3/26/2005

09:47 PM
Logfile from GarouMUSH.

Currently the moon is in the waning Full Moon phase (89% full).
Currently in Saint Claire, it is raining. The temperature is 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the southwest at 7 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 29.84 and steady, and the relative humidity is 93 percent. The dewpoint is 48 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius.)
It is currently 21:24 Pacific Time on Sat Mar 26 2005.

Lonely Hilltop(#2092RJ)
This is a truly odd place, startling in its abrupt change of scenery. It is a large, grass-covered hill, without so much as a single tree on it. However, all around the foot of the hill, the forest crowds in, trees packed densely together. A large stone, perhaps three feet in diameter, sits on top of the hill. One face has been sheared away as though by a great axe, leaving a glimmering reflective surface. From the hilltop, it is almost possible to see over the treetops, but not quite. The greater heights of the eastern mountains are visible from it, in distant, hazy splendor. There is an air of peacefulness that hangs over the place, almost a sleepy feeling. Most of the time, few noises can be heard except for the blowing of the wind.
The dark green of the forest surrounds the hill on all sides. Going any direction will likely be something of a struggle.
Contents:
Stacey
Dillen
Obvious exits:
Forest

Dillen nods his head and proceeds to lift the piece of wood that he has separated. His arms bulge as he lifts the log and places it on the foundation of the pyre. "Good. Sounds like someone we could use." He grunts as it falls into place and he reaches for more of the cord, tying the log into place.

Stacey frowns as she watches Dillen. "Ya need any help with that? Just tell me what needs doin'." She nods and shrugs then. "Yeah, she did seem like someone who would be useful. And another Uktena! Maybe she'll be easier to question than Reggie. I have yet to be able to pin him down and make him tell me about his tribe, like he said he would when I was a cub."

Dillen turns and looks at Stacey. "If you wish to help, it is your decision. This is not for me that I do this." He just keeps wrapping the cord around a join.

Kenneth's heavy footfalls squelch through the rain, as the Shadow Lord appears climbing through the mounds with a rather large bundle of wood tied down and hoisted across his shoulders. It appears to be heavy even for the halfmoon in Glabro, whose mane-like hair has grown slick with the rain. As he comes upon the other two, he pauses, looking upon them with dark eyes.

Stacey steps forward, offering a up a smile to Dillen, then she reaches for the cord, gently taking it away from him. She then takes over the job of tying down the log, wanting to be of some help and also to free Dillen up for other work. Kenneth is give a fleeting glance and a small smile.

Dillen turns and looks to Kenneth. He stops in his tracks, seeing the bundle on the others back. Slowly his head bows low and then he walks back to pick up the axe, moving to the log that lays on the ground to be support for the rest. "Kenneth." He says quietly, going back to chopping the log for the last bit of the frame. "Thanks for the wood. Care to help?" He looks up and to his packmate, the rain pouring down his face.

Kenneth steps forward a few more paces, and with a dull thump and clatter, dumps the wood he'd gathered onto the ground. With a grunt, he looks over at the pyre being built with a long, silenced gaze before acknowledging the other two. "Don't get me wrong..." he rumbles with a tight rein on himself, "I just thought burning would be more convenient to get rid of the evidence." The halfmoon then looks up to the skies. "Everything just goes against us these days doesn't it?" he snorts.

Stacey stops her tying to look up at Kenneth, giving him a good, long, piercing stare. "Evidence?" she repeats, wrinkling her nose, then she snorts, as if she doesn't believe a word he's saying, and goes back to her job.

Dillen turns to face Kenneth. "As you wish. I plan to honor one that I called friend and pack." He goes back to chopping. "Damn sure nobody else is going to." A few really hard chops into the log and the piece falls off. He reaches down and pulls it up, moving it over to place it on the frame, one end dragging the ground.

Kenneth stares right back at Stacey, but Dillen's words rankle the halfmoon more. He turns abruptly, jabbing a finger at the Get's direction accusingly. "/You/. You weren't at the moot. There are a damn lot of people who do give a damn about Lucas. To the point that a fuckin' Silver Fang wants to have the honor of performing the Gathering. For a Shadow Lord. For Lucas." The finger curls back into the fist it originated from. "So shove it." He looks back to the bundle of wood angrily, and then to the pyre.

Dillen turns and looks at Kenneth. "Do you want to have some big public thing? Where everyone can come and gawk at him? I missed the moot because I was where I needed to be, guarding this corpse, wanting to see who came to honor him, wanting to see who came to know who he was." He flexes his hand around the axe. "How would Lucas want to go out? With some great ceremony? Or with the people who actually gave a shit about him doing it themselves? I'd rather have it this way. Just us. The ones that fucking mattered to him. If you want it different, take the corpse from me. But I will tell you know. I will DIE before you do."

Stacey glances warily between Kenneth and Dillen, pausing in her tying again as they exchange words. She remains silent, at least for the moment, although she looks ready to leap between them or speak up if necessary.

Kenneth peels his lips back. "The /Body/ is Not what matters now!" Kicking away a pebble with his bare and muddied foot, the Shadow Lord grits his teeth. "Wolves don't hang around a packmate's carcass for three fucking days without eating. They'd die if they didn't move on and keep going! God, you think I don't give a shit at all?" The halfmoon glares at the two of them. "The truth is that I Don't Fucking Know how Lucas wanted to go out, and You don't know either. You wanna burn the body? Fine by me. But I'll be damned if Lucas doesn't get a /proper/ Garou burial, one where every Garou in this shithole can come a give Lucas the proper respect he deserves, as Ahroun, as Shadow Lord, as Garou! Where his spirit can finally give every single one of these fuckers who didn't think he was worth anything a big fat flip of the bird."

Dillen cannot help but get a smile to his lips. "Now that is what I have been wanting to hear." He steps closer to Kenneth. "You know he will not get a burial like that. In your heart you know this." Dillen voice takes on a whole different tone, one of compassion and truth. "He will not be buried at the mounds like an honorable garou, even though we know he was. They will fight it too much. They will come and yell and complain about how he was tainted and should not be there. I have already heard it. Nothing but the bad. Not that he was probably one of the BEST this place ever fucking had." His jaw clenches. "I want this for us. A proper burial when we talk about what he did for US. Not what happened that was wrong. Those days are past. It is what he meant to us that matters, Kenneth. What matters to us..." His voice cracks off at the end, a growl coming out. Not of anger, but of frustration with the general situation.

Stacey finishes tying the log down and then stands up, relieved that the situation didn't escalate to blows. "There is merit to what you both say. It's a good idea to allow the rest of the Sept to mourn or at least show some respect in some way, and it's also good, I think, for Lucas' friends to be able to gather and tend to things as they need, to honor him as their friend, tribemate, or packmate." She goes then to get another bit of rope, to tie down another part of the foundation.

Kenneth starts to say something until Stacey gives her piece. "You don't know what the fuck is in my heart," he snaps at Dillen, black gaze flaring with colorless anger. "So just go on and have it." The Shadow Lord turns away, stalking away a few paces, but slowing to a stop when he's a fair distance from the others.

Dillen rolls his eyes and growls. "I am asking you to think. Asking you to make a decision." He folds his arms across his chest. "You are the philodox, I put this in your hands to make a decision as to what to do."

Stacey sighs a bit as Kenneth stalks away, then nods to what Dillen says. "He's right there, Kenneth. It's not just Dillen's choice here. You both were packmates and friends of Lucas'. And you, Kenneth, were is tribe-mate. Of all of us, you probably have the most say about what happens to him. If you really object to this, then tell us and explain why, so that Dillen and I can understand, and we can all come to an agreement. It won't do for there to be hard feelings over this. That would be contrary to the purpose of this whole thing, wouldn't it?"

Kenneth turns back around, slower this time under the rain as he shifts down to his birthform. "All I'm saying," he replies tensely as he approaches the both of them again, "is that Lucas is still gonna get a Gathering rite whatever-the-hell-it's-called, so that the /other/ Garou who really did give a damn can have a chance to freakin' show up and say their piece too." The Shadow Lord looks at the pair, eyes glittering with an inner malice. "Because I'll be fuckin' damned if only the three of us are the ones to show up." He turns on Dillen. "No matter /what/ you say about him not getting honored in this place."

Dillen still stands there, lookin at Kenneth. "SO what do we do, Philodox?

Stacey also stands still, watching Kenneth. "I'm honestly not calling the shots here. I'm just gonna be there no matter when and how this happens. So... I guess it's all up to you, Kenneth, on whether we should continue or wait until the word has spread to others. If you choose to wait and Dillen still wants to honor Lucas with the few of us, perhaps we could go somewhere warmer, have something warm to drink and exchange stories?" She shrugs. "But it's all your call now, Kenneth."

Kenneth wipes off the rain beading and dripping off his face, staring at the two. "Burn 'im then," he snorts out after a short pause. "If you can get the fire goin' in this weather."

Dillen nods his head and heads for the foundation, picking up the wood that Kenneth brought on the way. "Then someone needs to head to the farmhouse and get some gas." He hefts the wood up and heads for the frame, beginning to lay it all out as a bed for the body.

Stacey tilts her head and frowns at Dillen. "I wouldn't mind going down there, myself, but where do you think gas would be kept? I never really had much use to know that before."

Kenneth simply folds his arms over his chest. "Somehow I doubt we have access to gasoline at the farmhouse," he notes blandly. "Especially with cubs around there."

Dillen runs a hand across his face, wiping the rain from it. "I will get the gas. Trust me." He drops the lumber to the ground and turns to walk that direction. "Just finish getting the lumber laying across the frame, make sure there is enough to burn, enough to hold him up." He keeps walking, headed towards the farmhouse.

Stacey watches Dillen as he walks off and then shrugs. "Well, I guess he knows something we don't," she mutters and then stoops down to finish with the Foundation.

Kenneth watches Dillen go, waiting until the Get is out of sight before he begins to move and help to an extent. Obviously, the Shadow Lord doesn't exactly know what he's doing, but tosses on wood to the growing pile. All of it done in grim silence.

After a long while, Dillen comes walking back up to the hilltop, two large five gallon gas cans at either side. "Don't ask how I got back so soon. Don't really want to tell about the rope harness I had to make to strap these things to me in lupus." He shakes his head and walks to the pyre. "Nice job." As he sets down the cans and looks over to the bag. "Come help me lift him."

Kenneth looks over after a final check of the wet wood. As Dillen returns far sooner than he had expected, the halfmoon narrows his eyes just long enough before he goes over to the bag. "You're not plannin' on burning the Hefty too are you?"

Stacey looks up and smiles as Dillen approaches. "Nice job yourself," she says, nodding towards the gas cans. She also walks over to the body, ready to help if needed. She frowns at Kenneth. "Think we should take him out of it, then?"

Dillen shakes his head. "No. Just using it to get him there. We slice the bag one it gets onto the pyre and pull it out from under him." He ponders for a moment. "Unless you would rather take him out from the bag over here." He looks down at it and then back to the others.

Kenneth shrugs again. "Jus' burn the whole thing then," he mutters without flourish, hoisting the bag up onto the pyre with assistance. "Whatever makes things work."

Stacey gives a slightly exasperated look to Kenneth and then nods to Dillen. "We can pull it out from under him. No use burning the plastic. Bad smell and bad for the environment."

Dillen nods and helps the others heft the body up and onto the wood. Once he is settled, Dillen pulls a knife from his pocket and sets about carving the black plastic from around Lucas. Surely to be a gristly sight beneath it, he keeps going, cutting the plastic away. "Just hope we can get it lit..." As he cuts away the last bit of the bag except for some that lies beneath the corpse. He steps away and looks at the whole set up and then fishes into his pocket. "I took this off Jarred. Kenneth, just thought you would know what to do with it." He turns and holds the two rings out to the other. His and Lucas' ring. "Throw them into the fire... Or keep them to remember." His flat hand holds them out to Kenneth.

Kenneth looks on as the bag is cut, shoulders tensing. Then, with the rings being brought out, the Shadow Lord's eyes focus like a hawk onto the bands. For a brief moment of silence, he just stares from Dillen to the jewelry. His hand then swipes over the Get's and takes the rings into his possession, gripping the both of them tightly.

Stacey looks from the rings to Kenneth, and then back to the pyre. Her gaze doesn't linger long there, as it's not a pretty sight, and she turns to Dillen. "So now we pour the gas on? It should work, right?"

"Now we pour." Dillen the walks to pick up a can and comes over to the pyre. He looks down at Lucas and runs a hand over the corpse's face. He says a few quiet words and then begins to pour the gas over the wood and all.

Kenneth doesn't spare too much of glancing at the rotting remains, going over to pick up one of the cans of gasoline. "White Bear'd probably freak out if he finds out we're doin' this." Which seems to be precisely why the Shadow Lord is proceeding with it, unscrewing the cap. After a pause, he looks back up. "Any of you got the light?"

Stacey frowns at Kenneth's statement. "In which case, if anyone shows up, I'm running. You know I'm Guardian in Jacinta's place for the next two months? Under Holly in peace and under White Bear in war, pretty much. Just aiding the pack and all."

Dillen nods his head. "I do." As he reaches for a stick of wood, reaching into the pocket of his jacket and pulling out a handkerchief, he wraps it around the stick. Then douses it with gas. A zippo comes from his pocket. "Belonged to my dad." He says quietly, looking at the others. "Anybody want to say something. Here is your chance." He holds the lighter up, ready to set the torch aflame, and then the pyre.

Kenneth just goes on with pouring the gasoline liberally, emptying the whole can. Once that's done, he sets the metal can down and steps back. "Congrats," he utters as his comment to Stacey, clearly not envying her position. Then, he looks back to Dillen.

Stacey glances at Kenneth, as though waiting for him to speak first. When he's rather silent, the young girl folds her hands, her gaze now on the body. "Lucas was my friend," she says softly. "He was always kind to me, and he encouraged me when I needed it most. He helped me find my path, my balance between tribe and auspice. It's because of Lucas that I am Walks-the-Middle-Road now. He had a good and noble soul." Such is the Child of Gaia's assessment of the late Shadow Lord.

"To one who was taken from us before he could be what he was made to be... A great leader and friend." He then sets the torch ablaze. "Lucas. You got the bad end of life. We send you up into Gaia's arms, a warrior and leader. You were never given the life you deserved." He looks to the sky and bulks up to Crinos. ~You are burned as an honored one, by friends hands and no longer by the rage that plagued you so. Thunder's-Forge, Lucas Whistler, Fears-No-Darkness. You gained your honor when you died." The torch is laid onto the pyre and it erupts with flame and gas.

Kenneth says nothing, until the pyre flares to life and burns brightly. For a time, the fire just burns, and then the Shadow Lord speaks. "There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under Heaven. A time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. A time to search and a time to give up as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace." The Shadow Lord looks on the flames, eyes glittering with the dancing light. "What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils? I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves. He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor--it is the gift of God." Taking a step forward, the halfmoon holds out his fist which holds the rings, and opens it palm up to stare at the glittering gold and emerald. "I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him." The hand closes again once more around the rings. "That which is has been already and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by."

Stacey stares into the fire as the others speak, mesmerized by the flames, trying to hold back the tears that threaten to fall. Now is a time for strength, is it not? Her gaze does shift to Kenneth briefly as he speaks, although it takes a moment for her eyes to once again adjust to the darkness. This is the second time she has heard him quote something to spiritual. Looking back to the pyre, she adds a quiet, murmured, barely audible, "Return to Gaia with honor, Lucas-rhya."

Dillen gives a deep and low growl in his throat. It grows in volume as do the flames, taking over where water soaked wood holds the body of Lucas, combining the incorporeal air with the flames and lifting the ash into the air. He sings a low song, very guttural and butchered in crinos. Then he lifts his head and a great howl breaks into the air, joining with the flame and ash, long and loud as long as his lungs will hold it.

Kenneth tightens his grip on the rings as Dillen's howl rings out. Then, as if unable to contain the beast lying within, the Shadow Lord too travels through the shapes and stops at the warform, muzzle raising up and howling long and loud in what could only be an ominous dirge.

Stacey flows up into her Crinos form as soon as she hears Dillen's howl. She throws back her head, pointing her muzzle towards the fat moon, and adds her own higher-pitched howl to theirs, her young voice filled with a bittersweet sorrowful tone.