Darius undergoes a GLORIOUS transformation, becoming something greener...STRONGER, and much less effeminate.
I'll give him a moment to take in his new orc-y nature.
"What? Oh, I can use some basic mending magic, sure Jones."
V does so.
Darius looked at where his hands should be and saw they did not appear, instead a luminescent form replaced them, if not all of his body. There were other such creatures around him, bodies of strange-humming light aimlessly hovering around. It made him uncomfortable somewhat, reminding him of the Color out of Space of that poor woman and her loss of child. Wait, why was he here? Should he not have woke up by now?
" Where is this place ! " He spoke, though it came off as tune rather than from where his lips were supposed to be, in his usual demanding voice. None responded, though his listening brought forth more than he wanted. Some of the orbs were making facsimiles of sobbing, some cursing in guttural tones, others regretting their choices, the most unsettling being what seemed like a child's voice begging for their parents. It was as if they were lost, stuck inside their own world. The realization crept up his core.
" I see.... I am dead. This is not a dream. " He had supposed that it would come off more somber or disappointed from his own 'mouth' but it was content. He knew of certain regrets, of changes he could have made in his life. There was also the fact he achieved much for both himself and his Goddess. Rid the world of terrible beasts that preyed on the innocent as a Hunter, more recently however he had proved a wronged individual innocent, restored order among one of his hated prey, and stuck back against not one cult but two. It seemed his round had ended abruptly, that was his reason for being here.
A light pierced the landscape, a warmth he felt familiar with alien as the sight was, as his form rose once more being brought into it. He could see the lick of flames but a bright sky and pleasant hum. It seemed he was being Claimed. He let it happen not knowing how long he wandered among the previous land. Was it Pharasma's Waiting room? The trip sped up much like before, this time with reds, yellows, and whites all around. He could see the plane he gathered from his past knowledge. He thought about all he did, pondering his choices. Could he have done more? Did his allies defeat that monstrosity? They were quite capable in their own right though Zin needed supervising and sometime they all needed Direction. Should he leave that all behind for the final reward? Could he leave a job half fulfilled? The speed at which he traveled began to slow.
" I am not one to leave a hunt half-finished. That is insulting of the Ral'algul name. Not to mention how much Zin likely is pestering me for falling in battle. Sledge probably smashed the creature and Jones finding a means to fix this. We still need repair the twit Elf and escort the Dhampir. So much left undone, embarrassing. But what am I to do? " Right as he had spoke the trip was nearing its end, the opening growing wider. And then, he stopped. A force had called to him from behind, urging him. What could it mean when his Goddess' sanctuary was so close? To life? Darius' soul was being called back to life, but he was so close, and this form did not have the ability to do so on its own. He felt a gentile nudge, a feeling of immense warmth and mercy. And only caught a glimpse of his patron's grinning face and Flaming Wings before being thrust back into the darkness.
The orc struggled a moment mumbling somewhat before red eyes blurry gaze upon the sky and some odd shapes. Why did his eyes hurt so much? Ugh, and he felt weaker.. yet far more powerful at the same time. Groaning, Darius sat up and looked around. " What took you all so lo- " He stopped, his voice not his, but a octave lower and strange accent. His mouth was awkward and.. was his underbite this notable? He knew he had a muzzle.. no wait his face was flatter. What had happened? Darius looked upon his form as his eyes became more clear, his skin was a deep forest green, he had powerful thick muscles along the arms, chest and legs with immense definition along the thig- " WHY IN SARENRAE'S NAME AM I NAKED?! "
Darius looked clearly peeved, though not bothering to cover himself. " And why am I green? I feel like I have been accosted by a wagon, twice. "
"You're an orc now."
" I'm an Orc? Please inform me how such a thing has happened? Last I remember we were purging Mi-Go from that undersea dome. Then a creature emerged from that man, to which I dealt with... Then... " Darius seemed frustrated.
He inspects his form more, it was strange beyond belief that this body reacted to his thoughts, standing up notably taller than before. " Sledge, you got shorter.. "
"You got taller. Reincarnation."
"Follow me over here real quick. And put these on. They'll be short, but they'll fit your frame."
Sledge hands Orcius some pants designed for his own extraordinarily bulky frame.
Orcius follows Sledge and raises a brow at the gift but accepts it all the same. " How troublesome, my b=clothing is going to have to be refitted completely. Reincarnate? I suppose there was no safe place for anything else was there? No ofcourse not, my luck. I'll have to get used to all of this. Pinches somewhat. It seems my hair is the same at least. " Running his orcish fingers through the ink black mane.
He looks around at the rest, " I am not even fully sure how to fix this. Though I suppose this is better than the alternative. What of our progress, did you all complete this job? "
"Yeah, fully done."
While Darius pulls the pants on, Sledge will whisper just loud enough so only the highly-perceptive nearby orc can hear.
"Zin went insane. She was super clingy to your body, don't know how she'll react to this. Vanne's clearly pretty unstable too - acting like he didn't trust us. We're gonna get 'em some heals somewhere."
Jones waits until Darius is decent before speaking.
"We've learned that the Whispering Way was planning to receive Raven's Head - that extremely powerful mace we found - in exchange for the Seasage Effigy, then bring the mace to Caliphas. It is the final ingredient in completing the Carrion Crown, which I believe is some sort of artifact that will be used to release Tar-Baphon from imprisonment. We haven't decided what to do with it now, as destroying it is near impossible."
"Also...Doctor Croon has advised us to avoid returning to town. For obvious reasons."
Vänne blinks at the sight of the reformed Darius. "Did you see her, Darius? Did you see the lady of the Sun? Like...face to face?"
Darius leaned back as he shifted somewhat in the pants, keeping his eyes forward but speaking in a similar tone back to Sledge. " How crazy are we speaking here? Zin had outbursts before, did something happen as I expired and how did you calm her down? Or did she simply tucker herself out? "
Orcius sighed, " Why do I believe there is more to the key than that? If it was so important wouldn't it have been more prudent to secure the artifact? Though so far we have defeated their group at every end. Likely another piece is in Caliphas. "
The orc's eyes moved to Vanne, " I see my Lady every time I look towards the Sun Vanne. Though right now it seems to be difficult with this form. "
"Legitimately insane. Thought you were asleep, not dead, despite all evidence to contrary."
" So you went along with her mindset because it was easier. Now on this obsession, what do you mean? If anything wouldnt that make it obvious I had, as much as I loathe the idea, died? You are leaving too much out Sledge, people just dont get more insane for no reason. "
"She saw the thing - Jones called it Shub Nugath, I think - and went insane. Fixated on your body."
Jones sighs at Sledge's inept explanation
"We destroyed the Dark Young shortly after it killed you. We were then given a momentary glimpse of Shib-Niggurath itself, which left Vanne and Zin vulnerable to further mental assault. Immediately afterward, Zin started panicking and demanding that you "wake up". Then your body reverted from its mutagenic form, and she nearly boiled all of us while screaming horribly."
Jones crosses his arms. "So yes, we went along with her delusion. Better than allowing her to incinerate the submersible from within before we reached the surface."
Darius nods then looks to Vanne and Zin sporting his signature grin. He begins to speak out loud, " It seems I was gone for quite some time. My body wasnt able to move. I'm all better now, if nothing else only mildly sick. "
Looking to Jone and Sledge, " I apologize for slowing down our progress, though its strange what magic can do to you. What are your thoughts on selling our findings so that we can have a good nights sleep in a respectable inn. I'm sorry to say that Sledge's back was not likely the best of places to.. retire. "
"I'm afraid we won't have access to a respectable inn for about two days. Thrushmoor is the nearest town in which we are still welcome."
"Which isn't to say that Illmarsh had any respectable inns." he adds with a smirk.
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Vanne mutters a paranoid farewell to the party and wanders off while you're discussing other matters.
Z had been monitoring Darius throughout their trip to the surface.
The trip back through the casket was interesting.
Sledge and Jones had tried to dissuade her, but Z wouldn't hear of it, Darius was to share the space with her. He needed protecting in his vulnerable state.
Being pressed up against him in such an enclosed space would surely cause an argument were he to be awake. But here in the quiet and the dark, she felt quite content.
She felt something liquid and cold drop onto her face from above and realized that Darius must be drooling on her in his sleep. But rather than shake him awake, she found she didn't mind so much, at least he was sleeping soundly.
When he wakes up I really should scold him for being so careless in battle, he could have been injured much worse.
But then.. she began to reason, It is probably my fault he even was hurt at all. I should have done something to help. He needs protecting, because he won't protect himself. Z nodded to herself and wrapped her arms around Darius, he wasn't in a state to complain.
After emerging from the coffin, the others spoke with the professor. It was all very uninteresting, and Z found herself more concerned with playing with Darius' hair. She had managed to make several braids in it by the time Jones approached.
In the next few moments she saw Darius transform into a large green version of himself and awake from his slumber.
This man spends more time being everything else but his actual self I swear.
Z attempted to scowl at Darius, but found her braids matched with his new form to be quite amusing and she caught herself smiling at him instead.
"Who goes to sleep in the middle of battle, you're a piece of work, you know that?" she laughed. Though, she wasn't quite sure why. But it felt good nonetheless, there had been little laughter lately.
Suddenly Z was aware of how awkward she must appear, laughing like that so suddenly, and she realized her face was still covered in Darius' drool.
Oh gods, I probably look ridiculous right now.
Z tried to look away, but she only could match eyes with Darius.
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Orcius could look at Zin and tell something was, different. Not exactly off but her reaction, no rather expressions were focused and hints of amusement. When she normally smiled it was at the sounds of enemies burning, but right now it was as a relatively normal Human woman would. He noted the strange liquid on her cheek easily and reached down to his equipment finding the handkerchief normally stuff in his front right pocket.
" The constant use of magic eventually deemed I close my eyes apparently. That happened to be in battle. I don't plan to do so again. Now if we are talking about piece of work, I think you no better, walking around with this. " He wipes along her face with it handing the handkerchief to Zin to finish whatever he missed.
" You can hand that back to me once you've washed it. Otherwise my pocket will be bare, it will ruin the fashionable aura I release. " a tusked grin answering her laugh. It dims slightly as he finds the braids in his hair are much more intricately woven than he though as his hand moved through it.
Jones can't help but chuckle at the exchange.
"Good to see you two getting along as usual."
Darius' grin turns into slight scowl as he looks to Jones, " And what do you mean by that? I'm away for a bit and this happens. These braids won't come out. I swear you are worse than Amanorn. I literally can't take my eyes off Zin for a day without something going wrong. "
He turns back to look at Zin and begins to notice her stare is eerily focused. He coughs into his right fist. He spoke aloud. " Didn't you say the Raven's Head was a powerful Artifact against Undead? Why don't we simply leave it at a church of Pharasma? "
Jones's smirk only widens.
"If it's any consolation, I think those braids suit you. I believe that hairstyle is quite popular among Or-" he stops himself with a sideways glance toward Zin. "...among green-skinned monster hunters."
He clears his throat, his expression becoming serious instantly. "Well, taking it to a Pharasmin church certainly isn't a bad idea. It shouldn't be too hard to find one in Thrushmoor. Even if they won't take such a powerful artifact, they'll certainly lead us to someone who can."
"Sounds like a plan."
" Hrmph, then it'd be better not to waste time here. I still feel weak, we have much too many materials to sell and I intend to alleviate that soon. "
Darius began to place on his ill-fitting armor and equipment, taking a while to get ready. " Let's go. "
Your journey to Thrushmoor is uneventful, no more tentacle beasts blocking your way.
You find a small Pharasmin temple there, staffed by a trio of priests.
The orc approaches the priest with an air of civility, " Greetings Pharasmans, I am my party come to exact services from your church and if possible a favor. My appearance may alarm you but rest assured I am not what I seem. I used to be much more elegant as a half-elf. "
The head priest nods his head sagely.
"This is why Druidic magic is inferior to the pure power of the divines, child. No risk of being transformed into a lesser being with our spells."
"What favor do you ask?"
" As you know, such magic leaves one weak and thus require spells to restore my vitality to what it once was while I adapt to this form. The other is much more dire. We need for you to assist us in securing an artifact that is... very important to your goddess in particular. "
Darous looks about to see if there are other persons around besides those he would deem fine to know.
"Oh? Please go on..."
Jones drinks Echolocation and an allocated Elixir of Vision before entering the church. While Darius talks to the priests, he scans the room to make sure they aren't being spied on.