Currently in Saint Claire, it is a cloudy day. The temperature is 43 degrees
Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the
north at 5 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 29.43 and rising, and
the relative humidity is 93 percent. The dewpoint is 41 degrees
Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius.)
Currently the moon is in the waxing Crescent Moon phase (39% full).
Big Red Barn
The barn is built in the old style, a vast three level structure that is
greater in height than a mere three stories, actually closer to five.
Great wooden posts support the weight of the upper levels and roof, sunk
into the hard-packed dirt floor of the first level like a sparse forest
of regularly spaced, naked trees. The stalls and flagstones which once
were here have been torn out to leave a rather open area where even
crinos Garou may roam freely without fear of running into anything but
the supports or the walls or the ladder at the back which allows access
to the other two levels.
The first two levels are relatively open to each other, the second being only
little wider than a catwalk going around all the walls but the front one,
which has massive, twenty foot tall doors set into it. The third level is
a true second floor except for a place cut out that allowed hay to be
tossed down to the ground floor when the farm was actually worked. Now,
it is a hayloft where Garou can sleep outside of the house.
"Congratulations. What Auspices?" Now that Tony's arrived, Nat comes further
into the barn, finding a handy wall that needs supportting near Ali's
punching bag. "What sort of party? Revel-ish, or
let's-all-get-drunk-and-sing?"
Anthony follows Nat in, taking a spot at one of the columns and slouching
against it. "Which cubs?"
"Dakota and Karl, both of 'em Theurge's of my tribe." Alicia says with a grin
on her face. "Dakota is my cousin, from my mom's side. So.. its pretty
cool. Anyways, this party is going to be just a party. Get together in
the city from what I'm hoping. Ganna talk to Reggie 'bout renting out the
pool hall." Alicia says, giving the bag another punch.
The barn door slides open again, revealing the Sept's head Glass Walker.
Salem's eyes are hidden behind dark, reflective lenses.
"Yeah, it is. Congratulate 'em both for me." The Walker's current ranking
Galliard isn't as obviously enthused as Alicia, but she's trying. "...Who
all's going to be there, d'ya think? And that's tomorrow-Friday, not
next-week Friday, right?"
Anthony, not very interested in the discussion as it were, peers back over his
shoulder at the opening door, then turns all the way around to face it,
standing up straight.
Emma enters into the barn and stops dead in her tracks, looking at those
gathered. "Whoa, what's going on in here? I was gonna use the bag... uh,
guess I could come back later." A scowl sits on her face, though it is
temporarily masked for present company.
"Dunno who's ganna be there. Just going to throw the word out and let it fall
there, but, anyone is invited." Alicia says as she turns around at Emma's
voice, finding both her and Salem at the doorway. She offers up a grin.
"Hey Boss."
Salem, moving away from the door, gives Emma a brief, disinterested look, then
after a nod to his tribemates turns to Alicia with a dour look. "Morning.
Heard you were looking for me?"
It takes Nat a moment longer to realize that yes, there are more people in the
barn now. Once she does she pushes off the wall. "Morning, Salem." She
gives Emma a nod as well, jerking her head toward the bag. "Dunno if
Alicia's still using it. She might be done."
"Yup, now that I got things smoothed over, cubs Rited, and new ideas in my
head, I was wondering if you needed my help concerning the current
situation ya'll guys are in." Alicia says, waving to Emma as she heads
over towards Salem. "I hear you got super natural Russian's and stuff and
what not, huh? That an we still got the Katana's to deal with."
Emma gives a nod back to both Natalie and Alicia, then moves towards the bag.
She is about to start wailing on it, when she pauses to wonder if it'd be
too loud. After a moment, she plops down onto the floor and opts for
stretching instead.
Anthony folds his arms and goes back to slouching, looking mildly uninterested
in the rest of the goings-on as he stares up at the upper levels of the
barn.
Salem regards Alicia with a bland expression. "Russian mob. In particular, one
that can turn invisible, attack while in that state, jump like a damned
lupus on speed, and can take a bullet to the face without much problem."
"Awesome." Alicia says with a furrow of her brows, taking a moment to think.
"We have ruled out the typical supernatural such as vampires, mages and
fomori yet?"
Natalie coughs once, quietly. "If it helps, I talked to Megan about that little
problem." She moves away from the bag and toward Ali and Salem, giving
Emma room to whale away. "She doesn't think the Russians are Garou. Or,
at least, that they're using anything like Gifts. So guess Jer was right
about that one. They're 'only' the bionic man."
Salem snorts. "'Only'." He glances toward Natalie. "Don't suppose Jeremy's
mentioned getting any more information?"
The barn door slides open, admitting one glass walker Ahroun before he slides
it shut behind him. Joshua eyes the group a moment, before shrugging and
walking up to one of the beams. Very methodically, he shimmies his way up
to the upper loft.
"Mmm.. so.. possible veil breech, with man made supernatural type hunters that
can turn invisible. So this is a battle of technology." Alicia crosses
her arms over her chest. "Has there been hints the Wyrm has been
involved?"
Emma listens to the conversation as she stretches and moves about, shifting to
a position to start doing some sit ups.
Natalie spreads her hands. "Last time I asked, he said nobody'd been down to
the basement. Which, apparently, is where he has all his toys." She casts
a look askance at the Gaian. "Megan suggested they might be fomori. And
they've been seen in daylight, right? So no vampires?"
Salem's eyes, hidden behind the dark lenses, track Joshua for a moment as he
answers Alicia. "I think it's a pretty safe bet that the Wyrm's involved.
Or is profiting from it. And it's doubtful that all or even the
_majority_ of the organization is anything more than human norm."
"Maybe it's just some people with some secret KGB technology or somethin' like
that, you know, spy gadgets and all that," Tony suggests only
half-seriously.
Alicia nods her head slightly, offering up a grin. "So, whatcha need me to do
Boss?" She asks quirkily. "I'm dying for some action and this seems up my
alley."
Salem's jaw tightens subtly as he turns back to Alicia. He seems to be looking
her up and down. Then he shrugs. "You could try making more contact with
them. Hang out at the Temple, et cetera. Konstantin was supposed to be
infiltrating them to get more information, but he ended up tainted and
had to be cleansed. And I haven't heard fuck-all from the smarmy little
shit."
Joshua, as high as he can go, sits precariously on the high support beam.
Straddling the thing, he catches Salem's glance. The youth is quick to
look back up, as if he wasn't aware of those below.
Natalie tosses back at the Ragabash with a grin, "Nah, Tony, that's us,
remember?" Otherwise this Galliard's keeping her mouth closed, apparently
willing to listen while the big dogs bark.
"Aiight, thats cool. Anyone I should be looking for? Got photos or something?"
Alicia says as she glances herself over some, wettening her lips. "Gives
me a chance to wear this new shirt I got. Looks like a butterfly wrapped
about my body. Its tight." She offers a wink towards Tony, before giving
her attention once more to Salem. "Alright, so, they kick it at the
Temple, anywhere else I should be made aware of?"
"Pfft, those are just walkie-talkies stuck in calculators," Tony replies, also
staying out of the elders' conversation. "Now if Jeremy could get me a
car with a rocket launcher..."
Emma continues doing her quieter exercises, very curious about the conversation
going on with the others.
Salem rubs the back of his neck. "Information's over at the Dominion. Jeremy
could probably get you some photos, too... he lives near you, doesn't
he?" His frown deepens. "If you do this, though, be careful. Check back
often, make sure you let people sniff you out, that kind of thing. You do
_not_ want to get infected with that thing that got Konstantin."
Natalie interjects, "Do we need to go hunt down this Konstantin? Make sure he's
not still Tainted - or not Tainted again?"
"What /did/ get him by the way?" Alicia asks curiously as she tilts her head to
one side, furrowing her brows. "Is he taking drugs or something?"
Salem's lip curls in a disgusted expression, displaying a bit of tooth. "God
only knows, since the little fuck hasn't bothered to _report_ anything."
Joshua sits solidly on the beam, listening to those below and all the while
trying to pretend like he wasn't.
"Alright. So, you want me to peep him as well?" Alicia asks seriously as she
crosses her arms. "I can sense taint as well as cleanse it. If he's
like.. /beyond/, an shit hits the fan, you want me to take him out?"
Emma shifts from sit-ups, to push-ups, eyes glancing to whoever is speaking at
the moment.
Natalie flicks a bit of a smile - but only the merest fraction - toward Alicia.
"If you want help on that..." That said, she looks to Salem, to see what
he'll say.
Salem looks from Alicia to Natalie and back again. "You want to work together?"
His voice is bland, his words clipped. "Work together. And do what you
have to do. Was there anything else you needed to see me about?" This
last is directed at the Child of Gaia.
"I'm a Galliard, I got tons to say." Alicia says with a wry grin. "Coming next
Moot, I'm giving up the reigns of Rough and Tumble and passing it over to
Craig since he is the Elder of the Gnawers. Its time I did something I
wanted to do. I'm creating a pack, in the memory of Pathfinders. I've
sent word out to a few friends of mine and got a good response. Taslyn
and Dakota so far has stepped up with interest, and Laura, that Black
Fury? Got a letter back from her an she's digging it." Wettening her
lips, she thinks. "I'm waiting to hear back from Joey and Junior, but I'm
not really expecting anything. They've been gone for three years, living
up at the Sept in New York with .. whats her name? Mama Larissa or
something? So.. you know.. Owl pack." She says. "I was also wondering
which territory you are claiming in the city, and what parts you think
may need some loving that isn't under Garou eye? We're ganna need a place
to call home."
Anthony glances up at the mention of 'the Sept in New York', but the names are
just generic enough to not spark any recognition, and he goes back to
studying his boot laces.
Dakota going to follow after Alicia? Emma smirks dryly at this and pushes the
last few push-ups out a bit more aggressively, her face screwed up with
sarcasm.
Natalie murmurs teasingly under her breath, "What, not Pegasus?"
"Haven't claimed anything yet," Salem says flatly, pushing his hands into his
coat pockets. "Apart from home, of course. But that's different." He
shrugs. "South is always worse off than the north. There's the hospital,
but I doubt one pack could handle _that_ piece of shit. Personally? I'd
say pick a small area and focus. Make it _better_ for the people living
there."
Joshua stands on the beam, walking slowly down it to the next spar. He smirks
at the mention of Dakota, as if silently congratulating himself for
figuring that out.
Alicia glances over to Natalie and raises up a brow. A look of confusion
flashes over her face, before looking back to Salem. "Speaking of the
hospital. Whatcha think? You, me, um... maybe Scourge... we fuck shit up
over there on a revel run? We've left that place go for years. We should
do something about that, and get kinfolk who have access to medicine,
such as .... Rachel, Tom and Dana, get set up over there, you know?"
"The entire Sept went to Revel there once, Alicia... and didn't make any
inroads at all." Salem's eyes narrow. "And I haven't forgotten how Dr.
St. Jean almost got kidnapped by those... things. No. Scout it if you
want, but in my opinion, the hospital Blight's beyond our capabilities
right now."
Salem smiles humorlessly and adds, "John wanted to blow it up, you know."
"Well, unless we pull a fire alarm an got everyone out.. blowing up innocents
would suck." Alicia says with a slow nod of her head, letting out a
frustrated breath. "You don't think that if we keep picking at it, we'd
at least make a difference somewhat? They /gotta/ have a weakness
somewhere in there. Is it just random bullshit floating about in the
Umbra or is there actually a chain of command that is wrecking things? We
got any names?"
"Blow it...?" Nat repeats, disbelieving, trailing off with a head shake.
"Cripes."
Salem flashes his teeth in a quick grimace. His patience fraying, he snaps,
"One fucking problem at a _time_, dammit. This Sept barely has the
resources to fight on _one_ front, and you want to tackle three, one of
them being a problem that the _entire_ fucking Sept, back when we _had_
people like Ouroborous and Reforged, couldn't fucking handle? Jesus
Christ on a _stick_."
"Hey, I'm just tossing things up in the fucking air, Salem. Its not like I'm
saying.. ok Guys, lets all get in the Yugo an get killed." Alicia fires
right back at him. "All I know is that I'm sick of sitting on my ass
while we let shit go all too hell, then kick ourselves in the ass later.
I understand that you are frustrated, but I'm all game for getting things
accomplished. An you know what? Fuck Reforged and Ouroborous, they took
off an left us here. So lets just forget 'bout 'em and focus on what is
important to us, which is the here and now, and not the past." She lets
out a breath. "Damn Jack." She exclaims, glancing up at him. "You
alright?"
Natalie keeps quiet, yes. Not getting into the middle of this one.
Emma sits up then, eyes dancing lightly on the Walker. Her hands brush together
to get some of the hay and dirt off them, then she rises to do a bit more
stretching. Alicia's retort gets an equal reaction and the cub starts
moving towards the door. "Kinda thick in here, I'll use the bags later."
Anthony stays quiet as well, though that's not much of a change.
Joshua just sort of stands there on the beam, now actively trying to ignore the
two Elder's argument.
"I'm fine," Salem growls -- almost literally. "One problem at a time, Alicia.
I'm serious about that. One fucking problem at a time." He turns and
starts heading out of the barn.
"Alright... One at a time." Alicia says softly as she lets her arms drop to her
side, then makes her way for her jacket and backpack, picking them up.
She glances over her shoulder and offers. "Hey, throwing a party
tomorrow... want to snag a drink with me or something? Yer' invited of
course." She asks before he departs, sliding her coat on.
Salem responds with a sour, noncommital grunt.
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