Polkitain meowed a bit and kept alert for invisible prey.

Nyx laughed and squared himself beside the young cyber-knight, hands resting easily on his pistols

"Did he say we was afflicted by the after-effects of a 'bashful'?"
"No, dummy, he said it was a 'bad knee'!" You hurt your knee again, and that's why you was crying.
The cowboys bicker somewhat among themselves about the Sir Arulas' revelation. Unfortunately, no one here admits to knowing anyone by the name of Grace.

Psst, the character named by the Lady in Green was called "Glory."

Psychically probing the saloon, however, proves more fruitful:

Polkatain sees nothing invisible in currently in the area.

Kalista definitely senses the presence of a potent reserve of magic in the crowd. It feels like a mage. It isn't a supernatural evil, but she might be able to track it.

The See Aura ability of Arulas hits pay dirt. The auras of the cowpokes and saloon girls reveal varying degrees of health and an occasional spark of psychic potential here and there. The bartender seems to be the strongest psychic in the group, although one of the poker players would rival her. Also behind the bar, one of the dancing girls is edging backwards towards the back door. She stands out because she has the magic energy inside her at a level he typically sees in faeries and inexperienced mages. She is the same girl who was dancing in front of him and the twins earlier.

Outside
On the ridge where the lizard men are waiting (impatiently), something a little unusual happens. The third horse stands upright on its hind legs and pulls itself to its full height. The stone-gray colored stallion stretches and begins pacing two hooves. It trades words with the logaroo in an unfamiliar language.

"Boys do you remember that dancing girl that gave us three a show earlier? I want to see about a private dance involving her and some cuffs. That is our ticket here." she smiles and waves at the bartender. "A round on me for the fellas and ladies." He places a smallish gold nugget on the counter. "The girl edging towards the backdoor what's her name?"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:33, Sat 15 Oct 2016.

Polkitain hops off Doc's shoulders out of curiosity he runs around the bar to see where the woman going out the back door is headed.

"Scared dogs fight, don't reckon she's the one we're after, but I'll wager she's the one we're gettin' to lead us Glory." Doc says tipping his head toward her.

When Sir Arulas pointed out the nervous dancer, Nyx's smile grew into a grin. He said nothing, but glanced behind her

OOC: Activating his Telekinesis to shut and bolt the exits close to the dancer

Kalista follows her sense that magic is near.

Attempting to track

Glory the saloon girl reaches for the backdoor and tries to push it open. The door pulls against her back into its shut position. She calmly rattles the door, but it remains in place, held there by telekenetic energy. The young woman's poker face cracks under pressure, and her expression turns to panic. She whirls around and looks for the cause of her trouble. She sees several faces staring at her.

Glory shouts to the entire room, "Keep those creeps away from me! They killed my folks, and they must have tracked me here to finish the job! Don't believe a word they say!"

The sound of scooting chairs on a wooden floor fills the room as many cowboys stand up in unison. The bartender reaches under the counter for her weapon.

Glory herself begins chanting an incantation at a very low volume.

With his mouth set in a grim line, Nyx pointed at the chanting woman, "She is the fiend, here, mumbling her spells"

From his extended finger a blast of electricity leaps out towards the witch

12:11, Today: Nyx rolled 2 using 1d20.  Energy Explusion.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:13, Wed 19 Oct 2016.

Kalista turned the volume all the way up on her armor, "SILENCE!" Turning the volume back down she spoke normally. "I am a Cyberknight. I am under oath not to bear false witness. We are not here to hurt anyone other than the one person we are here to find. Whether or not this young lady is that person is yet to be seen. We are attempting to keep this village safe from the lizard people outside it. If you force us, we will defend ourselves."

Polkitain looks around confused sure that he saw her running for the back door.
He looked all around his cat eyes looking here and there.

He knew if she was invisible he should be able to see her.

"Oh boy" Ethan says softly as he watches the scene rapidly deteriorate from peaceful to impending deadly violence. He doesn't know much about magic or witches other than what he has read or seen in videos but he figures they could be based in fact. With that in mind he creates a nearly invisible dome shaped force field over the table with the largest amount of cowboys standing around it. "Hopefully that will hold them until we can sort this mess out."

OOC: Spent one action, assuming we are in combat actions, to create a 100 MD force field dome over the largest pack of cowboys.

"Well that was a good lie sweetie. My friend is a cyber knight and so am I. If we were robber Knights then it is entirely possible that we would have done that. Problem is we aren't robber knights. All we wanted was to talk. You are either Faerie or Mage. If a Mage you are seriously untrained. Now you aren't evil I would know. Now quit your act and talk to us."

Doc turned his attention from Glory, his friends had that under control, instead he focused on the cowboys and saddle tramps, his hands drop to hip level. Fingers twitching every few seconds, "Now now boys, reckon you seen us come in and know that story's a load of horse manure... y'all don't need to draw, but if you do, I'll win. Everytime. You see, they don't call me Doc Lightning for nothin'... now, boys, what'll it be?"

Polkitain leans against the back door trying to open it and get back to his friends.

Several things happen more or less at the same time.

Glory casts a quick enchantment of Charismatic Aura on herself. Although she completes the incantation, she doesn't get a chance to use it by manipulating the crowd. Her words are drowned out by Kalista's shouting through her armor's loudspeaker.

Ethan surrounds about three tables worth of cowboys immediately after they begin standing. The shell around them is just barely visible. Some of the cowboys stop to rub their eyes. Another walks nose-first into the barrier and curses. There is also one saloon girl inside the barrier with them, and she's probing the field with her finger.

After Kalista speaks, Doc delivers his threat. It's heard the few members of the crowd who are closest. They all freeze and stare at his gun belt. The crazy-bartender places a shotgun gently on the bar and takes a half-step back away from it. Doc might notice that the shotgun is a technowizard device, distinctive from its extra copper wires and small gems attached. With a successful Perception roll or Lore: Magic roll, he might be able to identify its type.

Arulas takes slightly longer to get his words out than Doc. Glory nods her consent. She throws a look to the bartender and says, "I'll speak with them. It's okay. We'll just speak right here in front of everybody, and they'll leave us be, never to return." Turning back to the group, she says, "Alright Cyberknights, you got cornered, so I'll tell you straight. what do you need to know?" Glory is still under the successful-deception-effect of her charasmatic aura. Even characters who recognize the spell are subject to the effect. If a player doesn't believe any single answer, there is still an 80% chance that the character will. A successful Save versus Magic will break the entire effect for that PC.

Polkatain finds the back door still stuck in place. Simply leaning on it doesn't budge the door. Being that TK is invisible, Polkatain notices that the door is being held in place (weakly) by a field of telekenetic energy. The field is weak, so he could break through it if he tried.

Polkitain hears that things seem to be calming down in the bar so he stealthily makes his way over to where he can hear what the lizard folk and strange Logaroo and horse are saying.

13:56, Today: Kalista rolled 13 using 1d20. Save v Magic.

Kalista spoke calmly, "We seek a witch."

Fuming that his arc of energy missed, Nyx says nothing more as everyone keeps talking

OOC: 21:17, Today: Nyx rolled 12 using 1d20.  Save vs Magic.
Believe that's a pass, but unsure what the target number is?

"First things first child. Mage or Fae? You are one or the other or possibly both. One makes sense and the other not so much. As it stands I am thinking our employer has some prickly questions to answer. Simple fact is we just saved your life. Now we need answers and possibly some backup. Start with my first one and we can go from there. You three need to chill just a bit." the last aimed at the two minor psychics and Glory.

Doc eyes the cowboys, "Smart thinkin' boys." he gives them a tip of the hat, then notices the shotgun.


23:29, Today: Doc rolled 1 using 1d20.  perception .

Ethan is pleased to see that his force field has prevented the cowboys from either causing harm or being harmed. "This way they can't try to hurt us, even if the witch tries to mind control them and they can't get hit with any splash damage...assuming there is any of course".

Then he sees the bartender place her shotgun on the bar counter and step back, which makes him even happier. "We might finish this with only the witch being brought to justice after all!"

13:51, Today: Ethan rolled 11 using 1d20.  Save Vs Magic.

The saving throw was against a basic spell, so only a 12 or higher is needed. Nyx, Kalista, and Ethan all passed after their bonuses are considered.

Regarding the shotgun -- what shotgun? Doc doesn't see a scattergun anywhere. He could have sworn one was on the bar before he looked away.

The saloon girl regains much of her composure. She speaks quickly but with a steady voice and steadier gaze. "I ain't no witch, and I ain't a faerie neither. My trade is peddler of arcane wares, although saying just that much might be considered a death sentence in these parts. If a somebody had to label me, they might call me a shifter. A year ago, I was a wandering nobody who had lost her home and her family to a worm wraith on the prairie. I found a talking tree in a forgotten graveyard. It offered me the knowledge that I needed to make something of myself in exchange for my life long servitude. I did not take the deal. I bartered. The tree taught me everything I needed to know: How to channel magic from different sources and hold it inside myself, how to summon spirits and other creatures, and even spells. In exchange, I agreed to make the wares that the tree taught me to create and distribute them. It might sound like a witch's pact to some, but I know that's something different. It's part of the knowledge of magic that the tree put in my head. My soul is still my own."