Astrid took a deep breath as she stumbled through the inn’s door. The smells of the food and drink revived her a bit - she’d been walking for nearly the whole day already, on her way to the next quest. On the map it hadn’t seemed like such a great distance, so she’d decided to make her way to the town on foot. And, being a stubborn woman, she had done exactly that, even when it turned out that the relatively short distance between the last town and this one was covered in dense, muggy jungle. It had felt like she was trying to walk across the bottom of a lake at some points, but she wasn’t about to stop and camp in that thick soup filled with bugs and probably monsters, and maybe bug monsters.
Which was why she was nearly dead on her feet as she walked through the door of the inn just a bit after sundown. The well fed, bronze-skinned woman at the counter took one look at her and passed her a steaming mug followed shortly by a fairly well proportioned dinner plate with some foods Astrid couldn’t identify but was too tired to complain about. The drink had a sharp taste to it that surprised her, but helped wake her up enough to scarf down the food.
The innkeeper tried to say something, but Astrid didn’t understand a word. Apparently noticing that, she swapped to a different language - this one being Astrid’s native tongue. “Just in time, huh?” The innkeeper said with a thick accent, tapping the counter to signal for payment.
Astrid dropped a gold coin on the counter and returned to her food for a minute. “Mmmph… yeah, just about. I was worried I’d have to start navigating in the dark, which wouldn’t be fun what with the canopy blocking out the stars and the moon.”
“Heh, can’t imagine it would be.” Said the woman, “Well, it’ll be worth the trip - the ritual’s a sight to see.”
Astrid blinked, downing the remainder of her mug. “Ritual? I was just trying to get here before dark because I didn’t wanna camp.”
“Ha, then you’re in for a treat.” The innkeep said with a grin, “Finish up and then get on out there, it’ll be starting soon!”
Astrid frowned - the guy she’d gotten the map from hadn’t mentioned anything odd about the town. But she shrugged and finished her food. As she was doing so, people started to leave the inn, apparently for whatever that ritual was, until it was just her and the innkeeper. It must have been something, if it would get people up near midnight.
Shortly after, she finished her meal and headed out, following the steady stream of people heading to the opposite edge of the town. She hadn’t noticed it at first, but at that edge there was a stone platform raised from the ground, a fairly large circular one with plenty of space around it. Torches had been lit, giving an ominous orange glow around the space.
Astrid idly hoped this wouldn’t be a human sacrifice type thing that she’d have to intervene in. This, unfortunately, seemed less likely as a young woman in white walked up alone onto the stage and started chanting something in the language that seemed to be the normal one for the village.
The woman’s chant continued unbroken as the crowd mingled. Maybe it was just a festival? There were food carts and games and other such things that people did while the woman chanted. Astrid started to relax, just watching the people have their fun.
And then activity ground to a halt as there was a rustling in the undergrowth nearby. The chant continued unabated, as a group of somethings slithered from the trees. From the navel upwards, they seemed to be attractive human women. Below that point, however, they were like giant snakes, one set of green scales, one blue, and one purple slithering across the grass.
As Astrid’s hand dropped to her sword, an excited whisper made it’s way through the crowd, hushed conversation. It sounded rather more positive than she’d expect for a human sacrifice, even if she couldn’t understand the words. There was even a cheer as the snake women slithered onto the platform where the chant continued without wavering.
Astrid held her position for a bit. Her quest was to investigate the nearby lamia nest, but she hadn’t expected them to come to her or to hold dominion over a town. They got closer, talking amongst themselves, before approaching the sacrifice. They must have been talking about who would get to eat her…
Astrid couldn’t help herself. She was a hero by nature, and she couldn’t let this girl be sacrificed - she’d face them all!
She jumped up with surprising speed, rushing forward with a battlecry and pushing the poor girl out of the way just before the bite came in. She’d meant to dodge it, but the girl had resisted more than she’d expected, so instead of leaping out of the way she found a lamia’s teeth in her neck, pumping venom into her.
She gasped with shock as the burning sensation entered her blood… and seemed to travel upwards towards her head rather than normal circulation. Instead of trying to push out, she completely forgot where she was and what she was doing, thoughts burned away by the hypnotic poison. She twitched and jerked as it took it’s hold on her, and by the time the lamia pulled away she was staring blankly forward, drooling a little bit as she swayed on her feet. No thoughts. No plans. Just the pretty colors in her vision, and a desire to obey.
“Pyra, stop, it’s the wrong one-” the green lamia started, moving to pull the blue-scaled lamia off the woman, but she was stopped by the purple.
“It’s too late, Ana,” the purple-scaled lamia said, holding Ana the green-scaled back. “She can’t pull out before she’s used all her venom, or else it might have permanent negative consequences on this girl. Better to let her finish, even if that would be a fitting reward for her transgression.”
Ana pulled back, bowing deeply. “Yes, Queen Cora.” she said reverently. She went to the girl who was supposed to have been chosen and helped her up, consoling her that she’d be picked next full moon while Queen Cora watched.
Eventually, Pyra pulled back, with a satisfied ‘mwah!’ sound as she took her lips and teeth off the woman’s neck. “Ahh… that always feels nice… I’m sorry, my queen, I was already lunging when the interruption came - I couldn’t stop myself.”
Cora patted the smaller snakewoman on the head reassuringly. “I understand, dear. It’s not your fault.” she said. She investigated the thoroughly brain-fried girl who’d interrupted. She had the look of an adventurer about her, and Cora had never seen her before in the town. She sighed loudly. She must have been new in town, and not realized that this was a process that only took volunteers. “Mm. Can you hear me, dear? Why don’t you tell your mistress what you were trying to accomplish.”
The woman giggled. “Astrid the adventurer here, mistress~” she trilled, now speaking the same language even though she couldn’t speak it before, “I was trying to save her… but ehehe, that didn’t go welllll~!”
Just as suspected. Cora shook her head. “You’re an adventurer, hmm? What were you here for?”
“Investigating a lamia den, mmm~” Astrid said, stumbling a bit as she she swayed a little too much to one side - she had to be stabilized by Pyra.
“Mm. I see.” Cora said. “Well, I can’t just send you back like this, so I suppose we’ll have to proceed through the process and teach you how we actually are.” She said.
Ana had come back at this point, and frowned at that. “You can’t be serious! Letting her join us after pulling that stunt? Some girls wait years!”
Cora raised a placating hand. “And most girls go on to be warriors or scholars in our ranks, rather than directly joining my harem. She will be punished for her rudeness, but we might as well add her to the ranks now that the process is half done.”
Astrid didn’t seem to pay much attention to what was said, still giggling and swaying. Cora leaned in, cupping her chin with a hand. “Now, dear. Instead of doing all that, why don’t you join us instead?”
The woozy girl nodded enthusiastically. “Mmmistress~” she moaned - she wouldn’t be able to say much with coherency until the venom wore off, and even then she’d not had the proper preparations that the original chosen had; she’d not come back to herself for a good while. The harem was all she’d be good for even a month or two down the line, even if she wasn’t getting a punishment.
Shooing away Ana and Pyra ((who went to the ceremonial drums that had been prepared ahead of time), Cora slithered back and started her dance. It was a hypnotic sight for the crowd, seeing her body sway and twist in ways that human hips and legs would have been unable to allow, showing off her body and it’s unique qualities. It was particularly hypnotizing for Astrid’s muddled mind, and her random swaying transitioned to trying to match the rhythm.
As she did so, Cora broke her own dance. Astrid still continued as Cora slithered right up to her and started wrapping her long tail around her, squeezing her tightly. She leaned in and tenderly kissed the adventurer on the lips, allowing her magic to flow into her body. The first round of venom had made her suggestible, both to words and magic. And now Cora’s magic was suggesting that maybe Astrid wasn’t as human as her body had thought.
And indeed, it was rapidly becoming less so. As Astrid’s body was wrapped tightly, she found her legs shoved together, pressed together hard enough that it would be painful if the venom hadn’t made her numb and responsive. And then they stopped pressing, and started merging, her clothes shredding and coming apart from the pressure. In a minute, she didn’t have legs at all, as they merged and started to be squeezed out into a large tail. The clothes were soon replaced with glistening green scales, forming from magic and merging with her body. Her body’s shape shifted to accommodate this, becoming thinner but overall more shapely. Her breasts ballooned out, pressing against Cora’s, as her hair changed from short blonde to long and green. She moaned with pleasure as her body shifted, and the magic transformed her soul itself from that of a human to that of a lamia.
Her already fraying mind seemed to break completely as this happened, giving in to the transformation. She wasn’t a human anymore, she was a lamia, serving her beloved queen and her sisters. She… she was on the lowest rung of the ladder. Not a warrior, nor a scholar, nor a mage. She was a harem member, a sex toy to her queen or anyone else that desired her. And she loved it. She loved being desired, she loved the act itself, she loved making her clan feel good. She wasn’t very smart or strong but she would do what she was good at to the best of her ability.
Cora pulled back from Astrid, giggling on seeing the newborn lamia’s dazed expression, newly lengthened snake tongue falling out of her mouth. “Astrid, dear~? You can wake up now~”
The snakewoman snapped to attention. “Bwuh, huh? O-Oh, mistress, I’m sorry, I was off in my own mind,” she stammered. “How may I serve you?”
Cora laughed softly to herself - the girl didn’t even remember being an adventurer, although she would in a month or two as she finally came back to herself. When she did, she’d be given the option to leave if she wanted and return to adventuring, since by then she’d be quite personally loyal to Cora, or at least realize they don’t mean harm.
And in the meantime, the lamia queen would enjoy her new concubine.
“You interrupted this ceremony - it’s only fair you make it up to the poor chosen however you can, is it not?” she said. The girl who was supposed to be transformed, who had watched with jealousy (and not a little arousal), blushed deep scarlet at this.
Astrid nodded enthusiastically. “Of course mistress!” she said, before slithering over to the girl. She tried to seem mad, but Astrid whispered something into her ear and she shuddered, before putting a hand on Astrid’s hip. The new harem girl seemed to take to her job like a duck to water.
The next morning, Astrid returned from the girl’s home seeming very satisfied with herself. Then, the four lamias slithered back into the forest, towards the clan’s home, where Astrid would be properly introduced to her new role...