Carl automatically grabs the saddlehorn and swings down as the horse falls, ending crouched behind/beside the lump of cooling horseflesh rather than crushed under it.

[[23:06, Today: Carl Allans rolled 4,2 using d8,d6 fallin off a hoss
init. JD.]]

He's in the north end, nearly out of town. All the houses around here have been deserted in preparation for the attack...which seems to have come early. He can't see anyone about yet, but his assailants have to be hiding in the empty houses.

A thought occurs to him. These must be scouts. The attack has begun.

((OOC: Make a Notice check as a free action. You have the initiative right now, so you'll get an action before they go again))

Carl stays crouched a moment, trying to ignore the rain and his own heartbeat. Comanche in the streets. Too far to flee on foot an' rouse the town, they'd get too many shots. Fight, then.

[[7, plus blue chippit. That find one of 'em?]]

Crouching behind the stricken horse, Carl spies movement in the house on his left. The window is open...that's the Bennet's place! And there's a figure, drawing back a bowstring...

Something is wrong with the figure. It's very...pale. But there's no time to worry about that.

((OOC: The Comanche has Light Cover from the windowsill, so that would be a -1 penalty on any ranged attack Carl might make. Or he could leap through the window and try a Melee attack.))

I won't be heard from here, either. Even shots out here would probably be lost to the chaos in the centre of town. Carl swears silently to himself, draws his knife and runs suddenly and soundlessly towards the window, low to the ground and every moment expecting an arrow in the back. He vaults the sill, the blade in his right hand coming around and up on momentum as he straightens, hoping to catch the bowman's neck.

[[5 Agility (movement), drawing knife and...
00:38, Today: Carl Allans rolled 5,9 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 7,(6+5)11. fightin' ...is't a hit? Them being bulletproof and all.
init. 5S]]

There's no arrow in the back, not yet anyway...the bold move seems to have startled the sniper.

Carl's dive takes the Indian by surprise. He's only able to get an arm up in shock as the cowboy crashes in to him.

The knife nicks the savages neck, and he curses and slaps his hand over the wound. There's a pause. The raider removes the hand from his neck and looks at it, astonished.

There's no blood on his hand. There's no wound on the neck. Carl is certain his knife hit home, but...there's nothing but smooth silvery-grey skin. It's not quite warpaint, it's as if the man had climbed out of a photograph or something...

The Comanche grins evilly as that sinks in.

"Pale Moon spoke true!" he crows in broken English. "White man cannot hurt me!"

He pulls a tomahawk from his belt and swings savagely at Carl. Though the wild swing doesn't do more that slice open his shirt, the force of the blow leaves Carl a bit winded...And there's a shadow from the window. The others must be on their way.

((OOC: 5 damage from the swing. Not actually enough to break his Toughness. Though there's hints that something more is going on here...

For his turn, the Comanche pulls his balde and swings at Carl. This imposes a -2 penalty on his swing.

17:04, Today: Comanche Raiders rolled 7 using 1d8-2, rerolling max with rolls of (8+1)9. Fighting! What is it with the die roller hating on you guys? That's a hit.

17:07, Today: Comanche Raiders rolled 3,2 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,2. Damage. 5 damage total. Carl is Shaken.

Meanwhile, the other Comanche is putting his weapon away, pulling his own tomahawk, and coming to his friend's aid from the other house. He's going to reach the window this round.))

---

Next Round:
Carl: 5S
Comanches: 4H

In reply to Danny Boy (msg #219):

Jake keeps after the kid, the huckster's feet falls moving faster and faster. "Come on kid, ain't gonna let no one hurt ya!"

OOC:
15 vs 5 is a raise, would that be 2 successes?
08:16, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 11,1 using 1d6,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+5)11,1. Agility.

08:16, Today: Jake Lawrence drew the single card: KD using a deck of 54 cards. Card.

The boy doesn't respond at first...he's too busy tripping over the barbed wire the Dust Adders set up on this road to catch riders from this direction.

He sprawls in the dirt, tangled in the wire. It's the work of moments for Jake to reach him.

The boy lays in the mud, weeping softly. "I just wanna go home..." He cries. "I just wanna go home...I just wanna go home...everyone in this town wants to tie me up, lock me up, carve me up, shoot me up...only person here shown me any decency at all is that damn crazy clank, and she thinks she's me mother...I never did nothing wrong, but it all went wrong, ever since we got here...now everyone's dead...all of them, all me friends, and I guess me too...except we just keep gettin' up again, over and over...I just wanna go home..."

((OOC: Hmmm...well, since I want to wrap this chase up a little faster, sure. raises count as 2 successes.

Card: 4C

Another major obstacle for Danny. He's Fatigued already, so this is probably bad for him. Agility roll at -3 to avoid:

07:21, Today: Danny Boy rolled -1,3 using d6-3,d6-3. Complication. Well, that's a fail. Another Fatigue level for Danny, making him Exhausted.

Roll vs. Jake: 07:22, Today: Danny Boy rolled -1,2 using d6-2,d6-2. chase. That's another Raise Jake gets. This chase is over.

Do you want to try to do something about his bumps &  bruises?

BTW, Make a Notice check ;).))

In reply to Danny Boy (msg #234):

Looking down at Danny, Jake offers the lad a hand. "Come on now, I know a little bout what ya going though. The going home part at least, the folks coming back from the dead isn't new to me but ain't exactly something I'm overly used to either." He pulls a flask from the inside of his coat and after taking a swig offers some to Danny. "Here take a swig of this, might help with those stumbles you took back there."

OOC: Jake's go no healing ability so trying to patch someone up might not be the best but I'll give it ago!
11:21, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled -2,-2 using 1d4-4,1d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 2,2. Healing (Untrained. -2 Fatigue).

um.. no dice there.
11:22, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 7,5 using 1d6,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+1)7,5. Notice.

"Thank'ee." The boy says, gulping down the contents of the flask. It doesn't seem to help him much, but at least he's calmer. He's a bit shaky on his feet. "Look. I know ye don't owe me anythin', but I just want t' leave. I know I've not been a good person--I let that thing get the better o' me. I done it and can't take it back. But I can't stay here. It'll be the death o' someone, perhaps a lot o' someones, if that thing gets loose again."

As he's talking, Jake spots something out of the corner of his eye. They're in the northeastern part of town, close to the edge of town. There's a great stone building that looks almost like a mausoleum. There's a familiar-looking crest on it...it's the symbol of the Enlightened Society of the Weeping Moon.

This must be their lodge...it's very still and quiet here. Much too quiet. And the door is hanging ever so slightly adjar...

some mood music

There's no response to the taunt from the cowboy, who just heaves himself back into the shadows in the corner of the tiny room, trying to get his lungs to work. A tiny drop of blood spiders down inside his shirt from the heavy graze of the tomahawk, the prickling joining that across his skin. He grabs for the counterpane of the narrow bed in hauling himself up and tries to tangle the Comanche's weapon as the silver man comes in at him again, but he's off-balance and the cloth just slips awkwardly from his fingers to pile between them.

Carl slams his shoulders back against the wall and tenses. Another Injun is climbing through the window now, just as pale. Come on, then.


[[white dropped, 3 for counterpane counterattack
init: 8S]]

The Comanche leaps over the pile and swings in again, and Carl feels the handaxe bite a second time, this time on his thigh. It hurts, but the adrenaline is keeping him moving...but the figure from the window leaps at him and bears him to the ground, pinning his arms beneath the savage's knees.

((OOC: Since tricks are Opposed rolls, It's possible for the Comanche to still fail...

09:58, Today: Comanche Raiders rolled 7 using 1d8, rerolling max with rolls of 7. Resisting trick. Well, suck.

The Comanches are going to move up and try to tag-team Carl. One will swing, the next will move in and try a grapple.

Swing with axe: 10:04, Today: Comanche Raiders rolled 7 using 1d8, rerolling max with rolls of 7. Fighting! That's a hit.

10:05, Today: Comanche Raiders rolled 1,5 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,5. Damage. total of 6 Damage. That makes Carl Shaken.

The other one tries to grab him. This is an Opposed Fighting roll. Carl has to beat the Comanche, who has a +1 gang-up bonus now.

10:06, Today: Comanche Raiders rolled 24 using 1d8+1, rerolling max with rolls of (8+8+7)23. Grapple! Somehow I think Carl will be well and truly held.

Next round: 9S))

---

Going to wait for you to roll to see if you escape the Grapple before continuing on.

In reply to Danny Boy (msg #236):

"Might be the death of more folks if you go running off without anything getting sorted first."

The monster of a building cause Jake to towards it and a chill to run down his spine. "How'd they manage that sort a building in this dinky little town?"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 17:20, Mon 23 Apr 2012.

[[...and he rolls a mighty 3!]]

Carl bares his teeth at his tormentors, well and truly got.

In reply to Jake Lawrence (msg #239):

Danny frowns, but doesn't reply. Instead, he looks at the masonic temple thing with Jake. "It's probably that devil doctor's doing. He could afford it, what with the profits from all th' Ghost Rock he's usin' slave labor to cart up out o' that mine. It's probably full o' lavish trappings, while the town around him starves."

In reply to Carl Allans (msg #240):

The brave grabs Carl's hair, and puts his tomahawk to the man's scap...but before he does any cutting, his companion stops him. There's a quick exchange which Carl can't quite follow, since he doesn't understand the language, but his ability to read body language yields this:

"[something about an important person not wanting this action to occur]"

"[angry rebuttal of frank disbelief]"

"[assertion that the important person has other plans]"

"[shudder of disgust, then a relenting]"

The Brave holding him keeps his tomahawk poised to strike Carl down while the other tears the blanket into strips. When his task is completed, he walks over and kneels down by the fallen cowboy.

"We take you to Charging Bear now." The brave says. "He do things with you then. Come quiet, or we kill you now."

In reply to Danny Boy (msg #241):

"Yeah and they hired The Jellicle Gang to kill that lady Ranger..." Jake says quietly as he takes out the token of the Enlightened Society of the Weeping Moon from his pocket. "Now why did they leave the door open?" it comes out only slightly like a question. The huckster rolls his fingers over the token one more time before slipping it back into his pocket.

"Danny, time to make up for whatever crappy thing you did before... let's go and see what this enlightened bunch of yahoos have hidden within their mighty temple."

The boy grins. "That idea suits me just fine, sir. Just fine indeed."

The pair creep toward the temple. There's a nasty smell, like overcooked meat, wafting from the opened doorway.

"Something isn't right here..." the boy mutters.

Carl naturally tries to pull his head down/aside and bite his would-be scalper, snarling silently.

The news they apparently esteem his warrior skills highly enough to torture him is flattering, but doesn't change the blank fury of his pinned stance. He simply stares at the English-speaker with a gaze as pale as the silver man's skin, no longer actively fighting but promising nothing but death if he just gets the opportunity.

"..."

The Comanche raiders seem to sense this, because the first thing they tie with the torn-up bedspread is his mouth. He's bound hand and foot and dragged out of the house. Carl has no idea where they're taking him, but it can't be good.

((OOC: If you want to try and slip the bonds, it's Agility (to slip out) or Strength (to break them) at -4. If you fail, they'll get you wherever they're going.))

Carl automatically makes the attempt to untie himself, but no knots are in reach. He tries to watch where he's being taken, rage and frustration clamped down with such force in his chest it burns cold.

[[ -2, I think not... ]]

In reply to Danny Boy (msg #244):

"If it was right then they won't leave the door open." Jake says with a smile. "But just to be sure..." the huckster touches the door, pulls a trio of cards from his pocket, and lets himself be taken again to the hunting ground.

OOC: Going to use the heck out of this crazy hunch. Just looking for recent events that caused this place to smell so and appear empty.

Jake parts the mists of the Hunting Grounds and peaks in:



((OOC: Even though it doesn't cost PP right now, you still need the Arcane roll to check for success. But I'll skip that in this instance to speed things up.

A lot of this took place in "Chapter 12.1: A Fistful o' Trouble" while CB was facing off with Cantrell and the Jellicles))

"Looks like the Adders and Evans cause a bit of commotion here." Jake says to Danny Boy.

"Shall we head on in?" without waiting for an answer Jake takes a step inside.

This thread is closed. The posters will be split into new Chapter 14 threads once the bar fight has been dealt with.