Chapter 1

Previously: Five people coincidentally met in an Inn in the morning. A Dwarf, an Elf, a Half-Orc and two Humans. While the Dwarf and Half-Orc asked one of the Humans for directions, all of them quickly had to witness an attempted murder on the Inkeep by a misterious red Tiefling. They managed to tackle the Tiefling and prevent any murders.

The Hell’s Inn.

“My name is Riven and I am an alcoholic”, the brown-haired man says in an awfully staged voice.

“Indeed, he has been frequenting my little tavern for weeks now. I count him to one of my closest…”, the Inkeep hesitates for a bit, “customers.”

“What now?” Ownka asks.

“Let’s keep him down. Bind him to a chair”, Andell suggests. “And question him.”

Riven throws a rope to him “here ya go”

With the help of Ownka and Dagnal, Andell tied the assassin to a chair.

“While we get to the bottom of this, does anyone fancy a drink?” The Inkeep asks.

Dagnal needs a strong tea, the elven woman wants a jasmine one and Andell asks if they have Chai.

“Chai?”

“It is a very exotic drink”, Akmenos wonders, “you must have traveled a lot.”

“I did.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t have that, no. But I could give you a tea of herbs and roots that I plant myself, that should taste just as spicy.”

“Yes, please.”

“Is the drink on the house because we waited for you and made sure you were still alive?” Riven wants to know.

Akmenos thinks for a moment. This whole time the red Tiefling just stood there a bit awkwardly, hands falling from his body, head sunken in.

“I don’t think you of all people here did… particularly… anything”, Akmenos answers. “If I recall correctly, you even wanted to leave.”

“Come on, we’ve been friends, haven’t we? Just a bit of Ale for an old friend.” Riven tries again with his best smile.

“Okay, you get my worst one. But that’ll be the last one for you today.” Akmenos draws him one. “In that matter, a drink on the house for everyone here.”

“Drink for free?”

Akmenos nods at the half-orcish woman.

“Then Ale for me, too.”

The Human man draws a gulp of his fresh drink. “Now it really looks like a circle for group therapy”

Akmenos joins the group with a tea for himself. “This beautiful elven woman here has been playing her stunning music here ever since she came into town”, he gives her a slight bow with the head, “Theiastra”

She returns his bow “Akmenos”

“And might I know the name of my savior?”

“I merely tried to save you. But you can call me Andell. You might have heard of me. Andell from the West”, the mage states.

“I am afraid I have not. Thank you, Andell from the West. And am I right to presume that you are an... Arcanist?”

“Wizard, actually”

“Ah” Akmenos grins slightly, seemingly content that the wizard has fallen into his little trap.

“Well that leaves only this guy”, Riven points to the red Tiefling with his mug of ale.

Dagnal gives him a judging glance. “Aren’t you a little early to drink?”

“I drink what I can drink and I get when I can get when I get what I drink!”

“He works in the night, it is fine”, Akmenos defends him, “It is basically his evening.”

“He still has to show me around later”, Dagnal points out. “I basically paid him for that already.”

“And I will. Do I look like a thief to you?”

The dwarf looks him up and down. “You do.”

“Well I am really offended! But back to this guy”, he adds quickly.

“He said something about Loviatar earlier”, the elven woman states quietly, “As far as I can remember it is an old deity. But I don’t quite remember the domain...”

“Are you working for someone? Did someone tell you to kill him?” Dagnal demands.

“Yes”, the red Tiefling states. 

“Well, then just point them out and we’ll hold them responsible for this.”

The Tiefling stays quiet.

Akmenos sighs. “Okay, let’s do this differently.”

“Yeah, we can do the good cop, bad cop thing”, Riven suggests in a louder whisper than he wanted to.

Akmenos slightly leans towards the fellow Tiefling. “What is your name?”

“Tell me your fucking name you bastard!” Riven shouts so forcefully that he spits.

“Hey, stop it! Not like that!” and to the other guy he says: “Excuse him, he has been drinking.”

“Just tell us your name”, Theiastra takes over in a gentle voice. “Nothing will happen to you.”

“Shit is gonna happen to him”, Riven talks into his mug. “What?”

“He is kinda right. Don’t try to protect him, he is clearly mad”, the wizard agrees.

“I can’t help it”, the elf defends herself, “He looks so young. Too young to be doing something so harmful. What if he is being controlled by someone?”

“I can cast detect magic”, Dagnal suggests and concentrates for a bit. “I can sense a tiny bit of magic coming from him… but it is not applied to him.”

“There are other controls”, Ownka says, “threats…”

“yes..”, Dagnal nods.

“You say he looks young, huh… I don’t know anything about Tieflings - no offense”, the Wizard gives an apologetic look to the inkeep.

“None there. He looks… to be premature, you are right, Astra. But not as young as a child. I’d say… around 17, 18 years old?” Then to him he goes: “How old are you, boy?”

“Old enough.”

Akmenos gives him a kind chuckle. “Behaves like a teen.”

“Listen, you know all of our names, now. So what do you have to lose when you give us yours?” Theiastra tries again to persuade him.

“Kairon” he states slowly.

Theiastra claps her hands “Yay! I got it!” then settles herself. “Thank you, Kairon.”

“Very helpful”, Andell admits. “I still can’t comprehend why on earth he would have thought to be doing the right thing? I mean, he said you owed him.”

“But that doesn’t give the right to kill people”, Dagnal throws in.

“Exactly. So... What did you owe him? Drugs or something shady like that?”

“Oh no. I think what he meant was a badge of fire Whiskey”, the Inkeep admits.

Riven downs another one. “Well that is worth killing for.”

“But I owed not him directly… “So, the thing is… those people I owe…”, Akmenos begins to tell the story, “a few weeks ago, I had a delivery come in to make more beverages. I am also the owner of a brewery not far out of town, you see. The ‘Brewing Kettle’. I make fine wines there, even a few potions, and whiskey. I was attacked when I escorted this delivery, by simple street bandits. Coincidentally, one of them saw it and offered to retrieve my stuff with the help of some guild members, provided I give them a fair share of whiskey in return. They are… some thugs of this town to be honest. But I didn’t know that then, just when they stood on my door with all my stuff and demanded pay. I didn’t brew that much whiskey, since I needed the supplies. Brewing takes some time, you know. A few days, maybe weeks and then it has to ripe. I gave them all I had but… they are not the patient type”, he tells as honestly as a priest.

“From the fire into the frying pan”, Riven jokes.

“What was I supposed to do? I need to brew to make money”, Akmenos sighs. “Speaking of which, I might have a job for those who are interested”, he offers, “you could help me bring those to justice who made Kairon do this. For a bit of money as a reward.”

Dagnal gives an estimating look. “Bring them to justice? What do you mean by that?”

“For now… we can scare them”, Akmenos thinks, “show them that they shouldn’t toy around with the townsfolk and make them forget about my debt.”

“By which means?”

“By any means you think are necessary.”

“How much are we talking about?” Riven scratches his beard.

“Let’s say… 200 gold, total.”

“That guild you spoke of… could it be the ‘Skullaby’?” Dagnal wants to know.

Akmenos nods.

“I know them thugs”, Dagnal frowns, “I was on my way to have a discussion with them anyway. I’ll help you.”

“Thank you”

“I help too”, Ownka decides, lifting up the parchment, “This was your paper, yes?”

Akmenos glances at it briefly. “Yes, I looked for an escort for my supplies… Unfortunately, no one showed up to take the job. You are a bit late, young lady.”

“Then I help now.”

“Thank you, that is very much appreciated.”

“If I could have a look at your potions, I would like to help as well”, Andell suggests.

Akmenos accepts.

“Ah, fuck it, I’ll go as well.” Riven sighs.

“To make up for everything…”, Kairon speaks up, “Could I help as well?”

The group throws some unsure glances around.

“I didn’t want this. I just needed money. They said it was an easy job. But I saw he is also a Tiefling”, he looks towards Akmenos, “and I didn’t want to anymore. But they… only they gave me food.”

“So you are a street kid or something?” Riven looks sceptical. “Got quite the armor and weapons for that.”

“They gave them to me. I ran away from home. I have nothing else.”

“Awww poor kid”, Theiastra makes big eyes, “They just used you. Let’s help them together”, Theiastra suggests, smiling, “I think we can support them or be a distraction. Anyway, it’s gonna make an amaaazing story!”

“I can’t say that I fully trust him”, Dagnal points out.

The others agree.

“But he might serve well as a distraction. He might be able to get you in”, Akmenos remarks.

“i’ll watch him closely”, the Dwarf states, then turns to him and says like a mother tired of their toddler’s shit: “If you try to cross our back…” 

“So, we all are working together now, are we? Then that makes… 33 gold for everyone”, Riven calculates.

“33 point 3 infinity, to be exact”, Andell corrects. “a nice number.”

“Not… really…”, Theiastra cringes.

“Let’s make it 33 for everyone, and a favor, any favor within my abilities you can redeem in the next year”, Akmenos gives in. 

“Okay, just one thing left”, Riven points out, “if we are a team now, we need to know our strengths and weaknesses to plan an awesome strategy.”

“Or we just go in and punch”, Ownka says shrugging.

“I would be more comfortable with what Riven said, too”, Andell admits, “not only because my profession is already revealed…”

“Yes, Wizard”, Riven speaks up, “What can you do? Show us some magic!”

“I am not… an entertainer”, he puts clear, “but I can cast simple spells, like that shield I tried to protect dear Akmenos with earlier.”

“Aaall right, that will do”, Riven surrenders. “This beautiful creature is an entertainer though”, he winks at Theiastra.

“We prefer the term ‘Bard’. Also, that is not all I can do, thank you”, she replies pettily. “I can also cast some spells.” With this said, she points one of her delicate fingers toward him, shielding her mouth with the other hand and whispers something inside. Only Riven was supposed to hear the words “you are such a troll” now.

He grins at that, covering his mouth with his cloak and not breaking eye contact, he whispers something back that lets her blush and turn away, ashamed.

To avoid engaging in this awkward moment, Andell then clarifies: “Ah, the Message Cantrip. Can come quite handy.”

“I am good fighter”, Ownka continues oblivious to what just happened and shows off her Great Axe proudly.

“Should we wait until nightfall or do you think there’s noone there anymore at that hour?”, Theiastra asks.

“I am pretty sure that just after nightfall there will be enough people still around, most of them probably drunk or sleeping. We’d have an advantage because no one will spot us that easily, and we won’t cause a riot that way.”, Riven explains with great knowledge.

So they wait until nightfall - Riven catches up on sleep, Theiastra is playing her music in the Tavern and Dagnal is going shopping for a few things -  and make their way to a little fortress on the edge of town. It has a big front gate, guarded by two people on top that seem to be having fun, being distracted by fooling around. The walls have tiny windows a bit more than one story high and a rooftop, they seem to be functional slim houses. to the right they see a roof that is less high, underneath a back door and what seems to be stables. The roof then connects with the side of the main Building inside.

Dagnal, Theiastra and Kairon are deciding quickly to walk up to the front gate, because that seems the only logical thing to do.

Dagnal speaks up first. “Hullo, I’d like to speak with your boss to discuss some business, please.”

Before she can even finish her sentence, Riven is already gone. He decided to sneak in to get some valuables for himself, just as the guards are distracted by Dagnal. He goes up to the currently unguarded side with the stables.

Andell and Ownka are currently staying behind, confused.

Ownka turns to the Wizard. “What do we?”

“I think we should follow Riven. It would raise suspicion if we walked up to the front gate now; they are already going in.”

Ownka agrees to split the party equally and keep an eye on Riven.

In the meantime, Dagnal persuaded the guard to let them in, even though the guard remarked that they look like a funny group, and they are currently being escorted by one other guy through the yard behind the gate, which is now closing.

Riven can’t really estimate how easy it would be to climb, and he has no idea if someone could see him or what would await him up there. He just estimates that there would be no guards and decides to climb it anyway.

He gets up using some acrobatic movements, as swift as a cat and comes up to two dark windows. He prepares to lockpick one but quickly notices that one of them is open anyway, probably to get some air in. Riven jumps into the dark room and tries to make his way a little further inside.

He tries to see if there are any chests, closets or valuables lying around and also where the door is, but his human eyes see just blackness and while he steps inside a little too uncareful, he hits his thigh on a very pointy edge of a wooden table, which hurt a lot and forced him to suppress a tiny sound of pain.

Still blind, now limping a little, he puts his hands in front of him and walks up to the other side of the room, feeling a doorknob. He tries to open it carefully but notices that it is locked.

No problem for Riven, he thinks, takes out his thief's tools and goes on to pick it. Because he can't see his instruments scratch a lot alongside the doorframe and knob, making an obvious sound for anyone nearby. A manly voice speaks up on the other side: “hey what's there? Get over here, Jason, something is up in your room!”

Riven hears two pairs of footsteps, one heavier walking up to the door and putting a key in to unlock it.

“Shit”, Riven thinks and throws himself silently in the corner which he assumes to be behind the door, readying his rapier and dagger.

The two men go inside, throwing a little light in the room, but don’t notice Riven, who is one with the shadow, going behind the human and dwarf, exiting the room, closing the door to their surprise, pushing it shut and finding the key still in the lock, locking them inside the dark room, hearing but a muffled “Hey what the-?!”

Back on the roof, Ownka pulls herself up with the help of a barrel, then reaches down to help Andell, who seems to have a disadvantage with his flowy coat which was made to conceal and stand out, rather than help with protection. But as she bends over the edge of the roof she notices that Andell is already up. How he did it so swiftly is a surprise for both of them. 

Ownka and Riven come through the window just as Riven closes the door. Thus both parties find no light and are surprised by the arrival of the other. Except for Ownka, who can see the room in shades of grey. 

“Shit”, Andell mutters

Ownka is taken aback to not find Riven in there. “Where is Riven??”

“I can't see”, Andell frowns. 

“You guys! Who is there?!” One of the thugs shouts out, terrified. 

Andell ignites something that he can barely see right next to him with Firebolt, which turns out to be a chair. Oh shit the room is on fire, he thinks first, then: but at least I can see now. 

Unfortunately, the two thugs now too. 

One of them immediately attacks him while shouting "Fire! You lit my chair on fire you bastard!" 

Andell shrugs.

The thug hits him with a mace on the chest, pushing the wizard almost out of the window again. He whines like a dog when the weapon smashes his ribcage, probably breaking a rib or two. 

Ownka attacks that guy on the forehead with the grip of her axe, uses a but too much force on the human though and knocks him out instantly. He now lies on the floor motionless with a big red circle on his forehead, probably seeing stars. 

“Wow”, Andell nods in awe. "good that we brought you with us" 

The friend of the owner of the room now attempts to strike on the half orc with his club, but she parys it with ease. 

Andell now firebolts the guy, which lights him on fire and sets him burning heavily, screaming and tumbling towards the Wizard. He steps out of the qas casually, leading the thug to fall out the window then he lands on the roof with a single thump, alerting the horses. The fire is put out but he is now knocked out from the impact. 

Riven hears muffled shouts and voices from the room, wonders for a few seconds what is going on in there. Right then, Ownka and Andell try opening the door but notice that it is locked. 

"Shit did riven even get here? Why is it locked?" Andell swears while shaking the wood. 

Riven opens the door for his companions in a showmanship-way. "Ah, there you are! Oh, there is a chair on fire!" 

Andell just remembers "oh. Pardon me", takes the blanket from the bed and puts it out. 

The light coming from the lit hallway is enough for Riven to scan the room, finding a chest between door frame and bed. It is unlocked, he opens it and finds some silver pieces, a set of good looking clothes, soap and a crystal door knob. He shoves all of that in the many pockets of his cloak. 

Meanwhile Ownka is examining the thug lying on the floor and finds 10 Gold and a few copper in his pockets as well as an old chess piece, which she keeps. "nice" Except that she thinks for a second and puts 2 Gold pieces back. "for bandage" 

Andell watches the looting, intrigued. “Oh that's a thing?” and curiously looks out the window. “I could use some more pocket money" 

Ownka doesn't seem too amused. "Time. We have to help", she points out the door.

Riven on the other hand nods grinning "yah, sure, get your share." 

That said, Andell carefully jumps out of the window, quickly loots the almost-dead person on the roof and comes back to the others within a minute. 

Let’s go back to the first group. While that was going on, one thug behind the gate welcomes Kai. “Hey Kai! Back so soon?” Then looks confused, as he sees the other people. “Who are they?”

Theiastra, now being talked to, remembers she didn’t necessarily want to go in here, turns around, sees the gate already closing, and turns back around making a pirouette.

Kai speaks up confidently: “We want to talk to the boss. I’m quitting!”

The older thug doesn’t seem to take the younglings shit. “Don’t you talk to me like that, boy!” And to the women he says: “Declare your business! You can’t just simply walk in here!”

Theiastra raises her eyebrows and crosses her Arms in front of her. “For that, it was fairly easy.”

Dagnal punches her gently in the side, signaling her to stop talking back. “We’ll tell you. Yes, right now.” She now signalizes with her eyes to start a distraction.

“Oh!” Theia gets it now and starts to tell their business but in unnecessary length and detail. “Yes! Hiii, hello”, she says enthusiastically, drawing the thug's attention towards her, “My name is Theiastra, and I come from a land far, far away. Long time ago, I was the firstborn daughter of the duchess of the high elves. In that environment I leant-”

The Thug seems very confused at this point, but eagerly trying to follow her story. As well as Dagnal and Kai, now staring at her in disbelief for a second and also listening carefully to her tale, up to the point where she mentions the affair her mother had with the prince.

to be continued...

A D&D inspired Story

 A few months ago I became obsessed with a tabletop game called "Dungeons and Dragons". If you don't know it, it is a game in which you develop your own character to play and go on adventures with your friends. Depending on how you want to play it, it can rely heavily on story, roleplay or combat - or all three. You are thrown into a fantay world in which you can do pretty much anything you want... or at least, attempt to. Because unlike children's games of make-belief, in this game all actions have realistic consequences. To determine these, you roll some dice.

Exactly these versatile scenarios and unplannable outcomes intrigued me as a writer. What if I would create some characters, throw them in a tavern and then, just based on rolling dice, determine if what they would attempt to do succeeds. I would definetely loose a fair share of my control of the plot and essential structure of the story and would have to learn how to write scenarios that I never intended to happen.

So I did it. I created some characters according to "Dungeons and Dragons", so I can use those rules in the background, and started writing with no particular story in mind - for now. 

This project is in most parts not only inspired, but based on this tabletop game. I don't want to steal the work of those who created that game - I definetly don't intend to and won't make any profit sharing this story on my Blog here. I just want to try this idea and see if a story or book will also be read and liked if the story wasn't preplanned by the writer in great detail beforehand, weaving things like hidden messages and foreshadowing inside. And also to see: can a good story be driven by entirely the desicions and actions of the characters? In this experiment, I want to immerse in my characters and see what they would do, instead of what I, as a writer, would want them to do. Also welcoming faliure in tasks I really need them to succeed in and verse visa. 

Also, this is not supposed to be advertisement, noone asked me to write this and I definetely don't get paid by anyone. Think of this story as a fanfiction of "Dungeons and Dragons" (5e, specifically), that I am writing alone (with the help of a more experienced D&D enthusiast).

Starting with this prologue introducing the 6 main characters and adventurers, I will try my best to upload the following chapters on this Blog (hopefully with a nice name for the group as a title, suggestions in the comments are welcomed, you don't need to sign up with anyting to leave a comment here as far as I know) one chapter every week or every 2 weeks on Tuesday afternoon/evening-ish (I am a busy student having to learn latin I am sorry if it takes longer sometimes).

Now, let's dive right in! I hope you enjoy it.

Theiastra (High Elf), Ownka (Half-Orc), Riven (Human), Dagnal (Dwarf), Andell (Human), Kairon (Tiefling)

Prologue

They meet in a Tavern

It is a spacious, warm tavern room with a long bar- behind it is a vast display of liquor bottles of all kinds - and a couple of tables scattered in the room. There is a big entrance door, next to the only, big window showing a busy street, and a smaller back door next to where the bar ends. In that corner is also a staircase that leads up to the rooms where most of the guests spend the night after arriving in this town.

It is fairly early in the morning, so there are just a couple of customers lingering around and a young barmaid, drawing beer for the cloaked human man at the bar and silently judging him for drinking so early in the morning. 

As he gets his beer he is then turning, sipping it, so you can see a lean but mature face, with high cheekbones and a stylish mustache and beard on the small chin. His skin has a dark tan and the dark brown hair is loosely curly, but short and unevenly cut. His eyes are a glittering ocean blue. If it weren't for the old looking, ragged clothes with dirt on them, you would find him as handsome as a lord. His clothes are all very dark but give a hint to a more wealthy past, as they don’t look like a beggar’s clothes, but just old and frequently used. And he turns around with his beer, kinda lying his arms on the bar, resting his back on its edge, having one leg casually on the other. Almost looks like he owns the place - or at least thinks so. He then proceeds to glancing at the other people in the tavern, really trying to figure them out. 

There is a woman sitting alone at a tiny table, enjoying a huge, savory breakfast. She is very small, but stout and the wrinkles around her brown eyes give her a mature look and make it clear that she is in fact a grown dwarven woman. Her naturally red hair is bound up in a very carefully braided crown, she seems to have mastered that technique. Her face is all in all very round, with a pointy nose that has a few freckles over it. She is wearing a simple shirt, and over that a knitted cardigan in dark blue wool and pants tucked into very stable boots. A little pouch dangles from her belt. She points her hand up, to call the barmaid: “Young lady, can I please get another cup of black tea?”

“Yes of course”, the girl answers and goes off to set another kettle on the fire.

While doing so, the dwarf draws the attention of the other people in the tavern to her as well.

One of them is a half-orc woman with ashen skin that has a purple undertone. Her prominent jaw and a bit of an underbite gives space for two fangs on her lower teeth. She has piercings on one of her slightly pointy ears, the side of her nose and one of her bushy but well grown, arched eyebrows. Her build is strong, due to her orcish bone structure and if not for the small waist and thick black hair, braided on the side of her head, you could mistake her for a man. Well, and also she has the most beautiful eyes they have ever seen. She is dressed in a chain mail and has her great axe on her back, like she is expecting a fight any minute. While she is reading in a little book she bites in a bit of bread, then puts a crum in the pocket of her leather vest at her chest. 

She does not sit far from the man at the bar, who is now looking at her. She notices and glances back with her piercing green eyes.

"You live in the town?", she asks him. 

"I do", he answers, unsure how to approach her. His expression seems to be stuck in between courageously flirtatious and awkwardly intimidated.

"Know it good?" 

He grins now, at her strong accent, and replies: "Like my own house" then he fumbles with some dice, upon closer look they seem to be bone dice. "Wanna play?" 

The Half-orc seems to be slightly irritated. "I just wanna know a place." 

The man gave a little chuckle. "I can help you with that…. Let's play a round first. Or you can give me a little bit of beer money just like that. What do you say?" 

He put up his hands in the air, one with the beer now slightly spilling over, as if to surrender. "Hey, ain't nothing for free in this town" 

The woman thought about the offer for a little while, then put her book away and waved him over to her table. He immediately sits down enthusiastically, sighing in content.

He puts the dice on the table, hesitates for a bit, then reaches out with his hand, it has very short fingernails with a lot of dirt underneath and now the woman can smell that he hadn't had a shower in weeks. That doesn't bother the orc woman though, she was on the road for a while as well and upon that is very used to strong smells. His smell reminds her of a goat.

"Riven" he introduced himself. 

"Ownka" she said and slapped his hand hard, giving it one strong shake. 

The dwarven woman, who just returned her empty plates at the bar, giving the barmaid a polite nod, now comes over to the table with her cup of tea, looking more like a mug in her hand. 

"Hullo”, she says melodically, “I would like to know a bit about this town as well, if you don't mind. If this game can be played with three people, of course."

Riven gives her a stern look up and down, then grins again and pushes the third chair out with his foot. 

"Oh well this is a good day for business! Sure, madame, sit down", then turning to Ownka, "if you don't mind, that is."

Ownka shakes her head. 

“My name is Dagnal, by the way.”

“Ownka”

“Riven”

“A pleasure to meet you”, Dagnal says, mostly out of courtesy.

Riven then begins shaking the dice very well, while explaining the game. 

"So first you put your bet in the pot, everyone gets 3 dice each and rolls them, secretly from each other. It goes like this: a triplet is the best you can get, then a duet, followed by a high street, then low street, and then higher roll wins. After you rolled you can change ONE die by putting in another coin of what you originally bet. Then we all show our rolls and see who is the winner. All clear?"

"I think it is clear enough. If there are two triplets, the higher number wins, right?" 

"Naturally"

Ownka makes a long "hmmm" then is like: "so we roll the dice, hidden, and higher roll wins?" 

"basically…" Riven answers, slightly confused. 

"You can change one die with money as well", Dagnal explains kindly. 

Ownka still seems a bit confused but just goes with it. “Okay.”

"Okay, ladies how much should we play for? Let’s say... one silver piece for starters.”

Ownka seems worried “I don't have much, I’ll play for 5 copper”

"Well, I guess that will be enough" 

Both agree, each puts one silver piece in the middle of the table and then gets 3 dice each, rolling them in secret.

Ownka rolls 5, 5, 6; Dagnal 1, 2, 5; and Riven 3 ,4, 4.

“I'll take this”, Ownka says.

“I’ll go ahead and change one.” Dagnal puts in 5 more copper, hoping for a street, and rerolls the 5 to a 5 again and frowns a little. 

While that is going on, Riven attempts to sleight-of-hand a triple 4. He succeeds without them noticing, even though Dagnal is keeping an eye on him, knowing to be careful around townsfolk that like to play dice, he just gets the right timing while she is distracted with her own roll.

“Three fours win over the two fives. Seems like it is my lucky day!” Riven puts the additional silver and 5 copper pieces in his hidden pouch. "Well that was fun. Where should I take you?”

“Was about to look around for supplies first, but basically I am looking for a specific person.”

“And what kind of person would that be?”

“He is very well known to be a gang leader in this town.”

“A gang leader?” Riven looks at her, estimating. “And what would a lady such as yourself want from such a person?”

“I just want to ask a few questions but that really is none of your business now, is it, young man.”

“Hmm… I see” Riven makes out that this is about some of their shady business, but he can’t estimate more. “And you, Ownka? What can I help you with?”

“I want to find the place for the job”, she answers and shows him a piece of parchment, a notice from the notice board.

It is from a local brewery asking for help with a transport of fine wine.

“Ahhh the Brewing Kettle! I know where that is veeery well.”

Just then they are being distracted by the sweet sound of an elven flute, coming from the middle table of the tavern. They can see a young looking elven woman in a fine, flowy and embroidered dress. Its yellow color shines golden against her bronze skin and her sky-blue,sort of whitish hair frames her delicate face, the eyes closed and concentrating on the music. While gambling they did not notice her coming in with the lightest footsteps. After a sweet, short melody she puts down the flute, opens her golden eyes and turns towards the players. 

"Oh I am sorry to have interrupted your play, I play my music here regularly and I am just warming up for today's performance."

"Don't you worry, dear, you played beautifully", the dwarven woman says.

The elf smiled elegantly and bowed her head a bit in thanks. 

Riven makes some flirty eyes at her. “You look as beautiful as ever.”

She seems a bit disgusted at that and tries to ignore it.

In that moment another figure comes down the stairs, fully cloaked with a hood on despite being inside. Their features are hidden, but it can be seen that they are tall, and with the flowy cloak almost reaching the floor, appearing slimmer than they really are. The only noticeable feature is the long, blonde hair peeking out the hood of the noble looking cloak that is embezzled with pearls and jewels around the neck. 

The barmaid greets him immediately. “Would you like some breakfast, sir?”

“No, I-”

Before they can finish their sentence, a strange figure barges into the tavern room. It is a dark red, black haired Tiefling with one broken horn, wearing black armor. He is drawing a black blade with a bone and dragonscale grip from his back, pointing it towards the girl. “Where is the owner?”

The girl begins to shake, almost crying. “I-in the b-backroom”

“Get him here! NOW!”

The girl leaves running, almost tripping over her own feet.

The cloaked figure comes forward, showing the palm of his hand to the young looking Tiefling. “Hey, hey, lower your weapon. What is this about?”

The cloak being very persuasive, the Tiefling actually lowers his weapon a bit. “I am not doing anything wrong. He owes us.”

The Human glances at him, thoroughly. “I get the feeling you want to harm him. I hope you have good reason for this. If not, I’ll have to intervene.” And takes a slow step back. Then talking to himself they go: “I can’t let the inkeep die on me and lose my room here.”

Just now, the owner of the tavern comes up behind the bar, hushing the girl away. She closes the door and locks herself in the back room. He also is a Tiefling. One with thick, inwards curling horns like the ones of a very old ram, entirely white eyes and - ironically- a white goatee, his skin the deepest brown, like black coffee.

Before even having seen the entirety of the situation, upon first glance at the sword he goes, with a stern grandfather-y voice: “What is this about? Put away your weapon, we don’t tolerate this here!”

The Tiefling takes a step back, surprised and speechless. They can see his eyes going wide, his hands trembling, lowering the sword almost to the ground as if it has suddenly become very heavy. 

“You are a fellow Tiefling, I see.” He brings up his hands to his sides, his chest growing wider with pride. “I welcome you here, in Akmenos’ Hell’s Inn.”

In this little break, they can hear faint crying from the back room and everyone in the taproom tenses.

“You owe us. You had enough time to repay your debt”, the Tiefling stutters slightly.

The Inkeep’s tail starts flicking back and forth nervously, like the one of a cat before it strikes. He crosses his arms in front of his chest, taking a defensive stance. “I don’t remember owing anyone anything. Who do you work for? Was it you who has been standing in front of my Tavern the whole morning?”

The Tieflings eyes close for a moment, he is thinking to himself, and when they open they grow blacker than before, he brings the blade up and mumbles something in a foreign, deep language that only the Inkeep should understand.

The only word the elven woman can make out is “Loviatar”.

He turns back to the Inkeep stating, still stuttering: “I am terribly sorry to inform you that I’ll have to kill you now, since you have misused our trust and to complete my work. Furthermore I’ll need to behead you and” he pulls forward a little paper stuck in his belt, looking at it like a bad actor who forgot his lines “and will also take your heart and liver.” Then he takes a stance ready to charge, points his blade at the other tiefling, sighs slightly “here we go” and pushes forward.

In that moment Andell casts a spell as quickly as he can, attempting to form a magic shield around the Inkeep. But the time was too little to finish the spell.

“What the fuck?!” Riven exclaims in shock.

The elven woman sinks in her chair, covering her face. 

Dagnal jumps up from her seat, as good as she can being a little short for it. Ownka too, sending her chair three meters back before it tumbles over.

Not only the chair, also the Tiefling then misplaces one of his feet, causing him to trip and tumble over as well. The people in the tavern are left with quiet astonishment and misbelief.

Just now Andell’s shield forms around the Inkeep, protecting him from further harm.

Dagnal and Ownka try to push him on the ground, Dagnal arrives first and sits on him.

Kai tries to get up, but Dagnal keeps him down with her weight. 

“This is none of your business, let me go”, he says.

Riven agrees. “Yeah, just fuck him who cares.”

Dagnal slowly begins to lift her weight.

“But you attack him again?” Ownka asks.

“Come on, let’s talk this out in private”, Akmenos suggests, “one Tiefling to another. This might just be a misunderstanding.”

“Shouldn’t we give him to the police”, Dagnal wants to know.

Unsure what to do, Riven drinks the rest of his beer and sets the mug back on the table. “Okay, I guess it is time to leave.” And to the two women he says: “Let’s go, I’m gonna show you your places.”

“No”, Ownka says, “we can’t leave” and points towards the red Tiefling.

“Yes”, Dagnal agrees, “we have to make sure that everything is okay here first.”

“But why? These people have nothing to do with us”, the man protests.

“You don’t leave without us, guide”, Ownka almost threatens.

The man sits down again and sighs.

“Thank you all, the help is much appreciated”, the Inkeep says earnestly. “But I am afraid that this is a matter between us Tieflings.”

“Do you know him then? It didn’t seem like it”, the mage asks.

“Well… no, not exactly…”

“Well, then it seems, a crime was committed and we are all witnesses”, Dagnal points out.

The red Tiefling mutters something in a foreign language again. “It was not a crime”

The brown-haired human agrees absentmindedly “technically, just an attempted one.”

“Dear people, please understand that I wish to get to the bottom of this myself”, the Inkeep suggests, “He is a brother of my blood nonetheless and thus I have mercy upon him. The authorities will only see his kind and not the true colours of his actions. When they judge him, they will be harsh. I believe we can sort this out like this just fine.”

“He just wanted to kill you!” The elven woman now shouts out from behind everyone, her eyes still wide in shock.

“Fair point”, the mage agrees. “it was pretty obvious”

“But you don’t know all of the story, do you?”

The mage thinks for a bit. “Also fair point, Inkeep.”

“Please, call me Akmenos.”

“Fair point, Akmenos.”

“Well, you are the victim of this crime”, Dagnal points out, “I think you have the right to decide if you want to press charges. I would sure like to.”

“If you would just hear me out, gentleladies and men, I don’t think this was his doing alone.”

“So… you suggest he took a job from someone?”, Riven asks reluctantly.

Akmenos seems to remember something just then “Ah”, he goes to the door and knocks slightly, “Kelly, you can come out, it is safe now. I’ll get you to the door, you can take the day off.”

The girl named Kelly, unlocks the door and steps out very hesitantly. Akmenos escorts her to the front door, not letting her see the other Tiefling, he kinda signals the guests to get in front of him, and Dagnal, the elven woman and the mage hide him with their bodies. The Inkeep then locks the front door, turns around and claps his hands together. “Well, this seems like a fun little group.”

“We’re not a group, if anything we’d be a therapy group”, the brown-haired man chuckles sarcastically, playing with his dice.

Akmenos decides to ignore that comment. “Should we get to know each other?”

“My name is Riven and I am an alcoholic”, he goes on.

To be continued with their first little adventure...

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