Water of Life Update
The characters trouped out to Rocky Mountain National Park to find this mysterious grove with dragon-spirits that the fire-spirit had mentioned. They hiked up into the woods, Marty carrying his rifle and looking on the map, trying to reconcile it with what the spirit had said. A ranger approached them and asked if he knew the firearms rules; he did. He then asked about the grove (leaving out the bit about "spirits," of course). The ranger said that he didn't know anything about it, but that he'd take Marty's cell number and ring him to let him know once he got back to base and asked another, more knowledgeable ranger. Marty agreed, and the throng trudged on.
As they walked further up the mountain, Jesus noted a panting sound from the underbrush. Julia turned on Tainted Azoth, and tuned it to "werewolf." She noted that there were several around, including one more powerful than anything she'd felt. Jesus turned his attention to the panting thing and it trotted off, but Marty called "Uratha!" after it. It didn't come back.
Following Julia's nose, they tracked down the most powerful one. They made it to a clearing with a dark-skinned man with tattoos on his face waiting for them. He called "Stop!" in First Tongue, and Marty responded. A voice behind him said, "He wasn't talking to you." A werewolf with a big goddamn sword had snuck up on them, but didn't attack, apparently at the darker one's orders.
The dark werewolf introduced himself as Iron Soul, and gave the usual round of questioning (to wit, who are you and why does one of you smell vaguely like a werewolf?). He understood Marty's claims of being a shaman, and listened with interest to Marty's story of freeing the fire-spirit from the dog. Iron Soul asked if he could remove a spirit from a badly-made fetish. Marty said he'd try, and Iron Soul had another of his pack (Josie Raincaller, who had the distinction of being the first noticeably old werewolf that the characters have met) fetch it. Meantime, they talked about life in general.
Josie arrived and handed Marty the fetish, a rain-stick. Inside was a pissed-off snake spirit. Marty (and the throng, by way of Many Hands Make Light Work) pulled it out, and Marty released it. Iron Soul took the stick and gently set it down. Jesus, using his newfound powers of Translator's Eye, read the inscription on it as a dedication to a father.
"We have a tradition in my tribe," Iron Soul said. "When we meet, we ask ni-zu tag??" Marty translated this as "What are you hunting?"
Marty replied that he didn't know. He revealed that he and his kind could become human, but lately wasn't so sure that he wanted to, because he didn't see redeeming value. Iron Soul said that he hadn't been human for much of his life, comparatively, but he had fond memories of being human. When the Prometheans revealed what they had versus what they didn't have, Iron Soul opined that being human was better, no contest. Not being able to taste? To love? To bear or sire children? The strength of the Created didn't compare.
Iron Soul also revealed that his son had made that rain-stick. His son, also a werewolf, had lived to be 17. He said that when his son died, the pain he felt was great enough that he questioned if his son being born was worth it. Marty asked what he decided, and Iron Soul replied that nothing, not even the pain of his death, could really eclipse the joy of bringing up his child.
(Yes, I have a soft spot for this kind of thing. Shoot me.)
Iron Soul then allowed the werewolves to see the grove. He told them that Mountain's Proud Children (his pack) had been at war with another faction of werewolves, and that this enemy pack had been aided by a spirit that looked like a dragon with a hundred heads. Iron Soul's pack had discovered its ban and used it, shattering the spirit into many smaller dragons. Some escaped, some were killed and some possessed the trees in this grove, but now slept.
Marty woke one up and talked with it, asking how he might see across the Gauntlet. The dragon responded that unless he could look through the spirit's eyes, it didn't know a way. Marty gave it some Pyros, and the dragon (whose name translated to Ember), said that it could ride with Marty and live off his Pyros. Marty agreed, and the Dragon Athanor was born! (It's in Strange Alchemies, courtesy of newbis.)
The throng went back to the RV, and smelled something tasty cooking. A few Mexican families were in the parking lot, grilling chicken and hanging out. Jesus talked with one of the men (Julio), and learned that they had been told that someone would come and find them and had work for them. The throng braved the Disquiet and hung out, played some music (Nathan), cooked some food (Jesus, and fulfilled a milestone in the process), talked with some kids (Marty), got laid (Julia - duh), and ate and made merry (Hank).
A while later, a man named Joseph Boyce arrived. With Jesus' help to translate, he told the workers that they'd be driving to Greeley. Marty offered to take some of them in the RV, so Boyce's van wouldn't be so crowded. He agreed, but mentioned they'd be stopping before getting there.
They did indeed stop for burgers, and Boyce sat with the characters. He told them that there would be work at a "packing plant." Marty asked what the factory was going to do with the Mexican workers (and used Confession), and Boyce replied, "Work 'em to the bone," with perhaps a little too much malice in his voice. The characters were interested, especially since recent visions and clues seemed to push them toward slaughterhouses. But then Boyce told them an interesting story about Blood Clot Boy.
Blood Clot Boy was a man born of buffalo blood, not born human. He was a great hunter, and took a wife, but one day he heard the word "calf" and became a buffalo and ran into the mountains (this story is in Magnum Opus, and I'm simplifying). The Prometheans, at this point, all felt an exhilarating rush, and saw a vision of a man ringed in lightning, dripping with blood and fat, at the mouth of a cave. They realized they had seen a flash from Seer's Pilgrimage, which they'd heard of way back here. Marty used Sense Pyros and found that Boyce let off a little sparkle, but certainly wasn't a Promethean. Now doubly intrigued, they went with Boyce the rest of the way to Greeley. He dropped them and the Mexicans at cheap motel, saying that the bus would be there for them in the morning.
In the morning, Nathan, Hank, Julia and Jesus went to work in the slaughterhouse. Marty declined, but went in as himself (EPA investigator) to check the place out.
For the first four, it was pretty revolting. Julia was put to work skinning the flesh off cow heads with an electric knife. Hank was given a big blade and told to hack cows in half. Nathan was a "sticker" - it's his job to stab the cattle in the throat to kill them as they hang upside down. And Jesus started as a "knocker," shooting the cattle with a compressed air gun to stun them. The characters did these jobs for 10 hours straight, with one 10 minute break and one 20 minute lunch.
This required some new Skills. Julia had to buy Crafts to keep up with the skinning. Jesus got switched to hoister (lifting the cattle's legs to hang them on a hook) after one too many cattle went through the doors still kicking. Hank was totally on his game, and even caught a blade that an over-exhausted coworker dropped.
Marty, meantime, wandered the grounds and talked to an immense death-spirit below the slaughterhouse. It told him that someone else like him had been through about six months ago, and that he'd left a mark in the basement. Marty finagled a look, and found the pilgrim mark. Roughly translated, it means "work."
That night, the Prometheans had a discussion. Marty didn't want to go to work, saying that he saw no value in it. Nathan, in an uncharacteristic show of his signature humour, said that Marty was afraid of getting his hands dirty, and was acting arrogant besides. The others rather agreed with him; Jesus pointed out that Marty was acting like a spirit and stagnating, when he'd chosen not to stay in Stygia so as to avoid stagnating. Marty finally agreed that the work would be a new experience, anyway, and that he needed to do some more hands-on observation to understand people. So the next day, he got the job of ripping out kidneys and dropping them down a chute.
And, of course, somehow it's Marty that gets 4 successes on 3 dice on the ol' Azoth roll and engenders Disquiet. At the coffee break, a young man named Randy approached Marty and asked if he'd accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior. There followed a discussion about the Holy Spirit, and Marty mentioning that he'd never seen this "spirit" around a church. Randy invited him to service on Sunday.
Julia, meanwhile, talked with some of the other women who worked in the fab room. One had worked in the slaughterhouse for six years, and her husband was out on disability from getting stabbed with a knife in an accident. But disability was just about out, and he still couldn't work. Julia, realizing that these people were basically trapped, started giving out her pay to the other women. She, after all, didn't need it.
The characters went back to the RV to plan out their next move. They decided that they wanted to head for the mountains, but they didn't know where to start to look. In the end, they decided one more day of slaughterhouse work wouldn't kill them. That'll be the morning of July 13, 2005 (Wednesday).
As they walked further up the mountain, Jesus noted a panting sound from the underbrush. Julia turned on Tainted Azoth, and tuned it to "werewolf." She noted that there were several around, including one more powerful than anything she'd felt. Jesus turned his attention to the panting thing and it trotted off, but Marty called "Uratha!" after it. It didn't come back.
Following Julia's nose, they tracked down the most powerful one. They made it to a clearing with a dark-skinned man with tattoos on his face waiting for them. He called "Stop!" in First Tongue, and Marty responded. A voice behind him said, "He wasn't talking to you." A werewolf with a big goddamn sword had snuck up on them, but didn't attack, apparently at the darker one's orders.
The dark werewolf introduced himself as Iron Soul, and gave the usual round of questioning (to wit, who are you and why does one of you smell vaguely like a werewolf?). He understood Marty's claims of being a shaman, and listened with interest to Marty's story of freeing the fire-spirit from the dog. Iron Soul asked if he could remove a spirit from a badly-made fetish. Marty said he'd try, and Iron Soul had another of his pack (Josie Raincaller, who had the distinction of being the first noticeably old werewolf that the characters have met) fetch it. Meantime, they talked about life in general.
Josie arrived and handed Marty the fetish, a rain-stick. Inside was a pissed-off snake spirit. Marty (and the throng, by way of Many Hands Make Light Work) pulled it out, and Marty released it. Iron Soul took the stick and gently set it down. Jesus, using his newfound powers of Translator's Eye, read the inscription on it as a dedication to a father.
"We have a tradition in my tribe," Iron Soul said. "When we meet, we ask ni-zu tag??" Marty translated this as "What are you hunting?"
Marty replied that he didn't know. He revealed that he and his kind could become human, but lately wasn't so sure that he wanted to, because he didn't see redeeming value. Iron Soul said that he hadn't been human for much of his life, comparatively, but he had fond memories of being human. When the Prometheans revealed what they had versus what they didn't have, Iron Soul opined that being human was better, no contest. Not being able to taste? To love? To bear or sire children? The strength of the Created didn't compare.
Iron Soul also revealed that his son had made that rain-stick. His son, also a werewolf, had lived to be 17. He said that when his son died, the pain he felt was great enough that he questioned if his son being born was worth it. Marty asked what he decided, and Iron Soul replied that nothing, not even the pain of his death, could really eclipse the joy of bringing up his child.
(Yes, I have a soft spot for this kind of thing. Shoot me.)
Iron Soul then allowed the werewolves to see the grove. He told them that Mountain's Proud Children (his pack) had been at war with another faction of werewolves, and that this enemy pack had been aided by a spirit that looked like a dragon with a hundred heads. Iron Soul's pack had discovered its ban and used it, shattering the spirit into many smaller dragons. Some escaped, some were killed and some possessed the trees in this grove, but now slept.
Marty woke one up and talked with it, asking how he might see across the Gauntlet. The dragon responded that unless he could look through the spirit's eyes, it didn't know a way. Marty gave it some Pyros, and the dragon (whose name translated to Ember), said that it could ride with Marty and live off his Pyros. Marty agreed, and the Dragon Athanor was born! (It's in Strange Alchemies, courtesy of newbis.)
The throng went back to the RV, and smelled something tasty cooking. A few Mexican families were in the parking lot, grilling chicken and hanging out. Jesus talked with one of the men (Julio), and learned that they had been told that someone would come and find them and had work for them. The throng braved the Disquiet and hung out, played some music (Nathan), cooked some food (Jesus, and fulfilled a milestone in the process), talked with some kids (Marty), got laid (Julia - duh), and ate and made merry (Hank).
A while later, a man named Joseph Boyce arrived. With Jesus' help to translate, he told the workers that they'd be driving to Greeley. Marty offered to take some of them in the RV, so Boyce's van wouldn't be so crowded. He agreed, but mentioned they'd be stopping before getting there.
They did indeed stop for burgers, and Boyce sat with the characters. He told them that there would be work at a "packing plant." Marty asked what the factory was going to do with the Mexican workers (and used Confession), and Boyce replied, "Work 'em to the bone," with perhaps a little too much malice in his voice. The characters were interested, especially since recent visions and clues seemed to push them toward slaughterhouses. But then Boyce told them an interesting story about Blood Clot Boy.
Blood Clot Boy was a man born of buffalo blood, not born human. He was a great hunter, and took a wife, but one day he heard the word "calf" and became a buffalo and ran into the mountains (this story is in Magnum Opus, and I'm simplifying). The Prometheans, at this point, all felt an exhilarating rush, and saw a vision of a man ringed in lightning, dripping with blood and fat, at the mouth of a cave. They realized they had seen a flash from Seer's Pilgrimage, which they'd heard of way back here. Marty used Sense Pyros and found that Boyce let off a little sparkle, but certainly wasn't a Promethean. Now doubly intrigued, they went with Boyce the rest of the way to Greeley. He dropped them and the Mexicans at cheap motel, saying that the bus would be there for them in the morning.
In the morning, Nathan, Hank, Julia and Jesus went to work in the slaughterhouse. Marty declined, but went in as himself (EPA investigator) to check the place out.
For the first four, it was pretty revolting. Julia was put to work skinning the flesh off cow heads with an electric knife. Hank was given a big blade and told to hack cows in half. Nathan was a "sticker" - it's his job to stab the cattle in the throat to kill them as they hang upside down. And Jesus started as a "knocker," shooting the cattle with a compressed air gun to stun them. The characters did these jobs for 10 hours straight, with one 10 minute break and one 20 minute lunch.
This required some new Skills. Julia had to buy Crafts to keep up with the skinning. Jesus got switched to hoister (lifting the cattle's legs to hang them on a hook) after one too many cattle went through the doors still kicking. Hank was totally on his game, and even caught a blade that an over-exhausted coworker dropped.
Marty, meantime, wandered the grounds and talked to an immense death-spirit below the slaughterhouse. It told him that someone else like him had been through about six months ago, and that he'd left a mark in the basement. Marty finagled a look, and found the pilgrim mark. Roughly translated, it means "work."
That night, the Prometheans had a discussion. Marty didn't want to go to work, saying that he saw no value in it. Nathan, in an uncharacteristic show of his signature humour, said that Marty was afraid of getting his hands dirty, and was acting arrogant besides. The others rather agreed with him; Jesus pointed out that Marty was acting like a spirit and stagnating, when he'd chosen not to stay in Stygia so as to avoid stagnating. Marty finally agreed that the work would be a new experience, anyway, and that he needed to do some more hands-on observation to understand people. So the next day, he got the job of ripping out kidneys and dropping them down a chute.
And, of course, somehow it's Marty that gets 4 successes on 3 dice on the ol' Azoth roll and engenders Disquiet. At the coffee break, a young man named Randy approached Marty and asked if he'd accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior. There followed a discussion about the Holy Spirit, and Marty mentioning that he'd never seen this "spirit" around a church. Randy invited him to service on Sunday.
Julia, meanwhile, talked with some of the other women who worked in the fab room. One had worked in the slaughterhouse for six years, and her husband was out on disability from getting stabbed with a knife in an accident. But disability was just about out, and he still couldn't work. Julia, realizing that these people were basically trapped, started giving out her pay to the other women. She, after all, didn't need it.
The characters went back to the RV to plan out their next move. They decided that they wanted to head for the mountains, but they didn't know where to start to look. In the end, they decided one more day of slaughterhouse work wouldn't kill them. That'll be the morning of July 13, 2005 (Wednesday).