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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 2595951" data-attributes="member: 8530">DM's Note: You may notice a different style to the next several chapters, as all of the players (except for Jake's) were able to get together for two days of gaming at a table rather than as a play-by-post.  So instead of each person's dialogue being what they themselves posted I have transcribed the audio tapes from the games.Chapter 140, "Arrival of the Hunters" Monday, January 16th, 5:00 P.M.At Dorita’s insistence Sonoma and Ruby bring food up to Kate and force her to eat it. Kate is still in a near comatose state, just staring at the wall. She looks disheveled, having made no attempt to wash up or fix her hair. Ruby realizes that Kate probably won’t be in any shape to help out at the Lone Star this evening but they also don’t want to leave her alone. They decide to go talk to the others, finding Chester downstairs following his day of working at the bank. Nanuet arrives accompanied by Jeff Mills, Jim Calhoun, Stuart Bald and Codie Jarret, the five men having spent the day working on the construction of the third floor of the Lone Star. Dorita brings out food for the hungry men. Sonoma asks Nanuet “Have you been learning how to be a bricklayer?” “No, but I’ve come an expert in mixing mortar,” is his reply. “Should we go get Jake?” Chester asks. Ruby announces to the others that Jake has left and won’t be back for several days. This leads to some speculation as to where he went to and what he is doing. Sonoma asks if she is ready to manage the Lone Star. Ruby replies “Me? I’m not the one who will be running the place. I don’t want the responsibilities of making decisions for the saloon.” It is pointed out to her that of her three partners, Niles Hoover just wants a place to sell his liquor, Job Kane just wants a place to play cards and Jake Cook who ran off to Tucson so she’s it. She says, “I believe Jake convinced Hoover to handle the daily operations.” She then points out that one advantage of the partnership with Hoover is that it sets up a ready source for bringing in Kentucky Bourbon, which Ruby decides they are no longer selling to the public but keeping it all for private use. The partnership also enables them to get all alcohol at cost. Ruby says that before she heads over to the saloon tonight she needs a bath and that she should also “clean up Kate.” Dorita comments, “Clean up Kate hard, you may need some help.” Ruby replies, “No, I can clean up Kate, don’t worry about that. We’ll just meet up with you men over at the Lone Star.” Dorita comes over and hands Ruby something saying “Here, really good soap. You will need this.” Sonoma insists on helping. They go to Kate’s room, get her dressed, pick out a change of clothing and help her over to Gilson’s Bath House. When they finish they head back to the El Parador where the men are still eating. Ruby asks the workers how the construction is going. Jeff replies “Come over and see for yourself, after all, you’re an owner now.” Jeff suggests, “You may want to change back into your pants. We haven’t built the staircase from the second to third floor yet so you have to climb up a ladder.” “Dorita mutters “He thinks she modest? She sit around here this morning in just a shirt!” Ruby says, “I can handle a ladder in a dress.” Dorita tells Sonoma, “You make sure Ruby be presentable.” Sonoma replies, “I am not making sure she keep skirts down.” Ruby decides not to bring Kate up with them since “She may try to jump off.” They head over to the Lone Star and Jeff leads her up to the roof. When the 2nd floor had been constructed they had planned for a third floor. The second floor roof had therefore been constructed with thick very solid beams to put a future layer of floorboards on top of. The construction thus far has been on the exterior wall, with the bricks now between two and three feet high around the exterior, running the 25 by 30 feet six of the building. They have also placed brick support columns above where similar columns are on the lower two levels. She also see the tarp trap with loose bricks on it that Jeff has rigged up above the back door in case any more unwanted visitors show up there. Ruby is pleased that none of the interior third floor walls have been set yet, as she has some of her own design ideas as to those rooms. She asks, “How long do you think it will take to finish?” He replies “The plan with William Whipple had us finishing it in a month.” Jeff says they should also decide if they want to stop with three floors or plan for future upward expansion, as that will make a difference as to whether they plan the hallway for another staircase up as well as the type of roof they will put above. It is noted that the third floor will make the Lone Star the tallest building in town, none of the others being more than two stories. “Do we need it any taller?” she asks. Jeff replies, “Whipple wanted to be able to keep going up. But he’s from Denver, where they have skyscrapers seven stories high, about as high as a building ought to go.”Jeff Mills thanks Ruby for her and Jake getting him his job back. He adds that he particularly enjoyed getting to act as ‘security’ while the Whipples packed, making sure that they only took personal possesions with them rather than anything belonging to the Lone Star. Since William Whipple had gone and fired him that was poetic justice. Ruby begins to scheme about how the affiliation with the town’s only liquor distributor will give her some degree of control over the other saloons in town. She discusses this with Nanuet and Chester who agree. Ruby asks Jeff to continue to work as the bouncer and bartender. She asks Chester and Nanuet to alternate guard duty out in the kitchen in the event of more unwanted visitors. Two of the fourteen saloons in the town have gone out of business in the last week, with the Trail Dust Saloon having been confiscated from Pamela Yeats by the Arizona Territory and with Hoover’s liquor and saloon having been burnt down. This in turn will increase the business for all other saloons in town including the Lone Star. Ruby tries to determine what the Lone Star now has for employees. Loosing Tom Whipple is seen by her as no real loss but with Maggie gone they are down a combination Manager, Cook, Waitress and Pianist. However, they now have Niles Hoover as manager and he also brought along his assistant Harry Rote, who is a capable bartender. And with them there all of their former customers will also now go to the Lone Star. Monday night is not that busy a night and both Job Kane and Tony Lucky soon get their poker tables running. Sanoma decides that “Louise has gone back to Tombstone” but agrees to work at the Lone Star as herself, which Ruby finds acceptable. Kate agrees to play the piano this evening provided that she picks the songs she feels like playing. Ruby decides to let Somoma play that night too so that there will also be some happy songs. Sonoma then presses Ruby for how much she will be paid. Ruby says “You’ll have to talk to Jake about that. I’m leaving all of the business decisions requiring negotiation to him.” Somana indicates that the pay will be better than what she receives from the El Parador, which is nothing. She says “I will have my own kitchen and not have to share it!. You will all stay out of my kitchen!” Ruby says “You won’t have to ask me twice.” It is pointed out that of all the current employees of the Lone Star the only one who could cook to save his life is Jeff Mills and it is not something that he enjoys doing.” A man comes to the door. Ruby recognizes him but can’t place from where and asks to speak with her. He tells her in a French accent “Hello madamoiselle. I am Pepe Diderot, the pianist at the Gay Lady. Madge Duprey would like to speak with you. She is the main singer at the Gay Lady.” “Right now?” Ruby exclaims. He answers “Oui, at your earliest convenience.” She says, “I need to sing right now. I can speak to her at my first break.” “That would be fine,” he states. He then departs. Somoma whispers into her ear “Sounds like she wants a job. You make the terms with her, this is your saloon.” Ruby acts annoyed at Sonoma sticking her nose into the business affairs. Madge Duprey comes by shortly and waits for Ruby to finish the next set. She asks to speak with her privately. They head upstairs. Once the door is closed Madge says “We have a mutual friend, Mr. Gonzales. He has given me considerable training.” Ruby reflects upon this, remembering that Gonzales cannot sign and also noting that Madge is of French descent and from New Orleans, a city known for wizardry. “What kind of training if you don’t mind me asking?” Ruby states. Madge replies, “He has certain skills that I believe you are familiar with. Skills that are common where I am from but not too many people around here utilize. He indicated that he needed to leave this week on an errand and that you might need some further training. I have some talents that he does not so he thought that I might be a good instructor for you.” Ruby answers, “Well, if Mr. Gonzales has suggested it then I would be happy to work with you.” Madge says that tonight would not be possible as they both have to work at their respective saloons but that she will reserve some time for training in the morning. “Not too early,” Ruby comments. Madge replies “Early for me is ten-thirty to eleven.” Ruby replies, “Make it closer to eleven. I think we’ll get along just fine. Madge says that she will stop by there the next morning. The evening itself is fairly uneventful for a change. Sanoma spends the night inventorying the kitchen and determining what she needs to buy. At the end of the night the women have collectively made $6.44 in tips, Hoover has made a profit of $ 10.90 on liquor sales, Tony has made $ 69 at his poker table from which he gives the house $ 14. Job suggests that as a part owner he just keep his share and not take any of the other money. Ruby says that he will have to work that out with Jake but for the moment he should continue with contributing 20% of his take for an even share of the house profits. Job has made $120 at his table so gives the house $ 24. Ruby asks Kate “Do you want me to stay with you at the El Parador or do you want to stay here?’ Kate takes her up on the offer to go with her back to the El Parador. With the Whipples gone both Job Kane and Jeff Mills have their own rooms back, albiet half filled with liquor cases, so will stay at the Lone Star and help protect it. Tuesday, January 17th, 1882: Sanoma gets up early, does some shopping for the Lone Star kitchen. In the course of her shopping she finds out that the town butcher has a small fire in his smokehouse the previous day, which enables her to get some slightly-cooked meat for a lower than usual price. She then gets her horse and rides out to Pete’s Ranch. Nanuet decides to accompany her after first getting permission from Jeff to take time off from the construction, not wanting for Jeremiah Peck to lose his job. They decide to also bring Kate with them, hoping that the ranch will help to improve her mood. Kate agrees to go but then goes into a panic when she cannot find her guns. She wakes up a sleepy Ruby who asks, “What are you doing?” Kate exclaims “Tom’s gun. I can’t find Tom’s gun!” Kate looks into the trunk and says “I always put it here!” Ruby says “Are you sure? You’ve been in a kind of a dazed state this past day.” Ruby suggests that she go on without it. Kate exclaims “I need this gun. It was my husband’s. I don’t need to shoot anyone but I need to have his gun.” Ruby agrees to help her look and sneaks the pistol out from under the bed but leaves the derringer. She removes all of the bullets from the weapon. She then exclaims “It’s right here Kate” and returns the pistol to Kate, who is very relieved to have it back.Ruby prepares to go off for her training but first makes sure that Dorita will see to it that Kate gets something to eat. “Here, you eat, put taco in mouth!” Dorita exclaims. “Maybe she’s sick?” Chester states. “She sick from not eating! Eat!” Dorita again exclaims. Before heading over to the Lone Star she stops off at the gunsmith’s shop where Jake has instructed her to pick up two rifles, to replace the ones that got bent stopping the stagecoach, as well as a sawed off shotgun. She buys some of the less expensive models available, an older model army rifle and a six-shot repeating rifle. Ruby heads over to the Lone Star and Madge Duprey shows up at around 10:45 A.M. They head upstairs to one of the rooms and spend the morning working on singing instruction, with Madge teaching Ruby how to use the bard abilities to influence individuals through singing. They work until early afternoon when Madge calls for a lunch break. Madge asks if Ruby owns a horse, which she says that she does, that it is stabled over at the El Parador. Madge agrees to meet Ruby there in forty-five minutes for a short ride out to a location for further training. Madge arrives at the El Parador stable and joins Ruby. Ruby notes that Madge’s saddlebags are rather full. They ride for a mile-and-a-half outside of town to a farm where Madge pays the farmer a couple of dollars for the temporary use of the barn. She then spends the next several hours teaching Ruby some more flamboyant spells requiring more space than the smaller room at the Lone Star allowed as well as using the cavernous size of the barn for its greater acoustics. She also teaches Ruby how to cast Detect Thoughts and Hold Person spells. They ride back to town as it gets towards evening. Madge wishes her luck and says that they will probably work together again at some point. She then adds “And please don’t start any more fights at the Gay Lady.” Ruby replies, “We didn’t start that fight. You must know what it’s like, having men fight over you.” Madge replies “Yes, I’ve had lots of experience with that.” Chester continues to have another dull and eventful day as a guard at Condon’s Bank. Chester notices that Danby Jones keeps asking Frank Condon questions about the robbery and the money taken from the vault and bank drawers. Frank is evasive in his answers to Danby’s questions. Sonoma spends much of the day casting fertility spells onto the ewes of the sheep flock. At Kate’s request she also casts this spell onto the mares. Sonoma notes that “We will be very busy in five months for the sheep and in a year for the horses.” Sonoma then shows Kate how to mix together mud, water and hay to make adobe bricks, which are then stacked using more mud as a mortar. Sonoma asks, “How do you want to break up this land?” Sonoma suggests rotational pastures lined with trees and to use her druidic magics to accelerate the growth of the trees to act as fencing and also provide for lumber. Kate suggests that they focus on sheep and cattle and not too many horses, as horses require a lot of resources and upkeep. Sonoma adds, “And you can’t eat them.” Kate says “We do need to raise some though, horses could be sold for a good price as there is high demand for them, plus it is what I know how to do.” They discuss maybe allocating some land for crops. “I thought we were ranchers,” Nanuet exclaims. “I don’t know anything about farming,” Kate adds. Sonoma explains the advantages of rotating the fields between sheep and cows as the cattle pound down the soil with their hooves but the sheep then aerate it and make it useable again after which it could be used for a season for hay or corn, to feed to the livestock, before bringing back the cattle. Sonoma suggests planting together the ‘three sisters’ of corn, beans and pumpkins stating that the corn grows the stalk, the beans climb the stalk and the pumpkin vines and leaves then protect the stalk. They plan out where to place the fields in relation to the stream in order to be able to irrigate the land and have a water source for the livestock. Sonoma suggests that they build the house first and then the barn. Sonoma explains how she wants to maximize the use of the land. Sonoma announces that she plans to move out to the land instead of staying with her parents’ back in town. “Looks like we’ll need to make some more bricks” Nanuet states. Sonoma points out the best location for each of the houses, stating that they should probably each have their own. Kate says, “This is all new to me. My house was already built when I moved into it.” “Then how did you learn how to make it? How could you design it to be best run by you if somebody else made it?” Sonoma asks. Kate replies “I didn’t have to do much.” “Houses don’t run themselves,” the young wood elf states. “That’s why you hire people,” Kate replies. “I do not understand?” Sonoma states. Nanuet explains “White man pays other man to run the house for them.” “So what do they do if they don’t run their own house?” Sonoma asks. Nanuet says, “They go to banks and stores.” “And learn to play the piano,” Kate adds. Sonoma replies “I learned to play the piano and also run my own house.” Flint points out “You also live for hundreds of years. These short-lived humans don’t have time to learn how to do everything themselves. They have to get other people to help them to fit everything in.” “They need to fix that,” Sonoma exclaims. Kate replies “I don’t think there is much I can do about that. If I’m lucky I’ll live to be eighty years old, and even at that age I’ll be gray, wrinkled and tired, very tired. If you’re human you are lucky to live that long.” “I’m sorry,” Sonoma replies. She then adds “I have a lot to teach you between now and when you get wrinkled.” “But not nearly as much time as you thought,” Kate answers. “Just learn what you can in the time you have,” Sonoma says. “There’s never enough time,” Kate replies. “There’s never enough time for anyone,” Sonoma answers. Kate looks over the horses and concludes that most of them were well taken care of, which she decides would make good breeding stock. She makes sure that the male horses have at least one stallion rather than geldings.Chester and Nanuet pay a visit to Rixton’s Furniture store, next door to the El Parador to have him make a custom cabinet for them to use to be able to check guns at the door of the Lone Star. They explain what they are looking for in a design and he says that he will have it ready for them in a few days. The group all return to the El Parador for supper. The news around town is that Doc Eaton has closed and quarantined Fly’s Boarding House on Fremont Street due to the outbreak of a contagious illness. The Doctor would not specify the exact nature of the illness. One of the residents, a Mr. Edsel Trask, has died of this disease and the other residents are not permitted to leave the premises until the quarantine is lifted. Roger and Janet Fly own the boarding house and adjacent photo studio. Edsel Trask was one of four tenants staying there. He was a gambler at the Long Branch Saloon. Kate begins to panic, having played there two nights ago, until she hears that he hadn’t been there since the previous Friday night due to the illness. Fly’s is considered the fanciest boarding house in town, charging their residents $ 9 a week and they want a certain class of clientele. Surprisingly, race however is not an issue as long as you pass the Fly’s standards of respectability. Two of the other boarding house residents, Newman Sanders and Roy Ryder, are two of the three employees of Cassidy Lumber. The other is the half-orc Coolie Fagan who works as the clerk at the Wells Fargo Office. Kate is still concerned and decides that they should go talk to the priest Valdez. Valdez says that Trask should have come to him, that Eaton is a competent surgeon by knows nothing about curing diseases, prescribing useless elixirs as a supposed cure. Valdez then states “Most of his elixirs are just alcohol with flavoring, very few have any herbal healing powers. Eaton doesn’t know how to throw a spell and is afraid of clerical magic, which is the best way to cure a disease.” They ask if Valdez knows what disease killed Trask. He states that he doesn’t “How old was Trask?” Nanuet asks. Valdez replies “twenty.” “Not good,” is Kate’s response. The group prepares to head over to the Lone Star. Sonoma points out that they need to watchful of any patrons who normally go to the Long Branch as they may be carrying the disease. They discuss whether they want to talk to Conrad Booth and find out more about this Edsel Trask since Booth gambles at the Long Branch. “And he eats his meals at the El Parador, if this thing is contagious we may already be affected. The threads are already there,” Kate states. Sonoma points out that people at the El Parador are smart enough to wash their hands and fix themselves when they get sick. Kate decides to talk to Booth as he arrives for dinner. She says, “Did you hear about what happened to Edsel Trask?” Booth replies, “Yes, he past on. I might be able to pick up several of his players.” Booth then catches the shocked look on Kate’s face from his insensitive comment and she says, “That’s so cold.” He attempts to salvage the situation by saying “Trask was not a nice man. Few will miss him.” Conrad mentions that Trask’s girlfriend a half-elf named Rita Lopez who also works at the Long Branch also had the illness. She went to Valdez for a cure where Trask did not trust the priest so went to the doctor instead. “And look where it got him,” Sonoma comments. Conrad says that he is unaware of anyone else having come down with the illness. Kate asks about Rita Lopez’s condition and Booth replies, “She seems to be better and she was sick before he was.” Booth speculates that her condition was improving before the weather got bad but that the rain exacerbated the disease in Trask. Kate expresses her concern about how contagious the disease might be. Booth says that of all the people at the Lone Stone only Lopez and Trask appeared to be sick, and that they had intimate contact with each other. Chester comments, “Funny that Valdez didn’t mention her.” Kate says, “Well, we didn’t specifically ask. And if you went to a priest for curing you wouldn’t want him to be telling everyone he met.” Ruby says to Chester “If you saw him regarding a social disease you’d want him to keep that to himself.” Sonoma and Dorita put together an herbal tea to held ward against illness and make sure that everyone drinks it prior to heading over to the Lone Star. Chester comments “I hope this doesn’t have any of that fertility stuff in it.” Everybody laughs at that except Dorita who just yells, “Drink it!” They discuss getting word out about the Lone Star being under new management. Ruby mentions that she took out an ad in Chumbley’s paper announcing that. It is noted that Chumbley had left for Tombstone the previous day and did not return today, so it won’t be until Wednesday before it paper is back in town to circulate with that news. The Lone Star is more crowded this evening than usual, due in part to people avoiding the Long Branch due to their employee having died from disease. Nanuet says “We should have put ‘disease free’ in that advertisement.” The night is quiet until around 9:00 PM when Riley comes charging in with a look of fright on his face and is swearing profusely. Chester rushes up to him and asks, “What’s wrong?” Riley exclaims “They’re here!” “Who’s here?” Chester asks. Riley says, “The giants and furry monsters. The ones who we were guarding the creature from.” “They’re here in town?” Chester asks. Riley exclaims, “Yes.” Chester asks, “Should we block the doors and barricade the windows?” Riley answers, “No, they’re down the street right now at the Silver Dollar Saloon.” “How many of them are there?” Chester asks. Riley replies “Twelve, two humans and ten monsters.” Chester asks “What kind of monsters.” Riley replies “Big! Really big.” Ruby says “So, all they are doing is having a drink?” “Yes, the humans and half-ogres are,” Riley answers. When pressed for more details about these monsters Riley says that five are ogres and half-ogres, three are large furry dangerous things and two are giants, three times the size of men. Chester heads into the kitchen to inform the others. Chester asks about contacting the Marshall. Sonoma states, “Until they do something wrong there is nothing he can do.” “Shouldn’t the Marshall be informed?” Kate asks. Sonoma replies “And tell him what? Big guys drinking in the Silver Dollar? That was not illegal the last time I checked.” Kate says, “Well, it is unusual.” Sonoma replies “And what is usual? Usual seems to be us coming into town and getting shot at every day. If men want to drink I say let them drink.” Nanuet says, “They are the ones from Riley’s dreams.” Kate says, “The Marshall isn’t going to arrest somebody because one of us dreamed about them.” Since the Silver Dollar is only 100 feet or so up Allen Street they decide it is probably best to keep an eye on these creatures for the time being. Nanuet steps outside and doesn’t see anything odd going on up the street. People continue to walk along Sierra Street but appear to be sticking to the north side of it, the door to the Silver Dollar being on the south side. Chester has learned some of the Ogrish language while in the army so decides that he would be the best one to find information from this group. He heads off and up the street. He has never seen creatures like these before. The giants look like oversized humans, around fifteen feet in height. They are attired in furs and hold large clubs. The other three are covered in a deep dark fur and stand nine-feet tall. They have oversized heads and wide mouths full of yellowed fangs. Their clothing is a combination of furs and wooden armor chest plates. Chester attempts to walk past them to go inside and the creatures move to block him from doing so. `He can see that inside are two humans and five ogrish creatures plus the saloon’s bartender. One of the furry creatures growls at Chester and says something to him in a language that he does not understand. He asks, “Is it closed? I do not understand what you are saying?’ It growls at him and raises up its right fist. Chester backs away and walks back to the Lone Star. He asks a few people about this group and finds that they just now arrived in town. The Palace Saloon wouldn’t admit them so they headed over to the Silver Dollar instead. He gives a report to the others of what he saw. Nanuet asks “Mr. Riley. Are you sure that these were the creatures you saw in your dreams attacking us?” He answers “Yes, we were fighting them in front of a cave. They were trying to get into it.” Nanuet comments “Well if they destroy the Silver Dollar we’ll probably get even more customers. “Were they wrecking the place?” Kate asks. Chester says, “No, just standing there or drinking.” Chester is still concerned. “What are you suggesting we do?” Nanuet asks. Sonoma says “Chester, if they do something wrong they get put in jail, we don’t have to fight them. If they don’t do anything wrong we do not have to fight them because they did not do anything wrong.” Kate says, “Well, we might get some customers who would go there now.” Niles Hoover points out that the Silver Dollar is primarily a lunch and dinner place and that they close each night at 9:00 PM, so there wouldn’t be any more customers this evening.” “Odd hours for a saloon” Ruby comments. Hoover says, “Well, they focus on their food.” Kate says, “Ah, they’re a restaurant that serves alcohol.” Hoover replies “Yeah, when Haywood Smith married Alice that was a change she insisted upon.” Sonoma suggests sending someone over to the El Parador to let Dorita know about this group in case they come by there looking for rooms. Nanuet volunteers to head over and help put up the “No Vacancy” sign.</blockquote>

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