Log edited with Logedit 2.6.6pl on Sun Aug 2 03:46:45 EDT 1998

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Soulcatcher takes a step after slipping across the gauntlet, headed toward the very center of the umbral caern.

Falcon's Wing looked at me.

Defends-Wolves pads toward the boulder at the caern center after passing through the gauntlet, peering through the misty umbral air.

Falcon's Wing follows the Wendigo, nose twitching.

Sharial stands on the edge of the clearing, looking up into the sky. As four Garou come into the area, her skin twitches and she steps backwards. Her leonine tail begins to twitch nervously.

Nightflash heads, instead of towrad the center, toward the edge of the clearing where the unicorn stands.

Falcon's Wing stops short as he sees the Unicorn, and tries to look as unthreatening as possible.

Soulcatcher settles smoothly to the ground, facing toward the spirit. Like Falcon's wing, he tries to look unthreatening, and just watches, ears alert, but not alarmed.

Defends-Wolves moves toward the unicorn slowly, ears splayed back slightly, also trying to look nonthreatening. *Greetings, friend. You are in no danger here.*

Sharial's ears cant forward, then flicker back and forth. *Dangerous all places. The wind tells me. Not safe. Not safe.*

Falcon's Wing just looks blank.

Defends-Wolves eases himself toward the ground. *You are safer here than anyplace else nearby. Stay away from the pool; foul spirits have made an appearance there. How does the wind speak to you?*

Soulcatcher offers a quiet translation for the Fang--who is closest to him--and the ahroun, who probably cannot understand the conversation between the theurge and the spirit.

Falcon's Wing looks at the Wendigo. Wind? Your wind, or some other kind of wind?

Sharial raises her head with distress. *Bad spirits? At my pool?*

Defends-Wolves flicks an ear affirmatively. *It seems so. A bird-like woman was spreading her filth in the area. We only saw one, but there may be others.*

Sharial turns immediately and begins galloping toward the east.

Falcon's Wing says, ~Uh,~ and looks at John. ~Follow, I would think?~

Soulcatcher is unsure, but I had not thought he meant our wind. Perhaps if I call Kshema?

Nightflash looks confused as Soulcatcher translates. ~Wait.~

Defends-Wolves turns and trots after the unicorn. *Wait. We can help you get rid of them. Do you know where they came from?*

Nightflash says, ~Tell her that the bad spirit wasn't at her pool, it was another unicorn's pool. We haven't been to her pool yet, that's why we're here. To find out where her pool is so we can go investigate.~

Falcon's Wing says, before he turns to lope after the unicorn, ~Well, this is one way to find out where she lives.~

Sharial is beyond listening. In fact, her rapid pace is leaving even the trotting Garou behind. A Garou at full run could probably keep up with her, aided by the fact that her horn has begun glowing like a lune.

Defends-Wolves continues moving after the unicorn. *I'm talking about the pool you led me to a few days ago, far to the south.*

Defends-Wolves gives up on trying to get the unicorn to halt and starts off after her, following the glowing horn.

Nightflash takes the swiftest form and follows after, growling in irritation.

Soulcatcher follows as far as the edge of the bawn, where, as the others continue, he howls a good hunting to them, and remains where he belongs. I hope all goes well.

Falcon's Wing starts loping behind, quite certain he can't keep up but following the scent trail if he does fall behind.

Sharial leads past the edge of the bawn, indeed. Her trail cuts toward the mountains to the east. The occasional thick undergrowth, even here in the Umbra, seems to trouble her little. She moves like quicksilver over the forest ground, her mane streaming behind her and her horn still glowing.

Defends-Wolves soon falls behind the mare, eventually running alongside his tribemate, eyes focused ahead on the glowing trail of light. He mutters to himself. Hope we don't run face first into something we can't handle.

Falcon's Wing lopes determindly after the other Garou, falling, slowly but surely, further behind.

Nightflash isn't the fastest of wolves, but he seems to have no trouble maintaining the pace he's set for himself. He does comment, when he has the the chance, how much he misses his former pack's totem.

Sharial finally slows, her steps becoming more hesitant. Her neck is touched with froth, as are her withers. Her eyes show white around the edges. *The wind. The wind. There is something wrong, here.*

Falcon's Wing feels a faint touch of Wyrm... Defends Wolves, ask her if her pool is near?

Defends-Wolves pulls up to a halt next to the spirit, ears perked forward, listening. He sniffs around the umbral landscape for a few moments, peering around at the others. He flicks an ear toward Derrick. *Is your pool near this place?*

Sharial prances, her cloven hooves digging down into the snow. *should be. But isn't. Wrong. Wrong.* She begins to creep forward daintily, her ears flat to her head.

Nightflash asks if we are in the cat-shifter's territory now.

Falcon's Wing goes Blurry, and begins scenting for stronger Wyrm, nose twitching.

Defends-Wolves paws at the snow thoughtfully. Don't think so just yet. But we're close, if not in it. He peers at the trees more closely, padding toward one. The leaves are too still. Not as strong a taint as with the harpy.

Sharial doesn't answer Nightflash, not that the ahroun could understand her anyway. She continues forward, not quickly, but definitely leaving the Garou behind.

Falcon's Wing rolls his eyes, decides he doesn't really care where the cat shifter's territory is, and lopes after the spirit.

Nightflash continues on as well, keeping an eye out to the sides and letting the others watch the front. He looks backward every now and then as well, but that gets less attention than the flanks.

Defends-Wolves takes a final sniff at one of the trees, then continues on after the spirit, moving quickly enough to keep pace with her.

Along the unicorn's path, the feeling of heavy stillness grows. The trees are unmoving, needled or bare, no matter what strength the Umbral wind blows. One oak seems to have split nearly in half, branches frozen up from the fallen snow like desperate hands. The smell is also wrong, as the theurge takes a sniff, like old polished stone, and not like living trees at all.

Falcon's Wing's nose twitches as he runs, ears swivelling back and forth.

Defends-Wolves twitches his ears as he moves along behind the unicorn. Pertrified? he comments, mostly to himself. He keeps his ears and nose attentive to anything that might penetrate the unusual stillness of the umbra.

Nightflash's hackles start to raise at the unnaturalness of the area and he shifts back into a larger form. ~Let's not be taken by surprise this time.~

Falcon's Wing blinks. Petri... There were harpies at the last one...

Falcon's Wing's tone is disturbed.

Sharial shivers her skin, as if things crawled on her. *Dead,* she mourns. *All dead.* She then shakes her head and raises her head. The light in her horn grows brighter, flashing. She picks up her pace, moving along a direct line.

Nightflash picks up the pace, first jogging and then running to keep up with the spirit.

Defends-Wolves decides the ahroun has the right idea and shifts up to the dire wolf as well. He glances at Falcon's Wing. Just guessing. It seems things are so, well, empty here.

You paged Defends-Wolves with 'You notice something glittering, over where a stone thrusts up from the snow.'.

Falcon's Wing shifts up into hispo as well, movements tenser than a moment before.

Defends-Wolves turns toward a stone sticking up from the snow, his attention caught by something glittering atop it.

The stone is a relatively small one, one of the smaller cousins of the lone boulder--perhaps big enough for two wolves to sun comfortably. Its surface is a pale granite against which the glittering ellipses show clearly. In deep colors of blue and brown, the glittering objects are about the size of a penny, flattened. There are five or six, caught in a depression on the top, next to a small hooked protrusion that has not yet been smoothed by weather.

Falcon's Wing, for his part, continues following the unicorn.

Defends-Wolves looks over at the unicorn, then back toward the boulder. *Do you know what that is?*

Defends-Wolves starts toward the boulder as soon as he asks his question.

Sharial is distracted, this time. She stops, uncertainly, then backtracks at an angle to go toward the small boulder. She reaches it first, lowering her muzzle towrd the small objects. Her nostrils flare and she rears. She neighs, a belling challenge. The call echoes through the dead clearing.

Falcon's Wing peers at one of the objects, nose twitching, but he scrabbles backwards slightly as the unicorn brays.

Several heartbeats go by. Then a low rumble, seeming to come more from the earth than any spirit throat, shakes the air. The unicorn gives another angry, desperate cry, then surges forward along the path she had been taking.

Defends-Wolves joins the spirit next to the stone, sniffing curiously, then looks a bit startled as the unicorn calls. *What is- * He stops as the unicorn dashes off again and rushes after the spirit. *What is it?*, he calls after the unicorn.

Nightflash follows once again, exasperation with the spirit starting to show.

Falcon's Wing's eyes widen at the rumbling, and he pauses, one paw above the ground, before he breaks into a lope again, taking off after the unicorn. ~Something's approaching. Something of the Wyrm. Or was that obvious?~

Defends-Wolves grumbles to himself. ~It wouldn't surprise me in the least.~

The snow thins in this area, the dead grass pricking the feet of the Garou and then collapsing into powder. The unicorn again had taken full pace, outstriping the wolves in the short term. But the Silver Fang's words are realized not long after they leave his mouth. Sharial rears again, calling challenge. Her horn burns like a star. And before her, an enormous shadow rises, and rises, and rises. Pushing from the ground, the shape hits one of the overhanging branches. It cracks and falls like breaking stone. Its outline is highlighted by the sky behind it: serpentine head with wide, exageragted nostrils and horse-like ears, a long, winding body, and cruelly clawed feet. It opens its mouth and roars again at the unicorn, with a voice like grinding stones.

Defends-Wolves slides up to the war-form as the earth starts to shake again. He stops, staring at the snake-like thing as it rises from the ground. ~Anyone know what that is, aside from large and ugly?~

Nightflash rises on his hind legs as he spies the serpent, and quickly looks from one Garou to the other. ~This is the source of the taint, then?~

Sharial strikes with her horn as one of the claws comes toward her. It lays open her pearly hide on one shoulder to the bone, but her spiral scrapes along its scales. She cries again, horn glowing, as she readies for another strike.

Falcon's Wing grates, ~Dead soon? 'Ware, I'm going to turn the Flame on soon, because this thing had better fall, and soon.~

Nightflash takes that as a yes. With a bellow, the ahroun drops to all fours again and charges, leaping for the serpent's back.

Defends-Wolves charges for the thing's flank, slashing at the meeting place for the neck and the rest of the body. He keeps out of the Fang's way, as not to be blinded by his gift.

Falcon's Wing, at Nightflash's movement, turns the Flame on, jumping for the other side of its throat, howling as he does so.

Another lightning-fast exchange of claw and horn occurs while the Garou regroup. Sharial is again left bleeding, but her horn this time sends a spray of dark-colored scales like a rain of sapphires. Then the ahroun is on the dragon's back, claws scrabbling desperately on the rough scales for purchase. The theurge's claws do mimimal damage as well, mostly skittering along the hard surface. The Silver Fang bursts into cold flame, making the dragon rear back and roar again. The movement causes the ragabash's claws hit empty air, but the creature seems highly discomfited by the gift.

Finding little purchase for his claws, Nightflash instead seeks to sink his teeth into the dragon's back and hold on by his jaws.

Defends-Wolves decides he isn't going to get far going straight through the armor, so he moves toward the unicorn, trying to sink his claws into the already pierced armor.

Falcon's Wing snarls, and presses further, moving to try and rake its underbelly while it's displaying it.

The unicorn again bears the brunt of the dragon's attack, her horn again sliding across his armor while her hide is rent in tatters. Each Garou's attack does minimal damage, hitting the spirit feeling like striking stone.

Nightflash's shape changes subtly as the Garou takes a stronger form. His paws become hands and he rakes one claw down the beast's hide.

Defends-Wolves growls as his blows fail to do any significant damage. He slashes once more at the dragon's underbelly, glancing over toward the unicorn briefly. ~We don't seem to be getting anywhere at the moment.~

Falcon's Wing shifts in a blur of movement into glabro, spear appearing with him, as he jams it up toward the looming dragon.

The dragon falls like a stone on the annoying, glowing Garou. The abrupt movement almost throws Nightflash, but he manages to hold on, again sending a spray of scales. The dragon crushes Derrick beneath him, but roars in unexpected pain as the spear pieces into his belly. The unicorn's horn buries to her forehead in the dragon's chest. She screams, then backs away. Defends-Wolves follows up her movement, ripping slighly into the hole that Sharial made.

A blade appears in Nightflash's hand as he takes Crinos form. With a snarl that's mostly muted because he's still holding on by his teeth, the Gaian draws his arm back and plunges the dagger into the dragon's back.

Defends-Wolves continues driving his claws into the minor wounds made by the unicorn, hoping to strike a blow that might actually harm the dragon.

Derrick howls in pain, and, keeping a hold on the spear, stabs it further into the dragon, and then moves it around inside. ~Take fuckin' /that/,~ he gasps.

As the knife sinks into the dragon's back, it lets out an enormous roar that shakes the Umbra--literally. With the stomach-twisting sickness of an earthquake, all the Garou but Derrick are thrown to their knees. Both the ragabash and the theurge manage to wound the dragon before falling, but the spear slips from Derrick's nerveless fingers as the shock-wave lashes him into near-unconsiousness. The unicorn also takes injury, falling heavily. Both Gaians weather the blast well, being as yet unwounded. As if the Umbra-shaking roar had called it, a ghost image appears above the dragon. Glowing silver against the dark scales, it reaches around and through Nightflash to close its jaws and sink into the dragon. Moments later, it disappears and Nightflash is on the ground, silver dagger in hand.

Derrick grunts in pain again, and attempts to wiggle out from under the dragon.

Defends-Wolves sinks down to his knees with a growl, then regains his feet and moves over in the Fang's prone form quickly, trying to move him out from under the thing. He takes a quick survey of the wounds before applying a hand to Derrick's chest, presumably where the worst of the wounds are located.

With the help the ragabash gives, Defends-Wolves manages to get Derrick dragged from under the dragon over to one side. The Silver Fang's legs are crushed and broken from the attack, near-useless, but when the Gaian touches them they again grow straight and strong, breathing new life into the wounded Garou. Nightflash is left to continue the attack. He drops his dagger and swarms up the side of the dragon with the speed of rage, clawing deep into the hole the dagger tore in the armor. The dragon roars again, and begins to roll and twist its body. Sharial's horn hits claw, doing damage to neither spirit.

Defends-Wolves smiles briefly as the wounded Garou is mostly healed, then turns back toward the dragon, charging back to his previous location for a repeated assault with his claws.

Derrick stares at his legs uncertainly, and then looks at the dragon. Lip curling, he snarls, and gets to his feet, slightly wobbly for only a brief moment before he shifts to crinos and leaps again for the thing's neck again, claws thirsting.

Nightflash again blurs with rage, striking in the hole he's made in the dragon's scales before flinging himself off the dragon to avoid being pinned like Derrick. The dragon slams into the ground not even three inches behind where the ahroun lands, and Nightflash must scramble out of the way ungracefully to avoid being struck. The unicorn and Derrick have about the same undramatic effect, but Defends-Wolves manages to open the hole in its chest further before it begins to turn to go after Nightflash. It drops its jaw in anticipation of breaking the one that hurt it so badly.

Nightflash unleashes a barrage of blows to the thing's face and throat, trying to finish it once and for all.

Defends-Wolves moves with the turning dragon, continuing to tear at the hole in it's chest with a flurry of rage fueled blows.

Falcon's Wing snarls, glances around, and grabs his sear again, stabbing angrily at its underbelly, and trying to dance away before it falls on him again.

The four fighters close on the dragon for the final pass, some rending in holes already created and others simply clawing and stabbing at the closest location. Already wounded by the rounds of attack, it makes one final thrust and catches Nightflash in its jaws. Teeth like stone points close around the Garou's chest, puncturing deep. Sharial takes one last charge, lowering her horn like the spear that Derrick also thrusts into the beast. Then, it is gone, leaving only the cold smell of stone and the scale-littered ground. Nightflash's silver knife lies in stone powder eight or ten feet from where he stands.

Falcon's Wing pants slightly, and mutters, ~Jeeesus Christ,~ staring worridly at both the unicorn and Nightflash.

Sharial looks much the worse for wear, head hanging low and sides heaving. Blood drips down her forelegs from her rended shoulders. But still, she's alive. It doesn't take a theurge to figure out she wouldn't have been if the Garou hadn't aided her.

Defends-Wolves watches as the thing vanishes, gasping for breath. ~Everyone OK?~ he asks, looking around at the others.

Nightflash is bleeding from several deep punctures in his chest, and his breath sounds raspy in his throat. Blood also drips from his mouth, but he doesn't seem particularly bothered by the wounds at the moment. He lopes on all fours to retrive his knife, and as he takes the hispo form, it reforms as a silver streak of fur on his forearm. ~I'll live,~ he answers Defends-Wolves.

Falcon's Wing waves it off. ~I'm fine. Thanks for earlier, though. Can... Is there any poit in hailing spirits?~

Defends-Wolves shrugs. ~Not much I can do. Rest is about the only thing for her at the moment. And you're welcome for earlier.~ He looks over at Nightflash, then at the unicorn. *I hope that was the thing causing the trouble, and not just a symptom?*

Nightflash turns back to Falcon's Wing, a little confused. ~I thought you were crushed.~

Falcon's Wing points a thumb at John. ~Battlefield healing. Finest kind.~

Defends-Wolves chuckles. ~Services rendered free of charge. Your auspice usually makes it easy anyway.~

Sharial lowers her head and scrapes one cloven hoof, to reach the grass under the snow. She pokes at it with her nose. It disintergrates into stone powder under her breath. She sighs, then painfully raises her head. *Not mine, now. Come back after sleep, reclaim. But another will come. It is the way.*

Falcon's Wing looks blank, but her tone evokes sympathy in the Fang, and he chuffs worridly.

Nightflash looks from Falcon's Wing to Defends-Wolf with no small amount of surprise, but simply falls silent.

Defends-Wolves frowns slightly. ~Looks like there might be more on the way eventually. But personally I've had about enough for one evening.~

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