February 19th Writing Prompt: Transformation
After trekking through a rainforest during a torrential storm, an explorer begins to notice strange changes on their body. What are these changes, why have they occurred, and what can be done to stop it?
Ideas and questions:
Perhaps the rainforest was the home to strange insects or other creatures that begin a parasitic association with a host. Or, it could be a symbiotic relationship, and as the creature drains blood from a host, it also gives them strange powers, and changes their appearance.
The changes could be anything from blemishes on the explorer’s skin, to the sudden appearance of gills and webbed appendages. While they could start off relatively benign, the more time that passes, the greater the change can appear.
Did the storm have a part to play in this strange phenomenon? Did the heavy rains and wind knock things out of the tree, or wash a pollutant through the area that somehow affected the explorer?
Was the explorer able to find refuge from the storm somewhere? Or did they find themselves fighting for their life to avoid flash floods, mudslides, and other dangers? If they did find refuge, did their sanctuary perhaps play some part in their transformation?
Is the affliction something that a cleric might be able to resolve for the explorer? Or is it possible that the transformation is more permanent than they had hoped, and they need to go far beyond what a healer might be able to cure for them?
Challenge:
Write about the experience for the explorer as though it is a horror that is unfolding upon them. Explore the madness they descend into as the changes persist and evolve, and determine what they plan on doing as they began to lose themselves to the change.