Janet hissed.  "Look at my hair.  Look into my eyes, and tell me what I know of family.  My family is dead and buried because of mortals.  And I am here to help our cousin, not the other way around.  In exchange, he will help me strike down those who injured our kind, those who stole our secrets and danced merrily on our graves.  You know as well as I do that, when blood vengeance is called for, all of us respond."

She turned, eyes ablaze with green fire.  "Who am I?  I am the dagger of retribution, only awaiting the right time to strike.  I am the poison fang of dead Whateley children, poised to bite with furious anger.  I am the right hand of vengeance, and I say to you this: Do you stand with your kin, Nicodemus?  Do you stand to avenge the spilled blood?"

Got a total of 16:

00:03, Today: Janet Weiss rolled 5 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5. Blue Chip.

00:02, Today: Janet Weiss rolled 1 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1. Red chip bonus.

00:01, Today: Janet Weiss rolled 10,8 using d8+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of 6,4. Persuasion.

Nicodemus regards Janet. "Hmph. As I had to explain to my father, blood isn't everything. Family is as family does."

"He explained it pointedly. With pointy things." Dolores whispers from Nicodemus's arms. She's not crying quite as hard, now.

"Quite so. That said...Baron LaCroix did break our trust. And a response is warranted. Family is as family does." Nicodemus' eyes narrow. "That said, I have heard it was one of our own who betrayed us in the first place. If I am to commit to avenging spilled blood, how do I know you aren't the one I should be taking vengeance on? Which of Noah's daughters are you?"

((OOC: 00:58, Today: Nicodemus Whateley rolled 2,1 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,1. Opposed Spirit. Yeah, he's going to fail that. Counting the +2 bonus from Nicodemus being inclined to this particular argument, that will give you 4 successes over him in the social conflict. One more roll to go.))

Janet looked pointedly at Roger.  "I told you once, we were both more than we seemed, Roger Sebastian."

She turned back to Nicodemus.  "Who am I?  In this time, and in this place, I am Janet Weiss, a widow seeking her fortune.  In another time, I was kin to Delilah Whately of the Haran branch, a traitor to the blood.  In another time and another place, I was a happily married woman and mother-to-be.  But it doesn't matter who I was.  It matters who I am now.  And here and now, I am Vengeance.  I am Wrath.  I am the hidden ace, the cloaked dagger dripping with poison.  And I tell you this: in order to have the power to strike at those who betrayed us, we must build our strength.  Play the hero, if we must, but in the end our enemies will face the fire and brimstone."

Janet paused.  "I swear to you, upon the Blood, I am not the one who betrayed the Harahan branch.  But blood calls to blood.   They say that blood is thicker than water.  Will you stand with your blood?"


03:11, Today: Janet Weiss rolled 6,11 using d8+4,d6+4, rerolling max with rolls of 2,(6+1)7. Persuasion.

Nicodemus looks over at Roger and raises an eyebrow. "Sebastian?"


Roger looks a little embarrassed. "It seemed...prudent, not to give my full name to the Society."

"I thought you hated your middle name."

"It's grown on me."

"Ah." Nicodemus smirks. He's still smirking when he turns his attention back to Janet. "I stand with family, not blood. There is a difference. But I do so appreciate hidden aces, and I really can't argue with the need to rebuild." he looks out over the battlefield. "Family is as family does. What did you have in mind?"

((OOC: 09:28, Today: Nicodemus Whateley rolled 1,3 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,3. Opposed Spirit. That's another success and raise for you. This conversation has taken up your action, but Nic and Dolores will be able to help out this round, so if you have a plan, now's the time. Draw a card for your next round.))
This message was last edited by the player at 16:47, Wed 20 Nov 2013.

Janet turned to Roger.  "It's your plan, but I havean idea to add as well. You said I could affect it with conventional weapons.  How exactly does that work?"


15:15, Today: Janet Weiss drew the single card: 2C using a deck of 54 cards. Init.

"Ah. Well, you managed to absorb some of the essence of my familiar when it was dispersed. That's what's been allowing you to move through solid objects. As long as you have that power up, you should be able to affect anything in the same aetheric phase as yourself with any object you may be holding. I'm not certain if any projectiles you fire would revert back to their normal phase...probably something to test when we're not in mortal danger. Your suggestion?"

"Roger, you've looked into the cards.  What do they say?  I was going to suggest a cannon, but perhaps now is not the time.  Should we simply blast it for all we can, or is there something else we can do?"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:58, Thu 21 Nov 2013.

A stream of cursing swiftly locates an unhorsed but barely-wounded O'Malley.

[[18:05, Today: 7th Cavalry rolled 4 using 1d8, rerolling max with rolls of 4. soak. They are out of chips now.]]

"Cannon might stop the conglomerate, but it wouldn't do much to the mist." Roger says. "The mist is something only we have the tools to deal with. If we disperse it, it will reappear, but not here. Blasting it for all we can might get us noticed, which might prove...less than advantageous."

"I know things." Dolores says airily. "I know names of spirits. I can call them. Hell is empty and all the devils are here. I've danced with the devils in the pale moonlight. They will come, if I ask nicely."

"That will be helpful." Roger says.

"Is there a graveyard near? If we dance among the stones, I can call more friends to play with us. And the living need never see what we do."

"There is, up on Mount Moriah. But how would we get the mist there?"

Dolores smiles at Janet. "Run run run, as fast as you can. It can't catch you...you're the gingerbread woman!"

"All right then.  Meet me at the cemetery.  I'll borrow a fast horse, then get the mist's attention.  I'll try to lead it there.  Are there any other suggestions?"

"Yes." Says Roger. "Hurry." He points to the scrap 'glom, which is wading over to the soldier who leapt into the rain barrel. The soldier shrieks as the behemoth grabs it with three arms and presses the poor man against it. The flesh ripples, and the soldier shrieks even louder as the thing seems to absorb him. He keeps on shrieking, adding his voice to the chorus of terror and agony from the four (now five) heads of the monster. It turns and begins wading deeper into the battlefield, toward the dead and burned corpses of the zombies.

((OOC: The Scrap 'Glom heads over to the nearest downed soldier and begins 'glomming. This takes no roll, but does eat up it's entire action. It's now bigger. There are a ton of corpses around here, thanks to all the dead zombies. Better get cracking before this thing is too big to handle. Janet, if you want to start moving, you can use a free action to do that.

Before I roll for the Mourning Mist, how many soldiers and horses do each of you have?))

[[one mounted man, two unhorsed men. One mount was Shaken and may have fled the battlefield.]]

One on horse, one on foot.

Janet nodded, and ran down the stairs.  She grabbed the reins of a meandering cavalry horse and jumped on.  "I do hope I remember where the cemetery is!"

I also have one man on horse and one on foot still alive.

The floating amorphous mass of blood-red mist ignores Janet and her purloined mount as it glides into the battlefield, tentacles and tendrils sliding among the soldiers and their mounts. Where the tentacles touch, men start screaming in abject terror.

One of the tendrils brushes Von Steinhof, and he finds out why.

A mad whirl of memories force their way into his mind, battering at his sanity...



Custer screams and clutches his head. his horse bolts, and he barely manages to hold on. His is not the only horse to bolt.

Col. Manning gasps, but remains unbowed. "Dammit men!" he shouts. "Fight it! Remember who you are! Remember what you fight for!"

((OOC: And Custer is down to 3 men on horseback.

The Mourning Mist floats into battle. It can make a Sweep attack against everything in its Reach. It has a reach of 4, which means it, too, has a target-rich environment. It can float to a point where it can attack everyone except Janet her newly purloined horse.

It makes 1 Fighting roll and applies it to everything in reach.

21:26, Today: Mourning Mist rolled 1,11 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,(6+5)11. Fighting! (Sweep). That will hit all the things. this is it's Pain Touch, not it's damaging ability.

Everyone needs to make a Spirit roll (-2) or be Shaken.

Custer: Already Shaken, so no further roll needed (as this can't kill anyone)
Custer's men: 21:34, Today: Union Troops rolled 3,3,3 using d6-2,d6-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 5,5,5. Spirit. All fail, meaning they need to make ride checks or be tossed.
Their horses: 21:35, Today: Union Troops rolled 0,5,3,9 using d6-2,d6-2,d6-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 2,(6+1)7,5,(6+5)11. Spirit. 2 failures, including Custer's personal mount.
Col. Manning: 21:36, Today: Col. Manning rolled 3,23 using d8-4,d6-4, rerolling max with rolls of 7,(6+6+6+6+3)27. Spirit. Go Manning go!

Horsemanship: 21:38, Today: Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer rolled 11,6 using d12+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 9,4. Ride. Custer doesn't embarrass himself by falling, but his horse is going to run for the hills.

21:39, Today: Union Troops rolled 6,5,10 using d8,d8,d8, rerolling max with rolls of 6,5,(8+2)10. Ride. his men also stay horsed, though one is clinging to the saddle as his mount goes galloping away.

The rest of you, time for a mass of rolls!))

The men bolt and run, somehow managing to stay horsed.

22:11, Today: Janet Weiss rolled 8,3 using d6-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of (6+4)10,5. Horse's spirit check. (Sorry, forgot I only had one horsed soldier)
22:09, Today: Janet Weiss rolled 2,5 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,5. Spirit Check.

Janet, meanwhile, took careful aim with her derringer.  She stared at a spread of cards that appeared in her hand.  "Finally, a little luck." she whispered to herself.  Then a bolt of fire lapt from her gun, into the mist. "That should get it's attention.  Now what was the rest of the plan?  Oh, yes, run for it!" With that, she spurred her horse to a gallop.

Little low on PP, so Deal With the Devil for two pair:

22:18, Today: Janet Weiss drew the 2 cards: 4C, 7D using a deck of 54 cards. Dealer's Choice.
22:18, Today: Janet Weiss drew the 7 cards: 7H, 3S, 4H, 6H, 8D, 2H, 3C using a deck of 54 cards. Deal With The Devil.

Now I take my shot.  Hit for 13 damage.

22:24, Today: Janet Weiss rolled 13 using 3d6. Damage.
22:22, Today: Janet Weiss rolled 7,5 using d10,d6. Spellcasting.

Isaacs pales and whispers in Hebrew under his breath as his comrades fall to their knees, clutching their heads. The wash of memory fails to affect him, but it's all too much for his already-maddened horse, who yanks its head up and screams, eyes rolling as it rears and plunges, desperate to get the man keeping it here off its back.

One particularly insane impact causes Isaacs to fear his beast will fall, and in that instant of loosened grip, he's heading for the ground...

[[08:42, Today: 7th Cavalry rolled 1,0 using d6-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 3,2. spirit! Guys on the ground.

08:43, Today: 7th Cavalry rolled 7 using 1d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of (6+3)9. spirit! Isaacs. Go Isaacs!

08:45, Today: 7th Cavalry rolled 0 using 1d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 2. horse spirit!
08:45, Today: 7th Cavalry rolled 2 using 1d8, rerolling max with rolls of 2. Ride! Ah, no...falling damage time.]]

((...and I have two on horses. Sorry, forgot about Jack and Billy's dead.))
12:30, Today: Freiherr von Steinhof rolled 10 using 1d8, rerolling max with rolls of (8+2)10. Riding Jack.
12:26, Today: Freiherr von Steinhof rolled 6 using 1d8, rerolling max with rolls of 6. Riding Bobby.


Bobby and Jack do what they can to stay in the saddle, but both do little to hinder their mounts to bolt away.
"What about Billy?!" Jack yells.
"Forget Billy, he's gone!" Bobby answers, the panic just hiding under the brink of his cry.

12:33, Today: Freiherr von Steinhof rolled 4,-2 using d8-3,d6-3, rerolling max with rolls of 7,1. White chip.
12:33, Today: Freiherr von Steinhof rolled -2,-2 using d8-3,d6-3, rerolling max with rolls of 1,1. Spirit.

Leopold reels back from the onslaught of memories.
"I should've let Coltrane kill you..." he mutters to himself, tears forming in his eyes.
Then again, the town might have burned down if he hadn't. Sickening as the thought was.

The mist convulses at the touch of fire from Janet's gun. All well and good...now Janet just has to keep ahead of the thing.

---

Issacs falls into the filthy mud of Deadwood's street, the wind knocked out of him. He can hear screaming...but that's all he's been hearing.

---

The bloody, screeching dead man swinging at Manning seems to have taken the Colonel's measure, and starts moving away.

"Not so fast!" The Col. snarls, swinging the butt of his pistol down on the burned dead's skull...but not hard enough, it seems, as the thing absorbs the blow and runs screaming into the alley between buildings.

"DAMN!" he shouts, and almost runs after it..but stops as soldiers add their screams to the wailing already on the field. Manning turns, and sees the other remaining zombie tear into the weeping, kneeling men closest to the giant abomination. The zombie tears into one of the soldiers, clawed fingers ripping flesh from bones.

"NO!" Manning shouts, and empties his pistol at the dead thing. It collapses, but the soldier it attacked falls as well.

---

Corporal Lyle Briggs had seen the elephant a time or two. He'd served on the front lines in the early days of the Civil War, and then he'd fought with Custer against the Sioux. He'd been there at the Little Bighorn, though he'd been in that fool Reno's battalion. He'd rejoined Custer, and swore he'd be with the General until the end.

Well, now Snyder and and Lucas were dead, Paterson was next to him babbling like a fool and Leonard was trying to get his damn horse under control. Corporal Briggs knew the end was here, and he'd be goddamned if he wasn't going to gave a good account of himself before the end.

He raised his Winchester, steadying himself. He sighted along the iron sights, drawing a bead on one of the heads of the giant mishmash monstrosity with the flaming arm. The thing flailed around, but Briggs found his shot.

{{CRACK!}}

The shot ripped through one of the heads of the five-bodied beast, and the screaming thing danced as blood spurted. It jigged around, even more unsteady than normal. It had been hurt!

"Excellent shot, Briggs!" said a voice behind him. The Corporal turned, and saw Custer ride up, his mount under control, his left hand on the reigns of Leonard's horse.

Briggs smiled grimly. "Not quite. It's still moving."

"Then we'll have to fix that, won't we?" Custer replied. "SEVENTH! Regroup! Target the abomination! Artillery support is on it's way, so you hold! You hear me, men? YOU HOLD!"

((OOC: That will be 1 Wound and a Shaken against the Mist. I'm going to split the Mist and the 'Glom up. Congrats, though...Janet DID get it's attention.


I'm splitting up the 'Glom and the Mist because I'm a bit sick of all my NPCs acting in a clump.

'Glom Card: 8D
Mist Card: 3S

The falling damage for Issacs is 8, which makes him Shaken.

Now I go with the Bloody one's bloody turn. It's actually fairly smart for an undead thing, and Manning has proven too tough for it to defeat, so it's going to Withdraw and try to cause mischief elsewhere. Since Manning only has an Improvised melee weapon, he can only try to pistol whip it as it runs.

21:58, Today: Col. Manning rolled 1,8 using d6-3,d6-3, rerolling max with rolls of 4,(6+5)11. Fighting! Oh god, he actually hit it. Go, Manning, go!

Damage: 5. aw.

Since that does diddly-squat to the Bloody One, it gets to skedaddle its pace of 8 away into Deadwood, heading off towards the creek.

The other Bloody One sees its chance to take out some soldiers and attacks the 2 members of the 7th who are on their knees. With Custer not in the area, they lose the Hold The Line bonus to their Toughness. The Bloody One Wild Attacks.

22:06, Today: Bloody Ones rolled 5,10 using d10+2,d10+2, rerolling max with rolls of 3,8. Frenzy! (With Wild Attack). One hit.

Damage: 16 (2 wounds, which will drop the soldier)

And that's the Bloody Ones. Card: 9S

Manning gets to go. He's going to take a shot at the Bloody One tearing into the man. He has -2 from wounds, but can still Double Tap, though he'll have to reload next round.

22:11, Today: Col. Manning rolled 0,3 using d8-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4. Shooting! (Double Tap). NOW you fail? No, this will not do. Red chip time!

22:11, Today: Col. Manning rolled 5 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5. red chip. That's more like it. That makes it an 8 and a Raise, rather than a fail and an Innocent Bystander hit.

Damage: 16 (2 wounds to the Bloody one, which drops it).

Card: 4S

Custer's turn.

Custer has 3 men still around, though 1 is galloping away and all of them are Shaken. With Custer also shaken and his mount on the run, they only get their normal rolls to Unshake.

22:21, Today: Union Troops rolled 2,4,13 using d6,d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,4,(6+6+1)13. Mass Unshake. on fails, one succeeds (with -2 penalty to actions), one gets a raise (no penalty).

The galloping guy attempts to reign in his horse. 22:23, Today: Union Troops rolled 8 using 1d8-2, rerolling max with rolls of (8+2)10. Ride. Success. He unshakes his horse with a raise, which means he can ride back into the fray.

The guy still at the battlefield takes a shot at the 'Glom. He gets a Marksman bonus. 22:24, Today: Union Troops rolled 8 using 1d8+2, rerolling max with rolls of 6. Shooting! (Marksman). hit with Raise.

Damage: 34(!) That's enough damage to make the 'glom take notice. That is, in fact, 4 wounds for the 'glom!

The 'glom attempts to soak. 22:28, Today: Scrap 'Glom rolled 13,9 using d12+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 11,(6+1)7. Soak! That will soak 3 wounds, meaning it takes 1 Wound and is Shaken.

That will make things easier for you guys. Not, you know, a lot...but it shaves off one of the 'Glom's bennies and leaves it with a wound.

If you guys want to know which head was hit, make a Notice Roll (-4)

Custer attempts to unshake. 22:33, Today: Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer rolled 6,4 using d12+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,2. unshake. he also attempts to reign in his horse. 22:33, Today: Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer rolled 8,11 using d12,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 8,(6+5)11. Ride. That will get him back to the battlefield, where his Leadership bonus can do some good.

Card: AD))

---

It's Black Jack's turn!

Jack watched the horror unfold. In the midst of it he looked for innocents who needed rescue. The blue coats were doing their best to stand against a true abomination.

"Sacrebleu .."

[5 blank lines suppressed]

"Whether you believe in God or the spirits or just your own grit, countless times men have stood against such dark behemoths and been victorious. This day be no different, as you have stood in battle and been victorious before, the spirits shall stand with you and you shall be victorious again."

Forgot to draw initiative:

23:26, Today: Janet Weiss drew the single card: QS using a deck of 54 cards. Init.

In reply to Black Jack Boudreaux (msg # 328):

PM

[[20:26, Today: 7th Cavalry rolled -2 using 1d8-4, rerolling max with rolls of 2. Notice? Isaacs doesn't. Was it one of my freaking-out guys that got et, or both?]]

In reply to 7th Cavalry (msg # 331):

((OOC: Just the one, though it attacked both. While I'm waiting for Black Jack's reply to my PM, it's the 7th Cavalry's turn.))

The spatter of hot blood across Winger's face causes him to go suddenly silent, shocked back to himself, then take a deep breath and scramble madly backwards, grabbing up his rifle.

Isaacs coughs, trying to persuade his lungs to work.

[[23:36, Today: 7th Cavalry rolled 3,4 using d6+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 1,2. Unshake cavalry (near Custer).
init.7D]]