Log edited with Logedit 2.6.6pl on Mon Oct 20 19:10:41 EDT 1997

Using configuration file /turquoise/homes/ammer/.logeditrc
Editing out: arrive/left @mail ANSI tf-messages
Regexp stripping: Queue, Semaphore, ^Huh\? +Type, ^I don't see that
Word-wrapping at 72, 0, 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tess(#2569Pc)

At first glance, this woman's age is difficult to determine. Tess's
shiny black hair shows no signs of grey, and she moves like a woman in
her early years. Yet her black eyes study you from a face obviously
aged, a network of wrinkles covering the facial structure of a person
of obvious Native American descent. Her hands and other parts of her
visible skin are also heavily wrinkled. Her posture, however, is
unstooped at a height of about 5'8". Tess is dressed in a tunic and
breeches of unbleached buckskin. The fringes of her clothing are
decorated with the same small coloured beads as her moccasians. She
carries a feathered and fringed leather pouch around her waist. Burn
scars mark the palms of her hands and her cheeks.

Tess stands near the other two metis, her hands tightly fisted at her
sides.

On the eastern curve, Soulcatcher's ears cock forward, muzzle lifted to
the air as he looks across the Wheel.
On the eastern curve, Soulcatcher heads into the center.

At the center, Soulcatcher heads south, away from the center of the
Wheel.

Orion is standing stiffly, unmoving but for his watchful eyes and
fidgetting hands. As Soulcatcher nears, he gives both of his
companions quick glances.

Peter Follen bows his head to Soulcatcher in greeting. ~I believe that
we are ready.~

Tess looks at least as nervous as Orion, though hers seems to register
more in the tight holding of her body rather than quick movements. She
glances at Peter at his words, then swallows once.

Soulcatcher looks between the three garou assembled and dips his muzzle.
It will be easier in the Shadow. He turns to had toward the pool, and
beyond.
Soulcatcher follows the Wheel to the Pool.

You head east, toward the sparkling pool of water and forward around the
Wheel.

Around the Pool

The inscribed Wheel continues, running past a small pool of clear water
just inside the outer line. The ground on the Wheel is rough, with
uneven patches of grass sprouting here and there in defiance of the
countless generations of feet that have trod this path. On to the
north is the firepit, and back to the west is the windy spot.
Contents:
Soulcatcher
Quiet Pool
Obvious exits:

Forward Back Center of the Wheel

On the southern curve, Orion follows the Wheel to the Pool.

On the southern curve, Peter Follen follows the Wheel to the Pool.

Soulcatcher's eyes stop on his reflection in the pool.

Soulcatcher gazes into the pool, and suddenly he vanishes.

Peter Follen's eyes stop on his reflection in the pool.

Orion's eyes stop on his reflection in the pool.

Peter Follen gazes into the pool, and suddenly he vanishes.

You start to reach through the umbra.

Tess's eyes stop on her reflection in the pool.

The landscape shimmers, and you are through.

Tess gazes into the pool, and suddenly she vanishes.

Umbra: Beyond the Pool

The world about you is so sharp and alive as to make the place you left
a dull, sooty dream. Surely, it was never as _real_ as this. The
topography is the same, you still stand by the pool within the arc of
the Wheel, but there the similarity ends. Every blade of grass is
distinct from every other one, and each glows with vitality, for this
is the Green World, the pure life within, the reality beyond reality.
Contents:
Peter Follen
Soulcatcher
Obvious exits:

NorthWest South

Orion appears in a glimmer of light.

Soulcatcher makes his way toward the center of the Wheel, where he's
already prepared for the rite.
Soulcatcher heads northwest through the thick grasses toward the center
of the clearing.

In the center of the clearing, Soulcatcher contorts and blurs as he is
transformed.

Tess looks around and takes a deep breath. She says something quiet in
Yakima, then turns to follow the theurge.

In the center of the clearing, Soulcatcher pauses, his body losing its
continuity and twisting into Homid form.

You head through the tall grass toward the center of the clearing. The
air fairly crackles with spiritual energy the closer you get to the
center.

Umbra: Center of the Caern

The thick grasses surrounding this place suddenly give way to solid
granite in a perfect circle some twenty yards across. An eerie chill
runs up your spine, instincts atingle as an undiscernable presence
fills the air. Lunes dance wildly on the air, lighting the place
brightly and casting odd shadows about the clearing. At the center of
the stone circle a broad Medicine Circle has been drawn in brightly
colored chalks and sand, one Great Ring embracing a second smaller
circle. Inscribed within the greater ring are stylized representations
of each of the Totems of the Garou, and at the cardinal directions
stand the symbols of the elements. Within the center of the Medicine
Circle a triangle has been laid in silver dust, seven feet on a side.
At each point the symbols of each of the Triat have been drawn, The
Wyld, Weaver, and Wyrm each adding its primal power to the binding.

There is a wound in this place of power; it is not what it once so
recently was. Power still lies here, but the overwhelming sense of it
is gone--instead, the most spiritually aware can feel the loss like
the phantom pains of an amputated limb.
Contents:
Joseph
Obvious exits:

North SouthEast West

Orion comes into the center of the clearing from the pool to the
southeast.

By the pool to the southeast, Peter Follen follows, seemingly the
calmest of the three. He looks to Joseph for direction.

Peter Follen comes into the center of the clearing from the pool to the
southeast.

Joseph smoothly takes his birthform and without a word points Peter to
the northern point of the Wheel. By the great tablestone sits two
uneven bowls and a set of stripped vines. The wendigo moves to pick
these up before motioning for the other two to forma triangular circle
oposite Peter.

Orion moves into position quickly, nervous energy finally directed to
something even this minor.

Joseph shakes the vines out, setting both bowls at the center of the
formed circle for the moment, and approaches Peter.

Tess mirrors Orion's movement, leaving Peter to go to the north as
indicated while the two ahroun stand below him.

Peter Follen stands and waits.

Joseph asks for Peter's left hind, tying the end of one of the vines to
the it as Quiet watches unobtrusively by the tablestone. Trailing the
vine, he moves to Orion and binds the other end there. "As a pack, you
are bound to each other," he says as he ties the end of the next to to
Orion's other hand and moves on to Tess. Taking the last, he finishes
the circle.

Tess looks down at the makeshift bindings, then moves a step closer so
the other two have more slack in the vines.

Orion watches Joseph's preparations closely now, his fidgetting hands
forced still at his sides.

Joseph takes up the bowls and approaches the garou at the northern point
of the Wheel. He dips a thumb in the smaller bowl and motions for him
to close his eyes. With a quick touch, each eylid is touched and he
takes one step back. "Peter Wind Rises Again, Half Moon of the
Children of Gaia, why do you wish a pack?"

Peter Follen looks at the theurge oddly a moment before remembering his
breed. Then he says simply, ~Garou belong in packs.~

Joseph holds the second bowl out for Peter and motions for him to drink
of the dark liquid.

Peter Follen does so.

Joseph takes the bowl back and moves to Orion, repeating the touch to
each eyelid before speaking. He gives Quiet, closer now, a brief look
as well. "Orion Usher of the Dawn, full moon of the Black Furies, why
would you follow Bear?"

Orion meets Joseph's gaze squarely and says, "I... I admire Bear's
strength and will."

Joseph offers the Fury the second bowl to drink from as well.

Orion does just that.

Joseph receives it back and moves to the last, decorating the Uktena's
eyelids as he did the others. To this one, he speaks a different
language, and a small smile sits on his lips as he does so. "Tess One
Feather, warrior of the Uktena, what will you do for pack and totem?"

Tess answers in the same launguage, her voice earnest. She glances
between the other two metis as she speaks, then looks back full in
Joseph's face. "I will die for them. And I will live for them."

Joseph gives her a brief nod and hands her the second bowl.

Tess answers in the same launguage, her voice earnest. She glances
between the other two metis as she speaks, then looks back full in
Joseph's face. "I will die for them. And I will live for them."

Joseph hands the bowls to Quiet and closes his own eyes now. His arms he
lifts to the umbral heavens and he says in the same language he spoke
to Tess, "Mato, hotaninpe. Wankatanhan hotaninpe." With that he shifts
to use the Mother's tongue. ~They send a voice. Great Bear, healer and
wisdom giver, this pack send their voice to you. Like the hoop you
serve to heal, a pack is circle without end. One body, one mind, one
spirit. They call you to bind them in that. Come, join them.~

Tess contorts and blurs as she is transformed.

One Feather lifts her wrinkled muzzle and gives full voice to her howl.

After a moment of hesitation, Orion does likewise.

Orion contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Orion shifts into Crinos form.

Usher looked at you.

Sleek and shadowy, this horrifying nightmare looms over eight feet tall.
Beaded black scales, shimmering like a legion of smooth polished
obsidian pebbles, stretch smoothly across his man-shaped form -
marching over broad shoulders, down long arms wound and knotted in
iron muscle, along tautly powerful legs. His head is wolfish beneath
those scales, the tapering muzzle twisted in a snarl that shows a set
of horribly large fangs. His tongue, when it can be seen, is forked
like a serpent's. Fierce golden eyes blaze with intensity and a
too-human awareness. Massive hands are fisted around thick black claws
and a rope-like tail sweeps behind him for balance, the end twitching
and curling of it's own accord.

Carrying:

Mouse Bone Necklace

Peter Follen's eyebrows go up in surprise at Orion's Crinos form; he has
never seen the Fury take the warform before. But he doesn't recoil,
and he doesn't speak. He stands, silent, in his usual form, allowing
his packmates to be his voice in this call.

One Feather doesn't notice at first, her own deformed muzzle pointed to
the sky. She then lowers it as her breath gives out and gives a
startled blink. A look of recoiling is quickly quashed, followed
within a breath by a strong sympathy. But she says nothing.

Long moments pass, silently. Then an odd breeze stirs the umbral air. A
presence makes itself known by brushing the side of the Uktena.
Unseen, it nonetheless is enough to make her take a step. A resounding
bass rumble announces his presence if any doubted it before, and now
in the flicker of the lunes the shape of the great brown bear can be
seen, within the circle. He looks about him with a slowness marked not
with stupidity, but with eternal patience. *What, no offering of
food?*

One Feather's eyes flicker to the theurge, before returning to the great
animal. She dips her eyes in deep respect, her hands once again
clenched at her sides.

Usher of the Dawn says nothing, but seems to make a point of keeping his
golden eyes on the spirit-bear.

By the pool to the southeast, Atalanta appears in a glimmer of light.

Joseph's manner is amused, apparently reading humor into whatever the
spirit spoke, and he dips his head as well to the great bear. Before
he can answer, or even translate, the bear turns his shaggy head
toward Peter.

Peter Follen clears his throat softly, looking at the bear. ~I--~ he
begins, stops, then licks his lips. ~I beg your pardon?~

His form is graceful, even as it lumbers. Lifting its two forepaws from
the ground, it answers without anymore fanfair, *I accept.*

Joseph glances from the bear to PEter and then the others. He says, ~He
says he accepts.~

One Feather looks up, and up, at the towering bear. She swallows again,
then breaks into a wolfish grin at the theurge's words. A look of
increduleous joy breaks across her expression.

By the pool to the southeast, Atalanta sits by the pool, watching in
silence.

Usher swings his head around the misshapen circle, gaze going from the
bear to Joseph and on to his packmates. He, too, slips into a grin as
he waits for Peter to respond.

Peter Follen smiles softly and bows formally to the bear. ~We will serve
you well.~

The great bear comes back to all fours heavily, and again, with humor,
says *Good. The winter is long and my belly is empty.*

Joseph translates for the pack, his amusement clear.

Peter Follen blinks once, then excuses himself, heading southeast at a
brisk trot.
Peter Follen heads southeast toward the pool.

By the pool to the southeast, Peter Follen walks around the side of the
pool and heads into the southern woods.

One Feather looks after her alpha, then digs in her belt pouch. She
pulls out several things, but returns all but a leaf-wrapped lump. She
picks off the 'wrapper' and offers the brown candy to the bear. ~It is
from the maple. It's sweet.~ From the way her skin hangs, it can be
seen she does not habitually overindulge in food, even under the
wrinkles. But she offers the treat without hesitation.

Joseph watches Peter go and grins. The bear looks slightly non-plussed
and asks, *He goes to get food?* The Wendigo answers with a nod and
the bear's expression brightens somewhat, pleased. *I did not mean
now, but this I could get used to.* When the Uktena stirs, he turns
his great head to her, snout sniffing at the wrapper.

Usher of the Dawn's eyes track Peter longer, and when he comes back to
attend to the matters at hand it is slowly. But he follows One
Feather's lead, rummaging a handful of dried venison strips from a
pocket and handing them over to the bear. He mutters, ~Thank you,~ to
the massive animal.

By the pool to the southeast, Atalanta crouches low, a small cub on the
periphery of a Great Event, and witnesses.

The snout is wet and the tongue rough. The maple candy is quickly
devoured once it is recognized, and Tess's hand is left for the strips
of meat.

One Feather smoothes her hand over her fur and watches her new totem
eat. Her expression is still vaguely stunned.

By the pool to the southeast, Peter Follen comes out of the woods to the
south.
By the pool to the southeast, Peter Follen returns after a brief time,
carrying something in both hands.

Peter Follen comes into the center of the clearing from the pool to the
southeast.
Peter Follen jogs back, carrying a big yellow fish. He holds this out to
the bear.

As it finishes the strips and turns its head to the returning Gaian, the
spirit-bear's eyes widen with the offering. *Yes. I think I will like
this.* The Wendigo laugh a little, and translates for the waiting pack
as the bear makes a meal of the fish.

One Feather smiles again. She begins to quiver a little, as she attempts
to restrain the urge to dance about in joy.

Usher settles back on his haunches as he watches the bear eat, his mouth
hanging open happily. He howls, then, short and sweet, joy clearly
sounding in his voice.

By the pool to the southeast, Atalanta wags her tail, happy for her
teachers' happiness.

Home          Main Log Index           Tess Log Index