"You take me to the nicest places, Alptraum," Snow comments, and it isn't easy to tell if she's being satirical or literal, given her own proclivity for dark, musty places. At least it is warm down here.

"At least it is never dull with me, right?" Alptraum asks and flashes her a fangy smile. The warmth down here is pleasant and appreciated since the bat's right arm below the elbow feels a good deal cooler since he awoke from having the dagger slotted in his arm for a few hours. In fact, the Eeee has left it slotted since he awoke for some reason known only to him. It not only left his hand cooler, but three very prominent vein-like bulges stick out from his forearm. One at the tip of the sheath and one along each side. All of them seem to grow into the blade housing … and they aren't stationary. Each of the veins expands and contracts in a heartbeat rhythm as fluids and other ichor best left to the imagination flow between his forearm and the spirit knife, forming a union between the two. Every now and then the Eeee can't help but reflexively flex his fingers as he feels the pulsations quite well. "We're here to pick up devices to torment my friend, of course. And … to work out a pract

practice arrangement with the hog keeper. I'll offer to help him out as much as I can."

"Practice?" Snow asks, looking into a cell full of hogs. A few of them look back. Down further, Alptraum can see the Khatta boy asleep on his stool, shovel still gripped firmly in one hand (and possibly keeping him propped up).

"Transformation practice. Some of these hogs are prisoners. They make ideal subjects to improve my skill on," Alptraum explains. "And speaking of practice I was wondering if you could help me with a problem involving auras."

"Ah, I will help you if I can, of course," the woman says, and then blinks and asks, "Prisoners? How can hogs be prisoners?"

"The Countess turns the invading Gallesians into hogs using Melusine's power," Alptraum explains. "As for my need … I need to learn how to resist a rather powerful draconic aura. One of, well … seduction. Melusine is trying to get me to submit to her through seduction and inducing lust… "

"Oh, that's easy enough to work with, if you just need to built resistance," the Shrine Maiden notes, and then turns her attention back on the hogs. "So they used to be men?" she asks, and then seems to… do something. Alptraum can only feel the edges of it, but she's definitely working a glamour of some kind.

"Some of them yes. Some of them are regular hogs," Alptraum explains as he heads towards the sleeping Khatta, "And, er, what are you doing to them?" Alptraum pauses mid-step to look back at his human friend.

Two of the prison-cell hogs have pressed themselves to the bars to be closer to Snow now, and whine piteously until Snow stops whatever she's doing. "Oh, I was curious. My power is not effective on animals, but I wasn't sure if it would work or not on transformed men. But only half of them came, so maybe they eventually forget they were men."

"You were trying to arouse them?" Alptraum asks as his ears splay and the rings in them jingle.

"I probably shouldn't have," the girl says, turning her back on the longing pigs and coming over to Alptraum. "It might be a sort of torment, after all. Like being turned back into men for a few minutes to remember what they lost, before becoming pigs again."

"Those people hunt my kind and kill them for sport. I don't have a lot of sympathy for them," Alptraum admits and shrugs. He resumes his walk and when he reaches the boy he taps on his shoulder with the index finger of his right hand. "Hello?" he says.

"Augh!" the boy cries as he wakes up, then struggles to not fall off of his stool. After looking at Alptraum and the dark, cloaked figure of Snow, he asks, "Am I dead? Did the hogs finally eat me?"

"No, but I can eat you if you want," Alptraum says ominously and leans in. He can't keep the stern face for long, though, and ends up grinning. "Don't you remember me?"

Once the terror settles into mere horror, the boy nods and says, "You were green before. And you made Old Faithful explode. I had to get bits of bacon out of the rafters afterward."

"Well, I'm not here to do that today," Alptraum says and tries to console the lad by patting him on the shoulder. Of course he does this with his right hand. "I actually came to ask you for a hog ring to two and explanation of how to put them on someone without hurting them. I have a friend I want to freak out when he wakes up… "

"Oh, well… first you get the head into the pillory so it can't move," the boy explains nervously. "Then you have to use a leather strap to keep the mouth closed so it doesn't bite off your fingers. Once that's done, you take a heated hook and go up one nostril and through the gristle so the tip comes out the other one… "

Alptraum winces. "Can't one be placed without injury to make it look like it was fully inserted but in reality isn't? At least on a person?" he asks. "And … do you have any here that need to be ringed I could help with?"

"Well… how big is your friend's nose?" the hog-wrangler asks next. "I mean, our rings are pretty thick."

"About the size of mine," Alptraum answers. "So it doesn't need to be huge."

"Oh, you need to use jewelry then," the boy claims. "I… I think those just clip in? Or have a screw or something that goes through a tiny hole… or else just pinches. I dunno! I just do hogs… "

"So you don't have anything I can use?" Alptraum asks, sounding a bit disappointed though not terribly surprised.

"Not on a little nose, no," the Khatta says, shaking his head. "Maybe on a Rhian… "

"Do Rhians like to wear them?" Alptraum actually asks.

"Why would anyone like something like that?" the boy yelps.

"People are strange," Alptraum points out.

"Okay, so second reason I'm here. The Countess has given me permission to practice magic on the prisoner-hogs. So, how do identify them? Secondly, since I will be down here now and then to practice, is there anything I can help you with in managing them? I rather expect the magic practice will rile some of them up," Alptraum says.

The boy just blinks at Alptraum. "She has?" he asks, glancing back towards the still-barred prison cells. "We keep those in the cells, and real hogs in the pens… "

"You are welcome to confirm it with her," Alptraum says as he steps away from the scared boy and heads towards the cells to peer in.

The two hogs affected by Snow's aura are making moaning sounds and looking miserable now, while the other two in the cell are just… acting like hogs.

Alptraum kneels down to get eye-level with the two moaning hogs. "You did rather upset them, Snow," Alptraum remarks. He feels a momentary twinge of guilt, but reminds himself that these were invaders.

"They must be the most recent ones to be changed," Snow suggests. "There hasn't been an invasion in a while now."

"I could probably temporarily revert them," Alptraum says, "But that might be a bit too cruel. Hmm." He looks back to the Khatta now to ask, "How long have these been transformed?"

"Uh, the big ones are from before my time here, but the moaning ones… " the boy has to pause and use his fingers. "Five spheres, maybe?"

"What will happen to them?" Alptraum asks and turns to look back at the hogs. "Do you understand me?" he asks them.

The pigs back away from Alptraum, grunting nervously. "I don't think anything happens to them," the boy notes. "The Countess keeps them for ransom or 'just in case' or who knows what. Once she just came and stared at them until they made a real mess."

"Would either of you like a chance to walk on two legs again? At least for a little while? You are condemned to be a hog and will always return to your current state, but there is a chance of a reprieve now and then," Alptraum tells the hogs next. "It can be arranged."

The hogs bunch up and squeal at one another, but don't show any sign of having understood Alptraum's offer. "Do you want me to just bring one out, sir?" the Khatta offers.

"Yes," Alptraum says. The Eeee then looks to Snow and says gently, "You don't have to stay and watch. I don't want to upset you."

"Why?" Snow asks. "What are you going to do, turn them inside out?"

"No, of course not. Just try to make one … more Skreeky, perhaps," Alptraum explains.

"Like that lizard?" Snow asks. "Teeny-Reeny?"

"Avralie, similar. I will probably have to leave them somewhat hoggy so that ring doesn't cause them pain," Alptraum explains.

"Which one do you want?" the Khatta asks, looking uneasy about the whole thing.

"Has any one of them been a particular problem for you?" Alptraum asks.

"N-no," the boy says, in a tone that makes it clear he doesn't want to be responsible for which pig gets chosen.

Alptraum points to one to the pair that was moaning a bit ago, the smaller of the two. "That one," he tells the boy. "And you do not need to be so jumpy."

"I could make it look somewhat like you," Alptraum then teases Snow.

"I… don't think that would help my breakfast digest," Snow admits, as the boy carefully opens the cells and drags out the smaller of the hogs by pinching its ears. "Hurry and close the cage," he says, as he drags it towards the next empty cell.

Alptraum waits until the boy is clear of the door and then quickly closes it behind him. "Interesting technique, using the ears. Eeee parents do that to their children," he remarks as he absently rubs his own ear.

"I'm sure it works on all children, sir," the Khatta says. Inside the other cell, he connects a wooden chain to the hog's nose-ring and then hurries back out. "He's all yours."

"Coming in or staying out?" Alptraum asks Snow as he heads towards the cell and the hog within. He reminds himself that this is one of the people that invaded. He remembers the soldiers that carried stakes to use on his kind that he helped kill. Once he's reminded, it's hard for him to feel too sorry for the prisoner.

Snow slips inside the cell, as the hog retreats as far back into the corner as it can. "I'd better be here in case it needs to be calmed down," she says.

Alptraum nods. He continues towards the hog until he's close enough he can kneel down and still touch it.

The creature squeals and tries to squirm away, but is at the end of its tether now and hasn't anyway to go, so is easy to get a grip on.

"And now you know how Eeee felt that you hunted," Alptraum remarks as he reaches out and gets a firm grip on the bristly scruff of the hog with his right hand. His eyes narrow and the shadow spreads out from his hand rapidly.

The hog 'tastes' like a hog, although there's a shadowy flavor as well that reminds Alptraum strongly of Melusine. Unlike a real hog, however, this one feels… malleable. As if having been transformed by an actual shadow dragon has left it with no resistance to further change.

Alptraum's head tilts a bit as the taste flows through him, teaching him about its makeup. His head bobs once and then he concentrates as he applies Igorina's pattern to the hog before him, letting it take on her shape as much as is safely possible. As before, the pleasure of the act ripples through him; perhaps enough that Snow could feel it.

There's something a little too easy about the transformation; it's a rush, literally, as it almost races ahead of Alptraum's ability to keep up. What's more, he can tell that the subject is still conscious throughout it this time!

Alptraum forcibly tries to keep the transformation rate slower, his jaws gritting tight as he concentrates. He also suddenly wonders what the subject must be feeling if its awake through all of it!

It's slippery, getting control over it all again, but then it may simply have been finished anyway. As the shadow withdraws, Alptraum is faced with an exact copy of Igorina, violet eyes and all. The Skreek woman is shivering and crying and trying to curl up into a ball, her nostrils completely blocked by the heavy nose ring.

Alptraum releases his grip on the transformed girl's neck and then begins to lightly pet along her neck and upper back. "Can you understand me now?" he asks the Skreek. His voice is very neutral as he finds the conflicting feeling that this looks like a friend, but isn't her.

"Aaaaagh," the Skreek rasps, between sobs. "Mmmmrrrreeee… "

Alptraum continues to pet along her neck and back. "Think. Can you understand me?" he repeats. "Or has your mind faded to nothing more than a hog?"

"Nnnn! Nnn! Nnott… hog-g-g!" the Skreek stutters out. "Uhh! D-don… member… "

"You are a hog now. You have been given some time in another form, but your true shape was already set by the Countess and it is something I cannot change," Alptraum says simply. "Tell me, what did you feel just now?"

"Nno, no, no!" the Skreek wails, and tries to claw at Alptraum. "Kill me!" it begs. "Kill me before… before… "

"Before what?" Alptraum asks as he tries to force the claws away.

The Skreek is pretty weak from its ordeal, so it isn't difficult to intercept her hands. "Before… all gone… " the creature whispers. "Nothing left. No… mind… Eroding, little… little… ev'ry day… "

"I can help you keep what you have left through reprieves of the shape," Alptraum says, "But it is not my place to kill you, nor would I be allowed to. Your punishment was decreed by the Countess for you and your country's crimes against us."

The creature just wails forlornly then, causing the other hogs to grow restless… and the Khatta boy to flee.

Alptraum takes a firm grip on the back of the Skreek's neck again and lets the shadow flow back out to revert the Skreek back to a hog.

Once more there is no resistance, and very little power drain. Soon the former Gallee is back to being a frightened hog – but at least it can't wail now.

Alptraum takes a hold of its ears and unhooks its tether. "Come on, let's get you back with the others," he tells it.

The hog struggles, but doesn't risk tearing its ears and goes along. After getting the keeper to come back, the cell is opened and the hog returned to its original prison.

Alptraum wipes off his hands on his pants once the cell has been closed. "Thank you," he tells the boy and then looks to Snow to see how she is is holding up.

The boy doesn't say anything, and once the cell is locked he runs back to the far corner of the room and hides behind a support post.

"You don't have to be afraid of me," Alptraum calls after the boy.

Snow looks… impassive. Which probably isn't good. "Why didn't you kill it?" she asks. "Sunala is the last hope for those suffering pain and anguish."

"Because I am not allowed to," Alptraum says. "The Countess wants them to understand the suffering they put her and her people through. Remember that the Countess didn't start the war, the Gallee did."

"I don't think this level of suffering is warranted, though," Snow remarks. "They were made like this to be examples, so others would see the results of failure and think twice. Does she even know that their spirits and minds are dying? The older ones… there's nothing left in them. If you killed one, it'd just be an animal. Like the original person never even existed."

"Do you want me to show her what is happening, then?" Alptraum asks. "I can ask her to witness it.  But I do not know how she will react. Do you know what they did to her?"

"I'm not sure, Alptraum," Snow says quietly. "Maybe she already knows. But I doubt these men were personally responsible. It would worry me more if she did know, however, and chose to let it continue."

"All I can do is try to find out, Snow. I'm not heartless.  I think, I hope you know that by now. Neither is she," Alptraum says gently.

"Maybe now that she isn't linked to the dragon, she will be merciful," Snow offers.

"Maybe. The Gallee killed her husband, Snow. He was betrayed, they took him and beheaded him as an example of what monsters we Eeee are. They paraded his head around," Alptraum explains as gently as he can. "To most of them we're nothing but monsters to slaughter. I guess we see them the same way now. If I can do something, I will try, but I can't promise anything."

"No side is innocent in a war, ever. Babel taught me that lesson," Alptraum adds.

"At least if you have to make an example, you can use the dagger instead!" Kaira suddenly pipes in, her head appearing over Alptraum's hand. "If the Countess says these prisoners can die, don't forget that option! They were men, so shouldn't just explode like an animal would."

"Thank you Nurse Gruesome," Alptraum grumbles.

"Hey, I'm just saying you shouldn't waste a perfectly good death," Kaira says, before winking out.

"Are you going to be okay?" Alptraum asks Snow.

"I don't think I trust in the morals of dragons," Snow says. "I encourage that a painless death be considered, if the verdict is to end their suffering."

"I trust dragons to have no morals," Alptraum says and shrugs.

"Do you have earrings?" the Shrine Maiden asks.

Alptraum blinks. "Yes, I do. The ones I wear and a couple others I got to tease Hexen with. Why?" he asks.

"Oh, because the hog nose-rings are clearly not going to be useful," the woman comments.

"Oh, for Hexen?" Alptraum asks.

Snow nods. "Unless you planned to insert a ring someplace other than his nose?"

"So … do you still want to be my partner?" Alptraum haltingly asks the human. "Given the things I have to deal with, I can understand if you do not anymore. I won't hold it against you if you want to leave."

"Who better than me to warn you when you are straying towards becoming a monster, Alptraum?" the girl replies with a slight grin.

"So you think I am?" Alptraum asks. "I would hope that staying with me isn't just because you want to watch over me."

"You are my only close friend," Snow says. "I almost wish I could go with you to Babel… but the thought scares me to death."

"Nothing says you cannot go," Alptraum offers, "Though the things that happen there can be far worse than what you just saw."

"It's a city, maybe the biggest city, and too full of people and their emotions," Snow says, shaking her head. "I would be reduced to a quivering mass of flesh no more coherent than that pig was in a place like that."

"You cannot block them out?" Alptraum asks.

"Not on that scale," the girl says. "I was at my limit in Gromit."

"That just leaves me with Mave, then," Alptraum says, "And I don't trust her."

"There is a good chance I might not return. Babel is an extremely dangerous place and there are factions who would delight in my death," Alptraum says in all seriousness. "I have to be honest with you on that."

"You're taking your dragon with you too though, aren't you?" Snow asks, sounding worried now.

"She is always with me. But I am not sure how much she can do to protect me, other than now she can help disguise me by reshaping me," Alptraum explains.

"Well, I'll have to see I can get you to do more with your aura before then, at least," Snow says.

"Walk with me. There is something you should know," Alptraum says and waves for the girl to follow him out of the lower pens and into the stairwell for a more private chat.

Snow crowds in close to the bat. "What is it?" she asks.

"My father is the former Vizier and now Prime Minister, Thath, of Babel," Alptraum says quietly, "It is he whom I must go deal with and settle issues between us. He has many enemies, which makes me a target should they know of me."

"Maybe you really should go in disguise then," Snow suggests. "But, as the Barsunala, do you not have the protection of the Yodhsunala?"

"Of most I do, but there was a faction that sought to destroy me," Alptraum says, "And I do not know if they still remain."

"You can use my form if you wish," Snow offers with a smile. "Or go as a Sphynx. Either would be better than a hog or a wig, I think."

"You suggest I go as a woman?" Alptraum asks and arches his brow a bit.

"Are they so rare in Babel as to arouse suspicion?" Snow asks, arching her own brow. "You could use Mave's form, and keep your colors. Then you would be a Yodhsunala, and unlikely to be questioned."

"This is … hmm," Alptraum muses and taps the orb on his hand. "Kaira, is that workable? Could you use Mave's body-shape but leave my coloring alone?"

"If I used your body … you would have to teach me how to, well, be a human," Alptraum notes to Snow.

"I think so," the orb replies. "But then, you could have Melusine do it to you as your 'reward' if you like."

"Er, wouldn't it be permanent if she did it?" Alptraum asks the orb, "And any change you did to make me normal be temporary?"

"Yes," Kaira notes. "But for me to do it will take constant energy. And if Mel does it… well, that's extra incentive for you to return, right? Of course, we could just save for it the last minute before arrival."

"So if I had her do it, I would have to be … female for the entire trip except for moments where you made me my normal self?" Alptraum asks, wide-eyed about the prospect. "How much energy does it take fro you to hold me in a shape? How long does it last?"

"Since we can't change your eyes, however, only a species-alteration would truly allay suspicions," the dragon notes. "Just making you female… eh, who could tell from more than a few feet away, in one of those Yodhsunala robes?"

"Could Melusine change my eyes?" Alptraum asks.

"And well, if Mave's body-shape was used, the shape would shoe even in those robes," Alptraum admits.

"I'm not sure," Kaira admits. "Her powers are … well… more powerful in that regard. I can do things like this… " And then Alptraum's chest swells out, to make him as bountiful as Mave… but it doesn't really show a great deal through his clothing.

"You'd need much more revealing clothing, which would sort of ruin the Yodhsunala approach," Snow points out, as she casually feels up the bat.

Alptraum can't help but blink a few times. The Eeee then proceeds to feel his own chest to see how real it all feels. When Snow touches him, he squeaks a bit. "I, hm. I could go as Mave's daughter," he considers.

"But you may be right on letting Melusine do the shaping and as you said, it is incentive to return. How much energy do you need to hold me in a particular shape, Kaira?" Alptraum asks.

Things deflate back to normal, which is just as well, since Alptraum's one hand is really cold. "You are taller than she is," Kaira points out. "Sunglasses and Dr. Twig's body might be easier."

Alptraum looks to his cold right hand to check the orb as well as to feel over the flesh.

"The amount of energy required depends on the amount of change," the dragon explains. "A Sphynx takes a lot more than an Eeee, for instance. A female would take more than a male. And so on. Easiest is just your color and the shape of your right hand."

The hand is a bit cooler than the left one, but not cold enough to be outside the norm.

"Melusine isn't limited to too much to species, though, so it is a reasonable option. Would you feel comfortable letting her alter me that extensively?" Alptraum asks.

"Nope," Kaira says. "Not one bit."

"Do you think she would deliberately hurt me?" Alptraum asks.

"Not a lot, no," Kaira says. "But to have something to remind you of her, yes."

"I hate to say it, but having her do it would help with energy level concerns," Alptraum admits, "And what? Something to remind me of her? Like what?"

"If you are going to meet you father, I'm sure you will have to be recognizable to him at some point as well," Snow points out.

"Right, which is where Kaira could turn me back for that," Alptraum points out.

"Oh, could be anything," Kaira notes. "Pain when you urinate, a slowly spreading rash, bizarre hormonal shifts. The urge to eat broccoli. Little things."

"And that would remind me of her?" Alptraum asks, ears splayed in confusion.

"I never said it would make sense," Kaira points out. "And besides, you don't really have to worry about energy use, so long as you don't get separated from Tulani."

"Anyway, I will have to discuss it with her … and you, more later," Alptraum promises. "Right now I should go do aura practice or see if Hexen is unconscious and I can ring him. Then it's off to dinner with the parents."