Gabby, coming up to the law office in something of a foul temper, hears the click of a pistol from inside and some laughter.

Uh-oh. That didn't sound good.

He looked around for something that might serve as a makeshift weapon, having left both his pick and his shotgun back in his room at the boarding house. He spied a rock. It would have to do.

he picked up the rock and crept up to the door, and leaned in cautiously to see if he could catch a gander at the situation inside.

Earp studied Sky Dog curiously as he spoke, trying to decipher meaning from his words, which wasn't too much of a challenge though it took a bit of paying attention. The man had a strange way of speaking. When the bird made the gun sound and the native started laughing, he broke into a bit of a grin and barked a laugh.

"Now that is a damn good trick. Could come in handy, you know, if you need to make a feller think that he's got a gun pulled on him from behind. Now before I forget..." he said, though he didn't finish the sentence immediately. He reached over to a chest of drawers, and grabbed a keyring from his belt to unlock one of them. Reaching inside, he drew out two old, beaten looking tin stars engraved with the word DEPUTY.

"'Course, you gotta better one, Caleb, but as I figure a little local lawin' may not be in the Marshal purview, might be best to have this. Plus, there's some out there that wouldn't care much for the other if you take my meaning."

Hmm...everything seemed alight in there...but Gabby figgered it was best to make sure.

"Hey, Mister Earp?" He called from the doorway, hiding the rock out of sight. "Is everythin' alright in there?"

"Come on in, everything's just fine," he said when he saw the older gentleman darken his doorstep.

"Now, we met last night but it was a bit late and I didn't have my head on straight. I'd left half of it in the bed, I reckon. Anyhow, I either didn't get your name or was too sleepy to keep it in my head. Come on in, grab a seat, and if you don't mind introduce yourself to me now that I'm awake."
This message was last updated by the player at 08:40, Sat 19 Jan 2013.

Sky Dog leant on the wall near the start of the cells, grinning. The old man got a mild glance as though he'd always been in the room: the typical nomad's lack of fanfared greeting or farewell. The shaman craned to see what Earp had in his hand, squinting a little as he tried to focus on the small, shadowed objects.

Still flustered and distracted by the argument with Gabby, she was hardly the paragon of a pleasant conversationalist.  Her answers were short and distant, giving Daniel only the bare minimum of a response.  During one point in their stroll, she burst out with a 'miserable old coot!' from no where and then went back to brooding.  Before she realized it, they'd reached the office where Gabby had just disappeared.

Daniel arrived with Coraline and entered the suddenly crowded law office. He nodded at the gentleman he knew, "Good ta see ya 'gain, Caleb."

He then walked over to the law dog looking fellow and introduced himself, offering his hand, "Howdy, I'm Daniel d'Alex."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:38, Fri 18 Jan 2013.

In reply to The Marshal (msg # 33):

Gabby hastily tosses the rock away before he enters the law office. "Well, my name's Gabriel Clarke, though most folk call me Gabby, on account of I tend to have the gift o' gab."

As the others filter in behind him, he makes introductions. "This lovely lady here is Miss Coraline Hawthorne, from back east, and that fella on her arm is my nephew..." he trails off as Danial introduces himself.

There's a bark, and a yellow lab trots into the law office. "And this here is my faithful Clementine." Gabby finishes. The dog barks happily and trots over to the pale stranger, sniffing him with interest.

"A pleasure to meet you Mr. Clarke, and you too ma'am," he said simply, tipping his hat to Coraline. He shook Daniel's hand, simply giving his name and who he was. "Wyatt Earp, Deputy Marshal here." By Caleb's reaction to the newcomers, he knew that they were of his company.

"To those of you I haven't met previously, I called you here on account of your assistance rendered timely to the Kinsley Sheriff and Marshal Morgan here. Here's the long and short of it. Dodge City is crowded as hell, which you don't need me to tell you. There's gonna be a bit of a festival thrown for the Fourth of July, independence day for the USA. Well, as y'all probably know, not everybody is keen on that here to say the least."

He cleared his throat. "I'm not here to get into politics, just keep the peace, and I want a lot here that can do that too. I don't care what side anybody is on, if they start a fight, if they start trouble of any kind and won't back down to the proper authority, they go in the slammer with Radcliffe over there. Hopefully that won't be necessary. You flash your tin star at 'em, and they'll back down nice and easy. But just in case there's trouble, the town council has authorized me to take on a few new deputies."

"If any of y'all is interested, it's pretty easy work and pays well. Officially you're only on duty from 6 p.m. until after the festivities end late each night. Job starts now, and ends at dawn on the 5th, or whenever the streets happen to clear out. That's ten dollars a day, so you'd each clean up thirty dollars by the time all's said and done. Definitely enough to ease a passage for those that're lookin' to travel further west."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:06, Sat 19 Jan 2013.

The buckskin-clad fellow in the corner with all the tin animals - a young man, probably about Daniel's age despite the long tangle of white hair - let the dog nose about a little while then went to one knee. He offered her the back of his fist to smell in the manner of one used to Indian dogs more tame coyote than pet, his manner open but wary, his wide grin fasinated.

"Will I have a tin star, Wyitterp?" he asked from the floor.

Daniel was briefly taken aback by the question from the shaman-looking fellow to whom he had not yet been introduced. But after a moment he nodded at Earp's offer. It's what they had discussed anyway. Given the timing, it would also allow him to do a few other things around town while earning a living. Such as it was. "I eggcept, Marshal Earp."

Other things included a bit of investigating.

"Of course you will, Sky Dog. It's a...symbol of authority," he said, handing the man one of them.

"This is Sky Dog, the first one here this morning. He's from Russia." He figured that was probably the best way to explain who and what Sky Dog was in a nutshell. If the man wanted to, he could divulge more about himself in time. "Helped me out with a rather tricky problem the other day. Damn useful fella."

Finding Caleb and Daniel, he handed each of them a little tin star as well.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 08:40, Sat 19 Jan 2013.

Morgan pinned the star to his coat. Under the circumstances, being identified as a Deputy Town Marshal might have its advantages, especially with those who might be offended by a man who held his authority from the Union. It might also help garner favor with some of Dodge's residents, especially if he tried to dig for more information about the murders in Hays.

Looking over at Daniel, Gabby, and Miss Hawthorn, Morgan pointed to the friendly creature that had taken up residence on his hat. "This here's Korpi," he explained, "She's with Sky Dog."

The raven atop Caleb's hat dipped her head gracefully, recognising she was under discussion, then turned her head profile to focus on the newest pair with one jet eye.

Accepting the star, Sky Dog sought among his tin beasts and offered up a stocky Asian horse in exchange, left-handedly ruffling the dog. "Take a piece of my law also, Wyitterp...I get lost with your words for the riding animal, but I think you have a riding-horse, not a steed, yes? This will help, maybe."

The seriousness at once evaporated when Sky Dog found himself introduced, a broad dog-grin spreading over his pale features. "I am a Siberian Indian!" he declared, pre-empting any assumption he might be Russian, then laughed. "A wild Tungus!" A certain pride to this addition spoke of resistance.

"Korp," Korpi remarked.

"Nice ta meetcha, Korpi." Daniel waved at the black bird. Something about ravens often gave him the chills, though he resolved not to let it affect his relationship with this particular bird. At least not until after the fifth of July, as the bird appeared to be on Daniel's side.

Daniel turned his attention to the peculiar fellow who had been identified as a Russian. "And yer a Russian-Siberian-Indian, eh?" The Indian part didn't make much sense, given what Daniel knew of geography, but he'd sort that out later. He walked over to offer Sky Dog his hand in greeting as well. "What brings ya ta Kansas all th'way from Russia?"

The raven made a rasping noise in her throat like someone drawing a stick down a dry, hollow log. Sky Dog's teeth showed in amusement, though he did not translate.

"Hm. Russia is what the Russians are calling where they come to, like Americans are calling America - I do not think your kossaki, your Sioux, are calling themselves Americans!" The shaman looked up from the dog, eyes ice-blue but the features hard to mistake for Slavic.

"Where my homeland is, they call it Siberia, us, Tungus - 'wretched men', like the Americans are saying 'Alaska' and 'Indian'...the land has no name in my language. It is its own name." Sky Dog shrugged, swapped the tin star to the other hand and accepted the handshake with more enthusiasm than experience. "I come here because I am a shamán - you use our word in English, yes? - and when I am going about in the other places I feel the world is hurting, so I come to help."

A journey of some 4,000 miles reduced to this simple statement, Sky Dog let Daniel have his hand back.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:51, Sat 19 Jan 2013.

Coraline wasn't about to pass up an easy thirty dollars.  "If you don't mind giving a woman that sort of authority, I'll take one of those stars.  I'm not about to go tackling drunkards in the street, but I can handle myself quite well.  And no one ever expects a woman to pull a gun on them."

She didn't know what the hell to make of the strange shaman, but knew he'd better keep that bird well away from her if he wanted to keep the thing as a pet.  She'd heard that the larger birds could be quite vicious to the point of pecking out people's eyes for no good reason.

He didn't know quite what to make of the tin horse handed him by Sky Dog, but he nodded his thanks quietly and pocketed it.

Turning to Coraline, he spoke. "You wouldn't be the first woman I've deputized. Mr. Morgan here says that everybody who went with him to get this prisoner, who is apparently something of a dangerous man, handled themselves well. Keep in mind though, we don't want any killing. Unless it's not to be helped. Just keepin' the peace."

"Mr. Clarke, can we count on your assistance as well?"

"Of course you can!" Gabby says. "That's why I come down in the first place."

He glances at the bird on Caleb's head and chuckles a bit.

Clementine, meanwhile, is sniffing about Sky Dog, looking at the shaman's head curiously and barking a bit.

He fished out two more tin stars, handing one to Gabby and one to Coraline. "Now, make sure to take good care o' these things. Wouldn't want the wrong sort to end up with one o' these."

Rifling through the same drawer, he pulled out a small sketch and laid it out on the table.



He gestured off to the northwest. "Here's the little corner o' Dodge I want y'all to look after. Start at McCarty's Drug Store right here on Front Street, just across the tracks over there. Now, you walk west a bit till you get to Third. Walk north until you get to Walnut Street. East till you get to Bridge Street, and then south again on Bridge till you get back to McCarty's on Front Street. Nice little square, and it's not too big. Normally, that's enough for one person to handle, but as I said, you've seen the crowds."

"I mentioned this before, but it's worth sayin' again. Bitterness over politics lies just below the surface of many everyday interactions, and it doesn’t take much to boil over. Everybody in Dodge City is on edge, and some o' them have an itch they can only scratch with the business end of a Peacemaker. That's what we're tryin' to stop. And I expect y'all to be as neutral as possible in this matter, no matter where you're from. Marshal Morgan, that means that if there's some pro-Union tomfoolery that gets violent, they go in the cell just the same. Mr. Clarke, that means if we have some Texas cowboys gettin' too rowdy, I'm gonna need you to overlook your common origins for the sake o' the law."

"If any of that sounds like a problem for any of you, it's something that needs to get handled here and now." He gave them all a moment of silence, but seeing as nobody seemed to indicate it was a problem, he just gave a nod, closing the subject.

"As far as where to start, I'd suggest the Dog Eye Saloon. The owner, everyone just calls him Dog Eye, he knows Dodge better than just about anyone, and he can help out in a pinch. He's got rooms upstairs too, and I've asked him to keep a few open for deputies to use. Might be a good place to stay, so you'll be close to the area."

"I've got to handle some business pretty soon. Y'all got any questions?"

Sky Dog flicked the air at a point above his head and spoke softly, apparently answering the dog. "Ah? You have never seen a man with such antlers, Clemya? Never?" The shaman studied the grain of the floor a moment, distant, then flicked his hood up and attached the star to it whilst he thought of where to put it, rising.

"You see they are not entirely here," he grinned back at Clementine, turning the grin briefly on Daniel before going to study the movements of Earp's finger around the map. Korpi also watched, interested, her thoughts opaque.

"Two things - is this-" he indicated the star presently lying on his brow, "-law for us only after the sunset? That, and have there always been nights in the summer here?" The latter question took in Gabby with a glance.

Randolph Darling speaks from the doorway, "I have a question, Mr. Earp: Do you still have a place for me in this detachment?"

Daniel nodded at Sky Dog's response to his being labeled a Russian-Siberian-Indian. Of course most of what he responded with didn't make a lot of sense to Daniel, but perhaps he would puzzle it out later. "Nice ta meetcha too, Shaman Sky Dog."

Daniel smiled at his Uncle's response, knowing full well that he was here for that purpose. As Wyatt began to trace out their area of responsibility Daniel looked at the map and took in what he mentioned about the Dog Eye saloon.

At his request for questions, Daniel listened to the others, then added one of his own, "Anythin' happenin' in that area of late we should know 'bout? Any fights or anythin'?"

"That will be the symbol of the law for you all day, Sky Dog - it's just that I don't expect much trouble till after the sun goes down. And yes, there have always been nights here in the summer. We have nights here all year round. A little shorter in the summer, and a little longer in the winter." He hadn't visit far up north, and he had initially been a little surprised by the question, though having had the advantage of living in a few different places he had observed some differences in the day and night length. It might very well be possible that in a place as far away as where Sky Dog lived, that perhaps there wouldn't be any nights during the summer - or precious short ones maybe.

"Mr.Darling...I was under the impression that you already had a job. Still, I guess the town council has authorized me up to one more person, and I figure we can probably use all the hands we can get so...sure you can join us too." He gave Darling a quick explanation of what he was looking for, something that he'd repeated a few times already and gave him a little tin star of his own that he could pin on.

Handing the little map to Daniel, he said "Here, take this. I can't say for sure what's going on in that particular area. I mean, there's always a little trouble here and there all through Dodge, though nothing that's gotten onto my agenda as of yet. You should talk to Dog Eye, though. He'll let you know what the lay of the land is. In fact, I think it might be a good idea to start heading out that way as soon as you can. You know, get a head start on things."

Gabby takes the star and pins it on. He spares a glance at Mr. Darling...he doesn't fully trust the man, but, mindful of the argument back at the boarding house, he holds back his comments.

Instead, he looks at Sky Dog. "Why wouldn't there be nights in the summer?" Though he'd been all across the CSA, he hadn't traveled very far up north himself, so hadn't seen the same shortening of nights.

Another thought occurred to him. "While we was headin' out o' Kinsley, we heard tell o' an attack on a place called Hays. The blueb--er, the soldiers we was talkin' to indicated that some o' the survivors o' the attack had made it to Dodge. You heard anythin' about this?"