Bernie is resting in the corner of the couch, back to the armrest and legs stretched across the cushions, curls half-cloaking her face as her head is tilted forward to read the book partly resting in her lap. Periodically, she takes an absent sip from the bottle of Guinness dangling in her left hand.

Tobin walks softly down the stairs, or as softly as he can in his hiking boots. Coat and backpack are not with him, but he's got his walking stick in his right hand and a book with no print on the cover in his left hand. He blinks as he sees someone he doesn't recognize on the couch. "Ah, hello." he says tentatively.

Bernie glances up from her book, giving Tobin a curious once over. "Hey," she replies, friendly enough. "Nice coat. New here? You, I mean. Not th' coat."

Tobin blinks and just stares at Bernie for a moment, apparently trying to think of something to say. Finally, he manages to say, "Yes, I'm new here. And thanks. About the coat."

In the back of the house, Brigid comes in through the back door, apparently sounding like she's talking to someone despite the lack of another voice to pair with hers. Her footsteps sound lightly on the kitchen floor, followed soon by the sound of running water and light splashing.

The front door opens quietly, and Cameron sticks his head in and looks around, before opening the door wider and slipping in. "Ullo, ullo, ullo..." he murmurs, with a crooked grin at Bernie. "Guess I haven't missed the moot, then? Everyone getting together, ready to go, but, eh?"

The backdoor slams shut with a heavy thud, and Alicia strides her way into the living room, peering about at all who's there.

Bernie nods, and twists a bit to offer a hand to Tobin, suitable for shaking. "So hi, I'm Bernie," she announces, looking him over again, more closely, as if there might be some sort of important sign or clue there. Cam's entrance distracts her, and she sits up a bit to look over to him, returning the grin broadly. "Camness! Hey, how goes? 's still, like," a glance to the backpack on the floor, and the broken watch tied to it, "...half an hour t' go, I think."

In the back of the house, Brigid shuts off the water and shakes her hands a bit before drying them on her pants and walking towards the sound of voices in the living room with an expression of curiousity on her face.

Tobin starts to take Bernie's hand to shake it, opening his mouth to introduce himself, then starts as Cameron comes in. He stares for a moment then whips around at the sound of the sliding door opening and someone /else/ coming in, and then /jumps/ when the back door slams and Alicia comes in. He looks like he feels cornered by all these people coming in at once.

Alicia glances over to each of them and simply clears her throat, offering a quick wave to the small gathering. "Hello everyone. Good evening, or noon'. Whatever, the sun is still out."

Cameron grins at Tobin and moves over to the couch, where Bernie's lying. "Scooch over a bit, Bern." His efforts to sit stop short, though, as Alicia enters. The Fianna cub grins mischeivously at her, and gives a curt nod. "Evenin' Rhya." he says, trying desperately hard not to chuckle.

Bernie grins and swings about, sitting properly on the couch and freeing up the other spots for Cam and anyone else who feels the need for one. "Hey," she greets Alicia and Brigid, closing her book to put it back in her backpack. Another sip of her drink, and Tobin gets an expectant look.

Brigid pats her hands against her jeans a few more times and raises her right hand to wave pleasantly. "Afternoon, one and all..." she chimes amiably in her English accent.

Tobin settles down, recognizing Cameron and Alicia. He looks curiously at Brigid and then notices Bernie looking at him from out of the corner of his eye. He turns back to her and introduces him, "Uh, I'm Tobin. Silver Fang cub, and Theurge. Nice to meet you." He doesn't sound especially sure of this last part.

Jervis quietly walks in, stopping for a moment as he notices the new faces. "Hrm. Hello."

Brigid's head cants slightly to one side, attention focusing on Tobin as he speaks and expression only growing more interested wiht each revelation of tribe and auspice. A brief flick of her eyes acknowledges Jervis' arrival as she smiles at Tobin. "Pleased to meet you, Tobin. I'm Brigid, and from what you've just said, the only thing setting us apart is that you're a cub. Though, that's no bad thing, in my mind."

"Oh, yeah?" Bernie's eyes flit to the funky stick a moment, then back. "Bernie Rosenberg, Stomps-Th'-Wyrm-With-Steeltoed-Boots, Cliath 'Gnawer Ragabash, niceta meetcha too." She pauses as the door opens again, and gives Jervis a once over as well. "Hey," she says again, apparently the standard greeting, and settles back in the cushions, sipping her beer again. "Hey, Cam. Got somethin' for ya..."

Ali glances over to Cam for a moment, then glances over to Tobin. "Guards-The-Flame, Cliath and MoonDancer for the Children of Gaia."

Cameron just beams at Alicia, settling back into the couch. "That was my way of saying /

Jervis snorts softly. "Not a second too soon, I guess, then. Jervis Michaels. Silver Fang Cub, Ragabash." he says, swiveling his head as he eyes the group.

Brigid turns her head to look squarely at Jervis, giving him a once-over glance dusted with pleasant curiousity and nodding. "Mmm, a pleasure to meet you, as well."

Cameron just beams at Alicia, settling back into the couch. "Congratulations, you." he says lightly with a wink. Looking to Brigid, the smile fades just a touch - but is still warm - and he gives her a respectful nod. "Cameron Fullerton. Theurge cub of the Fianna." It doesn't take more than a second before he's nudging Bernie with a rogue elbow. "Now whatcha got for me?"

Ali smiles slightly at Cam's reaction. "Thank you. And wish me luck, I have a big role to fill at the moot and I'm a bit nervous." Flexing out her fingers, she pops the nervous joints.

Tobin nods at Bernie's introduction, gives Jervis a short nod, and then focusses on Brigid. After staring apparently blankly for a moment, he says evenly, "I think few more things other then my being a cub set us apart, but other than that, what did you mean?"

Jervis nods to Brigid, smiling. "Oh, all mine, trust me." he says, becoming distracted momentarily, mid-sentence, by other conversations.

Brigid chuckles softly and continues to smile, "I suppose I wasn't too clear in my words. I've spent far too much time watching my tongue. We are both Silver Fangs and Theurges, that is specifically what I meant." Jervis' comment doesn't get much of a response outside of a raised eyebrow and a delicate snort.

Bernie glances over at the raggie cub with a half-smile and arched brow at the somewhat smarmy comment there before returning her attention to the Fianna. "Y'know, souveniery things. Jewels an' gold an' shit like that." She lenas down to heft her bag into her lap, and rummages inside a bit. The thing is way too full.

Tobin /almost/ smiles at Brigid's words, the smile itself flitting about his face but never quite settling in, "Very pleased to meet you then, Brigid." There's an odd, almost eager, glint in his eye.

Cameron gives Brigid a quick, calculating look, then goes back to grinning at Alicia. Another absent nudge at Bernie, and a mumbled, "Arrr. Jewels and Gold and bullion from yer swag makes an old sea dog most satisfoied." A quick nod, and he says more loudly, "What're you doing at the moot, 'lish?"

Brigid tucks stray wisps of her hair back behind her ears and nods again, a pleased expression at meeting Tobin. Glancing over at Cameron, she smiles apologetically with a slight blush to her cheeks. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you, Cameron. I tend to get a bit preoccupied from time to time. Don't hold it against me?"

Alicia heads for the front door and lets out a breath. "I'm going to be the Caller, going over the litany with the fool. I gotta get down there now actually and meet up with my Elders. Take care."

Cameron waves Alicia off with a lazy salute, and a quick grin, before he looks back to Brigid - now the grin is broad and toothy. He looks her up and down and then gives her a quick wink, as the grin twists mischeivously. "As if I could. Got a weakness for beautiful women, see."

Bernie waves to Alicia, then goes back to searching her bag. "See you there...."

Alicia smiles and heads outside, closing the door behind her.

Tobin waves absently at Alicia.

Jervis seats himself, not much centricity to his attention, but he seems occupied enough. There's a bit of an eye roll and a facepalm at Cameron's comment, but it could just be another headache coming on, who knows?

Brigid smirks and gives Cam a saucy look, "I see....I do...." Glancing back the way she came at the light coming into the dining room, her eyebrows perk and she turns slightly that way. "Should be almost time, would do to start trooping out..." she murmurs.

Bernie expresses her opinion of Cam's remark by returning those elbow nudges he was giving her earlier. Making a face, she closes the bag, and sets it back down. "I'll look 'gain later, yeah? I'm startin' t' think I forgot it at th' dec'dance." She stands, stretching.

Cameron gives Brigid another roguish smile, and then quickly gives Bernie a sideways look and a pout. "Don't tell me you're leaving me in the dark as to what it is?"

Tobin stuffs the book he was carrying into a large pocket in his duster and nods at Brigid, "Jervis and I were supposed to meet Lady Jefferson and go with her, but she's not here. Would you mind if we went with you instead?" He doesn't look happy at the prospect of going alone. Or alone with Jervis, anyway.

Bernie grins evilly at Cameron, and nods once. "'course. I see you shiver with antici..." She drains the rest of her beer, and trots into the kitchen to dispose of the bottle, then opens the sliding door and steps through. After a second, she leans back in, head only, and adds, "...pation!" before grinning broadly again and disappearing.

Brigid turns back at Tobin's question and smiles brightly, "Certainly! It would not be a problem at all. I don't get to escort anyone out very often at all, so it's something of a treat. Pick yourselves up and follow me, we should just get there in time, I think."

[Among the Steam Vents]

At the center, Sebastian enters the clearing, each step, calculated, taken with reverence and respect. He meets each stranger's gaze with a level stare, unthreatened. The young theurge then scans around for a bare spot at the edges of the clearing, away from the prying eyes.

At the center, Seirian drops down into a crouch, balancing herself with the fingers of her right hand spread out on the ground, settling down to wait.

Bernie comes into view through the woods, from the general direction of the farmhouse, hands in her jacket pockets and humming quietly to herself. Picking her way through the steam vents, she heads for the center.

[Center of the Caern]

By the steam vents, Signe appears at the edge of the steam vents, brooding more than usual and still sporting cuts, bruises and a small limp. She hovers there among the mists for a moment before shuffling toward the center.

Leonard just appears out of the surrounding foilage, arms folded, watching the crowd grow.

Meandering down into the center, hands stuffed into the pockets of her khaki pants--she's dressed in that and a plain white tank top--is Helen, humming to herself. She stands out of the way, leaning back against a tree.

By the steam vents, Joey smiles, and smiles again as Helen shows up. "Don't be nervous," he says to the Galliard. "You know the Litany." He sidles over towards the waterfall, next to Junior.

By the steam vents, Joey heads back around the Walk towards the waterfall to the east.

By the waterfall, Junior smiles, seeing Joey. "Hey there..."

By the waterfall, Elan is taking deep breaths, apparently in a light trance as he watches folks file past.

By the steam vents, Jamethon catches Signe's appearance quite easily, she gives off happy waves and all. So soon enough James is making his careful way towards his Alpha.

By the steam vents, Alicia watches all of her friends and soon to be pack mates pass by her, a slight smile forming upon her lips as she glances over her shoulder to the woods, waiting.

By the steam vents, Brigid strides in with some casualness, looking over her shoulder to make sure that the two cubs she's escorting are keeping up. "Here we are..."

Helen offers Alicia the V-for-victory sign. Other than that, she just remains sprawled against the tree, long dark hair loose, other hand still stuffed in her pocket. She's silent, too, which is quite unusual.

Cameron catches up to Bernie, and with a few quick steps, moves over to step beside her. "Hey, waitupasec, Bern." he grumbles.

By the steam vents, Tobin stands quietly by Brigid, looking around at all the people, and trying not to look like the wide-eyed cub he obviously is. He's failing quite well.

Adam looks up, and sees Brigid. He smiles at the Fang, giving the two with her a curious look.

By the steam vents, Alicia nods her head to Helen as she catches sight of her, shaking her hands out a bit, wiggling her fingers.

By the steam vents, Jervis somehow finds himself edging closer to Brigid as well, but keeps barely within conversational distance.

Shadow-of-Blood looks around the mostly-homid crowd and moves regally outside of the cluster, over to one side.

By the waterfall, Someone's darting up the path at a dead run, scuffed shoes rasping against worn, damp stone, an undercurrent to short, sharp breaths-- It's Anneka, her hair in a tangled mane about her face. She slows an inch when she catches sight of the 'Gnawers gathered near the waterfall, draws to a halt. "Whuf-- almost-- " She looks down towards the Caern's center. "Almost-- I'm here."

From the rock outcropping, Quick skulks woth long strides into the caern, wiggling his way into the crowd of Garou, finding a niche between one person's knock knees and another person's pigeon toes to park his carcass.

By the steam vents, Brigid catches Adam's smile and returns it pleasantly, chuckling softly at Tobin's expression as she heads for the center and calls calmly over her shoulder for Tobin and Jervis to follow her that way.

Bernie grins at Cam, and pauses to let him catch up before glancing around for a good spot to sit. Finding one, she gestures toward it with a tilt of her head, and steps over to drop there cross-legged. "Hey, Otter!" she calls up toward the waterfall, waving at the cub.

Cameron grins at Anneka, waving her over, and looking for all the world like some groupie at a concert, finding friends to gather with, as he sits with Bernie.

By the waterfall, Banecruncher whuffs in amusement at Anneka. Ran in from town, you did?

By the waterfall, Without a word or much of a reaction to anyone, his face as placid as he can make it, Joshua moves through the surrounding areas and slips into the appointed place at the appointed time. Pausing for a second, he looks for Elan, and, after spotting the older Gnawer, raises a hand to greet him, and moves that way.

Seeker looks up abruptly at the sound of running feet, then relaxes when he sees it's a friend. He sits back and waits for the moot to start.

By the waterfall, Joey smiles at the cub, patting the ground beside him as Anneka storms in.

Seirian rises from her crouch after watching so many come in and tucks her hands back into her pockets, walking over to Seeker.

Signe's eyes fall on Banecruncher and narrow suspiciously. The Get's brooding scowl deepens to something more immediately akin to anger.

By the waterfall, Anneka stands up straight, catching a familiar voice and glances at the folk about her with a wide-eyed grin, before she takes a deep breath and-- looks over to Banecruncher. "Yup." She grins at Joey. "Gotta go-- down there! Introduction." She's still out of breath when she takes another, and races down towards the Caern's center.

Helen seems amused at Anneka, saying to the cub, "Don't breathe so hard your lungs fall out."

Brigid leads the two cubs over to a spot not too far from Adam and turns to face them. "You two wait here for just a moment, all right? I have to talk to someone briefly and then I'll be right back, though I'm not going that far, really."

By the waterfall, Roger steps into the caern with a calm, purposeful, gait... as if stepping into a major board meeting. Right behind is Sophia.

By the waterfall, Sophia nudges Roger, whispering something to him.

Anneka reaches up to clutch at her chest and grins at Helen, before collapsing down into a loose-limbed crouch near Bernie. "They already fell out," she says. "I put 'em back in-- back there somewhere."

Tobin stands at the spot where Brigid leaves him, and stays near Jervis. He does this with reluctance, but obviously doesn't want to stray too far from someone he knows.

Stephen come dashing into the caern, a look of panic slowly changing to serenity as he notes the gathering remains unstarted.

Quick strays next to Tobin, bumping the new cub with an inquisitive nose as he circles around him.

"Oh. So you stuffed 'em down your throat?" Helen eyes Anneka, friendly enough. She smirks, and the sight of Stephen and his panicking seems to be even more amusing, as she laughs quietly.

Max slips up behind Bernie, nudges her rear with booted toe and grins down at Anneka. "Yo, Streetfish."

By the waterfall, Roger leans over towards the cub with obvious smile worn upon his face. "I guess that is up to you. It's gets emotional... and rightly so. Kinda like 3-D though, the show will come to you no matter where you are. The closer to the center you are the more you claim to want to participate in the moot functions. At least that is how it has seemed to me in the past. I think we'll get nice and centered." With that he leads the cub to a place that could possibly be equal distance from the waterfall and the center.

Alicia glances over to Stephen and dips her head to him slightly, reaching up to brush some bangs from her face.

The lupus Shadow Lord gets a curious look from Helen. Never gotten the acquaintance of that one, but, hey. Yet another thing to ignore, as the ragabash glances to Alicia and gives her the 'A-okay' sign with her fingers, and grins crookedly.

By the waterfall, Sophia follows close behind, looking wide-eyed at the surroundings.

Brigid takes a few steps away and smiles at Adam again while approaching him, now better able to talk to her packmate. "Brit was supposed to escort two of our newest here, tonight, but she's apparently taking Guardian duties quite seriously tonight. I brought these two along in her stead."

Bernie tilts her head back to grin up at her packmate. "Hey. Pull up a patcha ground, we got th' special soft kind for th' 'cassion an' everythin'." She gestures vaguely to the area around her.

By the waterfall, Joey looks behind him, and notices Elan doing Something Vital. And since he's Not, he nudges Junior, nods to Max, and heads into the center.

Piotr settles himself on the ground, trying not to squeak much.

"Hey--Chases-Mountains," Helen greets Ceylan with, beckoning the Fury cub over.

Adam looks up, the bone still steay over his shoulder, and nods. "No problem," he says, with a smile, albeit a little sad, towards the Fang. "I've been out of the loop, and didn't know you had new cubs."

Cameron looks about interestedly, and sends little waves and winks to the cubs he knows, who have yet to be introduced. "Glad I don't have to do anything, this time. Sit back and enjoy the show, eh?" he murmurs to the Gnawers nearby.

Max settles to the ground behind Bernie, crosslegged, then murmurs something under her breath before catching sight of Joey and puckering at him good-naturedly across the way.

Roger looks to Sophia a moment then up to Adam and gives the cub the 'wait here' gesture before heading over to tell Adam something.

Stephen returns Alicia's nod and taps his wrist with his finger, shruggin somewhat guiltily.

Seirian frees a hand, rubs at her nose briefly, and drops down to sit on the patch of ground she was just standing on. Looking around at quite a few new faces, she rests her hands loosely on her knees and observes.

Ceylan spots HElen, and runs over, frowning slightly. SHe says in a very very low voice, "I am sorry for my tardiness. I have no exuses." She then sits down next to the other Fury.

From afar, to Anneka, Bernie, and Cameron, Max mutters under her breath, "Anyone seen Uncle Badass 'T' t'night?"

Jervis' head seems in perpetual motion. He looks rather like a nervous bird, standing with his arms crossed.

Alicia heads over to the stargazer cliath and offers him a brief smile, patting him on the shoulder. "Its alright." She softly mummurs, then heads towards the steam vents, giving him a light tug of the shirt.

Helen, leaning against her tree still, just laughs. "It's okay. Lots more people are gonna be late. Y' didn't miss anything, Ceylan."

By the waterfall, Joshua rubs at the back of his neck, realising that Elan is, in fact, meditating. It's one of those waves that turns into a neckrub so he doesn't look dumb. It's too late, of course, but... and he heads into the caern's centre.

He took his slow and sweet time getting there, but Jamethon finally arrives to the side Signe. "Nice night for a moot, Signe-rhya."

Brigid chuckles ans shrugs a little with a briefly wry smile, "I've been as out as you have, these two are quite new to me, as well." Glancing back at the two, she purses her lips and hmmms thoughtfully, "Shouldn't leave them alone too long, this is their first moot and all and they seem a little...nervous?"

Ceylan lets out a breath and nods to Helen.

Joey waves Joshua over, to the Gnawer group.

Joshua heads over to the Gnawer group, then, carefully swiveling his head from side to side, so he doesn't bump into anyone or jostle anyone who'd be on his blind side.

Tobin just stands stock-still, in contrast to his fellow cub, watching everyone gather. His grip on his walking stick is white-knuckled, however.

Signe blinks, turning quickly toward Jamethon. Yes, the Get was actually startled. His reward for doing so is a softly grunted growl. "Hey. I guess."

From afar, to Anneka, Bernie, and Max, Cameron turns a little to give Max an odd look. "Uncle Badass 'T'?"

Ceylan's eyes peer about at all who've assembled, not having expected so many to have shown up. It makes her tardiness all the more embarrassing.

Adam nods to Brigid. "You cannot stay?" he asks,.

Rides-Fire yawns, attempting to calm himself as more and more Garou gather. The wolf-born bumps his alpha before settling down and watching Stephen intently.

Bernie shakes her head a bit to Max's murmur, and shifts position a little, watching the arrivals as they come into view.

Joey lifts his eyes at Max's gesture, and just shakes his head, chuckling quietly.

Max smiles briefly and blithely at Cameron. "Guess not, huh?" The smile quickly turns smirk-ward and the ragabash leans forward to rest her forearms across Bernie's shoulder as she murmurs near her packmate's ear.
Max pages: Where's Matt?

From afar, to Bernie, Max, and Cameron, Anneka tilts her head, glances over to Max. "I haven't. Not for a couple days," she says, her voice low.

Roger steps a bit closer to Adam waiting for him to be done with Brigid before piping up himself.

Cameron grumbles lowly. "I don't even know who that /is/. He may well be." He nudges Bernie. "Fill me in?"

With a shimmer, three more forms step out of the air next to the center stone. Andrea leads the way, with Susan close beside on her right. Patrick hangs back a little, surveying the gathered Garou with a characteristic smirk lingering on his lips.

Brigid looks at the relatively short distance between her and the cubs and shrugs a little. "I'm staying, I just feel better keeping a close eye on them for now. I won't be far, though." she muses with a smile, "No more than a stone's throw."

Nightflash snaps his jaws at Rides-Fire, impatient to get started.

Adam smiles. "No worries," he says. "I'm sure they'

Jervis offers a brief nod to Roger. Whether it's noticed or not, he doesn't seem terribly concerned with.

Adam smiles. "No worries," he says. "I'm sure they'll be-" he cuts off as Andrea appears, and he goes almost quiet. "showtime," he murmurs to the Theurge Fang, waiting.

Bernie leans back a tad to listen, then turns her head to whisper back to Max.
You paged Max with '...he was havin' a li'l trouble gettin' off work t'night. So he might be late, y'know?'.

Eyes settle on the pack called Ouroboros and Helen raises a hand, waving--mostly to Andrea, seeing as she doesn't know the other two. "Well, it's gonna start soon," the ragabash says to Ceylan quietly.

Quick turns his attention to another of the new cubs and circles around Jervis, as closely inspecting of his seams as any tailor.

Roger does nod absently to Jervis despite looking off in the other Garou's direction to do so.

Ceylan's brows arch upwards and she says to Helen, "With so many gathered, how is anything accompished? THere seems to be no order to it."

By the waterfall, Elan still continues to meditate

Robert, noticing the arrival of the members of Ouroboros, then turns and nods to Alicia. "Call the Garou of the Hidden Walk to moot."

In the windiest area, Stephen moves to the windiest area and crouches down, his hands on the ground balancing him. He looks over the gathered briefly, his eyes stopping with a nod on Rides-Fire and finally stopping on Alicia.

Helen moves a finger to her mouth. "Shh. You'll see."

Brigid nods and scoots back over to Tobin and Jervis quickly, resting a hand on the shoulders of each briefly to let them know she's returned. Leaning in, she murmurs to them briefly, "Just about showtime, cubs."

Andrea inclines her head toward Helen with a small smile, the discreet movement easily lost in the throng.

Roger offers quickly to Adam, "I have a cub needs introducing tonight, that is all."

Jervis notes Quick with some amusement, watching intently and unabashedly but not offering much in the way of a response.

In the windiest area, Far Hawk shifts upward to his war form smoothly, retaining his crouching stance.

Jamethon stands besides Signe, fidgiting up until now. Now he is placid, complacent, and still. Waiting for the festivities to begin tonight, for it will an important night.

Jervis looks up at his elder. "Wonderful." he murmurs, sarcasm and nervousness oozing from the word.

Tobin eyes Quick prowling around, again trying not to be nervous and again failing. He nods at Brigid, tension showing through.

By the steam vents, Guards-Flame howls long and loud.

From Among the Steam Vents, Guards-Flame can be heard to howl, ~~Garou of the Hidden Walk, tonight we join together beneath the watchful eye of Luna at the Center of our Caern to moot!~~

Kaz doesn't actually trip once as she comes down the waterfall's path, ears metaphorically perking up at the call to Moot. She heads over to the rest of the Gnawers and crouches behind Max.

Brigid narrows her eyes briefly, pulling back the hand she starts to raise and curling it into a fist at her side. "Be quiet and have some respect, Jervis. The two of you can sit down if that's easier on your legs."

Bernie grins at her approaching pack alpha, giving her a light wave before going back to watching the influx.

Roger just assumes his message was heard and heads quickly back to his cub, who is no doubt uncomfortable by now.

Tempered-Blade settles down into a more comfortable form and leans up against her packmates as the moot starts.

Jamethon growls appreachiativly, snapping his teeth and looking as if he is tasting the air, waiting for that crucial moment that it will become charged with something more.

Sophia leans toward Roger, saying quietly, "What was that howl? What did it mean?"

Anneka doesn't move, quite, from her perch near Bernie, but she turns her head to grin at Kaz. "Hey, hi," she says, her voice drawing lower.

Jervis silently does as suggested, seating himself on his haunches, hands folded in front of his lips,

Quick's amusement at the interplay between cub and elder subsides as the Lord turns alert, ears perked at the howl.

Max glances back to grin at Kaz as well, though she remains resting her arms lightly across the back of Bernie's shoulders.

Roger leans down by Sophia and quickly translates the message calmly. "Basically it's a Garou P.A. system."

Cameron, too, gives Kaz a grin and a nod from his spot next to Bernie, then goes back to looking at all the other faces.

Helen, as if she'd like to hear everything oh-so-better, tucks some hair behind each ear, attention piqued now. "Party's started," she muses to Ceylan.

Ceylan's brows come down slightly, hearing something unfamiliar, wordwise, and she looks to Helen questioningly.

Tobin blinks at Brigid's sharp rebuke of Jervis, never having seen someone snap at Jervis just for being Jervis. He listens carefully to the howl, but shakes his head and looks questioningly at Brigid. He elects to remain standing.

Joshua just crouches by the rest of the Gnawers, adjusting his eyepatch as if it annoyed him. He offers Kaz a half-smile, tinged with nervousness.

By the steam vents, Guards-Flame paces back and forth a bit, ears flattening as she crosses her arms along her furry chest.

Kaz rests a hand on Max's shoulder, grinning at the rest of the Gnawers (and Cameron), before focusing in on Alicia intently.

Sebastian is unmoved by the Howl. He remains silent as ever, settled down on the ground, watching it, as if waiting for something to unearth itself from beneath him.

Robert waits a little while for any last stragglers to show up, then turns and nods to Alicia once again.

Brigid hmphs quietly and gives Tobin a soothing smile. "Just listen for now, Tobin. I know it's a lot to take in." she murmurs, just loud enough for him to heard.

Andrea also shifts, but her shift takes her into crinos. The Gaian turns from where she had been watching the stock-still Gnawer theurge and turns toward Alicia, tilting her head back in a short call of answer. Patrick moves a step away from Bitter Cup to give the suddenly-bigger theurge more space and crouches next to Tempered-Blade to bury his hand in her ruff.

Roger kneels down beside his cub, hand supporting him as he whispers something to the cub.

Rides-Fire and Nightflash also let out short howls, eagerly turning toward the beginning of the moot. Both ahroun seem edgy, though Nightflash appears slightly more impatient than his Stargazer packmate.

Tobin nods silently at Brigid, and looks back at the gathering. He may actually be starting to relax.

The Black Fury ragabash shifts through the forms and ends up on four legs, the darkened wolf with the white ear. She chuffs in answer to the Howl of whom could considerably be her 'best friend,' and nudges Ceylan. ~We call the Litany, now.~

By the steam vents, Continuing to pace, Guards-The-Flame's eyes turn towards the windiest areas to where the Fool rests, her voice rumbling out deeply as she begins. ~The Garou shall not mate with Garou.~ Her teeth clack together once, tail whipping behind her.

In the throng, Storm-Singer remains in lupus, watching and waiting.

Bernie turns her attention to her newly Cliath friend, watching and listening as she performs her mootly duty.

Shadow-of-Blood turns slightly to focus his attention on thenew Stargazer cliath, rather than on the Gaian. His tail twitches as he settles, probably unconsciously, into a mostly hunting crouch.

Sophia nods discreetly to Roger and straightens her posture, her chin held high.

Ceylan seems mostly lost at what Helen says, only grabbing about half of the words and she frowns slightly at the nudging. She doesn't say anything, as it seems, for some reason, it would be highly frowned upon to do so, so, she just sits there.

Roger looks at the cub appraisingly then stands up straight himself, and discomfort that he will be standing for hours upon hours tonight seems to vanish before it appears. He waits for the fool's comment.

In the windiest area, Far Hawk stands slowly, the wind rustling his fur. He takes a deep breath, smelling the air around him. ~Gaia's blood runs deep and it is vulnerable from all sides. Even the Metis can defend her, their lives too are hers, warriors for the Moon.~ He keeps his head held up as he speaks, perhaps drawing on the wind to keep it so.

Cycle-Breaker has nothing to say upon the points of the Litany, settled there near the full moon cub of her tribe. Another nudge to Ceylan's arm. Just listen.

Anneka draws an inch closer to Kaz, quick and quiet.

Joshua is quiet, and all that, and pondersome, looking off into the distance, his singular eye trained on... something.

Piotr says nothing in response to the Fool. He only leans forward and deliberately scratches at his leg. The prosthesis squeaks as he does so - loudly advertising his inborn failings across the Caern.

Kaz, object lesson, shifts slowly into glabro, looking at Stephen. ~I can defend just fine. Don't mean it's right that my folks were dipshits.~

Adam frowns. "But we need more then just the Metis to fight our War. The Metis cannot have Children of their own, and we need to keep the blood strong in all generations."

Quick's teeth part in a snarl. The mules are weak and crippled. We need strong, whole warriors.

Roger pipes up quickly on this one, as he does every time this comes up at moot(and he's there). "You would knowingly bring a child of Garou into the world who will be weaker from birth, because you think you are helping the fight?"

Shadow-of-Blood's hackles rise at the response. The mules cannot bear more Garou. Those producing mules bring runts into the world because the Corruptor touches them. We need no more corruption.

Rides-Fire snarls in response to his tribemate. Some of them can fight, but they cannot breed and continue our line.

Jamethon simply snaps his teeth at this, saving comment for later.

Roger waits a moment then looks down to Sophia and frowns. "You most certainly will not. You will proudly display yourself in the form of your birth."

By the steam vents, Continuing on with the litany, Guards-The-Flame and Faw Hawk go through the next law, the Sept retorting back quickly as they all agree, the Wyrm must be dealt with, wherever it breeds and dwells. The next is followed with a low rumble in her throat, her voice growing stronger. ~And what of Respecting the Territory of another, Far-Hawk?~

Ceylan, sitting cross legged,w ith her hands resting on her knees, and posture-perfect, glances about at all gathered here, thick brows down in a perpetual perplexed frown at the exchanges of words. Even when they're speaking in HOmid, with human words, she seems to only get about half of what's being said, which is probably the source of the young cub's confusion.

In the windiest area, Far Hawk flexes his shoulders a bit. He locks his gaze with Guards-flame, but his expression doesn't change. ~The world is not a toy to be traded among its children, it is a responsibility. That responsiblity falls to all of us, not just a select few who might stand upon its soil.~ His gaze does not leave Guards-Flame until the shouts of the gathered begin to rise.

Bitter Cup calls back, ~If we fight each other for territory, then nothing gets guarded. We fall to quarreling among ourselves like dogs over scraps.~

Kaz falls slowly back down into homid. "It falls to everyone, yeah, but that don't mean that everyone can deal with /all/ of it at once. So. We cope with the parts we can, an' then help each other out. Formalizin' that's just good sense."

Robert calls back, "Gaia is to be guarded by those who are strong enough to guard her. We must spread ourselves so that all of her is guarded, and not just certain select places."

Jamethon is quick to respond to this one. "So you'll have ten garou standing upon one land defending it in harmony? Who then defends the other lands that just aren't as popular?" The first part is ended with a note of sarcasm.

Joshua stays quiet, for the moment, and then finally adds, in a deep rumbling that seems mismatched to his average frame, "We cannot defend all. Not even the greatest and mightiest warrior can bear a whole burden. Thus, we have territories, that each might have his own place to protect, and no one becomes overwhelmed or greedy."

Leonard snorts softly at that, looking over the heads of the crowds into the trees.

Roger looks quickly back down to Sophia. "First, one calls out the litany. Then the fool mocks it... then we as a sept verbally shoot down the fool to show our resolve and trust in the litany is strong."

Sophia nods to Roger and strains to hear what the others are saying.

By the steam vents, Moving on to the next law of the litany, Guards-The-Flame continues to keep her eyes trained upon the Fool, her head only tilting slightly to one side. ~Accept and Honorable Surrender~

Rushes-In moves to settle down beside Andrea and the rest of the Children.

In the windiest area, Far Hawk moves his eyes from Guards-Flame to the sky above, looking the icon of his tribe. ~Honor is a tired tradition from times long gone. As the world moves on so must we, we cannot cling to what is old. We must be heavy handed in our victory or the Enemy will rise again.~ His gaze draws across the gathered as he gets to the heart of the matter and once again settles on Guards-Flame.

"And waste the Garou lives that are so valuable that you'd have us spawn the weak Metis in order to raise our numbers further?" That alone is Joshua's reply, as he remains crouched by the Gnars.

Roger glares up quickly at this one. "Thats right... heavy handed victory. Kill off those who are learning to fight better for Gaia's heart! That'll win the day!" Sarcasm drips.

Joey snorts, loud. "So if you another Garou on the side of the angels get into a fight, he's automatically the Enemy and Must die? Fuckin' A, what a waste."

Seeker snarls. ~Without honor we are nothing.~

Piotr glances up at the Hawk. "Where I am coming from," he says calmly, "the government once thought in the same way, and trampled any who fought them,e ven after they were surrendering. Now even the trampled ones are strong in their hating and have come back to haunt them. It will happen to us, too."

Kaz is quickly shaking her head. "Dude, you drop stuff like trust and respect and loyalty, you're /becoming/ the Enemy. Don' go forgettin' that."

Nightflash says, ~If we cast aside that which is noble and right, we become as that which we war against.~

Sophia shouts out, joining the spirit of things. "All that separates a warrior from a murderer is his honor! If you crave death, you are fighting for vanity, not for Gaia!"

Ceylan actually reacts with all this talk about honor. It's nothing more than a deeper, more emotional frown, and a clare at the one who had insulted such a 'Tired Tradition'.

Roger looks down towards Sophia and glances around to take in looks from Get of Fenris that might pop up, but never the less, he looks proud of her.

Brigid folds her arms across her chest and listens, glancing occasionally between Tobin and Jervis to gauge the reactions of the pair to the calling.

Shadow-of-Blood snarls at the Fool, his tail twitching angrily. The Enemy does not surrender, not with ~honor~! If another of Gaia offers a surrender, then it must be accepted, so that the fight continues against that which weakens Gaia!

~What everyone else said. They are virtues to be followed.~ Cycle-Breaker twitches and ear and glances to Ceylan. ~Say something! Speak up!~

Rides-Fire simply agrees with both packmates, hackles raised in the direction of the fool as his very stance refutes Far Hawk's words.

Anneka says, quiet. "Even /humans/ know, sometimes, that once you've knocked someone for one, you reach you're hand down and help 'em back up."

By the steam vents, The next four laws of the litany are disputed back and forth while the Sept continues to barrage the fool with angry words, being called down by the huge crowd. Guards-The-Flame continues to stand where she has, unmoving from the spot, arms crossed, eyes content and locked upon the Gazer. There's a long pause from the Galliard, almost dramatically so until she finally stares dead even with him, eyes narrowing. ~The Veil, shall -not- be lifted.~

Ceylan blinks a bit at Helen, and taking this as an order, speaks, calmly to HElen, "What is it you wish me to say? No words I could speak would say anything different than what had just been said, Elder Helen."

Jervis' eyes dart back and forth between speakers, but there is no visible reaction, only a permanent, thoughtful frown mars his stoicity.

Tobin is concentrating on what's being said, but looks confused, only catching about half of it. At first his stance is objective, aloof, but slowly he's drawn into what's said, the change marked only by the growing emotion and interest in his eyes.

In the windiest area, Far Hawk shakes his head only briefly, barely visible with the wind around him. ~The Veil, a diaphanous thing, binds us like a prison. We cannot act where we must. Such a frail thing should be expected to be broken, not forbidden.~ He sinks down slightly, bracing himself for the verbal onslaught.

Cycle-Breaker, being one who has transgressed this one thing, has to say: ~Breaking the Veil is wrong. The Veil is so the stupid insolent humans won't find out about us and help the Corruptor defeat us.~ Her ears are settled to her head, in an ashamed manner.

Joey rolls his eyes. "And bring a whole mess of normals up into our business, when they're not chasing us with pitchforks, torches, and big ass guns. No, /thanks./ Let 'em be ignorant."

Kaz snorts. "No. See. It's kind of vital in letting us go /about/ the fight we have to go about. So it's not like we can just rend it to pieces because it makes life harder. Nu-uh."

Roger looks at Cycle-Breaker and then Joey then back to the fool. "Because after we killing humans by the millions to the point where they have dreams about us in places they can't even remember consciously... we'll just become friends right away!" Yup, thats sarcasm again.

Ceylan gets a murmured, more specific set of directions from her teacher at what she meant, and she nods, now understanding. "There is safety in secrets. One sometimes needs the safety of such, to do the deeds that one must do." She pauses, "That, and I would rather not be shot on sight."

Seirian coughs and smirks, "Some people see what they want to see, but it's pretty hard to ignore a pissed-off Crinos tha' shows up on your doorstep sellin' Girl Scout cookies or th' like. Don't give 'em reason to go 'round cryin' 'WOLF!' and have you end up caught with your pants down."

Joshua's eyes flicker to Ceylan. "Yes, this is true. Safety in the secrets and Shadows, but also a responsibility to Gaia. Those who inhabit the night would have our kin, if we were to speak opently." His hand rubs the socket under his eyepatch briefly.

Ceylan frowns a little at Seirian's words, and checks the fasten on her jeans to make sure their still on. Though, what pants and the Veil have in common, she hasn't a clue.

Piotr chuckles softly, but says nothing.

By the steam vents, The final four laws of the litany are called out -- Do not suffer thy' people to tend thy' sickness, the leader may not be challenged war, but only in peace. And one of the most important, to take no action that will cause a Caern to be lost or violated. Guards-The-Flame is strong with her words, the Sept harsh in each wild call back to the Fool as Stephen mocked each law. Finally, at the end, the young Galliard rumbles in her throat and glances over towards Bitter Cup, finished, waiting for the moot to continue on, a look of relief filled within her dark eyes.

Roger places a reassuring hand on Sophia's back, looking now to Bitter Cup.

Jamethon offers what words are called for by the fool and then stands silently once again beside his alpha.

By the waterfall, Elan opens his eyes and stands.

Bitter Cup splays her ears, a sign of approval, before turning from Guards-Flame toward the waterfall and the waiting theurge.

By the waterfall, Elan takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. ~Garou of the Hidden Walk, close your eyes. Feel the touch of the summer wind on your face. Hear the breath of Gaia all about you. Now.... now...~ He closes his eyes and mist begins to boil up from the pool behind him, spreading in tendrils and waves throughout the caern, seeming to condense from the humid air itself. ~Now...feel her touch on your cheek, feel her enter your body and bring new life, and hope. Feel her tears, feel her pain... feel her quickening touch. This is what we fight for, what we strive for. The door swings wide! The Inner Sky is open!~ By now the mist has permeated then entire caern, touching everything and everyone there. Elan shifts to the war form and lets loose a long, loud howl into the night sky.

Kaz, a tendril of mist snaking around her arms, drops into crinos just long enough to belt out a long, enthusiastic howl, and then melts back into homid.

The howl of Elan is followed by that of Cycle-Breaker, long and ululating.

Banecruncher raises his head in a long and enthusiastic howl.

Finally, the moment James has been waiting for. He shifts to crinos and takes a deep breath, the thick mist tasting like strength and this is what he puts into his howl, power.

Junior shifts up to Crinos and adds his voice to the others.

In the windiest area, Far Hawk returns to his crouched position before shifting back into his birth form. He waits there while the call goes up throughout the caern, closing his eyes as the mist rises up.

Dies-for-Others draws himself up into the Warform, and lifts his voice to join the others.

Piotr returns to his birth form and lets loose with a suitably tremendous howl.

Ceylan sighs a bit, then complies. Closing her eyes is easy, and feeling the wind is fine. THe talk about Gaia, causes her to squirm a bit, having not accepted her as fully as everyone else has. At the howling,s he opens her eyes, then stands up right, black eyes wide as she notices all the mist having, to her eyes, just appeard. She seems almost paniced at this recent addition.

By the steam vents, As the Sept begins to howl, Guards-The-Flame joins in with her own beautiful voice, one which rings through the night powerfully. Her eyes squint closed, enthralled with the moment as she raises her arms up, feeling the soft brush of the misty tendrils along her body.

Yes, Crinos. Elan's words stir Joshua into his warform, and he lifts a deep but somewhat discordant howl to the skies. Hey. Not everyone's a Galliard.

Signe's eyes dart toward the growing mist, and the Get alpha shivers beneath the collar of her leather jacket. The call of opening sky draws her out of her birthform and up into the war form to join in the howl.

Seirian trails the fingers of both hands through the mists fondly, shifting up into Crinos as a howl pours from her throat to join the others in discord.

Braves-Fire quickly follows Junior in shifting as he raises his muzzle to the sky in a howl.

Seeker remains in lupus, but lifts his head in a raspy, ululating howl that joins the others into the night sky.

Cameron takes the warform quickly to join the howl, adding a deeply feral, almost laughing note to the call.

Peacekeeper slides quickly up into crinos and lets loose a howl into the night sky, loud and long, full of his appreciation to Gaia and Fog.

Roger looks down to Sophia to get her attention as the mist envelops them, and even he looks touched by the mist's spirit. He is quickly into the warform and lets out a baritone howl, strong in its undertones and mixtures with the other's in the caern.

Bitter Cup takes in a deep breath as the mist surrounds her, obscuring those that gather. Her howl is softer than her packmates. Tempered-Blade especially gives a strong and happy call. Patrick finally shifts, matching his alpha in the war-form, and tilts back his head to howl. The twice-Uktena's song remains dissonate from the pack, weaving in a lower register than the other members of Ouroboros.

Anneka draws a breath in, sharp, shuts her eyes tight enough to draw tears. Her form blurs, slow at first than faster, her howl growing loud and wild as she draws up to Crinos.

Sophia closes her eyes reverently. She breathes deeply, and smiles as if in a private conversation. She is startled by the realization that Roger has shifted, and adopts Crinos right after him.

Bernie eyes the space between herself and those sitting around her, judges it Good, and shifts where she is, long enough to join the howl. When all's done, she melts back down to her usual form amid the mist.

Brigid closes her eyes and listens to the howls of the others as the mist swirls about her, inhaling softly and leaning her head back.

Jervis looks up, questioningly, at Tobin and Brigid.

Cycle-Breaker's howl dies down, and she shifts through the forms into her birth one. "Howl. To Gaia, to Allah--whoever you want. Whatever you think that's there touching you, in the mist," she murmurs quietly to Ceylan.

Sophia howls, meaningless yet intense.

Tobin's eyes widen as he watches the caern fill with mist, he watches the gathered Garou shift and howl with fascination. He glances at Brittany for a lead, though, looking unsure of himself.

Ceylan frowns a little and says quietly to Helen, "Last time I had shifted, I lost my clothes. I would rather not do that. Should I pray instead?"

Otter's lupine form drifts away with the fading notes of her howl, though sharp teeth and a tangled mane remain, as she slips down to Glabro, settles down into a crouch again.

Ceylan reaches over to her bag, pulling out a small carpet, and holds it up to Helen for emphasis.

From the edge of the clearing, largely unnoticed, Sebastian also shifts into his War-form and howls. His ululation, however, to those who choose to hear, has a sad, broken quality to it. Then silently, as if nothing has happened, he relents and becomes human again, returning to his spot.

Rides-Fire pulls back when the mist swarms up, but relaxes almost immediately. He howls out to Fog and to Gaia and is joined by Shadow-of-Blood who calls out to the patron of the caern in his own waering, meandering tones.

Cycle-Breaker tilts her head, seating herself alongside the cub. "Pray? That will work. I know a way to keep your clothes on you when you shift. We'll do it later," she murmurs, glancing around.

Stephen moves to sit near his tribe elder, settling down into a cross-legged position.

Brigid opens her eyes after a moment and looks between Tobin and Jervis with a calm smile. "This is Fog, the spirit of this place. I will explain more to both of you, later, if you wish. For now, just relax, watch, and listen."

After taking her birth form once again, Alicia makes her way over towards her tribe and settles into place, glancing over those gathered here at the moot.

Ceylan notices the howlings seem to be dying down, so decides something else will be happening and praying would be inappropriate right now. Sitting down she returns the sacred cloth back into her back, and gives a puzzled look at Helen at the mentioning of keeping clothes on. Eventually, she'll get an explaination, so she doesn't question it.

Seirian slips back down to her birthform as her howl dies off, perked up a bit by events so far and smiling in quiet.

Tobin nods at his elder, and tries to relax, forcing his breathing to be even. The small exercise works and he calms after a few minutes of this.

Ceylan then says to Helen in a low tone, "Perhaps that is what the..Irish woman had meant about should you break the veil, your pants will come down?" At the topic of shifting and losing one's clothes.

Jervis blinks and smiles warmly. He mouths "thanks", coming out as a whispy, calmed sigh.

Helen's reaction to Ceylan is just a blank stare. "Um. No. I'll, uh, tell you later." She then turns attention to the center of the caern, informing the cub quietly, "Be quiet."

Roger seems to struggle with a thought a moment before changing back to homid, but does so soon enough.

Spot follows Roger quickly, having only waited for the cue.

Bitter Cup turns to look toward Dies-for-Others, her expression one of detatched patience.

Dies-for-Others steps forward, still in the Warform. ~The Cracking will commence soon, and we have a great many things of importance to announce tonight. But first, Gaia has given us the privilege of allowing new people, whether found as Cubs, or Ranked Garou from afar, to be welcome at our Sept. Stand forward and present yourself.~

Sophia steps forward, chest out and head high. With quiet pride she announces, "I am Sophia Gudrun, who is called

Rides-Fire steps forward to nudge Stephen proudly before settling down for the next part of the moot.

Spot, Cub Theurge of the Glasswalker tribe." She takes a step back, the same calm dignity shining in her eyes until the very moment she is sure she is out of public scrutiny.

Ceylan gets another nudge by HElen, and she obligingly stands up and awaits her turn.

Kaz tilts a glance at Anneka, and jerks her head toward Adam.

Anneka is crouched low on the balls of her feet, her eyes wide, curious beneath sandy, curly hair, tangled and unruly. She stands, glances up to the moon, to Kaz, then to the folk gathered about. A slender hand reaches up to brush her hair from her eyes, her wide mouth quirking a corner up into a curious smile. "'lo," she says, "I'm Anneka-- Otter, too. Philodox Cub of the Bone Gnawers."

Tobin steps forward, looking self-conscious, but he draws himself up and says clearly, "I am Tobin, Silver Fang cub and Theurge." That said, he steps back, fidgeting only a little.

Ceylan steps forward, glancing about to all who is assembled. With a heavily accented, closest area would be Middle Eastern, the cub announces herself in a firm voice, "Merhaba. I am Ceylan Kemal, named Chases-Mountains-Across-the-Wild's-Light, an Ahroun Cub of the Black Furies." With that, she gives a slight bow of her head to the gathered, before retaking her place next to Helen.

Roger glances down at his cub and can't help but smile, a rare thing that... a genuine smile from Roger.

Leonard watches as the cubs announce themselves, expression unreadable.

Jervis stands slowly, waiting for the others to finish before stepping forward himself. There's a shaky nervousness in his voice, but not distinctly. "I am Jervis Michaels, Ragabash cub to the Silver Fangs." He steps back slowly.

Max keeps track of the introductions. When Anneka adds to them she cups her mouth and makes a quiet but clear mimic of a crowd roaring, then does her own silent, one person wave. Settling back in behind Bernie and in front of Kaz, Max stretches over to tug approvingly on Anneka's hair, whispering to her.

Fights-For-Hope seems to be lost somewhere else in thought as cubs are discussed, a place he isn't pleased to find himself.

Sebastian says "I do," says the Uktena, "I have words to say here." Sebastian doesn't rise immediately, instead he props himself up slowly, taking his time. He gets up, and then, dusting himself off, he measures the mood of the crowd with a skimming glance."

Stephen smirks briefly at his tribemates attention. He remains seated and listens raptly to those speaking.

Dies-for-Others nods to the Uktena. ~I remember you spoke to me of an announcement. But an introduction is in order, now.~

Pack> Max whispers to Anneka, "You forgot: 'an' next sept alpha', Streetfish."

Anneka gets tugged along with her hair, twists about to look at Max as her grin gets bigger. "Eep."

Bernie reaches over to ruffle Anneka's hair lightly as the cub returns.

Brigid lets out a quietly held breath and gives proud smiles to Jervis and Tobin, relaxing a bit now that their introductions are over with. "Well done." she murmurs encouragingly to them, if quietly, and resumes listening and watching attentively.

Kaz tilts a small grin at Max, before reaching out herself, to lean into Anneka just slightly.

Tempered-Blade looks up at Sebastian with a patient, but firm gaze. The Fianna wolf glances from him to her alpha with a quizzical, and amused expression. And I thought that the time in the silver rivers seemed long.

With a muffled huff, he strides toward the center of the clearing, calm and resolute, unfazed by the stares and the whispers that ensue in his wake. He passes by the strangers and friends, brushing shoulders with both, matching their gazes with his own. He bows his head, and shrugs as he steels himself to say his peace.

"Many of you will not remember me. I come here tonight among friends and strangers, elders and peers, to introduce myself, to give purpose to my arrival, as well as to deliver a message from one of your own who cannot be here."

He pauses, gauging the response from the gathered crowd, before continuing. "My name is Sebastian Juarez. Halfpaw is the name given to me by the spirits of my ancestors. I am of the Sept of Waking Dream, the Uktena of Northern Australia. I come here for guidance and tutelage; I have learned this in a manner most regrettable." Again a brief pause ensues, as the young theurge breathes deeply, before resuming, "But tonight is not about regret, it is about Hope. And in hope, I offer my loyalty and services to the Sept and its members in return." He glances over at Andrea, and then to the familiar sight of Patrick, as if waiting for a response.

Cameron perks up a little at the sight of a fellow Aussie. He studies Sebastian more carefully, now.

Faces-the-Shadows-Within's expression narrows a bit at Sebastian's announcement of words to say. He glances at the Gaian philodox, then back to Sebastian for the latter's announcement and words. He responds, ~We will talk of chiminage and joining the sept later, when it does not grind a moot to a halt.~

Anneka ducks herself into a crouch again, amongst her tribemates, long-limbed and lanky for being glabro, grinning bright.

Rising from his place beside the Gnawers, the one-eyed Theurge rumbles out, ~I am Sacrifice-By-Fire, Cliath and Theurge to the Bone Gnawers. I have decided it is time for me to stop playing Strider--with no disrespect to that tribe--and settle down, take care of the matters of Gaia instead of my own wanderlust.~ That said, he goes back to kneeling by the Gnars.

Bitter Cup inclines her head slightly at Sebastian, but she does not speak to either confirm or deny her packmate's words.

Leonard studies Sebastian silently, eyes narrowed in thought.

Sebastian half-nods, half-bows to the Uktena elder. He appears resigned; if disappointed, he does not show it. He recedes back into the crowd, waiting for permission to deliver his message.

Dies-for-Others picks up the leg bone he's been carrying around for tonight, after the introductions are done. ~In the Tradition of the Cracking, we use this time to announce things we feel are important to the Sept, and to resolve conflicts between Garou that are not in a Challenge for Rank. This time is for those things all of the Sept needs to hear.~ With a heave, he brings it down on his raised knee, the snapping of the bone giving a resounding *crack* through the Caern. ~Now, let us get to the Marrow of things.~ And, of all things, he first hands the bones to Sebastian.

Fights-For-Hope glances up and down Seb and seems pleased only when he steps away and things are again done properly.

Piotr settles in, listening quietly.

Sebastian approaches Dies-For-Others, meeting the Truthcatcher's gaze with his own. He calmly takes the bones from him, and looks at the gathered with a benign gaze. "The one you call Hope-Star has asked me to relate these words to you verbatim: First, scorched as you are from your journey, that 'One who has died and been reborn in the silver river has experience unequalled, wisdom to help turn this caern from old ways to new. Heed the Bitter Cup.'" He waits for the echoes of his voice to settle, and for the weight of the repeated words to penetrate the minds of his listeners. Then, without waiting for the whispers to rise from the crowd, he continues, "And second: 'Phoenix comes'."

Kaz tilts her head, slightly, watching the Uktena in vague bafflement at the last comment.

By the waterfall, Shadow Eyes nods quietly and sagely.

Bitter Cup's head turns as she is mentioned directly. At the last comment, her ears twitch thoughtfully. Concern, well-masked, flickers under her placid expression before she eases again.

Brigid's brow wrinkles a bit thoughtfully as she takes to gnawing on her lower lip, contemplating the news.

Seeker lifts his head to stare at Sebastian in reaction to his announcement, then lowers it again, lost in thought. He seems unnerved.

Roger just guffaws the last comment there, "Yup... she sure does." he murmurs quietly.

Fights-For-Hope stares at Sebastian throughout the whole thing and simply nods, not appearing to dwell too much farther on it.

Dies-for-Others takes the bones back quietly, next handing them to the Stargazer Rides-Fire.

"I have said by peace, Truthcatcher," the young Uktena utters respectfully, as he hands the bones back. He then steps down and away, heading back towards the edge of the clearing, aware of the stares of those that he passes by, though if he is affected by this, he certainly doesn't show it.

Seirian huhs softly to herself and toys with the feather in her hair absently.

Rides-Fire shifts into crinos and steps forward, taloned hands outstretched to take the bones. He turns to the gathered to call out in pride, ~The one known as Runs-Far has returned and is now Far Hawk, cliath of the Stargazers, and honored to serve as the Fool for this moot.~ With that, he returns the bones and returns to his form of birth.

Braves-Fire shifts down, leaning forward to get the Truthcatcher's attention.

Kaz mutters, "Rock," even if she's never actually met him.

Stephen looks a bit embarrassed at the attention, apparently completely unexpected. He smiles at Rides-fire as he returns to his seat.

Dies-for-Others takes the bones back, with a nod, and addresses the assembled himself. ~Let it be known that the Cub, Alicia, once known as Blooms-From-Her-Pain, has successfully completed her Rite of Passage, and now bears the name Guards-the-Flame as a Cliath of the Children of Gaia, and has shown Honor by serving as the Caller of the Litany at this Moot.~

Dies-for-Others, after that announcement, hands the Bones next to the Gnawer, Kaz.

A slight smile touches Alicia's lips as she glances towards her once teacher, then back over across the moot.

The metis takes the bones with a nod. "F'those as want more, y'know, action, Trouble--" Kaz stops to explain, "Trouble's a buncha us Gnawer folk, an' Matt, workin' under Raccoon. Anyway, Trouble an' th' rest of the Gnawers, an' the Walkers, we're doin' a lot of work with the sewer blight down there. Lightin' the place up, 'cause the banes freak out over light. We're always in need've more defenders f'th' folks doin' the installation, if anyone wants to help. Talk t'any've us, or the Walkers. Roger, John, that type of person." She hands the bone back, adding, "Thanks."

Dies-for-Others nods once to the Gnawer Metis as she steps down. He scans the crowd, until Joey gets the Gaian's attention. That done, Dies-for-Others hands the bones to the other Gnawer.

Piotr hmms softly, and nods.

Roger's attention does a kind of reattachment as his name is mentioned and just nods, looking around to see if any glance in his direction.

Kaz gives Alicia a brief thumb's up.

Joey takes a breath as he steps up. "This all happened recently," he says. "There's a new pack that is forming up, and we're going to be into finding things or people that are lost, wherever they are. I'm heading it up, with Pete Legbreaker of the Gnawers, Luke Runs-at-Dawn of the Fianna, Alicia Guards-the-Flame of the Children of Gaia, and Helen Breaks-the-Cycle of the Black Furies." Another breath. "If anyone's interested, or think they might need our pack to go find something, see me or any of those I just talked about, after the Moot." After that, he hands the bones back to Adam.

Max draws her knees up and sets her arms across them as Kaz steps forward, her attention sharpening as she listens to her alpha's announcements.

Rides-Fire grumbles something about wishing for a fight outside man holes.

Fire offers a Crinos-y sort of grin to Kaz and Alicia in turn, remaining by his tribemates.

Kaz blinks at Joey in surprise. Which is something in and of itself, Kaz not knowing something. "Hey, that's hot shit, Joey," she mutters to him, once he gets a little closer again.

Max pokes her pinkies into her mouth and whistles a celebratory whistle at Joey's announcement.

Fights-For-Hope just chuckles at the thought of adding a Get to Joey's pack mix.

Dies-for-Others takes the bones solemnly, his mind not really on the comments around. He inhales deeply, as if preparing for something as he hands the bones to Andrea.

From the edge of the clearing, Sebastian huffs at Joey's announcement, appearing vaguely interested, keeping his gaze fixed on the Gnawer as he disappears again into the crowd.

Anneka grins at Alicia as well, then glances back to Joey and tilts her head. "Hey, cool," she murmurs.

Alicia smiles proudly as she glances to all, catching Helen's eyes for a moment, just a quick one, before turning to Joey.

Joey looks a little embarassed at the praise, and hunches down as people address him. "Thanks."

Seirian watches the exchange of the bones and sits up a bit to listen more attentively.

Dies-for-Others takes the bones solemnly, his mind not really on the comments around. He inhales deeply, as if preparing for something as he hands the bones to Andrea. (repose. Cursed DSL.)

Bitter Cup steps forward to take the bones. After turning to face the gathered sept, she waits a few breaths to allow the murmuring and shifting of position to die down before she begins to speak. ~I requested to go last in the Cracking this evening because I expect to be speaking for some time, though those that respect the bones can take them from me to express their thoughts.~ She continues to glance from face to face, lingering on the familiar ones, but the gesture does not betray nervousness. ~As many of you know, several of our strongest leaders have left the Hidden Walk in the last few moons. This has left us without an alpha or a Gatekeeper or one learning to become Master of the Challenge. It has left us with new tribal leaders that all of us do not know and packs that have weakened, even as new packs have formed. Though I wish that our paths had not diverged, it is time for those that are left to gather, to take up responsibilities and share information, so that this sept will not become weakened to its enemies.~

Kaz moves from a sitting position to a crouch, listening intently.

Dies-for-Others stands back a few steps, crossing his arms as he listens.

Alicia lifts her chin up a bit as she listens, arms crossing over her chest.

Fights-For-Hope knew this was coming, and straightens out to listen with perfect attention.

Leonard leans back against the bole of one of the larger trees on the edge of the clearing, arms folded, watching the Gaian.

Roger taps Sophia on the shoulder and gives her a 'pay attention to this' expression.

Max tilts her head, watching Bitter Cup with a narrowed, thoughtful gaze.

This would be the first time Sebastian would show any active interest in the proceedings. He stands up and listens to the Bitter Cup's words, taking them to heart, carving them into his memory.

Peacekeeper merely nods solemnly, lending the weight of his own agreement to the words of the Voice of the Goddess.

Bernie pushes a curl behind her ear, and sits up slightly, waiting to see where this proceeds.

Anneka leans forward to listen as well, her hair gathered in tangles about her face, her arms resting on crossed legs.

Brigid listens as attentively as possible, quite interested in this.

Bitter Cup continues to speak in the same measured tones. ~We are not currently in a state of war, so all positions--as always--are open to challenge. At this time, Adam Dies-for-Others will continue to serve as Groundskeeper. Robert Peacekeeper will continue to serve as Warder. Luc Nightflash will take on the position of Master of the Challenge. Elan Shadow-Eyes will become the Master of the Rite. I will claim the position of the alpha of the sept of the Hidden Walk.~ She then pauses to allow the sept to react, continuing to watch their faces.

By the waterfall, Shadow Eyes shivers a bit.

Joey lets out a very low whistle.

Banecruncher perks his ears for a moment, then scratches as he looks toward Elan.

Fights-For-Hope seems to get himself riled up at the end of this announcement, and this tension does not leave him anytime soon.

Max mutters something very low to her nearby packmates.

Kaz's gaze swivels to look for Nightflash, and then, not finding him immediately, drifts back to Andrea, stopping on Elan briefly on the way.

Roger looks irritated at best as he looks down to Sophia to translate everything.

Sebastian lets out a muffled sigh and nods to himself. To those close enough to hear, he whispers, "You were right, Hope-Star."

Pack> Max singsongs low, in the tune of Chia pets themesong, "G-g-g-Gaian."

Sophia listens intently to Roger's translation, her eyes fixed on Bitter Cup.

Alicia continues to remain calm as she listens to her Elder speak, eyes flickering towards the crowds, waiting, anticipating.

Nightflash, sitting with his packmates, doesn't react much to the announcement. His only response is to glance around at the Garou, to see if anyone is considering challenging.

Anneka blinks twice, draws wide, curious eyes over to look at Elan, then back to Bitter Cup. She tilts her head faintly.

Seirian rubs at her chin with her left hand and mulls things over as they're said. After a moment's thought, she nods slowly and continues to listen silently.

By the waterfall, Shadow Eyes, also seems to be waiting for any Challenges.

Max leans over to Kaz, "... Doxes?"

Banecruncher decides that if Elan is good with it, so is he. He lets out a bark of approval.

Dies-for-Others looks around til he meets Nightflash's gaze, and nods once to an unspoken question.

Pack> Max queries low, "Don't Challenge dudes gotta be Doxes?"

Kaz mutters something in return that sounds a bit fatalistic.

The new sept alpha's Uktena packmate smiles fiercely, a somewhat disconcerting look on a crinos face. He keeps his attention on his packmate for the time being, rather than looking around too much at the general response.

Brigid looks to her packmates first, then at the others named, finally settling on Andrea. A few brief blinks as the Fang digests the words, and an approving nod is made.

Pack> Kaz mutters, "Well, it'd be fuckin' /nice/, but we don' seem to have anyone that ain't cliath." She adds, "Pain in the ass. Someone oughta go 'gainst him anyways."

Anneka blinks twice again, as something said catches her attention. She leans back to bump against Max, whispers to her.

Cameron lowers one eyebrow, and leans over to murmur to Bernie, "Geezus Christ. Is that how things are supposed to work? I mean, if she's got Sepdet's vote, she's got mine, but..." he trails off uselessly.

Kaz mutters, "She's claimin' it. If no one else wants to challenge her butt... Then she's it, y'know?"

Bitter Cup goes on, when the words gain no more than interested looks and a few mutters. ~In a sept of so many tribes and interests, it should not surprise any of us that our primary difficulty is unity. I believe that the cause is communication. Although our galliards do their best, there is often news that slips by unnoticed. News that could be important to others.~ Her voice strengthens to a firmer tone. ~We have to learn to speak to each other, even those of us that aren't Singers. We need to know who to go to. Who packs where, who leads which tribe, and where our strengths can be best used.~ The theurge raises one shoulder and lets it drop. ~This is not a sept where the alpha needs to lead with an iron hand--and frankly, a theurge Child of Gaia who's a child of Uktena to boot would be pretty poor at such a leadership style. I will be the Ear and the Voice, but all of you are our strength.~

Bernie tilts her head, glancing around at the named, and shrugs slightly, nodding once to Cameron. "Guess so... int'restin'."

Cameron raises his eyebrows a little, and then leans back with the beginnings of a smile. "Oh. Right, then." he murmurs, then grins at the new Alpha's words, murmuring to those nearest, "I don't see anyone challengin' and she's taken the initiative already. Suits me /fine/."

Quick stands stiffly on his feet as he takes his time to consider the merits of the named Garous' claims.

Kaz calls, three words, "Want it now?"

Piotr listens in silence.

Max grins at Anneka, then shakes her head at Kaz. "I ain't even met her." The Gnawer contingent rumbles a little, but they don't speak up enough to disrespect the Bone or rise to offer any challenges.

Junior mms softly, nodding to himself.

Nightflash listens with disapproval to the murmur that ripples through the gathering, then attempts to catch Andrea's notice. After a nod from her, he steps up to take bones and turns to face the gathering. ~I hear many rumblings and mutterings but no one speaks aloud. If any here have issue with the decisions made, then state your challenge boldly. We are Garou.~ With that, he returns to his pack.

Bitter Cup still seems unruffled, though she does nod again to Nightflash as he steps back. Turning to Kaz, she allows humor to flutter her ear position before saying, ~If now is a good time for what you will say, speak.~

Matt leans against a rock near Bernie, brow furrowed. He flips his lighter open and closed, fidgeting.

Cameron just looks a little chastened by Nightflash's words, and sinks back to hide in quiet anonymity.

By the waterfall, Shadow Eyes chuffs at his tribe, mildly rebuking. I support her in this.

Shadow-of-Blood's tail twitches dangerously, but he makes no moves to challenge someone so far above his position. WHile ovbiously less than thrilled about the turn of events, he seems to be willing to let things play themselves out.

Kaz shrugs, and takes the bone. Speaking first to Nightflash, she explains, voice grating, ~It's called reaction, Nightflash. Ain't none of us heard this before, so we're kinda figuring out what we think. T'be honest, if I wasn't in the middle of a rank challenge, I /might/, but you're a perfectly good guy. So not yet. If ever.~ Hello, mouthy metis. Turning back to look at Andrea, she shrugs. ~I'm Kaz. I'm Bone Gnawer. I'm metis. Y'all know that. Galliard. I lead a Raccoon pack. Claimin' what I'm told used to be Renaissance territory, over Citywards. "Regan and Elson" area. We're investigatory asskickers. We look f'shit, an' then we beat it up. So if anyone needs us, we're there. An' we help protect Harbor Park.~ She looks about to give the bones back, when she stops, and adds, ~Oh, yeah. Also, in case anyone's interested, I'm startin' up a network of Kinfolk. Neighborhood watch, kinda, to get 'em to help watch out f'potential trouble. Talk t'me later, if you want Kinfolk phone numbers, to see if you can help out with that.~

Pack> Matt says "She's th' one been ta Ereboos, roight?"

Pack> Kaz grunts. "Yeah. Her an' her packies there."

Bernie shifts position a little to make more room for her packmate, and leans back a bit, listening to her Alpha with a small nod at the intiial explanation.

Anneka sits up straight, watching, and nods as well.

Roger appears pleased with her words, definatly nice to hear Kaz speak instead of these... others. He continues to translate the proceedings to Sophia.

Pack> Matt says "An' 'ow many o'er pack are in sept positions now?"

Jervis remains unflinching. He either completely understands everything, or is choosing to ignore it.

Pack> Max says "Gotta be Gaian to run shit, 'parently."

Seeker sits silently listening to all the announcements, seeming particularly pleased with Andrea's announcement.

Seirian snorts softly and murmurs lowly to herself in an amused tone, "Hmmph, I see three in the morning phone calls in the future..."

Pack> Kaz thinks. "Just her. An' we gots Elan, people, don' forget him."

Pack> Max answers, low, her lips barely moving, "Elan rocks the house, but he ain't makin' none of the chicken or steak d'cisions, Zee."

Kaz rests her hand on Max's shoulder, and just shrugs.

Tobin frowns a bit, wishing he could understand more of what's being said.

Bernie glances sideways at Max, and nods slightly.

Bitter Cup takes the bones back, nodding to Kaz much as she did to Nightflash before her. ~Packs is as good a place to start as any,~ she comments. ~For those that don't know, my name is Andrea Drinks-Deeply-of-the-Bitter-Cup. My pack calls itself Ouroboros and follows Uktena. Our territory is Lake Arthur and the lands around it, though Salmon's Leap can also be found there at times, especially if Jade has called us to a task. My packmates are Patrick Faces-the-Shadows-Within, Soren Forged-In-The-Cruicible-of-Silver, and Susan Tempered-Blade. We have a fifth packmate that we hope will return to us.~ She pauses here, but presses on after a breath. ~Our greatest strengths are related to spirits and the Umbra, though we have also served the sept as a scouting pack. Though we welcome those that choose Uktena's difficult path, we are not actively recruiting. The last mission our totem gave us placed us in the silver rivers of Erebus. It is not something we ask those that do not seek us to face.~ Again, a pause, and she straightens her shoulders. ~What other packs are here?~

Piotr looks around him quietly and sighs.

Nightflash again stands.

Bitter Cup offers the bones to Nightflash.

Nightflash declines to take the bones this time, instead remaining with his pack. ~I am Nightflash, child of Cougar. My packmates are Rides-the-Wave-of-Fire, Shadow-of-Blood, and Finds-the-Lost. We patrol the territory south of the bawn. We are ahroun, Red Talons, and Get of Fenris. Our greatest strength is in battle, and we are dedicated to defending the Umbra. We, too, are not actively seeking new packmembers, but would welcome those who would follow the Huntress.~

Bitter Cup looks around, her gaze lingering briefly on Peacekeeper. ~What other packs are here that have not been mentioned?~ Her eyes settle on Leonard, who has shifted his stance forward to get attention.

Leonard pushes off from the tree, making his way through the crowd to take the bones from the declared alpha.

Rides-Fire growls softly as Leonard moves foward, but it seems only a passing complaint. He does not press forward.

Leonard looks around, ignoring Rides-Fire and those around him. "I am Leonard, Brings-the-Buffalo-Home, known to many still as Little Bear. My pack, Salmon's Leap, follows the life-giver Salmon, En-tee-tee-ueh. We are Sepdet, called Hope-Star, of the Striders, Duane Flamecaller, of the Uktena, Sp- Yi, of many names, of the Bone Gnawers, and myself. Our territory is Rainbow Lake and the surrounding area, though we go to the city as well, and anywhere we are called to cleanse and heal." He glances at Andrea before continuing. "Joseph Soulcatcher, Two Souls of the Wendigo and our tribal elder at this place, was also a member of our pack, but he has returned with his mate and their baby to his homeland in South Dakota to raise her according to their ways." His reflect his words as he adds softly, "They will be missed." He hands the bone back to Bitter Cup and wades back through the crowd.

Bitter Cup bows her head at the mention of her old student, giving that posture a short time before straightening to acknowledge Robert.

Sebastian raises a waving hand, to catch Leonard's attention.

Peacekeeper steps up to take the bones from the Adren theurge, then turns to face th rest of the gathered assembly. ~I am He-Who-Keeps-the-Peace, the Warder of this caern. I am the alpha of Vigilant Rampart, totemed to Wyvern, guardians here. This pack also includes Dies-For-Others, Star-Eyed, and Stands-Alone-No-Longer. We are always looking for others who would take on the sacred duty of guarding the Hidden Walk.~ He returns the bones to Drinks-Deeply, then rejoins his pack towards the middle of the caern.

Leonard glances over at Sebastian, curiously, and makes his way quietly along the edges of the gathering towards the man.

Fights-For-Hope offers a nod of quiet acceptance of all that is passing, finally letting the tension melt away and accepting that he has no control over how things are going, yet.

Bitter Cup turns back to the watching faces. ~Are there any others, or people that would speak for others?~ Her gaze lingers on Kaz to see if the galliard steps forward again.

Seirian listens in quiet attentiveness, though she glances briefly at Seeker. She doesn't speak up to answer that question, sitting with an outwardly calm expression and her hands in her lap.

From the edges of the clearing, the young Uktena engages Leonard with a handshake. "Well met, brother," he whispers, so as not to disturb the congregation. "You've done your pack proud."

Fights-For-Hope steps forward and stands before the holder of the bones, waiting for a sign to continue.

Bitter Cup offers the bones, inclining her head in permission.

Leonard nods in acknowledgement to the Uktena, glancing at the center of the caern as the bones are handed over, murmuring, "We'll talk after."

Fights-For-Hope turns and growls out a deep rumbling, and somewhat annoyed announcement. ~My Alpha, Signe Skadi's Defiant Storm, ahroun is the alpha of a pack of Get. They watch over the riverfront and water patrols on the Columbia. The Marina. The Wharf near the river's edge, and the bridges. Among them are Ragabash Chaser, Ahroun Thunder-Eater, and Theurge Kristof.~

Kaz says, with a small grin, "Yeah, yo, go Signe," and then steps a few paces forward. "Everyone's givin' names, so I thought I'd play along. Us from Trouble, we're all Gnawers, except for Matt. He's a Fianna. Speaks-in-Circles. Th' rest of us -- Max, she's Sparks the Flame, or Matchbox, or... Well, pick one, she's got enough. Anyway, Bernie, she's Stomps th' Wyrm in Steel Toed Boots, or Wears the Rat, sometimes. Tim, he's Tooth Breaker, Nevada, he's Buries the Hatchet, an' well, there's me, too. We hang out at th' Rialto, or," she reels off a phone number, "You can get me with m'cel. Oh, an' Elan's pack's still around. Ring of Fire. Over south of us. They protect an' defend the Umbra, reclaim it from th' Wyrm when they can. Him an' Julie an' Cutter."

Fights-For-Hope hands off the bones to Andrea and steps back to his alpha.

Bitter Cup splays her ears at Kaz when she first begins speaking, though she regains her solemn look when she takes the bones back from Fights-for-Hope. She turns back to the sept and says, ~As we are not in a time of war, I will not force any of those here who are not in a pack to join. However, remember that our strength is in the pack, not alone. You need not plan to run with a pack for your whole life to run with one for a time.~ She twitches her left ear, indicating a close of that topic. ~If any other packs have formed by the next moot, or any significant changes occur in existing, they should step forward in the Cracking.~ Almost as an aside, she adds with humor, ~Certainly, at the least, I would appreciate word.~

Seirian nods slowly and twines her fingers together in her lap.

Bitter Cup glances toward Nightflash before going on. ~I know that the Revel calls us all, so I will not call through the tribes tonight. I do want to give those here things to consider and to take to those of your tribe that are not present. Next moot, I will want those that are tribal Elders for the Hidden Walk to step forward, so all may know them. As I said when I began, some tribes have been hit very hard by the recent departures. The Fianna, especially, have lost some very strong leadership in their tribe. Soulcatcher of the Wendigo, who has served as their Elder for years, has also left. I would offer these words in what I look for in a tribal Elder, at least as far as the sept is concerned.~ She takes a breath but does not pause long. ~What a tribal Elder does at the Hidden Walk is, primarily, deal with the other tribes. Though this will often fall to those of highest rank, I honestly do not care so much what rank the person holds as much as they will make themselves available, they will send back word through galliards, they will deal with cubs and with issues of other tribes. If your tribe has higher ranked people that do not wish these duties, by all means, set up whatever hierachy you are comfortable with, so that the one the sept calls Elder still defers to those that have earned the rank. But for the one the rest of the sept will turn to for your tribe, I want someone that is willing to be a center of communication for the tribe and is willing to deal with the other tribes that share this sept.~ A long pause here, as she looks around, then, ~Those that chose to take this position, which I will continue to call Elder if not given another title, should speak to me before the next moot.~

Kaz chews on her tongue.

Bernie glances sidelong at her packmates, then back toward Bitter Cup.

Matt's expression grows thoughtful, then more determined. He puts his lighter away, ending the quiet klick-clack of his nerves.

Max listens silently, watching Drinks Deeply with a dangerously contemplative expression that bodes poorly for whomever is in her company later.

Sebastian glances over to Leonard for some sort of reaction, then returns his gaze to the Gaian, Bitter Cup. He considers her words, carefully, then nods, as if in passive agreement.

Kaz's glance slides to Max, and then she starts chewing her tongue even more fiercely. She looks just the slightest bit hunted.

Shadow-of-Blood snorts lightly, the tip of his tail still twitching.

Tobin watches as Looks fly back and forth among the people gathered, but is unable to fathom their meanings. He frowns just a bit and simply continues watching quietly.

Brigid reaches up to scratch at her head thoughtfully and makes a few musing noises.

Bitter Cup finishes, ~And one final thing, before I turn over the bones to the challenges. Many of you likely don't remember a time when we had auspice positions. Echen dissolved them because it was felt, at the time, that everyone turned to the Shadowalker for ragabash duties, or the Claw for ahroun duties, and those that did not hold positions were ignored. However, I do believe they were useful, again, for centers of communication and organization. Consider whether you feel strongly for or against such a thing again, and speak to me before the next moot.~ With that, with only a faint tinge of repressed relief, she steps forward to hand the bones to Peacekeeper.

Seirian lets out a low sigh and chews on her lower lip idly, thoughts elsewhere for a bit.

Kaz pauses in her tongue chewing, then starts again, more thoughtfully.

Alicia lets her arms drop as she heads over towards Joey to stand next to her new pack mate, glancing about at all the thoughtful faces.

Joey lets out a smile as Alicia wanders over. He's noticed the thoughtfulness too, but gives her a shrug for the here-and-now response.

Peacekeeper steps to the fore once again. ~As my last act as acting Master of the Challenge, I will formally dissolve the challenge between Signe Defiant-Storm and Brian Mountainsong, for what should be obvious reasons. The challenge between Ear-to-the-Ground and Shadow-Eyes still continues. The new Master of the Challenge will introduce new challenges.~ With that, he holds ou the bones towards Nightflash.

Helen has remained in her place near that tree of which she was leaning against. The ragabash then raises herself to her feet, and moves over to Joey and Alicia.

Alicia glances to her two packmates and smiles, flopping an arm around Joey's shoulders.

Nightflash steps forward to take the bones from Peacekeeper. ~Dies-for-Others has challenged Rides-the-Wave-of-Fire for the rank of fostern.~ He looks around the caern. ~If any others wish to issue formal challenge, for rank or another reason, find me here or in my pack's territory.~

Rides-Fire raises his tail slightly as his name is mentioned.

Dies-for-Others looks up, stoically acknowledging the announcement.

Roger looks to Kaz now as the call for challenges is made.

Kaz says, "Yo," at Nightflash. "Roger an' me, we have a thingy. Next Monday, we're doin' an honor challenge. He challenged mine, specifically, 'cause I was bein' all annoyin'. We're gonna have a boastin' contest, over in the City. Y'all're welcome t'come figure out who oughta win."

A brow lifted in amusement, Helen says, "Depends on who boasts best."

Nightflash wrinkles his nose at the idea of going into the city, but he acknowledges the Gnawer. ~I will witness.~

Max's attention follows the bones from Peacekeeper to Nightflash. The ahroun gains the better part of her measuring gaze as she leans forward to whisper a question to Bernie.

Pack> Max asks in a whisper, near Bernie's ear, "You know anything 'bout Flashy over there?"

Bernie pauses a moment, watching the new challenge master, and shakes her head to the other Ragabash, looking almost apologetic.

Matt glances toward Kaz, and Roger, but finds a point of focus in the distance, thinking.

As that seems to be the end of the challenges, Nightflash hands the bones back to Adam.

Max casts a look back over her shoulder at Kaz then, just as quickly, darts a narrow-eyed glance over to Roger.

Kaz shrugs, slightly.

Dies-for-Others looks up. ~Anyone else,~ he asks.

Alicia shakes her head as she glances over to her tribal brother, giving Joey a pat on the head.

Dies-for-Others takes that as a 'no.' ~Well then,~ he says, again drawing himself to full height. ~The Cracking is at an end! Let there be any Stories or Songs that are to be shared tonight done so.~

Kaz pats her knapsack, and calls, "Would a flute do, or d'you jus' want talkin'?"

Pack> Matt says "Alpha, 'tis easier ta ask forgiveness than 'tis ta get permission."

Dies-for-Others relates that anything will be fine.

Quick listens to people piping on flutes about satiric satyrs.

Max's expression turns amused and she unfolds one leg to stretch over and kick-prod Matt.

Matt shakes off his reverie and looks over to Max, one eyebrow raised in curiosity.

Kaz quickly takes her flute out and, after a brief moment of thought, starts playing. She's sitting as she starts, but she soon stands, without even thinking about it. What she plays is not a tune anyone's heard before, at first, and it's mostly jazz/blues influenced, but there's an underlying drive to it, an echo of the words spoken earlier; a subtle magic, a feeling of movement, of action, renewal even. Eventually segues into Aaron Copeland's Grand Canyon Suite, and lets the end ring into the Caern, as she stands stock still. After a moment, she quirks a grin, and sits down.

Pack> Matt says "Oi! You were askin'?"

Sophia's eyes brighten as she watches Kaz play. "I had no idea she could /do/ that." she says quietly to Roger.

Rides-Fire's good ear quirks forward, listening. As Kaz ends, he gives a satisfied yawn.

When Kaz has finished, Nightflash again steps forward. ~The Revel will take place tomorrow night. We will meet here when the sun sets, and travel together to the northern edge of the bawn. Some spirits of the Binder have moved into that area from the north and begun spinning their webs. With tomorrow's moonrise, we will teach them to respect the territory of the Garou!~

The young Uktena's demeanor eases as the stories and music begin. He taps Leonard on the shoulder and whispers, "I must go. Things I have left unattended. Be well." He casts a cursory glance toward Faces-Shadows and Bitter Cup, expecting not for his gaze to be reciprocated. With that, he motions toward the Bawn.

Bitter Cup, who had begun to relax into the music, lets loose a ringing call to the Wyrmfoe. Rides-Fire echoes that call, sounding savage rage at the idea of fighting the Weaver's minions. Distracted by the announcement, Bitter Cup indeed misses Sebastian's gaze.

Kaz snorts to herself, and shakes her head.

Helen remains near Alicia. She yawns. "That...was long."

Alicia glances over to Helen and smiles, rushing away from bangs. "It was, but exciting as always. Seems that a lot of new changes is coming."

Matt mutters to himself. "Aye.... Sure an' they aren't all gone..."

Max prods Matt again with her booted toe. "Fuckin' A they aren't."

Matt raises an eyebrow, "Ah, but ye see, they /are/. Which pretty mooch leaves, well...me."

Kaz mutters, "I'm startin' to know the feelin'."

Cameron grins, looking sideways at Matt. "And if or when I get Rited, we can swap every second week."

Tobin sits now, his tribemates having gone, and watches the people mingle and tell stories.

Alicia floats over towards the 'trouble' pack, offering a quick smile to them.

Max peers over at Fire through the foggy mist.

Kaz rises to her feet. "I," she announces, as if it's a vast revelation, "Need sleep."

Matt nods. "Aye, an' time ta fink. Cameron. We'll need ta 'ave a tribal moot soon. Pass the word ta any ye see."

Kaz pauses, and says, admiringly, "Heyyy, he's kickin' ass an' takin' names already."

Cameron grins ferally at Matt. "Aye, indeed. Guess if I'm going to be an effective Galliard, and you Elder, I'll need to be free to roam, yes?"

Alicia glances to each in turn and smiles slightly. "Um.. I suposse I should go home too." She mummurs. "Thanks for coming, it was fun, as always."

Tobin spots Jervis wandering off towards the farmhouse and gets up, hurrying to catch up with him. He salute/waves with his walking stick at various people he vaguely knows on his way.

Max drags her attention from the Gnawer she hasn't met to watch the interaction between the Fianna.

Tobin catches up with Jervis and they head back to the farmhouse, obviously tired but still bickering weakly.

Matt shrugs. "Someone's got to. We'll see what th' Moot says."

Cameron's mouth twists, and he leans over towards Matt a little. "Trying to deliver a subtle hint, here, mate. Just sayin' the word that I'm free to go look for those folks, would be nice."

Matt snorts. He straightens, lengthening his face likea good British aristocrat and waves his hand dismissively. "Mmm, yes. You are free to go, good man. And if anyone disputes you, send them to me," he says haughtily, in a fair upper-class accent.

Max mutters to Kaz as she pushes to her feet, "Holy James Bond, Batman." She looks her alpha in the eye and asks, simply, "Roger?"

Cameron, for his part, puts on the best lower-class 'chimney sweep' accent he can muster, and chirps, "Thankee kindly, guv'na! Swear'n ya won't regret'it!" The Australian and English accents are so similar sometimes... He ducks his head, winks and salutes, all at the same time, wearing a cheeky grin.

Bernie giggles at the Fianna, and gets to her feet, stretching out the kinks in her back.

Kaz says, "Um," and then sighs. "Basically, I was tellin' John it was way past time for him to get chiminage an' I'd do all I could t'help, only more aggressively, an' Roger acted like respectin' John was some weird ass thing, so I kinda told Roger where he could put his higher than thou Walker-ness. An' so he took offense. An' since part of my speil was that he hadn't done /shit/, an' he was sayin' he had, I figured a boastin' contest'd kinda help clear that up, y'know?"

Max slouches to one hip as she listens. "Works for me jus' fine."

Kaz grins faintly. "Figured so. Hadn't had a chance t'tell you about it, yet, 'cause y'know, too much goin' on."

Matt nods, sagely. "so.. these are /true/ boasts, then, eh?"

Bernie laughs. "I singlehandedly saved the world from destruction by time-travel paradox! Of COURSE you didn't hear about it, I succeeded!" she declares, in her best arrogant tone.

Kaz blinks. "Well, I kinda /meant/ it to be true boasts, yeah..." She grins, suddenly. "Have more fun the other way, but what the fuck, huh? This's partially t'make him feel better."

Cameron chuckles some, and then peers at Kaz with a slightly frozen smile. "So uh, Lemme get these names right. Roger's the asshole who shot Lucca, and John's the, uh..." He clears his throat, and looks vaguely uncomfortable for a fleeting instant, before continuing, "The new guy?"

Matt shrugs. "Well, most o' yer really good boasts 'ave already been done, by Fianna an' Paul Bunyan an' a few ovvers, roight? Like carvin' out th' Gran' Canyon, an' the Three Spear Leap."

Kaz says, blithely, "I can borrow them," but considers Cameron. "John's a Walker. Does good shit, has a chip on his shoulder a mile wide. Then again, so do I, so that works fine. An' yeah, Roger's th' asshole. But he tries not t'be, at least."

Cameron snorts faintly. "I, uh, remember that fucked up bullet he put in Lucca's leg. One of those cases where 'trying' was failing, eh..."

Max narrows her eyes now. "Waaaaaaaaaaitaminute." She lifts a hand to set it on her hip. "You're accepting his challenge to make /him/ feel better?"

Kaz says, "Um." She tries again. "Well, mostly, I just wanna kick his ass from here to Sheboygan, but partially, yeah. If I gotta work with him, which I do, an' if I gotta cope with him as a person, which I generally don't but sometimes have to, well, then /yeah/, I don' want him goin' around treatin' me like I fucked with his pet hamster. Challenges don't always gotta be /just/ for pissiness' sake."

Matt whispers "We need ta talk, Soon. When Oi get ta th' pope from me corn tomorra?"

Bernie's eyes widen slightly, and she makes a face. "Ew. There's an image I coulda lived my life without. That an' Richard Gere..."

Cameron's eyes widen a little, and then he falls back a bit, cackling to himself.

You whisper "...okay... we could now, if you wanted? I mean, we don't hafta stay here or anythin'..." to Matt.

Matt misses the reference entirely. He leans his head close to Bernie's, whispering briefly.

Max lifts her gaze to the sky for a moment, then states flatly, "I've eaten so much politics candy, t'night, I'm gonna be shittin' campaign buttons all week." She shakes her hands out as if they were covered with something and heads up and out of the caern.

Kaz chortles, and trails along after. "Sleep," she affirms, "I said that what, half an hour ago? Y'd think I'd listen to myself..."

Pack> Matt says "Books, we should 'ead back ta th' decadence. Oi gotta work tomorrow."

Cameron stands up, and creaks and groans. "Yep. Reckon I might go sleep, myself. That was nice and short, and the night is still young, but..." He rubs his chin a little. "Actually, reckon I might start looking for those other Fianna." He shoves his hands in his pockets, and says lowly, "Think I'll see if Summer has any leads on where I might find 'em."

Bernie nods to Matt, and stretches again, running a hand through her hair before waving to her other packmates. "G'night!" she calls after them, and repeats it more quietly to Cam. "...sorry I forgot th' thingy I broughtcha. You should come by, sometime now you're free, y'know?"

Kaz calls, "Them mythical other Fianna," and then, a little louder, "G'night Moon. G'night, stars!" Eventually, she shuts up and leaves.

"Right," Matt says. "Sure an' ye won't find 'em hidin' in her bed." He looks thoughtful. "Then again..."

Cameron turns and levels a finger at Matt, with a warning look on his face. "Watch it, now. Kin're kin, but that doesn't make 'em whores. Anyone even /hints/ at that with Summer, and they better start sleepin' with one eye open." The tone's laughing, but there's an edge, there. He smiles a little more genuinely at Bernie, and nods. "Gimme an address, and I'll be there."

Bernie glances over to Matt, checking to make sure there isn't some major objection to this, and then rattles off the address, "...got that?" She picks her bag up and settles it on her shoulder, preparing to head out.

Matt stands, brushing himself off. "Aye. Drop by. Let me know, eh? I'll find an extra steak or somefing."

Cameron grins easily, now and nods, turning back to trudge off. "Done. I'll see you all later." He then stalks quickly out of the Caern.