"Uh huh." Gabby says. "Well, I reckon we can use all the help we can get dealin' with Quantrill and his deaders if they come this way. Still, if'n you know all that you might also know that you knowin' of those three is a mite suspicious, especially seein' as we blundered into all o' them on our own. So you might find me a bit 'cantankerous' on account o' that."

He hefts the device. "And as fer this thing, well, valuable ain't the word I'd use. Dangerous, more like. Dr. Grint is nuttier than two fruitcakes stuck together--ain't sure I'm sanguine about sellin' anything she worked on to anyone who'd want to buy it. I didn't haul this thing out here to sell it--I just figured I'd rather not have it here for any other loon to trip over."

"In your place, I suppose I might not trust me either, so I won't hold that against you, Mr. Clarke," he said. "To be truthful, it is a little bit suspicious that all of you managed to somehow, as if by chance, stumble upon these three highly questionable individuals. Maybe I should be suspicious of you." He paused to smile.

"I'm not, though...you managed to deal with them quite handily, which allays some concerns I might otherwise have had. I'm not sure calling in the Agency was the best idea, though. Radcliffe would've been better off with a bullet in his head, but there's no use crying over unspilled milk."

"Still, I think some of your concerns about me may be allayed as I assist you in your upcoming adventure. As for that gizmo, if you're not selling it, you should consider destroying it. I can also aid you towards that end as well."

Wheeling about on high, the warm wind whispering over her feathers, Korpi surveyed the burnt and smouldering areas for signs of imminent grassfire. The strange iron devil with the badly-made snow goggles had turned the remains of the iron bear into hot lumps that caused the turf below to steam in indignation.

Noting all this, a distant shine caught Korpi's eye and she sheered off southeast to examine the thing.

It was a large shiny thing, about the size of a female reindeer kneeling down; Korpi circled, saw that it had halted in the grass at the end of its track and risked dropping down to investigate. The iron deer didn't move, her antlers tilted lazily between sky and earth. Korpi drew herself up, hopped over, circled warily around the tail end, feinted, hopped back again and finally nipped the soft part of the wheel the iron deer seemed to have for legs, immediately jumping back again.

"Kaa!"

Korpi watched to see what the iron deer would do, poised warily on tiptoe.

In reply to Vernon Price (msg # 35):

"Oh, already doin' that." Gabby says. "Sure. Once we make sure Oakley's protected. I reckon the output o' this machine might come in handy fer that." He huffs and heads over to his mule, to tie the thing on. "But first things first. I gotta get some salt." He sets the device in his wagon, ties it down with a rope, then tosses some old blankets on it for good measure. Then he moseys on back to the kitchen of the house to look for enough salt to help out Sky Dog's workings. Not knowing how much that would be, he just started taking all of it.

He doesn't seem bothered in the slightest by Gabby's disposition, instead moves around the side of the house at a sound he catches, running into Mr. Darling who was standing there stock still.

"Ah...the reporter, unless I miss my guess," he said.

Randolph is just as suspicious of this man as Gabby, perhaps the first idea they've shared in common.

"Yes, I'm Randolph Darling," he says with an edge to his voice, "And before I welcome you to our posse, I'd like to know just who you're working for and what you've been hired to do.

"Are you collecting bounty on their heads or trying to get hold of their plans and journals? It makes a difference."

"Well, then I'll just have to wait on your welcome, which I'm in no rush for, by the way," he said with a grin. He didn't look ruffled, put off, or the least intimidated by Randolph's manner.

Daniel nodded at the general sentiment concerning Oakley. "The more, the merrier. Folks in Oakley need all the help they can get if this Quantrill fella is comin' for 'em."

Price wandered off before Daniel could ask him a few other questions he had in mind, but it appeared there would be time enough still.

Finding no further objection from the man at the moment, Price moved around him and walked the periphery of the home until he found the door leading to the basement, which he promptly entered. "Hello down there!" he called.

Gabby, having found all the salt he's likely to, heads back around, following Price to the basement.

Finding after some experimentation that the iron deer was extremely placid or possibly asleep, Korpi cautiously landed on top of her and marched down her back to hop up on her antlers.

"Nice to meet you, Sky Dog. I'm Vernon Price," he said. "I don't know much about portals to spirit worlds and such, but it sounds dangerous. I don't suppose you know how to close it?"

With the house explored and the newcomer examining the basement, Coraline ventured over to where the barn was still aflame and smoking to give Abaddon a hand.  She'd heard how easily fires caught on the prairie and how devastating they could be, so it was in all of their best interest to keep the entire place from burning.  One good wind sweeping flames toward the town and the entire settlement could burn to the ground.

"Hello there," he said cheerfully in a musical tone as Coraline arrived.

"Watch your step. Not too close to the house. Come around back where I am," he said, directing with his finger the path that she should walk.

"Would you like to learn a trick?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:18, Mon 13 Apr 2015.

Contact with the metal antlers was met with a blow from some source Korpi could not determine, the concussion stinging right down to the shafts where feather met flesh.

"KAAAA! AAK AAK AAK!"

Having hit the grass in a startled fluttering heap, Korpi quickly righted herself and puffed herself up as large as possible at the still-unmoving iron beast.

"KAAAAAAA."

Daniel heard what sounded like pained squawking from Korpi and quickly moved toward where she was making noise. "Korpi? Korpi, ya' alright?" Concern creased Daniel's face as he considered the bird's situation.

Caleb swiftly walked behind Daniel, more curious than concerned at what might have caused the commotion.

It wasn't hard to follow the sound across the field into the taller grass; by the time the pair reached the raven she had found a nearby stump to scold from and was using language that would surely cause any hard of hearing Russian nun to self-combust mixed in with rough croaks and grating growl-like sounds.

The object of this highly focused ire seemed to be a gleaming steam velocipede, lying idle at the end of its track.

Gabby steps out of the basement and begins looking around for Korpi. He spots Danial and Caleb, and hears a torrent of deep-throated Russian from a nearby stump. He hustles over. "What happened? Sky Dog just jumped like he'd been jabbed with a hot poker, then he asked me to check on the bird."

With no imminent threat apparent, Randolph sits down with his gatling across his lap and his back against the house. He begins jotting notes in his notebook.

"Kaaaaaaaaak," said Korpi. She straightened and de-puffed a bit at the others' presence, but didn't take her attention entirely off the iron deer in case that one took it into her head to charge.

The velocipede shows no signs of movement, activity, or aggression.

Korpi didn't trust it.

Her eyes lit up at Abaddon's question.  "Of course.  I am always interested in new tricks."  Carefully walking the path he'd indicated, she picked up her skirt as she stepped through the grass to join him.  "Do you mean a silly little card trick or something a bit more interesting?"  Her eyebrow arched with curiosity.

He pointed at the burning barn, more pointedly to the soil around the barn. He picked up a small pebble and tossed it next to the barn.

"Quicksand," he said with a grin.