These Stories are True....

[Emily Makerith]

It was a few days since the somewhat shaky introductions at the Railyard and Emily had been accepted into Carillon Call.Even so - it still felt new. Vulnerable. Chatting with Chris made her realise she actually did know more about spirits than others - reminded her than maybe, just maybe, she could be good at her job again if there was People to run with. Tristan had his role corralling the Herd. Viola was... fuck knows. Angry at anyone that isn't her. Maybe I'll figure that out, but I doubt it.. Emily's idle thoughts bounced over the group as she drove her old Beetle over to the edge of the territory.

Tonight, nomatter who else was around, it was the Alpha she wanted to see. Hector was a mystery to her, and that filled her with questions. He was also a pain in the ass to contact, the Ithaeur realised all too quickly. But he wanted to know her stories, and she had questions to ask. But first she had to find him.

A few extra minutes in the morning to dedicate an outfit always felt like time well spent. It made changing from so much easier. A few minutes walk from the edge, away from prying eyes, Emily walks behind a carriage....

  1 success to be Urhan

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-06-20 18:40:36		Emily rolls 4 to Shapeshift! (10 Again)		6, 10, 2, 1, 2		1 success

...and a sleek, silvery-grey wolf emerges at the other end. Bounding off through the packs territory, Emily-wolf follows her nose, tracking down Hector. He had to be here somewhere...

I know Emily is looking for Hector here, but I don't mind running into anyone else!

[Hector]

Hector is out by the river, taking a morning dip.

In Urhan.

In the uncertain hours before and after dawn.

He is at the furthest extent of their territory, in the 'safety' of Triscornia Park. Across from their position, the American and Sacramento River's merge, flanked on all their banks by parkland. At this hour, the thrust of human activity is geared toward waking and travelling to work.

[Emily Makerith]

Emily-wolf pads slowly down t the bank, watching Hector-wolf... frolic seems to be the only suitable term. In the wolf-skin there is something care-free bout him. The few Alphas she saw before were dour sorts. Then again, first impressions could be misleading. She hadn't seen him out on the hunt, in the wilds.

<<Alpha. Greetings!>> Emily-wolf barks lightly. she laps a few gulps of water from the river and reclines under a tree.

  Fabulous transformation!

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-06-21 06:50:05		Emily rolls 4 to Shapeshifting! (Stamina 2 + Survival 1 + Pirmal Urge 1) (10 Again)		10, 8, 10, 6, 10, 4, 4		4 successes

Stretching out languidly, Emily-wolf grows out into Emily the person, complete with a band-top and jean-shorts. She cracks her joints with a sound of satisfaction.

"So, uh, Hector? I kinda wanted to talk to you," she calls at the swimming wolf. "I got a few questions about what the Pack has gotten up to here. And you wanted to know my story, so I thought I could tell you that too." The Ithaeur hesistates. "Um, I'd also like to meet your... our...Totem. Assuming there is one. I mean, after 6 months I'd be surprised if there wasn't, right? But I wanna know if there are any Bans I need to be aware of or anything. Last thing I wanna do is piss a Totem off by mistake." She wathces Hector with a cocked head.

[Hector]

Hector bounded up like an exuberant puppy and dried himself sending a shower of water droplets from his coat. He was a lean wolf and now looked positively starving.

<<Claim territory. Fight Magath. Chase away... skin shifter.>>

Hector did not change. Instead he sat attentively at Emily's feet and growled. Very. Slowly. To ensure correct communication.

<<You see Necessary Guile in time. When Totem see fit. Necessary Guile always on own path. Always around somewhere. Terms of pact still being made>>

NOTE: We have a Totem but the details have not been ironed out yet

The other PrP is still "happening" so Hector can't really reference it yet.

[Emily Makerith]

Emily nods slowly. Spirits, especially ones being courted as Totems, could be fickle creatures. And with a name like 'Necessary Guile' the Totem was likely to be one that needed a lot of thought into arrangements.

"Skin shifter? We'll be coming back to that..." the Ithaeur says, eyes sparkling, " But the Totem sounds more important. I've made spirit pacts before," she says thoughtfully. "Never a Totemic pact, but the principles should be the same. Find the right kind of Spirit you want, then bribe it with the right kind of gift, or impress it enough with the right kind of action - so demonstrating reknown. If none of that works, you can always trying to beat it into obeying, but that's a bad precident for most spirits, especially one that seems to embody Cunning."

Emily leans back against the tree. "Where to start... You said you were Cahalith, right? I suppose I should make it sould pretty good. How is it they always started stuff? This Story is True, right?" she chuckles drily.

"There were packs in Sacramento, before now. Not so many as other places, I was told. The Pure controlled a lot of the city. My dad, Bobby Makerith, was a Rahu known as "Hunts-with-Wrenches" - it's as literal as it sounds - I think he made Fetishes out of them... anyway. I had my Change when I was 16. Dad's pack, the Steel Fangs - I didn't choose it - had been waiting for it so all in all it was pretty stable." Emily sighs. "I'd already picked up Dad's knack with cars, and the passion for it, so I was learning to be a mechanic as well. I met some of the more rural wolves, but they all seemed too.... rigid, so I joined him in the Iron Masters. I had to get all the water in a cup to an Iron Master in a Pack across town I'd never met, without spilling a drop. So I asked for his phone number, arranged to meet him, Then I drank the water. I was told I earned my Cunning that day."

The blue-haired girl looks out on the river wistfully. "I trained with the Steels Fangs. Dad was always kinda protective of me because of the Pure, so I never saw too much of other Packs unless they came to us. Then, a few years ago, things started going bad. The Pure were more aggressive, Hosts began taking advantage as Packs pulled in their territories. The Gauntlet was either so taught you couldnt get through or so loose it was like slipping through water. I'd been planning a holiday... Strange I know, but Dad had though it a good idea. When I got back.... everything was gone. No Forsaken. No Pure. No People. Dad was gone. Nothing."

She wraps her arms around her knees. "I'm not trying to make this a sob story. Really I'm not. But something happened here that wiped them all out. Sacramento is a Jungle in the Hisil - it's run wild without any People here. Magath to the West, Spiders to the south and east... I've fended off a tiny spot in the Hisil on the block or two around my garage ever since," She says somberly. The Ithaeur forces some cheeriness into her voice. "And now this territory is getting close to that little spot. Won't take much work to join them all together, I would have thought." Emily shrugs. "That's pretty much my last year or two in a minute. Not exactly Glorious, but I survived."

[Hector]

Hector remained in his lupine form, heading bobbing in an almost human fashion.

<<Heard wind whisper something similar happened. You adapt. You follow Father's commands. This is good.>>

The Cahalith growled slowly in First Tongue, stumbling through some words not suited to a snout.

<<You hear nothing of Firebringer? Of Flames-of-Man? Of the Justiciars pack?>>

Hector cocked his head to one side, ears perked.

[Emily Makerith]

"Everyone in the city had heard of Flames-of-Man. Last survivor of the Lodge of Scars that brought the Forsaken to Sacramento again. He's buried up in the Tur." Emily shrugs. "All I know for sure, plus a few legends. I was just a kid then. Never knew the real reason we moved here at the time, but it was the packs moving in."

The Ithaeur ruminates slowly on the names. "Firebringer... that was the Shadow Seekers Alpha, right? Never met the guy, but heard the name. They were a lot more on the Pure than us. Way I heard it, the Pure pulled off some big-ass ritual screwing the spirit big-time. Firebringer helped lead the charge to fix it, I think. Them, Justicars, and the Crusaders. I had to know roughly were the Territories were so I didn't wander in by accident. Wasn't a friendly time."

Emily hesitates. "The Steel Fangs hunkered down around their strongest locus while that was going on. Pulled in a half-district territory into just a few blocks. And they still vanished. That locus I last saw 3-4 years back. The spiders had latched on - I couldn't take them all." She sighs, and shakes her head. You adapted, Emmy. He's already said that. Move on.. "I guess the good thing is the packs definitely repaired the Hisil before they vanished - but it's been growing wild for nearly 5 years. Every Locus I knew about is crawling with bad."

The Ithaeur looks back to her Alpha, her own head cocked. "You knew those names. So... you know some stuff of the city. The others are new in town, but you've been around a while, haven't you?" Her tone is curious, not accusatory.

[Hector]

<<I come from... Rocky Mountains...>>

Even with the First Tongue, Hector struggled.

<<Yes. I know of their tales. Big tale. Epic. This is why I came here>>

When Emily mentioned how ungoverned the spirit wilds and the loci were becoming, he cocked an attentive ear.

<<Packs begins work here. Then move out>>

[Emily Makerith]

Emily's eyes narrow as Hector struggles to make the words, a smirk on her lips. "Urhan has many great traits, boss, I know. But Hishu doesn't just let us walk among the herd. It allows us to communicate better." She spreads her arms, and chuckles. "Iron Master, Adapt thyself."

The Ithaeur shifts position. "So you came following the stories of Fires-of-Man. That means you must have been here before, right? Before everyone disappeared? Bofre the city got overrun?"

[Hector]

Was Hector grinning at her.

<<You want to see me shaved no fur? You brave>>

He was grinning at her, his changing body posture would have said so, if she cared to study it.

<<No. When I came there was no pack. No People. Nothing. Quickly found the others. Made pack. Hunt Magath. No choice>>