Some mood music

Late Afternoon, April 11th, 1879. The entrance to the Wendell Mine. Good Friday.

Dr. Ward was extremely generous with Augustus Spotswood. Not only did he suggest a place where the gentleman of science could hide from that disagreeable bounty hunter, he magnanimously allowed Augustus to takes some equipment from his carriage house to tinker with to pass the time.

It was late afternoon now, and there was a heavy rainstorm outside the mine entrance. Augusts had set up a makeshift workbench from the remains of the mining equipment and the supplies he'd gotten from Ward, and had been merrily tinkering all day. The mineshaft was secluded enough that he could test his sonic devices without undue fear of discovery, though the echoes made his project slightly troublesome...he didn't hear the footsteps or the voices until they were right at the cave mouth.

"So this is it?"

"Yup. We can get out o' the rain here, wait 'til Gus gets back with the rest. Then we can go after yer friend."

"How long d'ya figure that'll take?"

"Shouldn't be more than ten, fifteen minutes..."

People! Intruding on his hiding spot! What to do? What to do?

((OOC: I'm setting you a bit back in time from the others...not too terribly far. have at it!))

Augustus retightens a screw on the new clockwork rotator under the tuning forks of his Interruptor.  His quiet muttering to himself no doubt made it difficult to notice anything, especially given the falling rain.  "What's that?  Rubbish.  Dr. Ward said I'd be perfectly safe heah.   Stop it, you don't hear anything and neither....."  He sits up, straining to listen for the voices.  Gulp.  "Oh dear...."

He quickly glanced around and thought about and doused his lamp.  Annoyingly there still seemed to be plenty of light coming into the cave for him to see and be seen by.  Quietly, he begins turning the key on his weapon and retrieves his Evocator as well.  Whispering to himself, "I refuse to go quietly anymore.  Yes, I am still whispering.  It's just a turn of phrase.

A pair of figures appear in the light of the mine entrance. They're backlit, so it's difficult to make them out except as general shapes. One is tall and lean, the other slightly shorter but carrying himself straighter.

The lanky one peers into the cave. "Yup. Looks clear. We'll just wait 'till Gus an' the rest o' the boys get here, then we can go and rescue your friend." he apparently didn't notice Augustus crouching about...but that could easily change as his eyes adjust to the dimness. The lean one rests against the wall, grunting. It looks like he might be injured.

The more well-dressed man follows the lanky one in cautiously. "If you say so. I really hope Doc Franklin's alright. You think they snatched him for ransom?"

"Don't rightly know what's goin' on in an Injun's mind." The lanky one grunts as he slides down the wall. "How 'bout this? Let's get a fire goin' and dry off. Keep busy, and it'll help keep your mind off that which it can't do nothin' 'bout." He points deeper into the mine, right near where Augustus is! "There outgha be a few dry logs stored there down that-a-way."

The better dressed one nods, and begins walking right towards Augustus...

Augustus finishes settling the Evocator's ear harness onto his head just as the man begins to head towards him.  Taking a breath, trying desperately not to cough, he takes a firm step forward, "I can do this.  Yes I can.  That was just one time....  Okay two...  Oh hush."  He taps the arming switch on the Interruptor, which immediately whines into an ominous triple-toned hum.  Hefting it up to his shoulder, he shouts, "Stop right there!  I have a Sonic Neurological Interruptor aimed!  You may not know what that is, but I assure you it is quite effective!  Nonlethal, but /very/ uncomfortable!"

"Whoa there!" The well-dressed man says, raising his hands. He looks a bit like a gambler, with that pack of cards he's got in one hand. "Now, we don't want no trouble, sir. just looking for a place out of the rain."

"Aw hell." The other one says. "I plumb forgot...Mr. Spotswood? Is that you there? It's me, Mike Bennett. I'm one o' Ward's boys." Now that he's deeper in and Augustus' eyes are adjusting, he can see it 's one of the Dust Adders that was with the posse that tracked down that outlaw, Nathanial Frost.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:26, Thu 05 July 2012.

Augustus pauses for a moment, though he doesn't lower his humming weapon just yet.  "Ward....  Ward....  Bennett...  Oh... Oh!", recognition slowly dawns and he thumbs the switch again, spinning down the hum, "How wonderful.  The Doctor finally sent for me?  The bounty hunter is gone then?"  he starts to say more, but is forced to grab for his handkerchief and cover a wracking cough.

The man scratches the back of his head in embarrassment. "Well, he's gone, yes, but that ain't why I'm here...you're welcome to come back with us when Gus an' the rest o' the boys come to fetch us, but we got some larger problems than bounty hunters sniffin' around. The Comanche seem to be a bit riled about Ward rescuin' that chinaman from 'em...they're startin' to get antsy." He looks over at the device Augustus was waving earlier. "We got some time before they get here, I reckon. Why don't you tell me an' Mr. Lazarus here what that fancy thing o' yours does?"

"The Interruptor?" offers Augustus, putting his stained handkerchief away again.  He quickly seems to forget about all the news that has just been brought to him.  Afterall, the nice gentleman did just ask about his invention.  A subject he enjoys immensely.  He steps more into the light and holds the weapon up for review, "I was working with the effects of harmonic tones on neurological functioning and discovered quite a few interesting effects.  The Sonic Neurological Interruptor produces one of these tones in a directionally focused way.  The tone....hmm...interrupts the autonomic signals from the brain, causing the target's body to begin seizing."

"That sounds awfully unpleasant," the gambler (Mr. Lazarus, was it?) remarks. "But it might come in handy when we go to rescue Doc Franklin from the Comanche."

Mike looks at him crossly. "Now wait a moment! Mr. Spotswood here's already had enough trouble, and I done told you our boys 'll help you out gettin' your friend back. You don't need to go draggin' him into this!"

"The Comanche?  Again?" returned Augustus in surprise, "I was quite sure I had seen them off yesterday.... Or was that the day before...  No matter!"  He turned the key of his weapon a quarter turn to give it a full wind again, "Dr. Ward has done so much for me, I would return the favor.  I've heard tales of the awful things those Apache do with their prisoners.  No, I must help."

"Thank you sir!" the man beams.

Mike groans and leans against the wall. "Wonderful. Well, I can't stop ya'll, but can we at least wait 'til the boys get here before we done go rushin' off to get shot?"

"Hmmm," ponders Augustus, "You imply that we will get shot whether we wait or not.  Now, since we all know these Comanche are well-known for mistreating prisoners, it would be more sensible to leave sooner rather than later.  Being that the odds of being shot don't seem to change."  The scientist pauses again, the says aside, "True...  More "boys" would provide a wider range of targets and reduce our probability of getting shot /in theory/.  But, this man is a gunhand and therefore more of an expert."

"Thank you, sir! You won't regret this!" Mr. Lazarus beams.

Mike sighs. "Well, I reckon we can at least scout the camp out..." He trails off as he looks behind Augustus. "No..." he whispers. "No...you can't be here...you're dead..."

"Yeah, I'm dead, alright," replies a whisper from right behind the scientist. "I got you to thank for that, Mike Bennett. So I reckon it's high time I returned the favor!"

Augustus straightened up and went quite still as he realized he had been snuck up on....in his own cave.  But, something the voice uttered struck him strangely.  Strangely enough to knock him right back out of surprise.  Turning about, he interjected, "How can you be dead if you are speaking?  Further, not being dead, what favor are you returning?"

Turning around answers at least one of Augustus' questions, because standing behind him is the spectral form of Nathanial Frost, the villain Augustus had seen shot dead not two days ago!

The ghost still had the bloody hole in his forehead from where he'd been shot. Black blood dripped from beneath his wide-brimmed hat, and the hat itself sat oddly, as if there wasn't a full skull to perch it on. He was pale and silvery, as if he'd just stepped out of a photograph, except for his burning green eyes which were slitted like a snake's.

"There's more things in heaven and earth, Doc Spotswood, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." The ghost whispered. He levels a phantom sixgun at Augustus.

((OOC: I don't think you were here for this, but I made a change to the Guts rules. I folded Guts into Spirit, so all Fear checks are Spirit Checks now. You had a d6 in Guts...you can use those points for other skills if you like.

Speaking of Fear, Roll Spirit, -5 for the local Fear Level, + Grit, -1 for Ol' Snake Eyes' Fear ability, and -2 for your Doubting Thomas hindrance. }:D ))

It takes but a moment for the scientist's muddled mind to register the form and detail of the wraith.  His eyes then widen, shock coursing back through him as his scientific cognition reuses to process the only....horrible....answer....

OOC - That'd be a nope!  -1 was my highest on that there d6-6 roll.  Maight just finally be the undeniable event that switches out that hindrance.  I'll thin on it.

08:05, Today: Augustus Spotswood rolled -2,-1 using D6-6,d6-6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,5. Fear!

((OOC: Wheeee! It'll at least shake him. Let's see, what happens to Augustus? Ol' Snake Eyes has a Fear Penalty, which adds to the Fright Table roll...

12:26, Today: Ol' Snake Eyes rolled 20 using 1d20+1, rerolling max with rolls of 19. Fright!

19-20 The Mark of Fear: The hero is Shaken and also suffers some cosmetic physical alteration—a white streak forms in the hero’s hair, his eyes twitch constantly, or some other minor physical alteration. This reduces his Charisma by 1.

Go ahead and describe the mark, and then draw a card for Initiative.))

---

Turn Order:
Augustus Spotswood: not drawn yet
Mike Bennett: KD (need to roll Fear)
Harry Lazarus: 7H (need to roll Fear)
Ol' Snake Eyes: 4H

His mind's inability to rectify reality with scientific fact forces his left eye to twitch....quite a lot...  It may stay that way...

OOC - This town has really broken him. ;)  5C

08:45, Today: Augustus Spotswood drew the single card: 5C using the Deadlands system. Initiative!

Mike also seems unable to take the specter's presence. He shouts inarticulately and stumbles back towards the mouth of the mine, out into the rain, fumbling at a cross beneath his shirt and moaning prayers to Jesus.

Mr. Lazarus, on the other hand, seems hardly fazed at all. Sure, he gulps a bit, but that pack of cards in his hands suddenly glows with a pale green fire. He draws a hand, consults it, and grins. "Right. Back to the aether, spirit!" he says, flinging three of the cards at the ghost. All three cards glow with an unnatural light and streak towards the specter. One of them strikes the ghost, who hisses in confusion and pain, but the other two veer off and loop back around at the huckster, much to his astonishment. He raises an arm to sheild himself but the force of his wayward magic blows him off his feet.

"ow." The ghost mumbles. He didn't seem overly hurt by the glowing cards, but he seem irritated nonetheless. "That hurt. Guess I have another fuckin' idiot to plant today."

((OOC: 23:09, Today: Mike Bennett rolled 0 using 1d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 4. Fear! That's a fail. He's an extra, so he Panics and runs out into the rain as fast as he can (his Pace is halved because he's hurt).

Harry has a much better roll, as he's a Wild Card, Seasoned, and has the True Grit edge, so he has a total Grit of 3. 23:12, Today: The Stray, on behalf of Harry Lazarus, rolled 4,2 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 6,4. Fear! Awesome, he's scared but not terrified.

He's going to do what he does best...Soul Blast! He's going to call up 3 bolts with his Soul Blast, so he needs to hit 3 pp on a Deal With The Devil (Pair of Jacks or better)

Deal with the Devil (5 cards +3 Grit +1 high Roller = 9 cards): KS, 8S, 7S, 2H, 4C, KH, QC, 7H, JD. 2 pair. The Hex is powered. 23:20, Today: The Stray, on behalf of Harry Lazarus, rolled 1,7,1,2 using d8,d8,d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,7,1,2. Spellcasting. ooooo. Ouch. That's Backlash. He gets one shot in, but is Shaken. It's not Backfire, since he didn't draw any jokers or fail to get the PP, but it still hurts.

Still, he gets Damage on Ol' Snake Eyes: 23:23, Today: The Stray, on behalf of Harry Lazarus, rolled 5 using 2d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4. Damage. Not actually enough to hurt Nate, who has Toughness 7.

Cards for next round:
Mike: KD
Harry: 7S))

---

Augustus is up next!

Augustus stumbles back from the apparition, eye twitching uncontrollably, "But...but....but...  D-d-dead..."  Not at his most eloquent.  Bolts of glowing energy streak past him to punch through the ghost.  Somehow, this snaps him out of it.  Just a bit.  The scientist swings his weapon up slowly, the triple hum ramping up threateningly.  Before its quite level, he pulls the trigger and fires a rippling blast of harmonic dissonance past the ghost.

OOC - Unshaken, but can't act.  Over to you! KD for next Init.

14:08, Today: Augustus Spotswood rolled 5,4 using D6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,4. UnShake!
14:15, Today: Augustus Spotswood drew the single card: KD using the Deadlands system. Initiative.

EDIT : A 1 on the Shooting roll.   Thanks for the chance though.  Interesting rule.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:39, Sat 04 Aug 2012.

((OOC: Actually, I added a house rule that allows you to take an action at -2 if you unshake, to help speed up fights and keep people from feeling useless all combat if they wind up getting into a Shaken-Unshaken loop (Alouette mentioned this in the OOC). So if you have an action you'd like to try, go ahead and attempt it.))