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| Knows-No-Fear | |||||||||
| Told by Gary "Sings The Dire Warning" Ironside, Ungdom Skald of the Get of Fenris | |||||||||
| May 1, 2007 | |||||||||
| *Gary eventually speaks up during story time* Got a tale for you guys if you can suffer one more. The tale I'm about to tell you all may have some missing pieces to it. In fact, probably half the tale itself. When my For-Eldra speak to me, sometimes it's a bit hazy but I had a dream of this so I'm pretty sure it's accurate for the most part of what I can remember. I don't know a lot of names, actual dates and all that but I'm almost positive it happened probably before the Europeans came to America and possibly sometime during the dark ages. As it seems long ago, most of the Tribes defended their own home territory with vigor and jealousy. Fianna over in the Isles, Furies down in Greece, Lords down in the Carpathians and so on. The Get of Fenris preferred the North where it was bitter cold. We've always liked it harsh, so we made sure those were our lands and each Tribe seemed to have their own impressive sort of hero that dwelled in these lands. The Fenrir always seem to be changing unlike the rest of the Tribes. The strongest leads and if he isn't the strongest, the stronger will replace him. So back then, basically the closest Fenrir of renown probably had to suffice as the hero to call upon if you needed a Fenrir hero. One such Fenrir Jarl was called Erikson Spine-Splinter and earned the name of Knows No Fear a bit before his death for the deed I'm about to recall for you. He was a human born under a bright winter full moon and as Modi, he was a terrible force to reckon with during battle, but he led his pack and Hov to the fullest and none challenged him until his dying day. It was the way things should be and he was a Jarl of legend. But it seems old Erikson during his time had a visitor at one point that came to his Varthi and howled out. The Warder soon brought a tired looking Red Talon to his door and there, the Talon explained why he was present. "My Kinfolk are dead! Slain by apes with crafted sharp wood and blades! But they do not leave a trail of scent nor tracks beyond our territory and struck when we were hunting," cried the Red Talon visitor. The Fenrir and Red Talons have always had an understanding, so Erikson nodded and said he would bring his pack since this sounded a bit odd. Humans that didn't leave tracks may very well not be humans at all. His pack accompanied the Red Talon back from a days travel and when they reached the piece of forest the Talons called their home, he found several wolf bodies left to return to Gaia. What caught his attention was there was no marks of arrow or sword to be found on the bodies and the wolf kinfolk merely seemed to have died. They did have a horrified expression in their eyes, so he knew there was something other then what meets the eye. Erikson explained what he saw, but for some reason no one else seen otherwise from what the Talons saw. A week was spent hunting for the killer and Erikson and his pack returned to their own Varthi in defeat. It wasn't long however before another visitor showed up at Jarl Erikson's Len boundaries and howled out. The Warder once more escorted the traveler to the Jarl's door and there, he met with one of the city wolves. This Glass Walker bowed his head in slight shame of having to come up this far to find one of the great Fenrir warriors but spoke his piece. "Spine-Splinter-Rhya, I hate to bother you but you are the closest Caern of Fenrir I could find. My Sept's Kinfolk have been slain and our homes burned, yet no killer's trace has been left beyond that," said the Walker. Erikson tilted his head, asking how they were killed and when it was revealed that it was a near exact method that the Red Talons claimed their wolf kin had been killed he said he would help. Once more the Jarl and his pack accompanied the Glass Walker and after a few days of traveling they came to where the Walkers gathered within one of the Scabs, if you could call the less horrifying towns back then one. They weren't much compared to today's Scabs. But anyway, the bodies had been removed, but Erikson found no traces of blood and when he got a look at the bodies he saw no wounds. The Walkers fretted over their pieces of the city that had been scorched, but Erikson found not a single speck of a flames trail. The Fenrir of his pack still saw what the other Garou did and Erikson spent a week hunting around, but came up empty handed once more. He and his pack eventually returned home. Only a few days passed before another was shown to the Jarl by the Warder. The sleek black Shadow Lord kept his gaze upon the Fenrir as he spoke grudgingly. "Mighty Spine-Splinter, my Tribe has been hounded by the leeches for centuries but last night they pulled a coup. Almost all our Kinfolk were slain and drained dry when we were away and they left the bodies, but no trace. Some Kinfolk are missing and we fear they may have been changed. Will you help us hunt so we may exact vengeance, for we are at a loss on who the murderer may be." Feeling he already knew what he would find but wanting to put a stop to this, Erikson took his pack and followed the Shadow Lord home via moon path. There he found the Kin just as he had every where else and merely dead with no sign of an attack. When he hunted, he found the horrified looking corpses of the missing Kinfolk, but still no sign of a draugr having attacked. This time he searched for two weeks before he gave up and returned home in frustration, finding nothing else to aid the Shadow Lords. Less then a month later, another howl rung up in the Len of the Fenrir Varthi. The Warder once more took the visitor to Erikson and this time, the Fenrir was surprised to find a Child of Gaia waiting patiently for him. She looked sad but nodded respectfully to the mighty warrior before she spoke. "Rhya, I know our Tribes have never seen eye to eye but I respect your courage and know now may be a time for fight. My Sept's Kinfolk have slaughtered each other in petty arguing while the Garou were away. Our Kinfolk were peaceful people and we believe something may be involved and the Wyrm swayed them perhaps by Bane. Strangely, allies from the Black Furies say they had an incident where their Kin had been killed by marauding pillagers but never found trace. I've also heard the Silver Fangs have been to proud to ask for help, but their Kinfolk are also perishing by means of suicide from having gone mad." Erikson nodded and came to the choice that he wouldn't follow the Child home and when she blinked in surprise, he explained every time he leaves he finds something others do not see and has yet to find this killer himself. He bid her farewell and went to consult the Gode of the Sept for he had fear it wouldn't be long before the Fenrir Kinfolk may become a target. Runes were read and sure enough, there were dark times ahead. It was also spoken that things were not as they seemed, but this only further frustrated the Modi as it was a vague omen at best and one he already knew. Erikson made sure his Sept was ready for a possible huge battle and turned to making sure all was well in security. News eventually came that the Fianna and Bone Gnawers had all suffered the attack of whatever Shield Mate to the Jormungandr was doing this. Erikson was seeing a pattern that every time this attack happened, Garou were not present. He made sure the Garou of his Varthi remained close to their Kinfolk and he kept his own mate close, even when he was patrolling the Len. Days ticked by with the Fenrir on high guard but finally after nearly two weeks, the answers came. Erikson's pack were out patrolling the edge of the Len and their Kinfolk were not far, helping the Garou as they saw it fit to protect the holy Varthi. The Rotagar of Erikson's pack lifted his head suddenly and froze up, having sensed something out in the woods. The pack rose to arms and all eyes turned to what was moving through. Erikson picked up right away his whole pack was frozen in place as the thing trudges through the forest and he growled in annoyance. When they all shifted down into Lupus and started to back away, he snarled and cuffed them each and reminded them the Fenrir should never wear the shirt of the Fox. If a Fenrir wouldn't wear the bear shirt, they are cowards by most Fenrir. But back to the story. Erikson saw the enormous creature shambling their way and to him, it looked like a cross between a huge horse, a serpent and some sort of demon on four clawed paws bigger then a lions. Tales of the Kith-Slayer had all been buried, for most didn't know he was really there and thought destroyed ages before. The pack saw only what they feared to see, for the Kith-Slayer could look into the hearts and minds of Garou and pluck out how he feared his kith and kin dying. While Erikson saw the monster as it were, but they saw their kinfolk being slain by monstrosities while they were held back, frozen in a sort of hypnotized state of dread. The Kinfolk had actually turned to alert the Varthi by the time the creature reached the pack and it seemed furious it's mind trick wasn't working to the full effect after Erikson gave some inspiration in the form of a mighty battle cry. With the Anthem of War, Erikson leapt up and attacked the huge beast with tooth and claw. His pack watched on, still under the illusion as it started to crumble while the beast and their Jarl did bloody battle. It wasn't until Erikson had nearly fallen that they snapped out of it to see that there were no dead Kinfolk slain by giants and that they indeed were under attack. In the end, the Kith-Slayer tried to flee but Erikson served the death blow before falling unconscious. When he awoke, he was praised and the Godis and Skalds spoke that he had defeated a spawn of Jormungandr long thought vanquished. Erikson asked how he had been the only one to see it and they answered the Kith-Slayer uses fear to it's advantage to cause Garou to flee in Fox Frenzy and to create a mirage of Kinfolk slain in a way we dread most. Apparently, Erikson knew none that it could pick out, so he saw it for what it was. While Kinfolk are precious, he knew that wasn't the only thing to worry about and thus it couldn't effect him due to his courage. Some even credit him as the one who started the Gift most Fenrir know today when achieving the rank of Fostern Never again did the Garou have to worry about the ancient forath killing their Kinfolk and from that day until the end of time Erikson Spine-Splinter was and will be known as Knows-No-Fear, Modi of the Get of Fenris and defeater of the Kith-Slayer. *The Fenrir finally quiets and lets someone else have their turn* |
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