In reply to Katy Devon (msg #38):

The shopkeep raises an eyebrow at her obvious knowledge of firearms. "Well, ain't you full of surprises, miss? Alright. I think I have a few pistols that might suit your fancy."  He moves over to a display case as she picks out clothing. The selections aren't fancy, but they get the job done. While she selects, the shopkeep pulls out pistols from the case, naming them as he goes along.

"Here we have the famous Colt Peacemaker, single action...a Smith & Wesson Model 3 Schofield, also single action...Remington Model 1876, single action...Star & Barr Alamo, double-action, if you're feeling patriotic...but if you're going to go the patriot route, then I recommend this, the LeMat Grapeshot Revolver, Model 1877. Single action, but it holds 9 .44 caliber shots instead of your standard six, and has this lower barrel here that holds a 16-gauge shotgun shell in case of emergencies. And it's made right here in the CSA...none of that Union crap here, this is the real deal. A fine firearm, and it can be yours, little lady, if the price is right."

[[OOC: I'm picturing the scene in The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly with Tuco shopping for a new gun...anyone else getting that image?]]

The clank has no objecions to being stolen (after all, Evans said Dr.Ward wasn't a witch) but it looks to Charging Bear for help:

"Which first, Called Charging Bear? Protect albatross and people from albatross, or protect Dandelion until Dandelion is home? Self does not know why cattlehands attacked kitten: may occur again."

To Augustus: "God is the Great Spirit: the stuff and Source of aether, the Image and the Infinite. Angel was constructed by Father, of the Roman Catholic Church...1850."

Charging Bear feels alittle lost in all this talk of albatrosses, supernaturals, and god, but he expects it when in towns. With a smile, he looks to Alouette, "Let us see to this albatross... I've little doubt that little Dandelion will be fine in my care." The large native son looks at the others as he gently pets the small tabby.

The kitty lets out a happy little "mew!", curls up to let Charging Bear rub its tummy, and occasionally bats his fingers with its paws playfully.

In reply to Dr. Dexter Ward (msg #36):

"That should work.  I'll abide here a mite, and fill in the Marshal when he returns."

"Yes. I am Dr. Ward, sir." Ward says to Augustus. "Retired, actually...I own a cattle ranch outside of town now, but I was running an errand and heard the cry for a doctor. It seems my services were well needed here. I've got room enough for one more in the carriage, if you'd care to take a seat."

He nods at Robert's comments. "Indeed. I will send word if his state changes."

Ward looks slightly nonplussed at Alouette inviting the Cherokee along, but after looking at the man's jacket, a small smile crosses his face. "Are you a veteran, sir?" he asks Charging Bear. "What regiment did you serve with?"

[Private to Robert Micklethwait: What are you picking for your Advance?]
This message was last edited by the player at 01:19, Wed 28 July 2010.

Charging Bear nods, "Yes sir, started with 4th Regiment, Indian Home Guard but was transferred to Mountain Rangers under Ashby, before moving to 1st Texas Cavalry Regiment where I ended my time."


OCC: I'm not a Civil War scholar and do realize that there was no Texas Cavalry Regiment but due to the length of time the war had been raging I'd expect there to be more military in Texas than there was in the actually war

Alouette looks from Charging Bear to Dr.Ward, and back again. "What is Ashby?"

There's a ticking pause. "Ouside of town... ! Perhaps Dr.Ward knows where laundry lives."

In reply to Sam the Shopkeep (msg #39):

Katy thought first of the Colt, since all the stories featured the Colt .45. That was until she saw the LeMat. It was a large, intimidating firearm, especially with that extra barrel. She might not even need to fire it to persuade someone to back down.

"I'll take the LeMat, then, if you have ammunition for it."

Katy might be a greenhorn, but she wasn't about to buy a gun and no ammo. She laid the clothes she'd chosen on the counter; since there was no dressing room, she'd had to guess the fit, and hoped she wasn't far off.

[Private to GM: Now to see how much of the gear is El Cheapo spruced up to look like the real thing :)]

In reply to Alouette (msg #46):

"Ashby was a who not a what, Brigadier General Turner Ashby... he died back in '62 in Shenandoah Valley." Charging Bear says grimly.

In reply to Katy Devon (msg #47):

The clothing is, indeed, El Cheapo gussied up to look fine [Private to Katy Devon: (and will cancel out your Attractive bonus to Charisma while worn)] but the Lemat is the real deal, if a bit pricey. And he does have ammo for the Lemat - a box of 50 pistol rounds and a box of 20 16-gauge shells. [Private to Katy Devon: (The shells, however, are El Cheapo low quality rounds that he has the gall to ask full price for)]

"Well now, little lady. All together, that comes to $47.95." he says with a smile.

[Private to Katy Devon: If you want to bargain him down, that will be a Persuasion check (remember to roll Wild Die, and to add your Charisma bonus in to both rolls). Each success and raise will knock off $4.75, to a minimum of $33.70.]

In reply to Dr. Dexter Ward (msg #44):

Augustus nods lightly to the idea of joining, putting away his cloth and taking up his bags again.  Only to set them back down, yet again, to offer his hand out to the good doctor, "Augustus Spotswood, sah.  Very nice to meet you."  Once his hand is returned, he will take up his bags again, "And I am ready when you are, sah."

John gives the place a quick once over and shrugs. "I'm seeing nothing." he says with a shrug. "I wonder if it got buried or somethin'" he said with a sigh and moves to head back to town with Evans. A few minutes into the walk he pauses "Toe Jingles?" he asked his face confused. "Didn't you mention someone like him yesterday?"

In reply to John Smith (msg #51):

Evans nods as he returns to the buggy they came in. "That I did, when you asked if I'd seen any chinamen in town lately. I could be mispronouncing his name...Chinese is a deucedly hard language to master. He came into town and caused a bit of a ruckus at the Red Eye Saloon. Got into a fight with Crazy Old Pete and a few of the locals before I got involved."

He takes a seat in the buggy, waits for John to follow suit, then whips the horses going before he continues. "He and I squared off a bit, actually. You know those showdowns they have in dime novels? It felt a bit like one of those, though he had no weapons that I could see. Still, I guess he didn't want to chance trying to catch a bullet with his 'insurmountable power,' so he backed down and left town. That was five, six days ago."

[Private to John Smith: got an idea for what you'd like your Advance to be?]
This message was last edited by the player at 00:11, Wed 28 July 2010.

In reply to Sam the Shopkeep (msg #49):

Katy looked over the clothing. She wasn't expecting much, but...

"This looks like old clothes re-dyed. Look, even the stitching is coming out!"

But, being a novice both in the West and at the fine art of haggling, she wasn't very successful at getting a discount.

[Private to GM: 01:10, Today: Katy Devon rolled 5,3 using d6+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 3,1. Persuasion check.
Success, no raises, so $45.20 ?]

With a sigh, she paid the agreed amount, and took her purchases back to the Grand Bull - taking care to keep the gun and ammo wrapped in her clothes.

[Private to GM: Just to confirm we agree her list of purchases:
Blouse, work (El Cheapo)              $1
Skirt (El Cheapo)                     $2
Dungarees (trousers) (El Cheapo)      $2
Boots (El Cheapo)                     $8

Lemat Grapeshot pistol (.40)         $25
50 rounds of .40 ammo                 $3
20 shotgun rounds (El Cheapo)         $2

She got gouged, even before considering the missing El Cheapo discount :) ]

John lets out a 'hmmm' as he dwells on what the Amazing Evans has told him and seems lost in thought for a minute or two. "Well, that doesn't sound like the one I'm lookin' fer. He's older and not the angry type, quite peaceful, which makes it even more strange when you see him take on three young tough pups at once without breaking a sweat." John explains, or perhaps thinks aloud. He fishes a smooth shiny stone from a pouch and takes aim at a cactus, taking focus and letting it fly with surprising speed watching as it blasts through the cactus "The old man taught me that. Not quite as effective as a gun but it does the job."

[Private to GM: John Smith rolled 14,2 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (8+6)14,2
Forgot the whole raise thing, don't have the rules with me, he only spent one power point so damage is 2d6 but it's only a demonstration so not worrying about it. I'll have to wait to handle the advance when I get home. Don't have access to the rules where I live. ]

Ward nods. "Good man. I'm always pleased to meet a fellow fighter in the struggle for independence and liberty. I salute you, sir. I served under Lee for most of my time." he sighs. "Poor Lee. I voted for him in the last election, you know, and I was greatly saddened by his assassination last year. So few remain of us who originally heard the call to service."

[[OOC: Neither am I, so I can agree with your reasoning and won't sweat it much.]]



"Lives?" Ward says, a bit bemused. "I wouldn't say it lives anywhere, but there's Robertson's Laundry. We will actually be passing by there on our way out of town. Why do you ask?"



Ward shakes his hand. "A pleasure, sir. A pleasure."

Inside the carriage are a headless corpse, as well as the coach robber from before, who is unconscious and doesn't look long for the world. Dr. Ward takes his seat after Augustus is settled. "Driver! To Mr. Underhill's place, please." He says. The driver crops the horses, and the carriage begins to roll.

In reply to Katy Devon (msg #53):

"What? Nonsense, that's simply a little bit of flair. Of course, I suppose I can knock a few cents off that, just to show you I'm an honest man..." The dance of haggling goes on, and, in the end, she manages to talk him down to a final price of $43.20. He gives her a mock-pained look, but there's glee in his eye at a sale well-made (for him).

[Private to Katy Devon: The list of Purchases seem right, yes. Most of the gouging came from not getting an El Cheapo bonus, though he also overcharged for the gun. Unscrupulous merchants, yay!

Oh, and have you decided what your Advance is going to be?]

In reply to John Smith (msg #54):

"Good heavens!" Evans marvels. "That's quite impressive. I've seen pistols that don't hit as fast or accurately. Well. That's certainly an impressive trick." He rides in silence for a while. "Well, he mentioned waiting for someone as well. Might be the fellow you are looking for, though why he'd come to Blackthorn I couldn't say. But the way strangers have been coming to town recently, I wouldn't be surprised if he showed up after too many days have passed. But if he is coming to Blackthorn, and this Toe fellow has it in for him, you might have an enemy lurking about that you should confront. Or, worst case scenario, Toe has already found your friend, in which case we might be looking for yet another body."

The buggy creaks closer to town...

[Private to John Smith: With the raise, you'd have gotten an extra 1d6 damage, if we were counting damage.]

Katy was sure she'd paid over-the-odds for her purchases, but she returned to her hotel room reasonably happy. With a puzzled frown, she continued to look around for Augustus, but he seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Back in her hotel room, she was only too glad to shed her hated corset - thank the Lord, she could breathe! - before trying on her new purchases.

[Private to GM: Given that her new clothes are El Cheapo, and she had to guess their size while she was shaped by her corset, feel free to inflict some indignities on her :)]

In reply to Katy Devon (msg #58):

As Katy walked out of the general store, she thought she spotted Augustus talking to a well-dressed gentleman in a top hat...near a building with the sign "Marshal's Office" over it.

[Private to Katy Devon: hee hee hee...]

While trying on her purchases, she noticed that the boots were slightly too small, while the blouse was two sizes too large, giving her a rather-more-than-modest neckline, and one sleeve kept slipping off her shoulder, threatening her modesty even more. Ah, well. What could you expect from a sleezy general store in a one-horse town?

"Because this kitten belongs to one Sal Robertson, and the good angel wishes to see them reunited Charging Bears says as a he feeds the cat another bit of jerky.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:48, Wed 28 July 2010.

"It is the right way," Alouette adds, and after checking to see that Charging Bear has noticed the direction it's pointing/the carriage is setting off it sets to trotting behind the vehicle.

In reply to The Stray (msg #59):

Katy frowned at her too-loose blouse. She could try pinning it, but she didn't have any pins. She could try wearing her smarter blouse, but that was designed to be worn over a corset.

In the end, she decided that a daring adventuress shouldn't be dissuaded by something as minor as an ill-fitting blouse, and chose to chance it.

The boots were a bit small too, but she wasn't planning on walking long distances. With the long, loose skirt as well, she was sure she looked a lot more local, and admired herself as best she could in the small mirror.

Not too bad for a daring adventuress.

She loaded her new pistol and worked the mechanism, to confirm it was functioning properly. No gun-belt; she knew she'd forgotten something. Still, she could pick one up later; her derringer would tuck in the pocket of her skirt.

Feeling more comfortable and confident, Katy jammed her hat on her head and went back out to the street to enjoy the excitement.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:43, Wed 28 July 2010.

Charging Bear, Augustus, Alouette:

The dark coach rides, trailing it's strange occupants. It pulls next to a storefront with a row of coffins of different sizes set proudly on display.

[Private to Alouette; Charging Bear:  This would be the undertaker's place where Alouette and Charging Bear grappled with the Second-Chance Yank.]

Dr. Ward halts the carriage, then signals his driver to help him with the headless corpse. The two men leverage it into the building, and are gone for some minutes. There are some shouts, and what sounds like a bit of an argument, before Ward and his driver return, now sans corpse. The two men retake their seats, and the carriage begins to roll on.

Katy Devon:

As Katy heads downstairs, trying to adjust he blouse, she walks right into a gentleman also stepping out of his room, yawning. The pair collide, and Katy is sent sprawling.

"Oh! Dear me, forgive me." The man says. "I should have been paying more attention...here, ma'am, let me help you up."