The next two days passed rather slowly for Rowena’s taste. The truth that no one had ever told her (or probably anyone, she imagined) was that much of adventuring was boring, and hard. They all awoke at first light– though Rowena was often up long before that due to how uncomfortable it was to sleep on the ground– and then they began to fall into a bit of a pattern. Kieran prepared breakfast while Mattie read the travel book Martha had given her, apparently trying to fully memorize its contents.

During this time, Sorel and Rowena trained their Proficiencies in Stamina and Agility, respectively. Rowena wanted to practice with the truncheon, but wasn’t sure how to do so short of simply whacking people on the head. She looked at Sorel’s staff enviously, realizing that it was a much more useful defensive weapon. She supposed that it wasn’t as useful for ROGUES, though, which is probably why it hadn’t been readily apparent during the Selection process. In theory, one could choose just about any Proficiency, but to make it easier the more likely options were made readily available.

That’s what happens when you go in without a plan, Rowena thought ruefully, and then shook her head. She was determined to stop complaining about the truncheon thing, either mentally or verbally. She’d figure out some way to use it.

Otherwise, as far as she knew, they weren’t officially practicing their Abilities, though Rowena was using Calm Person on herself as needed and she knew Kieran was practicing... something, or somethings, but she was grateful he kept those things to himself.

But once they hit the road, the days were long and filled with nothing more than making their way down the dusty, dirty path. Beyond that, Rowena had never quite adjusted to either sleeping outside or on the ground, and her hours of rest had been extremely limited.

This was why Rowena was more relieved than wary when Sorel stopped in the middle of the path, peering ahead.

“What is it?” Kieran asked. He was always so cheerful; Rowena had no idea how he managed it.

“I think there’s a building of some kind up ahead,” she said, gesturing for them to move off the road.

They stood together on the far side of a massive tree.

“How can you even see anything through this brush?” Kieran asked, but Mattie shushed him.

“A building? In the middle of the forest?” Mattie mused.

“It has to be a… a ranger’s quarters, or a post station, right?” Rowena said, not daring to name her greatest hope, though her heart beat a little faster.

“There were a handful of people there,” Sorel said. “More than either of those kinds of places would have.”

“And is that–” Mattie asked, suddenly turning her head towards the direction of the structure as the wind shifted.

“STEW!” Kieran yelled excitedly.

Rowena shushed him, looking around to make sure no one had heard– not that there was anyone in easy eyeshot– but she felt similarly eager. They hadn’t had anything but the jerky, cheese, now very stale bread, and apples for the last few days, and they were now officially out of cheese.

“It must be an Inn,” Mattie said decisively. She tugged out the little traveling book from her pack and thumbed through the pages as carefully as she could, trying not to get any dirt onto them. “AHA!”

Her cry was almost as loud as Kieran’s had been, and Rowena made a face at her, which she ignored. She did, however, lower her tone as she continued, though she still sounded excited. “The Wandering Vine– look, it has an entry!”

She cleared her throat to read out loud.

“It would be easy to presume that the Wandering Vine, being in its unusual and unfriendly location, should harbor the less than savory sorts. This presumption would be correct–”

“See? We need to give it a wide berth,” Rowena said with a sinking feeling, but a dirty look from Mattie stopped her short.

“--this presumption would be correct, however… it is run by a woman of sternest demeanor from a family long recognized for their contributions to the Innkeeping Subclass dating back to Alianna Innkeeper of the Wandering Rose Inn. Travelers should feel safe here for a night, even if their fellow guests could possibly range from the WARRIOR Barbarians to any variety of ROGUE.”

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Mattie met Rowena’s eye sheepishly and added, “Sorry.”

Rowena waved her hand. “Never mind that. What do you want to do?”

Kieran immediately said, “Eat a hot meal. Definitely. And why not stay?”

“Well, we don’t have all that much money to spare,” Rowena said hesitantly, but she couldn’t deny it was a great temptation. Less the meal than the thought of a bed.

“Surely we have enough for one night at an Inn. We can share a room,” Kieran pleaded. “Plus, for all we know the killer came through here, too.”

Rowena looked at Sorel and Mattie. They both also looked quite eager for this change, though they didn’t say anything.

She considered their options– she hadn’t thought of trying to gather intelligence here, which was an oversight on her part. That was appealing. In the end, the thought of a bed– even a scratchy straw one, even one shared with someone else– was too good to ignore.

“Let’s try it,” she said with a shrug.

Kieran whooped and ran out ahead of them. Mattie grinned and followed, and even Sorel couldn’t keep a smile from her face. At that exact moment, Rowena realized she might even be able to expect a bath, and the thought filled her with more glee than she would have thought possible.

It was just a few more moments of walking before they could all plainly see the Inn in the distance. It was fairly small and squat, with a well-kept thatched roof and sturdy stone walls. It looked only two stories high, but a huge chimney at the front indicated a roaring fire inside. The days had gotten a little colder, and the thought of a large fire they didn’t personally have to worry about was exciting.

Still, Rowena wondered about the place– surely it was a risk to have a small establishment such as this both so close to the road and so unguarded. There did seem to be a single person watching out front, but he looked easy and unconcerned, sitting in a carved wooden seat that had no legs but simply lay in a massive block by the edge of the road.

As they approached, he raised a hand in greeting, though he did not rise. The man was in his late twenties or so with stick straight black hair and eyes that were already beginning to have lines from too much smiling. From his exposed wrist, Rowena could see his Sigils.

Class: MAGIC USER

Subclass: Healer

Secondary Subclass: Innkeeper

The secondary Subclass Sigil was much paler than the Healer Sigil, indicating it must be fairly recent or relatively unused.

She heard Mattie gasp and realized that she’d seen the same thing.

“Perhaps he can offer you some advice,” Kieran said eagerly, but Rowena frowned.

“I don’t think we should talk to anyone about our situation,” she said. “They’ll definitely know there’s something… off.”

Kieran rolled his eyes. “Ro, you’re such a worrywart!”

“I’m serious, Kieran. I mean, what level are you now?” She hadn’t asked him that so plainly since they’d left Tunehlan.

He looked away and said nothing.

“Well, I’m at a Level Three, and we’re what, less than a week after Selection? Tell me that won’t raise unwanted questions,” she said. It was true– sometime during the night last night she’d been notified by the Fog that she’d increased to Level Three, presumably due to her near constant use of Calm Person over the last few days. She was trying not to think about it so much.

Kieran started to say something, but the seated man called out to them in greeting, cutting him off. “Hello, weary travelers! Can we offer you some respite from the relentless call of the road?”

“This road isn’t that relentless,” Sorel said with a raised eyebrow.

The man laughed as he stood. “It’s just the traditional Innkeeper’s greeting. I’m Finnegan.”

“I’ve never heard Artemesia or Eleanora use that greeting,” Mattie mused.

At the same time, Sorel eyed the man suspiciously and said, “You’re not an Innkeeper.”

Finnegan held his hands up as if he’d been caught. “You got me. This is my wife’s Inn, officially. I just help out. Did you say Artemesia?”

Rowena was cheered somewhat that, despite Mattie and Sorel’s obvious desire to go to the Inn, they weren’t foolhardy like Kieran and retained some healthy skepticism of strangers on the road.

“Yes, she owns the Inn in our–” Mattie suddenly closed her mouth and blushed, embarrassed by how much information she was sharing. “I guess I’m not very good at not answering questions I know the answer to.”

“Is there an information sharing spell on this place?” Rowena asked suspiciously, with a sidelong glance at Kieran.

Kieran shook his head. “I don’t think so– not exactly– but there is something.”

Rowena felt stupid for not thinking to ask Kieran about that sooner. If he could sense magical energy in things around them, surely he might have some capacity to understand what the magic was.

Finnegan also shook his head. “Thea– that’s my wife–- doesn’t hold with such trickery.”

Rowena took a deep breath and held it, slipping into her meditative Subclass state as subtly as she could.

Detect Secret, Activated!

Rowena’s eyes widened as the entire Inn lit up in a ghastly, pearlescent glow.