Polkitain hopped to the ground and headed over cautiously to the banshee.

"Hello, why are you here ? has someone died ?" His cat tail flickered.

With his brother tender-heartedly handling the barfly, Nyx remained perched on a stool close to the cyber-knight, sipping on a whisky and occasionally lingering over a clove cigarette. He appeared bored by the show and his earlier mischief had vanished. As the evening dragged on he leaned over to the knight, "It's too quite and folk here too fanatical for my tastes...."

He kept his hat low over his brow, not hiding his good looks but his ears, "Be watchful for those who would report us to the skull-faced soldiers..."

Arulas smiles "Well it seems a small farming community, but I don't think the skulls are the issue here. Fangers or possible Brimstone aligned would be my guess. Remember these are The Meet Cute. Someone here knows more than they let on. Any bets?"

"Perhaps the sobbing man?", murmured the elf with seemingly little interest, "Or the tender behind the bar"

In Response to Sir Arulas, "Agreed."

Then Samuel heads off to join a poker game and lose a few credits so that the lips at the table are loose. He tries not to lose more than 100.

Outside: Ethan, Polkatain, & Kalista


Anyone with the Lore: Monsters skill should be able to instantly recognize this fairly common spirit. Kalista can recognize its species even without making a roll. Ethan doesn't have that, and given his background, it wouldn't make as much sense for him to know.



Polk shouldn't be able to normally communicate with spirits like that, but I'll give you this one. We'll just say that this particular banshee has been haunting the Lone Star region for a time and has picked up the native language.

"Not dead yet. The death will happen soon. I heard the creatures from the swamp plan it. They will bring the sweet death. They are on their way here now, but I came first. I am sooooo hungry. I waaaannnnt the deeeeEEEEAAAAaaaaAAAATH."

Anyone who approaches the banshee even a step closer is going to have to deal with her empathic attack. That's another Save vs Psi roll.

Inside: Arulas, Nyx, Doc, & Samuel

The banshee is not quite close enough for her wailing to have its effect on the group inside. Only Catfish was within her range. To everyone else, the banshee's wail drowned out by the music sounded like a normal coyote howl.

When Doc approaches Catfish with a fresh drink, he enters into the wail's range also. Catfish is inconsolable, and Doc begins to feel depressed also as he approaches the drunkard's table. Save vs. Psi again, please. (Why does this always happen to you, Doc?)

Meanwhile, Samuel has invited himself into a local poker game. The stakes are very low, and so his losses are well within his budget even when he doesn't focus on winning. Sammy doesn't have the Gambling skill, but he does have Research. Roll that for me to see how much intel he gets, please.

Nyx and Arulas are able to converse relatively without interrupting. They do have a little trouble hearing each other when a brunette showgirl climbs onto the bar near their stools and begins belting out an off-key rendition "Juicer's Last Call in the Tumbleweeds."

"So a ghost and a dragon meet outside a bar..." Ethan thought to himself as he watched the shaped changed dragon first move closer to the howling ghost and then strike up a conversation with it. Despite the utterly strange scene unfolding in front of him, his mind still find the capacity to recognize the humor in the situation. The ghost's words didn't fill him with comfort but so far it hadn't attacked, which made Ethan disinclined to be the first to start hostilities. "Besides, I have no idea if anything I have will be effective on it anyways," he thought. "Better to wait and see what Polkitain and Kalista do, follow their lead."

OOC Ethan is keeping his distance and watching the "ghost". He has no clue what it is but it sure looks like a ghost to him. Essentially he is holding is actions until he knows he has something useful to do.

"Someone should let the others know, there are enemies coming from the swamp. People should prepare. It seems like this creature is attracted to death." Politain gulped a bit.

"Thanks for your warning." Polk said to the Banshee.

His cat fur standing on edge.

Nyx pays enough attention to the dancer to not seem out of place, his taste for humans rather meagre. Instead he turns to the cyber-knight, striking up what he believes to be small talk, "Tell me more about how you came to be in these parts..?

Kalista nodded to Ethan and then to the building behind them, indicating he should do the warning.

10:34, Today: Doc rolled 7 using 1d20.  vs psionics.

Samuel is good natured about his losses and makes sure to follow good protocol and ask his questions between rounds when the dealer is picking up the cards and dealing. He looks about the room here and there, but mostly pretends not to pay attention to what is going on around him.

Ethan takes his cue and backs away from the apparition. After walking backwards a few steps, he turns and runs for the saloon. He bursts into the building with no attempt at subtlety. "Some kind of ghost or something is headed this way," he says in a loud clear voice. "It said something about creatures from the swamp coming to kill us."

"And wait for it..." Arulas says.

Front Door
A beer glass shatters on the door frame near Ethan's head. The cowboys heckle him furiously. "Shut up!" "You're interrupting the music!" "Dang Crazy" Of course, Arulas, Nyx, Samuel, and Doc can all see and recognize Ethan.

The Window Seat
Doc feels a deep sadness take a hold of him. He isn't helpless, but his actions will be slow and perhaps sluggish while his heart is not in it. The exception would be if his actions were to drown his sorrows in more whiskey; that he could do without penalty. By contrast, Catfish has given into the misery and is beside himself in grief over -- nothing specific.

From his window vista, Doc can notice an eerie glow outside. The banshee hovering in the air should be within view from his angle.

In the Poker Game
Over the course of a only a few hands, Samuel overhears several juicer rumors from the gossipy ranchers. As a result of this conversation, Samuel can enjoy a +5% bonus to any subsequent Research rolls involving local events. The slightly tipsy cowboys do let slip the following useful information. The saloon girls who work at the tavern mostly work only part time there. The rest of their time, they are free to pursue their own interests, and several of them run small businesses on the side. Some of these businesses are quite shady, like one girl who is suspected of peddling drugs to Wannabes-Juicers. Even the bartender is suspected of selling information to Coalition investigators. Girls come and go from the Mammoth Saloon frequently. They tend to leave when their business deals either do well or else get them run out of the area. A lot of shady customers come by to visit one of these saloon girls when the saloon is closed. Just a few nights ago, a city-slicker gang (matching the description of the bandits who attacked earlier) was seen in back of the saloon just before dawn -- probably buying more illicit drugs the cowboys speculate.

Outside the Saloon
The banshee does not acknowledge the thankyou from Polkatain. It merely continues its wailing. Then it turns to face a ridge behind the saloon. A few figures appear over the ridge, riding hard towards the tavern. The first figure is a very large vulture-like bird gliding through the air. Two lizard men appear next, riding on grey and black stallions. A third stallion runs close behind them with no rider.

Polkatain will be the first to make out some more details with his excellent night vision.

Anyone who makes a successful Perception Roll of 12 or better will notice something about the bird...

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
The bird is too large to be a natural vulture, and it has four legs folded under its body.

---

"Ghosts and madmen", muttered the psi-slinger to himself. But he stood, calmly, and moved towards the bathroom door to extricate himself from the bar, intending to circle round to the front from where this imagined threat might occur

07:53, Today: Nyx rolled 3 using 1d20.  Perception.

"Be careful, that vulture isn't normal. It has four legs."

Polkitain's cat tail swishes in an excited and twitchy way. His hair standing on end.


Polk studies the people and especially the Vulture and unridden horse.
06:11, Today: Polkitain rolled 3 using 1d100.  Demon/Monster Lore.


Polk will share what he knows with Kalista.

Doc quickly downs his whiskey, and Catfish's shot. This adventuring was wearing on him, why was he so out of sorts? He couldn't pin it down, seeing the glow though, his curiosity grows, he returns to the bar and gets another shot. If his brother exits the bar, he will follow him, somewhat half heartedly.

Kalista un-slung her rifle and tried to get a bead on the four legged flying thing.

Ethan reflexively ducks and covers his head with his hands as the fragments of shatter glass explode around him. “Try to be helpful,” he thinks to himself. “I warned them,” he thinks has he turns and exits the saloon. He was concerned about Kalista and Polkitain even though he realized it was probably a bit silly of him. “One is some sort of cybernetic knight and the other is a frigging dragon!” Still he was a product of his upbringing and training. It was simply who he was to worry about the health of others and he hurried back to where he had left his companions.

OOC - 09:15, Today: Ethan rolled 2 using 1d20.  Perception.

18:48, Today: Samuel Lund rolled 15 using 1d20+1.  perception.

Outside
The riders draw nearer, and everyone is able to make out more details about them. Two horses have saddles, bits, and bridles, but the third is bare. The lizard-men are wearing hide-armor made from rhino-buffalo. The left-most lizard-man is wearing a ten-gallon hat, and the right-most is wearing a sombrero. Both are armed with long guns and spears.

Polkatain suddenly realizes that the flying is not a vulture at all. That's a loogaroo, an evil monster which inhabits the same homeworld as his parents. Such creatures are known to the tastes of predatory animals but the skill of mages. At least it should be solid enough that it can be clawed unlike the spirits which have complicated life for him lately.

Kalista has the bird-thing in her sights. Ethan is just now returning from the saloon.

Inside
Samuel is distracted from his game by Ethan's shouted warning from the saloon's front door -- and then by the faint but curious glow coming from outside. Also, the rancher to Sam's left is cheating (and still losing).

Doc arrives at the bar only to find that his stool has been taken by someone else. Woe is Doc.

Nyx and Arulas suddenly feel a wave of melancholy settle on them. The singing stops, the dancing stops, and the tune at the piano shifts to a low-tempo breakup song. Like spilled water from a tipped over horse trough, the feeling spreads through the saloon from one side to another. It's your turns to make that Save vs Psi or become depressed, guys. The same effect will reach Samuel very soon.

Polkitain ran to Kalista's side.

"That bird creature is a Logaroo, nasty predators and they might have magic. I recognize it from my mothers memories it is from out home world."

Not having a distance weapon Polk waited for them to get closer and looked for cover he could take in his cat form.


06:00, Today: Polkitain rolled 7 using 1d20+4.  Initiative roll.

Nyx paused by the batwing door that led out to the privies, his lips curling into a sneer as - in his mind - the music took a dolorous tone. Rather than head outside, he turned and made his way back to Sir Arulus and his twin, "No way I'm peeing out back. I'm likely to catch something"

13:13, Today: Nyx rolled 2 using 1d20.  Save vs Psionics (Master).

Kalista will wait until she is either attacked or the riders are in range for issuing challenge.