While Lowris was curious, she knew better than to push her luck. Right now the best move would be to feign ignorance, maybe even set up a decoy or two to keep whoever was skulking around the Muitale district busy for a while. As for who would be the best at drawing attention...
The next morning, Lowris dragged herself out of bed and headed off to a less than respectable area of Morphia, entering a rather dark alleyway and opening one of the side doors. However, rather than the dingy hole-in-the-wall one might expect, she entered a bustling tavern filled to the brim with adventurers despite the early hour. Lowris raised an eyebrow as she caught a familiar voice above the chatter.
"Two coppers says he can't best my boy here!" A lively girl with a shock of red hair egged on the betting. "Ovie can hit anything at 10 paces!"
"You're on!" Reina's target replied with gusto, and two men walked towards a circle drawn on the ground, a pedestal standing at opposite ends of the circle. When the men stood in the center of the circle, it activated, changing each of their heads into that of a...chameleon.
Lowris frowned at the crudity of the transformation magic cast by the circle. However, she knew such magic was "overlooked" by the powers-that-be, since the participants all knew the risks and would have to pay the city for treatment if something went awry. The game itself was simple. A mug of ale was placed on each pedestal, while each participant aimed for the mug behind their rival. Naturally, they would reach for that far-off mug with...their tongue.
Ovie and his opponent stared each other down, at least as much as one could with two eyes that moved in independent orbits. Just when Ovie's opponent shot his tongue at the mug behind Ovie, Ovie deftly used his own tongue to reach the mug behind his opponent. Ovie's opponent pulled back in a clumsy manner, causing the mug stuck to his tongue to spill the ale in Ovie's direction. However, Ovie, with a practiced move, smoothly stepped to a side, avoiding the ale yet never leaving the circle, and managed to draw back the mug his own tongue was stuck to without spilling a drop, grabbing it neatly with his hands, much to the smugness of Reina.
"See, didn't I tell you? Who's up for double or nothing?" Reina nodded proudly, and was about to start another round of trouble when she caught sight of Lowris and winced, letting out an uncomfortable titter. "You guys figure out who's up next, we'll be back in a minute!" Reina called over her shoulder as she dragged a now non-chameleon-headed Ovie towards Lowris, Ovie still holding his mug of ale. "Hi, Lowris, we were just having a little harmless fun, you know..." Reina trailed off nervously.
"I need to talk to you all. Tysel still in the room?" Ignoring Reinas discomfiture, Lowris headed for the stairs on the side of the tavern. Entering the group's living quarters, Lowris nodded to the grumpy figure that looked up. Tysel's mouse ears, tail, and whiskers twitched, much to his chagrin. Of course, the rest of him was very much human.
"That one still hasn't worn off?" Lowris asked, bemused. Unlike Reina's transformation, Tysel's current misfortune was the result of a curse, one which resulted in him becoming an actual mouse -- size and all -- whenever moonlight hit. Since the counter-curse required some rather expensive ingredients, the group was forced to opt for a less effective potion which would wear off the curse gradually, albeit rather erratically. Somehow, the group had a penchant for getting into such pickles. Speaking of pickles--
"Shouldn't you take that sock out?" Lowris turned to look at Reina, who had entered with Tysel and shut the door.
"That's as far as I got for one gold coin!" Reina whined as everyone rolled their eyes at the bulge in her pants. "Everything else changed back except for that! If I'd had a bit more money..." Reina pouted, then smirked. "The ladies said I was insatiable, and the guys--"
"Yeah, yeah, we get the picture," Lowris cut her off and got down to business. "Listen, I have a job for you guys, but it's something that has to be on the down-low, understand? Salaried work, but only payable on results, huh?"
Reina, Tysel, and Ovie exchanged looks. None of them had anything lined up since they couldn't leave Morphia until their transformation problems wore off.
"I'm in," Tysel nodded.
"Me too," Reina agreed.
"HEEEE-haw," Ovie replied, one of the few times he had said anything since his voicebox got swapped with that of a donkey. Lowris didn't even want to know how that one came about. The fact that that one hadn't been resolved yet...
"Okay, here's what I need you to do," Lowris began. "You three have to...