Pierce stares ahead into the darkness.

"Might've been the most accurate telling of that story I ever heard", he replies, with a rare, wry humor in his voice.

"It was certainly an...interesting version of that particular tale." Evans says, trying not to laugh. He looks over at the mayor. "What about it, Glenn? Wouldn't you say that was a fine rendition of the Passion?"

"Hmph! I maintain your angel is defective and a danger to public health," Bruebaker grumbles.

Thanks to Evans' skillful driving, aided by Vega's extremely useful shortcut and Pierce's keen eye for treacherous patches of mud, loose scree and dangerous wildlife, they're quite far out into the ranch's hinterland by now.

Adrian had chuckled at the story, his spirits lifted from the clank's rendition, and from the mayor's predictable ill humor.

"See that up on the rise? I think you should be able to get partway up the slope if you turn right about there," he said, pointing.

"Looks like some kinda altar to me. I reckon Pierce may be able to see better, but if so, I figure maybe that there is where the snake wizard might take the priest and maybe the nun."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:14, Wed 08 Apr 2015.

Pierce looks into a different direction.
"Stop the wagon. There's vampires over there... and they're feeding on a girl."

He looks at the others. "You coming? We need to cover our rear."

"What?" Hank stands up and leans over Hardin, nearly ending up on Lazarus' lap through trying to see out front. "Is it a really fat girl? My sister's out here somewhere..."

"Forget her," Bruebaker urges, looking up at a flicker of light on the rise. "I don't like saying it, but if she's not being sacrificed to bring more giant serpent-wizards to this realm, she is not our most urgent problem."

It's too late to stop the clank, however, for whom prioritisation is not a strong point: "Mortal in danger? Cease!"

There's a muffled *thump* as the wagon rolls, and those inside realise their angel has just bailed off the roof.


[[It manages not to damage itself, however:
Alouette rolled 4,4 using d4-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of (4+1)5,5. Agility.

After some calculations, y'all have about 7 minutes before your priest becomes an ex-priest...]]

"I reckon maybe we just let Pierce go after the vampires. He seems to have done for a number of them. Stopping the snake wizard is more important to all of our survival."

"The girl doesn't think so." Evans says, pulling the wagon to a stop. He grabbed his makeshift flamethrow and his gyro-mounted pistol. "I still have two of those sunlight bombs left. The vampires need to see the dawn."

"Good idea. Let's let the snake have the priest and the nun."

Lazarus looks at Adrian, nervously fidgeting a moment then standing. "I-I agree with you, actually - you want to run, or do you think we can get this thing going again?"

---

The prairie is lit by ghostly patches of moonlight and a dull orange glow from somewhere up on the rise; the struggling figures take a moment to pick out but are clear enough when spotted, as is the clank jogging in their general direction.

"Well, I was figurin' to go by foot. Unless you know how to drive it."

"Ah...no. Shall we take the cask?" Lazarus asks, hastily climbing out.

Hank has already dropped down. The Mayor looks perplexed and Hardin hasn't moved from his seat in the shadows, a weird spidery silhouette.

"Probably. Hardin, you wanna come with? We can prolly use an extra gun hand. How 'bout you, Mayor?"

Jake glanced up from where he'd been half-napping half-listening to the various happenings around him. "Just get the clank to bless some water ... its an angel in a tin can right? Then apply said water to the vampires in a liberal manner."

"Dandy where I am, thanks," Hardin says nonchalantly. Lazarus glares at him, scraping the barrel out, but says nothing.

"What on earth are you on about?" the Mayor huffs at Lawrence, then looks to Adrian. "Go on up - I'm sure I'll catch you up but that wretched vampire - hmph! - these wounds won't take running uphill." Even without the wounds, it's unlikely a man of the Mayor's age and bulk would be fit enough to sprint the scramble without risk.

"Well, that was me askin'. Let me rephrase that. Get up and get your fucking gun. You're coming with us. If we don't succeed you and I might as well not be here, so there's very little holding me back right now, and there's very little that I won't do." Adrian went still as the grave, in no mood to quarrel but not willing to let this selfish sonuvabitch sit around while the world around them fell to pieces, looking in it all for some advantage for himself. He did not breathe, merely turned his cold, dead eyes to focus on Hardin's.

OOC:

Boost Trait
Drew a Straight for 6 Power Points. Only need 2.
Spellcasting: 6
Boosting Intimidate by one step.
Intimidate: 9

Also...I drew a Joker (but didn't use it).

09:37, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 9,1 using d4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (4+4+1)9,1.
09:32, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 6,5 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,5.
09:30, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: 10D, 7D, 8H, RJ!, 9C, 5S, 8D, JH, 4H, 6S, QC using the Deadlands system.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:57, Fri 17 Apr 2015.

Jake flipped a card over and over in his left hand watching. He'd pondered using his talent but decided it was a bad idea so he stayed where he was and waited.

Hardin's eyes narrow and he does indeed pull two guns with his normal arms, heaving himself off his seat on a trunk of religious trinkets with the others. "I guess I'm worth as much as gettin' kilt," he grumbles, then points at Jake with a free hand as he climbs down. "Whyn't you get ornery with him?"

Jake finds the randomly-drawn card feels odd after a few flips. Looking down, it's the buisness card the old fella threw into his pack. It reads:

LOU CIPHER
LORDE INN
   HELL
    MI.

...displaying a horrible sense of humour.

[[John Wesley Hardin rolled 2,2 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,2. resist! Yep, he's intimidated (watch your back, Adrian).

6 minutes.]]

"You're not gonna get killed. We're gonna kill us a snake."

Adrian turned to Jake. "And he's got a point," he said to Jake. "You've got skills, and we can use 'em. Pull yourself together, and let's move out. Remember who you are."

"Mr. Mayor, you take your time. We'll be glad to have you with us when you can join. I don't know what we're going to find up there, but your arcane knowledge will of sure be of us to us, and help undo some of the harm done to this town. I'm sure you'll find yourself feeling stronger and more vigorous as you come with us." He didn't bother to hide his cards, not with the Mayor and Jake around, and not given what they were up against.

Adrian took the cask and handed it to Lazarus.

---

OOC:

Gonna try and increase the Mayor's Strength and Vigor.
- Two Pair provides more than enough Power Points.
- Spellcasting: 6
- Drew a Flush (auto success and raise)

This brings the Mayor's Strength up by one step and his Vigor up by two steps, or whichever would be better for having him in better condition as he makes his climb.

Also drew another (unused) Joker this time around.


12:31, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: 3D, 6C, 4H, 3C, KS, 8D, 6S, 7S, 8H, 10S, 9S using the Deadlands system.
12:29, Today: Adrian Vega rolled 6,2 using d8,d6. Spellcasting.
12:28, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: 10D, 5S, 2C, RJ!, 6C, 2H, AS, BJ!, 5C, AD, 6D using the Deadlands system. 2pp.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:36, Fri 17 Apr 2015.

((OOC: 10:42, Today: The Amazing Evans rolled 3 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3. Running.

Card: 10C))

Jake looked at Vega and flicked the card he'd been fiddling towards him. "Oh sure why not ... maybe I can bring the big bad snake along and get us all killed. You got a gun I could use? Think mine is dying of rust out in the middle of the farm house yard somewhere."

Adrian ignored the flicked card, and handed Jake a Colt Peacemaker. "It's fully loaded. Now, let's get on with it. Let's move - try to keep out of sight, and we'll figure out what we're gonna do once the situation is clearer."

As they began to move, he walked closer to Hardin. "Thanks for comin'. This will reflect well on you when it's all said and done. I'm a deputy, and I will put in a good word for you if you should wish to stay in town. If not, I'll owe you one."

---

OOC:

What does the approach to the snake altar look like? Will they be able to approach undetected?

Hardin tries to see Adrian's expression in the gloom. "Right," is his only comment, though he keeps up with the deputy well enough.

The group hasten up the slope, chilled by the wind off the sea and a weird, inhuman lisping that only becomes clearer as they draw nigh the top of the rise. The trail Adrian saw earlier helps somewhat, though it thins to a single-file path across an alarming gradient nearer the top.

It would be a nasty place to get bushwhacked; an idea that Hardin clearly takes to heart as he scans the nearby rocks and clumps of scrub vegetation clinging to the hill.


[[A steep hillside that plateaus somewhere above, where the firelight's coming from. You can't actually see the altar itself from where you are (Adrian probably saw some of the boulders encircling the ancient holy ground when he called out) and Omietlcoatl can't see you and isn't expecting interruptions. He can, however, "hear" via ground vibration and sense magic use, so it'll be an opposed group Stealth roll.

It'll take about 3 minutes to get to where y'all can poke your heads over at a quiet hustle. For a bonus to sneakiness, you can take 4 or 5 about it.]]

Jake took the pistol and gave it a once over. "I has so hopped that you had planned on marching over there playing the fife and drum."  The gunslinger shook his head and followed after.

OOC: no stealth for ole Jake ... should be interesting.

As they set out, Adrian took a moment to draw one more hand of cards, hoping to help ensure that none of them would get tripped up and make a commotion.

OOC:

Let's take four minutes so that we're not detected. I'm not sure how the group roll works for Wild Cards, but for the sake of it I'm going to take a moment and do a little preparation - to boost everyone's Stealth.

Adrian draws Four of a Kind - four Aces. This should give him enough power points to get an automatic success and raise and Boost stealth for every group member by two steps, for a duration of 30 rounds (however long that translates to that we're not in an official round).

10:49, Today: Adrian Vega drew the 11 cards: AS, 5C, 10C, AC, AH, 8C, 7H, AD, 7S, KS, 5S using the Deadlands system. Boost/Lower Trait.