The air was hot and dry at the docklands at the southern part of the island. The Expedition had called her up here to try and convince a Consortium researcher to join this troll hunt. No other information given other than she was to meet with another W.E.F. representative to assist with the negotiation. She was irritated, at a baseline level but moreso that some bookworm had enough reservations about helping the hunt that TWO members were required to try and convince them otherwise.



    Whatever, she thought as she waited at the edge of the colony, If it’ll help calm things down for the Concord she was all for it. She wasn’t the biggest fan of the Marrowvines, but her family estate was part of the same regional influence as this barren wasteland. Some amount of civility brought to it could only be a good thing.



    The researchers hut was at the top of the mesa before her, a pillar of stone looming like a monument in ruins. It just added to her excitement to be rock climbing in the heat right before a negotiation as well. The sweat would certainly add a distinctive flair to the discussion.
Quest Name: Allied Forces

Participants: Exactly two (you and one other, the other does not need to be interested in the guild)

Location: Indicated by Hunt Dossier

Post Requirements: 5 post per person, 200 words per post

Reward: Quest Completion

Description: Your previous efforts have awakened a response from the creatures, your base has been ambushed in the dead of night, have you prepared your fortifications properly? With your camp reeling from the attack, guild leaders have realized this hunt may be more than they are prepared for, and assistance is being requested. We need you to reach out to a member of another guild (Fighter's Guild, Mage's Guild or the Golden Consortium) and help convince them to lend a member to assist in the hunt. This can be done through letters, messengers or approaching one yourself. Make a convincing plea for assistance, as we will need all the help we can get.

Gosh, these trolls were dangerous. It was no wonder the Winged Expeditionary Force would ask another guild for some assistance, but Beist hadn't expected that guild to be the Golden Consortium. The Fighter's Guild or the Mage's Guild, sure. They could provide some powerful fighters or mages to help in the assault, but what could the Consortium provide? Potions was the only answer he could come up with. Healing potions would be beneficial for the injured, and they would probably want to stock some potions relating to fire. Maybe potions of fire breath or some explosive casks. Those would help with the trolls as well. But, most importantly, they might be able to help find some kind of cure or inoculant against the troll's blood poison. That would certainly make the fight a lot easier. Yes, that was probably it.

Beist stroked his beard idly as the thoughts raced through his head, his walking stick tapping on the ground with each step while he walked to the spot he was supposed to meet another Expedition member to speak to the Golden Consortium member they were trying to recruit. He'd been chosen for this mission because he happened to also be a Consortium member, so he was supposed to be their connection to this other alchemist, but he'd never met them before. He hoped they'd at least hear him out.

He approached the cliff and noticed there was already someone else here, a grey-haired woman in armor looking up at the rocky cliff. The heat was horrid in the Arid Mesa. Beist knew that too well thanks to his thick coat of fur, but she was probably not faring much better than him with metal armor. At least he could wear some light clothing, a buttoned up beige shirt with pockets tucked into a pair of matching cargo shorts fit for an explorer. Climbing would just make the heat worse.

He walked up behind her and gave a friendly greeting. "Hello there! You must be the the fellow Expedition member on this mission. A pleasure to meet you, my name is Beistmild, but please call me Beist."

He reached down a massive hand to shake, a large shadow being cast from his giant form right over the young woman.

---

Bringing Pets
Griffon (Sleigh Bell) in pet pocket
Woolful (My Best Friend) in pocket space
Mephit (Stables) in pocket space
Snowy Owl in pet pocket
Raccoon-Dog

    She was too wrapped up in slightly annoyed thoughts to notice his approach, but the introduction put her into a suprised spin. She was met with a wall of fur dressed in a tasteful shirt, which her eyes trailed the buttons of before meeting with Beistmilds at least 6 heads above her own.



    “H-hey there sir-Mr. Beistmild, Beist sir.” She said, surprise and intimidation at his height. Compose yourself woman, he’s the one they sent to meet up with you. With a sharp inhale, and replacing her look of surprise with a practiced smile, She met his hand with her own. It barely fit, hers being buried in a mound of hair and flesh, but the handshake was as cordial as she could make it. “Gwendolyn Mystwud, but you can just call me Lady Gwendolyn for short. I’m with the Expedition indeed, as well as the Mage’s and Alchemist’s guilds.”



    Beistmild… Hadn’t she seen that name before on the Golden Consortiums rostersheets before… No, there was no way this massive man had the delicate nature to handle the minute quantities of ingredients necessary to become a good alchemist. Regardless, he was certainly dressed for this particular adventure a good bit better than she was.



    “Anyways, I assume your here to help get the researcher onboard for the Expedition?” She questioned as she began walking the path up the cliffside. “You wouldn’t happen to have a magic carpet or anything I assume”

"Oh, you don't have to call me sir. I'm not a knight or anything. Just Beist is fine." He chuckled, waving a hand in front of him. Being called sir or anything like that was just too formal. He liked to act in a dignified manor, but he wasn't some noble or knight with an ego that required him to be given more respect than the common man-

_{"Eh? Lady Gwendolyn?"} Beist mumbled to himself in surprise. She was a noble? Ah! He'd never actually met a noble before as far as he was aware, other than at the Black Harvest Ball which had been a complete disaster for him personally. A humiliating affair where he'd been mocked, though to be fair, it wasn't a noble that had done it. Still, he'd been so nervous then and he felt the judgmental looks of the nobles the whole time before he'd decided to leave a bit early. Now he was dealing with a noble on this mission. He just hoped she wasn't too uptight. She did seem a bit stiff when she saw him. Ah, was this going to be another disaster?

"Oh, you're a member of the Mage's Guild as well? I'm also a member! I must admit I've never seen you in the guild hall, but I did join rather recently, so I'm not surprised. I haven't spent much time there. I prefer working in my own home." Beist spoke cheerily. It looked like the two of them could relate! Maybe this wouldn't be all bad. She clearly had an interest in alchemy if she was also in the Consortium, and the Mage's Guild to boot. Perhaps they'd have some pleasant conversation as they walked up the path.

Ah, she didn't want to walk up the steps. Well, that was understandable and probably not just because she's a noble. He honestly didn't want to walk or climb either in this heat.

"Yes, I was chosen to help bring him on since I'm also a Consortium member. They thought I'd be able to convince him. They must have thought the same of you. I'm afraid I don't have any flying carpet, but I do have something else that might suffice."

Beist tapped one of the golden charms hanging from his horn, a feather with a yellow gem in the middle, and a large griffon suddenly materialized beside him as the gem turned white. The griffon was much larger than some might expect, standing about twelve feet tall at the head.

"This is Dora, one of my wonderful companions." Beist introduced the griffon, motioning a hand toward her. Dora looked at Gwen with piercing yellow eyes the same color the gem she was summoned from had been. "Dora, would you mind giving us a ride to the top of this mesa?"

Dora looked Gwen up and down and then looked to Beist with a short trill.

"Of course!" Beist answered as if he'd understood what the griffon said perfectly. The massive beast of a man suddenly started to shrink down, his clothing and cane both magically changing size with him, until he was only about four feet tall with an appearance that was much closer to that of a monkey, though he retained the horns and extra pair of arms as well as a thicker than normal tail.

Dora lied down and Beist climbed onto her back before looking at Gwen. "She said it's alright. Climb on." He said, offering a hand.

    Honestly, she would have never considered this 15 foot fuzzball to be a masterful alchemist and magician. Perhaps she had some biases she would need to reevaluate. To be truthful, he did appear quite docile, and polite to boot. He didn’t even smell as bad as she thought he would. Tension melted into relief, as the man brought up a way to the summit that didn’t involve walking. At least, until a large griffon appeared to leap out of a a trinket hanging from his horns. One sniff wrinkled her nose, yup, that was a straight up animal. And he was talking to it. Ok, maybe he wasn’t a monster, but druids were on her list of weirdos to keep an eye on. Oh, great and now he’s shrinking to fit, at least he’s considerate. She could only imagine the 15 ft tall beast man riding an animal that to him would be like a miniature pony.



    “Right, yes. Just hop on the animal, Sorry, Dora.” This smell would never come out of her chausse. Gwendolyn took Beists had, and heaved herself up onto the griffons back, suprised she didn’t throw the miniature beast off balance. It was an odd position to be sure, sat between the creatures wings and Beists wide tail. “This is safe right? The armour isn’t too much?” At the very least, she didn’t have her armoury of oversized weapons with her to weigh the bird-thing down further. “I beg you forgive my discomfort, animals aren’t really my wheelhouse” She says, visibly uncomfortable before the flight, but holding on tight to beists miniature waist.

Beist could see that Lady Gwendolyn seemed a bit uncomfortable as he looked back over his shoulder, even without her saying anything. So animals weren't her wheelhouse. She must not be used to riding, especially without a saddle. Or riding an animal with wings. Maybe both. Or maybe she didn't like riding with him? They were basically strangers. Would she be more comfortable riding on Dora alone?

"Oh, my apologies. Your armor is perfectly fine, not too heavy at all. But would you be more comfortable being carried up to the top instead of riding? Or maybe riding on Dora alone? I must admit, the wings make it a bit difficult for multiple people to sit on her back, don't they? Just a moment."

Beist reached up to another charm on his horn, this one shaped like a pair of butterfly wings with a pale blue gem in the center, and tapped it. Another creature appeared beside them as the gem turned white. A huge cat, its head reaching six feet tall as it sat upright on six legs. Coated in thick, fluffy white fur with a long, poofy tail, the cat also had a huge pair of wings like a giant moth that were a pale blue in color, the same as the gam had been.

"This is Sorbet, a snowy cat-moth. She's very friendly _{and cold to the touch.} Would you rather ride on top of Dora, or be carried up by Sorbet? I can go with the other, if that would make you more comfortable." Beist offered Gwen courteously.

He secretly hoped she'd rather ride Dora. With the heat of this Mesa, being carried by Sorbet would be wonderful, with her cold fur. Ah, he should have thought to bring her out sooner, even just to have her over his shoulder like a cold towel.

    Gods above was every trinket on his person another live animal. This would all be much simpler if one of them just had a magic carpet. Though Sorbet looked like the would make quite the luxurious carpet indeed… She shook her head subtly to dismiss the thought, and prayed that this Beist fellow could not read minds. Her last animal, a reindeer named Albus, had ran away from her along with half of her staff not that long ago after all. She wondered if he could read minds, would he judge her for not chasing them.


    “No, Nope it’s quite alright.” She says, patting the one named Dora awkwardly along the back. “Dora will be just fine, smoother ride I suppose.” In truth, it was actually a rarely explored etiquette that was normally related to horses. If one mounts a horse, and then is presented with another horse, one must stay on the original. For if one switched, it would imply that the original offer was insufficient and one was just being polite. Which she was, but still. All of this was better than walking a half kilometer straight up some stairs in a desert.



    “I can probably take the griffin by myself, whats the worst that can happen? Onwards and upwards then. Or is this more of a giddyup type of start. Yip yip?”



    She had no idea how to handle this massive creature, and would be fully reliant on it’s own intelligence to reach their destination. It was quite stressful not being able to order the creature like one of her servants.

"Very well! I'll go with Sorbet then." Beist said with a little more enthusiasm than he'd meant to. Dora looked over her shoulder at him and he patted her beak lovingly.

"Oh, don't be upset with me. You know I enjoy riding you, I just wanted Lady Gwendolyn here to be comfortable." He whispered apologetically before climbing down. Dora looked like she understood, holding her head high.

Sorbet purred lightly as Beist climbed onto her back, in front of her wings. He was relieved as he felt the pleasant chill that emanated from the magical creature, the snowy moth-cat's fur helping him cool off in this horrid heat. He was glad Gwen chose Dora, as much as he loved the griffon and enjoyed riding on her back from time to time, the feeling of riding the snowy moth-cat was wonderful.

Dora glared over her shoulder at Gwen as she started spouting off ridiculous ways of trying to signal her to take off, like she was some dumb animal. She's a majestic griffon! She had half a mind to buck Gwen off. Beist saw the trouble brewing and immediately tried to intervene.

"Eh! A simple please would suffice! Yes, griffons are very intelligent you know. Just ask nicely now, Dora will understand you. None of those... signals?" He explained quickly. He thought nobles had to learn proper etiquette or something, but maybe that didn't apply when speaking to what they'd consider animals.

"Well, let's not waste any more time. Sorbet, to the top, please." He spoke to the giant feline politely, trying to set an example for Gwen, and Sorbet meowed before spreading her wings and flying up to the top.

Dora glared at Gwen, waiting for her to ask politely. If she was a snob, she might just leave her down here and fly to the top without her. Beist would probably not hold it against her, but he would definitely go back down to get Gwen. He's too nice to people who don't deserve it sometimes, and Dora knew it. Dropping Gwen would only cause Beist trouble and she didn't want to cause him trouble. She'd give Gwen a chance.

    The two locked eyes as the griffin stared back at her. After an awkward few seconds of Gwen gathering her thoughts, she said in a meek voice “Would you please take me to the top of the this mesa?”



    Not a second passed before Dora launched into the sky, Gwendolyn grasping around her torso in fear for falling off. She had been in flight before, but that was all high altitude falling, largely due to combat situation in which she couldn’t appreciate the experience. This was incredible, fast, and deliberate as Dora rocketed upwards, seeming to care little for all the extra weight on her back. And just like that, it was over. Dora reached an apex and glided down to meet with Beist on a dusty trail at the top before landing with an almost smug grace.



    Gwen’s fingers still gripped onto the thick plumage of the Griffon for dear life as they stood there. She had to forcefully will her body to slid off of the majestic creature before putting her feet back on solid ground. Her legs were jelly, and her hair was a wild mess as she attempted to straighten herself out to look presentable to her guild colleague.



    “S-S-Shall we then? Thank you D-dora for the ride.” She says before looking up the dusty trail. Not too far ahead was a relatively new looking hut standing alone atop the pillar of stone. A small yard was fenced off, with a variety of desert plants growing in the rocky soil. The sign that hung from the precipice said only “Quiet please”. Gwendolyn raised an eyebrow, before motioning to Beist and his snowy moth cat an "After you" gesture.

Beist gave Sorbet and Dora some pats before quietly thanking them and tapping the gold charms to send them back to their pocket spaces. He wasn't sure if this person would appreciate the large animals, but judging from the sign asking for quiet, he guessed not. They wanted to recruit this alchemist, so they should do their best to get on their good side by doing what was asked of them and being quiet.

He pushed the gate to the garden open as quietly as he could and passed through, looking at the plants growing here. It was a rather impressive garden, given their location. The plants were limited to those capable of growing in such barren soil and such scorching heat, but it looked like there was an extensive selection of medicinal plants. A variety of cacti could be seen. Beist noticed that it had even been organized so that plants with similar appearances had been separated to opposite ends of the garden and labeled. There were also a few poisonous and toxic plants here and there that had signs clearly marking them as dangerous. It was an impressive garden, to be sure.

Beist finally reached the door, still in his much smaller monkey form. He figured it would be more suitable at the moment. Much quieter footsteps and he wouldn't need to struggle to get through the door to the tower, but already there was a problem. On the door was a large, heavy knocker that was too high up for him to reach in this form. What a conundrum. The knocker would certainly make a terribly loud noise, but the sign had asked for quiet. Would it be more polite to just try and quietly knock then? Or maybe it would be rude not to use the knocker... What was the proper etiquette here? Maybe a noble like Lady Gwendolyn would have the answer.

Beist looked back to Gwen and motioned for her to come over.

It was indeed quite the conundrum, but the answer with alchemists was certainly almost always potions. She reached into her pack, and took out two ornate looking vials. One was filled with a swirly black liquid, and the other half filled with a milky white substance. She combined the two, ensuring the cap was on before she shook them, and then took it off to allow the substance to spew into the air around Gwen and Beist. The first hint that the potions had the intended effects, was that her armour no longer softly creaked when she adjusted her weight.



She smiled with a smug aura surrounding her silent form. She lifted the heavy door knocker and banged it quietly against the door a few times. It was odd seeing something made to make noise do nothing in response, but perhaps it was the answer. Gwendolyn paused, awaiting the alchemist to answer the door. Nobody came. Another minute just silently standing there. She supposed if the doorknocker made no sound, and wasn’t part of some wacky contraption, then how would the Alchemist know they were here. She looked to MonkeyBeist, shrugged her shoulders, and just opened the door.

Beist looked at the two vials with interest, unsure of just what Gwendolyn was planning to do with them. The black potion looked familiar, but he didn't recognize the other. He raised an eyebrow when she poured one potion into the other and shook them together. She made some concoction of two different potions that caused it to vaporize into a cloud around them. Interesting. But how did that help with the door?

Beist realized why the black potion had looked familiar when everything around him fell silent, including Gwen's armor. Of course, it was a potion of shadows! He had the same potion in his bag at this very moment. He'd never tried turning the potion into an airborne effect. That was intriguing, he'd have to look into just what Gwen had mixed it with to do such a thing later. But still, how did that help with the door?

He was dumbfounded as Gwen pulled the knocker and banged it against the door, the sound completely silenced thanks to the magic of the potion. Beist couldn't even ask what she was attempting right now. They both just stood there silently, waiting for something. Of course, no one came to answer the door that there was no way of hearing. Why would they? How? How did that help with the door?

Beist followed behind Gwen as she just shrugged and opened the door to stroll right in. So it hadn't even been locked! The door opened silently, no creaks or groans of hinges or wood as it swung inward. Beist hesitated for a moment. Was this breaking and entering? Technically, they hadn't broken in if the door was unlocked, but was this not trespassing? Oh dear. He followed behind, looking around for any suddenly materializing guards, but there were none.

The inside of the hut wasn't very large. It was all one room, with a small eating area and kitchen, a curtained off area that Beist assumed must contain the bed, and the rest of the space taken up by desks covered in alchemical equipment. It seemed a majority of the hut was dedicated to alchemy while a small portion was made into a living space.

Standing in front of one of the desks, carefully measuring ingredients and adding them to a pot was a thin aviankin who resembled a bearded vulture, his wings tucked in close behind him and his plumage stained the same color as the dusty sand outside. He wore a brown leather apron, leather pants, and leather gloves along with a pair of goggles that was currently resting on his forehead.

Well, it was no wonder the man didn't mind living up here when he could fly. It looked like he was in deep concentration with whatever potion he was making. He hadn't even noticed them enter.

Beist tapped Gwen on the elbow and motioned for her to come sit down at the dining table with him. He didn't want to disturb the alchemist's work. They should just wait until he was finished before introducing themselves and asking their request.

She blinked, shocked back into reality after spacing out for a moment. Beist was waving her inside, she followed without thinking about it. They sat down at the ramshackled table covered in alchemical ingredients and loose papers filled with cryptic notations and recipes. She noticed her breath began to make noise once more, and wondered indeed if the alchemist had noticed them come in at all. It would be kinda weird to realize that two people were now in your dining room all of the sudden. But alerting him to this fact would make it seem like they had planned to do this from the start to surprise him…



Damn, this was a conundrum. Sweat dripped down her forehead as the aviankin continued mixing in his pot. Thoughts of complaints to the WEF, the Consortium, and her father danced in her mind before the alchemist broke the silence himself. Still watching the pot, he asked in an almost dismissive tone. “What do you two want”. The relief that he wasn’t pissed they had basically just broke into his house was immense.



“Oh, uh, sorry to disturb you. We are from the Winged Expeditionary Forces. Here to ask for aid in defeating the Nightcaller Troll that has been discovered nearby?”

The Aviankin looked over his shoulder at the pair, his gaze appraising the two guests at his table. His eyes lingered on them both for a moment, slightly longer on Beist as he took in the strange appearance of the monkey-like form of the beast man. Beist worried that Gwen's introduction hadn't pleased him. She hadn't even told him their names! That was what you should always start with, wasn't it?

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I hope we didn't disturb you while you were in the process of making a potion. We're also both fellow Golden Consortium members, so we understand interruptions to the brewing process can be detrimental to some potions. Please don't mind us. You can continue your work while we speak, if that's alright. My name is Beistmild, but please call me Beist. Ad this is Lady Gwendolyn." He said assuringly, not wanting to cause the man any trouble with his current work. Interrupting him and ruining whatever potion he was working on definitely wouldn't help convince him to help them.

The Aviankin man looked back to what he was doing and continued stirring the pot in front of him as he spoke. Beist took that as a good sign.

"Name's Rubin. Call me Rubin. What's the Expedition need me for? If they want more healing potions, they can just buy them."

"Well, we were hoping to request something other than healing potions. You see, these trolls are difficult to harm. Their regeneration is even more powerful than other trolls and their blood is toxic. We need help with those problems, and the WEF and Consortium recommended you specifically for the job." Beist replied, hoping stroking his ego would help convince him just a little.

"Hmph. They know I specialize in toxins. Guess they do know who they're asking for help." Rubin sighed, shaking his head. "Fine, I guess I can work on some antitoxin for that blood if I can get a sample of it. But, I don't know what you want me to do about the regeneration."

"Their regeneration stops if they suffer a burn from fire." Beist added quickly. "If you can also work on making some alchemist's fire, it would be appreciated, but I believe the nightcaller blood antitoxin is primarily what we'd like to request of you. Others can work on the alchemist's fire."

"Fine. I'll do it, soon as I get that blood sample." Rubin replied. He didn't show much emotion, but underneath his stoic visage he had an excitement to work with something new that Beist understood as a fellow alchemist.

Hmm, she had recently had a run-in with a few nightcallers further inland. She had the foresight to obtain a flesh sample, but in her haste and exhaustion had not even thought to get a blood sample. The noblewoman slumped ever so slightly back in her chair in defeat, it would seem that another hunt awaited her. Since her alchemic specialties lied moreso in heavy liquids and gasses rather than biological arts, she leaned over to Beistmild to come up with a plan.



Her whispers were less to conceal information from Mr. Rubin, and more to not disturb him further whilst they conferred. “Psst, hey. I only have a flesh sample, do you think they would be attracted to the smell of it?” She asked, bringing out the jar of hairy flesh that had been sitting in her back pouch for about a week now.



“I can still hear you, you know. And I’m sure that chunk will attract all sorts of nasties from the wilderness. Your trolls would have to fight through a horde of coyotes and vultures to even reach your campsite.”



Her only thought was that it confirms there was a chance. Perfect.



I actually did grab a flesh sample in a javal thread that ended recently
talesofcharon.proboards.com/post/43575/thread