After exiting the cave, a blinding flash of bright light struck me and I found myself sitting across from a tan-skinned young man as we drank wine from goblets. I found myself confused and not sure of what to say as it looked as though I was placed here mid-sentence.
I looked about the room for a reflective surface as none of the surroundings appeared even remotely modern. I found myself staring back at a reflection I didn’t even know. The man across from me seemed just as confused. After several back and forth questions to each other, I finally tell him I’m Caitlyn. He responds that he’s Miguel.
As we are talking, an older woman came into the room and took the serving plate from me. She told me to not let the thugs under my employ lead me somewhere I’m not supposed to go. If I ran into to trouble, I was to find a Roman. She also worried about my brother causing problems and that I was to keep him quiet. I agreed to it and she began to lead us outside.
[In the present day…]
After returning from labors for the Sept, Jonathon found the kinfolk of the Sept hysterical. He asked them what was going on and they told him the pack was dead. Curious and a little upset, Jonathon headed to the beach to find it a disaster from the tidal wave.
Heading into the Umbra to commune with the spirits, he found no specific answers other than that they died fighting. Without any real leads, he left to the physical plane. Upon his return, the last thing he heard was a loud pop. He never seen his assailants.
[Back in 31 B.C.]
The other members of the pack sat across from each other in a tent with the same confused and disoriented look. The pack began interrogating each other, trying to piece together what had happened to them, as they found themselves in bodies they didn’t own.
As the argued amongst each other, Jonathon found himself in the past and tried to contact Tick. Hearing this, the rest of the pack began to realize what had happened to them. They somehow had been forced into bodies in the past. After inquiring how Jonathon got here, I’m lead into the tent by the older woman with Miguel.
At this point, Eli introduced himself to me with his possessed body’s name. I told him we were to go on a journey without diverting. Miguel tries to speak but the woman tells me to keep him quiet. I slyly ask the woman to reiterate the directions and our destination.
She tells us I am to be escorted to Longwhite to be betrothed to the Dacian. One of the men, who is obviously William, asks the woman who the king is in Longwhite. She clearly isn’t amused at this and just tells me to avoid the haunted village. She says this multiple times during the conversation. She kisses me on the head, leading me to believe it’s this body’s mother, and reiterates her earlier instructions to me before leaving.
We quickly acclimate ourselves to each other due to being in different bodies and decide we need to set off before discussing anything further. Before we can though, Jonathon decides to pierce the Gauntlet and check the Umbra for answers. Unfortunately, Jonathon gains nothing from the exchange other than that the Umbra is much more lush in this time and that we are on the Land by the Great River. He does find out we are near the Dead Sea.
Realizing that Jonathon has been gone too long and with no knowing of what is going on, Bjorn sends me to get him. I find out quickly this body is only a kinfolk and I cannot shift into the Umbra. Bjorn is forced to get him and we begin to set off on our journey.
As we begin to leave the encampment, we come across a young girl held in chains by two guards. She begins screaming for Eli saying he promised her freedom. One of the guards retorts by knocking her down and kicking her in the head. At that moment, Jonathon shifts into his Captain Amazing persona and Bjorn is forced to try to knock him out while Eli sorts things out with the guards. Realizing she could be of some use to us, Eli sets her free under the condition she lead us to Longwhite. Eli asks the girl about the haunted village, but the stares from others forces him to drop the subject.
Leaving the encampment, we begin heading north in the direction of Longwhite. As we traveled, we saw a fort in the distance. We debated on bringing supplies with us and in the end only brought what we could carry.
After two hours of traveling, we came across a man waving a stick around and walking in a circle. The man seemed to immediately recognize Bjorn and rushed to give him a hug. He asked if this was the rest of the pack and wondered what I was doing with the pack. He told us he had made preparations to move tonight, but he wasn’t expecting us early. He asked about the new girl and realizing she wasn’t Garou or Kinfolk we sent her away.
The man is Mihason, a wizard of the high order of Hermes. He explains he had provisions and spirit guides set up since he could not go to the village. We were heading to the village due to visions our bodies had. We were to go to the dead village and meet with the waiting pack. We were going to discuss the water beast, who I assumed was the Drowned King, and we were to bring two Kinfolk with the visions. Now understanding why we were here, we set off for the village, but not before retrieving the girl and leaving her with Mihason for three weeks. After which, the girl was to be set free in case we needed her in the future.
After traveling for an hour, we arrived at the dead village. Three individuals greeted us: Howls-Like-Ghost, a Child of Gaia, Adja, a Wendigo, and Aidan Farwatcher, a White Howler. They greet us cordially and Adja personally hugs each of us.
We gathered in nearby house, sat down, and drank as we were to recall our tale. Bjorn told them that we did not have our memories and we didn’t belong here. William retold the tale of the Drowned King, ironically naming him in the past. Aidan closely examines us and realizes we are telling the truth. Adja believes we have been summoned to our ancestors in order to help them with something. We ask our location and she tells us we are on the Danube River in Britannia.
It dawns on us that this will be the first appearance of the Drowned King. We tell Adja this will not be enough to fight him, but she reassures us more will come from the visions being sent to them like us. It will take some time, but we have the opportunity to prepare for it and learn anything we might need to fight it.
The next day, a Garou arrives named Lacresia. She is very motherly to Miguel and it slowly dawns on us that she is the Garou we saw disintegrated in the tunnels before arriving here. As days go by, two more Garou arrive, Varro and Rivous.
About a week in, Adja gathers us together near a fire one night as she believes she knows why we are here. A ritual she learned long ago from someone called the Undying Pursuit. It binds the spirits of those involved in the rite to something or someone, in this case the Drowned King, to fight it until it is defeated.
Over the following two weeks, more Garou arrive. They are Seeks-the-Truth, Not-Holds-the-Tongue, Thought Provoker, Cranham Slays-the-King, Cato Wordforger, and Anzo Honor-Protector. Most of us get along just fine, but Anzo constantly tries to provoke fights. Aidan stops him one time and Anzo, in an unknowingly prophetic statement, mentions he hope their tribe falls in the future.
During this time waiting on arrivals, we discuss our strategy to defeat the Drowned King. We know that he must be kept from water, completely out of it if possible. Jonathon suggests creating a dam in order to cut him off from the river. There is some talk of getting the spirits to help make the dam. Ultimately, we decided it would be best to talk to Mihason and use the wizards to do the task.
Going to Mihason in Longwhite, he wants eight Roman gold rings, viewing them as the finest crafted in the land. William agrees to it, in spite of having none of them, and that the fetching will take two weeks.
During this time, we learn the history of the White Howlers and the Wendigo. We find the White Howlers had savagery even in the past before the fall, but it was a very noble savagery. They also maintained brotherly relationships with the Fianna.
As time marches on, Jonathon suggests binding the Drowned King to a Talen. Adja is receptive to this idea, but tells him it will take many Theurges and the creature would have to be kept still for at least ten minutes.
We managed to achieve the rings through Miguel’s sleight of hand as the second month ended. Shortly after that, Atisha Anthony Tyrion arrives. She seeks an audience with Bjorn. Retreating into a private place, she passionately kisses Bjorn and tells him his exile from the Shadow Lords is complete. The Shadow Lords will be coming to destroy any Fianna in the area. She asks about the pack with the conflict between him and Eli for leadership. She asks about Neo. Bjorn just replies that Neo is Neo, and she just smirks saying he’s a typical Ragabash.
When we sleep that night, we have dreams as both our past selves and who we actually are at the same time. The dream is disorienting and confusing and ends with us waking up spitting water. The Drowned King is close and the others have had the same experience as well. The pack gathers together with the others and shifts into Lupus form to head for the gorge where we have prepared the dam. Miguel and I are forced to ride on horseback to the area.
Four hours into the travel, a tidal wave happens. It destroys everything in the area and prevents Miguel and I from arriving in time for the battle. After another four hours, the pack arrives to the epicenter of the tidal wave to find bloated, white corpse-like piles of flesh. They stink both physically and spiritually. The pack jumps into action trying to destroy them. Unfortunately, this appears to have to effect and they begin to gather together in the center of the river bed.
The flesh reforms and the Drowned King appears. All sides, Garou, Roman, Dacian, and otherwise, attempt to fight it. The battle proceeds like last time only worse. He is even stronger in this time period as Adja asks to start the ritual. Jonathon attempts to bind the Drowned King, but it is obvious he isn’t going to accomplish it in time. The battle is a massacre and Bjorn quickly calls for the ritual. Adja starts the ritual, dipping her hands in the blood of fallen Garou as she chants. Their spirits attach to the Drowned King as the power of the ritual takes her as well.
Miguel and I managed to arrive as the Drowned King submerges. All are dead. I realize the ritual is what weakened him in our time. There may be hope to beat him, even if we can’t do it. Everything goes white as I have this thought…