In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 32):

Travis continues to ride towards the mounted comanche.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 26):

Jake began to regret, a little, taking this roundabout northern approach suggested by Garrett Rasmin. He could hear sporadic firing coming from the direction where Haverty, Cruger, and he were headed, still at a gallop.

Still some fightin' of some kind goin' on up yonder, the ex-Wells Fargo man thought to himself.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 31):

Ridiculous! We are almost there and there is nothing out here... besides, I am armed! At least two of you could go on ahead.

In reply to Theodore Winters (msg # 33):

Cole takes a moment to glance down at the old man and the woman by his side. Before he responds, he quickly returns his gaze back in the direction of the Indians, his rifle at the ready.

Trayne. Cole Trayne.

Anyone else here?

Randy now guides his mount to a northwesterly direction. He avoids ascending the hill for a few moments more.

In reply to Cole Trayne (msg # 37):

JEB rides at maximum safe speed for Diablo towards Cole's position. As he rides parallel to Travis for a short distance he declares his intention to protect Cole but asks, "What's your play?"

Rasmin and Rojas pursue the Comanche while firing their longarms from horseback for the third time in succession. The Indians continue their re-grouping, the four of them riding low to their horses' necks and making themselves smaller to anyone trying to aim at them.

Cole rides to a position slightly north of the wagons, but close enough to converse with the survivors of the Indian attack. JEB and Travis advance towards the their old trail boss Rojas, seeing the Indians continuing to flee--and hearing quite clearly the weapon reports of the Mexican and the bounty hunter. The gunslinger and the ex-lawman also find themselves with a better view of the Indian riders. The one farthest west has two other horses in tow.

Now, two of the comanche call out into the night, their war cry piercing the hearts of men near and far. In the fog of battle, it is difficult to know whether they called out before or after one of their number, who was struck by Rasmin's bullet, fell off his mount.

Randy Oldman alters his direction slightly, gaining a good line of sight of the fleeing Indians and seeing that Cole has stopped at the wagons, before he hears the weapon reports and Comanche war cries.

------------------

OOC: Round 4 actions, please.
http://www.doghouserules.net/d...iews/goin/wagon4.jpg

EDIT: typo
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:33, Mon 06 Oct 2014.

Winters appeared somewhat dazed but heard Cole clear enough.

"Just us two and my other granddaughter Johanna." the old man replied softly, almost distantly.

Then he shook his head and knelt by the wagon. Though his eyes appeared to be holding back tears, Winters forced a smile and spoke gently to the girl under the wagon.

"Its awright Johanna. Its awright now. This nice man and his friends have made the Indians go away yah? Come on out now... come ta grandpa."


OOC: Winters will hold his action for now, unless the Indians return and speak to Cole.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:13, Mon 06 Oct 2014.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 40):

Cole takes a moment to glance at Rojas and Rasmin, then turns his attention back to the fleeing Indians. For a moment, it appears as though he is going to take up the chase again, but he does not. Instead, he turns Bess in a tight circle, scanning the area, to make sure that no one else is skulking about.

Subsequently, he directs his next query to the old man.

Anyone hurt?

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 40):

Randy presses on in his current direction and at his current speed.

In reply to E.N.S. Ringgenberg (msg # 36):

The hunters maintain their current positions, the one who had been speaking to the professor now falling silent.

In reply to Jake Richardson (msg # 35):

The trio of northerly riders, lead by Jake, hears more weapon reports, followed by war cries that seem to be directed at them, even from afar.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 44):

ENS shakes his head. Ridiculous!

He then urges Amadeus to a bit more speed.

In reply to James E. Beauregard (msg # 39):

Travis speaks loudly so JEB can clearly understand him.

Trail the forward party.  Eventually run down the Comanche and recover the horses.  Those folks may need them.

He hopes Cole will be gone when he returns but he doubts his friend has the good sense to run while his friends are mingled with the pursuers and can ensure his safety.  Maybe Rasmin will have the decency to take an arrow in the heart or open his piehole and jaw with him when he's no longer necessary for the protection of the group.

In reply to Travis Sunday (msg # 47):

Continue previous action.

The Comanche spur their horses to a full gallop, continuing their bloodcurdling wails. Rasmin pursues, although he doesn't fire a fourth round from his Winchester. Instead, the bounty hunter focuses on his guiding his mount. Meanwhile, Rojas, whose horse had been played out in reaching the action, veers off to the southwest and curls back towards Cole Trayne.

JEB and Travis continue their ride, with Travis yelling loudly to his old pard. Both men see Rojas diverting from the pursuit as the Comanche pull away. He, too, is yelling. Passing by Cole and the wagons, Travis and JEB see evidence of the dead on the cold Texas plain . . . all too clearly.

Cole Trayne engages in conversation with the grizzled old-timer and the young woman. He sees a number of dead bodies from this caravan . . . up close now, and his comment about whether anyone has been hurt seems like a poor choice of words in the moment after the moment. Clearly, he meant to ask if the survivors were injured. Neither the old man nor the young woman seem offended by Cole's phraseology, taking his meaning as he intended. The woman under the wagon seems untouched by the grizzled feller's attempts to bring her out, remaining firmly in place. Who could blame her?

Cole hears some yelling. Perhaps, he thinks, Rojas is yelling at him.

Randy Oldman continues his ride to the northwest. He is also passing by where Cole has discovered survivors, but he witnesses more dead forms than living.

A returned war cry carries in from the north.

------------------

Jake's trio strains to determine from where the war cries originate--that is, from the direction of the gunfire, or elsewhere? A responding round of similar yells answers the question, as these replies come from due west. And clearly from a different direction than the first set of shouting they had heard.

The professor hears the faint sounds of Comanche war cries. He cannot make out the words. At this speed, his wagon is anything but safe under last of the moonlight.

-----------------

OOC: Please state round 5 actions. Jake and his group are still riding toward the action. They may converse or change direction or whatever, but best guess is that they are 10-15 seconds away from the second chorus of Comanche shouting. All PCs in Cole's group, who reduced speed in the first round, and whose mounts passed the CON check, may increase to full gallop for the number of rounds equal to CON score, unless voluntarily interrupted.

http://www.doghouserules.net/d...iews/goin/wagon5.jpg
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:53, Tue 07 Oct 2014.

"My horse, he is played out. You must give chase if you can. My horse, he is played out . . ."

In reply to Rojas (msg # 50):

Cole shakes head.

Bess is played out, too. And, it sounds like we might have company coming, from the west. And, we got three here who we can't leave unprotected. Still...

The wrangler looks about.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 49):

Jake maintained what he reckoned to be the correct course to reunite Haverty, Cruger, and himself with the others in the camp that had been under attack.

There were new war-cries in the wind, and things were getting pretty confusing as to where everyone was. Jake figured that the best thing to do at the moment was to join up with his companions, then they could put their heads together and decide what came next.

Or, it could be that them Injuns'll take that decision away from us, the rifleman thought to himself.

Winters saw that his granddaughter wasn't budging, so he slowly stood watching the Mexican ride in as he did so. After he heard them talk the old man cleared his throat.

"Vell! If ya can't ride no more you'd best get you and yer horses behind cover."

Theodore Winters took in the carnage around him and shook his head sadly. All these people dead and he led them to it. Well there was nothing for it. He would be dam if them Injuns were go'n to get his granddaughters too!

"Lorelei? Maybe you can comfort Johanna while we got ah moment yah?" he said with a weak smile.

He then readied his Winchester '73 and scanned the area, especially where he thought he heard the last Comanche war cries.

OOC:
Hold action and use Spot skill.
00:01, Today: Theodore Winters rolled 16 using 1d20+5. Spot check.

Randy slaps his Fanny and hauls up the hill at top speed. His ultimate goal is to reach the highest point along the ridge.

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 49):

ENS continues at his current speed, both concerned for his friends and annoyed at the hunters' reply to his request. He calls out to the closest hunter.

Be ready! It sounds like we're riding into a fight!

OOC: What is "2" on the map? Jake's group?

In reply to Judge Messalen (msg # 49):

Travis kicks Horse into a full gallop.

Garrett Rasmin, Travis Sunday and Randy Oldman urge their mounts to a full gallop. Each is hopeful that the brief rest is enough to enable a chase of the Comanche. The bounty hunter, having been at the forefront of this encounter the entire time, remains the closest to the Indians. Sunday and Mr. Big'un trail Rasmin by some 30 yards, equalling his pace--and that of the Comanche.
(OOC: Rasmin has left this map. The Judge is now tracking relative speed and distance.)

Three of the Indian riders continue westward under the moonlight, two of them now with horses in tow. The farthest behind had grabbed the fallen rider's horse by the mane, pulling it along. Rasmin has a bead on that rider, but he hasn't fired his Winchester since taking down the one Comanche horseman.

Randy Oldman had cast his eyes over the landscape as he ascended and then descended the hill. Too dark to see afar, and no sign of other Comanche can be found nearby, at least upon his brief inspection. Travis had taken a direct path to follow the Comanche, and now the two men are riding nearly abreast with intent to pursue the Comanche riders.

Cole Trayne shouted to Rojas and looked around the camp. He finds no other horses here. Winters spoke to Cole and his granddaughters. Johanna shows no signs of willingness to come out from hiding.

Rojas, perhaps hearing Cole's reply or simply understanding his body language, turns his horse again and rides up the same hill that Randy Oldman had just crossed. JEB, knowing that Diablo was played out, continued to ride at the current safe pace, as Travis Sunday started to pull away on Horse. The ex-lawman sees the fallen Comanche rider to the north--the one that Rasmin had gunned down before the Comanche had fled.

----------------------

OOC: I saw that JEB had logged in but not posted an action, so I made an assumption here and moved forward. If drastically wrong, we can amend.

As noted above, PCs that exit the map will be tracked by relative speed and distance. Actions may be taken as desired. Randy and Travis will exit the map in Round 6, assuming they continue to ride their mounts at a gallop. All PCs, please state actions.

http://www.doghouserules.net/d...iews/goin/wagon6.jpg
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:21, Wed 08 Oct 2014.

Jake and his riding companions push onward. They had heard the war cries but that has since ceased. And no further gunfire after the first few reports have reached their ears.

Cruger gets the attention of the rifleman, having spotted movement to the west, roughly 50 yards distant.

"More riders," he calls out.

It's possible that the riders to the west have also spotted Jake's group. It is unlikely that Richardson, Haverty and Cruger will avoid being noticed as they proceed toward their original destination. The group of riders spotted by Cruger seem to be on a parallel path, heading southwest.