Isa sat waiting at the bar for Mery. She was alone. Joth said that he would join them later. She was happy for the solitude. She'd spent the last two days with him, which was more time than she'd spent with anyone since she kicked Celeste out.

Which sounded more dramatic than it was. She'd demanded that Celeste pack her clothes and go, and her girlfriend - ex-girlfriend - had simply sighed, walked to the bedroom, and taken down a suitcase.

That stung almost as much as the actual betrayal. Celeste wasn’t apologizing; she wasn’t begging, promising that it wouldn’t happen again. No, she was in their bedroom, packing her clothes quietly and efficiently.

They had only spoken once since that day. Celeste had gotten a letter - a real letter - at the apartment, so Isa had called her, left a message and waited. A few hours later, without a return phone call, Celeste was at the door for the letter. She said, “You look good. You doing alright?”

“Yeah,” said Isa. “I guess. Are you, are you moving to New York?”

“New York?”

“Isn’t that where Roni is? I thought you would….”

“We haven’t discussed it,” Celeste had said. She put the letter in her bag. “Roni isn’t putting a fence around me. She isn’t laying all of these expectations on me.”

Isa crossed her arms tightly against her body as if her vital organs might escape. “Is that what I did? I fenced you in?”

“There you go! You latch onto a word, and you just beat it to death.”

“If you were so miserable, why’d you stay? Huh?” Isa remembered that she’d stepped into Celeste’s personal space, as close to hitting another person as she’d ever been in her adult life.

“I stayed because I was worried about you” Celeste’s words came out flat. “Because I thought you might kill yourself if I left you.”

It was as if Celeste had slapped Isa in the face, and she stepped back. “Kill myself? Why wou--”

“You can’t deny how completely insane you’ve been this last year.”

“I’ve been applying for dentistry school! Writing essays, filling out applications, working. I’ve got a lot going on, and you haven’t been much help!”

“Maybe if you’d thought about how this would affect me, us, then maybe I’d have--”

“I made you cheat?” Isa took a half step back toward Celeste. “I did this? It’s my fault?”

“Yes,” Celeste said quietly. “You pushed me away. You always do. Pamela, Faye, that girl on your volleyball team--”

“Get out.” Isa blinked away tears. “Just leave.” She could remember the moment she’d told Celeste about Jenny King, her first crush. She poured out her teenage fears, hopes, and heartbreak to Celeste, the woman that she thought was her soulmate. It was one of those crystalline moments of vulnerability where you know that you’ve just revealed a deep wound, but it feels so wonderful to share it and feel less alone.

And here was Celeste throwing that back at Isa, and she couldn’t even remember Jenny’s name. “Leave,” she repeated. “I can’t believe I wasted 3 years of my life on you.”

“Tell me about it,” muttered Celeste as she brushed past Isa.

As soon as the door shut, Isa had collapsed in a heap and cried. Gut wrenching sobs that come with deep, inconsolable grief....

She realized she’d been gripping the earthen mug of wine so hard that her knuckles were white. Hard to believe that it had only been a month since then. She took a sip of the Uvanti. A few things had changed, hadn’t they? What would Celeste think to see Isa now?

“I need to stop caring what that woman thinks.” Isa spoke aloud without realizing it. “Right here, right now. No more.”

“I’ll drink to that,” said Mery. “Whoever she is.”

Isa turned with surprise to see the brown haired woman sitting beside her. “You haven’t been here long, have you?”

Mery nodded at Brown, the bartender, and then smiled at Isa. “Just got here, but what did I miss now?”

Isa took a drink of wine. “Not a thing.”

Brown put a mug in front of Mery who picked it up and held it out. “To women in our past. May they stay there.”

With a laugh Isa clicked her mug to Mery’s. “Yes. Indeed, yes.”

With her hands cupped around her mug Mery said, “I wasn’t sure I’d see ya here.”

“We’re here for another night. Joth’s extermination special.”

Mery gave a confused smile.

“Do you know how much the innkeeper wants for this place a night?" Isa tried to keep her voice low. "1 gold, 5 silver. Can you believe it? Joth talked him into -- well, maybe I shouldn’t say. Joth got us a deal by offering to help with the vermin problem.” She dropped her voice at the word vermin.

“Maldinar made the wrong mage mad, I think.”

“That should be a saying - make a mage mad, wake up with fleas.” Isa paused. “Maybe bed bugs. Hmmm, it doesn’t quite scan.”

“You’re a fan of the verse, then?”

Isa had been sipping wine and spilled a little as she turned to Mery with a questioning look. “Verse? Like the universe?”

“Verse. Poetry. Sonnets, stanzas, flowery language, and such. You were saying your little saying, it wasn’t rhyming the way you wanted. Not flowing, as such. Common enough malady for the poet, eh?”

Isa laughed. “I’m not known as a poet among my friends back home.”

“What are you known as? Who is Isa when she’s home?” Mery propped her head in her hand.

With a small shake of her head Isa said, “I don’t--” And then there were tears in her eyes. A fresh wave of homesickness washed over her.

“Uvanti. It does that to some.” Mery tossed her drink back. “Never touch the stuff when I’m working.”

“What is that, then, that you’re drinking,” asked Isa. She was glad to have something to focus on.

“Cold tea.” She nodded at the bartender. “Brown, he knows me. Serves it like this so that I can blend in.” She held up her hand to him and then pointed 2 fingers down. A few moments later Isa had a fresh mug in front of her. She sipped the liquid inside and tasted a cool, light tea.

“And what is it you do, exactly when you're working?” Isa paused. “Can I ask that? Or is that rude?”

“You can ask anything you like, Isa.” Mery pronounced Isa’s name with extra Es so it came out like EEE-sah. And Isa found that she rather liked how it sounded.

“Well, haha, I have a lot of questions about this world, so it’s not personal.” She smiled at Mery.

“Ah, too bad then!”

“OK well here’s a question, do you flirt with everyone?” Isa surprised herself with the boldness. This world really was changing her, but why not? She’d spent a month angry and sad and feeling hopeless; this was a nice change.

“Only the pretty girls with amber eyes.” Mery took a sip of tea. “Next question.”

“Why were you following those men?”

“We discussed this last night,” Mery said.

“We did not, actually. I didn’t really realize that until this morning when I was talking with Joth.” She narrowed her eyes. “Are you a spellcaster?”

“You do have many, many questions don’t you?”

“Yes, and you only answer the ones you want.” Isa made like she was going to slip off the stool, and Mery touched her arm. “Fair enough, Isa. Stay awhile, yeah?” She took a drink of her tea. “You want to know what I’m doing. A wise man once said, ‘To know where you’re going, you have to know where you’ve been. And to know where you’ve been, you need to know your road. And my road, it’s like a straight road with hidden curves, yes it is.” Mery nodded her head. “Do you know the story of mad King Lear? Do you have that story in your land?”

“Ah, yeah,” Isa nodded. “Shakespeare. You guys know Shakespeare?”

“Funny name,” said Mery. “Never heard of him. But I’m glad to know you know the story. It was the first part I learned, the eldest sister. She’s the oldest, but she dies quickly. Only 10 lines of dialog, so it’s an easy part to learn. Even a child, with wig, makeup, and an extra bustle, can play it.”

“So you grew up in the theater. Wow.”

“Traveling show,” said Mery. “Family of bards going back. Way, way back.” She took another drink of tea and then looked into the mug. “A story like this, Isa, a woman should be drinking something stronger. But the lady wants to know me, and the Braydons, they don’t leave an audience waiting. Oh no.”

Mery fell silent though, and Isa reached out a finger and touched Mery’s hand. “I’m so sorry - what’s a bard? Is that like a playwright?”

Mery turned her full body to look at Isa. Her eyes were wide. “Well now, if you’d said ‘Mery, a woman is going to leave you speechless tonight, and you’ll still have all your clothes on.’ I wouldn’t have believed it. No, I wouldn’t. But here I am, and here you are not knowing a bard from a bowl.” She gave Isa a grin to show that she was mostly teasing.

“First,” Isa matched the other woman’s grin, “if that’s ‘speechless’ I’d hate to see what happens when you are really wanting to talk, and second, I still don’t know what a bard is.”

“True, and yet again, we should have something stronger to compliment the telling. So I’ll give you the barest of bones now with a promise,” she winked at Isa, “a promise for more. A bard is a spellcaster, entertainer, musician poet. She can dazzle you, blind you, move you, hurt you, heal you. She can make you see things that aren’t there, miss things that are. A bard will stab you in the kidney with a blade and in the heart with a song.” Mery paused and a small smile crossed her lips. “Oh beware the bards, Isa Chamberlin! Amber-eyed girls, well, they are especially vulnerable to a bard’s charms.”

“That was a lovely performance. 8.5.” Isa clapped her hands softly. “I don’t know if I am supposed to believe any of that, but--”

“Another bard trait!” Mery interrupted. “They are exceptional liars.”

“‘They’ not ‘We’.” Isa raised an eyebrow. “Haven’t you just been going on and on, and on about bards?”

“Yes! To warn you. Like I said," she leaned toward Isa, "Beware!”

Isa laughed. “So really, you’re a bard?”

“Yes and no.” Mery grimaced. “It’s a long -- longer -- story, and we have work to do, don’t we?”

“Yes, but I’m still unclear exactly what we’re doing.”

“A picture is worth a thousand words, so they say. Why talk about it when I can show you?” Mery raised up to step down from the bar.

Just then Joth walked up. “Joth Windbane,” Isa said, “this is Mery. Mery Braydon.” Isa put one hand on Joth’s arm, and she touched Mery’s arm lightly. Mery put her hand on Isa’s and smiled. “Me and the wizard, we know each other by reputation.”

“True,” said Joth. He held out his hand. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mery.”

“Likewise. Never turn down a wizard’s help. That’s what my dad always said.” She hopped off the stool. “Shall we?”

“Yes,” Joth nodded.

“Where?” said Isa, but neither answered.

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: 20

Combat: +4 to Hit

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

Coin: 13gp, 10sp, 22cp

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.