"Polk buddy if you have something to say then say it." Arulas says quietly to the young dragon as he kneels next to him. As he rises "Most of the ones left I imagine are your son's and daughters. Am I right? I have the want to help, but I think I understand. I do not like your plan because it just smells of giving up. However if you demand that once more I will ride off until tomorrow when I will come and make sure the deed is done. I will bury the bodies and make sure they do not return from the grave. I would prefer the option given first. We will honor this statement. Even you Ethan. If they ask again we will leave until tomorrow and then we will return."

"I am just curious why people here don't move to someplace nicer without vampires ? I am just trying to understand humans more."

Kalista nodded at the elder. To Polk, "There is too much blood in the sand. They don't have anything left but revenge." She looks at the elder again, "Your choice is valid. I will not interfere."

Ethan listened in horrified silence. "The vampires have made them suffer so badly they see death as the only escape," he thought. It was not the first time he had encountered such despair though he fervently wished it had been. On his Earth he had once seem something very similar, the only difference being the agents of the suffering.

Dwelling on that sad memory would do no one, least of all him, any good in the here and now so he took a deep breath and cleared his mind. He wanted to still help these people but they did not want it. He might be able to somehow force them to let him find a cure but at what cost? How much harm would he be responsible for inflicting upon them in the course of forcing a cure on them? Yet if he did nothing, they would all die, if not by the disease then by their own hands.

To say Ethan was conflicted would be like observing the Pacific Ocean was a good size. Then the words of the Hippocratic oath came to him, 'I will do no harm'. Those were not the exact words but that was their meaning from the dawn of medicine. His oath as a physician was one of the few things he had left from his Earth. It was precious to him and he would not abandon them.

Now that he has the answer to his moral dilemma, he looked at Sir Arulas and then at Mara Anna. "I can't say I'm happy with your plan ma'am but I can understand how people can feel like they have no other option. I am asking, please, that you give us the chance to stop the vampires tonight. If we fail, well then you can still go ahead with your plan, just like my friends have said. If we win, I'd beg you to reconsider letting me help cure this disease."

Pokitain was trying hard to understand.

"If I may speak."  If allowed he then says to the elders.

"You seem to still want to fight even though it means your death. So there is still some desire. We want to help you, would you give us the chance ?"

Polkitain stood near Ethan.

Samuel is in the Behemoth oblivious to the conversation outside, unless somebody brings it to his attention,, as he fiddles with this mechanical bit or or another to see if he can't put silver plated spikes on the outside of the Behemoth.

Doc shook his head, "I ain't goin' out without a fight, period. Even if I know it's one I can't win. We will fight em tonight ma'am. See if our wonderboy Ethan can help y'all after sun up."

The elders listen to what each of the lumberjacks have to say patiently. The respectful tones invoked by these adventurers invoke a mutual respect. The elders silently confer with each other by means of throwing each other a glance. Ultimately, they find Ethan's passionate plea to be persuasive. His abnormally high M.A. doesn't hurt either. The tall elder was himself on the fence until Polkatain weighed in, and it seems that even a juvenile dragon's council carries weight.

Anna speaks for the village again, answering, "If you will take a stand against the dead, you might as well do so here. You may use our walls as you wish tonight, but our people are locking themselves inside their homes where you will not disturb them. This rule remains for your own protection. Even the young doctor should not keep his distance as it would be a pointless danger for him to come too close."

By quick survey and questions, the Lumberjacks learn a little about the tactical situation. The town walls are SDC structures but fairly sturdy. One could walk across the top of the seven meter tall wall if careful. The wall's base is wooden reinforced by a mound of clay, two meters thick. The houses inside are simple wooden structures and not very strong, but there is a chapel large enough to shelter the entire town if pressed. Most houses have small cellars. The river is only five meters from the wall's base at a slight downward slope. The surrounding area has been cleared of trees and other cover for thirty meters in ever direction, but light woods cast shadows beyond that. No ley lines sit nearby. The entire village's population is about two dozen, but there are beds here for four times as many.

La Ciudad por el Rio turns out to be a reverent little town, keeping to the old ways. The Marias turn out to be nuns who wear habits underneath their pestilence suits. They used to be very close friends with the residents of the next town to the west until those people all converted to some alien religion from out of the rifts.

The villagers have no mega-damage weapons, but arm themselves with wooden weapons of their own design.

The dryad who was mentioned in the fairy report is known to these villagers. She lives in a tree by the river which the Lumberjacks must have passed on their way here.

++"Samuel tell me the Water Cannon is ready. We have one maybe two hours left of light. So it had better. An unknown number of inbound wild ones are on their way."

"If we're lucky the wild leeches will recall a little of their past lives. Enough to not simply barrel through these walls", observed Nyx softly as he took in the village's meagre defence, "But we should be prepared for them to be wherever is most inconvenient"

Kalista is thoughtful, "Perhaps the Dryadd could be enlisted to aid us? In any event I believe our best course of action would be to park the behemoth in the gate, use it as a bullwark. Some of us could ride out, but eventually this will come down to defending the wall. We should station our best marksmen on the wall, and let the melee fighters defend the behemoth. That is what I think, what do you all think?"

"Aye, put me on the wall", confirmed Nyx, "With rifle, bow, pistol and blade I will end them"

After a moment he dismounted and looked for a handhold, "But I need somewhere with a decent view"

OOC: His Winchester has a range of a few hundred feet

Polkitain  scratches his head, "Are wild ones unable to turn into bats ? Also maybe we could make a shower like you use to get clean from the river. I will help where I can and I agree we should speak with the Dryad and see if they will help us."

 "We have a matter of hours. Short matter at that. We shouldn't split the group up and we have no idea where the Dryad is. If we want her help it may have to wait til morning. Samuel shuts the ramp and that thing is close to undamagable. You said good vantage point. We need it to be able to be ditched if need be." he says looking around "Polk can you sketch me a map of this town?"

Ethan had taken his helmet off which enabled everyone to see how relieved he was that the villagers had agreed to at least give him and his friends a chance at saving them. "Thank you Senoria Anna," he said to the woman leader of the village. "I don't believe whatever illness is afflicting your village can harm me but I will respect your wishes. I would hope that if it becomes necessary to keep your people from harm, you won't object too strongly to my proximity."

Then he nods his head at her and turns to add his voice to the war counsel his companions are holding. He stands near his new wife and arrives just in time to hear Polk talk about bats. "They can turn into bats?" he thinks to himself. "Wow. Who knew those old movies would turn out to be accurate about something like that!"

"If I can convince Anna to move everyone into one building, I could guard it for a while. I imagine it will take even vampires a little while to get through one of my force fields." He looks at his companions and shrugs. "It will free you up to focus on attacking them and not pin you down to defending one place. You might even be able to ambush them. What if all of you hide inside the village," he kneels and begins drawing a hasty map in the sandy dirt. "If the villagers are all in one building, the vampires will flock to it right?" He draws a single small square for a house. "I'm there and when they get close, I put a force field around the house."

He draws a circle around the square. "That might confuse them for a little bit but I bet they aren't just going to give up. They'll start dog piling on, especially if they don't see any threats right?" He pushes his right index finger into the soft ground around the circle in several places. "Once they have the house surrounded and are focused on tearing down my force field, you should have no trouble catching them off guard." Now he drew arrows into the 'backs' of the dots and then "X" out the dots.

He stood up and brushed the dirt off his gloved hands. "They aren't expecting any real trouble right? Any easy kill? Well lets not give them anything to think any different, at least at first." He looks at everyone in turn. "Well what do you think?"

Polk nods flying above the town to get the lay of the land then returns to make a map.

"They burrow. Or at least some might which is how they hide during the day. Possibly. Never seen one turn into a bat personally, but heard plenty of stories of it so I wouldn't discount it." he jerks a thumb at the bot "If they aren't completely feral that thing will tip them off."

Polkitain nodded, Burrowing that makes sense, dad said some undead are good at tunneling."

"Maybe I can turn into a bat and fool them. I don't know but I am going to keep some stakes with me."

Ethan listened to Sir Arulas as he spoke about what he knew of vampires. "So they are good tunnelers? Yah that would follow as a necessity for hiding from the sun."

He nods his head when the Behemoth is mentioned. "True, we can't count on them to be so oblivious they fail to notice a two story tall walking RV. I wonder if we could hide it somehow? Maybe across the river? If we can't then any plan we make will have to factor in that the vampires will know something about the tactical picture has changed but they still won't know exactly what. Not as good as strategic surprise but tactical surprise should still be with us."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:45, Wed 29 Mar 2017.

"Perhaps in the river", drawls Nyx from where he's trying to get up onto the wall

  "Could be done. Is it watertight Samuel?" Arulas asks.
  He starts looking at the walls with different eyes. "What kind of explosives did you use? The kind to damage modern polymers or the kind that would leave shards of wood? Are they shaped charges?" Arulas starts smiling rather lethally.

Doc looked over at Nyx and grinned, "Hope they don't accidentally blow us up brother. I reckon I'll be up on the wall next to you, that way you can't lie about your kills."

"Just to be clear," Ethan interjects, "the plan of my protecting all the civilians in a central location while the rest of you engage the vampires is a go or no-go?"

  "I need info before I can make a call on that." Arulas quips.

"It's a Go from me. Heck, they might all fit in that robot of yours, which is a darned sight sturdier than the village buildings"