Chapter Two: Faux Pas

Moonday, Rova 17

I have been too busy to write. It seems being a caravan guard is a much harder job than I expected. We have been attacked three times already – once by wolves and twice by small groups of little creatures called goblins. Apparently the goblins are a common problem in this area, but are not unified enough to provide an actual threat. They certainly are annoying, though.

I said I would write more of my fellow guards and now I shall. Many of them are types of humans I have never seen before and I have had to be careful to learn what they are called without arousing suspicion.

Two of them look similar to elves, but they are clearly not. One is something called a drow, and his name is Gor. He looks much like a normal elf but his skin is grey and his hair snow white. Everyone in the caravan seems to avoid him, and I have heard whispers among the caravan hands that he is evil and a bad omen. I have not seen Gor do anything threatening whatsoever, so perhaps these drow are like my own people in that they are hated for no other reason than being what they are.

The other not-elf is a bizarre creature I have heard called a gith. He has knife ears like an elf but his nose is flat and his skin a sickly yellow. Apparently his name is Izzussan, but he spends most of his time reading a book so I do not know what he is like.

There is a horrid creature called a half-orc. He is bulky, green, and brutish, with large tusks coming from his mouth. I did not catch his name and I do not care. All he seems to do is drink and belch, and I've caught him leering at me several times. If he tries to touch me I will slit his throat.

Finally, there is a human named Eyward. I'm pretty sure the other guards don't suspect me at all, but this human already has me worried. I have been having trouble remembering to keep my ears as human ears and not elf ears. Mostly I have been keeping them hidden under my hair, but occasionally, when I forget, they peek out. I think Eyward may have noticed. I must be very cautious around him. He is a priest and worships a deity called Iomedae, who I know dislikes Norgorber and his followers so I must be careful.

Hopefully this won't turn into another disaster.

Fireday, Rova 21

Finally we have arrived in Sandpoint! It is a sleepy little town, but good enough to hide out in for a little while. Actually, the priest Eyward has been talking about our group taking on some other jobs while in Sandpoint, so perhaps I will travel with them for awhile.

The merchant who hired us has asked us to meet him for dinner at an inn called The Golden Trout, where he will treat us to dinner and then pay us our wages. I am leaving now to get paid, and then I will decide whether to stay with this group.

Remember when I wrote how hopefully this wouldn't turn into a disaster? Well, it's already halfway there.

We met the merchant at the Golden Trout, where he told us that although he'd still be happy to treat us to dinner, there had been some issues with the trading of his goods and he wouldn't be able to pay us our wages until tomorrow. Apparently tomorrow is the day of a celebration called the Swallowtail Festival, which honors the goddess Desna. The merchant suggested that we stick around for one more day and enjoy the festival, and he would pay us at the end of the day.

He also had another suggestion. There are festival games that teams compete in, with a large prize for the team that wins the most events. The merchant said that if we'd like to compete, he'd cover our entry fee if we'd agree to share the winnings with him. Most of the party seemed to be in favor so I reluctantly agreed. Perhaps seeing what sort of absurd games the humans have invented will be educational.

We sat down for dinner, and our waitress immediately began flirting with the half-orc. Apparently some humans have abysmal taste. She was also glaring at me, as if afraid I would try to steal the horrid belching green man away from her. Idiot woman.

After ten minutes of waiting for her to bring me my food when everyone else had theirs, I got fed up and told the party that I was going for a walk. I could see Eyward watching me suspiciously as I went out to the lobby. I quickly stole a cloak from the coat closet, shifted into one of the handsome male forms Raz had liked to use, and then re-entered the inn.

A second waitress immediately ran up to me, eagerly getting me a table about twenty feet away from the one my party was sitting at. I made up a lie about being short on gold, and the waitress nodded sympathetically, patted my leg, and agreed to only charge me half price.

It still amazes me how simple some humans are.

Unfortunately, before I could get my dinner a group of eight or so thuggish-looking men entered the inn. The ringleader marched up to my party and insisted that they were in his seats. Eyward tried to be diplomatic, pointing out that there were plenty of open tables for him to sit at, but the thugs were clearly drunk and having none of it. I got up from my seat and started to head for the exit, but before I could get halfway there a brawl broke out.

Two of the thugs decided to target me, but plates to their drunken faces quickly sorted them out. Of course that attracted the attention of the leader, who swung at me. The waitress came over to try to help me and got backhanded for her troubles. The thug got a few good hits on me – for the record, if I'd had my weapons he would have been dead already, but they had been confiscated at the door. However Izzussan had managed to retrieve his sword somehow and quickly came over to help me deal with the thug.

Badly injured, the ringleader tried to escape out the window. I dove out after him, changing form and dropping the cloak as I did so. I dashed after the thug, picked up a rock, and hurled it at his head, nearly knocking him unconscious.

Eyward and several others had made it out the back door by that point, and quickly cornered and subdued the ringleader.

I saw Eyward's eyes catch sight of the cloak on the ground, then dart over to me, then narrow. And I knew then that he knew. He might not know exactly what I am, but he could tell something was wrong with me.

He approached me, commenting how convenient it was that I'd shown up just as they were finishing up the fight. He asked me if I'd seen the man the cloak belonged to; I said I'd seen a man by that description running off just as I arrived.

He glanced down at my arm, noticed a bruise on it, and asked where I got it. Thinking fast, I told him a few men had tried to mug me, and failed. I thanked Norgorber that I was not bleeding, for if I had been he would have seen that I did not have human blood.

The look in his eyes when he asked his next question terrified me. "What are you after here? What are your intentions?"

For a fleeting moment I considered trying to kill him. But it was pointless. Not only was I unsure I could win, but there would be countless witnesses. All I could do was tell the truth, and hope that I was believed for once.

"I don't have any bad intentions. I don't mean you any harm."

Eyward stared at me for a long moment. I was so terrified I couldn't breathe. Finally he nodded. "Alright," he said. "If you mean no harm to the innocent, then you have nothing to fear from me."

"That's good to know," I stammered out as he turned and walked back into the inn.

The aftermath of the bar brawl was far less exciting than the fight itself. The guards came, the waitresses testified that the ringleader had started it, and they hauled him off to sober up. The waitresses offered us free rooms for the night in the inn – and I saw the first one approach the half-orc and offer him HER room, ugh – which we accepted. I need to sleep now, for we are still planning to take part in the Swallowtail Festival games tomorrow morning. I have locked the door and the windows, and I will try to get to bed. But I suspect the fear of being murdered in my sleep will keep me awake a long time tonight.

Everything keeps going wrong. I'm always running away from something. One of these days, I won't be able to run far enough.