(no subject)

[nick_garou]

Went to the Pool Hall a couple days ago on a longshot lead to a guy who's been missing for months now. Thomas was at the pool hall, so to be social, I joined him--even though there's something about him that puts me on edge. We got to talking and he said that the pool hall was owned by an Uktena--who he hadn't met yet. Well, neat. I might go there more often--not that I drink or play pool much. (Although I could /really/ hustle a table with some Dreaming combined with low-grade Correspondence, Entropy, and Forces.) I mentioned the case I was half-assed working on to Thomas. The missing guy's pregnant girlfriend wants to find him for all the obvious reasons. Except he was excited about the kid and had told everyone about it. My initial investigation found he was dealing drugs on the side, had been talking about making a big score with some rough people, and.... disappeared. Months ago. With not a peep out of him and money still sitting untouched in his bank and credit accounts. Thomas offered to use his connections, based off the guy's name and picture, and came back to tell me the guy was dead--but there were no details about how or where he died. It smelled suspiciously--and took about as long to do--of that ritual the Garou have for finding people that Sera had used and explained to me earlier. Man, that is a neat and useful trick.


Val turned up (didn't know she came to the pool hall) and we got to talking about travel. I mentioned how Alaska might be fun. That lead to a query about the existence of were-polar-bears, which Val and Thomas seemed to have differing opinions about. Apparently, long ago, the wolves decided they wanted to know how the were-bears were able to bring people back from the dead. The bears refused to share their knowledge, so the garou went genocidal on them. Wow. Just.... wow. Although I'm sure there must be two sides to this story. But I can kind of see how tempting it would be to know there was magic that could bring the dead--a parent, lover, sibling, friend--back from the great beyond--and then be told that I'd just have to deal with it. BUT STILL!!! Thank god the Walkers have more sense than that.


Yesterday I finished reading a book by Edward Glaeser: "Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier" (2011). A good read about how cities--by having public transportation, smaller and more efficient housing, making it easier to interact/communicate/share ideas, are superior to rural or suburban areas--and more environmentally friendly. Because if all the people (2/3rds of the planet's population) were to spread out into suburbs and rural areas, the resulting environmental damage would be monumental. An interesting point and an interesting book chocked full of facts to support these conclusions. I thought it'd be something the Walkers would want to read--if they weren't already aware of it. Good ammunition for arguing with those who looked down their noses at cities and/or Glass Walkers. I decided to bring them a copy of the book and some groceries.



Ran into Flint on the 5th floor of the tenement when I was dropping off goodies. He and Kavi had painted a HUGE mural on one of the walls. Lots of stuff going on with it. Busy, almost. But well done, too. The tension in the room--even before I announced myself--was palpable. Belatedly, I realized the moon was full--and I'd just walked into Garou Central. My god, what a fucking idiot I was. I kept the conversation as light and superficial as possible. Pimped Emma's urban revitalization pack, but Flint seemed keen on another group (Alexandra and Ky) already. I dropped off the book along with the groceries, then mentioned I was thinking of getting a few more copies and putting them downstairs in the lobby so the other tribes that pass through might learn a thing or two about how the Glass Walkers, by promoting cities, were actually doing a lot to save the environment.

That is assuming some of the resident garou might be prone to--or capable of--actually reading.


Tonight, I got a chance to catch up a bit with Val and send Salem an e-mail requesting permission to use the tribe's woodland territory--if it was available and no one else was frequenting it. And if it'd be okay if Val came along. And what I was up to. (Just planning to cross over to the spirit world, take a look around, goof off a bit, and call it quits.) I'd rather ask for permission than forgiveness. At least with Salem. I don't know precisely how I managed to get into his good graces, but I'd like to stay there.