It’s time to begin, Brave Hero (cue epic and heroic music)!

You are traveling. The reason why doesn’t matter at this point.  It’s been a long day on the road and you are tired, hungry, and thirsty. You enter a small city and approach a tavern. The sign says The Pen and Sword.  A lit sign below that says Home-cooked food, Rooms for Rent. You’re a stranger to this area, but it’s late and starting to rain. You decide to stop for the night.

As you enter you scan the scene. The room is not large, but not cramped. You can smell a delicious aroma of roasted meat, and fresh bread. You can also smell the yeasty, hoppy smell of beer or cider, and you can see bottles of other drinks behind the bar.

To your left is the bar. The bartender is a round, middle aged man, appearing human, but with… WHAT? You blink and look again.  Yep, you saw correctly — The bartender has very short, horns poking out of his receding, dark, curly hair. Must be a having a costume party or something. At the moment he is frowning at the man before him and seems thoroughly irritated.

“Packson, get lost! I’ve given you a handout 3 times this week. No more! Either drop some coin on the bar for your food, or shove off!”

The man at the bar, “Packson” you assume, is thin and stooped. His clothing is worn and torn, but clean. His greying hair is messy and overlong, but not dirty. He carries a old, much mended rucksack that appears about half full, and grips a cane in his left hand, keeping his weight off his left foot. He is pleading with the bar tender.

“Samuel, please. You know I don’t have any right now, but you know I’m good for it. I’ve always paid my bill before! But I ain’t had no work the past week since the factory accident broke my foot.  I won’t get paid until I go back – if they’ll take me back – and the Doc says that won’t be for another 2 weeks. I’m starving here!”

They continue to argue. You’re hungry and thirsty. Maybe you could interrupt them and order something.

You look around the rest of the room. To your right are some tables. One large table with 5 chairs is empty, near the large, cheerful fire in the hearth. If you sit there, others can join you for a friendly chat. It’s nice to meet new people.

One small table with 2 chairs is empty, tucked back into a small, shadowy corner. That one looks private and quite. Sometimes it’s nice to not have to talk to others.

One large table has 3 people sitting at it, drinking and playing a game with cards and dice – the game is familiar to you and you’re good at it. They mostly appear friendly, and you hear casual banter and occasional laughter. One player is large, man with an equally large knife at his side. He glares at you for a moment as you enter. You see a scruffy beard and dark eyes. Based on the small number of coins in front of him he appears to be losing.

One player is an attractive, but tough looking women with long, glossy brown hair, in a loose tunic and slacks. She also looks up at you briefly, smiles, and then looks back at the game.  She is wearing a large gem on a cord around her neck. She has the largest pile of coins in front of her.

The third player… is a cat!?? You look again. Yep, it’s a large, humanoid cat, wearing a vest of blue velvet. Must be in on the costume party, you think. Their fur is light grey with darker grey stripes. They have a moderate number of coins in front of them, and they must have a good hand (paw?) of cards, because you can just hear some soft purring.  They look up at you and wink.

“Hey, here’s a 4th player! Come on over stranger! The game’s better with 4!”

You like playing cards and you’ve never played with a cat lady before!

You see stairs to a second level in the back of the room and a sign that says: Rooms for rent – By the hour, night, or week. Payment due up front! Housekeeping extra. You’re tired. A quick retreat to a quiet room and sleep might be a good idea.