Maddox held a hand in front of Wilder in case he was thinking of barging in. "She can have the entirety of my share if she leaves him breathing or gets the information out of him, how's that? Or-" he swallows, gaze briefly skimming across her face on the way to her hands.

"-or you can tell her I'll go 25% on him and anyone I catch in the woods, and pocket the difference on Carter for yourself."

In reply to Joseph Bearclaw (msg # 65):

Hargrave shook his head. "No, no. I'll leave Mr. Bullock be. It sounds as though be has more important matters to attend to than discussing Mad Dog Carver."

"I'll be on my way then. I'll return when the job's done."

Departing the Mining Office, he walked back to the livery, hopeful that Rio would be ready for a ride.

As Trace arrives at the livery, he spots a gaggle of trouble. Several nasty-looking men with various flavors of firearms are huddled around the livery. All of them sport a silver badge with the letters DMA stamped on them.

One of the men is a vaugely familiar fellow with a mustache who has the air of a gunslinger about him. He's leaning against the stable wall, keeping a weather eye out.

Another, much rougher fellow with long scraggly hair underneath his hat and unkempt beard glares at Trace and hefts his scattergun. It's not quite pointed at him, but it's tracking his movements.

Another hardcase, this one with a five o'clock shadow and well-worn trail gear, snarls at someone inside the livery.

"I ain't gonna ask you again, nigger." He growls. "You tell me about that horse there and the fella ridin' it, or I'm gonna tie  you up and make you dance a hempen fandango!"

((OOC: Make me a Common Knowledge check, please.))

Before stepping into the midst of the gathering, Hargrave studied the group for a moment, paying particular attention to the gunman who struck a chord of familiarity. As he did, he shifted his rifle to his left hand, so his right could reach the pistol at his hip.

07:08, Today: Trace Hargrave rolled 9,2 using 1d6,1d6, rerolling max with rolls of (6+3)9,2.  Common Knowledge.

In reply to Maddox (msg # 70):

((OOC: Just a note: I'm waiting for James to weigh in here before I continue on Maddox's storyline.))

In reply to Trace Hargrave (msg # 73):

((OOC: I'm moving Trace's storyline into a new thread, as I'm about to mingle up some of the other PCs with it.))

In reply to Maddox (msg # 70):

James looks at Maddox as though the man had grown a third eye, "Ain't gonna run in there, I know better than to cross a madam.... Perhaps we should go in and ASK about things... yeah?"

"That would be up to the girl here, wouldn't it? Or did you think we were keeping our voices down for the sake of amateur dramatics?" Maddox gestures with some irritation, then looks a little mortified to have used that term of a coloured woman.

The girl nods. "Alright. You wait here, and I'll go see what she says."

At that moment, though, there's a {crash!} as a huddled figure flies through a nearby window. Glass sprays around the man as he hits the ground, rolls with the momentum, and ends up in a crouch. He looks up at the window he'd just exited, sheer horror etched on his face.

It's Darius Carter! But he looks frail, withered, as if he'd aged thirty years since the Bella Union fight.

He turns his gaze to the trio on the stairwell. "Oh, fuck!"

Acting more on instinct than any sober calculation, Maddox's gun is suddenly out and barking out a shot at the man's legs.

[[In the heat of the moment, Maddox forgets all the sensible things he's said and tries to slow Carter down by shooting him. Drunk Maddox is Not Smart.

22:03, Today: Maddox rolled 3,4 using d10-1,d6-1, rerolling max with rolls of 4,5.  Shooting! (Quick Draw, +2 Marksman, -2 Called Shot, legs - I think? - -1 pished)
22:04, Today: Maddox rolled 8 using 2d6+1, rerolling max with rolls of 2,5.  Damage if hit.]]

Carter howls at the flesh wound in his leg, and pulls his own gun to fire back.

There's a sudden bright flash as his gun spits actual fire. The flare strikes near the door, burning fiercely, but it doesn't catch the rest of the building on fire, which was evidently Carter's aim. The outlaw curses and hobbles to cover in the alley.

((OOC: That hit gets around Carter's armor, and his Vigor is reduced thanks to what he encountered within the Cathouse, so that will Shake Carter. It will also saddle him with the Lame Hindrance for the duration of the encounter, lowering his Pace by 2 and lowering his Run die to a d4.

Carter spends a GM chip to Unshake, and then fires a Guiding Light bullet at the Cathouse to set it on fire. It will ignite the structure on a 4-6 on a d6.

10:06, Today: Darius Carter rolled 3 using 1d6, rerolling max with rolls of 3.  Fuego!

The building does not catch fire.

Carter limps away, taking Cover in a nearby alley (He has Heavy Cover unless someone moves to hit him)

Let's start drawing initiative cards

Cart's card: 7S))

---

James Wilder, you're up!

"You GOT to be kidding me!" the gunslinger growls as Carter arrives. His gun is out and fires at Carter.

OOC:
08:18, Today: James Wilder rolled 4,-1 using d12-3,d6-3, rerolling max with rolls of 7,2.  Shooting (Called Shot Head -4, +1 TMW).
08:18, Today: James Wilder rolled -1,0 using d12-3,d6-3, rerolling max with rolls of 2,3.  White Chip.

Okay ... does 4 actually hit?!

08:19, Today: James Wilder rolled 10 using 2d6+5, rerolling max with rolls of 1,4.  Damage (AP1, +4 Head).

08:20, Today: James Wilder drew the single card: JS using a deck of 54 cards.  Initiative.

This message was last edited by the player at 15:20, Wed 05 Apr 2017.

"ARGH!" Carter yelps in pain as the bullet grazes him, and he stumbles, but yet again his hard head saves him.

Lonefeather runs down the stairs, pulling his Gatling pistol free, and sprays the area around Carter's knees with lead.

{wirr-RAT-TAT-TAT!}

"AUGH!" Carter yelps again, and this time he tumbles with a new oozing hole in his thigh. "FUCK! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"

((OOC: Assuming James is moving to compensate for the Cover Carter was taking, that's indeed a hit.

10 against his reduced Toughness (and the headshot to get around his armor) is a Wound. He spends one of his chips and attempts to soak.

12:09, Today: Darius Carter rolled 5,1 using d6,d6, rerolling max with rolls of 5,1.  Soak.

Carter again soaks a head wound.

James Lonefeather moves and shoots Carter with his Gatling Pistol, aiming for the legs. He has Rock and Roll! to cancel out the autofire penalty.

12:13, Today: James Lonefeather rolled 6,2,1 using d10-2,d10-2,d6-2, rerolling max with rolls of 8,4,3.  Shooting (RoF 2, Called Shot). 1 Hit.

Damage: 6, which is a Shaken. Also, The Lame hindrance Carter's got becomes One Leg. Carter's Pace becomes 2, he can't run, and he suffers -2 to Trait checks that require mobility (such as Climbing or Fighting. This injury is only temporary, though. But with three guns on him and him being unable to run, this probably won't end well for him.

Lonefeather's cards: 7S, 4C))

---

Maddox, draw a card for initiative. If you don't get higher than a Jack, it's Wilder's turn again.

"Alright! I think you got him there! Let's get and capture him now, proper-like," Maddox says, vaguely offering five dollars at the whore as the first note to hand.

[[20:26, Today: Maddox drew the single card: 3C using the Deadlands system.  init.]]

"You...you cocksuckers...you motherfuckers..." Carter curses as he lies in the dirt. "Wh-what...about...our deal..."

---

It's all up to Wilder now!

OOC: how many chips does Carter have? I'm thinking I'd like to steal one :D James glanced at the others who were shooting Carter in the legs as though such things would stop him.

James shrugs, "Well you're not dead yet... put your hands up and come with us."

"Fine." Carter spits, and tosses his gun away. He doesn't look like he's going to be standing anytime soon, though.

((OOC: He's got 1 red chip left.))

Maddox reaches for a set of handcuffs that aren't there, looks rather abashed and hastens down after Lonefeather.

[[we out of combat?]]

((OOC: Combat over. Now what do you do?))

James looked between the two bounty hunters but kept his gun on Carter, "Come on now fella..."

"I blew up my cuffs with Bones," Maddox says, catching up to Wilder. "Unless you've got restraints on you we'll have to tie his hands with his shirt there. Darius Carter, you can consider yourself arrested."

"Lonef- ah, I'll go inform the DMA myself, shall I?" He looks uneasily back at the Cathouse, then at the other two.

Lonefeather unbuckles his belt and bends down to tie up Carter's arms. "Poor devil looks wrung out." he says, and looks back up at the Cathouse, following Maddox's gaze. "What the Hell happened up there?"

"Damn bitch was stealing my breath away." Carter grumbles. "She ain't what she seems...look in her mirror, you'll see what I mean."

There, looking out of the window the outlaw had jumped through, was an exotic, dark-haired woman with bewitching violet eyes. She gives Maddox a small smirk.

Flustered by the combination of a smirking madam and Carter's description of exotic-sounding practices, Maddox flushes. "Thank you, er, ma'am!" he calls up.

Noting the strange woman but having NO desire to deal with more than one unnatural person in the rain. "Let's deal with the demon in front of us."

In reply to Maddox (msg # 92):

"You're welcome!" The woman in the window calls back. "Remember now...you owe me your share for leaving enough of him for you to question!"

A nearby cat crouched on a crate in the alley begins purring.

Lonefeather hauls Cater into a fireman's carry. "Alright...let's leave this eerie-ass place and get on with our increasingly eerie-ass day."