Early evening, 4/23: A visit to the Turtle

Wishbone will show up at the Turtle, and make his presence known to Firewall by the usual means. As always, he keeps a fairly low profile.

After about an hour of wandering about, Wishbone finds himself in a part of the Turtle that doesn't seem quite the same. Maybe the Glasswalker's renovations just missed this part, because he finds himself in a large room with moss and small plants growing up and out and over broken windows and moldy old museum pieces. The place smells of wolves, death and blood.

hmm glad ya stopped by wishbone .....hmmm..well... errr if ya see a big Indian walking about he's well ...err a vampire named broken-sword hes... well errr ummmm a guest treat him as such if ya will.

Wishbone nods. "It's Broken Sword I was hoping to see," he says. "Broken Sword of our world is dead; Broken Sword of the time of legends will not know what I need to ask." He pauses, looking around. "Is this how this part of the Turtle normally looks, Firewall?"

((OOC: Heightened Senses. I know Broken Sword's scent. Does the room smell of him?))

hmm nope thought I had been to every place in here. Don't remember this ever being here only plants in the building are in the large terrarium with the tarantulas. (scratches his head as he scans the room looking at the museum pieces)

((Yes, the place smells of Broken Sword, we didn't specify an exact time, but I like early evening for the imagery. ))

A few ruined and rotted momentos of the abandoned museum reveal themselves under the mold and moss. Long shadows stretch across the room, making sillouttes on the walls.

In the dimness of the room's corner, there is a man. He was not there a moment ago, but he is there now. He is around seven and a half feet tall, clothed in jeans and a tee shirt. You both recognize him as Broken Sword. He nods to Firewall, but stops his eyes abruptly as he notices Wishbone.

" This is getting worse. Good evening, Garou. "

Well I don't know what you mean this is getting worse but I can assure you nothing is going to happen in the turtle if ya get my drift. Your a ummm...a guest in my house in this dimension I think that's right. Don't remember this room being here before nor in this state of disarray didn't mean to disturb ya .

" Very thoughtful of you. "

Wishbone bows his head. "Broken Sword. Good evening. My name is Wishbone. We have...met, and not met." His brow furrows. "Difficult to express. English, not a strong language for me."

" And the same to you. You will pardon my surprise at seeing you. I speak passable Garou if that would be easier for you. "

With obvious relief, Wishbone lapses into Garou. "Considerably easier, thank you. And there's nothing to pardon; it's a surprising situation all around. I hope you will pardon my intrusion. I hoped to wait for you to visit Firewall; I did not expect to stumble into your world, if that's where we are at the moment."

Broken Sword's throat pulses slightly before he speaks in clear if slightly affected Garou, " Yes. All is well. Please, let us sit and speak while we may. "

Wishbone nods. "Thank you." As the guest, however, he waits for his host...well, hosts...to sit first.

Broken Sword takes a seat on a pile of rubble.

Let me grab a chair (goes into the other room and grabs a desk chair and brings it in) there we go much better.

Once Broken Sword and Firewall sit, Wishbone does likewise.

"I had a purpose in coming here...and I will come to it in due time...but I think these shifts are a more immediate problem," he begins. "Do you by any chance know what's causing them?"

(There are no chairs in the other rooms, just more ruined museum. You're not in Kansas anymore.)

mother fuckin son of a bitch cock sucking gutter whores ..... son of a motherless goat...wishbone better start looking for a way out we are not I REPEAT NOT IN OUR WORLD.

Broken Sword is nonplussed, " Of course you are not. I thought that was obvious. Be at peace, Garou, the effect has rarely lasted longer than an hour. "

(activating the spi coms fetish trying to get in contact with my pack) bravo 1 this is alpha 1 repeat bravo 1 this is alpha 1 how copy

The member 'Firewall' has done the following action : 1 masquerade, 2 masquerade, 3 masquerade

'RPS' :

Wishbone nods. "I kinda figured that, yeah. But we need to find out what we can while we're here, Firewall. Only chance we have of figuring out how to shift back on our own say-so is to ask questions. Broken Sword has shifted into our world, and back; it only made sense that the process would work the other way around, as well."

He glances wistfully over his shoulder, in the direction of the Caern. "It's probably best if I stay away," he murmurs quietly. "But...it's tempting."

Firewall : Clashing Boom Boom - " I'm copying you. The rest of your pack doesn't exist in this place. Stay frosty. "

Broken Sword, " Best you stay away. Seeing the dead can be disconcerting. "

Wishbone nods. "It can," he agrees. "And I wouldn't care to disconcert them. I just hope I died well." He shakes his head. "In any event, we probably have limited time, so we should make the most of it."

that's a good copy General (at this point firewall goes full blown out military 1.does a function check on his side arm 2.double checks what little gear he has on him 3.checks wallet for spare cash 4.starts reconing the building looking out windows trying to get a fix on how much different it is outside note the phase of the moon here)

(Firewall - check)

Broken Sword chuckles, " The worst thing about this whole mess. I am dead in your world, a development I find fairly surprising. But come Garou, you clearly ache to ask me something. "

Wishbone nods. He thinks about how to begin.

"I've been handed a...challenging situation. Last year, Sosondowah came to us with a message. That message is for a group known as the Ten Who Watch. The Lady cannot speak of them. Since that time, I have been seeking knowledge of them. I have learned...pieces, but not enough."

He glances at Firewall. "Firewall, what I'm about to say is known to exactly one other person in the Sept. I would not say it in front of you if I didn't know you to be a Garou of your word. I will ask you for your word now...and, though she has no obligation to me, I would ask the same of your totem. What I am about to say must not go beyond this room, at least not yet."

ya got my word as for my totem I cant speak for the General but I do believe He knows a thing or two about top secret info and how to keep it safe. Now if ya don't mind I got some reconing to do need to gather Intel on this place and keep the eyes scanning for enemies.

(firewall will prolly overhear bits and pieces he is clearly intent on other things .. wishbone will notice how meticulous and methodical firewall is being its as if his life depended on it)

Wishbone nods. He turns back to Broken Sword.

"I think I have learned how, when, and why the Ten came into being. The Garou had...failed. The spirits that guarded the land were gone. You fought to defend your people without the aid you should have had." His voice is quiet, now--and, yes, there is grief in it. "And then came the moment when the cataract swallowed the homes of the Ongiara. Many died; most passed into the land of the dead. But ten became spirits, as the Lady became a spirit. Five for the living, five for the dead." He watches the ancient warrior carefully as he says this. "I saw it happen in the...in the long-ago, the time of legends. It was there that I first met you. If anyone knows what truly happened, you should. I am sorry to speak of things that may be painful, but I must seek the truth. Do you know of the Ten?"

Broken Sword's face reveals exactly nothing, which, the narrator considers, might actually reveal quite a bit...

" Hrmph. The Ten, the Triad, the Drowned, the Destroyer, the various definite articles that protect and threaten these lands. You know more than most. Clearly you come from a dying world, the old wards were great things, a wonder of the forgotten world. They should have endured. "

"Then you understand why I must seek the answers. The Devourer of Cities still slumbers in our world, but his slumber is restless. The Guardian still endures, through the sacrifice of two Garou I respect greatly. The Ward you speak of endures...I think. It compels silence on certain subjects, and causes us to forget when someone overcomes that compulsion. But it is weakening; you can see that for yourself. The one who crafted it is dead, and I do not know if that will weaken it further still. I know enough to recognize that our situation is precarious, but not enough to know what to do about it." He runs a hand over his brow. "Sosondowah carried the message that the time has come for the Ten to move on. I do not know what the consequences will be if they do; I do not know what the consequences will be if they do not. I fear for my people either way."

I'm no therug but I do know wards are like the human body they need to be taken care of over time or they crumble and die (with that firewall heads to the roof to get a tactical scope of the situation)

Broken Sword seems bothered by this, he rises to his feet.

" If Broken Sword and his old rival are dead in your world, then the Triad is broken and there is no hope of rebuilding it. We did not think it likely that both would die so quickly. The break between our worlds happened five years ago, so both deaths must have been in that time. We judged it better that..."

He paces a moment. He movements are restrained, but the building still shakes slightly as he walks, as if a large truck were passing by.

" We had plans... we had so many plans... "

" Memory? " he asks quizzically, as if the word itself were the question.

"Remains. Much of what I know, I learned from him. And, yes; both deaths have come within the last year. Sosondowah said that the Triumvirate was broken, aside from Memory...that the old treaties are gone, and the far shore awaits those who watch."

" Yes, that is logical. If the treaties expired, the old gods will want their property back. "

Beat pause.

" That would be bad. "

"Can you tell me why? I am no replacement for your other self and your rival. I grew up in a junkyard. I don't have your wisdom, or High Hat's cunning, but I need to do what I can to keep Falling Waters safe...and to do that I need to know what's happening. Who are the old gods? What will happen if the Ten pass on? If they do not, Sosondowah has warned that he will return "with death at his side" to settle matters."

(From the roof firewall pulls out his I-phone and take pictures of the surrounding area and the sky )

" Well yes. I suppose we can talk about it, " he seems vaguely surprised by this.

" Short version, because I am no tale-spinner. The dead belong to their gods. The land needed spirits, and in those days ghosts and spirits were one and the same. So the dead were bonded from their gods, by those greater than myself, but with three immortals kept as bondsmen. Your bond has now come due. "

"So what happens next? If the watchers are gone, and the warders are gone..." He sounds like he perhaps knows the answer, but doesn't want to know it.

" What else can happen? Their gods will take them to the far shores. The local incarna die the true death, as do those who mind the dead. The Western Door becomes... something else. The last echoes of the [Redacted]*'s Song finally resolved. "



* Yes, that just happened.

Wishbone shakes his head to clear it. "It seems the Ward still has power. The name of the singer is blocked from my mind." He presses on. "Can you tell me of those who watch the dead? The Incarna I know, but I know little of the dead and their guardians."

Broken Sword gestures in the air.
" Being poetic anyways. The whole fucking mess started with the loss of the middle. Without them there wouldn't have been a spirit shortage here in the first place. "

" As for the dead, I do not understand them myself. I know their minds have melded and warped over the centuries, that that have become a group-soul of some sort, but I do not have much business with Ghosts. "

Wishbone grimaces. "That's a story that's guarded carefully. I only know a little of it." He tilts his head back. "Bullroarer would know. In your world, he still lives...and my world has to make do with a lame Bonegnawer." He shakes his head. "But I can guess...just as I can guess what slumbers beneath the Mound."

He looks up.

"I've spoken with them, a few times. But I do not know who the five who watch over them are. Another riddle to be solved."

He sighs. Quietly, "If all of this is so...then I fear the door will not remain closed. We will have to face the Destroyer."

" Without me and my old rival, I don't see how it can be avoided. The Destroyer still has followers and can still commune with them in dreams. They will never stop until their master is freed. Hell, we just had a case last year where a whole load of them tried to free him on Grand Island. We slaughtered them to a man, but there'll always be more. "

"Three portals? The amusement park there?" He nodded. "That happened in our world, too."

He sighs again. "Ga'hai Hill. I see it sometimes in my nightmares. I had hoped it wouldn't come to this. Do you have any advice on how to fight the one who sleeps there?"

" Yes, most of the larger events seem to roughly sync up. "

" Advice? Hrm... "

" You should still have time. Years even, if the proper precautions at Zoar are taken, and you already know about that. "

He leans close to Wishbone and whispers something in his ear.

"We will guard the Guardian, yes. And when that is no longer enough..." He shrugs. "We will fight."

((OOC: And meantime, I need to go get my wife, and Firewall's up on the roof...))

Broken Sword nods, eying the fading daylight. He rises and pulls an opal stone necklace from his pocket.

" I should be off then. My love calls me to my nightly duties. One last thing though. A bit of a favor for all I've told you. In your world there is a Vampire, a Gangrel like myself by the name of Von Vorbeck. He killed me, and I can't help but be a little bitter about that. If you good Garou ever get the chance to strike vengeance for me, well, I must say I'd really appreciate it. "

He puts on the necklace, and as the room swells with bright and pure white light, the Gangrel disappears.

As the light fades, you find that you are both now back in the Turtle of our world.