Both Tess and Logan were characters that were thrown together in minutes. Strangely, they managed to become two of my more memorable characters. Even more strange is how they manage to work so well together. Tess is a thief by class, Logan, despite being a mage, was always a thief by nature. Neither of these characters had great ability scores (Logan had a very low con; I believe it was a 6), so it's little wonder they the were always getting into situations that were over their heads. This story, like most of Tess and Logan's stories, focuses on what adventures do when they are not saving the world or fighting dragons.

Dangers of the Road

Tess got up from the fire. Her traveling companion was gone far longer that she had expected. She made her way through the trees toward the river. That was where Logan had gone. As she approached, she heard a strange moaning sound. Her hand went for her sword. "Nice," she thought to herself as she realized that her scabbard was leaning against a rock back at the camp. She considered going back for it, but she still had her dagger and Logan may need her. She darted between trees slowly making her way closer to the river. She spied Logan hunched over next to the river leaning against a large rock. He was hurt. Even from behind, she could see that he was holding his side as if he had been stabbed or worse. She couldn't tell how hurt, but at least he was still conscious. They may need a spell or two shortly. She looked for any creatures around the river. Nothing. Whatever it was, it could be in the water, and it that was the case, she had to get close enough to get Logan away. She picked up a small stone and tossed it near her friend. He turned around and saw her there. He did not look like he'd be much help defeating whatever it was. She thought that their best bet would be to get Logan, get the equipment from camp and start running from the river. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Kill me," Logan groaned.

"Fuck!" thought the elf, "Whatever this thing is, it's something nasty." She had never known Logan to back down from anything, even when she knew he was horribly out matched. Heck, he was a weak mage known for starting bar fights with muscle bound fighter-types. He wasn't known for winning, but he was known for starting them. Tess knew that this wasn't an option. The thought of leaving him here and running crossed her mind, but she knew she couldn't do that either. "Can you walk?" she asked.

"Yea," he replied waving her over.

Tess stepped out from behind the tree. "Well girl, you're not dead yet, so far so good," she thought. She darted over to her friend and helped him to his feet, never taking her eyes off the river. "What did this to you?" she asked.

"Remember that shop back in that town about a week back?" he asked.

She redirected her view to the tree line. A week is a long time to track someone, even if she had stolen food and other supplies. "What about it?" She went through the inventory in her mind; there must be something valuable there.

Logan leaned against a tree and spit out some blood, wiped his mouth and said, "I think there may have been something wrong with those rations."

"Rations," thought Tess. She looked at the blood at Logan's feet. It wasn't blood, just vomit.

"Rations?!?" screamed Tess. "You scared me half to death over rations?!? I'm here thinking that you were dying and you just have an upset stomach?"

Logan stopped himself from saying "Just an upset stomach? It thought I was dying." He had to find some way to get her to focus on something else. He suspected that she had stolen the supplies, so he said, "I think we should go back there and demand compensation."

"Go back…" she stumbled, "that's a week back and another to get this far again. It's not worth it for a couple of crowns, just because you got sick."

"It's the principle of the thing!" snapped the mage.

Tess burst out laughing. The thought of Logan with principles was too much for her. That's why she liked him; he was just as much a rogue as she. "I've seen you take on muscle bound warriors in bar fights, defend a small farm from a goblin raid and run stark raving mad through a kobold village. All of which you survived. I was thinking that you may have been blessed by Tymora herself. I've never thought that you'd be beaten by a ration."

It hurt too much for the mage to laugh. He hunched over again and once again tried to empty his stomach. Once again very little came up. He was cold and he was weak. He knew he was in for a long night. He also knew that it would be a long time before Tess would let him forget about this.