Scene: The Apartment

Present: Jana, Tu, and Auggie (Birdseye)

Meeting up in the shared apartment, Jana finishes the last of some take-out chinese. She'd brought enough for all but was fairly quiet as they ate, her thoughts apparently elsewhere. Finally, glancing up, she says, "So, we're going to finally get a look at the umbra in our territory." They all -know- that but she's just saying it outloud again.

Jana pages to the room: Its not even good. :(

From afar, to the room, Auggie thinks its just fine. :)

Jana pages to the room: The crack.

Cole is spinning a chopstick listlessly about in one hand, restless. "That's the game plan, I gather," he mumbles. He's starting to get some ginger-colored peachfuzz on his pate. And hey, eyebrows! "Any last minute information anybody has to bring?"

Jihgfed pages to the room: Should've asked Olga.

Tu, who arrived late to the apartment (an odd occurrence for the punctual ragabash), has gained his focus back by the time dinner is over. "I've a few things in the works. Jon, Walker kin, has offered to help us out in the hospital gig. He wants to meet all of you, though."

Auggie is sitting on the coffee table, nods grimly. He's got a whole take-out box of rice, slathered in teriyaki sauce, the remnants of which clings to the corners of his mouth. Wiping the debris off with his sleeve, he cocks his head at Tu. "Sounds good," he grunts.

Jana pages to the room: I did. She totally cheated me!

From afar, to the room, Jihgfed grins. Sounds like her!

Cole pages to the room: Y'all are freaks. Eating dinner in glabro. Spazzes.

From afar, to the room, Auggie apparently is having trouble with verb tenses tonight. :/

From afar, to the room, Auggie was in homid too!

"Fine fine, we'll meet him. I'm sure Natalie will spazz out at the thought of him near another female garou." Jana says that last bit to herself though not quiet enough to avoid being overheard. "It sounds as though you have a plan, Tu, so that's fine with me." She pushes her foot aside and stares moodily into space. "The umbra here will be...terrible."

Cole crosses his arms. "Yeah, probably. But it's the right time of the month. We can get in there, check out what's ours and maybe kick some asses before we leave." A grin appears. "Sure thing, Tu. Just give me a time and place."

Tu shrugs slightly at Jana's observation. "City shadow is dangerous, yes, but I always found it interesting. It's old and alive, and a little bit sad at the same time." The ragabash, obviously, is looking forward to the umbral stint.

This was my first umbral scene in a while, and I clearly had forgotten how bad the city umbra was, as will be come evident later.

Auggie perks visibly when Cole mentions "kicking ass." He nods to the Galliard, and gets up to begin clearing the dishes and empty take-out boxes from the table. "How old is this part of the city anyway?" He gives Tu a rather odd look, and mumbles, "Alive? Prolly pretty weaver-y."

"The weaver shouldn't be underestimated. I cleansed someone of Weave taint and it wasn't pretty." Jana also almost screwed up but she doesn't mention that. No. "There will be signs of everything. Not so much Wyld, of course, but even in a city there is one. The Glasswalkers and Bone Gnawers wouldn't survive so well in the city otherwise." She looks around at them. "So. Shall we get to it then?"

Cole stands up, helping to clean up. "Yeah, let's get moving." He settles the dishes in the sink and disappears into the back room for a moment. When he returns, he's tucking his necklace beneath his shirt. "Ready. Let's make this a good one. Maybe find something interesting for Prettytail while we're at it."

Tu helps clean up, adding to Jana's warning at the same time. "The weaver's webs are dangerous.", he says. "Try not to bother them, as that can attract attention. I imagine the city here is pretty old, so there will probably be a few structures visible, but I haven't been in - so that's a guess."

Auggie gives a slight smile at the mention of the pack's totem. "Let's just concentrate on findin' out what we can, and keepin' ourselves safe." A pause. "Let's not look for trouble, but if trouble finds us... hand its head to it." The slight smile spreads into something more feral.

"What, feeling Luna's pull already?" Jana teases Auggie as she wipes her hands. She wears a set of stylish warmups that she's apparently bothered to dedicate. Opening the door, she stops talking shop as they travel down to the first floor. Jimmying open a supply closet, she waves them all in a mirror getting produced from her pocket as pulls the light cord. "Ready boys?"

Auggie pages to the room: Aren't we on the second floor?

Auggie pages to the room: Oh my bad, misread your pose Jana. Sorry!

Jana pages to the room: Yes. So we travel--right.

Cole follows behind, smirking as Jana opens the closet. "Wow, someone's quite the youthful offender, aren't they?" He gives a teasing smirk, and steps in. "Ever-ready."

Tu leaves his wallet and keys in one of the drawers, then follows everyone down to the closet. "You going to lead us through?", he asks Jana.

Auggie follows behind, rather reluctant to enter the cramped closet on such a fat moon. "Mm-hm," is his rather tactiturn answer signaling his readiness.

"It'll only be for a moment." Jana waves them back against the walls, adding, "There are limited places where we can cross over in the city and if the building hasn't been there long enough, it won't be there on the umbral side. Thus, second floor? Bad idea." The mirror catches the overhead light and the theurge stares into its depths. After a moment of concentration, she crosses over to the umbra.

Cole pages to the room: We wait for you to set now, Jihg?

The walls of the closet melt away, the door collapses to dust. The long hallway in which they find themselves is dark, though Luna pierces down through the roof's tanglework of webs to spill a grey mist into the room, illuminating not the walls but the small chittering forms of dozens of spiders, cluttering the floors, crawling through holes in the half-built walls of webs. They are loud, the sounds of their work roil and rumble throughout the structure, rattling the building's foundations. It's almost joyful, though there's still a sense of monotony about it, like the worksong of dwarves. The door to the street outside is wide and gaping, and the moonlight comes shining through it brighter than the Realm's sun.

Jihgfed pages to the room: Yep.

Cole shivers as he adjusts once more to the feeling of the umbra. "Yeah, I can see why we like the country better as a rule. Spiders." He eyes the busy spirits warily for a moment before he decides they're not a threat at the present time.

Auggie's face screws up into a scornful, disgusted snarl at the sight of the spiders. He manages to refrain from spitting on them, though. "Spiders," he grumbles, the word carrying the burden of all his malice.

Tu gives himself a little shake when he emerges on the other side. He is respectful of the weaver's workers, but doesn't seem overly weary of them. "Hey, if it weren't for them your cell phone wouldn't work. And you probably couldn't the adult channels on your cable."

Jana's nose immediately wrinkles with distaste and she lifts her feet carefully. "It'd likely be a good idea for us to just get right out to the street." Her eyes raise up toward the glimmering Luna, the theurge immediately drawn to the moon hanging in the umbral sky. "This is just a taste of what we'll see--we probably should avoid stepping on them." Though she would like to, her expression says.

A bemused look crosses the Fianna's features. "We get the adult channels?" Cole looks over at Jana, and nods. "Too bad. Maybe later." Cole moves from the umbral closet and toward the door.

Auggie shrugs at Tu's justification. "Fine by me. TV can be done without. Only reason we need the cell phones is for the pack. Which is 'cause of the spiders in the first place." He follows Jana's lead, stepping carefully over the webs.

Tu follows the pack out, being careful of the webs as well. "...Microwaves, and radio, and computers", he says adding to the litany of can't live without items. Once outside, he stops and looks around with a soft whistle.

Jana gives Tu a vaguely bemused expression as he lists things, murmuring, "I don't think you're going to win over Auggie, Tu. He was raised by Black Furies, remember?" That said, she quiets, staring at the city umbra much like Tu.

Auggie shakes his head at Tu's laundry list of appliances. "Don't need 'em," he grunts, and draws himself up with some pride at Jana's mention of his heritage. "But I'm Unicorn's child," he reminds the pack quickly, just in case they forgot or there were any doubt of his tribe.

Cole smirks at the antics of his pack and falls to scanning the area about them.

"Yes, yes, Auggie," Jana murmurs. "We don't forget." Her attention is on her surroundings, however.

There's a chill quick breeze outside, hollow and blunt, carried along by the spirits of the wind which howl loudly overhead. The city is indeed alive, as Tu had said, just as a dead body is alive with the parasites of those feeding off it. The gas station on the corner is a collection of wrought plastic pointed high and solitary like stonehenge, mysterious stones from which thick black oil spills, reflecting the moon's light back at it, stickily filling the street almost up to the pack's feet. All around are buildings, miserable hovels magnified, empty movie set walls crawling with spiders. The windows are empty and behind them can be seen the flitting random form of something large as a spider and when it moves from building to building the dust comes streaming off it and steaming out of the doors in great wheezy clouds. The sky is dark, thick with smog, Luna's light though clear is tainted and weak, like the film of an eye. Everywhere around comes the rolling sound of clatter, like the simultaneous creaking of a thousand dusty rocking chairs, punctuated occasionally by the bubble of gas or the hiss and crack of the thing behind the windows.

Tu lets the topic of Furies and televisions drop, his interest in the umbral landscape more pressing. He spins in a slow circle, getting a feel for the structures and layout of the area. "So, where do we go?"

Outside on the cracked steps is a sign of the reason for the spiders' garrulousness. There tucked neatly beneath the top of the steps is a fluid, meaningless pattern of a small handful of feathers, bright and shining like those of peacocks' but smaller, tighter.

Jihgfed pages to Jana and Tu: (Just sent to you guys.) ;)

Long distance to the room: Tu senses an anti-weaver slant by the GM. :P

Cole's expression twists into a grimace of disgust. "This place..Jesus." The Galliard tenses as he takes in the dozens of sights and sounds. "Like a postcard from hell."

From afar, to the room, Jihgfed gets his instructions from the man on high, Tu. :)

Auggie frowns deeply at the scene before him. He picks his feet up from the oily filth covering the ground, his face once again screwing up in deep revulsion. "I didn't know it'd be so ugly," he murmurs, rather lamely. Then he sets his jaw, and looks to Jana to answer Tu's question.

You paged Jihgfed with 'Are the feathers on the steps of the building we just left, or a different one?'.

Jihgfed pages: The building you just left, the pack's building.

Jana pages to Jihgfed and Tu: What, the second part of the thing about the magpie?

Jihgfed pages to Jana and Tu: Yeah, it's tucked out of the way, not immediately obvious.

Jihgfed pages to Jana and Tu: Except to you (relatively) high Perception fellows.

Jana waves the fellows over toward something tucked away on the stairs. A small bunching of feathers seems to make some sort of symbol. "Doesn't that look an awful lot like magpie feathers?" she asks quietly, her nose still slightly wrinkled. It would seem to be some sort of bright and shining symbol formed by the feathers.

Tu shrugs slightly. "Well, it's the city. There's going to be some ugly parts." He nods to Jana, when she points out the feathers. "I saw that too. I thought it was because of the pack territory."

Poor, uninformed player.

This brings a smile, however faint, to Cole's face. "I wonder why they're here. What does the symbol mean?" He leans forward, looking at the bundle.

Auggie raises his eyebrows. "We can make that much of a difference already? I thought things took a long long time to show up in the Umbra." He leans forward to peer at feathers.

"Well, Prettytail is a spirit. Spirits can come here though many are loathe to enter the city. Tobin and I had to make a decent chiminage to an owl spirit for it to scout here." Jana says that slowly, staring at the feathers. "What sort of symbol is she trying to make?" Cause she's totally assuming Prettytail is doing this.

Tu watches the symbol curiously, but not really expecting to be able to determine any meaning from it. "Can you touch it?", he asks Jana.

The street leads off in both directions, north and south. A rolling, clogging cloud of smog seems to wander back and forth over it in the distance and close: sometimes you can see down it for miles, down along the straight clearcut path of spiders' webs, and other times it seems difficult to see more than a dozen metres, and the ashen cloud scrapes at throat and eyes. Occasionally from the south comes the honk and blare of car horns though no vehicles can be seen even at the clearest. Telephone wires are fine, thin, crystalline strands of web, beautiful, like icicles, strung between long skinny ossified trees jutting out of the sidewalk. They arc towards the buildings with slow electricity, a current run through molasses.

Cole turns his attention back to the area around him. He's on edge, twitchy. "I'm sure I'll regret saying this later, but I haven't seen anything dangerous yet. Well, aside from those...power lines?"

Auggie grunts at the feathers. "Prettytail's trying to tell us something?" He's distracted by Cole's observance of the power lines, and he follows the Galliard's gaze up.

Jana picks up one of the feathers and, oddly, tucks it behind her ear. "I think she's just leaving a little present for us. You know. Something pretty." She turns to the others and grins suddenly. "Likely nothing more than that. Shall we explore?" And with that, she shifts down to lupus, her feet dancing restlessly. I wish to see what's hiding out there.

"I'm interested to see if there are really cars to go with the honking", Tu says before joining Jana in Lupus. Maybe we can go that way.

Cole looks over at Jana and considers for a moment. "A sort of house-warming gift?" He leans down and takes a feather as well. He winds it through the cord about his throat and drops into hispo. A horribly (or amusingly, depending on how warped the viewer is) furless Fianna settles his weight. The air stinks. Let's be quick.

Auggie raises a brow as the others take lupus. He takes a feather and knots it in his hair, and then he shifts to hispo. ~Why does it matter?~ he grumbles to Tu, his disinterest in the cars apparent. ~What is that snapping thing? Maybe it is the Weaver spirit that leads the spiders?~ He points his muzzle towards the thing drifting behind the windows.

Shall we find out? Jana asks before starting to pad in that direction. She's not...cavailier but the sight of the feathers seems to have emboldened the theurge more than she usually is in the umbra. It would help if we were aware of the dangers in our own territory.

Spies-the-Wyrm doesn't respond to Auggie, it's probably too hard to explain in Lupus. He lifts his nose to the air and sniffs - gives a slight sneeze - then pads after Jana.

Howls-For-Glory growls to himself as he falls in line. Do you smell the Wyrm, he asks of Endures-Pain.

As the Garou descend the stairs the oil sticks against the fur of their paws and begins to paint their lower limbs black. Smell is useless, the whiff of gas enters the nostrils like a pair of fingers, tearing and ripping. It doesn't take long for them to find what they sought. In the building opposite the huge shuffling figure towards which Auggie points comes out. It folds itself in and creeps through the door one leg at a time, finally shuffling its full frame out to look at them dumbly, huge and monstrous, at least ten feet. It is spider like with its many heavy legs stretching down thick and ponderous as an elephant's, but this is no creature of the Weaver's, not in a long time, and the Wyrm's depradations are written across its hide. It is thick with dust and it spills off with each step: its legs buckle and sometimes break, it seems ready to topple at any second but it somehow manages to keep its ground. It has a flace like a sloth's, stupid and blinking, but its mouth is round and large like a dinner plate. There's a sense about it of inevitable decay, of broken bricks, of the tenements it comes from. When it speaks at them its call is a wordless damned wail, like it doesn't care for itself or them, a sense of dread defeat, and then slowly it comes stumbling forwards.

Endures's ears splay against her head at the sight of the spirit. It wants us to attack it. Her voice is far too calm as she considers the thing. It is powerful. I think perhaps we could take it but it might be wiser to pass this one up.

We knew going in that Jana was going to die. I think this was the spirit Jihg had wanted to use, but we avoided it. Cool spirit, though.

A shudder starts in Spies' tail, and slowly spreads out to his entire form. He nervously flicks an ear in agreement with Endures. If it allows us to pass it without claws we should.

Flood-of-Flame's hackles rise. ~But... allowing it on our territory? It is Wyrm!~ The Gaian barks, back arched, what fur he has that isn't slicked against his body with oil standing on its end. Swallowing, he defers to his Alpha. ~If you believe we cannot defeat we should find those who would help us to kill it and come back.~

Howls-For-Glory's hackles would rise, if he had any. He growls low in his chest. ~Wyrm thing! In our home! If it wants death so badly, we'll give it to it!~ He turns his muzzle to the rest of the pack. ~Another pack, and we could do it. But now, we should move.~ He backs slowly away from the lumbering, tortured spirit.

Howls was hairless from a previous run in with a smog bane.

It waits there with a sense of finality, its breaths coming in gusts that shudder its whole body, making joints creak. Its eyes stream with tears though there's no sadness on its face. It waits with a sense of finality. The oil on the ground slowly soaks up the Garou's legs like water moving up through a sponge, but the process is slow.

Endures pages to the room: Is it blocking the street effectively?

Jihgfed pages to the room: Nope. It's taking up a good half of it, opposite the pack, but it's just staring and not moving.

Pack> Endures says "Well, we don't have to attack it. Cause wow, that'd be dumb."

Pack> Flood-of-Flame nods. "Shall we try and go around it?"

Pack> Howls-For-Glory says "Almost suicidal. We could just walk away. And get the hell away from the oil."

Pack> Spies-the-Wyrm says "Yea - away from the oil. :)"

Pack> Endures says "I vote go around!"

There will be plenty of fight, Floods, Endures says with a faint growl. Why attack the first thing we see? The spirit is assessed then she starts to lead the pack around the thing, off toward the car sounds. Away from the oil.

Spies-the-Wyrm falls in line behind Endures, ears flat against his head, body still shivering. It will remain here - we can deal with it when we have more claws. He keeps a nervous eye on the thing as they try to move past it.

Flood-of-Flame whines, his nervous agitation showing. We must go back and kill it with help! I will ask. The Gaian seems very adamant about this, even as he backs away from the Wyrm-thing cautiously, to follow his pack.

Howls-For-Glory's claws rasp on the ground. ~We will kill it, Floods,~ he assures his packmate, falling into the rear position. He keeps his eyes on the beast, tensed to spring.

The thing watches them with blank eyes, and as they leave the oil slick and begin to slip past, it pulls back like an overheavy pendulum and then swings forward, its breath continuing afterwards as its legs bring it to a slow stop. A gust of dust settles in against the pack, bringing with it a hardness of air, a clenching of the lugs, and a strange sense of desolation which lingers even after the dust has settled. It continues looking at them stupidly, blinking its bleary eyes, not stopping them any further.

Pack> Endures says "I think Jihggy wants us to rumble with this thing."

Pack> Flood-of-Flame says "Yeah, but.... we're not crazy. You know?"

Pack> Spies-the-Wyrm says "He did seem to throw it in our way. :) I thought maybe he would have it press the attack..."

Pack> Endures says "I'm still posing us out. :)"

Pack> Howls-For-Glory says "Hmm. Well, one of us IS a Fang. But I'll kill or walk."

Endures snaps her jaws savagely at the thing and shifts up to hispo. ~You will fall,~ she informs it, ~but we are not fools. Come.~ Its ordered, sharp and to the point, the theurge leading them off away from the thing and its painful dust.

Spies-the-Wyrm doesn't offer threats, just follows along dutifully as Endures leads them forward. He drops his muzzle slightly. I hope that is the worst we see this trip.

Flood-of-Flame gives a sharp yip as the dust settles on the pack. ~Wyrm-thing! Your blood will spill!~ The Ahroun bounds in front of Endures and the rest of the pack, dancing on his paws. ~We should form a war party now! There are many Garou who would help in the city! What if we cannot find it again?~

Howls-For-Glory growls at the feeling of despair that comes over him in the backwash of dust. ~We will release you soon! Cry no more!~ He regards Flood dryly, skinny tail swishing. ~Brother. It is huge, ugly and stumbling. I do not think we could miss it.~

Jihgfed pages to the room: Everybody loses a temp point of Willpower and Gnosis from it. Go ahead and pose on your own for a bit, I've got to check something.

Perhaps its the loss of spirit within her or the sudden sapping of will but Endures abruptly snaps at Auggie with a savage growling and snap of her jaw that is out of character for the Silver Fang. ~We will return when *I* say we do, not before. You will listen and you will obey.~

Flood-of-Flame lowers his tail and head at Endure's reproach, in silent obedience. He's shaking, panting, and a string of drool hangs from his massive jaws. He's obviously not pleased with the turn of events, and even less so with his Alpha's scolding.

Spies-the-Wyrm slides a little as he tries to stop, no doubt from the oil covering his fur. He takes a few nimble steps back from Endures as she snaps at Auggie. He shakes his fur, trying to get free of the dust from the thing. We are following you.

Howls-For-Glory lowers his head, massive shoulders bunching. ~It will still be there,~ he assures Floods. ~You and I will bathe in its blood when the time comes.~ This boast is somewhat less spirited than might be expected.

Flood-of-Flame heaves a massive sigh, and his panting grows less frantic. He's still agitated, though. He keeps looking back over his shoulder at the Wyrm-thing. ~Are we going to go look for machines now? "Cars"?~ the Ahroun asks, with thinly veiled contempt. The homid word sounds more belched than spoken.

Endures waits until Floods settles before starting off in the direction of the car sounds, warily watching the surroundings as she does. ~We are scouting. You remember that word? Its what we do as a pack.~ She's a bitch tonight, that's for sure.

The city's Umbra continues in its squalor and occasional splendour. Everywhere are the spiders, but rarer and brighter are the animal spirits of the city, rats and raccoons, city birds fighting against the wind and cockroach's children crawling out of half-built shops. Trees rise stunted and black with Glade Children within, like children bound from birth.

Howls-For-Glory appears more comfortable as the Naturae begin to make their rare appearances. ~He knows the word, Endures. Wanting to slay the Wyrm is no crime.~ The Fianna sniffs as a raccoon spirit goes by.

Spies-the-Wyrm flicks his gaze between Endures and Floods following the former, though less closely than when the trip began. He can not escape his moon. He seems less intrigued by the city sights, now.

Flood-of-Flame lowers his head once more at Endure's words. He falls back to take up the rear. As they progress, though, he seems to brighten at the sight of the animal spirits, even wagging his tail at the raccoon spirit Howls sniffs at. ~The Wyld persists even here. Maybe if the Wyrm spirit were slain then they could move up-~ The Gaian cuts himself off and draws himself up at the noise. ~Sounds like trouble,~ he grumbles, instinctively looking to his Alpha. Endures looks around, a touch confused. ~Sound?~ she asks, having been examining a tree and a trapped Glade Child with evident dismay. She's not hearing anything, it would appear. ~Show me.~

Flood-of-Flame moves up to Endure's side, and points his muzzle toward a nearby alley, ears forward. ~A noise. A cry. Something moved around and cried.~

Spies-the-Wyrm's ear perk up, trying to hear what the other did, but to no avail. I hear nothing.

Howls-For-Glory cocks his head, curiously. ~I don't hear it, but we should investiage. It could be a Gaian spirit in trouble.~

Endures's ears flicker in that direction and she heads toward it without another word. ~Let's see what it is then.~ After leaving the wyrm thing behind, she seems to have something to prove.

It's an alleyway: the webs cover it like a shroud but there's a flicker of movement within, low to the ground, and a low growl like a clogged motor. The sound is soft and hidden by the tumult of the city but it's there, hiding.

Endures pages to the room: Can we duck through the webs?

Endures pages to the room: If we shift to lupus or homid?

Jihgfed pages to the room: You can press them away and scramble by in Crinos, if you want.

Flood-of-Flame chuffs. ~Take caution, Endures.~ He stalks towards the alley, just behind his Alpha, and peers. ~It doesn't seem like something... of Gaia,~ he rumbles.

~No, it doesn't. But I wish to see it. Perhaps its a car-related spirit.~ Endues gives Spies a rather amused look before shifting up to Crinos, one bright and shining claw slashing through the webs blocking the alley.

Pack> Howls-For-Glory says "Hey, look at who's got Silver Claws, AKA Luna's Own Manicure! ;)"

Pack> Endures-Pain says "Not the gift! Just pale claws. :p"

Spies-the-Wyrm tilts his muzzle down, watching Endures as she parts the web curtain to reveal whatever is hiding. He paces back and forth nevously.

Howls-For-Glory gives a growl that approximates a chuckle, rising to crinos in preparation. ~It sounds small. Maybe we'll have fun yet.~

Pack> Howls-For-Glory only wishes.

Flood-of-Flame follows behind Endures nervously, tail swishing behind him. The behemoth-sized hispo wolf does his best to avoid the cobwebs. ~Looks can be deceiving,~ he mutters, eyes narrowed in concentration, fixed on the growling thing before them.

Pack> Endures-Pain says "I do wish I had Lambient Flame. Or Eyes of the Falcon. But i don't. :("

Pack> Howls-For-Glory could shed some light on the alleyway, if it becomes an issue.

There's a sudden tensing of Endures-Pain's form as she gets a good look at the small and savage looking thing in the alleyway. It is hunched over a spirit raccoon and she growls low. ~Scrag. A warrior of the Wyrm.~ There's a moment of pause then: ~Fast, dangerous. And pack hunters. Which means we're in trouble.~

From afar, to the room, Jihgfed gives Auggie a quick pose, and then'll grab next, if you don't mind.

Flood-of-Flame lets out a low howl of dismay. He begins to back away, bulking up to the war form and turning sideways to shield Spies behind his own body. ~Another enemy beyond our strength,~ he growls out, clearly frustrated.

Flood-of-Flame pages to the room: Sorry, was waiting for others.

Jihgfed pages to the room: Not your problem at all, I was called away from the computer so couldn't direct.

Endures-Pain barely has time to finish speaking before the creature attacks. The rubbery webs of the pattern spiders, strong as steel, snap against its claws as it comes hurtling towards the lead Garou, Endures-Pain, sending out a quick wicked call like the sound of someone punching an against an open body, the wet sucking sound of impacted organs. It'd be about seven feet tall if it stood upright but it hunches over so that it's smaller than a human; still it arms dangle down ending in scythes and its teeth jagged and long like small pieces of flint. Its eyes boil and bubble, small bits of flesh and blood ooze out from their wound-like holes, as it closes the ground between itself and the Garou fast as an underfed doberman let off its chain, and with that same murderous intent.

Endures-Pain pages to the room: OK. How do you want this, Jihg? Normal Garou combat?

From afar, to the room, Jihgfed nods. "Yes please."

~Its calling its friends and telling them about us. No choice!~ And with that, Endures launches herself forward, raising her voice in a clarion call of fury and outrage that this creature would dare defile their territory. She really is an inspiring sight as she launches at the thing, attempting to slash at it and fasten her jaws about its neck in a movement that is quicker than she should be able to.

Howls-For-Glory lets his voice fill the air, a terrible call to battle. ~Floods! You help Endures! We will watch for the others!~ Three crinos in an alley would be rather cramped, and so the Fianna bides his time.

Flood-of-Flame roars as his Alpha attacks the Scrag. ~Calling friends? Endures no!~ But the Gaian can barely get that out before the Fang is engaged with the vile spirit. He launches himself at the Scrag, trying his best to come at it from the side. Leaping into the air, a kick is aimed for the thing's knees (or whatever joints it has that resemble knees) in an attempt to knock it off balance.

Spies-the-Wyrm shifts up to the war form, and joins Howls in watching for the arrival for the other scrags sure to be coming.

Alpha and beast meet at the same time. Her claws come out and smash at the creature's side, its dripping green crab's platemail rattles and bucks, and her scrape down against its neck, digging away flesh and spirit but finding no purchase. Its great curved claw though comes whipping down, it goes through the brick side of the alley like it's butter and cuts into her like she's the same. It slows as it rips through her and comes to a rest only at her spine: the wound is clean and brutal and blood and juice comes gushing from Endures-Pain's side like an opened tap. Its gaping red eyes spin from her face to her wound and a fierce frenzied glorying sound comes creeping out from its carapaced throat, something almost like a giggle, and it tries to strike again. Flood-of-Flame attack does nothing to knock it off its feet, its hunched over position settling them down hard like steel joints, the Crinos leg not well enough suited to it. His arrival does distract though, the creature whips its head towards him and snaps out with its knifelike teeth, catching only air. Behind the two, deeper down the alley, another can be seen, claw-arms raised over its head and coming slashing down through the webs, sundering them like they're paper. There's a third beast, up on the collapsed half of a wall: it stares down at the two just outside the alley's mouth, gleeful carnage in its eyes and face, before it spits itself down against them like a bullet from a gun.

Pack> Howls-For-Glory says "Ouch."

Pack> Endures-Pain says "Yeeouch."

Pack> Spies-the-Wyrm says "Eeeesh."

Pack> Flood-of-Flame says "Guess he never asked for a can opener? ;)"

Howls-For-Glory meets the falling scrag with a snarl, grey eyes flashing to promise a painful future as it falls. As it falls, the Galliard tries to use gravity against it by ripping upward with his claws. Moving with preternatural swiftness, Howls-For-Glory makes a determined attempt to grab its neck in his jaws and clamp down.

There's a horrible yelping sort of noise from Endures, a helpless pained noise as the thing slices into her. Still, Rage fuels her and she redoubles her efforts, aiming her attacks more precisely for weaknesses in the armor of the thing, jaws and all her claws scrabbling at the thing in an effort to destroy it.

Pack> Howls-For-Glory says "If I didn't already know the ending, I'd be very, very worried."

Pack> Endures-Pain says "Part of Jihg's plan, actually."

Spies-the-Wyrm erupts in a growl, moving in to try and rake at the newly arrived Scrag, hoping Howl's attack will make the thing more vulnerable to an attack from behind.

Flood-of-Flame's head snaps back as the Scrag lunges for him, then he lunges for it in turn, his huge head just a blur, jaws wide open. He aims for the the scrag's scythe-like arm at the shoulder, with intent to rip the appendage off if he can only grab hold of it, presumably at the joint where there may be a gap in the armor.

The creature leaping down on the two at the alley's mouth raises both its huge claws and brings them down against Howls-for-Glory's shoulders: collarbone and shoulder crack and splint, shards of bones and fragments of muscle go spurting up through the wounds. One stops, fixed hard as it goes snapping through ribs, force lessening over time, while the other goes slipping past bone, cutting a quick arc of retreat out of the Garou's front. The manoeuvre crushes shoulder and prevents one of Howls-for-Glory's claws from even lifting, while the other is weakened and barely manages to scratch the hard plate; his jaws, however, find fierce purchase against its neck, cutting off the creature's mad laughter at the source, crushing its exoskeleton, splintering it like cheap tableware. It's held like a pinioned chicken for Tu's attack and the Ragabash draws his claws straight down through the plates on its back, raking through flesh and spilling its spirit-stuff out onto the concrete. Inside the alley the Scrag brings its free claw down against Endures-Pain as the Theurge scrambles against it, stuck on its other arm. She tears at its skin beneath throat and arm but it pierces down where shoulder meets collarbone, neatly severing the joint and not stopping there. It continues down, slipping past ribs, finding no bone to stop it, slicing lung in half and finally meeting its twin within her. With a wrench and a mad mindless cackle it snaps its arm together and watches with obsessed glee as top half slides separate from bottom, the attack aimed at Flood-of-Flame forgotten for this new entertainment: it doesn't even seem to care, at first, when the Ahroun siezes its arm in his teeth, and spiritflesh begins to rip.

Pack> Howls-For-Glory says "......"

Pack> Endures-Pain says "..."

Pack> Howls-For-Glory says "No time for touching goodbyes, it would seem."

Pack> Endures-Pain says "Yes."

When she hits the ground, Jana's crystal blue eyes are dull and her blonde hair matted with her own blood. And still tucked behind her ear is the bright magpie feather, the black and white coloring a mockery against the platinum and red canvas.

<Tu> Pattern Spiders are gathering, you can see them in snatches crawling down the walls. Doubtless they don't like all this mucking about with their webs. They tend not to be too discriminating or just, but still they're not dumb and they know who's the root and continuation of the problem, and they seem to be moving down quickly towards the scrags in the alleyway.

Howls-For-Glory's eyes widen first in pain as the claws do their gory work in his shoulders. But it's nothing compared to when he sees his Alpha sliced in two. The Fianna lets out a ear-splitting bellow into the meat of the scrag's throat, giving a ferocious, horrible yank of his jaws as he clasps and pulls free. Even the crinos throat can get out the rolling syllable that follows. "NOOOO!"

Pack> Jana says "Ok. The shakes just started here. :)"

Pack> Howls-For-Glory says "You too, huh? :("

Flood-of-Flame lets out a howl of outrage and disbelief, his gravelly song piercing the smog-choked Umbral air. He continues to yank off the Scrag's arm and then, assuming he gets it free from the being's body, twists it back and tries to stab the thing deep through its gaping eye socket. Again, his hulking body moves in a blur, third eyelid rolling up over his pupils, indicative that the Ahroun's close to losing it.

Spies-the-Wyrm, focused on the Scrag in front of him, doesn't appear to notice how the others are doing at this point in time. Rage fuels his actions as, sensing opportunity, he presses his attack, claws trying to dig back into the enemy.

Pack> Spies-the-Wyrm pets Jana. :(

Pack> Flood-of-Flame snugs Jana! And wonders where he can find her sooper seekrit love notebook!

Pack> Jana says "Teehee."

Pack> Howls-For-Glory snickers.

Pack> Howls-For-Glory also shoves Cole's heart back down his throat. Oopsie-doodle. Considering he's spewing muscle and gore himself.

Pack> Jana snickers. I even had Jana burn all her rage on purpose.

Pack> Spies-the-Wyrm wearily looks at the clock. I may need to boot soonish.

Pack> Jana says "Tell Jihggy."

Pack> Spies-the-Wyrm says "After the next round. :)"

Pack> Spies-the-Wyrm RPd for 12 hours today. I think that's a record for me. Not was 'on', but actively in scenes. :)

Pack> Flood-of-Flame gives Spies a medal!

Pack> Jana says "Wow."

Pack> Spies-the-Wyrm says "Thus, he needs to pee /really/ bad. :P"

Pack> Howls-For-Glory laughs. "You only need two more hours to beat my record!" :)

Pack> Jana says "It is ok to pee during rp. :p"

Pack> Howls-For-Glory ,Uber-geek-spawn.

Pack> Jana says "Only for you guys am I still awake. ;)"

Pack> Spies-the-Wyrm dunna want to break it. My mind is mush as is. :)

Pack> Howls-For-Glory realizes there probably won't even be a body left to bring back. Eww. :)

Flood-of-Flame tears and pulls until the thing's arm dangles by a sinewy thread, and when it finally snaps it does so with the force of an overtightened violin string. The arm comes off in his mouth and arm but the Scrag doesn't even feel it: the face it turns on the Ahroun is joyous and gloating, exhilerated, it pants out its exhausted joy at him and then lunges forward to sink its teeth in his flesh, piercing the Garou's cheek and taking hold of its lower jaw while its remaining arm snaps forward towards his stomach, still coated in Endures-Pain's blood and viscera, to do the same thing to him it had done to her. The creature behind it comes charging for, almost on him, too, now, snapping webs, though its attention now seems distracted and the Garou no longer its goal. Pattern Spiders are crawling down from the rooftops, towards the mess of shattered webs and the carnage below. Howls-for-Glory snaps back, removing most of what must be the creature's throat as he does, but those long claws tear gashes in his body as they pull out, leaving a sucking wound in his chest that clogs each time he breaths, bringing blood into his breath. Spies-the-Wyrm's continued assault from behind finally forces the Scrag down onto its knees, which buckle and threaten to snap under the pressure. Still trying to flail its claws up towards Howls-for-Glory the creature falls, with a gurgling cry of pain and ineffectual rage.

Pack> Howls-For-Glory says "Awww."

Pack> Jana says "There's two body parts to bring back. :( :("

Pack> Howls-For-Glory says "And unless something miraculous happens, I don't think anyone will be worthy to do so."

Pack> Jana is small and light! But yeah.

Pack> Jana says "Though, seriously, give Jihg a heads up."

Jihgfed pages: If Tu does notice the spiders, he'd know that they're coming to do two things: to punish and stop those destroying the web, and to claim the bodies of those who died to use as raw materials in repairing it.

Howls-For-Glory staggers forward, over the dying body of the scrag. His voice is gargled, sending a mist of blood into the night. ~Need to go! Retreat!~ Staring at the fallen Silver Fang, the Fianna nearly stumbles. ~Spies! Help free Floods!~ Reactions will have to wait until later. Survival is the game of the moment.

Spies-the-Wyrm allows himself a moment of pleasure, as the scrag falls before him, but it ends quickly. Endures is in pieces, Howls is in a bad way, and it's hard to tell where Flood stops and the Scarg starts. The spiders, too are not lost on him. ~We must free Flood, and retreat!~ he growls to Howls, already moving to do just that.

Pack> Spies-the-Wyrm says "Growls to Howls.I like that."

Flood-of-Flame growls in pain as the creature latches on to his jaw. He drops the Scrag's arm and tries to jam his own claws into the Scrag's eye sockets, not abandoning his strategy, hoping to pulverize the thing's spiritual grey matter, rip it's head clean open, and stop the assault on his viscera. Really, though, he's acting from Rage and instinct. Rip. Shred. Tear. He doesn't even hear his packmate's cries, just a hair shy of frenzy.

Pack> Jana says "I totally want reaction logs. ANything you get."

Pack> Flood-of-Flame says "How many agg are you down Cole?"

Pack> Howls-For-Glory says "Six."

Pack> Flood-of-Flame says "Whoah! Had no idea it was that bad."

Pack> Jana says "Yes indeed."

Pack> Howls-For-Glory says "Yeah. Cole's nearly toast. :)"

Pack> Spies-the-Wyrm says "If Jihg wanted to screw us, he'll have the spider thing waiting..."

Pack> Howls-For-Glory says "Hell. If the spider shows up, shift through as quick as you can in the middle of the street. Veil breech is better than dying."

Pack> Flood-of-Flame says "I didn't think you could Veil breech in the Umbra silly. ;)"

Pack> Spies-the-Wyrm takes like 5 minutes to reach. During which time he can be attacked. :)

The Scrag gnaws at Flood-of-Flame's lower jaw like a dog working over a bone. Its claw snaps forward like it's on a spring but the Ahroun gets lucky, his movement causing the thing to lodge instead in his pelvis, and though it cuts bone it lodges there for a second. His claws come up against the creature's eyes, they tear and snip like pincers, scrambling forward, deeper and deeper, causing the wound-like eyes to run together into one great deep cyclopic hole in the centre of the thing's face. It screams between its clenched teeth, finally crunching through Flood-of-Flame's jaw and coming away covered in blood and juice, chunks of bone dribbling from its mouth and raw red nose sniffing blindly to try and pick its opponent out, scythearm cutting wide swathes in front of it to try and catch flesh. The spiders have tumbled down over its compatriots, bogging it down, encasing it in web which it cuts through almost as fast as it's formed. The downed one by the mouth of the alley struggles to its feet and it sweeps its claw out across at Howls-for-Glory's leg, trying to tackle him down to its own level but missing by inches.

Pack> Howls-For-Glory says "That thing's not dead yet? Mother of Gaia! : I say we run, and run now. Oh, and if possible, grab something of Jana. Probably the feather. Because hey, body parts aren't really the kind of thing you want to haul into the Realm."

~Run!~, Spies calls to Howls, still moving towards the Ahroun. When he's close enough, he'll grab Auggie in a less than gingerly way and help move him away from the spiders and back towards the apartment building.

Pack> Spies-the-Wyrm says "Tu isn't stopping for Jana pieces. Not that he doesn't /want/ to, but..."

Pack> Jana says "Dude. We don't need 2 deaths tonight."

Howls-For-Glory looks down at the scrag dying on the street and growls out a warning. A hairsbreadth from passing out or succumbing to the anger boiling up, the Fianna skirts the fallen beast on his way away from the alley. ~Follow!~ He moves as best he can away from the scene, which isn't saying much.

Pack> Howls-For-Glory says "But if Cole's the only survivor, MAJOR renown. :) Never mind. I didn't read the pose fully. I thought Auggie's was dead, and the third was being spider-eaten. Frig. Those things are tough."

Pack> Spies-the-Wyrm owes Jihg. He avoided injury, and thus will be able to help prevent packmates from being killed. So, like, they'll owe him.

Pack> Howls-For-Glory will never face a scrag again in tabletop without a worry.

Pack> Jana says "Slice in half! :( :("

Pack> Spies-the-Wyrm thought that was symbolic. Manic/Depressive, right?

Pack> Jana says "Oh, was that it? Guess I'm still in shock."

Pack> Howls-For-Glory says "Huh. Good catch, Tu."

Pack> Spies-the-Wyrm sees symbolismn in everything.

Flood-of-Flame finally comes to reason as the pain of his jaw being dislocated jolts him out of his battlelust. Half-gurgling, half-growling, the Ahroun disengages with the Scrag as quickly as he can, painfully extricating himself by pushing off with his hind legs. He can't answer his packmates, half his face missing, but he can hobble away as quickly as possible, leaving a copious trail of blood behind him. Jana's mangled body gets one final glance, as the Ahroun chokes on his own fluids.

Pack> Howls-For-Glory says "Gah. What are you at, Auggie?"

Pack> Flood-of-Flame is pretty okay. Down three agg.

Long distance to the room: Spies-the-Wyrm asks if we can do a quickish ending as he needs to sleep. :)

Pack> Flood-of-Flame says "Relatively speaking, I mean. But I have a messed up leg."

Pack> Howls-For-Glory says "Yay! The pack is only..um..what, one third dead?"

Pack> Spies-the-Wyrm says "Quarter."

Pack> Jana says "Bah, stupid boys. Jihg just thought the death would look cool., :p"

Pack> Spies-the-Wyrm says "SYMBOLISM I SAY!"

Pack> Jana says "That's what we're going with. ;)"

From afar, to the room, Jihgfed thinks his portion of the evening is done. Nothing molests you on your way back to the building, except for that creature in the building opposite, still reeking of desperation, decay, and hopelessness.

Pack> Howls-For-Glory says "Well, since the pack is minus some more health levels than Jana."

From afar, to the room, Jana sighs.

Jana pages to the room: And that's that.

Jana pages to the room: Would there even be a body to recover?

From afar, to the room, Howls-For-Glory pats Jana. "And thank you, Jihg. Though you horrify me, it was an awesome ONS."

Pack> Flood-of-Flame uhhs. Wasn't Jana's dedicated mirror how we got into the umbra...? Oh well, let's not mention that to Jihg. ;) Long distance to the room: Spies-the-Wyrm thanks Jihg. The scrags kicked out rears, but the spider things is what creeped me out.

Pack> Jana says "She left it in the closet." From afar, to the room, Flood-of-Flame snugs Jana tight and thanks Jihg!

Howls-For-Glory pages to the room: is up for staying around a bit longer, if anyone's still up for it. Jihgfed pages to the room: No. The pattern spiders would get the body.

From afar, to the room, Flood-of-Flame can go a few more rounds.

Jana pages to the room: Well. That's just depressing.

Flood-of-Flame pages to the room: Sad! :(

Howls-For-Glory pages to the room: Mmm. Weaver-treats!

You paged the room with 'Tu would, obviously, but I can't. :('.

From afar, to the room, Howls-For-Glory pats Tu. "You get some sleep."

Pack> Flood-of-Flame says "We need to get some help from Havoc in here. And seek revenge!"

Jihgfed pages to the room: Thanks for coming, guys, and take care.

Howls-For-Glory pages to the room: Will do!

From afar, to the room, Jana admits to come curiousity and wants to see a few poses. thanks, Tu. Later. :)

Flood-of-Flame pages to the room: Night Tu! Thanks for RPing! :)

Pack> Spies-the-Wyrm says "Jana player will not disappear right away, right? See you in the lounge now and then?"

Pack> Jana says "Errr. At least for the next day or two."

Pack> Jana says "Beyond that, I'm not sure."

Howls-For-Glory manages, somehow, to make it past the the scene of the pack's grisly defeat. When the spider creature makes it's appearance, the wave of despair and desolation that emenates from it is nearly the final nail in the coffin. The Fianna manages to make it past it, although it's obvious it costs with every inch.

==============================================================================

To: Natalie

Subject: Phone Message

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Natalie will get a call late tonight from Tu. He sounds numb.

>Hey, umm. Nat. It's, Tu. Birdseye got attacked in the umbra, and Jana didn't make it out. We almost lost Cole, too, but he's going to make it.

He doesn't sound sad, or angry. Just numb.

==============================================================================