That night Isa looked at her quest log. The feldspice quest was there and one that was titled “Children of Thorn.” Below the title it read Assist Mery Braydon in her quest to find out who is responsible for the kidnapping of children in Hanchen.

She closed the notebook with grimace. How come quests don't mention the body count? In the few video games that Isa had played, you never had to worry about fallen foes. After you dispense with one, they disappear. But here, in Varana, someone has to clean up the mess.

The town watch had been surprisingly not interested in the finer points of Isa, Mery, and Joth’s reasons for being at the house and killing everyone. Once they found evidence of criminal activity, the guards focused on that instead. Isa overheard one guard say to another, “This was a bad bunch. The streets are safer now.”

Only one watchman narrowed in on their reasons for being at the house. “Tell it to me again,” he said to Joth.

“I have been in the market for a rather rare spell component - I’d rather not say which one - and my friends decided to join me. Just that simple.”

“And what you found instead….”

“Obviously,” Mery stepped in, “it was a ruse to rob, and probably kill, this wealthy wizard.”

Isa could see the watchman looking at Joth’s robe. The hem was dirty and frayed. She said, “People always think that wizards are wealthy, right?”

The watchman bobbed his head to indicate that he mostly agreed with that. His few additional questions were simple enough to answer, and soon he joined his coworkers in shifting through evidence.

By way of explanation, as they were leaving Mery said, “Most places are too small to have even a city watch. This bunch? Probably old soldiers, bored farm hands, and the occasional do-gooder. So most places, adventurers are the law.”

“What do you think of the law - I mean about being law-abiding?”

“You’re wanting to know my alignment, then.” Mery grinned. “I usually get dinner first.”

“I was just curious. This world is pretty complex.” That's what Isa said, but she was starting to like flirting with Mery.

***

When Isa and Joth got back to the inn, Joth said, “We need 8 hours’ sleep to regain our health and abilities, so we’ll get a little later start in the morning.”

Isa shrugged. “Not like I have an alarm clock. What if it’s 7 hours instead?”

“Just…. Sleep until you wake up, alright? Your body knows. Not that you need any healing. Handy thing having a bard with a crush on you to heal you up.”

“She doesn’t have a--”

Joth held up his hands. “Of course not. Forget I mentioned it.” He rolled eyes.

“You,” Isa told him, “are an ass.”

But when Isa woke the next morning, she did feel really good. She expected to be sore from the battle. Sure she’d only been nicked by the crossbow bolt, but she’d mixed it up with a few of the thieves, lunging, blocking, stabbing.

Isa closed her eyes. Most definitely stabbing.

She looked at the nightstand beside her bed. The silver bracelet lay there next to her notebook. If she squinted, Isa could make out the inscription, “Angels watch over Anna.”

Where was Anna now, and was she missing her bracelet?

A sudden thought struck Isa. What if Anna wasn’t a missing little girl? What if Anna was a little elf girl who’d misplaced her bracelet, which her father had found and slipped into his pants pocket to return to her later? Instead of “elf bandit” maybe the man Mery killed was a father and husband? Sure maybe he could have found a safer job, but people do what they need to survive.

She knew - she thought she knew - that he would have killed her, given the chance. “You had to do it,” she said aloud.

She rose, poured water into the ceramic basin on the dresser, and bathed her face. Did she “have” to do it? Did Isa have to kill people?

Mery had poo-pooed the idea of knocking them out, and maybe she was right, but what about knocking them out and then tying them up? What about that?

***

They picked up the feldspice from the market and began their return journey to Bywater. Soon the calm monotony of walking the road beside Joth calmed Isa's mind, and she stopped obsessing about the handful of people she'd killed since arriving in Varana.

They stayed at Traveler's Rest again, and Isa happily paid the coin necessary to get a room for the night. She had gold in her pocket and more to come when she returned to the Temple of Fazar. Ealda had promised an additional 8 gold when Isa returned with the feldspice.

Alone in her room at the Traveler’s Rest Inn, Isa counted out her coins. She had 16 gold coins, 24 silver, and 38 copper. It looked like so much money, but considering that she didn't yet have enough to buy a sword (should she need a replacement) Isa knew that these coins needed many, many cousins before she could truly feel rich.

***

For the second leg of their return to Bywater Isa asked Joth about the moonstone gem they'd gotten in Hanchen. He'd kept it in his pouch, but technically it was half hers.

“I’ll see about selling it to Gimble, and then I can give you your half.”

“And you think you can get maybe 35 gold?”

“Well honestly, probably 50 gold. They don’t lose their value like weapons do, right?”

“Right.” Isa paused. “Right.” What she wanted to say, but didn’t, was that she’d taken the scimitar, on his suggestion when he knew - knew! - that she’d get less gold for it than he would for the gem. And on reflection, he’d seemed nervous when they were at Gear Ten. He’d been selling the tiger eye and hadn’t wanted her to see how much he’d gotten for it. What other explanation could there be?

Well, now she had a hint about Joth’s alignment, didn't she?

She filed that away to think on later. No use getting upset with him or picking a fight right now when they had miles to walk together.

“Will I have time to go right to the Temple to deliver the feldspice?” she asked him. She’d been thinking about what book she’d want to check out first. Choices had filled Isa’s mind all morning as they walked, and now she thought she knew what she wanted to learn first.

“Temples never close, not exactly,” Joth replied. “And if the priestess is as you say, you should go straightaway. We almost have to pass the Temple on our way into town anyway.”

“Fazar, he’s - she’s? A wizard god, right?”

“Fazar is a male. Or I should say that Fazar is portrayed as a male by his followers.”

“But he’s a wizard god. And you’re a wizard.”

“First, wizards don’t have to worship a god in order to cast spells, and second I grew up Lutheran.”

Isa nodded. “Wait, so does anyone have to worship a god to cast spells? Or do you just memorize them or jot them down in a little book?”

“There are divine spellcasters,” said Joth. “Clerics, Paladins, mostly. But maybe rangers. Oh and druids. Definitely druids.”

“Druids. Mery thought I was a druid the first time we met. I had just - I had just killed a deer.” How much blood had she spilled now, and the deer still bothered her more than the humans. She’d never un-hear the sound of Mery skinning the animal, even though it made sense, complete sense, to do it. Aloud she added, “It was self defense.”

“The deer?”

“Yeah, the deer! It came charging at me, and I didn’t know what it was-- I mean I knew it was a deer alright, but it startled me, and after your spiders, I was spooked.”

“I said I was sorry about that, Isa.” There was an edge in Joth’s voice.

“We’ve been through a few fights now, so I know you’re a good guy,” Isa smiled, “who can take a beating! That guy with the mace - wow.” She stopped. “That’s what that was, wasn’t it? A mace. I know what that is.”

“Yeah, too bad it was so crappy. Mr. Dakgu would have charged us to take it off our hands!” He laughed.

“But why would I know that? What do I know about weapons, right?”

Joth’s gaze was on the distance. “We must be getting close. I see smoke.”

“Joth? Are you-- Hey, is that your real name? Did your parents - your Lutheran parents - name you ‘Joth’?”

“Ha, no.” He looked around as if someone might be there to overhear. “That’s not my real name, or rather, it was not my birth name. I’ve had it for so long now that it seems to be my real name.”

“You know my name. Will you tell me yours?” Isa didn’t know why, but it seemed important that she know it.

“It’s Jeff. Jeff Windham.”

Isa stuck out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Jeff. ‘Joth’ is nice too. Where’d you get it?”

Joth mumbled something, and after Isa playfully poked him in the side, he said, “That was my gaming name. You know in video games, you create a character, and you give it a name.”

Before Isa could respond Joth pointed and said, “There’s the path to the Temple.” He handed her the two bundles of feldspice that he’d been carrying. “Maybe I’ll see you ar Lund’s later.”

Isa was standing in the middle of the road with the feldspice clamped between her palms. “Wait!” She wanted to ask where he lived and how she could find a place to stay that wasn’t Lund’s, but that suddenly seemed too personal of a question, so instead she said, “This was your quest, too. I owe you some gold.”

He smiled and waved. “Nah, keep it. Friends help friends.”

That’s what Ealda had said, Isa thought to herself. And then she realized, this isn’t a quest economy - it’s a friend economy.

Spoiler: Isa's 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 combat turn 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 turns to discern all 3. Can be used outside of combat as a free action - spend 1 minute to learn all three.