Beist smiled with a slight chuckle as he took the shiny rock that Bubbles offered. How cute! This Kobold really is just a child, isn't he? "Thank you Bubbles, I'll be sure to take good care of it!" he replied, putting the rock in his pocket. It would be rude to reject his gift, but he felt bad taking something from a child. He didn't thank some candy was a fair trade for someone's treasure, even if it was just a rock. He wanted to give him something he could keep. He reached into a pouch on his waist and pulled out a huge, white feather, one of Dora's shed feathers that he liked to keep to make into very large quills for himself, and offered it to Bubbles. "And I want you to have this treasure."

It's just water? So this man was indeed a swindler then. Good to know. Beist thought to himself, stroking his beard. It was nice of Bubbles to be so honest even if it might be harmful to his master. Beist gave him some more candy with a warm smile. Pretzels popped back out of Beist's fur with a smug I-told-you-so smile on his face that the beast man pretended not to notice.

"Be careful, don't cut yourself on the glass." Beist whispered like a doting parent to Awd as he sniffed the glass shard from the bottle in Morrigan's hand. With the scent acquired, the little raccoon dog set off into the flowers, their nose low to the ground, on the trail of the sparklelings. Beist stayed out of the field of flowers, afraid of accidentally stepping on one of them without realizing. He would just leave this to Awd. He could surely handle this.

As Ned was gathering flowers in their basket, he suddenly felt something climb onto his fuzzy back. It was probably some smaller insect. Ned shook their butt a little to try and get whatever it was to get off, but the little thing wouldn't let go. He spun around like a flying dog chasing its tail, trying to look back at what was on his back, but couldn't turn his head far enough. Bumble bees weren't the most flexible of creatures.

A slight panic in their buzzing drew the attention of Dora the griffon. She raised her head up from her cat nap to see the big bee spinning around and buzzing in a frenzy. She stood up to go see the problem. The griffon was like a big sister to the other animals Beist kept, including the bumble bee. She was often asked to babysit the others while Beist had important matters to attend to that he couldn't bring his pets on, and she didn't mind it. She cared about the others like family. As she got closer, she saw... a ball of glitter on Ned's back? It was like snow, but far too sparkly to be normal and also it had little arms and legs. Her head tilted as she let out a short, confused trill.

From his end of the clearing, Beist heard the sounds of the griffon's confusion and looked over to see the flight of the bumblebee. "Ned, is everything alright?" he called and started to walk over, skirting around the edge of the flowers. As he approached, he suddenly made out the glitter ball on the bees back and Dora was close enough to Ned to try and snap at the thing pestering her brother. "Oh! Don't hurt it, it's a companion of Mister Moonweaver!" Beist called out and walked faster toward the pair. He gently grabbed Ned out of the air and held him still, the bee still buzzing in a panic, and plucked the snowling from his back. With the creature no longer attached to him, Ned started to calm down, but Dora looked at the snowling with narrowed eyes. "Well that's one of them safe." Beist said with a smile, peting Dora on the neck and releasing Ned from his grip. Ned flew off his arm and landed on top of Dora's head, also staring at the snowling with narrowed eyes. "Well, I'd best go return this..." Beist muttered, sensing a bit of hostility from his two pets toward the ball of glitter in his hand. He turned and headed back to Morrigan.

Meanwhile, Awd had begun climbing up the side of a tree, on the trail of one of the remaining snowlings.

Bubbles stared in awe while friend Beistmild produced a white feather from his pouch, offering it to Bubbles. He stared at the treasure before breaking out into a little joyous dance, kicking his feet in the air and scuttling around. Another treasure to add to the collection! Bubbles had them in a little pile in the back of the wagon of wonders. He was practicing for the day he would grow up and be a big, great dragon and would need a hoard of his own! His own collection of treasure was small, but Master Moonweaver added things to it sometimes, and now Friend Beistmild had, too!

“More treasure, more treasure!” He cried before dashing into the wagon to place it with the rest of his things, completely oblivious to the fact that he’d just spilled the beans on Morrigan’s entire operation just as the charlatan themselves emerged from the cart, and the chase for the errant sparkle-lings began in earnest. As Morrigan and Beistmild were following Awd, waiting for him to catch a scent, a commotion over where Ned and Dora were in the fields caught Beistmild’s attention. The gentle giant made his way through the tall grass, where the griffon was trying to help the frantically buzzing bee with something that had latched onto them.

“What’s going on?” Morrigan asked, following after Beistmild- the tall grass swallowing them considerably more than it did him- when Beistmild managed to grab the insect from midair, plucking the sparkle-ling from Ned’s back. Ned flew off to perch on Dora, almost narrowing his eyes at the sparkle-ling, who was scrabbling their little arms and legs in the air, as if challenging Ned to fight them despite the fact that the small construct was barely the size of someone’s palm and was made entirely of compacted snow and alchemical glitter.

Despite the fact that the sparkle-ling was an entirely artificial construct that had been the result of an accidental potion mishap, it was obvious that it possessed every bit of capricious whimsy that its creator had.

Beistmild gently deposited the sparkle-ling into Morrigan’s waiting palm, with Morrigan gasping in relief. They ran a finger over the cold, glimmering snow who blinked up at Morrigan with its small, beady eyes. “What are you doing, getting into fights with Sir Beistmild’s pets, you little trickster?” They asked, something strange and unidentifiable in their voice. Morrigan Moonweaver did not experience much in the way of emotions- not in the conventional sense. Things like guilt and love were fairweather friends in the fickle tiefling’s psyche. And yet, there was something approaching fondness in their voice as they reached up and put the sparkle-ling on their shoulder, where it spun around joyously.

The sparkle-lings may have been an accident, but they were something Morrigan had made with their own two hands, and that felt surprisingly… good. It made Morrigan feel protective of them, almost.

The relief didn’t last long, as Awd seemed to have caught the scent of something in the tree. Morrigan caught the raccoon dog trying to climb its way up, and immediately dashed after it.

“My snowlings!” Morrigan cried, following Awd to the tree, prepared to climb up after their pet-

Huh. Well that tree was… a lot bigger than Morrigan thought it would be now that they were standing up close. And there weren’t many branches to grab a hold of either…and Morrigan had never climbed a tree in their life before. Well, there was a first time for everything!

Morrigan rolled up the sleeves of their shirt, the one that was still bloodied from the mess that had been made of their arm, before backing up a couple steps. “Wait just a minute, Sir Beistmild. I can handle this one.” They said before breaking into a full on sprint, leaping into the air, ready to cling to the tree with all their might.

They latched onto the trunk, wrapping their arms and legs around it, successfully getting a hold on the giant oak. Yes! Now all that was left was to… climb their way up. Unsure of exactly how to go about this, Morrigan began to shimmy their way up in a manner that could only be undignified, completely opposite of what one might expect a grand wizard to look like. If Beist still hadn’t already lost any faith that Morrigan was what they claim to be, that illusion would certainly be shattered now.

“Don’t worry, little snowling! I’m almost there-!”

And then Morrigan immediately fell out of the tree, losing any progress they had and falling flat on their ass.

Beist stood next to the tree, his horns scraping against the lower branches, as Morrigan tried to shimmy his way up the trunk. Beist had felt these sparke-lings were very important to Morrigan before, but now he could clearly see it through his, maybe a little irrational, actions. He could very easily reach up into the tree and pluck out the little sparkle-ling that was sitting in an empty bird's nest and pretending to be an egg, but no, he could see the Tiefling's resolve. He would let him do this. He believed in him!

And then Morrigan fell out of the tree and landed on his butt. Beist flinched at the thud. Ooh, that that to hurt. He extended a hand to Morrigan to help him up. Pretzels gave another amused smile. The flying snake could also have easily flown up and grabbed the sparkle-ling, but watching Morrigan fail to climb the tree was much more satisfying.

"Would you like some help with that? I could give you a boost if you'd like." Beist offered

Meanwhile Awd had already reached the Sparkle-ling in the bird's nest and just sat down on the branch and gave it a little wave. Beist looked up to see Awd, reached a hand up for the raccoon dog to step onto, and lowered him down from the tree. "Good job. Now, find the next one please." Beist praised and pet Awd before putting him on the ground. The raccoon dog gave a little bark and sniffed the ground, on their way to find the next sparkle-ling.

"How many of these little guys are left to find after this one?" Beist asked Morrigan while pointing at the one in the tree.

“No, no- I can handle this.” Morrigan waved away Beistmild’s concerns. In reality, the possibility of being lifted up by Beistmild, who was towering over Morrigan and could easily just reach up into the branches and pluck the Sparkle-ling out himself, but Morrigan refused to be upstaged. They needed to show Beistmild that they were capable themselves, damnit! In reality, Beistmild would probably never respect Morrigan again, a fact that they themselves were not aware of. They geared up towards the tree once more, ready to jump up once more, when suddenly, Awd barked, demanding to be let down after a job well done, and…

Beistmild simply let him down.

Huh.

Well, Morrigan refused to be coddled. Now that they’d put their mind to the task, they were going to get up there and get that sparkle-ling!

“There should only be one or two more left around here…” Morrigan murmured, still distracted by the task of scaling this tree with the seriousness of someone who was about to attempt climbing a mountain. They reared back, throwing themselves at the tree once more, barely managing to cling to it the same way they had the first time.

With a lot of effort and sweat on their end, probably ten minutes passed before Morrigan managed to shimmy up to the tallest branches where the sparkle-ling was sitting, under Beistmild’s concerned eye. Morrigan heaved a labored breath as they finally managed to perch themselves atop the branch, reaching for the little scamp.

“Oh, you devious little creature!” They cooed, moving to scoop the sparkle-ling out of the bird’s nest, narrowly avoiding getting pecked by one of the birds currently resting in there. “Shoo, bird, shoo!”

The snowling hopped into their hand, grateful to join its brother on their shoulder. The two sparkle-lings danced around each other while Morrigan watched for a moment, swinging their feet lazily in the air. Well, that was two down, one more to go- and below, Awd seemed to have caught the scent of the last sparkle-ling, which looked like it had somehow snuck into Beistmild’s own wagon.

But now Morrigan had made it up, they were now faced with an even greater challenge. Getting back down. There was no way in hell they were climbing back to the ground, and they didn’t quite want to jump and risk shattering their leg as well as their arm. Which left only one option. With an impish grin twisting their lips and a devious sparkle in their eye, Morrigan pulled themselves into a standing position on the branch and shouted, “Sir Beistmild, catch!” Right before launching themselves at him.

"Ah!" Beist let out a sound of surprise as the Tiefling suddenly threw himself out of the tree at him, but he managed to put his arms out in time to catch Morrigan, clutching him to his front like a parent holding a toddler for a moment before holding him under his arms and lowering him gently to the ground with a sigh.

"Don't surprise me like that! What if I hadn't caught you?" Beist asked, exasperated. That had been dangerous! Morrigan might have broken his leg falling from that height. Beist couldn't keep healing him, even with Pretzel's power. The massive healing spell could be rather draining on his reserves of magical energy. He was also a bit embarrassed to have someone suddenly throw themself into his arms, especially someone he'd just met and hardly knew. Honestly, what was this man thinking, doing something like that?

Beist's internal grumbling was interrupted by the sound of barking coming from behind him. He turned to see Awd poking his head out of the front window of his wagon and looking directly at him, baring to get his attention. He glanced at Morrigan and walked over to the back of the wagon with Morrigan following behind.

"Awd, what is it? Did you find it?" Beist stepped up into the wagon and Awd scampered over to him and turned, pointing to something. There, he saw the little ball of glitter run out from under an apothecary cabinet and start climbing up the side of his work desk. "There you are, you little rascal!"

The living bath bomb jumped up onto the top of his desk and started to run across it. Luckily, Beist put everything on his desk away while the wagon was moving, so there was nothing for the sparkle-ling to break or mess with, but the little thing was fast! Far more energetic than the other two had been! Beist tried to grab it, but it evaded his grasp and hopped right off the edge of the desk!

Beistmild made a panicked sound as he quickly moved to catch Morrigan before they hit the ground, gently setting them back down on their feet with a gentle admonishment that made Morrigan roll their eyes like some petulant child. This Beistmild sure did like acting like a parent! “But you did catch me, so it’s all water under the bridge, no?” They said flippantly, with the tone of someone who had absolutely no idea that they were practically a walking heart attack when it came to committing reckless and impulsive acts. “Besides, I would have been fine. I am very powerful, remember? Or, my legs are more powerful than my arms.” They added that last part sheepishly before setting off after Awd, completely oblivious to the internal turmoil they’d caused in Beistmild.

The raccoon dog started making its way over to Beistmild’s wagon, much to the giant’s surprise. Morrigan followed after him as Beistmild hastily stepped inside- they heard a hasty shout, and the sound of clambering movement.

“What’s going on in there?” Morrigan demanded, pulling themselves inside without waiting for an invitation, only to immediately get smacked in the face by a handful of glitter and living snow as the last Sparkle-Ling leapt off of Beistmild’s desk. “Ack-!” Morrigan screeched, immediately knocked off balance and hitting the floor with a loud THUD.

Their head spun as they tried to pull themselves into a sitting position, reaching up to pluck the sparkle-ling off their face. They were beginning to wonder if this was how others felt dealing with them. Still, that was all the sparkle-lings accounted for, and with minimal damage! They flashed Beistmild a grateful grin as they pulled themselves to their feet.

“Your assistance is much appreciated, Sir Beistmild. Please, allow me to repay you for your help in this matter- I happen to have a very lucrative potion making business, selling powerful elixirs and whatnot. If you find yourself in need of any kind of potion, name it, and I shall give it to you at a great discount!”

His legs are more powerful than his arms? Did he cause an earthquake and split the sea with a kick or something? Maybe that was why his arm got so mangled from arm wrestling. Well, Beist supposed anyone he might try to arm wrestle would probably have similar results. He was still a bit embarrassed about it, going off of a spur of the moment whim. He didn't usually do such things, he didn't know why he just felt so compelled to after hearing Bubbles talk. Maybe the universe just demanded Morrigan be humbled and it used him to do it. Morrigan didn't seem very humbled by the ordeal, though.

Ha! This young whippersnapper. Powerful elixirs! Did he mean the Dragon-Be-Gone that Bubbles admitted was secretly just water? It would probably be best not to get too wrapped up with any dealings with such a shady fellow. He could be trouble. He was a con man, giving good alchemists a bad name, and he even somehow even got into the Golden Consortium! More like the Golden Con-sortium! If he didn't have Bubbles and three little sparkle-lings, Beist would have half a mind to chew him out! Any potions this man sold might be fake.

"Right, I'll keep that in mind, but I am an alchemist too, you know! If I need a potion, I can usually just make it myself." Beist replied, his tone just as calm and friendly as ever, hiding his thoughts. "But, I would love to hear about these little, eh, sparkle-lings? They're quite adorable!" Beist said as he reached a finger to one of the sparkle-lings on Morrigan's shoulder.

So Beistmild didn’t want any potions, hmm? Morrigan supposed it was only natural, if he truly did possess alchemical talents. It didn’t take much for a potion-maker to sniff out the bullshit of a snake oil seller a mile away. Well, Morrigan would just have to find the right opportunity to show him that there was a reason that they’d made it into the Consortium in the first place… and then they’d be able to sell him all the potions their heart desired! Completely oblivious to the fact that Bubbles had already completely ruined the scheme, Morrigan nodded, waving their hands into the air with a burst of glitter. “I assure you, my potions are only the highest quality for whatever you might need- but if the commitment is too much now, then the offer is still here when you wish to peruse my wares. I carry practically any elixir you could dream of!”

But Beistmild seemed more interested in the little sparkle-lings currently perched on Morrigan’s shoulder. He really liked pets, huh? Morrigan filed that information away for later. Perhaps if they had their own menagerie of cute little animals Beistmild might be more endeared to them, and lower his guard…

“Oh, these little creatures?” Morrigan asked. As Beistmild reached out for one of the Sparkle-lings, one of the creatures jumped onto his finger and happily scuttled around until it had hidden in his fur. “I made them myself.” They neglected to say that their creation had been an accident. “While I was in the far off, northern realm in the bleak cold of Frostgale, I enchanted the very snow with a potion of my own creation, and the result are these little fellows- my loyal pets and alchemical assistants!”

Usually they didn’t do much more than look cute while carrying components around and break bottles by knocking things over, but they looked damn cute while doing it, so Morrigan figured that their uselessness was alright.

“If you’re interested, I could show you how to make your own snowlings.” Their eyes sparkled in interest, a far cry from their previous scummy attempts to hock off cheap product only moments ago. Perhaps they didn’t even realize the genuine excitement in their expression, the desire to share something that they’ve made with someone else.

Beist cringed as he watched the glitter drift down and settle on the wooden floor of his wagon. Oh no. That's never going to go away completely. He did his best to ignore it for now, trying to force himself to smile. He already knew Morrigan's potions were fake, snake oil being sold by a salesman. He wasn't interested in such things.

Beist's smile became genuine when the little sparkle-ling jumped onto him and scurried around. He chuckled, putting his arms out and watching it go until it nestled away in the fur around his neck. Pretzels popped out with an annoyed hiss at having to share his space with another. The snake flew out and onto the desk with a huff before curling up and going to sleep. Beist just gave him an apologetic smile before looking back to Morrigan with curiosity.

He had made a potion to create these creatures? Truly? He wasn't just telling a lie right now, trying to sell Beist some oil that would do nothing? Beist was a little conflicted. The sparkle-lings really were adorable and he'd love to try making some of his own. He'd also said they made good assistants... He loved all his pets very much, but none of them really could help him brew potions and he never tried to make them do so. He supposed he might as well give it a go. The worst that could happen would be losing some money, probably. Morrigan also seemed very excited. Maybe he was being honest this time.

"That... is an interesting idea. But, there's no snow around here. Does this potion of yours work on things other than snow?" Beist asked, a bit dubious.

“In theory, it should work on any object.” Morrigan hadn’t really had much of a chance to tinker with this particular elixir. They’d only used it the one time on accident- and a fortunate one that had been, as the sparkle-lings had served as a way to make Kvasir smile during a bleak time, and they were loyal enough servants to Morrigan, even if they had a proclivity for getting into danger. They could recreate the potion easily enough for Beistmild to enchant something himself, but in the absence of snow, what could they use…?

Perhaps the tulips in the field outside?

They were small and round, so Morrigan’s potion would work well enough. Probably. Maybe.

Perhaps now was a good time to mention that Morrigan had never actually attempted to repeat their accidental success and didn’t actually know what had successfully enchanted the snow in the first place.

There was a first- or, well, second- time for everything, though, and Morrigan was nothing if not a risk taker!

“Why don’t you gather up some of the tulip buds outside? Those should work easily enough. In the meantime, I will gather the ingredients I need, and grab the necessary items.” They took off, leaving the sparkle-ling with Beistmild as they dashed off to their own cart with the same relentless energy they seemed to have during this entire encounter. They returned to their own alchemy table, which was still a mess of broken glass and half-made drinks. Morrigan haphazardly shoved those things aside as they combed through their materials for the ingredients they needed.

Unlike traditional chemists, Morrigan did not keep a set recipe for any of their potions. Their process often drove people like Kvasir mad, who measured his items and temperatures with a pinpoint precision, like the entire brew would simply combust if he was half of a gram off with any single material, or stirred them for half a second too long. Morrigan had been given a circus member’s knowledge of potions- how to make smoke bombs with materials that felt right, and just enough glitter and flair. While this method worked for them well, it also meant they were too careless to copy things down, and had to work from memory.

That made things a little bit difficult when it came to making things a second time.

Well, they thought they’d gotten everything mostly right, and that was good enough. Time would tell if this would blow up in their face, or poison the flowers, or just kind of smell bad. With the bundle in their hands, Morrigan returned to Beistmild with a smile on their face. “Are you ready to learn how to create living… budlings? Flowerlings?” Eh, not as impressive as sparkle-lings, but they could workshop the name later.

"In theory...?" Beist muttered under his breath, glancing at the sparkling nestled into his neck fur. So, Morrigan hadn't tested this potion very thoroughly, had he? Maybe he's only ever tested it on snow. Beist grew a little more dubious of the Tielfing and nervous about what could happen. This should be fine, shouldn't it? He did think the sparkle-lings were cute and kind of wanted some himself... How badly could this go wrong?

"Alright." Beist answered hesitantly as Morrigan ran out of the wagon. Well, at least they couldn't throw more glitter around in there anymore. He closed the door behind him as he left and walked over to the tulip field, picking a few nice looking buds. As he finished, Morrigan ran up to him with a bundle of what must have been the ingredients to the potion.

"Yes, I have some buds. How about we try this in your wagon? Best you use equipment you're most familiar with, isn't it?" he reasoned, but mostly just not wanting anything to go wrong in his own wagon. Especially anything involving more glitter. "Lead the way!"

Beist didn't really think much about how Morrigan's wagon was far smaller than his own, and so he'd have to either stay outside or practically crawl to get inside. He could just observe from outside the door.

Morrigan’s brows rose when Beistmild suggested that they conduct this in Morrigan’s wagon. The Wagon of Wonders was nowhere near as big as Beistmild’s own vehicle- it could barely fit people only a little taller than Morrigan themselves. “I suppose we could arrange a place for you to sit and observe.” They could bring out the travel cauldron, they supposed. It took a bit of time to get them into an arrangement where Beistmild was comfortable in a chair and could easily see what Morrigan was doing.

“Now, stop me if you have any questions, my friend.” They warned right before launching into their explanation. It was obvious that Morrigan had some level of talent, as odd and eccentric as their process was. They handled potion components with practiced ease, but not a careful one- each movement was as fluid and grandiose as they were themselves, without a care as to whether they got nicked with a knife or burned with a bit of errant flame.

The good news: Morrigan’s elixir did not blow up in their face for once.

The sparkle-lings now danced around, curiously vibrating with glitter and light in their eyes, giving Morrigan a rather large audience as they wove artificial magic from plant components and clippings of animal fur.

“Now, for the final and most important touch…” Morrigan said with a flourish, reaching for the jar of glitter they kept for special occasions such as this- a gift from the young little Cirice Lunestra, comprised of crushed pearls from her homeland. “You need to make it shine!”

They reached into the jar and immediately threw a handful into the pot.

The potion let out a billow of multicolored smoke that hit Morrigan right in the face before settling down. The bright brew simmered, ready to be used to animate the tulip buds… hopefully without any complications.

“Not so difficult, see? The elixir is all yours, Sir Beistmild.”

Beist watched with a mix of fascination and horror as Morrigan worked, heedless of any safety precautions, measurements, or concern. It was fascinating to see him go, but it made Beist wonder. Hadn't he made this potion before? If he had, then why was he not following the recipe? Was his memory just that good, or was he making this all up as he went? Beist considered himself fairly skilled with creating new potions as well, but he always took the time to record his process so that he could adjust it later and replicate it. Morrigan apparently, didn't do any of that.

When Morrigan pulled out the crushed pearls, Beist definitely felt he was correct in not letting this process take place in his own wagon. After watching that display, he was sure he never wanted Morrigan inside his wagon again, but he wouldn't say that to him. Morragin was enitrely coated in the sparkling powder, making Beist lean backward in his seat when Morrigan presented him with the finished potion. Rainbow-colored smoke poured out of the back of the wagon.

Beist took the potion and looked at it with a nervous smile. "Oh, thank you! So, how exactly does it work? Just pour it over the buds?" he asked, looking at the red tulip buds in his hand. He sat down on the ground and placed them on the dirt in front of him in a little cluster. With a glance at Morrigan, he poured the mixture over the buds and watched patiently.

A few moments passed, with nothing happening. The anticipation Beist felt started to wane a little. Maybe this had been a scam after all. But, before he could say anything to Morrigan, something started to happen! The buds began to shake! But, then the dirt rose up and around the buds, almost completely covering them except for the pointed tips that poked out of the balls of dirt. Blades of grass stuck out of the dirt like arms and legs and tiny eyes opened up. All together, there were three little dirtlings. One had one tulip bulb poking out of it's forehead, the second had two bulbs resembling a pair of horns on its head, and the third had three bulbs poking out in a line from the top of its head down its back, like a mohawk.

Beist was surprised! He hadn't expected the potion to take effect on the soil instead of the tulip bulbs, but after one look at the little creatures he already loved them. He placed a hand on the ground and the three dirtlings hopped onto his palm immediately. They were so well behaved! He lifted them up closer to his face with a smile, his tail wagging behind him.

"Hello there! Oh, you're just adorable, aren't you!"

Beist had to admit the potion really did work, even if the result wasn't exactly what he'd expected. He looked at Morrigan with a smile.

"The potion worked! My apologies for having any doubts."

In the moments after Beistmild poured the potion over the tulips that nothing happened, Morrigan wondered if this was the proper time for yet another one of their daring escapes after a botched potion sale. Just as they were contemplating making a run for the driver’s seat of their wagon and leaving Beistmild in the dust with his still-inanimate budlings, the earth began to stir, responding to the potent, enchanting power of the potion, and-

Well, it certainly made something.

Morrigan’s brows rose at the little balls of living dirt currently perched on the ground sitting like obedient little creatures, every bit as docile as the man who made them. It was safe to say that anyone who happened to glance at them at this moment would know that Morrigan was not expecting this particular outcome… but it had worked, and Sir Beistmild was clearly happy with his new companions, so all was well that ended well, they supposed.

Until Beistmild had to go and open his big mouth.

Morrigan gasped, pressing a hand to their chest in a theatrical manner that could be described by many number of adjectives- but as always, the most apt being insufferable. “What do you mean by doubts? Was there ever any question that I am an absolute genius and master of making elixirs?”

This development certainly wasn’t favorable. If Morrigan was going to sell any of their stock- or if this Beistmild was truly going to enter the Golden Consortium- then Morrigan couldn’t have him blabbing on about fake potions and scams and whatnot. Of course, that had been precisely what Morrigan had intended to do to the man, but now since that opportunity had apparently gone tits up thanks to the Kobold currently napping in his treasure pile, it was time for them to play damage control. Having someone going and pronouncing them a hack to the entire Consortium would bring their validity into question!

The rest of those rubes, Morrigan didn’t care about. But Kvasir-

Well, he couldn’t know.

He simply could not.

“Good sir, if there is any doubt about the validity of my wares, this situation must be rectified immediately. I will readily demonstrate any elixir in my catalogue for you, if that is what it takes to rectify this situation.” … Except for the Dragon-Be-Gone, of course. But then again, there was no dragon around to prove it didn’t work, unless Beistmild somehow had one of those shoved away in the back of his tent that Morrigan didn’t know about. “Please, go on, name your pick- I insist, every single one of them is Golden Consortium verified. I would bet my fortune on it.”

There was a challenge in Morrigan’s tone, the kind of voice of someone who was completely and utterly offended by something that was entirely true and warranted. But they were desperate enough to prove themselves to Beistmild, even if that meant actually getting out the potions that did work and proving it to him personally.

Beist stood flabbergasted as Morrigan began to protest and claim they were a genius and master of making potions. Beist's head tilted just a little, and the three dirtlings in his hand did the same, also staring at Morrigan. It had just been a short remark, hadn't it? He hadn't meant to offend them so much, though he thought maybe their protests might come more from within than from anything the beast man had done.

"No, that's quite alright! I just meant, it seemed as if it wouldn't work for a moment there, didn't it?" Beist said, holding a hand up. "I don't doubt any of your other potions."

Well, except for one. He already knew Dragon-Be-Gone was a sham thanks to Bubbles, but Morrigan didn't know that. And even knowing that, Beist hadn't planned on telling anyone anymore. He might have been tempted to before, but with the little darling clumps of dirt standing in his hand, he could let that one go. Forgive and forget. He also had no plans on telling Morrigan that Bubbles had already told him since he didn't want to get the little Kobold in trouble. It was just a secret he'd hold onto.

"Any elixir in your catalogue...?" Beist muttered under his breath, a hand coming up to stroke his beard as he couldn't help but smile a little. Oh, that was quite tempting. He did like to see new potions. It would have been entertaining to ask for a demonstration of Dragon-Be-Con, but Beist didn't have a dragon among his many pets, even if he might have wished he did. Morrigan could easily just use the lack of dragon-to-be-goned as an excuse. "Alright, I'll try you! But, let's be fair. Why don't you also pick a potion of mine to test?" He offered with a friendly smile.