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I slept away almost all of Tuesday. I'm not sure if trying to countermagick the effects on Silvertip (followed by a full night of working Correspondence/Forces magicks in the umbra) wore me out or if I was just beat to begin with. Maybe both. But I definitely felt recharged Tuesday night. I decided to drive to work and stop for a bit of a walk on the way in. I have to admit, I do like walking the shoreline of the Columbia River. Something about never knowing what will be washed up on the shore combined with the water's dynamic nature--and skipping the occasional stone is fun, too. The fact that I might be helping the Otter pack out is just kind of a bonus--even though, frankly, I haven't seen anything or been useful. Yet.
I ran into Thomas, who was fishing and singing derogatory songs about Nazis. (Like you do.) We got to talking. I mentioned having met with Silvertip and that it must have gone at least okay as neither of us killed one another--or even made overt threats. When you're a non-garou dealing with a garou, that's kind of a success. I started to talk about the event when I suddenly realized that, hello, when I disrupted the one effect that was causing his--HER (dammit) second tail, that tail withered and fell off. That could actually be useful for something in the future, plus it's a direct result of exposure to the Flux realm, so that would be interesting to study. I ended my discussion with Thomas, hustled back to my car, and headed back to the meeting point--about 4 miles away from my house. Screw work. Werewolf tail from Flux realm > $$$.
I parked the car off the side of the road and tromped into the woods using Spirit and Mind to split my perceptions between the two realms. They don't exactly match up in content and distances. It's like the spirit world is a distortion of the realm, and some areas are vastly more distorted than others. It would have been easier to have crossed over to the umbra, but I couldn't go through again until my cat's eye talisman recharged--about a week between trips. I figured, once I located the tail, I could try thinning the gauntlet between the worlds and teleport it out. Tricky and I'm not entirely sure that would work, but I was damn well going to give it a shot. As I neared the site, I spotted Silvertip arguing with a bear spirit. That was unexpected, to say the least! What was he--SHE (dammit)--doing back over here? Spying? Planning something? I chose to watch. She seemed to have an argument with the bear spirit, then left, went to the clearing (I followed along in the realm), and collected her withered tail. Well, crap! I'd wanted that and thought he'd just abandoned it. But I suspect, instead, she was likely concerned I'd have taken it (which she's right about) and done something nefarious with it (which she'd be wrong about). Then she did something unexpected: she crossed over into the realm. Her back was to me. I couldn't resist. I said "Waqaa! I see you!" Which is exactly what she did to me the day before when she'd spotted me prior to crossing over--a means of pointing out my illusionary decoy didn't work.
In hindsight? Probably not a good idea surprising an Uktena out in the middle of the woods. She went to the war form and some quick thinking on my part, yelling "friend" in English and then in Yup'ik, might have averted things getting fugly. I acted like this was my territory and I was curious as to why she was trespassing on it--less accusatory and more why did you come back. She was forthright in saying she had come back to collect her tail. Her actions seemed to mimic her words, so that jived. What was the bear spirit for? Protection? From me? Ha! I'm kind of amused by that. Am I that scary? I suppose I could be if I wanted to. That and "different" is often equated with "scary" by default. We fear the unknown, even those who revel in adventure, exploration, and discovery of new knowledge.
Silvertip again asked about payment for my prior services. I again pointed out that I highly valued Silence, Peace, and Respect. (I was hoping she'd make the link between how traipsing about unannounced in my 'territory' would be kind of a violation of Respect, but I don't think that connected. Was it Val or Thomas who'd said earlier that the garou might not recognized territory claimed by non-garou? (Of course, granted, I was very nearly in danger of not respecting the Uktena's "territory"--in terms of her withered tail at least.) She still did not feel that was enough, so I asked about the possibility of learning something spirit-related. (I would eventually like to know more about the spirit world so I'm no longer reliant upon this cat's eye talisman I bartered for by trading most of my stash of Wyld fruit from over a year ago. (You know, I still have Wyldfruit juice popsicles in the sanctum from where I ran the stuff through a juicer to collect and unitize the magical essence. I might--when I have a free week or so of time to cope with any effects--have to try one of those. I wonder if I could influence how the transformative properties play out? That could be an interesting, unique experience.)
Silvertip seemed to have anticipated that this might be my request and offered to show me something immediately--but she needed a place to draw on the ground--and in private. Not outside where birds or trees(???) might hear or see. (Probably they have some kind of gift that emulates a Time past-sight effect via spiritual means. That's a bit ass backwards, but hey--the garou have to work with what static magic they've got--which admittedly can be pretty damn impressive at times.) Leap of faith on my part---and because if she'd wanted to kill me the other night she probably could have--I offered to take her to my cabin. Provided that whatever she was going to do would not burn it down. She agreed. And off we went.
Furniture got moved out of the way in the great room, and I brought her a pack of glow-in-the-dark chalk I'd bought on a whim a year ago. She got to work chalking up the floor. I'd initially thought she was going to conjure up a spirit--maybe that nearby bear spirit--and then let me ask it some questions or something. Nope. As she kept adding to the immense drawing, I could see that it was actually.... less garou lore and more mage lore. It was even a little bit above my head. Very theoretical. Some parts didn't make perfect sense, but others did. And nestled in the theoretical schematic was a cross-comparison of the difference between the dynamic magic that mages use and the static magic used by the garou in their rites and gifts and shifting abilities. Where the hell did Silvertip get this information? She brushed off that question. I don't blame her, either. That diagram? Fascinating. I could look at it for a week and still come up with concept after concept.
Once finished, Silvertip suggested that we work together--and used one of their gifts on me to try and bend my mind.
Oh. Hell. No.
I immediately let her know that I knew she'd tried using magic on me. Mind magic. I was half tempted to demonstrate she was WAY out of her league in that territory, but she seemed truly apologetic and explained why she'd done it--difficulty interacting with people and she really wanted to work together. New rule between us: No working magic on one another without permission first--unless it's to prevent an accident. Which is just common mage etiquette, but perhaps the garou just use their gifts and rites on one another frequently. I can see that happening a lot if they can't detect that sort of thing, which might make it more culturally acceptable than it is among mages.
I told her I'd be willing to work with her, especially if she had more spiritual knowledge to share. But that we needed to know one another better before that. We'd "met" as mage and shifter just the other night, so... It's a little too much too fast. I think she agreed, though it's very clear that she was eager to continue. She mentioned how she preferred to work in less direct ways, and I told her I did as well. That led to me telling her I would not work with her to harm or kill humans or even things that were once human: garou, spirals, fomori, vampires, etc. She seemed okay with that and shared her own dislike of killing unnecessarily. (Hindsight: Does she think mages are often crazed murderers who do horrific stuff willy-nilly? Oh, the irony is so delicious!)
Silvertip left, saying that if I needed to get in touch with her that I should send word via Thomas. I stayed up all night again studying the chalk drawings. I got my digital camera to take pictures so I could put together a composite later to add to my library, but the camera broke after just three pictures. Hmm. Coincidence? On the plus side, I needed a new camera anyway. That one was nearly three years old. I'm leaving this drawing to study, full-size, until I absolutely have to erase it. This? This would be hard to explain to Emma. Plus it's annoying having to skirt around the schematic each time I pass through the room.
I spent the whole day today alternating between catching up on sleep and studying the chalk drawing with the music cranked up--occasional spontaneous, energetic dancing. Tonight? Sleep. Definitely sleep.
Oh, hell. I forgot to talk to Silvertip about dispelling any residual Time magic on the caern's totem. Can't do anything about that for about 5 more days, though.
I ran into Thomas, who was fishing and singing derogatory songs about Nazis. (Like you do.) We got to talking. I mentioned having met with Silvertip and that it must have gone at least okay as neither of us killed one another--or even made overt threats. When you're a non-garou dealing with a garou, that's kind of a success. I started to talk about the event when I suddenly realized that, hello, when I disrupted the one effect that was causing his--HER (dammit) second tail, that tail withered and fell off. That could actually be useful for something in the future, plus it's a direct result of exposure to the Flux realm, so that would be interesting to study. I ended my discussion with Thomas, hustled back to my car, and headed back to the meeting point--about 4 miles away from my house. Screw work. Werewolf tail from Flux realm > $$$.
I parked the car off the side of the road and tromped into the woods using Spirit and Mind to split my perceptions between the two realms. They don't exactly match up in content and distances. It's like the spirit world is a distortion of the realm, and some areas are vastly more distorted than others. It would have been easier to have crossed over to the umbra, but I couldn't go through again until my cat's eye talisman recharged--about a week between trips. I figured, once I located the tail, I could try thinning the gauntlet between the worlds and teleport it out. Tricky and I'm not entirely sure that would work, but I was damn well going to give it a shot. As I neared the site, I spotted Silvertip arguing with a bear spirit. That was unexpected, to say the least! What was he--SHE (dammit)--doing back over here? Spying? Planning something? I chose to watch. She seemed to have an argument with the bear spirit, then left, went to the clearing (I followed along in the realm), and collected her withered tail. Well, crap! I'd wanted that and thought he'd just abandoned it. But I suspect, instead, she was likely concerned I'd have taken it (which she's right about) and done something nefarious with it (which she'd be wrong about). Then she did something unexpected: she crossed over into the realm. Her back was to me. I couldn't resist. I said "Waqaa! I see you!" Which is exactly what she did to me the day before when she'd spotted me prior to crossing over--a means of pointing out my illusionary decoy didn't work.
In hindsight? Probably not a good idea surprising an Uktena out in the middle of the woods. She went to the war form and some quick thinking on my part, yelling "friend" in English and then in Yup'ik, might have averted things getting fugly. I acted like this was my territory and I was curious as to why she was trespassing on it--less accusatory and more why did you come back. She was forthright in saying she had come back to collect her tail. Her actions seemed to mimic her words, so that jived. What was the bear spirit for? Protection? From me? Ha! I'm kind of amused by that. Am I that scary? I suppose I could be if I wanted to. That and "different" is often equated with "scary" by default. We fear the unknown, even those who revel in adventure, exploration, and discovery of new knowledge.
Silvertip again asked about payment for my prior services. I again pointed out that I highly valued Silence, Peace, and Respect. (I was hoping she'd make the link between how traipsing about unannounced in my 'territory' would be kind of a violation of Respect, but I don't think that connected. Was it Val or Thomas who'd said earlier that the garou might not recognized territory claimed by non-garou? (Of course, granted, I was very nearly in danger of not respecting the Uktena's "territory"--in terms of her withered tail at least.) She still did not feel that was enough, so I asked about the possibility of learning something spirit-related. (I would eventually like to know more about the spirit world so I'm no longer reliant upon this cat's eye talisman I bartered for by trading most of my stash of Wyld fruit from over a year ago. (You know, I still have Wyldfruit juice popsicles in the sanctum from where I ran the stuff through a juicer to collect and unitize the magical essence. I might--when I have a free week or so of time to cope with any effects--have to try one of those. I wonder if I could influence how the transformative properties play out? That could be an interesting, unique experience.)
Silvertip seemed to have anticipated that this might be my request and offered to show me something immediately--but she needed a place to draw on the ground--and in private. Not outside where birds or trees(???) might hear or see. (Probably they have some kind of gift that emulates a Time past-sight effect via spiritual means. That's a bit ass backwards, but hey--the garou have to work with what static magic they've got--which admittedly can be pretty damn impressive at times.) Leap of faith on my part---and because if she'd wanted to kill me the other night she probably could have--I offered to take her to my cabin. Provided that whatever she was going to do would not burn it down. She agreed. And off we went.
Furniture got moved out of the way in the great room, and I brought her a pack of glow-in-the-dark chalk I'd bought on a whim a year ago. She got to work chalking up the floor. I'd initially thought she was going to conjure up a spirit--maybe that nearby bear spirit--and then let me ask it some questions or something. Nope. As she kept adding to the immense drawing, I could see that it was actually.... less garou lore and more mage lore. It was even a little bit above my head. Very theoretical. Some parts didn't make perfect sense, but others did. And nestled in the theoretical schematic was a cross-comparison of the difference between the dynamic magic that mages use and the static magic used by the garou in their rites and gifts and shifting abilities. Where the hell did Silvertip get this information? She brushed off that question. I don't blame her, either. That diagram? Fascinating. I could look at it for a week and still come up with concept after concept.
Once finished, Silvertip suggested that we work together--and used one of their gifts on me to try and bend my mind.
Oh. Hell. No.
I immediately let her know that I knew she'd tried using magic on me. Mind magic. I was half tempted to demonstrate she was WAY out of her league in that territory, but she seemed truly apologetic and explained why she'd done it--difficulty interacting with people and she really wanted to work together. New rule between us: No working magic on one another without permission first--unless it's to prevent an accident. Which is just common mage etiquette, but perhaps the garou just use their gifts and rites on one another frequently. I can see that happening a lot if they can't detect that sort of thing, which might make it more culturally acceptable than it is among mages.
I told her I'd be willing to work with her, especially if she had more spiritual knowledge to share. But that we needed to know one another better before that. We'd "met" as mage and shifter just the other night, so... It's a little too much too fast. I think she agreed, though it's very clear that she was eager to continue. She mentioned how she preferred to work in less direct ways, and I told her I did as well. That led to me telling her I would not work with her to harm or kill humans or even things that were once human: garou, spirals, fomori, vampires, etc. She seemed okay with that and shared her own dislike of killing unnecessarily. (Hindsight: Does she think mages are often crazed murderers who do horrific stuff willy-nilly? Oh, the irony is so delicious!)
Silvertip left, saying that if I needed to get in touch with her that I should send word via Thomas. I stayed up all night again studying the chalk drawings. I got my digital camera to take pictures so I could put together a composite later to add to my library, but the camera broke after just three pictures. Hmm. Coincidence? On the plus side, I needed a new camera anyway. That one was nearly three years old. I'm leaving this drawing to study, full-size, until I absolutely have to erase it. This? This would be hard to explain to Emma. Plus it's annoying having to skirt around the schematic each time I pass through the room.
I spent the whole day today alternating between catching up on sleep and studying the chalk drawing with the music cranked up--occasional spontaneous, energetic dancing. Tonight? Sleep. Definitely sleep.
Oh, hell. I forgot to talk to Silvertip about dispelling any residual Time magic on the caern's totem. Can't do anything about that for about 5 more days, though.
