The rider with the gold tooth laughs aloud, "You think you dislike the marshal, just wait until you start remembering the Governor. Those Claytons are what's wrong with New Segal. Lining peoples' minds with fear and their own pockets with gold."

The younger rider speaks up, "You should know something, too, Gent."

The rider with the gold tooth clams up, and looks forward after giving you a stern nod. Then, the younger rider continues, "The hideout ain't exactly what it was. After a couple weeks of looking, Cliff chalked you up as dead and took over. We stopped by last week for some provisions, and he and the rest drove us off, said we were out if we were gonna keep looking. Him and the boys have been rustling cattle from common folk and riding through steads, shooting people who have the misfortune to be outside when they come through. Darn glad you're back, though, and things can maybe go back to the way they was."

"I don't very much like the sound of that, it's one thing to be fighting against these Claytons, but innocents shouldn't be harmed... please tell me that's largely how I ran things before, hardworking folk shouldn't learn to hate us, but embrace us. That's the key to destabilizing and overturning Clayton. It'll be best if Cliff doesn't quite know that my memory is gone, so if there's anything else I should know before we get back and I try to take over, nows the time. and I'll be relying on you both a great deal in the coming days, you have my sincere thanks"

The younger rider and gold toothed rider speak simultaneously:

"Exactly."

"More or less."

They look at one another, and the gold tooth rider speaks up, "Bystanders are bystanders, but they can't challenge you. I've seen you draw against a farmhand once who said he wouldn't let you get into a bank vault. Plus, a man's gotta eat, Gent, and a bullet is cheaper than a meal in New Segal."

"I don't plan to let any of us go hungry, but keeping to behaviors that make townsfolk like us more than the law and we won't have challengers. Where does my nickname of Gent come from anyway? and how many are in the hideout?"

The gold tooth fellow says, "Makes sense, I guess."

Then, they tell you about the Gentle Gunman.

Once upon a time, there was a gentleman who lived in a placed called Athens. He wasn't well-off exactly when it came to money, but he had a steady job as a clerk in the city. Life was going well for him finally. It took a long time for him to get here after his parents died in his youth. The only thing that he still had of theirs was his father's suit that he wore on his wedding day, and Michael thought he'd live up to the tradition and wear it on his own one day, which might not be too far off.

He'd caught the eye of a gentleman's daughter in town, and she'd caught his. This was before the boy knew much anything about love or the gun, and long before he wore iron on his hip. But he always had that ambition. The only way he'd get to see her would be to sneak in to a party they had at the governor's manse, and he had to dress the part, so he wore his father's old suit.

At the manse, people were dancing, whooping, and merrymaking every way he turned. It was like a fairytale. He joined in the fun and almost lost track of his mission until he saw the young woman's face again. It was as if the crowd parted just for them, and he went to her.

They stole away together into their hands' quarters and she finished stealing his heart. She made him promises to go away together on the road, maybe go as far as New Segal where none of her family could find them. That is, until they were found in the morning by her father, brothers, and fiancée.

The girl apologized to those she knew and loved, and they took it with ease. She apparently had a bad habit of running off with poor matches, and she just needed to ask God's forgiveness and repent for what she'd done. Michael didn't get off so easily. Her brothers and fiancée were far too much for the boy to handle. They took him out to a high tree with a long branch, and took their time torturing the boy until they strung him up and shot him in the tree.

----

"Oh, we're coming up on the camp now." Ahead, there's a narrow fissure (you'd have to go two abreast at most) into a canyon.

"How did I live through that? Anyway that can wait till later, tthanks for filling me in, time to set things right here. I'll take the lead, just let me know which way to turn when we get to any forks in the road."

And I'll do just that, I'll ride out in front, trying to keep as authoritative of a look as I can after the night I've had and ride forward.

There are some forks that lead to higher or lower ground, but every trail goes deeper into the gulch, ending in a wide space. You recall the general direction you road, and that this is probably Gentle Gulch.

Finally, you reach your destination. You see it from a cliff side: tents set up, some stations for skinning and cooking game, and a fire pit in the middle. Men seem to just now be waking up and moving around, all of them armed and looking dangerous with their guns on their hips, some with rifles on their backs and bandoliers across their chests.

You hear a woman's screams in the camp, coming from the big tent in the middle.

The man with the gold tooth spits. He swears, "What has Cliff and those boys gotten us into now?"

I shake off my weariness, I have work to do here.

"Whatever it is, we're putting a stop to it and setting things right. Follow me."

I ride my horse up and dismount, going into a jog towards the big tent, bracing myself to confront this Cliff fellow. I'm acting like I'm the alpha here and that I own the place, banking on the reputation I seem to have.

When I get to the tent I fling the flap back and stride right in.

You walk through the camp with your two-man entourage behind you. At first, some men reach for their sidearms, but then they just stare slack-jawed. You hear hushed voices around you, and can't make out what they're saying.

When you reach the tent given the momentum you've lent yourself, you fling the flap open to a big man trying to force a woman in a white dress down on a bedroll. She's blonde and pretty, and is scratching at him ferociously every time he approaches her.

The big man doesn't seem to notice you yet, but the woman locks eyes and scream again, "Help me! Help me!"

With raised voice I call out to Cliff, "Cliff, back off of her now." As I'm crossing the tent to put my hand forcibly on his shoulder and pull him back in case he doesn't listen. I'm keeping myself alert and prepared to dodge a reactionary punch when I do so.

In no kind words and without looking at you, he tells you to go away.

Then, you wrench him back by his right shoulder. You see his wide left hook coming from a mile away, and you duck it, leaving him wide open.

I take the openning and move in quick to grapple him to the ground and restrain him.

"Don't make this worse than it already is Cliff. I'm back, and while I thank you for keeping the camp going you know this type of behavior isn't acceptable."

You restrain his arm and push his body to the ground, using his size against him. There, you straddle him and restrain his other arm as well.

With your position and leverage, you keep him down despite his intense struggling. The woman runs out of the tent outside, and the younger man you rode with and a couple men you don't recognize step in. They stare with shocked expressions at you two wrestling on the ground. They reach to put their hands on their shooters.

Huffing slightly from the exertion of wrestling Cliff to the ground, I shout to the the two men who came with me "don't just stand there, one of you give me a hand restraining him, the other keep the a gun trained on him in case he tries anything."

Once I have Cliff restrained, including tieing his hands and feet together, I'll pull a chair across the room and sit down, looking at Cliff.

"You know Cliff it's been an awful long day for me, and I'm not mightly pleased to be swung at when I get back to camp. What were you thinking abducting women."

I'm trying to get a feel for if i can turn him back to being a follower of mine or if he'll have to be dealt with.

On the ground, Cliff stops struggling. Then, he lifts his head a little. "Wait...boss? You're supposed to be dead!"

The young rider removes rope from one of the other's waist, and uses it to fasten Cliff's hands and legs together. Finally, a couple of men sit him up and you find yourself a crate to sit on.

Cliff narrows his eyes at you. "Like you didn't do the same with that one girl before you went and run off. Can't help but notice she didn't come back to camp with you, neither."

"Well I'm not dead, and that's a very different story, one I don't plan to get into right now. Leave it at she's safe and away from the Marshall. Point is, we're not going to go abducting women and forcing ourselves on harem against their will. Period. Now what have you done since I left, other than what I just saw and tell the men that if they kept searching for me they weren't welcome back here."

Said is a very level, cold voice. I'll prod him to tell me about recent jobs they've pulled off and what state the camp is in. I'm keeping the two who found me in the room, figuring they'll be able to add input.


Also, did I have any of my possessions on me when I escaped or are they all in the jailhouse?

Cliff straightens up noticeably. "I'm sorry. We haven't done much. I've led the gang through Carpenter Ranch a couple of times, but they're dry on money and the law has started riding through there more. There's word of a new sheriff moving in there."

"We'll be giving carpenter ranch a break then for a while. I want to get some Intel on there new sheriff, do you know anything about him? And I'm thinking our next job should be liberating some of the Clayton families wealth. It'll make a good return job. But that's going to need to wait for tomorrow, I need some sleep and I want that women returned to her family tonight."

And I untie Cliffs bonds and give him a hand up, shaking his hand.

They don't know anything about the sheriff, but he evidently killed two of the gang last time some boys ran through there.

Cliff grunts and gets up with the help of your hand. "Fine, I'll do it now." And he straightens up before walking out of the tent.

In the tent with you now are the younger rider who came to rescue you and two more of the gang whom you don't know yet.


OOC:

Sorry, I forgot to answer this question before. You don't have any of your possessions from the jailhouse except for the clothes you had on.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:41, Sat 09 May 2015.

I stand up after Cliff leaves and say to the three "it's good to be back, anything else around camp that needs to be handled before I find a spot and get some sleep? Or any questions?"

The men seem like they have a lot more questions, but the young rider and the man with the gold tooth tell them there's plenty of time later and that escaping the law takes a lot out of any man.

"No shame in it." They say, and leave you in the tent that Cliff previously occupied. You realize how tired you really were when you lie down. You don't even remember closing your eyes when you wake up the next morning, hot from sleeping in your clothes.

I get up and stretch to work out any soreness that may have formed from my long day as well as from sleeping in my normal clothing.

After some basic stretches to loosen my muscles I check out the contents of the tent I stayed in, is it set up as a headquarters of the leader? Any maps with notations or other items of interest?

Once I do that check I'll go do my walk around camp. I'm making a showing to make sure everyone knows I'm back, as well as taking stock of what we have available and looking for either of the men who rescued me so I can ask them some questions.

I'm looking to take stock of if we have any of the following:
Makeshift general store
Blacksmith or machinist shop.
Any basic gardens or things for sustainability while laying low.
Outpost stations to keep watch of entrances
Water sources, and if they're running or still

Once I find one of the two who got me from the jail first priority is finding out and commiting names to memory as well as if there is any hierarchy. It would be bad to not know I had a right hand man and then also not know his name. I intend to keep both the young man and gold tooth in the closest circle of trust, even if they weren't before. I'll especially need their names.

ooc)I'm not looking for a list of names for people in camp, but just so my character has a decent chance of knowing the names of individuals in camp when it comes up.

You wake and loosen up your muscles, trying to relax. When you do, you feel the familiar tug of your equipment back toward where you rode from.

Then, you investigate the tent you slept in. In a chest across from the bedroll, you find a pair of pistols and a bandolier of ammunition. There is a map inside as well, but it has no other information on it than the one that you purchased.

You don't find any of the things you were hoping to around camp, except for a very narrow well and the two men that rescued you-all right outside the tent when you wake up. You familiarize yourself with the two men who rescued you. Gold tooth's name is Garret and the young rider is Cole. They inform you about who everyone else is around camp, which gets some raised eyebrows from onlookers.

Evidently, there isn't really a second in command. The gang is small enough that Cliff just shrugged into the position when you left before.

I'll give a short speech to the men gathered about being back, and encouraging any of them who have ideas or leads on areas that are attractive to speak with me, I'll hear out any reasoned lead.

I ask Garret and Cole to look over the map with me and discuss potential ways we could strike and steal from the claytons.  I also tell them that it's important we get the belonging I had on me when I was arrested back. There was a good deal of gold on me.

I want to sprawl the map out and mark locations of claytons estate, the bank where they do business, local sheriffs office as well as where they would get reinforcements from (I'm assuming that one fort town). I'm thinking of hitting their money reserves hard and fast and then getting away, if they're as big in town as it seems that should be quite the haul.

Also I'm going to find out if we have any eyes and ears in town, I want to know what the word of my escape is.

OOC: What exactly do you say to the men? I can make a general roll for the speech if you tell me all of your goals with it, unless it was only to get ideas and leads.