[Game Thread] Act I - Caught In A Briar Patch

[Muggins]

OoC I would rather have rolled in the dice thread and stayed my hand. Instead, I thought I'd succeed on a ~20% chance roll. The post was kinda forced, since I thought I'd have something more to work off of - but I didn't, so I made do with what I had instead. No sense posting a roll without an IC post to go with it. Oh well.

[Surgate]

Jeremiah held the gag rag in one hand, and grabbed Kinny's hand with the other. Kinny's face reflected in the goggles"No miracles, but you know another way. One chance before I break your other fingers

[kdtompos]

Kinny ponders for a moment. He reeks of body odor, and grits at the pain of the already broken finger. With steely resolve, he spits at Jeremiah, missing his face but catching his collar. Gritting his teeth, "Break away law-ma.AaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAA."

The others cringe as the sound of cracking bone punctuates the gnome's screaming. Biting his own tongue, the gnome purses his lips to stop the screaming and glares back at his own reflection in the smokey goggles. Another crunch, and again the gnome yells out in pain. Struggling to breathe, and fighting to even see straight through the pools welling beneath his eyes the gnome finally relinquishes. "A wagon. There's a wagon! For the love of god, you son of a b****, just kill me!" He yells. Then turning his face away from the widowman, Kinny continues. "I think we left our steam wagon parked behind the chapel. Though I doubt any of you can drive it. It's the only way you'll get there anywhere near the time the rest of the crew does once the sun comes up."

At this point Sandy slowly opens the door to your back room, peeking her head around and into the room. "Y'all ok back here? More screamin' goin' on than I like."

[Surgate]

Jeremiah stepped away from the gnome, nodding at Sandy, Apologies for the noise, we're done with him. Make sure Kinny gets put in jail, and the mayor should know he's alive. He looked to the others. We don't have much time

[austarrowsplitter]

Darren grinned and replied, "Yup. Let's get rollin'. I can drive that steam wagon, too. Just 'cause I'm big don't mean I'm dumb. Let's just hope I can figure out how to disarm those explosives, too, unless one of you's more of an expert on that."

[kdtompos]

"You're not headin' out into that black, are you?" Sandy questions you from the doorway. Her tone of voice is reminiscent of the questions mothers often ask that are clearly statements more than they are questions. "Even around town you'd be hard-pressed to find your way, and it sounds like you're fixin to go much further than that. Besides, with the condition you all are in, you could benefit from some treatment and a rest."

[austarrowsplitter]

Darren turned to the barmaid and said, "We ain't got much choice. If we don't get to the bridge by sunrise, it's gonna get blown to Kingdom Come. An' somethin' tells me I ain't gettin' paid if that bridge goes boom. Not to mention what it'd do to y'all, or how many folks probably bled an' died gettin' it put up."

[Surgate]

Jeremiah shook his head in agreement. "If you could spare a lamp or light ma'am, I'll rest when the job is done. Name your price" He pulled out the reward money for Sweeney, waiting to hear a number.

[kdtompos]

Sandy shakes her head, knowing better than to argue with the two. "You won't be able to see the path, moving at the speed a steam wagon can travel." She sighs, tipping her hand that she had heard more from the conversation then she originally let on. "If you get a bit of rest, you could use the morning twilight and be at the foot of the bridge in about half an hour if you give 'er full steam. That should be just in time to catch sunrise I'd think."

"You better head now, if you want a chance!" Kinny squawks, seeming a little frantic. "As soon as the crew has enough light to work by, they're settin' 'er off!"

Sandy rolls her eyes. "And I'm willing ta bet they aren't camping out in that darkness either. Which means they'll be waiting for light to travel in as well. I'll admit that I'm typically a gambler, but I don't think this boys as confident in his men as he's pretending." She sighs again, and turns back to the tavern. "I'll get ya some lanterns though, and wish ya luck if you're certain."

[Surgate]

The widowman understood Sandy's logic, ignored Kinney, and felt increasingly tired at the prospect of getting some rest. I'll take your word on it then, we'll be up and at em early

[austarrowsplitter]

Darren nods and says, "If you say so, then sure, I'll get some shut-eye."

[kdtompos]

Sandy turns back around, still with a rather frustrated look on her face. "Glad I could talk some sense into you boys. Little Knife is already fetching some guards for Kinny here, and I imagine the mayor has one heck of a mess on his hand involving whoever you found earlier."

Kinny remains silent, but continues looking about the room as if searching for something. "When they get here, y'all should head to your rooms. I'll prepare some bandages and do what I can, but it won't be much for what you've gone through. I'd recommend a doctor after this is through. But I'll get you up before dawn, so you can use every bit of light you've got. And Darren, if you really think you can drive one of those things, I'd recommend goin' and gettin' that thing now, if it's still there."

---------------------------------------------------

Behind the Chapel It's eerie to return to the chapel, especially under the cover of night. The large stained windows loom like eyes of a beast, watching Darren and anyone who might be accompanying him. The flickering lamplight casts elongated shadows along the dusty path, turning every sagebrush into a tower, and scampering rabbit into a behemoth. Sure enough, Darren spots a beat-up steam wagon in the brush behind the chapel as he rounds the back corner. His lantern light reveals the tire tracks in the churned soil before reflecting off of the iron surface of the machine. The giant vehicle appears to have been shoddily constructed from a variety of scraps and pieces of other wagons, creating a frankenstein of vehicles with two or three different paint schemes. There are no weapons on the vehicle, though there are mounts where such things may have been attached in another life; and there is a large cow-catcher from a locomotive attached to the front, which would be quite handy for pushing your way through the mountainous terrain. The vehicle is open, and smells of smoke and urine inside. But it runs. Darren has no trouble firing up the furnace, and once it's built up a sufficient amount of steam he's able to grasp the basic controls. His first movements are jerky and sporatic, but by time he rolls up to the Old Mill he feels like an old pro. He's thankful that he has travelled that path so many times today, as he could hardly see a thing through the smokey windows. Even with his lamp jury rigged to the cow catcher out front, the circle of light barely illuminated enough ground to creep into the bedlamite's field of vision from the cockpit. For Darren, piloting the craft requires no checks (much like riding a horse). However, any manuevers beyond the simple forward/stop/turn will require Knowledge (engineering) checks.

Two guards arrive at the Mill shortly before Darren returns, escorting Kinny from the Poker Room. While the gnome resists a little, he's become rather complacent with his current lot by this point. He still manages an icy glare toward Jeremiah before the shove him from the back room.

If you get to sleep quickly, you can barely get 8 hours of sleep before the stun will start to lighten the skies. And with Sandy's bandages and care, one of you can receive the benefits of long term care. Healing for a full night's rest is 1+Con Bonus hp. With long term care, that's 2+Con Bonus.

Feel free to rollplay your evening and any preperation outside of the assumed norm if you would like.

[austarrowsplitter]

Darren grinned at the steam wagon as he looked it over, saying to himself, "Needs a bit more work, but I like her... she's got some character! C'mon, girl, let's get you back to the inn. We'll see about givin' you a name later."

Once the steam wagon was safely back at the inn, he wearily trudged inside. Thankfully he got there just in time to see Kinny being dragged away, and he gave the gnome a last parting wave as he went by. Once inside, Darren immediately headed up to his room, and damn near collapsed on the bed. When Sandy came to bandage him up, he blushed a bit, given the location of his wound, but he supposed that having a pretty woman bandaging his upper thigh wasn't the worst thing in the world. And he sure as Hells wasn't going to object.

[Muggins]

Madeline gladly took the chance for some shut-eye; while the firefight hadn't wounded her, it'd still taken its toll on her body and she hadn't truly eaten since midday. She shuffled off into her room with the rest of them, with the exception of Darren as he trudged out into the night once more.

She also saw fit to split the alchemical supplies from their skirmish with her fellow gunslinger. Twenty bullets, a pair of powder horns and another twenty doses of powder were added to her pack, leaving the rest to him. The cash was similarly divided, although this time between the five members of their party; Madeline took her share, then left the rest of what she'd gathered to the others.

Uh There was mention of Orcbane going missing again; should the cash be divided three ways or four? Also, Madeline's splitting the ammunition between herself and the other gunslinger. I'm not sure if other people use firearms, or even who that person is. Should be divisions be inappropriate, I'll revise them.

[kdtompos]

Next Morning You are awake before dawn, preparing quickly by lamplight in the quiet and still somewhat chilly hours of the morning. The equipment that hasn't been claimed or divided is piled up in the back poker room of the Old Mill, and four of you pile into the battered steam-wagon with heavy eyelids and clouded minds. Your muscles ache and your stomaches grumble, but there's little time for food as the black sky is just beginning to light with shades of grey and orange. You notice that Edward is not with you, and Sandy informs you that his room this morning was completely empty--as if the man had left at some point in the evening taking his equipment and share of the funds so far. Cursing beneath your breath, you have no time to search for the businessman or attempt to ascertain some sort of motive for his absence. You pile into the wagon, Darren grinning behind the gears and levers at the head, and with a quick jerk and a loud whistle of steam you lurch into motion winding a cloudy trail west of town and into the foothills. Sandy had provided some insight into a good path toward the bridge, but the direction is quite obvious as the massive steel bridge looms before you--silhouetted by the wooded majesty of a Blue Ridge sunrise. From a distance, figures can be seen at the footholds of the bridge as you crest the final hill approaching it. The sky is a brilliant purple and red now, but the sunlight itself is still too high to warm your faces. The figures appear to be fastening objects to the trusses' crossbeam supports, and as your steam wagon comes to a stop the tires drag on dirt and sitressed brake pads squeal, catching the attention of the three men. They immediately draw their weapons, two of them ducking for cover.

OOC Roll for initiative Darren's initiative controls the vehicle. Vehicle is currently stopped. Stats are here:   Beat-Up Steam Wagon It's a fixer-upper! Huge land vehicle Squares 8 (10 ft. by 20 ft.; 15 ft. high); Cost N/A ------------------------------------- Defense ------------------------------------- AC 8; Hardness 7 HP 110 (90) Base Save +1 ------------------------------------- Offense ------------------------------------- Maximum Speed 80 ft.; Acceleration 20 ft. CMB +2; CMD 12 Ramming Damage 2d8 ------------------------------------- Description ------------------------------------- The sturdiest of builds when it comes to wheeled-steamtech, this mammoth machine finds use among both civilian and military populations both. Its imposing size and rough-hewn design grant proficient drivers a +2 curcumstance bonus on any associated Intimidate checks after a successful driving maneuver. Driving Check: Knowledge (engineering) or Profession (driver)