(IC) New Bedford at Night

[Thundercracker]

Blaze

“Yeah, we haven’t in some time, and it is important, especially with Michael joining,” Blaze said, pulling twigs and leaves from his clothing, “lead on Bear.”

[Erulasto]

Even Kara seems a bit more excited and animated now at the ceremony's conclusion, the vigour that came with these Hunts were enticing, even to the reluctant Cahalith.

"Remind me when we're done. I've got some info to share, y'know?" Kara says with a wide grin as she prances alongside the rest with a playful stride.

[Bennosuke]

One by one the Uratha places a hand on the Locus before crossing over into the Shadow. In the world of flesh, the locus is a large jagged rock, extending high into the sky and skewering the wooden blanks of the far end of the dock. The rock is is slick with sea spray and speckled with barnacles and dead seaweed. Despite the cold, the rock is practically warm to the touch, and it burns with the Essence of the sea, and somehow with Essence of Pride. The electric sensation of touching the Locus practically numbs the hand as each Uratha moves between planes.

In the Shadow, the monolithic stone is softer, as if made of a supple animal hide. The many shells and barnacles now seem to be covered in lush sprouts and globular pieces of meat colored jelly. The locus fruit had not been there previously, likely having been scavenged for Essence by the legions of lesser spirits that had only days ago congregated and plagued this locus. All those but maybe Michael recognize that this indicates a subtle righting of the land's Harmony, thanks to the Uratha's presence, and that this budding fruit is a worthy reward. The fruit practically bursts in the mouth, releasing a gelatinous substance that tastes equal parts blood and raw meat. It is impossible to eat without covering one's mouth and hands in tangy red gore.

Spoiler: OOC

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The shadow fruit is rich with Essence and there is enough for each Uratha to gain one Essence. I am going to assume that everyone gluts appropriately and will update your character boxes appropriately

Overhead, a flock of water gaffling flits by well out of reach, cautiously watching the newly arrived Uratha below. Neither King Sky Hunter, nor any of Izdakha's pack are anywhere in sight.

Together the Anchor Wolves have gathered in the Shadow to Hunt. They would track down their prey and sate their hunger and their rage and their sorrow. They would strike back at the Beshilu and and bring anguish to the host abominations many folds greater than they had experienced. They would avenge Santiago, and they would initiate the new one called Michael. Somewhere in the distance, or perhaps simply in the pack's imagination Santiago's keyboard played out the heavy rhythmic baseline of the band's Ritual Song, played to initiate the Siskur-Dah. The song seemed to say, "Urum D Takus- The Wolf Must Hunt!"

Spoiler: OOC

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And so the hunt begins. The pack briefly mentioned nominating Bear to "lead on", but Solomon as the pack Hunter in Darkness he led the Rite for the Siskur Dah and has the Hosts as his preferred prey. So I suggest maybe Solomon takes the initiative... though this is not a command. I also suggest (as mentioned earlier) that the pack starts by heading towards the Shadow Equivalent of the the burned down Church, but will allow the pack to follow any avenue of hunting they prefer.

A few reminders, all members of the Pack have Siskur Dah Condition which means two things; one they may feast on spirits (and I consider Hosts in this category) to gain Essence, and two the Uratha can sense the state of the Gauntlet and areas the Beshilu traveled through. Gain an additional beat for any exceptional success while on the hunt. Gain an essence for eating Beshilu.

Also, please don't forget that each of you has access to a Hunter's Aspect, which you can use once an appropriate prey has been found.

So Uratha, the first step is to track a prey. The Hunt is on! Where do we go from here?

[Daishain]

Eyes wide in anticipation of the hunt, Bear asks Solo, "Can you find him? The one at the church, the one responsible for Iago. You caught his scent before, let us see if it can be found again. Tonight we hunt the Beshilu, but that one above all others should be our prey. Let it be known that none kill an uratha without consequence!"

[Ladorak]

'I'd like that.' Solo growls 'They're probably lying low, difficult to find, but there's no one I'd rather hunt. Let's start at the Church, you never know who might have come sniffing around for us there.
'Micheal, this will be an important lesson for you. The Rat Hosts are the weakest of our Prey, but among the hardest to kill. We cannot merely strike at them, we must lay the perfect ambush and execute it flawlessly.' For the new Uratha he gives a brief description of discorporation, the manner in which a Host split it's essence into hundreds or thousands of bodies 'The important thing to remember is it doesn't matter how perfectly it goes, how many we slay, if even one gets away we haven't decapitated the enemy's leadership, we've just slowed them down, and probably not by much.'

[Bennosuke]

The pack sets off in the direction of the church, following the line the divides the rocky cliffs of the spirit shore from the city of abandoned cyclopean huts. Flocks of scavanger and water spirits scatter into the sky or over the dark churning ocean as the Uratha race each other on bounding legs towards their target.

Bounding through the glades of brown grass and over the wet dirt is better than any sexual act. Excitement builds in the chest of each werewolf as they make their way through the Hisil. From about two miles out, the shadow of St. Anthony's church begins to loom over the village of low stone houses. The thing is larger and taller in the Hisil, with a single spiked spire pointing high into the sky. The church is of Gothic design, made similarly cyclopean stone, though they are arranged into strange patterns such that leering faces seem to peer out of the walls and parapets. Smokes seems to be billowing out of the church, pouring out of open windows in big black clouds. Crawling over the surface of the building are thousands of red insect like fire spirits. They scuttle on an uncountable number of arthropod legs, biting and eating each other and diving in and out of the many smoke clouded windows.

Despite the smoke clogged air, the smell of Beshilu is already overwhelming these two miles out, and the Uratha can feel how thin the boundry between the two realities was. The smell of Host-rodent caused werewolf fur to bristle, and a growl to grow in the back of the throat.

Spoiler: OOC:

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So the question becomes how does the pack approach the Church now? Do they rush in in Gauru ready to tear things up? Do they stalk the perimeter or surround the place? I will make a roll based on the consensus, and don't forget all of the gifts, Auspice benefits ect. Each Werewolf has a specific nature in the hunt dictated by their Auspice and Tribe; feel free to use this in descriptive text and in informing how your character may want to proceed.

[Ladorak]

'If we can find him then this is not a raid, it is an assassination attempt, and we should proceed as such.' Solo sounds eager, but unsure of himself. Although he had not spoken of it like Kara he felt a heavy burden of guilt, even the thought of leading his remaining packmates into a trap had his heart pumping in all the wrong ways. 'They shouldn't know we're here until it's time to strike. We only strike when we have a solid plan to kill and contain.' The last he says with some reluctance 'What do the rest of you think?'

[EarthenRite]

Michael looks around the area, surveying what’s already present. He lets out a low growl, remembering what he was told about these creatures. With his growl, he looks towards the fire spirits pointedly.

“What about them? I assume fire hurts rats and theymd be afraid of it. Could we persuade them to make a circle behind us and close in?”

[Ladorak]

'That would be Blaze's department' said Solo turning his questioning eyes on Blaze 'But it is an excellent plan, you are learning quickly pup. As Elodoth it is your duty to assist Blaze in this. He is the master of Spirits, but you are our master of bargains. All we need them to do is make a ring of fire at a time of our choosing, they will want something for that.
'We will also rely on you to let us know when we should not fight, not kill, particularly the Rahu and I.' He looks to the others 'Assuming Blaze can tame the fires I should be scouting while he does it.'

Spoiler: OOC

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I won't roll tracking yet in case anyone has anything to add before Solo wanders off. But I intend to go off and do some tracking while the others deal with the fire spirits. Also if it'll make negotiations easier we don't need the fire to close in or anything like that. We should be able to get the death blow on our own, but we need the fire to stop all the rats getting away after the killing blow.

[Thundercracker]

Blaze considered the fire spirits, and whether a bargain could even be struck with them or if they’d need to be harnessed like a herd of animals, and whether they could be reliably counted on to entrap their prey rather than swarming over everything belishu and destroying it.

Spoiler

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I’m going to rely on the almighty knowledge roll to determine what blaze knows and can figure about these spirits, their capabilities, and how to get them to do what we want..
(9d10)[9][5][9][7][8][6][8][10][5](67)
9 again: (9d10)[7][9][3][8][1][5][1][1][8](43)

[Bennosuke]

Blaze quickly remembers a hard learned lesson regarding fire spirits (Hanzerih). These were, according to Blaze's mentor, spirits of equal parts hunger of destruction. Flame spirits will always follow the path of least resistance, rushing in an insectile wave towards easily consumed Essence. This hunger could be used against flame spirits, tricking them into pursuing goals and paths they would otherwise avoid. However, once a Flame spirit's hunger is stoked and a target is placed in front of them, it is often impossible to quench their hunger or disrupt their path, regardless of what gets in their way.

(OOC: Blaze gains the informed condition from the Chronicle of darkness book, pg 289, Informed (Flame Spirits). In short Blaze's exceptional success means that in treating with the Flame Spirits (Subterfuge, Persuasion, Empathy ect- I'm not forcing you to choose a social roll, though I recommend it, and it can't be on a combat roll) Blaze can turn a single failure into a one roll success, and any success into an immediate exceptional success, in doing so gaining a beat).

[Thundercracker]

Blaze

Blaze communicated what he knew about the fire spirits.

“Bottom line, we gotta be ready with a solid plan and a target before we get these guys riled up,” he said.

[Erulasto]

There was something to be said for the vigor that came with the Hunt.

Kara was almost enjoying herself as she followed along with the rest of the Pack. The sight of St. Anthony's covered in spirits causes a grimace to rise up on her face. Spirits and bugs. Great.

"I'm not condoning...like..going crazy or anything...but have we considered the possibility that they've got tunnels under the church everywhere? I'm pretty sure the cemetary is rife with 'em. What if we...uh...torched the church and forced them out where we could pick off the Hosts in the open?" Kara says, a crinkle of apprehension on her brow.

"I don't like...wanna be a firebug...but I want to go crawling in rat tunnels even less, y'know."

[Bennosuke]

Juno shrugs, "Or we could send them after the hospital, or the golf course or something". She scowls and bitterly says, "There's Beshilu everywhere in this town."

[EarthenRite]

“Let’s get close to the building. I can...do this thing I guess? I don’t know how to describe how I know I can do this but...I know that if I touch that building...I can sense every passage inside it. All the prey will be in there. And...I can control everywhere they could run. They’ll be trapped. Let’s hurt these things...We can always negotiate with the fire spirits if we need to.”

Michael, with the impetuousness of youth starts to edge closer to the building, ready to press his hand against it.

Spoiler

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I’m using All Doors Locked, spending 1 Essence, and leaving closing all exits right now until we are ready to go in.

Edit: made some minor changes. Misread one part of the gift.

[Ladorak]

'Ok. I'm going to have a sniff around. See you soon.' Solo nods goodbye and walks away, slinking into the shadows.

Spoiler

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So tracking, I'm guessing using streetwise.
wits+streetwise= 4
(4d10)[4][7][10][5](26)
10 again
(4d10)[7][5][5][2](19)

[Bennosuke]

Michael goes running off, leaving the pack behind. He does his best to stay hidden, but this is all for naught. Small twisted rodent bodies with golden eyes and long pink tails scurry into bushes and behind stones just out of sight as Michael makes his way towards the Church.

The millions of insectile fire spirits notice Michael's approach as well, scittering away to leave a place that Michael can place his hand. The pup activates his new-found gift, somehow instinctively drawing on powers that laid dormant since birth... since maybe before Michael's birth. The powers granted by Luna flare up in powerful silver sigils that glow across the Uratha's body. This comes just before the fire spirits with chomping mandibles begin burning their way into Michael's flesh. Their bites are hot fire on Michael's hand and arm, searing him to the bone, the pain shooting all the way up into his shoulder.

Spoiler: OOC

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Michael burns one Essence and activates All doors locked. He has access to the power for the scene, even if he stops touching the the building. He also takes 2 lethal damage from the Fire Spirits. Both these are updated in your character box. What form is Michael in anyways?

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

Solomon slinks away from the group (OOC: again, what form is he in), trying his best to remember the smell of the Beshilu, the one who got away. It had run in the other world, but it was a Host; an abomination of the Uratha dichotomy, half in the Spirit and half in the Flesh.

There was a trace of the thing. It was a big rat, and it was a powerful rat, but had left almost a day ago. The scent was almost gone... but fortunately, it's trail led into the forest.

Suddenly Juno appears, standing next to Solomon as a Hishu. "You got a scent?", the question is half a statement, "Let me help." The Blood Talon's fury is palpable, and she stares off into the wicked black spirit woods as if staring down a dragon.

Spoiler: OOC

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One success. Give me a Wits + Survival. Here is Juno's roll (3d10)[1][2][4](7)

ALSO, please give me a perception roll (and don't forget the modifier for whatever form Solomon is in)

[Thundercracker]

Blaze

“Uhh,” Blaze said as Michael headed off, “well, maybe he’ll be a prodigy or something.”

Then the spirits started licking and biting at him.

“Or maybe... once burned twice shy?” Blaze said, “I better get down there.”

Blaze set off at a mild trot to give Michael time to try and sort things himself before he arrived to treat with the fire spirits..

[Daishain]

Bear shrugs, "Pup has to learn somehow, and he is showing both courage and initiative. It's a good thing."

Shifting to Urhan, Bear follows, ready to deal with any trouble that arises.

[EarthenRite]

Yelping from the sudden pain of the fire spirits, Michael snatches his hand back. The gift he had reached for had surged through him like quicksilver. He discarded the clothing, throwing it several feet off and then shifted into the Urshul form. Damn those spirits *hurt*. He paced around near where the others were converging, finding a convenient threshold near them to “open”, allowing his pack to enter before sealing it off. He then tried to think like a wolf, and raised his muzzle to begin sniffing for prey. This wasn’t his biggest talent - he knew the fighting was ideally the purview of those like Bear, that mark of the moon, but he still wished to try.

Spoiler: Rolls

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Wits (?) + Compusure (?) + 3 = 7 Dice
I found those as the perception roll

(7d10)[3][7][8][4][2][8][5](37)
10 Agains: (7d10)[7][8][2][3][7][2][10](39)

[Bennosuke]

Withdrawing his hand, Michael begins to circle the infested black-stone structure. Fire spirits hiss and curse Michael from their perches on the building, snapping long serrated mandibles and emitting intense heat.

It is not hard for Michael to find the church entrance, a large pointed arch door that appears to be made of painted wood. Gargoyle like stone figures leer down from perches over the door's entrance. But Michael is more aware of the thinness of the Gauntlet, and the fact that he can hear the rustling steps of thousands of rodents in the high grasses around the building... slowly closing in. Golden eyes peer out from bushes, needle like round lamps in the foggy afternoon.

[Thundercracker]

Blaze raised his arms up high.

“Mighty spirits of flame and smoke!” Blaze called, “I am Blaze of the iron masters tribe and crescent moon auspice!”

“We are here to make common cause with you to destroy the plague rat infestation,” he said, “they have slain one of our own, and we want vengeance! Join us in burning them all to cinders and we will bring you to other infested locations where you can burn and grow bright and hot!”

Spoiler

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empthy + presence (5d10)[7][2][2][9][3](23)
10 again: (5d10)[4][1][3][1][4](13)

[Erulasto]

Hanging back, Kara lets the rest of the Pack do their respective duties without much fanfare. A part of the Cahalith wants to follow Solo, both for a chance at striking back at the thing that led to Iago’s death, and to make sure that he was okay. The death had hit them all hard.

Siddling up to Bear as Blaze makes his way down to the church to help Michael, she nudges the big man with a small grin.

”Let’s see ‘em work their magic!”

[Bennosuke]

Leaping from the sprawling mass of lesser fire spirits, a greater Hanzerih lands in front of Blaze. The mercurial ball of insect fire shifts as it arrives, molding itself into the shape of a tall and lithe man. The borders of the man's flesh seems to simmer and wave like the surface of a car in the sun, and flames bloom in a crown on the thing's skull. Compound arthropod eyes glow like two sapphires in the spirit's gaunt skull, and it grins at Blaze. "Uratha" the flame spirit says as a wave of intense dry heat washes over the group, "I am Devouring Inferno, and I am pleased to see more of your breed in these lands again."

The chorus of ant-like fire spirits crawling on the church surface provide a chittering harmony to Devouring Inferno's words, and the Anchor Wolves can hear the nearby throngs of Beshilu scattering as if in fear.

"While I would never act to serve your kind... it appears you are right about our mutual prey. The rat hosts are making a mess of these lands, and it is getting oh so hard to find good Essence." The corona of flames on Devouring Inferno's skull flares at this statement, and the heat coming off of the thing is now ferocious, like standing inside an oven. The flame spirit looks back at the church infested with Hanzerih, then back to Blaze, "I will make you a deal, Blaze of the Crescent Moon. We shall grow and spread and burn all Beshilu in this place if you will help us. Keep the water spirits away so we can do our work. Give us this place to make our burning pyre and protect us from our enemies of rain and water. Do this and not only will we help you Uratha, but I will tell you a secret that I know you will be interested in learning."

Devouring Inferno grins viciously at Blaze and the gathered Anchor Wolves. Small fires have begin kindling on the spirit's form, sprouting hungrily from the tips of its shoulders and engulfing its two nimble hands. It's sapphire eyes shine brightly in these flame as they look out over the Uratha. Still smiling broadly, the spirit adds, "And oh Blaze... I love the name!"

[Thundercracker]

Blaze

“Mighty devouring inferno,” Blaze replied, “the offer of a secret is intriguing. If you will aid us in destroying the plague spirit infestation, we will help keep the water and rain spirits away while the infestation persists, or until a more serious threat takes precedence. Is this a fair offer?”

[Ladorak]

OOC: Sorry for the delay, I've been without internet for the last 48 hours.

IC:

Solo sniffs around the grass with satisfaction, this was much more his arena. He shifts down to urhan effortlessly, although that is still accompanied by the breaking of bone and the popping of warping flesh. 'He was foolish to flee here, the trail will last far longer amid the grass, We have a chance...'

Spoiler

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Spending a WP

Wits+Survival+WP = 8
urhan +4 if relevant
(8d10)[2][3][7][2][6][8][10][8](46)
(4d10)[1][2][3][2](8)
10 again
(5d10)[2][7][5][6][7](27)

[Bennosuke]

The mighty flame spirit smashes his two hands together creating a raging fire that spreads up its humanoid form till the entire being is a living torch. "You have yourself a deal, Blaze of the Crescent Moon!" Devouring Inferno announces, its voice seeming to fill the entire Hisil, "We will have a maelstrom like the rat hosts have never seen before!"

The millions of lesser flame spirits spill down off of the church in a wave of burning writhing ant-like bodies. They surround Devouring Inferno, engulfing their leader in a wave of growing fire as it stretches out in all directions. The living spirit fire, hot and red swallows all that it touches as it spreads out, and the land begins to smell of wood smoke. "We saw your battle yesterday Uratha," Devouring Inferno's voice is now joined by the chorus of flame spirits, a hundred thousand voices speaking in thunderous unison, "and we saw the Beshilu leader leave. We watched through the thousands of holes in The Gauntlet chewed by the rat-hosts themselves! We watched as the blind rat priest fled, and we know which way he went!" A lash of red fire shoots out from the growing body of flames, searing a path into the ground and moving inland. The booming spirit fire continues, "And we know he was followed by another Uratha! One of your own! This is our secret, and our second gift to you."

The fire is now raging, and growing at an alarming rate. Along with the smokey aroma of the burning shrubs, there is the smell of burning flesh, and intermittently the Uratha can hear the high pitched shriek of a Nihilith as it meets its end in the spreading inferno. The smoke is suddenly so thick that it burns the eyes and makes it hard to breath.

Spoiler: OOC

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Please everyone give me Stamina + Athletics to escape the bonfire unscathed. I am not giving a beat to Bear or Solomon, as neither character is directly responsible for moving towards filling their beat of avenging Iago

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

Solomon and Juno set off into the forest. Despite the fact that the Beshilu had fled in the world of flesh, the porous Gauntlet allows the two to follow the creature's scent. It doesn't hurt that the thing's stench is unbearable; its almost like trying to track a pack of rat hosts. As they make their way through the woods; a thickly packed series of short and gnarled blackwood trees, Solomon picks up on the scent of an Uratha as well. The stench of Beshilu is too overwhelming to place the smell, but the lupine odor of fur and blood and urine is unmistakable.

As they go, Solomon also realizes that they are moving inland, and he suddenly becomes aware of the smell of smoke from back the way he and Juno came. The two Uratha wind their way through the woods, seeming to circumvent the cyclopean city. At one point Juno jumps in front of Solomon, eyes wide and tail hanging low. "Stop!" she says, placing her form in Solomon's way, "I think we are headed back to the Hospital! Blaze and Bear and I were here yesterday. The area is swarming with Plague Spirits!" Sure enough, when the wind blows just right, Solomon is able to catch the awful scent of plague spirits off in the distance.

[Ladorak]

'No matter... I would have guessed he went this way, but it's good to confirm that.' He stares off into the distance 'Soon, Iago, soon.' He fancied his chances of sneaking past the plague spirits, but not with Juno in tow 'Let's get back to the others.'

[EarthenRite]

Looking between the relative safety of the path being formed and the building, the enormous wolf like figure that was Michael broke into a run through the door of the building. He cast feral eyes in every direction before running in a narrowing circle around the building, snarling and growling and biting, driving any rat spirit he encountered, if indeed any remained within the building, before him in terror. The rats would feel the terror of isolation instilled in them - there would be no escape from him; not this night. He drove anything he found towards the door, the only exit he allowed, and into the arms of the inferno.

The matter of seconds it took to careen through the building over, Michael burst back out through the door, the edges of his fur sizzling in the flame as he jumped and landed outside the church. The heat a little better there, he made sure to circle the graveyard, tightening the noose there around the warren that appeared there. Feeling the task completed there, he ran at full pace towards the rest of the pack, seeing the flame path leading them.

“Are we going?”

Spoiler: OOC

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I think I’ll probably need to roll this for at least something I’m doing, and It was called for anyway, so Stamina + Athletics: (5d10)[7][2][7][5][8](29)

10 Again: (5d10)[10][5][1][2][8](26)

[Bennosuke]

The Anchor Wolves flee the growing fire as Nihilith are caught up in flames that seem to jump and grow every moment. The entire world is turned dark by spreading smoke so thick and sticky that the air is practically viscous.

Blaze is one of the last to move, and perhaps exhausted from the ordeal with Devouring Inferno. He is forced to jump over a wall of flame, and tongues of heat singe the fur and flesh of his hind legs causing the Uratha to yelp in surprised agony.

The young pup Michael is far more foolhardy, first diving into the church to harrie a nest of Beshilu away from the entrance. By the time he is back out his chest and eyes are so clogged with smoke that he is moving blindly. Forced to power his way through the flames, Michael does his best to catch up with the rest of his pack. The pup's only reward is the screams of scores of rodents from inside the building as the door closes shut on them and they are roasted like suckling pigs at a BBQ.

Spoiler: OOC

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Blaze takes one lethal damage for the failed roll. I placed a -2 modifier for sticking around onto Michael's roll, so he also takes one lethal damage.

Juno looks over her shoulder at the growing billows of smoke and says, "What are the odds that's the others?" She then turns her gaze back towards the hospital, "I don't want to call it quits yet. We haven't fed and I'm starved for Essence right now."

It is at this moment that the rest of the pack comes bounding through the woods and practically runs Solomon and Juno over. Both Blaze and Michael have a mad fury in their eyes as they run from the fire.