[Mkguild] Merry Marriage Round Robin: Jack and the Bremen Town Musicians

[Indagare]

As the wedding and summer festivals drew closer, the traffic of Metamor
Keep did as well. One day, the influx was too great and the four Bremen
musicians found there was not so much as a space on the floor at any of the
inns.

Misha Brightleaf and his bride were off making arrangements, and while they
could still play, not having lodgings was not a good place to be.

“Excuse me sirs, I think I might be of some help,” there was a pig-morph
woman at the Jolly Collie who tended the food and who noticed the problem.
“My name is Olivia, and I happen to have a place of my own not too far
outside the Keep. If you can wait until I finish my shift, I can lead you
to it.”

“But where will you stay, fair lady?” asked Chanti.

“Oh, I’ve got relatives close at hand. To be honest, I’ve been mostly
staying in the Keep as the traffic increased, but I am a bit worried about
my place. It’s not so large, but you four should be able to stay there
easily. Then too, I would be assured no brigands would rob it.”

“Well, we can’t be there all the time,” said Curtise, “but we can take care
of it by night.”

“My husband is there by day. He became a bat, so he tends to be up and out
at night. He’s also a bit of a mage and has several protection spells on
the place. Still…”

“Still, it’d set your mind at ease if *someone* was there by night,” said
Tybalt.

“And we’d not need to worry whether the spaces at the inns open up,” said
Baldwin.

About an hour before dusk, the four met with Olivia and she led them from
Keeptown through to the woods in the east. While not deserted, the houses
were far enough from one another that it would be easy for them not to see
what was going on even with a near neighbor.

They were taken to a whitewashed cottage with a golden thatched roof and a
garden of herbs and vegetables around it. The door was blue and opened and
a flying fox walked out. Olivia ran to greet her husband. “Rufus! I’m so
glad to see you! These are the minstrels I’ve been telling you about.”

Rufus smiled and offered a hand. “Pleasure to meet you gents. To what do I
owe the honor?”

“I thought they might serve as night guards for our cottage. There’s no
more room for them at the inn and they don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“Ah! Well, that’s fine by me. I’ve put enough warding that anyone with ill
intent will regret coming here, but more people couldn’t hurt.”

“We’ll be sure to keep the place as neat as a pin!” said Baldwin.

“Are you sure you don’t want to rent out to us?” asked Tybalt.

“You bring in brisk business as it is. Besides, we Keepers like to help
each other out!”

The inside of the cottage was neat and clean: a table close to the hearth,
a room on the side with a soft-matt bed and a perch for Rufus, another room
on the other side that served as a larder. There were dishes in the
cupboards and utensils in a box. Finally there was a back door to match the
front, and it led to the back garden.

“This is a cozy home indeed!” said Chanti. How shall we spend the night,
gentlemen?”

Tybalt shifted to all fours. “I’ll stay by the fire a while; in this form
I’ll be quite comfy.”

Curtise also shifted and headed to the back door. “You can have the bed
Baldwin. If anyone tries to get in, they’ll likely try through the back or
one of the windows.”

Baldwin let out a HMPH! “Oh sure, I get the most dangerous spot!” But he
lay down on the bed without further protest.

“And the most comfy!” said Chanti. “But fret not, friend Baldwin, I shall
take the perch and twixt the two of us shall certainly be safe enough!”

They let the fire die down to coals and were soon fast asleep.

***

“Where’re you leadin’ us now?”

A trio of bedraggled-looking figures tramped through the woods. The leader
was a lionmorph who’d obviously seen better days. The other two were a
woman and a child.

“To my treasure. I told you before Totti, I left a buried treasure in my
old home.”

The woman made a disbelieving sound. “You’ve not but led us on one treasure
chase after another Jack. What makes this more true than the others?”

“I tell you, I placed it there myself! If it had not been for this curse I
might have gotten it again long ago.”

“Which curse?” asked the child. “The one that put us in these forms, or the
one your mother placed on you? ‘To seek but never find, treasure always on
the mind, far and wide you must roam before you may return home’. That’s
what you told us.”

“So it is. I never did please her and it was *not* my fault with the cow.
She ought to have come with me; I was but a lad and too trusting. But I
think this must be the end, since I am finally returning home.”

Before them was a darkened cottage with whitewashed walls and golden
thatched roof. Jack let out a sigh of longing so deep as to be almost
painful. “Home. Well, I suppose no longer. My mother’s dead and I’ve been
away these many years. Someone else keeps it up. I still have the key,
though–if the lock has not been changed.”

“They’ll take you for a burglar and you’ll be working the middens,” warned
Totti.

“I know where it is, if it has not been found. With my luck it will have
been, yet I must make a last attempt.”

He went to the door and fit the key into the lock. It opened and the wards
were opened too. Into the darkened cottage he crept on soft paws. He
sniffed eagerly, but the scent was no longer the same. *I ought to have
known better.* He let out another deep, longing sigh and went to the fire.
His mother’s curse started and clouded his senses. Tybalt woke, and seeing
the stranger near him, scratched at his face! “Intruder!”

Jack fled to the back door, only to be met by a growling Curtise! “You
shall not pass!” Curtise bit him on the leg! Hopping and panicking Jack
stumbled into the bedroom. Tybalt kicked him out and Chanti crowed out:
“Who are you?!”

Running on all fours, Jack just made it out the front door before
collapsing in a heap. The four lit the fire and looked on the pathetic
figure of a lion, curled into a ball and weeping. With the fire, they also
saw the other two looking on in horror.

Tybalt and Curtise took Jack in with great care. “Ho! You two, is this a
friend of yours? Come here, we shall not harm you.” Chanti called out.

“Yeah,” said Baldwin, “your friend is in unfortunate shape thanks to us.
What was he even doing here?”

Totti looked to the child and the child shrugged. “In for a penny, in for a
pound. We’ve stuck with Jack through thick and thin, we might as well help
him out here. Perhaps it will be a change in his fortune,” said the child.

The two came to the cottage and were let in. “I’m Totti, a friend of poor
Jack’s. His best friend from long ago.”

“And I’m Nihil,” said the child. “I sympathize with Jack, for I also have
lost all I had, even my own name.”

As Chanti and Baldwin began getting food and drink to Totti and Nihil,
Curtise and Tybalt returned and looked very confused. “That fellow just
turned into a cub.” said Curtise.

“I had thought the aging curse didn’t allow for adults,” added Tybalt.

Totti sighed. “It does not, but Jack is under other curses as well. I’ll
explain as we eat.”

–Next Part Below–
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.integral.org/archives/mkguild/attachments/20241007/d0486f22/attachment-0001.html>