4:23am Holy Saturday, April 12th 1879: somewhere on Circle W territory

"Howdy trees! Howdy crow-spirits! Howdy Very Hairy Person and/or Thing!"

Finally loaded up and ready to go, Sarah's steam wagon rolls, bumps and hurtles across the plains in hot pursuit of her captor. The rain has eased off to a persistent drizzle, though lighting still occasionally stabs groundward with no predictable pattern, the sky growling as though the next cloudbreak might tear open to reveal teeth about to devour the Earth.

Given the space taken up by the Mayor, it had been expedient to tie the clank to the roof.

[[feel free to scene-set here: I'm going to ask for a few rolls to determine some things as per the OOC thread.]]

OOC:

Dealing with the Devil a few times to help improve our little road trip. I got a Full House (Queens over 10s), a pair of Jacks, and a pair of Kings.

Adrian boosts his own Smarts for a 7, with the +2 for crowlets Navigational help makes that a 9.

And he will boost Pierce's Notice and Evans's Mad Science with the others, increasing them each by a step.

Also...I see a couple of Jokers!


12:28, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 7,4 using d12,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,4. Smarts.
12:31, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: KC, 4H, 10S, JH, KH, 3S, 9S, AS, 2C, 8D, QD using the Deadlands system.
12:23, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: 10C, KS, RJ!, 10S, 8S, 7D, QD, 6D, QH, QS, 8C using the Deadlands system. Deal with the Devil Boost Trait (2PP).
12:23, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: 2D, JH, KD, 8C, 7H, JS, 9S, 5S, BJ!, AS, QD using the Deadlands system. Deal with the Devil Boost Trait (2PP).

Evans manhandles the steam wagon across the stormy plain, lamenting the loss of his own steam wagon to himself as he tries to keep the damn thing pointed where he wanted it.

((OOC: rollin', rollin', rollin'...

10:38, Today: The Amazing Evans drew the single card: 8H using the Deadlands system.

Yay for no complications!

With the boost, that makes Evans' Mad Science a d10.

10:40, Today: The Amazing Evans rolled 6,3 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,3. Mad Science.

Also, can we say that Evans took the time to retrieve his Sunlight Bomb from the laundry chute?))

20:41, Today: William Pierce rolled 33,8 using d6+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of (6+6+6+6+5)29,4. Super-Notice, ignoring dim lighting, too..

Oh, crap... Didn't see you Raise Notice there, buddy! :-)

20:43, Today: William Pierce rolled 9,8 using d8+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of 5,4. Super-Notice, now raised.

Not quite as super. But still. ;-)



William rides shotgun, quite literally, gun at the ready.
As Evans mutters and curses about the road and the darkness, William replies, in a detached, monotone voice: "I see everything."

He nods into the darkness ahead. "Keep right, there's fallen tree blocking the left side of the road up ahead. Not that far. That's good."

The steam wagon putters and clanks onward.

We won't be sneaking up on anyone, that's for sure...

"C'mon, Alouette. Keep the mood light. Tell us a happy story," he said, curious as to what kind of tale the clank might tell.

---

OOC:
Deal with the Devil: 5D, JH, QC, 8C, 8D,2C, 8S, KH, KC, QS, 2S Full House!

Automatic success to boost Alouette's Persuasion by two steps.

"Refine definition: story?" the clank queries from the roof.

"A...narrative recounting of events...preferably one that ends in a positive manner, with the victory of people that are doing good things, and the defeat of people doing bad things." He wasn't sure that would help, but it was a start.

The clank ticks intensely for a bit. "Self can tell y'all about Jesus," it volunteers.

The chorus of groans seem only to encourage it. "When God had bones in He was called Jesus and He told bad people to repent and did good things, example: healing the sick; throwing devil pigs off cliffs; telling people to be exellent to each other and how to make the Romans annoyed by being plus helpful and minus clothing, because the Romans were being bad and making people live in stacks with lions and taxes."

"Eventally the Romans done got plus plus angry because the people liked Jesus' laws better than theirs and the priests were also annoyed because Jesus kept flipping their tables over and telling them not to be rich and doing miracles without paying taxes. Then Jesus said to Most Praised Follows The Goat to get him arrested so that He knew when it would happen, and He told his other friends they should think about Him when they ate bagels and that eating people was wrong, and that they should drink wine and water but still not blood but they could eat bacon if they wanted to."

"Then He went to a garden on a Mountain of Olives and whooped the ass of a fig tree and talked to Himself a lot, and all his friends went there too but they didn't see so they got bored and fell asleep. Then the Romans came to arrest Him and the Rock jumped up and cut off a Roman's ear but Jesus said that was Resisting Arrest and not beng excellent to people so He made the Roman grow more ears and got arrested. Rock wanted to get arrested, too, but Jesus said not to."

"Rock went to the jail anyway, but then he got distracted by a woman with a jug and then the cock woke up and he decided to go home to rethink his life instead of be arrested so he went. Then the Romans tried to make Jesus a cake and posted whips to him in jail and the Governor who was the Ponciest Pirate said he would let Jesus go if the people wanted it but there was a murderer with a better beard so they let him go instead. That was all right though, because it was a trick like when Archangel Sky Coyote made the Bad Wind Beast go boom."

"The Romans told Jesus to smite them but He didn't because they knew not what they did, so they hammered railroad spikes into His bones and made him cross and poked Him with a spear until He died...only because He had a mother then he was sort of like a mortal and could fit all of Himself mostly in Hell so He went there and said 'Howdy, demons!' and the demons said 'Howdy, Jesus!' but most of them didn't want to be angels or were busy reading books, so He went to talk to the dead people and said anyone who was plus plus sorry didn't have to be there any more."

"He also said that people who were there because of the old laws, example: people who looked at mildew and ate grasshoppers or loved people with the same kind of body or wore stripy clothes; those people could go to Heaven then. That made them happy and Jesus asked the demons if they wanted to be angels again, then He tried to ask Satan but Satan said Bad Words and told Him to go away, so He put his skin on again and was alive the same way He was before, not differently, and He threw a boulder out of the way because they put Him in a tomb whilst he was dead."

"Then He hugged his mother and His wife and told them He was going Home soon but things would be all right because nobody would have to go to Hell any more unless they wanted to and did plus plus bad things minus repentance when they knew better."

"The Jesus went and hugged His friends by being in another place, and told them to tell everyone else in the world that they didn't have to kill people or make sacrifices or follow bad laws; they could eat bagels and believe in Him instead. Then the bird angels done gave his friends shiny powers so they could talk to all the people and Jesus went Home, and even though the Romans didn't listen for a long time and tried to put Christians on reservations they did listen after all and then they stopped sacrificing men, women, children and pets and ate bagels instead."

The steam wagon clunks over a bump. "Was that a good story?" it asks.



[[Alouette rolled 8,4 using d10,d6. morale. Even given the local Fear level, that's a Sucess. Since it's Easter both here and there, I finally thought of a story the clank could parse as a True Thing that met Adrian's criteria, thus you get The Gospel According To Alouette.

Alouette drew the single card: 8D using the Deadlands system. card. No complication.]]

Pierce stares ahead into the darkness.

"Might've been the most accurate telling of that story I ever heard", he replies, with a rare, wry humor in his voice.

"It was certainly an...interesting version of that particular tale." Evans says, trying not to laugh. He looks over at the mayor. "What about it, Glenn? Wouldn't you say that was a fine rendition of the Passion?"

"Hmph! I maintain your angel is defective and a danger to public health," Bruebaker grumbles.

Thanks to Evans' skillful driving, aided by Vega's extremely useful shortcut and Pierce's keen eye for treacherous patches of mud, loose scree and dangerous wildlife, they're quite far out into the ranch's hinterland by now.

Adrian had chuckled at the story, his spirits lifted from the clank's rendition, and from the mayor's predictable ill humor.

"See that up on the rise? I think you should be able to get partway up the slope if you turn right about there," he said, pointing.

"Looks like some kinda altar to me. I reckon Pierce may be able to see better, but if so, I figure maybe that there is where the snake wizard might take the priest and maybe the nun."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:14, Wed 08 Apr 2015.

Pierce looks into a different direction.
"Stop the wagon. There's vampires over there... and they're feeding on a girl."

He looks at the others. "You coming? We need to cover our rear."

"What?" Hank stands up and leans over Hardin, nearly ending up on Lazarus' lap through trying to see out front. "Is it a really fat girl? My sister's out here somewhere..."

"Forget her," Bruebaker urges, looking up at a flicker of light on the rise. "I don't like saying it, but if she's not being sacrificed to bring more giant serpent-wizards to this realm, she is not our most urgent problem."

It's too late to stop the clank, however, for whom prioritisation is not a strong point: "Mortal in danger? Cease!"

There's a muffled *thump* as the wagon rolls, and those inside realise their angel has just bailed off the roof.


[[It manages not to damage itself, however:
Alouette rolled 4,4 using d4-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of (4+1)5,5. Agility.

After some calculations, y'all have about 7 minutes before your priest becomes an ex-priest...]]

"I reckon maybe we just let Pierce go after the vampires. He seems to have done for a number of them. Stopping the snake wizard is more important to all of our survival."

"The girl doesn't think so." Evans says, pulling the wagon to a stop. He grabbed his makeshift flamethrow and his gyro-mounted pistol. "I still have two of those sunlight bombs left. The vampires need to see the dawn."

"Good idea. Let's let the snake have the priest and the nun."

Lazarus looks at Adrian, nervously fidgeting a moment then standing. "I-I agree with you, actually - you want to run, or do you think we can get this thing going again?"

---

The prairie is lit by ghostly patches of moonlight and a dull orange glow from somewhere up on the rise; the struggling figures take a moment to pick out but are clear enough when spotted, as is the clank jogging in their general direction.

"Well, I was figurin' to go by foot. Unless you know how to drive it."

"Ah...no. Shall we take the cask?" Lazarus asks, hastily climbing out.

Hank has already dropped down. The Mayor looks perplexed and Hardin hasn't moved from his seat in the shadows, a weird spidery silhouette.

"Probably. Hardin, you wanna come with? We can prolly use an extra gun hand. How 'bout you, Mayor?"

Jake glanced up from where he'd been half-napping half-listening to the various happenings around him. "Just get the clank to bless some water ... its an angel in a tin can right? Then apply said water to the vampires in a liberal manner."

"Dandy where I am, thanks," Hardin says nonchalantly. Lazarus glares at him, scraping the barrel out, but says nothing.

"What on earth are you on about?" the Mayor huffs at Lawrence, then looks to Adrian. "Go on up - I'm sure I'll catch you up but that wretched vampire - hmph! - these wounds won't take running uphill." Even without the wounds, it's unlikely a man of the Mayor's age and bulk would be fit enough to sprint the scramble without risk.

"Well, that was me askin'. Let me rephrase that. Get up and get your fucking gun. You're coming with us. If we don't succeed you and I might as well not be here, so there's very little holding me back right now, and there's very little that I won't do." Adrian went still as the grave, in no mood to quarrel but not willing to let this selfish sonuvabitch sit around while the world around them fell to pieces, looking in it all for some advantage for himself. He did not breathe, merely turned his cold, dead eyes to focus on Hardin's.

OOC:

Boost Trait
Drew a Straight for 6 Power Points. Only need 2.
Spellcasting: 6
Boosting Intimidate by one step.
Intimidate: 9

Also...I drew a Joker (but didn't use it).

09:37, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 9,1 using d4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (4+4+1)9,1.
09:32, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 6,5 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,5.
09:30, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: 10D, 7D, 8H, RJ!, 9C, 5S, 8D, JH, 4H, 6S, QC using the Deadlands system.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:57, Fri 17 Apr 2015.

Jake flipped a card over and over in his left hand watching. He'd pondered using his talent but decided it was a bad idea so he stayed where he was and waited.

Hardin's eyes narrow and he does indeed pull two guns with his normal arms, heaving himself off his seat on a trunk of religious trinkets with the others. "I guess I'm worth as much as gettin' kilt," he grumbles, then points at Jake with a free hand as he climbs down. "Whyn't you get ornery with him?"

Jake finds the randomly-drawn card feels odd after a few flips. Looking down, it's the buisness card the old fella threw into his pack. It reads:

LOU CIPHER
LORDE INN
   HELL
    MI.

...displaying a horrible sense of humour.

[[John Wesley Hardin rolled 2,2 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,2. resist! Yep, he's intimidated (watch your back, Adrian).

6 minutes.]]

"You're not gonna get killed. We're gonna kill us a snake."

Adrian turned to Jake. "And he's got a point," he said to Jake. "You've got skills, and we can use 'em. Pull yourself together, and let's move out. Remember who you are."

"Mr. Mayor, you take your time. We'll be glad to have you with us when you can join. I don't know what we're going to find up there, but your arcane knowledge will of sure be of us to us, and help undo some of the harm done to this town. I'm sure you'll find yourself feeling stronger and more vigorous as you come with us." He didn't bother to hide his cards, not with the Mayor and Jake around, and not given what they were up against.

Adrian took the cask and handed it to Lazarus.

---

OOC:

Gonna try and increase the Mayor's Strength and Vigor.
- Two Pair provides more than enough Power Points.
- Spellcasting: 6
- Drew a Flush (auto success and raise)

This brings the Mayor's Strength up by one step and his Vigor up by two steps, or whichever would be better for having him in better condition as he makes his climb.

Also drew another (unused) Joker this time around.


12:31, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: 3D, 6C, 4H, 3C, KS, 8D, 6S, 7S, 8H, 10S, 9S using the Deadlands system.
12:29, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 6,2 using d8,d6. Spellcasting.
12:28, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: 10D, 5S, 2C, RJ!, 6C, 2H, AS, BJ!, 5C, AD, 6D using the Deadlands system. 2pp.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:36, Fri 17 Apr 2015.

((OOC: 10:42, Today: The Amazing Evans rolled 3 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3. Running.

Card: 10C))

Jake looked at Vega and flicked the card he'd been fiddling towards him. "Oh sure why not ... maybe I can bring the big bad snake along and get us all killed. You got a gun I could use? Think mine is dying of rust out in the middle of the farm house yard somewhere."

Adrian ignored the flicked card, and handed Jake a Colt Peacemaker. "It's fully loaded. Now, let's get on with it. Let's move - try to keep out of sight, and we'll figure out what we're gonna do once the situation is clearer."

As they began to move, he walked closer to Hardin. "Thanks for comin'. This will reflect well on you when it's all said and done. I'm a deputy, and I will put in a good word for you if you should wish to stay in town. If not, I'll owe you one."

---

OOC:

What does the approach to the snake altar look like? Will they be able to approach undetected?

Hardin tries to see Adrian's expression in the gloom. "Right," is his only comment, though he keeps up with the deputy well enough.

The group hasten up the slope, chilled by the wind off the sea and a weird, inhuman lisping that only becomes clearer as they draw nigh the top of the rise. The trail Adrian saw earlier helps somewhat, though it thins to a single-file path across an alarming gradient nearer the top.

It would be a nasty place to get bushwhacked; an idea that Hardin clearly takes to heart as he scans the nearby rocks and clumps of scrub vegetation clinging to the hill.


[[A steep hillside that plateaus somewhere above, where the firelight's coming from. You can't actually see the altar itself from where you are (Adrian probably saw some of the boulders encircling the ancient holy ground when he called out) and Omietlcoatl can't see you and isn't expecting interruptions. He can, however, "hear" via ground vibration and sense magic use, so it'll be an opposed group Stealth roll.

It'll take about 3 minutes to get to where y'all can poke your heads over at a quiet hustle. For a bonus to sneakiness, you can take 4 or 5 about it.]]

Jake took the pistol and gave it a once over. "I has so hopped that you had planned on marching over there playing the fife and drum."  The gunslinger shook his head and followed after.

OOC: no stealth for ole Jake ... should be interesting.

As they set out, Adrian took a moment to draw one more hand of cards, hoping to help ensure that none of them would get tripped up and make a commotion.

OOC:

Let's take four minutes so that we're not detected. I'm not sure how the group roll works for Wild Cards, but for the sake of it I'm going to take a moment and do a little preparation - to boost everyone's Stealth.

Adrian draws Four of a Kind - four Aces. This should give him enough power points to get an automatic success and raise and Boost stealth for every group member by two steps, for a duration of 30 rounds (however long that translates to that we're not in an official round).

10:49, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: AS, 5C, 10C, AC, AH, 8C, 7H, AD, 7S, KS, 5S using the Deadlands system. Boost/Lower Trait.

"I ain't sure that they haven't," Hardin remarks, looking at the members of the steam wagon crew charging across the plains far below.

[[er, 30? That was impressive, though...Jake, you now have a d4 Stealth, and I'll take whoever rolls highest and add successes to his. Have at!]]

OOC:

Stealth: 20!

12:46, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 2,20 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,(6+6+6+2)20. stealth

And yeah, 30. When you get four of a kind (my first), it's the same as a flush (automatic success and raise) and 10 times the normal duration. The normal duration being 3 rounds, this would be for 30 rounds. Sweetness.

This message was last edited by the player at 17:49, Mon 20 Apr 2015.

OOC:
13:59, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 4,8 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,(6+2)8. Stealth.

Adrian - does you're huckster ability work differently than mine? Even when you do Deal with the Devil you've got to roll Spellcasting to ensure you can even cast the spell... as you could always roll a 1  ... per pg 90 of the DLR Players Guide under "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:12, Mon 20 Apr 2015.

OOC:
My Huckster ability probably works the same. My reading ability may function differently:

Deadlands Reloaded p.80:

"With a Flush or better, success is automatic, but a Spellcasting roll may still be needed to hit or in the case of an opposed roll (the huckster gains a +4 bonus for the Flush)."

So according to the book, success is automatic. If I was using bolt, where I needed a 'to hit' number, I would roll Spellcasting. If this was opposed, I'd make a Spellcasting roll. Given that this is neither an opposed roll nor am I trying to hit anything, I don't need to make a Spellcasting roll because I have a hand higher than Flush.

That's how it feels to be a high roller that draws Flush and above with some regularity.

This message was last edited by the player at 18:17, Mon 20 Apr 2015.

[[That's how I understood it, but apparently I'm off my game today, so maybe don't trust me. Yes, Jake, two steps from nothing is indeed d6, and bloody hell Adrian, you're on fire today.

The results of the mess on the dice roller bring the group total to 26 for Omitetlcoatl to roll against.

Omitetlcoatl rolled 11,8 using d12,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 11,(6+2)8. Notice vs. 26. Good, but not good enough.]]

The group flit like shadows (or waddle like mid-afternoon, in the mayor's case) on the wings of Vega's hex. Higher up, the hissed chant is interspersed with periodic rattling that instinctively raises the fine hairs on the back of the neck.

Peering over the edge is blinding for several seconds, as there's a fire set near the top of the trail at the base of one of the marker stones, and smoke rolls towards the party in warm waves. The other boulders also have wood blazing at their feet, and beyond them, a second, offset circle of fire illuminates what might at first be taken for the trunk a fallen tree, at least until it moves and draws the eye up to another coil, and further up to gleaming horns rising from the back of a serpentine head.

He's in the way and the smoke makes things hazy over distance, but there does appear to be a human stretched over the 'altar' boulder, pinioned by pale curls that look for all the world like the deformed ribs of some monstrous being. Beyond the witchfire that arcs across the serpent's horns, a point of blue radiance like a lost star hangs in the air, pure and hypnotic.

"Oh my..." Lazarus breathes, staring at the beast. "So, how do you want to play this? Should I, er, go give him the barrel, perhaps?"

"He's stopped chantin'," Hardin rasps.


[[Guts checks -3 +Grit, please. Yes, you expected him (negating his usual -2 effect), but no-one here save Hardin and the Mayor have seen such a frikkin huge rattlesnake before.

Harry Lazarus rolled 4,1 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,1. fear! Harry isn't worried...well, maybe a bit worried...eep.]]

Adrian nearly drew back at first from the brightness of the sight below, squinting at first until his eyes became accustomed to it until he could make out the sight. He swore under his breath at the size of the snake, and the horriffic nature of what was happening. He'd seen a lot in his life that he didn't think most people had seen, and for a time searching out strange and arcane knowledge had made him feel special, as did his membership in the Lady Luck society. In the last day alone he'd experienced double the craziness, and at the moment the sight seemed to eclipse everything else combined. There had been times on the road he might have wished never to have left Blackthorn, but since all this had come back to his home town, he supposed it would have worked out more or less the same no matter what he had done with his life.

He was in truth surprised that he handled the sight of the creature so well. He must have been jaded from the last day in Blackthorn, or perhaps the news of his own undeath numbed him to the fear of some things.

"To kill it, we need to get it to bite itself. Or we need to get its venom. Getting it drunk might help. Mayor, you have any ideas on how we can get it to drink the liquor?"

OOC:

Guts 9 (after white chip).

15:40, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 9,7 using d12+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 7,5. White Chip to Reroll.
15:40, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 3,3 using d12+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 1,1. Guts.

OOC: I miss read the text of DwtD and was wrong ... learn to read I shall.

---

Jake noted the size of the creautnre with very little concern. He shrugged saying, "Shoulda gotten some dynamite."

OOC:
15:26, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 8,8 using d10+1,d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 7,(6+1)7. Spirit (-3 GM +4 Grit).
This message was last edited by the player at 21:46, Tue 21 Apr 2015.

"Perhaps if we roll it at the creature rapidly it might take it for an attack and bite the cask," the Mayor suggests.

"It may be worth simply offering it...he can't harm us directly, after all," Lazarus points out.

"I think the priest's sayin' something," Hardin growls, paying little heed to the discussion, attention on the beast. "I figure I ought to start shooting - could be enough lead'll get it down long enough to prise its mouth open and stab it in the poison whatevers."

Before them, the point of light becomes a thin blue line.


[[one minute.]]
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:42, Tue 21 Apr 2015.

"Alright, we need a plan quick. Lazarus, you go and offer it the brandy as a gift - and a distraction. Make something up, it needs to be good, and quick. I don't think we have much time left."

"While you're doin' that, I'm gonna sneak up on it from behind and try to get it to bite itself, or break off one of it's fangs and stab it with the fang, which should do the trick. Any way I can get it to poison itself."

"Hardin and Jake, you can follow but stay at a distance. Give Harry any cover he needs if he has to make a retreat. If the snake has helpers, you can take them out. You can even take the snake on itself if you need to."

"Mayor, I don't know what kinda tricks you got. If you can make that snake weaker somehow that would be great. Easier for me to hit, and easier for me to hurt would be good for starters."

OOC:

Does Adrian still benefit from his Stealth boost?

"I'll see what I can do," the mayor mumbles, thinking.

"Should we actually be trying to kill it outright? We don't know where the lady is, and she, ah, might need help...oh dear." Lazarus trails off as Adrian starts sneaking, swallows, and steps up on the summit, hefting his cask of brandy past the fires.

"Er...Greetings, Great Reptilian Overlord!"


[[yes; that insanely high roll'll cover this scene, I think. There's a small hiccup in getting Lazarus to you, since apparently I don't have the access for NPC moving; the Stray'll get to that next he's about.]]

Before he could hear Lazarus, Adrian tried to sneak off after the creature, circling so that he was a bit out of the way and might come at it from behind, careful to avoid any rattlers.

OOC:

Stealth: 7

13:21, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 7,4 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,4. Stealth (Boosted).

[[Hmm...I'll treat this as a Smarts trick on Harry's part.

Harry Lazarus rolled 3,3 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,3. Trickery!
Omitetlcoatl rolled 4,5 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,5. resist!

The snake isn't entirely distracted, but now he's at least pointed at Harry.

Omitetlcoatl rolled 6,2 using d12,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,2. Notice?
...and Adrian still has the Drop.]]

The serpent rears high and twists about to see who's hailing him, turning away from Adrian even as the huckster creeps upwind. "H̴m͢m̡?̴ ̛What҉ is it̕, ͜Lit͞ţl͠e͘ ͢P̀a͏l̨e̵ Óņe?"

Jake gave Adrian some room but followed after with pistol and potential magics at the ready.

OOC:
16:17, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 5,5 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,5. Stealthing.

"I come bearing an offering for your magnificence! I seek only to honor and please you, and give an offering of a cask of the finest brandy!" he said, placing the cask before the serpent.

[[Omitetlcoatl rolled 18,2 using d12,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (12+6)18,2. Notice? Think he noticed you, Jake...probably the Mayor and Hardin as well...]]

"O͏h, excelle̡n͞t!̸" the serpent exclaims, then pauses a moment, flickering his tongue to taste the wind, before returning his effusive attention to Harry.

"͜..͝.͝I ac͡c̷e҉pt̷ yo͠ųr o̧f̨f҉e͢rįng, Little͟ Pa̷l̡e On̢e͘,̨ and̵ since you ca͡ḿe͠ all̸ ̸t̕hi̧s way̛ I̧ ̸s̨h̶a̛l̵l ͟awa͏rd͠ ͠yo̧u th͏é s̨u̢p͘reme ͞honour͢ of͏ t̕h͠e͜ v̷eŕy ̀b͝es̴t ̀view҉ w͝he̸n̕ ̕m̢y şi̷blìn͢g̡s retur̷ǹ." The great head lowers, putting the altar boulder between his skull and anyone upwind, low enough for Lazarus to scramble up on.

"C̸om͠e, clim͝b ̢up̛ ́o͏n m̶y̧ ho̸rn͡s͏;́ y͢o͠u͞ śh̕a̕l̕l w̡a͡tc̴h͘ ̀f̴ro͝m ͡t̸he ͟h͟e͠ig̶ht o͡f̸ go͠d̶s̴.̧"

Harry can see the priest now, panting pale and exhausted from all his attempts to fight or run or pray: the clothing is stripped from his chest, his limbs held by unnaturally twisted cattle ribs and vertebrae. More bone forms itself into spikes over his limbs, face and pelvis: even if he were to call down the strength to somehow break his bonds, he would be shredded alive by the action.

His gaze meets Lazarus' briefly. Although the man is clearly afraid, it doesn't seem to be for himself, even in this dire strait.

"What happens when your siblings return?" he asked, attempting to stall.

"Yo̡u̡ ̛will̷ se̶e̡ ̨presently," the serpent responds, glancing back at the ever-brighter line of light hanging in the air.

Although still pleasant, his tone gets just a shade harder, hinting at the temper underneath. "͘Ha̢sţe͘n, ͟Li͡tt̵le̢ P̶a͏le ̴O͏n̶e...I wo͝u̶l͟d b̡e t̶érrib̵l͞y͘ ͟dís͡pl͢eas̶ed́ if I͢ ͢thoug̨h͘t̴ ͠you d̵įd̷ not ţrust҉ ͜m͝e, an͞d͢ on m͢y͡ ̛wo͟r̵d ҉I͡ ̛w̵i̵l̡l͘ no̷t̴ ͡eat ̢ýo̷ų."

Having little choice in the matter at this point, he mounted the serpent and braced himself to be lifted. Once out of the snake's eye contact, he gave a wink to the priest.

Jake found himself a semi-comfortable place in the dirt and sat. He had his gun sitting in his lap and waited.

The priest has already shut his eyes. "Let me not undergo the real pains of hell, dear God, because I die unshriven...deliver me not into the hands of the Enemy, O Lord, but establish me in that bliss that knows no ending..."

The serpent rears himself high once more, cheerfully wearing Lazarus as a hat. "T͝h̸e̵re.̵ ͞B́e̡ sur̵e̶ t͏o ̴s͟tay͏ ҉s͞te͜a̕dy ̡-͏ Ì ̶c͟o͘ul͠d͞ pro̡ba͠bl̴y̡ ̶m͠ȩnd̕ ̡yo͟u͝ŗ li̵tt̵le ̡ma̶mma̧l͝ ͝s͜k͝ul̨l ̶if ͘you ̢f́ell͢,̸ ͡bu͝t th̛e ̶f̷ir̸e͜s̶ w̧oul͜dn'̸t͞ b͡e ̛fu͝n ҉at̨ ̕a̸ll̛."

He leans a little to flicker his tongue at the priest. "A̧h̷,҉ su̷ch̸ swe͝et͞ ͢des̷p͜air.́.̸.͠but t̕r̛ulỳ, ͢yo̵u sh̀o͏ul̴d ̨bè t͘ha͡n͜kful. ͡Fo͡r ҉e͟ven ìf͠ y̵ou ͜do ͏nòţ ̕u͝n̡der̢s͢t͠a̡nd ͞how̨ ̛my ҉kiń ̸will̨ ́bri͏ng lib̀e̡r̢atio̡n̨ t̸o͞ ̢th͞e̶ pe͡o͡ple̷,̧ is ͝i̧t n͜ot͏ t͞h͡e ͜hi͡g̸ḩest̷ ̀hon͘o̴ur f͞or̢ o̡ne of you͏r̸ ̡f͢áit͡h,͢"

Harry feels the movements of the snake's jaw muscles as he towers directly over the priest.

"͢-to die-̛"

The reptilian head darts another glance to the light and angles down, passenger kept securely over the back of the skull. Smoke and sparks blow from the fires out into the night.

"-̛a m͠ar̀t̴yr?"

Remembering something Adrian says, Harry decided to quickly interject something, hoping to stall for time. "Before he dies, Great Master, may I pose a riddle?"

Before permission was given, he was out with it.

"What has roots that nobody sees,
And as well is taller than trees,
Up, up, and up it goes,
And yet it never grows?"

If the snake really had a weakness for word play, it might buy him and Adrian - and most importantly the priest - some time.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:50, Tue 05 May 2015.

The serpent pauses, rearing back to a comfortably straight position. "Hm?̶ Oh, ́t̀h̀a҉t's ̕rath͠er eas̷y͜,͜ Little Pa̕le͝ ̢o̶n̴e:̕ ͟ìt'͏s̴ ̡a͡ móu͏nt̡ai͡n.̀" He does seem extremely amused at the interjection, however, and can't help but enter into the spirit of things and respond.

"T͢ry̶ ̢th͢i̛s̵ on̶e.̀.̛.Buried҉,͜ uns͠e̶en͘, ye҉t̛ ͠es͘se̶ņţi͠aĺ; ̀bri̛ņg̷s͜ swi͝ft͜ d̷ea̡th if̵ ̨tem̢p̸e͏rmen̵t̶al.̷ No drum̶m͘er beats t͏he w҉a͝ŗ d̀ru͟ms̕'̀ ̧t̕hu̧d҉, ͢ýet҉ h̵ol̡lòwe͝d hallś ̴are͢ ̕f͡ill̨eḑ w̴įth ̨b͠l̵óo̡d̶." The serpent waits a moment for a reply.

---

Meanwhile, Jake quietly settles on his nice flat east-facing rock, taking the movement at his side for part of his clothing...at least until it raises a tail and a little pointy face to the level of Jake's elbow and begins shaking the former to let him know just whose rock this is.

*sssssssssssssshikashikashikashikashika*

[[ music for Jake...there is nothing whatsoever supernatural about this encounter...Jake just happened to sit down on a good basking rock near dawn at the end of hibernation season without checking.]]

He was afraid at the first that he might not know, but after a moment of meditating upon the riddle the answer came to him. "The heart," Lazarus responded with confidence. Tapping his chin in thought, he offered another.

"Voiceless it cries, Wingless it flutters, Toothless it bites, and mouthless it mutters."

OOC:
15:36, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 1,2 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,2. Spirit.

---

Jake jumped, he knew better but there was something about dark and snakes that hit the primal fear part of his brain.

Taking the sudden movement as a threat, the snake lashes out at the paleness of Jake's hand. The huckster feels the bite itself like being stabbed with a needle, a brief and soon-forgotten pain, then a gathering dry warmth in his fingertips...


[[20:49, Today: Alouette, for the NPC susan the rattlesnake, rolled 11 using 1d8, rerolling max with rolls of (8+3)11. *bite*. Hit, raise. She should have +2 for the size difference, but eh.
susan the rattlesnake, rolled 3 using 1d4, rerolling max with rolls of 3. damage.
susan the rattlesnake, rolled 3 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3. raise die.
-> 6 damage: Shaken and a -2 Vigour roll vs. poison.

Since she barely got you, a raise on that roll will leave you Fatigued, not Exhausted, and you can still use the hand.]]

OOC:
16:32, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 0,3 using d6-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 2,5. Vigor (-2 GM mod).
16:32, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 1,-1 using d6-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 3,1. White Chip.
16:32, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled -1,2 using d6-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4. White Chip.
16:33, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 3,-1 using d6-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 5,1. White Chip.
16:34, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 1 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1. Blue chip.
3 white chips and 1 blue later ... 4 ... a whopping 1.

And hello there Exhausted aka -2 to all rolls ... cause Jake really needs that in his life.

The serpent opens his mouth slightly and tilts his head a bit to resemble a human grin as the wild gusts in the darkness blow sparks and roiling clumps of smoke from the fires around. "Th̛é wi̡nd̸,͞ Lítt͢l͜e ͜Ṕa͟l̸e ̨o͏n͏é,͠ ̨o̷nly͡ t̵he͢ wind.͜"

He looks down at a blank patch of ground as though at someone there, tongue whipping the tense air. "You͡ won'́t ͏be ab̶lę t̸o ͠bre̶a̧k t̢h҉em̷,̧ ̶yoų ͢kn̶o̸w, ̕i̕f ̀th͢at'̵s y͡ou͜r̴ pl̷an," he tells thin air...or fat air, as it seems, since the billowing smoke strikes and bends around some large man-sized mass, briefly obvious before the smoke tears away like shredded silk out over the hills. Deeming the Mayor little worthy of attention, the serpent takes just a few seconds more to play at riddles, head high above the inner ring of flames.

"Ah̢...̧à ̢f͏ace͢ ̸for ́f̀riends, ͟a ̸f҉àc͟e ̧f͞o̴r ̴stran̸g̕e͞rs,̛ t͜hè ͞o̴nè ̧w̢h͏ich ̢s͡tańds͡ 't̢wixt̷ fire and daņge͜rs͏," he rasps, attention partly on the light.


[[The Mayor tries some super-sneaking, becoming invisible:
Mayor Bruebaker rolled 4,5 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 6,(6+1)7. casting.
Mayor Bruebaker, rolled 9,7 using d12+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of 5,3. sneakin'. (+2 smoke/dim, +4 invisible)
Omitetlcoatl, rolled 9,9 using d12,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 9,(6+3)9. Notice? Even half-distracted, Omi still notices the Mayor.]]

"Great Master, your wisdom is great and mine is small. Pray give me a moment to ponder," he said, wondering what was taking Adrian so long.

Some Mood Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvKjpGP6P5Y

The hissing serpentine speech carried across the open space and seemed to leave a lingering chill in the air that Adrian was certain sure was just his imagination, but it caused a shiver to run down the length of his spine nonetheless. It was part the seriousness of the barrel he was staring down, and it was part the thrill of the hunt. When he was a boy, he had gone hunting with his father. Not the sort where you sat up in a treehouse waiting to ambush a buck coming to sniff around. Bowhunting. They had to track game till they got within maybe thirty yards of it. He hadn't done that sorta thing in years, but it was funny how it all started to come back to him as he quietly crept along, waiting to pounce on that serpent.

His hand tightened around the handle of the strange scythe-adorned gun he had picked up earlier. It wasn't sweaty; dead men didn't sweat. At least, he thought they didn't. He couldn't remember sweating anytime recently. Adrian tried to keep his mind focused during his approach. They didn't have much time to save the priest from what it seemed might be imminent death, and they had some kind of snake demon in their midst masquerading as only God knew what.

He watched with silent admiration as Harry Lazarus offered the brandy and mounted the head of the serpent. His own part would be just as risky, but being already dead he had less to lose. He continued to creep closer to the scene of the action as the great serpent leaned down to speak to the priest and tensed at the proximity. It was time.

With a silent, snarling expression he hurled himself at the snake, stabbing into where he remembered its venom gland would be. On a snake this large, it would be a large gland, and if his scythe should pierce the serpent's flesh and puncture the gland, it would poison the snake itself at the same time. The mysterious and strange scythe tipped gun forward he moved for a piercing blow and perhaps a bullet as well if he could.

---

OOC:

Adrian Deals with the Devil for 2 Power Points. He draws a Full House, which grants him an automatic success with a raise for double the normal duration of the spell. He uses this to Boost his Fightin' trait from d4 to d8.

Moving swiftly in, Adrian takes advantage of having the Drop (+4) and makes a Fightin' attack with his Gun of the Hanging Judge scythe blade, operating from memory (-2) stabbing into where he knows the venom sac should be (-4), he seeks Payback (+2) for the injustice he believes this serpent wizard has committed (+4 Relic).

Fightin: 12 (Including Blue Chip)
Damage: 22 (Strength 7, Weapon Damage 5, Relic, The Drop, Payback)
Note: His weapon can affect creatures only affected by Magic damage, for whatever it is worth

Because he made a successful attack with the Gun of the Hanging Judge, he gets to shoot as a free action. Might as well. Since he's not aiming for aything specifically and doesn't need his memory, I assume no penalties on those counts. He will keep the bonuses from Payback, the Relic badge, and The Drop presumably for a bonus of +10, which will overcome his poor shooting roll.

Shootin': 12 (Shooting +2, Relic, The Drop, Payback)
Damage: 14 (Weapon Damage ,Relic, The Drop, Payback)
Note: His weapon can affect creatures only affected by Magic damage, for whatever it is worth

09:59, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: 6D, 8S, 6S, 6H, 9C, 9H, H, QH, JH, 3S, 7H using the Deadlands system. Boost/Lower Trait.

10:15, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 8,7 using d8+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of 4,3. Fightin' [-4 (Venom Sac) -2 (Memory) +2 (Payback) +4 (The Drop) +4 (Relic)].
10:15, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 4 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4. Blue Chip.

10:20, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 15 using 1d6+10, rerolling max with rolls of 5. Weapon Damage [+4 (The Drop) +4 (Relic) +2 (Payback)].
10:20, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 7 using 1d8, rerolling max with rolls of 7. Strength.

10:22, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 2,1 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,1. Shootin' (Free Action - Gun Relic).

10:34, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 14 using 2d6+11, rerolling max with rolls of 2,1. Weapon Damage [+4 (The Drop) +4 (Relic) +2 (Payback)].

"Òh̢,̛ ̵w̢ell,̢ l͡et̷ me give ̶y͝ou ͜a͢ ̸c̶l͞u͝e.́.́." the serpent says amicably, and of a sudden is leaning down, gape wide...

...and then Adrian explodes up from the ground and the altar boulder, his entire momentum behind a killing blow. Even snake reflexes only allow so much flinch when taken by surprise; the blade cuts a bloody gash along the serpent's jaw as he twitches his head away, causing the following shot to enter at the soft of the hinge and exit through the meat of the neck, showering Adrian in ichor.

"H͏HHH͏SSSSSSSS̶S͜s͝s͢sss̶sśs͘s̛s͞sssss̛ss҉ssśs̸ss!"

The serpent rears back on high, Harry temporarily forgotten as the furious turquoise eyes seek to focus on Adrian, blood pouring across golden scales until they gleam like molten copper. The priest tries to get his head far back enough to see what's going on without being blinded, renewing his efforts to free his rubbed-raw wrists and forearms from the unforgiving bone.

"̷I̡nso͟le͡n͘t̢ corp͞s͜e!" Omitetlcoatl hisses, a sound like ten thousand frying cicadas beginning to grate the air as his rattle blurs into motion.

[[ That 12 is a Raise both times -

22:50, Today: Alouette, on behalf of Adrian Vega, rolled 1 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1. raise die...no difference on the stab there. Still 2 Wounds for Omitetlcoatl, with some Shaken thrown in.
22:53, Today: Alouette, on behalf of Adrian Vega, rolled 10 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+4)10. raise die, shot. Brings the shot up to 24 and 2/3 Wounds for Omitetlcoatl, though.

He'll attempt to soak the first, because instinct tends to be keenest around vulnerabilities:
22:48, Today: Alouette, on behalf of Omitetlcoatl, rolled 2,9 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,(6+3)9. soak attempt. That'll do.

He'll keep his red chip and the damage from the shot for now, though, which leaves him at Shaken and 2 Wounds for now.

Omitetlcoatl drew the single card: JS using the Deadlands system. init.

Adrian, please draw initiative.

Harry, give me a Ride roll to stay seated on a Shaken mount, then draw in if desired]]

---

The ordinary rattlesnake Jake nearly sat on continues to rattle, taking an ignored bite at the leather of his coat as the man curls in pain and rolls off the rock. Seeing as the big scary thing is defeated, the small reptile slithers back over the other side of the rock, either to hide under it or vanish into the scrub.

A fresh pain begins to pulse up Jake's stiffened tendons, his fingers feeling puffed and tender against the outline of every single pebble, twig and clod of earth. His cards spill in clumps over his side from his pocket, and though he doesn't recall himself or Adrian replacing it there, amongst the dark shapes of eights and aces that blow face-up before his eyes is that one card that's not for playing with.

For the first time, Jake notices a pencil scrawl on the back, just one word: Reconsider?

Jake laughed, it had a wet cough sound to it but he laughed as best he could. The huckster slowly stood, his bitten hand clutched to his chest, with obvious pain on his face. He leveled the borrowed weapon in his other hand and waited.

17:53, Today: Adrian Vega drew the single card: 5C using the Deadlands system. Initiative.

Question: As an alternative to riding, what might I need to roll to have him jump off and make a non-injurious landing? Or slide down its neck like a firepole?

18:07, Today: Harry Lazarus drew the single card: AH using the Deadlands system.

The harsh buzz of the rattle sets teeth on edge.

[[Agility -3 for the height and obstacles. Considering Omi's blood-slippery and liable to curve any which way, sliding's about the same as falling.

Jake, draw in if you want, or let me know what you're waiting on. Tez would offer to help, but out of everything in the world there's nothing he can do about rattlesnake bite.]]
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:58, Wed 06 May 2015.

OOC:

Riding: 3 (5-2)

07:54, Today: Harry Lazarus rolled 5,2 using d4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (4+1)5,2.

OOC:
13:58, Today: Jake Lawrence drew the single card: 6S using a deck of 54 cards. Initiative.

Harry loses his grip with the serpent's pained flinching and for a brief, rushing moment finds himself clawing at air. Then the serpent's coils shift about, catching him and dumping him on the ground whilst the creature's attention is elsewhere.

[[He takes 2d6 falling damage:
17:27, Today: Alouette, on behalf of Harry Lazarus, rolled rolls of 1,4. -> 5 falling damage. Harry's fine, and it's his turn!

Initiative
Harry Lazarus AH
Omitetlcoatl JS
Mayor Bruebaker JH
Father O'Rourke 7D
Jake Lawrence 6S
John Wesley Hardin 6D
Adrian Vega 5C ]]
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:33, Thu 07 May 2015.

Harry attempted an acrobatic maneuver as he fell from the serpent's head but ended up hitting the ground harder than he had imagined. The adrenaline in his system seemed to allow him to ignore whatever the shock was, and he bolted towards the altar to see what he could do about freeing the priest. Recalling the serpent's warning that they wouldn't be able to break the priest out, he grabbed onto the bone-looking things that seemed to be holding him in with a hand, and in his other hand he studied a few cards that he had secreted away in his pocket.

"Don't worry father, we're getting out you," he said very quietly.

OOC:

Casting: Hunch

Spellcasting: 4
Deal with the Devil: Straight


13:53, Today: Harry Lazarus rolled 4,3 using d8,d6. Spellcasting.
13:50, Today: Harry Lazarus drew the 9 cards: 4C, QH, AS, 9H, JD, 7D, 10D, KD, JS using the Deadlands system.

PS: I don't suppose there's a chance that the good priest is a Blessed is there, and that he might be dealt in?

"Be carful," the priest responds, his accent thick in his whisper, almost lost under the serpent's rattling. "He's got some kind of diabolical protection to himself against spiritual attack, an' he threatened t'skin me to get Sarah's compliance...have you found her? is she safe?"

"Some are on that errand. Others on this. Vega is fighting the serpent. Bruebaker, Bitter Waters, and Hardin are nearby also and may help soon with luck. Evans and William Pierce went to save a woman from a vampire, but may join us after if any of us live that long," he said.

"If you can't curse the snake, perhaps you could exorcise these bones. Or bless us with the power of the Lord that we do His work in slaying this demon."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:45, Thu 07 May 2015.

"I don't actually bleed host an' holy water y'know," O'Rourke responds a little techily, watching the serpent, but darts a glance across. "All right - get your head under my fingertips there an' I will channel the Lord's blessing to you t' best I can."

"I'm guessing the bones are held as they are by one o' the skulls back on the snake's side o' the rock there, like the head of a craeture...which I don't know, though."

Above him, the snake towers, green light blazing on his brow. The serpent's flat and predatory gaze fixes on Adrian like a pin through an insect, sapping his will to move. The wizard-beast leans closer, his turquoise eyes the still centre of the world, even the universe. A word of command drops into that timeles lull:

"ŚL͘E͜E̸P.҉"


[[Omitetlcoatl rolled 4,0 using d12-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 6,2. Unshake?
He unshakes, though even if I'd remembered his +2 that's not a raise.

Omitetlcoatl rolled 5,3 using d10-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 7,5. Regen. check. One sucess, leaving him at 1 wound.

Since he can't hurt Adrian directly, he opts to make him conk out instead:
Omitetlcoatl rolled 8,3 using d12-1,d12-1, rerolling max with rolls of 9,4. Hypnosis (+2 versus differently alive, -2 Unshaking, -1 wound)
He's even willing to chip it:
Omitetlcoatl rolled 1 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1. red chippit.

...meaning Adrian has to beat 9 or take a nap!

 ]]

OOC:

What do I roll to beat the Sleep spell? Is it Spirit? And does it count for the manitou stuff as well or do I need to make separate rolls?

[[Spirit and separate rolls - the latter is just being opportunist with the ability to cause trouble in the course of getting something you both need.]]

As forces both within and without threatened to overwhelm him at a critical moment, Adrian forced himself to concentrate on the current situation and what would happen if he let himself be overcome.

OOC:
Spirit: 7 vs. Manitou
Spirit: 9 vs. Omi-don't-play-that

12:51, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 2 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2. Blue Chip.
12:50, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 2 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2. Blue Chip.
12:50, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 1,5 using d12,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,5.
12:50, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 7,7 using d12,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,(6+1)7. Spirit.

This message was last edited by the player at 18:40, Fri 08 May 2015.

Harry moved his head into the position indicated by the Priest, not knowing what to expect.

Thunder rolls. The abscence amongst the smoke raises unseen arms to the sky, calling out in grim stentorian tones: "Quake and lie low, O serpent: the wings of thunder are upon us!"

[[Mayor Bruebaker rolled 8,6 using d12,d10-2, rerolling max with rolls of 8,8. snakeoilin'.]]

Omitetlcoatl pauses his rattling to look at him, then the sky, tongue flickering briefly to taste the electric air. "I t͜h҉ink̡ not͢," he responds.

[[Omitetlcoatl rolled 12,17 using d12+1,d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 11,(6+6+4)16. resist! Yeah...not impressed.]]

"O Lord I ask that the strength of spirit we find in You may shift itself to strength of body in this man; that he should find in You a fortress and act without fear for mortal flesh - amen." O'Rourke murmurs.

It feels odd, but then Harry does feel stronger, along with a kind of youthful elation and lack of fear of harm. At one with the world, he has a sense that if he put his will to it, perhaps he could move mountains.

[[Father William O'Rourke rolled 3,8 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,(6+2)8. plus plus Jesus! Harry's Strength is boosted 2 steps.]]

The serpent notes some shift in the aether, but before he can look down he's struck by a hail of hot lead. Bullets ping off his scales, knocking a chip off his left horn.

"S̵t̵o͡p̢ ͡t̵h̵a͘t͢!́"

One last, badly-aimed bullet pings a lucky shot off his nose. The god-serpent's crown of fire explodes to cover halfway down his neck, incandescent and bonfire-fierce as his rattling starts up again, the pitch heading for something both physically and spiritually painful.


"̶H̨SSSŚS͟SS͝S͡SSSSS!!̢!͏"

[[Jake goes On Hold to see what's up, swaying as he is.
Hardin, not being one for fancy plans, tries shooting the snake a lot.

John Wesley Hardin rolled 5,6 using d10+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 3,4. shootin'. Hit.
John Wesley Hardin rolled 5 using 2d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 2,2. damage.

John Wesley Hardin, rolled 14,6 using d10+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of (10+2)12,4. shootin'. Hit, Raise.
John Wesley Hardin rolled 13 using 3d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of (6+2)8,2,2. damage.

Side arms!

John Wesley Hardin rolled 15,7 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (10+5)15,(6+1)7. shootin'. Hit, Raise.
John Wesley Hardin rolled 8 using 3d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4,2. damage.

John Wesley Hardin, rolled 6,2 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,2. shootin'. Hit.
20:37, Today: Alouette, on behalf of John Wesley Hardin, rolled 8 using 2d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 4,3. damage.

...Hardin suceeds in making Omitetlcoatl annoyed.

Jake, encouraged to at least try, somehow manages not to hit any bystanders.

20:53, Today: Alouette, on behalf of Jake Lawrence, rolled 4,1 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 6,3. shootin'. Actually a 6 since he has +2 to hit a big snake and no MAP for extra arms, but still just a hit.
20:56, Today: Alouette, on behalf of Jake Lawrence rolled 6 using 2d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 3,2. damage.

Omitetlcoatl is more annoyed. Adrian, go!]]

OOC:

Question before the Next Attack:

Since the gun was fired after a successful strike into the venom sac (where the scythe, hence the gun was necessarily pointing) and the scythe blow was soaked but not the venom sac, does that mean the venom sac was punctured successfully by the bullet fired when the gun was pointed into it?

*SHIKASHIKASHIKASHIKASSHIKASHIKASHIKA...*

[[since soaking a wound negates it as more than surface damage, I played it as shallow injury from the blade throwing off the shot, resulting in a hit lower on the skull, with the brunt of the force taken on the neck (hence all the blood).

Since the hit raised last time, though, I'd say Adrian is pretty clear on where he needs to hit and so doesn't take the -2 for working from memory.]]

With a roar he tried to do the same thing with a little bit of a clearer idea of what he was about this time around. Taking aim, he punched upward into where he knew the venom sac would be, and as he scored it he pulled the trigger again, preparing himself for the beast to  evade and focusing on aiming the weapon at the location regardless.

OOC:

Adrian is going to make another attempt to punch through the venom gland with the scythe blade on his gun, stabbing into where he knows the venom sac should be (-4), he seeks Payback (+2) for the injustice he believes this serpent wizard has committed (+4 Relic). After spending a Blue Chip for a +2 and including his base roll of 11 on the Wild Die he got the following:

Fightin': 15
Damage: 19 (Strength 6, Weapon Damage 5, Relic 4, Payback 2, Raise 2)

Because he made a successful attack with the Gun of the Hanging Judge, he gets to shoot as a free action. Might as well. He's going to aim for the venom sac, taking a -4 penalty. He will keep the bonuses from Payback and the Relic badge for a bonus of +6.

Shootin': 6
Damage: 16 (Weapon Damage 9, Relic 4, Payback 2, Raise 1)


19:01, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 5,11,2 using d8,d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,(6+5)11,2. Red as white to reroll.
19:08, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 5 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5. Weapon Damage.
19:08, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 6 using 1d8, rerolling max with rolls of 6. Strength.
19:10, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 2 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2. Raise.

19:11, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 2,4 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,4. Shootin' (Free Action - Gun Relic).
22:02, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 9 using 2d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 3,5. Damage.

[[considering his head's no longer in easy reach (that's why the Mayor was trying to get him to lie low) I'd have asked for an Agility roll for jumping/swarming up his neck...however, with a roll like that the MAP wouldn't affect the outcome, so I'll handwave it. I won't, however, roll a soak this time.]]

Adrian leaps, grabs and swarms up the serpent's neck, stabbing the great reptile in the face. Blood soaks to his elbow, but he follows the stab with a shot that splinters deep into the creature's skull, bringing a spurt of clear liquid.


[[Agility -2 to avoid being squished/thrown down injurously here, Adrian. Harry has some protection from the altar rock from the flailing poisoned snake, likewise Jake and Hardin have the edge of the rise as cover. The Mayor, however, is caught in the open...]]

Omitetlcoatl slams back into the ground, incoherent and writhing with pain as enough toxin to kill 800 steers spatters through his throat and sinuses. His nervous system overloads with agony as the venom destroys it, his flesh twitching and heaving under the skin. Sparks shatter the night as he fails unheedingly through the bonfires, uprooting one of the marker stones and sending it rolling down the hill in a spray of earth.

"HSS̷S͞SSS҉S͜SS̵SSS̷S͜SSS̶S҉SŞS̸SS҉S͡S̷ŚS҉S̡SSSS̛S̢SSSSS͡S͝S͏ŞS̷S̵SSSS͜SSS͏SSSSSŚS̴!"

The thrashing coils smash into the Mayor-shaped patch of smokeless air, bringing up dust as from a thrown body. "Aaah!"

"-SS͏SSS̶SSS͘SS SSSS̵SSSSS̸SSS͟S̨SŚSS̨SS̶SS̡SSS̀SS SS͝SSS͢S҉SS҉SSSSS͢-"

The line of blue light hanging above the altar abruptly ceases its gradual fade and burns brighter, incandescent as ghostfire.

"Sé do bheatha, a Mhuire, atá lán de ghrásta tá an Tiarna leat..." the priest murmurs.

"-HS͠SSSSSS̶SS̀S҉SS͟SSS̶S͏S̡S̴SSSS̷SSŞSS̷S͞SS̨SS̕S͢S͞S͞SS̕ ̛S͡S͜SS̢SSS̷SSSSSSSS͟ŞS͘SS͝S̛SS̕"

Snake muscle whips against the sky and gouges ruts in the ground. The light brightens.

"...Is beannaithe thú idir mná agus is beannaithe toradh do bhroinne, Íosa...A Naomh-Mhuire, a Mháthair Dé..."

"A͝v͡enǵe m̡ę!̸" the serpent screams, biting the air with a last horrific spasming of tortured flesh.

The light bursts.

"...guigh orainn na peacaigh anois agus ar uair ár mbáis...."


[[Adrian gains a poisoned weapon (with poison to spare).
 ]]

Adrian felt something strange coming over him, but it wasn't enough to overcome his instinct to dive away from the corpse of the falling serpent after he landed.

OOC:

Ah, sorry about that. I should've realized he pulled up again.

Agility: 9 (including penalty)

18:21, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 4,9 using d10-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 6,(6+5)11. Agility .

Are we still in this round?

[[I was allowing reaction space - if Adrian doesn't want to run off and hide be super-Stealthy to see what happens and/or assumes he'll attack whatever comes out of the portal regardless of size, shape or sanity, draw initiative. Otherwise we'll be Out of Combat.]]

"...go raibh maith agat. Amen."

OOC:

Adrian will attempt to hide. Can he hide near Harry so I can converse with myself?

Dark shapes cross the near-blinding light on the other side, approaching.

[[Hunkering down beside the altar boulder would work, as it overhangs a bit and Harry's right there to join you. Or you could hide under Omi's corpse, which might just about have stopped twitching, and call him over...]]

His leap had left him hunkering in the shadows of the massive serpent's corpse, so he took the chance to beckon over to Harry Lazarus. He looked out to see if he could spot where the Mayor was, and hoped that Hardin had the good sense to hang back and out of sight. There was a fey feeling in the air, and he thought just a small part of tonight's battles had been fought. There was probably more blood to spill.

"Well, I killed it, but it looks like somethin' else came from outta there. Like it somehow managed its spell without killin' the good Father here. I didn't get to see what, though. Don't suppose you figured how to free him?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:04, Sat 16 May 2015.

Harry kept a low profile as he made his way over to crouch besides Adrian. He looked rather frightened, generally speaking, but seemed to be holding himself together with great aplomb. "I believe, from what the Widow suggested, that the painful death was all that was needed to fuel the spell. The serpent's painful death, in this case, made it work. I believe that there are some skulls scattered about here that are linked to this bone cage. If we can destroy them...we can free him."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:11, Sat 16 May 2015.

"I killed it by poisoning it with its own venom. There's more venom in its venom sac, which is in its mouth, if we need to get it to kill these other two. That knowledge is vital to defeating these snake demon monsters,"  he said, speaking extremely quietly. He kept his eyes and ears open to see if he noticed anything of interest.

OOC:

Deal with the Devil: Straight = 6 PP (only needed 2) to Boost Notice
Spellcasting: 7
Notice: 6

13:26, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 5,2 using d6,d6. Notice.
13:19, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 7,6 using d8,d6.
13:16, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: KC, 10S, JD, 6S, 9H, JS, 3H, 10C, QH, 5S, 3D using the Deadlands system. Boost/Lower Trait.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:28, Sat 16 May 2015.

"You lads might want to stay down there a little longer," the priest mutters, debating whether to play dead as a huge serpentine head, mosaic-masked, feather-crowned around the horns and easily as large as the slain Omitetlcoatl's breaks smoothly from the portal as though from water, shaking off motes of light. Dried human hands and hearts swing from garlands attached to the mask, interspersed with ornaments of gold and turquoise.

"Lįţtļe ͏br͡oth͘e̡r?͜"

The creature heaves himself mostway into the world, leaving the gate free for another horned serpent, this one with a copper-green cast to brazen scales.

"What͘ is i͜t͘,̛ ̵Ixq̕u̧a̴huaco̡a͏tl..́.͠?͟"

Meanwhile, Adrian notices several animal skulls clustered amongst the bone restraints on his end of the altar rock.

[[Either Rpol's notifications or my dodgy internets are playing silly buggers...not sure how I missed your post there, sorry.]]
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:46, Sat 16 May 2015.

OOC:

Stealth: 6

07:53, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 6,4 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,4. Stealth (Boosted).

OOC:

Stealth: 8


11:16, Today: Harry Lazarus rolled 5 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5. Red.
07:53, Today: Harry Lazarus rolled 3,3 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,3. Stealth (Boosted).

[[For the NPCs:
John Wesley Hardin rolled 3,6 using d6+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4. sneakin'.
Mayor Bruebaker rolled 9,9 using d12+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of 5,5. sneakin'.

Jake, if you want to stumble downwind/generally evade notice by the critters, your Stealth will be at +2 for not being easily visible (the serpents have other senses that negate darkness penalties and the like).

Ixquahuacoatl rolled 10,3 using d12,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 10,3. Notice?
Tlachinollicoatl rolled 9,4 using d12,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 9,4. Notice?]]


The obsidian-masked serpent begins to dip his head to turn over his brother's corpse, tongue flickering over Adrian's head like a bullwhip; abruptly he jerks back, the witchfire previously hidden by his headdress blazing out like a corona.

"T̷l̛ąc̛h̸i͘n̸oll̸i̡c̛o̡átl͏!͠ Be͘wa͡r͏e!"

"I̸ a͝m̢, br̴othe҉r͢mine.̀.͜.́" the more gracile serpent responds, slithering free of the portal and casting herself in a great loop about the altar boulder before Harry can escape. "W̷re͘t̨c͢h̢e҉d ̡mo҉r̕t͜a̴l, ͞t͜h̢r̕ow ͞do͠w͜n yóu҉r̸ ̀we͟ap͟o͞n͜s͡ ́a͠nd bęg f̴o͞r̢ ҉m͘er̀cy͠,̨ ͠e͠r͡e̛ I͞ ̡d̨e̸v̵oúr͠ and͠ d̷e̢s̢t̛r͡ǫy ̡t͠h͜e̵s̴e.̴"

"͠Th͜e̵r̨e ͝is͟ ̸a̧n̸ot̵h҉er ̴w̨a̴rm̕b̨loơd ͘u͏p ͢h͝er̵e, si͡st̕éŗmi̡ne," Ixquahuacoatl warns, turning his head towards the unseen Mayor whilst the other keeps her gaze on Adrian.

Tlachinollicoatl flickers her tongue. "̛Uns̴een ̴o̴ne...an̶d́ ot͘h̵ers,͠" she tilts her chin up a little, alert for any movement from beyond the fires. "I śp҉e̵a͏k͡ to̶ ́y̡o̵u as̸ w̶e̸ll̛.͠ S͠ur̶ŕe͞nd͜e͜r y͡our ̵a̧rma̧men͠t̵ a̸ǹd ͡y̴ou͞ ͏w̷ill̷ b̢e t͞r̕éa̕t͜ed ͜h̡on͡o̶ur̵abļy.̢"

Jake knew he couldn't sneak his way out of a dark building during a rainstorm. He pondered stayed where he was and tried to see if he could sort out something useful to do from there versus moving and making himself noticed.

Adrian kept his eye on the snake, just as it watched him. The gigantic serpent looked imposing, but for a man that had just taken one down by himself, it didn't seem to scare him. Two serpents might get a little tricky, but he was pretty sure that he could handle the situation. Still, it never hurt to be a little cautious. Maybe if he could buy them a little time, some of the others would get here and provide the distraction that they needed. Sure are takin' their sweet fuckin time about it, he thought.

"I ain't gonna throw down nothin,'" he said. "But maybe we can take a moment to deescalate the situation. I think a better idea is if you go back to wherever you came from. It's probably more hospitable to big snakes."

"You ͟şt̨an̴d on ͠o̵ur ̛b͟roth͞e̕ŕ'̷s҉ c͘orp̀s̨e͘," the masked one points out, slithering around to flank Adrian more directly.

"This̨ ̕d͠emand͜s͘ r̷es̛ti̸t̕uti̧on̴," the other finishes, her halo low and almost blue, but bright.

[[One'd probably be up for a duel, if that was what you were going for...bit of a Mexican standoff going here.]]

Pondering what to do, Jake feels a roughness scrape, stirring, all-over-nowhere as his hand pulses with pain.

"Your brother was attempting the murder of an innocent man. I stood in between him and his goal," he said. "He had a choice, and he made his choice."

"You know your brother. You know he wouldn't hesitate to kill a man for no crime. And look at his great and immense size, then look at my small size. If I was able to bring down low such a mighty being, surely I must have a secret. Are you sure you want to tangle with me?" A bolt of energy danced across the barrel of the Gun of the Hangin' judge, as hearts, clubs, spades and diamonds danced before his eyes when he spared a moment for his free hand.

---

OOC:

Deal with the Devil: Full House 6S 6H 6C 2H 2D (Automatic Success and Raise, plus double duration - six rounds worth of time)
Boost/Lower Trait --> Persuasion
Persuasion: 7

Adrian is trying to persuade them that tangling with him is a bad idea.

14:20, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 7,4 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,4.
14:14, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: KD, 10D, 2D, 3H, KC, 3C, 6S, 6H, 2H, AH, 6C using the Deadlands system. Boost/Lower Trait.

In reply to Mirror Serpent's Brood (msg # 99):

Jake laughed, it was all his brain would allow him to do. "Oh silly snake, you must think yourself far more important than you are." He glanced at his hand and pondered for a moment if it would be worth it to slice it off only to recall he didn't have anything to do that with.

Lazarus looked uncertainly at Adrian. The man had killed one of these things once. Could he replicate his feat? The man was undead, and perhaps that gave him some advantages, and he had managed to exploit the last serpent's weakness. Would fate be on his side again? It was a dicy  prospect at best, though he could at least try to help the man. He looked at the cards in his hand. Not as good as Adrian's had been, to be sure. But he was skilled in these dealings, and knew how to play a weak hand when the chips were down. He reached over and gave Adrian's shoulder a touch to infuse him with protective power, disguising it as a shove.

---

OOC:

Deal with the Devil: 2 Pair
Casting: Armor (on Adrian)
Spellcasting: 19 - Success and Raise

Adrian gets +4 to Toughness.

15:31, Today: Harry Lazarus rolled 19,5 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (8+8+3)19,5. Spellcasting.
14:58, Today: Harry Lazarus drew the 9 cards: 5S, 6H, 9H, 4D, JC, 6D, 5H, 3S, AH using the Deadlands system. Deal with the Devil Armor 2PP.

Tlachinollicoatl hisses. "He w̶as ̸att͘e̛m͡pt̸i̵n̢g-"

"-́to r҉e̢dr̶ess ͞aņ ̸i͘ḿb͏al̸a̸nce̢,̢ ͟a͠ ̧n͞e̶c͜e̴şsar͏y͠ ta̕s̶k͡ ͠lơn͞g͘ ̷o͡v̧e͠r͡due̴," her brother finishes. "Be̢şid͠ęs͜,"

"T͢hi̕s-" Tlachinollicoatl nods down at the priest.

"-is ̀no i͏nnoc͟én͏t ̛m͟an. C̢a̧r̸e ͡t͟o̡ t͞ell ̡them̢ abou͞t͝ the b̀oy͞,͏ J̡ame҉s͝?͘"

O'Rourke starts at the name, the restrains scratching his flesh. "Don't say it like that," he says softly.

"You͞n͘g ͢ma̢n, then," Ixquahuacoatl conceeds, prompting.

"I'm not going to make excuses," O'Rourke says, in the tone of one who has faced that there are none. He shifts his skull as best he can, little though that is, to try and catch Adrian's eye. "I believe the Lord has seen fit t'accept my life as payment towards my debt, and that it is His right and discretion as to what should b'come of me...but for the sake of the truth ye should know I am a murderer and a thief."

"I killed a lad...fourteen years old, God help me an' I killed him for no reason at all, only seein' if I could." The priest lets his head fall back, eyes tight-closed on the sudden burn of tears.

Q̡ui͏t͞ȩ, the masked serpent says dryly. "N҉o̶t̷ ̢ev̕en ̛t͠ò ea̢t͝,͠ ơr ͏t̴o̴ ͡r͟e͝t̀u̶r̷n th͞e en̢ergy̕ of li͟fe̛ to͢ the̛ ̧w̨or̢ld͢'̴s ͜woun͏ds. ̶Ca҉n y҉o̢u҉ t͢r̸ul̡y ͏say͏ ̨i̡t ̕is ҉in̕ ͠y̨o̕ur҉ ͟na̧tur̸e to͟ ́kil҉l a͠s it͜ ̀i҉s in ou̕r͞s̶? ͞Are ́yǫur ҉te̷eth̛ ͏sh͜ar̛p,̷ y̴ou̧r ͟s҉ku͘ll҉ h̴o̡ned t҉o͢ ̷da͘rt̵ ҉sw͡i͟f̛t͠ly thr͏o͡ug̶h th́e͡ ͡a͡i̕r҉ ͢and st͘rík͡e̛, ͝y̢ǫúr glan̢ds͟ as҉w͠e̵ll̶ ͜wit̛h pǫi͏soń?"

"We͟ ar̀e҉ ͞Ea̛rth͢'s̛ chi͟ldren͝, ańd ͡w̕e̷ are҉ g͟o͠ds̛.͜ ͡We̸ d̴o ͝no̶ ҉wr̀o͝n̨g to̧ g̴úide or͘ ͡r̡e̷lease ͞su͟c̡h a̶s ̡you̡."

The other serpent cuts in, seemingly less keen to discuss morals and theology. Secre͠t͞ ̶o͠r ͘n̷ot͘,͢ you͢ cann͢o̡t ta͡kȩ ́b̢ot͡h̶ ͝of̷  ͏us͡, ̨l͏i̶ttle ͡co̵rpśe.̷  ̢You̕r ̨nęr͞v̀e ̛is͘ ́im͜pr͜esi͠v̕e͟, ̶b͝ut my pàti͞énce wa̴n̷e̡s.


[[Being wary of Adrian is why Tlatchi hasn't bitten O'Rourke's head off yet...I'm not sure how Arcane Resistance affects buffing oneself, either...hmm. Still, even at -2 that's a sucess and raise for Harry...just remember the penalty for friendly powers as well as the bonuses against hostile ones in future.]]

---

Some eight strides in front of Evans and four before Hank, William is about two thirds of the way up the path to the rise when he catches the sounds of conversation above. It's hard to focus or smell anything for the smoke blowing from what must be several fires up there, but he dimly sees Hardin off some way to the left, lying flat just below the lip of the summit. Beyond and a bit further down is a lump that might be Bitter Waters, but there's no sign of Adrian or the Mayor.

[[If you plan to start sneaking, now's the time for Stealth rolls. Otherwise...those're the allies you can see. Evans, not having night vision or senses that can overcome the smokiness, can hear the talking less distinctly and see Hank's delightful arse ahead of him, and that's about it.]]

---

The scraping sensation in Jake's...head? Chest? Soul? ...builds with a pressure like a small mountain shifting its weight.


[[Spirit roll. please, Jake.]]
This message was last edited by the player at 22:20, Tue 26 May 2015.

Jake softly sang to himself as the pressure built.
"I'll take you home again, Jessica
Across the ocean wild and wide
To where your heart has ever been
Since you were first my bonnie bride.
The roses all have left your cheek."

OOC: Missed the call for a spirti roll ... man I'm bad a this
14:32, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 1,11 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,(6+5)11. Spirit.

[[I'll bold Jake's name in his colour next time. Don't forget your snakebite-induced Fatigue levels (hey, reason to go free the priest!).]]

Soil shifts and a few pebbles slide and skip away downslope as a faint tremor runs through the deeps. Jake finds himself on his knees with no memory of movement, bowing West, but Tezcatlcoatl seems to have deemed him too insignificant to toy with at present, the serpent's vast attention turned elsewhere.

Hardin looks over, his expression questioning.

---

"G͞ran͡dfathe̵r s̶tir̶ş...w҉ḩát͝ ̧do y̕o̡u ́ho͜pe ̵to̷ ̡ac̕h̶i̵evę,̶ l͜i̷tt͏l̀e͟ ̛corps͞e̕?" the masked serpent asks Adrian, tongue flickering for signs of fear or reinforcements.

"Why can't snakes just leave me alone?" Jake stood and flipped a single card out of nothing towards the serpent over the priest.

OOC:
15:35, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 4,-1 using d10-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 6,1. Spellcasting (3d6 bolt).
15:36, Today: Jake Lawrence drew the 9 cards: 2D, 10D, 4H, 7D, 6C, 10S, 10H, AH, 3C using a deck of 54 cards. Deal with the Devil (Bolt 2PP).
3 of a kind (10s) good for 5 pps so no issues there. Burn a white chip to re-roll the spellcasting
15:37, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 3,1 using d10-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 5,3. Spellcasting (-2 Fatigue).
Guess that 4 sticks
15:42, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 8 using 3d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,2,1. Bolt Damage.
Guessing I'll miss and damage won't matter

[[You're not in melee with her, so treating it as a projectile, that's a hit...6 damage (they're Arcane Resistant) isn't going to do anything but sincerely piss off She Who Scorches The Earth, though...Adrian & Jake, please roll Agility to help me resolve how the standoff breaks down.]]

The playing card hits the unmasked snake under the eye, its eldritch glow vanishing into the furious burst of witchfire that erupts across her head and neck. "SSSS͝SS̨SSSss̴s̴s̶s̷s͞!"

OOC:
16:21, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 4,1 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 6,3. Agility (-2 Fatigue).

"If the priest has committed murder, then it's for him to be tried under the laws of our society and ultimately under the laws of his Creator upon his demise, but not to be sacrificed on an altar by a couple o' big ass snakes," he said.

"What I hope to achieve is to get y'all to leave us alone and go your own way. If the priest's crimes demand the ultimate penalty, that should be done under the law and that is something we can handle ourselves. Putting him to summary vigilante execution by snake is a cruel and unusual punishment."

His eyes moved to follow the card as it flew and hit the snake, swearing under his breath. If the other Huckster was going to have helped him, he would have preferred it had been during the fight and not while he was buying time.

---

OOC:

Agility: 6

09:49, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 6,4 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,4. Agility.

[[21:34, Yesterday: Tlachinollicoatl rolled 9,11 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 9,(6+5)11. Agility.
21:33, Yesterday: Ixquahuacoatl rolled 4,3 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,3. Agility.

Tlachi reacts before the mortals, Ix after.]]

"Í ͝àssu͠r̛e͜ you͝,͜ ̛w̷e͏ ̕wer҉è ͡d҉efini̢n͡g ̧the͝ ̵la͝w ̷l͟ong ͜b̕ef̡ore̢ ͏yo͘ur ͠p̸e̢op̛l̵e'̧s ̴pit̴ìf͞u̵l̀ ͝a̷ttemp̧ts͠ ̷a͡t͠ c͠įv̡i͡lisat̀i̛o͡n," the masked serpent responds coldly to the man standing on his brother's corpse, but his sister seems to have hit boiling point.

"-̵s̀ss͏ss͠s͜s̢s̢sss̛s͝rr͟r͞RR̵RRAAAHHH͘!!̧"

"S̶is͟t̕e͜r-̧!"

His call comes too late. Tlachinollicoatl's vast muscles have already tightened her coils to a spring; massive as she is, the great serpent launches herself across the fires to the side of the hill the tiny missile came from.

---

Tlachinollicoatl hits the ground hard enough to dislodge great slides of earth and scree, her halo blazing like she's on fire. Her pupils are narrowed to viper slits in the light, but other senses drive her to strike out at the nearest mammal.

Hardin screams. Jake doesn't even see her move, just the afterimages of her brightness blobbing his sight with every blink as she coils back. Noticing the other human, Tlachi drops down and heads towards him, a nightmare of fire and scale.

"̸I ͡a͢ḿ ͝ve̵nge͝ance!͟ I͝ am d̛ea͢th̷!̧ I͝ a͟m t͞h͡e d͘est̶ŕoy̕er of̶ ̕citi̷es͢ and̛ I͞ ͘aḿ ou̕t o̵f̶ p͜a̵t͏i̷enc̴e!͞"

---

Standing on the path up, William sees Hardin turn and scream as he's snatched away around the curve of the slope by a huge, burning something with a voice like broken glass being dragged across metal. A madness-inducing rattling sound begins to rise from that direction as though ten thousand locusts were possessed with purest wrath.


[[18:46, Today: Tlachinollicoatl rolled 13,7 using d12+2,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 11,(6+1)7. *bite*. Hit with Raise.
18:47, Today: Tlachinollicoatl rolled 6,4 using d12,3d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,2,1,1. 10 damage. Wow. That's like an Alouettte damage roll.
Still, 2 wounds Shaken (poison damage included) for Hardin.

John Wesley Hardin rolled 7,1 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of (8+1)9,3. snakebit! All right, he won't die at once, but he's going to be puffed up like a sausage roll...
John Wesley Hardin rolled 7,1 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,1. Soaking! Wound soaked, though.]]

((OOC: You think William is somebody who can sneak around?))

"Looks like I've come to the right place, then." William murmurs under his breath.
He pulls the Ghost Gun and rolls the drum, eying the shifting faces and shadows dancing accross the barrels.
"This time I'll make sure they're dead."

And he strides forward, after Hardin and, supposedly, O'Rourke.
Subtlety had never been his strong suit. But jumping into the middle of something he didn't know the particulars of would have been damn stupid. Also not something William considered himself.

He crouches down and forward, peering over the ledge that Hardin went over.

22:22, Today: William Pierce rolled 1,0 using d4-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 3,2. re-roll, blue chip.
22:21, Today: William Pierce rolled 1,1 using d4-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 3,3. Stealth, unskilled.


22:22, Today: William Pierce rolled 13,14 using d6+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of (6+3)9,(6+4)10. Super-Notice.

Moving to see around the curve of the slope, William can see Hardin curled in a shaking ball of pain, and beyond him...beyond him is surely something out of Revelatons.

A huge serpent the colour of bronze and aged copper lights the hillside with the blaze of light around its horns, aflame but unburning. Fangs the length of his forearm resettle as the creature finishes its shrieked imprecations and starts sliding low over the ground towards Bitter Waters further along the slope, smooth as quicksilver.

[[Guts please, William! -4 + Grit (I'm waiving their usual -2 ability since you were expecing one, but adding +1 circumstancial for seeing your first giant snake monster in a state of Royally Pissed Off)]]

Taking advantage of the chaos and the dramatically improved odds, Adrian took aim and fired at where he knew well the venom sac would be on the masked serpent.

---

Shootin': 6 (Base Roll 6, -4 Called Shot Penalty, +4 Relic Bonus)
Damage: 10 (Base Roll 6, +4 Relic Bonus)

18:44, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 6 using 2d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4. Weapon Damage.
18:40, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 6,2 using d6,d6. Shootin'.

Just in case for next round:
09:40, Today: Adrian Vega drew the single card: 7S using the Deadlands system.

This message was last edited by the player at 14:42, Wed 03 June 2015.

16:22, Today: William Pierce rolled 9,10 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (8+1)9,(6+4)10. Spirit. -4 modifier, +4 Grit.

William narrows his eyes.
"What the..." he starts, but then shakes his head.
"Snakes. Of course. What else would it be?"
He grins, flashing his long canines.

He raises his pistol and follows the snake's movement...

OOC: aim maneuver
And, just in case...
16:29, Today: William Pierce drew the single card: 10H using the Deadlands system. Initiative.

In the chaos, Harry Lazarus moved towards the head of the slain serpent to envenom the knife that he carried with him where Adrian had told him the poison gland would be, careful not to make any contact with the poison himself. He didn't know whether or not he could help Adrian with this serpent, but he intended to take a stab at it.

OOC:

Forgot to make an agility roll for Harry.

Agility: 9

09:37, Today: Harry Lazarus rolled 6,9 using d4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (4+2)6,(6+3)9. Agility.

Also just in case...

09:40, Today: Harry Lazarus drew the single card: KH using the Deadlands system.

Distracted by his sister's fury, the serpent towering over the flat of the rise doesn't notice Adrian aiming at him until a bullet shatters an obsidian tile and gouges a plate from his mask. The creature flinches sharply.

"K̕ssh̛!"

[[Yeah, you've re-started combat this side, too; go ahead and draw init. for Adrian.

Jake, there's a large, pissed-off serpent headed your way, please react and draw init.]]

Jake smiled, "Why hello there ugly."

OOC:
13:30, Today: Jake Lawrence drew the single card: 7H using a deck of 54 cards. Initiative.

The serpent replies with an inarticulate hiss, lunging for him like a comet.

[[Tlachi is too vengeful to just bite Jake in half, and tries to grapple him:
20:06, Today: Tlachinollicoatl rolled 9,5 using d12+2,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,5. fightin'.

Jake, beat 9 or be caught! (and don't forget your mundane ol' snakebite penalty)]]

Jake gets out of the way of the snake with a quickness

OOC:
15:37, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 3,0 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 5,2. Agility (-2 Fatigue).
15:37, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 4,-1 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 6,1. White Chip.
That's a success with a raise for Tlachinollicoatl
Oops that was all Agility BUT grapple is an opposed Fighting
15:39, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 13,2 using d6-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of (6+6+3)15,4. Fighting (-2 Fatigue).

[[It can be either, actually, to allow fighty characters with low Agility and agile characters with low fighting an even field - I recommend you use your highest, in general. Onward!]]

Tlachi's jaws slam on empty air as Jake somehow manages to evade her strike.

---

Up by the altar, Ixquahuacoatl recoils, looks back and abruptly slithers over the edge furthest from the mortals, out of sight. It seems improbable that something so big could move like a whip, but a blink would miss the movement.

[[Ix uses his reaction round and proper round to go hide in the grass like, well, a snake.

Initiative!
Tlachinollicoatl AS
Ixquahuacoatl AH
Harry Lazarus KS
William Pierce 10H
Adrian Vega 7S
Jake Lawrence 7H
Hank Miller 6C
Father O'Rourke 5C
Mayor Bruebaker 3S

Not sure if Evans is with us or the Woolwich. Harry, go!]]

OOC: We doing PCs in order?

Seeing the gigantic serpent nearest them gone, Harry sprinted off in the direction of the other one, figuring it was most likely going to attack someone else that might need his help.

"I'll be back," he promised Adrian as he dashed off with his newly envenomed knife.

---

OOC
How close to William Pierce can Harry Lazarus get in a turn? Not knowing exactly where they are it's hard to say. He would probably lend his envenomed knife to someone with a greater proficiency for violence and killing. If they are near enough, he can get Pierce or another ally the knife. If not, he will at least run in their direction.

Next Round:
15:25, Today: Harry Lazarus drew the single card: 10S using the Deadlands system.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:47, Thu 04 June 2015.

Darting between the fires, Harry reaches the edge of the slope and looks down to see...well, the angry snake monster throwing her coils in a loop to prevent that gloomy Bitter Waters fellow's escape was the most demanding thing on Harry's attention, but the four-armed bandit was curled up on the ground nearby. Beyond him, apparently trying to hide behind a rock that was entirely too small, the foul-mouthed bearded fellow was crouching, and running steps nearby indicated the others coming up the path, currently hidden by the curve of the slope.


[[Harry can get to within 5 squares of William without running.

@Jake - I consider it more polite to wait for PCs, as their actions could affect yours and vice versa.
 ]]

As he ran towards William he said "I'm here to help. It's dangerous to go alone against the snake. Take this." He gestured that he was holding a blade. It was a dull blade, but even in the dark it glinted with wetness. He wasn't going to make it all the way, but he wanted to reassure the man that he was there to help.

OOC
For whatever it's worth, Harry'll run to get a tiny bit closer.

16:09, Today: Harry Lazarus rolled 1 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1. Running.

This message was last edited by the player at 20:48, Thu 04 June 2015.

Hardin gives a faint whimper, down on the ground.

[[Noted. William, go!]]

William notices Harry running around him, his more primal instincts screaming to shoot the guy coming with the gun at him - but he keeps his cool and when Harry tells him to take the damn knife, William leaves cover, takes the knife and turns toward the snake.

"That's right, you scaly son of a bitch!" he yells, "You just run the fuck away from me or I'll turn you into a nice pair of boots!"

Intimidation:22:35, Today: William Pierce rolled 9,5 using d6+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of 5,1. Intimidation.


22:36, Today: William Pierce drew the single card: QH using the Deadlands system. Initiative, Quick edge.
22:35, Today: William Pierce drew the single card: 3H using the Deadlands system. Initiative.

Adrian's bloodlust for demonsnakes almost made him chase after the gigantic monstrosity that had fled his wrath, but he stemmed his anger and remembered why they were there in the first place. He rushed to the altar, where the priest was wrapped by bones and placing his free hand upon the bones he tried to pry it from the priest. It didn't come off.

"I'm gonna get this thing off you by hook or crook, Father. We can talk about what you done later if we're all still alive...or at least tickin'... but I can't support a vigilante killing of a mortal man. I'm gonna free you from this prison so you can keep doin' God's work. We need you."

He willed it to come off and that didn't seem to work either, but something in his mind seemed to flicker into the picture as he tried to pull the thing off.

Something started happening, and he was doing it.

OOC:

Using my special Spirit activated dead controlling coup ability to try to remove the bone coils from the not-so-good priest.

Spirit: 15 - Success and Raise (Wish I had used this roll on the snake)

15:41, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 15,1 using d12-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of (12+5)17,3. Spirit.

15:44, Today: Adrian Vega drew the single card: KD using the Deadlands system. Initiative for Next Round.

This message was last edited by the player at 20:51, Thu 04 June 2015.

The massive serpent threatening Lawrence raises its head and twists to look back, the rattling rising to the point of pain.

"Murd̨erer,͘ ̷I will̨ ̶d̷ev̴o̶u̵r͘ ̴ỳour ̶sib̵li̕n͢ģs̷ a͟n͢d ̸str͟ip̕ ͞y̶o͠u̸r n̴e҉phe̷w̨s͏'̀ ҉şk͠i̛nś t̀ó c̵lothe̡ ҉m͏y sl̢a͏v͏ȩs!̧" the creature hisses...and although the snake speaks in the Spirit Tongue, William can't help but note the voice seems...female.

[[Tlachinollicoatl rolled 9,4 using d12,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 9,4. resist! Tie, defender default. Tlachi is too pissed off to be worried about a mere super-warrior with a knife, methinks.]]

---

"The Lord brought me to Blackthorn, and I have helped the people," O'Rourke responds, scratched from struggling. "If I am t'die there as well it's all the same; I think God is tellin me I've run enough. I won't resist arrest later."

Adrian only half-hears him, his mind pressed against something that presses back like a cat wanting to be stroked...and then he realises that there's pressure on his real fingers, the bones moving against his palm. Seems like there's a knack to willing them to shift after all: the bone restraints unspring and uncoil themselves into a roughly serpentine shape with a lifelike suddeness that causes the priest to shudder.

O'Rourke sits up as soon as he can, grimacing at the complaints of overextended muscles, and half-jumps half-falls off the altar boulder. Although the bones do not react, Adrian can still locate that almost-awareness touching his mind, like a thing beyond a curtain. Perhaps he could will it to help...

[[It's actually a step larger than human-size, but with a roll like that you still have the raisins to give it relatively complex commands...I shall get stats to you presently.

Jake, go!]]

"Come come no ... we don't need all the name calling." Jake leveled his borrowed pistol and squeezed off a shot. Sadly his shooting hand happened to be the one with the snake bite currently causing him some issue and the shot goes a bit wide.

OOC:
08:10, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 3,1 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 5,3. Bang Bang!
08:14, Today: Jake Lawrence drew the single card: 9D using a deck of 54 cards. Can I go now?

[[Yo Jake, remember they're +2 to hit, being Large...still a miss since you're in her melee range, but worth bearing in mind.]]

"Whoah..." says Hank, scrabbling across the hill and getting a sight of the raging serpent. After a moment's staring, he braces himself and sights on some useful spot. "Okay, I got this."

[[Hank Aims.]]

---

The priest rubs his scratched forearms and looks towards the portal uneasily. "D'you think we should do anything about that?" he asks, then looks over at the sounds of battle, though there's nothing to see from up here.

"Though there could be more pressing matters at hand...would you happen to have a spare weapon on yourself?"

[[O'Rourke goes on Hold]]

The Mayor becomes visible nearby, bent over and puffing. "We should...have surrendered..." he mutters, then bends for a long shard of obsidian knocked off Ixquahuacoatl's mask, cuts some of his shirt with it, and winds the cloth several times around one end as a makeshift handle.

He huffs over to dip it in the venom pooled from the wound in Omitetlcoatl's skull, then stands and looks at his handiwork and the hand that holds it - the hand of an old man run to soft fat and little vigour. "I suppose I'll have to go and stab the giant witch, then," he states, bemused at his own situation.


[[Bruebaker saves PP and makes a knife.

Initiative!
Adrian Vega KD
William Pierce QH
Harry Lazarus 10S
Jake Lawrence 9D
Tlachinollicoatl 6S
Mayor Bruebaker 4H
Hank Miller 3H
O'Rourke: on hold

Adrian, go!]]

"We all had our part to play, Mayor, but I managed to slay one serpent. Now that I've shown you all the trick," he looked meaningfully at the venom that the heavyset man was dipping his makeshift weapon into, "it should be pretty easy for anyone to do it. Mayor, I know you have some arcane knowledge. You need to stay here and figure out how to close the portal," he said.

Reaching into the satchel he carried, he removed a copy of Trimestigus and handed it to the Mayor. "Catch your breath for now. Leave the serpent slayin' to me. And try to get this portal closed."

He turned to the preacher and with his free hand, unsheathed the Bowie knife, handing it to him. "Follow the Mayor's lead on dippin' that thing and stay here with him. Help close the portal. Use that knife if that other snake shows back up. I'm gonna go make sure the one over there is put paid to. I'll be back soon."

Turning to the Bone Glom, he said, "Stay still until I return." With that, he took off after where Lazarus had gone, his eyes peeled for a gigantic serpent.

OOC:

Adrian will run directly towards where he believes the snake to be.

15:12, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 2 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2. Running.

15:14, Today: Adrian Vega drew the single card: QS using the Deadlands system. Initiative for Next Round.

This message was last edited by the player at 20:49, Fri 05 June 2015.

The long dense pile of bones pretends to be just a long, dense pile of bones and lies there, inert. Father O'Rourke sighs as he takes the killing tool and looks confused at Adrian talking to bones, but doesn't immediately disobey.

[[what, you don't think it makes a noble steed? I suppose you would need a cushion...
William, go!]]

[[ Well, I didn't know if it was the right time to give everyone a fear check and expose his necromantic prowess yet...]]

"Hit a nerve, did I? You know what? You got enough skin on you, that a pair of boots just wont be enough. I know! I'll turn your ugly hide into a snakeskin leather jacket! It's going to be a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom! People will start calling me Sssssnake Pierssssss!"


Taunt total of 8.
09:55, Today: William Pierce rolled 4 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4. Red chip, on top.

09:54, Today: William Pierce rolled 3,4 using D4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,4. Taunting the snake.

09:56, Today: William Pierce drew the single card: 9S using the Deadlands system. Initiative.

The serpent cranes a little higher to focus on Pierce with a venomous glare, her fire gone from greenish to a blinding blue-white across her horns and forehead.

"Yo͢ur͝ ̢sk̛ùl̸l wiĺl ͜a͏do̢ŗn̶ ͞t̸h͢e ҉wąll̛s͟ o̵f m̛y̧ ̨d̸w͝él͏l̶in̴g! Y̢òu͘r̶ ́he͟a̵rt̷ ̷ąn͜d̵ ̶h͞ąnd͠s͝ ͢will ̸a̵d͏òr͟n̨ m̀y̴ b҉r̡òthe̸r͏'̨s ̸ne̛c̛k̛lace͟s҉! ̨I ͢wi̶l̴l̵ ͝play̶ Ōl̀la̛mal̀iz͢tli̕ ̛ẁi͘t̀h your̴ ͝i̕n͡ţi͏m̴a̶t͜e͠ pa̕rts͞!"


[[ *still laughing* alas...Tlachinollicoatl rolled 10,4 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (8+2)10,4. resist!

Harry, go!]]
This message was last edited by the player at 22:03, Sun 07 June 2015.

OOC:

Sorry, forgot it was my turn! A bit busy at the moment so going On Hold for now but will post tonight surely.

Tlachinollicoatl's rattling hits a pitch to make the ears itch with almost-pain.

[[In that case Jake, go!]]

Jake frowns at his failure to shoot the creature. "I guess all snakes just bags of dicks ... geez. Can't y'all just go back to sunning on rocks or something?"

OOC: Taunt!
10:07, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 0,0 using d4-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 2,2. Taunt (-2 untrained).
10:07, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled -1,2 using d4-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4. White Chip.
meh.
10:10, Today: Jake Lawrence drew the single card: JD using a deck of 54 cards. Initiative.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:10, Tue 09 June 2015.

With a lack of a better idea, Harry turned towards his greatest strength. He wasn't a fighter, but he was a gambler, and sometimes the latter could help him be the former. Especially when the cards came to him like they did just now, almost blazing in his hand even as they vanished. With the flare of a stage performer, he extended his sleeve and snapped his wrist, three cards sliding down into his hand, and he reached back as if hurling a discus and flung each one in short succession towards the beast.

---

OOC:

More bark than bite here. Successful Deal with the Devil for a Full House, but only one hit on three bolts and for only 4 damage, not enough to do any harm.

11:02, Today: Harry Lazarus drew the single card: JS using the Deadlands system. Initiative for Next Round.
11:02, Today: Harry Lazarus rolled 4 using 2d6. Damage.
11:01, Today: Harry Lazarus rolled 4,2,3,2 using d8,d8,d8,d6. Bolts.
10:57, Today: Harry Lazarus drew the 9 cards: 5H, JH, RJ!, JS, 9H, 9S, AS, 6S, JC using the Deadlands system. Deal with the Devil Bolt.

Next Round: JS

Also...looks like a Joker's Wild!

[[18:17, Today: Tlachinollicoatl rolled 6,1 using D8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,1. Resist mild taunting! She...resists.]]

Ignoring the less clever words thrown in insult from the man with the injured hand, the huge snake slithers her entire body into a tensed coil between Jake and those further along the hill. Her rattle blurs, and as it does so the itch of the sound passes over into pain, the kind of ear-invading, skull-scraping pain that rings through bone and consciousness. With it comes a desperate urge to run away, stab into one's own ears, escape escape escape...

[[18:19, Today: Tlachinollicoatl rolled 15,4 using D12+1,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (12+2)14,4. *rattlerattle*
William, Harry, and Jake, roll spirit versus 15, please!]]
This message was lightly edited by the player at 21:04, Tue 09 June 2015.

OOC:
13:50, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 9,4 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 9,4. Spirit.
Hello fail!

(Do we add in grit? and substract Fear level?

20:49, Today: William Pierce rolled 4 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4. blue chip, on top.
20:48, Today: William Pierce rolled 4 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4. Red chip, on top.
20:48, Today: William Pierce rolled 7,2 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,2. red chip, re-roll.

Total of 15.
)

OOC:

Spirit: 4

15:54, Today: Harry Lazarus rolled 4,3 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,3.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:56, Tue 09 June 2015.

The sound, the pain, the pressure: it's outside Jake's head now as well as inside it. It is everything, crawling inside his skin, shuddering his blood, forcing down his nose and throat with every breath until the temptation is to try and claw it out of him, tear off his flesh, not exist.

The noise floods into Harry Lazarus, choking him as his soul writhes within him. His thoughts forced out by that horrendous pitch, it is several moments before he realises he's running. His blood pounds hot in his throat and temples. Escape escape escape.

William hears Hank recoil behind him, somewhere amongst the grating layers of sound. There's a dull, painful thud to his left, but as he restrains his instincts from turning his attention fully on the sound he feels the nasty senation of blood in his inner ear, the slow slickness making its way out of his skull in a sluggish drip...drip.


[[@William - no, it's an Ability of theirs, though it does provoke a Guts check in the event of a raise.

22:07, Today: Alouette, on behalf of Jake Lawrence, rolled 5 using 1d20+2, rerolling max with rolls of 3. fear! Jake is Shaken and Shaken (and don't forget your snakebite penalty).

Being technically Henchman status, stat-wise, Harry is Panicked. He flees with a run roll away from the threat - do you want him to skedaddle back onto the top of the rise, around the slope or downhill?

Hardin was Shaken and is Shaken and Shaken.

William doesn't care. He wins a few burst capillaries.

As a note, Adrian (and Hank) are just outside the area of effect, but it probably doesn't feel too great for them either.]]

OOC:

Harry will flee back toward the Priest and the Mayor

Run: 11

Of course...NOW I get the good run roll. :)

17:06, Today: Harry Lazarus rolled 11 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+5)11. Running.

This message was last edited by the player at 22:07, Tue 09 June 2015.

If I'm shaken+shaken then I'm wounded ... right?

Notice!

09:57, Today: William Pierce rolled 5,11 using d6+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 3,(6+3)9. Notice.

William's sense that something is off causes him to throw a glance behind him. There's only Hank, of course, who shifts his aim with the movement and gives William a questioning look. Only Hank...but there's something not quite right in the picture, some miniscule change in the landscape behind the lad.

[[Smarts -2 to identify the oddness further, if desired. I'll hold off on Hank's turn a moment here in case William wants to tell him anything...]]

---

Up on the top, the Mayor consults Trismetigus with one finger of his free hand in his ear, his round and sideburned face lit weirdly by the portal's light. "Hrmmm...ah."

"Oh, I see...I see that now...hmph." He looks up, eyes narrowed as Lazarus comes charging back.

"Steady, man!" O'Rourke barks, trying to intercept the panicked huckster.

"I need something to use for markings," the Mayor declares, keeping his place with his fingers.


[[Mayor Bruebaker rolled 4,7 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,(6+1)7. Trismetigus check. He finds something useful!
Mayor Bruebaker rolled 3,2 using d10-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 5,4. SAN check. He gains a Dementia! *behind-screen roll* Hmm...

Harry Lazarus:

Of course...NOW I get the good run roll. :)

It's all down to motivation!]]

21:40, Today: William Pierce rolled -1,3 using d6-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 1,5. Smarts.
Yeah, Smarts isn't really William's forte.


Something's odd. The gunslinger can't put his finger on it. But he hadn't survived - until yesterday, at least - by not trusting his instincts.
He raises his gun, taking aim seemingly at Hank.
"Hank! Behind you!" he yells out, hoping that his former gang mate's remembers their routines.

Hank's eyes widen and he drops to a crouch, pivoting to see what's behind him; a short, choked noise breaks from his throat at the sight of something further around the slope.

Then he stands up, right in William's line of fire at that just-barely-disrupted skyline, and nods stiffly. "Yes, master." Swinging back towards Pierce, he fires off a shot at the gunslinger's skull.

A last-instant jerk of his hand sends the bullet whining past Adrian and off into the night.


[[21:13, Today: Hank Miller rolled 14,1 using d6-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of (6+6+4)16,3. what? Hank notices what's funky about the hillside all right.
21:17, Today: Hank Miller rolled -3,1 using d8-4,d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 1,5. shootin'. Fortunately no-one's quite in line to be an Innocent Bystander there...]]

The very visible serpent lets her rattling tail off and coils back on herself, looming over Bitter Waters.

[[Tlachi grapples Shakey Jake whilst he's not in a position to resist...it took me a silly amount of forum-trawling to find out that Shaken characters can indeed still resist grapplage, but be very glad I sextuple-checked, because the first damage roll was nuts.
Tlachinollicoatl rolled 7,4 using d12+2,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,4. grapplage.

Jake, you need to beat 7 or be picked up for nefarious purposes.

Initiative!
Tlachinollicoatl AS
Mayor Bruebaker AH
Adrian Vega QS
Ixquahuacoatl QH
Harry Lazarus JS
Jake Lawrence JD
William Pierce 9S
Hank Miller 4s ]]

OOC:
18:21, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 11,-1 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of (8+5)13,1. Agility (-2 Fatigue).

Despite feeling like his brain has become a real milkshake, Jake manages to thrash his way free as the giant snake starts picking him up by the ankle.

[[Huzzah for Jake!]]

Up by the altar, the Mayor grumbles his way over to hook a branch from a fire and dabble the charred end in Omitetlcoatl's blood for ink.

[[The Mayor makes a start on an emergency stop for the hyperpowered portal.

Adrian, go!]]

OOC:

How far from Tlachinollicoatl is Adrian? The plan is to try and stab it ASAP.

Her attempts to pick up Jake are currently holding the warrior-snake's attention.

[[Pfft, there's probably supposed to be some kind of terrain mod, but you could get the end of her tail at the diagonal reach of your Pace - that's bowling downhill, mind]]

Adrian made a mad dash for the massive serpent that was attacking Bitter Waters, and made to plunge into its reptilian carcass the scythe blade that mounted the gun he had taken from the dead Hangin' Judge. Slick with the poison taken from the venom glands of the other big snake, he hoped it would have the same effect this time around.

Some part of him felt the need to cry out something, but he didn't emit anything more than a snarl as he made his move.

OOC:

Adrian and makes a Fightin' attack with his Omitetlcoatl poison coated Gun of the Hanging Judge scythe blade, he seeks Payback (+2) for the serpent wizard messing with his friend and for the unjust conduct of these demons in general (+4 Relic).

Fightin': 25 (Base Roll, Size, Payback, Relic)
Damage: 18 (Strength 4, Damage 5, Payback, Relic)

15:56, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 3 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3. Raise.
15:53, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 4,5 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,5. STR, Damage. (Rerolled with a White Chip)
15:43, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 2,17 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,(6+6+5)17. Fightin' (Boosted).

Initiative: KC

15:59, Today: Adrian Vega drew the single card: KC using the Deadlands system. Initiative.

The serpent fails to notice her attacker until Adrian has lunged down the slope and plunged that awkward bayonet two-handed into her tail. "Y̨O͜W̸!̵"

At once her halo banks and she shudders, drawing her coils away. The wound wells with thick dark blood, and though it does not seem to be immediately fatal the snake's reactions have clearly become sluggish and confused, her raised head swaying as she tries to focus on Adrian. "Sssss̕s̢.̵.̷.."


[[Due to her sheer size she doesn't take the -2, but it still takes both her chips to resist the poison enough to only(!) wind up with 2 Fatigue Points and 1 wound.

23:36, Yesterday: Tlachinollicoatl rolled 3,1 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,1. poison!
23:36, Yesterday: Tlachinollicoatl rolled 2 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2. red chippit.
23:38, Yesterday: Tlachinollicoatl rolled 4,9 using d10,2d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,4,5. white chip.]]

The slight interruption of the skyline melts smoothly away under William's sight.

[[Ixi withdraws back out of sight, not being much of a fighter and reasoning he can't help his sister if he's dead. Hank is the only non-incap'd posse member in range for withdrawal attacks, and he's currently disinclined.

Harry, go!]]

Harry Lazarus steadies at the call of the priest, looking between him and the mayor. It takes him a moment to steady himself, though he was clearly rattled. "They're fighting one of the other big serpents. If they get it, that'll only leave the one that has gone into hiding. How goes your work on closing the portal, Mayor?"

He tries to get a good look at the portal.

OOC:

Harry just wants to get a look at the portal, what he can see with his eyes. Not looking for anything specific.

If it takes a Notice roll, though, he failed that roll.

Initiative for next round: AC

10:24, Today: Harry Lazarus drew the single card: AC using the Deadlands system. Initiative for Next Round.

This message was last edited by the player at 15:25, Mon 22 June 2015.

"Trying to concentrate, thank you," the Mayor grunts, trailing arcane patterns of blood across the ground. "Kindly keep the snakes occupied in the meantime."

O'Rourke frowns. "I don't know what he's doing but he's more expert in deviltry than I am, to be sure." He claps a hand on Harry's shoulder, taking a moment to gather faith in this dark hour. "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul...if we are with the Lord facing Death, we are th' stronger party, my son. Recall that."


[[O'Rourke comes off Hold to bolster Harry against further funny five minuteses:

Father William O'Rourke rolled 2,2 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,2. *bless* (Boost Spirit) Poor show, old thing.
Father William O'Rourke rolled 3 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3. red chippit.
5. Better than a poke in the eye with a blunt snake. Harry has a boost to Spirit.

Jake, go!]]

Jake draws the knife in his belt and stabs at the big snake before him ashe can't seem to hit the broad side of bar currently.

OOC:
15:45, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled -2,1 using d6-4,d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 2,5. Fighting (-2 Fatigue, -2MAP).
Swing and a miss!
15:46, Today: Jake Lawrence drew the single card: 9S using a deck of 54 cards. Initiative.

Tlachinollicoatl doesn't even notice Jake flailing in her general direction.

[[She's +2 to hit for being almost barn-sized, but yeah, not even near her Parry there...

William, go!]]

William curses as the bullets whizzes past him.
Right... Hank got a monkey's on his back, too. And apparently his monkey likes snakes.

He raises his pistol, leveling it at Hank's head, then yells at his former comrade-in-crime:
"If this was a year ago, you'd be dead already, Hank. But certain things happened and I reckon' I owe you at least one chance. So... drop that piece now or I'll drop you. Just tell your fucking monkey to go back into its cave or I'll end both of you, now, forever. Your call."

Pierce's face is grim with determination.

((Going on Hold.))

Hank doesn't react for several seconds, then the right side of his face begins to twitch at eye and cheek, his gun arm picking up a shake to it. "I..." he grinds out, and suddenly jerks forward, close enough now to see the boy's eyes, wide and fearful. "I can't...ss-"

"S-something else...like something else inside me, Billy, it's got my arms...I can't..." another jerk forward. "Help me. Please...please, knock me out, shoot my leg if you gotta-ngh!" a small whimper escapes the lad as his pistol momentarily sights properly on William again, then he jerks the barrel to the side as though wresting it from an invisible opponent.

His fingers knead and twitch on the grip as though desperately trying to let go of a thing held by implacable force to his hand, face ticcing all the while. "...please don't kill me, Billy. I wouldn't kill you, not never...just..." Another step. The kid's voice rises in a frightened yelp: "Shit! ...please, please, God, Billy, take the gun!"

With a massive effort, Hank swings the gun out away from William. He's at point blank now, arms thrown wide as though to embrace the gunslinger, or held crucified. If he were a living man, he'd be sweating. "...please..."


[[Hank's Little Friend moves into melee range and tries to sell William the "help help I am a poor hypnotised hostage" angle with a Smarts trick:

19:06, Today: Hank Miller rolled 3,4 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,4. #Trust in meeeee... all right, but his host might be on the line, so he throws a red on it.
19:08, Today: Hank Miller rolled 1 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1. red chippit. Heh.

William Pierce, beat 5 or hesitate!]]

08:55, Today: William Pierce rolled 6,8 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,(6+2)8. Agility. to go first.

"I said 'drop your piece'. not 'come closer'."

He pulls back the hammer, but at the last instant moves the barrel of the gun to the side, away from the point between Hank's eyes and fires at the hand holding the pistol instead. The bullet hits the wrist as if it was a naiul hammering the hand to an invisible cross.


08:58, Today: William Pierce rolled 5,-1 using d10-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 7,1. blue chip, re-roll.
08:57, Today: William Pierce rolled 0,0 using d10-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 2,2. Shoot to disarm.


08:59, Today: William Pierce rolled 11 using 3d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4,5. Ghost Gun damage.


08:59, Today: William Pierce drew the single card: 8C using the Deadlands system. Initiative, Quick edge.
08:59, Today: William Pierce drew the single card: 2C using the Deadlands system. Initiative.

"I ca-aaah!" Hank flinches at the shot, which punches a clear nick out of the side of his wrist. Hardin's pistol clatters shining to the ground.


[[Going to handwave that as just going last in this round, I think. I like that William's keeping up the Easter theme here...

Hank Miller rolled 2,5 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,5. soak attempt. He soaks the damage, but the disarm was sucessful.]]

Meanwhile, the horned serpent shifts and flicks her injured tail at her tormentor, catching him high on the chest with a heavy, venom-slowed blow that knocks him off his feet. Her rattle twitches as the great coils heave away, dulled gaze fixed on the deputy like that of a prehistoric monster, blank and unblinking.


[[Tlachi's in trouble and knows it, so just lashes out for damage with a Wild Attack (Parry -2) and moves her back end away as best she can (not far).

08:53, Today: Tlachinollicoatl rolled 2,10 using d12+1,d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 1,(6+3)9. wild attack! Hit, raise
08:55, Today: Tlachinollicoatl rolled 11,2 using d12,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 11,2. -> 13 damage, which is 1 Wound for Adrian, plus an Agility roll to avoid being sent rolling downslope.

Initiative!
Tlachinollicoatl AH
Harry Lazarus AC
Hank Miller AC
Mayor Bruebaker JC
Father O'Rourke KD
Adrian Vega KC
Jake Lawrence 9S
William Pierce 8D

Harry, go!]]

His spirits bolstered, Harry decided that he would stand guard over the priest and the mayoral wizard while the magics were worked so that he could draw off additional snakes if need be, and try to figure out what to do here to resolve the grander situation. With the priest rescued, he felt like he should lend his talents to things other than snake fighting, something more suited to the killers amongst them.

Instead of drawing his gun, he drew his trusty deck of cards and dealt himself a hand which he fanned out in one hand, sliding the deck back in his pocket. With his other hand, he reached out and tentatively touched the portal. He wasn't sure this would work, but he thought it worth a shot.

OOC:

Deal with the Devil: Two Pair
Power: Hunch
Spellcasting: 5

09:53, Today: Harry Lazarus rolled 5,4 using d8,d6.
09:49, Today: Harry Lazarus drew the 9 cards: 10C, 7H, KC, 2D, 8H, QS, 7S, AS, AH using the Deadlands system.

Reaching up on tiptoe, the dapper huckster feels the pulse of strange energies.

[[I'm going to have to look up the wording of Hunch to see what happens when one tries to Hunch the ruptured fabric of time and space, but the knowledge will certainly merit a Spirit roll.

Also Adrian just got slapped by a snake, if you missed that and/or were minded to soak it. *points up*]]

PM

[[ Is it like looking into the Time Vortex? Does Harry become The Bad Wolf?

And yes...I somehow missed that. Adrian will soak it. Let me get to that shortly.]]

OOC:

I spent a white Chip to soak, and it looks like I should have it covered. If I've forgotten some rules or something, please let me know. I feel like it's been a while since I've soaked anything.

Soak: 11
Agility: 9


11:39, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 11,8 using d12+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of 7,4. Vigor to Soak (+Iron Jaw).
11:37, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 8,9 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 8,(6+3)9. Agility!

Whilst Adrian manages to roll back to his feet on the slope, largely unhurt, Harry stares into the brightness of the portal, seeking its secrets...


[[more like drinking the zavarka, and that's what I'm looking to find out - Spirit roll, please.
 ]]

OOC:

"I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words..I scatter them, in time and space. A message, to lead myself here."

Spirit: 19

13:22, Today: Harry Lazarus rolled 19,1 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (10+9)19,1. Boosted Spirit.

"Oh, thank-" Hank gives a small gasp and sort of falls at William in either a faint or a relieved hug.

[[which he rolled grapple for, because Hank's manitou suspects William knows what's up:
20:27, Today: Hank Miller rolled 3,5 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,5. grapplage.

William, Fighting/Agility vs. 5 for ye.]]

Harry staggered back a bit, as if intoxicated, putting his hand to his head. Spots of bright light seemed to flash in his eyes as if he had been staring into the sun, and he felt a lingering headache coming on. It took him a moment to remember where he was and what was going on around him. It felt like years had passed. Centuries. Millennia. In truth, it had been but seconds.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 18:41, Thu 02 July 2015.

"Out of the way, out of the way," Bruebaker huffs, moving Harry aside as he draws further lines on the ground about the portal. As soon as the circle at the core of the design is completed the portal's glow fades, though it is not quite extinguished.

[[I'll leave a prod note for William, but moving on, the Mayor determines it'll take him this round to get the portal closed and does so.]]

Meanwhile, chafing to do something, the priest jogs off after the masked serpent, skidding and sliding some way down the slope.

[[Father William O'Rourke rolled 5 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5. run, priest, run! O'Rourke tries to be useful/stab some snake, but he does't know Ixi's slithered off around the other side, so he'll need to try and track the beast next round.

Adrian, go!]]
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:49, Wed 08 July 2015.

Adrian made to stab at the creature again, hoping that multiple piercings with an envenomed weapon would speed up the efficacy of the poison on the gigantic creature.

OOC:

Adrian and makes another Fightin' attack with his Omitetlcoatl poison coated Gun of the Hanging Judge scythe blade, he seeks Payback (+2) for the serpent wizard messing with his friend and for the unjust conduct of these demons in general (+4 Relic).

Fightin': 13 (Base Roll, Size, Payback, Relic)
Damage: 23 (Strength 6, Damage 2, Payback, Relic, Raise 9)

13:26, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 9 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+3)9. Raise?
13:26, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 2 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2. Damage.
13:22, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 6,1 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,1. Strength.
13:21, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 1,5 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,5. Fightin'.

13:33, Today: Adrian Vega drew the single card: 4H using the Deadlands system.



This message was last edited by the player at 18:33, Wed 08 July 2015.

Adrian sees his moment as the coils shift, lunging for the softer underbelly of the snake. The blow strikes true and deeply, and the already-slow serpent hisses in pain, recoiling, shuddering, her laboured breath growing still slower as she rounds on her tormentor...but slithers past him, heedless of any further cuts.

With the effort and somehow the dignity of a dying warrior, the huge serpent shifts herself up the hill. Lifting her great green-gold head to gaze that way, she sees the portal no more than a shimmer on the air. Her banked and scarce-there halo gives a last frustrated green flicker that dies with the hope.

Forcing herself to keep moving, the creature sets about gathering the low-burning bonfires nearby to her in a new burst of flame. It must be excruciating, especially with the pace of her movement and the thickness of her skin, but at last she sits atop her own pyre on the edge of the slope, scales glowing with the heat. Her baleful stare is glazing fast, but still the serpent manages to speak: "Aǹy...w̨h͞o t̶ouc҉h͝ m͟y҉ bone͘s ́shąl͢l̢ be ̀t̨hric҉è-̸curse͠d...in bo͜d̨y̷ ̕in͟ ҉mìnd́ ̵a͝nd́ in̛ so҉ul͘ I s̕t́r̶ik̵e͢ ͘t̶hèm̴:̶ ͘th͘ęir f̷le̷s̕h̴ s̛h͝all̛..̛.҉r̡ot̵ up͞o͟n̴ ͘th͡e b̀o͞ne͜,̀ ̷th̷e̴ìr͜..̵.th͢oug̵ht ̕sh̡a̴l͏l not r̨écơgn͠is̢e ̸th̡at ̕w̨h͞icḩ ͘th̶e͜y͡ ̨lov́e̷ b҉e̢s̷t, t͟h̸e̛ir ss͘s̢pi͠ri̧t͘..."

A great shudder runs through her body. The air reeks with a scent like burnt hair and chicken fat. "͞..͠.th̛ei͝r s̛o̕ul̛ shalĺ ̀be consid̵e̢red̛ ́o̧wi͝ng̛ ţo m̡y͞ ̨kín͝, an҉d̢ be ̛dr͞a҉g̛ge̢d a҉ròún̵d̛ ̸th͜e͜..͟.wi̧ld ̀place̷s...̢n҉ev̕e̢r ̡know̵ing̴ ͟re̵st.̛ ͡"

The immense pain causes the serpent to contract herself to an agonised knot, voice reduced to an awful rasping hiss. "A̮̥̯͘ͅh́,̹ ̪͉̖͢b͇̳̖͈͡r̭͓̺͕o̪̯͓̖̦̻t̼h̴̯̼̦̝̬̰̳e͎͎̱̘͕ͅr̹̟̩̭̩̘͞ͅ, ͉̯̥̞̦̪y̙o̶͍̗̣͎̘̩u̼͖̖ͅ ̺̖̙h̪̯͠a̗̙̭v̹̣̞e͏ ̳̱͔͇̰̗t̷͇͓w͙o̴̺̙ ̨͉͖̦t̲̬̲̬̠̟̰o҉͓̬̟͍̦͎ ̙̼̣̼̜̝a̖̳͎ͅv̝̯́e̳͢n̞̳̳̮͚̙͔g̣̦̟͔̼͕e̴̬͔̜.̛̭̰̫̺..́"


[[Out of Combat for now, I suppose]]

OOC:

Is there any coup to count on this one?

The snake's eyes show only a dulled reflection of the flames.

[[if you go into the bonfire and touch her (and possibly get cursed), sure.]]

Adrian ignored the serpent's warning, thinking it nothing but bluster. Once close enough, he waited to ascertain the serpent's death before plunging his weapon into the poison gland to freshly coat it. He tried not to make contact with any of its bones nonetheless, but didn't mind much touching the skin.

OOC:

I thought she only cursed her bones...

Eh, why the hell not...What is Arcane Resistance good for, if not resisting a curse?
This message was last edited by the player at 20:34, Wed 08 July 2015.

"Oh the fun of a good curse." Jake says with a slight chuckle in his voice.

The flames do not seem to touch him as he approaches the corpse.

[[O_o apparently Adrian is the Scion of Dragons:

22:14, Today: Alouette rolled 1 using 1d10, rerolling max with rolls of 1. fuego! 1 damage from walking into a huge frikkin' bonfire.

22:15, Today: Alouette rolled 2 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2. on fire? Not even if he were Flammable. Not that I'd recommend standing there, but...
Since there's skull bits in the way of access to the venom glands, please roll Vigour (+2 with your new coup power) vs 6.

Maybe Jake would like to go look for the priest? He seems good at healing things...or he could wonder where Evans went, since here's Hank and Pierce, but no Marshal...]]
This message was last edited by the player at 21:36, Wed 08 July 2015.

OOC:

"I am the blood of the dragon."

Vigor: 8

16:43, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 8,6 using d12+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of 4,2. Vigor.

Glancing around Jake takes stock of who's still alive and notes his own exhaustion along with the pain in his hand.  He ponders for a moment cutting of the hand as that might make him feel better.

"... anyone know how to deal with poison ... I'm sort of tapped out up here."

"Gnn..." Hardin seconds the thought from where he's curled up on the ground.

"Get yourselves up to the altar over there," he said, pointing.

"We got the priest over there, and he can heal you up. I'll see if I can't give you a lift first though," he said, examining a series of spectral cards in his hand.

When they faded, he moved over to see if he could help give Hardin a hand on moving.

---

OOC:

Deal with the Devil: Full House (QD,QH,QC,KC,KD)
Automatic success with double duration for a two step Vigor boost for Bitter Waters.

Deal with the Devil: Full House (3D,3S,3C,2C,2S)
Automatic success with double duration for a two step Vigor boost for John Wesley Hardin

Strength: 4

12:35, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 3,4 using d8,d6.

12:28, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: QD, 10D, KD, QH, 7D, 6C, KC, JD, 2H, 3H, QC using the Deadlands system. Deal with the Devil Boost.
12:30, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: 2S, 8C, 3D, 7D, 6C, AS, 2C, BJ!, 3S, 5D, 3C using the Deadlands system.

Also...Jokers Wild?
This message was last edited by the player at 17:35, Thu 09 July 2015.

Still hot to the touch, Adrian is able to haul Hardin off the ground and support the man in an uphill limp. Looking across the altar space, however, shows only the Mayor looking at a blurred pale line in the air where once was a portal, Lazarus looking sort of...drunk? -and the patient heap of bones beside the altar.

[[I'm...not sure what boosting their Vigour right now will do, but Bitter Waters' roll was so good I'll think of something. Do you want to keep hold of Harry for a bit?]]

"I swear he was here when I left. Where's the priest?" he asked Lazarus.

OOC:

I didn't know what it would do either, but I figured if they were having trouble walking it might help or resisting any continuing damage effects from poison. I was trying to think of some way to help them.

Yeah, I'd like to hang on to Harry, especially now that he can see through time and space and around corners.

"He went after the other snake," he said, pointing.

"Fuck," he said. "Wait right here," he told the others.

OOC: Why boost vigor to lift something?

A creature so large would surely not be so hard to track...over earth and through grass, at least.

[[@Jake - Yours, not his, ya dope - go get a joker chip.

Adrian, Tracking +4 to strike the serpent's trail (that the priest is also following).]]

He came upon the priest as quietly as he might, though he knew that despite his best efforts, the serpent would detect him. Nevertheless, he didn't speak. He merely pointed out where the serpent had gone to the priest, motioned for silence, and indicated the priest let him go first.

OOC:

Tracking: 11
Stealth: 7

13:52, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 7,5 using d4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (4+3)7,5.

13:23, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 8,11 using D4+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of (4+2)6,(6+3)9. Tracking .
This message was last edited by the player at 18:53, Thu 09 July 2015.

Jake goes and does whatever it is other folks want him to do as that's what he's been doing... cause yeah good times

Adrian jogs along the trail left by the serpent, guided by the deep ruts in the grass and brush ahead when the track across stone and scree is not apparent. He finds himself circling the hill, over its crooked ridge and back around to a point a little below the head of the trail they came up.

Here, it is clear the creature coiled himself and laid low against the earth, spring-tensed as steel...and looking onward at the range of such a flying strike Adrian sees the priest bent over a body lying on the ground.

"Could you find me some fresh water?" O'Rourke asks, having looked round sharply at the sound of Adrian's approach.

He looked at Jake Lawrence curiously. "I'm guessing you all managed to kill the other snake? Maybe we should go help Adrian. Will you come with me?"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:06, Thu 09 July 2015.

Adrian peers down to see if he can identify the body.

Jake shrugs as he puts away his knife, "Wasn't me. I just got bit by a little rattler and flailed about wildly at the big one." He shakes the hand then picks up the borrowed pistol which he'd dropped in combat.

"Sure ... why not."

"Please," the priest says a little more firmly, shielding his patient with the remains of his cassock as he continues to apply pressure to injuries Adrian can't currently see. Presumably it's Evans, though, since the flamethrower tank lies nearby, and the pale bare foot visible looks more like a slim man's than anything.

The priest's harried actions and urgent request begin to make sense as Adrian notes the torn, bloody heap of cloth beside the feet, and that the visible half of the Marshal's legs are bare; in all probability O'Rourke is holding one of the major arteries surrounding the groin closed with the heel of his hand.

[[yeah, Ixi's aim is terrible.]]

"We can find the priest and perhaps he can help heal you," he suggested.

"Do you have a knife of any sort? Using the snake venom is the only way to kill these snakes. I gave my knife to the surly, violent one that tried to shoot Mr. Vega in the back earlier, from what I hear," he said. He fished out a sharp shard of bone from the multitude of bones that seemed to be laying there and envenomed it, as easily as if it was something he did every day.

"Just slide it into this punctured venom sac and coat it with this snake's poison," he said, instructing Jake Lawrence in the manner of making snake killing weapons.

"Sweet Jesus," he said. "Uhh, sorry father," he said, plucking the canteen clipped to his belt and handing it to the priest.

"It's all I got on me. Will it be enough?" He pulled out a small flask of whiskey he carried on him too, dropping it on the ground. "Got some whiskey as well, case he needs it. Or in case you do. Hold onto your Faith, father. We can't let the Marshal die," he said.

---

OOC:

Deal with the Devil: Flush (JC, 4C, 3C, 9C, 8C)
Boost Faith for Father William O'Rourke by TWO STEPS

14:49, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: 5D, 7D, JC, 4C, 3C, 3D, 5H, JH, AH, 9C, 8C using the Deadlands system. Boost/Lower Trait.

"Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life," the priest affirms, gripping the offered canteen with his free hand.

Murmuring in Gaelic he pours the water across the unseen wound and gingerly lets up on the pressure, flicking blood off his red right hand before attending to a puncture somewhere under the ribs. After a moment's thought, he takes up the whiskey and washes the wounds lightly with that as well. Stripping his upper half, O'Rourke lays the clothes on Evans' lower half and props the Marshal up as much as is safe to trickle just a little of the spirit down his throat. "Come on now..."

Evans coughs. Very much in disarray with mud plastered across his face and the shirt pulled up from what is now only blood-smeared skin, the Marshal looks a wreck, but he coughs, winces, and opens his eyes a little. "...is this some fresh Hell, or just the old one?"

"Try not t'move so much just yet," O'Rourke advises.


[[It feels like there's something deeply, deeply wrong with using Deal With The Devil to boost a Blessed's Faith...nothing about it in the rules we started with, though, so:
Father William O'Rourke rolled 5,4 using d12+1,d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 4,3. Faith vs. incap. (-wounds, +boost, Healer & holy water)

Father William O'Rourke rolled 12,3 using d12+1,d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 11,2. holy healing, Batman! Nice. That'll heal Evans, though he needs trousers badly.]]

"A little bit of both," he said. "I don't know what happened to you, but Harry Lazarus and I went up to go save the priest here. I killed a giant snake-demon using its own venom, like I read about in that book we found at the Moonie place. When it died, it powered some kinda ritual that opened up a portal and let two more snake demons out. So I killed another snake demon. There's one more left out there. Mayor Bruebaker is trying to close the portal somehow. Found you out here on the way to deal with the third snake-demon. How bad are you doin'? We could use your skills. If you could weaponize that snake venom, it might come in handy in case we gotta deal with more snake demons."

---

OOC:
Wrong, yeah, but kinda hilarious. Forcing a demon to use its power to make someone believe more in God (or whatever increased Faith means practically)? Good times.

In reply to Harry Lazarus (msg # 201):

Wasn't I just holding and using my knife. Jake thought with a look of puzzlement on his face. He then looked down at the blade currently residing in its sheath on his hip. Yep there it is. His eyes turned back to Harry as though the man was speaking a strange language or perhaps was wearing a dead cat as a hat.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:06, Fri 10 July 2015.

"There was...a sensation much like simultaneously being slammed in a door, stabbed in the liver and recieving the attentions of a crowbar extremely hard in the tender parts; I'm afraid I passed out," Evans says a little testily, taking the flask from O'Rourke and drinking deeply. "I...think I can walk it off, but, ah...whatever happened to my pants? Or my underthings, for that matter?"

"I had to cut them off t'be sure you weren't...cut off, too," the priest puts in, professional as anyone who'd spent time alongside army surgeons. Cannon and shrapnel could do terrible things to a man, and he'd seen most of them. Evans goes a bit grey. "The serpent must have got you just as you turned t'see it."

"I don't recall...it's like a blasted dream, I thought I saw these withered hands and lumps of flesh flying though the air, and a kind of solid starlight...but venom, yes. Hm. I'm not sure I can do much better than simply coating bullets in the neurotoxin, but if we have a container to sample the stuff..."

[[ecksdee. You know, what with this and the mine thread, I'm starting to see where Ancient Greece's heroic nudity might've come from...]]

"Pull yourself together, man! Come on! Dip the knife in the poison and let's go fight another snake. That gun won't do much. It has some kind of face mask protecting its poison glands," he said, wondering what seemed to have come over Jake.

Jake says nothing and does what he's told cause apparently people think this shit is normal.

"Well, I'd give you an extra pair of pants if I had one, but turns out, I don't," he said. "If we were fightin' folks rather than snakes, even deaders, you could take their pants once we put paid to 'em."

---

OOC:

Or if you could trade for Mysterious Treasure or Relic cards, you could give Evans some Magic Pants. What's better than Magic Pants?

"Come on, Bitter Waters!" he said, sprinting off towards where Adrian and the priest were.

When he gets there, he stops to take a look at the Marshal. "Marshal Evans, you do look a little worse for wear. And seem to have lost your pants." He looks at the priest and Adrian as if for explanation.

"It's a long story," he said quietly. They didn't have time to talk about the Marshal's pantlessness.

"I'm sure," replied Lazarus, quietly. Nevertheless, he took off his suit jacket and handed it to the Marshal. "A pair of trousers it isn't, but at least it will allow you to retain some dignity if you tie it about the waist."

Looking back at Adrian he said, "Bitter Waters is coming. Should be here shortly. Rather strange bird, that one. Shall we have a go at the next snake?" And by have a go, he meant that he'd probably run away screaming while Adrian fought it.

"I reckon it's about that time. Father, if you wanna come along, you can hang back and bless us in our fight against the demon."

---

OOC:

What kinda holy magics does the padre have?

"He can have my cassock and fold my shirt for a loincloth," O'Rourke says, then looks up at Harry's approach. "Or yours, indeed. It seems the snake thought better of joining the other one and went off downslope, but I didn't go down to see where he left the path. Did the Mayor get the portal closed?"

He looks at his hands and eases himself from supporting Evans into a standing position, wiping the blood off on his knees. "Was anyone else hurt at all?"

[[...very few things, off the top of my head. I think it might stretch probability a little too far to find magical clean underwear just lying under the first rock you checked, however. Especially since your leprechaun's something like 300m away.

Blessed can, by my (somewhat old) rulebook, use:

Aim, Armor, Barrier, Beast Friend, Boost/Lower Trait, Deflection, Dispel, Elemental Manipulation, Environmental Protection, Exorcism, Gambler, Greater Healing, Healing, Inspiration, Light, Protection, Quickness, Sanctify, Smite, Speak Language, Stun, Succor,
Windstorm

O'Rourke can do most of those, though some penalties/time limitations apply. He has the Healer Edge that applies to mundane healing, too.]]

"Damn. That's why I came to get you in the first place. Hardin, the gunslinger. He's hurt somethin' bad, and up on the hill near the Mayor. Bitter Waters is hurt as well, and he's on his way here. He's hurt physically. And maybe mentally too," he said.

He drew some spectral cards from an ethereal deck and let them dissipate back from whence they came before clapping Lazarus on the shoulder. "I guess it's just you and me. I'll take it on first, and you come after me."

With that, he headed down towards where the snake was.

---

OOC:

Deal with the Devil: Three of a Kind
Boost Fightin' on Harry Lazarus
Spellcasting: 4

4D, 8D, JS, BJ!, 6C, KD, QC, 4H, 5C, 2S, 4D

Deal with the Devil: Two Pair
Boost Fightin' on Adrian Vega
Spellcasting: 5

8C, 7C, 3H, JC, 3S, KD, 10H, 6D, JH, AC, AS

Also...another Joker's Wild!

15:42, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 5,2 using d8,d6. Using a red chip as white to reroll the last one.
15:41, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 1,3 using d8,d6.
15:41, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 4,2 using d8,d6.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:43, Fri 10 July 2015.

Jake does he was told with his knife, not sure if it works or not but anything is better than nothing.

His eyes settle on Vega, "Adrian y'all 'er gonna to need everyone who MIGHT be able  to stab, shoot, or the like. I'm another warm body for the snake to have to deal with. Can't say I've been the most helpful soul or the most sane but this area of Texas hasn't been exactly personable. Let's finish this thing huh?"

OOC: Guessing a survival roll for the knife stuff.
08:49, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled -3,1 using d4-4,d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 1,5. Survival (-2 Untrained, -2 Fatigue).

This message was last edited by the player at 00:28, Sun 12 July 2015.

[[No roll necessary - this is dipping a blade in an almost human head-sized cavity filled with poison, not milking the venom from dead normal-sized snakes. Just don't cut yourself.]]

The priest gives Jake a frown as the man growls something at Lazarus, but calls him over gently nonetheless, more weary than anything.

"I heard you were wounded in the fight, my son - let me see if I can help you there."

Evans struggles to a proper sitting position, trying to improvise some clothing for his pantsless self. "Better check that Pierce hasn't run off, too...if we have to have a bloodsucker around I'd rather have him where I can see him, not hypnotised by some snake in the grass or back under the control of her femminine wiles."

In reply to Father William O'Rourke (msg # 217):

Jake walks to where the good father is and hows him the lovely pair of puncture wounds on his hand. "Yep padre, little bugger got me pretty good. Didn't see him cause well it is dark out."

"It must be getting near sunrise," O'Rourke surmises, taking Jake's swollen hand and washing both sides lightly with holy water. The pain seems to flow away and drip off his fingertips with the moisture, leaving just familiar skin. "That or all this fire and warmth confused the creature," the priest adds, murmuring a blessing as he massages the swelling, calming veins and tendons under his touch. "As it was commanded, so shall the hands be washed, that they die not; allow this man Thy protection, O Lord, that his hands may be turned to Thy work and that which aids his brothers..."

[[Since we're treating bites as one injury...which I should really update the House Rules with, now I think of it.

Father William O'Rourke rolled 7,1 using d12+2,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,1. holy healing, Batman! (+ 2-step die raise (d12+1), +2 Healer, Conviction balancing miracle level, +2 Jake Vigour Bonus from Adrian...-1 Wound, -2 Poison) Almost.
Father William O'Rourke rolled 1 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1. GM red chippit....Jake is healed.]]

Jake flexes the hand as the wounds seem to heal. "That seems to have done the trick padre'. Much appreciated." Jake says with a nod of approval.

13:50, Today: William Pierce rolled 9,3 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 9,3. Agility.

William takes two quick steps backward.
"Push the monkey off, Hank. Or I'll do it for good." he growls, his face showing grim determination.

Jake looks over his head, noting the bumps are slowly going away.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:24, Mon 13 July 2015.

He waited, in response to Jake's statement, and watched as the priest healed him. Once Jake was ready, he said, "Harry and I can use all the help we can get. Padre, if you'd be so kind to see to Hardin as well, I'd much appreciate it. He's over by the Mayor."

Adrian looked at Jake and Harry. "Alright you two. It's time to see if we can find the last snake." He focused on the ground intently, his free hand thumbing through a hand of cards that weren't really there.

OOC:

Deal with the Devil: Full House (5D, 5C, 5S, 3H, 3C)
Boost Tracking on Adrian.
Tracking: 3 (7 if still get the +4 bonus)

3S, 10S, 7H, 5S, 9S, 3C, JC, BJ!, 5D, 3H, 5C
09:54, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 3,3 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,3.

Hank just stays on his knees where he'd fallen, looking up at Pierce. "I don't understand...what monkey? It was the snake...his eyes...I wouldn't try'n shoot you, Billy, you've got to believe me. Help me, man. I don't know what that was. Please. I don't understand what you're saying." The young man's blood smells dead and cold.

"I'd best get up there, then," O'Rourke says, giving Jake a nod of welcome and heading straight upslope for the top.

The Marshal improvises some clothing out of what he's been given and heaves the flamethrower towards him as he stands, a little gingerly. "I'll get Pierce," he mutters.

---

Setting off down the trail, Adrian sees their quarry must have moved with great speed to lay the grass and scub flat as a dime on a traintrack.

[[Adrian, remember you are massively Arcane Resistant now (-4 to magic affecting your own self) and still have control of a certain local abomination. It is indeed +4 to track Ixi at present, but I think the effects from the last roll are still current; I'll ask you for another Tracking roll when the terrain and/or conditions are different.]]

OOC:

Oh yeah, forgot. I'm just in such a habit of using Boost/Lower Trait as my main spell.

Though, to be clear, I did draw a Full House, which grants me an automatic success on my Spellcasting roll - so there's nothing for the Arcane Resistance penalty to go against. Essentially, in order to cast a successful hex on myself, I should need either (1) a hand of Flush or higher [reasonably common at drawing 11 cards, but far from guaranteed] or (2) a Spellcasting roll of 8 or higher (to be able to absorb the -4 penalty).
This message was last edited by the player at 21:59, Mon 13 July 2015.

"When I killed the first snake, I got some kinda magical power," he admitted to the others. "I can control dead things. The ugh, snake made somethin' outta bones and it obeys me. I figure y'all seen enough weird shit that it shouldn't weird you out too much, but brace yerselves. I'm about to call it in. It won't hurt you. It's gonna help us fight the snake," he said.

"I'll be right back, and it'll be with me."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:44, Thu 23 July 2015.