A peaceful town

The Mage soon disappeared into the crowd, the caravan and his path separating permanently.

The Mage started to wander around town, looking for an inn. He bought some more food while exploring the town, it was surrounded by a wooden wall with the forest only ten metres away from the wall.

His strange get up attracted some attention but people minded their own business, Robin flew above the town. The town seemed peaceful, children played in the streets while the adults worked, the elders stayed to watch over their grandkids. The guards protected the town while patrolling the walls.

The Mage was walking about when a mother and daughter were walking past him, daughter stared before pointing at the Mage. The mother had dirty blonde hair and wore it in a plat, her face young and covered in freckles as her body was slim but healthy.

The daughter had the same dirty blonde hair but it if hanged freely upon her shoulders, she hadn't inherited her mother's freckles and seemed slightly underfed.

"Why are you wearing that? It's not going to rain today." The mother looked apologetic as she started to hurry the child along.

"I just came from the north, it only took the time it takes you to count your fingers for the weather to go from sunny to a storm." The Mage said after a chuckle, his voice soft and kind.

The daughter looked happy with her answer and kept walking with her mother as the mother nodded towards him.

Two children in tattered clothes were chasing each other down the street, the one in front a young boy around twelve while the one in the back was a girl around the age of nine. The Mage could feel eyes prick against his skin, a quick glance revealed that the guards were now watching the Mage as the two children near him.

'Somethings up.' He watched the two children closely, he then caught it. The young boy glanced at his coin pouch for barely a second but the Mage caught it, this wasn't the first time the Mage had encountered poor people who had resorted to pickpocketing.

He simply placing his hand on his cane while pretending he was a little lost. The two soon approached him and as the child started to look forward he heard.

"Could you help me, young man?" The Mage said while looking down at the child, fear soon appeared in the boy's eyes, he couldn't understand why but this cloaked stranger made him fear for his life.

"Of course Sir." The boy said while putting his hand behind his back, the girl seemed to see something as she slowly backed away.

"I was just hoping you could direct me to the local inn, I hope that isn't a problem?" The Mage said as he put his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"If you follow this road then turn left, it is the place with the tables outside." The boy said while staring at the hand now lay upon his shoulder, his face still pointing towards the Mage.

"Thank you for your help young man, here," The Mage said as he reached into his pouch, "A little something for you and your sister." The Mage took out a few coppers and held them in the palm of his hand.

"Thank you, Sir," The boy said while reaching forward as he reached for the coin the Mage caught his hand. "If you keep going down your current path then you may regret it, you can't feed your sister if your hands are broken, correct?" The Mage said before letting go, putting the coppers in the young man's hand.

When he grabbed the boy's shoulder the Mage had felt the guard near him start to move, he grabbed his hand one of them had gotten halfway there. Just as the guard was about to tap the Mage's shoulder, the Mage had finished with the boy and had started to walk away.

The Mage wasn't hassled by anyone else, as he turned the corner he saw the inn, the boy hadn't lied.

The Mage walked into the inn before taking in the surroundings, only a few people were in here as they were eating their food, no mugs or bottles on their table. The sun had just reached the middle of the sky and therefore it wasn't time to drink for most people.

The Mage walked up to the innkeeper before saying, "A simple meal and a room please, only one night." The Mage said as he started to ruffle around in his pouch.

"Ten coppers please." The innkeeper said, he had grey hair and a few wrinkles on his face, his eyes were blue while his skin was a tanned white, his body muscular even in his old age as scars riddled his bare arm.

His left sleeve was empty.

He took the ten coppers from the Mage and gave him two things, a piece of wood with three cuts on it and a key with a piece of wood strung to it, this had five cuts.

The Mage soon sat down at a table, putting his backpack underneath his chair, the Mage took in his surroundings and relaxed. He had been running on bread for the entire journey, a warm meal would do him good.

The other three people in the inn were three adventurers, two humans and one orc. The first human was female, she had short brown hair and wore leather armour, she was slender and carried a bow at her side. The second human was male, he was stocky and bald with two daggers at his sides. The orc was male, his hair black and in a bun on top of his head, behind his chair stood a handle of a weapon nearly the size of a human.

The average orc was two heads bigger than the average human, they were stronger and just as smart however they had their downsides.

The Mage turned his head away and took out his notebook, noting down his experience in this town and any landmarks worth remembering.