Feralia Conducted and GMed by Anubis  (wiz-alt: Tarod)
Participants: Sepdet, Noor/Aset, Anpwhotep, Jeremy/Hand-of-Sekhmet (later died, player re-apped as Seeker), Su

Notes: Noor and Anpwhotep had recently rescued Sepdet from a nearly fatal adventure in Egypt; she had been captured and tortured by Dancers. She was still showing the effects.

Shepitra and the jars who keep popping up are references to Tarod’s foil-alt Warren Ramsey, Strider kinfolk –and something more — a priest of the old ways. He served in St. Claire as a coroner, and was also a gardener.

[[In the Realm side of the Striders' Place]]
Contents:
Anubis
Hand-of-Sekhmet
Michael Powers
Noor
l anubis
A tall, smoothly muscular and lithe figure, half-jackal and half-man in appearance. Anubis stands a towering nine feet in height. He moves with an unconscious grace that suggests great speed and maneuverability. Dark eyes surrounded by brilliant white fur that trails back through the black like the stylized eyes of an Egyptian statue peer over a long, thin snout filled with sharp teeth, bared in a snarl. Jet-black fur covers the rest of the figure from head to toe. His long, sharply pointed ears stand erect and point forward.
A jagged white scar is visible running through the fur of his right shoulder.
Hand-of-Sekhmet climbs up the steep trail to the west, coming out onto the promontory.
Hand-of-Sekhmet has arrived.
Michael Powers climbs up the steep trail to the west, coming out onto the promontory.
Michael Powers has arrived.
Anubis stands, arms crossed and expression dark. He nods to the others as they arrive in turn.
Hand-of-Sekhmet nods greetings.
Sepdet drops to the ground stiffly and plants one hand for support, not daring to look up at Anubis’ face.
Anubis looks at the group quietly. ~Today is the day for the Rite of Feralia, where we run with our ancestors and listen to their words. Tonight, we speak of the death of the world, the destruction of all, and the hope we have for what lies beyond it.~
Noor climbs up the steep trail to the west, coming out onto the promontory.
Noor has arrived.
Anubis says, ~Each of you have seen the spectral flame that burns in the umbra here; it protects a relic of importance to our people, which it is now time for each of you to see.~
Anubis’s eyes catch on a bit of reflective scrap amid the ashes.
Anubis disappears suddenly and silently.
Anubis has left.
Michael Powers contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Sepdet gives Noor a reassuring glance (which it looks like she herself needs) before reaching through.
You start to reach through the umbra.
@doing Dress rehearsal for the Apocalypse
Sepdet’s eyes catch on a bit of reflective scrap amid the ashes.
Michael Powers shifts into Crinos form.
Anpwhotep says, ~OK, folks. Time to go through.~
Noor nods.
Hand-of-Sekhmet’s eyes catch on a bit of reflective scrap amid the ashes.
Noor contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
You feel your whole being shudder and seem to jump sideways, and the world jumps into stark relief around you.
Sepdet disappears suddenly and silently.
Umbra: Overlook Ledge
From here, you can see everything. The Umbra stretches westward before you, far further below you in the Umbra than it is in the Realm. This is a high cliff, miles above the ground below, where you can see the bright glow of the Caern, beyond it the dark shadow of Kent Crossing, and further off in the distance the looming darkness of St. Claire. The dim umbral woods below you seem to move and sway with a life of their own.
Here, on the tiny ledge that the promontory is represented by in the Umbra, there is a ring of blue fire burning at the center of the ledge, large enough that only a few may stand around it at one time. The ground is almost luminescent.
Sometimes, out of the corner of your eye, you swear you can see a hazy shape moving in a sinuous dance around the flames, but when you look directly, it is gone. Behind you to the east, a sheer cliff looms upward out of sight.
Contents:
Anubis
There is a shifting of the fabric of the Umbra nearby, and Hand-of-Sekhmet appears suddenly.
Hand-of-Sekhmet has arrived.
There is a shifting of the fabric of the Umbra nearby, and Anpwhotep appears suddenly.
Anpwhotep has arrived.
There is a shifting of the fabric of the Umbra nearby, and Noor appears suddenly.
Noor has arrived.
Hand-of-Sekhmet pages to Anubis, Noor, Anpwhotep, and Sepdet: You notice that Hand has wings in the Umbra. :)
l me
Sepdet(#3589Pce)
This strange gaunt elf of a girl can hardly be called pretty, with her mottled complexion varying from fresh pink skin to dark mahogany, yet at times her scarred child’s face carries a hint of sad beauty. She is missing the smaller fingers of both hands and the last two joints on the ring finger of her right. Her face is slightly too angular, her eyes too wide and tilted for human norms, and, if she were not shunning contact, the fine, black fur growing back over parts of her body might further disconcert any non-Garou. Her manners are now strangely passive, neutral, and she blends quietly into the background, watching, listening sometimes, or staring at nothing and no one with the deep dark eyes of an animal. Other times a temper she never used to have may flare violently and unexpectedly. She walks light-footed and carefully, with an occasional stumble or grimace.
From a thong on her neck hangs a wooden ankh stained brown along one edge and a salmon amulet, to which her left hand often strays. She wears a black enveloping goatskin cloak over a thick undyed white tunic that falls to her knees, belted by a simple rope ritually knotted. Breeches of some coarse, heavy khaki material are rolled up neatly over worn hiking shoes, her one concession to modernity.
The observant may notice that in the Umbra, no matter the moon or sun, she casts no shadow.
Carrying:
Klaive(#3248)
cartouche(#3734)
Anubis looks around the group. ~Let the Crinos out, my tribemates. You will need your hands for this.~ With a slight smile, he steps forward to the blue flames, which brighten suddenly and take on a great deal of heat.
Hand-of-Sekhmet contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Noor contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
Hand-of-Sekhmet shifts into Crinos form.
Noor shakes in obvious pain as she increases in height and becomes a seven foot tall wolf creature.
Anubis bends, and immerses his right arm slowly in the flames, which roar and engulf his arm. His fur burns brightly, but doesn’t seem to char or hurt the Garou.
Sepdet dances from foot to foot for a moment, balls her hands into fists, and forces the change to come.
Sepdet contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
You shift into Crinos form.
Anubis reaches to the heart of the flames, grasps something, and lifts it free. It is a simple flat stone, seemingly unimpressive. He steps back, and the flames on his arm slowly flicker and go out.
Anubis bends again, lifting a small bowl from the ground, which he holds out. ~This is sap, mud, and the blood of the Striders. So we are one with Gaia, and she with us. The Apocalypse is nearly upon us, my friends. It is time now for each of us to speak of one sign we have seen that it comes, and with increasing speed.~
Anubis dips a finger into the bowl, and with the thick liquid draws the sigil of the tribe on the surface of the stone.
Anubis says, ~I have seen the signs. Here at the Wheel Renewed, Tribes brew for war among themselves while the Wyrm lurks north and west and south, slowly wrapping around us. The divisions grow deeper, and only time stands between us and the End.~
Anubis passes the bowl and stone to Anpwhotep.
Anpwhotep dips a finger into the bowl and re-traces the sigil on the stone.
The flames leap a bit higher as Anpwhotep adds his sigil.
Aset pages to Hand-of-Sekhmet and D’siaH: Sure.
Anpwhotep says, ~I have seen those who call themselves Gaia’s defenders, calling for the destruction of our charges, as in the days of the Great Crime.~
Anpwhotep passes the bowl and stone to Sepdet.
D’siaH’s jaw firms slightly as she takes the bowl, but after a pause she mutely holds it out to Hand-of-Sekhmet.
Anubis frowns slightly. ~You are next, Sepdet.~ he says in a rather stern tone.
The flames begin to waver a bit.
There is a shifting of the fabric of the Umbra nearby, and Su appears suddenly.
Su has arrived.
Aset looks anxiously at Sepdet.
Su contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
Su shifts into Crinos form.
D’siaH’s marred hand trembles slightly as she sketches the wolf-walking-road sign, a spatter of blood falling to leave a small flickering dot above the sign as she pulls her hand back. ~I… I have seen more mules and less wolves, and a sweet river running with Wyrm’s blood, and disease upon the surface of human and Garou..~ she murmurs almost inaudibly.
D’siaH adds with a growl, ~But most of all, I look over my shoulder and see Phoenix.~ She holds out the bowl to Jeremy.
Hand-of-Sekhmet nods and accepts the bowl and the stone from Sepdet, retracing the glyph on the stone as the others have done. ~I have seen the Apocalypse’s approach in the rape of Gaia herself: the destruction of the forest at her very heart, the filth choking life from the seas whence life first came, the fouling of her land with vile poisons that seep into her breast and the souls of all her children.~
The flames build in heat and breadth as Sepdet and Hand-of-Sekhmet add their glyphs.
Hand-of-Sekhmet passes the bowl and the stone to Aset.
Aset takes the stone and bowl, dips her finger in the mixture, and draws the glyph. ~I have seen not just Garou falling in battle with Garou, but human falling in battle with human over the rights to Gaia’s riches and power, which we all must share.~ She falls silent, and passes the stone back to Anubis.
Anubis passes the stone and bowl on to Su.
Su dabs her three middle fingers in the bowl, a darkness on her face as it reminds her of what she is about to say.
The flames grow more intense, a brighter shade of blue, as Aset adds her piece and Su takes the bowl and stone.
Su draws the symbol slowly and with great care. ~I do not walk in secret places, or see signs in my dreams; but I have seen Garou turn against Garou for evil as well as for mere pride; I have seen the kindred of vampires with more honor than some of our own; and myself fallen prey to the Weaver, Wyrm-led.~
Su contemplates the bowl and stone for a moment, then passes them quietly to Anubis.
Anubis takes them back. The flames leap higher, and the air over them begins to flicker.
Anubis steps up to the flames, and pours the last of the fluid into the flames.
Hand-of-Sekhmet chuffs quiet encouragement to his packmate.
Anubis bends and again immerses his arm into the fire, replacing the stone at its heart.
Anubis stands again and steps back. Beside each Strider, a dark, shadowy form wavers into being, a dark representation of the blackness within each. The shadow-forms have glowing red eyes, and slaver bits of shadow steaming to the ground.
Anubis says, ~The Apocalypse comes, from within and from without. We recognize the Apocalypse without, and fight it every day of our lives. But today, my Tribemates, we run with our ancestors, and hear their murmurings, and outrun the Apocalypse within.~
D’siaH shudders violently at the sight and nearly slips from the ledge, but does not quite take a step backwards. Maybe Anubis’ voice holds her.
Aset flicks up an ear in surprise. This she did not expect.
Anubis looks at each in turn. ~Follow me now, into the black world of the restless spirits. As we speak, the whole of our tribe prepares to make the same leap. In a very short time, we will run the entire circuit of Gaia’s breadth. Whatever happens, do not stop, do not falter. If you hesitate, slow, or veer from the path, you will be destroyed. Run as fast as you can, and go always westward.~
Anubis gathers himself, runs toward the fire, and leaps. (‘leap’ to follow)
Su leaps into the air over the flames, and disappears abruptly at the top of her arc.
Su has left.
Anubis leaps into the air over the flames, and disappears abruptly at the top of his arc.
Anubis has left.
Hand-of-Sekhmet leaps into the air over the flames, and disappears abruptly at the top of his arc.
Hand-of-Sekhmet has left.
D’siaH’s left hand slips to the battered ankh at her throat and grits her teeth, then leaps desperately after.
leap
You leap into the air over the flames. at the top of your arc, your whole being seems to shift to one side with a jolt, and you are somewhere else.
Dark Umbra: The Path of Painting Stones
A place of darkness and shadow, this is one of the very few places that Garou can run through the Dark Umbra of death; and that rarely. A dim pathway runs westward through the haze. Shadows of dead Garou crowd the path, running alongside it. All is grey and bleak, and the howling of dead and pained spirits wails around like a broken air raid siren. A torrential wind seems to rip through the place, yet the fogginess never lifts. To either side of the path, the ground seems to fall abruptly into nothingness.
Contents:
Hand-of-Sekhmet
Anubis
Su
Aset appears suddenly on the path nearby, running with her shadow-self next to her.
Aset has arrived.
Anubis runs off westward. The ghosts howl madly around him, descending toward the momentarily disoriented Garou.
Su fixes the shadow next to her with a steely gaze and, as soon as she is stable, bounds after Anubis.
Aset leaps off after Anubis, not faltering.
Hand-of-Sekhmet snarls at his shadow-self and runs with the rest of the tribe, following Anubis’s lead.
As the Garou run, other shapes of Crinos Garou, Striders from the world over, run in hazy synchronicity with them. Each shadowy partner runs alongside its respective garou, howling madly along with the ghosts.
Aset glares at the shadow matching her stride for stride as she follows the others.
D’siaH seeks desperately for a shadow she knows, out of sheer reflex, then races after Anubis’ tail, not so fast as she once was, but steadily.
With a roar, the wall of spirits closes behind the running group, and the path behind them begins to fall away into nothingness, chasing them.
Su lets her legs do what they do best. Her legs may not be as long as some, but she is a grey blur amid the blackness.
Out of the corners of your eyes, you begin to see other Striders you have known, who have died and passed on. Ancestors, friends, enemies.
Anubis howls out, ~Do not slow! Listen to them, but do not slow or leave the path!~
Su pages to Anubis and D’siaH: Ooo. Can I see my father I never knew?
Anubis pages to Aset, Hand-of-Sekhmet, Su, and D’siaH: Feel free to pose your ancestors if you like; up to you.
Hand-of-Sekhmet strides long and fast, striving to outpace the shadow that runs with him, focused only on what is ahead of him.
A voice moans out, “Ice… Fire… Wheels spin and the north wind meets the east…”
Su’s eyes range ahead and to the sides of the path. A burly crinos, grey fur streaked with white, begins to pace her and she falters for barely a moment before matching his stride.
The shadow-Garou lean inward to their normal partners, and look at them as if they were lunch. They howl ravenously.
D’siaH shies at no more than the brush of a bat’s wing, but keeps running. Whatever she has done or had done to her, such shadows hold little terror for her now. She glares angrily at them, always seeking out one face, but apparently not finding it.
Aset races along, forcing herself to listen to the elderly female racing along with her. She whispers, “Be well, granddaughter,” and vanishes in the running Striders’ wake.
Anubis puts on an added burst of speed. ~They gain! Run! Run!~
Su locks gazes with the stranger for the barest of moments; when they break apart, she gives a short bark full of both triumph and pain. She pulls forward of her shadow for an instant, her face radiant, redoubling her efforts without apparant difficulty.
As if to emphasize Anubis’s words, a great demonic-looking spirit smashes through the pathway behind the last garou, shattering it into oblivion and barely missing the group.
Aset reaches down for more strength from within to continue her breakneck pace.
A voice calls, ~The jars, my children … Names and faces … Death in life and life in death…~
Hand-of-Sekhmet picks up speed, racing after Anubis and keeping in the middle of the pack.
Ever so slightly, the shadow-selves begin to fall behind their Garou counterparts.
Su barely takes notice as Hand-of-Sekhmet comes up even with her, concentrating on the smoothness of her pace.
D’siaH’s ragged breath cuts a prayer to Wepwawet, way-opener, will only keeping her moving so fast on legs that do not run with grace or skill anymore.
Aset howls in triumph as she inches past her doppleganger by the narrowest of margins.
Anubis barrels onward, howling in chorus with Aset. Miraculously, the strain begins to drain from the running Garou, and the speed becomes a bit less of an effort.
A great tall spectre of a Strider stands athwart the path. His deep voice bellows through the fog. ~Expect the Black One … Deals are honored by only one side … The fate of the wanderers…~ His gargantuan form curls up and blows away as rapidly as it formed.
The shadow-Garou fall back visibly now, a head behind their counterparts, shadowy tongues hanging.
Hand-of-Sekhmet howls as he outstrides the spectre beside him and speeds onwards with the tribe, feeling the elateion of winning a race.
Su spares a backward glance for her shadow and then puts it from her mind, running easily now.
Again, the load lightens, the running becomes more effortless. The spirits still howl and the path continues to destroy itself behind, but it no longer seems as close.
Anubis growls out, ~Do not let up in your vigilance! Do not be lulled! Run!~
Aset paces the others easily, joy in her strides as she watches her shadow-self fall behind.
Aset flicks her ears forward and recalls her mind to the race at hand.
Su looks sharply up at Anubis, then behind again quickly; she returns her concentration to the path ahead and her whirring legs.
A feral voice cries from the dark, ~In the garden is a friend …Behind a benefactor stands Destruction…~
The air around the path begins to boil, and great chunks of the side of the path ahead begin to crumble away.
A grim-faced tattooed woman with black hair stealing towards gray lopes past with a brush of wind, snapping an order to Sepdet. The young Seer’s head comes up from staring doggedly at the few paces ahead, long ears flickering, and she breaks into a longer stride.
Anubis puts on an extra burst of speed, the most he can muster, and leaps the starting destruction of the path, barreling onward.
Su’s brow furrows in concentration and she narrows her path to the very center, away from the flaky footing.
Aset’s eyes widen at the destruction of the path ahead, but she does not stop, somehow placing each foot carefully in her desperate race.
Hand-of-Sekhmet moves towards the center of the path, away from the crumbling stones, speeding ever faster with the rest of the tribe.
As each garou passes the failing section of pathway, the shadow-selves fall behind, chasing their respective pair nose-to-tail. They howl bloodthirstily, but something in their call lacks strength.
Aset blinks twice as a jackal that looks much like herself nears, gazes quietly into her eye, chuffs encouragement, and races on. She runs even faster, nearly tripping on the feet of others until she finds a clear place.
A female voice floats down from the dark shape of a legendary Strider, ~I am always watching, Djeret.~
From behind the running Garou, a thin voice speaks quietly: ~Wolf and not wolf … Not Garou, and not Gangrel … older, so much older. Great destruction, Great risk, Great potential for aid…~
Su spins her head around at that, trusting for a moment to Owl’s wings to keep her feet steady.
The haze begins to lighten ahead suddenly; a pale halo up the path.
Anubis howls. ~We are nearly through, Tribemates! One last effort!~
Su turns back ahead, resigned to mysteries, but runs with a lighter heart.
Aset races for the light, drawing upon her last bit of strength and will to get there.
The dark shadow-selves fall back far enough now to be behind as a group, and with a maddened, discordant howl, they fall raveningly upon each other and are lost in the whirling mist behind. Each Garou’s spirits feel greatly lightened almost at the same instant. The halo ahead reveals itself as a giant light source, almost like a hole in a rock face, an exit to this cave of the dead…
Hand-of-Sekhmet lifts his voice in a howl again, running even faster as he sees the end of the journey within view.
Su now puts forth her last ounce of strength, and fairly flies toward the light.
Anubis howls along with Hand-of-Sekhmet, and leaps upward at the hole of light. (Again, ‘leap’ when ready).
D’siaH draws herself bowstring-taut and leaps, arcing after Djeret’s feet with a flash-burst and a glitter of blue scales like feathers.
Anubis leaps into the air, and with a blinding flash disappears into the hole of light.
Anubis has left.
Su leaps into the air, and with a blinding flash disappears into the hole of light.
Su has left.
Aset leaps into the air, and with a blinding flash disappears into the hole of light.
Aset has left.
You leap up and through the hole of light, and find yourself completing the jump you made earlier. You land beside the fire and step away.
Umbra: Overlook Ledge
From here, you can see everything. The Umbra stretches westward before you, far further below you in the Umbra than it is in the Realm. This is a high cliff, miles above the ground below, where you can see the bright glow of the Caern, beyond it the dark shadow of Kent Crossing, and further off in the distance the looming darkness of St. Claire. The dim umbral woods below you seem to move and sway with a life of their own.
Here, on the tiny ledge that the promontory is represented by in the Umbra, there is a ring of blue fire burning at the center of the ledge, large enough that only a few may stand around it at one time. The ground is almost luminescent.
Sometimes, out of the corner of your eye, you swear you can see a hazy shape moving in a sinuous dance around the flames, but when you look directly, it is gone. Behind you to the east, a sheer cliff looms upward out of sight.
Contents:
Aset
Su
Anubis
Hand-of-Sekhmet appears from thin air over the top of the blue spectral flames, and descends in a graceful arc to land on his feet beside the fire, then steps away from it.
Hand-of-Sekhmet has arrived.
As Hand-of-Sekhmet leaps through, the flames begin to slowly die and fade away.
Anubis smiles faintly. ~Well run, Striders. Well run indeed. And now, perhaps, we can face the Apocalypse’s havoc on the outside somewhat better.~
Anubis steps over to the fire, reaches in and draws out the stone. He gently brushes off the now-dried glyphs, and returns it to the fire’s heart.
Su breathes deeply, looking away from the flames to look up at Anubis. The no-moon twinkle is in her eyes, as is a clean and fresh determination.
The fire fades and shrinks, returning to its normal spectral almost-not-there state.
Aset pants lightly, the pensiveness and depression that has marked her for so long gone, her good humor returned.
D’siaH collapses in a small pile on the ground and wraps her arms around her knees, wild eyes fixed on the fire. After many rasping breaths she ventures to look up, meeting Anubis’ gaze in a stare that is no challenge, merely faith.
Anubis whuffs softly, the weariness that has been his partner for the last months faded greatly. ~Well run,~ he says once more with a genuine smile.
Anubis contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Anubis shifts into Lupus form.
Su smiles as well, a few teeth peeking out. ~And well led. I, for one, thank you.~
Aset contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
Aset shifts back into her normal human form with a gasp and swirl of fur.
Noor puts her hands on her knees. “Yes, thank you….Anubis-rhya.”
Anubis whuffs softly in acknowledgement.
Su stretches, claws reaching for the sky and wings embracing at least two meters of air, and takes one last heavy breath.
Su contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
Su shifts into Lupus form.
Anubis lies down. I, for one, must sleep. And this looks like a good spot.
Noor glances at Su and Anubis. “I’m just incredibly happy all of a sudden, that’s wierd.”
Hand-of-Sekhmet paces and pants heavily, like a runner after a race, breathing deeply of Gaia’s fresh air, the air of pensiveness and moroseness about him having faded greatly.
Hand-of-Sekhmet contorts and blurs as he is transformed.
Hand-of-Sekhmet shifts into Homid form.
Anubis half-grins at Noor. Feralia.
Su cocks her head at Anubis. So it does.
From afar, to Anubis, Jeremy, Su, and D’siaH, Noor hees. See ya later, Su.
Jeremy smiles faintly. “Thank you, Anubis-rhya.”
Anubis whuffs. Only as a tribe could we have succeeded.
You paged Anubis and Su with ‘Thanks. We should /not/ do this more often. :) Pssst, Anubis, rite Noor in the next month before she eats my shoes.’.
Anubis’s eyes close quietly.
From afar, Anubis plans to. Soon. After the moot, tho. Either that or I’ve given Tep the go-ahead to do it and we’ll retcon me teaching him the rite.
From afar, to Jeremy and D’siaH, Noor nods. Remember the lecture, as there will be a short quiz just before we break for Apocalypse…:)
Su has disconnected.
Long distance to Anubis: D’siaH dankes, and apologizes to ALWAYS being a squeaky wheel. Go eat, boss.
From afar, Anubis grins. No problem. And I will. :)
Anubis has disconnected.
Noor turns and leaves Anubis-rhya to sleep.
Noor gazes into the fire.
D’siaH rocks herself back and forth, silent, watching the old wolf with a pained wonder.
Noor has left.
D’siaH says, ~He knew. He knew.~
Jeremy says “What did he know, sister?”
D’siaH murmurs softly, ~What the Dancers did to me… violate the-the-~
D’siaH shrugs, the words having no power to hurt her now. ~Violate the Litany.~
D’siaH lifts her head to the east and finds her star still peeking over the horizon.
Jeremy places a hand on D’siaH’s shoulder. “It is behind you now, sister. You have outrun it. I’m sure Anubis has forgiven you already.”
D’siaH nods mutely, eyes holding a trace of their old sparkle, a merest glimmer of starlight.