OOC: 16:35, Today: Jake Lawrence drew the single card: 5S using a deck of 54 cards. Initiative .

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"So, what's happening down here?" Jake called as he descended the stairs. "Don't go shootin' the guy with the piss bucket."

"There's a...thing! It hops!" a fancy but somewhat roughed-up man tells Jake, turning and shaking a watermelon at him. "-and this melon's trying to kill us!"

Jake abruptly realises the watermelon is shaking itself, and in fact seems to be making muffled *zzzrl!*zzzzrl!* noises.

"Goddamn watermelons! Bitter Waters, you gotta get some of that piss on the Chinaman zombie!" he exclaimed as the Marshal was taken down briefly, clearly frustrated by his inability to act directly. Well, at least he could see if he could channel his mental energies into helping those with free hands.

OOC:
So I was going to try and have Adrian attack him, and then realized that he couldn't because he has his hands full, literally. Instead, here's another pass at boosting the Marshal's Agility:

Deal with the Devil: 2 Pair (8H, 8D, 9H, 9S) which gives 4 Power Points, enough for the spell and two additional rounds.
Spellcasting: 13 (success and raise)

This should boost the Agility of Marshal Evans by 2 steps for 3 rounds.

Note: Not using the Joker!

Next Round: KD

17:28, Today: Adrian Vega drew the single card: KD using the Deadlands system. Initiative.
17:28, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 13,1 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (8+5)13,1.
14:44, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: 2C, BJ!, 9H, JD, KC, 8H, 9S, 10C, 5H, 4H, 8D using the Deadlands system. Deal.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:40, Wed 30 Apr 2014.

The hopping thing still seems to be hesitating, claws twitching...then abruptly the dead Chinaman hops back twice then starts off to the side. There's a *bang* of wood on flags as Seven turns the table over to barricade against the door in case the suddenly-decisive jiang shi reaches the kitchen.

"No no no no..."


[[Tao Jing rolled 3,12 using d8+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 1,(6+4)10. how proof? plus plus proof! 4 points of chi armour vs. magical attack back up an' rolling. Jingles also decides to retreat from that nasty blaze of unmixed chi known as Percy piddle, heading back towards the kitchen. Spades isn't keen.

Initiative!
Tao Jing RJ!
Adrian Vega KD
Goddamn watermelon QS
Harry Lazarus 5C
Jake Lawrence 5S
Ambrose Evans 4C ]]

"Die faster, you sonuvabitch!" Adrian growled at the jiang shi likely in futility. He didn't think it could understand him, nor did he believe that in the unlikely case that it did understand him that it would comply with his orders. Nevertheless, there were some things that he could do even with his hands full, and his luck was running about as hot as his temper just about now.

OOC:
Deal with the Devil: Flush (Spell goes off with a raise)

I'm using this to Lower Trait on Jingles. This should lower his vigor by 2 steps for 3 rounds.

20:49, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: 2H, 5S, 3D, 3C, 8C, KC, 8H, 9S, 9H, 5C, 2C using the Deadlands system.

For purposes of information tracking, I believe Adrian is on the fourth round of his agility boost. He has two more before it expires.

"Dammit!" The dire melon manages to slip out of the dandy's grip. He claws and kicks at the fiendishly agile fruit, but to no avail.


[[vampire watermelon rolled 3 using 1d10, rerolling max with rolls of 3. escape!
Harry Lazarus rolled 2,1 using d4,d6 rerolling max with rolls of 2, 1. Hold on! Nope. He's slower than an undead melon.

Harry Lazarus rolled 3,2 using d4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,2. punt the melon! Fail.

Jake, go!]]

Jake took stock of the situation, leaving the piss bucket on the stairway as he did. He moved through the space towards the dead Chinaman and did his best to put the prayer x on the creature's forehead.

OOC: Touch attack +2, head shot -4 ... maybe? I'll just roll and the might GMs can decide.
10:18, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 2,4 using 1d4,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,4. Fighting.
10:18, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 1,4 using 1d4,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4. Benny.
10:18, Today: Jake Lawrence rolled 3 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3. Blue Chip.
4+3 == 7 ... so yeah
10:19, Today: Jake Lawrence drew the single card: 7C using a deck of 54 cards. Initiative .

Jake edges past the dapper man and hastens up to the jiang shi with little thought for life or limb. The clawed cadaver pauses, then suddenly rounds on him and lunges at the scuff of his footsteps.

Bitter Waters licks his stip of yellow copy paper and sticks the prayer to the thing's head.

The corpse stops, swaying to a stiff halt. Some reflex causes the fanged mouth and blind black eyes to calmly close; if not for the claws it could easily be imagined that some wry stray medical student had balanced a body upright with arms out as some kind of morbid hatstand arrangement.

[[Evans, go!]]

"Well I'll be goddamned." Evans mutters at the frozen vampire, then shrugs. "Alright. Now that that's done with for now, we have a fire and a vampire to deal with. Which order should we tackle these problems in?"

[[sure, let's go Out of Combat. Melon's still there, though.]]

The Marshal's speech is punctuated by a determined *zrrrl!*zrrrl!*

[[vampire watermelon rolled 7 using 1d10, rerolling max with rolls of 7. *zzrl!*. Evans...you have a 2-step Agility boost from Adrian - beat 7, or be annoyed!]]

"Oh for...!" Evans shouts and kicks back at the thing butting against his leg.

((OOC: 17:23, Today: The Amazing Evans rolled 6,2 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,2. Agility.

Really not worth chipping that, as all the melon does at that point is lower my Parry by 2.

Evans, now having superAgility, is going to try a trick right back at the thing. Size modifiers don't apply to Tricks, so this should be just a straight roll.

17:25, Today: The Amazing Evans rolled 1,8 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,(6+2)8. Agility trick!))

Evans kicks the goddamned watermelon across the hall.

*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrlllllllllll!!!*

[[vampire watermelon rolled 3 using 1d10, rerolling max with rolls of 3. Resist! Raise for Evans; the Goddamn Watermelon is kicked and Shaken.]]

"Nice job, Bitter Waters. And...what in the hell is wrong with that goddamn watermelon?" he nearly growled at the last, watching with satisfaction as the Marshal kicked the thing away. Adrian was uncertain about how he felt about being angry at a fruit, but the thing had been a pain in the neck.

"Nevermind that," he said, not really wanting a response. "I think we should deal with the fire first, and the other vampire when it becomes a problem."

"According to the others, it already mauled someone upstairs, so it may indeed be a problem, assuming I can't get to the injured in time." Evans says, keeping an eye on the watermelon. "But I heard Father O'Rourke out there, and William and Alouette were with them, and I'd much rather have at least the preacher and the holy angel clank on our side when we deal with the vampire. What's taking them so long, anyway?"

Jake gave Adrian a hard look as he said, "You call me that again, and I will shoot you."

"Yeah bringin' the holy folk, probably a smart move against vampires." He's gaze shifted as he noted the watermelon "Why is that makin' noise?"

"If you got another name you wanna be called you can ask me to call you that, but if you threaten me again, I will fuck you up and you'll be pullin' yourself outta the ground like I did this morning," he replied with cold promise, his eye now on the other huckster.

He made a mental note to keep watch on him. There was a man in this building that had actually killed him, a man outside that had tried to, and another that was threatening to, and he had had about enough of it.

Jake laughed, it wasn't at all happy laugh. No this was more like the laugh of someone who'd been to the edge of sanity time and time again and was tipping over the edge. "Well Vega if you think it'll help this situation ... then be my guest."

OOC: Jake and Adrian were introduced WAY back in Chapter 11.4: A Bullet From Rum Tum Tugger at the end of the thread -> link to a message in this game

"With everything we have goin' on in this house, I reckon' it ain't such a great idea. But I just pulled myself out of a grave this morning, put there by a man in the kitchen o' this building. There's a fuckin' vampire outside that tried to do the same and is now supposedly on our side, and now I've got you, threatening me for no damn reason. I'm sure you'll understand that I've had quite enough o' that. So I'd rather not have another enemy, but if you think that's the smart way for this to go right now, make the call, hombre," he said.

OOC:Sometime after that, I was told in a GM PM that Adrian thinks Jake's name is Bitter Waters, presumably for mystical reasons - as did other characters with Arcane Backgrounds. I know Father O'Rourke and Dr. Oswald Franklin both referred to him as such in character previously under the same presumption - without death threats to follow.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:31, Wed 07 May 2014.

((OOC: Yup, mystical reasons. EVERYONE with an arcane background knows that Bitter Waters is Jake's "real" name, thanks to Jake's interaction with Laughs at Darkness.))

The dapper man finishes checking the scratches across his chest through the rents in his shirt and hurriedly tries to pay attention.

"Sirs, please," he addresses the angry men, "It's somewhat likely your friends outside encountered trouble whilst going around to the kitchen, and if either of them is a healer it would be good to have them in here."

The melon is by now rolling in aimless arcs from where it landed, apparently unable to detect people who aren't moving.

*...zzzrl?*

"Well, I'm not sure exactly how we go about puttin' out this fire. They got sand buckets in here? That or a whole lotta water," he said to the man.

"We got one bucket with Percy's piss in it, but we should probably save that in case we got more Chinese vampires, or if that thing on his head expires. Virgin urine is apparently in short supply 'round here."

Jake remained quiet, his eyes on the strange watermelon for a long moment. "Let's get out of here, the melon is giving me the creeps."

"There are blankets that can be soaked upstairs," Harry volunteers, craning to see out of the hole in the wall. "We had the crows guarding against any threat to the porch, though - I'm not sure why they came in and didn't mob the attacker to bits..." he looks back at the top of the stairs, but the crowlets are gone.

"We can roust the men out of the living room to see to that, though, since the...jumping thing - poor man, he was screaming for his life fifteen minutes past - ah, yes, since he's...not...going. I'm sure it'll be fine." The dapper man still seems to have trouble processing the jiang shi.

"Mister Seven is hurt, though, and someone else upstairs, if I heard that right. Harry Lazarus, by the way," he offers a hand to Adrian, who can't shake it due to the mirror, and swiftly switches to offering it to the Marshal instead.

"...Personally, I think our first priority should be to get a chair over that watermelon or wedge it into a corner or something. As soon as we start moving about it'll start trying to...whatever it tries to do - bite us, I think, and I must say I'm not keen on it knocking into poor Jingles here and dislodging that paper." He rubs his chest. "I'm not sure what he did to me, but it felt quite horrible."

Adrian set the mirror down gingerly against the wall at the proper angle so that it wouldn't fall down by itself. "Adrian Vega," he said, introducing himself simply. Pretty much as soon as he set it down, he needed to make sure he was armed again, so he drew his gun.

"I can't believe I'm trying to come up with a solution to contain a goddamn watermelon. Could we maybe try luring it into that cupboard, and then shutting the door on it?" he asked.

"It's really been one of those days," Lazarus agrees, watching the confused melon nudging at the walls.

He turns to look at the cupboard. "Sounds like a good plan. Right! Co-ordination - you lure it, I shut it in, someone stands guard against it rolling awry and hitting the stiff fellow?"