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Longears sits alone at a table on the far side from the door of this well lit Generic Inn. It is full of rough-and-tumble folk, at least from his perspective. He has heard that places like these are great for starting adventures, and he is confident he can find one. He is the prince, after all. Soon his parents will see that he is more than a spoiled dandy and he will be able to stop this charade and take his place upon the throne, tending to a portion of his father's full responsibility. For now, he is content to finish this, his final bottle of wine from the royal cellar. Regretting that from here on he will have to content his taste buds with what the humans call wine, he intends to savor every drop on this slightly rainy evening.
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Je'daa sat on the stool in the pub, her colorful robes draped around her. Her horns were polished and clean, as were her tusks. She was quite pleased by this.
She was also pleased by her disguise today. She thought she had pulled it off rather nicely. The beard was just right and moved naturally as she spoke, the padding on her chest and hips made her look a bit plump, but hid her otherwise feminine features. Still, this crowd probably only saw a troll and nothing much beyond that. Male? Female? They probably wouldn't know either way.
But she knew.
A small group of men were gathered around her as she spun her tale. Her deep voice lilted over the words as she drew the story to a close. She had chosen a simple tale rather than an intricate story-song for this evening. "...And with his scythe in hand, he cut through the wheat, as he did, the grains turned to gold and jewels, just as the magician said they would if he used the magic sword. He continued to do this until he had cut down all their wheat in his field. He had a wagon full of treasure by the time he was done. Pleased with himself he took the wagon into town."
Je'daa looked at one of the men who seemed to be amused by this idea. "When he got to town, instead of finding the markets full of food and goods, he found all the other farmers and merchants with their wagons full of gold and jewels as well." She quirked a grin, running her large fingers through her fake beard. "It seems, the spurned magician had given everyone in the area a magical tool to use on their fields."
Je'daa crossed her legs, "What good is it to trade gold for gold and jewels for jewels when there is no food to eat?" She laughed and waggled her eyebrows. "Magicians are tricky like that. Especially when they come baring gifts after you have mocked them and their skills."
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About the time that the troll finished her story, a blood-covered man stumbles through the door and falls face first to the ground. The most obvious sight at this point, would be the sharpened pieces of what look like scrap metal sticking out of his back.
"BLOODY GOBLINS!!!!" an outraged patron exclaims.
"Is anybody ever going to do something about those awful creatures?" a concerned lady in the corner asks, looking away from the corpse and fanning herself.
The barkeep walks over, picks up the poor fellow, and carries him out, toward the local temple.
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"I will go and face them in their own home. I will protect this village."
Longears finishes his glass of wine quickly, snatches up his gear and heads for the door, with an air of pretentious overconfidence.
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"Elves...always overconfident and pretentious." Je'daa says to her companions as the elf heads out the door. "I'll take wagers on his success now. I say...4 to 1 odds in favor of the goblins. Given his sword and noble cape, I am giving him a 1 in four chance of success."
The people around her laugh and Je'daa grins playfully. "Unless one of you fancy yourself a fighter and wants to join him?"
"Oye, don't ye think he could use a bard te tell his tales?"
"Well, perhaps he does."
"An how're we te know if he succeeds er not? I wanna git my coin frum ye."
"Well, I suppose I could go and see how he fairs. Besides, he probably has no idea where the goblins even are. And I do always enjoy watching an elf get beat up by we 'lesser creatures'." She laughs, the men around her, plied with drink and laughing with her as she takes their wagers.
A few minutes later, her purse heavy with the coin from the wagers, she makes her way out of the inn and down the road toward the elf.
