Lupus Moot

[hazlogs]

Date: 12 Jul 1997

Moon Otter excuses himself, padding back to the woods from which he came. He
returns shortly with a bundle of cloth inhis maw and drops it onto the ground.
As the influx of garou begins to trickle off, he pushes to all fours. Let the
moot begin. There are Garou new to this area and who may not be familiar with
some of the rules we have here. The first thing to know is that the current
Warder, a Child of Gaia, has declared there is to be no slaughter of apes
within these lands. This one does not care for this rule and knows there are
others among you who think little of it. However, the apes continue to press us
for land which is rightfully ours and threaten our kin. There have been some
humans killed in these lands despite the Warder's decree. This one witnessed
their deaths. There was no way around it. It is likely there will be other apes
killed in time. When this time comes, we must not be unprepared for it. If you
can avoid doing so, do not kill with claws or teeth. If the corpse is found by
the apes, they will think the wolves did it and they will come to kill them.
Therefore, it is best the corpse is never found. A crescent, or another who can
speak to or call to spirits of fire, is needed. If an ape is killed, the body
shall be burned until there is nothing left but ash. These shall be spread to
the winds and never to be found again.

A shuffle of slate betrays an arrival--along with a growled response. ~Just
don't burn down the woods while you're at it."

Moon Otter inclines his muzzle to Chaser-Never-Rests as she enters, pleased she
has attended. That would be taken into account, yes. If one of you kills an
ape, summon this one to assist in disposing of it. Also, this one might be able
to further assist in some ways if needed. There is another matter to discuss
concerning the apes in these lands. Moon Otter lays a paw on the cloth he
dropped earlier, pawing it open to better reveal the WWNP ranger shirt by his
side. Those apes who wear the weaver furs like this are not to be killed unless
they attack first. They are ~rangers~ in these lands. Apes who claim to keep
other apes from destroying the forest and disturbing the wolves. This one has
no love of them, but they are useful to us all right now and we will use them
to do some of our patrolling for us--particularly involving other apes. When
they are no longer of any use to us, they will be dealt with accordingly. For
now, they are useful to us.

Chaser's mouth twists into a wry smirk. "Yeah," she murmurs. "Like, they pay my
salary." It's rather a private joke, for her own amusement, drawled in her
rough, low voice.

Stormcloud grumbles audible, reminded of one ranger in particular.

Defends-Wolves remains silent, seemingly content to listen to the proceedings
for now.

Chaser lounges back against rock, relaxed. She flicks an emerald-hard glance at
the oversized Talon, and quirks one eyebrow. "We'll talk, later," she murmurs
under her breath.

Moon Otter grumbles in agreement with Stormcloud, but seems to feel that was an
exception to the norm in this case. There have been a great many protectors of
these lands who are now dead. The most recent, Swipes-at-Salmon, was respected
by all here who knew her. But, there are some things about her that you did not
know. Swipes-at-Salmon had contact with one of the ~rangers~. This ranger has
been in contact with several of the Red Talon alphas. Possibly even as far back
as when Earth-Child was Alpha of the Red Talons--over three turnings of the
seasons ago. It was kept secret then, but it ends now. Again, Otter pauses for
dramatic effect. This ~ranger~ is also a world warper.

Stormcloud stands up in startlement, barking out. What?

Laughs just looks puzzled.

Defends-Wolves ' ears perk up.

Chaser merely nods, eyes narrowed and fixed on Moon Otter. "Two of them,
actually," she comments darkly. The hard gaze sweeps over the gathering, from
her place on its flank. "Anyone messes with the witch doctor, that starts war
with his kind. Anyone messes with the /bitch/..."

The Get's mouth twists in a slight smirk. ~The mage-bitch is the alpha's
territory.~ A hint of dry, mocking humor touches her voice.

Stormcloud looks over to the Get. That one is not a Ranger. Another bitch
should hope to remain unseen.

Moon Otter lets his gaze meet each and every Garou present. Otter replies to
Chaser in a similar tone of distaste. Most Garou already know of /that/
particular warper. But, it is true. The Red Talons in the past have had
something of an agreement with this warper. There are those among you who would
hunt down and slaughter this ape right now. Some time ago, this one would have
done precisely that. It would be a grave error, though. Make no mistake about
it, this one has absolutely no love for the warpers. None at all. They always
want something and they are very clever about tricking their way into getting
it. They appear to be allies when they really are not. But, since this
particular one has quietly aided the Garou in protecting these lands for such a
long time, it is becoming obvious that what he wishes may be much what we wish.
Therefore, this one is telling you to leave him be rather than leading an
attack on this warper tonight. The best way to deal with this ~ranger~ is to
keep watch on him and continue to use him. As soon as it proves to be more of a
nuisance than a boon, we kill it. This one has already spoken with him and he
has agreed to speak to the other ~rangers~ about limiting their ranges more to
areas the apes travel and keeping a closer eye on those who travel on the the
human-made paths.

Stormcloud grumbles to himself, wholly unpleased by this.

Chaser gives Stormcloud a critical look. ~A warrior uses mind as well as
claws,~ she snarls softly. ~A warrior uses those weapons which come to hand.~
Crossing both arms again, with a creak of leather, she settles back against the
rock and returns her attention to Moon Otter.

Stormcloud gives the Get another look. Definitely later.

Moon Otter waits until most of the grumblings have died out . We will let this
warper think we are working with him when we give him nothing. This one offers
his services in dealing with the warper to this end. This warper knows of us.
Knows of several Red Talon alphas from the past. It is only right that we know
of him as he knows of us. This is not, however, a suggestion to go and speak
with him. The less he knows of us, the better. Every bit of knowledge he learns
about us can be used later to do us harm. This one would suggest that none of
you attempt to see or speak with this--or any other--warper. They bring little
but trouble in the longer scheme of things.

Laughs looks decidedly lost. Very little of this means anything to her.

Chaser nods a curt, slightly angry agreement. ~Do not let him learn from you.
Do not kill him, but reveal nothing.~

Stormcloud's expression tightens, becoming a bit stoic as the proceedings
continue.

Moon Otter lets another pause come into play before finishing. There is one
last matter--a painful but necessary matter--which needs to be addressed:
injured wolves. The population of wolves within these lands has increased. In
the past, it was possible to care for severely injured wolves in hopes they
would become well again. It was possible to hunt and supply lame wolves who
could not hunt for themselves with food. This is getting to be no longer
possible. Also, there are those among you who would like to raise pups of your
own. Possibly Garou pups. The weak and the sick prevent us from doing so
without starving. It is time to let these unhealthy wolves die as Gaia intended
or offer them a swift and merciful death. This is all this one wished to speak
of this night.

Stormcloud narrows his eyes slightly. Lose the wisdom, but it is the true way.

Chaser nods another curt agreement. ~Those who cannot survive are culled. That
is the Way.~

Stormcloud snorts. Let them die, leave, or heal. Survival is utmost for my kin,
homid. Culling is not the way.

Chaser rolls her eyes heavenward, and eyes the Talon. ~Gaia culls,
earthshaker,~ she snarls. ~You misunderstand.~

Stormcloud straightens up, eyes burning. Do not *ever* mistake me for that
metis, Chaser-Never-Rests. That is Gaia's duty, not ours.

Chaser nods, slowly, as if teaching something to a child. ~Those who cannot
survive, die. Don't presume to teach me what I learned from your betters when
you were an itch in your mother's womb.~ She doesn't straighten from her
languid pose against the wall--but the hard tones of long-earned dominance are
crystal clear. No challenge is here, only dry authority.

Moon Otter huffs. If the Talons wish the wolves to starve to death rather than
cull them, it is their right. The matter is settled.

Stormcloud rises to his feet. No, it is not. Winter Wolf would teach. Lead to
better land. You homids do not cull your own. Find it distasteful you would
ours.

Chaser doesn't take her eyes from the Talon, just yet--making sure, perhaps,
that he gets the point. She is uncharacteristically patient, perhaps because
the moon is neither full nor dark tonight. ~I do not believe the apes have the
right to kill our brothers. Let Gaia cull the wounded and the weak as is Her
will. I believe that is what Moon Otter has just said.~

The Get remains matter-of-fact, keeping her cool, only the hard glint in her
eyes betraying the iron underneath her languid posture.

Stormcloud raises his head a bit more in pride, but does not look at either
Fostern directly, honoring their station. Then you have this one going against
his totem. And for that, this one will disobey.

Moon Otter wonders what it is that you will do with these wolves, then?

Chaser drops to a low crouch, eyeing the wolf bemusedly. ~Explain,~ she snarls.
~You say you do not want to kill the weak. We have said this is fine, let them
die as Gaia wills. I see no reason for your whining.~

Laughs watches all this silently, ears twitching.

Stormcloud addresses the Shadow Lord, no longer speaking to the scab-smelling
Get. It seems a frenzy is only a moment away from the Talon just now. This one
and his pack will do as we have done on our Quest. We will aid the wolves to
where they can fend for themselves once more, then leave them be. If they can
not be helped, so be it.

Moon Otter seems to find Stormcloud's statement somewhat obvious and redundant.
The Lord, however, seems to have a grand wealth of patience. Well, of course.
Who would not? Though it would be a long and difficult journey for the weak and
lame since there are no better lands than what are here, around the caern, for
quite some distance.

Chaser rises again, her expression a 'whatever' look to match Moon Otter's.
~That's what we just said, Talon.~ A shrug, and she takes her place against the
stone, again. ~We're in agreement. Fine.~ The green eyes flick to Moon Otter,
sharing bemusement.

Stormcloud snorts once more, seeming a bit calmer as he resettles upon his
haunches.

Chaser shakes her head slightly, almost wryly. "Bloodfang," she murmurs,
casting the name on the air like a tribute. The Get speaks to no one in
particular.

(And, essentially, that's it.)