Midpoint Saloon

PLAYERS: Isamu Fuwa, Quicksword Irene, Hajime Aikawa VS. Bucky Barnes, Daylight vis Lornlit, Inara Serra
LOCATION: Tycoons' Depot
GOAL: Assume and maintain custody of Tiffany Jamesson
WARNINGS: Kidnapping, attempted murder, sex work mentions
OTHER: OOC post for plotting and questions!

After traveling most of the day, the sun is starting to set when the two teams reach Tycoons' Depot. Who arrives first depends on how quickly the teams get up and organized that morning, and how hard they want to push their horses.

The active portion of the round doesn’t start until the next morning, anyway. After scouting around and making plans, everyone can enjoy a room at the Bullion Inn under the watchful eye of the Madame (for a crisp points price, of course), camp rough just outside town, or bully or bribe one of the locals into letting them borrow their home for the night. Looking around proves there are, in fact, a number of possibly empty houses around the town’s outskirts, if the players would like to brave one of those.

In the morning, it’s time to go. Tiffany Jamesson, a sixteen year old girl with a brilliant smile and auburn hair done up in ringlets, has horseback riding at nine in full-on cowgirl attire, lunch at noon and piano lessons at one in a yellow dress of frothy lace, a nap from three to four when the day is at its hottest, and then dinner with her father at six in a pretty pink affair before retiring for the night afterwards. When will the kidnappers strike? When will the protectors show their hand? The teams have three days in which to accomplish their goal. The clock is ticking.

You find yourself in jail. An old-fashioned, dusty jail: three cells wide, six foot to a side and below ground level, judging from the tiny barred window half a foot from the ceiling, that looks out onto a flat expanse. Shimmering heat waves are already starting to form, the sun already burning hot, but your cell is comfortably cool and dry.

And empty. The only things in your cell are a sturdy plank bench, chained to the wall like a hammock, a solid-looking pillow and a hairy blanket sitting thereon. Any items you might have had on your person are sitting on the wall opposite your cell, nearly four feet away from the iron bars holding you: propped up on wooden shelves, hanging from thick metal hooks, or sitting on the floor if the item is particularly large.

Outside the occasional jangle of leather and metal, and the occasional chuffing breigh suggests that there must be horses outside, but otherwise the area is silent. Before too long, though, there's the sound of footsteps and jangling keys echoing from upstairs, getting louder and clearer as someone makes their way down to you...

I. Sooey Jail

The view from the windows drops off quite suddenly, about a mile past the bare scrubland bushes and occasional screeching roadrunner. In the distance, a plume of smoke is the only sign of a freight train rushing along its tracks, until the faint echo of its whistle hits the ear. While Inara Serra will likely be entirely unimpressed by the lacking cell, Daylight vis Lornlit will find it's far too small for him. Bucky Barnes is near silent as he dismounts outside.

II. Southern Point

The walls of the cells here are distinctly discoloured to nearly five feet high, an ugly brown with black mold growing in the cracks around the benches and corners of the room. The air is musty and damp, in sharp contrast to the hot, dry wind that blows in through the windows. Quicksword Irene will find her ever-present claymore on the wrong side of the bars, but Hajime Aikawa has company behind his - Ryo has come along, too. The sound of Fuwa tying his horse up is interrupted by a sharp yelp of annoyance.

III. Mountain Hole

The windows are cast in shade in these morning hours, which makes the cells distinctly cooler than the glimpses of clear blue sky and rolling heat waves suggest. Fully grown trees with needle-like leaves are visible outside, and the keen might just hear the echo of a chugging train. Taako will no doubt find the scene familiar; Yoda as well, if less sandy than some oft complained about; Jiro Azuma is undoubtedly the most confused here. Rocket and Groot can be heard outside, approaching and bickering.

IV. Dead Man's Doorstep

The higher the sun rises, the warmer it gets in the cells; even before midday it's unspeakably stuffy, and the hot breeze carries light waves of sand into the cells. The sound of ropes creaking, gentle and intermittent, under the strain of something heavy echoes through the cells, adding a disconcerting background noise to the already alarming context. Jo Harvelle will find sand in her hair; Sara Lance finds it everywhere else. Outside, Misty Day and Sam Wilson tie their horses together, and brace for their new teammates.