2019.08.19:Theurging 101
| Theurging 101 | |
|---|---|
| Garou and Kinfolk get a lesson about Spirit Junk | |
| IC Date | August |
| IC Time | Afternoon |
| Players | Aaryn, Micah Starnes, Apollo, Branton, Dominic, Shaun, Nascha, Lleutrim, Iris, Cait O'Connor, Frost, Zyler, Theron, Karma, Dragomir, Ryla |
| Location | Ritual Clearing, Caern, Sept of the Enduring Spirit |
| Prp/Tp | Just Iris sharing elder Theurge knowledge |
| Spheres | Gaian Garou |
Frost enters the clearing with a notepad and pencil, looking around for a spot to sit. She moves up towards where the front is, taking a seat before opening up the notepad while she waits.
The Ritual Clearing is pockmarked with shallow craters, gouges, split stones and various other evidence of rituals that have gone horribly wrong (or horribly right), or otherwise resulted in some dangerous results. Iris is here of course, and she DID in fact bring brownies! Several pans of them, but zero napkins and zero plates!
As people start arriving and chattering and whatever the case may be, she beams a smile and says, "Hello! Come on in, help yourself to a brownie! THAT pan right there is non-drugged, but the rest all have weed in them. Thanks everyone for coming by, hopefully this turns into a nice and productive afternoon! Mainly I just want to start off with getting to know all of you people that think you might could use some Theurge learning. For those of you that don't know me, I'm Iris Tiganites, Elder Black Fury born two legged under the waxing crescent moon. I'm the Goop Mistress of the Devil's Own pack under the cunning warrior Weasel."
Walking in somewhere in the middle of the group, the man in black steps off to the side, instead of approaching Iris directly. Zyler takes a slow look around at those who are gathering, frowns slightly, then simply shakes his head. He finds a spot near the wall that has him close enough to hear the training at least and leans against it, to dutifully keep it up while watching Iris intently.
Hunts the Shadow is curled within a space that looks like it hasn't taken too much damage. Perhaps this is an indication that when things go wrong, it is a safe place. His head rests on his paws and his ears are perked up.
Shaun finds his way finally to the gathering, and looks around at everyone. He chooses a place in the back to sit down by himself and observe quietly.
Dominic absolutely showed up, with leather-bound journal because he is a product of Silver Fang privilege. He is here to learn and record and be observant.
Quietly walking in, dressed up all professional, prim and proper, Ryla steps into the clearing, and remains at the back for now. She needs to get a read on everything, and everyone.
"First thing I want to mention is to my Garou brothers and sisters," Iris says, "I am up before dawn each and every day, I'm outside and ready to sing the sun up with the rite Greet the Dawn. ANY of you who wishes to learn any rites from me, you can come and meet in the morning each day to practice learning a ritual. I'll allot four hours every day starting at dawn to ritual teaching, but then after that I got shit to do and most of you guys probably do also, so if you wanna learn rites from me, adjust your schedules."
OOCly speaking, this is basically just permission to cite Iris as a teacher for any rite she's listed as having on the Rituals_by_Type wiki page. Excluding Black Fury rites of course, unless you ARE a Black Fury.
To learn a rite from someone, if you're not already aware, you put in a +xpreq as normal, but instead of listing an XP cost, you simply type "Learning from Iris". Hit enter, then +roll/job ####=Intelligence+Rituals vs 10-your Int score. If you get one success, then you've learned the rite. Rite learning takes 1 week per level of the rite, so it's GREAT for getting all those Level 1's learned up while you're spending your hard earned XP on tribe-specific rites, higher level rites, or whatever.
<OOC> Iris says, "Also that's: https://coh.spork.com/index.php?title=Rituals_by_Type for those that haven't already seen the page."
Mottled Wolf appears to be laying under a tree, relaxing as she watches people come and go. She's lounging extremely lazily, but when Iris enters, and steps up, she'll perk up to watch curiously.
Karma moves in silently. There isn't even a faint drop of her footfalls across the ground or the leaves. Her eyes shift towards Iris with a smile, but it's a solemn thing. So she moves towards the back. This way she can watch everyone and has an exit to bolt out of if things get furry.
Theron arrives quietly not wanting to interfere. The Get of Fenris kinfolk pauses and spots those from FrostBite, tempted to join them. Still, instead, rather than overstep the would be modern viking warrior stays in the back out of the way.
Slowly, Zyler's attention drifts from Iris. He can't help it. That draw, that nagging irritating grating sense. That smell. It was there.. His attention settles on Dominic for a moment, black gaze narrowed in contemplation. And then Ryla walks in. Zyler shifts his weight, that tension in his arms showing slightly as he shifts his attention over to her, eyeing her for a long moment. Gritting his teeth quietly and slowly, the man in black tries to focus back on Iris and her explanation.
Branton is coming in late with napkins, plates, and a trash bag for refreshment refuse. Having assigned himself to handle his fiance's logistics. The refreshment station gets the accoutrements added to it and Branton pays attention to what Iris is talking about.
Aaryn sits, quietly and gives Iris her attention, but takes the time to spare a nod for Branton and to can't her head to the side and side over to make room for their Kin. There's plenty of new faces, certainly, but Aaryn seems too serious to study them each for now.
"The second thing I want to mention is for my Kinfolk brothers and sisters," Iris goes on with a smile, "Most of these rites are basically just for the Garou and kinfolk cant really perform them. Think of it like human church; you can be a part of the faith, but it's the priest that's made covenants with that god and has the authority to perform the rituals in a church service. But, kinfolk CAN help with rituals in a minor fashion, and that can be a real life saver with some things. For kinfolk, I'll set aside four hours a day starting in the evening around 8ish just in case any of our kin have day jobs, for the purposes of teaching the art of ritual-assistance to anyone that would like to learn. Its the Shifters that make the rite work, sorry to make you feel a little second-class about this guys but it just is the way it is. Still though, understanding what's happening and why is a massive help to you yourselves, and KNOWING things is also a huge help. So during those four hours we'll discuss rituals themselves, recognizing them, some lore stuff so that if a young Garou that's fresh off the boat doesn't know something, you can fill them in as a Kinfolk that's been paying attention and been around for a while."
Ryla sniffs around a bit, and stops. Her eyes meet with Zyler, and there is a look right back at him. She keeps her distance for now, and refocuses back onto Iris.
Karma looks between Ryla and Zyler. However, while she seems to look at everyone gathered (at least once); the bulk of her attention is on Iris as she speaks. Informed Kin are more likely not to be chewed on kin.
Branton is keeping an eye on the audience as Iris continues, nodding absently as he notices how many kin actually are here.
"And then um.. Yeah, that's basically all I've got for immediate announcements, schedules or anything like that." Iris says, taking a moment to inhale a little bit of brownie. "I was trying to think up a great lesson plan for today, but then I realized that I don't really *know* any of you lot or what you even want to learn, so that should really be step number next, I think. If each of you could give a short-version introduction and tell me what you feel like you could use work on, that'd be great. Something like um... 'I'm Betty, Bone Gnawer Theurge, and I feel like I've gotten pretty good at rituals in general and I'm doing great with summoning spirits, but I feel like I have no idea what spirits are even out there, so I'd like to know more about spirits in general'. Or whatever, Kin or Garou, tell me where you're at currently and what you think you need to bone up on or what you'd like to be better at, just as long as it's honest is all."
Frost looks down at her notepad and starts writing, making the letters bigger than one would for note taking. The reasoning for sitting down front becomes apparent when she holds it up for Iris to read rather than speaking her question aloud. Frost whispers "I would like to learn more about the spirits, and as I have gnosis, more gifts where possible."
Iris reads aloud for Frost, "This is Frost, a Black Fury Kinfolk, and she's mute. She says, 'I would like to learn more about the spirits, and as I have Gnosis, more gifts where possible.' That's a great starting point! You need spirits to learn gifts, and you need to know what spirit to look for to learn the gift.'".
Dominic has been writing a bit of this and that as Iris and others have tlaked and asked/answered questions. OH! He perks up a bit at introduction request. So he'll wait until his turn before standing. "I am Dominic Ward, rited Lights the Hearth. Cliath Theurge of Falcon's children. Born upon two legs and the son of Endeavor of Hope, Athro Philodox of the Silver Fangs. Grandson to Wayfinder, Ragabash Elder of the Silver Fangs. I am a Questor with House Gleaming Eye. My expertise lays with the healing arts mostly. I can summon spirits, and I am learning to bind them but have not had too much practice with it yet. If harm has come your way though, feel free to find me at Pennington Towers in the city, or have someone howl for me here."
Zyler eyes Ryla with a marked frown that's more akin to a scrowl. But he doesn't react. At least, until Dominic just has to mouth off. Rolling his eyes, he shakes his head slowly and finally speaks up. "Zyler. Theurge. Shadow Lord. More information on Spirit Quests. Yes? Yes. They ask. We go. Maybe know more about how and why. Better to do. Yes?" When he's done, he all but sneers at Dominic, then leans back against that wall to hold it up again.
Shaun listens to the various introductions and waits until after any Garou speak before he dares to raise his hand a bit.
Iris is taking mental notes rather than writing things down, pointing to those that have spoken and moving her mouth as she repeats each person's wishes to herself a few times to get them locked into memory. She gives Shaun the point and nod combo to signal talk time is a go for him.
Aaryn sits with her hands resting on her knees, and takes a moment to smile at those gathered. "I'm Aaryn North, rited Guides-the-Dead. I'm an excellent healer, and enjoy learning more about the healing arts, but I was sent her to train so that I can return home and take over as Rite Master for myGrandmother one day. I have a special interest in learning lost rites."
Shaun smiles at Iris and speaks up, looking around the area, "I'm Shaun McDonald, kinfolk to the Children of Gaia. I'm from around the San Francisco area not far from the Sept of the Western Eye. My Father was Erin 'Drinker of the Brew' and 'Gaia's Favor' of the Fianna, and my Mother was Tina Andrews of the Children of Gaia. I'm new here, but I want to learn about spirits and anything else where I can be of help to the Sept."
Frost scribbles something else down on her paper, smaller and after she tears it out and folds it up. While Iris is speaking to others she holds it out towards Branton, giving him a bit of a grin.
Hunts the Shadow unburies his head as one by one the introductions pass. A sorrowful expression darkens the features of the wolf and his eyes take on a haunted look. He rises to his feet in such a rush of movement that it may seem he is lunging for those ahead of him, or about to dart from the room. He shakes his head back and forth as if he has gotten hold of a smell or taste that he doesn't like. His head swivels with a look towards Aaryn and then around the area. Might be he is looking for a way out of here. His nostrils flare as his fall on Zyler, upon all of the unknown kin. His ears pin back and then...
...he lifts his head and emits a pained howl, expression himself in his lupus in a way that he has been unable to on two legs. His voice trembles and sometimes whines as he gives his answers to the asked question - an answer only those who speak the language of wolves can understand. When he is done, it seems to take a lot out of him. He sits on his haunches and lowers his head in....embarassment? Shame? He does not meet the eyes of anyone after that.
Branton grins broadly at Frost as he reads the paper she passed him "You're very welcome, and that reminds me of something. I have a talen that we should probably get you at least one of. We'll set up a time to get the permissions we're going to need to avoid heresy." Then he looks over to the howling wolf and listens considering carefully. Crouching down to rummage through something behind the refreshment station as he introduces himself "I'm Branton Kholer, kinfolk to the Black Fury tribe, Klaive-smith, Pyrokinetic, and Sorcerer-Shaman in the service of Hecate, the Mother of Spells and Lady of the Crossroads. If you're a kinfolk and you're interested in exploring what abilites that means you can learn, both gifts and otherwise, feel free to see me afterwards." Then as he stands up he lays a sheathed fighting knife on the table and taps it with two fingers.
Apollo had arrived silently some time earlier, standing towards the back - in homid form. Finally, he steps forward and introduces himself, as well. "I am Apollo Demetriou, tenth of that name, Cliath, born on two legs under the Crescent Moon and rited Luna's Seer by the Elders of the Silver Fangs and the Lodge of the Moon. I am the son of Ahroun Dances-with-Falcons, Silver Fang and Grand Elder of the great Sept of the City's Watchfire of New York. Grand-son of Theurge Gaia's Great Claw, Silver Fang and Elder of the Sept of the City's Watchfire. Great grand-son of Ragabash Father-of-Hundreds, Silver Fang and Grand Elder of the Sept of the City's Watchfire. Direct descendent of the unbroken line of great founding Elders of the Sept of the City's Watchfire and scion of the royal line of the Clan of the Crescent Moon." Damn Silver Fangs. They ALWAYS do that.
After a beat to let that sink in, he adds, "I have been trained in the advanced theories of Ritual magic and the Occult, as well as the History of the People and its mysteries. And while I only know a handful of Rites, I am looking forward to turning my theory into activity thanks to the lessons from the wise Garou of higher rank and more experience. The Rites I do know well are those of Binding, Cleansing, Contrition, Summoning, Talisman Dedication, and Fetish Creation."
Ryla looks over all of them as they start giving introductions. Her eyes back to Zyler, a bit of a grin with teeth showing as he mentions his tribe. She's, of course, as far over away from him as possible at this moment. "I am Ryla Irina Penfield, known as Twilight's Glimmer, born on two legs at the time of the new moon, Adren of the Silver Fangs, from House Wyrmfoe. Daughter of James Penfield, Elder Crescent Moon of the Sept of the Golden Eagle known as Glimpses-the-Unseen-Soul, son of Kristin Penfield, Elder Full Moon known as Voice-of-Blades, daughter of Darren Penfield, Elder Half Moon known as Brings-Calm-Through-the-Storm, son of Anthony Penfield, son of Theodore Penfield, Elder New Moon known as Whitestreak, sister of Puddle Jumper. Mercy's Messenger is a fine teacher, and I am glad to see her sharing her knowledge with a bigger group."
Frost gives Branton a thumbs up before looking over her shoulder as more introductions go out. Her gaze pauses on Apollo a little longer before finally moving on to Ryla. A soft smile lights her face at the sight of the female Silver Fang, and she lifts her hand to give her a little wave.
Zyler snaps his attention to Apollo, eyeing him, then finally glares back at Ryla as she seems to almost take pleasure in that annoyance. Looking away, he closes his eyes a moment, then finally snorts. Pushing off the wall he was holding up, he simply starts to stalk off, looking to leave the clearing.
Iris nods her head as she listens, repeating things to herself silently to get details tucked away. "Great to meet you all! It sounds like we've got a pretty big consensus here that spirits are most people's sore spots, so we'll make that our starting point and see where questions take us. Even if you feel pretty confident about your spiritual knowledge, there's ALWAYS more to learn."
"There are - and I'm not exaggerating in the slightest - more spirits just on this one world, than there is life in existence right now on the entire planet. And that includes individual blades of grass and bugs. There are metric fuck tons of spirits, more are born every day and others fade away or retreat to places farther from this reality in order to maintain their existence. For all intents and purposes, they're our actual family. Think of them as cousins, the same way you might think of wolves as a homid, or humans as a lupus. We need the spirits, and the spirits need us. Someone mentioned spirit quests earlier and why they're done. We do things that spirits cant, we are for them the way Kinfolk are for us. A lot of us cant handle certain aspects of life on this world and Kinfolk bridge that gap, and that's what we do for spirits as well. We go places they cant, get things they cant touch, supply them with the power they need to live by faithfully assisting them and sustain them by being their hands and teeth when they have none."
Shaun inches back from at the tension in the air, and watches Zyler closely as he stalks off. He relaxes as Iris begins talking again, his attention going to her.
Hunts the Shadow settles down onto his belly, keeping his head lowered and hopes that the Apocalypse comes and destroys them all before he comes to his senses and realizes what he just did.
Apollo moves to sit down on his haunches to listen - yes, he's in homid form, yet still sits as if he were lupus-born, despite just stating he was not. His eyes move from one attendee to another, a polite nod given to each of the Silver Fang and others whom he seems to know - including Frost, who gets a warm smile, as well, before he returns his gaze again to Iris to listen.
Karma has been around wandering the outskirts of the gathering. Or you know nature called or something. She walks back through silently as her eyes roam over everyone gathered.
Theron is settled in and trying to listen, but the Get kinfolk is distracted, eyes watching Hunts the Shadow for the most part.
Dominic had settled back into his place of sitting after his introduction and is nodding along with Iris and her instructional. "Because spirits very rarely have the ability to affect the physical realm, but the physical realm affects them." Mhm. Commentary.
"When the spirits need us, have something important to tell us, or anything like that, they tell us." Iris goes on with a nod at Dominic, "The problem though is that there's an invisible wall between us and them. Without the use of certain gifts, or having certain innate talents, Garou need to concentrate to try and even see the spirit world around them through the Gauntlet, and it can be just as much of a pain in the ass for them to contact us. Powerful spirits, like Totems, they can often just poke you right in the brain and TELL you what you need to do, but smaller things don't have that luxury. Think of ghosts haunting a house, they can yell all they want but you cant hear them, so they need to figure out how to signal you, and you have to figure out WHY that vase keeps tipping over every time you pass a certain room. Theurges tend to look at a lot of omens and signs, or they interpret dreams and happenings, looking for what the spirits are trying to say through that reality-barrier."
"The more important something is, the more badgering you get about it." She reaches way out to scritch Hunts the Shadow's fuzzbutt. "It could be a warning, it could be a call for help, you dunno till you listen. This is how epic spirit quests can begin, and they're never to be taken lightly. Whether it's a flood of nightmares, a string of weird luck, an image you see each time a reflective thing is seen from the corner of your eye, *something's* going on and whatever that something is is not something the spirits can handle on their own."
Aaryn continues to listen to the lesson, but spares a subtle glance over at Hunts. She frowns a bit, and gives Theron a brief look before reaching back to entangle her hand in his and giving a gentle squeeze. Propping her chin in her other hand, her attention is back on Mercy's Messenger and the wisdom that she is imparting.
Nascha has totally been here the whole time, but back out of the way, mostly out of sight. She has some needlework in her lap and she's been concentrating on that, but listening as things are spoken about
Apollo nods as well, "And if you ignore the signs... they start to build up - and can get dangerous, as well." He continues to otherwise sit there, looking at Iris with those oddly intense eyes of his, listening.
Karma looks more interested at the spirits talk. She nods her head to the annoyance and insistence of them. Her eyes stray around the area, but she smiles as she sees Nascha. Really for now, Karma is being respectfully silent.
Mottled Wolf has been laying in the shade of a tree on her side, lazily relaxing while she listens to the Elder speak. She looks almost asleep if not for her ears perking forward occasionally and her tail flipping up and down occasionally as she wags for something said or seen.
A wolf arrives a bit late yet better than never, aye? The ruddy tinted Fianna with the scars through his pelt trots in, then slows to pause and look how things are progressing. Who's here and where people are positioned. Quietly then Battle Singer begins to make his way into the group and lies down next to Nascha.
Hunts the Shadow lifts his head. His expression is...curious. Maybe something has struck a cord. Or more likely, he's never had an elder scratch his fuzzbutt before.
"Yes, yes very much so." Iris agrees with a nod at Apollo. "When you're tapped by the spirits, that's it. Do it or suffer madness or something equilly shitty. WHY someone gets chosen to get badgered isn't always very clear, and Kinfolk are not exempt from this either. The point is, deal with it when it happens. Whether it's super SUPER obvious or just a... a little *thing* that you notice, like a subtle sign, think on it. Take it to a fellow Theurge and dual-think on it. Figure it out, and figure out who to take the issue to. Sometimes you get the message but maybe you're not intended to lead the way, like a young Kinfolk might have dreams about something and they take this to a Theurge and that Theurge takes it to an elder, and that elder has an Ahroun put together a war party to go deal with the thing. So, why the kid? Maybe the kid was the only one open enough to receive the warning, maybe the spirit liked the kid's bloodline most, or maybe the spirit felt that particular kid was the one that was going to articulate the whole thing correctly enough so that no one was lead astray. Who the fuck knows, spirits are weird."
"Any questions about spirit quests or any of that other stuff?"
Nascha pauses in her needlework and reaches down to lightly stroke Battle Singer as he comes near, then goes back to her needlepoint. SHe's still listening intently, not paying much attention to the work that just keeps her hands busy
Battle Singer's tongue lolls when Nascha rubs his thick pelt. When she goes back to her needlepoint however, the Galliard lifts a paw and puts it down to snag the Mottled Wolf's tail playfully. -Quietly- As soon as Iris begins to speak once more, Battle Singer gives her his attention to listen.
Hunts the Shadow lifts his nose and lets out a soft series of yips. <What do you do if no one listens?> When Battle Singer's paw comes down on her tail, the Mottled Wolf will suddenly wag her tail energetically in greeting. It just happens to thwap Battle Singer in the face a few times. Whap whap whap. Her tongue lolls out with amusement but she remains utterly silent, except for the thwapping.
Branton waits for a while to see who else might have a point to ask about then he raises his hand to ask a question "Whats the difference between spirit quests and chiminage?"
Karma turns her eyes to look at the various wolves as the meet, greet, and yip. There is a warm curve to her lips, but she still stays silent before Branton asks his question and she awaits the answers.
Apollo peeks his head up... and then slips out the back, apparently pulled away by a dream, an omen, or another one of those pesky spirit taps on the shoulder. Squirrel.
Iris gestures to Hunts and says, "Then you keep trying. This is a fairly thankless job in some ways. Theurges are the crazy guy standing down town screaming about giant metal spiders crawling up buildings. No one gets it, but they're not wrong. If one person doesn't get it, you move on to someone else, and then again and again until someone can wrap their brain about it. Sometimes you just need to pound your fists on the table and shout LISTEN TO ME! Everyone understand, sometimes we're wrong, Theurge's aren't perfect, but we're still the best at this. When a mystic *insists*, regardless of whether they are a kinfolk or a Garou, that is the time to start listening and set aside disbelief. Micah, after this, tell me. I'll listen."
She then points to Branton, "Great question! A spirit quest is a need, and a Chiminage is payment. With a quest, a spirit tells you what the need is, and there's usually a little something in it for you at the end, and Chiminage is the other way around. You tell the spirit YOUR need, and they tell you what they'd like out of the deal. 'If you want me to teach you this gift, I need you to go over here and tend this thingie' is Chiminage, 'My friend has been kidnapped by bad guys, get them back and I'll be your totem' is more of a quest. Chiminage can also come up front. Like when you know a Snickers costs a dollar, you've already got a dollar in hand when you get to the counter. In this case, say I'm summoning a fire elemental for something, I already know it likes stuff that's on fire, so I'm going to hand craft a beautiful work of art and then chuck it in the bonfire I'm summoning around. And then the elemental's like 'woo! This is just for me! So what did you need?'"
The Mottled Wolf's tail thwapping him in the face gets a lupine grin out of the Galliard. Battle Singer gets up and moves up to lie down again next to Cait since Nascha seems to be occupied with her needlework. Most of his attention is on the Elder Theurge sharing her wisdom. That is why he came, after all. It seems Iris certainly has his interest.
Shaun is sitting and taking in every word Iris says. He occasionally takes notes in a pad.
Frost props her notepad on her knees and listens, nodding here and there as Iris says something she knows or explains something enough that she understands. No more questions just yet, but from the smile on her face she's certainly enjoying the lesson.
Theron listens carefully, although not spiritually inclined its clear he is getting alot out of what he is hearing.
Branton nods at Iris and adds to Micah, tapping the knife he set on the table in its sheath again "Dealing with Ghosts is different than dealing with spirits, sometimes you just need to be able to poke them back. I know developing this did a lot to settle my nerves in that respect. Want my spare?"
Karma is listening to the conversations around her, but she's being respectful.
Hunts the Shadow lifts his head up and turns his attention to Branton. His head tilts to the side. It's unusual for people to discuss weaponry with him unless they have berserker blook and they came out of the womb armed to the teeth. <We can talk about it when I speak to Mercy's Messenger 'Rhya later.>
Mottled Wolf's stops the thwapping and she'll adjust slightly so that she is laying against Battle Singer while they watch and listen to Iris speak. The difference between chiminage and a spirit quest gets an ear perk up from her and she'll tilt her head slightly. Branton's addition to the information causes her to swivel her head in his direction to watch and listen to him too.
Frost scribbles on her notepad, writing in larger letters once more so Iris can read it, turning it around it says on it, 'How do you know what is sufficient chinimage for what kind of spirit? Asking one to do a favor is short term and would take less than say asking one to bind itself to your weapon, right?"
"Alright, lemmesee here..." Iris takes a minute to think and eat brownies. "Okay a good next step here would be kinds of spirits, I think. They come in different power levels, so to speak, different scales of bigness. First off you got your Gafflings. These are the ones that really have a hard time communicating across the Gauntlet, and are the most numorous sorts. Your basic Umbral wildlife. I've heard them equated to cats and dogs as far as intelligence goes, and that's... Not too far off really. They're less likely to know any language other than spirit speech, and they might not be terribly worldly but that definitely doesn't mean they're stupid. They're just small, that's all. A lot of them tend to run on instinct just like this world's wildlife does; squirrel spirits behave really similarly to physical squirrels. Deer spirits act like deer, and so on. A deer spirit can be more approachable than a mortal deer might be, but you're still a wolf, and they're gonna be a bit skittish, know what I mean?"
Dragomir has made his way into the clearing, taking a moment to look around. The man is wearing one of his silver business suits, pristinely tailored and hand-stitched fashion. (We all know Felicity dresses him - why can't he just admit it?). The white gauze-thin dress shirt beneath is left open, revealing most of his chest and a boar's tusk necklace.
Hunts the Shadow lifts up his head and yips, adding to the conversation, <Weaker spirits also avoid those with rage. Which is why they come to speak to Theurges, not Ahroun.>
When Theron senses another arrive of course it pauses at the presence of Dragomir, the Silver Fang ahroun is of significant renown and status, so it lingers. His frown deepens however and he furrows his brow when he sees the necklace.
Karma watches all the people move around the area. She also seems to be taking in the reactions as new people arrive and depart. For the most part, Karma is hanging around the back of the discussion. She is listening, but seems to always be moving. It's as if she's still staying primed to run if she has to.
Mottled Wolf watches curiously her ears perking up a bit more with interest at the description of different types of spirits. when the other wolf yips, adding about Ahrouns, her ears wilt a little bit with disappointment.
Frost puts her notepad back down and listens as Iris explains, glancing to Hunts as well as he speaks up. Her arms fold on her paper, turning back though she catches sight of Dragomir walking in. Her head tilts a little as she looks at the suit, a small smile and a little wave of fingers following before she turns back.
Iris got the read on Frost's notepad a touch late, but she's happy to back up! "Oh, good question, it ties into this, I swear! 'How do you know what is sufficent chinimage for what kind of spirit? Asking one to do a favor is short term and would take less than say asking one to bind itself to your weapon, right?' Okay for the second part, yes, it's less expensive for a quick favor than it is to bind a spirit for years of use in a fetish. You STILL have to pay though. Like... If the sword is the spirit's house, and you are its landlord, you're required to keep their house nice. You polish that sword, keep its blade sharp, don't mistreat it and also don't let it collect cobwebs. Any spirit that wants to be bound into a sword is probably going to be happy if they're treated like a prized weapon and well cared for."
"As for the correct chiminage type for what kind of spirit? A lot of the time it seems obvious, and then sometimes you just have to guess. A fire elemental likes fire, that's just what they do, right, so you offer things that burn, and then also burn them. If it's a bird, offer snake or lizard meat, or seeds if they like that more. An earth elemental might like fertile soils, beautiful stones, or sculpture, and maybe a water elemental would like purest water, smooth silvery stones and pretty vessels to hold liquids. Every spirit has its own personal tastes and every type likes certain things. To be honest, a lot of it is guessing and trial and error, common sense to the best of your ability. Tell a riddle to a spirit of Enigmas, for example. Some of them get a little odd though. Like a bird might like that snake meat, but a Falcon would prefer to see proof of your honor rather than have a snack." She also nods to what Hunts says, "Yep. Rage is dangerous even to them. And bugging a rage monster with a tricky puzzle is just a good way to spark a fit."
Battle Singer listens to Iris sharing her knowledge, flicking an ear and turning his head to wolf-gryn at what Hunts the Shadow interjects. The Galliard doesn't mind at all that the lower ranked Bone Gnawer Mottled Wolf leans up against him like a sibling. The Fianna is relaxed and taking in the spirit talk. The arrival of his pack's alpha turns his head back. Something likely passes between Athro and Elder in silent greeting. Oh wait! There's a Frost! Battle Singer looks pleased to see her, too. Iris answering Frost's question draws his attention back to the Theurge Elder.
/Something/ Iris says right at the last about falcons makes Battle Singer snort softly.
Branton nods and adds "There's always more to be studying and part of why every shaman has their own secrets. I'd be impossible to know what to pay every spirit so you learn the ones that live near you or that have interest in the things you deal in. And sometimes what you have to offer a spirit changes with how you offer it."
Frost catches sight of Battle Singer too, grinning as she wiggles her fingers in his direction. Since Iris is answering the only question she has at the moment she closes up her notebook and moves to head back towards where that pack is sitting, staying hunched down as she goes like that jackass that gets up in the middle of the movie.
Hunts the Shadow tilts his head at something and looks off towards the northwest. He ears twitch slightly, then he turns his head back to the conversation at hand. <Ask for small favors and pay bargain prices. Or find spirits who want the same things you do.>
"The reason I say that question ties in with the scale of spirit bigness is that the more powerful something is, the bigger the price tag for their services, a lot of the times." Iris says, also nodding her agreement at Branton and Hunts. "A little deer gaffling asked for a favor might just want you to pick up some trash in their home clearing because it's upsetting all the neighbors. Maybe just a little donation of Gnosis because they're hungry will do the trick. But a Jaggling's going to want a bit extra, and a Totem more still. 'Jagglings' is a bit of a broad term. If Gafflings equate a bit to basic wildlife with added intelligence, then Jagglings is the next leap up. They're a little more unique than Gafflings are, they're more worldly and more likely to be able to speak languages other than Spirit. A lot of but not all Jagglings tend to serve a particular spirit that's more powerful than they are. Like, using the deer example, you have a ton of basic deer gafflings, and then you have some mighty stag jagglings that in turn serve THE Stag, capital S, who is a singular, unique Totem spirit.
Iris sticks a hand down her shirt and digs around, eventually pulling out a piece of wiggling, living yarn that changes color. "This is String. String is a Wyld Jaggling that serves no one in particular and its only want in the whole world is to just not be bored. Chiminage for a favor from String would probably just be a game of tag for an afternoon. Now, Nexus Crawers, the feared renders of reality, they are also Jagglings. I hate to speculate what the demands would be coming from a creature with the power to unmake reality as we know it. And the deer example, the deer gaffling might want you to clean up that one clearing, but Bambi's Dad is looking out for the forest as a whole, so what it wants is probably going to be a bigger helping of work."
Mottled Wolf chuffs in response at the 'spark a fit' comment and grumbles a tad. She'll continue lounging there and leaning against Battle Singer, but when Dragomir enters, she'll lift her head to look towards him. Then as Iris continues to explain more, she turns her attention back and watches with interest.
Dragomir studies for a long moment, watching the on-goings and considers the scene. The man looks down at Battle Singer and the Mottled Wolf for a moment. At the sight of the string though, he chuckles slightly at a very old memory and shakes his head. Then he begins to leave.. a light smiled nod is given towards Frost as he passes by.
Battle Singer turns his head towards Frost, then shifts his form from wolf to man. He adjusts his position to be sitting cross legged beside the Mottled Wolf, then signs in ASL and speaks in English at the same time, "If you have time ahead before the need, you can also ask what sort of things that kind of spirit would like to be offered, so that you may prepare. At least so far, spirits have been willing to out right tell me what they wanted so I didn't have to blunder too much in guessing." Lleu looks to Iris to see if she has any input on his suggestion since he's not a Theurge himself. Oh! She's talking about Stag! And then Iris pulls out string and Lleu smiles big.
Karma is still here, really. She's just taking it all in. She's being a good kin and keeping her mouth shut. The string gets a longer look especially as that one wolf just flees when it's pulled out. The sharp dressed man is afraid of lone threads, makes sense.
"And then next up, as expected, there's Totems. Totems are unique." Iris goes on, "There's plenty of deer but there's only ONE Stag. There's only ONE Pegasus, or Unicorn, or Griffin or any of those totems that you hear about out there in the Garou world. Totems can speak with just about anyone they damned well choose to speak with, and in just about any way they want. Because they're singular, unique spirits but two packs can talk to the same totem from different parts of the world at the same time, they have the ability to split themselves into avatars. Smaller versions of themselves, sorta. When Pegasus speaks to me, I'm actually talking to a fraction of the spirit, while a bunch of other fractions of it are multi tasking all over the rest of the world. A spirit of that bigness is going to want more than a few offerings from you to help you out with something. Stag needs you to go to a place and do a thing, and you get nothing until you've done it to Stag's standards. If you don't wanna go to that place and do that thing, fine, there's plenty of other Garou that *will*. If you go to Stag later, the price just doubled, because you're not a buddy, you're the guy that said no last time."
Mottled Wolf sits up as the discussion turns to Totem and she'll watch Iris curiously, her ears now focussed forward. She's not lounging anymore, this wolf-dog is quite attentive.
Branton adds on "And if a Totem caliber spirit isn't a fan of you? Their subordinate spirits probably won't like you either."
"Now when we're talking about chiminage with a Totem, the price'll always be kinda high." Iris says, "If the gaffling concerned with the clearing, and jaggling is concerned with the forest, then the totem is concerned with forests in general. All of them. Their tasks for you have greater effects, it's part of the great, over arching chess game of the Apocalypse at that point and you're playing your small part." She nods to Branton, "That is true. Spirits, just about all spirits, aren't any better than us when it comes to what they think of others, and sometimes the racism thing just isn't fair. Rat spirits might just always give a Silent Strider the suspicious eye just because they follow Owl and Owl eats rodents. Or they might always give a hard time to the Silver Fang who prefers to live like a Gnawer just because the REST of the Silver Fang tribe tends to be hoity toity by reputation and the antithisis of rat behavior. Griffin just plain despises you if you're Homid, period the end. It's not to say you cant win them over, but yeah, who you are and how you act, who your tribe is, what your breed is, the opinions of the spirits as individuals, it all comes around and matters, and lessers are just about always going to follow the behavioral leads of their betters."
Mottled Wolf's tail wags gently as she listens and she'll quietly rise and slowly, stealthily pad out of the area. She doesn't want to interrupt, that much is clear.
"Right around the same bigness as Totems, give or take, is Incarna." Iris continues, "Totems are very unique, their concerns tend to govern a tribe, a concept, a Thing that really matters. For instance, Pegasus governs the Black Fury Tribe, keeps that tribe pointed in a particular direction, and her major concern is the defense of the weak and innocent. Anything Pegasus asks me to do is going to be some how related to those things, the duties of my tribe or the protection of those that cant protect themselves. The results of doing what Pegasus asks will change the weave of the tapestry of life. An Incarna, meanwhile, is sometimes less unique, and not quite so singularly focused. Think of it more as a ruling class of spirit."
"For instance, a little fire elemental that lives in a fireplace is a Gaffling, but you crank the bigness up and you're looking at a jaggling fire elemental that eats forests for breakfast during summer time. Crank the bigness up another notch and you're looking at the living spirit of a volcano's magma chamber. The whorls of burning plasma that leave the sun. They are the earth elementals that crack continents in half, the tsunami's that swallow countries, the equations that spawned new eras of advancement for mankind and in turn birthed new spirits into the world. Their bigness is *very* big. SOMEtimes you do actually need to summon one, to seek a rare Gift or some very serious help for a very serious problem. Never, under ANY circumstance, ever summon an Incarna unless you really need to and for Gaia's sake you make damned sure you're in a place where it's not gonna wreck anything. Above all, be *very* respectful, I cannot understate their raw power." Iris points at a large burn scar on her cheek, "This was a gentle kiss hello from a Fire Incarna, and it seared me down to the bone. Imagine if it'd been at all upset with me!"
"Last up on the scale of bigness is the Celestines." Iris says, and pats the ground in front of her. "This, is a Celestine. Gaia isn't a religious concept that we throw around or a name we use to compact 'why we do this stuff', she's an actual living spirit and this planet is her physical form, and in the umbra it's her spiritual form. It isn't a metaphor to say that this ground is very much her skin, or to say that when you're fighting for Gaia you are literally fighting to save her life. The toxic waste spills and dens of filth that we cleanse are like sores and illnesses to us. We are her antibodies, we are her healing factor. Given time, she could do it herself, but given that things aren't proceeding in the most natural of ways, here we are. Every celestial body has a spirit. Mars, the sun, the moon, Pluto, even the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter has a spirit. A big question that comes up is that if they're so huge and powerful, why don't they just fix shit and quit stressing. Well, I mean you try and convince zits to stop forming during puberty, and when you can do that then you'll have the answer. Shit happens and sometimes it's to little or odd and you just *cant* fix it. It's too much, it's too far out of your zone, whatever the case is. Yes, Celestines are basically gods, but there's no such thing as impervious or infalable. Besides which, they're too BIG. Like, they're a fucking *planet*. They have a looooot of stuff to keep track of and do on every single plane of existance and some stuff is way, way too little for them to pick at. There's things even bigger than Celestines, but I think your brain actually starts to liquify when you try and understand forces that large. And then you have the great Triat, Chaos, Order, and Destruction, which is basically... Everything. Any questions?"
"If you want to know more about the Celestines, I suggest looking into classical era mythology during your down time." Iris says to the student body at large, "Greek, Celtic, Egyptian, Norse, all the old stuff. None of them has it exactly right, but that was our most recent period in history where the barrier between the spirit and the physical was at its weakest, where teachings from a LOT of different supernatural creatures was much more common knowledge, and the historical writings have a lot of tid bits of honest information. Just as much made up bullshit though, so you've really gotta study up on that stuff and read between the lines."
"What exactly spirits are can get a little... Tricky. Elementals, and Naturae like dandelions and oak trees, you imagine their spirits and it makes sense. But spirits are more than just things you can see. This conversation right now has a spirit. If you looked into the umbra you might not see anything obvious, but the spirit of Teaching and Learning IS there, attracted by what we're doing, assisting your ability to grasp what I'm saying and assisting me in being understandable. A family dinner, whether it's around a table or a TV, has a spirit. Pi has a spirit, E=MC2 has a spirit. Victory, loss, homesickness, despair, joy, madness, a specific tree AND the concept of trees live side by side, and recognizing these things, communicating, it can get really weird. But you learn, it only sounds daunting but it is SUCH a thrill ride meeting and seeing all these things."
Branton thinks about meeting War not so long ago and rubs his sternum where he got thwapped absently "Also remember that even the ones that look like people? aren't."
Iris nods to Branton, "That is correct. A lot of spirits will pick a form that you can fathom and focus on in order to help with. Trying to talk to a mote of golden light is just too weird, and they tend to know that. Starlight, for example, tends to naturally resemble a sheet of barely perceptable silvery light, but to talk with you, it assumes a human or a wolf shape, albeit one made of starlight and little sparks and flecks. Gafflings can usually do that as well, I think it's a thing that helps with their survival so it's a sort of innate ability for a lot of spirit life out there. But sometimes you will be faced with talking to an actual fire instead of a person shaped fire with a face, or you'll have to settle for talking to a vague shimmer. Depends on their mood and personal abilities, I think."
"Spirits all live in Realms. In fact eeeeeeverything is broken up into Realms. The most familiar Realm to all of us is where we are right now, the Gaia Realm, the physical, meat-space, and other such words. The Near Umbra is our closest accessable neighbor, just across the Gauntlet. The world there is super similar to this one, just populated by spirits rather than people and animals, and Garou are all pretty familiar with it just from Garouing around, probably. The farther you step away from reality, the weirder things get and the easier it is to get lost."
"The bulk of the work that we do will be on either of those two planes for the most part," Iris says, "They're understandable places, even a cub can *get* the Near Umbra for the most part, understand what they're seeing. There is a Middle, like the cloud realm up above us, but that's like counting the beach as a place. It's just a thin strip between normal and what the fuck. The Deep Umbra is where everything that the earth cant contain is. Wild impossibility, dreams and nightmares, deep space, other worlds. Having recently visited the planet Mars, I can attest that it is NOTHING like home, or what you'd imagine from the Discovery channel. Things in the Deep Umbra don't have much of a physical counterpart, hence why space seems so vastly empty. In the Umbra, it's anything but empty, that place is FILLED with spirits and strangeness. Anyone have any questions about any of this, am I explaining things alright or completely missing any points anyone wants to explore?"
Branton nods at Iris' description of Realm walking and adds "And its really really dangerous for Kinfolk to go spirit side at all. It takes a lot of specialized training to even try and its a really poor idea to try and go on your own. Go in groups, and kinfolk should 'always in the company of at least one shifter."
Iris nods emphatically at what Branton says, "VERY true. Some kinfolk figure it out quite well and that's wonderful stuff, it's just that the dangers are very different. When a spirit is attacking you in the umbra, they don't have to attack your *body*, they can attack your *spirit*. If a spirit really wants to hurt you in the worst way, it can be easy to discover that your tough hide does you little good, and again I don't mean to make anyone feel second-class, but Kinfolk just don't have the spiritual bulk that a Garou does. Now, that said, behold Branton here, and Theron as well. Both of them have compensated very well for their spiritual shortcomings by bedecking themselves in magical armors and weapons. Still, if either of them got swept away, got *lost*, they lack some things that we Garou may take for granted in terms of navigating and getting back home.
"Dangers for *anyone* traveling the umbra are very real. You could be minding your own business and get sucked up by a Wyldling, and deposited in Sri Lanka just because why not. You have to remember food, water, appropriate tools, clothes, whatever else. One does not simply jaunt into the umbra without making sure they have their shit together and the means to survive the unexpected. Most of the time you're gonna be fine out there, but it's that one in ten thousand chance that will fuck you in the end, so just always be as prepared as you can be. Kinfolk, the Caern heart is great but make sure there's a Garou there somewhere that can help you out if you accidentally fall in."
Frost too seems to find the hour growing late for her, so she closes up her notebook and signs "Thank you." while mouthing the words towards Iris and Branton before slipping quietly out the back.
"Okay I think I've probably lectured everyone's ear off enough for now," Iris says with a grin, "So let's open this whole thing up to some Q and A if anyone's got anything, and then I'll letcha all go to ponder the mysteries of the spirit world on your own. Anyone curious about aaaaaanything in that I touched on tonight?"
Branton grins broadly over at Iris "I think everyone's brains are stuffed full."
