18

"This is my house, fuckface," Drax says, unsuccessfully trying to threaten you with his vape pen like it's a lit cigarette. "Just calm your shit down and watch this stuff for two nights. We'll just move some stuff through, not a lot. It won't be a problem, it'll be chill."

"So is this going to be a regular thing or—"

"Did I say you could fucking ask questions?" Drax snaps. "Get this shit cleaned up. Now. I'll send Todd back tomorrow to fix the door so no one notices how you live like a fucking animal. We're going to move things through here every few weeks, whatever. And if you ever, ever think of stealing any of it, you're fucking dead, do you hear me?"

"Fine." But I will absolutely rat on Drax the moment there's a hint of police attention.

"Okay, fine." This isn't worth escalating into a fight that Drax will lose permanently.

"Cut me in for a percentage. That's the only way this is happening." I'll have to impress him with what I know about moving product.

"Drax, if you don't get your shit out my house right now, I'm going to feed you those watches."

Next

Drax laughs.

"You? Look at how you live, boy. Maybe one day when you get your shit together, but right now, you dumb fucking animal, you'll do as you're told. Now get all this shit out of sight." He rummages in the canvas bag he carries and tosses you a box of gloves and some trash bags. Hey, free gloves and trash bags! He takes off and leaves you to bag up the stolen miscellany and slide everything under the sink.

To his credit, Todd actually shows up the next day, before Podge notices anything, and fixes your door. And two days after that, you get a text telling you to bring everything to the hangar at the airfield, which you do. You don't see whoever makes the pickup.

Where can I find Melodie Palys? I ask Podge and Elton.

I pay $100 to keep the cops off my trail.

I need to buy more clothes. I go shopping.

What else can I learn about the "Neo-Albion" group that guarded Everlite?

I head back to the cabin and see how Podge is settling in.

I see if I can track down Nin.

I find Roscoe's van.

I visit Hobland at his compound.

I visit Lucinda at her studio.

I head into the deep woods.

I return to the barrows where I fought the fomor.

I head to the urban blight.

I check my phone.

Next

The barrows are cold even in the middle of the day, which you think is better than the hot-meat reek that hung over them when David Banicki reigned here. You and Elton destroyed the fomor's crude dam, allowing the water to flow freely again, and now a shimmering river winds among the hillocks and standing stones, but a brief investigation of the main barrow reveals how much remains to be done. Elton must have taken away the corpses of David Banicki and Jasper Heaney, but the disturbed dead are everywhere. You return some to their niches, then move that beaten copper mirror away from a hole in the barrow where water is getting in. But even if you shifted into your glabro form, you could work for months without making progress.

No, you need a specialist. Though many tribes are associated with the dead, including the Silent Striders and the Ghost Council, Elton says the Silver Fangs watched over the ancestors at Broad Brook. You need to bring one back here to start healing the ancestral spirits that dwell in this defiled landscape. Until then, this is simply a land of death.

Where can I find Melodie Palys? I ask Podge and Elton.

I pay $100 to keep the cops off my trail.

I need to buy more clothes. I go shopping.

What else can I learn about the "Neo-Albion" group that guarded Everlite?

I head back to the cabin and see how Podge is settling in.

I see if I can track down Nin.

I find Roscoe's van.

I visit Hobland at his compound.

I visit Lucinda at her studio.

I head into the deep woods.

I head to the urban blight.

I check my phone.

Next

Your cabin isn't large—a shared living room and kitchen, a cramped bathroom, and two small rooms upstairs. Podge has been banging around in what used to be the storage room ever since he arrived, and it's time you figured out what he's doing. You knock politely.

"I'm wearing pants, come in," Podge calls.

You shove the door open, sliding plastic storage containers out of the way, and wince at the blast of scorching hot air that washes over you. It's at least 100° in the upstairs bedroom. Podge is wearing shorts and a bandana to keep the sweat out of his eyes as he works on some kind of white plastic machine while surrounded by laptops, cameras, tool kits. Tattoos, scars, and scabs cover his back. For the first time, you realize that they're different from last time. Maybe they move every time he shifts.

Before I deal with this mess, I'm still thinking about the Battle of Graves Farm. Can I talk to Podge about that?

"Dammit Podge, we have to pay an electric bill at the end of the month! Do you even have a job?"

"That plastic thing better be an ice cream maker."

"Well, at least you look good in shorts and a smile."

"What is that, a drone?" I study the futuristic-looking gadget.

"What's up with the tattoos? Are they your Gifts?" It's fascinating how many different ways the Garou have of manifesting their spiritual side.

Next

"Yeah, I go in front of the camera and I'm nice to rich men," he mutters. The ahroun gestures vaguely to the ring light that's currently shining on the device in his hands.

And if I were interested in guys, that'd be great, but I'm not, so what is he doing to my place?

Fine, yes, he's cute, but what has he done to my house?

Actually, that's a good point. "So, I can't help but notice that you work out a lot."

Next