Walks All Paths: 4/20/97
"Blind Luck"
The first thing that we noticed after the door closed was that Dog was no longer a dog. He was a man, a tall dark-skinned man who was not able to shift back to his canine form. He told Reuben as much in a voice that did not seem completely pleased. Having been in similarly uncomfortable situations myself I simply shrugged and examined the surroundings.
Renee made Dog some clothes and we set about exploring the grove. Not long into it, someone pointed out that there was a ley line running through the grove. Renee tried meditating for quintessence and was surprised to find that it was quite easily obtained. The others all followed suit and I tried to meditate for gnosis. It rejected me. Cab announced that she was hungry and asked if Renee could create some food. She tried and, instead of a portion of food, we got a recently slaughtered calf. Not one to pass up an opportunity, I proceeded to skin and filet it. Reuben built a fire and we all, except for Reuben and Dog, had a hearty meal.
After we ate and the sun began to set, Cab and I decided to scout the ley line and the surrounding area. Reuben agreed to keep watch while the others slept. After about twenty minutes of exploring in the dark woods, Cab said that she could no longer see. I told her that it was not that dark, but she insisted that she must have gone blind, then she discovered that her magick did not work. I tried to sense for the presence of the Wyrm, but I found that I could not use my gifts. I also noticed that I seemed to slowly be reverting to lupus form. Confused, I took Cab by the hand and headed back to the camp-site. It took about an hour to find our way back, but we finally made it. Reuben came over to meet us and we told him what was wrong, he led us over to the fire, set us down, and woke everyone else. Unfortunately, Renee was not able to help him heal us as she, like all of the others except Reuben and Dog, had been affected.
Reuben decided to try to heal Renee first, but stopped when he realized that she had been infected with a pattern virus, and that it was transferring into him. He immediately burned the magickal virus out of his system, screaming as he did so. He told us to wait for a few minutes while he figured out what to do. That was when the others arrived.
Most of us never saw any of them, and could not really make out what was going on at the time, but Reuben filled us in later. The girl that I heard him talking to was the first of the four that are mentioned in the poem. Apparently Mary was the Second because, after she was cured, she left with the other girl. The cure was a fruit that the girl pulled out of the fire. Reuben gave one to everyone (except for Cab - who needed two) and, after they ate it, they regained their avatar and their magick. The beings who were with the first were the avatars of each member of the group, except for Reuben. I would not eat the fruit as it repulsed my lupine tastes. Renee was going to force feed me when a woman who can only be described as a personification of Gaia came to me and stroked my fur. She then left and I regained my sight and abilities.
Dog had been picking at one of the fruits and tossed the seeds into the fire. As we watched a tree grew up out of the ground and reached up into the clouds. We were all wondering what we were to do next when we noticed that there was a ring of fire surrounding us. Taking this as a hint to leave vertically, we began to climb the tree. Eric decided that it would go much more smoothly if he altered gravity. Unfortunately he did not let us know about this and we all went flying up into the clouds and, as seems normal when one leaves a realm in such a manner, promptly passed out.
©1997 by Thomas Martin
Tom Brady <tabrady@mindspring.com>
Last modified: Sun 3 July 12:09:00 1997 by tabrady