| 29 Apr |
| 27 May |
| 11 Jun |
| 24 Jun |
They find that the Fianna have all gathered in a solemn group. The True Seekers push their way through the ranks and find Mae Fischer standing alone in the middle of the crowd. Bryce thanks them for retrieving Fingal's body, but they have run out of time and the challenge will have to be postponed. Fingal had appointed Brendan as his Taniaste, making Brendan effectively regent until the challenge can be re-set.
Bryce also says that Mae freely confessed to what she did, that they have discussed the matter and decided to perform the Rite of Ostracism; casting her from the tribe until it is lifted. Lachlan, as Fianna, joins in the Rite, as the circle of Fianna pronounce the words of renunciation and turn their backs on Mae. When the rite is completed, Mae walks away. Although the challenge is over, the wake and burial can now be completed. In the few hours left of the night, the wake is continued, although the tone is uneasy and quiet, the songs are muted, and no-one is getting drunk. With the sunrise, Fingal is laid in the ground. The Fianna quickly disperse, returning through the moon bridges to their respective Caerns.
The True Seekers arrive in Melbourne and bring everybody up to date with what happened over the last few days. Then they all go and pass out.
Remembering their promise to Jack O' the Lantern, the True Seekers zip out to Rippling Waters for a chat. They talk with Bret and Marches-The-High-Road. The consensus is that fae can only enter the real world when glamour is strong - a rare thing nowadays. This typically only happens at certain times, at certain locations or with certain events. Probably the only way to enable a fae to enter the real world on a regular basis is to bind it into an item, in a manner similar to a fetish. Bret says that he will talk to other Fianna, who may know more about such things, then get back to the pack.
Chases-The-Wyld chats with some Black Furies and is given more or less the same spiel.
It seems that Chases-The-Wyld has had another bloody prophetic dream, which she tells the rest of the pack, despite their entreaties. In the dream she is running through a forest (in lupus) looking for something - she doesn't know what. She comes across a large blackberry patch and pushes her way into it. She gets scratched and spiked by the many thorns, but perseveres until she reaches a small clearing in the middle of the patch. She digs at the ground for a while until she uncovers a human skull, that she lifts out of the earth and places on the ground. As she watches, tiny rainbow-coloured snakes slither out of the skull's orifices and slip away into the blackberries. The End. The True Seekers discuss the dream for a while, then see what's on telly.
The True Seekers are hanging around the Umbra at the Caern in the evening when they notice what appears to be a small, localised storm a few kilometres to the south. It doesn't seem to be moving anywhere. Chases-The-Wyld changes to hispo, sprouts wings and takes off with Steve on her back. Glenn and Vilna start running through the umbra toward the storm. As the fly closer, Chases-The-Wyld and Steve place the storm over St Kilda. They alight in Albert Park for a time, waiting for the others to catch up, then decide to go in for a look.
Chases-The-Wyld takes off again, flying into the edge of the storm. It is not a violent storm, but it does contrast sharply with the otherwise calm penumbra. Steve peeks into the real world, and notes that it is raining. Chases-The-Wyld senses the storm and gains a shadowlands/wyld/slightly wyrm-y scent. Flying near the intersection of the Highway and Alma Rd, Chases-The-Wyld spots a slowly moving figure. Swooping to land, it seems to be a mummified corpse. As they land, the thing shambles towards them, so they take off again. About now, Glenn and Vilna show up. They decide to split up again. Glenn and Vilna will go via Fitzroy St and the Esplanade, Chases-The-Wyld and Steve will head down Barkly St and up Acland.
Running down Fitzroy St, Glenn is tripped by a hand reaching up out of the ground, soon followed by the rest of the mummified corpse that passes straight out of the ground. Glenn picks himself up and keeps running. Chases-The-Wyld and Steve are near Acland St when they hear the coughing bark of a thylacine. They fly along Acland St and quickly spot the thylacine up on the roof of one of the shops on the west side of the street. They land on the roof a few shops down. The creature does not seem to have noticed them. They send out a message to Glenn and Vilna, who head straight in their direction. Chases-The-Wyld moves cautiously towards it while Steve circles to the left. As Chases-The-Wyld gets closer, the thylacine turns towards her, its eyes mad and empty. Glenn stops briefly to peer into the Chandeen mirror and look around. The shadowlands seem unremarkable, apart from the same storm that is blowing there. Vilna is now opposite the building where they thylacine is perched, and he settles down to watch. As Glenn starts running again, he notices a few undead figures lurching towards Vilna. He lets out a howl of warning. Vilna is in Crinos form and does a standing leap up onto the roof behind him. The thylacine has turned and charges at Chases-The-Wyld. She decides not to fight back, but instead tries a few options as it worries at her. She bathes it with the flames of Hestia and also tries Mother's Touch. Further options are postponed when Steve leaps on the thylacine and wrestles it to the roof. Glenn has reached the scene and also leaps up (only having to scramble up the last few metres).
As Steve grapples with the thylacine, it lets out a tearing, mournful howl; a dirge that does nobody much good, particularly not Glenn, who decides that it is all pointless. Soon after, the thylacine fades away from Steve's grasp and vanishes. Soon after that, the storm ends and the sky starts to clear. The True Seekers head back to the Cemetery and explain what happened. They consider talking with Bartholemew Wise-In-The-Ways-Of-The-Wyrm, but Questing Stone suggests that he is somewhere off in the umbra. They decide to look into the matter further tomorrow.
Glenn spends time at the library, going through the last few week's newspapers. In particular, he is looking for stories about St Kilda involving aborigines. He spends a few hours looking, but finds no likely candidates. That evening, a moon bridge opens at the Cemetery and the Ngalyod Pack arrive. After speaking with Cossack, the True Seekers are summoned. The two packs go off for a private chat. Fujiko says that over the last couple of weeks, the number of Bunyip manifestations across the country has soared. There is now about one every day that they know of. The Ngalyod pack has been charged with investigating this change in behaviour. They are here to check out the storm in St Kilda, but also want the True Seekers to help. This is for two reasons. The first is the True Seekers' semi-, quasi-successful contacts with the Bunyip. As to the second reason, Fujiko will let Alistair explain. Alistair says that a few days ago he had a prophetic dream. In his dream he was running down a street. It was night and a storm was blowing. He ran to a house and knocked. The door was answered by Lachlan, who invited him in. Alistair went inside, where a dinner party was in progress. There were people there that he didn't know, but he did recognise the rest of the True Seekers. After dinner he went to the bathroom, where two large mirrors stood facing each other. Standing between them, Alistair saw his reflection receding away to infinity in the left-hand mirror. In the right-hand mirror, his reflection, rather than diminishing in size, actually increased in size with each successive image. He then left the bathroom and exited the house. Outside the storm had ended and it was day. Alistair believes that his dream connects the True Seekers directly with the Ngalyod Pack's current investigation. The rest of the dream is obscure, although the mirrors may represent the past and the future.
Fujiko says that they are investigating each site as they hear about it, whether from mundane sources (the Weather Channel) of from Garou reports. They search each site for anything unusual. So far several of the sites have been close to Wyrm corruption, while others have seemed totally innocuous. They have yet to determine any motive or pattern as to the Bunyip's manifestations. The True Seekers offer to help with the search around Acland St, and other sites in the future.
The two packs troop down to St Kilda and spread out around Acland St, in the umbra and the real world. They spend a long time sensing and sniffing and searching, but find nothing that they would not expect to find, and nothing that strikes them as significant. The Ngalyod Pack is head back to the Crackenback sept, and the True Seekers decide to go with them, the better to be on hand when more information comes through. While waiting at the Crackenback sept, the True Seekers go looking for Bartholemew again. It seems that he is home now, so the True Seekers decide to go for a chat. They Moon Bridge out to the Rocks in Sydney (Hi, Mother Pasta!), borrow a car and drive out to the blue mountains. They drop in on Bart and have a chat. He is aware of the increasing storm activity but doesn't have any ideas as yet. As to the dreams, beyond the obvious stuff (the blackberries as some sort of trial or test, blah blah blah), he cannot help. So the True Seekers drive all the way back into Sydney and zap to Crackenback again. It is late when they arrive, so they crash.
The True Seekers are awoken the next morning after not enough sleep with the news that the latest storm happened last night near the town of Swansea on the east coast of Tasmania. After a few initial reservations about going into Shadowlord territory, Darius points out that the information came via Vlad, and he seems quite happy to help. The True Seekers and the Ngalyod pack Moon Bridge to Cradle Mountain. They are met by Vlad, who offers them two guides to help while they are in Tasmania: Chides-The-Dawn, a Ragabash, and Nicole Hamblin, a Theurge. He proposes that they Moon Bridge to a closer Caern then drive to Swansea. This they now do.
A few hours later they arrive in Swansea and head into the hills where the storm occurred. The area of the storm is not hard to determine, as it is still wet. The two packs stop the cars and head for the umbra. In contrast to the green forest of the real world, the umbrascape is of arid hills. After a time spent sensing and sniffing and peeking, the True Seekers find a compound in the hills (in the real world). Several people in simple clothes tend vegetable gardens and feed the chickens. Checking on the mail box at the gate reveals that this is the commune of the Children of Radiant Perfection. The True Seekers spend some time poking around. Vilna locates a few garbage bags full of dope in the shed, and a small plantation a few kilometres away in the forest.
Nothing about the commune seems suspicious or out of the ordinary. The True Seekers awaken an old tree spirit and have a chat about the site. According to the spirit, the site did not seem to have any significance for the Bunyip. They didn't congregate here or come here unless they were passing through to somewhere else. All in all, the site is remarkably unimportant. After spending most of the time examining the storm site, the two packs drive back to the nearby Caern and moon bridge back to Cradle Mountain. They inform Vlad of what they found (dope, hippies) and return to Crackenback. While discussing the current goings on, Glenn advances the possibility that the Bunyip might not be coming for something, they might be coming to get away from something. If their realm was being invaded, they might be being driven out. A disquieting thought.
The two packs are headed for the town of Belaraboon in New South Wales, the site of a storm yesterday. They drive into town and decide to have a look around. Glenn is walking in the real world and having a vague sense when he realises that the young woman who walked past him reeked of the Wyrm. He alerts the others and asks Melissa to tail her. Melissa follows the girl, who looks to be about 18, into a grocery and a few other shops. She seems to be just browsing. She walks out of the newsagency and meets a young man, who bears a family resemblance to the girl and is also heavily Wyrm tainted. The two of them wait by a ute for a while, until an older man walks out of an animal feed store and joins them. Melissa guesses that he is their father. He is also of the Wyrm. The father starts the car while the other two climb aboard. The car pulls out of the parking lot and drives off, heading out of town.
The old double act of Chases-The-Wyld with Steve on board follow in the umbra. The ute drives a few kilometres out of town then turns through a gate and down a driveway. A young boy is kicking a foot ball around in front of a farm house. As the ute pulls up, he comes running over. The front door of the house opens, and the young boys identical twin runs out as well. Both boys are Wyrm ridden. The rest of the True Seekers are coming, but Chases-The-Wyld and Steve decide to look around the house. Chases-The-Wyld keeps an eye on the umbra and leads Steve, who is peeking into the real world. The pass through the front door and into a lounge room. Sitting in a chair, apparently reading a book, is a young woman - the seeming twin of the young woman currently out front. Steve also notices that the book, Sense and Sensibility, in the girls hands is upside-down. As they pass through the house, Steve becomes aware of an irregular whacking sound, and also the tangy smell of blood.
They pass through into the kitchen. Three forty-ish woman, apparently triplets, are gathered around the kitchen tablet, engaged in hacking a sheep carcass into chunks with hatchets. The back door opens and one of the little boys walks in - except that he is wearing different clothes, so this is a third little boy. Moving furtively, the boy snatches up one of the chunks of lamb. He holds the dripping meat above his head, tilts his head back and opens his mouth. His mouth opens and opens and opens impossibly wide, when one of the woman grabs the boy and throws him across the room. He hits the wall hard but quickly bounces to his feet, apparently unfazed. Another door off the kitchen opens. The older man's twin brother walks out, his shirt grimed with blood. He walks over to the woman, grabs a double armful of sheep bits, and walks back through the door. Peering through the door, Steve sees the man walking down the cellar steps. The man rounds the corner and goes out of sight. Listening carefully, Steve can hear a faint, wet sound of movement. Chases-The-Wyld and Steve decide not to check downstairs. While they wait for the others to arrive, they check out the rest of the two-storey house and the other farm buildings. They find still more people - two identical old ladies, another young man and another young woman.
Coming out of an upstairs room in the umbra, Chases-The-Wyld catches a flash of movement by the stairs. She runs over and peers down. A white, doughy humanoid with black eyes is clinging to the wall. When it spots Chases-The-Wyld it scuttles through a doorway. Steve starts ripping through the floor, hoping to cut the creature off (and up). Chases-The-Wyld follows it into the next room. The creature seems to have morphed into a large embryo-like form, with an over-sized head and tiny limbs. It seems to be fluctuating between the two shapes. Chases-The-Wyld continues the chase, but the creature ducks down into the basement. Chases-The-Wyld declines to follow.
Steve has finally made it through the floor, a bit behind the action. They settle down to watch and wait. Soon after, the rest of the True Seekers arrive. The family have been busy cutting up the last of the sheep, and have descended en mass into the basement. The pack has been a bit occupied and are unsure as to who is in the basement and who is not. The True Seekers decide to confine the family into the basement. The door swings into the kitchen, so Steve and Chases-The-Wyld step into the real world and start piling furniture across the door. Steve is in Crinos and lugging the dishwasher across when he feels a sharp pain in his leg. One of the little boys has latched onto his leg with his grotesquely stretched mouth. As the boy worries at Steve's leg, Steve grabs the boy's head with one hand, the boy's legs with his other hand and pulls hard. The body rips away from the head, which falls from Steve's leg. Steve notices a sticky green substance around the wound, and starts feeling dizzy. Chases-The-Wyld uses Flames of Hestia on the wound and burns the toxins away. Although the child's body is unmoving, the head is twitching and sprouting growths from its neck stump. Steve grabs the head and jams it into the oven to contain it.
The True Seekers discuss options. They can do what they usually do - destroy everything immediately and remain largely ignorant as to what is going on - or they can try to determine exactly what they are dealing with before acting. Predictably, they stick to tradition, and hoof out to the shed to grab those 44-gallon drums full of diesel fuel. Vilna ransacks the liquor cabinet. When everyone gets back to the kitchen, they notice that the head in the oven has sprouted a great deal of fleshy matter, which is compacting in the oven. There appears to be a large, irregular, skin-coloured loaf in there. The oven is turned on and cranked up. Soon a burning smell fills the room.
The True Seekers are gathered in the kitchen, discussing how to go about torching the place when there is a battering at the cellar door. Soon after there is the unmistakable sound of a chainsaw being gunned. Buying some time, Vilna whips out the trusty Uzi and sprays a few through the door. This prompts a few shrieks and curses, and buys the True Seekers a little time. They decide to seize the initiative. Glenn and Lachlan grab a barrel of diesel between them and charge the cellar door. Glenn's aim is a little off, and the drum slams against the door frame. The barrel buckles, and diesel spills onto the floor. They back up and try again. This time Glenn's hand slips and the barrel crashes into the door frame again. The barrel ruptures nicely, gushing most of the fuel all over the kitchen. Glenn and Lachlan toss that barrel and get the next one. Steve gives them a guiding hand from behind this time, and the barrel smashes through the door. A few hefty shoves and it tumbles down the basement steps, spraying fuel hither and yon. Vilna follows up with the gin and the vodka and the Create Fire. Everybody runs like hell as the flames climb the stairs and spread across the diesel slick covering the kitchen.
Very quickly the kitchen is nicely ablaze, and the fire is spreading. Great black clouds of smoke are rising into the clear sky - very obvious. Fire elementals appear spontaneously in the umbra and start burning the umbral house as well. The True Seekers surround the house, watching to ensure that nothing escapes. As cars on the road slow down on seeing the smoke, Vilna moves to stop interference. He Burrows under the driveway, leaving a tunnel that should collapse as soon as the first vehicle hits it. Before the fire spread too far in the umbra, Chases-The-Wyld and Steve decide to tear a hole through the floor and into the basement, to see whether the fire elementals are doing their thing in the umbra. They rip up the floor, dig down through the earth and tear up the basement ceiling.
As Steve opens the hole, a pseudopod of pink, pulpy tissue snaps around him and yanks him down. Chases-The-Wyld lunges and manages to grab him, stopping him from being pulled all the way in. Steve can now see into the umbral basement. It is a roughly ovoid shape, with walls of glistening red flesh. More bunches and clusters of the pink matter clutching him hang on the walls and ceiling. On one wall, a half-formed humanoid shape seems to lie just beneath the wet surface. He doesn't see much more, as Lachlan runs up and helps Chases-The-Wyld yank him back out of the hole. The three of them retreat from the house as the fire elementals run wild. By the time the fire brigade arrives, the house is one huge bonfire. They keep their distance, hosing down the ground, until the gas cylinders explode. The explosion rips open the wall, allowing lots and lots of oxygen to rush in. In the umbra, there is a deep groaning sound just before the ground storey blows out in all directions. The top storey lifts up, then crashes back down, collapsing into the wreckage. The True Seekers suspect that the thing in the basement has relocated.
By nightfall the fire has been doused. The local police cordon off the site for the investigative team that will arrive in the morning. The True Seekers decide to clean things up before then. They meet with Ngalyod Pack, who are satisfied with their search of the area. The Ngalyod Pack say that they will return to Crackenback for any new storms. They will contact the True Seekers when they have something. In the early hours of the morning, the True Seekers follow Vilna through the umbral earth and into the basement. The basement in the umbra is a simple rectangular space - a far cry from a giant sack of flesh. From the umbra, the True Seekers peek, then step into the real world. The basement in the real world has remained relatively intact, with evidence of relatively little charring and scorching. In the corner furthest from the stairs is a mass of bodies - roasted but certainly not charred. The True Seekers start sorting through the bodies. The bodies are unremarkable, except for three - one of the old women and one of the young men are much larger than the others, obviously obese. The third body seems to be actually two bodies, as though two of the young women have fused in the heat. The fusion is too symmetrical to be merely accidental. It seems that the woman was in the middle of dividing into to separate bodies when she died
The True Seekers decide to leave one of each family member for the police to find (none of the strange bodies, though) and bury the rest. The boy's headless body is upstairs in the wreckage, and his head is in the oven. They will have to take what's in the oven and leave the body without a head. Vilna carefully pulls boards from the wall, then digs tunnel out and down, away from the house. When he has gone far enough, the True Seekers load bodies into the tunnel. When the last body is in place, the tunnel is filled and the boards replaced on the wall. Steve goes up to the kitchen in the umbra and finds the stove. Selecting his landing spot carefully, he steps sideways, opens the oven and pulls out the accordioned thing inside - a blackened head with a twisted and stunted body. He places the body in the Bag of Shadows for later disposal.
The True Seekers decide to hang around for the next day and see what happens. It is a fairly quiet day. They receive a message from the Ngalyod Pack saying that no storms have been reported. The police team start sorting carefully through the wreckage. They find the headless remains of the boy in the kitchen, but by the end of the day have not reached the basement. The True Seekers decide to hand the matter over to the local Garou, to keep an eye on things and prevent any unusual evidence from getting out. They head back to Crackenback for the night.
The next morning, the Crackenback sept gets word of two storms - one during the night near Emerald in Queensland, the other a few hours ago near Marlo in Victoria. The two packs decide to split up. The True Seekers go to Emerald, the Ngalyod Pack go to Marlo. The True Seekers Moon Bridge out to Carnarvon Gorge and head for Emerald. A few hours later they are searching through the bushland where the storm occurred.
After searching through the umbra, Glenn gets a faint Wyrm sense from something in the real world. Peeking through, he spots an old car, almost completely covered by undergrowth. Once the True Seekers have gathered in the real world, they start peeling back the layers of growth from the car. The first thing they notice is the presence of old bullet holes in the chassis. The second thing they notice is the collapsed skeleton in the driver's seat. They go around to the boot and force it open. Inside they find another skeleton - whoever it was, they seem to have had their hands cuffed together - and a wooden crate. The Wyrm sense is definitely coming from the crate. The True Seekers hoik the crate out of the car. It isn't heavy and they can hear several objects sliding around inside. Someone pops the top of the crate. Inside they find about 30 Brandi dolls: aerobics Brandi, disco Brandi, ski lodge Brandi and others. All still in their original wrappings, so they're probably collectibles. They are also all Wyrm tainted. Each one seems to be a talen, bound with a bane of docility and submission.
Searching the car reveals nothing more. They can find no identification for either body, although they do have the car's registration. The True Seekers decide to take the dolls with them and inform the local police anonymously. The True Seekers continue their search of the storm area, but nothing else seem worthy of note. They return to Crackenback. The Ngalyod pack arrive a few hours later. They found nothing, but they did have a few problems. When the spirits around Marlo reacted to the Bunyip, their agitation apparently caused a local artist to go haywire. When the Ngalyod pack arrived, there was a police siege in progress, with the artist holding his family and some other people hostage. The artist was going on about the dead walking and nature destroying humanity - understandable, if he is a person who is sensitive to umbral activity and a Bunyip was in the area. The Ngalyod Pack managed to discreetly resolve the siege without anyone getting hurt.
It is early afternoon when they hear about the storm in the desert near Alice Springs. They Moon Bridge to the Sept of Life's Promise, and drive north. Once north of Alice Springs, they search through the umbra of the storm site. The umbra hear is marsh-land, so they squelch around. It doesn't take long to find the rift in the earth, running down at a steep angle. Sensing on the area reveals two distinct Wyrm scents - a general area sense and a more specific individual sense. The True Seekers and the Ngalyod Pack spend some time shoring up the sides of the rift, preventing more water from draining down the rift. They then clamber down into the rift. After descending for a small distance, they become aware of a vibrating, warbling sound/sensation that they are familiar with - a Nexus Crawler. They continue on, more cautiously now. The rift ends on a broad shelf overlooking a chamber, illuminated by a blue phosphorescence that seeps from the walls. A Nexus Crawler seems to be dancing around the chamber, moving and sounding in intricate patterns.
The Garou quickly prepare themselves, then jump down into the chamber to attack the creature. As they advance, the Nexus Crawler flings itself into the air and seems to rupture. Grey liquid gout's in all directions and sinks into the walls and floors. The ambient Wyrm Sense increases very quickly when the floor chamber splits with a thunderous crack and blackness pours up out of the fissure.
The ambient Wyrm Sense increases very quickly when the floor chamber splits with a thunderous crack and blackness pours up out of the fissure. The blackness forms a great, vaguely humanoid shadow on the cavern wall, looming over the Garou. Then it plunges off the wall and into Alistair. Alistair begins to spasm and twist, and his body balloons and distorts. His skin rips in several places and blood patters onto the floor.
The cavern suddenly shakes with a violent tremor, and the roof of the cavern splits open, raining dirt and rock down onto everyone. There is now a 10 metre high tear in the cavern ceiling. Alistair flies up into the fissure. He reaches the top and then sticks to the wall. His body is continuing to mutate and warp, and there is a steady rain of blood falling to the cavern floor.
The True Seekers leap up into the fissure, grab onto the rock face, and climb upwards. When they reach Alistair, they try to pull him from the rock face, but his skin and tissue comes away in their hands. Steve, deciding that Alistair is lost, attacks the thing, causing its body to break up even faster.
Vilna, having fallen off the wall, decides that Burrowing in horizontally from the entrance tunnel should do the trick. He starts clambering up the tunnel.
Glenn and Steve are attacking the giant, bloody shape which, so far, has done little. Now it turns its "head" to regard them and burbles, "So, that was you."
Glenn feels that nothing that such a thing might say is good to hear. He grabs the things head and leaps, yanking down hard. The head separates from the body with a satisfying crunch, and Glenn plummets to the ground. This seems to have made little difference to the body, which is still clinging to the rock. The head is equally unperturbed, and continues to speak.
"I imagine you are waiting for me to emerge. But I cannot allow you to send me away as well. I have plans that you will not interfere with."
While the head is chatting, Glenn is charging after Vilna, who is carrying the Bag of Shadows, which is where Glenn wants to shove the head. Before he reaches Vilna, the head lets out an unearthly cry, that reverberates through the cavern. The call is soon answered by the warbling drone of a Nexus Crawler that appears high up in the fissure. And a Nexus Crawler at the far end of the cave. And a third Nexus Crawler that is descending through the only exit tunnel.
The True Seekers and the Ngalyod pack throw themselves into a desperate battle. While one battle rages in the cavern, another is being fought up on the ledge leading to the tunnel. The third Nexus Crawler remains above the fray, blasting at the Garou.
During the chaos, the unrecognisable mass that was Alistair's body drops and splatters across the cavern floor. The shadow pours out from what little remains and speeds up the tunnel to the surface.
The Garou, particularly the Ngalyod Pack, are hit hard by the Nexus Crawlers. Mortally wounded, Jane Doe enters a Death Frenzy. She fells one Nexus Crawler and launches herself at another before dying. Alex Sees-For-Miles and Broaches-The-Cask are also cut down. Finally, the Nexus Crawlers are dispatched. Of the Ngalyod pack, only Fujiko Mifune and Lisa Everborn are left.
Carrying the fallen, the survivors clamber to the surface. There is no sign of the Wyrm Beast. They make their way back to the van and drive south to the sept of Life's Promise. The Ngalyod Pack moon bridge back to Jindabyne while the True Seekers drive north again to explore the site more carefully. Exploration reveals little. There is a dusty residue running right around the base of the cavern wall - possible what is left of the rock paintings that may have been there. In a small niche in the rock there is some more of the powder, still bearing a residual Weaver sense. The True Seekers collect some of this powder to take with them.
The True Seekers own Gifts, such as Scent of the Prey, give no clue as to the location or direction of the Wyrm Beast. The local spirits are also of little help. They say that in the last few days the feel of Wyrm has been radiating up from the earth. Then, a few hours ago, the Nexus Crawler came, rent a fissure in the earth and went down.
The True Seekers drive back to Life's Promise again and moon bridge to Crackenback.
It is just before dawn when they arrive. The go to Darius and tell him what little they know. Darius says that there will be an emergency meeting of the Council tonight. He also says that he has a suggestion. The Ngalyod Pack is appointed for a ten year period. If the pack suffers losses, replacements are found to join the existing pack. However, Darius wants the True Seekers to step in as the new Ngalyod Pack. In the light of what has happened, Fujiko and Lisa wish to step down anyway, so an entirely new pack is on the cards.
Darius answers a few of the True Seeker's questions. The Ngalyod Pack is the arm of the Council and acts with its authority. However, the pack can also go about its normal business. The True Seekers will still be part of the Sleeping Lore sept and will presumably continue to live in Melbourne. They are simply on call to act as the Council's pack.
After some discussion, the True Seekers agree to allow themselves to be put forward. They then go away and sleep for the rest of the day. After dusk, the Councillors arrive. As they arrive, Darius takes Wungula Rose, Innana, Don Mephisto, Grek and Monash each aside privately and speaks with them. Brendan arrives for his first Council meeting as the Fianna representative.
After the usual ceremonial start, the Council is informed as to what has happened. The True Seekers and the last of the Ngalyod Pack tell their stories and answer the Council's questions.
After the Council has discussed the matter, Darius says that the remaining members of the Ngalyod pack wish to step down, and that an entire new pack must be assembled. He moves that the True Seekers be placed into the role as Ngalyod Pack. He calls for a vote on the matter
Those Councillors to whom Darius spoke privately seem not at all surprised by this suggestion. Others seem a little more agitated. Vlad speaks, saying that while the True Seekers would be capable and worthy recipients of such an honour, there should be more discussion of the matter.
Tjinderi says that Darius is attempting to rail-road the Council, placing his own agenda ahead of the needs of the Garou.
Vlad suggests that Council members should at least be allowed to put forward alternative members for the pack. They should also be given time to discuss the matter with their tribes. He suggests that the Council meet again in a few hours after discussing the matter with tribal leaders. The Council agrees.
Most of the Jindabyne Council moon bridge away. Vlad remains for some time, talking privately with Darius. Eventually, he, too, leaves.
Soon after midnight the Councillors return. This time it is Vlad who takes certain Councillors aside for a private chat. He speaks for only a few minutes with Brendan. He spends considerably longer having a heated discussion with Tjinderi. Then the Council reconvenes.
Darius again moves that the True Seekers be made the Ngalyod pack. He asks if there are any objections or alternative candidates. None of the Council speak. He then calls for a vote. The vote is unanimous in favour of the True Seekers.
Darius then says that a Rite of Passage must be decided for the new pack. The True Seekers are sent off while the Council discuss the matter. A few hours later, the True Seekers are sent for. They present themselves before the Council. Grek steps forward and speaks. He says that the task they have chosen for the pack is a matter that the Council have discussed before. They have debated whether their might be a route to the Bunyip realm in the Deadlands that others may use. So far as is known, none apart from the True Seekers have been to the Bunyip realm. If a route can be found that others can use, it will enable others to enter and study the realm. It may help in expanding understanding of the Bunyip.
What the Council offers is only conjecture. If there is a way from the Bunyip realm into the Umbra, the most likely Umbral realm it will be to is the Atrocity Realm, given the fate of the Bunyip. However, the Atrocity Realm will contain dozens or hundreds of scenes bearing upon atrocities against the Bunyip and their kinfolk. Searching them all would take a long time. Hopefully, their will be fewer alternatives for a pack searching from the other side - in the Bunyip realm.
What the True Seekers should look for is a place in the Bunyip realm with some connection to an atrocity. There may be a direct connection between the two. If not, the way may be thin enough that performing the Rite of Dark Descent, even without a sacrifice, may open the way through.
In order to mark the site, the True Seekers should be looking for symbols common to both realms. It is possible that the way between the realms may be ephemeral. To test for a lasting connection, the True Seekers will need to leave the scene in the Atrocity Realm, then find their way back to it and try to re-enter the Bunyip realm.
The True Seekers ask a few more pertinent questions, then head off to look for a fomori to sacrifice for the ritual. They moon bridge to the cemetery and chat with the elders, to see whether there have been any fomori sightings recently (there haven't been). The True Seekers decide to do a bit of preparation tomorrow and hunt for fomori tomorrow evening.
In the evening, the True Seekers decide to sniff around St Kilda as a likely place to catch fomori. The split up into pairs and comb the area. After a few hours of skulking, a man in a suit with a strong Wyrm scent is located and tailed into the Esplanade hotel. The man orders himself a jug of beer in the main bar, and sits alone at a table next to the large front window. The True Seekers artfully place themselves around the man, order a few drinks and keep a cautious eye on him. They notice that the man seems rather twitchy, keeps scratching at himself and has crusty brown stains on his cuffs and collar. The True Seekers wait for the man to leave. Chases-The-Wyld waits outside in lupus form.
After about an hour, the man has shown no particular sign of moving. Steve heads out to fetch the van and bring it a bit closer. As luck would have it, matters come to a head while he's gone. The pub has become more crowded in the last hour, and a bloke standing nearby is jostled by a passer-by, and spills his beer on the Wyrm-tainted fellow. The bloke offers to by him a beer by way of apology, but his offer is cut short when the Wyrm-tainted fellow grabs his beer pitcher and smashes it across the other chaps head. The unfortunate fellow hits the floor, bleeding everywhere, as he friends leap to his defence. The True Seekers get moving.
Glenn waves his wallet, which contains a video library card, screaming that he is the police. The friend of the pole-axed chap grapples the Wyrm-tainted guy - there is the sound of ripping cloth and the bloke starts screaming. Blood patters down from between them. Vilna grabs the bloke and pulls him away from the fomori. The front of his shirt is ripped in a dozen places and sodden crimson with blood. Vilna, Lachlan and Glenn, still in homid form, launch themselves at the fomori, as bouncers converge on the scene. Vilna grapples the fomori and is attacked by dozens of tiny, anemone-like growths all over the fomori's torso, which burrow into Vilna's skin. The True Seekers decide that the quickest way out of here is through the window. They lift the fomori and heave him at the window. A large crack runs across the pane but the window holds. The fomori bounces back onto the bar in front of the window, grabs a near-by beer pot and clocks Vilna in the temple with it.
Lachlan grabs a chair and puts it through the already weakened window. Having pummelled the fomori some more, they heave him through the window to face a not insubstantial drop to the concrete below. Chases-The-Wyld runs up and Steve swings the van around in front of the Esplanade, as the rest of the True Seekers, except for Melissa, escape through the window. They grab the fomori, and everybody piles into the van. The van flies off down the road and down Ackland street.
After taking a few random turns down side streets, Steve pulls the van over and stops. They call the sept and ask for another means of transport, as their current number is probably being described to the police as they speak. Soon afterwards, Nadine Holloway and Ian Shatter-Glass (ah, the irony) arrive in a new van. The True Seekers plus one transfer to the new van and drive innocently away.
The True Seekers drive to the botanic gardens, where they have decided to perform the ritual. Other members of the sept will come and remove the fomori's body once the ritual is complete and the True Seekers are in the Shadowlands. The rest of the True Seekers form a wide perimeter and keep wandering security guards away while Glenn performs the ritual. They do this by running in the opposite direction and getting the guards to chase them, then stepping sideways and doubling back. Finally the ritual is complete and the fomori is killed. The True Seekers grab the body and step sideways. They feel again a nauseating sensation of slow falling, interrupted by the same savage sideways wrench. Again they erupt up out of the earth, retching and coughing.
The first thing they notice, when their guts stop heaving, is that they are in a still, twilight landscape that resembles the high plains of the Great Dividing Range - low trees stunted by the winds; short, mossy grass with patches of snow, outcropping's of grey rock. The second thing they notice is that there is no sign of Melissa. The third thing they notice is the lack of Kanau.com.
If things are the same as last time, Melissa should be in no real danger. Like Grek the previous time, she should be in the Shadowlands that reflect the mundane world, rather than in this other realm in which the True Seekers now find themselves. She can always get back to the mundane world. Lacking a better idea, the True Seekers pick a direction and start walking. Chases-The-Wyld changes to hispo and takes to the air. After a while, they realise that things are different to the last time they were in this place, assuming that it is the same place as last time. The last time they were here, they were pursued and attacked by the Bunyip almost immediately after arriving. This time there is no sign of Bunyip at all.
After walking for a kilometre or so, and although the gloomy, overcast conditions have not changed, without warning there is a brief rush of wind carrying with it the sting of rain which ends as quickly as it began. A Bunyip fades into existence 50 metres or so ahead of them, its back to the group. The rest of the True Seekers duck behind a outcrop of rock, while Chases-The-Wyld circles overhead. The Bunyip turns and spots her in the sky. It stands stone-still, staring up at her. Chases-The-Wyld uses her newly acquired ability to Name The Spirit, and determines that the Bunyip is essentially a powerful ghost (high Gnosis, Rage and Willpower). In fact, she is so intent on naming the Bunyip that she fails to notice the darkening spiral of clouds directly above her. The rest of the True Seekers spot the danger and howl out a warning before charging towards the Bunyip. The Bunyip swings to face the new threat. With a brilliant white-blue flash and a thunderous crack, lightning slams into the ground not too far away from Vilna.
The True Seekers attack the Bunyip, seeking to subdue rather than destroy it. It calls down more lightning at them, but something goes wrong. The lighting grounds into the outcrop of rock and the dark knot of clouds breaks up. The Bunyip howls out, opening the earth which vomits up the walking dead. As the fight goes on, a passing demon has a go at the True Seekers, manifesting in the skin of the Deadlands until Steve beats the hell out of it and it slinks away again.
Finally, the last of the withered aboriginal corpses is dispatched and the True Seekers are left sitting on a very annoyed Bunyip ghost. Having discussed the matter for a bit, the True Seekers decide to try the old Rite-of-Contrition-while-sitting-on-the-person-you-are-apologising-to routine again. Apart from a few more withered zombies wandering up or hiding in the bushes, which are despatched by Lachlan and Chases-The-Wyld, things run fairly smoothly. The Rite is completed, but not a lot seems to happen. The Bunyip still seems rather cross.
Rather than destroying the spirit, the True Seekers opt to drop it into a hole in the ground and cover the top with a large rock. This should give them time to leave the area before it escapes.
Moving away, the pack decide to head down into the valleys. The slope that they are descending becomes more and more stony as they continue, and they find themselves moving down a definite gully. The hill slopes on either side become steeper and steeper until they are moving down a track in a canyon. Chases-The-Wyld flies up to survey the land, and Steve climbs up to join her.
Finally, the canyon opens at a cliff face, with a short stretch of hillside leading down into bushland ahead. Chases-The-Wyld and Steve look down, but there is no sign of the others emerging from the trail. The scour back along the top of the canyon, peering down, but find nothing. Chases-The-Wyld lets out a loud howl, calling to the others. The only answer is the call of a Bunyip far away (but not that far away).
The two of them descend into the canyon and scour around. Chases-The-Wyld finds the scent trail, which fades away rapidly just before the canyon ends. Moving back up the trail, they find that the scent trail is there as it should be.
Chases-The-Wyld uses Scent of the Prey while Steve starts his Questing Stone. Chases-The-Wyld feels that they should go thataway. Steve takes his time with the ritual, punctuated by the ever nearer cries of a Bunyip. Steve finishes the rite, and gets a direction quite distinctly different from the feeling Chases-The-Wyld has. With the Bunyip getting close, they decide to get air-borne, with Steve trying the ritual again on Chases-The-Wyld back. Completing the second ritual, Steve again gets a different heading than Chases-The-Wyld. Feeling that Questing Stone gives a more direct route to the rest of the pack, they opt to go with Steve's result and fly off over the bushland.
After flying for some time, they realise that they are heading directly towards a large and familiar stone plinth rising from a hill top. There is an aboriginal man sitting beside the fire on top of the rock - the Watcher. Chases-The-Wyld, ever the diplomat, lands at the base of the rock and gives a little requesting-type howl. There is an affirmative howl response from the top of the rock, so the two of them climb up the rock.
The Watcher is waiting for them, and greets them in that distant fashion of his. The Watcher observes that, although he seems to have forgotten much, he seems to remember that there used to be more of them. Steve and Chases-The-Wyld say that they seem to have lost a few people. The Watcher says that if they wait here, he will go and find them. He becomes transparent and vanishes.
Lachlan, Vilna and Glenn move down the gully, when they air becomes rapidly warmer. They emerge from the canyon onto a small beach beside a still pool of water. Red cliffs rise ten metres all around them. A stream cascades down the rocks on their left, feeding the pool, and a stream leaves the pool to their right, winding its way along a gorge and out of sight. There is no sign of Steve or Chases-The-Wyld.
Using Call of the Wyld, Lachlan lets out a mighty howl, calling for the others. The result of this is three separate Bunyip calls, one of them quite close.
The three of them decide to move back up the canyon and hopefully find the others, but the canyon looks quite a bit different to the way it looked on the way down. Casting around for their scent trail, they find that their trail only goes a short way up the canyon, then fades away.
They deicide to try Questing Stone to locate the others, while remaining in the canyon for protection. They have only been at the ritual for about five minutes when they hear movement on top of the canyon above them. Everything is quiet for a moment, then there is a rumbling and a cracking sound, and stones start pattering down onto them. Abandoning the ritual, the three of them scramble out of the canyon onto the beach, just as the canyon wall splits, depositing a large amount of rock right where they were standing. They remain beside the pool for a while, watching the tops of the surrounding cliffs, waiting to see what happens next. There is sudden movement above the canyon mouth as a Bunyip in thylacine form leaps from the cliff-top and lands in the water. It takes a few seconds for the surface of the water to settle, and when it does there is no sign of the Bunyip. The water is crystal clear, so anyone in the pool should be obvious.
Examining the pool, the three of them realise that there is an overhanging rock beneath the water at the back of the pool. Hoping that this may be another way of mystically shifting, as they seem to have done, Lachlan dives into the water and swims down to have a look. He has to swim close to the bottom to have a look, and churns up mud into the water. With the combination of mud and the shadow of the rock, he is unable to see clearly enough, so he swims back to the beach.
Glenn activates Lambent Flame and dives into the water. Once he enters the muddy water, Lachlan and Vilna can discern his location from the centre of the light in the murk. The light moves up the overhanging rock...then winks out. Glenn doesn't come back up.
Lachlan and Vilna decide to climb the cliffs and have a look at the surrounding terrain, to see if there is any sign of the bunyip that are howling. They climb to the top, and find a dry, flat landscape of red rock formations, low grasses and spiny shrubs. They cannot see any Bunyip, but from their howls, at least two are close.
Deciding that the fastest way back down is to jump into the water, the two of the cannonball into the pool. Lachlan hits the water and is immediately grabbed by something. Vilna surfaces, looks back, and sees two large figures struggling under water. He kicks back down and finds Lachlan fighting with a Bunyip in Crinos form.
Lachlan and Vilna fight desperately against the Bunyip, and the water is soon impenetrable with churned-up silt and Lachlan's blood. Just when things seem grim, Lachlan feels the Bunyip's grip slacken. He pushes away from it and it disappears.
The two of them surface again to find the Watcher standing on the beach. As they drag themselves from the water, the Watcher says that he was sent by the others to find them. If they will follow him, he will takes them to meet their friends.
He moves up the canyon with Lachlan and Vilna trailing behind him. Soon, the canyon opens up into bushland. They move through the bush until they reach a small hill in a clearing, crowned by a familiar rock formation. The Watcher says that if they climb up, he will retrieve the last of them. The Watcher walks back into the bush as Lachlan and Vilna climb the rock and rejoin the others.
Glenn, using Lambent Flame, swims under the overhang, checking everything carefully. There seems to be little of note, so he swims back up through the muddy water. He surfaces near the bank of a wide, brown river. All around him grow giant red-gums. Glenn decides to sit quietly and do nothing for as long as it takes.
Glenn sits for a time, leaning against a red-gum, chucking sticks into the river, when he hears someone approaching behind him. Peering cautiously around the tree, he spies the Watcher walking towards him. Glenn moves out to meet him. The Watcher says that the others sent him to find Glenn and bring him back. The two of them walk through the red-gum forest, which mysteriously changes into a more southern bush landscape at some point, until they reach the plinth. They climb up and everyone is together.
The True Seekers have a bit of a chat with the Watcher, noting that things seem a bit different than the last time they were here. The Watcher says that there is a new disquiet lying across this land. The Bunyip can feel that there is something wrong with the Dreamtime, and it has them agitated. The Watcher feels it too, but cannot be more specific. He says that the Bunyip are returning to the Dreamtime more often now.
The True Seekers tell the Watcher that they are looking for a place of atrocity here in this land. They tell the Watcher why they are looking for such a place, and warn that it may lead more Garou to this place. The Watcher does not seem concerned by this, and offers to show them such a place after they rest. The True Seekers get some shut-eye.
Some time later they awake and prepare to leave. There are about twenty undead scrabbling at the base of the plinth - nothing like the massive throng that congregated around them the last time they were here. Chases-The-Wyld, taking a few trips, flies the rest of the True Seekers a short distance away where the Watcher is waiting. From there they all proceed on foot.
They travel for an indeterminate amount of time. At some point, the bushland becomes much drier; more of a dry grassland with scattered trees. It seems to be getting darker, true night rather than the usual twilight. They can also hear a new sound - the croaking of many ravens.
They reach a large open space in front of a great rock. It was obviously an aboriginal encampment. There are old firepits and the face of the rock is covered with paintings. There is also blood everywhere. Pools of blood on the ground, blood splashed and smeared and spattered on the rock and on the surrounding trees. There are no bodies. Hopping and flapping in the branches of one large ghost-gum are many ravens, whose croaking the pack heard as they approached. These are the first "spirits", apart from Bunyip and undead, that the True Seekers have ever seen in this realm.
While Steve climbs the rock to have a look around, Glenn has a chat with the ravens. They claim to have been here since the blood, and say nothing of a time before blood. Steve reaches the top of the rock, but spots nothing noteworthy. He jumps down.
Glenn spends half an hour with the Descent into Dark Umbra rite. He finishes and...nothing happens. The Watcher says that there are other such places. He will take the pack to them.
They head off through the trees. As soon as they start walking, a cold mist rapidly rises from the ground. It becomes harder and harder to see the Watcher ahead of them, and soon he disappears completely. The True Seekers feel what seem like an icy wind and realise that it is living Gnosis washing through them. Their nostrils are suddenly assaulted by the stench of decay and filth, and the air is filled with moans and screams. They would seem to be in the Atrocity Realm.
They decide to move on and look for the place they just left, to see if the connection is stable. The landscape is one of mud and low hills, covered by a wet mist.
Lachlan is leading the group when the ground collapses under him. He falls through a mat of brambles and bones covered with a layer of mud, and lands in a wide pit filled with writhing bane larvae, squirming in a mass of putrefying matter. He scrambles back and out of the pit, and the others help him pick larvae off.
He has just finished cleaning off when there is a terrible shriek, and a Scrag scuttles out of the mists on the far side of the pit and leaps at them. Steve also leaps to meet it in mid-air, loses his footing and head-dives into the bane larvae. The Scrag sails over Steve, lands neatly, and attacks the other.
Glenn, imbued with the over-confidence that occasionally grips Garou in Crinos form, attacks the Scrag. It beats him severely, and he drags his bleeding carcass away. The rest of the pack also attack the scrag, including Steve who has pulled himself out of the pit, and they manage to scrag the Scrag.
Moving around the pit, they keep moving on, looking for the scene. Soon trees begin appearing in the mist, and the mist itself fades away. The True Seekers find themselves moving along a narrow trail through a tropical jungle. The trail leaves the jungle close to a ravine beside a road. The ravine is full of human corpses in various states of decay. The pack can also hear the sound of engines approaching.
The True Seekers wait in the trees. Soon, three battered army trucks drive up and stop near the ravine. Asian men in simple black clothes and armed with assault rifles climb out of the truck cabs and move to the back of the trucks. They speak rapidly, gesturing with their guns, and men and women - civilians, some of them as young as fifteen - start climbing down out of the trucks. More armed men in black also climb down from the back of the trucks. When the trucks are empty, the Khmer Rouge soldiers (just in case you hadn't guessed) herd the people towards the ravine. The True Seekers decide to step in.
As the Khmer Rouge soldiers herd the civilians towards the ravine, the True Seekers spread out around the back of the trucks, then charge in to attack. Being only limited ephemera, the soldiers don't suffer from Delirium and start shooting. Yet as they are only limited ephemera, their guns aren't actually guns so they don't hurt as much. The True Seekers rip the soldiers apart as the civilians flee into the jungle.
The True Seekers move away from the site and are soon swallowed by the rising mist, back into the in-between of the Atrocity Realm. Lachlan suddenly remembers that the connection to Kanau should be viable again, and they can contact Melissa. They give it a try and Melissa says that she is fine. She arrived in the Deadlands, that is the immediate reflection of the real world (the Deadlands "penumbra"), but there was no sign of the rest of them. She had a look around, and waited for a while but nothing happened. So she went back to the mundane world and went back to the Cemetery to tell them what happened.
The True Seekers work at concentrating on the scene in the Bunyip Realm, and move off. After slopping through the mud for an unknown time, the True Seekers leave the mists and find themselves on the nature strip of a country highway, in front of a new suburban development that has been built seemingly in the middle of nowhere. By the cars and fashions on the people they see, the True Seekers guess they are in America in the seventies. The pack goes for a little wander around the development. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary, and no immediate danger catches their notice. They circle out wider, moving through the fields around the houses. Out beyond the houses, they find a ditch running along a fence line. There are pools of standing water in the ditch, and there is a strange oily slick on the water. Chases-The-Wyld has a good sniff at the substance - an unfamiliar chemical odour, but she would recognise it if she smelt it again. They move back into the housing area and dig down into the earth. Chases-The-Wyld finds that the chemical scent is also in the earth. The pack tries running a garden tap. The scent is also in the water.
The True Seekers feel that there is not a lot that they can do, so they move off down the road. The mists rise up and almost immediately dissipate again, leaving the pack standing back on the nature strip across from the houses. Some bright spark realises that a scene in the Atrocity realm must either play itself out to the atrocities conclusion, or it must be interrupted. Vilna immediately starts gathering fuel to torch the entire development - no more houses, no more problem. While he is doing that, Lachlan and Glenn go on a door knocking campaign, claiming to be from the EPA and saying that they have discovered the presence of potentially hazardous chemicals in the soil and water in the area. Many of the residents are naturally concerned and there seems to be some discussion between neighbours about the matter as the True Seekers walk off. They enter the mists and do not return to the scene.
Instead, they find themselves on another nature strip outside another suburban house in America in the seventies. There seems to have been some sort of renovation going on, with lumber and tools on the front lawn. A young man of about sixteen is cleaning up, putting the tools into the back of a car. A second man walks out of the house, a fat man who seems vaguely familiar to some of the pack members.
Vilna realises who it is, just before the young man calls him Mr Gacey. This doesn't seem to be what the True Seekers are looking for, and they consider just killing him now and moving on. Before they can, another bright spark has the notion that they are looking for an atrocity to find their way back, but so far they have pre-empted all the atrocities. They might have to let it play out.
John Wayne Gacey and the youth get into Gacey's car and drive off. The True Seeker's quickly steal a car and head off in pursuit. They follow the car only a short distance before it pulls into the driveway of another suburban house. Gacey invites the young man in for a drink, and the two head inside. The blinds and curtains are drawn, so the pack cannot see inside.
They sneak around into the back garden and discuss matters. They feel that they should see what is going on to gauge if they are right about the atrocity theory. Steve and Chases-The-Wyld go through the back door (thanks to the Cracking Stone) and sneak towards the front of the house. Almost immediately, they can smell a nasty odour of decay. From the front room of the house, they can hear a grunting noise.
Nothing much seems to be happening. Chases-The-Wyld is inclined to let her natural proclivities determine her course. So when the rest of the pack give her the go ahead, she charges into the front room and pulls Gacey of the youth, who is lying unconscious on the floor. She then castrates Gacey with her claws.
Glenn, who is still out in the back garden, hears a croaking noise above him. Looking up into the tree in the back yard, he sees a single raven as it takes wing and flies off. Steve and Chases-The-Wyld charge out of the house and the True Seekers set off in pursuit, but the scene fades into mists and the raven disappears.
The True Seekers decide that next time, they will let the scene play out to its conclusion. So, stopping only to let Chases-The-Wyld express some anger on a couple of Scrags guarding a bane larvae pit, the move into the next scene.
The True Seekers are standing in a desert. On the horizon, dozens of thick black columns of smoke rise into the sky. Around them are trenches, bunkers and anti-tank defenses, obviously recently shelled. Iraqi soldiers crouch in the trenches and bunkers. Looking around, the True Seekers see a column of tanks and bulldozers getting closer.
The True Seekers decide not to be right here at this moment, and high-tail it up a nearby hill. The Iraqi's start firing at the approaching armour, to little effect. The tanks fire, keeping the Iraqi's pinned, and the bulldozers roll up and plough everything under, burying everybody who didn't run and get shot. The bulldozers trundle back and forth until there is nothing recognisable above ground.
There is a great cackling of many ravens. A tree has appeared on the hill-top behind the pack, with dozens of ravens in the branches. Glenn starts the Rite of Dark Descent, which will take at least thirty minutes. Minutes after he begins, the mists rise up around the tree, until the tree is in a clear space in a sea of mists. As the ritual goes on, the mists get thicker and closer until by the end the wall of mist is almost touching the tips of the branches.
While Glenn works, Chases-The-Wyld chats with the ravens. The ravens say that they see where they are, but that that may not be what she sees. Chases-The-Wyld asks whether she may climb up into the tree to have a look. The ravens agree, but she can see nothing different from up in the tree. The ravens say that she can come with them if she likes, but sensing them reveals a good whiff of the Deadlands and not a small measure of the Wyrm either, so she declines and climbs down.
Glenn finishes the ritual, to no immediately apparent effect. Taking a cue from last time, the True Seekers walk away from the tree and into the mist. The mist instantly vanishes, along with the feel of the umbra. The pack are in bushland again, standing in a copse of trees where several bark coffins have been pulled out of the trees and smashed. They are back in the bunyip realm, and there is no sign of the raven tree.
Now, the True Seekers need to find their way out one last time. They also need to be able to do it without the Watcher's help, for it to be of much use. They head off through the bush, concentrating on the raven tree. Some time later they find it again. This time, there are several nooses dangling from a thick branch. The ground under the nooses is covered with shit and pools of urine, but there are no bodies. The ravens are still squaring and flapping through the branches.
Glenn performs the ritual for the fourth time and they return to the Atrocity Realm. Now all they need to do to get home is to die. They wander through the mists until they find themselves in a store room. The air is hot and nearby, they can hear the agitated sound of many voices, none of which seem to be speaking English. The True Seekers leave the storeroom, pass through another small room and out into the hall of a small church. The hall is full of African men, women and children, shouting and crying and praying. Outside the church, the pack can hear more shouting, though it sounds more ominous that the confused tumult in here.
The True Seekers are in a church in Rwanda, and soon after men armed with machetes and knives break through the door and start hacking everybody to death. For the pack, the difficult part is to not change to Crinos and frenzy - they must stay in homid form so that they die faster. Soon it is all over.
The True Seekers are back in the Near Umbra, so they go looking for a moon path. When they find one, they follow it, looking to return to the Cemetery. Some time later, the path has deposited them in the penumbra near the Cemetery, and they make their way back. They just assure everybody that they are fine, determine that it is currently the morning of...
..., then they pass out for a little while.
During her sleep, Chases-The-Wyld has a familiar prophetic dream - the one with the wolf pack running through the forest, coming to a fork and heading down into the dark woods, with the cub lagging further and further behind until the cub is lost.
When the True Seekers wake up and get together, Chases-The-Wyld tells the others of her dream, and they have a little chat. After discussion and consultation with elders (ie, GM character's - hint, hint), they decide that the dream refers to Melissa. She is certainly a cub compared to the rest of them, and her failure or inability to enter the Bunyip realm sets her apart. The feeling is that they have a path to follow which, if she tries to accompany them, will only lead to her loss, in one sense or another. They discuss the matter with Cossack, and he agrees. They speak with Melissa and explain the matter to her. She is slightly upset, but understands that the situation is beyond her. Also having seen what happened to the last Ngalyod pack, it might be safer to avoid the True Seekers from now on. Melissa agrees to depart from the pack. Cossack says that she will find a place in another pack.
Later in the day, having pulled themselves together, the True Seekers moon bridge to Crackenback. The word is sent out and, within the hour, the Jindabyne Council has assembled. The True Seekers relate the harrowing tale of their quest, punctuated by numerous questions from the Council. They also explain about the absence of one pack member.
At the end of the telling, Grek says that he will sally forth and attempt to put what the True Seekers have learned into practice. In the meantime, the Council accepts that the pack has fulfilled the requirements of the Rite of Passage. In a moving and not at all confused ceremony, the True Seekers are given the role of the Ngalyod Pack.
What this means is that the pack act as the instrument of the Council, enforcing its rulings and investigating such matters as the Council decides. When acting under the auspices of the Council, the Ngalyod pack enjoys the authority to travel anywhere through any protectorate (technically) and other Garou must defer to the authority inherent in the position (in theory).
The Ngalyod pack lives as they choose, but must be prepared to respond immediately to the calling of the Council or the Councillors. The Ngalyod pack is often the means by which the Councillors are informed about an emergency meeting. Otherwise, the pack is to live life as usual. In the True Seekers case, they are still members of The Septs of Sleeping Lore, Rippling Waters and Scars Atoned and must still live up to their sept and tribal responsibilities.
At this time, the Jindabyne Council has no task for the newly formed Ngalyod pack. The matter of the Bunyip appearances seems to have been explained. In light of what the True Seekers found at the last site, all the previous sites have been exhaustively re-examined, but no similar Wyrm Beast has been found. Further, although the Bunyip are still appearing in unusually high numbers, the incidence of storms seems to be diminishing. Grek speculates that the Bunyip were reacting to a sudden change in the umbra, but are establishing a new level of equilibrium.
The True Seekers also get the traditional fetishes of the Ngalyod pack. The Councillors depart and the True Seekers return to Melbourne. Steve and Lachlan return to their house. Sorting through the accumulated mail, Steve finds invitation for "Steve and friends" to a casual party on Friday to celebrate the engagement of Peter and Rebecca. Steve has no idea who Rebecca is, but decides that it couldn't possibly hurt to go along and find out.
The True Seekers are enjoying some nice, relaxing Caern duty that night - strolling around the grounds, that sort of thing. Vilna, in the real world, spots a group of young people - twenty or so - walking up from the colleges. They reach the main gate, where upon one of the group produces a key and unlocks the gate. They all troop inside the cemetery.
They are a strangely mixed bunch. About a third of them are all gothed up - black leather, crushed velvet, black lace. Another third are virtually anti-goths - vivid colours and shapes in a virtually Japanese punk-pop image. The rest are a weird amalgam of the two styles.
Not far away, but in the umbra, Lachlan notices that the ghostly figures that float about seem to all be moving towards the gate. This is enough for him to howl and Kanau a warning as he moves to investigate. Glenn, also in the umbra, heads for the gate.
Vilna is hiding behind a gravestone, and he uses Sense Unnatural on the group. He gets nothing except for the ubiquitous presence of the Caern. The three of them, Lachlan and Glenn in the umbra and Vilna in the mundane world, tail the group. The longer they spend watching them, the more it becomes apparent that most of the people in the group are deferring and playing up to two of their number. One is a young Caucasian man, dressed in very vivid colours. The other is a young woman, possibly Hindi, dressed in black denim and leather.
The group stop and settle themselves amongst the graves, talking quietly. They are talking of nothing particularly interesting (university, politics, theatre). The young man, whom the others call Kieran, is saying that the cemetery is really inspiring. The woman, whose name is Opal, is not saying much of anything.
In the umbra, Lachlan notices that the ghostly figures are clustering around the group, in particular around Opal. At this point, Lachlan enters the real world and decides to do the security guard bit. Walking up to the group, he flashes his torch around and asks what they are doing in the Cemetery at night. One girl (not Opal) speaks up, saying that she knows someone who works here and that its cool, and that she got the key from him. Lachlan gets a name from her, and decides to have a quiet word with a certain grounds keeper.
In the umbra, Glenn feels something light bounce off his back. Looking around, he sees a tiny low fae about to hurl another twig at him. Kieran asks Lachlan if they have met before. Lachlan doesn't recognise him, but Kieran says that he is sure that he knows Lachlan. Moving right along, Lachlan tells the group that the Cemetery is closed and that they will have to leave. They get up and head back towards the gate. In the umbra, Glenn spies two low fae running along, keeping pace with the group in the real world. As they pass through the gate, the fae stop, looking forlorn.
Meanwhile, Vilna has made his way outside the Cemetery ahead of the group, then doubles back. As the group leave the Cemetery and walk back towards the college grounds, Vilna walks by and carefully uses Sense Unnatural on Kieran and Opal. He gets a definite fae sense from Kieran and a definite deadlands sense from Opal.
The Glenn and Vilna get together and decide to follow. Lachlan, feeling the burden of leadership, remains at the Cemetery to continue Caern duty. The others follow the crowd into Queens College, where they settle down in the common room. Kieran is still fairly fired up about the Cemetery, saying that there was something about the place, and that he felt really inspired. He also says that he was sure that he knew that "security guard" from some place. He also asks Opal what she thought of the Cemetery. She says simply "it's cool."
After a while, about half the group have drifted off. The remaining ten or so, including Kieran and Opal, head up to someone's dorm room. Pretty soon, they're toking up. Since Opal senses of the deadlands, Glenn decides to have a look in the Chandeen mirror and see if anything unusual is there. Unfortunately, he seems to have offended the spirit, and the mirror is black (he botched).
Since they don't seem to be going anywhere soon, Vilna heads to student admin for a chat with the computer. After some spirit awakening, he finds the details he wants. Kieran Last, first year arts with an address in Kew. Opal Prahvatha, first year arts/law with and address in Toorak. Vilna heads out to check on Kieran and Opal's addresses, to see if anything is amiss their, leaving Glenn alone and unsupervised.
Glenn decides that, in order to get them to pass out quicker so that he can use Dreamspeech, he should use Spirit Awakening on the hash. He does a little rite and does fantastically well - the spirit is really awake and kicking. So now they are smoking this really spiritually powerful shit. Soon after, there is a small knock on the umbral door. Glenn opens the door and finds three low fae, who ask to come in. Glenn says sure, so the fae rush in and start painting the walls pretty colours. They quite down a bit when a strange chill fills the air and Glenn spies an almost invisible misty figure floating through the wall.
Before very long, two of the crowd have gone looking for something to eat, six have passed out, and Kieran and Opal are having an argument. It would seem to be an old argument. Kieran shouts that Opal is closed off and uninvolved and repressed. Opal screams that Kieran is a space cadet and a flake. In the umbra, there are seven very agitated low fae bouncing off the walls, and three misty figures gliding back and forth.
Glenn is also starting to hear a whispering sound. It takes him a few seconds to realise that it is coming from the black Chandeen mirror. He pulls out the mirror. It is no longer black. Ghosts on the other side are scrabbling at the inner surface of the mirror, and Glenn can hear them pleading for him to "open the way". Glenn puts the mirror away, feeling that he really needs to do a Rite of Contrition.
Kieran storms off, hotly pursued by the low fae, trailing ribbons of colour. Opal sways back and forth for a while, then she leaves. Glenn decides to stick with Opal.
Opal makes her way out of the college to her car parked in Swanston St. As she fumbles with the keys and falls into the car, Glenn feels that he should intervene. So, without sneaking up on her, he walks up to Opal and suggests that they should go and have a coffee.
Vilna arrives in Toorak and finds an impressive house, complete with one father, one mother, one younger brother and one dog. The whole house is unremarkable from top to bottom, except for one room. Obviously Opals room, it has a very faint lingering sense of the dead, which Vilna guesses is the effect of Opal's prolonged presence in the room. Apart from the sense, there is nothing in the room.
Opal, who had seemed rather stand-offish before, can't keep her hands off Glenn - poking and prodding him and feeling his face. She also reaches into his coat where the Chandeen mirror is, but Glenn deftly averts her hands and leads her down to Lygon St.
Glenn and Opal find a place that's open and take a seat. One of the crowd that was in the Cemetery is there, and when he sees Opal with some strange guy, he comes over to say hi to Opal. Opal says that everything is fine, and the guy goes off, but he doesn't go far and he keeps an eye on Glenn. Glenn starts asking a few questions. Opal seems a lot more talkative than she was earlier. She says that she thought that Glenn was dead. She says that she has seen ghosts all her life and she thought that Glenn was one of them. She also says that he has something of hers. Glenn sits with the Chandeen mirror firmly between him and the back of the chair and says that they'll talk about that later.
Opal doesn't seem to know much more, just that she has always been this way. Glenn says that he would like to speak with her later, and asks for her mobile number, which she gives to him. Glenn feels that the gentlemanly thing to do is to drive the lady home, so they head for the door. The young man who spoke to Opal when they came in steps up to ask Opal if she needs a hand, so Glenn uses Staredown and makes him wet his pants...well, not quite, but he does back well off. Glenn takes Opal back to her car and drives out to Toorak.
Vilna has finished in Toorak, but decides to wait for Glenn rather than head out to Kew. Glenn drives up and Opal invites him inside for coffee. She is less stoned than she was but is still obviously ripped. They go into the kitchen where Opal makes coffee. She isn't being particularly quiet, so it isn't surprising when her mother comes down to found her eighteen year old daughter off her nut at three in the morning, making coffee for some golden-haired stranger ten years her senior, giving off subliminal waves of mayhem and murder.
Glenn explains that he was just escorting Opal home. Mrs Prahvatha thanks him for his concern and suggests that he leaves, like, right now. Glenn heads out the door to the sound of Opal being read the riot act by her mother. Glenn waits for about fifteen minutes, then sneaks back upstairs in the umbra. Opal is unconscious on her bed. Glenn decides that now is the time to try Dreamspeak...and he botches.
Summary - Some kind of death-sensitive (Opal) having been given large quantities of spiritually powerful drugs, makes imperfect mental connection with a Garou carrying an offended deadlands fetish that had attracted all the ghosts that were attracted initially by the heightened presence of the death-sensitive.
Outside the umbral house, Vilna hasn't heard anything from Glenn for about five minutes. He heads upstairs and finds Glenn in some kind of trance, in the middle of performing the Rite of Dark Descent. Vilna body slams Glenn against the wall, which seems to snap him out of it. They decide that maybe they have had enough for one night, and they head back to the Cemetery. Meanwhile, Steve has tracked Kieran to a house in Rathdown St. He is fast asleep on the couch in the living room.
Everyone gathers back at the Cemetery. Once everyone is up to date, Lachlan asks Glenn about how many Rites he knows whose title includes the word "Dark", which may not be a good thing.
The next morning, the True Seekers head out to Rippling Waters, to talk with those in the know about the fae. The Fianna say that there are those people who possess a natural spiritual affinity with the fae. It isn't usually a problem, except in areas of power (or when given mystically altered drugs). Such people can learn to use their attachment to the fae. The Fianna would be interested in learning more about this person. They also talk to Abina, a Silent Strider, about Opal. She says (surprise surprise) that some people are sensitive to the presence of the dead and the deadlands. Such people can make powerful mediums for the powers of the deadlands - mages like the ones the Garou were having such fun with the previous year.
The True Seekers feel that they really need to do something about Kieran and Opal.
Marches-The-High-Road says that he has been looking into the whole Jack O' the Lantern thing. He has learned a level two Fianna rite, the Rite of the Doorstep. It creates a bond between a fae and a mundane object. This makes it easier for the fae to move to the object for brief periods of time. It also enables one to "call" to the fae via the object. The rite must be performed in the presence of both object and fae. The object must be natural or symbolic - in Jack's case probably an axe or a lantern or a severed head. Marches-The-High-Road offers to teach one of the pack the rite, or to perform it himself if they don't want to learn it. The True Seekers thank him for his efforts and say that they will get back to him.
Back in Melbourne, the True Seekers use Questing Stone and locate Opal and Kieran. They both appear to be on campus. Since there is no time like the present, Glenn gives Opal a ring. He introduces himself, but she doesn't seem to remember him (which is not surprising), although she was made aware of what happened last night by her mother this morning. Glenn says that he wants to meet and talk, and they settle on meeting in the Union building. Lachlan and Steve are watching Kieran from the umbra. He is in a lecture, almost asleep, when his mobile rings. He answers, and the two of them listen in. It's Opal, saying that some guy she apparently met last night wants to speak with her, and would he meet her in the Union building at lunch. He agrees.
Around lunch, everyone converges on the Union building. Opal and Kieran have a small gathering of hangers-on around them when Glenn walks up. He says that he would like to talk with them in private, so the three of them head off, with their faithful umbral retinue.
They sit down on the south lawn, and Glenn explains the situation. He says that he knows that they are different - that Opal can see ghosts and that Kieran is attuned to the...well, to the, um, er, the little people. Feeling that a demonstration is the quickest explanation, Glenn uses Mindspeak (successfully) on the two of them, and talks to them silently.
He explains that being as they are might be dangerous for them, and that he and others in the know would be interested in helping them gain a better understanding of who they are and what they have.
The three of them talk for some time. Glenn doesn't tell them much, and he certainly doesn't tell them what he is. He gives them his phone number and says that they should think about the matter, then give him a call. He walks off while the others listen in on Kieran and Opal. They don't say much for a while, apparently a little shell-shocked. Then they tentatively discuss the little that Glenn told them. Neither seems too certain about what they should do.
Editor's Note - At this point in the narrative, extremely little of note or general interest happens. Only for the sake of completeness are the following events recorded herein.
Steve spends the day stalking Rebecca, Pete's fiancee. Apparently she works in a travel agency and seems to lead a very ordinary life - highly suspicious.
Glenn is contacted by Opal, and arranges to take her and Kieran on Saturday to meet some people in the country, who will explain more.
The True Seekers traipse along to Pete's engagement party. Chases-The-Wyld lurks in the bushes outside when the others go in. They spend the evening lying outrageously, implausibly and inconsistently about what they have been up to. On a personal level: Glenn is particularly bad at lying, but leaves the party before he gets punched in the face; Vilna cracks onto a jealous boyfriend, scaring the bejesus out of him; Steve catches up with Pete and shags some bank teller; and Lachlan - pack leader of the most prestigious and highest ranked pack on the continent - flounders helplessly when it comes to reading the "come hither" signals of a drunk eighteen-year-old. All in all, a good party.
Glenn and Lachlan go with Opal and Kieran out to Warrnambool, and meet with members of Rippling Waters. Opal and Kieran are introduced to the beginnings of knowledge about the fae. Glenn and Lachlan hang up the back, looking enigmatic but taking careful notes. This is all new to them, too.
Author's Note: Once again, a great deal of time has elapsed between the events as they were played, and the notes as they are written below. Thus the comparative brevity and lack of detail - and possibly the outright errors.
Emma Teesdale has a chat with Chases-The-Wyld about a recently published anthropology article, about myth structures in northern tribal cultures. It includes one myth which Emma had not heard before. The story goes that the Moon Woman came down to go fishing, and left her heart on the river bank. A young warrior finds the heart and takes it back to his tribe. The Moon Woman returns to retrieve her heart, and finds it gone. Thinking it rolled into the water, she dives down to search for it. To this day, you can see the Moon Woman in the water, looking for her heart. The young warrior with the Moon Woman's heart found that he and his people no longer needed to hunt or gather food, as all the animals and plants gave of themselves freely. Now doing nothing, the people become slower and fatter every day. A tree spirit heard the beating of the heart and stole it away, the people being too fat and slow to catch him. The tribe was so saddened by the loss of the heart that they became hills.
The myth contains enough references that Emma thinks it may be a legend about the Heart of the Wyld, and she suggests that the True Seekers look into it. The article was written by a Dr Meryl Heydt from ANU in Canberra.
Having informed the others, the True Seekers trek up to Canberra. Having located Dr Heydt, Glenn poses as an author of children's books doing research for a book about aboriginal legends. He arranges a meeting with Dr Heydt, and he turns the discussion to the particular myth in question. Dr Heydt says that she picked up that particular legend in a tiny town called Griffiths, which is south-west of Darwin, near the Western Australian border. It was told to her by an elderly aboriginal man called Albert about six months earlier.
The True Seekers moon bridge out to a Black Fury Caern in Arnhem Land, borrow a truck and drive the few hours to Griffiths. The town is a truck stop in the middle of cattle country. The True Seekers split up and visit the two local pubs - the Grey Hotel and the Duke of Marlboro. Asking around, they find that Albert died about six months ago. He fell into the creek behind his shack, hit his head on a rock and drowned. Autopsy showed that he was sober at the time. As to his history, Albert had spent his life working on cattle ranches. Albert's shack is about 2 km south of town. After a few of the True Seekers get drunk, they decide to head out to the shack the next morning.
The True Seekers wander down the track to Albert's shack, a small corrugated structure near a seasonal creek. The True Seekers wander around, but see nothing special. Glenn scans that creek with the Chandeen Mirror and finds Albert's body in the Shadowland, face down in the creek. There is a wound on the back of his head.
When the pack is suddenly attacked by wasp and python spirits, the True Seekers find that they have lost Kanau.com. Despite the poisonous stings of the wasps and the clutch of the pythons, they beat the spirits. They search around the shack some more, but fins nothing, so they trek back to town. Having a look around town and the umbra, the pack are approached by a snake spirit. The spirit says that its master wants them to surrender, or else the people of Griffiths will suffer. Thus begins a protracted negotiation, with snake spirits trundling back and forth. The True Seekers try to follow the spirits, but find that the spirits disappear as they move away, perhaps Reforming.
The spirit's master says that, if the True Seekers surrender, they will not be harmed, nor will they be bound or confined, if they give their word that they will not harm or interfere with the spirit's master. Also, the local people will not be harmed in any way.
The True Seekers are happy enough with most of this, except the bit about not interfering. If the spirit's master is up to some diabolical scheme, they might have to interfere. After much to-ing and fro-ing by snakes, the negotiations reach an impasse and the snakes vanish. As the True Seekers walk back into town, a local man walking down the street screams and falls to the road, blood running from his ears, nose and mouth. As other people come running, the man's right lower leg twists and bends, to the sound of tearing bone and muscle.