2022.8.02:A little bit Abyss

A Little Bit Abyss
A journey to into the shallow reaches of the Abyss, and a quick jaunt through an Epiphamy
IC Date	August
IC Time	Early Afternoon
Players	Pancake Branton Irsa Akio Rhapsody
Location	Somewhere in Nevada
Prp/Tp	Fun lessons for young Theurges
Spheres	Gaian Garou
Theme Song	Walking Dead theme music

---

Cast: Rhapsody: Mr. Pink, Akio: Mr. Blue, Branton: Mr. Red, Irsa: Mr. Purple, Iris: Mr. Green, ST: Mr. Black

---

xxxxxOur story opens at Branton's home, in the garden as our heroes prepare to go on their adventure.

xxxxxBranton grins gives Iris' hair flip an entirely over acted sigh before turning back toi Akio and Irsa "I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it but magic item R and D is a big thing around here. And sometimes senior crafters will pass stuff out, as much to get field test data on their new inventions as to help ya all out."

xxxxxIrsa returns the shoulder bump and grunts. "Well, everyone's been racin' around gettin' ready to rock for th' Totem rite, so none of us have been meetin' up like we should. That's easy enough t' fix. I'll give ya a call, no matter what I'm doin', and we can hang out or run around and do crazy shit." She eyes the tea and steals a cup. Not really, it's right there for guests, but stolen stuff just tastes better. "I am down for field tests, for sure," she replies to Branton.

xxxxxWhile people are getting their last cups of chilled tea and stuff, Iris finishes up her double-check and stands up, sliding her back pack on. "Okay! You guys ready to rock? I packed lunches in case anyone gets hungry since there's nothing edible where we're going. Hope you like PB&J since that's whatcher gettin'. Before we get going, does anyone need to get or do anything? We're about to travel several hundred miles away from our current location, and I'm gonna be pissed if we have to back track for something that didn't get thought of before hand."

xxxxxIrsa double checks her stuff. "Nope, all good here. Got my crossbow, just in case, an' a medkit. Left my rattle cans at home."

xxxxxAkio grins at Branton and quickly gets to his feet to collect his backpack and katana. Slipping the backpack on his back he slides the katana on his back where it'll be secure while they travel. "I'm ready and good to go."

xxxxxBranton fetches a backpack and a duffle bag "My own gear and some spares. There is a case with a silver sword in it but its staying in the box unless we encounter enemy shifters."

xxxxx"Adventure tiiiiiiiime! Everybody in the umbra!" Mercy sings with the pure joy of a die hard adventurer, and once everyone's on the spirit plane she pries open a Moonbridge with a gift she has. She waits for everyone else to get in there and brings up the rear so it wont shut behind her and strand people here. And since it's a moonbridge with literally no forks in it, it's not possible to get lost, so even someone with no idea where we're going will be just fine in the lead!

xxxxxIrsa steps sideways. practically dancing with eagerness as she waits for the Moonbridge to open. She leaps into the breach without hesitation, keeping her hands off her weapon until its needed. This could open into a realm of Peace and Love, for all she knows.

xxxxxBranton had been preparing for departure for a while so when Iris says its go time its just a matter of the last spell to cross him over. He takes a moment to center himself as his elemental nature flares up to the surface and then he goes into the portal, backpack on and duffle in hand.

xxxxxAkio grins and when it's time to step sideways he follows and nods to his companions on the other side. Shifting to his version of a war form, half man and half fox, black-furred, amber-eyed with a spot of white at the tip of his tail. "We got a lot of walking ahead of us but it'll be fun!"

xxxxxIt's not a super long trip, five or ten minutes walking along the gleaming moonlight path in an equally moonlit tunnel that bores its way through the fabric of time and space to shorten distance. The bridge lets out into a desert umbral landscape where sand and stone elementals dominate the flat expanse, with tough drought resistant grass and cacti naturae. With nothing in their way to stop them, barely visible air elementals zoom and swish across the landscape, getting in the business of other spirits and riling them up here and there. Over head, bird spirits of Vulture and Buzzard varieties ride the currents of heat and wind, circling and rolling lazily. And there's the grand canyon! Wait, no, that's not what that is at all! There's a chasm there, just as big as the grand canyon that is filled with shadow and darkness. It's truly impressively massive in scale, and is not colorful like the grand canyon at all. Absolutely nothing grows near its edges, plants and elementals alike keep a very good distance away from it. At its edge closest to the arriving group, dust seems lazily yet inexorably pulled over the edge, swallowed by the unfathomably deep abyss. There is a single, solitary, spindly bridge stretching the miles across the chasm made of stone, barely wide enough for two people to cross side by side, with absolutely nothing supporting it underneath. Needless to say, it does not look safe!

xxxxxIris gathers everyone up at a safe distance from the edge and says, "Okay, I've got some rules before we go any further, and all of you MUST follow them." She takes off her pack and digs in there to withdraw a long length of rope, which she ties around her waist. "First, we're going to be bound together to avoid any unfortunate deaths. Me in front, Branton in back, Irsa and Akio can figure out where in the middle they want to be. Not to be at all insulting, I just want to make sure there's heavy weapons surrounding our young adventurers. Tie in!"

xxxxxIrsa jaw drops as she gets her first look at Branton in the Umbra. "That is so fuckin' cool. Branton, ya look completely bad-ass." He's gotta be, he makes all kinds of cool shit, knows a ton of things, and runs around with Mercy on wild adventures. She's silent for the most part otherwise, since you never know who's lying in wait on the moon roads. She eyes the bridge when Iris speaks about the dangers and nods. "I'll take whatever, Akio. Go on an' pick first." Once the kitsune has done that, she ties herself in with the others.

xxxxxBranton nods at Iris as he attaches an assortment of straps between his duffle bag and his backpack so now he's wearing both of them in a clear display of supernatural strength as he grins to Irsa "Thanks. There's so much hiding that goes into operating on the physical side of the gauntlet, its kind of relaxing to not have to worry." The last added with a gesture at Akio in his hybrid form as if to imply 'he gets it'.

xxxxxAkio realizes communication will be rough and shifts back into his homid form, the blessing of metamorph making his shifting between forms as easy as breathing. Taking the rope he gives a soft whistle of appreciation at Branton's form here in the Umbra. "Looking good my man." A wink is given to Iris as he takes the rope and gets into the second position, behind the leader. "Irsa, if we fall I'll land first so you can land on me." Grinning wider he checks their ropes then nods to Iris to show he's ready. Looking back to Branton he adds, "Yeah here it's easier to let loose and be myself for sure."

xxxxx"This is the Abyss." Mercy says, gesturing out at the shadowy crack in Gaia's skin, "It migrates very slowly across the world and has no physical world counterpart. It's a realm within a realm, as it were. This is a place of loss and solitude, what it draws into it very rarely ever finds its way back out again. I want you to keep this in mind, because the Abyss can find ways to subtly lure you. There will be no flying, no running, and absolutely no separating from the group at all for any reason. Do not give yourself even the smallest chance of falling in or becoming lost. If the urge to step off the edge of a path crosses your mind, slap yourself and shake it off, it's your mind playing tricks on you. We have to cross that bridge first and foremost, and I HIGHLY suggest you do not look down over the railing if you want to avoid the urge to jump in, there's nothing for you there but death, and nothing to see but darkness. Watch your step, touch nothing, take nothing, leave nothing but footprints. When we begin our decent, we will speak very quietly so that we do not attract attention from anything lost and insane. Everyone understand?" And assuming everyone does, Mercy leads them towards and onto the stone bridge.

xxxxxIf Irsa had wolf ears, she'd be flattening them right now. This is not a place to fall endlessly into nothing and die a pointless death. She nods mutely at Mercy's words and begins to move forward, stepping carefully and absolutely refusing to look down. She's not afraid of heights, but you do NOT test your spiritual luck and refuse to follow directions from an experienced Umbral traveler. Nuh uh.

xxxxxRhapsody has followed along, somewhere between everyone else. When they start to tie in, she places herself in the middle between Akio and Irsa. "This place is amazing and frightening, and I' m glad we are in a group and bound." Because she feels someone would get lost. A large swallow - hopefully with no dust - and she will follow where she is led today.

xxxxxBranton nods at his mate as he ties on to the anchor position once everyone else is on, he's not been here before but he's studied for it and trust Iris to know what she's about. "This would be worse than puking all over the deck of a container ship from two miles up because I looked down when flying out to the Island."

xxxxxAkio listens to the warnings and cautions and nods in understanding. Grinning and nodding to Rhapsody as he checks to make sure they're all set he starts to move with the group. Making sure to not look down, he keeps his eyes ahead and up so he doesn't accidentally look downwards.

xxxxxFor all that the bridge seems like it'd be a wobbly death trap just waiting to collapse at any moment, it's surprisingly sturdy and solid. Grit crunches quietly under foot, the stone so dry and so ancient that its surface merely powders ever so lightly instead of polishing with the passage of feet or time. Mercy leads the way in silence, she too is keeping her eyes on the path and steadfastly refusing to let her vision capture the vast ocean of blackness under them as they progress. It will be very easy to start feeling a tiny touch of vertigo and to be completely uncertain whether or not the bridge is swaying and upsetting your balance juuuuuuust a touch as the group gets towards the middle of the bridge and scant peripheral vision can see nothing but blackness if you're not specifically looking upwards at the sky. Should one look up ahead, it seems like the far side is so desperately far out of reach. ANYONE that peaks over the short railing of the bridge must make a willpower save.

xxxxxOnce they're across, Mercy is going to take a second to steady her nerves a little bit and just breathe. "You're probably wondering why we didn't just step out of the moon bridge on the correct side of the Abyss so that we didn't have to do that awful walk."

xxxxxIrsa stuffs both her ears full of mental memories of the sounds of laughter, jokes, and anything she can think of that's the antithesis of the void below. When the whispers come she grits her teeth, focusing on Mercy's instructions and flat-out refusing to listen. And then the other side is reached. She clings to the rope, holding it fast until the others are safely across. "Because... because we need t' cooperate to cross. To help each other an' not fall prey in the process. T' know what kinds of dangers we can face that aren't obvious."

xxxxxRhapsody reaches out to touch Irsa's shoulder part way through, but she is unsteady on her feet and grabs the rope instead. Her feet shuffle and she looks at the back of Irsa's head the whole time and praying to Gaia that they make it across. Once across, she breathes a sigh of relief, and gets close to Irsa waiting for Akio and Branton to finish crossing. "Perhaps because we need to know just how perilous this journey can be? Respect that sometimes when we seek something out.. it will not be easy and we need to trust in each other?"

xxxxxAkio is luckily light on his feed, the kitsune is built more for balance, speed, and agility than strength and power. Still, he's careful and constantly checking in with the others to ensure they're good to go as they move. "Yeah, I think both of those answers make sense."

xxxxxBranton grins as the shifters come up with all sorts of appropriate answers for this being a bonding exercise and then he adds as he steps off the bridge last "It could also be that some realms and subrealms in the umbra can only be entered in very specific ways. Like this side doesn't exist, in relative spatial terms, near anywhere except this end of the bridge."

xxxxx"You are all correct." Mercy says, pointing at the two ladies and saying, "That is the bright side of the bridge's purpose, to test any who would enter the Abyss, to steel their nerves and their resolve. Anyone who is not sure, who is not strong, who does not have true companionship will find the bridge very difficult to cross, they may lose themselves and jump. The dark side of the bridge's purpose is to lure you to jump by forcing you to *have* to cross it. Had we come out here, the safe path in would be on the far side. We came in from over there, so our path is on this side. there's no way to avoid the crossing. As I told Akio earlier, to fly here is to court death even more easily, wings give you a sense of control, and you may fly down in, never to find the sunlight again." While she talks, she passes around a canteen from her pack so everyone can get a drink of cool water before they go on. She leads the way too a dirt path at the edge of the chasm that follows the wall down into the shadows. "Walk carefully, speak up if you feel like you might slip." Now that they're not on the bridge, the Abyssal darkness is less all consumingly drawing, but still, this shit is DEEP. The bottom can not be seen. xxxxx"The Abyss, as I said, is a place of loss and solitude. They say it was not always so large, but each time something important is lost or forgotten, it grows, consuming what has been lost. With our world so populated and full of things and information, it's no wonder that the Abyss is as large as it is now. No one knows how deep it is, or where all of its caverns and tunnels go, no one's ever explored all its paths and crannies, and those that have tried have never returned. In the black depths there are pathways to Malfeas and packs of Black Spiral Dancers, but no wolf is so dangerous or feared as the lord of this realm. He was once a Shadow Lord before he was swallowed by the darkness, he forgot who he was and went mad, and the Abyss embraced him as its... spokesman. He can not die, but he does not truly live. He is mad, and he is very dangerous."

xxxxxIrsa gratefully accept the canteen, taking a sparing sip before passing it on to Rhapsody behind her. But now they're going down, and this is about to completely suck. She keeps her feet firmly on the path, still refusing to look down and using every trick she can think of to block out the whispers. Despite her size, she has extremely good balance and uses that knack to preserve her skin a bit longer. "You ever encounter him?" she asks Mercy when the Shadow Lord is mentioned. Nope, still not looking.

xxxxxRhapsody thanks Iris and Irsa, and takes a sip of the canteen. She passes it on to Akio. "That does make a lot of sense." She quiets down as they are moving, and she works on her balance. "Are there any signs we should look out for?"

xxxxxAkio takes the canteen when its offered to him and takes a sip before it's passed off to Branton. Listening to Iris speak of the chasm he still doesn't look down and instead focuses on moving with the group. He's careful while still naturally gifted with that kitsune agility.

xxxxx"I have not." Mercy admits to Irsa's question, "But I will have to if I'm going to collect a piece of the Abyss for the orrery. Not now though, that will be an especially dangerous visit fit only for elders and very strong sorcerers. Even the packs of Dancers that call this unfortunate place their home run when they suspect he is near. He is as close to a god as a Garou can get, and has lost everything of himself to become such. Even as the lord of the Abyss, those lost things he can never find again. Remember this if any of you ever seeks the Abyss in the future for some need, this terrible fate can happen to anyone and any thing." She shakes her head at Rhapsody's question, "By the time you know he's there, it's too late. You can run, but you'll only die tired."

xxxxxAs the path slopes its gentle way downwards, it switches back and forth in long, lazy ramps thin enough that only one person can move along it at a time. Pebbles and dust slip from the edges of the path and the sound of their clattering is jarring and perhaps even frightening, given the dire stories being told right now. Deep, deep down below come those whispers and the faintest wails and screams of madness and sorrow from beings who have become eternally lost in the darkness. The sunlight fades slowly, dimming as the group moves further in until they're left with a twilight haze of light that illuminates their surroundings juuuuust enough to see. Down below in the murk there are faint gleams of light, barely discernible shapes. Bridges in the darkness. A fortune in gold and jewels is strewn about one, another holds the faint bluish shine of silver, and another one is barely discernible from the shadows themselves. Dark shapes flit down there, tricking the eye and brain into wondering if they really saw something or not. xxxxx"There are a number of known paths here, what we're on now is the Path of Soil."

xxxxxBranton nods at Iris's description "And that's why I brought Tranquility rather than left it home." Then Branton shudders "Just the idea of him is enough to freak me out." Then he takes his own sip of water.

xxxxxIrsa clings like a burr to the ledge as she descends, keeping her hands and feet well clear of all treasure and spoils snatched from the Abyss' countless victims. Nope, not even tempted, this stuff is totally cursed, and what would she even do with it? "How many paths have ya travelled?" she asks Iris, keeping her voice down. She has no wish to draw the attention of the lord of this dark place.

xxxxxRhapsody keeps her balance - which she is working on! - as they travel on this path of soil. "I would have thought this path would have a more.. dark name.. dangerous even. Hmm." Glad that the slope is gentle at least. She shudders off and on as the path narrows. "We are not alerting .. something... with the pebbles falling down the edge?" She is putting on a brave face, but this is more concerning than she thought they would be getting into.

xxxxxAkio moves along the burr with the group and looks a little shook. It's either the story or the story mixed with the potential drop. Still he steels his nerves and buckles down to move with a bit more confidence as he looks to the others.

xxxxxBranton is moving slow and careful, his balance sure. He glances at the edge when Rhapsody mentions it and like Irsa he's not tempted by the treasure, that's not what he's here for.

xxxxx"Only this one." Mercy answers quietly, "And only for a moment." She doesn't answer Rhapsody. Doesn't want to jinx it.

xxxxxThe path becomes dangerously skinny at one point, requiring the group to put their backs to the wall and shuffle their way along, pebbles sliding off the edge and into the unknown darkness as they move. The danger of falling is very real and requires slow, careful steps, careful balance, with exactly nothing to hold onto to ease the stress of the moment. After a long stretch of this treacherous terrain, the path widens again and lets out into... a garden? xxxxxWere it not so shadowy, so eerily still and windless, were it not for the faint cries and jibbering whispers of spirits lost in the depths forever, this might actually be quite beautiful, like a dark dream of the hanging gardens of Babylon. They stretch downwards into the dark, layer upon layer of terraces reached by loose, crumbling dirt paths, and there's the most vague visual notion that the same can be seen on the far side of the Abyss as well. NOTHING stirs here. The air is flat and still, the soil bone dry and there is no scent of fertility, no scent of life in these thousands upon thousands upon thousands of plants. Each and every plant is unique, no two alike though there may be some similarities here and there. From mosses to flowers to trees and vines, everything has had its vibrant and lively colors washed out to a mere ghost of what they once were. There are no animals, no insects, there is nothing in the garden of death except the plants.

xxxxx"This is why I wanted to be sure my dear mystics were here for this trip, this is a very important place. Come get a sandwich if you're hungry, and take some time to breathe."

xxxxxIrsa is NOT happy with this place, at all, but there's work to be done ahead. She gamely presses on, flattening herself against the wall and testing each of her steps carefully before committing her full weight to the move. She remains silent, focusing on the feel of the path beneath her feet until the path widens out and the garden is revealed. Her scarred lips skin back from her teeth as she softly growls. "How did this get here?" she asks as she looks at all the dead plant life and earth. "Did this place swallow it up?" She forces herself to eat a sandwich, though she takes no joy in it. Its fuel she needs for the journey ahead.