((OOC: Depends on if you're Wild Attacking (+2 atk and damage, -2 Parry) or not. Also, the horses get attacks as well.))

[[ppft...all right.
I didn't think the horses would do conscious damage mid-charge, but here's a roll for them:

08:49, Today: 7th Cavalry rolled rolls of 4,3,3. moar charging! No hits.]]

((OOC: So...what, exactly, are your boys attacking? The bloody ones? The 'Glom? Whether you hit or not depends on the target))

[[ *points up* The bloody ones, being the nearest, plural, dead ones, who also haven't had their parry stats posted yet...]]

((OOC: The Bloody Ones have a Parry of 7, so that will be one hit from the 7th.

Janet's bunch Shakes one of the Bloody Ones.))
This message was last edited by the player at 08:38, Thu 24 Oct 2013.

[[Three hits with Wild Attacking (+2), since you persuaded me up there...these lads are going to get et, you know that, right?

damage (+2 Wild Attack, +4 Charging damage as per base SaW rules*):
7th Cavalry rolled 4,9 using d8,d6+6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,3. damage! -> 13
7th Cavalry rolled 3,10 using d8,d6+6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,4. damage! -> 13
7th Cavalry rolled 6,11 using d8,d6+6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,5. damage! ->17

*I can't find anything saying that doesn't hold for Deadlands, but I don't have the library for an up-to-date search, so correct if necessary!
init. 8H]]

Rust-coloured blood sprays as the weight of sabre-tipped muscle and horseflesh collides with the sodden and half-cooked abominations.

21:23, Today: Black Jack Boudreaux drew the single card: KD using a deck of 54 cards.



Jack rubbed his lucky coin and offered a prayer for protection.

With the cavalry's arrival Jack looked to see if their were any innocents he could save from the mayhem.

21:36, Today: Freiherr von Steinhof rolled 6,6,7 using d8,d8,d8, rerolling max with rolls of 6,6,7. Soldiers shoot!
21:35, Today: Freiherr von Steinhof rolled 3,5,6 using d8,d8,d8, rerolling max with rolls of 3,5,6. Horse attacks!


21:37, Today: Freiherr von Steinhof rolled 5,25,4 using 2d8,2d8,2d8, rerolling max with rolls of 2,3,(8+8+3)19,6,2,2. Soldiers do damage!

Billy, Bobby and Jack ride their horses toward the staggering bloody corpses. Their horses brush a few aside, without really hurting them.

Billy, the youngest, whoops and hollers, as he aims his rifle at another corpse. His bullet makes the bloody one spin, but doesn't put him down. Jack shoots another one, more quietly, taking one square in the gut, but to no avail.
"Well, shit..." he manages, then Bobby's rifle cracks once as well, and the thing's head explodes in a shower of blood and brain matter.
"Aim for their fucking heads, you idiots", he growls.

The soldiers charge into the fray. Custer passes right by Col. Manning's struggle with the undead, and charges at the two screaming, bloody zombies trying to tear Von Steinhof apart. Custer's sword flashes, and one zombie's head is neatly severed from it's neck. His horse rears, pushing the other back, and Custer snaps a shot at a distant zombie, causing it to collapse.

"Major." Custer says, nodding his head to Von Steinhof.

Custer's men charge in. None of them pay any heed to the screaming dead attacking Manning. Instead, they fan out chasing down the remaining dead things. Only one of them escapes the net...the others are neatly skewered, bayonets and sabers taking heads from bodies. The screams of the dead diminish.

Manning, however, is still in trouble. The dead man he's fighting rips into him with skeletal fingers, shrieking at it tears at his flesh. He whirls about, blocking the worst of the thing's attacks with only his grit and his pistol. "DAMN YOU, CUSTER!" He shouts as the thing tears his burnt jacket away. "DAMN YOU TO HELL!"

Of course, he's not entirely alone, as Black Jack Bordeuax is passing near him at that exact moment...

---

The world for Reginald Smythe, AKA Hyrum Burns, was pain. He wasn't quite sure what was going on. He's seen a flash of light...someone aiming a gun at the tank of Phlogistonic Extraction Elixer...a loud noise...fire...

"...out of here!" Someone near him says. There's a ringing in his ears, everything is muffled... "doctor! need to get out of here! now!"

He opened his eyes (wincing at the pain) and looked into Penelope's dirty, frightened face. Ah, dearest Penelope...she was shaking him.

"We need to get out of here! The wagon's come to life!" She says.

Reginald looked over at where she was pointing. Ah. Yes, that did seem to be an accurate description of what the remains of the wagon was doing. More accurate, though, was to sat that the creature formed from the shrieking bodies of the walking dead that had been chasing them had fused with the remains of his steam wagon...and his flamethrower. And it seemed to finally have a grasp on it's new existence. It was no longer flailing about wildly...now it was looking about, four screaming heads looking in different directions...looking for victims, no doubt. And there was a whole bevy of them, a cavalry troop right down main street, dispatching the rest of the zombies. Perfect close quarters for a blast of flame to cause hideous damage.

Ah. Well, that was bad. But it wasn't looking their way, so this seemed a golden opportunity to escape while the escaping was good.

He stood, wincing at the pain. "Yes. I see. Well, then. Back to the drawing board, I suppose." he says. He looked around. "It worked, though. I knew it would! The fire's all out!"

"Three years..." Penelope whimpered. "Three years, down the drain."

"Ah, well. This is Science. These things happen." Reginald said, laying his arms around her and drawing her close. "Escape now. Recriminations later." He looked towards the battlefield, his eyes settling on the Major who had convinced him to "help." "Recriminations...and revenge."

The pair slunk away, into the twisted streets of Celestial Alley.

---

((OOC: I'm back! Alrighty, let's get to the nitty-gritty.

Von Steinhof, Remember that if you are charging in close enough for your mounts to get an attack, you've moving into melee range, which means all attacks against the Bloody Ones (ranged or melee) will be made vs. their Parry. I'll assume that the soldiers fired first, then moved their mounts into melee range, but please remember that for next round.

So. Rabbit's boys each hit a Bloody One, and each of them dealt enough damage for a wound.

Janet's bunch Shakes one of the Bloody Ones.

Von Steinhof's bunch Wounds one. The others are unharmed.

There were 12 Bloody Ones at the start of the round. Four of them are down, leaving 8 Bloody Ones left.

Now it's time for Custer and his Followers to attack.

Custer has Two-Fisted, so he can make an attack with a weapon in each hand, and he also get an attack with his horse. He will attack the Bloody Ones attacking Von Steinhof (pointedly rushing past the ones that are attacking Manning). He has a saber in one hand and a pistol in the other. He's not ambidextrous, so his off-hand takes a -2 attack penalty, but since he's shooting at a distant Bloody One (the one Janet's troops shook), He only has to hit TN 4 anyway. Since he's Charging, he gets +4 Fighting damage, but he opts not to Wild Attack (as he's making a Shooting roll, and Wild Attack only affects Fighting attacks).

Saber: 15:22, Today: Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer rolled 10,2 using d12,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 10,2. Fighting! Hit, no raise.

Damage: 25(!). Enough to take the Bloody One down.

Pistol: 15:24, Today: Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer rolled 7,1 using d12-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 9,3. Shooting! (Off-hand). Hit, no raise.

Damage: 9. (Shaken, which, since he's attacking something already Shaken, causes a Wound. The Bloody one goes down.)

His horse Dandy attacks the other Bloody One Adjacent to Von Steinhof. His horse benefits from his Leadership edges.

Horse: 15:28, Today: Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer rolled 1 using 1d8, rerolling max with rolls of 1. Fighting! Miss. Still, he's taken out 2 of the remaining 8 Bloody Ones.

His 5 troops take aim at the remaining 6 bloody ones. They also ignore Manning's plight. They will Charge and Wild Attack, to get the benefit of Custer's edge which grants a bonus to damage. one of them joins with Custer attacking the remaining critter near Von Steinhof, so he gets a +1 Gang-up bonus (since Von Steinhof isn't armed with a melee weapon, he doesn't count for Gang-up)

15:34, Today: Union Troops rolled 7,3,7,8,15 using d8+2,d8+2,d8+2,d8+2,d8+3, rerolling max with rolls of 5,1,5,6,(8+4)12. Fighting!(with Wild Attack). 4 hits, one with a Raise.

With all the bonuses these guys are getting to the damage, the Bloody ones that got hit are going down.

Damage: 12, 15, 18, 25. That's at least 1 wound for each, which means that only 2 Bloody Ones remain.

Card for Custer: 9C

But now it's the bad guys who get to go.

First off, I spend 2 chips for the Burns to Unshake. They each have 2 wounds, but are otherwise fine. They are going to sneak away from the battlefield, as they know their secret is blown and it's best to escape post-haste.

Then it's time for the Bloody Ones to go. There's only 2 left - one near Manning, and one near some troops.

The one near Manning attempts to take him down, and uses it's frenzy ability and a Wild Attack.

15:54, Today: Bloody Ones rolled 6,6 using d10+2,d10+2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,4. Frenzy! (With Wild Attack). 2 hits.

Damage: 18, 19 (Each of those does 3 wounds to Col. Manning)

Manning has 1 wound. He's no longer on fire, thanks to the explosion, but that's about the only saving grace here...

Soak Roll 1: 15:59, Today: Col. Manning rolled 4,8 using d6-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 5,(6+3)9. Soak! That will Soak 2 of the initial 3 wounds.

Now Manning is at 2 wounds, and facing 3 wounds again.

16:01, Today: Col. Manning rolled 12,2 using d6-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of (6+6+2)14,4. Soak! Go, Manning, Go! That will soak 3 wounds, and Manning will remain standing (though Shaken)

Meanwhile, the second Bloody One attacks Rabbit's troops, taking advantage of their Wild Attacks to get a better chance to hit. It also Wild Attacks.

16:06, Today: Bloody Ones rolled 8,3 using d10+2,d10+2, rerolling max with rolls of 6,1. Frenzy! (With Wild Attack). 1 hit

Damage: 6, which actually doesn't do anything because of Custer's Hold The Line edge.

Now the Scrap 'Glom gets to go. And I will cover that in the next post, because this one is loooong.))

---

The Scrap 'Glom is up next! Every PC (not NPC) in this thread gets 1 Random Chip!

((OOC: Waiting on Black Jack to draw his next round card and to see if he's moving towards Col. Manning's trouble before I work on the next bit here.))

13:57, Today: Black Jack Boudreaux drew the single card: 8S using a deck of 54 cards.

As much as he did not like the idea, revolver in hand Jack moved to the plump soldier's defense. The young Creole had grown up thinking N'Orleans was a crazy place, but Deadwood was the wildest place he had ever seen.

Janet and Roger rush into the Bella Union, which is deserted now. Scattered chips, abandoned coins and bills, and turned over chairs litter the floor. Roger leads Janet passed it all, and up the stairs leading to the balcony.

"We should be able to get a clear view from here..." he says as he steps out the door...then stops. "Oh. Hello there. sorry, didn't know anyone else was up...wait a moment..."

Janet can't exactly see who he's talking to...she can see a couple figures in the glass of a nearby window, but can't make any details out except that two of the people are men in dapper suits, and one seems to be a lady in a white dress.

One of the men has his arm around the lady, while the other man just seems to be cringing.

---

Down on the street, the screaming 'Glom turns towards the street where the soldiers slash at the dead. Four faces scream, and the arm/limb clutching the nozzle of the flamethrower rises.


A wave of flame engulfs the cavalry officers, and the conglomerate thing's screams are joined by those of men and horses as the flaming gel roasts them alive...

((OOC: Time for the Scrap 'Glom and the Mourning Mist to take their actions. I intersperse this with Janet meeting some new...allies? ;)

The 'Glom has what can politely be called a "target rich environment" among all the bluecoats there in the street. It moves closer to the area, and sends a jet of flame out into the street. Since I'm not using a map, I'll just use the guide for randomly rolling the number of targets and splitting them between each of the groups of extras (there's 14 cavalry men there). I'm tacking on a bonus of +2 to the number of targets the cone will affect. Remember that the fire can affect your horses, as well.

23:34, Today: Scrap 'Glom rolled 10 using 2d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,4. targets.

Splitting that evenly between each group means that each of you has at least 2 soldiers (and their horses) about to be doused in flaming napalm, with a random 1 left over. To be fair about it, I roll to see which group will be affected: 1 = Rabbit; 2 = Von Steinhof; 3 = Custer; 4 = Janet. This is based on how relatively close the various combatants are to the 'glom.

23:39, Today: Scrap 'Glom rolled 1 using 1d4. extra target. That's Rabbit's group.

The 'Glom makes a Shooting attack against the targets. It has a -2 penalty on it's attack rolls with weapons, but a +2 from the Flamethrower's natural attack bonus. You guys get to make Agility rolls to resist.

Attack: 23:42, Today: Scrap 'Glom rolled 10,3 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (8+2)10,3. Flamethrower!

Rabbit, roll Agility for 3 of your guys (and their horses)
Von Steinhof, roll agility for 2 of your guys (and their horses)
Janet, roll Agility for 2 of your guys (and their horses)

2 of Custer's men are affected and need to roll Agility to escape

23:48, Today: The Stray, on behalf of 7th Cavalry, rolled 1,4,2,1 using d6,d6,d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4,2,1. Opposed Agility. unsurprisingly, not a single man or horse escapes the fire. In fact, all are hit with Raises.

Damage: 15, 10, 21, 17. Men and horses burn like living things soaked in napalm.

Roll your resistance, and I'll continue on with the action.))

One man escapes the fire:

00:42, Today: Janet Weiss rolled 4,2 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,2. Agility roll, horses.

00:41, Today: Janet Weiss rolled 5,11 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,(6+5)11. Agility roll, Soldiers.

This message was last edited by the player at 08:31, Wed 13 Nov 2013.

[[ 08:21, Today: 7th Cavalry rolled rolls of (6+5)11,4,1. Men.

08:21, Today: 7th Cavalry rolled 17 using 3d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,(6+3)9,5. Horses.

I've lost a man and a horse, apparently not the same man and horse - do I have one dismounted guy and a loose horse?]]

((OOC: No, it's an opposed check vs. the 'glom's attack, so anything less than 10 is a fail. Though I still have yet to roll damage or to see if any of these fallen soldiers/mounts have caught fire yet...so some might yat survive/burn to death))
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:34, Tue 12 Nov 2013.

12:56, Today: Freiherr von Steinhof rolled 3,1 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,1. War horses.
12:55, Today: Freiherr von Steinhof rolled 2,2 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,2. Soldiers dodging.

Billy, Bobby and their horses are caught in the stream of flame, with Jack watching, his mouth gaping in a silent scream.

"Nick! Is that you?" Roger says as men and horses scream and flail in the streets.

The dapper man near the girl turns and Janet thinks she can see the flash of a smile, though the window is still too dirty to make out much.

"Roger! Good to see you!" he moves to Roger and the two embrace. Janet can see him clearly in the doorway now. Aside from being a few years younger, red-headed, and clean shaven, the man could be Roger's twin. There's a very stark family resemblance.

"You should have telegraphed. Did you get in on the 7 o'clock train?" Roger says, returning the hug but wincing a bit as his wounds protest.

Horses dance and skitter in the street, terrified of the flames. They've been trained for war, but not for being doused in flaming goo. Men burn and scream.

"The plan was to come by in the morning." The red-head says. "We were looking for a room, but everything's full up with soldiers. So I decided to play a few hands, and then everything got so interesting all of a sudden."

"Double, double, toil and trouble." The woman says, looking over the railing with certain strange glee. "Fire burn and cauldron bubble!"

The other man just whimpers.

The red-haired man looks over Roger, frowning. "Why Roger, you're hurt! What happened?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Just a spot of bother out in Celestial Alley." Roger says, waving away the red-head's concern. "But that reminds me! I have someone with me you should meet!" He looks over at Janet, and the red-head follows his gaze. "Janet! Come on out here! Meet my family."

((OOC: Alrighty! Lots of fail there, much of it by a lot. Anything under 6 is 'fail with a raise,' which is going to up the damage. That means all the men who were hit, and all but one of the horses, are going to be cooked pretty good. Plus, I rol to see how many of them catch fire! I'll split this into Men and Horses, because that's going to make things easier on me. That's 5 men and 7 horses. All of whom have +1 Toughness bonus from Custer's Hold The Line edge (7 and 11, respectively).

Men: 16 (2 wounds), 14 (1 wound), 11 (1 wound), 18 (2 wounds), 12 (1 wound) (damage)
3,2,4,5,8 (fire)

Horses: 12 (Shaken), 9 (fine), 12 (Shaken), 17 (1 wound), 12 (Shaken), 25 (3 wounds), 14 (Shaken)

3,5,5,2,4,1,5 (fire)

So what does this all mean to you guys?

Janet: One of your soldiers has taken 2 wounds, his horse is Shaken, and the rider who escaped the flame is fine, as is his horse. You can attempt to chip the wounds if you like (each batch of extras has 3 white chips among them)

Rabbit: The guy who escaped the fire has a Shaken horse, so needs to roll Ride to remain horsed. The guy who escaped the flame has a wounded mount--if you chip the wound, he'll be ok, but otherwise he needs to make a Ride check to keep horsed. The other guy has taken 1 wound (which you could try to chip) and his horse is Shaken (so if he survives, he'll need to make a Ride check to avoid falling).

Von Steinhof: one of the men (Billy) took 2 wounds, and his horse took 3 wounds, so they are probably dead. The other man (Bobby) took 1 wound (you can attempt to chip it), is on fire, and needs to make a Ride check to avoid falling off his Shaken horse.

If you're going to make soak rolls for your guys, do so, then I will get to the Mourning Mist.))

Janet blinks several times, then strides forward with her hand out.  "Charmed, I'm sure.  My name is Janet."

Meanwhile, out on the street, a soldier dives off his horse as it is consumed by fire.  He half-runs, half-skitters his way to an alley, where he jumps into a barrel of water.


Forgot he was an extra, but it doesn't matter, since the wild die failed anyway.  He soaks 1 wound.

03:48, Today: Janet Weiss rolled 1,6 using d6,d8, rerolling max with rolls of 1,6. Soak roll (wounded soldier).
This message was last edited by the player at 10:50, Wed 13 Nov 2013.

Isaacs rides around the sudden burst of flame as much by luck as instinct, his horse kept short-reined almost to the chest, ears flat and eyes rolling. The stink of singed fur and the horrific screaming of horses fills the riders' senses. "Winger!"

Keeping a skittering circle with half an eye on the monster he manages to lean down and drag his comrade away from under his mount's hooves. Considering O'Malley's horse seems to be making for the horizon, Mike's probably down, too, but he's not immediately visible in the confusion.


[[08:21, Today: 7th Cavalry rolled 9 using 1d10, rerolling max with rolls of 9. Horse wound.

08:21, Today: 7th Cavalry rolled 5 using 1d8, rerolling max with rolls of 5. man wound.

08:16, Today: 7th Cavalry rolled rolls of 1,2. Ride! ecksdee cavalry fail. Falling damage time?]]

13:34, Today: Freiherr von Steinhof rolled 7 using 1d8, rerolling max with rolls of 7. Booby' s soaking.

2 white chips.


Billy drops his rifle and flails about as he half-slides, half-falls from the saddle. He lands on his side and then his screams are, tank the Lord, silenced as his horse buckles and crushes him, it's hoofs twitching for a few seconds before finally lying still.

Bobby turns his horse around and yelps in pain as he rips his burning sleeve from his uniform and lets it drop to the ground.

"SON OF A BITCH!!" Bobby yells, looking frantically around at the mayhem.

"Charmed...Janet." The redhead says as he give her hand a shake and looks the huckster over. "I am Nicodemus." Something shifts underneath his shirt...almost as if a snake were loose beneath his clothes. He smiles over at the woman hanging half over the railing. "That is my wife, Dolores."

"One misty moisty midnight, when cloudy was the weather," the woman babbles as she stares at the coiling red mist that follows the abomination in the street. Her voice was high and child-like, though she's certainly about as old as Janet herself. She continues to rhyme as she watches the street "I chanced to meet an old man clothed all in leather. He began to compliment and I began to grin." For a brief moment she looks over at Janet and giggles, "How do you do? And how do you do? And how do you do again?" Then she turns back to the carnage.

"And this..." The redhead says, indicating the quivering gambler in the corner, who looks for all the world like he's trying to burrow into the wall, "This is...well, actually, I didn't catch his full name. Brett, I think he said. He's...well, not family. I think he only followed us up here from the tables when all the commotion began because he assumed we had the slightest idea what was going on."

The gambler whimpers.

The bloody mist flows around the hulking flesh-and-steel beast. Faces boil out of the mist, appearing, screaming, and vanishing in seconds...then the thing contracts, and a hellish scream made of a hundred voices rips through the battlefield.

Custer shivers. "Holy god!" he mutters, stating at the pair of monsters coming their way in horror. It's clear his men are having similar thoughts, as they all flinch away from the damned voices.

Manning, still tangling with the gore-covered skeleton, shouts up above the din. "Steady men! Remember Antietam! This ain't nothing worse than you've already been through!"

He shoots the skeleton in the ribs, twice, but the bullets don't seem to have much of an effect.

((OOC: Wrapping up the round:

Janet: you lose a man (2 wounds minus 1 wound still leaves 1 wound, which means Incapacitation for an extra) and have a shaken War Horse. The incapacitated man might not be dead, but he's out of the fight.

Rabbit: That's a cavalry fail and a Ride check to avoid taking 2d6 damage, yes.

Von Steinhof: Still need a Ride check from Bobby to avoid falling, because his horse is Shaken and is bucking about.

The Mourning Mist lets loose with a horrific wailing scream. Everyone  needs to make a Fear check vs. Fear/Nausea (-6 Deadland, + Grit, No chips can be spent, Shaken on fail and must make a vigor check or suffer a level of Fatigue). You can make a group roll to cover all your men and horses, or roll individually, as you like.

Fear checks for NPCS:
Nic: Immune to this
Dolores: Immune to this
Roger: Immune to this
Custer (+6 grit): 16:28, Today: Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer rolled 3,3 using d12,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3,3. Fear! That is fail.
16:29, Today: Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer rolled 4,2 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,2. Vigor. Success, so only Shaken
His Troops (+2 Grit, group roll): 16:31, Today: Union Troops rolled -1,-1 using d6-4,d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 3,3. Fear! Fail.
16:32, Today: Union Troops rolled 5,4 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,4. Vigor. Success, so only Shaken.
Manning (+2 Grit, -2 Wounds): 16:27, Today: Col. Manning rolled -1,5 using d8-6,d6-6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,(6+5)11. Fear! Go Manning! Success!

Custer and his troops are Shaken pretty badly by the monster, Manning and the Whateley clan are unaffected. I'm not rolling for Brett, because he's already terrified.

Card for the monsters: 10C

Manning's turn.

Manning begins the turn Shaken and with 2 wounds. He spends a white chip to unshake.

He's mad as hell at Custer, but he's still got a Bloody One in his face, so he decides to shoot at the thing again, Since he has a better Shooting than Fighting score and the gun deals slightly more damage than his saber. He Double Taps to get a bit better attack.

16:39, Today: Col. Manning rolled 0,2 using d8-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 1,3. Shooting! (Double Tap).
16:39, Today: Col. Manning rolled 4 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4. red chip.
16:39, Today: Col. Manning rolled 2 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2. another red chip.

After blowing 2 red chips, Manning has a successful hit on the Bloody One. Unfortunately for him, 6 damage does jack squat to it.

Card: 9S. Fuck, all my NPCs are in a clump again.

---

Turn Order:
Janet & her troops: 10H
Bloody Ones, 'Glom, Mourning Mist: 10C
Col. Manning: 9S
Custer: 9C
Black Jack: 8S
7th Cavalry: 8H
Freiherr von Steinhoff & his troops: 4S

Janet nods at Nicodemus.  "Roger was saying we might be able to do something about that mist?  Do you have any ideas?"

Meanwhile, the soldiers quiver, but stand their ground.  They each take a shot at the Bloody Ones.


20:28, Today: Janet Weiss rolled 14,17 using 2d8+1,2d8+1, rerolling max with rolls of 7,6,1,(8+7)15. Two damage rolls.

20:27, Today: Janet Weiss rolled 4,6 using d8,d8, rerolling max with rolls of 4,6. Two soldiers shooting.

20:24, Today: Janet Weiss rolled 6 using 1d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of (6+4)10. Group Fear check.

"Let it have its fun?" Nicodemus shrugs. "Honestly, I hardly see why it's our problem at all. The abomination is just doing its part. I can see the pair of you have already gotten a wonderful head start already...soon the whole town will lie under a pall of terror. Especially when their heroic savior over there," he points to Custer, "dies in battle. Yes, that should make the entire town quake in terror."

"I like the screaming." Dolores says absently. "Reminds me of home. And no one is shooting at us this time!"

"Actually..." Roger says, shuffling his cards. "I can't allow that to happen. General Custer is far too important to the Enlightened Society's plans for Deadwood to allow him to die. At least, not here. And this mist is just a monster. Perhaps, with proper study and control, it can be made a minion to serve us. But right now, it is a threat, and must be dealt with as such."

He begins laying out the cards.

Nicodemus frowns. "I'm surprised at you, Roger. You've gone against the family grain. You've traded one master for another."

"We were all going against the family grain, Nic." Roger says cooly as he lays out a spread of cards. "Remember? 'We shall nave no master but ourselves.' I believed you then. I still believe you now. The Enlightened Society is only a tool, Nic. Their goals are reasonable, unlike those of The Master. More importantly, they are achievable. Or should I ask after young Lucifer's health?"

Dolores gasps and cringes away, wrapping her arms around her stomach with a kind of choked whimper.

Nicodemus' eyes narrow sharply. "You...How dare..." he hisses, and something writhes beneath his clothes. Then he takes a deep breath. "That was...uncalled for, Roger. A low blow."

"I think not." Roger replies coolly, not taking his eyes of his card layout. "I think it was precisely what was called for. A reminder to you both of advice given, and disregarded. And a reminder of The Master's folly. How many centuries of planning did Knicknevin's little scheme take to unfold? How long did we slave beneath him, rutting for his pleasure to produce his ultimate heir? And what happened to that heir? Centuries of selective breeding to produce that child, only for it all to unravel at the last moment."

"And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no life!" Dolores begins to wail. "Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life, and thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more, never, never, never, never, never!"

Nicodemus rushes over to her side, and holds her in his arms as she begins to cry. "Now look what you've done!" he snarls. "You've upset her!"

Roger gives Nicodemus a glance filled with pity. "It had to be mentioned." He whispers, then he looks over at Janet. "The mist can be harmed only by magic, which we have up here to spare. It can't be totally destroyed...but that really won't be necessary in any case. It won't reappear here, it seems to be bound to that scientist and his...companion. It will show up wherever they are, which will probably be a shock to them. We'd need to find a Blessed to sever the connection between the mist and the madman, and I haven't the foggiest idea where to find one, much less one who'd willingly work with us. Since you have my shadow's power now, you can hurt it even with conventional weapons, provided you are ghosting as you do so."

((OOC: Roger uses his action to cast Darkest Plum, a power known to the Enlightened Society. It allows him to divine the weaknesses, hindrances, and secrets of those he uses it against. It's an Opposed roll, though, and Roger is injured.

21:45, Today: Roger Whateley rolled 17,-1 using d10-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of (10+9)19,1. Spellcasting.
21:47, Today: Mourning Mist rolled 5,9 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,(6+3)9. Opposed Spirit.

Well, that's a success and at least one Raise, which allows Roger a couple of benefits. First, he gains a +2 bonus on Trait rolls to affect the Mist, and it gets a -2 penalty on rolls that directly affect him. He also gains the knowledge of 2 weaknesses, immunities, Invulnerabilities, secrets, or Hindrances, which he relaes to Janet.))

Janet nodded.  "There is a saying: 'Surely we must hang together, or else we shall surely hang apart.'  If we don't stop this monster here and now, there's no guarantee we will be able to do so when it turns on us.  Our best chance is to stand with the mortals.  Look at it this way: if we help, things return to normal, and none of our plans are disrupted.  Perhaps our status as heroes may even enhance them.  But if we do nothing, then who knows what will happen to our carefully laid plans?"



22:45, Today: Janet Weiss rolled 10,6 using d8+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of 6,2. Persuasion, don't fail me now!

Nicodemus, still cradling the weeping girl, frowns at her. "'We?' 'Us?' 'Our?' Oh dear, it sounds like someone has invited themselves into a private party. This is a family matter, Janet." He says the name with such scorn! His frown deepens. "Sounds to me as if you have plans to protect, and you've somehow roped my cousin here into them. Fine. Do as you will, I won't stop you. But I don't see any particular reason I should help, either. What are you to me?"

((OOC: 22:54, Today: Nicodemus Whateley rolled 12,5 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of (8+4)12,5. Opposed Spirit. Going to have to do a little bit better than that to convince him to aid you, though he won't interfere.))