|
Post by Danny on Feb 15, 2006 14:02:20 GMT 1
“The Wyrm,” Danny looks at some random spot in the distance, and his tone becomes oddly grim. “The Wyrm used to be balance… until the Weaver went mad and trapped the Wyrm in her web, driving it mad as well. It is no longer balance.” He shakes his head solemnly. “It now embodies anger, corruption, perversion… and it feeds off ours. It sends its children out into the world to encourage humanity to destroy and defile, and in turn feed the Wyrm, making it stronger until it is strong enough to break free and take its insane revenge out on Creation. And that is the war we are fighting.” He turns his head slightly and looks down at Lorelei. “You have seen it.” He says quietly, “In your dreams, in your visions; the Eye of the Wyrm at the bottom of the great mountain. You have felt the horror, haven’t you?”
|
|
|
Post by Lorelei Hagen on Feb 15, 2006 17:15:38 GMT 1
Loreleis listens intently, eyes on the floor, as if he was playing a tune she couldn't quite remember, until he mentions the eye. Her mind is dragged back to her clearest nightmares as if she had just woken from them, her heart thumping and perspiration beginning to bead on her brow and hands. She swallows quickly and looks back at him. Dreams were not dreams, either then...and the things under the bed that your parents comforted you about, that they told you were just stories...they did exist. Looks like I was right about somethings, mutti Did that mean all of it did? "So if...if that's real...and werewolves are real...is all the other stuff from old tales true too? Like witches, ghosts and fairies...vampires and monsters?" she falters. "We are fighting a war...I am this to fight, to hurt?"
|
|
|
Post by Danny on Feb 15, 2006 21:05:29 GMT 1
"There are many creatures that share the world with us. Some of them, like us, were created for a purpose. Others are abominations, creatures of the Wyrm and enemies of Gaia. Vampires are some of them; they are the bastard children of Beast-of-War, who granted them the gift of frenzy, and Eater-of-Souls, who gave them their insatiable hunger. Some even stink of the defiler wyrm... They are thematic examples of how even the least spiritual being can serve the Enemy. You would do well to be wary of them... they are easy to recognise, the stench of death follows hard at their heels." His tone betrays an unnatural hatred when he speaks of Vampires, and his eyes flash with resentment.
"I have met both ghosts and spirits, and once a fairy. Witches, I hear they exist. Some of them are our enemies, but none our allies. Remember this when you encouter them. Monsters... well, one might argue that we are the monsters. But we are her soldiers, her protectors. Yes, we were born to fight this war. You were born to fight, to hurt, to die. But we are not alone in this fight, and we do not go to battle unarmed. Besides our claws and teeth, Gaia has granted us gifts. The minions of the Wyrm are evergrowing, everchanging, and we need every talent, every skill, every dirty little trick we have if we are going to survive this war. Even then our chances are... impossibly thin."
|
|
|
Post by Lorelei Hagen on Feb 16, 2006 1:02:03 GMT 1
Lorelei felt a flicker of fear at the sound of this. Warriors who can trust no one because all are against in some form or another. The things that steal blood, life,soul...things that enchant, things that haunt (she'd known that,no matter what anyone said, they were always there) , things that destroy...they all exist, and she... was the one that destroyed. There was anger at that. She had tried her whole life not to fight, the battles in her very home filled her with loathing...with wrath, though. Wrath and fury at the injustices and the fact people wouldn't shut the fuck up and learn to get along. Was that what he was talking about? She asked rather bluntly. "So I am a child, born to fight in a war, a soldier conscripted and my chance of survival impossible? And to make it less difficult, I can turn into that...that thing, and have weird powers?"
|
|
|
Post by Danny on Feb 16, 2006 9:14:51 GMT 1
"It's not that you don't have a choice" he says, noticing her discomfort, "You wouldn't be the first who has pulled out of this due to either impossible odds or just... well, they have their reasons. There are lone wolves who live outside the Garou Nation. Well, even more lone than us. The Stargazers are some of them. They're an entire tribe that just decided to call it quits. They suffered terrible losses, and pulled out as their numbers dwindled. They say they can't help us anymore. They are wrong. Everyone, everything, makes a difference. Even you, cub. That's why I had to find you before the other side did. The question isn't whether you have to fight. It's whether, knowing all this, you want to just turn your back on your people." He pauses briefly and turns around to glance at the quiet Bone Gnawer, who was getting twitchy. He forgot sometimes that not all Garou felt about the spirit world the way he did. "Of course, I say fighting, but it's not always about kiling and hurting and dying. Although the average Ahroun would probably like to convice you that it is." He continues before she can ask what an Ahroun is supposed to be. "Luna has given her children different gifts, and by that different roles. I am a Galliard, a lorekeeper of my tribe. I was born under a waning gibbous moon. Strange, isn't it, that the phase of the moon under which you were born determines a large part of who you are?" He looks up at Kaleb again. "Kaleb here's a Ragabash, he was born under new moon. The are clever tricksters, the Ragabash. And damn near impossible to find. There's three more auspices though; the Ahroun, the full moon, he's the warrior. The half moons are the judges and lawkeepers, and the crescent moon, they're the theurges... the spirit seekers. Of course, a lot of this is just stereotype. I have met Theurges who can best Ahrouns in duels, and many a Ragabash that's just as fair and just as any Philodox. But I do find myself quite fit for my auspice role."
|
|
|
Post by Lorelei Hagen on Feb 16, 2006 15:00:46 GMT 1
His words kept rolling, didn't they? So she was conscripted to a choice of abandoning a people she had never met and leaving them to die, and fighting in a war that couldn't be victorious...and she already knew which one she was going to end up with. She'd never yet abandoned anything, she hung grimly on to the bitter end no matter what, all through life. Litfing a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose between two forefingers she sighs. "Alright so I'm given a choice my personality does't consider a choice...I see..." She glances up at the mention of the moon of her own accord as she is mentioned, and wonders. It was almost like astrology, but it defined your role in the whole society...and this font of information was a lorekeeper, that made a lot of sense. She felt her brain soaking all this up like a sponge and she murmurs quietly. "So...what am I?" She didn't know, and guessing seemed rude. she didn't mind being stereotyped for the moment. A role to fit into would help her. If she could conform while she learned she could show her individuality later. "What gifts will I get...and what would the other side have done with me, had they got here first?"
|
|
|
Post by Danny on Feb 16, 2006 17:26:26 GMT 1
"I'm afraid I don't know your auspice. Your kin, the one who directed me to you, only said that you were one of our tribe. I could hazard a guess, but I'd rather not. I don't like being proven wrong. But it's not only your auspice that determines the kind of gifts you can learn. Your tribe and breed have a say too. Being born in Lupus, I find that learning gifts tied to nature and instinct come easier than others. Not that learning homid gifts is impossible, it just takes more time and effort. It sounds complicated, but it's really quite simple. If you want to learn a gift, you just need to hunt down a suitable spirit to teach you."
He stops himself going into a long winded speech about spirits, and answers her other question instead.
"The other side like to induce the change in a way that will corrupt the cub. Their induction methods are nothing you want to live through. Most leave their cubs incurably insane, and if they don't, the Black Spiral definitely will. They have werewolves on their side too, you see. The White Howlers were once a proud and loyal tribe, more dedicated to fighting the Wyrm than any other, more ferocious than the Get, prouder than the Furies. But they have fallen to the Wyrm's temptations. In their dedication to destroy the wyrm's servants, they descended deeper into the spirit world than any human mystic ever could, and into the Spiral Labyrinth. The Black Spiral twisted and corrupted them beyond sanity and they became known as the Black Spiral Dancers."
Note: It is easy to figure your auspice if you google a moon chart. Danny, being Lupus, doesn't know this. You can assume that you do.
|
|
|
Post by Lorelei Hagen on Feb 16, 2006 19:17:03 GMT 1
She nods a little. She would find out herself, then. She understood that, she had something of a cautiousness about putting her name to things..it was somewhat the same. Can't be accused, then, can you... she still feels the information rolling around her, and is not a little seasick with it all. Spirits she had been avoiding...or at least thats what she thought they were. Maybe they had been trying to help her. "I'm...I'm glad you got here first..." she offers a small smile. She was not at all fond of being beyond her own mental control at the best of times and being driven violently insane was not her idea of a good time. "Tell me..about my...did you call them kin?" Her eyes are huge as it all sinks in, and she could possibly quite happily go on asking questions for weeks. Suddenly it occured to her that it might be taking up his time, and more than he'd like...but he was still talking, so it couldn't be that bad..and who better to ask that a lore keeper?
|
|
|
Post by Danny on Feb 16, 2006 20:03:50 GMT 1
"Kinfolk aren't shapechangers, but they are descendant of Garou. They know about us, our cause, our gift. They don't fear us like other humans. Most of our kin are gypsies and wanderers, like us. I only met your kin once, and that was in Sweden... don't ask why I was there. Your father had asked him to watch you while he was in the city. That's how I knew to find you here. Well, that and... the birds helped quite a bit, and the rats."
|
|
|
Post by Lorelei Hagen on Feb 16, 2006 20:10:04 GMT 1
"My father asked him?" She frowned. "Then why didn't my mother recognise you-....or didn't she know?..." She trails off, looking slightly confused. This man did not look or seem anything like an associate her father would admit to. She only imagined her kin would look just as, well,wild. "You can talk to birds?" That was pretty cool, it had to be said...though she wasn't so fond of rats. "Will I be able to do that?"
|
|
|
Post by Danny on Feb 16, 2006 20:32:57 GMT 1
"You can, although it is usually a gift associated with Galliards. I had never met your mother, or your father, your real father of course. I hope you don't hold it against him that he left you. Garou don't make very good parents, especially not Silent Striders. The call of the open road is too strong for us to ignore, even for the sake of our children." He watches her quietly for a short while. "Your mother never told you about him then? Maybe now is the time to ask her."
|
|
|
Post by Lorelei Hagen on Feb 16, 2006 20:38:57 GMT 1
That one threw her. She couldn't actually explain to this complete stranger the emotions that flooded her. Hurt, mainly, and anger, but there was a curious relief that the fiddling, meddling old fool that she had been screamed at by many a time was not her flesh and blood. The open road hmm...well she might just follow him, there...after all her mother was no protection, lying to her all her life, why should she trust her.. her mind whirled and she looked at Danny silently and simply nodded. He was right. Eventually she speaks. "Where...where should I go?" She wasn't a human, she was a silent strider...she could live with that, it was feeling comfortable already.
|
|
|
Post by Danny on Feb 16, 2006 20:50:14 GMT 1
"Wherever your feet take you." he smiles slightly. "Have I bored you with talk yet? I get carried away sometimes. It's getting late, and there's something I want to show you before you get to shower me with questions. Close your eyes, think of yourself the way you saw yourself in your dreams before. Think of the wolf you had become then."
|
|
|
Post by Lorelei Hagen on Feb 16, 2006 20:53:38 GMT 1
She can't help but smile at that, and shakes her head at the query. She was not bored...in fact she could not remember a time when she was more fascinated. At the mention of so many of her curiosities she looks slightly abashed, and does as he says. It surprised her how clear the memory was. The molten erption of hot fury...no..rage...the sudden feeling of power...and the screams of the people who saw her as she turned, snarling, to face and destroy them.
|
|
|
Post by Danny on Feb 16, 2006 21:01:39 GMT 1
Danny keeps speaking slowly and carefully. It was almost as if he knew what she was thinking. "Imagine the wolf, without the rage. Just the wolf. You can change without channeling the rage. Think of yourself on four legs." He stares at her expectantly.
|
|