Brian Pratt - The unsuspecting mage

The man’s demeanor is warm and friendly. He crosses the room and extends his hand. “Corbin, how are you doing? Are your little ones doing well?”

Taking the hand, Corbin shakes it. “They’re doing well, as am I.” Gesturing to James he adds, “This is James. He is the one that’s here to see you.”

His attention turns to the farmer’s companion and appraises him with a cursory glance. “How may I be of service?”

James hands him the letter from the mayor.

Alexander scans the missive then nods. “Ah, yes, the reward for Garrett the Snake and his men. Heard the story last night at the Squawking Goose. The mayor said you would be coming by. What would you like to do about it?”

“What do you mean, ‘do about it’?”

“Well, I could give it all to you now, but that would be far too much for you to carry. Or, you could set up an account and I would keep it safe and secure for you until such time as you need to withdraw it.”

“Sort of like a bank?”

“Bank?” Alexander asks in confusion.

James nods. “You know, a place where you deposit money, get loans, stuff like that.”

“Uh, yes. Just like that.” Alexander glances questioningly toward Corbin who shrugs and mouths, He’s not from around here.

Oh, he replies in the same silent, discreet manner.

James considers what he might need and realizes he doesn’t have the faintest idea. Whenever he ran characters during role playing, he always liked to have fifty gold pieces. It was a tidy sum and wouldn’t impact his encumbrance too severely, and should more than suffice for his immediate needs.

“I think I’ll take fifty gold pieces and set the rest up in an account.”

“Very good, sir. If you will but wait a moment, I shall return with your coins and the papers to set up your account.” With that he turns and makes for the door. The guard opens it for him and closes it once again after he passes through.

James and Corbin wait only a few moments before the money lender appears at the opening in the wall with a leather pouch, along with three papers. He motions James to the window and opens the pouch. Spilling gold coins onto the counter, Alexander proceeds to count them with James, ensuring they are in agreement that the count is accurate. Once satisfied the number of coins is correct, he has James place the coins back into the pouch. Alexander then takes the papers and points to a line. “You need to make your mark here. This says you are entrusting us with your money, until such time you request it to be withdrawn.”

James takes the papers and to his surprise, can read them. He looks them over and finding nothing that he disagrees with, signs on the line.

Alexander takes the papers. “Thank you, sir. I am certain that you will be pleased with the level of service that my establishment will accord you and your money.”

“Thanks to you as well, Alexander,” James replies, then turns to Corbin, “Shall we go?”

He nods. “Goodbye, Alexander.”

“Goodbye, Corbin. Hope to see you again soon.” Alexander then leaves the window and disappears to the back.

Corbin turns to lead the way out the door to where the horses are waiting outside. James manages to mount without aid on the first attempt and gives Corbin a smile of triumph.

“Now, to Hern’s farm.”

James nods. “Lead on.”

They head their horses back through town and leave by a road other than the one they came in on. James finds that this time, he doesn’t feel in danger of tipping to the side. His horse also responds well to his directions and the difficulty he experienced earlier fails to return.

Once they leave the outskirts of Trendle, Corbin asks what he plans to do once they reach Hern’s place.

“I’m not really sure,” James admits. “It’s likely there will be nothing I can do.”

Hern’s farm lies several miles from town; and with his fear of riding gradually diminishing, James is able to enjoy the ride through the farmland. There’s a certain sense of freedom being on a horse gives that he never felt before. He figures it to be what driving a car for the first time must be like. His grandparents had never felt comfortable with him driving and had somehow managed to forestall any attempt he made to get his license. He wondered what they would think of him now. A touch of homesickness returned, but the sun on his face and the freedom a horse brings soon had him cheerful once more.

From the main road, they take a small lane leading toward a line of trees in the distance. Soon, a small home with a barn out back and corral to the side came into view.

“Is this it?”

Corbin nods

James slows and gives the vicinity a once over. Everything appears normal. He makes a quick loop around the house with Corbin following and fails to discover anything that might indicate the fate of Hern. Returning to the front of the house, James brings his horse to a halt and sits for a moment staring at the open front door. He then closes his eyes to see if can feel anything weird, like a residual trace of evil or magic. He doesn’t.

Yeah, like I’d know what that would feel like even if it was here, he muses to himself as he opens his eyes and dismounts.

“What do you think?”

James shrugs. “Don’t know. Let’s check out the inside.”

He and Corbin dismount and approach the front door and enter. They find the insides just as Corbin had described with dinner still on the table, though by now it was pretty ripe. There was no sign of a struggle or anything. It looked like he just up and walked away.

Returning outside, James considers the problem;

Corbin wants me to find where Hern is. How can I locate him? How did they do it in all those books I read? Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, Esp., not sure how to go about those. When you need to find something you use…you use…a compass? Could I fashion a magical compass to point out the direction of Hern’s whereabouts? The image of a tracker having his hound sniff an article of clothing worn by the one he sought sprang to mind. That might just work.

“I think I may have an idea. Let’s go to the barn and see if I can find material to fashion a compass.”

“What’s a compass?”

“It’s an object one uses to find things,” James replies. “Back where I come from, they would use it to always point north. That type of compass doesn’t require magic.”

“Why would you care where north is?”

“It’s mainly used by sailors when they have no sun or stars to steer by.”

“That would make sense.”

Reaching the door to the barn Corbin opens it and steps back, allowing James to enter first.

Once within, James scans the interior to see what materials are available. Over in one corner are a dozen narrow posts neatly stacked. Crossing over to them, he spies one with a diameter measuring roughly three inches and takes it. Motioning for Corbin to come over, he asks, “Could you cut me a smooth, half inch section off of this one?”

“Sure,” he says and takes the post. He then carries it to a workbench near where a rack of tools hangs on the wall. Taking down a saw, Corbin positions the end of the post so it extends over the edge of the workbench. “Do you want it off the end or should I remove the end first, then cut a section?”

Rubbing his finger over the end, he finds it rough and cracked. “Maybe you should take the end off first. I’ll need it smoother than that.”

“All right.” He then proceeds to remove the unusable portion. Once it drops to the ground, he starts on the piece James requested.

While Corbin works on the post, James continues to look through the post pile and finds another that has a slightly wider diameter than the first. When Corbin finishes removing the desired section from the first post, he has him saw a similar piece from the second.