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Tex smiles grimly, gesturing to the emptiest looking alley in eyesight. "Well, let's get to it," he says, dragging the captive. He clears his throat as he lets Eberac walk and smile down at the bandit. Time for a round of good dwarf, bad dwarf. "Y'know, most dwarves these days? Awful civilized folk. My kin? They mostly make guns--they're gentry back in Neverwinter. Ever heard of Powderblack revolvers? Great stuff, real quality, handmade, none of that mass production garbage." He stands over the bandit, looking down, setting one foot on the poor bastard's shoulder. "Back before that though? Dwarves were powerful wild folk. Lived off the land, in the land, under it. Used to say dwarves would wrestle bears, fight orcs in the dark, sluff off punches from everything nature could throw at 'em." Tex spits off to one side, leaning down a little so the bandit can see his face. "Mr. Blackcoal here, he still wild. Trapper. Hardy folk no matter what race they is, since they's out there in the cold dealin' with the wild all the time. But a dwarf trapper? Hoo boy. Hooooowhee." He beckons for Eberac to come closer. "Now let me tell ya here, I'm gon' let Eberac beat the shit outta you, boy. He goes too far," Tex brushes his badge with a finger. "I call on the good lord Heironeous, we bring you back up, we go at it again. Now, whoever's up there in the mansion, well, they're probably gon' die. But you tell us who they is and how many they is and we're gonna give you a black eye and send you on your way. How you wanna do it?" Once the bandit talks, Tex lets Eberac wail on him as long as he feels like, only pulling him off if he thinks the bandit's gonna die.
"Put him in an alley then, I reckon," says Tex, still looking around for an appropriate place. "If nothing else, just git 'im done on the porch of the bar. Reckon the ugl--uh, that there innkeeper ain't comin' back out."
Tex nods along with the woman's tirade. He sighs, plunking down five gold coins on her windowsill. "For what it's worth, 'm sorry," he says. "'Bout your porch." Taking a step down off and gripping the wounded bandit by the collar, he quietly adds, "And yer damn face." Sniffing and staring off, he glances around with Aren, looking for a place to hole up with them for a minute.
"Bury 'em mostly," he says looking down to Wallaby. "Usually with their guns, if they ain't got no next of kin to claim 'em. If'n you don't mind." Looking at the wounded, he shrugs. "But we probably ain't got the time for it right now."
No worries, I understand completely. I'm still down to play. As terrible as the timing on this is, I'm going to be camping out at at a festival through Tuesday morning. I can tether from my phone and I have my little baby laptop with me so hopefully I can continue to update, but it may be a little scarce.
"Y'sure?" Tex asks with a bawdy grin. "Y'all look like you're havin' fun down there." However, once the woman actually gets back up he will discretely hand her a couple of coins. "I weren't kiddin' about the drinks," he says. "Little extra for yer trouble, as it happens. Sorry 'bout the misunderstandin'."
"Well, it was worth a shot," Tex mutters before spinning his pistol and offhandedly legging the staggering bandit.
That done, he takes another step towards the dwarf woman. "Ma'am, you're outnumbered, outgunned, and you're harboring a criminal element." He puts the hammer back on his pistol. "Put down the twelve-gauge. Last chance."
"Whoa, whoa!" Tex says, placatingly, putting up his hand, still holding his pistol by the barrel. "I just wanted a drink and some conversation, ain't from 'round these parts. Reckon these fellas don't like dwarves or somethin'."
"Keep one of 'em alive, if'n you don't mind," Tex says, glancing queasily over at Eberrac's chosen opponent, who looks like a capital A with the bottom hacked out.
Turning away from the one fallen into the chair, Tex spins his revolver again, aiming to pistol whip the kneecap off one of the others that's still standing and blinded by Wallaby's color spray.
"Ain't 'xactly Godly of me to hope you was gonna do that," Tex says as he draws, spins his revolver and whips the nearest one...
...Hard in the stomach. "But I kinda was."
"Naw," says Tex, moseying up the steps slowly. "I reckon I'm here for a drink. Y'all can keep waving yer dicks around though. Won't make 'em any longer." He raises his off hand and wiggles his pinky slightly, smiling, as he takes his first real step onto the porch.
"Hey, I got me a suspicion," Tex says, gesturing subtly up to the manor. "Nobody's told us where these fellas hang out when they're not getting soused 'round the Sleeping Giant. I figure we can go by the bar first, but aftewards, we got a pretty good place to take a gander."
"I've already got a Powderblack Peacemaker," says Tex, with a definite edge of pride. "Figure that's the finest gun money kin buy ter begin with." His eyes slide across the rest of the party, particularly lingering on Eberrac's oldschool axes. "Then again, couldn't hurt ter take a look." "If anybody's had a direct run in, it might give us a real clear idea what we're up against," says Tex. "But the longer we spend asking questions, more time there is for word to get around. Figure we can poke around a little longer, but we shouldn't put off kicking the door to the Sleeping Giant in fer too long."
Background Feature: Got My Eye on You: Your experience in enforcing the law, and dealing with lawbreakers, gives you a feel for local laws and criminals. You can easily find the local outpost of the watch or a similar organization, and just as easily pick out the dens of criminal activity in a community, although you're more likely to be welcome in the former locations rather than the latter.
"I don't have much of a head for numbers--Wallaby, does that sound about right?" Tex asks quietly before nodding along with the kid. "We're happy to help, least I sure am, but anything you can tell us would be a big help."
"Well, uh," Tex glances sheepishly at the others. "There were some goblins. There ain't half as many now." He glances back over his shoulder to wherever Slid Winter walked over to. "Mr. Winter had a rough time 'specially, but we bailed him out. Hear you got troubles of your own in town now, too?"
Tex brushes off his shoulders. "Well, shucks. Guess there's no point in gettin' all cleaned up if we're just gonna go back to work." He nods to Tobias. "Reckon we'll do what we can," he says, and then nods to Eberrac. "No baths after all, eh old timer?" Before following Jack and Aren out.
"So I reckon we all rest up," Tex says, after listening through Tobias' reasoning. "Once we're all in tip-top shape, we mosey on over to the Sleeping Giant and do what Aren's suggestin', drag one along and have him guide us the way." Quietly, and more off-handed, he continues to Eberrac, "Yer not wrong, but these people aren't gonna move unless we get 'um real riled up. Not everybody's as ready to fight as you, ol' timer." He smiles, patting the older dwarf on the shoulder.
"Yeah," Tex says, nodding, chewing his mustache slightly. "Yeah, I reckon I can help you with that." He adjusts his collar back up and brushes off the badge. "Sure these fellas would be willin' to pitch in too--Y'all seem like good folk so far." He nods along to both Jack and Aren's questions. "Wallaby's got a point," he says. "Y'all ain't got no deputies o' your own?"
"Separate, else I'll keep y'all up all night with m' worship an' carryin' on," says Tex, adjusting his belt up. He spends a second taking in the cozy little inn, his hand reaching up and tracing a line in the timber of the wall appreciatively. He turns when Tobias mentions lawmen. Giving a wry smile between him and Mr. Winter, Tex says quietly, "Once 'pon a time," he says, glancing down at his badge. His eyes slide over the townsfolk in the main room. "This a conversation you need to have in private, Mister Stonehill?"
"Today's a much better day," Tex says, first thing in the morning. He looks significantly more cheerful than he did when leaving the cave. He's brushed most of the muck off his clothes, and his badge is freshly polished. "And I think I can make it a little better for you too, Marshall," he continues, reaching up and placing his hands on the man's shoulders. "Shelter the Light, sir."
"Well, we ain't been on the trail too long, but after that whole ordeal, I reckon we could use a real meal and a bed," Tex says. Glancing over at the others, he adds, "And after that trash chute, we could probably all use a bath, too. Ha!"
"You got poison in there somewhere?" Tex asks, looking to Eberac's beard, then back to the cave before shaking his head and taking the reins. "We're already out. Might be we could come back in the morning and grab some of the extra supplies, try to recoup some o' those losses. Fer now, I think it's best we press on." Assuming no disagreement, he'll guide the carriage about a mile up the road (parking it on a hill with decent visibility, if possible). "I'll grab the first watch," he says. "I got prayin' ter do anyway." Delicately, he takes the badge from inside his coat, where he placed it before climbing the trash chute earlier, and pins it to his front collar again.
"Alright, how 'bout we hedge our bets. I'll drive us a bit up the road and we can catch some shut-eye," says Tex, setting Mr. Winter down on the edge of the party's wagon. "Then we'll press on for Phandalin come first light." He pauses, scratching his beard as he sits on the bench of the wagon, huffing. "Wish we could go back in and clean the rest of the scum outta that cave. Later, I reckon."
"Well," Tex says with a lopsided smile, still holding onto the wounded Mr. Winter, "Reckon we're earnin' our keep already. Right fellas?" He blinks, even in the low light of the evening, when they leave the darkness of the cave. "So, we gonna camp out for the night or push on over to Phandalin?" He asks. "I reckon I can fix up the Marshall, but I might need to rest a while. Setting Eberac's jawbone took a lil' extra outta me." He grins over at the other dwarf. "Worked out alright though. You hit like an ox, fella."
Sweet!
So +9 HP, two spell slots (with three prepared spells), +5 points into my Lay on Hands pool, Divine Smite and the Close Quarters Gunman fighting style. :)
I'll be taking a fighting style from your addon PDF, I'm still waffling between Shootist and Close Quarters Gunman. I'm leaning towards the latter mostly because I can't apply divine smite to ranged weapons (I think there was an option for that in the playtest version of 5e, but as near as I can tell, it's totally gone in the actual release). Plus, y'know, I get to be Wyatt Earp and pistol whip all my problems. :) Are we rolling hit dice or taking the average?
Tex hustles the old ex-marshall past himself and brushes his fingers along his pistol grip for a fraction of a second. His brow furrows as he glares at the goblins, his eyes alighting on their new chief. Between Eberrac's breathing and knowing for a fact that Jack's out of spells, he thinks better of it, letting his duster fall back over the holster. "Always come back later," he mumbles, barely loud enough for anyone to hear. He slowly and painstakingly walks backwards out of the room until the goblins are out of sight. At the end of the passage leading up to the bridge, he takes one of Mr. Winter's arms over his shoulder. "Might be a little short ter carry you, Marshall," he says, "But I reckon you can lean on us at least. You gonna keep 'til we get you outta this here cave?"
"The boy's got the right of it," says Tex, with a gleam in his eye, his feet sliding to a stop. "Can't move the goal posts just 'cuz you lost the game, I reckon." He brushes back his duster, his fingers hovering in air above his holster.
"We've put about a dozen of y'all's kin in the ground since they tried ter jump us this morning. You wanna go say hello?"
Tex gives a long glance back at the other three and tries to inch his way forward without being too obvious. "Now listen, you hurt him more it ain't gonna put us in a mood to cooperate," he says. Sniffing and snorting for a second, he continues. "But I got some good news for you. We already took care o' your problem. So you just hand over Mr. Winters' and we'll be on our way." He sniffs again, taking another subtle half-step. "'Course, you might wanna come back up the tunnel with us and see Klarg's body, I reckon."
"Whoa now, pardner," says Tex, putting his hands up and spreading his fingers. "I'm sure you think y've got a real good handle on this here situation, but I'm here to tell you that this ain't gonna go down how you think it does." He smiles lopsidedly and tips his hat to Mr. Winter. "So why don't you start by telling us what you want with that there Marshal."
Tex draws, raises his arm, closes one eye and finishes the goblin off. Giving a nod up to Aren and Jack, he quietly spins his cylinder out, places another round in his six-shooter, and keeps it out and low. He takes a look around, trying to get a better since of his surroundings. Assuming no more goblins come rushing down, he'll motion up to the party and point back to the tunnel, then up and around to where they are before taking off to join them.
"Well, that sounds like a solid plan," says Tex. "Reckon I'll take the low road, y'all take the high. I'll walk slowly, then when I see 'em I'll fire a shot off--y'all come running in from the high road and hit 'em hard." Tex checks his gun, spins the cylinder, and holds it in his main hand with one of the goblin handaxes in his left. He'll wait a minute to see if Aren finds anything, then set off.
"Take a look, lad," says Tex, nodding to Aren and the bodies before glancing over to Eberrac. [b]"Reckon it's better to take the high road then, pard? We can keep a height advantage, hopefully."[/b
Tex whistles unsubtly, moseying up to the dead goblins and grabbing a spare handaxe from one of the corpses, giving two of them a kick to be sure and leaving Eberrac's alone. "Well, takes care o' that," he says, popping a spare bullet into his gun, spinning the cylinder and checking the sight before holstering again. "Up or down, fellas?"
"Feels good bein' back here," Tex muses, squinting one eye and taking a shot at the goblin furthest back.
"You and me, big guy," Tex says quietly to Eberrac, "We go slow and jump 'em up close, just stay quiet," he says, then winces as Aren audibly says "Bang." "Well don't that just beat all y' ever stepped in," he says, drawing his pistol, lining up a shot for one in the back and leaving Eberrac a clean line for the closer ones. "Rush 'em, I'll cover you."
"Reckon me and you take point, big guy," says Tex, clapping Eberrac on the shoulder. Moving toward the exit, he stops short, giving a mild kick to one of the shield-emblemed crates in the room. "Lionshield Trading, idnit?" He says. "Looks like our boss ain't the only folks the gobs have been thievin' from."
"Well," says Tex, giving Eberrac an appreciative thump on the back, "Now that that's over, y'all wanna take a breather?" Grabbing a crate and pushing it up against the garbage chute the party emerged from, Tex sits heavily with his back against it. Pulling the badge from inside his coat, he bows his head and quietly prays for a few moments. Once he looks back up, he nods to the others. "There's vittles around here, I figure. If we keep an eye on the exits, should be enough time to eat up and rest a mo'."
"I'll be back," Tex says to the woozy goblin, watching it swing at air for half a second, and he turns, running, then half-sliding to catch Eberrac. His hands, and the badge hidden under his coat take on a faint glow. "Kindle the Light, pardner," he says as he sets Eberrac's jaw back into place.
"Alright," Tex mutters, his eyes slowly drawing from the fresh wound back to the goblin. "Fair enough, but I'm gonna need you to fall down, buddy."
"Come on buddy, you know how this ends," Tex mutters, wincing around his damaged shoulder and swinging wide and low with his axe arm.
"We'll make it quick, awright?" Tex says, spinning his axe toward the second Goblin and stopping short as he catches a blade in the shoulder. "...Slow way it is then, pardner." He mutters, wincing as the axe draws back from him with a nasty schlk.
"Yeah, I don't think so, pardner," says Tex quietly before spinning his axe and then swinging for the fences on one of the unarmed Goblins.
Tex takes a quieter step to the side of the lad, letting him draw the attention, but wincing slightly. Ooh, lad, he mouths, bringing his axe up and angling around for an ambush.
Tex gives a queasy smile up at the trash chute. He takes the lightning bolt badge pinned to his collar and pins it on the inside of his coat instead. "Welp, ain't no time like the present," he says, before putting his hands forward and climbing.
Tex gives Eberrac an uncharacteristically solemn nod. Aside from when he was plugged full of arrows earlier, it's probably the least smile you've ever seen on his face. "Ain't right." He says, giving one last nod down to the beasts before turning his glance up to where Jack and Aren are looking. "You're fulla crafty ideas, ain'tcha Jack?" Asks Tex, the smile coming back to his face. "It's not a bad plan, but how in tarnation are y' gonna get up there?"
"See anything, lads?" Tex asks, wiping his axe on the least bloodied patch of wolf fur before standing up and giving it a kick. "Poor pups. Being on a leash ain't no way to die."
"Yer the last one, buddy," he says low to the wolf. "Let us do it fast and quick, Fido."
Whiffing his first swing, Tex mutters a curse under his breath, takes a half step back, letting the wolf yank on its chain for a second before swinging again. "This time fer sure."
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