Sorting this out would be good!

Jenny

The Mythical Changeling, which becomes whatever the first person to see it wants it to be. So, in this case, it happens to be a proto-Dark Elf looking for her husband who sees the Changling!!

I, of course, was not aware of those pertinent details immediately as I follow up behind Artizza. After a brief discussion about what appeared to be going on (or how much we apparently didn’t know was going on, really), Artizza and circumstance had convinced us that Fertal’s destruction (violent though temporary due to being a Champion….kind of lost track of that in the mad rush of things) was NOT as it appeared.

Frankly, I still somewhat leaned towards foul play myself and thought that whatever had befallen Fertal might put him out of commission until the end of this quest. I thought that at least some of what we’d seen had been truth.

So at first I am VERY happy indeed to see the person who appeared to be Fertal, somehow brought back to wholeness after that horrible explosion. The bird people (“Tengus in default form for some reason.“ I tell myself) who’ve somehow shown up in these caverns were only a minor blip on my radar screen, so happy I was to see Fertal apparently alive and whole! The fact that they seemed shocked as they looked at Fertal (who’s now looking rather crossly at all of us, concerned at all the attention) also barely registers.

“What’s wrong?” I see him begin to ask, but my shout of joy brings the others rushing to see what was the matter (also interrupting him in the process).

However, I did question just why Artizza has this utterly outraged look on her face and is shouting that this person before her immediately drop this magical seeming!

The red haired elf was about ready to KILL Fertal, it appeared and so it’s understandable why things get confusing.

Then I am very CONFUSED when Fertal suddenly seems to notice…himself? ….and yelps in surprise.

….

Yes, very confusing. More so when we discovered that the female tengu recovers somewhat enough when Artizza and Astra 9 seem to….recognize her as the very analog sister they’d just met moments ago!

A quick glance at them with mage sight at their Matrix confirmed that (they had a slight ghostly after image of their old selves, you see). That and I saw that “Fertal” also…wasn’t who he appeared to be, but instead was….Checkers!

Somehow, some dark magic had transformed Perhaps the only thing that stop things from getting irrevocably “screwed up” was a loud Sending I did right into their minds. It was more of a physic shout of command than anything. Basically it amounted to one word, in effect: “STOP!“

See, our tengus I know were about to do something in ignorance. Could see it in their faces (despite the beaks). It was a look of joyous surprise spreading across their faces as I saw it within their Matrix….a sudden flaring of innate Power being drawn as they whisper something to the confused souls within the new bodies. Now, tengu are of the Realm that the Fey belong to, in a sense. At the bottom of it all, tengu (despite confusing myths and legends clouding the issue) belong to a Court similar to the Seelie Court. That is tengu belong to a Court that worked out to be Champions of the Angels. Is VERY interesting what one can learn about Japanese “mythology” from my friends, the kitsune (Freddy Vulpine and Vix).

Like some others I could name, if either of these tengus used their innate magical powers, gave in and answered to their new tengu names the transformation was trying to force upon them, or just gave INTO and accepted the transformation they’d seal their fate. The transformation would become locked upon them permanently. Indeed, all wishes of returning to humanity would vanish!

I explain that and much more in a few seconds through Sending in order to save precious time. Would have talked myself hoarse trying to explain it by crude words because Sending is…so much more eloquent.

Though trying, since I collapse to my knees afterwards, my love Tarin rushing up to my side. See, Sending to humans (or tengu who are still so… human in mind if not body) is VERY taxing! But if I had not (my elfin intuition tells me) that they’d use those innate powers. Probably shape shifting (tengu are natural shape shifters) into a more human form with hands, I guess.

Well, whilst I’m recovering somewhat from that, my friends are able to calm down Checkers enough (who still looks like Fertal, down to the eyes), the tengu (using their own version of mindspeak, a safe enough innate power for now, since their mouths cannot form the words) warn that whatever is done, we must not let Checkers shift forms too much. They recognize what kind of creature she is, the mythical Changling of their reality). See, by their legends, Changlings had once been ordinary people who get ensnared by evil magic and if they allow themselves to be shifted more than a mere THREE times (!) they lose all traces of their old identities, instead shifting and changing to believe that they ARE the person or creature they appear to be with each new transformation.

Tall order, considering that if we all should lose track of her by sight, the next time we look upon her we might cause her to shift form into something else. But all this is kept in secret from any potential prying eyes or ears because the very first thing that us magic users do is break out those special magical necklaces that naturally BLOCK such intrusions!

Jarlath and Astra 9 learned that to heart back when they been hunting down that draconian female awhile ago right after the Red Pyramid debacle. Long story, don’t ask….

Anyway, it’s a very dangerous situation for Checkers, to understate it by a mile! Which dovetails lovingly into the fact that it comes to light how yet another Fertal and Artizza was glimpsed in company with the Doctor’s group! They had been proto-Dark Elves as well, those analogs, and at a guess I believe that the difficulties we face now (coupled with the parcity of information the Rules and Agents gave us before our Quest) feed into that. That or perhaps it means that we might have yet OTHER proto-Dark Elves on the way into Eternity Incorporated on the way! Either way, it’s trouble! See, being that the Hellcrew aren’t in the habit of just letting go their….potential Champions without a fuss….

Nothing that cannot be potentially handled by us, but….

You get the idea.

“Oh by the Forge,” I mutter, shaking my aching head.

As I still recover, our group leader (Astra 9) explains to our frantic friends that this sudden transformation appears, at a guess, to be the work of either an Atlantian artifact known as the Crystallic. Oh, why that and not something else? Well, even the best of Atlantian mages, according to Dragon tales, couldn‘t effect such a swift transformation at a distance, by the way, so it‘s got to be something like a Crystallic. And it cannot be some entity more powerful than an Atlantian Mage because THAT would entail (because of the offensive nature of this sudden transformation upon the tengu) direct Demonic intrusions. Being that the Demons are still smarting from PAST, smaller Intrusions into the affairs and leigemen (and women) of Rules and Agents, I’d rather doubt they’d risk the Repayment they’d face forh for something so….petty.

We don’t mention this, coaching it instead in vague but learned phrases the basics. Astra does mention that we might get put into a world of hurt or die (or appear to, I qualify to myself, since we ARE Champions and ARE immortal because of the Rules and Agents but we’d get the artifact back so that we COULD fix all of them.

However, in the course of things we’d leveled with them (a bit) on just why we’d come here. Not telling everything, we’d confided in them that Belboz (the mage that Tengu Astra revealed in a bombshell had actually BEEN the very Minestus we’d been looking for) was messing with something that could destroy this world! We tell them about the slipgate system (the very name of those mysterious creators had vanished from history on this world, we find out, but the dangerous slipgates still were here and a menace enough). How it was foretold that Belboz was destined to do something dire causing the slipgates to collapse and destroy everything.

Given that even the most dense peasent knew that, mysterious though the slipgates were, that they were incredibly powerful to do what they did (teleporting people from place to place by accident). Wasn’t too much of a stretch for the tengu to believe our tale.

Jarlath throws in a small, nervous joke about how it could be worse and Belboz could have linked his Hoard to a human land, making things even more dreadfully difficult because killing the dragon would also kill that land (and it's people) in the process.

I see Checkers take on a strange look from the corner of my eye but think nothing of it. Too busy with nursing my Sending induced headache to think about it.

Believe that they were desperate for us to help them return to normal so would be more willing to believe anything we said….but that’s besides the point….

That's not the only thing I miss. The tengu... They then look at each other and mindspeak to themselves (I can not hear it but I guess from the way they look at each other and nod) and seem to come to a realization.

A realization that these strangers who’ll be fighting a dragon mage to the death are asking for both of them to stay out of the way while battle comes. As both tengu are in their default form, they are not of any help right now in battle so of course we ask that of them!

But the demands of honor and practicality win over wishes of return to humanity, you see. If we should lose because of being short of able bodies (and we’ll need all the help we can get with a dragon mage armed with a Crystallic), then what? The destruction of the very world!! Returning to humanity is a small thing, they explain after….

It happens over shouted protests from my friends, you see, that shift...when it happened...

….

Why do they have to do this?! I mean....

Sigh, well after they will themselves into human seemings that mirror their old forms (i.e. their old human forms except with wings like angels coming from their backs AND those beaks), they explained that....we'd need all the help they could give us....

And THAT is when they discovered (after a brief....visit from an Angel welcoming them into the fold of Champions of the Army of Light) that we were Champions . . . .

Or at least that is what should have happened, you see. Hm, we were wrong a bit about these tengu being like the tengu Champions of the Angels. Back on Terra Prime we have what one could term as the mortal branch of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts and so here we now have a mortal branch of the Tengu court, I gather. See, Champion tengu do not have females of the species while tengu Astra was female, so was a mortal tengu. Whatever Belboz did to both tengu had linked their fates so Fred the tengu was mortal as well (though long lived AND perhaps a new species upon the land). And this is a VERY big problem, you see, for our tengu friends....

Sigh. Oh, I'm not talking about dangers of inbreeding due to only being two of them, you see. "Fantasy" creatures like me (and them) and the others DON'T have that problem, like humans. Our "genetic" structures are not like yours, you see.....

No, we have another problem, once we figured out the mortality part in the tengu.

Kind of figured that out with the lack of Celestrial visits and such, let us just say. That and they no longer refer to themselves as such. See, only the highest echelons of the Court have names. At lower ranks such things are....alien concepts. Oh, they are individuals, but are of VERY alien mindset right now....

They gave us the oddest look when we asked them their names once they told us they were no longer Astra and Fred but tengu....

....

Well, maybe we can put them to right once we get the Crystallic. IF they want it.... Don't really care to ask, not wanting to find out right now.

But whatever the case we have a dragon to kill!

1. Well, it looks like Checkers wants to now tell us if she's in with us on this quest or not.....

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