The Unseen Servant forums

Grognardsw wrote: ↑Sat Nov 19, 2022 1:58 am Paladin turned to the other out-of-towner.

“Whereabouts are you from Andreas?”

Andreas Larson "Vell, i vas born in vhat you call Prussia. My family moved to Hill County before de vahr started."

Andreas – bullet wound, limps 10 7 5 5

Andreas hangs his belongings from the saddle and mounts up. "Do dey haf names?" He rides along behind and raises an eyebrow when they come to the stockade, but remains silent.

Sebastian

"Mr. Sebastian! Come to the gate please."

He hears his name roll called to attention and not wanting a rifle butt on his butt or elsewhere to encourage his quick attendance, responds to the call.

He listens to the deputy clerk and when asked, his first instinct might be to describe his painted mare in more ribald detail, "black and white quarter horse, so many hand-spans high with a wild look in her eye and a horseshoe brand on her rump that says 'Kiss my ass!'"

The horse is actually low in intelligence and skills, flattering to deceive. (Perhaps like himself?) The horse has little value to him but his freedom is if inestimable value and he fears not outliving his penal stay with the cowboys itching for a chance to exact some revenge. At least he would if the opportunity presents itself. Instead of revenge, it is freedom, albeit conditional that comes calling.

"I'm good to go Sir. I heal pretty good and ride well. I'll be no trouble except to rattlesnakes and horse thieves."

He will grab any personal gear that he can (his revolver, ammo belt?) and follow the posse.

The deputy gets Sebastian's signature on the parole document and puts it in his coat pocket. Ya'll are all witnesses. You'll find your gunbelt and other stuff in the saddlebags. But I'll need a five dollar deposit for the horse. He turns to Andreas. No names that I know of. Knowing soldiers, if they have names, you wouldn't want to say em in polite company.

Everyone who took a horse please deduct $5. And don't forget to reclaim it if/when you turn in your horse.

“Let’s head out.”

Charlie

"I agree, my name is Charlie." He examines One Eye and then settle in.

The riders ride back from the stockade, enter San Marcos from the west, and turn south on the San Antonio - Austin road. The ride around seven miles, then the deputy turns west onto a two-ruts wagon wheels road through post oaks, scrub foliage, and green and tan grass that covers this part of Texas.

This is the road to Stringtown, which probably none of y'all have heard of. It gits its name from the way the formers strung their formsteads for four miles, on the strip of land lying along the strip between Purgatory Creek and the Balcones cliffs .

I guess you can call it a town, because it got a post office-general store beside one of the formhouses.

The group rides another three miles or so and the deputy stops his horse in front of a gate. Longhorns and the newer breed hereford whiteface cattle, and mixes of both, graze behind rail fences on either side of the trail. Beyond are, farmhouses, barns and sheds most in good repair. Some not as much as others.

The deputy says, This is the one, if I'm not wrong. Mr. Charlie, if you wouldn't mind, would ya dismount and open the gate and let everbody ride through, and replace it when yer done? I shore would appreciate it, this once. We'll take turns doin the honors.

Beyond, the riders see a little farmhouse with gray plank walls in need of painting, in the yard, an old wagon frame missing two front wheels sits on four gray bark-covered oak posts, and behind a barn with part of the visible part of the roof with a hole that from a section that has collapsed in. Fairly sorrow-looking longhorn cattle graze on short, possibly overgrazed grass.

Y'all don't draw no guns fer now, the deputy says. We''ll ride up peaceful. Stay 10 yards behind me and don't dismount. I don't expect no shootin, but when you enter anyone's property in Texas, ya never know. Be ready to dismount quick, git low, and take cover. Any of y'all who were pickets, videttes, or dragoons durin the war know how to do it. Jist watch out, cause yer in Texas now, and repeatin fararms, and ye ain't got no company nor regiment officer to tell ya'll what to do. Yer independent posse now, come to recover yer own horses.

The small man in big shoes who introduced himself as Gideon McLaury complains. Deputy Mr. Riney, if that's them, then they got my Colt double action, and my handy lil derringer. And all ya give me is this ole Navy cap and ball revolver and powder, caps, balls, and wax enough fer one reload. Which would take ten minutes of careful work to do. If'n I was playin poker or faro, I wouldn't bet on these odds. Them jaspers might be shootin ma own guns back at me! And I'd be shootin back with ole Hays County jail cap and ball revolver!


The mounted deputy draws a breathe, exhales, and answers without looking. Ya can suit yerself, Mr. McLaury. Ya can play the hand ya've been dealt, ar ya can fold. It's yer horse, not mine. By the way, are ya any kin to a Phineas McLaury? Who also sometimes calls himself Phil W. McFinn? That man has earned a reputation as a cold-blooded killer. Shot a bald man in Dallas, jist to see if his head would deflect a bullet. It's said. The slight and somewhat exciteable and edgy man on his thin old Army surplus horse answers, I reckon there are plenty enough people named McLaury and McFinn in Texas and the surrounding states and territories.

The lawman doesn't turn his head or say a word. He just looks ahead with both hands on the horn of his saddle. You all look like yer ready enough. I don't expect no shootin. But ya'll remember what I said. Be ready. Mr. McLaury, if you don't you will not ride behind Mr. Paladin, and Mr. Paladin, you'll extend the same courtesy. Mr. Sebastian, ya can ride, but I'd appreciate it if you'd not git jumpy. Well, les's go. The deputy starts trotting his big, strong mare, bay with a white blaze and and white stockings, toward the run down, need of whitewashing, and pretty much otherwise decrepit farmhouse.

Actions?

William follows along, nudging his horse a little to the left of the rest of the group, and 10 yards behind, as the deputy asked.

Charlie

Charlie handles the gate as asked. Then takes his place at the rear and prepares himself for having to dive for cover. He will check the area for potential cover and anyone who might shoot at him.

Doos turn his horses parallel to the house brining his right arm facing the house and his body showing as little profile as it can.

He looks around for snipers or other men watching.

Jonathon Doos

Sebastian

Checks his revolver, giving it a clean to make sure no dirt or grime is stuck in the workings. He looks down the barrel then spins it in his hand before sheathing it back in his holster.

"Don't get jumpy. Yes Sir." he says, he reins his haggard mount in towards the derelict barn. Plenty of cows about but no horses unless they be stabled inside or elsewhere out of sight.

Sebastian: Observation (10) [1d20]=3

A mini GM post before Paladin's post.
Sebastian and the riders see four saddled horses hitched in front of the house. Two pintos, a chestnut, and a dun. Sebastian also briefly spots an unsaddled bay grazing behind the house, before it moves to being obscured by the house. He's never seen any of these horses before.

Paladin observed the windows of the house and barn for any glint of metal, and surveyed any trees to the left and right of the buildings. He ambled his horse forward with the others.

Observation [1d20]=11

The riders observe the house and area around, alert for snipers or bushwhackers. They don't see anyone around, but they faintly hear young male voices talking and laughing inside the house, beyond the four saddled and hitched hours.

The deputy sheriff trots his horse toward the house, the riders following behind. A face appears at a window, and a voice is heard. Y'all boys git yer guns and have em ready! The front door opens and a man steps out holding a single-barreled hunting shotgun and with a pistol in his pants. He appears to be in his mid-forties, and wears a beard, either in defiance of current fashion or out of just lack of care for personal grooming. From his clumpy hair in need of both a haircut and a washing and his grubby-looking shirt and pants, it seems the reason might be the latter. The riders hear boots hurriedly tramping and scuttling on the planks boards of a raised wood floor. The deputy stops his horse around 30 yards from the man. He raises his right hand.

Mornin. Hays County Deputy Sheriff Harold Riney, and provisional county deputies. Is this the Harold Wiley place?

The unkempt man eyes the deputy's badge, then his face. I know who ya are, Ah've seen ya in town before he sullenly replies. Yeah, this is the Wiley place. If ya come for the judge's taxes, tell im I ain't got em yet. I'll git em to him before long. I just need to collect some money that's owed to me. By the way, how come the sheriff ain't with ya?

The deputy rests his hands on his saddle horn and eyes the man. He says, Ye hain't heard about the sheriff, Mr. Wiley? I know Hays County is big, but news travels real fast around here. Sheriff Behan is physically indisposed.

The small man who introduced himself ad Gideon McLaury gawks as in disbelief, then scoffs, then ceremoniously spits from the saddle. Deputy, he says, don't ya see that that man's lyin like a mattress? He knows all about the sheriff catching two loads of buckshot over that woman! I heard about not more than an hour after it happened-- and I was locked up in the jail!

The deputy speaks without taking his eyes off of the armed man in front of the house. Mr. McLaury, thank you. I'd appreciate it if you'd in general hold yer talkin... keep yer comments to yerself... for the time bein.

No, Mr. Wiley, we're not here about county taxes. We're lookin fer information on some horses that were stolen in San Marcos. Do ya mind if we come in?

The man replies, If ya don't mind, ya can ask yer questions from right there. This is my property, ya know. Since you're wearing a badge you can enter it. And ride out of it still upright in yer saddle. But that don't mean I gotta let you tramp around in my house.

Well, the deputy says, We do need to come in to talk to you and yer boys and take a look around. So we can clear everthang and move on to the next formstead with ar questions. We heard that yer boys were in San Marcos yesterday. They might have seen or heard somethin that would help us recover them horses. Any kind of information would be helpful. By the way, Mr. Wiley, I count four saddled horses hitched in front of yer house. Ya got visitors today? And room to hitch our... how many? Seven or eight more horses?

Without batting an eye, the big man trots his bay up, swings out of the saddle, loops his reins around the hitching rail, and pulls a Winchester lever action rifle from its saddle sheathe. Gentlemen of the posse, please hitch yer horses and wipe yer feet before entering Mr. Wiley's residence. He looks back at the posse gives the men a quick but significant look. Please be quick about it. We don't want to waste the gentlemen's time.

We need two Observation rolls for each PC.

There's no room for more horses at the hitching rail. But there's the trunk of an old oak that's been cut down lying 10 yards from the front door. It's got stubs of branches that horses can be hitched to.

Actions?

As Paladin tied his horse at the tree trunk, he looked carefully at the Wiley horses (for a certain old swaybacked bay mare with a white blaze and white stockings, and a roached main and un-bobbed tail.)

Paladin wiped his feet at the door and joined the Deputy Sheriff.

Two observation rolls [1d20]=1, [1d20]=10

Paladin thought back to what the out-of-town prisoner said to him...

"...But they were so ignert that they didn't have enough sense than to call each other by name. The older one was called by the name of Lucas, and the younger brother by the name of Clyde."

and what Dennis' father had said:

"...I know a fella named Harold Wiley has sons named Clyde and Luke."

Paladin figured he better confirm that these were the boys. He waited for an opportunity to ask them their names (or Mr. Wiley senior their names, or discretely Deputry Sheriff Winey.)

Paladin looked at the guns the men had, seeing if any was the stolen 1851 Colt Navy single action, long-barrel Ranger model with the oak-grip handle.

William, being new to the area, only yesterday, keeps his eyes and ears wide open as he follows Paladin's lead and runs Justice's reins over the oak log. He keeps a wary eye on any outbuildings.


observation rolls [1d20]=2 [1d20]=15

Charlie

Charlie dismounts and leads his horse to the oak tree, keeping a careful eye and his carbine handy.

Observation (16) [1d20]=11 [1d20]=15

Sebastian

Sebastian: Observation (10) [1d20]=18 [1d20]=1

Is going to stay outside the cabin and as the others enter trot around the cabin rear to check out the back door and field behind the house. If he can't access that, he will go check out the dilapidated barn