2017.10.25:AuspiceLessons

Auspice Lessons
Branton continues his acclimation to Garou society with a Lesson from Charlene
IC Date	October 25th, 2017
IC Time	Mid Afternoon
Players	Branton, Robert, Paul_Barakat, Charlene, Bronwyn, Brooke, Halona
Location	The Olympian Diner Clubhouse
Prp/Tp	Welcome to the Nation
Spheres	Gaian
Theme Song	Guns n Roses - Welcome to the Jungle

Branton arrived early for his appointment and set himself up at a table with a big big basket of fries to share and a pitcher of the his rootbeer along with a stack of cups.

Robert has no appointment, just shows up. Maybe he had something else to do around here. Regardless, up the stairs he comes, after answering whatever questions he might need to on the way.

Paul follows the smell of fries up the stairs.

Charlene, as flighty as she seems, always tries to get to places a few minutes before she has to arrive. Being able to find the place helps. Not having a flat helps, too. Neither of those things happened today so, sadly, Charlene is a tad late. Bounding up the stairs to the super secret clubhouse in the diner, she skids to a halt, scans the room for the gleaming bald head of the guy she was supposed to meet and, catching sight of its glow over there thataways, heads that direction. "Sorry ah'm late." She says, sliding into one of the chairs, snagging a fry. "Flat tires do that sometimes. Had a spare but that was 20 minutes ah' had t' spend swappin' em, not t' mention th' whole hand washin' that went on downstairs t' get the brake dust off." She sighs and sits back. "Hope you ain't been waitin' long?"

Branton shakes his head and grins at Charlene as he pours her a beverage "The joys of self employment, I can set my own hours. I spent some time checking email to keep my broker happy and did some doodling on the current desgin I'm working on."

Robert gives Charlene a wave as she flies by to her meeting. Robert, homself, meanwhile, is only here for a burger and beer. So he is not late, nor is he early, He aerived precisely when he meant to. He does give the waitress a bright smile as he slides into a seat.

Paul would probably notice his backpack getting a little heavy ALL OF A SUDDEN. Not a hundred pounds heavy, but a good twenty or so at least. Just Oh hey. I'm wearin' a backpack and then BAM! It's like being back in highschool, only it's only 20 pounds instead of forty (I weighed my kid's backpack one day. That ain't no joke)

Charlene removes her hat - it's only polite - and takes the offered beverage with a smile, lifting it in a quiet toast before taking a sip and setting it aside. "So. You're wantin' to know more 'bout bein' what you is, I take it?"

Paul grins at Charlene, "Mornin' Miss Charlene," he says as he starts to sit down at a table. He notices the man she is with, and was leaning over to whisper something to Robert when he makes a bit of an 'ooph' sounding noise. He rolls his shoulders a moment, then glances into his backpack. He blinks his eyes, glances back toward Charlene and Branton, then sits down with an odd expression on his face for a moment before he whispers something again to Robert.

Branton nods to Robert and then to Paul and grins as he mutters "Figures." then he nods to Charlene "Yup. Got a detailed going over of the Litany and both the tactical and cultural implications of Silver weapons. Got the executive summary of Auspices and Tribes but figured its worth going over in more detail. Also Journey suggested I talk to you about how my Gods, the Olympians, connect."

Charlene gives Paul a wave at the greeting before settling back in her chair, taking another sip of her soda. "Ah c'n help you with th' auspices an' tribes, sure. S'far as your gods an th' like, ah' c'n give you kind of the basics, s'far as things go, from a Fury point of view since that's kind of th' only bit ah' really know on that r'spect. Not sayin' that they're not there....it's jus' that diff'rent tribes tend t' focus on the gods of their on partic'lar area." She waves a hand. "neither here nor there, though. If'n we get to it, we will. Now...." She sits up. "Auspices."

Robert glances at Branton, grinning a bit as he gets a dose of new reality university, and givjg Charlene a grin as he realizes the fuy was thrown into the deep end of the pool. Shaking his head a bit, he reaches over to open the backpack and peer inside.

Paul says, "She's eatin' my herbs..." he mutters quietly to Robert, not sounding mad, just maybe a bit dazed perhaps. He looks back at Branton curiously as he overhears some of their discussion, and then grins at him."

Branton tilts his head as he considers "I'm a sorcerer who draws on the Olympian pantheon and myths for power. I honor those gods and those ancient ways and get answers when I call for them. I see 'little gods' around the garou all the time and there was one tunnel out at the caern with a fairly potent....presnce down it. But yeah, Auspices. I can list them and give one word summaries but that's about it."

"The little gods...Spirits, we call 'em, are everywhere an' in everything, as you might guess. Turns out that the Shinto religion in Japan had a good idea of it, with spirits inhabitin' everything in th' world. Turns out that it's pretty much true in that regard." Yep, Charlene's telling about spirits and the like. She takes a pepper shaker in hand and sprinkles a little into the center of the table, spreading it out into a small layer where she sketches the Garou symbols for each auspice with a fingertip. Ragabash, Theurge, Philodox, Galliard, Ahroun.

Robert listens, unobtrusively, as much as possible.

Robert gives Paul a nod toward the pair. "He looks like he can process a ton of info, how much do you think we could hit him with at once?" He does hrow Charlene a wink, ut doesn't interuot.

Branton nods and pays attention to the lesson at hand, leaving the mythological topics for later as he points to each of the symbols in turn, from new to full "Rogue, Wizard, Paladin, Bard, Fighter."

Paul slips the backpack into his lap, and keeps it there while he orders a large fries, and Dr Pepper. The grin widens as he hears Charlene going over basically Garou 1.0. "Hush, Bobby," he murmurs, obviously wanting to hear about this Olympians connection.

A nose peeks out from Paul's bag. Then a snoot, then one single grey and black striped arm reaaaaaaaaaaches up and boops Paul on the nose ever so gently before the hand retraaaaaaaaaacts nice and slow and the backpack shifts around on Paul's lap just a little bit.

"Now that ain't polite, Robert." Charlene says as an aside to robert, turning back to Branton with a nod. "Roughly speakin', yeah. Auspices, pretty much all the time, determine what place in Garou society that we'll hold. Kind of like the zodiac, except fewer options. The moon we're born under also gives us more access to Rage which...well...is a story in itself." She points to the ragabash symbol. "Ragabash, or Rogue, as you put it, is a trickster an' questioner of ways. Imagine that annoyin' kid in the back what always asks questions on topics you've gone over a hunderd times before. Occasionally there's some wisdom in th' questions an' they help suss it out."

Branton nods as he considers Charlene's example "So sort of like the oldest of old school versions of a Jester. The one person in all the kingdom that its their job to Speak Truth to Power. I'd ask how fucked up the world was that the Garou have a whole caste of em but I already know the answer. Very."

Robert gives Charlene a 'who, me?' expression and a feigned innocent act, before leaning into to whisper to the pack... "I'm not wearing any socks...."

Paul gets bopped on the nose, and tries to act dignified about it, keeping his voice low, "I ain't fussin' at him, 'n I'm orderin' plenty fries." Glances into the bag, to see what the little hand, or mouth, has now in it, but keeps his ears open.

"Yeah." Charlene bobs her head in assent, looking over at the others bouncing around in the diner, chuckling a little as she goes over auspices with Branton. "Originally it wasn't so fucked up, as far as things go accordin' to the Garou histories ah've learned. Th' Ragabash originally were a force of Wyld, or change, helpin' th' nation change an' grow an' not get too stuck into one rut. Devil's Advocate, more or less. Garou are so traditional an' conservative that we need soemoen that can speak their mind, no matter what. So Gaia gave us Ragabash." She tilts her head, narrowing her eyes. "Got it so far?"

The hand comes back up at Robert's words and slowly morphs into a human hand.. with the middle finger sticking up and the others curled into a fist. Yup.. Flipping Robert off. Bronwyn, fully clothed, even if the clothes are a little skewed, slowly crawls out of the backpack and slips over quietly into Robert's lap sideways with her feet on Paul. She doesn't interrupt. Climbing out of a bag that you couldn't possibly fit into is not at all disruptive.

Branton blinks at Bronwyn crawling out of the bag before he turns back to his lessopn. Branton nods at Charlene and considers "Got it. Next?"

The sight of a normal-sized person crawling out of a backpack that's not any larger than a normal backpack, in any other context, would be a magical, mystical thing, but here? It's just Bronwyn doing Bronwyn things. "Hey there, kiddo. Sorry Ah' missed th' birth of your brood. Guess those storms a while back was your doin'?

Robert scritches Bronwyn behind the ear like he would any other critter that crawls up into his lap. "Aww, aren't you just the cutest personification of chaos."

Waving a hand, Charlene turns back to Branton. "Sorry. Bronwyn, there is...well...she's Bronwyn. Ah' don' know exactly what she is, other'n steeped in spirit more'n most anyone, and as chaotic as they come. Good people, though." Bronwyn gets a grin and a wave before she goes back to the auspices. "Number two in order. Theurge. Crescent moons. Th' Mages, sages, and mystics of the Garou. Us Garou, we're part spirit, part real, if that makse sense. Lets us switch forms due to that balance. Theurges are leaned a little more towards the spirit side of things. Since spirits...little gods, as you put it...avoid us folk with higher'n normal rage, they're conduits for spirits, oracles, seers, and spirit world explorers."

Brooke arrives, peering inside for the first time here. She sees Robert and Paul, and recognizes Bronwyn, and waves to them all.

Paul nods to Charlene at her question to Bronwyn, then adjusts the feet in his lap so he feels a bit more protected, letting her rest them on top of the backpack. He chuckles then as she explains more to Branton, as their food arrives.

Branton nods at Charlene and considers "So more like druids than wizards. Gotcha." Gives the newcomer a nod but mostly pays attention to his lesson.

Bronwyn nods. "That was me. It's all good. I would have waited for you, but Chaos isn't exactly on a timer, you know?" She snuggles happily in Robert's lap and leans into the scritches. "I am," she informs him. "But I may have some competition. I have a butterfly to track down and probably eat." She mutters quietly to herself and wiggles fingers at Charlene as she speaks to Branton, grinning, and even does a little sitting curtsy there in Bobbert's lap.

Robert is a rude little turd right now. Shouldn't correct the True Born, but just ... itches.. "Part Spirit, part Flesh. Both parts real." He motions Brooke toward a spare seat at the table. "Hey there, good timing." and glances down at Bronwyn. "A wooden butterfly?"

Brooke smiles to Robert, and takes that spare seat.

Paul clicks his tongue, "I swear, I can't take you nowheres. Eat your burger." He gives Brooke a nod of his head, and a grin, "Mornin' Miss Brooke," and then the grin turns into a bit of a frown, "Bronwyn, you can't eat on Deacon, she's got permission to be out there."

"Somethin' aside...I mentioned Rage in there. That's jus' somethin' that us Garou have. It's th' beast clawin' at th' cage that gets build 'round it. Lettin' some of it out is how we change...how we tap into that part spirit part ah' jus' told you 'bout. It also lets us act faster an' heal up from some pretty wicked wounds. Not to say it's all wine an' roses, though." She points to the ragabash symbol. "Not so much rage down here. As th' moon gets fatter though, folk get more antsy. Me, ah'm right about here." She points to the Galliard symbol. "an' up here....well...Full moons. We'll get to them. But I digress. Back to the theurges. "In addition to bein' conduits for spirits and explorers, they're rite leaders, creators of...magic items, I guess. Talens and Fetishes, we call 'em. Medics in battle too. To put an ol' role playing game name on 'em, Support is th' role they fill. Kinda kooky, though, if you get one steeped in th' spirit too much." Charlene grins, pointing to the next symbol. "Philodox. Th' Paladin of the Garou. Counselor, Mediator, an' Law-Keeper."

Bronwyn just.. stares at Robert. "Is it wooden? I have no fucking idea. If it IS and it's flying around my forest and being stupid and getting attention drawn to it, I will DEFINITELY be eating it." There's no humor in her words. She is being more or less quiet, though she isn't whispering, trying not to speak over the lesson. Then she nods to Paul. "Drogo is the one who gave her permission, right? He's the one that asked me about her and I said I'd check it out. But a WOODEN butterfly? Rucking feely?" She shakes her head. "I'm a whackadoodle, but even *I* understand the concept of the futher muckin' Veil."

Branton nods Charlene and grins "Judge Dredd. I got my litany briefing from Dragomir, which was pretty solidly detailed. Some elders came by towards the end and they were nodding approvingly."

Robert gives Brooke a wink and conspirotorially asks. "Do you think she chose that moment to explain arage for a reason?" and keeps up the scritches with one hand, eating his burger with the other, glancing at the other three sitting with him, responding to Browny 's outrage. "Journey was keeping his jackel ears up, fairly relaxed on the whole thing. If there was a problem, would have already kicked off before the butterfly."

Brooke giggles softly. She listens to the conversation and she perks up at the mention of Dragomir. She nods in approval.

Charlene snickers, tapping the table and taking a few fries, munching quietly before continuing. "Yeah, you'd have to have more than a a little Judge Dredd in you to have the brass to get between a pair of feudin' Ahrouns. If you ain't noticed already, Garou are, by nature, conflict on two legs. It's th' Philodox's job to mediate, counsel, and keep within them a balance between the conflicting elements of the Garou. They're judges, too. Come to a Philo with a conflict an' they'll give you right an' wrong based on th' law an' th' litany. It's their job to balance light and dark, like the moon they was born under."

Paul nods to Bronwyn, "Yes'm, he went over everythin' with her right through. Mr Journey was there too. Talk to Deacon first, before any talk of eatin' though, okay, please? Then ya'll can work it out between you. Just don't go doin' anything that'll tear up nothin' out there. They got little ones with that pack nearby, 'n need to be careful. But I know you know how to handle yourself, just remindin' you." He reaches for a fry, and dumps out several onto a napkin before pushing the basket toward Brooke. "Wanna fry, Ma'am?"

Branton nods at Charlene and grins "And it was Alecto I met first. And she's like the chief justice and shit. Given my personal history me and officers of human law don't always get along but from what I've come to understand of the Nation I won't be having problems near as much."

Robert looks down at Bron. "So, what are you wanting to eat? Or did you fill upon the contents of Paul's pack?" and thn looks toward Brooke. "Or you? My treat."

Brooke grins. "How sweet. Sure. Burger, fries, sounds good."

"She's a Fury too. Good gal, her." Of course, Charlene is a bit biased there with the whole 'helped with birthing her pups' and all, but what can you say. "Next Auspice is one close an' dear to 'm heart - Galliard. We're the bards, basically, of th' nation. It's our job t' maintain th' oral history of th' Garou - we don't write much down, as you might guess, although we might need to at some point..." she chuckles. "Anyway. Our job is to keep the stories. We act as lorekeepers, historians, prophets, cheerleaders in times of need and head of the party in times of celebration. Part of my Cliath rite was t' go 'round to septs an' learn stories. Once I was rited I kind of kept doin' it. Pretty much any Galliard of rank'll have stories on top of stories goin' back to b'fore humans even wrote down history."

Paul nibbles up most of the fries as he listens to Charlene's versions of the auspices, as if he were at the movies. A lot better than the other versions he had heard - must be the storyteller in her. And he loves a good story.

Robert looks up, and a bit more serious as Charlene gets to the Galliard information... maybe he should have been paying more attention all along. Though he does order Brooke's burger and pay for it. With a nice tip. Oddly enough he finds tipping well tends to offest certain uneasieness of being known to be seen around Bronwyn regularly.

Brooke listens intently to Charlene speak about Galliards...since she is one and all.

Branton nods at Charlene and chuckles "So that's why I got told to come talk to you about cultural lore lessons. Since you're the member of our tribe locally that does that an all."

"I only ate a few snips of.. I don't know.. some sort of spicy parsley or something. Gave me gas. Don't stick your head in that bag, Pauly." She reaches out toward a fry and just pokes at it. Poke. Poke. It justu lays there. She picks it up and sniffs it, then gives it a lick and rubs the grease on her tongue up and along the roof of her mouth,then shrugs and tosses it in to her mouth, chewing and doing a little happy dance on Robert's lap as she listens.

Charlene snickers. "Yeah, Ah'm known t' talk your ear of if'n you ain't careful, an' ah've done it too." The accent seems to come and go sometimes and, honestly, it's not that bad to listen to once you get used to it.

The Fury pushes back her cowboy hat and points to the last symbol. "Ahroun. Full Moon. These folks are th' warriors of Gaia. Period. Got th' most rage out of any of us folk, they're on th' front lines of any battle we're facin'. If a tribe's got a war leader, a warder 'round the bawn, or jus' someone what likes to fight, you get the Ahroun. Garou are designed for war and Ahrouns are th' ones what do it best out of all of us." Charlene sits back, taking a sip of her root beer, pushing her hat back. "Lots of full moons are straightforward - rush an' kill th' enemy, but others got a head for tactics and strategy. All d'pends on th' tribe you hit, ah' guess. Th' Furies're more in the tactical side of things, although we've got a few more extreme camps, too."

Paul sighs, "That was probably my Basil, for the spaghetti sauce tonight out at Sunhome..." shakes his head at Bronwyn, still speaking quietly, "'n don't worry, my granola bars are sealed up, ain't gonna hurt nothing."

Bronwyn shakes her head. "Not basil," she assures him and patpats his leg as she leans forward from Robert's lap. "I don't like basil. It looked like this." And she pokes her finger out into the air and makes a little squiggly that is more or less round, but there are jigs and jags and it circles back on itself at least twice.

Branton nods at Charlene "I'm a big fan of fighting smarter rather than harder myself but that could be partly because I'm squishier. I can exercise some brute force but it can take a hot minute to gather up that much energy. Not usually worth the risk. And if I lose control well then the potential for destruction goes way up and probably everything's on fire."

"Thyme?" Charlene offers at the drawing of plants, turning her attention back to Branton as he explains. "A lot of us are more interested in fighting smarter. Sure, we can heal up from just about anything - silver included, with enough time given - but pain hurts. It's a good way to provide a lesson, sure. I know the Get of Fenris training I went through involved being shot, which sucked, but we survived it and damn if I ain't been shot since due to avoidin' th' business ends."

Paul murmurs offhandedly to Bronwyn, as his attention is still on Charlene, though he does take note of her air drawing, "Could of been Dill, Tarragon, Rosemary... I got cuttin's from the cabin to take out to Sunhome, but I can get more." He grins at Charlene, nodding, "There was a few sprigs of that, 'n Oregano too." He hears Branton mention fire, and looks to Robert.

Robert perks up at the sound of fire, and gives Paul a smirk at the look. "I'm only just starting to learn to call on the flames of Sunhome and the Flora around the cabin for aid. I'm still hoping to one day take my anscestor's dragon form, but of course, even if I can, it would be of limited use."

Branton nods at Charlene and rolls up his sleeve to reveal some incredibly finely woven chainmail "I can get that. Just because you can survive getting shot doesn't make it fun." Then he nods at Robert "I've not gotten into shapeshifting magic, Proteus is a little bit bonkers. Elemental stuff I have a lot more experience with. We should compare notes sometime."

Charlene nods at the chainmail, looking over to Robert and then back to Branton with a chuckle. "Be careful. We might end up tappin' you to fling some flame at a few problems that we're havin' trouble diggin' out."

Robert gives Branton a bit of a grin. "Why do you think I get along with chaos lady here? I may be slightly bonkers myself. Hough I do find changing hings up lets me stay a little more... me... while not empathizing too much with any specific alternate form." and then nods to Charlene. "Let me know if you need something specific. Do need to gather certain materials.. but flight, swimming, running.. I may not have many talents, but I am good at what I do." and at that, his phone gives a little beep. "Speaking of which... seems like I need to check on a capuchin."

Branton nods at Charlene and grins "That's already come up I think. Jake mentioned something about a field of flowers that knocks shifters loopy but kinfolk are immune? I may be mostly into the magic of enchantment and creation these days but Destruction's like riding a bike, easy to remember how to get it done. If you can keep the baddies off me I figure I'll make a pretty good artillery emplacement. A well placed micro-quake can solve a lot of problems." Branton pours himself a re-fill "Do we have time to go over the Tribes or do you want to save that for another time?"

Brooke hmms. "I saw those flowers in action. Nearly killed one of them. If you can help the kinfolk destroy them, that would be great."

Paul says, "Heard about those things, was hoping I could help in some way as well. Do you know what type of flowers they were, Miss Brooke? Maybe got a pic of them or something?""

Charlene glances at her watch that she's not wearing and shrugs. "I can talk all day if you like. I've got a few more hours chalked off for this, if you're interested in hearin' 'bout the tribes. My first thing is to say 'This is from a Black Fury perspective' so go and find out for y'rself. Except for Red Talons...don't find out for yourself there. Talk to members of all the tribes you can. Find out about 'em from th' horse's mouth."

Robert gives everyone a wave on his way downstairs. "And once you've gotten full up on wolves, you can ask around about lions, tigers, bears and crocodiles, oh my!" and on that statement, slips out to take care of a monkey.

Brooke nods. "Someone there said it was a mutated version of Wolfsbane. The plants were placed there deliberately. Something else was said that it looked like the roots were connected within the Umbra, if I recall correctly." The flower were the danger to us for sure. Not sure about the rest of the system, but I think we need to cleanse them right out of there carefully."

Paul waves to Robert, nods to Charlene, "That's a perennial, so need to be careful of any seeds too. Might actually be a good idea once they get killed off to let him fire the area real good, burn any roots or possible seeds to ash." Thinks for a moment, then adds, "If the Garou can't get around 'em, maybe I can send Jasper into the spirit world there, to see about them roots."

Bronwyn suddenly gets up off Robert's lap because he has to go and she follows along. "I like monkeys."

Branton glances aside at Robert and the quirks an eyebrow at Charlene "No bullshit? And yeah, I always assume some degree of bias from every information source. Right now I got fuck all though so I'll take what I can get."

"About the Talons? No bullshit. Stay away from them if you're not Garou all stop. I've got some stories that'd make your hair fall out if'n you weren't already bald." Charlene looks at the gathered folks, sitting back a bit as she prepares to tell another long yarn or, in this case, twelve of them. Taking the pepper from the auspice lesson, Charlene adds a little more, smooths it out, and starts drawing symbols in the pepper - one for each tribe. "To gloss over a massive fuckton of history, the Garou were originally one tribe. Then, after the Impergium ended, they split into sixteen tribes. And yes, I'm glossing over a lot of history here to get to this. Twelve Garou Tribes, one Beast court tribe, one lost tribe, and two extinct tribes. The thing we're gonna talk 'bout are the twelve Garou tribes that still exist today. Okay?"

Brooke nods to Paul. "Sounds good. Halle seems to be helping coordinate some of the effort with the Kinfolk. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this soon." She ears Charlene go into her next lesson, and she pays attention to that.

Branton nods at Charlene "Gotcha. And the whole Lions and Tigers and Bears? They're a thing? Later tho." Then she compresses and glosses over some history and he nods "Alrighty. I've met maybe four or so up to now."

Paul nods to Brooke, and then pays attention again to Charlene.

Brooke finishes up her food, and waves to everyone. "Sorry, got a client to help for work. Have a good day."

"Simba, Khan, and Guhral, respectively." Charlene corrects with a grin. "And Ananasi, Corax, Nagah, Ratkin, Roeka, Hengeyokai....There's a lot out there, breed-wise. Which is why we're concentrating on the Garou - that's wolf - Tribes period. Like I said, we've got twelve of 'em. In alphabetical order and not in order of importance in /any/ way, there are the Black Furies, the Bone Gnawers, the Children of Gaia, the Fianna, the Get of Fenris, the Glass Walkers, the Red Talons, the Shadow Lords, the Silent Striders, the Silver Fangs, the Uktena, and the Wendigo." Charlene makes small marks on the table of each tribe's symbol in Werewolf as she goes, glancing up to Branton after a moment. "You wanted the deluge, didn't'cha? Well, here it is."

Branton nods at Charlene, setting up a plate that he's dumped salt out in for her to draw glyphs on. He's focused on the symbols as she draws them "Alrighty. I'm still keeping up."

Sweeping up her pepper into the fry basket, Charlene re-draws the Black Fury symbol on Branton's plate - what looks like a lightning bolt with a horseshoe on top, more or less. "This'll be the dime explanation of the tribes. For deeper histories, we'll sit down and really dig in. Some of the creation myths, for instance, are wild compared to some of the tribes, but each have their own nugget of truth. So, starting from the beginning, The Black Furies - your tribe - are the matriarchs of the Garou. We only accept women as members of the tribe and are known for honor, wisdom, pride, and skill in battle. Our history is full of myth since a lot of the tribe does not trust written records, seeing them as tainted by the weaver.

Branton nods at Charlene as she explains he ponders "So where does that leave me then? Or do you only mean Women garou? What happens to boys who can shift?"

"A big thing for the furies is sex. Reproduction, basically. Males who have the gift of shifting, once they're discovered, are passed to other tribes to be raised by them in a kind of exchange program. Other tribes - often tribes that don't show a lot of respect to women - get the boy they want, and we get the girl to raise in a safe environment. Male Fury Kinfolk are fine. We need kinfolk, after all, just as much as any tribe does."

Branton nods at Charlene as she explains "That makes sense. Seems like good buisness and better for everyone that way."

"The tribes we generally deal with are the ones more in line with our views, if that makes sense. Children of Gaia, Fianna, and sometimes the Get of Fenris exchange female cubs for our male ones. It may not be nice, but it's just how it is. We're unique in that aspect, after all." Charlene takes another sip of her drink. "Next tribe." She shakes the salt to get it smooth, draws two crescents with their opening to the right and a trio of slashes across. "Bone Gnawers." "Bone Gnawers are, by default, one of the lower tribes in the pantheon. If Silver fangs were on one side of a coin, the Gnawers would be on the other. These guys are scavengers and survivors. They're the underdog, and if you underestimate them - and you often will - they'll get you due to you being overconfident. Ever see John Wick part 2? The Bowery King, Lawrence Fishburne's character? I'll bet you dollars to donuts that he was based on a Gnawer or two. His army of homless people? that's definitely based on Bone Gnawer culture." She takes another sip of her root beer. "If you need to know something, they'll have ears. If you need to find someone, they can find it anywhere in the city. They're a hardy tribe and, despite the dirt and grunge, are honorable."

Branton nods at Charlene and grins "Seems legit to me. I got out of that life but I got respect for those that can make it work."

"Not to say all tribes aren't honorable, of course. Just them, it's in spite of outside looks, if that makes sense." Charlene shifts a little in her seat, clearing the salt again. "Third tribe are the what're kind of thought as the hippie love children of the Garou." A circle is drawn, bisected by a line that looks like a hill with four vertical slashes beneath. "The Children of Gaia. These guys are the peacekeepers of the Garou, working toward building understanding between tribes with the ultimate goal of uniting all of the tribes as a unified front against the Wyrm." She tilts her head. "did you go over the triat?"

Branton nods at Charlene "Yeah, Dragomir covered it when we covered the Litany. Wyrm bad, Weaver bonkers, Wyld also bonkers but more friendly."

"That's it in a nutshell, yep. So the Children, or Coggies, as they're sometimes called, are maintaining stability. A lot of the tribes are shrinking, but these guys are staying about the same size. They're an ally of ours, since one of the things they focus on are women's rights and civil rights, and free speech, too. These were the tribe that stopped the Imperigum." There's that word again and she pauses as she says it, shaking the salt smooth again. "I know ah'm droppin' hints 'bout th' before times, an' ah'll get to it. Jus' know that accordin' to th' records, th' Imperigum - a bad thing that caused the delirium most folk have when they see us in our war forms - was started by th' furies, more'n likely, an' was ended by the Children of Gaia." She takes a breath. "Next tribe...Fianna."

Just a split second before Halona enters, a girl of about ten, Hispanic, dressed in brand new clothes, all the way down to the shoes and the BRIGHT pink eyeglasses that she wears so proudly, steps in. "You sure you don't mind, Halona? I know it's been a long day for you." Halona shakes her head. "No. It's fine. I can relax here," she assures the child, who nods and then turns to look at the others, falling silent, eyes drifting downward just a touch in the face of the unfamiliar

Charlene is sitting at one of the booths nibbling on the remains of french fries, waiting for her companion to return. A bowl of salt is on the table, a Garou symbol drawn in it - the one for Child of Gaia. Someone's been giving lessons, it seems. She looks up when an unfamiliar face walks in the door - and a pink-glassed girl. She squints, giving both a wave. "Howdy. Y'all in th' right place? This part of th' diner's f'r folk what're part of th' club."

Halona nods to Charlene. "We are. We've been here once already. Journey and George and Dragomir all assured us it was fine." The little girl speaks up then, glancing to Halona and then to Charlene. "Maybe... maybe you're in the wrong place?" There's no disrespect indended, just a child trying to solve possible problems. Halona nudges her, roughly but not unkindly. "Unlikely, Antonia. Hush please."

The name dropping works, Charlene relaxing visibly at the familiar terms. "Ah, well. Welcome, then." She turns her attention to the girl, chuckling. "Actually no, ah've been a member of th' club f'r a while. Got a tail an' everythin' if I take the right shape." She smiles and looks to Halona. "Don't think we've met, ma'am? Ah'm Charlene Schwietzer, Song-of-Vengeance, Adren Galliard of th' Black Furies."

The little girl hushes and looks properly chastened, even though it wasn't much of a chastisement. With Charlene's introduction, both stand a little straighter. "I am Halona, rited Like the the Wind, Cliath to the Wendigo, born under no moon on four legs. This is my ward, Antonia, Uktena kin. It is an honor to meet you, Song-of-Vengeance."

"Ah, I heard your howl th' other day. Glad to see someone brought y' down from th' highest hill where you was waitin'." Charlene gets to her feet and walks over to Halona and Antonia, crouching down to smile at the little kin (while maintaining a respectful distance). "Y'all gone to see Vesta yet to get set up with a place t' live an' all that? Linked up wit' any of your tribe?"

Halona nods. "Not Vesta, but Journey, her mate. He gave me money to make sure that Antonia had all that she needed. New clothes, glasses, a burger." Antonia grins and she nods. "I like the burgers here. They're very good. We have a place to stay. It's in a big cave and there's a wooden butterfly that wants to built a groggo and Halona's found her a pack!" The child says with respectful excitement.

A wooden butterfly? Curious and curiouser. "Journey's a good guy. He an' his mate take care of us pretty good. An' it's good you've bumped into a pack. Ah'm guessin' it's Drago's proto-Merlin pack? But a wooden butterfly?" She tilts her head. "What's that th' butterfly's wantin' to make?"

Branton comes back from the restroom and sits back down across from Charlene "Sorry about that. Setting up a thing through the local VA office to fund a program at Billy's community garden." He nods politely at Halona and Antonia "Afternoon."

Halona nods. "He seems to be yes. Particularly for an Elder." And then she nods. "Drago's, yes.. and... yes. It's a.. I don't know the word. Paul said it was 'like miss Bronwyn'. It can be a butterfly or a human. It wants protection." When Branton comes back, Halona falls silent and Antonia glances over at Halona, then toward the counter, then back to Halona and Halona motions her away and she GOES! Right up to the counter to order food

Charlene retakes her seat across from Branton and draws another symbol in the salt, looking over at Halona for a moment, arm over the back of the seat. "Bronwyn is...well...yeah, she's looking for the butterfly. It might be a thing between her an' it, but if they bump into each other, it might not be the best. We might need to get a Theurge out t' talk to it an' figure out what it is." She lifts a hand. "Now, I ain't gonna ask where your cave is - that's your territory an' all, but ah' am gonna do a little investigatin' on th' butterfly an, with your permission, might come out t' visit it jus' to give it a look over." She looks to Branton again. "Might have to cut this lesson short after Fianna, if that's okay."

Branton nods at Charlene "That's fine, its an awful lot to get through in one sitting anyway." Then he offers to Halona "Branton Kholer, Black Fury kinfolk."

Halona shakes her head to Charlene. "Not my cave. Dragomir's. He gave her permission to build her home not far away, but still outside of his territory. The permissio is not mine to give." She nods to Branton. "Halona, Wendigo Cliath Ragabash Lupus." She motions toward the little girl at the counter who is given a huge milkshake. "That's Antonia, my ward. Uktena kin."

Charlene reaches up to take off her hat and withdraws, of all things, a business card. "Ain't given you one of these yet." She passes it over to Branton. "Give me a buzz th' next time you're available an' we'll go over the next few tribes. Miss Halona, there, would prob'ly be th' best one t' talk 'bout regardin' th' Wendigo, since my understandin' is super basic on that." She looks to Halona, nodding. "Ah'll be sure to check with him, then, b'fore doin' any wanderin' around."

Branton fishes a card out of his pocket and trades it to Charlene for hers "Sounds like a good plan." Then he explains to Halona "I just found out about being kinfolk a couple of days ago. Charlene's been helping me get up to speed."

Halona nods to Branton. "Welcome home then," she tells Branton and smiles at Charlene. "I will let him know to look for you, -rhya," she says, glancing over to check on Antonia who is already half way done with her milkshake

Charlene snickers at the sight of the little girl devouring the milkshake, shaking her head a little. "Girl's got the appetite of a Garou, it looks like." Then, to Halona. "There's a sporting goods store here in town run by a kinfolk - Gaelin, and his Garou mate, Mae. If'n y'all need anythin' campin' or otherwise, he'll be able to help y' out, s'far as things go. Ain't nothin' like th' bag of money you'll get from Journey or Vesta, but still, every little bit helps"

Branton grins and shrugs at Charlene "I've been told that part of my job as kin is to interface with the human world. And I think a robust investment portfolio's its own sort of superpower. So if there's a problem throwing cash at it will fix? I'll be the Furies' money man."

Halona nods to Charlene, glancing over at Anti again and shakes her head. "She's going to freeze her brain." she says quietly and then nods to Charlene. "I'll remember that. Thank you." Branton gets a little smile and a nod.

"I got a little lucky with that, s'far as things go. Yay rich grandparents, I guess. Might need t' hand you th' keys an' let you do some investin', s'far as things go. I do okay...'nuff t' be Garou full time, but better's better f'r th' nation an', b'sides...." Charlene gives a small shrug, tucking the card given into her hat, putting the hat back on her head. "We normally don't enjoy retirement."

Branton nods at Charlene "I've got a guy for most of it. Heard that Journey's mate's got a thing going already I might have a sit down with her rather than reinvent the wheel. I also gotta see Alecto again sometime soon, Journey and Jake both suggested I speak to her about becoming the sept's Klaive-crafter."

"Ah'll think you'll prob'ly have a little trouble gettin' that spot, what with th' rest of us Garou Blacksmiths around." Charlene says with a smirk.