May Nadim

Name	May Nadim
Gender	Female, straight
Homeworld	Twoarth, Magical origin sheep
Class	Junior 30kk+ 5
Nut	She is an absolute almond tree, sometimes literally
Totem	Virus +2 S/Gm, +2 Bod, -3 RWP, -1 Drive, -2 Looks, +2 Bonk
Smarts	9
Bod/Feet	5 (2 dex 10 str as a tree)
RWP	3
Luck	3
Drive	2
Looks	5
Cool	4
Bonk	5 (12 as a tree)
Powers	Linguist - any on-world language can be learned by you in less than a year fluently*, her family's 'roots' as it were, include a sort of generational memory, maybe the leaves have ears, they definitely talk to her Shape Change - like it says, buster; temporary, but can also get stuck; she can alter herself into mainly trees, bushes, foliage, even fungus or algae if it's wet enough, all of her self-shaping adds photosynthesis and a degree of armor or speed change (still slow, unless she's a leaf on the wind) Monster Out - transforms into a hideous (if you think a tree his hideous there's something wrong wit'chu) creature up to twice normal size at inopportune moments; there is a bit of a curse that goes along with her family line, and she does know that eventually she will permanently become a tree, but that time is very distantly in the future -if ever, she might be able to break the curse? From A Long Line Of... - her family has a long, sometimes shameful history, you gain a strange temple, and inherit a huge music library with which to carry on the family tradition; her family's properties both Fur-side and Skin-side have groves of tall, sometimes gnarled trees... those are her distant relatives, with whom she can have conversations if needed
Clusters	Music and Singing +4 Though her voice is sometimes shrill or laced with vibrato, May is adept with performance and knows all the best tunes thanks to her huge family music room
Skills	Green Hoof (thumb) +4 Because she is literally 'cursed' with the ability to shapeshift into a tree or plant, she has an innate understanding of their biology and functions, including the ways that they can be used in practical applications such as alchemy and cooking Vegetarian With A Vengeance +3 She's not vegan, she does like honey and eggs, even insects are a treat to her, but sometimes it's because they're chewing on her great-grand-uncle in the back yard garden... She can cook like mad, even without her other skills at work Mediation and Debate +3 An exceptional mind, May enjoys animated discussions with people and almost always maintains her cool even if others want to heat it up. If you want to see her trolling, it's a work of art, she fully immerses herself into 'Someone On The Internet Is Wrong' flame wars, but has oddly never been warned or even banned on those fora because either her arguments are so amazing, or her insults are so freaking good
Knacks	*Understand Any Basic Twoarth Language +3 not complicated speech but the essences, in her case this does extend to flora as well as fauna and not merely human or furry speech, this covers all kinds of languages from birdcalls and barking to spore releases and root patterning Grooming +2 With the amount of fur she usually has, and how often she winds up with leaves, grass, or twigs stuck in it, May has learned the finer points of keeping herself looking clean and fresh, and can apply this to other people if given a little time Skin Passing +1 A bit of concentration here and there can mean that she looks far more Skin-Human than Fur Sider, and for that reason she's been tapped for a number of advertising campaigns with fur and hair care products already, she doesn't 'offend the senses' of purity-obsessed Skins, and can still be seen as a Fur idol
Period	Class / Instructor / Grade
1	Alchemy / Varnhagen (fs) / Excellent
2	Modeling / Lallidarr / Superb
3	Shapeshifting Techniques / Treason / Superb
4	Cartography / Lari / Excellent
5	Interspecies Politics / Kuyul / Superb
6	Nexus Geohistory / Tessrabia Kshau / Decent
7	Howl Caw Scratch / Mint / Superb
8	Marching Band (playing Oboe) / Penbardd / Excellent
Pets	Button, a tiny little turtle dragon (actual size)
Parents?	Both alive living in Crescent, mother owns a florist shop, and father is part of the local zoo's planning and maintenance department
Siblings?	She has six siblings, two older brothers and one older sister, one younger brother and two younger sisters, all in various schooling except the eldest brother who has graduated C4 with a degree in horticulture and will be joining their father in his team at the zoo

May heard about the plan to hit the boardwalk and then do some trick or treating, and jumped on it happily. With training in the marching band complete, she decided that even though she lacked a real costume this year (it was busy! she had been needed at the shop for a big memorial service in town) she'd be easily able to 'dress up' in her tree form. There was always the risk that she'd remain that way longer than intended, or suddenly take root for a night as a 200 foot tall 'monster' tree... But she had a good feeling about it this time.

Her brown skin was faintly bark-like, her mop of braided head-hair tinged with vivid chlorophyll greens. True, it was a little tough to walk through a crowd, but when her other friends were there they helped clear the path. She could pull in those big roots into hoof-toes in order to ride the fun house cart and take a nice relaxing trip in the ferris wheel. May liked the variety of looks she got, first because people all assumed it was just a costume - they didn't suddenly judge her for being 'not Human really' (there were still pockets of skin-siders who just hated fur-siders, and Retros among the furry community that thought trying to be too skin-like was just as bad as being one...), and secondly because she just absolutely enjoyed being the center of attention.

The group could actually play games around her, even when she was rooted by accident. In fact they liked doing so because it kept her spirits up while she was unable to leave the spot. They helped grab her homework assignments, though she could usually still type on her laptop or phone if a test was being held. Unskippable cut-scenes was what she called this, she 'had' to just sit there... feeling the dirt around her hooves and legs permeate her 'roots', any spare rocks being gently wrapped into her wool. She always came out of that state with more dirt than she started, and had grooming picks and brushes on hand for just those occasions.

She had been warned by her grandmother, some day, that state would be permanent, it'd been like this forever, it would be like this forever, for her line. May wondered what her distant ancestors had done, to deserve such a fate. But they told stories sometimes, about how more than a thousand years before, children wandered from their parents and got lost in woods... that became their final resting place... It was a spooky tale! She should tell it to the others! It was Halloween, after all, so maybe there would be a good opportunity when they went to gather candy!

Kala and Ken, May and Mica and Fletcher all struck out to the boardwalk and had their fun, and while May's younger flock were being taken around her local neighborhood by another of their many siblings (and cousins, both sides of her family had a zillion kids in every generation... it was a wonder they didn't have their own town by now), she was allowed to head off with her school mates.

She got to have a Hopper to herself, when they took the journey from the boardwalk into the town proper, because... well, roots and stray vines. Heck, if she were faster in this form, she could have carried them all! Alas, that trip would have taken all night. So instead, they took out their pillowcases (she had a king-size one, she was no fool, she loved candy and people always gave so much!) after a quick trip behind a number of bipedal dragons who charged by the mile and cheered them on when they reached the neighborhoods. Ripe for the picking, the candy dropped like apples from an orchard - sometimes literal apples, including that one really good house that always gave out freshly made cinnamon candy apples wrapped in celophane.

They smelled so good, almost everyone in the group took a few minutes before they continued on, to enjoy those apples on the stick. And Ken passed his bow-wand over everyone to clean them up, they'd be all sticky otherwise. The sun hadn't even set when they were on their third block, but now the other kids were in force - they'd have to compete with herds of elementary schoolers and preschoolers and folks bringing their infants around for their very first Halloween.

Of course, if there was a 'good' house folks always tried to double back to it... This group couldn't get away with that - they were all old enough and distinct enough that they'd easily be recognized for a double dip. Camera flashes and laughter followed them, they were a great group!

** Continued in other pages!! **

While at this weird place, May felt a little nudge, a bit of a nibble... And turned to see a very small turtle... wait, no, it ... was a turtle dragon? Like others had discovered their flitters or floaters or whatever else, this small creature had found her! "You're as cute as a button," she said, and realized that made the perfect name for him. Button could be found perched on her shoulder or nestled in her dreadlocks, but she always knew just where he was. She'd never let harm come to this tiny little friend!

** From hatching**

The group of five from Twoarth stayed close together. They'd been having loads of fun on the festival grounds with all the eating, drinking and trinkets that were available when some small deer-creature had sounded the start of the hatching. They tried to make their way to the bay but that wasn't easy when May got stuck in her tree form. At least they hadn't been anywhere dangerous when it happened, just people would probably have a difficult time getting around her when returning.

"I'm sorry guys." May said, "Go ahead without me, I wouldn't feel good if you missed your chances to bond."

"We can't leave you here." Mica said, "I'll just have to summon you closer until we reach the water. It's only a 100 meters or so."

Before they could try to work out their plan, some of the lights decided to come to them. Four of the smaller wisps danced around them in the light and soon settled on their bonds. 

"I like you." an earth wisp called Ruyin told Mica Fiddlewood while he perched on her shoulder and refused to budge afterwards.

"Mine mine." a very excited astral male called Luzhou chimed as he snuggled close to Ken Acebedo . 

"Come play with the other lights." a bright light female by the name of Hefei said and started tugging Kala Han 's clothes.

And then a sudden shower washed over Fletcher Skinkerton as the water wisp Luyi decided to mark the occasion with her magic... which made Fletcher transform into his monster form.

"Whoa!" he called "You so big." Luyi said happily, "Carry friend?"

"What do you think guys? Can we make this work?" Kala asked and the group of friends set to work to get the stuck May to the water. 

...

The group from Twoarth had managed to reach the water with Fletcher carrying May while the others supported him with their different magic. Fletcher carefully put May down - she wasn't that much smaller than him - and put her on a grass patch that was removed from the water but he didn't dare expose her to salt water. That just couldn't be good for a tree. No matter if she was also part sheep.

"What now?" Kala asked.

"We play some music?" Ken suggested and took out his violin. 

But before he had the chance to pay on the enchanted instrument, a honey-coloured male hatchling came close, curious about the strange group of people that had arrived. Deciding he quite liked the boisterous group, the male declared:

"My name is Nearpedge. Can I stay with you?" and by you he clearly meant Ken since he was staring straight at the young magician.

Just a little while later, a deep green dragoness moved closer. She looked closely and sniffed and finally stopped in front of May who was still quite stuck but could still use her arms.

"Who might you be?" May asked.

"Morisyl." the green swamp light dragon said and added, "You will return to normal in 3, 2, 1..."

"How did you know that?" Mai asked as she turned to normal right when the dragon told her.

"I read your bark. It's quite easy to interpret. you must be a nice person."

"Can you stop it from happening?" Mica asked, worried about her friend.

"I don't think so." Morisyl shrugged, "At least not as I am now."