some mood music

September 13th, 1880. Early evening. Deadwood, Sioux nations

Black Jack:

Gun still smoking, Jack runs out of the burning Gem, just as the back wall finally gives way and collapses, burying Wild Bill's body within.

A bucket line has formed, with survivors from Wild Bill's attack on the place desperately splashing the building with water from horse troughs and a line stretching all the way to the creek in a desperate attempt to stem the out-of-control blase.

"MURDERER!" some one screams. Heads point in his direction. "MURDERER! STOP HIM! HE'S TYING TO RUN!"

And suddenly a dozen men and women converge on him, running towards him...the panic has begun.

---

Calamity Jane:

Calamity Jane runs towards the burning building...just in time to see it collapse. She spots Black Jack running out, gun smoking...and no Bill following him.

"Murderer!" Someone screams. Then there's a cry to seize him. A group of townsfolk break from the bucket brigade and run towards the Creole, and Jane is still out of range...and where's Bill? What happened to Wild Bill?

---

Kate Hillary:

Rough hands grab Kate as she stumbles.

"Come on!" Dan says as he hauls her to her feet...not very gently, but the building is collapsing and there's no time to be genteel.

But luck is with them...the collapsed wall is on the other side from where they are. Dan and Kate shoot from the alley none the worse for wear, just in time to see someone else run from the door of the Gem.

A bucket brigade has formed, but the fire from the Gem has already spread to the nearby Nuttal & Mann's saloon, and it's not the only fire blazing. There's at least one more building down the street from the Gem that's ablaze...

But before Kate can take it all in, someone starts screaming about murder, and a band of townsfolk break from the fire line and rush the dark-skinned fellow.

"Oh shit!" Dan breathes. "They think he did it! They're gonna hang him!"

---

James Wilder:

James finds the streets of Deadwood in Chaos. He can see the smoke from three--no, four--different fires rising into the night sky. People from the theater are running pell-mell, mixing with the panicking crowd on the outside. soldiers are rushing about, ordering civilians out of their way, and are getting ignored. One of them, frustrated, draws his pistol and fires into the air, but that only makes the chaos in the streets worse.

Someone's going to get hurt, even if the blazes (which aren't anywhere near the theater yet, praise Jesus) do somehow get under control.

((OOC: Which way are you headed, James?))


Here's a map of where the fires are in relation to each other, though there's one more that can't be seen from this map, as it's a bit further away. As you can see, James Wilder's quite a distance away from the nearest fire, which is the one at the jail.

Kate looks to Dan, then back to the crowd.  She breaks from Dan and moves towards the crowd and the dark skinned man.  "WAIT! WAIT! Everyone! Please! This man is not the one, if not for him, I myself would have perished in the blaze!  He saved both myself and Dan the bartender! Please! STOP!"

Jane checked her guns, made sure they were reloaded.  Then, snagging a nearby bottle and taking a swig, she marched to Jack.  "You!  You better have a fucking good reason why you're alone!"

07:51, Today: Black Jack Boudreaux rolled 1 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1. Blue 2.
07:50, Today: Black Jack Boudreaux rolled 1 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1. Blue.
07:50, Today: Black Jack Boudreaux rolled 3,6 using d6,d10, rerolling max with rolls of 3,6. Persusion

Jack coming out of the building sees the crowd and tucks away his revolver.

"I killed no man. I did what I could to help others and barely emerged with my own life." Jack said in reply.

Hearing Jane's question, Boudreaux replied "You have the temerity to question me when you are out here alone?"

Jane raised her gun.  "You know what the fuck I mean!  Where the fuck is Bill!"

"Inside. But I don't think that was your friend Bill Hickok. From what I have heard Bill Hickok was a decent man. That blackguard took delight in shooting the place up. Looks like he shot any one he could see. There were bodies everywhere in there."

Jack glanced back at what had been the Gem "Whoever or whatever is in that inferno, my guess is it'll be back. But it won't be Wild Bill."

"Now we need to all do what we can to stop this holocaust that is consuming Deadwood. Boudreaux said to both Jane and the mob.

"He's right!" Dan says stepping up to the mob. "He's not the killer! I saw the killer, and it wasn't him!"

The crowd around them hesitates, and then turns back to the problem of dumping water on the burning building. Not that it seems to be doing any good.

Dan hustles up to Jack and Jane. "What did you mean when you said that stuff about him coming back?" He looks over at Kate. "One minute I'm shooting a man who won't die, the next I'm being dragged to find a shovel to desecrate a grave, and now you're telling me he's coming back somehow? Can someone please explain to me what the hell is going on?"

James had no real idea what was what in the town so he began heading towards the closest blaze he saw... the jail.

"Listen! whatever is happening here we have to let the Marshall deal with it! Whoever that man in there was, it's up to them to figure that out!  Right now we need to save the town!" Kate pointed to the building that was on fire.

(OOC: don't have persuasion so using Intimidation:

08:03, Today: Kate Hillary rolled 24 using 1d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of (6+6+6+4)22. Intimidation.
08:04, Today: Kate Hillary rolled 3 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3.

"We're not fucking done yet!" growled Jane.  She pointed her gun at Dan,  "This ain't fucking done till Al Swearengen gets his! Where is he?"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:20, Wed 21 Aug 2013.

Calamity Jane raises her gun and starts shouting, which compels some of the crowd trying to fight the fire to jump away...but not all of them.

Not all of Al's thugs had been killed by Bill, after all, and most were in the bucket brigade. And with Jane declaring her involvement for all to hear, well, that was the last straw for them.

"I lost friends tonight! Die, you cowardly bitch!" One shouts as he levels his rifle at her. The shot doesn't come anywhere close to touching her, but like a dam bursting the frustration, anger, and fear boils over and suddenly the mob is turning towards Calamity Jane.

"Get her!"

"String her up!"

"Tar her! Feather her! Run her out on a rail!"

((OOC: Congrats. You've just openly admitted you were part of this bloody attack in front of a whole mob of people who'd be upset to know that little fact.

Everyone there, draw cards for Initiative.

Angry mob (including Dan): 9D))

In reply to James Wilder (msg # 8):

James runs through the crowd, which parts at the sudden appearance of his odd attire. Not everyone moves fast enough, though, and someone blunders into him.

"Help!" The man cries, grabbing the strange, shiny material that makes up the suit. "Fire...blood...dead! Dead!" He waves a bloody knife in Wilders' face. "Help!" He yells again.

And then James recognizes him. It's Jimmy! He's disheveled, and his torn clothes are smeared with blood and ashes. He looks like he's been in a fight, and he's weaving and unfocused, possibly injured somewhere. He seems disoriented, too, as if he were drunk. Or in shock.

((OOC: Wilder, make another Natural Healing roll. I don't want to have you down at 2 wounds this whole while...))

Jane fires her gun into the air.  "Y'all know who I fucking am!" she shouts.  "Do you really want to cross me!"

OOC: Intimidate time!  I note that I have the Reputation Edge, which boosts Intimidate, but not the Intimidation skill.  Oh well.  My best roll is a 4, which may or may not be enough to intimidate the leader of the crowd.



04:29, Today: Calamity Jane Canary drew the single card: AH using a deck of 54 cards. Init.

04:29, Today: Calamity Jane Canary rolled 0,4 using d4-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 1,5. Last White Chip.

04:28, Today: Calamity Jane Canary rolled 1,1 using d4-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 2,2. White Chip.

04:28, Today: Calamity Jane Canary rolled 1,2 using d4-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 2,3. Intimidation.

In reply to James Lonefeather (msg # 12):
OOC: I can dig it
09:23, Today: James Wilder rolled 4,1 using 1D8-2,1D6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 6,3. Natural Healing (-2 wounds).
thats good enough for a wound ... blue chip to get the second
09:23, Today: James Wilder rolled 1 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1. Blue Chip.
No such luck, rerollin' it all! White chip
09:24, Today: James Wilder rolled 5,9,2 using 1D8-2,1D6-2,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,(6+5)11,2. White Chip reroll.
9 should get rid of all those pesky wounds

---

The gunslinger grabbed hold of his friend, trying to keep him upright as he spoke, "Jimmy it me James... what are you talking about man?!" James looked towards where his friend had come from an trying perhaps to see if he can figure out what happened.

08:56, Today: Kate Hillary drew the single card: 7C using the Deadlands system. Initiative.

In reply to Calamity Jane Canary (msg # 13):

((OOC: Yeah, I didn't build this profile...it's the one out of the book, with a few tweaks. She has the Reputation edge, but no Charisma bonus and only a small penalty (which was one I added because I switched around one of her hindrances).

I'm actually going to make an adjustment to her sheet (my prerogative as the Marshal) to better reflect her character. Once I'm done, you can reroll that Intimidate check. I refund all your chips.))

In reply to James Wilder (msg # 14):

"James?" The half-breed looks up, into the faceplate of the suit. It takes him a couple seconds to focus on the face inside. "James? Where...where are we? Last thing I remember, we were fighting Sioux...I took an arrow...then I wake, and I'm in a burning building, and there's bodies everywhere..."

He waves with his knife hand down main street. There's another curl of smoke rising into the air, several blocks to the south, which explains why James didn't see it when he initially left the theater.

Still don't have much of a roll, but here goes:

11:08, Today: Calamity Jane Canary rolled 6,3 using d6+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 4,1. White chip.

11:08, Today: Calamity Jane Canary rolled 3,5 using d6+2,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 1,3. Intimidate, take two.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:10, Wed 21 Aug 2013.

In reply to James Lonefeather (msg # 17):

"Jimmy, stop wavin' that blade around ... there are lots of folks runnin' round out here."  James grabbed his friend's hand. "What do you mean you don't remember anything after the fight with the Sioux?! You talked to me in the Miner's Alliance this afternoon, saying how you'd go into town and ask around about things..."

19:41, Today: Black Jack Boudreaux drew the single card: QH using a deck of 54 cards. initiative.

"What is that quaint little expression?" says a voice from behind Calamity Jane. A dark-haired man in a duster with one of those fancy Smith & Robards armored vests steps out of the crowd of angry miners. "'I'm you're huckleberry,' is it? Well I am, see you. And I swear to God Above that I will cross you, and I will end you, unless you drop that rifle and surrender. So what's it to be?"

((OOC: A wild MADDOX appears!

He rolls to resit the intimidation.

20:26, Today: Maddox rolled 4,4 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,4.

20:27, Today: Maddox rolled 5,2 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,2. white chip. not quite high enough to beat Jane.

That's a fail, but even though Calamity Jane has a +2 bonus against him, he's confident he can take her and steps up to challenge her anyway.

I roll the die to add him to the turn order:

Card: RJ!

Huh. Well, that changes things.))

---

Turn Order:
Maddox: RJ! (holding to interrupt any action taken by Calamity Jane)
Calamity Jane: AD
Black Jack: QH
Angry Mob: 9D
Kate Hillary: 7C

"Blade?" Jimmy says, looking down...and suddenly drops the knife as if it'd burned him. "What...I don't remember...what's going on? What things? Where are we?"

In reply to Maddox (msg # 21):

Jane spits.  "Well, look who fucking crawled out from under a fucking rock.  You want a piece of me?  Get this fire put out, and I'll meet you tomorrow at high noon.  Unless you ain't got the fucking stones, that is."

16:12, Today: Black Jack Boudreaux rolled 5,11 using d6+2,d10+2, rerolling max with rolls of 3,9. persusion.

Black looked around "This town is burning to the ground. Let's save these arguments for later and save Deadwood."

James gave his friend a hard look, trying as he might to see if Jimmy was being funny or not. "Don't play with me like that Jimmy, don't you dare!" the gunslinger's voice was hard as his sized up the half-breed. "Too much shit going on right fer me to help you sort out whatever's happenin' in your head man. So either come with me or get to safety." James started moving towards the jail again, leaving his friend to make his choice.

There's a strange red shine in the gunslinger's eyes as he takes in the fire, the angry mob, and the woman with the rifle.

He sighs. "You had your chance." He say, and fires.

The bullet creases Calamity Jane's brow, digging a deep furrow into her skull and sending cascades of blood into her eyes. The shot has enough force to send her staggering, and her ears ring.

Even through the ringing, she can hear Maddox speaking to her. "Now, see you, I'm taking you down for the murders you committed by yir. Throw down your gun, and it'll be a cell for you. Shoot, and it'll be a pine box. Your choice."

((OOC: Maddox aims to finish this fight in one shot. He has a +2 bonus from the Marksman edge and a +2 bonus from his Joker, so he's going to make a called shot at Calamity Jane's head. The penalties cancel out his bonuses, so it's a straight roll.

22:46, Today: Maddox rolled 4,4 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 4,4. Shooting! That's a hit.

He gets +2 damage from the Joker, and +4 damage from headshot.

Damage: 18 (Shaken and 2 wounds for Calamity Jane)

His card for the next round: 4H))

---

Calamity Jane is up next!

Jimmy looks a bit panicked as he follows along behind James. "I swear to God, James, I'm not playing anything! Don't leave!"

Ahead, the jail is burning merrily. There's a number of crumpled, robbed bodies around the place...folks who look unconscious or perhaps dead, it's hard for him to tell.

From the side of the building is a shouting match...a dark-haired man with well-trimmed mustache is pointing a gun at a bloody fellow with a rifle aimed at a Chinese man, who is also holding a pistol, though he seems to be trying to diffuse the situation rather than aggravate either the bloody man or the mustached man.

((OOC: This will put Wilder in to the action on the Greatest Show On Earth thread))

The rifle is thrown from Jane's hand as she drops to the ground.  "Knew... you ain't... got the... fucking stones." she whispered, before her head lolled over.

Managed to soak one wound, but was still shaken, so she's going to lie down for a nap.

00:42, Today: Calamity Jane Canary rolled 1,5 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,5. Soak.

"Come on then Jimmy... town's gonna burn down and we ain't closer to gettin' what we came for."

"The hell... ain't folks got better things to do right now?"

In reply to James Wilder (msg # 29):

((OOC: James, please look over at the Greatest Show On Earth thread, looking for Bullock, McCall, and Dr. Han Lee. You'll be posting there again.))

In reply to Calamity Jane Canary (msg # 28):

The man in black sighs. "Americans. What is this obsession with dueling in the bloody streets?" He looks over at Black Jack. "You there! Help me cart her to the bleedin' Marshal, now, would you kindly?"

When it's Kate's turn


Kate looks on as the shouting woman is shot by another man.  Her wound is hurting her, but she gets up from her fall, "Quick! WE HAVE to save the town!" She starts pushing people in the direction of the fires, shoving buckets at them.

Jack looked at the inferno that had been the Gem. The thing that had become Wild Bill might still be alive in there some how. Jack knew that job needed to be finished.

"I have unfinished business here." Jack said looking into the flames for signs of Wild Bill.

The gunslinger sighs. "Unfinished, is it? As you will." He lifts Calamity Jane up onto his shoulders. The woman groans, as does the gunslinger. He looks back at Jack. "See you now, Swearengen's not coming back tonight. I'll thank you for stopping the madman who was shooting the place up, but as I was called here by a fellow who said it was three who attacked the Gem--Calamity Jane, someone claiming to be Wild Bill Hickok, and a Negro--well, I'd suggest you not be seen around here again, I would. People will focus on Jane and Bill--don't give them any reason to remember you bein' mixed up in this as anything other than a hero." He looks over at the fire for a moment before heading on his way, grunting as he carries the limp form of Calamity Jane on his back.

Jack waits, and waits, but nothing emerges from the inferno. The building burns down to cinders despite the best efforts of the makeshift bucket brigade, as are the buildings next to it.

"Thanks for the advice. As far as putting a stop to that slaughter, I just wish I had been able to stop him sooner." Jack said with a tip of his hat.

The man tips his hat back. The barkeep steps up to help him carry Jane off into the night.

((OOC: So...what is Jack up to now?))

Jack feared that their is no reason to believe the body of the man once known as Wild Bill will not rise again. There was a chance if he could find the remains he could end it once and for all. If not he would need to find someone capable of banishing what ever it was that had begun to walk the earth a Bill Hickok.

((OOC: Well, you have that Elemental Protection spell going. You could enter the flaming ruins of the Gem, but that might draw attention. It will be several hours before the ruins of the Gem are cool enough to enter, even after the fire itself dies down. The rest of Deadwood is ablaze, and I have other groups running around doing things there. Do you want me to skip you ahead several hours (and thus put you out of synch with the rest of the groups), did you want to do something else with the time, or did you want to enter the building with your magic active and take the risk of exposure?))

Jack did what he could to aid the town folks in putting out the flames, but made sure he could keep an eye on the Gem. Hickok had risen once and might again.

It's near dawn before the burning stops. By the time the fires are under control, several blocks had caught and burned. In the ruins of the Gem, bodies are being brought forth. A dozen male and female corpses, burned beyond easy recognition, are pu8lled from the wreckage.

((OOC: If you want to examine them to see if any of them might be Bill's, you'll need to make a Healing check (-2). Also, you've been up for quite a while, so you need to make a Vigor roll to avoid a level of Fatigue.))

00:39, Today: Black Jack Boudreaux rolled 5,14 using 1d6,1d8, rerolling max with rolls of 5,(8+6)14. vigor.
00:39, Today: Secret Roll: Black Jack Boudreaux rolled 4,5 using 1d6,1d10, rerolling max with rolls of 4,5. detect arcana.

Black Jack looks over the bodies of the dead hoping to find the body of Wild Bill Hickok. With the bodies as scorched as they are Boudreaux relies on the spirits to aid him.

The sun is rising, and there's no magical auras that Black Jack can detect. Either Bill's body was missed--or it wasn't there when the searchers hauled the others out. Or Bill is well and truly dead, with the magic that sustained him has faded and gone. There's just no way to be certain.

01:03, Today: Black Jack Boudreaux rolled 9,0 using d6-2,d4-2, rerolling max with rolls of (6+5)11,2. healing.

With the spirits unable to locate Hickok, Jack relied on his own memory to under take the grisly work. He had seen the havoc the dark spirit who controlled the risen Bill had wreaked and wanted to make sure that Hickok's corpse did not rise again.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:08, Wed 11 Sept 2013.

Black Jack sets to the grisly work of inspecting the corpses. It's long work, and he's joined by the town doctor eventually, who assumes Jack is helping identify bodies out of the goodness of his heart.

By the time he's finished helping the doctor get the corpses to the doctor's office, and then looking them over, it's well past noon. He's skipped meals and is now getting quite hungry, and the smell of cooked meat doesn't help, though the thought of meat right now also brings a dose of queasiness.

But the thorough examination reveals one thing--Wild Bill's corpse is not among the dead from the Gem.

Jack looked at the doctor but no words came. Seeing that the body was gone, and knowing that Jack might indeed rise again, Jack decided to get something to each and some sleep. He had seen a lot of carnage, but with Hickok's corpse not among the dead he imagined he would see more.

Offering a silent nod, Jack departed.

((OOC: Are you returning to the boarding house after you find something to eat?))

Jack is staying at his friend's aunt's brothel is it has not burned down.

((OOC: Ah, right.))

The High Time Saloon is still standing, much to Jack's weary delight. The girls are quiet and the place is fairly empty...most of the soldiers have been organized into a work force to help rebuild the parts of the town that were destroyed, and many of the miners have retreated to their claims.

Mollie Johnson looks him over. "You," she sniffs, "could use a bath. We can have one drawn, if you like. Oh, and have you heard from Zach? I'm terribly worried...he hasn't been by at all since he went to the newspaper place yesterday..."

Jack was exhausted and the bath sounded like bliss. But given the events of the past day and night the idea of the naïve young Zach on his own was clawing at him.

"I will take a quick bath and get some sleep and then go and find him. I am sure with everything going on in town he is busy scribbling a story in his pad." Jack said but he was not so sure. The young Cajun promised himself that he would go find his young friend.

Mollie favors him with a brilliant smile, "Oh, would you?" Her smile could melt the North Pole. "I'd be ever so grateful..." She leaves of mentioning what form her gratitude would take, but her wink seems to hold a promise of, well, a high time at the very least.

((OOC: A quick note...something is happening back in the Greatest Show On Earth thread that your character might have been involved with...the dead of the Gem Theater are rising as burning zombies. Would you be active in that fight?))

In reply to The Stray (msg # 51):

Yes that sounds like something up Jack's alley

((OOC: Alrighty. We'll put this on hold while Jack sleeps, and while he sleeps here, we cut back to the previous night...you'll be on the Greatest Show On Earth thread.))

Tired and have battled the an undead Wild Bill and faced down a street full of ambominations, Jack could have gone to bed, but Zachary was a friend as was his father and the young man needed to be found.

Jack hoped his companion had not fallen during the carnage that had struck Deadwood.

Boudreaux headed to Bullock's office to see if there was any news of his friend.

((OOC: I'm waiting for the group on the Worm Cultists thread to finish up their fight so I know what all the major players in Deadwood are up to))