More Books.
Apparently, sphinxes are very curious beasts indeed... you're going to have to make sure you don't lose track of your purpose while scouring these stacks of books. Speaking of which, it's about time you got back in the library! Hooves and talons tapping as you move, you return to that dangerously enticing chamber.
"Where is the last shelf, voice?"
"In front of you." it responds and you look at the shelf full of books you can't read. Aaargh! You're a sysadmin; you should be able to read this stuff, by Bast! You pick one of the blank-spined tomes at random, and page through it. It must have been mis-shelved, as it's a history of the tower rather then a spell book. It seems that the ocean room was connected down in the village until a storm forced the wizard to take it up to the hill. Hmmm... according to this, the ocean rose up to to submerge that village---
Suddenly, you realize that you're holding the book off to one side, not in front of you… and you're having no difficulty whatsoever reading it! More, your field of view seems to be much, much wider than it was before --- you can practically see directly behind yourself without turning your head! Tracing the shape of your face with your hoofy hands, you confirm your suspicion: You now have the head of a deer.
There was a mirror by the stairs; looking in it, you're shocked to see your sphinx-taur body, rather then the deer-eagle thing you are now. But you have a deer-muzzle---you can feel it protruding forward… The mirror must see through spells! But why did it not show you as a human in that case? Well, you're in a mage's library, so it should be easy to find out---
Written by Catprog & Cubist on 19 September 2010