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"Go throw the python at it. Either they split or they eat. Or way or another they won't bother us and we can git back to all this import'nt busness of ours." Grumbles Kane as he wakes up.
A plan is made, and the snake is thrown. There's a bit of a rumble & tumble and a whine, it sounds like several dogs are fighting over it briefly. It's earned you some extra time.
"As my pa put it, throw haymakers while the sun shines."
With Kane charges and swings in a big arc at the coyotes, hoping to hit as many in a single swing.
Bill Williamson, woken from his slumber, picks up his Hawken gun and takes stock of the situation.
"Good God Dammit woman!" Bill roars in agitation. "How many a these coyots are there? Anyone take stock afore they starts shootin' on account of a drunk mexi gal?" Bill picks up his Hawken gun and readies it, checking that it's loaded and primed. He steps forward and takes aim, but holds off on firing until he gets a fine shot. Finally, a big black coyote jumps in front of his line of sight as it circles Kane. He pulls the trigger. A split second delay and the explosion of black powder from his big bore Hawken rifle ring out and the shot is true.
"Eh?" Jesus wakes up from his siesta with all of the ruckus at the cave's mouth. ¡Ay, caramba! He pulls out his bowie knife and clamps it between his teeth for easay acces, then quickly nocks and arrow and creeps towards all of the commotion ready to let fly at the first mangy mutt he sees . . .
At Adelita's quiet warning, the group gathers themselves up to get out of the cave and face the music. As they do, they spot a pack of dirty, malnourished wild dogs approaching from around the corner, with two of them - stronger and better fed than the rest, who are fighting over the dead snake. Kane doesn't hesitate and like a crazed man charges straight into the fray, his trusty tomahawk in hand. "As my pa put it, throw haymakers while the sun shines!"
Before Kane can reach them, Bill "Hawkeye" Williamson aligns his rifle with one of the wild animals and lets off an inaccurate shot that pings off the rock face. Cursing under his breath, he then watches Kane reach the group and swing his tomahawk wide, trying to hit both of the dogs fighting over the snake corpse. He lands its blade with great enough force to split the first dog's skull right open, but that slows him and he does not manage to injure the second canine.
Almost at the same time, Adelita misses a shot with her rifle, while Isaac - mostly just for good measure - pumps and shoots his shotgun, also fruitlessly.
Jesus creeps up behind the group with his arrow already notched, peers over some rocks that were standing in his way, and lets off an arrow that buzzes by Kane's side and strikes true into another wild dog's heart, an accurate kill shot.
The group then gets into a nice rhythm and keep unloading as more and more wild dogs turn the corner, now desperate to take Kane down, who stands like a hulking mountain in a sea of dogs, trying to nip, bite, and tear at him. Two of them succeed and draw blood, but the wild man shrugs it off and keeps swinging, ignoring the sun trying to burn him alive in the dust. Everyone starts sweating heavily as adrenaline flows through them, but in what felt like less than a minute, finally, most of the dogs are down on the ground, bleeding out or already dead, when the last dog standing finally decides it's not worth it and turns to run off. The gun-wielding posse members decide it's not worth wasting a bullet, however, Kane, still pumped up from fighting off so many dogs, runs after it. Fortunately for the whimpering canine, it manages to elude him and runs off into the distance, likely to curl somewhere in a ditch and die of malnutrition or the heat.
Done and dusted, the party returns to the relative cool of the cave, knives and dog corpses in hands, and they salvage whatever pelts they can, ending up with 4 decent dog pelts and some meat supplies for the long trip ahead of them...
180 XP each, and somebody note that you have the 4 pelts
As soon as the weather starts cooling down, the sun slowly setting on the horizon, the group gathers twigs and branches from the nearby bushes and starts a fire just outside of the cave, cooking some of the dog meat as well as roasting some more cacti pads, to supplement their food rations for the trip. Food wasn't going to be a problem, as some of the posse is carrying trail rations in the first place, and the foraging and "hunting" went well for everyone. With four waterskins filled with cacti water, and a half-empty bottle of tequila, they would have to ration their water or forage for more cacti, or hopefully a source of fresh water. Maybe it will rain . . .
Nope, it won't. Fortunately, Kane and Bill - who is more and more referred to as "Hawkeye" by the rest of the group, or at least by Kane, having witnessed the sharp shooting skills in the wild dog encounter - manage to forage a little during the travels, and despite the heat almost doubling everyone's needs, they last with enough water until morning the next day, when they start feeling they need to take a rest after around 35 miles traveled. As darkness gives way to a rising sun, Kane repeats his trick from the maze valley and climbs up a cliff, which allows him to survey the surroundings. To everyone's elation, he spots what seems like a watering hole encased in rocky protrusions from three sides. Perhaps a good place to camp as well, then? With water nearby, the posse would at least not have to worry too much about the heat, even though it'll still be an uncomfortable temperature to sleep in.
Definitely a bit greener than before, the bushes are not so dry, there's patches of grass in areas where there's shade for most of the day. You're almost halfway to Black Mesa, so the land's getting richer. There's probably even a few wildberries around, etc.
Definitely a bit greener than before, the bushes are not so dry, there's patches of grass in areas where there's shade for most of the day. You're almost halfway to Black Mesa, so the land's getting richer. There's probably even a few wildberries around, etc.
Definitely a bit greener than before, the bushes are not so dry, there's patches of grass in areas where there's shade for most of the day. You're almost halfway to Black Mesa, so the land's getting richer. There's probably even a few wildberries around, etc.
There's enough small trees also, and the bush "main" branches could be fashioned into a lean or five, if you want to take the time. I'd say 30 minutes per lean for a widlman/mountainman/brave, so if Kane, Bill and Jesus combine forces, you can be done in an hour.
Definitely a bit greener than before, the bushes are not so dry, there's patches of grass in areas where there's shade for most of the day. You're almost halfway to Black Mesa, so the land's getting richer. There's probably even a few wildberries around, etc.
There's enough small trees also, and the bush "main" branches could be fashioned into a lean or five, if you want to take the time. I'd say 30 minutes per lean for a widlman/mountainman/brave, so if Kane, Bill and Jesus combine forces, you can be done in an hour.
Yes to the leans, no to the fire. I don't want anyone spotting us. We're still at risk and in open country without much by way of weapons or supplies, and no horses to make a fast getaway if need be.
However, if we don't have a fire, there's always a risk of dogs or wildcats coming up on us. We could always make a few fires good distance away from the camp. Distracts potential enemies and gives us advance warning of their arrival.
Besides, it's the only watering hole around for miles. Good chance animals know this, so we can expect trouble in the night.
No point travelling in the day if it's gonna heat up. But yeah, more likely to have animals at the waterhole in the day. We won't need a fire unless it's for cooking our catch anyway.
This is confirmed by y'all when you reach the watering hole. All around it are various kind of tracks, hooves, canine, feline paws, there's an eagle already bathing in the shallows, it's so frequented that there are walked-in pathways in various directions. One thing your hunter-types can assure though, no human tracks. And while it's within reason that someone could jump off a horse straight into the water and leave no human tracks, you find that ultimately unlikely.
You need at least 8 hours of rest to continue your journey. In terms of preparations, I've got:
- leans for shade
- no fireplace (so, no boiling the water?)
Yeah, I generally assume all equipment that is recoverable without any adversity (i.e. you don't throw your tomahawk at enemies and then flee for them) is recovered, so that's fine. It's much harder to keep that in mind in a virtual environment, IRL you'd notice the rope still hanging there when you were leaving for the cave.
Adelita, the old farm girl, carefully boils some water. She also cooks the dog, home-style. The meat looks highly dubious, so she absolutely smothers it peppers and spices, taken from her own Mexican rations. That should make it more palatable, she thinks. Pleased with her work, she wraps the concoction up in tortillas to hold it together. "Muy delicioso," she says to herself.
The gang gets busy setting up camp. Gathering sticks and branches to build some leans to help against the scorching sun, Adelita accepts her role in society and gets back in the kitchen, cooking dog meat burritos with enough spices to cover the weird gamey and tough meat, making it much more palatable than you'd expect. Everyone's so busy getting everything ready for a rest, and exhausted from the long trek across the prairie, once they finish cleaning their weapons and having supper, everyone sort of drags themselves under their leans and falls asleep in the comforting shade...
They completely forget to post someone on watch, however, and that bites the posse in the ass - potentially literally. Adelita wakes in the middle of their rest and absent-mindedly goes a bit away from the camp to relieve herself, when she hears - and then even sees - another pack of wild dogs. These ones look far stronger than the ones encountered before, not malnourished, and generally seems to be a much bigger threat.
Roll initiative! You guys are really unlucky on the encounters.
