Jericho laughs. "A restrainin' order!? Against Comanche? You got some screws loose up in your brainpan." He looks at Charging Bear. "Come on, let's stop playin' with the tin can and get movin'. We're losin' time. If Itza-chu is with the Comanche, they'll be sending him out scoutin', maybe even leadin' a small radin' party to stir up trouble. If we catch up with 'em we might get the bastard and his whole team afore the main body arrives, leavin' 'em without reconnaissance. It'd make it easier to lead 'em into them traps the townsfolk are settin' up."

Charging Bear nods to the bounty hunter before turning back to the angel "Alouette, you should find Evans or Ranger Hawkins and help defend the town." He doesn't sound overly confident about the choice despite knowing its probably the best one.

In reply to Jake Lawrence (msg #25):

"The whole godforsaken town ain't friendly." Danny mutters. "What makes this place so special?"

Still, he does stick by Jake as he examines the corpse.

It's big, over seven feet tall if it were standing...and there's a lot of severe burns all over it. It looks like someone smashed a lamp on it and set it alight. And there's something else about it, too...

((OOC: Make a Notice check for me, please.))

"This place is foreboding; the town is like any other little town you'd come across anywhere in the country."

OOC: One notice roll
13:18, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 4,5 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,5. Notice.

"What is brainpan?" the clank asks, probably wondering what Cantrell's laughing for.

It stands and looks up at Charging Bear a little while, but seems to decide that since Called Charging Bear is good at decisions, that's probably what it should do. "Okay," it says.

Being unsure where to find Evans upstairs and knowing Ranger Hawkins was Busy last it looked, it just stands there a bit trying to work out where to go.

Adrian wandered back downstairs, one hand casually resting on his holstered weapon. One thing that he had learned about his hometown was that in Blackthorn now, he could practically always expect someone to be shooting at him.

He walked right up to the clank, and gave something of an awkward grin. "Howdy, uh, Alouette. Marshal Evans says you think I should be on a seafood diet." No matter what the Marshal said, he still felt a little awkward talking to it. To him.

Evans is, as a mater of fact, on his way downstairs, with Deputy Vega in tow. he looks around the bar, empty save for Cantrell, Alouette, and Charging Bear.

"Oh, joy." He says at the sight of Cantrell. "Should I be trying to stop another lynching?"

"We've got a truce goin', Marshal. Seems that Charging Bear here isn't the only injun around with that name."

"Oh really? What was your first clue about that, hmm? Perhaps you should have listened to Miss Hawkins when she told you that. There's a handbill right over there...right over the one you pasted to get the mob after my deputy. Completely different person, Mr. Cantrell. Of course, I expect you've been too busy letting bandits escape and blowing up theaters to notice."

Cantrell bristles. "I don't need your commentary. We're goin' after the other one right now anyhow. And them Jellicles wouldn't have escaped if someone hadn't tried to shoot me in the back while I was watchin' 'em." he glares at Charging Bear. "But be that as it may, we ain't stayin'. We goin' to the Comanches, wherever they may be."

"Well, don't let the door hit you on the way out. And for God's sake, please try not to make the situation any worse than it already is."

"Howdy!" Alouette chirps at Adrian, and proffers an unlabelled can at him. "This is shrimps - you can eat them; they are dead inside."

The gambler accepted the profferred can with a chuckle. "Well, when I got time to cook later, maybe I'll fix somethin' up. I reckon' we don't got much time for that now, no how. You comin' with us?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:44, Thu 03 May 2012.

"Yes, they will help fix you up plus fast." It tilts its weird, birdlike head at the question. "Where are y'all going?"

"Into the lion's den," he said. "To dance with death." He cringed a little bit after he said that on the inside, thinking back to his conversation with Evans.

"And by that, I mean we're gonna deal with them Comanche. Make sure they don't kill folk."

"Is Ambrose going dancing? Self was going to find the Owl Comanche - who is sometimes a lion - to tell him to shoo and make the other Pure Blooded Comanches go away but Called Charging Bear said to help Ambrose and Ranger Hawkins in this place, and Called Charging Bear is clever like Ambrose but you can understand him when he talks; he always knows what to do."

There's a short pause. "Deputy Vega does not have to go outside Town, Texas, if you do done stop being a witch and repent. Witchcraft is bad for you, also folks around you, and makes it plus hard for you to hear God, or even the goodness of your own spirit."

The clank leans in a touch, its posture reminiscent of when Wildcat is imparting Serious Information to it. "You should always let your conscience be your guide, not the demons in your mind."

He leaned back away from Alouette as it...he...leaned forward, looking somewhat out of countenance for a minute. "I don't know what in the hell you're talkin' about. Who the hell is Ambrose, and why is he dancing? And what's an Owl Comanche?"

Attempting to engage in conversation with Alouette left him a little bit distressed, but moreso confused.

"Self is talking in Texas, not Hell," Alouette corrects mildly, copying the leaning away.

"He is Ambrose," it points at Evans. "You said y'all were going dancing, with death and possibly Comanches, and the Owl Comanche is a Comanche who is also an owl. He is also sometimes a lion. When he is an owl, he is plus plus soft. When he is not an owl or a lion he is approximately as high as you and has lots of eyebrow-" it points at the frown area on Adrian to help him understand, "-and black hands and feels of angry. The other Pure Blooded Comanches do what Owl Comanche tells them to." Another slight pause. "When he is not an owl. Or a lion. He can't talk then."

"Oh, Ambrose. Sorry, I'd just gotten used to thinkin' about him as the Marshal. Or just Evans. But I guess he does have a first name too."

"We ain't really goin' dancing. It's just a phrase. Means we're gonna be in a risky situation. So when you say he's an owl, do you mean he turns into a bird?"

OOC:  Wildcat was actually going out to check on the progress of defenses to see if things are going okay despite the distractions of the vampires, the fire, the fight, etc.

Streetwise roll?  Maybe figure out Carl is missing with a success/raise?

In reply to Wildcat Hawkins (msg #42):

OOC: William followed you outside to do that "talk" you wanted to have with him, so you can resolve that too. Make a Streetwise check for checking on things. And yes, a raise will net you some extra info.

"Technically, it's Ambrosius." Evans says, watching the conversation with some amusement. "Though I prefer Ambrose among friends, as I've mentioned to Alouette. It sounds like the leader of the Comanche has the ability to shapeshift. That could prove problematic. And what do the black hands represent, I wonder?" He turns to Charging Bear. "Do you have any idea what black hands represent among the Comanche? I know that is not your tribe, but any insight you have would be helpful."

"Black hands?" Cantrell pipes in. "Itza-chu has black hands. He done said it were some kind o' warrior thing. Never pressed him about it, though."

((OOC: CB, if you want you can make a Common Knowledge check, +2 because there's info you'd be in a position to know.))

07:05, Today: Wildcat Hawkins rolled 5,3 using 1d6+2,1d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 3,1. Wisdom of Streets.

I know better than to ask if the Ranger Badge gives any bonuses to this roll in Blackthorn.  XD

In reply to The Amazing Evans (msg #44):

Thinking back Charging Bear tries to recall the meaning of Itza-chu's blackened hands.

OOC:
13:01, Today: Charging Bear rolled 4,6 using 1d6+2,1d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 2,4. Common Knowledge.

Charging Bear remembers Itza-chu bragging about his black hands, claiming it was a mark of "Raven's Favor." Among the Cherokee, though, black hands are considered an ill-omen, because a person with black hands is said to have murdered the spirit of an ancestor. It's feared almost as much as the Raven tattoo, and anyone who bears either is put to death if discovered. There's whispered rumors of a group known as The Last Sons who all bear stained black hands and unleashed an unspeakable evil on the world, but Util CB met itza-chu he'd always thought they were rumors.

The native son's shoulders set slightly as though a heavy weight just landed on them. "He told me once... that it was mark of Raven's Favor. My people take it as a sign of wickedness, an ill-omen. It is said a person with black hands has murdered the spirit of an ancestor. He took it as a sign of greatness.

When I was a child I had heard whispers of a group, calling themselves The Last Sons that bore the mark and the Raven tattoo, and this group it was said would bring great evil into the world. Until I saw Itza-chu, when I joined the Army, I thought it was all just a scary story to make us children behave."

"Ambrose has lots of name," Alouette informs Adrian. "An owl is a kind of a bird that is mostly made of soft, but has plus plus pointy bits also, and big eyes."

"The Owl Comanche might want to burn the world down," the clank adds in to the mystical discussion, as helpfully as possible. "That would be bad. What is Itza-Chu?"

"Itza-Chu is not a what but a who." he pauses to see if Alouette understand, he notes the angel doesn't seem to then says, "Itza-Chu is man, an Apache."

Alouette tilts its head, clearly doing its best to grasp the difference between a word that signifies a who and a word that signifies a what. There's an intense 5-second pause before it queries:

"...who is 'Apache'?"