Chapter 15

Marissa awoke in the middle of the afternoon on the next day. The young girl found herself beneath the sheets of a cushiony bed with her whereabouts unknown. The previous night was a blur and she tried to think about what had happened on the previous evening.

A slight headache made way for recent memories to enter into her consciousness. Hazy visions of her encounter with the green creature were followed by her remembering that she had pushed her very tired horse to continue through the forest. The only other image between then and now was when her eyes were becoming heavy.

She looked around the unfamiliar room and noticed that all of her belongings were sitting on a small table in the right hand corner. She was also still wearing her clothes from the previous night.

"Okay, so far so good," she thought. "It looks like I still have all my equipment, and presumably I'm at a friendly location. The main question is where I am? And how did I end up here?"

Her thoughts turned to her traveling companion, "Faerun! I can't fathom him not being alright…"

The well rested mage climbed out of soft bed and headed out of her room.

The hallway outside of her door served as entry for several other rooms. On one end there was a staircase leading downwards. She cautiously crept down the single flight of stairs.

At the bottom, some of her fears were relieved as she saw the telltale signs of an inn. There was a front desk, a simple meeting area, and apparently a small bar. A pair of double doors led out into the room from what looked to be the kitchen. Two men of differing ages sat at the bar, each with a drink in hand. Over near the desk sat a large man with a stark red beard. He was leafing through a large book, slowly recording the information on its pages within another log.

With the initial disorientation fading, she strolled up to the man behind the desk.

"Hello miss," he said as he continued to tidy up his papers.

"Hello to you, sir. Might you be the keeper of this establishment?"

"I am."

"And what is the name of this town that I find myself in?"

"Villion."

"Err," Marissa was not used to such terse answers. Long winded prose was usually the standard. "Um, can you answer a question of mine?"

"Sure."

"Uh, do you happen to know how I might have arrived at this inn of yours?"

"Yeah."

"And…?" she asked with a polite tone.

"Oh, sorry," he put down some of his papers. "Lots of work to do today."

He continued, "A pair of lumberjacks saw that horse of yers carrying yourself early this morning. Way before dusk I think. You were asleep on the saddle by the way."

The young mage felt terribly embarrassed. She was disappointed that she couldn't stay awake along with Faerun. The blushing girl hid here eyes from the innkeeper, but still continued to listen.

"Your black horse was following the path leading into town. It was quite easy to see that the pair of you was trying to make out of the forest through the night.

"Those fellas thought it would be proper to bring you here versus leaving you out there alone. So we set you up with a bed, and now you’re here to pay the fees, right?"

"Oh, oh, yes," she was again surprised by the bluntness of this conversation. "I'll have to head back to my room first, but I will most certainly pay you. But, can I ask you another question?"

"Shoot."

"Where might be that black horse of mine?"

"He's tied up back with the others. I can assure you he's fine. Prolly got some sleep and a good meal in too. Of course that has already been added to your bill…"

"Yes, yes. I'll be right back."

The flushed young woman headed back up the stairs and to her room. The confusion that had fallen over her was making it hard for her to think. She couldn't seem to keep a single clear thought within her head. The only immediate thing she could think of was to quickly pay the hospitable innkeeper.

Once after paying for her night of rest, she headed out back to see Faerun. Out in the stables there the black Appaloosa stood. He was apparently asleep as the black fur of his eyelids was closed over his glossy eyes. She slowly walked up to her companion and placed her arms around his neck. Marissa then began to pet his long mane of midnight hair. "I'll make it up to you Faerun. I'll do something special for you today." The young woman then kissed his sleeping forehead and went back inside to her room.

The young girl now felt much better about how things had turned out. Things could have gone much, much worse. She was amazed at her luck, and silently thanked the Heavens.

She had previously made a promise and therefore decided that she would need some assistance during her travels. She had asked the keeper about this town and found that there was no Church presence within its borders. Slightly peeved at this fact, she decided that she would have to find someone to join their journey elsewhere. When asked, the now bothered innkeeper suggested a tavern across the road.

Across from the inn was the Greasy Fork. The Greasy Fork looked as though it had been built with the remains of leftover wagons. Its walls were haphazardly erected with large sheeted planks crudely nailed together. In fact, she thought she saw some upturned wooden wheels holding up its roof. Being slightly daunted, she entered in through the tavern's front door.

The sun had begun to sink into the horizon and workers from around the lands were coming inside to have a drink or two. They piled into the many tables littered across the open space. Some groups were playing card games while others were simply drowning in their spirits. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw men simply sleeping in their chairs with their mugs still in hand.

The bar was manned by two individuals: a lusty barmaid and a young man almost the same age as Marissa. Men with guttural laughs were trying to win the favor of the provocative bartender as they ordered more drinks. The busty woman was easily ignoring their advances as she refilled their glasses. Her counterpart was cleaning a never ending supply of dirty glass mugs. His thin hands were running a dirty rag in and out of the soiled crevices. The rag itself was as black as the contents of bog.

"Ugh," she thought. She was beginning to regret coming inside. "Who might possibly be of assistance in a place like this?"

Also sitting at the bar were four men. Each of them appeared to be just slightly older than the young girl. The entire group was talking amongst themselves, apparently having a good time. Their voices weren't as crude as the other patrons and gathered the young girl's attention.

Marissa's eyes caught a few more items of note that differentiated this group from the others. Two of them had small swords by their side, with the others carried longer distance weapons: one a long polearm, and the other held a crossbow. They each wore different types of armored clothing, ranging from hard leather to polished steel.

She sat at an empty table in front of the bar and began to listen in on their conversation.

The man holding the crossbow continued his story, "… Master Needly was quite upset with me after that. I mean, you wouldn't be happy if I did that to your daughter either. Chased me with a lit sconce still containing some burning oil. I still have the burn marks to prove it!" He lifted his linen shirt to show a large burn mark on his right side.

"That doesn't seem like something you would normally do, Errant. Why did you even think that was a wise idea? You knew things wouldn't end up good."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. But she sure was pretty. I swear that she was winking at me in that special way. I almost had to do that just based off of principle. Oh well, at least it makes for a good story."

One of men carrying a sword spoke up, "So where are you headed Beaumont? Back to the north?"

"Yes, Iggon. I've already told you that. Too much mead has perhaps rotted your memory?"

"Never enough. The world seems dry wherever I seem to end up. I really should buy several more flasks. Liquor makes the days go by faster while you're on location."

"How bout you, Crushal? Where do you plan to make use of that polearm...?"

Marissa's eavesdropping was interrupted by the barmaid. "Something to drink, girly?"

"Oh, uh… no thanks. Well, perhaps a bit of foxtin wine if you have any. Just a small glass." She made a motion with her fingers showing how much.

"Sure, be right back," the maid replied in a monotone voice. The woman scuttled off to behind the bar as Marissa 'rejoined' the conversation.

"… You know me, I go where the money is good. And the money is real good to the east. So off to Gestalt I go. Got a gig guarding a brothel. Should make for an interesting 'adventure'. Ha ha!"

Beaumont replied, "So it appears that money isn't the only thing drawing you there. Maybe the company of the lovelies might be another incentive, eh?"

"And you don't feel the same Beaumont? You don't prefer the touch of a fine young lass? What about that girl in Yo…?"

Beaumont replied in a slightly harsh tone, "I don't wish to talk about that Errant. Let's leave it at that."

"Alright alright. Sensitive stuff we're getting into now," Errant replied. "More tales about our adventures is what we need. More action! More suspense! More blood!"

Iggon answered Errant's call for more stories. "Did you all ever hear about the fight I got into in Dover?"

The three other men nodded.

"Well about six months ago when I was in Dover, my cohort at the time got into a scuffle with a very large brute of a man. We were simply walking along the streets when we saw this man roughing up this teenage boy in an alley. Being the great 'heroes' we are, we were off to help the young man.

"The beast was able to clip my buddy with a concealed knife, but it was my sword that skewered that pig. Of course he did manage to dent my armor something awful when he rammed me. Took nigh a week to hammer out the dents."

"Yes, what luck… adventurers!" Marissa thought. "One of them surely must be available for hire." With that thought, Marissa got up and walked over to the four young men. As she got closer, they looked much bigger than what she had seen from a distance.

"Excuse me sirs," she introduced herself. "I couldn't quite keep myself from listening to your discussions. It appears that four might be adventurers. Might any of you be available for hire?"

Their attentions turned towards the young mage. Errant ran his eyes from her feet to her head. Two of the other men nodded their heads negatively in response. Errant responded, "I'm not, and these two aren't, but Beaumont might. Why are you looking for an adventurer young mage?"

"I'm heading north to the Holloway Peninsula. I am looking for a traveling companion who can act as both protection and as a guide. I feel the travel will be perilous and I don't believe I am capable of traversing there myself. I was hoping that one of your four might be of assistance."

Beaumont replied, "And what might be there, Miss… Miss…? I don't believe you have told us your name."

"Sorry!" she apologized. The young mage was used to speaking with people who already knew her name. "My name is Marissa."

"Well, Marissa," he continued, "what might be leading you to the north?"

"I have a quest that I must perform. The next step of my journey begins there."

"Unfortunately while I am heading to that destination, I am not available for hire at this time. I am returning to…"

She interjected, "Then might I simply come along with you?"

"No. I am in a hurry, and I don't need to watch over someone as they slowly stumble along. I am sorry."

"But I can pay you for your troubles. The Church has given me several…"

"I'm sorry milady," Beaumont cut her off. "I don't wish to continue to be rude, but you may not accompany me. Even if it is at the Church's request."

"But sir…!" she pleaded.

"Sorry, lass. It doesn't appear that we can help you," Iggon replied. "You'll just have to find someone else. Now if you'll excuse us…"

The man made motions for her to leave. Apparently he was bothered with her presence and wished to continue talking with his friends.

A dejected Marissa hobbled over to her table. She pulled a wooden chair from underneath the table and sat down on the hard seat with a thump. Items within her pockets rattled. In front of her was her small glass full of foxtin wine. The deep purple liquid reflected the lights of the candles throughout the room.

She rambled quietly to herself, "Here I find a man who could easily perform this task for me, but he refuses to do so! The luck of finding someone, here in this blasted town, in this pitiful tavern, that would be heading to my next destination is unheard of! I doubt any of these other drunkards would be of help and I bet that they never leave this stank bar!"

Her thoughts continued, "One way or another, I will get to Holloway."

With that final resolution, she quickly picked up her small glass of wine and swallowed the whole bit. Intense flavors fell down her throat. Strong aromatic fumes tickled her nostrils. The strong sensations were a good compliment to the young girl's foul mood.

Continue reading onto Chapter 16