With a smooth motion, William lets coat slide off his shoulders, catches it and rolls it up quickly.
When he sees Adrian's quizzical look, he shrugs. "Gotta saddle up before I'm gonna ride that thing."



13:41, Today: William Pierce rolled 8,1 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 8,1. Agility.

[[Going to handwave Adrian's instructions a bit to get things moving again...

Ixquahuacoatl rolled 5,4 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,4.
Not quite a Raise for William; he gets on, but he won't be ready in time for Rattles to get him close.]]

Riding the insane mass of bone is something of an alarming experience: once William's finally settled himself the thing lurches up the steepest slope, spreads itself out and scales the last few yards of almost-sheer rock face above like a centipede.

They crest the valley rim to see the masked serpent some distance away, his head swaying as he chants something, halo burning blue, and sets his chin to the ground. The solid rock shivers and begins to shake. Scree slithers, stones tumble over each other, and all at once great lumps of rock start to come loose...


[[Ixquahuacoatl rolled 3,10 using d12,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,(6+4)10. Rocks fall...nice.
William and Rattleshirt, roll Agility -2 or be Shaken.]]

---

Down in the valley, Mayor Bruebaker limps his way into sight between the canyon walls and stares perplexedly at everyone huddled close to either side. "Wha-" he begins, and then the ground itself starts to stir: "-aaa-a-a-a-!"

All at once, Maria makes the decision to bolt across the open in the hopes of reaching greater safety in Jackie's shelter.

Hank grabs for her, too late. "No, don't-" the shaking nearly throws him off his feet and he clutches his head, staring wide-eyed at the general situation like he's suddenly found himself on the moon. "What the Hell?! What the hell!?!"

[[Everyone else, Agility -4 to avoid the boulders (be glad you were warned!).
Harry Lazarus, the ability to see through time and space gives you +2 here.
NPCs in a bit.]]

15:21, Today: William Pierce rolled 2,7 using d10-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,(6+3)9. Agility.

Piece a cake!

As the ground shifts underneath the skeleton mount, William keeps his balance, ready to roll off of the thing if necessary.
"Easy now, easy boy" he calls, softly, as if he was still riding his chestnut colored stallion.

Adrian started to reach for his cards as things got shaky, but it was all he could do to try to avoid the falling rocky debris.

OOC:

Agility (Adrian): 4
Agiliy (Lazarus): 5

I tried to make a hex to boost other people's agility, but I neither drew nor rolled well enough for success.

15:51, Yesterday: Harry Lazarus rolled 5,0 using D4-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of (4+3)7,2.
15:49, Yesterday: Adrian Vega rolled 4,-3 using d10-4,d6-4.
15:49, Yesterday: Adrian Vega rolled 3,1 using d8,d6.
15:47, Yesterday: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: 3C, 9D, 7C, 9S, 3D, 7H, 6H, KS, 6S, 2H, 8S using the Deadlands system.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:44, Tue 18 Aug 2015.

Jack isn't in the best of shape and doesn't do too well dodging boulders.

OOC:
10:36, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 0,-3 using d8-4,d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 4,1. Agility -4.
10:37, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 0,1 using d8-4,d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 4,5. White Chip.
10:37, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 2,-1 using d8-4,d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 6,3. White Chip x2.
Forgot my -2 fatigue ... so yeah 0 was my best roll ... good times!

[[Why're you Fatigued, Jake? Also, are you up to date on Joker chips? NPC boulder-dodging in just a moment...]]

The slightly singed snake monster looks up at the movement on his level and visibly startles to see William riding the 'glom. Arcing his mighty body, the serpent slithers away down a crack not currently visible from William's position.

[[@Adrian - I see two pair (4PP) in that lot, what am I missing? 'cause that'd be a Fail with Backlash otherwise.]]

OOC : Absolutely nothing ... forgot to update my bio from the healin'.

Pretty sure I am/was.

OOC:
Adrian generated the necessary Power Points for the Hex, but he still has to make the Spellcasting roll for it to succeed. The only exception where he doesn't need to roll is if he draws a good enough hand to grant him automatic success (Flush, Full House, etc.).

You may have forgotten because at this level of Grit, I very frequently draw those kinds of super awesome hands, so I don't very often have to actually make a roll with a chance of failure. This is one of few times that I do - and I failed lol.

So you're right that 4PP is good enough to power the Hex, but Spellcasting 3 means the spell fails.

You're correct that there is no Backlash, though. That's only if I rolled a 1 on the Spellcasting die, which I did most certainly not.


This message was last edited by the player at 19:19, Tue 18 Aug 2015.

[[Ah! I see what it was - you meant you didn't have an automatic sucess from the cards, not that you hadn't drawn enough to power the hex (thus incurring Backlash). Right!]]

Rocks of alarming size roll and bounce down the slopes as the ground shakes with a rattling of scree like an almighty snake.

Maria, caught out in the open, is knocked off her feet by the shaking; a stone the size of her chest sails neatly through the space her pelvis had occupied just moments before. A smaller rock dings off Alouette's head as the clank trots up to...try and protect the mortal by grabbing the rocks, apparently. It makes an annoyed barman noise at the rocks' unwillingness to co-operate with this plan.

"Hmm."

The Mayor is flailing for balance and looking around in bewilderment when a boulder falls pretty much on top of him. *WHUD*

The priest makes an inarticulate cry and makes to run back, but then sees Evans in immediate danger and sprints the distance between them to grab the back of the Marshal's coat tails. Evans stumbles back a couple of steps, the anvil-sized rock whooshing past his cheek as he turns to ask about the rough handling. "Ah."

Over on the other slope of the valley, Hardin gives a sharp cry as a rock catches him in the shoulder and pitches him down onto sliding scree and dirt. Hank fares little better despite crouching against a deeper-set boulder, as a massive stone smashing down beside him splinters a shard of rock into his hand and covers him in dust.

The chupacabra is safe within the mouth of the defile, but Jake catches some clumps of angular débris from the cliff face as he presses himself back against the shaking wall.

[[NPCs vs. boulders (the unwarned/out in the open are at -6):

Mayor Bruebaker rolled -3,0 using d6-8,d6-8, rerolling max with rolls of 5,(6+2)8. Agility. Fail.
The Mayor takes 17 damage from 2d6 of boulder hit and 2 Wounds.
He tries to soak not to be squashed, as he still has a white:
Mayor Bruebaker rolled 3,2 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 5,4. soak attempt. Fail! Not sure what the official line on old Wounds is, but he was at -2 before,so... *rolls incap*

Maria Santos rolled -3 using 1d6-6, rerolling max with rolls of 3. Agility. Fail.
Maria takes 6 damage from 2d6 of boulder hit and is Shaken.

Alouette rolled -3,-4 using d4-6,d6-6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,2. Agility. Fail!
Alouette takes 5 damage from 2d6 of boulder hit and is fine.

Father William O'Rourke rolled 7,10 using d6-4,d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of (6+5)11,(6+6+2)14. Agility. Pass w/raisins, which he shares to boost the nearest ally's roll:

20:40, Today: Alouette, on behalf of The Amazing Evans, rolled -1,2 using d6-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4. Agility.
20:40, Today: Alouette, on behalf of The Amazing Evans, rolled 3 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3. red chippit. 5. There we go.

John Wesley Hardin rolled -1,1 using d8-4,d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 3,5. Agility. Fail.
Hardin takes 13 damage from 2d6 of boulder hit and is Shaken with 1 Wound.

Hank Miller rolled 3,1 using d8-4,d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 7,5. Agility. Fail.
Hank takes 9 damage from 2d6 of boulder hit and 1 Wound.

Jackie really only has falling over to worry about and cover, making a straight roll:
Jaquinta rolled 6,2 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,2. Agility. Pass.

Jake Lawrence takes 9 damage from 2d6 of boulder hit and 1 Wound.]]

Jake manages to shift himself to minimize the boulder impact.

OOC: Burn my shiny new white chip to soak that wound
13:44, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 5,1 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,1. Soak. Success!

The tremor proved fierce, but brief, leaving the valley floor a moonscape of piled rock, shifted boulders and settling dust.

[Language unknown: "Ma, Ntetraart, isni eeons ur asurdi?"] Jaquinta calls, popping up again over the rubble.

"Where is this? What's going on?" Hank growls at Harry, who happens to be nearest (without a mark on him). Dark blood seeps slowly between his fingers where he clutches at his hand.

The priest, meanwhile, has run back to try and shift the boulder off the Mayor to see if he's alive, setting his shoulder to the rock. "Rrgh..."

[[Enough rocks for now...William, do you want to try and get Rattles there to chase Ixi, call down to the others about where he's headed/inform Jaquinta, whose sheltering canyon is probably the mouth of the crack Ixi vanished down further along..?]]

"HE'S BURROWING DOWN!" William bellows, then urges the bone thing on, after the snake.

"Come on now Boney, you fucking thing... and hope that this ain't the Last Ride of the Immortals!"


11:16, Today: William Pierce rolled 5,15 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,(6+6+3)15.  red chip.
11:16, Today: William Pierce rolled 2,1 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,1.  white chip.
11:16, Today: William Pierce rolled 1,1 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,1.  Riding.

Not one to go charging in, Jake goes to help the priest check on the mayor.

"HE'S BURROWING DOWN!" comes a cry from above, rapidly getting more distant.

O'Rourke has managed to get the boulder moved mostly off the Mayor, but looks grateful when Jake starts jogging back to help. "He's breathing - when I move the rock all the way off, keep t'pressure on him until I have the thing away. If a bone's broken and gone through his insides, taking the pressure off before I've looked could be like taking a knife from a wound."

Kicking the glomlet like a horse doesn't seem to have much effect, but after William hauls at its nominal front end to point it serpentwards it seems to get the idea and takes off like a greased rattlesnake.

Skills honed over years of riding the owlhoot trail through varied terrain are all that keep William from being grated to a fine paste against the walls of the defile as the thing skitters and whirls along on the trail of their prey. Rocks flash past, and more than once William has to suddenly flatten himself sideways to fit through a gap that the glomlet flashes through snake-long and leaping whilst gripping his legs in place. Adrian instructed the creature not to let William fall off, after all, not to pay any attention as to whether he stayed on in one piece.

It's worth it, though - once, twice, and a longer third time William catches glimpses of a fleeing rattled tail, even though they're long lost in a maze of canyon-cracks now. What little light there is from above is getting more distant, and it occurs to William shortly before they take a stomach-churning plunge into a vertical well of darkness that even his eyes need something to see with.

[[Hang in there, William - I'll have a new thread up for you ASAP edit: strike that, I'll shift you onto Sarah's, since she's not using it and that's whereabouts you were heading...intro post soon!]]
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:07, Tue 08 Sept 2015.

In reply to Father William O'Rourke (msg # 41):

Jake nods, "Alright..." He pulls a bandanna from his back pocket and gets ready to do as he has been told.

Seeing the Mayor in danger, Harry Lazarus goes over to see whether he can be of any assistance. "Father, how can I help?" He looks to see what condition the Mayor is in.

"Help me push this boulder," the priest says to Lazarus, a little breathless from shifting it.

The Mayor is indeed breathing, though he doesn't seem to be very responsive. It's debatable how much his large size may have cushioned the weight of a boulder the approximate proportions of a pony.

"On three," the priest tells those helping him as Lazarus comes to help. "...one, two..."

[[Strength roll, Harry!]]

Meanwhile, Evans yells over to Jaquinta: "Keep on their trail if you can!"

The chupacabra seems to understand the waving better than the words and vanishes down the passage, seeking any sign of where a snake that size might've 'burrowed down'.

Harry rolled up his sleeves and helped the priest push the rock.


OOC:

Strength: 5

12:21, Today: Harry Lazarus rolled 5,4 using d4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (4+1)5,4.  Strength.

"...three!" Between the pair of them, the shirtless priest and coatless huckster manage to roll the rock off the Mayor.

Jake darts in to keep the pressure on the worst of the wounds until the priest can come and kneel to look. By that time, Hank has stumbled downslope and grabbed the nearest person (which happens to be Adrian) to demand some answers:

"Where is this? What in Hell was that? Who are we fighting?"


"Tanks," O'Rourke murmurs to Lazarus, then addresses Jake, leaning around to assess the injuries and get clothing out of the way: "Stay there a few seconds more... O Lord who art our strength in times of trouble..."

On the theme of trouble, Alouette suddenly looks straight up the cliff face and chirps: "Howdy, Pure Blooded Comanches!"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 15:09, Fri 11 Sept 2015.

Jake keeps doing what he's doing, muttering "Always the bringer of great news that tin can..."

[[Oops, I must've cut that bit off in posting - if you want to try and spot the Comanches too, take a Notice roll (no darkness penalty because they're shinyish silver peeps during a full moon)]]

The priest prays faster and nods to Jake that he can let go carefully. The Mayor shudders, shudders again and takes a deeper breath. "...decended...the snakes, their great-great grandmother...Aztec Mother Earth...ouch."

[[Father William O'Rourke rolled 7,4 using d10-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 8,5.  Heal incap! All right, we have a responsive Mayor.]]

"We're fightin' a big fuckin' snake demon, which is what that was" Adrian told the man. He was about to expound on the subject, but turned to look at what Alouette had identified as Comanche. Surely as any Texan knew, Adrian knew the Comanche probably meant trouble. From what he had heard and seen, these Comanche most of all.

As yet, the Pure Blooded Comanches don't seem to know quite how to respond to being greeted by the clank, or at least aren't making themselves obvious.

"Why? Where'd the cows go? What-?" Hank trails off and crouches by a nearby boulder at the mention of Comanches, scowling. Hardin's already doing likewise, though by the way he's vaguely scanning the valley rim it's clear he's not sure where those Injuns are.

[[Notice roll to pinpoint them, the Adrian: they're Stealthing, but not very hard.]]

Notice: 4

09:42, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 1,4 using d4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4.