Gerkka
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 118609
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The girl transformed as Arahim worked his magic, soon bursting out of her dress. Her hair turned dark and her skin thick and coarse; she gained a hideous underbite and several long, sharp tusks; and she grew - oh, did she grow, evening out at around 7 feet tall and weighing about a quarter of a tonne. And she was still quite small for an ogress, and not yet fully grown. Arahim clothed her in a simple leather dress and levitated her out to the east hall, where construction for a new wing of the palace had been underway for some months. Once there, he conjured up a pair of shackles on her wrists. They were not physically chained to anything, but they would magically bind her to her assigned post. At last, he poured an elixir into her now-cavernous mouth, one which should keep her relatively calm, and deemed it time to wave his hand to wake her up. She stirred, and though she noticed at once how much heavier and more cumbersome she felt, and how slowly her brain was working, something kept her from reacting too much, like a cobweb over her brain, as she sat clumsily up and looked down at herself. "Hello, young one," said Arahim gently as she stared down. "I know this will be a bit of a shock. For your murder of Belboz, you have been sentenced to manual labor in a new form. We don't know who you once were, so a new name has been assigned, the ogrish name Gerkka. Ogres generally live to be around one hundred ten; you are now an adolescent of about ten, not yet mature. I must explain to you now, Gerkka: I know this may seem shocking and unfair, but the king is benevolent and forgiving, and if you serve very well, it is possible that, in the future, you can return to human form. I doubt you can speak just yet, but nod if you understand me." In a daze, Gerkka nodded. "Good," said Arahim, pleased, even as he knew this calm demeanor would only last an hour or so. "The men will begin to direct you when you are ready." And he left her there, though far from alone; many guards stood ready nearby to take decisive action if things got out of hand. Arahim gave each of them a tiny vial of a potion they could coat their arrow tips with, which should put her quickly to sleep. The poor young ogress sat there reeling from how strange everything felt. Experimentally, she tried to stand, though doing so was a very slow, precarious process. Her legs were like tree trunks, her body a burden, but she felt strength in her limbs she never had before. She... She was supposed to be a human. A knight. This was... closer, wasn't it? She was in Allaria... She was home. She was to serve her king. But... Her huge lower lip trembled as fat tears began to roll down her cheeks. This form... this was hideous, and her freedom had been taken from her, and she could barely even understand why. It felt so hard to think. "Gerkka?" asked a voice, and she looked down to see a man standing there, the royal emblem on his shirt. "I am Menter, chief overseer of construction. I understand you're to help us?" She nodded, still heavily affected by the elixir administered to her in her sleep. "That's wonderful," said Menter, who in fact had no idea that the poor beast had once been human; this, indeed, was not common knowledge. "I'm sure you'll be a big help. Please, come, let me introduce you to
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2/15/2022 1:01:25 AM
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