Isa tried to keep her surprise concealed. “”Funny, he never mentioned it.” She fiddled with her fork for a moment. “Where does he live anyway? I’ve never been to his place.”
“Joth Windbine? He lives with Old Min Unger.” Zileek had returned to the table. He was short enough that he was eye level with Isa sitting down. “Ind speiking of such, ire you truly looking for i plice to live? Miybe I hive i spot open.” He smiled broadly at Isa.
“Yes, but I’m new here,” she said. “Still getting my feet. So I can’t afford much….”
“You’re i stripping liss. Strong fighter, yi. Miybe we cin work something.” He stroked his mustache. “Siy 4 gold, 5 for i week?”
“That’s a good deal,” Anne piped up.
“Breakfast included?”
He bobbed his head for a moment, perhaps calculating costs. “Breikfist, sure. Ind you pitrol the grounds 4 times i diy.”
“When I’m in town.”
He nodded. “When you ire in town.” He gave her a sidelong glance. “See how 2 weeks goes, yi?”
Isa grinned and stuck out her hand. “Deal.”
He looked at her hand and grasped it. “Do you need i lift up, then?” He began to pull.
“No! It’s a custom, I guess, on my plane to shake hands. It means we reached an agreement.”
“Shike?” He said but when Isa began to move her hand up and down, he grinned and joined in enthusiastically. “We hive in igreement then. I’ll hive your room reidy for tonight.”
Anne gave Isa directions to Teg “Old Man” Unger’s house, and Isa promised Zileek that she’d be back later in the evening.
After only a few minutes’ walking Isa came upon the house. Neat and well-kept, the house sat on a tiny plot of land, surrounded by trees on all sides. She knocked on the door, and a wizened man answered it after a few moment’s wait.
“Hi,” she smiled at the stooped figure. He was not much taller than Gimble and looked much older. His skin had a papery look to it, as if a stiff wind would rip him in half. “I’m a friend of Joth’s. Is he home?”
“Oh yes,” said the man. “Indeed he is.” He pointed at her feet. “Please do remove your boots. I don’t allow shoes in the house, you know.” He leaned out the door a bit and waved at a bench beside the door. “The basket will hold your boots.”
When Isa had placed her boots in the wicker basket, she stood on the threshold and knocked on the door jamb. “Mr. Unger? Can I come in now?”
The old man tottered into view. “Of course, my dear! Do come in. Use the runner, won’t you? So much better for the wood if it doesn’t have contact with moisture.” He wiped his hands with a distasteful look on his face.
He led her into a small living room. “I’ll just let Joth know that you’re here. Joth!” He walked to a side door, opened it, and called, “Joth! A lady to see you.” He turned back and smiled at Isa.
She heard a muffled reply, and Unger closed the door and gestured for Isa to sit. “Joth doesn’t get many visitors. Certainly not pretty ones. I always tell him that he’s welcome to have people over. As long as they’re clean and quiet.” He sat down and smiled at her. “Such a blessing have Joth here. I can’t climb stairs anymore, you know. Well, going up is fine.” He held up a finger. “Slow but steady wins the race! But coming down, oh dear, I don’t trust my balance.” He sighed and put his hands on his lap. “But he is a help to this old man. Don’t know what I would do without him these last 10 years.”
Isa had only been half listening to Mr. Unger. Her mind was occupied with thoughts of Fedru and Gerry Tinero and the gate scroll, so she wasn’t sure if she’d heard what she thought she’d heard. “I’m sorry - did you say 10 years? Joth’s been here 10 years.”
“Don’t think too harshly of him. He’s a frugal lad, really. Saves his copper, and I say that’s a useful trait in-- Well, I’m a bit old fashioned, I know, but I think that a young couple should have a nest egg before they--”
Isa tried to keep the alarm from her voice. “Joth and I aren’t-- I mean, we’re just friends, Mr. Unger.”
“Of course, of course.” He shook his head. “So old fashioned, Teg! You silly sparrow. But Joth is a fine--”
“Isa! What are you doing here?” Joth was dressed in loose cotton pants and a loose shirt. He looked like he’d been punched in the stomach.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“We haven’t seen each other in days, and I wanted to catch you up.” She smiled. “So here I am.”
“Indeed. Well. Come upstairs.” He turned and went out the door, not bothering to see if she followed.
“I can make some tea,” Mr. Unger called after them.
“Careful on the stairs,” Joth muttered as Isa followed him up. At the top of the stairs he opened a door on the right hand side revealing a study. Once inside he said, “Why did you really come?”
“Why did you lie to me?” Isa glanced around the room and sat on the cushioned window bench.
“Lie to you? About what?”
“You’ve been here 10 years! Mr. Unger said so.”
“Oh that, I didn’t lie. Not exactly.”
“You made me think that you’d been here a short time.” He shrugged at Isa’s words, so she pressed him. “Why would you do that? What’s it matter?”
“I was embarrassed.” He slumped down in the only chair in the room.
“Why? I just got here! What could you have to be embarrassed about? How would I know? Honestly Joth - Jeff - how would I know?”
“There’s no call to call me that, OK? I needed-- I need allies, and I wanted you to - I don’t know believe in me, I guess.” He lowered his voice. “I’ve been here 10 years, Isa. 10, and I’m a level 5.”
“I forgot about that. What happened to you? I’m a level 4 and I’ve been here, what, a week?”
“Don’t rub it in. I spent a few years studying, learning about Varana. I didn’t know I couldn’t level that way. In games you can do safe stuff, like herbalism, and level. And I had no one to judge my progress by. And then later, when I realized that I needed to adventure, that hit me pretty hard. I’d wasted all this time.” He shrugged. “It was a bad time, a dark time. Fedru and Teg, they helped me. Dragged me out of the house, and Fedru, he talked me off the ledge, I guess. Told me that I need to get some quest experience. So I started working for him some. Adventure parties sometimes need a wizard, and well I wasn’t going to quest alone. Look at me! I’m not an adventurer. You make it look easy, but it’s not. It’s not easy.”
“I’ve almost died a few times. I don’t think it’s easy. I’m scared and confused and oh yeah, mad. Mad at your friend Fedru. I think he knows how we can get home but he’s hiding it. Or I don’t know, he wants something from us. You work for him right? Anne told me.”
With that, Isa told Joth about Gerry Tinero’s books, about his gone-sour relationship with Fedru, about the possible spell scroll, and where she thought - if it still existed - that it might be.
When she’d finished Joth said, “Fedru’s a good guy! Well, I don’t know his alignment. Probably neutral. He’s got some levels in druid, and they are-- Never mind. What I mean is, he’s not a bad guy. He wants to help me get home. He’s told me so.”
“Great. Then he won’t mind if we do just that. Get dressed.”
Joth looked startled. “Now? It’s almost dark.”
“So what? Don’t you have some sort of light spell?”
“Well yes, but….” He opened his arms to gesture at the room. “My things. I don’t know what to take.”
“The scroll might not even be there, Joth. This might be wishful thinking over here.” Isa sighed. “But I want to believe it’s sitting in that cottage; I have to know, and it can’t wait.”
Spoiler: Isa's Character Sheet
Name: Isa Chamberlin
Race: Human
Height & Weight: 5ft 6inches / 120 lbs
Class: Fighter Level: 4
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Background: Stranger in a Strange Land
Hit Points: 26 AC: 15
Current Hit Points: 26
Combat: +5 to Hit
Weapons: Scimitar +1 (left hand) 1d6 +4 (slashing) / Quarterstaff (right hand) 1d6 +2 (bludgeoning)
STR
11
0
DEX
16
+3
CON
11
0
INT
13
+1
WIS
13
+1
CHA
12
+1
Saving Throws: Str and Con +2
5
Acrobatics* (Dex)
1
Medicine (Wis)
1
Animal Handling (Wis)
1
Nature (Int)
1
Arcana (Int)
3
Perception* (Wis)
0
Athletics (Str)
1
Performance (Cha)
1
Deception (Cha)
1
Persuasion (Cha)
3
History* (Int)
1
Religion (Int)
3
Insight* (Wis)
3
Sleight of Hand (Dex)
1
Intimidation (Cha)
3
Stealth (Dex)
1
Investigation (Int)
1
Survival (Wis)
Special Attack: Two weapon fighting. When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.
Class Features:
Second Wind - On your turn, you can use a Bonus Action to regain hit points equal to 5 + your fighter level. Short or Long Rest before you can use it again.
Action Surge - On your turn, you can take one additional action on top of your regular action and a possible Bonus Action. You must finish a short or Long Rest before using it again.
Martial Archetype: Surgical Fighter
3rd level - Clinical Eye: Spend 1 combat turn studying your enemy and learn one of the following: if the enemy is equal to or stronger than you in strength, dexterity, or constitution. Can spend up to 3 turns to discern all 3. Can be used outside of combat as a free action - spend 1 minute to learn all three.