The Quests of Fable

Ch. 15: A Visit From a Friend

The first thing they did back in town was get four rooms at the local inn. The second was to send Kieran out on a snack run. Barley offered to patch up Fable's arm, but she had enough magic left to use her healing spell. It wasn't very strong, but it would be just fine for something small like a cut. They all hung out in Jin's room while they waited for Kieran to come back. Jin had taken her armor off and was down to just a simple grey tunic and pants. It made her seem much less intimidating, although Fable had no doubt that the knight could still kill a man in two seconds flat if she really wanted to.

Finally Kieran returned bearing some bread, strawberry preserves, some small cucumbers that he refused to elaborate on, and some unidentified meat that he assured them was perfectly safe to eat. Fable supposed that was what they got for sending the rogue to do the shopping.  On the bright side, the bread and preserves were excellent together.

"So," Fable began. "Where are we going next, and what are we doing with this cool stuff we found?"

Jin paused. "I suppose a discussion would be in order regarding both of those matters. Are there any suggestions regarding the fate of the artifacts?"

"I vote we sell it," Kieran said instantly. "Then we can split the money four ways and get more personalized stuff."

"Yes, but we don't know what it all does," pointed out Barley. "Maybe it'll be something really useful, and we'll just sell it because we can't figure it out."

Fable nodded. "Barley is right, but so is Kieran. There's always the chance we'll get scammed if we don't really know what we have, though."

"Oh, true," Kieran murmured. "And we don't want to lose money... Jin, any input?"

She nodded. "I suggest that we seek out someone to evaluate the items we discovered. Once we know their purposes, we can decide which ones we would like to keep and which we will be selling."

They all nodded in agreement.

"Now that that's out of the way," Fable said. "Where are we going next?"

"Perhaps we should investigate a map," suggested Jin.

Kieran nodded. "Good idea. Want me to go get one?"

"Better do it in the morning," said Barley. "And please don't steal it."

"Steal? Me? What do you take me for, a criminal?"

"Aren't you literally a rogue?" Fable cocked her head.

Kieran huffed. "That's beside the point."

Jin cleared her throat. "Are you two finished."

"Sorry."

"As I was saying, it would be prudent to look at a map before we decide our next destination. However, Barley is correct. We should wait until morning before we pursue any of our options."

They all finished their dinner, and everyone headed back to their rooms to go to bed. When Fable opened her door she noticed that Slight had climbed onto her bed and was sitting on the pillow.

"C'mon, you can't stay there." She lifted him up and set him on the ground. "Up you get."

The next morning, they went out into the markets to find someone to appraise their magical items. Fable went with Kieran and Jin went with Barley so they could cover more ground, and they all agreed to meet back up at the inn for lunch.

Kieran managed to be somewhat entertaining with his endless slew of puns. Slight had decided to follow Fable for reasons of his own, and while he was silent as usual, the little creature did catch the eye of a few curious onlookers. The markets were full of all manner of people, bustling and rushing to the next shop. It was enough to make Fable's head spin.