In which my adventure concludes

I gave Qual a little tickle in the tummy and sent her on her way. Sorel had moved behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I want in," she said.

"Excuse me?" I asked, surprised.

"Well, there's no way I can fight you, and I figure you couldn't screw up the world any more than it is now."

"That's it? No recriminations about my subversion of free will? No threats to destroy my evil reign of terror?"

Sorel laughed. "It's perverted, but hardly evil. I don't think you have evil in you, Quinn. Or Tama Hama. Or whoever you are."

"Quinn."

"Well, Quinn, I'm still Sorel. And I despite everything that happened I'm still the same person who set out on this adventure a month ago. And you know why I joined our little party, right? I wanted power. And while I always assumed I would find it in some dusty manuscript or some glowing relic, I have found it. It's not what I imagined, but it's in you. In us. Quinn, you're about to change the world, and I want to get in on the ground floor."

"Are you sure? Because there are bound to be powers who will try to stop me that we haven't even considered yet."

"It doesn't matter. I like who I am now. I like how I feel now. I like being a woman." She cupped her magnificent breasts which were identical to mine. I really needed to take more time to admire our racks. "What you're doing...well, it's kind of how."

She grabbed me by the hands and looked into my eyes. "But there's more to it, Quinn. Even if you wanted to turn the whole world into donkeys, I would stand by you. I care about you. I love you. I'm so glad it was you that found this power."

And just like that, I had my first follower.

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Epilogue

Sorel and I made love for a month. With immortal bodies that needed neither food nor sleep, we could focus on what was really important. Even without using my powers, we could bring each other to heights of bliss and remain in that state for hours. I used my transformative powers to try out some really freaky stuff, adding limbs, sex organs, and even trying sex as entirely new species. Always we came back to the form of the goddess, for in it we found perfection. We could feed off of each other's pleasure, and use it to fuel our own orgasmic joy.

I would have gone on for centuries, but it was Sorel who reminded me that a month had passed. I was curious to see how the world was progressing towards the wonderland I had imagined. Gathering Ev and Aleandra, who had done a great job of rehabilitating the manor over the past month, I closed my eyes and wished us to Viridistan. Viridistan was the largest city in the world. It was about a thousand miles to the west, and it was a major cult center of Tama Hama. Somehow, it seemed fitting.

When I opened my eyes we were there, in the great public square in front of the palace. It was the middle of the day and, as expected, it was crowded with people. But what people! Every single person in sight was a beautiful woman, each so lovely that the old Quinn would have killed just to be in their presence. Each had an angelic face, a slender, lithe figure, and impossibly large and round breasts. Most were human, but I also saw all varieties of elves, some cat-girls, and even a few centaurs. Mermaids frolicked in the public fountains. Several fairies buzzed about, each identical to the form I had given Qual, sprinkling dust which would ensure these beauties would stay young, healthy and gorgeous forever. And everywhere I looked, these lovelies showed affection to each other. Even as they went about their business, strangers kissed as they passed. Merchants and their clients fondled each other. And there was no taboo against couples making love in the streets. I could feel myself growing aroused at the sight of my earthly paradise.

But then everything seemed to stop as the throng grew aware of my presence. They knew me for what I was, and they bowed to me. The busiest city in the world grew quiet, awaiting my proclamation. I amplified my voice and addressed them.

"People of Viridistan, my people, you please me with your beauty. Now please me with your bodies and your lust. Your pleasure will be my power, and my power will be your eternal joy. Today is a day of celebration!"

And with those words, strangers fell upon each other in a mob of passion. A city of sixty thousand became one giant orgy. Ev and Aleandra were going at it at my feet, and Sorel embraced me from behind, grabbing my nipples and nibbling my ear.

It was good to be the goddess.

My new look for Ev and Aliandra

Honestly, the Amazon look just wasn't doing it for me as far as Ev and Aliandra were concerned. I changed them into something closer to my ideal. They have become my missionaries. Anyone they kiss will become identical to them in every way, including their desire to change as many people into my servants as possible.

And they call me evil...

Amazons in Love

Ev and Aleandra share a moment. I think Ev is the one who left her bracers on. Doesn't really matter because after I caught them doing this, they both kicked my ass.

But it was worth it.

In which Sorel and I check out each others goodies

Well, Sorel was the only one who wanted to talk with me about what I went through. She took it upon herself to make me comfortable with my body. Well, our bodies. Whatever. So we went to our spot on the cliff and she strips naked and encourages me to do the same. i don't know what I was thinking, but I did it. Damn, but we looked hot. I suppose if I had to give up my scarred old body, this would not be a bad second choice. And Sorel was giving me that look again. It was clear that her feelings hadn't changed.

In which most of the party goes furry, and I get my own Sorel to play with

One benefit of a day off is that I found the stable door in the east wall, mostly overgrown by brush. We cleared it away and had another access point. Before we can open the door we hear what sounds like a fight coming from within, along with the screams of horses. We charge in to find a unicorn and a nightmare locked in combat. We were used to things being not what they seemed in the manor, so we watched for a few moments. Then, however, Qual, Ev, and Alaindra began to change. They grew and their bodies elongated, and before two seconds had passed all three of them had become unicorns. Sorel and I just stand there stupidly and watch as the four unicorns proceed to completely gore the nightmare to death. Its body instantly burned to ash a second after its chest stopped heaving. Gradually, the drawrf and the two amazons morphed back into their usual forms, but the girls were in completely different armor. Now they wore golden plate that was perfectly molded to their bodies (down to their immense bosoms). Atop their shining helms was a unicorn horn on each. Turns out that because they were virgins (ha!) they were rewarded by the gift of lycanthropy, only now they were were-unicorns. They seemed pretty pleased with this. Aleandra whispered something in Ev’s ear and they both started grinning wickedly. I don’t want to think about it. Qual was pretty bummed about things by this point. From his point of view, if he’s going to get changed into a horse, he should at least get something cool out of it. I told him to be patient. He’s going to wind up a bimbo sooner or later. He laughed, but he looked a little worried, too.

Ev and Aleandra seemed to think it was great fun “playing unicorn” with each other. One would transform and give the other a ride, and then later they would switch. Since one wound up carrying both bow and poleaxe, it was growing increasingly difficult to tell them apart. I mean, if I were turned into an exact copy of someone, I would do whatever it took to keep my individual identity—tattoos, a haircut, new clothes, whatever. But Aleandra has been training with a bow and Ev has been sparring with the poleaxe. They always dress alike. It’s as if they want to forge a single identity between them. On the plus side, they seem to have an almost psychic link in battle, and the two of them are far more lethal together than they would be separately. On the down side, Ev has started to cop Aleandra’s belligerent attitude towards anything with a penis. And those are increasingly hard to find in our party, so I take the brunt of it.

Our path took us north through the carriage house, where a ghostly procession stormed past us. These apparitions are horrible for my nerves. I get all ready for a fight, only to have the threat disappear. It’s almost as if the house is mocking us.

We found some stairs going up. We seemed to think it was important to clear the upper levels before everything else, so we decided to explore above. We entered a dining room that had a mummy in the middle of cooking something in a pot. He ignored us for a while while he finished his stew. Then he tried to drink it. That’s when we decided to attack (see what I mean about this place getting to you? It’s next to impossible to know when an encounter is dangerous and when it’s just a bizarre event). Ev and I took a beating, but we avoided contracting mummy rot, so I score it a victory.

The next room had one of those freaky apparitions, a ghostly woman who accused us of killing her son. Nothing lootworthy. The next room, though, was some kind of prison where a half-man, half-bear was chained to the wall, dying before our eyes. Suddenly the chains in the room sprang to life (and there were a lot of chains in the room. They were too slow to grab the Amazons, Sorel, or me, but they grabbed Qual and lashed him to the wall. The chains put a bear-shaped helmet on his head. We cut him down before they could do further damage, or so we thought. Qual took of the helm and smashed it to bits. It should have occurred to us at the time that this was an unusual display of temper for the Dwarf.

We found stairs going up, but it was immediately apparent that a secret door concealed half the level from our sight. Even without Ev’s elven eyes, we found it without too much trouble. There was a library, full of magical books. Sorel, to her credit, did not rush inside. There was a stuffed sabre-toothed tiger in the room which *surprise!* came to life just as we decided to hack it to pieces in order to prevent it from coming to life. As usual, it was a straight up fight, and that brought out the best in us. We all knew our roles and set to work…and then Qual turned into a bear. In a way, I guess he got his wish to turn into something cool. But unlike the girls, who seemed to keep control of their wits when they became unicorns, Qual just went completely berserk when he transformed. He ripped the tiger apart (after I had already done a lot of damage, mind you). Then he turned on me and nearly mauled me to death before we could calm him down again. We were both freaked out by that little episode. Qual wanted to rid himself of that curse, while I saw certain advantages in his condition, if only he could control it.

Beyond the library lay an artist’s studio, a room I wish I had never visited. There was a huge lump of clay, roughly human sized and shaped but without features on one side of the room, while on the other, a skeleton appeared to be painting a portrait of it. It threw a canvas over its work before we could see it. Naturally we tried to smash the skeleton, but it kept reforming and trying to shoo us out. I took the canvas off the painting, and the skeleton crumbled to dust.

That’s when things got weird. The clay thing animated and picked up the palette and brushes and gave them to me. Then it blocked the door until I started to paint. I was at a loss as to what to do, until I saw Sorel. The light coming through the window made Sorel look sexy and angelic at the same time. Inspired, I started to sketch her form. Somehow, the brush knew what to do. I’m no artist, but each stroke of the brush made the painting into an exact likeness of Sorel, almost as if I were looking at a reflection of her in the mirror. She seemed happy to pose for me, but the others were on guard in case any threat should materialize. Then, in less than ten minutes, I was done. No painter had ever captured such loveliness with such precision. I turned the portrait around so that Sorel could see it, and that’s when the clay thing changed until it became an exact duplicate of Sorel, wings and all.

Well, Qual wants to cut it in half right off the bat. It panics and runs behind me, seeking protection. That’s when Sorel gets pissed off and wants to kill it also. But it doesn’t do anything to threaten us. Instead, it seems perfectly happy to follow me around, smiling at me with Sorel’s angelic face if I so much as look at her. So, over the objections of Qual and Sorel, we decide to allow her to tag along. After all, we decide, she might be important later. And the Second Sorel seemed perfectly content to carry things for us, though she apparently knew none of Sorel’s magic and she seemed incapable of speech.

Aleandra said something like “Well, Quinn, at least you have a Sorel who will play with you now.” Sorel got unbelievably pissed at that, and from where I sat, it was a pretty rude thing to say, and I said so. We decided to call the fake Sorel something else and cut her hair, to keep them distinct. So fake Sorel became “Golem,” and it was a shame to lose that sexy long blonde hair, but I figure it was for the best.

In Which Sorel Also Finds Out That the Manor Has a Pervy Sense of Humor

So once again we’re standing in front of Tegel Manor. It’s a day later, our base camp in the outbuilding is a little better provisioned, and we are the only adventuring party in the world that has identical twin amazons. All day long, they thought it was funny to switch weapons, since that was the only way to tell them apart. It’s not like I ever told any deep dark secrets to either of them, so I saw it as a joke. Sorel, on the other hand, seems even more hot and bothered than usual. Qual sees the whole episode as a meaningless distraction. He just wants to get back into the manor, kill some things, and take their stuff.

We entered by the back door again and decided to check out some of the doors along the long hallway. The first room contained a long-dead orc hanging from the ceiling and some giant rats. Not much challenge there. The room to the south was a bit more of a challenge. In what had been a bedroom, there was a Black Pudding. We had fought oozes before, and we knew what to do, but that did not make it any easier. We knew that the slimy creature would corrode any weapon we hit it with, so we all switched to backup arms. With flame and club, we beat it down. Of course it split into smaller blobs, so that made teamwork really important. Aleandra and Qual both got slimed on her legs, leaving really nasty injuries. Potions helped put them right.

There was a statue of a woman in that room, a real looker. Qual went to check it out once his leg was better, and you could tell that it was magical when he went all rigid upon touching it. A second later, he was talking in such an imperious manner that even Sorel took offense. Then there was the sashaying. Dwarves don’t sashay. Ever. So, duh, do you think he was possessed? We had to give our dwarf a beat-down to subdue him. When we got him to speak clearly, he said that he was Rhian the Remorseless, a Rump from a century before. She was the babe depicted in the statue. I convinced her that she really didn’t want to be a dwarf, but that we would find a suitable host body for her. I told her about the hot serving wench in town whose body she could use. She didn’t really have a choice, as she had a whole party ready to slay her. She went back to the statue. Then we smashed it. I mean, really. Don’t fuck with my dwarf.

The next room was artificially chilly. It was a well-preserved bedroom. This one had a wax effigy of Rhian on the bed. We did not touch it. If I got one lesson from Tegel Manor it was this: DON’T TOUCH ANY FREAKIN’ STATUES!

The next room was even colder. It contained a bunch of weapons, some of which detected as magic. We stashed them—a hand-axe, a dagger, and a short sword—for later. The door slammed shut behind us, and we faced the unpleasant prospect of freezing to death. Judicious application of brute force on the door eventually opened it. I suggested to the Amazons that we huddle together for warmth. I’m not sure which one of them kneed me in the nuts, but it was totally uncalled for.

A giant frog was in the next room. Why, I don’t know. We were far from a swamp. But I had given up on using logic to make sense of my manor. As if to reward me for my suspension of disbelief, the slimy bastard nearly ate me. I found out what the inside of a frog looks like, and I got bludgeoned as Qual and Aleandra cut me out.

The next room was kind of cool, if somewhat frustrating. It was nothing but quarters for the servants, but it looked like someone had trashed it. Turns out that gravity periodically reversed in there. So we fall up. We fall down. We fall up. We fall down. We fall up... well, you get the picture. We eventually caught on, too. I sort of want to keep that enchantment when I take over this place. Could be fun, in the right circumstances.

We found a grisly trophy room next, where two giant beetles were hiding inside a stuffed octopus. Not too much trouble. A painting in the next room came to life. It was a battle scene, and a few arrows came flying out of it. One hit Sorel. I thought that was funny. In response, he threatened to turn me into a pig.

Next we find a chapel or something, off that hall with the talking pictures. Not much to say about it. No lingering evils or bound demons to menace us. We did find three magical animal masks—a falcon, a wolf, and a tiger. Sorel convinced me they were safe, so I tried the tiger mask on. OF COURSE I couldn’t get it off, and it transformed my face so I look like a tiger. On the plus side, it made me stronger and quicker. On the down side, I had to put up with the laughter of everyone else. I said it was a good time to go back to town. Everyone reluctantly agreed. So it looks like our little camp is never really going to see any use if we keep getting transformed like we do.