It started with that first woodsman, but it went so much farther.
It was only a few days before someone came looking for the missing man, who was now a massive oak tree in the
forest. It was two other men, looking casually for him. It was clear to Jeff that they were looking for a
man they assumed was injured or lost, not transformed.
Jeff considered leaving them alone. They weren't actually trying to damage the forest, but simply looking for
a man they were never going to find. But Jeff felt an urge to see what her powers could manage.
She waited until the men made a camp, and one went to sleep while the other kept watch. She approached slowly
and silently in the night until she reached the edge of the firelight. "Good evening, kind sir," she said
quietly.
The man turned his head quickly and scowled, "Who's there?" he asked, brandishing his well-worn axe.
Jeff stepped into the firelight, allowing him to see her naked body. "I am but a simple wood nymph, looking
for companionship," she said in a sultry voice.
A strange look passed over his eyes and the axe dropped to the forest floor. "Anything that you wish, my
lady," he said in a strange monotone.
Jeff was only puzzled for a second, but realized quickly that she had a power over men. Once she set her
sight on one, she had him. "I would like you to no longer harm the forest. How can I convince you to do
that?" she asked.
The man was sweating profusely, struggling against what he was feeling and what he must have known was about
to happen. "I... I... could return home," he managed.
She smiled, "No, I think I want to be more sure. The man you seek made a lovely tree, but I would like to try
something different with you." She looked the man over a bit more. "I think a crown of antlers would look
good here." As she said it, a pair of antlers burst from the mans head, with changes spreading down from
there. It wasn't long before a mighty buck stood by the fire, his eyes wide and fearful. "Oh, you're
lovely!" she finally said once the transformation was over. "I release you to the forest." With that, the
buck bounded off into the woods.
Jeff turned her attention to the sleeping man, who had strangely managed to stay asleep. She considered what
to turn him into, but settled on something a bit more horrific. As she thought about it, red-capped mushrooms
started sprouting from the mans skin. He seemed to stir after a few moments, but barely had time to open his
eyes before they were covered by fungus. In seconds, where the man had been sleeping was now a large cluster
of deadly mushrooms.
Jeff smiled at her handiwork, then returned to her tree to sleep.
**
She tested her ability over the next several weeks, transforming unwary travelers and woodsman without much
care. She turned an old merchant who had stopped to relieve himself into a pine tree, then surprised herself
by unshackling his horses and turning them into elk, to better fit her forest. Several individual woodsman
found themselves turned into squirrels, birds and trees over the next few weeks. She noticed after a while
that the men started traveling in larger groups, twos and threes, which she could handle with ease. She
avoided larger groups of armed men because she wasn't sure her ability would cover that many.
Later, she realized it was the traveling party that she should have skipped. Two men on horseback, two in a
carriage being driven by another pair. The men on horseback were armed, but she waited until they had
traveled a bit further from the carriage, then quickly transformed the men into crows. The carriage driver,
seeing what had happened, tried to get away, but she quickly used her magic on the horses, who instantly
rooted to the ground and turned into large bushes. The carriage turned over and the four men tried to
escape. She turned the passengers into does, and the drivers to bucks. It took all of two minutes.
She was feeling powerful. Invincible.
She had also just transformed the Crown Prince and the Governor.