Shattered Truths, Like Grains of Sand

"What is left when the people you love most lie to you? When the dreams of childhood held dear but never really believed come true? When, against all odds, the dead are counted again amongst the living? Then it may be time to rethink old beliefs. To reassess age-old allegiances. To decide whether blood really is thicker than water. And only when this has been done can you really learn what holds the Wyrm at bay. Is it love? Honour? Kinship? Angst? Or, when all is said and done, could it be mindless Rage that sets us free?"

This was Slick playing with the heads of Renaissance, Striders, and especially me; in the process I ended up spending a lot of time with the Gnawers and getting into RP situations I certainly never expected. I gave him carte blanche to exploit/embellish the missing ends in Sepdet's past as he saw fit, and he certainly didn't disappoint me! Here are excerpted logs, some of the finest RP I've ever experienced. All of these are fun; the four marked with a '*' are the most pivotal scenes.

Calls for help--the story begins to unfold

* Prologue: Many friends and kin of Sepdet's "family", her pack Renaissance, receive threatening or pleading calls from an unknown captive and his captors. Here, the human wife of the pack alpha has a close call indeed.

Warnings and Echoes: Who is Moyan Dashe, and what does he know of Sepdet's past? She, Blinks, and Paul discover this strange madman in the city.

Sifting Clues: Sepdet's pack discusses the (unrelated) disappearance of Eris' human companion and the continuing phone calls. Sepdet calls her old mentor Ibis Scans-the-Ground, her lost father's elder brother, and learns from him ominous warnings and a little about a strange Strider who seems to be showing interest in Sepdet's pack.

Discovery--The answer to the calls is found in one small precious boy

* Finding Sebek: Sepdet and Hazmat go into Gnawer territory to scout out a house from which the ominous phone calls have been traced via the assistance of Remy, a Walker. The spying expedition turns deadly when Sepdet is caught... but when the cavalry comes and the dust settles, the enemy has fled, abandoning their captive to be rescued.

Hazmat lets Sepdet and the rescued captive convalesce in her pack's secret hideout, where the pair will hide from the Dancers for over a month while Renaissance tracks the enemy.

* Revelation: Sebek recovers enough to tell who he is, turning Sepdet's world inside out.

Recovery: The next evening, we get to know Sebek a little better and learn about his past.

Who mourns for Ma'i? Sepdet and her brother chafe in confinement, and Sepdet learns her twin's understandable indifference towards the missing father she idolizes. That night, for the first time in years of seeking his spirit, Sepdet meets her father in dreams.

Exile below the city

Tricycle: While stuck down in the sewers, Sep fulfills an old promise to teach Hazmat spirit speech (much to the irritation of some caern-spirits). This vignette with the spirit of a child's discarded toy is one of the more memorable impromptu scenes I've run.

Dreams from the Tomb I: Joseph Soulcatcher, learning Dreamwalking, stumbles into his best friend's dreams and sees Sepdet as she is, trapped and hiding. good RP.

Sebek's anger: Renaissance tracked and led a raid upon the Dancers, only to be ambushed; Deepsprings was killed. Here, Sepdet risks taking her brother out of hiding to talk to Joseph about the hunt, and we see a little of Sebek's dark side.

Prophecy of the Phoenix: Sepdet, prowling the sewers--all she can do during these dark days while keeping hidden--meets a strange cub and (hopefully) inspires her.

Tussling with brother: It was some of the briefest scenes like this where Sepdet really clicked with her dear twin.

*Tale of Sebek: Sepdet takes her twin out to the forest, hoping to present him to Anubis' judgement. Instead, they face that of the strange Strider, Nekheb, who has several ominous things to say about her dear brother's mysterious past.

Anubis' judgement: Anubis calls Sepdet out to the forest to discuss Strider business, and gives her brother the third degree.

Dante: Sepdet's most unfavorite Gnawer drops in for a visit. It's Dante. What more needs to be said?

Dreams from the tomb II: Sepdet has hit the despairing point by now; the Dancers seem to have eluded the caern since the disastrous hunt, and yet she still dares not go out. This was a really weird impromptu dream sequence GM'd by Adele, Joseph guest-starring. Pure poetry.

Home sweet Caern! This is a long log but fun for me; Sepdet's first night back at the caern was almost sensory overload, both IC and OOC. And five minutes after she's back, they're dragging her off to summon a spirit. (Crow). Gee, it's great to be useful.

Sebek bites back: This brief scene was really disturbing. After two sept members have been turned to the Spiral, Sepdet's staying away from the caern in case of pursuit serves no useful purpose--the enemy now knows where it is anyway. Sebek, however, is less than pleased for her to go. Sepdet sees something in him she really does not like.

Showdown

*Despair's End: Sepdet starts to organize a new party to go after her enemies, but it's far, far too late. Coming back to the fallout shelter where she and her brother have been hiding, she finds him with a Dancer, and hears the horrible truth about him. If Rat's children hadn't come to her call for help, she might have met the same fate as her brother.

Aftermath

Despair, Harano, and the edge: In the wake of the battle, Sepdet's mind cracks. Joseph and Thorn find her at her wildest.

Metamorphosis: Chloe comes to the island to try to heal Sepdet in body, with uncanny results. GOOD scene.

Picking up the pieces: Anubis comes to Thorn's cave to survey the damage, and friends try to figure out from her ravings what happened.

Wandering in madness: Sepdet's mind has retreated to childhood and insanity, while Joseph, Quiet, and others tend her. Here she visits the Wheel and forest, disturbing Eligio and others by her behavior.

Return: Safe in Thorn's den, Sepdet slowly pulls herself back from unthreatening memories of childhood among her jackal cousins. In the here and now, Quiet tells a story of Crossing's totem quest. And Sepdet, finally herself again, is able to recount and remember her brother's sad story at last.

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