The Iron Reaver’s Throne: Epoch Gambit

Continuation from the contest story from Honestabe.

The Iron Reaver’s Throne: Epoch Gambit

Part One: Playing the Fool

After ten months, they were finally back.  Dorian Meer set his eyes on the familiar fog covered hills of the ancient city.  The peaks of the hills covered the site were the same as he remembered them being.  Grass covered with nearly unmarked stones and moss covered everything else. Only one thing broke the endless sea of highlands here.  A black iron spike broke the landscape. It was lodged in a hilltop, one of the last things they had picked up in the dungeon the last time they were here.  The haft of a javelin had been sank into the hill, the broken tip replaced with black iron taken from the dungeon.

“Is this your marker?” Dorian was much happier about the trip to the dungeon this time around.  They had hired a wizard and scholar to accompany their group. Kevoran Boreal Guevenne was an old hand at adventuring, and a weak curse breaker.  He and his owl familiar, Herod, had been a great help. They were academically skilled and he had a secret home on another plane of existence. Inheritance, he claimed.  But he could draw a shape of a door on anything and access his small secret space at any time. Older than anyone else by far, but knowledgeable about many subjects. His scruffy brown hair had some gray patches, but the middle aged man was one of the most valuable members of their expedition.  

Lenna Shadewake came up behind him, her hair in a different style than when she was last here.  Instead of a giant braid hanging down her back she had twin braids hanging from her shoulders and connecting back into each other near her belt.  The blonde hair had been cursed on the trip previous journey and was still ten feet of unbreakable length. She wore it all over her shoulders and torso now, as the hair could stop most piercing weapons.  She had been a Human, once. Now her blue skin and elfin ears were marks of the Sylph race, gifted in all things of air and lightning. Dorian was also her familiar, which he had some regrets about. Lenna’s legs, what she called her most beautiful feature, were always on display.  As a mage, she didn’t want to have anything interfere with her spellcasting. Or so she claimed. Really the woman had barely any boobs to speak of, and last time they had come here she had gained the legs and booty that could be called respectable.

Even when he was human and she was his girlfriend she was quite vain.  Even now that he was a hawk she still felt vanity for her body. She could feel his senses, and he amplified her magic.  She had to do as he said, though. Part of her Sylph abilities were connected to who she was with at the time of that transformation.  If he or Alexandra asked her to do something, she would do it without thinking. Her mid-thigh length skirts were just one of the things she wore as a result of that.  Of course, Lenna was only doing that because of jealousy.

Coming up behind her was the reason for that jealousy. One of Lenna’s old friends.  Lavinia Gale was an olive skinned human from the wandering tribal groups surrounding Galen.  An old nation long since fallen, and its people scattered. Lavinia was a curvaceous short woman with no fear.  Land or sea she was able to guide by the stars and signs. More importantly, she understood some of the language that was in these ruins.  Hanging from her belt were a pair of dire flails that should have been too heavy for it. Not that her outfit was any more reasonable. Lavinia didn’t believe in modesty, only in practicality.  As such, the only thing covering her legs were pairs of long socks that kept her warm. The rest of her was wrapped in an outfit that could classify as a dress if it actually covered her ass. A pair of tight shorts were always visible, if they could be considered such.  Dorian did admit she had a very nice ass to look at. She didn’t mind anyone looking at her, in fact she encouraged it. Her shoulders and wrists were heavily armored, but the rest of that woman was as soft as one could imagine.

The only man here was Kevoran, and he always kept his eyes politely elsewhere.  Dorian knew that whoever Lavinia was showing off to, it wasn’t him. That left the last two members of their expedition. Alexandra Heliot and Tori.  Alexandra was his girlfriend of sorts, even though she didn’t like to admit that she was dating a bird. Birdman. Whatever. Alexandra had been a gladiator, a free woman who entered the Verusian arenas to fight and win money and fame.  She had succeeded, and her trident was at her side always. She, Lenna, and Dorian had been the only ones to make it out last time. Dorian had entered a man and come out a hawk. Lenna had gone in human and come out part elemental. Alexandra had probably gotten it the worst.  


 

Every scar from the arena she had been proud of, and she considered them the signs of her fame.  The dungeon here had taken that from her. A mask had been forced onto her face, and from there it had changed her.  Skin as soft as a child and not a scar left. Permanent marks on her face colored her lips and skin, making her look as painted as a prostitute.  Her reputation was gone, ruined. Her face couldn’t even express the anger or frustration it must be causing. It was stuck in an innocent doe eyed expression.  The curse breakers hadn’t been able to remove it, not without the masks that did this. Dorian would bring one of those back to the academy. They had at least been able to get rid of some kind of useless butterfly wings she gained last time they were here.  

Last but not least was another Verusian, Tori.  If he hadn’t have met Alexandra he would have been stunned by this beauty.  She did nothing to her hair, a spiky mess. Her armor was rugged and lacked ornamentation.  But she was considered untouched in the arena. No scars marred her face or hands. Tori was a Paladin, resistant to magic and trained in the warrior’s art.  She and Alexandra were both tall, and armed and armored to the teeth. Tori used a greatsword, a holy blade. She had barely shown an interest in anything during the trip, and spoke softly.  Alexandra had simply asked for her help, and Tori had left her career in the arena instantly. Something more was at work there, but when he asked Alexandra wouldn’t tell him. Either way, Tori had been absolutely dependable.  

“This marker is made from that black iron in the dungeon.” Lavinia tossed the chunk up in one hand, letting it fall into the other.  “So does that mean it’s right here?”

“Gods, no.” Lenna interrupted with a whine.  She took her dagger and carved into the earth around the marker, finding the other chunk of black iron they had buried here.  “It’s a pointer. We measured two hundred paces from the entrance and put this here. Then a second stone to point the way to the location.” Dorian took a moment to flutter over to Lenna’s shoulder, where a small horn had been mounted for him to rest on.  

Lavinia grinned, eager to find the Iron Reaver’s dungeon.  They all were. It had been almost a month of travel just to get back here, after all.  Kevoran stepped forward, just as eager. “Alexandra has to walk it. It was her steps we measured.”  She had very large feet, too. Not that they weren’t pretty feet, no sir! Dorian was sure to remind his girlfriend that her feet were not mannish or too large.  For his outspoken comment, he got an exasperated sigh from Lavinia. Kevoran simply nodded and stepped out of the way.

Alexandra stepped up to the disturbed dirt.  “No one say anything or you’ll throw off my count and we might trigger a trap instead of opening the entrance.”  That got all of the assorted expedition to be quiet. Tori walked alongside Alexandra, quiet and calm. Everyone else seemed to just bumble along behind.  When they arrived at the random patch of stones, Alexandra brought her boot back and kicked one with force. There was baited breath as the ground opened up.  The dry dirt and mud shook as black stone railings silently extended from the hill. Like a sliding door, the entryway opened into the hill.

“Extraordinary!” Kevoran exclaimed.  “That wasn’t arcana based magic! That was divine magic!”

“Does that make your skills less applicable?” Herod, his owl, mocked him.  Apparently familiars being a pain in the ass was more common than it appeared.  “Or perhaps you are getting old and disbelieving.”

Kevoran rolled his eyes before leaning forward to inspect the railing.  “Wait.” Dorian called. “There was a needle or dart trap the last time we were here.”

Lenna looked for it, but couldn’t find the trap that had almost skewered Dorian’s hand the last time.  Still, no one was allowed to touch the railings along the slick stone stairs as they stepped below. “Five days, Dorian.  Five days before we can come back through.”

“Yup.  But this time we are ready.” She pointed at a cloud of magical gloom over the doorway.  “There might be something nasty beyond that door.” Lenna gave a squeal as Lavinia gave her butt a squeeze and pushed past her.  Lavinia’s right breast had a mole on it, and it would almost wink at anyone that was glancing her direction.

“That’s our job sweet cheeks.  Let the combat specialists do their job, eh?” Tori had drawn her greatsword, and was whispering a prayer.  Her eyes were focused, and she looked more alive than she had in the entire journey previous. Behind them both was Alexandra, who hefted her trident and gave him her best smile.  “And yes, we know our weapons will be going invisible. That we are prepared for.” She hefted her flails and made a kissing face at Lenna. “Aiyayaya!” Lavinia yelled mockingly at Tori, who remained unmoved. Then the three women charged in. They had one lit torch between them.  

The magical gloom over the door prevented any sound from carrying through, but Lenna fearlessly approached. There was a moment of discomfort as they passed through, but it passed.  The first chamber of the dungeon was large, with wide walls and high ceilings. It had long stairs, sized for giants. Lenna summoned a ball of light as soon as she came through, illuminating all of this.  Six skeletons were locked in battle with their expedition already, and their arrows landed all around them. Like all weapons and tools in this dungeon, they only knew this from the sound of them hitting the walls.  All weapons were invisible here.

Alexandra was fighting one skeleton, disarming it and knocking its weapons out of its hands.  Or rather just breaking its hands right off, he noticed. Tori was just using her greatsword on the creatures, its enchantment shattering the weapons and armor of anything dark and evil.  Lavinia was even more effective, her flails shattering the bones of anything they came into contact with. For the limited armor she was wearing she didn’t seem to feel the hits raining upon her.  The room was emptied quickly, as Lenna reached into her pack to grab her latest idea.

Since so much was invisible in this place, they had decided to bring a few items to test how effective they were.  The first was paint, though none of them were great artists. Kevoran was watching keenly as they tried to apply the paint to the black iron walls.  “It’s not sticking.” Lenna murmured. “Damn.”

“My spells barely scratch this material.  How interesting.” Kevoran added. “This means we cannot leave much of a trace.”

“Nope!” Lenna said with a pleased smirk.  “We paint the bones and leave them as markers.”  Parts of the skeletons were quickly painted, and the party maintained two sources of light at all times.  Alexandra had an oil lamp hanging from her belt, while Kevoran maintained a light on the tip of his staff.  They marked the room they were in with a few red painted bones, bringing more with them. Dorian remained on his perch at Lenna’s shoulder, again marvelling at this place.  

The dwarves that had made it were unique in their work.  No one had figured out how they made the black iron. More importantly, they had feats of engineering that only now being explored.  This place was something of a wonder in that. “Remember, this place is a mile wide and constantly spinning. Slowly enough that we don’t notice, but the way out will return in five days.  Give or take a few hours.” Dorian swore he would understand this place. He had dedicated years to understanding the dwarves of the southern reaches, and would dedicate the rest of his life to these dwarves if given the chance.  

The only way deeper into this place was an archway, leading to four tunnels.  All four tunnels were unmarked. “This isn’t the place we came into last time.” Alexandra murmured.  “I don’t see any of the marks.”

All four of the tunnels were featureless.  “Perform the foolproof test!” Lavinia called happily, grabbing four pieces of shattered bone.  She threw each like a projectile into each tunnel to see what would occur. Both of the left tunnels ignited on fire, flashing heat and flames down their entire length before going quiet.  “Okay.” Lavinia said quietly. “Not those.” The right pair of tunnels passed the ‘throw something in’ test. “All mazes can be conquered if you just keep going right!” Lavinia proposed.

“The second from the right happens to lead upwards.” Kevoran complained.  “It is more logical that it would go deeper.”

Kevoran was much more convincing.  He was the most experienced here, after all.  So they all moved upwards, stepping along the path.  Halfway down the first tunnel they ran into trouble, as slots opened in the walls.  “Darts!” Lenna yelled, as they tried to run past them. But instead of darts, sharp sprays of gas shot out of the walls.  “Furei!” Lenna called, the spell leaving her lips quickly. As a Sylph, she constantly had wind moving around her, swirling gently.  With a call of magic that wind turned into a quick gust and pushed back against the walls. The gasses were shunted back as everyone passed the holes.  

Dorian smirked as they made it past the first trap.  “Thank you Lenna.” Lavinia said graciously, as Alexandra and Tori also gave her a nod.  This tunnel ended with just one exit, but it came out in a room full of moss and algae. “Be careful through this.” Lavinia offered.  “That stuff is flammable. A single spark and this whole room becomes a firestorm. Thanks to her knowledge they got through it without creating one hell of a mistake.  They were making such good progress.

The next tunnel was just as featureless as the last, except for a single corpse.  It looked like it had lost its legs, and had been trying to crawl its way back to the exit.  Lavinia checked it over before shrugging. “Poor bastard had a cudgel. In this place?” She laughed.  Dorian thought he saw something sparkling in her hand, but ignored it. He wasn’t here for the money.

The tunnel came out into a large space, circular and full of old tables and slabs of dark stone.  “This is a laboratory of some kind.” Kevoran recognized. “Don’t disturb anything.”

Lavinia sighed.  “Be careful, all right all right.  This is where the best loot is, or so you all say.”

“Understanding the studies and magicks of this place will allow us to get into the Iron Reaver’s vault much easier.  More importantly, that is why people like us even come out to these places.” Dorian reminded her. Lenna smirked imperiously as she walked past Lavinia, looking for anything that could help.  There was writing along the wall, detailing something about the three stone tables. “This appears to be some kind of magical device.” Dorian could feel her and Lavinia having a stare down, but he could care less.  The inscriptions on the walls held his attention far more than what had become a daily occurrence.

“I can infer that it requires bones to function.” Kevoran noted, a faster man at reading and comprehending.  “They go onto the middle table, and from there this place is fueled by whatever bones are placed there.” He was studying the runes intently, and Dorian was pleased to see that the man was frustrated.  “Druidic and Dwarven. High Druidic, if I could guess. Few even speak this language!”

“What’s the problem with that?” Lavinia asked, as she and Alexandra dragged the corpse from the tunnel here.  “This idiot lost his legs in this room, so maybe he can help it work again.”

“High Druidic was only spoken by the warlocks and dark druids of days far gone by, and I very much doubt the elven loremasters that maintain their scrolls of knowledge would be free to come here and read this for us.” Kevoran was busy setting up his tent poles into a square shape.  He was going to open his private little dimension to get something. A charcoal and rubbing paper came out, which led to Dorian and the other familiar doing all the hard work of rubbing and holding the sheet. Kevoran wiggled his staff at times and was in general useless. He expected his familiar to do all the heavy lifting while he did all the study.  

That all went to hell when Lavinia tossed the bones onto the table.  The wrong table. The directions were clear about where the bones were supposed to go, and that was done correctly.  Lavinia simply made the mistake of placing the corpse on the table forcefully, and the ruined body fell apart. The black iron runes glowed, and the bones started glowing.  They turned to ash on the wind, and the dark skinned Lavinia gave a cry of surprise and fell back onto the second table. “Ah, perhaps it is a transfiguration magic chamber.  These runes are still in the damned druidic.” Kevoran rambled, as Lavinia cried out and started glowing. “Oh that appears to be the right color!”

Magic from Lavinia’s table leered up like a tentacle, swerving towards the third and final table in the room.  It seemed to be confused, and lacked a target. The closest person to that table was Alexandra, and she started backing away quickly.  As if summoned, the tentacle of energy swung towards her. Not on his watch. He dove, his hawk body bending to his will and getting in between the magic and his girlfriend.  There was a flash of light and things went numb.

When he could feel again he brought a hand to his forehead.  It was sweaty and cold. Wait, forehead. Hands? Dorian had hands again!  He opened his eyes, seeing the light of the room from an entirely new perspective.  He tried to stand, feeling his body respond. Alien sensations followed, as he could feel a smoothness to his skin.  Hair tingled and tickled his neck. Boobs jiggled. That last one made Dorian look down. They felt large, present, and in this dress you could see every inch of that skin.  A cute black mole winked at him from deep inside the exposed skin. The air rushing across the back of his thighs promised that they also were exposed.

He was Lavinia.  Why the hells did he look like Lavinia?  “Shite.” Oh yes, sounded like Lavinia too.  “Alexandra?” The voice felt foreign, and too high pitched.  Dorian twisted, the alien sensations of the rest of his body twisting a second later.  Jewelry banged against the neck, followed by hair and boobs changing position.

“Lavinia, we are fine.  Dorian is just out cold.” Alexandra stated.  His redheaded girlfriend was holding a hawk, who looked like they had run into something with their beak.  Oh, right, he had been flying when he ran into that magic. Dorian decided not to correct them on who he was just in case this magic effect would end quickly.  He tried to walk over to them, but his legs wanted to walk a certain way and he wasn’t used to everything being in motion. By the time he had mastered whatever this body wanted to walk like, Lenna and Alexandra were all over the hawk and healing it.  “Dorian’s got a massive bruise! One of his eyes won’t open and they have a broken wing!”

Dorian winced.  That was crippling.  He was about to say something when Kevoran spoke up.  “It appears that this room is going to release a toxin soon.  I have a magic item that detects poison. This place will soon be uninhabitable.”  That got everyone moving quickly. “It appears that you were right about the path we shall take, Lavinia.”

“What?” Dorian asked, honestly confused.  

“The paths, earlier.” Kevoran clarified.  “We will be going your way indeed.”

Dorian put on a smirk, trying to act like Lavinia.  “You’re right. Looks like I win.”

“Lead the way, oh guide of ours.” Lenna called.  She was cradling the hawk in her hands, whose eyes still would not open.  “Quickly.”

Dorian wanted to just stop a moment and tell them what had happened, but held his tongue. He did lead them out, the feeling of an unfamiliar body at a jog certainly odd.  The shorts kept riding up, and the wind was now running across the buttcheeks. As Dorian was the one in front of the expedition, everyone could see that. At least that was true to Lavinia.  She let her ass hang out and didn’t care who saw it. Dorain’s ass now. Gods, what a situation. They avoided any traps on their jog back to the tunnel entrances, before everyone lined up in front of it.  Dorian gulped as the group looked at him, expecting that ‘Lavinia’ would find the way forward.

This would be the moment to admit that he was not a hawk anymore.  Of course that was when Lenna gave him a thumbs up. He smiled back, before grabbing the dire flails at his belt and moving forward.  There was a moment of regret when the only weight on the belt was removed, and the dress was riding up now. Dorian reminded himself to keep a stiff upper lip and led the way into the tunnel.  He wasn’t sure what the traps looked like in this place, and the feeling of air moving across exposed skin was so distracting that Dorian didn’t see the trap until it was too late.

The tunnel twisted, and Lavinia’s body reacted automatically.  It dove, rolling to a stop on its bubbly bottom. When Dorian looked back, the middle of the tunnel had opened into a drop.  Kevoran and Tori were on the other side, the wizard’s feet dangling over the edge as Tori held him by the collar. Before Dorian could get to his feet, the tunnel sealed back up.  “What triggered that!” Dorian yelled.

“You’re the one who is to know that, Lavinia.” Kevoran muttered, darkly.  He was usually so cordial. “Take a minute to try to open it, and we will cover you.”  Dorian had never looked for traps so hard in his life. He got down on hands and knees and scrambled across the dirty floor looking for the switch.  Anything out of the ordinary. Tori even took a few practice steps along the tunnel, where Lenna and Alexandra were walking. Nothing worked, and after five minutes it was clear that the pitfall was not going to open again.  During the entire time Kevoran had stood by and simply watched as Dorian had been working.

“Are you going to help?” Dorian demanded.   

“My spellwork assures me that they are alive and well.  If they cannot open it from their end, and we cannot open it from ours, the path is obvious.”  Dorian liked being human again, that was all well and good. But for some reason Kevoran was even more intimidating now.  “Everyone knows what we would do next.” For some reason those words made bells ring in Dorian’s ears, the triple sets of hoop earrings banging loudly enough to wake the dead.  Dorian shook his head, but the ringing and the earrings just rattled even worse. “We keep going. They will catch up with us.”

The words echoed through Dorian’s mind.  They did make perfect sense. “They’ll find us, yeah.” Dorian heard himself agreeing.  “Gotta keep going.” That meant leading these two forwards, towards wherever Lenna and Alexandra might be.  But Dorian didn’t want anyone staring at his rear end during that process. He tried to reach down and pull the skirts of this outfit down, but instead his hands acted on their own accord and simply pulled the whole mess tighter.  So off the three went, counting on Dorian to find their way. Dorian was trying to look for the traps he knew this place had, but all he could think about was this damn dress! Something about Lavinia was causing this, he knew. Something about her was terrified about her body.  That was the only logical reason she could be this terrified about her own form. That terror was now his, and it was damn hard to concentrate past it.

They arrived at another tunnel, this one going even more sharply upwards.  There were no stairs and no climbing points other than featureless black stone.  “How did Lenna do this last time…” Dorian mused. “I don’t see anything wrong with this place.”

“Lead the way, then.” Kevoran muttered.  “Once you are at the top let us know if there is anything we need to do.”  Dorian was really starting to hate Lavinia’s job in this place. The tunnel turned up too sharply to be climbed easily.  The walls were narrow in this spot, almost close enough for both hands to touch. Both feet could touch if extended, possibly.  Dorian wedged one of Lavinia’s no-nonsense boots against the wall, before placing his hands onto the floor and lifting the other foot to the far wall.  

As a child he had never been able to do the splits.  Lavinia apparently could. Her body did it with ease.  Like a monkey Dorian moved slowly up the tunnel, heels against the walls.  Luckily Lavinia wore tough shoes, but it felt like she could bend herself even further than the splits if needed.  Slowly but surely, Dorian forced this new body up the tight tunnel. He was still feeling that irrational fear about this outfit, and as he climbed he was sure that the others were staring at him.  

Dorian apparently was terrible at finding traps.  His hands pressed into a loose tile and each wall seemed to glow with power.  Dorian couldn’t dodge it, not while in this position. Ice formed across the walls, freezing over boots and going up to the ankles.  The walls ahead and behind filled in with a thin sheet of ice, and the burst of cold air could be felt from exposed thigh to the toes.  With feet frozen into the splits, Dorian shivered. Thankfully Lavinia’s weapons were perfect for this. The bludgeoning and spiked weapons shattered ice easily, but underneath the ice seemed to be water under pressure, which showered Dorian with freezing cold sprays.  The damn dress was now a much tighter fit, and made everything uncomfortable. He could feel something sharp poking his hip, though. The water was still raining down on him, and so he had to keep crushing the ice near his boots to keep trying to get free.

The water was being summoned, Dorian realized.  This place was going to fill up with water. He brought both flails down hard, hitting the area behind him.  Screw the boots, he could shatter the area behind him. Water bubbled from the strike, but cracks extended across the entire surface from the second strike.  A third shattered the entire wall of ice, as Tori was revealed on the other side trying to cut her way through. The water all drained out upon her, the Verusian barely moved.  Kevoran was sputtering from the water that had hit him.

“Ice prison trap.” He grunted.  “It surrounds you and then drowns you unless you have a weapon capable of shattering it.  Swords make things worse, not better.”

Dorian sputtered, feeling cold and uncomfortable.  “Right. Do they reset?”

“No, they don’t.  We should be able to climb up the ice.” Kevoran mentioned, just as the entire ice sheet turned into water, showering Dorian completely.  Every inch of his body was soaked to the bone by icy water. Kevoran had the presence of mind to look apologetic. “Perhaps we should climb while the trap has not yet reset?”

Dripping and miserable, Dorian climbed that tunnel in Lavinia’s body.  At least her pack was resistant to water, and once at the top Dorian was going to find a change of clothes.  Again the climb was painful and slick, but once at the top there was a room with an altar. Dorian threw a rope around the stone table and tossed the other end down the tunnel.  Once completed, he sighed in relief. That relief was short-lived, as something brushed near enough to his arm that he yelped and fell onto his ass. A stone flower that had been hiding near the ceiling slammed down into the space his head had just been in.  There were three of them up there, much smaller than what he had encountered on the previous journey. These creepy flowers would attach to someone’s head and curse them with hair that could never be cut, and if that hair touched the ground it would become of even greater weight.  

In the distance, Kevoran grunted and heaved as he tried to get up the rope.  He was going to be a while. Dorian decided to deal with more pressing issues.  Whatever was digging into his hip needed to be figured out. Apparently Lavinia had hidden pockets in her clothes, as Dorian pulled out a gigantic gem.  It covered most of his palm, a large blood red garnet with three blue diamonds coming off of it. “When did she get this?” It was pretty, and Dorian could feel proud of just having it.  He wasn’t here for any loot, after all. Why should he feel proud of some bauble? He was here for learning and research!

It flashed in his hand, as if insulted.  The crystal sunk into his skin, glowing during the entire process.  When the light cleared he could see no crystal and no helpful signs.  Just a hit of what looked like irritated skin on his hand. Dorian shrugged and opened Lavinia’s pack, looking for something to stop shivering.  It was a mess and completely disorganized. A couple of daggers were near the top, invisible and unsheathed. Dorian hissed as one poked his groping hand hard enough to nearly cut.  “Maybe I’ll organize it for her before we fix this.” Dorian grumbled. The clothes were the only things neatly stored in the entire pack. Everything else was a haphazard pile of water skins and a tent.  Still dripping wet, Dorian pulled out another duplicate outfit to the one he was already wearing. It was the only option, as the others were smaller and looked meant for sleeping in. How she could consider this proper adventuring gear was unknown.  His fingers were tingling, and Dorian thought it was because of the damned outfit. Instead, he noticed that they seemed red or inflamed. Looking down, the cleavage that was in view also turned red, as every inch of skin on his body shifted all at once.  

His feet arched, becoming something totally different.  Dorian rolled to his hands and knees as the energy pulsed inside of him, culminating in something ripping through the shorts.  Reaching back, he found the reason. It was a spade tail, sinuous and arching off of him. “Ah, a devilkin.” Dorian froze, as something was demanding that he take cover.  But it was just Kevoran. The wizard had reached the top of the rope, and was brushing his hands off as he looked around at the room. “An excellent form to take in this place.  Immune to fire, which may do us good.”

“You can fix this, right?”

Kevoran nodded.  “Of course, Lavinia.  In this case I can. But perhaps in this situation it would be better to keep you this way.  Any fire traps you encounter will be ineffective, and even that ice trap you encountered is less damaging.” Dorian slowly got to his feet, as the new hooves clacked onto the stone floors.  The thigh high socks felt uncomfortable now, and Kevoran finally looked below Dorian’s eyes. “Have you seen anything of note?”

“Those things.” Dorian pointed at the stone flowers.  Kevoran seemed to find them curious, while Dorian stayed down low.  “And only two exits.” Back the way they came, and forward through another tunnel.  There was a wet sound as Dorian moved forward, pointing at the next tunnel from the position of safety along the ground.  

Tori finished climbing up the rope, looking a bit tired.  She glanced at the stone flowers and the rest of the room with a dismissive sniff.  “Stay down, miss.” Kevoran muttered. “These things are quite interesting creatures.”

“Those things are alive?” Dorian asked, voice far too excitable.  

“These are a form of aberration,” Kevoran murmured, pointing towards the roof.  “They like to clamp down on the heads of those that pass under them, and try to take them over.  Curiously, these lack all of the plumage or signs that they usually inject into a victim. So perhaps they operate under different principles.  Long ago wizards used these to enforce their will upon populations. They spread and grew when the feathers and plumage would fall out, forming the root of a new creature.” Kevoran said, his curiosity obvious.  Dorian stayed low, not trusting the three stone flowers. “Show us the way, Lavinia. Unless you are feeling drained by the experience.”

Tori ducked low, also wary of the stone flowers.  Kevoran didn’t bother ducking, probably using some kind of magical ability to remain undetected.  Dorian was envious. The thigh high socks were covering his hooves, and crawling along on the floor to avoid these flowers was really quite annoying.  “I just hope this isn’t a dead end.” The wet shorts were giving everyone a fantastic view of Lavinia’s ass, he was sure.

Of course, Dorian couldn’t see a trap to save his life.  Kevoran wanted to push forward now and Lavinia’s body would just have to deal with soaking wet clothes.  Tori didn’t seem to care one way or the other about being wet, and this damn dress kept distracting him.  His hands seemed rebellious and didn’t want to do what he wanted to fix it, too. So Dorian careened right into a trap.  Tori caught his hand, pulling him out of whatever was about to happen.

A magical barrier sprang up over the tunnel, sealing around Tori and blocking the way forward.  Tori seemed unphased, and stoically raised her sword to beat the magical barrier down. “Don’t bother.” Kevoran told her.  “It’s a wall of impenetrable magic. Just wait the hour or two it will take to dispel.” The wizard seemed curious about the energy wall, and was usually right about this.  Dorian ducked around the corner and sat down, eager to change now that things were calming down. He barely had gotten the thigh high socks down to the ankles when the old wizard appeared out of nowhere.  “Ah yes, Lavinia.”

“What?!” Dorian yelled, frustrated.  “I am cold, and I want to be warm!”

Kevoran gave Dorian a hard look.  “How dare you talk back to me.” He hissed.  “After everything I’ve done?”

“Eh?” Dorian tried to make noise, but the wizard grabbed him gently by the chin.  

“Stand up, you fool.  I see that you are in need of a reminder.”  Dorian tried to talk back to the wizard, but for some reason the damn dress decided to bunch up tightly.  The earrings all banged together so loudly it was deafening. Dorian blinked, and all of the sudden he was on his tiptoes.  When did he stand up? “You are putting this entire plan at risk. I didn’t take you from those slavers for nothing!” Kevoran stared at Dorian, appraising him.  “You still resist. How quaint that it has taken you years to develop that.” Kevoran brought a pair of fingers up to Dorian’s lips, which obediently puckered. Between the banging earrings, whatever magic Kevoran was casting, and trying to balance on hooves, Dorian forgot about the threat within this room.  A stone flower clamped onto the top of his head, suctioning all hair into its maw.

Dorian tried to scream as Kevoran released them, balancing on hooves.  There was a pulsing energy in the back of his scalp, and he knew it had connected with the thick curly black hair that Lavinia was so proud of.  “Why?” Was all that he could get out, as shocks of magic passed through the body. It was trying to get him to move, to try to run away.

“The mental domination magic must be destroying your mind already, Lavinia.” Kevoran said darkly.  “Lenna was attacked by one of these very creatures, and during the process of understanding the curse I discovered the peculiarities of these creatures.  After their bite is administered, the creature encorsells its prey into focusing on a single being. This being becomes their whole life, their entire obsession.  Improved in a way that normal domination magic simply cannot compare to. It allows the mind to heal with the obsession intact, rather than continually breaking someone’s perception of reality.”  Herod, the owl familiar, didn’t seem too concerned about his master doing this. “I could have fixed it, of course. But Lenna has bonded to Dorian and Alexandra! I couldn’t replace the obsession she had gained.” He finally glanced at Dorian, surprised that he was still standing.  

“So it is rather convenient for you.  Tori hardly speaks, and we are quite separate from the others.  My plan could not proceed any more perfectly.”

“What plan!” Dorian yelled, as his scalp hurt, the magic shocking him more and more in its attempt to make him run away.  

“You daft twit.  Your job here is to distract your old friend Lenna!  She’s already jealous of your beauty, and we found a fleshcrafter to help with that!  You cost me a great deal of time and money, Lavinia. She’s so distracted trying to prove that she is better than you the ignorant wench hasn’t noticed my beguilement spell!  Her and her familiar are going to lead me to more riches than I can count, and the only thing you need to do is continue to show Lenna your attention.” He said imperiously, looking down at Dorian.  “Take off your socks, Lavinia. Now that we’re inside the dungeon it’s warm enough that you won’t die from exposure. And one more thing, Lavinia. Everyone knows you and Lenna used to be lovers,” Dorian could feel his clothes squeeze, earrings ring, and body ache.  “And you’ll do anything to be more like her.”

“More like her…” Dorian felt his mouth mumble.  

“Lenna would feel very jealous if you had hair of an equal length.  She’s already shrunk her skirt three times this trip to match your own…” Kevoran said, smiling at Dorian.  “Walk forward, Lavinia. Come over here, take your socks off, and then you can be done.”

Kevoran took a step back, and Dorian’s body seemed to follow.  Lenna had serious issues with her own cursed hair, and Dorian wasn’t going to be crippled like that.  And yet his legs walked obediently forward. Dorian couldn’t control this body. It had curses of its own on it.  But he did know how to deal with a stone flower. All he had to do was touch it and it would break. They were sensitive things, apparently.  Dorian just had to convince this body that he had to carry the thing with him. It took two tries, as the body reached back to grab the stone flower once, and missed.  It was aware of its weakness and dodged. Already Dorian could feel hair tumbling. It was on the second attempt that his fingernail slapped the flower. It shattered, breaking into a thousand pieces.  

“Gah!” Kevoran snapped, as the other two flowers tried to attack him.  “Foolish girl!”

Dorian still had to walk over to the wizard to remove his socks, which he let the body do.  Kevoran seemed to take especial pleasure in watching Dorian remove the wet items, and Dorian could feel a small mountain of hair tickling his entire back.  “Excellent work. As long as we are inside, don’t wear those. You don’t need them. Don’t forget that you belong to me…” As soon as that was over, Kevoran seemed uninterested in anything more to say.  Dorian was free to move on his own again. But he couldn’t help but stop and think. .

Kevoran was controlling Lavinia.  Kevoran was ordering Lavinia to seduce Lenna in order to beguile the others with magic.  Dorian could see the plan unfolding. They were a month away from any form of civilization, and whatever happened out here would be unknown to anyone else.  Dorian scowled, realizing what was going on. Kevoran was after his research. He knew this place had value, and if he could simply beguile them into saying whatever he wanted.  He might not even be here for Dorian’s research.

But no matter what, Kevoran had never planned to work with them.  No, over the months they had been planning this expedition Kevoran had been quietly doing this.  He was the one who convinced them to hire Lavinia instead of a local guide. The same one who argued against taking anyone else, and hotly disagreed when Alexandra brought on Tori. Dorian was stressing, eyes bugging out and hands clenching.  

Kevoran didn’t know that Dorian was the one in control now.  Lavinia wasn’t here anymore. He had just told Dorian most of his plan, though some details obviously were left out.  He worked his mind and tried to piece together more details, but nothing seemed to come other than the feeling of Lavinia’s earrings rattling around.  Dorian sat down, and immediately regret it. The hair created by the stone flower touched the floor and became as heavy as metal. Dorian let the body slump to the ground.  Kevoran knew how to break curses like these. He just needed a reason to do it. Perhaps using this they could get Lenna uncursed, if he could manipulate the situation. If Kevoran knew how, maybe Dorian could figure it out.  

“Get up, the spell is lifting.” Kevoran called.  Dorian blinked, not knowing how long it had been.  It took a lot more effort to roll to his feet than before.  Giant ringlets of steel-hard hair rattled against the skin before Dorian could finally get the mass off the ground.  Then it weighed almost nothing. Flails tapped against bare thighs and he felt damp rather than wet. They had been waiting a while.  The transformation into devilkin was almost negligible compared to the ankle length ringlets in Dorian’s mind.

Sure enough, the wall covering the hallway was breaking down at the edges, and in the middle of the mess was Tori.  She was kneeling, murmuring words of sacred importance. She spoke more with her god than she did anyone else. The moment that the magical walls fell, Tori took a single glance back at the pair of them.  She didn’t seem bothered by anything she saw. Dorian was a bit miffed by that. He looked completely different now!

“I have studied the path ahead.” She said simply.  “There is an irregular section of the ceiling ahead.”  

Both of the others looked at Dorian.  They were expecting Lavinia to know what to do.  He made a big show of sighing and coming forward to that section of the tunnel.  The ceiling was ten feet up, and lavinia’s body could reach only most of the way.  The walls were too far apart to put both legs against, so climbing was out. Dorian ended up just throwing a rock at it.  This was how he solved things, and by the Gods it was going to work this time. The ceiling barely budged from the rock, but the floor dropped out.  Dorian gave a cry as he fell, expecting to fall to a crushing pit of spikes. Instead he hit liquid. Dorian sank quietly, and extremely slowly. There was no light down here, no way to see what was happening.  Dorian flailed, feeling the thick liquid sucking him down deeper.

Dorian sucked in a deep breath, right as Kevoran’s staff lit up the area around him.  What he saw was worse than he imagined. He was not in a liquid. He was in some kind of jelly substance, and just next to him was the remains of an old helmet.  “It’s an ooze!” Dorian took the opportunity to yell, as the creature reacted to the light and sucked him in deeper.

There was a burst of bubbles as Dorian was dragged inside of the creature. Lavinia’s gloves and belt popped off like they were made of clay, bubbles exploding as the creature consumed them. Flashes of magic lit up the ooze, as death took it from above.

A single sphere of magic was dropped inside the ooze, burning it up brightly. Whatever was hitting it, it was hurting it. Unfortunately for Dorian his outfit, pack, and skin were under assault. The jelly was feeling thinner with each moment that the burning sphere sat inside of it. Ultimately, the creature died. But not before leaving Dorian with nothing at the bottom of a pit. The gelatinous remains of the ooze were in chunks all over, but after groping around Dorian found a knife and both flails. Nothing else survived the ooze except scraps of harder materials.  The mountain of hair had touched the floor again, but in this small space there was few places he could go.

“Lavinia!” Kevoran spoke loudly.  “We are pulling you up now!” Tori and the wizard were grunting hard as they tossed a rope down, and tried pulling Dorian up.  Tori seemed unconcerned about any effort involved, while Kevoran was struggling. The long hair Kevoran had been responsible for kept getting attached to walls, and Dorian couldn’t manage it all and carry Lavinia’s weapons.  “Lavinia!” Kevoran was quite surprised. “You’ve lost everything but your jewelry.”

Dorian felt happy about that, for some reason.  Like it was easier to think clearly. “The ooze melted anything not metal.” Lavinia’s large flails were able to conceal the important bits, if the weapons weren’t invisible.  “Tori,” Dorian was about to ask for a shirt when Lavinia’s body shuddered. Something tortured the words between brain and tongue. “Thanks.” That was the only word that could come out!  Kevoran’s domination effects remained whether or not Lavinia was the one in control of the body.

Kevoran seemed to grin about something.  Clever bastard. “Lavinia, I believe I still have some of your old gear.  Perhaps you might prefer that over whatever is left in this dungeon?”

Dorian was surprised that Lavinia’s body had enough sense of mind to shudder.  But anything was better than being naked. “Sure.” Tori just gave them a look and moved forward into the tunnel, before stopping at an archway.  

“This is not a tunnel.” The Paladin said simply.  Kevoran stayed focused, pulling out his dimensional storage door and reaching in to grab a few objects.  “We have found the city.”

“And it is not going anywhere.” Kevoran responded.  “Lavinia needs at least a belt before we enter that place.  Let us hope that the others have also found the city.” A bundle of cloth was placed into Dorian’s hands, as Kevoran shut his dimensional storage back down.  “I enchanted those dresses for you and I expect for those to be paid back.” Kevoran hissed into Dorian’s ear. “I kept the outfit I found you in, you know. I know you have fond memories of it.” He pressed fabric into Dorian’s hands and stepped around towards where Tori was looking through the archway.  With him went most of the light source, and Dorian had to inch along behind to even have enough light to see by.

Lavinia’s hands seemed to shake as they went through extremely familiar motions.  Apparently she knew what this was and could get dressed in the dark. It was tight and uncomfortable, whatever it was.  But Lavinia’s hands just moved through the motions, squeezing some kind of hairband into the scalp and shoving the devilkin tail through a small slit in the back of what felt like tight pants.  This outfit couldn’t be practical for a dungeon crawl, Dorian decided. It squeezed and pinched, and was riding up the ass. Lavinia’s hands pulled some sort of laces tight, and tough fibers crushed Dorian’s ribs.  It was also causing fear, worse than the dress did earlier.

Stepping back into the light, Dorian could finally see what Lavinia’s form had been forced into now.  Lavinia was dressed in one of those bunny girl outfits you only saw in Vrang slave markets! The Vrang famously dressed their high class slave girls in these outfits.  There was no straps to cover the shoulders, no sleeves, and no pant legs of any kind. Perhaps he should be thankful that he had hooves right now instead of feet, or else he might have ended up with their usual impractical footwear.  Kevoran and Tori noticed him coming, and Tori finally showed some kind of emotion for the first time this entire journey. The beautiful Paladin’s lips curled in absolute disgust. Kevoran was between them, and he smirked at Dorian. “Here.” The wizard handed him a semi-practical belt.  “Your weapons are already attached.”

Lavinia’s body was shaking so much in fear that the hairband with its signature ears drooped.  It was a monumental effort to convince those shaking hands to do up the belt, trying to see past raised cleavage to buckle it tightly at the waist.  Dorian felt a lot better once the pair of dire flails hung from his belt again. He was tempted to take the bunny ear headband off, but it might just ‘accidentally’ fall off on its own.  With his pride shamed Dorian was finally able to get to the archway ahead.

On the other side was the next layer of this massive maze.  The actual inhabited sections of what was once this place’s city and residential district.  There were shops and even more accomplished buildings deeper inside the maze. Unlike the tunnels they had been in so far, this area had luminescent stones set into the ceiling.  “The interior!” Dorian happily announced. “The crafting shops have lots of loot!” Dorian was having a bit of trouble breathing. Truly a Vrang tradition, this crushing vice. Dorian remembered that whale bones were used in the outfits of the slave girls he had once salivated over.  

“Watch out for the large guardian creatures.” Kevoran whispered, as they both looked at Dorian.  Right, they were expecting Lavinia to lead them in. His mind was strangely clear, more than it had been in the last few hours. They couldn’t see any of them around, but they stepped lightly anyways.  The walkways between the buildings were thin, and once you stepped inside the tiny curving paths you could easily lose sight of the area around you. “Wait.” Kevoran whispered words of magic, touching both Tori and Dorian.  

Whatever Kevoran saw, his instincts were good.  Large spheres with spikes on them rolled by on the street, paying them no mind.  They blended perfectly with their environment, and as they rolled by the only sound that anyone could hear was breathing.

“Your invisibility is strong to be able to best my resistance.” Tori stated to Kevoran.

“Illusions and mental work are a hobby.” He replied smoothly. The bald faced liar. “My true specialty lies in disaster avoidance.”

Tori had given her opinion, but Dorian took more from that moment. He succeeded with his spells on a Paladin, with their innate resistance to magic. Tori could be manipulated by Kevoran.  The earrings in Dorian’s ears rang loudly, making him twitch. More enchanted items, he was sure. They all crept forward, moving between two shops as Dorian tried to keep his hooves quiet.  “That looks like a chariot!” Dorian pointed, at a shop with a dwarven sigil on top of it.

“Chariots have not been used in warfare for hundreds of years,” Kevoran murmured.  “This merits some investigation. It’s too small for a horse, a goat perhaps.” He seemed to remember that he was already in a conversation with them after a moment. ”You may look for things of value, Lavinia.”  The commanding tone on Kevoran’s voice washed over Dorian, but for once he could resist it. He was still going to look for items of value, but it was because he wanted to. Not because some manipulative wizard ordered it.  Having been here before, he knew what these shops were laid out like. They had a large main floor, with production equipment or tables. An upper floor was more dedicated to living quarters, and Dorian stepped right past the chariot like it didn’t even matter.  It’s secrets could be wheeled out, of course.

The upstairs had been mostly empty before Dorian got there, but he was able to find a small pile of knick knacks and coins.  Across the street, Dorian could see a pile of corpses in the upper levels of a shop. Lavinia’s hands, out of habit, dumped all of the coinage into her overly bouncy cleavage.  Dorian twitched when that happened. But without a bag it was unlikely that anywhere else on this outfit had room for coins. Back downstairs, Kevoran was investigating the chariot, frowning at how small it seemed to be.  

“Across the street are some dead adventurers.” Dorian said, still breathing hard.  “They might have something of value.”

Kevoran nodded, sending Herod out to investigate.  His familiar was quiet in a way that a hawk never was, the wings generating almost no noise as they floated across the empty street.  The owl returned, hooting. “He says they are quite dead.” Kevoran said clearly. “You and Tori should go through their things.” He murmured words of magic, and touched Dorian’s spade tail.  It started glowing like a light, a very dim spell cast upon it. “Return safely while I document this wonder.” Dorian felt a spike of fear as Lavinia’s body was touched from behind.

Tori was scowling at how close she had to be to Dorian.  The paladin stepped into the workshop carefully, this one dedicated to a kiln and pottery.  There were no samples of it around, but the upstairs looked like a table had been used as a barricade.  There was a gap near the top, and Tori measured it with her sword. “In my armor I cannot get through that gap.  You may fit.”

Lavinia’s body could bend, Dorian remembered.  But as he climbed the tight outfit became a liability, squeezing too hard to breathe fully.  Then the hair touched the floor, the ringlets becoming too heavy to lift. Dorian was stuck, read end and legs in the stairwell and everything else inside the room with the dead adventurers.  “Push me.” Dorian whispered.

Tori seemed to do that with Gusto, kicking Dorian up into the room.  Instead of complaining, he handed down some of the bags. These adventurers had gathered a lot of heavy gear, and Dorian happily grabbed a bag and loaded it with coinage and some metal plates with dwarven writing on them.  Tori was digging through the bags handed down, finding a lacquered chest. “You know how to pick locks?” She asked, as Dorian made it back down the stairs.

Lavinia had loudly proclaimed that she did, but in this case Dorian had to lie.  Coming up to the box, he couldn’t see any way to open it. There was a square shaped peg lock, and it didn’t look like anything he had ever seen.  “Not this one.” Tori nodded and raised her sword. Dorian backed away, as the weapon came down and shattered the wood into pieces. The inside of the box looked like it was holding bolts of silk.  Hard to find, and in perfect condition for something so old. “That is nice.” Tori admitted, seeing the prize. Then her fingers brushed it.

It came alive, darting around them as Tori tried to slash it.  Dorian just dove out of the way, as the tiny threads of silk split and reformed instantly.  The bolts of fabric dove around Tori, circling in closer and closer. Small bursts of thread wove together and then slipped inside the gaps of Tori’s armor, until it all ended when the empty bolts hit the ground. There was no silk to be seen.  Tori was breathing through her nose, looking around the room for threats. “Where did it go?” Dorian asked. The full-plate armor was entirely concealing.

Tori didn’t bother answering.  Instead she reached down to grab the empty silk bolts.  Dorian swore he could hear her squeak. When she stood back up the stern woman was actually blushing.  “We should go.” She said, not as confident. Dorian went first, and Tori followed much more gingerly. They left the building, and returned to Kevoran.  The old man was tinkering with the chariot still, pushing it into his dimensional space.

Tori was quiet and red faced upon their return, while Dorian was just catching his breath.  “Herod saw something from the rooftop.” The wizard stated. “A red lamp burning in a window.”

“That could be our friends.” Dorian spoke up.  “How far?”

“Up a nearby street and into an alleyway.  There is a large creature in between here and there.  It has four legs, and stands roughly thirty feet tall.  It may or may not be one of the golems that defends this place.”  

“We should distract it.” Dorian stated, trying to sound confident.  “They follow movement.”

“You presume to know more than I about things of this nature?” Kevoran said with disdain.  “We do not need to distract them. For a golem, you simply understand what it is that they are limited to doing.  They can only follow a single command at a time, and I am certain we can discover how to overcome it.”

“What if it was told to kill everything that moved?” Dorian asked, being snarky.  

“It is not likely.” Kevoran talked over Dorian.  “But I believe they are sensitive to noise.” He murmured his words of magic, before handing Dorian a stone.  “Throw this and it will should to investigate. Then meet up with us as we run for that light.” He gently placed a coin in Dorian’s slim hand.  “Run fast.” In this outfit? Unlikely, as Kevoran would say.

Dorian didn’t recognize this area, but with the light of the luminescent ceiling he could at least see around him.  Kevoran was stepping along the most direct path towards the light, or so it seemed. Dorian moved towards the widest paths, finding a wide enough street that a few horses could ride alongside each other.  At the very top of it was one of the four legged spiders that defended this area. Thirty feet tall, with four legs and gigantic pincers, they were tough. Hard to destroy or break. But Dorian knew how fast they could be.  

Kevoran didn’t know how fast they were.  With a gasping breath, Dorian let out a short scream.  Like clockwork, the giant spider turned. He wished the little coin good luck, and rolled with down the street.  It let off screeching noises immediately. Like a bloodhound, the spider machine shot down the street fast. Dorian by that time was in the alleys, running between shops and staying out of sight.  This damn outfit wasn’t letting Dorian run at full speed! He had to stop the entire jiggling process at the bottom of the hill leading to the upper city. Buildings all around, and Dorian could barely gasp for breath.  

The damn outfit was too tight!  He commanded Lavinia’s hands to go down there and fix it, loosen it up.  Instead the hands lovingly tucked the outfit back into place. Dorian could have screamed in frustration from it all.  The spade tail was twitching as he stood at the base of the hill, unable to run more than a couple hundred feet. No wonder the Vrang never had to worry about their high class escorts escaping.  Lavinia’s hands trailed down the outfit, making it ride deeper between the cheeks of her ass. Damn his mind for finding that exciting.

Down below, he could see the creature was still looking for the coin that Kevoran had enchanted to make noise.  The man himself and Tori came out from another alleyway, running at best speed. Kevoran glanced once at Dorian, before whispering a word of magic and throwing it at him.  “Run, Lavinia!” The magic must have been something helpful, because Dorian could feel his feet able to carry him further. All three of them ran like their lives depended on it, while Herod the owl kept pace in flight.  Dorian was moving faster, but could still barely breathe. The old faded sign hung from the building as if it was just as intact as the last time he had seen it. His last journey through this ancient place had found a few locations of relative safety.  The Dwarves had to have some living spaces amongst their teaming death traps, after all.

One of the locations they found was an inn, with a faded sign on it that you could recognize even through the language barrier.  A foaming cup was something that everyone could be happy to see. Gasping, Dorian threw open the door and collapsed inside, cleavage heaving as the other two piled in behind and slammed the door.  

“About time you all saw the light.” Lenna said loudly at the bar.  “Alexandra! Put it out, they see it!” Dorian tried to stand, but he couldn’t get the strength yet.  He glared at the heavy ringlets of hair that stubbornly had bonded to the floor. Everyone else had settled down by the time Dorian could gather all of the giant mountain of hair and stand up.  Kevoran was settling into a chair, his staff standing on its own and glowing brightly enough to light up the entire inn. Tori was still standing, breathing just as hard as Dorian. She was even sweating, her hair sticking to her face.  

She had approached the bar, and had both of her hands braced against it. Dorian watched with interest as her body seemed to react as she tried to sit, her thighs clamping together loudly as she made a quiet whimper.  Slowly but surely she was able to sit, but he had never seen Tori so expressive. It must be whatever the silk had done to her. Whispered words to her deity were all that Dorian was able to catch.

“We are quite safe here.” Alexandra assured everyone, carrying her lamp.  She was coming down the stairs, holding the still unmoving hawk. Dorian was pretty concerned now.  It had been hours since they had last seen each other, and Dorian’s hawk-body was still unconscious. Dorian took a step forward, but Alexandra took one look at him and gently turned towards the bar.  “We have prepared a warm bath for everyone. The bathing chamber is the last door on the right upstairs.”

Kevoran seemed to be measuring something before deciding that he was done with all of this.  “I shall be within my quarters. When you are all quite done and prepared to continue you may tell Herod.”  He placed his enchanted door knob on the wall, and opened the wall like it was just another door in this place.  He retreated to his dimensional space, away from everyone and Dorian could feel the pressure on his earrings lessen.  He took a sigh of relief, the mole on Lavinia’s right breast peeking out happily as it was raised up.

Dorian let out a squeal as the almost halfway-bare right asscheek was grabbed.  Just behind him was Lenna, who was looking unhappy for some reason. “Lavinia, you’re going to pop out of that.”  Her hand retracted back, keeping its grip and marching Dorian back towards the stairs. “What happened to your dress?”

Dorian couldn’t convince Lavinia’s body to let go!  Or even fight back at all, really. He and Lenna had been lovers, and Kevoran had reinforced that belief somehow.  Which meant everyone watched as Lenna was leading Lavinia along like a Vrang slave girl to market. Dorian’s cloven hooves obediently went up the stairs backwards after Lenna.  The short woman held Lavinia’s asscheek tightly the entire way, and Dorian couldn’t even make the body resist. A tighter pinch came, making Dorian squeal again. “Why are you wearing that, Lavinia?” Lenna hissed.  

“I can explain…” Dorian tried to say, as Lenna let go of what promised to be a bruise.  “The dress was eaten by an ooze!” Lenna looked annoyed and pressed Lavinia into a wall. Dorian, currently inhabiting the body, watched as she held up one of the giant ringlets of hair.  After being pressed into the wall Dorian’s tongue locked up and would tell nothing more. Kevoran’s commands must be stopping it!

“Why are you dressed like a Vrang bunny girl?” Lenna glared at the blatant cleavage that was almost completely on display.  “Did you let a stone flower get you?” She fingered one of the giant black haired ringlets. He could feel the bunny ears atop his head wobble.  He tried to go still, but this just made the giant pair of boobs jiggle in Lenna’s face, making her frown.

“I wanted it…” Dorian’s tongue smoothly lied.  “All of it.” Damn traitorous tongue! There had to be something he could say that could get around this!  “Could you help with it? I haven't had long hair for a while.” Yes! He could ask for help from Lenna. Kevoran had ordered Dorian to distract her while he beguiled the rest of the group.  Of course that line of thought ended with a surprised hiss as Lenna grabbed the tightly tied outfit and started walking down the hallway.

“Fine, fine.  I’ll help you, since you can’t get rid of it.  Though you need a bath, too.” Dorian grinned. Kevoran had been controlling Lavinia with the dress that had been destroyed by that ooze.  It stood to reason that this outfit was the same way. His line of thought shook as the bunny ears slipped off. They crumpled to the floor, and Dorian could feel an odd calm wash over him, like nothing really mattered except for distracting Lenna.  Wait! No! Dorian heaved a monumental amount of effort to keep his focus, having to bend at the knees to reach down and grab the hairband with its accompanying ears.

Lenna of course led them to the baths.  “Could you silence the room?” Herod the Owl might still be able to hear them.  And it was still okay to ask for that while following Kevoran’s orders. Lenna shrugged and silenced the room, while Dorian’s mind seemed to lock even further onto its mentally dominated task.  It was getting worse every moment those ears were not on his head, and Dorian acted accordingly. He slammed the obnoxious slave hairband back into place on top of Lavinia’s head, and clarity immediately returned.  “Lenna, I’m going to tell you a secret. One that you have to promise not to share.”

“Alright.  Pinky promise.”  With a shake of the pinkies the promise was assured.  

“Remember the room with the three tables?  When I,” Damn tongue was having trouble with stating who he was.  “Accidentally started the magic?”

“Yes.” Lenna said darkly, looking unhappy.  That was her face that she made when she was expecting bad news.  “I remember.”

“That magic was not a damaging spell.”  Dorian found that his tongue was allowed free reign in explaining magic.  Unfortunately with the bath in the room his hands were already undoing the laces to this outfit.  He had to talk fast or he would be naked and who knew what Kevoran’s commands would order! “It was a spell to transfer one soul to another body!  It needed most of a full body of bones to fuel it,” Dorian gasped as the vice grip around his waist was released. “And the magic switched the souls of two places!” Dorian finished barely in time before his devilkin body slipped into the bath.  His tongue no longer was interested in explaining anything. Nor could he raise his head, as the long ringlets touched the floor outside the bath and pinned his head to the cast iron edge of the bath.

Lenna was quiet for a long moment as Dorian tried to find a way around what Kevoran had ordered.  Thankfully the command was to distract, not to take exact action. “Say for a moment that I believe you…” Lenna said.  She picked up the long ringlets, freeing Dorian’s head. “And that you are Dorian and my hawk familiar and best friend is now Lavinia.”

“I am Lavinia!” Traitorous tongue.  Dorian growled, but it came out as a whine.  “I remember when you got boobs.”

Lenna looked a bit red in the face.  “Explain that one.”

“Lenna, sit.” He ordered, and Lenna made a very angry noise as her small rounded ass slammed into the floor.  She was still cursed to follow his orders to the letter! She placed a hand in front of herself, her legs splayed and unable to hide what her short skirt was displaying.  “You may fix my hair now, and stop sitting.” Dorian said after a moment. She stood up, reaching for the bunny ears. Dorian panicked for a moment. “Wait, I don’t want those to leave my head!  Tie it into my hair!”

Looking like a Vrang slave girl was worth mental stability.  Lenna quietly wound the ringlets into a manageable pile on top of his head.  No more getting pinned to the floor! Dorian laughed happily once that was complete.  “So, you might be Dorian.”

“Yes!” He said around the mental domination.  

“But you also said you’re Lavinia.”

“Yes.” His tongue admitted before he could say anything else.  Trying to counter it froze the words on his lips.

“So who is it?  Who are you!”

“Your best friend.” Dorian said carefully.  “The one who helped you use lightning.”

“Okay, so you’re Dorian.  Lavinia knows shite all about magic.” Lenna said, as she was still messing with the long black hair.  The bunny ears were deeply rooted behind threaded hair, and there was no way they were going to come off now.  “So how come you can’t actually say that?”

Dorian was about to open his mouth to explain, but the earrings banged together so loud that it was deafening again.  He closed his eyes, but they still rattled together so loudly that he couldn’t think straight. Shaking his head side to side made things worse and not better!  It was in the middle of this that Dorian felt hands on his ears, and the world stopped ringing as if a great weight was lifted. When he was able to look up, it was to Lenna, who was sliding one of the sets of giant hoop earrings into her own ears.  “Why are you doing that?”

“Because you told me to.” Lenna said simply.  She attached both large hoops, and shook her head side to side as if annoyed.  “These… are enchanted.”

Dorian stood up from the bath, too late to stop her.  Instead his traitorous hands picked up the fallen set of earrings that Lenna had taken out and slipped them into the empty holes in Lavinia’s ears.  “They’re beautiful.” They were gaudy! Cursed! “Keep them for me.” Lavinia’s mouth moved for him, acting upon some unseen commands. There was a long moment where Lenna stared at Lavinia’s naked form and Dorian felt progressively more and more uncomfortable.  Lavinia’s body refused to get back into the tub, though.

“Fine.” Lenna admitted, the giant hoops decorating her elven style of ears.  “So you ran into a stone flower and look like a Vrang bunny girl.”

“I wanted it.” Lavinia said for him.  “Do you like it?”

“I think it’s nice,” Lenna said diplomatically.  “But do you really want to run around here half naked?”  Lenna grabbed a towel and threw it to Dorian. At least that wasn’t against the rules to use.  

“Y-yes.” Dorian did his level best to interrupt that, but all it did was make Lavinia cutely stutter!  “You can’t tell anyone! It’s just for you!” Talking around this manipulation was so damned hard. “Don’t tell Alexandra.  Or Tori.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m cursed.” He just couldn’t say with what. “Alexandra wouldn’t approve.”

“She and Tori don’t approve of Vrang slave girls.  Some of the women brought into the arena were from Vrang, and they got to know them pretty well.  Don’t tell her I told you this, or else!” Lenna shook a cutely small fist at him. “But those girls, if they didn’t win in the arena they would be laced into those outfits and given the slave collars.  They would just be whores. So the dirty look that Alexandra gave you? That was because she doesn’t like the outfit, the ears, or the symbols.”

Dorian cursed in his mind.  Alexandra was going to hate that these bunny ears were keeping him stable.  “So what do I do?”

“Well,” Lenna looked serious.  “Judging by the scars, Lavinia’s been a slave before.” A chill ran down Dorian’s spine.  Lavinia’s. Lenna was running her fingers over the lower back, and the feeling of deep scar tissue resided there.  Lavinia had been so eager to show off her ass and cleavage this entire trip, but she certainly kept her back covered.  Lenna ran a finger tracing one, from almost the shoulder blade down to the opposite hip. “All of my clothes would show these.”

Lavinia’s fear finally made sense.  She had her fear spike if someone was behind her.  Anyone behind her. It wasn’t just Kevoran, her heart was hammering with Lenna behind her.  “I have to hide them…”

“Then I guess you’ll be my cute little bunny.  I won’t say Vrang, and I’ll just claim that you can get away with it.”  Lenna said, as her words rocked through Dorian’s mind. “I’ll pinch you any time I feel like it!”

“Yes, do that!” Dorian let slip.  “Alexandra will think it’s just us being friends.”  Dorian froze, as the fabric of the outfit was already at Lavinia’s thighs.  The hands went against every warning going through his mind, as it was done up just as tightly as before.  Lavinia was again dressed like a Vrang slave, with the vice grip of what had to be whale bones crushing the waist.  Lenna jokingly made sure that the devilkin tail was pulled tightly through the slot on the back, and Dorian could feel most of Lavinia’s ass hanging out.  “How am I going to sleep in this?”

Lenna pinched Dorian, making him twitch.  Frustratingly Kevoran’s commands forced Lavinia’s body to stay obediently still as Lenna acted.  Only when the short Sylph let go of the exposed asscheek could Dorian freely move again. Hair and body clean, there was little reason to remain in here, and Lenna dared to squeeze Lavinia’s exposed boob to test how willing Dorian was.  Frustratingly Lavinia’s body stood still, her legs spread apart and arms behind. Lenna scowled at the large boob in her hand before letting go, Dorian throwing arms akimbo to cover and protect the largely exposed skin. He couldn’t even complain about it!  “Thank you, Lenna.” Dorian slapped a hand over his mouth.

Lenna cackled.  “Oh, you’ll be a treat!  You are so much more fun to date when you have something to squeeze!”  She did it again just for fun and then walked out the door. Dorian had to follow, as she was taking the only source of light with her.  So like a jiggling sycophant Dorian had to follow after her. Taking the stairs felt like a humiliation, as Lavinia’s boobs jiggled shamelessly with every step.  Lenna got to the bottom of the stairs and looked up with a smirk. Alexandra and Tori were sitting at the bar where Tori had first sat down. Their armor was off and they were both fiddling with something at Tori’s shoulder.  

Tori, when out of her armor, wore drab and utilitarian clothes.  Her pants and shirt looked like they were years old. The woolen material had been patched and repaired a few times, and Dorian knew she had enough money to afford new clothes, but the woman was easily the most frugal he had known.  He could see her not replacing anything unless absolutely necessary. Alexandra, on the other hand, was wearing something flashy. The last time she came into this place, she got a curse that made her part Fey. It included a gigantic pair of fairy wings that didn’t even work.  Since that point she had gotten used to backless halter tops.

Her flawless skin glowed in the light, Alexandria’s entire back looking beautiful.  Dorian took a moment to appreciate that. Of course, that was when both Alexandria and Tori noticed Lavinia coming down the stairs.  They both frowned, Tori moving her shirt back over her shoulder. Dorian thought he could see some kind of complicated lace under there.  That silk from earlier that had slipped into her armor must have done something. Dorian finally made it to the floor, exposed skin jiggling pleasantly.  Alexandra had just as much skin showing, but she too was frowning. Dorian tried to walk carefully over to the bar, but hissed as soon as Lavinia’s exposed asscheeks touched the cold seat.  The pinch that followed brought out a squeal as Lenna abused her position. “Alright my cute little cursed bunny! You’re sharing a bedroll with me tonight!”

They all decided to stay in the main room of the inn.  Tori went upstairs to use the bath with the lamp, and Dorian tried not to look when she made noise every time she took a step.  Alexandra avoided looking in Dorian’s general direction, and he hated that. That was his girlfriend, and she spent all night cuddling a hawk that was not waking up.  Dorian felt cold and unloved. Lenna held him, but it was not a good feeling. Not at all. Tori slept within a few feet, fidgeting. Alexandra slept in a chair cuddling the hawk.  Dorian passed out, his waist cinched and the only source of warmth being an ex girlfriend.

When he woke up, gasping for breath, it was because one of the bones in the damned outfit pinched too tightly.  Lenna’s hand was on Dorian’s exposed hip, and the blankets had fallen back onto her. Dorian’s form was exposed, and he shivered.  Lenna was always a blanket hog. He rubbed his bare arms and stood up, wishing that he could have gone back to the dress Lavinia had been wearing earlier.  Putting on a cloak made Lavinia’s hands shake, and only while body temperature was being restored could the body be willing to hide its shame. Then that cloak came off like it was some kind of poison.  

Tori was the first to wake up, stretching from her chair and standing up.  Her clothes looked shredded. Like something had been eating them, making Dorian check around for any kind of creatures.  Nothing could be seen. But Tori certainly provided a nice view when she stood up! Her shirt had been eaten away to the navel, and her pants had so many holes that they looked like a pair of pant legs with thin strips connecting to a waistband.  Complicated silk ropes in thousands of strands were revealed underneath, moving with her form as she stretched. Tori must have felt the breeze running across her pelvis, and she froze.

“A bit cold, isn’t it.” Dorian couldn’t help but say.  This bunny outfit left both hips bare and most of the ass.  Tori’s was even more fantastic than anyone else’s to look at, which was a bonus.  Lavinia had better boobs, showcased very well like this.

Tori gave Dorian a glare.  “Your sense of modesty makes decent women appear untrustworthy.”  She whispered

“If you haven’t noticed it’s just women here.” Dorian dared whisper back.  Tori seemed to relax at that, glancing at Alexandra and the hawk sleeping in her arms.  “Kevoran and Dorian are asleep or gone.”

“But his owl is still here.” Tori pointed out.  “He can see through it.”

Dorian knew that Kevoran wouldn’t let Lavinia act against him, but he had to test it.  “Let me show you something about birds.” Dorian couldn’t wear the cloak anymore due to Kevoran’s demands, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t use it.  Herod hooted with great annoyance as the cloak was thrown over him. “Sorry Herod, you’re not supposed to look at Tori.” Dorian whispered into the cloak, as the bird stilled and slept.  Being a bird meant that you could fall asleep at the drop of a hat. They could fall asleep anytime their heads were completely covered. Even a familiar suffered from that problem, to Lenna’s enjoyment.  More importantly, Dorian wasn’t stopped at all from interacting to stop Herod from being able to see.

Of course, that meant that Tori had to stare at Lavinia’s back during this entire process.  The fear came back, and Dorian had to resist the urge to reach back with his hands to cover the exposed skin of Lavinia’s ass.  Tori was frowning when he turned back to her, nonetheless. “Thank you, I guess.” She murmured, before taking off the remains of her shirt and pants.  Dorian simply had to stare at what was revealed. Thousands of strands of silk ran across Tori’s body, each one tightly wrapping around her. Her skin was being pressed by thousands of lines, and it looked like the most complicated lacey lingerie Dorian could ever dream of.  Running along the abs were multiple layers of tight braids, holding her tightly. Around her biceps were some thick rings of fiber, and with every motion dozens of the silk strands would be pulled taut.

“Wow.” Dorian gasped.  

“Be quiet.” Tori demanded hotly, as she drew out a new utilitarian shirt.  “I will be setting it on fire once Lenna feels capable.” Dorian could see her strain to bend over to reach her bag, sucking in air in order to grab her pants.  The complicated layers over her abs were preventing her from moving in such a way.

“Let me help.” Dorian offered.  “It looks like you aren’t used to being squeezed.”

“I suppose.” Tori assented, letting Dorian come and assist her.  Dorian honestly wanted to help her out, but seeing the hundreds of strands of silk straining as she lifted her leg a few inches was pleasant enough.  He ended up helping her with her set of full plate, and didn’t make a single disparaging comment as he helped. An attempt to cut any of the silk was pointless.  It would let the knife or blade through, and the moment it could reform it would. The thousands of strands meant that it would take a village of women’s hands to hold back it all.  

Dorian was very interested in the magic that made that silk work.  He wanted a sample of it, but that could put himself at even more risk.  Perhaps some of the trapped or cursed material would remain when they got out of here.  Now that he had hands again, Dorian would love to break it down and study it for all it was worth!  

By the time that everyone else had woken up, Tori was fully armed and armored.  Her silken wraps were hidden, and she had at least stopped glaring at Dorian. Alexandra still did, and that stung.  He was trying to keep her alive, damn it! The only reward Alexandra gave him was a glare at all of the skin Lavinia’s body was showing.  

It was a tense breakfast, as they ate some rations.  Even though there was a firepit no one dared to use it.  The logs in it looked ancient and bone dry. To avoid Alexandra’s continued glare Dorian went over and fiddled with the iron grate in that floor.  It was loose, and not overly filled with dust. Dorian could hear Kevoran returning from his dimensional space. His hyper focus went on the fireplace, not wanting to hear anything that might trigger something within Lavinia.  The thought alone made Dorian want to stamp his feet. Hooves. Whatever. It was just so nice to have real limbs again that hooves instead of feet were a tiny cost to his comfort. Idly, he kicked the iron frame of the fireplace, just because he could.  

The entire fireplace rotated, taking his hoof with it.  Dorian squealed in a way he would never call masculine as the fireplace rotated open into a secret chamber.  The dust in it was thick, and Dorian could see bones in the chamber. “Undead!” Dorian yelled loudly, extricating his foot and hopping back towards the bar with a jiggle.  

That got the attention of everyone, and there was a mad rush as they all piled along the bar for cover.  Everyone feared arrows in this place, as they were invisible. But nothing came from the small room. There was no crunch of bone or signs of danger.  Of course Dorian had to be the one to make sure of that. So everyone got to watch Lavinia’s pretty backside check the chamber for traps. Dorian finally saw a trap before it got him.  Of course, the obvious lever in the middle of the room had to be trapped.

Three skeletons in rags with some coinage were in the chamber with the lever.  One of the skeletons had some kind of jewelry that sparkled. Lavinia’s hands pocketed it almost without thought.  Only the feeling of jewelry dropping into cleavage did he notice. He did trip over an invisible hammer that one of them had, but other than that the room was clear.  “What did you find?” Dorian could feel Lavinia’s body freeze as Lenna placed a hand on the exposed skin of the shoulder.

“A lever.” He answered truthfully.  “Three bodies.”

“This is a trap.” Lenna stated.  “The lever probably killed the people in here.  But there is a trapdoor over here.” Lenna’s hands moved across the trapdoor, checking for traps or trouble.  When she declared it safe, she gently opened it. The metal and wooden mechanism opened with a groan, the sound carrying throughout the inn.  “Bring the torch!”

There was a ladder leading down, and everyone gave a look down the shaft.  Lenna seemed to be able to see the bottom, though. She tossed a bone down the shaft, but there was no movement or sounds of anything like an ooze.  They all went down the ladder, Lenna first. The room below was a wide cavern, with walls that were not made from that black iron found upstairs. Signs of digging were here, and Lenna stubbed her toe on a fallen pickaxe.  While she was hissing about that, Alexandra and Tori came down. Only one area had been completed, a small wall alcove where someone had been chained up. Judging by the creature, it was a slave or half-orc of some kind. It had a black iron circlet around its neck, and rags besides that.  

Dorian noticed that the circlet seemed to jiggle, and start moving.  He followed the instincts this body had and hit the floor, jiggling. The circlet shot forward, going through the space that Lavinia’s neck had just been occupying.  Dorian looked back in time to see the circlet adjust its course and hit Alexandra from behind. In doing so it turned invisible, knocking the redhead off of her feet.  Dorian flinched as he watched his girlfriend fall over clutching her throat. As soon as her feet left the floor, electric shocks rolling over her. She wasn’t wearing metal armor, so it just impacted the spear in her hand.  The moment one of her feet touched the ground again, the shocks stopped. Dorian leapt forward, holding her foot to the floor as Alexandra flinched.

“It’s invisible.” Kevoran spoke loudly.  “Once we get out of here I will be able to see it fully.  But while it is unseen I cannot tell what kind of item it is.”  

“It looks like it’s meant to curse someone if they jump.  She only got shocked when her feet left the floor.” Dorian pointed out.  “So just keep your feet down.” Alexandra nodded, looking down at the glaring cleavage keeping her foot from leaving the ground.  Or maybe she was looking at the jewelry being stored there. Dorian let go, and stood up. She and Tori both helped Alexandra stand back up.  There was no shocks, but Alexandra was rubbing her throat.

“At least I can still speak.” She murmured.  Dorian went back to the skeleton this circlet came from, with its blackened bones.  The unfortunate person must have died once their feed were taken off the ground. Dorian kicked the stand that held them hostage over, finding it dark and not worth investigating how it worked.  “If I remember correctly, the walls to the middle of the city are this way.” Alexandra pointed, trying to stay focused.

“Wait.” Tori spoke up, her hips swaying carefully.  “That tunnel has a holy symbol on it.”

“This place has fallen and become a grave.  Whatever deity they worshipped, it didn’t help them back then.” Lenna piped up.  

Tori frowned.  “Its Gayalia. But her symbol is upside down.”  Dorian knew only what they talked about in the pubs when it came to Gods.  Of course, since he mostly came to the pubs to look at the pretty girls he didn’t remember much about them.  He knew the names, but not the details. Dorian glanced up, just realizing that he had been staring at Lavinia’s perky pair of boobs instead of whatever Tori said.  The Paladin had stopped talking, and everyone else was nodding. They were being careful, and weren’t holding their weapons.

The old shrine was covered in cobwebs and dust, and didn’t look quite finished.  There was a statue of a goddess in the middle of the room, but her head was missing.  The missing stone was gone, not in sight. “It was said that in the old days the statues were made with ivory masks, to bless the goddess and accept divine tribute.” Kevoran muttered, also looking for the head.  Dorian could feel people staring at him as he walked forward, coming to the base of the statue. “Lavinia! Look out!” Kevoran yelled.

A shimmer in the air seemed to form behind him, as he looked back and twisted.  It was an angel. Wings, halo, cleavage, and angry burning stare. “Defilers! Thieves!”  The Angel roared, reaching to grab something at the base of the statue. It was a weapon, and it was holding it in both hands.  Being invisible, Dorian had no idea what it was. Only that it was as tall as Lavinia.

“Wait, we’re…” Dorian could see the Angel react.  It was with a sinking feeling of dread that he realized that Lavinia’s body was currently a devilkin.  Angels had no tolerance for the hells, and they saw anything devilish as unworthy. He twisted again, bringing up his flails to try to black the gigantic weapon.  The angel was faster than Dorian could ever be, getting behind him and winding up for a gigantic swing. He was going to be cut in half! Dorian sucked in breath, making the cleavage stand up higher as he tried to get out of reach of the creature.  But it was too late.

Instead of being bisected, Dorian was spanked.  The Angel was wielding a paddle, and in the hands of a holy creature it burned.  Dorian screeched at the top of his lungs as the paddle came down three times, striking hard enough to slam Lavinia’s form and bend them over the shrine.  The cursed hair touched the shrine’s base, pinning Dorian in place as the Angel spanked three more times for good measure. All that Dorian knew was pain.  The bunny outfit covered nothing, and Dorian screamed as his body went completely limp. Thankfully that gave him a perfect view of the fight as the others realized what the angel was using.  

Kevoran was the second to feel the Angel’s rage.  He went down easier than Dorian did, smacked so hard that he rolled into a corner and whimpered for Herod.  Alexandra and Tori moved forward as a pair, weapons raised and giving battle cries. Lenna had dove for cover behind the whimpering mage and activated her magic knife, sending it to attack for her.  Tori caught the paddle with her weapon, blocking the angel. Alexandra came in from the side, her trident cutting into the angel from the side. It wasn’t a crippling blow but it was bleeding.

The angel brought its wing around, the feathers harder than steel as it tripped Tori.  Alexandra traded blows with it, catching the invisible weapon with the tines of her trident.  She had been a champion of the combat arenas, and it showed. The angel looked frustrated as it fought her.  She was catching every strike, even as fast as the angel was. “Burn, defiler!” The angel yelled, casting a bright burning light spell.  Alexandra flinched, and that was enough. The paddle came down on her ass, and she got ten strikes. The angel counted. Alexandra slumped to the floor, her body limp.  

Tori had stood back up by then, coolly standing between the angel and Lenna.  The magic knife wasn’t doing anything of value, and the Angel batted it away without much effort.  “You serve Johnrydia.” The angel said slowly. “I shall make you beg!” With that, Tori fought the angel, and did so excellently.  She glowed with her own magic power, blocking the large sweeping strikes of the paddle. The angel seemed to notice Tori straining around the silk wrappings, and made its next strike from above.  Tori brought her arms up to block, but everyone saw her falter when the silk under her armor pulled taut.

Tori’s sword fell, and the Paladin was subjected to more strikes than anyone else.  To give the woman credit, as soon as the angel turned on Lenna Tori stabbed them in the leg with a backup knife.  The angel angrily slammed Tori so hard the floor shook, and with a shuddering breath turned to Lenna, the last member of the party still standing.  The angel had one arm covering the wound on its side. Lenna had not simply waited as her friends were beaten down. She had focused, and charged up one of her best spells.  The angel tried to dodge, but this was Lenna’s fastest. The lightning bolt went through the angel’s chest and hit the ruined statue behind, scorching it. The winged creature fell to one knee, disappearing back to her realm.  The weapon was left behind, and the fire in Dorian’s ass continued to burn.

Lenna seemed to collapse after her spell, but got up right away.  No one else did. Apparently anyone hit by the weapon would become paralyzed, and couldn’t talk.  “Damn that’s a nasty weapon!” Lenna called. “It looks like all of you are still hurting. I better break this…” Kevoran groaned loudly, and Herod hopped up to translate.  

“The good master wizard suggests we save this object.  Destroying it might make the effect permanent. We do not want to insult a living goddess, after all.” Herod hooted.  “The effect should pass over time.” It took hours, and Dorian could feel every inch of Lavinia’s exposed skin aflame as their bodies slowly recovered.  Tori was the last to recover, having taken more hits than anyone else. Lenna spend a long time caring for her, while Herod maintained watch. Seeing that little bird twisting its neck around was the only entertainment that Dorian had while waiting, and he was glad when Lavinia’s body was no longer paralyzed.  

That wasn’t even the final injustice.  His legs were asleep, and when he tried to stand everyone got a great look at Lavinia falling all over herself.  Lenna of course found it hilarious. “Alright,” Lenna said loudly enough for everyone. “Most of what you are feeling is just a magic effect.  It’s making any attack against you more effective if it hits where you got paddled.” She of course decided to demonstrate with Dorian, flicking some exposed skin.  Dorian hissed, the pain of it rippling through his body. “I can heal up the damage from earlier, but it’ll still be sensitive. But that’s not the worst of it all.”  Lenna pointed to where the tunnels branched off from the shrine. One of them went to a pit, where an old stone platform extended out over the abyss. On the far side of the abyss was another shrine statue, but this one looked ancient.  A sixty foot stone snake wrapped around the entire thing, with gems for eyes.

“The runes are too damaged to show who this was.” Kevoran was using his staff to help walk.  “But a dwarf worshipping a snake deity, or perhaps just a world spirit, it’s unlikely. Only druids worshipped that kind of creature.”

“And the drop into the abyss?” Lenna asked quietly.

“Let’s not risk it.” Kevoran responded.  “The area here looks unfinished. Or perhaps collapsed.  What about the other tunnel?”

“It’s partway collapsed.  We would have to crawl through it.” With shaky legs, everyone made it over to the only other exit from this place.  “Hopefully this goes under the walls.” Alexandra murmured softly. It was decided that Tori would take the giant angelic weapon, as no one else had the brute strength to use it.  Not that she was going to, with her skill with greatswords. Tori was already hissing in pain while walking. Dorian waited with her for a moment while the others considered who would go first.  

“Let me take your bag through this.” Dorian tried to ask nicely.  Lavinia’s tongue made it seem nice enough, at least. Tori flinched as she had to bend over.  That silk must really be bothering her. Lenna noticed that Dorian was helping Tori, and led the way.  Kevoran followed after her, while Alexandra held Dorian’s hawk form. Tori took her time getting through, her thighs shaking through the full plate every time she had to flex her arms.  Dorian kept behind her, carrying both of their packs. He could hear the rest of the group arrive beyond the point where you had to crawl, and were screaming. There weren’t any sounds of battle or weapons hitting anything, but they were screaming.  Dorian had a hard time seeing past Tori, who was moving ever so carefully forward.

By the time they had both arrived, it was over.  Lenna was surrounded by burning ash fluttering through the air, while Kevoran was covered in thousands of tiny feathers.  They formed a cocoon about him, wrapping him from head to toe. He was writhing on the floor. Dorian could see Lenna getting ready to turn her low powered flame spell towards Kevoran.  The room they were in had thousands of tiny alcoves all over the room, and the skeletons of birds in every single one. Dorian could see on the far side of the room a single exit. He quickly helped Tori to her feet, and pointed at all the skeletons.  “Hurry, Lenna!”

Dorian could swear that the heads of those skeletons were moving.  Lenna turned her flames upon the wrapped cocoon, the feathers somehow bonding together and resisting the flames.  Dorian hefted weapons, as each of the skeletons seemed ready to dive down upon them. Alexandra, too, was looking up.  Lenna mumbles her words of power again, as one spell didn’t seem to be enough to break the feather cocoon. Tori hefted her weapon high, squeaking as the silk must have pulled on every part of her body.  A holy light emanated forth, covering every inch of the room. All of the skeletons retreated into their holes, and the feather cocoon broke under the holy power. Kevoran looked completely different.

Shorter, with luminescent purple hair down to his toes.  Dorian was slightly miffed it didn’t stick to the ground when Tori grabbed an arm and started dragging him towards the exit.  The new Kevoran slumped, but that wasn’t slowing Tori down. Herod the owl kept up with them, and they got out of the room just as Tori’s light was dying down.  Dorian took a sigh of relief as they got out of the room full of feathers and bones. But he swore that something else was moving back there, beyond the light of the torches.  Being devilkin gave his eyes some help in the darkness. But all he could see was something large, but he couldn’t hear anything besides the banging earrings Lavinia was forced to wear.  

“Look!” Alexandra spoke up.  “This looks like it was finished!”  Indeed, ahead there was tiled floors.  Instead of rough hewn stone or cavern this looked like the basement of someplace.  They all crept forward quietly, as Kevoran woke up from his forced slumber.

“Oh, everything hurts,” Kevoran moaned, this time with a new voice.  It could curdle milk, and a toad would sound better. And yet Lavinia’s damn bangle earrings seemed to rattle so loud, it had to be Kevoran.  “I’m going to end up like my thrice fool cousin.”

“And what, pray tell, happened to him?” Lenna asked.  Normally she wasn’t too caring about what Kevoran said, but those earrings that Dorian had been forced to give her looked to be rattling.  Lenna was going to be listening to him soon, if Dorian did not do something.

“He went into a dungeon while working for someone from Stepopolis, and he came out half-slug.  He was the laughingstock of the magical community when he wasn’t able to cure it,” Kevoran felt along his robes, which were a few inches too long for himself.  The vivid purple hair was almost to his feet, and the skin and eyes had changed too. Dorian couldn’t even tell if Kevoran was male or female at this point. “But I promise you all, I am twice the wizard he is. Once we reach the inner city we can begin setting up a more permanent location of safety.  Something to come back to. We will be able to research and study everything we all need.” Even with the voice of a toad he was still very convincing. It might have been the earrings, but Dorian was unable to shake his words.

The tunnel they moved through finally came to a stop.  Or rather, a ramp set into the tunnel was the end. The tile continued, and looked slippery.  A tiny thin staircase wound its way up the ramp, and at the very top was what looked like a creature.  Or at least a humanoid. They looked female, with long white hair. She noticed them, and seemed to be moving her hands in a complicated manner.  “Archer!” Alexandra tackled Lenna, while Kevoran hit the deck. Dorian could feel Lavinia’s body react, rolling backwards into cover in the tunnel. His butt was still on fire from the paddle earlier, and he hissed as he stood up.  All of them were now in cover, though none of them had a shield.

“What now?” Dorian asked loudly.  

“We need to get up there.”  Alexandra said loudly. “Or wait.  She is coming down to us. By the Gods, look at her face!” Dorian risked looking around, and saw what Alexandra was talking about.  The female creature looked like she was made of stone and dried blood. But on her face was a black iron mask. The same kind of mask that cursed Alexandra.  

Dorian focused.  Past the banging earrings, past the half-breaths this outfit caused.  He needed this.  If he was ever going to fix Alexandra, he needed to bring home an intact version of this.  The only way to do that was to cripple this creature. “Let’s take its head!” He called out, shaking his head once to get rid of the annoying banging noises.  

“Lavinia.” Kevoran’s voice came through his ears even though they were far away.  A whisper spell must be why. Dorian could see his lips moving, and the words taking a moment longer to reach him.  “Keep your distance. This is not something easily dealt with.”

“It’s resistant to magic!” Lenna yelled, as her spark spell bounced off the creature’s skin.  An arrow struck her in the head, bouncing off of her hair. That curse of hers saved her this time.  Lenna was going to have a black eye from that, he was sure.

“We need to bring it down here.” Alexandra spoke up.  “Kevoran, drag it down here with my net!”

“Not while it can kill me in one strike!” Kevoran yelled.  “Someone needs to hold its attention!”

Tori nodded, and stood up.  “Get behind me, mage.” She said, coldly.  Kevoran’s commands kept Dorian from standing up or helping.  He remained stubbornly kneeling and not helping his friends. He could hear the arrows hitting Tori, her armor defending her so far.  There had to be a way of helping. Looking up, he could see that the creature had been snagged by the net. It was sliding down the ramp.  Or rather the net had moved it, but it was using the ramp to speed up. Tori wasn’t going to react in time!

Lenna was behind her, not even looking at the oncoming enemy.  He felt his knees unlock at that thought. If it was for Lenna, then he could act.  Without a thought he ran, Lavinia’s body pushing hard to tackle Tori. Tori never even saw it coming, as Dorian tackled her out of the way and on top of Lenna.  Dorian smirked as the creature ignored Alexandra completely, and landed on top of the screeching wizard. Alexandra was ignored by the creature entirely as it attacked Kevoran, and she stabbed it repeatedly with her trident.  It slowly but surely died, its remains crumpling upon the floor. By the time they pulled it off of Kevoran, the mask sat firmly on the wizard’s face. Dorian could not even try to conceal his smirk.

“Lavinia.” Tori spoke up, grabbing her by the arm.  “That was noble of you.”

Dorian wants to say something respectful, but Lavinia’s lips had a different story.  “I had to save that pretty behind of yours. No problem.” Tori frowned about that, but nodded.  They both turned to Kevoran, who was clutching his face. The purple hair covered the sides of the iron mask, but the black metal only had slits for the eyes.  They were wide open, terrified. The black metal covered Kevoran from forehead to chin, and prevented any sound from going out. Dorian had won.  

Herod hopped forwards.  “My master would like to clarify that this is inconvenient, but not crippling.  Dorian’s notes held that these masks are possible to get off with proper tools, of which we may find inside the city’s interior.  While inconvenient, these masks are valuable.” Alright, maybe Kevoran wasn’t all bad. But now he couldn’t mind control Dorian. Perhaps they could move past this and study this place.  

Alexandra moved up the stairs first, arriving at the door at the top of the ramp.  Everyone followed, the tiny stairs making them go one at a time. Tori was sweating at the top, and breathing hard.  Her face was flushed, and her legs shook. Her hair was plastered to her forehead, and everyone took a moment to breath before pushing the large double doors open.  Sure enough, they could see the signature tiles and buildings of the innermost layers of the city.

Of course, that was where everything went to hell.  At the bottom of the ramp, the serpent statue from the pit shrine coiled.  It was sixty feet long and had three eyes. It was larger than anything they had faced before, and no one was in any condition to fight it.  “Run!” Dorian yelled, pointing. As a single group, they ran for the inner city. Towards somewhere safe.