In reply to Janet Weiss (msg # 40):

[Language unknown: "Lo, Ha omeounder di prill verla le oul ou einde wasbleset ti arbeta riulcenghias, thuut e ntiourmenhou elai n poica naaiek, ekbe ioureslat ivcelini, er Wa kordayess et la inast n oerundany k anywheevehou roarou ulore erear ndomeril mo us he kor."] Roger says. he's careful to avoid mentioning any names that might get recognized by listening ears. [Language unknown: "Eetin...seove ndpriv ughsancon ssdiwime, on calock it tritwaee promsi thothaent ev oun ntiwhirat ati k inthasere a ename th sa enadseng. Icatraone elith ncelarout eehama i eeore ousantwerera u e of os erssti'ndeyin waermo men wawil Messoutran Evarou a n ill es ovestasan seleun vir dinday'ingourant fi ousthianthouore. P ingyineve, but utro an sswh trle outderourare houblelar mahiom ha erela hi alev p oer ic enc Ntelha Na, ol anfiosreev ri acul thioreive el ectherout t ons Adllmo. Hissonwhi k ng ortpreany himamero. Po anivsa...whter me ing. Ame us sonterantmen ol onewastha k."]

The girls make a great show of disappointment and attempt to persuade Jack otherwise, to no avail. They trail him back into the main room, vaguely dressed and urging him to come visit them soon.

Peach Blossom stops at the doorway, smoking, and tries to re-coil and arrange her disordered hair. Half-gone on opium, her eyes glimmer with sorrow when she can't find her ribbon, probably the only thing she owns.

The green-robed girl picks up the cat as it rubs against her ankles and gives Jack one last glance over its fur before sauntering off to talk to some of the bored hardcases hanging around the joint, making a great show of her legs. One of the men wanders over to where Peach Blossom has gently slid into a heap outside the crib and picks her up. She pushes vaguely at his chest, more annoyed than attempting to fight, and then is gone. The curtain is twitched closed.

Opium fumes swirl, dreamers dream, and the House of Heavenly Delights murmurs with a soft hum of Cantonese in the deepened night. Jack has had about all the luck a man could ask for. What next?


((OOC: *secret rolls* roll Notice, please. How much did Jack have on him?))

PM

In reply to Roger Whateley (msg # 43):

Janet nodded again.  [Language unknown: "Not ti no vorwhiave m ut as mota.  Ivfo asteeneve u foril, mi as ou n ma.  I al for ac un me t, he cesspa se lo rut.  E erman eraanding ant n sttapoev aithu es diweus ommo meadmi, k astonsmanast m ul rodila manhouall."]

Switching back to English: "We should start with Je Hou.  We'll need a translator.  I believe it was this way?"

Roger nods. [Language unknown: "Ch, weres paates esous antprosom n mack ectie li ore ncfo ionthaevewithat tahat."] He nudges Janet as he switches back to English. "It seems as if we're wearing out out welcome," he says, indicating a pair of thugs starting to eye them more than a little suspiciously, "So let us make haste."

Meanwhile, Jack notices the hardcases are watching him with less than friendly stares. It might be time to depart...

Janet started heading for Je Hou's place, with Roger in tow.

Jack noticed the heavies and decided it was time to go. Tipping his hat to the ladies Jack walked out the door.

Seeing as it was getting late and he was on his own he decided to get back on the trail and find Calamity Jane.

Janet and Roger step through the streets, away from the House of Heavenly Delights.

((OOC: Janet, are you going to try to get your wound looked at before things happen? You're still within the Golden Hour.))

OOC: Yeah, let's go to a doctor first.

15:06, Today: Black Jack Boudreaux rolled 5,1 using d6,d4, rerolling max with rolls of 5,1.

15:05, Today: Black Jack Boudreaux rolled 3,1 using d6,d4, rerolling max with rolls of 3,1. streetwise.


Jack spends the next hour wandering Deadwood looking for Calamity Jane. Although the Cajun is a stranger to the town, he is no stranger to finding his way through the underbelly the shadier parts of the mining town..
This message was last edited by the player at 04:29, Thu 20 June 2013.

Janet stops along the way to the doctor, and buys ten skewers of meat from a nearby vendor.  "Forgive me, Roger, but I'm inexplicably hungry right now."

It's not difficult to find Calamity Jane--just time consuming. There are an awful lot of saloons in town, and the impression Jack gets as he hunts for the famous drunk is that she doesn't spend much time at any one of them, to keep from wearing out her welcome too quickly.

He finally finds her outside a place called "The Wooly Buffalo," sharing a bottle of rotgut with a black man waring a patchwork Union army uniform with a bizarre array of patches and tags on it that Black jack can't begin to decipher.

"Well, lookie here!" Jane says bitterly as she spots Black Jack walking up. "Took your sweet-ass time findin' me, didn't ya? What, you have to blow through McCall's reward money afore you came to find me?"

"'Tis a terrible thing, to be sure." Her drinking companion says as he takes a gulp from the bottle they're passing back and forth. "Why, I was just telling my friend here that a man in my command would be whipped, whipped I say, were he to break his word to me in the manner you have done to my friend."

"Amen to that!" Jane says as she takes the offered bottle and sips from it. "Well, you done pinched McCall. Word's all over town. Congratulations. What the fuck do you want from me?"

((OOC: Janet, in the interests of speeding things along, the trip to the doctor will cost you $3, and the skewers of meat will cost 15 cents.))

"The plan wasn't to hand him over but the Marshall showed up and left no option. I still need help finding that other fella and was hoping we could find a way to still aid one another."

"I'd like to see McCall get his justice." Jack said surprised by his own desire to see Jack McCall have his reckoning.

The work at the doctor done, Janet and Roger headed off to Je Hou's place.

"Well, if you've got some suggestions, I'm listin'." Jane says.

"Maybe this chat should be somewhere a bit more private." Jack suggested not wanting to be overheard, even by people who would likely not remember anything tomorrow.

Janet and Roger return to the streets of Celestial Alley. It's quite a walk back from the doctor's office and Janet's new stitches are complaining by the time they reach Crescent street...or what they assume is Crescent Street (as all the street names are in Cantonese). But Hou's Laundry has a big sign written in English and Chinese, so it's easy to find. It's even easier to spot because there's a band of thugs tearing the place up.

The launderer stands to one side, yelling in dismay, as the rascals heave bricks through his windows. They ignore his protests. A young boy runs out of the shop and begins tugging at one of the men, who promptly throws the child into the muddy streets. Another thug emerges, pulling a middle-aged woman by the hair and making comments that--while in Chinese--are clearly lewd and threatening.

In reply to Black Jack Boudreaux (msg # 58):

"Are you seriously sayin' that my friend the General here ain't good enough for you?" Jane slurs.

The drunk in the Union outfit shakes his head sadly. "For sure, it's a sad day when a man cannot trust a fellow of his own race, and a veteran at that, to keep a secret in confidence." He takes a swig from the bottle. "Is this the sort of man I fought to give a chance at freedom for?"

Janet pulls out the McCall's Gatling pistol.  She fires one shot into the air.  "Freeze!" she shouts, as loud as she can.

The rascals do not freeze. They turn, glare at the interloper, and then the one holding the woman makes a gesture and barks a command to the other three, who draw machetes and hatchets. The rascals advance on the intruders.

((OOC: Draw a card for initiative, please. The Rascals have 4H, so if you get higher, you get an action in which to try and dissuade them.))

"Just find that secrets a'int so secret when everyone knows 'em." Jack replied.

"But as is a friend of yours." Jack extended his hand "I am Black Jack Boudreaux. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"You don't want to do that.  We're on a mission for Huang Li.  Do you really want to mess with him?"


12:10, Today: Janet Weiss rolled 13,5 using d10+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of 9,1. Persuasion.

11:31, Today: Janet Weiss drew the single card: 6D using a deck of 54 cards. Init.

The rascals either don't speak English or do, in fact, want to mess with Huang Li. Either way, they aren't inclined to talk to a pair of Gwielo interrupting their shakedown. They converge on Janet and Roger, blades flashing.

"Oh, I say!" Roger gasps as two of the thugs leap at him. He brings his cane up to block, whipping it about like a fencing foil to parry the slashes from the rascals.

Janet is not so lucky. The gatling pistol is poor protection against the cleaver-like blade the thug swings at her, and as she moves to dodge the rascal swings about and kicks her in the chest, driving the breath from her.

((OOC: Make a Smarts roll for me, please. You need to do this before you roll any sort of attack with the pistol.

The enforcers ignore Janet's warning and attack. 2 of them go after Roger (who is armed with his cane, which is actually designed to be a hidden weapon) and one goes after Janet (who only has the Gatling Pistol, which is an improvised weapon and thus lowers her Parry by 1). The two thungs going after Roger each get a +1 Gang-Up bonus.

22:18, Today: Iron Dragon Enforcers rolled 2,2,5 using d8+1,d8+1,d8, rerolling max with rolls of 1,1,5. Fighting! Roger blocks both the strikes, but Janet is Hit.

22:21, Today: Iron Dragon Enforcers rolled 2,3 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,3. Damage.  5 Damage total, which will make Janet Shaken.

Janet, draw a card for your next round. Mr. Sebastian will act after you.

Card for the thugs: 5C.))

"General Samuel Fields, Retired, at your service." The drunk man says, shaking the hand with a grip that is clammy and a bit shaky. His claim to the title is dubious...Jack's sure he'd have heard of a colored general serving on either side of the Mason Dixon line.

"What the fuck are we tryin' to keep secret?" Calamity Jane says.

"Bringing a known rascal to his well deserved judgement at the hands of him who was wronged, I think." The Negro General replies. "Though I don't know how you expect to get one to meet the other."

"Shouldn't be a problem, unless Bullock fucking moves him." Jane slurs back. "I'll just tell Bill where he's at. That should solve the problem."

"And what if yon reverent is still mad at the institution of justice that let McCall walk in the first instance?" The General asks. "Bullock wasn't even Marshal when the shooting happened. It would sure be a shame if the angry ghost took out his rage on more than just the wrongdoer. Didn't all the jurors who tired McCall wind up deceased?"

Jane doesn't reply to that. She just grabs the bottle, scowls, and takes a long, long pull.

"Well maybe we can set up a distraction and lure Bill and his Deputies from the jail long enough for justice to be served." Jack replied.