"Logic error, Alouette. I didn't fire a shot before the vamp fired at me. I was in the middle of an arrest and hadn't fired a bullet, even though I had the man that would have ended me - right before me. In the middle of a peaceable arrest, the vampire walked into the room and shot a deputy without provocation. I had not threatened Number Seven Man or whatever with any kind of harm, besides that of facing justice for his crimes."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:34, Fri 26 Oct 2012.

Not caring about the present argument over whatever it is about, Jake walked past everyone and into the church. His mind running through the few options left to him. He ignored everyone inside the church and walked to the front most pew, where he sat down and looked at the book again. This time however he didn't open it only looked at the cover and slowly let what was happening to him sink in.

The book felt like a lead weight around his neck. He'd made a deal, one unlike any he'd done in the past. The spirits in and around Blackthorn were worse than those he'd encountered else where. Power gained too easily and taken without thought had bought him to this point.

"Trismestigus." the huckster muttered, the word came out harsh and hateful. "What do you have to say about our friend the snake?"

OOC: Intel is intel right?
08:09, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 7,6 using 1d4+2,1d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of (4+1)5,4. Know (Occult) +2 Book.
That's good enough for some info.
08:09, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 6,21 using 1d8,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,(6+6+6+3)21. Spirit.

This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 12:10, Fri 26 Oct 2012.

The clank ticks a bit more, apparently going over events. "Number Seven Man was...going off all crazy eights like a coyote who done swallered some rope: self entered building to tell him to fear not. Pierce William Pierce was going out of town with Not Suspicious Man, did not know Deputy Vega, heard Number Seven Man being plus eight crazy minus information...vampires do not see the same way as angels, only what has blood in and what is inside-shiny, therefore Pierce William Pierce could not detect the recognition error of Number Seven Man immediately, and believed the mortal in danger."

To William, it adds: "Deputy Vega points smokewagons at folks a lot but he is not dangerous to mortals when he is not doing witchcraft; witching is bad for all alive things and plus plus bad for differently alive things. Fear not! Self has instructed him to repent," it chirps. Then it abruptly raises its metal head, a flicker of brightness sparking in the depths of its lenses as static sighs strongly somewhere within.

"You with me, Irish?" William asks softly.

"So what's it gonna be, marshal? You're going to kill me in cold blood?"
The fingers of his right hand twitch in anticipation.

If this would be a few months ago, you'd all be already dead and I'd be getting a drink at the saloon.


He looked over the three targets. He hadn't really recognised the Deputy he shot in the back. He'd been distracted by that coat and those scythed pistols. He had... shot bolts of light or something from his guns. So he wasn't just dead, he had some unnatural powers as well.
The snake.
And the marshal might actually know how to kill him.
I could use another gun or two.

"I ain't aiming at killing whatever law is left in this place. Even if you have a curious selection of deputies. I was about to leave town when Father O'Rourke asked me to help in the defense of this town. Since I already did that and you no longer seem to be needing me, I'll be happy to hit the trail. Go after Marina. Make sure she doesn't turn more folks. What do you say, Marshal?"

To say John was lost in thought would have been a misnomer. He was damn well swimming in it. He tried to remain alert but his thoughts were jumping from event to event he had experienced in the past few days. He had never been a smart man, not book smart anyway, though he seemed to have sense when it mattered. Unfortunately it wasn't helping him make sense of everything he had been witness to.

His Master, his companions, the tenuous and shaky alliances of this town on the edge, witnessing Adrien picking up the garb of that... thing did little to sooth his worries. There was something wrong about wearing that which had adorned something so terrible. Now he seemed to find himself in the company of vampires, of the living dead, of tin can angels, of... whatever the hell Danny and Gus were. He could kick air and send a man ten yards away flying as though he had connected with his skull and he seemed to be the least strange person here. Now all of the others were about to explode into violence at any minute.

"This is not what this town needs right now." he said aloud, more to himself than to anyone present, though it was loud enough to hear. "Folks, given the heap o' crap that has struck this town of late, isn't there something better we can be doing than tearing into each other like idjits?"

He laughed and shook his head in spite of the tense situation. "I swear, we have some ancient snake god messing with things, some strange Society, a bunch of assassins apparently, walking corpses, Apaches, there fear those things are filling this town with just makes it all worse without you lot fixin' to kill one another. Heck, we actually pull our heads out of our asses work together it'd be them shakin' in their boots. Look at us. Work together and we could terrorize the damn terrors." He spat. "Or you all can act like fools and weaken the best hope this damned town has."

A thought occurs to William.
"Also, if you kill me, who will help you deal with the infected people? Tell you how to prevent them from turning?"

"To be honest, I'd rather all of this not come to violence. I've had my share of violence for one day. I think we all have. But this man here...William Pierce as you call him, shot me in the back without provocation, and Gus stood by my side. If he's going to try and take Gus down, I stand with Gus even if it means I die again. I've lost a lot recently, so I don't have much to live for. If I can keep one thing, that's loyalty."

"Take him down?"
William raises an eyebrow.
"You're the only ones with guns drawn. And your... friend was heckling my friend just now.
As for shooting you in the back... you were about to take a shot at the only man I knew in this god-forsaken town. Don't deny it. From all I knew, I was acting in the defense of a man."

Also, getting shot in the back kinda seems to be a theme of this dirthole place anyway. he thought.

He felt the ogre in the back of his skull shift in unease at the continuing situation.

"I know, it's pretty unbelievable that I feel the need to be armed in the presence of vampire that not only shot me in the back but thinks he can read minds, but I guess we all have our quirks," he said.

Trismestigus on the topic of snakes:
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:47, Fri 02 Nov 2012.

"You have a poor taste in friends, Mr. Pierce." Evans snaps back. "Your 'friend' Seven of Spades is guilty of at least one murder - we have an eye witness for that." he gestures at Adrain with the hand holding his detection device. "Your other 'friend' Danny O'Conner is a jayhawking bushwhacker and cattle thief who is host to a demon that nearly killed three people today. The two girls clinging to you like barnacles are responsible for the death of god knows how many people through their vile infection! I quite think Mr. Shaw's beef is legitimate!"

"Ambrose..." Father O'Rourke says. "John is right. We have to work together if we are to deal with the troubles that face us. Let William finish telling me what he's learned. Then he can take the girls, and Mr. O'Conner as well, and they can all skip town together."

"And cause trouble in some other township!" Evans says back. "No! I will not have it! I will not allow this to spread beyond Blackthorn's borders! The threat must be neutralized now! And unless the vampires are willing to submit to several hours beneath a pair of dental pliers, then I don't see any way this cannot end badly!"

"Just say the word, Marshal." Gus growls. "Me an' Adrian will back your play."

((OOC: Oy. Anybody got a way of breaking the stalemate? Any cards or clever ideas? Because I think the situation is about to degenerate without something stepping in...))

The automaton refocuses on the argument around it after a minute or so spent staring at something inside the church, static hissing softly.

"Gus Shaw caused Danny Albatross to be minus humanity and has not repented," it points out to Evans. "Danny Albatross is trying very hard and hasn't stabbed anyone for approximately one hour, twelve minutes."

There's some ticking. "Vampires, promise not to cause people minus green vegetables to become infected with biting. Pierce William Pierce, hand weapon to self." Clearly the clank has what it considers a Plan, though whether it hinges on the same reality as everyone else's may be up for debate.

Before William can get too angry or Adrian too smug, the tin-can angel holds out a hand in that direction, too. "Deputy Vega, also hand weapons to self: you are causing negative energies, which are bad for y'all, also high probability attracting plus demons to immediate area."

[[I think it's time for Wildcat to come down to see what's up and shout some sergeant-like sense into the boys]]

PM

Adrian sat there with one of the Harbinger's guns pointed at William Pierce, the bloody bastard that shot him in the back. He wasn't planning on firing, but something inside of him urged him to do so. Something was pulling at him, and he was fighting it. To all outward appearances his face was fixed in a mask of torment, contorted as he struggled mightily to control what was trying to take him over and drive him to act based on this primal urge to kill. He almost wanted to surrender to it; it would feel good to get a little revenge, and that feeling was just one more thing he had to fight. He knew, though that if he let it out, he didn't know where it would stop or what else it would do after shooting Pierce - and he just wasn't willing to take that chance. Despite having to wrangle many motivations and purposes, the native son of Blackthorn managed to put it all away - bottle it up for another day. A day that he wished would never come, but knew better.

"Marshal Evans, this is your call," he said, after a few tense and mind wrenching moments, echoing Gus Shaw's sentiment.


OOC:
15:12, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 14,7 using d12+3,d6+3, rerolling max with rolls of 11,4. Dominion.

Evans frowns, considering the situation.

"Surrender your weapons to Deputy Alouette." he says at last. "Both of you. Mr. Shaw, I would appreciate it if you returned my flame thrower to me."

John breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure what he would have done had violence broken out. Tried to knock the senseless people senseless perhaps, if he could even manage, he was good in a brawl but he wasn't invulnerable and it'd likely just piss people off a might bit further rather than do anything. He'd watch the exchange of weapons in silence, provided no one did anything stupid he'd eventually speak up again. "So, present trouble aside, what's our tally of plagues tonight?" he asked, moving to take a seat wherever he could. It had been a long long long day, to say the absolute least.

William waits for the others surrendering their Weapons first.
No sense in getting shot because I drew blank...

"What about you, Marshal? You're going to burn me once I'm unarmed? Or do I have your word you'll kep the truce?"

Evans frowns. "You are the one whose trustworthiness is in doubt here, Mr. Pierce. If you want this to remain a truce rather than an arrest, be the first to show you deserve some trust."

"Speed and strength of vampire minus weapon equals speed and strength of mortal plus weapon," the clank points out, mechanically patient.

It doesn't seem to have an answer to John John's question. "Temporal calculation error: incalculable amount."

For a long minute, William just stands there. Then his right hand clutches the grip of the pistol in his holster and he pulls it from it, turning it smoothly around so that the handle looks forward. Still, for a second, it seems that William will turn the gun around once more, emptying it into the three men before him.
Then his left pulls his other pistol from his belt, repeating the maneuver.
He holds the guns out toward Alouette.
"I'm trusting them to you, Alouette. Take care of my friends", he nods slightly toward the right gun "and I expect them back. Soon."

Then he looks back at the marshal, expecting betrayal and death.

"Okay!" the clank chirps, taking the weapons in a firm if decidedly unsafe one-handed bunch, still in the way with the other hand still held out towards Adrian.

In reply to The Stray (msg # 134):

Slowly Jake closed the book and set a hand on it. "Not much help. I guess we know more than we did but what use is it?" As he got up, Jake glanced around to see who was still in the church as he'd completely ignored the interior of the building previously.

OOC: Going outside to find Evans but figured Jake might notice someone/something important in the church... or not

After Pierce handed his gun in, the man had after all shot him in the back, he handed the scythe-tipped pistol to Alouette. "Here you go," he said. Then he drew and handed the second scythe-tip pistol to the clank.

Weapons were a comfort to Adrian, and it felt disquieting to be rid of them, but he did so out of respect for the Marshal - even though it was something of a pointless charade. The vampire likely didn't need weapons to try and kill him again. Fortunately for Adrian, his capacity for self defense against such unnatural things was fairly strong without weapons as it stood.

"Self has all the guns!" Alouette announces brightly, awkwardly clutching its armload of assorted lethal weapons.

It turns its attention to Gus. "Now give Ambrose his flame-thrower back."

This thread is continued on the Chapter 16.2 Thread. Please resume posting there.