by Bill Emerson, 3D Storyteller
History I | History II | History III | History IV | History V
History VI | History VII | History VIII | History IX | History X
Session Twenty-two
More trouble for the Morningstars. They're
about to be foreclosed on by their bank. The Pack rightfully sniffs
out a vampire connection and gets some financial help from the Glass Walkers
to put the Caern lands safely out of Leech reach.
But, on the way back to the car, the Pack has their
second run-in with vampires who can give them problems. Manny is
cold-cocked in round one, Walks went down trying to save Manny, Jarryd
went down trying to save Walks and Manny. (Notice a trend?) Leaving
Kyla who'd just saved Phil (again) to save them all. Kyla proceeds
to save the entire Pack's collective bacon, including Manny, who was being
dragged away to be the Bishop's latest arts and crafts project.
One vampire is captured and remanded to the Glass
Walkers for interrogation.
Session Twenty-three
Derrick,
a Silent Strider Ahroun, undergoes his first change. After an *ahem*
indoctrination at the hands of Zephyr and Bite of Frost, he is placed with
the Pack to try find his place in the Garou Nation. He almost finds
a place in orbit...
More vampirical nastiness. Derrick's uncle
is killed by the Sabbat and left for the Pack and Derrick to find.
Derrick's car explodes on start up. Derrick sets his heart on the
destruction of all the vampires in Detroit, a good, old-fashioned, Garou
Family Value.
Session Twenty-four
The pack has a letter that was for them with the
body of Derrick's uncle. At the urging of Bite of Frost they use
Sense the Prey to track down the vile-bloodsucker who did the deed.
With the Storm Bitches riding shotgun, The Pack goes into Detroit (a bad
part) looking to shred them some bad guys. The Pack is led to a building
and fans out in the alley to prepare the assault. A bum wanders up
and tells them to get lost. Derrick tries to bluff him, but the bum's
got a gun. When Derrick doesn't back down, the bum shoots (and misses)
and Derrick attempts to fight him hand to hand in homid form. Katie
Warsinger, the Stormies' alpha, decides she's seen enough, goes hispo
and kills the bum. She and Derrick have words, and she starts to
frenzy as the rest of the war party begins the assault on the building.
The first line of defense appears to be ghouls with
guns, loaded with silver, of course. Manny blows past these mere
foot soldiers and finds their drowsing masters in the basement. Manny
attempts to steal some magical gun while breaking a wyldstone and releasing
its powers. The building and the vampires seem to remain standing,
barely, and the battle is joined in the cellar.
All the baddies are squished except for one ghoul
who is allowed to serve as a warning to others. This particular grunt
was babbling something about "the guys from Milan" were supposed to take
have taken care of The Pack.
Also in this session, Catherine tips off the The
Pack to the presence of BSD's in Belleville. The guys from Milan,
perhaps? Well, a bunch o' banes show up at the bawn shortly later...
Session Twenty-five
The Pack is detailed by Bite of Frost to ferret out
the BSD hunting party. Before they go, Dmitri Ovius attempts to begin
Derrick's Rite of Passage. Derrick smarts off to the Shadow Lord
and almost botches it all up.
The Pack goes into town to see Catherine to figure
out where the BSD's are. At Derrick's suggestion, they set up a sting
with Derrick as the bait. It works really well: the Spirals
come, they get jumped by the Pack, Derrick frenzies and attacks Walks...a
right jolly time! But, when all is done, Kyla feels a bit drained
and Walks notices a retreating figure. The Pack catches up to Erin,
a Fianna Kin whose brother turned Spiral and is now scattered about in
fine shreds. The Pack heads back with Erin in tow and gets ready
for the Moot.
Session Twenty-six: Email Session (word for word)
The Spring sun is slipping down behind the trees
on the horizon. There is a slight undercurrent of restless energy
in the Caern; all the Garou of all the Packs have returned Caern lands
from the outside world, so friction between Packs that aren't the best
of friends (Get and Furies, anyone?) has added to the raw power that a
gathering of twenty-something Garou generates.
On top of that friction, there is a question hanging
in the air: The Elders have been "unavailable"
for the last day and a half. They haven't disappeared, nothing so
sinister, rather the Elders have been meeting in private giving no clue
of the topic of there deliberation. "The Elders" include, Zephyr,
Bite of Frost, Dmitri Ovius and Robert Blinds the Banes. The secrecy
has piqued the interest of all the Alphas: Cry of Winds is totally at a
loss, Carl seems insulted that he's not included, Garth just seems annoyed
(what else is new?), Madonna is going crazy that she can't get find out
what's going on before everyone else.
So, to sum up, as all the members of the Sept are
gravitating toward to the Caern Center: we have strutting Silver
Fangs, swaggering Get, fuming Furies and question marks in the forefront
of everyone's minds as the full moon begins its trek in the eastern sky.
A mournful note rises to the sky, as Cry of Winds begins the Moot with
the Opening Howl. His song is joined by a war cry from Greta Treepuller,
who soon is singing a duet with Kati Warsinger's defiant dissonance.
One by one, others join the Howl. Even those Garou who started this
life as humans are drawn into the primal song that they are somehow a part
of. The Sept becomes one voice for one moment, something uncommon
in the weeks before this Moot.
The Howl fades into the night as Zephyr begins calling
to the East Wind to renew its connection to the Caern. He invites
the rest of the Sept to call their tribal Totems. The various Packs
murmur some call to the Totems that watch over them.
With the spiritual ties of the Caern strengthened,
Dmitri Ovius strides into the Center to begin the part of Moot known as
Cracking the Bone; the portion that deals with the more corporeal matters
facing the Sept.
Dmitri: "Who has business to bring before me, Master
of the Challenge?"
Arn Bane Spitter steps forward. He appears
to have a fading bruise on his cheek and a fresh scar on his forearm.
Arn: "I do, Ovius. As you know, a young
brash Warrior of this Sept came to me last night demanding to be advanced
in Rank. He challenged me and, in the tradition of the Get of Fenris,
I gave him the test of the Warrior's Stand. We traded blows and though
he did eventually fall before me, he didn't not flinch away from my hand.
So, I am satisfied that Trent LightningClaw is worthy of the Third Rank."
Dmitri: "Indeed? Then, I judge the Challenge
is successful. Congratulations, Lightningclaw."
Cheers erupt from the Streetlight Prowlers and other
packs as Trent (who looks more than a little worse than Arn did) raises
his hand and acknowledges his promotion.
Dmitri: "Is there any other business to discuss?"
Madonna Backhand: "Yeah, there is. We
were all kind of surprised to discover that Maria owned a Klaive.
Well, I was equally surprised when it couldn't be found after the battle.
Now, I am embarrassed to admit before you all that I haven't found it,
yet.
"But, it's more important that I get it back, as
it seemed to be specially dedicated to the Black Furies. So, at the expense
of my considerable reputation, I'm asking for the Sept's help in
recovering it. And I'm offering a valuable reward to whoever finds
it.
"How valuable? Well, that depends on how much
you think a favor from my Pack is worth. We're responsible for a
lot of stuff, including a certain weapon currently held by a certain Alpha
in this Sept. I'm talking about a blank check here, folks.
Written on the First National Bank of the Freebooters. First come,
first serve."
*after a pause filled with much murmuring*
Dmitri: "Thank you, Backhand. Does anyone else wish to bring something before this Moot before my announcement?"
*another pause*
"Then to the final business at hand. In recent
months, the Sept of Gaia's Strength has grown considerably. What
was once a little backwater Sept is now on the front lines of the War against
the Wyrm. So, to better deal with the administration of the Sept
and all its members, new and old, we Elders have decided to re-institute
many of the traditional offices and
duties that have long been neglected by this Sept.
"Zephyr at Dawn shall, naturally, his title of Master
of the Rite and Gatekeeper. Bite of Frost will, of course, remain
Caern Warder. Robert and I will also remain in the offices we have
filled, Master of the Land and Master of the Challenge, respectively.
"Many offices have been left vacant and it is those
I wish to address at this time. Firstly, Master of the Howl.
Cry of Winds has been admirable in this capacity for some time, so the
Elders have decided to confirm him in this role.
"The position of Truthcatcher has been shared at
this Sept by the Warder and Master of the Challenge, as Bite of Frost and
I have a great deal with which to busy ourselves, we have decided that
Arn Bane Spitter shall now fulfill the role for the Sept that he does for
his Pack.
"Great Zephyr has also been forced to wear many
hats, and he continues to. The Elders now seek a new Caller of the
Wyld, to maintain a strong relationship with all of our Sept's spirits,
perform the Rite of Totem Calling at Moots and other duties on a continuing
basis. This role most perfectly fits the talents of Walked Away from
the Weaver. While she is young, I doubt any here know of a more apt
candidate.
"Lastly, the office of Wyrmfoe is one that should
be formalized at a Sept in the very trenches of the War. So, the
Garou who will now lead our revels at the conclusion of this and every
Moot, as well as organize attacks against the Enemy shall be Raphael Trask.
His ferocity, tempered by his judgment, makes him the perfect tactical
leader.
"In the absence of a true Council of Elders we shall
continue to convene the Alpha Council as needed to plan the direction of
the Sept."
*Each of these announcements brings some muttering and hushed discussion, which Dmitri ignores completely. Reactions have varied from congratulatory toward the new appointees, to indignation at the order of things being changed, to confusion, to jealousy. Sensing this, Dmitri cuts off any debate...*
Dmitri: "These decision are the will of the Elders.
We do not open these appointments to commentary. If any of these
Garou do not meet their responsibilities, I shall oversee any Challenge
against them and have them removed if unfit. I would, however, suggest
that they be allowed one turning of Luna before being Challenged, as their
appointments come as as much of a surprise to them as they does to the
rest of you."
More murmuring filters through the assembled Garou
as Dmitri takes his place with the other Elders. Trask, the newly ordained
Wyrmfoe, signals the beginning of the Revel with a warshout and dashes
off into the night singing a warchant in Crinos form. The rest of
the Sept hastens to follow him as he leads a circling chase outwards from
the Center searching for any, even the most minor, servitor of the Wyrm.
The Revel leads out under the moon light as only a few Banes were unlucky
enough to be near the edge of the Bawn, they are quickly dispatched and
the Revel turns into the customary play fighting and showing off.
Several of the Get built a large bonfire before the Moot and get Trask
to light it. Fire jumping and dancing continues into the night with
Galliards of each Tribe trying to outdo the last performance. Native
American warchants follow Viking drinking songs, inner city rap is traded
with Garou epic poems. This lasts long into the night, until a tired
Pack of Helios sleepy Greets the Sun and sneaks off to their various dens.
Session Twenty-seven
Trask gets word that the Glass Walkers have gotten
information from the vampire the Pack captured a few sessions ago.
Namely, they know the location of the Bishop. Trask sends the Pack
to Ann Arbor to get the info and attack the baddies. The Stormies
want to come with, but Kyla decides to leave them on the Caern's outskirts
so as not to antagonize the GWs.
Well, on the way to Ann Arbor, the Pack hears Katie
calling Kyla back. They do a u-turn to find the Caern under attack
by Spirals, their kin and the occasional fomor.
After blowing through a weak rear guard, the Pack
meets with the rest of the Spirals in the Caern and helps the home team
rout them.
Session Twenty-eight
The Pack, under orders from Trask, tries again to
go to Ann Arbor to get the information the Glass Walker have "extracted"
from the captured vampire. While receiving the 'Walkers report, the
facility the Pack is at is attacked by the Sabbat. The Pack helps
repulse the invaders and heads home with the information.
Kyla gives the report to Trask, who calls a Sept-wide
war meeting for the next day. At this meeting,
Trask shocks the assembly by accusing Kyla and her packmates of being in
league with the Wyrm. He claims to have proof that they helped the
Sabbat during their attack on the Glass Walkers and purposely tried to
lead the Storm Bitches away from the Caern prior to the Spiral attack in
session twenty-six. Kyla takes this accusation with some aplomb and
tells Trask to stuff it. Trask responds with a challenge of combat.
He starts the combat by using Maria's Klaive. Kyla basically turns
Trask into a S'Lord Ka-Bob but, upon his death, he metamorphoses into a
big, four-armed Wyrm-beast and continues to fight. At the same time,
warning howls go up from the edge of the Caern from the few sentries that
were on guard duty. It's another attack from the Spirals, timed to
take advantage of Trask's distraction. Tears
at the Night, an Ahroun of the Ice Knife, dies in the fighting.
