Scribing...
Scribing...
Chapter 1.05
Erin Solstice begins cleaning the abandoned inn, dealing with dangerous local wildlife and succeeding in starting a fire. She flips the inn's sign to 'Open', which attracts the attention of city guards, and the chapter ends with the arrival of a giant, talking insect.
Erin Solstice woke up to find her hand injury had worsened. Determined to make The Wandering Inn habitable, she began the arduous task of cleaning. Her efforts were immediately met with challenges; she discovered a half-eaten Camouflaged Dinosaur-Bird carcass and was then attacked by an Acid Fly, which splashed a painful acid onto her arm, forcing her to rush to the stream to wash it off.
After several exhausting trips hauling buckets of water from the stream, Erin discovered some useful items left behind, including Goblin Daggers and a Flint and Steel. Using the tools, she successfully started a fire in the kitchen's large fireplace. The warmth and light represented a significant victory, transforming the cold, abandoned building into something more like a home.
Buoyed by her success, Erin went to the front door and flipped the wooden sign from 'Closed' to 'Open', a symbolic act of reopening the establishment. Unbeknownst to her, the smoke from her chimney did not go unnoticed. Miles away on a city wall, a Senior Guardswoman named Beilmark spotted the plume and made arrangements to send two guardsmen, Relc and Klbkch, to investigate.
The chapter concludes as a new and unexpected visitor arrives at the inn's open door. A Giant Insect appeared and, to Erin's shock, spoke to her.
While cleaning a rotting carcass inside The Wandering Inn, Erin Solstice was attacked by an Acid Fly. The creature splashed a burning fluid on her arm, forcing her to wash the painful injury in the nearby stream.
After hauling water, Erin used a found Flint and Steel to successfully start a fire in the kitchen fireplace. This act brought warmth and the potential for cooking to the inn for the first time since she arrived.
A young woman from Earth who stumbles into a fantasy world and takes refuge in an abandoned inn.
aka Erin, the traveller +38
Small inn where Erin is present; currently occupied by her. Noted by the Watch as having been abandoned years ago but Erin is using it; the Drake and Klbkch enter here to investigate.
aka the inn, Abandoned hilltop inn +16
Feeling a surge of accomplishment from starting the fire, Erin symbolically reopened for business by flipping the sign on the inn's front door from 'Closed' to 'Open'.
On a distant city wall, a Senior Guardswoman named Beilmark observed the smoke from the inn's chimney. She dispatched guardsmen, Relc and Klbkch, to investigate the unexpected activity.
A large, intelligent Giant Insect appeared at the doorway of the inn. The creature shocked Erin by speaking to her, marking the arrival of the inn's first potential patron.
“Greetings. May we come in?”
“Fire! Call me Prometheus…Promethea.”
“That’s for all of you.”
“At this rate, I'm going to start a collection.”
“Now, where can I get a piece of chalk and write ‘no Goblins allowed’?”
“Hi, can I help you?”
“Acid flies. Okay, that’s completely wrong.”
“Double double, boil and trouble…into the pot you go.”
“…Well, finders keepers.”
“Huh. So that’s what flint and steel looks like. It actually does look like Minecraft!”
“Sorry, baby dino-birdlings. But I really need to eat. And you look nice and doughy right now.”
“But it’s a better day, right? A bit of a better day.”
“Another weird creature. Wonderful.”
“[Basic Cooking], huh?”
“Forget bread. It’s pasta time.”
“That’s Senior Guardsman Klbkch to you, rookie. Send a street runner to tell the Captain.”
“Ooh. I’d hate to be Relc. Klbkch didn’t do anything, though. But he’s…eugh.”
“Okay. At least I know where all the normal birds go. Inside the dinosaur-birds.”
“People used to do this every day? This is why plumbing was invented, you know. Who puts a stream so far from an inn? What happened to a good well?”
“Camouflaged dinosaur birds. Now I’ve really seen everything.”
“Not a full one, and that’s not our call. I’ll tell the Captain. You just keep an eye on it. I think she’ll put our best patrol on it. Punishment detail for breaking all those windows yesterday.”
“This was an inn once. But someone abandoned it. And they left a lotta useful stuff behind.”
“Hm. Chewy. Tasty! Pasta is the greatest food in the entire world.”
“That’s definitely a bug. And it’s really ugly. If I could take it to a scientist back home, I bet I’d be famous. Since I can’t—go away, would you?”
“No skeleton? No problem. I hope.”
“You. Get off.”
“This is how it starts, right? You leave the fireplace on while you go on a vacation for a few days, and the next thing you know, your inn’s burned down. A classic cautionary tale.”
“Huh. ‘Closed?’ Is that English?”
“It was alive. There was a baby inside.”
“I could bury it. If I had a shovel. And I could burn it. If I had a way to make fire. Or…I could leave it over there.”
“Gotta wash these sometime. But that means I’ll be walking around naked. Is that an issue? And what’s that smell?”
“Who knew carrying stuff with one hand was so much of a pain? I mean, everything’s a pain.”
“No. No. You deserve at least a sandwich. Or eggs and sausage.”
“I’m an idiot.”
“It does look like—smoke. Maybe it’s a traveller. Or bandits. Or whoever’s been robbing the farmsteads.”
“Is that a…pterodactyl? No way.”
“Huh. So people speak English here. Good to know!”
“…Why’s it got four legs? I thought bugs had six.”
“Or Goblins. I’ve seen them creeping around now and then. Do we send out a patrol?”
“This. This is disgusting.”
“Let’s see. Frying pan? No. Tongs? No. A saw? Why does a kitchen need a saw?”
“Right. Normal eggs actually hatch. Right. This isn’t a store, so of course they’d be living—but they must be new eggs. Not full of half-born chickens, right?”
“Okay. Pain. But now I can make bread! I’ve got all the ingredients. Right? Right. I just need flour, yeast, butter, a bit of salt and sugar and—”
“Right. Well, there’s only one thing to do in a situation like this.”
“Skeleton? Goblins.”
“It could just be nothing, Senior [Guardswoman].”
“Right. Rummage time. I know I saw a shelf full of weird stuff somewhere…”
“Mm! Sweet! This stuff’s like syrup! Chunky syrup! Or…a smoothie.”
“Huh. I guess without many trees birds get lazy. But what a big nest. And what’s that inside—”
“Unless they ate horses.”
“Feels like it's worse than yesterday. Which is probably my imagination.”
“I’ll deal with you later. For now, I need dough.”
“Too bad I don’t have something refreshing to drink as well. A nice glass of juice would go down great. But y’know, it’s not like I…can…”
“Dried grass…check. Broken chair…check. Fire?”
“Sticks. You hit sticks together. Or rocks.”
“Oh. Oh god. Why are there red lines—?”
“Great. My hand hurts, and now my arm hurts.”
“Oh yeah. Water. Great. Well, I can just go out and get some. It’s not like there’s a time limit or anything—”
“I really should have brought a bucket.”
“Oh. Oh wow.”
“Nah. Blue fruit juice? That’s more like it.”
“Hm. Fork…fork! Am I missing anything?”
“Yes, [Guardswoman] Beilmark.”
“Well, here’s a cauldron.”
“Blue juice?”
“Hold on. What’s this word?”
“What's that smell?”
“Ahh! Owowowowowow!”
“Damn. It went out.”
“Is that…a horseshoe?”
“Ew, ew, ew.”
“Ow.”
“Eggs?”
“Dammit.”
“Hot!”
“Ow. Hot!”