OOC reveals: Your time to shine!!

{Game's ending people.... or at least being reset. I'd love to hear something your characters did or said that I don't know about, some scene you were in that you think would have been great for other people to show how much you cared about the game, some RP hard scene that matters to your PC (dead or alive) and his/her story in this game before the reset. Here is your chance to show how you shone even when the limelight wasn't on you. My submission is the convo between Rat, Pipe, and Wishbone that we had in our private forum. Note the prescient remarks and foreshadowing....}

(Pipe)I need to speak with Rat, Wishbone.... Can you call to him?Wishbone nods. "Of course. But you need to know...he's still not completely happy with me over the Owl thing. He wasn't angry, exactly, the last time I communed with him, but...I could tell he was disappointed." Wishbone is able to keep his composure, but it's unlikely that Pipe will be fooled: he knows as well as Wishbone does that it hurts when Rat is disappointed in you.

(wishbone) Wishbone thinks about that for a few seconds, then shakes his head. "The day I'm so cowardly that I crawl away and hide from the displeasure of my tribe's totem is the day I want you to put me out of my misery. I did something that displeased Rat. I need to own that. I've done chiminage since then, and I'll probably need to do more chiminage before the balance is restored, but that doesn't change my responsibility. You're tribe. You need Rat. It's my duty to help you speak to him."


Wishbone nods, and begins his customary ritual. Gifts of food are placed in the periphery of the chamber. << Children of the Father, little brothers and sisters, find food and shelter here. You are always welcome among the Bone Gnawers. >>

<< Father Rat, Survivor, one of your children seeks your guidance. We ask that you grant your insight, which is as sharp as your teeth. >>

A single rat-spirt scampers by <>
(pipe)Hail Rat God. I come to beg advice.

Rat squeak slightly and takes a more formal posture, " And what advise do you see, Sewer Pipe? "
You know my heart and you know my life. What am I doing wrong? I am following all the rules I have been told and still...
(Rat) " Your life and death are your own, Sewer Pipe. Who am I to tell you what is right and what is wrong? But you have asked, and so I will do you this boon. I give you three threes.

You have been good to Rat; you have irritated my enemies, and for that I am amused.
But you are not amused by the things that you should enjoy in life; you must be more than your Rage.
You must discover the bliss that comes in serving something greater.

You have brought war to me enemies, and for that I am pleased.
But you are not pleased by what you have accomplished; you cannot fill the emptiness of your father's absence with a cavern full of trophies.
Fight for your brothers; not for yourself.

You have survived, and for that I am proud.
But you are proud, far too proud for a child of Rat.
Learn to shut your mouth and wait. "

(pipe)He shuts his mouth and waits.

Rat twitches its whiskers, " Not now, Sewer Pipe; then. "

In Spirit Speech, to Wishbone, <>
  Wishbone on Tue Sep 11, 2012 5:56 pm

Wishbone considers that. << He believes that the song has betrayed and rejected him. Being punished by Chases Cars-rhya hurt more than his status. Broken trust is harder to heal than broken bodies. >>
<>

<< I accept the judgment. I do not like it. I do not understand it. But, as you rightly say, I am not a Philodox, and the spirits found their judgment just. It is why I asked the Philodoxes to find a way for Sewer Pipe to redeem himself, rather than order them to restore his rank. To try to command them to overturn their decision would have been to overstep my boundaries and my place under Gaia. But whether the judgment was just or not, Sewer Pipe still feels betrayed and wronged. His rage is strong, his pride is as strong. Both burn within him now. >>
Rat shrugs to Wishbone, <>
Wishbone tilts his head. << I don't think there's anything you can do about it. You asked why Pipe wasn't hearing you clearly, so I did my best to answer. I think the last thing he wants to hear right now is that he needs to accept the punishment and get past his anger. >> He tilts his head in a peculiar, wolfy equivalent of a shrug. << If he'll listen to anyone, he'll listen to you. He loves you. Maybe what you've told him will get through to him. >>
Rat nods to Wishbone, <> then it turns to Pipe and speaks in English again, gently: " You must master your Rage, great warrior; or your Rage will prove to be your master. Ponder that. "

Rat leaves.
(pipe)Nodding pipe speaks...


'Yes, Tunnel Lord.'

After Rat leaves, he turns to Wishbone.

'Is there something, some gift or trick, that will give me more rage? I must become it's master.'

(wishbone) Wishbone blinks, caught off guard. "That...isn't quite what he meant, Pipe," he says, cautiously. "First off: no, I don't know any gifts that would make you stronger in your rage. I think you're already a master of using your rage, and I think Rat would agree about that." He tilts his head back, trying to think of the words. "I'll see if I can explain. Some of this doesn't translate very well from spirit speech, but I'll try. See, it's like this, Pipe. You see clearly, but you only see one thing at a time. I can respect that, because it means you go after that one thing and you don't let anything or anyone get in your way...and if they do, you summon your rage and smash through all barriers. It's your strength. But it can also be a weakness."

"In order to truly be a master of Rage, you have to be able to do more than just call it at need and wield it. You also have to be able to let it go."

(pipe)Wouldn't know how.

(Wishbone) nods, seriously. "And that's why Rat told you you need to learn. We're all having to learn how to do new things. Sometimes, it's things we don't really want to do and don't think we're suited to do. I had to learn to speak English. I had to learn how to craft weapons." He hefts the sinuous, alien-looking spiked maul he now carries. "I'm having to learn how to run a Sept. Don't know if I'll ever be GOOD at it, but I'm learning." He holds up a finger. "But I think I know part of the reason Rat wants you to learn this. You're a great fighter and tactician. But the greatest warriors are also great strategists...and a great strategist has to be able to see the big picture, and see it with detachment. He has to be able to let go of the individual battle in order to win the war. Rage? Rage is all about the immediate moment. If you can master your Rage the way Rat wants you to? You'll be the warrior Rat knows you can be. And if you can do that, Sewer Pipe Two Words Dragonslayer, then I pity anyone
(pipe) who stands against you."You misunderstand. I know Exactly what I have to do to win. I just think that some battles aren't worth winning, if you have to sacrifice what you are fighting for for victory.

(wishbone) "Some aren't. And others aren't worth winning, if in winning you lose what's most important." The battered, raggedy theurge regards Sewer Pipe thoughtfully. "I guess the question is...what are you fighting for, Pipe?"

(Pipe)A world that doesn't need me. A world where I wouldn't have had to be.

(Wishbone) thinks about that one for a while before nodding. "That's a good answer. But then there's the question of what you might have to sacrifice to win it. I know you'd fight to the death without batting an eye. I think what Rat was getting at was that sometimes, it's not a question of sacrificing your life, but sacrificing your pride...and I think that pride and honor mean more to you than your life does. Am I wrong?"


(pipe)Doesn't yours?Again, Wishbone is silent for a long time, thinking that one over.

(wishbone)"More than my life? Maybe. Probably, yeah. Hell, sometimes self-respect is all a 'Gnawer has to hang onto. But pride doesn't mean more to me than the Sept. That's why I took the beatdown from Owl. It's why I tried to take the bullet for you over Frank's death. And it's why I ultimately accepted the decision, even though it made me want to puke." He runs a hand through his scraggly fur and grimaces. When he continues, his voice is lower, as much to himself as Sewer Pipe. "I've got my pride, yeah, though some probably don't believe that. But the good of the pack and the good of the Sept...those come first. I'll die for those, and I'll crawl through shit for them, too, if I have to."

(Pipe)All that fuels me is pride and rage. Take that away from me and I have nothing. Casey took my pride... and the philodox agreed. I have lost before. But I have never had to swallow my pride about i and I cannot forget it, even if it kills me. I wll get my rank back on my own, and when I come back with it I will spit in his face, his nephew and his honor are as dead as his sense of fairness and I will prove myself his better or die. As for the inconvenience this puts on the sept, I wonder where all this talk of put the sept first was when casey was punishing me. He did what was best for him andi will do what my honor compels me. I would humble myself before a friend. But in front of an enemy, like casey? Never.
*sits and looks sad* Is it not enough that I didn't chose death and murder half the sept before I was taken down?

(Wishbone) sighs, and there's genuine sympathy in his voice. "It was for me, Pipe. I know how much of a sacrifice you made by standing there and taking the punishment. But when have the other tribes ever honored the sacrifices Bone Gnawers make? Individual members of those tribes, sure...but as a whole? No. We fight as hard as any of them, we fight the Wyrm where it dwells in strength and breeds the fastest, and the other tribes look down on us for it."

He holds up a finger. "But Rat wouldn't lay this burden on you if he didn't think you were strong enough to carry it. I will offer one more thought. It's not that you have pride that's the problem. It's the way that pride overwhelms everything else when it's mixed with your rage. If you're angry at Casey, be angry at Casey. But your anger is huge, and it spills over. You were angry with Casey for making the ruling; you were angry with the Sept for accepting the ruling; you were angry with me for fighting on your behalf and failing." His expression is serious. "You're tribe, Pipe. You're as much family to me as anyone who walks on this side of the Gauntlet. I would take a bullet for you without hesitation. I think you're an asshole sometimes, but that doesn't change anything; I don't know a Garou who isn't. I certainly am."

He stands. "Just...try to remember that you're not alone, Pipe. It's not you against the world, no matter how much it seems like that at times. Don't be so angry that you pull away from your friends...and you DO have friends. Don't be so proud that you won't let those friends help you. Garou aren't meant to stand alone."


If it occurs to Wishbone that, at the moment, he's more alone than Pipe is, he makes no mention of that fact.

(pipe) *shakes head*

In the end, we are all alone. And in the end, all we have is pride and rage.

*looks at Wishbone*

Someday, soon, you will see I am right. Die laughing and Proud, Wishbone. I plan to.

*leaves*

Great stuff, that was a really cool scene.  There's so much going on under the surface that justifies and explains.