Vlad (Vladislav Olafson), Champion of Gaia
Memoirs
Session 1
February 21, 2003
Well, here we go. My memoirs. We did stuff and it was good.
I have no idea what to write here. I suppose I'll just wait until
the mood strikes me. Speak to the future generations. Record
yourself as well as your deeds and lessons. The most basic lessons
are those of the Litany:
Garou Shall Not Mate With Garou
Combat the Wyrm Wherever it Dwells and Whenever it Breeds
Respect the Territory of Another
Accept an Honorable Surrender
Submission to Those of Higher Station
The First Share of the Kill for the Greatest in Station
Ye Shall Not Eat the Flesh of Humans
Respect Those Beneath Ye - All Are of Gaia
The Veil Shall Not Be Lifted
Do Not Suffer They People to Tend They Sickness
The Leader May Be Challenged at Any Time During Peace
The Leader May Not Be Challenged During Wartime
Ye Shall Take No Action That Causes a Caern to Be Violated
February 22, 2003
I met with Speaks for Gaia, although she prefers to be
called "Grandmother". She called upon me and four others
to gather at the caern with her. There was a Ragabash Bonegnawer
called Russell, a Theurge Silent Strider called Naya, a Philodox
Silent Strider called Pani, and a Galliard Fianna called Lee.
Russell looks and smells like a typical Bonegnawer. The odd part
is that he's kind of a randy little bastard. The man's unsightly
and not a very impressive physical specimen, so I suppose the
idea of him rearing kin just doesn't sit well with me. On the
other hand, I suspect it is natural to underestimate or dismiss
him, which predisposes him to being a very competent agent of
espionage.
Naya seems to know spirits, so I suppose she's good to go. I
think she's a gypsy or something. She will be a potent and
valuable ally, granting me access to the mighty forces that lie
beyond the Veil.
Pani seems like a butt kisser, but maybe he's just trying to
be nice. Of course, lots of people respond to kissing up. The
sycophant's tongue can lower the guard of many.
Lee seems the most normal out of the bunch. He's some sort of
country singer. He sort of a friendly redneck; next to him, I
almost look city. The music of Gaia can hold sway over the
mightiest of beasts.
Anyway, so now we're banging around in Lee's pickup, en route
to a small border town to meet up with Nat and Andy, two Fera
that are supposed to help put us on the trail of our first mission
as a pack.
It is good to finally have a pack to lead. The random errands
were getting old.
- Session 2 -
Well, we met Nat and Andy. We also got into a big fight [resolved
during Session 1] in the bar with some Lasombra vampires and their
ghoul servants. It was a decent fight, I got a chance to see my
packmates in action. They did a pretty good job of mixing it up.
Andy, the werebear Fera, decided to blow up the bar and in the
confusion a couple of the pack popped out into the street in Crinos
form, Pani and Russell, to be specific. I expect that sort of
crap from a Ragabash, but a Philodox? A Keeper of the Litany?
Damn, he should know better. Luckily, no one was around. Still,
now I gotta think up a good way to punish them. They should
sup of the cup of abandoment, as they would surely drink fully
if ther pierced the veil and brought down the wrath and fear of
man on the Garou. Maybe we'll ditch them in the morning or
something. I'll talk to Naya and Lee to see what they have to
say.
The Veil Shall Not Be Lifted
Andy led us back to a rock that was a Caern of sorts. Naya conducted
a spirit quest of some sort and learned of the task ahead of us.
It involved heading to some town near El Paso and uncovering some
mystery, asking some questions, or something like that.
Most of the pack was itching to rustle the lowriders that the
Leeches had. We'll see how that turns out. I think Russell now
has enough handguns stuffed into his clothes to start a small
war. I wouldn't let them brng the cars closer to the caern for
fear of endangering it.
Ye Shall Take No Action That Causes a Caern
to Be Violated
We slept at the rock caern. The method of punishment has become
clear.
February 23, 2003 - Last Quarter
We have to cross the border and find a small town that Naya has
seen in her visions, so I'll jot down some things. Early this
morning Naya, Lee, and I arose before dawn with the help of Bat.
We slipped away, but not before Naya snagged Pani's ancestral
sword and we flattened the tires on the lowriders. We took off
about ten miles west to a small cantina and sat down to a long
breakfast. They were pretty pissed when they found us, but they
calmed right down when I laid out the reasons. I was impressed.
Naya is acting strange.
OK, this is funny. Naya was acting strange because she picked
up on something. Turns out, it was some would-be border jumpers
hiding in the bush. Poor slobs thought we were Fedarales and fled
for their lives.
Get to small town
Pani & Russell talk to Mayor, Pani ends up attacking a henchman
with his sword, Vlad makes them apologize (more of a punishment
than anything else).
Naya & Lee uncover odd book. Vlad's knowledge of occult/religion
and Spanish allows him to decipher some of it - Infelissimos;
Camazotz locked in cave and burned.
Pack heads out to swamp, meets Turtle - get perfectly preserved
Camazotz skeleton in a coffin; as a service, Pani and Vlad retrieve
a huge tooth from Turtle's swamp (to eventually dispose of it).
Pack sleeps by Tree (old caern).
- Session 3 -
February 24, 2003
Vlad sends Russell to scout, while Vlad goes to talk to Turtle.
Russell attracts attention of Pattern Spiders in the Umbra. Bat
intervenes with a magic scream. Vlad hears the scream clearly
(he is in Turtle's swamp at the time) and the rest of the pack
faintly hears it. Vlad heads to the Tree and
Russell finally hops out of the Umbra and gets spotted by the
town's Padre, Russell feigns stigmata/visions.
Pack shows up minus Pani. Bat tells the pack it's all right,
Pani has something he has to do.
Vlad talks to the Padre and does an amazing job of spouting religious
dogma, impressing the heck out of him and smoothing out the wrinkles
of Russell's whackiness. Vlad inquires further and the pack learns
of a "witch" (the woman tending the wounded henchman
of the Mayor), and the old grandmother that tells the stories
about the witch.
Pack visits home of grandmother. Woman is a witch. She has turned
the Chupacabra (goat suckers) evil. Some children have also gone
missing. There is a prophecy/legend of a stranger that will arrive
with the setting sun to rid the town of them. What do you know?
The pack did return to town at sunset...
The Pack heads out to squash evil...
The Pack squashes evil.
The Pack sleeps by Tree.
- Session 4 -
February 25, 2003
Go to Turtle. Mokole names "Miguel" shows up, toys
with pack, does rites of achievement, enters dream sleep.
Pani returns with a Mage in tow.
Mage ties pack into the dream. See a part of it - Camazotz moving
swiftly to cave, ahead of converging packs of Shadowlords; gets
to cave, orders evacuation; Shadowlord reveals himself and tosses
torch into gunpowder stash and
- Session 5 -
Vlad hunts
Vlad figures out the case is in Argentina.
Miguel says
- Cave is in Argentina; he gives the name of an Uktena-heavy
sept in the area.
- Wyrm claw is powerful and can be used to make fetishes.
- Shadowlords were trying to stop the tragedy.
February 26, 2003 - Waning Crescent
Naya performs Ritual of Cleansing to remove taint from Wyrm claw.
Pack heads back to Sept.
Vlad snags a nut from Tree.
Mid-afternoon arrive at Sept.
Give nut to Grandmother. We need to go to Argentina with the
last of the Camazotz and solve the last of the mystery.
Pack goes off to do Rank Challenges.
- Naya must break apart the claw
- Lee must purify the pieces
- Vlad must convince the Vengeance Spirits to enter the pieces
- Pani must argue against any that try to challenge to the fetish
- Russell must protect the pack from any that attack
- Session 6 -
February 27, 2003
- Moon bridge
- Step off bridge (still in penumbra) - Bat's enclave
February 28, 2003
- Back to moon bridge
- Get to Peru
- Meet Uktena
- Viktor calls ritual hunt to help the pack get the feel of
the land
- Pack runs across Pentex team and takes them out
- One prisoner taken
- Viktor and Russell watch over prisoner while others summon
Uktena
May 31, 2003 - New moon
- Pack gathers at Speaks with Gaia's place
- New Galliard shows up - Desert Snow (albino Metis Black Fury)
- Briefed that we must go to San Antonio to meet Earl Johnson
(Glasswalker kinfolk); he is the head of a bio-tech company
in San Antonio
- New totem picked - Sulis (Minerva/Athena)
June 1
- Pack heads out to San Antonio
- Desert Snow speeds, stopped by police, convinces police to
escort
- Pack convenes at Taco Cabana near destination
- Meet with Earl Johnson
- List of 20 names
- His "Garou" phone number
- Expense account
- Access badges
June 2 (Monday)
- V, N, P head to Manuel's (a kinfolk) autoshop for some work
on P's bike
- R, S head to meet with Big Jesus (contact of Russell)
- Factory tour
- Bill gives pack a tour
- Target #1 ID'd - woman apparently taking something
- Sam (floor manager) takes over tour
- R&D - most of the names we are looking for are here
- Vlad sweet talks Jenny into dinner (Animal Attraction)
- Vlad arranges for Jenny to be detoxed via Manuel (same
one)
- Snow seduces Marcel (lead R&D tech)
I took Pani and Naya to a mechanic kinfolk of Pani's, named Manuel.
He is "upgrading" it so that Pani can start it with
a key. Go figure. Anyway, I talked with Manuel and had him install
a concealed breakaway holster for a shotgun under my the driver
seat of my pickup. It should come in handy in emergencies, even
if Naya is not ecstatic about the idea of having a "foul"
tool of a hunter nearby. Hopefully it's just a Lupus thing and
she'll get used to it. With all of this running around in the
city, I fear that all to often it's going to be hard to take care
of things with Crinos form.
Combat the Wyrm Wherever It Dwells and Whenever
it Breeds
Russell and Snow met with one of Russell's local contacts, Big
Jesus and arranged for some information on our short list of suspects.
After that, we all congregated for a factory tour conducted by
a man named Bill. I separated from the pack when I spotted one
of the women on the factory floor casually stealing food supplements.
I spoke with her and turned on the Garou charm. I found out her
name was Jenny and that she was unattached; I convinced her to
go to dinner after work. Meanwhile, the rest of the pack had met
with the R&D people. I caught up to them there and something
was definitely up. These people acted a little too strangely even
for paranoid geeks.
The dinner with Jenny was telling. She was clearly addicted to
the supplement she was stealing. She tried to lie about it, but
I am getting better at picking up on half-truths. Perhaps my exposure
to Snow is force-growing that skill thanks to the blessings of
Sulis. Anyway, I took back to a hotel room and quietly arranged
for Manuel to meet us with someone skilled in detoxifying addicts.
I had seen enough of that back home.
So now I sit in the kitchen, sucking down some foreign beer in
the heart of San Antonio, party town and Wyrm breeding ground,
waiting for word of Snow, who lured the head R&D tech, Marcel,
to dinner. I worry that her interpretation of reasonable and necessary
action treads to closely to the path of the Wyrm. I can't help
but wonder about a creature born of a sexual crime that embraces
sexuality so aggressively.
Garou Shall Not Mate With Garou
Snow reports that Marcel is leading a group of Miller
Genetech spies. Apparently Miller Genetech is related to Pentex.
11:00 Meeting
- Boris Klemmacher
- Enchanted Rock - young pack working there
- Miller Genetech - Douglas "Walks Softly" (Glasswalker)
tells us...
- They are into bad stuff
- What the serum is supposed to do
- Why Pentex is involved with them and how they infiltrated
- Location
- Volunteers to accompany pack and show them
- Judge Jack Thompson (Philodox) - Master of the Challenge
- Boris
- General Wyrm activity
- Leeches - Lassombra, centered in the more Hispanic sections
of the city, have no reflection
- Got some guns
June 3 (Tuesday)
0400 back home. Slept late.
1400 V& N head to ranch for Naya's spiritual resting and
pick up cool transceivers. P & R get a slim jim. Doug gets
info for target house.
2000 Head over to target house. R goes in to get remote from
truck.
2200 At facility. Staged fire, snuck in to secret door.
June 4 (Wednesday)
- Slapped Marcel around - sent him to re-education camp
- Croney #1 slapped around - scared him straight
- Croney #2 fled to Austin - arranged for others to intercept
- Croney #3 slapped around - scared him straight
- Croney #4 hard to track, in Alamo - he could see spirits,
Sulis enthralled him, we took him to hotel; spoke with Alamo
soldier afterwards
June 7 (Saturday) - Half moon (waxing)
- Hiked about
- Slept at Moss Lake grounds
- Visited with grad students - Vlad macked on Becky, the only
female in the group
June 8 (Sunday) -
- Nephandi info
- Group headed to Dallas, leaving him behind; coming back
next weekend
- They can work with the Phantom Warrior
- They are not worried about the Guardians
- They are not only trying to get the spiritual power, they
want to tap the wisdom of the rock
- HQ address
- Killed Nephandus, staged accident, pulled him through Gauntlet
to shred soul/Avatar
- Naya sent a powerful Hawk spirit to notify Shepherd (Mage
from Turtle stuff) about Nephandi
June 9 (Monday) -
- Walked around
- Helped a couple of kids gain an appreciation for nature
- Met science group
- Picked up food & BEvERages for evening
- Ambushed by a Fomori biker gang, which we kicked the crap
out of!
June 14 - Full moon
June 21 - Half moon (waning)
June 29 - New moon
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