2023.05.14 The Wisdom of Death

2023.05.14 The Wisdom of Death
Even Iris sometimes lacks knowledge, and for that, she and Trey go to George, the elder Silent Strider, for information on the Deadlands.
IC Date	05.14.23
Players	Iris, George, Trey
Location	The Island
Spheres	Garou, Bastet

The Island - Southern Beach

Only the southern beach of the island seems to be accessible from this spot. A large cliff face rises high up into the sky and seems to circle all the way around this small portion of beach. There are trees on this side of the cliff facing and a little patch of forest off to the northeast, but the cliff facing goes out into the water a good ways. There is definitely no way around unless one were to want to try swimming it but that might not be a good idea. To the north a long pathway leads up to a large sprawling manor house which seems to be built right into the cliff facing.

---

BEACH DAAAAAAAAAY! Although less for the fun in the sun stuff, even if they ARE coming out to the island in all its glory. Iris is dragging Trey along, of course, if there's adventure or learning to be done then you bring your packmate, it's just how it's done! She's zipping George a text while she's on the dock, letting him know they've just arrived before dumping her phone in her purse. "I'm excited, I've never done this before!" she tells Trey, who is surely aware that it's Wraith Lore day.

---

Trey is cheerful as usual, dressed for the beach in jeans and a tee, shoes off once he hits the sand. "Have you heard anything about Agnes?" He's curious, of course, having not seen the woman since they introduced her to her shifter-self. "It's cool that we're getting to do something new to you, too!"

---

George will not have gotten the text because Cell Phones don't work on the Island but he can see the dock from his favorite reading spot on the clubhouse roof. So when he spots the arrivals he jumps down to the beach, coming down in a three point superhero landing. Two stories of club house and about fifty feet of cliff. Yes he's showing off and no he doesn't care. He's got a poncho made of a crazy quilt of different scraps of garment leather. The hood is not currently up and he steps over as he takes what looks like a jar of something dark and red out of his messenger bag "I bet you can guess what I'd say to almost anyone else that asked for this rite?"

---

Iris waggles her hand side to side, "Not in person but through the grape vine. I hear she's doing really well with the whole thing, full of questions but not freaking out, which is just great." As for calls, eell then George will get the text after they've left! Bet that's not the first time that's happened though. Derp. "Bring your own squirrel?" Iris hazards a guess to George while giving him a grin in greeting. "Although, you don't *have* to use the rite, if you don't want. Assuming you're alright with being tethered to me. Dunno how that'll affect your instructive capabilities though."

---

Trey applauds for the three-point landing because it seems to warrant it, I mean, how many superheroes do *you* know? He grins, though, and tips a nonexistent hat at the elder Strider, looking over the poncho with curiosity.

"That's what I was hoping for. As long as she can maintain her curiosity, it'll help her to not freak out."

Rite? Rite? Oh, right. Must be something Mercy doesn't know... which means it probably ties into the Lore about the dead she is seeking. Another person tethered? Is that even... well, apparently, yes, it's possible. "I was supposed to bring squirrel? Meh, not as good as rabbit."

---

George grins broadly Trey and then looks at Iris "Yes usually. Though more often I just tell them nope. I get them to explain why they want to go and see if I can accomplish the objective without them. because holy shit going to the underworld is a terrible idea for most shifters. We radiate vibrant life-force there. Also the vast majority of totem bonds stop working once you go there. You get it back once you return but its more than a little bit out of range of most spirits tied to the living world. Given your totem's associations you'll probably be fine though. I've got the blood I'm going to need here for this time though."

---

"Yeah, Meros is your tribe's celestial patron, so there's a lot of wandering and death involved with his blessings." Iris has no idea if George knows that, but if not, now he does! "I know he grants us the ability to move there without becoming lost, and to deal with the beings that dwell there a bit more easily, but I've only ever been there once a long time ago with you, and that was at the Caern. My tribal Camp is the Temple of Artemis, the Crone camp, and apparently there's dealings with the dead lands *there* too. I've learned the gift to get there, but still, never used it. Erring on the side of caution for once, till a proper guide teaches me the rules of the realm a bit better. And that's you!" She snerks at Trey as well.

---

Trey nods as he listens. This is all true, this much he knows, but there's more to the request than whim or a desire to just call up a random dead guy and say 'hey, what up?,' after all. "I imagine ours will still work, though," he comments, thoughtful. "But most... yeah. I didn't know totems cut off like that. Good to know." That's not dismissive; he's serious.

He just smiles at Iris's smirk, and says, "Always best to learn the lay of the land if possible. Is the boat going to make the journey or is that even possible?"

---

George nods at thinks about the boat and considers "I have no idea, I don't know enough about how the boat works to be honest." Then to Iris he nods "I figured you'd have thought this through. Do either of you have any other preparations before I start what I need for the crossing?"

---

"Oh, nooooo, I think the boat would probably start to disintegrate really fast. It's purely a creation of the living spirit realm." Iris tells Trey. "Which is fine, cause I don't want to sail around in there anyways. THAT is not luxury cruising space! It'll get real depressing real fast." She shakes her head to George and says, "Nope, open calendar, no pending chores or activities that I'm aware of, and no particular rites or anything I need to do. Do you mind if I leave my stuff on the beach, though?" If it's cool, she'll leave her bag behind in the shade and subject as few of her fetishes as possible to their destination.

---

Trey Ahs and says, "Good to know. No space boat in the Dark Umbra, noted and logged." He huhs at the idea of the fetishes though, and says, "Might want to do the same, honestly, because the spirits might not enjoy the trip." He shakes his head at George's question. "Nope. I'm wide open, nothing pending I need to do." He does, however, slip off both of the rings he wears and put them into his backpack. "I'm gonna do the same, I think."

---

George nods at Iris "And you'll see once we cross, if you haven't already, that going to sea in the Underworld is a bad time." And on a large flat wood platform he's built and laid out for the purpose he starts marking some glyphs in blood from the jar. Its about six feet square and he gestures "Keep all extremities inside the circle, make sure your seats and tray tables are locked in their upright position." Trey gets a nod too "I've never tested that assumption, my gear that I have on me is made for that environment so it works out."

---

"First time going un tethered!" Iris says to Trey with a grin, "Stay with the tour group, it's nasty on the other side." She makes a face. "I've seen it a lot, and had this whole mind blow about cheese while staring at it one day, but I'm glad I'm not regularly traveling there. I feel like it's a place that smells... Like stale carrion. Maybe it doesn't, but it looks like it should." Within the circle, she avoids flailing about and extending limbs over ritual boundaries. Last thing you wanna do is leave your hand on the other side of the veil.

---

Trey takes a pocket notebook and pen from the knapsack, then leaves the bag in the same safe spot as Iris' stuff, chuckling at the idea of tables made of himself. "Do I put the flat part on my head?" Untethered? Uh oh. "I will," he agrees, and mutters something absently about if the cat toy had worked. Alas! He gets himself neatly within the confines of the circle. "Should I stay in this form or get into something more compact?" Hey, he's a considerate dude. Or something.

---

George nods at Iris as he finishes the circle and climbs in himself, its not ultra spacious but there's room for three Homids if people are careful about how they stand "It really kinda does. It smells stale and flat. Though the Island...well you'll see when wer get there." Then he marks each of the others with a thumb print of blood "There's a Reason I suggested we do the learning trip here."

George loses one Willpower

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
George rolls Intelligence + Occult vs 7 for 2 successes.
1 1 3 4 6 +7 +7 8 8
<-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

---

With a dark oily shimmer the air along the boundary of the circle changes. Forming a bubble that goes grey and washed out sort of opaque for just a moment. Then the group is standing on the beach of a monochrome version of the island. Except its dead. No vegetation, no wildlife, just some odd looking sandstone ruins and winding paths to the Island's interior. George now has Black feathered angel of death...no they are Owl wings "Welcome to the Underworld."

---

"Oh, yeah, no this was *absolutely* my preferred place for a lesson." Iris says with a quick nod. "I'm not scared, *you're* scared! And, just to really drive it home, we're gonna be babies there. I have no idea how to track dead airts or what different stuff, like, *means* over there." She's fascinated by the bubble, but totally doesn't touch it. Even though she wants to. "Hooray! Dead lands!" She cheers, then takes a second to double over for a quick dry heave. Stale, dead world smell, ew. "Oooh Gaia it's like opening one of those old fridges that hasn't been opened in years!"

---

Trey does his best to see the transition as it happens, watching color fade to darkness and drear shadow, the island rendered lifeless and pale. NO smartass comments from the Bastet now -- wide eyes and a twitching tip of his nose. The scent is stagnant, old, as if a layer of dust was slathered over old rot. He shakes his head and glances around them, slowly and carefully, letting his eyes do Gaia's work. He coughs a bit from the dry powdery air, and murmurs, "It is. Yeah. Except I don't want to know what was left in it."

---

Out to sea is howling storms of madness, 'here there be monsters' and all that except true. George gestures at the buildings (look away from the water) "Centuries ago this island was a caern and no one has lived or died here since then until I came. The caern had a strong life signature and left an impression on the underworld strong enough in that and emotional resonance to endure. Those are the two main currencies in the land of the dead and something they really can't make on their own. Life Energy and Strong emotions. That's why most shifters are monster bait here."

---

"Question." Iris says while looking up at yonder ruins and just sort of taking it all in, and doing another quiet burp because she's still somewhat sure she'd like to puke. "Well, context AND question, I guess I should say. I may have to find a specific person here in the near future. Dead guy, obviously. How does this place, like... Influence people that have been here a couple decades? I've SEEN different sorts of dead folk, some seem relatively normalish and others have the whole banshee thing sort of going on. Is that... Like different *types* of spirits, or is it an example of spiritual degradation over time? Like what would you guess I'm probably going to find when I go find my dead guy?"

---

Trey winces at poor Iris' predicament, but anything he'd offer would likely make it worse. He focuses on the discussion, instead. "I was wondering about that, too. I mean, does how they die make a difference? Or how they're remembered?" He stops himself from asking any more questions right off the bat, and takes a moment to peer at the seas, despite the monsters. He doesn't hold that gaze long, though, just in case something spies them.

---

George gives a low whistle at Iris' question "Well first thing to understand is that basically everything you see in the underworld that's moving around and you didn't bring with you? Is a dead human soul. Even some things that aren't moving if you're dealing with a soul-forger. So what you describe is a degradation issue, the more tainted by Oblivion and unmoored from their fetters to the living world they become? The more batshit wyrmy they get. The ones that are pretty much like you imagine ghosts are called Wraiths, the mad ones are called Specters."

---

Iris is paying very close attention, Theurging it up and learning about a new realm. "Okay, okay that makes sense. Now, you mentioned the currency of resonance. Is this like with Gnosis with living spirits? Like if I want to bargain, most are happy to take my gnosis as payment, as it refuels them, is this the same sort of thing? I mean like... I don't know if I'll even *need* to bargain, my main worry is the degradation, and whether this sort of a currency exchange can like... Slap a bitch back to the here and now for a minute, or is that not really how that works." While she's asking questions, she's examining her immediate surroundings. Assuming no one screams with horror about it, she wants to feel the sand, possibly get stabbed by a broken bottle buried in it, and get to know the actual realm, aside from its laws.

Iris also points at Trey for his questions, cause those are super good ones.

---

Trey winces. "Is this how they all die? I mean... so many of them believe in an afterlife, and this is... this is it? There's nothing more?" He looks around, pained a bit, and then brings his eyes back to the buildings as George had told them. "Is it all of them? Or just some? Or... specific types, who wind up as Wraiths?" A pause, and he nods at Iris' questions as well -- poor George, with two questiony types!

---

George is once again realizing why a lot of garou find Ragabash so exasperating to deal with, so many questions. "How they die totally makes a difference I think. Because Unfinished business and ties to the realm of the living, both positive and negative, are part of what causes a wraith to form. Most people don't leave wraiths behind when they pass, what else happens to the human dead that don't show up in the shadowlands is not known. As for how they're remembered? Ancestor worship can feed them power and strengthen their ties. Makes it easier for them to resist the call of oblivion if they have a reason to stay. It also makes them really hard to kill, which is part of why soul-forging is a thing. Its one of the only punishments that can stick in any serious way. As for how to perk up a Wraith who's degraded? Find a way to play into or upon their fetters. Strong emotional events related to their remaining ties to the living world will flood them with energy. As for a direct gnosis infusion? I've never tried that and I don't know what would happen if you did."

---

"I'm pretty sure this is a lobby construct built by consensus doubt." Iris opines, "But there's definitely afterlives. Supposedly you can get to all of them from Meros's realm, but I don't know how true that is. But it takes devoted belief and release, I think. Hence the lobby." She doesn't sound entirely sure about that, but you gotta start somewhere. "Somehow I don't think feeding a wraith gnosis would have the expected effect, but I couldn't guess what might happen. Okay, now how do you track a dead guy? The gifts that help you track prey sort of assume that prey is alive, or at the very least undead, not dead-dead, and I'm not sure if they have the same sort of airt that a spirit has that allows them to be tracked. What would you suggest for that sort of thing, and-or would it be more sure fire to go to where they died? I dunno if they're strictly tied to such a place, or what."

---

The Bastet theurgeabash can indeed be frustrating. Trey nods at the idea of connections to the living world being the reason behind a Wraith's existence. It makes sense, judging from his expression. He huhs at the idea of Gnosis into a wraith, frowning thoughtfully. "I think it might do more harm than good," he says at length. "Life energy versus death? Perhaps..." He takes in all of the rest, committing it to memory and then asking, "You mean, like the idea of Consensus the Namers believe?" He quirks a brow, but thinks about it with more depth. All of Iris' questions are ones that give him a curious look, as well; he takes out his notebook and begins to make quick notes about all of this in his book.

---

George considers Iris's question "I've always used the same gifts, though that might only work for me because of my tribal relationship with Owl or my personal relationship with owl. Its worth a try though. They aren't always fettered to where they died, its often the case but not nearly universal. If you want a starting point, if you know what their fetters are you can go to where they are in the living world. The emotional connection shows up like footprints and trail markers to tracking gifts or rites. Like if they have a strong tie to a particular tree and you bring a twig or leaf from that tree into the shadowlands and use it as the focus for a Rite of the Questing stone that'd do the trick." Then George nods to Trey "Its a real thing, heck its why most of the High Umbra works the way it does. Enough people believing the same thing shifts reality."

---

"Okay, fair possibility at the site of death but not guaranteed, try the gifts anyways and see if they work." Iris says, taking some mental notes here while Trey takes the physical notes. "Questing Stone would do it now that you mention it, yeah. That doesn't care what or where, as long as it can point to it. I'm not sure I'd know any sort of fetter, but I can ask some questions. Worst case there's nothing to use there, and I'll just have to wing it." While she's having a good think, she waggles a pointing finger at Trey when George backs up the consensus talk. "Most people, you ask what happens after you die and the answer is 'I don't know', I'm pretty sure this is the realm representation of 'I don't know'. Probably looks like the real world, but super sucks, which is a good description of this place! Okay, now, tell us about the landscape here. Like, we're in a pretty safe spot now, but can you point out some danger signs or safety signs that we wouldn't normally notice, being newbies in this world."

---

Trey looks up, nodding again as Iris points, and says, "That sounds plausible, yeah. I don't think most people have a true conviction about it. Even the ones who say they do. Else it would look different, I think." Interesting thought; he's still working on it, though. He nods again, and says, "Yeah, definitely will need to know those."

---

George nods "Stay near where civilization is or has been. And if something shows aggression believe it the first time. Even if you manage to strike down one of the restless dead odds are unless they were right on the edge of Destruction then they won't stay down but they won't be back soon enough to be a problem for you that trip. Even with my knife it can still be a bit of a crap shoot. If you see what looks like a person but covered in like...a slimey caul of ectoplasm? Leave it alone. Its a newly formed Wraith and generally it takes another wraith to peel them safely. There's a lot that we could go over about the culture and customs of the various factions but I don't think that's going to be super relevant. Avoid weather events. Avoid anything that looks like wildlife, its probably not and probably will try and chew on your tasty tasty life energy."

---

"Oh, no, there's definitely no such thing as wildlife here, I know *that* danger, at least! Best you get is a black bird messenger or something." Iris says, and tells Trey, "That's why we do the prey prayer rites, because normal dead animals go straight to the umbra as spirits. Alright, so no slimey guys, stay near- Wait, WHY stay near civilization? Like, what happens out in the wilderness of this place? I'm imagining that the landscape tries to eat you, or something. Usually the advice is the other way around, with the umbra, stay away from cities until you know enough to not get trapped and calcified. I think where I'm going is... Well, not SUPER rural like a cajun shack, but still fairly ruralish."

---

Trey ahhhs and nods again. "Making a mental note to tag along when you teach those to Evan," he tells her, frowning at his own oversight. "Basically, it sounds like 'avoid anything you're not 100 percent sure is inanimate' is a good rule." He quirks a brow and says, "STay close to civilization. That's... why is that?"

---

George grins "Well there are roads between called Byways but otherwise the spaces outside where the wraiths dwell that's called the Tempest. Its what you have to pass through to get to the deeper parts of the Underworld, reality gets....squishy and dangerous out that far. Without even the memory of life to keep it stable its mostly lost to Oblivion." Writing reality out to disk. Please wait... Reality saved. Thank you for your patience.

---

"Oooooooh, so you're saying it's a sort of inverse from how the umbra works." Iris says, sounding like maybe she's getting it. Maybe. "Living-spirit-wise, the cities are more dangerous while the wilds are safer, and when you want to go deeper into reality's chaos and access the deeper umbra, you find your anchor heads lost in that wilderness of life. Whereas here, cities are more stable and overall safer for it, while wilds are the more dangerous and unstable areas, but still provide that depth access. That makes total sense if you go with the consensus doubt theory, the wilderness wouldn't be as, like, as much *here* as places where people tend to die. There's not a huge tradition of going off into the woods to die these days. Another question!" Iris WAS born the day after the newe moon, so she's got the theurgabash question thing! "Inside structures. How dangerous, and what to watch out for? Cause again, umbrally the danger is being hemmed in for possible calcification or bane ambushes."

---

Trey huhs and considers the inverse theory, working it through in his mind as Iris speaks. "Because more people die in cities, just by dint of the population," he agrees, making another mental note. "Oooh, good question. Are those made of dead people too?" It's a sincere question.

---

George shrugs at Iris "I don't like getting trapped inside solid places when I don't know or control them. But that's not special to the underworld. Too many possibilities, it really kind of depends other than that. As for a straight up capacity for violence we win though. At least most of the time. There are exceptions and stuff but unless you're going deep or dealing with the truly ancient dead you probably won't have to worry."

---

"Okay, that works." Iris says, not minding the lack of specifics there at all. "Hopefully there wont be any in-doors, but we'll see. I don't *think* I'll be going all that deep. I mean, I have no concrete answers or knowledge about that actually, still got research to do on that front, but I feel way more confident about it now. Would you mind taking us on a walk around the island a bit? Play tour guide and point out interesting things?"