The following warnings occurred:
Warning [2] Undefined variable $awaitingusers - Line: 33 - File: global.php(816) : eval()'d code PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/global.php(816) : eval()'d code 33 errorHandler->error
/global.php 816 eval
/showthread.php 24 require_once
Warning [2] Undefined array key "style" - Line: 874 - File: global.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/global.php 874 errorHandler->error
/showthread.php 24 require_once
Warning [2] Undefined property: MyLanguage::$lang_select_default - Line: 5014 - File: inc/functions.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions.php 5014 errorHandler->error
/global.php 874 build_theme_select
/showthread.php 24 require_once
Warning [2] Undefined array key "additionalgroups" - Line: 6953 - File: inc/functions.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions.php 6953 errorHandler->error
/inc/functions.php 5041 is_member
/global.php 874 build_theme_select
/showthread.php 24 require_once
Warning [2] Undefined array key "mybb" - Line: 1919 - File: inc/functions.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions.php 1919 errorHandler->error
/inc/functions_indicators.php 41 my_set_array_cookie
/showthread.php 626 mark_thread_read
Warning [2] Undefined array key "additionalgroups" - Line: 6953 - File: inc/functions.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions.php 6953 errorHandler->error
/inc/functions_user.php 733 is_member
/inc/functions_post.php 399 purgespammer_show
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "profilefield" - Line: 6 - File: inc/functions_post.php(467) : eval()'d code PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php(467) : eval()'d code 6 errorHandler->error
/inc/functions_post.php 467 eval
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "showimages" - Line: 700 - File: inc/functions_post.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php 700 errorHandler->error
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "showvideos" - Line: 705 - File: inc/functions_post.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php 705 errorHandler->error
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "showimages" - Line: 743 - File: inc/functions_post.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php 743 errorHandler->error
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "showimages" - Line: 700 - File: inc/functions_post.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php 700 errorHandler->error
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "showvideos" - Line: 705 - File: inc/functions_post.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php 705 errorHandler->error
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "useravatar" - Line: 6 - File: inc/functions_post.php(803) : eval()'d code PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php(803) : eval()'d code 6 errorHandler->error
/inc/functions_post.php 803 eval
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "userstars" - Line: 11 - File: inc/functions_post.php(803) : eval()'d code PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php(803) : eval()'d code 11 errorHandler->error
/inc/functions_post.php 803 eval
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "additionalgroups" - Line: 6953 - File: inc/functions.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions.php 6953 errorHandler->error
/inc/functions_user.php 733 is_member
/inc/functions_post.php 399 purgespammer_show
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "profilefield" - Line: 6 - File: inc/functions_post.php(467) : eval()'d code PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php(467) : eval()'d code 6 errorHandler->error
/inc/functions_post.php 467 eval
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "showimages" - Line: 700 - File: inc/functions_post.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php 700 errorHandler->error
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "showvideos" - Line: 705 - File: inc/functions_post.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php 705 errorHandler->error
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "showimages" - Line: 743 - File: inc/functions_post.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php 743 errorHandler->error
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "additionalgroups" - Line: 6953 - File: inc/functions.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions.php 6953 errorHandler->error
/inc/functions_user.php 733 is_member
/inc/functions_post.php 399 purgespammer_show
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "profilefield" - Line: 6 - File: inc/functions_post.php(467) : eval()'d code PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php(467) : eval()'d code 6 errorHandler->error
/inc/functions_post.php 467 eval
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "showimages" - Line: 700 - File: inc/functions_post.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php 700 errorHandler->error
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "showvideos" - Line: 705 - File: inc/functions_post.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php 705 errorHandler->error
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "showimages" - Line: 743 - File: inc/functions_post.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php 743 errorHandler->error
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "additionalgroups" - Line: 6953 - File: inc/functions.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions.php 6953 errorHandler->error
/inc/functions_user.php 733 is_member
/inc/functions_post.php 399 purgespammer_show
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "profilefield" - Line: 6 - File: inc/functions_post.php(467) : eval()'d code PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php(467) : eval()'d code 6 errorHandler->error
/inc/functions_post.php 467 eval
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "showimages" - Line: 700 - File: inc/functions_post.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php 700 errorHandler->error
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "showvideos" - Line: 705 - File: inc/functions_post.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php 705 errorHandler->error
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "showimages" - Line: 743 - File: inc/functions_post.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/inc/functions_post.php 743 errorHandler->error
/showthread.php 1063 build_postbit
Warning [2] Undefined array key "invisible" - Line: 1497 - File: showthread.php PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/showthread.php 1497 errorHandler->error
Warning [2] Undefined variable $threadnotesbox - Line: 30 - File: showthread.php(1524) : eval()'d code PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/showthread.php(1524) : eval()'d code 30 errorHandler->error
/showthread.php 1524 eval
Warning [2] Undefined variable $ratethread - Line: 38 - File: showthread.php(1524) : eval()'d code PHP 8.1.27 (Linux)
File Line Function
/showthread.php(1524) : eval()'d code 38 errorHandler->error
/showthread.php 1524 eval




June: Cracking the Bone
#1
[Say stuff here! Particularly new Garou/challenges for leadership of next month's moot! Since this weekend was packed for me, these threads are going up a day late, for which I am genuinely sorry; it just slipped my mind amid all the festivities.]
my whole life is thunder.
#2
It takes a long, long time to get through the sept business, the introductions, the everything else until the floor is opened for challenges for office. It's a large gathering, this, and this month's moot area is filled with wolves of all tribes and all auspices and all ranks. When the truthcatcher or whomever opens that floor, Phoebe makes her way quietly toward the front to accept the bone. Unlike last night, when she swayed with drink, or rolled in the dirt, or was later seen sitting in a semi-circle smoking with her friends and peers, the Black Fury Theurge carries herself carefully, and with some dignity. She can feel the eyes of her own elders, Mothers and Crone, boring into the space between her shoulder blades.

When she takes the bone, she inclines her head toward the Elder and the Elders, then turns to face the crowd. With a voice that is almost as musical as it is captivating, she declares, "I, Phoebe Stavros, Sings the Spirits to Rest, Siren of Persephone, Fostern and Theurge of the Black Furies, challenge for next month's Caller of the Wyld."

Returning the bone, she goes to wherever she needs to go for that, or returns to her place with her fellows.

[everybody should challenge for all the things, c'mon! (unless this is too close to the wire, in which case I withdraw the challenge)]
#3
There is never a shortage of younger garou challenging for the moot positions. It's not unheard of for fosterns to step forward rather than just the cliaths, but the challengers are usually close enough in rank for it to not matter. The adrens of the sept never get in their way; it's not their chance, it's not their turn to shine.

This month, when Phoebe steps forward, she joins a small group of other garou, all Theurges, challenging for the same role. The Master of Challenges for Forgotten Questions assigns them their tasks then and there: it is a simple summoning, with the goal of representing the spirit of the moot and the two caerns being represented there. They choose the spirit to call, they explain their reasoning, and in the end, Sings the Spirits to Rest is chosen as July's Caller of the Wyld and Master of the Howl and given the task of finding a teacher and learning the Moot Rite before the next full moon, or she will forfeit her role -- and the honor that comes with it -- to one of the other challengers.

At this, the three other challengers who just lost to her give her their own looks. One of them goes so far as to grin at her, toothily.
my whole life is thunder.
#4
Sometime toward the latter half of the Cracking, when just about everyone else has gone, the newcomer with the Fenrir face and the ... somehow not very Fenrir feel gets hold of the Bone. He's sitting beside a girl who pretty much screams Silver Fang, and beside another girl -- a woman -- who is, really, every inch the Shadow Lord.

He's the one to get to his feet, though. And he clears his throat, looking around the circle at all the wolves. So many of them. This might be the biggest Sept he's ever seen, and it's hard not to feel the tininess of his rank here.

"Um."

That's not a good start. Erich rallies, he stands a little straighter, he tries again.

"I'm Erich. Called Storm's Teeth. Cliath Ahroun of the Shadow Lords. I'm new to town. Just rolled in a couple days ago with Charlotte and Ingrid here -- I'll let them introduce themselves. Anyway, we're a pack? Sort of? We don't have a totem yet. Not 'cause we're not committed or whatever. We just haven't really ... met the right one."

A pause. A deep breath.

"And I want to challenge for next month's Wyrmfoe."
BECAUSE OF LIGHT AND DUTY AND REASONS.
#5
The summonings take varying lengths of time, but they are performed at once. Energy all but crackles in the air as the Theurges call to the spirits. Two of the cliaths summon rather more obvious spirits: an earth elemental and a wolf. One, rather cleverly, summons an epiphling of Time, which is not only a challenging summon to perform but a difficult one to hold onto. In fact, halfway through her explanation of why she chose Time, the spirit is gone. Or maybe it was gone halfway before the explanation. Or is still there and they haven't gotten to it yet.

The fostern Black Fury summons a horse. It rides in from the sky into the gathering area where the challengers stand. For a moment, some grumble to each other that the Black Fury summoned a Pegasus, <i>of course</i>, and they're about to get a lecture. Then they notice the lack of wings. The horse is a palomino, ghostlike and unnerved around all of these werewolves. It stamps its hooves, shaking out its mane, whipping its tail as it lingers beside Phoebe. It is not comfortable here.

She explains why she chose it. Horses can be wild, horses can be tame, and in neither case do they lose any part of themselves. They are not untouchable in their wildness, and being trained does not necessarily break them. Forgotten Questions and Cold Crescent are like that, and the garou of each sept are like that: they may run wild, and they may live alongside humans, but they are never changed to be less than they are. They are garou. They are neither wolf nor man, but both, and something else entirely.

The Master of Challenges nods. Phoebe has won.

--

The position of Wyrmfoe is, as moot roles go, only slightly less hotly contested than that of Truthcatcher. The ahroun who chooses the right prey, who rouses the garou from the cracking of the bone and the singing of tales into an only slightly-controlled rage, proves a kind of wisdom and honor that is not easily earned by full moons -- on the battlefield or elsewhere.

When Erich challenges for next month's Wyrmfoe, it's rather last minute. There are no fewer than six other ahrouns already standing for the position. Ahrouns who have been here for more than -- what,a day? Ahrouns with packs that actually have totems, or at least Ahrouns whose friends aren't just a frail thin-moon and a creepy no-moon. They look at him like they're going to eat him.

Then again, they all are ahrouns. That look could also mean <i>why, you seem interesting, let's be friends!</i>

The Master of Challenges sets them their course, after conferring with this month's Wyrmfoe. The palomino summoned by Phoebe Stavros to win her own challenge is asked to hide somewhere in the bawn, and it bounds off, agreeable and loyal when she whispers what she wants it to do. The challengers for Wyrmfoe are to find it. Alone. But they cannot abandon the joint revel of all the other garou, and they cannot lose their heads as freely as garou who are not challenging for this moot role. They must keep their heads about them without offending the soul of the revel, without denying their rage. They must hunt the prey without harming it. The test is one of balance. The test is one of control.

Three of the challengers forget to look for their prey. They're caught up in the revel, howling and biting and harrying each other. They are not shamed for it; that is not what the revel is for. One of them frenzies, which is sadly not entirely uncommon in the revel, and is held down and controlled by his packmates. That leaves three: Erich and two others, running in the revel while trying to catch the scent of their secondary prey. Only two of them find it, and tear off from the rest of the garou, that pack of dozens, that field of fur and rage that roams the caern grounds every month, a family of many bloodlines and many histories.

They fight over it. The fight ends with a Fenrir-born Shadow Lord with his forepaws on his challenger's body, pinning him down, snarling in his face, warning,

dominating.

His challenger bares his throat. Erich could tear it out. Erich could do a lot of things that he doesn't do. He lets him up. He harries his prey, chasing it back toward the revel. The horse's hooves seem to cast actual thunder through the land as it runs. It takes a leap when it meets the garou, vanishing into the sky again, set free from its duties -- and more than a little terrified of all their combined rage. When they meet with the Master of the Challenge after the revel, after everyone is flopping around exhausted and sleeping in piles with their packmates, the challenger vouches for his success. His respect is grudging, but his honor is not: he submitted. Erich has won.
my whole life is thunder.


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)