The Creation of Catherine von Munchhausen
[spoiler]A long time ago, in the land known as Thay, there was an old, irascible Red Wizard named Hauthas Munchhausen. Now, Munchhausen was cursed with a lack of children, who would have been able to continue his legacy, which was both grand and terrible.
Now, a lesser Wizard would have merely chosen from his apprentices; however, Munchhausen was no lesser Wizard. He had seen the works of his apprentices, and those works filled him with shame for being their master. So he looked further.
He looked amidst the stars. He looked beneath the earth, amongst his dearest friends and most vicious foes, but could not find one who he felt was worthy to continue his legacy.
At his last extremes of desperation and despair; when all hope for his project was nearly lost, his beloved magebred cat Catherine rubbed against him, and he was struck by a brilliant idea.
Why be like some lordling, and search for an heir? He was a Wizard; worlds quaked at his words! He would create his greatest work; an heir worthy of the name!
So he set to the task of learning the necessary rituals of alteration, until finally he was prepared. He opened his mouth, and spoke the following grand, terrible words:
I wish that my cat Catherine was endowed with a humanoid form.
And his wish came to be. Catherine was endowed with a humanoid form; however, she had at the same time features of a cat, such as ears and a tail.
Weeping at the misfortune of his mistake, he began to make the gestures that would slay her instantly, already regretting the waste of effort, when suddenly, he had a thought; why destroy this girl? If anything, she was already a marvel in her own right, a synthesis of human and cat. So why be ashamed of something so near to the perfection that he sought?
So he took her in, and fed and clothed her, and taught her the ways of being a humanoid; in time, he even began to see her as a daughter, given her sweet nature, small frame and short height. But there was a problem, at least from his point of view; she only had the intelligence of the average peasant, which was from his point of view very low indeed.
So he sought a way to bring her closer to his mental capabilities. He threw himself back into his studies, and soon uncovered records of a spell that brought animals great intellect. It was perfect for his purposes; however, it could only be cast by a mighty Druid. So he set out and found one.
The Druid's name was lost in time; he used the title Treebrother while speaking to humans. So Munchhausen came to Treebrother, and asked him for his aid. Treebrother at first refused, but after some coercion, he agreed to cast the spell, but only once.
So the pact was made; Treebrother would cast the most powerful version of Awaken that he knew, while Munchhausen supervised.
But the spell could only be cast on an animal, so Munchhausen, weeping as he did it, put his surrogate daughter to sleep, and transformed her into a cat. Treebrother unleashed the full force of his belief, his faith in his abilities and nature; as Catherine awoke, she noticed that her mind felt wider. Far wider.
Where once had stood a cat-girl of only average intelligence, there now stood a cat-girl whose intelligence surpassed those of many geniuses.
From that day forth, she aided her 'father' in his research. He taught her magic at his knee, and she grew quite proficient. But in her studies (for after a while, he gave her full run of his library), she found her 'father's' notes about her creation. His journals. His, now long dead, plan to create an heir, to have an heir that was worthy.
Now, Catherine loved her 'father', and wished for his happiness; that night, she approached him and said,
Father, I would like training to become a Red Wizard, like you are. I wish to make you proud; I am sorry I was such a shame to you, and I wish to become worthy of being your heir.
And Munchhausen rejoiced, for his long dead desire to continue his legacy might have a chance, and comforted her, telling her that every moment with her had been a delight.
But there was a problem; by tradition, and by strictly regimented law, only humans could become Red Wizards, for if one of another race was discovered, they were to be destroyed immediately.
So Munchhausen threw himself back into research, with Catherine's erstwhile help, and soon found a thin tome, bound in skin of fiend and celestial both; within this tome was two spells, one horrible, and one glorious. There was a small note, mentioning that the use of the spells consecutively could alter the capabilities and mutations of a creature on which they were cast. And further research revealed that there was a mutation that sometimes arose in half-humans and the like, a mutation that resulted in them becoming, for all intents and purposes, completely and permanently human; however, the mutation kept the outward form and capabilities of the original form.
So Catherine requested that her 'father' transform her into a half-elf, and then use those spells on her; he, with a few, feeble, protests agreed. And so the spells were cast on her.
It tore her soul with pain for an instant, but then the pain was gone. And with that, Catherine from Munchhausen was human, without a true change in form.
And so they took her before the cabal of Illusionists, and requested that she be allowed admission; they refused, on grounds of her shape. But then Munchhausen, a smile dancing on his lips, asked them to discover, through the strongest magic the cabal of diviners had, to discover her nature.
And so they did. There was much screaming of blasphemy, but she was allowed in to the cabal.
And Munchhausen was the one who applied the tattoos, using the same spells to alter her form, so that the tattoos appeared on her back, with nary a needle touching her skin.
And that, my dear listeners is the tale of the creation of Catherine von Munchausen.[/spoiler]
OOC: I didn't use the guy's familiar because Awakened creatures immediately lose bonuses from being familiars.
So, how do you like that backstory?
