging Bear looks like a stiff breeze might knock him over.

OOC: That -3 to rolls is just nasty
08:23, Today: Charging Bear rolled -1,-1 using 1d6-3,1d6-3, rerolling max with rolls of 2,2.  unshake.
08:24, Today: Charging Bear drew the single card: BJ! using a deck of 54 cards.  Init.


Still not sure he wants to take a shot at his present location, Percy keeps running forward

OOC: so moving 12 closer!
08:24, Today: Charging Bear rolled 6 using 1d6 with rolls of 6.  Runnin for Percy.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:07, Tue 31 Aug 2010.

Alouette hops aside as the corpse rises, like a bird on the ground hunting snake, then darts in and lashes out, 'beak' scything past the damned Yank's cheekbone before it jumps back again, ready, wary. Static hisses like the sea.

[[Smarts 4, matadoring]]

Carl continues to lope towards the fight, heading a little away from the others in aiming for the deep shadows of the barn. Gus was shot, huh. Well, he'd never thought Gus the dyin' kind and Dave and Jack were on their way over. Least he could do was give them some cover and if it came to carrying.

Carl's pace slows as he tries to make out what's going on ahead and around him.

[[moving pace +1 and one square down.

Initiative: 4S]]

Gus finds it hard to lift his gun, what with the pain, but he takes aim. The next bullet slams into the skeletal soldier, shattering ribs already weakened from Alouette's assault.

"There's another one in the barn!" He shouts to the other Dust Adders. "Cut him off and shoot him down!"

[[OOC: Gus takes another shot from his prone position. Gus Shaw rolled 13,1 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of (8+7)15,3. Shooting! huh. That's a Raise.

Gus Shaw rolled 14 using 3d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 5,5,3. Damage. That leaves John Shaken and with 1 more wound, leaving him with 3 wounds. He doesn't have any more personal chips to soak with, and I only have 1 chip left in my GM pool which I want to save for other NPCs.

John Brown failed his roll to resist Alouette's trick, so he has a -2 to his Parry rolls in addition to being Shaken and at 3 wounds.]]

---

Initiative for Next Round:

Charging Bear and Percy: BJ!
Dave and Jack: AS
Private John Brown: KS
Gus Shaw: 5S
Alouette and Carl: 4S
Danny Boy: 2S

---

Percy is 15 squares from John Brown, which is within Short range for him.
Dave is 22 squares from John Brown, which is Medium Range for him.
Jack is 31 squares from John Brown, which is Long range for him.
Carl is 24 squares from John Brown, which is Medium range for him.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:03, Tue 31 Aug 2010.

It would seem that Charging Bear is having a most difficult time getting his feet to stay still and his bearings.
OOC: Another failed roll for me
20:36, Today: Charging Bear rolled 03 using 1d6-1,1d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4. Unshake (-3 Wound, +2 Joker).


Percy drops to one knee and lines up a shot on Private John Brown with his Winchester.
OOC:
20:38, Today: Charging Bear rolled 6 using 1d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 4. Percy Shootin' (+2 Joker).
20:39, Today: Charging Bear rolled 32 using 2d8+2, rerolling max with rolls of (8+8+7)23,7. Damage.
Well I should hit with the 6 (even if I have some darkness penalties) and do 32 damage!


OOps...

08:44, Today: Charging Bear drew the single card: 5S using a deck of 54 cards. Initiative.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:44, Wed 01 Sept 2010.

Percy's shot slams into the soldier, and knocks the thing back a good 2 yards. It twitches in the dust before dissolving into black smoke that rises and dissipates in seconds, leaving only a bloody smear behind to indicate it was ever there in the first place.

"Good shot Percy! Woooo!" Dave shouts as he runs up to Gus's side. He kneels down. "Hey...you look like Hell, Gus."

"Kinda feel like it, too. But the mick's still out there, in the barn. Got himself a scythe, of all things. Go on and take him out."

"What about the redskin and the clank?"

"Leave 'em for now, unless one o' them gets in your way." Gus props himself up on one elbow. "I hate to say it, but the injun done good. Took a sword to the gut and is still tryin' to fight. Have Jack haul him back to Doc Ward, see what he can do. I reckon the clank's gonna be the - hurgh!- the real problem. It wants that jackass alive for some unknown reason, so if it gets in your way, blow the damn thing up."

"Right. Carl! Swing round and cover the back! Percy, you're with me! We gonna cover the front! Jack! You git over here and haul the wounded back to the Doc!"

[[OOC: There's one last loose end to tie up, and that's Danny Boy. I suspect that unless someone has a pretty convincing argument otherwise, Danny boy's about to die...You can continue to control the Dust Adders or I can take 'em over again. Which do you prefer?

The Dust Adders drew the single card: AS

Gus Shaw drew the single card: 7D]]
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:55, Wed 01 Sept 2010.

As the black-clad soldier dissolves, Jack begins to slow his stride, just staring in disbelief.  But as the others start cheering, he too joins in and picks up the pace finally, "Hell yeah!  Percy, I promise never t' call you a damn fancy-talkin' tinhorn pansy for...at least a week!"  He'll trot up withthe others and use his pistol to cover the heavily wounded Indian and the busted automaton.  Can't be too careful.

But, he gets ordered to /help/ the dirty Indian, "But... Dammit..."  Holstering his pistol he offers a hand down to Bear, "C'mon, let's getcha back to the Doc..."

Alouette pounces on the spot where the dissolving soldier had been with a small static-filled shriek of frustration. It then straightens and looks at Charging Bear, beginning to stretch out a hand to him in benediction or concern...but then the conversation turns to killing Danny.

The automaton proves itself surprisingly un-busted for something that's been shot six times and impaled once over the course of the past 24 hours by legging it into the barn.

Looking about and ignoring any attack, it makes straight for Danny as though it can see him despite the total darkness. The static resurges with a vengeance as it gazes at him, its lenses and the hole in its casing glowing pale.

"Come with me if you want to live."

If it gets close enough to speak without being heard from outside it'll add "Lie down, play dead. Pray."

----

A distant whistle from Carl shows he was already on it.

[[init. 9S]]
This message was last edited by the player at 20:01, Wed 01 Sept 2010.

In reply to Alouette (msg #204):

[Private to Alouette: The interior of the barn is strange to Alouette's supernatural sight. It can clearly see the convergence of the aetherial railroad it noticed before, and can clearly see a boiler where wisps of burned ghost rock linger near the other end of the barn. on the floor, bright to Alouette's sight, is a patterned circle painstakingly etched into marble]

Danny crouches behind some barrels, clutching the scythe like a drowning man clinging to driftwood.

When Alouette makes its ultimatum, he begins to whimper. "Come with you? Where? There's nowhere to go!"

When Alouette tells him to Play Dead, he drops supine, letting go of the scythe and sprawling on the floor. He really does look dead...

[[OOC: Danny Boy drew the single card: 9D]]

---

The Dust Adders are up next. Post in whatever order you like, as we're dropping out of combat rounds for now. I'll let you keep control of your Dust Adders for a little bit as an extra RP incentive.

"Yes sir!" Percy calls out, he stands back up looking at the dead man he just shot dead-again. The lad doesn't looks overly long as Gus would put a beating on him if Percy didn't get to his duty. Putting his rifle to his shoulder he steps behind Gus.


Meanwhile Charging Bear can't seem to get rid of the stars before his eyes.

OOC: 16:22, Today: Charging Bear rolled 1,2 using 1d6-3,1d6-3, rerolling max with rolls of 4,5. Unshake.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:23, Wed 01 Sept 2010.

A terrible, grief-struck ululation breaks from the next crest of static - a savage sound, a genuine pain of loss so raw and deep the sound is like a blunt saw across the soul. It's clear someone is dead, and those outside will have their own guess who.

Alouette picks up the fallen soldier, holding him against its dented chest. It turns to face the approching light as the static quiets.
"His mortal time is done," it calls, "much blood ran out of him."

-----

Carl tenses against a shiver, gripping his gun a little as he jogs towards the back end of the barn. Damn bird-monster machine thing again. What was it on about? Too far to hear. Ah well.

Jack draws back his unnaccepted hand from the Indian, considering a moment.  But, orders is orders.  So, he kneels down and slides an arm around to pull the big Indian up to his feet, "C'mon now, Injun....git up!"  The cry of the automaton drags his attention away to the scene at the bar, "Now what the hell..."

Gus struggles to his feet and limps towards the barn at the sound of the screaming.

Dave is much faster. He reaches the door of the barn and peers in. "What in tarnation!?"

The automaton moves towards the light a step - if Dave can make anything out yet he'll see the silouette with the faintly glowing 'eyes' is holding a pitifully limp bundle of scytheless flesh and bone.

"Not moving," the automaton remarks, which is as true as everything else it's said. It nudges Danny's cheek gently with its 'beak', waiting for the pause between soft inhalation and exhaling. "No breath," it adds.
"He was lying on the floor near some barrels...he was shot many times." There's a short pause one might imagine was sorrowful.

"Beware of touching his blood, David Baines - Dr.Ward said he had consumption, and there may be witchcraft...self will say holy words." At least, it assumes that's what Ward's charm was, since it associates Latin with Mass. It copies the words, tone and aetheric patterns it observed...and is mildly puzzled at the result.

[Private to GM: Dunno if it's another two power points to conceal arcana, but I think I just had enough. where's the snakeskin gone?]
---------

Carl paces to the back door of the barn and settles silently with his shotgun, spitting the straw end he'd been chewing on the dirt. The other Dust Adders will know that the ex-militiaman's nonappearance is a sure sign he's there, lying in wait where the slight contrast between black barn and slightly lighter sky gives a gunman an edge in the dark.

In reply to Alouette (msg #210):

"Well, shit." Dave mutters, stomping over to the pair. "Percy! Carl! Get in here! We got a body to dump in the pit!"

[Private to Alouette: It is another two power points, but it lasts an hour. The snakeskin hasn't moved...it's a residue of something that's been.]