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Tuesday I had a brief run-in with Mr. Lee in the park. He'd shed his usual long duster and, like an idiot, I'd said I was surprised because I thought he used it to hide his fox tail. I mean, seriously. I thought he had a tail hidden under that thing and.... Yeah. In hindsight? I sounded like an idiot. I did, however, get an idea as to why he and Val often don't get along. Two things, really. One, he doesn't care for Shadow Lords or their totem spirit animal, the stormcrow--the critter that Val had rescued and then gone traipsing around the spirit world with. Two, it sounds like he pointed out to Val how her eyeball eating habit could be compared to vampirism. Val does NOT like vampires. At all. So comparing her to one? Probably not a good idea if you don't want to make her mad. Actually, let's add a third into the mix: Mr. Lee is adept at pushing people's buttons.
Wed night I dropped by the tenement and things got interesting almost immediately. In the lobby, there was a group gathered and doing intros: Kavi, Keir, Kevin, Thomas, and a new person with pink hair (Baukhain). Kevin immediately headed upstairs, and then Kavi asked Baukhain to introduce herself. She basically said "Baukhain. Kinfolk. Mouse vetted me." No tribe. Kavi asked about tribe and she evaded in her response and got huffy. I figured she was either new, stupid, or had a death wish. Kavi asked again, and was clearly getting mad. She evaded again. Kavi went to go upstairs before he blew his lid, and then she *insulted* him as he was leaving. Right about then, someone used magic to ping the room: I immediately put shields up--and it seemed to have come from Thomas. I don't know if he noticed something or not--or if he did that it'd been me. Kavi turned around and got ultra snarly at Baukhain, and I was about to go out the front door. Kavi yelled at Baukhain to get out of the tenement. Then Thomas darted over to Baukhain at a blistering speed (and I could smell the magic being used) and snatched her up by her hair. She wigged out--she'd been backing up from Kavi as if expecting he might come at her--when Mr. Lee grabbed her. Bam! Like that. She turned into a tiger! Thomas tried some snarling and whatnot at her--Tiger-speak?--and I'm stunned that Kavi didn't leap on her. Keir positioned himself in front of me to shield me from the tiger in case she went nuts. (That was kind of nice, actually. Being protected BY a garou for a change instead of feeling like I need to be protected FROM a garou.) Rina came down the stairs and I half expected there to soon be a tiger pelt throw rug on the 5th floor by tomorrow night, but she didn't draw and shoot at it. I suggested that everyone give her some space, and that she might be feeling cornered, and we certainly could not just open the front door and let a tiger stroll out onto the city streets. Imagine my amazement when people actually listened to my suggestion?
Baukhain shifted back to her human form after she was given some space, going through a variety of forms that included one I'd call "Mother of God there's a giant bipedal weretiger in the front room!" were it not a little long-winded. She'd calmed down and was clearly preparing to leave, so I held the door open for her. I don't know if it was because I'd said "awesome" out loud as she was passing by on her way out or if she appreciated someone acting sensibly with a cornered animal in the room, but she touched the side of my face. Seriously! Touched by a were-tiger--and not dead! I think this made my whole month. (I'd say whole year, but I think the acquisition of that talisman takes that particular cake.) As Keir grabbed up her stuff to follow her down the street, I slipped him one of my business cards and told him I'd love to get a chance to talk with her again.
A few minutes later, I'm texting with her about arranging a day to meet at a coffee shop. Friday. This could be an absolutely fascinating conversation!
Also interesting? It seems like Mouse vetted Baukhain earlier as kin. Did she intend to have her go undetected? Or did she miss something? Or did Mouse and Baukhain fail to develop sufficient background story/information like she and I did well before I ever got introduced as Glass Walker kin? Questions, questions, questions.
Afterwards, in the lobby, Kavi departed, leaving Rina and myself and Thomas. Kier had pointed out that Thomas had moved at lightning-fast speed, asked what was up with that, and Thomas came right out and told everyone present that he was a Fox shifter. (Guess it's out of the bag a second time. We'll see if Rina or Keir spread the news around, though I'm still a little stunned that Kavi never did. I find myself asking, "Why?")
Thomas told us about the Beast Courts (groups of mixed shifters working with one another--including dragons) (DRAGONS!). "Hengeyokai" are Asian Bete (beasts). Then there's the Wan Xian (the 10,000 immortals--heroes of humanity). They initially worked together to defeat the Wyrm. They thought they succeeded. Then the Wan Xian tricked the Hengeyokai to war among themselves. That started the War of Shame--where the shapeshifters started fighting one another. Meanwhile the Wan Xian exploited their caerns, "got fat", and "became cursed." (Thomas didn't explain how this curse was enacted, but I suspect maybe the bete did it.) They then turned into Asian vampire, which apparently eat flesh and blood, not just drink blood. The bete finally figured out they'd been had, but they'd managed to kill all of the Okuma, the eastern Bear-shifters. (Kung Fu Were Pandas?)
Wed night I dropped by the tenement and things got interesting almost immediately. In the lobby, there was a group gathered and doing intros: Kavi, Keir, Kevin, Thomas, and a new person with pink hair (Baukhain). Kevin immediately headed upstairs, and then Kavi asked Baukhain to introduce herself. She basically said "Baukhain. Kinfolk. Mouse vetted me." No tribe. Kavi asked about tribe and she evaded in her response and got huffy. I figured she was either new, stupid, or had a death wish. Kavi asked again, and was clearly getting mad. She evaded again. Kavi went to go upstairs before he blew his lid, and then she *insulted* him as he was leaving. Right about then, someone used magic to ping the room: I immediately put shields up--and it seemed to have come from Thomas. I don't know if he noticed something or not--or if he did that it'd been me. Kavi turned around and got ultra snarly at Baukhain, and I was about to go out the front door. Kavi yelled at Baukhain to get out of the tenement. Then Thomas darted over to Baukhain at a blistering speed (and I could smell the magic being used) and snatched her up by her hair. She wigged out--she'd been backing up from Kavi as if expecting he might come at her--when Mr. Lee grabbed her. Bam! Like that. She turned into a tiger! Thomas tried some snarling and whatnot at her--Tiger-speak?--and I'm stunned that Kavi didn't leap on her. Keir positioned himself in front of me to shield me from the tiger in case she went nuts. (That was kind of nice, actually. Being protected BY a garou for a change instead of feeling like I need to be protected FROM a garou.) Rina came down the stairs and I half expected there to soon be a tiger pelt throw rug on the 5th floor by tomorrow night, but she didn't draw and shoot at it. I suggested that everyone give her some space, and that she might be feeling cornered, and we certainly could not just open the front door and let a tiger stroll out onto the city streets. Imagine my amazement when people actually listened to my suggestion?
Baukhain shifted back to her human form after she was given some space, going through a variety of forms that included one I'd call "Mother of God there's a giant bipedal weretiger in the front room!" were it not a little long-winded. She'd calmed down and was clearly preparing to leave, so I held the door open for her. I don't know if it was because I'd said "awesome" out loud as she was passing by on her way out or if she appreciated someone acting sensibly with a cornered animal in the room, but she touched the side of my face. Seriously! Touched by a were-tiger--and not dead! I think this made my whole month. (I'd say whole year, but I think the acquisition of that talisman takes that particular cake.) As Keir grabbed up her stuff to follow her down the street, I slipped him one of my business cards and told him I'd love to get a chance to talk with her again.
A few minutes later, I'm texting with her about arranging a day to meet at a coffee shop. Friday. This could be an absolutely fascinating conversation!
Also interesting? It seems like Mouse vetted Baukhain earlier as kin. Did she intend to have her go undetected? Or did she miss something? Or did Mouse and Baukhain fail to develop sufficient background story/information like she and I did well before I ever got introduced as Glass Walker kin? Questions, questions, questions.
Afterwards, in the lobby, Kavi departed, leaving Rina and myself and Thomas. Kier had pointed out that Thomas had moved at lightning-fast speed, asked what was up with that, and Thomas came right out and told everyone present that he was a Fox shifter. (Guess it's out of the bag a second time. We'll see if Rina or Keir spread the news around, though I'm still a little stunned that Kavi never did. I find myself asking, "Why?")
Thomas told us about the Beast Courts (groups of mixed shifters working with one another--including dragons) (DRAGONS!). "Hengeyokai" are Asian Bete (beasts). Then there's the Wan Xian (the 10,000 immortals--heroes of humanity). They initially worked together to defeat the Wyrm. They thought they succeeded. Then the Wan Xian tricked the Hengeyokai to war among themselves. That started the War of Shame--where the shapeshifters started fighting one another. Meanwhile the Wan Xian exploited their caerns, "got fat", and "became cursed." (Thomas didn't explain how this curse was enacted, but I suspect maybe the bete did it.) They then turned into Asian vampire, which apparently eat flesh and blood, not just drink blood. The bete finally figured out they'd been had, but they'd managed to kill all of the Okuma, the eastern Bear-shifters. (Kung Fu Were Pandas?)
