2211

[Tristan Riverstep]

It's been a long day's night, but Tristan feels a tremor of excitement as he enters the back of the club. For the first time in what feels like forever, he's finally got a chance to start over. A chance to settle down, find a Pack, and fulfill his purpose as a Forsaken. He looks well-traveled, with dust on his leather jacket and biking jeans built to withstand the wear and tear of the elements and underbrush. Still swirling the vodka shot that's granted him entrance, he gives a nod to the old woman and what he can only assume is her bouncer. He knows what trained fighters look like.
Though speaking of looks, the three strangers ahead of him catch his attention. Two women; one with striking blue hair and one with dark, flowing locks; and a man who looks like a modern-day Viking.

Yep. This is the place.

That familiar, earthy soul-smell rushes into his nostrils as he walks up. He gives the old woman and her companion a polite nod as he approaches the bar. "Hard cider, please." He downs the vodka for equal parts politeness and liquid courage. Then he approaches the table where the three strangers are gathered and offers a friendly smile and a neutral lean to his posture.

"Hi. I'm Tristan. Mind if I join you?" ​

[Derek Johnston]

Derek settles into the chair that got shoved out to him, looking between the two women in front of him. He sips slowly at his drink before turning slightly to the blue-haired woman and nodding. He holds out his free hand and gives it a small wobble of uncertainty. "About... seven years now, I think? Eight? Somethin' like that. Left to go follow my art for a bit and had myself a mighty change while I was gone."

"Hey. I ain't saying that that Mustang out there ain't a beauty too, but a 67 Impala in that good of a shape turns more heads. The Mustang yours, I take it?"

He thinks for a moment before nodding. "A little under five years now. I found the Farsil Luhal not long after I changed. Seemed to fit right."

The car-talk brings a smile of his own as the Crescent and Gibbous moons get to talking about the Chevy again and he leans in. "Not wanting to step on any toes or anything but if you want help with her, Emily, I've had my hands in engines since before I could walk. Part of the reason I came back... Gotta see to the family business now that my Dad just passed." He reaches out and pulls one of the battered cards towards him to give it a quick read over and a chuckle.

He glances towards the Crescent Moon for a moment and then gets distracted by an approaching Tristan. He gives a nod of greeting and acceptance to the Irakka.

[Elizabeth Wade]

“Weed is legal in California, unless you aren’t selling from a dispensary. Maybe we could help your street dealer become a legit shop?” Elizabeth suggested with a slight grin. “Lower crime rates make the whole area more attractive to all types of business owners. Including blue collar. It also makes their businesses less risky to lending institutions, and lowers liability insurance.” She paused for a moment. Cleaning up an area doesn’t mean pushing people out, it means a healthy transformation. “Meth and heroin dealers on the other hand, and wanna be gangsters? I am more than happy to push them out.” She said the last flatly. She didn’t like that type. That caused all sorts of issues both on this side of the shadow and within the shadow itself.


Elizabeth took the card, and put it in her jacket pocket with a grin. “Oh come on! You know I want your number. I am interested in getting to know you better.” She paused and looked at Derek with a friendly smile. “You too. Wolves are in short supply here. Working together is in our best interests.”


Elizabeth laughed and ordered another Gin and Tonic. G&T tasted the same no matter where you ordered it from. It was her go to. Especially when she was babysitting her drinks the way she was tonight. And she smiled and nodded to Tristan. “By all means. Good evening Tristan. This is Emily Makerith, Crescent Moon Iron Master, Derek Johnston Half Moon Iron Master, and I’m Elizabeth Wade Gibbous Moon Storm Lord.” She handled the introductions smoothly, trying to be as welcoming as possible.

[Emily Makerith]

"Hey," Emily replied to Tristan. "Go ahead. Seem this is the place for new peeps."

Eight years. "Been a while, huh? What art might that be?" The Cresent asks her fellow Iron Master. There's a look of indignance about the Impala. "If you say so. And yeah, she is." There's a small nod. "Know what you mean. I got a bunch of pitches but nothing felt quite the same as being flexible in the way the Masters teach." The nod is added with a smirk. "Oh? And a girl can't fix engines, is that what you're saying?" She'd heard that one far too many times for it to even glance her. "I spent my baby time playing in garages too.... though maybe not as long ago as you did," she quips playfully. "I hope that family business isn't another garage. Business is hard enough."

There's a small shrug. "Wasn't when I started." There's a frown of concentration. "Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this. It's just easy for established folks to get jumpy when people start talking about 'transforming neighborhoods ' and 'urban renewal', when what they mean is big corps coming in and strangling everyone else to death." Not accusing, just explaining.

The lazy smile cracks again when Elizabeth talks about wanting to know her better, as Emily is handed another drink. "Yeah, you too. Sounds like fun." She drinks as easily from this one as she did the first.

The Crescent squirms a little.
Okay, that was the second time she's done that.
Not sure I like that.

"What's up with that, Lizzie? Feel like I'm getting my name announced for the Oscars or something every time you tell someone who I am, with all the titles an' shit." The question is tinged with curiosity. "Like, not that I'm that bothered. Just wondered, really."

[Tristan Riverstep]

“Thanks.”

The nod from Derek carries the weight of a full-blown ‘come in and sit by the fire’, and Emily’s greeting is sincere, if understated. As he’s sitting down Tristan is caught mid-motion by a flurry of titles from Elizabeth and takes a moment to process all of that. Damn! No wonder we don’t often meet in groups “Ah! Damn. Should’ve thought of that. Irraka; Blood Talon.” It really has been a hit minute since he’s thought of those titles in relation to other People. “Two Iron Masters in the same place. Must be a sign of the times.” There’s no malice in Tristan’s statement, just genuine surprise.

Sounds like there’s a lot of car talk going around. Tristan shrugs. “Nice! I’m currently rocking a mountain bike right now, so don’t plan on losing to me in a drag race.” He takes a sip of hard cider. “Hey, I can’t shake the feeling I’ve seen your face somewhere before…” He looks at Elizabeth, eyes narrowing in concentration. “Have you done anything public, like acting-wise?” Maybe one of those CW dramas?

[Derek Johnston]

The Elodoth takes a moment to order another drink as he finishes his first Old Fashioned with a slow sip. He nods to his fellow Iron Master. "It's been a while, yeah. Left to find my way and found the moon."

"I dabble a bit in a lot of things: painting, clay, but my usual go-to medium is scrap-sculpting and blacksmithing. Probably what first attracted the attention of my lodge."

He smirks slightly and shakes his head. "I never said a girl can't fix engines. Hell, most of what I learned about engines I got from my mom. No, the family business isn't a garage. Junkyard and Tow. We probably worked with your garage at some point."

He lets Betsy do the introductions for them and then gives a nod over to Tristan. "Must be good times then."

[Elizabeth Wade]

Elizabeth rolled her eyes so hard she could see her own soul. “Business will get a lot harder if the area isn’t made more attractive.” She pointed out almost smugly. “Where you seem to see an issue with competition, I see the potential for a monopoly.” Some people had no vision. While Elizabeth without a doubt would share a love of history with the crescent moon, she hated when they got stuck in the past and doing things the same way over and over again. She had a healthy contempt for complacent behavior.


“Those same big corporations bring jobs and people with money to spend on expensive things like classic car restoration, and fixer upper repairs for their crotch goblins first car!” She pointed out with a grin. “Don’t be so negative.” She said pointedly and then spread her hands. “Oh I’m sorry, I was raised to introduce new parties with helpful and thoughtful details.” The sarcasm dripped from her words on the last bit.


To Tristan she looked slightly surprised he recognized her. He must be a leg man. “I was the Prima Ballerina for the Pacific Northwest Ballet Company. We have done several shows in this and other areas in California and across the country. You could have easily seen a show. I also do smaller venues for charity and private individuals with the kinda cash to hire a dancer of my caliber.”


To Derek she grinned. “You are an artist then? That’s really exciting! I love art! Of all kinds! I’m always looking for interesting pieces. Keep me informed on your work! Seriously! I bought a nice home in the area, and my walls and spaces are looking for a little art love!”

[Matt]

Granny carefully took a few seconds to finish the last couple of stitches in her knitting and held it up to observe her progress. It was some sort of knitted hoody, maybe for a dog? She carefully placed the knitting down the side of the rocking chair she had been sat upon and removed the blanket. Both hands pressing against the chair she slowly rose. To the rest of her pack this seemed to be somewhat of a cue, the kettle was promptly flicked on behind the bar and the rattle of a teacup could be heard as it was pulled out of one of the cupboards below the bar.

Granny slowly made her way to where Elizabeth, Emily, Derek and Tristan were sat. The clunk, clunk, clunk of her walking stick could be heard against the bar's floorboards as she slowly made her way over. She pulled out a spare chair, slowly lowering herself into it and leaning her walking stick against the table.

She smiled at the group of assembled wolves "Now you are all here." She spoke as if she knew you would be coming this evening "There are a few things I need to explain about the city" she reached into her pockets and pulled out a small stack of hard butterscotch candies and placed a few in front of each person. She smiled towards Tristan and Derek "Oh, and you can call me Granny. Everybody does."

"The cataclysmic events that happened 6 months ago were the result of one of the city's most powerful spirits coming to an end. We have no idea what caused that and my pack and Emilys dealt with the shit storm of immediate problems that arose in the aftermath. The spirit world remained in Chaos for some time as power vacuums were created, we have done our best to ensure this territory remains safe but it is a big city for a small pack to manage."

It was at that point the wolf behind the bar bought a tray of drinks, one for each of the wolves along with a teapot, tea cup and small milk jug for Granny. He laid them out in front of everyone and slid an I-Pad towards Granny. "Thanks Jake" Granny responded and handed the I-pad to Elizabeth. "Click maps for me dear" she started to pour herself a cup of tea, carefully adding in the milk afterwards whilst Elizabeth loaded the maps app.

"This is the territory we have managed to map out so far, we are still working on the areas not mapped. At this point they are unknown"

"We are categorising everything as a Red, Amber or Green rating. You will notice our territory in Central Sacramento is Green. This means it is considered safe... although that is safe in quotation marks which means that there may be the occasional problem just like in any pack's territory that can come up. We then have Amber, you will note nothing on this map is currently amber which tells you all you need to know about the city at the moment. That means it is either getting there, or we know what is there. There is also Red... which is the rest of the mapped territory in the city. Red means Danger, but it also means we do not know what has moved in there and have had to categorise it as red until we know better."

"West Sacramento is currently not mapped. This is because it is held by the Pure so I would avoid that area at this stage at the very least" (OOC this will be added to the map in the near future) "The territories are recommended territories, by all means when you form a pack... sorry if you form a pack... you can use them or not. When doing recon, we have been looking at where the most logical boundary lines would be based upon the information we know."

"Although the spirits are not as hostile as they once were there are still hostile spirits. The damage from what happened in the city 6 months ago is still there and as you all know the Spirit world can take a long time to... heal."

Granny took a sip of her tea and looked at the group "any questions dears?"

[Emily Makerith]

Emily shrugs. "My old pack had a few, including me. Cities, y'know?"

There's a small nod as Derek describes his past, which breaks into a grin. "Junkyard huh? Which one? We probably have done - I know most of the locals."

The lighthearted mood sours a little as Elizabeth starts throwing around old-money business domination ethics. Fucking Storm Lords. Just when you think they're fine, they show they have to run the world... "I've run my garage and fended off a territory for ten years, Ballet Barbie. People always need cars, but I do this because I love it, not to transform the city. I'm a realist, not out to monopolise shit - I need a job so I can afford to live but that gives me enough time to pursue my duties as an Ithaeur. That's what's important." She shrugged. It was all about balance. Or, for her, more of the Hisil than others.

Then it was her turn to roll her eyes at the sarcasm. "No-one's introduced me since I was twelve. It's just weird to me, alright? You gonna get this prickly every time someone asks you a fucking question?" It was becoming clear that despite some shared interests, her and Elizabeth had come from totally different worlds. It was loosing the brightness of the new people thing, especially if someone was going to come around and try to tell Emily how to live her life. Hell, her own Dad hadn't managed to do that half the time. Angelina Ballerina here could do what she wanted, but she wasn't going to change Emily's plans.

There was a sulky silence as Granny begins speaking. All she did to confirm the story was a small nod. It had been a hell of a time. Hector, Tiny.... It's weird without the boss man here.

"I've been pretty hemmed in over the last six months." The fact that some of that was hemmed in by her own depression and lethargy was carefully ommitted. "I know the south used to have a lot of Azlu in it. You had a chance to look there?"

[Derek Johnston]

Derek nods over to Elizabeth as he takes another swig of his drink, ice clinking in his glass. "Yeah, I am an artist. I'd be happy to show you some of my pieces. We can arrange a time once I get everything set up."

He looks over to Emily and grins, "Johnston Enterprises is the name of our company. We're based down in Florin."

He leans forward as they're shown the map by Granny, nodding to her. "Pleasure to meet ya, Granny." he says, looking the map over and is glad to hear that the Pure in the area tend to keep out west.