I guess I should start at the beginning. I’ve been working as a mercenary for a while now, and had just completed a long term contract with a wizard, who felt that he could spend some of the loot we’d…liberated on making things right in his homeland. After escorting him there, I headed to the next village, and sat down in the Inn, waiting for the guild board to post any unclaimed work.
Artis, the small town I’d entered seemed to run on that model anyway, but for the first three days, the guild board remained bare. More importantly, no one approached it, so on day four, dropping an extra silver coin on the stained, sticky bar top, and asked Joren, the barkeeper, what was going on.
“Ah miss,” he said, with a wink and a smile with one too many missing teeth, making it look a bit more like a grimace of pain. “The guild isn’t hiring out right now. We found that out of townies couldn’t handle our Herlarns, nor our Boonsars,”
A herlan huh? I thought to myself. Unless they’ve been allowed to grow and breed, Herlan’s aren’t too bad. Boonsars though. I thought they were gone from this world. Obviously not.
I offered a matching, sunny smile of my own, and looked down at my hand, casually collecting dark and light into a swirling ball.
“I’m from these parts, I guess you could say, so I’m more than a match for anything you’ve got,” I said. “My mother was a water hag from the swamps two towns over,”
“Yes miss, you’ve got the look of changelings from our part of the world, but nevertheless, the guild doesn’t…” he looked down, then up, and smiled. “The truth of the matter is, because of all of the issues, the guild left here. I post some jobs, but not often. And, as it happens, I do have one. But…” he paused, looking me up and down. “It’s not for magic wielder, nor a changeling. Not unless you’ve learned other things while travelling,” he added.
I smiled coyly, and pushed him a coin, with a knight on one side. It represented the 50 quests I’d undertaken, without using magic. The productivity of conserving my powers.
“Does this maybe answer your question?”
He nodded, and wordlessly tipped his head to a door off the main room.
Knight of Conis keyword
https://www.biddytarot.com/tarot-card-meanings/minor-arcana/suit-of-pentacles/knight-of-pentacles/
UPRIGHT: Hard work, productivity, routine, conservatism.
Hello there, fellow tarot theme! 🙂 I’m liking what you have written so far. And yes, getting rid of monsters and gathering loot can be hard work indeed 😀
Happy A to Z!
The Multicolored Diary
This is a really engaging piece! Theme aside it’s very well written. Not all fantasy displays this sort of deft hand with characters and a clearly developed underlying world that this hints at. There are promises to the reader that you have to keep and that makes it a real ‘page-turner!’ Excellent! I’m not familiar with this specific theme, so I can’t wait to learn about it through your writing!
You’ve built such an elaborate world! Excited to see what is next. Hope you’re feeling better soon.
Thanks 🙂 migraine city, unfortunately for now, but I’m getting there.