Dawn was breaking as Isa stepped from the Temple. Somehow she’d read through the night. She did feel tired and hungry; her eyes had that special itchy, burning feeling of an all-nighter. But she also had the excitement, the buzz, of newfound knowledge and a sense of accomplishment. She’d gotten her first real clue about how to get home.

But as Isa walked down the Temple steps and onto the path, she heard the clear call of a bird whistling its morning song. Sure they had birds in Portland, lots of birds, but they sounded different here.

The air smelled different, too. And sound carried in a way that it just didn't back home. Not that Isa heard anything but bird song. Still she kept a good grip on her staff. No gnoll was going to surprise her today.

The path meandered through thick woods before opening up not far from Lund's. She'd go there, get some food, maybe review her notes. Somebody needed to tell her more about this “gate” spell that Tinero said was the ticket home.

“Ticket home.” she muttered to herself. She was starting to talk like Tinero. With a hand on her bag, she opened the door to Lund’s and felt a vibration deep in her bag.

“What the…..” Isa reached into her bag. Was that a quest notification? She hadn’t agreed to anything. No one had asked anything of her.

She flipped open her notebook as she sat at the bar. Lund was standing behind it, and he gave her a smile. “You’re back from the big city, eh? Did you level?” He gestured at her notebook. “Questing will do it.”

Isa didn’t answer him. She was staring at her notebook. Something just didn’t make sense. Her quest log had a new quest. Underneath the Children of Thorn quest, she saw a heading simply called Rescue. Below that was written, “Assist Mery Braydon in escaping within 24 hours. Giver: Mery Braydon. Reward: ?” Below that puzzling bit of information Isa saw the following: “Persons unknown abducted Mery and are holding her captive in an old house north of Bywater. Their intentions are unknown, and you should assume that time is running out.”

“Lund.” Isa slid the notebook to him. “I don’t--”

“Oh no,” he said softly. “What’s she gotten into now?” He looked at Isa. “What happened?”

“I don’t know! I haven’t seen her since - I saw her in Hanchen and we--” She put her hand to her mouth. “Is it Thorn? Is this like vengeance or something?”

“Thorn?” Lund’s forehead wrinkled. “Is that a person? A place? Isa, this is serious. I need you to focus.”

“If Mery can give me a quest, why can’t she tell me where she is? What’s this bullshit about a ‘house north of Bywater’?”

“Isa,” Lund squeezed her hand. “Tell me about Hanchen.”

While she talked, he put food in front of them both. Isa ate, but she had no idea what it was. All she could think of was the fleeting time. The quest log now said, “Assist Mery Braydon in escaping within 23 hours.”

“There’s an abandoned village north of here,” Lund said. “But there are other houses, other places to the north. We could spend days just tracking down the right one.”

“What we need is information. How come you don’t know who Thorn is? He’s like a mob boss or something in Hanchen.”

“That’s Hanchen. We got our own problems here,” said Lund.

Isa gave a bitter laugh. “Well, they’ll have to wait. I got a four-alarm fire and no address. We need time, but I don’t know how to buy us time. It’s not like we got a ransom note.”

Before Lund could answer, the front door swung open wide, and a dusty wheelbarrow, followed by an equally dusty woman entered the Tavern.

“What are you trying to buy, girl?” Anne, the merchant called out to Isa.

“Get that out of my inn,” Lund hurried around the bar, waving a towel at the wheelbarrow. Anne blocked his way. “Got valuables here! I’m not leaving my storefront unguarded. Besides, customer is here, so I’m here.” She crossed her arms and stared up at Lund. “I don’t make the rules.”

“Jesus Christ,” Isa muttered. “It’s an expression! I said I want to buy time. Not buy time.”

“Yeah, I don’t understand,” said Anne. “You got buying and selling on your mind. I know it.”

On her fingers Isa counted out, “I need time, information, probably a small army, which will take a sack of gold. I need a copy of a spell called gate….. I need a lot of stuff.” She focused on the merchant. “Do you know who Thorn is?”

“Pffff! Of course.” Anne waved her hand. “Can’t do business in Hanchen without knowing that bastard.” She licked her thumb. “What’s he done now?”

Lund held up a hand to stop Isa from answering. “Maybe nothing,” he said. “Why do you care? He a friend of yours?”

“I just called him a bastard, didn’t I?” Anne shook her head. “Orcs, you don't know nothing. He’s not my friend. And what’s more, Lund Lunderson--”

“That’s not my name,” Lund said as he sat down beside Isa.

Anne continued without acknowledging his words. “What’s more, I have information that might aid you.” She rubbed her hands together. “Tell me all.”

Isa read aloud her quest log, and when she’d finished Anne said, “10 gold.”

“I don’t under--”

Lund pulled up his coin pouch. “5.”

Anne blew the hair from her eyes. “8.”

“5.”

“Fine! 5 gold, you’re a bastard, too!”

Lund chuckled and laid 5 gold coins on the bar. “Wait,” said Isa, “what’s happening here? What are we bartering for?”

“Information, girl! The most fragile product in the world. Goes stale in the blink of an eye, gone with the flick of a tongue, or the,” she drew her finger across her throat, “flick of the blade.”

Isa pulled her own coin purse free. “My quest, my gold.” She shook the coin purse. 5 gold was a big chunk of her money, but what could she do? It was her fault Mery had been taken. She held out a stack of 5 coins, and Anne held out her hand.

“I hear, real regular like,” said the merchant, “that Thorn is in a snit. Some gang a thieves is robbing him. Thieves robbing thieves! But more than that,” she said, “seems like they’re being selective. Letters intercepted, weapons stolen, safe houses raided, and soldiers killed.” She lowered her voice. “He doesn’t like that. Sounds like your Mery is in on that action.”

Isa nodded. “So it is Thorn. That’s what I was afraid of.” She looked at Lund. “What can I do? How do I--”

“I might have one more product for you,” said Anne. “One more tidbit, a fresh morsel of--”

“Spit it out,” Lund said. “We don’t have much time.”

“Indeed, Mister Orc. Indeed. Now this product, it’s rare, it is. And dear. My reputation is tangled up in it, and that makes it worth more than-- than this whole barrow.”

Lund stayed silent.

“Hoho! You’ve played this game before.” Anne smiled, and Isa could have sworn she saw a twinkle in the merchant’s eyes. “Let’s say, all hypothetical and all, that I knew a bit of personal information about one of my customers. And let’s say,” she pointed at Lund, “for saying’s sake, that someone wanted that personal information.” She shook her head. “Bad for business if people thought that I was for sale. If they thought I’d tell their neighbor about the mandrake tincture they buy real regular, or about the ring they said they lost that they actually traded to me, if people thought I was--”

Anne stopped as she saw Lund slide a single dull silver coin along the bar. “Is that…?”

Lund nodded but didn’t speak. Isa peeked at the coin. It was a little lopsided and the image on the face-up side showed a long haired woman with a crown.

The merchant reached out her hand, but Lund covered the coin with his own hand first. “What’s this tidbit?”

“You see this, girl?" Anne said to Isa. “You’re my witness, and you won’t cross me, will you? A platinum piece for my information, that’s what he’s offering, and I’ll take it.” A slow smile crossed her face. “There’s a house, somewhat north of here, that’s recently inhabited.” Anne nodded at Isa’s notebook. “Isn’t that what you said? ‘A house to the north’? I saw the lights 5 days ago, maybe more, and I said to myself, I said ‘Anne, you mark this place because soon as not, they’ll need your services.’”

“Mery!” Isa’s eyes went wide. “They’re holding her there.”

“Maybe, probably.” Anne shrugged. “I only know what I know.”

Lund tapped the coin on the bar and handed it to Anne. “Isa,” he said, “fetch some bread from the kitchen. And a couple of sausages. Traveling food.” To the merchant he said, “Tell me where exactly….”

Isa ran into the kitchen, her head whirring with thoughts. She had almost the full 24 hours to find and rescue Mery. That was great! The merchant’s information had come at just the right time. Isa would run if she had to - run all the way there, no time to lose, and then-- How many people - armed people - might be there? How many people would Isa have to hurt to free her friend?

But the only fighting she’d done alone had been a miserable failure. She’d run away. Bleeding and scared, she’d run from the gnoll. So if she couldn’t take on 1 gnoll, how was she going to storm a house full of--

“Isa! Hurry up,” Lund called from the common room.

Isa grabbed a few hanging sausages and jammed 2 rounds of bread into her large bag. Back in the common room she found Lund buckling a strap across his chest. The merchant and her wheelbarrow were gone. “What are you doing?” Isa asked him.

“Mery’s my friend, too.” He slid a huge sword into the holster on his back. “Let’s go get her back.”

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: 21gp, 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.