"Careful now. Keep your eyes open, father."

William scans the surroundings, instinctively looking for snipers, hidden gunmen or any other dangers. It was too easy to get distracted by the giant clank.

22:45, Today: William Pierce rolled 8,11 using d6+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of 4,(6+1)7. Notice.

Pierce notices the gleam of undead eyes from over near the corner of the barn before the black vampire slips away into deeper shadow. A pale, skinny man watches the clank's antics from a comfy spot leaning against the opened barn door and throws something at it in an attempt to catch its attention or draw it away from the bunkhouse. "Who's a pretty boy, then? Coo-ee, birdie!"

[[Vampires! rolled 5 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5. Notice?
Arthur Whateley rolled 1,1 using d6-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 2,2. Notice?]]

William's eyes are sharp enough to note the object as part of a charred femur; Vinny is nowhere to be seen, but there's a sort of crumbly ashy patch where he was.

"I'm afraid my eyes aren't as good in the dark," the priest says softly, trying to look beyond the light. "What do you see?"


[[Father William O'Rourke, rolled 0,0 using d6-4,d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 4,4. Notice?]]

(Do I have the Drop on the Vampire?)

Instead of replying, William strides forward, trusting that the noise of the clank will hide his own movement.
He reaches out with his left and touches the skinny man's shoulder, turning him around to face him. At the same time he pulls a stake from his belt and once satisfied that the thing in front of him is another undead, drives it deep into the creature's chest.

"There's one more!" he growls, nodding into the direction where the other vampire, the black one, disappeared into the shadows.


09:12, Today: William Pierce rolled 14,5 using d6+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of (6+4)10,1. Notice. Making sure the target's a vampire.


09:08, Today: William Pierce rolled 6,4 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,4. white chip.
09:08, Today: William Pierce rolled 3,3 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,3. Fighting.

09:09, Today: William Pierce rolled 8,10 (total 18) using d10,d4, rerolling max with rolls of 8,(4+4+2)10. Stake damage.

Initiative: 09:14, Today: William Pierce drew the single card: JD using the Deadlands system. Initiative.

[[ *sigh* Yep, but also a MAP for jogging over there, since Pace is something like two metres in 'reality', so it's a +2 at most. Still, since I gave you the heartshot for big damage on Vinny, I might as well be consistent...ya got him.

Arthur Whateley rolled 6,1 using d8-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 7,2. vigour vs.18. Locked!]]


The thin man stops mid-growl at being manhandled as William's massive blow shears through his sternum and pins him to the barn. Truly stops. He's not deader than he was or mouldering at all, but he's certainly not going anywhere.

Pierce notes half-extended claws on the hand frozen partway towards his coat.


[[You realise one-shotting all the big superpowerful ones means I have to kobold y'all to death now, right? If you want combat you'll have to go find the other buggers, they're sure as hell not sticking about right now.]]

((My luck's gonna run out sooner or later.. ))

William leans on the stake, twisting it a little.
"More family, ey? I wonder if Marina feels what's happening to you."
He calls over his shoulder:"Father! can you see about Alouette? And then we'll need to find a way to end this fellow here permanently."
He leans in Howard's the vampire's face.
"Just like we ended Vincent over there. I'm wondering who's going to play with your bones."

The thin man looks surprised and slightly annoyed, not that he has a choice.

"Right," the priest responds, limping as swiftly and cautiously as possible over to the bunkhouse.

[[At this rate it'll be a freak accident involving a pencil, a slippery floor and careless positioning of candles some time after you've KO'd Stone...]]

William reaches into bis coat pocket and pulls out the pair oft pliers he had picked up in that hardware store.
"Smile, you ugly fuck", he says as he pries the vampire's mouth open, then pulls the things fangs out.
"Just a little keepsake. And you won't need them anymore, anyway."

Then he looks around, making sure there is no surprise lurking.
11:49, Today: William Pierce rolled 6,8 using d6+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of 2,4. Notice?

The rather girlishly pretty-if-pallid man looks surprised and slightly annoyed. William has to pound away and break the outer maxilla a little before he can lever such long teeth free, which makes the fellow uglier, but the damage starts healing - if slowly - straight away.

The priest, who would probably not approve, is holding up his light by the bunkhouse, taking care to check there's nothing lurking behind the privy before kicking the door fully open. Pierce notices a dull wooden 'thud' and a faint scraping from the barn, and that the rain is working in through the damage to his coat, but nothing more.

"Bloody resilient, you are."

Fire can kill them. "If you're so susceptible to fire... I wonder what it takes to light you."

William pulls a box of matches from his coat, and strikes three of them. He shields the flickering flames with his hand and raises them to the vampire's hand, holding them under the undead flesh.

((Basically, I'm checking if Arthur can be set ablaze by mundane means as well. He's not like soaked in gasoline or anything, but it's worth a shot. Maybe his unholy body reacts to the cleansing fire?))

The thin man looks surprised and slightly annoyed as William tries to set fire to his clothes, his skin and his nose hair, bones gradually resettling in his face. It seems he's too wet to catch light, though, and the wind makes short work of every match Pierce manages to light.


[[Fortunately, he's naturally Very Flammable.
Unfortunately, that wet stuff falling from the sky dampens the effect back down to Flammable (catches on a 6).

21:44, Today: Alouette, on behalf of Arthur Whateley, rolled 2 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2. on fire? Nope.]]

He's shortly distracted, however, by a dimly-glimpsed figure doing a brief, hopping run out from around the far end of the bunkhouse before scuttling back behind the building. William gets no time to process this oddity, however, as a sudden blue-white fire blooms over the porch with a distant {crack}.

[[Vampires!, rolled 5 using 1d4-2, rerolling max with rolls of (4+3)7. throwin'.
Good grief, he made it.
Vampires! rolled 10 using 2d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,5. boom! That'll crack even Ward's heavy door.

Vampires! rolled 1 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1. porch on fire? The nice dry porch, at least, is not on fire.]]

"Damn."
William tries to twist the Stake around to take the vampire off from the door.
He would need to help the priest... but he'd bring his new favorite piece of furniture with him, if he can.

((Strength? Agility? d10 in any case...

11:14, Today: William Pierce rolled 7,2 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,2. White chip.
11:14, Today: William Pierce rolled 1,5 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,5. Agility or Strength.))

[[Agility, I think - he's not heavy, but he is awkward to carry, especially to get off the door without de-staking him.]]

William's favourite piece of furniture looks surprised and slightly annoyed as Pierce works him off the door and hauls him over one shoulder.

[[oh, hey, free battering ram/ramp/doorstop...101 uses for a staked Greater. I'll roll for the pries later, he's probably untangled the angel by now]]

William shoulders the vampire, grabbing the stake with his right.
He hurries over to the bunkhouse and kicks the door open ((assuming it's slightly ajar, not trying to tear it down )) And walks in.
He drops the vampire next to the fireplace and nods a greeting at the priest.

"We need to burn this piece of shit before someone unlocks him. And there's more outside. How's Alouette?"

Casually, the gunslinger starts ripping the vampire's wet clothes off of him.

The priest releases his bloody grip on the crowbar for a moment, trying to lever up a mess of furniture wedged into the back corner. "She's not damaged under there, but I'm getting a bit feeble with loss o' blood."

[[Father William O'Rourke, rolled 0,3 using d4-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 2,5. strong priest?]]

There's a muffled "Howdy Names William Pierce!" from under the trashed bunks. The priest watches with concern as William begins cutting and tearing the clothes off his quarry in front of the woodburner, but doesn't question it.

[[There's kindling in there, tinder and logs scattered nearby. His shoulders probably won't fit in there, though. The place generally looks like a bombsite, smashed and scattered stuff everywhere, trails of blood, mud and so on, the small door at the back is actually bashed in and on the floor. The place reeks of whiskey, so probably some of the miscallaneous wet on the floor is alcohol.

Give me a Notice check, please.]]

20:55, Today: William Pierce rolled 14,6 using d6+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of (6+4)10,2. Super-Notice!


"You should've called me in earlier, Father." Pierce flings the wet clothes unceremoneously into a corner.

Guess we'll burn the bunkhouse down with him in it.

"I didn't want t'distract you - you're a sight more likely than I to destroy one of these, being a match for their strength and speed." He takes another go at the wreckage, grimacing in pain until he has to stop and grip his bruised shoulder. The shift is enough for Alouette to get an arm free and start digging out of the wreckage on its own, however.

[[Father William O'Rourke, rolled -1,-1 using d4-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 1,1. strength!
Alouette rolled 3,7 using d6-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 5,(6+3)9. strength! (encumbered)]]

"If you damage Doctor Ward's property, he will shoot you from ten paces away," it warns the gunslinger. "Then you will be plus hungry," it adds.

William hears a soft glpglpglp noise, very close, then scuffing on the roof, moving away.

"If we must burn him, there's probably some kerosene in here somewhere, if only in the lamps," the priest points out, looking around for some.

{{OOowaaaaaiiiieee...eeeeee...eeeee}}

Some screaming, sparking thing flops into the doorway William came though, at once puffing out a cloud of smoke. It takes William a moment to realise it's a damp-yet-flaming mass of hay, and that the teeth-gritting wail is-

"There must still be bits o' ghost rock in the barn! We've got to warn the h-*ough* *cough*" the priest flaps vaguely at the house as he breaks down into coughing.

"We need to get you out first!"

William grabs a few pieces of furniture and starts pulling, trying to help free Alouette.

((Is the door the only exit?
22:12, Today: William Pierce rolled 6,3 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,3. Strength for freeing Alouette.

))

Alouette at once marches past William, picks up a blanket, and hurries to the smaller, broken-in doorway at the end of the building to throw it in a puddle just over the threshold.

The priest tries to say something between coughs, but can't get enough air to be heard over the ghost rock wail. He grabs up his lantern and heads out of the door, almost hitting Alouette returning with its soggy blanket.


[[The main door (barn end) is the one with the haybomb. The broken down one is at the corral/cookhouse end, where the moltov-throwing vampire was last seen.]]

((How long will it take me to set Arthur on fire?))

[[Depends how you're setting him on fire :
- if you want to find some kerosene to pour over him and light, about a minute
- to light the woodburner and stick his head/feet in, about 15 seconds
- to throw him on the haybomb and hope he catches, about 5 seconds, though the clank's about to helpfully throw a damp blanket over that.]]

"Hold on a second, I have to make sure he doesn't get up anymore!"

William heaves the vampire's head into the fireplace, wedging him in as good as possible. Then he spread kindling over his head and across his chest, then rips open a pillow and spreads the filling over the body.

Finally, he lights another match and holds it to a few pieces of paper he tears from a book.
He watches the fire spread on his make-shift firestarter, then drops it onto the kindling.
He waits for another tense moment, just to make sure the fire takes hold, then runs after Alouette and the priest.

Whilst William is busy finding suitable kindling, Alouette dumps the blanket on the bundle of burning hay. Even more smoke spreads with a spurt of sparks, making it difficult to see, but the quieting wail of ghost rock suggests that the fire will soon go out.

[[minus fire?
19:41, Today: Alouette got the result "It is certain" on the magic 8-ball. The blanket was damp enough. Go Abraham's fire safety teaching!]]

The clank patters after the priest just as William gets his fire started. Before the gunslinger-turned-vampire-hunter can clear the threshold, however, he notes the priest staring upward in alarm. "Look out - fire!"

[[Father William O'Rourke rolled 13,3 using d6-2,d6-2, rerolling max (((6+6+3)15,5)). Notice?
Roll Agility for me, please.]]

21:10, Today: William Pierce rolled 3,5 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,5. Agility.

William doesn't waste time looking into the direction the priest points to, but rather jumps toward him, trying to get away from whatever is burning.

The priest throws his arms up in front of his face as there's an odd *crink* {{WHOOMPH}} from the woodburner. A piece of metal buries itself in the doorframe beside William as he flies past, a wave of heat passing over his body.

[[So first off, that nearby glugging noise was the guy on the roof pouring kerosene down the chimney pipe.

Alouette rolled 10 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+4)10. fuego! I...yeah, Arthur's not going to survive that. Nor is the pipe. Boom! William looks super-cool escaping the explosion, though he's now jumping through the doorway the priest noticed the guy on the roof igniting (having also quietly poured oil over that whilst no-one could hear anything for the ghost rock)...

Alouette, on behalf of William Pierce, rolled 11 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+5)11. fuego! Oh dear, he's on fire, too. How much on fire?
Alouette, on behalf of William Pierce, rolled 7 using 1d10, rerolling max with rolls of 7. Enough to make him Shaken.]]

It takes almost half a second for him to realise that the warmth isn't fading. In fact, his backside seems to be getting considerably warmer.

"Roll it out!" O'Rourke calls, casting aside his crowbar and starting towards William to help. A step away he rears back.

*CRACK*

Blood starts hot and fresh along O'Rourke's jawline as someone hidden by the angle of elevation fires from the roof. "Jesus! -watch over us. God, please, we beg Thee see us safe..." he fumbles out his rosary and holds the crucifix at the end up towards the direction of the shot, teeth gritted as the blood rolls down his already-scarred neck. There's a dim hiss from the roof, and steps scrambling away.

Alouette crosses its arms, stuck between the need to fetch a towel-like object to put out fires and the need to 'arrest' hostile undead, and the fact that most of the cloth in the bunkhouse and wherever it's left its hickory stick is now on fire.

"Hmm."


[[Vampires! rolled 4 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4. shootin'. Hit.
14 damage once I'd finished making a mess on the dice roller, which is 2 Wounds for O'Rourke.

Father William O'Rourke rolled -1,13 using d6-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 1,(6+6+3)15. epic soak attempt. Soaked! He is just too badass for that. He priests at them to give William a chance to get up.

Father William O'Rourke, rolled 3,-1 using d10-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 5,1. holy-fu! pfft...

21:22, Today: Alouette, on behalf of Vampires! rolled 3 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3. *hsssss!* Draw. Technically he can attack, but the three of you have proved too dangerous to engage directly, so he withdraws out of sight along the roof.

Alouette would help, but it deals badly with logic loops - feel free to yell priorities at it]]

10:47, Today: William Pierce rolled 5,1 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,1. Unshake.

Hm. That means I can try to douse the flames, but I need to take a -2 to the roll, right?

10:48, Today: William Pierce rolled 2,7 using d10-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,(6+3)9. Blue chip.

10:48, Today: William Pierce rolled -1,2 using d10-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4. Extinguishing fire!



William rolls around on the muddy ground, then slips out of his coat, staggering away from it.

"ALOUETTE! Bring that fucking coward down from the roof!"

He pulls his Ghost Gun, scanning the area.
Even pissed off as he is, he can still appreciate their tactics. Smart. Would've been my move, too.


10:53, Today: William Pierce drew the single card: 7D using the Deadlands system. Initiative.

10:53, Today: William Pierce rolled 11,6 using d6+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of (6+1)7,2. Super-Notice.