The blade hacks into the ground, and sticks there. The monster pulling up from the ground is not some poor white man, though...he recognizes her.

Dances in the Wind. He knows her. She shouldn't be here, not in this terrible place, he hadn't even met her until after he'd returned to the Sioux Nations. But it's unmistakably her, despite the rot eating away at her face and the spiders crawling out of her mouth.

"Whyyyyyy?" She moans, as she pulls herself fully from the grave. She lurches toward Thunder Walker. "Whyyyyyyyyy?"

And she wasn't the only one asking. All around Thunder Walker, the dead were rising. Indian dead, white dead...so many. And so many that he knows. He can see Horn Chips, lurching towards him, eyes glowing read as he moans. The white man with the red hair and freckles, who he'd died trying to save, shuffles toward him. Chief Little Bear drags his bladed war club behind him.

And even Wovoka, with a small whole in his forehead and the back of his head a bloody, pulped mess, is shuffling toward him, asking him "Whyyyyyyyyyy?"

---

As moses holds the little girl, he can feel her heart beginning to slow. The wounds she was dealt must be grievous indeed...she'll die without aid.

Moses sobs, then takes a few deep breaths, pulling himself together.
"You shall not die, Screaming Rabbit. Not here. Moses... I.. will help you."
He puts her down on the ground, as gently as possible, then starts examining her.

Unbidden, the salty sting of tears burned the Lakota warrior's eyes, as hot as a fire in the camp or the passion he had for this one, or the anger in his heart. Why did I fail again? he asked himself, an echo of the question they were all asking him, or at least the meaning he gave to their words. Stumbling, he had no choice but to retreat. He pulled free the tomahawk, but he could not bring himself to bear to strike her.

[Language unknown: "Beis ingfi ect ng. Ni un lalar le. Ca n ast itel. Nte u laol e ecund."] He backed away toward Moses. They had to flee. It was the only way. To run from these. There were too many to fight, and there was Dances in the Wind, and he could not fight her.

@Moses:

The girl's wounds are grave. She needs immediate help, or she will die. It might be too late already. The lacerations in her skin from the slaver's whip are deep, and she's lost a lot of blood.

Suddenly, he hears an achingly familiar voice. "Mo?"

A shadow glides through the mist...from here, it almost looks like a woman in a homespun dress, but he can't make out any features. "Mo? Is that you here? I...I'm lost, Mo. I'm scared...there's somethin' out here..." the figure begins moving further into the mist. "Mo? Where are you? You said you'd come get us. You promised. Mo? Where did you go?"

---

@Thunder Walker

As the dead with friendly faces begin to crowd around Thunder Walker, reaching for him, asking him "why?" and "why?" again, the girl in the white dress begins to sing, slightly off-key...

"~#A dream is a wiiiiiiish your heart makes...when you're fast asleeeeeeep...in dreams you will loooooose your heartache...whatever you wish for you keeeeeeep...#~"

Moses strains to look into the fog, then down at Rabbit again. Her wounds seem to mimic his own, at least he notices a gash coming down her left shoulder down onto her chest.
Thinking that he may finally understand, he looks up at the sky.
"Lord, I am but a man. A man of no education, no knowledge, no skills. Any power I have... had... came from you. This girl has not sinned, but sins were committed against her. Moses... I ... cannot ask for any favors, no more than you have already given me.
Will you accept my blood for hers? Those lashes were not meant for her, but for me."

The voice out of the mist makes him nod. Perhaps he truly understood the Lord correctly now.

"I am here, Abigail!" He calls out. "Follow my voice..."

Closing his eyes and tracing his fingers gently along Rabbit's wounds, he starts to sing, loudly.
"Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see."

[Language unknown: "M ivlo iouintwer st urpo, li Pl pr his evlo oltang aithu ndemenave ichch ut roio,"] he said, gently pushing his way through the thronging masses of the dead, the images of the dead that he had to believe were not real. They would not be here, but in the hunting grounds where the buffalo were endless, or their souls would return to the world, to be ghosts or to be born again. He pushed his way away from that singing voice, though the words haunted his every step.

He moved back towards Moses as swiftly as he might.

Moses feels a feeble effort to curl away from his touch; when he next looks down there's a dark, feverish glimmer from under the girl's lashes, though it cannot be told if she sees anything or is even truly conscious. Her pale hand curls into the dirt, the bruises and rope burns at her wrist highlighting how delicate she is, how fragile the link that holds her to life.

She may be here to take wounds from many men, but she's too small, too weak to live with them. Moses' fingers come away still more red with her blood, her breathing picking up a slight shudder as her lungs threaten to fail her helpless mind's command.

Nothing happens magically to the wounds on Rabbit, and the lashes on Moses' back remain closed. Either the Lord cannot hear Moses, cannot help Moses, or has abandoned him. Had he any healing skill of his own, he could attempt to bind her wounds without the Lord's help. But as it is, she's dying, and he can't rely on the Lord to intervene.

"Mo?" the voice of Abigail calls again. "What are you doing that's so important you can't come to me, Mo? I can't...can't see..." The shadowy figure stumbles over a gravestone. There's a pained scream, and then a babbling voice..."Help me! Oh, help me, Mo...I think I hurt somethin' when I fell..."

---

The dead with familiar faces surround Thunder Walker on all sides, pushing him, blocking his way, attempting to pull him down to death.

A dark shadow falls over him, and a charnel stench fills Thunder Walker's nose as Rotten Bear Killer (or at least, a shadowy form large enough and foul-smelling enough to be the man) rises to meet him.

"You have failed, Thunder Walker." The giant shadowy brave rumbles as it raises its mighty bladed war club over its head. "It is time for you to fall. I own you now."

The club swings in an arc, terrifyingly fast, yet time seems to slow for Thunder Walker as the deadly club looms...

((OOC: All your tests are over, Thunder Walker. You wind up with a total of -1. Make a Spirit roll (-1), which will be opposed by The Shadow Brave's Spirit. You get to roll first.))
This message was last edited by the player at 00:18, Tue 10 Dec 2013.

"Moses... I am sorry, little Rabbit. I have no useful skills but for those gifts the Lord has granted."
Tears are streaming down the giant's face, splashing down on Rabbit's wounds.
"But even if I can't heal you, I shall not let you die here. Stay with me a little longer, Screaming Rabbit."

He rises, his bulky frame pushing the mists away from him before it settles again.
"I'm coming, Abby. I am, finally, coming back to you."

Thunder Walker fought mightily against the host of those that worked to pull him down, struggling in vain to reach Moses and Screaming Rabbit, to try once more. His efforts were completely and totally futile. Those with the faces of his friends and loved ones now thrust him in the way of the vile stink of a giant brave of shadows. It seemed darkly familiar to him. He held out hope for a moment, perhaps that there might have been a light again, that there might be spirits here to save him, that Moses would have his Holy Madness again and save him, but the hope was faint.

It was feather in a strong wind. It was lone buffalo left from the herd, after the buffalo hunters had slaughtered the rest. One tipi in a burning village after a Pawnee raid. One child of the people fleeing from Custer's host. A tuft of grass on the edge of a cliff, with a falling man gripping it. But it was all that he had.

---

OOC:

Here goes...
Spirit: 14

That's good...right?

17:57, Today: Thunder Walker rolled 14,1 using d6-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of (6+6+3)15,2. Spirit.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:04, Tue 10 Dec 2013.

Moses hears the girl whisper as he stands, her words almost soft as a breath.
<"I can't...I am sorry...I am...only a weak and dishonourable person.">

---

The giant rains blows down on the mighty brave, the same series of wounds that had so broken him before...

((OOC: The roll is made. Now it's up to Moses to act, as he's still got a couple more tests of his own. I'll reveal the results once it's all said and done. }:D ))

Moses stops and looks down at the girl in his arms.
"NO", he replies, more forcefully than he intended and he softens his voice as she startles.
"No, you are not dishonorable. And you are not weak. Sometimes, the Lord puts us in difficult situations to test us. And you have won every test, Screaming Rabbit. You have escaped your tormentors. You have pacified the blood feud between the Pawnee and the Lakota, at least for now. You have faced Raven and he was the one to tuck tail and run.
You are the Lord's most favored sheep. When your time comes, you will add your soul to the scales of the Reckoning. And it will add tremendous weight to the forces of Good."

He takes a few more steps into the direction of Abigail's voice.
"I, Moses, have been tested before, too. When the white man still owned men... and women and children. I fled. I killed my tormentor and I fled."
He keeps walking, slowly, but steadily.
"Thou Shalt Not Kill, sayeth the Lord. I knew that, but I did it. And I ran. Ran as fast as my feet carried me. They sent the dogs after me. They sent men with horses and rifles and pistols after me. And I ran, and I hid until I could run and hide no more."

More steps now, and he evades a gracestone, then another to return to his original path.
"I had a wife, Abigail. And I promised I would return and get her. Get her and the baby. I did not. I failed my wife. I failed my unborn child. I ran into the desert. So thirsty. So hungry. There was this cave. I crawled into the space between the rocks and I was crying.
That was when the Lord lifted me up. I do not remember what he said. But I found a small passage leading deeper into the cave. I crawled through the darkness until I saw light again. And Moses came out on the other side, the Lord's prophet, tool and servant."

He stops, cocking his head as he listens for his lost wife, then calls out:
"I wanted to come back, Abby. But I couldn't. If they had found me, they would have dragged me back to the plantation. They would have killed you, or done worse, right before my eyes. And then they would've killed me, and left our bodies out in the sun, as a warning to the others.
I would've died for you, Abby, and gladly. But I could not bear the thought to see you suffer."

He lifts Screaming Rabbit a bit higher and stretches his arms out.
"I, truly, deserve your pain and anger. But this girl does not. Will you help mend her wounds, Abigail? I know you can. You do not need to forgive me to help her."

Moses holds Rabbit out to the shambling figure. Abigail staggers out of the mist, arms outstretched.

Her bloody flesh hangs in strips, staining her dress with blood. Her eyes are black pits in her skull, empty voids. She smiles at Moses, her mouth filled with sharp shards of bone that only vaguely resemble teeth.

"Oh, Mo. Of course I'll help relieve you of your burden." the monster says, in Abby's sweet voice. It smiles wider, twisting the hideously familiar face further, and raises its razor-clawed fingers towards the limp form of Screaming Rabbit. "Hand her here."

Moses can't help but make a step back.
Is this mockery, an illusion? Or...?

He pushes Screaming Rabbit up, eliciting a cry of pain as he lifts her across his left shoulder. Her wounds open up yet more and he feels blood stream down his back.
Moses raises his right arm.

"No. You are not my Abigail. You may be her anger and pain made manifest, but you are not her. You are mocking me, Moses, the Lord's prophet. You are mocking the Lord and all forces of Good!
Take one step closer, raise your hands an inch and I shall destroy your evil so that what is good may flourish."

His fingers close to a fist.
"The Lord has commanded:
Never shall innocent blood be shed,
Yet the blood of the wicked shall flow like a river.
If you work for the Reckoners, you better be ready to die for them.
You. will. not. take. her!
"

The thing takes a step closer. "What's the matter, Mo? Do you find me repulsive?" its belly begins to distend, swelling out, ripping the remains of its dress. "Was it the baby, Mo? Did that make me so hideous to you that you'd run off? Was that why you find comfort in the arms of some Chinese whore rather than your own sweet wife?"

It takes another step. "Your dear and fluffy Lord ain't here, Mo. It's only you and me here." The ghastly monster with Abigail's voice says, mocking Moses. "Can't you see He's forsaken you? Maybe he was never really there to begin with, Mo. Maybe you didn't really hear his voice at all. Maybe you're just a poor, broken lunatic."

"You are not my wife."
He grits his teeth.

"I know the Lord is watching us, right now. And even if he were not, I, Moses, would still remain his prophet. I may have abandoned wife and child, my friends, my fellow slaves. I will not abandon the Lord, for He is the savior and Moses is his most humble servant!"

And with that he swings his fist forward, into the demon's face, then pulls back for another punch, turning to keep Screaming Rabbit away from the manitou.

Moses' fist sends the creature skidding into a nearby grave. There's a sickening {CRACK!} as the woman's head hits the stone, and she looks up at Moses, tears in her eyes. "Mo..." She gasps, unable to complete anything more before her eyes roll back up and she sinks limply to the ground.

There is no monster in front of Moses. Just a dead woman, a trail of blood from a broken skull dripping down the gravestone behind her.

And, from around Moses, the rasping, mocking laugh of more figures in the mist.

A giant, shadowy figure ambles towards Moses, dragging the battered body of Thunder Walker by his hair. The horrible, charnel stench of the giant fills Moses' nose as it draws closer.

"Well done!" It chortles. "Was your Lord watching that?"

Moses lowers his fist, for the moment ignoring the giant.
He kneels down, Screaming Rabbit's weight suddenly heavy on his shoulder.

Tears stream down his face.
"Have I killed my woman... or beaten a demon disguised as one?"
He turns and looks at the giant dragging Thunder Walker.
"I have tried to help Thunder Walker back into the light."
He lets Screaming Rabbit gently down from his shoulder back into his arms.
"I have tried to help Screaming Rabbit."

Then he looks up into the dark sky.
"Have I let you down, Lord? You have let me walk this path alone, Lord. Have I gone astray without your guidance?"

He stands up, heavily and turns to face the tall figure. An unusual experience for Moses, having to look up to someone's face.

"Enough. I shall take Thunder Walker and bring him back into the light. The Lord helps those who help themselves, it is said. My eyes may deceive me, but I know in my heart that this was not Abigail. She never did anything to deserve to be sent to this place. I do not know if she is still alive. But if she is dead, her soul adds its weight to the scales of good."

He takes another step forward to the shadowy figure.
"Give him to me, or the Lord may have mercy on your soul... if you have one.", he demands, his voice strong and forceful as ever.

The shadowy brave just laughs. "If you want him, come and claim him." He drops Thunder Walker, then smoothly readies his mighty war club and eases into a battle stance.

Out in the mist, Moses can sense other monsters gathering in a circle around him, the shadowy brave, and the fallen warrior. God has left him to his own devices, surrounded by evil in this wasteland.

((OOC: I think I'm going to resolve this battle in the center of the mind as a Duel. Whoever wins the final face-off here will get the Dominion point when we get to the Shoot-Out phase, and the final roll will be to see whether Moses succeeds in his original goal or not. here's how we're going to run it:

Step 1: Face Off. Draw two face-down cards, then you and the fugly manitou will verbally spar a bit, making opposed Taunt (attempts to psych out, irritate, or belittle the opponent), Intimidate (attempts to worry or scare the opponent, or deliver a devastating "The Reason You Suck" speech), or Persuasion (attempts to psych yourself up using various Wold of Cardboard Speeches or Kirk Summations) checks. Good in-character banter entitles you to a bonus, so choose your method of attack wisely. The winner gets an extra Hole card for each Success and Raise over the loser. The loser ALSO gets -2 on the Dominion check in step 4.

Step 2: Luck o’ the Draw. I draw three cards. You can say "Shoot!" and try to make the best hand you can get, or say "Draw!" and attempt to get another card. Both characters must say Draw to get another card. Another card is drawn, and the players may decide whether to Shoot or Draw again. If both Draw, then a final card is drawn, and you must make the best hand you can out of what's there.

Step 3: Reach for it!  The duelists show the best five-card poker hand they can make from the face-up cards and at least two of their hole cards. Remember, Jokers are wild! Whoever wins the hand gets the point of Dominion.

Step 4: Swappin' Lead. Now we make the final Dominion check. Moses currently has 3 Dominion over the Manitou, which is good for a +3 bonus on the Spirit roll. He stands to gain +1 Dominion, giving him a nice +4 bonus over the Manitou, but he might fail both the opposed check and the duel for dominion and wind up with no bonus whatsoever. Once the final Dominion score is calculated, Moses will make an Opposed Spirit check against the Manitou. The winner may claim Thunder Walker's soul.

If the manitou wins, he gets Thunder Walker, TW will be Harrowed, and Moses will be possessed by another manitou. If Moses wins, then Thunder Walker's soul is safe to pass on, or, if the Ghost Dance is successful, Thunder Walker will be called back to full life.))

13:31, Today: Moses drew the 2 cards: AH, QD using the Deadlands system. Face Off Cards.
Using Intimidate... fits better with this scene, I'd say.

13:32, Today: Moses rolled 5 using 1d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 3. Adding the Legend Chip to that.
13:32, Today: Moses rolled 1,5 using d4,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1,5. Intimidate.
13:32, Today: Moses rolled 3 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3. Adding the blue chip.

13:46, Today: Moses rolled 1 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1. another blue. sigh...

Total of <b>14 If I were to spend a white chip now... would I reroll all of it? So d4, d6 (skill, wild die), 2d6 (blue chips), 1d6+2 (legend chip)?</b>


Moses nods. "I see", he replies after a few moments of silence.
He looks around. "You have brought more of the forces of Evil with you, Moses sees. And it is right you did so. For you alone are not enough to stop the Lord's servant.
You think you have power, but you are just pawns in the Reckoner's game. And you will be their first meal when they enter the real world.
Even now they blind you with their gifts of strength and endurance. But the Lord sent Moses, alone, for He knew in His glorious wisdom that his loyal and humble servant would be strong enough to help Thunder Walker back into the light.
I, Moses, shall be the vengeful striking hammer of God. And I will destroy those who stand against us."

Waiting for the outcome to see how many more cards (if any) I get.

((OOC: If you were to spend a white chip, you would reroll everything, including the chips already spent. If you want to do that, let me know. I'll wait for your decision before rolling for the Big Bad))

19:48, Today: Moses rolled 5,7,8,4 using d4,d6,2d6,d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of (4+1)5,(6+1)7,5,3,2. Re-roll Initimidate.
So that's... 7+8+4, also known as 19. I'll take that.
2 Whites, 3 reds remaining

The shadowy brave contemplates Moses' words.

"Your god has abandoned you, Moses." It says. "You aren't on some mission of mercy. You are no savior, no prophet. You are simply a madman out of his depth."

But there's something of a quaver in the shadowy braves voice, and it seems to lack conviction...

((OOC: 23:21, Today: Rotten Bear Killer rolled 2,9 using d10,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 2,(6+3)9. Intimidate Test of Wills. Not near high enough, so he spends a Red Chip for a bonus.

23:23, Today: Rotten Bear Killer rolled 1 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 1. red chip. Ha! no. That's 10, which means Moses wins the staredown handily.

Moses, draw 3 extra Hole cards. The manitou gets -2 on his Dominion check at the end of it all. once you've gotten your cards, I'll draw 3 cards for Luck o' the Draw.))

12:56, Today: Moses drew the 3 cards: 8D, 3H, AH using the Deadlands system. Hole cards.

Earlier draw: 13:31, Today: Moses drew the 2 cards: AH, QD using the Deadlands system. Face Off Cards.

That gives me a pair of Aces... Now it all depends on what cards you draw.
I'll be waiting for at least the first card, hoping to get a 2nd pair.

((OOC: 18:17, Today: The Stray drew the 3 cards: AC, KH, JH using the Deadlands system. Hole Cards.

Shoot or Draw?))