Nikolai stops short as he stares up at the massive form that was once his friend Shiva, his eyes grow wide as he tries to figure out what the hell was happening!

Ling grabs Nikolai's hand. "Nik! What's happening to her!! Shiva!" She cries out.

Nikolai's mind reels with the possibilities. 'The vampire?! No... this is...'

'Infernal.'

'Yes, thank you, but why?'

The internal dialogue took a fraction of a second, but it was long enough that things were quickly spiraling out of control. "I don't know, Ling! I don't know!" He stammers as he tried to figure out what to do! Luckily Caio, being less burdened by the familial-like ties that dulled Nikolai and Ling's senses as his fog bank spread out over the year. Nik looks over his shoulder to Caio and nods his thanks. He reaches out his hand containing the strange ring upon it towards Shivala and who suddenly finds her muscles locking into place... but with another screaming roar of horrible rage she flexes and the magic shell that was building up around her explodes outward! "This is bad, Ling!"

Nimue's eyes grow wide as the tiefling begins to grow and crackle. Her drink forgotten, she stands, hand flying to the hilt of her sword. Looking around at the group, it was clear that this wasn't something they had seen before. The fear and rage was palpable, and she dashes out the door, following the still-growing tiefling and her desperate friends. Do nothing until you know what's going on. What would Grandmama do? What would she do? Her mind races as she keeps close to the scene. Fog billows up, and for a brief moment, Nimue wonders if it's coming from Shiva's transformation. But she hears chanting, and glances over to see Caio conjuring the cloud. "Stay calm. Listen around you."  Nimue takes a deep breath, letting her fear and confusion drift away, knowing that she has to trust these people. They know better than she does.

Ghoul sees the people of the city who have fled from Shiva emerge from the fog cloud in several directions, many will be running for help.

     Astrid curses as what ever has taken hold of Shivala causes her to jostle the table and thus also disturbing her intricate work with her timepiece. She snaps the back closed and jumps out of her seat. "What th-.. !" She quickly steps aside to make way for the anger tiefling. Now quite irritated herself, she scoffs at Nikolai's command. "I'm not your babysitter. Go do what you want!" she barks at the cause of the trouble. 

"Yes. Thank you." Social graces all but spent, Elodia sweeps past Astrid, but pauses at the edge of the table near Alaris. "I've been nothing but honest with you. You owe me nothing, but as a knight I'd appreciate the honor of your discretion." Her voice is quiet, and quieter still when she says, "I hope everything is alright with your friend."

Steps decisive, she pulls up the wide hood of her cloak and wades between tables, heading towards the stairs from the bottom of the tavern. She had certainly not thought it would go this poorly, but how could she have? How does one account for that sort of vitriol in a response? The situation is strange and off-putting enough she barely takes note of her surroundings, and it's already too late by the time she steps out into the fog.

Ling's eyes keep bouncing back and forth between Shiva's massive form and Nikolai. "Shiva!! STOP! What's wrong?? What's happening! SHIVA!!" She steps closer to Nikolai as the fog cloud rolls in. "Nik! What do I do?! I won't hurt her!"

"Try to Blind her, take her sight away and maybe that will calm her down, but Ling this has to work. Give it everything you have."

Ling nods as she digs deep into the well of magics and flings her hands out towards Shiva... whose eyes suddenly change to pale white and go blind as Ling's powerful magic takes effect!

Quote from sansasnarke >>

"Yes. Thank you." Social graces all but spent, Elodia sweeps past Astrid, but pauses at the edge of the table near Alaris. "I've been nothing but honest with you. You owe me nothing, but as a knight I'd appreciate the honor of your discretion." Her voice is quiet, and quieter still when she says, "I hope everything is alright with your friend."

Steps decisive, she pulls up the wide hood of her cloak and wades between tables, heading towards the stairs from the bottom of the tavern. She had certainly not thought it would go this poorly, but how could she have? How does one account for that sort of vitriol in a response? The situation is strange and off-putting enough she barely takes note of her surroundings, and it's already too late by the time she steps out into the fog.

Alaris Forien had slipped into a quiet meditative state, listening for the voice of Lady Freja, when all hell broke loose in the Black Sheep. The familiar voice of Hope's Edge pulls them back to full presence, and the paladin stands with liquid ease. Extending one arm, they nod to Andrei, who tosses the glaive with a high arcing motion that carries it over the heads of the fleeing patrons. Alaris grasps it and immediately feels more grounded and ready to respond.

The paladin moves towards the stairs alongside Elodia, knowing that their presence will not serve the same valuable purpose as Ling and Nikolai in calming whatever has overwhelmed Shiva. Protecting innocents and calming the mad tiefling must be their twin goals. In response to her words, Alaris replies, "My friends will keep your presence to ourselves, but if you mean what you say -- and even more, if you want their trust and their assistance, please help me. I do not understand what has befallen my ally, but I must protect others from her rage and madness." As they exit into the street, they find the thick fog swallowing up the street. From within the fog, Shiva's roars of anger drown out some of Nik and Ling's responses.

"Hang back, please - I don't expect you to put your own life at risk - but please help protect others and be on watch for any way you can help intervene. You will have my thanks!"

With that, Alaris turns back towards the fog and readies themselves.

     Astrid quickly stomps up the steps, following the rest. She pushes open the door. "Now, what in the he-..!" Seeing the transformation for the first time cause the dwarf to swallow their tongue. She looks up and down the street at the fleeing residents and Nikolai in apparent damage control mode, doing what he can to diagnose the situation. She takes a few tentative steps forward towards the others as they try to calm their friend. 

Nikolai takes a moment to center his thoughts in the thick fog and easily finds his rampaging, screaming find in the mess. "Shiva! Talk to me! What is happening?!" Now finally able to see her, Nikolai conjures a tangled web of nullifying magics to dispel this strange transformation... assuming it was magical at all. He casts his net out and watches with satisfaction as Shiva shrinks down to her normal size, but the horrible visage and claws remain... "Not good."

Nik's voice echoes out of the gloom and fog, but it bounces off of too many nearby structures to serve as a beacon. Alaris stops at the edge of the fog and calls out, "Nik, I'm coming in - don't blast me."

The paladin closes their eyes and reaches within themselves for the gift of The Lady. Even before they open their eyes again, the smell of smoke and ozone is choked out as the reek of cold ammonia makes their nostrils burn and eyes water. Icy gooseflesh crawls over their skin and brutal cold makes their very teeth ache as their divine senses open to a powerful fiendish presence nearby. Opening their eyes, they move into the fog with confidence. 

"Shiva, dearheart, it's Ari. Listen to me - we want to help." The fog abates for a moment as Alaris tracks the fiendish presence that has overtaken Shiva. Out of the gloom, her new bulk appears. The mouthful of jagged teeth that has replaced Shiva's lovely features makes the paladin's heart freeze for a moment. Shiva flails about with her claws, seeking someone to rend, and for the briefest moment, Alaris thinks, We might not get out of this unscathed. Lady, shield my dear Nikolai - he may be our only hope of bringing her back from this. The familiar glimmer of the Shield of Faith envelops the warlock. Then Alaris moves in close, ready to push the demonic Shiva away from any innocents.

The demon roars in outrage as it is stripped of its sight. It hears voices around it, and swings its claws wildly, attempting to tear apart their sources. But the talons merely whistle through the air, and in another roar of frustration, its eyes recover their darkness as its sight returns. Looking around it, focus falls onto the tall armored figure at its side.

A cacophony of sounds and images assault Shiva's senses, bewildering her in her place of refuge. With no control, and only scattered information about what her body is doing, she feels as if she is wrapped in chains. "Hey! HEY! Voice! Help me! What's happening to me?".  "....I don't know."  "Well F#%@!" . 

A flash of Nikolai and Ling looking at her in fear and horror lights up her vision, and pieces of speech eek their way into her mind. 

"Shiva, please stop!"                            "I won't hurt her!"                            "What's wrong?!"                           "...Not good."                          "..Dearheart, it's.."

"NO! STOP! STOP IT!!!!! DON"T HURT THEM!!!!!"  Shiva wails in desperation. If it were possible for her to cry in this place, tears would be streaming down her face.

Nimue closes her eyes as the fog swells up around her, clouding her vision. She reaches out to the divine presence inside her, and the fog ripples slightly from a small shockwave moving out in all directions around her. In her mind's eye, she can see the familiar purple/red flame-aura around the two tieflings pleading with what was a tiefling called Shiva not but five minutes ago. In the corner of her eye, the white fire of a celestial presence. But it's Shiva who concerns her most of all.

The aura surrounding her is similar to the other two, but it crackles like lightning and she can feel  it. As if she was standing barely two feet from a bonfire. The heat rolling off of what was Shiva is immense. Or is it cold? Something so intense it can neither be distinguished as hot or cold can never be a good sign. Something isn't right here. 

Her eyes open, brown irises glowing white as her power continues to flow from her. Nimue locks her gaze in the direction of Shiva. "Think, and observe." Her grandmother's voice floats through her mind, and as quick as it comes, it goes. She steps towards the group, hand no longer touching the hilt of her sword. "This isn't the time for violence," she mutters to herself, and small blue-white flames lick up her fingers as if in approval before disappearing. 

A glimmer of iridescent light paints the edges of the mist as the gems of Elodia's necklace shift through the kaleidoscope of human emotions, a glimmer that settles ultimately on something soothing and pale and golden. The glow steadies, pulsing gently against her skin, and she thinks again of Shiva; of an end to the panicked yells. The shimmer strengthens, the metal heats, and then at once it blinks out, cooling and fading back to the normal red of the jewels. She takes one look back at the mouth of the street before venturing into the fog.  

The demon's claws fall to its sides as the magic takes hold, and even from within, Shiva can feel a stillness throughout her mind that relaxes her. So tranquil is this moment of peace that Shiva feels herself beginning to slip away, as if she were ready to lie down for a nap. 

With Shiva now relaxed and looking on at the group with apathy, Ling comes forward. Getting as close as she'll dare, she gently pleads with her dear friend.  "Shiva. Please come back to us, we don't know what's going on. You could hurt someone like this, and we don't want to hurt you. We all care so much for you, and we want to help. Please come back. Please don't leave us." 

The demon stares forward at Ling, face unchanging. Then the gaping maw opens, and a horrible voice emanates out, something reminiscent of the howling winds of a maelstrom. "...LING..." . From within, the image of Ling tentatively approaching her form appears before Shiva. 

"..come back to us..."              "....hurt someone like this..."               "...all care so much..."        "...don't leave us."   

Shiva begins to sob from her internal prison, unable to do anything. Then darkness begins to take hold as the peaceful feelings lull her to sleep. 

Ling becomes hopeful as Shiva speaks her name, but the recognition quickly fades from the eyes of her companion. The disturbing features falling once more into apathy, Ling starts to panic. Acting as quickly as she can, she conjures a hypnotic image of the first thing that she believes Shiva would enjoy. 

The demon's attention is pulled behind it, where the kaleidoscopic image of a woman's upper body has been created in the air above it. Full, bouncing breasts mesmerize the creature, who ignores the group entirely in favor of the image. From within, the colorful breasts are the last thing Shiva sees before losing consciousness. "...this is so weird...."

Outside the thick, highly-localised bank of fog, Caio spots two city guards cautiously approaching in the wake of the fleeing citizens of Piotrgrad.

As the guards approach, Caio turns to face them with open hands. He does his best to conjure a tone of assertive but amicable confidence. "Good evening. There is no need for concern. There was a minor fiendish incursion causing mayhem, but we have it under control. A Bogatyr of the Volkfelder Order is present and being aided by commissioned monster hunters. This fog will be dispelled and the affected parties taken into custody within moments." 

The guards hesitate in the face of Caio's confident dismissal.

"Oh, um, I see," one replies with a cough, glancing at his comrade. "Thank you for your assistance. We will keep the people from approaching too close and endangering themselves."

Alaris grips Hope's Edge in two hands, ready to push back the raging Shivademon. The creature before them pauses and stills after Ling's most recent spell, staring vacantly into the night. The paladin pauses, releasing the glaive with one hand to stroke their holy symbol. 

This is what happened to the fleder in the sanctuary... if I strike now, the creature will revive.

But you will never have a better chance to strike, and this beast could shred hundreds in the city!

This beast is Shiva... she will regain control... we must give her time!

If she snuffs the light out of one of these innocents, it shall be your fault, Bogatyr of Freja!

"That will not happen. I will not allow it," Alaris growls softly, settling into themselves and ready to strike.

    "Watch yourself there, hon," Astrid says to Eloida. "Looks like you strained a bit too much." She points to her nose to indicate the blood beginning to trickle out of the woman's nose from the casting of her spell. "Mend," the cleric says says in dwarvish, to provide some relief to her. 

      Astrid tries to peer through the fog but to no avail. "Well, I guess I'm going in there too," she says to Caio. She proceeds into the fog unsure what she's about to find. Her brief glimpse of Shiva's transformation makes her wonder: Did those bat-things infect her somehow? 

Shiva's form remains calm, transfixed by Ling's spell and sedated by Elodia's. Then the features of the demon start to fade, disappearing into the same black smoke from which they had appeared. Slowly, Shiva's face returns to normal. The claws recede into her hands, returning their appearance back to normal as well.

Once the reversion is complete, the tiefling's legs give out as she peacefully loses consciousness. In an instant, Alaris' glaive clanks to the ground as they dive to catch her. Landing limply in their arms, Shiva's chest rises and falls gently against their armor. The paladin notices that, though she seems to have returned to normal, her musculature remains distinctly enhanced.