conversations: human
conversations:  The Dream begins again, as it always has and always will: with the dying cries of the Great Mother and the End of All Things. Old Scratch, with thick black tears of pain and fear streaming down his face, opens his great maw and then there is nothing. The dreamer recoils from the awful emptiness of the void and, for a time indeterminable, weeps with the pain of loss. After an eternity, light sparks, color flows, the desolation of the void unbearable even unto itself. Unfettered creation runs wild, spinning itself out into myriad, ever-changing forms. For a time this was good, then came unending pattern, the click-clack of Grandmother's hooks and needles spinning out form and meaning where none had existed before. With form and meaning came ending as well, and thus Old Scratch once again. For a time, this was good, the balance struck between the Three bringing forth the Great Mother and all of her children. Yet the legacy of the last turning, the dreamer knew, lingered somehow across the impossible gulf between this Turning and the last; a stain black as night polluting the great tapestry, spreading, which would ultimately bring this Cycle to a close as well, ending in pain and death. However, hope endures; the dreamer knows that this time is different, that the Eternity of the Cycle is not fated and breaking it is yet still possible. Above all, a baleful red star burns in the sky. 
  
  Nelson Chang awoke from his dream quest, gasping the thick, cloying air that filled the tent, fed by the burning censer in the corner of the small cabin. Rising, he towels the sweat from himself as he exits, for a time simply staring up at what can be seen of the night sky in the Great Caern. Frustration creases his face, The dream never changes, no new insights, no new visions.  His attention shifts, his nose bringing him the shared scent of frustration, although this comes from the young lupus that impatiently prowls the Caern.  No matter , he thought; the pup's elders had commanded him to attend and obey is such strong terms that even a Ragabash such as Yurth knew better than to balk. Nothing to do but continue with the plan: soon Mr. Voloshyn would arrive, summoned by the Caern elders, albeit for reasons other than his normal services. The Strider Theurge would arrive soon as well, bearing messages to Chang that were important but immaterial to the issue at hand; the visions had simply shone Chang that he would arrive this night. Hm.  Voice of Cowards . Even as a Child of Gaia, Chang was ill at ease with the omen that that name implied, especially with all that was at risk.
  
  Looking back at the lodge, appropriately bathed in Luna's light, Chang's thoughts turned to the young Stargazer inside, still lost in his own visions. Any Stargazer was a valuable resource in these times, even an inexperienced cliath such as Anuraj Clark. Many of the others were questioning the formation of a new pack, especially one with members of such ... diverse ... tribes, not to mention the typical biases against the Theurge and the Ahroun. The Ahroun, the boy. That would be their first task tonight, to find the boy before he is caught by what pursues him. Unicorn had been sparing with instruction, merely insisting the gathering of this pack would be a key point on which Chang's visions hinged.
  
  Sighing, he calls to Anuraj from outside the lodge and sends a kinfolk to find and fetch the lupus Yurth; Mr. Voloshyn's car would be arriving soon and matters need to get underway.
conversations: Jahkin:
conversations: human
conversations:  Raj was in a row boat on a fast moving river. Up ahead he could see the river gathering speed as it curved around to the right. With no oars or other means of propulsion and the water swirling and frothing around him there was nothing to do but wait and see what happened. Around the bend the river moved through a wide shallow canyon that was arrow straight. Picking up speed, Raj clung to the sides of the boat as he hurtled along, the walls of the canyon flashing past. Suddenly the cliffs were closing in around him and there was darkness and void ahead. Raj sat transfixed as the blackness approached at deadly speed. There was nothing he could do. He braced for impact...  
  
  Raj shifted uncomfortably and opened his eyes as a giant bead of sweat practically splashed as it hit the top of his arse crack. Damn was it hot in here. He considered that maybe this vision wasn’t going to happen. Mentally narrating the journey of each drop of sweat as it left his body was probably a good sign he was too distracted to get anywhere. Today he would meet his pack, the group of people, no, *beings*, not all Garou were human after all, that he would be expected to bond with like a family in this other world he inhabited now. He was excited but also nervous. What would they be like? Would he like them? Would they accept him? What would they be tasked with doing? Would he have his throat torn out on their first mission?
  
  Hearing Nelson call from outside, Raj unfolded himself from the position he had been sitting in for the last few hours, got dressed and stepped out of the lodge.
conversations: Danicus:
conversations: human
conversations:  As the slumber's shadows melted in Yurths eyes when they opened, he stopped to try and collect whatever fragments of his dream he could grasp.  Yurth recalled a chase, the rancid smell of human fake musk, the one they would trade shiny coins or leaves for, permeating and polluting his forest. He recalled the exhaustion and the taste of fresh kill in his mouth. But above all, he recalled fear.  It is not common for a lupin to be chased, much less to fear, so it was a sensation he did not enjoy.
  
  "Doesn't matter" he yelped out loud as he got up on all fours and stretched while yawning.  He would attribute the odd dream and sensations it carried to the mandatory summons he had received.  He was a Ragabash afterall, being told what to do never sat well with him.
  
  The moment he took in air, the wind whispered to him something, it carried with it the scent of friends approaching. The kinfolk was coming closer.  "I have the feeling today will be interesting"
conversations: KarMiami305:
conversations: human
conversations:  Alexander took a puff off his vape as the roads transitioned from the familiar streets of Vancouver to the bumpier rural roads outside the suburbs. The forest seemed to materialize around him in full, as it always did. No gradual shift from city to wilds, not in this direction. He knew he would encounter worse terrain than the bumpy roads on the way to the caern, or on whatever errand the elders had called him for, but also knew his Subaru was up to the chalenge.
  
   Why did the elders call me out here? 
  
  It was not the first time he'd had this thought. Nothing had been explained by the messenger, just that he was to meet with Nelson Chang, and it wasn't associated with the firm. Which is why he was driving his peronal vehicle, and not one of the firm's fleet of BMWs.
  
  Alexander wasn't as uncomfortbale in the wilderness as some of his tribe, but it still wasn't his favorite place to be. Cell reception was terrible at the caern, and he would be way behind on work by the time he made it back to civilization...elders only knew when that would be.
  
  He arrived at the meeting point, and put the car in park. Alexander opened the door, and swung out, flashing his most charming smile at Chang.
  
  "Well, I'm here...we can get this party started."
conversations: Devorum:
conversations: human
conversations:  The kinfolk's message was clear as Luna's light. To make haste and meet with Nelson.  When the kinfolk began talking about somebody waiting in a car, Yurth lost interest.
  
  "Ugh. Those things reek of human. *sigh* I'll get moving. No point in making Nelson wait, better to get it over with"
  
  He knew the road well, he'd be there shortly.
conversations: KarMiami305:
conversations: human
conversations:  As usual, the Spirits came first. On the physical side as a wave of echo-like smells of fur, feathers and musk barely perceptible to the ones gathered. With them, their physical counterparts followed. For a while, insects, snakes and lizards, frogs, birds, small mammals, even the odd larger one - including and old boar bearing many scars - gathered, shying away from the Garou, but seeming determined to stay for whatever came next. What was a cawing, hissing and chittering crowd suddenly went silent and focused. The Gauntlet parted, and with a cloak of swirling mist came out a Garou, but one seeming  wrong  at the first glance. His  lupus  legs were long and spindly, fur slick and weirdly colourful, and the head crowned with not just a pair, but two pairs of antlers, a  Sign of the Prey .
  
  Voice of Cowards shook of the last of umbral dust of his journey, a smell of dusty, hot country roads lingered for a second in his nose feeling comfortably familiar. Then it all came crushing down - the unfamiliar place, the atmosphere, and... As usual, the greeting committee of Spirits along with their own host. A long, tired sigh escaped him, as the sleek form of his body slowly folded in on himself, flowing, changing and rising to a fuller, taller-than-human form of a weirdly balanced [i]glabro[i], crowned as well with two pairs of long, curved ram's horns burried in a mess of long, curly black hair. He was clad in a long, worn brown leather cloak, hand-made and adorned with symbols and applications from all over the world, and laden with many trinkets spilling out of pockets and pouches. The animals suddenly parted, and one by one turned back where they came from, as the figure stepped forward.
  " -I come as requested by the Elders. Peace of Gaia and Wisdom of the Owl be with you. " - Said the  Metis  with a deep, but strangely melodic voice as he bowed deeply, the sound of clinking metal and sliding leather in the background.  " -I apologize for the display, but I was born with the Favour of the Spirits, and they usually insist on greeting me that way wherever I go. I am at your service, whatever it may be in this famed and glorious place for a cub such as I. " A slight and tentative smile crossed his lips, with no hint of teeth bared.
  " -And yes, I have heard  all  of the Disney Princess jokes already. "
conversations: Kot:
conversations: human
conversations:  Nelson eyes the young cubs as they arrive, sparing a slight grimace for the car. "It is good that all of you are timely, for there isn't much time this night to forward Gaia's work, Unicorn be willing." Turning, he gestures to a campfire with logs arranged around it. "Please, sit and warm yourselves. There is a chill in the air tonight." Sitting himself, he stirs the fire a little and tosses a handful of aromatic herbs into the flames. "Normally, this would be a night of celebration, but there is urgent business about..."
conversations: Jahkin:
conversations: human
conversations:  Yurth eyed Nelson and approached where he was sitting.  He made eye contact with his friend and nodded to him as a sign of familiar respect.
  
  His instincts whispered to him that this would not be an ordinary meeting. He scanned the faces surrounding him:
  
  "What a colorful lot" he said to himself.
conversations: KarMiami305:
conversations: human
conversations:  Raj was around 6 feet tall (180cm) of slim build.
  
  He had his mother to thank for his “poor student, jeans t-shirt and Chuck Taylor’s” fashion sense, lightly tanned complexion, dark hair and dark eyes.
  
  He had his dentist father to thank for his clean shaven face, trimmed and styled hair, expensive watch and dazzling smile.
  
  Raj stood awkwardly for a moment, surveying the group, before giving a wave that encompassed all present and moving to sit down.
  
   Hi, I’m Raj... 
conversations: Danicus:
conversations: human
conversations:  Nelson eyes the young cubs as they arrive, sparing a slight grimace for the car. "It is good that all of you are timely, for there isn't much time this night to forward Gaia's work, Unicorn be willing." Turning, he gestures to a campfire with logs arranged around it. "Please, sit and warm yourselves. There is a chill in the air tonight." Sitting himself, he stirs the fire a little and tosses a handful of aromatic herbs into the flames. "Normally, this would be a night of celebration, but there is urgent business about..."
  
  "There is to be a new pack from this Sept. A pack that all of you will be members of..." Nelson eyes the lupus, "no matter how unorthodox it may seem. Even  some  Elders can listen, if Unicorn speaks loud enough. Still, there is no time for the normal ceremony; there is another that will be joining you, an Ahroun of the Wendigo. He is currently being hunted through the city by forces the Nemesis and your first task will be to retrieve him. You must hurry, so let us get the objections and questions out of the way." He turns to eye each of the cliath, waiting with a weary expression.
conversations: Jahkin:
conversations: human
conversations:  "An Ahroun Wendigo? And we must rescue him? By Gaias bossom..."  Yurth whispered just low enough for those next to him to hear, but not loud enough to trouble the elder.
  
  He was still uneasy that some of the Garou around him reeked of human perfumes. If it was the will of the elders, he had to play along.
  
  "Why is he in particular being pursued, Elder one?" He finally said out loud.
conversations: KarMiami305: