by Jeff Sabean
“I do not wish to support those who use wealth to oppress the weak,” was all the elf replied as he pushed to the front of the group and led them down the street.
The dirt road was more or less a straight line leading to the center of town. There were small shops along each side, mostly made from mud but some made of stone. A blacksmith shop stood on the left side of the “road” close to the center of the town, and smoke was visible rising from what could only be a forge.
But there were no people. Anywhere. There were no vendors on the street, no beggars, just no one. There were signs of life inside the shops, but not a single soul wandered the streets, not even stray animals.
In the center of the town was a statue of a man in the center of a fountain that sprayed water into a pool around the statue. The statue stood over fifteen feet tall, and the man wore leather pants and boots with no shirt, his muscles chiseled in extreme detail to show a perfect specimen of masculinity. His shoulders sported what appeared to be leather shoulder pads with long spikes sticking out of them, and he wore what appeared to be an Egyptian headdress, the kind worn by pharaohs. In his right hand was a long sword with a handle long enough to grasp with both hands with ornate runes etched into the blade. Even in stone, the look on the statue’s face was clearly one of arrogance and disdain for all those around him.
“The king of Rattanda, I assume?” Heishi stated more than asked as the group paused in front of the statue.
“If it is, I hope that is not to scale,” joked Aki, exaggerating as he craned his neck to look up at the man.
“Yeah, gotta be blown up to inspire fear in the subjects,” agreed Zatus, the gnome not having to exaggerate as he looked up.
“Is it working on you, little guy?” Tiane asked, smirking as he turned to follow Di’eslo, who had continued past the statue and was angling toward what had to be the inn on the other side.
The road wrapped around in nearly a perfect circle, which was impressive considering the sloppy architecture of the town. There was no attention to detail anywhere the travelers could see other than this roundabout with the statue of their king in the center.
Rushing to catch up with the elf, the team converged on the front of the inn and nearly bumped into a pair of short people staring at the wanted posters on a board next to the door. Looking down, a wide grin spread across Aki’s face as he reached down and rubbed the top of one of their heads, earning a scowl in response.
“Are you two bounty hunters now?” he asked Hankish, turning the halfling’s frown into a smile of his own.
“Hardly,” the little bard replied, looking at the board again.
“Then what, are you criminals? Wanted men?” laughed the human as he studied his friend.
Hankish and Abugraic turned toward the rest of the group in unison, a pensive look on the bard’s face and a stony glare on the dwarfs.
Hankish sniffed loudly with disgust. “Not here,” he stated, then turned and pushed through the swinging double doors of the inn with his brother in tow, leaving the rest of the group gawking for a moment before following them in.
The inn was set up like almost every other inn the group had encountered in Kartos: the front door opened into a tavern, with a bar along one wall, a half dozen round tables in the center of the room, and a door in the back that presumably led to the rooms. This one was darker than most, as there were no windows built into the mud brick walls; the only source of light was the sunlight spilling through the front door and the oil lanterns spread around the room. There were no patrons, which seemed odd for this time of day, the bartender being the only one in sight.
“Try not to burn THIS city down,” Hankish muttered to Aki as they stood side-by-side in the entrance of the dimly lit room.
“No promises,” Aki replied, a feigned look of shock plastered across his face.
As their eyes adjusted to the gloomy interior of the inn, Di’eslo led the group across the small room to the bar, waving at the bartender to get his attention.
“Eeeeehhhh, whaddaya want?” the little man asked as he hopped over to them, his wiry hair sticking out in every conceivable direction and his eyes rolling around independently of each other. He was a little man, scrawny even, wearing leggings for pants that were so tight his knobby knees showed through them and a vest with no shirt underneath, accenting his lack of any muscle definition at all.
The group stood and stared, none knowing what to say.
“Eeehhh, speak up, speak up, I’m a busy man, yes I am. Plenty of customers to serve if the cat’s got yer tongue, yes there are. Ehh? Whassat? No, I didn’t tell them yet. Ehhh, yeah, I have ale and I have ale, or you can have ale, whaddaya want?”
“Ethanicus?” Heishi finally choked out, staring at the odd little bartender. His team had killed this man twice and used him to sneak into Harmonui the third time they met him, facilitating their siege of that city. Ethanicus had stated he had brothers when they had spoken to him in Harmonui, but each of the bartenders, including this one, looked identical to the others, down to the outfit they wore.
“Eeehhh, yeah, I been called that, yep yep yep. Never seen you before though, nope nope nope. How you know my name? Nope, don’t care, nope nope nope. Whaddaya want?”
Shaking his head and giving up, Heishi ordered ale for each member of the team and retreated to a table to see who else would come in, knowing that it was useless trying to get information from Ethanicus.
Chapter 8 – Aibaraan Nights
As the afternoon turned into evening, more patrons began to trickle into the tavern. Most were the same race of rat men the team had encountered on the dock, leading Di’eslo to believe they were placed there by the king to maintain order in the port city. Through the doors they could see an occasional passerby quickly making their way to their destination. Some were human, some rat men, but all were filthy with holes in their clothes and the same forlorn look on their faces.
“You still have yet to explain how you arrived at the same time we did,” Di’eslo stated more than asked Hankish, knowing he would not receive an answer from the quiet dwarf who had not spoken more than a few words all afternoon.
“After we discovered the queen’s untimely heart failure in Harmonui, we decided to travel a bit and make our fortunes somewhere less, umm, developed,” the bard stated with a wry smile.
“You mean somewhere that has less guards,” the shadow elf stated with a twinkle in his eye.
“That would be one way to define less developed, yes. The life of a poor traveling bard and his guardian brother can be a lonely one, but sometimes you must do what you must do to make your way in this crazy world.”
“Poor? I have seen portions of the treasure recovered from the pirate cave. I would not consider you poor by any means,” Di’eslo responded, eliciting a chuckle from Aki, who had been with them when the treasure had been uncovered.
“One man’s poor is another man’s treasure,” Hankish replied sharply, an indignant look on his face. “If you are so concerned with other people’s wealth, perhaps you should share yours with the oppressed people of this town, Vathio Raenvree.”
The side conversations at the table ended abruptly with the halfling’s use of the shadow elf’s family name. It hadn’t been until they had met Fion, his brother, that the group had learned their friend was a member of a royal family of shadow elves who had planned a war with the surface elves in retaliation for centuries of oppression. Di’eslo had admitted to his friends that he had taken that name to hide his family’s involvement in the affairs of the surface world as they planned their attack, which culminated in the battle of Harmonui. Rather than reverting to his given name, he had chosen to continue using the name Di’eslo as it was recognized as a hero of the people: one who had helped bring about positive change between the two races.
“There is no need to be rude, my friend. I was merely attempting to inquire as to why one who had acquired much treasure would continue to risk his life in small towns to build his fo
rtune.”
“What would you suggest? Buying a cottage in the city of your friend Gabrielle? Living fat and happy? Boooooring.”
The two stared at each other for a short time, then began laughing simultaneously.
“Fair enough, my small friend. I suppose I was getting bored living in the castle and being a liaison for my people as well. The life of an adventurer is not for everyone, but there is no other life worth living for those of us who choose it.”
As they chatted, Heishi wandered back to the table from the bar shaking his head.
“I was finally able to glean some pertinent information from our ‘friend’ Ethanicus. I still can’t figure out how he is here, but he did try to sell me protection for our trip to Rattanda. When that failed, I purchased an overpriced map that will lead us to the capital city,” he explained, rolling a small map out on the table for the others to study with him.
“It looks like a long trip, and once we leave this town it appears to be a desert,” Tiane stated, drawing nods of agreement from everyone present.
“Figures. I spend half my adult life fighting in deserts, go through a portal to another world, and find myself in yet another desert,” grumbled Aki. “Why can’t people pick nice places to live?”
“At least we have an expert in desert warfare with us, who can advise us based on his MANY years of experience,” deadpanned Heishi, drawing an indignant look from his friend.
“Keep it up and you won’t live to be an old fighter,” Aki replied with a wink to ensure the others knew it was friendly banter.
“I also rented us two rooms for the night so we can leave in the morning. I tried for more, but in case you haven't noticed, this isn’t exactly a resort he is running here. The rooms have 4 beds each, so at least we will have one night on a mattress before setting off into the desert for more fun in the sun.”
“Well then, I am off to find entertainment. Those guards each have a bag hanging from their pretty orange sashes that jingle when they move, and I desire to lighten their loads a bit this evening,” Hankish stated with a mischievous grin.
Abugraic leaned in close and whispered loud enough for all at the table to hear, “Don’t be cheatin’ tonight, brother. There’re bigger stakes than gold, and we don’t be needin’ to kill any guards before settin’ out fer their city.”
Silence hung over the table for a moment, the rest of the team surprised that he would make that statement out loud.
“Boooooring,” Hankish replied with a disgusted shake of his head as he stood and made his way to the table of guards, pulling a deck of cards from the small pouch on his waist.
“Best not be the marked ones,” his brother grumbled as he shifted his chair a bit to keep an eye on the halfling.
◆◆◆
An hour later, Hankish was in his element with four other players at the table and piles of gold coins being tossed back and forth between the players. To a casual observer, the halfling was not a very good poker player, and lost more hands than he won, keeping his opponents at the table with him. Di’eslo had exceptional vision in low light conditions, having lived underground for most of his life, and he could see the bard slipping his hand off the table at just the right moments before winning a large pot. He lost most of the hands, but the pile of gold in front of him continued to grow.
Another round of ale for the table, paid for by the generous bard, kept the players’ wits dulled and their perception limited, but he wasn’t fooling his companions who continued to keep an eye on him.
“Durn fool’s gonna start a fight,” Abugraic stated, watching as another large pot went to his brother.
“He is exceptional at his craft,” Di’eslo replied, nodding in appreciation. “He plays the fool well, and with as many hands as he loses the others will never suspect he is allowing them to win the small ones. If we remove him from the game early, we can avoid a confrontation.”
Abugraic snorted in reply, then as the elf looked at him felt compelled to answer, “He ain’t quittin’ till he’s done.”
A fifth guard pulled up a chair to the table, pulling a stack of gold coins from his belt pouch and waiving to be dealt into the game.
“And there’s where he gets caught,” Aki stated quietly. “Add a sober player who can catch on to his tricks, and we’ll be fighting our way out of this tavern and not sleeping in real beds tonight.”
Abugraic grunted, then stood and shuffled his way across the floor to a dark corner of the room. Ensuring no one was watching, he reached up and pulled on his face right next to his jawbone. At first nothing happened, and then his face began to slide with his hand, shadows wrapping around his body as his face came loose in his hand. The illusion of the mask dispelled, he shrank to the same height as his brother, the hard lines of his dwarven body softening as he took on the shape of a halfling. Shaking out his head full of curly brown hair, he slipped the mask he had been wearing into a fold of his cloak and walked casually to the table where Hankish was still playing.
“You are needed elsewhere,” the halfling stated, interrupting his brother in mid-sentence.
When Hankish saw his brother standing in front of him without his dwarfish disguise, his eyes bulged for a moment in shock before he was able to hide it.
“Gentlemen, it would appear that I am being summoned. By way of recompense, I will leave my ante on the table for this hand, and leave the cards for you to continue the game. I do apologize, but this appears to be somewhat of an emergency.”
With that, the bard stood, pretending to stagger a bit from the effects of the ale he had been nursing for the past hour, and followed Abugraic away from the table.
Di’eslo stood from the other table, silently motioning his companions to follow him, and led them across the tavern and down the hall to the first of the rented rooms. He opened the door, waiving each member of the team inside. Once all six were inside, he followed and bolted the door behind him.
“What did you go and do a stupid thing like that for?” Hankish exploded at his brother as soon as the door was closed. “You can’t be blowing your cover like that in public! It’s a good thing no one knows us here, or...”
“Explain. Now,” Di’eslo interrupted, leaving no room for an argument.
“Ok, so in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly a dwarf,” Abugraic began, then chuckled when he saw the “no kidding” looks on everyone else’s faces. “I acquired this mask of illusion several years ago, and we decided that it would be a good way to keep eyes away from us while performing, ahh, shall we say, less than legal activities.
“No one expects a dwarf to be a thief because they aren’t exactly stealthy individuals, and people tend to spend more time trying to figure out how a dwarf and a halfling are brothers than they do wondering who killed who and why. It’s a brilliant cover, and added to that one acting a fool everywhere we go...”
“I don’t think he’s acting,” muttered Aki, drawing a glare from Hankish as his brother continued.
“No one ever suspects us until it is too late, at which time we typically have moved along to the next unsuspecting dopes. The only part that is difficult is keeping up that dwarvish brogue all the time.” He stopped, looking back at the blank stares in front of him.
“So why did you have to break character NOW?” Hankish asked, stomping his feet like a petulant child as he threw his tantrum. “Did you SEE how much gold was on that table? I was about to clean them out!”
“Master Di’eslo saw your game from across the room. You were starting to take bigger pots, and that sober guard sat down at the table. I know you, and once you get going you won’t slow down, and then we would have gotten caught,” his brother answered with a disgusted sigh.
“Never stopped you before,” the bard muttered, continuing to glare at his brother.
“We are here to find Fion, not rip off the guards. On our way back, you may feel free to swindle anyone you like, but in the meantime, you will behave yourself,” Di’eslo stated.
<
br /> “I have decided I was ready to turn in for the night anyway,” Hankish stated, drawing himself up to his full height. “It’ll be an early morning, and I need my sleep, so if those of you not staying in this room don’t mind, get out!"
Chapter 9 – Set Up!
The group rose before the sun the following morning, having spent an uneventful rest of the evening in their rooms. Abugraic had replaced the illusion mask, and scowled at Zatus who was clearly trying to figure out how he had not noticed the illusion before. No one was surprised to find Ethanicus behind the bar in the same place they had left him, and after a quick breakfast they set out.
The dirt road led past the river, and after discovering that the water was clear and cold, they decided to stop and fill up their water skins before starting their trek through the desert. Hankish stood to the side, a playful grin on his face as he played a tune on his lute and watched the others fill their water skin.
“You’re going to want as much water as you can carry in the desert,” Aki told his little friend, noticing that he hadn’t filled his water skin yet. “There’s no telling when we will find fresh water along the way.”
“Amateurs,” Hankish announced, sliding his lute to his back as he stepped closer to the river. He pulled a small pouch from a loop on the back of his belt, and with an impish grin he shoved the pouch under water.
At first nothing happened, and Aki was about to inform him that the small bag would never hold enough water for the journey, but then a small whirlpool appeared on the surface of the river above the pouch. As Hankish whistled a tune, the small whirlpool got larger, and the pouch sucked in more and more water. The group stared in awe as the pouch sucked more water down, and then a small school of fish were caught in the current being created and sucked into the pouch as well.
“Those are for dinner tonight,” said Hankish with a grin as he watched the whirlpool begin to slow.
