Samuel looks at the farmer and says, "As the old saying goes, 'if you ant cheating, you ant trying hard enough'."

He gets up, takes what remains of his money and heads out back to 'take a leak'. Once outside, he actually walks around to his Behemoth, part on this side of the bar from the banshee and riders.

'What have I gotten myself into this time?'

"That wasn't expected. Huh?" is all he can muster to Ethan bursting into the room.

As the wave of melancholy washes over him he laughs. "Banshee right on cue. Please tell me one of you brought the dancing music?" the last was directed to the twins as his hand starts glowing.

Doc, frustrated now, begins to look for his brother and a way out of this bar where he can't even find a seat.

"Dancing music?", queried Nyx, with the beginning of a curl of a sneer, "You believed that?"

He sighs and stands though, waving to his brother as he prepare to go outside

Doc, seeing Nyx, sighs and heads his way.

Back of the Saloon
I am unclear whether Samuel is meant to encounter the monsters or not. Either way, as he moved out of the back of the saloon towards the outhouse, he definitely would have seen the banshee in the air and not far from him. He can be arriving at his parked Behemoth now.

In Front of the Saloon
The monsters ride hard over and the down the ridge. As they draw closer, however, they slow to a trot. The loogaroo lands on the roof of a shed and kicks up a cloud of dust doing so. All of the creatures stare at Kallista and Ethan who stand before them. Even the horses are staring. The monsters are now within range of most weapons, but they are not yet reaching for their own energy weapons. None of them seem to have noticed Polkatain the cat.

Inside the Saloon
Arulas' psi-sword takes form in his hand. Usually, this would cause a lot of shock and alarm in a tavern, but these patrons seem distracted by something internal. Only the bartender and the red haired girl who was dancing on the bar seem to even notice. The bartender reaches for a club hidden underneath the bar. The saloon girl acts more shocked and backs away from the PCs. Most of the people in this saloon are peering down into their glasses with either frowns or scowls. The girl at the piano is loudly weeping. The few who are not affected are inquiring what is wrong with those who are.

Doc, Nyx, and Arulas head for the front door following Ethan's brief appearance. They will arrive outside whenever they like.

The coyote howl from outside seems louder now that it is not being drowned out by the music. It seems to be coming from the back corner of the building, near the exit that Samuel took. It is sounding less and less like a coyote.

Kalista turned the volume on her armor's external speakers all the way up. "I am Lady Kalista Nugendare, Cyber Knight of the Order of Lord Coke. This village is under my protection. State your purpose, or leave at once."

Polkitain took the moment to look at all of the strange figures before him.
He also kept his head tilted to keep the Logaroo in view.

One of the Lizard Men shouts back something in Faerie-Speak. Does anybody know that language?

Ethan stood near the woman Cyber-Knight and was impressed by her the determination in her voice and the courage of her stance. "She really is acting like a knight from those old tales," he thought to himself as he watched the reaction of the monsters. “Complete with issuing bold challenges. This world is something else.”

For his part, Ethan just watched, not understanding at all what the reptilian humanoid said in response to Kalista’s words. He erected his personal force field and waited to see if he would need to create more for the protection of his companions.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:20, Thu 22 Sept 2016.

Polkitain's kitty chest swelled with pride hearing Kalista it reminded him of images of his father that his mother sent him when he was still in his egg.

Sauntering out from the bar, Nyx catches the last of the lizard man's words and, slowly removes his backpack to fish out his portable language translator and step a few paces forward. He tries a few words in various languages until he finds an approximation for what was said, repeating, "Do you understand me?" finally in Faerie

Samuel looks like he enters the Behemoth.

Outside the Saloon
The tense standoff outside of the saloon is made to feel all of the more tense by the impatient wails of the banshee nearby. Fortunately, everyone outside is currently out of the banshee's area of effect. If the spirit moves, however, it might effect anyone.

Samuel completes his clandestine maneuver.

Some of the tension is relieved when Nyx arrives with a technological solution. The Lizard Men answer that they do in fact understand his little talking stick. With application of some slightly awkward translations, Nyx is able to relay messages to both sides with only a few seconds delay.

Lady Kalista re-issues her ultimatum. "I am Lady Kalista Nugendare, Cyber Knight of the Order of Lord Coke. This village is under my protection. State your purpose, or leave at once."

The Lizard Man in the sombrero answers, "We represent the Marsh Clan. Our homes were attacked in an unprovoked assault. Attackers came to us with haunted weapons which sowed chaos and fear before them. Lizard and faerie-folk alike were robbed, and the swamp water ran red. Lizard and faerie made alliances. Weapons were traced back to this witch's home. We come to burn the witch and her home with it. [untranslatable] demands justice. Move aside or burn with them, mammals."
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:33, Sat 24 Sept 2016.

As the 'man' with the translator, Nyx fires back a question, "Traced? What proof? Who is it? We seek the same witch and would know her name and why you think she is here?"

Doc waited, his hands loose by his waist.

The second lizard man (the one in the ten gallon hat) calls back, "(untranslatable) managed to capture one of the raiders when it wandered from its pack. It did not want to talk, but learned its secrets. It told us where to find the witch who sold it the haunted weapons and (untranslatable) against our clan. We will not wait, and we will not debate. Move or burn!"

Kalista responded, "If you can prove your claims, I will aid you. Otherwise I will be forced to confront you."

Polk digs his claws into the dirt. His tail swished.

Now that Ethan could understand what was being said thanks to the translation device, he felt better about the situation. "They aren't here to attack us," he thought, "they want the same thing we do."

He didn't take his eyes off them, just in case their leader lost his patience and launched an attack but he spoke to his comrades. "Maybe we should try to deescalate the situation," he said in a loud but calm voice so that it would reach Polkitain and Kalista despite their distance form one another.

Polk looks over and lowers his tail.

"Without evidence", offered Nyx with a lazy drawl, gesturing at the cyber-knights as he drew himself up to his full height, "my friends will be forced to fight you rather than with you. And thus me with them. People will die and not the ones at the root of this evil. Present your facts or turn aside.. If not you will face the longirons of Nyx Hoarfrost and Doc Lightning"

OOC: Attempting to impress them with his (and Doc's) reputation as 'slingers, which translates as a Charm/Impress of 70% or a Horror Factor of 8 for me

OOC HF is the same for me, unless they're regular lizard men, in which case it'd be a 10 maybe.

Polkitain could tell what his closest friends were doing and it worried him. It would be a shame to fight if no one needed too.

The lizard in the sombrero stares down the party. The other lizard, the one wearing the ten gallon hat, touches a shoulder and says something low and guttural. He might have said something in Gobbley. The three horses stomp impatiently. The logaroo simply stares and looks hungry. The sombrero-wearing lizard seems to have changed his attitude and calls out, "We would not fight those warriors who live by the Code of the West. We would give you this evidence that you demand and beg your pardon, but the thing does not exist. I told you these secrets came from the confession of dying prisoner. Mammals put their faith in things, but the Swamp Clan puts its faith in words. If you would help us hunt the witch, you may light the fire. Show us you are here to see the house of the witch burn by lighting the blaze."

Meanwhile, the banshee is acting more and more impatient. It has begun flying in agitated little circles over the saloon.