Andy and Pliny had been walking all morning, and it was now just past noon. As they entered Tobo’s Tavern, they were greeted by a cheerful halfling, clean shaven with a mop of brown hair on his head, wearing an off-white shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbow, covered by a yellow ochre corduroy waistcoat and tucked into dark forest green pants, held into place with a brown leather belt.

  He wore no shoes on his massive, hairy feet.

  “Pliny!” the halfling said, scurrying across the room to greet them. He bowed deeply toward Andy, “Tobo, at your service.”

  “Tobo, you old so and so,” Pliny said, extending a warm handshake to the halfling.

  “Shall I seat you for lunch?”

  “Yes, please,” Pliny said.

  The halfling led them through a row of booths. The tavern lighting was dim and relaxing. It was sparsely populated, with only a few patrons seated.

  Probably more popular as an evening venue, Andy thought.

  Finally, the halfling gestured toward a large booth, each bench seat covered by luxurious blue cushioning.

  “Shall I retrieve some ale for you? Tea? Water?”

  “Yes,” Pliny said.

  Tobo laughed heartily, “And for you?” the halfling asked.

  “Water and tea, please.”

  Tobo bowed deeply and placed two menus on the table. They were plain parchment paper scrawled with black ink, clearly from a fountain pen with an overly broad nib designed for calligraphy.

  “What’s good here?” Andy asked.

  “Everything,” Pliny said. “Every single thing.”

  Andy scanned the menu: potatoes, slaw, cucumber salad, whipped yams, cranberry orange pork, breaded and fried fish, breaded and fried chicken, seafood bisque, and something called the “sandwich supreme.” At the bottom, there was a two-item dessert menu: banana pudding or lime pie.

  “What is the… uh… sandwich supreme?” Andy asked.

  “It’s a gloriously large sandwich,” said Pliny. “A variety of meats and cheeses, aioli, vinegar, greens, onions, tomatoes, dried herbs and hot peppers… mmmmm.” Pliny seemed to get lost in his own imagination.

  Andy continued looking over the menu for a few minutes, but he kept coming back to the sandwich supreme. If the menu hadn’t convinced him, Pliny had.

  Tobo returned with a tray of beverages, placing a steaming cup of green tea and a cold glass of water in front of Andy, and the same plus a frosty mug of ale before Pliny.

  “Have we decided?” Tobo asked.

  “Yes, I’ll have the sandwich,” said Pliny.

  “And I’ll have the same,” said Andy.

  “Excellent choices, sirs,” said Tobo, taking their menus. “You must both be very hungry!”

  “Indeed, just arrived, walking from Morwen’s Grove,” Pliny said.

  “Well, that’s quite a stroll indeed,” said Tobo. “I’ll have it right out for you.”

  The halfling departed as Andy began sipping his tea. It was beautifully fruity and citric, similar to the tea he’d had at the Dawnspring Cottage when he’d first arrived in this world.

  “I don’t understand how everything here is so delicious,” Andy said.

  “You don’t have good food where you come from?” Pliny asked.

  “We do have good food,” Andy said, “but here, it’s like every single thing I’ve had so far is just… so delicious.”

  “Wait,” Pliny said. “People in your world know how to make good food, yes?”

  “Yes,” Andy said.

  “But not all food is good?”

  “Correct,” said Andy.

  “I don’t get it,” Pliny said, taking a swig of ale.

  “Well, it’s just that, people are often in a hurry or they need something cheap… a lot of food comes in packages and…” he trailed off. How was he going to explain fast food drive throughs and convenience stores to a man in a world that had yet to experience an industrial revolution?

  “Well, all I can say is that we know how to make good food, so food is good.”

  Andy nodded. “I suppose that’s how it should be.” He took another sip of tea.

  Before long, Tobo arrived with two massive plates, setting each down in front of them, along with a set of silverware. “Anything else I can get you?” He asked.

  “This is perfect,” Pliny said, smacking his lips and unfurling his silverware, setting the napkin in his lap.

  “Very good,” Tobo said, smiling. He nodded as he departed once again.

  The meal sitting in front of Andy was perhaps the largest sandwich he had ever seen. It was on a kind of ciabatta, stacked with several layers of various deli meats, cheeses, vegetables, and sauces. The bread was baked to a perfect crunchy crisp, and the cheeses were in various phases of melting, some dripping down the sides of the sandwich.

  In addition to the sandwich, there were several sides that hadn’t been indicated on the menu: a pile of seasoned potato wedges, a side-dish of seasoned brussels sprouts, and a pile of pickled ginger root.

  “Dig in,” Pliny said, biting into the gargantuan sandwich.

  Andy was salivating even as he questioned how he was going to get his mouth around this gigantic thing. He observed Pliny, who had, for lack of a better phrase, simply shoved it into his face.

  Andy took a more conservative approach: he allowed just enough meat and fillings to fall to the plate to allow him to compress the sandwich into a bitable portion.

  Andy bit through the crust of the fresh-baked bread. As he did, a slightly spicy aioli sauce and the grease of several layers of meat escaped the sandwich and into his mouth, running onto his chin uncontrollably. The heat of the sauce, the creamy fattiness of the cheese, the juicy, flavorful cuts of meat, and the fresh crunch of the onions, lettuce, and peppers all combined into an orgiastic symphony of flavor and texture. And that was just the first bite.

  Pliny devoured his sandwich in relative silence, save for the inevitable umms and aahs that he let escape between bites and swigs of ale and water.

  Andy did the same.

  “So, what’s on the agenda for the rest of the day?” Andy asked as they began to slow down.

  “Well, we’ll eat lunch here, and then, perhaps, we can visit the backroom and do a bit of gaming before we head into the city proper.”

  “Sure,” Andy said, “What kinds of games?”

  “Well, dice, poker, we could play Thrakka but I don’t suppose you have a deck, do you?”

  “No,” Andy said, “What’s Thrakka?”

  “Ah, it’s a card game invented centuries ago by Tacticians and Wizards for the purpose of strategic training, but over the centuries, it’s made its way into the common culture. Many people become professional Thrakka players, actually. There are entire shops devoted to the trade and sale of cards.”

  “So you build your own deck?” Andy asked.

  “Yes,” said Pliny. “Many people spend years collecting exactly the right cards to make the most competitive decks… it’s a whole thing.”

  “Interesting,” Andy said. “How do you play?”

  Pliny shoveled a mouthful of potatoes into his maw. “It’s complicated,” he said as he chewed. “I’m not the right person to ask. I don’t really play much. I’m more of a dice guy.”

  Andy nodded, taking another bite of sandwich. He chewed and swallowed. “Is it a magical card game?”

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “What do you mean?” Pliny said.

  “Like do the cards have magic powers?”

  “Eh, not really,” Pliny said. “They are enchanted, but that’s just for the purposes of card validation, automated mechanical resolution, and animated illustrations.”

  “Validation?” Andy asked. He wondered about automated mechanical resolution, too, but it sounded more complicated.

  “Like, to detect counterfeit cards,” said Pliny. “Counterfeiting is taken really seriously in the Thrakka community.”

  “I see,” Andy said. “Sounds fun, I’d like to learn it one day.”

  “Well, this is a great city for it,” said Pliny. “There are several Thrakka shops, some in the outskirts, but many of them within the walls. Maybe we can get you a deck at some point.”

  They finished up their meals. Andy was able to eat almost everything.

  Pliny had a clean plate, as well as an empty water glass, empty ale mug, and empty teacup. He belched mightily. “Let’s go see who’s gaming today,” he said.

  They stood up and made their way through a few more rows of dimly lit booths and through a set of double doors near the back of the tavern. On the other side of the doors, they emerged into a dark gaming room, with several tables set up under warm lighting. This room was much more populated. Nearly every seat was full, a buzz of conversations and emanated from everywhere at once, punctuated by the occasional cheer or shout.

  A tall, slender elf with silvery blonde hair approached them. He wore a pale green, formal robe with a stiff collar and gold embroidery. “Good afternoon, Pliny, you’re here early today.”

  “Oi, good morning Oslas,” said Pliny.

  “And who do we have here?” The elf said, turning his gaze to Andy.

  “I’m Andy,” he said, extending his hand.

  “Mmmmm,” the elf said, putting his hands behind his back. “Elves don’t shake hands, in case you didn’t know.”

  “Oh,” Andy said. “My bad.”

  “It’s quite alright,” the elf said with a hint of disdain in his voice.

  “No need to be an utter asshat,” said Pliny, bursting out laughing. “Don’t mind Oslas,” he said, turning to Andy. “He’s a bit stiff.”

  “What will you be playing today?” Oslas asked, moving behind a podium and turning a page of some kind of logbook.

  “I’m good for dice,” Pliny said.

  “I’ll follow him,” said Andy.

  “An independent thinker, I see,” Oslas said, lifting his eyebrows and smirking softly as he scribbled in the logbook.

  What a dick, Andy thought.

  “Pliny! Good to see you!” A familiar voice came from across the room. “And Andy!” It was Andretti. The rabbitfolk hopped across the room to join them. “I was just working the corner table over there. They’re already drunk, if you’d like some easy wins.”

  “Say no more,” Pliny said, following Andretti over to the table.

  Andy followed behind, observing what was going on at each table they passed. There were some tables playing with plain cards and chips, like poker. Other tables rolled dice. He saw another table playing something intriguing: players laid large cards, clearly of a higher quality than plain paying cards, with intricate, animated illustrations. The table had several zones demarcated, and different clusters of cards were laid out in different positions. One of the cards depicted a wizard with fire bursting out of the end of his staff. Another depicted an immovable stone wall.

  That must be Thrakka, Andy thought.

  Finally, they arrived at the corner table. It was round, with five seats. Andretti sat down at one, and two drunk men sat on either side of him. Andy and Pliny took the remaining two seats.

  “Gentlemen, these are my friends, Pliny and Andy.”

  “Andy?” One man said. “What the hell kind of name is that?”

  “Don’t be rude,” the other man said. “You don’t know where he’s from.”

  “Not from around here, that’s what I know,” the first man said. “I’m Rex,” he said, nodding toward Pliny and Andy.

  “And I’m Tex,” the other one said.

  “Tex?” Andy asked. “Like Texas?”

  “What’s a Texas?” Tex asked.

  “Oh, it’s a… very large… kingdom from my … land,” Andy said.

  “No, no,” said Tex, “It’s short for Texamalopalinias, which is quite a mouthful, if I do say so myself.”

  “And is Rex short for something?” Andy asked.

  “No,” said Rex.

  Andy chuckled.

  “What’ll it be, boys?” Rex asked, taking a swig of ale and placing a gold coin on the table.

  “We’ll continue with dice,” Andretti said.

  “How do you play?” Andy asked.

  Rex burst out laughing. “This should be easy,” he said.

  “You place your bet on the table into the pot,” Andretti said, “And you call a pair of numbers, one through six. If you get both correct, that’s worth five points. If you get one correct, that’s worth two points, and if the dice both land on one of your numbers, that’s four points. You can’t call doubles. Double ones is an automatic loss for the last caller, and double sixes always wins for the dice thrower. The dice thrower doesn’t call.”

  “Oh, okay,” Andy said. He put a gold coin on the table.

  “Two, five,” said Rex.

  “Two, four,” said Tex, placing a coin on the table.

  “One, four,” said Pliny.

  “Two, five,” said Andy, copying Rex.

  “Oh, well, you can’t copy someone else’s call,” said Andretti. “You could do five, two, if you’d like.”

  “What’s the difference?” Andy asked.

  “It’s a concept called priorit–”

  “He don’t need to know all the intricacies of the rules or we’ll be here forever,” Rex said.

  “Five, two, then,” said Andy.

  Andretti threw the dice, landing on two fives.

  “Andy, well done!” said Andretti, gathering the gold coins from the table and handing them to Andy.

  “How did I–” Andy began.

  “Beginners luck!” said Rex, hiccuping and belching. He reached into his pouch, but he was clearly running low on gold.

  “Mmmmm, this counts as ten gold,” he said, placing a coin on the table.

  “Oh, wow,” Andretti said.

  Andy examined it further. It appeared to be a hot coin, an enchanted talisman that could fit into the slot located in the hilt of his shortsword and imbue it with some kind of magical power. He remembered it from the appendix he had read in Morwen’s den. And it was probably worth a lot more than ten gold coins.

  “Too rich for my blood,” Tex said.

  “And mine,” said Pliny.

  “Andy?” Andretti asked.

  Andy thought about it. He wasn’t much of a gambler, and he didn’t want to waste gold. After all, judging by the price of apples, he could buy several weeks of groceries with ten gold.

  “What does it do?” Andy asked. It had an arcane symbol on it, and it glowed a faint blue, but beyond that, there were no clues.

  “Beats the hell out of me,” said Rex.

  I suppose this really is a gamble, then, Andy thought.

  He placed his fingers in his pouch, placing ten gold in his palm. It didn’t even make a dent in the pouch that Noel had gifted him. “Sure,” Andy said. “I’ll call it.” He placed ten gold on the table.

  “Two, three,” said Rex.

  “I’ll take…” Andy considered for a moment. Last time he had just chosen the same numbers as Rex, but in an opposite order, and it had worked out for him. On the other hand, the whole table seemed surprised that it had worked, so was it really a good strategy? Or was it dumb luck? “Three, two,” he said.

  Rex and Tex both burst out laughing, and Pliny chuckled to himself.

  “May Brittaline bless you,” Andretti said as he shook the dice and released them.

  Double threes.

  “Dammit!” Rex said, rising to his feet suddenly and lunging toward Andy.

  Andy leapt back and drew his shortsword as Rex tripped over himself, catching his bulky weight on the table.

  “The boy’s using magic!” Rex said, pointing his finger toward Andy.

  Andy held his sword in a defensive position as Pliny rose to his feet, putting his hands out.

  “Everyone calm down, no need for all this,” said Pliny.

  Andy sheathed his shortsword as Oslas, the elf, approached the table. He raised his eyebrows, examining each player.

  “You,” the elf said, pointing toward Rex. “Your intoxication has led to disorderliness and hostility. You may leave.”

  “Why, I never–” Rex said, reaching for the hot coin he had placed on the table.

  Almost reflexively, Oslas reached into his sleeve and produced a baton, cracking Rex on the back of the hand loudly.

  “Ow!”

  “And you’re attempting to cheat, too,” Oslas said.

  “We’re terribly sorry,” said Tex. “I’ll be helping him out of here now.”

  “Very good,” Oslas said. “And keep that sword in its sheath,” he said, eyeing Andy.

  Andretti collected the gold and the hot coin laying on the table, pushing it toward Andy. Andy raked it all into his satchel as Rex fumed.

  “I know you were playing some kind of trick,” said Rex.

  “Come on, let’s get you out of here,” Tex said, leading Rex away from the table. “Sorry about that, pleasure to meet you both,” he said over his shoulder as they exited the gaming room.

  “Not bad for your first game of dice,” said Pliny. “And you got yourself a hot coin.”

  “Not bad at all,” Andretti said.

  Andy wanted to smile, but he was still on his guard after the incident.

  “Say, you’ve got a coin slot on your shortsword,” Pliny said. “Give it a whirl!”

  “Isn’t that, like… dangerous?” Andy asked.

  “Is it?” Pliny said.

  “I read it in Morwen’s weapons book,” Andy said. “It recommended finding an Enchanter or Forger before mounting a talisman.”

  “Eh, okay,” Pliny said, shrugging. “Beats me, I don’t use many talismans… Well I suppose we should find an Enchanter for you then. Might be a powerful enchantment.”

  “Are there any around here?” Andy asked.

  “Best bet is the Enchanter’s College within the walls,” Andretti said.

  “Well, then, let’s make a stop by there this evening,” said Pliny.

  After Rex had been gone a while, Andy’s nervous system settled down. He was able to enjoy himself.

  They played another couple of rounds of low-stakes dice, bets never exceeding a gold piece. Andy won some and lost some, but in the end, he finished the game with many more gold pieces than he started, and with a martial talisman.

  He couldn’t wait to find out what it did.