Tag Archives: the Ahroun

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…

 

Family Reunions… (Game 32)

The next seven weeks went by like a blur. The Sept was extremely busy. Wrong Moon’s father finalized the purchase of the park and had a mansion built for him. I found myself worried about the added activity and damage to the forest, but the elders were ok with it and I let it go for the time being.

Along with all of the work being done on Wrong Moon’s mansion, Crafty decided that four more cabins would need to be built to house the growing Septs Garou. Mackie bonded with the Vulture Walkers at this time and was teaching Sheeba and Jason. His jokes and lessons were all the same as when he taught us, but they were still effective nonetheless.

Ryan worked hard with us during this time teaching any Rites he could. I spent a great deal of time with him and fully mastered my knowledge of Rituals. I felt more confident and hopefully had enough Rites to fill in the void left by Jonathon’s death. I know I’d never be as good with the spirits as he was, but I could always try my hardest.

The Irish Destroyers also worked on rituals with the elders. Killer of Dogs bugged them to let him help them, but never followed through oddly. During this time, the Vulture Walkers goaded Sheeba and Jason to join their pack.

Lion’s Vengeance did bawn patrol with the Vulture Walkers. Scourge of the Woods had been spending a lot more time in Lupus form, but he had taken an interest in Cindy Lawson who was rooming with Stanley Locke. Stanley, himself, was working at Costco and had become very close with Leein. The two were quickly becoming an item.

Born Twice was still struggling to get along with his brother Magnus. Things were getting a little better, but I don’t think Magnus realizes how Bjorn feels. I may have to talk to him about it. When not dealing with his brother, Bjorn summoned his ancestor from the Dark Ages, Talks-with-Herbs and learned a gift. He also learned another gift with the help of Ryan. He still spent his time with Gina who continued on working to graduate school. She also began hinting at wanting to become pregnant.

Killer of Dogs, apparently, was forced to pester everyone for a request to learn gifts. Hopefully, he doesn’t get hurt for his actions.

Stag’s Daughter spent time learning Rites and Gifts. She proposed an idea to tattoo Serenity to protect her from evil spirits, but Ryan shot the idea down. He did applaud her thinking however.

Lindsey continued working while pregnant. Everyone showered her with attention and seeing her stomach grow over time sparked my maternal desires. I wanted to get pregnant again and I now thought I could do so safely because of how strong the Sept was becoming.

Ariel and Cliff haven’t been around much as they would like. Both have been very busy with their jobs.

Rusty and Rivet got themselves into some trouble getting too close to the construction zone. They were reprimanded by Scourge and I don’t think they will be doing that again.

Monica had been getting along great with Scott. It looks like they might be an item soon. I’m glad I suggested it because I know they had a lot in common and could understand each other better than anyone else.

Maria now had an apartment and legal status. She worked at a local Mexican restaurant. Tomas, however, isn’t seen outside of Moots.

Kristen has been attempting to get close to Wrong Moon. He’s resisting and it’s making her want him even more. I hope that he will stop being afraid of girls and give in to her. When not hitting on him, she works at the state hospital in the cafeteria.

Magnus has been happy to spend all of his time with me. He keeps talking about saving up for nice things, dates, etc., but I told him he doesn’t have to. I’m just happy he’s around.

The only real problem during this time was Nick. He doesn’t like the Fianna lifestyle and missed his old life with the Glass Walkers, minus being robbed by them. Worse still, after the Glass Walkers got done taking over his life, they left it in disarray and would have black marks for the rest of his life. My father got him a job, but even after that, we can all tell he’s not happy. We may have to let him go.

After the downtime, another Moot arrived on Halloween. Apparently, this Moot was special. It was the festival of Sam Hain. The Fianna used this time to have a grand feast and there was a lot of celebration. During this time, the gauntlet is very thin and communing with the ancestors is much easier.

The cracking of the bone took place as usual and the first order of business was Daniel Morris and James Sever joining the Sept. James was a given, but Daniel was a little in the air. The elders were completely fine with the idea. They found him honorable, but shy which was unbecoming of most Garou his rank. Lionheart was worried about if a Glass Walker joined the Sept that the Weaver presence would be increased. I interjected that the presence has already been increased with Wrong Moon’s mansion being built.

Ryan said he doesn’t like the Glass Walkers as a tribe, but as a Garou, he knew Daniel was solid. Still, there was some question of how he escaped the destruction of his Sept when most believed he should have died with it. There was a lot of debate about what to do next. Most agreed that they wanted to hear his story and how he made it out of the Sept alive. Some wanted him to work with Nick on improving his views on life. A few, like Mackie, didn’t want him to join at all. In the end, since the vote fell to us, we decided to hear his story and then decide what to do next moot.

The next order of business involved Wrong Moon. The deal with his father could be very dangerous. The elders wanted to ensure his name was on the deed in case someone managed to get to his father and cause all kinds of problems. Personally, I wasn’t happy that he bought the land at all, nor that he was building a mansion on the strip.

With the business taken care of for the moot, our usual fun began. We drank and spent time with the kinfolk while they played music of all varieties. Most of us spent our time with respective mates and friends. I took the time to have sex with Magnus in one of the rooms of the lodge, though I would have preferred something a little closer to nature.

After the party, we went for our run, killing a deer along the way. Eli got the first of the kill as usual and then we all dined. It was a good moot.

[The next morning from Miguel’s perspective…]

Miguel awoke early in the morning to someone running their hands through his hands. He could hear a voice speaking.

“Free me!”

It was Mabe. Miguel, without even opening his eyes, responded.

“Why should I?”

Ominously, Mabe retorted that now she would have to make him.

[Back to the group…]

After doing our regular exercises, Eli sent Agnis and I to the drop point to check for letters like usual. This time, there happened to be a letter there.

“Mister Fathom is in San Francisco. Last seen leaving Kincaid law firm. Mordecai not seen, but always nearby. Can’t lift the Rite on them so you’ll just have to do old-fashioned detective work.”

Returning to the Sept, we delivered the letter to Eli. Debate broke out on how to approach the situation and how we would even travel there. We weren’t sure if we should just go to Kenith directly. There was still some curiosity if he was the Mind Mage. Finally, we decided to just take a van and talk with him directly. On the way there, we searched out a good place for moon bridging later.

We called ahead to let Kenith know we were coming. After we arrived, I mentioned that it would be better for me to play with Ryan during this time, in case he said something that set me off. Eli agreed and we knocked on the door. Kenith answered the door, unusual for him. He already had a lunch packed for Ryan, but I told him we would just be in the backyard while Eli spoke with him.

[With the pack…]

As the pack sat down to talk with Kenith, Agnis attempted to sense Wyrm taint. She didn’t get any more than the usual that you would for being in the city. After accepting some drinks from Kenith, Bjorn laid it all out about Morgan and the potential danger to Ryan and Caitlyn. Even after Eli tried to sway the conversation with Morgan being a great danger to Caitlyn, he wouldn’t bend on lawyer/client confidentiality. He was curious why Caitlyn hadn’t said anything, but he decided on a Quid Pro Quo sort of arrangement.

He wanted to know if Caitlyn was seeing someone else. Bjorn responded honestly with yes and that it was his brother, but he wasn’t sure how serious the relationship was. He asked if Caitlyn loved her, but Bjorn wasn’t sure. He did know that his brother definitely loved him.

At this point, Kenith revealed that Morgan was staying at the Four Seasons Hotel. He was buying up real estate in San Francisco. Right now he was trying to buy Navy Pier, the location of the Hive where Alyssa resides.

His next question was whether Magnus was the reason Caitlyn didn’t come around. This was a flat no from Bjorn who told him it was obligations. He then asked if his brother needed a job, but this question never got answered.

During this time, Bjorn determined that he was definitely a Mage. Kenith went on to tell the pack that Morgan had legal troubles and was rumored to be in human trafficking. Kenith did refuse to divulge anything regarding that, but the information they got was enough to find Morgan.

[To Caitlyn…]

I enjoyed spending the little time I got with Ryan. He was very smart, but curious. I felt like he didn’t get enough interaction from the rest of the world. Still, it was good to spend time with him.

After getting the scoop from the pack that Kenith was a mage and that the pack was heading into town to eat, Eli suggested I stay there for a while and get some quality time with Ryan and Kenith.

The time together was a little unnerving. Kenith wasn’t shy about asking hard questions. He asked why I never came around. I told him he seemed different to me now, more concerned about money and the flashier things in life than before. He laid it out that he was a father now and had to provide for Ryan. I could accept that. The rest of the dinner went fairly smooth although I still had to deal with hard questions. I felt like I should just take the renown and tell him what I am, especially since I knew what he was.

[Meanwhile, with the rest of the pack…]

Eli and the gang headed to the Stinking Rose to touch base with the Fae. They were given their usual table and fed like before. Royal Ascot came by and mentioned all of the free meals they had been getting. Eli felt uncomfortable by this conversation as he might have to use the bird to pay for the hospitality. Royal just laughed and said he just busting his balls before taking care of the check.

[Back together…]

Once we had gotten back together, we decided to case the hotel that Morgan was staying at. Eli sent Agnis and Miguel to find the scoop on how many were staying in the penthouse. During this time, I offered to enact the Rite of Heritage on Eli and determine who his parents are. I performed for the first time in my own special way, but the results were terrifying. Instead of it working, an extremely loud lion’s roar was heard, nearly strong enough to break the windows of the car. Realizing we would stand out because of this, we moved the van while we waited for Agnis and Miguel.

After they returned from casing the hotel, we learned there was only one person in the penthouse. Deciding we could no longer be in the shadows, we went up to meet him. Eli went in first while we waited in the hallway. A man named Danny passed us on the way in, but didn’t pay us any mind.

Eli approached cautiously, and Morgan confirmed his identity and Eli’s. With it appearing as though it was safe, Eli motioned for the rest of the pack to enter. Eli wanted to know how things got the way they are and why he was trying to kill him and his pack.

Morgan said that he took on the contract to kill all of us from Gretchen. However, Morgan found out about Eli being one of the targets and decided to not follow through with it. He later found out the targets included the entire bloodline of his family including his other son Mordecai and his daughter Randy. During this time, Gretchen hired the Dead Man’s Hand because Morgan wasn’t moving fast enough. Morgan, however, had developed so many contacts over the years that he was able to call them off with just a phone call.

When Eli asked how this all started, Morgan kind of rambled about how it all started back in New York with a falling out with his cousin Mal. Afterwards, he took up hunting Garou. His mother was Renee “Dreamseeker” Fathom of the Sept of the Three Waters and she died during childbirth, but Bjorn determined that part was a lie. During the course of his time hunting, he took up other unsavory activities like human trafficking and smuggling.

However, Morgan said he was out of the hunting business. He was in San Francisco strictly for land purchasing. When asked why, he told us he wanted to leave something for his family. He had been here for two months, which is how Gretchen managed to get a hold of him. He was willing to set up a meeting with Mordecai and clear everything up if we liked. We agreed and he gave us the location of the Golden Gate Bridge Park. Before leaving, he offered his card to Eli in case anything happened, he could call on Morgan to help take care of it.

We traveled to the park, unsure of what would happened next, but determined to resolve things. Mordecai could be seen with four others, his pack. He was strangely friendly. He asked us if we had seen it. At first, we didn’t know what he meant, then we remembered the messages that played on the news. It was a warning since neither he nor Morgan were willing to follow through with the contract.

After this, he showed us a medallion. It was Roman in make and very old. He told us he could help us find the Ahroun, the source of all the trouble in our area. The medallion had ties all the way back to the White Howlers. He talked about how they fought the Romans and went into the Spiral looking for more power to defeat them, which became their downfall.

He wanted Eli to join him. When asked what he meant by that, he cryptically said to set things right with the Garou Nation. His pack traveled around the globe to different Septs. He would speak with them about killing both Spirals and Gaians alike. When the Sept attacked, they would kill them. Eli politely turned down this offer, but Mordecai said it was an open invitation whenever he wanted.

Eli then asked about his mother. Mordecai didn’t remember much of her, only that she was gone a lot. She actually died two to three years after Eli was born. He had suspicions that their father killed her. After the conversation ended, Mordecai gave Eli a hug and we entered the Umbra.

In the Umbra, we debated what to do before finally activating the medallion. The medallion turned into a white elk. He asked us why we smelled like lion. We told him we were followers of lion. He said he would lead us to the one we seek and opened a moon bridge. As we traveled the moon bridge, he recalled the history of the Fianna and the White Howlers and how we are joined to them. As we arrived, he asked us not to take vengeance out on the Ahroun because too much violence has been done against ourselves.

Peeking out of the Umbra, we could see a shadowy figure standing over the body of two Lupus Garou. Emerging from the Umbra, he caught out gaze.

“Looks like someone found out they were being betrayed. Who tipped you off?”

He then suggested we return to our Sept with the bodies. We could see glyphs carved in the nearby trees, just like Jonathon’s death. We weren’t sure of what to do and then we heard the howls. We knew we were in a bad situation. We could see in the far distance Red Talon Hispos charging forward in full frenzy.

The Ahroun shifted to Crinos and prepared for an attack. Agnis and I shifted as well. She hit him with Drona, lightly dazing him. I followed up with a haymaker, surprisingly knocking him out in one shot. We grabbed his body and headed into the Umbra. This was not going to end well…