Moses turns his head, looking to the side.
"Yes", he begins, then stops. Then a smile lights up his face.
"Yes, Moses thought so. The hands."

He shakes his head a moment later, apparently in doubt about something.
"If that is Thy will, Lord, then thy humble servant will obey, as always."

Another pause, then another nod, somber. "Yes, Lord."

He turns back to Wovoka and bows, slightly, then walks after Thunder Walker.
"The Lord tells Moses that Li will follow us in time. For now, Li is occupied with other matters, matters we shall not disturb."
He stops for a moment, spreading his arms, a big smile on his face.
"We are truly blessed here. Now, let us go and search for Sister Belinda. We have to hurry. Quickly, Thunder Walker, lead the way!"

The Lakota brave gave Moses a sidelong glance that seemed to last a moment. Was he working with a madman? He had seen and believed that Moses had some connection with the spirits and a great sense of bravery, but some of the theatrics that seemed to accompany this gave him the feeling that perhaps the man was not quite well.

[Language unknown: "N an not ati sa, he mi us fich ut i ca ta oretinand,"] he said, and then returned to the tracks that he had been looking at but moments ago.

"Li! We're leaving," he shouted, and began to follow the tracks.

The trail of the riders is easy to follow, and leads right to the shadow of Bear Butte itself.



some mood music

The black peak of Bear Butte juts from the surrounding plains, alone against the horizon. There's a chill in the air, and both the travelers can feel a power coming from the mountain. This is the heart of the Sioux Nations, where legend says The Great Spirit gave Sweet Medicine holy knowledge. This is a place of healing and rejuvenation.

But the taint of war has spread even to here, this holy place. Thunder Walker and Moses spot a distant camp of horsemen circling about a ridge, bloodcurdling whoops and yells echoing over the distance, while on the ridge above them a group of blue-coated soldiers with mowhawks and dusky skins aim rifles over hastily-dug trenches. Four soldiers wheel a small field cannon into position. The artillery crew fires a blast at the riders, sending them scattering...it seems intended mostly as a warning shot to keep the Nakota at bay...

Moses stops next to Thunder Walker.
"Oh, Lord, we might have come to late. We have to stop this madness, or War will have another victory. Moses will not allow that.
Hurry on, Thunder Walker, run as quick as the wind, for the Lord shall guide your steps and make them true.
Moses will follow, but it is you whose words might be heeded."

A gentle breeze blows low to the ground, cooling Thunder Walker's ankles, yet urging him on.

Casting Speed on my man Thunder Walker here...

Total of 9, so that's a raise. Double pace and running's a free action.

13:28, Today: Moses rolled 7 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+1)7. Faith, moving on to blue now..
13:28, Today: Moses rolled -1,2 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4. Faith, third white chip.
13:28, Today: Moses rolled 0,1 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 2,3. Faith, another white chip.
13:27, Today: Moses rolled 1,1 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 3,3. Faith, white chip.
13:27, Today: Moses rolled 0,0 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 2,2. Faith for Speed.

Speed for Moses fails, but I'll reserve the chips for now.

13:29, Today: Moses rolled -1,3 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 1,5. Faith for Speed for Moses.

((OOC: Actually, if you don't spend a chip, Moses will have a Crisis of Faith, since he got a 1 on his Faith die.

Crisis of Faith

If the Faith die comes up 1 (regardless of the result of the Wild Die), your hero suffers a crisis of faith.

His prayers are ignored and his Faith die type is reduced by 1 until the next time he successfully performs a miracle. If his Faith die would ever be reduced below d4 in this way, the blessed has lost his faith. He can no longer perform miracles and must find some way to ease his doubts.))

in that case...
19:09, Today: Moses rolled 4,7 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,(6+1)7. red chip.

Comes down to 5, a sucess. SonI won't be lagging behind as much...

 

Thunder Walker made every effort to move with a quiet grace keeping a low profile, though he found an unnatural speed coming to him which he did not question. Keeping out of range of the cannon he could see up above, he stopped hopefully at a distance that would make it difficult for the riflemen to strike him, though he knew it was unlikely he could prevent that if that was the way things would go.

[Language unknown: "Ateonsfor, ortlarkorsom! All ant es wene sta,"] he called out to them. The Lakota had fought often with the Pawnee over long years, and there was a deep enmity there. Indeed, many tribes held a dislike for the Pawnee, and their presence here at Bear Butte wearing those blue uniforms alone was cause for a dozen blood feuds. He felt his hopes of this ending in peace fading away, even as he thought of it, but refused to surrender that hope altogether.

The only reply to Thunder Walker's entreaties are a few arrows shot their way. Thunder Walker is well outside of the bow's range, but the message is clear...they don't feel like discussing things.

((OOC: Draw cards for Initiative.))

---

Turn Order:
Thunder Walker: KS (Double Pace and Free Action Run for 5 rounds--he's 48 squares away from the action)
Moses: QH (Double Pace for 3 rounds--he's 48 squares from the action)
No Flesh the Shaman: 9D
Packs The Colt's Pawnee soldiers: 7D
Little Bear's Nakota Braves: 2D

This message was last edited by the GM at 17:40, Mon 12 Nov 2012.

22:37, Today: Moses drew the single card: QH using the Deadlands system. Initiative.
Will run toward the group...
22:40, Today: Moses rolled 3 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3. Running.
so that's puts me at 33 squares away next round.
22:42, Today: Moses drew the single card: AC using the Deadlands system. Initiative, round 2.

This message was last edited by the player at 21:43, Sat 10 Nov 2012.

OOC:

10:24, Today: Thunder Walker drew the single card: KS using the Deadlands system.

Just to clarify - the Nakota fired at them? Also...what's the terrain like around here?

In reply to Thunder Walker (msg # 50):

((OOC: Yes, the Nakota took a shot at you. More of a warning shot than anything else...the arrow was nowhere close to hitting you and could be more accurately described as being shot in your general direction. The Nakota don't seem to be in the mood to rationally discuss the situation.

You're in the foothills around Bear Butte. Most of the slopes are gentle, but the Pawnee are ensconced on a hillock that prevents the riders from just riding up and are guarding the rise. The riders are circling the hill, out of Medium Range of the rifles (they think they're out of range altogether, but the rifles have a longer range than their bows).

You get to go before they act, at least, but the distances are quite great (the map I have has every token looking like tiny little dots). To put things in perspective...imagine you're on a football field. You are at one end-zone, the Nakota are down at the other, shooting at Pawnee high in the bleachers.))

The Lakota scout began to run, and he found his feet carrying him as fast as the wind, as if the shamans had called upon the spirit of the wolf to grant him a favor. He recalled a time once many moons ago when he had been granted such favors by the shamans of the Sioux Union in Gomorra. He still had no idea what he would do when he reached them, as it seemed the conflict would take place regardless of what he did. The Nakota were spoiling for a fight, and the Pawnee were ever enemies of all the People. It would be a hard thing to quell this conflict. If he must fight, it would be on the side of the Nakota, but he found himself hoping that such a thing did not come to pass.

OOC:

Double Pace (12) + Free Action Run (8) = 20 for his movement
Stealth: 5


15:43, Today: Thunder Walker rolled 2,5 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,5. Stealth.
10:27, Today: Thunder Walker rolled 8 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+2)8. Run.

As Moses and Thunder Walker run toward the battle, one of the Nakota, a Shaman by the looks of him, hops off his horse and begins to sing and dance.

The ground rumbles, and then stands. A giant made of loam and earth pulls itself from the great plain. The shaman points toward the distant bluff, and the earth spirit nods. It slams a fist on the ground.

On top of the ridge, the Pawnee shout as the cannon suddenly drops into the ground. The stone of the ridge dissolves into sticky mud that the Pawnee are just barely able to escape.

But one of the men is trapped by the sinking cannon. Terrified, he waves to his fellows for aid before sinking into the muck, out of sight. His companions wade into the mud, while the Pawnee leader shouts and points at the earth spirit.

The remaining Pawnee on the ridge take aim and fire. The crack of gunfire echoes across the plains. The earth spirit staggers under the withering hail of bullets, but doesn't seem overly hindered. The shaman, however, takes a ricochet to the arm and staggers. The Pawnee leader, seeing this, takes aim at the shaman and cracks off a shot. The shaman pitches over, twitching.

The Nakota chief raises his fist and calls the riders together. He grabs the stricken shaman and motions back, and the riders begin a retreat. They ride closer to Moses and Thunder Walker, leaving the giant earth spirit standing alone on the field, ready to continue its assault.

((OOC: No Flesh begins by casting Contact Spirit World to call forth a greater spirit.

03:06, Today: No Flesh rolled 4,3 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,3. Tribal Medicine. Success. He calls up a Gan, an earth spirit.

He has to roll an Opposed Spirit Check to negotiate with it. It costs him a couple Fate Chips, but he succeeds in convincing the Gan to go after the soldiers.

The Gan uses its Quicksand ability to swallow up the Cannon and the Pawnee trying to load it. 6 Pawnee are caught in the attack. They have to make Agilty rolls or get sucked under.

All but one of them make it. The one that failed is now Drowning.

Card for No Flesh and his summoned Gan: 10D

The Pawnee react poorly to the loss of their cannon. Two of the braves wade in to the Gan's quicksand to try and dig their fellow out (which is a cooperative roll to aid a Swim check). Neither of them are successful in aiding the man, who is still drowning and has just suffered a level of Fatigue from the attempt.

8 of the Pawnee take aim and fire at the distant riders, trying to destroy the Gan. They all have -4 on their attack rolls from the long range, but they have the Marksman Edge which gives them a +2 (since they haven't moved)

Only two of them hit, but one of them wings No Flesh thanks to the Innocent Bystander rule.

Damage vs. Gan: 9, 18. The 9 does nothing, the 18 will make the Gan Shaken
Damage vs. No Flesh: 6. That makes the Shaman Shaken.

Packs the Colt, the leader of the Pawnee, takes a shot at No Flesh the Shaman.

03:41, Today: Packs the Colt rolled 10,3 using d10-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of (10+2)12,5. Shooting! Hit and Raise.

20 damage, which will be 3 wounds for the Shaman. No Flesh attempts to Soak: 03:44, Today: No Flesh rolled 1,2 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,2. Soak! Fail. No Flesh is seriously injured, though he's still up, which means the Gan is still about.

Packs The Colt and the Pawnee: AD

Little Bear, realizing his people are in danger (having underestimated the range of the guns), orders a cautious retreat. The war party moves 8 squares closer to Moses and Thunder Walker. They have no intentions of abandoning the field, just getting out of range of the guns and letting the Gan pick them apart.

Little Bear and company: 10C))

---

Turn Order:
Packs The Colt and the Pawnee: AD
Moses: QH
Tan Xiaohan: QH
No Flesh and his summoned Gan: 10D
Little Bear and company: 10C
Thunder Walker: 6S
This message was last edited by the player at 17:54, Sat 17 Nov 2012.

OOC:
06:46, Today: Thunder Walker drew the single card: 6S using the Deadlands system. Initiative.

some mood music

Tan Xiaohan crawls toward the sound of gunfire, and emerged from what seems to be a small rabbit hole beneath a tree on top of a hill.

Also on top of the hill are nearly a score of Indians dressed like Union Soldiers, with haircuts like sharpened hatchets. Directly in front of the chinaman is a bound and gagged white woman, who's looking around the hill frantically and struggling against her bonds. The Indian guarding her gives her a kick and says something that Xiaohan can't make out but understands all too clearly regardless.

The Indians seem to be in a bit of a panic. Two of them are frantically digging at a huge mud pit, from which Xiaohan can just barely make out a pair of flailing hands. The rest are line up on the ridge, taking aim at something Xiaohan can't see through all the smoke. One of them, the apparent leader, is an energetic fellow who marches behind his troops, occasionally shouting epithets in a language Xiao doesn't know.

None of these people look anything like the Sioux women Xiaohan had met in the Hunting Grounds. If the Nakota are here, they are probably the ones being shot at. Laughs At Darkness must have a strange sense of humor, putting Xiao here...

((OOC: Welcome back to the World, Xiaohan! You're now on the hill where Packs The Colt and his pawnee soldiers are. Also, you get to meet Sister Belinda Carlin...and her guard! Luckily, his back is turned. He's an Active guard, though, so any move Xiaohan makes will be opposed by his Notice.

The Pawnee take their action. The two trying to save the drowning man make checks again. Neither of them aid. The drowning brave fails his Swim check and suffers yet another level of fatigue. He's almost dead.

8 of the Pawnee take shots at the Gan, hoping to pierce its armor and send it back to the Hunting Grounds. Only one hits. He gets decent damage, but not decent enough, and the Gan remains standing.

There are 3 other Pawnee there guarding the slope up the hill, and two standing guard over Sister Belinda. They take no action this round.

Packs the Colt also takes a shot at the Gan, hits, and fails to do any significant damage.

Card for next round: JS))

---

Tan Xiaohan and Moses are next!

Xiaohan crouches, reflecting with a sinking feeling that that a total knowledge of zero on the score of battles maybe makes this a bad place to be. The little stray focuses on the ungallant guard, flicking the razor to full extension. The way they did it in stories, with just enough swiftness as his back was turned...

[[10:00, Today: Tan Xiaohan rolled 4,4 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,4. sneakin'. [looks at remaining chip] Eh, he might roll a 1. Aiming to sneak up and put a razor to his throat (is that a grapple? attack? intimidation?) rather than attempt to cut it outright in one go. How tall is Guard Dude?
init.4D ]]

With great, long strides, Moses runs after Thunder Walker, jamming his hickory stick every fee steps hard into the soil, grim determination on his face.

Moving forward as much as possible, running as well:
20:47, Today: Moses rolled 4 using 1d6 with rolls of 4. Running.
That takes me 16 inches closer.
20:49, Today: Moses drew the single card: 6S using the Deadlands system. Initiative.

The soldier doesn't notice the little vagrant until Xiaohan is right on top of him, and by then it's too late...

Meanwhile, Moses' divinely-inspired speed sends him right into the thick of the riders, who turn and aim their bows his direction. But he can get to the leader and the stricken shaman with ease...

((OOC: 22:56, Today: Ravenite Braves rolled 1 using 1d8, rerolling max with rolls of 1. Notice. Tan Xiaohan will get the Drop on the brave, and can Grapple him into a hostage position with ease (I.E., without a roll, putting you On Hold with a +4 bonus to attacks and damage should you choose). The guard dude stands 5' 7."

Moses, that movement, combined with the fact that the Nakota are moving toward you, means you can get right next to the Shaman and the Chieftain. You can still perform an action, though at a -2 for the running penalty (and your blessing is wearing off).))

[[Can I make demands now, or next turn?]]

In reply to Tan Xiaohan (msg # 59):

((OOC: Go ahead and make your demands, combined with your actions, and that way I'll have a chance to figure out what you need to roll.))

Xiao grabs the tail of the guard's crest of hair, hauling down and back. The razor comes to rest at the top of the man's larynx. "You don't move, or you have mutilations before I kill you," the little Chinese growls. "Drop weapons."

Terrified, but satisfied it doesn't show and that the hostage is tractable for now, Xiao takes a big lungful of air and bellows: "HEY! HEY! YOU CUNT-SUCKING YANKEE SONS OF BITCHES!"

Their attention got, Xiaohan angles the razor to catch the light, winding the man's hair into a better grip, keeping him off-balance. The little stray's expression is much like the inscrutable brute cruelty seen on Iron Dragon's enforcers.

"You dog-fuckers want to live - want this man to live, you listen me, put down weapons! You fuck with me, I slice his lips off, cut his nose off - make him no very honourable warrior!"

Moses stops, abruptly, spreading his arms wide before the leader and the shaman.
"Moses has come to ask you to stop this madness. It was not the Pawnee that destroyed your village. It was an army of War, come to sow discontent and tragedy among brothers."
He lowers his arms again and nods at the shaman.
"Let the prophet bind his wounds, so that he may live and see the truth in Moses' words."


10:26, Today: Moses rolled -3,19 using d6-4,d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 1,(6+6+6+5)23. Persuasion. -2 MAP, -2 Charisma.

 The shaman coughs.

The chieftain, his warpaint streaked with tears, gives Moses a hard look.  He motions to his men and they begin to surround him, bows still at the ready.

Moses gets the sinking feeling the Nakota man doesn't speak English...

The giant behind them roars and slams its fist into the ground again.

Back on the hilltop, the leader of the Pawnee and several of the other braves give Tan Xiaohan an incredulous look, a glare of shock, horror, and just flat-out disbelief at the situation...but before anyone says anything, the ground beneath the Pawnee buckles, and dissolves into sticky mud.

The leader of the Pawnee leaps away from the dissolving ground, lands on the edge of the swirling muck, and rolls to safety, as does one of the men. But two of the Pawnee soldiers shriek in animal terror as the mud sucks them down...

((OOC: So after a bit of wondering just what the heck I'm going to do about this, I think I'm going to run this as a Social Conflict as well as a Combat. You will have 3 rounds to make your case before Little Bear will relent. Of course, communication is hampered by  neither Little Bear nor No Flesh speak any English at all...

No Flesh makes his case against Moses. He gets a +2 bonus because Little Bear is more inclined to listen to him than a stranger who doesn't even speak his tongue. He has a -3 wound penalty, though, so he winds up with a net -1 penalty to his Persuasion roll.

16:23, Today: No Flesh rolled 1,2 using d8-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 2,3. Opposed Persuasion. He will spend a White Chip to reroll.

16:26, Today: No Flesh rolled 5,4 using d8-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 6,5. white chip. Keeping in mind No Flesh's hindrances, He also spends a red chip on this.

16:29, Today: No Flesh rolled 5 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5. red chip. That makes his final total 10.

2 Successes to Moses' 4. Little Bear is willing to let him run away without killing him on the spot, but little else.

Meanwhile, the Gan targets the next batch of warriors with it's quicksand ability. Packs the Colt and 3 others get caught in the attack, and have to roll Agility or be sucked down.

Packs the Colt and one of his Braves succeed, but the other two are sucked under and begin drowning. They try to tread mud but, since they aren't trained in Swimming, fail miserably and gain fatigue levels.

Meanwhile, Little Bear and his people move to surround Moses. Thunder Walker can reach them easily and still have an action, as he's on his last turn of Moses' spell.

No Flesh and the Gan: 10C
Little Bear and the nakota: On Hold))

---

Thunder Walker is up next!

This message was deleted by the player at 20:11, Fri 23 Nov 2012.

In reply to Thunder Walker (msg # 64):

((OOC: Actually, they moved, too, to be much closer to you. You only need to move 10 to get right next to Moses, so you'll be able to try and talk to the warriors on your action and try to convince them this has all been a horrible mistake.))
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:16, Fri 23 Nov 2012.