Wherein the True Seekers join in to clean up after New Years Eve, are given evidence of enemies, and finally confront long term opponents.
By morning, no-one has had any brilliant ideas as to how to cleanse the Caern. The Rite of Cleansing is totally inadequate, and any means of cleansing the corruption would also destroy the Caern (like summoning a lot of powerful Wyld spirits and letting them loose). There is a flash of silvery light as the Moon Bridge opens, and Malajimbarra appears. He has heard of their plight and has come to help. He knows of a mystic rite that is intended to deal with exactly this problem - the Rite of the Opened Sky. It can only be used within the confines of a Caern and cleanses away all corruption. He only knows one person who is familiar with this rite. Franklin Ash-Hand; Theurge and Master of the Rite of the Three-Stars-Over-Salted-Earth sept. It is the main Uktena sept in Australia, and the sept leader is Tjinderi Knowing-Smile. The Caern is the Wolf Creek Meteorite Crater in the Kimberley Protectorate.
The True Seekers immediately volunteer to go and talk with their good friends the Uktena, who certainly aren't in any way responsible for any of this mess that they are in. I mean, just because they summoned Uktena which meant that the Black Spirals summoned the Green Dragon, which then liquified all over the landscape, said liquid finding its way back into a tanker which exploded all over the Caern less than twelve hours ago, is no reason to hold them responsible. Cossack gives them permission to go.
The True Seekers and Malajimbarra moon bridge to Jindabyne, and from there Malajimbarra and Lachlan moon bridge out to the Uktena sept, to prepare the way. The moon bridge opens in the middle of the vast crater, which is currently covered with grasses and flowers (its the rainy season). They are met by the Uktena and taken to Tjinderi Knowing-Smile. Malajimbarra says that the True Seekers have come to make a petition on behalf of their sept. Lachlan outlines the situation (evil Wyrm attack, spreading corruption, loss of the Caern, etc) and asks permission for the rest of the pack to moon bridge through. Tjinderi agrees, and soon after the True Seekers are standing before the elders of the Three-Stars-Over-Salted-Earth sept. Lachlan outlines the situation more completely for all the elders, and asks for the sept Master of the Rite to perform the Rite of the Opened Sky at the Melbourne Caern in order to save it.
Now the back and forth begins. Tjinderi suggests that Caerns in cities are a flawed idea which divert attention away from the defence of the truly Wyld places that need protection. She also asks if it's true that the sept is a Bone Gnawer sept, seeming surprised that a Silver Fang and a Black Fury would be involved in such a thing. While the others sit on Naomi, Glenn and Lachlan argue that a Caern is still a Caern and its wellbeing is therefore of concern to all true Garou. Tjinderi also wonders, since the Caern has almost fallen once, whether its present guardians are maybe not up to the task of defending it. Maybe it is better that the Caern be destroyed than risk its seeming inevitable corruption. This back and forth goes on for a while, as both sides make their positions clear. Without saying as much, Tjinderi makes it clear that if the Uktena help them, then the Uktena will consider that the True Seekers owe them a big favour, even though they are representing their sept in this matter. The True Seekers give no response that could be seen to be flatly contradicting this implication, so the matter is agreed. Franklin Ash-Hand moon bridges back to Melbourne with the True Seekers and Malajimbarra.
When they arrive, formal greetings take place. Franklin says that the rite will need the participation of the whole sept, as they are going to need a lot of Gnosis. When everyone is gathered in the umbra, the rite is begun.
As time passes, dark clouds roll in across the bay in both the umbra and the real world - one of those unexpected cool changes. Soon the storm clouds are over the cemetery, and then the rains start to fall. The Garou can feel their Gnosis flowing out and into the sky, and can feel the cleansing flow of the rain. They can see the creeping stain of corruption in the umbra start to break up and dissolve - purified and destroyed rather than merely washed away to somewhere else. An hour or more after the rite was begun, the last of the corruption has been cleansed. The ritual ends, and the storm starts to break up. Cossack and the elders thank Franklin and the Uktena for their assistance. Franklin then moon bridges away.
With the Caern saved and the sept assembled, Cossack outlines the situation. The mundane world is assuming that the battle at the Cemetery was some sort of underworld war, perhaps tied in with the whole Yeagar deal. They are going to arrange for large amounts of drugs to be found nearby, which will confirm this suspicion. As for the sept, everyone is going to be busy for weeks to come. The Scryers and the Get of Pennington will be kept busy altering and destroying evidence, cleansing people contaminated in the attack, tracking down leads and so on. In a matter of this magnitude, this is going to take quite a while. Meanwhile, the Caern is vulnerable as most of its spiritual defences have been exhausted. Therefore the True Seekers are to remain at the sept, as guards and also helping in the summoning and binding of the many spirits. All of this is going to take weeks.
As people start going about their business, Cossack speaks with the True Seekers, asking what they are going to do about Patrick and Siobahn. Before they start their duty at the Caern, he wants them to deal with the situation, one way or another. What they do is up to them. While the others remain at the Caern, Glenn and Steve head out to Warrandyte to have a chat. When they arrive, they find that no-one has scarpered during the night. Patrick seems somewhat resigned but also relieved that the whole matter has come to an end, one way or another. Siobahn is asleep upstairs. Glenn and Patrick talk about what their options are. Glenn and Steve are also interested in looking at the evidence Patrick accumulated, to see if it maybe connected to the whole Yeagar business. They spend some time going through a lot of photos, notes, lists of addresses and locations. As they are doing so, Siobahn comes downstairs, sees who is in the living room and quickly heads outside. Glenn says that they cannot really help Siobahn, except to make her forget as much of the matter as possible. As for Patrick, he can either be made to forget, or he can learn more so that he can understand what they are doing.
They finish going through all the evidence. Although there seems to be no connection between the evidence that Patrick collected and Yeagar or the attack on the Cemetery, it does raise questions about there own security. It is time to start pondering various options they have for spiritual defences of their own. Under the circumstances, the True Seekers don't have the time they need to take care of Patrick and Siobahn. Patrick seems to want to know more about this matter which has screwed up his life for the past two years. As for Siobahn, they have little choice except kill her or make her forget. Glenn speaks to Naomi and asks her to contact the Sept of Reconciliation and see whether they can't help out. Naomi moon bridges out to Healesville and chats with Antoinette. This kind of thing is right in the Children of Gaia's department, and the agree to deal with Siobahn and to teach Patrick. Naomi and Mandras Sky-Watcher (the real one) drive out from Healesville to Warrandyte. Once there, Mandras uses Dazzle on Siobahn to keep her passive and compliant for the trip back. Mandras, Patrick and Siobahn then drive back to Healesville, while the True Seekers head back to the Cemetery.
Once they are all back at the Caern, the True Seekers get down to work. Those who can are helping the elders restore the Caern defences. The others are busy patrolling the bawn. They are also constantly heading out to the other packs, providing equipment and assistance, providing transport when needed, keeping everyone appraised of what is going on and so on.
It is early afternoon, and everyone is still busy when the moon bridge opens. Carla Grimsson and another woman step through. After the formalities are dealt with, Carla says that she is aware of the attack on the Caern. Now that the threat from the Black Spirals seems imminent, she is keeping her word and providing assistance in the coming fight, as agreed when the True Seekers resolved the issue of the disputed Caern. Carla introduces the woman as Amy Dickson, Philodox and pack leader of the Hell Hounds, a get of Fenris pack. Carla offers the services of the Hell Hounds in the coming battle. Until the Black Spirals were dealt with, the Hell Hounds would stay in Melbourne. Cossack thanks Carla for her generosity and agrees to the offer. Amy moon bridges away to bring the rest of her pack through. Soon the rest of the Hell Hounds arrive: Winston Brennan, Theurge; Sean Inness and Shu Leung, both Ahroun; and "Bandit", a Metis, Galliard, Bong Gnawer with only one arm. They are all dressed in flannels and ripped denim, they are all 18 or younger and they are all of the first rank. Carla wishes everyone good luck and moon bridges away. Cossack asks the True Seekers to accommodate the Hell Hound in one of the houses the sept has on Lygon St across from the Cemetery. He then suggests that they introduce them to the sept of Hidden Green, so that there is no confusion later.
Glenn and Vilna take the Hell Hounds to the new quarters. On the way, after some unfortunate comments about Metis, Vilna exercises some authority with his third rank fist to Sean's first rank face, much to the amusement of the rest of the Hell Hounds. At the house, while the Hell Hounds are fighting over who gets the top bunk, Glenn phones Hidden Green and says that he is bringing over some out-of-towners for an introduction. Having consulted with his pack, he asks that if possible, Scott Rosen and the Steel Hunters be present.
Having settled in, everyone troops through the umbra down to 101 Collins St. Everyone has been introduced or informed, so no one will be killed by mistake. Killed deliberately is another matter. Glenn takes Scott to one side and asks if, since everyone at Sleeping Lore is so busy, he wouldn't mind taking the Hell Hounds out to a few clubs and running them into the ground. Scott says that he would be happy to, so Glenn and Vilna leave the Hell Hounds in the capable hands of the Steel Hunters.
Sometime after four in the morning, Glenn is patrolling when he sees the Steel Hunters leading the sweat- and beer-soaked, semi-conscious Hell Hounds back to their house. Glenn says to Scott that he should feel free to invite the Hell Hounds out again at any time. Around seven in the morning, the True Seekers decide that the hospitable thing to do is to provide a tour for ones guests, so they don't feel lost. So Glenn goes and drags the Hell Hounds out of bed for a brisk three hour run around the cemetery and the surrounding area. As the Hell Hounds collapse back into bed, the True Seekers decide that they can let up on the torment for the moment. However, it would be prudent to insure that the Hell Hounds don't get bored.
Work is proceeding on all fronts. In about another week, the Caern's defences will be back to normal, and the consequences and fall-out from the attack dealt with.
Vilna has headed into the city to pick up one of the sept cars, which the Scryers left behind for one reason or another. As he approaches, he sees a figure leaning against the bonnet. It is a man with his blonde hair in a pony-tail, and he's wearing sunglasses and an Hawaiian shirt. Vilna recognises him as one of the mage constructs, and walks over. After a little chit-chat, the construct asks whether Vilna is interested in knowing where the Black Spiral Dancers are. Vilna says that he supposes so, and the construct says "Coode Island". Vilna asks how it knows and why is it telling him, but the construct just smiles enigmatically, and asks if Vilna would open the passenger door of the car. Vilna does, and the construct climbs in...and reverts back to straw. Vilna gets in the car and drives back to the Cemetery. Rather than taking the construct inside the Cemetery, Vilna leaves it in the car parked at the zoo and tells some of the zoo workers, those who are kinfolk, to burn the straw man in his car. Being kinfolk is just one exciting job after another!
Vilna gathers the rest of the True Seekers together along with the elders, and tells them about what the construct told him. While Coode Island seems an obvious place for a Black Spiral Hive, Cossack and Graeme are sceptical. They say that after the accident and the fire, they went over the whole area carefully and cleansed the site. Also, Coode Island doesn't have any large drains or tunnels that would appeal to the Black Spirals. Cossack is worried that this may be a diversion, to get them to leave the Caern unprotected. Cossack wants the True Seekers to investigate the matter. He stresses that they are simply to verify the truth of the matter, one way or the other. At the first sign of Black Spiral activity, they are to get out immediately.
As Coode Island, which hasn't actually been an island for a long time, is the site for several industrial concerns, the True Seekers decide to acquire security guard uniforms and vehicles, and scout out the area in the guise of security guards. They spend the rest of the day getting the needed gear and making their last will and testaments. After midnight, they drive down to Coode Island. In order to keep the sept continually appraised of their activities, Steve remains behind. Naomi decides to check out the area from the air in the umbra. What with the various industrial sites, there is the expected Weaver presence. There is also a general Wyrm taint, but it seems typical for the nature of the location. Having spotted nothing untoward from the air, Naomi lands and returns to the real world.
They turn off Footscray Rd and drive down MacKenzie Rd. A few of the sites, including the former Chemical Storage Facility seem dark and abandoned. Others have lights burning, and they can see the occasional security guard moving around. The reach the storage facility and park. Glenn and Vilna stay in the car while Lachlan and Naomi climb through a hole in the chain-link fence (if only all chain-link fences were so equipped). The facility consists of an office building, several shed with loading bays and giant tanks. The two of them move through the dark, finding their way around by the light of a torch. The offices are locked and empty, with nothing but a few old desks. The sheds are similarly empty, as are the tanks. Apart from the damage done by the fire, which has split several tanks wide open, there is the general sense of abandonment and decay. In the umbra, the Weaver constructs that correspond to the buildings and tanks are slowly breaking down. There is no unusual Wyrm sense, no sign that anyone has been here for years.
Leaving the chemical storage facility, they check out the other deserted yards. Again, they find nothing interesting or note-worthy. Lachlan and Naomi rejoin the others for a discussion. They decide to check out along the river bank around Coode Island, to see if there are any tunnels. They decide to leave this till the morning.
Having dedicated goggle and snorkels, the True Seekers jump into the river under Footscray Road. They start working their way slowly down the river, carefully searching and probing at the river bank beneath the water. In Crinos form, they can stay submerged for a long time.
Over the course of many hours, they make their way slowly down the west side of Coode Island, around the bottom, then back up the east side, where the docks are. After all this time in the murky, polluted waters, they have found nothing of interest. Having returned to the Caern for a long, hot shower, the True Seekers decide that the last option is to search below ground. They return in the umbra to Coode Island that night, where Naomi, Vilna and Lachlan summon earth elementals. It takes a while for the elementals to arrive, whereupon they are directed to search around under the ground in the area, looking for spaces and openings. The elementals move off, and the True Seekers sit down to wait.
After an hour or so, Naomi's elemental returns, saying that it has found something odd. They follow it across the umbra to the site of the chemical storage facility. The elemental begins forming a small hole in the ground, revealing a strange purple tube-like object. Examining it, it seems vaguely crystalline and brittle. It extends down into the earth for an undetermined length. Sensing on the object reveals a very faint Wyrm sense. Relaying back through Steve to the sept, the True Seekers describe what they have found. Aquinas Scales-In-Balance asks for further details, and says that it sounds like a fulgurite - a tube of fused silica that forms where lightning strikes the ground. Soon afterwards, the other elementals return, saying they have found something odd. Both have found more of the fulgurites. All three of the fulgurites are within the area of the destruction caused by the chemical fire. The True Seekers decide to see where the fulgurites lead, and send the elementals following the course of the fulgurites down. Soon after, the come back. They say they have found something; strange, alien, tainted rock. They are unwilling to move it, so the True Seekers ask them to dig down and clear a hole around the object so that they can reach it. The object is twenty metres down, well below the water table, so they are going to have to open a wide pit. The elementals start circling around, forming a pit which slowly grows deeper and wider. As they go, more fulgurites are revealed, but the elementals are largely destroying them as they go.
Hours later, a vast crater has opened up twenty metres down and almost a hundred metres across. At the bottom is a large rock, covered in mud. The True Seekers slide down the pit and wash away the mud, revealing a strange rock. It is more than a metre high, and comprised of rough green and purple bands. At points where the fulgurites intersected it, the surface is pitted and cracked. One side of the rock is sheer and smooth, as though a large part of the rock has been cut away, or the rock has been cut from a larger rock. When they wash and brush away the mud, parts of the surface crumble away. It has a chalky texture, and seems to be quite soft. Sensing on the rock reveals a faint Wyrm sense. The True Seekers tell Steve to send Aquinas to have a look at it. Aquinas arrives, has a careful look at the rock, says that he has absolutely no idea what the hell it is, and leaves. Wondering whether perhaps the stone is hollow, Vilna takes out the fae sword and has a swing at the rock. It cuts cleanly and easily, splitting the rock into two. It doesn't reveal a space in the middle though. Vilna takes another swing, just for luck, and splits the rock again. Now they have three rocks.
The True Seekers carry the rocks up out of the pit, and ask the elementals to fill the pit in again. After the pit is filled, they ask the elementals to keep searching around the area. While waiting for the elementals, the True Seekers try a few experiments. They dedicate a piece of the rock and step into the real world with it. The rock doesn't go into the real world, which suggests that it is from the umbra. Glenn tries to awaken the spirit of the rock, but nothing happens. Lachlan tries crumbling a bit of the rock in water to see if it dissolves, which it doesn't. The elementals return, and say that they have found nothing else. The True Seekers thank them and dismiss them. They decide to take the rocks away from the area, but they don't want to take them back to the Caern. Instead, they head out west with the rocksuntil they reach Laverton North, where they bury the rocks in a paddock. Having taken a few bearings, so they can find the rocks again, they head back to the Cemetery. Mission accomplished!
Naomi is patrolling on the east side of the Cemetery, when she notices three police cars, lights flashing, parked outside the house where the Hell Hounds are staying. She lets the other know. First inclination is to do nothing, but eventually Glenn goes over to have a look. There is the sound of shouting a scuffles from inside, and the police are leading people out in handcuffs. Glenn goes up to one of the police, and claims to be the owner of the house. The policeman says that they got calls from neighbours about shouts and sounds of fighting coming from the house. When they arrived, they found about a dozen people, all drunk, in the middle of a major brawl. Sean is led out by a policeman, and he calls out to Glenn. Glenn tells him to shut up, and that he'll talk to him later. He tells the cop that he rented them the house because he knows the family. He asks if he could look inside to see the extent of the damage, to which the policeman agrees. He goes in and finds an amazing number of empty and partially empty beer cans all over the place. The house has suffered a bit of cosmetic damage, nothing structural. The cop tells Glenn that they will be holding them over night at the Drummond St police station. If he wants to press charges over the damage, he should let them know. Glenn says it probably won't be necessary, and thanks the police for their help. Back at the Cemetery, Cossack says that they should probably visit the Hell Hounds and make sure they didn't do anything stupid. Glenn trots down to Drummond St through the umbra and finds the Hell Hounds in the holding cells. Using Mindspeak, he has a chat with Amy, to impress upon her the importance of sitting tight and not doing anything stupid, like mysteriously disappearing from the cells. Amy relates the message to the others, and the Hell Hounds settle down for a comfortable night in the cells.
The next morning, the Hell Hounds have been released and returned home again. Glenn goes around for a chat with Amy. She says that they went to a pub where they met a bunch of people and started drinking. They ended up back at the house, where a fight broke out over something. Glenn suggests that at the moment, the sept is a bit sensitive about attracting police attention to the area around the Cemetery. If the Hell Hounds are going to do this sort of thing, they should go back to the other peoples house, so that at least it won't necessarily be in the area.
The spiritual defences of the Caern have been restored, just in time for the moot tonight. The True Seekers meet at the Cemetery in the morning to kick back for the day. Cossack says that their is going to be a lunar eclipse tonight, although the moot proper will be over by then. Naomi says that she had a prophetic dream last night. She saw a pack of wolves running through a forest. One of the pack was a young wolf. The young wolf found the going hard, but it was keeping up. The path the pack was running along reached a fork. One fork led up a hill, out of the forest and into sunlit fields. The other fork led down into a dark valley, where the forest was thick and foreboding. The wolf pack did not stop, but headed straight down the fork leading into the dark valley. The path through the dark valley was harder than before, with deadfalls and deep streams. The further they went, the further behind the young wolf fell. Finally, the young wolf was left alone in the dark and silent forest. That is where the dream ended.
That night, the sept assembles for the moot. There is a general feeling of frustration, that all they can do is react to what the enemy does. The moot gets going, and the ceremony is begun. Once the ceremonial aspects are carried out, Cossack speaks. He reiterates that know they have only one priority - to root out and destroy the mages and the Black Spiral Dancers. Everything else is secondary to this.
There is remembrance for those who fell in the battle. Georgina and Barry have already been buried, and the umbral statues have appeared. They are praised for their war against the Wyrm, and vengeance is sworn in their names. Much howling and snarling. Everyone is brought up to date on what has been going on since the attack. This includes the restoration of the Caern, both physically and spiritually, the search of Coode Island, the destruction and alteration of evidence to throw the mundane world off track, the reworking of witnesses, chasing up of leads, such as the trucks, the fomori and the guns (all of which led to nothing).
Cossack then asks Melissa to step forward. The elders recognise that her efforts in the defence of the Caern constitute her Rite of Passage by a trial be fire. She is now of the first rank. She may now join a pack if she wishes, assuming the pack accepts her. Melissa looks toward the True Seekers, and says that they were the ones who brought her over to Garou society and who she has had dealings with. If they would accept her, she would join them. The True Seekers go into an impromptu huddle to interpret Naomi's dream. They feel that it is a warning that they must look out for even the least experienced among them. They say that they would be happy to accept Melissa as one of the True Seekers. Kanau is called, and he also has no problem with the matter. The Rite is performed to bind Melissa to the pack and its totem.
At this point, Lachlan challenges Cossack to recognise him for the fourth rank. Cossack says that he has already discussed this with other elders, including the elders of Rippling Waters and Scars Atoned. Lachlan is a Galliard, and as such he is a keeper and preserver of the lore. His challenge is to construct and maintain a Lodge of the Silver Record. He must inscribe and learn the basics of the Silver Record, and he must add to the Silver Record the new lore he has learned. This is going to take some time. Lachlan is now invited to tell the rather long story about the quest for Marion. After he is finished, more stories are told.
After the tales, the Revel begins. Frankly, there is not much of the Wyrm in the surrounding area since the attack, but tradition is tradition. The True Seekers, now with Melissa, head south and kick around near Coode Island. The revel has not been going for long when the True Seekers hear Cossacks voice in their head. He says that the police believe that they have the Full Moon Killer cornered in a house in Windsor, just near the Astor. The True Seekers tear across the umbra, heading for Windsor.
They are tearing up Chapel St when the lunar eclipse begins. The umbra slowly grows darker as the moon diminishes. But then, the umbra starts to get lighter again, only this time with a strange crimson light that covers the landscape. As they cross the Highway, blood-red Lunes start appearing in the umbra, flying around in crazy patterns. Then blood starts manifesting on everything around them, and drips up into the sky. Naomi senses around her, and gets this strange ebbing and flowing sense. She feels Wyld and Rage flowing one way, then Wyrm, Wyld and Rage flowing back. It is not a directional sense, just an overall feeling.
Peering into the real world, the True Seekers can see that the police have surrounded a house in Cintra Avenue, off Chapel St. They are also evacuating all the surrounding houses. From inside the house there is the sound of roaring and smashing. Naomi moves toward the house while the rest hang back. She steps sideways into the back of the house. The noise is coming from the front. She sneaks up cautiously, hoping to get close so she can get a good scent. In the front room of the house, the same Black Spiral Dancer she saw in the Atrocity Realm, matted with blood, is tearing the room to pieces. There is no sign of any people. Naomi takes a good sniff, then ducks back.
In the umbra, the others are waiting for Naomi when they hear an unearthly shrieking. From where they are standing, they can see a naked woman covered with blood descending from the umbral sky toward the house, screaming as she goes. Glenn is sensing, and he can feel that strange ebb and flow is speeding up and she descends. She disappears through the roof into the umbral house, and the True Seekers start running toward the house. Vilna hangs back, watching the police. A few people have enough Spirit Lore to guess what might be happening. There is a powerful spirit known as the Blood Warrior, a manifestation of Luna in her role as destroyer and bringer of madness. The Blood Warrior most often appears during a lunar eclipse, and is drawn by violence and destruction. She destroys the enemies of Luna, such as Black Spiral Dancers.
Naomi is about to step back into the umbra, when the roaring and smashing suddenly stops. She peeks around the corner again to see a remarkable transformation. The Black Spiral Dancer seems to be reverting to homid form, as its hair retreats back into its skin. However, it is not shrinking. It is in fact growing. Standing in the room is a naked blood-soaked woman four metres tall. As the woman turns, Naomi can see that her genitals are a twisted combination of male and female genitals. This does not seem to correspond to anything Naomi knows about the Blood Warrior. The woman picks up a chair and throws it through the door, then starts walking toward the hole she just made. Naomi decides that there are some things the police do not need to see, and she charges at the woman, seeking to hamstring her. Mind you, she is in lupus form, and she barely scratches the woman. The woman reaches down, picks up Naomi and throws her through the door and across the road. The rest of the True Seekers appear in the house as the woman walks out the door. The police, a bit on edge since a chair and a big dog flew out the door, are perturbed by a four metre naked blood-covered hermaphrodite, and open fire. Everyone in the house hits the deck as bullets start ricocheting everywhere. Meanwhile, Vilna has stepped into the real world, and decides to distract the police by pulling out his own gun and firing at random. Yes, it's business as usual for the True Seekers. Glenn, Lachlan and Steve switch to Crinos while in the house, then charge out the door.
The police, already panicked by the giant and the gun-fire, flee under the effect of the Delirium. Melissa is busy taking five minutes to get through the Gauntlet. Naomi is unconscious on the other side of the road. The rest of the True Seekers throw themselves on the creature. Soon, the four of them manage to pin it...until it starts growing bigger. When it is about five metres tall, it starts shaking them off. Its skin is like iron, and a red glow has formed around it, absorbing their attacks. Steve steps back, pulls out Wyrmfoe and starts hacking away at the thing. This is quite effective. Certainly effective enough to attract the creatures attention. As Steve brings the knife down, the thing grabs his wrist in one hand. It braces its other hand on his chest and starts pulling. There is a tearing, wrenching sound as Steve's right arm comes away at the shoulder. Steve staggers back and collapses, blood jetting everywhere. The creature opens its mouth and stuffs Steve's arm in, dagger and all. Much crunching and cracking of bone, three mighty gulps, and it's all gone. Steve leaps to his feet again in a screaming frenzy, and charges into the fray with only one arm.
The fight continues for a long time, with the True Seekers finding it almost impossible to hurt the creature. Unbeknownst to them, this thing is busy absorbing lunes in the Umbra like crazy. Lachlan also manages to hurt the creature and attract its attention. It starts smashing him in the face with fists like boulders, over and over again. Lachlan absorbs a staggering amount of damage before finally succumbing. Seconds later he snaps back and renews the attack.
Finally, with police helicopters approaching, the creature breaks free and flees, heading for Chapel St. Glenn does a leaping rake and brings it down for the final time. Steve and others who are still frenzying hurl themselves on the body and start tearing at it. As Steve calms down, he opens the creature up. He finds the remains of his arm as well as Wyrmfoe...broken. With only seconds before the police helicopter sweeps the area, the True Seekers grab up everything they can of the thing and sprint back into the house. Vilna charges over to a fire hydrant and cuts it in two with the fae sword. Water gushes everywhere, hopefully washing away most of the evidence. Vilna then runs into the house.
Inside, everyone looks around for petrol, meths - anything flammable. They splash it all over the house and the remains of the body. The body has shrunk down, but it is totally twisted and malformed, notwithstanding the fact that it has been shredded. Glenn has a sudden "oh shit" moment, the dives out the door. He runs across the road, grabs Naomi (who was napping peacefully in the shrubbery) and runs back. The search light from the helicopter pins him, but a few bursts of automatic fire from Vilna encourages them to look for suspects elsewhere. Glenn runs inside as Naomi is revived. Finally, Melissa gets through the Gauntlet. The house is lit and everyone steps back into the umbra.
In the umbra, the eclipse is ending. The red light is fading rapidly and the few lunes that are left are vanishing. The True Seekers hang around in the umbra, watching what happens. Due to the fact that Vilna mangled the nearest fire hydrant, the fire department have trouble getting the fire under control. The house is nicely gutted, covering the worst of the evidence. Listening in, the True Seekers work out what happened. Neighbours heard screams coming from a nearby house and called the police. Fortunately, a police car was right on the scene. The police saw a large figure flee the scene, and they chased it into another house. The managed to surround the house. They were about to move in when...giant blood-soaked women...flying dogs...snipers...a pack of bears. The True Seekers keep watch for a few hours until things have calmed down somewhat. The police aren't going to be able to go through the wreckage until it has all cooled down, and it's going to take them a while to find anything. The True Seekers decide to chalk it up as a job well done, and head back to the Cemetery to report. Steve starts asking Theurges how one would go about making a fetish arm.
There is some discussion about what may have happened tonight. If it was some sort of rite performed by the Black Spirals, then it came to little (no offence to Steve). Emma and Ends-The-Quiet suggest that it may have been a matter of a sympathetic link between the Black Spiral and the Blood Warrior. The Black Spiral seemed to be tied strongly into the lunar cycle in a pattern of rage and violence - much like the Blood Warrior. This may have been enough to effect some bond between them.
The True Seekers are lounging at the Cemetery, enjoying doing absolutely nothing, when the Moon Bridge opens. A visit from the Ngalyod pack. Fujiko says that they have come to take the True Seekers to the Jindabyne Council, to discuss the new bunyip lore the pack discovered in the Deadlands. The Council left it for a while, as they heard about the attack on the Caern and realised that everyone had their hands full.
They all moon bridge up to Jindabyne, where the Council is waiting, including Grek. The True Seekers are invited to tell what they have learned, so Lachlan tells the part of the story where they are running around being chased by the Bunyip. Once he has finished telling, the councillors start asking question, examining this and that point.
One particular matter that seems of interest is the Watcher's story about the Sydney debacle. Various members, particularly Darius, Mother Pasta and Innana, are looking at Tjinderi in a fairly hostile fashion. Darius demands of Tjinderi that she reveal exactly what the Uktena had to do with the issue. Tjinderi says that the matter is a tribal one, and she is not going to discuss the matter in public. Darius says that he will challenge her if need be to find the truth. Tjinderi points out that he is Ahroun and she is Ragabash, so what challenge would satisfy them both? Darius, who is looking not a million miles from frenzying, says that unless she tells the Council what she knows on the very subject that the Council was formed to deal with, he will have the Uktena removed from the Council.
At this point, Innana steps between the two of them. She says that everyone should cool off and take some time to consider before doing anything rash. Darius storms off, and the councillors start discussing the matter. The True Seekers go over to Grek, glad to see him alive and in one piece. Grek says that he doubts whether most of the Council would vote to remove the Uktena, but even the motion itself would be damaging. Certainly Darius is not thinking rationally. Cernonus was his friend and he believed in what they were trying to achieve.
The True Seekers head over to Tjinderi, who is standing apart from the others. Tjinderi says that she will accept some form of mystic challenge, but not from the Council. She does not wish to create division in the Council, but is was not intended to interfere in tribal matters. The True Seekers ask whether she would accept a challenge from them rather than the Council. Tjinderi agrees. Lachlan says that the True Seekers wish to address the Council. Someone goes and fetches Darius, and everyone gathers. Lachlan then says that the True Seekers wish to challenge Tjinderi for the knowledge she has on the matter of the Sydney debacle. He says that the True Seekers would be satisfied with some form of mystic challenge. Tjinderi says that she accepts the challenge. Since they are at the Crackenback Caern, it is up to the local Master of the Challenge (in consultation with the Jindabyne Council) to determine the exact challenge.
After general discussion, the mystic challenge is given. Each of the participants will sit at the top of a pole. Prior to this, they will have twelve hours to summon and bind up to six spirits. The objective is to force the other Garou off the pole using the spirits alone. The stipulation is that you cannot use the spirits to attack to harm the other person.
The Council decides to hold a Sacred Hunt tonight in order to ensure that both contestants are at full Gnosis. They will then spend the next day summoning spirits and the challenge will be held tomorrow night. Vilna undertakes to represent the True Seekers in the challenge. That night, the Hunt is held. Much running around and hunting of spirits.
Having conferred with the rest of his pack, Vilna begins summoning. He summons a tree jaggling (to root the pole into the ground and hold him to the top) and a wasp jaggling (to harry Tjinderi). At this point he realises that he should have been summoning more powerful spirits, and starts summoning more powerful spirits. He summons a fire totem avatar (to burn Tjinderi's pole), and two wind avatars (for attack and defence).
That night everyone gathers. Two poles, ten metres high and twenty metres apart, have been planted in the ground. Vilna and Tjinderi each climb a pole and the challenge begins. Vilna first sends in the tree spirit to infuse his pole. The pole trembles as it sends roots out into the ground, and branches spring out, wrapping around Vilna. Tjinderi calls on an ice spirit, which plunges into the ground at the base of her pole. The pole and the ground quickly freeze rock solid, fused together. Deciding to press the attack, Vilna sends the fire spirit to burn Tjinderi's pole. Tjinderi calls on an avatar of Uktena (a water spirit) to quench the fire. Vilna then sends the wasp spirit at Tjinderi. As wasps begin buzzing around her, Tjinderi calls on a spider spirit. Tiny spiders swarm all over her, coating Tjinderi in web and attacking the wasps. Now Tjinderi makes an attack. A storm spirit forms over Vilna and a cyclone begins to form. Vilna sends one of his wind spirits to push the storm spirit away. Vilna sends his final wind spirit to aid the fire spirit to battle Uktena. Tjinderi calls on her ice spirit to aid Uktena against the fire spirit. At this point, Vilna has no spirits left. Tjinderi sends her final spirit against Vilna - a nightmare spirit. Vilna has already taxed himself heavily in summoning and binding the spirits. The nightmare spirit saps at his will and resolve, sending Vilna into a state of deep ennui. Vilna can no longer even raise the resolve to direct his own spirits. Without his direction, the spirits continue doing the last thing he told them. Tjinderi has her spirits group and destroy Vilna's spirits one by one. She then sends Uktena over to Vilna. The serpentine Uktena slithers up the pole and stares into Vilna's eyes. Sapped of his will, Vilna feels that it is a good idea to jump off the pole. Disengaging from the branches he steps off the pole. The challenge is over and Tjinderi has won.
The Council gathers again. Tjinderi says that as far as she is concerned, the matter is concluded. Darius and Mother Pasta look less than happy, but say nothing. Carla Grimsson steps forward to speak about the recently disputed Caern. She says that given the nature of the Caern, and in the spirit in which the matter was resolved, the Caern's sept would be open to Garou from all tribes. She says that she hopes that tribes such as the Children of Gaia and the Black Furies would be joining the sept. On that note, the Council ends. As everyone moves away, Tjinderi moves over to the True Seekers. She says that although the matter has passed beyond the Council's business, it may be of interest to others. If the pack should wish to speak with her further, they know where to find her.
The True Seekers return to the cemetery. They decide to spend some time learning rites and stuff.
The True Seekers are hanging around the Cemetery when Vilna turns up, accompanied by a pale, scarred and wasted-looking man. He introduces everyone to Petrov, his brother and erstwhile Black Spiral Dancer, back from Erebus. Everyone immediately begins sensing with everything they have, but there appears to be no Wyrm taint. Lachlan asks how he managed to find Vilna. In fact, Vilna left his address with Charyss to give to Petrov when (and if) he was cleansed. They take Petrov to see Cossack. Cossack welcomes Petrov back. He then asks him what does he remember about the Black Spirals. Petrov says that almost all of his life after being taken by the Black Spiral's has been burnt away. There is only a brief, recurring memory he has: darkness, the scent of decay and the distant sound of rain falling. The True Seekers wonder if perhaps they couldn't aid Petrov's memory with a bit of spirit possession, or Dreamspeaking. Petrov agrees, but all the efforts are in vain. Erebus is nothing if not thorough.
Cossack says that Petrov is currently without tribe. He must decide what he wishes to do. Petrov says that he'll think about it. In the meantime, he will live with Vilna.
Naomi is working away at the zoo when the familiar figure (black trench coat, Hawaiian shirt, sunglasses, pony tail) of the mage construct approaches. After a few terse greetings, the construct expresses surprise at the fact that the Garou don't seem to be doing much about the BSD's, particularly since he told them where to find them. Naomi says that they checked out the little tip the mages gave them, and turned up nothing. They went over every inch of Coode island, mundane and umbral, and found no sign of them. All they found was a faintly Wyrm-tainted rock.
The construct seems rather startled by this, and asks if Naomi would excuse him for a minute. The image of the man vanishes, leaving the straw scarecrow, which topples over. Naomi is tempted to feed it to the elephants, but decides against it. She does let the others know about what is going on. A few minutes later, the image of the man appears again, and the construct gets back to its feet. He says that perhaps they can help each other. The BSDs are an obvious threat to everyone, and it would be sensible to pool their information on the matter. The construct suggests that in the interests of mutual trust, that they should keep each other appraised of any information concerning the BSDs. When the BSDs are found, they can then combine their resources in destroying them. Naomi asks why she should trust the mages. The construct points out that she doesn't have anything to loose. If the mages discover where the BSDs are, they will tell the Garou, which is what the Garou want. If they then deal with the BSDs together, then they have laid the groundwork for mutual trust and peaceful co-existence. Naomi asks how they are to contact the mages if they want to talk. The construct says to run a personal ad in a particular paper, addressed to Strawman and with a reference to dancing. Contact can then be made. Naomi agrees. The construct bids Naomi goodbye, and the inert scarecrow falls to the ground. Naomi takes the scarecrow to one of the kinfolk working at the zoo and tells them to break up the scarecrow and burn it immediately.