“Now,” he leaned forward, “about your archetype…. Have you given it any thought?”

“A little. You said I should think about how I approach problems. And I like to study a situation. I like to be deliberate - the whole measure twice thing, right? In school I’m a note taker, a highlighter, a maker of index cards, but how does that help me as a fighter?”

“Well,” Joth said slowly, “I’ve seen you fight twice now, and I would agree - you are deliberate. A lot of new fighters, they just slash at everything. They try to land blows just by sheer volume. That’s not you.”

“I guess I know enough anatomy that I’m trying to aim for the weak spots.”

Maldinar, the elf innkeeper, swooped down on them with a tray of food. He set a platter between them. It held a full roasted bird. Next he placed a dish of roasted vegetables, a dish of cooked greens, and a small loaf of bread on the table. “The very best pest eradicators are modest and discreet, don’t you think?”

“Yes,” Joth said, “I think I see your point. I will get to my task later, toward bedtime, when the inn is quiet. That is when they will be most active.”

“Perfect. You are our only overnight guests, but we do host revelers most evenings.” With that, Maldinar left them.

Isa leaned over the table and whispered, “Look at all this food! This is more than I’ve eaten in days. Even back home!”

Joth unfolded his napkin. “Enjoy every bite. Feasts like this, they don’t come cheap.”

For a few minutes they concentrated on eating. As she reached for more bread, Isa saw Joth pull off drumstick from the roasted chicken, and she thought about Mery butchering the deer. It is a brutal world. You have to make sure you don’t become inured to it, she told herself. She thought about how triumphant she felt as she slammed her staff into the mugger’s head. Was that brutish, or was that simply the elation of survival? She’d won a fight today - two fights to be exact - and she hadn’t relished the combat. She hadn’t revelled in the blood. No, Isa had taken the challenge head on and beaten it. She’d tried to use surgical precision, deliberate action, and temperance in those fights.

“Is there a surgical fighting style?” She asked Joth suddenly. “That’s what I am. I’m a surgical fighter. I want to study my opponents and find their weak spots. I don’t want to kill; I just want to remove them from the fight.” She nodded to herself. “That’s the kind of fighter I want to be.”

He nodded slowly as he chewed. “Sometimes, like today, you don’t have a choice. The man from the inn, from Traveler’s Rest, you don’t want to leave an enemy like that alive, Isa. You just don’t.”

Isa didn’t respond. She didn’t agree, and she was reluctant to get into an argument, both because she was starting to actually like Joth and because she couldn’t yet articulate why she didn’t agree.

If he noticed, he didn’t point her silence out. Instead Joth wiped his mouth and said, “How does this fighting style of yours manifest? What’s the notebook say?”

“There are rules about that? I thought it was more like a philosophy.”

“It’s both, I guess. I’ve never been a fighter, but I’ve known a few. Here and there.”

“Known them well enough to look at their notebooks?” She was teasing him, but Isa saw a look of sadness flash across Joth’s face. She looked down at her notebook so that she didn’t have to meet his eyes. There toward the bottom of the page, the words: Clinical Eye. And below that: At 3rd level spend 1 round studying your enemy and learn one of the following: if the enemy is equal to or stronger than you in strength, dexterity, or constitution. Can spend up to 3 rounds to discern all 3. Can be used outside of combat as a free action - spend 1 minute to learn all three.

She read it aloud to Joth. “What’s a round? I can’t spend a whole fight watching the guy - or girl - and letting them attack me.”

“I forget that you really aren’t an RPG player--”

“I didn’t ask to come here, alright? I’m sorry I’m not the person you want me to be.”

“That’s not what I meant. Really. I’m sorry. There is a lot to learn, and this world, it’s hard on newcomers. This is like, I don’t know, boot camp or something.” He paused. “You learn an awful lot in a really short amount of time, and you try to do your best to stay alive. And then,” he gestured at his notebook, “you have more to learn.”

“So you get more spells?”

“Yes, I can cast more powerful spells now. I’m thinking fireball. And maybe one noncombat spell. Maybe remove curse or something. I want to see what Fedru thinks.”

“You can do that? Ask advice, I mean. Is there a fighter’s union or league or something? I want advice, too.”

“There are,” Joth said slowly, “guilds and groups and well, I don’t think they’d understand union the way you mean it, but those types of gatherings exist.”

“Not a fan, huh?”

“Not a fan,” Joth agreed. “I’ve known too many good and talented people get steered in a wrong direction by a teacher. I’m not saying anyone was malicious, but ideas can calcify over time, right? And then there’s no other way to be. I can assure you that no guild would allow you to be a surgical fighter.”

“Really? This looks kinda cool, if I understand it.”

“There are fighters out there who might be amenable to offering some advice. I’ll see what I can do to facilitate that, alright?”

“I still don’t get why you’re helping me, but I appreciate it.”

“We both want to get home.” Joth smiled, and after a slight pause he said, “Is there someone back home; a girlfriend you need to get back to?”

A little knot in her stomach uncurled - at least Isa didn't need to worry about Joth hitting on her. “Nah, just friends, job, life. The usual boring routine.”

“Ah.”

“How about you, Joth? Got a wife, a kid maybe?”

“I don’t know,” he said quietly. “In all my studies, I’m still not sure how much time has passed, is passing, in our world.”

“I had that thought, too.” Isa refilled both their mugs. “Are we folded into a moment of time, you know? Like, is the door of the bar still closing, is my foot almost landing as I take my first step into that bar back in Portland?” She took a swig of wine. “Questions like that, they could keep a girl up at night.” Joth didn’t respond, so Isa said, “You know I’m a hygienist. What did you say was your work back home? I think you told me.”

Joth tilted his head down and smiled. “Nothing very glamorous, I’m afraid.”

“Right, and dental hygienists, we’re the jetsetters of the professional world. Come on, tell me.”

“I went to school to be an architect.” Joth shrugged. "I mostly helped design the facilities structures. Pipes, HVAC, that sort of thing. Nothing very exciting."

“But important! We gotta have air conditioning and water and stuff. And you didn’t have to stick your hands in little kid's mouths.” Isa took a drink of wine. The taste had grown on her. “What’s this called again?”

“Uvanti,” said Joth. “It’s like elven rosé.” He smiled. “And yes,it is a nice compliment to the chicken.” He folded his napkin. “And speaking of our feast, I should go earn it.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“What are you going to do exactly?” Isa wiggled her fingers. “Not sure your flamey trick is a good one to try inside a wooden building.”

Joth leaned forward and whispered, “I have no idea. I was bluffing about the vermin! I figured there had to be a good reason why a popular place was no longer popular. Shot in the dark, really.”

Isa covered her hand to muffle her laughter. “Brilliant. You’re a good guy to have around, I guess.”

“I have my moments,” Joth smiled and rolled up his sleeves one turn. He placed his hand on his pack, and Isa said, “Do you mind leaving that? I want to finish my wine and if it looks like someone else is sitting here….”

“You will be left alone.” He nodded. “Leave it at the bar when you go to your room.” He pulled a large book from his bag. It reminded Isa of a high school yearbook - if yearbooks were covered with golden symbols.

“My spellbook.” Joth flashed the cover and hurried away.

Spoiler: Character Sheet

Name: Isa Chamberlin

Race: Human

Height & Weight: 5ft 6inches / 120 lbs

Class: Fighter Level: 3

Alignment: Good

Background: Stranger in a Strange Land

Hit Points: 20 AC: 13

Current Hit Points: 10

Combat: +4 to Hit

Weapons: Rapier (left hand) 1d8 +2 (piercing) / Quarterstaff (right hand) 1d6 +2 (bludgeoning)

STR

11

0

DEX

14

+2

CON

11

0

INT

13

+1

WIS

13

+1

CHA

12

+1

Saving Throws: Str and Con +2

4

Acrobatics* (Dex)

1

Medicine (Wis)

1

Animal Handling (Wis)

1

Nature (Int)

1

Arcana (Int)

3

Perception* (Wis)

0

Athletics (Str)

1

Performance (Cha)

1

Deception (Cha)

1

Persuasion (Cha)

3

History* (Int)

1

Religion (Int)

3

Insight* (Wis)

2

Sleight of Hand (Dex)

1

Intimidation (Cha)

2

Stealth (Dex)

1

Investigation (Int)

1

Survival (Wis)

Special Attack: Two weapon fighting. When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.

Class Features:

Second Wind - On your turn, you can use a Bonus Action to regain hit points equal to 5 + your fighter level. Short or Long Rest before you can use it again.

Action Surge - On your turn, you can take one additional action on top of your regular action and a possible Bonus Action. You must finish a short or Long Rest before using it again.

Martial Archetype: Surgical Fighter

3rd level - Clinical Eye: Spend 1 round studying your enemy and learn one of the following: if the enemy is equal to or stronger than you in strength, dexterity, or constitution. Can spend up to 3 rounds to discern all 3. Can be used outside of combat as a free action - spend 1 minute to learn all three.