The Shattered Crystal: Skeksis to Gelfling Transformation
1 Points
Title: The Shattered Crystal
High on the rocky cliffs of the Castle of the Crystal, where dark shadows mingled with the waning light, the Skeksis gathered, their twisted forms shrouded in robes of dark opulence. SkekLun, the corrupted chancellor, felt the oppressive tension lace the air as he approached the Crystal Chamber. Yet, despite the foreboding dread, curiosity gripped him. Whispers of an artifact that could amplify the Crystal's already immense power had been circulating among the Skeksis—a sacred relic stolen eons ago from the Gelfling, now rumored to be found.
"My lords!" SkekLun addressed his fellow Skeksis as he entered the chamber, his deep voice reverberating with assertiveness. "I have retrieved a fragment of the Hyren’s Mirror. Legend says it holds the power to elevate its wielder above all else!"
SkekLun held up the shard; it glittered ominously in the flickering light of the Dark Crystal. The others watched with greedy eyes, reveling in fantasies of strengthening their grip over Thra. SkekLun, his avarice overwhelming him, raised the shard towards his face. As he peered into it, a flash of radiant, golden light burst forth. He felt an excruciating pull, like a thousand discordant melodies weaving themselves around his very essence.
"No!" he roared, a guttural cry that resonated through the chamber.
But it was too late. The light enveloped him, his grotesque form convulsing. His limbs thinned and shortened, talons retreating into delicate fingers. His scales smoothed into soft, peach-hued skin. His curved beak reformed into lips, and his height diminished as he shrank to barely more than half his former size.
"Aaaah!" SkekLun—no, not SkekLun—whimpered, the transformation nearly complete.
The Skeksis watched in horrified fascination, powerless against this display of ancient magic. In moments, SkekLun's robes fell in a heap around a small figure now revealed to be a male Gelfling, with silken locks of auburn hair and wide, innocent eyes that gleamed with bewilderment.
The chamber, filled seconds before with the stench of decay, now felt lighter. Yet to the former Skeksis, the change in perception was indescribable. He—now believing himself always to have been Rian, a young Gelfling—looked around the room in confusion.
"W-where am I?" Rian stammered, his voice soft and melodic, starkly different from the menacing tones that once belonged to SkekLun.
SkekVar, the General, stepped forward, his eyes narrowing in caution. "Rian? Is that you?" His mind scrambled to understand what he was witnessing.
Rian nodded timidly. "Yes, that's my name. But who…who are you, strange creatures?"
The Scourge of the Crystal, originally looking to find evidence of deception, now gazed upon Rian—the Gelfling child—keenly aware that this was no mere illusion. This youngling had no recognition of who he truly was, nor the life he lived mere moments before.
SkekVar's voice was low, wary. "What trickery is this, Gelfling? How did you infiltrate our castle?"
Rian shook his head slowly, sincerity burning in his crystalline blue eyes. "I—I don't know. I don't remember anything. I just feel...lost."
One of the younger Skeksis, SkekGra the Conqueror, hissed in frustration. "This is some sorcery! No Gelfling could breach these walls alone."
As the Skeksis debated their next move, Rian, now entirely immersed in his new identity, felt a pull towards the Hyren’s Mirror shard, still glowing faintly on the floor. He picked it up, holding it against his small chest.
"I just want to go home," he whispered, tearfully.
Indeed, the shard had done more than transform SkekLun. It had wiped clean his rancid past, replacing it with memories of a Gelfling's life—innocent, unblemished by the malice and corruption that once festered in his soul.
"Please, I don’t belong here," Rian pleaded to the creatures he now feared.
Enflamed with frustration, SkekVar growled. "For now, we keep this child under guard. Perhaps the answers will reveal themselves with time."
And so, "Rian" was taken to a room far from the Crystal Chamber, his mind a blank slate of Gelfling innocence. Meanwhile, the Skeksis plotted to uncover the sorcery behind this transformation. Little did they understand the true nature of the magic at play—an ancient balance restored by a force beyond their comprehension, creating a new harmony in Thra where once there was only darkness.
As the days turned to weeks, Rian adapted to his new surroundings, eventually finding solace among others of his new kind. He would never remember his dark origins; his soul imprinted now with the purity and resilience of a Gelfling heart, he would grow into a beacon of hope in a land shadowed by terror.
"Remember, Rian," he often told himself, "courage and kindness are your true strength."
And with those words, every lingering fragment of his former life vanished, forever lost to time and magic.
This story was generated by user LanHikari with assistance by one of OpenAI’s large-scale language-generation model; prompts used to help generate the story are shown below.
Images were generated with OpenAI's AI system, DALL·E 2, or uploaded by the user.
AI Prompts
Prompt: Write a transformation story of a skeksis (from The Dark Crystal franchise) permanently turning into a gelfling (also from The Dark Crystal franchise), complete with body change, age change, height regression, instant clothes change, and mind/mental change (despite the skeskis's best efforts on fighting off these new gelfling personality and memories, making him/her unable to remember his/her life/self as a skeksis and only ever remember being a gelfling, being completely unaware of himself/herself ever being a skeksis or a transformation that had happened a moment ago, believing that he/she had always been a gelfling). There should be no gender/sex change, with the skeksis who transformed into a gelfling remaining either a male as a gelfling or remaining female as a female gelfling, depending on what gender that skeksis was before the transformation (the gender stays the same), so no gender change should occur. There should also be quotes from the characters in this story so we know what they're saying and what they're thinking.
Response: Title: The Shattered Crystal High on the rocky cliffs of the Castle of the Crystal, where dark shadows mingled with the waning light, the Skeksis gathered, their twisted forms shrouded in robes of dark opulence. SkekLun, the corrupted chancellor, felt the oppressive tension lace the air as he approached the Crystal Chamber. Yet, despite the foreboding dread, curiosity gripped him. Whispers of an artifact that could amplify the Crystal's already immense power had been circulating among the Skeksis—a sacred relic stolen eons ago from the Gelfling, now rumored to be found. "My lords!" SkekLun addressed his fellow Skeksis as he entered the chamber, his deep voice reverberating with assertiveness. "I have retrieved a fragment of the Hyren’s Mirror. Legend says it holds the power to elevate its wielder above all else!" SkekLun held up the shard; it glittered ominously in the flickering light of the Dark Crystal. The others watched with greedy eyes, reveling in fantasies of strengthening their grip over Thra. SkekLun, his avarice overwhelming him, raised the shard towards his face. As he peered into it, a flash of radiant, golden light burst forth. He felt an excruciating pull, like a thousand discordant melodies weaving themselves around his very essence. "No!" he roared, a guttural cry that resonated through the chamber. But it was too late. The light enveloped him, his grotesque form convulsing. His limbs thinned and shortened, talons retreating into delicate fingers. His scales smoothed into soft, peach-hued skin. His curved beak reformed into lips, and his height diminished as he shrank to barely more than half his former size. "Aaaah!" SkekLun—no, not SkekLun—whimpered, the transformation nearly complete. The Skeksis watched in horrified fascination, powerless against this display of ancient magic. In moments, SkekLun's robes fell in a heap around a small figure now revealed to be a male Gelfling, with silken locks of auburn hair and wide, innocent eyes that gleamed with bewilderment. The chamber, filled seconds before with the stench of decay, now felt lighter. Yet to the former Skeksis, the change in perception was indescribable. He—now believing himself always to have been Rian, a young Gelfling—looked around the room in confusion. "W-where am I?" Rian stammered, his voice soft and melodic, starkly different from the menacing tones that once belonged to SkekLun. SkekVar, the General, stepped forward, his eyes narrowing in caution. "Rian? Is that you?" His mind scrambled to understand what he was witnessing. Rian nodded timidly. "Yes, that's my name. But who…who are you, strange creatures?" The Scourge of the Crystal, originally looking to find evidence of deception, now gazed upon Rian—the Gelfling child—keenly aware that this was no mere illusion. This youngling had no recognition of who he truly was, nor the life he lived mere moments before. SkekVar's voice was low, wary. "What trickery is this, Gelfling? How did you infiltrate our castle?" Rian shook his head slowly, sincerity burning in his crystalline blue eyes. "I—I don't know. I don't remember anything. I just feel...lost." One of the younger Skeksis, SkekGra the Conqueror, hissed in frustration. "This is some sorcery! No Gelfling could breach these walls alone." As the Skeksis debated their next move, Rian, now entirely immersed in his new identity, felt a pull towards the Hyren’s Mirror shard, still glowing faintly on the floor. He picked it up, holding it against his small chest. "I just want to go home," he whispered, tearfully. Indeed, the shard had done more than transform SkekLun. It had wiped clean his rancid past, replacing it with memories of a Gelfling's life—innocent, unblemished by the malice and corruption that once festered in his soul. "Please, I don’t belong here," Rian pleaded to the creatures he now feared. Enflamed with frustration, SkekVar growled. "For now, we keep this child under guard. Perhaps the answers will reveal themselves with time." And so, "Rian" was taken to a room far from the Crystal Chamber, his mind a blank slate of Gelfling innocence. Meanwhile, the Skeksis plotted to uncover the sorcery behind this transformation. Little did they understand the true nature of the magic at play—an ancient balance restored by a force beyond their comprehension, creating a new harmony in Thra where once there was only darkness. As the days turned to weeks, Rian adapted to his new surroundings, eventually finding solace among others of his new kind. He would never remember his dark origins; his soul imprinted now with the purity and resilience of a Gelfling heart, he would grow into a beacon of hope in a land shadowed by terror. "Remember, Rian," he often told himself, "courage and kindness are your true strength." And with those words, every lingering fragment of his former life vanished, forever lost to time and magic.
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