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 Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 5:36 pm
It's a hard time to be a human, and even more difficult time to be something... other... witch hunts and demon slayings are happening everywhere, it seems that there is no where safe to run.
Alessandra, the leader of the Scottish Highland pack, is on the run. Betrayed by her second, a blood thristy wolf named Ian, she finds herself traveling across Europe, in search of a new pack and a new way of life. Some of her old pack members have joined her, having been outlawed along with Alessandra. Her closest friend Una is with her. Hopefully together they can survive.
Alessandra
Ian
Una
(I'll add more characters as we go along)
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Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 6:36 pm
Humans were naive. And with the onslaught of epidemic they were blinded by their own mortality. That didn't stop them from killing those that were different; anyone they could pin their loathsome problems on.
Freya was just beginning to close in on 500 years as a wolf. She was a lone wolf. She was volatile and aggressive. She spent many of her years fighting other people's battles - as a mercenary, soldier of fortune. Call her what you will she was jaded. She'd never joined a pack because she caused too much disruption. She roamed aimlessly, picking up work in world both mortal and non.
She'd just finished a stint as a maidservant among idiotic humans and would be happy for some time among the older race - even if the tension would still be present.
Freya
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Persephone Graecia Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 6:44 pm
Alessandra, having just spend the last week and a half traveling from Paris to Le Mans, looks a little less like a pack leader and more like something one would scrape off the side of the road. Wearily she makes her way into a tavern, looking for food and water, and a place to stay the night while she waited for the rest of her friends. They had all split up for the time being because of a scare in Paris, seeing as though no one wanted to get killed, they all agreed to take different paths and meet in Le Mans. She looked around, sniffing the air around her, and decided that she was the first of her party to arrive. Taking a seat at the bar she made sure to take in the faces around her, not trusting anyone, after she was done she looked at the bar tender and smiled. "A pint of your best."
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Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 7:18 pm
Freya was getting irritated with the sideways glances she was getting as she passed through the village common. She resisted the urge to react negatively and instead turned into a blacksmith's shed. She hopped lithely and grabbed onto a low hanging beam. She pulled herself up and ghosted to the far end, where boards were laid out for hay storage.
She unfastened her woolen cloak and shrugged out of her quiver and bow. She usually tried to remain inconspicuous. She wore plain clothes and covered her bow and quiver with her green wool cloak. It reached to the ground was useful for many things.
She twisted her waist length hair up into a knot. She took the long skirt off and stuffed it into her rucksack. She was down to trousers, boots and shirt. Very ambiguous and after she slung her equipment and cloak back on she could've been taken for a boy. At least by all the drunken hordes that awaited outside. She was slight and not overly pear shaped. This often played to her advantage. She could cut her hair and get by as a boy for days at a time.
She climbed out that uppermost window and landed in the smith's yard. She hugged the wall of the barn and assessed the street. She pulled the hood of her cloak up and kept her head down. She checked to make sure she still had her small blade in her leather boot, before she made her way towards an out-of-the-way tavern. It was dark and set back from the street. She hoped it was as low-key as it appeared.
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Persephone Graecia Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 7:38 pm
Alessandra sits at the bar nursing her pint, keeping an eye on the door. She could feel the eyes of the men on her and sighed. She usually dressed as feminine as she could, prefering to wear dresses and skirts to pants, as of right now she was wearing a forest green dress with a soft brown corset, over it she had her deep brown cloak, and inside the folds of her dress were her sliver sword and a regular steel short blade. She also had daggers in her leather walking boots. Her waist length blonde hair was braided down her back, and though she had her hood on it wasn't hard to mistake her for the woman she was.
A hand landed on her shoulder and she turned to look at the man it belonged to. "Can I help you sir?"
"Why yes you can little missy." The man grins and shows off his missing front teeth. "My friends here are a wonderin' how much you charge." His friends chuckle and the turns to grin at them.
"I assure you it is too much for you wallet." Alessandra turns back to look at the door, but she doesn't get to look at it for long because the man spins her back around. "What now?"
"Now see here missy, we're all likin' what we see and we aren't about to take no for an answer."
"Well then it's a very sad day for you now isn't it?" Alessandra turns faster than any of them can see and has a knife to the mans throat before he can so much as take another breath. "Now you listen and you listen good. I'm not about to let you or any of your rotten friends lay another finger on me. Do I make myself clear?" Her eyes had shifted from their normal pale blue to an almost sliver color, for those who were wolves they would have known that her animal side was taking over, but for this poor pittiful human, he just thought he was good and mad.
The man nods his head quickly and Alessandra lets him slide to the floor. "Anyone else want a piece of me?" When the other men in the bar shake their heads she just smiles and goes back to her pint. "That's what I tought."
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Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 7:58 pm
Freya resists the urge to smack her own face as she watched half a dozen men scurry from the tavern. And she could smell them, it was... fear? Yes, fear.
She walked to the door and was hit with another powerful odor. Wolf. She wasn't the only one here. The tavern was dark inside and she could only see the backs of most of its inhabitants. She took a deep breath and relaxed the tensed posture she didn't even know had taken over her body.
She made her way to the opposite side of where the other wolf probably was. Their smell was all over the place but concentrated on one side. Coming into contact with others was not rare, but she didn't like surprises.
She slipped into a both and kept her hood up. She pulled out a map and began studying it. She had marked it up slowly pinpointing locations of attack on her own kind - all by the same individual. They were all closing in on something, but what? She rubbed her face in frustration and muttered to herself, "What are you getting at? What are you looking for?" She knew he was after her but he didn't seem to be following her. He was definitely after something else.
A disinterested a woman came over to take her order. Freya sighed, "The strongest stuff you've got," she said distractedly. It wouldn't make much of a difference. She could down half-distilled moonshine and it would have little affect on her. All part of the immortal metabolism, right? Occasionally, she longed to fog her mind up a bit; but always reasoned that it wouldn't end well.
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Persephone Graecia Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 3:27 pm
Alessandra turns to look at Freya as she walks in. Another wolf? She turns to watch Freya, trying to decide if she is friend of foe. Knowing all the well the kind of people that Ian would send after her she could never be too careful.
She sniffed the air, Freya didn't smell like Ian, or any of his wolves. Maybe she was just a loner, or from another pack. Alessandra shook her head, no this wolf was a loner, she didn't carry the scent of any other wolves on her. This wolf could be dangerous, perhaps she was going to have to stay away from her for a while.
Una finally makes it into Le Mans, she's dressed in mens clothing, though she still looks like a woman. Her bright red hair is covered by the hood of her forest green cloak, matching the color of her eyes. She looked heavily armed, a quiver of arrows and a bow over her back she had two swords attached to her hips, and short swords in her boots.
She needed to find Alessandra, some of their group had been picked off by Ian's thugs. It was a horrible loss, and no one they needed right now. Hopefully Aly would be able to find another pack to call home and soon. By the looks of things an all out war was going to start if Ian wasn't stopped.
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 1:52 pm
Freya could feel herself being watched. From the corner of her eye she could see it was a woman with long blonde hair. The Other Wolf.
Freya was here to lay low; she wasn't about to cause any trouble. She simply looked up, gave a knowing smile and nod before shooting back the clear liquid that would've peeled the lining of any mortal esophagus.
Maybe this one had work? Maybe she could give Freya some news of the inside world? This wolf also appeared to be keeping a low profile. Or maybe she just stopped into shady hole-in-the-wall taverns for fun. There were only so many packs in Europe and they were relatively inclusive; they dealt with things among themselves. Idiot humans hadn't really gotten with the program regarding the extra continent laying to the East, so packs didn't often meet. She had to be a Euro wolf. Maybe even Northern Europe, like Freya. And if she was; maybe she knew about these attacks on the map.
She licked her lips, folded up the map and looked deliberately at the other wolf before she found the bartender and got a hold of an empty room reserved for private parties.
She pulled off her sage green cloak and hung it by the fire to dry. She heaved off her bow and quiver. They were an excellent quality. She worked for three solid months in exchange for the beautifully sculpted bow and arrow set. The bow was of dark wood and carved in a ridiculously intricate weave of vines and ivy. Freya was surprised the bitter man was even able to whittle. His hands were so curled with age she doubted his dexterity. He was quiet but seemed to understand her need to be alone - and for quality protection. It was her most prized possession.
Over the years she'd become a master. She could slice a length of twine from fifty feet away. Of course her extra skills helped with that too.
She looked down at herself and had to grimace. She may actually need to stay the night; she was a bit grungy. She had her tan trousers and dark brown boots. The rough-hewn sackcloth shirt was belted at her waist and the sleeves were frayed. The inside forearms were singed from feather burn.
Her palms and wrists were wrapped in burlap strips to prevent burns and to make climbing things - like blacksmith's barn rafters she laughed internally - easier. She kept her hands in good condition. They were key to survival and she knew it; they easily showed the least amount of wear in comparison with the rest of her.
She sat in the booth against a large grimy window. She laid her back against the window and her feet along the bench. She closed her eyes and waited.
Freya's Bow and Quiver:
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Persephone Graecia Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 7:08 pm
Alessandra looked at the door again, once again wondering what was keeping the rest of her pack. Her eyes went to where Freya went, it wouldn't do any harm to figure out who the wolf was, and if this was her territory it would help to make friends. She took her drink and made her way over to Freya, she was going to need a friend if her pack didn't show up soon.
Alessandra sat down across from Freya, not speaking, her eyes directed on Freya's. She didn't want to intimidate Freya, merely read her to make sure that she had made the right decission to come over and talk. She slipped off her cloak and hung it up, making sure to leave her swords on, unwilling to take any chances. Humans might be weak, but they were stupid when drunk, and the stupid ones were the ones you wanted to watch out for.
Una took in a deep breath through her nose, taking in the scents of the town. She needed to find Aly and fast. She moved down the different streets of the town when she came across Freya's scent, she froze, making sure that her nose wasn't lying to her and that there was in fact another wolf in the area. This could be good, or it could be very very bad for Alessandra. Cursing under her breath she took off down the street and froze again when she caught Aly's scent. She took off down the street at an inhuman speed, and when she stopped in front of the tavern she couldn't help but curse again. The new wolf and Aly were in the same damn tavern, of course.
Una walked into the tavern and everything went quiet, that seemed to be a habit of hers. Her eyes quickly scanned the area and paused on Freya sitting with Aly, she sighed, shaking her head, and made her way to the bar. She wasn't about to interupt the meeting, but she was going to keep her eye on the pair to make sure nothing funny was going down.
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Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 2:55 pm
Freya maintained her relaxed closed eye position. She could hear New Wolf as she crossed the room, took off her cloak and sat down. Freya could hear the slight clink of metal weaponry. Apparently she chose to keep these with her - smart girl.
Slowly Freya righted herself and sat properly in the bench across from New Wolf. "I have to say it is a bit peculiar to come across another of our kind in such a shady location."
Freya absently traced the divots and grooves of the scrubbed wooden table. "And alone too," she raised her brows, "You must be incredibly gifted." She finally raised her head to look at the woman, "or incredibly foolish."
She smirked in order to indicate her joke. "But based on the fact that you continue to carry your armor, your deliberate body movement and what I can only assume to be your handling of the half dozen drunks that stumbled out of here before me... I would bet on the former."
"I'm afraid I've just come across this little hamlet and I've been out of touch for a while. I was wondering if there's anything of significance you can tell me about our world?" Freya was definitely hedging, but if this mysterious man was beginning an assault as big as Freya assumed it would not be low profile.
New Wolf seemed a bit wary of her. Again, because she was smart. Most were wary of Freya. Lone wolves were not typically a good encounter, but Freya was hardly looking for a fight. She decided to flesh out a bit of herself, so she didn't seem so strange - and potentially crazy. She needed to put a little humanity into the conversation. This was certainly new territory for her. Even after time with humans her instincts didn't always click from animal to human so well. She started with the basics, "I'm Freya, by the way."
She fiddled with the folded map in her hands. If she could even tell her anything about mystery man's attack pattern, maybe she could give her some insight. Right now anything was better than what Freya was going on - rubble and third hand stories at best.
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Persephone Graecia Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 12:06 pm
Alessandra watched Freya's every movement. She could tell by the sent around her that Freya was a lone wolf, and that never went well with pack animals. Aly knew that she was going to have to keep her guard up around this one, especially if she didn't know anything about Ian's uprising.
The thought made her wince slightly. The fact that her second had staged an uprising was a sore point. It was also something that she wasn't willing to let slide. Freya seemed to have no idea that she was the alpha who had been over thrown, which was all well and good for now.
"I was there when the uprising happened. The second in command of the Scottish Highland pack decided that their Alpha was not doing a great job. Apparently getting along peacefully wasn't an option with him. He gather together some followers, something that is hard to do considering how tightly woven pack magic is. Luckily for the Alpha the pack magic warned her that something was coming, so she gather those still loyal to her and fled. She knew that she wouldn't be able to win the battle that night, not with so little timing. Unfortunately the council has also been swayed by the second's lies. Now she's on the run across Europe with her wolves in tow, trying to find those willing to help her regain some sort of control."
Aly took and breath and watched at Una walked over to the bar. Good. Finally one of her pack had arrived. Now she could relax a little bit.
"The council is planning attacks on multiple packs throughout Europe. I'm sure they won't stop there though, there is too much power to be had."
This was very unsettling news. An all out war between the packs was not what people needed right now.
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Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 12:31 pm
Freya nodded. This new information was interesting. And while it gave much more detail to what she had suspicions of, it only further concerned her.
"The Scottish Highland pack?" Freya asked. "Strange... I would've guessed it would've been the fault of the Lough Neah pack out of Ireland. They've been volatile for decades. And it fits the pattern... The Highlanders... that's strange. They had been pretty stable, had they not?"
Freya glanced down for a moment, towards her map. She unfolded once more and glanced again, keeping this new information in mind. The pattern, she thought. Look for the greater pattern. The attacks had started up north and early. After that they continued in an almost arching or spiral-like pattern - branching out over northern Europe before pulling back East. It never made sense to Freya as only smaller packs existed in the attack locations.
Maybe they weren't after packs... she mused. People, relics... it could be anything. And the timing was off. As far as travel and logistics went it just didn't make tactical sense. No one could or would want to move their offensive armies in such a way. There was someone else in this. It hit Freya like a brick wall, but it seemed the only plausible explanation. Without further magic or possession of another power, there was not way it made sense. The power-seeker this New Wolf spoke of - it had to be more than him.
Worse than possible addition of another player in this sick game, the steady pattern of concentric circles was closing in on something or somewhere or someone in the heart of Europe. But it was too early to tell where. Freya could see any number of a half dozen packs or cities that could be targeted.
Freya looked up as the information continued to process. "You," she indicated the New Wolf. "You smell of the North. You're pack aren't you? You have a friend at the bar?" After the second quick glance toward the same woman - who carried the same smell as the New Wolf - Freya could deduce it wasn't coincidence.
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Persephone Graecia Vice Captain
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