Grufel’s Quest

At first glance, Grufel thought that the inside of the adventurer’s guild hall looked no different from that of any other tavern in the town.

Grufel scanned the quest board carefully, looking for something that would be suitable as his first quest. It didn’t matter if he couldn’t handle it alone, he reminded himself—he could always team up with other adventurers, if necessary.

He read the words scrawled in ink across the top of the quest poster with interest:

“A Mysterious Mask!”

The quest was a simple job that required Grufel to travel to the town of Aetolia and retrieve a mysterious item from within a certain location. The reward was good enough to make him think twice—a whole gold coin! But what made this quest especially enticing was its shortness—it only took a few hours, and since Grufel had some previous experience with the dungeon where the mask was hidden, it should be possible to complete the mission successfully. And so, after some deliberation, Grufel decided to accept the quest.

He walked over to the counter and spoke to the elven woman behind the bar. “I’ve just finished my first quest,” he said. “May I have a receipt for the money?”

“Of course.” The elf handed him a piece of paper with the request’s details printed on it.

“Thank you very much!” he replied, taking the document. Grufel took a moment to look around the room again, making sure that no one was watching him. Then he tucked the receipt into his breast pocket and headed toward the door.

Outside, Grufel quickly caught sight of the young man who’d been sitting in the corner booth earlier. He was still reading his book, but now he glanced up and smiled briefly when Grufel exited the guild hall. Grufel nodded in greeting and continued down the street.

There was a small inn near the edge of Cromus called “The Drunkard’s Rest,” and Grufel knew that he could find a place to sleep there. After a quick meal, he’d go see the wizard to get the magical stone he needed.

After a brief walk, Grufel arrived at The Drunkard’s Rest. Unlike the guild hall, this inn was much larger, with dozens of rooms and a large common area filled with tables, chairs, and stools. At the entrance stood a bellboy, a human male dressed in a tattered, threadbare cloak and holding a small wooden tray with several coins on it. Grufel approached him and asked, “Is your master here today?”

The bellboy shook his head. “No, sir. She hasn’t come back yet.”

Grufel frowned. Where had she gone? She hadn’t given him an explanation, and now her absence was starting to worry him. If something had happened…

He hesitated for a moment before asking, “Do you happen to know how long it takes her to do things like this?”

“Usually about ten days,” answered the boy. “But we haven’t heard anything from her in two weeks.”

That wasn’t good news. Grufel considered going inside to ask the proprietor, but then he noticed a group of people walking out of the inn. They were all dressed in ragged clothing, and they carried their belongings in bundles over their shoulders. As the travelers passed, Grufel overheard them speaking.

“…and if you’re not back soon, the king will have us thrown into prison!”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter—they’ll never catch us. We’ve got a boat waiting outside the city gates!”

Grufel stood frozen in shock. “You mean… she went to sea?!”

Grufel knew that sailing was dangerous, even if the captain of a ship was a skilled sailor. There were countless stories of ships being wrecked or lost at sea.

When he returned to the adventurer’s guild hall, he immediately reported what he’d seen. The elves behind the counter listened silently as Grufel described his encounter with the strange group leaving the inn. Then they turned to the elven woman who was serving drinks at the bar.

“Can you tell us more about these people?” asked one of the female elves, pointing to the group.

The elf nodded. “Yes, I can.”

She pointed to the person farthest from Grufel. “This is Lina. She’s a former member of the royal guard. I don’t know why she quit—she always seemed like a hard worker to me. Now, however, I hear that she’s left the city and gone off to sea.”

The elf looked at another of the people in the group, a human man with a long, thin beard. “And this is Cog. He used to be a blacksmith, but he retired last month. It looks like he’s been drinking ever since.”

The elf pointed to a third member of the group, a young girl with long, dark hair. “This is Myne. She was a seamstress until just recently. Apparently she’d been working as a servant in a nobleman’s house, but she ran away when the man was killed. She’s the reason that the rest of them decided to leave the city.”

Finally, the elf pointed to a fourth person in the group. This was a young woman with short, light-brown hair. “And this is the most mysterious of all—the masked man. I’ve never seen him before, but I suspect he’s a thief. He apparently stole a small fortune from a merchant in the middle of town.”

The adventurers all stood in silence, staring at the group. Finally, the elf spoke up again. “So, according to our information, all four of these people have fled Cromus. We think that they may have stolen some valuable item, and are now trying to make their escape. But where will they go? And what will become of them?”

Grufel took a deep breath and said, “I have a feeling that if we hurry, we might be able to find them before they reach the coast. If we do, maybe we can convince them to turn around and return home.”

Grufel returned to the tavern, bought another round of drinks for everyone there, and told the others of what he’d learned. When he finished, the elven woman behind the counter asked, “What do you intend to do, then?”

“We’ll follow them,” Grufel replied simply. “If we can, we’ll try to talk them out of going any farther. If they refuse to listen, though, I’m sure my companions and I can handle whatever they throw at us.”

The other adventurers laughed and cheered.

A few hours later, Grufel, Cog, and Lina were on their way. They followed the path the group had taken earlier, which eventually led them to a large, open field.

As they walked toward the edge of the field, Grufel noticed something strange: a number of thin trails of smoke rising above the ground.

Cog shook his head. “They’re campfires,” he said. “My guess is that those are the tracks of their boat.”

Lina looked at the smoke curiously. “Why would someone build a fire in the middle of nowhere?”

“Maybe they were planning to spend the night here,” suggested Grufel.

The three continued forward. When they reached the edge of the field, the forest was only a couple hundred yards away.

Just then, the group heard a voice call out from within the woods. “Hey! You!”

Startled, Grufel turned to see a human man standing in the shadows. The man was wearing a green cloak with a hood pulled over his head, making it difficult to identify his features.

“Who are you?” asked the man.

Grufel glanced at the other members of the group. All of them froze in place.

The man stepped into the light, revealing a broad face and a scarred chin. “I’m the one who hired you,” he said. “Now tell me, where is the mask?”

“That’s not your business,” answered Grufel. “You should leave before someone finds you.”

The man frowned. “Don’t play games with me. I don’t have much time. I need that mask, and I won’t stop until I get it!”

“Then let’s put this to the test,” said Grufel. “I’ve already told you that we’re following the group. Let’s take a look at how well they can run away.”

The man hesitated. Then he turned to the others and shouted, “Run!”

In seconds, the group was gone, disappearing into the forest.

“Well, that was easy,” said the man.

Grufel nodded. “But we shouldn’t underestimate them. That man could be a powerful fighter. What if he has friends nearby?”

The man considered this for a moment. “No matter. I’ll deal with them later. First, I need the mask. I’m counting on you to bring it back.”

“If I don’t, you’ll kill me?” asked Grufel.

The man smiled. “Of course.”

The man’s words rang in Grufel’s ears. He felt sick to his stomach. This was the sort of thing that happened in stories—not real life.

After a long pause, Grufel began to walk toward the forest. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

The man chuckled. “Yes, I do.”

Grufel had no idea what to expect once he entered the forest, but he soon found out. Several minutes after entering, he realized that the trees were closing in on him, preventing him from moving forward.

He couldn’t even see the sky anymore. It was dark and gloomy, and there seemed to be nothing around except for the trees.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps. Someone was coming toward him.

Grufel held his breath and waited.

It wasn’t the man from before. Instead, it was a young man dressed in rags, carrying a small bundle over his shoulders.

“Hello,” said the boy. “Are you lost?”

Grufel took a step backward. “I… I am.”

“Do you want to come with me? I live in the forest, and I can help you find your way out.”

Gruffel looked around. There was no sign of the man who’d been chasing them. “Is there really a way out?”

The boy shrugged. “Not really, unless you count the sea. But that’s a long ways off, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Then why did you offer to help me?”

“Because I’m bored. And because it’s fun to make things up. Do you like making things up?”

Gruffel stared at the boy for a few seconds. Then he spoke again. “All right, then. Thank you.”

The two of them walked through the forest together. The boy led him deeper and deeper into the woods, until they finally arrived at a small shack.

The door swung open when the boy knocked, revealing a single room with a bed, a table, and a chair. There was also a large pot sitting on the fire.

“This is my home,” said the boy. “And this is the place where you’ll stay.”

Grufel hesitated. “How will I find you if I need to?”

“There’s a path just outside the village. If you follow it, you’ll eventually reach the coast. From there, you can take a ship all the way to the capital, wherever that may be.”

“What about you? Where are you going?”

“I don’t know. I was planning to go to the capital, but now I might end up somewhere else. Maybe I’ll even start a new life in another country. I never thought that I would leave the forest, but here I am.”

The boy grinned. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? All the places that you can visit, the people that you can meet, the adventures that await.