<div dir="ltr">May 708 C.R. Kriid pushed the memories to the back of his mind, sitting back on the branch he was perched on. His minor disregard charm had enabled him and Dosh to go completely unnoticed by three different patrols of beings the likes of which neither Dosh nor Kriid had ever seen or heard. Animals that walked and talked like people accompanied gorgeous women and children that looked no older than ten years old, and they all wore weapons and armor! A few men were in the groups, but most of the odd militia was comprised of beasts, women, and children. Kriid had been shocked at their appearance at first, but quickly realized that this was some abuse of magic. He concentrated for a minute with his eyes closed, and then looked down at them with his magic sight, looking for traces of an illusory charm. He gasped slightly and nearly alerted them to his presence as he saw that every one of them was completely wrapped in a net of sickly purple, through which their auras still glowed. The odd-looking people did not seem to be harmed by the spell, but the sheer strength of the magic evident even from this distance assured Kriid that breaking it would be no easy task. He glanced around, looking for Dosh, and then remembered the disregard charm and dispelled it. He instantly noticed his companion sitting in another tree a few dozen paces away. Dosh gave him a thumbs-up, signaling that the patrol was a safe distance away and had not noticed them. Kriid leapt from his branch and quickly cast a slowfall spell to reach the ground safely. Dosh skillfully dropped from branch to branch, traversing the thirty-foot span in less time than Kriid, who sighed in relief and spoke. “It is fortunate that most of these… people… are only marching around in the woods and not actively looking for us. I never took the time to learn that scent-changing spell, and Disregard is only useful for avoiding detection if you do not draw attention to yourself.” “Yeah, they’re total noobs. If they have the same powers as the animals they look like, they totally could have smelled us or heard us or something. At least if they were trying.” “I still don’t quite understand what that magic is. I can see some powerful spell entangling each of them, which I suspect is the reason for their beastly visages, but I don’t understand why they would all have a disguise charm; maybe they want to frighten treasure-seekers away. I have never seen anyone take so much trouble for a disguise.” “Maybe somebody in one of these villages would know about it-“ “NO! We can’t risk discovery by anyone. The assassins get more deadly as the weaker ones fail, although it has been a couple of weeks since we last saw them. Any foolish actions could—AAAGH!!” Kriid clutched his body and cried out in pain as he fell to his knees. “Whoa, dude, what’s going on?” Dosh asked, looking worried. “Ngggh, I don’t- AAAAGH!!” Kriid fell to the ground in tears, unable to move from the blinding pain pulsing throughout his entire body. He summoned all of his willpower to activate his magic sight and strained to see what was happening. His worry increased sevenfold when he saw the same purple webbing tearing at his flesh, warping and molding it into something entirely different. Almost at once the pain became too great to bear, and he lost consciousness. Dosh stood over his friend, frantically searching for vital signs as he collapsed. He felt a quick and steady pulse, but it felt weird for a reason he couldn’t quite put his finger on. He looked down and gaped as Kriid’s skin changed color; it darkened to black, but the hair all turned bright white and grew thicker until it was a heavy coat of fur! The now furry man’s face began to twist and shift, making hideous grinding noises as the bones changed shape. The muzzle of a wolf emerged from the chaotic mass, and soon the ears moved to match. Before Dosh’s eyes, Kriid transformed within a matter of seconds from a man to a bipedal snow wolf. The wolf-man, face still contorted with pain, but now with a feral canine snarl, suddenly started to relax as the intense searing pain seems to fade, but remained unconscious. Dosh shook him firmly after a few seconds of shocked silence, and after a few minutes of effort, roused his friend back to consciousness. “Uggh…” Kriid moaned, holding his head. He sat on the ground silently for a few minutes, collecting his wits. Suddenly his eyes snapped open and his brows furrowed. He pulled his hand from his head and stared at it, noting the black pad and white fur covering it. His jaw dropped in surprise- and doubly in surprise, as he drew in his breath and was assaulted by the cornucopia of scents the forest offered. He looked distractedly at his nose, wondering what on earth had come over it, and stopped instantly as he saw a long white muzzle in his field of vision. Dosh watched his friend gape in silence for a few minutes. Then he spoke. “This… body… it’s the same as those we saw patrolling. It is no illusion; the spell has taken a deep hold of me. How could anyone have seen me to cast this? It can’t be human. We were both charmed against notice, and-” a thought struck him. He quickly tried to use his magic sight. It worked, but felt a bit funny in his altered body. He looked at Dosh and saw that same ominous purple web constricting his friend, getting closer and closer to his aura. “What do you see?” Dosh looked concerned. “It’s on you too! Quick, let me try to-” He froze, too late. “What’s wrong?” Dosh’s eyes widened in alarm. Before his eyes, Kriid saw the insidious purple magic finally make contact with Dosh’s primal force, and immediately the man’s shape began to change. Dosh, apparently ignorant of what was occurring, shortened by a few inches, and a thick triangular tail burst from his backside, ripping a hole in his trousers. His skin thickened and hardened into scales, turning a dark green, and his face lengthened into a snout with eyes and nostrils on top, hair and ears disappearing into scales and membranes. Kriid recognized the creature from the swamps near his childhood home: Dosh was now an alligator. Dosh had worried about Kriid’s shocked stare, and before he could ask him again what he saw, he heard a tearing sound behind him and his face itched. Reflexively scratching it, he was surprised to find that his head had changed shape while he was looking at Kriid. Also, his hands were now clawed and scaly with shorter fingers. The two stared at each other for a few minutes, unsure of how to react. Then Kriid spoke. “Did that not hurt like your soul was being torn out?” “No, man; like, I didn’t even notice anything was happening until I heard my pants rip. Whoa, dude, my voice sounds all weird. It’s like, gravelly and stuff. Groovy.” Kriid was fuming, completely incredulous. “How in the nine hells can you just ‘be cool’ with this? We aren’t even human any more. I’m a dog! I have fur! This is NOT ‘cool’, ‘groovy’, or in any way acceptable.” “Naw, dude, think about it. What are those assassins looking for?” Kriid stopped, the realization dawning on him. “New identity, dude. Scales are kinda weird, but I this isn’t too bad.” “But we will be seen as demon beasts everywhere we go! “Meh, I don’t think so. Those patrolling dudes seemed cool with each other.” Kriid had nothing to say to that, even though he was still mad. However hard he tried to find justification for his rage, his friend’s simple, easygoing logic always made him feel ridiculous. He couldn’t quite fathom how Dosh could be so laid back in spite of such earthshattering changes that had wracked them both. On top of that, why had his change gone nearly unnoticed while Kriid’s had been so painful? The sun was beginning to quickly set, and in the fading light filtering down through the forest canopy, the two transformed men realized they still needed to set up camp for the night. Dosh had already unrolled his small tent and had begun setting up the frame by the time Kriid shook his head and focused on the task of starting a fire. “Want me to take first watch?” Dosh asked. “There is not much chance of sleep tonight for me. I will take the first shift.” Kriid replied. With Dosh’s help in arranging the kindling and sticks, Kriid managed to get the fire going in less than five minutes. As he sat, trying to occupy his mind while keeping watch by mentally rehearsing the spells he knew to keep them fresh in his mind, he heard leaves rustling and branches creaking high up in the trees a few dozen yards away. The sound was getting closer. That sounds much too big to simply be some woodland creature, Kriid though, suddenly on his guard. He stepped back from the fire and concealed himself in the shadows, quickly casting a minor disregard charm on himself to avoid being noticed, and then waited as the sound approached. With Dosh's instruction, he had become quite the competent woodsman and could evade and track in the forest on a journeyman level even without using magic. However, suddenly having your body grabbed by strange magic and stretched and warped into an unfamiliar shape generally holds your attention, drawing your focus away from the task at hand. He had slipped up. He silently cursed himself for becoming careless, even though he had been distracted by something significant. He had grown complacent from the long reprieve from attacks. He suddenly heard Dosh snoring loudly as he had fallen deeply asleep by this point. Kriid cursed again under his breath. Whatever it was, it was too close to have time to put out the fire; it had clearly heard the snoring and was approaching even faster. He tested his favorite iceblade spell briefly to make sure he would not be too badly disadvantaged in a fight if the noise turned out to be another set of assassins. He silently let out a relieved breath when a jagged spike of glowing ice slid out of the heel of his palm with a subtle ‘shick’ sound and a faint blue glow. Then he peered into the darkness and noticed that it was not nearly as dark as it normally would be. There seemed to be almost no colors other than the orange-yellow of the fire, but each tree was distinct from the others, even from a large distance! Kriid again shook his head to refocus his mind. He banished peripheral thoughts and focused on the task at hand: waiting for this potential threat to approach. Two Hours Earlier Cheep sighed in relief as he reached the woods and swung himself into the first tree he came to, glad to be able to get off the ground. He continued upward, rising higher into the trees as he swung from branch to branch, letting his monkey instincts run wild and inserting a few acrobatic tricks. He was enjoying himself immensely, feeling the cool night breeze on his face fur as he swung and flipped further into the forest, though giving a little caution to be quiet. The moon had emerged from behind the clouds, allowing him reasonable seeing light even through the forest canopy. After an hour or so, he began thinking of how he would get back inside the walls in such bright moonlight, when all of a sudden he heard a noise far below. It had been very quiet up to this point, with only a few owl hoots and some insect noises breaking the silence. This sounded like snoring. Curiosity got the best of him, and he silently climbed down the tree he was currently in, trying to figure out where the odd sound was coming from. As he approached the forest floor, he saw a small flickering orange light in the same direction as the noise. He got to the ground and approached the curiosity as stealthily as possible. Nearing the source of the light and sound, Cheep saw that it was a small camp. The snoring was coming from a small pup tent near the fire, for that is what the orange light was, but Cheep thought it odd that someone would go to sleep at their campsite without putting out the fire. He turned his head at this oddity, and drew closer to investigate. All of a sudden Cheep felt a blast of cold and his feet went frigidly numb. He cried out and looked down to see that they were encased in ice! He tried to turn, but as his feet were frozen down, he could only twist and look behind him. He saw in the shadows a black-cloaked figure, holding out one hand in the palm of which was a glowing blue nimbus. The figure spoke. “Who are you? Why are you here?” it demanded, stepping closer to Cheep. “I was just out for some night climbing when I saw the firelight and wondered what it was,” Cheep explained nervously, looking at the still-glowing hand aimed at him. He noticed that it was not a strictly human hand, as it was covered in white fur except the black pads on the palms that stretched up to fingertips that held claws. The figure pulled back the hood of his cloak to reveal the face of a snow wolf, with an expression that can only be described as being downright cold. “I don’t believe you.” He scanned Cheep with his cold blue eyes, looking unsatisfied and a bit confused. “Why do you look like a monkey?” “The same reason you look like a wolf, I expect. Have you never heard of the Curse of Metamor before?” Cheep asked, incredulous. “You know, Battle of the Three Gates? Nasoj the demon-empowered evil wizard?” “No. Though I did want to know who cast this,” he admitted, gesturing down at himself. “But why are you really here?” “I told you. I still don’t have a clue who you are; I found your camp by accident. Can I go back home now?” he pleaded. “No!” he barked. “I want answers.” “Dude, let up on him.” a new voice broke in, this one sounding sleepy and mellow. “Kriid, chill out. Heh heh. Chill. Seriously, though. Not everybody we meet is trying to kill us. If you’re nicer he’s more likely to tell us what we want to know.” Cheep looked over at the source of the voice, and saw who he first thought was the Steward, but then realized was a different alligator morph, this one with a slightly more human shape. “Not in my experience, but I will defer to you on this.” “You guys have assassins after you?” Cheep queried. “We did, but we haven’t seen any in a while. We’re trying to lose those foolards and find a new place to crash.” “Any chance you can unfreeze my feet? This is getting really uncomfortable.” Dosh nodded at Kriid, and the wolf mage reluctantly waved his paw at the magic ice encasing his feet, causing it to flow back into the blue nimbus and snuff out. Cheep immediately sat down and rubbed feeling back into his lower legs. The alligator looked at him and began to speak. “Sorry about my best bud Kriid over there; he’s a little uptight. People we meet usually try to kill him and stuff. I’m Dosh.” “Cheep.” “Cool, man, cool. So, you were wandering through the woods at night. Where’d you come from? You don’t look like you live in the wild. We just want to know if you know a place we can find a mage guild or something to get rid of this curse. We’ve been avoiding the towns and stuff to keep hiding from the assassins, so we’re not sure where we are exactly. Kriid’s a mage, but he only knows ice magic. I mean, that’s totally cool, but we could use some transforming-type magic right now.” “I know other spells too,” Kriid protested. Cheep shook his head. “Sorry, the Curse is irreversible. I just changed last week, and I was just itching to get some use out of my new body. I’m out here because I needed to climb some trees, but, well… you see, Metamor isn’t exactly… well, open… at the moment.” “Metamor? Is that the castle we’ve seen in the distance? Wait, whaddaya mean, not exactly open?” “Yep. The Keep is visible for miles. Anyway, it’s kinda, umm… under quarantine for the Plague.” Both of the others started at the word. “It’s all over, though. I don’t see why they don’t just unlock the gates and let people out again. The last case was cured only a couple of weeks after it started mysteriously. Nobody has seen or heard of any cases since.” “Then how’d you get out here? Or does ‘quarantine’ mean something different around here?” Cheep looked at his feet sheepishly. “I sneaked out. I would get in really big trouble if somebody finds me out, so I really need to get back soon. You’ll be able to get once they lift the quarantine. Should be soon, because I can’t see any reason they should continue it for two weeks past the last recorded case.” “Ohhhh. Got it, chillyman. But this Curse… this is permanent? We saw some others like you, heh. I guess us, now. But there’s gotta be some way to fix it with more magic, right?” “Nope, you can’t. All the wizards at Metamor have tried, and trying to change it only brings disaster. Everybody at Metamor Keep is cursed, so they are either a child, gender-swapped, or animal. Except the ones that are too young to be affected yet. Some of the children are real kids.” “Wow… that’s harsh, man. I mean, I can get used to shooting my bow with these claws, and Kriid here looks pretty sick in white fur, but… just wow. We thought somebody cast it on us for some reason. Yeah, but anyway, I guess if everybody else is weird too, that makes it the new normal… I can dig that. That’s how it is there?” “Yep. But really, I do need to go.” “How come?” “I have work in the morning.” “Ohhhhh. Got it, got it. That whole job thing. I tried that once. Didn’t take to it so much. So yeah. Later, Cheep.”</div>