Best viewed at 1024 by 768 pixels

fire

FiresideTales

fire

The Honor of the For-Eldra
Written by Ken Abbott, October 27, 2001

* * *

This story starts a long time back, with a successful battle, back in the time I endured the politics and corruption of the Silvermoon Auvarthi. There were a few there--very few, but enough for this--that still cared for ridding the region of Jormangundr's minions, and when one, a Silver Fang, declared that he wished to lead a party into battle, the Fenrir were the first to volunteer.

I was one of those who took part in the first battle--a diversion. We led a frontal assault, one that I think would have taken the place had we continued, and were to flee on command. Before the battle, we readied our Gifts, and I called upon the help of my For-Eldra--the ancestors of those warriors of the Fenrir who have gone before in generations past and who watched over me to advise and aid. My victories reflect upon their Glory and Honor... and so do my faults.

We rushed forward into battle, belting loose the Anthem of War--for the diversion to work, they had to know we were coming, and I'm certain more than one quailed in fear to see the flood of warriors that came for them. We fought, and fought well. I believe it was one of the Hrafn that gained the information the Silver Fang wanted, and when he gave the signal, we turned and ran. They rejoiced, content that they had driven the invaders off, and I know not to this day what the information was, nor what the Fang did with it. I fled the field of battle for nothing more than a trick, and I asked the aid of the For-Eldra in doing so.

Over the next few months, I felt their displeasure. It became more and more difficult to entreat their guidance or their aid, and eventually they refused altogether. I knew something needed to be done, but I didn't then know what.

I woke up one night to a dream. Rather nice dream, come to think of it, one of them ones you can remember without any trouble. I was in a ship--a longboat, really, headed towards land. I made sure my weapons were at hand, like ever'body else, and pulled at the oars until we was close enough... But the thing was, I ~was~ one of them. The feelin', the memories, everything. I ~knew~ these folks in the longboat, I remembered battles I'd fought before with them, which one had a girl back home and which one hoped to find a girl in the next village... everything..

Once we got close enough, ever'body got out of the boat an' we pushed through the water, wadin' up to the shore. Some of the villagers came out in armor with swords to defend it, but we weren't much worried. They beat me to the battle lines, of course, but there was enough for all. I could hear wolves howlin' in the distance, but hell, we had archers. The battle was bloody, but it was goin' our way.

But the last one hadn't fallen yet when the wolves got there. Helfdane fell before a huge talon-tipped paw, an' Ulson was ripped from one end to the other. The slaughter would have been fearsome, but there were some among our own warriors--those who I remembered, somehow, were known for their ferocity in battle an' fearlessness--who... well, warped an' changed. I saw this like I'd never before seen a Garou shift--people I knew changing into hideous beasts--an' prayed to Odin as they leaped into battle. But one of my sheild-brothers fell to the teeth of the enemy, and I could feel anger like I couldn't ever remember before filling me, spreading out from the heart like fire until somethin' burst inside of me and I could see the claws on my own hands and howled... an' that's when I woke up.

Wal, after that, I wasn't able to sleep, so I got out of bed real careful so's I wouldn't wake up my wife--Honeysuckle Derringer, a good woman who awaits me in the halls of Valhalla--an' sat down, thinkin'. It had come from my ancestors--had to've, but with the way they was pissed at me, I couldn't figger why. Were they just rubbing it in or something? So I finished off a coke instead of a beer--or a dozen--an' went over to the window.

There it was again--a shimmer almost like a Moonbridge but not quite, and boat floated through the waters of the the campus' duck-pond. Strange enough place for it, but I saw them beach the boat and rush to shore, and I saw the battle again as one like it must have happened in days past. I hurried from my mate's dorm room and to the pond. The scene was done, and seemed to begin again.

I Reached across the Velvet Curtain as quickly as I could--certainly, spirits were at work here. And they were--dozens, maybe hundreds of Lunes. When I appeared in the Penumbra, nearly a dozen of them swooped near me, and formed a Moonbridge. I stepped in.

And on the other end, there was a hall--not just a hall, but THE hall, my tribe's Homeland. And what a sight.... Fenrir lined the table as far as I could see, and food was piled maybe three feet high along its entire length. It was like a constant celebration, with tales being told and battles recounted I'd never heard of. Only thought that came into my head was "I'm Home."

So I stepped forward, towards the table, an' ever'thing just kinda went quiet. Folks turned in their seats to look at me, an' I hesitated a second. I think that was the first time in my life I really knew fear. Hell, dyin's easy, but away from my homeland? An' one of 'em spoke up--I'd heard the voice before. "Why does a coward come to sit at our table?!"

Well, if I was going to die, there's only one way to do it, so I stood tall as I could an' said "Who calls me a coward?" I wasn't bluffin' anyone. Four of 'em stood an' said "We do. We saw you run from the field of battle," an' I just kinda stopped. Mebbe it wasn't cowardice, but I sure did run from the battle.

"It was planned," I told them and I described the battle. To my relief, they accepted my word. But they still weren't happy with it--that an' that I'd done nothing to make amends. The old man at the head of the table--even today, I like to think it was Fenris himself--spoke, an' I had me a chance for redemption.

They sent me to the realm of Helios, told me from there I'd find out where a tribe-brother had been captured, and set him free. My ancestors, those I'd shamed, followed, an' when the Moon Bridge opened up, we all stepped through.

Looked like a desert on the other side, kind of. We all stepped through an' started Long Running--I had to strain to keep up, like usual. I didn't know the direction, but they did, so I just moved along with them. Took us a few hours before we reached it. I don't know if it was Helios inside--I doubt Helios himself would stop by for a chat with a simple Skyddman, even if I like to think it was--but this sure was his castle.

It really was a castle--just like one you'd see in the old books, except I doubt those ones spent much time on fire. This one was--solid stone, burnin' like hell, an' the only way to get up it was to climb. I still got a little bit of scarrin' from that, but it ain't the most.

Wasn't no harmless magical-type fire, neither--this stuff got a bit painful, time to time. Painful enough that it was days 'fore all the hair grew back again, an' if it weren't for my Gifts I'd have been in trouble. I almost didn't make it. When I reached the top, my legs just kinda gave out an' I collapsed on top of it--I don't know if you ever laid down on somethin' that's burnin', but if you're considerin' it, don't.

I knew I was in some serious trouble, so I reached down, got into my Rage an--this ain't the first time--it gave me enough energy to make a stumbling leap off that wall--40 feet down to the ground. That's when this arm busted, an' I suppose that with the burnin', my body had its hands full just tryin' to keep me alive and couldn't really be bothered with the arm.

It was a few seconds 'fore I got up, an' they waited that long. An' when I did, I got up an' walked. I could hear flesh crinkling an' see a little soot drifting down--like the burned outside of a marshmellow you hold in the fire-as I walked. The others let me; either I'd keep up or I wouldn't. I kept up, an' we walked into the keep.

Like I said, I don't know if it was really Helios settin' there, but it was a big ol' pillar of flame, an' we talked some. Likable old bastard--cain't remember all the details of the conversation, but I remember I started by callin' him "O Great One" an' he tol' me to quit kissin' ass. Dealin' with spirits ain't exactly my area of expertise. But he tol' us the situation.

*Chuckles.* Some folks say that dealin' with people ain't either. He knew where that Fenrir was, alright--he knew because he'd sent it. there was a Wind Incarna, imprisoned, in a small realm he could get us too--or to the outsides of, at least. Some kind of fetish had stopped him from bein' able to see into this realm, an' part of what this Fenrir had been sent for was to break the fetish. He made another MoonBridge, an' we stepped through.

By this time, I was ready to go--I'd kinda caught my second wind, the Gift I'd used to help hold off the pain of the burnin' was workin' just fine, an' I think I'd even made the muscle an' skin loosen up a bit. An' on top of that, when I kept walkin'--I mentioned I could feel the approval of my ancestors, right? Or the disapproval? Well, I could feel their approval, an' a little bit--just a touch--of that bond came back. So I was real surprised when they tol' me to rest while they searched.

It was dark there--which I should have expected, seein' as Helios couldn't reach it. An' I told 'em that if one of us was sleeping it would take us that much longer, an' if I slept like they said to I'd be puttin' them all in danger, an' if it came to a fight they might need me. Wasn't too smart, really--if it came to a fight, I was half-dead already, no matter how good I felt. They didn't listen, an' I ended up curlin' up to sleepin a hollow. At least they didn't set a guard over me, that would have been embarassin'.

An' I woke up somewhere else. Inside some kind of cave, with a fire cracklin'. Still cold, though. I was in Hispo already, an' when I took a step I forgot that my left foreleg just don't work anymore--I still do, time to time--an' fell over on my face. At least most of my wounds were healed up--otherwise I might have yelped. But just the thump was enough, an' I could see a pair of eyes open up on the other side of the fire--blue eyes, so it was a good bet it was another Fenrir.

'Cept it wasn't. He stepped forward, an' it was a Wendigo--a spirit-wolf, an' even runtiern' me if that's possible. We talked some, an' he wasn't exactly friendly. Tol' me he knew of one way to get to where the incarna was held up, but I wasn't gettin' that way, seein' as it went past his den. he'd just helped me, healed me up, so instead I stepped outside to find my ancestors. They was waitin' outside.

They said some kind of barrier was stoppin' 'em from gettin' through, so instead of goin' back in we looked around for another way in. Searched for awhile, but there wasn't one. So with them not bein' able to go, I went myself--hell, someone had to. Me an' this spirit-wolf had another talk. Seems he used to live at the Silvermoon Auvarthi, an' his blue eyes were a curse. But there are no true Wendigo there, an' he left in disgust.

I didn't blame him, but that was his problem, an' mine was to get to that incarna. He tol' me he'd kill me 'fore I went that way, and I told him he'd have to if he planned on stoppin' me. Finally, he saw that I meant it, an' the little runt offered to guide me. I think at that time he got rid of that barrier, but I ain't sure--somehow, though, while we was goin' along the tunnel, my ancestors caught up. I ain't sure how far we went along the tunnel--miles, at least, an' it got colder as we went.

The tunnel sloped downward the whole way, an' after awhile it got to the point where there was just a hole leadin' almost straight down. Bein' the smallest, I could go through in Hispo while my ancestors had to go all the way down to Lupus, so I went first. For awhile I could get purchase with my claws, but then the hole widened out. I shifted to Crinos an' was still able to reach the other side, but before too long the hole was goin' straight down, an' widened out more--farthern' I could reach. Didn't really have a choice by that time, so I fell.

An' we ended up in a flat room, floored with ice--least it seemed like ice. We kep' lookin' around, once the others got there, an' it turned out the whole place was some kind of cocoon--one big enough that we couldn't see any of the walls from where we was at, but somethin' lined with spider-webs. At least they wasn't sticky. One of my ancestors must have been a Rotogar--he was the first to say somethin' when we had to go somewhere, an' almost pissed off Helios 'fore we got him through the MoonBridge earlier. He was the first one it hit.

It was some kind of spider--'bout as big as three or four Crinos put together. It sank fangs deep into that Rotogar, but even' worse, it started weavin'. Webs surrounded him, an' under the webs everything seemed to stiffen--he couldn't move anything, like he was some kind of statue from the knees down. Then from the thighs down, then from the waist down. We jumped to it. Like usual, bein' slower than the others, I got there last, an' while they jumped on top of it, I headed underneath--bein' smaller, I could fit pretty easy.

Under there, I shifted to Crinos an' started rippin' at its underbelly--'tween them on top an' me beneath, we brought it down quick, but not quite fast enough. By the time it fell, that Rotogar was calcified--turned into Weaver-stuff-all the way up to his shoulders. Wasn't nothin' we could do for him, an' the spirit died. But we drawed all the Gnosis out of that spider to make sure he didn't come back.

With the Weaver spirit dead an' one of our own fallen, we was in a pretty good state of high piss-off, an' it's a good thing we saw the light right about then--it was from a far corner, and I guess the Weaver-spirit was doin' somethin' to keep it hid while it was alive.  We headed that way, quick.

We had another barrier of some kind, one I couldn't really see, an' my ancestors wasn't able to make it through--just me an' that runt. The Fenrir was there, alright--damn near 12 feet tall an' half metal. There was tubes stickin' out of him here an' there, some of with wierd-colored stuff flowin' in or out, an' wires goin' from one place on his body to another. The runt said if he could just get past, he could start gettin' the spirits free--I guress there must have been moren' one--so I stepped forward an' spoke to it.

It was a dumb move--he didn't waste no time talkin', but let out an Anthem of War an' took a swipe at me. It just barely missed, an' I tried punchin' him, to knock him out 'fore I had to kill him. I might as well have use a fly-swatter. I stepped a little to the side, an' that runt darted through underneath his legs. He took a swipe at it, an' then another at me--I blocked that one, somewhat, an' that's how I picked up this *Lifts his right arm to show four deep-looking parallel slashes in the forearm.*

I think the thing might have got me pretty quick after that--as it was, only my Rage kep' me alive--but one of them wind spirits was free. It didn't waste no time either, but went to tearin' at the prisons holdin' the others. The fallen Fenrir winced like that spirit breakin' loose had hurt him, an' I got back to him. Only this time, I tol' him I was gonna free him one way or the other, an' I started to rippin' up them hoses an' wires as the other spirits started raisin' havoc. That got a better result than' just hittin' at him. Might have killed him, but as he was that would have been a blessing.

Mebbe it was what I tore away, mebbe it was the other prisons bein' broke open, but finally he spoke calm. Tol' me he was alright, an' he quit fightin'. Might have been a mistake, but I didn't want to kill no tribe-mate an' I got off. He explained it some--he'd been misled, let the Weaver get the better of him, an' ended up possessed by some kind of Weaver-bane. I said somethin' about it bein' time to head back, an' he said not for him.

He stood tall as he could, an' spoke loud, so them winds that had got out-I think the main one, Incarna or powerful spirit or whatever, was loose by that time too, and announced that he subjected himself to their judgement. They didn't waste no time either--one gigantic fist of wind smashed him into the wall, an' what was left of him I could have taken home in my pocket.

We found the fetish an' busted it, an' the MoonBridge opened up straightaway, back to Helios' realm. We got thanked all nice an' proper, an' then left-by MoonBridge instead of over the wall, which I got to admit I was pleased about. This one opened up in the Fenrir homeland.

The celebration was goin' on again, but this time it was different. The old man at the head of the table welcomed us--an' welcomed me, as one of their number. My ancestors spoke with pride of my deeds, an' when they tol' how one had fallen--I was a bit worried about what would happen when they knew they'd lost one of their number under my command and I shouldn't have been--the ol' man asked who would stand in his place. Three offered, and now I bear the support of even more of those who have gone before me.

Another moonbridge opened up as my tribemates slapped my back an' made jokes, an' the old man named me anew--Defeator of Ragnorak. Where I had entered in disgrace, I left as a Fenrir.

* * *

Told by Jublain "Hjarta-Villtnur" Wade, Dólg-Dvergr, Defeator of Ragnorak, Adren, Galliard, Get of Fenris

Back | List of Tales | Next

White Wolf Publishing, Inc.
© 1990-2006

Page Credits:

  • This site is maintained by Anna.

  • The story is the property of the noted author and has been posted here with his/her consent.
  • This page was put together using Web Express 6.0.
  • Background is from Boogie Jack's Web Depot.
  • The Fire.gif is from Cool Archive.
  • Fonts used on this page are "Arial" and "Serif" and in the title.gif is "RoughBrush".
  • Any mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright.
  • White Wolf Dark Spiral, a list of sanctioned White Wolf site.

Shades of Gray I Site, Copyright (c) 2000-2006