Early Morning, Day One - Part 3

[Gauronne casts Slumber]

As Gauronne finishes the spell, the violent thrashing of the ex-driver begin to slow, until the half-man, half-creature is no longer moving save for some rather heavy breathing.

[Gauronne casts Probe, at a cost of 5 MP]

Through his magical probing, Gauronne notes that he is dealing with a very complex magical curse: it acts as though it were a blend of Transmutation Beam and Mental Mutation, though the Mental Mutation part is due in part to the introduction of some kind of other entity. Gauronne also learns that, unfortunately, the once happy man who picked up him and his companions has had his mind utterly dominated by this thing, which has essentially destroyed all memory the man has: even if Gauronne were able to reverse the curse [at a cost of 70 MP], what remains would essentially be an empty shell of a man, and Gauronne would then have to deal with a rather angry entity which could attack him or anyone else in his party.

The radiance of hatred from this entity is so much it is almost physical in its presence: the thing controlling this transforming body will no doubt immediately want to go after anyone associated with the party which a rather fierce physical attack. Though not magical in any way, given the size and strength of the final form of the creature, it will be a rather hazardous encounter.

The creature's body is now mostly transformed: fat has converted to height and muscle, the resulting body is now almost eight feet tall and more than half-covered with the thick, pink, bristly hide that was sprouting on it earlier. The clothes tear under the pressure, revealing a thick finger of a tail that is surprisingly uncurly and ragged at the end. The legs and arms thicken with muscle, the neck broadens, and the face twists into an ugly boar-like visage: large ears, fierce tooth-filled snout and heavy brow. The hair on its head is now almost like the mane of the horse, running down the back of the neck to peter off between the shoulder blades; this hair is thick and bristly, like a brush.

Meanwhile, Sarah and Mephis begin a hurried search of the taxi for something to defend themselves or to gain access to the locked trunk. As Sarah states "...that poor man.", her eyes catch a glint of metal amongst the pieces of rubbish littering the floor of the car. Grabbing at it, she finds that it is an old foreign coin. Mephis spots a first aid kit under the other seat.

And William remains seated in stunned silence in the car.