07/22-30/2012 -- Western New York

((While the effects are ubiquitous, they are more intense the closer to Buffalo.))


Gaia:
Thunder rumbles all day, and as night falls lightning fills the sky for hours, striking repeatedly from cloud to cloud and often to the ground, lighting everything more than the light pollution generated by the city.

Umbra:
Lightning gafflings joyously streak across the Umbral Sky, dancing along and past Moon Paths rigidly standing in the gaze of Luna's full, watchful eye. Clouds of thunder gather, slumbering the night away after barking and shouting all day. Despite the movement of storm spirits, the Umbra seems implausibly still and tense. Lesser gafflings in the area are skittish concerned at the sudden activity from the skies above.

Portents like that are best not ignored...and that means doing something that always makes Wishbone a little nervous. The Wendigo and the Uktena used to climb a mountain to speak to the thunder, but that's not exactly possible here. The evening finds the theurge high atop an Umbral building, as close to the thunder as he can get.

<< Hirum, Grandfather Thunder, the Sept of Falling Waters hears your voice. What is your will? >>

((What shape are you in?))

As you climb the building, even spiders maintaining its structure web seem utterly uninterested in exposing themselves to the storm. Every once in a while a daring one will emerge to make a repair only to be picked up and carried away by the lightning, cackling with glee at its new plaything.

After you call, you hear rustled feathers behind you as a large crow lands on the edge, eyes watching you with an eerie blue crackle deep in its eyes. It caws at you, its cry carrying a soft rumbling beneath. Soon after, another stormcrow lands, and then another, and another. The sky around you begins to darken as they circle, and suddenly a bolt of lightning cracks down before you, the resulting roar of thunder momentarily deafening you and leaving a ringing in your ears unlikely to end anytime soon. Where it strikes, stormcrows burst from the ground, flying away in all directions, including right at you, covering you in static and buffeting you with wings.

As your eyes adjust from the flash, a dark, tall, powerful figure, gathered in from anvil-tops, straightens up and crosses his arms, eyes alight with electricity. His children dance from and around him, illuminating the area with rapidly flickering sparks.

He speaks, powerful, menacing, rumbling...
//*Walks with Gaia Through the Wastes.
Son of Rat.*//
He seems to pantomime spitting on the ground, but all that happens is for a few seconds there is a torrential downpour that drenches you to the bone and soaks everything else. His children scream with delight as they race each other across its surface, leaving tendrils of energy arching every which way.
//*Why does a child of Cockroach think he can Name me?
Do not answer, I am not interested in what you have to say on the matter.
Wolf in Man's Clothing, answer this, and know what I ask.
Do not waste my time with excuses and tales.
What did you see in Zoar Valley?
With YOUR eyes, Garou.
What did you see?*//

Wishbone has not been forbidden to assume Crinos in times of need, and speaking to Grandfather Thunder counts. There's no room for slurred, garbled speaking here. Nor will he cower, though he has placed himself in the heart of Grandfather Thunder's power. Be respectful, yes...but the Lord of Thunder despises weakness and cowardice.

<< I saw decay. I saw corruption. I saw Gaia's children suffering. I saw the price of our failure to finish the job. The Guardian must be restored, or the Guardian must be replaced. >>

//*Hmph...accurate enough, but I shall tell you what I saw, beyond that.
I saw a disorganized rabble of garou.
I saw Packs not working as units.
I saw chaos.
I saw recklessness.
Next time, have a plan. Your Father should be ashamed.
You have made progress in the valley, of that there is no doubt.
You asked for my Will, that Falling Waters shall listen?
I doubt that very much, but this is it:
Work with purpose, Walks with Gaia Through the Wastes.
You are packs of one Sept. Work as packs, work as a Sept.
You enemies surround you. Do not act with recklessness, act with cunning and forethought.
Tell all of Falling Waters to stop their pointless, idle works, and to focus; reflect on what must be done.
Go, now, I tire of this. You already know what will happen if you do not carry through, Son of Rat.*//

Behind you the stormcrows part, resting on ledges to watch you leave, or still flying high above. Grandfather Thunder's eyes never break their gaze on you, thought after a moment the Incarna looks up and nods curtly. A stormcrow descends to your shoulder. You feel mild shocks through your wet fur as it whispers in your ear:

//*It walks unseen, and alone; a shadow stalks the land; it will only be revealed by the fierce light of the new moon. Keep your wits about you, Theurge.*//

It quickly takes off once finished, cawing into the night.

Gaia:
For days the thunder and lightning continue, causing regular power fluctuations around Western New York.

Umbra:
The spirits of thunder and lightning have remained in the area for days. Every once in a while, when the lightning strikes and a gaffling streaks by to illuminate the sky, you feel certain you saw the silhouette of a man striding across the thunderheads, and sometimes you feel its standing, watching you...just you.

Throughout the normally dry and comfortable Caern, the incessant dripping of water has become a constant fixture. In the city, the power goes up and down over the period of the seemingly never-ending storm. Almost every home loses power for at least hours, in some cases days.

... And still the walker and his wild hunt process across the Umbral Sky.

Gaia:
"A news weather bulletin has been posted for Thursday, July 26th, as a Severe Storm Threat as a storm cell moves out of the Great Lakes region and into areas of New York and the Ohio Valley. Damaging High Winds are expected, and chance of severe thunderstorms and large quantities of rainfall anticipated. People are advised to be prepared for long power outages, materials to handle downed branches, and anticipate necessary repairs after such a wind storm."
http://www.b.weather.com/news/weather-severe/northeast-severe-threat-20120725
((No, really, guys...this is real.))
Thunder and lightning roll in, illuminating the night sky. Rumbling is almost constant across the region as the long-awaited rain from the summer begins to come in, apparently with a fiery vengeance behind it. The winds have picked up, and already smaller branches from trees dried-out from the lack of rain are being snapped off and thrown to the ground.

Umbra:
To what you estimate is North East you can see spirits flying about the sky. Every time the Umbra Night is filled with a passing group of lightning gafflings, you are now certain you can see dancing figures in the clouds above, flickering in and out of your vision as the spirits pass.

A bad time to be out and about; a good time to find wind spirits.

The next night finds Wishbone out being battered by the Umbral elements again, this time seeking a spirit of wind. Grandfather Thunder says a plan is needed, and he is correct...but in order to pull of a plan, you need to have the right tools.

There are ample spirits of the storm out an about, from wind to lightning to rain to thunder. You think you even see a powerful wind spirit on the verge of a tornado soaring across the sky and heading south.

You come across two spirits, one of lightning one of wind, fighting over a spirit of the bluejay, toying with it and knocking it about.

<< Brothers, why fight over such a small meal? Share mine with me. >> Wishbone withdraws a faintly-shimmering vial, offering it to the spirits.

They quickly drop the spirit, who flies away as fast as it can, and rush up to Wishbone.

"There's only one..." the Lightning elemental murmurs.

It snatches it first and blasts the air elemental with a bolt of lightning before taking off.

The wind looks upset, though you're not sure if it's more angry or dejected.

Just the hint of a sly smile touches Wishbone's muzzle. << It's a rude host who doesn't provide enough for his guests. >> He withdraws a second vial, offering it to the wind spirit. << It is well. Lightning is powerful, but never seeks to conceal its strength. Wind has power, but can also be subtle. >> A little flattery never hurt.

The wind spirit greedily takes the vial and consumes it, the energy filling it as the wind around you begins to pick up.

<>

It rushes around you faster than you can turn your head as it takes you in.

<>

Wishbone doesn't try. When he was a pup, he tried that game, once. He got so dizzy that he fell over. Instead, he waits for the spirit to finish its examination.

((Weird, I posted text but it didn't go through.))

//*Thank you, garou! Hmmm...now what can I do to return the favor...?*//

<< There are times when brute force will not prevail, but subtlety will. You know the ways of soaring through the Umbra unseen and unknown, unless you choose to make yourself known. Will you teach me this art? >>

((OOC: Can you PM me with the exact gift you're looking for, including breed/auspice/tribe and level?))

//*Hmmm...it's true...I suppose I could...hey, want to see something amazing?*//

The spirit starts rushing around Wishbone excitedly, horribly impatient for his answer.

What's a Theurge to say to that, other than the truth? << Always. >>

The spirit barely even waits for you to finish answering like it, and quite probably is true, didn't care what you had to say, but rather it was going to show you interesting things whether you wanted to see them or not! As it spins around you it starts rushing faster and faster and faster. You can feel the winds rising rapidly and a small funnel starts to form around you. More...you start feeling light on your feet...very light...weightless. By Gaia, you've been lifted off the ground! You can't hear anything over the roaring of winds as you feel yourself being taken through the Umbral night. The spirit laughs as he carries you away.

As dizziness begins to take you, you get disoriented, but you're pretty sure you're heading West, towards Lake Erie...assuming you were still in the Realm.

Time seems wrong, you're not sure when you lifted off. Your queasy stomach tells you it's been hours, your pounding, spinning head tells you it's only been a minute or two. Like a leaf lost in the storm, and with all the grace, it "gently" releases you on the ground. Were you not garou, that would've hurt like hell...quite possibly broken some bones. Thankfully, you're made of sterner stuff. A little sore, with the world still spinning, your vision slowly begins to stabilize. The wind spirit stands over, head slightly cocked, like it's confused how that affected you so adversely. Once you drag yourself to your feet and look around, you see that you are, in fact, on the shore of Lake Erie. Towering over you and around you are massive towers made of webbing. They each have long panels of webs that reach out into the sky around them. You can see spiders flitting along their lengths. As the storm brews overhead, spirits are rushing past them, but here and there wind spirits are getting stuck in the webbing, and the spiders rapidly descending on them. What happens from there is too hard to see from this distance.

But that doesn't seem to be what the air spirit is interested in. At your feet is...a rock. Very smooth and round, but a rock nonetheless. It's a big rock, though! As you observe it a pair of eyes open and look at you and the spirit.

\\*What do you want this time, little wisp?*\\

//*I want to finish what we started!*//

\\*You've been at it for many moons, and here I still sit. All your patience has not been rewarded with any success.*\\

//*But we were so close! SO CLOSE! Then around the time these things showed up we started losing ground!*// The wind spirit gestures to the towers.

\\*Close? Hmmm...you have never been so far from being right.*\\

The wind spirit turns to you. //*You'll help me, though, right? We've been arguing whether Earth or Sky is stronger for Millennia! ((OOC: The word, in Spirit Speech, translates closer to Memory before Memory, but as a being of flesh as well as spirit you take "Millennia" to be a better understanding.)) We were so close, but then all of this happened...*//

It looks to the North...far to the North. You don't think it's looking where your eyes can see.

//*What do you think?*// It remains looking off North. //*Will you do what I need to succeed?*//

\\*Bah, don't listen to that little wisp, it doesn't know what power is!*\\

Hooboy. This is a situation where "Tread carefully" is definitely indicated.

<< Before I can be much help to anyone, I'm going to need to know more about what's going on, >> the Theurge points out. << Please keep in mind that I'm Garou. Our lives don't last as long as memory-before-memory. >> Hmm...memory-before-Memory? << So I don't know what happened here. Please...can you tell me the terms of your contest? What constitutes success? And what do the Weaver-towers there have to do with it? >>

Wishbone's not well up on technology, but the towers of web stir a memory--great towers of white on the lake, with huge, whirling blades that catch the wind...Whispers-Through-Doughnut showed them to him, and told him that perhaps such towers would help fight back the pollution-blights by providing a cleaner source for the humans' energy-hunger. What were they called? Oh, right: windmills!

The stone cocks an eyebrow and shakes his head saying nothing. The Wind Spirit looks exasperated.

//*What? No, there's nothing wrong with the towers! There is Balance here! It was just around the time they appeared my Grandfather started losing ground.*//

It quickly rushes away to one of the towers and grabs a spider, bringing it back down and setting it on the ground. While it truly is a spirit of the Weaver, it is vibrant, one of the most lively servants to the Weaver you're seen.
**¤Can I help you? I had a beautiful cog I was watching.¤**

//*Do you hurt anyone?*//

**¤This again? We reshape Air into Electricity. They are still quite wild and uncontrollable, we simply give them something to do. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm still on shift.¤**

//*This is fine, garou. What this stubborn thing means*// it takes an attempt at moving the stone ("Get off me...") //*Is how shaky the Sept of Falling Waters has been! The garou were given orders by my Grandfather, right? Wait...*// The Wind swells a bit and the spirit seems to get larger and stronger. //*YOU were the one given the order! Yes, do all that and I'm sure I can persuade one of my brothers to teach you.*//

And then it hits you somewhere in your gut. This spirit came here in the storms created by Grandfather Thunder.

Wishbone nods gravely. << I was the one given the order, yes. It was why I was seeking the knack of moving unseen in the Umbra, the better to scout out the forces of the Wyrm arrayed there. Grandfather Thunder rightly chastised us for blundering in without a plan. We will not make that mistake again. Balance will be restored. >>