Devil's Tower

Who: Wolf and Gypsy
What: A meeting of thanks and favors
Where: The white house
When: Friday mid-morning

With the end of the holidays, several things seemed to be falling into place for Wolf. He still had his problems of course, Nova, the drifters, and the every day things that came with the position of being a leader in such a world. Still, he felt at least mildly happier. He wasn’t sure where Libby and him stood, but the direction they were headed felt good, and right.

The house and the apartments were still a mess from the parties of the last two weeks. Wolf was fairly clean and organized person so the clutter was kind of getting to him. He half-heartedly picked up some of the bits of newspaper (used as wrapping paper) and dirty glasses and made his way into the kitchen. He’d checked the food supplies last night and although he thought the party was going to hurt them supplies wise he was pleasantly surprised to see that they had more than enough for the next couple of months.

He nudged a few more things out of his way as he made his way from the kitchen to the living room and sat down on the couch to finish his book. A knock on the door drew his attention and with a furrowed brow he sat down his book and went to the door. “It’s Fox, I’ve got Gypsy here.” The voice was muffled from behind the door but he could hear it well enough. Wolf tilted his head in surprise before opening the door. The rush of cold air chilled him and he shivered slightly. “Come in, it’s freezing.”

Who: All the RR who show up at the Christmas time party!
What: Pan provides a feast
Where: The winter camp, farm house living room
When: Thursday morning

Pan had stormed into the living room the afternoon of Christmas Eve and demanded that everyone stay in their respective rooms until he called them down on Christmas morning. Amongst grumbles and suspicious looks he’d more or less gotten people to comply. It was no secret that he’d been busy the last couple of weeks in his Christmas preparations. Pan was always up for a party and he was more than willing to be the one to throw it.

Aside from spending incredible amounts of his time creating paper chains and decorations that were rather… odd, instead of festive, he’d managed to master ice fishing. He’d found a children’s book in the attic the first week of December that had pictures of Eskimos in parkas standing next to ice holes, holding their strings of fish proudly in the air. Pan figured, if they could do it in Alaska, why not in Wyoming? Perhaps not the best logic, but at least no one could ever say that he was lacking in ambition.

He’d become pretty good at it and by the time Christmas was ready to roll around he was somewhat of a master. He had always had an uncanny knack at regular fishing anyway. He’d managed to catch enough fish so that there was at least one for each person. With the shortage of food he was hoping that his contributions would help, at least a little bit. For all the hours he’d had to spend in the cold he hoped they would at least be thankful. It really was a wonder he hadn’t gotten frost bite.

He caught all the fish in the afternoon of Christmas Eve and stored them carefully in a little make-shift ice chest he’d constructed out of snow, near the barn. Thankfully when he awoke at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning no animal had disturbed them. He’d devised a spit that would fit in the fireplace and roast as many as eight fish at a time so he was set to go. He’d completed the nasty task of de-boning and gutting the fish on Christmas Eve as well.

He set one of the Runners the boring task of roasting the fish so that he could enjoy the fruits of his labors. He flitted about the living room on Christmas morning to make sure all his decorations were in place and that he himself was looking properly festive before he trounced down the hall and up that stairs shouting “Wake up you princes (an princesses) of Sundance! You kings of Wyoming!” When he was done with that little parade he marched back down to the living room and managed to turn on the Fisher-Price 45 player he’d found. He even had a few Christmas discs, though the carols were sung by children and more creepy than enjoyable. The electricity in the farmhouse was also rather shaky so every now and then he’d have to jostle the plug and restart the player, but at least there was something.

Who: Gypsy - Narrative
When: Late Saturday Night
Where: Azreal's Room
What: A letter for dear Azreal
Rated: G

Gypsy liked the whole idea of seeming to be not quite real. It was part of her appeal, she was illusive, and a cold was not about to put her down and out of that. Even if she had to nearly sufficate over not sneezing she was not going to bend into seeming like a normal human. A normal human would be curled up under semi-warm blankets, groaning about the fever and the troubles of the world, but not her. She had to be difficult, as Jed would likely put it. Nothing was going to keep her in bed when there was such trouble in the air.

It was a cold walk to the Mountain Lion territory, colder with her fever. The guards that were always posted around the area were easy to slip by. She spent a lot of her free time watching them, it was a game to her, it was even fun getting caught cause usually when they realized who it was they just let her go. Gypsy was not threatening to anyone in the Mountain Lions except perhaps Ace who just found pleasure in annoying.

This was not about her likes and dislikes, this was more about life and not her own. If she cared anything about her own she would be in bed. Instead she was wrapped in warm clothes, she remembered shoes (though there was hardly any traction to them which made her slip on the ice if she was not extra careful), and she had a scarf wrapped around her face to help block out any heavy breathing she might do.

A letter was clutched in her hand. She slipped into dear Azreal's room, making sure he was absent from it first, before laying the carefully written letter onto his bed. It had his name scribbled across the front of it. Her handwriting was neat, cursive, she made the name look decrotative like wrapping paper on a present. It had the faint scent of wild flowers to it, rare, but there were a couple dried and placed inside the envelope. She was a bit of sucker for pretty things. Make bad news smell good.

The letter was placed on his pillow and as quickly as she came into the room she left. It was harder to get out then to get in. She was tired, exhausted, and she barely made it to her bed. She collapsed on the floor in front of it. Dear Hermes whined but the dog was smart enough to curl beside his master to offer her what little warmth he could. She'd wake in an hour to get into her own bed, trying to stifle her coughs so not to disturb others in the house.

( And the letter read )

Who: Jed [Open to any River runners]
What: Jed calls a tribe meeting
When: Saturday evening
Where: The living area of the winter shelter.

Jed had never been one for public speaking. He'd never been one to keep his opinions to himself but having to address the whole tribe about the new pressing issue and possible downfall of the tribe was making his heart beat rather erratic. It wasn't even the eratic excited heartbeat that he had whenever Silver was in the room, nope, it was due to pure fear of the uproar this news could cause...would cause.

He had discussed with Gypsy what needed to be done all of this morning and after she had retired to bed (Jed's idea surprisingly) he walked out and nervously asked everyone to gather all the tribe and meet in the living area. Various faces stared back at him, some with worry already on their faces, some with confusion and some with amusement...though he wasn't quite sure what the cause for the last one was, perhaps a joke he had not been in on. However now was no time for jokes. He stood in front of the old couches and cleared his throat, trying in vain to hush the loud chatters of 'his' tribe members.

"Guys," he spoke letting the lump in his throat fall from his lips and make him sound as if he was choking, "Guys!" he called louder this time, thankful that a hush seemed to fall over them the second time. "Okay I know you are all wondering why you're here," he took a breath....great way to start a speech, or course they were curious! "This morning Gypsy and I walked out to the barn attic where the supplies have been kept for the winter. As you know," he ran a shaky hand through his hair, "As you know the blizzard has been wiping out supplies of and places of refuge for tribes all around and last night it hit us-" he closed his eyes as murmurs broke out through the group, "I don't know how to say this so-" he scratched the back of his neck, "The grain we had left over from the harvest is gone, it's been frozen or blown away, we've got tinned food but it's not going to last us through the winter. We're in trouble but I need you to know that if we can pull together we can 'fix' this, we can make it through,"

The room was not quiet for much longer, people stood up, people panicked, some had so much worry on their face he was concerned the girls of the group were about to burst into tears. All this emotion filling the room was doing nothing for his own nerves. "We need people to branch out and talk to the surrounding tribes, see if we can't ask for their services," he called the words into the loud room feeling them settle in the air but not sink in over the existing noise.

"Guys!" he screeched achieving a lower level of noise than before. "We need to band together, I need volunteers to go to the Lions and try and arrange some sort of extra food supplies, I need people to approach the Twin Feathers and ask for their carpentry services. And I need to know if anybody has any other suggestions or wants to help," he held his breath waiting for people to shout at him, waiting for people to step up...waiting for help.

Who: Jed & Gypsy
What Jed takes the grim task of checking supplies
Where: Barn loft
When: Early Saturday afternoon.

Jed knew the moment he woke up that something bad was going to be divulged today. It was a gut feeling that sent his belly rumbling, and not through hunger like most times. It was also the first morning he hadn't woken up with Silver right by his side, her small body cradled in his arms, keeping him warm when in fact he was the one supposed to keep her warm. He still couldn't have beleived his luck when the smaller girl told him that perhaps this love thing wasn't a bad idea after all, hell she'd made him sweat for it for about ten minutes but he was confident now that even she wasn't exempt from his charm. Jed did admit he got a strange, but far better, feeling seeing her peaceful face when he first cracked his eyes open.

When Jed finally awoke her made his way lazily down the stairs, shoving on an old brown sweater and gripping two odd pairs of hiking socks he'd stolen from another runners room. Living in such cramped conditions made it hard to keep anything to yourself, the only thing that wasn't included in that rule was girls...well now anyway. The weather outside did surprise Jed somewhat, as the snow had begun to clear patches of dirt could be seen marking the white as if somebody had spit dark paint all over a white canvas. He thought that was the most poetic thought he'd ever had.

He wasn't alone down in the living area, a few other kids and tribe members were all sitting around enjoying the coffee they'd managed to save for times like these and he told them where he was headed. Some of them look at him letting him know they had the same feelings as he did but he tried to smile reassuringly, telling the younger ones that it was time for him to play big boss, while bigger boss was out of action, and that this was simply a task that would mostly take time out of his day more than anything else. Nobody but the children seemed convinced. He'd known it was a long shot. The tribe weren't stupid.

The walk over there had been warmer than the last time he'd ventured over the snowy lands, he didn't suspect that his butt would be subject to the cold hard floor this time, and was thankful for that because it was still kinda sore. Through the light mist of all the heavy air Jed could see the barn, he could see the barn and the giant hole in the roof...he took in a deep breath. This was not looking to be good at all. Prizing open the large doors he hot footed it towards the ladder and hoisted himself up on the platform. He could have cried if he'd been any other guy but Jed just clenched his jaw and felt like punching something. Gypsy was going to go crazy.

It was all gone, all they had saved up was gone because of that stupid storm and the inability to find a better storage place. The grain had been blown away, it had been lost in amongst the dirt and strands of hay that were still scattered around. What wasn't blown away was frozen and he sighed heavily, a dark cloud looming over him. For the first time in a long time he wished Gypsy was here because he sure as hell had no idea what to do next. It was time for a tribe meeting.

Who: Lucky and Gypsy
When: Saturday afternoon
Where: Whichever boat Gypsy's on.
What: Catching up, asking questions.

Lucky found himself with nothing to do, for the third time in as many days. Things were far too quiet, and he'd finished the books he'd taken from the library in town and wanted to return them and take others. Sneaking into town again might be risky, though, so he went looking for Gypsy. If he was as lucky as his name implied, she'd send him on some errend to the Wolves and he'd get his chance to be in town with good reason. Also, he had a few ideas he wanted to ask her about, if she was in a good mood.

"Gypsy? Gypsy! You busy?" Dumb question, she was usually busy, but Lucky' learned early never to barge in on her. It was either embarrassing as hell, or led to yelling. "Gypsy!"

Who: Silver, Gypsy
Where: In town, eventually
When: Mid-morning on Tuesday
Why: Silver has someone she wants to visit


Silver had already decided before going to bed the night before that she wasn't doing any work on Tuesday. She didn't often go into town, mostly because she was afraid of getting abducted or worse, but there was something she hadn't done in a while and figured she should get it done before the weather got too cold and she wouldn't want to anymore. Her pack was ready by the door of her boat when she woke up, early, as usual, but she just relaxed around the room for a while. She was feeling antsy because she was so used to her routine, but she knew the feeling would pass eventually. The antsy feeling might also have been caused by the fact that she was planning on asking Gypsy to go with her, something she hadn't ever done for a trip like this.

There was always the looming association she made between town and her family. It was where her father's house was and where she had gone to school, though only for a few months before things got really bad. She always felt as though she should be allowed to just walk through, because she had been a citizen, but really she knew better. Things were very different now. She doubted anyone from her high school even remembered her, if they were still around.

She decided it was late enough and time for Gypsy to get up anyway, so she grabbed her pack, swung it over her shoulders with much difficulty, and left her room. The pack had a purpose, and it would seem stupid to anyone else but her, she was sure, but it's contents were part of the reason why she was leaving. She'd carried the heavy pack into town a few times before and it was never easy, but it was what she wanted to do. She moved off the boat and onto the bank, moving up the river slowly until she reached her sister's boat. She climbed out onto it easily, never feeling unwelcome but always cautious because she knew how her sister could be. She stopped at the door and knocked once before stepping back. She didn't want to just let herself in, despite the fact that Gypsy was family.

Who: Gypsy and Jed
Where: Jed's boat
When: Late Sunday Night (or viewed as extremely early Monday Morning)
Why: A little birdie tells Gypsy that her sister vanished into Jed's boat for two hours, alone. She is assuming the worst and decides to scare him, a lot.

( She could not protect her before... )

Who: Anyone who attends the cage fight (all are invited!)
Where: Mountain Lion Territory, largest warehouse on the Vance Copper Mine property.
When: Saturday from dusk till late into the night
Why: Because gambling and bloodshed is fun!
(((OOC: This post is simply a starter for those of you who want to attend the cage fight. Please post all cage fight related threads here. J)))

Northeast of Sundance lies the open pit Vance Copper Mine. Before the virus it was a busy area. The price of copper had skyrocketed in the last fifteen years and by the time the virus struck the mine was so profitable that it was in operation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. After the virus the mine had become a place of death and fear. The open pit was now nothing more than a yawning coffin, its stepped sides like rows of teeth grinning up at those that dared walk to close to its edge.

The mine warehouse was abuzz with life in a way that it hadn’t been for the past two years. In the center of the fluorescent lit building was an enormous chain-link cage. It’s a square cage of simple construction, complete with a roof to keep competitors from climbing out should things get too intense for them. The Mountain Lions have announced only two rules: There are no weapons allowed and the first person to be knocked out cold loses. The prospect of gambling, even if it is only for minor supplies, drew quite a crowd. There were a lot of drifters there and faces unknown to many of the tribes.

Since a few hours before dusk people have been arriving steadily by walking, the River Runners, or the Mountain Lions’ own horse caravan. When the sun finally sets there is quite a crowd and the warehouse has become noisy with anticipation. The rumor going around was that two drifters the Mountain Lions had personally trained were going to fight first, then things would work on a voluntary basis. Betting was encouraged by all those involved.

One of the Mountain Lions came over a loudspeaker they had managed to rig up and told everyone to be quiet. He explained the two rules, encouraged betting and welcomed everyone that had showed up. The two drifters were finally brought out from the tents that were set up just outside the warehouse. They were naked from the waste up and only one of them had a pair of cotton, fingerless gloves on their hands.

The two boys, who couldn’t have been older than 18 were then let into the cage and the gate locked behind them. At the Mountain Lion announcer’s whim he called on the fight to start and the whole warehouse seemed to erupt with sound as people placed their bets and called to the fighters who began to circle each other nervously.

Who: Ryder and Gypsy
Where: Ryder's cabin on Twin Feathers' turf
When: Saturday afternoon
Why: Gypsy and Ryder meet again, riding lessons maybe?

It had been an interesting week for Ryder to say the least. The rain hadn’t been kind to him, and for once he’d actually envied the tree-top houses of his tribe mates. On Monday his cabin flooded and he more or less had to wait out the rain on his bed unless he wanted to walk around in the four inches of water that decided to take over his floor. Luckily there wasn’t a lot of serious damage done. However, on Tuesday he spent the day attempting to clean up what had been damaged and the winds that day were incredibly strong and cold. By late Thursday his place was more or less back to normal and he couldn’t have been more thankful.

His stroke of bad luck wasn’t over for the week though. On Friday morning he found one of the younger horses stuck almost shoulder deep in mud in a swampy part of the river bank. It took him all day, the help of another Feather, and three horses to pull the young mare out of the mud. By the end of the day he was just as exhausted as the poor creature he’d worked so hard to free. He went to bed rather late and the next morning it was all he could do to heat up some water to clean himself up from yesterday’s escapades. He spent a few hours in the morning cleaning his mud covered clothes and his bedding.

By noon he was exhausted again and all of the muscles in his body ached from yesterday’s events. He climbed into the hammock that hung between the two trees closest to his cabin and almost immediately fell asleep. He was so thankful for the warmer weather. He hated fall and winter.

Who: Wolf and Gypsy
Where: Somewhere near the river and Peri's boat
When: Thursday afternoon
Why: Wolf goes looking for Peri

Wolf was usually good at keeping his emotions in check. He was known for having a fairly level head and good decision making skills. Guilt could be an incredibly strong emotion and when combined with feelings of love, even unrequited love, it could be too strong for even the likes of Wolf. Three days ago Wolf had made a mistake. He’d been comforting Cassi and in his sympathetic embrace one thing had lead to another. They’d kissed. That was all they had done and yet Wolf felt more guilty for that than anything else in his entire life. He’d broken it off almost immediately and left the apartments. He hadn’t seen Cassi since then.

He’d been successful thus far at avoiding her, and he planned to for as long as he could. He was so conflicted it almost made him ill. If the tribe thought he’d thrown himself into his work last week, he was totally consumed by it this week. He fixed everything he possible could around the apartments, the house and even other surrounding buildings. Tribe members who didn’t know him as well as some of the others thought he was just trying to get an early start on things before winter came. He worked almost as fast as his racing mind.

The conflict inside him centered around Peri, as it had for the last two years. Yet this time it was different, it involved someone else. There was a part of him deep inside that was bitter from the way Peri had treated him the last two years or so. He’d bared his heart and soul to her on more than one occasion and what did he get for it? Usually a lot of yelling and being tossed off of a boat. So what was the problem with him kissing another girl? It was no secret that Peri slept with other people, and didn’t she deserve whatever he could have done to hurt her? Part of him said yes, but a greater part of him said no.

His head was spinning all week, but by Thursday he had formulated a final and desperate plan. The last time they’d been together she’d been so tender and open with him that he had enough hope to fuel what was probably a suicide mission. He would go to Peri and tell her everything about his feelings and the direction that he wanted their relationship to go. He would give her a choice, all of him or none of him, once and for all. He did not plan on telling her about Cassi, because he figured she would just laugh at his sentiments concerning it anyway.

So he rode to the river that day to the normal gathering of River Runner boats. He tied his horse to a nearby tree and made his way down to the bank. He saw Peri just as she stepped onto her docked boat. He yelled for her and waved with a smile. He saw her barely glance at him before going inside her boat and shutting the door. He paused for a moment, halfway to the riverbank. He was sure she had seen him, and yet she had ignored him? With a furrowed brow he once again made his way toward her boat.

Who: Gypsy and Peri
Where: The Riverbank//Near Peri's boat
When: Tuesday, at sunset
Why: Gypsy spied Peri walking off with the Wolf at the Halloween party and thinks it is time to begin opperation 'keep Peri and Wolf seperated'

Gypsy knew the two of them had left together at the party and somehow, was not surprised. Just as long as things the little Mountain Lion spy got inside the Wolves Den like was planned. A definate insurance into safety this coming winter. She had gotten little sleep from the party and the after effects of it. But sleep was a comfort she did not find the time to afford. Not now, not when there was so much to do, so much to prepare. She still did not believe they had enough food and did not want to spend another winter coming out to try and ice fish for the better of her tribe. Because no matter how many blankets or jackets she wore, she was still cold, and the slime on the fish eventually froze, it was just... Not a fun time.

But now her attention was focused on Peri who she knew had to come back to boat eventually. Wolf had left hours before looking like the lost puppy he always did after spending a night with Peri. But at least there was no yelling, throwing of objects, and scaring of small children that happened to be playing in the river at god aweful times.

The River Runner leader sat with her legs pulled up to her chest, fingers idley playing with her long hair, looking as if she had all the time in the world. Her dog, Hermes, was jumping around yapping at her to throw a stick but she just stared at him. "I throw the stick and you do not bring it back, you just run after and get another stick, you stupid canine." It whined at her and she just rolled her eyes, giving in, and throwing the stick. The flea-beast darted after it, down the riverbank barking the whole way, as if he had died and gone to dog heaven. Because for a moment that stick was alive and he was about to kill it. Then he was going to bring his master another stick for her to bring to life and throw so he could kill that one.

"Stupid beast.." She muttered with a smile of affection. Though she heard the crunching of leaves and the sign someone else was approaching. It was light, a female body, and she guessed it was the blonde River Runner that had all the boys falling over their tongues for. Typical men. Still she stood to her feet to greet the other with one of her smiles that said so much and so little at the same time. "I can not figure out if dear Wolf falls for the same sin of Lust everytime or if just maybe you inspire more in his noble heart."

Who: Wolf and everyone else that’s at the Halloween party
Where: The Trading Post
When: Halloween late afternoon and into the night
Why: The Wolves are hosting a Halloween party to boost morale

***OOC: Every post that has to do with the Halloween party is to be posted here as a comment to this post. Please put the recipient of your comment in the subject line of your comment. For example, if you’re writing to Zalen, comment on this post and put To Zalen in the subject of your comment. Your comment can also be labeled as Open. If you have questions please contact a mod or another mun that’s online. Also, since it is a party, feel free to jump into someone’s thread. Though you may want to contact the players involved in it first.***


Wolf spent the morning riding along the river in the Mustang’s territory. He often took day-long rides when something was on his mind. This morning that something was the death of a young drifter at the hands of the Mountain Lions. The entire incident had sent such shockwaves through the city that he’d considered cancelling the party. However, after much thought he’d decided to have it anyway. It would be the perfect opportunity for him to make a statement to the Mountain Lions, and the entire community. Of course the Mountain Lions were not invited but he was not stupid enough to believe that at least one of them, or someone working for them, would not be there. That was precisely the reason he was having the party on such neutral grounds to begin with.

He understood the point the Mountain Lions were trying to make by killing the boy. However, he did not agree with the Mountain Lions’ actions. He knew all too well that they could go to extremes, but something so brutal as burning someone alive was still shocking. He had to think of a way of letting them know, subtly, that the Wolves would not stand for such extreme forms of so called ‘justice’, and he had the perfect plan in mind.

In this new world it was every man for himself, whether that man was a tribe member or not. A tribe could be cohesive as humanly possible, but there would still be that underlying drive that brought all the members together in the first place. The selfish drive to stay alive, to do whatever it takes to keep yourself alive and yourself only. Wolf liked to think that he was above that base, animalistic and selfish instinct. Yet, like so many things Wolf tried not to be, even he could not escape that inalienable human-animal instinct.

( Continued )