2018.09.24 Finding the Way

Finding the Way - Part 1
A Tale of Transmogrification
IC Date	September 24, 2018
IC Time	Night
Players	Helen Russ
Location	The Lost Kingdom - Fun House - Hall of Mirrors
Spheres	Wyrm
Theme Song	Save Me - Aimee Mann [1]

FINDING THE WAY - A TALE OF TRANSMOGRIFICATION
PART 1
STORYTELLER: Russ
The Lost Kingdom - Fun House - Hall Of Mirrors

Passing through the oaken double doors-whose backs seem to meld with the wall once shut-one finds themselves within.. A hall of nigh unfathomable mechanics of light. Stretching far and wide, this brightly lit chamber is as though made from the very essence of reflection. The floor, a solid spanning sheet of mirage-like opacity, gives way to the ceiling, and vice-versa in an infinite loop of unending halls stacked upon one another.

Likewise, the walls and columns of the hall reflect insofar upon one another that an illusion of infinite space finds itself mentally agreeable, even in a physical plane such as this. This cavern of glass engenders only sterility-the surfaces absolutely spotless and pure-reflecting and refracting a light source that certainly is not visible, but is seen all around. So minute might one feel in a world so vast..

Russ is waiting near the entrance to the mirror maze and he's smoking a clove cigarette as he leans on the doorframe in homid. His hat is off and his mirrored glasses are hooked on his collar.

Helen rushes in as fast as she can; her hat being held on her head by her right hand as she caught her breath for a moment. "Ritemaster...", she says respectfully while taking off her hat and placing it on the floor in the House of Mirrors. "... hopefully I did not keep you waiting.", she pants. Standing up straight so she would not appear to be winded in front of the elder garou. She wore that heavy looking amish smock of hers and boots that slowed her down, but it was noticeable that Helen always challenged herself.

Russ tilts his head to the side and he sizes her up with a bemused sneer that settles into an amicable grin. His fucked up features and scarred flesh make even the kindest expression cruel and he wrinkles his nose thoughtfully before he speaks, "You did. But at least you didn't apologize for it." He nods smugly in apparent appreciation, "Apologies are a sign of weakness... for some reason, I do not think you are weak." That said he gestures to the mirrormaze ahead of them in all its gleaming splendor.

"But to get stronger you have to find yourself. That is the basest lesson of the Spiral. Knowing your Urges, owning them, nurturing them and-" He nods as if to says its far, far in the future... perhaps even still a goal of his, "Overcoming them. Longevity is a curse you have to fight for in this life little Coggie." He reaches out to give her a shove toward the maze, "Come back when you know your Urge."

Helen looks a little bit somber, nodding her head to the Rite Master's words. "I will do my best to reflect on this. I can not say that I understand, for spirits seem so foreign to me as if I were talking talking to stars. I don't think a Philadox can ever understand the spirits like a Theruge.", she called out to the Ritemaster after being shoved into the maze of mirrors.

The philodox already a bit upset about being called a 'Coggie', as Helen removes her sunglasses and pockets them in her smock to not lose her accessory. Her yellow wolf eyes roaming the mirrors as they saw color a bit differently, as not all garou saw the world as a wolf in all their forms. "We are all children of wyrm as well. Or aspire to be.", she whispers beneath her breath as she roams around the maze.

As she walks deeper into the maze she is apt to notice the way the dim lighting plays tricks on the impossible angles all around her; Helen's own figure is reflected back in shards and seconds.. flashes of reflections.

The deeper she goes into the maze the stranger the reflections are bound to become, "Keep your head up..." Russ' voice floats in from somewhere unseen... quite possibly from the other side of the gauntlet. "They will make themselves understood.. if you earn their trust..."

Strange flickers of darkness dance across the reflective walls around her... and their shapes contort into nightmarish flickers of nothingness when she tries to focus on them. The disembodied laughter of children echoes down a hallway to the east.

Helen listens to Russ and keeps walking further into the maze, however she does pick her head up just in case she wasn't supposed to eye the floor. The reflective surface bothering her a bit as she walked and found things somewhat disorientating. For ease she used her right hand to guide her and touched the glass with the back of her nails, gliding them across the smooth mirror to lead her as she counted a bit, perhaps trying to remember her steps in and out of the maze.

All around her the flickers and flashes start to collect in the shadows as they slow their movements down to a speed she can fathom. The banes pause and different faces look out at her through the Mirrors... from across the divide of spirit and flesh.

"She sees us.. she does.." "Pretty girl... pretty wolf.. which is it.." "Its both. It neither." A dirty squeak laugh from a tall ugly one with feathers for eyebrows. The Russ' voice can be heard even though he is still unseen, "She is lost. Guide her."

Helen looks at the bane like goblins twisted in the mirror, it was hard not to smile in wonder to their natures or beings as she heard the Rite mater's voice. "Will you guide me?", Helen asked not thinking it was silly to talk to the monsters in the mirror. Her hand slowly roaming over the glass wondering if she could reach out and touch one, but she doesn't draw too near. Leaving the spirits at a distance.

The bane-lings snicker and laugh with their grubby pushed in faces closes to the glass... it isn't long before the mirrors start feeling more like windows and she starts to lose her own reflection in their surface. Her own reflection grows into a dim hazy sheen across the glass.. "Where's she goin?" A slow speaking bulk of bane with drippy looking flesh that only stood about knee height askes in a sleepy voice. "And why's she in a hurry..."

"She's going to Hell." The feather faced fiend with the squeaky laugh, "We're walking her to hell in a handbasket!" The banes talk amoungst themselves almost as much as they speak to her and it takes some jeering to keep them focused.

To focus on her reflection in the background or the banes? Who was her teacher - the spirits or herself? - Helen didn't know what to look at; but decided she could learn from the banes as she was kinda dragged along. Until she focused in on the question that was asked.

"Are we in a hurry?", she says while yanking her arm back from the numerous goblin like creatures. "Who are you and what is your name?", Helen says calling out the sleepy creature about knee height and pointing directly to it, as flesh dripped and sloughed off. "Because am I in a hurry and I'm being foolish by not even stopping to learn your names?", expanding on the idea just given to her by the other being. "Do you all have names?"

"Me?" The sleepy bane asked and pointed at his own chest in a way that made it look like his melting flesh swallows his hand... he has to pluck it back out as he answers, "I'm Apathy. I was born here."

Feather face walks in front of Apathy, "Not that you asked me but I'll answer, yes... we all have names. Mine is Pride." And the list goes on from there and Pride points out each goblin-esc version of the Sins. There are some that are named after Urges... as there are far more than seven.. several dozen. Pride just keeps going as if he enjoyed hearing himself speak... "AND that big ugly bastard is Gluttony." As she listens she can tell many of the other Banes aren't speaking English. Instead a Wyrmish tongue prevails in the background... suggesting Pride and Apathy are her translators.

Helen was fast, she didn't have a standard education. Raised with fifty kinfolk she had to learn names fast. As Pride recites a name, Helen tries to commit it to her eidetic memory as she was introduced to each bane. She would of made a lovely theurge, but the dark side of the moon had other plans for Helen. The wyrm language in the background was a bit painful to listen to as she wanted to scratch at her ears. "Pride. Where are we going? I want to know that."

Pride holds up his hand as if to silence her until he is done with his long list of introduction. When he is done he regards her again and puffs up when she says his name instead of Apathy's. "The Ritemaster asked us to Guide. It's up to you decide where we are going... I imagine you'll want us to Guide you down some path of self discovery... that's what I'd want."

"I just want to be left alone... she doesn't even know where she's going- there's no point in guiding someone down a path that goes nowhere.." Apathy starts to stalk off... very slowly...

Helen smiles down at Pride, "Well, I think you fucks are cute as hell. I want to collect you all. Build me a basket, I will carry you all on my back so we can journey together."

FINDING THE WAY - PART 2 [[2]]