After what you just witnessed, you aren’t exactly sure if you want to continue. A curse that turns anyone here into animals? That doesn’t exactly sound like something you’d enjoy. But on the other hand, you’ve walked about a mile and a half from the sign that pointed you in this direction, and you were still quite thirsty. You sigh to yourself and continue onwards down the road, hoping you’d be able to find this tavern soon enough.
After a few more minutes of walking, you see a fairly large building on the side of the road. As you get closer to the building, you are able to see a wooden sign hanging above the door. The sign has a picture of a mug of ale painted on it with the words “Odd Fellows Tavern” stretched across the top of the sign. This must be the place.
As you approach the door, you can hear a number of sounds: voices, glass mugs clinking together, and even a few moans and animal noises. Pushing open the door, you are greeted to something quite strange, even after you saw a woman transform into a doe.
The entire tavern is filled with anthropomorphic animals of all types, and even a few humans. Five large boars were sitting at a table in the center of the room, each one with a large pint of ale in their strange hoove hands. They were all laughing and punching each other in a playful manner when someone e said something. You could see a small crowd of humans and animals gathered around a large bear and a human sitting at a table together. The two of them were in the middle of an arm wrestle, and by the looks of things, the man is transforming slowly as time goes on.
Looking around for a place to sit, you spot a booth in the corner where a lone white wolf is sitting. The Wolf doesn’t look very old from what you can tell; in fact, he looks like he’s in his late teenage years. You watch as an anthropomorphic cat dressed in a bar tender’s uniform walked up to him and handed him a pint of ale. Wait, wasn’t he too young for that? Curiosity gets the better of you, and you make your way over to where the Wolf is sitting.
When you get to the booth, you clear your throat to get the wolf’s attention. You watch as his ears perk up and he quickly turns his head to face you.
“Huh? Oh, hello,” he said casually. “Can I help you?”
“Is this seat taken?” You ask the canine, pointing to the empty booth seat across from him. The Wolf shakes his head before saying, “Nah, it’s open. Take a seat if you want.”
You nod and sit down in the booth, looking around the tavern before looking back at the Wolf.
“Awfully busy tonight, huh?” You say, trying to start a conversation.
“It usually is,” the Wolf said with a chuckle. “This is the only tavern in town, so everyone comes here for a drink. And all the travelers who come in never want to leave.” The Wolf proceeds to take a drink from his mug.
“Aren’t you a bit young for that?” You ask the wolf. “Unless I’m mistaken, you look like you’re only 17 like me.”
The Wolf laughs and put his pint down on the table. “Too young? Please! This is the Village of Anthros! The drinking age is nothing like the outside world’s.”
“Huh...” you say before looking around the tavern once again before flagging down the bartender on the other side of the room to ask for a drink. The bar tender doesn’t even walk over to your table. Instead, he smiles and gives you a thumbs up before walking behind the counter to make you a pint. You turn back towards the wolf and ask, “So what’s your name?”
“Me?” The Wolf says casually. “I’m Aaron. How about you?”
“I’m Gavin,” you say with a smile. “It’s nice to meet you Aaron.” The smile on your face fades when you see Aaron offer you a handshake. Aaron seems to notice your expression change, and he looks confused for a second before realizing what’s wrong.
“Worried about the curse, eh?” he asks with a smirk. “Don’t worry about it. Just take my hand. All of the other humans who came here did, and look at them!”
Aaron points out towards the bar, and you begin to look around. Upon closer examination, one of the five boats you saw walking into the tavern has a freshly torn t-shirt still on his body. He doesn’t seem like he’s in any form of distress though. He’s just laughing with his new friends and cracking jokes while drinking pint after pint of ale.
At another table, you see that the man who was arm wrestling the bear early is now completely turned into an anthropomorphic bear. He was currently checking out his new gut, laughing as the first bear said something to him. And at another table, you could see a pair of white horses kissing each other lovingly. You wonder if they’re the husband to the woman in the forest and the man he tried to help before they both walked off. All of them look so happy together. Was this really a curse?
You turn your head back to Aaron and glance at his extended hand. The white fur and black claws on his hand are quite nice looking, and you wouldn’t mind having hands like those either to be honest.
“Well,” Aaron says. “What’ll it be mate?”