Beist walked down the street towering over the crowd. His height was easily double or more than a vast majority of those walking nearby. Those that saw him looked surprised and then quickly made way for the giant, monstrous-looking man. His imposing height was only extenuated by his two pairs of horns and his broad, muscular build along with a whole second pair of arms with large, clawed hands, and a thick, scaled tail with a tuft of fur at the end.

This is why he hated the city. Everyone looked at him like he was some beastly monster! It wasn't his fault he looked like this! Okay, actually it was, but still, some people could just be so rude! He didn't bite!

Beist just tried to ignore the stares and panic around him as he took another look at the note in his hand. He was here to work with a fellow Consortium member on an important mission and this note was supposed to be all the information he needed to find them.

"Astrid Stormstone: blonde hair, green eyes, a pair of red horns on her head..." he read to himself under his breath. He turned the paper over. He turned it over again. "That's it...? That's all they wrote!?"

---

Bringing Pets
Griffon (Sleigh Bell, in pet pocket)
Woolful (My Best Friend, in pocket space)
Mephit (in pocket space)
Raccoon Dog

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Reverse Engineer
Chapter: One
Description: You are needed by the Consortium, we need you to locate one of these illegal potion making rings and get your hands on their product. How you do this is up to you, but be careful, they will most likely be heavily guarded. We need to study these potions and find out how they are being made. If you could please recover two potions from these illegal crafters without blowing the whole place up.

Requirements:
- Requires at least two people (All participants must be in the Golden Consortium)
- You must make at least 6 post to complete the mission with each post being at least 200 words
- Must locate and infiltrate an illegal potion making ring in Sol City
- Must steal or obtain two potions made illegally
- Once you complete this mission you have completed this quest chain and may turn in the mission.

Ah, Sol City, one of Astrid's least favorite places to be. Too many crazy things happen to her here. She'd be more diligent about avoiding it if there wasn't a guild hall or two here. Alas, she's back and now that she's freshly joined the Consortium, she has a job! That part is much more exciting, especially getting to meet someone new. 

Her mission partner is someone named Beist. The piece of paper in her hand tells her to go to the port and look for him. However, these instructions are not particularly helpful. All they say besides the directions is, "You'll know him when you see him." That's not helpful! How is she supposed to find anyone in this crowd with those kinds of instructions?! Don't they know she's at least a foot shorter than the average person?

As she quietly pitches a fit, her eyes land on an enormous individual with monstrous qualities. And she thought Shaa was tall. Wait, no, that can't be the person she's looking for! No way. He's huge! He has four arms! None of these things deter her, obviously. Her best friend is an ooze, but this guy... How does he go anywhere?!

She gets the fretting out of her system, pacing back and forth with a chorus of clinks and clanks from her armor before she gathers herself and simply approaches. Looking all the way up at the towering individual with their weird raccoon (...or is it a dog?), Astrid calls up. 

"Excuse me, mister!" she shouts. "Ya don't happen ta be Mister Beist, do ya?" 

---

Bringing pets:
Charles (scarecrow squire) - pet pocket
Spicy Pawsage (dreadsnout) - pet pocket

Beist heard the shouting and looked down, leaning forward slightly to see the little girl in front of him. Who was this, and why was she shouting at him? And how did she know his name. Wait...

He looked at the note in his hand again. Blonde hair, check. Green eyes, check. Red horns, check. This child... was this the Astrid Stormstone he was suppose to be meeting up with and working together with on this mission? No way, but she was just a child!

Beist crouched down in front of her, really the only way he could bring their faces together to reasonably have a conversation with such a ridiculous difference in their heights to deal with.

"Eh, yes. My name is Beistmild, but please call me Beist. Are you Astrid Stormstone? The one I'm supposed to be working with? The note... didn't mention you were so... young." Beist raised an eyebrow as he spoke quietly.

As Beist crouched, Awd's face was brought almost perfectly down to Astrid's level. The little raccoon dog snuggled into the front of Beist's robe with their head poking out wiggled their front paws up and pulled themself forward, sniffing at Astrid curiously. Beist looked down at the raccoon dog.

"Ah yes! This little fellow is Awd the raccoon dog, one of my companions."

Oh, thank goodness, he's squatting down to be...somewhat closer to eye level with her. And it's not in a condescending way either. Astrid wonders if he must have to do this a lot. Honestly, with a better look at the big guy's face, she finds him to be really interesting. He'd probably be super cuddly. Aht, no, Astrid, ya just met. 

"Aye, I'm Astrid! They probably thought ya'd laugh an' refuse if they told ya I was a kid," she says, extending an armored hand to shake. He's so large, she'd probably only be able to effectively shake his index finger. "They didn't mention nothin' about ya. Just yer name and that I'd know ya when I saw ya. They weren't lyin' about that. Ya certainly stand out, mister Beist. Guess they figured we're smart enough ta figure it all out." 

Seeing the little tanuki peaking out from Beist's robes, Astrid's eyes light up. "Oh, yer a little cutie, ain't ya? Awd? That's a good name. Can I pet ya?" She offers out her hand cautiously to see if the little guy will accept a few scratches behind the ears. "I've got a pet too. He's a hellhound, an' he worries a lotta people in Sol City, so I keep 'im in me extra dimensional magic pocket fer pets. Really handy bit of magic, that is." 

"So... we're snoopin' out some illegal potion makin' ring, right? Before they blow someone or themselves up, yeah?" She doesn't imagine that's going to be particularly easy if the guards haven't found them yet. She'll probably have to think sneaky like Mister Zarius to find the people they're looking for. 

"Oh, no, I wouldn't have laughed or refused to work with you! No, you're really not even the smallest person from the Consortium I've worked with so far, if you'd believe it. Hopefully you won't be as much of a little troublemaker though." Beist chuckled. His adventure with Fish had been very exciting. Maybe a little too exciting for him, really, but it had been a success in the end. He was sure if Astrid was accepted as a member of the Consortium, she had to have proved herself to them. At least that was what he liked to believe of all its members. He was still on the fence about Morrigan.

"You'd know me when you- that's vaguely offensive, but true I suppose." Beist muttered as he absentmindedly reached down and entirely engulfed Astrid's hand within his own. For his size, his handshake was surprisingly gentle, but the immense strength behind it could still be felt by Astrid for the brief handshake. Beist really did stand out in a crowd, something that would make infiltrating an illegal potion making ring very difficult. Thankfully, he came prepared, but he'd get to that later.

Awd happily accepted Astrid's scritches and pats as they hung lazily from the front of Beist's robes. They let out a little content chitter. He almost fell right out, but Beist scooped him up. He nestled into the robe, appearing like nothing but a wiggly lump behind the fabric as they settled into a comfortable position. Beist just sighed at the lazy little creature.

Beist's interest was peaked when Astrid mentioned her pet hellhound that was currently being kept in a pocket space. Oh, he'd love to talk about that! He himself had several pets with him in special space pockets! He wondered if they worked the same as hers. Maybe they- No! Focus! We are on a mission! They could talk about their animals later!

"Yes, we have a job to do." Beist said to himself more than Astrid. "We should go somewhere less crowded to talk our plans over, wouldn't you agree?"

"Aye, don't s'pose it's a good idea doin' a buncha talkin' in the streets," Astrid says. "'Specially when we're kinda obvious like we are." 

There is one dilemma, though. How on earth does Beist fit in any taverns? Maybe an alley would have to serve just as well, so that's where she heads, into an alley on a less crowded street so the two of them can make a game plan. 

"So... The folks at the Consortium didn't have no leads fer us, just said ta find the folks makin' the potions illegally," Astrid says, pondering over the information that they do know. "Hmm... If I were doin' somethin' illegal, where would I be...?" Her mind starts to follow a business owner's way of thinking. How would a new business muscling its way into a pretty exclusive market affect other people? Well, it'd certainly upset the people who are legally doing the business, now wouldn't it? It's more competition from the shadows. 

"What if we started at one of the local potion shops?" she suggests. "They might be losin' business ta their new shadowy competitor, an' they might have a lead fer us. What do ya think about that, Mister Beist?"

"Hm. The Consortium really didn't seem to have much to give us, did they? However, this is quite an important mission, possibly saving lives, so we must make due." Beist shrugged and started combing his claws through his beard as he tried to think of where an illegal, shady business might base their operations along with Astrid. Maybe he should have asked Morrigan for some advice. He's a shady guy. But, it's too late for that now. They were already in the city and they needed to get this mission done. Asking that conman for anything would hurt his pride anyways.

"Yes, you're right. I think that would be a fine place to start, but we should try to keep a low profile, yes? I do stand out quite a bit, don't I? Just give me a moment." Beist said a bit sheepishly. He would indeed have a difficult time entering a door and would be very easily identified by any unwanted eyes on the potion shops. Luckily, he believed he had a solution for that, though the testing was still ongoing. It had worked pretty well when he'd used it with Fish though, so it should be fine.

He placed Awd on the ground and pulled a bottle from him bag with a strange potion inside that seemed to not be able to decide what color or density it was supposed to be. Beist popped the cork out and downed the potion in one gulp. He felt the potion in his stomach for a moment, a strange warm feeling that suddenly spread to the rest of his body.

The fur all over his arms and torso retracted into his skin until it disappeared, the scaly parts seeming unchanged, staying their bluish green color with the now furless skin shifting to match. His face elongated into a reptilian snout. The grey hair on his head mostly stayed, a mane around the draconic visage and a little beard on his chin. His eyes looked exactly the same except for the slit pupils, droopy and green. The horns looked exactly the same as they had before. His tail also remained pretty much unchanged, the tuft of fur still at the end. His entire form shrank down, no longer the towering giant, but still an imposing figure at nearly seven feet tall and broadly built with thick, muscular limbs, although he was a little chubby. He was clearly powerful beneath the layer of fat. His clothing was now quite oversized for him. He held his pants up with his hands, his belt no longer able to until he adjusted it, pulling it far tighter.

He looked completely different, yet at the same time, completely recognizable. He had changed into a Dragonkin, but many of his features indicated that this was clearly Beist. Even the second pair of arms had remained, which he looked at with a slightly disappointed yet unsurprised expression. He looked himself over, looking over his shoulder and feeling his face.

"Hmm... The arms stayed again... No wings this time though. Interesting. Needs more work, but it will do."

He looked at Astrid with a smile, holding his arms out to show off his new appearance. "Well? Less conspicuous, right? Now I just need to change my clothes. Oh! And, here. Perhaps we should match."

Beist pulled out a change of clothes from his bag along with a second bottle of the shifting liquid which he offered to Astrid.

---

Beist's Transmutation Tonic
-Night Vision
-Earth Drake Gland

Watching the towering Beist transform into a smaller but still quite imposing lizardfolk before her eyes is absolutely magical for Astrid. He can do this with just a potion?! That's incredible! The half-dwarf is slack jawed watching the transformation before her. And from the sound of Beist's murmurings, it works differently every time. 

This is a great idea!

When Beist offers Astrid the second potion, she happily grabs it and drinks the liquid like someone accustomed to taking shots at the bar. Of course, she's not, but she's tried enough potions to know it's best to just get the drinking part over with. She starts to feel weird, very weird, as her skin starts to shift into scales. She feels her skull start to shift and elongate. Her hair becomes frills, her horns get longer, and she has a cute little red snout poking out from between her eyes with the smallest little horn on the top of her nose. The ends of her fingers and toes start to hurt slightly as claws emerge where nails once were. A tail starts to push its way out of her tailbone and out of the waist of her pants. Her limbs feel strange as they shrink. 

Wait, shrink? Why isn't she getting taller?! She wants to be an imposing lizard too! 

Before she knows it, Astrid is a foot shorter than normal and has taken the form of a tiny red kobold. 

"What the?" The accent is hers, but the sound of her voice is not! It's shrill and somewhat grating. "What's happened ta me?! I'm tiny! A tiny little thin'!" When she stamps her feet, little clawed lizard feet slap the cobbles. She doesn't even know why she stomps her feet, there's just a sudden urge to throw a temper tantrum.  

---

Beist's Transmutation Tonic: Claws, Prehensile Tail

Beist watched in fascination as Astrid started to transform. He hadn't expected her to take the potion so eagerly. He thought she might mull it over for a moment or two while he changed, but he completely forgot about his clothing as she grew scales and claws and then... got smaller? How interesting! Interesting, and positively adorable! He thought she'd also turn into a Dragonkin, but she'd changed into a Kobold!

"Interesting, I hadn't thought of a Kobold, but this is quite fitting! Yes, you could pretend to be my assistant. There's another alchemist I know with a Kobold assistant. This is a much better idea than pretending to be my grandchild or something, good job!" Beist patted Astrid on the head gently and gave her an encouraging smile while his other pair of hands was busy taking notes on her transformation. This was a prime opportunity to do some research, after all. He'd never tested this potion on anyone other than himself before!

"Tell me, do you feel any pain or numbness anywhere after the transformation?" He noted her slight tantrum. Hmm, that was a common thing for Kobolds to do, but without knowing Astrid's personality very closely, he couldn't tell if it was caused by the transformation or not. He'd have to hold off on any conclusions about that part for now. He started to pull a measuring tape from his bag, but stopped himself. No, they were supposed to be on a mission right now! He'd have to save the research for later! He shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked down as Astrid again, but this time he realized something.

"Well, now it seems we'll both need a change of clothing. Your armor looks a bit too big for you now that you're a Kobold. Let me see..." He looked through his bag for anything that might suit the new Astrid, but came up with nothing. He'd only packed clothing fit for himself, sadly. "I have nothing that would fit you, I'm afraid. We'll have to pop into a clothing shop for a moment. Well, it's probably for the best. It would be suspicious for an alchemist's assistant to be wearing armor, wouldn't it? Just give me a moment while I change first."

Beist walked a bit away down the alley and then looked back at Astrid. He knew many Kobolds had a bit of an inclination for mischief, and if that little tantrum earlier had been any indication... He tapped the feather-shaped charm still hanging from his horn and the yellow gem suddenly turned white. A humungous griffon suddenly appeared, her huge body filling nearly the entire alleyway on its own.

"Astrid, this is Dora! Dora, please lend me a wing for privacy while I change my clothing."

---

Pet Pocket

The gentle head pat gives Astrid pause. Admittedly, she really likes positive reinforcement and headpats so long as they're not done in a condescending manner. "Oh, uh... thanks," she manages to say sheepishly. She looks at the claws at the ends of her fingers and runs her tongue across her teeth. The tail feels weird. "I s'pose it hurt a little when these grew outta me fingers." She wiggles the claws at Beist. 

At this point, she notices Beist taking notes. Honestly, she understands. She'd probably do the same thing. As she gets a feel for things, she fixes her belt to hold her pants up better. The greaves don't quite fit her as well, and she feels a bit clunky. Despite this, Astrid looks absolutely horrified that Beist would suggest taking off her armor. 

"Nooooo, no, no, mister, I'm keepin' as much of me armor as I can," she insists, putting a fist against her cuirass. "I can be yer apprentice or yer bodyguard or whatever, but it ain't comin' off!" Luckily, the Chrono Knight's magical breastplate resizes to match her new form. Her shirt gets bunched up beneath it, but at least the cuirass keeps her shirt from falling off entirely. She tightens up her gauntlets then crosses her arms. Oh no, Sol City's been enough of a pain for her to refuse to take her armor off. 

Astrid's quickly distracted by the sudden appearance of a griffin, and her huge green lizard eyes light up with excitement. "DORA! Oh, yer beautiful!!" Has she always been this easily distracted?

Beist noted down Astrid's comments on her transformation. So, the claws growing had hurt. He hadn't experienced that himself since he'd already had claws when he transformed. He was also already used to having a tail. It was great to have feedback from someone who didn't already have such things! He'd have to find a test subject that didn't already have a pair of horns next. He wondered how they'd describe the feeling of them growing out of their skull.

Beist was a bit amused by the protests. My, she must really be attached to that armor! He could understand being very attached to something. He was incredibly attached to all of his pets even if he did sometimes have to be separated from them like he did now, but he trusted them to be alright without him for the time it will take to complete this mission. He wished he could have taken them all with him, but this mission required some degree of not standing out and he was afraid many of his pets did very much stand out. Also he'd left Sorbet in charge! She was a very capable babysitter... sort of. Well, there was really only two to babysit anyways, and both of them were pretty self reliable, so it should be fine!

"Alright, my little bodyguard then!" Beist said with a chuckle. "That should be fine. Just make sure you're not going to have difficulty walking around or anything, alright? Now no peaking."

Beist hid behind the griffon to get changed.

Dora looked down at Astrid with a prideful look. Even just acting as a privacy curtain, she would do her job perfectly. Her eagle eyes watched Astrid's every move. Her tail started swaying a little when Astrid called her beautiful though. She did like compliments.

After a few moments, Beist emerged from behind Dora in a completely new outfit. The baggy makeshift robes were replaced by a white dress shirt with a green in the front and brown in the back tweed vest with a breast pocket and matching green pants and bow tie. He didn't have any shoes on his draconic feet still. On his leather belt, his bags and pouches were attached as they had been to his previous rope belt. He looked quite pleased.

"It's been some time since these fit me! It feels good to wear them again!" Beist said happily as he spread his arms to show his new outfit. "I did have to make some adjustments though..." He mumbled as he looked to the holes he'd had to cut in the sides of his vest and shirt to make way for his second pair of arms.

"Now, are you ready to go? How's your armor?" Beist asked as he gave Dora some scratches on the side of her neck.

Astrid tilts her head little kobold head with a quizzical expression on her face. "What do ya mean it's been a while since those fit ya?" she asks, looking the now-lizardfolk up and down. There's something odd about Beist, and it's not just that he's typically a twelve foot tall, four armed beast man. 

Besides that bout of confusion, she's ready to go though. "Me armor's fine," she says, albeit with some indignation. After having adjusted the straps, it's... well, it's only slightly more inconvenient than the fact that most armor already doesn't fit her properly. That's something she's grown accustomed to at least. "Let's go!" she squawks, pointing forward and marching out of the alley. 

As she walks down the street, it occurs to her that a particularly business-minded individual who sells potions and "energy drinks" might be affected by this mysterious, illegal business. In fact, she has a cafe somewhere here in Sol City! Astrid digs through her pockets until she finds an old worn business card given to her by Veliky a long time ago, way back when they first met. In all her visits to Sol City, she'd pretty much forgotten about it because, well, the half-dwarf typically avoids Sol City nowadays. 

"I know a place we could go an' ask!" Astrid says suddenly. They probably could have visited the cafe without being in disguise, but that doesn't occur to her yet. "Unless there's someplace closer, we could go see if anyone at the Blixt^TM Cafe has seen or heard anythin'!" 

Beist chuckled lightly at the little Koboldstrid having a mini tantrum about her armor. My, she was really insistent on wearing it even if it wasn't properly fitted. Beist just shrugged. That was fine as long as she was alright. He followed behind her as she energetically marched on. He gave the charm on his horn a quick tap and Dora vanished back into the pocket space within.

When Astrid mentioned the Blixt Cafe, Beist cringed. Oh no. That was the place owned by that woman... The one who had tried to throw his wagon down the side of a mountain without even asking first, and then, months later, suddenly showed up at the same ball as Beist and did some over the top love confession in front of the entire crowd. Even Beist had felt for a moment like she was being honest, why she would be in love with him he had no idea, but the entire crowd was also completely fooled by her. It had been so humiliating! What had he ever done to deserve such a thing? He'd been far more polite toward her the day they met than she honestly deserved after her stunt and then she went and did that! No, he definitely didn't want anything more to do with such a dreadful person or her place of business!

Beist reached a hand down to gently hold Astrid's shoulder. "No, I, uh... We don't need to go to the Blixt Cafe. I know another apothecary that's much closer. Follow me."

Beist started to lead them in the opposite direction, toward an apothecary he'd been to before. From a distance, he could see it down the street. It was very close, and it should- uh. It looked.... different... Hadn't that been an apothecary? Why was it a bakery now...? Oh! Wait, that's right! That was the one where he'd found Ned and... Oh... Well, that probably had nothing to do with Beist. He probably just retired, yes! Surely... Beist knew of another one anyways. He looked away from the bakery as he walked right past it, toward another apothecary he knew of. This one was much better anyways.

Astrid's little lizard head tilts curiously when Beist seems to want to avoid the Blixt^TM cafe, but she doesn't mind. That's alright. Veliky isn't everyone's cup of tea. "Oh, alright. Sure, we'll go an' talk ta whoever ya think is best!" Honestly, she doesn't know her way around Sol City all that well anyway, and she'd probably struggle to find the cafe anyway. 

She follows the dragonkin through town until they come upon a bakery. That seems like a weird place to go. And Beist seems shocked that it isn't an apothecary. Maybe it used to be? Maybe the potion is messing with his memories? That's possible, she supposes. It seems a bit experimental. 

Now that she thinks about it though, Astrid recalls seeing Beist at the Black Harvest Ball a few months ago. He's hard to miss. Wait, didn't Veliky have to do something with him during that Truth or Dare game? Honestly, Astrid was pretty distracted by all the other stuff happening during that game... 

"Uh, Mister Beist, do ya know where we're goin'?" Astrid asks as they walk past the bakery. It's so hard to keep up with these little legs! "I s'pose a bakery would've been a good front fer illegal potion sellin'... If somethin' catches fire, ya can just say yer oven caught fire..."

As the words leave her mouth, Astrid notices something she would describe as shady happening down an alley beside the bakery. That can't be what's happening... "That's weird..." 

"Mmm? Yes, of course I know where I'm going. I was just surprised to see that apothecary there had closed down and been replaced with a bakery, but it's alright. I know another one just this way. This one is even better th- eh?" Beist stopped, turned, and looked down at the little Kobold struggling to keep up with his long stride. Ah. That was his mistake. He should have been paying more attention. He hadn't noticed her falling behind, but that wasn't what he needed to be concerned with right now.

What she was saying actually made some sense, and added to the fact that that had actually been an apothecary before, it could very well be the answer. Perhaps these shady businessmen had taken the old apothecary as a new base for their illegal potions operation. They could have changed the front to be a bakery to try and be less suspicious, but the equipment had likely still been in there for the taking. Yeah, they probably bought the old owner out. Certainly not swooped in to take the property after he died from a beast man's punch, no, certainly not....

The two shady individuals down the alley looked down the alley toward Beist who had stopped suddenly. Oh no. He had to act casual, not suspicious, uhh, uhhhhh.

"H- Hurry up! You're far too slow!" Beist said just a little loudly as he leaned down and grabbed Astrid's arm to pull her down the street and down the next alleyway.

Beist dropped to his knees in front of Astrid with tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry, they were looking at me and that was all I could think to do to be less suspicious... Is your arm okay....?" He whispered. He really didn't have it in him to be mean even if he was pretending! With a sniffle he held a hand out and a tiny white snake with golden feathered wings suddenly appeared. "Pretzels... go listen to their conversation...." Beist choked out through his tears and the extremely unimpressed looking serpent flew up and over the building to go do as they were asked.

---

Ginma's Familiar