Some have complained about glitches on the previous threads. here's my attempt to solve that problem. This is the last round of posting from the previous thread.

Alouette, msg #230
Re: Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Alouette sidles away from any attempt to take Danny off it, to the point where it will allow itself to be chased sideways into adjacent rooms to keep the same distance between itself/Danny and mortals. Carl pads in at the back, last since he was wiping his feet with great diligence.

"It was a damned soul wearing ash and dust," Alouette adds to Gus' story. "He thought he was fighting for a place, but he was really working for the Adversary. No." This last to Jack, nearest it.

"This one - no - is not safe near mortals, requires saining. Self will take albatross to church and ensure safety, if permitted. Permit?" It looks after Gus  moment, then back at Charging Bear, clearly puzzled. "All mortals have red under their skin...false?"

Carl gives a quiet cough before leaving, just so Ward notes him - he had nothing to do with the incident in town or covering it up, driving Ward himself about at the time.

---

Augustus Spotswood, msg #231
Re: Meanwhile, back at the ranch...


Augustus sits up in the darkness.  He blinks a bit, to see if it would help, but no.  Its just dark.  He lifts the device in his hand closer and gently feels around it with fingers.  A slight buzzing in one ear distracts him momentarily and he makes to swat away the bug...only to find another odd device strapped to his head.  His hand feels around this device, travels down its attached wires to the box.  "What on earth..." He begins, but instinct or mad curiousity takes hold and he begins adjusting the dials on the box by feel alone.  The buzzing begins to increase, then decrease then settle in to a group of very dull voices...  The conversation is really quite boring consisting mostly of discussion on the consistency of the grass over here...and over there...

---

The Stray msg #232
Re: Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

In reply to Augustus Spotswood (msg #231):

Some mood music:

As Augustus' eyes get used to the darkness, he can make out shapes, moving a short distance away.

Cattle. It's a herd of longhorn cattle, moving slowly along a gulch, grazing.

There's other shapes, further out, all spread out along the prairie. And, occasionally, there's a brief flicker of a greenish light. He thought it might be his imagination at first, but no, there it was again. It looked a bit like St. Elmo's fire, flickering in and around the herd.

And then there are the voices with their dull conversation...where was that coming from?

---

Charging Bear msg #233
Re: Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

He says "yeah..." with a nod, Charging Bear gets back to his feet and follows after Dr Ward.


Percy follows after Gus, keeping quiet as he doesn't want to invoke the "good" doctor's wrath

---

Dr. Dexter Ward msg #234
Re: Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

"I will permit it after I have examined the body. I have some questions that I need to get answers to, and once I'm finished you may proceed with your saining." Ward says. "Carl, please escort Alouette and the corpse to the carriage house. You, at least, I can rely on."

He then leads Charging Bear into the parlor, and has him lie on the pool table they had played at not half an hour previously.

Gus, for his part, ignores Alouette's question and sulks in the foyer.

Once Charging Bear is laid out, Ward begins his examination. First he checks the wound, then pulls a bottle of tequila and washes the wound, which stings quite a lot. once done with that, Ward offers to dose Charging Bear with chloroform (or a drink of the tequila) for the pain. Once he has his answer, Ward begins stitching the sutures. In the space of a quarter of an hour, Ward has finished, and begins washing his hands in preparation to treat Gus, whom he sends Abraham to collect.

[Private to Charging Bear: Do you want to be unconscious for a few hours or drunk off your tits?]

[[OOC: Ward spends 20 minutes with Charging Bear and makes two Healing rolls. the first is at -3 due to CB's wounds, but gets a +2 bonus due to Ward's Healer edge, so it's a net of -1. The second has penalties and bonuses based on how many wounds are healed by the first roll.

Dr. Dexter Ward rolled 9,2 using d8-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of (8+2)10,3. Healing check. Heals 2 wounds.

Dr. Dexter Ward rolled 16,3 using d8+1,d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of (8+7)15,2. Healing check. Heals the remaining wound and removes the Agility penalty.

I also rolled for how long he would be treating Gus for, and it came out to 30 minutes all told, so about 50 minutes has passed.]]

---

Augustus Spotswood msg #235
Re: Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Continuing to listen to the "conversation," Augustus works on picking himself up from the ground while holding on to the odd device.  Now standing, he will attempt to survey the ground nearby for anything else and also try to get a better look at the flicker of green...  Perhaps it could be a hint as to where he is.  Other than in a herd of cattle.


OOC - Notice Total 4, still tuned to the Cow Channel on his Device.

Augustus' eyes are acclimated to the gloom, so aside from a few missteps he's able to travel fairly easily. The flashes of St. Elmo's fire don't do more than create the occasional spot of color, so aside from being lost in a prairie, Augustus doesn't have a clue where he is. Probably still somewhere on Ward's ranch, but that hardly narrows things down.

The flashes of St. Elmo's fire seem to be dancing around the cattle's horns, lining them with short-lived green auras every so often.

As he wanders, he continues to pick up various bits of mostly boring conversation. It's the parts that are less boring that worry him.

"Mmmm. Grass."

"Mmmm. This grass is almost as good the second time as it was the first."

"Mmmm. No more grass here. Need to move on."

"Mmmm. T̴he̵ ̨ser̵p̀e͘n̕t̵ ͡sh̛all ̧rise͟ ̀fr͜om ͟be͘ne͡ath and h͞is ̡terri͟b͜l̀e bre͠ath s̕hall ̴st͏r̷i͜k̡e̵ ͟d͏oẁn͢ t̢h̕e̵ ͘opp͜r̛es̛s͡o͟r͢s."

"Mmmm. This fly is annoying. Flick. Flick. Flick. Got it. Nope. Didn't get it."

"Mmmm. A̛͜͡n̴̸̛d ̸I̷ ͜h͏ę̕a͡r̶̷͟ḑ҉,͏҉ ̷҉a͘s̛ ̸͏ìt̵ ̧҉w̡̧͝e̕͡ŗ̷̀e̛, ͡t͘͝h͏̶ȩ̛ ́͟n̵̶o̶í̶͟şe̡ ̵͞ó͡͡f҉̢ ̵̧t͜h̵̡͟u͘͠͠n̨̕͘de̸r͞.̡̀ ̴O҉̛ne̶ ̕o̵̕f͘ th̷͘ę͜ four͘ ͘b̢͡e̕͟͠a͢s̨̛͟t̕͞͞s̨ ̡̨͞sa̵͞y͏̕͡in̵g̀͞͡:͝ ͡'̨͟Co҉m͏́͘e҉ ̨a̷n͡d ̵̨s̨̢͡e͠è.'̷̵̛ Á͟nd̷̕ ̶͝I͝ ́͜s͢͡a͠w̶.͟҉͝ ̨An̸҉d̸͏̧ ̴̨b͞ęh̴͞͠ol͜͜d,̴͘ ̷͜a ҉w͏h͞i̡͘͡t͠͡e͠ ̵́h͞o͜͠r̕se̕.͜ ͘An͟d͠͠ h̶e̕͘ ̧͡th̵a̡t ̢́şa͞͝ţ̕ ͘͝͞o̢͞n̛͠͡ ͠h͞͡im͠͞ h͝a̵͢d͢͡ a͠ ̷̀b̴ơ̧͘w;̸͘ ͡an̴d ̕͡͏a̧ ̕cr̴ǫ͟͢w̷n̨ w͞ąs̵ ͡g͜͞͠i̶v͠ę̡n̸͞҉ ̵̶u̸̕͏n҉͜to̶͘ ̴hi̶͟m̴̢,̧̛͠ ̡a̴̛͟n͟d̴̢ ̡h͜e̡ ͝͠͠ẃ̵e̷̛͡nt͝ ̴̶́f͠o͢r̢t̡h̛͠ ͝c͠ơ̷n͡q͡u̴èŕ̴̨i̶̢ņ͟g̡͟,̵̡ ̶a͡n̴d͡ ͠͠t͟ó̴͝ c͠o͘ǹ̸q̢u̕͘͟er̴͝.̨͜"

"Mmmm. Something smells."

"Mmmm.Ḣ̛̲̙̲̪̤̞̯͋ͦ̾e̻̬̬̥͚̺̺̯͒͆̓̀̏́̚͝c̊̃͛҉̗̘̩̬͉̥̞̙ǫ̩̣̺̫͚̤̗̞͈ͪͧͬm̸͇̥̠̱͓̫͡e̢̖͕̻̘ͯ͆͒̓̉ͯ͋ͤ͛s͎͙̣̼̱ͧ͋ͧ̈́̂͋̎̌͡"
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:31, Tue 07 Sept 2010.

Charging Bear has little to no desire to be unconscious while there is the potential for so much to go terribly wrong. Downing two long swigs of the tequila offered then leans back and lets the doctor work. He manages to not scream in pain and remains quite still.

OOC:
16:37, Today: Charging Bear rolled 5,2 using 1d6,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,2. Spirit.
16:36, Today: Charging Bear rolled 11,3 using 1d6,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+5)11,3. Vigor.

Carl has spent most of this time getting the damn machine into the coach house. Clearly its motivations are simple: it wants to stay within hearing distance of its injun, talk to Dr.Ward as soon as possible, go out of the house, and to keep at least two yards between itself and any bystanders. The ease of making it move by manipulating the latter is, however, cancelled by the other concerns.

Cue thirty-five minutes of pursuing the thing in circles.

Ingenious use of the carriage reins and a long broom have finally got it to stay put, though Carl doesn't trust the currently insurmountable waist-high line to hold if the automaton truly feels it has reason to move. It's been sermonising fit to talk the tail off the Devil about something or other, but Carl hasn't really been listening and now at last it's shut up.

It amuses the Dust Adder to flick nutshells at it as he sits with his feet up where Augustus was working earlier, slowly getting down a bag of pecans. The thing doesn't react at all.

The surgery is painful, but the drink dulls it to a tolerable level. Charging Bear is shown upstairs to a guest room...the same room Danny had been in earlier. The native son is left alone to rest. There are no shouts of pain as Ward works on Gus...apparently he chose the chloroform.

A silence settles over the house as Ward finishes his work. He makes his way to the carriage house to deal with Danny's corpse...and possibly Alouette.

Ward'll hear a peculiar regular *thumpcrack... ... ...ping!* on his approach.

Carl's hand makes a half-movement towards his shotgun when he looks up, startled out of his distraction. He quickly shifts to tug his hatbrim respectfully as he rises, hands raised in a gesture of 'halt/hang on'.

"Howdy, Dr.Ward!" Alouette chirps, craning to see if he's accompanied. "Is Called Charging Bear fixed now? Where is AUG-US-TUS? Permit self to go to church? Is Carl a Christian? Where was Ambrose driven to? Why are there so many crows?"

Carl, meanwhile, silently demonstrates the clank's refusal to let anyone near it and the fragility of his barrier by approaching a little and stepping from one side to the other - Alouette mirrors his movements, staying the same distance away.

In reply to Alouette (msg #6):

"Mr. Charging Bear is resting, and I have done for him what I can. Any further recovery is in God's hands now, though I suspect he will pull through." He stops at the mention of Augustus. "Mr. Spotswood? I thought he was with you." He turns to Carl. "Have you seen Mr. Spotswood about?"

Carl shakes his head.

"Damn it all. Carl, round up the men and some horses. Inform them that another situation has developed and that I shall hold in higher regard those who help me address it. I will be along shortly."

He turns back to the clank. "Do you know where you and Mr. Spotswood parted company?"

Charging Bear looked over the room, with little desire to actually sleep in it. Memories of the boy who was there not an hour or so before still danced through his mind. He took a seat in a chair and let his body start to heal. The wound was still tender, and even with Dr Ward's skilled work there would be a scar.

The clank takes this in. "God will fix him," it says with confidence. After all, he stopped leaking before.

Some ticking occurs. "AUG-US-TUS was sitting by the light fixing self, and he said 'Dinner...Guest...Oh!  Yes, of course. We can finish later.  Shouldn't take long.  Fascinating, really.  Absolutely fascinating.' Then...unknown error log; self was then on the ground outside, with cutlery, and the damned soul wearing dust was there, shot self. It asked Called Charging Bear if his sister cried when the Union soldiers cut her in pieces and said it was his fault his family got killed...then it stabbed him, but Called Charging Bear got up again and said it wasn't his fault, which was true. AUG-US-TUS was not there."

"The damned Yankee made a hole in self whilst Called Charging Bear was rising-" it clumsily taps its 'beak' near the hole where its collarbone would be were it human, "-then...retrieval error: no card...then self saw the damned Yankee was shot, and it went to another place... *tsshcrkl* tried to capture him, too slow, thisss- -static error...retrieval error:no card...then self was in the barn and Danny Albatross was not moving...AUG-US-TUS was not there, but he had gone past the end with the machine and the place to summon snakes approximately 6 to 8 minutes before."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:48, Tue 07 Sept 2010.

Ward sighs, and rests a hand on his forehead. "He must have wandered out into the range during your skirmish with the...the damned Yankee. Very well. I shall see to this personally. Abide here until I return, and if the body rises...well, then you'll need to make sure it returns to it's slumber."

Ward grabs a lantern, a hat, and a jacket, then follows Carl out into the darkness, leaving Alouette and the body alone in the house.

---

As Charging Bear sits and examines his wound, a small feline figure pokes it's head in the door and looks at the native son through yellow eyes that shine in the candlelight.

In reply to The Stray (msg #2):

Augustus cocks his head slightly to the side, trying to listen a touch more intently to the earpiece.  Lifting a brow, he again looks around at the shadowy forms of cattle and the flickering green of the St. Elmo's Fire.  Then slowly realization dawns and he lifts up the reciever box, "Good lord!  I've invented a device that can actually translate the subvocalized communicative thoughts of cows!  Though something does get lost in the translation...."  He trails off listening again, "I'll have to work on that...  I very much doubt these cows are quoting Revelations.  Though one can't expect something made so hastily after a knock on the head to be perfect."  A moment is given to try and search the ground nearby for anything of use.  His hearing remains devoted to elarning all about the secret thoughts of cows.


OOC - Sorry, busy weekend!

"...if clay is damaged beyond use you will not see anything in examining, Dr.Ward. Albatross should go to church, be safe..." Contained by the reins strung across the coachouse, Alouette cannot follow Ward to the door to call after him.

It gives a Roland-like "hmmm," of annoyance.

With a smile, Charging Bear slowly reaches towards the feline who has arrived. "What bring you in here kitten?"

OOC: Is it Dandelion?

The cat, a slinky tortoiseshell, sniffing the air. It curls its way through the room, then slinks over to Charing Bear and begins to sniff his fingers.

[[OOC: Nope. It's different. Probably belongs to Ward]]

---

Ward arrives at the bunkhouse where the Dust Adders have been gathered. "Gentlemen! It seems this night has been troublesome for all of us. A situation has developed, and I need you to look into it posthaste."

There's a general grumble from the men.

"Would you kindly listen to me, gentlemen? We have a man, one of my guests, missing out on the range. I offer a bonus of $50 to the one who finds him...and if that one was involved in this evening's ill-advised attack on the Marshal, he will be pardoned from having to make amends."

This seems to go down well with the men. They begin gathering lanterns and saddles, and pairing up into teams.

"The man you are looking for answers to the name Augustus Spotswood. Thank you. And godspeed."

Ward waits for them all to be ready, readies his own horse, and joins up with Carl and Slim. "Keep your weapons handy. There are dangerous things out on the prairie tonight." He pulls out his silver medallion and mutters an incantation. The medallion is still at first, but then slowly sways on its own power. Ward points. "This way."

---

Augustus listens to the cows. They have fairly dull monologues...they don't speak of much beyond hay, flicking away flies, complaining that something stinks, and the occasional biblical muttering.

That seems connected to the St. Elmo's fire. Whenever a burst of the fire appears, his listening device gives off static and worrying quotes about Revelations or the Ten Plagues of Egypt or The Serpent.

As he wanders, it becomes clear that "something stinks," not that he can smell it over the fragrant reek of the livestock themselves. The mention of something stinking always comes from the cows closest to him, and eventually it dawns on him that he is the thing that "stinks." He's not quite sure why that would be the case...aside from not taking a bath since he...well, since the incident, he shouldn't be more odorous than these creatures.

But they move away from him nonetheless. It's perplexing.

And then he hears a roar over his machine.

"GRWOR! Get away from my HERD, stinking thing!"

Turning around, he sees a large, mean-looking bull stomping at the ground, giving him the angry eye, andtensing as it prepares to charge...

With a smile, Charging Bear allows the kitten to take it's time. "What brings such a lovely creature as you in to see me?" he muses as the kitten begins to sniff him.

Alouette just stands there like a lemon for a bit, abiding...then static murmurs like the rush of falling sand. The automaton bends, crouching, lays the 'corpse' on the floor and gently touches one bloodied golden finger to the lad's lower lip, pinning a wrist with its free hand.
"...Little One?"

In reply to Charging Bear (msg #15):

The cat looks at him, as if trying to psychically impart information to him. Then she starts rubbing up against his leg.

---

In reply to Alouette (msg #16):

The boy is silent for a long minute...then twists in a manner that looks distinctly unnatural. "Who are you? And what do you want?"

In reply to The Stray (msg #14):

Gulp.  Augustus' eyes widen at the sight of the huge, angry bull.  He fumbles a bit with the device in his hand, attempting to figure out the appropriate setting.  I do hope I included the transmitter!  As he fiddles with the device, he keeps his eyes on the bull, "Now now...settle down.....  Nice bull...gentle bull....  I mean you no harm.  I come in peace.  PEACE."  During this ramble, his thumb settles on a button much like a trumpet valve.  The buzzing sound in his ear cuts out and the box itself makes a new soft buzzing sound....

OOC - Total: 6 on Weird Science to Activate Beast Friend
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:52, Thu 09 Sept 2010.