"The Easy Way?" - A Tale of Heroes - Scene 16: Karendle

As she sat in the Brown Boar, finishing her dinner, she thought about how her life had changed in the last few days. Twynne Rivers was nothing like she had expected.

After getting thrown out of the Wizard’s Guild, and after shouting angry dwarvish curses over the fence at the guards standing by the CenterTown wall, she had stormed away. It was evening, and darker than usual because of the heavy clouds that had drifted over the city. She started walking, but had not gone far when the rains began.

The first inn she found was quite expensive, and she only had a few coins. She tried  offering work, cleaning, in exchange for a meal and lodging. One by one, the inns turned her back out into the rain. As she got further down the RiverFront the prices did get lower, but not low enough.

Finally, after talking to an innkeeper, she shook the rain from her clothes and started toward the door. As she passed two men sitting at a table, one of them gestured to her, “It looks like you’re having a difficult time, eh?”

The other was more finely dressed, thinner, and had features that looked elvish. He called the innkeeper over. “Give her a room,” he said, tossing three silver pieces on the table, “And a good hot meal.”

She froze. “No, sir. I’m not sure who you think I am!”

The man laughed. “Not to worry. We’ll not harm you. Sit down, miss.” Then added, gesturing to the chair, “Please?”

He took charge of the conversation, asking her name, and telling her that he had seen her shouting at the Wizard’s Guild at the gates to CenterTown earlier that evening. Her shock that she had been followed lessened as he explained that they also had problems with the guild.

As the innkeeper brought out their food, the elf explained that criminal wizards had become a huge problem in the city, but that the guild blocked all efforts to bring them to justice. He worked with a faction that wanted to put all of the rogue mages behind bars, and would she be willing to get back at the guild by helping them?

She hesitated. “How?”

“It’s simple, really. By finding and capturing rogue criminal wizards, and bringing them to justice.”

She was intrigued, but also suspicious. “And how would I do that, if I haven’t learned any powers?”

The elf scoffed. “Who needs to learn magic? That’s the long, hard way.” He leaned in, and spoke more intensely. “I can give you the easy way to throw magic around. Are you interested?”

Her eyes opened wide. I can use magic? Easily? It’s always been so hard for me! “I am! Tell me how that works!”

He reached back and grabbed a pouch and set it on the table next to her dinner plate. She slowly picked it up and peeked inside. There were a number of gems, big enough to fit in the palm of her hand. She reached in the bag, but the first man stopped her.

The elf explained, “We’d rather not have you display those here, for all to see.” Nodding, she set the pouch back down on the table.

“Are they... Oculi?” She had heard of them from her father, who knew all about gems. She had never seen any like these, because the only ones that came to her city so far up in the hills were the ones on the river barges.

“Yes!” He explained, “Eyes of the Creator! With the red one, you can throw fire. With the blue one, you can move things using your mind. The grey ones? They’re what you’ll use to entrap the foul mages that are sullying up our city. If... If, of course, you decide to help us.”

He reached across the table and picked up the pouch with the oculi. Having finished their meal, and the conversation, the two men stood. The human put his hat on, and tipped it toward Karendle. “Miss, enjoy your dinner and your stay here. We’ll talk more, tomorrow.”

She could barely think of anything to say as she had watched them step out the door and into the rain.

Back at the Brown Boar,  she blinked her eyes, and came out of the reverie. She tossed a copper coin onto the table next to her plate and walked over to the stairs leading up to the rooms. As she passed the innkeeper’s wife, she asked, “So, do you know where they took the wizard that your husband overcame?”

“I don’t know.” She put on a puzzled look, “But it’s probably the guard tower in the InnerWall, just down the sloping road a bit. That’s the closest one, I’d think...”

Karendle smiled. “Thank you very much!”

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This continues the story of the heroes in Wynne, in Twynne Rivers, in the world of The Hero's Tale, Family Friendly RPGs. Here's more info on The Hero's Tale, and family friendly RPGing.


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