At the rise of a hill Isa saw what she had wondered if she’d ever see – in the distance, on its own hill, stood Traveler’s Rest, the inn that was their destination. The last full rays of the sun shone down on the building bathing it in golden light. Joth had been talking about it for the last hour, and he seemed to be talking around something; Isa just wasn’t sure what it was.

“There it is!” she said.

“Yep. You’ll notice that it’s the only building for miles. Miles and miles.”

“What are you trying to tell me, Joth?”

“It’s expensive. They can charge what they want, no matter how grimy the conditions, and you don’t have much choice, right?”

“There’s no Yelp for Middle-Earth? Of course not.”

“Yeah, and so…. We could save money by sharing a room.”

She glanced at him to see if she’d heard right. “Nope. No way.”

“I don’t like it any more than you do.”

“Good.” Isa started down the road.

“But last time I was here….” Joth trotted to catch up with her. “Last time, it cost me a gold piece to have my own room.” He paused. “That’s twice the regular rate.”

“Maybe they have like a men’s bunkhouse and a women’s. Or a barn, loft. Something. Who can afford a gold a night?”

“Well, most adventurers, actually. But,” he added quickly, “not when they’re first starting out, of course.”

Isa walked faster, her eye on the distant building.

As they approached she saw that the inn was a cobbled together group of buildings. One side was a stone tower so that the inn seemed to be huddled up against a watch tower, as if for protection. The front part was a half-timbered slab of a building. The second story had shingles and a long, sloping roof.

Several bearded men stood in front of the entrance talking in low tones. Joth nodded at them as he and Isa moved past them and inside. “Friends of yours?” she said.

“No. God, no. You just gotta meet their eye. Gotta….”

“Assert dominance?” Isa smiled.

“Sort of! Yeah. The wilderness is a rough and tumble place. Like the Wild West, OK?”

Isa gave him a little salute. “Got it, pardner.”

“It’s not a joke.” Joth pulled her to him. “It’s really not. Follow my lead.”

He approached the tall front desk and the woman who sat behind it. “Good evening. We are travelers looking for beds for the night.”

“Just the two of you? A gold each, includes breakfast.”

“Do you have anything in the bunk? We are but poor--”

“Bunk’s no place for a woman.”

“She’s a fighter.” Joth hooked a thumb at Isa. “Don’t worry about her.”

“Every woman’s a fighter.” She looked at Isa. “You’re far from home, eh?”

“Yeah,” said Isa. “I guess I am. I don’t need much, but a door with a lock would be nice.” She bit her lip. “If I skip breakfast is it cheaper? We have some ration bars.”

“Gimme 5 silver, and you can bed down in the 3rd floor linen closet. Room to spread out your roll and a door that shuts. And 5 to you for a bunk,” she said to Joth.

He handed her a gold coin. “Thank you. Thank you very much.” He laid a silver coin on the counter. “Can we get some soup and black bread for this?”

“Aye. Head in there.” She gestured with her chin. “Find a place and the girl will bring you food. You got another silver, she’ll bring you mead.”

Isa took one of her 3 silver coins and added it to Joth’s “Thank you. I appreciate this. More than you can know.”

The woman ignored the thanks, instead she said, “When you’re ready to sleep, come find me. Resha’s my name.”

The common room was dark, crowded, and warm. Fat white candles burned at even spaces on the long tables. Joth moved toward an open space at one end of the farthest table in the room. He sat on a low stool and gestured for Isa to do the same. She leaned her staff against the table and carefully arranged her rapier. This will take some getting used to.

He leaned forward and said, “Common rooms can be pretty raucous. Just keep your head down, right? Don’t want to be like Frodo at the Prancing Pony.”

While they waited for their food Isa asked Joth what tomorrow’s journey might bring. “Today was really uneventful. Well, after we left Gimble’s shop. Is tomorrow more of the same?”

“The road from here to Hanchen is less traveled. It’s getting late in the year, so folks tend to stay put. We should be on guard tomorrow. It’s only about 5 hours’ travel to Hanchen from here, but it’s a lonely 5 hours.”

A young girl slid a tray onto the table between Joth and Isa. “Soup,” she put bowls in front of them. “Bread. And mead.” She was gone before Isa could say “Thank you.”

As Isa reached for the bread, the dark brown jewel on her finger flashed in the candle light. The ring that Joth had settled on was, he said, a sard. The gem itself was a dark brown with hints of red, set in a silver band. It was handsome. Smooth, oval, and simple. It fit nicely on the middle finger of her right hand.

When they’d left the shop Joth told her that the ring was easily worth 50 gold, maybe more. “People here, they sometimes convert cash to objects, right? That ring, it’s like a wallet. You have access to 50 gold without having to carry 50 gold coins with you.”

Now they ate in silence; both tired from the journey, and Isa tried to tune out the conversations around them. No one was speaking quietly. In fact most people seemed to think that shouting was the best method of discourse.

As she wiped her bowl with the heel of the bread - both had been surprisingly good - hands came from behind her and cupped her breasts. “Here’s a new one then!” A man’s voice shouted at her ear. “I saw her first.”

Isa tried to stand up, but the table prevented it. She thought she heard Joth say something, but she was focused on escaping this man’s grip. Almost on accident she snapped her head back and connected with his face.

He let go of her and fell back, his hand covering his nose. Blood began to drip through his fingers. “Ya dumb bitch! Look what you did!” Two men caught him and propped him up.

Isa stood and whirled to face him. Somehow her rapier was in her hand.

“We don’t want any trouble,” Joth said quietly.

Isa had a different opinion, but before she could contradict the wizard, Resha was standing in the middle of the room. “No fighting in my inn. I won’t have it. Costs too much. Take it outside.”

“I was just paying her a compliment!” The man with the bloody nose told Resha. “But she’s so dumb, she doesn’t know it.” He spat at Isa’s feet.

“That’s not how my people compliment each other,” Isa replied.

Resha nodded. “Got ourselves a cultural misunderstanding.” She slapped her hands together. “Show’s over.” She pointed at the man. “You get that cleaned up and set. Don’t want it to heal crooked. And you,” she jabbed her finger at Isa, “come with me.”

Isa glanced at Joth, and for the first time she noticed that he had a glowing ball floating in the palm of his right hand. “Go on,” he said. “See you in the morning.”

Isa put her sword away, grabbed her staff and her pack, and followed Resha out of the common room. “You can handle yourself,” the woman said over her shoulder. “Give you that. But I don’t like blood on my floors; no keep likes blood on their floors, so unless you want to build a reputation for blood-letting, find a better way to handle men.”

Isa opened her mouth to protest, and Resha held up her hand. “Didn’t say it was fair, but that’s just how it is. Come this way.” She walked past the high desk where she’d taken their money and through a door.

“Are you kicking me out? ‘Cause that’s not right.”

“Right. Ha. Fair. They’ve got nothing to do with it.” Resha stopped and turned. Isa saw that they were standing in a small kitchen. “Things must be different where you’re from, eh? Well here, a woman has to toughen up to survive. Be smarter, sneakier, deadly sometimes, and look for the bad. Expect the bad, girl.” She opened a side door. “This is the pantry. A little cool, but nice and dry.”

“And I’ll sleep here in case someone overheard the linen closet discussion.”

Resha smiled. “You might survive this place.” She touched the inside handle. There’s no lock, but you can loop your rope around and secure it to that shelf there. It’s bolted down. That way no one’s getting in that you don’t want.”

Isa nodded and set down her backpack to untie the rope from its spot on the side.

“Breakfast starts early so I’ll be thumping that door before the sun is up.”

Spoiler: Character Sheet

Name: Isa Chamberlin

Race: Human

Height & Weight: 5ft 6inches / 120 lbs

Class: Fighter Level: 2

Alignment: Good

Background: Stranger in a Strange Land

Hit Points: 15 AC: 13

Combat: +4 to Hit

Weapons: Rapier (left hand) 1d8 +2 (piercing) / Quarterstaff (right hand) 1d6 +2 (bludgeoning)

STR

11

0

DEX

14

+2

CON

11

0

INT

13

+1

WIS

13

+1

CHA

12

+1

Saving Throws: Str and Con +2

4

Acrobatics* (Dex)

1

Medicine (Wis)

1

Animal Handling (Wis)

1

Nature (Int)

1

Arcana (Int)

3

Perception* (Wis)

0

Athletics (Str)

1

Performance (Cha)

1

Deception (Cha)

1

Persuasion (Cha)

3

History* (Int)

1

Religion (Int)

3

Insight* (Wis)

2

Sleight of Hand (Dex)

1

Intimidation (Cha)

2

Stealth (Dex)

1

Investigation (Int)

1

Survival (Wis)

Special Attack: Two weapon fighting. When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.

Class Features:

Second Wind - On your turn, you can use a Bonus Action to regain hit points equal to 5 + your fighter level. Short or Long Rest before you can use it again.

Action Surge - On your turn, you can take one additional action on top of your regular action and a possible Bonus Action. You must finish a short or Long Rest before using it again.