FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Estrasa, the Dark Queen, Mistress of Transfiguration, Ruler of the Tower of Darkness. This book had nothing written about her until this moment, yet her influence on both me and this piece are vastly significant. First, I must recapitulate the times she has crossed paths with not only the book's history but my personal story.

The earliest time in which Estrasa's influence was felt involves a dream in a forgotten temple to the fertility goddess Xasandra. There, I envisioned a woman, held by her lover and captured by a dragon. What does it mean? It is just another piece of the puzzle for you, dear reader, nothing more, nothing less.

Before the Tower of Darkness arose to the East of the Wildlands, there lived a hunter named Fesrin, servant to a lord, and a man well-attuned with nature. He stumbled upon a magical glade within the forest, only to come across what he called a maiden. The description of this young one, of pink hair and blue eyes bears eerie similarities to the woman from the dream. The hunter was overcome with lust, attacked by a wifwolf named Herane, forever cursing him to both immortality and animal lust. He was left to wander the lands, more beast than man, while Herane stayed behind to watch the magical circle inscribed in that locale. This circle, reader, is an outlet for Estrasa's power, a beacon for magicians; a trap for all.

The idea behind this trap is that when a sorcerer of great magical ability holds too much of their magic within them, something terrible occurs: for their mortal forms cannot hold within them all of their power. There must be vents for it to release, either with spellcraft or with other, more dangerous options. Meanwhile, in a place unknown, in a time unknown, the original Author of this very tome scribed upon these pages the secrets of Eromancy. While my research into this field has been small in the grand scheme of things, I have yet to find much in the ways of its widespread use and study. Perhaps, then, that this is a fledgling school of magic. I know now that Estrasa seeks this very book tells me that she is familiar with the writer in some way. How? I cannot be sure. But, if she were the writer, surely she would not need the book. And why, exactly, would a sorceress wish to learn from a Wizard's Book?

Somehow, the book and Estrasa's influence came upon the Dragon's Heir Tribe, as if placed by providence, or at least by some mastermind's hand. Generations ago a human who became a kobold was tasked by Estrasa to spy on an enemy tribe. They were brought to the Dragon's Heir tribe, and some became a part of the larger community. One of these was this very kobold, who had come to enjoy her life as she was. She was the mother of another kobold, lover of Trapmaster Tikit. This kobold, Dee was the first to discover the book, but she did not just discover it alone. She discovered someone else, the descendant of a dragon. This descendant claimed to be named Straiesha and appeared to be the writer of the book itself, or at least its current master. Both of them had nothing to lose, for Dee was invalid and this dragon-descended being had a plan and the book: and together, they used their magic to weave a spell upon the next generation--a generation that included the kobold who would be queen.

As life continued in the Dragon's Heir, the world beyond was about to change dramatically. Estrasa's power was only growing, and she cultivated new allies, either from those willing to submit to her power or those who were turned by it. With their aid, she constructed her Tower of Darkness, and the magical energy that flowed out from that darkness slowly tainted the wood around it, transforming the land into a desolate waste that spawned monstrosities all on its own.

The Wildlands was once the home of fey creatures who cavorted in the forests and animals that hunters prized to capture, yet the further the shadow of the tower extended throughout the land, the more twisted and unreal the denizens of the wood became. Either transformed directly by Estrasa's transfiguration magic or altered by the taint of the land, these monsters took the Wildlands further, breaking into even the human settlements in the fringes and stirring the ire of adventures.

One such adventurer was Tybalt, Paladin of Love. I met him on his quest to discover the source of the corruption but lost contact with him after he traveled through the woods. The sorceress captured him and subjected him to torture.

And he wasn't the only one. A traveling bard had accrued many debts, and through the chain of command, his debts were to be paid to Estrasa. He was among one of the many transformed. It is around this time that Estrasa developed a taste for kobolds, capturing them and transforming them to her whims just like any other creature, but that was because she discovered something: She discovered that a female kobold had found a book and had set forth to adventure outside of her home. Many others suffered, becoming wyrm-like monstrosities or losing their identity, becoming slaves in mind and body to the Dark Queen. What follows, then, is a dramatized account of the excursion to the Tower of Darkness, as well as the accounts of others who had gone there during the fateful invasion. What you find here may interest you, but be warned, you may be forever changed as well.