Silence of Time update
The characters rolled into Foothill, NY and noted it was a tiny little town and that the name "McEvers" seemed to crop up a lot on businesses. They didn't want to go traisping off into the woods looking for the Pure, so they got a hotel room and wandered around town. Scylla found a scent mark outside the diner that basically said "remember this place for later," but there was no scent of competition, as though the werewolves in the area didn't feel the need to add "MINE" to their scent marks.
The pack went to a local bar, drank beer and played pool for a while. Eventually, a woman (werewolf) walked in and beckoned them to the table, the locals obviously giving her a wide berth. She introduced herself as Ember, and told the characters to sum up what they were doing here quickly. She wasn't immediately hostile, though, largely because she was interested in what could take a small pack of Forsaken into the territory of a known Pure pack. After they told her, she led them on a hike down into the woods, and told them to bring their weapons but leave any silver behind. They left the shells, but Reese took along the silver pill.
In the woods, they met up with other members of her pack: Joshua (a former Hunter in Darkness who doesn't like changing out of Urhan), Rachael (almost always silent, she carries a fetish staff), and Billy (former Blood Talon who carries a fetish whip). They also passed through two loci. One was a relatively weak water locus in a stream, the other a very powerful locus oak tree guarded by a silence-spirit. The pack was warned to stay perfectly silent while walking through that last one's area of influence, but with a little help from Stalker-in-Silence they managed.
The werewolves arrived at a little clearing and Scylla told the story of how the Virus was released and what it was doing. Ember decided that another member of their pack should hear the story, so sent Joshua to lead Scylla and Reese up the mountain while Zeke and Fletcher stayed put.
While the others were gone, Zeke stayed characteristically quiet while Fletcher chatted with Ember and Billy. Billy, who is what we called in technical terms a "dick", was trying to bait either of the Forsaken into starting a fight, while Ember seemed more interesting in spreading the Fire-Touched gospel. Rachel, at one point, nudged Fletcher to take him off and show him something, but Fletcher refused because Reese had told him to stay put. Ember also listened to Fletcher's take on the Virus and they discussed Lunacy. Her thought: "Lunacy means 'madness from the moon.' You worship the moon, and you're worried about fear-spirits?"
Meanwhile, Reese and Scylla followed Joshua up to a cabin where an older gent was sitting on the porch. He introduced himself as Dr. Uriah Lesko, and listened to their story with interest. He finally said that while he wouldn't solve their problem for them, he'd try to teach them how to solve it. He then extended a hand toward Reese. Reese balked; Scylla took his hand and was immediately wracked with fever and headache so painful she could hardly see. Uriah told her to recite the Oath of the Moon - she couldn't. That, he said, was the first lesson; disease, at its most basic, was just pain, and pain could be worked through.
They talked about the Virus a bit more, and Uriah got it into his head that the Forsaken might be carriers. He sent Joshua down the hill to fetch Billy. Billy arrived and led Reese and Scylla back down to the rest of the pack (with Uriah). Meanwhile, Billy tried goading Reese, but not terribly successfully. Down at the hill, the packs met up again, then trekked back to the water locus to step across to meet a spirit who could see if the werewolves were infected. In the Shadow, they saw that the forest was still largely burned and the air was hard to breath for all the cinders. They also noted that the Pure had angry, red Renown marks, but that they followed similar patterns to the Forsaken. Reese noted, with some surprise, that both Ember and Uriah were more Renowned in terms of Purity than any werewolf he'd ever seen.
A gigantic boar-spirit waited for them on the other side. Ember told Reese to kill it with his ax; when he balked, she reminded them that if the Pure were going to attack, they had no real need to resort to tricks.
Reese struck and beheaded the boar. Its skull immediatley became fleshless, its body grew to an immense bipedal form, its trotters branched out into bony claws. It stood up and put its skull back on its body, and crouched down to sniff at the Forsaken. Fletcher used Read Spirit and saw its name: Raw-Head Bloody-Bone, a spirit of revenge, the totem of the Ash Valley Pack.
The pack went to a local bar, drank beer and played pool for a while. Eventually, a woman (werewolf) walked in and beckoned them to the table, the locals obviously giving her a wide berth. She introduced herself as Ember, and told the characters to sum up what they were doing here quickly. She wasn't immediately hostile, though, largely because she was interested in what could take a small pack of Forsaken into the territory of a known Pure pack. After they told her, she led them on a hike down into the woods, and told them to bring their weapons but leave any silver behind. They left the shells, but Reese took along the silver pill.
In the woods, they met up with other members of her pack: Joshua (a former Hunter in Darkness who doesn't like changing out of Urhan), Rachael (almost always silent, she carries a fetish staff), and Billy (former Blood Talon who carries a fetish whip). They also passed through two loci. One was a relatively weak water locus in a stream, the other a very powerful locus oak tree guarded by a silence-spirit. The pack was warned to stay perfectly silent while walking through that last one's area of influence, but with a little help from Stalker-in-Silence they managed.
The werewolves arrived at a little clearing and Scylla told the story of how the Virus was released and what it was doing. Ember decided that another member of their pack should hear the story, so sent Joshua to lead Scylla and Reese up the mountain while Zeke and Fletcher stayed put.
While the others were gone, Zeke stayed characteristically quiet while Fletcher chatted with Ember and Billy. Billy, who is what we called in technical terms a "dick", was trying to bait either of the Forsaken into starting a fight, while Ember seemed more interesting in spreading the Fire-Touched gospel. Rachel, at one point, nudged Fletcher to take him off and show him something, but Fletcher refused because Reese had told him to stay put. Ember also listened to Fletcher's take on the Virus and they discussed Lunacy. Her thought: "Lunacy means 'madness from the moon.' You worship the moon, and you're worried about fear-spirits?"
Meanwhile, Reese and Scylla followed Joshua up to a cabin where an older gent was sitting on the porch. He introduced himself as Dr. Uriah Lesko, and listened to their story with interest. He finally said that while he wouldn't solve their problem for them, he'd try to teach them how to solve it. He then extended a hand toward Reese. Reese balked; Scylla took his hand and was immediately wracked with fever and headache so painful she could hardly see. Uriah told her to recite the Oath of the Moon - she couldn't. That, he said, was the first lesson; disease, at its most basic, was just pain, and pain could be worked through.
They talked about the Virus a bit more, and Uriah got it into his head that the Forsaken might be carriers. He sent Joshua down the hill to fetch Billy. Billy arrived and led Reese and Scylla back down to the rest of the pack (with Uriah). Meanwhile, Billy tried goading Reese, but not terribly successfully. Down at the hill, the packs met up again, then trekked back to the water locus to step across to meet a spirit who could see if the werewolves were infected. In the Shadow, they saw that the forest was still largely burned and the air was hard to breath for all the cinders. They also noted that the Pure had angry, red Renown marks, but that they followed similar patterns to the Forsaken. Reese noted, with some surprise, that both Ember and Uriah were more Renowned in terms of Purity than any werewolf he'd ever seen.
A gigantic boar-spirit waited for them on the other side. Ember told Reese to kill it with his ax; when he balked, she reminded them that if the Pure were going to attack, they had no real need to resort to tricks.
Reese struck and beheaded the boar. Its skull immediatley became fleshless, its body grew to an immense bipedal form, its trotters branched out into bony claws. It stood up and put its skull back on its body, and crouched down to sniff at the Forsaken. Fletcher used Read Spirit and saw its name: Raw-Head Bloody-Bone, a spirit of revenge, the totem of the Ash Valley Pack.