Side Quest - Chapter 2 (Patreon)

The sunny village of Ticumbrook had little to offer for an adventurer. It was one of those rare villages that had thrived in peacetime, marauders had not yet found their way to the sunny fields that yielded plenty of grains and livestock. In fact the only quest that Edward could find was to protect the flock of sheep at a local farmer’s stead. It was a small salary but free room and board helped compensate for the pay. Edward, now with his small pouch of riches felt the weight of hard work as he sat in the local inn. His lips eager for the flavor of his exotic wines and spirits, maybe a leg of lamb. 

He had counted every coin. Twice. Fourteen gold pieces and twenty eight silver coins resided in his pouch. It was a meager sum but it should be enough to get him to a city or at least somewhere he could finish up this adventure business so he could go home, and with a little extra to afford him some of the pleasures he’d enjoyed that felt so long ago. He didn’t recall the name of the inn as he took his seat at one of the empty tables but the general atmosphere was lacking compared to his old stomping grounds. 

The wooden structure hardly carried any of the amenities of a famous inn, there weren’t any signature blades or shields of adventurers that had passed through to mark the walls. There was only a tapestry that adorned the walls that looked like a heirloom passed down from family. It hardly felt like an inn at all, there was only a single musician who was on a perpetual break in the corner of the main room and enjoying a mug of ale. The few guests that did actually patron the place looked humble and their platters just as so. Edward shifted uncomfortably in his seat and waited for a cute barmaid to appear, but the woman who stepped in front of his table once again subverted his expectations.

The woman of brown hair and exhausted blue eyes was a far cry from the sun freckled nineteen year olds with plush lips and make-up that had served him before. This woman was older with plump hips and a full bosom with a little extra along the midsection that told tales of multiple children in her history. “What can I do for ya, hun?” 

“Uh, yeah.” Edward shook his head clear of distraction. “I want a mug of ale, Spolsburgh Ale.”

She lofted a brow. “Spolsburgh? Well we ain’t got none of that.” She chuckled and folded her arms over her chest. “Anythin’ else?”

“Oh.” He tried to contain his disappointment but the disheartened look upon his face was clear. “What about wine? The Goldspring Orchards usually have amazing wine this time of year.” 

A small twitch of her head shook no. Was this upstart trying to insult her by asking about frivolous exotic drinks? “Listen sweetheart, we got ale. Ale made from the Ludrow farm three miles south.” She gestured to the patron a few tables away. “He likes it,” Another patron. “And he likes it.” Then the musician who looked up from his drink. “And so does he. It’s not got a fancy name but it’s ale and its five silver pieces a mug, ten silver for people who piss me off. Now whatsit gonna be? Five. Or ten?”

A small grumble escaped him as he fished out five silver pieces from his pouch reluctantly setting them upon the wooden table. “And some lamb, and potatoes.” She nodded. “And fruit. Something sweet. Pineapple.” 

“Lamb huh? That’ll be another twelve silver pieces.. and you’ll get whatever fruit we got.” She collected the coin in her hands and stood up straight. “And I suppose you’ll be wanting a room for the night?”

He hadn’t thought about that but the daylight was already halfway across the fields and after a hearty meal he wasn’t going to want to travel that far. “Uh, I suppose so.” 

“Thought so. Youngsters like you don’t think beyond your stomach. That’ll be a gold.” She held her hand out expectantly as the weight of his costs suddenly dawned upon him. A meal, a drink, and a night and he was already down half a days work! Reluctantly his hand trembled as he started to give out the gold coin that he had stayed up in the moonlit fields for. “Good. We’ll heat up the water and you go take a bath when you’re done. You smell like a barn.” 

Edward tried to enjoy the comforts of the inn but there was hardly any cheer in the mostly silent atmosphere. Cards and gambling were absent, cute girls seemed to be elsewhere, the music was obviously on break, the only sounds came from the back of the kitchen. Still he had paid for the atmosphere and he was practically determined to enjoy it. The woman first set the mug down in front of him, a wooden stein with a frothy head of beer, then warmed meat and potatoes came next, and finally a small bounty of berries sliced with apples. Local fare seemed to be the only menu items. 

She stood in front of him as he carefully took the wooden mug in his grasp and sipped the beer.. it was barely colder than the room temperature. His old favorite had a wench on hand that specialized in elemental magics that could make it frosty cold in the summer months and made the ciders a warm that could heat up your belly in the winter. He was about to complain but the look on her face warned him otherwise. “So what’s your name anyways?” She said with her hands on her hips as he set the drink down and aimed for the lamb leg.

“Edward..” He said only in obligation to keep from confrontation with this woman, the platter was absent from utensils and he looked up to her. “Is there any silverware?” She looked at him with a stare. “Utensils? Tools?” 

“I haven’t seen you around here you know.” She said frankly before turning to the bar counter much to his dismay, he wasn’t above eating with his hands he simply didn’t feel like paying to do so. “But you better get used to the way people do things outside of your home town.” She returned to his table and held up a pristine set of utensils, a double pronged silver fork with a wooden handle, a small knife, and a fully wooden spoon.

“Thank you..” He said sheepishly before reaching out for the tools only for her to close her hand around them and pull back, her other hand cupped in front of him. “Oh uh,” He fished in the pouch and procured a silver coin. She shook her head. A gold coin. She nodded. “…For silverware?” He balked as the woman snagged the coin from him and pocketed it while setting the utensils before him.

“I don’t know about the fancy places you must have been before but I can tell you ain’t been at whatever it is you’re doin’ for long, but in the real world, you bring your own fork or you buy one. Now eat.” Her words were definitive as she went back into the kitchen leaving a soured Edward holding his inexplicably pricey fork that was obviously second hand from the grip marks and the slight dings in the metal. 

He sliced off a chunk of meat from the lamb, only in that moment enjoying the irony that he had saved a lamb from the fangs of wolves only for it to live long enough to be sold to slaughter. This Inn was terrible, the drink was mediocre and halfway warm, the decoration was poor, and even the service was worse than he could have imagined. He wanted to defy them and storm out, promising to never return once he was a wealthy and famous adventurer and make them regret the way they treated him but his stomach and the hunger he felt was overpowering. He took a bite and was instantly nonplussed.

The meat was good.

Delicious even. 

…

The past week had been an awakening for Edward, he simply couldn’t comprehend all the luxuries he had taken for granted and none of them made him wish for home than the moment he stepped into an almost scalding hot bath. The ale may have been just below warm and the Inn wasn’t fancy but it was pretty hard to screw up a hot bath and to his delight they didn’t. The warm water soaked into his dirt caked skin that was loosened by the heat. He could feel what felt like years melting off his skin as he slowly sunk deeper until he submerged. 

It was moments like this that he almost forgot that he was cast off from home to wander the world as an adventurer. He didn’t even realize he’d been in the wooden tub for an hour until his hands started to wrinkle, that and every log of wood to stoke the fire and keep it warm was slowly adding up on his bill. The woman, who’s name he still hadn’t found a moment to capture, simply sprung it on him after he’d gotten in the bath and become addicted to the heat. One silver piece for every two logs, it seemed reasonable until he realized how often the fire consumed one of those blasted chunks of wood. 

He heaved a sigh and climbed out, but there was something odd about the mostly silent Inn as he began to dress himself. Namely that it wasn’t so silent anymore. There were sounds, cheerful sounds even, he popped open the door to his room and there was a slight hum of the world and even music. This was what he’d been waiting all day for! He quickly scrambled from the room and down the stairs to see the supposed party, and while it wasn’t the festive jovial banquets that he had participated in back home it was better than the dreary lifeless atmosphere from earlier.

Even the musician was playing! 

“Hey,” Edward looked over to the tavern maid who passed by him to set down platters of food. Duck, hens, root vegetables and plenty of fruits dressed with honey before a moderately sized group of people. “Uh-“ She passed by him once again and went behind the counter to start filling up mugs of ale. 

“What do you want?!” The woman had clearly heard him and was doing her best to ignore him but finally decided it was easier to appease him. “I finally have some life in here don’t interrupt me!” 

At every point it seemed like getting her name would simply irritate her, Edward simply stood there silent trying to come up with some worthy reason of bothering her. “..Do they come here often?” 

She heaved a sigh. “No. They’re part of a trading caravan and they got split off, the rest of their group came in last week and they’re behind. They come in every few weeks so-“

“Ey, ROSE!” A voice shouted out from the table and the woman looked over, Edward secretly made sure to commit her name to memory. “We thirsty over here!” 

“And I’m coming you bastard!” Rose called back, her attention then turned to Edward as if sizing him up. “You’re an adventurer right?” He stared dumbfounded as she shoved a drink in his hands. “This one is on the house, you get over there and swap stories. Keep them talking and keep them drinking!”

“But-“ She had turned away and was now filling up the next set of mugs. “I don’t have any.. adventurer stories.”

Again irritated she heaved a groan and slammed the next three mugs on the counter. “Then make some up! And order food! I want them eating until their bellies burst.” She snapped and shoved past him to joyously present a bounty of drinks to the hungry crew. “Larrick!” She called out as the mugs were distributed. “I knew I missed you the last time the caravan came through you limey dog!” 

It took Edward a few minutes to realize that he had been thrust into the party and as the traders bickered over prices and wares Edward found himself a seat at the table. It had been a couple hours since he’d eaten but the roasted herbs were intoxicating as he reached for a drum of hen. “Hey! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” A voice caused Edward to seize in midmotion, looking up to into the glaring eyes of a man in his early forties, his eyes weathered and his hair miraculously still attached to his scalp with pure black locks that were only beginning to pepper with gray. “Ya don’t eat hen, you’re too young, eat some of this turkey.” His glaring demeanor suddenly softened to a brilliant cackle as he reached to the side and grabbed a heaving leg of turkey from a portly fellow beside him.

“Larrick that’s mine!” The chubby male protested and reached back for his helping of poultry, he wasn’t a behemoth but he was tall. Taller than the rest and with broad shoulders and a gut that showed a softened lifestyle. “Give it back!”

“Shaddup!” Larrick snapped back and the larger portly fellow submitted, like a pack of dogs they barked and howled at each other. “Ya need less on your plate than this kid.” He set the roasted meat the smelled of fresh garlic and rosemary upon a plate in front of Edward. “Go on, eat-“ He paused and held up his hands as the flabbergasted Edward began to pull up the drum in his hands. “Wait! Tell me, are you a mercenary?” His eyes focused with a strong gaze as if he was sizing up the young man before him.

“Uh.” There were so many names for his profession, not all of them flattering and others more grandiose. Mercenary was the more truthful term, adventurers were basically for hire at a whim. “Yeah.” 

“BOYS!” Larrick shouted to the crew and hushed them as they looked over. “We got ourselves a sellsword! He’s gonna keep us safe so we can trek through the forests and catch up!” 

A booming cheer followed the jutting arms that held drinks, splashing frothy ale on the table as the musician picked up the speed of their violin to a brisk celebratory tune. It was a revelry for Edward and yet he had no idea what he seemingly signed up for. “I-“ 

“Okay boys fill up! We’re heading off tonight-“ At that Rose who had been ambivalent to Edwards newly held position as the groups mercenary suddenly found conflict.

“Excuse me!” She stood up and gathered the attention of Larrick who turned to face her, his disheveled mustache and beard stained with frothy ale. “But my nephew will not be leaving in the middle of the night to those damned forests. It’s too dangerous.” Edward’s eyes glanced towards the woman who returned his glance and threatened him with her eyes to keep his silence. 

At first Larrick glowered at having his authority besmirched by a tavern wench, even if she did own said tavern, but then his glare turned to mirth. A smile upon his face so bright and wide that Edward could count how many of Larrick’s teeth had golden replacements for the ones that had fallen out. That same smile opened and a laugh cracked from his bearded jaw. “Ya still a greenhorn?!” He turned to Edward with an arm opened wide that clapped against his back knocking him forwards and spilling the head of his bear down the mug. “Well that’s fine! I don’t expect ya to fight! Just keep an eye out and look tough.” Larrick sipped his bear to wet his words. “Tomorrow boys! Tonight we feast! Tomorrow we haul!” 

Mugs slammed against the wooden table and a call rang back, “Tonight we feast! Tomorrow we haul!” And then all was quiet except for the violin strings and the gurgling of hard ale being guzzled down the group’s collective jaws. 

As if they’d even forgotten their toast they went back to gnashing and clawing at meat, Edward found himself joining their merry consumption and began to finally enjoy his herb roasted turkey drum when a hand gripped upon his shoulder and tugged at him. It was Rose, her eyes filled with a mix of concern and anger as she gestured with her eyebrows toward the counter. 

No one would have missed him getting up from the table, not even Larrick who he had been sent to mingle with in the first place. Instead they were watching the portly fellow and his talent for fitting a whole pheasant in his mouth and crunching it to bits, even the bones. It was something that Edward was happy to miss in favor of joining the woman at the counter. “I’m sorry I got you into this.” Rose said flatly as she folded her arms over her chest. “But you should know what you signed up for.”

“I didn’t even sign up for anything!” Edward protested but it mattered little, she held up her hand and shook her head.

“Those folks, they’re honest folks. Good people. But every month I see two or three fewer faces and four or five newer ones. They’re part of the Goldbraun caravan.” The look on Edwards face told her he knew what she was talking about, but the name was simply a famous name to him. Rose sighed. “You know them,” He nodded. “They travel the world, they’re famous for bringing the most extravagant trading goods from our kingdoms to the next.” Again he nodded. “But the reason why they’re famous is because no one else does it, and for good reason.”

“It’s difficult?” Edward hazard a guess and Rose smirked at his response.

It was right and so naïve at the same time. “To say the least dear. They pay well, and the charge high, they live well, because most of them won’t see the end of the year from now. I’ve known Larrick as the leader of his caravan for ten years, and before that he was an apprentice for one.” Edward wore a confused expression, a single year for an apprentice seemed beyond odd. Rose leaned forwards her eyes ominous and her face stern. “Because he was the only one that made it back alive that year.” 

Edward gulped. “..What happened?” 

The woman exhaled and this time sipped from the flagon of ale herself. “No one is really sure, Larrick is a character it’s why you can never tell if it’s the truth or not. Every time he tells the story it’s a little different but all I know is that the night he came in here out of that dark storm he was alone and he wasn’t damn near anything like he is now. You don’t have to hear the words of a man who’d seen unspeakable horrors, you can tell from the darkness behind his lifeless eyes that you don’t even want to ask.” Edward followed her glance to Larrick who was now slapping the back of the chunky trader who was choking upon a pheasant bone that didn’t meet the crunching molars of the nigh-giant of a man. “He was silent, he paid for his room and that was it. Sure, the next day he talked and told me of the grand places he’d been, he’d seen the Volcanic City of Nyathar where the dwarves live and the vast fortunes of riches they keep tucked away. He had visited the magical city of Sephetar a place where they say the magic is so free you can touch it in the air before you like a fog.” She set the mug down and stared silently for a moment at the bar counter. “But he spoke of no one which is the oddest part to me. Normally when someone travels this world they speak of places but more often their companions and the hijinks with it. But Larrick has never told me of a soul he’d wandered with in that year and I fear the reason why.” Rose glanced down and breathed a sobering sigh. “I don’t know how he got back here that night and frankly I’m surprised he did. Somehow he has been the only person I see every time that caravan comes through and if you go with him tomorrow you’ll probably be another face I’ve forgotten when he comes back through town, and since you seem like a good kid I won’t let that happen at least without a warning.” She shrugged her shoulders. “But what you do next is your business. If you want I’ll wake you up earlier in the morning and you can sneak off if ya want.”  

It was simply so much for the young lad to take in, he stood there at the counter feeling the weight of his own body upon himself. He hated adventuring, the concept was so foreign for so long. Who would risk their lives for wealth and plunder? There had to be more than the thrill of ancient ruins and forgotten magics hidden within the world. But the weight in his coin purse reminded him of the profits from the previous week, work for days on end that provided meager comforts seemed petty compared to the lavish lifestyle he had enjoyed not so long ago. He could almost taste the flavor of duck upon his lips at the mere thought of riches. He could have it all again and all he had to do was escort this pack of traders through a mere forest? “..How much does it pay?” He muttered almost outside of himself as Rose’s expression fell. That wasn’t what she wanted to hear. 

As if Larrick had waited until the perfectly worst time to appear the drunken trader happened upon Edward’s question. “How much does it pay..” He mused thoughtfully as he set the wooden flagon upon the counter with a bubbling belch escaping his uncouth maw. “Hey, boys!” He turned back and with his booming voice was able to catch the attention of the table of his caravan who turned to his attention. “How much should we pay this greenhorn?” 

There was a silence and then a small muttering between the table, after all paying a mercenary came from the pockets of their share and a fresh faced mercenary wasn’t worth that much. Even still they had to be paid something lest the be unprotected from bandits or the terrors of the forest they had been warned of. Suddenly a voice rose above the rest with the most obvious answers. “…Why not give him Admonius’ share?” 

The simplest solution was usually overlooked and it simply made more sense to Larrick, why haggle and save coppers when a price had already been set aside and pocketed. “That’s right! Admonius ain’t with us no more, so ya can have his share! A couple hundred gold take so far, maybe more when we offload in the next town.” 

“A couple hundred gold.. so far.” Edward repeated the words, he could spend that much easily in a weekend back home but compared to the pittance he’d earned protecting sheep from wolves it was a big upgrade in his pay scale. “Sounds good to me, count me in.” 

Then Larrick’s demeanor changed immediately, his joyous grin and flashes of gold teeth disappeared between flattened lips and a wrinkled stare. The same one Rose had spoken of moments ago, Edward could see it in his face and it sent goosebumps rolling along the hairs of his skin. “But know this boy, it ain’t a game. Their lives are in your hands, your life is in your hands, and I need ya to tell me one thing.” Edward swallowed and gave a small nod. “Tell me, can ya feast tonight and haul tomorrow?” 

It was like the breath had been taken from him as Larrick’s stare diminished and reformed to that kindly cackle of mirth that Edward realized he’d been played. “Yeah.. Aehuh.. Uh. Tonight we feast, tomorrow we haul?” 

He didn’t even realize that the hall had grown silent during Larrick’s little speech, but it wasn’t until that the words left Edwards lips that the roaring rallying cry erupted behind him. “Tonight we feast! Tomorrow we haul!” The chorus echoed behind him and mugs slammed upon the wooden tables and Larrick’s arm wrapped around Edward dragging him over to his new family.

“Tonight we feast! Tomorrow we haul!” Larrick bellowed as if his voice had been borrowed from the stone giants in the northern islands and as if by reflex Edward found himself joining the cheers from the rest of the peanut gallery that raised their mugs to the sky.

“Tonight we feast! Tomorrow we haul!” was roared back to Larrick, and as Edward looked around at the merry group he took in each and every one of their faces. The large portly fellow who had recovered from his pheasant incident, beside him a smaller male garbed in fine clothes unfit of one that would trek the roads, he tried to commit each one to memory from the idiosyncrasies in their faces and their body shapes. He hardly knew them but their immediate acceptance of him as kin was a warm feeling.

Was this what it truly meant to be an adventuruer? To gather coin amongst like minded comrades? 

Edward wasn’t sure yet but as he downed ale amidst the merry singing of shanty songs with the tune of violin to carry their voices he had forgotten the course of events that had led him here and could only be burdened with holding a tune and trying to remember lyrics while the haze of alcohol blurred his memory.