Jumping ahead a few days

Having spent a few days travelling on foot and beginning his exploration of the mainland of the continent of Erodoria at a leisurely pace, Dareios was draped in his cloak and carrying his gear on his back as he walked down the length of a hill into the wide, shallow valley below, making his ways towards the small town that was scattered alongside the country road, with what looked like an inn in the centre of the village. His first priority, he supposed as he entered the town and steered his steps towards what looked like an inn located by the town square, would be to find out which country he was currently in. Having landed in the small coastal city of Mecela in the kingdom of Thirice, a small and peaceful country primarily known for its wines, he had been heading southwest ever since, leaving the coast behind. By now, he might very well have crossed the border into Chaldoia, like its neighbour a small, peaceful kingdom known primarily for its wines.

Unsurprisingly, his journey through this calm little corner of Erodoria had been without incident. If anything, the days of travelling on foot through the countryside and sleeping either in the open or the quaint taverns in the sleepy inland towns that he passed along the way was leaving Dareios increasingly bored, to the point where a fight with some highwaymen started to look like a nice break from the peaceful monotony. That monotony appeared very much as though it would persevere for a while longer however, Dareios thought as he looked around and saw barely anyone moving about outside. It was still only late in the morning, and it seemed like there was precious little activity going on in the town. The prospect of another week like this before he reached Tharros was making Dareios second-guess his decision on saving a precious portion of his collection of gold, silver and copper coins by taking the overland route instead of buying a cabin on one of the merchant ships bound from Mecela for Tharros. Of course, then he would have arrived in town practically penniless, since one of the drawbacks of being a holy warrior in service of one’s god was that you didn’t exactly get rich off of it.

When he entered the small town’s tavern, a large three-story building, two wooden floors on top of a stone one, with a wall running out from it and disappearing off round the back, Dareios found it populated by one barman and about a dozen patrons, quite a lot considering that there were still a few hours to go till lunch. To a man, although a few of them were actually women, the barman and the patrons all were quite pale and weary-looking, as if severely hung-over. Few of them paid any notice to him, even the women didn’t seem especially interested in his appearance, and it was only the barman who followed him lazily with his gaze as he made his way towards the bar. Perhaps, Dareios thought, he’d arrived the day after some local festival?

“A glass of wine, please,” Dareios placed his order with the barman, who had the appearance of barmen everywhere: receding hairline, a portly frame and with a slightly stained apron engulfing much of the front of his body as he stood behind the counter.

“That’ll be two copper bits,” the barman said, picking up what looked like a clean glass. But then he stopped, and his wearied face lit up in a thin, wry smile as he observed the hulking giant on the other side of the counter rifling through the satchel slung over one of his massive shoulders.

“Or, for a piece of silver, I might tell you where a big, young lad such as yourself might want to go instead,” the barman said, just as Dareios had intended to hand him the two coppers and ask him about the name of the town and whether or not he was yet in Chaldoia.

“Where?” Dareios asked, after a few seconds silence, retrieving a silver coin from his purse, and thinking that he didn’t have a lot of those to spare.

“Out the back,” the barman sounded not a little conspirational as he nodded towards the door at the far end of the barroom.

“You’re a head taller than me and with that ruddy great sword strapped to your back, mate,” the barman said, looking from Dareios’ massive frame to the silver coin trapped between the warrior’s large hand and the counter, “I’d be a ruddy fool to try to stiff you.”

“I’m telling you, if you don’t enjoy yourself out there,” the barman rushed to add, a hint of desperation only just appearing in his voice, “You’re either already dead and you just don’t know it yet, or you’re some kind of weirdo.”

“Alright,” Intrigued, Dareios moved his hand away from the coin, leaving it on the counter as he made his way towards the back.

“What?” The innkeeper said to the dozen pair of eyes all staring at him disapprovingly from around the barroom after the door out to the tavern’s backyard had closed behind Dareios, “It was either him or us. None of you lot would have survived another night like that!”