The journey to Sol City had been a long time coming. It was, for all intents and purposes, the heart of Capitol landing, and of Charon as a whole, if some were to be believed. Still, the road to the big city was an arduous one for Sylvari. Months of training, travel, and encouragement from friends made along the way had all been necessary for her to feel comfortable in the metropolis, and that wasn't just because she was from a nomadic tribe who never frequented settlements of more than a few hundred. No, Sylvari's chiefest concern was the dark thirst within her breast, which was blessedly dormant for the moment, having been slaked the previous night.

Sylvari was not here for pleasure, though. She was intent on growing in power and control of herself and figured the best way to do that was to keep slaying monsters and helping common folk. The implication of the current quest being one of her wretched kin had been icing on the cake. Sylvari had only hours earlier been looking at a message board when she saw a bounty on a monster that lurked in the city sewers, rumored to have kidnapped several civilians. She was immediately intent on fulfilling the request and grabbed the notice at the same time as a tall, half-elven man with a rapier at his hip. In a conciliatory gesture, the both of them being exceedingly polite, the pair decided to embark on the quest together. She discovered the man's name was Everett, and despite only having one arm to fight with, he was a formidable combatant.

Upon receiving advice that the sewers were very dark, Sylvari and Everett decided to acquire some potions at a market stall along the way, purported to grant users the ability to see in the dark, a most poignant ability.

Sylvari wrinkled her nose at the brew. She had drunk potions before and they always made her a little nauseous. granted she hadn't tried any since her change and maintained a sliver of hope that her newfound fortitude would supersede this unfortunate side effect. She made motion to jokingly clink her vial against her companion's and stated in a voice filled with more than a little trepidation, "Bottom's up!"

Sylvari's hopes were unfortunately unfounded as not nausea but dizziness struck her upon consumption of the mixture. With the world spinning around her, Sylvari closed her crimson eyes, even concealed behind her half-veil as they were, and sat against a nearby alley wall to ground herself against the motion.

SPOILER: Click to show

 Quest Name: Honey, someone shrunk the heroes

Participants: Two or more

Location: Anywhere

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

Reward: +1 Renown

Description: Charon has been plagued with counterfeit potions over the past few months, the Golden Consortium doing its best to put a stop to the production of these fake elixars. However, as one operation is put to an end, three more pop up, making it a gamble to buy potions from any source at this point. You have found yourself the victim of one of these fake potions, thinking it to be a potion or drink of some other kind. Unfortunately, its a fake, made somewhere in a back alley by scoundrels. Instead of the potion having its intended affect, it has instead shrunk you and anyone you shared the drink with, making you the size of an ant. The effects of this potion will only last for four post, making you normal size after its duration, however, you will have to survive in a massive world filled with giant bugs and plants all prepared to kill you. The task is simple, don't die.

Everett was surprised to find an ally willing to work with him on a job so quickly. His condition made it harder to gain the confidence of other folks, especially among sailors and mercenaries. Adventurers tend to not see such things as big hindrances since magic can more than make up for a lack of limb, but it's still a pleasant surprise to be considered an asset on a job. 

Sylvari is an interesting companion. There's something sort of off about her, but overall she's fairly charming and endearing to idly chat with. If he could describe his first impressions of her, he would say that she is energetic but also somewhat mysterious. It's like she wears all that armor for more than just protecting herself in battle. At least that's the feeling he gets. 

That said, he's not off put by any of the quirks she has displayed so far. Avasha knows he has plenty of unknowns about himself as well...but he wouldn't be able to reveal any secrets even if he wanted to given his memory loss. It's a hassle for someone trying to build up connections and gain some more friendly faces to rely on. Maybe if he's lucky Sylvari will be able to look past that if he proves himself during this mission.

Clinking their bottles together, he gives her a nod and a smile. 

"Cheers."

He raises the bottle to his lips and drinks the liquid. It burns as it goes down, like something highly alcoholic but without any of the carefully crafted flavors. It's pungent and dank, almost reminiscent of a sweaty sock.

As he reels from the taste, he notices Sylvari leaning against the wall. 

"Oye, you alright?"

Trying to approach her, he suddenly feels magic grip his body. That can't be good. He tries to resist it but then his vision shifts, getting lower and lower to the ground. 

"Hey! HEY!" He shouts, his voice gets smaller and higher pitched as he shrinks to only a few inches tall. The same effect reduces Sylvari to a diminutive size. 

Despite the current situation, Everett rushes to Sylvari's side. Once he reaches her, he looks around at the buildings towering overhead as well as all the now-boulder-sized pebbles and other debris in the alleyway. Gods. This must be how ants feel. He has a lot more sympathy for the critters now. 

He looks to Sylvari. "Uh...I didn't see this listed as a side effect on the bottle."

Just then, there's a noise from behind one of the stacked crates in the alleyway. A seemingly massive rat appears from the shadows, its whiskers twitching as it sniffs for anything it can nibble on. Its beady eyes fixate on the two as it starts to move towards them. 

"Oooooh dear, we should probably hide!" He pulls Sylvari up and along as the rat lunges forward to give chase.

Behind closed eyes, Sylvari tried to focus her mind to stop the wretched revolutions. She was vaguely aware of Everett calling out to her in concern. The sentiment was appreciated, but the encroaching headache blocked out all other sensation. Then, the sensation departed as quickly as it arrived. Sylvari opened her eyes, ready again to move forward. She looked to Everett and saw him running towards her. That's odd, was he that far away before? What's he saying? Side effects?

Sylvari then took a look around to find everything was much bigger than she remembered. Actually, judging by the frankly massive glass shards of the shattered vial where she dropped it, Sylvari was fairly sure the pair had shrunk. She groaned inwardly. Potions are the worst.

Sylvari looked with Everett towards the encroaching rat in perfect unison. "Yes darling, I think that would be for the best. After you." She quickly secured her belongings and ran alongside Everett, desperate to limit the gains of the oncoming predator. The armor Everett wore was so light as to be almost non-existent, but, despite her being a comparative walking fortress in her darkened plate, Sylvari kept pace just slightly behind him, ^{[Light as a Feather]} seemingly unaffected by the weight of what she wore. Her motion to place herself behind her companion was intentional - should the rat catch up to them, it was far better for the creature to gnash on her tempered steel than Everett's tender flesh.

Still, she wasn't keen on becoming the world's smallest chew toy today, and, as the pair finally made it to the end of the alley, she pulled Everett along into the marketplace, dodging unaware footsteps in her bid to shake their pursuer.

Dodging a bunch of lumbering giant feet is not an easy task, especially on such short legs and over uneven ground. Every edge of each cobblestone is like a ledge that needs to be vaulted over as they race along with the rat in hot pursuit. 

Everett glances over his shoulder just in time to see the rat ready to take a chomp down on both their tiny heads. 

"Shit!"

He lets go of Sylvari's hand and snaps his fingers. The air around him warps as the primordial magic hanging in the air is called to his command, transmuting into a burst of fog that obscures them from the rat's vision.^[1] 

The rat squeaks in surprise at the sudden cloud in its face, but it wouldn't take it long to follow its nose to the two fleeing morsels. Everett leads Sylvari out of the cloud, keeping his voice low so the rat hopefully doesn't follow the sound of their voices. 

"We need to get off the ground or inside somewhere. Or find help to turn us back."

Hopefully the woman would have an idea. He's still recovering from his memory loss and isn't too savvy in finding his way around Charon's larger and more elaborate cities. 

The rat sniffs and twitches its whiskers, picking its way out of the fog and looking around with its beady eyes for its prey. It spots the pair fleeing across the street, but the pair manage to get under a moving wagon at just the right moment for the wheels to cut off the rat's pursuit if only for a few more precious seconds as they come up with a better plan of action. 

---

[1] Fog Cloud

If Everett was keen on relying on Sylvari's navigation skills in the big city, he would be sorely disappointed. Her childhood before and condition now meant that she often avoided larger settlements, save for special jobs like this one. Nonetheless, Sylvari's mind raced for possibilities. With that rat pursuing us, we don't have the luxury of finding a place to climb up to visible areas, and besides, I'm not certain that we would find the right sort of soul who would help us without gawking or making off with us. That leaves getting indoors or finding a way to reverse this effect; a magic shop would be best.

Sylvari wracked her brain for the nearest alchemist, appraiser, or curio shop she could think of, excepting the obvious merchant who had swindled them: he would be saved for a stern talking to later. Unfortunately, the size and variance of the prodigious market district worked to her disadvantage. The streets seemed to blend together, especially from this new tiny perspective, and she didn't have the first clue the right direction to run.

"We need to get to an arcanist's shop. That's our best bet of safety and getting this curse reversed. I can't make sense of where we are like this though. Damned potions..."

Presently, the wagon they took cover under rolled away, exposing their position to their hunter, which once again barreled towards them, its hunger in staunch defiance of the finer points of self-preservation amidst the busy market square. Sylvari quickly grabbed Everett's hand and began sprinting away; wherever the magic shop was, the current correct direction was 'away from that rat'.

"Arcanist shop. Got it. Which way is that?" What he wouldn't give for a map right now, but that would have to wait since the rat was now back on their trail.

He's relieved that Sylvari takes the lead since he has no idea which direction to go, but of course that leaves him closer to the rat. They needed some way to throw it off or discourage it from pursuing them further. 

The fog cloud trick wouldn't likely work a second time, it's only really good for sticking in one place or a temporary smoke bomb against things that rely more on sight rather than smell.

Man, he wishes he had more magic at his disposal. Running through his mind quickly, he knows a few other spells that can protect him from projectiles or change the weather. The only other spell he knows that might work against the rat is a spell that makes a loud crack of thunder. Maybe it would be enough to startle the creature. It's a big maybe though given the size of this rat, or rather, the size of themselves. Worth a shot though, they don't have many options until the potions wear off or they find a way to reverse the effects. 

He lets go of Sylvari's hand and spins around on his boot heel to face the rat, snapping his fingers in its direction. The sound waves warp and amplify until the snap transmutes into a loud shatter of thunder. 

The rat skids to a stop, pinning its ears and closing its eyes tight. It lets out a shocked squeak before running off back to the safety of the alleyway. 

Everett blinks, surprised that worked. "Huh. Neat." He looks at Sylvari with a sheepish grin. "That's one problem solved. Now to find that shop."

He strides forward with a more relaxed pace...only for a shadow to appear over both of them and a big drop of goop to land on his head, completely covering him in slime. 

"ACK! What the- oh, no." 

Looking up, a big-eyed, bigger tongue, slobbery hound peers down at them with interest. Its tail wags back and forth excitedly as it lowers its head and gives the two a good sniff. 

---

[1] Thundering Boom

Sylvari watched with marked interest as her companion whirled about and snapped his fingers towards their pursuer, the sound amplified to the sound of a crack of thunder. Blessedly, this startling noise seemed to finally dissuade the creature from following the pair further, as it turned tail in retreat.

Sylvari obliged her partner with a smile that was equal parts grateful and impressed. "Impressive application of magic, my dear. I really must become more versed in the art myself. Such a wide variety of applications that rather put the martial instruments to shame in versatility." She gestured to where the large warhammer she carried was slung across her back to emphasize her point. Sylvari gave a light laugh, partially in relief their hair-raising ordeal with the rat was over.

She was happy to trail Everett's slower pace. Funny to think how our mood changes with our changing perspective. We're both still small, but the solace I feel from surviving the chase makes my grievances seem small. It seems Everett feels the same. It's good to count one's blessings.

Presently, Sylvari's happy internal monologue was cut short as the world went dark. At least, that's how it seemed, given her and her companion's new, miniscule perspective. Sylvari looked up in uncertain nervousness as she saw a dog looming over them, drool from the corners of its mouth dribbling out to fall upon Everett's head. As the hound lowered its head to give the two of them a good sniff, a war waged within Sylvari: pitting her caution against her love of animals.

She had always loved working with animals whenever she could, and dogs were particularly dear to her for their simple goodness. Sylvari thought them the most just of all animals people regularly interacted with, showing unrestrained love and loyalty as a facet of their being. It was into this love that she attempted to lean, reaching forward with her tiny, gauntleted hand.

"Hey there, boy! What a lovely pup you are!" Sylvari spoke in the higher-pitched, softer tone she reserved for children and animals. The dog startled slightly as she made contact with the fur of his leg, giving him a good pet from what she was able to reach. "Easy there, boy. Who's a good boy?"

The dog, for its part, seemed a bit conflicted. It was obviously responding to the kind tone Sylvari used, but the excitability of its yips and small bites at the air in front of it betrayed its increasing playfulness. Sylvari knew this could turn terrifying rapidly, and so she adopted a different tact to handle the situation. She straightened to her full, diminished, height spoke in a practiced, imperious tone, snapping her fingers to capture the hound's attention.

"Heel, pup. Lay down!" Miraculously, the dog heeded her command, whining in excitement as it did so.

"Ah, well, it's really not that impressive." 

Honestly, he's just relieved it worked at all. He looks down at his hand and sees the muscles trembling ever so slightly. Even a spell of this level was still such a strain on his body. It's frustrating, especially since he feels like he should be able to do so much more but he just can't remember how. 

He looks at her warhammer. "It's impressive you move so well in all that heavy armor and with such a cumbersome weapon. I definitely can't pull that off." 

From what he has seen so far, Sylvari just kept an overall calm about her, making every movement look effortless. Her grace is just incredible and must be a testament to her immense physical strength. 

How highly he thinks of her only increases as she manages to calm the excited dog that easily could have turned them both into tiny chew toys. 

"Wow, you're incredible," he manages to say as he wipes the massive glob of dog slobber off of him.

Ugh. How can something be so slimy and sticky at the same time? This stuff wasn't going to be coming out of his clothes anytime soon, but it's still better than being eaten.

He walks over to Sylvari as she makes the dog lie down before her. "Do you think this dog belongs to an arcanist or can get us to a shop?"

Sylvari smiled at Everett's humility and his flattery, blushing slightly at his praise. She attempted to brush his commendations away as gracefully as she could. "Thank you, my friend, but in all honesty, it's just acclimation. I'm certain anyone could if they moved about armored all the time, as I do. I've been wrapped up in metal since I first started walking. My father was very intentional about my training." Sylvari gave a smile that quickly became pained, thinking of what she had and what she lost.

After dealing with the dog, she turned to listen to her companion, softly petting the hound's snout as it snuffled at her armor. She winced in sympathy as Everett shook the globs of spittle from his body. "Would that we be so lucky. Considering our current situation, I'm not sure such convenient fortune will grace us today. Still, worth a look."

Sylvari attempted to reach under the dog's neck where he lay to grasp at the collar that would detail its owner. Unfortunately, the pup saw this as an attempt to play, rolling around most unhelpfully, blocking vision. Thinking quickly, Sylvari jumped over the dog's front paws to push it over onto its side, scruffling its belly generously. The dog thankfully stilled, enjoying the sensation.

"Check the collar, would you?" Sylvari called, still petting the dog affectionately.

Everett laughs a bit. "I think you're underselling yourself. You're incredible."

He means that. Sylvari has kept completely calm throughout this entire shrinking mess. He's done what he can to keep his cool, but this was really starting to get to him. What if the potion didn't wear off? What if they were stuck like this forever?! Oh man, this is going to be hard to explain to Lachesis and Cypress if he even manages to survive long enough to see them again. 

"Your father sounds..." he's not sure if he should say protective or strict. He notes Sylvari's grimace and tries to judge if that reaction is because of missing her father or resenting him. "Uhm...are you alright?"

He knows family can be complicated, and so can being a kid. Though he doesn't remember anything about his childhood. Or parents. Or anything really. He doesn't dwell on it though, and keeps well out of the way while the dog rolls around onto its side. 

While Sylvari distracts the doggo with belly rubs, he gets over to the collar and looks for any lettering. 

"Yeah! Uhm, it saaaaaays, Bernard. I'm not sure if that's the dog's name or the owner. Do you know a Bernard?"

Just then, he feels his stomach grumble. Oh, great, now this potion is making him gassy. Or maybe this is worse. Maybe this is forewarning that the potion is going to make them explode!

"Uh, Miss Sylvari, do you feel funny at all?"

She felt it too, a lashing in her stomach compounded by a return of the dizziness in her head and a ringing in her ears. Potions really are the gift that keeps on giving, aren't they? Sylvari placed her hand to her head again, trying to block out the excess sensations of light that made the experience overwhelming. The dog wasn't ready to have his belly rubs interrupted so soon and quickly jumped to his feet to investigate the pair.

Unfortunately, Sylvari was too otherwise occupied with her metabolic response to pay attention to him right now, and she was forced to rely on the goodwill she'd built up with the animal to assure that he wouldn't go back to his initial intentions of teething. She felt the world spin around her once again, and, when the sensation finally passed, she looked around to see that she was, blessedly, returned to normal size. Everett had returned to normal as well, and the pair of them were sitting in the middle of a market thoroughfare. 

Sylvari idly noted the strength of the mindset of herds, as none of the myriad passers-by stopped to gaze at the spectacle, absolving themselves of any collective responsibility as they went about their day. The dog, who was before a giant creature, was now just a mid-sized pooch, uncertain about the situation, but still eager for attention and it nosed Sylvari's arm. She relented for a few relieved pets before standing and heading over to Everett to offer up a hand.

"Thank the gods the effects were temporary. I've still a mind to track down that merchant and investigate this though, if you care to accompany me." After the ordeal they had just gone through, one might reasonably be expected to be distraught or exhausted, but Sylvari had ever had the gift of a positive outlook and bounced back from despair easily this time. After all, she had much practice in that respect recently.

Everett stumbles and loses his balance as they return to their regular size. He lands on his rear and winces a bit before the dog ends up pouncing on him and re-slobbering his face just for good measure. 

"Ah! Down! Off! Heel!" He manages to grab onto the dog's collar and pull the pupper gently off of himself. 

Before taking Sylvari's hand, he wipes his face off on his sleeve. "Ugh. Well, I don't think I'm a dog person." He gets back up onto his feet with Sylvari's assistance. "Thanks. And aye, it's a good thing. I was half expecting us to get stepped on or squished." 

It's a miracle that they hadn't. Any second they could have been caught underfoot or rolled over by a wagon wheel. And what if the rat had attracted a cat? He doubts it would have been as easy to convince a fickle feline not to see them as prey the same way they managed to deter the dog from treating them like chew toys. 

"Well, I definitely don't want anyone else getting shrunk and hurt because of it. I'm all for helping you with getting answers."

He's not necessarily mad, but if this was an intentional thing then it's either a poorly conceived prank or a more nefarious and malicious scheme. Push comes to shove, they may need to get the guards involved to prevent any potential threat to the common folk.

Looking around, the crowd really didn't give a shit that two people just randomly popped up in the middle of the street. There's no sign of anyone looking for the dog either. He sighs. Well, maybe after they deal with the dubious potion seller they can find the dog's owner and make sure the pup gets home safe. 

He turns back to Sylvari. "Alright, back to that potion merchant."

It's at that moment he realizes that he's still holding Sylvari's hand from when she offered to help him up. The tips of his ears start turning a bit pink as he drops her hand clears his throat and turns away. "This way, right?" He really hopes Sylvari hasn't noticed or taken it a certain way. With his brain all scrambled, sometimes he just forgets how to act around people. 

Sylvari hadn't noticed the prolonged handhold. She was so fired up about giving the merchant a piece of her mind that she would have walked hand-in-hand with Everett all the way to the potion stand. That is, until she felt him pull away and flush in embarrassment, causing her own reevaluation of the situation. Oh gods, I hope he didn't think I was too forward. I know from my travels that no everyone is comfortable with touch, and many see it as only to be shared in intimate settings.

Though a tinge of shyness found purchase on her cheeks, she forced a brave smile for Everett's sake, choosing to push past the point of awkwardness with kindness. "Glad to have you on my side, darling. This merchant won't know what hit him. He messed with the wrong adventuring duo!"

She began walking towards the proposed direction, ahead of her companion, to let her blush die fully from her face before facing him again. As she closed distance to the target, Sylvari increased her pace, propelled forward by the promise of justice... only to find her hopes quickly dashed. In the place where she was sure the merchant's stand had stood, there was only a stray cat, licking its paw. Sylvari groaned in frustration, scratching her head at her as-of-late abysmal luck.

"This was where we got those potions, right?"

"Yes..." he replies as he looks around the empty spot where they acquired the tampered potions less than half an hour ago. "But it appears that potion seller left in a hurry."

Everett inspects the area, finding a few sets of dusty footprints, some shattered glass, and evidence of a hasty retreat. The more he thinks about this situation, the more he thinks they were victims of a scam. Why else would the seller leave in the middle of the day when crowds were still plentiful in the streets. He looks around more, but his skillset does not include tracking, so any attempts to find that salesman are pretty slim at this point. 

He turns back to Sylvari.

"I guess we should count ourselves lucky that the effects were temporary, but also that someone with less survival experience didn't end up falling for it."

It was all too easy to imagine how bad it would have been for some unsuspecting commoner to have drunk the potion and died as a result, their mangled rat chewed body then returning to normal size in the middle of the street and causing a panic. All in all, they had gotten lucky things hadn't gone worse. Still, that potion seller was out there somewhere. Who knows what other chaos they will cause if they're not found and brought to justice. 

"We should report to the local authorities," he suggests as he kicks a pebble across the cobblestone. "That way they can keep an eye out for that potion seller."

He's not too sure how Sylvari will feel about simply leaving things in the guard's hands. If she wanted, he would continue the search with her until they found the man. But then it dawns on him that this little mix-up has completely distracted them from their original goal. 

"Do you still want to go after that monster in the sewers?"

Sylvari considered Everett's words with a frown before sighing and nodding her assent. "You've got the right of it, darling. I'm no accomplished tracker, but I daresay even the most veteran woodsman would have difficulty tracking a target in a city such as this. It's unfortunately not feasible for us to pursue the criminal."

The prickly barbs of failure tore into Sylvari's heart as she accepted that justice would elude her this day. In truth, she had been remarkably fortuitous in her service thus far and was met with many more successes than failures. Each time she fell short of enacting good, however, weighed more heavily on her heart than any ten victories. Perhaps it is the nature of striving towards perfection: that each detractor shows how far one is from their goal.

Still, Sylvari was unable to admit defeat so easily and withdrew a piece of parchment from her bag to begin writing on. In bold lettering at the top of the page she wrote 'BE WARY OF CRIMINAL MERCHANT', and she used the remaining space to describe the potion seller who had scammed them. She posted her hastily scrawled missive on a nearby notice board and resolved herself to report the incident to the authorities in due time.

Looking back to Everett, she gave a soft smile. "We started this whole endeavor to track our quarry in creeping darkness. Unfortunately, that problem still remains." Sylvari idly thought of her own ability to pierce darkness with her bloodline's sight but didn't care to make Everett trudge through sewers completely blind.