Now that we were gaining members, I had to allocate the rings differently. They went to Dalmar, Helelin's husband, Phirlax's wife and me. I took the ones from Dulgron and Tryxlyn back because they could change shape at will with no problems. That was a power for a sex demon. Helelin could take the appearance of anyone she stood in the shadow of. I guessed that would also work. Helelin's husband was named Harigar. Phirlax's new wife was named Ryrtia. They were just peasants that could not do much of anything. I guessed that they wanted mate to pass the time. Dulgron and Tryxlyn were having sex all the time. Their spouses could handle that for them at the very least. There were now 8 of us in total. The spouses could not join the party, but they did follow along. It took us 3 weeks heading east to get to the Curse Veil. It was a dark force field that went all the way up above the clouds. It was so dark we thought it was black from far away. As got closer, we realized it was actually a deep purple hue. The demons with spouses held their mates as we crossed. Harigar and Ryrtia got hurt.
On their flesh were burn marks that did not look likely to heal easily or completely. "The Curse Veil really does keep the territory separate." I said. There was not much a group like us could do aside from wait for them to get back up on their feet again. We did not have a healer. Once they did, a lush rainforest was ahead of us. I looked at them and said "Remember we are going for humans. That means black hair and dark green eyes. No markings either." I instructed as I put on my ring. I was brought back to the character creation screen to change my appearance. I changed my hair and eye color. The others followed my lead. We then entered the forest. It was a very wet environment, but I did not complain. The others were too captivated by the novelty to be upset. Now that I stopped and thought about it, it had never actually rained or snowed in the Demon Country. Snow was going to flip their lids. As the rain let up for a bit, we were able to hear some yelling and screaming. We were very careful as we slowly made our way to the source of the noise. Two feline beastkin tribes were fighting.
I could see a group of yellow jaguars beating up the black panthers. When the yellow tribe was satisfied they left. The black panther's tribe was wrecked and the females were beaten, but alive. I did not see any of the males of the tribe. An ambush, perhaps? I told them to follow my lead. I walked slowly, but openly. When the beastkin caught our scent they turned to us. They were in no shape to fight but they still hissed and bared their fangs. I looked at them and said "We mean you no harm." They still looked at us as if we were the enemy. I asked them what happened and told them we could help. One of the elders said "Go away. We know exactly what you are. A bunch of demons! Our noses won't fail us. Even at this lowest point, we will resist you." The jig was up. "Are you sure about that. You'll be killed by the other tribes at this point. When your males come back, they will have been way to late." I said. Some of them flinched. Another elder said "You know nothing of what you speak." "Well, you have all the time you need to explain. You can't chase us off." I responded. That was true.
Pausing for a bit, I then said "We just want shelter. If you help us, we will defend and help your tribe." One of the women came up and said "You'll help us!? How!?" There was a squabble as everyone began taking turns talking until the eldest among them hissed. That silenced the whole tribe. "Answer." she said. "We will slaughter anyone that dares to take over or attack this tribe. All we want is to live among you for now." The woman said "Fine. Live amongst us. We were once the guardians against you demons. Now we are guarded by demons. If the wrath of demons falls upon this forest, that will show the impious tribes the folly of their ways." She then turned to a pair of women and said "Hamziss. Rifross. Show them where they will sleep." They nodded and approached us. These beatkin were all melanistic jaguars. Instead of the usual yellow and browns, there were mostly black. There were still the lighter patches if you looked close enough, but it was not hard to consider them all black from far away. They had the ears and tails and were tan skinned. Their teeth and eyes were feline too.
