The Fate's Chosen

PRO - The Hero of the World

Old Todd Forrester owned the finest pub in all of the great kingdom of Adderghast. At least, he liked to pretend. His place wasn't marked on any map. It was just a place that travelers stumbled into on their way to locations far more thrilling. Most of them were surprised that it existed.

Todd had built his old girl from the ground up, right smack in the middle of the big cities, Ibaina, Feraway, and Tharsis. The only road to get from one of these to the other ran right in front of his pub, so most of his customers came from one of them.

The owner, himself, wasn't a traveler by any means. He'd grown up in the outskirts of Tharsis in a poor village named Puck, filled with thieves and thugs. Luckily, he'd been blessed with a good mama who'd taught him right from wrong, and a good uncle who kept him safe. But when he'd tried to make his way in the world, going into the big city itself, no one wanted a barely educated man from Puck. No one trusted him. They saw him as a fool from nowhere, who was not smart enough for them. None of them cared about the man's good heart.

With that good heart broken, Todd left Tharsis and traveled a ways until he found a good, peaceful spot and made his stead. He didn't think he would spend the rest of his life in the bar, but it had been forty years since he'd built her, and he was still stuck in the middle of nowhere.

He didn't mind so much anymore. Nearing seventy now, he was resigned to his fate. The man liked listening to the young and relating to the old. Even if most didn't know of his place when they found it, they never left disappointed. He had good ale and knew how to make a broken soul smile again. His place was simple, but he knew how to make it a home.

He liked helping people, getting to know them, hearing their stories. There were some excellent ones he'd heard from strange nomads. A travelling group of carnies came in once, and threw their own little show. Some con-artists had tried to one up the old man, but Todd had street smarts from growing up in the dumps and had them spinning their wheels in the end.

But some of his favorite guests were the knights from the kingdom's capital, serving in the king's castle. Those men knew how to drink for one thing, but it was their stories of battle and the wiles of the court that had Todd spellbound. They spoke of their great king, and his beautiful queen. They told long monologues of their adventures, wild hunts, and secret affairs.

Then there were the magnificent tales of the legendary knight from the western kingdom of Evocatus that all the men spoke of with a reverence. A few of them would brag proudly that they had actually met the hero of the world, as what many had come to call him. Originally, he had been just a normal knight, but now he travelled over multiple kingdoms, leading armies against raiders and tyrants. He had slain many enemies that had come against the four kingdoms of Venth.

The hero that was already a legend—a man Todd could only imagine. The old barkeep knew he would never meet him, because legends didn't stoop to enter an unmapped pub.

Todd swallowed, staring hard at a spot on his counter without realizing it as he continued to twirl his rag through the already clean mug. Sweat rolled down his temple, though the night kept the place cool. He'd always believed that to be true. Nothing exciting happened to him. Todd heard the stories, not experienced them... but now...tonight, something was different.

Another tremor from outside made the windows rattle and roof shake. Todd gave a start and broke from his trance, eyes refocusing on his stalwart home. Tonight, his place was devoid of nomads, carnies, cons, and knights. He'd done his best to usher everyone out, due to what lay in the back of his storage room. Unfortunately, one man remained, pouring heavily over a bunch of books and papers at the counter.

At the trembling, the other man looked up. "Feraway?" He glanced quickly at Todd.

The owner cleared his throat. "Yessir." He gave him the same response he'd given nearly an hour ago. "I told ya, storm's been brewin' over there all day. For hours it's been buildin'."