8/22/97 Groundskeeper's plans to close the caern's clearing are postponed by news from those investigating the caern's collapse. The sept discusses the news.


Around the Pool
Contents:
Quiet Pool
Obvious exits:
Forward Back Center of the Wheel
On the eastern curve, Cassandra looks up, almsot as an afterthought, and pauses as she sees Anne. Her manner is, however, somewhat wary, her stance tense. "Yo," she greets the old Fury quietly.
On the southern curve, Scott takes a deep breath,"Some of the Theurges were going to summon spirits to do it, as I understood, Alexander." He looks to Andrea,"What di you guys find out that made Robert change his mind about closing up the clearing?"
On the eastern curve, Anne waves one hand idly. "Evening," she replies. "What's the word?"
On the southern curve, Andrea raises her chin slightly. "Buffalo said the sacrifice was not in vain." is quiet. "What's up with you?"
On the southern curve, Scott blinks and then asks,"Did he say any more than that?"
Sepdet wobbles and blinks by the water's edge for a while, blinded by the sudden sunlight. She straightens slightly as Quiet's words drift across the empty caern.
On the eastern curve, Anne lifts her shoulders idly. "Not a lot, here. Scouting, guarding. Talking to a lot of animals about the trails. Where'd you folks go?"
cw
You make your way to the northwest, back toward the center of the Wheel.
Center of the Great Wheel
Contents:
Alexander
Broken Table Stone
Obvious exits:
Windy Spot South Pool East Fire Pit North Earth Mound West
Sepdet folds her arms, looking hesitant, but far more at ease than last night. An odd bemusement quirks the corners of her mouth, as if debating whether to add anything or keep a discreet silence.
Alexander mutters something under his breath.
On the eastern curve, Cassandra snorts and sinks down, parking in the grass not far inside the circle. "A damned long way. Found some shit out. Good shit." She lowers her voice a bit.
On the eastern curve, Anne crouches down beside Cassandra, flicking a glance out towards Andrea and Scott and Alexander before turning her attention back to the other Fury.
On the southern curve, Andrea nods, running her hand through her hair. "He told me what we needed to do, so the strength he sacrified for can be realized. At least, in general. It's up to us to work out the details." She looks around, still tense. "I heard about this very late last night, and came her not only to stop it, but to use it to work on some of those details."
Sepdet says to the stone, not looking to Alexander, ~I understand the Warder has sensed some activity the umbra...besides, of course, the fact that things keep attacking a thing which is dead and should hold no interest for them. And some others have had signs that the process that Buffalo started is ready now.~ She sounds faintly uncomfortable, and glances towards Quiet with more than a little relief at the elder theurge's words.
On the eastern curve, Cassandra looks down at the grass, still oddly tense.
On the southern curve, Scott lets out a long breath, alot of the tension that's been drifting about him for the last few days seeping out. "Gaia," he breaths. "We can build another Caern. That is good news."
On the eastern curve, Anne murmurs to Cassandra, "That what you found?"
On the eastern curve, Cassandra nods slowly. "It ain't dead, just damn well buried, from what I can glean of Theurge-talk," she mutter.s
Sepdet looks up at Scott's words and quirks an eyebrow over at Quiet. ~What I saw wasn't coherent enough to guarantee it's a _caern_ that the power's being used to create. I still can't feel a thing in the umbra, though Robert-rhya has.~
Alexander looks over at Sepdet irritably. ~Yeah. I guess the Caern's all set to rise from the dead now, huh?~
On the southern curve, Andrea shakes her head. "I don't know if what we have to do will free the caern itself, or the strength to be a caern. But it's more than we had."
On the eastern curve, Anne studies the others in the clearing, then raises her voice to call out, voice deliberately casual, "Andrea, there any plans yet to discuss this with everyone involved, then?"
On the eastern curve, Shea makes her way out of the woods to the east.
Sepdet gives Alexander a skeptical glance. ~I don't quite share the optimism of those theurges bound and convinced they felt something the very night it died. I don't know what in the world they were sensing. I'm just trusting to Buffalo that something is coming of all this, as Robert-rhya suspects.~
On the southern curve, Andrea looks over as she's called. She raises her voice to answer, "Yes. I was telling Scott I found of this meeting late last night. Since I didn't have a hope of spreading the word through the galliards, I came to discuss it with everyone here." She pushes back her hair again, the gesture showing more than her face her tension. "We have an idea now, but there's still talking, and work to be done. I'll need everyone that comes."
On the southern curve, Scott looks over the clearing, and says,"The /Wheel/ is dead, one way or another. Whatever comes after it, even if somehow it's 'reborn'" he doesn't seem to favor that notion," it still won't be the Wheel Renewed. And if we build something new..." He stops, shakes his head a little. "No matter what happens, we'll be building something new." The galliards words seem to be free-flowing, perhaps as much for his benefit as Andrea's.
On the eastern curve, Anne tilts her head to one side, still crouched lightly. "What meeting?"
Alexander shrugs at Sepdet. ~I thought you were the one that had been talking about it rising Phoenix-like from its own ashes on the night it died. I must have heard wrong.~
On the southern curve, Andrea says "That the caern clearing was to be dismantled, and Shea had called for all that would to come."
On the eastern curve, Enlightenment dawns on Anne's face as she nods. "Ah! I hadn't considered that to be a meeting as such; no wonder I'm confused. Now, what's this about not being able to spread it through the Galliards?"
On the eastern curve, Ravenfeeder makes her way out of the woods to the east.
On the eastern curve, Shea slips through the trees, and heads, hands in her pockets, toward the center of the clearing. As she walks, her brow furrows by degrees. "I thought you were gone," she directs at Andrea, once she's made it through.
On the eastern curve, Shea heads into the center.
On the eastern curve, Brightspot makes her way out of the woods to the east.
On the eastern curve, As Anne's attention is distracted, Cassandra rolls away and stands up, almost a defensive maneuver. She looks across the former Wheel at Andrea for a moment, as if debating.
On the eastern curve, Heart-of-Fury makes his way out of the woods to the east.
On the eastern curve, Sleeps-in-Snow makes his way out of the woods to the east.
Sepdet purses her lips at Alexander. ~Buffalo sacrifices himself to nurture something else. He did that, when we were all bent on stopping him. The _only_ reason I could think of then is that it had to be destroyed to make something else. I still don't know if that's the Wheel, a new caern...or...~ she shrugs. ~It was a lot of power. It must go somewhere.~
On the eastern curve, Ravenfeeder follows in a pace or three behind Shea, and tilts her ears forward to catch the sounds of the Caern.
On the eastern curve, Sleeps-in-Snow pads in well behind the others, very quietly almost slinking in, he is crouched as low to the ground as his wounded body allows. He lies well away from those gathered, ears cocked forward and roaving eyes alert.
On the eastern curve, Brightspot moves even closer to Ravenfeeder as the group leaves the cover of the forest. She takes a quick, searching look around the Wheel, then lowers her head with an almost inaudible sigh.
On the eastern curve, Heart-of-Fury steps out of the woods just shortly behind Ravenfeeder, he does likewise, looking for his other packmate.
On the southern curve, Andrea turns to Shea, then looks back at Anne. Her words answer both. "I was gone, I and my pack. We just returned yesterday." She gestures toward Cassandra, next to Anne, with one hand. "I didn't have a chance to spread the word among the galliards because I found out that this dismantling was happening late last night, and I couldn't find anyone before I had to sleep."
Alexander shrugs his shoulders. ~I'm no Theurge. I don't know why the spirits do the things they do. Looks like you were right. You should be happy.~
On the eastern curve, Anne flicks a glance at the Blackwatch members as they arrive, a nod of greeting being given quickly before she slants a look towards Cassandra, jaw a little tight. After a moment or two of silence, she says to Andrea, "Well, then. Here we are."
On the eastern curve, Ravenfeeder catches the tenor of things at the Wheel, and slows, continuing to pad towards the center more cautiously and with piqued curiousity.
On the eastern curve, Ravenfeeder heads into the center.
Ravenfeeder has arrived.
Sepdet gives the dead caern a slow, grim survey and returns her glance to Alexander. ~Magpie and the Three are dead, and everything that I really cared much about. I will be glad if their loss is not totally in vain.~ The words are clipped and flat, like most of what she's said here tonight.
On the southern curve, Andrea looks around and nods. She says, "Let's go to the center. I'll strain my voice, I think, before this is done." She moves as soon as she finishes speaking.
On the southern curve, Andrea heads into the center.
Andrea has arrived.
On the southern curve, Scott nods and follows the Ritemistress to the center.
On the southern curve, Scott heads into the center.
Scott has arrived.
On the eastern curve, Anne rises out of her crouch, one hand stretching out to beckon to Cassandra as well.
Sepdet looks sidelong at Andrea and lets out a tight breath. ~Still need Robert-rhya. _And_ Eligio...I wish I knew what he'd found out too.~
Shea slows to a halt, and folds her arms across her chest. Her eyes shift between Andrea's approach, and Sepdet, then back again. "So," she begins. "What's going on?"
On the eastern curve, Cassandra shrugs unhappily, but follows as bid, running a hand through her hair.
On the eastern curve, Cassandra heads into the center.
Cassandra has arrived.
Alexander says, ~I'm sure you'll find another place to go if this one doesn't work out.~
On the eastern curve, Anne follows the Wheel to the Fire Pit.
Near the Fire Pit, Anne circles the Wheel, arriving from the eastern curve.
Near the Fire Pit, Anne heads into the center.
Anne has arrived.
From afar, to Andrea, Heart-of-Fury, Alexander, Ravenfeeder, Scott, Shea, Brightspot, Sepdet, Cassandra, and Sleeps-in-Snow, Anne peers at her brain and her fingers warily.
On the southern curve, Crystal comes in from the woodland to the south.
On the southern curve, Crystal ambles out of the woods, towards the center of the ex-caern.
On the southern curve, Crystal heads into the center.
Crystal has arrived.
On the southern curve, John comes in from the woodland to the south.
Near the Pool, Paul appears in a glimmer of light.
On the western curve, Shakes works his way free of the dense treeline to the west.
Andrea looks around and takes a deep breath. Her eyes first meet Shea's. "Shea, I'm sorry I couldn't find out before this, since you called for this gathering. I looked for you, when I looked for Brian." She then raises her chin again, making up a little for her short stature. "My pack spoke with Robert last night. He said that no more would be done to the caern until he said, because of what Buffalo told us. I'm here to tell all of you what we found, and ask for ideas and aid."
On the western curve, Shakes sits quietly, and watches from a shadow toward the periphery of what was once the Wheel. His ears cock toward the sounds at the center and his eye squints at those gathered there.
On the eastern curve, Sleeps-in-Snow heads into the center.
Sleeps-in-Snow has arrived.
Sleeps-in-Snow pads in very quietly almost slinking in, he is crouched as low to the ground as his wounded body allows. He lies well away from those gathered, ears cocked forward and roaving eyes alert.
Crystal looks at the Child of Gaia curiously, her interest suddenly piqued.
Moondancer has connected.
Scott waits quietly for the Ritemistress to continue.
Cassandra flops down in the grass, her expression somewhat tense. She watches Andrea closely but doesn't add anything to her packmate's statement.
On the southern curve, John approaches the remains of the caern from the forest, stopping to listen to the elder Gaian.
On the eastern curve, Brightspot watches the others approach the center one by one, but the cub makes no move to follow along. She crouches down off to one side and folds her arms on her knees and lowers her chin to her arms, making herself small as she watches the gathering growing.
Shea's eyes narrow, and she tilts her head slightly to the right, her attention now locked upon Quiet. "Did he?" She hesitates only a moment, takes a breath, then shrugs, the motion slight. "Tell it, then."
Moondancer slips in quietly and listens.
Sepdet moves a little unconsciously toward Quiet as well, as if standing backup. With her downcast eyes and tightened jaw, she seems to be competing with Quiet and Cassandra to see who can look the least comfortable delivering the supposedly comforting news.
Alexander pages: No reaction to what he saiD?
On the eastern curve, Robert makes his way out of the woods to the east.
On the eastern curve, Joseph makes his way out of the woods to the east.
Long distance to Alexander: Sepdet wants to try to get into the main discussion and stop bickering.
Crystal mumbles quietly, "Interesting."
Alexander moves deliberately away from the crowd, toward the mound.
Alexander heads northwest to the mound of earth.
Alexander has left.
Andrea gives a slight nod and does so. "Right after Cassandra told me the Fury rite had shown nothing at the caern, Elan came to my pack at the story tree. He told us he'd seen something. It was enough to check, so I did. I didn't see any light, like he did. But there was something there, even if I couldn't tell what." She pauses, then says bluntly, "I became desperate. I tried to open the caern, even though there was no caern. The rite didn't succeed, nor did it fail. My totem comfirmed that the place was connected to Gaia, but it was not. Like it opened a small way, but nothing pushed through." Cassandra watches her packmate's face, sitting not far away on the damp ground.
On the eastern curve, Heart-of-Fury's ears twitch as he listens quietly.
Crystal frowns.
On the eastern curve, Robert just nods, having heard all this before.
Scott's expression darkens significantly as he listens.
Anne folds her arms over her chest, though her expression does not change, remaining so bland as to likely be deliberate.
Andrea shakes her head. "There'd been enough unsupported hope spread around the caern. It did more harm than good, leading some people to believe in a rosy ever-after, and others to respond with rage at seeming blindness. I told Brian and Robert, and my pack left. We went to find answers, if there were any. I'd never even heard of such a thing, and had no idea what it meant."
Near the Pool, Paul leans on his oversized staff by the poolside, listening quietly.
You paged Andrea with 'Well put. ;)'.
Shea inhales, and straightens up, tucking her arms more tightly across her chest, but doesn't speak.
Andrea looks up again. "We went first to our totem's homeland, under the waters. He gave us some hints and possibilities, but no firm answers. He sent us on, to those that would know more of this place. Sebastian led us to Buffalo's land." She swallows here, then continues. "Buffalo spoke to us with the many voices of his children. He said the sacrifice was not in vain. The Wyldling has to be freed, to complete the process. Soren has seen repeated visions of ea tunnel, and a feeling of pressure and being caught. From Buffalo's words, I think both the power and the Wyldling have gone deep. Deeper into reality, like the Umbra is the deeper side of the Realm's reality. We can't find either, but until we free the latter, the former stays trapped as well."
On the eastern curve, Joseph stands not too far from Robert, listening to the conversation thoughtfully.
Now, the beginnings of a scowl form on Anne's face.
Sepdet nods to herself tiredly as Quiet talks, shoulders still hunched with tension.
Andrea spreads her hands. "I can't promise that means the caern comes back as it was, even after we do this thing. In fact, I can say it won't. Buffalo said part of the sacrifice is that he will not again guard this place, and I got the feeling that neither Cougar or Magpie will either. Buffalo said a new patron would have to be found, before the Wylding is freed. And it may be that the power surfaces elsewhere, or as the raw potential of a caern or as..." Her voice turns bitter. "As damn near anything. The Wyld helps on its own terms. But Buffalo has said that the sacrifice was not vain, and that's more than we had."
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Message: 22/35 in folder main Received: Sat Aug 16 09:26:22 1997
From: Eligio Sacateca
To: Sepdet
Subject: DREAM: traceries of power in sleep
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A dream comes at night, unbidden, soaring in silently on the wings of an owl. The images are fluid and hard to grasp but one catches a feeling of strength slowly building. The leylines of Gaia's lifeblood are visible, pulsing with raw and primitive strength like a tracery of veins spidering through rock and soil. There is an image, too, of a silkworm, spinning its cocoon and then slumbering within.
You awake, then, and somebody is there with you. A man, tall and wiry, with a familiar ponytail and feathers in his hair. Eligio looks up and you can see through him, partly. When he speaks, his voice sounds low and distant as if through a tunnel. "Don't lose hope. Strength comes from within, you need only open the way. Without it, we are only silken threads blowing in the wind." He is silent for a moment and he does not respond to questions should you gather your wits enough to ask them. Then, finally, almost as an afterthought: "It is a long journey back. Tell Therru I will keep my promise and return for her." In the morning, when you truly wake, there is no sign of his coming or going, except for a single owl's feather on the ground by where you sleep.

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Shea inhales again, and though her brow is still wrinkled, now, she speaks. "The sacrifice wasn't in vain. The Wyldling, that everyone thought disappeared, and the power.. caern's power, I guess, went deep, whatever that means, and even though we don't know where either of them are, we're supposed to free it? Oh." She amends. "Maybe find a new totem or two, then find this place where the Wyldling went, and free it?"
Anne speaks, voice no longer as light, heavier with sarcasm, after Shea. "That sums up what I heard very nicely, Shea. And you have no ideas on how to find the Wyldling?"
Andrea's lips quirk a little. She answers, "I don't think we can find where it went. I think we have to call it to us. And I know the gift of Command, and the rite of Summoning, and there are other theurges here that do as well. And I know the Wylding's name, from before it was freed."
On the eastern curve, Joseph begins to nods, slowly.
From afar, to Sepdet, Cassandra, and Robert, Andrea looks at Anne. "It's what I have. Do you have anything better?"
On the eastern curve, Heart-of-Fury's ears flicker forward again, and he wants to know when this spirit will be summoned.
Sepdet glances over at Anne and clamps down whatever she was pursing her lips about.
Moondancer looks up at Sepdet. Butterfly?
Andrea waits for Anne's response, chin still raised. Cassandra's gaze hardens suspiciously on Anne, her body tensing.
Sepdet nods curtly to Moondancer and shifts her feet, looking subdued.
Anne gives Sepdet a long, cool look; her words are less sarcastic, though obviously the change in tone is not meant for the metis. "Morgan will aid as well, I'm sure, Andrea. The Wyld is one of the things she has studied extensively, I believe."
Robert pages to Andrea and Sepdet: Then why in blue blazes can't she /sense/ it?
Ravenfeeder chuffs softly at Andrea. I, too, have a gift to call spirits by name. If it might help.
Andrea says simply, "I'll accept aid from everyone that will give it." She looks toward Ravenfeeder, and some of her tension softens in a smile. "It just might. Thanks." Cassandra stares hard at Anne. "What about you? You gonna help us or not?"
Scott says mildly,"Okay, for those that can neither speak with spirits or the langauge of the crescent moons..." There is a hint of anger lurking somewhere in that phrase, hardly surpressed as he looks over those standing in the center,"What is there for us to do? Keep on guarding this place until the rest of you figure out what you are doing? And how does one summon or find a totem for a Caern without building a Caern?"
Anne turns to face Cassandra straight on, the dark eyes narrowing a little. "What the hell kind of question is that? Do you think I'm not _going_ to?"
Near the Pool, Echen contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Near the Pool, Echen shifts into Homid form.
Near the Pool, Brian comes into the Wheel from the south, dressed in jeans and an unbuttoned plaid flannel shirt; the latter garment drapes around the layer of gauze and medical tape that swaths his abdomen.
Cassandra crosses her arms across her chest, though her body has gone iron-hard. "I hardly know what to think anymore," she admits, with a moment of uncharacteristic softness that quickly fades. "C'mon. Prove my dreams wrong."
Shea stands her ground. "We're assuming -- and I'm guessing --," she answers Scott, without looking away from Andrea, "that summoning and commanding this Wyldling out of whereever it's supposedly gone, is going to make a totem pay attention to us."
Near the Pool, Paul watches Anne and Cassandra's confrontation with quiet eyes.
Anne keeps her arms crossed over her chest. "_What_ dreams?" she demands.
Scott snorts and half turns away, taking a few paces from the gathering.
Ravenfeeder takes a page from Alexander's book and, now that the announcement has been made, moves back towards the eastern side, still near by out of the thick of things.
Andrea looks at Scott seriously, then glances toward Anne and Cassandra. Her voice is pitched stronger when she answers. "Everyone has a part, Scott. Certainly, we always seem to need protection." She rubs the side of her face and looks at Shea first. "I'll depend hard on the galliards, for certain. I don't know how you go about finding a caern totem. The only caern I helped awaken had totems already willing to protect it when I arrive. I'll need galliards to carry news, and search for the ways such a thing has been done." She turns more to Shea. "Becuase I don't think just summoning the Wylding is going to make a totem pay attention to us. I think we have to do that first."
On the western curve, Shakes cocks his head and lolls his tongue, watching in interest. He doubts anyone would have use for him in this.
Sepdet lets out a sharp breath through her teeth and finally speaks up, with some reluctance, looking towards Scott. ~The Wheel's still getting attacked, even if it _is_ dead. So keeping watch has value--we don't know where the new seed we've seen in our spirit-quests will manifest itself. Looking at other places in the area that are showing odd signs of change...theurges aren't the only ones who may notice it. Getting this information out to the sept, _without_ wild speculation, but just the bare bones, is important. Not raise hopes to crazy people sitting in the umbra thinking it's going to open up all by itself. Just tell people what's been found, so they know. I was told pretty firmly during my own search for answers that unity of purpose would 'open the door'.~ She sighs. ~Whatever that means.~
"The ones that say that some among the Eldership of this Sept want to see this place destroyed?" Cassandra returns, now shaking. "When y'dream the same dream every night f'r a week, clear as day, it's kinda hard t'dismiss."
Andrea gives a startled glance toward Cassandra, turning her eyes from Shea.
On the Earth Mound, Alexander's head comes up sharply, looking between Anne and Cassandra.
Shea's shoulders rise toward her ears. "Which would make sense, according to what you've said Buffalo told you, but Scott has a point. There's no caern here to interest a totem. Nothing. It's not tainted, or ruined, and we ought to be glad of that, but there's nothing special about it. If there's nothing special, how do you bother a spirit into deciding to stay? If the totem won't stay, we can't free the Wyldling, and we're back where we started. Aren't we?"
Crystal simply stands quietly, her arms crossed about her chest.
Anne stares at Cassandra, eyes widening a little. "What the hell would make you think it was _me_? Or any of us? If there's any of 'em planned it that's a trouble, but I've not heard or guessed a whisper about it for anyone. What was this dream?"
On the eastern curve, Joseph tenses a little, looking between the Furies.
Shea looks over at Cassandra, as well, eyebrows climbing higher, now.
Near the Pool, Brian just stops on the edge of the Wheel, listening to the arguments being fired back and forth and shaking his head slowly as the nature of the disagreement/discussion begins to become clear.
On the Earth Mound, ~I've had dreams, too.~ Alexander's voice comes from the earth mound. ~Started the night the Caern fell, and went on for a week. Started up again last night, when whatever it is that's here supposedly 'woke up' again. Only in my dreams, it was the Striders that wanted to see this place destroyed.~
Scott lets out a long breath and gives a curt nod to Andrea. He looks about to snap out an angry retort at Sepdet's words, but bites it down, fuming slightly as he stalks several more paces away.
Near the Pool, At that, Brian speaks up too. "I also had a dream. It started way back in the November of 1994, and it was that you're all crack-smokers."
Near the Pool, Paul says, ~The /real/ fight will be in, and for, the hearts and minds of the Garou.~ He breaks down into coughing after the strain of speaking the wrong tongue in the wrong form.
Sepdet glances towards the northwest, face closing and then opening again. After a long, slow deliberate glance at Paul and Moondancer, she replies tiredly, ~If the Wheel is dead, so are we. It was Horus' last hope.~
From afar, Sleeps-in-Snow wishes to know if you are Logging this.
Moondancer turns her head to look up at Sepdet sideways, her ears cocked curiously.
On the Earth Mound, Alexander says, ~Typical response. What the hell does that mean?~
Cassandra snarls, "If you think I knew and thought I wouldn't get my ass kicked for it, mebbe I'd'a said somethin' before, huh?"
Near the Pool, Brian begins, slowly, to head towards the center.
Anne spreads her hands out, pulling herself up very straight. "I _still_ haven't heard what this dream actually was. But I swear to you," her eyes narrow a little more, "I'd die myself before I'd want a caern, _any_ caern, destroyed."
Sepdet holds up a hand. ~Please, can we stop arguing. If it's dead, it's dead. If not, it needs us. If Buffalo and all the theurges who have seen something are right, we need to figure out where the power went from the caern that the Wyldling's taken. The power of the Wyldling, plus the dead caern, may be what's needed to attract a new Totem.~ She looks imploringly at Shea. ~Or else we can just give up and blow the place up. But that would make Buffalo's sacrifice pretty empty.~
On the Earth Mound, Alexander says, ~What about if what those of us who *aren't* Theurges have seen is right?~
Near the Pool, Brian raises a hand. "I wanted it destroyed," he says, as seriously as possible. "I'm guilty, I admit it. In fact, Saul Ben Isaac was an old drinking buddy of mine before any of this all started. He and I used to keep the Ice King in our freezer, back when he was only an Ice Wannabe."
Near the Pool, Brian heads into the center.
Brian has arrived.
Crystal rumbles, ~I don't believe it's a /we/ decision. This is why we have an alpha, to make these decisions.~
Near the Pool, Paul's nose twitches.
Sepdet glances at Brian pleadingly, and again clamps down a response to Alexander's barbs.
Ravenfeeder chuffs in response to Crystal's words. Or the Warder. It is the Caern we are talking about.
Scott snorts his agreement with Alexander's words.
On the eastern curve, Joseph glances at Robert, momentarily, and then returns his gaze to the center, and Brian.
You paged Scott with 'Feh. You think the striders wanted the caern destroyed too?'.
Cassandra turns to look at Brian, measuringly. "Then will you tell me why the fuck I'm dreamin' this shit? An' why I ain't the only one?"
On the eastern curve, Robert looks over at the large Fury with a somewhat piercing gaze, then his expression calms somewhat as he walks towards the center of the caern.
On the eastern curve, Robert heads into the center.
Robert has arrived.
From afar, Scott nooos, he's non-plussed with the Theurges as a whole right now.
Andrea glances between the Furies, to Brian, then answers the Shadow Lord. "Not all my packmates are theurges, and we all went to Buffalo."
Anne interrupts, "Alexander dreamed something different from you, Cassandra." She tosses her head enough to shake a lock of hair out of her eyes. "I would be more inclined to blame something else than a true dream."
Moondancer lowers her head, following Sepdet's lead in not responding to the insult.
Crystal glances at Robert, feeling his gaze. Her look is steady.
On the eastern curve, Joseph heads into the center.
Joseph has arrived.
Ravenfeeder snorts, inching forward to Shea's side. And they could both be true dreams.
"He was good for keeping the ale cold," Brian goes on. "And I remember fondly the time that we had Silvernails over for barbecue. That man was just amazingly gifted at shishkebab." He then turns towards Cassandra and shrugs. "I haven't the first clue, but -- and I mean no disrespect -- you do follow Uktena. That might go a ways towards explaining your more bizarre dreams."
Cassandra takes a step back, unconsciously toward Andrea. "So prove to me that's what it is, an' I'll shut the fuck up and leave y'all alone."
Sepdet drops a hand to Moondancer's shoulder, murmuring, ~Later. Caern matters now.~
For answer to Brian, Cassandra mutely points to Alexander.
On the eastern curve, Heart-of-Fury pulls up and heads toward Shea, brushing against her leg.
On the eastern curve, Heart-of-Fury heads into the center.
Heart-of-Fury has arrived.
Long distance to Paul and Moondancer: Sepdet seems to mean the slight hasn't been forgotten, just backshelved.
Shea looks to Sepdet. "Look, I'm not trying to argue. I'm trying to bloody well understand, because what was said, and what we can do seem to me, at least, to be two different things right now, and if that's so, then we're gonna spend a whole lot more time sitting on our arses, hoping and praying for something that has no chance, to work."
Near the Pool, Paul says, "Dreams can be Sent, not just experienced."
Moondancer leans against Sepdet, just barely touching her leg. Her ear flicks in acknowledgement.
Brian shrugs again at Cassandra, and then calls over towards the earth mound, without actually turning to face Alexander, "Don't tell me you've been smoking the funnies page again."
Robert holds up his hands and says, "First of all, I'd like to ask the members of this sept to stop having pizza before going to sleep. I hear the consequences of such can be rather bad. Secondly," he continues, "we seem to have a certain break here--those who believe that something is going on with the caern and it needs to be brought back, and those who think it's dead and gone for good."
Ravenfeeder seems about to add something before Robert speaks up, and holds her tongue, leaning against Shea briefly and looking up at the theurge.
Anne eyes Cassandra for a long moment, then says quietly, "Later. We _do_ have caern business to attend to." She turns towards Robert, tension still obvious in her movements.
On the Earth Mound, Alexander says, ~I had to give up that habit. It was costing me a fortune.~
From afar, to Andrea, Paul, Anne, Heart-of-Fury, Shakes, Joseph, Alexander, Ravenfeeder, Scott, Shea, Moondancer, John, Brightspot, Sepdet, Cassandra, Brian, Sleeps-in-Snow, and Crystal, Robert, having gotten rather tired of the usual bickering IC, is invoking GOod Faith. You may be affected or not, as you feel appropriate. Just letting you know.
Andrea takes Robert's interuption as a chance to turn away from where Alexander sits on the edge, and go to touch Cassandra's shoulder gently. She murmurs to the other Garou softly.
A scowl forms across Cassandra's face at the perceived insult to Uktena, and she nearly whirls on Andrea as she is touched. Not quite, however; the seething fury so plain in the Ragabash's manner fades quickly, leaving only a long, thoughtful gaze on Brian, Anne and Robert, all three.
Robert lowers his arms and continues, "If those who think the caern is dead are correct, but the resurrectionists do their ritual anyway, what have we lost? Time, yes, and that can be a precious commodity. Everyone is convinced, and we go on with life, united again. If the resurrectionists are correct, and do their ritual, we have a caern again, somewhere. Once again, in that case, we have unity of purpose for the caern. What, in the long run, is harmed by humoring their ideas for a short amount of time?"
Sleeps-in-Snow nods to himself at Roberts wisdom.
Near the Pool, Paul opens his mouth, but shuts it again with comments unsaid.
On the southern curve, Moon Otter comes in from the woodland to the south.
Crystal slowly turns her attention to Robert, focusing on the Warder. She nods as well.
Anne says dryly, "I don't think it's humoring of their ideas that's happening, or not happening. It's not having the first idea what they're talking about, or when we do not thinking there's a hell of a lot _we_ can do beyond be grunts."
On the southern curve, Falcon's Wing comes in from the woodland to the south.
Despite the slightly-bloodied bandages on Brian's belly and the size of the moon, seems in remarkably good humor (as his exercizing of his wit has by now no doubt illustrated). "On the other hand, Robert, and just to play Devil's Advocate here for a second, who's to say that any of this is worth pursuing? Any ritual to rebuild a caern is going to be costly, both in terms of what it takes to perform it as well as the blood that gets shed to defend it. If this is all smoke and wind, then we expend ourselves uselessly. I think I'd feel better having a lot more evidence that this was true before I order the sept to participate in what's going to amount to a suicide charge for a lot of people."
On the southern curve, Moon Otter drifts in from the southern woods and stalks through the trees around the perimeter of the caern--uncomfortable with all the people gathered tonight.
Scott snaps slightly, though his manner isn't as antagonistical as it was just moments ago,"That isn't my problem, Robert-rhya. It'd be fucking nice if the Theurges gave us a goddamn clue as to what was going on /before/ the startling revelations. I don't know how many people I asked about what has happened, or what was happening to make them think the damn Caern wasn't dead. All I got were blank looks. It'd be nice if those of us that get to just bleed and die for the place were kept up to date about what those that are blessed enough to actually fix it are doing." Maybe it's just the moon, or the fact he's a galliard and getting left out of the loop is upsetting him, or maybe it's both.
Brian adds, glibly, "Twenty living Garou defending Gaia's Bones are better than five live ones and fifteen dead ones scattered around a maybe-Wheel."
Shea lifts her chin a little, looking at Robert now, and says, quietly, "We just want to understand, and know we're not wasting our time, sir. That's all." She closes her mouth then.
Near the Pool, Paul whistles into the wind. Perhaps something like whistling into the dark.
Cassandra snarls, eyes moving to Scott for a moment, "Weren't you listening to a damn thing that was said? Or do you just bitch to be one more voice in the pack?"
Pack> Paul's whistle drifts on the winds, speaking that those who asked, obviously asked the wrong people.
On the Earth Mound, Alexander heads into the center.
Alexander has arrived.
On the southern curve, Falcon's Wing drifts to the edge of the clearing, following the angry voices. Take it they haven't done what they were planning yet, he says in greeting.
Sepdet shoots Scott another glance and mutters. ~Saw a fucking _caterpiller_. Like I could tell anyone that and not get laughed out of the caern.~
On the southern curve, Moon Otter turns back from his navigation of the Wheel, going west back to the windy spot.
Alexander comes up behind his former packmate and puts a hand on the Silver Fang's shoulder. ~Back off a moment. That's the fucking Warder, man.~
Something seems to go out of Andrea at Brian's words. She drops her eyes and says nothing.
Sleeps-in-Snow looks quietly at brian and mummers, "Two live caerns with 10 Garou is better than one with 20."
Anne turns to look down at Sleeps-in-Snow. "Who," she asks, "_are_ you?"
On the western curve, Shakes's head pops up where he watches this all from a safe distance. Caterpillar? Maybe the caterpillar banes are back...
That seems to snap what little control the Galliard seemed to be keeping. Scott starts towards Cassandra with murder in his eyes, though the hand on his shoulder stops him. He snarls lowly, and shakes it off, but at least seems distracted from going after the Fury and goes quiet.
Crystal speaks up, now, ~So, then, a decision must be made on what to do. The question is, is this a decision of the Caern, in which case, Peacekeeper-rhya would make a decision, or a decision of the Sept, where it would be Echen-rhya's decision.~
On the southern curve, Falcon's Wing pads into the center and noses the Fang cub.
On the southern curve, Falcon's Wing heads into the center.
Falcon's Wing has arrived.
From afar, to Andrea, Anne, Heart-of-Fury, Joseph, Alexander, Ravenfeeder, Scott, Shea, Moondancer, Sepdet, Cassandra, Falcon's Wing, Sleeps-in-Snow, Crystal, and Robert, Brian notes, incidentally, that those of you who're affected by Robert's gift and are arguing in bad faith ought to be experiencing bouts of flatulence about now. :)
Ravenfeeder pages everyone: Ewwwwwww.
Towards the Alpha, Robert simply replies, "Then don't order them. I'll take the damn responsibility if you won't shoulder it. Caern or no, I am still Warder of this sept's territory, and this is intimately intertwined with its land." He snaps his head around and frowns at both Cassandra and Scott, saying, "This is neither the time nor the place for division of that magnitude."
Alexander says, ~May I say something?~
Ravenfeeder's ears flatten reflexively at Robert's words towards Brian, although it just as quickly fades, agreeing with the rest of his point. She continues to sit next to Shea and listen to the arguements and tensions with hackles half-raised.
Anne gives Crystal another look, ignoring her tribemate now. "It's _our_ decision," and one hand sweeps around to indicate everyone. "We're not mindless followers and something of this magnitude needs everyone's efforts if it's going to happen, so just being dictated to 'this will happen' or 'this won't happen' just won't work." To Andrea and Shea, she says, "I think I've heard some stories that might be relevant. Lemme think about it a few nights, I haven't heard them in a long time."
Shea untucks her arms from across her chest, and raises a hand, as well.
From afar, to Andrea, Heart-of-Fury, Joseph, Alexander, Ravenfeeder, Scott, Shea, Moondancer, Sepdet, Cassandra, Brian, Falcon's Wing, Sleeps-in-Snow, Crystal, and Robert, Anne er. Our *other* tribemate.
Robert nods to Alexander, then Shea.
Heart-of-Fury almost mirrors Ravenfeeder's reaction, but he too continues to sit near Shea, silently.
Sleeps-in-Snow stands and limps slowly away from the caren.
Andrea doesn't look at anyone in the face, her eyes still down. But she does raise a hand to touch Cassandra again, this time silently.
Sleeps-in-Snow has left.
Scott grits his teeth but nods mutely to the Warder's words, evidently accepting them. He stalks away from the center, towards the pool, to put more distance between himself and the others.
Scott heads southeast to the pool.
Scott has left.
Cassandra lets out a loud fart, perhaps only coincidentally turning it in the general direction of the Sept. She ignores the touch of her packmate, turning just as Scott does and heading westwards.
Sepdet slips an arm around Moondancer and sits down, practically disappearing in the mob of more impressively statured Garou. She stares through legs at the blank and broken Tablestone patiently and intently, as if she could bring back Buffalo to explain what, it seems, all the words tonight have not managed to.
Cassandra heads west, away from the center of the Wheel.
Cassandra has left.
Crystal just /looks/ at Anne, furrowing her brows.
Falcon's Wing stares after the cub and follows him to the edge of the Caern, and then lies down, tail over nose, watching the center.
Falcon's Wing heads south, away from the center of the Wheel.
Falcon's Wing has left.
Andrea drops her hand loosely, and does not watch Cassandra leave.
Alexander looks around, first at Sepdet, then at Brian, then around the rest of the clearing. ~A lot of people have 'seen' a lot of shit. Some of it good, some of it bad. Me, I've never been one for believing that half the 'dreams' people have around here mean squat. But when you start having the same dream night after night, you have to wonder, even if you're me. Tell me it's just smoke, fine, I can buy that. But like Echen said, we need more proof. Because if my dream is just a crack-hallucination, then there's no reason to believe otherwise for Cries-Wolf,~ he indicates Sepdet, ~or Shadow-Eyes, or any of the others who've 'seen' things, either.~
Brian appears genuinely puzzled that the Warder would cast aspersions on his willingness to take responsibility for this sort of thing. "Robert, if there's enough here to go on, then I'll happily order the sept to die to the last man to build or rebuild this thing. But I'm not convinced there is yet. What's been said since I got here --" He pauses and glances around the gathering. "Has seemed like a lot of people passing off opinion as fact, a lot of people pointing fingers, and a lot of people just guessing about what they've seen or dreamt or think they've seen or dreamt. I'm not a skeptic. But I'm not about to send a sept of Garou to their deaths based only on what I've heard. That's all."
On the western curve, Cassandra heads west, out past the rim of the Wheel.
Ravenfeeder chuffs, looking at Brian, trying to get his attention as well, looking as if she might have somethign to add.
Sepdet looks up at that and says softly, ~There is Buffalo.~
Andrea raises her eyes to Brian. She starts to say something, then checks herself. She glances toward Robert, nodding her willingness to speak when others are done.
Robert turns and nods once again to Shea, awaiting her words before doing replying.
Shea lets her arm drop to her side, then rakes a hand over her hair. "Robert, sir, you're the Warder, and you're in charge of the caern, or the lack of one, over and above us all. No one's going to question that." She glances briefly at where Sepdet stood, even if she's not visible, and looks back. "I'm the Groundskeeper now, and much as folk might think I just want to destroy things, I -did- go looking in the Umbra. Sat here, and closed my eyes, and really -tried- to feel something special. Like I said, it's not ruined, but I haven't seen or felt anything that I'd call a sign that this place has any hope of coming back. I'm tied into the land here, too, hey? So I, like a lot of the rest, am going to doubt. Even though I'm a theurge, who can talk with spirits, and who believes in a lot of things that can't be touched. Sometimes, even -I- need proof."
Anne gives up looking at Andrea and scowls after Cassandra in irritation before turning towards Shea to listen to her comments.
Near the Pool, Paul clears his throat, from the sidelines. "May I speak a moment?"
Robert nods slowly at Shea, merely taking a moment to wonder softly "What constitutes proof?" before turning to nod at Andrea. Hearing Paul, he nods in his direction, but holds up a finger to allow Andrea her turn.
Brian takes a few steps over towards his packmates, and crouches down -- with some evidence of pain from the wound in his gut -- next to Ravenfeeder.
On the western curve, Rik folds his arms over his chest and smiles to himself.
Andrea's words are nearly toneless, and harder to catch than her earlier story. It's apparently well that Robert is asking for silence as he is. "I also wanted more than glimpses and dreams. I went looking for answer. I have Buffalo's words, and his saying that the Wylding must be freed for the strength to come. I don't know what other proof to seek."
Ravenfeeder flickers an ear. It may not be important, but there have been more than dreams about the Caern. Hawkmoon told around new moon that their totem gave Sleek Black a vision of the Caern surrounded in Fog.
On the southern curve, Falcon's Wing heads into the center.
Falcon's Wing has arrived.
Falcon's Wing heads east, away from the center of the Wheel.
Falcon's Wing has left.
Near the Pool, Paul says clearly enough to carry, but tiredly, "All I have is some logic to relate. I was thinking caterpillars or entombing before Sepdet came back, but I will freely admit to bias in wanting there to be a way to recover from the horrible mistake, if not actual /serious/ crime we've all participated in. Or unfinished business if the 'bargain', whatever it was, was really kept. Shea, if there's nothing special here, why are there weaver webs, where the heart of the caern once was? Webs that can't be cut, can't be damaged, can't be removed? Webs that just appeared directly after we cleared out of Umbra, directly after the last Totem gave himself? Webs that weaverlings, or something, tried to reinforce? If they're even weaver's webs, not something else, couldn't they conceal whatever is underneath them?" He pauses a moment, then sighs again. "Or these Hounds, or the magething or whatever that's been harrying here. If its dead, gone, unrecoverable, just normal woodlands. Why the fuss? Why the attention? I'm done, and I know all I've given are questions. But I wanted to grandstand a moment and share the things I was thinking."
Near the Pool, Paul goes back to leaning on his staff. "That's it, I guess.
On the eastern curve, Falcon's Wing heads east, back into the forest and away from the Wheel.
Ravenfeeder's ears flatten again at Paul's implications of a "crime" having been committed, and she can't help herself from growling as she looks over at him. But then physical pain manifests itself in her posture, and she looks down to the ground, shaking.
Near the Pool, Shadow-of-Blood appears in a glimmer of light.
Paul pages: Think I should mention that we've almost all of us either ALREADY taken actions that have caused a caern to be violated, or else by refusing to act further and follow through, we'll seal that verdict? ;)
Alexander offers, ~That one guy might have kept harrying us because he just wanted to. He enjoyed it. Not everything that comes after us does it just because of the Caern. Some people actually hold petty grudges.~
Shea shakes her head. "If it were as simple as saying, this is what I want to see as proof, then we wouldn't need to have this meeting at all, would we?" She looks toward the pool. "I don't know why there are webs there, and that's part of the problem." She looks back at Robert, then to Brian, and lastly to Quiet. "There are so many questions, and so few answers, and even all the questing that they did to help, didn't. It just raised more questions. I'm not saying it shouldn't have been done. I just... I donno." She sighs, and shrugs once more.
Robert looks to Brian and Shea. "There is a little more than dream, at least. There are some facts, including a few from the one who sacrificed himself to this Wyldling. However, they are, admittedly, secondhand for most of the sept. Paul's inferences, though those are chiefly by inductive reasoning. I'll admit, *I*'m not convinced that anything would work. I'm not certain I see the harm in trying. And I think our tragedy would only be deepened if we did not try, and yet this group *were* right."
On the western curve, Rik lifts a hand, raising two fingers in the air, ready to take his turn in this village council meeting.
Anne puts in, "I think _I_ would like to hear some ideas on what would have to be done to carry through on this idea. Maybe that would help. From what Andrea said, we're sort of stuck with, well, things that a lot of people can't really figure out. We don't even know what it would really take."
Alexander has disconnected.
Near the Pool, Shadow-of-Blood limps as he materializes, the top of his head and his muzzle still a mass of healing scabs. He gingerly pads over towards Scott to wonder what is happening?
Alexander has connected.
Alexander pages all: Well, fuck. :P
Robert nods at Anne, saying, "Good point," then turns and nods to Rik.
On the western curve, Rik says "Hi. I'd heard your Sept was having some trouble. Thought I'd come out and volunteer my assistance. If you need a non-bawn centre of operations, I'm only about six miles away by the railroad tracks.""
Near the Pool, Scott comments quietly and stiffly,"They are talking of the Caern, and the fact it's power may not be gone, even if it's dead, and how to either revive or release that power."
Brian nods pointedly at what Alexander says. "Jerran was about as deep as your average layer of pondscum." He then turns back to Robert, and draws a long, slow breath. "I've heard an awful lot of stories about Garou who try to open or reopen caerns, Robert," he says. "The majority of them don't end happily or successfully. And *here* -- here we even had a rite, one that I'm told is specifically used by the Furies for locating potential caerns, tell us that the place was dead. Balance that against Paul's eternal optimism, a totem who we can hardly count as entirely objective after what happened, a bunch of dreams and visions, and the guidance of a pack that follows Uktena. I don't know. I just don't know."
Near the Pool, Shadow-of-Blood chuffs and accepts Scott's explanation. After waiting while the alpha speaks, he looks to Scott and wonders why people think it is dead when it has some part of the Wyld's strength?
Andrea has disconnected.
Robert nods slowly at Brian's words. "True. Very true. We have one rite and the dead feeling against a handful of visions, an Incarna or two, and the mistress of the rite here. Where, exactly, does one place one's faith?"
On the western curve, Rik shrugs and glances at the sky. "Or not. There's folks who know where to find me if you social animals figure you wanna ask."
Long distance to Shadow-of-Blood: Sepdet has been WAITING for someone to do that. I don't have the gift, so I couldn't. :)
Anne rakes her hair out of her eyes again. "Andrea's position is based partly on the Incarna and partially on what happened when she tried to open the caern, as near as I can tell. Brian, had you heard that one?"
Brian answers, "I don't know, Warder, I don't know. Visions can be misleading and wrong. So can spirits, even Incarna. And though I respect Quiet a great deal, she follows an untrustworthy totem, and she was also the one under whose advice we performed the rite that put us where we are now. She has nothing to lose and everything to gain by supporting this effort, even if it's completely useless."
Shadow-of-Blood pages: Of course, no one else is paying attention, obviously. One problem with speaking in lupus. <deep, melodramatic sigh>
Moondancer pages to Paul and Sepdet: Whee. If that doesn't get your point across, it's because he doesn't WANT to listen.
On the western curve, Rik shakes the rain from his hair, which is now nearly inches long, and moves into the woods.
Andrea has connected.
Brian adds, "However. I'm willing to listen. I'm willing to let myself be convinced or persuaded. I'm willing to approach this with a relatively open mind. I just don't want to stake everything on a throw of the dice. I need more."
You paged Shadow-of-Blood with 'And I'm sitting down, so I didn't see you. :)'.
Near the Pool, Scott shrugs and then says quietly,"I don't think it's as simple as that. Some people, most Garou, can't feel anything of what was once here."
Ravenfeeder looks towards Brian intently, looking like she would like to say something but keeping herself tightly in check except a hint of plea which escapes.
Crystal slowly settles herself down to the ground, laying her legs out to the side.
Shea sighs a deeper sigh, letting her shoulders drop to some degree. "This isn't solving anything," she comments, with apologetic looks at both Brian and Robert. "One side or the other is going to have to give in, and we're a lot of stubborn sorts. If it helps to make any decisions, one way or the other," she adds, raising her voice again, "I'll sit on my doubts, and help, as I can."
Near the Pool, Shadow-of-Blood did not mention anything of what was once here, merely the Wyld. This one feels nothing of what was once here. This one cannot say that about the Wyld. But there is not here what was once here, true.
Crystal chuffs.
Near the Pool, Scott turns on the lupus, blinking as things start to come together. "What, what do you mean? You can feel something now? Where?"
Heart-of-Fury's tail swings a bit, as he looks at Brian suddenly. He offers one comment and then falls silent. I told you when I came to this sept, that I'd die to defend it, and I still believe, in my heart, this place is still worth dying for if there's a chance, Echen.
Ravenfeeder seems relieved at Shea's words, and relaxes with it. She chuffs after Heart-of-Fury does. Me, too.
Near the Pool, Shadow-of-Blood chuffs at Scott positively. Shadow. Center.
Near the Pool, Scott says "Now?"
Shea sits, between Ravenfeeder and Heart-of-Fury.
Near the Pool, Shadow-of-Blood chuffs positively again, then corrects himself. Before I came to the Realm.
Near the Pool, Scott turns and calls towards the center. "Uh Brian, Robert. I think the Talon has something you ought to hear."
Robert nods gratefully to Ravenfeeder, Shea, and Heart-of-Fury. "Thank you," he says gently. He looks at Brian for a moment before being distracted by Scott. "Hm?"
"I heard him," Brian mutters; Shadow-of-Blood has been obliquely in his field of vision during the entire discussion. He looks over at his packmates, and says quietly, "Go ahead into the Shadow and take a look. Take Branwyn with you, hm?"
Heart-of-Fury pulls himself to his feet and chuffs softly at the Righ. He moves to the pool.
Heart-of-Fury heads southeast to the pool.
Heart-of-Fury has left.
Ravenfeeder whines softly, and leans against Shea, then looks up at Brian's request. She chuffs as well, then moves out after Heart-of-Fury.
Ravenfeeder heads southeast to the pool.
Ravenfeeder has left.
Near the Pool, Scott replies,"He said something about feeling something in the Caern's center. I'll go..." He trails off and shrugs.
Brian lets his attention move to Scott. "You go ahead too, Scott. And you." The last directive is for the Talon. "Show them what you're talking about."
Shea climbs again to her feet, and heads toward the pool, after her packmates.
Shea heads southeast to the pool.
Shea has left.
Andrea stays where she is. She raises one hand to rub her throat.
Near the Pool, Ravenfeeder chuffs recognition at Shadow-of-Blood, then waits for the young theurge to lead.
On the eastern curve, Brightspot finally stirs, lifting her head to watch as her tribemates move off towards the pool.
Joseph shifts in his stance. The Wendigo looks both tired and anxious. He watches the others hed toward the pool nd shifts again.
Near the Pool, Scott nods slowly and moves to slip through the gauntlet.
Near the Pool, Scott's eyes stop on his reflection in the pool.
Near the Pool, Heart-of-Fury's eyes stop on his reflection in the pool.
Near the Pool, Shadow-of-Blood's eyes stop on his reflection in the pool.
Near the Pool, Ravenfeeder's eyes stop on her reflection in the pool.
Near the Pool, Shea's eyes stop on her reflection in the pool.
In the Windy Spot, Moon Otter looks curiously over towards the Talon near the pool, but decides to leave the matter to those best able to handle the umbral matter.
Near the Pool, Shadow-of-Blood gazes into the pool, and suddenly he vanishes.
Near the Pool, Scott gazes into the pool, and suddenly he vanishes.
On the western curve, Rik heads into the center.
Rik has arrived.
Near the Pool, Heart-of-Fury gazes into the pool, and suddenly he vanishes.
Near the Pool, Ravenfeeder gazes into the pool, and suddenly she vanishes.
Near the Pool, Shea gazes into the pool, and suddenly she vanishes.
Sepdet wraps her hands around her knees, still waiting. She does glance up towards Alexander once with a tired, thoughtful frown, before going back to her vigil.
Andrea finally speaks, looking at Robert. Her tone is even duller than before. "Since my word would only be suspect, I will wait at the island. If the Wheel decides they want to try, you need only send word." She then turns, not looking at Brian, and shifts.
Andrea contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
Andrea shifts into Lupus form.
Quiet heads south, away from the center of the Wheel.
Quiet has left.
Brian runs a hand back through his hair as his packmates, Scott, and Shadow-of-Blood depart into the Shadow. "What about the rest of you?" he asks. "Is what you've heard enough? Can you make the leap of faith required?"
Crystal quietly shakes her head.
Robert nods sadly at Quiet as she leaves, then looks around the caern as Brian speaks.
Rik looks around for the responses to the Fianna's question.
Moondancer perks at the question and stands beside Sepdet.
On the southern curve, Quiet heads south, out of the Wheel and into the forest.
Anne shrugs one shoulder, shifting her balance to the other foot. "I asked for a plan, or some idea of even how to start. I will try to remember the stories I've heard in the past about convincing spirits to become totems for caerns. Beyond that? Don't know."
Alexander says, ~If you order it, I'm in.~
Brian shakes his head at Alexander. "Not what I asked," he says, with a bit of a wry grin. "I want to know what you think, not what you'll do. Is what you've heard enough to convince you?"
Near the Pool, Paul laughs a little bitterly, "I was willing to give life before, and it sounds like Quiet-rhya HAD a plan, barring only the finding of totems. Part of a plan's better than none, at least, and maybe others can come up with more. I think the danger of a summoning, if we can find a spirit or spirits that might try to be a totem, is a lot less than a Building. If it works, and the Mountain Bowl isn't where this seed sprouts, maybe we'll have to Build there too, and risk our lives yet again."
Alexander shakes his head. ~Convince me? No. But it'll take a hell of a lot to convince me. And I admit I'm probably being more stubborn than I need to be because I've gotten pretty damn sick of listening to fools running around saying that the Caern's healing itself because they say a light or got a funny feeling in their big toe. But I'm no Theurge, I don't need to understand everything. Just enough to weigh the risks, and I say go for it.~
Joseph looks from one to the other, and then toward where Quiet departed.
Rik looks to Alexander. "So. You got a funny feeling in your big toe, Thomas-rhya?" he asks, almost not quite smiling.
Alexander snickers softly. ~No, I don't have any feeling at all. It's...~ He shakes his head again. ~I'm not that strong.~
Crystal says, ~I am... dubious. You are correct, Echen-rhya, in that what I have heard sounds ephemeral, at best. If such potential exists, why would my sisters' Rite not see it? It is a Rite that has been long-used, and well-proved. Yet, the ways of the spirits /can/ be mysterious, and I am hardly an expert in them.~ She pauses. ~I will stand behind whatever decision is come to, and defend and help this sept, wherever its physical location may be.~~
From afar, to Anne, Joseph, Alexander, Rik, Sepdet, Brian, and Robert, Crystal needs sleep now. G'night all.
Alexander looks toward the pool again. ~What was it he said he saw, anyway?~
Brian rubs a hand across his chin. "Let's begin looking more closely, then," he says pensively. "Let's call Buffalo and Cougar and Magpie to us, if we can, to answer our questions. Let's see if we can't decipher some of these dreams and visions into something coherent. Let's try to study the Shadow more closely, and try to keep track of and spread news of anything that happens so the whole sept has the whole picture. If there *is* something to be saved, then we'll do whatever we can to save it. But let's try to be reasonable about that 'if'."
Rik says "Urm."
Robert says "Urm?"
Crystal has partially disconnected.
Rik says "Yeah. Like I'd said earlier. Even when the caern was active, as I recall, you guys had a hard time passing messages and spreading news more quickly than half-thawed molasses. That was the main reason I came out here."
Crystal has disconnected.
After getting no response, Alexander takes a deep breath and prepares to just sit and wait for the group's return.
Anne suggests, "Perhaps we could call another little meeting on Tuesday. Megan and I have something we'd wanted to do then, but that might be enough time to at least start thinking about, and working out, such things, Brian?"
Brian nods slightly. "That sounds like a good idea, sure," he says. "Hopefully we can get more of the tribal elders there."
Alexander snorts softly at some private thought.
Anne glances around at the Garou still in the Wheel. "That'd be good. And of course everyone else. You'll be there, right, Alexander?"
Alexander smiles wryly. ~Long as you hold it here, I can't help but be there.~
In the Windy Spot, Moon Otter finally speaks from his distant and shadowy vantage point. If the caern is dead, what happens to the lands? If they are to be abandoned, those of the wolf could use them and they should not be ~sold~.
Near the Pool, Paul says towards the Winds, "Not everyone will abandon the place if it stays caernless, I'm sure."
Anne turns to look at Paul, the scowl of earlier in the evening returning. "What, and live completely caernless?"
Near the Pool, Paul answers Anne mildly, "Perhaps."
Near the Pool, Paul adds, "Rhya."
In the Windy Spot, Moon Otter flicks an ear. The wolves need more room to expand, to take back what the apes have destroyed or claimed as their own. If there is no caern, there is no reason for a great many Garou to stay and deny them these lands.
Alexander says, ~If there is no Caern, there's no reason for *any* Garou to say.~
Sepdet gets stiffly to her feet, massaging one temple with the back of a knuckle like someone with a fairly intense migraine. She nods to Robert and Brian numbly and starts heading back towards the pool.
Anne keeps staring at Paul, and asks finally, "Okay. Let me get this. If there's no caern here, you'd stay here and live caernless, but you'd only perhaps be living caernless?"
Rik says "There's a damn good reason."
Pack> Sepdet hums something very softly on the wind, in a flat monotone faintly tinged with warning. /Paul. They'll just say it's more proof we're up to something. They want scapegoats, not answers./
Near the Pool, Heart-of-Fury appears in a glimmer of light.
Near the Pool, Paul looks back at Anne, mildness gone and the moon's influence showing in his tone, "If this place is no caern, and NO ONE makes a caern near here, I will still stay. I might not stay twentyfour-seven, Nimue-rhya. My Tribe has a penchant for travelling and acting as messagebearers. So I won't be cut off from Caerns, or Garou, or Duty as I see it. But that does not preclude me from taking a home here, among these trees, and protecting it as any of us would our homes. And I'm going to seriously hope at least some of my packmates might join me, but if not, some Striders walk alone too. It is /ALSO/ somewhat premature, both with the current lack of certainty here, as well as the mutters of moving into what the Talons have guarded and raising a Caern /there/. Which also would not preclude me making this my home, as it has been these last two years." He finishes with a curt, and formally respectful, "Rhya. Do you have any other questions for me?"
Brian has disconnected.
Near the Pool, Shadow-of-Blood appears in a glimmer of light.
Joseph has disconnected.
Anne waves one tired hand. "Don't be an ass," she mutters; the words probably don't carry, and maybe not even the tone of irriation mixed with resignation and a sense of writing something off.
In the Windy Spot, Moon Otter bristles at something in Paul's words, but leaves it to the elder Fury to handle.

[At this point I got disconned] 1