(IC) New Bedford at Night

[Daishain]

Bear tries dragging the thing down again with his teeth, trying to force it to focus on him.

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Bite (9d10)[3][9][3][10][3][7][5][1][9](50)
Nine again (9d10)[10][4][1][6][1][8][7][9][8](54)
Grapple (9d10)[7][6][9][1][1][1][6][3][5](39)
Ten again (9d10)[9][9][4][9][2][2][1][1][5](42)

[Erulasto]

Now was not the time to show fear, though she couldn’t help the shiver that ran the length of her spine at the strange, unnatural motions of the Death Spirit. Kara took a single step back with a churning guilt in her stomach: it seemed like all she was good for was running away.

”The rest of my pack are putting down the Beshilu. They…they should be along shortly.”

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Manipulation 2 + Subterfuge 1

(3d10)[8][2][2](12)

To be convincing about the rest of the Pack coming….

Kara is not as good a liar as she is charming.

[Bennosuke]

Unrelenting, Bear again lifts up on hind legs to sink his teeth into the scruff behind not-Santiago's neck. Powerful jaws sink through flesh and grind against bony vertebra, and even find purchase through a squirming rodent. With a ferocious tug, Bear is able to bring not-Santiago down to all fours, nearly off-balancing the titanic creature.

(OOC: Bear does 3 lethal damage, bringing not-Santiago up to 5 aggravated damage, and successfully initiates a grapple. I believe Blaze and Solomon can still attack before not-Santiago gets to. )

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

The massive bird pauses in its approach towards Kara. Its tongue continues to dart in and out of its massive beak, and as it studies her with glowing red eyes. "An entire pack of you," it hisses angrily, then in screeching mocking tones, "So what, you are here to cleanse the Hisil?"

The Death Spirit takes one step closer, "Perhaps I should simply kill you now before your friends arrive... though I suppose I can just wait. It would only be a matter of time." The thought seems to please the spirit immensely, and its massive beak unfurls into another grin that exposes its two long yellow fangs.

[Ladorak]

Solo's grip is lost as Bear flips his prey, his teeth gorge one last deep rivet, destroying what was left of Iago's good looks. A bitter destruction, yet one that prevented further defilement. A necessary evil still turns the stomach though and while it may well be necessary to crush the skull of a reanimated friend it was not a thing that could ever been forgotten. Nor, for one like Solo, so prone to self-recrimination, was it a thing that could be forgiven.
Bear bore down in Not-Iago, all but offering up the kill on a platter, as Solo brought his arm up ready to strike he found himself glad that Kara wasn't here to see this, suddenly he was wishing he had followed her.
Then he brought his arm down like a sledgehammer, attempting to shatter Iago's skull in a single terrible blow.

Spoiler

Show

(8d10)[4][2][6][1][2][9][2][10](36)
10 again
(8d10)[7][2][8][6][10][7][3][6](49)
+2L

[Bennosuke]

Blaze's missed attack is followed by Solomon's hammerfist. The blow dashes not-Santiago's skull down hard on the ground, the animation exiting the Uratha's corpse as the Anchor Wolves begin tearing the it limb from limb. The carcass tastes of rancid meat and golden eyed Nihilith explode out of the various tissues and orifices in a series of squeals and chitters.

The flesh of the fleeing Beshilu is far sweeter, and the Anchor Wolves find far more significant sustenance in this feast.

The feeding frenzy triggers Michael's uncontrollable rage, as the Gauru loses control of his faculties.

(OOC: ER, Michael hits hard rage. He has to continue to attack anything living till his rage subsides. I can see several directions this plays out, but I leave it to you.)

[EarthenRite]

In the last moments of clarity as he feels the wash of rage overtake him, he screams out in the First Tongue to the skies.

“Now, water spirits! Now!”

He was here before, when he caused the rats to infest Santiago through directionless rage. He could not control his rage, but he could give it direction. He let the image of the rats simmer and sear into the red haze. There would be enough of them, he hoped, that he could make some dent while waiting for the water spirits. If there was anything like luck, the rats would outlast his rage so he did not harm his friends.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

If I can’t shout that out, let me know and I’ll remove it. I just thought it was fitting.

[Erulasto]

"You...you could kill us...but...I don't think you'd just flap away without taking a beating too, y'know?" Kara says, somewhat airily. "Or...or you could let us be on our way. You know how much death the Uratha can cause. Like...wouldn't it be better to maybe just...let us do our thing?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Manipulation 2 + Persuasion 2 to try and have the Death Spirit see reason....

(4d10)[1][1][2][7](11)

[Bennosuke]

Nihilith scatter everywhere, and suddenly Michael is off and chasing them. Solomon, Bear and Blaze watch as the raging Gauru tears through a black barked tree on his four legged chase of a group of golden eyed rats.

Michael disappears into the forest, running back towards the raging fires in a blind chase of the Nihilith.

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

The death spirit looks down at its meal, then back at Kara. It's eyes glow crimson as it grins at the Uratha. "I will give you five seconds to leave me alone with my meal, so run along little one," says the bird, "Five... four..."

[Daishain]

Bear looks around, avoiding the thing that had once been his beloved kin. He snarls out, "We need to regroup, and keep an eye on the pup until he calms down. Where's Kara?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Resolve+composure (5d10)[7][1][3][9][8](28)

[Erulasto]

Not needing to be told twice, Kara takes off with a mad dash away from the Death Spirit. But she would remember it. Just one more threat that the Pack would need to deal with at some point down the road.

In her haste, Kara didn’t really head in any particular direction – just running until she felt the burning in her legs and the weight of exertion on her chest. When she finally came to a stop, she tucked into whatever nook she could find and returned to two legs before slumping own and tucking her knee’s up to her chest with a sniffle.

She’d left them all. The whole Pack….

Great job, Kara.

After taking a moment to compose herself, the Cahalith rose unsteadily again and looked around for the first time since the mad-dash away from the fight to see where exactly she ended up.

[Bennosuke]

Kara begins running again. Though she simply lets her legs go where they please, it is not long before she realizes she is running back the way she came. The smell of Uratha grows closer as she bounds through the spirit forest.

The fires continue off in the distance, though they seem to be spreading less.

Soon she has reached the group, or what is left of it. Bear, Blaze and Solomon loom over the shredded and rotten corpse of their once packmate, but Michael and Juno are nowhere in sight.

[Erulasto]

Finally realizing where she is, and seeing her Packmates standing over the ruination that once was Iago, Kara drops down to her knees in the wet grass of the golf course. Her hands claw at the turf, and she clenches her eyes closed as tightly as she could manage.

Hoping to hold back the tears. The shame.

”I…I’m…sorry.” She croaks out, haggardly.

[Ladorak]

Solo let the pup run off, let him burn some rage off slaughtering the swarm, he took a moment to honour the dead.
He turned Iago's face to the side, silently eyeing the profile he had ruined with detached sorrow. Like this he was almost unrecognisable, the flesh ruined, the skull crushed, even his fur had lost it's familiar lustre. This could be any dead Uratha. It would have been a mercy in some ways to leave him like this. To pretend the rats had made a puppet of some anonymous Ghost Wolf.
But he didn't deserve that. He reached out and gently turned Iago's face to display the other side of his profile, staring into those dead eyes he knew so well and would never see again. 'Goodbye my friend.' He whispered it, yet still his voice cracked.
When Kara sees him he is quietly going through the last rites. Neither Solo or Iago were catholic, yet both had been once, it seemed fitting.

[Bennosuke]

Michael experiences the following carnage like living through a terrible nightmare. The smell of of gore and blood fills his nose till it chokes all other scents. He only knows the feeling of sharp claws running through soft flesh, or scratching against hard bone. He runs from spirit to spirit, destroying and causing havoc. Barks and howls fill his ears, and the only image Michael can seem to focus on is the looming white moon.

But when Michael wakes, these memories are faded and jumbled, and the awful headache from before his transformation has returned. The Uratha is returned to the soft and pink Hishu, naked and vulnerable. He had still not mastered the ability to shift with his clothing. Cold winds buffeted Michael from behind, causing the man to shiver. He was laying on his belly in the grasses on a bluff looking over the ocean. Waters so dark red to be almost black crashed against stones below. It was hard to ascertain time, as it was still bright out, though the half moon hung high and large in the sky.

Fanned out over the grasses were Izidakh and his pack of dog spirits. They were spread out several meters away, seeming to have surrounded Michael and cornered him against the rocky bluff. They stared at Michael with hard dark eyes, their large noses twitching and tongues lolling. Not a single dog spirit moved, not a single one made a noise as they watched the naked man-wolf.

[Thundercracker]

Blaze

With great difficulty, Blaze pulled back from the brink. It had been a long time since he almost succumbed to the rage, but he was still in control, for now. The sight of the spirit defiling Santiago's body had almost been too much, but at least his former packmate was at least partially avenged this day.

[EarthenRite]

A few blinks as his presence of mind returned as did the chill. This was something he needed to work on. He was more annoyed about the clothing - though he had taken some modicum of precautions this time - than he was anything else.

There was uniquely no fear as he stood up, encircled by Izidakh’s pack. He slowly rose to his feet. There was no fear because there was certainty. This positioning meant that they wanted to ensure his attention - which they had - to frighten him - and he would not give that, not after what he had already faced - or kill him - and he did not believe that, nor did truly know that even a pack could succeed.

When he spoke, it was calm and level, with respect borne for and due to Izidakh and the others. A simple word of acknowledgement. He let his gaze encompass them all then return to their leader.

“Izidakh.”

[Erulasto]

Oh, Iago.

Kara rubbed her eyes furiously, wiping away traces of tears and mascara. Wearily pushing herself to her feet, Kara brushed bits of grass off her clothes and shyly made her way over to the rest of her Pack.

This was worse than anything Kara could have imagined. But what had she thought was going to happen? They could show up in some unknown city and it would be easy? The cost of that way of thinking was a heavy price to pay. Kara shook her head as if to shake the crowding thoughts from it, resolving to deal with it later. Much later. Burying all her insecurities, bottling up every bad thought she had, Kara tried to force her tear-stained face into a smile. That was her way.

Kara tentatively approached Blaze and Solo and Bear, moving to quietly give each a hug in turn.

[Daishain]

Bear takes comfort from the hug, breathing in Kara's scent as he forces himself back from the brink. That was not Santiago he just killed, not him. Just another abomination to destroy. Not Santiago.

Taking deep, deliberate, breaths, he looks around, "We need to regroup, find the others. The night's work is not yet done."

[Bennosuke]

The dog spirits move forward, padding silently and cautiously towards Michael. Lupine eyes stare up at the surrounded man, heads low, ears up and forward, hackles raised. Izidakh is at the head of the pack, and is the first to speak, stopping about two meters away from Michael. "Uratha!" the dog spirit growls, "You and your pack's actions today are disappointing. The unleashed fire spirits will destroy much of these lands if they are allowed to get out of hand. And the destruction you caused in your rage is unfortunate. These lands have already been ravaged by the Beshilu, and bled by the actions of humans. You and your pack are failing in your duties to protect the Hisil." Izidakh's lips curl to expose rows of sharp teeth.

Behind the dogs, Michael can now see the path of destruction caused by his rampage. There is a literal opening in the forest with trees bashed and shattered out of the way, grasses and ground ripped and clawed into a makeshift road. The forest itself seems somehow less healthy, less real in the Spirit realm.

Waves continue to crash on the rocks behind Michael, and the Uratha becomes suddenly aware of how cornered he is.

[Thundercracker]

Blaze hugged Kara back.

“Chin up kid,” he said, “it happens to the best of us. There’s still work to do, who are we missing, where’s Michael? Juno?”

[EarthenRite]

Michael looks down, and sees not only the land but the waves below. He also sees his exposed form, once again, and some sense of frustration bubbles through.

“I know! I think we all know. But those rat things are chewing through the walls of the hisil and when you kill one of the things they’re living in, they explode in a shower of rats. Then they run and infect more. The fire and the water spirits had conditions. They can kill a whole area of small rats. Dammit, if you were watching, you saw what I can do! Even as an enourmous killing machine, I can only kill a handful at a time. There are too many. I tried. I really did. I can’t even keep my clothes when I change. But you know what? We are trying. We are doing something. The world here is in bad shape, just like the human world, but we can just keep trying. I may not know exactly what I’m doing, but tonight I did something. I killed a thing that’s trying to rip apart the boundaries. We all did. I can’t apologize for that, but I can promise to try harder. Learning is pretty much all I’m doing these days.”

Michael swallows hard at the end and then looks around at the pack.

“So, if you’re going to try to kill me, I probably won’t stand much of a chance. But I will try not to change. I don’t want to hurt any of you mindlessly.”

[Bennosuke]

Several of the dog spirits inch forward, fangs bared. But Izidakh stands his ground, staring hard at Michael.

(OOC: Give me a Presence + Expression roll please)

[Erulasto]

Kara shook her head, sighing gently at the comfort from contact with her Pack.

"I haven't seen anyone other than bumping into a Death Spirit. What...what happened?"

Kara couldn't help but glance at the ruination of Iago that Solo was presiding over.

[Bennosuke]

As the pack of dog spirits inch forward hackles raised, Izidakh bears its fangs and begins to bark at the others. There are a few whimpers as Izidakh's orders to stand down take the others by surprise. When it has the rest of the pack in line, the alpha says, "Very well. We will give you and your pack more time." The spirit's words are stern, and its eyes are like two smoldering coals. It shakes out its mangy coat, the action starting at its head then twisting down like the crack of a whip to its tail. When Izidakh has completed the action its fur is puffed, making the spirit appear larger.

"We have information you may find useful," Izidakh says, "There is another Uratha in these lands. It was one of the last pack of werewolves in these lands. They were powerful, but too confident in their control of the Hisil. The pack let the Beshilu sneak in and infest everything. They did not even realize when the foundation of their own home had been tunneled out from under them. One of their rank survived and has been living like a mad hermit in the spirit realm." There is a long pause, then Izidakh adds, "We can take you to his... territory, if you want."

[Ladorak]

Solo looks upon his friend one last time, with a sigh he rejoined the pack, accepting a hug from Kara although it left him cold 'I'll find Juno... The rest of you follow the pup. He's left a trail a blind man could follow.'


Tracking:

Spoiler

Show

Wits + Survival + 2
3 +2 +2
(7d10)[4][6][2][10][8][5][10](45)
10 again
(7d10)[2][7][2][7][3][8][7](36)

[EarthenRite]

Michael starts breathing again. Thank goodness, he whispered in his own mind.

“Thank you, Izidakh. Why did he go into seclusion? I understand that from a human perspective...your friends fall and you go a little crazy...but a lone uratha? Wouldn’t he have gone after revenge? And, moreover, when you say mad...do you really mean mad? If so...probably a good idea to wait til the rest of my pack joins up with me. They’ll probably be looking.”

[Erulasto]

Kara watches Solo as he prepares to hunt down Juno. She could feel the chill around him and it made her stomach flutter uncomfortably. Putting aside the notion of sitting down and having a heart to heart with him for the time being, Kara turned to Blaze and Bear.

”Let’s go get Michael.”

[Bennosuke]

Ladorak slinks away from his pack, slipping into the smoke and shadows created by the still raging nearby forest fire. As Ladorak moves through the shifting Hisil, tree spirits leer down at him, and one even curses him for his Uratha presence and for the inferno plaguing the forest.

There was something odd about Juno's scent as Ladorak moved. There was another Uratha's smell overlapped with Juno, though this was less familiar, and maybe older. It was as if Juno's trail had been placed on top of another smell, maybe trying to mask this other smell.

The trip takes Ladorak farther away from the Anchor Wolves' territory than he has ever been. The trail just goes on and on and on, till Ladorak is led to the base of a large onyx colored mountain. At the base of the mountain is the mouth of a cave. The entrance is small, perhaps only big enough for a dog, or a small human crawling on hands and knees. The scent of Uratha is much more powerful here. The perimeter of the area has been marked with urine and scent pads. This is another's territory, and the smell raises Ladorak's hackles instantly. The Uratha is immediately overwhelmed by the sense of danger, and the concern that he is being watched.

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

Izidakh makes a movement that may be the equivalent of a shrug. "Uratha behavior is alien to me and my people. I could not tell you why this one has done what he has. By mad I mean not behaving like an Uratha. He lives only like a wolf. Beyond this I am not sure I can explain. I can take you to him if you would like."

[Daishain]

Bear nods, "He should have worked through the madness by now, he'll need help with the aftermath." He shifts into simple wolf form and starts sniffing for Michael's trail.

[Ladorak]

Solo hated being watched and he was in no mood for it now. He had neither the patience or the inclination to deal with it as he should. Taking human form he calls out 'I am Soloman of the Anchor Fangs, I mean no harm. I am searching for my packmate, when I have found her we will leave.' Cautiously he approached the entrance to the cave 'Juno?'