An hour later, a frail man was walking up Great Oaks street. It was dark and the humidity was stinging his cheeks, so he eagerly pulled up his hood, leaving only his dark eyes visible.
Little did he know that he was already walking towards a flamboyant destiny, towards a history as epic as it was fateful. He had been born in a quasi-rural environment, but he had always aspired to live differently, and he had developed his erudition in that direction. What could he possibly have to do in a family-owned ham slicer spare parts factory? He was fascinated by mechanisms, of course, but also by games of skill, enigmas, sharp tools, locks, safes, easy money and the comfort of obscurity. Since he had left the company and his parents to settle in Tulmor, he had found his calling.
----
THIEF'S BRAIN REPORT
Another good day, I think I made good progress! I'll be able to refer to my apprenticeship master. This morning, I took two croissants from the baker without attracting her attention. At lunchtime, I managed to steal my neighbor's ring by simply saying hello, and I was able to break into a storeroom to steal two sausages and a complete set of silverware. The lock didn't hold for more than forty seconds. But the highlight was tonight's haul at the market! What a haul! The purse of this shaggy peasant contained more than thirty gold coins! Purse cut in his back, without him even seeing my face, brilliant work. Is it possible that such a boorish guy walks around with such a fortune? With this last petty theft, my teacher will be forced to admit that it's time for me to go on an adventure. All I have to do now is sell the loot of the last few weeks and buy the rest of my equipment. I'll take care of that tomorrow, but first I'd like to have a bowl of cider. Oh, but I can already see the sign of the Magpie!
----
He soon found himself facing Gotran Tegal.
Fiddling with his almost empty bowl, the young trickster admired the poise and rich clothes of this mysterious man.
This was his lucky day. He had overheard the traveler's conversation with a powerful warrior whose figure seemed strangely familiar. The traveler had spoken in a low voice about battles and curses, a crew of adventurers, a mission, and above all a large sum of money. The apprentice had waited for the second guest to leave, who had finally stumbled towards the dormitory of the inn. He had noted the presence of the apathetic guards, undoubtedly at the end of their shift, then he had joined Gotran at the counter and he had invited him at his table.
This stranger, whom he had never seen, looked at him for a few moments. He had a small smile and told him:
- I think I know what you do for a living, judging by your appearance and manner. I may have a job for you, young man. What are your records of service?
The novice hesitated:
- I'm currently finishing my apprenticeship, but I'm very good at it!
- I see. Can you prove it?
From under his cloak, the Thief pulled out his loot:
- Here... See for yourself, I stole this beautiful purse a little over an hour ago at the market! In the back of a peasant with a lot of hair. The fool didn't see it coming.
- Um...
- I sense indecision in you. You don't believe me?
- No, no. The performance is respectable, especially since it wasn't a peasant.
- Oh? You think so?
- I'm sure of it. I know who this purse belongs to.
- Really?
- But... That's not the point. You clearly have potential.
- Oh...
The apprentice smiled frankly as he waited for the rest. Gotran approached him over the table to speak in a low voice:
- My good man, I'm looking for a crew of adventurers. I need to hire mercenaries as soon as possible, to retrieve a valuable item from a dungeon west of here, beyond the Oaks of Lughar and behind the hills. A large remuneration is expected.
The innkeeper, who was passing by the table at that moment, shook his head as if he was trying to chase away bees. He had a very clear impression of déjà vu.
----
The next morning, Gotran decided to take the fast coach to the next stage of his journey, a little further south. He had searched as hard as he could, after scouring the three taverns and the employment office, but there seemed to be only two adventurers available in Tulmor: the taciturn barbarian and the enthusiastic young thief.
With the Magician and the Ogre, that made a good beginning of a crew but it was left to find them other companions. This evening in Tulmor had also given him a headache, he didn't know how many drinks he had ordered to escape his boredom.
Time was of the essence as the lunar window was approaching. The members of his crew had an appointment in front of the dungeon, on the morning of the first day of the late harvest decade. This wasn't difficult to understand, even for a savage. In the Bentvale region, everyone had heard of the tower in question, especially since it was visible from a distance.
At the end of the day, the wizard arrived in Nogal with a sore back and legs. He was past his prime, and he felt foolish for not having paid one of his employees to make the trip for him. On the other hand, he couldn't bear to be betrayed, couldn't trust an incompetent, not now. The stakes were too high!
He bid farewell to the coach crew in the backyard of Nogal's great inn, The Amazed Owl, dropped a silver coin into the dirty hand of the boy carrying his luggage, then pushed open the door that led into the common room.
- It won't be easy, he grumbled while dragging his feet towards an isolated table.
The customers were similar to Tulmor's, a sullen, rural sample of men with limited leisure time and flat purses.
He was just thinking that it would be better to move to another establishment when he noticed the two travelers sitting behind a partition, potential recruits. They had placed a sword scabbard and two longbows behind the table and were eating meat in sauce and a bock of clear wine. Their worn travel clothes, in shades of gray and brown, with a mixture of leather and reinforced canvas, covered with dust, were enough to tell the average person that they were adventurers. One of them had ears too pointed to be human, a clear and penetrating gaze, a determined face framed by fine hair. The second was almost bald, with broader shoulders and a short beard.
Gotran ignored the owner of the establishment, a good man with a moustache who was waving at him, to approach the two men. He prepared his entrance but the half-elf spoke to him first:
- We're not interested.
- Excuse me?
- You're a MOHM, right? You're going to offer us a mission.
Gotran hesitated:
- A... A mom?
The second traveler explained, as he finished chewing his chicken leg:
- A Mysterious Old Hooded Man. Haven't you heard of it? It's a kind of code we use among ourselves...
- Yeash! chewed the half-elf. You get to the inn, you see some adventurers, so you think you can come and ask us for anything in exchange for three coins.
- But it doesn't work with us! It's too cliché.
The wizard moved from one foot to the other and called upon his patience:
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
- Oh, I see what you mean. But I'm not really old, I'm just... high level! And my hood, well... It's part of the mage's robe. It's easy to catch a cold this time of year. Anyway, this is a little different, I have a real mission for you.
The two travelers exchanged a glance and the half-elf shook his head:
- You're a MOHM. I knew it.
Gotran leaned over their table and persisted:
- Nahel's Dungeon? Does it ring a bell?
- Don't push it, man. We're not the kind of people who get missions. I'm Yarg the Fatherless. And he's Bagh Turnblade. We usually avoid suspicious plans. Have you never heard of us?
- We just fought some ogres in Hekbrok, it was no picnic, but we got a lot of loot. And we leave tomorrow to do the first floor of the Lubo dungeon with a paladin we met on the road, then we go on with the Gask caves.
Yarg raised his glass as if to make a toast, and added:
- If you're looking for mercenaries to do your wizard's job, it's not us.
Gotran sat up, surprised and embarrassed. It was his luck to run into snobbish backpackers when they seemed so promising. The owner of the inn, who was standing quietly next to him, waiting for him to finish his conversation, handed him a grease-stained menu. He gave him a mushy smile:
- I have the table at the back if you want to eat? Tonight we have hare stew with mashed carrots. The dessert's with apples, and it's really good, because my daughter made it with love for our customers!
Pushed by the tavern keeper, the dejected wizard sat down by the wall and made himself comfortable. He ordered the daily special and waited for a moment while enjoying his meal, hoping that this establishment was frequented by other adventurers. His patience was rewarded when a young blonde girl entered the common room, seemingly looking for directions.
The mostly male patrons turned around one by one and the conversations quietly died down, as if some trickster god had turned down the volume.
Yarg the Fatherless and his sidekick nudged each other. One of them whispered:
- Wow, that's heavy! Where did this one come from?
Dressed in shades of green, in a short skirt and tight tunic, her long blonde hair cascading over her delicate curves, this representative of the beautiful people seemed to be fresh out of the forest. She carried a bow on her shoulder, a small quiver and a travel pouch. Her eyes were also bright and lively and she gave the impression of moving while dancing.
The Treefolks rarely mingled with humans, but they weren't too shy. They just had a hard time understanding other people and were often self-sufficient. They were sometimes seen hanging around Nogal, however, as the great forest of Nastysnout was quite close.
- Hello everyone! she said, waving her hand. I'm a little hungry!
She walked towards the counter, followed by the eyes of all the customers. Many lingered on her buttocks, whose swaying had something hypnotic about it.
The innkeeper stammered something as he handed her a menu, and it was clear by the look on his face that he was struggling to keep his eyes in their sockets. Eventually, a customer decided to holler:
- Hey, cutie... If you wanna eat something, I have an idea!
A few hearty laughs followed the comment.
- Thank you! hummed the Elf without even turning around. But I'm going to read the menu that the kind man gave me! And then I'll take a pear juice!
She ignored other more specific remarks, such as the shape of the pears, comparisons with watermelons, the personal use that one could make of the sausages, or the availability of the knees of some customers to sit on. She didn't understand much of this and it was confusing. Humans had always seemed strange to her.
Tired of having to put up with the local fauna, Gotran Tegal stood up, his staff in hand. He took a few steps into the room and declaimed:
- Shame on you, gentlemen! This is no way to welcome a young girl!
In response, a plump and gruff bearded man hailed him from his table:
- Hey, old man! Why don't you shut your...
He froze as he met the wizard's gaze. Blue flames were already dancing around his strange staff, flames that seemed to indicate that a deadly spell was in the works, that a snap of his fingers would be enough to reduce the tavern and its patrons to ashes. The bearded man became aware of his blunder and hid his face:
- No, no, no! I didn't say anything sir! I'm sorry!
- That's more like it, murmured Gotran.
Then, turning back to the archer:
- Come with me, young girl of the forest, I invite you to my table.
- Oh, that's sweet!
Without any suspicion, she followed the stranger. The customers turned away, not very reassured. Old wizards were never worth provoking. Most of them died young, but those who made it to the end of their careers were bound to be lucky and talented.
----
The strange couple sat down in the back of the room, the Elf ordered a plate of walnut salad and then they talked while sipping their drinks.
She came from the village of Folnariel, which was in the center of the nearby forest. For humans, it was the forest of Nastysnout, known for its excessive number of wild boars, but the Treefolks gave it another name, but unfortunately it was impossible to remember. Gotran asked her why she was in the city, and he soon regretted the idea because he found himself drowned in a flood of words:
- I decided to go on a little adventure! The forest is great, but I've been living there for a long time. You know, for us, time doesn't really pass like it does for humans, but it still passes! I was tired of staying in the forest doing nothing, and now my sister's the pony hairdressing champion, so I wanted to change my life, because I've already been doing that for fifteen years and it's a bit boring. My brother Yazef told me about adventure, and we also had books in the House of Knowledge in Folnariel, with adventure stories. It's very exciting!
- Well, actually, began Gotran, I...
The Elf, who had only stopped talking to drink a sip, continued:
- It seems that groups of adventurers are looking for Treefolks, because we shoot arrows better than the others and we're always needed because we can see in the night, we can climb trees and we can heal friends when they're injured by bad monsters. It's great because I did some natural surgery with the doctors of Folnariel, they are very wise and well educated people! They taught me several techniques that we need when our friends are attacked by bears or wolves, or even brigands who hang out in the forest. So I can do first aid for the small injuries, hi hi hi! - Oh, that's good news, because...
- After that I also learned to shoot with a bow, because in my family we didn't like weapons very much, and I had never been able to train. My father said that you could hurt yourself, or others, or hurt the little animals. In our village we always have animals, like rabbits or squirrels, that live with us because we're nice. But I asked my cousin for advice! He's super famous in the area because he's a real archer, he even does the competitions and he wins shiny cups. I got his old bow and shot several hundred arrows into these vegetable targets! Now I'm not a hairdressing champion anymore, but I'm a bow champion! Hi hi hi! Isn't that great?
Taking advantage of a pause, Gotran hurried to talk:
- Actually! That's a good thing, because I have an offer for you!
- Really?
The wizard leaned over the table:
- Young lady, I'm looking for a crew of adventurers. I need to hire mercenaries as soon as possible, to retrieve a valuable item from a dungeon located west of here, behind the hills. A large remuneration is expected.
His announcement didn't have the desired effect. The Elf now seemed worried, counting on her fingers and shaking her head. She finally said:
- So I didn't understand the story of the person that marries, what do you want to do with a palpable item and what's a remuneration? Is it when you make sandwiches?
- The valuable item is the statuette of Glafelferha. It's in the hands of the wizard Zandar.
- The clarinet of Gralala? Did you say valuable, or palpable? Who's Budar?
- No, the statuette of... Oh, wait.
Gotran sighed, unfolded a map of the Land of Fang under the nose of the Elf who was shaking with impatience, and put his finger on a small drawing that could be seen to the southwest:
- You're here on the map, correct?
- Yes?
He moved his index finger:
- If you go to this place in five days, you'll find a crew of... friends that will go on an adventure with you. You'll have to go into the big tower, chase the... really bad monsters and get an item, after which you'll come and see me at the town's inn here on the map, and I'll give you some gold coins as a reward.
- Oh! I get it. Is this some kind of adventure mission?
- Yes, it is! That's it, an adventure.
- Yippee! That's great!
The elf's exclamation turned the heads of all the guests in the inn. They didn't question it for long, seeing that she waddled around humming in front of the old wizard, who now looked rather embarrassed. Some nodded condescendingly.
Yarg the Fatherless told his traveling companion:
- Well. The Treefolks, they're quite a different culture...
----
ELF'S BRAIN REPORT
That's it, I got my first mission! That's great! It was super easy, I just talked to the mysterious old hooded man, it was just like in the books. He gave me a map with the location of the turret, and gold coins for the trip. I heard that it's better for me to buy a seat for the stagecoach that goes by the southern road, because Bentville is far away and there's danger in the hills. Besides, I have chances to get lost because there are not many trees. If I go on foot, I might be late, which would be a pity because my friends would go on an adventure without me. It's stupid, so I would have been better off leaving with my pony, besides he'll be bored. And how will the crew members do if I'm not there? It seems that there's a magician, an ogre, a thief and a savannah warrior. I'm worried about this ogre thing, I've been told that they can eat anything and anyone, even people, and that they smell bad too. Ugh!