After Jirrawin has gone, Naomi gathers the pack and says that she acted impatiently with the Get and the Talons, and that she let her prejudices get in the way of what she really needed to do. She is prepared to step down as pack leader if the others so wish it. She leaves them to decide, then comes back. They have unanimously(ish) to retain her as pack leader. Lisa unhelpfully says that Naomi did get it wrong. She doesn't want to change the leadership, though. Various people spend the night in meditation (and sleep).
Everybody piles into the van and drive to the university. They find that the front door to the building has been forced. Everybody changes to lupus and rush up to the laboratory. They run in and find the whole place has been trashed. Cernonous is lying dead on the floor (in Crinos form), apparently clawed to death.
The True seekers begin investigating. They think that Cernonous has been dead for roughly 24 hours. The overpowering chemical smell hides any other scents. In all the mess they find three sets of footprints. They are fairly sure that there were two separate groups. The first group was two of the sets of footprints. They came in and moved around fairly randomly, then left. The third set came in later, and moved fairly directly towards the computer and the files. The hard disk and all floppy disks are missing. Also, all notes, files, texts and print-outs are gone. The True Seekers decide to contact Darius. Lisa rings the Crackenback Caern and speaks to Darius. Although she mentions nothing specific, she manages to impress a certain sense of importance on him. He says that he will be there in an hour.
Naomi and Vilna drive back to Cernonous' house. They creep in, but notice nothing unusual. Naomi goes to check out Cernonous' study while Vilna moves to check for possible break-ins. Naomi finds that Cernonous' study has been ransacked, although when they got back earlier, they had checked the study to see if Cernonous was in and had noticed nothing. Naomi also locates a male scent which occurs in the study and nowhere else. Vilna finds no evidence of a break in. Vilna rings to tell Lisa what they have found, and then they drive back to the university.
Darius arrives at the University with two other people. Lisa has a massive paranoia attack, telling them to keep back and asking if they're carrying guns. She eventually allows Darius into the lab to see what's happened. He takes it all in then asks Lisa exactly was has been going on. As Lisa tells him, Naomi and Vilna arrive. Darius ponders the matter, then says that obviously this cannot be kept a secret, and that Cernonous' sept at least will have to be informed. Wether he will tell them the actual agenda Cernonous was pursuing is another matter. Darius says that they will take Cernonous back to his sept, which is near Nimbin. He asks the True Seekers to remove all evidence of their own presence both at the lab and at Cernonous' house. Also they should remove any specific evidence of violence, like all the blood. After that, they should see what they can find concerning this matter. Darius says that he will be back in a few days.
The True Seekers begin cleaning the lab as Darius and Co. leave. They mop up the blood then, taking the mop with them, head for Cernonous' house. They go through it, picking up all of Steve's beer cans, and any other sign of their presence. Naomi then begins an extensive sniffing campaign, both in the real world and the umbra, around Cernonous' study. The net result is that the male scent she detected earlier is that of a male, probably Garou, in his 30s or 40s, with a trace of dust or sand (but not beach sand). Also his scent is much fainter than it should be. The scent can be traced in the room and from or to the window, but nowhere else outside the study, either inside or outside the house, either in the real world or the umbra.
At this point the True Seekers decide to get some sleep, so they find a road-side motel and crash.
The two groups arrive at the sites to find the police present at both, with forensic people going over them with a fine-tooth comb (as opposed to a fine tooth comb, which the standard emphasis used when speaking would lead one to believe was the intended meaning). The two groups, Lachlan and Calvin and Cernonous' house and Naomi, Vilna and Lisa at the lab, settle down to watch.
At Cernonous' house, Lachlan overhears one of the police telling another that they have to leave, as they have been ordered to help divert traffic away from a localised freak storm which has appeared from nowhere. Lachlan follows them to the spot, where a storm about a mile in diameter is raging. Peeking into the umbra, Lachlan discovers that there is also an umbral storm at the site. At the prepared time when one of the other group steps sideways to make contact, Lachlan phones up and tells them what he's found. Everybody high-tails it to the site.
Once the True Seekers are assembled, they move into the storm through the umbra, heading for the approximate centre. They find a Bunyip spirit in Crinos form, apparently mad about something and tearing apart the landscape. Various people attempt to communicate with it at a distance, but are ignored. Naomi walks up to it holding out the Cracking Stone, and it leaps to attack her. Everybody piles on top of it, then it disappears. Peeking through, they see it running down the street, so everyone steps sideways.
Lachlan and Vilna arrive first and give chase. The Bunyip stops, grabs a car and throws it at Vilna, pinning him (he's in Homid form). Lachlan attacks and is almost torn apart when Vilna manages to throw the car off (he's now in Crinos form) and grapples the Bunyip. Lachlan and Vilna manage to pin it when it disappears again. So Lachlan and Vilna step sideways again, pausing just so that Lachlan can scratch the glyph for umbra in the concrete.
Naomi and Lisa appear in the real world just in time to see Lachlan and Vilna stepping into the umbra. So they step back. Lachlan and Vilna, meanwhile, are approaching the Bunyip in the umbra when it disperses. Peeking reveals no sign of it and the storm soon breaks up. By the time Lisa and Naomi arrive, the storm is totally gone. There is some debate as to what to do concerning the glyph Lachlan scratched, until it is decided to forget it - something for Unsolved Mysteries. The True Seekers split up again and return to the lab and the house.
It is evening when they notice another localised storm has appeared several miles away, and they converge on the site. As they move through the umbral storm, they notice small, mindless banes moving through the storm, seemingly moving in the same direction as they are. They squish a few as they go, but don't really worry about them. At the centre of the storm they find the Bunyip again ripping at the umbrascape. However, the Bunyip now has several running sores on it's face and arms. The banes are flying around in the area of the Bunyip. Again the True Seekers move towards the Bunyip and again it launches itself at them. As they pin it down, this time it simply disperses. The storm breaks up and the banes move away.
It is suggested that either the Bunyip is becoming Wyrm tainted because it is becoming angrier each time they attack it, or that it has something to do with the bone fragment: that the Bunyip spirit is connected to the bone and something is happening to the bone. It is also suggested that the Bunyip is following the bone and manifesting in the area where the bone is. The True Seekers decide to head further north, as that is the direction the Bunyip seems to be heading.
It is early in the morning when they see another storm, far to the south. They drive to the area and move in. It is decided that they will simply watch the Bunyip this time to see what happens.
As they move inwards, they see five Crinos-sized figures ahead of them. Naomi howls a greeting, and the figures turn and approach. They are the Streetsweepers, a Bone Gnawer pack from the Ear-To-The-Ground sept. Their pack leader, Pox, asks who the pack are and what they are doing in the area. The True Seekers fudge a bit, but say that they were at the previous two storms and have decided not to attack the Bunyip responsible. Pox agrees to hold back for the moment, and the two packs move towards the centre. The Bunyip seems weaker than before, it's movements more erratic. There are many more sores across it's body and pus is seeping from many of them. There are also more banes in the area. Naomi and Vilna step into the real world at the spot where the Bunyip is and search the area, looking to find anything that might have attracted the Bunyip to the site. They check out a house and the cars that are slowly driving past, but sense nothing which might be luring the Bunyip.
Stepping back into the umbra, Vilna decides to try using Mother's Touch on the Bunyip. However, as he approaches it, it shies away fearfully and disperses, as does the storm. Pox suggests that they True seekers should accompany him to his sept.
The True Seekers are taken to the King's Arms Hotel in the Rocks, the site of the Ear-To-The-Ground Sept. They descend into the basement and meet the Sept Leader, Mother Pasta - who also happens to be on the Jindabyne Council. They also meet Herman Cartwright, Master of the Rite. Lachlan gives a rather abridged version of the story of why they are in Sydney, which does not suggest any connection between the pack and the freak storms. Mother Pasta seems suspicious, and mentions in passing that she heard that Cernonous was killed the night before. The True Seekers are non-committal ("Really? How Fascinating!"). They offer to help with the Bunyip, as they seem to know more about the situation than anyone else. Mother Pasta says that they will call them when another storm appears. The True Seekers head back to their hotel to try and get some sleep.
The True Seekers go and talk to Mother Pasta. She says that soon after the storm appeared, the Caern Totem manifested. They are unable to communicate with her, so all the powers of the Caern are inaccessible. Mother Pasta also says that the Totem has never done this before.
Naomi and Vilna climb onto the roof, and Naomi tries to speak with the Totem. When that doesn't get a response, she starts climbing the Totem's torn fish-net stockings. Meanwhile, Herman Cartwright has come out and speaks to Calvin. Calvin says that the power of the Caern is fading, and that the Caern will be gone in one or two days. This is not good. The True Seekers spring into action. Lachlan heads out of the storm to summon Kanau. Lisa rings Darius, who says that he is on the way back and will be there in a few hours. Naomi has reached the shoulder and attempts to make contact with the Totem. She realises that the Totem's attention seems to be elsewhere, as if she is listening to and seeing things that Naomi cannot sense. Naomi settles down to wait. Lachlan summons Kanau and explains the situation. Kanau heads up to where Naomi is and circles around the spirit for a while. He tells Naomi that the Totem is sending it's own power out into the storm, presumably to the Bunyip. He was unable to make any contact. Naomi climbs down to tell the others, but they already knew.
Naomi suggests that they should offer to donate the Gnosis battery they took from the scar to help sustain the Caern. Lisa points out that this may strengthen a Wyrm corrupted Bunyip. It is eventually decided to at least bring the battery to the site so that it can be used if necessary. The Cemetery Caern is phoned, and Cossack says that he will send someone up with the battery. Naomi also says they should tell Mother Pasta about the bone fragment, and the possibility that someone is corrupting the fragment which is affecting the spirit.. Mother Pasta is so informed, and she seems even more suspicious of the pack.
About an hour later the Hand of Lore roll up with the battery. Cossack also told them to offer any help they could. A few hours after that, Darius arrives and speaks with the True Seekers. He says that given the circumstances, an emergency meeting of the Jindabyne council will be held, and that the truth will almost certainly out. Naomi suggests that they should inform Mother Pasta of the truth, but Darius says that the full story should wait until the Council is held. However, it seems that Mother Pasta has made a few deductive leaps of her own. She comes over and starts screaming at Darius, accusing him of destroying her Caern. She eventually leaves, and Darius says that he must return to the Crackenback Caern to prepare for the meeting, and that the Ngalyod pack will come to collect them to relate their tale. He leaves. Lachlan, Vilna and Calvin head for their hotel, while Naomi wanders off with Lisa following.
The three guys have been asleep for a while when Lisa and Naomi bang on the door. Naomi claims that they now have a chance and holds up...a bunch of sticks. Actually, they are Talens of finding, which Naomi says she was given by spirits. They head back to the centre of the storm, and Naomi uses the first of the five Talens. It leads her back out of the storm, heading sort of south east-ish. After a while, though, the Talen cracks in two. It appears that they only work for a while. Naomi tries the next Talen, which immediately explodes! She tries a third, but that also explodes. Before attempting another, the True Seekers procure a map and their van (actually Cernonous' van). They draw a general line that they were following the first time, then Vilna uses the fourth Talen. They drive away from the line they were following, and derive a reasonable triangulation for a location. They drive with all speed. They are driving along a derelict back street in King's Cross when the Talen flicks back around as the pass an old building. They keep driving and park the van around a corner before heading back on foot in the umbra. The umbrascape is largely the same as the real world, only not as derelict.
People search through the area, using various Gifts of detecting, but locate nothing unusual. Even the various hobos in the abandoned buildings are unremarkable.
The True Seekers approach the front door of the building in question, and Lachlan tries the door knob. He leaps back about ten feet and starts babbling about something "big, bad and black". Everybody dashes across the road and hides. Lachlan says that as soon as he touched the door, the entire umbrascape changed into something definitely seriously nasty. It is decided that they should probably inform the Bone Gnawers.
The sept is called, and the Streetsweepers head out to determine the extent of the problem. The Hand of Lore go with them. When they arrive, Pox grabs the door handle and starts babbling just like Lachlan did. He says that they will inform the sept immediately, and that the True Seekers and the Hand of Lore should watch the site. The Streetsweepers dash off. The True Seekers stake out the umbra while the Hand of Lore watch in the real world.
It is soon after this that the umbra erupts with banes, which are flying, crawling, oozing or undulating out of windows all along the street. There is no discussion - everybody steps sideways. Vilna and Calvin arrive first and find that lots and lots of hobos are emerging from the buildings and the sewers, and moving towards the Hand of Lore. Also, many of the hobos seem to be undergoing...changes. Vilna, Calvin and the Hand of Lore change to Crinos form and run for the van, breaking through a pack of hobos. Lachlan, Lisa and Naomi arrive to find all the hobos heading down the road away from them. Lachlan and Lisa seem all set to do the obvious thing (RUN!!!), but Naomi heads over to the front door and uses the Cracking Stone to open it. Naomi is looking into an unremarkable front hallway-type situation, while Lisa tries to drag her away, and Lachlan looks for that dedicated straight jacket he always carries when he's with his pack mates. However, Naomi is swayed by the incredulous look on the GM's face, and the three of them turn and run. At the van, all those who are Homid change to human form and pile in. Vilna simply leaps onto the roof as the van roars away. He changes to Glabro just as the van takes a corner, loses his grip and kisses bitumen. However, he soon picks himself up and leaps into the back of the van which speeds away.
Having rung Vilna to confirm that the others are still alive, Lachlan, Lisa and Naomi carefully circle back in towards the street, looking for signs of banes or hobos spilling out into the surrounding environs. They notice nothing, but decide not to get too close to the spot. They settle down to wait and watch for any movement.
At the Ear-To-The-Ground sept, the Garou are preparing to attack the threat, hoping that it may save their Caern. Vilna and Calvin use Questing Stone and rejoin the others. They settle down to wait for the attack. Vilna rings the Hand of Lore every so often to find out what's taking them so long. Christine Elliot says that they are rallying as many Garou as they can, and that they are bringing in some guy from America. After about two hours, Christine calls the True Seekers to say that they are coming. She says that they should move to the street concerned, and to watch out for any rioting in the area. The Bone Gnawers are going to cause a riot to cover up the coming battle. The True Seekers move quickly through the area as people start spilling out into the streets and smashing windows.
At the end of the street, they meet up with the Streetsweepers and some other Garou they don't know. Pox says that they are to move to the back of the building. When the attack begins, the Streetsweepers will enter through the back. The True Seekers are to defend the back of the building, allowing nobody in or out. The Streetsweepers' van is full of guns, and most of the True Seekers grab an assault rifle and some clips.
Moving into a parallel street, the two packs move towards the building. The sound of much gunfire comes from the street ahead (as well as sirens and shouting in the general area). They move quickly to the building, pausing only to blow away some suspicious looking homeless people. Once in position, they wait until the gunfire has stopped in the front street. Then the howl to attack is sounded.
Naomi uses the Cracking Stone to open the door, and the Streetsweepers move in. The True Seekers split up, with Naomi and Vilna in the umbra, and Lachlan, Lisa and Calvin in the real world. Naomi manages to shred a rather flat bane, while those in the real world gun down some rather determined hobos (Lachlan only shoots Calvin once). Then, Vilna hears the shattering of wood above him. He looks up and sees a rather large Black Spiral Dancer plummeting towards him from the second storey. They grapple each other and Naomi rushes up. After tickling the Black Spiral for a while, Naomi grabs Vilna's assault rifle and empties it into the creatures back, which puts it down. Vilna then rips its head off.
Meanwhile in the real world, Lachlan spots a rapidly approaching ute, with guys carrying shotguns in the back. He empties his gun at it (with minimal effect) then dives out of the way as it slams into the back door of the building. Lachlan, Lisa and Calvin fire at various people they can see, but the ute reverses back down the alley. Lachlan leaps on the back, and initiates the first of the days Jackie Chan-esque sequences, as he leaps back and forth over the cab as the driver fires at him with a shotgun. Eventually, Lachlan manages to kill the driver, then struts back up the alley to rejoin the others.
Inside the building, the sounds of the battle continue, with lots of gun fire and howling and screaming and other less identifiable sounds. The sounds of battle are now also coming up from beneath the ground. In the real world, Lisa, Lachlan and Calvin spot movement down two alleys, as figures peer at them around corners. Everyone takes cover. This helps Lachlan not at all, when someone shots him from a completely different direction; ie, down a third alley. Homeless people start charging down the alleyways, as more people provide covering fire. Lachlan, Lisa and Calvin spray bullets down one alley each, which proves fairly effective for Calvin, and virtually useless for Lachlan and Lisa.
Lachlan charges up towards the three fomori running at him. He splits one of them, catches the fomor's shotgun as it flies up, then starts shooting it at the other two. He puts the both down, then runs back as two more fomori hiding behind the ute fire at him.
Lisa, meanwhile, is facing four fomori. She cuts down one, then dives as a second one shoots. As she dives, she scoops up the first fomor's shotgun, rolls to her feet and blows the second fomor away. The two unarmed fomori leap onto her, as she virtually cripples herself by biting rubble. She dispatches one fomor, when Lachlan runs up and helps her kill the other one. The fomori down the alleys start firing, and a gun battle begins which the Garou, by virtue of being able to regenerate, win through attrition.
While this is happening, in the umbra Naomi and Vilna see two Garou leap from the roof of the building onto an adjacent roof top. As the stare upwards, a roiling bane smashes out through the door. Naomi and Vilna make fairly short work of it, then wait for the two BSD's (presumably) to attack. After a while of nothing happening, Naomi sends her familiar to follow the two Garou at a distance.
The sounds of battle from the building are growing more sporadic, when a BSD with seriously orange and warty skin runs out the door in the umbra. In his hand he is holding a familiar looking piece of bone. Vilna dashes up and empties his assault rifle into him, but fails to put him down. The BSD invokes total darkness around the area then dashes back into the building. Vilna gropes his way to the door and pretends to be a draught excluder, as Naomi attempts to ping the BSD using Sense Wyrm.
Lachlan is peeking through and realises that something is up. He and Lisa step through and confer with the others. As they talk, the BSD leaps from the roof onto another building. Vilna and Naomi leap up after him, as Lisa stays to guard the umbra and Lachlan heads back for the real world. The BSD leads Naomi and Vilna a merry chase across a few rooftops before dropping back into another alley. He then leaps down into the sewer. Naomi follows him, as Vilna runs along in the approximate direction, looking for other manholes. He spots the BSD as he comes up out of the sewer, so Vilna rushes at him. The BSD lets out a howl which sends Vilna screaming in the other direction.
Naomi pops up and keeps up the chase until the BSD uses a puddle to step sideways. Naomi follows suit, but takes five minutes to pass through the Gauntlet. Vilna pulls himself together, and rejoins the chase, but he is a long way behind. He lets out howl of pure desperation, which Lachlan faintly hears. Lachlan starts running in that direction. The BSD runs around a corner. Vilna follows and finds himself in a street. Groups of rioters are running around, but there is no sign of a 9-foot-tall orange humanoid thing. Vilna uses Sense Wyrm to at least get himself moving in the right direction, and starts checking out the various people (who are rather disturbed by the large, pink dog-thing running along). Vilna spots someone who doesn't seem to be affected by the rioting, so he runs into a smashed shop front to change into homid form.
He has just changed into homid form, when the BSD, back in Crinos form (but without the warty, orange skin), leaps at him. Vilna snaps into Crinos form and the two fight. Although neither has any Rage left, the BSD is stronger and beats Vilna unconscious.
Meanwhile, Lachlan has run into the street, but can see no sign of Vilna or the BSD. He lets out a howl, and is answered by a vaguely familiar sounding howl. He runs up and is met by Alex Sees-For-Miles from the Ngalyod pack. Alex says that they heard Vilna howling and came to help. They arrived just in time to kill the BSD and save Vilna. Lachlan rushes into the shop and looks for the bone fragment. He finds it lying in the mess.
Naomi has finally reached the real world, and moves to join Vilna. Lachlan, Lisa, Naomi and the Ngalyod pack move quickly back towards the battle.
When they arrive, it seems that the battle is over and that they have won. The Garou are coming out of the building, carrying their dead. Naomi uses Sense Unnatural on the bone and finds a strong Wyrm presence. The True Seekers begin a Rite of Cleansing, which the Ngalyod pack help them with (not that they know what's going on, or anything). It takes several attempts, but finally the corruption is lifted from the bone. Contacting the King's Arms Hotel Caern reveals (eventually) that the storm is dissipating and that the totem has un-manifested and returned to the Caern. Meanwhile, Naomi's familiar has returned to her. It says that the two Garou moved through the umbra for a while before stepping into the real world, where the spirit could not follow or observe.
The True Seekers and the Ngalyod pack move to the spot where the familiar saw the BSD's step through. They follow through, and Naomi casts around for a scent. They are moving down a deserted street, with smashed windows and over-turned cars all around. As they walk, two police cars drive slowly up the road. Everyone keeps walking. The police cars stop opposite them, and a voice on a loud speaker orders them all up against the wall. Since most of them are carrying weapons of one sort or another, Vilna pulls out the assault rifle and sprays the two cars, aiming for the back seats. Everybody else runs like hell for the nearest alley. While the police are keeping their heads down, Vilna steps sideways, as do all the people in the alleys.
After awhile, Naomi steps into the real world alone and follows the scent, while the others follow her in the umbra. She tracks the scent to a point on the road where there is broken safety glass and tyre marks, but no car. Naomi casts around for any further traces of scent but finds nothing. The two packs head back to the King's Arms Hotel.
At the Caern, the sept are preparing the dead. Pox is one of the casualties, as is Marion Perry from the Hand of Lore. Naomi speaks to Herman Cartwright. He says that as soon as the totem de-manifested, they were able to communicate with her. It seems that she had responded to the call of the Bunyip spirit, and had been sending him her own power to stall the creeping corruption. Naomi asks wether the sept would like the True Seekers to help guard the Caern, considering the sept's current decimated state. Herman says that she should speak to Mother Pasta or Florence, neither of whom are present.
The True Seekers call Cossack and ask for his advice concerning their up-coming visit to the Jindabyne Council. Having related to him what has happened, Cossack can offer no advice other than that they should act with honour. Cossack speaks with Christine, who prepares to return to Melbourne, taking Marion's body with her.Those of the True Seekers who haven't had much sleep recently, ie everyone except Steve, pass out in the street.
They are about to leave when word of another localised storm arrives. The two packs head over there and check it out. As Steve said, the Bunyip is in lupus rather than Crinos form, and is running around rather the ripping things apart. Attempts are made to communicate with the Bunyip, to no avail. Naomi offers the bone fragment to the spirit, but this provokes no response. The True Seekers feel that they have done as much as they can and head for the King's Arms Hotel in order to moon bridge to the Crackenback Caern. It is felt that the storms will cease in Sydney if the bone fragment is taken away.
When the arrive at Crackenback, the True Seekers are separated from each other. The Council convenes, and the True Seekers are brought one by one before the Council to relate what happened. Not suprisingly, the True Seekers all tell as much of the truth as they can. The Council then discuss the matter further.
Finally, the True Seekers are brought before the Council. Innana steps forward and speaks. She says that the Council is far from agreed on the matter, but have come up with the following.
Cernonous died doing what he chose to do. It was his choice and his responsibility, and he paid the price.Over the course of the affair, the True Seekers freely gave assistance to the Black Furys, Get of Fenris and the Red Talons.
They were motivated by the best of intentions, and acting in a matter about which there is almost total ignorance, despite one hundred years of searching by the Garou.
However, they were responsible for endangering a Caern, and perhaps also responsible for the Garou who died in a precipitous assault on a hive.
Innana points out that when one is pushing the frontiers of something, one must accept the responsibility for all the consequences of that endeavour. She also says that the Council is not prepared to punish them in this case. However, the Council has decided that as far as the True seekers are concerned, all future matters concerning the Bunyip are to be examined only with the Council's knowledge and consent.At this point, Vilna drops a bomb shell on his pack by asking the Council what action it intends to take about the "traitor". It seems that just before the Ngalyod pack saved Vilna's life by killing the BSD that was carrying the bone fragment, the BSD had gloated at Vilna, asking how the Garou expected to beat them when they are betrayed by their own kind. As the rest of the True Seekers mutter about pack members keeping secrets, Innana says that they don't know to what the BSD was referring. It may have been a reference to Cernonous' work, or it may have been a reference to the attack on the hive.
As a final matter, the Council has decided to examine the bone fragment at the centre of the whole mess for themselves. Naomi hands the bone over to Innana, who gives it to Tjinderi Knowing-Smile.
The True Seekers are free to go, so a moon bridge to Melbourne is opened and they pass through.
Back at the Cemetery, they talk to Cossack for awhile, telling him what happened at the Council. Everyone then heads home for sleep......or so they think. Lachlan decides to sleep at his house. When they arrive, Lisa introduces Lachlan to Mark. Mark immediately seems to pick up on Lachlan's name, and asks Lisa if 'He's the one'. Lisa hedges, and Mark accuses Lachlan of beating Lisa up, and being a coward. Lachlan and Mark get into a shoving match which quickly becomes a brawl. As they fight, Lisa tries (sort of) to separate them, while Naomi, who is in lupus form, tries to help. Eventually, Naomi pins Mark down which enables Lachlan, who was losing the fight, to kick Mark a few times while he's down. Lisa calls Naomi off, and she takes Mark into her room. The sounds of a heated exchange follow, until Mark storms out the back door. Lisa comes down, and gets into another little discussion with Lachlan. Lachlan seems concerned by Lisa's handling of her human friendships. Lisa says that she and Mark will move out.
Meanwhile, Steve has the fun task of informing Peter that Marion is dead. Steve takes Pete to a pub, and tells her that Marion got caught up in the riots in Sydney and was killed. Pete takes it about as well as can be expected (he only throws up once), and then he goes off for a long walk. Steve decides to go on holiday with Peter for a few weeks.
At the hive, the Hand of Lore had been cleaning out the top floor, with Marion taking the brunt of the fighting. A group of banes and BSD's had made a push for the roof when a bane caused Alexander Urosevic to frenzy. he threw himself into the enemy, and Marion leapt after him. Alex went down, but Marion managed to hold the enemy back long enough for the others to arrive before she was killed. The banes and BSD's were destroyed, apart from two BSD's that made it onto the roof.After the funeral, a wake is held in Marion's memory. Alex keeps himself apart from the sept. Christine and Georgina attempt to speak to him a few times, but he moves away.