After honestly a very stressful few weeks dealing with Oldone, a village in the western mountains of Dragon’s Cradle, one full moon passed with relative success. By relative success, it’s that no one else got bitten and subsequently got the werebeast curse. Now that they’ve proven things will hold, Astrid feels confident enough to journey out into Charon in search of someone she thinks might be able to help: the friendly giant beastman, Beist, who she recently ran into over in Darkveil.

It took a while to track him down, but after several days of following his trail, she finally spots the large lumbering man with his wagon and flies Arcus down to run up beside them, hoping not to startle any of his many animal companions.

“Beist! Mister Beist!” Astrid calls as Arcus’ hooves meet the ground and the majestic steed gallops up beside the wagon. “Thank the gods I finally found ya! I need yer help. Yer one of the best alchemists I know!”

---

Quest Details:

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Press the Attack
Chapter: One
Description: You have been sent out to locate a creature or monster that we can use to harvest defensive offensive from. This quest can vary each time you go on it, sending you deep into caves, high up into mountains or across various other regions. How you complete this and how you obtain the material is completely up to you. You can fight off the creature, uncover a corpse being eaten by other things, carted off by hunters or recover material from the creatures resting place. Be creative!
Requirements:
- Requires at least two people (you and one other, the other does not need to be interested in the guild)
- You must make at least 5 post with each post being 150 words to complete the mission.
- You must locate and obtain offensive material from a creature listed in the bestiary
- Once completed guild members will receive one offensive material from the creature
- Non guild members can go on this quest and pay 50 Solars to purchase one single use potion using this offensive material
- This quest can be completed multiple times.

Beist had just been taking a break from travelling, sitting on the ground next to his wagon to eat lunch with Dora and his other companions when he suddenly heard a familiar voice calling to him. He stood up as a winged horse landed and galloped to a stop in front of him with Astrid atop it.

"Astrid? What's wrong? How can I help?" He asked, putting his half finished bowl of fruit on the counter along his wagon's currently closed shop window. He didn't know why Astrid would be looking for his help, but she sounded like she'd been trying very hard to find him. Whatever she might need an alchemist for specifically, it was usually something urgent. Healing, curing of a poison or  medicine for a disease, problems that alchemists were the solution for were usually not something that could be kept waiting.

Beist had to focus on the problem at hand and not be distracted by the beautiful pegasus that Astrid had flown down on.

---

Bringing Pets:
Griffon (Sleigh Bell)
Woolful (My Best Frind)
Mephit (Stables)
Big Bee
Raccoon Dog

Pulling Arcus to a stop beside the wagon, Astrid looks at Beist, feeling a little bad that she interrupted his lunch. “Um, well funny enough story… Long story… Anyway, there’s a village a’ folks west a’ here that’ve gotten cursed with um–” Her mind blanks, and she murmurs to herself. _{“What’s it called?} Werebeastism! _{That ain’t it…} Ly…Lycanthropy! Aye, that’s the word.” The kid looks proud enough of herself for remembering it.

“I got a bit ‘a information about how ta deal with it temporarily, an’ we made it through a full moon well enough, but these folks need some ability ta control their lives back, ya know?” While Astrid is genuinely worried about the people, she does still feel quite guilty that the Ur-beast hunting her down cursed them in the first place.

“I know ya made that potion fer transfigurin’ into other types of people, so I figured ya might’ve heard of somethin’ ta cure a curse like that?” Astrid looks earnestly at Beist, having no idea that the man suffered from lycanthropy himself. "If ya think ya can help, I'd love ta take ya back there."

Beist's ears drooped as he listened to Astrid explain the problem.

"Lycanthropy... That is quite the problem to deal with." He said, looking away and stroking his beard. He knew from experience just what a horrible problem it was. He also knew from experience just how difficult it could be to cure, if what he made could even be called that. Maybe it would be more accurate to call it a trade. Just switching the problems of being a Werebeast for a different problem.

"I suppose I do know of a potion that could help them get control back, but I don't know if they'd be entirely happy with the side effects. And, I'm missing one of the prime ingredients in it. It would take a piece of type of Werebeast they are. Not one from each of them, just a piece that of the same type of beast. A Werebear, for example." Beist explained as he started packing his things away. He wasn't sure they'd accept his potion as a real cure, but he'd have to try. If this village was suffering due to this curse, he couldn't just refuse to help them. Not when he knew what they were going through.

"Let's head there immediately. Just a moment."

He'd have simply flown there with her if it didn't mean leaving his wagon and all of his companions behind for who knew how long. Maybe if they were somewhere he trusted them to be safe for a while, but not here on the side of the road. Astrid hadn't explained at all where the afflicted village was, so he had no idea how long the journey would be to get there and back even by flying.

All of his animal companions either disappeared into one of the charms on his horns or climbed into the back of the wagon except for Dora, who he harnessed to the front to pull it. Once everyone was in, Beist's form shrank and shifted until he was more like a larger than average, four-armed monkey than a hulking giant. He climbed right up into the driver's seat and looked down at Astrid from it.

"Climb aboard. You lead the way." Beist said, patting the seat next to him behind Dora at the front of the wagon.

---

Amplified Shape Change

Astrid has seen Beist take other forms, but she usually sees him do that with the help of a magic potion or something like that. This time he does it all on his own! “Whoa, when did ya learn ta do that? Ya look like one of them… Um, oh, Girallons! But way nicer, obviously.”

She does join Beist at the front of the cart and pulls Arcus into her magical pocket dimension so that he can rest after the long journey. Then, she directs Beist westward, on a days long journey to the small farming town of Oldone in the western mountains of Dragon’s Cradle. It’s the first time she’s spent any lengthy amount of time with Beist, having not traveled with him at length in the past, so it’s nice to take some time to get to know each other.

She of course introduces him to Arcus and spends a while telling him all about him. She also tells him about Ted the sea serpent living in an aquarium in her house, which was mysteriously left behind by Veliky for Astrid to keep an eye on after Platinum Corp installed some special prosthetics and replaced part of his skull with a metal helm. Then of course there’s her new tiny golem made of blueprints that she managed to create after studying some magic runes while working with the Mage’s Guild, though she hasn’t come up with a name for it yet. One day she hopes to create a larger one that can do all sorts of cool stuff!

Oldone is antsy awaiting her return, and when they arrive, Astrid isn’t sure if Wolfe is around still or not. They might have had to leave to take care of other noble things.

Beist chuckledat Astrid's amazement. He did look a bit like a miniature girallon, what with the extra arms. He held his tongue, finding there to be no urgent need to point out that he was currently a monkey while girallons are apes. "I'm not sure exactly when I became able to do it, but I believe it was fairly recently. I can change into other animals as well, but I find this form the most convenient. Much smaller than my real form, and I get to keep my thumbs." Beist said before leaning closer to whisper. "It's also a lot less weight for Dora to have to pull than my real form, but don't say that to her. She always says she doesn't have a problem pulling the wagon with me in my real form, but I know she's just trying to act tough."

The journey lasted a few days, but it felt like it went by in a flash. Beist found it very pleasant to have some company on his travels, other than his animal companions. He loved them all and enjoyed having them with him, but it was good to shake things up sometimes. And having Astrid on the wagon certainly shook things up. Beist didn't think he'd ever get used to how energetic she was. Or reckless.

He kept to himself his disapproval of Veliky, who Astrid seemed to admire. He had no idea what the girl saw in her. It did sound like she might have had a weak spot for Astrid though. He'd keep that in mind. Beist wasn't a very vengeful type of person, but it would be nice to have something he could hold over the woman that humiliated him at the Black Harvest Ball. Metaphorically speaking. It'd be too easy for him to hold something over her physically.

He was very interested in Arcus and Ted during the journey. He loved hearing about and seeing magical creatures. He was also a bit interested in the tiny golem that Astrid had created. He had recently acquired a golem core and was planning to make his own golem as well. There was no shortage of conversation between the two of them between the subjects of magical creatures, golems, the situation in Oldone, and this friend named Wolfe Astrid mentioned a lot. Beist had initially though she was referring to an actual wolf, but that had been cleared up. They sounded interesting and Beist would have liked to meet them once they arrived, but unfortunately, they weren't there when the two of them arrive.

"Welcome back. Sorry that Wolfe had to leave, but he said he had to... do things with people?" Jessie explained to Astrid. "Anyways, is this the one you said could cure the curse?" He finished, looking to Beist.

Beist was still in his monkey-like form, but it was obvious he wasn't just a monkey from a glance. For one, he was wearing clothing, and for another, he was sitting in the driver's seat of the wagon and holding the reigns.

"Hello there. My name is Beistmild, but please call me Beist." He introduced himself as he climbed down from the wagon.

Luckily, Jessie clears some things up, and Astrid nods after hopping off the wagon. “Aye, figured he’d be the best person fer the job! Real good at makin’ potions an’ helpin’ folks!” Astrid explains energetically.

Jessie looks Beist up and down, surprised to be talking to a monkey with four arms and clothes. Is this just a very intelligent monkey? Jessie can’t think of a time he’s ever seen a monkey outside of illustrations in books, and he’s pretty sure they don’t usually have four arms. “Good ta meet ya, Mister Beist, sir,” Jessie says as politely as he can.

“Beist’s gotten real good at shapeshiftin’ kinda like Wolfe,” Astrid continues. “He ain’t always a monkey. Usually, he’s real tall and muscley! Good at givin' hugs, too.” The girl grins at Beist before looking at Jessie again.

“Well, it’s uh, a real pleasure, sir, ‘specially if ya can help us outta this pickle we’re in,” Jessie says. “Hopefully Miss Astrid explained everythin’ tew ya.”

“Sure did! We’re gonna need some special samples from everyone,” Astrid says. “Can ya gather everyone up fer us?”

“Uh, sure thing. Gimme just a bit,” Jessie says before he walks off.

Astrid looks over at Beist. “There’s a lotta folks here, it’s gonna take a while ta collect bits from ‘em. Not sure how they’re gonna react ta talkin’ ta ya as a monkey. Might think yer a werebeast too. If we can help ‘em though, might really comfort ‘em about their curse.”

Beist's face grew hotter and a few shades darker as Astrid went on about him, complimenting him. He wasn't good at taking compliments. His face burned especially hot as Astrid called him good at hugging. Why, why was she mentioning that? He'd only hugged her once! Well, maybe twice, but both times were on the back of a flying griffon and just after catching her as she was falling to her death.

"A pleasure to meet you as well." Was all Beist managed to mumble to Jessie through his embarrassment before he was walking off. Beist gave a small wave as he went.

"Yes, you're probably right. Just a moment. I'll change back." Though, if they did think he was a werebeast, they wouldn't have been entirely wrong, Beist thought to himself as he began to grow and shift back into his usual, giant form. He looked down at himself, just a little self conscious after what Astrid said. Gods, he really was real tall and muscley. It was a compliment, but it was still awkward for him for someone to talk about his body like that. Even if the monstrous strength was useful, it was also just another result of his potion mishap, so he wasn't sure how to feel about it.

"Honestly, I'm not sure how they'll react to seeing my true form either." Beist mumbled, taking a small rod of black wood with a handle on top carved to look like a griffon head from a pouch on his waist. The rod grow longer until it was a perfectly sized walking cane for the giant man.

"Well then, shall we?" Beist said, smiling down to Astrid. He made sure Dora was unharnessed and comfortable waiting with the wagon before starting to walk through the entrance into the village proper. They could wait in the town square for Jessie to bring everyone to hear the news and recruit some volunteers to donate some material for the potions.

Still, who knew if any of them would actually be happy with Beist's "cure"?

Astrid watches the monkey transform into the familiar, very large beast man. In all honesty, she has no idea how right she is about Beist’s past curse, she just figured he’d be good to help out with the situation here in Oldone. “Honestly, they’ve gotten a lot better about bein’ weird towards folks that ain’t what they think is normal,” Astrid says. A hint of melancholy seeps into her voice. “Kinda had ta get used ta it…”

Her gaze turns over her shoulder to look at the town, still in the process of reconstruction. It looks better, but there’s still evidence of the battering it took. “Folks here are strong, an’ they’re happy ta have their loved ones back with ‘em. If we can give ‘em some more peace a’ mind that’ll be real good fer alla ‘em.”

“Anyway, let’s go!” With that, she strolls into town with him, having to take two or three times as many steps to match even his slowest pace. “So we gotta get some pieces of the different kinds a’ werefolks, then we can make a potion fer ‘em an’ that’ll cure ‘em??”

"Cure is a strong word." Beist muttered as he walked along, stopping a few times for Astrid to catch up to his much longer stride. "I'll explain once everyone is gathered, but yes, if they want to take this potion then I'll need something from each type of Werebeast. Something that can be powdered would work best, such as horns or claws."

Standing in the middle of the town square, Jessie worked surprisingly quickly to gather everyone together. Everyone who had been inflicted with the curse stood waiting, looking at the giant with a mixture of hope and curiosity. They'd never seen anyone like Beist before, and he apparently held the cure to their affliction. It was easy to get everyone's attention when you were over twice as tall as everyone there.

"Ya weren't kiddin' when ya said he was real tall, huh?" Jessie whispered to Astrid before addressing the crowd. "Alright, settle down! This is Mister Beist. He said he can make us a cure. but he needs some help."

Jessie gestured to Beist to let him take the floor and speak to everyone. Beist took a deep breath before he began.

"Before anyone does anything, I'd just like to make sure everyone is fully aware of what this potion will do. I wouldn't call it a cure. Yes, it will give you back control of yourselves. You won't have to worry about becoming a feral beast each full moon and possibly hurting your loved ones. But there is a very serious side effect. You'll be permanently in your beast form, and that form may be altered a bit. I don't know if anyone else out there has something that can completely remove the curse instead of just changing it, but if there is, I also don't know if they'll be able to change you back once you've taken this potion. If anyone is still willing to take the potion, I'll make it for you. All I'll need from you is a sample from each different type of Werebeast here. If you'd rather not take it, I understand. You should think about it carefully."

The crowd falls silent as the gentle giant speaks plainly about what this potion will do. It’s not a cure at all! This isn’t what they were promised! A murmur in the crowd spreads like a wave as voices grow louder whilst they talk amongst themselves. Finally, one of the men whose audacity knows no bounds shouts from the safety of what could easily become a mob.

“That isn’t what we were told about! The kid said there’d be a cure! You saying she lied to us?!” As he shouts, his voice grows angrier and more offended, and the villagers get more and more stirred up. Some agreements pipe up. Yeah, he’s right!

The anger from the crowd makes Astrid’s confidence falter, and her smile fades from her face. Beist’s explanation came as much of a surprise to her as it did to everyone else. She didn’t lie to them, not on purpose. She just sought out the person she thought would be the best help for their predicament.

“Hey now, none of that!” Jessie pleads, though he hasn’t gained the confidence to speak sharply like a parent yet. “I want my pa cured as much as the rest of ya want a cure, but Miss Astrid didn’t promise a cure, she promised ta find us some help. Get a hold of yourselves.”

“We don’t want to be terrible beasts forever!” someone else shouts. “And we’ll go through other changes?! We just want to be people! Ourselves! Not some monsters!”

Beist felt every complaint like a stab to his heart. His ears and tail drooped more and more and he looked a whole foot shorter as he slouched down. He'd been expecting some refusals to drink the potion, maybe even everyone refusing it, but their shouts hurt him.

"You think I'm a monster?" He asked sadly, looking at the man who had riled the crowd up in the first place. "A terrible beast..." He mumbled to himself. He'd thought of himself as a monster before, and it hurt to hear himself called one by someone else, but he hadn't heard terrible beast before. It made him feel horrible. And it wasn't just him being yelled at. Astrid was also receiving a lot of heat thanks to what he'd said. But that was all the more reason it had to be said beforehand.

Some members of the crowd seemed a bit confused by what Beist had said though, asking if they thought he was a monster. They wondered why he would suddenly ask that. He did look strange, but what did it have to do with him? Beist took a breath to calm his nerves and addressed the crowd again.

"I drank this same potion myself. I was born a Werebear. I drank it, not knowing the side effect it would have. That's why I wanted to tell you before anyone took it, exactly what it would do. So you wouldn't be surprised like I was, or so you could have the chance to refuse to drink it. I'm sorry I don't have a real cure like you'd been hoping, but please don't blame Astrid for this. I never told her what the potion would do either. She just asked me for my help and I came here to offer it, but you are free to seek out alternative solutions."

A few members of the crowd, hearing this, suddenly looked awkward and embarrassed, realizing they'd been unknowingly insulting the man who had come all the way here to try to help them, saying he looked like a monster or a beast.

"You took this potion yourself? Wait, so if we drink it, are we gonna turn giant like you?" One member of the crowd asked, pointing up at Beist with a concerned expression.

Beist shook his head. "No, not exactly. I only grew this large after several more potions. Immediately after drinking the potion I offer you now, I was about half this tall, but you likely wouldn't even be that. I've been told a bit of the variety of Werebeasts here and none of them should become that large, especially not the bats or rabbits." He explained, glad someone was asking a question about the potion rather than just complaining or shouting about it.

Another member of the crowd stepped forward, a Dwarf with a bushy but fairly short beard of white hair and a completely bald head. Everyone knew him as Argyle, the village blacksmith and he had a build that showed it, with strong arms from hammering metal covered in burns and scars from the weapons and tools he'd made over the years. Both his eyebrows had been burned off and he had a scar on his bulbous nose. Everyone also knew he'd been one of the ones affected by the curse. Of all things the burly fellow had ended up a Wererabbit.

"I'll take it. I haven't cared much about me looks in a long time. Maybe this'll be an improvement. Get some hair back on me head! An' I wouldn' mind me some extra arms. Be real helpful with me work!" He laughed jokingly, but everyone also knew he wasn't joking.

Emboldened by Argyle's volunteering, a few more individuals looked around before stepping forward with various mumbles about their reasoning or not minding looking different so long as they didn't have to worry about hurting any of their loved ones anymore. Spouses either tried to pull them back, not wanting them to go through with it, or leaned into it fully.

"You already look like a beast, what difference will this potion make?" One woman laughed as her husband, a truthfully very large, hairy man stepped forward. He looked back at her with mock offense, but smiled. So long as she would stay with him after his change in appearance, he didn't mind. He was much more worried about what he might do to her and their children some full moon.

Jeremiah gave Jessie a pat on the shoulder before walking forward himself. As the former head of the village, he felt he should do one last service and lead by example. He just regretted he wasn't the first to volunteer instead of Argyle, but it didn't matter. Not everyone was stepping forward that were known to be cursed. A few still hesitated at the idea of being permanently altered. Some parents also seemed understandably apprehensive of letting their afflicted children take the potion, even if they tried to step forward.

But, at least it seemed the mood had taken a turn for the better, and most of the cursed were willing to take the potion to protect their loved ones from themselves.

When Jessie speaks up to defend her and Beist, some relief washes over the girl. She understands their concerns. Going through a big change like that would be scary, especially if folks start treating them differently. She knows well enough how something as small as two little red horns can color others’ perception of someone. But still, wouldn’t they prefer the peace of mind of knowing that they won’t be prone to hurting the people they care about? That should matter most.

And through all the shouting and complaints, she hears Beist’s voice murmuring, uncharacteristically small for a giant of a man like himself. Astrid never asked exactly what Beist was, and it didn’t occur to her that he himself had tried to cure himself of lycanthropy. His detailed explanation of the effects of the potion suddenly make sense, and a sadness washes across her expression. Of all the things she hoped to do here, subjecting Beist to insults and ire wasn’t on her list.

But he’s a strong individual, and he explains everything clearly in a calm and soothing voice. That’s right. The choice of what happens to them is ultimately up to them, but someone can’t always be around to help the village on the full moon. They’ll have to take care of themselves because if they pose a danger to others outside of the village, well… Astrid can imagine that some adventurers without understanding of the situation would be called in to “deal” with it.

Of all the people to step forward, the dwarven smith Argyle catches Astrid by surprise. Dwarves can be stoic, stubborn, and unchanging in their ways. They often consider themselves as inflexible as stone, people who must be forcibly carved into new shapes. Well, the Ur-beast certainly did that to old Argyle. Luckily, with one volunteer comes a slew of others, and Astrid manages to let the tension fall from her shoulders. Things will be okay.

So with each person who comes forward, she and Beist start to collect bits of fur, claws, and horns that they can use to brew a collection of potions for each type of werebeast who needs a cure, and they write down the recipe and make extra doses for anyone who wants to decide later.

When Argyle steps forward to offer his contribution, Astrid gives him a small, grateful smile and thanks him in quiet dwarven. The man scoffs a bit, a hint of an amused smile under his beard. “Dwarves take care of their clan, village an’ all,” are the only words he offers in return.

By the end of the day, Astrid and Beist have mixed more potions than they can count and administered them to dozens of people. If Astrid weren’t used to spending hours hammering things in the forge, her arms might be more tired than they are. She collapses in the grass beside Beist, staring up at the sky as the sun’s last rays catch the clouds above in a brilliant orange. After a while, she sits back up and looks at Beist.

“Thanks fer yer help, Beist,” she says. “I… didn’t know ya were a werebear. I’m sorry they said all that hurtful stuff… I wouldn’t’ve brought ya here if I knew they’d do that…”

Beist waved his hand and shook his head dismissively from his seat on a log to the side of the village square. He smiled as he spoke, clearly not upset by what had happened anymore. He'd let it go, understanding what the people were going through and that they hadn't known they were indirectly insulting him like that. 

"It's alright. It's not something I've told many people. And I can hardly blame you for not recognizing it. I don't really resemble a bear anymore beyond the fur, and even that isn't a very bear-like color, is it? It's not your fault, and I can't blame the villagers either. I could understand their disappointment, thinking they were going to be cured and instead receiving... this." He said, looking to the crowd who was now a roughly equal mix of normal people and beastmen.

The changes in appearance varied a bit from person to person, but they mostly looked the same as they had in their Werebeast form with maybe an alteration or two. Some people's faces even stayed mostly human except for their nose or mouth. Argyle's face looked almost unchanged except for his new rabbit's nose. His mouth was hidden beneath his beard, and his ears had become those of a rabbit as well and moved to the top of his head. He'd gained the full head of hair he'd wanted, along with a coat of white hair on the entire rest of his noticeably more muscular body. Strangely, instead of the puffball tail of a rabbit, he had a tail similar to a goat's and a pair of antlers on his head behind his ears. He'd been a little upset to not grow a second pair of arms, but no one else had either. Beist had explained that even he hadn't grown a second pair of arms either until he'd drunk a second potion. He flatly refused to give that potion to Argyle.

A majority of those who had been cursed had decided to go through with taking the potion. The peace of mind had won against wanting to look normal. And a few had even changed their minds after Beist had explained there was an upside to the potion, being that they'd retain the monstrous strength and enhanced senses inherent to Werebeasts while remaining in control of themselves. Several of the town's hunters and farmers who had been cursed thought this whole situation might even be an improvement.

Of course, a handful chose to remain Werebeasts in the hopes of a real cure coming around. At least now there was far less danger of them causing much harm with about half the town being just as strong as them and able to help keep them contained without the worry of being bitten. Several parents thought their child was too young to make such a life-altering decision for themself right now and had kept their children from taking the potion as well. Perhaps in the future they would take it if no one who could truly cure them came around by then.

Unexpectedly, a couple of Wererabbit children actually defied their parents' wishes and snuck into the cabinet where the extra potions had been stored and drank it, prompting Jeremiah to put the potions in a much more secure location in a metal safe just to make sure no one else would take the potion without asking first.

Jeremiah had also gone though changes similar to Argyle's. His face was mostly human still except for the mouth and nose, and his pupils had become rectangular like a goat's. He'd gained a coat of white fur as well and grown a bit more muscular. His feet had become hooves and his ears had become like a goat's, a pair of curly ram's horns above them. Funnily enough, Jeremiah actually gained the puffball tail of a rabbit, prompting several people to joke that he and Argyle had switched tails. Unlike Argyle, who had stayed exactly the same height after his transformation, Jeremiah had also grown about a foot taller, making him taller than Jessie.

People had taken the transformations much better than he'd expected, laughing and joking about them. The large man whose wife had said he already looked like a beast had gone through probably the least amount of changes, hardly even growing any hairier or muscular than he'd already been. The biggest changes were the pair of antlers on his head and small deer's tail on his bottom. His face hadn't changed at all. Even his ears hadn't changed much, just becoming a little pointy. That caused a lot of jokes about his wife being right.

Beist felt oddly happy seeing the village like this. It had gone through so much, going from a completely normal little farming village to a village of nearly half Werebeasts, to a village full of people much like him. Beist looked back to Astrid cheerfully, glad he'd been able to help these people in the end.

"Well, if you're still worried about my feelings, a hug might make me feel better." He offered, holding his arms wide for Astrid to jump into. She wasn't wrong when she told the villagers he was good at giving hugs.

Once people start leaning into the wacky changes that each person goes through after drinking the potion, the atmosphere of Oldone becomes much lighter and even uproarious with laughter. What was once a relatively unknown small village on the outskirts of Dragon’s Cradle may one day spread enough gossip to be well-known as a safe haven for werecreatures. The circumstances surrounding them were unfortunate, but at least they have some means of keeping themselves and others safe, which is what Astrid and Beist ultimately care the most about.

Astrid, of course, is never one to turn down a hug, especially not from someone she genuinely likes and cares about. Those kinds of hugs are the best! So when Beist presents her with the option, she leaps into his arms and hugs him tight around the neck.

“‘Course I’ll give ya a hug if it’ll make ya feel better! Hopefully the next time I see ya, it ain’t ta help folks in as dire straits as this,” she giggles softly, nuzzling into the soft fur of the fuzzy man. For now, things have settled down, and they can leave Oldone knowing that it will be able to maintain its peace on its own.