Ch.5 "Lost Souls" / Kell and Sigrlinn

[Legendary Sidekick]

"I am Arachne. Sorry. I thought I introduced myself, but I may have forgotten in all the excitement of seeing you in that metal fly."

She looks up at her outfits, then answers Kell:

"I suppose the wings function, and that's special. The pants will let you leap and bound like a tiny satyr. Oh, but there's no top. I can make a top if you prefer--or a winged outfit as well. It's not tacky to match in this case."

She patiently waits for you to decide.

 

[tbgg]

Blushing, Kell says, "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Kell."

She then asks, "Are you saying that there can be an outfit with both wings and satyr legs? Or just that the satyr pants can come with an unwinged top?"

Then deciding to speed things along, she says, "If I can have both satyr legs and wings, that would be my first choice. If I can't, I'll take the satyr legs with an ordinary top." In case they need leaping skills, she figures she might as well try out the satyr's legs. It can be a new experience.

She finds herself studying the tapestry of the innocent bride Hera. "That tapestry of Hera is very sad in some ways, although well-done. Sigrlinn and I may be meeting with her at some point if we can talk Heph into returning back to our world. She's certainly had some tough things happen to her. I may even mention this tapestry to her, if you would not mind - we hope to help her find her more innocent self anew."


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[Legendary Sidekick]

"Pleased to meet you, Kell."

She looks rather proud of herself when Kell mentions the tapestry.

"That was the one that got me in the most trouble. Showing the gods' follies was meant to depict moments of imperfection. We love because of flaws, not despite them. Should Artemis fart on the bath, her nymphs will still adore her. And respect her.

"Perhaps such a moment occurred, but Hera's wedding night is not how the goddess of marriage dreamed it would be. She didn't choose Zeus. She was his first victim. Yet she never redefined the ideal marital situation no matter how many ways Zeus violated their marriage and others'. If you speak to her, tell her I wished she could have had this. I meant no offense, nor was her depiction an attempt at humor as others were."

While Sigrlinn is standing under the valkyrie outfit, Arachne flips a switch. The ground below glows blindingly bright. Sigrlinn feels the clothes easily tear off her body. She then feels her body being covered in the most comfortable silk. When the light dims, she finds she has grown considerably larger! Arachne's human half appears fairy sized and Kell could have a picnic on Sigrlinn's pinky nail.

Arachne weave a top for Kell but says, "You can't grow into pants the way your friend grew into her gown."

(Sigrlinn may realize that since she literally grew into the gown, that is the only article of clothing she has on. Fortunately, it is a gown of modest length. There are sandals and a helmet, as well as a sash and a bow, but no arrows.)

Arachne then leaps onto a strand of web and slices it with a pointy shoe. A shade unfurls, blocking Kell from view.

Bright light radiates around Kell, who grows as large as Sigrlinn now is. She has torn through her tiny outfit, and can now wear the satyr outfit. A wingless top is included, as is a helm and trident.

Once you are both dressed you discover the bestial parts of the outfit function as if part of your body! Sigrlinn can flap her wings to fly. ((GRACE #2x3: first flight!)) Kell can wag and whip her pointy tail. Her hooves are like high heels, so she's no stranger to that. But her knees are backward, it seems! ((GRACE #4x3: try a new way of walking!))

((...and in case you're wondering, your bodies would be normal if you removed the gown/pants.))

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn shuts her eyes against the blinding glow of the floor, and gasps as her bronze outfit tears away from her body. When the light through her eyelids dims a little, she opens her eyes and looks down at herself. Not only is she dressed in silk, she's human-sized again! The metal fly would be bug-sized beside her, and Arachne and Kell are tiny. Especially Kell!

She looks over her shoulder at her wings, realizing she can move and flap them. A grin spreads over her face. Will she be able to fly?

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Flying is slow and clumsy, but you manage to lift off. However, there isn't much room in the lair, which is literally a hole in the wall--a missing brick!

The metal knights and maidens are still time-stopped. You can fly to them if you want. They are much bigger than you. It seems you are fairy-sized now. At the size you were before, you would be a speck to a human. Perhaps the maid cleaning earlier didn't even see you through the windows of the metal fly. Perhaps she just saw the fly, and your voice was faint buzzing. If she heard you at all.

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn peers out of the hole in the wall, a little disoriented by the strange scale of everything. The metal people are still much bigger than her, even though she's much bigger than she was before. She weaves between the frozen metal people, admiring their craftsmanship. At this size she can see a lot of intricate details she might otherwise miss.

Most of all, though, she revels in her ability to fly. It's more difficult in real life than in her meditation, but maybe she'll get used to it. (Maybe she'll be able to keep this outfit in the mortal realm!)

 

[tbgg]

Closing her eyes as the light briefly becomes brighter than her eyes can handle, Kell attempts a short walk around to accustom herself to walking on hooves. Having worn high heels less often than many of her fellow nymphs, she gulps, a little nervously.



Feeling intimidated by the idea of walking around human-sized metal maidens when she herself is only fairy-sized and having the Hera tapestry still on her mind, she pauses to ask Arachne, "So is the Hera tapestry meant to represent what you wish she could have had as a bride?"


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[Legendary Sidekick]

Kell takes a few wobbly steps, but having the poise and grace of a Nymph of Nyse, she is able to adjust without any apparent stumbling.

Arachne shoots a web up and climbs so she and Kell can speak at eye-level. She replies, "I would not object to you speaking to Hera. But know that my Follies of the Gods series did not go over well with Mount Olympus. You'd think the humorous ones would have cause the most offense, but I only meant to emphasize that we love others because of their imperfections, not despite them. Artemis farting in the bath is an endearing moment. I'm sure her nymphs feel less embarrassed about missing their targets when they see Artemis having a 'human' moment.

"But Hera never did get that perfect wedding night. The goddess of marriage is Zeus' first victim. And Hephæstus is the product of her violation. The queen of Olympus has rebelled against her horrible husband many times, but he finally broke her completely. And not long after Artemis and Athena—products of Zeus' infidelity—began this rebellion…

"Hera broke me.

"If you speak to her, tell her she is forgiven. It may sound strange, but being bound to a world I can create is a sort of paradise. Hephæstus' presence changed my world quite a bit. His mind is hard to compete with. That's why he could use some advisors. You and your friend simply need to stand on his shoulders and…" She shrugs as if at a loss for words. "…advise."

The music starts up again, and you can hear the maidens shrieking in excitement. Soon a handsome man in an eyepatch is seen floating on his back about six or seven feet above ground. Sigrlinn, flying closer to the scene (but not TOO close) notices Heph is crowd-surfing! The metal maidens move him effortlessly.

A mic drops and hovers in front of Heph… but he seems at a loss for words.

"Oh, dear," says Arachne. "Hephæstus is struggling to address the crowd differently than he has for the past three weeks."

You're pretty sure Heph died only minutes before you arrived in this knife-world, but from what Arachne is saying, this world has been both hers and Heph's for weeks… at least.

"We can talk about my problems with Hera later, if you'd like. For now, please go to Hephæstus. The routine is boring him again, which means… oh. No time to get into this now. Please hurry."

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn turns as the metal maidens start squealing in excitement, and spots Heph being carried over the heads of the crowd. When a mic drops in front of his face, she flits over and perches on hi right shoulder, the better to reach his ear.

"Heph! Kell and I have been looking all over for you!" She looks around for Kell, too. She ought to be on her way over here.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

"Oh, me oh my." Arachne sees Sigrlinn flying toward Heph without flightless Kell. "Well… if you just leap up a bit, you can grab the beam above you. Then you can slide down the wire that leads to Heph's microphone. Your flying friend should keep Heph occupied while you wait."

((Roll POWER if you want to attempt a leap and grab!
0 = fall
1 = hang on for dear life
2+ = volley onto beam easily))

Heph looks up at Sigrlinn. "Ah… I heard advisors were on their way. Good to see you, Chief Executive Director of Goodness and Decency!"

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn blinks at the title, but decides to roll with it. She smiles and curtseys. "At your service. It's good to see you too. We're all pretty shaken up over what happened to you. Aphrodite's pretty crushed, especially."

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Heph replies, "Well, it would have been nice of her contact me at some point in the past three or four years if she missed me so much. Perhaps I'll ask for advice on my estranged wife later. For now, I need… well… your colleague, for starters."

He paces back and forth on the solidly strong hands of the iron maidens, who crowd-surf him about so efficiently, it's easy to forget one of Heph's legs is shorter than the other. He moves so easily, it's almost as if he's walking on an invisible floor that the maidens happen to be touching.

"I told my President of Costume Design to add little batwings to the satyr costume. But she insisted having bat and goat and woman features makes the wearer look like a sort of lesser chimera. Well… she is the president. I can't really argue with her, can I?

That is my question to you, advisor."

 

[tbgg]

Kell looks at the beam Arachne indicated, then backs up about 3 feet. Running toward it, she leaps up toward it...



...and grabs it easily.


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[Ireth]

"Well, Arachne works for you, doesn't she? I'd say you might have the final say in some things, at least. But I don't know what a chimera is, so I'm not sure if the costume idea would be a bad thing or not."

Then something clicks in her head, and she says, "Three or four years? But hasn't she been living with you at the Plambot Mansion? Unless... no, it can't have been four years since you got here, can it? It was maybe half an hour at the most between you being stabbed and us opening the portal to get here, and finding the club didn't take that long. What kind of place is this?"

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Kelleia
"Nicely done! I'm glad those hooves are as effective as I expected them to be."

Arachne waves to Kell, then disappears into a part of the lair only one tiny as herself can fit into. Kell sees a wire runs along the beam, which leads to Heph's mic. If she slides down the mic, she'll end up right in front of Heph's face.

The beam would prove to be a balancing act for a human-sized person. At fairy-size, the beam is much wider than Kell.

((Optional: Roll GRACE for sliding down the wire.
0 = clumsy looking, but you won't fall off
1-2 = normal looking
3+ = choose a stylish pose))

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Sigrlinn
Heph replies, "I don't recall any stabbing. But then, all I do know is that just before I found myself in an empty world just yearning for a creator, I was repairing one on my littlest metal maidens no thanks to Apollo. It seems Apollo wanted his machine to challenge mine. Are they alright? My maidens? The little ones and the big ones. They are my creations. I worked hard to create them.

"In this place, it is easy for me to create. Too easy. I have so many machines, and I even created a sun that won't shoot my house. I hate it when the sun shoots my house. It only happened once, but here, that can never happen."

 

[Ireth]

Sigrlinn says, "The maidens are safe, as far as I know. After Kell woke up they formed Mile-High 5 to fight Apollo and Helios; Penni and I were the pilots. I don't know if they've been able to transform back, especially Patti. Kell fought the one who stabbed you, and he fell through a hole in the roof. I think he's dead -- at least, no one's seen him since."

 

[tbgg]

Muttering, "I shoulda gone with the wings - Sigrlinn didn't have to work nearly this hard to get to to Heph," Kell starts sliding down the wire.



It's not pretty or stylish, but it gets her there.

"Sorry I'm late," she says. "I had to take the long way around."

Holding out a fairy-sized hand toward Heph, she adds, "In case you don't remember me, I'm Kell."


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[Legendary Sidekick]

"It's been a long time, but yes, I do remember you from the day of your hatching and the day I… ended up here." Turning to Sigrlinn, he adds, "No wonder you remember. Sorry. Last time I saw you both, you were taller."

He lets Kell use his hand as a path to his left shoulder. "This is where you need to stand while advising, Kelleia Silvertide, Chief Executive Director of Entertainment and Pleasantries." He mumbles, "What I really need is advice on women."

A little louder, he says, "For now, if the two of you would kindly whip up a brief speech, I need to address the crowd."

The metal maidens seem overly enthusiastic about Heph's presence. He's just mumbling to tiny women on his shoulders, and the maidens are all pointing and smiling and commenting on everything Heph does. They're more or less basking in his presence. To say they worship him would likely be the literal truth.

 

[tbgg]

Ch.5 "Lost Souls" / Kell and Sigrlinn

Chuckling, Kell asks, "A speech for the maidens, eh? What topic should the speech be about?"


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