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renferretJamethon returns from an unexpected vacation.
Caern: The Center Tree
The center of the caern is devoid of the thick vegetation that inhabits the rest of the forest. The ground is flat and well trodden, its rich, dark soil nonetheless still carrying the scent of the woods--moss and peat mixed with pine needles, detritus, and the dampness brought from life-giving rain. The wide, empty clearing is dominated by one living exception to the absence of vegetation: an impossibly gigantic and ancient tree growing out of the ground near the very center. The tree defies logic. Grown in the span of a single year, it nevertheless has the size, apparent age, and character of the greatest and most ancient of forest sentinels. It looms over everything, silent and watchful. The backdrop to this commanding presence is almost as remarkable. Spanning the entire length of the old caern's chasm and completely encompassing the southern half is a colossal remnant of the wasp nest built during the Wyld surge. The towering walls of the nest are as strong as the earth into which they're built, their surface smooth to the touch and colored in shaded swirls of beiges, browns, yellows, and reds in a hypnotizing, pleasing way. Oval shapes bulge from the wall in places, while others sinks inward, giving the whole thing a haphazard air.
The caern's triangle extends out from here in two directions. On one side, the escarpment wall with its natural dais can be seen. The opposite side holds the stone firepit.
Contents:
Viv
Jamethon(#3988PJXYce)
The Caern Tree
Obvious exits:
Firepit Escarpment
Viv is wandering around the caern, head tilted on one side a little, as if she's still getting to know the new layout of the place and is trying to impress all aspects of it on her memory. A casual glance would reveal nothing odd, but a more careful one would show that she looks a little different from the Viv most people will remember; in particular her ancient leather jacket and boots appear either to have been replaced or rejuvenated, and her hair's grown out considerably.
The new Caern's air has been warm, with a gentle breeze all through the day. Then as the Fenrir below makes her way through its grounds, an electricity is felt in that air, and a severe and sudden temperature drop is felt. Just as quickly it is gone and the pleasant warm day has resumes. "Well, that's curious." is spoken from far above in a voice not heard in this area since just before he disappeared in the nights before this place was reclaimed.
Viv doesn't fail to note the sudden changes, and tenses up, poised for action if some danger is about to present itself. When the voice speaks from on high, she tilts her head back and stares upward to seek its source.
Jamethon looks down from the massive tree, a redwood of heavy and easily sloughing bark with branches large enough for even the giant Fenrir to walk on. He stands on such a branch and looks down at the Caern below. After a moment of trying to see more clearly through the folliage, only having a small patch of the ground available for him to see directly below, he calls out, "Someone down there?"
"Is that you, James?" Viv cups her hand to her mouth and bawls in an upward direction.
"Viv? Aye. It's me." A moment passes quietly, some rustling of the leaves above then rather calmly for the question being asked, "Where in the fuck am I?"
Viv frowns and scratches her head as if puzzled by the question. "You're up a tree, you nong," she shouts back. "In the caern!"
Jamethon laughs, a good and gutteral thing then calls down, "That first part, I got. The second puzzles me. Greatly. Hold on." A moment, then the sound of creaking, then a crashing through folliage, and again, and soon Reflection's Howl is seeing in the wolf taking careful stock of his footing, then moving down to another massive branch. It isn't long before he apparently judges the fall not too great and takes on the hispo a moment after jumping out into the air. He lands heavily with a bone-jarring crunch and a wince of pain, not lasting for more than a second. Still, it takes him a moment to shake off the landing.
Viv steps back to allow her tribemate room to land. "When you get your breath back," she says sardonically, "you might like to tell me what you were doing up there, and why, and why you were so confused?"
Reflection coughs through lupine throat once, raises up to the homid and looks around. His curiousity and concern is clearly evident. "Because," he starts slowly then looking back to Viv simply says, "This is not the Caern." Jamethon shakes his head, "At least it wasn't yesterday. I mean, I know there was a lot of growth but this tree is ancient; And anyways!" He crosses his arms, "The Caern is off-limits."
Viv's eyes narrow a little. "I'm having enough difficulty with dates and times myself. Don't fuck with me, James. What date do /you/ think it is? And who," she adds, as if by an afterthought, "is the Jarl of our tribe?"
Jamethon narrows his eyes right back at the look, acqusation, and question. His tone deepens and much of that confusion is replaced with thoughtfulness, "It is January. And you are." He only pauses a moment to consider this before adding with more certainty, "Except... it isn't, and you aren't. Right?"
Viv reaches up and plucks a green leaf from the tree. "Does this look like January?" she asks, holding it out to James. "No, it isn't, and I'm not, and -- Jeez, Jamethon, did you go through a timewarp as well?"
Jamethon sighs, deeply, and looks at the leaf. "I didn't expect to be in a tree, much less consider the season." He looks around what Viv calls the Caern and nods slowly, "It seems I have. As I know things to be, yesterday I spoke with a woodling spirit for help in making a talen. We agreed on a deal. I would give it spirit essence to help it grow in exchange for a way to make the plants part before us." The theurge shakes his head, "I fear I did not fully understand how I was to pay that cost."
Viv's eyes go from narrow to wide. "I think you've been gone even longer than me. This --" she throws her arm out to encompass the surrounding area -- "is the Caern, as it now is. Wasp free, renewed and kickin' ass once more." She drops her arm and takes a couple of steps away from Jamethon, turning sideways a little, and adds in a lower and almost ashamed voice, "Owen's dead."
Jamethon seems to take the news lightly, with appreciation and at least an attempt at understanding. Until informed of Owen, when Jamethon's fists clench and his body begins to shiver as he whispers, "No." Doubt, rage, sadness, all war across his features. Finally, louder and more commanding, "How?"
Viv still can't, or won't, look at Jamethon. "Got eaten by a big-bad," she grunts, jamming her hands into her pockets. "I wasn't there... He died well. Fenris send us both such a death when it's our turn to peg out."
Jamethon swallows deeply and looks off at the sky in the distance, eyes seeking out something they clearly will not find. "Aye. I'll see him soon, in the grand scheme of things. I'll just need to look for the great warrior at the vanguard of the battle. Is there a stone for him?"
And still Viv looks away. "The stones are, uh. Kind of gone. Everything's changed, James... everything's changed..." Her hands go, if possible, still further into her pockets.
There is a faint shimmering near the base of the giant center tree, a distortion of reality that makes itself known very shortly as the decidedly ever-twisted form of Mouse in crinos. She has a small compact mirror in the palm of one hand, dwarfed by her current size. She's also sporting a few more scars than the two Get may remember, as well as a strange, clearly mechanical...something that's wrapped around her middle and over her shoulders.
Jamethon looks around quickly, eyes now darting from place to place, his body is tense and teeth clench and unclench from moment to moment. "Change... is good." He tells himself outloud, "The Wyld needs it." Again, the Godi swallows and runs his hands through his long hair, pulling a strand of it into his view and he snorts, "Great. And I've gone grey." Here Mouse arrives and James startles at the sight, perhaps a little jumpy. A moment then, "Mouse?"
"Jeez, Mouse, you made me jump," Viv complains, jerking her hands out of her pockets and regaining something of her habitual vim. "What's going down round here?"
Three From Ashes's ears twitch, then lift, as she realizes she's not quite so alone as she might have thought. The compact mirror is closed very carefully, then palmed, before she looks toward the other two. ~Nothing today that hasn't been. I'm still a little concerned about how things are still in flux, but that may just be...aftershocks, you could say.~ She remains crouched where she appeared, with no attempt to straighten or physically join the Fenrir.
Jamethon looks at Mouse as the Walker speaks then turns his attention to the tree, a great aspen. "I could have sworn this was a redwood a moment ago. I didn't notice it change." He shakes this question off though, then looks back to Viv and Mouse in turn, "I've been gone for seemingly more than half a year now. Talk about flux, I was pulled into some kind of spirit draining bargain with a spirit that has held me. A day passed, and now everything has changed."
Viv snorts softly. "At least you were held against your will. After Owen bought the farm I went off umbraside myself, trying to either find myself or lose myself, not really sure which even now. Was gone months myself." She finally looks at Jamethon again. "You ought to get to know the new caern. Find your way round. It's very different from the old one."
Three From Ashes pulls her lips back from her teeth in a sympathetic grimace. ~That seems to be happening more and more lately. I'm trying not to read anything into it, but it's getting harder.~ She regards Viv for a few moments after the other woman speaks, then finally eases painstakingly up from her crouch. While she doesn't straighten all the way, the movement is obviously slow and sluggish, and worse is when she takes a few steps closer--dragging, halting steps, as if she were a much older Garou who had somehow forgotten how to properly walk. ~Don't go exploring alone into the old nest tunnels. We haven't delved too deeply in there yet, but they're...off. It might be the same flux the rest of the Bawn is experiencing, I don't know.~
Jamethon grunts in discomfort at the mentioning of Owen again and shoots Viv a quick glance before allowing his attention to be taken by Mouse, to whom he nods though his attention is tempered with interest. "You're different too... First Strike-Rhya."
"Looks like all of us have changed," Viv opines. "The Umbra, the caern, the wasps, who knows, maybe it's all of them." She looks Mouse up and down, obviously noting the Glass Walker's discomfort, but making no comment on it. "Emma's Jarl, now, by the way," she adds to Jamethon. "At least for the time being..."
~Three from Ashes, these days,~ the Walker elder explains to Jamethon. ~And...thanks. It's not all for the better, but I'm hoping to deal with that soon. Someone will need to bring you up to speed on our new totems as well. I took Gatekeeper, Dives-Deep is Ritemaster.~
Jamethon listens to both Viv and Mouse and seems to take a moment to process it all. "Firstly, Three-From-Ashes-rhya, I look forward to hearing the story of that name. And change is change. I've lost a brother, gained a Caern with new totems." An aside to Viv, "We'll see about that. I feel as I have been resting for a year. I am ready to move forward." Then to them both, "And someone has of course claimed Groundskeeper?"
Viv coughs, and looks at Mouse. "Groundskeeper... I expect so." She plainly doesn't know hweself.
~No,~ Three From Ashes replies. A faint twitch to her whiskers suggests that she thinks that's something of an oversight. ~I'm a terrible Galliard, but the short explanation is simply that I earned it during the rebuilding. We have three totems now, unlike any I've really seen before. Representatives of the Triat-in-Balance. Wixalxali, Aahn, and Gyhldeptis.~
Jamethon tenses at the speaking of the names. "Two of those names sounds familiar. The Sun... and The Spider?"
"Really," murmurs Viv to Mouse's first answer, then falls silent as Jamethon speaks again.
Three From Ashes gestures toward the firepit with one hand, and then the Escarpment. ~Correct on both. Triat-in-Balance. The Orb Weaver and the Renascence Bird.~ She then looks up at the massive, massive center tree. ~And Gyhldeptis, the Spirit of the Forest. They're all three amazing.~
Jamethon looks up... at the massive banyan tree and shakes his head. "I have a feeling this great one is to thank for my return." He steps forward and brushes his hand reverantly on it's bark. "Three From Ashes, I would take up my role as Groundskeeper once more. If anyone feels they have already claimed the role instead, they can come to speak such to me. I would beg your leave," the Godi turns and regards the other two, "I have much to explore and see of our new, yet ancient, home."
"If you want a walk around," Viv says, "I'll come with. If you're gonna keep on as groundskeeper you'll need to get every inch of the area sussed pretty fast. And I'm still learning the ins and outs, myself. Not to mention the tunnels, which Mouse obviously knows more about than me."
~I'll let people know where I can,~ Three From Ashes replies, nonplussed. ~Yeah, the tunnels. I'm serious, don't go exploring down there yet, at least not alone. And definitely don't let any cubs go wandering down. I don't think, but I can't know, that there's anything physically dangerous down there, but I'm not convinced they're entirely physical. Or...consistent.~
Jamethon nods, understanding. "I've been to places in this realm that were of a different essence. I will heed your warning, wise one." Aside from his hair, Jamethon has not visibly changed, but one might not a certain ease of slipping into relaxed nature even from the tension of before. To Viv he gives a half-mouthed grin, "Lead on Bag-of-Snakes."
Viv smiles and nods to Mouse, and then does indeed lead Jamethon on to give him an initial tour of the new caern.
Caern: The Center Tree
The center of the caern is devoid of the thick vegetation that inhabits the rest of the forest. The ground is flat and well trodden, its rich, dark soil nonetheless still carrying the scent of the woods--moss and peat mixed with pine needles, detritus, and the dampness brought from life-giving rain. The wide, empty clearing is dominated by one living exception to the absence of vegetation: an impossibly gigantic and ancient tree growing out of the ground near the very center. The tree defies logic. Grown in the span of a single year, it nevertheless has the size, apparent age, and character of the greatest and most ancient of forest sentinels. It looms over everything, silent and watchful. The backdrop to this commanding presence is almost as remarkable. Spanning the entire length of the old caern's chasm and completely encompassing the southern half is a colossal remnant of the wasp nest built during the Wyld surge. The towering walls of the nest are as strong as the earth into which they're built, their surface smooth to the touch and colored in shaded swirls of beiges, browns, yellows, and reds in a hypnotizing, pleasing way. Oval shapes bulge from the wall in places, while others sinks inward, giving the whole thing a haphazard air.
The caern's triangle extends out from here in two directions. On one side, the escarpment wall with its natural dais can be seen. The opposite side holds the stone firepit.
Contents:
Viv
Jamethon(#3988PJXYce)
The Caern Tree
Obvious exits:
Firepit Escarpment
Viv is wandering around the caern, head tilted on one side a little, as if she's still getting to know the new layout of the place and is trying to impress all aspects of it on her memory. A casual glance would reveal nothing odd, but a more careful one would show that she looks a little different from the Viv most people will remember; in particular her ancient leather jacket and boots appear either to have been replaced or rejuvenated, and her hair's grown out considerably.
The new Caern's air has been warm, with a gentle breeze all through the day. Then as the Fenrir below makes her way through its grounds, an electricity is felt in that air, and a severe and sudden temperature drop is felt. Just as quickly it is gone and the pleasant warm day has resumes. "Well, that's curious." is spoken from far above in a voice not heard in this area since just before he disappeared in the nights before this place was reclaimed.
Viv doesn't fail to note the sudden changes, and tenses up, poised for action if some danger is about to present itself. When the voice speaks from on high, she tilts her head back and stares upward to seek its source.
Jamethon looks down from the massive tree, a redwood of heavy and easily sloughing bark with branches large enough for even the giant Fenrir to walk on. He stands on such a branch and looks down at the Caern below. After a moment of trying to see more clearly through the folliage, only having a small patch of the ground available for him to see directly below, he calls out, "Someone down there?"
"Is that you, James?" Viv cups her hand to her mouth and bawls in an upward direction.
"Viv? Aye. It's me." A moment passes quietly, some rustling of the leaves above then rather calmly for the question being asked, "Where in the fuck am I?"
Viv frowns and scratches her head as if puzzled by the question. "You're up a tree, you nong," she shouts back. "In the caern!"
Jamethon laughs, a good and gutteral thing then calls down, "That first part, I got. The second puzzles me. Greatly. Hold on." A moment, then the sound of creaking, then a crashing through folliage, and again, and soon Reflection's Howl is seeing in the wolf taking careful stock of his footing, then moving down to another massive branch. It isn't long before he apparently judges the fall not too great and takes on the hispo a moment after jumping out into the air. He lands heavily with a bone-jarring crunch and a wince of pain, not lasting for more than a second. Still, it takes him a moment to shake off the landing.
Viv steps back to allow her tribemate room to land. "When you get your breath back," she says sardonically, "you might like to tell me what you were doing up there, and why, and why you were so confused?"
Reflection coughs through lupine throat once, raises up to the homid and looks around. His curiousity and concern is clearly evident. "Because," he starts slowly then looking back to Viv simply says, "This is not the Caern." Jamethon shakes his head, "At least it wasn't yesterday. I mean, I know there was a lot of growth but this tree is ancient; And anyways!" He crosses his arms, "The Caern is off-limits."
Viv's eyes narrow a little. "I'm having enough difficulty with dates and times myself. Don't fuck with me, James. What date do /you/ think it is? And who," she adds, as if by an afterthought, "is the Jarl of our tribe?"
Jamethon narrows his eyes right back at the look, acqusation, and question. His tone deepens and much of that confusion is replaced with thoughtfulness, "It is January. And you are." He only pauses a moment to consider this before adding with more certainty, "Except... it isn't, and you aren't. Right?"
Viv reaches up and plucks a green leaf from the tree. "Does this look like January?" she asks, holding it out to James. "No, it isn't, and I'm not, and -- Jeez, Jamethon, did you go through a timewarp as well?"
Jamethon sighs, deeply, and looks at the leaf. "I didn't expect to be in a tree, much less consider the season." He looks around what Viv calls the Caern and nods slowly, "It seems I have. As I know things to be, yesterday I spoke with a woodling spirit for help in making a talen. We agreed on a deal. I would give it spirit essence to help it grow in exchange for a way to make the plants part before us." The theurge shakes his head, "I fear I did not fully understand how I was to pay that cost."
Viv's eyes go from narrow to wide. "I think you've been gone even longer than me. This --" she throws her arm out to encompass the surrounding area -- "is the Caern, as it now is. Wasp free, renewed and kickin' ass once more." She drops her arm and takes a couple of steps away from Jamethon, turning sideways a little, and adds in a lower and almost ashamed voice, "Owen's dead."
Jamethon seems to take the news lightly, with appreciation and at least an attempt at understanding. Until informed of Owen, when Jamethon's fists clench and his body begins to shiver as he whispers, "No." Doubt, rage, sadness, all war across his features. Finally, louder and more commanding, "How?"
Viv still can't, or won't, look at Jamethon. "Got eaten by a big-bad," she grunts, jamming her hands into her pockets. "I wasn't there... He died well. Fenris send us both such a death when it's our turn to peg out."
Jamethon swallows deeply and looks off at the sky in the distance, eyes seeking out something they clearly will not find. "Aye. I'll see him soon, in the grand scheme of things. I'll just need to look for the great warrior at the vanguard of the battle. Is there a stone for him?"
And still Viv looks away. "The stones are, uh. Kind of gone. Everything's changed, James... everything's changed..." Her hands go, if possible, still further into her pockets.
There is a faint shimmering near the base of the giant center tree, a distortion of reality that makes itself known very shortly as the decidedly ever-twisted form of Mouse in crinos. She has a small compact mirror in the palm of one hand, dwarfed by her current size. She's also sporting a few more scars than the two Get may remember, as well as a strange, clearly mechanical...something that's wrapped around her middle and over her shoulders.
Jamethon looks around quickly, eyes now darting from place to place, his body is tense and teeth clench and unclench from moment to moment. "Change... is good." He tells himself outloud, "The Wyld needs it." Again, the Godi swallows and runs his hands through his long hair, pulling a strand of it into his view and he snorts, "Great. And I've gone grey." Here Mouse arrives and James startles at the sight, perhaps a little jumpy. A moment then, "Mouse?"
"Jeez, Mouse, you made me jump," Viv complains, jerking her hands out of her pockets and regaining something of her habitual vim. "What's going down round here?"
Three From Ashes's ears twitch, then lift, as she realizes she's not quite so alone as she might have thought. The compact mirror is closed very carefully, then palmed, before she looks toward the other two. ~Nothing today that hasn't been. I'm still a little concerned about how things are still in flux, but that may just be...aftershocks, you could say.~ She remains crouched where she appeared, with no attempt to straighten or physically join the Fenrir.
Jamethon looks at Mouse as the Walker speaks then turns his attention to the tree, a great aspen. "I could have sworn this was a redwood a moment ago. I didn't notice it change." He shakes this question off though, then looks back to Viv and Mouse in turn, "I've been gone for seemingly more than half a year now. Talk about flux, I was pulled into some kind of spirit draining bargain with a spirit that has held me. A day passed, and now everything has changed."
Viv snorts softly. "At least you were held against your will. After Owen bought the farm I went off umbraside myself, trying to either find myself or lose myself, not really sure which even now. Was gone months myself." She finally looks at Jamethon again. "You ought to get to know the new caern. Find your way round. It's very different from the old one."
Three From Ashes pulls her lips back from her teeth in a sympathetic grimace. ~That seems to be happening more and more lately. I'm trying not to read anything into it, but it's getting harder.~ She regards Viv for a few moments after the other woman speaks, then finally eases painstakingly up from her crouch. While she doesn't straighten all the way, the movement is obviously slow and sluggish, and worse is when she takes a few steps closer--dragging, halting steps, as if she were a much older Garou who had somehow forgotten how to properly walk. ~Don't go exploring alone into the old nest tunnels. We haven't delved too deeply in there yet, but they're...off. It might be the same flux the rest of the Bawn is experiencing, I don't know.~
Jamethon grunts in discomfort at the mentioning of Owen again and shoots Viv a quick glance before allowing his attention to be taken by Mouse, to whom he nods though his attention is tempered with interest. "You're different too... First Strike-Rhya."
"Looks like all of us have changed," Viv opines. "The Umbra, the caern, the wasps, who knows, maybe it's all of them." She looks Mouse up and down, obviously noting the Glass Walker's discomfort, but making no comment on it. "Emma's Jarl, now, by the way," she adds to Jamethon. "At least for the time being..."
~Three from Ashes, these days,~ the Walker elder explains to Jamethon. ~And...thanks. It's not all for the better, but I'm hoping to deal with that soon. Someone will need to bring you up to speed on our new totems as well. I took Gatekeeper, Dives-Deep is Ritemaster.~
Jamethon listens to both Viv and Mouse and seems to take a moment to process it all. "Firstly, Three-From-Ashes-rhya, I look forward to hearing the story of that name. And change is change. I've lost a brother, gained a Caern with new totems." An aside to Viv, "We'll see about that. I feel as I have been resting for a year. I am ready to move forward." Then to them both, "And someone has of course claimed Groundskeeper?"
Viv coughs, and looks at Mouse. "Groundskeeper... I expect so." She plainly doesn't know hweself.
~No,~ Three From Ashes replies. A faint twitch to her whiskers suggests that she thinks that's something of an oversight. ~I'm a terrible Galliard, but the short explanation is simply that I earned it during the rebuilding. We have three totems now, unlike any I've really seen before. Representatives of the Triat-in-Balance. Wixalxali, Aahn, and Gyhldeptis.~
Jamethon tenses at the speaking of the names. "Two of those names sounds familiar. The Sun... and The Spider?"
"Really," murmurs Viv to Mouse's first answer, then falls silent as Jamethon speaks again.
Three From Ashes gestures toward the firepit with one hand, and then the Escarpment. ~Correct on both. Triat-in-Balance. The Orb Weaver and the Renascence Bird.~ She then looks up at the massive, massive center tree. ~And Gyhldeptis, the Spirit of the Forest. They're all three amazing.~
Jamethon looks up... at the massive banyan tree and shakes his head. "I have a feeling this great one is to thank for my return." He steps forward and brushes his hand reverantly on it's bark. "Three From Ashes, I would take up my role as Groundskeeper once more. If anyone feels they have already claimed the role instead, they can come to speak such to me. I would beg your leave," the Godi turns and regards the other two, "I have much to explore and see of our new, yet ancient, home."
"If you want a walk around," Viv says, "I'll come with. If you're gonna keep on as groundskeeper you'll need to get every inch of the area sussed pretty fast. And I'm still learning the ins and outs, myself. Not to mention the tunnels, which Mouse obviously knows more about than me."
~I'll let people know where I can,~ Three From Ashes replies, nonplussed. ~Yeah, the tunnels. I'm serious, don't go exploring down there yet, at least not alone. And definitely don't let any cubs go wandering down. I don't think, but I can't know, that there's anything physically dangerous down there, but I'm not convinced they're entirely physical. Or...consistent.~
Jamethon nods, understanding. "I've been to places in this realm that were of a different essence. I will heed your warning, wise one." Aside from his hair, Jamethon has not visibly changed, but one might not a certain ease of slipping into relaxed nature even from the tension of before. To Viv he gives a half-mouthed grin, "Lead on Bag-of-Snakes."
Viv smiles and nods to Mouse, and then does indeed lead Jamethon on to give him an initial tour of the new caern.
