At first Danor stuck to the shadows, hoping not to be seen as he hurried through the streets, however he found it only lead to people looking at him suspiciously. Being stealthy was rather difficult with his new lumbering body so he instead switched to moving at a normal pace and hoping nobody would pay him any attention. Worried that people on the street would react in the same way the innkeeper did, Danor was hesitant to ask for recommendations on an affordable healer. It didn't help that over night every sign in town seemed to have changed into a foreign language that Danor could not decipher.
After an hour of directionless wandering he spotted a halfling in the type of dark blue robe generally worn by healers and decided to tail him. Though most healers Danor had seen kept their robes tidy the ones this halfling wore were old and shabby. The halfling seemed to wander in circles aimlessly for a few minutes before suddenly darting into an alley. Danor quickly followed only to find an empty dead-end when he turned the corner. He slowly moved forward looking around for any sign of a healer's office. Suddenly two glowing rings flashed around Danor's wrists and hoisted him up suspending his body in the air. As he flailed about and yelled for help he saw the halfling he had been following shimmer into view in front of him, waving a small wooden rod menacingly. An unfamiliar rage began to boil inside Danor more present than any he had felt before.
"Let go!" he roared, futilely kicking his legs in the air "You want fight I fight!"
"I don't think so lard butt," smirked the halfling, jostling Danor up and down with a few flicks of his wand, "Why are you following me? Thought I was some helpless halfling you could rob did you?"
"No!" growled Danor, still thrashing about trying to free himself, "You wear blue...thought you is healer...need help!"
"Nice try meat head," scoffed the halfling, he twirled his wand and the rings around Danor's wrists flew to his feet flipping him upside down. Danor's cloak fell to the floor exposing his patchy green body and deformed face, "Wow, I've seen some uglies in my time but you have them all beat. What happened to you?"
Danor swung his fists through the air a few more times before tiring himself out and calming down enough to answer. "No know. I wake up with green skin."
"Then go to a healer's office or an apothecary dumb-bum." lectured the halfling, moving in for a closer look, "Don't just go skulking around, stalking the first person you see in blue robes."
"New in town" Danor tried to explain as his snarl softened and his undeformed eye began to water. "Signs all wrong...no one to ask help...not much coin."
"Aye, no need to start blubbering," the halfling said, gently waving his wand and lowering Danor back to the ground, "I'll give you a quick once over, but no promises. I don't work free either. A halfling's gotta eat."
"Thank you." Danor sniffled as he sat on the ground. He rummaged through his pack and found what little coin he had left. Trying to count it out only served to give him a headache so instead he offered it all to the halfling, "This all coin I have..."
"This will barely cover the materials," the healer snorted, picking out the gold and silver pieces, leaving the copper, "You're lucky I'm curious, wait here."
The halfling scurried off leaving Danor alone in the alley. Growing anxious, he grabbed his cloak and wrapped himself again in case anyone came by and saw him. After a few minutes he took out one of his old books to pass the time and maybe take his mind off things for a while. Upon opening the first page, it seemed all the letters had become completely nonsensical. If not for the pictures he wouldn't even be able to tell if it was upside down. After focusing intensely trying to make sense of the funny scribbles on the page, a few letters could be recognized here and there, but not without getting a mild headache. Within a good ten or so minutes he slammed the book shut in frustration and closed his eyes wondering when the healer would return. As soon as he started to think he might have just run off with his coin, the halfling in tattered blue robes came around the corner back into the alley.
"Take off the cloak." ordered the halfling, as he prepared his instruments.
Thankfully it was a dark alley and the outer street was not very busy so no one would notice a half naked man being poked and prodded. The halfling pricked one of the green patches of skin on Danor's stomach and collected a few drops of blood, mixing it into a small vial of clear liquid, then did the same with one of the fleshy normal sections. He dipped the wand with a white illuminated tip into one of the blood vials, before telling Danor sit back down so he could look inside his mouth. He prodding the two sharper teeth at the bottom and stuck his glowing wand on Danor's tongue.
"Have you drank any potions or been messing with any spells lately?" asked the healer.
"Uhhh yeth," Danor lisped with the glowing stick still in his mouth, "A pothion two dayth ago."
"Did you get it from a certified brewer or enchanter?" questioned the healer, removing the wand from Danor's mouth and blinking a series of colors on the end, "What was it supposed to do?"
"Uhhh..." Danor scrunched his face trying to recall, "Dwarf on road sell, say I be stronger."
"By the streams, didn't your parents ever teach you never to drink potions from unreliable sources?" chided the halfling, now dipping the end of his slobbery wand into one of the blood vials, turning it blue. He muttered a few words under his breath and the fluid changed colors a few more times. Several more complicated spells and tests were performed, some with sparkling lights or small flames, all of which went way over Danor's head.
"Well I've identified the problem." the healer concluded as he wiped his wand off on a piece of cloth, "That potion is turning you into an orc, physically, mentally and emotionally; fully and permanently"
"What!?" shouted Danor, crawling forward on his hands, "I don't want to be orc! You fix yes?"
"Sorry to say, it's a magical affliction, I can't just wave my wand and make it go away." sighed the halfling, packing away his gear, "A cure would cost you at least three thousand gold pieces."
"But I have no gold pieces!" Danor cried, looking at the remaining copper in his pouch, "Do you have? I pay back short man!"
"HA! Sorry big guy but I don't have anything close to that kind of gold." the halfling laughed, before muttering in an annoyed tone, "Not since losing most of my patients to those fancy healers who don't need to extract fluid samples...bloody showoffs..."
"What I do now?" wondered Danor aloud, face falling as he slumped down on the alley wall. "When will I be full orc?"
"Best to get your affairs in order, you might get some coin from your fancy clothes and books, you probably won't be using them any more," commiserated the halfling, snapping his bag shut. "I'd say you have less than twenty four hours."
"Uhhh," Danor held out his fingers trying to count out how much that was, "one...two...umm... tree?"
"You have less than one day," reiterated the halfling, standing up to leave, "or until you're next alcoholic beverage, that will speed up the process. If you're looking for a tavern to drown your sorrows try The Tusky Tankard, a lot of orcs in town go there. Good luck."
"Thank you..." said Danor glumly, wrapping his cloak back around himself as the halfling scuttled around the corner and vanished.
After a while Danor decided to get up and start wandering the streets. Though not exactly sure where to go or what to look for, he walked around hoping to get his mind off things. However strolling around the city only served to remind him of all the things he was about to lose. No more fancy foods, no more warm beds or clean clothes. He was in such a state of despair that he didn't even realize how much time had passed until the sun was beginning to set. Danor had to figure out where he was going to spend the night.