Mirror

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**The Mirror**, while it is undeniably a manufactured artifact, behaves like a living creature, displaying personality and intelligence, providing comic relief, and acting for the benefit of the other members of the party. It has a dry sense of humor portrayed through images shown on its surface or by the items it generates, and it most definitely demonstrates that it has a preference concerning who controls it, actively discouraging Madam Louv from possessing it now that it's free of the display case.

## Description

The Mirror is based on a long staff, long enough to look the average merperson in the eye, so to speak, from a "standing" position. It has a shaft that makes up most of the length of the staff, with a pointed ferrule on the end opposite the mirror, presumably for stability when set on the ground, or for use as a weapon. The head of the staff is an oval frame wrapped around the mirror glass that is affixed to the top of the shaft by a metal swivel. Three small spikes extend from the top of the frame, giving the staff an overall impression of a trident, a symbol of authority. It has a travel strap, meant to worn over the shoulder, that is affixed to the middle of the shaft using a metal clamp and consisting of a leather belt with a metal clasp of some kind bisecting it. The shaft is flexible, and it can twist and bend to allow the Mirror to "look" around. The Mirror can also undo the clasp when it so desires. One of the Mirror's talents is it can display images on its glass that represent a mood or an opinion or even a warning. Even more importantly, another talent is the Mirror can produce or extrude a wide variety of objects, usually while a light shines from the glass. Whether this is magic or science is difficult to ascertain.

## Displays & Extrusions

Main article: List of Displays & Extrusions
Throughout *Damselfish in Distress*, the Mirror displays various images and extrudes various implements throughout the story. Some of those include showing a dead fish's skeleton or showing the head of a jackass behind Scypho's back, or dropping oranges in fear, extruding a scythe's blade to cut netting or even spewing flames.

*Follow the link above for a detailed listing.*

## History

At some time before *Damselfish in Distress* began, Madam Louv had acquired the Mirror, though *she* calls it a staff and refers to it as an artifact. Just before the story begins, Scypho stole the Mirror from Madam Louv, taking it from her when he worked as a personal guard for her. Madam Louv refers to him as an artifact nicking pillock, confirming what would be told later. In *The Mirror!*, Scypho offers to sell the Mirror to Madam Louv for three billion dollars. She doesn't even consider the offer. The Mirror displays a definite desire to not be in the Madam's possession by trying to help Pezci and Scypho get away from her, and actively discouraging her when she does get her hands on it.

The Mirror has shown limited ability to move about on its own, so it is seen almost exclusively either strapped to Scypho's back or in his hands. That is how it is when it first meets Pezci. She was in the city trying to find the Light Tower, and Scypho was there to find a buyer for the Mirror. This first meeting doesn't go well when the Mirror extends a tentacle with an eyeball to take a look at her, frightening her so badly, the only way to get her past her hysterics is for Scypho to strike her head with the Mirror. The Mirror shows band-aids on its glass for a time afterwards, and shows flames *<Editor's note: not really sure about this>* when Pezci misunderstands Scypho about where the Light Tower is. The Mirror faces Pezci nearly the whole time they're together for the Tower's announcement.

After Pezci rushes off, Madam Louv puts in an appearance. The Mirror immediately starts pumping out oranges with a small green crown in a steady stream, the slowly sinking fruit leaving a trail like breadcrumbs. When Scypho stops to read the alerts, the Mirror eyeballs one of the fruit and sends out a tentacle with a fanged mouth to grab and eat it. When the Mirror sees the oncoming maelstrom, it displays a caution sign (a triangle with an exclamation point in the center). Madam Louv and her bodyguards catch up with them just then, all three holding an orange that shows they just followed the trail. The Mirror breaks out in a sweat on its glass. It displays a tombstone when Scypho tells Madam a death storm is coming, and crossed bones when her guards haul her away.

On the way out of the city, Scypho and the Mirror come across Pezci tangled in a net. When Scypho first turns away, the Mirror shows an image that conveys dismay*<Editor's note: difficult to see the image>.* When he decides to help, the Mirror extrudes a massive scythe blade that is used to cut the netting. It displays the Red Cross when they get her free. Once they're free of the city, the Mirror pops out another tentacle eye to ogle Pezci with. When her Key flares, it puts on dark sunglasses. Later, when she throws a fit of hysteria, it puts on fuzzy pink earmuffs and plays music, dropping the earmuffs when Madam Louv proves to have survived the maelstrom.

After making his proposal to Pezci, Scypho looks back to see if the Madam's watercar has caught up with them yet, and the Mirror extrudes a pair of binoculars while it helps keep a look out. When her 'car does show up, both the Mirror and Scypho twist to have a look. Scypho convinces Pezci to get going, and on the way he discovers that she's from the Planifron tribe. When his enthusiasm gets him the information that her tribe is dead, he feels bad and the Mirror reflects his lack of finesse by displaying a donkey's head. When she rolls to her back, whining about her fate, the Mirror twists around and extends a tentacle with an eyeball and watches her swimming. Pezci catches it staring and points at it, earning an exclamation point from the Mirror when she again demands to know what it is. When Scypho denies her again, the Mirror makes a mocking face at her. When she asks for information about him instead, it shows a crack running up the glass, perhaps meaning "I'm cracking up."

They arrive at a trench that's between them and their next destination, but Pezci proves reluctant to cross over the depths. Scypho is surprised in light of her heritage, and the Mirror grimaces with bared teeth. Floating over the abyss, Scypho begins to have doubts, and the Mirror shows an image of a dead fish's skeleton in agreement. After she tries to cross and fails, he threatens to go get her, but he stops when the Madam's 'car cruises into the area. His alarm is reflected in the Mirror again displaying a dead fish's skeleton. They all hide down the side of the trench, and the Mirror extends a tentacle with an eyeball up to see what it can see, flinching when Pezci unleashes a wail. While she freaks out, the Mirror pivots on the strap and lays across Scypho and Pezci's backs. It extrudes a high-tech waterjet engine with a quiet "whoosh" that stops Pezci's hysterics instantly. It warms up with a quiet whirring sound, then it takes the two merpeople for a ride. After racing around for a bit, and getting Madam Louv's attention, it takes them into the air above the ocean waves, and then simply hovers. When they try to coax it into taking them back under, it turns face up and showers them with water. Scypho says it's pleasant.

Madam Louv suddenly explodes herself into the air and takes the Mirror in her jaws, and she drags them all back under the sea. Getting possession of the Mirror, she smugly primps in her reflection, but the Mirror goes on the offensive and shoots a set of fanged jaws with a horrible barbed tongue at her face, hissing and snapping. She recoils from the monstrous Mirror, letting it fall away, still chomping. It ends up in a tug-of-war between a tentacle from the depths and Scypho with Madam Louv. While the two of them argue, the Mirror, displaying a glowing red slashed circle, unleashes a flame, and the tentacle is forced to let go with a screech. Scypho uses that flame to hold Madam Louv and her bodyguards at bay, but loses the Mirror when another tentacle smacks him. The Mirror extrudes a pair of flying fish wings and flutters away toward the edge of the trench.

Pezci is struggling to get Scypho free of the tentacle that has captured him just as the Mirror comes flapping in. When it gets near Pezci's head, it turns over, exchanging its wings for a giant blue remora's sucker, and with no warning, attaches to her head with an echoing "shoop!", effectively blinding her. It hangs on despite all efforts to separate them. Scypho gets free and saves Pezci and the Mirror from Madam Louv's attentions while the trench worm keeps her and her bodyguards busy, and takes them across the trench to the fuel station. There, Scypho is able to use pressurized water to coax the Mirror into releasing Pezci from the sucker. He decides she deserves to know, so he reveals his side of the story of acquiring the Mirror. During the story, the Mirror wraps itself in chains, waving itself back and forth wildly when he talks about selling it. When Pezci asks "What **is** it?", the chain-wrapped Mirror shines a golden-red light on her. When the Mirror waves mini-version of the trench worm's arms at him, Scypho confesses he doesn't really know, which gets a blue thumbs-up on the glass. With Pezci worried about being chased, Scypho tells her he can handle Madam Louv. The Mirror makes its opinion known with a crossed-out image of the Madam.

Pezci steps aside to think, and Scypho decides to boast a little, showing the Mirror a rolled up paper. The Mirror, standing on its own, shoots out a frog's tongue and tries to take the paper from him. It only stops after Scypho smacks it with the rolled paper. The Mirror, acting like a whipped puppy, goes to Scypho and lets him strap it on, with the chain getting shorter. Pepped up now that it's back in familiar spaces, the Mirror reacts to Scypho's pirate trip story with a purple splat. She tells him she wants to take a rest, but he doesn't want to wait. Looking around, he sees an unattended and open watercar and starts smiling. The Mirror displays a brightly lit lightbulb.

Racing along, Pezci and Scypho are in a stolen watercar that's low on fuel and being chased by the police. The Mirror has a music note on its glass. Later in the pursuit, a monster fish makes the cops give up their pursuit, and the Mirror dangles an empty fishhook in its glass. After Pezci gives in to panic, the monster turns to them, and now the Mirror shows an earthworm baited on the dangling fishhook. Getting to an apparently abandoned submarine, Scypho uses the Mirror like a pry bar and gets a hatch loose; the Mirror wears a frowning emoticon (**:(**). Trying to follow Pezci into the hatch, Scypho loses the Mirror to the monster fish.

## References

1. ↑ The Mirror!
2. ↑ Scypho Backstory
3. ↑ The Light Tower
4. ↑ The Game Begins
5. ↑ Nice Timing
6. ↑ Maelstrom Round 2!
7. ↑ Shifty Partner
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Fears
9. ↑ We RIDE
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 The Mirror!
11. ↑ Tentacle Nonsense
12. ↑ The Final Struggle
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Scypho Backstory
14. ↑ Bigger Fish to Worry About