"Well, it is true that I did say that once, but I was ignorant as to the habits and peculiarities of the local savages. It seems the Comanche are unlikely to use such tactics. If they wanted something, they would come at us alive until we weren't any longer. I wouldn't say specifically that these creatures are controlled as such, but I don't think it was simply ah...a natural phenomenon either. I think...like one might set a pack of hounds loose on the hunt, I think this pack was loosed on this town," he said.

"All theories and speculation at this point, but that is where I have arrived so far."

"Which leaves one to wonder why anyone would set packs of wolves upon this particular town.  What is so special about it, I wonder?"  She regarded Whateley for a moment.  "I am a bit surprised at how easily you mention these special powers you use.  Most people are afraid of things they do not understand and will just as easily hang you as talk to you.  If you have no objection to showing us how you helped to save these people, I would be interested in seeing what you can do."

While the others spoke to Dr. Whateley, Daniel took a seat in a nearby pew. He considered the front of the church and murmured a few prayers in a low voice while listening to the conversation with the doctor.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:35, Mon 03 Mar 2014.

He shrugged. "Well, there wasn't much choice, was there? I learned the lesson sometime back not to make a show of things, but here I had to do so for my life, and that of others. Fortunately for me, I was able to convince the good townsfolk that it wasn't anything bad, just little gifts from the fairies. The ones that I saved were particularly vocal in my defense, and I was able to convince them of my good intentions. The only other choice was to submit to the mob's will and flee quickly from the town, flying ahead of any rumors that might pursue me."

Korpi, by now on the desk, was paying considerably less attention to matters spiritual, attempting to get the inkwell out of its socket.

"None of that, now," he said, looking back to the bird, and walking over to the desk to shoo the bird away from his inkwell. "I have no desire for a mess to clean up."

The raven gradually puffed up as the man approached, then ducked, hopping warily away from the good doctor's hands. After a slidy moment of skittering on the sloped surface, Korpi took off and set herself up in the pulpit, where she had a better view anyway.

"Kor kor kor...krrk!"

The doctor didn't try to harm the bird, but instead he secured the possessions in the desk into one of the drawers, and then locked it with a key that he slipped into his pocket and surveyed his guests, walking back over to that.

Korpi tilted her head as the oddly-spoken iron devil tucked the key away, noting that he was very bad at cacheing things. She cleaned her beak on the edge of the pulpit for a bit, then experimented with the little church's acoustics: "Wor wor!"

Cocking her head to listen, Korpi was pretty unimpressed. With a final doomful croak the raven flapped down among the Americans' crazy church-chairs to look for bugs, dropped buttons, or anything else entertaining down there.

Daniel finished his prayers and then stood with a smirk as the Doctor locked his things away. "We're here mostly outta concern fer th' townsfolk and don' mind gettin' our hands dirty, particularly when it concerns the sorta menaces that ya've already faced. I do recall one of the townsfolk mentionin' that ya 'splained yer powers as a gift from God. Is that true?"

Daniel briefly glanced over to the altar and then back at Whateley, studying the doctor as he waited for a reply.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:02, Thu 27 Mar 2014.

"What else could they be?" he asked, spreading his hands. "God created everything that is, and my powers being among that everything, they can only be a manifestation of his divine will."

In the background, Korpi walked across the aisle with a pennycard of a mostly-naked lady in her beak and proceeded to use the little cardboard strip to try and get a glimmer of shiny out from under the pulpit.

Daniel's face remained neutral at the Doctor's response, though he could feel a few of his muscles in his back tensing. "Wouldya call th' dedders a gift from God? Gotta be a manifestation of His will, right? Since they exist an' all."

Daniel narrowed his eyes slightly and tilted his head to the side before he continued. "What're you tellin' folk that yer teachin' 'bout where these gifts come from?"

The Doctor took Daniel's questions in stride, answering them easily. He flipped open his Bible, thumbing through the pages until he found a particular verse.

"Not a gift, my son. A manifestation. I am not sure as to your literacy or lack thereof, but if you read your Bible in the book of Romans it says 'And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.'"

He offered the book to Daniel, in case the barber wanted to read. "Did he not allow the crucifixion of Jesus? As the book of Samuel says, 'It may be that the Lord will look upon my misery and restore to me his covenant blessing instead of his curse today.' Don't blame God. I can only believe that these deaders have been sent to us as a test of our Faith, and the good people of this town are learning to embrace the tools that God has given us, through his instruments. I do not claim to know the divine purpose, just what is happening and what I can do about it."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:21, Thu 27 Mar 2014.

Daniel smiled sightly at the mention of the Crucifixion of Jesus. "If it is a test, then we should all follow Jesus' example at th' time of His crucifixion. Recall that Jesus is a parta the Holy Trinity, an' that it 'twere Him that allowed it all ta go down as a sacrifice fer savin' the immortal souls of all those that would follow."

He looked down at the book and flipped toward the back, to where some of the bits more germane to their present circumstances were contained. He looked up at the doctor as he spoke from the book of Revelations. "But as fer the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."

"If this is all a test from God hisself, then surely the Devil is ready ta tempt folk ta take th' easy way an' forfeit their eternal life. So I'll ask ya again, what're ya tellin' folk 'bout these fairies?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:28, Thu 27 Mar 2014.

"Easy now, easy now," he said, taking a step back. "No need to get angry. Fairies is an English word. In Wales, we say Tylwyth Teg. It is part of an old Celtic belief from long before the time of Jesus that still remains despite our conversion to the Christian faith. I am only telling people about them, and that they too can help in the fight against the undead using the help of the fairies."

"And they are mischievous creatures. Sometimes they play tricks on us, nasty tricks, but at other times they help us. I have learned how to make them help us, and have fought off these things that attack the town. I can teach you these things too, perhaps, if you have the aptitude. Imagine the power you could wield, something to add to that swinging sword of yours as you chop down those that have wrongly returned from the grave!"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:06, Thu 27 Mar 2014.

Daniel cocked his head slightly to the side at the mention of the name of the fairies, then rapidly blinked five times in succession at the Doctor's offer. He shook his head firmly at last. "Jesus ain't callin' me down that path, doctor. An' don' be tryin' with none of my friends, neither."

He stared at the man for a few heartbeats to emphasize the point, then went back to querying about the townsfolk. "Seems yer Tegs're from a completely differnt setta beliefs from Christianity. But yer tellin' folk these're angels or somethin', right?"

"Originating from a different set of beliefs, yes, very good! Good to see that you're following along now. You must have been paying attention when I said 'part of an old Celtic belief from long before the time of Jesus.' I'm a bit relieved. For a short time, I was beginning to fear that you were rather slow of wit. I'm glad to learn that you're only a wee bit slow of wit," he said.

"Give me a moment. It has been a long time since I had to teach any students this sort of thing, theology, philosophy and the like and most of them were considerably brighter. I will have to figure out how to explain things to...your sort."

Gabby, sensing the growing tension, takes a step in between Danial and Doctor Whateley. "Well, now, just a moment there, parnder." Gabby says conversationally. he looks back at Danial, who seems to be ready to throw down. "I don't think you got call, talkin' down to my nephew like that. We're all just tryin' to be neighborly here, but after some o' the things we been through, well, I reckon I can see how we all done might be a bit snappish. I reckon you didn't really mean to imply any disparagement about my nephew's faith or intelligence, right Doc?" he gives Whateley a brittle, too-wide grin that doesn't quite reach his eyes.

He turns his attention back to Danial. "And I reckon that we can use all the help we can get dealin' with the problems besetting this town up until we find out what's actually to blame, and deal with it at the appropriate moment. Right?"

Daniel became more tense each moment as the doctor seemed to again avoid answering Daniel's query. His right hand had balled into a fist by the time his uncle stepped between him and the creature that stood before him, his left still holding the bible. Daniel clenched his jaw and ground his teeth a few times as he listened to his uncle, though his stare never left Whateley.

The barber narrowed his eyes after his uncle finished speaking and waited a few heartbeats before responding. "Help? Sure 'nuff, we can use summa that. S'long as the source is really tryin' ta help folk we can use all of it we can."

Daniel lifted the bible again and flipped back a little, to the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians. He occasionally looked at the words, but he appeared to have most of it committed to memory. "But what I am doin' I will continue ta do, in order ta undermine the claim of those who would liketa claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. Fer such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguisin' themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, fer even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds." He took the bookmark ribbon affixed to the spine of the bible and slid it inside that page before he closed the good book.

Daniel thrust the holy book back toward Whateley. "If yer gonna spend time in here, spend some more time with the good book, Doc. An' heed the advice inside."
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:03, Sun 30 Mar 2014.

After listening to them both, he raised his hands in surrender to Gabby, letting Daniel's hand with the Bible hang there in the air, ignoring him entirely.

"I stand corrected, sir, and I apologize for speaking ill to even those who stand here and baselessly offer me insult," he said to Gabby, lifting his hands and smiling ab it sheepishly. "I am but a man. I am not a clergyman in truth, just a person who has stumbled into this mess and am doing my best. Were I holier, I should have turned the other cheek to his insults. I have some personal growth to attend to, I suppose."

"But if my manners are at fault here, I believe you must question those of your nephew as well if you are to be a fair arbiter here, sir. I have done nothing but offer aid to the people of this town in their dire time of need; they have told you as much and this is why you came to seek me out. This man, who has done nothingfor this town as of yet, has only insults to offer, and without my having offered him any injury heretofore."

He looked expectantly at Gabby, as if expecting the old prospector to redress the situation or offer some resolution.

"Well, I reckon that we just ain't seen enough o' the situation to really tell that yet, Doc." Gabby says. "We been through a lot in the last week or so. Why, there was a place up near Dodge where the local undertaker turned out to be a mad scientist who was stealin' the corpses to make himself a small deader army. Way I hear things, you showed up just as the troubles started here. Might make a man suspicious o' where the cause o' the troubles actually were, especially if'n he's as devout as Danial. Me, I reckon I ain't seen enough o' anything yet." He sighs, gives Danial a look that he hopes means "trust me," and then offers his hand. "In fact, I reckon I'm right interested in how you call on these here faeries fer help. Can you show me how it's done?"

He took Gabby's offered hand and shook it, and then set about rolling up his sleeves neatly. Whatever else, he was a well groomed man. He looked at Daniel, and the bible he held.

"Keep the book, 'Holier than Thou.' As you seem to present yourself as a proper religious authority and master of instruction, you can take up this abandoned post and tend to the flock here. That will allow me to do what I do best - saving the lives of the people in the village. And you can do...whatever it is you do."

Looking back to Gabby, he asked for a clarification. "To be clear, do you wish a demonstration, or instruction?"

"Demonstration first, with mebbe instruction followin'." Gabby says. "I want to see what I'm gettin' into afore I leap."

"Alright then, let's see what I can do for you," he said, concentrating hard on something. "Yes, these fairies, they're tricky buggers. It's not as easy as you might think. Sometimes they want to help you, sometimes they want to do mischief. You've got to beat them at their game..." He reached into his coat pocket and drew out what appeared to be a thick stick of some sort. The handle was gnarled, as if it had been broken off from a tree, but the length of it had clearly been worked as it seemed to grow smoother as it reached the end.

Focusing into an empty area, he swung the in a gentle arc and then with a flick of his wrist pointed it. For a moment, it seemed as if lightning crackled along the length of the stick and just after that a globe of pale green light the size of a melon. While the windows of the church building let in enough light generally, it had been fairly dim before. Now the area, especially just about where they were, was bathed in light.

"Faerie fire, my grandmother called it."