IC - 1. Gainful Employment

[Mr. Handy]

"Thank you, John," says James. "You take care of yourself too."

[Papa Gateau]

Strachan and Courtwright take up their position upriver whilst the rest of you follow the plan, 3 of the party staying with Clancy and Murdoch, lighting a fire, making up their bed-rolls and eating a meal of beans and jerky.

The rest of you stay back with the Miss Tubman and the horses.

Once darkness falls, Clancy heads back and calls you up to take position around the clearing.

Murdoch takes up his position on the fallen trunk about 5 yards from the camp fire, the bedrolls are arranged a similar distance apart and should like sleeping men from a distance.

Rolls,[b]Strachan[/b] 1 hide, 1 listen, 1 spot hidden [b]Murdoch[/b] 1 listen, 1 spot hidden Others - 1 hide

[Mr. Handy]

James can't hear anything, nor can he see much in the darkness.

[ghill]

Strachan squats with his back against a rock for a man whose love of the outdoors ends with chasing foxes from horseback his efforts at concealing himself aren't bad* Somewhere out to their front he just makes out the sound of something which really doesn't sound right**. Then he sees something***

OOC:   *Hide missed by 7% which depending on how you're working things in the dark. ** 40% Listen Make it by 1% *** 40% Spot H, make it 29%

[Papa Gateau]

Strachan,Over the gurgling of the river you hear the soft whinny of a horse and a catch a glint of moonlight off metal, probably a buckle on a saddle or bridle coming from upriver along your side of the bank. It's difficult to make out how many men or mounts there are.

Courtwright turns to Strachan and says in a hissed whisper That looks like our quarry, let's get back, warn the others and prime our trap

[ghill]

OOC:   Considering the roll. Does Strachan make a anything out in the darkness. I don't really want to move if it's a single scout, he's far more likely to see or hear us if we do.

Hold on man. Strachan says as quietly as possible. We don't want to move to early. Not until we know who it is. If it's a scout, we risk missing vital information about our opponents.

[Papa Gateau]

OOC:   There's definitely more than one man - you try and count the moon shadows reflected in the river but it's difficult with the fast flowing water, it could be as few as 5 or as many as 10 mounts. If you wait for a more accurate count it will be more difficult to return to the clearing unseen.

[ghill]

OK Courtright you head back now I'll follow shortly says Strachan. We need to keep an idea about what they're up-to.

Strachan moves off shortly after the Pinkerton man. He moves slowly making sure he can make out the others in the darkness ideally by sound. He never lets them get any closer than they are now.

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,I take it that, since I failed my rolls, I don't notice any of this.

[Papa Gateau]

Murdoch,From your position at the campfire, you can neither see nor hear anything from upriver by your scouts. After a few minutes, you hear a low whistle and [b]Courtwright[/b] quickly moves into the light of the campfire and passes you [color=#800000]They're on their way, reckon there's maybe ten of them, mounted. Get behind that log of yours[/color] He then moves back, to pass the message to the others and take up his position.

Strachan,[b]Courtwright[/b] heads towards the campfire, crouched low and moving carefully. As you retreat, keeping a careful distance between yourself and the bandits, you can just make out in the moonlit darkness as they dismount and approach the bend before your campsite on foot. You are at the bend, midway beteen the campfire and the bandits

Rest,You wait, nervously for the scouts to return. After a while you see [b]Courtwright[/b] return, quickly moving to [b]Murdoch[/b] before moving back to the Sherriff, a whispered message gets passed along, they're coming, maybe ten of them, mounted last time he saw them.

[Tabs]

Harriet nods, she doesn't trust her voice in case it quavers. Taking the old bird-scarer shotgun from her mule's pack and a handful of shells, she looks for a suitable place to hide.

[ghill]

As soon as Strachan is sure the men are heading in the direction of the camp he'll move to break away. Heading around the camp rather than through it. He makes sure James and the Marshall can see him he'll indicate the men are only a short distance away.

[Priest]

Farnsworthy smiles, spits a stream of dark brown tobacco juice into the shadows, and climbs the rocks a piece to find a good ambush position. Just like the good old days

[Mr. Handy]

James positions himself behind the cover and concealment of the log he has prepared, readying his Winchester for when the inevitable shooting starts.

[ghill]

OOC:   if I remember the plan correctly James and Clancy are by the fire so the camp looks occupied and guarded. Their bedrolls covering shell scrapes and I assume the logs they are sitting can also be used to provide some cover when the shooting starts. The rest of us should be arraigned around the far side of the clearing so we can shoot across with little risk of hitting the two men in the clearing or just as importantly the horses. Strachan will position himself on the end of the firing line - nearest the approaching desperado's he doesn't want them flanking him in the dark.

Finding cover by a large Ash tree, Strachan places the shotgun at his feet, then kneels gently on the stock so he wont lose it in the dark. He then takes out one of his large revolvers and cocks it ready to fire, gently blowing any dust away from the firing cap.Then resting the handgun on his knee he settles down to wait.

[Papa Gateau]

OOC:   Yes you are correct - Murdoch and the sheriff were visible so that the camp looked occupied in case you were being observed setting up etc. There are 4 bedrolls arrayed around the fire to look like sleeping bodies. Murdoch has now rolled off the log he was sitting on and is lying behind it. The sheriff is hunkered down by a rock, mostly hidden by the shadows that the fire is casting. Everyone else is hidden behind trees or rocks in a shallow arc - to which Strachan has added himself at the end - he is nearest to the oncoming bandits. Murdoch and the sheriff are slightly forwards of the rest of the posse but are not likely to be caught in friendly cross-fire. The majority of the mounts are tethered about 30 yards downstream but there are two tethered closer to the camp fire to keep up the appearance.

You all wait to spring your counter ambush, straining to see movement or hear sounds in the dark. Your trigger finger rests on the guard of your weapon.

As you wait in anticipation, a cloud covers the moon making the night darker and you hear the soft hoot of an owl.

Suddenly there is a flash of gunfire to your left quickly followed by another 8 or 9 spread out in front of you.

Bullets fly!

[Mr. Handy]

Trusting his companions to do their part, James leans his rifle across the top of the log, using the muzzle flashes of the enemy's weapons to guide his shot as they foolishly reveal their positions. His bullet flies with uncanny accuracy at one of them, taking the man's head clean off! Then he ducks down behind the log to avoid return fire.

OOC,Woohoo! 8-) An impale with a very high damage roll!

[Priest]

Farnsworthy
The sudden eruption of gunfire wipes the smile from Ethan's lips, Damn this is going bad real fast. He gently lets the hammer down on his pistol. No point in giving away my position yet shootin blind in the dark.

[Tabs]

The shooting starts. Poor Harriet flinches with each bang. She prays fervently that she were anywhere else, and clutches the shotgun to herself, as if she were hugging a straw dolly. "Our Father who art in heaven . . ."

[ghill]

Strachan curses silently to himself he had hoped the bandits would feel confident enough to enter the clearing as they started firing. Shooting across the clearing was going to be a recipe for a bloodbath on both sides. Strachan held his fire hoping everyone else would do likewise and James would play dead, although he knew the confederate man to be brave to the point of foolishness. Strachan holstered his pistol, tonight wasn't a night for precision gun play. He picked up the shotgun and cocked both hammers. No, he thought tonight was turning into the children's game 'Murder in the Dark'.

OOC:   Mr Handy, Sorry to rain on your parade, but its only a Special for an unmodified shot. Sadly, shooting by starlight reduces firearms skill rolls to 1/5, making all shots essentially “Unaimed Shots” (Call of Cthulhu, p. 63). So still a hit, but nothing special. You've got to get up nice and personal..or have a scatter gun.