The Library (Early Afternoon)

[Shehrazad]

By the time Wissenfalken and the two Galliards, Simeon and Hands of Mercy, found their way back to the Caern it was well past noon. After a quick wash and a hearty lunch courtesy of Jona's brother, Dominik, they headed back to the library through the physical world. It was well into the day and they knew better than to travel the umbra while activity was at its highest. It was still a dangerous city.

When they stepped through the main entrance into the library, they recognised Cloud-Dancer and Danny near the fire, which was burning as always. They were looking over a large map, and Cloud-Dancer was marking something on it with a pencil.

They looked up when the group entered, and Danny scanned their faces quietly for a few seconds before his settled on Hands of Mercy.
"You have the look of victory on your faces," he said. "Sit down, and tell me what happened."

[Simeon]

Simeon walked in and gave both the Cloud Dancer and Danny a respectful nod. "We have been, but it came at a cost..." He stopped and then looked over at Jona, he was still the Alpha of their make shift pack, and he had no desire to steal his thunder. "If you want I can tell the tale or you, it is after all your pack that accomplished the task set before us."

[Jona]

"The full tale is a pretty long story," Jona said. "And it started in Freiburg, months ago. That story will have to wait for the moot. Jess will tell it, because she's been with me through it all, from the very beginning."
He sat down and stole a glance at the map.
"But what happened last night, yeah that's yours to tell," he said. He was pretty sure the Caern had already heard the news of Zachary's death. Kamut and Edward would have returned much earlier and told them. So he didn't mention it, and let Simeon and Hands of Mercy explain. After all, he didn't really know what it was they had found. Only Hands of Mercy knew that.

[Hands of Mercy]

Hands of Mercy bows his head to both Walks With Death and Cloud Dancer. His eyes don't conceal his pride at all, though he does take a moment choosing his words. "We have returned with Hrafnsmerki, possibly it is more accurate to say that I am Hrafnsmerki." Hands of Mercy's voice is harsher even now, and indicates that he had not come away unscathed either. "Hrafnhild, the spirit of the Fetish met us, and asked which of us would take up the burden of the banner." He glances between Simeon and Jona as he continues.

"As we failed to come to a decision, the spirit declared we were not ready to bear it, and set us the task of reclaiming an item stolen from it by the Rat-kin. We entered their tunnels under the city, and they found us after Simeon found one of their traps. Some large blades that sprang from the wall and nearly severed his arm. Born from a Dark Wish found another in the foetid water as he rushed to aid Simeon."

"I retrieved the incautious ahroun from the water, and Jess healed both him and Simeon as we negotiated with the Rat-kin. They were far from friendly, but were open to negotiation, and agreed to trade us the item in return for the death of some 'vermin' that had been troubling them, along with my grovelling after I managed to offend them during the negotiations."

"First we set off after this vermin, and as with the Rat-kin, it seems the creature had prepared a welcome for any unexpected guests. Our first warning of its presence was when several pipes along the walls exploded, spraying us with steam and water, sending Born form a Dark Wish back into the water, where he found more traps. As we gathered our wits, the creature struck, grabbing White Crow and dragging her off. I again retrieved Born From a Dark Wish, but with White Crow abducted and Jess out of Gnosis, we could not get him up. So we pressed on after the creature, hoping that it would not circle back and finish off the ahroun. Unfortunately, it seems that it did not need to. We found White Crow soon after, also unconscious and the creature finally engaged us."

"I fought alongside Fire in the Junkyard to kill the creature while Jess and Simeon fought back a horde of rats that seemed to consider White Crow an easy meal. Fire in the Junkyard finished the creature off as it pulled me down, though my nature allowed me to recover swiftly enough once some metal mechanism it had clamped around my head was removed."

"Simeon raced back to the Caern to find a healer to restore White Crow to consciousness while the rest of us regrouped and returned to Born Form a Dark Wish." He pauses here. "It seems the rats that had been after White crow had already found him, and without anyone to protect him, he had been killed."

"In time Simeon returned with Shadow-Stalker of Slagbroder, and he healed White Crow. I lowered myself to the Rat-kin I had offended and asked his forgiveness, which he gave and the Rat-kin gave us the item. With Born From a Dark wish dead, and Simeon stepping back, it came down to whether Fire in the Junkyard or I would take up the banner. He suggested we place it in the hands of Fate, and Fate placed it in mine."

"We returned to Hrafnhild, and it judged us now worthy, and invested me with the powers of Hrafnsmerki. When we enter battle against the Bane, I can call upon these powers to cripple our foes, to drain them of strength and speed for as long as I stand. I do not know whether another would be able to take up Hranfsmerki in its current form should I fall."

[Jessika]

Jess enters behind Hands of Mercy and looks around. She leaves the talking to him, and stands or sits near Jona for now.

[Corinna Cannstein]

Cloud-Dancer and Danny listened intently as Hands of Mercy debriefed. They had promised a weapon, but this had far exceeded their expectations. Cloud-Dancer looked carefully at the group of Cliaths as the story was told, but she didn't doubt any of it.

She kept a stern face, however, as she looked them over. It was Danny who smiled.
"This is much more than the Caern could have dared hope for," he said, speaking in particular to the pack.

Cloud-Dancer nodded in agreement. She seemed less optimistic though.
"Now we stand a chance," she said. "Hands of Mercy, don't go anywhere. We have battle plans to make."

"Not yet," Danny said. "Even the battle can wait for us to honour those who have given their lives for victory. Gather your pack," he said to Cloud-Dancer. "And meet us in the Umbra near the shrine."
He then turned to the Cliaths.
"Do any of you wish to lead the dirge?" he asked.

[Emelie]

Em had followed in with the rest, but this was not the time for her, it was where a gallaird could shine the best. She nodded a bit as she listened to Hand's relate the tale. he was direct and made a fair accounting of how things had been. She looked over at Hand's when Danny said the last, wondering if he still wanted to lead that bit for Zach or not.

[Jessika]

Jess answers Cloud Dancer's question first. "Kamut asked to lead the Rite. Zach was his tribe-mate after all."

[Corinna Cannstein]

Cloud-Dancer nodded.
"All right," she said. "I'll find Shadow-Stalker too. They should be in the Umbra. Commands-the-Tides will need a few minutes to return, that should give us time to prepare. Hands of Mercy, come with me. We'll gather the others."
She stopped and looked at the wound in his neck.
"And after this, we will commemorate your first scar," she said. She looked at Danny.

(Just using orange for Danny, in case it caused any confusion.)
"I will perform the rite of wounding," he agreed. "It is a wound worthy of it. I will prepare for the Gathering first. Meet me out by the clearing when you are all ready."

"Right, let's go," Cloud-Dancer said to Hands of Mercy, and stepped sideways.

[Hands of Mercy]

Hands of Mercy follows Cloud Dancer across the Gauntlet and slides down into his wolf form.

[Simeon]

One thing nice about the caern, it made slipping into the umbra a whole lot easier. So, with little effort Simeon also followed into that 'other' realm. He was, as bad as it sounded, eager to get this over with. He was tired, and he still had a lot of things he needed to follow up on, like Justina and the small issue concerning Klara and her kin. Rubbing his temples once he was on the other side he came to a decision. Well, a couple, since he was obviously staying here for an extended period of time. First and foremost he needed a pack, to make one or join. He had a feeling the situation with Klara was going to be more than he could handle alone. Secondly he needed a place to live and a job, but the job part would be easy enough he figured. After all if not singing a good mechanic was always needful, and he was good. And lastly, he really wanted a drink…

One the other side, he stopped and waited for everyone to converge and see where Cloud-Dancer wanted them.

[Corinna Cannstein]

Cloud-Dancer looked around at them when she reached the Umbra and frowned as she watched Hands of Mercy shift.
"Stay upright," she said curtly. "I want to talk, and I expect you to speak when spoken to."

She looked at Simeon briefly.
"I suppose you might as well come too," she said. "This concerns you as well."

She started to walk towards the norwest, leading them away from the library and towards the edge of the Caern.
"I am not going to ask you if you understand what a great honour it is to carry the raven banner," she said to Hands of Mercy. "You're practically a child. You shouldn't be, but Raven wouldn't have chosen you if you weren't up to it. And I'm glad you chose to represent the tribe in this quest."
She didn't know, after all, that Danny had practically forced him to join Wissenfalken and aid them on their quest.
"But both you and I know that the banner will not do us any good if you fall two seconds into the battle, and with your current situation, there is a high chance of that happening."
She paused and looked him in the eye.
"What do you intend to do about that?"
She herself probably had a few good ideas of what to do about it, but she wanted to see him take the initiative for once.

[Jona]

Jona leaned back in the chair he'd chosen to sit down in and took a moment to think things through. It was strange, not having a defined task any more. For now they were free to go anywhere they wanted. But it felt sort of empty to be without any purpose.
He really wanted to talk to Jess, privately, about their next step. Were they just here to provide the Sept with the tools to fight, or were they here to help ensure victory?

"What now?" he asked her quietly. It was acceptable for her to see him uncertain and unknowing. But only her. He was still the alpha after all, and he had to make decisions.
"I suppose we stay for the moot," he said. "But what about the battle? We might be able to help. An extra set of claws, even inexperienced ones, could still make a difference. And they will need healers. What do you think?"

[Hands of Mercy]

Hands of Mercy shifts almost instantly to his breed form, then sinks back down into Homid again as Cloud Dancer addresses him. He hadn't realised she had matters to discuss. He walks alongside her, listening as she speaks, and nods at her words. Without a pack he would be vulnerable, and he needed to not be. But then, without a pack was not where he intended to be.

"Simeon and I shall join a pack together. That will not be enough alone. We both have been offered a place within Wissenfalken, though I am not certain that would be the best place for us. I would approach the Silver Fang Ahroun as well - I believe he is currently without a pack. What news has there been from Walks the Darkest Path?"

[Jessika]

"I think we're not done yet," Jess replies with a frown. Getting the weapon had been an achievement, and a grand one, but their quest still had a long way to go. "Berlin still needs healing, and killing that thing's just the start of it. You can't seriously expect this bunch of nutters to know how to put a city back together." She smiles at the last, speaking more in jest than in seriousness, but then frowns again. "They'll need us. And we need them to finish this. The battle'll be tough, but we didn't exactly sign up for an easy ride."