Daniel Broken Hammer

[Tangled Web.] Okay, guys, a few quick rules:

1. Please post within 10 minutes if you're posting a dramatic posts.
2. I like my scenes to be a little more roleplay intensive, so feel free to add in dramatic posts when you're declaring your actions. Basically: write it pretty, and then break it down. However: please keep them short and for flavour.
3. please ask questions in chat and IM me if I don't answer within a few minutes.
4. There will be free posting, but if I am posting, please keep your posts to one for every one of mine.
4. If you are incredibly arachnophobic, you may want to skip this scene.
5. Everyone please roll 1d10 and then we'll begin.

[Tangled Web.] (please ignore the double 4 and pretend I can number correctly)

[Doodle]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 1

[Face of Death]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 9

[Gossamer Wing]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 2

[Buried Hatchet]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 9

[Kemp Oates]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 5

[Tangled Web.] They are drawn here in a variety of ways.

It could have been:

An air spirit ruffling one's hair, tugging at one's ear and fluttering pages of an open book. Picking up a pen and drawing - on any available surface which seems to show ink, a man standing there, his shadow stretching out behind him - an arrow pointing at the shadow. The pen pounds repeatedly at the point until the plastic casing cracks and the ink begins to spill.

An electrical spirit takes hold of a radio. The stations shift, words picked out sharply through the static. "Follow. Shadow. Follow me. Otherside. Follow. Go. Go. Go."

A water spirit pours hot water from a tap, causing steam to rise up against the mirror. Writing appears in the fogged glass, looking like nothing that would have ever been drawn by a finger.

"Shadow pleas now" and the misspelled word is repeated, again and again, the words wiped away and replaced with it, a never ending cycle.

It could have been carved in the earth as one sat at a park bench and their eyes happened to turn down.

--

There is no immediate reason why these Garou were chosen. Perhaps it is because they were full bloods, alone away from humans. There isn't much more reason than that.

So, they cross the barrier and step through the gauntlet. Perhaps some are together, perhaps some are alone. On the other side, they find spirits, bidding them to follow, now, now, they'd been told to find them, and now they're found! found! And they must follow to find again. This way, this way.

The spirits are minor, young. Their types are indiscriminate and meaningless. If anything, only their variety says something.

The desparation of the sender.

So long as they follow, they reach here. It's an extended journey, a long and winding travel on the tail of a quickly moving spirit which comes back if you falter, begs in broken English to hurry hurry.

It has no answers, no explanations. The spirits have nothing but their urgency.

Distance runs differently in the Umbra, but even so, they must be beyond the city. The buildings of web have long faded away, and their journey, barely lit by a sliver of a crescent moon, has more and more by way of glade children and elementals than the web of the city.

Until now.

They approach an entire area of desolation. No spirits to be seen, no glade children, no gafflings no elementals. Nothing, until they look ahead.

In the middle of the desolation is a towering edifice, as natural as a blade of grass breaking through concrete. It looms, organically shaped, but with sharp edges. Defined, stark and solid.

Here the spirits become agitated. As each Garou arrives, they stop their headlong rush, some congregating together, others hovering alone making small furtive frightened sounds.



(Okay - people arrive in the order of highest to lowest of their dice roll. First person who arrives is the first person who posts, and he can see people arriving in the distance. More or less: assume you guys are showing up within a few minutes of each other.

Free posting begins.)

[Buried Hatchet] They've lost the wolf whose spiritual strength could carry them all across the gauntlet in an eyeblink. That task has fallen to Broken Hammer, now. When Hatchet gets the message -- and boy, does he get the message, painting itself across a half-torn poster in an alleyway while he's on patrol with Joey -- he calls to their packmate across the totemlink and the three of them enter the penumbra together.

He runs in lupus after the spirits, with a loping care to his speed that speaks of familiarity with long-distance travel for unknown lengths of time. He is large even in this form, broad-shouldered and deep gray with hints of rust-red at the tips of his fur. HIs eyes are not the gleaming green of a purebred Fiann but a brilliant, intelligent gold.

Daniel and Joey are on either side of him when the arrive, when his paws hit the ground and do not lift again to run further. He hears others, and his ears twitch. He turns, looking in the direction that the other Garou are coming.

[Kemp Oates] He had been shaving, wiping steam from the mirror now and then when the writing started.

"What the fuck?"

Never before had he run into this glitch at this particular bus station. It took him a few moments before he finally got it and wiped the mirror clean again to cross over. From that point on it was a following thing, something he changed to Lupus to do because it was faster and easier on him. Also when he bitched it really would be a growl.

When he arrived he shifted back and frowning at those already there asked.

"What the fuck is going on?"

[Gossamer Wing] She has spent hours upon hours - countless of them - creating a working relationship with the spirits of Chicago, little gafflings, jagglings, elementals, all of them. Working and binding and releasing, and talking and listening and so on and so forth. Thus, it's no surprise to her when her christmas lights go insane, flickering wildly, drawing her attention to the little radio in the corner. Follow. Shadow. Follow me. Otherside. Follow. Go. Go. Go.

She stands immediately - but asks a question first. "What's happening?" And gets nothing but the repeat. She tugs her godi bag from where it hangs near her bed, and slides it over her shoulder, working quickly to check to see if everything she might need is inside. "Where are we going, do I need..."

FOLLOW is all she gets.

"Fine, Fine, I'm COMING." Is what she says, with and with a glance into the mirror, she slides across the umbra, shifts to lupus (where, oddly enough, the sense of her dreads remains) and follows at an all out run.

She arrives after some, before others, but around the same time. The sudden absence of all Spirits causes her to blink, and only then does she focus her gaze on the thing in the center of the wasteland. The spirits that lead them are obviously frightened, hovering and backing away, and it is almost a physical hurt for her to see them so.

[Face of Death] Joey follows her alpha into the penumbra, melting into her lupus form. Of the Sentinels that remain, she is still youngest, still smallest. Even in this form she is somewhat stocky, broadshoulded, her body thick with lean muscle. Her fur is iron grey threaded through with white, patches of white at her cheeks. She runs near but not quite beside Hatchet, her head low. The Rotagar may not be used to distance running like the Fiann, but she's strong, athletic, fast, and keeps up easily.

They stop at the wasteland, and Joey lifts her head to look around them, sniffing at the air, pink tongue unfurling not to loll in a wolf smile but to taste the air. Her eyes are on the tower, watching, waiting.

[Broken Hammer] They've come a long way. The rhythm of the run is still tattooed in Broken Hammer's mind, steady as a heartbeat, underlain with the rhythm of the words that had scrawled across the mirror, over and over:

shadow pleas now. pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas pleas ...

until every step he took resounded with the word.

He isn't breathing hard, though. He isn't panting. His mouth is closed, the wolf lean and solemn, yellow eyes watchful as he stands at his alpha's flank. Of all gathered, he is perhaps the only that does not scrutinize the edifice before them, instead trusting his packmates to take their survey of that object while he watches... well, everything else.

[Doodle] The pencil was broken and he'd been frowning at it for minutes, mourning the last of the decent pieces he'd managed to sneak off with from the Art supply store. A quick umbra dash had made sure the getaway was clean but that had been nearly a month ago and now they were down to a single one and something had decided his most recent sketch (an oddly opaque and nebulous design of the overcast skyline of Chicago) was it's writing pad.

The scrawled message was not given the immediate level of attention one might expect. He'd fought the pencil and the pad for thirty whole seconds shouting 'NooooooOOOOOOHHH!!!" The entire time, only to settle and sigh loudly, angrily at the air.

"For fuck's sake!" And he'd flipped the pages of the book at the air. "There are blank ones! Here Here! See?!"

Grumbling, packing up and a general sense of displeasure had accompanied it all, followed by a jaunt over into the umbra to see what was going on...

That had been a few hours ago.

Anger and Rage had been replaced by caution as the city limits were left behind and steadily, Doodle's memories began to flit back to stories from older Gnawers and Theurges who had experience with this sort of thing. A lot of them called it 'Gone Fishin''. You went off alone and the umbra took you to someplace you needed to see for yourself.

Somethings happened and then you came back. Ideally anyway.

..It's only as the dark and indistinct shapes and boughs of the growth and landscape that swallowed away the city part, that the little Gnawer, barely past five feet, cradles arms around his stomach and stares out across the Wasteland, toward that ominous spire in the distance. His eyes remain on the Obelisk beyond, as the wind sweeps at his hair, which stubbornly remains tilted off to the left.

"...Ummm..." And his attention moves not toward the other Garou that have come, but back the way he'd emerged from, gaze moving about the edge of the wastes.

[Buried Hatchet] "Don't know." It's a simple communication in wolfspeech, a distinct negation. He looks away from Kemp, Joss, and Doodle and back to the obelisk. He turns to Joey and nods her on ahead to investigate it.

[Doodle] He murmurs quietly to himself for a few moments, pulling away from the edge of the Wasteland to regard their paths here, gaze leapfrogging from scurrying movement to scuttling motion, trying to recognize a spirit of some sort that might well make of itself a fool or a brave, being so close to the ring. Most were terrified but...

"...Sparrow?" It's spoken in english. Then he scrubs at his face, annoyed and rolls his head off to the side.

"Sparrow?" It emerges in the chirp of the spirits, seeking out high branches or the flitting movements of the quick flight birdling, one of the few he had familiarity with outside of the city limits.

"Are you there-"

And Hatchet makes motions to investigate-

"No!" Doodle's hand goes out toward the Sentinels, despite the broad distance between him and them.

"If the spirits are avoiding the area, then you don't know what it will do to you if you cross the threshold." It grows weaker and less confident after each word, until the little Theurge is tucked back into a small shell, face quirked into a frown.

[Kemp Oates] Since he had no idea what kind of communications were going on between pack members he looked at Doodle, knowing full well he was Ragabash.

"Well we can't just stand here. If the spirits aren't talking, but calling us, there's only one way to find out. That means a closer look."

[Face of Death] Hatchet nods her forward. Joey immediately starts forward. The voice of the Theurge arrests her forward momentum, and the Rotagar casts a glance in his direction. Then she looks to Hatchet.

She moves forward, delicately places a heavy paw beyond the threshold into the barren landscape. If nothing immediately horrible happens to her, she darts forward.

[Buried Hatchet] The Fostern turns his head sharply to pin Doodle with his eyes when he yells out that No!. The stare is both curious and warning. He chuffs out a breath. "Laughs in the Face of Death is Fenrir and New Moon. This is her duty. You are Theurge. Your duty is to aid her," he says, and indicates Joss with a toss of his head.

He looks back at Joey, but does not have to tell her twice. Doodle is not her Alpha.

[Gossamer Wing] Doodle arrives shortly after she does, moments after she shifted back to homid. She nods to the Sentinals that arrived together, and before her, and moves to stand by Doodle's side, a light thump of her arm [comfort, understanding, strength] against the smaller boy's shoulder as she moves by, after Hatchet's dictation of Doodle's duties.

"Gonna see if they can tell me anything else. Find your Sparrow."

Joey moves forward, Kemp suggests the same, and Joss moves toward the clustered of frightened spirits. Once close enough, she settles to her knees and beckons them closer, and in the speech of the Spirits themselves, speaks softly. We've come, we're here... can you tell me what happened now?"

[Kemp Oates] "I think spreading out, using your gifts to stay out of sight and taking a look sounds like a good idea. Those with packmates back here can send back what we see."

He shrugged, reached for Blur and started towards the tower. He'd been in places with no spirits before and knew that did not mean they were deserted.

[Tangled Web.] Face of Death crosses the threshold, which is not so much a solid line as an inferred one by the spirits' arrest. Even they do not quite keep at a precise barrier, but shuffle and move, forward then back, then back again, then forward, not quite able to continue with their geas, but unable to turn away from it.

Anyway - she passes the spirits, and the spirits make a combined sound, wordless and meaningless. They are small, minor spirits, mere gafflings. Their minds only hold so much, have only so much intelligence. They communicate their fear through sounds and not by words.

However: nothing happens to her immediately. She starts to run.

--

Doodle calls out for a sparrow. Several times. Eventually, he hears the suggestion of a tweet, a faint hesistant and cautious sound.

It is then that they realize there is very little in the way of sound here. Their conversation, obviously, the fear of the spirits.

The desolation is complete until the far away edifice, sprouting from the earth. The gafflings huddle near the ground, water washing over cracked earth, fire crackling against nothing. Air whispering in the wind. They all sound distressed, stressed and nervous. Had they fingers, they'd be fidgeting. As it is, every once and a while one or another emits a quiet moan, to be answered by the rest.

Then - thin and reedy, off in the distance, toward their major landmark, the sound of a howl. Or was it a scream?

It goes on for minutes on end, then trails off.

And starts again. The spirits whimper.

--

Joss gets to her knees and beckons the spirits closer. Two come - a water gaffling and an air gaffling. They merge together for comfort, their amorphous bodies blending until bubbles ripple through the water, a soft whoosh and a pop as some escape.

Must go. Must go on. Trapped there. Sometimes they eat things, but sometimes they keep them. Keep them 'till they're ready. Ready soon. He wanted us to bring you but ... the melded gafflings shudder together.

we don't want to go any farther.

[Doodle] His frown deepens an involuntary step taken toward the Sentinel group, eyes already flickering with something to say-

-When they flick a glance off toward Joss. The words are swallowed, the Elder Theurge's presence enough of a dam and a comfort to keep him from saying anything further. He pulls back, a last lingering glance cast at Joey, before he turns and, with a final nod at Joss, makes his way into the shrub land in search of the tiny spirit.

* * *

The Tweet comes and it brings his eyes, head and attention around, a faint smile creasing worried lips, parched and dry from the winter flush. He sucks in a breath, opening his Army bag and rooting around on the inside. A slight frown tucks his features-

-Then he's reaching up a hand toward the Sparrow, going to tip toes and whistling through the smallest of gaps between his teeth.

I need a small favour if you're not too scared. I can give you some nourish and protection if you keep close to me while you're not flying. Promise promise, little tweeter

[Kemp Oates] He had grabbed hold of blur and had started towards the tower, keeping distance between himself and Joey so they were a spread out target. When the howl came it was almost enough to have him howling himself in reaction, even in homid. His pace picked up to keep him parallel to the other Rotagar. Always too curious for his own good.

[Face of Death] Unlike Kemp, Joey doesn't have a gift that allows her to blend into her surroundings, that makes it difficult for eyes to track her. All the Cliath can do is keep her lupus body low to the ground and move quickly.

The sound of a howl, or was it a scream? Regardless, the sound reaches her, and Joey stops, stands stock still, hers flicked forward. Then flicked back, laying low to her skull.

She starts toward the sound, moving more slowly, cautiously, keeping to shadows where she can find them.

[Broken Hammer] Since his arrival, Broken Hammer has done nothing, said nothing. He continues to stand at the edge of the imaginary boundary, the line that spirits will not cross for long. Tensed and leaning slightly forward, forepaws together and hindpaws spread for balance, he's eager without joy, all but vibrating with readiness.

The distant howl makes his ears fly upright and his head snap around. His tail curls up at the tip, then drops again -- held slightly upturned behind him like a saber.

"Should we follow, Alpha?"

[Doodle] ...The Howl had him pausing, frozen with his hand up, eyes narrowing and mouth forming into an open frown of curious and dread. Was that...?

[Gossamer Wing] She smiles softly, encouragingly, as the spirits speak with her. She listens with the whole of her attention - the conversations and [lack of] sounds around her fading into the background - all but the howl. As it fades, however, she continues.

We'll go on. I will go on, I promise. Who is he - the one trapped? Can you tell me what is eating and keeping them?

[Face of Death] Did you guys hear that? A scream, or a howl. I'm goin' that way.
to Broken Hammer, Buried Hatchet

[Buried Hatchet] The Theurges do as they are to do: they speak to the spirits, they listen, they understand.
The Ragabashes do as they are to do: they spread out, move forward, seek.
The Philodox stand where they are, side by side, and watch both. It may seem that they are bored, uninvested, doing nothing. They stand outside the boundary of fearful spirits, both in lupus, the lower-ranked questioning the elder, whose ears twitched at the sound of the scream. His very being is stony with tension, so much so that it may come as a surprise when he turns his head again to look at Gossamer Wing.

He does not speak to her, but to answer Daniel: "When she says."

[Buried Hatchet] And across the totemlink, to Joey, a cautioning: We'll be following soon. We heard. Go carefully.
to Broken Hammer, Face of Death

[Tangled Web.] When Doodle whistles, a bird hops from the leaves of a glade child, some ways away. It begins to beat its wings, flying toward the Garou, but suddenly dives, bringing itself close to the ground as if to escape notice. It only catches an upward wind as it draws close, bringing itself up to alight on the theurge's fingertips.

It nips softly at his palm as if expecting seed. Lifts again and cocks its small head to listen.

too scared, it echoes or perhaps confirms. too scared too scared too scared.

A little bit of hopefulness:
Protect me now, I'll help you later?

--

The gafflings are disjointed. If anything, their melting together makes it worse, double voices sometimes saying different things as they talk over each other, sharing one space, but separate consciousness.

Garou.

Inside
Eating

Keeping
Waiting.

Hatching.

--

It's a significant distance to cross, even in lupus. They're only half way there, out in the open, unprotected, or at least Laughs in the Face of Death is. However - nothing seems to be coming for them as they cross the desolation alone.

As they get closer, they can see the obeslisk is made of webbing, and that it is not solid - great gaping holes in it suggesting an inner structure.

(Kemp and Face of Death, roll perception + alertness diff 6.
If you have either spirit lore, wyrm lore or weaver lore, you may also roll intelligence+(lore) at a difficulty of 7.)

[Face of Death] [percept + alert]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 4, 5 (Botch x 3 at target 6)

[Kemp Oates]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 3, 3, 9, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Gossamer Wing] She nods, softly, and has one more question...

We came, and we will go in there, all of us. We continue... will you come to our aid if I call on you?

She knows well what she is asking of them - but it is the same they could be asking of the Garou. She may need their aid - and they are close enough to hear the call first.

[Doodle] He hesitates as the Bird pecks his palm and suddenly there is a flicker of something across the lines of the upraised appendage. Some call them life, fortune and fate lines. Doodle? Well, he isn't terribly attached to the possibilities those would provide. The lines do provide the river system by which the Gnosis pools.

It is a tiny pool, near more then the little creature could possible consume itself, inviting perhaps another one or two if it is courteous enough to it's brethren, to partake. Doodle's hand lowers and he smiles into his palm, nodding and offering the spirit a

"Sure..."

He'd wait until He or they was done before shaking his hand loose of the perch and turning to head back toward the 'threshold' of Desolation. Joss would have some answers of her own more then likely...

...And he wanted a closer look at that landscape and just what it might entail.

[Kemp Oates] He could see right away it was made of webs, the tower. He knew that meant any vibration and the fuckers would know something was there. And he knew that howl meant something bad was going on. It wasn't a howl he knew either, but then again, so many came and went so fast he never did get to know most of them.

"Fuck, great."

[Face of Death] So far, nothing has come out to cause them any trouble. At least not for Joey, who has no way of blending into her surroundings, no cover to hide behind.

She continues toward the source of the howl. It sounded elated, and she wants to know why. Because she always wants to know why.

Kemp isn't the only one too curious for his own good.

[Face of Death] The tower's covered in webs. I don't see anything out of place, yet. I'm gonna keep goin'.
to Broken Hammer, Buried Hatchet

[Doodle] (Int 3 + Inves. 1. Diff 7)
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 4, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 3 at target 7)

[Kemp Oates] He changed course and went for Joey, letting her know he was there with a.

"Pssst."

Hissing softly when he got close enough.

"Two floors, send word back. I see at least four creatures on this side of things, two on the lower level. Whatever they are, and I would guess some sort of spider with the webbing, they can climb the fucking walls. Send it back."

[Tangled Web.] The spirits shudder as Gossamer Wing makes her request.

There were many of us called, they say. Only we escaped. Only we found you. Only we came back.

If we go in again, we will not come out.

[Face of Death] Kemp comes along side her. Joey, already moving slowly, does not slow any more for the elder Rotagar. She tips her head at him, still heading toward the location of the scream. Her ears fold back slightly, the indication clear.

"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Ever."

[Gossamer Wing] She nods, again. I understand. Know that I will not call unless there is no other way, unless we will not come out either, without your help. If you've anything else that can help...

And once they have moved away again, she stands, and moves toward Doodle, and the other Garou gathered.

"They're terrified. They say that 'he' sent them to find us, that sometimes 'they' eat things, sometimes keep them. Whatever is in there - Garou, was mentioned, but they're gibbering a bit - is eating, watching and hatching something, something that's almost ready."

[Kemp Oates] blur
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 4, 4, 6, 7, 8, 8 (Success x 2 at target 8)

[Buried Hatchet] Keep close to Truth in Frenzy, responds her Alpha, somewhat absently, knowing only what she tells him she sees. If he -- a pause, as Joss speaks to him, as he listens, then:

Joey, stay right where you are. Go with Kemp if he moves, but otherwise wait for us.
to Broken Hammer, Face of Death

[Tangled Web.] (allowing Kemp to have spent WP on that roll. No one else forget, please!)

[Kemp Oates] His jaw tightened and even in Homid the look he gave Joey was pure Adren.

"You use your bond with your pack and tell them what I just said. Now."

[Face of Death] Joey immediately stops dead in her tracks, ears flicking back, listening for the approach of her brothers. Her tail flicks once.

"The others are coming."

[Buried Hatchet] Hatchet has a faraway look in his eyes when Joss speaks to him, Daniel, and Doodle. He's talking to his packmates. He turns to her though, when he hears her voice, and she has his attention. He begins to shift into hispo as he stands there with them, gaining size, muscle, and a general aura of foreboding. He nods to Joss.

"Broken Hammer. You stay close to small Gnawer." He looks at Gossamer Wing. "I stay beside you."

[Face of Death] When Joey's voice comes across the totem link, she sounds uncertain, like she's sending against her better judgement.

Kemp says there's two floors, and some spider things that can climb the walls? I think he's on something, but I'm not gonna argue with an Adren anymore.
to Broken Hammer, Buried Hatchet

[Broken Hammer] Broken Hammer's eyes continue to dart, here and there, back to the edifice. He snaps at air:

"My packmate speaks of spiders. Perhaps the Garou isn't the one eating and hatching. Perhaps he's being eaten."

[Doodle] "...It's Bad static."

The little Theurge is staring out across the expanse of desolation, gaze finally lifting to regard the obelisk with a face measured more by worry then by anything resolute. Things were growing more and more uncertain and the little Gnawer was out of his element. The city, perhaps but...

"...Spinner has creepers here but...but-but they're not right. Like television snow. Bad Static..."

He looks up at Joss, frown growing in depth, brow furrowing together and fingers tapping together in agitation.

"...There's no growth. Nothing that had grown here, either. Static keeps what already is. Coils break it down. Spawn brings it all back again. Spinner and the Coils are working here and nothing's coming back. Everything's getting eaten-"

He crouches near the uneven and warping threshold of the landscape, fingers brushing over the ragged edge of that Desolate plain.

"...Gotten eaten and spreading."

[Tangled Web.] Inside the obelisk, the howling has stopped.

(Kemp and Joey, perception+alterness, please.)

[Kemp Oates] His temper was spiked and as the others approached he turned his attention back to the spider tower as he now thought of it. He could see four on this side, two on each floor and had a feeling there were far more. And the Rotagar he asked to spread this to her pack, told him that was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. EVER. At that moment it took effort to give a fuck who was coming or what they said, he was a little hot under the collar.

His attention was on what lay ahead as he started forward again.

[Kemp Oates]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 7, 8 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Face of Death] [*flashes Kahseeno* percept + alert]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 7, 7, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 5 at target 6)

[Buried Hatchet] Yes, please be remembering the last time you went up against an Adren of your tribe, Joey, says her Alpha. The wryness of his tone suggests he's half teasing. The flatness suggests that he is most certainly not. Hatchet is not the most sympathetic of wolves on his best days, and he has never been one to shy from reminding people of their humiliations.

It is a cruel, but often effective, conditioning technique.

Something is in there eating, and hatching something. It sounds like a Garou may be imprisoned and that spiders are eating him. He's the one, I think, that sent these spirits for help. Stay with Kemp.
to Broken Hammer, Face of Death

[Buried Hatchet] "I think Broken Hammer may be right. Truth in Frenzy-rhya says there are two floors in the tower. Spiders are crawling the walls."

Hatchet scratches once at the ground. He is ready to be on his way, to get out to his packmate, to find out why the screaming and howling just stopped.

[Face of Death] Joey didn't stop because Kemp glared at her with all the fury and rank of an Adren. She stopped because she was told to stop.

She looks at the tower again.

And she sees what Kemp saw, and more.

What she says next she says aloud, as well as over the totem link.

"They know we're here."

[Kemp Oates] He was pretty damned sure the sudden change inside was one of two things. They were feeding or they knew they had company. Asking Joey to relay information was a total waste of time, so he didn't bother. He also had no idea if she were speaking over a totem. So he did what he thought best. He moved away from the female and concentrated on the obelisk. Spiritual energy was poured into the Gift of Battlesense.

[Gossamer Wing] "Doodle." She provides, because Hatchet doesn't remember his name, or chooses not to use it. Then the little Gnawer has her full attention, as he adds what he sees. She nods, and then with a roll of her shoulders, and a mental shake, she shifts again, this time to Hispo.

To Doodle. "They won't come if we call- they're too scared. I promised to only call them as a last resort. That said - if we have need, don't be afraid to summon - you." Broken Hammer. "..prepare to be a meat shield if he needs to call for the spirits' aid."

She seems to consider it to go without saying that Hatchet will do the same. Turn about, after all. Then she turns to the line, where all things seem to die, and resolutely takes that first step over it, and heads to join the no moons at a run.

[Broken Hammer] There's a silence as Broken Hammer ... well, it's hard to say what he's doing, other than staring very intently at the obelisk.

Then abruptly he turns toward Doodle.

"The Wyrm has corrupted the Weaver's spiders, and now they're eating all that's in their path, eating and spreading. Is that what the spirits are saying, Theurge?"

He breaks off. Totemlink opens, and then:

"Alpha, I think we should go in."

[Buried Hatchet] The hulking direwolf snarls. "The spiders know we're here," he says aloud, for Doodle and Joss's benefit, and then turns.

It does go without saying that the two Half-Moons will protect the Theurges if they need to summon, if they have to call on the aid of spirits. Hatchet, therefore, takes point, moving forward past the boundary, speaking aloud as he starts to dart forward to keep pace with -- or even ahead of -- Gossamer Wing.

"Broken Hammer, rear."

[Face of Death] Joey's ears flick back and down, and she lowers her head. Not quite submissive, but bowing and acknowledging the rank of the Adren. She lets out a low growling yip as he starts to move off, suggesting caution.

She takes a cautious step forward herself, then hesitates, questioning back along the totem link shared with the other Sentinels.

[Face of Death] Kemp is going ahead. You still want me to go with, or should I wait for you?
to Broken Hammer, Buried Hatchet

[Buried Hatchet] Go with him. You're our only link to him right now.
to Broken Hammer, Face of Death

[Face of Death] Joey, staying in her smaller lupus form, pads quietly after Kemp, staying just behind and to his left.

[Doodle] Doodle's hands flicker and dance about infront of him, the tiny theurge murmuring quietly to himself as Joss relays information to the pair of Sentinels still at the line. He steps forward a little bit, eyeing the threshold edge carefully for signs of harm or potential issue of hate. The umbra had a way of turning the flush of sensation into a very real nightmare...

...Especially where the Coils were concerned.

"...Yea'..." He offers in a tiny voice, answering Broken~Hammer just as Joss begins to move forward and Hatchet not far behind her. Doodle's features crease further still, frown breaking any lingering traces of hiding away and revealing the fear underneath. He was scared and it showed, but-

He gulps. Swallows and sucks in a deep breath, focusing inward for a moment as constitution and life begin to harden themselves slowly. Then he begins forward, picking his steps carefully.

(Resist Toxin: Stam 3 + Surv 2. Diff 6)
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 7, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Kemp Oates] He stepped back towards Joey and looked her dead in the eyes as he spoke.

"Tell them there are seven here. One is nearest the gap in the tower. Two are more are on the first level near what I guess to be entrances. Two up on the next floor, unmoving at the moment. And one is not too far from the first at the gap."

He pointed as he spoke.

"There are two near the core and one between floors. And a last one that does not feel like enemy, but could be and he is near the core. I'm guessing that is where the howl came from."

[Tangled Web.] There is a gap in the webbing of the obelisk - just nearby, close enough for them to reach immediately. It is large enough for two lupus or two humans to enter, but in any other form, they will need to go one by one.

Everything has become quiet. Laughs in the Face of Death can only just hear the faint moan of something inside.

The spirits left behind moan softly. Fire and earth huddle together. Air and water do the same.

[Doodle] "-Wait..."

He freezes and turns back quickly, rushing back into the land of purity, rushing through grass and over obstacles with the flailing capability of a gangly little teen. He puffs and huffs loudly as he goes in search of the area he knows they are populating-

"Sparrow? Sparrow! I got the favour and it'll take you farther from here! If you can do it! i'll keep you safe for a whole month when I get back to the city if you can do it!"

[Tangled Web.] Do what?

The spirit's voice is so hesitant one can tell it wishes it hadn't heard Doodle's request, let alone answered it.

[Broken Hammer] Broken Hammer, who has all this time stood at the forefront of their small group tense and poised as a hound waiting for the rally, whines faintly with impatience as he waits for the others go ahead of him. When they've all begun to move, the Forseti falls into the rear of the line, stretching his neck out to nip at Doodle's heels to make him run faster.

They begins to cross the desolation, Broken Hammer running with long fluid strides, head level with his withers, forepaws reaching for the earth ahead of him. He's quite fast, driven, intent on his destination. A lifetime ago, he must've been an implacable hunter of the guilty--

--and then the small Theurge stops. Broken Hammer digs in, sinking nearly to his haunches as he skids to a stop. He growls in impatience, weight shifting from one forepaw to the other, aware all the time that his packmate, his packmate and his tribesmate were going into the edifice, they were going in alone and he was out here.

"Hurry," the wolf-shaped Forseti whuffs at the homid-shaped Theurge. "Hurry, hurry."

[Gossamer Wing] AS she moves, she listens to what they say, yet also pulls from her gifts, her skin becoming warty and tough, the hide of a troll - and smells lovely too.

Troll Skin: Sta + PU +hispo = 7 d7
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 5, 5, 6, 10 (Failure at target 7)

[Broken Hammer] (Resist Pain active!)

[Face of Death] Kemp says there's seven on the outside. Mostly near entrances, between floors. I see four inside, watchin' us. They're organized. There's a gap in the web near us. Small, big enough for Hispo or Crinos single-file.
to Broken Hammer, Buried Hatchet

[Kemp Oates] He didn't wait any longer. Kemp started the shift up to Warform. Speaking when the change was complete.

"Three entrances. Call them, we split up to take them all at once."

He then called on Resist Pain and following that, Trollskin as he waited for the others to gather closer.

[Tangled Web.] A few seconds later, the sparrow takes flight. It starts low to the ground heading swiftly away from the Garou.

The farther it gets, the higher it flies, becoming a blob, then a dot then a spec in the umbral sky. Then gone.

[Doodle] Doodle offers word, as the others push forward a small ways and when he's done, a quick message, little more then a half minute, before he comes tumbling out of the undergrowth as quick as he can, body falling from the edge of the growth until little more then the scrawny shape of a Lupus form, mottled brown fur and a lanky weak consistency lops over the Threshold edge and picks a tail tucked path toward the Forseti again.

Ok

And he's going on, berthing wide of Daniel to give the eager Forseti his space and comfort, while hurrying forward to catch the others.

[Kemp Oates] (Trollskin))
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 2, 3, 3, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8 (Success x 8 at target 6) [WP]

[Face of Death] Kemp shifts up to his war form, Joey shifts to dire wolf just behind him, calling on the gift to resist pain. Dutifully, she relays Kemp's instructions back to her packmates.

[Broken Hammer] As soon as Doodle is on the run again, Broken Hammer falls in behind him, staying back two or three yards, occasionally lifting his head to glance over his shoulder, or around.

Mostly, though, he pushes straight for the edifice.

[Face of Death] Three entrances. Kemp wants us to split up, take 'em all at once.
to Broken Hammer, Buried Hatchet

[Buried Hatchet] Doodle's 'wait' gets no response from Hatchet unless Joss stops, too. He meant what he said, and he meant his order: Broken Hammer is to stay with the little Gnawer who now has a name in his mind. Hatchet will stay beside Joss, the fact that he does not entirely move past her regardless of ability a sign of both respect for the other Fostern as well as acknowledgement of what he's seen of her in battle before.

He's a little more concerned with Doodle getting eaten by spiders than he is with the Theurge Elder letting the same thing happen to herself, essentially. After all. Doodle's so little.

He can speak as he runs. That alone says something about his physical tenacity, barking to the other 3 as he rushes forward. "Seven on the outside, at entrances and between floors. Joey says four inside, watching. Organized. We can go in single-file."

Then a more intense growl: "Truth in Frenzy-rhya says three entrances. We're splitting up, taking them at once."

[-1WP to activate Resist Pain]

[Gossamer Wing] She doesn't waste time nodding, there's merely a huff of acknowledgment as she gathers her will to resist whatever pain is yet to come.

Call it.

She'll turn as he does to take their entrance.

[Buried Hatchet] [Edit that to "Seven on the inside, at..." and remove "Joey says four inside" since that was based on player misread and not IC misunderstanding.]

[Kemp Oates] He waited for the others do draw close and made sure everyone was on the same page. Even scratching in the ground with a claw to draw a picture as he gestured with that claw at the structure.

"Looks like maybe three ways in. Here..here...and here. Guard at each. One right here between floors, likely a entrance from floor to floor."

He marked the place again and pointed at the tower.

"Two up here near the core. And one that is not one of them, but could be working on that. Right there."

He made the marks.

"Protect each other. Don't know one get et by a spider."

[Buried Hatchet] Before they go in, Hatchet pulls several things seeming out of his own fur. Two are wooden discs cut with Bear's own glyph. These are handed Doodle and Joss. Kemp, Joey and Daniel get two small, painted gourds full of water. He does not speak as he hands them out, listening to Kemp and watching the drawing.

[Joey, Daniel and Kemp: 2 Gaia's Breath each
Joss and Doodle: 1 Soak talen each]

[Gossamer Wing] She watches Kemp as he draws out the plan, and nods. She takes the talen when its offered to her, with a nod of thanks, activates it, in preparation of the battle ahead.
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 2, 6, 9, 10 (Success x 1 at target 7)

[Doodle] Doodle skids to a halt just outside of the boundaries of the make-shift war-party, flickering movements of tail, ears and paws, scraping at the air and ground unevenly. He lifts his eyes and head toward the assembled, turning toward Joss and padding to her side.

Hatchet's gift is regarded carefully, then lifted to offer a flicker of an incline, gratitude in the dance of his ears and deferential dip of his head. The badge is taken and dug into the fur of his forepaw.

(Gnosis to activate)
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 3, 8, 8, 10 (Success x 3 at target 7)

[CannabisCade] (im just watchin ooc)

[Kemp Oates] When he he was handed the small painted gourd of water his green eyes locked on Hatchet and if he could of raised a Crinos brow, he did.

"What does it do and how do I use it?"

These things were important to know ahead of time and what did he know? He was just a stupid Rotagar. If it had come from him, it probably would explode.

[Buried Hatchet] "Gaia's Breath," says the Philodox. "For healing. Crush it and sprinkle the dust over a wound while you activate it with your spirit. It will heal even the harshest damage."

He rolls his head on his neck, shakes it vigorously, and prepares to go with Joss to the entrance Kemp directs them to.

[Kemp Oates] He nodded his great shaggy head once with a flick of ears with Hatchet's reply.

"Appreciated."

He might find a need for one of the others with this talen.

[Kemp Oates] He pointed to entrance 1 on the map then to Doodle and Daniel.

"You two, cover each other there. And you two."

He pointed to Joss and Hatchet.

"Take number two. Daniel each of you can speak over your totems to someone, between that and word of mouth, we will know where each is."

Adding as he pointed to Joey.

"You're with me. And we can see through the walls sort of, so.....so, can they."

[Doodle] Will there be fighting?

The tiny lupus is huddled close to the ground, sniffing at the derelict landscape as if some secrets could be gleaned still. Kemp's instructions come on the wings of confidence in war. Doodle's question might be considered rhetorical in most regards, but the little theurge looks up at Joss then around at the others for confirmation, edging toward Daniel with uncertainty.

[Face of Death] Joey's ears drop back, not quite flattening to her skull, and her tail flicks once, but she follows Kemp's orders. With one last glance over her shoulder to her brothers, Joey follows Kemp to the entrance indicated.

Even though the last time she followed him, she vanished into the Weaver's realm for two days. Hopefully this expedition won't include another twenty story drop.

[Gossamer Wing] She nods, and without hesitation, turns to start toward their directive.

[What, they were supposed to wait for a "go team" huddle break? ]

Though as she passes Doodle, she winks at him, and gives him a hideous hispo grin. She's Fenrir. This is what she was built for, this is what she does - she is also Joss, and the Theurge elder. She genuinely cares for those in her charge.

HT There will be fighting. Listen to Daniel. Keep your wits. Do your best. I will come for you.

[Buried Hatchet] Hatchet notices that flattening of Joey's ears. He keeps his attention outwardly on Joss, but both packmates -- and Echo, wherever she is -- can hear him say: Submit, Joey.

Though this time he doesn't sound flat, or wry, or vaguely annoyed, as he so frequently does. He sounds more concerned than anything else.
to Broken Hammer, Face of Death

[Buried Hatchet] Hatchet falls into step alongside Joss, larger than her but in the same form. This may in fact be the reason he asks her, as they approach their entrance: "I go first."

It doesn't sound like a question, that's all.

[Broken Hammer] "You are one of Black Unicorn's," is Broken Hammer's idea of a pep talk. "War is in your spirit. Now come."

The wolf breaks into a loose, long-legged trot. Before he reaches entrance 1, he's in Hispo form, shaggy, dappled, and still -- improbably -- graceful for all his bulk.

[Kemp Oates] "Fighting, death and glory, for certain."

He nodded to Doddle and then lead Joey around the tower for the third entrance.

"This will be fast and nasty. There is one of your pack with each group, it is for a reason Face of Death, not to punish you."

[Face of Death] A week ago she might have made a joke, made some glib remark to Hatchet. Tonight, one ear flicks back toward her alpha as she follows Kemp as if his voice were external instead of internal.

I know.
to Broken Hammer, Buried Hatchet

[Face of Death] [just to clarify, Joey is following Kemp]

[Tangled Web.] Each entrance is exactly the same. Small, too small for them to go in more than one at a time.

They can see the shadows of the spiders beneath. Whoever enters first will likely be attacked first - and alone for the first precious seconds until their comrades enter.

(okay everyone - initiatives, and I need to know who is entering first on each entrance, please!

Before we declare I'll give a description of what you see as you enter.)

[Doodle] Right

There is a sense of fear there, something beneath the surface, but the little Theurge watches after Daniel's movements and watches bones and flesh alter the shape. He chuffs softly and climbs to his feet, pushing his way through the Lupus shape and back up to Hispo as he comes up behind Daniel and to the entrance's threshold.

I am Batman

(Initiative: 8 +...)
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 7

[Kemp Oates] Kemp looked to Joey and nodded once more.

"I will go first make sure your packmates are in position and give the word. On that word it begins."

(Init +9)
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 9

[Gossamer Wing] He could swear that she grins at him lopsidedly. It didn't sound like a question, and she doesn't argue. She simply takes a breath, and follows Hatchet through their door.

[+9]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 9

[Buried Hatchet] [+9]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 1

[Face of Death] Joey follows after Kemp, ears flicking forward.

"I don't think you're punishing, and I'm not afraid to die. Last time I followed you, Rhya, the Weaver held me for two days, and I carried taint longer. But I submit to your orders.
[+9]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 5

[Broken Hammer] +9!
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 5 (Failure at target 6)

[Kemp Oates] "I ain't got no cheese with me Rotagar."

He stepped towards the narrow entrance and spoke one last time before entering.

"Send word now! Enter!"

[Face of Death] Now!
to Broken Hammer, Buried Hatchet

[Broken Hammer] Broken Hammer does not speak to Doodle further; all language is in the way he carries himself, and from that, it is obvious that the Forseti intends to take point.

When the call comes across the totemlink, the Fenrir bursts through the narrow entryway, teeth bared.

[Tangled Web.] So and So and So step in.

The ground beneath their claws is spongy, heavy feeling but not sticky. The interior is dark and full of shadows. The light filters through the webbing, changing the hue of the of it, softening it. It would be almost pretty if it were not for - well, everything else.

They have time for quick impressions - skull bones caught inside the webbing, buried deep inside, a half decayed face pressing through it, its mouth opened in horror, blood painting its lips, the bone beginning to peak through at cheekbone and temple.

A ribcage peeled open, half sunk into the floor.

And the core of the obelisk, made of webbing so thick that it appears to be nearly opaque, solid and firm.

There is a body of a crinos Garou caught in there, his limbs trapped, his head only barely free. His fur is half fallen away, and beneath his skin, a deep red and purple mottling, the bone structure distorted by whatever is beneath.

He'd been howling earlier, but now he merely moans.

--

Truth in Frenzy is true to his word. Above each entrance, something waits. As each Garou enters ...

they drop.

(spiders [1-4] initiative:
+7)
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 4

[Face of Death] Joey's ears snap forward. She stands tall, proud, apprehension gone, ready for the battle to come. She is Fenrir, fighting, dying for the Nation, is what she lives for. She sends word along the totemlink to begin the assault.

[Tangled Web.] (spiders 5-7 initiative
+5)
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 1

[Kemp Oates] He moved as soon as he got in. Moved far enough in to allow Joey a chance to follow and give each other room to move. And he moved, his claws and teeth a blur of motion as he attacked.

[Tangled Web.] Kemp: 18
Joss: 18
Doodle: 15
Face of Death: 14
Broken Hammer: 14
Buried Hatchet: 10
Spiders 1-4: 11
Buried Hatchet: 10
Spiders 5-7: 6

[Broken Hammer] (percep/alert - dual specialties, eyes and ears!)
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] There are seven opponents.

One is situated at the nearest gap in the obelisk. Two more are situated around the first level in places, presumably where there are other entrances.

Two more are situated on the upper level, unmoving. One is near the first one, the other at another point entirely. The other is at another point, presumbly at another gap between the levels.

The remaining two are near the core.

The trapped Garou has the jackel face of a Silent Strider. Beneath his skin, whatever is in there is moving. However, he is still alive for now.
to Broken Hammer

[Tangled Web.] The spiders are metallic, covered in a sheen that looks like sweat, huge bulbous abdomens that pulsate in the dim lighting.

Their heads are obsence, large pointed, deadly teeth, large reflecting eyes.

Their breath is like soured milk. Their skin, if one could call it that smells like rotten meat. This is far from the perfect sterility of the Weaver. Corruption has set in.

(It cannot be said more clearly than that.)

They do not drop as once, but staggered. They drop to attack, they drop to begin to close the distance, their claws clicking as they begin to to move - staggeringly fast.

Those at the core remain where they are.

Spider 5
Entrance 1, upper level.
Dropping. Bite Doodle.

Spider 6, core
Staying

Spider 7, entrance 2
Dropping. Bite Buried Hatchet.

[Buried Hatchet] [1a. Bite Spider 7
1b. Bite Spider 7 + WP
Rage 1: Bite whatever attacks Joss, if something does (if not, bite Spider 7 again *L*)]

[Broken Hammer] "Stay with me, flank and attack what I do, heal if necessary!"

With that, the Forseti lunges into the fray, agile and swift, making up in sheer quick grace what he lacks in bulk and might.

(2 rage
1a Bite spider 5
b Taunt it off Doodle!
R1 again!
R2 once more!

if dropspider goes down, moving on to one of the ones near the core/trapped garou)

[Tangled Web.] Spider 1, core
Staying.

Spider 2, entrance 1
Dropping, biting Daniel

Spider 3, entrance 3
Dropping
Biting Kemp

Spider 4 - upper level
Dropping - clawing Face of Death.

[Face of Death] [1a: Blind spider 4 (spending WP, called shot)
1b: bite spider 4]

[Face of Death] [btw, she's blinding with a bite]

[Doodle] Wha-?

The Bone Gnawer flexes sharp claws into the webbed pattern underfoot, gaze regarding the Spider as it drops from above and lands with clattering claws and snapping mandibles. It bares down, even as Daniel lunges inward. Doodle watches the Forseti move, Black Unicorn's senses creeping through his flesh.

Attack what..he...attacks

-And Doodle moves forward a half inch the Spider's closing affording him a quicker reaction, jaws opening to elicit a yowling growl of some sort that is meant to be angry. Wrathful maybe? The Jaws snap at fore legs.

(Initial Action: Bite left forelegs of Spider 5 (WP)
Rage 1: Bite forelegs of Spider 2)

[Gossamer Wing] Hatchet goes in first, stepping aside, and she doesn't waste any time, taking advantage of his movement possibly distracting the spider. She bares her teeth -and attacks.

[Declare: 1 rage, split first action

1a: bite spider 7
1b: bite spider 7
1r: the same - if it's still alive. If not, moving toward the core and next closest spider.]

[Kemp Oates] 1a Claw
1b Claw

1 rage...claw All on spider 3 unless he dies fast.

[Kemp Oates] 1a claw
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6) Re-rolls: 2

[Kemp Oates] damnit
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 2, 3, 3, 4, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9 (Success x 5 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] (armour soak)
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 3, 6, 6, 7 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Kemp Oates] 1b claw
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 4, 5, 5, 7, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Kemp Oates] damit
Dice Rolled:[ 11 d10 ] 1, 1, 4, 4, 4, 5, 7, 7, 8, 9, 10 (Failure at target 9)

[Gossamer Wing] 1a: Bite: dex + brawl + hispo = 4+2+2 = 8 - 2 for split, 6 diff 5 reroll 10s
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 5, 5, 7, 7, 9 (Success x 5 at target 5)

[Gossamer Wing] Damage: str+ hispo + bite (+ EM) = 3+3+2 (+3) = 11 + 4 =15 diff 9
Dice Rolled:[ 15 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 2, 4, 4, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 9, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 2 at target 9)

[Gossamer Wing] (that's spider 7)

[Gossamer Wing] Spider 7:
1b: Bite: dex + brawl + hispo = 4+2+2 = 8 - 3 for split, 5 diff 5 reroll 10s
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 3, 7, 8, 8 (Success x 2 at target 5)

[Gossamer Wing] Damage: str+ hispo + bite (+ EM) = 3+3+2 (+3) = 11 + 1 = 12 d7
Dice Rolled:[ 12 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 7, 7, 8, 10, 10 (Success x 4 at target 7)

[Doodle] (Dex 4 + Brawl 1. Biting forelegs of Spider 5. Diff 5 + 2 for Called shot. WP)
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 5, 6, 7, 10 (Success x 3 at target 7) [WP]

[Doodle] (Str 4 + 2 Hispo + 2 Sux)
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 1, 3, 3, 4, 4, 7, 8 (Failure at target 7)

[Face of Death] [1a: blinding bite 4 (called shot to face): dex + brawl - 2, diff + 2, + WP]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 4, 8, 8, 8, 8 (Success x 4 at target 7) [WP]

[Face of Death] [damage: str + 2 + 3, diff 7]
Dice Rolled:[ 12 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 6 at target 7)

[Face of Death] [1b: bite +4: dex + brawl - 3]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 5, 7, 8, 9 (Success x 3 at target 5)

[Face of Death] [damage: str + 2 + 2]
Dice Rolled:[ 11 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 5, 5, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 2 at target 9)

[Broken Hammer] chomp spider 5!
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 1, 3, 4, 4, 6, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 2 at target 5)

[Broken Hammer] dam+1
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 5, 7, 8 (Success x 1 at target 7)

[Broken Hammer] ahem. for real now. CHOMP!
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 2, 4, 8, 8, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 5 at target 5) Re-rolls: 1

[Broken Hammer] dam+4!
Dice Rolled:[ 12 d10 ] 1, 3, 3, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 7)

[Broken Hammer] (taunt -- using manip + intimidation. 2 succ = -1 die from next action)
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 (Failure at target 9)

[Tangled Web.] Spider 2, attacking Daniel
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 3, 3, 9, 9, 9 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] damage
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 7, 8, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Broken Hammer] soak!
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 2, 4, 6, 6, 8 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] Spider 3, attacking Kemp
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 6, 6, 6, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] Damage!
Dice Rolled:[ 11 d10 ] 1, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Kemp Oates] soak
Dice Rolled:[ 13 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 9, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 5 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] Spider 4, blindly attacking Face of Death
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 2, 3 (Failure at target 6)

[Buried Hatchet] [1a. Biting Spider 7. Dex + Brawl + Hispo - 2 (split)]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 6, 6, 8, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 5) Re-rolls: 1

[Buried Hatchet] [Damage. Str + Bear + Hispo + 3]
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 3, 4, 4, 5, 7, 8, 8, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 3 at target 9)

[Buried Hatchet] [1b. Biting Spider 2. Dex + Brawl + Hispo -3 (split) // +1 diff to switch targets]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6 (Success x 2 at target 6) [WP]

[Buried Hatchet] [Damage]
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 5, 6, 6, 8, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 2 at target 9)

[Tangled Web.] spider 2 soak!
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 3, 5, 5, 8, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] Spider 5
Bite Doodle
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 6, 7, 8, 8, 9 (Success x 5 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] Damage!
Dice Rolled:[ 11 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 6, 7, 7, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 6 at target 6)

[Doodle] (Stam 6 in Hispo + 2 Soak Talen + 3 B.U)
Dice Rolled:[ 11 d10 ] 2, 2, 4, 4, 6, 6, 6, 8, 8, 8, 9 (Success x 7 at target 6)

[Kemp Oates] rage...claw..spider 3
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Kemp Oates]
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 7, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 2 at target 9)

[Tangled Web.] soak!
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 3, 3, 3, 3, 6, 8, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Gossamer Wing] When Spider 7 falls, and Hatchet turns to get another, she turns to the other nearest spider, and attacks..

Changing Target (since 7 is ded) +1 diff
Targeting Spider 5

Bite: dex + brawl + hispo = 4+2+2 = 8 diff 5 reroll 10s
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 2, 4, 7, 8, 8, 10, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6) Re-rolls: 2

[Gossamer Wing] Damage: str+ hispo + bite (+ EM) = 3+3+2 (+3) = 11 +3=14
Dice Rolled:[ 14 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 8, 8 (Failure at target 7)

[Doodle] (Dex 4 + Brawl 1. Biting Forelegs of Spider 2 (One attacking daniel). Diff 5 + 2.)
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 6, 8 (Failure at target 7)

[Broken Hammer] R1. bite 5!
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 8, 9 (Success x 4 at target 5)

[Broken Hammer] Damage on 5!
Dice Rolled:[ 11 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 4, 4, 5, 7, 8, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 3 at target 7)

[Buried Hatchet] [R1. Biting Spider 2. Dex + Brawl + Hispo]
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 5 at target 6) Re-rolls: 1

[Buried Hatchet] [Damage. Strength + Bear + Hispo Str + Hispo Bite + 4]
Dice Rolled:[ 13 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10 (Failure at target 9)

[Broken Hammer] R2, biting 2 now!
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 1, 5, 5, 5, 7, 7, 7, 7 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Broken Hammer] Damage +1
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 9 (Success x 1 at target 9)

[Tangled Web.] Spider 2, soak!
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 3, 4, 4, 4, 7 (Failure at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] It smelled badly before. It smells worse now, with the smell of blood, reminiscent of aged vomit, the spiders' filthy, rotten blood seeping into Garou's mouths and onto their claws. It will remain with them for days to come, after showers and bleachings.

Laughs in the Face of Death bites off a spider's face and the eyeballs pop into her mouth like over-ripe tomatos, spilling the half-congealed contents down her throat, causing a reflexive gag, or worse, a swallow.

Doodle swipes at the forelegs of two of the spiders - but his claws never break the skin.

Buried Hatchet and Gossamer Wing both down a foe together, their lack of pack connection and previous conflicts notwithstanding. The flecks of flesh stick between their teeth, catching and and sticking in their throats. They part, each heading for separate foes.

Broken Hammer destroys his own foe, and moves to join his alpha against another.

The Garou are still standing strong. Uninjured. Unharmed.

The spiders are two less, with one more approaching and two on the sidewings.

Still trapped in the web, the Silent Strider has begun to seize. His body shakes as if shivering all over, so hard one would think his bones are about to jar out of their sockets. The entire centre core of the obelisk shudders and shakes with the force of his movements.

His skin starts to split. Over his cheekbone. Inside his mouth. Over his his chest, visible where the patches of earth have fallen away. In his thigh, his genitals.

There is movement beneath his skin. Then, along the breaches of his flesh, tiny tiny legs seeking escape.

[Broken Hammer] "Alpha, the trapped one!" Tongue flicking out between his teeth over and over, trying to clear himself of that godforsaken taste, Broken Hammer calls out to the Fostern Half-Moon. "If those spiders get out this will never end!"

[Doodle] Doodle init 8 +...
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 6

[Face of Death] [+9]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 6

[Kemp Oates] He didn't have time to be grossed out, he was too busy trying to kill the spider that wanted to make him a breeding ground for future fucked up spiders.

Init +9
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 6

[Tangled Web.] Spiders 1-4
+7
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 6

[Buried Hatchet] In an instant, the message is relayed to Joey as well. The Sentinels are going for the trapped Strider.
[+9]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 5

[Tangled Web.] Spider 6
+5
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 4

[Broken Hammer] 9
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 1 (Botch x 1 at target 6)

[Gossamer Wing] She doesn't pause to think, to do anything, but to keep attacking the spiders, even as the pack moves toward the trapped Strider.

(+9!)1
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 4

[Tangled Web.] And the others
+5
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 6

[Tangled Web.] Spider 6- 9
Broken Hammer- 10
Others - 11
Spiders 1-4- 13
Gossamer Wing- 13
Hatchet - 14
Doodle - 14
Face of Death - 15
Kemp - 15

[Tangled Web.] As the Sentinals surge toward the core and the seizing Garou, its guardians, likewise surge forward.

Everything is deathly silent. There is no growling, no sound from the spider creatures. They are eerily quiet, except for the snck-snck of their claws.

(Spider 6 - bite Broken Hammer
Spider 1 bite Face of Death.)

[Broken Hammer] 2R!
1a.
b.
R1
R2. -- all chomps on strider dude! if he goes down, returning to spider 2.

[Tangled Web.] Others - everything is incidental.

[Tangled Web.] Spider 1 -
already declared.

Spider 2 - bite Buried Hatchet.

Spider 3 - bite Truth in Frenzy

Spider 4 - Claw blindly at Truth in Frenzy.

[Gossamer Wing] [Declare:

2 rage, split first action:

1a: bite +2
1b: bite +2
1r: bite +2
2r: bite +2]

[Buried Hatchet] [1a. Bite Strider
1b. Bite Strider
R1. Bite Strider
R2. Bite Strider. If Strider dies, bite Spider +6]

[Doodle] ...And suddenly the Hispo shape of the Gnawer is back in his Homid form, lower jaw quivering in place as the slash and snap of mandibles and jaws ends in a flurry of Garou growls and ferocity. He quivers slightly and back peddles as Daniel and the other two Sentinels follow their own designs...

"...Nononononono-" He scrambles back, hands clapping together and rubbing furiously, even as he ducks back into the entrance he and Daniel had first come through. The last step is a faltering one, crashing to his knees, hands planting on the threshold between webwork and desolation, gaze lifting up to regard the battle brewing.

"...You're still spirits...still spirits...greedy greedy spirits..."

And, hands still planted, words like a Mantra, the little Bone Gnawer theurge, trying hard not to let the tears of fear blur his vision, begins to pour himself out, bleeding spirit onto the ground in a steadily growing pool

(Initial Action: Mass Taunt on the webs connecting the spiders. Dropping 4 Gnosis to lure them toward Doodle. WP)

[Face of Death] [1a: Bite Strider
1b: Bite Strider
Rage: Bite Spider 1]

[Kemp Oates] 1a claw +3
1b claw +3
1 Rage Claw +4

[Kemp Oates] 1a claw +3
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 4, 5, 5, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 6 at target 6) Re-rolls: 1

[Kemp Oates] dam +3
Dice Rolled:[ 13 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 6, 6, 6, 9, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 3 at target 9)

[Tangled Web.] Soak!
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 5, 6, 6, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 5 at target 6)

[Kemp Oates] 1b Claw +3
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 3, 3, 4, 5, 9 (Failure at target 6)

[Face of Death] [1a: bite Strider: dex + brawl - 2]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 8 (Success x 2 at target 5)

[Face of Death] [damage: str + 2 + 1]
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 4, 4, 4, 4, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8 (Success x 6 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] Soak!
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 3, 3, 3, 3, 5 (Failure at target 6)

[Face of Death] [stamina]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 4, 6, 6, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 5 at target 6)

[Face of Death] [1b: bite Strider: dex + brawl - 3]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 5, 8, 8, 9 (Success x 3 at target 5)

[Face of Death] [damage: str + 2 + 2]
Dice Rolled:[ 11 d10 ] 1, 4, 4, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 7 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] soak!
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 3, 6, 8, 9 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Face of Death] [stamina]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 6, 8, 10 (Failure at target 7)

[Face of Death] [*siiiigh*]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 6, 9 (Success x 2 at target 8) [WP]

[Doodle] (Man 3 + Intim 0. Diff Wits + 4 = 9. WP. Mass Taunt the webwork. Food's on...)
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 4, 5, 9 (Success x 2 at target 9) [WP]

[Tangled Web.] Face of Death reaches the shaking, shivering and seizing Garou first and tears at his throat.

The pain sears through the lining of her mouth, and she can feel the roots of her teeth begin to scald, burn. A thousand tiny, feathery feet brush her face and her tongue and throat as they slide down to her gullet.

Her stomach begins to burn.

She takes another bite, this time tearing the head clean off.

The pain becomes overwhelming. Searingly dark, searingly red. It explodes behind her eyes, explodes in her skull, in her stomach, in her bones. She -

dies. Her heart stops, her breathing falls. She falls lax to the floor.

Becomes human.

And then, just as suddenly, isn't. Her female form becomes monster. Her eyes become unlike anything her packmates know or recognize.

The howl is incoherent, meaningless.

She has lost control.

--

In the meantime, the sack of a body which remains - the bones have nearly dissolved, the spiders are beginning to escape. They move quickly for their size, but slowly for what they are. They crawl out through the holes they have made, the holes that Laughs in the Face of Death has made, and begin to slide over the slackening skin of their victim.

Inside the body, a few hundred eggs remain. Unhatched.

They had made a difference.

[Tangled Web.] Doodle attempts to coax the spirits away, feeding them with gnosis. It works on two. The spider that had intended on attacking Broken Hammer diverts. The spider which had intended on attacking Buried Hatchet does as well.

In the end their minds are simple. Hunt, kill, eat, breed.

Doodle has distracted them from the second and refocused them on the third.

(Spiders 2 and 6 moving away)

[Buried Hatchet] [1a. Changing to bite Spider 1. Dex + Hispo + Brawl -2 (split)]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Buried Hatchet] [Damage]
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 1, 1, 4, 4, 6, 6, 9, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 2 at target 9)

[Buried Hatchet] [1b. Changing to bite Spider 1. Dex + Hispo + Brawl -3 (split)]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 1, 5, 5, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6) [WP] Re-rolls: 1

[Buried Hatchet] [Damage]
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 3 at target 9)

[Tangled Web.] soak 1
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 3, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] soak 2
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Gossamer Wing] Still attacking +2 - rear attack, -2 diff.

1a: Bite: dex + brawl + hispo = 4+2+2 = 8 - 2 for split, 6 diff 3 reroll 10s
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 1, 3, 4, 7, 8 (Success x 2 at target 3)

[Gossamer Wing] Damage: str+ hispo + bite (+ EM) = 3+3+2 (+3) = 11 + 1 = 12 diff 9
Dice Rolled:[ 12 d10 ] 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 9)

[Tangled Web.] soak!
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 3, 4, 4, 7, 8, 8, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Gossamer Wing] Number 2 still.

1b: Bite: dex + brawl + hispo = 4+2+2 = 8 - 3 for split, 5 diff 5-2 reroll 10s
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 5, 8, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 5 at target 3) Re-rolls: 1

[Gossamer Wing] Damage: str+ hispo + bite (+ EM) = 3+3+2 (+3) = 11 + 4 = 15 d 9
Dice Rolled:[ 15 d10 ] 1, 1, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 7, 8, 9, 10 (Failure at target 9)

[Tangled Web.] Spider 1
changing action to atack Buried Hatchet
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 4, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8 (Success x 2 at target 7)

[Tangled Web.] Damage!
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7, 7, 9, 9 (Success x 5 at target 6)

[Buried Hatchet] [Soak]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 6 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] Biting Truth in Frenzy
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 4, 4, 5, 6, 8, 8, 9 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] Damage!
Dice Rolled:[ 13 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 5, 5, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 6 at target 6)

[Kemp Oates] soak
Dice Rolled:[ 13 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 7 at target 6)

[Broken Hammer] 1. chomp spider 1, +1 changing actions, -1 flanking, -2 dice for split
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 10 at target 5) Re-rolls: 3

[Broken Hammer] damage +9
Dice Rolled:[ 17 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 6, 8, 8, 10, 10 (Failure at target 9)

[Broken Hammer] 1b. chomp!
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 (Success x 2 at target 5)

[Broken Hammer] 1
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 3, 3, 5, 5, 5, 8, 8, 8 (Botch x 1 at target 9)

[Kemp Oates] claw +4
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 1, 1, 3, 3, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6) Re-rolls: 2

[Kemp Oates] dam +4
Dice Rolled:[ 11 d10 ] 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 9, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 9)

[Buried Hatchet] [R1. Bite Spider 1, mother FUCKER.]
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 3, 3, 5, 5, 9, 9, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 4 at target 5) Re-rolls: 3

[Buried Hatchet] [Damage. EAT IT.]
Dice Rolled:[ 12 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 (Failure at target 9)

[Gossamer Wing] r1: still spider 2.

Bite: dex + brawl + hispo = 4+2+2 = 8 diff 5-2 (rear) reroll 10s
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 9, 9, 9 (Success x 5 at target 3)

[Gossamer Wing] SRSLY DIE MOTHERFUCKER.

Damage: str+ hispo + bite (+ EM) = 3+3+2 (+3) = 11 + 5=15
Dice Rolled:[ 15 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 6, 6, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (Failure at target 9)

[Broken Hammer] R1. CHOMP SPIDER 1.
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 4, 5, 6, 6, 9, 9 (Success x 2 at target 5)

[Broken Hammer] dam+1
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 2, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 2 at target 9)

[Tangled Web.] soak!
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 2, 4, 5, 5, 9, 9 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Broken Hammer] Reflexive yap:

"Command spiders, fight each other!"

[Buried Hatchet] [R2. Biting Spider 1]
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 1, 3, 3, 5, 6, 8, 8, 8, 10, 10 (Success x 6 at target 5) [WP] Re-rolls: 2

[Buried Hatchet] [Damage]
Dice Rolled:[ 14 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 7, 9, 9, 9 (Success x 1 at target 9)

[Tangled Web.] soak!
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 3, 4, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9 (Success x 5 at target 6)

[Gossamer Wing] and one. more. Time!

Bite: dex + brawl + hispo = 4+2+2 = 8 diff 3 reroll 10s
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4 (Success x 3 at target 3)

[Gossamer Wing] *Flashes Monki's Bewbs*

Damage: str+ hispo + bite (+ EM) = 3+3+2 (+3) = 11 + 2
Dice Rolled:[ 13 d10 ] 1, 1, 3, 3, 4, 4, 6, 6, 6, 6, 8, 8, 9 (Failure at target 9)

[Broken Hammer] R2 - one more chomp!
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 2, 6, 6, 6, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 3 at target 5) Re-rolls: 1

[Broken Hammer] dam +2
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 4, 5, 7, 7, 7, 9, 10 (Failure at target 9)

[Tangled Web.] Face of Death reaches the shaking, shivering and seizing Garou first and tears at his throat.

The pain sears through the lining of her mouth, and she can feel the roots of her teeth begin to scald, burn. A thousand tiny, feathery feet brush her face and her tongue and throat as they slide down to her gullet.

Her stomach begins to burn.

She takes another bite, this time tearing the head clean off.

The pain becomes overwhelming. Searingly dark, searingly red. It explodes behind her eyes, explodes in her skull, in her stomach, in her bones. She -

dies. Her heart stops, her breathing falls. She falls lax to the floor.

Becomes human.

And then, just as suddenly, isn't. Her female form becomes monster. Her eyes become unlike anything her packmates know or recognize.

The howl is incoherent, meaningless.

She has lost control.

--

In the meantime, the sack of a body which remains - the bones have nearly dissolved, the spiders are beginning to escape. They move quickly for their size, but slowly for what they are. They crawl out through the holes they have made, the holes that Laughs in the Face of Death has made, and begin to slide over the slackening skin of their victim.

Inside the body, a few hundred eggs remain. Unhatched.

They had made a difference.

--

Doodle attempts to coax the spirits away, feeding them with gnosis. It works on two. The spider that had intended on attacking Broken Hammer diverts. The spider which had intended on attacking Buried Hatchet does as well.

In the end their minds are simple. Hunt, kill, eat, breed.

Doodle has distracted them from the second and refocused them on the third.

--

Buried Hatchet is bowled into by one of the spiders, and feels the razor sharp teeth slice through his skin, through fat and mucle, just nicking the viscera.

The worst is the feeling beneath his skin.

Like little tiny spiders crawling through his veins.


Truth in Frenzy rips into the blinded spider, leaving it staggering and barely standing.

The other spiders are fainter, but still standing. Undamaged by Garou claws, but faded by the effort the fight requires

The tiny spiders have begun to swarm at the feet of the empty shell of a once-Garou. They begin to move as one.

[Gossamer Wing] 9
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 6

[Tangled Web.] Spiders 1-4
+7
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 5

[Face of Death] [+9]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 9

[Kemp Oates] init +9
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 8

[Broken Hammer] init +9!
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 5 (Failure at target 6)

[Buried Hatchet] [+9]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 10

[Tangled Web.] Spider 6 and the itty bitties
+5
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 9

[Doodle] Doodle 8+...
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 10

[Tangled Web.] Buried Hatchet 19
Face of Death 18
Doodle 18
Truth in Frenzy 17
Gossamer Wing 15
Broken Hammer 14
Other spiders 14
Spiders 1-4 12

[Face of Death]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 8

[Tangled Web.] Rage return:
Broken Hammer, Buried Hatchet, Gossamer Wing, Face of Death all regain one point of rage.

[Buried Hatchet]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 8

[Broken Hammer] Roll!
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 8 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Buried Hatchet]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 9

[Broken Hammer]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 2 (Failure at target 6)

[Face of Death]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 3

[Tangled Web.] Two of the spiders remain distracted as they were - their backs to the group, their attention on pulling free the gnosis which Doodle has put into the wall.

The spider which had so recently tasted Buried Hatchet's blood, dives forward again for the same pleasure.

The blind and injured spider flails ineffectually, trying to sink its claws into Truth in Frenzy, while a more visually-abled and spry counterpart goes for the throat, its teeth flashing through the air.

The gathering swarm of spiders aim for Broken Hammer. They will climb up his paws, up his legs and through his fur.

(Spider 1 - bite buried hatchet
Spider 2 - off seeking gnosis goodness
Spider 3 - Bite Truth in Frenzy
Spider 4 - Claw Truth in Frenzy
Spider 6 off seeking gnosis goodness.

Swarm: swarm Broken Hammer and hurt him with their teeny tiny little mouths.)

[Tangled Web.] Up to date damage list:

Hatchet - 4 agg
Face of Death -6 agg
All others OK
Spider 1 is down 4 essence points (includes expenditures)
Spider 2 is down 7 essence points
Spider 3 is down 4 essence points
Spider 4 is down 11 essence points
Spider 5 is dead
Spider 6 is OK
Spider 7 is dead

[Broken Hammer] 1a. 1 Gn - Gaia's Breath on Buried Hatchet
b. 1 Gn - Gaia's Breath on Face of Death
c. Go bite Spider 4

[Gossamer Wing] It's not working. They're too strong. She had heard Broken Hammer's order suggestion, but knows her weakness well. She shakes her head, glances at Doodle, and then - there, where the spiders fight, where the Garou fight on, where they struggle for a way to balance....

That's it. THAT'S EXACTLY IT...

She steps back, ceases her attack on the retreating spider, shifts down and falls to her knees, hands instantly going to her thighs, tapping out an insistent, heady beat. The rest of them fade as all her concentration returns to doing what she does best.

She is a summoner.
She is a Spirit Talker.
She is Godi.

[Declare: Summoning = 3 rolls,
Spirit Drum (dex+perf d5)
Summoning (wits+rituals +SD d7) [+wp]
Gnosis +SD - how happy are you? 5d7 ).]

[Kemp Oates] He was still battling two of the spiders...

1a..Claw +3
1b...Claw +3
1rage...Claw+4

[Doodle] He is terrified.

Bereft of Gaia's embrace and depleted of most of the connection he shares to her, Doodle is all at once a human creature once more. A Fifteen year old boy, playing Super Hero among Monsters. He whimpers slightly as Joey falls and rises again, a slavering monster intent on destruction and clambers quickly over toward Joss as the Godi...

...settles into a familiar stance. Defenseless and...

"This is what we do, Doodle. We protect the weak."
"Like Batman..."
"Yes Like-...Bat...man."

He can't hear his own high pitched whimpers of fear, but he can feel the Beast underneath, meager as it is. Doodle pushes his flesh to the War-form, small and lanky and settles his bulk and shape into a crouch infront of Joss, staring at the Spiders and praying beneath the flesh they don't come near.

(Last Rage: Shift to Crinos
Split Actions: a) Block attack against Joss.
B) Block attack against Joss)

[Face of Death] [Bite +1
R: Bite +1]

[Buried Hatchet] [1a. Bite Spider 3
1b. Bite Spider 3
R1. Bite Spider 4 if still up
R2. Bite Spider 4 if still up, Spider 1 if not]

[Buried Hatchet] [1a. -2]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 8, 9, 9, 9 (Success x 1 at target 5)

[Buried Hatchet] [Damage]
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 2, 5, 6, 6, 8, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 2 at target 9)

[Buried Hatchet] [1b. -3]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 5, 7, 9 (Success x 1 at target 5)

[Buried Hatchet] [Damage]
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 7, 7, 8, 10 (Success x 1 at target 9)

[Face of Death] [Bite +1: dex + brawl]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 6 at target 5)

[Face of Death] [damage: str + 2 + 5]
Dice Rolled:[ 14 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 10 (Success x 1 at target 9)

[Kemp Oates] He wasn't sure where Hatchet suddenly came from and at this point he didn't give a fuck once he recognized the fur in the middle of all those legs and eyeballs. His arms swung, claws raking with a powerful ripple of muscle and tendon.

1a Claw +3
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 2, 4, 5, 5, 6, 8, 8, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 5 at target 6) Re-rolls: 3

[Kemp Oates] dam+3
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 8, 9 (Failure at target 9)

[Kemp Oates]
Dice Rolled:[ 3 d10 ] 2, 3, 9 (Success x 1 at target 9)

[Kemp Oates] 1b Claw +3
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 3, 3, 3, 4, 6, 8, 8 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Kemp Oates] dam +3
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 3 at target 9)

[Tangled Web.] Spider +3: x_x

[Gossamer Wing] Roll 1: Spirit Drum (dex+perf 6d5 +reroll)
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 5, 6, 7 (Success x 2 at target 5)

[Gossamer Wing] Roll 2. Summoning Astraea: (wits+rituals 6+2 d7) [+wp]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 3 at target 7) [WP]

[Gossamer Wing] Roll 3. Summoning Astraea: Gnosis +SD - how happy are you? 5+2 d7
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 4, 5, 5, 9 (Failure at target 7)

[Gossamer Wing] re-Roll 3. Summoning Astraea: Gnosis +SD - how happy are you? 5+2 d8

COME ON KAHSEENO!GIMME SOMETHING HERE! I"ll give you KAI!
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 9, 9 (Success x 4 at target 8)

[Broken Hammer] 1 Gn: Hatchet +4 hp!
1 Gn: FoD +4 hp!
c. -5 dice, biting 4.
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 2, 5, 8, 9 (Success x 2 at target 5)

[Broken Hammer] dam+1
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 3, 3, 3, 5, 5, 10 (Failure at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] Spider 1
Bite buried hatchet
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 7, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] Damage!
Dice Rolled:[ 11 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Buried Hatchet] [Soak]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 5, 6, 9, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] Spider 3 - bite Truth in Frenzy
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 4, 5, 5, 5, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] damage!
Dice Rolled:[ 11 d10 ] 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 7, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Kemp Oates] soak
Dice Rolled:[ 13 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 6, 9, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] Blinded spider 4 attacks at Kemp
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 3, 4 (Failure at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] Swarm
BITE! (Daniel)
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 3, 4, 6, 8 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] Damage!
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 3, 7, 10, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Broken Hammer]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8 (Success x 5 at target 6)

[Buried Hatchet] [R1 - bite on Spider 4]
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 2, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8, 10 (Success x 8 at target 5) Re-rolls: 1

[Buried Hatchet] [Damage]
Dice Rolled:[ 16 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 5, 5, 5, 6, 8, 9, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 2 at target 9)

[Face of Death] [R: Bite +1, diff - 1 (flanking)]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 6, 8, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 4 at target 4)

[Face of Death] [damage: str + 2 + 3]
Dice Rolled:[ 12 d10 ] 1, 2, 2, 5, 5, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 2 at target 9)

[Kemp Oates] claw +4
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 8, 8, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6) Re-rolls: 1

[Kemp Oates] dam + 4
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 1, 1, 4, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, 10 (Failure at target 9)

[Buried Hatchet] [R2 - bite on 4]
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 9, 9 (Success x 3 at target 5)

[Buried Hatchet] [damage]
Dice Rolled:[ 11 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 5, 6, 8, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 2 at target 9)

[Tangled Web.] Spider 4: x_x

[Tangled Web.] Buried Hatchet and Truth in Frenzy make quick work of two of the remaining spiders, tearing apart the blind and injured one (it is merely a mercy killing at this point) and destroying the other.

Broken Hammer heals his packmates and swipes viciously at one of the arachnids, but fails to do any damage. The small freshly born spiders have begun to crawl through his pelt, working their way through the wire fur. He can feel their teeth nipping at his skin, but they have not broken it yet.

The two spiders which Doodle had distracted have found their gnosis gifts and are turning back, their teeth moving to hiss in silent hatred.

And Gossamer Wing calls upon Astrea - the air begins to shimmer, the faint sound of wind chimes in the air.

(Spider 3, dead, Spider 4, dead.)

[Tangled Web.] Astraea is a spirit of justice. A spirit of balance. Here is where the balance has been decayed, the two pieces of the triat, wyrm and weaver melding together with the exclusion of the Wyld. What it has created is something desolate, vicious and wrong.

It is a spirit in white, robes flowing as if they might mean something, the suggestion of flowing hair, of a female face. There is little solidified about her. It is all ethereal and not quite there.

She is, after all, a spirit designed after a concept.

She comes before anyone can move or speak or think. It takes a moment out of time - a moment where everything, even the wyrm becomes style, half frozen by the sheer change she brings to the blood-slicked weaver abomination.

She looks to Gossamer Wing, her brow furrowed as if in distress.

If she were to speak, she might ask why had she been brought here, to this place that was such a dissonance to herself. But she does not waste time for that. She waits to be told what to do, firm in the belief that the why shall come later.

[Gossamer Wing]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 4

[Doodle] Doodle 8+...
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 7

[Gossamer Wing] (+9)

[Broken Hammer] init+9
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 3 (Failure at target 6)

[Kemp Oates] 9
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 5

[Buried Hatchet] [+9]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 1

[Tangled Web.] Spiders 1 and 2
+7
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 6

[Tangled Web.] Spider 6
+5
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 2

[Face of Death] [+9]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 1

[Tangled Web.] Doodle - 15
Kemp - 14
Gossamer Wing (Astraea)- 13
Spiders 1 and 2 - 13
Broken Hammer - 12
Buried Hatchet - 10
Face of death - 10
Swarm, Spider 6 - 7

[Tangled Web.] The swarm buries themselves into the fur of Broken Hammer. They bite, if they can. A spider pushes itself off the wall, launching itself at Doodle.

The other launches itself at Gossamer Wing.

The spider which Faces of Death has been attacking so valiently rounds on her - twisting to sink its teeth into her mid section.

(Spider 1 - bite FoD
Spider 2 - Bite Gossamer Wing
Spider 3 - Bite Doodle)

[Face of Death] [Bite 1]

[Buried Hatchet] [1a. Bite Spider 2
1b. Bite Spider 1
R1. Bite Spider 1 if still up, Spider 2 if not]

[Broken Hammer] 1a.
b.
R1
R2
biting spider 1, followed by 2!

[Gossamer Wing] She feels the shimmer, and hears the chimes, and it's with a sense of relief that the Totem has answered her call. She continues the beat against her thighs, her drum resonating with a far deeper sound than a simple slapped hand should produce, her entire being caught up in the summon, the call to Astrea...

When it arrives, when the Astrea appears, she remains kneeling, moving slightly forward, so that there is no doubt that she has made the call, that she will deal with the spirit and pay whatever price Astrea demands.

She speaks in the voice of the Spirits - quickly, yet earnestly. I am honored that you have come to my call. We have fought to bring this place back to balance, but the Spiders have a Rage that is difficult for us to break through - it is not balanced by our ferocity. I humbly ask for your help to restore balance, so that we can aid this land in its return to rights, and restore the Spirits to their home. In return I will build a shrine in your honor in the Sept of Maesltrom and tend to it well for the next cycle of the moon. Help us, please.

She offers herself as well, draining her own gnosis by more than half in order to help appease and entice the spirit.

[Official declare: ask, beg, grovel. Joss currently has 5 gnosis, she will offer 3, along with the barter of the Shrine. All in hopes that Astrea instantly turns and kicks ass for them. ]

[Kemp Oates] diving through the air to body slam +!

[Doodle] A startled yelp erupts from the lanky war-shape, limbs rising with reflexes born on the wings of a totem bond. The spider that leaps is not so much ignored as he is unseen, the little theurge taking his duties seriously as the glowing visage of Astraea appears behind him and he moves in to snap forearms and body into the path of the corrupt spirit intent on Joss' harm.

(Initial Action: Block Spider 2 Attack on Joss)

[Kemp Oates] His muscles bunched and with every bit of strength in him, he launched himself through the air at +1, trying to crash land into the fucker to take it with him.
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8, 10, 10 (Success x 4 at target 7) Re-rolls: 2

[Tangled Web.] attempting to stay up!
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 4, 4, 5, 7, 7, 8, 10 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Kemp Oates]
Dice Rolled:[ 10 d10 ] 1, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 8, 10, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] Astraea's gaze rests placidly upon Gossamer Wing, despite the state of affairs around her. A shadow of a smile touches her mouth, then is gone.

She looks foward, around her, about her. Her eyes close.

A shockwave crashes through the edifice, shattering the walls, causing bits of the webbing to come undone, allowing some of the exterior light in.

The spiders shudder and pale, their power sapped even as they try to keep their footing.

Outside, the ground cracks and shatters. The earth breaks open, allowing fresher earth to seep in as if it were water filling in the holes around it.

Nothing grows yet, but it will.

The Wyld.

Restoring balance.

[Tangled Web.] Spider 1 biting Face of Death
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 5, 6, 6, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] Spider 1, doing damage
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Face of Death] [SOAK]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] Spider 2, bite Gossamer Wing.
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 6, 6, 8, 8 (Success x 4 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] Spider 2 damage
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 7, 8, 10, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 6 at target 6)

[Gossamer Wing] Soak!
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Doodle] (Block: Dex 3 + Brawl 1. Diff 6)
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 5, 6, 8, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Tangled Web.] modified damage
Dice Rolled:[ 4 d10 ] 1, 4, 5, 6 (Failure at target 6)

[Broken Hammer] 1a. -2!
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 2, 6, 8, 8, 9, 9, 10 (Success x 5 at target 5) Re-rolls: 1

[Broken Hammer] dam+4
Dice Rolled:[ 12 d10 ] 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 8, 9 (Success x 8 at target 4)

[Tangled Web.] Spider 1: x_x

[Broken Hammer] b. -3!
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 4, 5, 6, 7, 7, 9 (Success x 5 at target 5)

[Broken Hammer] spider +2! damage!
Dice Rolled:[ 11 d10 ] 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 5, 6, 6, 9, 9 (Success x 1 at target 4)

[Buried Hatchet] [1a. Bite on spider 2]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 5 at target 5) Re-rolls: 1

[Buried Hatchet] [Damage]
Dice Rolled:[ 13 d10 ] 1, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10, 10 (Success x 8 at target 4)

[Tangled Web.] Spider 2: x_x

[Buried Hatchet] [1b. Switching Spider 6/3]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 6 (Success x 1 at target 6) [WP]

[Face of Death] [Bite 6: + 1 diff to change targets]
Dice Rolled:[ 8 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 6, 7 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Buried Hatchet] [Damage]
Dice Rolled:[ 9 d10 ] 3, 5, 5, 5, 5, 9, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 8 at target 4)

[Tangled Web.] Spider 3: x_x

[Tangled Web.] Astraea's gaze rests placidly upon Gossamer Wing, despite the state of affairs around her. A shadow of a smile touches her mouth, then is gone.

She looks foward, around her, about her. Her eyes close.

A shockwave crashes through the edifice, shattering the walls, causing bits of the webbing to come undone, allowing some of the exterior light in.

The spiders shudder and pale, their power sapped even as they try to keep their footing.

Outside, the ground cracks and shatters. The earth breaks open, allowing fresher earth to seep in as if it were water filling in the holes around it.

Nothing grows yet, but it will.

The Wyld.

Restoring balance.

--

They make quick work of everything after that. The spiders tear apart like wet paper towels - albeit paper towels soaked in sour milk. Broken Hammer protects his packmate - removes the threat, just as Laughs in the Face of Death's eyes are clearing and the rage is receding. He does not even pause to see the body fall, twisting away to dig his claws into the next victim.

This one survives the attack, but he does not survive the Sentinel's alpha. Neither does the next one.

It is perhaps with some relief that Broken Hammer feels the tiny spiders dropping off. Their slender legs have folded in toward the centres and they drop off like rain, a shower of dead insects to puddle at his feet.

The obelisk creaks alarmingly as the core begins to shift. The body of the Garou is still trapped, along with the remains and bones of previous victims. There is little left to the once-Silent Strider than skin and bones. All the muscle, meat and fat has been eaten away. Even the bones seem wrong, leached of their calcium, leaving them as fragile as an old man's.

Astraea begins to fade out.

The obelisk creaks again.

[Broken Hammer] As soon as the last of the spiders shake from his pelt, Broken Hammer is dropping into his lupus form, nipping at the flanks and heels of his packmates, urging them toward the exits.

"Out! Hurry! Out! Out!"

[Buried Hatchet] Hatchet lets out a single bellowed roar that is surrounded by Daniel's barking: "OUT." As though they needed the encouragement, the order, anything at this point, to know they need to get out of here. He leaves the Strider's body. He gets behind Joey, though, knowing she's just coming out of a frenzy, or may very well still be caught up in it

but Daniel is already nipping at her, harrying her out. Hatchet hangs back only to make sure Joss and Doodle get out, but he does not wait for Kemp. Kemp is, after all, an Adren. And a Fenrir one. He's not worried about him.

[Face of Death] Joey, dazed still from the recession of her frenzied rage, finds herself being crowded out of the tower. Her mind still fuzzy, still distant, she darts forward, racing out out of the tower of webbing as fast as her four legs will carry her.

[Gossamer Wing] It's over that fast. Astraea starts to fade, and she offers one final word of thanks, before she pushes herself to a stand, using a bit of the creaking wall to brace herself. She offers a hand to Doodle, and pulls him to his feet as well as she looks at the Dead Strider, in hopes of seeing something that will give a clue as to who he was.

...she sees nothing, and the structure creeks again...

Then is leading him for the nearest exit to ensure they both get out. "Doodle, GO!"

[Kemp Oates] He brushed off his hands, snorted and turned to strut his furry ass outside as if the shattering building was nothing. Even stomping on a baby spider or two on the way.

"Ugly fuckers."


Then he returned the painted gourd to Hatchet once out so it could be used on one of the injured.

[Tangled Web.] It tumbles down - like a souffle cake collapsing in on itself. First pieces toward the top crumble, then the sides, then farther down the sides, and down and down until the entire structure collapses - with the Garou barely a dozen feet outside of it.

Close enough to feel the rush of air as it goes.

Afterwards, a silence.

But a brief one. An air spirit scurries forward, ruffling Gossamer Wing's hair. A sparrow spirit flies over head, chirping.

It is hardly a resumption of normalcy.

But it is a start.

[Gossamer Wing] The air spirits ruffle through her dreads and she smiles - tiredly, absolutely - but a smile none the less.

But quickly, she stops a spirit on it's way by to ask softly... Who was he?

[Buried Hatchet] "Keep it," the Philodox says to Kemp when he offers back the pair of Gaia's Breath talens he gave him earlier. There is ichor in his fur. Bits of spider. A bad taste in his mouth. Dust all over him. He chuffs hard, spits out nastiness.

[Tangled Web.] A pause. The spirit is an air spirit, its form unending, unbeginning, nearly invisible but for the brush of wind against the Godi's skin, the sixth sense she has as a theurge.

It hums a little to itself at the question.

Then finally says: who was who?

None of the spirits will know the answer. The Silent Strider, whoever he was, died unnamed and unmourned by anyone who knew him. He'd had a family: they will give him up for dead eventually.

[Broken Hammer] "He did not die in vain, Rhya," Broken Hammer barks, running swiftly ahead with his packmates, the distance growing by the second. "Without him, we would not have known this abomination existed. In that sense, it was a Good Death, and Gaia will remember him for it!"

[Gossamer Wing] No one knows. She nods her thanks, and with a sift through her dreads the air spirits move on.

As does she, with Doodle, putting more distance between them and the fallen webbing and everything in the rubble. "There's your Sparrow, Doodle..." She points it out to the tired boy, and then with a ruffle of his hair, she grins. "Ice cream's on me."

To the Sentinals, she turns and nods, slightly - at once thanks for fighting by her side, and respect - they fight well together, all differences swept aside in the heat of battle.

Battle's over.

But to Kemp, she tips an irreverent wink, and then she turns with Doodle. She has work to do yet tonight - first and foremost, to see the young Theurge back to his pack.