Become an Owl
New
K0mori
Servant Supreme
Option 2: 2 Vote (25% - Range: 1-25)
Option 3: 1 Vote (13% - Range: 26-38)
Option 4: 5 Votes (63% - Range: 39-100)
Fae Roll: 43
"Okay..." you whisper to yourself as you clap your hands together, crouched low over the snow in heavy concentration. "Owl."
You try to picture the perfect owl - a spotted thing, with gray and black feathers, bright orange eyes like your own, if not brighter... Wicked talons... A wide, all-encompassing wingspan.... A sharp beak... And tufts of feathers that look like a devil's horns. Yeah! ...Now that you think of it, owls look pretty casually evil, don't they? And yet, the common guardsman would think nothing of seeing one fly through the snowy woods. You're relatively certain that this will work.
With one last breath that fogs the air about your face, you prepare to dissolve yourself, picturing the graceful transformation of your spread arms into gorgeous, feathery wings, but the moment you take your hands off the Pandemonium Door to adopt this position, you're startled by an eerie, baleful cry that raises the fur on your back and tail in instinctual fear. "AAAaaauuuoooooOOOOOOO!!" the wolf bellows. No, not a wolf...
"A DIREWOLF!?" Kulka howls, as thoroughly impressed as she is furious. "Are you more than a little fae-touched, Embryx!? You were the one who suggested this as a means of blending in!"
Sitting in the snow, you're utterly frozen in place in fear at the hulking, monstrous creature nearby, whose yellow eyes seem to stare straight through your skin at your beating heart. Even on all-fours, it's as tall as you are, standing up. Its teeth could bite through your skull and meet in the middle without the gums bottoming out in your hair. You can't recall the last time you were this scared of anything, until the very next moment, as it looks to Kulka like a guilty dog. A monstrous voice, halfway to humanoid speech, growls out: "Sooaaareee... Wooaaalfs... aaurrrrgggh coooouuul..."
You begin to have a peculiar respect for Corrinth's ability to speak clearly while in wildshape as multiple different creatures - especially the peryton. Kulka trudges over in the snow and claps at her as if shaming an animal for wetting the carpet. "No, no, no! Think practical! At least make yourself a normal wolf, you damned fool!"
A large puff of smoke later, and Embryx is crouched on the ground where the direwolf had been, breathing heavily and clearly exhausted. The form was extremely taxing on her pneuma, it seems. "...You okay, Agranne?" Stalna asks as she walks over to you. You realize your tail is still sticking straight up in the air, and you have to concentrate on relaxing your muscles so that you won't look like a frightened housecat.
You sigh and stand up straight, dusting some of the windswept snow off yourself. "Yeah, I'm fine..." you say quickly before thinking up a lie: "I just couldn't believe she got there first. That was, uh, really cool."
"Right..." Stalna says as she gives you a gentle pat on the shoulder. "If you two are going to be much longer, would it be alright if I went inside? I don't think this sort of magic is for me."
You start to nod when you hesitate. "If she can figure it out, then I can too," you reply, hotly. "Watch this!" You drop the Pandemonium Door to the ground to avoid dissolving it with yourself, and then, with great concentration, teleport into the form of an owl, just as Kulka described before. It isn't painful, but the sensation of your limbs becoming disconnected from any physical anchors such as muscle and bone - twisting, shrinking, stretching and pulling in all directions at once - before the new body rapidly forms around it and encases it in temporary form, is much stranger than you anticipated. That's saying a lot, since you definitely expected it to be strange.
"WaaAAA-AAAhhh" you screech the moment your new vocal chords assemble themselves. It had happened instantaneously, so how did you even feel it happen? You aren't sure. Either way, there you stand, just as you had pictured before, with your eyes much closer to ground level, and with your new wings outstretched on either side of you. You pivot your head back and forth to scan the reactions of your sisters. "...Hoo."
Embryx and Stalna are, predictably, delighted to see your success. Kulka at the very least looks relieved. "An eagle owl," she observes. "A bit ostentatious, but it'll do," she acknowledges.
"Hoo-oo," you vocalize, having intended to say thank you. You quickly realize that you can't actually say anything in this form, as you lack the vocal acuity to make complicated sounds. Even Embryx managed to force through a few words, but you find yourself merely chattering noisily without any actual control or success. Finally, out of frustration, you decide to take your new body for a spin, and begin flapping your wings. You lift off from the ground rapidly, but without coordination, and only fly a few feet before flopping back into the pillowy snow ahead of you with another screech.
It takes some time, and a few more attempts, before you can move about without humiliating yourself further. All the while, Embryx prepares herself for another attempt at a wolf form. By the time you become comfortable flapping about between trees and the lodge's roof, your lover has reappeared in a still-threatening, but nonetheless unremarkable form of a gray wolf, and you're confident that none will be any the wiser. You dissolve yourself back into your true form and rejoin your party. "We did it!" you cry out in joy. "Gods! That was the hardest spell I've ever learned!"
Embryx pops out of her wolf form and flops onto her back in the snow, looking tired enough to pass out. Another revitalization with the Door, later, however, and she joins you in your reverie. "So," Kulka begins, "I suppose you two will cross the border together somewhere in the woods, and then Stalna and I will follow behind you with the horses."
"I can't speak, but I can hoot at you all to follow me towards safety," you add.
Embryx grins. "And if anyone gets too close, I'll scare 'em off."
"Sounds reasonable," Stalna agrees. "We'll go south until we reach Afaeanon, and then make contact with the coven so we can travel more normally."
Next, you spot Embryx bounding through the snow behind you, popping up now and then on small rises before flopping down onto loose piles of snowdrift just like any old goofy dog. You suppose it's not an issue, since she'd only need to be a convincing wolf if there's a threat in the area. Lastly, as Kulka and Stalna arrive on horseback, following Embryx's tracks through the snow, you take off again and lead them deeper into the woods.
This goes on for some time, and along the way, you spot other creatures in the woods with your heightened senses. It surprises you - you've always been told that tabaxi are better than others when it comes to hearing, seeing, smelling... but your senses are actually much better in this form; you can only imagine how dramatic it must be for an ordinary human. You wonder whether this is why Corrinth insisted on using wildshape so often during travel... it's simply safer this way. Just as you're about to become fully lost in thoughts of future travels in all sorts of shapes and forms, you detect someone in the distance. First one, and then two...
"Waaa-aaahh!" you screech, letting your warning sound out over the trees as you promptly land. You look back to Embryx, who halts and lifts her head to get a better view - sniffing the air and turning about in search of sounds. You watch her for some time, waiting for her to lock on to the approaching interlopers. As you do, another bird flaps into the barren limbs nearby and you reflexively swivel your head around backwards to get a look. There, in the branches, is a rather lonesome-looking crow, far away from its murder. A messenger, maybe?
It stares back at you. This isn't normal, you realize. I'm a owl... this crow shouldn't be comfortable being this close to me, even if it's a messenger. ...Wait a fucking second-
The crow cocks its head. "...Sister?" it asks, curiously.
"WAAAAAGH!" you screech as you launch yourself at Corrinth, dissolving and re-emerging as yourself, grabbing the bird with your bare hands as you plummet through the branches. At the same time, she emerges from her own cloud and bounces painfully through the branches until you both fall out the other side and land in the deep snow.
"Wait wait wait wait wait!" she screams as she waves her arms around and wheels backwards on battered legs. "No fair, no fair! I didn't know you could URK-"
You grip her in your telekinesis so tightly that it squeezes the air out of her lungs. You reach for the Door, prepared to give her a similar death to Veralt, when you suddenly remember that you left it in Kulka's care for Embryx's benefit. Your magic is finite, and worse yet, Kulka won't approach this place until you summon her with your owl song, since the last she heard was a warning screech. You're not even sure if you can get back into wildshape on what you have left - the spell is too new and difficult for you!
No matter, you think as you take out your sickle instead. You'll still make sure you never cross paths again. Despite your readiness, before you can finally kill the changeling you hear a sound not unlike a dog being kicked - Embryx must have gone after the two elves! You toss Corrinth into the trunk of the tree you just fell out of to finish knocking the wind out of her before quickly running after Embryx, and you quickly emerge into a clearing where she's back in her normal body as well. Blood is trickling from her arm, but whatever wound she's sustained doesn't seem to be slowing her down, much. She's gripping her scythe and looking ready to fight.
You turn to face your new foe, and realize your fears have become reality: Standing at the opposite edge of the clearing is a drow with silky black hair down to her waistline, clothed in a leather bodysuit like some sort of assassin, and with a long, inscribed blade in her hands that's undoubtedly a magical implement. The look in her eyes is exactly as untethered and evil as you remember from your nightmare, and dangling from her belt is a bloody sack that's crawling with maggots. She's been collecting trophies, it seems.
This... is Sharyx.
Behind her is a tall, pale elf with equally dark hair, his skin covered from the top of his neck down his arms and presumably elsewhere in elaborate sigils - tattooed directly into him as starkly as they're etched into the surfaces of the Pandemonium Door and Sharyx's drow-made sword. Strangely, the elf is also blindfolded, as if he wasn't already strange enough. Is he blind? You somehow doubt it, from the way he turned to face you the moment you emerged from the trees.
For a moment, the two sides stare at each other, unsure of how to proceed.
"...Are you... the Terrorchild?" Sharyx asks, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
Is that... hope?
1. Wear It with Pride - You have to think quickly. This girl is a member of the coven, thanks to your unwitting intervention into her life. You're probably directly responsible for the deaths of her family members and whoever else she's crossed paths with since beginning her rampage. If she regards you as reverently as she does Syrith, and if you play this right... you might be able to convince her to do as you say. "...Yes. I'm Agranne of Ryggander, and this is Embryx of Aelesh-Yna. You're Sharyx, aren't you?"
2. Temper Expectations - You have no idea what gives this girl hope. Given that she's been killing indiscriminately, she might just be excited for the chance to kill you and wear your skin, for all you know. You need to let her know that you're not interested in friendship, yet. "That's just a nickname; my name is Agranne of Ryggander. And you - you must be the one causing all the trouble here in Sonnamille."
3. Prepare to Fight - Even if you can somehow convince Sharyx to be your 'friend,' you can't imagine it would go any better than being friends with Corrinth. You already know that you're in for a lot more trouble than this is worth, so you take your place beside Embryx and prepare to fight for your life.
Option 3: 1 Vote (13% - Range: 26-38)
Option 4: 5 Votes (63% - Range: 39-100)
Fae Roll: 43
"Okay..." you whisper to yourself as you clap your hands together, crouched low over the snow in heavy concentration. "Owl."
You try to picture the perfect owl - a spotted thing, with gray and black feathers, bright orange eyes like your own, if not brighter... Wicked talons... A wide, all-encompassing wingspan.... A sharp beak... And tufts of feathers that look like a devil's horns. Yeah! ...Now that you think of it, owls look pretty casually evil, don't they? And yet, the common guardsman would think nothing of seeing one fly through the snowy woods. You're relatively certain that this will work.
With one last breath that fogs the air about your face, you prepare to dissolve yourself, picturing the graceful transformation of your spread arms into gorgeous, feathery wings, but the moment you take your hands off the Pandemonium Door to adopt this position, you're startled by an eerie, baleful cry that raises the fur on your back and tail in instinctual fear. "AAAaaauuuoooooOOOOOOO!!" the wolf bellows. No, not a wolf...
"A DIREWOLF!?" Kulka howls, as thoroughly impressed as she is furious. "Are you more than a little fae-touched, Embryx!? You were the one who suggested this as a means of blending in!"
Sitting in the snow, you're utterly frozen in place in fear at the hulking, monstrous creature nearby, whose yellow eyes seem to stare straight through your skin at your beating heart. Even on all-fours, it's as tall as you are, standing up. Its teeth could bite through your skull and meet in the middle without the gums bottoming out in your hair. You can't recall the last time you were this scared of anything, until the very next moment, as it looks to Kulka like a guilty dog. A monstrous voice, halfway to humanoid speech, growls out: "Sooaaareee... Wooaaalfs... aaurrrrgggh coooouuul..."
You begin to have a peculiar respect for Corrinth's ability to speak clearly while in wildshape as multiple different creatures - especially the peryton. Kulka trudges over in the snow and claps at her as if shaming an animal for wetting the carpet. "No, no, no! Think practical! At least make yourself a normal wolf, you damned fool!"
A large puff of smoke later, and Embryx is crouched on the ground where the direwolf had been, breathing heavily and clearly exhausted. The form was extremely taxing on her pneuma, it seems. "...You okay, Agranne?" Stalna asks as she walks over to you. You realize your tail is still sticking straight up in the air, and you have to concentrate on relaxing your muscles so that you won't look like a frightened housecat.
You sigh and stand up straight, dusting some of the windswept snow off yourself. "Yeah, I'm fine..." you say quickly before thinking up a lie: "I just couldn't believe she got there first. That was, uh, really cool."
"Right..." Stalna says as she gives you a gentle pat on the shoulder. "If you two are going to be much longer, would it be alright if I went inside? I don't think this sort of magic is for me."
You start to nod when you hesitate. "If she can figure it out, then I can too," you reply, hotly. "Watch this!" You drop the Pandemonium Door to the ground to avoid dissolving it with yourself, and then, with great concentration, teleport into the form of an owl, just as Kulka described before. It isn't painful, but the sensation of your limbs becoming disconnected from any physical anchors such as muscle and bone - twisting, shrinking, stretching and pulling in all directions at once - before the new body rapidly forms around it and encases it in temporary form, is much stranger than you anticipated. That's saying a lot, since you definitely expected it to be strange.
"WaaAAA-AAAhhh" you screech the moment your new vocal chords assemble themselves. It had happened instantaneously, so how did you even feel it happen? You aren't sure. Either way, there you stand, just as you had pictured before, with your eyes much closer to ground level, and with your new wings outstretched on either side of you. You pivot your head back and forth to scan the reactions of your sisters. "...Hoo."
Embryx and Stalna are, predictably, delighted to see your success. Kulka at the very least looks relieved. "An eagle owl," she observes. "A bit ostentatious, but it'll do," she acknowledges.
"Hoo-oo," you vocalize, having intended to say thank you. You quickly realize that you can't actually say anything in this form, as you lack the vocal acuity to make complicated sounds. Even Embryx managed to force through a few words, but you find yourself merely chattering noisily without any actual control or success. Finally, out of frustration, you decide to take your new body for a spin, and begin flapping your wings. You lift off from the ground rapidly, but without coordination, and only fly a few feet before flopping back into the pillowy snow ahead of you with another screech.
It takes some time, and a few more attempts, before you can move about without humiliating yourself further. All the while, Embryx prepares herself for another attempt at a wolf form. By the time you become comfortable flapping about between trees and the lodge's roof, your lover has reappeared in a still-threatening, but nonetheless unremarkable form of a gray wolf, and you're confident that none will be any the wiser. You dissolve yourself back into your true form and rejoin your party. "We did it!" you cry out in joy. "Gods! That was the hardest spell I've ever learned!"
Embryx pops out of her wolf form and flops onto her back in the snow, looking tired enough to pass out. Another revitalization with the Door, later, however, and she joins you in your reverie. "So," Kulka begins, "I suppose you two will cross the border together somewhere in the woods, and then Stalna and I will follow behind you with the horses."
"I can't speak, but I can hoot at you all to follow me towards safety," you add.
Embryx grins. "And if anyone gets too close, I'll scare 'em off."
"Sounds reasonable," Stalna agrees. "We'll go south until we reach Afaeanon, and then make contact with the coven so we can travel more normally."
---
The plan goes more or less exactly as Stalna described it. You swoop and glide through the air, watching for elven scouts as you dip into and out of the canopy - which is quite lacking in foliage at the moment - in search of a safe passage for your allies. Once you're convinced that the path ahead is empty, you dive down to an empty branch, land, and let out your song: "Hooo! ...Hooo!"
Next, you spot Embryx bounding through the snow behind you, popping up now and then on small rises before flopping down onto loose piles of snowdrift just like any old goofy dog. You suppose it's not an issue, since she'd only need to be a convincing wolf if there's a threat in the area. Lastly, as Kulka and Stalna arrive on horseback, following Embryx's tracks through the snow, you take off again and lead them deeper into the woods.
This goes on for some time, and along the way, you spot other creatures in the woods with your heightened senses. It surprises you - you've always been told that tabaxi are better than others when it comes to hearing, seeing, smelling... but your senses are actually much better in this form; you can only imagine how dramatic it must be for an ordinary human. You wonder whether this is why Corrinth insisted on using wildshape so often during travel... it's simply safer this way. Just as you're about to become fully lost in thoughts of future travels in all sorts of shapes and forms, you detect someone in the distance. First one, and then two...
"Waaa-aaahh!" you screech, letting your warning sound out over the trees as you promptly land. You look back to Embryx, who halts and lifts her head to get a better view - sniffing the air and turning about in search of sounds. You watch her for some time, waiting for her to lock on to the approaching interlopers. As you do, another bird flaps into the barren limbs nearby and you reflexively swivel your head around backwards to get a look. There, in the branches, is a rather lonesome-looking crow, far away from its murder. A messenger, maybe?
It stares back at you. This isn't normal, you realize. I'm a owl... this crow shouldn't be comfortable being this close to me, even if it's a messenger. ...Wait a fucking second-
The crow cocks its head. "...Sister?" it asks, curiously.
"WAAAAAGH!" you screech as you launch yourself at Corrinth, dissolving and re-emerging as yourself, grabbing the bird with your bare hands as you plummet through the branches. At the same time, she emerges from her own cloud and bounces painfully through the branches until you both fall out the other side and land in the deep snow.
"Wait wait wait wait wait!" she screams as she waves her arms around and wheels backwards on battered legs. "No fair, no fair! I didn't know you could URK-"
You grip her in your telekinesis so tightly that it squeezes the air out of her lungs. You reach for the Door, prepared to give her a similar death to Veralt, when you suddenly remember that you left it in Kulka's care for Embryx's benefit. Your magic is finite, and worse yet, Kulka won't approach this place until you summon her with your owl song, since the last she heard was a warning screech. You're not even sure if you can get back into wildshape on what you have left - the spell is too new and difficult for you!
No matter, you think as you take out your sickle instead. You'll still make sure you never cross paths again. Despite your readiness, before you can finally kill the changeling you hear a sound not unlike a dog being kicked - Embryx must have gone after the two elves! You toss Corrinth into the trunk of the tree you just fell out of to finish knocking the wind out of her before quickly running after Embryx, and you quickly emerge into a clearing where she's back in her normal body as well. Blood is trickling from her arm, but whatever wound she's sustained doesn't seem to be slowing her down, much. She's gripping her scythe and looking ready to fight.
You turn to face your new foe, and realize your fears have become reality: Standing at the opposite edge of the clearing is a drow with silky black hair down to her waistline, clothed in a leather bodysuit like some sort of assassin, and with a long, inscribed blade in her hands that's undoubtedly a magical implement. The look in her eyes is exactly as untethered and evil as you remember from your nightmare, and dangling from her belt is a bloody sack that's crawling with maggots. She's been collecting trophies, it seems.
This... is Sharyx.
Behind her is a tall, pale elf with equally dark hair, his skin covered from the top of his neck down his arms and presumably elsewhere in elaborate sigils - tattooed directly into him as starkly as they're etched into the surfaces of the Pandemonium Door and Sharyx's drow-made sword. Strangely, the elf is also blindfolded, as if he wasn't already strange enough. Is he blind? You somehow doubt it, from the way he turned to face you the moment you emerged from the trees.
For a moment, the two sides stare at each other, unsure of how to proceed.
"...Are you... the Terrorchild?" Sharyx asks, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
Is that... hope?
1. Wear It with Pride - You have to think quickly. This girl is a member of the coven, thanks to your unwitting intervention into her life. You're probably directly responsible for the deaths of her family members and whoever else she's crossed paths with since beginning her rampage. If she regards you as reverently as she does Syrith, and if you play this right... you might be able to convince her to do as you say. "...Yes. I'm Agranne of Ryggander, and this is Embryx of Aelesh-Yna. You're Sharyx, aren't you?"
2. Temper Expectations - You have no idea what gives this girl hope. Given that she's been killing indiscriminately, she might just be excited for the chance to kill you and wear your skin, for all you know. You need to let her know that you're not interested in friendship, yet. "That's just a nickname; my name is Agranne of Ryggander. And you - you must be the one causing all the trouble here in Sonnamille."
3. Prepare to Fight - Even if you can somehow convince Sharyx to be your 'friend,' you can't imagine it would go any better than being friends with Corrinth. You already know that you're in for a lot more trouble than this is worth, so you take your place beside Embryx and prepare to fight for your life.
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