You paged Leonard with 'SO you want to do something now? Sepdet was just at Sydney's, so I easily could ask her, "Um, where's that museum again?" and stop by it on her way home.'.
Leonard says "Okay where are you going to enter the umbra at."
Sepdet steps through the mirror in Sydney's office, over in the archaeology department, and attempts to reorient herself. She's been this way in the umbra once or twice, and is starting to know her way across the campus, but this is the first time she's turned her steps towards the museum.
From afar, Leonard rubs his hands and cracks his fingers. MUha. Alright. You'e in the umbra in the arch bldg. You know that from here the museum is due west.
The Umbra here is dark, almost pitch-dark, though what light the electrcity spirits fitfully cast illuminates the tangle of webbing in boxed shapes that represent buildings on this side of the Velvet Curtain.
Sepdet explores at a slow jog, keeping eyes, ears, and especially nose peeled for anything hungry. She keeps to the most open spaces, away from buildings, on the way there, and as always in the city pauses now and then and braces herself before sniffing for Wyrm.
The scent is strong here, as it always is in the city, especially compared to the wilds. As you cross what you think is the open space of the Quad, you hear a noise come from one of the darkened buildings -- almost like a cough.
Sepdet's ears narrow. She turns towards it and calls out in a determined and apparently unafraid voice, *Good evening?*
The cough is heard again, and movement can be seen within the shadows. For a brief instant, the light of a passing elemental shines upon the form, and you see a smallish Garou with the smoothed shorter fur and large upright ears of your tribe. His eyes flash with wariness and suprise before he ducks back into the darkness of the building.
Sepdet starts in shock at the sight: this was unexpected. She looks around, braces herself again for a whiff of Wyrm, and then paces towards the place where the shadow vanished, falling to all fours to make herself a little less visible.
The stench is strong, but comes from no one point that you can tell. As you approach the place the shade was standing, you see within the webbed building the figure, leaning against one of the walls. He seems hurt, but aware, watching the place he just vacated. When you appear he straightens, and his eyes -- familiar eyes, maddeningly so. Where have you seen them before? -- widen in shock at the sight of you. He freezes in place for one instant, and it hits you as he takes a few stunned steps backwards that those eyes are the same ones you see every time you drink from a still pool: your own. Suddenly he loses his footing and falls back, out of sight.
Sepdet gives a cry of shock and anger and pain. "SEBEK!" She nearly runs after him, nearly, but sense doesn't desert her completely, and she follows with hackles raised, eyes darting to both sides searching the walls of shadow as she dares to approach the building where he's hidden.
You paged Leonard with 'Oh you EVIL EVIL EVIL!'.
From afar, Leonard grins.
From afar, Leonard is eviler'n that.
Nothing leaps from the shadows. Nothing reaches for you as you approach the edge of the stairwell and look down to see the crumpled form, familiar yet not familiar, lying at the bottom of the stairs, unmoving. As you study him, you notice streaks of white along the muzzle and face that are indicative of age in Garou and wolf alike.
Sepdet follows him cautiously, body braced to bolt, squinting into all the shadows that slide and refuse to resolve themselves for other moving forms. She slips slowly down the stairs, one by one, whispering in a strained voice. "Sen?"
Nothing moves here, though it grows slightly warmer as you edge your way down the stairs. No elementals, no weaver spirits, no spirits at all that you can see, good bad or indifferent. The figure at the bottom of the stairs stirs, his eyes -- your eyes -- blinking open, and look at you, watching you move, the slightest smile fighting with a grimace of pain as you make your way down the steps.
Some of the terror she's holding back dissipates as she gets a better look, and she gives a rueful laugh. ~No, not Sebek. Thank Gaia.~ She moves down to the old one's side, one hand raised in a gesture of reassurance as she sinks down beside him. ~Master?~
Leonard shakes his head again, and mouths the word, 'Ma'i,' before grimacing in pain again.
Pack> Yi eyes Little Bear. Why fore you tormenting our pack alpha?
Sepdet pales. ~But you're gone,~ she says harshly. ~They killed you in the sands of Khem and Nekheb ate your brain and carries your spirit in his tainted heart. Do not /lie/ to me.~
As if agreeing with your words, the form flickers and vanishes as the ground beneath you shakes and gives way. You fall a short distance then begin to slide further as a hot sulfurous blast of air assaults your senses. SOMETHING rises from the pit towards which you are headed. Something huge and hot and monstrous.
Sepdet stops thinking as the instinct that has made her what she is kicks in. If she is falling already, she might as well fly. Instead of trying to scrabble against gravity, she shoves off the slope with a roar, all claws bared, trying to land on its head or back like a pouncing flea.
The large, balefully-glowing creature certainly didn't expect this. You get a good look at it as you barrel towards it: reddish-black and steaming, covered with thorny projections, two pincers reaching out towards where you stood, and about the size of bus, intelligence gleams in its multifaceted eyes.
You paged Leonard with 'Did it look like it had a mouth under those pincers?'.
Leonard pages: OH yeah. Kind of like an ant's.
Sepdet digs in with all her claws, hanging on for dear life, and snarls down at it. *You. Have. Seriously. Angered me.* She glares down at it, considering its shape, and focussing her mind on a particular shape: the sharpened stone with serrated edges and an awl's point, which she was using earlier today to carve a talen she's been working on. This shape firmly in her mind, she imagines it much, much, larger, buried inside the creature's head through its mouth.
Leonard pages to the room: Create element, I take it?
You paged Leonard with 'That would be Create Element: Stone. Gnosis roll, diff 6. 1 cubit foot created per success. But I have /no/ idea if she'd be able to create an element /inside/ a thing: your discretion. :)'.
Leonard pages to the room: Far as I know you can create it anywhere within line of sight up to whatever feet away.
Leonard pages to the room: 100 lbs up to 60 feet away within sight. So while not within it, you could create it between its jaws, i'd say.
Long distance to Leonard: Sepdet does that with the pointy end jammed into its mouth.
Leonard pages to the room: Ow. Okay.
Pack> Leonard says "Remind me never to get Sepdet pissed off ;)"
Pack> Yi says "Hey if Sepdet uppercuts Get when she's pissed. :>"
The creature bucks in agony as the stone wrenches its jaws apart, causing your right hand to lose its grip and slamming you painfully against the spiked form of the spirit. Its claws snap and wave, then attempt to pull the serrated stone from its mouth, causing even more agony as it finally releases, its jaws damaged beyond use. Suddenly you feel your connection with the spirit world weaken as the thing hisses angrily. *Wretched creature...*
Leonard pages to the room: Lose one point of gnosis.
You paged Leonard with 'OW. Uh oh.'.
Leonard pages: This is not your father's lobster dinner. :)
You paged Leonard with 'Describe to me what's around here? A pit with sloping walls, yes? Any place that looks climbable that she could reach?'.
Leonard pages: You're roughly even with what remains of the staircase. You could try to jump for it.
The Strider nearly loses grip with her other hand too as the world wavers, and slams her free hand towards an eyeball with a snarl. At the same time her voice snaps out defiance, scorn, and a cold calculated assault of pure will. *Be still, worm of no worth.*
Long distance to Leonard: Sepdet bites her lip. Command spirit. Willpower, that time.
The spirit freezes in its tracks; it might as well be made of stone. It makes its displeasure known as it hisses like a huge steam-kettle.
Sepdet twists for a better perch, taloned toes scrabbling, and slams down her right hand towards the? other eye in a swift arc.
You paged Leonard with 'How many eyes does it seem to have?'.
Leonard pages: 8
Long distance to Leonard: Sepdet grins. Okay.
Leonard pages: Are you putting its eyes out?
Long distance to Leonard: Sepdet tried to do one last pose, one this one. But I can't do any more unless I stay and die; that command won't hold forever!
Leonard pages: Good point.
From afar, Leonard thought you were covering your own last time for some dumb reason. Okay.
The thing screams a high thin whistle as two of its eyes are blinded and it bucks, but still the command holds, though the monstrosity is heating up beneath your talons, and again you feel your connection with the spirit-world waver.
Leonard pages to the room: Another point of gnosis.
As the spirit heaves beneath her, the Strider attempts to hang on with all the balance she has, judge the right moment.... and leap again, as far and as high as she can, hands flung out for the broken stair rungs like a ladder.
Long distance to Leonard: Sepdet is now spiritual jell-O. Woo!
The creature bucks once more beneath you right as you take off, and one of your feet slip, but your fear-strengthened legs give you enough momentum to scrabble onto the last remaining stair. Behind you, the creature bellows in pain and rage and the staircase beneath you rumbles as it moves.
Sepdet does not waste time looking back at the behemoth below. There is a time for anger. There is a time for running like hell. This is the latter, and she puts all her effort into it.
Long distance to Leonard: Sepdet burns a WP for an extra round of 'run like hell' now, too. JUST to be sure.
As you make like a tree and get out of there, the wounded creature makes no move to follow. You slow down once you realize you're back where you originall ystarted this journey.
Leonard pages: You're good. Its apparently an ambush predator not a long-distance runner, either that or it knows better than to try to outrace a Strider.
Sepdet collapses to one knee and turns to make sure she's not being followed, then swears slowly and softly. ~Stupid idiot,~ she tells herself tiredly, hackles still bristling with the force of adrenalin. She shoots a glance in the general direction of the museum, shakes her head, decides she's pushed her luck too far already for one night, and starts to head back towards home at a fast lope, on the principle that there are few things which will bother to give chase to a Strider, however weary.
Leonard pages to the room: Yay :) I've always wanted to run a dratossi. :)
You paged Leonard with 'Woo. I have no idea what that was. You realize she'll be wanting to bring folks back and try and slay it, some night '.
Leonard pages to the room: She wouldn't be Sepdet if she didn't :)