Several new werewolves find themselves in a small valley in the south of Wales, facing learning about what they are, learning to live and work together, and facing threats that lurk just beneath the apparently tranquil setting of the Rhondda Fach valley.Run by Storyteller Donan
It had been two months for Huw since his rebirth and it had been a most unusual experience. For a man approaching seventy, a suddenly rampant immune system, and a breath taking ability to regenerate injuries was like being given a new leash of life. He'd been tutored in the ways of werewolves briefly by the nearby Aberdale pack and their alpha, the childishly curious Sara, as well as being introduced to an elder werewolf from Cardiff that had bought him into the Iron Masters and who had taught him his first gifts.
Huw had however, by accident or design, ended up alone and without the company of other werewolves back in the valley he'd lived in for most of his life. He knew the valley, he loved the valley and he had a good deal of friends there. He'd embraced his werewolf side enough to avoid falling out of balance with it, although sometimes the pangs of being without his kin bit down hard.
At the moment though, he was in the company of an old friend, the owner of the Canary pub (named that as a joke) in the small village of Maerdy, the northern most town in the valley. Dewey Ellis was also a former Union leader in his sixties, and the two of them had known one another for years. Which of course meant a good deal of free drinks. The latest was being poured as Dewey and Huw engaged in their latest conversation.
I'm giving rights to you here as to what they're talking about and what sort of a person Dewey is. Hope you enjoy.
Huw, wearing his tacky cap even indoors, slaps the newspaper. On the front is the Greek acropolis, a sign hung on it by protesters demanding worker's rights.
"Austerity my arse! It's never the fat cats who get asked to tighten their belts, you notice; just the working man. First Ireland, now Greece, could be us next time, who knows?"
Nodding his thanks for the drink, Huw takes a swig, his tone a little more modified when he sets the glass down.
"Not that I'm hopping a plane to Athens, mind. But if my Gwen were still alive, she'd have us on the picket line for our summer holiday, mark my words." Another swig. "Speakin' of which, how's Nan doing? Foot feeling better, is it?"
Dewey snorts as he cleans another glass. "They got us all the way back in the eighties, yeah, it's only a matter of time till they come this way again, and this town's already a big mess. Hell, those bastards mess things up and then manage to push the mess onto us poor sods down here."
Dewey smiles and nods. "Your Gwen had the right idea about lots of things. And Nan's managing, the doctor down in Faerndale's a decent sort and he had her mended up right. Thanks Huw, good to hear people here still care."
The conversation is interrupted when a young French girl strides into the building and goes right to the bar, wasting no time in striking up a conversation with Dewey.
"What time is it? It has been a long day, could you be a dear and get me something local? I've acquired a taste for some of your brews here. My mother would faint."
It isn't hard at all for Marie to find the other werewolf as he's standing right next to her and her senses jump in reaction to his presence. Huw is taken by complete suprise by the sudden apperance of another werewolf at his side, and both feel something of a jolt as they recognise one another.
Over to you guys, and put in descriptions of what the other person would see if you can.
Marie leans up against the bar, standing slightly bent, and setting her canvas handbag on a stool. A loose fitting t-shirt and sun-bleached jeans show an utter disregard for fashion, but her accent is as educated as any from Eton or Harvard. Her round face, framed by dark, shoulder length hair, smiles, trying to hide her reaction to the gentleman beside her. She is as out of place in a local Welsh pub as if she were in a formal gown, but seems totally at ease.
Huw shudders slightly as new senses come, ahem, barking. More surprised than alarmed, his bearing could easily be mistaken for the discomfort of an old man around a young woman. He adjusts his cap - an ugly-colored thing a more self-conscious man would never wear.
The rest of the retired miner's clothing is appropriate for the Welsh spring, well-made but worn with years of use. The same could be said for the man himself; lean and hard. Like a body made of knees, as his late wife used to say. His face has been more used as a blunt object than a tool of seduction, but his careful grin indicates a fair humor.
"Faint with delight, I should think, that you're finally getting some real culture. How's the day find you, miss?" Huw's accent is as thick as clotted cream, but there's no menace in his posture or tone.
Marie smiles, her first genuine smile in what feels like years. "I'll be more than alright when I've had my drink. And what you have here, my mother would never have called culture." Her face clearly indicates that she isn't of the same opinion.
When her draught arrives, Marie takes an appreciative swallow before continuing. "The poor woman wouldn't even drink French champagne anymore, since it's all American grapes. I'm Marie." She holds out her hand without ever taking her slight weight off the bartop.
To make the scene in the Pub even wierder and more awkward another person steps in with a slightly puzzled look on his face.
He is wearing a pair of old track pants and a worn out sleevles t-shirt with a Rock-themed motive. He has shoulderlong blond hair wich probably had a lot of hairspray in it the night before. Remains of makeup can be seen on the apparent rocker. And a very perceptive person might see that he has a small spot of dried blood far down on his left cheekbone.
He steps in and draws a deep breath before looking at Huw and Marie.
For a moment he just stands in the door, not sure what to do.
Marie is far less surprised by the arrival of yet another werewolf than she would have been a week ago. Perhaps because she found this other one so easily. She simply raises her glass in greeting and looks back to Huw with her hand outstretched.
Dewey smiles at the new visitor as he pours her a drink. "I don't think i've seen you before, and me and Huw here know just 'bout anyone in these parts, you're visiting?"
The arrival of Vincent causes the large man to burst out laughing helplessly. "God Vinny, you're a mess! I take it last night went well then? Me and Nan could hear it all the way down on the other side of Maerdy."
