It was wonderful. Truly marvelous what this place was capable of. If the spoken word had any potential for world changing consequences, this was the place to do it. And how obtusely accurate the council elders had been in their foretelling that this was indeed the place to go seeking out this force of sorcery, a combination of obscure properties all in a single place; one could feel its untapped potential just by setting foot in the structure, reading through the scriptures written all over the wall, seemingly one long incantacion, to be recited continuously… and given the size of the construction it was nigh impossible to tell just how long it could be, something inconceiveable to the modern day technology-ridden minds of most magic users of the current day. One no longer even needed to know the full incantations by memory, being able to recite them in unison with recordings… it was such a terrible state of affairs that spellcasting had been degraded to such a lowly practice!
To see such a long spell scrawled all over the walls of this place… who could have done such a thing? It seemed even the elders only had a faint inkling of how, or even who could have done such a feat.

During the long days of wandering around without much of a satisfying outcome, he had been able to get an idea of how exactly this place might operate. It was quite evident that the spoken word and intent were the main tools for harnessing the power tied up in this ancient rock, but something was missing. No matter how hard or loud he attempted to issue spoken commands, it seemed to barely trigger a reaction from the scriptures in the walls.
Something else was present in the wirting, however difficult it was to discern, one could begin to distinguish it while armed only with the most arcane knowledge, known exclusively to the council elders. They might be antiquated creatures, but they knew how to keep a secret.
The effort was akin to looking at the outline of an object from a far distance. It was possible to be sure there was something there, but no clarity could yet be gained. The lack of direct translations for some of the words in the writing made this an extremely difficult task, and would be mentally taxing even for the most savvy of magic users.

Alas, he thought he had some idea of what the special catalyst was for unlocking the power imbued in this massive structure: desire

Somehow, someway, the scriptures made allusions to desire being part of the casting process for this, but how?
Was intent not already some form of desire? Maybe a commanding tone laden with conviction was not enough, but there had to be some form of intense want for it? Would some form of rightgeous cause qualify as a viable conduit to trigger the magic embedded within these greyish damp walls?
All of these questions were all just academic musings he could probably leave for the council to mull over once he was out of this place. What mattered was that he had finally gotten the stone to realease some of its power, and now he had undeniable proof of its capabilities. He just had to find a way to transport his new living evidence out of here and back to the council in the central citadel. By pure coincidence, the spell's outcome was extremely convenient for what he had to do now, which was to take "Ashu" back to the elders to be examined: thankfully he wouldn't be able to protest much. Though it was somewhat disconcerning to see a mirror image of himself changed in this way.

The spell had been surprisingly silent and immedeate too, unlike modern day magic, which usually had noticeable and flashy ways of making it known that a spell was being cast. This was probably because elder magic of this type was created centuries before any sort of safety laws were put in place requiring spells to be obvious and clearly taking effect. It was spine chilling just how efficient and silent arcane magic was. It was one thing to be told about it, but it was another thing entirely to see it in full effect.

Still… he couldn't help but admire the outcome… he had never seen magic result in such… pristine effects.

---

"MRPH!" Ashu continued yelling, attempting to move his jaw to dislodge whatever might be covering it, now feeling at his snout with both of his hands, clawing at it to rip whatever was- !!!

Something wasn't right… while touching his snout, he couldn't feel anything that could possibly have been attached to it, not any kind of solid slime, strange magical gag or even ordinary duct tape… it was just… skin…. HIS skin.
He could feel his fingers on it as he touched it!
That wasn't right, how could that be?! He continuted to feel at the surface of his snout, a stronger sense of panic began to burrow out from between his racing thoughts, tears starting to form at the edges of his eyes, his breathing accelerating to a near hyperventilating rhythm.

"MNFFF!" he began tugging and pulling at his the skin now, the tugging being somewhat painful, the area now oddly sensitive… there was no longer any orifice to be found there… no matter how much he felt at it, there was nothing there blocking his mouth… not even a mouth to BE blocked!

"My mouth… " he thought… he almost couldn't bring himself to put together the only clear conclusion.
"it's…. GONE?!"

"MMNPH!!" no matter how hard he tried, it was futile. No words would leave his snout, his mind still not entirely adjusted to this strange new reality… had this been what the bright light had done?? How?!

"Well…" he heard his copy say right next to him

"Hmm…" the staring was so unconcerned, even playful…. had he figured out how to revert him back already??

"Yes…. you look much better this way…"

… ???

What the hell did he mean by that?!

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mmhh i love it when a character in this kind of transformation feels at the spot where their mouth was just now ... trying to make sense of what's happened nnghh

art by  n3sting3yes