September 11th, 1880. Night. The Iron Dragon rail line.

It's nearly midnight when the two groups converge on the Deadwood Stage line. The McKeever brothers have managed to get the axle fixed in their absence, and have even gotten the thing righted.

The mysterious train is long gone.

"Tried to flag it down," Danny says, "But the damn thing kept chuggin' away like it had the devil on it's ass. The engineer had to have seen us, but it just went right on by."

Jeb looks in askance at the arrival of the moderately large group of Sioux accompanying Thunder Walker, Moses, and Li, but shrugs. "I done kept them beans warm in the skillet." he says to Thunder Walker. "Also got that pheasant you brought cooked. I reckon there's enough for a meal, if a sparse one."

Wovoka steps forward. "I am Wovoka, of the Paiute." He says in surprisingly good English, addressing the whole group. "I have a small amount of nuts, seeds, and roots prepared for traveling, and will gladly share what I have with those who have been so brave in defense of myself and my friends. I count you all as friends of the Ghost Dance, now and forever, and invite you to share a pipe in communion with the Spirits."

The Chinese stray moves into the firelight from among the braves and gives the other party a small grin, face still mottled with camoflage. Despite all the adventures after being found already weary and half-starved in the forest the youth kept up all the way back without stumble or complaint.

[[19:16, Today: Tan Xiaohan rolled 1,5 using d6-3,d6-3, rerolling max with rolls of 4,(6+2)8. vigour vs. exhaustion. Wow. I begin to suspect Tanx runs on Duracell or something...]]

Xiaohan is genuinely glad to see the others are unhurt, but surprised to see Sam Bass with them, enough to comment when the movement of men towards the fire brings them closer together, though not looking at him directly. "I thought you outlaw - why you come back?"

Xiao looks to the natives at the offer of a pipe of something, trying to gauge the ettiquette.

Jack smiled when the Chinaman recognized that Sam had kept his word. "I was never worried a minute. There are plenty of bad men on the right side of the law, I knew there had to be some good ones on the wrong side of it."

"Not sure what happened back there. But we were lucky to have all survied." Offers a nod to the others.

Replying to wiseman  "I am Jack Boudreaux of N'Orleans. I would be honored to smoke with you Wovaka. The spirits need to be honored for the blesssing that granted us this day."

"I got a bottle in my bag. Perhaps we can honor them by having a drink as well. Where I come from the spirit like a smoke and a drink and don't mind a bit of music as well."

"You don't know what happened back there, Black Jack Boudreaux. Yet you are quick to dismiss it as some happenstance of no consequence."

Moses shakes his head.

"The Lord has shown Moses deeds of this Black Regiment. They consist of fallen soldiers from both sides of the war, damned to fight battle after battle after battle, always on the losing side, trying to turn the tide. But if they do, they fall upon their former unwitting allies like the locusts fell over Egypt.

They serve War, but they are not his weapon. They are like a pack of wolves, released to prey on the innocent and the not-quite-wicked, but they are not at the center of the battle.

A storm is brewing and it is coming to Deadwood. Moses has been drawn there to try and prevent the final battle that is about to come. It is good, no great tidings, that the Lord has seen fit to cross the paths of Wovoka and His humble servant.
Moses will smoke the pipe with you, Wovoka."

"Pride goeth before the fall Moses. It does not bring you closer to the Lord to climb atop sinners like myself." Boudreaux said in reply.

"But let us put diffences aside and part take of the pipe with open hearts so the spirits can be thanks for their blessings." Jack recovered a bottle of bourbon from his bag as well as some cigars and other knick knacks.

The Professor nodded to Wokova. "The pipe..yes...your version of breaking bread. A ritual of friendship. I'd be honored and glad to partake."  He sits down in a poor approximation of the Native crossed legged posture, using his hands to pull his left leg into his lap.

"Well, as long as you'll keep your word about letting me go, I reckon I'll just stay the night and be off in the morning. My gang took all the horses, so I'm a bit stuck on transportation." Sam says. He smiles at Jack's comment, but makes no other comment on the matter.

Wovoka nods as the group begins to gather around the fire. He and his fellows sit, and Wovoka brings out the pipe. He packs it with a small amount of tobacco, lights it with an ember from the fire, and takes a puff before passing it around.

"Moses sees many things. Wakan Tanka guides our footsteps, and has guided all of you here to meet with us." He says. "It is good. The Order of the Raven - those who attacked us tonight, before the Black Riders drove them away - would have killed us, rather than let word of the Ghost Dance spread."

"What're you all doin' out here anyhow?" Sam asks. "What is this Ghost Dance thing?"

Wovoka gets a wistful look on his face. "The Ghost Dance is powerful medicine. I had a vision. I danced the Sun Dance, traveling as it did, for three days with hooks in my chest until I nearly died. As the sun died, I went up the Tree of Life, to what you would call Heaven, and saw the Great Mystery and all the people who had died long ago. Wakan Tanka told me to come back, and tell the people that the White Calf would be born, to tell my people they must be good, love one another, not fight or murder or steal or lie. He gave me this dance to give to my people."

"The dance brings a powerful medicine to the world from the Hunting Grounds - cleansing medicine. Medicine to quell the restless monsters that walk the earth, to burn out the worm that makes the dead men walk and lift the unnatural dread that hangs over all."

"You have seen it tonight. There are worse things than the Black Riders. These dark things live in the shadows and are fed on the taste of fear. We call this darkness Ci Wicayasupi, or The Reckoning. The Ghost Dance was sent to us so we may struggle against The Reckoning in all it's forms."

"After I had my vision, a great thing happened. A white buffalo calf was born, as it was in my vision. I come to bring the news to the great wicasas of the Lakota, that we may prepare ourselves for the great events to come. All the dead will come to life again. Their spirits will ride a great wind and cleanse our sacred lands, and the white man will no longer take that which is not theirs. No longer will we need to rely on pieces of paper the Great Fathers in the East ignore when it suits them to keep hold of the bones of the world."

He looks slightly wistful at this, then seems to come back to his audience with a bit of a blush. "Forgive me. I do not mean to disparage you - you have come to our aid, and that is more than many would have done."

Thunder Walker nodded to Jeb, and quietly moved to help with preparation and distribution of the meal to all while the others talked. There had been fighting and much in the way of stealthy journeys this night, both of which took out of men what might in part be replenished by eating. When this task was seen set to, he joined the circle where the others sat and listened carefully to Wovoka's words. On their long journey to the Black Hills, he had heard the shaman tell him some of these things, though every time the young man spoke, he seemed to gain something new from his words.

Taking the pipe as it came to him, he took a long and deep puff of the smoke, and let it fill him, closing his eyes a moment. He let it out again, letting a thick cloud of billowy smoke out from his mouth, though it seemed quickly shattered by the wind into trails of wispy smoke that fled into the night up into the sky to join with the strong wave of smoke that came from the fire before them.

He thought about all that he had learned from Wovoka, and while it had been much, he still had questions. "Those of the Raven, what do they seek in seeking to attack us beyond our death? Why is it that they fear the Ghost Dance? It seems a thing that would not bring harm, save to the foul things that walk the world."

Xiao looks from Jack to Bass, remarking to the latter: "Your gang, they are pretty bastard," before moving past, internally very relieved the outlaw showed no signs of recognition.

"You see now - many kind of ghost and...thing," the soft-footed Chinese gently teases Nate, appearing at his elbow, then goes to help Thunder Walker, apologising to Danny for running off/dangerous pheasant throwing on the way.

Propriety is forgotten for a few seconds when Xiao has a tin mug of beans, a strip of pheasant and no-one's direct attention; mere moments later, the little stray is scraping and licking out the mug as far as can be reached. The vessel gets returned with a little more selfconsciousness before Xiao slinks up beside Thunder Walker to sit and hear the end of Wovoka's speech. The content occasions a look over at Moses.

Sounds like the end of the world, Xiaohan thinks, then is handed the pipe after the proper interval and holds it awhile, studying it and quietly warming cold fingers on the base of the bowl whilst listening to Thunder Walker. Will I incur the wrath of spirits if I join the ceremony? Xiao looks at the smoke. There were worse ways to go, for sure. Xiao tenses, copies the inhalation and the wait, and passes the pipe along. A surrupticious nose-scrubbing with a sleeve even curtails the urge to sneeze.

In reply to Thunder Walker (msg # 8):

Wovoka sighs. "The Order of the Raven is angry, and misguided. Some call themselves 'Ghost Dancers,' but this is a lie. They have turned from the Old Ways, and dance to the beat of the drums of war. They are more angry at the white man than they are afraid for our mother the Earth. They take the white man's ways, thinking 'I am better than the white man, I can resist the temptation to do bad things.'" he shakes his head. "They are foolish, or power hungry. They pretend to be loyal members of their tribe and do their deeds in secret. They take the quick and easy path to power with their rejection of The Old Ways, not realizing or not caring that they harm what remains of our way of life to gain the power to destroy the white man. The Ghost Dance is a triumph of the Old Ways, which they reject. It shows us the path to salvation without their guns, and they fear this, and so they strike. Most do not realize this only harms The People, creatures further bloodshed and fear. But some do know this. They know it and they willingly have turned their back on the spirits of nature for the power offered them by the manitou, and those are the ones that are most dangerous. It is said that the Order of The Raven is lead by The Last Sons, who followed Raven himself into the Hunting Grounds and opened the way for the manitou to return."

Moses graciously accepts the pipe from the man next to him.

"Moses, too, was given a vision of the white buffalo calf. The Lord seems to be sending all his arrows from his mighty quiver to this place."

He smokes a few puffs, then hands it on, shaking his head, stops, then nods.
"The red man is still in tune to what he calls spirits but are in truth servants of the Almighty, as are the angels in heaven. The black man used to have this, too. But it was taken from him by the white man, who was jealous of this gift, for he had lost it himself many, many generations ago. Then he tried to steal it from the red man, too."
The prophet shrugs. "Moses does not know if the yellow man still is aware of the power of the Almighty. But he has a feeling that he is."
He looks at Tan, then turns to Thunder Walker.

"Thunder Walker, you will make a fine crusader for the Almighty, if you understand one thing: The men of the Raven are consumed by their hatred. They have summoned War, and War has taken hold of them. They will stop at nothing before everything they hate is gone. If it takes their own lives, then that is a prize they will be willing to pay. They will die happy if they die as martyrs for War.
There is a Reckoning in this world, Wovoka speaks true. Every man and every woman",
he looks around the circle, "will be weighed for the mercy of the Lord."

He listened reverentially as Wovoka spoke, nodding, though he seemed perturbed by the growing revelations about their calamitous state. Turning to Moses, he listened to the large black man as he spoke of spirits and his Lord.

Thunder Walker had developed a growing appreciation for Moses and his strange faith. He had traveled and lived among the white man, and it was not the first time he was exposed to it. In early days, some had tried to bring him to that faith - some by guile and others by force. Those had not been treated well for their efforts. Moses was perhaps one of very few that seemed to have respect and an understanding for the ways of the people.

"When the brave hunts the slow elk to feed his tribe, the rest of the herd grows stronger. So too, we must cull these followers of the Raven from our people, or they will weaken us."

Xiao returns Moses' gaze with a look equal parts bewildered and flat-out scared, then quickly looks away, at the ground, trying to be invisible.