A shiver runs down Charging Bear's spine as the realization of how far Itza-Chu had to go to steal his name.

He doesn't try to fight back or brush away the few tears that roll down his cheek at the shaman's mentioning of those killed - Sequoya Smith and Jennifer McDonald - then Rose and what was done to her. He looks at the man for a long time, waiting and thinking but at last he simply asks, "So what is it I must do?"

"hehhehhehhehhehHAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaa!" The shaman laughs.

Then he's quiet.

For a while.

A long, awkward while.

and then...

He's quiet some more.

He's so still, Charging Bear almost suspects he's fallen asleep, when suddenly...

...he starts snoring. But just as Charging Bear is about to shake him to wake him up, he says, "Well!"

He sits up straight again. "I won't lie. It won't be easy. Simple, yes, but not easy. You will have to travel to Shrike's larder. There you will have to find your name from among the souls she's stocked there to feast on. Then you'll have to escape. I would not recommend fighting Shrike herself...not without powerful medicine. That nasty thunder iron you brought with you might do the trick, but I warn you now that every time you use it you draw very bad attention to yourself. I can give you some small fetishes to aid you. If you defeat a spirit in a fight, you can draw a service from it or feast on its essence and gain a measure of its power, though I warn you not to do this too often or you will gain an unsavory reputation, and this time it will be all your own doing. You will need a guide...I know she lairs in the Roots of the Tree of Life, near the Deadlands, but that is the extent of my knowledge and I have too many things to watch here to go with you. Besides, the Deadlands scare the piss out of me. There are crows and snakes around here...you can defeat one and gain it as a guide, but never, ever trust it. Do not enter the Deadlands! Only the mightiest heroes can enter there and return, and while you're a nice fellow you aren't ready for that."

He pinches some tobacco into a peace pipe, lights it, takes a puff, then offers it to Charging Bear. "Any questions?"

Charging Bear smiles a sad smile, like someone who knows they're in way over their head perhaps, as he says, "Too many shaman, too many." His right hand lightly touches handle of the Dragoon he found in the vault. The old gun seems to have a life of its own, as though it longs to be used rather than to be put away. Leaving the gun where it lies, Charging Bear folds his hand around his mouth as his mind is busy in thought.

After a long few moments he asks, "What fetishes do you have and how can I use them?"

"HAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The old man cackles. "What a question!"

He keeps sniggering for a few more moments. Charging Bear is sure that he's missed something.

"Hee...well. Right." He mutters, and then reaches into his robe and pulls forth a small willow hoop with a woven net in the center. Three feathers hang at the bottom. "I traveled up north for a spell. The people there made these charms for their children. It's supposed to catch the spirits that bring bad dreams, letting only good dreams through. This one is of my own devising. Hold it and pray to the spirits, and it will keep manitou at bay. For a time. You won't be able to do anything else but pray while using this, but it should be helpful. Keep in mind that it only stops manitou and those spirits tainted by the Reckoners...you go poking Brother Bear with a stick and expect this to save you when he gets riled, well, you deserve what's coming next."

He picks up the carved, beaded stick. "This is a coup stick. The spirits favor those who can show their bravery and skill by touching their opponents without hurting them first. If you can get the strike off, you'll earn a little luck."

"Speaking of luck..." he pulls out a preserved rabbit foot. Or is it a rabbit? The foot looks just slightly too long... "This should help counteract the curse that has befallen you. You don't have to do anything with it, just wear it."

((OOC:

Dreamcatcher: Protects from supernaturally evil opponents. Roll Spirit to activate. As long as you concentrate (taking no further actions, and no movement), supernaturally evil creatures need to succeed in an opposed Spirit Roll to attack you.

Coup Stick: Make a Touch attack (Fighting +2) with the coup stick against an armed and dangerous opponent the first round of combat. This attack deals no damage, but you get to draw a free chip from the Fate pot. This attack can't be part of an attack that deals damage (No counting coup then swinging in with a tomahawk in your other hand, for instance). If you manage to escape the enemy without taking any damage in return, you get to draw another chip. You can only count coup against a particular person once.

Jackalope Foot: You gain the Luck edge while you possess this. This counters the Bad Luck hindrance the curse provides. You may also draw three fate chips, which you can only spend for Charging Bear.))

Looking at the trio of mystical tokens the shaman is giving to him, Charging Bear nods. "I go hunting with items of a peaceful nature, an interesting strategy. I'm sure my grand father would have approved."

"How do I get into and out of the Shrike's larder? I know little of the spirit realm."

In reply to Charging Bear (msg #12):

"You already have tomahawks and a magic gun." The shaman shrugs. "What use would be more weapons?"

"That I cannot help you with. I can point you in the general direction of her tree, but you will need to find a guide. The paths of the Hunting Grounds shift and turn. Distances seem greater or less than they are. Even time is fluid here. You will want to find a spirit to be your guide. If you can bargain, do so. If not, well, you could always fight them and defeat them, and then compel them to service after. Just be aware that even nature spirits resent such things, so you'll have to watch your guide carefully if you've beaten it into submission."

Charging Bear smiles, Nothing like stating the obvious to rile up a shaman.

"I'd prefer to ask a more friendly spirit, but I've a feeling there aren't too many of those around here as of late. Perhaps the spirit within Alouette might aid me."

The shaman shrugs again. "She may. But that would require you to free her from the automaton, which would destroy the automaton and might destroy Thunderbird as well. And as for Thunderbird herself, well...she may show favor to you, but she has a terrible, potent rage, and could prove just as destructive to the town as Mirror Serpent." The dog-faced cowl stares at Charging Bear, and the native son could swear that, just for a minute, he can see to the eyes concealed within the darkness of the hood. "I have come here to thwart Raven's plans, not to speed them along. I would urge you very strongly not to release Thunderbird here. Elsewhere, perhaps in the lands of the Coyote Confederation, she could be released without lasting harm to the surroundings. Not here, in the heart of the white man's village, where her anger could be vented against targets of opportunity, innocents who played no part in the tragedy that befell Thunderbird's people but who wear the same color skin as those that wronged them."

"Then I'll just have to find another way." Charging Bear says quietly, as though mostly to himself. "Any suggestions for one who doesn't know much about the spirits?"

"Crow might be your best option for a guide." The shaman says, dipping his ladle in the water bucket then raising it to his hood to take a drink. "The crows in the area are drawn from outside. Not all are corrupted...some are still just crows, drawn to the leavings as crows are wont to do. And none of the crows, manitou or otherwise, care three figs about the plans of Raven or Mirror Serpent. They're just drawn to the food. If you would make a deal with Crow, be sure to include food and shiny things. Just be warned that Crow is ornery as anything living. He enjoys his pranks and games as much as I do, but they always seem to be a bit more barbed and cruel. Crow likes to punish rather than teach. This especially true of a crow that has gone manitou, but those are the ones most likely to know the way into Shrike's larder. You take a chance either way."

"So go find a crow and have alittle talk with 'em?" Charging Bear asks ignorantly.

"Pretty much. It might be easier to draw one to you, though. Fresh kills work best."

Looking into the fire, Charging Bear muses "Something tells me this is going to get difficult and strange quicker than either of us could imagine. Though I've a feeling you're imagination is probably much better at strange than mine."

After a moment or two of looking into the flames the native son stands and looks to the shaman, "I'd best get going, others are depending on me to do more than just sit here. Too much is already in motion for things to end without blood shed but if there's something I can do to minimize it and I wasn't there to do it..." he lets the words hang there for a moment. "Thank you for your help, I'm not sure I want to see you again but if we do meet hopefully it'll be during happier times."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:57, Thu 14 June 2012.

"Maybe stranger than you can imagine. I've been here a while. I can imagine quite a bit." The shaman chuckles. He points toward a ladder out of the kiva. "I sincerely wish you well. It is a terrible thing to have one's name stolen and used for ill."

With a nod Charging Bear says, "Thank you for your help."

After collecting all the fetishes the shaman gave him, the native son stands and glances up the ladder before he climbs up and out of the kiva.

Charging Bear finds himself looking at a storm-torn landscape as he climbs out of the kiva. It looks a lot like the landscape around Blackthorn...but everything seems more vibrant somehow, more alive. The storm clouds rip across the landscape, sending jagged bolts of lightning tearing through the ground. Winds whip and tear at Charging Bear, and he could swear he heard voices in it. In the distance, crows circle beneath the swollen yellow moon.

When he looks back toward the kiva, he finds that there isn't one. He seems to have crawled out of a coyote den. For an instant, he could swear he sees the shine of eyes from the back of the den, but they're gone in a blink.

Now it's up to Charging Bear. His quest awaits.

((OOC: So...what do you do first?))

Charging Bear adjusts his various weapons and talismans. The dream catcher he wears openly upon his chest, while the Jackalope foot is tied to his gun belt and the coup stick he holds onto as he's not sure if he'll have need of it sooner rather than later.

"So where's a friendly spirit when you need one..." the native son takes out a dollar coin and rolls it over in his hand. He then starts heading towards the crows.


OOC: Pulling chips
09:11, Today: Charging Bear rolled 34,27,1 using 1d35,1d35,1d35, rerolling max with rolls of 34,27,1. Fate Chips.
That should translate to 1 White, Red, and Blue

Fate Chips: White, Red, Blue
This message was last edited by the player at 14:44, Thu 28 June 2012.

Charging Bear creeps towards the circle of crows, climbing a hill swiftly and silently. He has a brief sense of deja vu...then he realizes he has, in fact, experienced this all before. This was the same hill he climbed not long ago (minutes? hours? days? how long was he unconscious for, anyway?). The hill that lead to the circle of crucified bodies. The hill where he'd fought Itza-chu.

Except this time, the crows are there.

The crows aren't normal crows. Most of them seem to have some snake-like features--red, slitted eyes, scaled tales with rattles, fangs in their beaks. They whirl around shrieking ghosts lashed to poles and wagon wheels, diving every so often to pull of chunks of spirit matter from those poor souls unable to free themselves from their bonds.

((OOC: Make a Fear check, + Grit. You're in the Middle Hunting Grounds, so no Fear Level penalty.))

OOC: Fear check coming right up!
07:45, Today: Charging Bear rolled 7,12 using 1d6+2,1d6+2, rerolling max with rolls of 5,(6+4)10. Fear (+2 Grit).

---

"Why did I think for an instant this would be simple?" the native son questions quietly to himself as he watches the strange birds and decides what he should do. Charging Bear looks for something he could use to drive he birds away, a large branch perhaps.

Fate Chips: White, Red, Blue

There's the bare-branched tree he'd hid in before, which would be a prefect source of branches. Of course, driving them all away will be a daunting task, given how many there are around.

"Too many birds to push away but perhaps I can use them to find out where I need to go." The native son looks at the landscape around him, for something of use perhaps a wagon wheel or other large item he can use to cause the birds to flee and leave the poor souls they are tormenting alone.

Fate Chips: White, Red, Blue

There certainly are a number of wagon wheels and large poles about...but unfortunately for Chargign Bear, those same items have been sunk partway into the ground and have the squirming, screaming souls of people in torment tied to them, which means those are where the crows are the thickest. But there's also a large stack of wood in the center of the circle of crucified souls. It looks like it was built for a bonfire, though it's currently unlit. There's plenty of loose wood and boards there, and there might be some way of setting it alight, which could potentially help drive the birds away.

The trouble is that he'd have to get to it first.

Cursing himself for not having matches, Charging Bear realizes that they might not work in the spirit world anyway. "Wait..." the native son mutters as he begins to look about, as he was pretty sure he'd seen flint on this hill last he was here.

OOC: Looking for the basic bits to make fire... aka flint and fuel (twigs/leaves/etc)

Fate Chips: White, Red, Blue
This message was last edited by the player at 16:05, Tue 17 July 2012.

((OOC: Would you have had any of that on you when you were yanked into the Hunting Grounds? Anything you were personally carrying when you got pulled here would still be with you.))

Searching his pockets, Charging Bear finds a match box. He gives the box a light shake to see if there are actually any matches inside. The clack of wood answers his un-vocalized question. Opening the box, Charging Bear hopes he didn't put back dead matches....