"Mom? Dad?" No voices came from inside the house as Quimby pushed her way in.

I looked around at what must have once been a neat well, an organized farm that looked like it had fallen on hard times recently. Admittedly the little I knew about farming came from Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing, but the mangy scarecrow, garden tools left out to rust, and weeds sprouting in among the crops. One of the fields looked like it had been burned. And our group kept getting baleful angry glances from a couple of brown cows were all I needed to know that something was wrong in this place.

The three of us followed her. The house's interior, which would have once been nicely put together in a total cottage core decor, was messy. Herbs were hanging to dry in front of a window front window that looked dusty and moldy. And a sour unsavory scent came from an iron pot on the stove next to a haphazardly piled mess of firewood and kindling. There was a table set up with a stained floral tablecloth neatly laid out on top.

"Mom? Dad?" Yelled Quimby. She turned to us, "Sorry, it doesn't normally look this bad. I don't understand. What could be the matter."

"Mom? Dad? Albus? Nickelback? Durer? Solbert? Mikus? Where is everyone?"

The back door opened, and a portly woman carrying a heavy bag stepped through the door.

"Quimby!" the woman yelled, dropping the bag and spilling potatoes and carrots all over the ground. Quimby ran to her. "Everyone assumed you were dead."

"Mom. What happened? Where is everyone?"

"Your dad was finally able to get out of bed today, and he went into town to register your death with the Mayor and to buy a small memorial so we could visit your spirit on the Night of the Dead."

"Oh, Mom. I am alive. These adventurers rescued me. Was anyone else hurt?"

"Your Father hired Jacon, then he hired a [Medium], and then finally he contacted a [Master Necromancer], not one of whom could contact even an echo of your spirit. The [Necromancer] said that it was possible not to reach you only if you were still alive or the cultists had destroyed your soul in some foul ritual. We know the unsavory habits of the beings who took you, and your Father tried not to give up hope. The more he could not contact your spirit, the worse he imagined your fate. I told him to buy the memorial so we could move on."

"It is okay, Mom. I would like to see my death memorial. Did [Light Sculptor]Herry make it?"

Looking around, I said, "Quimby, I hope you don't mind that are going to push on into Town. You mentioned that there was a place where we could buy lodging?"

"Yes, "The Broken Anchor" Captain Richmond used to be a sea adventurer until his ship was lost in a Kraken attack, and he was the only survivor. He came inland and started the inn to be as far away from the sea as possible." Said, Quimby. "I can take you there. I would like to see my death memorial. I will keep an eye watching for Dad and the boys. It will be good to see them again, and I imagine they would like to know I am alive sooner rather than later."

Quimby led us out the front door and down the road in front of her house. After about twenty minutes of walking, more and more places that were obviously not farms began appearing. We even ran into a couple of patrols of local militia types. Everyone we passed seemed glad to see Quimby, they would come over and hug her and tell her how much they had worried when she went missing. And she was obviously well-liked.

They were led to a small two-story stone inn where they got two rooms for the night and dinner. "We haven't been back to Fitz's since you invited us into your dungeon," Sid said, casting his chill spell on our clay cups of the local suds. "I've missed this."

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"This is a shit beer," I said after a sip. "Kind of flat and tastes worse than Budweiser. I didn't think that was possible. I wonder if the innkeeper has a selection of craft beers."

"Craft Beers, in a fantasy village? Now you are just showing your East Coast Elitism. I think you are supposed to say, "Good Inkeep, bring me your finest IPA'"

"Is it just me, or are the two of you also really getting a kick out of this?" Said Em, "Here we are in a village tavern, adventuring. I wonder when the mysterious stranger will come and offer us a quest to destroy the nearby dungeon?"

"The nearby dungeon is mine." I said, "And as far as I am concerned, there will be no destroying it. Remind me to pick up a summon beer spell if we keep coming back here. The stuff they serve here is crapola."

"Don't you usually get Harps at Fitz'? That is hardly a craft beer."

"I get it to fit in with the Irish-German ambiance," I said.

"Other than the beer, I kind of like this place. Too bad it is such a long walk from my place. Otherwise, we could use this place as our hangout when we form a guild."

"What are the requirements for forming a guild? Does anyone know?"

"Yeah," Sid said. "I looked it up. You need a dungeon core, a piece of property you own outright for a guild headquarters, at least 2 people, and a name."

"Shit, we're never gonna get that. We would have to find a second dungeon."

"Maybe we should be looking for that mysterious stranger to approach us. And direct us to another dungeon. This is a fantasy tavern, after all." Said Em.

"Cheers to that," I said. "Getting sick of goblins and slimes."

"I'm going shopping. I want to see if there is an armorer I can get to fix my chainmail, or if I can borrow a blacksmith's tools, or worse comes to worse if I can buy a new mail coat. Plus I need a new shield.

"Yeah, I want to see if they sell anything interesting at the general store," I said.

"And I want to see Quim's death Memorial," said Sid.

The general store had a good supply of primary weapons and Armor and a handful of spell crystals mostly related to agriculture. There were a bunch of seeds and a garden out back with some fruit trees to take cuttings from for some ambitious farmer's future orchard.

The spell crystals cost between 5 and 10 gold, and I had a Buch of [dungeon gold] burning a hole in my pocket. I picked up [Summon Earth Elemental],[Basic: Lesser Grow],[Summon Lesser Rain Spirit], and [Basic: Lesser Plow Furrow]. I had no idea when I would ever use any of these spells. Maybe someday, as a hobby, I would set up a greenhouse and start selling rare magic herbs on eBay.

Em came in and looked around; she was wearing new Armor. "Up to your standard?" I asked.

"Better. This get-up negates the Dexterity Penalty on the stuff I made."

Lastly, we followed Quimby to an ancient wall upon which thousands of bronze plaques were named. Many of these plaques had a tiny 3D visual hologram of a face or a person's likeness which appeared when you looked at the bronze marker. The earliest ones did not have these images, these plaques were weathered, and the writing was almost in an entirely different language.

Quimby said, "Our people have been doing this for over 2 thousand years. Traditions have changed, but their name goes on this wall as soon as a person is considered dead. The line of color on the ground indicates the season, and it is possible to count years back by groups of four. During the Cataclysm of the Forerunners, the season was always winter for 80 seasons, represented by that long blue over there. I fear it is what your world has to look forward to if the forerunners get their way." She indicated a part of the wall 100 yards away with the densest collection of names and plaques.

Quimby saw her Father surrounded by a group of boys at the newest part of the wall, and she ran over to them. "Father, you are too impatient. I am clearly still alive. These adventurers rescued me. Though [Light Sculptor]Herey did a marvelous job capturing my likeness."

I wanted to take a closer look at the wall. Still, Quim's Father kept thanking us for rescuing his daughter, and her brothers kept pestering Sid and Em for them to tell them stories of their adventures.

Eventually, we all returned to the inn, where Quimby's Father plyed our food and alcohol.

That night I woke up to screaming outside the inn. The room glowed red and orange, and breathing through the smoke was hard. I rushed to the window and saw green figures running around with torches. Quickly buying [Basic Resist Fire] and [Basic Breath Smoke} and casting both on myself, I put on my clothes, grabbed the rest of my gear, and pushed my way out my door into the hallway. I know I had been saving for a group that [resist elements] buff, but I needed to resist fire right now. Sid and Em didn't seem up, so they pounded on their door.

Outside, a bell started ringing frantically.

Sid came to the door dressed in one of Em's bathrobes. He looked at me and said, "What?"

"Get your shit. The Town is under attack, and I think this inn is on fire."