1. 1st Tale of the Caern of Stratford

(SamDrackley This is how it was told to me. These aren't my words.)

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This is the tale of our beginnings. It is the tale on the pyramid, but like all good tales it still isn’t ended. The Caern is still here, the Sept is still here and new stories are added to it all the time. But this is the is the very beginning of our home.

The settlement of Stratford grew up because of the Romans. They built a military staging post by a ford on a river. Eventually the soldiers were seen as a source of income rather than oppression, and a few families began to trade with them. The soldiers remained when they retired, wedding local girls, fathering children, being absorbed into the local population. Eventually the Roman Empire faded and fell, but the hamlet was still here. The local Garou Sept kept an eye on their families, and the place prospered.

One man had entered the village with the Romans. Acting as the local wise man, he was a Namer and he lived for many generations. One day though he fell in love with a local girl, and Gaia blessed their union with a child. Life was hard, but it seemed that the village and the Sept were doing well.

But from outside this world tales came of raids on the coast, raids by the barbarians from the North. Tales told around a campfire, but with a foothold in truth. The Vikings were raiding, and with them came the Get of Fenris. And eventually they came to this tiny little place and found a Fianna held Sept. Strong warriors, they for some reason decided that the local Sept were too weak to hold the Caern and as is their way they challenged the Fianna for the right to it. The fighting raged across the land, and as always happens the battles claimed the lives of many including some of the village folk. Amongst them the wife and child of the Namer who became known as Avallach.

Avallach swore bloody revenge on the werewolves who had killed his family. The Fianna and Get of Fenris, too busy fighting each other either didn’t notice or didn’t care when he left the village and set out into the world. By the time he returned the Vikings had a King on the throne, the vampires were gaining a foothold in the islands and the war between the Fianna and the Get of Fenris hadn’t finished.

Avallach returned a changed man. More powerful than anyone could imagine, a servant of the Wyrm he had sworn vengeance and he caused much ill to befall the area.

And the Fianna saw him and said “Behold, a minion of the Wyrm. We are the Children of Stag, we are mighty warriors. We shall fight it.” And so they did.

And the Get of Fenris saw him and said “Behold, a minion of the Wyrm, We are the Children of Fenrir, we are mighty warriors. We shall fight it.” And so they did.

But none of them said “Behold, a bloody powerful minion of the Wyrm, and he’ s beating us, so maybe we should work together on this one guys.” And so they fought Avallach, and trod on each others toes, and stabbed each other when they did. And Avallach saw the mighty warriors of the Garou Nation spend most of their time bickering and fighting each other and he laughed. And his forces grew stronger, his power grew greater, until it seemed hopeless.

And then three more groups entered the fray. The first were a group of Namers, attracted by the power forces of magic at work. And the Bishop of Worcester, a man of the Christian God, who saw the suffering of the people of his bishopric and decided that enough was enough led these monks, and he would go to stop this. And the second was a pack of Children of Gaia, who saw the threat of the Wyrm creature and the doomed struggled of the Fianna and the Get. And both groups travelled to the place where the magic and the fighting was thickest and they met each other on the road. And the third was a single Corax named Brings the Sun.

And the Children of Gaia said “Behold a group of monks who are also Namers. They are men of God, and wish to aid the innocent. We are the Children of Unicorn and might warriors when we need to be. We shall talk to them, and find out why they are here.”

And the Children of Gaia spoke with the Namers and discovered that they were there for the same purpose. And they saw that the only way in which they would defeat Avallach would be through unity.

And so the Namers went to study Avallach, to find his weakness and determine what powers he possessed. And Brings the Sun went to scout out the lands and brought information back to both groups. And the Children of Gaia went to the Fianna and the Get of Fenris and talked to them. And talked to them. And talked to them. And once they had persuaded the Garou to work together, they then told them about the Namers. And after more and more talking they persuaded the Garou to give the Namers a chance to aid them.

And thus it was that the Children of Gaia, the Fianna and the Get of Fenris met with the Namers, and together with the Child of Raven, they managed to imprison Avallach. And then the Garou and the Namers made a solemn pact in order to ensure that Avallach never escaped. And the Garou joined into one Sept and called themselves the Sept of the Watchful Eyes. Brings the Sun brought his mate to the trees by the Sept, and there they nested and watched with the Garou. And the Namers returned home and made pacts on paper to ensure that the hill under which the Liche was imprisoned would not fall into unfriendly hands.

This is the first tale of the Caern of Stratford

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