Townhouse

At the behest of Calendis, a carriage escorted us through the streets of Alynthir and drew a few glances towards the expensive exterior of our transport. I was excited to see my new home, especially as we turned onto a wealthier district where the buildings were made of brick rather than the wood I was always used to. The horses clattered to a halt on the paved road and the driver stepped down, opening the door for us.

Looking at it from outside I saw that the house was two floors tall, white bricks of stone made up the building with glass panes dotting the wall. There was a small patch of grass outside and a wooden fence that allowed for a short path to connect it to the street.

“Your keys, sir” the driver said as he proffered a chain with a number of keys to me. I took them and offered him my thanks as I walked towards the door with the others following me. It was a strong wooden panel made of dark wood, a knocker in the shape of a shield hung on the centre of the door with a round handle above a keyhole.

I opened the door and we stepped into my new house. We explored the building quickly, Calendis had said that it wasn’t huge, but it was far larger than what I had been used to. There were four bedrooms, a large kitchen, a dining room, two bathrooms, a living room, and a basement that seemed like a good place to house equipment for quests and to make plans for them. I was astounded by the amount of space that it had and was decorated in comfortable and lavish furniture.

Having inspected the house, we decided to choose our rooms. Sara and Cleo chose to share one of the larger bedrooms, I was given the largest room that had the biggest and comfiest bed I had ever seen in my life, Korin took another of the rooms for himself, that left one more room. Rayall looked at it but told us that he would be taking a room at the temple of Cleonora with his friend Crynthiel, though he was grateful for the invitation. I told him that he would have a room here if he needed it; after all, I had more space than I would ever need.

The house was situated between the three temples, though it was closest to the temple of Soras. The towering spires of the Citadel could also be seen in the distance, and the distant sounds of crowds from nearby districts could be heard faintly.

We sat down in the living room, there were two very comfortable sofas facing the hearth with a low table in the middle. “The Prince spoke to me before we left about taking on another member to the party. He said it wouldn’t be for a while, but I just wanted to see what you all thought about it?” I said to the group

Korin shrugged his shoulders, “As long as they know how to fight, I’m happy to give ‘em a shot” he said.

Sara and Cleo both nodded their agreement, “And as long as they don’t try to kill you” Sara added.

I glanced to Rayall, “It sounds like a good idea, and I can’t object if I might not be staying in the party” he said

I smiled at them, “Yeah, he hasn’t said who it will be, but I definitely think we should give it a try when she gets to the city” I said.

“What are we going to do now?” Cleo asked, “I mean we’ve finished our training and we’re adventurers now. We’re going to need some work if we want to eat or… well, do anything”

Sara snorted at that, “Yeah, I’ve got a bit of money still, but I doubt that will last much more than a week” she said as her hand entwined with Cleo’s.

“Ay, I say we go to one of the temples tomorrow and pick up a contract” Korin said. I nodded in agreement as I turned towards him, “Ya say we got a while until the new party members get here, we should have time to take a contract or two” he said

“Yeah, which temple do you want to go to?” I asked in agreement, “I don’t think we should go to Tallaque’s, I get the feeling that Zarin might be there. We can go to the temple of Soras or Cleonora”

“I want to check out the temple of Soras” Sara said, she did have a nature spirit and was a disciple of Soras herself. “You two make it sound incredible”

“Okay, we’re going to the temple of Soras first thing tomorrow morning” I said, satisfied with the plans that we had made, “What do you want to do tonight then?” I asked, seeing the sun starting to set outside.

“I’m hungry” Korin complained as he stood up, “and you’ve got a nice house Aucus, but ya ain’t got any food” he said with a sigh as he paced the room. “We’re going to a tavern tonight; I can try what real human booze tastes like, instead of that piss they served in the villages”

I looked to the others, questioningly. “Well, I’m in. I’ve got a few silvers, that should buy us a few rounds and a meal” I said as I checked the pouch of coins that I wore.

We were all in agreement in the end and left the house. I locked up the house and handed out a key from my chain to the others, so that they would be able to get into our new home without my help. We walked in the direction of where we thought the taverns were situated and, after getting lost a couple of times, we found one that looked nice.

We went into The Drunken Duck and ordered some meals and drinks to our table. We were served with meals of roasted rabbit, mashed potatoes, and a serving of peas, the whole plate was covered in a delicious gravy. It was a tasty platter and was a change from the meals in the Citadel that were often cold by the time I ate them.

As we finished our meals and ordered another round of ale to the table, we recognised the people seated near us. I wasn’t sure of their names, but I recognised them from our training in the Citadel, they were new adventurers like us.

We talked with them, discussing our plans for our coming futures and shared a few laughs. One of them tried to flirt with Cleo, though found himself blushing when Sara made it clear that she was spoken for. It was an enjoyable evening, and as more and more drinks came to the table, my head was feeling groggy, and my words were beginning to slur.

Sara giggled loudly at a comment that Cleo had made, “I think we’re going to head back now” she slurred as she stumbled to her feet, she put her hand down to hold onto Cleo but managed to grab her breast instead. That sent both girls into another fit of laughter. They helped each other up and staggered to the door of the tavern.

“Goodbye” Cleo called over to us, in an unnecessarily loud voice.

Rayall sighed and poured the rest of his drink down his throat in an impressively short amount of time, “I think I’ll go to. Come to the temple of Cleonora when you have a contract for us to take” he said in an annoyingly sober voice. With that he rose and left the tavern

“Another round?” Korin asked as he held up his empty mug

I shook my head, finding it hard to make the words with how much I had drank. “No, no, I don’t think I should” I slurred as I pushed my half empty mug away from myself. “I think we should go back as well; we need to get a contract tomorrow” I murmured in a surprising moment of clarity.

He sighed and shook his head, “Ay, let’s go then lad. Ya still owe me a few coppers from that last round.” I nodded and reached into my purse, pulling out some coins without looking and handing them to him. He smirked and put them into his own purse, I could have sworn that we had been buying our own drinks though.

We left the tavern and I held onto the wall as the world swirled around me, the glow of oil lamps creating moving shadows as I walked through the streets. I don’t know when it happened but at some point, I stopped to rest for a moment and recover my bearings. It was then that I lost Korin, the dwarf had walked ahead of me and apparently hadn’t noticed that I stopped in the street, leaving me on my own.

I continued down the street, almost tripping on the cobbles in my drunken stupor. I heard the sound of people approaching behind me and turned around, almost falling with the motion. I saw a group of people walking down the street towards me. One of them spoke but I couldn’t make out the words from him. I was far drunker than I would have liked.

“He said the one with the white hair, right?” one of them said, glancing at another in his group.

“I have white hair” I shouted cheerily, showing a stupid grin. They nodded at that and came towards me, moving around me, the **** gave me a ridiculous sense of cheerfulness as my new friends approached me until one of them gave me a hard shove, knocking me to the floor.

I groaned as I sat up, “Someone wants you to learn a lesson” one of their voices shouted at me before his boot sank into my stomach. I threw up everything that I had eaten that evening. Already feeling nauseous from my drink, the blow to my stomach tipped me over the edge.

My face soaked into the puddle of vomit as another boot slammed into my ribs. I groaned and curled up into a ball, trying to defend myself as best as I could as more blows pummelled my body. One of them had crouched down and was punching me, hitting the spots on my face where my hands had trouble protecting myself.

“Hey! Hey! Get off him!” I heard a voice shouting as someone ran towards me. Another boot slammed into my ribs and I heard a crack. I groaned as I tried to turn over but only succeeded in rubbing my hair through the vomit. I tried to speak, to ask them to stop but instead tasted blood as I went into a coughing fit.

“Let’s go, he’s had enough” one of my attackers said as the sound of footsteps running over become closer. One of them grunted in agreement, giving me one final blow before they ran off.

“Hey, are you okay?” a voice said as the person crouched down next to me. I groaned and tried to say something again, being so drunk I could only murmur sounds that did not make any sense. The pain was becoming too much, the blows to my head and the vast quantity **** working together to surround my vision in blackness.

I was starting to pass out as I looked up and saw my saviour. Was that Henry? I thought before my eyes shut.