Chapter 1: 1. Hare’s Retreat

An inn sat on a small hill right outside a town by the name of Salcret. It was getting hard not to feel lonely around the Hare’s Retreat. Harold had inherited the inn just six months ago, when his father passed away. Everywhere he looked every piece of furniture was a reminder of his boisterous old man. Life was easy back then, even if he did not know it, just serve some drinks and feed the stew and do the chores. With his father to play the host and do the rare heavy lifting they complemented each other better than fine. Carrying on as usual had proven a greater challenge than Harold could have foreseen however.

That’s not to say the inn itself had deteriorated, Harold polished and carried water and split the wood to light the fire. But who wanted to have their evening drink around a broody kid, who winced if you tried to make him smile?

The final nail had been the new inn opening up in the town square, making the five-minute walk up the hill from Salcret suddenly redundant if you wanted a drink of the local apple-brew.

So, what do I do now. Harold polished another clean mug mindlessly, while the one customer of the day kept his own mug warm with his hands while pretending not to be observing Harold.

Another half an hour passed with Harold keeping busy doing nothing. His mind wandered without direction. The plan was never for Harold to be an innkeeper, not past being able to help and scrounging up coin for whichever new idea for a Class had caught his fancy.

And now I'm lost at sea. With waves so high, soon I'll need to borrow for winter, with no plan on how to pay it all back. Harold gave the stranger a refill and turned to leave.

“So kid, any plans?”

What a strange echo of my thoughts.

Harold wasn't ready for even the most basic human interaction. “Uh, what?”

“This is your place, right? Are you just watching it for somebody?”

“No... yes but no I don’t have plans. This was my father’s inn. He passed a few months back.” Even having to say the words hurt. Worse than usual today for some reason.

“I see,” The stranger hid a smirk with his mug as Harold returned to the bar.

Another half an hour passed. The door remained as desolate past lunch as before.

“Maybe I should sell it,” Harold eventually spoke up from behind the bar.

“What are you talking about?" Asked the man, but Harold didn't elaborate.

"No, how can you after all this? Your family inn? What would your father say, after all the good times you had here, if you just let it go then who knows what will happen to it?” He let the words hang ominously, allowing the young man’s mind to consider the worst case scenarios.

My father would have probably been the first to tell me to go, if he knew Oscar was taken care of. The day passed with Harold’s thoughts slowly churning. He needed to feed the hens, and stepped out back for a minute. On his return he gave the stranger a closer look. The man was non-descript, cloaked and with the appearance of a local. A darker hair perhaps, and some bushy brows.

He had been nursing the second mug for quite a while now, dinner having come and gone without the man ordering anything else. Harold was starting to wonder if the man would need a room for the night when two of the small town guard suddenly entered the door and caused Harold to look up habitually with a glint of hope, the sound a reminder of better days, before reality asserted itself even faster than usual. Were they here for drinks? That would be a first in quite a while.

“Huh, there he is, you called it.”

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The woman just sighed in response to the younger guards words. “Alright Dunner, you know the rules.”

“What, can a man not merely have a drink in some peace and quiet?” He challenged.

The senior guard whipped out a glowing green stone which slowly swirled to darkness and back again.

“Did you think we came without the Hexstone, why wouldn't you just run it by us if you wanted to cast Spells locally?” Her stance made a roll of the eyes superfluous. “Let’s go Dunner, leave the kid be.”

The man glared at the glowing mineral with vitriol.

“My business is my own you bruiser! What would be the point of magic if you always had to ask permission.”

Harold stood stunned as the man marched out in a mocking patrol. What just happened?

The younger guard was already following, but the woman caught Harold’s eye before she stepped outside.

“Kid, he’s a [Warlock]. He was using some Spell that was probably feeding off your emotion.” She looked at him expectantly.

“What do you mean [Warlock]!? A [Warlock] came to town?”

She sighed. “I guess you’re too young, but no, the [Warlock]'s always been around. He came down recently when Bertrud died too, I recall the whole family, over 30 members, devastated. And that man, subtly egging them on, telling story after story of Bertrud’s youth. Most of it made up I’m pretty sure.”

“But how did you catch him?” Harold’s eyebrows were tickling his hairline by now.

“How do you think? He got greedy of course, he let the energy build until Agnes the [Healer] could tell what was going on and ratted him out. Hah.”

Harold actually smiled. “And then you got the Hexstone to check for his Spells?”

“Exactly. Anyway, just watch out. He’s mostly harmless, not like in the stories, but who knows what his Class needs that energy for, but if he wants to keep secrets he'll have to do it outside the town limits. And since you've been warned you're obligated to let us know if he tells you as well."

“That’s fair enough I guess, thanks for stopping by.” Harold was still a bit perplexed. What Spell could he have been using?

“That’s my job kid, have a good one.”

The door shut. The kid thing was getting old. Harold went to snuff out the fire and change out his clothes. It was time to supplement the monthly income.

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