Evans blinks. "Well." He says, gaping at the sudden appearance of panicked beef. He grips the flamethrower. "Time for a Texas-style barbecue, it would seem."

((OOC: Evans will ready his Flamethower. Card: 16:27, Today: The Amazing Evans drew the single card: 5S using the Deadlands system.))

Sarah looked out the window.  She saw the horde of animals attacking each other, and bellowed: "'For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind'!  The steaks are far too high, fowl beasts!  Let the might of God cow you!"  Sarah's voice rolled across the field like thunder, somehow even overcoming the roar of the storm.  The animals, birds and cows alike, paused as she called down the power of the Almighty.

For the record, the first part *is* a legitimate Bible verse.  The hideous puns were my idea.  :P  I assumed that the whole mass counted as a Large Swarm; I just want them to wander away peacefully.

18:43, Today: Sister Sarah rolled 2,5 using d12-6,d6-6, rerolling max with rolls of 8,(6+5)11. Beast Friend.

The front few animals of the herd pause, but more panicked cattle pile in behind them, causing them to stumble, bellowing. Sarah realises she's seen that green-flame-between-the-horns thing before.

The crowlets visible through the broken door swirl about, regrouping with a raucous cawwing.

"Shoo! Shoo!" the clank tries, waving its arms at a calf that skitters its way like it's an annoyed butler. That doesn't work, either.

Hank leans back, gripping the doorframe, as a confused steer blunders into the kitchen, narrowly missing him and Evans. Abbie hauls up over the side of the stairs, wooden sword between her teeth. Widow Bradshaw and Percy are already in danger of being cut off, forced into the corner with the hall cupboards under the stairs. Dave tries to fight his way across to them from the kitchen, pushing amongst the cattle.

"Percy!"

[[actually, they're a Herd, but close enough. However, 1) there're supernatural forces at play here - note the green flames - which'd cost you more than it's worth to control any one cow or steer 2) momentum is against you, so they couldn't stop dead even if they wanted/Beast Friend was perfect mind control (the book says one can 'guide' things of average animal smarts, and I tend to play it that way, 'cause "other species are your playthings" creeps me out. Yes, it's in the Bible, but so're most things.) 3) They're being actively goaded to pile in here and destroy the house; your problem isn't really the cows but the cowboys, though getting to the latter might prove tricky...

The crowlets can't be controlled via Beast Friend at all, since they're 100% supernatural creatures. Sarah can briefly understand what they're saying without Black Magic, though.

I'll get to the mechanics of the crowlet vs. possessed herd battling next round. Also, the cows'll try to avoid you at first, but it's getting rapidly less possible, so maybe cover is in order...]]

I'll duck behind the davenport, then.  I don't assume Beast Friend is perfect mind control either, but I assume I can use it to calm the cows, and maybe make them stop running hither and yon.  As long as I can get them to stop charging, that's fine.  (And no, I refuse to do it by making a pun about their credit cards. =p)

The steer in the kitchen skids around, hooves skittering on the flags, then raises its head like someone just told it something and suddenly rounds on Hank, lowering its horns.

"What the Hell," Hank says, staring.

"Heads up, kid - it's for you!" Hardin calls over, aiming.

[[The what? *googlage* Sofas are in the living room, across the foyer from you...you could retreat into the kitchen or dining room and haul a table from the barricading for cover.

..and yes, you could magically calm them, but it'd only last a split-second because the snake-spirits inhabiting their skulls (remember those horned rattlesnake spirits you insisted on fighting? Lou delayed y'all long enough that you didn't have to fight all 7, one from each steer) and the hail and the herders are actively scaring them at the same time. It's the same as magically calming someone who's on fire - it lasts not-very-long before they remember OH SHIT I'M ON FIRE, kind of thing.

Also, hilariously, due to Ward's experiments they've inherited his hatred of Yankees, which around here is...Hank. Just Hank. Maybe Evans, but he never directly helped any Union troops, to I'll ask the Magic 8 Ball:
Bane Cow got the result "It is decidedly so" on the magic 8-ball. do we hate Evans?

End Result: You've broken the herd's momentum a bit, so they're not coming at you as fast, but you're still in a room rapidly filling with very large, frightened animals. They're stompy and unpredictable and can't get out without bashing holes in the walls. Also they hate Evans. *too amused*]]
This message was last edited by the player at 09:43, Sun 31 Aug 2014.

Breaking their momentum is good enough.  I thought I was in the living room, not the kitchen; in that case, I'll hop on the kitchen counter.  By the way, I forgot to do this:

03:43, Today: Sister Sarah drew the single card: 7S using a deck of 54 cards. Init.

13:17, Today: William Pierce drew the single card: JS using the Deadlands system. Initiative.

There's a quiet gurgling/choking sound from the 'dead' vampire. It might be sobbing, but it sounds like laughter.

[[Using the last holy bullet to shoot her in the back of the head would probably work. She's laughing because this is her cavalry arriving just a little too late.

@Sarah - mind the steer! You went from carriage house to laudry room to kitchen, and had just got into the foyer when cows happened...scurrying back to perch on the kitchen counter now, you're next to a sink full of holy water and can see what's going on with Hank (being menaced by a steer), Clemmons/Hardin (who has 4 arms now) that Catholic priest and Evans]]

Got it!  Sink full of holy water?  Hmm... ;)

Jake laughed, its all he really could do at the absurdity of the situation before him. "Hahaha ... a bunch of cows! ... haha! Vampires and cows!" The huckster just slide down the nearby wall and laughed until he cried, then continued to laugh.

His mind already prepared for assault, Adrian put his inner demon back in its place with extreme prejudice and stood up, taking one last feeble swipe at the fallen woman.

"Alright, let's burn the bitch," he muttered, wiping blood away from the puncture wound.



OOC:

Dominion: 25 (including the Fatigue penalty)
Fighting: 5
Damage: 9


14:26, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 26,12 using d12+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of (12+10)22,(6+2)8. Dominion War.

15:45, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 4 using 1d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 3.
15:45, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 2,7 using d6,d8, rerolling max with rolls of 2,7. str.
15:43, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 1,2 using d4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,2. Fights.


This message was last edited by the player at 19:50, Tue 02 Sept 2014.

More cattle pile into the building, as yet unwilling to try the stairs. There's a scared neighing from the living room.

[[You going on Hold, crazy Jake?

@Adrian - Woah.  Little Friend, rolled 6 using 1d12+1, rerolling max with rolls of 5. somewhat academic Dominion roll. Yeah. ]]

OOC: Sorry for holding things up, yeah Jake is going on hold

OOC:

Init: JH

Finally rolled something over a 5!

10:11, Today: Adrian Vega drew the single card: JH using the Deadlands system. init.

[[moosics]]

More cows pour into the house, jostling each other. Another one charges into the kitchen, ploughing across the still-floury floor to collide with the first. Both mill in confusion a moment, snorting and tossing their heads.

---

Seeing mortals in danger, Alouette hastens to put itself between parties that might injure each other and tries to dissuade the cattle from their careless approach by...barking at them. "WOOF WAF WOUF WOUF WOOF WAF WOOF WAF WOOF!!!" The nearest animals shy a little and turn, but they don't really have anywhere to go.

The stamping and lowing of cattle is swiftly becoming the loudest thing anyone can hear; the cowboys down by the side of the stairs have to yell to make themselves heard.
"On three, we git Missus Bradshaw up over the stairs! One! Two! Three!"
"Oop!"

Dave and Percy boost the widow over the bannister midway up. Al stands by to steady or catch her if necessary, casting nervous glances to the nearby cows and clank.
"Now you!" Dave yells to the kid. Percy looks stricken.
"Me? But Dave-"
"I'm gonna go git the pups and be right back, then we'll think about...them." Dave jerks his head at the cold, windy, haily night.
"Do it at th' hurry-up, Dave..." Al warns. Percy reluctantly slings his rifle to his back and raises a toe to Dave's stirruped hands, though as he steadies himself against Dave's shoulder, feeling the dampness there, he looks the other Dust Adder in the eye as best he can in the gloom.
"I'm really sorry!"
"Ain't nothin'!" Dave replies, boosting him up. Al scrambles over as best he can as Dave starts trying to judge how best to move across to the living room.

[[Alouette rolled 1,4 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4. Intimidate.
Bane Cows rolled 3,3 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,3. nearest coos. Alouette wins! Not by much, but it gets +2 vs. coos next turn.

The Dust Adders concentrate on saving what is dear to them.
Percy Bradshaw rolled 4,0 using d8-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 5,1. heft mum.
Mighty Dave rolled 7,3 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,3. heft Percy.
Al the Dust Adder rolled 7 using 1d8, rerolling max with rolls of 7. heft self.

They succeed, putting Al, Widow Bradshaw and Percy on the stairs with Abbie, heading up to regroup. Dave is about at the bottom of the stairs, trying to work out how best to cross the foyer without being flattened.

Initiative!
Alouette AH
Dust Adders QS
Adrian Vega JH
William Pierce JS
Abbie Bruebaker JD
Hank Miller 9H
Sister Sarah 7S
John Wesley Hardin 6S
Ambrosius Botticelli Evans 5S
O'Rourke 4C
Liz Bradshaw 4D
Cows Cows Cows 3H
Jake Lawrence On Hold ]]
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:31, Tue 09 Sept 2014.

William lifts limp Marina up.
"You're coming with us. Not gonna leave you here for some demonic creature to come by and heal you."
He looks down at the cows piling into the house, his eyebrows raised. Too much has happened this day for him to be rattled by a bloody steer herd.

Then he climbs the stairs. "Get to the library!"



09:42, Today: William Pierce drew the single card: 6S using the Deadlands system. Initiative.

Weapon is holstered...

Lying "dead" in his arms, the terror of the night looks a lot younger, and smaller. Her slow, stolen blood soaks into his shirt.

William feels a faint, almost warm flush of pleasure his mind briefly tries to interpret as sexual before running into the fact there's nothing physical going on. It's somewhat like having his hindbrain licked, slowly, by a very expert tongue, either in spiteful demonstration of what he can't have or a very feeble last-ditch attempt to seduce him.

[[You headed up the attic stair there, William?

A little out of sequence there, but it doesn't much affect what Adrian's doing, so that can pass, just watch it in future.

Adrian, go on with ye!]]
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:03, Wed 10 Sept 2014.

Adrian withdrew his gun-mounted stake from the woman, slick with the blood of a vampire in order to let William carry her as he picked her up. He made his way over the shredded dresser in the room to see if everything was alright with those that were infected by the jiang shi.

"Everything good in here?" he asked, looking in particular to Spades and Lazarus to see if they had the prayers on them.

---

OOC:

The purpose of him coming upstairs in the first place was to look in on those that were infected by the Chinese Vampire and see if they were in need of an extra prayer strip, but he was waylaid by Marina on the way.

Agility: 4

12:19, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 3,4 using d10-1,d4-1, rerolling max with rolls of 4,(4+1)5. Agility.

"Ya get her?" the mercenary asks. Pre-empted by the smaller woman, Mrs. Bruebaker closes her mouth, chargrined. "We heard screamin'. What new hell's goin' on out dere?"

The library furniture has been shifted; the injured men now sit in the middle of a floured circle on the carpet with prayers on their heads whilst the old miner guy does something complicated that seems to involve a small stuffed alligator from a curiousity cabinet and a lot of hopping. "妖魔鬼怪快啲走...妖魔鬼怪快啲走..." he chants. Their condition doesn't seem to have changed much, though Spades looks a lot better than Lazarus, if extremely bemused.

Abbie runs up behind Adrian, guiding herself along with the rail and slowing before the dead drawers endanger her feet. "Everyone downstairs is all right, but we've got more visitors - two thieves and a lady Baptist, I think. The vampires are herding cows into the house," she reports.

[[Abbie runs up and exposits. (please don't shoot her!)
Abigail Bruebaker rolled 5 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5. running! ]]

Hank wavers a moment, pale, then shakes himself. A new determination shows in his dark eyes as he aims for the head of the steer rounding upon him.

{*BANG!*}

"Ḿ͟M͏̡͡M̵͞MM̢EE̷E͏̢U͞ŲU͜͟U̡Ú̧͞U̡H͏," the steer responds. Its startled flinch took it clean out of the line of fire, leaving...

"Shit," Hank swears, seeing he's shot the Marshal.

[[Hank Miller rolled -1,0 using d8-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 1,2. shootin'. (-4 Headshot, +2 size)

Dang. Hank Miller rolled 1 using 1d2, rerolling max with rolls of 1. innocent bystander - Evans, priest.

Hank Miller rolled 14 using 2d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 5,(6+2)8. damage Evans.
2 Wounds Shaken for Evans.

Sarah, go!]]

"Long story short, we got for her. I had her on the ropes, and Pierce showed up outta nowhere and finished her off. Truth be told, I was halfway hopin' you'd come chargin' out with your wooden sword, Su. Coulda finished that up quicker if we had the odds on her," he said.

He watched the Chinese ritual with some satisfaction. "I didn't manage to get the bread. We got down there and Marina had popped up Jingles, so we had to deal with him all over again. I'll try to get some the next time I go down. Myself, I'm feelin' hungry and according to young Abby here, some vampires have just brought me some beef. I'm gonna go see what I can do about that." He folded up the spare prayer and slipped it into his pocket.

One of his whiskey flasks was almost empty, so he drained it. And then poured some holy water into it that he had brought up in a jar. It probably woulda been useful against Marina. He put the flask back on his belt, brought his gun out, and picked up the jar of holy water in his other hand.

"I'm gonna go eat some cows and bring some vampires to their eternal justice, lest they repent and give themselves to the law."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:42, Wed 10 Sept 2014.

"I'm sorry I wasn't up faster, though Su's a good sight better with it," Abbie says, handing the wooden sword back to Gangatsu.

"Hmph. Ennyone else git hit by the jiang shi?" Su asks, then proceeds to look bemused at Adrian's declarations. Ginny silently hugs her sister.

Sarah held out her cross.  "This is getting udderly ridiculous.  Let the power of the Almighty steer you back on the right path!"  At her call, a wall of blazing light crossed the kitchen, barring the possessed cows from coming any further into the house.


16:06, Today: Sister Sarah rolled 5,3 using d12-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 6,4. Barrier.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:45, Thu 11 Sept 2014.

"GOD DAMMIT!" Evans shouts as the bullet takes his tophat off of his head. He glares at Hank.

((OOC: Attempting to soak...

17:20, Today: The Amazing Evans rolled 5,4 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,4. Soak!

17:20, Today: The Amazing Evans rolled 17 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+6+5)17. red chip.

So 2 chips and I'm fine, just annoyed))

[[So Sarah - is the barrier "across" the kitchen right at the kitchen/foyer door, or a little way in with Hank, Evans and one steer outside it? Or were you blocking the laundry room off in case cows got in the back? (I am easily confused, sorry)]]

Hank shrugs like 'hey, what can I do?'. "Wes! Down to my last bullet here!" he warns Hardin.

Hardin vaults onto the table and looks up, muttering something under his breath. "Here!" he calls, throwing a pistol over to the youth -or would, if one of the steers' horns hadn't struck the thing a glancing blow, sending it skittering across the floor underhoof.

Hank curses, backing against the doorframe. Meanwhile, Hardin holsters another pistol and suddenly climbs up from the pantry doorframe onto the ceiling.

[[John Wesley Hardin rolled 8,4 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+2)8,4. castin'. Actually a 6, 'cause he wants to do something else, too, but it's all good. #Look out! Look out for Spider Wes...#

John Wesley Hardin rolled -3,-3 using d4-4,d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 1,1. throwin'.

Evans, go!]]