"Hmph," the old miner replies as he works at the desk. He does look up whilst re-dipping his brush, however. "Coming. It takes attention!" The characters adorning the first of two cut yellow strips do appear to be complicated, but done with precision that inspires confidence.

Lazarus gives Adrian a look like he doesn't dare hope, but goes over to see Evans anyway.

"What d'I owe you for the work?" Spades asks the Marshal meanwhile, watching Adrian's movements.

William's determined hopping and shaking loosens the peke's grip enough for Abraham to lean in and haul him away by a collar hidden somewhere under the dog's soggy fluff. Tao Tao continues to strain to get at William, huffing and whining with anxiety.

"Wait." William says into the room, more forceful than he intended.
When the others stare at him, he shrugs slightly and continues.
"Something's not right. Percival's your son, right?" to the widow Bradshaw.
"He wasn't downstairs when the priest and I came in. And then there were the shoes on the stairway..."

He drums the fingers of his right hand across the grip of the pistol - Jenny's - in his belt. Pierce nods to himself.
"She took him. There must be a way for her to move around, unseen, a hiding place, somewhere. Who saw the boy last? Where? And when?"
His tone is urgent.

Evans begins checking over the dapper man. "I will settle for you not shooting any more of my deputies for the foreseeable future..." He says, then trails off as William starts speaking.

"Damn." he mutters, pulling out his wire-studded Aetheric Indicator. The device began to hum and whine as he swept it over the balcony. "This theoretically should indicate the presence of any aetherically disruptive beings." He says matter-of-factly to Seven, Lazarus, and Bradshaw, whether they are actually listening or not. "Even ones with the ability to cloak themselves from normal sight. The readings fluctuate in specific patterns, which I know how to interpret to give me an idea of what we're dealing with."

((OOC: Check to see how wounded Lazarus is, as well as potential vampire infection: 08:04, Today: The Amazing Evans rolled 1,5 using d4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,5. Healing.

Pulling out and activating my Aetheric Indicator to get a read-out: 08:06, Today: The Amazing Evans rolled 5,1 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,1. Weird Science. What do I see?))

Widow Bradshaw freezes, all colour leaving her features. "What?"

"Liz, stay calm-" Mrs. Bruebaker begins, but Bradshaw is making funny gasping noises.

"He went out with you to help with Jingles!" The widow whirls over, siezes Adrian and attempts to shake him, though she's too skinny to have much effect. "How did you not notice he'd gone?!" Her wild look addresses the remark to Evans as well, though it's Adrian who gets all the rough handling. The indeterminately Oriental woman on the chair finally stirs at the uproar as the dog starts barking again.

The Mayor mutters something. Mrs. Bruebaker breaks off whatever she was about to say to the increasingly hysterical Liz and leans down to hear. "..."

"A-hem. Glenn says he startled her in the attic. There was no sign of a hole in the roof, so how she got there remains unclear...but it would have been the first place we looked if we hadn't found the shoes downstairs. I propose that the vampire must have bolted back up both flights before Glenn was found, allowing her to take Percy from the corridor whilst everyone was distracted by the unfortunate Chinaman. How we didn't hear or see any kind of struggle I'm unsure, but the doors are thick enough to be next to soundproof. I suggest-"

"I'll make her give him back!" Bradshaw shrieks, letting go of Adrian, and throws herself back past William to sieze the doorhandle. "She can't have my baby!" The door refuses to open.

Bradshaw blinks, tries harder, then throws all her weight and strength against it, leaving ruffled ruts in the carpet. Even the dog quiets at the spectacle. "Nnnngh!" No amount of pushing manages to budge the door an inch. The widow sinks down it, panting and perplexed, and listlessly thumps the panels with her fist in frustration.

"Oh dear," says Lazarus lamely, still holding his shirt out of Evans' way. His wounds are nothing but shallow scratches, but on close examination veins vanishing deep into his muscles are already beginning to darken around the cuts.


[[What balcony, Evans? You're in the library by the drinks cabinet...I may have read it wrong at the start, but I make it a solid room, barring the big outside windows and the smaller ones in the annexey-bit looking on to the foyer...where're you Detecting at?]]

At the back of the room, John Smith clears his throat and hikes his thumb at one of the interior windows. "Gone dark out there," he adds.

Adrian just stood still while the Widow shook him until she let go. "Percy never did come downstairs. He carried out the bucket o' piss while I was makin' my way down with the mirror. He never brought the bucket down, that was Abbie that did that. So he's probably still upstairs. But we'll find him, once we can get that door open."

"Let me try that." Gently moving her aside, he took his knob and pushed against the door to see if it gave any flex.


Strength: 4

14:42, Thu 17 July 2014: Adrian Vega rolled 4,1 using d8,d6, rerolling max ((4,1)).

Adrian might as well try to push the wall. The knob turns, but for all the give that can be observed it's unclear whether the door is opening a hair before meeting a massive weight, or just shaking in its frame a bit.

[[give me a Notice roll, Adrian.]]

Notice: 5

15:14, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 5,5 using d4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (4+1)5,5.

As he pushes, Adrian's ear meets the wood of the door a moment and he realises he can dimly hear talking on the other side.

William moves closer to Adrian, muttering quietly: "Hear anything?"


13:35, Today: William Pierce rolled 6,3 using d6+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,1. Not-as-super-Notice.
Alertness will apply, Cat's eyes probably not.

"It's the clank. Try in ' to convince folks not to shoot at it." He banged on the door.

"Alouette, can you open this door from out there? It won't open from in here!" he called out loudly.

The clank's voice gets a little louder as it presumably comes nearer the library, though it's still a struggle to hear it through the wood. "Cannot open door, Deputy Vega - door moves outward, and there is a metal curtain stick in the way. Also a chest of drawers and a plus plus big box to keep it there like levers," it reports. Whoever it was talking to adds nothing.


A couple of shots crack out downstairs, almost under where Zhang's working, the sound muffled through the floor.

{{*crack*}} {{*crack*}}

"Alouette, Percy's out there on the upstairs floor somewhere and he needs your help - there may be vampire loose! Go find 'im!" he shouted, hoping he could set the do-good clank on a mission to help a mortal while he busted their way outta there.

"Everybody, gimme some room," he said, trying to clear an area from in front of the door. Drawing his gun, he pointed it at the door, though he wasn't gonna be slingin' lead into it, but was gonna draw once more upon that eldritch power from the depths of hell and blow his way outta the room.

---

OOC:

• Deal with the Devil for Power Points, drew a FLUSH (FYI: Not using the Joker, but I think that might be a Jokers Wild!) - so the spell automatically goes off.
• To hit rolls: 7, 4, 6
• Damage: 7,7,2

12:39, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 7,7,2 using 2d6,2d6,2d6.
12:39, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 7,4,6,4 using d8,d8,d8,d6. bang bang bang.
12:33, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: 5C, 9S, BJ!, 6C, AS, 7H, 9C, 10C, QH, 6S, AC using the Deadlands system.

The butler calls out "No!" at this hasty turn of events, but fortunately Mrs. Bruebaker is already over there and hauls the Widow Bradshaw bodily out of the way before she can object.

The witch-bullets leave two neat holes and a smoking dent in the door; as everyone's hearing returns, they catch the clank's "-went downstairs but he felt of strange. Does Deputy Vega wish self to fetch Percy, alternate: fetch a vampire?"

Mrs.Bruebaker shakes Bradshaw into ceasing to struggle. "You," she addresses Lazarus, "Fetch her medicine down by the desk there. Deputy Vega, please bear in mind that if you destroy the main door the warding circle around this room may also be broken, and as such we will have nowhere comparably safe to spend the night. I suggest we work with the windows or minimal damage, unless someone can come up with a workaround. Elizabeth may be capable after a dose."

Meanwhile, the dozy ronin is definitely awake now. The cat thuds to the floor and slinks into the shadows as she turns and scrambles for her steel blade, the wooden one being downstairs. Katana in hand, Gangatsu whips into a ready position like a snake, eyes locked on William.

"Y'aint foolin' me."


[[Gangatsu, rolled 4,-1 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 6,1. recognise William?]]

The gunslinger slowly turns toward Gangatsu.
"Wasn't trying to." William replies, flatly. "Trying to get out of here to go and kill some more vampires. You want to help me with that or stand in my way?"

He scans the room. Evans and Vega probably wouldn't fire the first shots, if this went south, but if he had to start dropping people, they'd turn on him, too. Seven would be confused about what was happening, as would be the guy they called Lazarus. But both would attack, too. Seven of Spades clearly had a thing about dead people walking up and about. Gunsfighter loyalty might buy him some time at least.
Vega's monkey might take over again, but this was nothing to be counted on.
Yes... if push came to shove, Vega would have to be dealt with first, then the Marhshal, then the others. After the sword-wielding bitch, of course.

He suppressed a sigh. Marina didn't even have to take them down one by one, they'd do that for her.

"Every second we stand here jabbering, young Percy's is running out of time. If he has any left. So if you can't open this door, then step aside. I've seen what you folks can do with a sword. But in the end, it's never wise to bring a knife to a gunfight. Even it it's oversized."

"Make sure Percy's safe first, and then fetch him here. If you can't do either o' those things, come let us know," he said, choosing his words carefully. He'd seen the kinda mess the clank could make with poorly chosen words. It seemed to usually do pretty well at savin' folks though,  so he hoped that luck would hold out.

"Mr. Lazarus, the scratches seem to be infected. I'm going to need you to start taking in flour immediately." Evans says, just before everything goes to hell.

"Of course. Just what we needed right now." He sighs. He looks over at Mrs. Bruebaker. "This ward...do you know the specifics of how it works?" he begins fiddling with his Aetheric Disturbance Detector as he asks. "Perhaps I can find a work-around that will get us out of here but leave the protection intact."

He glances over at Gangatsu. "Miss Gangatsu, may I have a moment of your time?"

"Ya need my help t'haul out der window, bat man?" the small woman growls, eyes narrowing. "You wanna try me, I c'n oblige ya."

There's a muffled "Okay!" from the other side of the door, then something not quite audible to whoever's out there in the corridor with it and at last a quiet indicating the clank has moved off.

Harry Lazarus hastens over to the Widow Bradshaw as best he can with laudanum and pancakes.

"I know the circle, as it were, has to remain unbroken. Other than that I'm afraid you'll have to tap Glenn for specifics or try and get sense out of Liz, though the books might have something," Mrs. Bruebaker replies, making sure not to overdose Bradshaw whilst being a little generous with the sedative.

Harry returns to Seven's side with his pancake and offers to share a corner off the same with the gunslinger, who is still trying to grasp for the butt of a gun not currently there as he stares about, frowning. Zhang goes up to the two of them and sticks prayers on their foreheads, causing Lazarus to start up coughing.

"Door's ward is probably run through the wooden element," Zhang supplies. "Remove the metal areas, perhaps."

Spades is sure he's missed something. "What's going...?"

Gangatsu slides her gaze briefly to Evans, still tense and ready to go at the first sign of a draw. "Wut?"

Meanwhile, Ginny Bruebaker has crawled from her den, woken by the shooting, and stands tensely a little way from John Smith, watching the scene with wide eyes. She clearly wants to call her mother, but is too well-brought up to think of intruding where grown-ups are busy, simply hugging a pillow to her chest.


[[Even with the bonus of hearing him extensively in traumatic circumstances she doesn't twig, though.
Ginnie Bruebaker rolled 1 using 1d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 2. ditto. ]]

Evans sighs. "Mr. Seven, the prayer is part of your treatment, someone seems to have locked us in and barricaded the hall. I am trying to think of a way out of this, because I am actually rather alarmed that someone went to the trouble of locking all the people who could possibly be a problem to the vampire queen bitch are all together in one place. Please, for the love of sanity, don't make this situation worse with your babbling."

He goes over to the windows to inspect them, seeing if any can be simply opened from the inside.

When Gangatsu comes up to him, he sighs again. "Miss Gangatsu, I have a request. For the love of God, Jesus, Buddha, or whoever it is you pray to, please stop antagonizing Mr. Pierce, at least until we have escaped our current predicament with our lives. Please. Pretty please. With whipped cream and a cherry on top."

"So no blowin' up the door. Mrs. Bradshaw, did you say we could go through the window and still keep the wards up?" he asked her.

"I...what? Windows? Which windows?" Widow Bradshaw sniffs, still a heap on the floor where Mrs. Bruebaker left her. She waves vaguely at Evans. "He can use his detection-thingit to tell how the warding crosses the inner windows - you'll have to-" she pauses to stifle a sob, still in the aftereffects of panic "-break a pane or stand on each others' shoulders to get out there."

Spades looks chargrinned, then a little cross-eyed. Lazarus is coughing helplessly.

Evans can open the outer windows just fine, though the smaller ones looking out over the inside balcony and the foyer only open at the top - a man could get through, providing he wasn't of Mayor Bruebaker's heft, but he'd have to get up there first.

"It'd be easier f'us to escape wit' our lives if he ain't in them - only reason he ain't tried t'kill me 'n Ginny to keep y'all's confidence is 'cause there's more of y'all than him, same's why the big bitch ain't tried to git in with all of us. That fucken vamp wuz waitin' a turn at the kid - ask her - an' I figure he was the one tried to shoot Abbie down as we were running. Injure her an' eat. Real friendly." Gangatsu leans a bit closer. "I know killers, Evans. Dat man is thinkin' how fast he could kill us all, so why not let the one who don't care so much 'bout dyin' handle him, huh? He ain't different than she is."

Notice to overhear Marhsal and Gangatsu?
15:20, Today: William Pierce rolled 6,5 using d6+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,3. Notice, plus Alertness.

"No, no it would not be easier." Evans says. "Look at the facts. We are in a deadly situation here, and I don't mean simply being trapped in a house with a murderous bloodsucker on the loose. The entity behind all this is still out there, orchestrating more problems for us, for the town, for the whole bloody world as far as I can tell. That entity wants us fighting among ourselves. It wants us to take each other out, because we are the ones that represent the greatest threat to it. And if you start a fight, here, this place will turn into a bloodbath, and all you will have succeeded in doing is the entity's dirty work."

He sighs. "Look. Do you remember Nathaniel Frost? The one who threw dynamite in my lap and then shot me in a duel? He was just as much a killer as Mr. Pierce, and actively tried to murder me. And yet, if he were here in this situation, I would still work with him. We need all the help we can get right now. Perhaps, once the women and children are safe, the situation changes. But not now. This is not the time."

[[@ William - Sure, as you like.]]

The small woman is still bristling like a wet wolverine. "An' when he gets hungry?" she hisses.

"If the...fucken demon's as savvy as dat, lawdog, you know what it'd do? Plant som'fin rabid where you'd take it in."


[[Give her a Persuasion roll, Evans - as I read the character, she does hate outsiders marginally less than she hates the rest of the universe, and might accept William as your equivalent of Gus...but on the other hand, the only man she ever loved got eaten alive by zombies and she believes she literally saw William trying to opportunistically maim and devour the Bruebaker girls alive, so. Not a fan of the differently alive.]]

Oblivious to the other conversations in the room and fixated on the problem of getting out of the room, Adrian looked at the people to see what was going on. Vampire Bill looked twitchy, like he was about to shoot somebody; he probably was. There was no saying who a man like that would shoot or for how little reason. The Chinese man was writin' up a prayer; hopefully he'd finish quick enough for them to get the hell outta there. Marshal Evans was talkin' to the sword woman. He was pretty sure Pierce was gonna shoot one or both of them. Probably followed by everyone else in the room. Lazarus and Spades were both tryin' not to turn into Chinese Vampires.

It looked like the only people he might be able to count on were Mrs. Bradshaw and Mrs. Bruebaker. "Ladies, I think together we might be able to push the door open. Y'all willin' to help me try?" he said to them.

Mrs. Bruebaker likewise looks about at the situation, giving William and Gangasu a neutral yet stern stare, nods and rolls up her sleeves.

Widow Bradshaw tries to get up a bit fast and blunders into one of the chairs like a lost calf, but straightens, albeit swaying a little, eyes a touch glassy. "I'll help!" she announces, then starts muttering to herself, apparently trying to remember something. Adrian feels the dull pull of her murmurs on the Hunting Grounds.