Umbra: Bridge Street (100-400)
Bridge Street, like most of the rest of the city, is even more disgusting in the Umbra than in Realm. The power plant here is a travesty -- black filth belches into the sky, creating a dark cloud that hangs over the entire street like a sign of impending doom. The webs of the weaver are old and decayed to an extent here, running in haphazard, entropic patterns. The dim aura of despair and base negative emotion pervades the area, much as it does in the rest of the south end of the Umbral cityscape.
The devastation surrounding the vile blight of the factory lies southward. The city becomes darker and more decayed further to the southwest, where another street can be seen. A building nearby has the gleam of mirrored doors visible through the window. The one ray of hope comes from the Glade visible to the northeast.
Contents:
Alicia, John, Francisco
Obvious exits:
Southwest Power Plant Northeast

With the mid phase of the moon in place, the city Umbra is a despairing place to be. The only thing worse would be to think of the taint that has overcome parts of the Penumbra here, feeling almost as if it were waiting for the day when all the sludge and slime would burst from the sewers and engulf the Umbral buildings the way the black Darkness spirit had consumed Kyle. Still, the time for those dramatics is not now. And through the broken webs that hang off one particular building, there lies a tiny... miniscule... plot of land that struggles gamely for something non-tainted to be nourished there. In the Realm, it would be in the form of an overgrown vegetable garden, long since abandoned by whoever tended it to spit out weeds.

The three Garou step through the pane of Glass's reflection, into the Shadow. John in the lead, shifts into Crinos almost immediately after he steps through - and begins looking around for something he can use as a weapon. Spear or staff, something heavy would be nice. The Ice-Walker looks up, unable to see much of the moon, and scowls.

Ok, scratch the black moon deal. It's a little bit after the full moon moot, with the waning half moon out and lighting the sky, the Garou get a 50-50 shot in the dark.

(( Skyscraper pages: Is it okay if I have a satchel for cleansing rite/planting stuff?
From afar, Skyscraper has heard arguments over that in the lounge, so checks to be sure.
You paged Skyscraper with 'Sure, if ya like. I haven't heard arguments about it. What sort of planting stuff?'.
Skyscraper pages: Seedlings wrapped in damp towels, seeds, trowel, small bag of fresh dirt, things like that. Also a bottle of pure water and a pine branch with needles for the cleansing rite.
You paged Skyscraper with 'Sounds fine with me. Means you would have had to dedicate those things somehow, though.'. ))

Skyscraper, a satchel slung over his furry shoulder, prowls a few steps up and down the street, sniffing intently. His earrings flash in the light of his auspice-moon as he cups his ears towards that faint scent of struggling Wyld.

(( Walks-Thin-Ice pages: There a lead pipe or vent that might be torn from a building or something, to use as a weapon?
You paged Walks-Thin-Ice with 'In the Umbra? Not that you can reach, no.'. ))

Guards-Flame follows along with them, lumbering, glancing about the dark terrain of the Umbra curiously. She is sniffing carefully, claws flexing at her sides.

Walks-Thin-Ice stands tall and alert, head slowly turning to either side, as he considers the surroundings still. ~Somewhere near here. The streets like to bend, sometimes.~ Casting an eye over the pattern webs coating most of the buildings, he adds, ~Where the Weaver lets them.~

Under the -half- moon, the dark rectangles of two tenement buildings squeeze against the tiny plot of garden, shading half of it from view of the open air, and the other lit dimly. Here and there, pattern spiders scurry in their incessant spinning of webs, though there are markedly fewer here than one would think. The rest of those shadows, you think, are just that. Shadows. They don't seem to be moving... then again, the Umbra is a place where just about everything is alive with spirits sleeping. In the Realm, the garden was protected vaguely by a chain link fence separating it from the street. In the Umbra, a protecting web is spun across the entryway. It almost seems as you can't see the garden through the strands, but the more perceptive and those who had scouted this place in the Realm should know that somewhere in there lies Martha Stewart's weeding nightmare.

Skyscraper, definitely amongst the more perceptive, keeps staring and sniffing in that direction. He glances over his shoulder at his packmates. ~I think it's in there. Shall we investigate?~

~May as well, we got the whole night.~ Guards-The-Flame murmurs as she glances towards the garden, ears lifting upwards. ~Let me scan ahead and make sure the Wyrm isn't populating it too badly.~ With that, she steps forward, chanting, calling upon her sixth sense.

(( From afar, Guards-Flame activates sense wyrm ))

Walks-Thin-Ice simply stands at the read, stretching, flexing, and clenching his fingers, causing the joints to crack slightly.

(( You paged Guards-Flame with 'You got some Wyrm, but it is the general area itself that tingles with it. Nothing that particularly stands out right now.'. ))

Skyscraper lets the Galliard do her thang, settling down on his haunches and scanning around.

~Nothing out of the ordinary, but that doesn't mean anything these days. I still be cautious as we get closer, could be in for a surprise.~ The Gaian murmurs as she glances to John for approval.

The IceWalker gives the nod. ~Tear it down,~ he grunts. The Ahroun stands where he is, though, simply watching the area around them. Alert.

As the Garou approach, the web spun over between the two Umbral buildings twinkles lightly, each thread dimly refracting the ShadowMoon giving it an illusion of silver. The patterning vaguely resembles that rusty chainlink fence with the meager padlock in the Realm. It is the only visible obstacle that blocks the Garou from accessing the small garden.

Skyscraper shares a glance with Guards and paces forward, on the alert, approaching the gate-web. He pauses in front of it, eyeing it, then reaches out with a massive clawed hand to hook his talons into it and pull it down.

Gliding up along his side, the Gaian takes note of her surroundings, looking about for Spiders in case they wish to drop down in surprise.

As Francisco hooks his talons into the strands and pulls, it stretches. And stretches. And... The web holds fast. How annoying.

Walks-Thin-Ice frowns slightly, a faint rumble of discontentment sounding his throat. He watches their backs, still, though.

Skyscraper growls something obscene down in his chest, his moon affecting his mood, and unhooks his claws. Then he takes a slashing swipe at the web, meant to slit it open like the belly of a deer.

There doesn't seem to be anything coming for them. You could almost imagine the little tumbleweed spirit rolling by as the Roachpack groups beside these two buildings. Skyscraper's slash at the web yields some mild results as a few strands get cut away by the force of his claws and pull. It is now, though, that one realizes with a closer look at the web, just how unnaturally thick it seems to be.

Skyscraper glances over his shoulder at his alpha. ~This is going to take more work than it seemed.~

Walks-Thin-Ice inclines his head in agreement. ~Can any here make or summon fire? The initial burning would draw spiders, but we could /probably/ hold them off once they'd bound with fresh web.~

(( You paged Walks-Thin-Ice with 'You notice that the webfence is a bit more thick off to one side. The padlock side.'.
You paged Guards-Flame with 'Gah! That shadow there. Did it move? Something creeping up on you from behind? You don't like what you're feeling. Something's... wrong.'.
You paged Skyscraper with 'You notice that the side of the web with the padlock is thicker than the rest, but the threads look like they are stemming from it.'. ))

~Fuck guys.. something is coming up behind us. Shadows are moving.~ Alicia says, darting her eyes about, feeling the fur rise upon the back of her neck. ~Wyrm.~

There were a couple of pattern spiders that you had spotted earlier don't seem to be where they were anymore. Of course, they could have just moved off to a different part of the area.

Skyscraper shakes his head in response to Icewalker, but his attention is abruptly caught by Alicia, and his hackles rise.

The IceWalker takes Alicia's warning without any apparent reaction - he just looks about, slowly. ~Continue.~

(( Walks-Thin-Ice pages: Definitely watching our asses, now. :) ))

Skyscraper growls again and turns his attention to one specific area of the gateweb, where it's thickest. This he starts picking and pulling at, trying to cut it out of the rest of the web.

Glaring slightly at the darkness, Guards-The-Flame whirls around a few more times, noticing the spiders have drifted off. She swallows deeply in her throat, then summons her will to calm herself. She inches towards Skyscraper and begins to help in the task.

(( Skyscraper pages: Gonna try to destroy that bit, on the theory it'll make the web unravel. :) ))

Turning slowly, to watch all their asses, Walks-Thin-Ice clenches and unclenches his clawed hands uneasily. ~Need a weapon, if we're going to start doing this more often.~

As the halfmoon nitpicks at the web, he has a little bit of struggle with it. The strands stick coldly to the fur, sending up little freeze-dried feelings up his spiritual spine. The two watching his back and around find the area to be... unnaturally quiet. Then, a movement up top. Alicia sees it first. Beady eyes, creaky legs, and a rounded head... one Pattern spider peeks down upon the three. John sees another, from atop the second building.

Fixing his eyes on one of the spiders for a moment, the IceWalker's hackles rise, and he growls, *Fuck off.*

Skyscraper huffs on the icy little strands to melt them with metaphorical warmth from his metaphorical breath. His ears are swiveled backwards to listen to what's going on back there, as he tears at the knot of web.

(( Guards-Flame pages: You ok if I pull my rapier from dedication?
You paged Guards-Flame with 'If you want.'. ))

The Gaian growls loudly in her throat and soon summons her rapier from dedication, using a large paw to clutch about the handle of the long curved blade. ~Outta the way Scraper.~ She murmurs, whipping her arm back to slash through the web.

From atop these twin tenements, the two spiders move a little closer to the edge. John's spider happens to pause at his terse command. The spiders though, do not seem very pleased, no not at all. Then, with the slash of the web by Alicia's dedicated sword that just melts into her claws from that black fur of hers, the spiders cry out. They swoop over the edge of the rooftop, crawling against the side of the buildings, still too high to reach with claws.

(( You paged the room with 'Who's got Spirit Speech up ? John?'.
Walks-Thin-Ice pages to the room: Yeah. Me. ))

Skyscraper snorts at the Gaian. ~Well why didn't you say you had that?~ he rumbles, pulling back to let her strike.

(( You paged Walks-Thin-Ice with 'The spiders were pretty much saying, *NOoooo!* In a very disconcerted manner. Like, panicky.'. ))

Whack! The Child of Gaia swipes the blade down quickly upon the web with her heightened strength and speed, the shot painfully skillfull.

(( You paged Walks-Thin-Ice with 'And you know that Weaver spirits aren't known for their emotion, persay.'. ))

Stretching his shoulders out and lifting his head, Walks-Thin-Ice frowns at the chittering of the spiders. His eyes flare, and he stiffens - claws out by his sides. *Everyone /stop!/* he barks, in a combination of the Mother's Tongue, with a spirt-aimed twist. ~Back away from the web,~ he orders grimly.

Skyscraper obeys his alpha, loping away from the gate. From this point he can see the spiders, and his ears go flat.

~They may be binding something of the Wyrm. They /do not/ want this particular web disturbed,~ John growls softly to his packmates, as he waits to see what the Spiders will do.

Guards-Flame pulls back and halts the sword in mid air, catching herself. Turning her head about, she nods and holds he weapon at the ready instead. The two spiders freeze only momentarily from their downward descent. The web, so thick and seemingly taut at first, is cut loose and torn with a slash. The free strands now swing gently in an Umbral breeze. The spiders come quickly. Third floor. Second floor. First floor, lingerie. No, not quite. Up close they are pretty big, these two spiders. They look like twins, though every pattern spider you've seen probably looks something like this. Pausing at the respective sides of the buildings, they wait a little bit more. That Sense Wyrm that Alicia has going? It's getting stronger.

Teeth are bared. Walks-Thin-Ice begins to back slowly away from the fence, and the spiders, an eye straying to his own back. ~Wait. Watch.~

The Left spider is the first to act, crawling forward warily as its pupiless eyes watch first the Child of Gaia, then the two Glass Walkers. *No... no...* it repeats in a less panicked feel, though its backlegs work themselves, spinning again the web-lock. The Right spider hops off the building, landing right beside John. 10 eyes of various sizes stare at his tall crinos form unblinking. Then, it scuttles its way to join its twin in rebuilding the web. Their actions are smooth... they've been doing this for eternity after all. But that feeling of wrong, still persists. The hole of the web is still open. That rectangular plot of weeds, is right there for the cleansing and planting.

~Fuck.. spider sense is tingling. No pun intended. Wyrm is stronger now.~ The Gaian grumbles, taking a few steps back away from the webbing.

There is a slight rumble. A low buzz. It comes from the direction of the spiders, but doesn't seem to be directly from them. The Shadow air is cold. Very cold.

Walks-Thin-Ice simply straightens, rising a little taller and relaxing infintesmally. ~Let them rebuild their web. Keep watch. Then we leave. When we return, we bring fighters.~

Skyscraper bares his teeth at the cold shadow, hackles fully up, making him more fully resemble a vicious prehistoric beast. Glass Walkers are still Garou, after all.

Pacing slowly back and forth, the Gaian keeps her senses up and alert as she scans the garden, and then the spiders, sliding her sword back into its dedicated home.

The Right spider scuttles into the tiny garden plot, readying itself to reattach a fallen strand with one anew, when the darkness itself bursts from the shadows and crashes over the Spider. If a spider could scream, that's what this Pattern Spider would be doing. Quicker than the eye could follow, the blackness pulls back towards the shadowed part of the plot. The Left Spider shrieks as a solid looking spear of darkness pierces right through its abdomen and starts pulling it also back into the shadows. It writhes helplessly, web strands spraying erratically and sticking to the building side.

~Well fuck,~ the IceWalker mutters softly, bringing his claws back up. ~Darkness bane. Get out. /Move it/.~

And in a sinister, contented manner, the buzzing rumble grows louder. *Mm... Delicious...* it says again from inside the shadowed plot of land.

Skyscraper quivers for a moment, the Rage of his moon urging him to attack, then, his good sense and willpower overcoming the primal urge, runs back towards the park and the fountain.

(( You paged the room with 'Just to note, that spirit speech was understandable by all. :)'.
You paged the room with 'If you're all running, then yes. You all make it back to the park safe and sound, and 'all shook up, uh hunh hunh.''.
Walks-Thin-Ice pages to the room: Suits me.
Skyscraper pages to the room: Hokay :)
You paged the room with 'Thank you for Playing. Game Obah! :D'.
Walks-Thin-Ice pages to the room: We must come back in a few hours to beat it up with some reinforcements. ))