Killian (soon to be known as "The Valiant")
Human Being
35 years old
5'10", 190#; muscular, strong
Wavy, brunette hair, worn loose onto his shoulders.
Light brown eyes.

The middle of the night
Sometime in late winter:

Killian stood at the ship's wheel, struggling to keep the vessel heading into the wind and waves. The storm had struck suddenly without warning, as if the Gods didn't want them to reach their destination.

The irony, of course, was that the Known World, as it was called there, had already been in their sight for six hours before the sun went down. Killian estimated that they'd been less than 6 miles from the Mouth of the Western Yall when the sun went down.

With reefs and shoals, it had been too dangerous to attempt to enter the river in the dark. They'd decided to wait out the darkness, using the drift anchor to keep them steady in the swells and pointing one specific direction. They had only to wait until sunrise to enter the bay and find a nice place to port.

The storm had changed all that, of course. Killian had no idea where they were now in relation to the Western Yall. He had no idea where they were in relation to the coastline at all. Or its reefs. Or its shoals. There was nothing but blackness around them, blackness and rain.

A bolt of lightning shocked Killian. Not because of the light of death but because of what it illuminated: land, very near to the ship. Killian attempted to steer the boat south away from the land but to no avail. A moment later, the boat rose high on a swell, surged forward toward the land a hundred feet or so, and then came down, right upon an underwater shoal that immediately and naturally ripped through the hull.

Map of the Known World

Rayna of Fenwater

• Swamp Elf with magical powers.
• 16 years old.
• 4'11", 102#; slim, with modest, firm breasts and a shapely ass.
• Straight, fine, brunette hair; when not up in a bun or in braids, it reaches her waist.
• Hazel-green eyes.
• Pointed ears.

Rayna clutched the small sailing vessel's mast, fearing for her life as the storm raged all about them. Her race, the Ichiri i nir -- the Children of the Gods, as they'd called each other since time immemorial -- were not and ocean-going people. They'd made their homes in the marshes and swamps of The Fenwater and near the City of Lux, where the concept of a current was barely recognized, let alone waves.

That location of their origin was what had led to them being called Lhun edhellen -- Swamp Elves -- by the many other Races of the Known World. In the beginning, her People had despised the derogatory description. But they'd come to embrace it as their own over time.

Rayna looked to Killian as he heroically worked to keep the boat from being swamped by the growing waves. She'd only come to know the Human less than a Moon ago, when he began organizing this adventure which by the Gods' hands was suddenly fraught with danger.

She looked about herself to the others in the boat. Rayna was the only Swamp Elf aboard, but she certainly wasn't the only Creature aboard. Creature. That was the word the Humans in the Other Land -- from where they'd just come -- called every Being that wasn't a Human Being.

Getting away from that land was a Godsend, of course. Rayna's future in the Other Land would have been a dismal. At best, as an Elf in a land dominated by Human Beings, she might have been lucky enough to be purchased by a wealthy man to become his Sindarin, his personal Elven consort -- his sex toy. More likely, however, she would have been sold to one of the brothels to become a sexual oddity for as many as two dozen Human patrons a day until she was simply too worn out to attract men or -- more likely -- finally took her own life.

Either way, she likely would have spent her entire life with her wrists and ankles shackled, loosely but still bound. An ancient spell casted upon the Ichiri i nir -- ironically in the Known World, not the Other Land -- prevented them from partaking of their magical ability when bound in iron shackles. Rayna had been wearing her own bracelets since she'd first exhibited her abilities at age 12. She'd begun wearing anklets, too, just a year after that when she'd attempted to run away from her Master of the time.

Killian had rescued Rayna from all that. He was her savior in more ways that she could count. She was going to make it up to him someday soon, too, in ways that any man would appreciate. He didn't know that yet, of course; it wasn't something you shared with a prospective partner until it was time to actually partake of one another.

Rayna had eagerly accepted the invitation to board this boat and set sail. Now, though, as yet another wave came over the bow and threatened to wash her, Killian, or any of the others overboard, Rayna began to wonder whether or not it might have been better to simply remain back there as a slave.

Map of the Known World

Horath of Un
Dwarven warrior by training and miner by heritage.
66 years old.
5'4", 170#; squat and heavily built; powerful legs, arms, back, everything essentially.
Reddish-brunette hair in a horseshoe hairline (bald on top, hair from ear to ear; it is straight and fine and reaches down onto his upper back.
Traditional Dwarven tattoos cover his baldness.
Full beard of the same color, with traditional braids.
Deep brown eyes.
Big, round ears with pierced lobes (unseen in the image).

Horath sat on his bum in the bottom of the boat, his feet braced under a wooden and iron-braced seat to keep him in place. He was clutching three different lines attached in various points to the mainsail. His weight and strength were all that were keeping the sail taut, preventing it from luffing worthlessly in the wind.

He didn't know anything about sailing, of course. He was, after all, a Dwarf. Dwarfs ... didn't ... sail. Killian had shown him what to do, though. Horath had been recruited by their Human savior to become crew rather than passenger as the wind had picked up. Without Killian's leadership and Horath's strength, the boat and its 13 occupants would have been doomed.

"Shouldn't we let the sails down?" Horath asked over the wind for the fourth or fifth time. The boat tilted over dramatically each time a big gust of wind hit the sails. It seemed to make sense to let them down or let them luff, a term he'd only just learned hours ago.

"No!" Killian called back. "We need the sails to keep us directed into the waves! Otherwise, we'll keep over ... swamp and sink!"

Keel over meant nothing to Horath. Swamp and sink did, though. So, he held on tightly. He let line out when Killian commanded. He pulled it tight again when that was the order. Other than that, Horath simply held on for dear life, much like the other passengers and, in particular, the the beautiful Elf looking down at him.

Horath had always been considered somewhat of a Fulug-zâram -- a freak -- by his fellow Dwarves for his appreciation of Elven beauty. Most Dwarves found the smooth dark skin, pointy ears, and often very dark hair as ugly and repulsive. Horath had always felt the opposite. He found Rayna to be the epitome of Elven beauty, maybe of beauty regardless of Race.

There had been a suspicion within his Clan as to why Horath had these feelings. There had been a tale, unproven and possibly unfounded, that he had an Elf in his ancestry. Interbreeding between Dwarves and other Beings was, of course, an abomination. Most Dwarves believed it to be impossible in the first place; the other Creatures, be they Elves or otherwise, were lesser, inferior races, obviously.

But Horath knew for a fact that it was possible for Dwarves to cross breed. Of course, the example about which he knew personally hadn't been between Dwarf and Elf. It had been between Dwarf and Human. And while the child had been brought into this world safe and healthy, it disappeared from existence within hours, never to be seen again. The extrication of such a half-breed had been done to save the parents, the Family, and the child from a life of hardship and grief. Again, obviously.

Regarding Human Beings, it seemed as though they could cross breed with just about any Being. The reasons for this no one could explain. Horath had heard of successful Human-Dwarf, Human-Elf, Human-Fairy, and even the gross and unimaginable Human-Orc cross breeding and births.

Each had taken place between a Human male and a female of the Creature Race. Hell, it was popularly said that a male Human could and would breed with any Creature that had a wet, warm hole between its legs. Hell, it was said that Human males would do it with sheep if there were no Human females to be had. Sometimes a lack of Human females wasn't even necessary. Or so Horath had been told.

There were far fewer tales of male Creatures breeding with Human females. But Horath had heard of such pairings, too. He simply had never seen or even heard of a successful birth of such a match.

Horath held on to the lines, his arms and legs tiring. His eyes didn't tire of the Elf, though. He could stare at her all day long. He imagined the two of them naked together in a deep dark cave, fucking on the cold stone floor.

Maybe in a humid, bug-infested swamp? he wondered. He and Rayna had had the opportunity to speak of her People's homeland. Either works for me, he thought.

Map of the Known World

Kiki of the Golden Isles

• Pixie, with limited magical powers.
• Unknown; they age in a way that hasn't been discussed yet. She is considered "adult", though.
• 2'8", 27#; slim, with a beautiful figure.
• Short, greenish blonde hair.
• Bright green eyes.
• Long, pointed ears, plus vestigial ears above the working ones.

Kiki was doing nothing to help save the boat, crew, or other occupants. She didn't know what she could do. She was small and comparably weak and, of course, she was absolutely frightened to death of what was happening.

When they'd first set sail from the Other Land, Kiki had been very excited and eager. She'd repeated lifted into the air to survey the seas before them, helping to guide Killian. It was such great fun to participate. Then the storm hit, and the little Pixie had remained in the boat, hiding under one of the seats. She was scared to death of being washed overboard into the salt water, something that would damage her wings, possibly permanently.

Kiki made eye contact with Rayna as the latter clutched the mast. The Elf had befriended her even before Killian set sail, and -- despite the differences in their Races -- Kiki was sure she'd found a friend for life. Now, though, she couldn't help but wonder whether that life was going to be shortened to hours or maybe minutes.

A powerful wave suddenly smashed against the boat's hull, dislodging Kiki from her hiding place. She grabbed for anything to keep herself in the boat but missed; her next option was to again take flight. The fierce wind threw her about in the sky; the rain pelted her as if pebbles. Her first concern was to ensure she stayed above the waves, with her second being to not lose sight of the boat. She was losing it in the mix of darkness, rain, and spray from the seas, despite flying as hard as she could in its direction.

Suddenly, something unseen just snatched her out of air in its talons. She screamed out of fear at the unknown, certain that some vicious sea bird was about to kill and then eat her. But the talons wrapped around her without penetrating her, and as powerful wings flapped above her, Kiki smiled at the realization of what was happening.

Map of the Known World

The Raptor snatched Kiki out of the air, careful not to sink its talons into her tender flesh. The bird was huge compared to the Pixie's height of less than 3 feet; each of its wings alone were more than 5 feet from body to feather tip.

It peeked down at the little thing as it fought the powerful wind. Her initial fear, from both the storm and the sudden capture, faded quickly, though, as she realized just what -- or who -- had hold of her.

The Raptor had only barely heard the cries of terror over the storm. It had never heard the cries from this particular source. But considering the situation and location -- a gale off the southern coast of the Known World -- whatever or whoever the source of the panic and fear must have come from the boat below.

The Raptor had been circling over the vessel looking for dangers: reefs, shoals, or massive and dangerous swells. It had been fighting the wind to remain in position. Now, though, it lifted its head and left wing at the sound, catching that wind and instantly changing direction and shooting off into the darkness.

Now, the Raptor and Kiki held onto the other as the former once again fought the wind to get the latter back to safety. It took several minutes to reach the boat again. The big bird released the little Pixie into the hands of her fellow travelers before settling down in the bottom of the boat.

The others cleared some space because they knew what was about to happen. Over the next dozen seconds or so, the Raptor transformed into...

Poe the Changeling
"Shapeshifter"
Unknown age.
His normal form: Humanoid

• 6'4", solidly built.
• A wild mass of hair on his head and beard. His chest is bare, but he has a triangular-shaped patch of hair that begins between his shoulder blades and ends just above his butt cheeks; it narrows to a point at its lowest rech. He has no pubic hair.
• Reddish-brown eyes.
• He has a Human looking cock in this form that is very impressive in length and girth. I don't think it's necessary to give it numbers; if he wishes, he can transform it to a smaller or larger size to suit his lover. (Wouldn't that be nice, Guys?)

The Changing, as he called it, was one of great pain. Poe held back his desire to scream out at the agony. He didn't want to frighten the others, most of whom were already dealing with the fear of drowning so close to home.

Poe was still assuming his normal Humanoid form as one of the others was gathering his clothes from where they'd been stuffed away from the wind. Poe normally stripped before The Changing. Not doing so often led to his clothes being damaged in one way or another. Of course, that didn't always happen; when he became the Serpent, for example, he simply slithered out of his wardrobe.

The process wasn't simply about changing shape, though. Poe's senses were hazy another dozen seconds or so after he'd completed The Changing. He simply laid there in the several inches of splashing sea water as his consciousness returned.

Poe would have been vulnerable under other circumstances. During this moment, he had no way of protecting himself against dangers surrounding him. But he was among friends here. Hazy mind or not, he knew he could trust these people.

That didn't prevent him from feeling a bit self-conscious, though. For the time of The Changing, he was naked. In the company of females. No, they weren't of his kind, of course. But they were humanoid-shaped, like him. Believe it or not, the big man was shy.

Poe's mind finally returned to him fully. He found his private area covered by his trousers. Shyly, he turned to hide his manhood as best he could while saying over the wind, "Thank you."

Then, his brain remembered what had just happened. He whipped his head from one side to the other, looking for the Pixie. Finding Kiki, he asked with obvious concern, "Are you okay? Did I harm you?"

Another effect of The Changing was that Poe didn't fully retain the thinking processes that he had in human form. As the Raptor, his thinking moved toward that of an eagle; as the Serpent, it did the same toward that of a snake.

Changing into a form that wasn't relatively equivalent in mass had even more significant effects on Poe's ability to think like a Human. He's once found it necessary to change into a small dog to escape an equally small space. He'd nearly lost his ability to think beyond the mentality of a dog.

In fact, he'd remained a dog for almost two months, becoming feral, scrounging for food scraps, humping every bitch he'd found in heat. Miraculously, Dog-Poe had come across a friend whose presence had affected him. He transformed after just a few minutes of loving play.

This is not done, but I had to leave.

Map of the Known World

Name
The Raptor snatched Kiki out of the air, careful not to sink its talons into her tender flesh. The bird was huge compared to the Pixie's height of less than 3 feet; each of its wings alone were more than 5 feet from body to feather tip.

It peeked down at the little thing as it fought the powerful wind. Her initial fear, from both the storm and the sudden capture, faded quickly, though, as she realized just what -- or who -- had hold of her.

The Raptor had only barely heard the cries of terror over the storm. It had never heard the cries from this particular source. But considering the situation and location -- a gale off the southern coast of the Known World -- whatever or whoever the source of the panic and fear must have come from the boat below.

The Raptor had been circling over the vessel looking for dangers: reefs, shoals, or massive and dangerous swells. It had been fighting the wind to remain in position. Now, though, it lifted its head and left wing at the sound, catching that wind and instantly changing direction and shooting off into the darkness.

Now, the Raptor and Kiki held onto the other as the former once again fought the wind to get the latter back to safety. It took several minutes to reach the boat again. The big bird released the little Pixie into the hands of her fellow travelers before settling down in the bottom of the boat.

The others cleared some space because they knew what was about to happen. Over the next dozen seconds or so, the Raptor transformed into...

Poe the Changeling
"Shapeshifter"
Unknown age.
His normal form: Humanoid

• 6'4", solidly built.
• A wild mass of hair on his head and beard. His chest is bare, but he has a triangular-shaped patch of hair that begins between his shoulder blades and ends just above his butt cheeks; it narrows to a point at its lowest rech. He has no pubic hair.
• Reddish-brown eyes.
• He has a Human looking cock in this form that is very impressive in length and girth. I don't think it's necessary to give it numbers; if he wishes, he can transform it to a smaller or larger size to suit his lover. (Wouldn't that be nice, Guys?)

The Changing, as he called it, was one of great pain. Poe held back his desire to scream out at the agony. He didn't want to frighten the others, most of whom were already dealing with the fear of drowning so close to home.

Poe was still assuming his normal Humanoid form as one of the others was gathering his clothes from where they'd been stuffed away from the wind. Poe normally stripped before The Changing. Not doing so often led to his clothes being damaged in one way or another. Of course, that didn't always happen; when he became the Serpent, for example, he simply slithered out of his wardrobe.

The process wasn't simply about changing shape, though. Poe's senses were hazy another dozen seconds or so after he'd completed The Changing. He simply laid there in the several inches of splashing sea water as his consciousness returned.

Poe would have been vulnerable under other circumstances. During this moment, he had no way of protecting himself against dangers surrounding him. But he was among friends here. Hazy mind or not, he knew he could trust these people.

That didn't prevent him from feeling a bit self-conscious, though. For the time of The Changing, he was naked. In the company of females. No, they weren't of his kind, of course. But they were humanoid-shaped, like him. Believe it or not, the big man was shy.

Poe's mind finally returned to him fully. He found his private area covered by his trousers. Shyly, he turned to hide his manhood as best he could while saying over the wind, "Thank you."

Then, his brain remembered what had just happened. He whipped his head from one side to the other, looking for the Pixie. Finding Kiki, he asked with obvious concern, "Are you okay? Did I harm you?"

Another effect of The Changing was that Poe didn't fully retain the thinking processes that he had in human form. As the Raptor, his thinking moved toward that of an eagle; as the Serpent, it did the same toward that of a snake.

Changing into a form that wasn't relatively equivalent in mass had even more significant effects on Poe's ability to think like a Human. He's once found it necessary to change into a small dog to escape an equally small space. He'd nearly lost his ability to think beyond the mentality of a dog.

In fact, he'd remained a dog for almost two months, becoming feral, scrounging for food scraps, humping every bitch he'd found in heat. Miraculously, Dog-Poe had come across a friend whose presence had affected him. He transformed after just a few minutes of loving play.

Map of the Known World

Chloe had tried to snatch Kiki by the leg as the wind whooshed her away into the darkness but missed. She cried out in anguish at the thought of what would happen to the little Pixie.

Then she saw Poe in his current
Raptor form shoot overhead, heading in the same direction in which Kiki had vanished. Chloe stared into the night, heart pounding, brain fearing the worst while hoping for the best.

Several anxious minutes passed before Chloe finally caught sight of movement, the powerful flapping of Poe’s wings as he neared the boat … with the little Pixie in his carefully clutching talons.

“He got her! ” Chloe called to the others who'd also been staring into the dark rainy sky for signs of either of their traveling partners. She pointed into the sky, saying with excited relief, “There! There!”

The Raptor maneuvered around the wildly swinging mast and sail, then dropped suddenly, hovering within Chloe's reach. The Human caught the Pixie as Poe released her; Kiki was smiling wide with happy relief.

“I'm okay. I'm not hurt,” she said, knowing what Chloe had been about to ask her. “Poe caught me. I didn't hit the water.”

Chloe wrapped the Pixie in a wool blanket, being careful of her wings, then looked to Poe as he began his Changing back to his Human shape. Chloe knew that the shape shifter was self conscious about transforming in front of others, and she knew that she should look away and give him his privacy.

She didn't, even though she tried to be inconspicuous about her watching him. Chloe's fascination with the Changing was two fold. First, the transformation itself was simply incredible. To see a Human change shape into a giant bird and then back again was simply unbelievable.

But in addition to that was the fact that in his Human form, Poe was a beautiful Being. Tall, muscular, chiseled, dark, hairy, powerful. These were all sexual triggers for Chloe.

And that cock! Gods Almighty, Chloe thought to herself as it formed within her view. Is that thing real, or does he…

She let the thought go as Poe glanced her direction, then pulled his clothes to his groin to cover up better. Chloe diverted her eyes, looking to Killian to call out, “Are we going to survive this?”

Map of the Known World

“He got her!” Chloe called out excitedly. She pointed into the darkness and rain. “There! There!”

Killian followed the pointing finger of the 2nd of 5 Humans aboard. He couldn't see what she was seeing initially. The storm was so fierce. Its rain masked everything beyond a few dozen yards.

Then, suddenly, the Raptor came into view. Killian could see that Poe was struggling against the winds and pounding rain, despite being as large and powerful as he was in that form.

"Tacking! Tacking!" Killian hollered as loudly as he could. "All heads down!"

The boat's occupants included only two people with sailing experience: Killian himself and Chloe. He'd had to teach the other 11 passengers about keeping their heads down when the boat was tacking to alter course.

He saw most of them lower down into the hull. Some didn't. Even louder Killian called, "Tacking! Tacking! Watch the boom!"

Now, anyone aft of the mast and in the boom's potential swinging path dropped. Killian looked to the Dwarf, asking, "Ready?"

Horath nodded as he doubled his efforts to control the sail. Early in the storm, some very important rigging had snapped or seized. Poe had transformed into the Raptor to check their route from above. That had left only one person strong enough to control the sails in such powerful winds: the Dwarf.

Killian swung the rudder, turning the boat in a sudden 90 degree turn to port. He wanted the sail on the opposite side of the hull from Poe when he flew in with the little Pixie.

The boat had been listing 40 degrees to starboard in the wind. Now, it suddenly listed over to a similar degree to port. Throughout the boat's shell, passengers and gear rolled, slid, or turned over to the other side of the boat. There were calls of surprise and even of fear. But no one fell out, and no one was injured. That was good enough for Killian.

The Raptor successfully fought to reach the boat. Killian could finally see Kiki in Poe's talons.

The Raptor hovered over Chloe and dropped Kiki into her arms. The Pixie called out, “I'm okay. I'm not hurt. Poe caught me. I didn't hit the water.”

Chloe wrapped the Pixie, and Killian called out another tacking warning. He had to get the bow back into the waves or they'd be swamped. He shared his attention between the flapping sails, the groaning mast, and the transforming Changeling. Killian was as amazed at Poe's ability as was any of the others. He wasn't as amazed by the man's big cock as, say, Chloe was. But then he didn't want to have it ramming in and out of him either.

As Poe finished and Kiki was settled back into her hiding place, Chloe called to Killian, “Are we going to survive this?”

"Yes!" he answered without hesitation. He was, of course, wishing hopefully. The boat had a good foot of water splashing back and forth in it. The storm wasn't even halfway through yet. And the main sail was showing signs of imminent tearing and destruction.

But then Poe, back in his Humanoid form, called out, "North-by-northeast, now! Right now!"

Killian looked to him, asking, "What? The Mouth of the Western Yall is--"

"No! Now!" Poe again called out. He was dressed in his trousers and unbuttoned shirt by now. He hurried to the stern, taking the tiller forcefully from Killian. "We have to turn now! To avoid the reefs!"

Poe started pulling the tiller to turn the boat. Killian, trusting the man, called out again, "Tacking! Tacking again, to port once more!"

The boat turned and, again, tilted dramatically to the other side. Killian pushed through the others to get to the bow. He began searching the waters ahead. And just like Poe had seen from on high, there were reefs on either side.

He directed Poe through the dangers. An hour later, they were clear. Then, as if the Gods were felt sympathy for the boat's occupants, the wind suddenly died down.