Silver City
The
Werewolf The Apocalypse
THE SILVER CITY CAERN
Caern Name : Ti'eehona'ei - Mah-Con Caern
Level: 3
Gauntlet:4
Type: Survival
Tribal Structure: Varied.
Totem: Vulture (Uncorrupted)
Geography:
The Ti'eehona'ei - Mah-Con Caern, otherwise known as The Silver City
Caern is located just 10 miles west of Silver City, New Mexico along the
US-180-E and a northern directional road up into the higher reaches of
the mountains there. The well known mountains nearby include the
Mcomas Peak and Bear and Little Bear Mountains. These reaches
continue into the uncivilized territories of the arid lands surrounding
our location.
Coming up to the Northern road which is named Treasure Mountain
Road, the trail will lead to a small coffee shop and bar, plus a gas
station. To the unsuspecting eye this is all they will see, but the
welcome supernatural and the Garou will see the shrouded
doorway into the mountain beyond this little unsuspecting business.
To most the 'Java- Junction' is a welcome watering hole and place
to get a good bite to eat in friendly surroundings. The gas station is
known to be a cheap fill up of a tank and reliable.
Travelling those ten miles down the US-180 will return you easily to
The Silver City without really much inbetween, a few houses, a range
and a warehouse. Here the land is arid, the air dry, beating hot
sunshine during the day and can become very cold and uncomfortable
at night. There is very little in the ways of cover of trees, beyond scrublands.
Bawn:
The Bawn of the Caern is set into a wide basin of the mountains, shrouded and kept very secret from the outside world, even from above it is hidden by the peaks of the dirt and sandridden mountain range that has no problem shielding the Caern from view. The Bawn is relatively small for the most part, around 2 miles or so square and housing the supernatural warriors of Gaia and their kin.
Moving into the Bawn from the location of the Java Junction, you will move through a great mountain pass, wide and large enough to fit several vehicles through. The walls of the cave walk through to the Caern are filled with bright and beautiful cave paintings and depictions of great ancient battles and ancestors to the Wendigo who used to reside here. Many also serve as charms and warning signs.
Coming out onto the bawn finally after a 20 minute trek through the cave, you will be met with the Watchtower, a tall structure, built together with a water store as n almost cover up for it's purpose. The Watchtower is a place for the keen eye of the warders of the Caern and serves as their base or headquarters when they are on the sept's territory.
The ridge to the north houses the Gathering Hall used by members of the Sept and Caern for great meetings of the minds or plans and strategies needed for the Caern's survival.
The Mess and Medical are further into the Caern and beyond them is a dark set of caves, with a wide open mouth. Moving into these caves is more than a little harrowing, the constant song of the spirits echo around the area with both good and bad tones and vocalizations. Inside is the node and the Caern stone, the Caernheart itself, tucked away from the beating sun and yet the entire cavern glows and glimmers with the powerful essence gathered there.
The cabin row is run down but held together for those who live on the Caern, none of the cabins currently have power or running water, the members of the Sept will use the stored water at the Watchtower or the well inside of the Cabin Row itself. Luckily the water is cleansed and purified consistently.
Farmlands lay to the south, using the supernatural reassurance of growth and plenty, the Caern is in the least provided a healthy meal with the needed vegetables and livestock grown here. Food is a carefully guarded commodity and many members of the Caern will be expected to trade for trade or help with the cultivation or raising of the food stuffs available here for their slice of the 'pie'
A large once crater has tapped into an underground souce of water and over many many centuries it has slow filled with glistening clear waters, almost akin to a cenote. This water is used for many things on the Bawn but it is also simply a good place to have a swim and soothe sunburnt skin or tired bodies.
Grave markers line the South East corner of the Caern, noting names of some past residents of it's land, both warrior and kin, even a few children unfortunately. The markers are carved from the mountain's rock, carved from wood and even a few forged in metal, but these tend to be twisted and rusted from the hot sun.
In the relative heart of the Bawn is the firepit. Used as an informal gathering spot for kin but maybe sometimes to rally a pack or a warban off on a mission of attack or defense.
Vulture (Uncorrupted)
Type: War
Totem Cost:7
Description: Death is a process of natural selection and those who fall have proven that they are no longer worth of the continuance of their existence. To the eyes of Vulture they have become nothing but a resource for those who still live. Vulture has no interest in cowards, he holds no allegiance to Grandfather Thunder or other patrons of Crow or Raven. Though a friend to the Wendigo he holds to his own interests and business overall. He enjoys the intuition and creativity of his 'survivors' through the resources they are able to scavenge together on their journey through the great wars past and to come.
Benefits: - 1 difficulty to survival rolls, +1 dice to any situation where your life is on the line. Packs under Vulture gain 3 dots in any rolls related to scrounging, scavenging or making use of discarded materials or corpses. Packs will also enjoy two free points of Willpower per month.
Ban: A Vulture follower may not take part in any funerary rites, either formal or informal. When someone dies, they simply cease to be and become a resource from that moment on. Mourning is frowned upon and will not please the totem.
The Gathering Hall
Located along the northern ridgeway there is a building clade with native wood and materials from the known local environment. Stood alone it is clear to make out thanks to it's white and blue paint as well as the strange architecture.
Perhaps it had been inspired by someone's homeland or far away memories. Or maybe it had been build with old religion in mind and need of revival, but whatever the imagination had brought forth for it's builder, the gathering hall seems to have taken the look of an older church from another time and state.
Walking up to the porch, it is welcoming shade at most times of the day in the least, even if the dust seems to kick up a little worse up on the ridge that the gathering hall sits upon. Despite this the building seems to be able to stand it's ground against the exposure of dry sun and air. Paint chips and fades, but the gathering hall has a small army to patch it up when the time calls for it.
Walking through the large wooden doors, the inside is a simple large space, painted simple and light to keep it open and airy. Where there had once been pews, these have been long since removed and the gathering hall's occupants and congregation now have to rely upon benches and long tables placed for their use.
Some may feel like they have travelled back in time to more desperate years of dustbowls and great depressions, but there is life to be found here. The gatherings held here tend to be of a shared meal, a meeting of the Caern minds or officiers. It is an important place to the Caern, well known to all. Besides the large space it also has a small loft platform that is simply large enough for storage or a bed for the wayward.
The Mess
Worked into one of the ancient looking and crumbling stone buildings is a joint space between old tattered roof and canvas. The tent has been attached onto the clay walls of the past to form a wide and capable kitchen area, now recently updated with equipment and stoves provided by the nearby Java Junction. Spirits have been used to keep certain underground storage a lot colder then it naturally would be so food can be kept a lot longer than before. There is power finally in here as well as some sources of water. It is a busy central hub for kin and Garou as they go about their daily meals and meetings.
It is not the most up to date area, and the food is normally large stock and bulky. Simple cuisine that can be cooked to satisfy large crowds from children to the elderly.
Food is not exactly easy to come by so the stores in here are kept under close watchful eye and inventories making sure none go hungry on the Caern.
The mess also has a collection of outdoor tables and chairs, benches and stumps, some under canvas gazebos and tarps to keep from the heavy beating sun. The mess is known as a common gathering ground for the residents and occupants of the Silver City Caern.
It is in the vast regard, simple living. Farming seasonal crops with the help of supernatural means, gives the Caern in the least a healthy menu.
Normally the mess and it's lively kinfolk work with some connection to the Java Junction on the otherside of the mountain's pass and the Caern's entrance. This giving them a way to order in much needed supplies when they are able to and the money is available.
Medical
A semi permanent recent structure on the caern. The Medical tent has been a donation from some gathering friends and Glasswalkers at Grant District Hospital in the city. Far away from the very best of facilities, the medical tent is still better than the alternatives. An air conditioned space with a ten bed ward, a small surgical unit and pharmaceutical store.
Inside is sparse and lays an almost wartime vibe as it sits in the dusty basin of the Caern.
This is not just a place that houses and cares for kinfolk either, this is a full working medical facility safe for Garou and with the awakened medications to deal with their issues and pains. Medical is however missing one element, a staff. Currently the medical bay has very little in the ways of doctors and healers, merely being used by those kin and individuals who have first aid experience and basic needs of the Caern.
The Triage Room is at the front of the medical bay, welcoming those who come looking for health care and advice. This consists of a couple of salvaged chairs, a small set of medical cabinets and refrigerated storage for much needed sensitive supplies.
The mid section of the medical bay is the ten bed ward, five to each side with a couple of older model monitors, a defibrillator and even an old incubator. Thankfully all of the equipment seems to be in good working condition, but there are no replacements to what breaks in the future.
The back is reserved for a rudimentary surgical unit, a metal table, heavy light and cabinets housing some of the delicate supples needed for surgery. The surgical unit is housed in heavy plastic sheeting and a steamer used to sanitize the space for use after use.
Caern Heart
Housed withing a wide mouthed cavern, the whispers of the spirits can be heard for a good distance around the Heart. A strange ethereal glow spreads from the depths below this mystical site. Luminescence comes from the strange natural growths of stalagmites and stalactites that are covered with a strange salt like substance that seems to give them the eerie glimmer. Wolf and Homid bones have been recovered from inside the Heart, though their origins are not known for sure, they are thought of as to be the founders and creators of the Caern so many moons ago.
Deeper in the Caern there seems to an opening to the sky, but when this is searched for above on the mountain's face it never seems to be able to be found. The screeches and cackles of a hundred ethereal birds and scavengers can be heard here night and day, luckily too far to be heard on the Cabin row however.
The very inside of the Caern Heart seems to be almost akin to a large birds nest, made of dark woods, dead and dried leaves as well as bones of both animal and humans. Nothing here gives off any taint of the wyrm, it is certainly not of that feel, the joining of wood, bones and roughage is made in a unity to the deathly march into the wyld, bringing together the cycle of life and death thanks to it's shape as a wide and open nest.
Cabin Row
The cabins have obviously stood here for a long time, not one of them has any modern facilities to them, including working bathrooms, they are simple shelters, built with simple lives in mind.
To take up residence in these cabins you will have to consider how to fix everything from broken walls, windows to holes in the floor and rotting dried panels. It is not simple task but it is what is available currently on the bawn itself.
With no active power source on the Caern, to have the amenities most will be accustomed to, there will have to be a strecth to the supernatural in order to serve these purposes. Otherwise light will be windows or candlelight for example.
Taking a cabin is to be done through the Caern's leadership and officers, these are not a free for all nor to be offered out without their permission, thanks to lack of space and resources currently in the run down Caern and Bawn.
Cabins are normally a two or three room affair, with a larger space open downstairs and a bedroom or two upstairs, but be careful, many of the stairways are broken or cracking. The wood long since dried out and unkempt as things have fallen silent on the Caern from it's past occupants.
None of the cabins have interior bathrooms or kitchens, work on these home will be a major affair to update them. But then where does the materials or the money come from in order to do this at all?
Cearn Entrance / Java Junction
Outside of the Caern lies a small plaza, hiding away the presence of the cave walk that leads into the secret bawn beyond. On this plaza there is a small selection of businesses and a single home. The Java Junction is a coffee shop and bar, with a homely feel and a busy place for local homemade faire as well as their own roasted coffee beans that they sell to make money during the more quiet months.
The Java Junction has an outdoor dining area as well as the indoor cafe. When night falls it changes from it's relaxed daytime demeanor of a coffee shop into a relaxed and fairly hippy style of bar, always with something new to try out behind the bar. The place is normally filled with music, sometimes live bands and open mic nights.
Frontier gas station is owned by the same hands as The Java, it shares a similar feel, selling trinkets and homemade gifts as well as gas and the usual. The prices are cheap and the fuel of great quality so it tends to be a busy spot for the locals and of course the supernatural beyond the Caern's opening.
The Java Junction has a great reputation in the area, having taken part in a lot of youth and homeless projects in Silver City, their waste or leftovers are always donated and they tend to favour the smaller grassroots charities in the local area rather than any big names like 'Goodwill' who they steer very clear of.
Java has been a known help to local boy and girl scouts groups and sometimes their troops can be found up at the Java whilst they are on their survival or camping courses out of town, stopping in on their way out to pick up food and supplies, only to come back with their artwork and trophies that the Java proudly displays.
