Great Hunt (Missing very beginning--rite, and getting there)



The Get no-moon threads her way through rusting hulks of metal into the mammoth building from which the explosions seemed to come -- the remains of a paper mill abandoned perhaps thirty or so years ago in favor of newer ones closer to the logging sites. She disappears from view.
Geremond looks to Quick, then shakes his head. "Not this time." To the others he murmurs, "Stay ready. Let the rage build in you. Build, but not burn. We'll make a bonfire for the Wyrm soon enough."
Steven remains nervously milling about, waiting for the no moon to return with some word. He starts forward a few times, perhaps over eager, but cool, disapproving glares from his packmate, keep the Galliard rooted in place.
From afar, to the room, Lysander makes it clear, in case it wasn't previously: this is happening in the Realm, not the Umbra.
Velia banks the fires of her rage, but clenches her fists. He lifts her head just slightly, as if to test the air.
From afar, to the room, Steven takes this as a not-so-subtle hint that anyone *not* in homid and *not* wearing clothes would be out of place.
The cloying smell of blood continues to reach the hunters waiting on Chaser's return. Another scent begins to waft their way as well -- the pungent, distinctive aroma of charred flesh and hair.
Awkward in the two-legged form, Memory's movements nevertheless seem to take on a dancing motion. Eyes, still amber, burn with ready Rage and eager anticipation, flicking everywhere about her as she waits the scout's return. Her lips curl back, baring slightly pointed teeth; the place is not pleasant.
Seeker glances over each shoulder to make sure that no one is around who shouldn't be, specifically humans. His nose wrinkles and he shifts in restless anticipation at the smell of blood.
Geremond mutters grimly under his breath, "Hot art thou, blaze, and too high, withal. Get, fire, thee farther away. My frieze coat is singed, though I flung it aloft, flares up the fur in the flames." He moistens his lips, looks to Diana, "Take yours around the other side of the block, I'd say, and meet we in the middle, does the scout not return soon."
Diana, remaining oddly silent, turns slowly to meet her gaze with the Get's own. A solemn nod, followed by a haunted glance at the area surrounding them, and she motions for those near her to fan as quietly as possible to approach from the other side.
Sounds, now, rather than scents reach the body of hunters who wait for their scout's report: distant shouting, and sharp bangs at irregular intervals. Those familiar with such things might recognize the latter series of sounds as gunfire.
Stormcloud has been to this section of the city before to hunt, if not this exact area. He keeps to the darker places instead of treading in the twoleg.
The massive Get's growl is low and fierce. "Spread out, don't bunch up. Let's move up and meet our scout. We don't need a report to hear battle." Harald strides forward along the sidewalk's shadowed edge, cane impacting the old cement, "Move slow, all, death's in no hurry. Neither are you."
A human sihouette approaches at a sprint, combat boots landing solid on the concrete. Chaser slows as she reaches the group, leaning down as she catches her breath. "Firefight's downstairs. Some kinda mines or grenades, those were the explosions. Footprints headed downstairs, prolly whoever's shooting-- can't get a line on the prey. Might be umbral." She looks up, straightening and offering a frustrated shrug of apology. "Din't wanna walk into a firefight and ruin our advantage."
Geremond nods to Chaser, "Alert Di's team. Only one way in?"
Touch Deer has donned some jeans and a worn flannel shirt for this scab-search, along with a battered jacket; his stone knife is gone, but his war club is still with him, kept under the jacket. He sticks close to his packsister Cassandra; the city unnerves him, as anyone can plainly see.
Chaser pages to the room: In case it's not clear, she's whispering/breathing the words. Lys did I see anything as far as entrances/exits? Just the one set of stairs?
From afar, to the room, Memory will need a bit of clarification to any orders not in very plain English, and will want to shift to Lupus or Hispo as soon as it's okay to do so.
Quick samples the scents with a wrinkled nose, and nods briskly to Geremond's instructions. His steps are light on the sidewalk, distaining to touch the surface.
Chaser runs a hand back through her hair. "Just one big set'a stairs down, once you're in," she says quietly.
Geremond nods, looking back to Chaser. "Let Di know. Check for windows into the basement. 'Less she objects, we'll move in first. My party in and to the left, Stormcloud's in and to right. She can pour down the center, Ja?"
The group fanning out near the Fury Elder is paused by a sharply raised hand from the Warrioress. She glances back to the scout as she returns, but the sound of gunfire starts the Fianna Galliard into a quick-paced run towards the sound, unable to contain his energy any longer. It is only the equally quick reaction of Diana to grab Steven's arm, threatening to dislocate his shoulder if he continues his headlong rush, that stops the Galliard. The rest of her group stirs anxiously, the lupus' fur ruffling as they pace, and several of the other moving likewise to the Fury to halt the Fianna's impatient rush.
Seeker pages to the room: Now's a good time for Inspiration, I think. :)
Chaser nods curtly, and lopes toward Diana and the others. "Firefight's downstairs..." She repeats the briefing, adding at the end, "We'll go in and to the right, in and to the left, yu take the middle. I'm going back over for another look at the outside." She pauses just long enough for some indication that the woman understands.
Steven pages to the room: Should we assume from Chaser's report that any further attempt to find an alternate route inside would be futile, Lysander?
Lysander pages to the room: Are y'all moving up?
From afar, to the room, Chaser's been told to go back and look. Check the outside of the building. S she's going to.
From afar, to the room, Geremond directed Chaser to pass a message, then check for other entries, I believe.
Diana nods once to the Get, and her eyes narrow as she focuses them towards the sounds and scents. "No way to the the back, for a rear assault?" She then shakes her head, and regards the woman, "At least, that you've found yet, correct?"
Steven shrugs out of Diana's grasp scowling at her, and he inhales a deep breath. "I'm no crescent, but I think someone should check the shadow too, just to make sure we don't get crunched from two fronts. I've got a gift that let's me talk Realmside from the Umbra. It's scab umbra, and the moon is shot, so this is going to suck, but someone should do it. What do you say, Huntress?" Steven apparently defers to Diana whenever Brian's not around.
The sounds of gunfire seem to disappear, and the shouting grows, first, a bit triumphant, and then mutes enough that it is beneath the hearing range of even those in the wolf-shape.
Long distance to Nemo: Sepdet sees the group stall. Get Patrick to help how? I was also thinking of saying fosterns have to be leaders ,and give Tsah a group of people to "get across the obstacle".
Chaser wets her lips. "I d'no if there's more'n one way down into the basement," she says in her low voice. "Din't look like it. But I'm gonna go run a circuit and listen. And I agree with him." She jerks her head toward Steven, evidently grim about agreeing with him.
Seeker nods at the prospect of scouting the Umbra.
Long distance to Stormcloud, Quick, John, and Geremond: Sepdet, sticking close to Geremond on his side of the building as she hides in the shadow of twisted junk, whispers tensely to him, "Humans probably think they've killed it, and it's gone umbral."
Chaser takes a few steps back, and then runs toward the building again, slowing as she reaches it and heads for one of the corners.
Diana nods again, exhaling a breath that she was unaware of holding. Curtly, she nods to the Fianna, then to the Get. "It might be better if we try to find an... alternate way in, as well." She turns and glances back towards Harald. "If there are any traps, or anything, no sense in all of us walking blindly into the spider's web in a big group."
Steven glances over the group, quickly. "I want someone to come with me. The buddy system as it were. Anyone feel like walking on the wild side?" His lips press together grimly, plainly not at all thrilled about the prospect.
Geremond nods to Diana, rumbling, "She checks now. If it's a trap, well, some of us will spring it, others will take the trapper who watches it." He looks around sternly, "Leave no humans who have seen it, or seen us inside, alive." He glances towards Sepdet at Steven's request.
Touch Deer nods with Steven's words and steps towards him. "Uktena gifts my pack with some protection in the Umbra; I volunteer."
Long distance to the room: Sepdet eeps, having thought we'd already split groups, and repeats a pose to Geremond...
Memory tilts her head towards Steven, plainly pleased at something that would give her the chance to take lupus form again. "If I could help, yez?"
Sepdet starts to raise a hand, but Touch Deer beats her to it. "The humans may have been hunting it. It sounds like it's gone umbral and they think they've killed it."
Hunter offers himself, as well, wordlessly despite his homid state.
Seeker glances at Sepdet.
Stormcloud remains in the shadow, listening closely and awaiting instruction from Geremond as to how to proceed.
Diana looks towards Steven. "Should you take more than one?"
Seeker nods. "They've either left or something happened to them."
More of what sounds like gunfire erupts from inside, though significantly more staccato than before.
John remains crouched near near the other members of his team, listening to the instructions being given, ears straining futilely for any other sounds from the interior.
Quick's focus is on the building, and he tilts his head for better listening, as he frowns slightly in concentration, while the others debate strategy.
Steven eyes the metis sternly, even less thrilled about *that* prospect. "Nah," he says, shaking his head. "Not like we're going to spend a lot of time there," he says to Memory. "Just enough to know we're not getting bushwhacked." He touches the homid Talon on the shoulder and nods to her; they drift off and return perhaps minutes later, the Galliards looking more than little shook up. He reports to Diana. "Dark city umbra -- it's bad, but I don't think there's anything there that's organized." He crosses himself and mumbles, "I hope."
Geremond growls, but stands fast, waiting for Chaser's return.
A short while later, perhaps five or ten minutes, Chaser reappears around the side of the building. She doesn't sprint all the way back, but mimes a negative to Geremond. Then she starts toward the others at a walk.
Geremond nods. "Alright. We go in, we kill." He looks to Diana, nodding his head towards the entrance, then starts off, meeting Chaser halfway.
Quick breaks his stand with a hop forward of impatient movement, pauses a moment as he ascertains the locations of Stormcloud and John, before breaking into another impatient movement.
Chaser hooks up with Geremond's group of combatants. "Here goes nothing," she mutters, heading for the entrances at his shoulders.
Geremond pages to Chaser, Lysander, and Sepdet: Anybody else want to make an impatient movement?
Steven grumbles at Di. "We sticking tight on their asses or we going to be the cavalry?"
Seeker takes his kopsh from his pack and conceals it in his clothes, so as not to attract any undue attention.
Chaser pages to Lysander, Geremond, and Sepdet: Nope.
Stormcloud steps forward, snapping at Quick to make sure he stays in line, then looks toward Geremond once more.
Diana frowns, "And in to the minotaur's lair he went, threading the gossamer strands behind," she murmurs. To the group, she extends her hands, "Apparently only one way in. We're not all going to glut the entrance at one. They go in, we go in after. Whatever moves, make sure it stops moving."
Chaser pages to the room: Why do I feel like we're doing something incredibly stupid?
Memory pages to the room: Because we are?
John pages to the room: Because we probably are?
Geremond growls, "No. Here goes a the Hunt. And it will succeed, or we will die." He leads down the stairs, Chaser and Sepdet to either side, Stormcloud, Quick, and John following.
The structure is a huge, forbidding piece of rusting metal in a wasteland of same, and it appears that the architects were more interested in function than in form: there are a few windows high up on the structure, and none that seem to lead to a basement level. As the Garou move forward, they find the grisly scene that Chaser already discovered no more than a couple of yards past the truck entrance: a scorch mark in the ground left by some form of explosive, and a headless, armless corpse, pocked with metal shrapnel, lying nearby in pooling blood. Footprints left by human shoes track through the blood and deeper inside. The sounds of gunfire have, once again, died down.
Hunter eyes Steven thoughtfully, then forms a few short words, in a thick accent. "In through the Shadow?"
Geremond revises. Leads _towards_ the stairs. We're not there yet.
Seeker pages to the room: What was the corpse wearing?
Lysander pages to the room: Street clothes. Nothing distinctive.
Geremond pages to the room: Loot it later.
Steven shakes his head. "No way. Too lethal. I'd rather take my chances going down."
Chaser glances to Harald. "Doors were welded," she whispers.
Geremond eyes Chaser. "Stairwell doors?" he grunts.
Touch Deer eyes the tracks with some interest as his group approaches the building.
Sepdet jogs at Geremond's shadow, words left behind. Her eyes lose focus for a moment, peering away from the others.
Hunter shrugs slightly, following along obediently now. He flexes his fingers, glowering a little as the group nears the building.
Chaser shakes her head quickly. "Truck bays, doors out," she whispers. "Like nobody's usin' the place. Or like it's a serious trap."
Long distance to Lysander: Sepdet attempts to +peek, morbidly, but may be too far from the rest of the pack for her pack-gift to work.
Geremond nods. "Alright. Then it can't run."
Stormcloud keeps close by Geremond, watching all around the area with all senses, especially the rear.
Lysander pages: It's what you expect, more or less. Icky city Umbra under the new moon. No banes look as if they're gunning for you.
Velia growls, mostly to herself. "Typical urrah. The Wyrm nests in their own backyards, and they know it not." She keeps close by Diana.
Touch Deer quickly taps Diana on the shoulder and points to a spot nearby the corpse. He speaks quickly: "Trip wire. Might be more."
The group with Diana filters off several paces behind Harald's, the Fury, Steven, and Memory near the front, Velia at the rear, and the rest in the middle. As Touch Deer moves up to tap the Fury's shoulder, she blinks, focusing her eyes on the wire. "Can you tell what it goes to?"
Steven pages to the room: Lysander, would it be helpful to have a marching order, as it were?
Chaser takes a careful breath. "Oh, fabulous," she mutters. "Probably whatever blew his ass up."
Touch Deer half-whispers back to Diana. "Already sprung by that poor human. But there may be more."
Lysander pages to the room: That'd be great.
Diana ahs, and moves silently amongst her group, pointing out the wire and warning each to be wary of others.
Seeker says quietly, "Then it is disarmed. Why would this building be trapped?"
From afar, to the room, Touch Deer tells Di about the wires in a voice loud enough to be heard by the folks in front of him (Gere and company).
Memory slinks along unhappily, her eyes on the ground to help her place feet that are not fully familiar to her. She blinks at the wire with a blank expression, then goes back to watching where her feet go, pressing forwards without actually going on ahead.
Twenty or so meters further inside the building, towards the stairs, is the second grisly scene that Chaser described: the floor is scorched in a fairly wide blast pattern, and debris nearby -- as well as a pair of corpses that are practically burned beyond recognition as once-humans -- is still smouldering. There are a few spent shotgun shells scattered on the ground outside the blast area. The stairwell down lies perhaps another ten meters away, and is a wide metal industrial affair upon which two people could probably walk abreast.
Chaser glances to Harald. "I'm first down, or he is, or anyone else who's got good eyes. You see the point raise a hand, you watch out for an unsprung wire."
Long distance to Chaser, Stormcloud, Quick, and Geremond: Sepdet arghs as she gets ANOTHER phonecall, and ditches it. Never fails.
Geremond pauses, then glances to Chaser. "Scout," he rumbles, "Any other wires?" Now within the building's confines, the massive Get shifts upward into the hulking form of the warwolf.
Touch Deer points out another already-sprung tripwire to Diana.
Sepdet falls behind Geremond so that they'll fit on the stairs, attention coming back to this side of the realm as she slides into warform, scanning the ground suspiciously and listening with long ears.
+shift/q crinos
Chaser shifts up to Glabro, and takes point--moving slow, her steps close to silent on the heavy stairs.
You have shifted to Crinos form.
Quick, letting Stormwolf be ahead a step, views the first corpse with curiosity, qwelled until he's inside the building, then expressed with much sniffing at the explosive powder scents as he slides into the wolf form.
Touch Deer is at the front of his (Diana's) group. His eyes shine as he checks out the floor and walls for other traps, and cups his ears now-and-then in the hopes of catching hints of what awaits everyone downstairs.
An almost overpowering scent of blood wafts up the stairs on a cool breeze from below; Chaser descends, unmolested, to a landing that doesn't seem to lead anywhere. However, a few steps further down lies yet another corpse, perhaps the source of the gore: it is the body of a male, and its head has been torn from its shoulders with what appears to have been inimaginable strength -- even few Garou are capable of such a feat without using their claws. Any tracks that lead further down must have been obscured by the blood which pools and drips down the stairs.
"Yum," Chaser whispers, as she steps into the blood. Her progress is more careful, with the added danger of slipping on the wet treads.
Touch Deer turns around for a moment to point out some spent shotgun shells lying on the stairs to Diana.
Geremond's war-grin widens as he passes the corpse, passing on, wordless.
Stormcloud passes through the gor as though it were simply muddy ground, basically ignoring it.
Seeker readies his kopsh, following single-file behind Touch Deer and Diana so as to reduce the risk of springing any traps. His eyes take in the surroundings, but are not quite as keen as Touch Deer's.
Sepdet concentrates grimly on her feet, not about to let a slip from shot nerves and treacherous footing send her crashing into the eager Get in front of her.
Quick sniffs busily at the corpse, making passing it on the stairs a slow business, before Stormcloud's several paces ahead, and he quickly leaves it to close up the group.
Touch Deer pages to the room: If we ain't doing group poses yet, I'll pose shifting?
The second basement sub-level is the last, and the landing at the bottom of the stairs seem to have been the site of a gunfight far more fierce than evidenced by the scattered shell casings discovered so far. The walls are pocked with bulletholes and buckshot, and shell casings are scattered about the floor like marbles. There is a single tunnel that heads off in two directions -- the easterly end is choked by debris, and does not look passable, but the westerly course seems clear until it is no longer visible through the darkness. There are bloodstains on the floor leading down the westerly passage as well -- it doesn't look as if anyone was dragged, merely as if one or more injured people passed this way.
Heart-of-Fury pages to the room: Tunnel large enough to fit crinos?
The more perceptive of the group can make out faint sounds from the westerly passage as well, likely distant conversation muted by the building's walls.
Geremond eyes the walls, rumbling grimly, ~Home sweet home.~ He, Sepdet and Chaser spread out and to the left of the western tunnel's gaping maw, Stormcloud, Quick, and Defends-Wolves moving to its right as they wait for the rest of the party to get down and off the stairs.
Lysander pages to the room: One crinos, two humans. The motif here is the atmosphere processing plant from _Aliens_ minus all the gack on the walls.
Chaser's frown deepens as she briefly checks the scene over. She heads for the open tunnel, holding up a hand and gesturing for silence.
Stormcloud pages to the room: Mmmm. Gack.
John pages to the room: @whee
Arlen has arrived.
Quick perks ears sharply at the faint sounds and pokes his muzzle briefly into the tunnel, before stepping to the right of it, and watches the scout leader expectantly.
The Fury's group follows after Harald's, Touch Deer scouting in the lead, and shifting to hispo as he enters the building, his jacket shredding away as the fur replaces it. Diana is next, and she shifts fluidly to Crinos in a shudder, visions of bloody deaths all too familiar to her anymore. Seeker, Arlen, Memory, Hunter follow along, the two talons shifting to Hispo also. Steven, shifting to Crinos, and Velia, to Glabro, hold up the rear. Diana leads her group down to fill the middle, between the 'sides' taken by Harald's forces.
Memory pages to the room: Youve been promoted, Hunter! ;)
Hunter pages to the room: The Talons are homicidal maniacs, I don't want to be pa...oh, wait.
No more than a yard down the open tunnel, Chaser locates yet another badly mutilated corpse. It is impaled on some sharp debris that blocks a recessed doorway; several pieces of rusted metal protrude from its chest and abdomen. At its feet lies a firearm, a sub-machinegun with its slide locked back indicating that the weapon is empty; oddly, this corpse seems to have bled a good deal less than one might expect.
Scab-Survivor's ears swivel towards the west-end of the tunnel, trying to pick the faint sounds, scents, and almost-invisible movements he sometimes detects with his keen senses.
Geremond moves forward just a touch, not quite bodily blocking Diana from preceding the two wings into the tunnel. His growl is muted, ~The scout. More traps. And prey.~
Seeker sniffs the corpse, noting the lack of blood. ~Not leeches, from Soulcatcher's description. Another kind of blood-drinker.~
Heart-of-Fury's ears go flat.
Stormcloud also sniffs at the corpse, perhaps a little more closely, then decides outwardly that this body was merely a human when it died.
Another ten yards into the tunnel and it becomes too dark to see without the aid of light. Even those who are running sensory gifts such as Heightened Senses cannot seem to pierce the shadow with their vision. Sounds within this darkness are unnaturally muted, and given the potency of the various scents in the area it is virtually impossible to navigate by smell alone.
Chaser snarls softly, pausing before the pitch blackness. ~Anyone bring a light?~
Scab-Survivor pages to the room: Wunderbar. Okay: TD keeps Hispo form and proceeds /very/ slowly. That's about it.
Geremond gives a low growl, ~No light. Flankers. Keep against the walls. Say if they widen or gap. Someone put a paw to the roof. We wish nothing to drop on us. Half-pace. Chaser-rhya, can you find traps in this?~
Chaser answers with a snort. That would be a no.
Quick moves to his right, rubbing gore on his fur as he uses the right wall as a guide. He rumbles his acquittance to Geremond's orders, and rumbles again, not hearing a good sound echo within the solid walls.
Another irritable growl escapes Geremond, ~Then mind the celing, ja?~ He paces forward slowly, expecting to feel the brush of wire against his paws at every step. ~Noone brought any light?~
From afar, to the room, Chaser's stretching up an arm for the ceiling. She'll shift up to Crinos if she needs to.
Seeker growls softly, ears flicking back and forth, trying to pick up sounds. He uses his height advantage to reach up and place a hand on the ceiling, feeling for vibrations.
Sepdet traces a claw-tip or three on the righthand wall, muttering, ~Just matches.~
Demeter's Hand murmurs loud enough so that (hopefully) Geremond can here. "Might be able to spark an arrow with a flint. But it'd take a while."
Lysander pages to the room: Hold on a second. :) Those of you who are in the darkness cannot hear one another talking.
From afar, to the room, Demeter's Hand okies. Well, then, the folks in Di's group heard her. They aren't up in the darkness just yet, right?
Seeker pages to the room: How high is the ceiling?
Velia coughs. "I have the light-bringing gift of my tribe. But it is perhaps..too much?"
Long distance to the room: Sepdet thinks that would be Gere, Chaser, Sep in the dark at this point. Woohoo.
Lysander pages to the room: Ceiling's about ten to twelve feet high. We're switching to combat mode, people -- I'd like to see group posing beginning now.
Long distance to Geremond: Sepdet pulls up short as she fails to hear the footfalls even of the huge Get in front of her, listening.
Demeter's Hand sighs, turning to look at Velia. "Last resort..." she mutters, darkly. She moves among her small group again, checking with each as quietly as possible to see if /anyone/ has a flashlight, or anything. Her group holds back a moment from entering the darkness, ears and eyes and noses straining for signs of the Get's band of fighters.
Geremond pages to the room: Hold one, folks. Something being resolved.
From afar, to the room, Scab-Survivor thinks lines from Aliens would make nifty @doing's, just now. ;)
Lysander pages to Chaser and Sepdet: I'm going to make a pose in a moment, but I'm resolving something with Gere that affects the two of you. Essentially, a cloud of buckshot rips into the tunnel, and you both get caught in it.
You paged Chaser and Lysander with 'Woohoo. Gere hasn't done the group-pose yet, but I froze as soon as I couldn't hear his big lumping feet. Like a deer in headlights, mebbe. ;)'.
Chaser pages to Lysander, Geremond, and Sepdet: Glad to not be in homid right now, yep.
Lysander pages to Chaser and Sepdet: Okay. Both of you take three non-aggravated levels of damage.
+scan/doing down 3
+scan doing set.
From the darkness up ahead, there are a pair of muffled booming noises along with the distant sound of voices.
Seeker mutters, ~This is why the voices were muffled.~
Long distance to Geremond: Sepdet er. Freezes, then flings herself against the right wall she was shadowing, as she gets blasted. A second later she reaches out to see if she can feel whether Geremond's still up and close by. (Risking him going after her, but.)
Geremond pages to the room: Wait for it, people. Lys'll pose in a sec.
Lysander pages to the room: Please, please don't spam me with what gifts you're activating. Tell your caller.
From afar, to Chaser, Stormcloud, Quick, John, and Sepdet, Geremond is no longer beside Sepdet & Chaser, but lunged forward suddenly, right before the gunshots were heard (felt?).
Lysander pages to Chaser and Sepdet: Another two steps after the buckshot and you're back in normal dimness again. You see six guys, apparently all human. Three are armed with shotguns. Three are armed with crowbars. Two of the guys with shotguns appear to have just fired, and are backing up. Geremond has just delivered a mighty battle yell and closed his jaws on the leg of the third guy, who in turn appears to have just fired what looks like a stream of fire right in Geremond's face. The three guys with crowbars are closing carefully on Geremond; staying at a distance and keeping an eye on the tunnel, but keeping close enough to begin pounding him if need be. All six of them are moving fast, at least as fast as a Garou burning rage.

Lysander pages to the room: I apologize for the delay, folks. I'm trying to deal with the stuff that's happening at the front of the tunnel ahead of the darkness, and it's taking a little work.
Geremond pages to Chaser, Stormcloud, Quick, John, and Sepdet: PAge me what you're doing, and what gifts you're using. Remember where you are, Chaser and Sepdet are to the front, then Scud, then John and Quick.
From afar, to the room, Scab-Survivor nods and pats Lys. We appreciate how hard this is going to be for you, Lys. :)

No more than a moment after the distant booms reach the ears of those in and beyond the area of blackness, all of the Garou hear Geremond howl on a subconscious, rather than an audible, level: ~FOR GAIA!~

Long distance to Geremond: Sepdet bolts with Speed of Thought for the nearest crowbar-guy, planning to dive at the last second under the inevitable swing and rip his knees off.
Geremond pages to Chaser, Stormcloud, Quick, John, and Sepdet: Okay, did anybody forget to mention any rage? Or is that it?
You paged Geremond with 'Rage? What's that? gt;'.
Lysander pages to the room: Okay. Callers, page me what everyone's doing, and then write group attempt poses for me. :)
Scab-Survivor pages to the room: Got everyone's actions, Steve? Need anyone to re-page you schtuff?
From afar, to the room, Scab-Survivor thinks TD will go first, on Di's orders. He's visibly anxious to get started, after 'hearing' Gere's howl, but he waits for the order.
You paged Scab-Survivor with 'Don't spam the GM more than you must. ;)'.
Scab-Survivor pages: Damnit, that was meant to be to his group. :P

Lysander pages to the room: Okay. For the sake of my sanity, I'm just going to pose this shit, because if I do it through pages I'll die. Please do not react to anything you would not know because of the presence of the darkness.
From afar, Geremond whees. You know what usually happens when a point man breaks an ambush?
You paged Geremond with 'Yeah. You gotta good healer at your back, though. :)'.
Geremond pages: Thank goodness. Gere just caught a Dragonsbreath cartridge in the face. He's blind. Face-full of white phosphorus and magnesium.

Geremond tries to chew his way through the man, and will roll hard with his victim once he has a good jawgrip in his belly. Chaser and Sepdet burst out of the darkness into the room with the brightly flaming hispo, both of them flying low to avoid swings of the crowbar-bearers as they try to dive under attacks and aim for their opponents' knees/groins. Scud bursts out of the blackness behind them, questing for the next nearest target, followed by John and Quick.
At the sound of Geremond's cry, Diana orders her band forward. Touch Deer springs into crinos, after sharpening his claws on the side of the wall. His club is ready and he looks about carefully, trying to discern traps and tripwires. Diana sharpens her claws and moves forward. Just behind her, Arlen rummages in her bag and takes out a MagLite flash light and clicks it on. After the Get's cry, though, she also unslings her bow. Memory's lupine howl takes on a preternatural sound as it aims to hurtle through the darkness. Hunter sharpens his claws and follows. Seeker readies his kopsh and peers about, determined not to engage in friendly fire. Heart-of-Fury after him, looks prepared to rend whatever his claws can find purchase on. Velia bursts into a light which sinks into her fur after a moment, and she too brings up the rear, sharpening her claws.

Lysander pages to the room: Please bear with me while I pose results.
From afar, to Chaser, Quick, John, and Sepdet, Geremond just took a Dragonsbreath cartridge face-first and is dealing with the joys of white phosphorus and magnesium right now. He's blind...But he's got his jaws in the bastard who did it, and no Get _ever_ intends to die alone.

Louisa pages: How's it going?
You paged Louisa with 'Geremond's hurt, but I'm being his partner and I won't let him go down if I can help it. (Trouble is, he and I are at the front)'.
Long distance to Louisa: Sepdet has been shot up good, but it's not agg.
From afar, Louisa eeks!
Louisa pages: What did the quarry end up being?
You paged Louisa with 'Well. We haven't got to the main quarry, which Joe described as looking like a giant warthog. WE're actually dealing with some wyrmy humans with guns.'.

The instant that Diana's group enters the darkness, they find themselves in much the same situation that Geremond's band did moments before -- the light from Arlen's flashlight doesn't even penetrate the darkness, and not even Arlen herself can see the glow. None of these Garou can hear themselves, nor anyone else around them.
Further up ahead, Geremond wrenches his opponent's leg free of his body; despite shock and blood loss, the man manages to fire another round from his shotgun at the massive Get, though the arc of fire only grazes Geremond and does far less damage. Chaser dives into melee with one of the trio of crowbar-weilders, and takes a piece out of the man's abdomen as she leaps past him -- though he still brings down his weapon on her head with much more strength than an ordinary human should have a right to. Sepdet fares better, dropping her target to one knee without getting hit in return. Stormcloud, Defends-Wolves, and Quick emerge from the darkness behind them in time to get caught by blasts of buckshot from the remaining two men -- Stormcloud takes the brunt of one blast, while the second grazes both Defends-Wolves and Quick but catches neither fully.

Lysander pages to the room: Okay. Lather, rinse, repeat. :)
From afar, to Stormcloud, Quick, Geremond, and Sepdet, John suggests he try to tend to Gere while the rest of you pound on the nearest target?
You paged Stormcloud, Quick, John, and Geremond with 'Sounds good, since I don't think mine is down yet. But not much time to consult, here.;)'.
From afar, to Quick, John, Geremond, and Sepdet, Stormcloud is locking in on Mr. Buckshot. And shifting to Hispo.
Long distance to Geremond: Sepdet shoots up her left hand to gouge out her opponent's eyes, right claws going for one of the hands wielding the crowbar to block his next blow.
From afar, to Stormcloud, John, Geremond, and Sepdet, Quick shifts also to hispo to double up on the hispo power about to descend on Mr. Buckshot. He wants to rip off a hand. Hard for them to shoot without hands.
You paged Stormcloud, Quick, John, and Geremond with 'Two buckshot guys. Each of you take one, I suspect.'.
Geremond pages to Chaser, Stormcloud, Quick, John, and Sepdet: Anybody using rage or gnosis or will? Remember, can't use rage & gnosis in same round.
From afar, to Stormcloud, Quick, Geremond, and Sepdet, John detours toward the Get, letting the other three tend to the attackers as he places a hand on Harald's back in an attempt to begin the healing process. (Just for clarification among the group.)
You paged Geremond with 'Oh. Eh. 1 Will to make sure I don't miss. (Required for fine motor control due to battlescars.)'.

Touch Deer seems only slightly perturbed by the darkness. He holds his war club in front of him like a shield, moving through the unnaturally black corridor at a jog. Diana follows him, using her bow as a "walking stick" testing for resistance from a tripwire or other low lying trap. Arlen drops her flashlight and reaches for a bane arrow from her quiver, moving behind her Elder warily.Seeker continues forward. Memory pushes forward still rumbling a battle cry, even though it doesn't seem to penetrate the unusual blackness with fills the tunnel. Hunter continues to follow his behind other lupus, his ears flickering with anticipation. Heart-of-Fury presses forward as quickly as he can, one talon touching the left side of the tunnel. He growls deep in his throat and crouches; if some kind incendary weapon explodes, it'll be to his low profile. Velia continues to pace on the Fianna's heels, also eager to join the fight.
Scud and Quick both shift into hispo as they lunge forward, each of them going for one of the two standing shotgunners. Sepdet's left hand shoots up, trying to gouge out her opponent's eyes, while with her right hand she tries to block the next blow of his crowbar. Chaser-Never-Rests falls in a heap at her opponent's feet, lying still in the wake of the brief attack. Meanwhile, the flaming Geremond tries to sink his jaws further into his opponent, and John moves up behind Geremond, trying to apply Mother's Touch to the struggling hispo.
Lysander pages to the room: Again, bear with me while I pose results.
There is only just so much room in the tunnel for people to fight in, and so Touch Deer and Diana are the only two members of the second group who are able to move beyond the darkness. However, the disengaged fellow with the crowbar pauses to pluck something off a round object, an object which he then lobs into the area of black. The grenade bounces and skitters down the hallway past all of the Garou before detonating -- only Velia and Heart-of-Fury take any damage at all from the fragmentation, and the Silver Fang's aura of protection saves her from the worst.
Up front, Geremond manages to drive his jaws through his enemy's torso; another blast from the shotgun goes wide and scorches the hell out of one of the tile walls. Chaser's opponent doesn't relent when she falls, and he bludgeons her in the head with his crowbar again. Sepdet has some success raking at her enemy's eyes, though her opponent manages to drive the sharper end of the crowbar through her shoulder. Both Quick and Stormcloud leap towards the shotgun-armed men, and both take a blast of buckshot virtually point-blank before they bring their targets down.
Amid the confusion of battle, Defends-Wolves skulks forward to touch a hand lightly to Geremond's thrashing form; the injuries that the Get sustained from buckshot seem to close over and heal.

Lysander pages: Crunch. You take three levels of non-aggravated damage.
Long distance to Geremond: Sepdet yanks away hard, trying to reel back towards a wall out of the way and get a chance to heal a level or two, gambling her opponent can't see.
+scan/doing down 6 nonagg
+scan doing set.
Lysander pages to the room: Lather, rinse, repeat. :)
Quick pages to John, Geremond, and Sepdet: Are the two men down? Down as in flat or down as in offed? Quick'll throat the target he had to ensure no more trouble from him, then look for another target, but pauses to see if Stormcloud's up for attacking again. That team thing.
Wolf-Bear pages: How is Sepdet faring?
You paged Wolf-Bear with 'She's shot up and just got laid open. looks bad.'.
Lysander pages to the room: Okay, lemme do a quick recap. Sepdet has just clawed her crowbarman's eyes out, though he has successfully rammed his crowbar through her shoulder. Harald has just finished reducing one of the shotgun guys to a red pasty substance. Stormcloud and Quick are each on top of one of the other two shotgun lads, and those fights are ongoing. There's a guy with a crowbar standing over Chaser who appears to be trying to make her into a permanent part of the floor, while the third crowbar guy has just finished throwing his hand grenade and is presently unengaged.
From afar, to Wolf-Bear, Defends-Wolves, Geremond, and Sepdet, Quick reprises. Quick, since his target is still problematic, will throat the man.
From afar, to Quick, Defends-Wolves, Geremond, and Sepdet, Wolf-Bear will attempt to finish this putz off by tossing him into a wall, then turning to fight off Chaser's attacker.
From afar, to Chaser, Wolf-Bear, Quick, Geremond, and Sepdet, Defends-Wolves was going to go for the one on chaser if close enough, but can take the unoccupied one.

Touch Deer whoops a war cry and charges for the man who just lobbed a grenade down the hall. He raises his war club high over his head, giving every indication that he'll aim for the head, when instead, he feints and then follows through, aiming a crushing blow for the man's shins. The Fury fostern breaks from the dead area of the darkness and covering the distance to Chaser's assailant, blurring with the supernatural speed of Rage and her ahroun gift that allows her to strike first. The rest of the Diana's group presses forward in the darkness, yearning to break free. Arlen still has her arrow at the ready; Hunter and Memory look poised to charge at any opening, still behind the other Fury. Seeker keeps his kopsh blade covered to keep any friendly garou from being stabbed accidentally, trying to peer through the blackness that keeps him from seeing the action ahead. Velia sweeps past Heart-of-Fury in Glabro, her mystical armor glinting faintly. The Fianna, meanwhile, injured from the blast, grimaces and slows down, now taking the very rear spot of the group. Ears back flat, he straightens his posture, dully aware that Velia has charged ahead. For whatever reason, he seems slightly more worried about what is *behind* him than what lies before him. For that reason, perhaps, he proceeds back through the field of blackness, wanting to emerge on the side the group's already seen.
Geremond, head burrowed pretty much _through_ his opponent's belly, proceeds to turn and begin slamming his head and opponent repeatedly and hard against the tunnel-wall, working on reducing him to paste. The opponent seems not to be struggling. Gere seems not to be noticing. Chaser rolls hard over, trying to do a disembowling kick up at her attacker and get to her feet. Wolf-Bear tries to heave his attacker back into a wall, as Quick goes for the throat of the man he's knocked down. Sepdet tries to struggle free of her attacker and get back against a wall, while John shifts up to crinos, trying to get a shot on the previously un-busy attacker.

+scan
Listeners present:
Name Sex Form Doing
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Arlen F Glabro With Di. HS.
XanOOC F Lupus -
Scab-Survivor M Crinos res pain/rzr claws/0 agg.
SallyOOC F Lupus -
Defends-Wolves M Crinos RP, 1 nonagg, Gere's group.
Chaser F Crinos Down 5.
Heart-of-Fury M Crinos 3 levels non-agg.
Seeker M Crinos seek(di) Ins, SotF
Sepdet F Crinos down 6 nonagg
Geremond M Hispo 4agg, EyesMelted, Smouldering
Wolf-Bear M Hispo w/ gere: SoRW, RP, 5 nagg
Memory F Hispo Used Call of the Wyld. Diana's group
Hunter M Hispo Stv: Razor Claws, Resist Pain.
Demeter's Hand F Crinos Razor Claws, Spirit of Fray
Velia F Glabro Stv:LA, Rzr Clws. 1 n/agg
Quick M Hispo 3 non-agg.
Lysander M Homid -

With Stormcloud and Quick having leapt forward, there is a bit more room to spare in the tunnel, and Arlen and Hunter manage to push forward into the crowded tableau. Touch Deer's wild melee maneuver would likely have vastly more effect if it were delivered in quarters that were not so cramped; as it is, his club scrapes along the ceiling and his target neatly dodges the blow while slamming his crowbar into the Wendigo's ribcage. Diana reaches Chaser's attacker just as he's about to bring his weapon down on the no-moon's head yet again, and also just as Chaser rolls over and performs her disembowelling move; between the two Garou, the man is quickly torn to pieces. Stormcloud manages to slam his attacker into the tunnel wall with a bone-crunching impact, and the man does not so much slump as smear his way down to the floor. Meanwhile, Quick rips the throat out of the remaining shotgun-armed man, though a final muscle spasm tightens his finger on the trigger of his shotgun; the resulting blast takes off one of Quick's hindlegs in a spray of gore. Sepdet and her attacker are fairly evenly matched among all of this, and neither manages to make much headway against the other. Amid all of this, John takes the crinos shape.

Geremond pages to the room: No, I think some of us are still standing. ;)
From afar, to the room, Heart-of-Fury snickers.
From afar, to the room, Velia moved up. I don't see me in there. If I got to light, I go crinos :)
Lysander pages to the room: Gotcha, Velia.
From afar, to the room, Velia has about 15 minutes before I have to go, too.
Lysander pages to the room: Yep.
Long distance to Geremond: Sepdet stays as far to one side as she can in cramped quarters, trying to dodge and let her opponent's weapon slam into the wall and not her, but she aims another slash at his face to keep his attention.
From afar, to the room, Lysander gives a quick update. There are two bad guys standing: Sepdet is wrestling with a badly-injured one, and Touch Deer is getting beaten on by a fresh one.
Lysander pages to the room: Most people who are ahead of the darkness can reach them, one way or another.
Geremond pages to the room: Let's not all six-hundred of us jump on the two remaining, okay? Try to make some sense of it?
You paged Demeter's Hand with 'Save me, gorgeous, you're close to the front. :)'
From afar, Demeter's Hand arches a brow. Gorgeous? ;)

Touch Deer grunts, dropping the club to the ground of the room; he shoots a claw toward the man's neck, he wants to try and rip his throat out. Diana, with a cold efficiency about her, yanks her claw free from her shredded target, and charges for Sepdet's foe. Hunter has a similar idea, as he springs into action, aiming a savage bite for the man's hamstring. Arlen, meanwhile, aims her arrow at Touch Deer's attacker, and then after firing the shot moves to join in melee. Memory shifts in the more compact lupus shape hoping to inch her way inside quicker. Seeker and Velia continues to press forward, eager to get in a shot, if possible. The Fianna meanwhile, continues to linger on the other side of the field, keeping his ears and nose alert for anything that comes from the rear.
Heart-of-Fury pages to the room: Arlen's arrow, FWIW, is a bane arrow.
Velia has disconnected.
Geremond continues scraping the pulped remnants of his enemy off against the wall, while Scud looks around and lunges for Sepdet's opponent. Sepdet tries to keep against the wall so others can attack her New Friend while she aims another slash at his face to keep his attention. Quick yowls at the loss of his leg and staggers back out of the way of the people coming through the tunnel. Defends-Wolves, who was approaching Touch-Deer's target last round, takes this round to make his attack while Chaser looks around for any sign of further opposition.
You paged Louisa with 'And Xena rushes to my aid, having killed another and swinging back to the one I've been struggling with, and saves my neck. Just as I knew she would. Three cheers for Diana.
From afar, to Chaser, Wolf-Bear, Quick, Defends-Wolves, and Sepdet, Geremond apologizes if he got mixed up. It's not as easy as it looks.
Geremond pages: The Ghost of Toxic sez, 'Pick up that shotgun and see if any of those flamethrower rounds are left for when we hit the big guy.'
Defends-Wolves pages to Chaser, Wolf-Bear, Quick, Geremond, and Sepdet: You're fine. :)
Arlen's arrow speeds towards its target and drives through the man's throat; amazingly, despite a gout of blood, the man continues to fight Touch Deer; the enemy manages to fend off Touch Deer's claw strike with a desperate parry, but his momentum carries him into Defends-Wolves, who rends off his face and sends him spinning to the floor. As the man dies, the darkness vanishes; Memory, Seeker, Velia, and Heart-of-Fury all find themselves in normal dimness. Hunter, Diana, and Stormcloud pile on Sepdet's opponent and make quick work of him, so it is only Memory, Chaser, and Sepdet herself who see another man -- this one dressed as a Catholic priest -- fade from the shadows and press a hand to Diana's body. Immediately there is a dreadful sound of bones snapping and tearing loose from sinew; ribs, pieces of vertebrae, and various assorted other bones assume twisted, unnatural shapes and erupt through the Fury Ahroun's flesh, showering those around her in gore.
Wolf-Bear pages to the room: Oh my.
Long distance to Geremond: Sepdet gives a furious howl and lunges in the sea of bodies for the shadowy figure, own injuries forgotten.

From afar, Geremond whimpers. Oh no, not you, too.
Long distance to Geremond: Sepdet rolls on the dumb scale.
Geremond pages: No kidding.
You paged Geremond with 'There are many people between me and him. But still...'.
Wolf-Bear pages to Quick, Defends-Wolves, Geremond, and Sepdet: Hrmm...
Defends-Wolves pages to Wolf-Bear, Quick, Geremond, and Sepdet: My thoughts exactly. :)

In reaction to the new enemy's arrival and mauling of Diana, both Sepdet and Chaser lunge for the priest. Sepdet is unable to reach him through the mass of bodies -- Stormcloud, Memory, and Diana herself -- that block the way. Chaser, however, is able to get in a vicious claw-strike to his abdomen. Her hand erupts in flame when she touches him, despite her having torn open his belly. "You DARE strike a man of the CLOTH?!" the priest howls, his voice seeming to contain more moral outrage than pain.
Geremond pages to Chaser, Wolf-Bear, Quick, Defends-Wolves, and Sepdet: Okay. Now I need actions.
Lysander pages to the room: Okay. Go ahead with new round foo.
Memory's form blurs as she snapshifts into Hispo and leaps for the figure. Arlen's head whips around and she stares, before she lunges along with Hunteras well. Seeker continues to be eager to press into the room, if there is room. Touch Deer tries to claw at his former attacker again, and then spins around his eyes witnessing the carnage of the Fury elder. Diana, for her part, writhes and howls in pain. At some unseen cue, Steven begins a race down the tunnel, using all four legs. Velia, like Seeker really wants into the action.
Scab-Survivor has partially disconnected.
Long distance to Geremond: Sepdet comes to her senses and pulls up short (like she can do it any other way), reaching out inadequately to steady Di while the Strider attempts to concentrate enough to heal some of her own wounds.
Testament to the obscenely-efficient healing capacity of the Garou, Diana's body has already begun to revert to its normal shape: bones are hesitantly beginning to snap back into their normal shape and recede into the badly-wounded Fury's body. The overall effect is, however, quite gruesome.
Chaser's hands move in a rage-fuled blur, trying to get more blows in to the 'priest's head and throat. Wolf-Bear picks up one of the bodies as if it were a Louisville slugger, but there's little room to bat at his opponent without hitting others. Defends-Wolves picks up a crowbar as Sepdet tries to steady Di. Quick staggers off to one side, trying to get used to the fact that one leg just isn't there anymore, and Geremond turns away from the wall, takes a step forward, then stops. The huge hispo is pretty obviously blind.
Steven, Seeker, and Velia finally manage to push their way into the fight; the tunnel is virtually wall-to-wall with Garou. Chaser rips into the priest's face; the man's flesh parts like it is wax, or perhaps cold butter, and rivulets of gore being pouring down his body. Memory and Hunter assault the priest as well; through all the incredible damage being delivered to his person, the priest screams a litany of Bible verse -- quotations from the Book of Revelations, for those familiar with such things. Unusually, his body seems to fall apart more of its own accord than due to the work of the Garou -- eventually, nothing is left of him except a large pool of blood on the floor.
Geremond growls thickly into the suddenly quieter tunnel, his bassy voice raspier due to burns. ~Is that all?~
Heart-of-Fury pages to the room: You want us to continue using combat poses, Lys?
Lysander pages to the room: I'll tell you when I want to resume combat posing. For now, everybody can go nuts. :)
Geremond pages to the room: Nuts.
Arlen stares at the puddle for a moment, and then shakes her head, muttering, "More to come," and moves towards the big Get. ~Geremond,~ she rumbles, ~Need aid?~
Hunter prods at the pool of blood with a paw. ~I see nothing more. But I do not think this is our target.~
Heart-of-Fury tries to squirm through the crowd to his packmate; he wants to ensure she's alright. He shifts down to glabro, eyeing the puddle of goo where her attacker had been. While Di heals, Steven kneels by her side.
Wolf-Bear takes a good sniff of the air, mainly towards the gore left of the priest, curious as to the oddness of its disintegration. ~It is a dead walker.~
Scab-Survivor straightens up and walks across the 'battlefield', towards where the robed man just dissolved, allowing his stomach to heal on the way.
The tunnel seems to widen up ahead.
Defends-Wolves takes a look around the room, still brandishing the crowbar and eyeing the pool of blood distrustfully. ~I have no idea. Anyone need healing while we've got a moment.~
Geremond doesn't answer Arlen immediately. ~How many did we lose?~ He turns his head, charred ears shifting. His sense of smell is probably as shot as his eyes.
Sepdet hangs onto her ex-packmate while they heal until the two of them look a little less like they're going to drop, leaning against the wall and as far out of the way as possible.
Lightseeker murmurs, if a Crinos can murmur, ~None. Yet.~
Chaser takes a few breaths and stumbles back to a wall, cradling a charred hand against her belly. She closes her eyes and growls something softly. ~Find it, come ON...~
Quick staggers about slowly, dragging his stump of a leg.
Memory feels cheated by the human's melting. Deprived of prey, she swings around. She's only just started, and, havin tasted blood, is ready for more. ~This one is ready,~ she rumbles. Then ,seeing that healing is going on, she places herself as sentry, alert for attacks as the theurges work.
Geremond turns his head more-or-less towards Lightseeker. ~None?~ He bobs his head. ~Hel. Who else is injured?~ He takes a step forward, then pauses and stands again.
Diana continues to heal, albeit slowly. Blessedly, unconsciousness claims her and quiets her cries.
Scab-Survivor turns after watching everyone else for a moment and stands 'guard' along with Memory, senses trained down the widening corridor.
Wolf-Bear keeps on eyeing the puddle, still armed with a dead man, and waits for his own wounds to heal. He doesn't reiterate his comment, figuring it was of little help.
Lightseeker glances at Quick, and then back. ~A few. Would you rather I leave you in your blindness, however?~
Hunter pads to the other side of the group, guarding the side the Garou came from as Memory guards the other. ~I am unhurt. Memory is unhurt? Is anyone else?~
Seeker roars in frustration at being unable to join the battle. He snarls and looks around at the others, then looks over at the pool of blood on the floor.
Wolf-Bear seems well enough, really.
Sepdet swallows, helps Steven put Di down, and finally gets a chance to look around. ~Di's out, but she'll be all right. Geremond. Quick's short a leg, you're the worst. Send the rest ahead while we heal you, or leave a guard and keep going?~ She seems to defer to the big Get on matters of battle tactics.
Geremond turns his head towards Lightseeker. ~If none are injured more than I, then heal me.~
Wolf-Bear pages to the room: Scd is armed...
Lysander pages to the room: Those of you who have non-aggravated injuries are healing, rapidly, now that you're no longer in combat.
Geremond 's ear tilts towards Sepdet. ~Leg?~
Defends-Wolves leans against the side of the tunnel, letting his own relatively minor wounds heal. He looks ahead down the tunnel, silently wondering what else lies that way.
Chaser snarls again, louder this time, furious. ~Can't find it. At all. Nothing. Other side?~
Sepdet squeezes her way through the group to Quick's side to examine him, and lay hands if it looks like it's not healing on its own (she didn't see what hit him.)
Hunter gives the pool another look, and repeats the words: ~Dark, misshapen, with tusk-ling fangs, and corpses in his wake, and blood on his own lips. Did we find him?~
From afar, to the room, Seeker goes to bed. Night.
Seeker has disconnected.
Steven pages to the room: Hey cool. Lotsa people to guard Diana.
Geremond holds his head still as LightSeeker's hands rest on it and she begins to hum. Cracked, blackened curls of flesh redden, then pink, creeping and merging gradually over slowly uncharring bone. The worst of it is when his eye-sockets begin to refill. As the effect subsides, his eyes are still grey-yellow, blistered and rheumy with puss that congeals beneath him. He does turn his head to face directly towards LightSeeker though, evidently seeing her, more-or-less.
With the rapidity of Garou healing, skin closes over and muscle mends, and Quick is soon nearly himself, no longer shaking or dazed from pain, but still three-legged.
Wolf-Bear pages to the room: Prettier every day. ;)
Quick pages: GM says it'll grow back anyway in a day or two. I think it's a good time for Quick to retire from the battle, as his player wanna go to sleep.
From afar, to the room, Defends-Wolves needs to go to bed too. Work in 4 hours.
From afar, to the room, Quick dittos D-W.

Sepdet settles back on her knees, letting her eyes go distant. ~You're gonna be okay, Quick, but the doctor says you'd better stay out of the next fight if you can. Let me check the umbra.~ She braces herself for a look across.
From afar, to Collin, Kevin Sterling, and Sepdet, Louisa may need to extract herself and head to bed soon, sadly enough.
Lightseeker rises to her feet, and looks around. ~What,~ she asks Stormcloud, after nodding to Harald somewhat remotely, ~Were you saying, earlier?~
Lysander pages: Second verse, same as the first. Icky new-moon city Umbra. Nothing overtly threatening towards your group.
Geremond looks about near-sightedly, studying the others. He pulls his head free of Lightseeker's hands, moving towards Quick, then looking back over his shoulder at Arlen, then squinting down at Sepdet. ~I can see, well enough. I killed that one blind.~ He peers about, trying to spot Touch-Deer. ~Where is our Prey?~
Chaser straightens from the support of the wall. ~I can't see it,~ she snarls. ~I say we keep going deeper.~
Defends-Wolves has disconnected.
Sepdet's attention flickers back to the group after a few deep breaths. ~Umbra's clear. Well. As clear as the city's hell ever is.~
Scab-Survivor remarks from his position at the 'front' of the group, "Nothing I can sense, even with my Gift. We should move on when we're ready."
Wolf-Bear is now looking down the tunnel, attention focused for signs of anything, but does manage to respond to the question. ~It walked and was dead.~
Quick moves himself with wobbly steps in this new gait towards somewhere out of the way.
Geremond growls. ~Then we move on.~ He paces towards Scab-Survivor's voice, altering course as he nears other garou, making his way towards the tunnel-mouth. He pauses next to Wolf-Bear. ~That happens, in the Scab. It walks no longer.~ He paces past the other massive wolf, squinting into the darkness. ~Form up.~
Clouded Sky pages: Did Nepthys die, or wander off?
Hunter shakes out his fur, sending a few droplets of blood flying. Yes. Let us go further.
Sepdet lets out a low hiss, gaze jerking towards the Talon. ~Set's children...~ It takes her second to register Geremond's words. Bristling, she stalks back to his side, or as near as the tunnel will permit.

+scan/doing healed fer now. Back with Gere.
+scan doing set.
+scan
Listeners present:
Name Sex Form Doing
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lightseeker F Crinos HS. +1dex/dodge. Di's group
XanOOC F Lupus -
Scab-Survivor M Crinos RP $ RC
Chaser F Crinos Down 4.
Steven M Glabro -
Sepdet F Crinos healed fer now. Back with Gere.
Geremond M Hispo 2agg,EyesBarelyThere
Wolf-Bear M Hispo w/ gere: SoRW, RP, 4 nagg
Memory F Hispo stv group
Hunter M Hispo Stv: Razor Claws, Resist Pain.
Lysander M Homid -
Quick has disconnected.
Geremond pages: He looks like he can see about ten feet, badly. He looks like second and third degree burns of the eyeballs and head. He also looks like he's determined not to be told to go lie down.
Long distance to Geremond: Sepdet will hover more closely then. Looks like there will be room for me to stick by him next time. Felt bad letting my partner get out ahead of me where I couldn't help. ;)
From afar, Geremond hehs. Gere knew what he was doing. It was worse than he thought it'd be, but he knew _why_ he had to get out front.

Lightseeker moves to rearguard again, eyes somewhat remote.
Wolf-Bear drops the body finally, letting it make a wet cruch on the floor, as he assumes the near-wolf and resettles himself into position not far behind the Get.
Scab-Survivor asks, "Chaser and I will take the lead?"
Chaser snarls an agreement and moves to take the point position again. She takes a moment to scrape her claws along the wall.
Steven rises from next to Diana's healing body, a dangerously malicious snarl on his face. His body gains bulk and mass, as he slides into the warform, keeping the rear guard.
Geremond rumbles at Chaser, then nods more-or-less in Scab-Survivor's direction. ~Ja.~
Chaser starts down the tunnel, her posture low and ready. She makes her way through the dark with the quiet care of a scout.
Collin pages: So how is the hunt going? :)
Scab-Survivor pages to the room: Do Gifts in effect for the last combat end around now?
Memory's rumbles echo her wish to be moving onwards. Restraning herself, she holds back, ready to form part of the backup party again.
You paged Collin with 'We didn't lose anyone but I don't think we got what we came for. We just took out a pack of leeches. Sepdet didn'tfind out til after that's what she was fighting, or she'd a gone crazy.'.
The pool of blood doesn't move or make any other threatening gestures, even as Garou track through it. The tunnel itself widens, after no more than another five to ten yards, into a large room that must have once been some kind of basement storage area. It seems to have undergone a rather dramatic conversion, however, and now it seems more like a nest: makeshift shelving covers all the walls, and all these shelves are laden with all manner of books and newspapers.
In the center of the room is a couch, upon which lays a pale and dessicated-looking body. Behind the couch stand two men -- one is dressed in the manner of a rough street punk and carries a shotgun, while the other is attired far closer to white-collar professional and is armed only with a handgun. The well-dressed man speaks as the first of the Garou come into view. "I should apologize," he begins. "You ran afoul of my troops, and they were, unfortunately, far too stupid to realize what they were dealing with and that you were not their enemy."
Sorry, that player is not connected.
Chaser bares her teeth, just a little, and pauses before the extent of the Garou force can come out into the room and its dangers. She shifts down with a crack of bone, becoming vaguely human, at least. "Explain yourself," she growls softly.
Geremond squints in the dim lighting, the motion dislodging more of the congealing pus around his eyes, pacing about ten feet behind Scab-Survivor and Chaser. His ears turn towards the voice and his head orients a moment later, not quite pointing at the vampires. A drawn out, rumbling growl like boulders grating together grinds bassily from his blistered throat.
The Get woman still cradles an evidently-crippled right hand next to her chest. Her clothes are blood-drenched and ripped.
Scab-Survivor stays in his Warform, and also stops where he is. He says nothing.
Sepdet snarls at Chaser. ~Rip out their fucking _throats_. They'll just magic you with their voices!~ She looks ready to charge, one hand braced in a fist and trembling against Geremond's shoulder. She pointedly doesn't look at the eyes of either of the "enemy", although she glares smoulderingly at the hands of the one with the gun, just daring him to make any move at all.
The well-dressed man shrugs his shoulders, and rests his hands -- including the one curled around the grip of his pistol -- on the back of the couch in front of him. "We came here to eliminate an enemy. We've done so. We were about to leave when my men decided you were another enemy." He flicks a glance towards the tunnel, and shakes his head disconsolately. "So few are worthy, these days, and I suppose I owe you a debt of gratitude for destroying--" He cuts off as Sepdet begins ranting, and quirks a brow curiously. "I assure you, I've no interest in antagonizing you. You're obviously hurt and tired. So are we. There's nothing to be gained by a fight."
Through all this, the shotgun-carrying man stays silent and still behind his companion.
Geremond pauses as he sees the blurs he's been following stop. his head drifts to the side as Sepdet speaks, though it's hard to tell if he's looking at her out of the corner of his eye.
Wolf-Bear, mostly behind others, can't see. Instead he settles himself to just listen.
Memory snarls with the rising Garou chorus. The orders were to kill everything, not talk. Her muscles bunch and prpare to drive her forwards, lips drawn back in a snarl.
Lightseeker shifts uncomfortably, watching Memory, and then crouches down next to her.
Heart-of-Fury crowds into the room, perhaps the last Garou inside the nest. His muzzle wrinkles. ~We do *not* parley with the Wyrm's minions. Not on this day. Or ever.~ He's not waiting for an order to charge. He drops into a crouch and then his body moves impossibly fast, the Galliard obviously using the speed of Gaia's Rage.

Chaser pages to the room: I thought I made it clear Chas is blocking entry into the room?
Geremond pages to the room: I believe she did also. HoF, you're behind, if I recall, me, and Wolf-Bear, which are two large damned obstacles, as well as several otehr garou. Care to rethink that?
You paged the room with 'Not really, but... that would explain why Sep's not just going straight for the Brujah-lookalike. :)'.
From afar, to the room, Scab-Survivor dittos Chaser. TD was too.
Long distance to Chaser: Sepdet has a particular antipathy towards vampires. Gee, wonder how that could have happened?
Heart-of-Fury pages to the room: OK. Whatever. Apparently I'm not reading well tonight.
From afar, to the room, Chaser sorries. She never walked into the room proper, but stopped in the doorway, blocking the rest of the Garou from sight so that the extent of the Garou force couldn't be ascertained. And blocking the rest of the Garou from coming in. She shifted down, but she's signalled to Harald and TD and Sepdet and whoever else is immediately behind her.
From afar, to the room, Chaser needs to snap out stuff and activate Persuasion, if that's OK?
Sekhmet pages: 9 [frenzy roll]
Sekhmet pages: 0
Sekhmet pages: 3

Sepdet, if that were possible, looks more infuriated by the oily-smooth words. She stalks forward, catching up with Chaser and the Wendigo with a determined stride, emitting a low, steady growl that no one here has ever heard from her. It's almost ludicrous, coming from the tiny crinos, but the sentiment behind it is chilling.
Chaser holds up her uninjured hand sharply, the violent gesture a signal to those down the corridor. ~This is not our target,~ she snaps to those behind her. ~We seek /one/ thing tonight, for *Gaia*. We do NOT seek the deaths of Gaia's warriors against the unworthy. And we can always seek these later, when all are able to fight and we can /win/.~ She never takes her narrowed eyes from the speaker.
Geremond leans forward and tags Sepdet's shoulder with his chin. ~Little Rhya, do _not_ get between me and the enemy,~ he rumbles in a tone that brooks as little argument as Sepdet's own growling.
Scab-Survivor remains stock-still where he came to stop moments ago, no words or movements coming from him.
The well-dressed man's lips quirk in a small smile. "Never let it be said that your kind isn't persistent or consistent," he says quietly. "We'd prefer to leave, now. We'd rather leave peaceably."
Heart-of-Fury howls from the back. It's a howl of protest and betrayal. ~Fucking rear guard,~ he snarls.
Chaser's chin lifts a fraction, and she nods slowly to the man. "I'm workin' on it." Her voice is quiet, a little dangerous. Then she growls again: ~Arlen. Your call. If we take them, we'd better do it now and do it smart.~ Her gaze doesn't waver from the well-dressed man.
Wolf-Bear flicks an ear towardds the Fianna's call, but does little else.
Sepdet steps aside to give Geremond room. ~Fuck you, Chaser. Don't you get it? These Apep-spawn have taken our quarry, our glory!~ She starts to add something else, but Steven's howl interrupts her.
Memory's rising growl calms once more at Steven's anguished protest. ~And if we are attacked from behind, we shall be first,~ she says, with a little quiver of anticipation.
Scab-Survivor doesn't move, except to twitch an ear in Geremond's direction. ~Attack, Geremond?~
Hunter's growl is impatient and angry. Why are we waiting? Kill them.
Lightseeker says, ~They're not the specific quarry?~
From afar, to the room, Chaser uh. Geremond is lowerrank than Chas, though she's been 'packed' with him in the fight. She wants wisdom now, though. Guys, please. We're only waiting as long as it takes to do the dialogue which is a MUCH shorter time than this typing.
Geremond gives a low, rumbling growl at the howl. The equally frustrated Get snarls back, ~Better the rear of the Great Hunt than a barstool. A Get cub wouldn't whine so!~ He looks back towards Scab-Survivor. ~Full-moon, we must complete the _Hunt_ Nothing must stop us. Not personal glory. Nothing. If these are not our quarry, then sweep them aside. If they stay, they will die another night. Our Prey must die _THIS_ night.~
The punk's expression sours as the language of the Garou turns more and more towards the prospect of a fight. The well-dressed man, perhaps sensing this, clears his throat slightly. "I hadn't wished to mention this, but I feel that I should. We're content to leave peaceably. We have nothing to gain by fighting you. But I assure you, if you insist on a fight, we may die, but so will many of you. Is that really necessary? Is it really something you want?"
Memory lifts her vice once more. ~We hunt the quarry Gaia showed. Let us run!~
Hunter demands of his friend - Memory: How do you know this one isn't? I cannot see.
Chaser's snarl is sharp, furious, as she holds out a peaceable hand to the evident leader. ~This is not our quarry. Harald. You command. Do we let them go?~
We run in the pack; we hunt in the pack,~ Memory replies. ~We follow the alpha to the prey and the kill.~
Geremond growls. ~If they're not our Prey, we ignore them. If they're foolish enough to still be in St. Claire tomorrow, they die _then_. Now we move.~
Long distance to the room: Sepdet notes she's Chaser's rank. Of course, she's also not using her gord right now.
Scab-Survivor pages to the room: Any way out of this room, other than the way we came in?
From afar, to the room, Memory has to go do a school run. I'll be back in 15 minutes or so. Memory wants a fight, but she'll go with orders.
~Fuck you, Get~ the Fianna snarls back. His scarred expression is fierce. ~I swear I would die rather than let these Wyrm-tainted leeches walk from my claws. We combat the Wyrm where it breeds and where it dwells.~
Scab-Survivor promptly steps inside the room about a foot and then sidesteps to the right, giving anyone behind him room to come in or what-have-you.
Memory has disconnected.
Lightseeker snaps, ~Specific Wyrm, on this of all nights. Can we find the scent again?~
The well-dressed man asks, helpfully, "Perhaps we can help you find what you're looking for?"
Sekhmet pages: 6 [frenzy roll]
Sekhmet pages: 0
Sekhmet pages: 1
Wolf-Bear tries his best once again to get another scent of those before him.
Chaser takes a breath, and then shakes her head curtly to the man in the room. "Go," she says simply. "I won't hold them back, if they want to kill themselves in a useless fight. But I hunt other prey, tonight."
Heart-of-Fury says, ~For the love of Gaia,~ the Fianna calls, ~if you will not fight, then move aside and let your betters finish the job.~~
Geremond turns in the narrows behind Chaser and Scab-Survivor, swelling up into crinos form. ~Motherless, mewling son of a drunkard's vomited bragging.~ He grates out slowly, ~Tonight, we hunt for the Mother. Tonight we hunt for the Sept. If you want no part of that, stay, and kill what you please. I have no time to waste on you this night. _We_ hunt.~ He turns back around, looking towards Chaser. ~Go.~
Geremond contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Geremond shifts into Crinos form.
Sepdet says, ~GEREMOND.~ The Strider snarls. ~They have killed the prey. They die.~
Geremond's head tilts down towards Sepdet as the huge Get hesitates. ~Ja?~
Scab-Survivor suddenly squints, something lighting in his mind, and he steps back to the corridor, his eyes never leaving the two men by the couch. He tries to back up to either Sepdet or Geremond.
Scab-Survivor pages to Geremond and Sepdet: These guys are it, I think. One of them, prolly the well-dressed one.
With a somewhat resigned sigh, the well-dressed man glances back at his companion, who merely nods. Abruptly, a familiar pitch blackness fills the entire nest area, plunging the Garou into silence and darkness.
You paged the room with 'Oh great. I was posing bolting forward. Well here goes. :)'.
Sepdet doesn't wait any more, with no more patience for words or common sense. She bolts in the gap left by Touch Deer, straight into a sudden wall of blackness.
Geremond snarls wordlessly in the darkness.

Chaser pages to the room: And once again, the Garou lose to the vampires because they can't settle things amongst themselves. Surprise surprise.
Chaser pages to the room: Combat, I presume? r are they really running away?
Wolf-Bear pages to the room: Well, guess it fits the Theme of Garou. :)
Lysander pages to the room: Yeah, that's going to be combat poses.
You paged Lysander with 'Oops. Shoulda waited. But. Um. I think I'm the only fool rushing in. ;)'.
Lysander pages to the room: Actually, fuggit. Let's just run with it.
Long distance to Lysander: Sepdet is using Speed of Thought to go nowhere real fast. I _was_ aiming for the "Brujah". (Gun? What gun?)
Lysander pages: You're fully healed by now, right?
You paged Lysander with 'Yes, for a few seconds. :)'.

Scab-Survivor crouches down the moment the blackness envelopes the room and moves forward and to the right, again, senses vainly trained on where the two men were moments ago.
Given the sudden hostile "act" of calling the darkness, Chaser dives with Rage-induced speed toward the last place she might have found a target: dead ahead and a little to the right, where the well-dressed man stood.
Wolf-Bear edges to the side, letting the more froth-mouthed Garou pass him by as he backs up out of the darkness, intent on not letting anything save Garou get back out this way.
Hunter begins edging forward, towards where he remembers the door to be; he goes somewhat slowly, to let the congestion at the doorway clear out.
Geremond turns with a snarl, following Sepdet more with his nose than anything else. If this is not the prey, we need to deal with it fast. If it is... He rakes his claws on the ceiling as he moves.
Lightseeker murmurs, ~Ah,~ and moves forward, hand on the wall, waiting for a chance to move, senses strained.
Heart-of-Fury's voice raises in a keening, its off-pitched, and finally a horrific wail; a preternatural Call to the Wyrm, and it's servants. He wants them to come to *him*, not the other way around.
Lysander pages: Okay. Near you, there's something that sounds like a pistol report. About the same time, a searing lance of pain rips through your chest and shoulder. You've been shot by a small-caliber silver bullet. You've taken five levels of aggravated damage.
As before, very little sound penetrates the darkness -- Heart-of-Fury's howl is muted, almost inaudible. The billowing black fills the entire nest area, and it is monumentally easy for the Garou to lose track of one another within it.
Scab-Survivor inches along the wall of the room, getting the hell out of the way of charging companions. After some time he begins moving forward at a slow and methodical pace, war club being used as a feeler in front of him.
Heart-of-Fury waits, despite the Call not penetrating very far inside the room.
Lightseeker also waits, teeth gritted, at the edge of the room, hand on the doorjamb.

Long distance to Lysander: Sepdet continues to barrel with typical Garou stupidity, typical Strider speed, and even burns a rage to get there faster, jaws and claws spread wide to rend and shred _anything_ she comes into contact with. The only thing even remotely clever is that she aims low, kneecaps and groin being her favorite targets. :(
Lysander pages: You find the couch and make it very dead.
Lysander pages to the room: I need to know, specifically, who's in the tunnel itself, and how big they are right now.
From afar, to the room, Heart-of-Fury is in the tunnel behind Scud still, in crinos.
You paged Lysander with 'THANK you. (Er. Not that Sepdet's happy.)'.
From afar, to the room, Memory things Memory is next to Hunter, both in Crinos, just in front of or next to Steven?
Long distance to Lysander: Sepdet kills a couch in the name of Chloe and all the Striders harmed by the evil minions of Set.
Lysander pages to the room: Okay. I have, at last count, five-plus hispo or crinos-sized Garou in the tunnel.
From afar, to the room, Scab-Survivor is most definately not in the tunnel.
From afar, to the room, Lightseeker is almost outside it, and in fact could be edging around the wall inside right now. Why don't I do that.
Memory pages to the room: Hunter and memory in hispo, sorry sorry!
+scan/doing 5 down, agg damage.
+scan doing set.

The Garou in the tunnel feel a draft pass over their heads, not at all unlike a swooping bird passing close by. The darkness recedes as abruptly as it came, dwindling until it is no more than ropy tentacles of blackness that wrap themselves around a bleeding Sepdet as she frantically shreds the couch upon which the dessicated-looking corpse lies. The well-dressed man stands near her, his eyes focused down the tunnel towards the howler even though he levels a pistol at the small Strider's head. The punk is much closer to the door, his shotgun held at the ready.
Memory's growl takes on a snarling, sing-song tone, althoug there's likely nobody that could hear it. A chant of ingomony for those who would skulk in darkness instead of facing their foes with honor.
Lysander pages: These things are going to immobilize you, effectively. They're strong.
From afar, to the room, Chaser imagines ... do you wanna do the combat round thing somehow?
Sekhmet pages: 8 [frenzy roll]
Sekhmet pages: 2
"Do it and we /all/ die," Chaser says sharply. "
Lightseeker blinks in the sudden light, and then throws the talen in the hand not touching the wall at the man with the shotgun.
Sepdet thrashes futily against her bonds, emitting again that low steady growl like the keening of a banshee about 20 octaves lower.
Scab-Survivor pages: Your bonds?
Wolf-Bear glaces up as he feels the passing wind and scents the air yet another time.
"I would rather prefer to live," the man replies; meanwhile, a glaze comes to his shotgun-toting companion's eyes as he apparently falls under the effects of Arlen's talen. "However, we appear to be at something of a standoff. You're all feeling rather homicidal. You might get me in a rush, but rest assured that I can pull a trigger before you do."
Sepdet almost snorts. ~Just a mule,~ she says, suddenly bursting into quiet laughter. ~Mule versus taking down a leech? C'mon, man. Take him if you can, people. I don't mind.~ She falls still, fury suddenly dissipating into strange resigned merriment.
Chaser watches the man with the pistol, and no one else. "I told you, you wanna go, you go." Her good hand gestures once: shoo. "It's an even trade now. I'll hold that one back if I have to. You walk out." She takes a step forward, cautious.
Hunter's ears twist backwards suddenly; he nudges Memory. Something went that way?
Geremond rubs his eyes with one palm, scowling. ~Crescent-moon. Here. Now.~
Scab-Survivor has frozen where he stood when the blackness dissipated: approximately a third of the way towards the couch.
You paged the room with 'Uh. Geremond. Sepdet's all wrapped up in tentacles. And it's not Mr. Octopus. :)'.
Memory lifts her head to scent the air in the way Hunter indicates. If you sense it, we go, yesyes?
Hunter pages to the room: There are several crescents here, Geremond. Any particular one?
~Go on and kill her,~ Heart-of-Fury snarls from his position, still at the rear of the tunnel. ~What is a metis' life to a Wyrmspawn's? She should be *glad* to make this trade.~ He glances behind him once, half-heartedly. ~No more talk, no more parley. Let us finish this grim business and continue.~
From afar, Geremond ain't talking to you. There's two others. Lightseeker and Hunter.
Geremond growls, more loudly, ~Arlen.~ He scowls, ~Where's the Prey?~
Hunter growls unhappily. I do not. I just... It might have been wind.
Wolf-Bear decides that whatever it was is long gone by now and so resumes listening to the drama up front.
We stop too long, Memory protests. The prey runs, the light comes!
Lightseeker, staring at shotgun boy hungrily, snarls, ~How in Hades would I know? They are leeches, how am I to know if they can mask their forms?~
The well-dressed man shakes his head, perhaps a bit sadly. "Carrell," he snaps; his companion stiffens, but doesn't turn. "I'm afraid you're on your own." With that, the bonds holding Sepdet evaporate; as they do so, the man's very body seems to dissolve into the same inky blackness. The vaguely manlike shape begins moving directly for the tunnel.
Scab-Survivor replies evenly and without much snarling or growling, ~They /can/ mask their forms. I have seen it.~

From afar, Geremond couldn't give that order. :(
Long distance to Geremond: Sepdet hugs.
From afar, Geremond SHOULD have. Whimper.
You paged Geremond with 'Well, Sep was _wrong_'.
Geremond pages: We gotta find the Prey, damnit.
You paged Geremond with 'Wrong wrong WRONG. Prey somewhere else. She was so sure, too.'.

Chaser lets out a breath; she trusts the others to take care of the remaining vampire as she quickly closes the distance to Sepdet--evidently to see if the Strider is able.
Lightseeker takes this opporunity, hand-gun removed from the scene, to launch herself at the scruffy entity with the shotgun, claws blurring towards first the hand with the shotgun, and then trying to gut him, entirely enthusiastically.
Geremond stalks after Chaser, literally ignoring the shotgun-weilding LightSeeker-target.
Disoriented as he is, Carrel the shotgun-toting vampire is readily destroyed by two quick blows from Arlen's claws. He sinks to the floor in a growing pool of his own blood. Meanwhile, the inky shadow-shape moves down the tunnel; where Garou block its path, it slides along the walls.
Scab-Survivor drops his club before sprinting towards the manlike-black-thing that was the well-dressed man, fully intending to let his Rage-sped claws tear it to shreds.
Hunter nudges Memory and turns the direction the draft vanished in. This way?
Scab-Survivor pages to the room: Er, scratch that. If it's down the tunnel I can't reach it.
Sepdet stumbles towards the Brujah-like man the second she's free, a seared gunshot wound having ripped open her right shoulder and that side of her chest. But there's something strange in her eyes as she stares at him, and she just stands there staring for a split second as Arlen takes him down. She shakes her head, eyes clearing, and turns shamefaced to walk back to Geremond. ~Shoulda taken him, Hammer,~ she whispers in a low sad voice. ~Should've.~
Chaser sinks down slowly by the couch, dropping to one knee. "Shit," she says, voice halfway between fury and desperation. "I've /told/ you. There IS no prey. I have /nothing/."
With cat-like reflexed, Memory's claws and teeth seek out the darkness as it passes. She's tasted too little blood on this Hunt.
Geremond glares down at Sepdet, growling very slowly. ~The Prey. Nothing else matters tonight.~
Both Heart-of-Fury and Memory swipe claws on the patch of shadow as it passes them. Predictably, the effects of their blows are exactly like striking shadow -- their blows pass right through, and the darkness continues moving.
Scab-Survivor drops his club and sprints towards the tunnel, dismayed the black and misshapen thing is beyond the reach of his claws. ~Kill it!~
Wolf-Bear lets those behind him try to take care of the shadow, stepping forward into the roon, taking lupus as he does, to check out the body.
Long distance to Chaser: Sepdet . o O (You know. One of those _could_ have been Chloe, if things had happened for the worse.)
You paged Chaser with 'That was the hesitation. :)'.
Chaser slams a fist into the floor--the right one. She snarls, fury and frustration blending in the sound. "You /can't/. Idiots."
Hunter begins moving, assuming (to judge by his ears and tail, at least) that Memory will follow him.
Lightseeker just snarls at Sepdet, and turns to stare at the black thing. ~What can we do then, Chaser-Never-Rests? What?~
Scab-Survivor pages to the room: Is there room in the tunnel now for TD to get inside?
Geremond looks at Chaser with a scowl. ~When did you last scent it?~
Sepdet returns softly to Geremond, her calm back and numb, ~It said...they... they already were hunting something. Something big. Something that needed all those traps and guns and fires to kill. They got it, Geremond. They took it first.~ She hears Chaser. She was not looking towards the wolf-born, whose language one can read best with eyes, and misses any hint that they might yet have a clue.
Memory, knowing her own senses lack the hair-trigger sharpness of those raised only in the wild, trusts to the senses of her friend, and moves quickly to follow Hunter.
Stormcloud takes a few moments to explore the body, taking his time about it before huffing. Would you call these tusks? He indicates the, well, unusual dental pattern of said creature.
Chaser turns on Geremond, violently. "I never /had/ a god damn /thing/," she snaps. "The gift gave me /nothing/, *nothing*!"
Geremond looks down at Sepdet silently for a time, before growling. He glares at Chaser, then looks away again. ~So we have nothing.~ He rumbles flatly.
The corpse on the couch is hideous-looking: skin stretched taut over misshapen features, tufts of hair on its warty flesh, and a pair of large, tusk-like fangs protruding from its mouth. It is utterly dessicated, bone dry.
Scab-Survivor moves quickly as he can manage, trying to get into the tunnel and past everyone else to follow the shadow as it escapes.
Chaser drops again, seeming to deflate. "Nothing," she agrees. "They killed it first. Sepdet was right. We should have been faster. Stronger and faster."
Heart-of-Fury allows the Wendigo to pass as he crowds inside of the "nest" room, a faint looking sneer on his face for those who wanted to "talk."
Sepdet looks at the thing that she probably took a few chunks out of in near-frenzy a moment ago, and just folds her arms in front of her chest. She turns her back on it, eyes distant and quiet now.
Hunter explores down the tunnel, following the vague sense of draft that he felt earlier, already gone; after some time he snorts in disgust and comes back wih Memory, snarling some in frustration.
Geremond growls, ~So if they killed it?~
Lightseeker turns to stare at the corpse. ~Do Garou claws kill leeches completely, or is there more needed?~
From afar, to the room, Scab-Survivor heads for bed. TD tries to follow the shadow, fails at the front door, comes back pissed off, and heads home with the rest you eventually.
Heart-of-Fury says, ~Sever the head,~ Heart-of-Fury spits out on the corpse.~
From afar, to the room, Heart-of-Fury sighs.
Sepdet says coolly, ~Take it out and let Ra burn it to dust. The sun is coming. We can at least do that much.~
Stormcloud takes a moment anyway to shift upwards into crinos and proceeds to sever the head. Perhaps remove a few internals as well, just for fun.
Scab-Survivor has disconnected.
Memory looks deeply puzzled. The Wyrm kills itself? If the prey dies, must it be Garou who kill? She looks about, not finding anyone very much in the mood to answer questions, most likely.
Lightseeker aids Stormcloud in this entirely momentous task, and then glares at nothing in particular. ~Well,~ she growls, ~At least we know they exist now.~
Chaser nods curtly. "Yeah," she snarls. "Fabulous."
Geremond contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Geremond shifts into Homid form.
Harald turns, walking towards the door with a scowl.
Sepdet says in a low voice to Lightseeker, ~The river and the leeches. It's the oldest battle of all. C'mon, I want to see that thing char.~ She helps gather any stray pieces of the unlucky corpse, and heads out.
Harald picks his way out without a word to the others.
Harald pages to the room: Night, folks.
Long distance to Harald: Sepdet hugs a lot. Goodnight, old friend. Poor Harry. But no one died!!!!
Heart-of-Fury says, ~Fucking mule.~ He shakes his head in disgust. ~What an utter failure.~
Lysander pages to the room: Thanks for playing, everyone. I hope you all had fun; I apologize for the slow-moving parts.
From afar, to the room, Chaser sighs, and goes home to feel like an utter failure.
Lightseeker doesn't say a word to Sepdet, or Steven. Or even Chaser. Just helps gather bits of people.
Chaser helps Sepdet dispose of the body. She is silent, tightlipped, like the Fury.
Long distance to Chaser: Sepdet hugs a whole lot, whole lot. That's the Great Hunt for you. Chaser saved people from getting killed though. If she hadn't called a halt, Sep would've probably gone in even MORE brainlessly.
You paged Chaser with 'As would steven.'.
Chaser pages to Lightseeker and Sepdet: Perception, maybe, if you're bothering to look?
Hunter doesn't help at all; he remains on guard duty, growling with angry frustration every so often.
Long distance to Chaser and Lightseeker: Sepdet winces. Not too hard to guess that Chaser's looking dead over this, yes?
You paged Chaser with '4.'.
Hunter has disconnected.
Memory pads silently alongside those leaving, looking more puzzled than anything; puzzled, and unenthusiastic about the return home, in daylight, in a hated form.
Stormcloud returns to lupus and explores the room for a few more minutes, then leaves. He, however, does not return to the Caern. In fact, he is gone the moment he walks outside, scentless.
The more perceptive might notice the flash of tears in Chaser's eyes, the subdued fury behind them as she finishes the tasks of cleaning up. Working with her crippled hand seems to provide her with added frustration, but she does not speak again.
Lightseeker pauses to take a look at some of the books, although given her general frustration, she doesn't do it very thoroughly.
Long distance to Chaser: Sepdet would normally offer to heal, but...Chaser's not wounded enough for it to be a battlescar. And Sepdet knows sometimes people don't want to have salt rubbed in their wounds by having the wounds pointed out. :/
Chaser pages: Smart. She'll get over it. Shitty part is that she'll likely take the biggest renown hit, since everyone seems to think she fucked up for some reason or other.
Sepdet simply sits and waits until the sun has risen, as she said, in order to watch the body char. She's never seen such a thing before. But there is no satisfaction in her eyes, even in the knowledge that there is one less child of Set under Ra's face. She, too, says nothing else, and as soon as that vigil is completed, she lopes home, alone, if possible.
Lysander pages: It bursts into flame under the sun and burns quickly. Yadda yadda.
Long distance to Lysander: Sepdet gets a certain atypical IC satisfaction from that. (OOC, player creeped out by her character's minor obsession FINALLY coming out after 4 years here ;)
Chaser keeps the vigil with the Strider, hate burning in her eyes evn after the sun does its work. Then she parts ways with the others in silence, going her own way alone.
Lysander has left.
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