After returning to the Sept, we filled Crafty in on everything that had gone on from our return from the dead to this moment. Crafty was happy to see us, but we could tell that he wasn’t pleased with the events involving his clone.
Crafty told us that because the Pride Slayers had been involved in the attack on the Sept of the Angry Earth and likely his own capture, they would have to be dealt with. He would head to the Sept of the Three Waters and covertly work on repairing the damage his clone had done.
I mentioned that there might be additional clones since his clone had a number two. Crafty told me we would cross that bridge when we got to it.
As we gathered together to determine our next plan of action, I mentioned to Eli that killing his brother might cause some problems with his father. I recommended that he speak with his father and sort things out beforehand. Eli wanted clarity on the issue, but was apprehensive on killing his family. He wanted to interrogate them and find out their involvement. After that, he would decide what to do. If they are in league with the Spirals, however, Crafty told us to treat them as enemies of the Garou Nation.
Finding Mordecai was nearly impossible thanks to the ritual the Mages cast on him. However, I wondered if it was possible for us to track one of his packmates. I attempted to make a Questing Stone for Vorpal, but it spun wildly and I couldn’t get a lock. Trying it for Switchback did the same thing. It was obvious they were protected by proxy or they had the ritual done on them as well.
Because of this, Eli had to call his father and arrange a meeting with him. Morgan was still in the same place as last time, so Eli took just himself and Bjorn to not cause any alarm to his father. The meeting was tense to say the least. Morgan initially thought that Eli came to do him harm, but Eli dismissed this. Eli wanted to know where Mordecai was, but Morgan saw through this and knew there was a possibility that he was going to kill him. Thankfully, Bjorn managed to convince Morgan to give us some information. Morgan gave the option of direct confrontation with Mordecai which could go bad or to find him through the people that cast the ritual on him. Eli chose the former.
Mordecai was staying at the Fisherman’s Grotto on the wharf. We made our way there and Eli chose to go alone to meet his brother. I asked to see my son while he was at the meeting and Eli was fine with that. Tension broke out for a moment when Rage Heart suggested that Eli’s dedication to the Sept was being tested against his loyalty to his family. Eli put Rage Heart back in his place and told his that he was doing what he believed was right for the Sept. Agnis would accompany me to see my son while the others in the pack secured a hotel room in case we were going to be here for a while.
Eli entered the Grotto and the meeting was already off to a shaky start. His pack looked jumpy and didn’t want Eli there. Eli spotted a girl tied to a post nearby as he got closer. Eli bluntly asked about the attack on the Sept of the Angry Earth, disregarding any offers of food or drink. Mordecai was straightforward and told Eli that it was a job and nothing more. He didn’t have any ill-will towards to the Sept, he was just doing what Morgan told him to do.
Mordecai said that he was making big changes in this house. His pack would wipe out the rest of the Septs except ours because given the choice, he wanted his brother’s to remain. However, this would make our area weak against the Spirals. Eli asked about their sister, but Mordecai didn’t know where she was. Mordecai told him they couldn’t break the ritual without messing them all up.
At that point, Vision spoke up and said this situation wasn’t cool as he could see Quetzal remaining nearby. Mordecai told him to lose the bird. Eli, in turn, told him to ditch his pack so they could talk one on one. Mordecai complied and Eli sent away Quetzal, but not without some warning from our Totem spirit.
Mordecai said that the Ahroun left their marks on everything. Basically, it’s how they got caught in the act. Mordecai is following Order 34 of Morgan’s playbook. All of the other Septs get wiped out. In turn, because we are what’s left, we get wiped out by the Black Spirals. He offers Eli the chance to have the ritual cast on him correctly this time and he run with his pack. He even offered to have all of us get the ritual and we run as two packs doing the dirty work.
Of course, Eli denied this for the time being. He wanted to know how this would fix the Gaian Garou. Mordecai told him the Nation was wrong in many of their beliefs and needed to be torn down before it could be fixed. When he started this mission, he was unaware of Grethen’s intent. It wasn’t until they started killing our line that everything came out. They called it off afterward. Mordecai also said the hives were getting ready to wipe us out and had begun uniting. Eli asked if Gretchen and Alyssa had united, but he didn’t know who they were.
Mordecai even spoke of Lex’s possible attempt to make a fomor army. It showed he was working with the Wyrm just as much as he was the Weaver. Mordecai then went for some booze. During this time, Eli untied the girl’s gag and discovered she was Sarah Linder. They had killed her whole pack and were deciding on what to do with her. She was from the Valley. Eli calls Quetzal back and relays what he has discovered.
During this time, I had arrived at Kenith’s house with Agnis. I noticed a sports car outside of his house with Morgan Fathom going up to the door. He was invited in and we could hear shouting from the inside of the house. I decided I was going to go there anyway regardless. After ringing the doorbell, a man I didn’t know answered the door. I asked for Kenith, but he was still in Europe. The man abruptly slammed the door in my face.
Mordecai returns with some alcohol while Eli tells him he wants the girl to go free. Mordecai thinks this is a mistake as she will mess with your head and screw your pack. He tells Eli that she’s not a Garou. They don’t know what she is. Eli wants to take the girl and leave while Mordecai suggests joining up one more time.
Eli tells him we should part ways here as brothers and not fall to disagreement. Mordecai still warns him of how she’ll mess with you, but ultimately relents when he sees that Eli is not going to bend. Mordecai hugged Eli and wished him good luck. He also told Eli to not worry about his pack messing with him. Eli left with Sarah and he could see the rest of the Pride Slayers weren’t happy about the arrangement.
Eli told Sarah to stick with him as they went to the hotel to meet Bjorn. Eli and Bjorn exchanged the girl. I mindspeaked to Eli that his father was here and we needed his ability to listen in on conversations. Eli came by moon bridge and got close enough to listen in.
Eli could hear his father talking to the man inside. Morgan was calmer, but still mad in his tone. He told the man, Robert, that he had almost sold them out and they needed to get their house in order. They needed to wrap their business up and get out of here. Morgan then left and we stayed to listen in on any other potential conversations.
Eli could hear the man inside speaking with someone on the phone. He spoke of gathering up all of the cabals, all of the big ones. It was obvious they were planning something dangerous. I suggested to Eli that I tell him of my true nature. He didn’t give any response to that, but did tell me that we have his name and could find him later if we needed to. Agnis wanted us to get Ryan out of here immediately and I was wondering why Kenith lied about his dad not being well.
During this time, Bjorn figured out that Sarah wasn’t a Garou. She admitted she was a Nuwisha, but masqueraded as a Bone Gnawer. The Thunder Mountain Sept had accepted her as such. She begged him not to tell anyone about it. She wanted to know where our Sept was, but Bjorn just gave her a vague area. She warned Bjorn about the Black Spirals in our area. Bjorn wanted to know why Mordecai and his pack had her. She told him they knew her secret. The Black Spirals had been summoning up tons of banes in the area. There was a very powerful bane they were trying to awaken. The situation sounded very much like what we witnessed in the Dark Ages.
Eli, Agnis, and I made our way back in the middle of the conversation. She told us that Septs from all over California had been gathering together, even abandoning Hives. She wanted to speak with out Sept leader and she could give some names that might help us in stopping whatever they are doing. We decided to steal a van and make our way back to the Sept.
Eli called Daniel to get a hold of Crafty as he was still over at the Sept of the Three Waters smoothing things over. Shortly thereafter, Crafty got in touch with Eli and he told him the situation. Crafty told us to meet at Wrong Moon’s mansion so we could discuss this without having Sarah enter the Sept.
Arriving at the mansion, Eli told Crafty about the Pride Slayers and their involvement in everything. They were being manipulated by Morgan to do his bidding and that he had plans for our Sept. Crafty then declared Morgan and the Pride Slayers enemies of the Nation. However, he was not sure if he would send our pack to do the deed due to Eli’s family relations. Still, Agnis suggested that the Pride Slayers may be saveable. It would be harder than the Vulture Walkers, but still worth the effort.
Crafty and Daniel took Sarah into the back of the mansion and privately discussed what she knew. After a brief conversation, Crafty decided to give Sarah sanctuary at our Sept.
We made our way to the Sept as an emergency meeting was called. Daniel spoke with the rest of the elders on what was going on while the other packs slowly arrived. After about an hour of conversing, the Vulture Walkers told us that Crafty wanted to speak with us.
Now that the packs are back we must make a decision. Crafty will go to the Sept of the Three Waters and relay Sarah’s information. More importantly, now that White Lion, Elk, and Roedeer have rejoined, Lion wants us to redeem his fallen brood. This is dangerous as many of them now reside in Malfeas and we may lose our sanity in the process. Unfortunately, Jonathon was needed for this. I ask why we can’t go and Crafty told us that our rank was too low and three Theurges are needed for this mission.
From the treeline, we could hear Sarah. She was standing at the Sept border. She offered us a method to help. She knew a secret Rite that could have an ancestor help them in the flesh. Ryan said there was no known Garou ritual that could do this to which Sarah retorted that she was Nuwisha. Crafty wanted to know if Eli knew this and he shook his head yes, but told him he was honor bound not to speak of it.
Crafty told us it was up to us to choose. It didn’t take long. Everyone seemed on board for the idea. The Sept was called together around Jonathon’s grave.
Short Paw called Coyote and asks that he give us the spirit of Jonathon to assist us. She looked at Eli and asked for something of his. Eli’s bag vibrates and he pulls out the treasure box. She looked at the treasure box in awe. She told us that his spirit is trying to return. She wondered what the box was and told us we must free the spirit. Eli opened the box and Sarah began to sing a chant.
Unfortunately, as Sarah held he hand to the ground, it was not enough. There would have to be a sacrifice. One of the Garou would have to take Jonathon’s place in death. Rage Heart immediately offered himself up. Eli asked if he was sure, but Rage Heart only told it’s what a Ahroun does for his pack.
Taking Rage Heart’s hand, she continued her chant. As she did, Rage Heart’s eyes rolled back into his head and the dirt beneath her stirred. Finally, as the Rite was completed, Rage Heart fell to the ground and Jonathon’s hand came forth from the dirt. We pulled him out and he was confused as to what had happened.
William and I did the Gathering for the Departed on Rage Heart as we buried him. We all spoke words of kindness, even those who didn’t know him well. I remembered his confidence in me when I tried to become Alpha long ago. Eli, distraught by this, went into the woods and unleashed his Rage, completing his chiminage to the spirits.
That night, we held an impromptu Sept meeting. We welcomed Jonathon back and he was surprised to have Tick with him again. Ryan then sat down with us. He asked us if we understood what we were up against. From the vision of my mother’s fate, I understood it better than most. Bjorn asked where we could quickly learn to get ready for it. Ryan told us that Daniel had been to Malfeas, but he may not want to speak of it. He didn’t want us going down into Malfeas and the other dark Near Realms.
Bjorn then asked about the lost spirits. Ryan doesn’t know, but he told us Lion would speak with us about them. He will likely present it from easiest to hardest. However, there is a strong chance we would lose pack members along the way. This is nothing to take lightly. Because of how important this rejoining is to the world, they didn’t want us involved in their war in the Nation. They wanted us to take the war to the Triat itself.
With the gravity of the situation ahead of us, we decided it was time to speak with Daniel about his Descent. I was nervous to say the least…
