"Reckon that's up to the Marshals, here." Bill says, looking at Broaddale and West. He holds out his hands. "I hereby surrender myself to your custody for the part I played in all this."

In reply to Wild Bill Hickok (msg # 313):

"No! No!" Zek now looks horrified. "You don't wanna do that! What if it wears off when these people put you in a cell!? You know what's gonna happen! They can't help you-only the old man can! There is no justice for people like us Bill! Not their kind anyways..."

Matt grinned.


"There's a third option between a cell and death," he said, pushing away Daisy's barrel.

"What do you say about a train ride into Colorado, Mr. Hickok?"

One of a couple of living proofs that an entire continent was not a lawless free-for-all stares bemusedly after the giant dead man. "...haliwr."

He sighs and checks he's full-loaded, backing away from Hickock and keeping a weather eye on the situation.

"From what I'm hearing, I fair deserve to be locked up." Wild Bill says. "I'm a killer, but until now, I never killed anyone who didn't have it comin'. And I'm a lawman, too. I've been ignorin' that long enough, and now from what I hear I got Jane Canary mixed up in this -- all 'cause I couldn't see past my own need for vengeance." He looks at the ground morosely. "I do hope she's alright, wherever she is now. I shoulda never gotten her involved."

He looks at Zeke. "I don't know this old man from a hole in the ground. And yes, I am afraid -- terrified -- of losin' control again. But I heard you all talkin'...Zeke, I see a lot o' myself in you. Been nigh on to four years since I died, and I killed a hell of a lot o' people tryin' to get to that bushwhacker McCall and the sonovabitch who put him up to shootin' me. Folk who, like as not, probably didn't deserve it. And I done that while in my right mind. I've become what I always hated. No, I reckon it's time for me to pay for that."

He looks at Matt. "Why? What's in Colorado?"

((OOC: Meanwhile, Belle, I want you to make me a Weird Science check and then a Throwing check. The Weird Science check is to figure out all the angles, and the Throwing check is to get the boom-boom where you want it.))

He listened as Wild Bill talked about the folks that he had killed...while in his right mind. It gave Logan serious pause about his course of action.

"I don't know what's in Colorado. My uncle John Turley said it ain't all its cracked out to be, but I don't think just getting on a train is going to solve anything," he said to Matthew.

"Mr. Hickok, I understand that you might feel the sting of conscience with respect to what you've done, at least as far as what you've said. But the last thing I've had of you is an offer to help me wrangle a dangerous situation. That's the law man in you. There's no jail in this town anymore, no judge, and precious little law. We're hard pressed to hold as it is, and we've got folks like Starkweather over here contesting us at every turn, as if the bad guys weren't enough. Even if I wanted to indulge your request to be detained, which I don't, we don't have the resources or the facilities to see that done. I want to put my energies to taking down a few evil sons of bitches under the color of law, men and women with no sense of guilt or remorse for their actions," he said.

"I think the best that you can do is go with Mr. Starkweather over here, and get some of that medicine that helped to correct your situation earlier from this old man character he keeps talking about - because the last thing we need is another gunfight like that," he said. "You almost had me dead to rights."

"After that, if you still want to clear some red off your ledger, come find me. There's a lot to do, and we could use you on our side."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:40, Thu 19 Jan 2017.

Broaddale crooked a brow at West.

"I don't know what your uncle has to do with it, West, but I have US Marshal Service friends in Boulder county, and I thought some distance, an official deputizing, getting this man a star, might help us get moving along."

He put his hands up in mock surrender.

"But I can see that's not the most pressing of issues, I understand," he admitted, turning to Zek and Maddox, "Though if you boys want some legitimizing, I'm sure I've got spare badges around somewhere. You want your justice, Mr. Starkweather, I've got a white hat you could wear."

"And I've got a shirt you could wear, Miss Hewitt," he smarmed with a irreverent grin, "in the morning."

Daisy, who was probably born without a sense of guilt or remorse, breaks off from watching Hickock to look up at Matt and grin broadly.

"He done captured me," she explains happily to the other legal and quasilegal authorities. The rifle isn't out of her hands, but it's held safely.

Leopold looked into his now empty cup, apparently contemplating an answer, when...


</quote>

He didn't get to reply to the man's question when he saw Marshal Broaddale come over. He kept his tongue, though, when the marshal didn't acknowledge him being there at all. If Broaddale didn't want folks to know they knew each other, Leopold was certainly happy to oblige him.

With more folks arriving, he took a few steps back, apparently unnoticed. He drank more whiskey, directly from the bottle now and savored the strong taste, listening to the arguments and storing some of the information he learned for later use.

Then...


...So that man who was after Sebastian, or Whateley was one of those dead people himself? Interesting.
Ah, I should have pulled the trigger and put the poor soul out of its misery. Leopold thought to himself.
He had watched Wilder walk away and decided that there was probably little to learn anymore right now.

Leopold slowly turned away, visibly inebriated. He had downed two bottles of whiskey almost by himself, after all. That he remained standing at all was quite the miracle.
He slurred some excuse about having to get back to bed, then wandered off. They'd know where to find him.

Quick rolls before I have to go...

06:06, Today: Belle Ivers rolled 6,5 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 6,5.  Weird Science!

Success!  Science!

06:06, Today: Belle Ivers rolled 7,4 using d8,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 7,4.  Throwing.

There would probably be a -2 range penalty, possibly even -4, since the range of a potion is so short, but Belle had plenty of time to Aim (+2) and could use the Marksman Edge (+2) to cancel those penalties.

As James Wilder attempts to leave the scene, a troop of a dozen soldiers heading towards the ruckus raise rifles at him. "You there! Halt!" One of them shouts.

---

The same thing happens to Leopold -- a troop of soldiers spots him weaving away from the wreckage, and point rifles at him, ordering to "Halt immediately!"

---

As Belle tosses the explosive, she watches as it hits precisely where she set it. She's so focused on the marvel of science that she doesn't notice the soldiers surrounding her until one of them pokes her with a bayonet. "You there! What was that!?" He growls.

---

Wild Bill nods at Logan. "Alright. I suppose I can at least meet this fella. I'd rather have you two along, though, in case anything happens."

He's interrupted by a

{{KABOOM!}}

Leopold raises an eyebrow. "Yes...?"
He lights a cigarette and instant before the house behind him exploded.

Matt noted the Union boys closing in, and was about to pull his badge, when the building exploded.

"Sweet Grant's ghost!" he cried as he stepped in front of Daisy and shielded his eyes.

James does as told, he stops in place then glances over his shoulder towards the earth shattering kaboom, "You all should go look into that."

As the blast sends splinters and a quickly-imploding fireball looming over the street Daisy switches hands with her rifle and throws her left arm around Matt's waist, hunching close as she watches debris scatter the sky.

"Sir, Ah am in need of due process," she whispers thickly, her small body pressing against him.

Zek was silent at Logan's speech, his mouth twisted up. However if it got Wild Bill to come with him,  he would sit there and listen to one hundred lawman complain about himself.

The explosion spun Zek around towards the Saloon. He was not sure if it was the force or his reaction.

"Where's the science lady?" He asked, looking for her...or her remains.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:34, Thu 19 Jan 2017.

Maddox had been considering Marshal West's offer, but had remembered the impending Science: he flinches a little and keeps hold of his hat as the concussion traverses the street, but doesn't spook, straightening and watching the approaching soldiers with a frown.

"You all took your time, didn't you?" he says with unmissable acidity, folding his arms.

Belle was glad she had her hat and duster on.  Being that close to it was... intense.

"That sir was an anti-combustion measure!  Hopefully the flames shouldn't spread now.  We should finish it off with traditional means however."

Katy allowed herself to be dragged a bit by Daisy, as hurrying across the street seemed to be a good idea at the moment. She hadn't even been in town long enough to have a meal or find a place to sleep, but it had been an awfully interesting evening already.

As if one explosion wasn't good enough, it seemed there were plans for a second. She did want to make sure everyone made it out before that happened, and it seemed like everyone did. But there was Science incoming, so it was time to get to a safe distance.

As Logan began arguing with one of the other fellows that was in the Saloon, Katy raised a finger to interrupt, but it didn't seem like either of them was in the mood. She nodded at Zek's polite apology for swearing in front of a lady, then settled in to patiently await the end of their dialogue.

Her brief time in town also made a lot of the chatter nonsensical to her, but she stored it away for sorting. Her head was spinning a bit, but it seemed like it might end up okay. At least until the bluebellies showed up.

OOC: My goodness that's a lot of posts to pile up in day.

Ooc - not sure if this is the right time, but I wanna play this card.

4H- Folk Hero “He robbed from the rich and gave to the poor...” Play after you save a group of people from dire circumstances. The community adopts you and your party as local heroes, and you can always find aid there.

Matt suppressed a laugh at the brazenly forward woman, made a mental note to buy her a drink if neither of them ended up in jail at the end of the day, and extricated himself from her embrace.

"I could go for a frisk, later, maybe," he joked. He pulled his Marshal's badge from his belt and held it high in the air as he approached the Union Soldiers near James.

"Matthew Broaddale, US Marshal's Service! Lower your weapons, these people have just been attacked by dangerous criminals, defended civilians from three dangerous fugitives, and in case you didn't notice, put out a burning building! They don't need some wet behind the ears kid with a blue uniform and a hard-on putting more holes in them than they were born with!" he shouted as he waved his badge in the air, "I want to see your CO now!" 
This message was last edited by the player at 16:14, Mon 23 Jan 2017.

"These ain't regular army, Broaddale. Custer's lot. Ain't sure they're gonna take well to bein' talked down to," he said quietly to his fellow lawman.

"Logan West, also of the Marshals service, and formerly of the same army as you. We're cleared by Lieutenant Haverford to operate here. Marshal Broaddale is correct. These good people are victims of the fire, and those as help save 'em and those as tried to put it out."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:16, Mon 23 Jan 2017.

The vacationing Marshal grimaced slightly at the wisdom of West's words.

"Good point, West. I've been out of it for a few..." he blinked, thinking, "Weeks? Not exactly sure."

"Throw down your weapons and put your hands above your head." The soldier says without even glancing at the explosion. "We have a few questions to ask you regarding this latest incident. Or we can fill you full of holes. Your choice."

---

The head soldier sighs. "Come with us, Ma'am. You are now a person of interest in this matter. We have some questions to ask you down at HQ. Please surrender your weapons and put your hands over your head."

---

"You want to see the C.O.?" The solider says. "Fine. That was the plan anyway. Surrender your weapons. You are persons of interest in this matter, and I'm sure my C.O. will have quite a few questions to ask you. Should your tale check out, you'll be free to go."

Looking more closely at the soldiers, Logan couldn't believe his eyes.

"Turn over our weapons? Come on Johnny, don't you recognize me? After all the time we spent in the service together, I really can't believe this. I mean, I know things are tense here, but I thought that fighting and bleeding together in the war had to count for something," he said.

"You're gonna stand there and pretend you don't know me? That I didn't save your ass back down by Morganza, in Louisiana? Tell me to surrender my weapons? We're working for the same damn government for God's sake! Come on, Johnny!"

---

So, I played this Adventure Card:

10H - Peace

“Wait. I know that guy…” Your hero is able to improve the attitude of a group in an encounter, perhaps by recognizing someone in the crowd, showing respect, or offering a bribe. It  doesn’t work on true enemies—only “neutrals” who happen to cross paths with  your party.

I'm running a big meeting at work tomorrow, so I may not be able to respond as quickly to a lot of posts till evening but wanted to try and help defuse things.


This message was last edited by the player at 12:54, Wed 25 Jan 2017.