Jake pinched between his eyes, much as one would with a massive headache. "I'm no good here ... the snake is too close to the surface, and I'm not sure I can keep him down," the words came out with the weak tone of a defeated man

"Who will you take?" Mrs. Bruebaker asks soberly. "Much as I'd like to give the savages a seeing-to, I don't want to take the girls into that mess, Glenn's injured and the old miner's sick; some of us will need to stay, I think."

"Put on your big boy pants, Jake. Let's go help the Marshal sort this thing out. Moping around out there on your own is just gonna get yourself killed. It don't matter whether that's what you want or not, it's no damn good to anybody else," he said.

"Mrs. Bradshaw," he said, tipping his hat to her, gesturing to Jake to come after. Clutching the book in hand, he went after the Marshal to see what was afoot.

In reply to Jake Lawrence (msg # 202):

[[of OOC thread comment - sorry, I forgot to leave that bit ^ up there to show it related to the folk over in the study.]]

"Indeed, how will going outside help with that? There's no point in being so prideful you die a pointless - pointless! - death. Just...let us help you." The widow nods distractedly at Adrian, still watching Jake.

Heavy knocking sounds at the door - or probably more like somebody kicking at the door with the heel of his boot.

"This is Pierce and Alouette coming in! Don't shoot!"

William waits for a few tense seconds, before opening the door and entering the house again.

The Widow Bradshaw gives a little "Eep!" and gets out of the way. She looks upset, and seems to have been confronting Bitter Waters, who is currently clutching an axe.

The clank can be heard imparting sage advice to Hank out in the laundry room. "...conscience be your guide, not the demons in your mind."

"Interrupting something, are we?"
Pierce offers a rare smile.
"I take it Lawrence here is off the rails again? You should sit down and have a drink. I've rarely seen someone who seemed to need one more urgently than you do."
He looks at the others.

"The vampires are dead. Or fled. There is none left here. Have you discussed how we can help Father O'Rourke? And that foolish nun?"

"Your kind words are much appreciated." Jake said. He sat the found axe against whatever surviving counter he could and leaned against it himself.

After some altercation with the clank not quite audible from the kitchen, Hank shoulders his way between William and Widow Bradshaw. The clank, oddly enough, seems to have gone outside again.

"Sarah's steam wagon's still out there," Hank reports. "-I'd have dragged her mule into the barn but the damn thing hates me. There's a trail all right...I reckon a few of us with as bad-type-pain-causin' weaponry as we can find could travel fastest. Hit the thing up, keep it occupied: an old metal wagon like that should be good as armour, right?"

"I don't know..." the widow says, chafing her arms and eyeing Jake warily. She brushes stray tears from her cheek. "I think we should think carefully before splitting up..."

"We don't have time for that," Hank urges.
"Where'd Wes- uh, Hardin got to? We might need his boots."

---

Adrian wanders through the foyer and into the living room, intending to head for the study. There's a horse in the living room, however, which despite the bag over its head to keep it calm might prove difficult to pass without getting kicked.

It's a very familiar horse.


[[I just remembered that Spades' horse would of course be the one he stole from Adrian when he murdered him...you can Stealth or Ride check your way past to sneak or calm the beast (which can hear and smell you, badly, just not see you), or just wander on past and roll Agility to avoid nervous-horse-in-enclosed-space damage.]]

William nods "Where's Alouette going? The clank?"

"I told it to go jump in a lake - it asked me somethin' but I just waved it to go away and it wandered off," Hank reports distractedly. "Why'd you let that thing follow you around anyway? Seems like it'd always be in the way, asking questions and such. Its big lenses give me the creeps, too...no way to see what the hell's going on in there."

"You said...?" Pierce lets out a sigh and goes toward the door, opening it.
"ALOUETTE! FORGET ABOUT THE LAKE AND COME HERE! WE NEED YOU!"

He glowers at Hank.
"Trust me, this clank is a great ally. But you need to be careful. Takes everything literally."

Cautiously surveying the room, Adrian decided that if he was nimble enough, getting around a horse with a bag over its head wouldn't be a problem. But just in case he would, he decided to pull in a little juice. It'd been a while since he had gotten to anyway...And his luck was with 'im - even if just barely.

He felt about as nimble as he could remember feeling as he made his move.

---

OOC:

• Adrian Deals with the Devil for 2 Power Points.
• He draws 11 Cards as per usual, and gets a pair o' 10s. That's all he needs!
• He doesn't need to use the Joker - but isn't that a Joker's Wild?
• This Boosts his Agility from d10 to d12
• Spellcasting: 7 (after Red Chip)
• Agility: 9 (Success and Raise!)

18:08, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: AS, 10H, 10C, BJ!, 9D, 8C, QS, 6S, 5C, 4S, KD using the Deadlands system. Deal with the Devil Boost Trait (2PP).
18:17, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 3,2 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,2. Spellcasting.
18:17, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 4 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4. Red Chip.
18:15, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 9,4 using d12,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 9,4. Agility (Boosted).

"Well, I'm going to want to take at least my deputies, as well as someone who has a firm grasp on the metaphysics of the situation." He looks over at Harry Lazarus. "Are you well-versed enough to assist? More to the point, are you feeling well enough?"

He looks over the others. "Also, we're going to need someone to guide us down in the tunnels. And I'm going to want to take those two gunmen that came with Sister Sarah...I don't feel comfortable leaving them behind."

The cat-footed Harry Lazarus startles a little at being addressed.

[[He was down here? I don't remember him coming down...must've been standing behind Mrs. Bruebaker...]]

"Uh...a bit more coffee and I should be able to stay awake comfortably enough," he says, clearly still a touch unwell but determined. "I don't know a great deal about serpent wizards, but I'm willing to give what I've got."

Adrian comes in to see the Bruebaker spouses, Evans and Lazarus crowded around the study table. The horse whinnies and stanps uncertainly behind him as he closes the connecting door. It takes a moment to notice Abraham, since he's managing to do the butler thing of staying still in the background like one of those camoflaged moths, guarding the open safe.

In reply to William Pierce (msg # 213):

There's a pause in which the long pattering of the hail is the only audible sound before the familiar patter of awkward metallic feet. Hank frown in bemusement.

"Howdy, Names William Pierce!"

Having consulted his cards just recently, he was riding high on that feeling. It was the fun of gambling, the thrill of the chase. Getting a pair wasn't good enough to tide him over though. He needed a better hand, so he drew again. And then he leaned against the wall, consulting the book Bitter Waters had given him. He felt that rush again as he pulled a Full House, and as he began to dig into the book he was holding to see if it held any answers to their dilemma.

He thought that he could get lost in this book and we very tempted to do so, as it seemed like he could learn some new tricks from it maybe, but he managed eventually to pull himself away from it.

---

OOC:

Adrian is attempting to consult Trimestigus for knowledge of how to find and defeat powerful aetheric entities such as the Serpent which has captured Sister Sarah.

• Adrian Deals with the Devil for 2 Power Points to boost his Knowledge
• He draws 11 Cards as per usual, and gets a full house - threes over twos. The spell goes off with an automatic raise, and for double duration!
• He doesn't need to use either of the two Jokers - but isn't that another Joker's Wild? Or two?
• This Boosts his Knowledge from d4 to d8
• Knowledge: 7
• Spirit: 8 (Success and Raise!)

12:02, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: 3H, JD, BJ!, AS, 2S, 3S, RJ!, 2H, 9H, 5D, 3C using the Deadlands system. Deal with the Devil Boost Trait (2PP).
13:23, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 5,7 using d8+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 3,5. Knowledge.
13:26, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 8,5 using d12,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 8,5. Spirit.




This message was last edited by the player at 07:12, Mon 16 Feb 2015.

The book proves extremely informative, though it gives Adrian the unsettling impression that it's reading him back.

"Good lad." Evans smiles. "We will need all the help we can get, but we also need someone who has experience dealing with these things."

He looks over at Glenn. "That means someone from your lodge. Ward would be ideal, but is obviously unavailable. Frost and Whateley are dead. That leaves you and Mrs. Bradshaw, Glenn. So tell me...are you so heartless as to put the safety of Mrs. Bradshaw at risk, seeing as she is blameless in this situation and you are not? Or are you courageous enough to come with us, stand against the serpents, and make a difference? To come with us to defeat a threat that you helped create, and which now threatens not only your self but your town and your family?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:14, Sun 15 Feb 2015.

"Provoke a threat, you mean," the Mayor huffs disdainfully. "See here, Evans, do you really expect me to leave my family surrounded by savages and God-knows-what out there in the dark, on the off-chance we might be able to overpower one serpent?"

"As for Bradshaw, hmph, I would wager you know very little of her designs or what she's capable of. If it weren't for Percival, she'd-"

"Glenn!"

"Sorry dear. The woman is a little...reckless. Besides, she was complicit in all the-"

Mrs. Bruebaker leans forward on the desk again, looking hard at Evans. "He's wounded. What is it you believe he could do to this creature, and would he be the best one to do it?" Her voice and expression are absoloutely rational, though the real question is clear: Would these results be worth my husband's life and the lack of a father for my children?

[[I...think she's the one you should be asking if you want to take Glenn.]]

Evans meets her eyes. "Ma'am, in an unspecified amount of time, a deranged shaman is going to complete a ritual that will awaken a demon serpent older than Jesus Christ. When that serpent awakens, the damage will be catastrophic. At a minimum, Blackthorn and everything in the surrounding environs will be either destroyed by the awakening, or devoured by the legions of spirit snakes it has spawned. But the whole south of Texas could be consumed by this monster and its brood, and perhaps the entire Confederacy. At the very least, hundreds of people will die. At most, the mind boggles at the sheer extent of death and misery this thing could cause."

His eyes narrow. "This situation is, to a large degree, his fault. An error which he then compounded with several attempts, directly and indirectly, to murder those of us actually working to prevent such a catastrophe. The reason he was wounded? Also his fault, as he was the one who offered safe harbor for the vampire vixen and her spawn at the Oriental. We found the minutes of the Enlightened Society's last meeting before all the trouble started. They knew what Vanderholt was. He knew. If you don't believe me, I have a copy of the minutes right here." He pats his pocket for effect. "As does the Ranger who was investigating the town. Even if, by some miracle, we are able to thwart the monster with out his help, your life and the life of your children as you have known it is over. The Rangers will take him away. Unless you wish to become fugitives, running from the law into the Disputed Territories or up into the Union."


He softens his voice. "There is only one way I can help your family. Glenn needs to be seen putting right what he did wrong. He is the only one here who can read the notes Ward left behind. We may be able to fashion a counter-summoning with that knowledge in case Ward falls. At the very least, his talents of persuasion can be used against the Comanche, perhaps even coercing them into turning on their shaman, making our goal considerably easier. And if they work on the cold-blooded as well as the warm-blooded, well, so much the better. They say St. Patrick rid Ireland of its snakes by herding them into the sea with his staff. Glenn can do that with his voice. He also knows a charm to make people invisible, which would certainly be handy for any infiltration. And those are only the abilities I know about through experience. That is what I believe he can do, and why I believe he is the best one to do it."

And his implication is equally clear: and this is the only way I'll use my influence to keep the Rangers from taking him away.

Mrs. Bruebaker holds out her hand for the evidence, jaw set but otherwise showing little of the conflicting emotions surely boiling within her ample bosom. "Should we survive," she says, no louder than the growl of a sow bear seeing her cubs beyond a hunter's hand. "One Ranger will be a small problem."

She listens intently to the rest, ignoring Glen's half-mumbled protest that he doesn't speak Comanche and that most of his powers are serpent-based. "Glen, go with him," she tells the Mayor, her voice much softer than it was to Evans.

The Mayor scowls and bristles...then deflates. "May I at least have a brief word in private with my wife out in the living room?" he asks, heaving himself up from the desk.

In reply to Hank Miller (msg # 212):

Back in the kitchen, Widow Bradshaw hastily sets to getting the cake out of the oven. "There we go...I'm still not sure about this splitting up buisness, but we do need to be there as soon as possible," her hands shake badly as she plumps the cake out onto a baking rack.

"Who is splitting up?" Alouette asks generally. "Are they minus integrity?"

Hank tries to work out if that's an insult.

Adrian cleared his throat, indicating that he would speak, as there seemed to be a pause for the first time. "Got this book from Bitter Waters, and it talks a little bit about these serpent manitous. Apparently, their manifestations are pretty hard to kill because they can regenerate through their magic and also have some hypnotic powers. It lists some vulnerabilities for them here. Alcohol. Their own venom, or venom of their close kin. They can manifest in human form too - may indicate how he plans to do what he plans to do with Sister Sarah, makin' 'er his wife and all. Oh, also...they have a weakness for riddles and wordplay," he said, getting it all out quickly, for fear that he'd be interrupted and forget to mention something important.

Adrian looked back down at the book and flipped through it a bit more, keeping a mark on the page that had the snake information.

((OOC: I don't remember if William is already aware of the plans...))

"Sounds like a few folks will stay here, while the rest go after Father O'Rourke and the nun."
He turns to the widow.
"We need to be where, exactly?"