North for the Summer: Hard Rain- Entaris

[Acanous]

(I'm trying to avoid the curse by not mentioning your character's name. It'll only happen for this post, and if it works I'll start using it. So any oddities, that's why :p)

The first thing you notice is Wanda, the Beta from your pack, sitting half-slumped in a chair across the room. Looks like she was sent to watch you.
The second thing you notice is the nice rack the nurse changing your IV drip is sporting. Damn, too bad she's probably one of the Weaver's. You could lay a flank steak across that and it wouldn't...
Ow. The third thing you notice is you have a hell of a headache. You could probably just sleep it off, but with those weird dreams, it might be a bad idea.

[Entaris]

Valan groaned and opened his eyes as the headache stopped being quite so stabbingly painful, managing a weak, though on his face it looked sly, smile to the nurse, "Well, I've woken up in worse places before." He commented nonchalantly, "At least the company is far more appealing." He finished, grinning at the well-endowed woman attending his IV. Now that his course was set to return to his Tribe's duties, he believed it would be a good idea to brush the dust off of his human-handling skills.

[roll0]

[Acanous]

She gives you a cold, clinical glance.
"Flattering, but I've heard it before."
(1 success.)
Your packmate is still asleep. You see her leg twitch a little.

[Entaris]

Valan smirked, "Then how about this? I'm actually a Wolf in Human clothing, trying to act like a good little primate, but the sight of you is really starting to bring out the Beast in me." He offered, a nigh-uncharacteristically large grin spreading across his face.

[rollv[6d10[/rollv] +1 die for Gall, -2 difficulty for Supporter

[Entaris]

[roll0] +1 die for Gall, -2 difficulty for Supporter

[Acanous]

"Oh really now? Here I thought you'd need me to help you make a full recovery. but if you recover THAT quickly..."
(That was a lot of success. Make your last roll, you know your DC)

[Entaris]

Valan sat up in the bed, his chilseled form easily visible through the hospital gown, his face inches from his 'prey', "Well, I will need some assistance to make sure EVERYTHING is in proper, working order." He replied, "Maybe alittle vigorous physical therapy?" He offered, his posture leaving no doubts that he would pounce this woman right here if showed any signs of agreement.

[roll0] -2 diff, +1 die

[Entaris]

(Oh wait, extra successes from before)

[roll0]

[Acanous]

(Egads man. What am I supposed to do with this? :p Those dice rolls smack of a cheesy late-night film with an X rating.)
She eyes you up and down, her face flushing. She breaks eye contact and her posture changes. She's unbalanced, vulnerable. Something primal in the back of her mind has identified you as an alpha male.
"I suppose I could give you some physiotherapy, so long as it wouldn't hurt..."
She closes your room's door, and helps you from the bed. Looking like she's helping you use the facilities.

Wanda is awake and giving you a scolding look when you finish up, though you can see half of a smirk.
"Glad you're feeling better. 'sabout time."

[Entaris]

(Bahahaha, mind crush!)

Valan strode out of the bathroom, what remained of his gown tied around his waist, over to the endtable containing his normal attire, the wolfish grin splitting his face slightly crooked, It was in celebration. A comm'ration of a life choice I came to while asleep. He stated, growling slightly as his speech faltered, angered at the atrophy his vocabulary had taken in his hiatus. He tugged on his black slacks, tucking his chartruese silk shirt into the waist before latching the stylized wolfshead buckle in place. "For too long have I wandered the Woods like my Get brethren. Too long has Calgary suffered these..Infestations." He continued, taking a moment to recollect the action before deftly tying an Eldritch into his pristine white tie and turning to face the Beta. "I am a Lord and a Judge. Mine is the Duty, to Command and Lay Judgement. I hereby declare an end to my excommunicado." He finished, sliding his arms into the tailored suit's jacket, eyes like shards of ice burning with purpose once more, "Calgary will be mine. Call the Walkers and the Lords. I have a plan." He said in finality, his full air of authority firmly wrapped about him again as though it hadn't been shed years ago, the Corporate Predator striding from the room with a confident gait that made others scurry from his path like fawns before the White Wolf, the Beta in tow as they checked out and left.

[Acanous]

"What, Now?? There'll be a riot." Passing through the hospital wing, leaving the nurse a little dazed and tired out, you don't attract much attention. The layout is like a big maze, but the elevators are easy enough to find. If you want to check out, the main exit is marked. There are 5 other floors, including an underground parkade.

[Entaris]

Valan sighed as they walked into the elevator, turning away nonchalantly from the camera to slide the rather large handgun into his suit jacket, the fedora in hand, Who will riot? The Get? My brothers they may be, but I doubt they would stop hunting the creatures in the Wood to take notice of Calgary. My brothers in the Lords? Too few that care about thils little city, having turned their backs after we lost it to the Weaver and Leeches. The Walkers? Perhaps, but I will have them at my side shortly. He replied coolly, as though he had had everything in place years ago. He thought a moment, "Do we know anyone in this hospital?"

[Acanous]

"One of the doctors here is a friend. Also the cleaning company is owned by Glass Walkers. The rest... not really sure.
This moot you're setting up, where will you put it?"
The door dings, and the receptionist checks your papers boredly.

[Entaris]

Valan turned and walked out of the hospital, trailing the beta as he fished in his pockets while looking at the sky, I don't...know yeah. Here it is. He remarked, pulling a leather cord on which hung a teardrop-shaped hematite stone, engrave and polished with runes for finding and detection. That is for the Spirits to decide. I will beseech them, and they will pick an auspicious location. Hopefully somewhere high, I will be needing to speak with the Stormcrows as well. He finished as they got into the car. But, for now let's go home.

[Acanous]

"Yeah, sure. I'll drive, you just relax. Want anything? Burger?" She fires up the old Plymouth and unlocks your door.
"So you have a spirit dream or something in there? Seems like something lit a fire under your ass."

[Entaris]

Of a sort... Valan replied, running his thumb over the brim of the green and purple striped fedora from his hospital endtable. Where did this come from?

[Acanous]

"The hat? You were holding on to it when they pulled you from the rubble. Thing was untouched by the explosion, Mother Rat thought it might be important."
She pulls into a drive through. "Yeah, can I get a combo number 3 and a chicken burger?"

[Entaris]

Valan rotated the fedora in his grip, Strange, it even has a match- He flicked the lid open, Half-empty book of matches, a card that says...9 slash...um, I didn't learn math as a pup, what's that thing? Pie? And a spoo- Hsss... He hissed and growled lowly in the back of his throat as his thumb slid across the silver spoon that had somehow bee affixed under the band of the hat. They drove up to the drive-through as he flexed his hand, Actually, get me a double with cheese, bacon and a large tea, if you don't mind. He said, jerking in surprise as the last words pulled themselves from his throat with a slight lilt, as though ordering tea was part of a joke. Valan the White stayed very still, hoping the Beta would miss it.

[Acanous]

The voice on the box repeats your order, and Wanda rolls her eyes.
"Sometimes I think they're just not saveable, repeating everything you say like little puppets."
She pulls forward, and you get your bag of food and a large tea.
"Huh. Surprising. I thought you were joking." Wanda says, passing you your paper cup.
"You good to eat on the road, or want me to pull over?"

[Entaris]

Valan nodded solemnly, They were not always such a way, before the Wyrm and the Weaver had their way with them. The Theurge looked down at his tea, giving a grunt in response to the beta's comment, knowing she knew him well enough to know he did not usually jest in Homid tongue. This is fine. Faster we return to the Wood, the quicker we can begin preparations. He stated, barely even unwrapping his burger before practically inhaling the greasy patty and bread. The tea gave him pause, though. He had never been one for the Human caffeinated beverage trend, but now something drove him to try the watery brownish liquid. He removed the lid and gave the cold, sweet drink a testing lick, not entirely impressed with the flavor, but some part of the back of his mind seemed to become somewhat fuzzy and nostalgic, and so he threw back the rest with vigour and stuffed the wrapper from the burger inside.

[Acanous]

Rain comes, and washes away a good deal of vampire trash. The city looks the most natural you've seen it in a long while, but the water spirits responsible were chained. Forced in the night to lock down the city. Someone was making a power play.
While it's not smart to rush in and engage an unknown power, it IS smart to profit off of unfortunate events. Thus, Umbra Manufacturing has taken the limelight in the city's restoration and fabrication needs.
Working together with a good team of corporate lawyers, Umbra has even managed to secure sole supplier rights to affected areas, and is practically the only local company able to provide Waste 'n' Water tech with specialized equipment.

All in all, it's been a rather profitable month. To top it all off, news came down the grapevine that the old bear of a Vampire who earned a measure of respect from the northern packs has been felled.

That makes for a very interesting playing field, indeed.

[Entaris]

Valan leaned back in his chair, the familiar stretch of silk from his Armani business suit both a comfortable reminder of the familiar hunting grounds of the corporate savanna and a subtle, constant reminder of the Homid extension of the Weaver's need to tame everything they encounter. He looked over the procession of allies he had gathered through contacts of contacts, friends of friends and more than a couple homid-paper transactions and grinned a thin, predatory grin.

I suppose by now you have all reasoned out what must be done. He began, voice carrying the weight of a snarling battlecry though he raised it only a little, The Leeches have had this city in their clutches for long enough. It is our turn now. They've unknowingly destroyed the Keeper of the Aggression Pact, and have enslaved the Spirits through foul sorcery into upsetting the natural balance of the Seasons. The First Step has already been taken with the founding of this company, but I have always been one to invite council into planning.

He finished there, the offer open, his gaze sweeping each face, old and new, silently daring them to toe the invisible line known only to those that knew his reputation among both the Lords and the Fangs. Defeat the opponents within. This was always the first test.

[Acanous]

"Not to say that there shouldn't be action taken, but I'd advise a degree of caution." Geoff Cameron, an older Glass walker whose refined taste in clothing and immaculate personal grooming seem completely ill placed on his bulky frame. One eye is covered by a patch, the rumor being he lost it in combat with a Black spiral Dancer some years ago, and the scar protrudes. "They've held this city a long time, and while a proper chastisement is called for, I'd rather not lose the war by committing too much into one battle."

"What are our options?" Clarissa Baker, a rising star in the Glass Walker ranks for her unerring ability to leverage the most from the smallest advantage, stands and begins pacing. Her hair is corded into a tight bun, and her attire is strictly business. "Have we heard anything from the Bone Gnawers?"
"Not since the flood. I heard there was one operating a prostitution ring, but that seems rather out of character." Ron Miller, VP of Sales at Umbra Corp, who is the most beta guy you've ever met, answers. "They've left for greener pastures, I think." he straightens his tie, unaccustomed to the attention currently focused on him.

[Entaris]

There it was. Valan suspected that the Old Dog would be the one to challenge him. The corner of his lip turned up in a very lupine grin/snarl, The War has spanned Millennia. The battle for Calgary will be won through decisive action, not the mewling pokes and scratches we've been dealing since the Dog Leech managed to con the Pact out of our people. He stated flatly, leaving no room for argument without direct confrontation for Alpha status of the corporation.

He leaned back in his seat, "We, fortunately, have moved in during a time of great difficulty for the Leeches. Thus, we have a great many options. The only choking point is ground-up, top-down and how much blood we will be willing to spill to assert our dominance again in this city.

Flashes. Streetlights and smells assail a nose not his own. A dark night full of Fire and mischief. He grips his hands together as he rides out the strange vision. Motels in the night...T-taking the Dog for a Walk...Faux Friends Founded on False Funk... His eyes shot open and he took in a deep breath through his nose, eyes locking the beta in place, Jan..Jane...Janet? He suddenly asked, sounded once more like himself as he described the back of the funny-smelling woman from his vision.

[Acanous]

"That's the Gnawer with the prostitution ring, if my sources are credible."
"Handle it how you like, but I'll be cooking up an exit strategy, just in case. This isn't the first time we've warred with the leeches."

"What sort of decisive action will we be taking?"

[Entaris]

She Lives. He stated simply, not really wanting to trigger another vision by thinking on it any harder. Who knew what would set it off these days.I will speak with Crow as to the source of her silence.

He nodded slightly in permission to the Old Dog, Someone must always guard the back door. He acquiesced, though he'd much rather have called the old Walker out for the cowardice that had given the Leeches such a hold in the first place.

He grinned hungrily at the inquiry as to the next steps, The Water has brought the Leeches more problems than they yet realize. Take what Theurges we have available and begin locating the Spirits in the Umbra that are being coerced into creating this flood. Deal with them. Free them in exchange for assistance in taking this city from those that Chained them. Bring us their Names for the Moot and we shall begin to sow the Leeches' end using the strings they thought to pull themselves.

[Acanous]

"Sounds like a plan I can get behind. Meeting adjourned?"
Your ominous lightning fails to flash, which can be attributed to the current weather.

[Entaris]

Valan sat for a long minute, looking over the meeting and mulling over the news before replying, Find a list of casualties from this flood. If anyone important died, I want to know and I want the media rumor-mill buzzing on an up-and-comer from amongst our Kin to fill any available positions. He stated finally. He did not know if this gang of Glass Walkers could be brought about into the political hunting games of his brothers in the Lords, but he had best start trying now. Maybe soon he could get the other Lords away from their games of Homid normalcy once the Get have the Demon problem settled. Which reminded him of something, causing him to stand up suddenly. And that's all we have for now. Same time next week. Any pressing matters, contact my Betas. He rattled off, looking for all the world as though HE were the one waiting for this meeting to end, moving to the door and opening it for his elder and the others, meeting each of their gazes with his own steadily.

[Acanous]

The three file out, the old dog nods to you as he exits.
Your beta companion speaks up as he leaves.
"I'll have the list for you tomorrow, though it might take some time, checking in on the Gnawers."
Your office is once again left clean and tidy, though it still smells of new construction. Your view of Downtown Calgary really aught to be better, this place is far too cluttered with skyscrapers.

[Entaris]

Valan nods and closes the door begin the beta, sighing and taking a few deep breaths before sitting in his chair, slipping sideways into the Umbra to check on any local spirits that may have already heard the clarion call of the returning Garou.

[roll0]

[Entaris]

Okay, now that I remember how to roll dice XD

[roll0]

[Acanous]

(wow your dice.)
The Umbra is unusually impermiable at the moment. You can't remember the last time that happened. The material world must be at some kind of apex.

Luckily, nobody was around to see your troubles.

[Entaris]

Valan sighs and kneads the bridge of his nose, one of many homid body gestures he'd picked up while training under his Lord brothers. He then decides it might just be a good idea to go home and calls down for his other Beta to meet him with the car out front.

[Acanous]

Your beta is rather punctual, and you've got a car waiting for you by the time you get out the front door. Traffic is light, and with the bridges re-opened you could go practically anywhere...

[Entaris]

As much as he would have liked to cruise the city right this moment, Valan decides he has to find something out first, so directs his Beta to take him home.

[Acanous]

The drive home is mostly uneventful, but when you get back, you notice there's a gouge mark on the door post. The lights are all out, which isn't itself unusual, but the brief whiff of sulfur that your heightened senses detect puts you on edge.

[Entaris]

Valan snarls and shifts to Glabro to get a better read on the scent of the gouge and the sulfur , dropping low in posture to remain silent.

[roll0] Dex + Stealth
[roll1] Intelligence +Investigation

[Acanous]

Well, you're being fairly stealthy.
Inside the home, there's an overturned table, and broken glass litters the floor. You avoid crunching on it. The place looks like someone went over it briefly, and evidence of a fight, in which at least one Garou was involved, is readily apparent.
A few blood spatters mar the counter and sink, and a bloody handprint on the refrigerator door promises a garish surprise.

[Entaris]

Valan takes a sniff at the blood on the fridge to identify it, then slowly opens the door, other claw at the ready.

[Acanous]

Smells like one of your neighbors. Inside the fridge is an assortment of beer, old pizza, some stuff for a salad, and a human head on a plate. Guy isn't anyone you know offhand. Probably a human contact of one of your packmates.
That, or someone who just got really, really unlucky.

[Entaris]

Valan grunts softly at the sight of the head and decides to do a cursoury sweep of the house in case anything ELSE was left behind...or taken.

[Acanous]

why yes, in fact. You notice the totem from above the door is missing from it's traditional mount. It would seem someone or something decided to go muss up your den, possibly injure or kill your guards, and left. It Reeks of the Worm. Taking any precautions aside from stealth?

[Entaris]

Valan clenches his jaw and snorts in annoyance, shifting back to Homid for a moment to remove his suit and shoes and punch a message into his phone,

Den attacked. Wyrm-sign everywhere. The White hunts.

He then slipped his phone carefully into his suit pocket, hung it in the closet and swelled into his favored Hispo form, the white of his scar spreading from his milk-white eye to encompass his head and chest and back in snow-white fur, only the "boots" of his legs being the signature night-black of the Shadow Lords.

[roll0]

The large wolf raising its head to the room and drew in a breath, letting the nose it was born with and Gaia's will show him the path to his Enemy.

[roll1]

[Acanous]

Your phone vibrates with acknowledgements and fury. Seems help is on the way.
The shift to Hispo is easily done, your natural form flowing out from your body like an exhaled breath.
Once you've opened your eyes properly, the scent of the Wyrm coalesces- you know there are three enemies upstairs, unnatural things, corrupted spirits. There was something stronger here, but it is gone now.

[Entaris]

Snarling to himself, Valan creeps slowly up the stairs, large Dire Wolf paws making his steps as sure as they were silent as he crept up towards his prey, shifting into the Umbra as he neared.

[roll0]

[Acanous]

Inside the Umbra, the once pristine and sacred den is splotched with pulsating, corrupted darkness. The red, glowing eye in the sky seems to be watching you as you ascend.
Three figures who were once human await you- people from the reserve, one of them a nun. You recognize their scents as your presence in the umbra forces the corruption to recoil. They have not noticed you, though they are marked by roiling shadows with glowing red eyes- they would likely see you if you were not so stealthy.

[Entaris]

{{If they're in the Umbra, don't have me jump out of the Umbra}}

They invaded his home. Tainted his den. Killed his Kinfolk. Valan the White let the Rage build inside him a long moment before springing into action, lunging out of the Umbra to rake the nearest across the chest and neck with a great claw before sinking his fangs into the next in distance.


Lunging Rake manuever
[roll0]
Damage [roll1]

Spend Rage

Bite
[roll2]
Damage [roll3]

{{Roll die from extra successes for me plz}}

[Acanous]

[roll0]
[roll1]
You lunge from the safety of shadow and tear into one of these twisted home invaders. your claws tear easily into it's roiling black form, which spurts ichor onto the once pristine floor of your den.
Unsatisfied with one kill, you tear into the second of the three with savage hate.
The *Taste* of these things is wrong, and you can't help but wonder if biting into them may be a mistake...

Initiative: [roll2]

[Entaris]

Here's hopin

[roll0]

[Acanous]

(huh. You all act at the same time. What...bad rolls, really.)
Enemy actions:
Shade one goes for a grapple.
[roll0]

Shade two burns darker, like it's pulling on some reserve of dark energy. Aside from that, it does nothing.

[Entaris]

Valan nimbly dodges the grappler and lunges out toward the darkening spirit, jaws outspread for vengeance.


Roll
[roll0]


Damage
[roll1]

Extra successes as apply
[roll2]

[Acanous]

As your jaws close on the darkening spirit, it seems to melt into you. The taste is vile and full of corruption- and then it erupts into black flame inside your mouth.
The remainder of it's body explodes, the corpse shrapnel pelting at your body.

[roll0] fire damage and one point of aggravated.

The last remaining thing attempts to grapple you once again.
[roll1]

[Entaris]

Valan winces from the explosion inside his face, but nonetheless is able to turn and face down the last one as it tries to grab his hulking wolf form.


Soak
[roll0]

Grapple Resist
[roll1]

[Acanous]

Oddly enough, the creature manages to wrap it's elastic-like shade arms around you, and has you ensconced in cloying darkness. Now, it begins to melt on to you, darkening like it's packmate did.
[roll0]

[Entaris]

Valan growls and snaps at the encroaching darkness, raking his claws against it to find purchase to get out.

[roll0]

[Acanous]

You break free of the darkness, though your mouth is still burning. (Two more rounds of burning, but it's just 1 damage. This sure would suck for a Vampire.)
The tainted creature lunges for you, self-preservation gone the way of the rest of it's rational instincts.
[roll0]

[Entaris]

Valan decides against ripping the thing in half with ihs teeth due to the burning still reminding him of the nature of these malignant spirits. Instead, he raises one great paw and brings it crashing down onto the head ofthe monstrosity as it careens toward him.

[roll0]

DAM
[rollv]5d10[rollv]

Extras as needed
[rollv]7d10[rollv]

[Entaris]

DAM
[roll0]

Extras as needed
[roll1]

[Acanous]

you easily rend the last spirit's head from it's torso.
The pressure of this vile taint seems to recede a little. From the umbra, the room looks like a photograph of it's usual self. The bed is made and unmade depending on how you look at it, with the lights being on or off with no real difference from your perspective. The attached bedroom is much the same, and you've yet to inspect the bathroom down the hall, but your acute senses don't detect any more hostile creatures.

What these three things were doing in your den, though, is concerning.

[Entaris]

The immediate threat negated, Valan shifts back to his natural Lupus state, a state he'd been foriegn to for too long lately. Shaking the gore from his snowy coat, he shifted back out of the Umbra and began to take stock of his home while waiting for the others to come.

[roll0] Investigation -2 diff for Lupus form

[Acanous]

Well, the first thing you find is malformed bodies. Looks like they used to be human. Now, they seem like puppets with their strings cut. Plasticine features and similar looks about all three bodies. They look strangely female, like someone took a barbie doll and enlarged it to human size. While they all smell like they've been touched by the Worm, two of the three bodies emit a male odor.

Aside from that, and the head in the fridge (The body of which is entirely missing), you find more evidence of a fight. There was supposed to be someone here tonight, watching the den. He's nowhere to be found.

[Entaris]

Valan huffs at the spectacle of mutation and corruption before him, padding over to his wardrobe and nudging the doors open to reveal his set of accoutremant he usually wore when serving his Theurge capacity. Tonight would be a Rite of Cleansing for his home and these homids. Then the Hunt would begin.

[Acanous]

After a few more minutes, you hear the door thump open, and some growling from downstairs. Looks like your cavalry arrived. The familiar scents of four of your packmates lets you know this isn't another home invasion.

They seem ticked.

Doesn't feel natural to just list names up there, but the four you smell, you'd know as Eric, Lance, Billie and Sky.

[Entaris]

OOC: Homid? Lupus? Need to know backgrounds if they're my pack :P

Valan perks at the sound of his packmates, shifting to Hispo and padding downstairs to sit in the center of the living room, a white blotch in the vulgar scene, draped in the obsidian-and-hematite of his ceremonial Judge and Theurge wolf-garb. He waited silently for his pack to take their positions around him.

[Acanous]

Lupus, and they're kind of personality-less for the moment. Cut from whole cloth, you can help with backgrounds if you like.
"What happened?" Lance asks, shifting back to Homid before the others. "Are we fighting?"

[Entaris]

Valan tilts his large canid head towards the twisted bodies, indicating what the Wyrm had been doing in his home wordlessly before turning his ghost-white eyes back to his packmates, as always letting them do most of the conversing while he enjoyed being in his 'normal' body.

[Acanous]

Billie shifts back to Homid while Skye stays Lupus like yourself.
"Must be done, looks like the white got 'em all. Skye, wanna have a sniff around outside, see where they came from?"
The smaller, brown wolf quickly turns around and jots off through the door.
"Smells a little off in here, but... clean. Where's Rick?"
Eric shifts to Homid, and works his jaw a little. "I'll go out on a limb and guess he's not still with us. From now on, we guard in pairs. Stupid..."

[Entaris]

OOC: I'm Hispo. Valan likes being the largest, most impressive one in the room.

Valan shakes his thick mane and snarls, forcing his muzzle to remember how to speak the Homid language, "There was another. More powerful." He states in clipped sentences. "Cleanse. Find rrrr...Rick, then Hunt." He finished before standing and turning to begin the pacing required to center his power for the Rite of Questing Stone, nose to the ground as though about to sniff for some phantom scent.

OOC: Not casting yet, just preparing.

[Acanous]

The three remaining wolves nod in your direction, then break for outside, two shifting to Lupus in the process.

Your ritual preparations are completed before they report back.
"No sign of Rick. Whoever was here, they probably took him."

[Entaris]

Valan sits in the center of the circle once more, holding the amulet-collar in which he'd tied all the trappings of ceremony for easy transport as he began to growl out the beginnings to the Rite of Cleansing into the darkened room.

Rite of Cleansing, then Rite of Finding to locate Rick.

[Acanous]

Your rite of Cleansing goes off without a hitch. The place feels cleaner, the taint of the Wyrm grasping inefectually for purchase at the strength of Gaia's stern rebuttal.
The Finding, however.. well, that doesn't go as smoothly. You find traces of him, some in the blood around the house, and part of his body was used to manufacture one of the mannequins. The rest is unidentifiable.

Something seriously wicked happened here.

Then you get a text message from Ron.

Found the Gnawer, she smells of the Wyrm. Hanging out around 5th ave downtown. What's the order?

[Entaris]

I'm thinking Lance is the Ahroun, I'm the Theurge, Skye is Ragabash, Billie is Gilliard and Eric will be Philidox, but defers to Valan due to their more heavily spirit-oriented methodologies than other Packs. More expansion to follow along w/ whatever you come up with.

Valan snarls, his hackles raising at the message from the phone. He looks up and gestures with his muzzle for Lance, the pack's Ahroun and Skye, their resident tracker, to assist in the capture of the Gnawer.

Delicately manipulating his claws, he keys back.

Pack comes. Bring to Me. Restrain. He finishes, knowing his Pack will know the connotations behind the Judge demanding a Garou to be brought before him in restraints. Especially with the Moot being in his back yard tonight.

[Acanous]

Your immediate packmates are still tracking the now-assumed-dead Rick. After a while, they start trickling back in with their tails between their legs.
No sign of the brother.

You get another text back from Ron.

She ran, couldn't catch her in time. Have her penned in an apartment complex. I'm waiting her out, not sure what all is in there but it stinks.

[Entaris]

Valan thinks a moment on the situation, listening to the darkness of the night for an answer. Finally, he shifts to Homid and replies.

Sending Pack. Two Umbra, Two Material. Start fire. Only Gnawer survives. Other stink dies.

He quickly moves to the fridge where the late Rick left his Homid alcohol and begins handing bottles to the mischievous young Ragabash, Skye. He knew she would know what to do with them.

With the preparations made, he sent Lance, Skye and Eric to assist in the capture and torching of this den of filth.

The rest of his Pack stayed with him to prepare for a communion with the local spirits.

[Acanous]

Understood.
The young Ragabash pockets the bottles with a smile and a wink.
Lance and Eric shift to the umbra- Eric takes a little longer than normal, but he's probably still preoccupied with recent events. Skye grabs a key ring from near the front door, and makes for the truck.

You're ready to commune. Which totem are you using?

[Entaris]

((We are Children of Owl. Make the appropriate changes to the other packmates. -2 difficulty to involving stealth, silence or quiet, gain three dice when using Gifts involving the air, travel, movement or darkness. Two more points of wisdom. Skye might have a personal totem of Flea or Twister. Seems her style.))

[Acanous]

You prepare yourself to commune with the spirits, and the mortal world becomes more vibrant, lively and warm as the barely audible flutter of wings announces the arrival of your totem.
Quiet and observant, the great Owl perches above, waiting for you to address her.

[Entaris]

OOC: Also, Owl gives his Children wings in the Umbra to fly with.

IC: Valan looked up and smiled to his pack totem, his old friend Owl. "Friend Owl." He began. "As you see and know, we have begun to take this land from the Wyrm-things, Leeches, Vampires." He growled out the words like curses themselves. "We are skilled and proud, but not so proud as to cloud our pragmatism. The Wyrm is many in this place. They conduct vile rituals and slay your Children." He gestured to the bits of bodies lying around the house, letting Owl see into his memory the event. " As your children, we ask you assistance in swaying the many spirits of Calgary's land to our aid."

[Acanous]

"The spirits of this place are chained, deluded and angry. The Wyrm and it's agents have been busy in this land. Caution and stealth will serve you well.
You have my blessing. What would you ask of me?"

[Entaris]

Valan bows slightly, "All I ask is to bring whatever spirits you may to the cause that are free of the Wyld taint. I have set plans in motion to free the Water spirits from the Leech's torments, and they play a large part in my plans to quietly take back this place." He grins wolfishly, "Once we have enough, we can purify the water supply."

[Acanous]

"Your plan is bold, but appropriate. I will turn my gaze over the free spirits of this land, and rally them to the cause. Take care your prey do not see you before you are ready to strike."
The owl bobs her head, and takes to the air. A pine-scented breeze is the only sign of her passing, the great owl's wings silent as death.

Standing on the hallowed ground of your sanctuary, protecting an ancient Cairn, and with the status you've meticulously cultivated, it's no surprise that you have such pull with the spirits of the realm.

[Entaris]

Valan nods to the night, thankful for Owl's support. He looks to his Packmates as they close the ritual, "Tonight, we begin the Hunt. As Owl said, we do it quietly and powerfully. Get every Kinfolk, every connection we have and bend it towards our goal." He stated, "As you know, I have Umbra Manufacturing set as our front. I would be greatly pleased for my Pack to accompany me in this crusade befitting our tribe." He finished with a grin, the first he'd shown outside of battle in years, underlining the import of his need for his fellow Shadow Lords.

[Acanous]

Billie flashes you a thumbs up, being the only one of your pack left in the room. (By my count, correct me if I'm wrong.)
Your orders given, the few remaining 'loaner' wolves depart, with fresh incentive to attack agents of the Wyrm.

"Great show there, boss. You think we should call the Dancers in on this?"

[Entaris]

Dancers? Only Dancers in Werewolf are the Black Spirals...

[Acanous]

That's right. Black Spiral Dancers would make for a great opening volley, if you could get them to do it. But of course, they're teamkilling derptards, so thus the question

[Entaris]

AC, The Black Spiral Dancers ARE THE WYRMS KIDS!!!

[Acanous]

She's suggesting you bait them in, cause a crapton of damage, and basically let them and the vampires tear eachother apart a while, before moving in and cleaning up. If you're going on the offensive like this, you might as well go whole hog.

[Entaris]

Valans glare made it clear that would be the last time the suggestion was made, though his voice was schooled and calm.

"No, doing that will be unnecessary an Only show our hand to the Wyrm."

He paced a long moment, thinking, "What we need is to find more ways to slowly, carefully pry the fingers of the Weaver away from our services and begin gathering buildings to use as fronts for reclamation."

[Acanous]

"That sounds like 'leave it to the glass walkers'. Don't think that's in the cards, though. What about taking some of the flooded out places, using them like bunkers?"

[Entaris]

How goes the Hunt?

Valan takes a long moment to think on what his packmate said, turning the idea this way and that in his mind, After the Blessing is complete, we can begin taking the flooded portions, but for now what we need is business presence. Work Gaia's will into product, mechanics, supplies. Let the Children of the Weaver do our legwork for us as they sate their lust for the material.
He spoke slowly, his rage building tension to the conviction in his voice. He looked around at the clensed den, flexing his homid-form fingers in agitation. If he hadn't had a bare space to change , how would he have defeated these cretaures? This form had no weapons, no defenses, poor eyesight, no sense of smell. It was wholly inferior to his other forms. The only thing Man had going for it was...

Fire.

He barked suddenly, a sneer coming to his face as he locked his gaze on the overly large Homid weapon sitting on the table. Moving to it, he picked up te pisto. Though having never touched a weapon of ths kind before, a tickling in his brain told him it was his and his alone.

Get the Walkers to fashion us weapons for fighting Leeches on their own ground. Not all places will we be able to Shift, and the Klave cannot be brought to bare just yet. Have them also make a llist of known Leeches.

His sneer took on a crooked aspect from a lifetime ago, They who dwell amongst the Children of Prometheus will feel the bite of his Gift most keenly.

[Acanous]

You've got them on the run, but for the moment they got away. Because of an epic drive check that I couldn't match on 5d10.
"Known leeches, weapons, and more of this business stuff. Gotcha. I'm not business savvy, but I can make a pretty explosion."
Your impromptu lieutenant goes to deliver your orders, and then you get a text.

Recovered our delivery man, but the package was missing. Still have the address, though, so can try again later.

[Entaris]

That's fine. They could probably track a Kindred for days using Umbra Sense likeI did in the house. OH! Also, is it how I'm thinking, that objects that do not have an awoken spirit don't show up in the Umbra? Because Rite of Awakeneing specifically states that the object now shows up in the Umbra afterwards/ If so, then between that and Owl's gift of flight, my Pack can literally go anywhere XD

Valan smirks, That can be arranged...

Seeing the message, he huffs slightly and rifles back a text.

Umbra only until the Pounce.

[Acanous]

You know your message was received and acted on, because you don't get one back.
Anything else you want to do here, now that everyone else has filed out? Or maybe you want to be somewhere else?

[Entaris]

Depending on the time of day, Valan will either go directly to naps or go hunt down food.

[Acanous]

It's around 4 AM at this point. Which would you prefer?

[Entaris]

Sleep it is! Wake up at 10AM.

[Acanous]

When you wake up the next day, you get a text message from your hunting team.

Found a hive when we kicked over that anthill. Traced it to point of origin, but might not be the queen. Should we exterminate now, or try digging deeper?

Corporate wise, the city's restoration efforts seem to be going much better. Use of your spiritually empowered filters has expedited drainage and treatment immensely, though it seems you've got a good team at Waste 'n' water tech to thank, as well.

[Entaris]

Valan growled and uncurled from his spot on the floor, shifting back into Homid to reply.


Search. Burn. Leave. No Trace. Ride the Wind against three Suns. Then Roost.

Ransack the place for info, then burn it all down/blow it all up, killing whoever's inside. Then dissappear as only Children of the Owl can for three days and meet him back home.

He swiftly stood from the floor and paced about as he checked the corporate updates. Water N Waste still needed to finalize the contraction of Umbra on the long term, but The White was nothing if not patient.

After thumbing throguh the updates, he went to tablet and, with a heavy almost longing stare at the large pistol on the endtable, keyed in "How to use Homid Weapons" Then huffed at himself, deleted it and instead searched, "shooting a gun" It was time for the White to learn how to defend himself if he were unable to Shift into a more natural form. He had a strange feeling that might be the case soon.

After lunch, The White returned to the internet and searched for anything on the companies within Calgary.

[Acanous]

You're about a day ahead of the others. I'm not going to be able to update you on the results of that battle for a little bit. Going to have to handwave it and fill it in later :/

Your brief google fu of shooting a gun gets you a barrage of information that at least gives you the basics. Point the end with the hole at the thing you want dead, pull the trigger.
There are a lot of different guns. You're pretty sure the bigger guns do more damage.

Searching "Companies in Calgary" gets over 5,000 results. Everything from accounting firms and energy companies, to franchise information and quick money schemes. Give me an Int+Computer use and an idea of exactly what you're digging for.

[Entaris]

that's ok. I can wait if you'd like. Message me when they're caught up

[roll]4d10[\roll]

[Entaris]

Okay now that I am unstupid

[roll0]

[Acanous]

You've got a lot more data now. A list of what's locally owned- franchises included, and what's out of city or out of country along with gross revenue, a few of the bigger players names, and more than a few contact numbers for business issues.

[Entaris]

Well ,anything related to blood was going to be Leech owned and too obvious to attack, so Valan decided to try and study the local power players.

[roll0]

[Acanous]

Local power is all big oil or tech. Mostly big oil.
Suncor Energy is HQ'd in Calgary, and while they are headed by a board of directors, and the CEO is in and out with almost a random schedule, there's always 2 members of the board and a trustee available to conduct business at the upper levels.
You know that's a bit above the pay grade of Umbra, but it's the biggest fish in this city.
There's also a number of other oil and gas companies, excavators, and seismic professionals.

In the tech sector, there's a number of engineering firms, software companies, and a plethora of independents with arts degrees and C++.
What are you looking for, exactly?

[Entaris]

{{Valan is checking to see about both suspicious/mysterious CEOs and possibilities for expansion. Right now, he's thinking about partnering with a fuel company (probably gas, or solar/wind) in Calgary and a software firm. Get the Theurges on making the fuel/energy company hellaciously efficient and seed the Walkers into the software firm.