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I got back into St. Clair about two weeks ago. Ran into Clare and Rhys in the lobby. Surprisingly, they didn't know one another. That seems a bit odd for two Walkers to not know one another. Maybe it was a prank? Wasn't a very good one. I got settled back in to the 5th floor apartment Mouse gave me, then I went to work on a backlog of cases for the PI firm. Thank God Riley took up some of the slack while I was gone. She's a competent, hard worker. A rarity these days. Which reminded me....
When the moon was full, Riley and I took a jaunt out to the umbra near the Riverfront District. (I suspect if I went umbral at the safehouse or the Harbor Park glade, there might be some spirits that would tell the garou about it. I'm less concerned about the resident Walkers knowing about me than I am the whole sept, but discretion is the better part of valor--or so the saying goes.) I'd promised to show Riley a little bit of what I could do, and because the spirit world is so malleable in comparison to the realm, it just made sense to hop over and dodge the consequences of using vulgar magic. Overall? I think it went well and we had a good talk. I think the proverbial hatchet has finally been buried. I think Riley respects me and I communicated my own respect of her.
She showed off a couple tricks. She climbed a wall like Spiderman (and I did not show her that I could fly because I didn't want to cheapen her accomplishment). She turned invisible, but it looked limited to her needing to stay still. (I didn't intend to show her that I could do that as well, but later events might have tipped my hand.) I'd thought a bit about what to show her: something impressive but not excessive. I levitated a brick, held it there in space, then opened a gateway between the ground and a point about a mile up over the umbral river. Rather than actually doing it, I explained that I could drop the brick through the portal, accelerate it, and essentially turn it into a high-energy kinetic missile by the time it hit the ground. (I suspect that a sudden, explosive "meteor" impact on the umbral river might have drawn unwanted attention. Again.) It was a rather simple use of Forces, Matter, and Correspondence magic, but Riley was suitably impressed.
She then asked a bunch of questions--mostly related to my ability to spy on things. (Unsurprising for a ragabash, really.) I told her I could have wrapped up her adren challenge in short order, but that I felt like that would have been cheating--which an honor-based society like the garou might not have taken well to. (And maybe even the spirits might have gotten upset about that, but I'm not sure how all of that works,) Riley didn't seem to think it would, but it's really a non-issue at this point. I also told her not to rely on me being able to do stuff for her or the Walkers (and to a lesser extent the sept) because I was busy with a lot of other projects and thus not always available--and not always willing to help. That led to a discussion about how I don't kill people, and how I don't intend to start anytime soon.
I filled Riley in on the current individuals who know about me: Val, Salem, Mouse, Elliot, Jacinta (and possibly members of Jacinta's pack?). Riley pointed out that the more people who know about a secret, the less likely it is to stay a secret--and if I had plans for what I'd do if that happened. I explained that Elliot, Jacinta and I had kind of an on-the-down-low accord that essentially makes me a low-profile ally to the sept--though Elliot explained that that might not prevent some garou--even sept members--from coming at me. And I explained that was why I'd moved to the 5th floor of the Walker's safehouse. Security. And it'd slow down someone attempting to come after me--enough time for me to escape or to incapacitate them. If my cover gets totally blown, I planned to claim territory that only invited guests would be welcome on. Riley said that some garou would not respect a non-garou claiming territory. I told her I'm reasonably confident I could make a trespasser respect it after the first violation. (Although in hindsight, a better approach might be "this is Nick's turf, he's Walker kin, so by proxy whatever territory he claims is Walker-claimed territory. Even though I suspect there would still be those who ignored that.)
Riley then acted like she'd detected something, shifted to lupus, and slipped away. I put my back against the wall, flipped on a 'radar', and attempted to turn myself invisible. The latter didn't work quite right, and I was still partially visible--albeit semi-camouflaged. (I hate working magic hastily. It's too erratic, especially for the more difficult or delicate stuff. Raw force? Much easier. But you don't carve an elegant sculpture using a sledgehammer. You take the time and use the tiny rock hammer and delicate chisel.) A large wolf--not Riley--then appeared, spotted me, and assumed a threatening posture. I thought about flying off, but that would leave a potential garou threat knowing about me. Instead, I used Forces magic to grab it up, levitate it off the ground (yes, you're fast and huge and powerful--and you're now immobile), and then suggested we talk.
Well, it turns out it was Riley using some kind of illusion magic she secretly picked up--and I'm not to talk about. (I'd been debating about a year ago the feasibility of using Forces magic to craft an illusion of me being a crinos or a wolf as a means of creating confusion or to "fly casual" if the situation arose. I think I need to go back and re-explore the broader possibilities of illusion-based magic.) She'd imitated Little Silvertip, because she thinks he's a tough and belligerent garou I wouldn't want to run into (even though he seemed nice the one time I met him), but I didn't recognize his lupus form.
We wrapped things up shortly afterwards (and a discussion about not pulling stunts like that again as someone could get hurt/killed accidentally). I don't use the term "friend" lightly. Certainly not in a Facebook kind of way. I do believe Riley is becoming one of the few I have.
This past Monday was a little exciting. Not the morning part, though. I visited the Farmhouse with a load of groceries, not intending to stay long as the moon is just a hair over halfway full. Linnaea was there decorating a tree. It turns out that she--a supposed kin--firsted a few months back. Theurge. She's getting some flak from other garou about one of the Litany lines: "Do Not Suffer Thy People to Tend Thy Sickness in Death." Asshats. There was no problem when she was kin, but now that she's a garou there's suddenly an issue? i gave her some encouraging words--although I suspect they weren't needed. She seems to have her head screwed on straight and is hoping to get her Rite of the way soon so that she can be more productive. I hope things work out for her. It's tough being a cerebral person in a society that largely only values physical prowess. She and Mouse should talk. I encouraged her to do so.
Rhys and I had a chat after I'd driven Clarice and him back to the safehouse. It turns out that he's afraid of guns, which was why he froze up when one was pointed at his head. I told him I'm afraid of guns, too. They're scary. But if you understand how they work and familiarize yourself with them, they're less scary. I offered to get a smaller gun and show him how to shoot one. Then I took my concealed Kahr PM9 out, removed the clip and the round from the chamber, and gave the unloaded gun to him. I told him the bullets are the scary bit. Alone, the pistol is nothing but a hunk of metal with a handle. Hopefully, by carrying that around for a while and realizing that it can't hurt him without bullets in it, that will help him cope with his fear of firearms a little better. I don't think I'm going to tell the other Walkers about this: it might embarrass Rhys unnecessarily--inside and outside of the tribe.
When the moon was full, Riley and I took a jaunt out to the umbra near the Riverfront District. (I suspect if I went umbral at the safehouse or the Harbor Park glade, there might be some spirits that would tell the garou about it. I'm less concerned about the resident Walkers knowing about me than I am the whole sept, but discretion is the better part of valor--or so the saying goes.) I'd promised to show Riley a little bit of what I could do, and because the spirit world is so malleable in comparison to the realm, it just made sense to hop over and dodge the consequences of using vulgar magic. Overall? I think it went well and we had a good talk. I think the proverbial hatchet has finally been buried. I think Riley respects me and I communicated my own respect of her.
She showed off a couple tricks. She climbed a wall like Spiderman (and I did not show her that I could fly because I didn't want to cheapen her accomplishment). She turned invisible, but it looked limited to her needing to stay still. (I didn't intend to show her that I could do that as well, but later events might have tipped my hand.) I'd thought a bit about what to show her: something impressive but not excessive. I levitated a brick, held it there in space, then opened a gateway between the ground and a point about a mile up over the umbral river. Rather than actually doing it, I explained that I could drop the brick through the portal, accelerate it, and essentially turn it into a high-energy kinetic missile by the time it hit the ground. (I suspect that a sudden, explosive "meteor" impact on the umbral river might have drawn unwanted attention. Again.) It was a rather simple use of Forces, Matter, and Correspondence magic, but Riley was suitably impressed.
She then asked a bunch of questions--mostly related to my ability to spy on things. (Unsurprising for a ragabash, really.) I told her I could have wrapped up her adren challenge in short order, but that I felt like that would have been cheating--which an honor-based society like the garou might not have taken well to. (And maybe even the spirits might have gotten upset about that, but I'm not sure how all of that works,) Riley didn't seem to think it would, but it's really a non-issue at this point. I also told her not to rely on me being able to do stuff for her or the Walkers (and to a lesser extent the sept) because I was busy with a lot of other projects and thus not always available--and not always willing to help. That led to a discussion about how I don't kill people, and how I don't intend to start anytime soon.
I filled Riley in on the current individuals who know about me: Val, Salem, Mouse, Elliot, Jacinta (and possibly members of Jacinta's pack?). Riley pointed out that the more people who know about a secret, the less likely it is to stay a secret--and if I had plans for what I'd do if that happened. I explained that Elliot, Jacinta and I had kind of an on-the-down-low accord that essentially makes me a low-profile ally to the sept--though Elliot explained that that might not prevent some garou--even sept members--from coming at me. And I explained that was why I'd moved to the 5th floor of the Walker's safehouse. Security. And it'd slow down someone attempting to come after me--enough time for me to escape or to incapacitate them. If my cover gets totally blown, I planned to claim territory that only invited guests would be welcome on. Riley said that some garou would not respect a non-garou claiming territory. I told her I'm reasonably confident I could make a trespasser respect it after the first violation. (Although in hindsight, a better approach might be "this is Nick's turf, he's Walker kin, so by proxy whatever territory he claims is Walker-claimed territory. Even though I suspect there would still be those who ignored that.)
Riley then acted like she'd detected something, shifted to lupus, and slipped away. I put my back against the wall, flipped on a 'radar', and attempted to turn myself invisible. The latter didn't work quite right, and I was still partially visible--albeit semi-camouflaged. (I hate working magic hastily. It's too erratic, especially for the more difficult or delicate stuff. Raw force? Much easier. But you don't carve an elegant sculpture using a sledgehammer. You take the time and use the tiny rock hammer and delicate chisel.) A large wolf--not Riley--then appeared, spotted me, and assumed a threatening posture. I thought about flying off, but that would leave a potential garou threat knowing about me. Instead, I used Forces magic to grab it up, levitate it off the ground (yes, you're fast and huge and powerful--and you're now immobile), and then suggested we talk.
Well, it turns out it was Riley using some kind of illusion magic she secretly picked up--and I'm not to talk about. (I'd been debating about a year ago the feasibility of using Forces magic to craft an illusion of me being a crinos or a wolf as a means of creating confusion or to "fly casual" if the situation arose. I think I need to go back and re-explore the broader possibilities of illusion-based magic.) She'd imitated Little Silvertip, because she thinks he's a tough and belligerent garou I wouldn't want to run into (even though he seemed nice the one time I met him), but I didn't recognize his lupus form.
We wrapped things up shortly afterwards (and a discussion about not pulling stunts like that again as someone could get hurt/killed accidentally). I don't use the term "friend" lightly. Certainly not in a Facebook kind of way. I do believe Riley is becoming one of the few I have.
This past Monday was a little exciting. Not the morning part, though. I visited the Farmhouse with a load of groceries, not intending to stay long as the moon is just a hair over halfway full. Linnaea was there decorating a tree. It turns out that she--a supposed kin--firsted a few months back. Theurge. She's getting some flak from other garou about one of the Litany lines: "Do Not Suffer Thy People to Tend Thy Sickness in Death." Asshats. There was no problem when she was kin, but now that she's a garou there's suddenly an issue? i gave her some encouraging words--although I suspect they weren't needed. She seems to have her head screwed on straight and is hoping to get her Rite of the way soon so that she can be more productive. I hope things work out for her. It's tough being a cerebral person in a society that largely only values physical prowess. She and Mouse should talk. I encouraged her to do so.
Later that evening, I went out shopping at WalMart to help replenish the groceries at the safehouse. That and I just had this really weird compulsion to go shopping. (Maybe to just be around "normal people?" I have no idea.) I ran into Clarice, Rhys, and Brad in the electronics section right as the store was about to close. Then a weird Santa passed by that didn't look like the one out front, and a big store like WalMart wouldn't have TWO Santas working the same place--it'd destroy the illusion for little kids. Long story made short? The guy was a robber and had a sack full of cash. He got out of the store with Rhys and Clarice following. (I cheated and watched via Correspondence.) He pulled a gun. I turned his first bullet's cordite into fine dirt. He tried to shoot Rhys in the head and... Man, I am so damn glad I mucked with that bullet. Rhys might be dead otherwise. Anyway, the guy ended up getting caught. It even made the nightly news. He'd swiped money from both WalMart (which I could care less about) and the Salvation Army (which is just wrong).
Rhys and I had a chat after I'd driven Clarice and him back to the safehouse. It turns out that he's afraid of guns, which was why he froze up when one was pointed at his head. I told him I'm afraid of guns, too. They're scary. But if you understand how they work and familiarize yourself with them, they're less scary. I offered to get a smaller gun and show him how to shoot one. Then I took my concealed Kahr PM9 out, removed the clip and the round from the chamber, and gave the unloaded gun to him. I told him the bullets are the scary bit. Alone, the pistol is nothing but a hunk of metal with a handle. Hopefully, by carrying that around for a while and realizing that it can't hurt him without bullets in it, that will help him cope with his fear of firearms a little better. I don't think I'm going to tell the other Walkers about this: it might embarrass Rhys unnecessarily--inside and outside of the tribe.
