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The Binding of Mabe and an Old Enemy of Daniel’s Returns… (Game 42)

Returning from the Wasteland to the Sept, Jonathon went to study at the Sept while Bjorn did his chiminage with Shebia in Wolfhome. Because of the issue of William’s family and his family’s company, Eli wanted to take care of the situation. William’s finances would always be useful to the Sept and without his controlling interest, his company might take back the Sept which was now owned by Scott LLC.

Getting ahold of William’s family lawyer, Eli convinced William to speak with Stu Smith. Eli was told by Stu that William must speak with Max Dechon, the next highest majority shareholder next to William’s family.

In the meantime, we went to Crafty and asked about Ossian. He told us a story of his ancestor:

“I inherited the box from my great Grandfather before he passed. He was a storyteller of great reknown and was happy to tell me the story of Mabe and the box. Long ago a Fae wandering into a Fianna Sept and met a young Fianna by the name of Finn. Finn was so struck by her kindness and beauty that he fell in love with her. It so happens that another loved her too, a wizard of great power that was feared throughout the land. When he found out about the werewolf and Fae union and banished her back to her homeworld in Arcadia. Finn and his pack attempted to hunt down his true love to no avail until one day while on a quest, the pack found two Fae guarding a young boy, who looked very similar to Finn. He over took the guards and brought the boy back to the Sept where it was confirmed that he was Garou with Fae Blood.

This boy grew into a great warrior and was named Ossian. He had many adventures but the one of note was the capturing of Mabe, Queen of the Fae. It was told to my great Grandfather that because he was half fae he was able to move freely between Arcadia and Earth as we would travel into the Umbra. Ossin made a pact with the current King of the Unseelie to banish her from both realms for 1000 years. It was well known that she could not be killed so banishment was the only option but Ossian knew of another way, which was binding her to an object using Rites he had learned from his Garou side and his own Fae magic. By using a little trickery he talked Mabe into the box and chiminage was that she would be freed after 1000 years or completed duties.

Ossian as to not be tempted by Mabe’s power gave the box to a child of one of his packmates, which was my great great, great, great, great ( you get the point) grandfather.

Now my great grandfather told me to use the box before the 1000 years were up and when I found the Caern here I thought it prudent, for one hundred years the Caern would have an incredibly powerful guardian, but I underestimated her trickery. As her time to be freed grew closer her powers increased and she was able to use her own free will to get herself freed with simple manipulation, and that is how my story of the box ends.”

With his story concluded, I asked if he wanted to be present when I summon Ossian. Crafty was interested and so was Mackie. I started the ritual as completed it as normal, but nothing happened for the first time in my role as ritemaster. Mackie then suggested doing the Rite of the Questing Stone out of morbid curiosity. Agnis did the rite and strangely, it worked. We all questioned how he could be alive after over 1,000 years of time had passed.

Still, not wasting time, Eli got us a park van and we made the trip where the stone pointed. The trip was long and took over a day. We headed north and found ourselves in Seattle, Washington. The city smelled far worse than San Francisco and was an assault on our senses.

Heading into downtown, we found the stone pointing downward. With only one possible solution, we headed down into the sewers to find him. It didn’t take long and we ran into Ossian. He warned us to stay away, but we still got closer. It was obvious he was a bit frightened or cautious of us. Eli told him what had happened with Mabe and that we were trying to prevent her from spreading glamour all over the world. Agnis told him that we had the option of talking Mabe down, but Ossian immediately shot that idea down. Mabe would never be talked down.

With only one other moral option, we would have to bind her. In order for Ossian to agree to such a thing, he required that in the future he would demand six days of sanctuary at a time of his choosing. Eli agreed to it and Ossian took off a piece of a braided cord and wrapped around Eli’s wrist as they shook. The cord became a tattoo on Eli’s wrist, a form of magic we could not determine but guessed it was Fae. It was likely to bind and force Eli to honor his agreement.

Ossian told us that the ritual to bind Mabe is actually very simple and similar to the Rite of Binding. We would need to create fae markings in a circle in order to create the binding area. The markings can be concealed and any size, but he didn’t recommend making it too large. There are four sets of markings with three in each set totaling 12.

A box would have to be carved with care much like we would with a fetish. Ossian’s blood would have to be placed in the box. After taking care of this, we would have to set the terms with a maximum of 1,000 years as its limit. There must be a task that she can fulfill and the magic would weaken over time.

He warned us that if she leaves the ritual before it completes, it will fail. He fooled her once by telling her that he was going to show her Gaian rites. He doesn’t believe she will be fooled again. He gave us the blood and he left us cautiously.

As we drove back to the Sept, William went to take care of his family affair. William went to his mansion in the Sept and met Max there. The press was swarming around his property. There, Max was waiting with a smoke and drink as he started speak with William.

He tried to be sympathetic to William saying that is was tragic for his father’s passing, but business would have to go on. He basically insulted William and told him that he wasn’t worthy or capable of running the company. The board would accept him taking over the company and then offering his resignation. In return, he would receive a generous package worth nearly $622 million after liquidating his father’s property and stock. He would have access to the family lawyer and any other needs.

The conversation was short. He had eight days to respond. Max then took his leave and William spoke with his lawyer, Stu Smith, about the issue. Stu recommended he wait ten days before giving a response in order to make Max sweat a bit. William agreed to sell out the entire fortune save the two houses, his current mansion and the one in New York for the Sept to have somewhere to stay on the east coast. He also mentioned that he would create a team of his choosing to assist him. William wanted Nicolaus to be part of his team in order to help out the downtrodden kinfolk.

Returning to the Sept, I asked Crafty if he would be willing to create the box for Mabe. He happily agreed and we prepared for what came next. Agnis, during this time, asked Quetzal privately if being deceptive or violent towards Mabe to stop her broke his ban. Q told her that due to enormity of the issue and potential for great suffering that using somewhat dishonorable tactics was acceptable in this situation.

After Agnis informed us that we could use just about any method to stop her, we went about looking for any advantages we could use. Miguel managed to channel Cormack, his Dark Age ancestor, and learn that the fae hate cold iron, basically pure iron. Eli continued with the idea of bargaining, but still wanted to have a forcible option. We decided to work on shackles for her. I assisted Eli as we took a few days to create nearly perfect shackles.

Eli tried to ask Ryan for any assistance he could offer, but Ryan told him that it is a challenge and therefore he could not assist him. Still, with all the information and planning we had, we decided that we were ready for the binding.

Taking Q’s moon bridge to San Francisco, we located a safe spot in the Golden Gate Park. Agnis and I went about carving the symbols discreetly while Eli spoke with Royal about any possible weaknesses in Mabe. Royal didn’t have much to offer and the mention of cold iron was not well received. It would physically hurt her, but would not be the way to go to inhibit her powers. With no other assistance from him, Eli returned to our trap.

It was time to invite Mabe out to the area. William volunteered and Eli reluctantly agreed to let him give the invitation. William arrived at the location Royal told us about. It was a lovely building, at least from what he could see.

Heading into the building, William managed to get by security, seeing Royal there in the lobby. He was shown to her room by security. Mabe was happy to see William when he arrived. He told her that we missed her and we wanted to invite her to a meeting where the pack had information she might want to know. She agreed to go as long as William ate an apple. Hesitant, but not willing to back out, William ate the apple. Upon eating it, he was show a world of glamour and power that Mabe would rule. She wanted all of us to be with her.

Although the vision ended, he was still being affected by the glamour. As he took the elevator up to her room, he could see an ogre cranking the elevator to make it go up and down. Heading into the lobby he could see Royal in his true appearance in the process. Glamour was flowing freely here due to Mabe’s presence.

Outside of the building, they called a carriage with a Red Cap Fae as a driver and headed to the park. At the park, we could see that William was being affected by her magic, but it didn’t deter us from our mission. Mabe was sad to see the world in the state that it was. Eli wanted her to stop with her goal as it could hurt and kill many people on both sides of the fence. Mabe told Eli that she would be willing to stop right now if she had a king. She wanted to marry Eli.

Eli obviously didn’t want to do this, but I quickly interjected to go ahead and do it. We would do the “Garou marriage ritual” and it would be taken care of. She wanted to have a proper Fae wedding, but we agreed to do that after she did our ritual. However, she required a witness. William grabbed the Red Cap and brought him to the ritual.

Agnis and I began doing the Rite, dancing around the area as John attempted to make up a speech on the spot. Mabe quickly caught on to the situation and tried to prevent us with illusions. She made Eli believe that he was a cockroach. John grabbed Mabe as she tried to slink away while slapping Eli. He felt it, but could not shake his vision. He finally managed to shake it as we watched on.

Mabe then tried to afflict me with a vision of a battlefield and enemies attacking me. I knew from watching Eli that this was a trick. I took the sword I was holding and managed to stab myself until I fell unconscious as I wouldn’t risk accidently attacking my friends.

John was affected next. He let go of Mabe which Eli then grabbed her. He saw a hostage situation with a man who had babies taped to him and was holding a woman hostage. He tried to disarm and beat him. In reality, he was beating the Red Cap.

Miguel got affected next with a vision of a mental hospital. He had apparently been hallucinating that he was a werewolf. Miguel went with the vision and left the hospital. In reality, Miguel was leaving the circle.

Agnis got affected next, only this time, she saw a blonde-haired girl sitting a white room with her. She told Agnis to think of love and happiness. She told Agnis that the glamour could make the world better and all she has to do is want it. Agnis resisted and told the girl that she had work to do. The girl told her that she was sorry that she felt this way and would kill her later for this.

As she said that, green light emanated off of my body along with Miguel’s, Agnis’, and John’s. I came to and immediately got up and continued the ritual. Mabe was angry and blamed William for this.

Suddenly, William found himself in an illusion. He was standing next to the moon as it smoked a cigarette. It asked him to tell it a story. William quickly made up an epic tale of the how Mabe was trying to change the world and of a deadly serpent, one that he had seen in the vision, and how our pack had to stop it.

The moon was impressed and as he completed the tale, sparks began to fly from us. Mabe’s body fell to the ground and her smoke form came from it. She started to speak of how she would get free, but she was sucked into the box before she could finish.

With the ritual done, we had passed our challenge. With only returning to the Sept and being recognized for this left, we went home. We laid down and rested for the night when Eli awoke in the middle of the night. A note was near him:

Guys,

Shouldn’t be gone long. I found a spirit that knows some secrets and I found a guy that knows it personally. His name is Prescott Solomon, a Glasswalker. Saw him around Williams place looking for Daniel and told me about the Spirit. I told Q to cut me off for a while because I didn’t want him getting involved in negotiations. Prescott said the spirit wouldn’t like it much and I’ll need any edge I can get. Can you guys tell Daniel I’m with his friend and he’ll come back for him when we finish up.

 

PS. Sorry again about the Bane thing

Feel like a heel for almost getting

us killed over a dumb mistake.

 

I tried to warn Eli about how dangerous Prescott was, having seen the Sept’s vision of it, and how we needed to speak with Daniel about this. Eli blew me off and even insinuated that Daniel was in on it as well. He told me to speak with Daniel while he went to Crafty.

Crafty had nothing. He wanted to know what we were going to do. Eli wanted to go after Jonathon. I spoke with Daniel in the meantime, finally letting him in on the fact that I knew what had happened to him in Malfeas. He told me that if Jonathon was with him, then he was already dead and that Prescott would lead us into hell itself. All was doomed. For the first time, I genuinely didn’t know what to do next…

Making Baneskins and the Mabe Problem… (Game 41)

After returning from dispatching the Pride Slayers, we took a day of well needed rest. As night fell, the moot began. After taking care of the opening ceremonies, Crafty started right in with business. He announced that the Mage threat was very real. While we have negotiated a shaky truce, any more aggressive actions will be met with a declaration of war. Crafty told us that the Hand of Fionn have been noticing an increase in bane activity in the city.

Ryan then asked for the bone and he told us that while White Lion is waiting for the White Lion’s Pride pack to do their mega quest, he has taken in Roedeer and Elk. Silent Hunter has been dividing up smaller quests for the rest of the Sept.

Mackie then took the bone. Because of Ariel’s death and her importance to the Sept, kinfolk are now going to be allowed positions within the Sept. Daniel then took the bone and told us as a Sept to not get wrapped up in the politics of the area. We as a Sept will not be joining their union, but will remain neutral much like the Sept of the Raging Storm has.

Gruffy then took the bone and told us that the Irish Destroyers have been keeping up relations with the Sept of the Three Waters. We can now ask for guidance and assistance, but we will owe them something in return.

Scourge-of-the-Woods then took the bone. There have been more tourists in the area lately thanks to summer approaching. We must always remain vigilant and be cautious of them. Also, there have been reports of two packs of wild wolves running around in California and they are legally protected. We must be careful not to draw attention to ourselves.

Pasthealer then took the bone. The Vulture Walkers are doing really well. There have been some sightings of the Fang and Claw pack in the area moving around secretly. The Vulture Walkers have said they won’t allow them to stay without permission. They may cause trouble in the future.

BosWyrm then took the bone. The Hand of Fionn has accepted Short Paw into the pack as a member and she is now an official member of the Sept. Any mistreatment towards her will result in the pack leaving the sept. BosWyrm is very serious about this.

Merrick of the Truth Hunters pack then took the bone. The Truth Hunters are offering to relieve the Vulture Walkers of their bawn patrol so that they can take up some quests for the Sept.

Finally, Bjorn took the bone as Eli was predisposed taking care of Lindsey from her ordeal. The only thing we had to report was the fact that the Mages were dealing with something called a Bane Mummy. We believed that it was likely a Wyrm creature of some sorts that we might have to deal with in the future.

After this, we worked on our renown and began the after business ceremony. All of the other members of the Sept partied, but I asked Bjorn to see my son with Magnus. He agreed and I spent the night at my father’s getting to know my son better and having a real family moment for once.

The next morning, Silent Hunter approached us after I returned to the Sept. He told us in order to make a Baneskin we would need the following: a piece of cloth personal to us, and a piece of Bane after killing it. After that, we would need to summon a Mockingbird and convince it to join with the fetish.

Thankfully, finding them would not be hard as BosWyrm knew where they were. Deciding to take care of this right now, BosWyrm directed us to a restaurant near the port named Aldo’s Restaurant. We all grabbed a piece of cloth personal to us. I chose a piece of the dress that Kenith got me on our first date. It was a nice dress and I tried to make sure it was still wearable after the fact.

dumpsterfood

Heading to Aldo’s, the first thing we noticed immediately that was off was a man eating out of a dumpster. At first, we thought he was just a homeless man until we saw him eating inedible things like cans. We realized that a bane had to be at work here.

Heading into the Umbra, we saw a bane standing over where the man was. Behind him was another one just like it. It was oddly not part of him like we would normally see. Jonathon told us it was a Thinbone. They made their victims grow extremely hungry, sucking the sustenance out of them before the human could digest it, until the human wore down and died.

In the distance, Agnis could see another bane hiding behind a tree that she pointed out to us. As soon as she pointed out, the Thinbones attacked. Jonathon activated his Battle Mandala gift while we attacked the two banes. I managed to kill my Thinbone after Jonathon snared it. Bjorn managed to kill his at the same time while Agnis snuck up on the odd looking bane near the tree.

We approached the bane near the tree. It had a glowing orb in the center of his face, but no eyes. Jonathon told us it was a Scryer. It worked for a larger bane and reported back to it. We were going to attack it but Jonathon waved us off and said he could command it. We let Jonathon do his thing and suddenly he told the Scryer to summon more banes.

Shocked and agitated with Jonathon, I immediately summoned up Luna’s Armor to protect me. Four Scrags appeared before including a type of bane that I had never seen before. We wasted no time and began attacking the Scrags. As we did, the unknown bane disappeared suddenly. With no time to think about it, we continued to assault them. The Scrags used a power on us that forced on us that caused myself to frenzy and lose control for the third time in my life. The power forced Bjorn to enter the Thrall of the Wyrm unfortunately.

I dropped my weapons and viciously attacked my target while Bjorn charged Miguel. Thankfully, Miguel had abilities to disappear from sight and it redirected Bjorn to another Scrag. We kept fighting and Agnis was transformed into a Centaur like creature due to Drona. We managed to finally take them down while Bjorn and I frenzied until exhausted.

Once done, Quetzal informed us that the bane was a Phantasmi and was in the material realm. We shifted back to the material world where the bane had a body composed of trash and was shaking the dumpster around looking for something. Jonathon commanded the bane to go back to the Umbra. There, with Agnis, Quetzal managed to blast the creature and destroy it before it could attack her.

With all of our bane pieces grabbed, we looked around for what the bane was interested in at the dumpster. There, we found a tied up bag with a powdery substance that was Wyrm tainted. Looking around the area, we considered it might have come from Tomas. We had always been aware that Tomas was doing something illegal, but we turned a blind eye considering he was a participating member of the Sept.

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Worried, we headed for his boat. There, we found two women apparently dead from drugs with a large collection of drugs strewn about. Looking in the boat, we found Tomas high on drugs. We asked him where he got the drugs, but he only told us that his boss Hector Hulio Iglesias. We chastised him for what he was doing. He offered us money to fix the problem, not understanding the spiritual damage he was doing. It occurred to me his drugs might be what got Lightning Claws’ kinfolk hooked. Bjorn told us to get everything cleaned up and made Miguel decide what to do with Tomas. Miguel decided to send Tomas into rehab with Wrong Moon’s money. Jonathon and I performed the Rite of Cleansing on the boat and then Bjorn reported it to the DEA as we left.

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We returned to the Sept and got some rest for the night. We awoke the next morning and began the summoning for the Mockingbirds. I managed to get three very happy spirits out of the eight, but three summoned from the others were just a bit bitter, but thankfully not hostile.

I went first in bargaining with the spirit. I tried speaking with it, but it just repeated everything I said back to it. I asked Jonathon what he thought and he told me to do what comes natural. When the spirit repeated what Jonathon said, I realized what to do. I told the spirit “I’m going to get into the fetish.” When it repeated it, I held up my prepared fetish. Realizing that I wasn’t going to get angry and had tricked it, it obliged.

Jonathon went next and the spirit sounded like Kelly. It asked him if he was willing to take her (Kelly) into such a place where she could die. It was trying to convince Jonathon that if he cared about the spirit, he would not want to take her there. He managed to convince the spirit that they would be safe together. It obliged and entered the fetish.

Agnis went next. The spirit sounded like Slavis, the Spiral that had threatened Gina. It tried to taunt her into believing that it would be corrupted if it went to Malfeas. Agnis, undaunted, told it that they would see for themselves then. Realizing she had no fear of the realm, it entered the fetish.

The rest of the spirits entered the fetish with no tests but had a ban. Jonathon’s demanded to be tested against every bane they met. Bjorn’s wanted to feel the mortal wind again. Eli’s needed to be in the sun and could not be concealed. Wrong Moon’s demanded that food be spilled on it once a month and then the wearer must say oopsie, also the name of the spirit. Miguel’s demanded to listen to other people problems before telling them “twiddling” and continue it until they chase them away. Agnis’ demanded to go everywhere with her and listen in on conversations. Finally, mine demanded to always be kept close and never left behind.

With our Baneskin fetishes taken care of, Daniel called us over to see him. On his cell phone, there was a report being told about Scott LLC, Wrong Moon’s father’s company. Jerome Scott had been found dead. William had thus became the sole member of his fortune. However, the assets were frozen until William came forward and claimed the company. The last known place that Jerome had purchased was the mansion that Wrong Moon and Daniel lived in. We would have to bring this before the elders.

In the meantime before we met with them, we worked on a few gifts. Bjorn suffered probably the harshest chiminage I had ever heard of after summoning Sheeba. He was forced to go to Wolfhome and stay with Scar until the Metis released him.

After a couple of the pack learned some gifts, Mackie called us to him. Because both Agnis and I had challenged for Artho Rank at the same time, he asked whether we challenge separately or as a pack. We decided on challenging as a pack. Mackie went to get his bottle and we sat at the fire pit and discussed what the challenge would be.

It turns out a good deed had turned itself around on us. Because Mabe had been freed due to Miguel’s inaction, she was now attempting to bring magic back into the world. She is killing anyone who opposes her. The true Fae used to be here at one time, but as magic faded from the world, only the half-Fae remain, such as those brought back from the Hedge. Her being able to remain here is very dangerous. We must go speak with Royal Ascot in the Wasteland and uphold our oaths as Tuatha De Fionn.

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The Wasteland wasn’t a realm of course, but a building in San Francisco. We headed there by moon bridge and met with Royal. He took us up to the office and laid it all out for us. There was no simple solution to the problem. She had the power to end us all in one fell swoop. He had tried for the whole tribe, but only managed to get us. Zanatos had heard of Mabe being captured and went looking for her at our Sept. He wanted to free her and be her king. Fortunately, that did not work out for him.

Mabe is bringing glamour back into the world and quickly throwing the balance of power out of whack. She is bringing back the old ways and normal people would see the half-Fae for what they really are. They might also see the Garou for what they are, ruining the protection of the Delirium. Her powers might even begin to affect others like us as well.

She is basically attempting to link the Hedge with the regular world. If we fail at this task, we’re doomed along with him as well. We asked how to defeat her, but Royal looked depressed when we asked. She is basically a God. Jonathon suggested imprisoning her again.

Royal told us her history that she is the warrior queen of the true fairies. She at one time took kings who had one foot in the mortal world and one in the Fae. She ruled with strict morals. She was eventually dethroned by her son Oberon. She was not concerned with this until Oberon erected the barrier removing the true Fae from the material world. Oberon then banished her so she created the Unseelie kingdom.

At around 1100 AD, she disappeared without a trace. There were some rumors about her location like Magus Mavue, an area where you left a stone and got good luck or took one and had bad luck. There was also the rumor that Osin created the box and trapped her in it with a blessing from the Fae.

Right now, Mabe is staying in the Lotus building. She is only inhabiting the body of the girl we met and is pure spirit. We would have to bind if we wanted to talk some sense into her. With nothing more to add, Royal dismissed us. We now had an epic challenge on our hands…

Loss of a Sept Guardian and Interrogating the Ahroun… (Game 33)

We made our run back to the Sept as fast as possible. Thankfully, the Red Talons were frenzied and could not follow us into the Umbra, but you could never be too careful. It was early, but the Sept was up and running already. Scourge of the Woods was already on top of things as we approached. He grabbed rope and took the Ahroun from me, tying him to a tree.

The Ahroun woke shortly thereafter and was not happy to say the least. He didn’t frenzy or attempt to shift, but we could tell he wasn’t going to be cooperative. The only thing he said to us was that he was going to railroad us.

As he sat tied up, Sheeba and Jason arrived and identified him immediately. With our true culprit in hand, Eli went to get Crafty. As Eli got close to Crafty, he could see him having a heated, but still somewhat civil conversation with Ryan. The Irish Destroyers were there cleaning up as the two elders stopped their conversation on Eli’s approach. Eli explained the situation. Mackie wanted to talk with him, but Crafty shut him down.

Crafty said that he was going to the Sept of the Three Waters. We would need to determine the location of the trial and prepare for a potential attack from the Red Talons. Crafty explicitly told Eli that the Ahroun was not to be messed with. Everything would have to be legit or else our Sept could suffer the consequences. Crafty ordered Mackie to set up a protection ring around the bawn with the Irish Destroyers and any other available Garou.

Eli returned and told us what Crafty had said. The Ahroun said he would not admit to anything and we simply ignored him. Miguel went to urinate while we stood around unsure of what to do next. Bjorn observed the Ahroun closely and was able to determine he was a Get of Fenris from his tattoos, something that the Ahroun attempted to cover up upon Bjorn learning this.

Suddenly, a howl of warning went off. Eli took me with him as we went to see what was going on near the cabin area. There, we could see Mackie and Ryan surrounding the moon stone. There were Shadow Lords all around us as our Sept members were holding them down, but not attacking. We tried to approach, but Crafty waved us off. Blitz, the Garou who had been here before, seen us and went Crinos causing the rest of the Shadow Lords to follow. Our Sept members then went next to hold them back, but Eli and I held our ground in Homid as we believed we had done nothing wrong.

After everyone calmed down, Blitz warned us about an assault on our Sept if we lied to them. Crafty managed to calm the situation down and tell them they had the Ahroun and he would stand trial for his actions. They left, finding Crafty’s diplomacy acceptable.

Crafty asked Eli to walk with him and I headed back to where the Ahroun was being held. Crafty then told Eli about the situation. Apparently, some members of the Sept of the Three Waters did not want the Ahroun to stand trial. He obviously either had dirt on other members of the Sept or they were in with him on his actions. The problem was really deep. Even if we managed to make the Ahroun stand trial and punish the guilty parties, someone else would just take their place. Crafty told Eli that there had to be camps involved.

Eli still demanded justice. Crafty retorted that we couldn’t hold the trial without making us look like villains or slanted against him since we had personal bias. The Sept of the Three Waters wanted to hold the trial, but Eli found that unacceptable as they would just sweep it under the rug like they did with the Sept of the Stone Sea. In the meantime, Crafty told him we would have to guard him closely because if he slipped out of sight, he could not be found thanks to whatever Rite had been performed on him.

As Eli relayed this through mindspeak, Bjorn told Eli to tell Crafty about how we found the Ahroun. Eli told Crafty, but left out a few details due to its insidious nature. Crafty seemed impressed and asked Eli what would he do in this situation? Crafty told him he could do some things, but he might lose favor with the Sept of the Three Waters. However, Eli diminished their importance and that they weren’t that much of an ally to begin with because they always demanded something in return for help.

Deciding that he would need more input, Eli went to confer with the rest of us and then we would confer with the elders afterwards. In the meantime, John and William would watch the Ahroun.

It was a tough conversation to say the least. There was so many things we had been keeping from the rest of the Sept and Crafty. Agnis said that the time for secrecy had ended and if we didn’t act now, we may not have the ability to. We all agreed and decided we would tell Crafty everything. We knew we would need a conclave to work on the situation. We would have to bring all of the Septs together or else the Black Spirals plot to destroy the Septs would succeed.

Eli met Crafty at the edge of the caern and laid it all out for him. He wasn’t mad, probably due to his Ragabash nature. Ryan had managed to create a Talen that would get two truths out of the Ahroun. It was a feather that we had to lay on his head. We needed to use it before the trial in order to ensure we got the information in case things got swept under the rug.

After giving us the feather, Ryan called for Crafty. Apparently, there was an emergency and Blitz needed to speak with Crafty. Nodding to him, we quickly made our way back to the Ahroun. He was still sitting there sternly. We debated for a moment to make sure we got the correct wording on the questions to get the best answer possible. We placed the feather upon his head and asked our first question:

“What is your complete meaning and purpose of killing these Garou?”

His answer wasn’t anything shocking. He simply hated us. He thought that Lion leading this Sept was a bad idea from the start. He viewed us as parasites since we took all of the Fianna from the Sept of the Three Waters. He had been watching us since the battle at the pier. We were surviving just because of the Sept of the Three Waters. He had killed 16 Garou in battle, not including Jonathon and the two Lupus. He killed the Lupus to lead the Shadow Lords here.

We went ahead with our second question as the first question didn’t really give any insight into his crimes.

“Who doesn’t want you on trial and why?”

With this, the Ahroun started laying out at least half a dozen names: Gretchen, Raging Wild, Wyrmflayer, Prestige, Bristles, and the rest of his Get of Fenris brothers. He named Gretchen because she had consorted with him in bringing down the Septs. Prestige was listed because the Ahroun had personally witnessed the carnage of the death of the Sept of the Stone Sea. Wyrmflayer had worked on the alienation of the Sept of the Raging Storm. Bristles knew of the Ahroun’s connection to the mages who enacted his protection rite. Raging Wild was the head of the Get of Fenris and the camp hell bent on destroying all of the other Septs. Finally, for his Get brothers because they are all one.

It was a bombshell. It linked the Ahroun back to nearly every single bad event that has happened since we arrived. A few even before we arrived. He had put the fetish in our bawn in order for us to solve it and earn the ire of any nearby Silver Fangs. We refuted this by saying that we were going to return it to them. We tried to appeal to his good side that he was heading down the path of the Wyrm, specifically Beast of War. He blew us off saying he just used the Spirals like they used him. I thought to myself that this is what Rage Heart could have become had he not gotten his Rage in check.

He then tried to antagonize us with the death of Jonathon. Eli throttled him and for a second and it looked like he might actually kill him. He said Jonathon didn’t even fight back while he killed him. I offered a rebuttal that Jonathon’s purpose was with the spirits and not fighting. Bjorn managed to convince Eli to not kill him, stating it wasn’t worth it. After this was done, the Ahroun realized what he had said because of the feather. He said he was still going to railroad us.

As he ranted on, Gruffy came up and grabbed us. We left John and William with the Ahroun while we ran to the caern. Apparently, the Sept of the Angry Earth had been attacked just like the Sept of the Stone Sea. Most of the Red Talons were dead and the caern totem had been severed. There was nothing there.

Blitz knew that we didn’t do it. It suddenly dawned on us that the Ahroun had mentioned this. He wanted the Shadow Lords to show up at our Sept in order to weaken the Sept of the Angry Earth for attack. We tried to appeal to them to stay with us, but they blew us off and most of them had moved to the Sept of the Three Waters. Agnis then told Crafty what we learned and suggested putting ourselves on trial in order to get the truth out. Eli wanted to go to the Sept of the Raging Storm in order to prevent them from being blamed for this event.

As we returned to the Ahroun, William was telling John a story with their backs to the tree. The Ahroun had escaped. Before we even had time to assess the situation, Cliff arrived. He had heard from Lindsey that Scott was in the hospital. Eli asked Crafty if we could leave and take care of him and he approved. Sending Agnis and I to the hospital, we were to heal him. We took the park van and drove as fast as we could.

Arriving at the hospital, Lindsey met us and told us that there were four other people with this strange affliction. It caused black ooze to come out of there orifices and generally put them on the edge of death. Lindsey cleared out the area and let us do our work. I healed Scott while Agnis checked for Wyrm taint. It took a little effort but I finally healed Scott and Agnis found no Wyrm taint. He had no memory of getting sick, but was thankful we helped him. We worked as much as we could on the others before our spiritual reserves were expended. Agnis checked the Umbra for any signs, but couldn’t get any leads on what caused this.

After healing, Lindsey got another call. Tomas was now sick with this mystery plague. He was at his boat and could not move. The only common connection the other victims had were they worked at the same restaurant. As we made our way out of the hospital, they were bringing in even more people was the disease. We quickly got in the van and drove to Tomas. Now, the CDC was going to be called in.

As more of the disease spread, Miguel told Eli about how Mabe put a curse on his mother because he would not free her. It’s possible that anyone his mother touches gets sick. Eli told Crafty about  it and he looked disappointed. He said she was tricky and he could fix the situation once he got her box. Heading to his personal cabin area, he could not find the box. They all assumed the Ahroun had taken the box.

Luckily, while the Ahroun could not be tracked, the box could be. Ryan enacted the Rite of the Questing Stone for it and gave them the piece of wood he used. They headed into the Umbra and used a moon bridge to follow it to a house near the beach. Checking the situation out carefully, they found no one in the house. Deciding to act, they entered the house.

Inside, they found the Ahroun, dead. No cause of death could be determined. Worse still, the box was open. Looking around the house, the pack found two dead parents. The teenage girl who lived there was missing. Eli considered calling in the debt to secure Mabe, but opted not to.

As the pack took stock of everything, my phone that I had entrusted to Eli rang. Maria, Miguel’s mother was on the other end. She asked to talk to Miguel. She said someone was at the door named Jenny that she didn’t know. Miguel told her to keep the door closed and tell them she was sick. He hung up, but no more than five minutes later, she called back again. This time there was a scream on the other end.

Moon bridging to Maria’s place, Agnis and I joined up with the pack. A young girl with blue hair was there. It was obvious that it was Mabe in human form. She meant us no ill will. She only returned to take the curse off of Miguel’s mother. She thought that when Miguel rejected her that it was a test. We asked if she would go back to guarding the Sept, but she politely declined. She might have if Miguel would have let her free, but we told her he was the wrong person for the job.

Mabe decided she would travel the world for a while, looking for a king. We suggested Royal Ascot, but he was king of the Seelie fae and she was Queen of the Unseelie fae, so it wouldn’t work. Zanatos was also brought up, but she only married mortals who would then go on to be prosperous. Still, we thanked her for her time as the guardian of our Sept and invited her to visit any time she pleased.

Moon bridging back to the Sept, Tomas called and said he was feeling better. We spoke with Crafty about the situation. He wasn’t happy about losing Mabe, but he figured he could only hold onto her for a few more years anyway. He wasn’t mad at us thankfully. We would now need a new Sept guardian. White Elk was suggested among other spirits, but the more pressing matter was the Grand Moot. Crafty asked if we were still going to have it which we agreed to it. However, before we did so, Eli wanted us to get in touch with the Sept of the Raging Storm before they were blamed. We were now in a race against time to stop an all-out war from happening…