The midday sun beat down upon the workers, leaving them dehydrated and nearing exhaustion. For hours they had been unloading fresh timber straight from the Tatzlford mills. The strong wooden planks from the western forest were piled high on large river barges which sat in port at the waterfront. Dock workers were in short supply, so the carpenters themselves had been conscripted into moving the lumber into the city proper. Every able bodied man willing to work was being utilized to fuel the explosive growth within Stagfell. As the hours of hard labor continued, men would pause to wipe sweat from dripping brows or tarry for an extra moment in the shade offered by the large wagons. All men save one. The massive Ulfen man, Arnor, stood out in the crowd of common laborers. His wide shoulders carried three times the weight of the other men and he showed no signs of slowing. His long blonde hair and full beard left no doubt that this man hailed from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings.
After heaving a massive bundle of planks onto the wagon he took a long drink from the waterskin at his side. He glanced down the street for a moment and spotted a small kobold running towards him. The kobold jumped into one of the many timber carts lining the street and hid under the tarp and ropes in the wagon. Within seconds of the small creature disappearing from view, a street patrol came running up the road, short of breath from the chase.
“Where did he go, the kobold?” shouted one of the guards with his hands on his knees in exhaustion.
Arnor shrugged his shoulders and turned back to his work. The befuddled guardsmen picked an alley and continued on in futile chase. Moments after the patrol departed he noticed the small kobold hop down from the cart and scamper into a nearby alleyway.
As Arnor went to tie down the planks he saw two of the carpenters from his guild sitting in the shade by the wagon.
“Ulfen, didn’t I hear that your family is full of famous heroes?” asked one of the craftsmen.
“Yeah that fat bard was singing some song about an Ulfen warrior who fought in a war with the frost giants or something, his last name was Bjorn like yours. You related to him or something?”
Arnor looked down at the men and paused for a second, then smiled and turned back to start loading more timber.
“You know they just started up a guild for adventurers and warriors and explorers here in Stagfell. I bet they could use a big man like you.”
Arnor stopped in his tracks as he heard the last words from the carpenter, who continued on to snicker at the thought of a career as an ‘adventurer.’
Arnor turned back to the men and asked “where is this guild?”
“It’s down on Baron Street a block south of that Troll War memorial. You ain’t serious are you Arnor? We were just joking. This is steady work. You don’t want to be no adventurer. They get themselves killed. We were just joking with you big man.”
As the carpenter finished his sentence a shadow flashed over them that momentarily blocked out the noon sun. They looked up and saw the Baron of Miras flying overhead towards the highest tower on Castle Redemption.
“Wow” said one of the men. “Did you see that? He was flying. They say he can breathe dragon fire too.”
The group of dockworkers broke from their work to discuss tall tales they’d heard on the exploits of the Baron and the Lords of the Realm.
“I heard he breathed fire on that troll king and burned him to a crisp.”
“I heard he has ladies brought to him from all sorts of places, beautiful ladies. Not like some of these Riverland boars we have to bed.”
“That must be the life. Sure beats loading timber.”
The idle prattle continued on as Arnor stood in thought. After nodding his head in determination he looked down at the men by the wagon. “Tell the Guildmaster I am taking a leave of absence.” Arnor placed his tool belt on the wagon, turned and began walking into the city.
“Arnor, we were just kidding. Being an adventurer isn’t a real job! If you leave who is going to load all of this timber!?!” the men cried after him plaintively. The massive Ulfen continued his steady pace into the city until he disappeared from their view.
