Upon exiting a local tavern after a night of carousing on a hot summer night in the seventh month called Flamerule, Flamerule 18, to be exact, I saw that a group of orcs was stealing the Orc War Wagon that I stole, probably from them.

“There goes my ride,” I said.

I was unable to get a ride back to my temporary lodgings with anyone from the tavern, so I hoofed it back to the inn I was staying at. I managed to find my way to the inn okay, without getting lost – for once. Although it was late, the innkeeper called me over, perturbed at the interruption as she served her customers on a busy Friday night.

“There’s a package for ye, Zax” she said, as she hefted a package from under the bar and set it down on the bar; the package was nondescript, wrapped in brown paper, and tied with string.

The only writing on it was my name, in a beautiful, flowing script. I quickly opened it a bit and peeked inside. What I saw was the most beautiful scarf I’d ever seen, albeit strange in its appearance; it was made of well-constructed cloth and was covered with platinum colored dragon scales. Just a few hours ago I said that I didn’t want anything to do with dragons, and now this. Was this an omen? A sign of things to come? I recognized it in an instant, from tales and legends.

The innkeeper’s eyes widened, and she quickly closed the wrapping. It was evident that she knew what it was too. “I hear lots of things here in the inn; adventurers talk about items of great power. This is one of them. Best to keep this hidden and guarded.”

“I know what I’m going to do with it,” I leaned in close and whispered. “Sell it.”

“Let me send Dale with you,” she said, “for protection.” She waved over a well-muscled man. “Follow him and take him wherever he wants to go. Make sure he gets there safely.”

“Are you expecting trouble?” Dale asked. She shrugged. “Aye, most likely. Who knows, though. Expect it to happen, even if it doesn’t and be prepared for it.”

He left and went upstairs, only to return shortly, well-armed and armored. I, too, went upstairs, grabbed my backpack and shoved the package down in it, as a backpack is less conspicuous than carrying a package through the streets late at night, which is sure to invite trouble. I went to a residence in the affluent part of town, to the estate of Shelby “Ironstaff” Brickley, someone that I know through my profession as a merchant. I don’t know her personally, more like know of her. One of her servants opened the door, mad at being awakened in the middle of the night.

When she came downstairs, “I have something you might be interested in,” was all I said in response to her question about why I was here so late. I showed her the contents of the package and she was interested. After much discussion and verifying that the item was indeed genuine, we settled on a price, half of the item’s value, which was still a good deal of money. Two-hundred and fifty thousand gold pieces was nothing to sneeze at. She had one of her staff draw up a contract and I signed it. She then had said staff take a paper with the amount due to me to a bank, giving me a copy.

“I’ve created an account for you that the money will be deposited in.” I thanked her and took my leave. The next few hours were a whirlwind; I took some of the money, thanked the innkeeper whose disposition brightened considerably now that I had some coin to my name, her knowing of my reputation for being on the down and outs financially more than not, and Dale, with a little gift of gold for them both, and spent some of the money. Then, after a late night of carousing, I went to bed.

The next morning, I stepped out of my room with plans to cancel my adventurer training sessions, as I no longer needed to pursue this course of action. I looked forward to a life of retirement, rather than risking my neck as an adventurer. I prepared to have an elegant breakfast, followed by a large mug of ale and thoughts of what I would do with the rest of my life, now that the whole world was open to me. Alas, it was not meant to be. Instead, I was accosted by two burly town guards, who grabbed me roughly by the arms and transported me in an ungentle-like fashion to the nearest courthouse, placing me in a room full of people. I saw a lot of familiar faces there, many of the people who were in the audience last night. I pulled the guards aside as they attempted to leave after they deposited me in the room.

“Listen,” I said, as I attempted to have a quiet conversation with them in a small room full of people that were all nearby. “I don’t know these people. I just met them last night. I have no allegiance to them. Whatever happened, I had nothing to do with it.”

The guards listened silently, and then I heard one remark to the other as she shut the door, “How rude.”

“Yeah,” the other guard responded, “He seems like a blackguard.”

“That’s rich,” I said, considering they were both guards in the employ of the city.

“Only concerned with himself, that one is,” she said. The rest of their conversation was lost as the door was closed now.

“Just like everyone else,” I replied. I turned around; people stared at me. “Almost everyone else,” I said, and gave them a wan smile. This was tense. I feel a joke coming on. Here’s another one I heard on the aether: “Just seen a burglar kicking in his own door. He must have been working from home.”* It occurred to me after I told the joke that maybe this wasn’t the best joke to tell, given the circumstances. When we got into the courtroom, come to find out it had nothing to do with me. I was sweating crossbow bolts, thinking it was someone after me to pay my debts. Turns out this wasn’t the case at all. We were being questioned about the Platinum Scarf, which we had all received.

I was asked about my experience with it, which I related. Thinking I had hit the jackpot and could retire from the adventuring life even before it began, I sold it that night and then went and bought myself a sweet ride to replace the Orc War Wagon that I lost. Flush with money and giddy at my prospects in life now, I was even going to pay off my debts. I bought a chariot with two celestial horses to pull it. The celestial horses didn’t seem taken too much with me. Not having a lot of experience with land vehicles and even less with animals, celestial though they may be, it wasn’t the swiftest or easiest ride home. It was some time before I reached the inn where I was staying.

Back in the courtroom, based on the stories that the others related, all the scarves had mysteriously disappeared. I blanched. If all of their scarves disappeared, then my scarf probably disappeared as well. I gulped; that familiar sinking sensation of failure returned to the pit of my stomach. I did hear some potential business ideas, as one person was a platinum washcloth merchant, another a platinum shirt merchant. Apparently, platinum textile items are a hot commodity. Perhaps I’ll look into that once I’m done here, although the market here does seem like it might be a crowded one.

First, though, I thought I was in trouble. We were all released, being innocent of all charges. When I returned to the inn, and when she looked at me, the innkeeper’s scowl had returned and was even deeper than it was before the scarf came into my life. There was a man at the bar. She nodded to him. He broke away from the bar and moved towards me with casual ease. I was greeted by a swole man who gruffly informed me that I would have to repay the entirety of the money to Ms. Brickley that I received for the scarf as it had disappeared. I recognized muscle when I see it. He was intimidating, even to one such as I who is accustomed to such things. Shelby is a person of great wealth, power, and influence. Not someone to be trifled with, owe money to, or cross. I didn’t quibble, although I did sigh. I then unwound everything I did last night. I returned the chariot and horses. The dealer informed me that I wouldn’t get full price for returning it as once I take it off the lot, the value of it drops dramatically.

As one versed in contracts, I should have known this and read the entire contract before I signed it. Disappointed, I took what I could get. I returned the money, what I had on me, to the person and explained the situation. I was now deeper in debt than I was before this debacle. My bigger concern, past that I owed Shelby money, was that she would ask for a favor or favors in addition to returning all the money, as part of the restitution for being in debt to her. I need to make money pronto. It looks like I’ll have to be an adventurer after all. Back to training then. The now meager breakfast didn’t taste as good as it was going to before I was hauled off to court.

*Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxhRAKJKOYw (Time index 0:39)

A few notes about my newfound group of acquaintances:

I ran into Mhyrrine at a tavern, where she spoke about her dislike for Dwarves, blames the entire environmental catastrophe that is now occurring on Dwarves, due to their lack of concern for the environment whilst mining and other things, for treasure. I thought we might have a connection because we are paladins. Turns out that’s probably not going to be the case.

A week later, I ran into some of my compatriots at a tavern. Again, Mhyrrine displayed her dislike for Dwarves and actually went so far as to slap one. I think it’s best to keep my distance from that one.

Ki seems like a brusque sort of being. When approached at the tavern, even though they were in the middle of a meal, their response was less than heartening. Probably best to avoid talking to this one as well.

Hussst is interesting. His speech tonight shows his motivation to take advantage of this opportunity to consolidate his power in an authoritarian fashion. Another one I should probably keep my distance from.

Iru Seyu seems interesting, at least more fun and approachable than the previous few beings I’ve mentioned in my journal.

Kai, a human paladin, not to be confused with Ki, a shadar-kai sorcerer, I don’t know about. Kai seems okay. A regular sort of fellow, if you will. I’ll keep making notes in my journal about all of my newfound acquaintances.

Picture source: https://www.cbr.com/dnd-5e-fizbans-treasury-powerful-magical-items/