Shattered Star

"...Well," he sighs through his teeth, "it concerns Anastasia and Ali.  Both of them..." Cade hesitates, trying to find the words.  "Last night, after we left, there was an... altercation at the church of Seranrae involving Anastasia and one of the priests.  Apparently her status as a paladin had been revoked and..." Cade takes a breath to calm his nerves, "...and she has been suffering from vampiric corruption for the past two years, the symptoms of which had worsened earlier that day."

"As for Ali," he continued, getting the news off his chest, "we found vials of what we later learned were wererat blood.  After we learned of Flynt's escape, they just... drank... one?"  Ali's actions, even in retrospect, visibly baffled the wizard.  "No explanation, just... in a single gulp."

"I see," Sheila replies. "This definitely does seem to be a problem for them, but if they were the first pathfinders to end up with some kind of permanent curse or condition then you could consider me the Emperor of Thassilon. It's not my business nor my prerogative to care about the curses or trauma of my agents unless they begin to actually cause undue harm to society and their compatriots. Has either of them been murdering innocent people? Have either of them attempted to murder or steal from you for no reason? Have they been scheming to kill innocents or preparing some villainous plot? If the answer to all of these questions is no then I encourage you to stop wasting my time."

"...Understood," Cade tersely replies with a curt nod.  With that, he retrieves his pack and slings the leather sack onto his back.  "Well, should anyone have need of me, I shall be within the Crow.  Good day, Lady Heidmarch."  At that, Cade takes his leave and continues onward to the docks.

After a little over a week of Ali and Ana living together, the day of the full moon arrives. As the sun begins to set, the two begin to prepare for what will certainly be an interesting night.

Ali bought a pair of manacles, and Ana bought a silver scimitar for just the occasion! After spending the day setting up, Ali is chained to the wall and Ana is ready to stand guard. The door out of the basement is locked as well, though they both get the feeling if the worst was to happen, Ali could easily just rip it off. "I must admit, I'm a bit nervous about all this"

Almost as if on queue Ali suddenly feels painfully hot and their heart begins pulsing faster in their chest. Their body is wracked with pain as bones reform and change. Their face sharpens in features as their teeth reshape to those of a rat. Their fur becomes longer, more wiry, and grey. As the process completes, Ali no longer looks like a hyena but a rat humanoid instead.

"Gah! It hurts!" Ali cries as it begins. Coming from someone who's at least semi-used to getting hurt should give an idea on how bad this process was. They pant as it ends, showing off their rat-like teeth. "I think...I'm still in control."

"Cool," Anastasia nods, leaning back in the chair she'd gotten to sit in throughout the night. "Not letting you out, but cool."

Ali was about to be mad but realized they'd do the same if the roles were reversed. "Wanna chat then? Seems like neither of us are going anywhere"

"Sure," Anastasia shrugs. "Beats sitting her silent and bored."

"Hmmm....Well you only know me as "the Scarred", yes? I have a last name though too. It's Winterhill." Ali hangs their head and chuckles, "Glad they can't see me now"

"No kidding?" Anastasia chuckles. "I figured you probably had family out there somewhere, but I never really thought about it. Come to think of it, I introduced myself as "of the Breaking Dawn" didn't I?" She chuckles again, a little louder this time. "I guess that doesn't apply anymore, so it's Vekova. Anastasia Vekova."

"Yeah? You said this was your house. I take it you come from wealth?" Ali shrugs a little, "My upbringing was comfortable monetary wise. Parents were nice enough but everyone else...They were horrible"

"We had opposite problems then," Anastasia shrugs. "My parents sucked, everyone else was 'nice enough.'"

"Opposite problems, opposite scars it seems. You have the same demeanor as those soldiers whose wars never end" They sigh and go quiet for a bit. "She was my first friend you know. Allies I've had, but no one to really call a friend. She was your friend too from what I gathered."

"Mm. A long time ago." Anastasia leans back in her chair. "About three or four lifetimes, to me. I was hoping to reconnect with her but with everything that was happening, it was never really enough time."

"Yeah, she was one of those who you feel like you knew your whole life, despite just meeting her...what a week or so ago?"They bite their lip for a moment as if not to cry but swallows and seems composed, "I made a vow not to let any more of you die. Let's hope I can do it"

"On my own behalf, I hope the same," Anastasia quips. "I'm gonna do my best too. Losing one friend sucked, and I hate to lose more."

"So we're friends now? Not that I'm complaining, mind you." Ali grins, "Since we're friends we should talk strategy in battle, I notice you do more when the attention's off of you. So let me take the heat and you can finish em off, yeah?"

"Old habits die hard," Anastasia nods. "I trained as a paladin but I originally learned to fight dirty, looking for weak spots and distractions to take advantage of. If you can keep them busy by being big and scary, that'll definitely make it easier for me to aim for the kidneys."

Ali grins again and nods. They make idle chatter until the sun comes up and they revert to normal.

After a good number of days, Meliora decides to head to the crow to see how the research into ancient Thassilon is progressing.

Meliora explores the Crow once more, the sound of ocean waves crashing against the stone structure's sides in the distance.  Seeing no one in the upper levels, she descends to the lower ones in search of the historian.  Eventually, she comes to the long, narrow room with the walls covered in a mural depicting the once-great bridge the Crow held above the waves and finds a disheveled Cade methodically writing notes.  His attention is fixed on the strange device on the opposite wall, yet he keeps a healthy distance between it and himself.  Meliora can hear him muttering to himself "Unknown device... perhaps demonic?  Magical divination... inconclusive... dangerous..." as he remains focused on his notes.

Meliora clears her throat, so as to not startle Cade. "Hey Cade," she says with a bit of an unsure smile. "How's the research going?"

"Hm?" Cade murmurs, looking around in confusion before noticing Meliora.  "--Ah, Meliora," Cade replies, grabbing the cuff of his robes.  "Hello.  I, ahem, I wasn't expecting you," he admits, using his sleeve to wipe his glasses.  "Though perhaps I should have.  It seems the news of the Crow's purging is taking longer than I have thought to go around.  Thankfully, for my research," he continues as he reaches down to his back resting against his leg, "the uninterrupted solitude has proven fruitful.  I've noted plenty of interesting pieces of data, though nothing exceptionally revolutionary given what we already known."  Cade then pulls out a large sheaf of paper held by two leather-covered planks of wood with a slender strap of leather pressing the covers tightly against his notes.  "These are what observations I've made so far on the various statues and murals we've found.  Would you like to take a look?"