Caio is a glint of steel in the torchlight, slipping between his friends and the gathered crowd with the ease of the wind. His sword strikes down at the horrid thing but its amorphous form squelches away from the edge of the blade. To Caio's surprise the changeling gurgles up around his weapon and his arms with lightning speed. Before he knows it, the thing had found his mouth. Repulsive slime pours down his throat and his eyes go wide. Tendrils begin probing his nose and ears as well, and the inquisitor staggers back as his body attempts to reject the penetration. He steels himself enough to pull his blade back into a tight grip, then swings up through the torrent of goop to sever the tentacle from the main mass of the changeling. The slime funneling into his orifices becomes like a thin liquid now, and Caio is left retching the disgusting substance up out of his stomach and lungs.

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The monster's head turns unnaturally until it is looking straight backwards at Shiva and then the creature speaks.

"I curse you, demon! Look upon me and despair!"

One of the changeling's eyes bulges horrifically as it talks and Shiva feels a hollow open in the pit of her stomach.

The changeling gurgles up around Caio's weapon and his arms with lightning speed. Before he knows it, the thing had found his mouth. Repulsive slime pours down his throat and his eyes go wide. Tendrils begin probing his nose and ears as well, and the inquisitor staggers back as his body attempts to reject the penetration. 

Alaris Forien pauses in their warning to the madding crowd as the changeling simultaneously curses Shiva with one appendage and launches itself into Caio with another. Their radiance flares with their emotions, a melange of fear and fury.

Alaris gathers themselves and leaps forward and up, pushing off the ground with the butt of their glaive. As Alaris rises, the bogatyr twirls Hope's Edge a full turn and a half, plunging the blade end downward with the full force of their fury, momentum, and gravity. The creature once more tries to dissolve into goop and flee. Alaris shakes their head, and a pulse of radiance flares from their hands, through the glaive and into the protoplasmic flesh of the changeling. Like fat dripping from a spit roast onto the fire beneath, the ectoplasm meets the intense white light radiating from Hope's Edge and is incinerated in tiny plumes of smoke.

"...and THAT, good people of Hearthstead, is what the Septem Mortale do to monsters."

Silence ripples across the gathered villagers as Alaris fells the monster. The paladin delivers their manifesto and for a moment the air stands thick as molasses amongst the gathered crowd. Then the tension breaks and many hurry away whispering amongst themselves. Others simply remain where they are in stunned silence, while a group of gnomes erupts into raucous cheers of approval.

"What did it want?" Whispers a quivering voice from behind the band of warriors - the halfling lady from the inn.

Shiva watches silently as the creature is finally dispatched. Still aggrieved by the bizarre nature of the curse, she's barely cognizant of the group of celebratory gnomes when she turns to the halfling woman from the inn. "Don't know. Never encountered a changeling before. That I knew of." 

She opens her mouth to continue, but closes it and instead approaches Astrid. "Hey Lady Silverscar, you feeling ok? That thing cursed me, and now I'm cursing myself for not listening when Nik was once going on and on about how they work."

     Still feeling the effects of her failed spell, Astrid watches from the side with the other gathered townsfolk. As her friends dispatch with the threat she slowly walks over to join them. Echoing the halfling lady's sentiment, the dwarf speaks up. "You know, if we're needing answers to those types of questions, next time maybe we shouldn't be so hasty in killing things. I have ways that can get answers out of folks if they're uncooperative... I hope."

     "Hmm, cursed you say. I might be able to help you out. C'mere, let's have a look at you." The cleric pulls Shivala down closer and places her hands on both sides of the tiefling's face. Astrid's hands begin to pass over her patient's body, searching for the offending force, and soon finds something as her hands hover over her abdomen. Invoking Brightmantle's assistance, Astrid easily snatches the hex from within but soon feels the force tugging on her hand. It didn't dissipate as she hoped, but now it looks for another to infect.

      "I don't think so," Astrid mutters under her breath and clutches her hand to her chest. Her body trembles as she attempts to fight off the effects.  Empowered by her patron, the cleric manipulates the effects of time on the hex, speeding it up causing it to burn itself out.  With heave she looks up to Shiva with a weak smile.  "There you go, dear. All better!"

Shiva breathes a sigh of relief as the imbalance within her body and perception dissipates, but notices the effort it took Astrid to remove the curse. "Thank you, honey. Once again, I owe you one. We're gonna have to start keeping a list soon if I don't start returning the favor." 

Looking around, she spots the group of gnomes that were so very enthused by the group's efforts. But rather than approaching them, she looks back to Astrid. "Think anything else here needs seeing to? If not, I'll be heading back to bed." 

     "Don't worry at all. I have a feeling that you're good for it."

     Astrid scans over the crowd as well and shrugs. "Unless there's more of those shape changers hiding among the townsfolk here," she says quietly to her friends. 

Shiva smiles at her dwarven friend, then huffs as Astrid makes a good point. "Right. We'll need to stay together for the rest of the time that we're here then, sleep in shifts like when we're on the road. Now that we've publicly killed one, any others hiding here may be coming after us. I know that I would be if I were them..."

She then walks over to Alaris and Caio and explains this take on their current situation. 

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     "Don't worry at all. I have a feeling that you're good for it."

     Astrid scans over the crowd as well and shrugs. "Unless there's more of those shape changers hiding among the townsfolk here," she says quietly to her friends. 

"I don't sense any fae around us, but you all know my ability to feel their presence is about as dependable as... well, fae." The bogatyr gazes at Astrid and nods. "And you're right, Lady Silverscar... questioning would have been ideal." Alaris looks down, runs their fingers over their glaive, and turns back towards the inn.

Caio is quiet, holding his abdomen as he focuses on trying to quell his quaking innards. Perhaps he could track down where the changeling came from, how it got into the inn, but the nausea sees him making his way back inside as well, where he finds a place to lie down uncomfortably.

The innkeepers warm some spiced wine for their guests in thanks for protecting their home and after a short break to come down from the adrenaline of the skirmish everybody returns to their beds. The next morning, clear blue skies and a cool south-westerly wind greet the travellers. Just a few more days on the road lie ahead of them, before the city of Paragon and the end of their journey together with Brother Ludomir and his priors.

Even with the spiced wine, Shiva finds it difficult to come to rest. Her body retains the tension of the conflict and the greater unease of its implications. Even discussion with her Other does little to quell her discomfort. When morning finally comes, she quickly packs her things and joins Caio at a table in the main room of the inn. "Morning. I was thinking, we should spar a bit on what's left of the road to Paragon, that thing got to both of us last night and we need to make sure that we're as ready as possible for whatever could come our way. Speaking of which, how are you feeling?"

When Alaris eventually joins them, Shiva moves in close and whispers to them. "Can you check everyone in our group as we leave the city? One of those things may have replaced one of the priors during a late night piss or something." 

Caio picks at his breakfast, forcing himself to eat. "Like shit." he responds to her question, but then shrugs. "I've felt worse though. Maybe some exercise would help." 

"Alright, good. I could come at you with more unique attacks, then. It would help me to practice control of my changes and simulate an inhuman opponent for you. Not that we often end up fighting humans, but you know what I mean." Retrieving her own bit of breakfast, she eats slowly while ringing sparks of electricity between her fingers.

Alaris rolls their eyes and looks over towards the priors, then mutters, "How do you know it isn't me that's been replaced?"

Shiva looks deep into the silver eyes of her friend with a mixture of curiosity and concern. "Making me suspicious of you by acting weird would be a shitty way to maintain your cover, that's how." Laying a hand on their shoulder, the sparks between her fingers dissipate harmlessly across their armor. "What's wrong, chéri?" 

Shadows linger under Alaris' eyes even in the light of morning. Their gaze flits from one spot to another, and their jaw clenches as they try to find a center of calm and focus. "I think I am ready for this babysitting job to be over." The stiffness and stress in their posture is palpable, and they haven't touched the food in front of them.

"I think we all are. Once we drop them off, we'll take some time to rest and figure out just what we'll do about our Others, these runestones, and how we fit into all of it. And we'll find a nice nun for you to spend some quality time with. Or a priest. I don't actually know what your preferences are, now that I say it out loud. 

Shiva gives them a playful nudge, before taking a more somber tone. "We'll have time to prepare for whatever is coming next."

Once everybody has eaten and gathered their possessions, the priors pile back into the carriage and the Septem Mortale saddle up for the last stretch of their journey to Paragon.

As the group nears the end of the first day's travelling, Shiva invites Caio into a small clearing near the campsite.

"Alright, just like I said back at the inn. I'll see just how far I can shift my body, then attack. Please do not take my arm off again, I don't think I can grow another." With a grin, she steadies herself and reaches within. Rather than pulling strength from the demon, she embraces it, inviting it to shape her form into that of a monstrous predator. The demon responds, as if harmonizing with her will, by releasing the force of its influence all across her body. There is a heat beneath the skin, but little pain is actually felt as bone, muscle, and skin begin to twist and take on new configurations. Her spine shudders and she falls to her knees as a great, blue tail forms at the small of her back. Easily wider than any of her other appendages, it terminates in a barbed end at over 3 feet in length. She then feels a sensation akin to goosebumps as quill-like bones protrude several centimeters out of her skin across her entire body. A strange odor then fills her nose, and she notices a dot of a purple substance sits on the tip of each quill. She draws in a heavy breath, her talons finally emerge from her fingers, and she stands to look into Caio's eyes. "Attack me."

Caio smirks at her comment about her previous amputation, but says nothing as he watches her buck and shift. His eyes analyze the changes, noting the acrid venom that seems to be dripping from her new spines. ”Very well.”

The inquisitor rushes in, blade drawn. The charge is head on, uncharacteristic for Caio’s typical fighting style. Sure enough, at the last moment Caio feints. He peels away gaining distance suddenly while flicking the tip of his massive sword out at the bloodrager like a taunting jab. The hit and run movement is a test. Are these spines merely a melee defense, or can she fire them at range? Ad just how quick can she be with that new tail of hers?

Shiva leans into the feint, seemingly ready to absorb the blow. When Caio then attempts to create distance between them, she presses forward to keep him within range of her claws. As the tip of his sword whistles through the air towards her, her tail whips around to bat the steel away with its sharp, ossified end. She then launches a quill-covered right hook towards his face while her tail curls to defend her left side. Caio continues his spin, pirouetting away from the poisoned projectile as it flies harmlessly past him. He dances around the tiefling, circling like a vulture before coming lazily to a stop. He fixes her with a bored expression. ”Is that really all you’ve got? I was expecting a volley.” He stands several paces from her with his sword resting across his shoulders, off hand on his hip, wide open.

Standing up straight, Shiva smirks, indignance plain on her face. "Careful what you ask for, elf." She launches herself at the inquisitor, striking first with two clawed hands that aim to tear at his ribs before finishing with a tail strike aimed directly between his eyes. Rather than stopping her momentum at the end of this attack, she leans in to try to bring the quills of her arms into contact with any of his exposed flesh. Shiva’s extended claws shriek against the steel of Caio’s sword as he defends, but with her tail and spines pressing in behind them the elf is unable to hold his ground. He bends back as if his spine is about to snap in two, nimbly but narrowly dodging the vicious spikes of her tail, but her force sends Caio prone onto his back with Shiva on top. He grimaces as her expanded form pressed down on him, but slippery as ever Caio simply vanishes in a puff of shadowy smoke. He reappears right above the tiefling, and at last attempts to deliver a true strike with his blade aiming straight down at the woman’s back.

Shiva lurches to the left the moment that Caio disappeares into darkness, all-too familiar with his tactic of appearing within an enemy's blindspot when on the backfoot. As he lands beside her, she sends the bulk of her tail careening towards him, intending to send him tumbling through the dirt. The tail connects, smacking into Caio’s side and sending the elf flying. Both his body and his blade skid to a stop a few feet away. It’s unlikely that Shiva notices the smile on Caio’s face as he lay there for a moment, because it’s gone by the time he rises. ”Well done.”

Shiva nods, a light smile appearing on her own face. "If I hadn't seen you do it before, you would've gutted me. Again?" The two spar into the evening, eventually stopping once they're both doubled over with exhaustion. Dismissing her tail, it shrinks and withers as her spine retakes its natural position with a series of loud cracks and pops. "By the way, I thought you might want to take a sample of whatever is coming off of these quills? I have no idea what it is, but I figured that it hurts." Caio raises an eyebrow. ”Who do you take me for, Nikolai?” he says, but the joke hangs in the air awkwardly given their friend’s recent departure. ”Everything about your body hurts. Well, I’m sure some things don’t… in any case it’s safe to assume that is venom and there is no telling whether or not it will be the same venom the next time you decide to turn into a sea urchin.”

Shiva chuckles at the joke, but it is tinged with a sadness left by Nikolai's absence. The following jokes draw veritable laughter from her, and she regards her friend with a good-spirited sense of wonder. "All good points. You're in a jolly mood, glad to be able to work off some stress?" He lets out a sigh. ”I suppose it was. Things have been so… strange lately. It’s not like when I joined the Trio and all we were doing was slaying monsters. Everything feels heavier now. Better to distract ourselves with sparring than drowning ourselves in drink, though now I feel I could use one.” He offers a rare, fleeting little smile then nods back to camp.

Shiva nods in agreement to her friend's words. She is taken aback by a glimpse of his smile, as it speaks to the weight of his words and the state of their situation. So much had changed...such uncertainty lied before them...such uncertainty lies within her...

After a time of rest, food, and drink, Shiva finds herself wandering into the small groves of dead trees, hoping to find a wood nymph that may help her feel safer, more secure in what she knows and feels.