2017.11.01:LessonFromJourney

Lesson From Journey
Where in Branton learns things and his Zen gets shook.
IC Date	November 1, 2017
IC Time	Late Evening.
Players	Branton, Giselle, Journey
Location	Black Stag Forge - Apartments
Prp/Tp	Welcome to the Nation
Spheres	Gaian Garou
Theme Song	Metallica - Of Wolf and Man

Branton nods and shrugs at Giselle as he settles down with a slice of pizza and a bottle of something cold "I know plenty about mages, used to date one. Managing her real estate holdings is a big part of how I got stupid rich. Taking your repsonsibilities to your tennants seriously and hiring people skilled at providing good service means none of my units stay empty for long."

Knock knock, "Helloooooo" Journey, coming up the stairs, calling ahead of him as he comes up they steps from the lower shop.

"Come in, Journey!" she calls from the kitchen area. She is also in the kitchen and there is a very wet Luna sound asleep on her back on Giselle's side of the bed. "Jake had to handle something. We were just talking about Furio and his ego and other mages and such." She nods to Branton as he speaks. "That makes sense. I'm glad you've done well. I'm a spoiled little rich kid Shadow Lord who happens to be a master alchemist."

Journey comes up nodding, "Okay, yeah he's busy right now, thought I'd drop by. Branton." He smiles, "Glad to see you here, how are the facilities for your work?" He asks, looking back to Giselle, "Ah yeah the Magi. Large amount of neutrals, seems to be these days."

Branton nods at Giselle and grins "Alchemy's interesting stuff." Then he nods at Journey and holds out the notebook "Pretty excellent, I just need to heat test the EAF and once that checks out I'll be good to roll."

Journey winces and snaps his fingers, "Knew I was forgetting something, I was gonna harvest a Dancer heart for you." He shrugs, "Sorry, I forgot." He looks to Branton, mood still upbeat, and nods, smiling, "Great. No fucking idea what you just said. Buuut I'm glad, so there's that. Need anything remotely in my area of expertise?"

"Electric Arc Furnace," Giselle supplies for Journey. "That's the kind of furnace you use for modern smithing. Except we don't have one of those. We're full coal powered, but thanks to Journey's mate, Vesta, we burn clean. Not even a hint of pollution. It was originally set up as coal, because Torsten - please forgive my disrespect, Journey - but he was an idiot. He was throwing pollution all over the place until Vesta supplied Jake with a magical filter. We emit nothing here but pure, clean steam that just LOOKS like smoke."

Branton ponders and shrugs at Journey "I'm pretty well set on this design. I'm curious about something else though. I know Garou powers are different but how they work and where they come from would be interesting to find out if I'm allowed to know." Then he nods to Giselle "As long as we can get it up to the temperatures I need, it doesn't really matter how. Around two thousand degrees celcius or so. We can cheat a bit if we have to."

Journey tilts his head, "He liked to bind fire spirits here and use them in his forge. Which is a solution, however, you need to burn fuel of some kind or that's suspicious. So he literally fed the spirit coal, which the spirit was happy with. Fire spirits care DICK about air pollution, but I'm rambling." He rambles, then to Giselle, "But sounds like we got one? And it's gonna be tested?" His voice climbs with each question, and when Branton asks, he looks at Giselle, "What kind of frozen meat do you have?" He asks, and nods Branton to the kitchen, "Come with me." He says, taking off his duster, and satchel.

"3,590°F under 100 air conditions is where coal gas burns. We usually keep ours at about 2500, but we can go as high as thirty. Two thousand isn't a problem, I can assure you." She shakes her head to Journey's .. question...? "No. It's just assumed that's what we had. What we have. But we don't. Just a communication issue. We're good." She motions toward the kitchen. "Just hamburger and steak up there, but in the downstairs freezer, we've got just about anything you could want, including gator." Did her tummy just rumble? Yes it did.

Branton nods at Giselle and grins "I can work with Coal, no trouble at all. I didn't know you had a way around the emissions problem, that's pretty cool." Then he looks at Journey and blinks as he follows where he's bid "And...he thought that was a good idea?"

Journey moves to the sink, smiling, and turning on the faucet, washing his hands, "Giselle, would you go get a frozen brisket, please?" He says as he lathers up, looking to Branton, "Meh, nevermind Torsten, he left town." Then as he.. Scrubs. Like a doctor, he's serious about washing his hands.

"What you're looking at, Branton, is a creature, it is in part a lie. I am not human, I never thought I was human, I always knew what I was, even before I changed, and gained my full potential as a Garou. My flesh is in this form because I was born in it. Alecto was born a wolf. We are both Garou, Brother and sister in a sense. We are flesh and we are Spirit, we travel across the gauntlet into the spirit world as a borthright of what we are. We learn to tap into that part of ourselves, but it is inherent in what we are. That is the first thing to remember. We are half Spirit."

He nods to Branton, quirking a brow, expression asking for a question.

Branton nods and considers "And the spirit part, the wolf or human spirit depending on breed, is what is 'missing' from a kinfolk then?"

Giselle heads over and pulls out a frozen brisket from the freezer and moves it to wherever Journey indicates and then she backs up to learn this lesson as wel.

Journey shakes his head, "No, there's nothing 'missing' from a Kinfolk, we are a part of one another. Our power comes at the price of this war. A war you don't have to be a part of. I have, about fifty kinfolk who I am responsible for, most of them are in the legal pot business, living lives that they actually signed up for. Now that's just a Strider viewpoint on it. But my point-"

Hepoints to the Brisket, and reaches and fuck the hand. Oh god he changed. Huge, Mr Hyde from hell, he plucks the brisket from Giselles hand, and rumbles, "Thanks." He then flicks out his hand, and the Fire Opal blade that's been seen before comes out, slices off the butchers paper and

CHOK!

The Brisket, basicly a solid block of ice, gets sliced, thin. Then again, muscles, and the blade.

A deep rumble, "You know I should thank you Branton, I have to admit, I took inspiration from your work, the Blade of Hecate. And this is the result.

CHOK!

fuuck.

Journey snaps and settles into a larger human like figure.

Branton doesn't seem to be one to panic but is usual air of mellow laid backness is certainly a bit rattled. He pulls himself together enough to ask "So it translates then? I saw some of Vesta's collection but we didn't go over spell patters...is it fully transitive?"

Journey looks around as he slices the brisket, and on the next time he lifts the blade, he flicks out with it before going back to the carving.

<UMBRA> A web in the umbra snaps as if cut by an invisible blade.

Branton watches the motion of the blade and nods, seeming to understand "That's really impressive. I've planned that enchant as part of my new sword."

Journey keeps slicing, finishing off the Brisket pretty neatly, and scoops the frozen, sliced meat into a bowl, then turns, and washes his hands again, then cleans the blade,

"I actually based this off of two weapons, the Blade of Hecate, and the Garou Weapon the Fang Dagger. Jake has one, if you havent seen it, have a look. It's made, of.. well a fang."

He turns, and flicks the blade, handle first, and holds it out, "It's unique. The Blade of Worlds."

<UMBRA> It's there, and it's alive, and violent looking. But oddly alive, it is contained power, violence, resting in his hands in an instrument of warfare and has already taken life upon life.

Branton takes the blade carefully and mutters absently to himself as he brings his finger tips near the blad but not touching it "Wow. They are....professionally pissed off. Like full time stabbins. All day every day."

Journey nods, "I'm ready to kill when I need to." He nods, and in that form, it's terrible, "One thing to always remember, Branton about Garou. I'm sure you've been shown the forms, and you've been told, 'Oh, remember, it's still the person you know in that giant monster' speech? You got that yet?"

Branton shakes his head "Nope, neither the demo nor the speech. Seems to me that'd be nice words horseshit though. If someone can flex into a giant monster the important part isn't remembering that the monster is still a person. Its that the Person is still the monster."

Journey waves a hand at Branton and nods, "See this is why I like working with professionals." And he's Journey again as he reaches to the cabinets, and starts making a fajita marinade. Journey cooks, folks, and he makes incredibly violent things.

Really, it's, like ready to kill, wanting to.

"The handle, is from a Black spiral Dancer, The fallen Tribe. Sometimes the Metis grow horns as a part of their birth, and I killed that one, cut his horn off and made that I think it adds the right flavor of violence." He smells the marinade, "There are five forms. Think of a spectrum. Human on one end, and wolf on the other." He frowns, "Garlic." He starts looking.

Branton nods as he feels the energy of the knife squirm under his hand until he decides that's creepy enough and he sets it down safely by the cutting board where Journey can find it. He says, addressing the knife "Bad ass." Then he turns back to Journey "They probably can't hear me in there but it doesn't hurt to be polite. Usually. I may not change shape into a monster but I haven't always had as good controll over the fire within as I do now. Not the same but it gives me a frame of reference that's closer than someone without it." Then he listens to the bit about the forms "Makes sense, then the war form....Crinos. Half an Half so you can get the best of both bits and dial shit up as high as you can make it go?"

Journey nods, "That's right. Homid." He waves, "Hellooooooooo." He looks around and points at Sable, asleep in a sprawl on the couch. "Lupus. I don't think I need to explain there. different breeds, etcetera. And As of this moment, you've seen me in all of these forms, personally." He says, adding some garlic, then sealing the bowl and putting it in the fridge, "There. That's Fajitas for tomorrow." He says, scooping up the blade and sliding it away, "There is a dire wolf form, between Crinos and Lupus. Good for hunting, chasing things down when they run. It is called Hispo." He lifts a finger, finger, then dives, and

OOOOOHHHH SHIT what the fuck is that. It moves around the island of the kitchen, hunched muscles, long neck and the jaws, fuck, this thing looks like it's racing when it's standing still.

Shaderunner changes into a huge quadrupedal beast.

Branton almost jumps out of his skin but manages not to flail or squeek. Instead he watches the the Dire-wolf with laser focus and stays very very still.

Shaderunner slinks closer, looking at Branton, and then turns, lithely, and moves to slip one.. unfriendly looking claw... in between the magnetic seal of the fridge and pop the door open without damage, then dart his head in, and turn, tail thunking the door closed, as

It moves to place a beer next to Branton. Then it sits, tail curling under it.

Branton can't help but smirk as he accepts the beer "Thanks." He opens it and takes a swig "So, your hybrid nature lets you shift forms, decide how much of which of your dual-natures you want to wear on the outside. And since you're part spirit and your magic is so different from my human magic it follows that's then where your powers come from."

Shaderunner lunges up into Journey, "Right, now, I'm a Theurge, a Waning Theurge, specificly. I'm a sorcerer, I deal with the Spirits, find those who are willing to take upon themselves, the burden of a material object, and bind them into it. I talked the spirit into becoming one with the Blade of Worlds, and that wasn't easy, I can tell you."

Journey swiftly changes into a human being.

Branton nods at Journey and considers "Sort of like bargining with Hecate to make a knife that can stab whatever you can see but harder because I'm not asking herself to take up residence in the knife."

Branton adds "She'd tell me to piss the hell off moste likely."

Journey points, "I think you're getting it. Now there's a whole other set of rules for us as we're half spirit, dealing with spirits, we have various spiritual strengths, training.. Really my entire life has been preperation for this." He shrugs, "And that's really because it's right. We were made by Gaia, the spirit of the entire Tellurain. You see more of it than people who would just say 'The Universe.' That's just the Physical realm. The Tellurain is ALL of it."

Branton nods at Journey and considers "So like a tree might have a little god and the park the tree is in would have a different little god. Spirit. Far enough up the chain the gods ain't so little. Like Apollo, or Ra if you'd rather. Not little at all."

Journey nods, "And they teach us powers." He says, eyes suddenly shining a lambent green, seriously glowing. "When a spirit teaches a Garou a power it is called a Gift. There are many, healing and harmful, useful in situations. Depending on what they are. It is a pact between the Spirits and the Shifters through Gaia, own same Mother. Our Gift strength flows from the Spirits in just one important way of many."

Branton nods at Journey and considers "And I imagine that what gifts that can be taught depend on the type and strength of the spirit, they can't impart you with virtues they don't possess."

Journeys eyes revert, "Exactly. That just makes sense." He moves over, and cleans up, "Spirits are an incredibly important part of the Garou, and as a Theurge I may be biased, but it's vital to so much."