Devil's Tower

***OOC: Be sure to label the subject line of every post with either "Open" or the names of the chars that are involved in a particular thread! This will help eliminate confusion and let you know what threads are up for grabs!***
Who: Anyone and everyone who’s in Sundance at the time!
What: St. Patrick’s Day/Spring party!
Where: The Trading Post
When: Saturday
Why: Because it’s fun!

In the warmer months the Trading Post is almost always busy, full of drifters and members from every tribe who come there to barter, socialize, and a whole host of other things. It’s generally a peaceful place since it exists in neutral territory and everyone who comes there seems to have an understanding of an unspoken truce. The Trading Post is a large park the sits on the banks of the Belle Fourche river. There are picnic tables, a delapidated swingset and monkey bars, old grills, and of course trader stands. There’s also a dock there, but it is understood to belong to the River Runners, as it’s where they are docked most of the year and those wishing to use it usually have to give the RR a token of some kind, or at least ask nicely.

The St. Patrick’s Day/ Spring party was not planned or hosted by any tribe. The whole things seemed to have come about on its own, first as a rumor and then with complete strangers and tribe members alike planning for it. Saturday morning the place was busy with people decorating in any way that they could. The place was strung with streamers of all different colors, some torn and ratty. There were candles, and lanterns strung about and a few different musicians set up throughout the park. By the time the sun set the park was teaming with people, more people than it had seen in years. Between the boos and the open admission there was no telling what the night would hold.

WHO: Azrael, Ace, and Slick
WHEN: Sunday afternoon
WHERE: Mountain Lion Lodge, conference room.
WHAT: Those crafty baddies are at it again. They're getting restless.

Today was one of those days for Azrael - a rare one, when he wasn't quite as calm and collected as usual. He couldn't sit still, and there was a manic glint in his eye that scared off everybody he came across. Not that Az wanted to talk to the commoners anyway. There were only two people he wanted to talk to right now. There was plotting to be done.

He sent somebody insignificant out to find his two best friends and partners-in-crime when he was sure he was done with what duties they had for the day. Knowing them, those consisted of tormenting the rest of the Lodge in some form or another. This was the kind of day that was most dangerous for all three of them. Whatever demon possessed the triad's usual voice of reason from time to time didn't care much about reason at all. Azrael was still as calculating as ever, in this kind of mood, but more reckless. He wanted action. Results. He was going to get them, no matter what it took.

Az paced while he waited for Slick and Ace to join them in their usual meeting room, though he usually would've been standing still to greet them, watching the rainwater drizzle down the window. He didn't care about the weather much today; there was no time for brooding.

Who: OPEN to all Mountain Lions
What: Christmas festivities!
When: Christmas Day, from mid-morning to night.
Where: The main room of the Lodge.
Rating: We've got it all, man - language, sexual references, very heavy drug use...

Azrael sat in an armchair by the fire in the main room of the Lodge, looking out at the people milling around the room. His people - all of them. There seemed to be more of them than he remembered, when they were all together in one room, but nobody was out of place. He remembered each one, and the circumstances under which they had come to be a part of the tribe. Not all of them lived in the Lodge, though, and those who lived elsewhere he saw even less often than those who lived at home base.

They had all gathered together today to observe that most wretched of archaic holidays. If Az had his way, Christmas would've died out with the adults. He had hated this time of year when he was growing up, because it meant that everybody who was anybody felt compelled to throw ridiculous and redundant parties, which he in turn was compelled to attend. His family never spent any more time with each other than was absolutely necessary, even at Christmas, but they went through the motions of tradition for show, and there were a good eighteen years of picturesque greeting cards of the attractive and perfect Fraser family out there to prove it. Azrael had thus spent every Christmas he could remember since his family bought the Lodge in this building, with too much brandy and eggnog and forgettable girls who managed to corner him under the mistletoe. He'd spent each one of those parties preoccupied with plotting as quick and inconspicuous an escape as possible.

Now that he was in charge, Az could've just decided that Christmas would not be celebrated in the Lodge. However, he had to accept the fact that the holiday was an element of the old world that wouldn't be easily forgotten. Those with happy memories of the day liked to carry on their family's traditions, or take the time to reminisce. Those who were like Az - those who didn't like to remember, for whatever reason - tended to appreciate the opportunity to drink as much as possible. Surveying his tribe, Azrael had to admit that even though he thought the holiday itself was useless and outdated, it did put most people in better spirits than normal. There was a Christmas tree, decked out in the decorations preserved in the basement of the Lodge, and holly and garlands and mistletoe, and food, drink and alcohol enough for the entire tribe to have an all-day party.

People had been wandering in and out of the Lodge as they pleased, but as lunchtime approached, they had pretty much full attendance. Several had said hello to him so far, and most who took notice of him seemed to be waiting for him to do something. It was understandable; most of his tribe only saw him when he had something to tell them. Really, Azrael just thought that he should make an appearance, and wasn't really planning on saying anything. He would've been perfectly fine just sitting with his drink - which may have been intended to be eggnog, but it tasted kind of funny, and then he'd added a generous shot of moonshine and after that he couldn't taste much of anything - but what was one more Christmas toast? He'd only had to make one every year since he was about fourteen, after all.

Azrael heaved a quiet sigh, and then stood up. The people nearby grew quiet, looking at him expectantly, and the hush spread gradually throughout the room. It always amused him when he didn't actually have to do anything, and he held back a smile.  "To the Mountain Lions," Az toasted, raising his glass to his audience. "Merry Christmas." He knocked back the remainder of his drink as the words were echoed throughout the room. It wasn't exactly a profound oration, but it was short and sweet and very Azrael.

Who: Ace, Slick, and Azrael
What: The gathering of the Mountain Lions. The important ones anyway...
When: Wednesday Afternoon
Where: Lodge Conference Room
Status: Complete

Ace had arrived at the conference room long before the agreed upon meeting time because he had nothing better to do and he was eager to get on with things, they'd put this off long enough. While he sat waiting he repeatedly bounced a rubber ball against the wood-paneled wall.

-bounce- -thunk- -catch-

It was a nervous habit he'd picked up in junior high and never let go of. It was rather juvenile, yes, but it was also extremely satisfying. The noise. The repeated motion. The fact that it often drove other people crazy but there was nothing they could say about it because he out-ranked them...

-bounce- -thunk- -catch-

Now that Danni had returned to the Lodge, Ace was in a noticeably better mood. Of course it would hardly have been possible for him to be in a worse mood; he'd spent the last six days brooding and snarling at anyone who was unlucky enough to cross his path. Now he was nearly back to his usual self. Not that Ace was typically a shining ray of sunshine, but he was at least civil and even friendly to those he deemed worthy of friendliness. He wasn't especially patient though, even at the best of times.

-bounce- -thunk- -catch-

Azrael wanted them all to talk about things. Fine, they'd talk. Then when the time for talk was over, it would be time for action. That was what Ace was really waiting for.

WHO: Azrael and Slick
WHEN: Thursday afternoon
WHERE: Mountain Lion Lodge
WHAT: Getting ready for a snowstorm.

Wolf "On his high as the" Skyhorse, may disapprove of Azrael's methods of command, but for the Mountain Lions, they were quite effective. The fact that he was always in his office or not far from it made him easy to track down in the event of an emergency. The weather had taken an abrupt turn for the worse around lunchtime, and instead of a calm December snow as they'd had the day before, the stuff was coming down in harsh sheets. Azrael couldn't see a thing out of his office window, and to quote the old song, "it doesn't show signs of stoppin'." He had been informed the moment it started, and the troops had been mobilized, retrieving all the wood the place could carry, just in case they were snowed in for the long haul.

Azrael was quite comfortable directing all of this from his office, giving orders to anybody who poked their head in with a question. After about an hour and a half of this, the questions became fewer as the soldiers fell into an efficient routine. Az himself was not a fan of the cold, so he sat in front of the fire in his office, legs propped up on another plush chair with a book open in his lap, and a cigarette forgotten in one hand. As usual, his attention wandered, mentally checking and double-checking everything they'd need to do for another winter. The blizzard had come early, but it wasn't unexpected. This was a piece of cake, compared to the tribe's first winter. Azrael didn't like repeating mistakes, so he didn't; it was as simple as that. Well, simple as something that involved a lot of hard work and planning and headaches could be. Azrael really missed things like Tylenol.

Who: Libby and anybody/everybody!
What: Library Winter Slumber Party
When: Early Tuesday Evening
Where: Sundance Library

The shelves looked nice enough to the untrained eye; everything had been righted and the books put back up somewhat close to where they belonged. with her arrival Saturday, Libby really did not have all that much time to set her beloveds in their proper order, but the fact that they were off the floor gave her some comfort. With that task out of the way, she had spent the day shoving desks and chairs against the walls to make enough room on the upper floor for everyone to congregate, or at least enough room for the attendees to establish little territories to keep some stability. To say Libby felt nervous would have been a great understatement. She was eager to bring all the tribes together, but knew such a thing would not happen easily. Who could guess what would happen that evening, or if anybody besides her own tribe would show up.

Though she had requested that everyone bring their own provisions and sleeping materials, Libby had gathered what extra blankets, pillows, and food she could get. With winter already upon them (and it wasn't looking too bright either), they had to be careful not to be too lenient with their rationing. Then again, how could she expect the other tribes to trust the Wolves if they were stingy with their own supplies? For their little world to remain safe, everyone would need to cooperate. It would only take one weak link to destroy everything they had built.

Rolling up the sleeves of her cream turtleneck sweater, she made a simple sign on a white piece of paper, which read, "All are welcome!" and stuck it to the glass of the front door to the library. Then, with an old shawl wrapped around her shoulders, Libby paced the rows of bookshelves, reorganizing the books into their proper order, and waited for her guests to arrive. "If tempers raged and a fight broke out, at least the activity would keep everybody warm should the heating fail," her queer sense of humor pointed out. That was a main point, after all: work together, keep warm.