In the great hall of the Stone Council, the large bell began to ring. In this chamber were five raised platforms, each with a detailed banner depicting the house sigils of the five ruling families of the Deep Dwellers. The highest platform displayed the sigil of house Hascavir, its emblem being a wand laid over a book. The second platform proudly displayed banner of the Smitehammers. That family was known for training paladins of Mantarok god of the Forge and War. The sigil was a flaming hammer and a pair of tongs. The third banner was for house Jinkbon. This being the family comprised of Gnomes and Deep Dwellers, they excelled in engineering feats and were mostly focused on crafting classes. Their house sigil was depicted as hands clasping in solidarity. The fourth and second closest to ground level was house Tuskaxe, the hunters. This was a green banner showing the image of a pair of giant’s tusks crisscrossed over a bearded axe. The Tuskaxe family was wildly popular with all the guilds due to their propensity to give out quests for large creature hunts. Finally on the last platform hung the shortest banner, that of house Bloodbeard. The sigil showed an image of a black dagger on a white circular background.

As the bell continued to ring, more and more surly looking Deep Dwellers began to populate the respective platforms. The bell hanging from the ceiling of this chamber finally rang its last as the Stone Council was called to order. Each house representative looked down into the center of the hall at a small dais. On either side of the dais stood a robed and hooded member of the Bloodbeard family. Atop the dais stood the Tuskaxe brothers Borrin and Corrin. They looked haggard and one of the twins was bleeding from his right shoulder.

“Why have you called an emergency council meeting?” asked the Sovereign of the Hascavir family.

“Goblins run rampant in the western hills. We were traveling with Daskus Bloodbeards group that went to help at Iron Mountain. As we were headed through the western passage we ran into—” Corrin began before being cut off by his brother.

“You’re telling it wrong, let me say it. They have built a fortification in the passage separating us from the Griffin Kingdom. Daskus decided we should force our way through the unfinished fortification and kill as many of the green buggers as we went. They have Orcs with them. The fight was nothing like the stories grandfather tells. They were vicious,” Borrin explained gesturing wildly.

“Nonsense. We haven’t seen Goblins since the purge, certainly not on the surface. Aren’t these the two who haven’t felled a giant yet, Grimbor?” asked another from the house Hascavir platform.

“Boys, tell the truth now. What happened after you engaged the Goblins?” questioned Grimbor Tuskaxe the sovereign of house Tuskaxe as his eyebrows furrowed.

“We fought through the half obstructed passage, but we lost some of our guards. At the edge was a steep decline and Daskus slapped the horse pulling our wagon. That sent us racing down the hill into the plains. He just yelled to us to warn the Shattered Sky,” Corrin explained hanging his head low.

“Where is my son?!” Kestus Bloodbeard asked visibly restraining himself from rushing across the gap.

Tantus held his hands out, palms flat and fingers extended as he tried to calm Deacon down. He appeared to have shape shifted into a ram the size of an ox. Deacon’s horns were black with a line of purple running through the middle. His fur was fluffy and white. Tantus’s concern was more around how erratic he was moving. The ram kept trying to stand it’s back hooves and falling over. Several times it fell on its back getting it’s horns stuck in the walls. When the horns came in contact with the wall, visible cracks started to appear, and crumbling sounds could be heard.

“Deacon, just calm yourself and try to change back,” Tanus pleaded.

“We may have to knock him out. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. If I wasn’t terrified, I’d be laughing at his attempts to stand up straight,” Typhus commented as he moved around to behind Deacon.

“Since when could he turn into animals? Did you two know about this?” Sophie asked backing up to the doors preparing to call for Alfred.

“I’m growing more concerned with what his horns are doing. I’m guessing this is the alpha ram he spoke about. He might accidently fire off that beam attack and ruin all the work Alfred and I put into this room,” explained Tantus.

That seemed to get through to Deacon who just sat back on his haunches. He looked around the room and tried to calm his heartbeat. Of course that’s when Amanda decided to push her way into the room past Sophie. She took one look at the scene in the conference room. Tantus was trying to calm a big ass ram while Typhus was sneaking behind it. That was all Amanda needed to see as she took out one of her daggers and jumped up on the table.

This of course alarmed the half calm Deacon and he charged for the door to escape a battle ready Amanda who he couldn’t talk down. Sophie dove out of the doorway and rolled to the side as the ram shaped Deacon barreled past her and into the main hall of the dungeon’s mansion.

“Amanda stop! That’s Deacon,” Typhus hollered.

Amanda stood up on the table looking confused. After a few heartbeats she put away her knife and hopped down off the table following everyone else out of the room. Out in the main hall Tantus had erected a blue shimmering shield from the ring on his right hand and was slowly approaching Deacon. For the rams part, he was stamping his right hoof in place trying to focus on his surroundings. That’s when the double doors that lead down to the practice field opened revealing Sun Wu and Alfred both with confused looks on their faces.

“Let me guess. The demon boy shape shifted for the first time and doesn’t know how to change back?” Sun Wu asked with a sneer.

In response to that remark, Deacon lowered his head in Sun Wu’s direction.

“Just calm yourself, lad. I’m sure the effect will just wear off,” counseled Typhus.

“Actually, no. He needs to remember who he is, or risk being trapped in that form. It’s the biggest downside of shapeshifting. I would start by thinking about how you met everyone here. Should instill a bigger sense of self. Make sure you place yourself in those events and make sure its not as a giant ram,” coached Sun Wu while making himself at home on one of the couches.

Deacon looked over at Amanda and remembered fighting her and Ralph in the guild hall. Then at Typhus, chuckling a little internally at the thought of his blade pointed at his crotch after the coffin door opened. When he turned toward Tantus he remembered the blackout they caused in the Tower and how they both woke up in the Guild masters office. Then he looked at Alfred, ruminating on their first meeting and how he offered to prepare a series of capes for him.

Green light began to pour off of Deacon as his form began to shrink. Hooves were preplaced with fingers and toes. Horns receded into his head, and he could finally stand upright again. He looked down at his soul energy bar and noticed that change cost him about one hundred percent of his soul energy. Then he was greeted with a flashing yellow prompt.

New Ability Learned: Primeval Alpha Shift- Due to your connection to The Hunting Grounds, you can transform into any Alpha beast whose soul you’ve consumed. Be advised that shape changing comes with its own set of hazards. At higher levels of this ability you can combine different aspects of the beasts you’ve collected. This ability costs one hundred soul energy and a collected alpha beast soul.

Deacon thought about what Alpha Beasts he may have defeated in the past and how that might help him in the future.

“What is The Hunting Grounds?” Deacon asked the gathered group.

“The hell of being constantly hunted. Like, forever. It’s usually reserved for the worst people who prey on others. Why?” Tantus asked after his explanation.

“No reason,” Deacon responded before diving into the rest of his notifications.

Quest Update: Class Specialization Quest- Create sympathetic links to five more planar dimensions. One out of five complete. Rewards- Legendary Specialization unlocked.

Quest Update: Path of Divinity- Defeating Sumna has placed you on the Path of Divinity. This quest will see you join a pantheon of your choosing after defeating ten demi-gods. Demi-gods leave behind a Shard of Divinity which is concentrated soul energy. These items are classed as legendary. Take care in how you use them. Two out of ten. Rewards; Deities Mantle.

Deacon noticed the quest to bring the children back hadn’t been completed yet. Maybe he has to go speak with the barkeep again. Now he’ll have to thank Sun Wu for the advice that helped him change back. Deacon wasn’t looking forward to that as the smug look on Sun Wu’s face grew even bigger.

“We should take a quick break. I need to go downstairs and turn in this quest. I think I’ve had enough excitement for one day. Anyone else have anything to add?” Deacon asked.

“Ralph is awake,” said Amanda flatly.