The older seneschal didn't reply, though Marcus flushed again, but then the doors were open, and the 'lesser' people, no matter how attractive or distracting, were not allowed in the room. The seneschal ushered her in, before shutting the door behind her with a slight bow to the room's occupants, keeping himself outside. No one spoke for a moment, allowing her to examine each of the seven people in the room.<br/><br/>All seven humans were clearly futas, but they were also clearly divided by related concerns. From the king's left to right, her right to left, was the councilors for the merchants, nobles, and religious organizations, and then starting on his opposite side were the Captain of the Guard, the representative of the two mage academies and the royal mages, and one person that seemed to blend into his chair and the wall behind him, even when he was speaking, marking him as either the Spymaster, or his attache to the council.<br/><br/>The merchant's councilor was a fat, old, overweight slug, looked to be in his sixties or so, who kept fanning himself and couldn't resist staring lewdly at her tits. He was dressed in a loose robe, that barely contained his bulk, the robe of the finest silks and satins, and he was positively bedecked with expensive jewelry.<br/><br/>The noble's councilor was more in shape, and younger, about in his late forties, but had clearly started to let himself slide as his age progressed. He stared into her eyes, a very small, barely discernible upturning of one corner of his mouth indicating his thoughts of her, but it quickly vanished as she turned her attention to him. He was in a simple shirt and pants, though both were of silk, and had a longsword strapped to his side, that was somewhat plain, but clearly well used.<br/><br/>The religious councilor was an older futa as well, likely in his seventies, but despite his advanced age his eyes showed neither cloudiness or hesitation. He wore the robes of the Arch Priest of the local chapter of Wee Jas. He was neither fat nor thin, but somewhere between the two as was natural for one of advanced age. Despite her being the child of another, sometimes rival, goddess, he showed neither distaste nor rudeness, simply weighing her, her actions, and the other councilors before committing himself to a course of action.<br/><br/>The Captain of the Guard was surprisingly young, in his mid thirties or so, but had earned it by serving the King for nearly two decades. He was the only one of the group that was young but barely showed his extra bits, as his body was like a whip, all hard muscles, tendons, and strong bones. He wore a basic but fine breastplate of the royal guards, and carried a massive great sword on his back and a light repeating crossbow on his hip, the only one with a ranged weapon in the room other than the two guards behind the king. He looked her over as a fighter, and while he was too much of a politician due to his position to show obvious distaste, he recognized her as a caster, and shifted slightly to ensure the crossbow was ready to fire if needed.<br/><br/>The councilor for the mages was nearly a complete opposite of the futa beside him. While the Captain of the Guard barely showed the touch of female, this one was barely able, or inclined, to contain his, his robe open to flaunt his new assets, long raven black hair in an elaborate braid that flowed over his shoulder, between his breasts, clearly enjoying them. He wore soft velvet and satin robes, black fabric with gold trim to draw the eye to the flesh he chose to flaunt, and was the only one that seemed to be enjoying the new bodies they had found themselves in. He frowned, before suddenly nodding to Laulin, recognizing her as another caster, and while he was a wizard and her a sorceress, he wasn't going to let the traditional rivalry between prepared and spontaneous casters drive a wedge between them with non-casters about.<br/><br/>The last council member was neither old nor young, fat or thin, shapely or flat, plain or gorgeous. He was remarkable only with how unremarkable he was. He did not react at all to her appearance, simply staring at her like a predator would something that wandered into its territory, and was trying to decide if it was prey, rival, or something useful.<br/><br/>The last important person in the room was the King himself, and he was perhaps the only one to take his change totally in stride. He wore simple but fine shirt and pair of pants under the royal robe, and simply nodded in recognition to Laulin as she entered. He was about as she would remember, now in his mid rather than early forties, and while his chest was more developed than before, he still managed an air of both complete competence and control while maintaining a degree of approachability. He still had the well muscled form from when she had first met him, and had gotten to enjoy the sight of him sparring with his captain of the guard. He waited for her to finish her assessment of his council, before speaking. "Welcome back, daughter and beloved of Ellistraee. We are pleased with your performance on Our last mission, but something has come up, and We were advised to summon you, and only you, back to assist with the current issue."<br/><br/>He paused, and then smiled softly, dropping the royal manner to get to the chase. "I am sure you have noticed the changes, but I want to hear what you think might have caused it. Our various inquiries have several suspects, but some," he paused to glance at the mage and priest, who shrugged slightly and didn't react respectively, "believe that it isn't an entirely mortal agent acting to cause such changes."<br/><br/>Several of the councilors started to speak, only to be forestalled by a single raised eyebrow and a sweeping glance. Once the councilors settled, he turned his attention back to Laulin, and waited for her assessment of the situation she had found herself in.