Chrrou turns to Lilandra and nods. "...It's time. I have to get ready, but don't wait for me. I'll be with you all again in under half a minute." Glancing self-consciously down at himself, he smiles, "After all, I'm not going to be going anywhere fast like<span style="font-style: italic">this</span>..." Turning and nodding toward the rest of the group, he steps to where he's put a few feet of space between himself and everyone else before beginning his preparations, whether the party starts off in the meantime or not.<br/><br/>Once he has space, Chrrou kneels to place the small mouse in front of himself before drawing back, gesturing and speaking a short incantation.<br/><br/>[<span style="font-style: italic">Dispel Magic</span>, Targeted Dispel with the 'mouse' as the target; Chrrou automatically succeeds on the check to dispel any spell he has cast himself, in this case applying to both Baleful Polymorph and Charm Animal]<br/><br/>...and what was once an unassuming rodent that could be held in one paw is suddenly gone, the magical bonds on it shattered as it explosively regrows into its natural shape. When the scattered snow clears, Chrrou is reassuringly stroking an immense and powerful-looking wolf fully nine feet in length, armored in a fitted suit of studded leather. "I know, I know... but I can't take you into the town like that," he sighs, grinning and laughing as the towering wolfess licks him, but shortly kneeling down again, forepaws upon the ground, as he concentrates.<br/><br/>[Wild Shape, Dire Wolf]<br/><br/>Without a word of explanation or warning, his own body begins to ripple and shift, limbs lengthening and broadening radically as his pelt grows glossy and thick, muscle and bone unraveling only to be rebuilt larger and more powerfully than before. After only a few seconds, where Chrrou the mousefolk once knelt, a second dire wolf sits and pants, shaking itself in the snow, the impressively-crafted collar that Chrrou wore now fitted snugly about its neck. Standing up, gesturing broadly with one paw and growling in a carefully-measured cadence to invoke a final spell<br/><br/>[<span style="font-style: italic">Longstrider</span>, applied to both Chrrou and animal companion Heshaar via Share Spell; both dire wolves' base movespeed of 50' receives a +10 enhancement bonus for a total of 60' before snow is taken into account]<br/><br/>the druid finishes his preparations.<br/><br/>{{Now that the thought arises, is it feasible to bear the slower members of the party as riders?}}