They take a second to regroup

After the intense moment the party sat by the crackling fire to unpack all that was said. Despite his outrageous method the truth behind the world needing to change was one they all knew. Discussions about what to do next had begun when a dark blue pulse seemed to emanate from somewhere deep inside the house and outward. This was the first time Mark had seen magic on such a scale and at the same time the pulse had made its way toward him his sword had shone brighter than he’d ever seen before. He shielded his eyes and when he opened them he expected **** and destruction. His heart beat strongly in his chest as he looked around to see the manor still intact. He looked toward his friends and all were **** but as he checked each they seemed to be breathing. Some part of him knew dangerous magic must have just been released and he needed to find its source and undo it somehow, but he couldn’t leave his friends.

Mark waited a couple of moments for each party member to wake on their own and when he didn’t see any of them stirring he began to try to wake each of them up. He began with Elrin, shaking her and calling her name over and over. Eventually she began to wake up somewhat dazed but alright.

“Mm Mark, what’s… What’s happening? Why are you shaking me?” Elrin asked in a somewhat sleepy tone, yawning at the end.

Mark smiled at her and couldn’t hold back a laugh of anxiousness turned to joy “Uh, I’m not sure, I need you to see if anything happened to you and the others. There was this wave of dark magic that pulsed from somewhere and everyone else passed out.”

Elrin seemed to immediately wake up upon hearing about the situation and nodded before beginning a chant. Mark moved to wake Gill next, because if they needed to find out where this came from he would be able to do it in an instant. As he shook gill he didn’t so much as stir but as soon as he said “Gill wake up!” Gill’s eyes instantly opened and he was fully awake. Mark paused, shocked for a second before telling Gill about the situation and what to do. Mark noted that the amount of focus Gil had carrying out his task was strange, but chalked it up to the situation.

Lastly he went to wake up Alex and as soon as he touched her she pushed him off and he flew about five feet before hitting the floor. “Nononononononononono” she yelped in a voice he’d never heard out of her before. She gasped for air before looking around at the rest of the party’s concerned expressions. If you could see blush on green orcan skin then each of them would’ve seen it on her face then.

Elrin, who had just gone through three different magic detection spells for traps, effects, then curses had to jump out of the way of Mark as he flew. She scowled momentarily at Alex then processed the information she had just gained.

“Everyone calm down, we’ve got a problem.” She waited for everyone to collect themselves before speaking again. “We’re all cursed, well everyone except for Mark cause he grabbed that stupid glow- because he has one of the weapons of legend designed to repel magic. Now, the weird part is that none of these are really deadly or all that harmful I don’t think. Alex, you’re apparently more sensitive to allies, Gill it seems you might go through physical changes if you follow orders, and I am… Supposed to get offers for power? I don’t really understand how it’s a curse. I can try to break the curses, but I’m not familiar with the spells to cast them nor any of the core runes associated.”

Alex looked down at herself then toward Mark, an apologetic look in her eye as she began to speak before being interrupted by Gill. “Wait, wait, wait, what the fuck? Your curse is you get power, Alex feels more, and I might turn into a fucking slug or something if I say yes too many times. El, you gotta save me from sluggification I beg of you.” He said somewhat jokingly.

The tension from the revelation of the curses broke as everyone laughed at Gill mimicking slug eyestalks with his fingers. Elrin sat next to Gill and held her hands up toward him as she began to chant. As Mark began to pick himself up off the floor Alex made her way over and offered him a hand, which he took. As soon as their hands touched Alex fell to her knee, but Mark hadn’t realized the reason and instinctively gripped her hand tighter. The tighter grip caused Alex to fall to the ground still yelling before she could manage “Leeett Gooooooo!” as she writhed on the floor. Mark immediately let go and backed away as he watched her writhe on the ground. Mark momentarily panicked looking for a way to help her before seeing her face and noticing it wasn’t quite as anguished as he thought it would be. Though she didn’t have much control as her body was reeling from touch Alex did her best to keep the other party members from seeing her face. She had never felt anything quite this intense in her life, she could feel her head spinning and every thought dying out before the intense pleasure she felt. As she regained her composure she noticed a feeling of dampness in her undergarments and begged to any god that was listening there was no visible stain.

“Sorry Alex, this is going to take some time to get used to. You guys stay here and maybe El can get the curses undone by the time I’m back.” Mark reached down toward his waist for his sword and found nothing there. Not only the sword but the scabbard was gone too. His heart caught in his chest as he looked around and saw it nowhere and strangely enough he saw that Alex’s axe and shield as well as Gill’s bow were also missing. “Our weapons are missing!” he announced to the rest of the party as he searched a bit more vigorously before seeing something on his hand flash as it caught the light of the fire. A ring that had not been there before, one that glimmered in a very familiar way. Mark’s sword had done many strange things, turning into a ring was a first for him. He stopped in his tracks to observe it a little more and a golden shimmer around the ring’s outside. He wondered if it was still protecting him or if it had other abilities now.