"I was thinking the same.  Glad you saw to it.  I have a few useful hexes at my fingertips, but nothing that could douse a fire or sink a barn.  Perhaps that should be something to work on later."  Tipping her head toward the others, she nodded.  "Yes, we should probably get back to town so we can prepare for tonight.  I do not know what you were expecting, but it cannot hurt to have a few things in place that could aid us."

Carefully skirting the unstable portions of the ground, she walked with him to rejoin the others.  "Are we ready to leave?"

"The barn situation has been taken care of. Sky Dog, you must be careful when playing with fire in these parts. It has been something of a dry month or so in the area. If the fire were to grow large enough and spread around here, it could be devastating to the people in the town who use this land to provide their sustenance," he said.

"Also, who was that other fellow? I thought he might do worse, burning up that construct."

In reply to Sky Dog (msg # 82):

"Says his name was Vernon Price." Gabby says. "Said he was investigatin' the trail of some mad scientists, including the one we done battled here. Won't tell us who he's workin' for, though."

He sighs at Sky Dog's question. "I don't know. Whateley says bringin' 'em back to town might just stir up bad feelin's, but I can't help thinkin' we ought to do somethin'."

"They should be given a good Christian burial, I think, without needing to rouse bad feelings. I know a few people in the town I could count on for discretion, and perhaps your nephew would be willing to preside over the ceremony," he suggested, looking to Daniel.

"But I've been thinking about what you said, and perhaps their loved ones if they have any in the town, deserve to know the truth. That said, if there is an attack on the town as Sky Dog has prophecied, perhaps this news can wait until after that."

The Siberian's brow twitched at the news that none of the grassy expanse was marshland, but he simply nodded apology to Whateley, re-wrapping his handss. "I had not expected the wall to catch, but I was very angry; I did not think well. Thank you."

He gestured at where the barn had been. "I will ask the ground here to accept the iron nails and such things and make the place safe whilst you bring out the Christians, yes? The door healed to itself, but the avakhi did not come back."

"So Grint and her shadow-thing are still in the wind." Gabby sighs. "I'd really hoped for a better outcome, but I suppose it can't be helped." He nods at Whateley. "Sounds like a good idea there."

Daniel nodded at Whateley's suggestion. "I ain't a priest, so while I can say the words, t'wont have the same effect as somebody ordained inta ministry. But if there ain't nobody better, I will ask God ta care fer these poor souls."

"It is more like that they are in the ground," Sky Dog noted, missing the idiom. "But even if they did escape the avakhi, they would be wary to come here again, I think. They might meet us here!"

He tilted his head a little at Daniel's words, but continued to address Gabby: "Perhaps you might ask Dalix to wash himself many times and reverse his coat, if he wishes to go near the burying-place. What he took from the bad place, the corruption of its onnir touches his...it would not be well to let such come into contact with what surrounds dead ones. Very bad, for the ones that died with violences, whose onnir may be lying curdled in the ground still."

The young shaman frowned and looked to Whateley. "With the bandits, last night - they were buried in the ground also?"

Gabby nods and looks at Danial. "Danny...mebbe it's best if you throw that book you found out on that there fire, then do as Sky Dog suggests. I can't see no good comin' from keepin' it around."

"At least in this country, everyone is buried in the ground," he said to Sky Dog.

"Perhaps all the Americans," said Sky Dog, clearly having seen evidence to the contrary beyond the gibbeted body on the way into town. "But you have seen it done, Whateley? Did they swap the boots or make another precaution against hostages? I do not like to have ones that could come up again already running if Quanterill-the-demon comes at night and calls to those Confederates."

"Could we not just send your man back to handle the reburial of the corpses, Doctor Whateley?  I think we are wasting time that could be put to better use in town.  Defenses come to mind, of course." She pulled a small pocket watch from her purse to check the time.  "So little time...," she murmured.

"I did not see to the burials myself, but left them in the capable hands of the local undertaker. As far as the ones we killed here today, I don't believe that without heads they will be capable of rising again from the dead, if that's what you speak of. Those that were slain by the demon were barely husks of bodies, and they would make for very poor undead indeed. If you would like to remain here and conduct the burials yourself, that's fine with me," he added.

"But I believe Miss Hawthorne is correct. Our time is better spent in the preparation of defenses for the down, or at least in resting up so that we can be prepared to see if, as you say, Quantrill will attack the town."

Daniel furrowed his brow at Gabby's suggestion. "Aren't ya curious 'bout why 'twere there in the first place? We're out here tryin' ta figger out why things are happenin', and how everthing is connected. An ya wanna just throw that away? If it's muddlin' with me, mebbe I should take a quick gander and see what it's about before burnin' it. Why there would be a bunch of differnt editions, I dunno."

"No. I ain't curious." Gabby says. "That there book has Sky Dog all in a bother, and he knows more about the spirit world an' dark magic than anyone here, exceptin' maybe Baddi and Cora. He says that it's bad juju. If it's muddlin' with you, then the very last thing you outgha be doin' is playin' around with it. Mebbe you ain't noticed, but Sky Dog's been treatin' you like a lit stack o' dynamite. Get rid of it, Danny." His face soften. "Please. Just get rid of it."

PM
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:51, Thu 23 Apr 2015.

"I do not think the ones here are mostly Confederate men," Sky Dog told Whateley, bemused at Cora's words. "It would be well to bring them out and take them back, if you wish for them to be buried in the ground. For the ones in the settlement...I do not stop you going, if you do not trust the peasants to look after their barriers, but to make your walls strong and mighty, then to have the running dead inside...it is not helpful, I think."

He shrugged, watching the conversation between Daniel and Gabby obliquely. The old-miner seemed spot-on with his description of the youth's wariness.

Daniel sighed heavily as he weighed his own curiosity against the advice from his friends and family. Eventually he pulled the tome from his pack. "Alright, let's get rid of it. How do ya suggest?"

"There's still a portion of the barn that is on fire," he suggested. The barn was now mostly sunk into the ground, but a few pockets of flame remained that hadn't yet gone down. "Anything that doesn't burn will sink in the quicksand the structure is now mired in."

"Alternatively...you can give it to Sky Dog, and allow him to sprinkle salt and pepper on it and destroy it in a ritually appropriate manner." He winked at Coraline.

"Why not both? Have Sky Dog cleanse it, and then toss it into the flames?" Gabby says.

"I will give my blood's salt if it is needed: it is my buisness," said Sky Dog, eyes held narrow against the daylight but not deaf by any stretch. "But if it is not necessary for others to handle such a thing, it is not well to be passing it one to the other. It is not meant to be here. It is a belonging of ones that would tear off the flesh of their cousin with their teeth...such wickedness is all it will teach."

"I think you know this, Whateley, and I think also you mean to mock me," the young shaman said, voice even but still tense and wary. "You are warned a third time: behave better."

He looked a little aghast at the suggestion that Sky Dog would use his blood for something. "No blood magic. That is bad, bad news. Very bad news. Very bad things. I have known people that have done that...and they were an unsavory sort, if you take my meaning. If you need more salt, we can get it from elsewhere. Surely you couldn't have used all of it in the basement?"

"Best to just put it in the fire I say, and have it done with. Go back to town and see what happens, and tomorrow we send the local undertaker here to bury the bodies."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:42, Thu 23 Apr 2015.

Caleb stood still, watching the discussion about what should happen to the damnable book that Danny had picked up. He didn't have an opinion, but he did find the situation somewhat amusing. Of course, when Caleb found something amusing it didn't necessarily change his facial features a bit.

He maintained a poker face, but Caleb was amused on the inside.

Coraline was tempted to pluck the book right out of Daniels' hands and take it with her just to spite the others, but she hadn't the energy for another argument just then.  She wouldn't have the time to look through it, anyhow.  There was other reading and research that needed to be completed before that evening.  With luck, the rewards from her study of Hoyle's would be far greater than a cannibalistic cookbook could yield.

"Whatever you do with it, do it quickly.  And, if it has not already been attended to, do not forget to bring along the trunk with the schematics inside.  Those could be worth more than just money."  Lifting the hem of her skirt, she headed for the main gate and the horses beyond.

Looking after Coraline, he said, "I think I'll be following her lead. See you in town, if you should decide to join us in time to help." The sun had moved fairly far well down in the sky by this point in time. It would probably start to be dusky not too far past an hour or so.

Spinning on a heel, he quickly caught up with Coraline.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:37, Fri 24 Apr 2015.