Crone Temple: Teachings Through Tribulation

[Chris Wooding]

Chris, who would by the way never admit he was perhaps a bit unclear here, now keeps his eyes opened. He wants to catch a glimpse of the Civilized's savageness. The Mekhet is not sure if he has seen anything, but it doesn't really make any difference. He would nonetheless continue this lesson, at a rapid pace.

'Very well. Now crunch every shard, break pieces into smaller pieces, and do it in silence.' Chris drops James' knife at his feet. He never had an intention of stealing it, and his coterie mate might find a good use for it now. 'I don't mind how you do it, but try to get in a trance. Every time you pick up a piece, try to see a thousand reflections in it, catch the smoke that surrounds you, then close your eye for a moment, feel the glass tear your hands open, but do not scream. You may speak to the Crone but then it will be the only sound you make.'

He looks around, there are countless glass shards on the floor. It would take at least an hour to crunch them all, and then James would be quick...

[James Calloway]

And so James did. He took a few minutes to gather them in a manner that would allow him to truly meditate on the issue, sweepng them together with his arm and feeling the little prick and cuts. Blood ran down his arm in little rivulets as he did, but once the shards were in a pile before him, James assumed a very familiar posture. He sat on the ground, crossed his legs, and began to consider each piece. His knife sat directly between his two knees.

Chris didn't know what claws felt like. They rended one's hand, bursting forth unnaturally. This was nothing. This was contemplative. He picked up a piece. He considered it, took in a long, deep breath, felt the sting with his eyes closed, and crunched the shard.

Then he did it again. And again. And he slowly found himself being lulled into a trance. Pick up. Consider the thousand reflections off the other mirrors in the room stained with his own blood. Breathe. Close eyes. Crunch.

Minutes became quarter hours of little cuts in his hand. The shards stung, but over a time, even the ritualized pain was contemplative. The entire process was silent. James' words to the Crone were in his own mind. After what Chris had done to him, after what he had done to himself... a little glass shard was nothing to the resilient Gangrel.

Suffering one's own eye being ripped out of one's head showed him just how minor other unpleasantness could be.

After an hour, James found his centre. Worries and pain faded, leaving only quiet contemplation of the Goddess and an opening of his soul.

  meditation, extended to 4 sux

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2012-09-17 20:37:11		[02] James Calloway rolls 5 to Meditation (Wits+Composure) (10 Again)		9, 9, 9, 7, 10, 8		5 successes
2012-09-17 20:37:11		[01] James Calloway rolls 5 to Meditation (Wits+Composure) (10 Again)		8, 7, 4, 10, 9, 7		3 successes

[Chris Wooding]

The moment James crosses his legs Chris takes a step back to lean against the door. Somewhere inside him a proud feeling begins to rise, yet there are too many other feelings that have the lead. Such as a wise feeling for teaching, no, passing on the Crone's gifts. But also disgusted feelings, for wounding his friend so badly.

And it is still continuing. But something is happening now. The first layer of the Savage's soul is fractured like the glass mirror. Smashed to smithereens. Soon it can be reformed.

After maybe ten or fifteen minutes the Hierophant takes the centre bowl from the ground and leaves the small room. Understanding Cruac is a process his coterie mate has to go through alone as well, partially. Of course Chris comes back, after more than half an hour he steps inside again with a cleaned bowl and a flask of water.

'Regrow your second eye.' He whispers, not entirely willing to interrupt, still he deems it part of what needs to be done. While James is still busy Chris puts the bowl on the ground and sits behind it with crossed legs, patiently waiting on the new Acolyte to finish his trance.

'Are you now ready for the final rite?'

[James Calloway]

The time was lost to James as he went through his meditative motions. He did not notice the Heirophant leave. He did not notice the Heirophant return. Grasp. Sting of pain. Consider the endless reflections. Remodeling his being, this was, in the back of his trance he realized. He had to be open. Truly open. Fragment all the preconceptions, destroy that which he had been before, to glimpse the Goddess, to see the future...

...to understand Cruac.

Chris's whisper worked itself into his trance. He did not look at the Heirophant. Instead, he shifted his Vitae, closing his eyes as he crunched the next shard. His eye took a few seconds to regrow, the power of the Blood restoring that which had been lost to his tribulation.

When he finished, he looked down at his hands, at the shards, and he turned to hear Chris's words. He nodded, opening his eyes. There within their sockets sat both of Jim's twinkling brown eyes, but they had a tinge of understanding behind them. "I am, Heirophant."

He sat before the bowl opposite his coteriemate.

James spends 1 Vitae to heal 1 Lethal Damage. His eye is restored.

[Chris Wooding]

A wide boyish, Chris-like grin appears. They are almost done, but the young Hierophant is so proud already. He has a clean athame in his left hand. He holds both his hands above the bowl.

'Think now that with Faith in the Crone you can reach everything. Through tribulation, through understanding, through sacrifice, with power, with enlightenment. You have suffered not long ago...' He looks around, it is a mess, bloody with lots of shards. 'Now think of a task ahead. Anything simple or complicated you wish to do later tonight.'

Then the Hierophant makes a short cut in the palm of his right hand. His face is tense with concentration. Blood drops fall into the water, and a moment later the water begins to reveal different images. The bowl shows an ordinary street in Valencia, a vague woman figure drops something without noticing and continues to walk home. Suddenly, Chris has a slight idea where that house may be...

Aha! Dinner.

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2012-09-04 17:11:31		Chris rolls 11 to Man + Occult + Cruac to Drops of Destiny (10 Again)		1, 8, 7, 4, 1, 8, 10, 8, 3, 4, 5, 2		4 successes

[James Calloway]

Please pardon the delay...

James watched, observed, learned. Drenched in his own blood, eyes crushed and healed, cold and resolve shaken, still he had managed to come to this point. Nodding once, the Taifa thought of a task. A new occult book. That was what he wanted to find. Where? How would he do it? The ritual, it would provide guidance.

Taking his ritual knife in hand, James concentrated, stirring the Blood and praying internally to the Goddess as he thought about finding that new occult book.

The cut was drawn. His blood dripped. And the images formed...

  1 vitae expended, Drops of Destiny cast...

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2012-09-30 11:47:49		James Calloway rolls 8 to Drops of Destiny: Manip4+Occult3+Cruac1 (10 Again)		8, 3, 10, 8, 2, 5, 2, 6, 8		4 successes

Selena

OOC for ST

Paging the Goddess, if you have any desire to throw some flavor in here.