They hadn’t been walking long when Isa stopped to adjust her right boot. “Note to self,” she said aloud, “don’t buy new shoes and then walk 50 miles.”
“Do you always exaggerate?” Joth had brought a piece of bread with him from breakfast, and he took another bite. “We only went,” he paused to chew, “about 25 miles yesterday. And today will be maybe 15.”
“Yeah but you’re used to it.”
“True. You could pick up your pace a bit. Didn’t you say you like to run?”
“Not marathons! How long did it take you to get used to this?” Isa gestured at the road, trees, and distant mountains. “No cars, no phones, no electricity.”
“Eh, it feels like a long time ago. I think you get used to it slowly, and then it seems quite natural.” He took a deep breath. “You must admit, it’s beautiful here. Times like this, I almost don’t want to leave.”
The road climbed slowly as Joth and Isa continued on, and the sparse landscape became heavily forested. The sun was still climbing as they entered a spot where the trees came right to the edge of the path. Shadows slashed the road, and the wind stirred the branches.
Joth had been lecturing Isa on some of the finer cultural points of her new land. “It’s not polite to look at someone’s quest log,” Joth was saying.
“But you practically demanded to see my notebook. So you should let me see yours.”
“I was being helpful. Like a doctor.”
“So your interest was purely clinical.”
“Have I not been helping you? Have I not--” Whatever else Joth was about to say was interrupted by a crossbow bolt hitting a tree trunk behind Joth. “Bandits!” he yelled and dashed toward the forest.
Isa pulled out her rapier and adjusted the grip on her staff. “Show yourself,” she said.
From the shadows came two men with drawn swords. The wide blades ended in an upward curve that reminded Isa of the Disney movie Aladdin. Two against one. She waited, ready, to see what they would do.
One rushed at Isa and swung his sword low, catching her leg with his upward swing. The sharp tip of the blade sliced her calf.
Isa jabbed at him with her rapier and missed. She was able to swing her quarterstaff at his head and deliver a glancing blow.
The other man took a step to the side and tried to swipe at her back. His swing went wide as Isa matched his sidestep.
Suddenly the first man staggered back with blood on his face. Joth let out a whoop. The second man also took one step and then another and doubled over. “Magic Missile, baby!”
Isa recognized the first man as the one who’d grabbed her. These weren’t bandits, or rather, this wasn’t a random robbery. “Came back for more, did you?” she said to the man.
“Came to finish what I started,” he said quietly.
A hiss went past Isa’s ear and Joth yelped. “Archer, Isa. Careful.”
The second man said, “Not worth it.” And turned to run back into the forest. Isa started to swing her staff, but the first man shifted, and she turned her full attention back to him. He grinned at her, and his teeth looked very white against his bloody face.
“You should join your smart friend,” she said. She wanted it to sound tough, but her voice squeaked, and the man only grinned wider as he wiped the blood from his eyes.
In that moment Isa lunged forward and stabbed under his arm. Her rapier sunk in, and Isa found herself almost embracing him. “Oh,” he said quietly and crumpled to the ground. Her rapier slid out of the wound as he fell. From somewhere in the forest, Isa heard the sound of branches crashing.
“That,” Joth came up beside her, “would be the archer running away.” He looked down at the dead man. “What an idiot.”
For the first time Isa looked at the wizard. He had a tear at his bicep. “You’re hurt.”
“You, too. Becoming a habit for you. How do you feel?”
“Like I’m going to throw up.”
He waved her away. “If you’re going to do that, do it over there. Insult to injury, throwing up on a man you just killed.”
Isa’s knees went weak. “I just. I mean, I. He was going to. He tried to….”
Joth gathered her up in his arms. “Don’t faint. Fighters don’t faint, OK? They wipe their bloodied blade on their victim’s clothes and swagger away.” He plopped her on a stump. “Sit. Stay.”
He bent over the corpse and quickly went through the dead man’s pockets. A few minutes later he sat down beside Isa. He laid a sheathed scimitar over his knees. “This is how it goes, right? We didn’t set out to kill anyone. We were attacked, but we won. So we get the loot. OK?” He patted the sword. “This is worth a good 15 gold, maybe 20. And he had 12 silver.” He held up a small pouch. “And a tiger’s eye.” Joth held the small stone up in front of his eye. “Keep the sword. Here’s 6 silver.” He dumped the pouch into his hand, counted out 6 coins and put the rest back in the pouch. “And I’ll keep the gem.”
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She didn’t want anything to do with a dead man’s possessions. Isa pushed herself off the stump and winced in pain. The man had sliced her calf, but she could walk.
“You’re not bleeding anymore,” said Joth. “But we have a day’s walking. Are you going to be alright? Fighters, you have some sort of healing surge thing that you can do. Do you need to do that?” He stood and leaned the sword against the stump.
“I do?” Isa slipped off her backpack and opened the top. She pulled out her notebook and flipped to the first page. Her eye caught the words “Second Wind” which made her think of Mery. Would she ever see her again? She’d been kind to Isa, kind and helpful. Lund seemed to know her; she’d have to ask him about Mery when they returned to Bywater.
She read the words in her notebook. “It says, ‘On your turn’. What turn? We take turns?”
“In combat you do. It all happens kinda fast,” Joth said; “but yeah, you go, I go, bad guys go. Or vice versa. Huh, ‘on your turn’. I think that means it’s only a combat thing. Like a spell that you can only cast sometimes.”
“There are spells that you can only cast sometimes?”
“No. But that’s what this sounds like.” He peered into her pack. “I got you that first aid kit right? Want to bandage up your leg?”
Isa felt her calf. “It’s not bleeding, and I don’t think it’s life-threatening, so let’s not bother. I’ll be all healed tomorrow, right? Why waste the bandages?”
With that Isa knelt and slipped her notebook back into her pack. She looked at the dead man and at the sword. He certainly didn’t need it anymore. And Joth was right - he’d come after them. She hadn’t set out to hurt anyone. Besides he’d ruined her pants. She’d need to have Morgan repair them. That would cost money.
“So,” Isa said, “I can sell that sword? I mean, isn’t it evidence?”
“Evidence of what?”
“The crime! The robbery, attempted robbery. I killed this guy, Joth. Someone is going to want to know.”
He bit his lip. “Not the way you mean. There is no law here. No police, I mean. This bastard got what was coming to him. Wild West, remember?”
“We can’t just leave him here.” Isa picked up the sword. She couldn’t lie; 20 gold coins would feel good in her pocket.
“His friends will come for him.” Joth shrugged. “Or not. We can get him off the road though. If nothing else, animals will get him, but he won’t be a pretty sight.” He bent and grabbed the man’s feet. “Besides, we’ll have to pass this way tomorrow or the next day. And he’ll be smelling by then.” He dragged the man toward the side of the road. “Don’t bother helping,” he grunted. “I got this.”
Isa tied the scimitar to the side of her pack and put it on. She said, “Will you sell the tiger eye?” He hadn’t said how much it was worth, and Isa was curious to know if it was equal to the 15-20 gold that she’d get for the sword.
“Of course,” Joth dusted off his hands and joined her on the road. “I have expenses, you know. Our plans, they’re not cheap.”
“About those plans….”
“Yes?”
“What are they?”
Joth looked left and right. “I’m trying to get us home. The how is kind of complicated.”
“You said that there are other real world people here. Who are they? Have I met any?”
Joth put up his hand. “Just, calm down. It’s not just us, but--”
“Is Fedru one? Mery?”
Joth shook his head. “Why are you so hep to know who’s who? What’s it matter? Someone’s a friend or they’re not.” He started walking. “Come on. Timed quest, remember?”
Isa hurried to catch up. Her leg barely bothered her now. That was going to take some getting used to. “Is this like a heist? Like Ocean’s Eleven or something?”
Joth gave her an odd look. “Not exactly,” he said. “But it does involve making some very powerful people pretty mad. Look, I will tell you more when we get back to Bywater. I promise.” He gestured up the road. “I have my own reasons for going to Hanchen.”
Spoiler: Character Sheet
Name: Isa Chamberlin
Race: Human
Height & Weight: 5ft 6inches / 120 lbs
Class: Fighter Level: 2
Alignment: Good
Background: Stranger in a Strange Land
Hit Points: 15 AC: 13
Current Hit Points: 9
Combat: +4 to Hit
Weapons: Rapier (left hand) 1d8 +2 (piercing) / Quarterstaff (right hand) 1d6 +2 (bludgeoning)
STR
11
0
DEX
14
+2
CON
11
0
INT
13
+1
WIS
13
+1
CHA
12
+1
Saving Throws: Str and Con +2
4
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)
2
Sleight of Hand (Dex)
1
Intimidation (Cha)
2
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.