[After breaking away from the group, Moriel makes his way down to the cave that Garrett had previously shown him. Garrett is there, sleeping, in his human form. He is dressed in loose fitting dirt-covered pants and no shirt. A fire in the cave has been reduced to embers and is giving off a small amount of heat.] [Begin] * Moriel hesitates a moment, then shakes Garrett gently by the shoulder. He says softly, "Garrett. I'm sorry to wake you, but I need to talk to you." [Garrett's eyes snap open at the sound of Moriel's voice and he leaps to his feet prepared to attack before his eyes land on Moriel. "Oh... I did not expect to see you again. Did you find what you were seeking?"] * Moriel backs off to give Garrett some space, sitting down at the opposite wall of the cave. "In a manner of speaking, but unfortunately that isn't what I came to talk to you about." Do you remember Troile, the risen antediluvian I told you about? [Garrett nods and sits down on the cave floor. "I do."] She's started a war among my kind, raised a faction that wants to rule over humans openly. * Moriel shakes his head, trying to organize his thoughts. "But the most important thing is - have you heard tales of garou being kidnapped by Cainites? The Carthaginians have found some way to ensorcell them to serve them." The garou try to resist, but...when they do the Carthaginians torment them with silver. Until they stop, and submit to the enchantment. [Garrett furrows his brow. "I have heard that there have been more Get sightings in the north recently, but I did not know the nature of the activity..." He sighs. "I should inform others of this... Be warned, though, that the Garou are not very adept at telling wyrmkin apart. It is likely this will rekindle much old animosity. You should be careful."] ...yes. It already has. * Moriel sighs and rubs his face. "That is the other thing I came to tell you. A group of us went north to try to find New Carthage and were attacked by four Fianna. We managed to explain, some, and were in something of a truce when we were all of us attacked by Gets serving Carthage." The Fianna all four died. We ran. * Moriel presses his hand over his eyes for a moment. "I wanted to tell you...so you could tell their kin what happened to them. You have a better chance than I of finding their kin, at any rate. Their names were Harold, Philip, Jacob, and Diana. I don't know their surnames." [Garrett is silent for a few minutes and then nods. "I know of them. Harold and I shared many hunts in our younger years. I am sorry to hear that they met such an end... especially to enslaved Garou. I will inform the other Fianna. I suppose we, too, must go to war. Unlike your kind, we do not have an eternity to prepare. Thankfully, we are always ready to fight. I would expect us to be on the march by Spring. I will make sure to mention that you brought this information, in the hopes that the others will be more likely to trust you. But I suspect it will be difficult."] * Moriel shakes his head. "They have no way to recognize me at any rate. I don't expect trust. But - I don't know if your kind can find a way to break the spell that enslaves your fellows, or at least find a way to prevent it. I hope so." [He shrugs. "I find it unlikely. We will try, of course, but wyrm magic is always a mystery to us. It may be that the best we can hope for is to bring peace to those who are enslaved." Garrett stands and walks towards the entrance to the cave. "Would you like to witness an old Fianna funeral tradition?"] * Moriel rises and follows Garrett. "Yes, please." [Garrett leaves the cave and climbs up into the forest. He walks until he reaches a cliff overlooking a valley below. "Gaia, four of your followers have fallen. In the grand tradition of the Fianna, I offer to you the tales of Harold, Jacob, Diana and Philip of the Fianna... In mid-winter a young man was hunting in the hills of Ireland. He had picked up the scent of a servant of the wyrm and was in pursuit. This creature was untrained, he had been left by his creature to cause chaos in the countryside, and most recently that chaos had manifested itself in the needless slaughter of a family in a nearby farm. It was now the young man's time to prove himself worthy of his birthright. He was Harold, son of Wilfred, one of the proud Garou of the Fianna tribe and a protector of Gaia and this was his first hunt..." Garrett continues on with his story about Harold and then told briefer stories about Diana, Jacob, and Philip. It was close to dawn when he finished and then he turned to Moriel. "Are there any tales you would care to add from their final battle?"] * Moriel is taken aback at first, but after a moment he offers quietly, "They fought bravely and without hesitation despite being outnumbered two to one. When they had reduced that to an even battle, their enslaved opponents had to call for aid to defeat them even when they were already wounded." [Garrett nods. "May their spirits' journeys be swift as they return to you, Gaia." He bows then his body grows in size as he shifts into his Crinos form. He raises his head and howls a loud, mournful howl four times. Then after a few moments he returns to his human form and nods in the direction of the cave, walking that way.] * Moriel follows Garrett back again, since he doesn't want to be caught out by the dawn. "Thank you for allowing me to...witness that." [Garrett nods. "You can sleep here for the day. I must begin my journey to inform the other Fianna of what has happened. Thank you for taking the time to tell me what is happening."] * Moriel nods. "Of course. And thank you." He walks back and curls up as far to the rear of the cave as he can get to sleep through the day. [Mini End]