Bird On Your Head

9/14/2005

06:31 PM
Logfile from GarouMUSH.

Currently the moon is in the waxing Gibbous Moon phase (75% full).
It is currently 18:28 Pacific Time on Wed Sep 14 2005.

Bridge Street(#2898RJ)
All the way from Fifth to Twelfth, tenements crowd together tightly, interspersed with a few shops and little stores. A single, larger grocery store decorates a part of the block from Eighth to Ninth. Bars create a grill over the windows of the littler stores, and smells reminiscent of a garbage dump waft from many of the small alleyways. It is nothing unusual to hear a shot, or many shots, ring out from any of the area, nor to see swaggering teenage boys in leather eyeing those who pass, especially women.
Obvious exits:
Dark Alley  Tenement Building  North  West  East  

Overlooking the street below, Yi closes her eyes against the quiet breeze that blows over the rooftops of St. Claire's southside tenements. Her hands are bandaged tautly, made slightly dirty by their contact with the roof. "It's different up here isn't it?" the Gnawer asks the cub. "From up here, things seem so much smaller, and so much bigger."

Basil stands there looking in the direction of of someone's window, perhaps hoping to catch a glimpse of someone else's life. "It's not as dirty. You can see more. And you can feel the wind. I wonder if the webs are weaker at the top of buildings." He drags his eye over to his elder, studying her hands briefly. "You have a run in with something that didn't agree with you?"

Up on the rooftop of a tenement, the Gnawer ragabash and ahroun sit and stand looking out over the city from above. "It is clearer. But they say if you climb a mountain, the hardest place to breathe is at the top." The ragabash gazes to her hand. "It would have been hard to notice. I wonder if Tracer is okay." The hand is relaxed back upon her bent knee.

Basil says "Tracer... Tracer... I don't think I know here, but I ran into another wounded Garou this mornin'. Leg was off. And I thought I had it bad with this eye... " He shrugs his shoulders, then smiles at Yi. "It isn't so bad. I just tend to over compensate by a large amount on anything needin' distance now. Especially jumping. Better than under compensating." He plops down into a sit, pulling his knees up in front of him. "Walkers get a lot of bad luck."

Yi looks over as the cub sits. "Tracer. Skip Tracer, or Elanora as her human name is called. She is the one we went with last night. And she.. tore her leg off. To save herself." She looks away again, out past the landscape. "Maybe the Walkers do have worse luck than we do." Her knee gets pulled closer, sighing softly. "The Shadow is still dangerous as ever. Even with the fat moon."

Something with a five foot wingspan descends on the pair of walkers and lands rather neatly on the top of Yi's head. "Nevermore," the large raven croaks.

Basil says "Ooooooh. Ela! I know her. The albino woman, right? I found her earlier this mornin'. She's doing better than you'd think, even had enough energy to growl at me and Kevin's alter ego for fighting." He nods. "Really. I'm uneasy enough in the 'Bra, but in the city 'Bra... The little hairs on the back of my neck stand up and do jumping jacks." He looks over, scooting a tad away from Yi in surprise. "You've got bird on you."

Yi goes from a spaced out expression to sudden surprise, her bandaged hands instinctively reaching up. But instead of swatting at the raven on her head, she offers the bird a more appropriate perch of her wrist. "Aiya... Val, you should know better than to surprise me like that on a fat moon. And your talons pinch." The ragabash glances back over to Basil. "I do not think you have met Val yet, have you?"

Finds-Stories easily hops onto Yi's offered wrist, beak poking at the bandages on her hand. Beady black eyes are bright with curiosity, as the raven looks between Yi's face and her bandaged hand.

Basil says "Val... Val Val Val Val... " The Ahroun studies the bird carefully, lifting his hands up to the sides of his head. "Val... The bird lady that Brom keeps chasing off?" Basil asks, not sounding all too sure of himself. "Never seen a bird like this so close up." He leans in a bit further, cautiously, but stays out of what he guesses to be it's pecking range. "Pretty lookin'."

Yi nods. "Val is also a shapechanger. Only her forms are that of a raven. She has helped up scout many places out in the past. Even the farmhouse with the tainted animals was her sharp eye that caught it." The fostern keeps her wrist steady, looking back to the bird. "A small mistake," she explains, using her free hand to illustrate. "We ran into a trap in the Umbra, last night." She tries to keep a sense of humor, though it's evident that the ragabash isn't quite so at ease about it. "That will teach me to go poking my nose where it doesn't belong. Too much of Salmon's water is still in me, I guess."

Finds-Stories rrrrups, cocking her head to one side. "Trap?" She repeats back at Yi, in the Ragabash's voice.

Basil says "A Weaver thing that was acting strangely. It lured them, and a Wyrm thing attacked... Yeah?" He asks Yi, then turns his attention back to the bird. "Must be nice to be able to fly and all. It'd be really helpful in the Umbra too. How long have you been able to fly around like that?"

"It is hard to say," Yi answers Basil, her brow wrinkling. "But it was a trick. Maybe the dumpster-spirit's illusion, or maybe the pattern spider's. I should have guessed. The normal spider had red eyes..." The ragabash shakes her head again, trying to dispel the thoughts that cloud her mind. "Anyway, the important thing is that we managed to stay alive." She looks back to the raven. "I.. how long has it been since you changed, Val?"

Finds-Stories turns her head and begins to straighten out her primary feathers, declining to answer.

Basil says "Either way, I don't think I like it. Spider or the dumpster. Especially not if they're working together. The Wyrm and the Weaver... " He shakes his head. "Wait, /dumpster/?" He stares at Yi for a moment, then glances at the bird again. "So, are you anything like the Raven spirits? They are pretty neat."

Yi gives the bird a wry look before shaking her wrist up and down to unstabilize the raven's perch. "What happened to all that 'no secrets' talk?" she asks the bird. The shaking doesn't last long. Looking back to Basil, she nods. "It looked like a dumpster, but it could have just /looked/ that way. I am not a theurge. Naming these things is not my strength." She looks back to the raven, hoping the feathers haven't been ruffled too much.

Finds-Stories flapped her wings and squawks somewhat as Yi's arm moves up and down. When the Ragabash looks back at her, the Raven is all fluffed up like a giant feather duster. Turning around, the raven hops off of Yi's hand and waddles off a short distance away.

Basil rubs his chin for a bit in thought, then flops out on the roof with a yawn. "Well I'm glad I wasn't there. I'm not too good in the Umbra. Better in the 'real' world, where the rules are less likely to go all crazy like that." He looks at the bird and chuckles, then turning back to Yi. "I'd say take Olga to have a look at it, but it's probable they'd be expectin' you to have another look. Could be a double trap."

Yi looks after the bird, an eye narrowing at her fluffed feathers. "Oh Val. You know I was joking." She shakes her head, turning back to Basil. "Well either way, you should learn a little bit about spirits some time. I am sure Olga has some things more that she does not tell you about, but all Garou... and even Corax... are part spirit." The newmoon considers. "I... do not think we will go back to fight that dumpster. It is not necessary to... yet."

Now that she is a short distance away, the large raven turns into a woman and promptly sits. "About eight years ago." Val replies to the earlier question, looking over at Basil. "And Yi, its kind of hard to talk to you when I have a beak, you know. Not that ravens really have all that many words that have to do with numbers. Other then many, or lots. Doubt that wolves are all that different." The woman pauses a moment, thinking. "Well, maybe they do. Running in packs and all that."

Basil raises an eyebrow at her, watching her shift with some amount of interest. "Damn, thats a lot longer than I'll probably live. I guess the whole flying thing really helps with not being caught and all that, doesn't it?" He looks towards the street, seeming to think for a moment or two. "I bug Olga for spirit stuff more than a little. She just doesn't say a whole lot most of the time.

Yi turns and pokes Basil with a wrapped finger. "Hey, I am almost seven years in this Garou thing, and I am still alive. Some of us, for much longer. So don't talk about living or dying like that just yet." The ragabash then looks back to Birdwoman. "It is difficult, but not impossible. After all, you could imitate my voice, can you not?"

Val scratches at her nose. "It doesn't work quite like that, I am afraid. I can repeat what I have heard, as I have heard it." To demonstrated, Val opens her mouth and the sounds of the Hospital fire are revisited. The roaring flames, the screams, sirens, and people shouting in the background.

Basil pokes his Elder back in the side, flashing her a grin. "Maybe, but you're a bit more competent." He turns his attention back to Val, seeming genuinely impressed by the woman's ability. "Must be useful. Especially if you want to blackmail someone. You're like a like a living tape recorder or something."

Yi grimaces instead of grinning. Pulling a face, she nods slightly to the Corax's talent. "It is a handy skill," she admits. "Have you seen where the Nexus Crawler has gone to, by any chance? Though I do not expect you would have gone into the Umbra so quickly after that disaster. And the small moon."

Val shrugs. "Oh, I've seen him about. Mostly just been seeing old nasty in the financial district. Likes to cause trouble, but tends to back off when the spiders start mustering their forces. Even something that big doesn't want to mess with hundreds of pissed off pattern spiders."

Basil says "Mmmm... Too bad the spiders can't make themselves invisible, or it could be anchored to a spot temporarily. They'd probably have a bigger chance of bringing it down than we do." He pauses, then looks at the two women. "What does a Nexus Crawler look like anyways? Does it ever communicate?"

Yi looks to Val sharply. "It still exists? Up in the financial district?" The fostern furrows her brows. "So much for hoping it would have gotten weaker by the explosion." Glancing back to Basil, the ragabash shrugs. "The important thing is, the Nexus Crawler is powerful, and it would take many packs of Garou to destroy it. Maybe it is not even possible to kill. If it does communicate, I do not really want to know what it thinks."

Val just sort of stares at Basil. "Hey, if you want to try talking to it you can go right ahead. The last Nexus Crawler I saw was a lot smaller and weaker then this one. Pack of Garou went up against it and they won, but three of them died. The Crawler turned one of them into a house cat, then ate him. They can do stuff like that. Really, really, scary."

Basil lifts his hands up then drops them back down to his sides. "I know they're powerful, and unpredictable, and such. I just thought that over the years someone would have made some sort of contact. Given what I've heard though, they're likely to say something like 'I like piggies', then kill you."

Yi rubs at the back of her neck. "It is a spirit of the Wyrm. Maybe the only purpose it has it to create balance by destruction. But with the Wyrm's balance distorted, then who knows what its purpose is now." She looks back to Val, making another face. "And one big problem is all those spiders. If we fought the Nexus Crawler... we might win. But the spiders do not care about that. They will try to make order from that chaos, even if it means binding us all in webs."

Val gives her head a shake. "Personally, I'd say that you wouldn't stand a chance against this fellow. He is huge, ancient."

Basil pulls his arms behind his head and shrugs. "And the Wyld has no plan at all. It's chaos and creation unbound, which... I kind of like, especially compared to the Weaver. But... Hum. But even too much of that would probably be bad."

Yi slowly pushes up to her feet. "Too much of anything is not good, because everything exists to balance each other." As she brushes off her bandages hands, the fostern takes stock of the others on the roof. "Still, we all need to work together, and make sure this city does not get too bad." She smiles faintly. "So on that note, I should probably be making plans with Olga to deal with some things that need to be dealt with. Like dealing with that ice spirit in the freezer of that dirty taco restaurant."

Val nods and yawns, stretching out her arms. "Still haven't dealt with that? Wow. I told you about that place a long time ago now. Well, at least you guys dealt with that smog spirit. I'm guessing that you did, anyway, considering that I can't find it anymore."

Basil says "Mmhm. If we don't work together, we certainly won't achieve anything. All of us operating alone won't do as much as an organized group." He rises up to his feet after Yi does, stretching out with a yawn. "Whats this about an ice spirit?"

Yi rolls a shoulder. "It might take some time, but we get to it. And the moon /is/ getting better for this sort of thing." The ragabash finally manages to push a smirk to the side of her lip. "Well Basil, the summary of it is, Val here told Olga about a place not far from the Odeon - Bito's Tacos. You have probably seen it before. And people were getting sick, but everyone kept going back anyway. So Val found a corrupted ice spirit there. We will just.. have to clean it up. Later." She attempts to scratch at her cheek, but with a bandaged finger, the Gnawer isn't so fortunate. "Well, in the end, things will get done."

"Oh well, let you know if anything else needs doing," Val notes as she stands, waves goodbye, and then makes a run for the building's edge. The woman turns into a raven before she reaches the edge, strong powerful wings quickly carrying her out of sight.

Basil says "If it's an ice spirit... " Basil thinks. "And it's in a freezer, then why not just hit with an Umbral molotov? It'll at least weaken it, and then the group could probably kill it. Plus, the melting ice in the freezer would put out the fire. Uh. I think." He hums a bit, then waves Val off. "See you later nice bird lady!"

Yi lifts a hand in farewell to the Corax, glancing back to Basil. "I sometimes wonder if she is offended by being called 'bird lady'. Oh well." She shrugs. "Anyway... what is a 'molotov'?"

Basil looks back to Yi, lifting his hands again. "But I mean it in the nicest way, and I don't chase her away with a hammer." He thinks, stroking his chin for a moment. "A molotov is when you take fuel, and sometimes oil, and mix it together in a bottle. Then you stick in an oily rag. Light rag, throw bottle. Bottle breaks, flames ignite fuel and oil, oil causes the flames to stick to things. It's like poor man's napalm."

"Ooh, yes I know what that is," Yi says with an understanding nod. "Did not know it was called a .. molotov." She tries out the word again, and then nods again, to herself. "Well, it is a little harder to make things like that. The kind that would be very effective in the Umbra, that is. When you are in the Shadow, sometimes things do not work the way you think they will. But it could be possible, yes. Maybe easier if you had the power of a spirit to support you."

Basil says "Well, it's said to have come from Russia during a revolution or something. So I guess molotov is the name of something Russian." He shrugs. "Anyways, I guess it probably won't work all too great in the whacky whacky Umbra, but it's worth a shot. maybe someone that isn't as good at close range stuff could throw it. If it works, you gain something. If it doesn't, you attack right after and you still have the element of surprise. Thats one thing I like about the real world though, you *know* what will and what won't work, most of the time."

Yi shrugs, but gives a small smile. "And sometimes you think something will work, but it does not. 'Gaia has a sense of humor. Or else she would not have made the platypus.'" Yi's eyes go to gauge the distance off a section of roofing to another. "I read that in a book somewhere, in the library."

Basil smirks back at her. "I've heard that before, expect with them saying God instead. Crazy things. Imagine if there were Were-Platypuses. Or Were-Gators. Gators would actually be kinda cool, but very scary. I wouldn't wanna run into one." He looks up towards the sky, studying the moon in particular. "I hope I pull through my Rite."

"There are dragons," Yi does note, also looking skywards. "Well, you have to imagine. But Grandmother Rui knows a dragon. She knows many kinds of other shapechangers. Maybe not always getting a chance to talk to them, but she knows them." She glances over to the ahroun again. "You will get though, I think. Just have faith in yourself and those around you." She reaches out and motions for them to move. "Come on. I think we have looked over this part of the city long enough. Be careful when you jump."

Back | Next | 2005 Logs | Main