(IC) New Bedford by Night: WtF II

[Daishain]

Bear shakes his head to Joanna's question about the others coming here, "Unfortunately the wolfblooded are not able to cross the border. They sense more, resist more, and can sometimes do a few uncanny things, but in most ways they are quite human. In this case though, that doesn't matter. In order to have a lasting impact, the changes we need to make will be in the material world anyways."

He grins at the pup's concern over that particular part of the oath. "Far as I'm concerned, long as you listen when we have something important to speak on, we're probably going to stay good on that one. There are some packs that are a lot more strict, requiring outright deference from the young, but that's just not our style. And no, no blood oath. These are guidelines to live by, not absolute laws, and chances are your own instincts will remind you if there's a decision to make."

His demeanor gets a bit more serious, "That doesn't mean to take those tenets lightly however. They all exist for a reason. Some don't understand the prohibition on Uratha mating with each other for instance. Its not just some cultural taboo. For some reason the pups have a tendency to be born more animal than person."

"There also can be a cost to breaking them. We are born between two worlds, and must balance them in our lives. Not to sound like a yogi, but harmony between the spirit and the flesh is vital. Too close to the material and we start to lose control over our abilities, too close to the spirit, and we can lose our minds. The turmoil from violating that oath can greatly disrupt that balance."

[Haval]

Joanna grimaces at the mention of pregnancy, which she hadn't even considered to be a special concern. 'If I ever get pregnant with anyone something has gone very wrong.'

'And for what it's worth I promise to abide by all that. At the very least I can see if it helps me control myself better when I've changed.'

[Bennosuke]

It was a few days later when Blaze took Jeremy and Joanna to join him on a trip out to Cuttyhunk. They had planned in advance, and arrived at the ferry terminal with a bit of time before the first vessel would leave for the day. It was perhaps unsurprising to Jeremy to see how run down and empty the office of the Cuttyhunk Ferry Company was, and it was almost like the man at the ticket booth was a cousin of the round faced bus driver.

Blaze's entrance does not disrupt the ticket vendor from a game of solitare this time around, but he still eyes the man and his companions with vague distrust. "I see you've come back," the bald headed man says to Blaze, his round watery eyes narrowing, "take it the weather put a hamper on your last trip?" The weather was indeed better this time around, the sun was shining and the sky was relatively clear. Still the ferry terminal building seemed to stink of sea salt and briny fish rot. He looks over Blaze's two companions and says flatly, "These ones are new," in his lippy raspy voice.

************************************************** *********

Unable to return to young Dr. Cho's office, this time Bear was taking Ciara to a small obstetrician's practice associated with Saint Vincent's Hospital. Dr. Steven Field did not have as strong of reviews on Yelp, but the couple were starting to run out of new doctors in the area to turn to. By this time, Ciara looked like she was getting ready to pop, though she was barely out of her first trimester.

The receptionist is a fairly unfriendly woman who smells of cigarette's and whose raspy voice is heavy with an East Mass accent. She registers Ciara and makes them wait nearly 45 minutes before bringing them back, even though the office seems near empty.

The patient room is rather stuffy, smelling heavily of chemical cleaners and with no windows. Both Bear and Ciara take a seat, and fortunately don't have to wait too long for Dr. Field to arrive. He's an older man, with a wild tangle of whispy grey hair, and a leathery tanned face full of wrinkles. He sits down on a small stool, at a small desk in the corner of the room before acknowledging the two, introducing himself and stating, "I apologize, but I never got your files from your last Obstetrician. Ciara, right? How are you doing? May I ask how far along you are?"

Ciara looks nervously to Bear, clearly struggling to decide whether she should tell the truth. As her face turns red, Bear can smell her lupine must growing stronger, starting to blanket the surfaces of the room.

[Thundercracker]

Blaze

“Yeah man, poured the whole time last time,” Blaze said, “these two were supposed to come and tried to convince us to wait for better weather, prolly should have listened heheheh.”

He paid for the tickets.

[Haval]

Joanna has been looking towards the island as they approached the terminal. She had been trying to practice doing this since she joined up with the guys. She honestly wanted to see what this barren area of the Hisil looked like, but maybe they needed to be closer. She'll snap out of it once the clerk starts talking.

'I like the ocean, but maybe not that much.' Was the man literally related to Finn. 'We were going to have a look around after we get some food. Do you know the island well? Is there anything worth seeing over there?'

[Daishain]

Bear decides to bluff with what seems most likely to pass inspection. "Seven, maybe eight months. Sorry, our last OB seemed to have trouble figuring that out, its part of why we switched. We're new at this too, our first kid, and they were a bit of a surprise."

[GKnightBC]

It was a few days later when Blaze took Jeremy and Joanna to join him on a trip out to Cuttyhunk. They had planned in advance, and arrived at the ferry terminal with a bit of time before the first vessel would leave for the day. It was perhaps unsurprising to Jeremy to see how run down and empty the office of the Cuttyhunk Ferry Company was, and it was almost like the man at the ticket booth was a cousin of the round faced bus driver.

Nodding to himself as he sees once again the absence of normal human activity, Jeremy speculates on the cult and it's draw of the local population.

[Bennosuke]

The ferry clerk takes out a spool of red carnival tickets, and begins breaking off stubs for each of the Uratha. He shrugs at Joanna's question and nods to Blaze. "Well, the Cuttyhunk Oyster House is a must for anyone visiting the first time, assuming you like seafood," he says with a gurgling sort of chuckle. He pauses for a moment, pursing his lipless lips then adds, "There's also Devil's Hill and the hiking trails around it. Otherwise, today's a nice day, I'm sure the beach will be very nice. A lot of people rent boats, do some fishing and the like. It's a small island, but it's got history."

(OOC: Happy to move things on if you are done speaking with the ticket clerk)

************************************************** ****************

"I see," the doctor says, shifting in his chair to turn his attention to Bear, "I'm sorry to hear that." He brings a hand to his mouth, and clears his throat in a sound as if it was heavily clogged with clotted mucous. He grins at Bear and adds a raise of a brow, "It looks like your wife is about to pop." Dr. Field pauses for a moment, and then begins pecking away at a computer. With a sigh he says, "Well, we will probably need to do some bloodwork, and repeat an ultrasound." The doctor shoots a series of questions at the couple, but the more he speaks the more he directs his questions at Bear rather than Ciara , almost as if he were more interested in speaking with another man. At the end of his review of systems, Dr. Field says with a grin, "Now before we start our tests, is there anything I should know about? I apologize for being blunt, but well I have to ask the question. Any drug use, health problems, any reason we should consider additional tests for your baby?"

[Haval]

'Thanks, I'll take a look.' Joanna wonders if they got many tourists round here, but will take the ticket and move onto the boat.

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Ok to move on

[Daishain]

Bear starts to figure out why this guy wasn't so well reviewed. He shoots an apologetic look to Ciara. He'd have to make this up to her later. "There's been some second hand smoke, but we've been taking care to keep her clear of that ever since we found out. As for family health issues, Ciara knows better than I." He looks to her, smiles, and squeezes her hand in reassurance.

[Bennosuke]

The ferry ride is smoother this time around, but Blaze recognizes all the same boat hands with the heavy New Bedford look. Again, they are the only passengers on the ferry.

The Anchor Wolves are dropped off at the pier outside the oyster house. Despite the blue sky and bright sun, it is still cold on the water, and the oppressive stench of day old shellfish hangs heavy in the biting sea breeze. A few gulls pass overhead, cawing and soaring lazily. But despite the improved weather, there is still no one about. Besides the oyster house, most of the shops and warehouses appear empty and abandoned, black windows staring out at the Uratha forebodingly. The sense of foresworn decay that hangs over New Bedford looms even stronger out on the dock of Cuttyhunk, creating the urge to flee.

The door of the Cuttyhunk Oyster House clangs open and out step a drably dressed woman and her son. The boy has sandy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. His chubby cheeks and fresh pink face are a welcome sense of normality, but his mother's egg shaped head is balding and sits on near neckless shoulders. Her eyes round carry the New Bedford look, and she stares at the Anchor Wolves with the same guarded distaste of the other locals. Even though his mother places a restraining hand on his shoulder, the boy steps forward and warmly says, "Did you all just get off the ferry? "

************************************************** *

The old doctor shrugs and replies, "Well the literature is supposed to show that heavy second hand smoke can be bad for the baby... but I've lived through generations of baby being born to heavy smokers and most of those babies came out just fine." He chuckles and gives Bear a paternal grin. He adds with a sigh, "I'm sure if you've stopped that then your baby will be just fine." The grin widens, but in the corner of his eye Bear can see Ciara glowering at the doctor.

Dr. Field looks to Ciara and points with a finger at the examination table. "Now why don't you just lay down here dear, and we'll take a look," he says, speaking as if he were addressing a child, "do we know the sex of the baby yet?"

"No, not yet," Ciara says, not even trying to stifle the growl in the back of her throat as she moves from her chair to the table.

Ignoring or maybe just ignorant to her tone, the doctor replies, "Well let's just lift your shirt up a little and we'll take a look with the ultrasound." He stands up from his desk and crosses the room to turn on the ultrasound machine, and grabs a white bottle with a red stopper, squeezing it to plop out a mound of neon blue gel onto one of the probes. Without another word, the doctor places the gel covered probe on to Ciara's now stretched round belly, causing her to shake with surprise. "Sorry, probably a little cold," he says with a chuckle. Dr. Field scans for a moment longer, moving the probe back and forth across Ciara's belly. Concern begins to line his face, his brow wrinkling and eyes narrowing slightly. "Interesting," he says slowly, clucking his tongue against his teeth before asking, "When was the last time you had an examination?"

[Haval]

Joanna is curious enough about what the ocean might look like in the hisil to stare over the side of the boat. She didn't quite expect to see anything looking back at her but perhaps she could see signs of the Idigam's presence. As they get closer to the island she's also interested to see what a barren area of the hisil actually looks like.

At some point she'll ask Blaze about that as he had at least been here before. She'll talk quietly but it wasn't like there were any other passengers around to hear. 'So what are we looking for exactly? What are the chances that there's a place on the island somewhere where everything started to go bad? Locals acting weird is at least something I can deal with.'

From the looks of the pier Joanna isn't sure why anyone would choose to live here if they had any choice. The lack of people was odd but not entirely suspicious. Maybe they worked on the mainland or on fishing boats during the day. Must be hard to run a restaurant in a place like this though. She'll answer the boy, 'Yeah, just passing through. Not many people about is there?' Was the boy adopted?

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Want to use Wolf Senses to see if I can sense whether there's anyone else around. Even if it's other people at their jobs.
Wits 3 + Composure 3 +1 Per in Hishu
(Gift of Cunning: Honed Senses - exceptional success for three successes)

(7d10)[9][7][2][10][2][10][1](41)
Any 10s
(7d10)[3][8][2][1][5][5][2](26)

[Daishain]

Bear stops breathing in that moment, eyes going wide. "Not recently, what, uh, what's wrong?"

[Thundercracker]

Blaze

To Joanna: “there’s no spirits around this island, and the locals are acting all weird. They all look like they’re from that Church. You’ll see what I mean, like they’re all related. It’s a good bet somethings going on here and we’re gonna explore and find out what.”

At the dock: Blaze waited for the kid to respond. No sense in saying more than they had to.

[GKnightBC]

The ferry ride is smoother this time around, but Blaze recognizes all the same boat hands with the heavy New Bedford look. Again, they are the only passengers on the ferry.

The Anchor Wolves are dropped off at the pier outside the oyster house. Despite the blue sky and bright sun, it is still cold on the water, and the oppressive stench of day old shellfish hangs heavy in the biting sea breeze. A few gulls pass overhead, cawing and soaring lazily. But despite the improved weather, there is still no one about. Besides the oyster house, most of the shops and warehouses appear empty and abandoned, black windows staring out at the Uratha forebodingly. The sense of foresworn decay that hangs over New Bedford looms even stronger out on the dock of Cuttyhunk, creating the urge to flee.

Jeremy looks carefully at the spiritual wasteland as they travelled nearer, pondering on what had enough force to push away everything normally present in the Shadow. As the supernatural odour of blight grows stronger, he is unable to completely contain a growl of threat as he becomes more and more guarded from the atmosphere.

The door of the Cuttyhunk Oyster House clangs open and out step a drably dressed woman and her son. The boy has sandy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. His chubby cheeks and fresh pink face are a welcome sense of normality, but his mother's egg shaped head is balding and sits on near neckless shoulders. Her eyes round carry the New Bedford look, and she stares at the Anchor Wolves with the same guarded distaste of the other locals. Even though his mother places a restraining hand on his shoulder, the boy steps forward and warmly says, "Did you all just get off the ferry? "

Smiling determinedly to shake off the oppressive auras, Jeremy says cheerfully "We sure did! We were told that some of the best seafood around was available here at your restaurant and I wanted to see if they were right!" Taking note once again of the cookie-cutter features the people here show, he puts on a bright front.

[Bennosuke]

Joanna is curious enough about what the ocean might look like in the hisil to stare over the side of the boat. She didn't quite expect to see anything looking back at her but perhaps she could see signs of the Idigam's presence. As they get closer to the island she's also interested to see what a barren area of the hisil actually looks like.

Casting her sight across the Hisil, Joanna finds herself looking out over dark churning waters that shimmer between the darkest of blues, near neon greens, and oily spills of blood red. The shimmering kaleidoscope of colors is dizzying to look at initially, and it takes the Uratha several moments to get her barings. After her eyes adjust, Joanna realizes that she can somehow see under the depths of the churning foamy waters. The changes of light are actually partly coming from seas of spirits navigating the depths of the water. Formless water spirits bully their way through groups of fish spirits of all shapes and sizes. Schools of spirits, some no more than motes of light, others formed into small triangles wreathed in fins and glistening with shimmering scales. An occasional serpentine shark spirit, all onyx black scales and glowing red eyes twisting through the water, cavernous mouth open wide to devour smaller fish spirits in scores. The ocean seams to be teeming with a massive amount of spirit life, a vast expanse of Essence shifting and changing shapes.

From the looks of the pier Joanna isn't sure why anyone would choose to live here if they had any choice. The lack of people was odd but not entirely suspicious. Maybe they worked on the mainland or on fishing boats during the day. Must be hard to run a restaurant in a place like this though. She'll answer the boy, 'Yeah, just passing through. Not many people about is there?' Was the boy adopted?

"Welcome," the boy says cheerfully, his eyes wide with a bit of excitement and a big smile on his face/ But his mother's grip on his shoulder tightens, and the boy's warmth quickly shrinks.

"Most of the men are already out on boats for the day," the boy's mother says testily in reply to Joanna, "And it is not yet tourist season."

Smiling determinedly to shake of the oppressive auras, Jeremy says cheerfully "We sure did! We were told that some of the best seafood around was available here at your restaurant and I wanted to see if they were right!" Taking note once again of the cookie-cutter features the people here show, he puts on a bright front.

The woman uses her free hand to point at the oyster house, where she and her son had just emerged. "The Cuttyhunk Oyster House is quiet delicious," she says flatly, almost angrily, her froggy eyes narrowing and cold.

As they are talking, Joanna casts her gaze around the block, letting her lupine senses take over, her heightened sense of smell hunting for the scent of other humans. Joanna could hear the heart beat of several men inside the oyster house, and there were signs of life coming from boats parked down the pier. Like the woman had said, most of the fishing boats had already shipped off, but there were still a lazy few boats, and one or two had deck hands getting ready to depart.

But the greatest signs of life were coming from Northeast of here. Joanna could smell the musky odor of humans, mixed with the briny sea breeze coming from that direction. There was, sniff sniff, maybe twenty or so people that way... maybe it was a small residential neighborhood, or maybe there was some location of industry that way.

But the bad scent; the stench of rotting fish and mud from the bottom of the ocean was heavy on this island; it coated every other smell like a an extra layer of paint. That smell too came from the same area of the humans... and it also came from... Joanna's gaze shifted south, following the smell as it grew stronger and stronger. Her eyes fell upon a small rocky formation that one might be able to call a mountain, or a large hill, jutting up from the island like an angry canker sore. The smell was coming from the mountain as well, even though Joanna did not sense a single human coming from that direction.

************************************************** ********

The doctor runs a pink tongue across dry lips, his brow still furrowed. "Well, not wrong..." he starts, hesitation hanging on every word. He lifts the probe from Ciara's abdomen, and places it in it's holder on the ultrasound, turning to face Bear, while still leaving a mess of goop on Ciara's belly. He wipes a brow now moist with sweat and says, "Well, unless I misunderstood you earlier, I think I have the privilege of telling you that your wife is actually pregnant with twins." There is no warmth in Dr. Field's words, and he lets himself trail off for a moment, his eyes drifting back to the ultrasound screen, where a snapshot capture of black and white forms was shown. If Bear tried to convince himself, he could believe he saw two heads, two bodies curled up in rorschach depiction. The doctor begins again, interrupting Bear's study of the ultrasound. "But you see, um, well... the picture quality is not very good. I could have sworn I saw some... well, I just think we will need to do some extra tests," the doctor says, fumbling between confusion and concern.

[Daishain]

Torn between relief, concern, and elation, Bear can't find any words, he simply hugs Ciara, tight.

[Haval]

On the boat Joanna wasn't sure what to expect. Perhaps in the Hisil she would be able to see all the way to the bottom of the ocean. Yet it was actually quite pretty, and there didn't seem to be anything obviously wrong with it as far as she could tell.

On the island she'll take the woman's attitude with good grace. Whatever else might be going on here maybe she just didn't like people. 'Perfect, no waiting for a table.' Joanna will smile back at the boy who was at least was trying to be nice.

Once she noticed the bad smell she wondered how she hadn't noticed it immediately. She'll try and suppress the urge to grimace in front of the strangers. Whether they sit down to get food or not Joanna will wait until the locals are out of earshot before telling the others. 'Do you guys smell that? It smells like a maybe a whale died or something. Maybe more then one of them.'

[Thundercracker]

Blaze

“Yeah we’re gonna try to find out what’s going on here once we can get away from the locals,” Blaze said, “wouldn’t be surprised if there actually is a big ass whale being eaten by barnacle squid things around the bend..”

[Bennosuke]

Ciara hugs Bear back, though her eyes remain on Dr. Field, a terrified look on her face. Her words are more than tinged with fear and anger. "What are your concerns, what did you see" she stammers, sitting up on the table and letting gobs of jelly on her belly drip everywhere.

Dr. Field's face looks momentarily pained. He shrugs, his mouth moving initially as if trying to find the right words to start with. Finally he says, "Well, the picture quality just wasn't very clear," his eyes drifting away from Ciara and Bear, "I wasn't sure what exactly I was seeing, and I just want to get some bloodwork to make sure everything is alright." Dr. Field pauses for a moment, before taking a deep breath in and out and locking eyes with Bear. "It might also be best if we admit Ciara prior to her delivery, just to be safe." The doctor was of course referring to an admission at St. Luke's Hospital. Bear had been in New Bedford long enough to know that St. Luke's did not have the best reputation as a hospital, and that reputation had only been worsened during the height of the Captain Drips pandemic; however short lived that had been.

************************************************** *******

The woman scowls at Blaze's comment, speaking up harshly, "Well excuse me!" her hands going to her son's ears as if to block out the comment. Her face is lined with anger, and she directs her son away from the group of punk rockers as she commands, "Come on Billy," as she marches him down the flagstone, her heeled boots clicking as they depart.

[Haval]

Joanna will follow the woman and try to make peace. She might as well start somewhere. 'Sorry about my friend. He's been feeling a little seasick.' She'll try to give the impression she's just a harmless tourist. 'We came out here for the hiking. This guy back on the mainland told us how nice Devil's Hill is so we thought we'd take a look. Is there a store around here in case we need supplies? We could always come back here later if you're still open.' It couldn't hurt to give the impression that they might want to spend some money here at some point.

Spoiler

Show

Composure 3 + Subterfuge 1
(4d10)[2][7][8][8](25)
Any 10s
(4d10)[4][2][8][5](19)

[GKnightBC]

The woman scowls at Blaze's comment, speaking up harshly, "Well excuse me!" her hands going to her son's ears as if to block out the comment. Her face is lined with anger, and she directs her son away from the group of punk rockers as she commands, "Come on Billy," as she marches him down the flagstone, her heeled boots clicking as they depart.

Jeremy sighs as the possible contact is repulsed, although she didn't look likely to be more than unfriendly at any point. Once they've gone out of earshot, he turns to the group and says "Do we check out some seafood since it's the only place with life except the docks? Or do we head over to the other odiferous outcropping?"

[Thundercracker]

Jeremy sighs as the possible contact is repulsed, although she didn't look likely to be more than unfriendly at any point. Once they've gone out of earshot, he turns to the group and says "Do we check out some seafood since it's the only place with life except the docks? Or do we head over to the other odiferous outcropping?"

“Outcropping,” Blaze said, “let’s check the trail first, we can come back here for eats before we leave.”

Blaze struck out to the unexplored portion of the island.

[Bennosuke]

Joanna follows after the woman and her son, the matriarch clearly doing everything she can to ignore the young lady. She does not respond to Joanna's explanations, but finally stops when after Joanna's question. Without turning to look the woman replies shrilly, "There's the Marshman General Store on Main Street. But it's in the other direction!" Still not looking, the mother points a stubby finger back behind her towards where the others stand at the Oyster House. Without waiting for a reply, she clamps both hands on her son's shoulders and begins marching the two of them back down the street.

(OOC: I guess I should wait to see if when Joanna returns, the group wants to go to the general store?)

[Daishain]

Bear takes a deep breath before stating. "Please continue your examination doctor, and I want a copy of those images."

[Haval]

The woman's attitude was a little ridiculous but Joanna was amused that she still got a response out of her. 'Thank you.' And, as she couldn't resist needling the woman a bit. 'Maybe we'll see you for dinner?' At this rate Joanna could see them closing their restaurant early to keep out any outsiders.

She'll return to the others, 'You think they're like that with everyone? Didn't you say someone came round to complain about the band. Maybe they've heard of you? Anyway, there's supposedly a store over that way somewhere if anyone needs anything. Or if we want to see if we can make more people run away just by trying to talk to them.'

[Thundercracker]

The woman's attitude was a little ridiculous but Joanna was amused that she still got a response out of her. 'Thank you.' And, as she couldn't resist needling the woman a bit. 'Maybe we'll see you for dinner?' At this rate Joanna could see them closing their restaurant early to keep out any outsiders.

She'll return to the others, 'You think they're like that with everyone? Didn't you say someone came round to complain about the band. Maybe they've heard of you? Anyway, there's supposedly a store over that way somewhere if anyone needs anything. Or if we want to see if we can make more people run away just by trying to talk to them.'

"Someone hinted we should stay away from the trail, so I'm thinking that's exactly where we should go poking around," Blaze said.

[Bennosuke]

Dr. Field nods his head solemnly. "Sure," he replies to Bear's request, indicating to Ciara that he would like her to lay back.

He begins scanning again, and now every image on the ultrasound, all shadows and strange indiscriminate shapes, looks to Bear like a nightmare. At one point Bear is certain that he can see one of the babies in profile, a long bony tail curled up and around it's hind legs. Something about the images remind Bear of Blaze's computer screen when he was communing with the spirit Data Bolt. The doctor's brow remains lined, his eyes narrow as he switches his focus back and forth from the probe on Ciara's belly, back to the computer screen. He finally speaks up, "My guess is you maybe have another month at most... though I want to get that bloodwork first." Dr. Field picks the probe up from Ciara's belly, and turns back to Bear, ignoring Ciara and her belly covered in cold ultrasound gel. "If you can, get the bloodwork today. I'll give you a call as soon as I get all the results back," he says, rising from his chair to go back to his desk, where he starts pecking away at an ancient looking computer. The doctor prints up a paper prescription, listing a long series of blood tests, as well as several addresses where the labs can be drawn, and brings it back to Bear. Only then does he notice Ciara and add, "You can get yourself cleaned up now dear," which elicits an immediate scowl from the woman.

************************************************** *********

Forgoing the general store, Jeremy and Joanna fall in line; Blaze was clearly the alpha in this situation after all. It is not hard to navigate out to the Cuttyhunk Loop hiking trail. The hike around the main trail itself is not all that exciting or difficult. A wide and well maintained dirt path makes a long and lazy loop around Devil's Hill, boarded by wild shrubbery and marshlands. The smell here is even worse, and seems to be at its most overpowering when the trail is closest to the base of the hill, reaching a strength that literally assaults the nose and ears and forces its way down your throat. Other than moldering pickleweed, some buttonbrush, and a few less recognizable vined weeds, there is almost no plant life the closer you get to the hill, and the land seems completely bereft of animal life. Not even the sea birds that soared overhead seem to be willing to come out this way.

Any glances into the Hisil reveal a land that is nearly bereft of Spirit life. This barren appears as a black rocky flat, the stones cracked and choked by long grey tendrils of some strange spirit plant. The occasional spirits that you do see are the rare flock of sea spirits, intermingled with a few lone spirits of greed.

There are a few smaller trails that seem to lead off from the main trail, though most of them seem to end abruptly, or walk directly into a muddy pond.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Everyone please give me a Wits+Composure (Perception) roll at -4. Change it to -2 if you have Survival at 3 or higher

[Daishain]

Bear gathers himself and the paperwork, making sure to take their copy of the ultrasound, and privately wishing he had a way to delete everything from doctor Fields' records. He helps Ciara get cleaned up, and supports her on their way out.

As soon as they can speak freely, he hugs her again, "No more human doctors, that's it, whatever this is, they can't help. Let's talk with blaze, see if we can communicate with the spirits tending to the growth of our cubs."

[Haval]

Joanna doesn't usually leave the city that much when she can help it, but she's fit enough and doesn't have to strain that much to keep up with the others. She will initially try to listen out to see if anyone else was out here but as they got closer it was difficult to notice anything but the smell.

Spoiler

Show

Wits 3 + Composure 3 (-4)
(2d10)[5][4](9)

+1 if the Perception bonus for Hishu counts
(1d10)[2]

Any 10s
(2d10)[8][3](11)