The food served at The Phantom Homestead was impressive. Clara explained that she had an old chef working in the kitchen that used to be employed by a noble family somewhere to the west. After getting fed up with that job, he came here to find a place in which he could more freely experiment with his meals. Tonight’s meal consisted of fried rice with shrimps, mushrooms and some greens. To supplement this meal were some big steins filled to the brim with ale. Our three travelers sat down at a table just outside of their room. They were far from the only ones who were sitting here as many of the folk who were staying on the other side of the inn had moved their tables and chairs here for a better view of the square down below. The evening air was cold but not so cold that it was unpleasant. Dressed warmly and with some hot food it wasn’t really a problem. “How did you get fresh shrimp all the way over here?” Cobal asked Clara as she came back with the last of their drinks.
“They’re actually freshwater shrimp. There’s no ocean nearby enough for us to get any fresh shrimp from, but there are lakes and rivers in the region.”
“Oh, I didn’t know there were freshwater shrimp.”
“Me neither before Stefen told me about them, but they taste great, I can tell you that much.”
She put down the steins and moved to a different table to help out other patrons. Down in the town square things were getting busier as well. A small stage was set up opposite of where the inn was and a sound amplifying wand was placed on a small lectern. Off to the side, a little ways away from the podium, was a large fire that some people were standing around to stay warm. As they ate their meal, a few people walked onto stage, making sure everything was ready and a man with a big belly and an impressive beard and mustache was the only one who stayed on the stage. He was wearing a purple gown with black accents. Hanging from his ears were earrings that looked like golden raindrops. It was hard to see from this distance but it looked like the man had purple eye make-up on as well and he seemed to be talking to himself, maybe rehearsing something.
“What’s that thing on the stand?” Mana asked.
“Oh, that’s a sound amplifying wand, it has a magical focus on it that allows those with a minor understanding of magic to make their voice significantly louder. It’s great for performers to reach a large crowd.”
“Oh, so it’s like a magic microphone,” Mana said. “That’s interesting, we have something like that as well in our world, but they’re not magic.”
“You have to explain to me sometime how that works,” Cobal replied.
“I’m not that knowledgeable, unfortunately. That’s the big problem. I know of a lot of things, but I couldn’t tell you how they work. People used to say in my world that if you traveled back in time you could be so powerful due to your modern knowledge, but in reality you’d just sit there and tell them about computers and when they asked you how they worked you wouldn’t know.”
“So it’s like magic in a sense?” Eliana asked.
“For sure, it’s all made with a system that I don’t quite understand. Smarter people do understand it though, so if one of those people were summoned instead, they could probably build something for you.”
“Maybe we can still change you out for a different hero,” Cobal suggested.
“I’m afraid your warranty has run out, you’re stuck with me.” Mana replied.
“How unfortunate,” Cobal chuckled. He looked at the stage. “It seems like he’s about to start.”
“Ladies, gentlemen and others. Friends, fans and everyone in between. Welcome to tonight’s show. My name is Marvus Greyvane. Adventurer, scholar, artist, lover, I’ve done it all. But tonight I’m here as a storyteller. Get out your drinks, your food and your coin, and the show will start in a few minutes.” He took a bow and put the wand down, before walking off to the side and talking to some of the spectators near the stage.
“Is he a well known person?” Mana asked.
“I’ve certainly never heard of him,” Cobal said. He looked at Eliana.
“I’ve heard his name before, I think. It sounds vaguely familiar at least.”
“Marvus likes to pretend he’s more famous than he really is,” a man at a nearby table said, “but he’s been a regular here in Marsolin for the better part of thirty years so his reputation has grown. He’s a good storyteller, I don’t know about all his other claims though.”
“Now I’m even more curious to hear,” Mana said. “I like storytellers.”
“Oh?” Cobal was surprised to hear that.
“Back in my old world, there were many forms that stories came in. Books, movies, video games, even tabletop RPGs. Books are obviously in your world as well, but the others are not.” There was a shocked look on Mana’s face. “I wonder if I should introduce tabletop RPGs to your world.” She started laughing. “Perhaps we can play Loan Sharks & Landlords.”
Cobal looked at Eliana who shrugged. “She finally lost it.”
Mana shook her head. “Don’t mind me, I just have some ideas I need to write down later.”
She continued. “Anyway, I remember going to my aunt and uncle’s birthday party one day. It was being celebrated in an old looking restaurant, kind of reminiscent of an inn like this, but much more dark interior. I was still quite young and I spent my time looking at books with animals in them. At this party there was a storyteller and I just remembered being enthralled by him. He had a very gentle voice that really took you on a journey. You would forget where you were and just be listening to what he was saying. He talked about the little sounds the paws of a fox would make, the crisp snow being tread on lightly and the rustling of the leaves in the wind. He would do all of this in a way that just felt natural. There was a cadence to his voice that felt almost fae in a sense.” She saw the question in Cobal’s eyes and waved it away. “Like a spirit. But he was just an older man. Now that I think about it, he might not have even been all that old, I was so young that anyone over thirty probably seemed old to me.” She smiled. “That’s when I learned that I wanted to be a storyteller as well. I already had the beginnings of one, but this was the moment where I knew it was my passion.” Her smile faded a bit. “Unfortunately I never got to tell many stories before I was sent here.”
“Maybe you can do that with those tabletop RPC’s you mentioned,” Eliana said.
“RPGs, and maybe. But we have more pressing matters at hand, unfortunately.” She looked out at the square below. “Look, I think he’s going to start soon.” They all looked down at Marvus Greyvane who had picked up the sound amplifying wand once more, ready to tell his story.
“Ladies, gentlemen and others, thank you so much for your patience. I see that many of you have a drink in hand. I can guarantee you that they will improve my stories significantly.” A chuckle went through the crowd and he waited for it to die down a bit. “Once again, my name is Marvus Greyvane and tonight I will tell you all about an expedition to the Razelath desert that I once went to.”
Mana looked at Cobal. “I believe it’s in one of the central countries, north of Milinia. I’m not certain though.”
“Now as you all undoubtedly know, the Razelath desert is known not only for its harsh conditions, but also for its strange disappearances. People go in, report finding something strange and then when they go back in they end up vanishing for good, never to be seen again.” He paused for a moment, the crowd still silent. “As you can see, I am here, so I didn’t end up vanishing in the Razelath desert, but this knowledge was definitely in the back of my head as I agreed to travel with knight captain Mildor and his battalion. You see, the king of Sairoc had sent one of his most loyal soldiers to investigate a burial site. We weren’t the first group to go, but we were the most well prepared. Mildor was an experienced knight and although he was getting up there in years, he’d spent a good part of his youth as an explorer before joining the army, so he knew what he was doing. The men were all in good spirits and with hope of a successful journey we left the capital and traveled west to a small village whose name is not important right now. There we stacked up on water, fruit and everything else we would need for a trip through the desert, and we left civilization behind.” He took a few steps along the stage, gently throwing the microphone – as Mana had called it – from one hand to the other and back a few times, before moving it back to his mouth. “The journey there was not too bad. If you ignore the heat and the cold. You obviously know about the heat. The feeling of your body boiling underneath your skin as your last remaining bit of moisture sweats out of your body until it’s gone. That’s what we’re all thinking about when we go to the desert. But the cold catches you by surprise. I was warned by captain Mildor that it would be bad, but I didn’t realize how bad. We were huddled together at night for warmth. The switch between hot and cold made us feel awful and several of the soldiers were on the verge of madness when we finally found our destination. There she was, the ruined city of Algaror. This city fell long before the first humans even came to this continent and although there were tales of it told by the natives, no human had ever seen it. As a matter of fact, it was considered lost forever. There were no traces of it and to this day we can still only speculate why it was suddenly out in the open. My best guess is that it was hidden beneath the sand and brought back to the surface by a storm, but a guess is all it is. Having some shade helped with the heat, but not much. The city itself was a beauty. Housing what we guessed to be up to a hundred thousand people it stretched quite far. We arrived on a large sand dune so we looked down on it at first. There seemed to be an oasis at the center of the city which was even stranger due to the fact that the city was not here a few weeks earlier. We made our way to the oasis, half worried it was just an illusion, but we were happy to find out it was an actual oasis. There were a few trees as well as a nice deep pool of water that we happily filled our waterskins back up with. We’d made it to our destination safely, but now came the hard part.”
Marvus paused again for suspense, taking a long sip from his ale before putting the stein back down and holding the microphone to his mouth again. He took a deep breath and continued. “You see, the king of Sairoc hadn’t just sent us over to look at it and go “yup, that’s a burial site” and then come back empty handed.” A few people in the crowd laughed.
“No, he had heard the stories and there was an old legend that came with the ruined city of Algaror. There was treasure to be found.” Marvus stepped forward, standing on the very edge of the stage. “And he was right, treasure we would find. But treasure wasn’t the only thing we would find. I know I’m telling the story out of my own personal experience, but even I still struggle to believe that what I saw that day was real.” He paused again for suspense, the crowd now fully invested in his storytelling.
Opal Kaharis 