Transformation Theater

[Virmir]

Virmir blubs a bit, occasionally.

(Pssst...  A plot related reason for four random strangers to stick together might help, especially for characters who by definition avoid people. I think you finally got the point with Virmir and Yilin, but I think everyone else is just waiting around for the crucial plot hook. Parenthesized yelling isn't going to work--you need to do it through the story! Otherwise we are all just wandering around aimlessly doing in-character things.)

[PrincessHotcakes]

Cornered from all sides, any one of the attacks could have done Yilin in, but it turns out that a properly applied electric zap CAN fry you underwater, despite what the mage thought.  Briefly he tries to reply that he can't cease and desist if he's in the process of being fried, but he's too busy blacking out and going completely unconscious to summon such a response as his body crackles with electricity

[Shifting Sands]

(I suppose my hope was that you all would be PEOPLE and decide that you should stick together for the sake of this and so you can better survive ((in character)) but I guess you're all not that wise!!! Plus I didn't want to force you all into a certain line of action because I thought it would be boring and linear. I wanted to allow you guys to choose what to do. I thought keeping you as prisoners together, putting you in a party together, forcing you to fight together would help you to choose things together but I'm wrong >.>)

While Yilin passes out, too, his body twists and practically wrings itself out. His arms, legs, body, and head all condense into a sort of tubey-rope-length, with long fins and, thankfully, new gills. It's possible to grasp with short claws and segmented, frilly fins, but it'll take some practice. His maw reshapes, losing a nose of any sort, and his eyes move to the side of his face. His ears pull back into his head and his mouth opens wide, wide, wider - until it's the widest part of his face and his teeth grow in a circle around the entire interior of the "lip." His spine lengthens enough to have a short tail that ends in a bunch of frills, too, and his organs reshape to have more simplistic functions, sort of like a tube-worm. Pink, fleshy skin wouldn't be fitting for his new form, so it darkens to a sharp brown with occasional white or gray spots. The new eel-vorzh looks to not be having any issue with the electricity anymore, but he is most definitely still unconscious.

Shocked and disturbed, and rightfully so, the soldier and his CO decide that now would be a good time to leave this odd scene behind. They'll just make some report to cover up for the weird crap that just happened, and the tiny skum otter that barely impacted their mounts wouldn't be worth capturing - it's probably just some pet anyway.

When the two idiot mages come to, they can attempt and readjust to their new forms. The thick scales and new fins on Virmir could be helpful once he really learns how to use them, and the wiry and spry form Yilin has would help him slither throughout the water. Maybe he could even coax the ability to electrocute the immediate area around him out of nothingness. (There are a lot of stat things to mention here and I think I should have hit them earlier, so rather than naming off everything I'm just going to give a quick list and if you need justification you can challenge it)

Yilin
-1 STR
+2 AGI
+1 MAG
+1 RES
-2 CHA
0 INT

Virmir
+1 STR
+1 AGI
0 MAG
+1 RES
+2 CHA
-2 INT

It's probably worth mentioning that sea horses don't really know how to speak, so that could cause some problems for Virmir in the future. HOWEVER, he was the only one with a real goal, and it did seem to make sense - seeking out why in the world fatal blows have instead been causing transformations would probably be a good idea. You're still around a tavern, which would be worth investigating (though a seahorse mount might have to wait outside) and there might be some reliable source of genius magickery in the noble houses of the merfolk. Maybe there are some hermit mages out in the ocean, or perhaps a surfacer would know what's going on. It could be due to that first fight and that giant tentacley thing above you that's responsible, but you get the feeling that you wouldn't be able to challenge it or even find it again without some grievous harm.

[Stormkit]

Mike finds himself outside, rather dazed and also confused. At some point he also probably ate that coin. As the tritons move out, Mike sniffs at the partially conscious things left behind. They smell... different. But they are definitely those people he was with earlier! And hey, the inept mage is now easier to sit on! Mike will attempt to sit on the inept mage now while the rest of them figure stuff out. He likes this group and has now decided to actually stick around to see what interesting things they make happen next.

((Honestly Medik, Virmir has a point. Our characters have very little reason to stick together when most of them have been loners a long time before they got captured. You are also kidding yourself if you think Mike is wise enough to make a long term plan like that. XD. That said, this is why I started by very specifically asking you if you had something to give Mike motivation to join the group before I even started playing this character. Because I foresaw that this would happen without such a reason. We're still coming together, but more slowly than you may have counted on. I think we'll be able to get there however since we didn't split up by this point.))

[Virmir]

When I come to, I feel very strange and notice there is something very wrong--there is an otter on my back.

I turn my head to say, "Get off me, you blasted otter!!!" But it comes out sounding more like, "Whinnyknickersnort(seahorsesound)snortblastknickersnort!!!" I blink. Ohhhhhh, blast.  Hate it when--wait-- this has never happened before!

Naturally, I pursue the most rational course of action.  That is to say, I buck around like a crazy wild underwater animal!!!!!

----

STAT CHECKPOINT

STR 0
AGI 0
MAG +4
RES +3
CHA 1
INT -2

[Draykin]

Attor moves out of the tavern of his own free will, inspecting these new forms for his pack-mates.

"Strange," he hisses out, circling the new seahorse, keeping his distance as he observes, so as to avoid the bucking. "How come you don't die?"

And with a swish of his tail, he moves to the new vorzh in the sea, circling around him. "And you, too? Strange, yes.. Both of you should be dead. Or at least very much injured." Attor is... intrigued. In a deft motion he moves back to the tavern, to inquire about the arena they had come from, and those who use it.

[Stormkit]

Mike is currently having the time of his life. Whether or not he can actually stay on this thing, this is very much the most fun he's had in a while. It is a shame he has no hat to wave around wildly as he does this.

[Shifting Sands]

While Mike and Virmir have some sort of underwater... rodeo, Attor's attempt at discovering information about this arena is met with much scrutiny and ignorance. Some people simply don't have anything to contribute, but after finding someone who mentions that the arena comes from some sort of "cursed city," no one else seems to be willing to offer up information. Most people lock up. Even the vorzh from before heads out without saying anything else.

But something does seem to come up. A voice, decidedly androgynous, reaches Attor's mind. "You wish to hunt and to have a new pack, yes? Just look outside. This is your new pack. A flexible, changing pack that adjusts to hardships and has many different backgrounds. Magic killers, a real animal. Think of the big game you could bring down with them."

It reaches Yilin, too - "These people around you; they are truly powerful. Stop picking fights with them and try to coax knowledge and strength from them. Else you may end up worse than dead with your... predicament."

It moves to Virmir next... "You want revenge, don't you? Great power to come with it? A truly legendary scene where you scorch the bastard children of the old gods, deep in the sea? And afterwards, great acres of space to yourself for study, practicing, and rest..."

Mike hears it, too, but it doesn't seem to know what he really wants. "Look. On the ground. They left one of their shiny saddles. Wouldn't it be funny to prop it on this new seahorse? You could ride him easier. And it sparkles with precious things."

The final suggestion (or command) is spread out to all of the "party." "You all act very petty and pitiful now, but it wouldn't take much to turn you into scourges of the sea. Likewise, you could all be heroes if you had the right set of morals and sponsors. ...you should come to the castle, deep in the middle of town. I will have the guards permit you inside. Even the seahorse. We will talk."

[Virmir]

Well, that's somewhat disconcerting.  Voices that tempt you with things you want tend to be trouble.

"What about me?"

Why are you even still here, Karl?

"I...  I don't have any friends," Karl whimpers, then makes a shuffling sound like he's stumbling away into darkness.

I'm generally not one for walking into obvious traps, but at this point I really have nothing else to go on.  Especially if I can find out WHY I'M A BLASTED SEAHORSE!!!

"Whinneyknickersnort!" I announce to the others, and then realize I can't do that either.  BLAST IT.

HARUMPHing, I make my way towards the center of the city, towing the blasted otter along because he's got a blasted death grip on me and I can't shake him off.

[Stormkit]

Mike has already been hearing voices for some time. This one is new, but before Mike can get distracted by any kind of shiny saddle, he is distracted by the seahorse taking off. He shall hold on tightly out of some misplaced instinct that falling off would be more harmful than merely slowing to a stop. For now there really isn't much more to say.

[Draykin]

Attor quickly returns from the tavern, in somewhat higher spirits and with more energy. He swims ahead of the seahorse, figuring it shouldn't be hard to find a castle... And the seahorse probably will get lost along the way, so he better lead it along. Attor also grabs Yilin by the arm and drags him along too, as he suddenly doesn't quite wish to leave anyone behind now.

[PrincessHotcakes]

There really isn't a "first" thing that he notices. 

It's just a tangled web of sensations.  A little prick there, a tingle there.  A twitch in the opposite corner.  Slowly like a spider's web of prickles spread through his awareness, a squirm animating his body.

Yilin isn't quite even sure what the first thing he remembers.  Confused bits and pieces of his whole life splatter before his vision and awareness, making a distorted jumble of just where he is.  He remembers the surface, the scarring it endured, then being cast underwater. 

Yes, yes, he hates being underwater, dealing with those stupid clumsy air bubble contraptions and various other methods just to be able to breathe.  That, and constantly being surrounded by water.  He couldn't even remember the last time he wasn't purney in his fingers.  Yeah... he can't wait for that to end, to be able to just breathe.  Strangely though, he can't feel the familiar sensation of a bubble or tank or anything around his neck...

In fact he can't feel any shred of air around him at all. 

Squirming in a confused dance of voices and images, Yilin struggles to put it all together.  Why is everything so difficult to make sense of? Why is the simple act of SEEING so difficult!? It's like... like he's trying to gaze through the the eyes of another!  They certainly don't feel like they're in the right place!  Confused and irritated, he tries to reach up to rub his head-

...that didn't feel right.  He swore he just tried to lift his arm... what... why does it feel so wrong?  so short and clumsy?  His mouth hangs open in a manner that makes him think that it's broken!  Quickly he tries to feel at it, only for that same clumsy motion and feeling to flood his mind with wrongness.

Simply stopping to sit or curl up doesn't even work (as much good as that would do underwater), as he legs don't even want to function.  Nothing wants to work right, under...

He suddenly blinks, heart thumping as a panic takes hold as he at last realizes; he's surrounded completely by water.  Caught in the ocean's embrace, his mind feverishly races.  How did he not notice this??  How is he even alive!?

That is a question that must be asked, as despite the sensation of breathing be totally absent, he doesn't feel winded, or wanting for oxygen in the slightest!  It's almost.

The loud mouthed fox.  One of the last things he saw was him floating during combat, then... during his blackout he saw him.  He was shifting again, shifting as he had done the first time!  After he had lost combat-

Oh no...

Oh no.  Oh crap.  Oh no no no no nonono.... He flails his arm up-or is it fin?  CLAW?

Some semblance of coherence finally breaks through his skull-does he even still have one of those!?- as he realizes his eyes are wrong, his whole jaw feels.. just WHAT the hell is he even!?  Self examination only reveals the answer to be worse and worse, his long, abhorrently inhuman shape and appearance matching with the sensations he's feeling but totally clashing with everything he's known about his body since he was born.

He feels like he should be hyperventilating!.. but he can't even do that!  Instead those horrid, flappy, alien gills sway faster and faster, gushing water directly into the sides of his throat.  He feels like he's going to choke.

Naturally, he begins screaming.

[Draykin]

Attor looks at the screaming eel vorzh and finds himself annoyed. He gives him a firm slap across the face without even stopping. "Quit shouting. You make people look at us funny."

[PrincessHotcakes]

It might seem to be a good idea to follow Attor's advise, general civility considered.  Or even just the idea of "we don't know where we are, don't draw too much attention until we figure out more."  But to Yilin, these concerns are somewhat secondary after awakening to find that he's become a worm/eel/SOMETHING DISGUSTING AND INHUMAN!  The hard slap does succeed in shutting him up-if only for a moment. 

Mere seconds later he's trembling, poking his face with one of hisclaws and stuttering incoherently.  "W-what the hells happened??  Why do I look like some kind of monster?  What's this ugly voice in my head!?" he panics, wanting desperately to hyperventalate, but finding he can't even do that properly, overall only adding further to his deep sense of discomfort, unease, and abject terror.  He was mentally prepared to fight slimy aquatic life, not to BE one!

"Where are we going?  Please tell me we're heading somewhere to FIX this!"

[Shifting Sands]

The "castle" in the center of the town is not very royal or amazing, even considering the surroundings. From the looks of it, it WAS a town hall at some point, a very simple and plain one that was ramshackle, only for the barest purpose of politics and surfacer concerns. Since then the merfolk occupation has tried to "fix up" the place with more exquisite and fanciful decor, but it's just not masking the original building beneath it all. There's even an ornate stone tower affixed to the back peak of the "castle," sticking out like a sore thumb.

Guards at the front door of the castle hold you up, insisting that no non-merfolk are allowed inside without express permission. On cue, different guards come by with a message from "Officer Taj." They are told to capture a rogue seahorse, skum otter, and two slinky vorzh with just-so appearances that two of your party members share. All of the guards immediately turn on you, readying their weapons, but another pair of guards burst through the front door of the place, saying that "The Sea Witch" wants these very people to come inside. The soldiers start devolving into arguments as to who to follow, clear parties forming, and the door SLAMS shut behind them to interrupt them all before you can get a word in. Slowly, the door creaks back open. The guards wince, seemingly late, and then bow. The centermost merfolk nudge at you all and try their best to respectfully escort you in.

What an odd change of respect. At least now there aren't any weapons pointed at you.

The interior of the castle is somewhat improved over its exterior, but it's not amazing. The floor and walls sort of look like marble or tile, but it's not quite right. Must be some sort of merfolk innovation to make pretty buildings. They don't seem like they could live without pretty and noble environments.

There's a surprising amount of distance to be covered inside. Some rooms are off to either side, some of them being sealed off by bubbles to function as underwater windows - the sound is kept in or out, but vision is unimpeded. Presumably you could darken or tint the bubbles, too, in case you wanted a bubbly wall. A couple of the rooms are occupied by busy merfolk but neither of the groups turn to look at you. Apparently their work is very engrossing.

At the back of the castle is a shoddy stairwell. The guards leave you at the base of the stairs, quickly making excuses to abandon your group. Either they don't like you or they don't like what's upstairs. Maybe it's both.

Stairs are mostly just an afterthought for trying to comfort surfacers. When you can simply flow or swim upwards, stairs won't help too much. At the top of the spiral case is a markedly different interior, with some sort of water-resistant wood. A merfolk is working at a desk that's facing the entrance to the room. They've got some odd sort of turban on their head with a gem inscribed in the center. They don't look up until everyone has entered, upon which they snap up and smile pleasantly.

"Good day," he/she says. It's hard to tell what gender they're supposed to have. "I've already said things to you without your permission beforehand, so I'll just open the floor to you four. Ask any questions you could want of the Sea Witch."