In reply to Randy Oldman (msg # 922):

The Mexican listens to his trail mate. He had known Randy Oldman since the days of the No Buffalo Outfit, and had ridden with the man--and Cole Trayne--more than once while driving beeves from San Antone to the railheads in Kansas.

"You, amigo, will do neither," Rojas says, speaking as a boss would to an employee. There is no malice in his voice, but there is a finality. Sighing, he continues.

"The sheriff, he is doing what he must do. We do not have to like it. Our job has not changed. Our job, senor, is to keep Cole safe and that is as true now as it was when we made our agreement. The Comanche, they would still be out here even if the sheriff did not come with us. Although I would have welcomed more warning from the sheriff, Cole would have been in this situation even without Cruger's choice to accompany us. Unless Rasmin was removed from the . . . como se dice? . . . equation. And my sense was that you did not desire that resolution. Es verdad?"

In reply to Garrett Rasmin (msg # 921):

I can stand the gaff, but to be honest I'd rather kill you and spare my friend the noose then listen to the horseshit you're shoveing..  So hobble your lip

San Francisco, I a former resident can assure you, is ruled by man, not by law.  Cole, good hearted murderer that he is, killed a man... an evil murdering son of a bitch... whose family and organization can afford to have the law hunt him and kill him for them.  You are determined to be that instrument.  You refused appeals to your wallet, your safety, and your better nature.  So be it.  But you're trading cold hard cash for my friend's life.  So at the end of the day, I won't have it.  If everyone in this posse weren't putting spokes into the wheel we could wind this up.

In reply to Travis Sunday (msg # 925):

"I will say whatever I want to say, Sunday. You want to wind up this business, go ahead and draw and take your chances. I will be in the right of it all, and you will either be dead, or a murderer twice over in the space of a week. Or both."

Rasmin shows no signs of fear.

In reply to Garrett Rasmin (msg # 926):

Cole wordlessly approaches his old friend Travis. Placing a discouraging hand on the man's shoulder, the wrangler simply gestures with his remaining hand to let this go.

In reply to Cole Trayne (msg # 927):

ENS watches the drama with a bit of trepidation... he is clearly relived when Cole intervenes. He continues before Travis can get wound up again.

Yes, well Mr. Sunday laid it out; the man, Cole's employer, essentially gave Cole the choice of killing some Chinese immigrants as a warning to others, or being killed himself if he didn't comply... he chose to eliminate the man giving the order instead...

He looks over to Cole.

That's correct, right?

He turns back to Rasmin.

So which would you have chosen Mr. Rasmin?

In reply to Jake Richardson (msg # 923):

ENS gets one of his crooked grins on.

Good points all Jake! I guess I thought to draw them to the fire as a warning for us... but I suppose it would only work if we lit the fire after it gets pretty dark, and as you said we could then be alerting them to our presence!

In reply to E.N.S. Ringgenberg (msg # 928):

"Neither. I would have told the man I was not a murderer, then quit his employ and reported the incident to the local law. If he had tried to kill me, instead of simply making threats against me, then I would have had the right to defend myself. By your logic, I would have the right to kill Travis Sunday, as he made a verbal threat on my life just a minute ago. But the law does not give me the right to kill a man for something he said. Only for something he does."

"Fellers, supposin' y'all forget all that jawin' about what for cain't be changed now nor for what none y'all gonna do neither." Randy's rather fed up with the caterwauling of both Travis and Garrett. His nerves are more aligned to the external threat bearing down upon them.

"I figgur it's time for Jake to give us marchin' orders and we get set up for the night." As if to say "shall we," Randy gives a motion to the rifleman. "I'd be much obliged if you'd put them two on diff'ernt sides of the camp, Mr. Richardson."

In reply to E.N.S. Ringgenberg (msg # 928):

Cole nods to the professor and then turns to lead Travis away from the confrontation with the bounty hunter.

Provided, of course, that Travis is willing.

This message was deleted by the player at 03:53, Thu 25 Sept 2014.

In reply to Cole Trayne (msg # 932):

JEB takes notice of the tension in the air and rises from his seated position. He picks up his carbine and inches toward Travis and Rasmin.

In reply to James E. Beauregard (msg # 934):

JEB notices that Cruger and Haverty have done the same, their carbines at the ready. As Cole attempts to lead Sunday away from the bounty hunter, and Randy Oldman says his piece, Rojas looks to Jake Richardson.

It is clear that everyone is on edge, but it is quite unclear as to what anyone might choose to do, should any given man decide to start something.

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OOC: As mentioned in the OOC forum, the Judge is delaying moving forward until it is evident that all PCs are ready to settle in for the night's camp. The Judge's current perception is that such plot advancement would still be premature.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 935):

Jake nodded to Randy, to let the big man know that he had heard him. The Texan also took note of Cole's efforts to pull Travis away from the confrontation, even as other members in the party seemed determined to ratchet up the threat level.

His posture relaxed and his carbine in the crook of his arm, Jake stepped in between Travis and Rasmin. "Let's stand down, gents," he said quietly.

"Travis, Cole ain't spoke no words, but he's talkin' to you jest the same. I'd be obliged iff'n ye'd listen to yer pard."

"An' Rasmin, ye ain't doin' the situaeshunn no good by tossin' kerosene on a smolderin' fire."

"Let's save our  lead for them Injuns out thaere, gents. For the time bein' at least, we're all in this together. Them Comanche, or Kiowa, or whatever -- they'd purely love to see us kill 'bout half of each other, which is how this is startin' to ratchet up, what with everybody grabbin' their shootin' irons -- so's they can swoop in an' finish off the rest. Iff'n y'all are lookin' to have yer scalps lifted, yer sure goin' 'bout it the right way. But I'd jest as soon not go out thataway."

"Time for cool heads, gentlemen."

OOC: Edited punctuation.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:09, Thu 25 Sept 2014.

In reply to Jake Richardson (msg # 936):

ENS sighs and nods his head.

Jake is right gentlemen... I am sorry for starting this line of discussion. And we should now focus on the situation at hand.

In reply to Cole Trayne (msg # 932):

Travis goes with Cole out of earshot.

In reply to Jake Richardson (msg # 936):

"Then so, Jake, how we gonna proceed with tonight's watch. You gonna change a thing or keep as is. Ain't no sense wastin' time.

"For one, I'd not mind ridin' the nights out and restin' during the days."

The bounty hunter smiles, touches the brim of his hat and gives a nod of acknowledgement to the rifleman.

In reply to Travis Sunday (msg # 938):

In a low, calm voice, Cole replies.

In reply to Jake Richardson (msg # 936):

JEB relaxes and returns to sitting in the same spot against a tree or rock.

In reply to Randy Oldman (msg # 939):

Jake let out a breath as the tension-filled situation seemed to resolve itself for the moment.

Turning to face Randy, he replied to the big man's comments. "I ain't heard no complaints 'bout the watch schedule so far, Randy, an' I'm in-clined to leave it alone iff'n it ain't broke. Anybody who ain't satisfied 'bout their spot in the roe-tae-shunn can speak with me 'bout it."

"I got to admit that I ain't given much thought to travelin' by night. I'll think 'bout it some, an' we can speak on it tomorrer."

After Cole and Jake's intervention, the tension subsides in the camp. For the moment if nothing else. The men make themselves as comfortable as possible during the overnight's cold camp.

The night watch resumes as before. Things remain quite calm, each two-man shift waking the next. That is, until the fourth watch, with Mr. Big'un and the professor on duty.

Near the end of their watch, at 5:40 o'clock and roughly one-half hour before sunup, both of the men hear sounds from afar. Having heard similar noises in the previous nights, there was no immediate cause for alarm. After confirming with each other that it was no trick of the imagination, a minute later both men hear a more clearly present danger.

From a distance, Randy and ENS hear the faint but clear sounds of battle; gunshots and shouting compete with blood-curdling war cries. While intense, it sounds like a relatively small affair. Soon, you see a plume of black smoke rising into the moonlit air. In addition to the sounds reaching their ears, ENS with this field glasses estimates it is no more than two miles to the west.

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OOC: All PCs should roll Initiative. Anyone with an 11 or better may wake up and act of his own volition having been roused by the noises. Others must be woken by others in the camp -- either purposefully or by the subsequent activity in the camp -- and must wait one round to act. Randy and ENS may act immediately and should add a +2 circumstance bonus to Initiative. Bear in mind that the horses have been prepared for night rest; the Judge will allow PCs to determine what that means in the current circumstances.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 944):

19:13, Today: Randy Oldman rolled 5 using 1d20+4.

Randy raises the alarm while he makes for the horses.

In reply to Randy Oldman (msg # 945):

ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Travis Sunday rolled 10 using 1d20+9. Initiative (without weapon modifiers).

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 944):

JEB is awakened by the battle and gets up to rouse those still asleep.

OOC: initiative = 21

OOC: Continuing - rather than make rolls for the PCs that haven't logged in in two days, the Judge is moving on. ENS and Cole still need to make Init rolls and state actions along with others awaken after the first round.

The Judge is ruling that horses were unsaddled, as that is a common practice to allow for proper rest and no PC stated otherwise to the Judge's recollection during the few nights on the trail (if anything, there was talk of hobbling and such, but if anyone who can point to a post indicating otherwise should definitely do so). The Judge is further ruling that the men on guard, Randy and ENS, would have had a saddled horse (that would have been true for any given PC on watch duty, although for ENS that could mean either Amadeus saddled for a ride or set up for pulling the wagon, but not both). For others, Ride checks may be made to achieve an accelerated saddling of mounts. It will take 10 rounds as the base time. For every 2 pips above 10, the time will be reduced by 1 round with a minimum time being 4 rounds (ride score of 12 is -1 or 9 rounds, 14 is -2 or 8 rounds, etc.).

Characters may converse during the work, as desired, but the Judge will be tracking relative time to mount which could mean some riders head out before others, if desired. Anyone who was didn't awake by the initiative roll will start a round later (essentially +1 rounds to saddle).

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Everyone wakes to sounds of movement in the camp. Those who failed to awake immediately have now been roused.

Most of the men who awoke of their own volition had moved straight to their horses, attempting to ready them as quickly as possible. Pete Haverty demonstrates a skill and focus most men could only hope to match, lifting his saddle onto the gray mare as if he had done it in his sleep a thousand times. Other experienced riders among the group know how to fit a horse during an emergency, in fact rivaling Haverty at this moment--in alacrity if not elan.