Explanations

The Death of Billy Stapleton, Tuggeranong and The Poetry of Meetings are all in character writings and songs for my Werewolf the Foresaken character William S. Whitman, all are accounts of in-character battles, deaths and meetings.

The Death of Billy Stapleton

In the shadow of Goulbourn Gaol, against the bloodshed of violence, Billy stood alone,

Armed with his gun, the packs on the run, the line still to be drawn

With a Gun in his hand, Billy faced that Spirit down.

Three stands I have known Billy Stapleton to make,

The first took his life.

Those who did that deal, don’t deserve their renown

Deep in the Hawkesbury, between fire and water, Billy led the packs against that spirit born,

At the call of the lone Hunter, whose pack mates had fallen, the line would be drawn

With a Gun his in hand, Billy shot that Spirit down.

Three stands I have known Billy Stapleton to make,

The first took his life.

Those who did that deal, don’t deserve their renown

In his territory of Canberra, when fools do deals, the Spirit Bastard is born,

Billy Stapleton said, that they had passed the line, I’ll face that Bastard, my Gun drawn

With a Gun in his hand, Billy failed, did not gun that Horror down.

Three stands I have known Billy Stapleton to make,

The first took his life.

Those who did that deal, don’t deserve their renown

Deep in the night, where the Wolves howl, that Bastard made Billy Stapleton’s stand his last

With botched deal done, the child pursued its mind, no line left to be drawn

And, those who did that deal, surely brought Billy Stapleton down

Three stands I have known Billy Stapleton to make,

The first took his life.

Those who did that deal, don’t deserve their renown

Tuggeranong

Morning Flame, I have a story about the Foresaken of Canberra starting to do something they should have been doing for a while now. It is about the opening battle for our fight for Tuggeranong. This is how it goes…

Canberra’s packs stood tall on the night of the Crescent Moon, against the Izidakh of Gurim-Ur in Tuggeranong.

Of the Jyndabine Road Warriors that entered the fray: the Killing Moon of the Suthar Anzuth – Raff, known as Guts‑Lie‑On‑Ground - led the packs; the Gibbous Moon of the Iminir – Dave, known as Burrows‑Through‑Flesh - blazed with rifle. The Crescent Moon of the Hirfathra Hissu - Speaker‑to‑the‑Winds - gunned down the enemy; the Full Moon’s Meninna – Sam, known as Mighty‑Bound - leapt upon the foe and; the Thihirtha Numea – Evan - killed the Pure. All took to the field of battle to win renown.

Of the Mercury Wolves, their Suthar Anzuth: the Gibbous Moon – William known as Dances‑with‑Gauru - stood his ground and; the Half‑Moon – Danny known as Flies‑off‑the‑Handle - charged into battle; both came at the call to arms, to honour their brothers of the Suthar Anzuth.

And, from the Pack With No Name, whose territory they fought for: the Suthar Anzuth’s New Moon – Ryan known as Luna’s‑Defender - who Rages for the Moon; led the way under darkness into the territory of Gurim‑Ur’s Izidakh.

Showing cunning Guts‑Lie‑On‑Ground devised a plan to lure the Izidakh into the streets; positioning his pack‑mates to rain gunfire onto the poisoned enemy, he gave out his orders.

Paying respect to each auspice, Dances‑with‑Gauru suggested their brother Suthar Anzuth of the New Moon, enter the battle stealthily to understand the lay of the land, and the designs of those they had come to attack.

Then, the Alpha of the Road Warriors ordered the Foresaken to battle, and took the Suthar Anzuth into the streets of Tuggeranong to draw out the foe.

Luna’s-Defender, under the cloak of darkness, led the way – Guts‑Lie‑On‑Ground and Flies‑Off‑the‑Handle crossed the burnt territory behind him; Dances‑with‑Gauru and Mighty-Bound guarded the street watching for ambush. Burrows‑Through‑Flesh, Speaker‑to‑the‑Winds and Thihirtha Numea took out their Arms to take the measure of the distance they had to cover.

Luna’s‑Defender spied the inside of the building they targeted, seven adversaries he counted before he entered. Once inside the insult to Luna provoked his rage, Luna’s Fury consumed him, and the battle was joined. The plan disrupted, the Suthar Anzuth charged, and Mighty‑Bound leapt the street while the Road Warriors waited patiently with their guns.

Inside the building Guts‑Lie‑On‑Ground, Flies‑Off‑the‑Handle and Luna’s-Defender were consumed by the Full Moon; faced with Luna’s Rage the Izidakh too entered their war forms and fought. Flies‑Off‑the‑Handle fled the battle at a poisoned bite, Mighty-Bound landed amidst the fight, coming through the window after Guts‑Lie‑On‑Ground threw a diseased Uratha into the street. Luna’s‑Defender dueled in Gauru whilst Dances‑with‑Gauru held the doorway in Dahlu. And, as the first body crashed into the street, Burrows‑Through‑Flesh, Speaker‑to‑the‑Winds and the Thihirtha Numea showered bullets into the first of the People landing below them.

Inside Luna’s‑Defender fought on, dueling the Izidakh who insulted the Moon. Guts‑Lie‑On‑Ground, consumed by the Killing Moon, hurled two more of the poison Uratha into the street, where Burrows‑Through‑Flesh, Speaker‑to‑the‑Winds and the Thihirtha Numea continued to fire. Mighty‑Bound fled, after a bite, and Dances‑with‑Gauru alone held the door against Izidakh outside and inside - landing blows and ducking attacks.

Guts‑Lie‑On‑Ground grappled one of the enemy; gripping him to use as a club to force another into the street. Luna’s‑Defender struck again at his enemy who refused to fall. Outside none of those thrown into the street by Guts‑Lie‑On‑Ground could win past Dances‑with‑Gauru as he fought four of the poisoned Gauru at once. And, the firepower of the Jyndabine Road Warriors continued to fall on the People in the street.

Finally, the Izidakh outside, now joined by their Alpha, charged the door. Dances‑with‑Gauru ceased to dance, and letting Luna take him grappled the Alpha to the ground. The room almost empty, Luna’s‑Defender finally bested his enemy - a shot through the window taking the head from that Izidakh’s shoulders. Guts‑Lie‑On‑Ground tore through brick and mortar to fell the Uratha held by Dances‑with‑Gauru. The last of the Izidakh fled.

The Suthar Anzuth had led the Road Warriors, Mercury Wolves and Pack With No Name to victory over the children of Gurim-Ur in this battle for Tuggeranong.

The Poetry of Meetings

Hey Flame, the Jindabyne Road Warriors have let me stay here a while. If you have any stories to share then cough them up, or if someone has some stories to tell, pass them on, so that I can tell the packs here. I have a few stories, songs and poems, some old ones, and some new.

So where do I start? Well a week ago I answered the call to Sydney by the Coffin Chasers. I was already planning to head there to back up Guts-Lie-On-Ground, Alpha of the Road Warriors. And, I thought I would check out what was going on with them.

The rest of the Mercury Wolves had already headed down there but I was going to turn up late, I had to fix some damage to the Beast, and I thought I would do her up a bit while I was at it.

Anyway, I finally get to Sydney, to the cemetery to meet people, and there are not that many around.

I try to speak to the guy, who claims he is an Alpha from Brisbane, but he has some tickets on himself, so I finally find Burrows-Through-Flesh from the Road Warriors and he tells me that everyone is in a ritual with some Pure. Now that is dodge you know - deals with the Pure seem really popular at the moment - but, everyone should know that deals with the Pure don’t end well. They are, after-all, wanting to wipe out the Foresaken completely.

So, Burrows and I talk a bit about this ritual when I spot a bunch of Japanese sitting in the cemetery. I figure they are Japanese because I have seen plenty of samurai and ninja movies and these people look like they have walked straight out of one of them, which is odd; this is a cemetery in Sydney, not a cemetery in Japan. A cemetery in Japan is where you maybe expect to find a bunch of Japanese samurai looking types.

So, I lead Burrows over there and we sit down for a chat. But, Flame, this is where it gets sticky, these people were not that easy to talk to. They have a translator, I think the daughter of one of them, so we chat through this translator, and I do not think she is translating everything. They say a lot and laugh a fair bit, and we get a bit of it I think, although I think that maybe she left out some of the funnier bits. Anyway, I have been trying to think of a good way to tell you what they said, and what we talked about. So, I spent the last few days thinking about them and I jumped on the net here at the vineyard and searched around. Eventually I found a site about Japanese poetry. Now there are a couple of different types but I liked the short stuff. They are about first impressions, and it is supposed to be simple but complex, all Zen or some such thing, so I wrote some for you, about what we spoke about.

Dry twig touched

the abandoned people;

burnt forever

Lotus:

Between them

Of them

Questions?

The river stone path flows

to mountain calm

Hear no story,

But born between us

a thoughtful word

I am not Japanese, but this stuff makes me feel all mellow and calm. So there you go Flame; Japanese Samurai in a cemetery in Sydney talking about choices and not talking to the Pure. I will tell you something else tomorrow.