Iskander left the store with a purse filled with golden coins, he had had 20 of them before coming here, now after selling the herbs he had gotten manny more, the herbalist was rich and bought all of his findings for a handsome pay. “These herbs ain’t cheap boy, she had said to him before putting a treasure chest on the table and starting to count coins to pay him with.

Iskander still felt a bit stupid, he had been gone from society for a long time, he even had managed to forget that mandrake roots, gorgons hair and harpy claw thorns were verry potent medical herbs which were worth solid gold on the market. Iskander felt a bit guilty at first when he saw her paying in gold coins, but once he found out that it was clearly only a fraction of this ladies fortune that feeling had waned.

Iskander thought about what to do next when he suddenly noticed something was going on, people pointed at him in the street, whispering at each other, for a second he thought he was discovered but then he heard what they said and he calmed down, they were not talking about him being a warlock but about what he had just done, as it turned out, Helga the shopkeeper of the herbal store was not an easy woman to deal with. The people were talking about him because of the purse filled with gold he had left the shop with.

His stomach rumbled loudly, time to eat something it seemed. Iskander decided to search for an inn, he could eat there and rent a room to stay in town, the perfect plan , he thought to himself. after all those weeks he could finally take a bath, something he actually should have done quitte some time ago, he was lucky that he did not stink too much.

Iskander walked on to find an inn to stay but he could not surpress a smile to hear people talking about him in awe instead of fear, it felt good.

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Isolde was not good with people, strange because she worked at an inn and was supposed to be serving people every day together with the others. She was in luck though, everybody in town knew each other, most people knew she was shy and would be understanding of her problem. most customers even were so kind to give her a little extra coin. that came in handy to care for her younger brother who she had to take care of after her parents passed away.

Yet she still sometimes had problems with her social skills, long talks with customers like the others sometimes had were nothing for her and she was not really up to date with all gossiping and events that happened in town either so even if she did she would not be able to know what was going on. To her it did not matter, she had a room in the inn, a well paid job and friendly co-workers, she was happy.

Right now she was at work, serving dishes and taking orders, it was not a verry busy day and the inn was calm as usual in the morning, Isolde was daydreaming a bit and hummed a little song the bards played frequently in town. Due to this Isolde did not notice that someone entered the inn, hence she bumped into him. The impact was not that much but still the man fell on the ground, Isolde stared in shock, what had she done.

“Aw that hurt, the young man said while he tried to stand up from the floor, are you okay?” Isolde nodded quickly and gave him a hand to help him get up, she noticed that the hand was thin as if this man did not eat enough in a long time. “A-are you allright sir, she said quickly, I-I am so sorry…”

But to her surprise the young man smiled, “ah that was nothing, I am just not really “sturdy” so to speak, I have had worse.” Only now did she notice his attire, a cloack, light armor and a book, a mage!

Isolde was not sure but she still asked him, “are you a mage?” The youngster nodded, “yeah kinda, but I’m just a herbs collector and not that much of a powerful mage.”

“Herbs?” Isolde thought for a second as she looked at the purse he had on his belt, “did you go to Helga?” The youngster nodded, “yep although I felt a bit guilty for giving her such expensive herbs until she suddenly took out a treasure chest filled with gold.”

Isoldes mouth fell open, “y-you saw that chest, she never ever opens it when people offer herbs to her.” The smile of the boy became a bit of an awkward grin, “well I did offer her mandrake roots which can cure petrification so maybe it was about that?”

“p-petrification, Isolde stuttered, this youngster gave that old hag Helga herbs that could heal petrification! He nodded, “yeah it was a bit embarrassing, I am Jake by the way.” “My name is Isolde, she said, pleased to meet you.” Jake grinned, “the pleasure is mine milady.” Isolde blushed, wasn’t that how nobles greeted each other? Jake seemed to have seen her surprise, “oh sorry, I was raised in lesser nobility, they always told me to talk like that.”

“I just threw a noble on the ground?” Isolde said with her eyes opened wide. But Jake only laughed, don’t worry we lost our titles and lands and I am certainly not going to start going to court for a small accident like this.” Isolde nodded, jake seemed friendly, a bit weird but friendly, did you come here to eat or to rent a room?”

Jake scratched his head, “uhm both I think, I was planning on renting a room and eating a bit before going in town again.” Isolde nodded, “I’ll inform the boss, wait here for a second.” Isolde rushed away to get the innkeeper while Jake looked at her with a friendly smile. She did not hear him say it but when she was gone he said, “I think I am going to like this place.”

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Alfred had never seen the youngster before, but Isolde had told him he was a traveller who wanted to hire a room here so that was not strange. No actually it was strange that he was a traveller, they almost never came here, adventurers had no guild here and quests were inexistent in these parts of Frienia where the army protected towns and where people could fight to defend themselves.

But he was an innkeeper and not a member of the city guard, if they had let him through then he should be fine, stranger or no stranger.

Alfred came to the table where the youngster had sat down, expect for his cloak and book and purse he had no real supplies a traveller would have, suspicious but not troubling, he could have slept in inns along the way. What did fit the image of being a traveller though was despite that this boy could not possibly be older than 20 years he was thin and still had some muscles in him, a traveller who travelled afoot clearly.

Alfred sat down at the table, the boy looked up, “hello are you the innkeeper?” Alfred nodded as he studied the boys clothing, a good rainproof cloak, necessary for those who camped in the wild, Alfred was right, this boy was a real traveller.

“So you want a room in my inn, the innkeeper asked him, can I ask what kind of room?” The boy scratched his head, “a one person room and maybe one with a bathtub as well, you see I am not the cleanest am I right?” Alfred smiled, this kid had humour, he indeed smelled a bit and he had turned it into a small joke.

“For how long do you want to stay?” “For a couple of weeks, maybe more, the youngster said, I am going to take a bit of a pause on my travelling, I’m going to collect herbs and sell them to that Helga of the herbalist shop.” Alfred sighed, “she is an old crook, she won’t give a penny if your herbs are not good enough boy.”

Suddenly the youngster smiled, “well good for me that I made a positive first impression then.” He took a purse and put it on the table, Alfreds eyes shot open. Jake, as the boy apparently was called told him what happened, rented a room and ate his meal before leaving again. Alfred and Isolde both told their customers about this stranger that had managed to get gold coins from Helga, “the hag of Ursan” as some called her.

Iskander did not know it but that day his persona, jake, had ingrained himself in the stories of the city, Jake a mage and herbalist boy of twenty that was friendly and charming enough to be able to haggle with Helga the hag of Ursan. But that was something he himself did not know.