-5-
Tale of the Drunken Knight

Sun Tzu once quoted, “To... not prepare is the greatest of crimes; To be prepared beforehand for any contingency is the greatest of virtues” And so with that in mind. I've spent the last few days going around town, preparing myself the best I can for my first test as an adventure. I've been to the supply shop a few times, checking out their stock of healing potions. I've brought a few, along with some antidotes. I've filled my lantern with oil. And brought some extra just in case. I've had my sword sharpen by the smith again and I even went out and brought a bow.. and a quiver that set me back around fifty crowns, for the bow and quiver and the arrows cost around a mark a piece.. but I have twenty of them in my quiver that now strapped around my back.

And of course food, dried beef, cheese, bread, wine, and water of course. See a few nights ago while I was going about my duties as a serving maid at the town's inn. Yes, I'm also employed as a serving maid, I earn a few marks bringing tired farmers trays of cheese and loaves of bread and pitchers of beer. Anyway while I was going about doing that, I heard an old knight talking about somebody called “The Goblin King” . He was drunk as a mule, as in falling down drunk. His talk was slurred and his eyes glazed over.

At first I thought we'll have to call in a few of the town soldiers to be removed. But then he started talking about a massive goblin who was rumored to live in a cave located deep in the Peppercorn Mountains. Said goblin was supposed to be dressed in the armor of a slain knight, and was supposed to wield a large broadsword and command a dozen other smaller goblins. Said goblin is supposed to guard a vast treasure.

The drunken old knight claimed the goblin and his band of other goblins had plundered close to fifty merchant trains that had passed too close to the Peppercorn Mountains following the lawless years passed in the aftermath of the War of the Pretend King. And all the gold, silver, and jewels taken from those merchant trains had been hoarded deep in his mountain stronghold. All told the wealth amounted to around a hundred thousand golden crowns. In fact he claimed to have a map, a map that was supposed to take one to the mouth of the cave.

At this point Marian was about to call the law because the man had pulled out a rusty dagger from his belt and was waving it around the room and yelling at the top of his lungs he was going to cut somebody, that he wanted to cut somebody. The man was clearly off his rocker. But instead of calling the law like Marian wanted, we gave him more wine.. yes, now I do question the wisdom of giving a raving drunk more wine. But at this point he was tossing crowns at me every time I passed by. And me learning how to use my charm was hanging on his arm, saying how I admired his scars and saying how brave he was.

Did I say the dude was drunk? Oh fuck yes he was gone. But gold is gold. Anyway after milking around six crowns from him and a handful of silver marks, he produced a map. At this point I had managed to get his dagger from his belt. I had skillfully passed it off to another girl who I'm going to assume sold it to the town's pawn broker. It might have been worth a handful of pennies at best. Maybe a few marks. Anyway before the man passed out he produced a map and I stole the map.. and he passed out and I politely asked the cook to throw the bastard out on the cobblestones before he came too.

I mean he was a beast of a man, he stood at least six feet tall, had arms the size of barrels, his arms were all scared up, he was missing one eye, and he had a beard that reached down to his chest. And he smelled, he smelled pig shit, and his hair was matted with pig shit.. he was foul.. and I had to wash as soon as my shift was over. And I mean I soaked, I had to soak in hot boiling water for a good thirty minutes before I felt clean enough to get out and put my chemise on before crawling into bed for the night.

But all that night I dreamed of a vast treasure, mountains of gold, piles of silver, treasure chest overflowing with jewels. Sapphires, Emeralds, Diamonds, Topaz, and Rubies. A wealth of a thousand kingdoms, enough gold for me to retire and live the rest of my life waited on hand and foot. Enough gold for me to buy a manor house along with enough staff to keep it running smooth. And so when the sun fist peeked over the Bay of Storm and cast its golden bars into my room, I knew what I had to do.

-6-
Hiking Toward the Peppercorn's

The street lamps were still lit when I left the inn. The town for the most part was asleep, with a few tired night watchman making the patrol of the night before the bells of the church would announce the changing of the guard. I passed these weary guardsmen without paying them much mind. They were all dressed the same. Yellow buff coat, tarnished silver breastplate. And a sword and crude iron helmet, not a very impressive sight, but it kept down crime. Anyway I passed them with a nod and they returned it with a nod of my own.

As I started to walk, I noticed how heavy my pack felt. I pushed that thought aside and quickened my pace. My footfalls echoed off the rough cobblestones. After a while I passed the town's barrack, a large, square building located toward the center of town. Here one could take lessons in swordsmanship, or enlist in town guard, also here the militia would muster if the town ever came under attack. I was once told there was enough mail in there to outfit around seven hundred men. That seven hundred men were armed with coats of mail, iron helmets, large iron shields and long spears.

Though I doubted that Sea Breeze would ever field a force of seven hundred men, but I've heard stories though that at the height of the War of the Pretend King the town field a force of twelve hundred armed footmen, four hundred mounted knights, and six hundred bowmen armed with the famous Sea Breeze longbow. Don't ask what makes it famous, I did and could never get a straight answer.

One day I'm going to tell you guys about the War of The Pretend King, because it seems to be some major historical event that totally shifted everything around. Anyway after an hour of walking I put the safety of the town with its well lit streets, bustling shops, and cottages behind me and started down the road that would take to the foothills of the Peppercorns. The moment I stepped out onto the road I noticed the tall, blackened peaks of the Peppercorns starting to through a dark, cloudy sky. It seemed rain was in the forecast. Sighing I cursed myself for not bringing along a raincoat or something. Well too late to turn back now, I'd already gone half a league. And I still had many more to travel before I reached the edge of the Peppercorns. And so with that being said I stepped onto the road that would take me there the fabled mountain where gold, silver and jewels awaited.

The road I traveled upon was old and broken, moss grew between broken pieces of slap rock. Puddles of murky water dotted the road, weeds grew in the bare patches of earth. It was hard going. Soon the heat of the day started to wear me down and my pack became heavy, my breathing became harder and harder.

But I pushed on, the thoughts of a massive treasure waiting for me, just a few league's ahead kept me going. The sun was hot too, and the earth was parched. According to a popular almanac, “Little Beth's Almanac and Household Guide” we were in the month of Martius or the fifth month of the year. Next month would be Aprilis or the month when the wheat was harvested and the last of the summer crops brought in from the surrounding hamlets and villages that dotted the region. At the end of the month there will be a massive celebration according to what Katie told me. I was kind of looking forward to it, that is if I survived my first true test.

Anyway as time slipped on by and my tired feet kept pounding upon the broken pavement I started to think. I had learned that there were other villages and hamlets in the region. Sea Breeze though was the main one and being something of a port the largest and wealthiest one. Most of those villages lacked names, and most were just a collection of thatched cottages surrounding a well. Very few had shops of any kind and most of their streets were dirt, though one or two had managed to pave a few of their streets in cobblestones. It was these villages that made Sea Breeze, farmers would bring the produce from their field's into the town to sell, they would then load their wagons with goods supplied by Sea Breeze Merchants before returning to their isolated farms that dotted the region.

Likewise farm boys from those isolated villages would come flooding in, looking for work, many wanted to work the docks and help unload the few merchant ships that docked along Commerce Street. Since many could make more unloading ships in a day than they could working a day in the fields. Still others came because they wanted to learn swordsmanship and aspired to become knights one day. Traveling peddlers came to Sea Breeze to load up on goods from the Trade Shop before setting off to sell those goods for profit.

Anyway it was well into the afternoon now. I'd reckon I'd traveled a good six leagues from my starting point. And I still had five more leagues to go. And with the sun starting to vanish behind the snow capped peaks of the Peppercorn's I decided now was a good time to make camp. And so, halfway between Sea Breeze and the Peppercorn's I paused. As daylight started to retreat, a cold wind was starting to blow. A foretelling of the winter to come.

-7-
Making Camp

True night had fallen about time I'd decided to make camp. I'd managed another two leagues of hiking before fatigue from my force marched had ordered me to halt. The moment I stopped though was the moment I felt my feet starting to bark, and as soon as I removed my boots, I swear my feet started to glow like embers in the fires hell. Anyway, the first order of business was getting a fire going.

Now before I came to this world, I was a scout, yes, I was a boy scout as nerdy as that sounds. It was something of a family tradition you know. My dad had been in boy scouts too, so had his brother and so had their dad, all three had earned the fabled rank of Eagle Scout so had my cousin a year before. And yes, I'd earned it too.

Anyway, I did, because all the woodcraft stuff I'd been forced to learn had really come in hand. If anything I knew how to build a fire, cook on an open fire, pitch a tent and how to read a compass. All of those skills were coming in hand right now as I busied myself around the tiny clearing I'd found a few yards from the main road.

Anyway, making camp was a simple process. First I had to collect some stones to keep the fire in place, then pile high some kindling, you know twigs, branches and dried leafs that you'll gather in bundles from the edge of a nearby forest. Once you've built your fire you can start boiling some water and cooking.

Now guys, this is a major break through for me, yesterday while at the Trade Shop, the clerk informed they had a new product in, some kind of roasted bean, he told me when the bean was ground up it made a fine powder and when the powder was added to hot boiling water it made a dark, strong drink that had that produced an enchanting aroma and when drunk it said to stimulate the mind and the body. The drink he said was really popular in the far away cities.

My curiosity got the best of me and I told the clerk that I would like to see these beans, he nodded his head, and reached under the wooden counter and a moment later he pulled out a small wooden box. The box was the size of your normal shoe box, you know. And once he removed the lid, I felt my breath being taken away! Those were coffee beans! Roasted coffee beans! I dropped to my knees and fell into prayer, I'd been missing my daily cup of coffee! I quickly asked him how much for the box and he said with a smirk four Crowns. Without thinking I slammed four golden coins down upon the counter.

You should have seen the look on his face when he laid eyes upon those sparkly golden coins. He quickly handed over the box and raked the coins into his greedy little hands. As I left the shop with my treasure in hand the clerk called out to me and promised that he'll try to find some more of these magical beans.

I don't know why I brought that up, but sitting there by my roaring campfire, with my dinner cooking on a smaller fire beside it, I'd managed to rake some hot embers from the bottom of the fire and was now heating up some smoked pork, every now and again the hot embers would sizzle and hiss as some fat from the pork would drip from the meat and onto the hot coals. Make sure to reflect on things you know. And so as I wrapped my fingers around my metal cup and raised it to my lips, making sure to blow some of the steam away before taking a sip. I felt for the first time in over a month a sense of peace. Here I was surrounded by nature and nothing in the world seemed could harm  me.
A moment later I found myself digging into the smoked piece of pork. I'd managed to toast some bread too, so I sandwiched the pork between two pieces of bread, I hate some cheese I had with me on the side. It was a decent enough meal, all washed down with black coffee and cool, clear water. Finally an apple finished off.

Once I'd finished eating I wrapped my scraps into the fire, put away my gear and curled up under my bedroll and then I tried to go to sleep. But sleep was low in coming, I must have laid there for hours, listing to the babble of a nearby brook, the hooting of a nearby owl, and the other pleasant sounds of nature, before my eyes became too heavy for me to hold them up any longer.

-8-

Starry Heavens

I'm not sure how many hours I managed to sleep. But it was still full darkness when I came too, and my fire had died down to nothing but glowing coals. As I tossed the collection of covers off me, I happen to look up and for a moment I felt my breath away, the sky was full of stars.

As I peered into the starry heavens I felt a sudden ping of sadness come over me. Before I came here, to this strange and now I'm finding it not so magical land. I guess even magic loses its appeal when it's common enough. Anyway before I came here, I was enrolled in an astronomy course. I enjoyed it and it was one of the handful of courses I felt I could pull an 'A' in. You see, a few years ago, back when I was attending highschool, back in those good old Yazoo County High days I'd experienced a crisis of faith. I'd left the church of my youth, St. George's Episcopal Church and decided to embrace Wicca.

I'm not sure why I did it. Maybe because I'd finally grown jaded enough to wash my hands of the church. Or maybe because I wanted to spit in the eyes of those who had deemed me an outcast since I'd entered High School. Anyway becoming Wicca to me was a means of expressing myself and trying to make sense of who I really was.

And as I sat their peering up at the night sky, dotted with thousands of stars, I started to recall all the stare lore I'd been taught and for a moment I wondered about my old life. I wondered if these stars were starting to shine over the family I left behind. The family that had been stolen from me. As I peered up at those twinkling jewels that dotted the night sky, I felt a pang of guild come over me. I found myself thinking about the times I'd watched the same night sky from the railing of my dorm. Of those times I'd watched the night sky from a nearby hill when I was going through periods of self doubt.

Then I turned toward the snow capped peaks of the peppercorns that loomed just ahead. Riches untold or certain doom awaited me just a few short miles ahead. I felt myself starting to smirk a little as I shoveled some dirt on the still hot coals of my campfire. If I hurried I could make it to the base of the mountains before the sun rose. Then I had all morning to search for the cave. Once I found the cave, I guess I'll take a deep breath and plunge inside. As I collected my gear and refilled my canteens from a nearby stream I started to wonder what would happen if I died here in this world too? I guess I'll find out soon enough. So that’s what my future held then? Either riches beyond what anybody could ever dream of or the smothering bones of another failed adventure? Anyway it was time to roll the dice of fate.