10

You've never visited these woods before, but you feel their spiritual power. The pleasantly cool autumn wind carries a song: Nin's howling. You also notice mundane signs of her return: standing stones righted, statues cleaned of lichen, paths widened and cleared of brush, and—at the very edge of your perception—spirits dancing through the glades and along the treetops. Nonetheless, the forest has suffered terribly from spiritual neglect. Dark stains mark the stones, rotting vegetable matter fouls the air, and you find evidence of intrusion by dark spirits—stained water, dead animals—and occasional Cult of Fenris runes that Nin hasn't yet effaced. It will take great spiritual energy to heal this land.

Elton is waiting for you.

"You still haven't earned any Gifts, cub," he says.

"I've been too busy rescuing your scrub friends to worry about doing everything the right way."

"Black Tarn taught me about the spirits." I'm sort of hoping that'll lead Elton into saying more.

"My old pack was spiritually desolate. Even our theurge couldn't awaken our pack guardian."

"'Cub'? Get that word out of your mouth, nerd."

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