Spirit Allies

[Kamut]

Kamut has nothing to add, though he's already considering the possibility of trying to lure some of the banes out to spread out their numbers and make them easier to pick off. He's unsure if he would be speaking out of turn, being not even a member of the war wolf's favoured tribe, so gives only a nod of thanks to avoid seeming ungrateful.

[Tony Vasara]

The deal seemed to be struck, so it was time to make sure Slagbröder could actually honor their end of the bargain. Vasara bowed to Warwolf "We will return, Great Wolf.". He didn't want to seem like completely useless whelp trying to ask every detail of their mission and refrained himself straightly asking the location of the nest.

Vasara walked a bit further and tried to figure out a plan. "So, we need a Spirit to watch over Den and we need to find and destroy the lair of dogs." Vasara scratched his head. "Kamut, how about a scouting run? We need to know the exact location of the lair, get good knowledge of the landscape and get to know enemys numbers. I think you can take someone with you to cover your hide. Just don't engage the enemy unless it is absolutely necessary."

Vasara looked at everyone, but especially Anna "Any ideas on spirit to watch over the lair? We could try and get some mean mutherfucker there to watch the place or we could try to find a spirit that could hide the Den from the Wyrm?". Vasara tried to think hard on subject "At least squirrels are good for hiding things..." he said as he remembered the little critters from his homeland "...little bastards sometimes hides their food-caches so well that even they can't find them."

[Shehrazad]

"How about a rat spirit?" Saxon said. He didn't know much about spirits, but he was a child of Rat, so it was the natural thing to say. "They are everywhere and they are sneaky.I'm sure they could get us a message quickly if this place gets threatened again."

He looked at Kamut.
"I can go with you," he said.
He looked again at Vasara.
"You all right with that?"

[Anna]

"Maybe," Anna said, nodding at both of their suggestions. "Or the owl spirit who helped me before. He might be easier to persuade, since we have dealt before."

Two very different spirits, and they'd probably want very different things in return. The owl's last request had not been easy.
"Definitely not both together," she added. Hunter and prey didn't get on well. "Both are good at hiding and stealth. Owl is a good watcher, if that is what we are looking for."

[Kamut]

Kamut looks up at Saxon, unsure how good the Ahroun is at staying undetected.
"It's not necesarry, but it would be a reassurance to know someone is nearby if I get in trouble."

[Tony Vasara]

"I am ok with that." Vasara said to Saxon. "And I will stay out of this decision on spirit-guardian. I just don't know enough. Rat to summon us, owl to watch over the den, squirrel to hide it, bear or wolverine-spirit to guard it... I really don't know."

"What I know is that I'd rather go with a spirit that would not require us to run here all the time this den is threatened.

[Shehrazad]

"Go with the Theurge's suggestions then," Saxon said with a shrug. "I just a simple Ahroun."

He stepped towards Kamut.
"All right kid," he said. "I don't want to blow your cover so I'll stay back. I might lose sight of you so howl if you need me."

[Anna]

"Let's talk to the Owl," Anna said. "At least we know where to find him, and we won't have to go far. We can still hear the others if they howl for help."

She didn't know how to summon spirits yet. She felt a lot more confident this time. Whatever the owl spirit asked her to do, she had the pack with her. It would be so much easier this time.

[Shehrazad]

While Kamut and Saxon head off to scout the area, the three Fenrir made their way to the tree where Anna had first met the owl spirit. He watched them as they approached, and slid off the branch to a lower one, so he could speak to them.

"You have been following my advice,"he said to Anna. "You bring your pack to the path of wisdom."


Meanwhile, Kamut took the stealthy approach while Saxon acted as his rear guard. He blurred and started to scout the area for banes, using the gift he'd learnt to sense their taint. It wasn't long before he spotted the first of them. It seemed to have gotten separated from the pack. It was canine in appearance, with large pointy teeth. Naturally, it hadn't noticed Kamut yet, and Saxon was too far behind to be relevant.

[Anna]

"I have."

Anna wasn't exactly sure that was what she had done, but she had to admit this was a change from the pack's usual endeavours.

"We need your help again," she said. "My Alpha, Judgment-form-the-Skies, has roused the warwolf to battle. But he will need a spirit to watch over the forest while he is gone, a spirit he can trust, who can will not abandon the post. You have helped us before. Will you help us again?"

She suddenly realised she hadn't offered anything in return. She had no idea what they could offer, but the owl spirit had helped her before. She just hoped whatever it asked for this time wouldn't involve having to break the law again.

[Tony Vasara]

Vasara looked at the Owl. It looked tired. Or maybe hungry. Pissed off? Hard to say. Vasara scratched his head and looked around. Things like these were so difficult for him and he was turning nervous. He tried to keep his ears open if Kamut and Saxon howled for help.

He decided to show respect to the spirit by keeping his mouth shut. He just had to trust that Anna knew what she was doing.

[Shehrazad]

The owl spirit looked at all of them carefully, before speaking to all of them.
"The warwolf keeps the land safe and pure, but does not understand why the banes keep returning despite his cleansing," it said in the high tongue now. "I have watched this forest, here and beyond the gauntlet. The land is in more danger than he, or you, suspect."

The owl looked grim, or at least he seemed to look grim. The three Garou couldn't really tell for sure.
"There is a dark threat hanging over the land. Every night it taints the land in preparation. When the time comes, it will unleash its terrible evil on the forest, and the spirits who find refuge in one of the few true Wyld places left. I have foreseen it, I have dreamt it.
We are weak in the physical world. We can not stop it. You must find a way. Do this, and the warwolf can leave us knowing the land is safe, and the children of owl can watch over this forest, for it is ours to watch, as it is his to defend."

(Kamut's scouting run will take a little longer anyway, I will just PM the findings, as the hounds are too stupid to notice him anyway.)

[Kamut]

Kamut circled the lone bane at a respectable distance, ears high and body low as he keeps his senses sharp for the rest of the banes and tries to determined if they're within earshot of this one. He continues on a general sweep of the area, noting relevant landmarks to find his way back with ease and looking for any other banes in the area, before returning to his pack and informing them of the situation.

((you can assume anything kamut has found and might find will be told to vasara and co, if he doesn't get interrupted before returning))

[Shehrazad]

As Kamut's eyes took in the sight of the area, he noticed that a piece of the landscape looked more like a Blight. A small black sphere near the center caught his eye as he looked at the Blight. Flowing into the sphere was a small black pulsing thread, but it didn't look like anything was going out. He noticed that there didn't seem to be any spirits around the sphere except that the bane he was following seemed to be drawn towards the sphere.

If Kamut had wanted to find this place again it would be easy, a lone Blight in the middle of the umbra, and especially that sphere. Something inside of Kamut was very uneasy about this place.

After a moment, the hound looked away from the sphere and entered a hole about 50 ft from the sphere. A moment later, another bane entered the same way. This time, instead of the bane looking at the sphere, it went up to it and touched it. The bane seemed to grow in size for a moment until the sphere pulsed again and then the bane shrank again. After a few minutes of watching the area, nothing had changed and no other hounds came in the Blight. The globe itself was unchanged except that its constant pulsing seemed to get a bit quicker as he watched.

[Anna]

Anna looked at Vasara and Nadya and then back at the Owl. He had been pretty direct in saying what he wanted last time. He even told her where to start. The fact that he was so cryptic made her think that he either didn't know much more than this, or they were supposed to find it out on their own.
"Thank you," she said to the owl. "Whatever it is, our pack will destroy it."

That might have sounded a little too confident. When Kamut and Saxon returned with their news, she gave them both a nod and filled them in on what the owl had said.
"Something, someone, is tainting the forest. On purpose."
The idea was enough to anger any Garou, even a young Cliath. She looked at Vasara.
"Do you think Spirals might be here without us knowing it?" she asked, suppressing a shudder. After all, they hadn't crossed over to the other side yet.