Beist is slightly started and jumps when Leni-Aura's head suddenly pokes out of the window behind him. Once he realizes it's just her, he gives her a smile and looks up at the sky as well, sniffing the air.

"Hm... yes it does, and it smells strange. Is this what rain always smells like here? My nostrils feel a bit like they're burning. How unpleasant." he responded before looking down at her.

"You must have had a nice nap, you slept most of the day away! Yes, you missed quite a bit of our conversation. Do you know about willow trees? They're not native to Dragon's Cradle, but I wonder if they might be able to survive here. They're very adapted to high winds, but instead of being very strong, its by being very flexible. They simply sway and bend in the wind without breaking! I wonder if I could try planting some here and seeing how they fare." Beist started to ramble before suddenly stopping with a look of concern on his face.

He looked down at his hand that had a small drop of liquid on it that was sizzling and bubbling. After a moment, the drop started to turn red, having burnt through his skin. He flicked it away with a gasp.

"Acid rain! Quickly, everyone cover the horses and take shelter!" he shouted, jumping from the seat and running to the back door of the wagon. He ran inside and pulled a large tarp from a chest and ran outside again, throwing it over Dora for protection. As he ran, other shouts rose throughout the caravan of others pulling out tarps and taking cover. He unharnessed Dora so she could walk around to the back of the wagon with him where he grabbed some poles and rammed them into the ground before lifting the tarp off of Dora and making a shelter that extended from the back of the wagon like a canopy for Dora to stay under.

With Dora safe, he looked to see how the other wagons were faring, concerned for their horses. The rain had begun to pick up, growing from the occasional drop into a shower of burning acid.

"Oh— sorry." Leni-Aura flicks her ears, although her expression looks less than apologetic as she looks at Beist from the window of his wagon. She looks away, back towards the sky. "Yeah, it feels a little like..." she trails off; it's a weird, nostalgic dread she feels deep in her chest that she can't quite... put a name to. She shakes her head, ears twisting towards Beist. She looks a bit grumpy when he mentions her nap, but then relinquishes with a slight sigh.

"I don't get much sleep, recently; but it was a nice nap." she admits, crossing her arms over the window-frame. She's still a bit drowsy, so she lays her cheek against her forearm— listening patiently while Beist proceeds to chatter about willow trees. She genuinely doesn't have as much interest in the plants as Beist and Orym do, but they both seem so enthusiastic about it all the time, that she would actually feel bad to interrupt either of them. Which, she doesn't often feel with most conversational partners; most of the time, she's quite happy to tell someone that they bore her. "I do not know if Willow Trees would be able to survive the Dragon's Cradle, honestly." she remarks.

Suddenly, Beist looks concerned; Leni-Aura blinks, furrowing her brows slightly as the beast-man looks down at his hand. She follows his gaze, noting the way his hand...

"Acid rain." It comes out as a gasp as Beist shouts and jumps from the wagon. She bolts towards the back, noting where Beist had set his tarp. Orym is calling out from the safety of Beist's wagon, directing the other wagons on where the tarps are stored— and to hurry! Leni-Aura meanwhile, hops about in assistance to the beast-man, gently pulling Dora closer to the middle of the tarp canopy to keep her as far from the edges as possible. She gives Dora a pat on the neck, looking worriedly around. "Where's Nimbus?" she asks fretfully, looking at Beist— not more than a second later, a tiny head pops from beneath Beist's robes, looking a little jostled by the rush.

She breathes a relieved sigh.

The other wagons seem to be taking a page out of Beist's book; as the beast-man looks around, the others are finishing putting their tarps up. A few people seem to be wearing make-shift raincoats as they lead the horses quickly beneath the tarp. Orym carefully steps down the stairs, looking worriedly towards the wagons. "Goodness... Acid Rain?" he remarks. "I've never seen this before..."

"It is a rare occurrence." Leni-Aura remarks, "When I lived here, it only happened twice. I was too young to remember the first; I was once told it occurs when one of the sulfur pits erupt."

Beist stares out into the rain from under the safety of the tarp as he pets Dora. He's never seen acid rain before either. He'd only read a single line of text on it in a book about Dragon's Cradle he'd found before making his way here. It only said one thing. "Try to avoid getting caught in acid rain". He was very disappointed in how little that book actually explained.

"Fascinating, though admittedly not very enjoyable. It must be terrible to be caught in such a thing without shelter. Yes, maybe you're right about the willow trees not being able to survive here." he said to Leni-Aura before looking at Orym and regaining his smile. "But it's a good opportunity!"

He walked into the wagon and exited holding a large glass bowl. He placed the bowl on the ground just inside the tent and slid it outside the canopy with his walking stick, making sure to place it in a spot where it could catch what was dripping from the tarp along with a good amount of rain. He smiled at the two again.

"Good acids can be hard to come by, and this is a fine opportunity to collect some." he said cheerily.

As he stood there, he suddenly looked down in surprise at the wiggling little drake in his robe. He gently scoops Nimbus up with one hand and hands him back to Leni-Aura. Dora looks a bit annoyed by the acid rain that's forcing her to stay under the tarp, unable to stretch her wings, but she cheers up a little when Nimbus chirps at her. The two play slightly, though they can't do much under the tarp. Their playing is mostly just Nimbus crawling around on her while she tries to keep him in her sight and screeches back at the little drake's chirps.

All the noise draws Bull out of the wagon. He flies grumpily over to Beist who holds out a hand for him to land on once he sees the bat is awake.

"Ah, Bull! So you're awake. I'd like you to meet my friends, Leni-Aura and Orym." Beist says to the bat, holding him out for the others to see. The bat ignores Beist's words and bites the beast man's hand, but Beist didn't seem to notice at all. He keeps looking at Leni and Orym with a smile. "Isn't he just adorable? He sleeps the day away, but he's just such a cute little thing. I found him in the Kingswood." Beist continued while Bull was very obviously drinking the oblivious beast man's blood.

She looks out as the rain drums against the earth outside; grateful for the quick thinking on behalf of the beast man. She leans back on her haunches, looking at the beast man as he mentions the willows again. “Yes, I… do not think they would survive here.” She watches as a nearby weed succumbs to the onslaught of acidic droplets; curling at its edges, before wilting into a sad puddle of gurgling greens. Ears twitching slightly, she looks back to Orym; he’s smiling bright, despite the situation— comforted that he’s seen everything is well.

Those in the other wagons seem to be settling after the quick rush; horses are tied beneath the tarps, being fed snacks to calm them down. The travelers are hanging out the back of one of the wagons, while the rest conglomerate in the middle to talk.

“Indeed!” Orym agrees, his cane tapping against the hard earth as he moves towards Beist and the rabbitaur. “Acids can be such a useful material, despite how dangerous they may be. Awfully hard to obtain, as well!” He looks towards the bowl that Beist settles at the corner, watching the consistent drip of the acid rain into it. Fascinating how this rain seems to only affect organic matter; fascinating, and lucky!

Leni-Aura reaches out to take Nimbus, sighing as she scratches the drake between his horns. He curls his head back, chirping happily; and perks up when Dora makes noise; he starts to wiggle in her arms, and Leni-Aura releases him to play. “Just don’t leave the center, okay?” she prompts; the drake doesn’t respond, but does excitedly tromp around on Dora’s back, nibbling playfully at her ears, and trying to play with her as much as he possibly can without moving from beneath the tarp.

Leni-Aura smiles weakly as she watches them; Orym settles to take a seat on the bottom step, and looks up as Bull comes fluttering out. “Oh! There he is.” he chuckles, his eyes soft as he watches the bat; and then it bites into Beist’s hand. He blinks, surprised, but doesn’t mention it. “He is quite cute; we must have given him a bit of a startle when he woke up with us in the back instead of you.” he laughs softly.

Leni-Aura, on the other hand, simply looks at Bull, then back at Beist in confusion. “He is eating your hand.”

Beist just tilts his head to the side when Leni says the tiny bat is eating his hand. How could such a little thing possibly eat his hand, there's just no way. It must be a joke from the Rabbitaur. Her sense of humor is very dry, though that makes sense considering her serious personality. The beast man lets out a hearty laugh and smiles.

"Oh, that's a good joke! How could such a cute little thing possibly eat my hand? The absurdity!" he laughs while Bull continues to feed on his hand, licking up the blood from the two tiny holes in the skin. Beist doesn't feel a thing. After a few moments, Bull seems to have had his fill and crawls along Beist's arm and up onto his shoulder where he stares at Leni and Orym. The pin pricks on Beist's hand quickly stop bleeding while he catches his breath and stops laughing, a hand holding his stomach and another wiping a tear from his eye while he leans slightly on his cane with a third. Once he was composed again, he looked at his guests again with a smile.

"Don't worry, Bull isn't so easily startled. He probably just sized you up when he saw you. He's not as sociable as Dora or Nimbus. Mostly keeps to himself except the occasions he likes to cling to me. I'm sure he'll be much friendlier once he gets to know you. He's a very independent little guy. Finds his own food, too. I've never fed him all this time, but he seems to be in perfect health, so he must be eating something while I'm not looking." he reassure Orym while very gently stroking Bull's hack with the back of his finger.

"Well, since it would be quite a pain for you to go back to a different wagon in this weather, you're welcome to spend the night. There's plenty of room for you, not that I think you'd take much. Oh, I'll get some tea started! What kind would you like? I've collected quite the selection if I do say so myself. You're welcome to look through it and see if one catches your interest." he offered, mostly looking to Orym since he would likely be much more interested in the variety of tea leaves, but also making sure Leni knows she's welcome as well. 

Leni-Aura furrows her brows quizzically as Beist begins to laugh heartily about her comment; then passes it off as a joke. “But…” She looks at Bull, still clearly feeding off Beist, then looks at Orym with a baffled expression; the halfling chuckles, shaking his head while he shrugs slightly in response to her. She frowns, brows furrowing as she looks back at the bat; he seems to have finished, and is on his way up Beist’s arm.

She is not just seeing things; that bat was definitely trying to eat him!

She sighs, crossing her arms over her chest with a tilt in her shoulders as she waits for Beist to finish laughing about her comment. Eventually, he does; and Orym chuckles as he comments about Bull’s nature. “Oh, that’s good; he was giving us quite the look when he woke up! He was very polite about it, even though we were in his territory.” Orym laughs softly, ignoring the way Leni-Aura leans forwards with narrowed eyes at the tiny pin pricks on Beist’s hand. She subtly gestures at the beast-man with a hand to Orym, looking absolutely offended by the obliviousness happening right in front of her.

Orym waves his hand to calm her down, and she just sighs. Leni-Aura drops her arms in defeat, ears flicking as she hears Nimbus and Dora scuttling about behind them.

“Well, we do mighty appreciate it, my friend.” Orym chuckles, watching the acid rain drip into the bowl nearby with interest. “I would hate to walk back in this weather.” He laughs cheerily, then smiles as Beast mentions tea. “My, I would love a bit of earl grey.” he chimes, “But, I am always trying new teas… what kinds do you have?” He looks towards the wagon, then back towards Beist.

“Do you have honey for the tea?” Leni-Aura adds, with a small twinge of hope in the tone of her voice. She actually quite hates the herbal taste of tea; much too bitter for her.

Beist gave a small chuckle when Leni-Aura looked so hopeful for a bit of honey for the tea. It was cute that someone so serious would like sweet food so much.

"Yes, I have a bit of honey. Now, let me see here..." he started saying as he walked into the wagon and removed a small bar from in front of a drawer that kept it from coming loose while the wagon was moving. From the drawer he started pulling out different jars. Each jar had a very tightly sealed lid to keep the fragrance contained so the leaves wouldn't lose their flavor.

"I do have Earl Grey, but if you want to try something new... This one is interesting. It's a tea I acquired in Frostglade. You can give it a taste before we get there and maybe you'll even like it enough to buy some there, eh? I'd recommend it." Beist called out to the two from inside the wagon as he took out a jar. "Have you tried Black Sea Tea? It's made from a plant called Camellia. Or we could have some Pine Tea. It's made from the needles of a special pine tree. It's surprisingly delicious. Here, give them both a whiff and see which you might prefer."

He pulled out a couple of different jars and held them out to the Halfling for him to choose one. With a tea chosen, he began to fill a kettle with water and set it in a holder above a large candle that looked like it wouldn't be out of place in an alchemy laboratory. In fact, it usually was used by the beast man for alchemy, but it also made good a very good kettle boiler.

With the tea made, and the scent filling the air around them, he sat on a stool he brought out from the wagon and drank it happily with his guests. He had also been sure to bring out a little jar of honey for Leni and produced some fruits for Nimbus and Dora to enjoy while they enjoyed their tea.

Leni-Aura’s ears perk when Beist mentions that he does, in fact, have honey to sweeten the tea. “Okay, then.” she agrees, tail twitching as Beist walks back into the wagon to look at his store of teas. Orym wanders after him, cane tapping against the ground as he moves; and habitually, Leni-Aura hops to him and offers her hand to the old man.

He takes her hand as a support, peeking into the wagon after Beist with a warm smile. “Oh my… Black Sea Tea?” he inquires, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “No, I don’t think I’ve tried it…” he muses, then chuckles softly as Beist suggests giving the teas a whiff to make a choice. Leni-Aura leads him up a few steps to get into the wagon to join him. In the end, Orym chooses the Black Sea Tea; Leni-Aura finds the smell… interesting, but she’s also never quite gotten the appeal of most teas.

She helps Orym back out, down the steps of the wagon, and he settles on a stool brought out for him by Beist while the kettle warms.

They chat back and forth, Orym happily prattling on, asking about the teas which Beist had obtained in the Frostglade, and how they could be used in an herbalist’s trade. “My mother used to make me Pine Tea whenever I had a cold,” Orym states, sniffing at the air as the smell of the Black Sea Tea permeates, even through the acidic twinge of the rain outside. "She often said it helped clear the chest."

Leni-Aura is already well on her way to putting far too much honey in her tea, decisively ruining any flavour it might have. “You’re not even going to taste the tea with that much in there, Leni.” Orym remarks, bemused, while the rabbit sets down the honey beside her lying body and stirs the concoction in her teacup.

She flattens her ears, pouting somewhat as she puffs back, “I can taste it fine. It still tastes like tea.”

Orym gives a shake of his head, bemused, while Nimbus happily runs circles in front of Dora, holding a fruit that looks far too big for his little jaws. Orym takes another sip of his tea, smiling pleasantly, as he sighs. “This is very good… I will have to pick some up before we leave the Frostglade.” he chuckles, looking at Beist. “Tell me; did you grind the tea, yourself? Or did you obtain it from a vendor?”

Beist just smiles at Leni-Aura drowning her tea in honey. He's a little worried he might run out of honey with how much she's using, but he doesn't mention it. It would be bad manners to say such a thing to a guest, and he considers them all guests, including Nimbus, at the moment.

"This tea I bought, but I do enjoy grinding my own sometimes if I can gather it on my own." He replied to Orym before looking at Leni-Aura clearly not enjoying her tea very much despite the copious amounts of honey.

"If you'd prefer something else, I could squeeze you some sweet fruit juice. Do you like orange juice? I can conjure more fruits than just those ones, they're just the most convenient, you know. Though I do admit I have quite the craving for some actual meat right now. Maybe I can get some in Frostglade. I know Dora would like to eat something else from time to time as well." he gave Dora a pat while she gave one of the fruits a shove with her beak, obviously not very happy with it. They ate the fruit and vegetable he summoned far too often for her liking lately and she didn't try to hide that thought.

"Ah, you two should consider yourselves lucky. You must not need to eat much, while I probably eat more than everyone on your caravan combined." he added jokingly, chuckling to himself. He did have quite the appetite, even before he grew so much larger. He was just glad he'd learned the spell to conjure food beforehand or he may have gone into poverty from the cost of his food alone, not to mention needing to fee the huge Griffon. At least she could hunt while they were on the southern side of the continent, but in this region game was scarce and the two had mostly been forced to survive off of the conjured foods. He'd even started practicing with producing a bit more of a variety just because of this.

"Oh, let me try showing you some new ones I've been trying out."

He held out his hand to a small area of ground that was protected by the tarp and gave it a wave, his face full of more concentration than usual when he did this. From the ground, what looked like a tiny tree slowly sprouted along with some leaves. After a moment, the area had a tiny orange tree full of full sized fruits, several heads of lettuce, and a vine that trailed across the ground with cucumbers sprouting along its length. There was also a familiar tomato-like plant, but they were a bit smaller than usual.

"Would anyone like some salad or orange juice?" Beist said with a sigh, seeming a little tired. The spell wasn't actually all that draining on his energy, but the mental concentration he used got to him a little. He recovered after a short moment though, and smiled to the others as he stood up and collected the fresh produce in a basket he grabbed from the back of the wagon.

Leni-Aura’s tail flicks as Beist addresses her; the rabbit shuffles her paws together, popping her spoon into her mouth to allow the sweet honey to coat her tongue. She looks back up after a moment, blinking when he offers her something else; her ears perk briefly when he mentions a sweet fruit juice, and then lowers again. “Orange juice?” she asks, sounding mildly quizzical about it. “I’ve had cider at taverns before. Is it like that?”

Orym chuckles, taking a quiet sip of his tea while Leni-Aura rises up to her paws, then sits back on her haunches with her tea-cup still held carefully in her hands. She takes an idle sip of the liquid, and looks to Dora as the gryffon munches on one of the fruits that Beist had conjured earlier. She swipes her tongue over her lips; her tea is sickly sweet at this point, but still has that weird herbal aftertaste that she doesn’t like much. “We have meat.” she remarks, looking at Orym.

Orym nods. “We have some dried and cured meats from the Zeinavian region, actually… if it weren’t raining so hard, the acid and all that, I would go and fetch you and Dora some…” Orym looks across the way towards their remaining wagons; a small group of merchants are laughing softly around a fire, as the acid rain patters around them. “Perhaps once it stops? And, you would be surprised! She might be small, but Leni has quite the appetite.”

Leni-Aura looks up from her tea, tongue poking through her teeth while she tolerates the aftertaste after another sip. She shakes her head, looking quizzically at Orym, as though she hadn’t heard him; when suddenly, Beist begins to focus on a patch of ground. Leni-Aura takes a step back, watching as a tree sprouts from the dry earth. She tilts her head, “How do you do that?” she remarks curiously, getting up to her paws to investigate the tree.

Orym, meanwhile, claps excitedly. “Ah! You really are so talented, my friend!” he praises, his old eyes warm. “I would love some, and I’m sure Leni-Aura would love to try some orange juice.”

“What does it taste like?”

“It’s quite sweet!”

Leni-Aura blinks from where she’s standing, watching Beist pluck the fruit from the tree to put into a basket; after a moment of her hovering about him, she reaches out and helps him take the produce off the tree for his basket.

Beist gives a chuckle at Orym saying Leni has quite the appetite for her size. He believed him, since she was a warrior. Warriors always seem to have large appetites to fuel their strength. But, he also had a large appetite for his size, though he wouldn't try to argue something as silly as who could eat more. He just enjoyed the humor in the situation.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to trouble you. But, perhaps a trade? Some meat for some fresh fruits and veggies? Though it feels like I'd be taking advantage of you since I can just conjure the stuff from nothing."

He blushed a bit as Orym complimented him for growing the different foods with his magic. He was happy to be praised, but didn't want to seem vain. He tried to play it off as nothing, looking back at Orym with a neutral expression, but his tail betrayed him with its wagging, only making him blush even more. This tail was just too honest! He cleared his throat and looked down at Leni.

"Hm, how do I do it? Well, I just sort of look at the ground and really want food and think about what kind of food... That probably isn't very helpful. I have some affinity with Earth magic is all. And I know a lot about plants, so I can sort of imagine them growing and producing the foods I want while putting a bit of magic into it. Does that... help explain at all?" Beist said, a bit sheepishly. He wasn't the best at explaining things. A reason why he'd never tried taking on any kind of apprentice as an alchemist. The other being the possibility of harming them as a werebear. "I'm sorry, I'm not that good at explaining things like this."

Beist went into the wagon and emerged with a large pitcher and some cheesecloth. He placed the pitcher on an empty stool and draped the cloth over the top to catch the orange seeds and pulp as they squeezed the juice into the pitcher.

"Well, let's get to making that orange juice. It's simple enough for me to explain. You just need to take the fruit and squeeze-" he said picking up a whole orange and squeezing it, which promptly caused it to explode and splatter orange juice all over him. Bull flew away, screeching in protest and hung from the wagon door, licking the juice out of their fur. "Right, first you need to cut them in half." he said as he wiped his face with a towel pulled from his waist.

He went back into the wagon and returned with a few knives while Dora rolled her eyes.

Orym smiles, nodding his agreement; he truly doesn’t mind just offering the goods, but a trade is profitable for both parties… and if his friend would be more comfortable with it, he won’t push. “That would be perfect,” he says, smiling as he nods. “The caravan really enjoyed the fruits you made last time; they were just delighted when they tried them!” He laughs heartily. “Oh, don’t worry about that… we dry our meat ourselves; Leni is quite the hunter when she wants to be.”

Leni-Aura, an orange in hand, looks at Beist's tail as it starts to wag; she raises a brow quizzically, then sets her orange in the basket Beist is carrying. Orym, on the other hand, chuckles softly at his old friend’s delight; he doesn’t find it vain, of course— on the contrary, he thinks Beist is too humble, too often.

Leni-Aura looks up at Beist as she takes another fruit from the tree, and holds it between her two hands. She ponders the answer for a moment, then nods. “It makes sense.” she answers, looking up at him with a blink. “That’s sort of how I use my magic.” Orym chuckles from his stool, shaking his head as Leni-Aura places the orange into the basket. “Magic is hard to explain, from what I understand. My—” she stops suddenly, ears flicking slightly, before laying back grumpily. “I’m being taught to harness my connection to Avasha’s domain."

She shakes her head, her voice drawing low, and flicks an ear. She watches as Beist walks into the wagon to fetch some things, and returns with a large pitcher and cloth. Orym smiles as Leni-Aura draws fairly close to where Beist has set up, and sits back on her haunches as he picks up an orange—

And it explodes.

She jumps up to her paws, shaking as remnants of orange and pulp jump to her as well; even Bull shrieks in protest, flying away to lick the juice from their fur. Orym bursts out laughing, “Goodness!” he laughs, smiling as Beist cleans himself off. Leni brushes some juice off her arms, looking quizzically at the fruit.

“How do they hold so much?”

Orym simply chuckles.

Beist is still wiping juice from his fur as he looks at Leni with a still somewhat embarrassed smile.

"Well, I made them to be very juicy when I conjured them, since they were for making orange juice. I also made them quite sweet, though, that may have come back to bite me. My fur is all sticky now." he replied, picking up an orange from the basket.

"You can also just eat them like this though, see?" he said cheerily and popped an entire orange into his huge mouth, peel and all. He chewed and swallowed with a little wag of his tail and continued cutting them in half and squeezing them into the pitcher. In barely any time at all, there was a full pitcher of the orange, sweet smelling juice. He poured some into cups for Leni and Orym. Bull and Dora weren't interested in the juice, but Dora did eat several oranges whole, just like Beist had done.

"Please, enjoy the juice. Feel free to have as much as you want. I'll start making the salad." he said.

He was happy to be making the food and drink for them. It was like he was entertaining a couple guests in his home, something he had hardly any experience with and was excited to be able to do. He didn't even notice that the pitcher he'd placed for them was quite large and might be a bit difficult for either the Halfling or the Rabbitaur to handle on their own. He started to cut the lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes into pieces suitable for a salad, humming merrily to himself. Thankfully, he'd washed his hands before starting, so none of his blood from Bull's bite contaminated the food. He even tossed the salad in a bit of a dressing made from more of the orange juice and some vinegar he had.

Given their situation, everything is quite calm and peaceful; the sound of acid rain patters against the ground beyond the tarp, and thunder grumbles in the distance; but the sounds of laughter and conversation drift between the sounds of what should have been one very stressful night had they not prepared in time. Orym smiles while Leni-Aura mingles with Beist; she looks somewhat pouty as Beist explains about the fruit; and the halfling breathes a relaxed sigh.

He closes his eyes for a moment.

Leni-Aura’s ears lift as she watches Beist chomp down on an orange, peel and all. “Ah.” she remarks, as though she definitely understands; but she will probably try to eat an orange with the peel on it later, with significantly less success. Beist pours her a glass, and she takes it curiously— only to be hounded almost immediately by a curious Nimbus. She jostles as a tiny weight thrums against her shoulders, and Nimbus looks curiously at her cup. “I cannot even drink in peace, mati? What happened to playing with Dora?” she puffs; Orym laughs softly as the rabbitaur plays ‘keep away’ from Nimbus’ curious snout.

Eventually she succumbs and offers the cup to him with a roll of her eyes.

Orym shakes his head at the two, looking towards Beist as he tosses the salad. “The juice is very good,” he praises, smiling warmly. “I hope you don’t mind my asking, but have you always had this kind of connection to Ginma’s domain?” He blinks up at Beist, glancing towards Leni-Aura as she takes her first sip of the juice.

She seems quite pleased with it, all things considered— moreso than she had taken to the tea. "It is sweet..." she remarks, wiping the back of her mouth with a hand.

Beist sat down and served each of them some salad and poured himself some of the juice before looking at Orym and thinking for a moment.

"I suppose I always had some connection, but not as strong as it is now. A bit of a natural draw to, well, nature. I was born a Wearbear. Maybe it has to do with being part beast. My connection grew much stronger since I became... more of a beast." Beist answered, looking a bit conflicted.

He was happy to have such a connection to the Earth Domain, but he was still coming to terms with his appearance. He always had a faint connection, perhaps one that's inherent in all of the Werebeasts of creatures that live on the land, like bears. He'd imagine Werebeasts of flying creatures might have a stronger connection to Avasha and Werebeasts of sea creatures to Salina. For some reason, Werebeasts also were all seen as monsters related to evil and the dark. Probably because they couldn't control their beastly form, the whole cause of Beist's problems now and in his past.

"The potion I made to give me control over my bear form was a failure. Instead it turned me into what you saw the first time we met. And the potion I made to try and reverse that made me what you see now. Perhaps I should just give up on changing back. I feel as if another attempt could just make me look like even more of a monster." he continued a bit downcast.

He suddenly realized how much he might have brought the joyful mood of the group down with his sad story and looked worried.

"Oh dear, I apologize! I've ruined the joyful atmosphere! I'm actually very happy to have my magic, it's just a bit hard to adjust to my appearance. Please don't worry about it. Enjoy the salad! It's really de-hrmph!" Beist tried to say, but was stammering from panic, and finally cut off by Dora's face appearing from over his shoulder and covering his mouth with the side of her beak to shut him up.