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Entry 2 The Journal of Kai Aynsthil
31st day of Midsomner, 166A.S.
Much has happened since the events of three days ago, but I've gotten ahead of myself. There was a robbery at the Sologuard Trade House and, in an attempt to intervene, I had my life suddenly and irrevocably changed. I woke in a state of confusion and whirl of chaos...
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"Nnghah..." You groan as you begin to wake up. Your vision is a little blurry and your mind feels muddled and heavy. You can see the worried face of your friend, Allyn, his eyes level with yours. You think he says something, but you don't quite catch it, "Nngh, huh? What?" Your vision starts to focus again as your mind clears. You notice he hasn't mended his shoulder yet, it is still bleeding.
"...Kai! Are you with me? Nod your head if you can understand me..." You nod your head up and down, Allyn's worried expression softens somewhat, but you must be hurt pretty bad if he's acting like this, "Look, I don't know what it was that caused that explosion, but it roughed you up pretty good and we've got the rest of the house guards here keeping us barred in. I don't know what to do..." You try to push yourself up, but your arms feel a little too wobbly so you slump back against the wall.
"It wathss thssome ssort of relehc..." You knit your brow in frustration, for some reason you can't help but slur your words like a drunk, like your tongue was too big for your mouth. You try to sound out your words more carefully, "Sssom- hm, ssomething fehlss wrr-wrong..." Shaking your head in irritation you try to get your tongue to cooperate, but every attempt ends in it jamming to the roof of your mouth as if it has nowhere to go. Allyn is looking at you with confused worry.
"Okay, Kai, slow down, you don't look very good, tell me what's wrong and I'll try to heal what's broken..." He's removing your armor and cloak, pressing his hands into your chest and abdomen to find anything broken or cut. You just feel bruised all over, you try to tell him, but...
"Nnothhingsss wrr-wrahng... RRARGH, hwhy can'th I spi--aaaah!" You were going to say 'Spit it out' and - in a way - you did, but not as you had intended. Falling from your mouth is a long, thin, forked tongue about a foot-and-a-half long and dark crimson in color. Allyn leaps back in shock, you look up with pleading eyes, "Uh, Allyn... pleathfixththisss!" He just stands there unsure what to do, but wanting to do something, he looks around the room for answers.
"Okayokayokay... Uhm, alright, this was some kind of relic, ya? That did this to you? Okay, maybe- maybe we can explain the situation to Lord Sologuard and he'll know what we can do..." Allyn is beside himself, you attempt to stand again and it feels like the whole world starts spinning, your friend tries to talk to one of the house guards, "Hey! My friend is gravely injured, we need to get out of this room and meet with your lord so we can get him some aid! Please let us through!" He tries to move up to the large Qathwindi, but he stands in his way and shoves him back into the room with the shaft of his pole-arm.
Moving up to your friend, you notice something -very- worrying, "Allyn, thsinthe whehn were you talller thhen me?" He looks down at you, he always had a pale complexion, but now he looks down right ghostly. Even worse, you find yourself staring into his chest at your full height, you can't be anymore than four or four-and-a-half feet tall! Your shoulders start to shake a little, "Allyn... what'ths happening to me...?" You plead for an answer from your closest friend, but all he can offer is a warm hand on your exposed shoulder, worry etched across his battle-hardened features.
"GYAAH!" Pain shoots through your body as you feel bones snapping and moving and popping beneath your flesh. Your head feels like it's in a vice and the pressure is getting more and more intense. You've never felt anything so incredibly crushing and inescapable as this pain, it makes you feel claustrophobic and suffocated. You don't remember falling to the ground, but as you squirm on the floor, you feel a hand press into your torso and a wave of relief passes through your body. You look up with wide eyes as you see Allyn above you focusing with all his might to channel enough magic through you to mitigate your pain.
He can't speak while he is like that, but - given your own circumstance - you doubt you could hold a conversation either. You can feel your face push out unnaturally, like your bones were made of clay and someone was forming you anew. Something hits the back of your throat and you're forced to turn over and spit it out. Teeth and blood fall from your maw as new, razor sharp fangs replace them, your muzzle grows long and fairly narrow. Some of your fangs poke out past your lips.
From this position, you can see your hands reshaping as they support your weight. They've become smaller with shorter fingers and you appear to only have four digits left on each of your hands. Among everything else you find this most disturbing, bones don't just reshape, fall off and disappear! A small part in the back of your mind reminds you that at least you still have opposable thumbs, even as you watch your former hands gain wicked looking claws meant for ripping and tearing apart small prey.
Much of your proportions shrink and become narrower and sleeker, much like the features of the local Skaldrings. Your fore-arms take on a thinner, less defined shape as your upper arms retain some of their former musculature. Your chest narrows considerably giving you a more pronounced sternum. You begin kicking off whatever remains of your ill-fitting clothes as you stare with existential fright at what continues to happen to your no-longer-human body.
Your Abdomen pulls in to your body a little bit, giving you a graceful - if slightly starved - appearance while your hips and thighs widen, burgeoning with extra muscle conducive to the natural runner-like physique of the Skaldring and to make room for your next development. It appears your genitalia has taken up a new position within your body, leaving you with a reptilian genital slit, much to your chagrin. Next, you feel a clicking in your spine as it extends and pushes away from your body, new muscles forming around the thick base that tapers four feet out into a whip-like point. Grimacing, you can only imagine how much pain you'd be in if it weren't for Allyn's magic. You can see sweat dripping from his brow as he continues to keep the spell up, but he's got to stop soon or he might end up draining himself too much... stopping his heart.
Another snap and pop from your body brings your attention down to your feet which look stretched out and malformed. You can see three distinct and thickset digits protruding from your feet, ending in talons meant for gripping soil, dirt and rock for purchase to propel you forward on your exceptionally strong digitigrade legs. You also see that your 'feet' have gained a taloned dew-claw. You think the worst is over, but your body has other surprises for you as an itchiness spreads over your whole body, like a huge rash.
You can't help but claw at yourself to provide some relief, but all you manage to do is tear off bits of your skin. You look down with horror at yourself as you 'molt' the last vestiges of your humanity, only to have it replaced by patches of bronze scale-hide as well as gold-hued underbelly scales. You look at Allyn, he's not stopping with his magics and he looks like he is about to pass out. You try to get his attention and shake him out of his trance, "Allyn! Hey sssnap outh of eht! Ya don'th have to keep thisss up anehmore!" He's zoned out and losing what remains of his strength. Thinking fast, you place your foot-claws between the two of you and give him a hard shove. The magic breaks and the pain is immediate.
It's not unbearable this time, but your head starts to spin again. You can see your friend lying on his back not too far from you. He's breathing and you thank all the gods for it. You see the impassive house guard Qaths just watching you, if you had any strength left in your body, you'd have leapt at them and gouged their eyes out... You feel a tingling across your body, not unlike when the scales appeared, but still different.
You roll onto your stomach again, waiting for the sensation to pass and your new ears fall in front of your face. You huff in resignation at the sight of the long, scaly aural appendages... You could liken them to that of a rabbit. You whimper as one more change pushes through your form. Two small horns poke out between where your ears rest on your sloped head while large, soft, earth-brown feathers sprout from your scalp, quickly replacing your human hair. These feathers begin to form a sort of mane that flows down your spine to the tip of your tail where a cluster of large, downy plumage gives you a lengthy tassel.
Finally, the pain fades away. Your entire being having been ripped apart and reorganized into the form of a diminutive feathered reptile. You think you've become some kind of Skaldring, but you've never seen one with feathers before. You don't know what this means, but right now you don't care, you make your way over to your injured companion...