The Shadow of Winter
Early in the evening:
The explosion rocked the shadow and the real world near the UCF Campus as, within the mundane, a gas main exploded in the fifth floor of the UCF Libary. Being well known for having been under construction for some time, this accidental explosion, while damaging, was thankfully free from a loss of life.
Within the shadow, however, the power of the Court of Birds was broken. Still reeling from the recent loss of their locus, the magath-court stands no longer. Slowly, over the coming week, the feathered marks of their curried favor and spirit-boon extortion fade from view. When asked, many of the spirits will comment that they are unsure if the three heads of the Court escaped the blast.
Late in the evening:
As the clock approached nearer to midnight, the world within the shadow began to slow, ephemera moving more slowly, and a calm peace began to waft through the spiritual world. As each second ticked closer to midnight, it was as if the mirror-world was holding its breath, before exhaling in a paced and cool surge of air.
Winter had come.
Spirits the city over began to be covered by the snow. Those that had ties to fetishes, or to packs, retreated to the safety of their loci and their fellows. Familiars darted into the imbued items and magical relics they called home. The powerful members of the various courts vanished away from the slowly falling white snowflakes, leaving the many members of their courts to touch the white powder.
Already weakened, the few remaining members of the Court of Birds slowly became buried under the white drifts, and are no more.
As his own, personal, winter wonderland occurred, the great Spirit of Corporate Disney turned over at the amusement parks and lapsed into slumber with half of his court. With a lack of leadership brought to the Court of Order, the remaining half turned inwards to assess their options.
With the white expanse spreading over the spirit of the city, the Roads themselves seem to become yet warmer, and though the serpentine Court of Roads remains, their writhing stills against the icy confines of the remainder of the city.
Cool winds blow over the city, in both worlds, and the already shadowed means of contacting the Court of Anonymity go unanswered.
A howl of pain and rage crosses across the city, as rumors spread that the Court of Pain has refound its leader, and though many of their court now have fallen into slumber, the Court itself remains intact and slowly begins to retreat from the city of Orlando proper.
In the spirit world, a blood moon rises as the month turns to October, and spirits of omen and portent whisper about the Domus Court. Touched the least by the spiritual, and yet peaceful, wasteland now within the shadow, they murmur of change and the harvest moon.
As there has been summer, and plenty...
Now there is winter... and the reaping.
********
This is valid for all venues, per character-appropriate knowledge.
Forsaken: All full werewolf characters.
Mage: All mages with the spirit arcanum of means of seeing into the Shadow.
Requiem: All vampires with Spirit Cruac or other means of seeing into the Shadow
Mortals: All mortals PCs with the ability to see into the shadow... read... none.
Characters entering the shadow will need to dress warmly, or possess some kind of fur, as the temperature within the spirit world drops significantly below zero.