In search of Stuff...

At some point during the month, Wishbone announces his intention to go looking for...well, stuff. As per the Beta's instructions to avoid going out alone, he is looking for at least one companion to accompany him and watch his back.

Brings the Light of Luna smiles. "If you'd have me, I'd be glad to join you."

Brings took the words right outa my mouth. Totally here if you need me.

Is there anything in particular that you are looking for? Should I go build a new metal detector?

"And you have my axe! Er, nose!" Skippy looks ready to assist, if Wishbone needs the form of...help...Skippy takes.

Wishbone grins crookedly. "Well, looking for Stuff isn't exactly like that." It's even possible to hear the capital "S" in "Stuff" when he says it that way. "See, Stuff is...well, you know it when you see it. You have to kinda smell it out. I'll show you what I mean--there's a place I've been meaning to go look."

Where would that be?

"I'll show you."

After checking with the Den Father to make sure it's all right to take Skippy along, Wishbone leads the little group to the site of a flea market in the suburbs. It's amazing how much stuff just gets left behind at the end of a flea market; sometimes, the sellers just can't be bothered to pack it all up and haul it away.

Wishbone gestures to the heap of junk waiting to be collected and hauled away. "I think we'll find Stuff here."

As he begins to rummage here and there, he carries on a running commentary. "See, here's the thing: the humans have convinced themselves that if something ain't new, shiny, and pretty, it's worthless. They'd rather have a shiny new shopping mall than a grove of old trees. They'd rather have a shiny new piece of crap car than the old one that's always been reliable and never given them any trouble. And when something stops being new and shiny, they just throw it away."

He pulls out a plastic doll missing one arm and gazes critically into its eyes for a moment. "And that's the problem. When something is thrown away, that's when the Wyrm takes hold of it. And that doesn't just apply to junk. When places are thrown away, the Wyrm moves in. Don't we see that in Blights? When PEOPLE are thrown away, the Wyrm starts whispering in their ears...and when the world has told somebody, "We don't want you," it's REAL easy for the Wyrm to win them over."

He sets the doll aside, apparently not finding what he was looking for. "A lotta Garou give us Gnawers crap for spending all of our time in the blights, or playing with trash, or hanging out with the homeless and the junkies and the discards. What they don't get is that we're fighting the Wyrm when we do it. We're fighting it where it has the easiest time taking hold."

"Now don't get the idea that every old hamburger wrapper is important. Sometimes, junk is just junk. But a lot of what humans call "junk" is really Stuff. It's still part of Gaia, and it can still be made to serve Her. Just 'cause something's banged up and ugly doesn't mean it can't still help the cause." He grins, gesturing to his many scars. "Hell, I'm proof positive."

Suddenly, he darts to the side with a triumphant cry, and reappears a moment later, holding up...an old wicker basket with a broken bottom. "Now, THIS has potential!"

I like the flea it's good times, I'm in the process of liquidating some assets here. I saw something earlier hold on a second

::PNym wanders away for a moment and comes back holding what can only be called a contraption.::

I think it's the guts of a player piano there is an axle here some rubber tubing for some kind of pneumatic purpose and these arms here one would assume activated the noise things. Is this of any use to you?

((this was actually for sale in "the back left corner" as of 2 weeks ago.)

Wishbone sets aside his broken basket for a moment and comes over to inspect Pnym's find. He sniffs it, ponders. "It's not right for what I'm working on," he says, "But that doesn't mean it's not right, if you take my meaning. Figuring out what's Stuff and what isn't is an art. See if you can do it. Does it sing to you? Does it say "Hey, put me back in the game, coach?"

As comical as it sounds, it's obvious that he's completely serious. "If you can smell out the Stuff in life, you're gonna do okay. Just because Gnawers do it all the time doesn't mean it's not useful for Glass Walkers and Silver Fangs, too."

Whether this is STUFF or not I know not. But this I would use to make armor for a galliard. It would make music as they moved through combat. Do you think that Get would wear it? How bout you Skippy?

Wishbone nods. "See? It still has use. It still has value. That's the message. If more people got it...Garou, human, everyone...the world would be a better place, and Gaia would be well served."

He's about to say something more, then is momentarily distracted. He sniffs, then bounds off to another stack of stuff. With a triumphant cry, he pulls out a big old dried gourd, the kind they make artsy-craftsy birdhouses out of. The top of the neck is broken off, which explains why it was discarded, but he seems delighted.

"Perfect!"

Brings the Light of Luna smiles as he starts digging.

"From my perspective, given my trade, I know this very well. If a metal creation is damaged, or otherwise discarded, it always will have use. In the fires of a crucible, I can destroy the old form of metal, turn it liquid, and reshape it as I need. The perfect balance of shaping, destroying, and going from burning fluid with endless possibilities to a specific shape, and repeating the cycle again and again."

As he speaks, while he does grab some odd items here and there, he decidedly passes over some Wishbone probably wouldn't have.

"Speaking of, I'm branching out from precious metals. If you come across some scrap iron or steel, let me know." He picks up a broken floor radiator. "Ah, excellent."

"Skippy can has be a music Wolf?" Skippy doesn't seem to be digging through the discards with any particular goal, he just wants to see it all, so he keeps on digging...

Wishbone sets his gourd atop the broken wicker basket and goes back to hunting. "No...no...not right...hey, here's an old copper pan, you need this, Brings?" He finally holds up an old bead curtain. The beads appear to be made of small, lacquered pine cones. He hefts it thoughtfully. "This might do it."