2023.05.27:Just Another Normal Night of Shenanigans at the Caern

Just Another Normal Night of Shenanigans at the Caern
Hang out with spirit familiars, meet some new Shadow Lords, and ride a dire wolf.
IC Date	May 27th, 2023
IC Time	Evening
Players	Jackie, Irsa, Pancake, Theron, Kaz, Memo
Location	Sept of the Enduring Spirit
Spheres	Garou

Memo sits in the center of the main pathway from the outer bawn, notepad and graphite in hand. The Galliard seems lost in his work, a layer of dirt and sweat caked on his face, which is staring out, jaw agape. A casual observer can confirm that suspicion by the track marks which streak to left, multiple times. Anyone who spends time outdoors might infer these are from Memo jumping out of the way, likely due to the Warder not changing his rounds for the sake of an oblivious cliath.

Irsa enters the bawn from the cavern, making her way along the path towards the meadow. It doesn't take her long to spot Memo, and to take in those skidmarks across the ground. "Nice landin'," she compliments the Galliard. "He catch ya sketchin' or what?" She offers Memo a hand up, as a large rat pops its head up over her shoulder to stare at the man curiously.

Jackie comes down the path behind Irsa, peeking out around from behind Irsa to get a look at what stopped her up. "Is that what happens to artists around here? Tough crowd, huh?"

Memo smirks, rises and dusts himself off, "I was not wise enough to give an Ahroun the right of way." the cliath chuckles softly. "I'm grateful for the lessons Iron Flail-rhya has imparted. How has the day treated you so far Hammer-Tooth-rhya?". He manages a small smile for Jackie, "I could have picked a better vandtage point to work from.".

"Beware of Bone Gnawer ahrouns with big weapons," Irsa remarks, straightening and rolling her shoulders. The rat shifts with her movements easily, gripping her sweater with it claws to stay in place. Damn, that thing's huge. It's long enough to wrap it's tail around Irsa's not-small waist. "I miss anythin' exciting, or has it been business as usual t'day?" She grunts as Jackie approaches. "Someone's always goota be a critic of th' arts."

Memo is standing in front of Irsa dusting himself off. There are some track marks leading to his current position indicating that he skidded into a landing there. Jackie is peeking around from behind Irsa with a shit-eating grin on her face, so she probably just told a bad joke.

Jackie steps clear of Irsa so that she doesn't have to lean to see around her, or Beanie for that matter. "Nothing super blood pumpingly exciting, anyway. We had a little party on the beach the other night, and Evan and me went instrument shopping the other day too. Damn, I should have brought it with me instead of leaving it in the car."

Memo considers the question a moment before shaking his head. The Galliard gives Beanie a quick glance as he pockets his stick and notepad, clearly unsure of what to make of it. Looking over at Jackie, "Did you get something cool?".

Mercy arrives in her usual graceful manner, soaring on white dove's wings into the caern's meadow. And my soaring I mean plummeting and by graceful I mean slamming into the ground after going straight through a tree's branches, which helpfully breaks her fall. She thuds into the ground, then immediately jumps up in that 'nothing happened!' sort of way, though she's a bit dizzy and punch drunk. "I MADE IT!" she yells in greeting to the trio, throwing her arms up in triumph.

Irsa follows Kaz's gaze to the rat that's perched on her shoulders, getting a faceful of whiskers for her trouble. "This is Beanie," she says. as the rat sits up and braces its forelegs atop her skull to balance itself. "It's a-her, Signora Pancake!" the creature drawls in the thickest Italian accent ever. It lifts a paw and waves at the Black Fury. Irsa winces at the rat's terrible accent. "Instrument, huh? What'd ya pick up?" It's like rats talk every day.

Jackie circles a little further around to clear the way for the recently crashed elder. She cocks her head to the side as she tries to recall all the details. "I can't actually remember the actual name or number, but it's an acoustic from the Martin company. Apparently they're a well liked brand? We went down to Detonation Boulevard and the owner let me try a few out to see which of them felt and sounded better to me, and that's where I landed. I still have a lot of practice to do, but it's fun so far. And I'll try to keep the noise down at night in the pack house. Unless I get drunk, maybe." She shoots a grin at Irsa along with that last bit.

Memo jerks back at the abrupt landing in surprise. He starts to step forward to help but startles back again at the Elder's triumphant rise. The Adren's introduction and the loqacity of the rodent seems to be a relief to the Shadow Lord who was otherwise at a loss for words. At Jackie's description he nods and offers another, "Cool.". Writing reality out to disk. Please wait... Reality saved. Thank you for your patience.

Mercy wobbles her way over to the gang while pressing on her sides and lower back until something pops really loud. "Oh shit that's way better." she mumbles. She offers Beanie a high one, which is like a high five but only involves one finger, since even bigass rats have little bitty hands. "Detonation Boulevard sounds *amazing*." She's definitely imagining a place that lets you blow shit up while she invades the talkie group.

Irsa rolls her eyes at her packmate. "Girl, that entire building is solid brick, and I'm a whole other wing away from ya. Only person you're gonna be able t' piss off on a good day is Pandora, and that's even if ya crank that bitch up to eleven. Or if ya get, real, drunk, and knock on my door lookin' for more beer with that axe in your hand." Her rat highfives Mercy's finger back and stretches out its neck to sniff her hand.

Jackie chuckles at Irsa, while watching the rat greeting Mercy. "Well, maybe I'll get more ambitious with the decibels if and when I get an electric. But I mainly just don't want to wake anyone up in the middle of the night when I'm keeping weird hours or something. And yeah, the store is cool too. I think Lorna found a kindred spirit in the owner, JJ. Both super metalheads. But anyway, that's my big news for the week. What's everyone else been up to?"

"That's exactly why I do my karaoke in space." Mercy tells Jackie with an understanding nod, "Less chance of waking anyone not on a space station up with my banshee wailing. Gotta be kind to them neighbors and housemates." As for what's up, she shrugs and says, "Just route plotting, for me. Finding appropriate places to drop moon bridges without witnesses and stuff, and studying up for tour guide duties in places. The usual."

"Been draggin' supplies out and stagin' them for th' Frog Brothers," Irsa replies to Jackie. "They're gonna be sometime this week to get a couple ponds an' fountains set up in the Courtyard, and I probably ain't gonna be there when that goes down. Think you can let 'em in, and unlock the basement for 'em?" Beanie slithers down from her shoulders and drops onto the grass, bounding across the meadow with a happy trail of squeaks. "I'm still trying ta figure out th' best area to lay out our ritual space," she tells Mercy. "I want it open to the air an' sky, but not be seen from other buildings. It's real, real tempting to just demolish a section of wall over the second story overlookin' the courtyard.

Jackie nods, her eyes following the bouncing rat. "Sure, I can handle that. But what are they doing, exactly? Ponds and fountains?"

"You could set up some like privacy fencey type stuff on the roof," Mercy says thoughtfully, "Or in a bit of garden or something." She knows nothing of ponds or fountains and offers nothing for that! Instead, she moves aside a bit to sit down in the grass and leans back on her hands with her dirtyass bare feet in the weeds. "Branton's got cool powertools, I dunno what most of them are or how they work, but there's like... masonry blades? Or something like that? For like cutting through bricks and stuff. In case you get worried about structural integety and load bearing walls."

"Yeah, they are, and probably stocking 'em with fish and frogs," Irsa says. "And water plants, I gotta few waiting for 'em. If Rhapsody's around, see if she's available if they wanna learn Spirit Awakening. That's part of our trade. If she can't, I can drop by their place later." She grins at Mercy's suggestion. "That ain't a bad idea at all. Privacy fencing is definitely th' way to go. Probably gonna hit Branton up for his tools for later. We got projects galore at the pack house."

Memo smirks playfully at the mention of the Glasswalkers, his eyes narrowing as he loses his place in the rest of the conversation. After gettting out of the patrolling Warder's way he sits back down and gets his pad and stick back out. He looks to the Bone Gnawer a moment before flipping to a new page and sketching something new, likely Beanie who he is now watching.

Jackie sticks her hands in her jacket pockets and finds a tree to lean against. "Alright then, I'll help get them set up and try to keep them from knocking down any walls that they shouldn't. Do you need me to pick up some of that fencing too? I don't really want to haul it up on to the roof myself, but I can get a truckload brought in to the ground floor at least."

Mercy snerks a laugh and tells Jackie, "Yeah fuck that, make the werewolves carry it!" She watches duderface drawing a bit while pulling String from out of her pant leg so she can twist her familiar up in loops and play cat's cradle with it. "Hopefully no one knocks down you guys' house or walls or anything."

Irsa nods at Jackie and points at Mercy. "Yeah, get somethin' solid. No need t' haul it up to th' roof, we'll talk to Rhapsody and see what she thinks. I can drag that up there, no problem. She's our mystic, she's got the final word there." Beanie has found a number of wild flowers and has tucked them into her fur, making it appear as if the spirit has burst into countless small blooms. She chases grasshoppers across the grass, hopping across the grass like a kangaroo. "Boing, boing, boing, boing!" she squeaks.

Jackie takes a moment to watch Memo drawing, then looks out at his bouncy subject. "Sooo, what's the story with your new friend here, anyway. It seemed like the appearance was a bit of a surprise?"

Irsa steps off the path and plunks down a log nearby. "You got me. She's been watchin' me for a bit, seemed t' take a liking to me. Been thinkin' I should find a spirit friend for a while now, but didn't expect one t' turn up outta nowhere like she did." She snorts in amusement as the rat leaps higher, shortening the breadth of its leaps to catch more air time. "Beanie's ben bragging 'bout all th' places she's been. Might be why she chose me, 'cause I got that same love of travel."

Jackie snorts out a laugh. "Ok, then, stowing away in a backpack makes a bit of sense then, doesn't it? Have bag, will travel, or something like that? But let me guess, she won't be paying rent?"

Irsa snickers. "Naw. Not like that, anyway. She's kinda like a battery, if that makes sense. Give her some spiritual energy, or Rage, or strength of will, and she'll hold it 'til I need it or change th' mix up. She ain't gonna fight for us, but she can defend herself is somethin' attacks her. She ain't a weak spirit, not by half. She's one of Momma Rat's children, could probably act as an Avatar if Rat was of a mind t' do that."

Jackie looks out at Beanie in a new light as she learns a bit more about her. "Pretty neat stuff. Well, good thing we've still got a lot of room in the pack house for guests like her, huh?"

"So, how does it feel to be Beanie's werewolf familiar?" Mercy asks with a grin, insinuating who's wearing the pants in this spirit/meat-person relationship. "Best part about familiars," she tells Jackie, "I mean aside from the companionship, is sharing a brain. Or well, senses any how. They make very good forward scouts and spies, and if your connection is good and strong, you can funnel your gifts through them. Not all of them, but quite a lot."

Irsa cracks her knuckles. "Well, Beanie ain't a guest. She's my Familiar, so she's livin' with us now. Th' other spirits have accepted her, and she gets on with Abel real well," she says to Jackie. She grins back at Mercy. "She's a handful, for sure. She was clamorin' at me th' other day to turn inta a dire wolf so she could ride me around th' Tenement, and look out all th' windows over the Courtyard."

Jackie nods at the fill in from Mercy. Then she chuckles at Irsa's story. "Ah, yes, Garou piggyback rides. A timeless classic."

String unwinds out of the knots and loops around Mercy's fingers, and just fucks off to go play with Beanie without so much as a 'later tater', just a floating big of yarn on the prowl for fun and chaos. Mercy doesn't look upset, it is what it is. So she leans back on her hands again, listening but having nothing to add about garouback rides or anything.

"Funny ya mention that," Irsa says in a dry voice to her packmate. "I was just thinkin' the other day that it might be a good idea for ya t' learn how to ride a dire wolf." And with that remark, she shifts to Hispo and pokes Jackie with her snout. >> Up, Fenrir! bring glory to your ancestors, ride a wolf into battle! << Beanie has started a game of tag with String, blissfully unaware of the shenanigans across the way.
Bones snap and break, elongating and warping into a new form. Irsa becomes an enormous wolf.

Jackie looks more than a little surprised at that, blinking as Irsa shifts into the giant snouted form. "What, seriously? That's... Like a real thing people do?" She shakes off her cobwebs quickly as she's prompted though, and moves to climb up once she takes a moment to figure out how to go about it.

Mercy snerks at this turn of events, and advises Jackie, "Put your hands on her back and do a little jump to hoist yourself up, then swing a leg over. Squeeze with your knees and keep your hands flat on your thighs, you don't wanna pull her hair in a tense situation. And it gets you in the habit of communicating with your legs and keeping your hands out of the way so they can do other stuff. If you wanna do fancy stuff like stand on her back, you might wanna practice that barefoot at first. Better grip and balance that way." Mercy is basically a circus performer and has a horse, so she manages to sound confident.

>> Yes. We will be swift and fearsome, and you can smack the Enemy with a branch, << Hammer-Tooth growls. >> You might want to grab one. << She stands and waits for Jackie to climb aboard, just like something out of Great Wolf Lodge commercial.

Jackie shakes her head with what's left of her incredulity, then bends over to scoop up a stick before vaulting herself up and into place. Wow, the ground looks a lot further away from up here. "Wait, what enemies?"

"I've got a course set up at Branton's, if you want to use it?" Mercy offers while watching the pair, grinning and picking blades of grass with her toes. "I mean, granted it's there and not here, which doesn't help if you want to be social AND work on this, but the offer's there."

Enormous Wolf tamps down her paws once Jackie's in place and lets out a loud, booming howl. She's off like a shot, aiming right for Beanie and String. Oh snaps! Run lil dude and dudette, run for your liiiiives! The rat spirit sees the pair coming and lets out a shrill alarm squeak before diving for cover. ~ Beat it, String! ~ she pipes at the other spirit.

Jackie laughs at Hammer-Tooth's boundless enthusiasm as she bounds off, and almost falls off. She reflexively sinks her left hand into the thick fur to grab onto something, her right tightening around the stick. But as she watches the two spirits scattering and scampering, she can't actually bring herself to raise it threateningly.

String is fearless, eternal and invulnerable, and also kind of a huge asshole. So it does NOT dive for cover and hide. Nay, fool, that's not where the fun is. Instead, it splats in a wad against Dire-Irsa's face, and knits itself the way a drunken blind man would, that is to say very badly, but rapidly creating Bitchin Sweet Armor. Granted, it's yarn, so it's not *actually* armor of any kind any more than those knitted viking beards are real beards, but it CAN make cool shapes. So it does, and now Irsa is a uniwolf with an in-progress cool multi colored yarn horn and face mask. Mercy calls, "Hold on with your knees!" in case Jackie begins to slide.

Hammer-Tooth was counting on the spirits to be creative, and she's not at all disappointed when they spring into action. She lets out a 'yip!' when String pulls its mask maneuver, braking with her front feet and going into a controlled slide. Beanie lets out a loud ~ Yaaaaaaar!~ and grabs hold of Hammer-Tooth's tail with her little grabby rat hands, totally going for broke on this wild wolf-surfin safari. ~ LEFT! ~ the rat pipes at String, as a huge bush blocks the path ahead.

Jackie holds on for dear life, following Mercy's advice and squeezing hard with her legs. She swallows hard as the ground goes by way too fast. She then reflects that she's used to the ground going by really fast, but she's used to being a lot more in control than this!

So String slides left on Irsa's face, still in the shape of a sort of cavalry horse mask thing. Which is great, cause now the yarn horn is over one of Irsa's eyes, and the eye holes are on her cheek and forehead respectively, leaving one of the garou's eyes uncovered and able to see over the chaos knit of one of the mask straps.
Jackie is riding Irsa, but Irsa's in Hispo, so it's way less weird than one might think. I mean, kind of, given that a kinfolk is riding a direwolf. Said direwolf has that mask mentioned above, which is made entirely out of Mercy's Familiar. Mercy herself is just sitting in the grass, leaned back on her hands and watching, and shouting riding advice here and there. "Don't use your hands!" Gotta make sure the kinfolk doesn't get hooked on training wheels like 'hanging on for dear life' or anything!

Theron comes into the caern with a soft little exhale as he pauses to look around only to find Jackie riding a dire wolf. His brow arches a moment and he just comes to a stop and watches on.

Enormous Wolf lets out a growl as she spots the pokey brush hazard, skidding sharply to the left and breaking into a burst of speed. A large rat is clinging to her tail, a huge thing with a white muzzle framed with mask, wearing a large hibiscus flower as a hat. It leaps onto Hammer-Tooth's back and clings like a burr, shouting encouragements to String.

Jackie spends several seconds just trying to not fall off, still clutching a handful of fur in her left hand. She spots Theron as they swing around and he comes into view, and raises the stick in her hand like a saluting weapon as Irsa barrels on by him. "This wasn't my idea!"

Mercy waves to Theron and pats the grass nearby in invitation for him to join her. "Hi Theron!" she greets, turning her attention back to the racing lunatics running around the meadow. "I feel like this should be a cartoon. Or maybe like a really weird children's book."

"It's uhm...something." Theron says as he heads on over and settles down next to Mercy. "I mean..." he wrinkles his nose a bit, "If you are riding ona wolf in battle for real, shit has hit the fan." he calls out to Jackie. "You'll need more than your little knives." he teases as he pats his sword. The warder passes on patrol carrying a clothing iron at the end of a steel chain.

Enormous Wolf shakes her head as she runs, trying vainly to loosen String's hold on her muzzle. >> She has a spear! << the theurge thunders at Theron as the quartet of wolf, Fenrir and spirits bolt past him. The rat on her back leaps onto Jackie's shoulders, launching off them to land on Irsa-dire wolf's neck. ~ Yaaaah mule! Whoa! ~ she pipes, tugging String-mask over BOTH of Hammer-Tooth's eyes. Look out, that's a tree up ahead!

Jackie leans over to get low on top of Irsa's back as she sees the tree coming straight at them. God, this would be a stupid way to die... She looks down at Beanie ahead of her on the neck. "Come on, help us out here, will ya?"

Memo slinks back, having returned from whatever distracted the Shadow Lord some hours past. While he doesn't seem surprised at the ruckus it does give him pause. The baby Galliard looking around as he plots his route to the safest place to nest with the smallest chance of interrupting what appears to him as an exercise between Sept mates.

"Or it just sounded super fun at the time." Mercy offers at Theron with a grin, "I mean, if you cant have fun in combat, then what's the point of anything, right? I like mounted archery, myself, but probably that's just cause I don't want M'Lady to get speared in the face by something. And I like archery."
With the shaking and flailing, String begins to come undone, the mask getting unknitted and raggedy, completely cockeyed and weird. Irsa can probably see through SOME of the stitching while its pulling double duty as not-awesome mask and reins held by a rat.
Oh shit, my set again. Okay so, Theron and Mercy are NORMAL PEOPLE, just chillin, while Irsa is in hispo, with Jackie riding on her back and holding on for dear life. Irsa's rat familiar has taken front seat on steering, and is holding on to a half ruined, badly kitted 'cavalry horse armor' mask complete with cool milti colored horn, which is now stretched over Irsa's eyes, and she's racing straight towards some trees cause the spirits are all douchebags and are trying to get everyone killed in a spectacular fashion. PRETTY sure that sums things up correctly.

"Abandon ship! Rats and Strings first!" the rat pipes, slithering under Hammer-Tooth's belly as the theurge slams on the brakes. Sorry Kinfolk, the target's not about to help a wanna-be hunter! Hammer-Tooth narrowly misses the tree and slides into a small thicket with a crash, sending a shower of leaves, twigs, gravel, and squawking birds everywhere.

"The point of combat...althought at times fun, is not fun." Lucas grunts at Mercy. He points out with a little rumble from the Get of Fenris kinfolk, "It's ... well, it depends. Its survival, its protection, its war...its...it can be sport." he mutters. "But the point isn't /usually/ fun." he says watching poor Jackie.

Jackie groans as she pulls herself out of the thicket, crawling on her hands and knees. The stick she was carrying is long gone but plenty of its smaller cousins are now riding along in her hair, which has come loose from its ponytail and fallen down to her shoulders bearing twiggy hitchhikers everywhere. She looks up to the others with a rueful smile. "I guess I should have known up front that this was a bad plan..."

"Mmmmmm, no, no it's definitely for fun." Mercy opines after a little thought, shaking her head. "All the other stuff, yeah, but still very definitely always fun. We found this cult that was trying to like, force a spirit binding into their Black Spiral Dancer friend, like a shitty makeshift Kami. THAT was really fun, like climb up on the altar and shout the WWE theme music while pile driving a bad guy to death amounts of fun. I mean... I guess MAYBE I have a slightly skewed vision of what exactly 'fun' is, and MAYBE it's a little disconnected from humanity, and not very empathetic, and probably a smidgin sadistic due to certain aspects of my uh, 'upbringing', but still. Definitely always fun, and for fun, which is probably why I'm not a very Rageful person."
String, meanwhile, falls off of Irsa's face and assumes its usual Fun Form, that of a tiny 2D cowboy made of yarn, bow leggedly wobbling out of the bushes in a punchdrunk state. It tips its yarn hat at the pair for the good time.

Memo frowns empathetically as he continues to survey from a safe enough distance from what he walked in on. He rolls to the balls of his feet, peering to see if any aid is required. The Shadow Lord, "Ah"s a bit what seems a familiar spirit intermingled with the People. Without looking away he produces paper and coal, sketching a quick outline, then another angle in a different corner of the page.

Theron listens to Mercy and just chuckles a little bit. He gestures to Jackie, "Just keep my little protege alive ok?" he points out, "Its been awhile since I've trained anyone in combat, and she's taking to it well."

>> There is the wild joy of battle, when the thunder of war rolls through your veins, << Hammer-Tooth growls, stepping out of the brush. >> In the last hours before dawn, when the Enemy lies cowering in terror, we leap to face them with fangs and claws bared, and the fires of Rage burning in our hearts. << She stalks behind Jackie , nudging her packmate with her snout. >> You stayed on for a good while. That is the first lesson. << Beanie sidles up to String and copies his walk, making little jingling spur sounds.

Jackie pushes herself up to her feet, brushing her fingers through her hair to dislodge the half of the thicket she seems to have carried out with her. She chuckles back at Irsa, then walks back to the others. "Yeah, you heard her. What she said, about the fires of rage and stuff. Rawr! Wait, taking to it well? I think that may be the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Theron!"

If String is jealous of Beanie's ability to make actual sounds while it's stuck in perpetual silence, it doesn't show. The tiny yarn cowboy drapes a string arm over the rat's shoulders while they walk back with the group.
Mercy grins, and gives a wave at the returned Memo, then tells the ladies, "You did really well though, Jackie, you didn't fall off till she crashed! People usually fall off WAY sooner than that. If you want more practice when Irsa's not available, lemme know, my bestie will be happy to help you out, she likes the whole warhorse gig."

"It is not." Theron protests to Jackie, "I say plenty of nice things." he grunts in her direction, but the smile is lingering shaking his head some more.

Memo chuckles as he continues to draw, pausing to smudge some edge with his thumb. The Shadow Lord returns the Elder's wave, seemingly content to remain a little bit away as to not interrupt any lesson being offered.

Enormous Wolf uses her teeth to tugs branches and dead leaves from her coat before padding over to join the others. She leans over to look at whatever Memo's sketching, curious about the man's talent. >> How long have you been a maker of images? << she asks.

Jackie, a giant direwolf, a cowboy made of string, and a 3 foot long rat all walk out of a thicket... Apparently shenanigans were afoot, and a few people are still picking twigs and leaves out of their hair and fur. Theron and Mercy are sitting like normal people on the grass over near where Memo is working with his drawing pad. The warder passes on patrol carrying a clothing iron at the end of a steel chain.

"Have you ever ridden something into battle?" Mercy asks, giving Theron a shoulder bump so he knows the question's for him. "OR, barring that, have you ever ridden a bad guy during a battle you were currently a part of?"

Kaz strides into the room with a freshly killed deer over his shoulders. He stops and stares at the aftermath of the apparent shenanagenry for a few moments before grunting and moving to take the deer to the food prep area. He gives a nod of respect to Irsa and Mercy as he goes past.

Theron considers for a moment, "Uhm. Yeah to both?" he remarks. "I once lept onto the back of someone when a sniper was shooting at us from cover. We had to close and...well...I didnt want to be killed."
"And does it count if it was a war spirit in the form of a car? Like when we were in the aetherial realm?" he wonders idly.

Jackie shoots a giggling laugh in Theron's direction. "Well, sure you have. But not *that* nice." She then heads over and takes a seat on the ground near Theron and Mercy, reaching up under her jacket to make sure she didn't lose her spear-rod in the process of all that.

Memo is roughly outlining an image of the participants leaving the crash site. It is a product of middling talent, nothing impressive but managing to maintain some core grasp of the medium. In response to the Bone Gnawer's question, first there is frown and a shrug, "Maybe a few months. What education I received impressed the importance of developing various skills...artistically or whatever." he finishes distractedly, sneering at a perceived mistake on the page.

Enormous Wolf chuffs a greeting at Kaz, clearly pleased to see him keeping his promise. She tilts her head as she looks over Memo's work. >> You have an eye for placing things, << she rumbles. >> I am also a maker of images. When you have time, perhaps we can make images together and tell tales about them. <<

"I think those both count!" Mercy tells the Get with a grin, "Man, that was *fun*, wasn't it? Ten out of ten, would totally chase my husband down through a hellscape of tornadoes and war spirits again. That would be a *great* vacation! I held on to an evil dragon's head once." she tells Jackie and Theron, "It was *kinda* like riding it, I guess? All I could do was pull on its horns till we smashed into something, but it worked out for the most part. OH!" she blurts when she spots Kaz walking by, "Hey! You two, meet each other! Do the thing." she says, gesturing rapidly between Kaz and Memo.

Theron lifts a hand and pushes Jackie. "Lies." he grunts again. "I'm super nice. All the time." he declares, but its clear even he doesnt think that is actually true.

Memo tilts his head, "Of course Hammer-Tooth-rhya, it would be my honor.". The Galliard looks over at the man Irsa greeted and nods. "I lament my failure in finding other Galliards, aside from Evan ofcourse. It's difficult for me to decide where to hone my skills without many peers.".

Kaz sets the deer down and walks back towards Mercy. His eyes shift to the person she's gesturing to. He sniffs the air a couple times before nodding to Memo. "You must be my tribemate that I've heard about. I am Kaz, named Throatcrusher by Rite, wolf born Ahroun of the Shadowlords."

Jackie grins at the push, resisting the urge to feign falling down like a soccer player. "Ah, you do ok, sometimes." She then turns to watch the interaction between Kaz and Memo, wondering if there will by any chance be a 15 minute recounting of litanies and bloodlines at their official meeting.

>> Making images is a good one. Capturing memories as they happen is always valuable. << Hammer-Tooth steps away from the two Shadowlords, given them room to speak without having to move around her current bulk. She pokes Jackie in the side as she sits down next to her. Packmates, ya'll.

Mercy scoots to make sure she's not in anyone's way and adjust for bigass wolf presence. While intros are done between the Lords, she asks the other companions, "So. If fruit was sentient and could fight, which fruit do you think would win?"

Theron smiles, "Jackie, I'm always more than ok." he boasts idly as he settles back comfortably a bit more. Then to Mercy, "Like which fruit would win a battle royal of fruit?" he asks for clarity.

Mercy's Messenger points at Theron with a nod, just so everyone's clear, "That, exactly."

Memo sets down his kit, looking up to the Ahroun. The Galliard takes a moment to size up his tribemate before nodding, "I'm Memo, a homid Galliard, called "Whispers Best Forgotten" by the Shadow Lords. I heard your howl Throatcrusher, welcome.". Casually he flips to a blank page on his notebook, not looking away from the other Lord, "Are you passing through or do you aspirations on staying? I note I heard no pack in your introduction?".

"Coconut." Theron decides, "That fruit has a hide like armor, right?" he points out as he stands up and is brushing his pants off.

>> Squishberries, << Hammer-Tooth growls immediately. She's teasing Mercy again. >> I think blackberries would win. They grow in thickets of brambles, and you would tear your pelt getting to them. <<

Jackie absently reaches out and scratches Hammer-Tooth behind the ear while pondering the deep philosophical question of 'which fruit would win in a fight?'. "Hmmm, watermelon seems good, but size isn't everything... No, I'm going to go with grapes. There's strength in numbers, and they roll in bunches."

Kaz nods at the Galliard's greeting. He crosses his arms at his question. "Yes, I do not have a pack to run with now. I came to learn about the enemy and the humans it hides among. The city here seems good to do this."

"Ooooh, these are such great answers!" Mercy says, looking like she's trying to imagine a bunch of grapes just straight swarming a mango or something and murderizing it, or a coconut tanking a bunch of bananas, or even blackberries wielding bramble whips. "My thought was a lemon, cause it could sput in the eyes of its enemies and maybe get in some good hits that way. Do you think a pineapple would stand upright, or sideways, like with the spikey bit as a head or a tail? In my head it works more like a rhino, but I feel like fruit limbs wouldn't have to conform to the normal ideals."

Memo frowns and stands but it doesn't seem like this is a reaction anything Kaz said, more a realization striking the homid born Lord. "Honorable goals. I have come seeking a pack to fight in the war with. I also thought I might focus my attention toward the Scab. Unfortunately I realize obligations require my attention elsewhere. I hope to see you again soon and continue this conversation, assuming you are inclined ofcourse. A pleasure to meet you regardless. Excuse me.". He holds up an apologetic hand to the others as he gathers his things.

>> It could come apart and fly in all directions, biting with the sharp leaves, << Hammer-Tooth suggests to Mercy. >> Those are very stiff and strong. << She's not about to object to getting scratched, her ear is itchy after all that racing around.

Kaz seems unfazed by Memo's words and watches him leave. He turns to the others and tries to make sense of the conversation.

Mercy raises an arm and waves to Memo, "Later!" and then grins at Kaz, "Hooray, packless Cliath touching base and finding common goals! The Scab sounds like a fun time, I'll find a good spot for you guys. Hey, I was thinking about having a little Wyrm lore lesson for whoever's interested, an introduction to Wyrm spirit combat and stuff like that, if you'd like to get in on that at all." She makes the offer open to everyone by arcing a finger around to signify that all the folk present are 'you' in the 'if you'd like in on that' comment.

Enormous Wolf perks up her ears. >> Lessons are always good. Can I help? I know the territory well. <<

Jackie nods at Mercy, wanting to get in on that lesson. But first... "What's The Scab?"

"It's what it sounds like, a spiritual scab over a healing wound. They get picked at a lot by Wyrm things trying to make it fester." Mercy says to Jackie. As for help though, "Yes, actually being around as backup and to help coordinate would be good. I mean if we're gonna have Cliath fighting a Wyrm spirit, we'll wanna make sure it cant get back up, and be on hand if for some reason something goes really wonky. And for healing and stuff. I still gotta figure out the logistics out so nothing turns into a total shit show, but I think we can manage that soon, after the briefly put off Louvre trip. THAT I finally have all worked out."

Enormous Wolf returns to her birth form and shrugs off her pack. "I got ya there. Set 'em up with some talens, healing stand by, lurk and pounce on any ambushers lyin' in wait. If you need rooftop coverage, I gotcha there too." She beams as the Louvre trip is mentioned. "Hell yeah! When?"
Bones snap and break, shrinking and shaping into a new form. The creature before you becomes a dark, scarred woman.

Kaz grunts at the mention and explanation of Scab. His eyes light up at the mention of the wyrm and fighting. "I am interested in this and would be honored to join such a hunt and to learn."

Jackie glances at Kaz, appreciating the enthusiasm but also appreciating that such levels of 'into the fray' were for Garou, not kinfolk. She looks back to Mercy to pitch in. "I can help with the healing part, at least."

"Heal, practice your ranged attacks while the furballs go hog wild." Mercy says with an agreeing nod at Jackie, and then to Irsa, "Talens'll be good, we'll get together and figure out what'll be appropriate, kinda pre-game things a bit." And then to Kaz! "Are you familiar with umbral things, talen use, any of that? If not, we'll tack on a primer lesson, make sure everyone's on the same page."

Kaz nods, "I have been to the Umbra as part of my Rite and training. I am familiar with Talens, though I may require instruction on specific ones and what they do." Writing reality out to disk. Please wait... Reality saved. Thank you for your patience.

Irsa nods and jots down some notes, then starts up a full-on list of things she'll need. "Yo, Beanie. Might need to send ya on ride-along, dependin' on how things play out. You down?" The rat spirit pipes up, "Mwaah mwaah mwaaah, mon cherie! I weel spy on all theee things!" It's the worst French accent ever heard/

Jackie nods at Mercy, then looks thoughtful... "Ranged attacks, right... I guess that means I should get a bow, huh?"

"Bow, crossbow, throwing knives or axes, a sling, or a nice long spear if you feel confident that you wont accidentally poke a team mate." Mercy says, and adds, "Great! Less work for me, that's a good thing." to Kaz. "Alright, my brain's full for the night, I'm gonna go empty it into some Netflix or something." she says while getting up to her feet. String unwinds itself out of cowboy shape and yarn wriggles through the air towards Mercy, hiding amongst her dreadlocks.

"I can make you a sling," Irsa remarks to Jackie. "They're stupid easy to make, and it's easy t' cast shot for 'em. Steel balls cut through anythin'." Her familiar has vanished into the Umbra, sensing Irsa's imminent departure. "I'll catch ya'll later. Night, folks!" And with that she slips sideways to make her escape.

Kaz is silent as he listens to the preparations and watches Mercy leaves and Irsa slips sideways. He turns to Jackie. "What is Netflix? Do you know this?"

Jackie rises to her feet as the party starts to break up. She looks over at Kaz's question. "Ok, yeah, I guess you wouldn't be a Stranger Things fan, would you? Well... It's like howling on wind with stories, only over wires and with pictures. Don't worry, you'll love it. Probably."

Kaz tilts his head as he stares at Jackie for several moments. "I'm not sure any of what you just said makes any sense to me." He grunts as he takes another moment to consider her words and shakes his head. He starts to walk away as he says, "I will see you next in the hunting grounds."