With a sigh Isa collected her bags, notebook, and glass and moved to the bar. “Hiya Lund. How’s tricks?”

Lund continued to wipe the bar. “The new bard? Dunno. Haven’t seen him perform yet.”

Isa blinked. “What?”

“What?”

“What are you talking about?” Isa said.

“The new bard,” Lund said. “Trix.”

“There’s a bar here called Tricks? That’s too much.” Isa laughed aloud. It felt good to just let go, and the look on Lund’s face made her laugh all the harder. She laid her head down into the crook of her arm as her shoulders shook with laughter.

Suddenly the bar shook from the impact of a heavy object hitting it. “Hoy! No magicks in my bar!” Lund bellowed out the words. “Whoever’s making the hideous laughter on this little girl, they better stop right now.”

At the first shout from Lund, Isa had sat up. Now she dried her eyes and looked around. The few patrons in the bar looked at Isa and then at each other.

When the silence had lasted a few seconds Lund nodded. “Right then. Glad we understand each other.” He handed Isa a soft white handkerchief to wipe her eyes. “That was not nice,” he said. “Don’t like that in my bar.”

“I’m sorry that I laughed, Lund.” Isa folded the handkerchief and set aside, aware that she might be about to lose one of her only friends in this place. “It was rude of me. I think the stress of--”

“It’s not your fault, Isa.” He leaned forward with a solemn look on his long face. “You were magicked by someone. You understand that, right? No one laughs like that, all out of control and leaky eyes, on their own. It was a spell, and I don’t allow magic here!” The last part came out mostly as a shout.

“This place is so weird,” Isa muttered. To Lund she said, “Why would anyone want to make me laugh? That seems like a big old waste of magic.”

“But it’s not! Think about it - your friend is facing off against a strong enemy. Wanna give them an edge? Make their enemy drop in a fit of laughter. Can’t hold a sword or defend yourself if you’re giggling like a baby, can ya?”

Isa pulled her notebook out of the bag. “Can I do that - spells, I mean? I’m a fighter, I guess. Can fighters do magic?”

“Pure fighters, no. But some people, they like variety, and they’ll learn a little magic or train with lots of weapons, or maybe learn to craft.” He shrugged. “Mostly humans though. You lot are restless, never satisfied to learn one thing really well.”

“But you’re human, too. Half anyway. Oh, is that rude to say? I don’t know, I mean I didn’t think about….”

“You don’t know any better. It’s fine,” Lund gave her a smile, but Isa noticed that he didn’t answer her question. She picked up her notebook. “So I don’t have to be a fighter.”

“Do you mind?” Lund held out his hand. “I wanna see what you got. If you started as a fighter, there’s a reason. Might be a good reason.”

Isa slid the book to him. “I didn’t choose to be a fighter, though. I didn’t consciously declare it.”

“Part of you did. Had to.” He licked a finger and turned the pages slowly.

“Well, people have kept telling me that I’m a fighter. That Anne, the merchant lady. The one with the wheelbarrow. And Mery.” Isa leaned over the bar to speak softly, “Is she a criminal? She seems so nice, but I heard someone call her a thief.” Isa let herself fall back to her stool.

“It’s complicated. Mery is complicated.”

His tone said that he was done talking about Mery, so Isa gestured at her notebook. “What do you think? Joth said I need to think about a fighting style. Are you a fighter? Does everyone have a job like that?”

“It’s called a class, and yeah, everyone has one.” He paused to serve drinks to a man at the bar. When he came back he said, “Most people though, they don’t really level it up. You have to have a reason to do that, right? Dangerous work to gain experience and abilities in something.”

“Is it always dangerous, though?” Isa ran her hands through her hair. She needed a nice hot shower. Do they have conditioner here? To Lund she said, “Can’t I just…. practice with my stick? Train like the Karate Kid or something? Maybe get a teacher?”

“With that strength, you will need a lot of practice, but that’s not going to level you. Not like for-real fighting will. Kill some stuff, maybe find some loot so that you level up your gear too.”

“Speaking of that, I need a job, Lund. Like a regular job. I, um, lost one of Joth’s daggers. I didn’t get a chance to tell him, but I need to replace it. And buy a rapier, I think. Oh god, and a toothbrush. And floss. Do you have that here? It’s string that you use between your teeth.”

Lund was staring at her. “You brush your teeth. Why not just wipe them?”

“The answer to that could fill a book, several books, in fact. How about some thread for right now? Just a longish piece?”

Lund shrugged. “Sure.”

“And of course I need food, a change of clothes, a place to stay. And for all that, I need a way to earn some cash - coin. Quickly.”

“I think that’s fine,” said Lund.

Isa knew now that peppering him with questions would lead nowhere, so she said, “What are you agreeing to? Are you saying you have a job for me?” She tried to keep the excitement from her voice. “I was a server in college. I can cook, too.”

“I don’t need a cook. You can wash dishes though. Got a place in the barn, you can sleep there. Pay is 3 silver a day, but I’ll give you a meal.” He rubbed a spot on the bar. “Just till you get your feet under you.”

“You won’t regret it, Lund. Really you won’t. Do I need to start now? I can.”

“Tomorrow is soon enough.” He tapped the notebook. “If you’re serious about adventuring, and I think you are, you need to consider your options. Joth’s right - level 3 will be here before you know. Something like fighting style, well that’s important. Good thing that washing dishes allows you plenty of thinking time.” He grinned.

“Joth said something about thinking about how you approach problems. Before he ran out, I mean. He was all hype for talking about fighting styles, and then suddenly he’s like, gone.”

Lund nodded. “Wizards.”

“That’s a thing, is it?”

“I don’t know?” Lund got a pained expression on his face. “Where’d you say you were from?”

Where had she said she was from? She didn’t think she’d said Portland. Foster? Foster-Powell? What did it really matter? “My land has many names. Most people call it Foster.”

“Your Common is different. Not all of it, right? But some. Enough. Sometimes I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, me too.”

He pointed at her empty glass. “Another?”

“Will 38 copper buy me one?”

“You need to understand money. Don’t they have it in Foster? 38 copper will buy you almost 10 glasses of ale.”

“4 cents? Beer is 4 cents a glass?”

“If a cent is like a copper coin, then yeah. Worth every bit, my ale.”

“And you’re gonna pay me how much to wash dishes? 3 silver? What is that like 400 copper coins?”

Lund stared at her. “Oh boy. Pay attention. 10 copper coins gives you a silver coin. And 10 silver coins gives you a gold coin.”

“That seems very logical. So beer is cheap. Good to know. How much to replace Joth’s dagger, though? Is that like 100 gold or something?”

“Lemme see the one?” Lund held out his hand for Isa to give him the weapon. “For this? 1 gold, maybe 1 gold, 5.”

Isa mouthed ‘1 gold, 5’.

“One gold coin.” Lund held up one finger. “And 5,” he splayed his hand to show all five fingers, “silver coins.” He put a glass of beer in front of her.

“So I need to work like 3 days to earn enough to replace Joth’s dagger.”

“You should look at picking up side quests, too. Earn some good coin, get experience, and like I said, loot.” He sighed. “I loved loot.”

Isa patted her pockets. “Do you have a pencil I can borrow? I need to make notes.”

Lund handed her a stub of a pencil that would have been at home on a mini golf course. “I have a quarterstaff you can use. If you’re sure about that. Weird combo, I gotta tell you that. But that can work in your favor too. People won’t know what to make of you coming at them with a staff and a sword.” He scratched his chin. “With your dex, you should be able to pull it off.”

“Are you sure? You already have done so much. These bracers,” Isa flexed her hands, “are great.” She took a long drink of beer. “This is so good. You would make a mint back home.”

“You favor your left hand? That’s very good. Another point that your enemy will not expect.”

“You obviously know what you’re doing. Can you show me a few tricks? I got lucky killing that deer.” She patted the large bag. “Do you know Morgan? I have the deer’s hide, and Fed-- someone said that he’d trade for it. For, um better clothes I guess.” She felt ridiculous saying this out loud. “Like leather pants and a jacket…. For, you know, protection.”

“Here we call it armor. Leather armor. Pretty common. But you can wear any armor you want, Isa. You’re a fighter. Leather is good and all, but hide is only a little heavier, and it’s much better. I mean it’s no plate, but with your dex, it will be almost as good. And you need to move.” He flexed his shoulders, and Isa saw muscles bunch up and release. “You need to dance. That’s how you are going to win fights.”

Isa grimaced as she took another sip of beer. “Lesbians, well lesbians I know, are not big dancers.”

“Is that a religion?” Lund looked perplexed. “I don’t know that god.”

Of course there was no Lesbos here. “I mean gay women.” She touched her chest. “I like girls. That’s not a problem here, right?”

“Should it be? People are just people. It doesn’t matter who you desire. Everyone knows that.”

“Right.” Isa nodded. “Common sense.”

“But to answer your question, I can show you a few things. I’m no master, but I can give you a few exercises that will help you with balance and speed. A rapier is a good idea. Deadly in the right hands. That will be your left weapon, I think, though we’ll have to see when you are in the yard.”

Lund turned his attention to a couple who’d just entered, and Isa looked at her notes. Left hand deadly, she’d written. Copper/Silver/Gold was another note. Below that she added, Crime, Religion, and Culture. She might be here awhile; she should learn the basics.

When Lund returned to his spot in front of Isa, she said, “Do you have any history books, novels, memoirs maybe?”

“Of course not! What do I look like?”

“Um….” Isa gave Lund what she hoped was a winning smile. “Where I’m from people read books all the time.” Some people anyway.

“Here the only people who read are wizards and sorcerers, arcane, what you call, practitioners. And rich people.”

“No libraries?” Isa’s hopes ebbed. She needed knowledge to navigate this world, and she’d always used books to help her through.

Lund bunched his eyebrows in thought. “Don’t know that word. The temple to Fazar maybe has some books. But--”

“Great, how do I get there?” Isa drained her beer and grabbed her notebook.

“It’s a wizard place.”

Isa paused. “I thought you said it was a temple. Like a church? There’s a wizard church?”

“I can tell you where it is, but I don’t know what sort of welcome you’ll get there. They might welcome you, might throw you out on your ear.”

“Tell me. Please.”

After a slight pause Lund said, “OK. The temple of Fazar is east of here, along the river path. It used to be that the main priest was a man named Belchin, but who knows now, right? Wizards, they’re a strange bunch. Always looking for an edge in their magic.” He shrugged. “People come and go these days.” He held up his hand. “And I’m not saying that they are going to let you look at any of their books, but if it’s knowledge you’re seeking, that’s a place to start.”

Isa had been listening with her notebook in her hand, and as Lund spoke, her notebook vibrated twice. She looked down at it and then up at Lund. “Did my notebook-- Did it just--”

“It buzzed ya? I guess going to the temple is a quest then.” He grinned. “I haven’t done that in weeks! I gave you a quest! Have another beer. On me.”

“I can’t, Lund. I have to go see that guy Belchin.”

“It’s after midnight, and Isa, you have work tomorrow, remember? Those dishes aren’t going to wash themselves.”