2023.03.23 Gettin' Crafty Wit' It

03.23.23 Gettin’ Crafty Wit’ It
Irsa and Mercy join up to make talens and fetishes; Trey, Jackie, and Branton add to the fun
IC Date	03.23.23
Players	Branton, Iris, Irsa, Jackie, Trey
Location	the Craftsmen’s Guild
Spheres	Garou, Bastet, Kinfolk, Sorcerer

Craftman's Guild - Workshops

There are many workshops here for any number of crafty professions, whether one is technically minded or interested in more archaic or mystical arts, there's an appropriate space available. Doors and windows can be locked for safety's sake, or opened to vent out the smoke of a failed experiment. Neighborliness is promoted, and it's not uncommon for artists to be heard asking their neighbors for some common item that they've run out of. The scraping, knocking, bubbling and clanking of crafts-folk at their trades hangs in the air as an endless song of creative production at nearly all hours of the day and night.

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Mercy and Irsa are doing arts and crafts! Making vessels for spirits and stuff. Irsa's been putting together wind chimes, and Mercy has been making lots of arrows with weird heads. As ya do! Aside from that, gossiping all over the place. "Well... Okay, you have a *point*, but I guess I always thought that was from me making an example of what *not* to do. I mean not that I'm trying to broadcast a low opinion of myself, maybe it's just anxiety or whatever, but I always feel the uh... You know, like assuming the worst opinions from others I guess."

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Trey has been making use of this place since Iris and George brought him here some weeks back; he has a large tote bag in one hand and the usual knapsack over the other shoulder. He'd been finishing things off with his project in a corner when he heard familiar voices and decided to approach. "Good afternoon," Trey says with a smile and a wave from the free hand. "How go things?"

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Irsa 's scarred mouth shifts into a wide grin. "See, now you're soundin' like I did when I was worrying about whether my advice was good with our boy here," she adds, gesturing to Trey. "What's good, fur friend of mine?"

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Mercy waves arrows at Trey! "Afternoon!" she greets with a cheerful smile, eye rolling just a little bit at Irsa, but in that way that says 'okay, another point to you!'. It's friendly therapy day at the Guild, apparently! "We're preppin' talen and fetish objects, whatter YOU up to?"

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Trey approaches with the tote bag; it's worn, burgundy, and says something about a Nurses' Union on the side, so it looks like it's a Thrift Store Special. "For what it's worth, I think you're both pretty damned keen, so." He then places the tote bag on the table before Irsa. "I finished this a little late, but it's a packwarming present. Denwarming? Well, you get the idea."

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Irsa points to a set of four windchimes, crafted from brass tubes strung with old copper wiring and decorated with bits and bobs made from polished glass and old metal. "Those are mine, right there. Fetish blanks, two of 'em are going to my pack's mystic." She blinks as Trey sets down the tote bag. "For us? For real? No need for that, money, goes th' other way 'round for my Tribe. But I definitely ain't turning down presents, that's hella rude." She makes short work of opening the totebag and peeking inside. "Oh man..." she breathes. "Check this out!" she says, setting it down on the table for Mercy to check out.

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Mercy comes 'round to have a looksee at what Trey has brought, and says, "Oh that's so lovely!" she says right away, cause it *is*! But she leans in to sniff it, tilts her head to try and listen to it, and unless she's stopped, will absolutely lick it. "Heeeey, there's magic in there!" she declares, and turns to hug Trey for his wonderfully kind ways, "You're just the sweetest friggin cat, I swear!"

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Trey notes, "It's enchanted to make lesser rites go more smoothly when you use it; I figured that when you're making fetishes, it will ease up doing the summonings a lot." He looks a little sheepish for a moment, and gets hugged by Mercy, and returns it with warmth. "I just figured, new pack, lots of new rites..." He smiles, almost shyly and then adds, "I love those chimes. I make beads too, so if you have a need for 'em, let me know, I have tons. And A lot of scrap leather if you ever need that. I don't waste much."

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Irsa turns the candle holder to admire it from every angle. "Seriously? Hah! Dude, y'got no idea how useful this is gonna be. I mean, you do, but you don't. This'll make talen and fetish makin' way, way easier. And protection rites, which I got a serious need for. Thanks, it's an amazing present." The Bone Gnawer eyes her fetish blanks and slides one towards Trey. "No time like th' present! Go wild with this one, while we talk trade. My tribe's the leaders in scrounging an' scrap. What d'ya need?"

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Mercy finishes tying off one of the arrow heads made of cloudy jade to the shaft of a mostly finished arrow, and sets that stuff down. "Be right back in just a sec!" she says, and darts off into one of the nearby work shops, coming back with a gaggle of candle making junk. Burner, pot, box of colorful wax bits and another small box of scented oils. That kinda thing. I mean if you've got a new holder, you totally need a new candle to stick in it. While Trey and Irsa negotiate stuff and things, she gets the burner set up and lit, and starts dropping little colored wax cubes in, stacking them just so.

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Trey ooohs and beams at the blank. "Oh, I can definitely use this for... wow, a lot of things, I will want to think about that. That platter from your housewarming is going to be used for rituals; I just fell in love with the sunset design. I need to learn the Greet the Sun ritual soon; it seems perfect for it." He contemplates this query. "Um... small pieces of interesting fabrics. Any clay beads that don't come out quite right for carving. I have this idea for these little talen-type items, but enchantments, ones that basically distract a spirit if a summoning gets screwed up, and makes them not attack or get outright hostile. And I was going to make them out of bright fabrics, beads that make noise, and some leather to bind it all for strength. And a dash of cat magic. So they are bright, shiny, and make a little noise."

He watches Mercy work, and adds, "You have no idea how many hideous garments I've bought from thrift shops just for the beads." He motions to one bracelet he's wearing. "This one is just for looks right now, but the beads were once a disco style tube top."

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"I mean, y' could use it later. Or we can make somethin' right now, up to you!" Irsa replies. "D'ya know what Sanctuary Chimes are?" She's already sorting through her supplies, setting up another blank.

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"You'd look good in disco chique." Mercy opines to Trey, although she has no fashion sense at all. Her own clothes are basically the same couple outfits she's been wearing for years now. They probably need replacing, but she's not likely to do so until they're literally falling apart. Once she's got the wax set up to slooooowly melt, she gets back to her arrows, this time stealing the drill away from Irsa and changing out its head so she can work on shaping a bit of quartz that she traps in a jeweler's vice."

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Trey nods slowly. "Spirit ward within a hundred feet, if I'm recalling correctly. Usually used to protect Kin children and pregnant women. Sort of like a Dreamcatcher's function, only for spirits. Yeah?" He nods and says, "I'm game to work on it -- I may use different sigils, but I think the principles should apply all ways, right?"

He eyes Iris at that comment. "Polyester makes my skin itch," he says with a smirk. "So what do the jade heads do, and what do the quartz ones do?"

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Irsa grunts. "That's one use for them. They're also used t' protect Caerns an' important locations like your den, which is a big thing to keep Banes from being summoned into. I dunno how your Glyphs work, but! If you tell me th' intent, I can work with that."

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Mercy smiles while Irsa gives her instruction, but when asked about what she's working on, she chatters while handing Trey one of the finished arrows. Its head is cloudy jade and shaped like a crescent moon, tied to the shaft at the middle so the moon's points stick out like a double pointed head. "Serpents like jade, and I need to bind a cobra spirit into these ones. See, it's like two little snake fangs. When it hits, it should stop the enemy from being able to do any sort of regeneration or healing at all. Easier to kill stuff if it can’t get back up. Quartz is related to healing, and quartz spirits are about as good at that sort of thing as water elementals are. So I'm making some blunt headed arrows that won’t cause any piercing damage, but will heal from a distance. So I can shoot anyone in the front line and heal them. Probably it'll bruise, but... Healing."

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Trey pulls out a battered, inexpensive small whiteboard and a marker. He draws a series of Bastet glyphs for Irsa with the fine-point marker, three per stack, three stacks. "Forbid, enter, spirit. Safe, harm, spirit. Away, travel, spirit. Very basic, but that's what it looks like -- I've seen a Bastet version of those chimes." He takes the jade-moon arrow and ooohs, admiring it. "It's also beautiful," he says, and then chuckles in admiration... "Shoot someone to heal them, that's brilliant. You could also use something like gel that breaks on impact, but storing them would be a pain in the ass."

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Irsa snickers at Mercy. "You just wanna live out your lifelong dream of shooting Ahrouns in th' back and gettin' away with it," she teases the Elder. "I gotta say, it's a brilliant idea. Ranged healing talens opens up all kinds of battlefield options." Warriors of Gaia, right here. She pays close attention to Trey's instruction, committing those glyphs to memory. "I like th' look of those, real graceful," she remarks. "You've seen how blocky Garou ones are. I blame th' big claws an' pissy atttitudes there. But enough of that! Add whatever other decorations you want there. When you're done, we'll summon us up a spirit."

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Trey rolls Stamina(2) + Primal Urge(1) (3 dice) vs 6 for 1 successes.
2 3 +8
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"Yeah, but," Mercy says, digging out the cons, "I could break a gel thing when it's in the quiver with other sharp things, and also I want to be able to smack people in the back of the head. Encouragingly." She assures with a trickster's grin, pointing to Irsa's back up on the subject. "You know, if you made these out of rose quartz and used an emotion spirit, you could make cupid arrows. Probably the results would get weird because infatuation is fleeting. I wouldn't suggest it, now that I think about it." She nods her agreement with Irsa again! "Pink says our words look angry and frustrated a lot." she tells the pair.

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Trey is about to dig for tools, but he stops, frowns, and looks at his right hand. He winces, and then sweats a little as he focuses, focuses more... and eventually, one very long, slender, curved claw pops out of the tip of his index finger. "Works better if it's done with claws," he notes, exhaling. "But I *suck* at partial shifts." And at that point, he begins to carve with that claw, careful to make the glyph-stacks precise as well as symmetrical with the size of the chimes. "Our claws are narrower so our glyphs are skinny. I can even do them as a lynx."

He smiles, then, and says, "I don't think the sept needs more infatuation. Do you?" He laughs softly. "Of course, if a cute little lynx with a plush coat and bright eyes pops up, all bets are off." He's probably kidding. "Garou glyphs have a lot of rage to them, yeah. I've seen a little of the Corax ones, and they're just... practical looking."

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Irsa fetches her ritual bundle out of her pack. "All right, let's get this show on th' road." They're already in a ritual space, so we begins laying out a series of etched, rusting metal plates to definine a summoning circle, connecting them with a series of glyphs and symbolic offerings. "D'ya know Cleansing Rite?" she asks the Bastet. "It's early, so might as well get that knocked out first."

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"Swara must get so frustrated trying to do delicate claw work!" Mercy says, laughing a little bit while working. "Course, I bet they're a lot sharper in their war form than in feline, so maybe not!" She shuts up while Irsa's working and talking though, no one needs the peanut gallery when they're trying to do things that could end up dangerous with a sound slip up! Instead, she checks wax melting progress and makes what amounts to a drawer knob out of a lump of white quartz, and sets it aside to start a second one.

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Treads-on-Thin-Ice rolls Charisma(2) + Rituals(4) + 2 (8 dice) vs 7 for 5 successes.
1 5 +8 +8 +8 +9 +9 9
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Treads-on-Thin-Ice nods and pulls a fresh willow branch out of a mailer tube from inside his backpack. "I do. Just let me shift." He shifts up to Crinos, and rolls his shoulders. He's shorter than a typical Garou, close to eight feet. "Swara have other advantages. Like being able to cross the Gauntlet much more easily." He pulls out the water, pours it into a metal bowl that is dwarfed by his paw, and then dips the branch. He's so practiced at this that it seems he's known it for a good long time, as he walks widdershins around them, growling and yowling, sprinkling them and the items they are working on with the spring water, enacting the Rite of Cleansing.

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"I ain't never seen Natalie in her four-leg form," Irsa admits, as she steps back to double and triple check her work. "Only time I've ever been a cheetah has been on YouTube."

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"Yeah, about the same here." Mercy admits, alternating between wax checks and stone grinds. "I've got some arrow gifts for our catty mystic as well," she says, pointing to the working Trey, "I've ended up with a surplus of Bane Arrows and Apollo's Arrows. Which I should show you so you can reverse engineer them for bolts. The Apollo ones are the kind Jackie used to shoot that big monster vampire guy, the fireball ones."

Jackie has arrived.

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Treads-on-Thin-Ice waves his branch and sprinkles the ladies with spring water, making SKERRY Crinos noises to scare off any corruption and cleanse the area. It's almost funny, except for that whole 'eight foot lynx-man' thing. For a guy who downplays his nature a lot, he would be scary coming at you in a fight. Maybe. After his last circuit, he sniffs and then lays the spent willow branch atop a recycling bin. It's not useful for anything else except mulch, now.

"There's a cheetah at Kitten Itza Sanctuary. She's an older female, but she's sweet. Of course, she probably likes me because I've fed her a bunch of times. But there's tons of big cats I've only seen in a zoo in Denver, and the place made me so angry that Casey had to drag me out." He growls, the Crinos form making him closer to his Rage, small as it is. "Fire arrows? Oh, you *do* love me!"

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Irsa frowns and steps forward to chalk in a couple more glyphs on a summoning circle she's set up in the ritual area of the workshop. They aren't strictly necessary, but she's adding them for further decoration to flatter the spirit she's calling. She speaks to Mercy, while Treads-on-Thin-Ice is chanting and dancing away in his lynxy Crinos form. "All of those are gonna be useful," Irsa replies to Mercy. "Th' Apollo ones I think, for Jackie. I can hit you up for Bane later."

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Mercy is turning a lump of quartz into a small knob, and takes it out of the padded vice she's using when it's about done, and sets it with some others. Before starting on another one, she checks on some wax she has melting in a handy dandy little electric melter, using a little stick to stir it a bit, double checking that it's not lumpy. Shit, gotta set the damned wicks! So she gets on that. "I have really mixed feelings about zoos. But I have great feelings about exploding stuff, I'll show you in a minute when one of these tasks is done!"

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Treads-on-Thin-Ice yeahs at Iris' comment about zoos, ruefully, and says, "Some of them have saved endangered species but it angers me to see distant relatives in tiny enclosures instead of the ranges they should have." He breathes, and crouches by the table, settling in to observe and learn as Irsa chalks more glyphs. Clever, wise... it takes him a moment to make out the glyph for 'respected,' but he nods, having puzzled it out.

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Jackie slips into the space, being careful to not disturb the people or any of the items they're working with. She drifts to the side, giving a small wave of greeting as she glances over the works in progress. She does get a small glint in her eye at the mention of exploding stuff though.

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Irsa smiles as she spots her packmate. "I swear, you gotta be half-spirit yourself, Jackie. Just need to mention your name, and y' turn up like th' very best penny. If you ain't certain, that's Trey right there," she says, waving at the Qualmi. "I mean, he's a lynx, but I ain't sure if you've been imbiding or what." Branton arrives from the central square. Branton has arrived.

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Mercy dribbles some oils into the wax, stirs once more, and gets to pouring wax into a mold now that she's got some wicks weighted down into it, pouring with one hand and using a little twig in the other to make sure things spread evenly and that the different colors of the wax swirl nicely. Looking up while working she beams a smile at Jackie, "Hey!" she greets cheerfully, and sets about cleaning up the melter now that it's done its job. She's got some jeweler's stuff set up near by where she's been crafting various arrows and arrow heads. "We were talking about explody stuff and your name came up!"

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Treads-on-Thin-Ice is crouched in the ritual circle with Irsa, who has set up the place for a summoning. Trey is in Crinos at the moment, having just done a Cleansing Rite. Jackie is nearby, and Mercy is at a table finishing some crafting.

"Call her Good-Penny, always turning up," Trey says, his words a little hissy and weird from the cat-shape of his mouth, the voice itself a little growlier. He waves to Jackie with one clawed hand, and says, "Good to see you again." Friendly, for an eight foot catmandude.

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Jackie chuckles a bit, responding first to Trey before turning to address Mercy. "Yeah, it is good. Funnily often lately, too. And for the record, I generally don't blow many things up. With most of my work and hobbies, things exploding on me is a bad thing."

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"I dunno. It suits her, but out there? She's gotta live with that handle," Irsa replies to Trey. "You're just in time, Jackie. We're making a shiny new fetish, and I'm on th' Summoning portion of things. You met Unicorn already, but now? You get t' meet a seriously bad-ass spirit."

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Branton comes down into the workshop area as if summoned. No, not really, just funny timing that way. He heads over to the workbench his mate is at, offering a friendly wave to the others.

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"I dunno girl, blowing things up is suuuuuuper fun!" Mercy says as if trying to entice Jackie over to the dark side. Speaking of blowing stuff up, she spots Branton and waves like a dumbass at him while yelling, "Hey guess what! Everyone thinks you're super hot!" across the yard at the poor fellow. Meanwhile, she gets back to work prepping her next blunt quartz head. WITHOUT yelling now, cause Irsa's gotta summon stuff.

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The reply about the name gives Trey pause. "There's that," he agrees, offering the Crinos equivalent of a smile. "But I'm the guy who's basically named 'Does Stupid Shit and Survives Somehow,' so what the hell do I know from ritenames?" Trey spots Branton's arrival and waves back, one clawed hand describing an arc from where he's crouched near Irsa. "I kinda pity any kittens I wind up naming." And now, he's paying attention. Really, he is. Someone give that cat some Ritalin.

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Jackie turns her attention down to the circle at the mention of a 'bad-ass spirit', trying to gauge what might be coming with her limited knowledge of the matter. "How bad ass are we taking here? I mean, maybe bad ass isn't the right term for Unicorn, but that was still pretty cool."

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Irsa rolls Wits + Rituals + 6 vs 3 for 13 successes.
2 +3 +3 +4 +4 +4 +5 +5 +5 +5 +7 +8 +9 +9
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Branton laughs at the complement his mate hollars and he holds up his hands, palms facing each other about shoulder width apart. A dance of swirling white sparks flickers back and forth as he says "That's because I am." Then he glances over at the summoning in progress as he sidles up to his lady "They calling anyone I might know?"

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Mercy sets aside her hand full of blunt quartz bits and uses a little broom to sweep up all the chips and powder before working on some other stuff. Steel heads this time, though they've already been made, they just need sharpening. So she gets on that while giving Branton the smitten eye. "Unsure!" she answers, but a little more quietly than usual so she doesn't muck anyone up with distractions, "She's making some spirit charms for her pack's house. Trey's helping, Jackie's lookin' awesome, and I'm preping talen vessels. Whatter YOU doin?"

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Irsa doesn't answer by telling Jackie things, the big meanie. It's show and tell time! She places incense bowls around the summoning circle and steels herself, focusing her will and spiritual strength into a singular purpose. Her voice booms out in the language of Spirits. ~ I call upon the four winds, to carry my voice forth into Spirit. I call upon the spirits of guidance, to find my ally and direct their path here. I call upon one who stands among the First of the City, who forged their first pact long ago with the Warders of Man. I call upon you, mighty Guardian of the Gate, to hear my words and lend me an audience so I might beseech your aid. Hear me, and come so that I may honor your purpose. ~ A howling vortex of wind immediately springs up, blasting out of the circle and spiralling up towards the ceiling of the ritual space. The clash of arms can be barely heard, as if originating from a great distance.

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Treads-on-Thin-Ice is here to observe, and that's what he does for now, ensuring the bowls stay lit and nothing goes horribly wrong. He takes Irsa's words to memory, and remains silent as the Theurge works with the Guardian of the Gate.

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Jackie watches and listens too, not wanting to disturb this part. She does run her eyes around the other workstations though, wondering if there's any other projects her help would be useful with.

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Branton grins as he watches the summoning and he answers quietly "One of the glass-walker kinsorcs wanted me to stress test an 'invention'. Alchemy by another name really. It was a fire resistant enamel that's supposed to be good on vehicles. Fair to him though, It did make me work harder to melt it."

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"Show off." Mercy says with a teasing grin at Branton. She beams, she just loves this whole mystic shtick so much! Whether she's doing it herself or watching someone else get their ritual on, she enjoys being around it, soaking in the vibe, watching the differences and nuances of the way other folk do things in ritual form. It's the best! As the actual summoning and pull begins to happen, she shuts up entirely so as not to distract either Irsa or the spirit she's contacting.

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The winds crash down into the summoning circle, whirling around in a cyclone before blasting away. A hulking figure stands in the circle, a twelve-foot, a powerfully-built humanoid spirit that looms over the bystanders. It's clearly a martial spirit: battered bronze armor covers its battle-scarred torso and barbed weaponry rattles in each brawny hand as the blue-skinned creature with six arms glares down at Irsa with burning molten eyes. ~ WHAT DO YOU WANT, SHAMAN? ~ the Guardian of the Gates booms. Irsa bows her head and answers, right to the point. ~ My pack has a den in the heart of your city. We need protection from the many Banes that infest our territory, so they do not slip in while we rest. I have prepared a vessel for you here. Will you inhabit it for a time, and lend us the strength of your guardian purpose? ~

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The finer points of spirit negotiation are something Trey finds infinitely fascinating, and of course, useful. The Guardian is intimidating, but that's sort of the point -- would you want a guardian who wasn't scary? He watches raptly.

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The blue-skinned Guardian huffs, snorting out a plume of hot breath. ~COCKROACH'S PACT WITH THE WALKERS OF GLASS DEMANDS I ANSWER YOUR SUMMONS, SHAMAN. WERE I TO AID YOU IN AN ENDLESS CIRCLE, MY PURPOSE GOES UNFULFILLED TO PROTECT MY WEAKER BRETHERN. WHAT DO YOU OFFER IN COMPENSATION?~ Irsa was prepared for this bartering. ~ I will perform the appropriate rites to honor a fetish, once per full turning of the moon. Further, I do not ask the boon for a permanent cycle of protection. I ask for your aid for a period of three years, no longer. In addition, my pack will assist Coackroach's brood in protecting the city in your absense. Our totem is Aelous, our purpose is to strike against the Wyrm.~ The spirit ponders the offering carefully. ~AGREED. BUT KNOW, SHAMAN, THAT I WILL LAY MY CURSE UPON YOU, SHOULD YOU BREAK YOUR WORD.~ A ear-shattering clash of arms sounds, as the spirit abruptly vanishes from sight. The windchimes Irsa had crafted as a home for the mighty spirit gleams with a faint blue light.

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Jackie lets out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Wow, that was... intense."

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Treads-on-Thin-Ice watches with wonder, still; his love of learning means he never really takes these events as mundane or a matter of course. One *should* feel wonder at the many marvels of the spirit world... or even, the wonders of the natural world. He taps Jackie's shoulder lightly with one oversized hand and says, "Yeah... it's amazing."

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Branton was quiet and carefully still while Irsa did her work, mindful of a number of ways such things can go wrong. All finished though he grins and sighs with relief "That sort of thing will never get old."

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Mercy stops what she's doing to applaud once Irsa gets the spirit to agree to the binding, and cheers, "Yaaaaaaaay!" for her efforts. "Well done, Hammer Tooth!"

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Irsa doesn't waste time. While the spirit is still willing, she murmurs more words in a second Rite, praising the Guardian's temporary sacrifice while she binds its essence to the now-Fetish chimes. "Yeah, they're really loud," Irsa says to Jackie. "Kinda gotta be t' ward off spirits that wanna fuck around an' find out. Cockroach has a lotta spirits in its Brood, and these spirits are serious about their duties. They like plain, direct speech, without dancin' around the point when it comes to bargaining. Just mind your manners, they don't do demands."

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Trey returns to his normal shape -- or, well, the one people usually see him in, anyway -- and pauses long enough to pull out his notebook and make a few quick notes into the leather-sheathed book. His handwriting is neat and compact as he draws out the summoning circle, and then makes notes on it. That done, he slips it away. "Eventually," he says, "I'm going to turn all of my notes on spirits into some kind of reference for people to use for the new cubs and kittens."

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Jackie shoots a wry grin Irsa's way. "Thanks for the advice, but I think that's something I can leave for the experts."

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"Turtle spirits are the ones most Garou use for Sanctuary Chimes," Irsa adds for Trey and Jackie. Branton surely knows all this, he's been all over the Umbra with Mercy and taken part in many of her rituals. "They're way more chill, though they take a while t' ponder your offerings. If you're patient and fair though, they respond really well and got no problem serving for a long, long time. Me, I wanted t' use a Guardian of the Gates 'cause of their attitude. It suits a city pack that ain't got love for Wyrm or Weaver foes." She snorts at Jackie and points between the Fenrir Kin and Branton. "Yeah, well, good t' know this, since you got that spiritual tie most don't. And look who we have here! Just th' man to take your measurements for that collapsible spear."

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Branton chuckles and shrugs at Jackie "A wise precaution but file it away against the day you won't have a choice. Prospect is a weird enough town you never know what might wind up coming up relevant. Like the fact that wooden stakes don't kill vampires, just paralyze them. Fire's a good answer there, and I'm not just saying that because its my favorite answer." Nodding at Irsa's mention of a weapon "A custom piece goes a lot further than you might think. Height, arm length, grip span, grip strength, any material or chemical allergies or restrictions? I had one guy order something and specify that it couldn't be boar hide because of a totemic ban, another that it had to be cow because it was sending a message. None of them big differences by themselves but together add up to a really nice piece."

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Trey grins at the idea. "I can think of a lot of useful applications for fire. Fire is pretty much the universal kill-this-shit. Vampire? Fire. Bane? Fire. Wooden clockwork robot trying to take over the city? Fire." Then he stops to listen to Branton's explanation to Jackie, curious. As always.

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"Oh goddess, I never thought of that." Mercy says while working on sharpening bits, "Imagine being allergic to your own weapon! But I mean, breaking out in hives might be just the rage boost someone needs to kick some serious ass."

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Irsa begins cleaning up her mess, dumping the ashes from the incense into a handy-dandy receptable. She whistles while she packs the fetish and her ritual bundle away. "Snack time. Hope you lot like teriyaki beef jerky an' Dr. Pepper. It's all I got on me right now. Jackie, got any things you want added to that spear, besides th' collapsing property?"

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Jackie looks thoughtful, tapping her fingertip on her front teeth for a few moments. "Hmmmm... I don't really know that much about weapons, but if we're talking about little requests, can it be purple like my car?"

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Trey adds, "I've got some super hot jerky for anyone who likes spicy stuff." He shrugs and looks around them, helping Irsa clean up and then finding a place to perch and observe. Some part of him seems to really just like being around these people. He hrms. "Now I'm curious about making a fetish flamethrower."

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Branton grins and nods at Jackie "Sure enough. Color, texture, patterns, and iconography all made to order. Any historical period or cultural references you'd like worked into the design? And scifi or cyberpunk are valid answers."

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"Weren't you fearing the lava wings the other night?" Mercy asks Treycat with a snirk of a grin. "Actually, Journey developed a flame thrower talen. Jelly bean that lets you breathe out fire for a hot second."

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Irsa plops down on top of the nearest workbench, dangling her legs off the edge. "Hold up, that ain't a bad idea. Is there something that could protect Jackie from fire while she's wielding that spear?"

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Trey laughs and notes, "I was. Then I ate them. They weren't so bad going down." Note he says nothing about the rest of the journey. "Besides, I like these, it's like chewing on spicy leather." He fishes out the bag and opens it, offering it around. "Either this, or I eat the cat treats."

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Jackie looks at Irsa curiously. "Wait, why would I need that, specifically? Nobody's planning on shooting flamethrowers at me anytime soon, are they?"

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Branton waggles a hand back and forth "Sure there is, but it is kind of situational. I can get you some fire resistance potions as a just in case. Probably not worth packing it in on just the spear. Now, that being said I could do it...I just don't recommend it."

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"You'll need it 'cause Balefire is a thing," Irsa replies to her packmate. "Banes got a Charm for that, but more importantly? So do some fomori, and definitely Black Spiral Dancers. Sure, you ain't planning on gettin' into serious combat with any of these assholes. But if you get bushwhacked, havin' a bit of foresight and preparing for the worst can save your ass."

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"Not being able to be set on green fire is a good thing," Trey comments, as if this weren't an obvious thing. He munches absently on a bit of super hot jerky, letting out a little noise at the spice. "I'm getting used to the pizza burn," he remarks.

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Jackie mimics taking notes in a nonexistent book and grins as she quips. "Ok, noted. Beware of green fire, don't get my ass burned. There's just so many things to keep track of!"

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Irsa leaves the rest of the teriyaki jerky for the others and hops off the workbench. "Hey, at least there's easy solutions t' fire. Possession's a bit harder t' ward against, but that's what fetishes and magical shit is for." She stretches and says, "I gotta run, get th' word out to a few folks. Later, dudes! I'll see ya back at the Tenement later, Jackie." And with that, she departs.