Beist didn't know how he ended up getting recruited for this. He knew the city officials were asking locals to help out, but he's not even a local! He was just visiting the city again for business. Potions sell better in the big city than in small towns and villages. More people, more buyers. He'd tried to explain he wasn't a local, but they were so insistent on him helping them advertise for some reason.

Maybe they thought his appearance would attract a lot of attention. It was rather unusual. And also massive. At 15 and a half feet tall, it was practically impossible not to see him walking down the street, really. He was pretty used to that though. No, what was really getting to him now and making his cheeks darken with embarrassment was that he was just wearing a pair of swim shorts and a light button up shirt printed with palm leaves and hibiscus flowers. They'd insisted he wore an outfit that was suitable for the Summer Festival. They also insisted he keep the shirt open and unbuttoned to "show that summer spirit". All Beist felt it showed was his gut.

This was so embarrassing. For someone so large and intimidating looking, you'd think he might have more of a backbone and refuse, but he just couldn't. He was too easily pushed around. At least that was what the large, white and light blue cat-moth hybrid creature lazily laid out over his shoulder told him. Just another addition to the walking spectacle.

Also adding to the spectacle was a little creature perched on his right horn that had the bright orange and yellow head of a parrot and the body of a squirrel with bright green fur that was happily singing.

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Posted Around
Participants: Two or more
Location: Sol City
Post Requirements: 4 post per person, 200 words per post
Reward: +1 Renown
Description: The Charon Summer Festival is right around the corner, and the city is asking for locals to help with the posting of advertisements. The task is rather simple, just take a stack of flyers, posters or news letters, and post them around the city. Visit local businesses or crowded sections of the city. You can pass them out or nail them to a corner post. However you go about it is up to you, just get the word out!

---

Bringing Pets
Snow Owl
Songbird Griffon
Woolful (My Best Friend) (in pocket space)
Griffon (Sleigh Bell) (in pet pocket)
Mephit (Stables) (in pocket space)

Unlike Beist, Zarius knew exactly how he ended up getting recruited for this. His sister, accompanying him as nothing more than an illusory projection of herself, had told him that the posters being put up actually served a double purpose.

One of their allies in the underground in Capitol Landing had apparently mixed in some posters during the printing process which had secret messages in it for their network. The ally needed to ensure that all the posters were put up, so they reached out for assistance in exchange for a favor.

Zarius had been skeptical of the request. It was a really menial task to ask of him given his previous work and he really didn't have time to spare on silly little favors for people who do not take him seriously.

But, his sister insisted. And she insisted on going with him, at least in spirit. Now that they were here though, he started to get suspicious that she just wanted an excuse to "get out of the house" for once given how casually her projection is dressed.

His suspicions weren't wrong, but they weren't entirely correct either. The truth was that Eameia made the whole thing up as a way to trick her brother into taking a break away from Darkveil and the business. This was a relaxing task with little to no chance of getting into a fight, and the weather is remarkably better in Sol City than in Darkveil. She could hardly remember the last time she got her brother to take a break. It also took a lot of convincing to get him to dress more seasonally appropriate for the task as well.

Zarius walks down the street with his stack of posters while dressed in a loose fitting white shirt with a low V neckline and billowing sleeves tucked into the top of more formfitting black slacks that are cropped a bit shorter around the ankles which do nothing to hide the pair of leather strap sandals on his feet.

Eameia's arcane projection trails just behind her brother, no posters in hand though since she is not exactly physically there. She is dressed in a pale purple summer dress with a high waist and short dropped sleeves. Her long curly black hair is pulled back into a messy high ponytail and secured with a ribbon. The magic is strong enough to fool any onlookers that she is actually there, though she is still careful not to accidentally phase through any walls.

They've been at this for at least an hour now when something interesting catches Eameia's attention.

"Oooooh, that fellow is huge!" She comments. 

"Hm?" Zarius looks over from where he is pinning a poster. It's not hard to recognize Beist, even from a distance as the man easily looms heads over any crowd gathering around him. "Oh, that is Mister Beistmild, Lady Kamille's friend."

Eameia's face lights up at the mention of the witch of Moonglade. "If he is Lady Kamille's friend then we should go say hi!" She starts walking towards the large hairy four-armed man without her brother. 

"Hey, wait-" he sighs and finishes what he is doing before hurrying after the projection. "Gods. Just because you are an illusion does not mean you can just wander off on your own."

The illusory fellblood waves to Beist in order to get his attention without attempting to push past any people crowding around Beist out of curiosity.

Beist was distressed. He already felt very self conscious walking around normally, then felt even more self conscious in such a revealing outfit, and now he was surrounded by pedestrians curious to see what they must have assumed to be some kind of promotional spectacle. Tico, the songbird griffon, wasn't helping matters. His singing just attracted more of a crowd around Beist who was handing out flyers as fast as he could to try and get some of the crowd members gawking at him to move on.

As he handed out flyers, he slowly inched his way through the crowd, being just as careful as Eameia not to bump into anyone, but for entirely different reasons. One bump from him would probably be enough to send someone flying. It was a headache having to keep careful track of his tail, making sure he didn't accidentally swing it into anyone.

"Yes, the Charon Summer Festival, coming soon. Here, have a flyer." He repeated over and over again, handing out flyers three at a time with three of his four hands while the last held the rapidly dwindling but still very large stack. Unsurprisingly, one of his massive hands could hold quite a lot of flyers in it.

When the Fellblood girl walked up to him waving, he could only assume she was just another member of the crowd interested in whatever he was promoting. He held out a flyer for her, reaching easily over the crowd in front of her, and waited for her to take it. After a moment of holding his hand out and not feeling the piece of paper slip from his fingers, he finally looked at her more closely and felt she looked oddly familiar.

Eameia flushes in embarrassment over the misunderstanding. She waves both her hands to indicate that she is not interested in taking a flier. "Oh, no, thank you. I actually came over to say hello to you, Mister Beistmild."

Zarius isn't far behind his sister's projection and is far more comfortable clearing a path through the crowd. How annoying. These people need to give the poor man some space. Even if Beist was a gentle giant, that didn’t mean that it was acceptable to get in his way. Though it is pretty amusing to watch the hulking man daintily giving out fliers and tiptoeing his way through the crowd.

Looks like Beist got roped into this distribution nonsense as well, though he probably wasn't aware of the secret messages snuck into the printed batches. From what Zarius knew of the man, he wasn't in the same circles that the fellblood was in, nor did he dabble in more secretive business as Lady Kamille does. So chances were he was helping out in earnest, or from being pressured into it by someone else. 

"Good day, Mister Beistmild." Zarius looks around at the group then at the large man. "You seem a bit overwhelmed. Would you like a breather?"

He figured it was best for him to ask if the man needed any help before making the crowd scatter. He doesn’t want to interrupt any progress Beist is making on his task just because he assumes the four-armed man was not comfortable with the crowd.

Eameia hangs back while Zarius speaks to Beist, not wanting to risk being bumped into or walked through. She eyes Beist with fascination as he definitely is striking in appearance and she has never seen anyone like him before, but she's more just excited to speak to a friend and ally of Lady Kamille's. 

Beist was a bit surprised when she referred to him by name. He thought she looked familiar. Someone else took the flyer Beist had been holding out for her, but he didn't care so much about that. His pace of handing the flyers out slowed as he was focused on talking to the Fellblood girl.

"I'm sorry, have we met? You know my name, but I don't believe I know yours." He replied politely, not wanting to offend. It could be very rude to admit to someone you'd met before that you didn't remember them. He hoped that wasn't the case. Maybe his reputation was starting to proceed him now that he was making somewhat of a name for himself in the Golden Consortium. That, or his memory was starting to fail him in his old age. That was a worrying thought.

He was immensely relieved when Zarius walked up behind the girl. Now it made sense! Of course, the two of them had quite the obvious family resemblance. Zarius, he certainly remembered, but he had no idea the man had family. She looked like she could be his younger sister. He must have told her about him after they'd met at Kamille's house.

"Oh, yes, you could say that. A breather would be most appreciated!" Beist nodded. The crowd surrounding him was starting to overwhelm him and he wasn't going to say no to a bit of relief from that.

Zarius nods and then turns his attention to the crowd. The fellblood is like an ant next to the four-armed furry giant, hardly worth acknowledging compared to the spectacle that is Beist. Yet, within the blink of an eye, an overwhelming aura of intimidation radiates from the fellblood as he stares down the crowd.^[1]

"Scram."

The swarm of people all take notice and step back away from the pair. Eameia steps out of the way as someone nearly backs up into her. The uncomfortable unease eventually makes the people disperse and the trio are left alone for a bit of time. 

Zarius looks back at Beist with a friendly smile as if nothing was weird about what just happened. "That should buy us a little bit of brevity."

Eameia walks up again, eyeing her brother with a little bit of concern. She wouldn't question his actions in front of an ally, but even she is a bit unnerved by the strange energy that gave off just then.

The younger fellblood looks at Beist and smiles. "My apologies, we have not met before today. My name is Eameia, pleasure to meet a friend of my brother's and Lady Kamille."

"I see you got drafted into handing out these fliers as well," Zarius says, holding up his own stack of papers. "How exactly did that happen?"

---

[1] Invoke Fear (1/2 per topic)

Beist flinched and felt just as afraid of Zarius as the retreating crowd. He didn't know the Fellblood could be so intimidating. Zarius looked like he didn't find what had happened weird at all, but Beist certainly did. The cat-moth on his shoulder stayed lazily sprawled out, but eyed Zarius warily and the songbird griffon stopped singing. Beist just reached a hand up to give them both some comforting pats and rubs. He cleared his throat and forced a smile, but he still felt a tinge of nervousness looking at Zarius.

"Ah, yes, thank you! A moment to catch my breath is all I needed." Beist said and then sat down on the ground with a sigh. Not the classiest or most refined behavior, but he doubted any nearby bench would be able to survive him anyways and he just wanted to get off his feet.

He looked to Eameia with a less forced smile. "A pleasure to meet you, Eameia. Please, I prefer my friends call me Beist. Would you like a candy?"

Normally, he would offer a handshake, but two of his hands were busy comforting his companions, one was preoccupied holding what remained of his stack of flyers, and the last hand was holding out a piece of strawberry flavored candy wrapped in paper that also resembled a strawberry that he pulled from his pocket.

Beist sighed before looking to Zarius. "Yes, those recruiters wouldn't take no for an answer. Not that I'm good at saying no. I suppose they expected me to really draw in a crowd, and they weren't wrong. How did they get you to hand out flyers? Are you doing well since we last met? You never told me you had a little sister. Well, you did spend most of the time sleeping, so I can't blame you."

Zarius takes mental note of Beist's reaction, catching sight of the flinch out of the corner of his eye. He hadn't meant to make the large man or his pets uncomfortable, but you could hardly argue with the results. The crowd had dispersed and they were given some well needed breathing room.

Even with Beist sitting in the sand, he still towered over the pair of fellbloods. Going into other people's homes must be an annoying ordeal. 

"No, thank you," Eameia waves her hands again. "I appreciate the offer."

"My sister is not actually here, it is just an illusion she can put her senses into," Zarius explains. 

"I do not have to worry about getting sun burnt," she says with a smile. 

There was more to it than that, but there was no real reason to share such information with Beist given the current circumstance. Even if Beist was one of Kamille's trusted friends and had saved Zarius' life, he still did not really know the man's allegiances. 

"Ah, just serving my civil duty," he says with obvious sarcasm.

He had no love for the monarchy, and he knows he's not the only one. 

"I am doing much better, thank you." He replies with a nod, though his sister's smile wavers a bit, growing a bit more tense as she folders her hands in front of herself to keep from fidgeting. 

Zarius glances at her and only receives a shrug from the younger fellblood. 

"You will have to forgive my brother. He is very protective of his family," she explains. 

"It is necessary given how dangerous the world is what with all these earthquakes and creatures crawling out of the ground." He turns his golden gaze back to Beist. "And you? Have you been faring well?"

As they talk, Beist would notice that there did appear to be some differences in the fellblood's appearance since the last time they met. He had intricate engravings scrawled on his horns and strange web like scars marring the surface of his skin where fabric does not cover it up. But even more noticeable is the scent that seems to be wafting off the fellblood, one of brimstone and smoke as if Beist stood on the slopes of Mount Drakolt itself. 

"Oh, I see." Beist said quietly, putting the candy away and leaning forward with a hand to his chin. He hadn't expected at all that the girl was actually just an illusion, so he was a bit surprised, but moreso he was fascinated. He leaned down and looked more closely at her as he stroked his beard.

"My, what a realistic illusion. You completely fooled me! It makes sense now though, not taking the flyer either, and you looked like you were trying hard not to bump into anyone. I thought you were just very polite." He went on, chuckling. He wasn't mad at being fooled, on the contrary, he found it amusing. Creating such an illusion just to not have to worry about sunburn though... Well, he wouldn't pry into her reasons.

He straightened back up to his full sitting height, but continued stroking his beard. He wasn't exactly a master mage, knowing only a little earth magic, really, but being able to send his senses into an illusion sounded like some very useful magic. Maybe he could make that illusion smaller, maybe even look like his human self. He doubted he'd be able to replicate such a spell though.

"Yes, I've been faring well, other than my latest growth spurt. You probably noticed yourself I'm even larger than I was when we met at Kamille's. Unfortunate mishap with an experimental potion I hadn't meant to drink. I mistook it for another potion of mine while I was in a hurry, and you can see what that's done." Beist sighed. "But, it looks like I'm not the only one whose appearance has changed just a tad. Those are some lovely carvings in your horns. You think something like that would suit me?" Beist asked Zarius jokingly.

He began to chuckle, but then felt a stinging in his throat and put an arm in front of his mouth to cover his cough. He looked around in confusion. "My apologies. It felt like I breathed in some smoke. I don't see anything burning though. Maybe my imagination..." He mumbled between a few more coughs. He cleared his throat and continued.

"Hm. Certainly some dangerous times. Oh, I visited Darkveil recently and heard about your bar's collapse. My condolences. I was there looking into rumors about disappearances. Kidnappings and earthquakes. Terrible things keep happening recently, don't they?" He said sadly, shaking his head and then raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Wait, did you say creatures crawling out of the ground?"

"I am also very polite," Eameia clarifies with a smile. "Much more so than my brother, he can be so rude."

Zarius looks at her and feigns offense. "You wound me with your words, dearest sister."

She snickers and listens to Beist explain his unnatural size. It was fascinating to hear that it was the result of an alchemical experiment gone wrong. Odd that the man had not discovered some sort of cure or tonic that would reverse the effects, though she would admit she knows very little about alchemy. Her own studies were strictly within a couple of the arcane domains. 

Zarius nods in response to Beist's question. "I think they would likely suit you fine, though if your horns are more like antlers then perhaps it is unwise as it would only be temporarily useful to you. Depending on how sensitive your nerves are, it could also be an uncomfortable process, though nothing much worse than a tattoo I would say."

Getting his horns engraved with the runic patterns had been a tedious and somewhat painful experience. His horns actually had a fair amount of nerve endings in them especially closer to the bases. After the carvings were done he had to have his horns wrapped while they healed to avoid any infection. 

Seeing Beist cough, Zarius takes a casual step back. Beist would perhaps see the motion as just a reaction to someone coughing in front of him and not wanting to be coughed on, but Zarius was more doing it for the man's benefit. He know that the scent of smoke was coming from himself. 

"Thank you. I appreciate the sentiment."

"We hope to start repairs soon," Eameia interjects which results in a grimmace from her brother. 

He wasn't as optimistic that they even could rebuild after everything that happened and was getting to the point of just accepting the loss and moving on.

"Yes, it seems like there is always something dire going on in the world these days," he agrees. "Yes, particularly in the Arid Mesa. Though many creatures seem in distress or are causing distress across Charon. In the past few months I have helped deal with manta gliders, geonids, hell hounds, origin matter, trolls, all manner of things."

Beist just chuckled at the siblings' joking argument. He remembered having similar friendly arguments with his own brother, so seeing the two bicker was somewhat nostalgic.

"Not to worry. These are most definitely not antlers, even though they do branch out a bit. They're horns and I fear they're just as permanent as yours. But, if I am stuck with them, perhaps I can at least make the most of them. I've been looking into arcane engravings that can increase one's capacity for magical energy. I've looked into tattoos as well, though those would be a problem for me with all the fur and scales that wouldn't take so well to ink, so I believe the engravings would suit me more. Thankfully, my horns aren't very sensitive. One of my companions often likes to bite them when she's feeling playful." Beist explained.

His capacity for mana was decent enough for normal use, but with what seemed like a constantly growing amount of companions he needed to feed, not to mention his own substantial dietary needs that had also increased with his size, he wanted more mana so that he could magically conjure more food. It was one of the few spells he had in his repertoire, and he used it constantly. He'd gotten plenty of practice and had become rather good at it. Conjuring food himself saved him a lot of solars. Without it, he probably would have gone broke long ago. He was incredibly thankful for his blossoming talent in earth magic that he'd only discovered after he had first become a Beastman.

"Maybe you can think of rebuilding your bar as an opportunity to make some changes and improvements. Maybe even relocate." Beist suggested with a shrug. Personally, he wasn't a fan of Darkveil. The place was too seedy for him, too hot, and the ash falling from the sky was a pain to get out of his fur and clothing. He didn't know how anyone could like living in such a place. But, it wasn't for him to decide where others chose to live their lives.

"Origin Matter? Manta Gliders? Geonids! Oh, I haven't encountered any of them!" Beist moped, his head dropping into his hands. He would have loved to see such interesting creatures up close! Well, maybe not the Origin Matter. He'd heard those were incredibly dangerous. He'd have still liked to observe from afar though. Maybe. This was just like with the oozes! He'd heard everyone complaining about dealing with them when he would have loved to see one himself. What a cruel world.

One of Beist's drooping ears perked up as he heard a voice from behind him. "Mom, look! It's a hairy dragon!" A child laughed, looking his way as his mother pulled him away with a face of embarrassment. They weren't the only ones around either. The crowd had been dispersed, but the general traffic on the street was still present and the self-conscious giant could feel he was still receiving the odd look from passerby.

"Perhaps we should continue our conversation elsewhere. There is a nice pub nearby. Let me buy you a drink as thanks for your help." Beist offered as he got back onto his feet with a grunt.

Zarius chuckles a bit at Beist's suggestion to relocate. Wasn't the first time he heard that suggestion. While he's sure it is meant with good intentions, those who speak that way do not understand that relocating just isn't possible for him or his family. Darkveil was their haven. The only place people like them could actually make something of themselves. The only place they could make a lasting difference. 

The towering man's reaction to hearing about all the creatures the fellblood had encountered was amusing. Beist's fondness for creatures was pretty obvious and only emphasized by the fact that Beist has two other critters currently with him. Part of Zarius considers pulling out the two little vials he keeps in his back pocket in case of emergencies to show the man since one contains an oozeling and the other a cluster of sootlings. But there was a time and place for such things and standing in the middle of a public area was not likely either the time nor the place for specifically that. 

He nods in agreement to Beist's suggestion and Eameia's eyes light up in interest. She didn't often get to wander around as a tourist and seeing how the eateries of Capitol Landing differed from those in the Ash Lands was an exciting adventure to her. 

"Relocating is fine with us although there is no need for the drink. My sister is not actually here and I do not partake," Zarius explains.

Hopefully that would be enough of an explanation for the large man. The fellblood didn't really feel like trying to explain why he is so concerned with being poisoned. 

Regardless, Zarius and Eameia would follow the towering giant of man as he leads the way. 

Beist hadn't expected someone who owned and operated a bar to not be a fan of alcohol. Maybe it was a don't get high on your own supply kind of thing. He could somewhat understand that. He did try not to use all the potions he made himself instead of selling them, though he did still reserve some for his own use. He glanced at Eameia. Of course a child couldn't drink, but he'd have gotten her something nonalcoholic. Had she been there in person. He might have momentarily forgotten an illusion can't drink.

"Ah, I see. Well that's alright. I'm not a very big drinker myself. How about something else then? Oh, I know a wonderful bakery nearby! Their pastries and cakes are beautiful as well. A feast for the eyes just as much as for the mouth you know. I think you'd have a nice time even without being able to eat them. How does that sound?" Beist offered, looking to the illusionary Eameia.

Beist was ready to lead the way, but first, he wanted to be a little less conspicuous. He picked up the moth-cat from his shoulder and set her down on the ground in front of Zarius. With the creature no longer on the giant man's shoulder, it suddenly became much more apparent just how large a cat Sorbet really was. Sitting down, she was just as tall as Zarius with wings that went even higher than that. Like Beist and his extra arms, the moth-cat had an extra pair of legs for a total of six fluffy paws.

With the oversized feline no longer on his shoulder, Beist was free to use a bit of magic. The giant shrank down, down to a similar size to Zarius, and then further, to a similar size to Eameia. He mostly looked the same, grey fur and bluish-green skin, but his face and body were more like that of a monkey. His thick, dragon-like tail was now a thin monkey's tail, and his legs were shorter in proportion to the rest of his body. Oddly, he still had four arms and four horns, and his clothing had changed in size to continue fitting him.

"That's better. This form should draw a lot less attention, don't you think?" Beist asked cheerily. It was a sad truth that a monkey was a lot less eye catching than his normal self. "The bakery is right this way."

He started to lead the way to the bakery, the songbird griffon still perched on one of his horns and the giant cat walking along behind him, a little grumpy at having to walk for herself, no longer being able to lazily sprawl across his shoulders.

---

Amplified Shape Change

"That sounds wonderful, Mister Beist." Eameia smiles brightly at the man. 

Zarius sighs a bit. Going to a bakery had the same problem as going to get a drink, but refusing Beist a second time would likely lead to more questions he wasn't keen on answering. He'd just get something to go to be polite. 

He watches as Beist transforms with some surprise. It was unexpected that the hulking man was able to reduce to a much more manageable size at will. He suspects that it must take a lot of energy to retain the smaller form, otherwise why would he walk around as a giant on the regular.

Compared to her brother, Eameia is buzzing with excitement. She's never seen abilities comparable to Beist's and she's infinitely curious about him, especially since he is a friend of Kamille's.

She walks next to Beist as he leads the way while her brother trails a little behind them with the giant fuzzy catbug. "Mister Beist, if it is not rude to ask, how did you meet Lady Kamille? Are you both in the Mage's Guild together?"

Zarius meanwhile flips through the poster stack he still has. Was there really a code hidden somewhere in the text of the fliers? It was infinitely annoying that he could not discern anything suspicious about the pages. 

When Beist had first discovered his ability to change into animals, it had been terribly draining. He could only maintain the transformation for a short time and couldn't use it more than a couple times in quick succession. Over time though, with practice and an increasing amount of mana within him, he'd found the ability far easier to use. Using it did still require a bit of conscious effort on his part and slowly drained his mana though, so he tried not to use it all the time, but in a situation like the current one, it didn't hurt to use it.

Beist smiled and told Eameia the story as they walked down the street. As they went along, behind them, Sorbet playfully rubbed against Zarius like a cat rubbing against a person's leg except that she basically rubbed against his entire body with enough force to knock him off his feet.

"Oh, it's not rude at all. Actually, I'm not in the Mage's Guild, but I was considering joining some day. They do accept alchemists. But Kamille and I met while we were both in the Giant Mushroom Field in Moonglade. I was just there looking for some potion ingredients, but Kamille had been in the area trying to find and take care of a group of bandits that was becoming a big problem in that region. I helped her fight them and save a couple of villagers that had been taken captive. Ah, what a terrifying adventure. I may be big, but I'm not much of a fighter. Kamille and those gargoyles of hers did most of the work. We've been friends since then, and gone on a few more adventures. We both joined the Golden Consortium together after going off to find some rare ingredients for them. Now those were interesting adventures."

Beist finished his story with a chuckle just as they reached the door to the bakery. He pushed it open and lead them in. It was small, with just a few little tables to sit at and a counter made from glass with different deserts displayed beneath. There were beautifully decorated cakes and tarts covered with candied fruit that sparkled like gems, but Beist's eyes were immediately drawn to the pile of simple cheese danishes on display and went to the counter to order one. Or two. Or maybe a dozen.

"One dozen of the cheese danishes please." Beist said to the man working the counter and then looked to Zarius. "What would you like? I'll pay for it."