zg_shadows | Tibetan Garou - Year Two

The Sept of the Snow Leopard was high in the Tibetan mountains where earth touched the thin, blue vault of heaven. Getting there had never been an easy thing; always a test of endurance and a way for any seeker to prove their worth. Far above the sorrows of the world and cradled by the mountain, the Stargazers trusted to the snow and the summit for their defence.

The day the army of Formori – dressed in the skins of Chinese soldiers and carrying rifles loaded with silver ammunition – swarmed through the Lalung Leh Pass was the day it really hit home to the Stargazers that sometimes, peace and meditation was not enough.

It had been a slaughter. Silver bullets strafing the air and cutting into any who did not take cover in time. Attack helicopters spitting out shells full of silver nitrate, exploding over the garou like napalm. The Formori themselves, spitting corrosive bile and stabbing out with bone-shard limbs and spiked tentacles. Worse of all, in the shadows of the umbra a Nexus Crawler waited, picking off the wounded and the hopeless as they fled.

The Monastary of Shigalu, Sept of the Snow Leopard and home to the Stargazers, had fallen. The Cearn had been defiled; of the garou there when the battle began it was believed only four survived.

Formori guards were posted at the path from Nialam village, sealing the bloody ruins from the world. The Wyrm coiled content in its stronghold at Lalung Leh, sometimes sending out its soldiers to spread misery and destruction to the Tibetans still living in the valleys below.

The crippled Stargazers had called for help from their brethren, but the Nation had turned its back, too busy fighting its own battles. And so the Stargazers left. The Hengeyokai of the Eastern Courts offered them succour, giving the Stargazers hope that one day their Caern may be returned to them. However the shifters of the East were few and in truth they had even less aid to spare than the Nation, so the corruption of Lalung Leh spread, and the Stargazers resigned themselves to oblivion.

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23-November 2009
Daily Telegraph: Chinese Barracks In Tibet Destroyed By Fire - Extremists Suspected.
News has broken out today after vast plumes of smoke were seen coming from one of the largest Chinese barracks in Tibet. Reports are still coming in as to the cause of the fire, with much speculation given to whether or not it was an act of deliberate arson. As yet no one has claimed responsibility, and the Chinese government has not yet made a statement. Due to weather conditions travel into the area is difficult and any news received has been second-hand at best. From initial communications we estimate that at least 65 people have been killed so far and dozens others injured or unaccounted for as the fire continues to rage.

24-November 2009
Daily Telegraph: Barracks Fire Accidental.
New reports received today have shown that the fire appeared to have started in the ammunitions section of the barracks. Military sources are suggesting that an old stockpile inferior quality munitions may have been to blame. Due to the extreme changes in temperature between day and night in area of the Himalayas, munitions casing slowly warped until finally exploding. The resulting blast igniting the rest of the ammunition, causing the spread of the fire throughout the building. The Chinese government has, as of yet not commented, but say they will hold a full inquiry.

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Ash flicked her hair out of her eyes with impatience. "I don’t get why you’re arguin’ about an army an’ their helicopters. Why not take ‘em down before they get kitted up in those damn choppers an’ all that shit?" There was a brief silence as the others considered and took in the fera’s ruthless smile. Storming a mountaintop with an army on their heels was no easy thing. But take the army out of the picture, and suddenly things became simpler.

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The three packs had assembled for the first strike. Ash hurried onwards as a wisp of air on the breeze, slipping into the barracks and using fox-magic to seal everybody inside. As the others moved into place Jude Manyskins called upon the strength of Helios, and cleansing fire blazed from the sky over the barracks, burning every scrap of Wyrm that it touched.

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Royce and his team had been busy rigging a small charge to the ammunitions store. As Helios’s light burnt down, the charge was detonated. The munitions cascaded into an inferno that obliterated half the camp and added eager flame to the barracks.

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With the realm mostly dealt with, the shifters took to the mirror lands, where a fiercer battle began. Claw, tooth, bullet and blade bit deep into the spirit of banes and shifter alike. The banes were many but the shifters were prepared - unlike the wyrmlings who had grown fat and lazy in their lair. The martial skills of those assembled and the added aid of talens - gifts from the Sept Alpha of London – cut bloody swathes through the horrors and decimated their mass.

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Down in Nailam village a young women had arrived. She had pale hair and an uncertain smile but a great skill with medicine. With healing came hope, which radiated through the village and - unknown to them - through the penumbra. In its strong hold above Lalung Leh, the Wrym felt the peoples’ joy – a taste bitter to its senses – and it screamed to its minions to destroy nailam. But when the few fomori who could be spared reached the village, they discovered the pale woman and her companions were as skilled in binding, banishing and breaking as they were at healing.

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Obliterating the barracks had been relatively easy and had gone according to plan, a victory accorded through stealth, trickery and lots of fire. Taking back the monastery of Shigalu and routing Lalung Leh was less of a carefully executed idea, and more of a hard, bloody, slog. But shifters are nothing if not stubborn, and those amongst their number were proficient in slaughter. It took all afternoon, a running battle that worked its way up the mountain, through the ruins of Shigalu and onwards to Lalung Leh.

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The Theurges gathered around the old Cearn heart, each one grey with the stench and foulness of the place. Quickly they went to work, the Galliards and Philodoxs helping to clean this once sacred place from the horrors that tainted it. The Ragabash spread out slowly, keeping watch and communicating with the Ahrouns who stood guard, built up what defences they could and awaited a retaliation they hoped would never come.

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Five solemn figures gathered: three Stargazers, Kayde of the Children of Gaia, and Mercedes of the Black Furys, Theurges all. Each one chanting quietly under their breath, each one terrified of failure and fervently hopeful of success, all preparing to reawaken and cleanse the Cearn’s spirit and return this place to Gaia.

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At the hub of Lalung Leh, all was a killing field. Fomori and monstrosities butchered and burnt so that they might regain purity in death. The shifters, battered, bloody, tired beyond all reckoning, allowed at last their weapons to rest. A screech echoed through the umbra, claws of sound down the spines of the warriors as the Nexus Crawler appeared. With a tinge of despair the shifters prepared to fight and perhaps die for Gaia. Greyfur pulled a small pouch from his belt and threw the fetish to his packmate. Ash snatched it from the air and tipped the contents into her mouth. Smile wide and eyes alight with the energies of Gaia, Ash began to clap. The Nexus Crawler screamed.

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Two figures stood quietly on the edge of the mountain looking intently down the path. Both held glyph-carved staffs: Stands Ready and Grey Fur, both enjoyed the moment’s peace but knew the days were still early. Looking behind them they saw the revel at the Cearn’s heart, Cedric passing drinks amongst his tribe, while Jude lay, head resting upon a rock, one eye watching the party.

And for a moment, like a snow mirage caused by the setting sun, on the rocks above Shigalu they beheld a large white leopard, its body thin and its fur matted but its gold-green eyes shining.