I wanted to dislike Torchlight Tavern. In fact, as Lithia and I entered I tried to pre-load some sort of insult on my tongue, but I couldn’t. The place was actually very charming. The tables were slightly different in size, shape, and some even color - giving the impression putting the place together was a sort of community effort rather then an individual.
True to the namesake, there were torches everywhere - no harsh overhead lights. A performed was strumming on a lute in the corner, but it wasn't overpowering and the main sound was the chatter of the various patrons. A dwarf noticed us at the front door, running by with a pile of plates balanced precariously in one hand and some empty cups in the other. He used his head to motion to some empty tables on the left. “Aye, welcome in, get seated and I’ll be with ya soon as I can!”
“He seems a bit stretched thin,” I noted as we sat down at the one of the spots he mentioned.
Lithia nodded. “His sons are supposed to help out, but they are always running out on quests or spirits above knows what else, and he’s too cheap to hire real help.” She laughed. “We’re here to relax anyway, right? No hurry.”
That much was true - I wasn’t exactly in a rush to get back to an empty shop. “So you said you’ve been here a decade?” I asked.
“Yeah, feels a bit odd to say I’ve been out of school that long, but I trained in the military academy and then decided I wasn’t quite cut out to take orders.” She grinned. “So I came to Windglen and would take random quests and bounties. Staying in the inn all the time was getting pricey, so I found myself a little cabin right outside the city limits, and the rest was history!”
"That inn is quite pricy," I agreed. "Did you meet the owner of my store before me? Enos mentioned something about them failing in a rather big fashion.?I know you mentioned he might have messed with him, did he seem competent to you?"
Lithia smirked. "Of course he put it like that. Honestly, the half-ling was quite young. I stand by the fact Enos did something, but I think the lad wasn't as equipped to deal with it as you are. You give me the impression you're made of some thicker stuff."
Before I could ask anything else, the barkeep came over to us, still with the cups in one hand but the plates exchanged for a notebook he took out of his pocket. “What can I getcha’?”
“Now WHERE are your manners Rugan?” Lithia teased. “Don’t you want to give a proper greeting to Windglen’s newest merchant?”
The dwarf rolled his eyes, but did slow down and put the empty cups on an empty table behind us. “I ‘spose she’s right. Hi elf miss, my name is Rugan like she said, and this my tavern.” He held out a hand.
I shook it. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, My name is Fanwen and I have opened the new clothing shop just down the street.”
Rugan looked a bit taken aback at that. “Oh! The new clothing shop. I uh, yes, I ‘spose I heard about that place, haven’t I?”
“Yes, your patrons seem to be spreading that it’s haunted?” I asked coyly.
“Er, well…”
Lithia laughed. “You aren’t afraid to just get right to it, are you?”
“My patrons don’t start rumors, miss, they were just repeating what they heard from Enos.” Rugan said. “Then these things sort of take a life of their own…”
I nodded. “Yes, I know Enos is responsible, and I plan to speak with him. I would just appreciate if you’d perhaps correct anyone else who mentions it?”
“I can confirm the lack of haunting part,” Lithia chimed in. “My talisman confirmed it, and you know how particular that thing is - if they was a bad spirit in there, it would’ve found it.”
He nodded. “Yes I do believe it would. I apologize miss, I know better then to let that boy run his mouth, but he does spin a good tale when he wants to. I’ll say something if I hear it, and how about a free drink to smooth thing over? A welcome to Windglen if you will!”
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
I smiled. “Sure, I appreciate you hearing us out.”
As he walked away, I looked around. While the tavern wasn’t currently full, it was still quite busy for the late afternoon, easily hours before the dinner rush. A lot of people could’ve heard Enos’ stories in the past day or so.
“Want to wait until night time and then I can announce you aren’t haunted to everyone?” Lithia asked, guessing what I was thinking about. “I’ll do it too, I can stand up on the bar and make a show of it, everybody will be talking about it! People like me too, which always helps. As long we keep buying drinks, Rugan won't mind.”
I laughed. “That’s nice, but there’s no way we catch everyone who was in here last night and anyone else they might have told in town at one time. There has to be some other way to get the message out…” I watched the crowd for another minute, trailing off, when I noticed a priest sitting alone by the back window. “Wait, Lithia, do they do blessings in this town?”
“You mean official [blessing] buffs? Of course we do, lots of demonic entities out there to fight in the caves! Helps raise your defense against them. What are you thinking? Wanting one for yourself?”
I shook my head. “What if I can get him to bless the shop? If people see [blessed] above the sign, surely they’ll know it isn’t cursed or haunted or anything. If nothing else, I could ask him to run a purification spell on the stock- not that I couldn’t do that myself, but people would trust his over mine.”
She looked impressed. “Not bad elf, not bad. It’s definitely worth trying.”
I grinned. “I trust you know what’s good here, order me something if Rugan comes back before me, alright?”
Lithia nodded. “Of course I do.”
I tried to plan out in my head what I was going to say as I walked over to the priest. I didn’t have a lot of gold to offer, which he might find offensive anyway. I could offer to make some new recruit robes or something?
The priest looked up once I got close, nodding in greeting. He was a human man with bat ears- I was not sure if that was a purchased cosmetic or a race I wasn’t familiar with. He wore the typical blue robe, but the cross around his neck was gold, signifying he was a high rank within the priest profession quest line.
“May I join you for a moment?” I asked.
“I am always willing to provide council,” he replied.
I sat down, suddenly nervous. Perhaps I should’ve planned what I was going to say more. What if he only gave blessings to parishioners of his specific church?
But I pushed through anyway - words spilling out in a frenzy. “My name is Fanwen, and i have just opened a clothing shop here in Windglen. Unfortunately, someone has begun telling the townspeople that my establishment is haunted or cursed. This is certainly not the case, and as I am sure your word is well respected in this town, I was hoping you could provide a blessing on my establishment to show people it is safe?”
He didn’t say anything right away. I wondered if I had talked too fast.
“Well, our church has upon occasion offered blessings to an establishment as you have described Miss Fanwen, but typically there is an existing relationship…”
I figured.
“However,” he continued, surprising me, “You have approached me in a time of need, and I assume you have a class outside of your merchant profession?”
I excitedly flashed my summary card. “Yes, I am a mage.”
“Good, then perhaps you could held us. A relic was recently stolen from our archives and it’s quite rare. We need someone to retrieve it. We have reason to believe it was stolen by an orc who will attempt to re-sell it in Rockburg in the next few days.”
He closed his eyes and quickly generated a quest scroll, which he then handed to me.
[ Quest: Righteous Relic Retrieval
Recommended Combat Level: 7 +
Deadline: 2 Days, or Before Relic Is Sold
Goal: Return The “Flask of Saints” to the Windglen Church
Reward: Blessing from The Church, 75 XP
Description: The Flask of Saints, originally used is said to provide a powerful against demons and dark magic when drunken from by a worthy subject. Track down the orc who has stolen the relic and return to the priest for quest completion. With high enough persuasion, there is a chance to avoid combat, but this is unlikely. ]
– Accept? YES | NO –
I hit accept. “I will get on this right away,” I promised.
“May the spirits be with you,” he said as I got up to walk away.
I was nearly back to my table to my table with Lithia when I realized I was drastically under leveled to take on this quest alone. Not to mention, I didn’t know anything about fighting orcs or even how to track one down. I tended to avoid fights with beings double my size.
“I ordered you a sausage roll,” she told me, smiling.
I sat down and informed her about the quest, ending with “...there’s no way I can do this one alone though, I’m way too under leveled on my mage skills…” Why had I agreed to this? Failing a quest wasn’t exactly the way to improve my standing in the town.
“Don’t look so glum, Fanwen, you know why?” Lithia asked.
“Why?”
“Because you won’t have to do it alone - you’ve got the best barbarian in Windglen on your side.”