Numerous, disparate peoples shuffled into the tent-shaded bleachers surrounding the high-stakes judging contest. This was the final round of the climactic bout, a proving to determine which species of the Nine Aligned Realms deserved the coveted title of 'Most Beautiful Being'. Numerous earnest and glamorous competitors had already been eliminated, leaving the contest down to two beauteous women. Their fates would be decided by an expert and impartial team of three vetted judges, the inter-planar mage, Skalahad, Queen Aroria of the Nexus Marketplace, and Fance Carlis of the mighty three-realm Carlisian royal family.

Of the numerous creatures competing, the contestants had been narrowed down to a final pair. One was the fair elf princess, Eirawen, a pale and statuesque exemplar of her kind. The long-eared contestant's faintly blue-mauve skin was considered a particularly lustrous spectacle of her Moon Elf kind, a slight, glowing shimmer emanating from her pale and perfect curves, like a freckled twinkling of stars. She had the hopes of her entire elfin kind riding on her narrow shoulders, a heavy burden for a proud and regal maiden of the moon.

Clashing against her, was the dark horse candidate named Taka Yama. The vixen woman represented the newly-inducted kitsune clans, an engimatic and semi-mythologized group from the distant realm of Najapan. Taka's delicate, almond-eyed beauty combined with her tasteful vulpine ears and tail had swept aside numerous, highly-regarded challengers, and the spirited fox woman seemed keen on sweeping the prize. Some found her haughty and domineering style during the revealing showcases to mark her as uncouth, but many others found the kitsune's witty and unreserved candor endearing.

Spectacle and fanfare was unleashed as the two women strode to their respective positions before the judging panel. Music, magical lights, and flying creatures dotted the monolithic tent, kept aloft by gas burners high in the balloon-like rafters. Eirawen wore a shimmering gown that cascaded down her figure like a half-frozen waterfall, the twinkling of the gem-like fabric matching the natural luster of her luminous skin. Taka Yama worse a red-and-black kimono that draped off her slender, long-limbed frame with startlingly revealing abandon, it's voluminous silk folds barely hiding her perky feminine assets. She characteristically floated to her dais, smoking from an elongated pipe adorned with gaudy engravings.

Skalahad, who had acted as mediator for many of the more divisive judge decisions, spoke up first to address the thronging crowds. "What a spectacular occasion, to be united here together from among the Nine Realms under such auspicious circumstances. We have all grown to know much of our remaining two competitors and each others over these many days, so let us reiterate the basics. This is to be a holistic accounting of the numerous traits that combine to make a great woman truly radiant, mind, body, and soul. I will leave it to my peer judges to explain the rest."

Fance stood just as Skalahad sat, the noble always eager for some time in the spotlight. "Yes, as the great mage so eloquently put it, this isn't just a measuring of who's the most waifish, we have standards to uphold. This contest is supposed to Mean something. Taka Yama has surely charmed us all here, with the glorious debut of her spectacular species, but the elf is putting in a really good showing too. Anyone's game, really. Aroria?"

Aroria just shrugged her broad shoulders in response, before saying, "Best gettin' on with it all then, right? Ladies? Ehhhhh..."

Both contestants struck a prose as the lights narrowed into a nimbus to focus attention on their locations. After a pause, Eirawen began to speak, before Taka immediately began to cut her off, "As I have so eloquently repeated, the case for kitsune supremacy is both obvious and objective. By every comparative category of note, the elf can barely hope to match my natural gifts." Eirawen seemed eager to retort as Taka breathlessly continued without pause, the elven princess casting her eyes to the judges for a response, but seeing no overtures to intervene. "The elf has not a single fluffy tail to frame her wide and waddling rump, giving her a certain... equine profile from the back. And what to speak of the countless preeminences of the kitsune tail, it's entrancing swaying, the soft brush of it's furry caress. It represents another important distinction between us. Elves may be known to live long, like some lingering auntie, but so are the venerable kitsune.

Eirawen's consternated voice shot up in clear reproach, "'Lingering auntie'? What is this pejorative tripe? Is this whole affair to be an insult contest? Judges?"

Fance spoke up to clarify, tepidly saying, "You'll have your chance to make your own case, Eirawen, this is Taka Yama's time to speak. Taka? You may continue."

The floating kitsune gave a slight nod of deference to the human judge, before continuing, "As I was saying, before being so ogreishly interrupted, was that the delicate difference between us is in the nature of our aging. The wrinkles under my competitor's eye bags attest to the declining prospects of a sagging elf matron, but kitsunes only ennoble over time, like the finest of vintage wines. The older a kitsune grows, the more fluffy, wondrous tails we obtain, which mark our rising wisdom and power. Elves get... Crow's Feet. I think the superior option is clear now, if it wasn't before."

Eirawen's dusky face was practically cobalt with anger as the pulsing of the spotlights marked her turn to speak, and thus, retort. She took a pause to gather her flustered thoughts, casting scathing glances at the smug-seeming kitsune woman. A minute passed, acrid fumes wafting from Taka's fanciful churchwarden pipe, before Eirawen found the presence to speak. "It's clear that the lofty style and venal airs of this gussied vixen are quite entrancing. But just as our judge put it, this is also a contest of mind and spirit, and this preening woman has clearly—"

Taka Yama's voice broke in quite sharply, again beating out the increasingly agitated elf, "And another thing that's important to mention, is all this 'ears' business. Elves love to go-on and tout their floppy aural extensions, but is it the least bit justified? Take my ears for example. They are long too, but more tastefully so, and more importantly, covered in the finest, velvety gold fur, a delight to both touch and see. By comparison, an elf's ears seem rather... fleshy and bulbous. It's a shame really, because the ears are basically the only thing that sets an elf apart from a common human— Hey!"

The kitsune bobbled about mid-air as Eirawen's dainty shoe bounced off the draping, silken sleeve of her dark kimono. Taka immediately bristled with agitation at the affront— quite literally. Bristles of yellow-gold fur with black and white sections fanned across her face and exposed flesh like an unnatural wave, before her porcelain skin reasserted itself. The kitsune woman audibly began growling at her competitor with a snarling cast to her features, prompting Fance Carlis to quickly speak up in intervention. "Misconduct!" cried the human noble, his eyes narrowed at Eirawen's actions, yet a hint of uncertainty clouded his features when he glanced at Taka.

"Touching is strictly prohibited, Eirawen," Fance announced with enforced authority, fighting off his internal doubts, yet his voice betrayed a note of apprehension. "Taka was there, ah, anything else you wanted to add or clarify before yielding the floor to Eirawen?"

Eirawen indignantly spoke up again, asking, "I apologize, but why does she get to start speechifying again? Am I to silently suffer these insults from a lady with the features of an animal that uses it's own tongue as toilet paper?!"

Taka Yama's voice took on a tittering and fast-paced tension as she spoke over Eirawen, "The elf should clearly be disqualified for this travesty! The thin facade of elven nobility has clearly fallen apart, exposing my long-eared competitor's oafish belligerence and unsuitability. I think this is really quite indicative of hows elves as a whole are all talk about their supposed 'ideals' of— Step off, you bitch!"

The fox-featured woman was so absorbed in her words, she had scarcely noticed the fuming elf rounding behind her. Before she could react, Eirawen lunged at Taka's behind with an angry grunt, firmly yanking one of the kitsune's floating tails. Chaos shortly ensued. Taka swiped at Eirawen's beautiful face with her paw, leaving several unsightly scratches. The elf woman fell back, clutching her face as Skalahad and Fance stood up from their chairs, their angry voices joining the raucous din of the teeming audience. Amidst the uproar, Taka Yama's figure distorted.

The kitsune's bodily profile shrank and extended oddly, her legs and arms drawing together and thinning from her lengthening frame. Golden-hued, radiant fur extended from her body, her nose lengthening into a snout as her cheeks puffed into an increasingly canid muzzle. The billowing, carefully draped silk kimono slithered off Taka's changing frame, revealing a large, floating fox where she had been. The magical vixen crossed her paws across her hoary body like a maiden exposed, her humanoid features utterly discarded for an ethereally feral design.

Taka's voice took on a shrill and yipping quality as she expounded, "The elf girl must of done some kind of magical trick or something. This is clearly, uh, unusual, and unprecedented. I think Eirawen has blatantly disqualified herself by not only manhandling my beautiful tail, but somehow transfiguring my womanly figure into this far more beautiful vulpine form and—"

Fance broke Taka's hurried explanation with his own forceful exclamation, "W-What the fuck, Taka? This isn't... Have you always been this way!? Did I have sex with another talking animal? Y-You tricked me!"

Both Skalahd and Queen Aroria stared up at their fellow judge, alarmed at his admission of having slept with a contestant, as well as the contestant's hidden, true form. Presenting under false bodily pretenses was disbarred from the contest, despite the shapeshifter lobby's protest, but Eirawen had also crossed a line by repeatedly accosting her opponent, who had injured the elf in return. Further muddying the matter, was their fellow judge's tarnished impartiality. How in the Nine Realms were they going to salvage this debacle? The crowds were nearly riotous, Eirawen and Taka pointing accusatory fingers and paws at each other as their respective delegations crowded onto the contest stage floor.