DATE:  Wednesday, October 8, 1997
Place:  Around the Story Tree

---- Recall start ----

Robert enters from the forest.
Robert raises an eyebrow as he re-enters the clearing. "You're the only one 
   who bothered to show up?"
JJ Malone leans against the tree smoking, and gives a shrug, checking her 
   watch quickly. "Appears so," she says in her husky voice.
Robert rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "That's why I headed out for a bit, 
   to take care of a few things and see if anyone else would bother to show. I 
   suppose it was hoping too much," he adds, in an only slightly bitter tone.
Shadow-of-Blood enters from the forest.
Shadow-of-Blood pads into the clearing, finds a clear spot in the grass, turns 
   around a few times, and lies in the grass, awaiting the arrival of any of 
   the others.
JJ Malone gives Robert an assessing sidelong glance, but says nothing in 
   return, seeming to be more comfortable hanging in the background. The Red 
   Talon gets a brief once over, then the cropped-haired blonde returns to 
   smoking her cigarette and looking totally out of place in the woods.
Anne enters from the forest.
Shadow-of-Blood sneezes once, then looks over at the Glass Walker's cigarette. 
   I do not foul your Scar, even if I could. Do not foul the woods.
"Bite me, kid," she tells the lupus without even looking over at him, her tone 
   bored and distracted without the least bit of anger. She does, however, 
   give the Warder a glance, one easy to interpret to the skilled.
Shadow-of-Blood gets to his feet and pads over towards the Glass Walker, 
   looking for all the world as if he intends to take her up on her suggestion.
Anne slips into the compound quietly, limping a little.
Robert looks at the lupus and says authoritatively, "Not now. Small 
   compromise." with a glance at JJ, he continues, "That's the last one, and 
   it'll be put out completely when she's done, and carried away to be 
   disposed of out of the woods. As I'm sure," he adds, "that she does 
   already." He pauses for a moment, then offers, "Or you can take it up with 
   me."
Shadow-of-Blood growls low in his throat, first at JJ, then at the Warder, but 
   reluctantly pads back over to where he was lying before, hackles still 
   ominously raised.
Alexander enters from the forest.
JJ Malone's hand twitches reflexively to the lapel of her coat as 
   Shadow-of-Blood's intentions become clear, stayed by Robert's intercedence. 
   Distraction and boredom is gone, replaced with the subtle glow of many an 
   ahroun's banked Rage, directed at the young wolf. She jerks her gaze away, 
   and gives Robert a shallow nod, then a snort. "I'm not stupid," she says 
   low, agreeing with him, but a touch sullenly anyway. She continues to give 
   Shadow-of-Blood disconcerting, mirror-shaded glares from her place 
   half-hidden against the tree.
Joseph enters from the forest.
Quiet enters from the forest.
Brian enters from the forest.
Robert only spares the briefest of glances at his watch as the quartet of 
   other Elders comes into the clearing, then asks the collective group, 
   "Well, we have a majority now. Anyone know whether any of the others can or 
   can't make it?"
JJ Malone, half in shadows leaning against a tree on the fringes of the 
   gathering, a dwindling stub of a cigarette betraying her position, makes no 
   answer.
Anne shakes her head slightly; her voice is low, as she eases herself down to 
   a seat. "No idea."
Alexander shakes his head silently.
Joseph shakes his head as well.
Brian shakes his head in answer as he warms his fingers with his breath.
Quiet has not seen any other Elders, this evening. She has no messages.
Robert nods slowly, accepting the lack of answers as enough of an answer 
   itself. "Very well. We'll continue, though I dislike not having the input 
   of nearly half of the elders, and thus half the tribes, of the sept." With 
   a smile, he glances up at the moon, noting, "Right night for discussion, at 
   least." As he looks around at the gathered group, he states, "At the last 
   moot, I mentioned that the possibility of renaming the caern, due to its 
   death and rather ... dramatic rebirth, and asked everyone to speak with 
   their tribes about the possibility and new names. Anne, have you done so?"
Anne lifts her hands, palm upwards. "We agree that the caern should be 
   renamed. It is no longer the Wheel of the Wendigo, or even the Wheel that 
   it was before."
Joseph's gaze shifts toward the Fury elder, but the Wendigo says nothing.
Robert nods slowly, accepting the answer and the reasons without question for 
   now. "Any suggestions?" he prompts the Fury elder.
Anne shrugs slightly. "Nothing worth repeating. Some wit - I forget who - 
   suggested 'Hidden Valley Ranch', for instance."
Robert coughs politely, then turns to Quiet. "Moon-Laughs-Quiet? I think you 
   have spoken with some...."
Quiet has. One tribemate suggested the name of Gaia's Breath, to honor our new 
   totem. And the other name may have been given in play, but it is also true 
   that we are well-hidden.
Robert smiles. "I would prefer just 'Hidden Valley' before the 'Ranch' part, 
   speaking just for myself, and even that may be, in a way, giving away more 
   of the location of the caern than we would wish. Brian?"
"The Fianna," Brian says, "don't really have much of a preference whether the 
   caern's renamed or not. They feel it's appropriate, certainly, but not 
   necessary." He pauses a moment before adding, with a slightly sheepish 
   smile, "We had a lot of suggestions, but none that I'd feel very good about 
   repeating in mixed company."
Robert chuckles, then turns to look at JJ. "And from the Glass Walkers?"
JJ Malone snorts, bemused suddenly. "You're looking at them," she says with 
   flippant sarcasm, then, "Only idea I came up with is 'Misty Vale'. Kind of 
   a play on words. Probably beyond some of our more feral kin, though."
Shadow-of-Blood's hackles raise slightly again, but he doesn't quite growl at 
   the Walker this time.
Robert nods speculatively at the suggestion, turns his attention to the Talon. 
   "And speaking of some of our more feral kin...."
Shadow-of-Blood and the Talons believe that the caern is not the same caern, 
   in smell, in sight, in feel. The name should change. It matters little what 
   the new name is.
Robert nods again, then turns to Alexander. "Opinions? Suggestions?" he asks.
Alexander shakes his head slowly. "I asked, but Cutter was silent as usual. 
   And Dillan wasn't-- as usual. I don't really want to offer up the 
   suggestions made by the same guy who named his pack Totem 'Snoop Foggy 
   Fogg.'"
JJ Malone says with sardonic humor, "Oh, why not. It's part of his charm."
Robert smiles, and gently notes, "He does have a connection with Fog already. 
   However, I would agree that names of that sort would be ... problematic to 
   the more conservative elements among the Garou, but here and abroad." He 
   finishes by turning to face Joseph, asking, "And the Gatekeeper?"
Anne shoots Alexander a quick grin.
Shadow-of-Blood would evidently, from his uncomfortable expression, be 
   considered in that 'conservative' grouping.
Joseph lifts his chin at the use of the title, but takes a moment before 
   answering. "The only suggestions I, or my fellow Wendigo came up with had a 
   certain..Wendigo flavor to them. I think the Sept, overall, would maybe 
   like to get away from that." He pauses to look around. "Not that I think 
   any of you would mind such names, but this, I think, is a time to look more 
   to the future than the past."
Quiet flicks her ears wryly. She seems to find more amusement in the 
   recounting than might be obviously apparent.
Brian bows his head slightly; his brow furrows as he mutters quietly to 
   himself, and then remarks, "I suppose you all would shoot me if I suggested 
   something in Irish, wouldn't you."
Robert favors Brian with a wry smile. "Would you be offended if I suggested 
   something in French or German?"
Anne makes a gun shape with her fingers and points at Brian. "Pow! Actually, 
   no, but it wouldn't have much meaning to the rest of us. I could suggest a 
   few Greek names."
JJ Malone snorts again, bemused, but seems content and maybe even happy to 
   remain where she is, out of the middle of things.
Quiet says that it should be a name that could be said in all forms.
Brian chuckles sheepishly, and runs a hand back through his hair. "The only 
   suggestion so far that really appeals to me is Gaia's Breath, but I worry 
   that it's much too short a step between that and bad breath jokes for some 
   of our more irreverent cousins."
Anne remarks, "I like Misty Vale, or something like, oh, I don't know. My 
   brain's shut down. Gaia's Breath, hrm, well, if we were Wind instead of 
   Fog, maybe."
Quiet says dryly, It will not be much worse than the tribemate of mine that 
   suggested the ~Wheel Recycled.~
Robert nods at Quiet with a smile. "I'd heard that one and 'Wheel Reforged'."
Brian appears to mull things over for a moment, then suggests, "Mist's 
   Promise."
Anne slants a look at Brian. "Or Wyld's Promise," she mutters, with a glance 
   at Quiet.
Robert looks back and forth at Brian and Anne. "Wyldmist, combining the two."
Quiet looks discomfited. She then says slowly, if we are to speak of the 
   promises by the Wyld, I like Hidden Walk. If any of us had truly seen the 
   path and dangers, we would not have walked it. I think.
"I approve of that." Brian throws his support behind the idea hastily. "It's 
   also pretty descriptive of the place itself."
Anne appends, "Without being so descriptive as to be, well, revealing, which 
   was one of the objections to the Valley or even possibly Vale ideas."
Robert nods. "It works in several ways, literally and metaphorically."
JJ Malone mutters something under her breath, and shifts her weight against 
   the tree, subsiding back into the protective blanket of the fringe.
Anne rakes a hand through her hair, stopping in a tangle and fretting over it. 
   "Hidden Walk or Hidden Path?"
Shadow-of-Blood tilts his head to one side, considering the feel of such a 
   name. Acceptable.
Brian says, after a moment, "I prefer the latter, myself."
Quiet says it depends on whether you wish to talk about the caern's recent 
   history, and perhaps the way our totem will make himself known. Or if you 
   wish to talk more of its physical nature. A walk is the wolves, a path is 
   the place.
Anne's expression alters from interested to confused as Quiet speaks. "Er, 
   yeah. Right. Huh?"
Shadow-of-Blood prefers Hidden Walk. The walk is ongoing. The path is not.
Quiet flicks her tail, then says only that such speaking does not come across 
   well in this form. Just, the walking is what wolves do. The path is the 
   place they walk.
JJ Malone speaks up again from her 'hiding' place. "Prefer Hidden Walk, 
   myself," she says, then lapses into silence again.
Hope-Star enters from the forest.
Robert considers the differences, then nods. "'Hidden Walk' fits nicely." As 
   another wolf comes into the clearing, he glances at her, then smiles 
   slightly. "Sepdet. Good evening. Representing your elder this evening?"
Hope-Star slinks in a bit skittishly, discreet entrance rather ruined by a 
   loud popping of twigs. She dips her eyes in quiet affirmation. Yes, 
   unfortunately.
Hope-Star contorts and blurs as she is transformed.
Hope-Star shifts into Glabro form.
Robert explains to the Strider, "We have been discussing renaming the caern, 
   considering the changes through which it has gone. Have you any opinions or 
   suggestions to convey?"
Sepdet props a hand on Joseph's shoulder and settles herself. She shrugs. ~It 
   keeps its real name hidden anyway,~ she muses. ~I thought "Veil of Mists" 
   might suit, for the ambiguity in man's tongue might suit Fog's fancy, but I 
   have heard no other suggestions.~
Anne interjects, "The latest suggestions are Hidden Path and Hidden Walk."
Sepdet's eyes tighten a fraction at the names, but she nods and looks around 
   at the others. 
Robert prompts the Strider, "Reactions?"
Sepdet ducks her eyes again. ~They ring true...though they remind me of 
   another Hidden caern. I just keep wishing we could think of fit words to 
   recall the way the new place was forged, through desperation, battle, rite 
   and splitting earth. That night should not be forgotten.~
Alexander finally speaks up, "The Wheel Renewed had nothing to do with what 
   happened the night it was opened, though that night wasn't forgotten 
   either."
Anne agrees, tone very dry, "Without a name of fifty words or more, I doubt we 
   could. Is it not the job of a specific auspice to remember such momentous 
   events?"
Shadow-of-Blood shifts very slightly, with a glance at the Glass Walker and a 
   flick of an ear showing his agreement with her.
Sepdet mutters, ~Sundered Stone,~ testing one more idea before nodding to 
   Anne.~I don't know. As you say, Rhya, words are best left to the Galliards. 
   Anyway the name of Hidden Path will help remind all to the newest cub of 
   our veil of secrecy, which is well.~
Anne resumes working on her tangled hair. "I like Hidden Path better than 
   Walk, because to me, a path does _not_ necessarily end. And we cannot, in 
   any case, see this one. Walk means something too obscure for me, in 
   context. I'm not married," a brief smile crosses her lips, "to the one over 
   the other, though."
JJ Malone's gaze seems to rest on Shadow-of-Blood, then suddenly smirks in 
   bemusement, relaxing somewhat against her tree.
Sepdet still seems faintly disconcerted by the name, but turns her gaze 
   towards Brian and Robert without further comment.
Brian draws a breath, and looks over at Robert. "Your call, I should think."
Quiet seems satisfied, even if she has thrown her opinion in with 'Hidden 
   Walk.'
Robert nods, thinking out loud. "A small handful for Hidden Path, and a small 
   handful for Hidden Walk. Unlike my normal modus operandi, I'd prefer to 
   have a statement saying, 'it's this,' rather than having the entire sept 
   vote, which would be nothing short of cacophony. The Caern of the Hidden 
   Walk it is."
Anne nods acceptingly, one corner of her mouth moving downwards slightly. "I 
   wanted to bring up one other thing before we go," she says, glancing around 
   to the others.
Alexander turns his attention to Anne.
Anne fiddles with the lock of hair she's been untangling. "Some moons ago, we 
   made a decision, with which I was unhappy," she says; her expression is a 
   mix of discomfort and determination. "I am not happy with what I want to 
   suggest, either, but our situation has changed so drastically that I think 
   it has to be brought up. Namely, Crystal's chiminage. Things have changed; 
   in several months, she has done a lot of work to help us, including her 
   help in all of the Rites and such as needed for the restoration of the 
   caern. I want her gone; don't think I don't. But I also wonder if, with our 
   very changed situation and the work she's done, the previous chiminage 
   requirements might be better off waived." The downward turn to her mouth 
   lends strength to her statement of disliking what she's saying, even as she 
   makes her way through the words.
Alexander looks around before commenting, "She's already completed my part. As 
   far as I'm concerned, she can stay."
Sepdet frowns in faint puzzlement, studying the other's reactions to the 
   mentioned Garou as much as to the question.
Quiet says she has not finished what I asked her to do, but I have no 
   objection.
Anne turns her gaze from the other two elders of the chiminage-required tribes 
   to Brian and Robert.
Robert shrugs. "Fine by me," he concedes.
Brian folds his arms across his chest wearily rather than confrontationally. 
   "I've been mulling that over for the past while," he says. "I'm not 
   convinced anymore that we did the right thing back when. I mean, holding 
   them to different standards of chiminage than we hold anyone and everyone 
   else." He pauses, glances down at his feet, and shrugs. "She's done more 
   than enough to convince me that she should be permitted to join the sept. I 
   doubt I'd be particularly happy with her as a Warder, but I'd rather cross 
   that bridge if and when we come to it."
Anne's expression changes to sardonic amusement at Brian's first few 
   sentences, but she stays quiet about whatever the source of that amusement 
   is. Instead, she asks when he's done, "I'll tell her, then, when I see her, 
   or would you rather?"
"Be my guest," Brian answers Anne.
JJ Malone's hand twitches towards her pocket, and half pulls out a packet of 
   cigarettes before she remembers herself and hurriedly thrusts them back in. 
   "Sure, fine. Who is this again?" she asks, although it's so quietly and 
   sarcastically, and said to herself, that she can't seriously be asking it 
   aloud.
Anne nods, and spreads both hands out again, palms down. "Thank you. As I 
   said, I don't _want_ her to stay, but in honor..." She shrugs, and adds, 
   "That's all I wanted to ask. Or say."
Shadow-of-Blood wonders if that will be all?
Robert looks around at the gathered group. "Any other items that need to be 
   brought up?"
Anne shakes her head slightly.
Alexander shakes his head.
Sepdet shakes her head in a quick negative, still mulling over the simple 
   words.
Brian shakes his head as well. "Not from me," he says.
Quiet seems content.
Robert nods. "Thank you all, then, and have a good evening."
Anne nods quickly, murmurs a farewell, and slips back into the woods.

---- Recall end ----