Chapter 1.0 - Rio Grande City

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May 29, 2015 7:57 pm
Ooc: given my profession I assume I have rope or shackles, but I didn't put it down on my sheet. So GM can overrule my assumption.

Eli shakes his head, still trying to process all that has happened in the past 10 minutes, along with the strange words about shadow people and special items that his quarry had said on the way into town.

He hears Col. Mortimers words, and tosses him his shackles.
May 29, 2015 8:29 pm
OOC: Eli having Shackles on him is fine with me.
Jun 2, 2015 3:17 pm
Diego has a quick look around, and finds a 40-foot length of chain with key-and-padlock. Eli produces prisoner shackles, and together they bind the beast up securely. The Colonel keeps his silver weapon handy, but it doesn't wake up. It does however, continue to heal for a bit, mostly. During the process, the skull wound continues closing up and the bone regrowing, until suddenly, the beast, still unconscious, shifts into the form of a woman. She has long, black hair with a slight curl, exotic features, and skin a dark, reddish coffee colour. Diego tightens the chains somewhat around the woman's form, and notices that her wounds, although still terrible, have ceased to heal. She is alive, for now.

Clancy, AJ and the doctor retrieve the woman from the street, dragging her down the block back to the hotel. Concerned, rifle-toting citizens mill about confusedly until the sheriff shows up and shoes them back to their homes. He questions Louis, Clancy, AJ and a few passersby who claim to have seen the whole thing. After a spell (see what I did there?), he seems to accept the story of a wolf-in-woman's clothing as 'devilry' and thanks the preacher for 'doing God's good work'.

The saloon ends its custom for the night, and the bartender, having returned from whatever hole he hid in, finds some canvas tarps and helps the group carry the two bodies upstairs, before he attempts to mop the bloodstains out of the saloon's rough, wooden floor. The unconscious, chained woman is carefully transferred back into her bed (she is a tenant and has been for the past month).

The six of you, Douglas, Eli, AJ, Clancy and Diego, along with Louis. Gather some chairs into the woman's room, and stare awkwardly at her, and each other. Louis produces a bottle of cheap whiskey and takes a long swig before pouring some on a small hankerchief (to dab his wounds) and passes the bottle around.

"Thank you for coming. I reckon y'all got here just in the nick of time," he says, chafing at his rope-burned wrists.
Jun 2, 2015 8:52 pm
Eli takes a big swig of whiskey and squawks, "Hey Louis, you got some 'splainin to do!!"
Jun 2, 2015 9:48 pm
Diego takes his turn with the bottle and passes it along. Still not quite sure what the hell he has witnessed he eagerly awaits Louis' explanation.
Jun 3, 2015 3:30 am
"She must have snuck in while I was sleeping, that one," he says, pointing at the one that had been drug back from the street. "Tied me up, gagged me. She brought that one in a few days ago," he continues, pointing to the woman on the bed. "And bit her. Chained her up, and bit her on the arm. She tried to scream but she squeezed her throat till she fell still." He gulps dryly, and stares wistfully at the whiskey bottle. When she woke up, she was one of ‘em. Her teeth got sharp, her fingernails thickened and sharpened, hair sprung out o' her skin."

"The next night, they went out and gets the other one. Same thing. The first one, Kendra she was called, bites Margaret there. She turns into another one." He pauses and looks at each of you in turn, stopping on Clancy. "Thing is, did she bite anyone else, before she got here?"

He notices Clancy turning red with barely contained rage, and he waves his hand. "Now, you don’t need to worry too much, son. Maybe you’ll get hairy, but your mind is your own. Just don’t go chewin' on folks and you and me will be fine. See, there is one more thing you need to know. Kendra isn’t from the Rio Grande City, she isn’t from Texas. She isn’t from this world at all."

"Clancy, don’t bite no one." He pauses again, and you begin to suspect that his pauses are purely for dramatic effect. "You start to get angry, though, you focus on something calming, cuz if you lose control, you’re going to get hairy. And that seems like its oil into the fire. Those girls went wild. Your mind will be your own, but your mind will be full of rage and hate. And biting might seem like a real good idea."

"Now, Kendra there, maybe she bit others, and they gets angry and start chewing. This place will tear itself apart. Some places have ways of keeping things like this in check, but here, well, these werewolves have no natural enemies. Here, they can just, go wild."

"I know you're confused. This don't make a lick of sense. Your world, though, this place, it's important. It may not seem like much and you probably got all kinds o' questions. But right now, we gotta stop these werewolves before they turn your world into hell."
Jun 3, 2015 11:20 am
AJ listened to the tale spun by the old man. It was ridiculous. This whole place was ridiculous.He tried to wrap his head around it all, but it didn't work. At the mention of saving their world, he immediately thought of his sister. That was it. that was all he had to hear. With newfound resolve, AJ straightened and looked to Louis, "Tell us what to do, sir."
Jun 3, 2015 2:16 pm
"Find out where she came from. I suspect its down by Fort Alamo, but maybe not. See what you can find. Then track her back to wherever and find out how she got here. Then shut that God-damned door." He slumps down, clearly worn out. "You get into any trouble, you go seek out Ida Jericho in Tombstone. It's about a days ride thatta-ways," he says, gesturing vaguely to the northwest.

"I'm going to get some rest, maybe work up to taking this one somewhere she can't do so much harm. Stick together, and I'll try and find you in a week or so."
Jun 3, 2015 2:40 pm
"Seems we got ourselves a Job. So Silver works. What else does? Let's take our cutlery to the gunsmith. He'll provide us with some bullets in a day or two. We can't go unprotected.

Seems also something is different about each one of us. Not only did Louis get us all together. I suspect he did something else. Did you all feel like som sort of awakening from a dull dream or was it just me?

So Louis, what makes us different? What do we have in common, diverse as we are seemingly? And where did you get al that knowledge? Are you some sort of "outsider", too? By the way is there a cure for Clancy that we can find?"
Last edited June 3, 2015 2:40 pm
Jun 4, 2015 1:57 am
Diego removes his pistol from its holster and flips open the cylinder as he listens to Louis' story about werewolves and people from other worlds. Removing the spent shell and tossing it to the floor, he removes a round from his bandolier and chambers it, spins the cylinder, and flips it closed.

Nodding to Mortimer he adds, "We need to get the Padre fixed up pronto..."
Jun 6, 2015 3:21 am
Louis waves you away, muttering "tomorrow." His wounds and his age have clearly worn him out. He slumps back in his chair and falls asleep.

The night passes uneventfully. {If you want to share anything that night, please do.} The five of you rest and gather yourselves for the coming day. Searching the beast-womans room, you find a half-dozen more strange objects: a pocket watch, a cigarillo holder, a pince-nez, a ruby ring, a sheriffs badge, and a hard candy. When you carry more than two or three, you feel odd. {If anyone wants to make Intellect checks, you can try to identify the cyphers.}

In the morning, the Colonel slips out early and finds a gunsmith who promises to forge silver bullets in proper calibres for each of your weapons. He needs a half day.

The old man seems pale and thinner the next morning. His hands shake with palsy as he drips water into the chained womans mouth. "I need to take her away, to somewhere this curse can ... pass harmlessly. I can take Clancy there later, but I think the Rio Grande needs you all. See, you all are a little bit more awake than others here. Never can tell who it will be. Maybe your enemies, hopefully your loved ones. Best not dwell on that though. This place, it has a way of making you forget. Stick together and remember that you don't fit in anymore."

"You don't owe me nothin, heck, I probably owe you all something for saving my keister. But, if you want to see this through, I can promise you a trip through hell and sights you ain't never thought of. And maybe, we can right some wrongs along the way." He coughs into a handkerchief, and your eyes see a spot of blood. "Go to Fort Alamo, and figure out how they got here. Then come back here, or go to Tombstone. We'll catch up then."
Give me some Intellect rolls, and post your reactions to the info dump, haha. The game is afoot!
Jun 6, 2015 1:52 pm
(That night...) As the group settles down with their drinks, Eli takes off his hat, smooths his moustache and introduces himself. "Well, while we're all acquainted with each other's fightin' skills now, best we do proper introductions. My name is Eli Buckholtz. You can call me Eli or Quickfeet, ain't no bother either way". He turns to Col. Mortimer and says, "Not sure if you remember me, but I remember you. A couple years back I almost got trampled by a wild horse stampede, but even my quick feet weren't enough. If it wasn't for you on your horse grabbin' me, I'd be vulture food. And as I said then, I'm indebted to you." Eli goes on to tell his tale. He is a former Texas Ranger, still highly respected among current and former Rangers, but has set out on his own to pursue criminals and others on his own, who are running from the law. He's never settled down, keeps to the open road, serving justice along the way. "I ain't fond at all about keepin' a woman in chains, it ain't right. But it ain't right for her to be turnin' into a wolf and eatin' people. Let's hope we can properly deal with her", he adds at some point in the evening.

Over the course of the evening, he keeps looking around, not looking for something, but searching for answers. He definitely feels different now, more awake in a way, but still not properly understanding it all.

The next day, after Louis updates us, he asks, "Louis, I thought you wanted us to take you to Fort Alamo. I'ma still goin' to do what you want us to do, whether we go Alamo and then back to get ya, or you go with us. Let's just get our gear together and hit the trail!".
(He inspects the pocket watch and the sheriff's badge that evening).

Rolls

Intellect roll - Pocket watch - (1d20)

(4) = 4

Intellect roll - sheriff badge - (1d20)

(12) = 12

Jun 6, 2015 6:07 pm
As Diego listens to Eli's story he remembers the objects that he taken off one of the dead women while in the saloon. As the others continue their discussions and stories, Diego will take the time to inspect each of the items individually.

EDIT: 24? Oops, let me re-roll that one.
Last edited June 6, 2015 6:08 pm

Rolls

Identify Ornate Snuff Box - (1d20)

(11) = 11

Identify Leather Bracelet Decorated with Ornate Stones - (1d20)

(4) = 4

Identify the Pill in the Small Glass Jar - (1d29)

(24) = 24

Identify Pill in the Small Glass Jar - (1d20)

(20) = 20

Jun 7, 2015 11:26 am
After Eli's introduction, AJ stands up, but doesn't really know what to say. After a moment of awkward false-starts, he takes a deep breath and shows off his boyish smile. "Name's Alex. Call me AJ. I dunno what's going on exactly. And really, I don't care to figure it out right now." He takes off his hat and rubs his forehead. "Kinda gives me a headache. This place is strange, yeah. But Mister Garderose here gave me something to focus on: protecting our world. I got a sister that I help take care of. If I can help keep her safe, I'm going to do it." He sits down, allowing others to have their say.

OOC: I count only 5 items identified, but I don't think AJ was up searching the room since he stayed with Louis.
Jun 8, 2015 12:14 pm
I've sent PMs to both players that ID'd cyphers. Diego had found three cyphers on the beast that he beheaded, and the lot of you found the other 6 cyphers in the woman's room when you all (Louis included) took her upstairs from the saloon floor.

The four that have not yet been identified are: cigarillo holder, a pince-nez, a ruby ring, and a hard candy.
Jun 8, 2015 12:36 pm
Eli looks at the pocket watch, and then hastily puts it down. "Durned if I know why, but I can sense somethin' special ... and dark... about this here pocket watch. I was hopin' to have this nice time piece, but I feel it is meant to be given, at the right time and place, to someone who would consider it a gift, but it will be a curse. So best for those subtle times of subterfuge with words, rather than diplomacy by gun."

He examines the sheriff's badge as well. "Hmm, strange, I can feel something about this one too. Ain't no regular badge! But somehow I know that if someone's wearing it, they can put someone they touch to sleep. Handy for calming down someone who's panicked, or taking down an enemy who may be about to commit violence on others."

Eli then, with some hesitation, picks up the cigarillo holder and examines it...

Rolls

Intellect roll - cigarillo holder - (1d20)

(9) = 9

Jun 8, 2015 6:33 pm
"I'll take the rest then..."

Rolls

Identify prince-nez - (1d20)

(10) = 10

Identify ruby ring - (1d20)

(17) = 17

Identify hard candy - (1d20)

(7) = 7

Jun 8, 2015 11:39 pm
Having messed with the strange objects (see what I did there?), you will need to allocate them amongst yourselves in some manner. Remember that each character can only carry 2 or 3 of these at a time (see your character sheet), without something, shall we say, ALARMING happening.

Also, as an aside, I haven't heard from Morrowlife in a couple of weeks. Anyone know if he is coming back?
Jun 9, 2015 12:44 am
Diego, somehow making sense of what the objects he gathered actually do, holds up a jar with a single orange pill inside. "Anyone interested in this? I'm not sure what it's real name is, but I call it 'velocidad'"

OOC: It restores 5 to your speed pool.
Jun 9, 2015 12:53 am
Eli pins the sheriff badge onto his coat. "I may not be a sheriff, but I am a law keeper." He then puts the cigariillo holder inside his coat.

He finishes his meal, waits for the others to pick through the 'rewards', and then he's ready to hit the open road.
Last edited June 9, 2015 12:54 am
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