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Met up with Mouse in the park yesterday evening. She wanted to talk more freely, so we packed up and I drove us out to the woods and we went hiking. Turns out that the Glass Walkers own a large chunk of land out there, and it's quite scenic. Nice little valley, lots of pines sheltering it from the wind, little stream feeding into a little pond. There was even a small cave, but we didn't go in there. I can find my way back here if need be, but Mouse seems to think that the Garou might take refuge here later when the brambles get even worse.
After I scanned for invisible tigers (crazy right?), we got to talking. Actually, Mouse did most of the talking. I think she just needed to vent a little. She's trying to get acknowledgement for her accomplishments, which involves some sort of formalized process called "challenging," and seems to believe she's earned the right to challenge--but fears that the more traditionalist garou who control the challenging process might smack her down because she's a non-traditional garou and a metis--a result of two werewolves breeding that results in deformed offspring. It reeks of politics and makes me glad I'm sort of an outsider and that mages don't have such a rigidly structured system. At least, not us Orphans. (Gooooo ORPHANS!!!) I offered to lend Mouse a hand if that sort of thing was allowed, because it's pretty obvious to me that the urban, non-traditional garou all seem to look up to her. Or, rather, the four I've seen interact with her at least. I like bucking the system: I'd be happy to put my thumb on the scale to balance out the oppression directed at Mouse--assuming I can do so quietly. Plus, it'd suck if she died. She's easier to talk to than Salem: less full of anger (but I could certainly sense it in her the other night).
After a good vent, which seemed to do Mouse some real good, she talked to me about the moon phases and how they're important to the garou and help define their roles in life. (Culturally, they seem really big into preordination. I suppose that makes life easier to deal with in their situation: by taking away an individual's belief that they have choices and freedoms at the very beginning, there's far less soul-searching and thinking about what it is is going on. And that helps to prop up traditions and the status quo.) Fortunately I remember most of what Brigid told me ages ago, so this was largely old ground re-hashed. Although I'm sure I've only gotten a glimpse at the surface, but the intricacies therein are not of my concern and, frankly, not particularly relevant to me either.
Later, as darkness set in, Mouse showed me the different forms the garou can take. It's peculiar that they have five forms: human, wolfman, war wolf/crinos, big wolf, and wolf. I'm surprised that there's no in-between forms: you'd think shape shifting would be more like a sliding scale instead of like selecting a gear on a manual transmission. It's likely a limitation imposed by the static magic they employ and have little control over. I take that back. They have excellent control over it, but perhaps not a good understanding of how they actually do it. I think Mouse was also interested in getting me a little more comfortable around the non-human forms in a non-aggressive environment/situation. I pet her on the head in lupus. A part of me was screaming to get away and don't go near her, but I overrode it. That crinos form is still damn scary, though. I've seen what they can do with those teeth and claws. Scary, scary, scary. Also, Mouse pointed out that her crinos form is her /true/ form--because both her parents were werewolves. It was almost like meeting a stranger, realizing the Mouse I've always been interacting with is not really Mouse at all. And it certainly drove home how, as Mouse mentioned earlier, metis can be a severe liability if they live amongst humans. I guess it gets harder to just cut your ties and walk away, like I've done several times in the past, when an accident or your death could have astronomical ramifications if humans saw too much. Yeesh.
I'd debated taking advantage of the valley to do some flying, but I'm not sure Mouse needs to know I can do that. I debated seeing how well Forces could be used to fend off an incoming crinos, but Mouse's spine looks fragile and she's complained about it in the past--I'm afraid I might have accidentally hurt her. I debated practicing some Mind magic to try out a few things Abernathy and I discussed, but--again--I'm not sure if that's a good idea to show my hand there, and Mouse has already mentioned how she's unnerved by things that affect the mind. In hind sight, I should not have used the "throw a pebble" Jedi Mind Trick to get her attention earlier in the park. I hate playing my cards so close to my chest, but I need to. Good lord, and I remember Sally demanding that I entertain her with tricks. Really? I don't need that again.
On the way back to the car, my cell went off as I regained service. Two texts from Val. She went poking around Plasticorp without alerting me, but made it out safe. Dammit, Val. You're going to get yourself killed with your idiotic recklessness. I don't need to wake up one day with no Mouse and no Val.
After I scanned for invisible tigers (crazy right?), we got to talking. Actually, Mouse did most of the talking. I think she just needed to vent a little. She's trying to get acknowledgement for her accomplishments, which involves some sort of formalized process called "challenging," and seems to believe she's earned the right to challenge--but fears that the more traditionalist garou who control the challenging process might smack her down because she's a non-traditional garou and a metis--a result of two werewolves breeding that results in deformed offspring. It reeks of politics and makes me glad I'm sort of an outsider and that mages don't have such a rigidly structured system. At least, not us Orphans. (Gooooo ORPHANS!!!) I offered to lend Mouse a hand if that sort of thing was allowed, because it's pretty obvious to me that the urban, non-traditional garou all seem to look up to her. Or, rather, the four I've seen interact with her at least. I like bucking the system: I'd be happy to put my thumb on the scale to balance out the oppression directed at Mouse--assuming I can do so quietly. Plus, it'd suck if she died. She's easier to talk to than Salem: less full of anger (but I could certainly sense it in her the other night).
After a good vent, which seemed to do Mouse some real good, she talked to me about the moon phases and how they're important to the garou and help define their roles in life. (Culturally, they seem really big into preordination. I suppose that makes life easier to deal with in their situation: by taking away an individual's belief that they have choices and freedoms at the very beginning, there's far less soul-searching and thinking about what it is is going on. And that helps to prop up traditions and the status quo.) Fortunately I remember most of what Brigid told me ages ago, so this was largely old ground re-hashed. Although I'm sure I've only gotten a glimpse at the surface, but the intricacies therein are not of my concern and, frankly, not particularly relevant to me either.
Later, as darkness set in, Mouse showed me the different forms the garou can take. It's peculiar that they have five forms: human, wolfman, war wolf/crinos, big wolf, and wolf. I'm surprised that there's no in-between forms: you'd think shape shifting would be more like a sliding scale instead of like selecting a gear on a manual transmission. It's likely a limitation imposed by the static magic they employ and have little control over. I take that back. They have excellent control over it, but perhaps not a good understanding of how they actually do it. I think Mouse was also interested in getting me a little more comfortable around the non-human forms in a non-aggressive environment/situation. I pet her on the head in lupus. A part of me was screaming to get away and don't go near her, but I overrode it. That crinos form is still damn scary, though. I've seen what they can do with those teeth and claws. Scary, scary, scary. Also, Mouse pointed out that her crinos form is her /true/ form--because both her parents were werewolves. It was almost like meeting a stranger, realizing the Mouse I've always been interacting with is not really Mouse at all. And it certainly drove home how, as Mouse mentioned earlier, metis can be a severe liability if they live amongst humans. I guess it gets harder to just cut your ties and walk away, like I've done several times in the past, when an accident or your death could have astronomical ramifications if humans saw too much. Yeesh.
I'd debated taking advantage of the valley to do some flying, but I'm not sure Mouse needs to know I can do that. I debated seeing how well Forces could be used to fend off an incoming crinos, but Mouse's spine looks fragile and she's complained about it in the past--I'm afraid I might have accidentally hurt her. I debated practicing some Mind magic to try out a few things Abernathy and I discussed, but--again--I'm not sure if that's a good idea to show my hand there, and Mouse has already mentioned how she's unnerved by things that affect the mind. In hind sight, I should not have used the "throw a pebble" Jedi Mind Trick to get her attention earlier in the park. I hate playing my cards so close to my chest, but I need to. Good lord, and I remember Sally demanding that I entertain her with tricks. Really? I don't need that again.
On the way back to the car, my cell went off as I regained service. Two texts from Val. She went poking around Plasticorp without alerting me, but made it out safe. Dammit, Val. You're going to get yourself killed with your idiotic recklessness. I don't need to wake up one day with no Mouse and no Val.
