there's no salvation for me now

Stood in nothing but his nakedness, the hand that was extended towards Reid was utterly unlike the wing that the illithid had seen only moments ago. A druid then, but even in this, the Goose was different from the others. Carved in absolute uniqueness, chiseled in a way that Reid could still not place. The cephalopod's eyes lingered upon the other man's for a moment longer before he reached up and followed through on the social construct. His hand closed over the Goose's as he shook and gave the man a curt nod.

"You're welcome." Reid's skin mottled and quickly shifted as the ceremorphed creature quickly glamoured himself into his vessel's skin. "I think you might have known this one, possibly in a past life." He didn't see the need to hold the glamour, so he shifted back quickly as the tentacles that had haphazardly curled around the Goose's wrist released as Reid let go of his hand. Again, the illithid returned to the superior form of communication as he telepathically spoke into the Goose's mind. "What should I call you?"

A belch, a grunt, some unidentified noise of frustration, all signs that the sudden adjustment was an incredible shock. Oratio spent so much time as the Goose that he'd forgotten how to exist as a druid. Would he be able to shift back soon? He hoped so. The urge to use the people attending this festival as target practice was still strong. Was it always this fucking cold?

Oratio's eyes narrowed when the creature shifted to look more human but relaxed when he returned to normal. Or what Oratio considered normal. Maybe it was a symptom of his animal mind, but he felt more comfortable with the stranger looking like his true self, tentacles and all. "Wouldn't know. Don't remember much yet. It'll take time." Living essentially the same life in every reincarnation with most of that time spent as the Goose could make it tricky for Oratio to provide context to his memories. There was no way he would pick out some random face through all of that, not that he was in a position to place much stock in the past anyway. His gratitude came from the events of that day for the strange, unique being who helped him get that bread.

Wild, erratic, and predator-driven, the more time Reid spent wandering through the annals of this Goose's mind, the more the illithid came to learn that this feathered monstrosity was not entirely as he seemed. He was far too intelligent to be considered just another Goose, but he was more violent than any variety of human had any right to be. Reid had spent a century honing his powers as an illithid, learning how to seep his way into the delicate matter of those around him, but these things were only surface level. He'd have to dig much deeper if he wanted to understand more definitively just who this Goose was to him, or rather, to Reid.

He drifted from above the ground and settled on the bench where the old man had previously been sitting. It was cold this time of year; the cold was what Reid preferred because it reminded him of the caverns of the Underdark. "You've held dominion over this territory for some time. I wonder where you came from." The illithid often asked himself this own question, the flayers had come from some distant time or place across the Astral Sea - notes in their genealogy indicated that their reproductive cycles were aquatic in nature. Still, the drow had taken advantage of the anatomy of the flayed subjects and had been making more illithids for so long it was difficult to tell their origins.

The Goose only knew of simple pleasures. His world didn't extend beyond the water sources he lorded over. What more was there to life than taking food from primates or dropping his waste on their unsuspecting heads? He even enjoyed chasing them when they mistakenly crossed his path foodless. The Goose led a simple life, but even he could flow with the shift in the wind. This new friend of his was an animal of great skill. Skills not as great as the Goose's of course, but skills nonetheless. Together they could take over every pond and stream in the area. Maybe then the Goose would be willing to share some of his food.

He made quick work of the loaf and went into a bit of a frenzy from eating it so fast. The Goose was a little dazed when he looked up from the wreckage of his meal, though his eyes did settle on the creature seated above him. It was a very primate thing to do, which did make the Goose a little suspicious, but a strange compulsion shook it away.

"That one packed a granola bar for their daughter-" Reid sifted through mortal thoughts and lycan dogma to pass over petulant milk bones and greasy treats that were ill-fitting of a fowl's disposition. "there are sweets tucked in the back pocket of their picnic basket," hovering in place, the illithid scoured the expanse of the park as he painted the image of the food and it's location into the mind of the righteous bird. "There's more -" eyes like a camera lens snapped towards the distance as he honed in on an elderly gentleman breaking up a whole loaf of bread, quietly feeding it to the ducks that pecked around the gravel at his feet. "a feast."

Even the Goose had to admit, the creature looked incredible in midair. His appendages were impressive enough, so he was actually curious as to why he chose to help the Goose navigate his massive buffet instead of using them to swipe his own food. Primates were selfish and stupid, so doing so would’ve been expected. But this animal was a cut above, clearly not one of them. The Goose’s instincts were correct in the assessment that this one was alright to not chase off.

What sorts of things could a goose even metabolize? His disposition was completely different from the mindflayer's internal organ structure, so it was difficult to tell how the goose would handle different things. As people passed, they stared at the illithid and his many, wiggling tentacles, though Reid paid them no mind as he continued to watch the Goose while he ingested his meal with the diligent ease that he could only relate to the most staunch forms of nobility. When Reid imagined swollen kings and bloated Gods he would picture this Goose and the way he swallowed stale bread.

The primates usually don’t pay much attention to the Goose unless he’s actively putting them in their place. They should observe him more since they could probably learn a thing or two, but they don’t. Oh well, it’s fine and the Goose is quite use to that treatment. It’s part of the reason he sqwacks in surprise after finishing his bread. The curios creature was still close up, peering at him, still somehow making his words known without making any noise. The Goose had never encountered an animal like him before. What was stranger than his behavior though was the fact that the Goose could understand much of these non-waterfowl related words. Geese had no use for blood but he still had plenty of experience washing the stuff off his hands.

"Noble fiend." Reid partially greeted; a single honk had evoked so much within him, one wail as he flapped his wings and hissed a barbed tongue, and the illithid had been brought back to this disorderly state of being. "Habringer of chaos. Goose of disorder." The psionic gaze was brought to the mysterious, magnanimous creature as he leveled the eyes akin to that of a cephalopod upon the feathered monster. "Have we met before? No- not us, you're a Goose." A goose couldn't be old enough to remember the illithid's druidic predecessor and this creature held no trace of humanity within him. Humans were so full of conflict that this one was devoid of anything but brutal, bone-breaking resolve. "What secrets you must keep."

Of all the things the other creature could do, getting so familiar was not the worst option. He actually managed to garner the Goose's attention after all, at least long enough for him to peer into those large, slitted eyes. The Goose had never seen anything quite like them before, but tey didn't provide any clarity as to what he was talking about. Not that he needed any, the tone of strangely spoken words was highly reverential in nature.

Sat on the bench and not minding his own business, Reid watched the exchange as the goose burgled and stormed off. The creature was interesting, he couldn't place why it was that he had any sort of interest in the bird beyond the fact that its nature seemed equal parts violent and endearing. The illithids varied appendages sifted about as he tried to ascertain some of the creature's thoughts and found only chaos and violence as he feasted on his horde amid his reeds. Reid had yet to attempt to communicate with Animalia, but this would be a worthy effort. "You're a territorial creature." He knew little about the different animals of this realm, they were still foreign to him, but over the last few months he'd taken to attempting to learn.

When it came to primates, their garbled nonsense was barely understandable. He was a cut above his flock and could likely decipher more than the other geese, not that it mattered. They were all so dumb and usually could only scream when they got dominated by this superior bird. Yet Goose could hear this one clearly. Perplexed, he begrudgingly stopped pecking at his bread to see ... not a primate?