2019.09.07 Devil's Night II

Devil's Night Part 2
Raven's Rock is attacked in the middle of the night.
IC Date	Sometime in the Future and a Long Time Ago
IC Time	Middle of the Night
Players	Pancake, Branton, Jes
Location	Raven's Rock
Prp/Tp	Ravenscar
Spheres	Garou, Gaian,

It is the same night as the dinner in which you all have just learned so much. After dinner, the guests and residents of Ravenscar settle in the Living Room for their Hot Chocolate or Jamaican Coffee treat. Olivia and Evie retreat to a corner with good candlelight to finish mending some clothes. Evie seems in good spirits as she is chuckling in conversation and turns her smile on several of those gathered. Which would likely not be remarkable save for the small fangs. Those who are perceptive enough would also notice a rather ornate broach at her neck, with a large red stone. Jase amicably chats with any of the guests that have further questions, although as the night winds down, everyoneâs tiredness is palpable. Frost and River playfully wrestle with with Miguel, Galen follows Branton around, declaring ~MY person~ and swatting other children with his paws if they get too close. He has so much to say now that someone can actually understand him! Lillie alternates between staring contests with Hrafn, asking Isla if sheâs a Real Princess, and asking Theron a million and one questions about his gear. When Ryder isnât trying to show Sten her singing skills, or climb on Aldric, sheâs asking Zyler Important Questions. Her level favorite though? Is Jes, of the Peacock pants, who she clearly idolizes. And probably mimics just a bit, too. Eventually though, the night winds down, children are put to bed and you go to take your rest, sleep and for some to dream...

xxxxxJes doesn't seem to mind being mimicked, and in fact pulls a few fun tricks when he notices Ryder imitating him. Highlights include a standing backflip, making his cigarette disappear into his nose, and rolling a quarter along his knuckles. He's playing it up, but not /too/ much.
xxxxxOnce it's bedtime he sort of hews to Isla, muttering something about running out of Full Throttle, but he's uneasy; it's hard to sleep because it's hard to stay still. Eventually he just gives up and goes to smoke alone with his thoughts, because why keep Isla up out of restlessness.

xxxxxBranton is going to wind up on the roof outside his and Iris' room, laying out and enjoying a joint and the cool night air as he tries to settle his mind, restless with plans and possibilities.

xxxxxIris is a bit out of her element with all these kids around, not that she's fleeing or attempting to blend in with the woodwork or anything, but she DOES look like she has some sort of nature documentary running in her head. 'And here we see the native Weirdicus Adolescentus romping in their natural habitat. The maturity of the mother prevents her from scolding her kits too harshly, but the same cannot be said for this rambunctious youngster.' A lot quieter than usual maybe, but Iris is totally paying attention! Right up until it's suddenly time for sleep. Like that's gonna happen, bitch just jumped through fuckin time, dawg!
xxxxxWith sleep definitely not happening, Iris is down to share some roof space and some doobage with Branton for the moment in comfortable silence. Until noticing some familiar smelling smoke from 'over there'. Hopping up, she wanders across the roof to go find Jes, and throws bit of something from the roof at him. "Hey." she calls quietly so as not to go waking people up that may actually have achieved snoozing, and waves dude up to join her and B-Town.

xxxxxJes is beaned by a chunk o' somethin', taking the hint and moving to join the Demented Duo and share in blazing phat doinks in the Wild Wild West. He gratefully accepts the roach and drags his share before switching gears back to his Nat Sherman and looking up at the sky, commenting, "This is fucking weird, even for us.".

In the middle of the night Iris falls through the roof. Only, not exactly, instead passing into the Umbra of Ravenscarne. Blame Branton, the fucker makes the veil so thin and this area is probably even more wild than it is in 2019. The Umbral webs here are stronger than you might imagine. They create starbursts that looks like shattered mirrors or broken stain glass, reflecting the interiors of the room but opaque enough that you can look out outside to the umbra storm that is forming right above Ravenscarne. Wait, didnât Isla say Umbral storms during this time were bad? The umbral sky is getting darker and darker and oh shit is that lightning? Holy shit itâs not but it sure is coming right for you!

xxxxxIris breathes out some skunk and nods, "Yeah but like... Think about it. Sure, weird, but at the same time, where will we ever get to randomly rodeo in someone's front lawn and not get arrested for it? Thank Gaia I learned how to lasso as a joke..." she mumbles. And because sleep is totally not happening, ...It happens. God damn it Morpheus, you dick!
xxxxxAnd yeah, Iris and falling into the Umbra are old palls. THIS is probably better than waking up frenzying though. ... Maybe. Not even remotely sure if she's awake or not, the first thing she does us try to jump up and go out a window! Last she recalled, she was on the roof, that's where she left all her backup, and people keep insisting that trying to fist fight tornadoes by yourself is stupid, so...

xxxxxSeveral smokes, tokes, and jokes down the line it seems that Iris has migrated from 'faded' to 'faded out' and Branton is hot on her tail (yuk yuk), but Jes is just... chill. He quietly smokes his Nat Sherman and murmurs, "If I'd known I was going back in time I'd have brought more beer.". The Ragabash's eyes are on the clouds, which are bunching up by moonlight. Like clouds do.

Indeed, the half moon in the sky is not complete blackened out and the winds have picked up when Iris comes through the window back onto the roof, practically half in and half our of the umbra, like her body can't quite make sure what side to be on. In the Gaia Realm, Jes would sick a flash of green and blue lightning that seems to arc right towards the house, but more slowly and deliberately than regular lightning. While in the Umbra, which Iris can still sort of see into being halfway in and out of the sky looks like it is filled with a how flock of flying monkeys looking banes swirling in the skies.

xxxxx"That's fucked up," Jes says to himself, but it's not entirely clear what he's referring to or who he's addressing because /damn/. He does, however, reach over and shove Branton's shoulder to rouse him, then scrambles to his feet. "Helmets on, cosmonauts; this does not look friendly."

xxxxxIris tries very hard to fall out of the window and out of the umbra as well, and some how trying to do both at once is like way difficult. While wriggling through umbral webbing and getting onto the sill again, she tries to get herself centered on the CORRECT plane of existance. Swinging a leg up, she looks both bewildered and frankly kinda worried!

xxxxxBranton blinks and shakes his head to clear it as he sits up after getting shook, he looks up to see all the enemy incoming and when Jes calls out 'helmets on' he throws himself at the window and winds up hanging half way in to grab a weapon.

There is a shout from the other side of the house and a large, blue and green tinged force slams into the tower, causing the roof to collapse on that side of the house. Simultaneously, something large spanning the entire length of the house begins to manifest in the sky, bearing down on the three members of Devil's Own that are on the roof.

xxxxxIris gets up there just as Branton goes shooting past and into the window. She'd wonder if maybe she smelled bad or something, but is far too busy getting furry to think up good snark just yet! Instead, once she's got the appropriate organs to do so, she tips her head back and howls. Half warning, half call to battle, doubtless people are already up and on this, but that never stopped anyone from setting off alarms before!

xxxxxBranton pulls himself out of the window and stand up and face the oncoming threats with a sword in his right hand and the other in the same gesture he made earlier in the living room (like he's throwing a baseball). This time that hand doesn't stay empty but a ball of fire forms and flys to splash against the creature, clinging to it and trying to consume it.

xxxxxJes does what he does when it's time to fight; he shifts down onto four legs and armors his ass up because you don't do anyone any good if you're cringing and wincing and shit. Luna's armor shimmers against his piebald fur, and he snarls through his teeth -- an effect only slightly dampened by the cigarette he's managed to keep in his mouth -- to say, << Whatever this is, we fight it the /smart/ way. >>

Once Iris gets, as Olivia Newton-John would say, 'physical' she puts on her furry suite and lets out a howl. Branton hurls a fireball at the creature forming in the sky and Jes goes on all hours and armors up. The spirit unfurls massive bone white wings and the bottom drops out, covering the entire area in a downpour. A skeletal neck cranes out and an insectoid shaped head with massive horns let's out a roar - a destructive spiritual force in the shape of lightning baths the roof, arching towards the members of Devil's Own as the flames Branton sent towards it catch and begin to burn. Jes and Iris manage to dodge out of the way but Branton can't completely get clear and feels something old and wrong twist his insides.

xxxxxIris glances around, ears swiveling while she tries to take a quick accounting after that narrow miss. She stops on Branton a moment, but he's still standing so.. Probably okay? She howls again, all challenge and rage at the big beast in the sky and quite possibly some choice words about its heritage to boot. Getting yelled at by angry women can have a deep and profound affect on most things, and its true in this case. Sticks and stones and all that, but words totally hurt! A little bit. ~I hear changing somewhere~ she thinks through the pack link, ~I don't know where but you know chanting and summoning. I cant tell what it is, I'm not even sure if it's people or Garou sounds.~

xxxxxBranton looks around worriedly as the baddies keep coming and he prays in classical greek >>I open myself to the spirits of my mothers, there are children here in danger and I would stand against that which threatens them. Aid me!<< His eyes flash with white light and he glares defiantly at the monster.

xxxxxDeath's Jester backs up a bit, giving himself a little bit of a running start, and dashes to make a huge flying leap at the creature with a howl of << WITNESS MEEEEEE! >> the whole way. He doesn't even /land/ so much as /latch/; his maw bites into the monster's neck and anchors there, swinging his body around to it's back so he can rip and tear at its throat. It's bloody business."

Big bone baddie keeps a safe distance for Devil's Own so Mercy's Messenger gives it a few sharp words while Branton calls on his peeps to guide his sword hand in the defense of children, fetishes and all that is good in 1881. So mostly children and fetishes. Jes gets a runago and makes one small step for him, but one GIANT LEAP for Garou-kind. Lucky bastard that he is, his bites find purchase in the good meat and he rips one entire wing from the creature and it begins to plummet towards the roof. It crashing down, buckling a portion of the roof and slinging Jes off of him. The Devil's Own manage to keep their footing on the roof as arcs of that deadly lightning spill from the belly and mouth of the beast It's looking ROUGH, but it's hanging on - for now.

From the area of the tower, another giant bane is golf clubbed into the sky and it explodes into green ichor, sending it raining everywhere in the vicinity. Somewhere below, the house shifts underneath Devil's Own and lurches as two more streaks fly down from the night, one headed towards the house, the other slightly off mark into the forest.

xxxxxStumbling but keeping her feet, Iris throws herself at the beastie and bites deep, pulling away with both a bit of materialized flesh as well as a mouth full of concentrated bad guy rage flaming on her tongue. It's quickly snuffed out though as she draws back again. Come at me, bro!

xxxxxBranton will take advantage to all the neck and throat trauma his allies have been doing to the beasty and slice at it's neck with his magic enhanced strength and alchemically infused runeblade. Cutting it deeep.

xxxxxDeej worries at the creature's neck and pulls back to help give Branton a key shot at the beast, then jumps back from it, turning his head to the sky with his ears up. << Something more up there, >> he snarls, puffing his last drag of his cigarette before swinging his head to let it burn up with the... the thing or whatever.

Bad guy on the roof now, courtesy of Death Jester's Delivery Service, Devil's Own does what a pack is supposed to do, surround it and tear it apart. Iris takes a 'Bite Out of Rage' which doesn't has the ring to it that McGruff's slogan has, but eh? Branton gets to slicing and dicing, finishing off the creature and taking it's head. It tries one last scream in its death throes to try and take the Devil's Own with it, but the wicked lightning it has been spilling fourth fizzles and whimpers with little more than a crackle and a pop and a little hair raising static electricity.

Unfortunately, this isn't quite over as from the sky a sounds like a locomotive is falling towards you.

xxxxxOh shit, it's comin at her, bro! Iris shields her face with her hands but as it turns out, it didn't explode nearly as badly as she thought it was gonna! >>Holy crap!<< she says about aaaaaaall that, >>We're punching bags until the summoners run out of steam but we cant really do anything about it until we can regroup.<< Wiping gross off her muzzle, Iris turns and swivels her ears, trying to hear anything over the din of more incoming doom that might signal something higher on the emergency scale, like a kid being squished or something. Just spinning around though, and sticking with her mate and packmate.

xxxxxJes tries his best to brace for... what, a ghost train? A fucking /ghost train/? Like that guy from that one episode of 'Rick & Morty'? Anyhow, he summons up his resistance to what will inevitably be some sort of damage and growls, << Let's try not to die before we're born, huh? >>

DING DING DING! Southern Pacific Rail here. Next stop Ravenscarne. A massive 20 foot spirit made of fire surrounded by iron plows through the roof. Jes and Iris dodge out of the way but Branton gets clipped and almost dropped through a 3 story hole in the roof but he manages to catch himself on the edge. His bracers giving him the strength to hold on. Below him, as he dangles, he sees the creature being surrounded by members of Frostbite. An arrows plows into its chest all the way to the fletching but it doesn't seem to notice and then the fight is on as the rest of wolves tear into it.

xxxxxIris's scratches and burns heal up while she's having a gander around, pausing a moment to watch some shapes in the darkness and connect a few random dots picked up during all the chaos of falling through realities and fighting weird dudes on rooftops. Her eyes wide, >>The babies, they're running right into danger!<< she says, gesturing with her snout towards kid shapes running to the forest where the mistargeted badguy landing was. Though she follows the great Tube Sock of War, Pegasus still defines her moral center and the Black Fury is kinda freakin out when she looks to the Beta for orders here! She'd love to rush off quicksilver fast and warn them, but wouldn't just abandon the pack. And meanwhile, she attempts to hike up her tater sack and ignore pain.

xxxxxJust as more shit starts to blow up! >>NOPE!<< Iris yelps when Branton tries really hard to ride a speeding doom train through the house, and attempts to dive for him! I mean like... Not that he cant fly, but on film, this would look awesome.

xxxxxBranton dives to grab his sword as he tries to get out of the way of the plummeting metal thing and winds up hanging from it, managing barely to find a grip as the sword pulls free. Then when Iris is reaching for him he embraces the theme of his now decrepit swashbuckler shirt and takes the blade in his teeth and grabs hold of Iris' offered crinos paw to get pulled up. They look like a cross between a b rated horror movie and a harlequin romance cover.

xxxxx<< Shit, >> is the grunt from Death's Jester at Iris' observation, and he makes the immediate decision to dash off toward the youngsters with a yelped, << I got 'em, you handle... /that/, >> trying to head the Junior Trouble Brigade off at the pass and keep between them and further danger. Old Yeller to the rescue.

As Above, So Below. Just as the Devil's Own tore their enemy to shreds, below them, Frostbite works together and makes quick work of the Iron Giant bane. Tank and Sten bite into it. Zyler stabs it. Then Theron takes his enchanted sword and slashes an X into it's gullet. It does not go quietly however, exploding into a conflagration of flames that bathes the inside of Ravenscare in fire.

xxxxxAlong with the sounds of moved debris, and shouts and groans of pain, there comes a choked wail of despair. More than a wolf's howl, it's an all-too human eruption of overwhelming grief. Amidst the wreckage of what was once Ravenscar's sitting room - Where just a few hours ago, everyone had gathered together in fellowship - Aaryn sits on her knees, crouched helplessly over a smaller form. She tilts her head back and hoarsely wails once more as she tries to gather River's body up in her arms, tighter. She begins to rock back and forth on her knees a bit, shaking her head as she looks down at him. Her trained senses have already told her what her mind is just not willing to accept, as she traces the boy's face with her fingertips, her tears marking his dusty face. She looks up at anyone who's near and the healer pleads, "somebody? Please? Help me??"

xxxxxIris and Branton think far too much alike, and so both have the 'I'll deal with this, you go help duder' thought. Unfortunately, they both think FAR too much alike, so both of them end up on fire duty! That might be okay though. Iris sends a cascade of water through the roof alongside that which Branton brings, which works a little bit for Aaryn because now she can wail with heart break dramatically in the rain, which is inherently cooler than doing it while dry. >>..Oh Gaia no..<< Iris says, and finally must abandon the roof in favor of kidlets, this is just too much. The Theurge works her way down like an acrobat, albeit with probably a whole lot more things breaking in the process what with being in crinos and all.

xxxxxBranton feels the heat from the explosion spreading through the structure beneath his feet and swears, holding a hand out and reaching for the fire with his mind. Commanding it to be smaller, weaker, that this place is not for it to eat. Then Aaryn wails and Branton goes very very still.

xxxxxThat scream, that wail. Theron recognizes the voice. Sword dropped and he comes running, desperate to help Aaryn. He skids to a stop when he sees her. Helplessness settles in, "Ryn..." he chokes out. He moves to her side and wraps an arm around her. His gaze swings around, trying to determine if anyone else needs help, if the other children are ok.

xxxxxSten looks towards Aaryn rushing over. Though he knew he could not aid, he had no healing. Looking down to the small body he shifts up to homid form looking around "All the other children?" looking around for Feather and his wife... trying to find them make sure they are alright... it was obvious the death of the child hit him but there were more then just one.

xxxxxMicah comes up behind Ryn, surrounding her with the rest of the pack. He squeezes her hand in silence and lets tears run down his face for a moment before scanning the room, looking for shadows.

xxxxxZyler, burned, but not bad enough to just deal with it, carefully makes his way over to where the yell came from. He stares, coldly at where Aaryn cries for the child, studying her and the youngling. The dead one, for a long moment. Finally, he simply turns away, leaving the pack to deal with that as he starts hunting around. "Warning wasn't fast enough. Did best I could." He stalks away, to head in the direction the things came from, looking about to see if there's tracks in the storm.

xxxxxThe scene must be harrowing and somber, but Jes is running /away/ from it and /toward/ the remaining children -- and danger -- in the hopes that he can stop them from meeting. So he needs to get attention. He needs to distract the baddie, and maybe make the kids stop and wonder what the hell is going on? He needs to...
xxxxxSoon enough there comes an awkward howling from the Ragabash, who is yowling and pealing Wagner's "The Ride of the Valkyries" as he runs, because it was the first damn thing that came to mind.

xxxxxIris of course reaches out in an attempt to heal - maybe Aaryn's mojo just wasn't working or something - but no. No that's not gonna work at all. Being in no fit state at all to figure out a way to make this right for her fellow Theurge, the best she can do is straighten up, squeeze her shoulder, and bark up towards the roof, >>JES!<< Since she's already on the first floor, she uses the door, or possibly the closest large hole in the wall, to escape the wrecked house. Since there don't appear to be more bad guys right here and no immediate battles, then yeah, after Jes and the kids it is!