The native son looks back as August walks closer. "Could be anyone." He turns towards the Sheriff, "Any strange happenings here Sheriff?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:13, Sat 24 July 2010.

"Ha!" Evans scoffs. "I don't even know how to begin answering that. Where to start? The fluctuating etheric storm my instruments have been reading? The rumors of some sort of creature causing the accident in the mine? The green glow often observed out near the Circle W Ranch? The Enlightened Society of the Weeping Moon? The talk of a band of Cherokee hiding out nearby? The Chinaman outlaw who swept through town not long back? The Dust Adders and their weirder members? So very many strange, strange things I've stumbled across, and I've only been in town six months! I can see why the previous marshal might have had a lapse in courage and vanished, and why the folk here were so eager to elect a stranger...no one actually living here wanted the job! So the addition of the walking dead on my already overflowing plate is not something I greet with relish. So let's make this simple...what, specifically, would you like to know more about?"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:39, Sat 12 Dec 2009.

The automaton ticks awhile, possibly trying to make sense of Evans' speech patterns. "Howdy, Jack Daniel." Pause, perhaps waiting for a response from the liquor. *pssh* "Marshal Ambrose preceeding vanish? Before, alternate: after priest vanish?"

John blinked at the mention of the Chinaman. "A Chinaman outlaw?" he said furrowing his brow. Farbeit from him to assume every random Chinaman that created waves in local communities might be the one he was looking for but still. "Any idea what he looked like or what name he went by?" he asked curiously.

Looking the Sheriff with a grim smile the young Native says, "Sounds like you need some deputies." Charging Bear's hand shifts from the doll and lightly touches his tomahawk.

"Who're the Dust Adders, and the Enlightened Society?" August asks, seeing that questions are in season.  He takes a not-actually-surreptitious-at-all look at the doll at Charging Bear's neck before adding, "Sounds like you've got a crop of interestin' folk around here."

Evans takes the questions one at a time.

Alouette: "Oh, I looked into the priest taking a powder. He'd gotten into an argument with Gus Shaw, and the prevailing theory is that he'd left in disarray rather than have all the Dust Adders pounding on the church door. I'm not convinced, though...the priest left too much behind when he left, and there were a few signs of struggle. But, as I'm very fond of my neck, I wasn't going to risk it making an accusation I couldn't back up. Not without more evidence."

John Smith: "Let's see...what was his name? Something like Toe Jingle, or similar, though I have never been able to pronounce such deucedly difficult names. He was an unpleasant sort, had a couple of gold-capped teeth. Said he was looking for a fellow named Zhang, but I ran him out of town before he could get comfortable."


Charging Bear: "You can say that again. Unfortunately, I'm technically only an Acting Marshal until the circuit judge swears me in, which is why I'm looking forward to meeting him at last. You'd think he'd have made at least one visit in the six months I've been here. I don't have the authority to appoint deputies. Unofficially, of course, the job's open if you'd like to take it."

August Colby: "The Enlightened Society of the Weeping Moon is one of those fraternal organizations where the rich and well-respected members of town mingle and scheme. The Dust Adders are the dogs the Society sics on those who annoy them.  Of course, when one is talking about the society, one is really talking about Dr. Dexter Charles Ward, the local sawbones, who owns the largest cattle ranch in the area, employs the most people in town since the mine dried up, and is considered the person who saved the town from extinction. The Dust Adders are low-life thugs who work the ranch and do Ward's less than clean jobs. They're led by a smug snake named Nathaniel Frost and the Shaw boys."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:18, Tue 15 Dec 2009.

O'Rourke takes in all the questions and answers, a serious frown on his face that only vanishes momentarily when Alouette greets the Sheriff's whiskey. "Sheriff, did you have any idea why the society wanted to run the priest out of town? And this talk of strange lights and creatures: do you know how long before your arrival these stories were circulating?"

"I do not know for sure, but I have a few ideas. The Society has some pretty funny ideas about 'helping inspire society through the occult.' Lots of ritual and rigmarole that did not sit very well with a man of God. It's not that much stranger than what you'd see with the Freemasons or Odd Fellows, of course, but the Enlightened Society tends to take their ritual very seriously. Of course, it could be that the preacher got on the wrong side of the Dust Adders themselves, and the Society had nothing to do with it...the Dust Adders stick together like a pack of wild dogs, and the preacher was making noise about Gus Shaw's brother, Tex, who got into some sort of trouble out in the Territories. As for the lights and creatures, well, I've been hearing about them since I came to town. If you want to know more about those, I recommend you seek out Gabriel Clarke, who used to work the mines before it was bought out and abandoned."

The poor clank tries to process all the idioms thrown at it. "Priest...explode? Before, alternate: after marshal previous Ambrose vanish?"
Pause. "Occult...occult...ritual..." Alouette ticks furiously "Dr. Dexter Charles Ward is witch, also, doctor?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:26, Tue 15 Dec 2009.

John blinked "Zhang?" he said under his breath and waited for the various other questions to be answered before he piped in again. "Have you heard of a man named Zhang passing through here? Did this Toe fellow say where he was going next?"

Charging Bear simply listen to the others, making what best could be described as mental notes. The doll around his neck is best described as an small rag doll; it is obviously well loved and has seen much time in the sun. A few new threads can be seen holding it together. At best it would be described as an approximation of a rag doll by someone who had never seen one, but had only hear about such a toy. The proportions of the toy are off, as one leg isn't as long as the other and the arms are overly too long. The hair at this point is little more than

"That dead man had a lump of ghost rock on him when I found him.  Might be worth talking to Clarke"

O'Rourke nods thoughtfully at Micklethwait's comment. "I agree. Speaking with Mr. Clarke would probably be an excellent place to begin."

Evans seems taken aback by Alouette's question. "Good heavens, where do you come up with those trains of logic? Freemasonry rigmarole isn't quite on the same level as pagan witch-doctor hoodoo, and I should know, I traveled with one for a while. I can't quite see Ward slaughtering goats and dancing naked around campfires like some savage..." he trails off, and looks at Charging Bear, chagrined. "Er, what I mean is, no, I don't think Dr. Ward is any kind of witch. As for the other marshal, well, he was gone before I arrived in town, but the preacher vanished just a couple of months ago."

"And as for Toe, well, he was 'encouraged' to move on before he could cause too much trouble, and if he told anyone where he was headed next, they didn't mention it to me. You could ask around about this Zhang fellow he was so interested in, but I don't know any more than that, sorry. You might want to ask Roland Frost at the Grand Bull, or Old Crazy Pete at the Red Eye. Be careful at the Red Eye, though--that's where the Dust Adders prefer to drink."

"I may ask around when I get the time." John said as much to himself as to the sheriff. "Though I imagine there are more important matters that need tendin' to first." he added. He couldn't go chasing rumors if he planned on helping out after all, if helping led to a situation where he could pursue them as well, all the better.

Charging Bear smiles as the sheriff back peddles in his word usage.

More ticking. "Logic of self is from information previous gathered. Also, angel temporary name value Alouette does not hear the voices voices of the demons demons-" it twitches a bit, still a little storm-affected "-in the machines, in the mirrors, the rock-that-wails - Alouette hears the Voice only." Alouette assures him.

"What is rigmarole, hoodoo? Plus, minus witchcraft? Where is witch-doctor Ambrose companion that was?"

The self-declared angel straightens at John's comment, looking from him to the priest. "More important = determination of scared-faithless-sick/bewitched/suicidal/endangered soldier number?" This appears to be a genuine question - clearly it has some idea of what it should be doing to protect the populace but hasn't learnt how to prioritise things yet.

O'Rourke smiles at Alouette's question. "No, finding out about these soldiers is our highest priority," he says, "But at the moment, there are some things that require more immediate attention than others in finding out where these undead interlopers came from."

Evans ponders how to answer Alouette's questions. "It's...elaborate and complicated ritual, very showy, but without a lot of substance behind it. And as for my patener...he is no longer in town, and that's all I'm going to say on the matter."

"I'll say there's something important to be done...sleep! All this talk of witches and undead rising and questioning the authorities in town has made me somewhat fatigued, and there isn't much we can do tonight to get started. So I think I will bid you all a good night, with the understanding that we can meet again in the morning...preferably near noon."

The automaton takes Evans at his word and asks no more, though it logs another "hasty departure" into its records.

As people look set to leave, or at least move about, it wanders out of the cell, never having really understood why it was shooed in there, trailing the corpse behind it like a distressingly necrosing dolly. Though it seems set to follow O'Rourke and as such heads priestwards, it pauses to practice its pointing skills at the only chainstaff in the room:
"Why has John John Smith plus plus plus dangling attachments?"

Looking at Evans the youth says, "Noon might be a little late to get started, sir." He does leave at the sheriff's hinting. Stepping out side, Charging Bear looks up at the sky and the storm still pouring down.

"Whatever works for you sir." he said and gathered up his coat and hat. As the construct pointed out his three-sectional staff he blinked in momentary confusion and then smiled. "Well, I use it to defend m'self, it's a versatile weapon." he explained or at least attempted to. He then donned his duster, covering up the odd staff, and put on his hat.

"We'll get started on fixin' all this tomorrow, Marshal, you wait and see," August says with his usual confidence.

He joins the others, heading out into the storm once more.  As Alouette asks about John's fighting staff, he chips in with "You should watch him fighting with those if you get a chance; you won't see anything else like it."

Chatting amongst themselves, the strangers drift off back to the saloon, to rest the night and prepare for the morning.

((OOC: I'm going to move on to the next day, unless anyone has anything special they'd like to do before finishing their suppers and turning in.  Move on to Chapter 2!))