Chapter Three: The Last Dream of Mirza Horgul

"It...it wasn't long ago," Ghaman stammers, keeping his voice low. "My king got word of goblins in the near tunnels, and went out to look for them...the girl -- Marjo -- she asked to take a walk around the moat, and I felt I had no basis to refuse her, so...so..."

Ghaman trails off as Everil drops to his hands and knees. Something strange is happening to him. His breathing is heavy and labored, and thick black and white hairs are starting to needle their way out of his back...

Everil vomits. He starts writhing and scrabbling at the ground with his arms and legs as more and more hair pushes its way through his skin. He rolls his head back and you can see that his very skull has begun to change shape, flattening out and elongating around the mouth and nose...

Felor feels like Everil was panicking in a very Everil-centric way about losing the girl. Also, damned if it doesn't look like he's transforming into a giant badger.

Ghaman appears to be stressed out and fretting. The trolls seem largely indifferent.

In the span of just a few minutes, Everil's transformation appears to be complete. A man-sized badger stands in his place. He appears disoriented for a moment, taking tentative steps back and forth and jerking his head around, then darts out the door, bounds halfway across the bridge before leaping into the water, swimming toward the stream.

"This is not good. Not good at all," Ghaman whimpers, wringing his hands. "It'll be the girl from Gaad all over again."

Ghaman is a kobold, not a troll.

Ghaman squints at the shell. "Yes, that's Marjo. The girl from Gaad...oh, it was horrible. The king was inconsolable for weeks, so ashamed of what he'd done. All our hearts were broken. We thought she -- wait, who are you people? How do you know Marjo?"

Mordred: correct. More to come shortly...

The stream is about 4' wide. When Everil crosses the stream and begins to run up against the current on short badger legs, it only comes up to his chest.

"She...she must be headed for the Squalid Sett," Ghaman says. "It's the fastest way to Hazard, and Marjo was adamant that she be allowed to travel to Hazard as soon as the tunnels were made safe. But if the king follows her there...if he breaks the treaty...oh, this is a disaster, and it's my fault, my fault!" He starts grinding his knuckles into his forehead and weeping.

Everil is halfway up the stream, headed toward the tiny cavern mouth it flows out of...