Summer one tales: Scar and others
 Owen Woods  Sadie McCallan  Missy Cheevis  Nekage  Alex Knight
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Setting: After event. Alex brings in a large square unique looking table to sit at with a laptop and starts to work. After a time he looks up. "It is ready."
The music fades as images rise up from the table. Alex steps forward with a smile with a remote in hand. "Good evening all. I'm Alex Knight, Cliath of the Glasswalkers, Galliard. Duty of auspice calls for the sharing of information and actions of individuals to be noted among the Nation."
The End of the World Alex points the remote as an urban landscape of decay end of the world scene of a city being reclaimed by nature rises up. "Welcome to our first destination in the umbra. A land of reflection of post end of the world life after humanity. It is here we began our journey to seek out the Totem of Cockroach. The group began to search the area those with wolf senses tracking while the two ratkin of Missy and Nekage start to poke among the garbage. Eventually our searching turns up a cockroach quickly skittering across the street to an abandon shop diving into a hole next to blue prints for a mechanical bird. We find ourselves having little time to explore the area for suddenly we find the floor boards dissolving as cockroaches emerge of various sizes from tiny to the size of a Volkswagen car. The group tries to give quick explanations for why we are here while I dart forward, snatching up the blue prints for the mechanical bird fearing we may lose a clue. We are met with hundreds of voices telling us "They are not here, try going out the back way." Considering we find ourselves with no other option, we move for the back way. "
The Warehouse
Images fade as new ones appear. We find ourselves emerging into a bleak environment of a city streets piled with trash. Behind us now stands a massive warehouse instead of the storefront. Above us grey sky and light drizzle of acid rain falls. A shadow sweeps over from above as a massive manta ray like spirit soars over with one word etched upon it's fins. "Work." Suddenly a search light casts down from it as it veers diving down into one of the nearby streets, a scream echoes out that is quickly silenced as the spirit rises up once more heading in our direction. We quickly turn to enter the warehouse to hide finding ourselves faced with a scene depicting the very hell of Greed and uniformity of slave work labor. Emotions of discomfort and unease wash over us as Owen mutters. "Machinery." We find ourselves passing above rows of conveyor belts, work stations, and desks. It is unclear what they are doing yet the sheer despair is clearly seen when one moves just far enough as his chain will allow. The bleakness oppressive as no supervisors overlook the area as all are focused upon their work. They don't even acknowledge the moment when the drone appears from a sky light to drop the bleeding person down, the chain snapping about his broken leg once more. A shudder washes over us as we decide now is a good time to exit stage left. As we search ideas start to rise of where we ended up. Nekage the first to speak asking if the rest of us feel we have slipped into another realm. "The way back seems to be the way through another realm. A realm of the Weaver. A dark Capitalism." Inherits the Debt and Sadie agree that anything is possible considering this is the realm of Cockroach. Nekage speaks. "The back way seems to be a way through another realm... a realm of the weaver. A dark capitalism." Sadie considers speaking her thoughts "I'm gonna guess that cockroach has been influenced by the static weave" her words cut off as her voice rises in fear. "Owen!!" We whip around only to hear his cry of agony, his only warning coming from one of the workers reaching out and grabbing Owen by the arm "Watch Out" it says in a calm voice and points to one of the machines. As the worker speaks it begin to shift. Our eyes are met with horror as Owen jumps in the way the workings unknown to the group preparing for a surprise attack. Owen moves to defend the group, only to feel the machine lash out, grabbing him around the chest. The sounds of flesh and armor tearing as he lets out a scream. As he pulls away his cloths are torn and his chest is covered in deep cuts and puncher wounds. Blood seeps out from around what is left of the black Hex patterns that are fused with his skin. Sadie, Missy, and myself hurry to his side as Sadie's hands cover the worst of the wounds while I drop down next to him attempting to heal. A look of resolute passes between Owen and Sadie as Owen steels himself against the pain. "Save your gnosis Alex, I will heal." Sadie nods helping Owen to his feet. Inherits the Debt watches with unease as realization dawns. "We are no longer in Cockroaches realm." A hush falls over the us as the Glasswalkers consider those words drawing upon knowledge of stories passed among the tribe. Tales of the Boogeyman umbral realms that snatch individuals away into the night, among them Scar. Those of the tribe look between each other, the dread clear upon their expressions for we know Scar represents the evils of the Weaver and Wyrm working in tandem. The very depth of excess and waste of Industrial revolutions from the dawn of it's creation. Around us packing crates filled with food in a world where people are starving, but it has sat so long that the food has rotted. That is Scar. Owen looks over the group motioning as he take the lead. "We move forward."
"The Fight" New images rise up as reflections for the fight.
Nekage wastes no time hearing the command as the ratkin draws a bow dancing into combat working to cover those who get too close to Missy as she lashes out at those within her range. Sadie and Inherits the Debt move forward choosing to remain close covering for each other as well falling into pack tactics complimenting each other's strikes as best possible knowing the injuries they bear could very well bode ill for a single fight. I find myself in a realm where I have no idea if my gifts will work the same as they do in the mortal realm. "Just like the drones, just like the drones," I hear myself repeating only to find Owen suddenly at my back. "Breath and calm your mind" he says in a even tone as lighting jumps from hand to hand as he effortlessly lets them fly striking there target then bouncing before he lets another fly. Following his guidance I allow the same power to rise up striking as well. Flashes of lightning catch reveal Nekage continuing the dance of arrow death unmoved even as a lash strikes upon them. Finally we find ourselves able to regroup tending to injuries, finding those attacking us no longer besiege us. Missy sniffs the air, the foul sent of rot and corruption sensitive to her nose then something else catches her senses. "Fresh air!" she yells drawing the others attention to sniff the air as well then a mix of something sweet. A pale light dawns around what has to be a door as we hurry forward not daring to stay here a moment longer.
Oleander New Image rises up.
We find ourselves before a chimerical nightmare as those who have had past experience whisper. "Oleander." The former Wyrm Incarna is overgrown with bit of honeysuckle laced through it trapped in its original nature and corrupted form. Sprawling over the area growing over lumps of entangled decaying bodies. Circling the entity we find ourselves wondering if there is no escape until we notice small dark hollows within it and a faint gleam of a green exit sign. "Everything about this place is so wrong," Sadie whispers as eyes the decaying bodies. Owen lets out a snarl. "Steel yourselves. We move thru. Too Much is at stake to stop here." A growl of agreement from Inherits the Debt as he moves forward followed by Nekage as the ratkin shakes his head."This thing again...Well time to clean up garou messes." he says, lifting his bow once more. "Onwards and upwards. " Sadie tentatively reaches up to her mouth. "Damn, I think that bastard chipped my fangs with that last punch. " As we move forward, the former Wyrm Totem creaks to life, a strange sound reaching our ears as we realize the tunnel, our way out is collapsing within as the spirt looms up ready for an attack. Darting forward we find ourselves struggling against vines seeking to restrain us, pelted by falling bricks as the whole realm falls in around us squeezing tight as we look to each other with grim determination knowing if we don't press forward, this could be our last time together. A punch of air slams into us sending us tumbling out across snow staggering to our feet to find ourselves back home in Alaska. Turning back we see growth about 12 feet in diameter of Oleander and Honeysuckle have sprouted around the exit point. Thankfully the chill and good old ratkin piss will kill it quickly as Nekage unleashes his ire upon it. "Stupid warped incarna. Baka!" Sadie drops to her knees reaching up to her left eye with an exclamation of anger. "What the hell?!" She growls when she reaches up to her eye socket and feels flowers where her eye once was. I find myself looking over in horror. "Oh Fuck...cleansing circle?" Inherits the Debt moves over to join us. "I can toss one up." he says as he starts to create a Cleansing Circle for the group. Sadie growls. "I'll give anything a try to make this go away..." Owen stands slowly. As the sun catches his bare chest the glint of metal can be seen. Where there was skin between the Hex patter before now there was sleek metal. It seems to cover everywhere. It reaches up past his neck and down the back of his hands. Fresh scars can still be seen peeking out between the plates of metal. He holds his arms up to the light "Interesting" he says in a empty tone. "Forget my eye, we need to get Owen inside to the others as soon as possible," she speaks moving towards the circle to see if it will work then moves to help Owen inside as we rejoined with the others. Alex points the remote at the hologram table as it powers down to lean against it. "Thus the Tale of Scar. There may be questions, concerns, that I urge others to speak to the group about. I am but a cliath not having the answers you seek at this time. The blue prints to the mechanical bird I have given to Sadie to see if perhaps she and others she knows may glean more information from such." Once the tale is completed, he starts to pack up his equipment and prepares to return home.
Links to Tales told by others: My pc is not retelling those tales. Those tales are their own to speak upon. This is just a nice way to have all the tales in one place so they are not lost should rooms close and saves people the agony of scroll searching. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jEp8vXLih-LkCZpIGnLxPyPAYICeMUv2VNFulxlEtHU/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g21wWYOuUlYWkxLJ3bJtAXH55pCUPAQQN1AdSivlR84/edit?usp=sharing
This tale is told with Performance: Storytelling 5. Performance level may vary depending on who The characters involved are: Logan “Dirge of the Phoenix” Walsh, Elder Galliard of the Fianna Gerald “Warborn” Werner, Adren Ahroun of the Get of Fenris Kinley Walsh, Adren Theurge of the Fianna Avery Parks, Fostern Galliard of the Fianna Charity 'Karma's Helper" Rose, Fostern Theurge of the Black Furies Ward "Ifrit" Cliath Warrior of the Ratkin Chaplin, Cub of The Nation Rose, Cub of The Nation
“If you listen to the tales sung about me in the Silver Record, very rarely will you hear of journeys into the umbra. Even more rare are tales of my travels to the Umbral Realms. I find my best work is done when my feet are firmly planted in the Material Realm, but with so many around me suffering from the stagnation the Weaver has inflicted upon them there was nothing I was unwilling to do to fix it. When Jarl Warborn told me of his plan to travel to Wolfhome and learn the secrets of sensing the balance how to find the stagnation in others I knew this was a huge step in fixing the issue my brother and so many of our septmates were facing. My sister, Kinley and I joined the cause right away and before long we were heading to find the anchorhead to travel there. When we walked through the portal into the Realm we knew right away that things were different. We were different. The ability to shift was taken from us, trapped in our wolf forms…except for Ward who was looking quite the treat in his rodent form. And that’s the thing, isn’t it? I would never eat a rat to save my life but in this realm, our instincts were hyper focused, and it was hard to see this rat as anything but prey. With the heightened senses of the wolf it became increasingly apparent that there was no sound in this lush forest we found ourselves in. No bird songs, no scurry of rabbit or squirrel, not even the insects dared make a sound because they all knew that noise would bring the humans that hunted them. We could not afford to hide as they did. We had to find the wolves that have survived in this realm to find the answers we sought. Thankfully it did not take long for us to be led on the right path. As we tried to find a scent, a sound broke the silence of the realm…gunfire. Everything in our bodies told us to run from it, as our lupine kin would. But we were on a mission, one we could not afford to fail. So we summoned our will and powered forward, Jarl Warborn and Ward taking point with the cubs and healers behind me. We broke through to a clearing where several men in large, overstuffed orange vests and hats fired upon malnourished and scared wolves. Instead of hunting rifles they used these massive guns built for war. We knew if we were to have any chance of success, we would have to rescue the wolves and so Jarl Warborn led us into battle as I howled out with all the fury and rage of Gaia to distract the humans. As we took formation and charged the humans the screech of metal could be heard, Kinley and Charity stepping right into rusted old bear traps that clamped down around their legs and shattered the bone. The cubs and the others rushed forward, taking fire from the human’s weapons as we approached. Jarl Warborn, Ward and I allowed our animal instincts to take hold of us, confident in our numbers against the humans but without the ability to shift and being disconnected from the spirits that give us our gifts cost us many wounds from the silver bullets they fired into us. But we managed to break through the barrage of gunfire and when we were within biting distance there was no hope. We disarmed them ferociously and when the dust settled, our coats were thick with the blood of our enemies.
We looked around for the wolves we had seen but they were already gone, wasting no time with pleasantries when their survival was on the line. When we picked up their scent, we also heard more gunfire ringing out into the air and we could hear the humans shouting…something to each other. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand the language, it was more that the wolf mind I had just couldn’t grasp that they were saying words! It was like…the cartoons where all the adults speak in noises so you can’t understand them. Knowing that we had to find the older wolves that survived this place long enough to know the scent of their enemies we gave chase to find the source of the gunfire again.
The sounds led us to a deep ravine that cut through the forested landscape. As we looked over the edge, we could see the fearful wolves running for their lives at the bottom, being chased by the hunters and their frenzied hounds. An old gray furred wolf lagged limping, her leg torn and bloody and we knew we had to help her. We ran with the pack until we could find a way down to join her but then the hounds began to catch up with us, surrounding us as they snarled and barked. Then the gunfire came. We were preparing ourselves for an assault from the dogs that we never saw the humans coming until the air was filled with the stench of Gunsmoke. Kinley was the first to react, leaping in the way of a bullet that would have surely been my end and when it hit her, her eye exploded. She cried out in pain and as the bullets sank into the flesh of the rest of us, we summoned all of our rage and attacked, wading through the biting clawing dogs to get to the hunters. As the fight raged on something began to overtake Warborn and Ifret. You could see the carefully planned strikes devolving to savage angry lashes, like a dog cornered. I will leave the gruesome specifics out, but know this, I can be sure the things we had to do to survive that fight will haunt us longer than any physical wound we took. We knew that there was just too many of them for us to continue the fight and protect the old wolf so we did what we had to tear a hole in their defenses so we could escape. Luckily enough we did enough harm to them to keep them from pursuing us right away. The old wolf follows us the best she could but with each step her whimper grew so we stopped long enough to catch our breaths and figure out what to do next. We told her what we sought after and she nodded, clearly knowing where the answers might be. She told us that we would need to skirt the town, a place where all manner of horrors befall the animals that are caught there, and go to the country. When we broke from the forest, we could hear the quiet call of birds and other creatures, nervous as they tried to figure out if we were followed by the hunters. When they saw we were safe the birds and chipmunks all mobbed around us, asking all manner of question. It was as if they had not seen a friendly face in months. Of course, they were quick to tell us that we looked like shit and with the amount of damage we bared from the guns and hounds…I couldn’t argue with them. Thankfully Avery had the good sense to get things back on course by asking the animals about the Old Wolf we sought. The one who could teach us about broadening our senses. The beasts led us to this old, dilapidated building and from within came one of the oldest wolves I have seen. One that had to be cunning and strong in his day to survive in this harsh place. This wolf did not have the same primal fear the others did and when his attention was more on the woods behind us and the sky above, we could see that he did not see us as a threat. Even as strong as we were and the numbers we had, we knew he could take us and we respected the hell out of him for that. This old wolf informed us that in order to learn we would need to train, to no longer cower in fear and be hunted but to stalk the hunters as our prey. To know your enemy helps you better sense their presence and so we went along with this. It took us half a day to find their tracks, another quarter to find their camp. We surrounded them, scouting out their defenses and their preparedness for our attack. And then when they seemed the most relaxed, we howled into the night, calling to the spirits of every spirit they had wrongly killed for their sport and vowed justice just before he fell upon them. We collapsed their canvas shelters and tore through their shrouds to surprise them. Even then their guns were too powerful. They blasted great holes into our flesh with their silver bullets. I could feel the life slipping away from me as Charity and Kinley did everything in their power to heal with the last of their spiritual energy. Avery…Avery lost himself in the combat, maddened with bloodlust in a way I have rarely seen. Even young Rose became changed by the horrors she faced that day. Despite that these young Garou fought with more heart and passion than I have seen come from many more seasoned warriors. I saw Rose grab hold of a man’s arm and…instead of ripping the gun from his hand she ripped the arm from the shoulder and ended his screams. Chaplain somehow managed to avoid almost all the shots fired at him which gave him chance to strike just where our enemies were the weakest and help to turn the tides. What worried me the worst was when the Jarl Warborn fell, the wounds he sustained while shielding others finally took their toll and he fell to his knees, nearly dying but the sheer piss and vinegar of that man would not let it be his last battle. He raged, lunging back into the battle and killed many of the hunters. Thank goodness for Charity and Kinley, who despite their wounds, and the constant pressure of the enemy, still managed to heal us and keep us from deaths door. If it were not for them, I would not be alive today. Then there was Ward. I expect the Garou to fight. It is what we were put on this earth to do by the sweet mother Gaia. But Ward fights with a ferocity I see very rarely, moving stealthily around the battlefield and bursting with a flurry that does not relent until his opponent is dead. It is a large part of what has led me to respect his breed in combat. A pile of bodies lay at our paws when the camp went quiet, only our labored breaths and the drip of blood to be heard. I turned my head back and howled our victory to the four winds and with that we returned to the old farmhouse in the country. The old wolf awaited us there, telling us that now that we understood our enemy there, those who can sense the balance will understand their enemy in a deeper way, sensing the stagnation or taint the Weaver holds on them. This understanding was not limited to us but became woven into the fabric of the gift itself, allowing all those with the gift to use it in this way. The old wolf spent a short time talking to us, even training myself and others in how to use Sense Balance. When the lesson was done it was time for us to return to the Material Plane….the wolf returned to its old farmhouse and we stepped back into a world where we are not hunted every minute of every day, a world that appeared darker because of our time in Wolfhome, for we knew deep down it was just a reflection of the horrors our wolf brothers and sisters go through every day. And that about sums it up. Going into this journey I worried about the youth of those we traveled with. I did not feel the cubs were ready for such a quest. But when we returned, each of us dripping with our enemies’ blood, each of us changed and hardened in our own way…my faith in the future of The Nation and my hope for those who suffer the Weavers taint like my brother was restored.” ((Each person on the quest received one Honor Renown for their efforts))
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