Tapestries: Pablo - Friday, January 12, 2007, 12:55 PM

It's been a couple more days of trudging through the savanna after leaving Mwenye, and then into the foothills and now the pack has found a trail going up a pass between the twin mountains which, you assume, leads the way to the Seer. There's been no further aggression from the local beasts, but you've been giving them a wide berth. The entire pack is healthy once more. Above you, large flying shapes circle in the air, though it's hard to tell what exactly they are.

Shay has grown quiet. Namely to not attract anything of attention. After the fight wtih the raptors, he's not wanting to draw undue attention. What with his ribs finally healed up. He winces at the memory. 

Yiska is taking the same approach as Shay, keeping quiet and busy, not really wanting to jynx the whole process with them being so close to their goal.

Tony continues to lead the pack forward. He was quite uptight the past few days, almost snappy. It wouldn't take anyone much effort to realize it's because he became quite frightened after the attack and subsequent visit to the slaughter field. There were four times as many of those cats as there are cubs, and it could have easily been the five of them to bite the dust. So for a while he was making sure everyone was staying in line, sending an angry command to anyone who seemed to be tarrying or getting too far from the group.

The alpha's grumpy attitude has led to a couple snarky comments from Bits, and there was one time that Hope seemed to be right on the edge of blowing her top, but that passed, luckily enough, without incident. The pack is very quiet, then, when, rounding a corner on the path partway up the mountain, they encounter what appears to be a cave of some sort.

Shay stays with the pack. No one needs to investigate too closely just yet. No, not after the river incident. Well, both of them actually.

Yiska paces in a small circle near the cave entrance, not going -too- close to the cave but covering the small area around it. Though he mostly just stays near the pack until Tony tells him what to do.

Brad whispers, "Would there be tracks in front of the entrance of any sort?" to you.

You whisper, "This is not the best terrain for tracking, but you don't see anything of note." to Brad.

Tony stands in front of the entrance for a while in silence, fingering at the necklace he wears. Is this the cave of the Seer? Or just some prehistoric bear's? Wiping sweat from his brow, he crouches down, staring at the stone flooring. No tracks that he can see. "Can any of you smell anything?" he asks.

You whisper, "It smells like bird to you." to Genwyn.

Genwyn whispers, "Want me to pose before you and answer?" to you.

Yiska snuffles at the ground then lifts his head to the air, his tail wags some as he turns to answer Tony, 'It smells like bird.'

Hope shakes her head, but, then, she's in homid form. Bits Little-Smiles, still in hispo, indicates 'I smell feathers. But not, you know, blood or anything bad.'

Rocking from foot to foot, Shay peers at the open cave, ebfore turning to Bits. "Do you think you could sneak in there? Any way to hide or anything on the way in?"

Tony considers this information. "Birds. Birds are dinosaurs, right? Direct descendants. So it might be anything, again. The raptors we fought had feathers, too. Damnit!" He hisses, slapping his thigh. Like a dungeon, he thinks suddenly, and no way to know what level it is. Casting such childish thoughts aside, he makes a decision. "Hope, see if it feels anything like the Wyrm, and Yiska, come up front and listen and smell as close as you can." Tony, meanwhile, closes his eyes and uses his own gift, feeling forward to see if anything magical eminates from the cave.

The quiet tension in the pack has melted away, it seems, and Hope concentrates for a moment, then shakes her head, "No Wyrm, that I can tell." Bits murmurs at reply to Shay, so as not to interrupt the others. 'I can, I think, if I'm needed to do so.'

Yiska nods and takes the lead, sniffing at the ground and perking his ears forward for anything that might be making any sound in the cave.

You whisper, "There seems to be something moving around in the cave, though it doesn't seem to be a very large thing, whatever it is. It just reinforces your feeling that there's a bird in there." to Genwyn.

After a moment or two, Yiska turns his head to Tony and wuffs softly, 'Something small in there, moving about. I think, really, it's just a dumb bird.'

Tony opens his eyes, taking another breath. "If it's a dumb bird, then it's a dumb bird of tremendous power. There's magic wafting out of this cave like a wind." Not really wafting, more like radiation, he thinks, but he's not going to stutter over analogy now. "I think it's the Seer. Let's all go in at the same time, all homid."

After a moment, the pack all shifts to homid and walks into the cave. It's certainly inhabited by an intelligent being of some sort, as there are all the trappings of habitation, though primitive, including a number of trinkets, a fire pit, a sleeping mat, and other items. There's also a stand on which a raven is perched. It looks at you and caws when you walk inside, but otherwise doesn't move, except to ruffle its feathers.

Shay licks his lips, peering at the raven. He'd been rather interested once he found out magic was coming from inside the cave. Hands in his pockets, the theurge gives a bow to the Raven. "I am Shay, Theurge of the Winter's Night sept."

Yiska hangs near the back, looking terribly confused and unhappy about being in homid form. He's just going to let the others do the talking while he looks around the cave.

Tony glances at Shay briefly, an annoyed look flickering over his face. Perhaps because his hands are held like they are, or because he spoke up ahead of the alpha. Maybe both. "I am Tony Truth-Seeker, Philodox of the Winter Night sept. We come to ask the Seer a question. Are you the Seer? Or are we looking dumb talking to a normal bird?"

There's a long moment of silence ... of suspense ... before the raven caws, then speaks, surprisingly enough, in the tongue of the Garou. ~Yes, I am she who you seek, children of ... Wolf.~ Another caw as she takes off from her perch and flies over towards the pack, giving each a close visual inspection. Bits wrinkles her nose a little bit as the raven decides that the ragabash's long black hair is a perfect place to continue the conversation. She turns to Tony, and continues: ~I am the See-er, yes, for I have seen many things in my days, yes, yes I have. And I have seen that you would come to me, yes, to find the path of another daughter of Wolf, kin to you. Yes, yes,~ she cocks her head, ~You are very young children to come all this way to see me. Have you brought any shineys for the See-er?~

Tony twitches back a little as the bird flies by him so closely. Giving Bits an amused little smile, he drops a polite bow towards the raven. "You see true, then," he says. At the request of something shiny, he pauses, at a loss. "We... have no shineys that I know of," he says, before considering the clothing everyone wears. His shirt has fake-silver buttons on the cuffs...

The Seer is, well, disappointed by this news. ~No shinies! Caw! Who comes to the See-er and does not bring shinies for her? Do the other Children of Wolf not know anymore that the See-er would like shinies for her nest?~ She claws at Bits's head a little. ~No shiny for the See-er. Then the See-er will require a task of the Children of Wolf, for their questions to be answered, yes, yes. There are Wyrm things, too close to the See-ers nest, yes yes. And the See-er is one who flies and sees and answers questions, not one who fights.~ [more]
She shows off her little claws as if to demonstrate. ~It is the Children of Wolf who fight, yes, yes! And the Children of Wolf will help the See-er, and the See-er will answer their questions!~

Shay's eyes widen. Uh oh. They're going to have to fight wyrm? Crap. He could have thought that the leader of their Sept had given them aside from the mammoth horn. And here he is, wihtout any shini- er, change or keys or anything. Damn.

Yiska blinks a few times, then steps up and jabs Tony in the ribs, "They gave us a thing to give the seer, that little white carving, remember?"
Somewhere on the muck, Niva has disconnected.

Tony gives Yiska a harsh look, one hand raising to push his wrist away from his ribs. "That little horn is for an emergency. Not a bartering chip." But, perhaps the Seer would take it as a gift? They still have to go all the way back the way they came. The horn may be needed. All would be lost if they got the answer they wanted, then died on the way back. "We will fight the Wyrm. What can you tell us about these?"

The Seer flies up and flaps in between the two of them. She caws once more as she looks at the horn in question. ~You do have shiney, I see! Yes, yes, this is good. A shiney of fighting the Wyrm! This is just the kind of shiney the Seer needs, yes, yes!~

Pablo (OOC) says, "Just to clarify, no one told you that you needed to bring an offering specifically. As to why... well, that's not something you know ICly. I just wanted to note it wasn't something you forgot to do."

Shay looks concerned. Offering the horn would just likely be as useful as using it to fight the wyrm themselves. After all, that would be the most likely choice to take - at least the safest. Them not fighting the wyrm would be a good choice, not putting themselves at undue risk. But then they could always get into a fight on the way back and need it. Ugh, choices.

Yiska shrugs his shoulders and stalks back to the mouth of the cave, letting 

Tony decide what he wants to do. The boy leans against a wall and crosses his arms over his chest, just watching and listening..

Tony thinks, and thinks. It's quite a choice to make, for sure. Seeing how the bird seems to really fancy the horn, it complicates his decision. Maybe he SHOULD just give it to her. She seems to want it, after all. It seems either way would have its own risks, so... "Okay, a vote. We know what the horn does," he says, facing the others. "Who is for fighting these Wyrm for the seer, and who would give her the talen?"

Shay lifts a hand. "I say give it away. If we fight the wyrm, we risk taking some more damage. It's an unnecessary risk. The only reason to Fight them would be to clear them out for the Seer, and to, well, destroy them in the first place." 

Yiska shrugs his shoulders once more, "I think the most honorable thing would be to fight them ourselves. It may be a risk, but aren't we supposed to fight the wyrm? Isn't that why we're here? If we fight the wyrm and find what we're looking for, all the better."

Hope grunts a little bit. "Fight the Wyrm where it Dwells and where it Breeds, right? That's what we're supposed to be doing. I say fight." Bits, on the other hand, agrees with Shay, "We don't need to be risking ourselves too much, do we?"

Tony makes his decision after a long and uncomfortable silence. "We'll do both," he states to the Seer. "You may have the shiney, and we will fight the Wyrm. We can't have a person... bird... uh, like you, left with Vamps on the doorstep, can we? We will fight the Wyrm first, and perhaps use the horn right then. ANd you may have it when all is done."

This seems to bemuse the Seer and she flits about the room, cawing busily, ~Yes, yes, See-er will use the shiney while Children of Wolf fight Wyrm, too, yes, yes! This is a good plan. The pit must be cleaned and cleansed, yes, yes! It is dangerous and the Children of Cat are dead now. So we will go! Give the See-er the shiney!~

Frowing somewhat, Shay doesn't say anything. The thing he's against is really fighting the wyrm right now. The theurge would have preferred they have tried to stop the tar pit from that... evil thingie that beat down the werecats. However, they were not powerful enough to handle that. Just as he thinks walking into the wyrm's nest is very dangerous. "Wait!" Shay stares over at the raven. "Pit? Cats? Are these the wyrm the cats were fighting?"

Yiska sits up from the wall and dusts himself off, though he lingers as Shay speaks, "I guess we're going to finish what they could not. Hopefully they did most of the fighting."

The Seer caws at Shay, nodding her head, ~Yes,~ she says, ~The Children of Cat have been fighting, and I have seen this. But with Children of Wolf here, yes, yes, Children of Wolf will fight very hard against the Wyrm, that is what Children of Wolf do!~ Apparently, the Seer thinks more of your combat abilities than you do.

"Shit," Shay says aloud. Pacing back and forth, Shay peers out the open mouth of the cave. "Okay, this is cause for some problems. Because see, the cats we buried wern't fighitng wyrm, they were fighting dinos. The black tar shit on the dinos must be some sort of... control thingie that the wyrm are using, since that's what the cats were using and that's what attacked us, and that's what leeched at my hand. It's creepy." Turning back to the raven, "How many dinosaurs are at the pit?"

The Seer caws once more, ~They are feather-reptiles that have been infected by the Wyrm of the pit, yes, yes, caw. There are many, five more than ten when the Seer last flew over the tar pit. But the Children of Wolf and their shiney can slay them, yes, and the Children of Wolf can help cleanse the tar, yes yes! Let us fly!~

Shay just looks at Tony, gesturing to the raven with a 'see?' expression. 

Tony just shakes his head at Shay. Yeah, he sees. Apparently the pit is going to be cleansed after all. "We are not going to try this," he tells the others. "We're going to do it. Got it? Just like Yoda said. We put it in our heads right now that we're winning, and we've won. So let's go kick their skinny lizard asses."

Hope says, "Yeah! That's the way it should be." And she grins wide. Bits is a little less sure of herself, a little worried about a straight-up fight with more than a dozen dinosaurs. The Seer flies off into the sky, heading down back towards the savanna.

Shay is just... staring at Tony. Crap. He couldn't even kill the One he was fighting. And we're about to deal with fourteen more. Crap crap crap. 
Tony turns to Yiska. "When we see the first dino, you blow that horn. Don't wait until our chips are down. Blow, and ask Mammoth for help. We're not prideful enough to give it a pot-shot on our own, I don't think."

Yiska nods his head.

It's a few hours travel back down to the base of the mountain, and a couple more hours to the tar pit. Meanwhile, the Seer circles above you as you travel. You stop at a small rise above the pit, seeing the fifteen raptors the Seer described, milling about the tar pit. All of them are covered in that gooey black substance, dripping from their claws and mouths. The bones and rotting bodies of other beasts surround the tar pit, and the pit itself bubbles in a way that can only be described as 'angrily'. Bits and Hope both shift up into the war form and Hope grabs a rock and begins sharpening her claws against it.

Shay doesn't want to do this. He is not good at this. Regardless, he shifts into war form, to handle this. All ready he's designed to sidle up with Bits to flank her target. She's got the chops, and he can run defensive. He hopes. 

Yiska looks to Tony before taking the horn out and blowing on it, though he gives it enough time for Tony to stop him if he so wishes.

Tony stares down at the raptors. Boy, he'd love a gun. A nice rifle. Pop some caps in those feathery asses from up here. Nodding to Yiska as he makes to blow the horn, he follows the others up into Crinos.

Above you, if you look, the Seer, too, changes shape, her body growing and swelling into a giant half-raven half-woman, with claws on her wings. It's kind of an odd looking thing, really. Then the Galliard blows the horn, and it starts out silently, then slowly grows in volume. If you've seen a documentary on Africa, it sounds like the trumpeting of an elephant. There's another moment of silence, then an answering trumpet... and that's when the ground starts to rumble. In the distance there's a cloud of dust, then comes the thundering feed of a herd of mammoths stampeding over the ground towards the tar pit.

~I sure hope they steer clear of the tar pit,~ growls Shay. He crouches, waiting patiently for Tony to give the signal.

Yiska shifts into war form and leans over the edge, trying to see the charging mammoths.

Tony grins at the sound and sight of those approaching mammoths. Well, if there was ever a summoning spell, he's just seen it. ~We will attack with them!~ he tells the others. ~Run just ahead, and throw yourself onto any that are separate from the main group. That one... that one, there, and him,~ he says, pointing to a few that are far from the main portion. ~Destroy them!~

Hope howls and roars and moves quickly down towards the group Tony indicated. with the rest of the pack following. It's a quick and bloody battle, and quite one-sided, luckily in the favor of the Garou. The mammoths do most of the work, trampling the surprised pack of raptors into the ground. The remainder are picked off by the pack of cubs in fairly short order. And with planning beforehand, none of the Garou are even seriously injured. Even the Seer helps, picking a couple feathers out and slinging them at some of the stray monsters like darts. Soon, the Wyrm-tainted dinosaurs are dead, and the herd of mammoths have disappeared into the horizon, though the pit still bubbles malevolently. The Seer makes her way down to the pack, cawing, ~Yes, yes, this is very good, Children of Wolf! Very good! Now, do any among you know how to Cleanse a place of the Wyrm's taint?~

Yiska lops down to the tar pits and starts to set up for his rite of cleansing. ( I have no idea what his entails, but it will be very native and so on. With singing perhaps!)

The Galliard gathers up some water from the skins the pack has been carrying, and the Seer joins him, shifting form again to that of an old (and naked) woman, pale skinned with long gray hair. She starts a fire. Yiska takes a piece of wood, lights it, then plunges it into the water, so it begins to smolder. Then he begins to chant and sing, dancing around the pit three times counter-clockwise, shaking the smoldering stick at it. It continues to bubble menacingly, even reaching out for the Galliard, though he stays out of its grasp. When he finishes, the pit settles back down. It's still a tar pit, but no longer seems to reach out or be so ... angry.

Upon seeing that the tar pit isn't as seething as before, Shay claps for Yiska. Wary of drawing any attention in the process, but regardless tossing support to the Galliard.

Yiska smiles and bows to the Seer as he deconstructs the ritual items. He then sits down and wipes the sweat from his brow, "That was.. new and interesting."
Tony laughs as well as claps. There ought to be no danger right now. Not after the herd has gone through like it did. "Good job, Yiska. Excellent!" After sharing a handshake and a round of smiles from the whole pack, he turns towards the Seer.

The Seer caws in happiness as she shifts back into the form of a raven, ~We go back to my cave now, yes, and the See-er will answer your questions, yes, yes! You have done well, Children of Wolf!~ And with that, she flies back in the other direction, back towards the cave.

It's near dusk when the pack returns, with the Seer waiting in her cave. She rests on that perch, her wings spread for a moment, then she tucks them back in. ~Yes, yes,~ she says, ~Ask your questions now, Children of Wolf, and the Seer will answer.~

Tony feels winded, exhausted even, by the time the pack gets back to the cave. He lost his shirt somewhere. Maybe during the fighting. It was only tied about his waist anyway. He gestures to Yiska. "Yiska, please give the lady her shiny," he says.

Shay just sort of flops over somewhere in the cave. The cave itself is cooler, and so is the rock, so it's nice and soothing after the long trip. 

Yiska shifts into hispo and lays down on his stomach, panting softly as he digs out one of his water bottles.

Yiska gives the lady her shiny first, of course. c_c

The Seer seems quite pleased with the little ivory horn, even though the magic is now spent. She grasps it in her claw and flaps up to a small pile of river rocks and other items where she places it. She cocks her head, moves it around, then flies back to the perch, looking at Tony.

Tony sits down, gazing up at the Seer. "Has Wind-Cries come to you? Do you know where Night-Spirit's sister is?" he asks.

The Seer dips her head in response, ~Yes, the See-er did meet the Daughter of Wolf who is kin to you. She sought the path to find long lost Turtle. I told your kin that Turtle, if he is to be found, would be found in the Summer Country, and that is to where she went.~ She caws. ~To find the Summer Country, one must be at true peace with oneself. I do not know if she was, but still she searches. You will tell her brother, yes yes, that she was here, and I have seen that if he is to find her, he must go to his homeland.~ She cocks her head and peers at each of you in turn. ~What other Questions do you have for the See-er?~

Yiska rubs his head, "Should we have any other questions to ask?"

Shay clucks his tongue. "Is there anything that you can just Tell us? Advice?"

The Seer caws in laughter at the momentary silence. ~You have come so far, and none have questions for me? Not even your Trickster?~ She peers at Bits, who just scuffs her foot on the ground. ~Usually the See-er has to tell many to stop asking.~ At Yiska's question she caws, ~Perhaps. Perhaps it is better not to know. The See-er has seen that you will have to make many choices and decide between your families and your friends.~ She flaps down and stands on the ground, looking up at the cubs. ~The See-er has seen that the choices you make, the decisions you make will be very important, and not just to you. The See-er has also seen that she can send you home more quickly than you came to her!~
Tony remembers some old saying about knowing the future being a horrible, horrible thing. He forgets why - maybe something to do with making it happen despite trying to change it. In any case, he doesn't want to know what these things the bird has seen are. He perks up at the mention of a short-cut. "Oh yes? How so?" he asks eagerly.

Shay nudges Tony. "I thinks he means we're leaving sooner than she expected since we got nothing." He peers over at the Seer. He resists asking her if she sees how many fingers he's holding up behind his back. "Do you see us in danger anytime soon?"

The Seer tilts her head to look at Shay, answering the Theurge first. She caws, ~There will be danger for you, yes, and some confusion, but another wolf will lose his life before any of you.~ Then she looks back to Tony, and flies over to a pot of water, which she perches on. ~Children of Wolf are good at crossing, better than most Children of the Moon or Children of the Sun! Cross here, and a path will lead you home!~

The pack then crosses over, back to the Near Umbra through the pot of water, and finds themselves on a Moon Path. They follow the path for almost a day's travel and find themselves back at the heart of the caern, walking out of the Umbra back into the Realm. Brother-of-the-Dawn is resting near the heart of the caern, being snowed upon and, when you arrive, he blinks and stands up. "You're back! You made it! Wonderful!" He looks you over and then says, his emotions running from high to low, before saying, "Well, most of you..." And that's when you notice that only four Garou crossed back. Bits is nowhere to be seen.