RascalRoadkill
Balanced Humors
Name: Ruth Wilke
A.K.A.: "The Big Bad Wolf"
Fable/Urban Legend: Little Red Riding Hood
Age: The Glamour presents her as 73.
Gender: Female (she/her)
Orientation: Thought she was a straight lady, now that’s up in the air
Occupation: Antique Shop Owner
Residence: Grimm Ward. She lives in a cluttered apartment above the shop.
Appearance: A few strands of ginger remain in her graying-white hair. Ruth has a square, wrinkled and freckled face with deep laugh lines, and always seems as if she’s squinting at something- whether she’s just short-sighted or judging you isn’t quite clear. She has brown eyes, and typically wears a stern expression.
She isn’t especially tall; just about 5’5”, though has a bit of a slouch. Her usual clothing serves as a bit of a contrast to her personality, usually wearing a mishmash of bright colors and patchwork- the kind of wear you’d expect from a high school art teacher. Overly-patterned shirts, socks with sandals, overalls, etc.
Monstrous Form: Aside from human, Ruth can be one of two things- she can either take the form of a regular wolf, or something more “hybrid” between wolf and human. The latter resembles your more classic werewolf.
Personality: On an initial meeting, she seems incredibly stern, albeit mostly reasonable. Still, it’s clear Ruth has figured her own way of things over time, and tends to think her way is almost-always the best way to do things. She’s usually reluctant to change her methods, and tends to be quite stubborn.
For being rather headstrong, Ruth doesn’t like to sit idly if there’s a problem to be solved. Though she can be rather uncaring on the surface towards new people, if they’re down on her luck, action usually shines through- she’ll usually help in whatever way she can, and usually doesn’t ask first. You’ll get help from her whether you like it or not. Ruth has extremely little tolerance for things she thinks are unjust- she’s opinionated and will make her thoughts known.
All in all, a “do no harm, take no shit” kind of lady.
History: The Wolf is well known as a ravenous, treacherous thing- a beast keen on devouring what children hold dear, especially their grandmothers.
Something very important, however, has been “lost in translation” along the way: the wolf did not just beat Little Riding Hood to her destination, replace Grandmother and put on her clothes.
Grandmother is the wolf- and that house was hers.
Ruth Wilke had been a rather simple woman, living isolated in the forest where she preferred to be. She had very little in the ways of relatives- only her daughter, her son in law, and finally her young granddaughter. The parents were often too busy, but when the woods were safe, her granddaughter would often walk the path to visit. As a birthday gift, Ruth eventually sews her a maroon red cloak for her journeys.
Still, all kinds of things lurk in the woods- beasts and creatures of all kinds. One sordid night, Ruth is attacked by a hulking creature- a werewolf, who passes on its curse to her before she can fend it away.
Her family is due to visit soon- she has no idea how to reveal this to them without risking a terrible reaction, so she simply says that she is ill and that they should not come. It is a temporary bandage of a solution, but it’s something.
She tries to practice this new self, out in the woods- the transformation itself, trying to suppress any instinct to hunt. While venturing near the path, she notices someone- a cloak of dark red moving along.
In a poorly thought out attempt to stop or delay her granddaughter, Ruth intervenes in the form of a wolf to disguise herself. Apparently, little red is on the way to her grandmother’s house- having heard she was sick, independently sneaking and venturing out with whatever she thought would help, against the wishes of her parents.
Her granddaughter is almost as headstrong as she is- and Ruth doubts she could stop her from going. That, and she’s remiss to harm, force, or genuinely scare her away- not having the cunning to know how to trick her away, she distracts her for now, pointing out the flowers along the path to delay her arrival and buy herself a little more time.
Ruth returns home- if she were to hide, returning and telling her parents that her grandmother is missing might cause them to come back with far more force. She attempts to turn back, control it- but she is unlearned and unpracticed in the forms of monstrosities, uncertain of what to do. Despite the delay, she cannot figure it out in time for Red’s arrival. The door is opened before she knows it, and the young girl stands just beyond it, shocked, bewildered, and confused.
She doubts it’ll do much, but Ruth sees no other way about it- and tries to explain. She’s frightening, though, monstrous… but Red has not yet ran, and listens.
To her surprise- her granddaughter is not afraid. Regardless of form or curse, just being her family is enough for her.
For a moment, Ruth thinks that all might be well- if a young child can put aside anything she might’ve heard about monsters to see reality, then perhaps others will as well.
The thought is dashed, and the reunion does not last long. Her parents had indeed noticed her absence. Putting one-and-two together regarding their missing daughter, Little Red’d father had ran for Ruth’s- the Huntsman arrives in a fury.
He doesn’t wait for an explanation- all he sees is his daughter and a hulking werewolf. At first, she tries to reason, as does her granddaughter, but he refuses to listen- a monster is a monster, family or not. Ruth is ran off, and later he spins a scathing tale against her- of a wolf that tricked his daughter and devoured her grandmother.
Magic Item: It’s not necessarily “hers”, but Red’s original cloak is somewhere within the Pit.
